#afternoon: RESTORED!!!! i may have working but now it will be EPIC because of you <3333333

[riphimopen]

too shy to tell you..... but I...... I........hope you have a good afternoon.......

HELL YEAH BROTHER!! RIGHT BACK AT YOU!!!!!

[vaguely-concerned]

X-men Evolution; the great 2021 rewatch liveblog

exactly what it says on the tin, about halfway through the show I had TOO MANY FEELINGS and had to start writing some of them out haha (gets quite gambit & rogue/gambit heavy in the latter half, Because of Who I Am as a Person)

- this is my childhood’s x-men, my formative experience with them, and I’m happy to report that still seems like a good thing. the little eleven year old within me gets to geek out and have a good time with the characters and the surprisingly good animation and writing, adult me gets to CACKLE at regular intervals at the fashion/technology/absolute bonkers hot garbage comic book nonsense they use to justify a storyline every now and then, it’s been a good time 

- I was like ‘ah well it is super dated it probably won’t be quite the same now’ and then rogue’s HAIR did the THING in the opening and ‘it’s all coming back to me now’ started playing in the background... the little baby queer in me swooning across time and space

- such a good beast, both his design and the writing, my heart aches for him all the time. he’s just so passionate! about being a teacher! helping young humans learn the stuff they’ll need in life! the most wonderful nerd man, just let good things happen for him

- I’m going to go ahead and assume that rogue’s ‘crush’ on scott is more of a deeply complex psychological process about desiring normalcy and intimacy and trying to figure out if she’s queer and dealing with her emerging sexuality and latching on to the first and best safely unavailable and nonthreatening older boy to project these issues onto rather than actually being a real thing, because I respect her so much as a person and I cannot bring myself to imagine she’s honestly attracted to a man who has POSTERS OF CARS on his bedroom wall. (I’ll give jean a break just because she seems to have a longer deeper history with him that might counteract some of that libido-kill, and also she’s a jock so lol)

like I am very sorry but can u imagine being a teenage girl with any interest in a boy with model cars in his bedroom when gambit’s swanning around being a much, much, much worse choice on almost every possible level but in a teen girl kryptonite kind of way? inconceivable  

(I drag scott quite a few times in this and it’s not because I don’t love him, it’s just his tragedy to be the most draggable man in the world)

to be fair by the time gambit shows up that whole Situation has mostly played itself out I suppose but still  

- toad’s design is so ineffably brilliant, I can’t quite tell you why but that ugly cute charm has really stuck with me, he’s one of the characters I remembered the best to this day just visually

- poor evan... he truly never had a chance, did he, they just saddled him with the most 90s teen bullshit they could come up with like he’s some kind of ‘what adult writers think teens like’ frankenstein’s monster ;______; it’s not your fault honey

- poor poor POOR storm, she gets one focus episode and they were like ‘we’re going to make an episode so racist -- ‘

I’m still STUNNED at how bad it was, but undeniably I laughed hysterically to the point that my neighbours were probably worried when that dude was earnestly like ‘He [stunningly breathlessly racist caricature of a ‘witch doctor’ guy] has stolen her powers, and he’s going to use them to take over Africa!!!’ fhajsdlfhsakjldfh oh really? tell me more, like how the fUCK this could be on television within my life time fasdlfhsdkjfhsad f  just... fahjksdfh

- it’s a testament to gambit’s appeal as a character that his charm can survive what they’ve done with his hair and beard choices in this one fajskfhs regrettable but true I still fuckn LOVE him and in my highly biased yet Correct opinion he should have been around much more. get you a man who manages to stay hot through sheer Vibes even with a bowl cut

- aw scott/jean is kind of sweet in this show even if it’s taking them forEVER to get there, I like it 

- it’s very nice of rogue to not mention magneto’s romantic daydreams and nostalgic memories about charles xavier after touching his face that one time... or maybe her brain did her a service and repressed it, there’s some stuff you shouldn’t have to know about your father figure   

- the danger room is the very definition of ‘why do we even have that lever’ and I wonder what the fuck prof x does to have enough money to replace everything that gets busted all the time

- I’d say that a lot of the writing holds up surprisingly well! (but some of it is also incredibly inexcusably racist in ways that beggar belief, so... not full marks here) the characters have distinct voices and their arcs are set up and delivered on solidly for the most part, and there’s a lot of love showing through in small moments that are just there to have a funny/interesting thing to say about the characters and how their powers work separately and in combination. listen, sometimes I get so thirsty for like. basic goddamn competency in storytelling, let me have this

- ugggggh why is there captain america in my x-men have I not suffered enough... very very funny when prof x goes ‘sounds like you knew rogers personally’ and logan is like ‘I did ;)’ *all the students ganging up on steve rogers* “did you fuck our teacher, captain america?!”

- fskadfhas WHY are you showing me hot young-ified magneto’s ass fksjahfskj charles is not even here to see it, what a tragic waste erik 

- ...I was sort of kidding before but uh I think logan genuinely did fuck captain america (or at least wishes very much that he did lol)

- wanda can have a little watching the world burn. as a treat for the way every single adult in her life has fucking failed her (’aren’t they treating you well here’ professor x she’s in a straightjacket)  

- poor rogue tho can you imagine finding out after your biggest crush on a girl yet that she’s your fucking MOM in disguise... I would break out in cold sweat every time I thought about a boob forever after

- well seems like they really just had all that homoerotic rivalry stuff between quicksilver and spyke in their first ep only to never do anything with that again ever?? I mean even without the gay undertone that seems like a dynamic you spent most of an episode setting up writers what the hell haha

- dslhfkasjlh GAMBIT THERE HE IS MY BOY IS ON THE SCENE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! I don’t even care about his awful hair situation or the fact that his eyes are wrong here (coloured contact lenses, maybe, for a watsonian explanation? though he’d probably have to get them made special, considering he needs the sclera and the iris covered up in different ways, I’ve seen some comic panels indicating he has been known to?)

(cute little detail: when he shuffles the cards the first time we see him he ends with removing the top card to show the ace of hearts beneath <3 foreshadowing baBEY he’s a... good-ish boy deep down. hey he tries okay shit gets complicated sometimes lol) 

- cracking UP at gambit perched cheerily on the edge of a crate dispensing cards in the middle of the battle... he’s like ‘eh it’s a livin’ sfsajkhf remy stop working for supervillains just because you had nothing to do on a thursday afternoon and they said they’d pay you

- I’m guessing magneto must have imposed a strict order of silence on these guys or something because I cannot imagine any other reason for him to shut up, especially once he notices rogue is a QTE (or, far more likely, they hadn’t settled on any voice actors for the new characters until next season haha. it is kind of odd that they’re all keeping up near monastic silence, though, even sabertooth lol) 

- WHAT an epic first meeting for us rogue/gambit fans here... first his shadow like there’s fireworks going off behind him lighting him up and then he gives her the fuckn king of hearts and she’s so enchanted by his dumb handsome face she doesn’t even notice it’s about to blow up in her hands and it all happens in heavily meaningful silence afjsdfjashjk no wonder this ship ingrained itself in my hindbrain  

yeah look smug while you can remy she’s gonna have you on your knees one day and you’ll be happy about it lol

- god storm is so COOL, everything just fading out of focus when she really gets going... give her more screen time, show!!

- mystique is every person... this person... that person... that bird... that cat... that wolf... I’m not even sure she’s not also me... are you sure she’s not you? 

- holy fuck I respect the hell out of the decision to just... blow up the entire status quo in a season ender, I only vaguely remembered that (actually in general I appreciate how good the continuity is -- buildings and places that get damaged in battles need to be repaired or rebuilt, it makes the consequences feel more real even when no one gets seriously hurt. where they get the money to restore scott’s car and logan’s motorbikes every time they go cablooie is still an open question tho lol is it credit card fraud, professor? is it telepathically acquired blackmail???) 

- I first watched this when I was nine or so, so it’s a real experience to go from my starry eyed intrigued ‘oh my god... they’re teenagers’ to my horrified adult perspective of ‘oh my god... they’re TEENAGERS D:’

that goes double for the brotherhood boys honestly, I’m here with tears in my eyes like ‘I’m sorry the system has failed you so badly you’re all just a bunch of dumb kids whose caretakers clearly fucked up spectacularly’  

like lance is always waiting for mystique to come back because she’s the closest thing he has to a safe parental figure, may we speak about how crushingly depressing that is 

- rogue is so ready to throw hands at literally any moment and for that I love and treasure her immensely (I think getting to see her be so surly and unreasonable and sometimes difficult and jealous, like any teenager, meant a lot to me as a kid who was not really allowed to be any of these things, this version of the character has stayed with me so deeply. she holds on so fiercely to her right to feel what she feels and be what she is even when it’s ‘ugly’ or unreasonable, which I think plays in really interestingly with how her powers involve getting invaded by other people’s thoughts and memories to the point of overwhelming her own sense of self and the fact that she clearly has a lot of self-loathing and self-consciousness and confusion about her identity as well. I love her so much)  

- oooof this is the ‘the gang experience a microaggression’ episode huh (well more like macroagressions really)

hits a bit different with adult eyes and perspective huh

- hearing jean sound almost like a child when she says ‘that’s so unfair!’ somehow has me like ;______; -- she has to be so adult and responsible all the time, and having her be reduced to the kid she still is and should get to be in front of this awful awful man she could squash like a bug with the flick of a thought... ugh I’m Big Sad (it is funny that jean seemingly plays Every Sport tho djfhaskj)

- MY BOY IS BACK!!! this time with the duster coat and his eyes the right colour, im so happy (too bad about the subdued colour scheme tho; I adore his dumb bright pink getup with my whole heart)

it’s kind of adorable that he takes the time to take the bullies aside and go ‘I know these guys can’t wreck you without getting expelled, but I think you’ll find no law set down by god or man would stop me from doing so whenever I wanted to. so piss off and leave them alone’ lol he’s looking out for them, in his own way

- in this episode: remy lebeau wrangles some kids while looking bored yet mildly amused the whole time. what the fuck does magneto have on you for you to agree to this level of babysitting duty buddy

- fun detail I noticed b/c when I get a fave I hyperfixate: he gave rogue the king of hearts before, but he ‘introduces’ himself to the brotherhood here (lol) with the jack of hearts, probably to symbolize he’s here as someone who works for magneto in this setting and not as his own man? it’s a demotion he’s given himself there, anyway, might be he’s not very pleased about his current position huh 

- I like it when rogue and kitty team up, they’re not very effective together but their squabbling is so cute and non-aggressive 

- pietro is what draco malfoy would be if I ever found malfoy interesting to watch for even one moment, every time quicksilver talks I’m like ‘what wonderfully insufferable thing is going to come out of your mouth this time you little shit :’)’

- a) why are scott and logan shirtless for this scene? I am not complaining on the logan side of things at least but why and b) I laughed so hard I almost fell off my couch when scott asked logan if he’d ever been in love and he was like ‘once. she was the most beautiful bike I ever saw’ falsdfhaskjfhsakjlfhasklhjfd THE BEST VERSION OF WOLVERINE EVER, ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES 

- mystique’s sheer dedication to being a petty bitch is kind of inspirational tbh, almost makes me want to go on a completely bonkers and extra crusade of personal revenge myself  

- oooh they’re doing some genuinely cool things with vision/lack of vision in this one (it’s the scott left on his own in the desert without glasses one btw) even visually, dang! I’m so sad this show didn’t get more seasons than it did, honestly, it deserved it

- hell yeah jean wreck her, go get your man with the suspiciously specific clothing damage normally done to female characters 

awww :’) okay yeah they’re super sweet, I love the tiny loving animation details like how he leans his head against her and her stroking his hair away from his eyes

- nooo don’t bully evan leave my t0tally r4dical sk8er boy alone :(

- I love the running joke of people fleeing in blind panic only to reveal that what they’re running from is kitty’s cheerful well meaning little face fskfaskh 

- scott and jean are already peak married after officially being together for one episode and it’s adorable, and they just stone cold threw logan under the bus, rip wolverine we hardly knew ya

fjasdlfasldfhslajdkfhsadkjlfhsdkjalfhsdakfh h jean establishing herself as the alphabitch of this relationship by throwing her man to the wolves right after dsjfhaskjfhaskjhfsakjdhfaskjhfaskdhfskjahfskdajhf get smarter or get volunteered scott 

- ...eyepatch lady is so hot ngl

oh evan went to the place hank used to go to calm down ;________; (honestly he’s kind of won a place in my heart just by being a pretty normal teenage boy haha)

- jesus fucking CHRIST can you imagine being storm having to look her sister in the eye as she tells her ‘I lost your only child, he’s *vague gesture* somewhere in the sewers we think’ this poor woman

- amanda the self admitted monster fucker you are so VALID (I love her and her family’s design so much tho!)

- it’s so cool that even in his human ‘disguise’ kurt’s fingers follow the shape of his actual hand beneath it rather than moving like a five fingered hand, it’s such a lovingly consistent little detail 

- magneto and mystique in a breathless race to see who can be the shittiest parent... tune in next week for yet another parental nadir (also some low-poly gambit appearances in this one, for those at home keeping score (me), he’s in the background looking like someone drew him with their eyes closed fakjldfhasd look how they massacred my boy)

- someone please teach the brotherhood boys about consent huh

- jean ‘soccer mom before her time’ grey and her SUV dfhakjlhds :’)

- im sobbing rogue baby girl i’m so sorryyyyyy, this voice actress is so good, my parental instincts suddenly kicked into overdrive hearing the crack in her voice :( (bb me was right tho rogue centric episodes ARE the best episodes. that tension between ‘do I identify witn this character or am I crushing on her?? both???’ now has the fun new addition of ‘oh god oh no you are a baby I want to shield you with my body from everything trying to hurt you’)

- mystique is like ‘so you see despite you telling me you never wanted to see me again I completely disrespected that and posed as a friend your age, manipulated you by offering you the mirage of direly needed emotional intimacy and belonging and added some sprinkles of homoerotic tension to it just to massively worsen your already existing grievous psychosexual trauma and identity issues... out of love’

god go jump in a black hole you fucking monster 

- there’s some very interesting and quite subtle subtext about the people she’s morphing into and what that says about her mental state/how it shows off some of her emotional baggage with the rest of the team. it’s like she’s switching between people/powers that fit the purpose as if she’s going through cycles of fight/flight (and then bursts of freeze where she’s herself, which is... so sad)

- this whole episode is hurting my heart but rogue at full power is undeniably epic  

 - ‘professor x get your goddamn act together and get this poor girl some fucking tHERAPY’ challenge

- SAFE PAPA LOGAN ;_____;

- EYYYYYY opening straight on My Lad, I cannot stop winning!!!!! 

fasdfhsad disintegrating the window with a smiley face... remy I do love you more than my heart can bear honestly, hello may we speak about the fact that his urge to be a little shit is so deep and strong it survives mind control (that little breathed out ‘hiah!’ as he vaults the fence too dsakfjsd)

hahaha and he does up the coat fhsalfdsaj 

- magneto dismissing other telepaths like ‘puh-lease, your Meaningful Looks have got nothing on my ex-husband’s’ 

- :’) rogue and kurt sibling timeees

- say what you want but this pyro guy’s got job satisfaction in being a creepy arsonist with a weird recurring horse theme (well at least twice but still weird)

- I love how beast is the kindest man to ever walk the earth but also straight up savage, this man drags people so hard their ancestors wince in their graves

- gambit taking the time to complete the guard’s game of solitaire -- this episode is giving me everything I want. u little disgrace mr lebeau

and THEN he takes the spider out in the most hilariously bonkers way my heart is so FULL

(I love that when magneto moves by he looks startled and has to quickly move his head out of the way to avoid getting kicked in the temple too that’s a fun detail)

I’m so INTO how this sequence shows off that his greatest strength isn’t even his powers (which are pretty straightforward, really, he makes go boom, longer time and bigger thing bigger boom) but that he’s clever and creative and always extremely ready to be the most harebrained-bananapants-extra-in-a-deceptively-laidback-sort-of-way person in the room (I actually have some genuinely Deep Thoughts about how his whole character does a really interesting thing with having the straightforwardly destructive nature of his powers yield to what his nature as a person is, and how using the playing cards play (heh) into it, maybe I’ll write it out some day. just the fact that he could use anything, but he deliberately chose something that adds style and playfulness and corny charm to it and that also limits the damage of the explosions compared to if he habitually used something with more mass... I find it fascinating how much he’s made a story around himself with it and how deeply it shows he does have a good heart, at the end of the day, in almost a metatextual way. he doesn’t want to destroy things or people, he’s at worst (and best lol) a thief.)

- I honestly have literally no memory of white nick fury (which seems so weird now isn’t it funny) in this series from when I was a kid, he clearly did not make an impression on me lol

- mr wolverine ‘assigned canadian at birth’ x-men 

- oh man I dig the androgynity of x-23′s outfit (even tho they had to compensate with the long hair, which... kind of doesn’t make sense in-universe but does on a design level because it’s a crucial thing that she’s a female clone of logan so yeah okay fine whatever have your arbitrary gender markers if you must haha)

ooooooh that’s actually really clever, they make her gender gradually more obvious as she unravels through the episode and her outfit changes -- first the mask coming off, and then her jacket opening to show her silhouette more clearly, that’s cool!  

- my god what really sets this show apart is how much it invests in little character and relationship moments, it’s just so fucking GOOD! it gives laura looking in on those moments such depth and weight because it’s new to her but established to us as an audience, this is how you make found family devastating people (storm growing bonsai trees is so charming too haha) 

- ooof this is honestly quite harrowing 

SHE’S SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM I’M CRYING (at least that part of his genes translated over faslkfsjdh short king, I say this with all the love and support of a fellow short monarch)  

- tabitha seems to just be running around doing precisely whatever the fuck she wants and you know what I support her even if she is an asshole her father left her a bunch of trauma and no fucks left to give 

- still thrilled about professor x explaining the spider key fuckup to magneto after the fact like ‘magnus you dumb bitch this is why we split up’ 

- awww kitty has anime and movie posters on her wall and sleeps with a stuffed toy :’)

-          remy                           rogue

                              🤝

doing completely unnecessary parkour around the brotherhood living room seemingly just for the hell of it... I’m not saying soulmates but fucking soulmates 

- fhsadkjlfhsakjldfhsadjkfhsdajkfh just as gambit’s soul-level need to be a little shit survived his bout of mind control, rogue’s deep and urgent desire to kiss gambit full on the mouth survived hers I can’t breathe

she looks so pleased with herself too GOOD FOR YOU GIRL at least get something out of this other than more trauma 

also not only the fact that he’s smart enough to figure out what’s going on (though he’s only partially right about who’s behind it. I do so enjoy gambit/mystique deep and sincere antipathy as a constant across all universes tho lmao pure wlw/mlm hostility) but also that he keeps fending her off like he’s not trying to hurt her even though she’s in nigh on unstoppable and invulnerable terminator mode... awww 

- gambit having absolutely no patience for wolverine and sabertooth’s bullshit macho-off and consistently being this little biker trio’s one brain cell is adding years to my life with every passing moment

his voice is a little different in these scenes too, a bit softer and less like he’s trying to impress someone, it’s nice

- hank: well I barely recognize any of these (completely made up) ‘ancient egyptian hieroglyphs’ but from what I can make out -- *proceeds to infodump a perfect coherent narrative* fjdhfak  

listen this whole thing is such nonsense on so many levels, I’m just turning my brain off so I won’t have to think about it okay, the compulsion to put ancient aliens in egypt haunts us as a culture 

- I am CACKLING about gambit in the snow after having to listen to these two chucklefucks ooze testosterone at each other for hours

he started out taking it in good cheer and is now reduced to ‘dieu would both of you just jump off this fUCKING mountain please’

- ah. a little oops-a-daisy there, we seem to have unleashed the apocalypse. please stand by (they really don’t pull their punches with the season cliffhangers in this show haha)

- opening the season on gambit’s merrily grinning face is the easiest way to gain my favour. yes good this season may commence 

baby u r my

 ANGELLLLLLLL

(he’s so cute here tho haha I think it shows the design isn’t unsalvagable, just get him better hair and stubble more like logan has and you’ve basically got it) 

love his exasperated eyeroll when the dude gets spooked (by his eyes? or just the general weirdness?) too

he’s just trying to keep this crazy family of evil mutants together and unmurdered by one another until they’ve managed to avert the end of the world, bless him  

- oh NO rogue’s LIP wobbles my hhhhhheart ;____; such a good animation detail to put in

- like... I know kurt is just a sad scared teenager with a lot of shit going on and all the adults are too busy averting the end of the world to help him... but buddy maybe don’t ask your sister to wake her abuser (who forced her to kickstart the end of the world!!!!!) when she feels utterly unsafe even with her statue version around huh

- ...wanda is good and I want only good things for her. and for her dad to be disemboweled for what he did to her both the first time around and when he forced her to forget I mean what 

- magneto throwing an epic satelite-slinging tantrum b/c ‘no I am the biggest sexiest strongest mutant of the pack :(’... erik fucking get over yourself 

- yes boys absolutely go along with a plan suggested by a dude who looks at you like this 

nothing bad can come of this surely asdfkhsa

- lance’s quarter of a braincell always trying to go ‘hey wait, maybe... not do this???’ and it never helps lol

- in this episode: Logan Has A Bad Day 

...some very specific bondage positions he’s held in here, I am sure this episode awakened something in someone once upon a time lol 

- logan shielding x-23 with his body... im fine it’s okay I’m not crying don’t look at me

- afsdhlsdfjasdlk those sure are some ‘scottish’ accents flsadkjhkdsjahfsd

- scott relieved to finally be able to cede the position of ‘charles xavier’s least favourite son’ to someone else fjsaklfhsajd (poor scott it’s not your fault honey)

supremely cowardly to suggest there is an ex-wife involved rather than charles slutting his way around the british isles back in the day but okay

- kurt with a cold is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. it’s okay kid it’ll get better soon

- ...is there an implication here that professor x is naturally blond. because I am losing my entire little mind about it (i mean he at least has to carry the gene, as does this lady?)

ETA: upon doing some research into this I can indeed confirm that charles xavier does seem to be naturally blond, and after this knowledge I will never be the same 

- “listen, dracula” fskdafghasd oh scott you sweet baby angel I love you

- I know jean’s abilities are a bit ‘as strong or as weak as the plot needs right now’ at this point (so you can have the setup for what’s going to happen with them eventually and she’s basically invincible ;____;), and normally I’m cool with it but god I want her to just squash lucas like a little bug

- ewwwww please don’t ever say ‘daddy’ like that again

- ...what the fuck is even going on this episode’s a mess 

like okay the split personality thing could be something but the way it’s done... what just happened lol

- MY BOY EVAN IS BACK! with a real glowup too (...though kind of weird how he suddenly looks like a grown man)

- augh scott’s eyes are so pretty oh my god ;__________________________;

- that episode in the first season where evan makes the ‘this is my new family!!’ video is so sad now (also, again, his poor poor parents) 

- time for: life affirming road trip with gambit (involuntary) faskljdfhaskjd

stunt therapist remy lebeau 

- I mean the way he goes about it is batshit insane and it’s very much secondary to what he’s actually up to but this is the first time rogue’s sounded genuinely hopeful and confident and like herself in like a season <3 

- he is disconcertingly pleased about her nearly throwing him off the train, and may I just say I agree it’s so nice to see rogue with her old fire back 

- the first time I watched this it was of course dubbed into norwegian, so I had no idea either of these characters were southern lol (though to be fair I probably wouldn’t have had much context for what it meant exactly either, I was like ten at the time and not too interested in america) I seem to dimly remember the norwegian voice actor did a little more of a ‘french’-tinged accent for gambit all over tho haha  

- you know what respect where it’s due, pyro dude knows to live his life for the lols and one has to admire his sociopathic dedication to it

interesting that he, too, seems to have fucking hated magneto -- I wonder if the implication here is that he kept all the acolytes in line with blackmail or by keeping something/one hostage? (except sabertooth maybe he’d just have to say ‘you get to fuck shit up and fight wolverine’ and that’d be enough)

- fsdakfhsd he’s so focused on her he doesn’t notice that guy about to hit him fkafhsa 

- fuck everything else except whatever the hell these two’ve got going on

- it’s weirdly cathartic to have rogue have a conversation with someone who was not happily adopted as well, I don’t think kurt like. gets it because his parents loved him unconditionally and still do 

birds of a feather motherfucker  

- fun detail: when the x-men team are on the shore and logan is sniffing around scott is stepping in something and trying to wipe it off his boots in the background

- when he wakes up after passing out from the touch he’s smiling even though she’s standing over him looking like the rage of god outlined by the moon fsajfsa well the last time he passed out like that it was from a kiss, maybe he still has some hopes and dreams in that direction lol (also he recovers from the tumble down the hill first and is checking on her before accidentally brushing her cheek with his hand, which I thought was sweet) 

and it was in that moment he knew he fucked up *passes out*

- ‘I can explain’ can u remy. can u  

- did it ever even occur to you to just. ask her. to help you. I mean I know it didn’t but like rogue’s always one second away from throwing hands with some bully and is stupidly ride or die, if you’d given her the puppydog eyes she would have crumbled immediately (fair enough I guess this entire episode is telling us he’s not from a background where he has much experience with people just helping him without a price haha) 

- his eyes glowing when he’s angry or upset or using a lot of his power is undeniably cool as all hell. I’m just saying it would be Big Sexy if they sort of flickered with light in moments of genuine vulnerability okay  

- his coat... his coat is what makes the Silhouette tm and I could not be happier about it 

- another parent of the year contestant enters the running lol “hey remy have you ever considered that you’re more of a walking bomb factory than a person? that’s certainly how I think of you hahaha c’mon kid let’s go” 

- the running joke of jean luc getting dollar signs in his eyes seeing the other mutant powers and gambit being like ‘nO!!!!’ and pulling him along is amazing haha

- from the way he looks when he touches rogue accidentally and the way he talks to his dad I’m sort of getting the feeling this gambit might actually be a bit younger than he looks?

here too -- idk why but it’s making the ‘wait is he baby???’ alarms go off in my head haha. very early twenties at most. 

- and we’ve officially seen him with all the face cards in the heart suit folks! (yes this is the sort of thing my brain notices no I don’t know either)

- poor logan running his ass off this whole episode in a panic and then she’s like ‘nah he’s fine (in several meanings of the word ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) please put him down’ hfaskfsda

- rogue without makeup!!! her eyes look so naked like this haha <3

- oooh here’s a really interesting thing that tickles my brain a bit in this specific part of the scene where gambit frees his dad -- the part where he’s leaning against the door frame waiting for jean luc, who’s about to suggest using the opportunity to ruin the rival gang from the inside rather than slipping away while they still can

from his expression here he knows what’s about to happen, what jean luc is about to say, and it’s clearly a ‘man who thought he’d lost all hope loses last additional bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had’ sort of situation. he KNOWS what jean luc is like, and it still hurts that he really, honestly can’t give him even this, can’t appreciate that remy’s already done all this shit for him when he extremely didn’t have to, without immediately (no really, it took him less than ten seconds to go there? jesus) demanding more.  

remy tells him “I’m just here for you” and jean luc does not understand it. remy seems to be sincere in this motivation -- rogue certainly thinks so, having experienced it second hand and found enough at least emotional merit in it to decide he was worth saving even after all his bullshit (lol a bit of a running theme maybe. I think it’s very telling that after she absorbed mystique she was like ‘what the FUCK you’re a fucking monster’, and after she absorbed gambit she went ‘you did the wrong thing for the right reasons’ after she got over the first wave of outrage) 

there’s also what he says as he stands there: “You don’t need me for that”, with the distinct implication that jean luc would only keep him around because he has a use for him and for no other reason -- and then jean luc shamelessly doubles down on that by specifying that it’s not even him he’s got a use for as such, just his powers. that’s some kicking puppies level of deliberately missing the point, it’s almost impressive in how cheerfully mean it is haha

this idea of using people is really important in this episode because remy’s doing basically exactly the same thing to rogue to begin with; it doesn’t really matter to his plan that it’s her that’s with him through this, just what her powers are. (I think it’s  p r e t t y  solidly implied that he does actually like her a lot outside of that too and maybe there is some comfort in having her around for this, but mostly he’s behind a smokescreen of lies through the whole thing sooo I doubt he’s even aware of it, honestly)     

but then it does matter that it’s her when she comes back for him, even after what he did. and unlike jean luc he understands what that means, that she did that for him, and that she didn’t have to. and instead of asking her for more, in return he gives her the thing it’s been established is what he considers the most valuable thing he has; his ‘last card’, the thing he’s credited with keeping him alive many a time, basically. it’s gone from using to mutuality, a tentative place of friendship, and at the end of the day he is a different man than his adoptive father, with a capacity for selflessness and love he lacks. which is of course some of the same stuff going on with rogue and mystique too, except rogue acted from a more fragile and unstable place and did something she regrets, or at least has a LOT of doubts about now, and she found some catharsis in helping someone make a different choice in a similar situation. man there’s some Stuff going on under the surface here haha

(by the way it’s a weirdly... meaningless yet intensely meaningful thing, the gifting of a symbol? of an idea? but he’s putting something very crucial of himself into her hands, is the subtext, and he expects her to understand, which she also does seem to do. at the beginning of the episode he’s proving that he’s seen something true about her -- “You’re such an unhappy girl”, knowing where she comes from, the way she’s mourning her lost confidence and autonomy with her abilities -- and here she’s proving she’s seen something true about him. :’) I wish this show had gone on long enough for this dynamic to progress, it’s really interesting and touching)   

- gambit dragging himself up onto dry land seeing someone approaching (to help?!): :D

gambit seeing that it’s logan and the look on his face: D: 

- rogue using her powers so confidently and fearlessly in this episode tho!!!! 

- *me crying* and then her FAMBILY comes to take her home and he says he’s looking out for her too and kurt still loves her even though they’re having a conflict thing between them and she’s finally able to use her powers without so much fear again and --

- ...did I just watch some baby lesbian love at first sight shit right now???  

- okay last two episodes let’s go

- HELL YEAH STORM (I love that she’s like ‘don’t give me a dumb order like that and I won’t have to disobey it’ too sdfjsaj) her voice has such command I’m usually very much not the ‘step on me’ type butttt

- y’know I feel like apocalypse’s main fault across all versions I’ve seen of him is that he’s like an immortal superpowered god king and he’s not even sexy. like at least make him hot if he’s going to be insufferable in every other way 

- also callout post for apocalypse: one time he made gambit into the Horseman of Death... and didn’t even make him sexy!!! you were handed remy lebeau, supreme bi disaster slut of the x men universe, and you couldn’t even make his brainwashed superpowered evil side hot?? a beautiful stubbled twunk with glowing red eyes and extremely charming :> face practically delivers himself into your hands and you do that to him???? I mean I’m sure apocalypse did some other bad stuff too but that was the worst one

(comics are so dumb y’all) 

- having to watch jean cry is emotional terrorism!! ;___; she has such older sister/mom energy, whenever she gets sad and helpless it hurts 

- oh, OH so PROFESSOR X you’ll make into a hunk and ~*strategically*~ rip his clothes to show off a nipple and a flawless pec in a way that makes me extremely uncomfortable because he’s like The Dad??? apocalypse you are rotten to the core this is unforgivable 

- so wait wanda never actually gets her real memories back. what the FuCk I hope that was a dropped storyline because they ended the show tragically prematurely rather than like. the plan

- why is spyke calling storm ‘storm’ show that’s his auntie o!! >:(

- as a society we need to acknowledge that apocalypse looks like a fucking clown

- ooooh yeah I have been thinking that this show’s greatest visual weakness so far has been not having a visual way to show telepathy/battles of the minds, but this is a pretty cool way to do it! better late than never

- I’m so happy rogue gets to end this herself, since she was forced into starting it against her will, it’s just nice and neat storytelling

- YEAH FUCKING TELL HER KURT AND ROGUE I AM SO PROUD OF YOU and she has the temerity to look pissed off oh my god

the only valid thing mystique has done in her entire life is be in love with destiny. literally everything else she gets up to is a travesty. like I know objectively she’s hot but my loathing for her stops me from even appreciating it. I do enjoy loathing her tho so please don’t change her haha

(a bit odd to have kurt’s attitude to her swing so much but I’m just going to assume he and rogue had a good long conversation after ‘cajun spice’ and that he understands what’s going on better now)

- this last part is such a cruel tease faskdfhsdaj ‘here are all the cool-ass things we had planned. sucks you never get to see it huh’ im devastated 

- magneto without his helmet and playing charmingly with children like charles is going ‘well at least I saved my marriage finally’ fsadkhfjsd (honestly tho I would be super interested in seeing how they’d redeem this magneto because he’s been a real bitch the whole time lol) 

there’s an interesting thing here where magneto looks down at wanda as the last thing he does on screen before this epilogue part (yeah I hope it fucking haunts you forever what you did to her erik you absolute piece of hot garbage) and the last thing charles does is look at jean b/c he knows what’s going to happen to her and it breaks his heart... Dramatic Parallells  

- just the hint of jean as the phoenix has me in full D:D:D: mode tho maybe I wouldn’t have survived it

- gambit in the last groupshot with his arm around rogue ;^) I mean I’m sure they’re headed for some turns and roundabouts along the way but what’s that thing she says as her wedding vow, that she’ll always find her way back? anyway that got me in my heart

- man I really wish this show had been given more seasons, we were barely even getting warmed up here :’(

[cuculine-nelipot]

Wish We Could

Chapter One: Loved You First

{ Pairing: Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley

Summary: After the Battle of Howgarts, Hermione and Ron start dating; their slow-burn friends to lovers arc complete. He’s nice, and she’s comfortable, and everyone is happy for them. Everyone but Fred, who can’t stop thinking that he loved her first, and Hermione, who begins to wonder if they really are as over as she thought they were. }

2nd May 1998, The Battle at Hogwarts

Hermione Jean Granger was far from perfect. No one knew that better than she did. But she was careful, and she didn’t break things she couldn’t fix, or at least she didn’t used to. So you can imagine the devastation she felt when she kissed Ron, when he kissed her back, and the years of bickering, and flirting with flirting ended in that one, cataclysmic moment. She saw Fred watching, she saw the break; the life she then realised she wanted more than anything broke to pieces right there in his startlingly green eyes. She heard Harry yell something at them, Ron peeled away, laughing, and Fred was gone. The show went on, as it had to, as it must, because  if there is one thing Hermione had learnt in her life, it’s that there is no such thing as a person, only players, and there is no free will, only the cruel pen of fate, and Hermione was its unwitting almost-heroine.

22nd August 1998, Morning

So maybe things aren’t so bad. Ron is sweet, or he is trying to be. Ron calls precisely when he says he will. Ron comes to dinner with her parents. Ron tries his hardest to at least look like he is following their dentist-talk. Ron’s kisses are soft, though they tend to be more mushy than gentle. Ron smells like strawberry shampoo. Ron is learning everything he can about cricket, and Chelsea F.C, and Ron is memorising her favourites of everything. Ron is a practiced mummy’s boy, and hers simply adores him. And Ron is her friend, has been since First Year. Together they have fought trolls and rode dragons. They almost died together more times than she cares to count. Theirs is the story you couldn’t write, a romance blown to epic proportions, this love is sweeter than fiction, — right? So why is she so nervous?

Ron arrives at 0930 sharp, dressed in respectable dark grey trousers and a blood red jumper. He kisses Hermione on the cheek, hugs Mrs. Granger, and shares a firm handshake with Mr. Granger. He hands Hermione a bouquet of garden roses because, she supposes, they look enough like peonies. On observing that his white shirt collar is crumpled and half tucked in, she compulsively reaches out and straightens it. He blushes, and from the corner of her eye she sees her mother purse her lips as though trying not to smile, a gleam in her eye as she witnesses this small act of intimacy. Hermione drops her hand, wishing she could take it back.

The again restored powder blue Ford Anglia idles in the driveway. Mr. Granger makes a remark about car batteries, and Ron agrees, saying nothing of the vehicle’s extra-ordinary traits. He holds the door open for Mrs Granger and Hermione. You look beautiful today, he says as the latter slides past him. This is the first time her parents are visiting The Burrow, so she thought they would be more comfortable undertaking the journey the muggle way. Her parents, quite understandably, have become just the slightest bit skittish around magic since learning of their daughter’s escapades, starting from aged 12 to seven months ago, including the fact that she had erased their memories and sent them to Australia for the better part of a year. This had the unforeseen and rather unfortunate side-effect of inspiring in them a strong desire to become more involved in the social aspects of her ‘other life’, as they had come to think of it. When Ron showed up one day, shortly after she gave them back their memories, and re-introduced himself as her boyfriend, this day became inevitable. And so, they are on their way Ottery St. Catchpole to visit the Weasleys.

The conversation flows well enough, Ron proves surprisingly adept at keeping the usually rather withdrawn Mr. and Mrs. Granger talking about their work, and sports. Her parents, eager to make up for lost time, and to know everything about their daughter’s apparent suitor, ask him lots of questions about the upcoming school year, and the adventures of their past, though there is a significant portion they skirt around (the time she was petrified for instance). Ron knows when to listen and when to ask the right questions. Ron knows which stories to tell. Ron keeps them laughing enough that they don’t notice the ride to Devon is going much faster than the laws of physics allowed. And Hermione looks out the window, and says nothing. It is a scenic drive to the West Country. All rolling fields and blue skies. The sun, a pale gold, trips lightly through a barely there mist, and everything shimmers.

“Is everything okay?” Her mother asks, nudging her with her elbow. Hermione half turns to look at her and nods, saying nothing of the cold dampness rolling through her stomach.

19th  June 1996

It didn’t come out of nowhere, their first kiss, though it would have looked that way to anyone watching. Maybe it wasn’t the best timing — okay it was terrible timing — but time suddenly seemed to be in short supply. After all, she had just almost died again — Hermione, and everyone else who had been at the Department of Mysteries the night before. It must have been afternoon but it was impossible to tell with the curtains drawn, shading the ward an artificial dusk. Everyone was sound asleep except her, and Sirius, who was in another room going mad from his glimpse beyond the veil. Hermione was reading a book. She could always find one.

Fred walked in alone. She remembered thinking that was weird, but when he pressed his lips to hers, it became apparent why. “What are you doing here?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“Well in case you missed it, my brother, my sister, and my friends all just almost died. I got here is soon as I could.” He skips over the words with characteristic lightness, but there’s a gravity in his aspect she had never seen before.

“Well in that case you’re late,” she teases, her tired face jerking in the vague likeness of a smile.

“It’s just gone past seven in the morning,” he frowns, and brushes the hair from her cheek, “what time did you think it was?”

“Afternoon,” she sighed, leaning back into the pillows. “So I only slept for a few minutes then.”

“I’ll ask a nurse to get you more Sleeping Draught.” He turned to go but she grabbed his wrist to stop him. It seemed too intimate, but she liked it, and judging the grin that flitted across his face, so did he.

“Don’t. They’re busy.”

“You need to sleep. You’re a patient too.” He leaned down, gently kissed her on the forehead, and swept her hair back. “I’ll be right back.”

22nd August 1998, Afternoon

Hermione had hoped that she would have to act as mediator between her parents and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and that she would therefore be much too preoccupied to worry about how uniquely uncomfortable the circumstances are. But she had no such luck. Not only was Fred everywhere, but her parents and the Weasleys got along famously. Ron had apparently  well-advised his father on the appropriate number of muggle-specific questions to ask in an hour (one), and their mothers shared a passion for gardening. Already there was talk of exchanging various herb seedlings. She should be relieved, happy even, and it occurs to her that under different circumstances she would have been.

The rest of the gang had peeled away shortly after lunch in search of something more entertaining, leaving her and Ron alone with the parents. Hermione politely excuses herself from the table.

“And where do you think you’re sneaking off to Granger?” This particular red-haired boy  that she almost slams into is missing an ear.

“George!” The smile that creeps across her face is nothing short of ebullient. Perhaps even more so than his twin, George Weasley could put near anyone in a good humour. “I wasn’t sneaking off anywhere. I just… needed to use the loo.”

“Pity. We were just about to throw the Quaffle around. Could do with a sixth. I was meant to get Percy but I’m sure everyone would much prefer you.”

“Everyone?” She asks skeptically. George was, of course, the only one who knew about the car crash that had been hers and Fred’s… whatever it was.

“Everyone,” he insists.

It’s cold for August, the sky is clear and the sun is still shining in that enchanted way.  If there was a such a thing as perfect Quidditch weather, even Hermione would have had to admit that this was it. Harry has his arms wrapped around Ginny, saying something in her ear that makes them both laugh. Fred and Charlie talk a few feet away, watching them with equally perplexed and somewhat revolted expressions.

“If I saw Ron doing that I might just puke,” she hears Fred say. She could have heard him say anything and smile, but that particular remark makes something spark in her heart that she fights hard to stifle. “Oh, Hermione!” His pond-weed green eyes widen comically when he catches sight of her, the skin of his cheekbones turning pink. “Hi Hermione, hey!” He shifts his weight uncomfortably and looks away.

“Fred,” she says, cool as ever. “Hey Charlie!”

“I’m sorry, Hermione was it?” He asks with a teasing glance at Fred. “It’s good to see you again,” he adds, and gives her a brawny hug. She hadn’t actually managed to properly say hi to anyone earlier, there was so much excitement about Ron and Hermione, and The Meeting of the Parents. Harry and Ginny tear themselves apart and come over, and more hugs are shared. The divide themselves into teams of three, and for the first time in a while everything feels almost normal.

While she is by far the weakest player between the six of them, one simply could not spend years around Quidditch buffs without picking up a few things and Hermione, a true perfectionist, was now more than capable of sort of holding her own. And besides, Ginny was the only one present who actually played as a Chaser; George and Fred are more suited to whacking than passing, and Charlie and Harry, like most Seekers, are terrible at paying attention to other people. After a far too lengthy debate it was decided that the most balanced configuration was Hermione, George, and Harry against Ginny, Charlie, and Fred. Things get off to a slow start; it was nearly impossible to get Harry and Ginny to stop flirting and actually play the damned game. But once George slips past Charlie and scores an easy goal, it’s game on. He and Harry score five more between them in quick succession. Ginny, not one to take losing lightly, especially not to her Seeker boyfriend, ‘accidentally’ sends the Quaffle flying at Harry’s head, causing it to ricochet straight into Fred’s hands, and he makes fast work of scoring. They equalise soon after.

The game quickly degenerates into anarchy. Ginny bites George’s arm to keep him from scoring. Hermione flies up behind Harry and covers his eyes as he tries to make a pass. At some point, Charlie takes a shot and both George and Hermione dive to save it, ramming into each other head first. Hermione, much smaller, and the weaker flyer, falls off and George lunges to grab her arm but misses, so she’s free falling. Everyone swoops in to catch her but Fred gets there first. She slams into his outstretched arms, and his broom jerks down, threatening to send them both tumbling to the ground but he manages a semi-controlled landing and they both stumble onto the grass, winded and half in shock, but otherwise okay. Bending over with their hands on their knees, they catch their breaths while the others land one by one. Their eyes meet, and they experience a fleeting, shinning moment of absolute clarity.

“Well I suppose it’s been a good few months since someone’s almost died,” Ginny quips. All faces turn to her, stunned, speechless. She shrugs and makes a face as if to say am I wrong? And just like that the tension dissolves into hysterics, and they’re laughing — side-stitch, red-face, on the floor laughing harder than any of them have in longer than they can remember.

“Sorry,” George manages between gasps for air. “I’m really sorry.”

“You better be careful Georgie,” Fred says with a pointed, peevish sideways glance in Hermione’s direction, “wouldn’t want to incur the wrath of ickle Ronnikins now would we?” In that moment she swears she could deck him, and she’s sure he only said it because he knows she can’t.

“What’s going on here?” The voice cuts through the hilarity like an ice pick.

“Nothing dad!” Hermione trills defensively “We were just messing around.”

“Well no one invited me,” Ron groans at what he thinks is a discrete volume, but earns their party a withering look from Mrs. Weasley anyway.

“Sorry Ron,” Charlie offers diplomatically, “but we had an even six and if you joined then we would have had to ask Percy to play too —”

“— I heard that!” Comes the disembodied screech from inside.

“— which we of course would have thoroughly enjoyed but he’s just so hard at work helping to rebuild the wizarding world in these trying times.” Charlie works very hard at keeping a straight face while the rest of them burst into laughter again. He may have been laying it on a bit thick, but it works well enough to put an end to the subject, and they all go inside for tea. Fred shoots Hermione another peevish grin, and this time it’s undeniable; she wants to kiss him as much as she wants to absolutely eviscerate him.

Evening

No, Fred Weasley does not know what he’s doing. He just know it’s a bad idea, and that he can’t stop himself. He can’t stop his heart working double-time whenever he catches sight of Hermione. He can’t stop watching his younger brother talking to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and thinking that it should be him. He couldn’t stop the rush he felt when he had Hermione in his arms, and he can’t stop wishing that he hadn’t had to let go. He couldn’t stop the hope that sparked in his chest when they landed and she looked at him that way, and he can’t stop it happening again every time he replays the moment in his head. He also cannot stop replying the moment in his head.

He can’t stop looking at her. He couldn’t stop himself from sitting across from her at dinner. He can’t stop himself brushing her fingers when she passes him the butter, and the salt, and the pepper and the peas. He can’t stop looking at how her skin glows bronze, and her dark hair flecks golden red in the warm, floating-candle light. He can’t stop thinking how he loved her first. He can’t stop any of it.

“You’re playing a dangerous game here,” Charlie says low into his ear, after the third time he asks Hermione to please pass the plate of Yorkshire puddings.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“She’s dating our brother.”

“I know that.”

“So what are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything” he snaps, struggling to keep an even keel. Charlie leans back with a satisfied smirk and says no more on the subject for the rest of dinner, but he does yelp when Fred spills hot soup onto his lap.

20th June 1996

Already Hogwarts felt like something from another age. Was it just months ago George and Fred turned the fifth floor corridor into a swamp and flew off into the sunset, hanging up their blue and and bronze ties with so much flair and theatricality? It didn’t seem possible. Held up in the early morning’s grey light, against the dense mist rolling over the glassy, black lake, that moment seems somewhat lurid now. So Voldermort was back. They already knew that, and now everyone else did too.

“Are we going to talk about yesterday?” Hermione asks, her voice splintering the thin silence. The question catches him entirely by surprise. First because he wasn’t sure how she knew it was him coming up behind her. Second because she had seemed to be ignoring him since the hospital.

“Do you want to talk about yesterday?”

“Why did you kiss me?” She tried to sound cold, but a slight whine in her voice made it obvious that she had been fretting over the question.

“Because I wanted too, and because I almost didn’t get the chance.

After some consideration, during which she was completely still and he shifted anxiously on his feet, she turned to him and said, “I think I’d like to do it again. Just to see.”

He kissed her without hesitation, tilting her head back with his hands on either side of her face. It was brief and it was sweet. “Was that okay?”

“That was perfect. Thank you.” She turned back to face the lake, agonisingly unreadable. After a moment, she reached out and silently took his hand.

 22nd August 1998, Night

There is nothing Hermione wants more than to dive into bed and stay there until it’s time to go to King’s Cross. Or better, to simply wake up on the 2nd of September and find herself in History of Magic, or Transfiguration. Maybe if she was lucky, Professor McGonagall would teach her how to turn herself into a teapot. At least that way she will always be full of tea and she’ll never have to think about boys again. But no, there had to be showers, and hot chocolate, and going over the evening with her parents in agonising detail. When she at last manages to escape, she is already halfway up the stairs when her mother calls out.

“The twin with both ears — Fred — was he the young man that used to call all the time?”

“Yes,” Hermione replies curtly, a prickle of heat rising up her neck.

“What happened between the two of you?”

“Nothing,” she shrugs, trying her best to look nonchalant. Too much. Not enough.

She tries to go to sleep but fails. She reads but can’t concentrate, as is wont to happen on the rare occasions books seem to yield no answers or insight. Eventually she takes to laying upside down on her bed, staring at the pinprick lights criss-crossing her ceiling. There’s a tap at her window, and turning her head reveals a familiar old bird. A really old bird. At the sight of Errol she scrambles, perhaps a little too excitedly, to slide the window open. He offers her his leg, and the attached scrap of parchment. She scratches his head and offers him the small bowl of birdseed she keeps nearby for such occasions. He flies away. She unfurls the note, and sees the familiar, elegant script that he uses when he’s up to something:

Mademoiselle Granger,

I would like to request the joy of your company at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour this coming Monday, the twenty-fourth of August, at ten o’clock ante meridiem.  

Sincerely, F. Weasley

chapter one | chapter two

[recentanimenews]

Kaguya-sama: Love is War 2 – 05 – Together We Will Rise: A Symphony in Three Movements

First Movement: When the Glare’s Not There

Chika is the first to behold Miyuki’s terrifying new face, or rather un-terrifying new face. As the result of his break from StuCo duties he’s been getting three extra free hours per day, giving him time to sleep more and fix his bed-head.

This has had the effect of making his eyes less heavy, so rather than glaring, his expression is bright and cheerful. This is very unsettling for both Chika and Yuu, so used to his usual scowl. But as other students greet him and invite him to hang out, it dawns on Yuu that Miyuki might have entered his Popular Phase!

Far more than make more friends, Miyuki wants to get Kaguya confess her love for him, and sees his new face as the latest weapon in that war. Unfortunately, Kaguya loves his ordinary intimidating glare, misses his “cool eyes”, and is thrown into a crisis of confidence in her love.

She goes to Nagisa for advice, mentioning a problem “her friend” is having. Nagisa instantly sees through the half-assed subterfuge, but admits she’s not nearly pure enough to endure—let alone discuss—on a topic as embarrassing as “What is true love?” Still, she tries her best, telling Kaguya she has nothing to worry about.

Chika overhears the conversation and declares love based on appearances to be fake and bad, but then Yuu pops by and argues that all love is true love if it comes from the heart, or some such. Kaguya eats it all up while Nagisa worries about losing her lunch.

Then, in a beat so unexpected and hilarious I had to pause the show to laugh, Miyuki appears looking like a dried-out demented wooden doll (exhausted from campaign work), scaring the Hell out of Nagi but delighting Kaguya, who is relieved her Miyuki’s face no longer resembles that of a stock shoujo manga love interest. Kashiwagi loses, while Hayasaka worries her mistress has adopted a particularly worrying face fetish.

Second (Bowel) Movement: Producing the Same Sound

The first movement explored the distinctive qualities that move someone to love that outsiders will never understand. This middle movement is all about a dark secret and deep yearning that dwell within Miyuki, which only comes to Chika’s attention while she’s conducting the student body in the singing of the school anthem, and notices Miyuki is lip synching. From her perspective, a former president and current candidate not knowing the words to the anthem is a scandal-in-waiting.

But Miyuki knows the words, and he wants to sing. He just doesn’t, because he’s “a little crap” at it. Despite reservations about the last time she trained him, this time Chika is right in her musical wheelhouse and wants to help him out. But when she hears him (and boy is it something to hear), she realizes she may have repeated a grave mistake and dug her own grave in the process. He’s not “a little” crap. He’s a veritable Cthulhu dump post-gorging on civilization!

No matter; Chika is a virtuoso, and if she can’t teach him he can’t be taught. She starts with the basics in a very beautifully directed sequence where she’s carrying a note and guides him to match that note using comments on the chalkboard. When they match, it’s a beautiful sound is produced, and Miyuki’s confidence is boosted.

When he tells her how his own elementary school teacher told him “you don’t have to sing” and his middle school classmates begged him to lip-sync, he stopped singing altogether and never looked back, but always felt left out and unfulfilled.

Chika displays a fierce maternal instinct in taking it upon herself to make a proper singer of Miyuki, so he no longer has to suffer in silence. A quick montage ensues with the two doing various exercises, and then the moment of truth arrives: another singing of the anthem.

To my surprise, Miyuki not only sings, but sings right on key! This show doesn’t always rip the rug out from under you! Even better, the anthem’s bittersweet lyrics very closely match the epic struggle she and Miyuki went through. By the time the anthem arrives at its coda, Chika is wading in a pool of her own tears…but they’re tears of pride and accomplishment. It’s a stirring win for both her and Miyuki.

Final Movement: Perfect Compatibility

Now we approach the end of this exquisitely crafted and performed symphony. The focus returns to the election, all-important to Kaguya in particular because the StuCo is the least suspicious means of spending time with Miyuki. The movement opens with Kaguya in Political Operator Mode, conferring with her contact Hayasaka on how oppo research on Iino Miko is going.

Hayasaka has their best internal and external people working on it, and we’re reminded of the long reach of the Shinomiya Empire, making it that much more charming that hardly any of it matters at all when it comes to Kaguya trying to get Miyuki to confess his love for her! Still, Kaguya’s not discouraged by the lack of dirt on their opponent. She simply has to turn Miko’s own pristine-ness against her.

When Kaguya meets with Miko in the darkened StuCo office in a nice bit of venue-as-posturing, we recall how when it comes to matter not related to love or Miyuki, she’s as competent and ruthless an operator as high school girls come. She’s able to assess Miko’s reliance on her strict ideals and their fragility in her moments of anxiety.

In far more words, Kaguya proposes a deal whereby she and Miyuki will support her in next year’s election if she bows out of this one. Miko can smell the dirty tricks a mile away, and proceeds to dress Kaguya down by saying she and Miyuki are “two of a kind” with “perfect compatibility.” Kaguya is delighted by her kind words, but thrown just enough off balance to be left open for Miko’s counter offer.

In President Miko and Vice President Chika’s administration, Miyuki and Kaguya will remain in their StuCo, albeit in reduced roles. Miko’s goal is to “restore order” to an academy wracked with chaos. Kaguya is instantly intrigued by this proposal, since it means she and Miyuki will still be together. It may even be preferable to him winning reelection, since he’ll have less exhausting work to do (though she doesn’t consider what that will do to his cool eyes!).

Miko may be petite, but she has big plans for the StuCo, who will act as an extention of the Morals Committee she already heads: Uniform checks in the morning, garbage pickup in the afternoon…she and Miyuki could do all of these things together! But the bubble bursts on this ideal scenario when Miko declares that the academy will be a strict No-Romance-Zone. That’s a dealbreaker for Kaguya, and so negotiations break down!

But while a soft resignation and coalition with Miko may be impossible due to her staunch morals, those same morals may well sink Miko’s chances of gaining much support beyond her loyal base. High schoolers typically like the freedom to engage in hanky-panky. It’s a school, not a church. Can Kaguya craft the narrative that exposes the disconnect between Miko’s policies and the will of the student body? I wouldn’t bet against her!

    By: sesameacrylic

[jmkartworks]

The Gods of Gravity: A Story: https://ift.tt/310VlSp

Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me!

A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.

D.H. Lawrence

Not long ago, the owner of a gallery in which I wanted to be represented visited my studio. She had a discerning eye, a successful gallery, and I respected her judgment. To my dismay, however, her verdict on many of my paintings was this: “Miguel, I love your Imagination and these dream-like paintings are mysterious and beautiful. The problem is, I have no idea how to sell them.”

She was right, of course, dreams are strange. They may be real and compelling to me, but why should anyone else have any interest in them?

And yet, and yet, the wind blows….

Many non-artists assume that painters, writers and composers understand what their own works mean, and non-artists are often surprised that I don’t understand any more about what my paintings mean than they do. I explain that I’m trying to paint some things, or better yet, some forces that I can’t see, but that I know are present. I use colors and shapes to suggest hints, intuitions and glimpses of something invisible. Sometimes the painting is successful, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes, like baseball, it gets rained out.

The Gods of Gravity – Oil on canvas – 16 x 20 inches

But even if I don’t understand what a painting means, a story about the thoughts, insights and choices that went into the making of it can be entertaining. The Gods of Gravity, for example, was conceived in Northern Europe, specifically in Iceland and Finland. I had never visited the countries of Northern Europe, but had been awarded a sabbatical leave by Sierra College to do research in Scandinavia for classes I was teaching in Art History and World Mythology. I wanted to answer two questions that had long puzzled me: Other than Edvard Munch, who have been prominent artists in the Northern part of the world? Also: a lot is known about Zeus, Aphrodite and Hades; why don’t we know more about Odin, Frigg and Hel?

So, about the piano: A few short years ago on a warm afternoon in late summer, I limped a couple miles from the Laajalahden tram stop in Helsinki to the home/museum of Akseli Gallen-Kallela in the forest outskirts northwest of the city. (I was dragging my left foot because two weeks earlier, in Stockholm, I had been cursed by a witch. But that’s a story for a different post.)

Gallen-Kallela’s home remains largely as it had been when he died in 1931, with bedroom, kitchen, salon, dining room, and his studio with an etching press and a magnificent grand piano. The piano enchanted me immediately and I spent an hour drawing the sketch you see here. (I added the shoes and candelabra later.)

Sketch of G-K’s Piano – Pencil on paper – 7 x 11 inches

The word “enchanted” is not nearly strong enough. Cellos, bassoons and violins are celestial creations, but pianos are pure magic. I took lessons as a boy, and even though I stopped playing piano in favor of playing baseball, it’s still my favorite instrument. No mornings pass when I begin work in my studio without the presence of Mozart, or Johann Sebastian, or Domenico Scarlatti. In the afternoons it’s Keith Jarrett, Mary Lou Williams and Leszek Możdżer.

There will be more said about pianos in a minute, but first I must tell you about the World of Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The Kalevala, Finland’s national myth, was published only thirty years before the artist was born in 1865. The story unfolds in a beautiful and savagely harsh landscape of dense green forests, snow-covered lakes and fields, and it contains all the elements of epic poetry anyone would want: magical adventures, revenge, incest, betrayals, jealousy, shamans, murder, blood feuds, suicide, child abuse, shape-shifting, fratricide, magic spells, kidnapping, theft, thwarted love, heroes, incantations, death and resurrection, “nameless diseases,” shipwrecks, magical animals, the imprisonment of the sun and the moon, epic battles, virgin birth, sacred groves, a miraculous infant, and so on, all flowing toward a shadowy and inconclusive outcome, as if in a dream. Like the Icelandic Eddas, it exerted a huge influence on J.R.R. Tolkien. It also cast its spell on Gallen-Kallela. On me as well.

Lemminkäinen’s Mother – Tempera on Canvas – 34 x 44 inches

In this painting, one of the heroes, Lemminkäinen the shaman, has been killed by his enemies, his body thrown into the River Tounela and torn apart by the rapids. With a copper rake given to her by a god, his mother dredges every scrap of his body from the depths, stitches them together and restores him to life with the help of honey from a magic bee. (You can barely see it at the bottom of the wavy golden rays that descend diagonally from the top of the composition. In the top left corner floats the ominous Black Swan.)

Intuitively in The Gods of Gravity, I wanted to invoke three levels of existence– the Celestial World, home of gods and angelic forces; the Under World, land of the Dead, the hidden world of treasures humans attempt to extract from it, (and things we prefer to conceal in its depths); and Midgard, the human world between above and below.

The fires bursting out of the snow come from the volcanoes of Iceland. I doubt that anyone knows the exact number of volcanoes murmuring under the surface of the island, but the general consensus is that 30 or so are currently active. Even in Reykjavik I felt a pulse underfoot, as if I were walking on the skin of a drum. Perhaps that’s why I eventually added the shoes, even though I never gave the slightest thought to oxfords or brogans. The shoes needed to be feminine.

Why? I don’t know. I didn’t think about anything: no thoughts, no theories no analyses, no ponderings or musings or ruminations about this or that, no studying, no deliberations. Only the wind.

When the painting first began to gestate, there were no mountains or fires under the piano, only snow as part of the landscape of the forest. Why I added the fissures and smoke and lava, I don’t know. After the painting was finished and I could think about it, I figured that the earth is feminine, we are born into this world through the feminine. The muses, at least in my case, are incontrovertibly feminine, so the font of creativity must be feminine, and for all I know, so is the wind.

In my imagination, the ghostly candelabra lives in the upper world and often casts no shadow into this one. Why only one candle still burns, I can’t say. But it felt to me that, like the shoes, they had to be colored red, blue and yellow as part of a larger rainbow. Also, the legs of the piano had to reflect the colors of the creative forces rising from the Underworld into this world.

The Gods of Gravity – Oil on canvas – 16 x 20 inches

As we all know, pianos are made of wood, so now we come to two totems that are inextricably linked, the forest and the piano. The three-legged monster in Gallen-Kallela’s studio was a rich ivory black, but it didn’t occur to me to paint it in any colors other than as a dark rainbow. I wanted to suggest the creative energies of all Three Worlds: gifts that come to us through the hands of Mozart and Bach and Keith Jarrett.

Alas, the most important totems are invisible. What keeps everything suspended in space? We could call those forces Gravity and Anti-Gravity, I suppose, but those are only words. Except for brilliant souls like the theoretical physicist, Lisa Randall, we know as little about these invisible forces as we do about Dark Energy and Dark Matter.

Whether The Gods of Gravity succeeds, or fails, or is only a ragbag of associations–not even a rained-out baseball game–I don’t know. I used to think that I as I grew older I would understand more. But now the opposite is happening: Life is more mysterious, not less. In spite of that, what better subject to try to paint than what exists beyond what we can see? But how does an artist attempt this? Bach and Mozart knew. So did D. H. Lawrence. His poem that began this post is called Song of a Man Who Has Come Through. Here is how the poem ends:

What is the knocking?

What is the knocking at the door in the night?

It is somebody wants to do us harm.

No, no, it is the three strange angels.

Admit them, admit them.

[fuckyeahincubus]

Incubus Amungus

Incubus, by definition, can be either a demon or a California alternative rock band, which has roots dating back to the early 1990s. Luckily, central New York and the Lakeview Amphitheater, 490 Restoration Way, will be being paid a visit by the latter.

The quintet will be taking the stage this Saturday, July 15, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $29.50-$115 and can be purchased through the box office at (315) 435-5100 or online at lakeviewamphitheatre.com.

This afternoon, we were able to chat with Jose Pasillas II, drummer and founding member of the band, which is celebrating its eighth studio album 8, which was released in April of this year.

Congratulations to a new album and another tour. How have things been?

Things have been great! It’s been one of my favorite efforts thus far. Everyone’s been receiving it well. In the last week and a half of shows, we’ve been playing a lot of new material. It been really good and fun.

There was a six-year span between If Not Now, When? and 8. Did that help with writing and recording?

We don’t really don’t plan a specific amount of time in between records or what we’re going to do. It was a natural gap for us. We put out the Trust Fall (Side A) EP a couple years ago and were planning to produce a second EP. After juggling writing music, touring and rehearsing it would have been a bit much. That following summer we toured with the Deftones.

We decided after that we’re going to focus our attention solely on writing, so we came out with the LP. It was a busy time for all of us. We were also busy with our individual projects, and then it just happened to be six years of time. We don’t question time or process anymore. We do what we feel is natural and follow intuition.

You’ve been performing as Incubus since 1991. How has music progressed for you as a band?

By in large, it’s the same process. For the most part, we write as a band. The ideas come from Brandon (Boyd, vocals) and Mike (Einziger, guitar) vibing off each other, whether it is a simple idea, a melody or lyric. Mike may also come up with a couple written guitar sections. We’re all in the room together, devouring the idea. The concepts and songs change and evolve. Yeah, that part has been pretty much the same since the beginning.

The music is evolving. We’re a rock band, an alternative rock band. The music we’ve been playing, I think, has been evolving from record to record. They’re vastly different. I think it’s pretty obvious. It’s fun for us.

I think we are waiting longer in between records is because we’ve written so many songs. We want to push ourselves, push the envelope with recreating ourselves.

How have you developed as a performer?

I just keep playing. There is no limit to art or music. I find inspiration in people, music and places. I’ve enjoyed being in the moment.

I didn’t have formal training, but followed and listened to my favorite drummers. I emulated what they did and made my own style through the years.

I’ve kept the same set up as I have for years. I play DW, Drum Workshop drums, Zildjian cymbols and Remo heads. Those companies have been really good to me.

Incubus has been labeled with term nu metal in the early years, and it’s followed your career. It doesn’t have the best connotation. Does that affect you in any way?

That was a category we were lumped in. We never fit into any genre of music our entire careers. We grew up in the ’90s, putting on shows with Pennywise, Save Ferris, Korn, Pantera, Black Sabbath, 311 and more. We’re across the board, never fitting in, but we made ourselves acclimate to be part of the music scene someway and somehow. It’s just a term, so people can get an idea where you fall even if it may not have anything do to with you. We don’t pay mind to it. We’re a rock band and play rock music.

To go along with not falling into a category, how has the music industry changed in the last couple decades?

It’s a radical difference. We were a band which got involved with a label interested in long-term and developing the band. Nowadays , if you don’t have a song that’s palpable to a large audience right away, it’s like you don’t have a chance.

t’s changed a lot in that respect. It’s just like how people consume music. You don’t really sell records anymore. You stream music. To calculate how well a band is doing is looking at streaming. It’s the day and age of music, but we’ve survived it. In 26 years, we’ve developed a great fan base where we don’t have to sell music. We can put out songs, tour and have that loyal fan base.

It’s not good or bad, but it’s just changing. Genre lines have blurred.For this new album, we worked with Skrillex. That might sound strange, but it’s not when looking at the greater context of music. For me, it’s exciting.

Did you receive criticism for working with Skrillex? How did you deal with it?

No. Actually we haven’t. We didn’t work with him in a typical form where we write a song and Skrillex comes in and does dub step with it. He came in with a handful of songs and mixed the record. We didn’t have a conventional guy mix it. He wanted to try it out, and what he brought back was so compelling. The songs were colorful and he very much respected what we came up with as a band, but he made it that much better. It was a pleasure working with him, because his energy is amazing.

Incubus switched from Epic/Immortal (Sony) to Island. You enjoy working with major labels, but would you ever consider an independent route?

Minus the first few years, we’ve been with a major label. For us we’ve played with the idea of going independent or maybe putting a record out ourselves, but it takes a lot more time and effort to build a team, which has to support you. Also, we’d have to learn all the facets of distributing and marketing. We’ve always chose to go with something that’s had that in place. We were with Sony for 17 years. We’ve also had great relationships with Island. When we signed with them three years ago, it’s been working out better. But who knows what will happen in the future? Take it as it comes. The bridges will be crossed when we get there.

I was about to ask: How do you see Incubus evolving in the next five years?

You can’t really say how. I just imagine us continuing to write, put out records and playing the music live.

How touring with Jimmy Eat World? They’re only a couple years “younger” than Incubus.

They’re a great group of guys. We performed with them a long time ago. It’s been cool to get an extended tour with them. Judah & the Lion are opening up for us, too. They’re a group filled with a lot of really good guys. The bill is really solid, and it’s only the beginning of the tour.

Let’s go back to the album. Talk about that song “When I Became a Man.” It’s a really weird, funny interlude that reflects to little nuggets you’ve done on Fungus Amongus and  S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Where did that come from?

(Laughs.) It is a little nugget. That song was completely unplanned. We were jamming out at our producer’s studio. Chris (Killmore, keys and turntables) played a programmed beat on the synthesizer. Brandon was on the mic, and it caught his attention. The song literally came out right then and there. It was really funny, but we weren’t going to put it on the record.

We played it for Skrillex. He’s like, ‘Dude, this thing has to make the record. It’s funny. It’s you guys.”

Any pre- or post-show superstitions?

We just hang back and relax, wait for show time. We’re an easy going band before and after. We’re lucky to be performing music?

What are you listening to currently?

I find myself listening to a lot of the things I’ve listened to as a teenager. I always go back and listen to my collection at random.

It’s funny. I’ve been listening to a lot of Top 40 music with my daughter. She loves ZEDD, Rhianna, Shawn Mendes. She’s a preteen. But we’ve been connecting over it. I’ve been exposed to music I normally wouldn’t listen to.

What can people expect from the show?

It’s going to be a fun ride for an hour and 45 minutes and an awesome visual show. Please check out Jimmy Eat World and Judah & the Lion. It’s a great night of music.

Any last words?

Run fast, jump high and eat your greens!

[bacomelon]

Gruvia AU - Strangers: Chapter 3

Summary:  “And suddenly we were strangers again…” What happens when a great love ends and lovers become mere strangers in each other’s lives? Rated: M  # # #

Gray had spent the whole morning in his favorite cafeteria solving some work problems on his notebook, and even started designing some house plans during the time he sat there. His job was the only thing that kept him distracted and busy recently. After the restaurant incident - two weeks ago - he did not have the opportunity to meet up with his friends and, consequently, his ex-girlfriend. The odds of finding her while roaming the city were few thanks to the location of her house.

Suddenly, "Something" from The Beatles began to play on the speakers of the establishment and that made him nostalgic for a few minutes. He remembered to meet Juvia while the same song played in a concert a few years ago. The two went to the performance of the new rock band of the moment, Phantom Lord, and Gray saw her at the bar with her friend Meredy, wearing a tight T-shirt and ripped jeans, her blue hair just below her shoulders and she had a straight fringe at the time. Few people know but the person who made Gray and Juvia a couple was Loke. He was present that day, noticed the glances that his friend cast into the bluenette's direction from afar and then took action. At some point in the night, the orange-haired man disappeared and when Gray finally saw him, he wanted to kill Loke. The idiot was at the bar talking to the two girls and pointing at the dark haired friend with a broad smile.

That's when black eyes finally met with blue ones and their story began.

#

In the afternoon, Loke and Natsu came to his apartment to play video games. At first none of the three wanted to say anything and an uncomfortable silence settled between them, but it didn't take long until his friends' concern spoke louder.

"So, how are you?" Natsu was the first to break the silence, without taking his eyes off the TV.

"Who? Me?" Gray asked, pretending not to understand.

"Gray, you know you can talk to us."

After several seconds, the brunet finally spoke what was on his mind. "I... I don't know." He gave a long sigh and his eyes, which were focused before, became sad. "It's not being easy for me."

"Do you miss her?"

"Every single day, Natsu..."

"We know how badly you two are suffering." Loke patted his friend's shoulder lightly. "I'm sorry, man. You know I was the one who prayed for you to get married someday."

Gray gave him a small smile. "I know."

"But what happened?" Natsu paused the game to look at the dark-haired man with a confused countenance. "One day you were fine and the other Lucy called me saying that Juvia was at her house crying because you broke up."

"We were not 'fine' for quite some time." He replied, making the two men look at him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a selfish idiot, that's what I mean." Gray ran his hands over his face and took a deep breath. His friends stared at him blankly, "Look, I don't want to talk about it. Can we just play? Please?"

"Right." The pink-haired man sighed and returned to play in the game.

"Hey, why don't we go out tonight?" Loke proposed. "We can call Gajeel and Jellal and make it a boys night. It would be good for you, Gray."

"I don't know if Lucy is going to like this, man." Natsu's face grew worried.

"If you explain that this can help our friend, I'm sure she'll understand. What do you think, Gray?"

"It can be fun." Gray nodded without looking at his friends. "But now you'd better concentrate on the game, otherwise you'll have a humiliating defeat."

#

At about seven o'clock, the trio met with Gajeel and Jellal in a pizzeria near Gray's apartment. It would be a 'all you can eat night' and the boys' goal was for the black hole in Natsu's stomach to make the owner of the establishment offer something in return for them to leave - otherwise all the pizzas would disappear.

It was very rare for them to get together without the girls, but that didn't stop them from enjoying themselves. Jellal talked about the upcoming work trips he would make, Gajeel revealed some of his projects for the restoration of a car that was in his workshop, Loke kept chattering about his encounters, and Natsu was being - in Gray's opinion – just his stupid self, making jokes and trying to pull some nonsensical fights with the other guys.

Of course at some point, the girls became the subject between them.

...

"[...]I swear that sometimes I want to take that little shrimp, put it in a box and send it to the other side of the world!"

...

"[...] and I don't understand why she gets so angry when I go to her house without warning. She gave me the key!"

...

"[...] she said something about trying to have a baby, and then something about me always traveling."

...

Loke then stood up in exasperation and slammed his fist on the table.

"Can't you stay one night without talking about women?"

All his friends looked at him in disbelief.

"Do you really have any right to say that?" Gajeel snorted. "Since we got here I've heard you talking about six different girls."

"It's totally different!"

"Fine. What's our next stop after we get out of here?" Jellal asked curiously.

"Let's go straight to the Bakuhatsu Club." Loke said proudly as he showed off some VIP bracelets.

"The nightclub?!" Natsu widened his eyes. "Dude, that place is awesome! Lucy and I went once and-" He received a stern look from his orange-haired friend "Geez, sorry... enough talk about the girls."

When the pizzeria owner started looking at the boys' table with a scowl, they all smiled.

"It looks like he can't handle it for much longer." Gray nudged the ribs of his pink-haired friend.

Natsu took another slice of pizza. "There's only one way to find out."

#

"I still can not believe he offered free pizza a week for a whole month!" Jellal said as he chortled with his friends.

"It was the best I could negotiate." Natsu said proudly. "But I'll come back."

"Salamander, I'm going to take you to all the places that serve food." Gajeel half joked.

"You had to see the day a guy literally paid Natsu away. That day was epic!" Gray told them excitedly.

They went down the street and were ready to walk to the nightclub Loke had said, but something on the other side of the asphalt made the Fullbuster freeze in place and drained the color of his face. Right there, inside the diner that stood next to the flower shop, he spotted her. Juvia was sitting drinking a milkshake and accompanied by Lyon. Loke, realizing that his friend had lagged behind him and was staring intently at something, went to the dark-haired man, followed his gaze, and then looked back at him with concern.

"Gray... I'm sure it's nothing." Loke tried to reassure him, but at the same time they saw Lyon take the bluenette's hand and it made Gray grit his teeth and walk again in a rage.

"Hey, you bastards! Don't leave Loke and me behind!" He complained to his friends, pretending nothing happened.

#

When the boys arrived at the nightclub, Gray and Loke headed straight for the bar while their friends headed for the dance floor.

"What do you want, gentlemen?" The bartender asked.

"The strongest drink you have" Gray said nervously.

"Don't do anything stupid, Gray. You may be jumping to conclusions." The orange-haired boy tried to warn him.

"Did you see that bastard holding her hand, Loke?"

"But-"

"Did you see it or not?!"

"I did..."

"That's all I needed to know." Gray spoke earnestly, then drank his drink in one sip. "Another dose, please." He asked the bartender, who just nodded.

"I did not bring you here to get drunk. We should be having fun."

At that moment a woman with long black hair and beautiful green eyes sits on the bench on the left side of the dark haired man and smiles seductively at him.

"Please tell me this is not your boyfriend and you're going to dance with me." She spoke and bit her lower lip lightly as she waited for the answer.

"What is your name?" Gray asked her.

"Risa."

"If you'll excuse me, Loke.. I'm going to have fun with Risa." He got up and walked the woman toward the crowd where people was dancing to extremely loud music.

"GRAY!" Loke screamed for him to stop him, but the brunet didn't listen.

If Juvia can move on so fast, it's only fair that he does the same and enjoy his 'single' status... Right?

[marinette-sky]

Cigarettes and Leather Ch. 3

(A/N: I'm back from the dead, everyone! Hip hip hurray! I apologize for the long wait, I got caught up in testing, school, and family stuff (did you know I just had a birthday? wild I'm getting old).This chapter is from Adrien's POV, like many of you had asked for. This is the final character fodder I will implement, because from here on it will just be dorks and shenanigans (and drama of course!)

Summary:  Adrien Agreste does, in fact, have a heart. And it does a good job at being an asshole. (which is redundant, because that is exactly what Plagg is for!)

Word Count: 4,728

The chatter of students and the accustomed sounds of nature filled Adrien’s ears as he held the recently lit cigarette between his teeth, inhaling deeply despite the unpleasant feeling that prickled the back of his throat as a result. He blew out lazily, watching past the dispersing smog with a glazed stare until the fence that separated the school from the public and the blue hue of the sky melded together into a single entity. Somewhere in the background, Plagg was mumbling insults from the small amount of camembert he received from the little container hidden in Adrien’s jacket pocket, but he couldn’t have cared less.

Plagg gets lethargic when I give him too much of that rancid cheese, anyways.

Adrien lifted the cig to his lips yet again, this time puffing lightly as he tapped his fingers on the side of his jacket to stave off the feeling of restlessness welling inside him. He knew why he was so anxious, but he didn’t really understand why it made him feel that way, nor did he really want to think about it right then.

Besides, he always opted to light a cigarette when confronted with an internal dilemma.

Smoking was one of the only methods that kept his thoughts and feelings in the calm, like an anchor in the midst of a stormy sea. Yes, he did it to be rebellious against the atrociously cold and calculating man he had for a father, but it was also like taking a dose of reality a couple times a day; his reality and connection to the life of a normal teenager used to be his late mother, but that was three years ago, and this was now.

And right now, he was in dire need for a good smoke.

Well, that, and a good excuse to escape Chloe’s clinginess and Lila’s flirting.

Chloe hated the smell of cigarette smoke and Lila knew well enough to stay away from Adrien when he was getting his daily fix (most of the time), so it worked out in his favor. He almost felt bad for yelling at Chloe earlier that afternoon, when he was at the peak of his bad mood, and the talk with Marinette was still circling his thoughts like a vulture. It was an almost immediate reaction, the way he shook her from his bicep and expressed his desire to be “left alone for a while” a little too harshly for someone of her personality. He heard Lila laugh at her rejection from somewhere behind him, and felt Marinette’s judgmental gaze pressing into his back like a steam-iron.

Chloe looked so appalled and embarrassed he nearly consoled her right then and there.

Nearly.

The memories of her antics towards Marinette Dupain-Cheng the morning before prickled in his mind, and Adrien could suddenly feel nothing but anger and cold disappointment towards her. Before he could do or say anything more brash and hurtful, Adrien had just stomped off with each footstep more forceful then the last.

Sure, he had acknowledged the mean-spirited prank before when he apologized to Marinette on behalf of his dumbass of a childhood friend, but the feelings he felt then were not present when he talked with her before. He had always held some kind of respect for her, but now it was different. It was like his attitude towards her changed drastically overnight, based on the reason that he actually got to know a little more about her then he should have and learned that she wasn’t just good at being an annoyance in his life.

She’s good at being witty, brave, kind (when I’m not an instigator), and her ability to defend herself was impressive.

Not to mention I’ve always thought that she’s sort of cute…

Adrien slammed his hand into the wall behind him, crumpling the still burning cigarette between his clenched fingers. Plagg jumped away from him, dropping his camembert in surprise.

What the hell am I even thinking?

He really needed to shove those thoughts deep down inside, and kick Marinette the hell from his mind. Yeah, she’s pretty cool and all now that he knows she’s not a complete goody-two-shoe, but he doesn’t like her in that way. He was probably still feeling the lingering effect of their conversation.  

Right?

“Adrien, what the heck?! You made me drop my cheese…” Plagg was in his face, not looking too pleased with his little outburst of anger.

“My bad, Plagg. I just…never mind, I’m just being moody.” Adrien brushed the cigarette ashes from his palm, wincing a little as he touched the fresh, red burn mark caused by the butt of the stick.

“Fuck…!” Oh, it hurt alright.

Curse my fucking stupidity, I have a shoot tomorrow!

“What has been with you lately? You’ve been acting weird since yesterday ever since you talked with that pig-tailed lady you argue with sometimes.” The kwami sighed and shook his head, staring down at the singe on Adrien’s flesh with distaste and what he assumed to be slight pity. He was sadder to see his camembert fall then to see his chosen injure himself, which Adrien found bitterly amusing.

“I’m not acting weird! And what does she have to do with this?” She had a lot to do with his recent behavior, but he would never tell Plagg that. Saying it out loud would mean endless teasing from the kwami, and he certainly did not want to be reminded of it every time he transformed to fight crime with Ladybug.

“You are acting weird, and ever since you suddenly apologized to that girl-”

“Marinette.”

“-yeah, yeah, Marinette, you’ve just been not yourself. Like, you’ve been showing more of your inner dork, instead of your tough guy façade.” Plagg rolled his eyes, and puffed up his tiny chest to imitate Adrien for emphasis.

“I’m not a dork.”

“Yes you are, and you acted like it when she tried to complement you, but you just walked away.”

“She acted like I couldn’t be a decent human being to anyone up until then, Plagg! I wasn’t about to just take her bullshit.” Adrien had every right to walk away, even if what she said was intended to be a complement. “I may be a hypocrite, but it was rude.”

Plagg leaned back into nothing with close eyes, carefully contemplating his words.

Uh-oh.

Whenever Plagg actually thought about something, he tended to give painfully accurate advice. Adrien often forgot that he was thousands of years old, and that just because his little friend chose not to spout pearls of wisdom all the time did not mean he was not wise.

The kwami grinned, lifting both eyelids to form an arrogant squint.

“You say that, but don’t forget that you’re the one who is always a jerk to everyone, and you were especially jerk-y to her yesterday. I think what she said is fairly justified, considering you were technically the one that got the both of you in trouble in the first place.” He saw Adrien’s brief look of confusion and added “You know, the whole assault ordeal and the visit to the principle’s office?”

Adrien opened and closed his mouth, thoroughly and utterly speechless against his reasoning.

Goddammit, Plagg is right.

He hated when Plagg was right.

“…I wasn’t trying to be a jerk yesterday, and I didn’t know she would react like that when I grabbed her wrist.” Adrien said quietly, dropping his stare to the pavement in spite.

“If I were you, kid, I would apologize to her after school today for the entire mess you made. Honestly, you could have avoided this entire thing if you swallowed your pride and said sorry like a normal person yesterday. Now your father has to find out about this, plus you have detention…” Plagg kept talking about all the consequences to his actions, but Adrien decided he would just deal with them when the time came.

Maybe apologizing to her for everything will resolve all the weirdness and tension?

As much as he apologized for every tiny thing when he was Chat Noir, he found it strangely bearable to apologize to Marinette as Adrien Agreste. There was something about her that just warranted it, similar to the feeling he got whenever he messed up in front of Ladybug.

Yet…

Truthfully, he didn’t really quite understand his own reasoning behind the impromptu ‘I’m sorry’ he told her the day before; it could have been the way she reminded him so much of his alternate persona when transformed, like when he gets bested by an akuma victim.

Either way, if saying sorry for everything relieves the burden of awkward tension between the two of them, Adrien can go back to his normal delinquent life and Marinette can go back to giving him an occasional scolding for it.

The harmony would be restored.

Or maybe, a little voice in the back of his head whispered, you could take this time to befriend her, since now you know she is actually a cool and interesting person who fights better then you!

Now, that was an entertaining thought, as sarcastic as it may be.

Before, he only ever saw Marinette as the only girl who had any guts to call Adrien out on his wrong doings (excluding Alya, the walking-talking hurricane who would and could flat line him in an instance). He had an inkling of admiration for her sass talk and never even dreamed to pursue a relationship past their heated banter. But, after being forced to his knees in the epic display of her badass self-defense skills, and being on the receiving end of Marinette’s infamous ‘sugar smile’, he has changed his tune towards the female considerably.

“Maybe…” Adrien echoed aloud, interrupting Plagg’s pessimistic rant.

“What?” Plagg inquired, perplexed at his chosen’s mumbling.

Adrien just smirked at him and did not say anything for the rest of their lunch period.

---

The final bell of the day rang over the speakers, signaling the end of class for the students. Adrien, who had impatient for school to end since lunch time, slouched deeper in his seat on the first row with relief as his classmates slowly filed from the room, their incessant talking drowning out the shouts of that night’s assignment from Mrs. Bustier. Nino managed to give him a parting fist-bump before Kim and Ivan swept his best friend away in a wave of boyish shouts and back slaps, both sparing a sympathetic glance in his direction as they hurried out the door.

Chloe sashayed past him with Sabrina in tow, making a point to stare straight ahead to show she was still mad about earlier; not that she needed to say it out loud, either, the angry click of her heels were enough of a hint. Sabrina just offered him a grim smile that made her frail appearance seem even more breakable, like worn glass.

I wonder if Chloe took her anger out on Sabrina again, which would explain why she looks like shes about to cry…

Then again, Sabrina always had that expression on her face whenever Chloe threw a temper tantrum, so it was probably nothing he should worry about. He could leave those kinds of feelings to Chat Noir.

Chat Noir was good at sorting his thoughts and feelings when it came to the people around him.

Someone placed a firm hand on his shoulder, pinching the material of his jacket between their thin fingers in an effort to gain attention. Adrien glanced up with disinterest, unsurprised to find Lila Rossi looking at him with sticky-sweet sympathy.

It seems almost believable.

“Your handsome face is so troubled, Adrien! Is there anything I can do to get you out of this?” Lila cooed, leaning down. One of her pony-tails brushed his cheek, while the scent of her spicy perfume crowded his nostrils.

Adrien felt himself frown.

Too close.

“It’s a little too late for that, don’t ya think?” Adrien was in no mood to humor her, nor did he very much like when she rested her other hand on his forearm. “Besides, you don’t have a damn clue what I did.”

“Oh, but I know it has to do with Marinette. Just say the word, and I can make up a lie…” Her olive green eyes twinkled with mischief, but there was something else there too.

Something darker, with less discernable intentions.

“I’ll pass, Lila.” Adrien feigned a smirk, and stretched his arms behind his head to effectively shake himself of her grip. “I’m used to this, remember?”

Lila bit her lip, obviously displeased with his decision. She took a step back, glaring not at him, but someone above them.

He noticed that the conversation Marinette and Alya had been carrying on since the bell rang came to a stop.

Lila turned her attention back to him.

“Its that Marinette girl, isn’t it?” She suddenly claimed, leaning down once more, but with more force. You never turn down my offers! What happened between you two?”

Adrien was taken aback, and he couldn’t conceal the shock on his face that showed it.

Pull yourself together! Her claim is baseless and vague!

“What the fuck do you mean? I just don’t fuckin’ feel like getting’ in trouble more with this particular incident.” Adrien chose his words carefully, very resilient to admit to his gang member of what had transpired between them yesterday, and today for that matter.

What she doesn’t know won’t kill her.

“Bullshit. I know you, Adrien. If it wasn’t that goody-two-shoes, it has to be something else big, or at least it better be.”

“You don’t know jack shit about me, Lila. Mind your own fuckin’ business for once, will ya?!” Adrien was SO not in the mood for Lila’s nosy, busy-body, jealous bullshit.

Cry me a river and get over it, fox.

“I know more than you think, Agreste! I worry about you sometimes…” Lila crossed her arms, genuinely exasperated. Their angry whispering had caused the teacher to spare a concerned glance in their direction.

“Yeah, well, you can go stick that worried friend act in ah bottle and put a damn cork in it, because I suddenly remembered I don’t want to fuckin’ talk to a nosy liar right now.”

Lila’s expression shimmered with hurt, but there was something seething beneath all the distress. All at once, she stood up straight while flipping a thick pony-tail over her leather-clad shoulder, huffing.  

Your loss, then.” Her tone was casual, but it held venom, and Adrien knew he would get a million texts (and phone calls) from the female later that night asking why he acted like that towards her.

“Guess so.” He retorted, shrugging despite himself and giving her a teeth-ful of snark.

Lila was gone from the classroom in a flash, taking the overpowering smell of seductive spices and tension with her. Adrien would have laughed at her abrupt departure had it not been for the off-hand comment he heard Alya ask Marinette.

“What the hell was her problem? That stare was so cold I swear my body temperature went down…” Alya grumbled, completely unaware of his eavesdropping.

“I don’t know, but then again its Lila. Just ignore her.” Marinette replied, equally oblivious.

“No, girl, she was looking at you, not me.”

“What? I turned around too late, I guess. She did seem peeved at Adrien, though…”

“Yeah? Well, what else is new? I’m more worried about you, girl.”

“Huh? Why? I’m sure she was just being prissy…”

“Uh-huh. Did you do something to her, Marinette?”

“I haven’t even said anything to her since last week-”

CLAP!

Mrs. Bustier, who until then had been stacking papers, clapped loudly at them. Adrien didn’t know when she had taken to standing in front of his desk without him noticing, but decided not to make a comment. The smile she wore was deceptive, if not intimidating.

“Alya, if you are done chatting with Marinette, I would like to begin her after school detention. Also, after that little display I just saw happen between Lila and Adrien, I’m afraid the same might transpire between you two, too.” Mrs. Bustier gestured to the door, and Adrien turned around in his seat to watch Alya gather her things together. She murmured a quick good-bye to Marinette before flying out of the room, leaving the door open ajar.

The smile on the teacher’s face faded into a grimace as soon as Alya left. She turned back to them, the mint of her eyes devoid of warmth.

“You two won’t fight, will you? There seems to have been a lot of that happening within my student body, it seems…” Mrs. Bustier trailed off, her cool green stare landing on Adrien.

Adrien coughed, and shook his head begrudgingly, noticing from his peripheral vision that Marinette did the same.

Their teacher smiled bitterly at their consensus.

“I’m sure you two know why you are in here, then, so I do not need to remind you, correct?” Mrs. Bustier nodded to the both of them, arms now crossed.

“Yes, ma’am.” Marinette responded politely.

Mrs. Bustier looked at him expectantly.

Seriously? I’m all out of politeness today, come back tomorrow.

“What are we doing today?” Adrien supplied instead, skipping the introductory. The sooner he could talk with Marinette, the better. That conversation with Lila left him angry and a tiny bit worried, so he needed to talk to her today, before anything else could bog him down.

Because Lila definitely will find a way to buffer his possible chance at being friends with Marinette if she manages to snag information on what happened.

“Well, right now, nothing because I need to go make copies of tomorrow’s assignment…but I don’t want to leave you two alone without supervision.” Their teacher glanced at the piles of paper on her desk, and sighed. Adrien noticed the jumble of keys on her belt loop and quickly formed an idea.

I swear, I’m a genius! Take that Plagg!

“Mrs, Bustier, if I may? I have a resolution to your problem.” Adrien offered up his strongest gentleman smile, fighting off any hint of a smirk.

“Is that so?” Mrs. Bustier humored him, giving him a tiny smile that said ‘watch yourself’.

“I see you have a room key, so to ensure we don’t leave the class, lock us in. It’s not like we can use a window of we’re two floors up, either; that’s suicide.”

The older female upturned her lips in thought, looking from the stack of papers, to them, and then to the copying room across the indoor veranda that was the terminales floor. After a few moments of deep deliberation, she tuned back to them in full, smiling genuinely.

“Adrien Agreste, your reputation is not the best but you have never failed my class for the four years I’ve had you. If anything, you always seemed to earn the highest grade in here out of anyone. That’s trust-worthy enough, but I’ll only allow this is Marinette is okay with it. Marinette?” They both turned to her, and Adrien could swear she shivered visibly when she looked into his verdant stare briefly.

Come through, you tough sugar cookie, come through!

Marinette took in a rather shaky breath, and looked only at Adrien when she spoke, surprisingly enough.

“I’m okay with it, Mrs. Bustier. I have something to discuss with Adrien, anyways.” Those cobalt eyes drilled into his figure, a hint of guilt swimming in her iris’s. What could she possibly have to say to him that wasn’t ‘fuck you’?

Guess I’ll find out.

“Wonderful! Depending on how slow the copier decides to be, I’ll be back in as little as ten minutes. Behave, you two!” Their teacher exclaimed, collecting her filing folders. A minute later, she had locked the door and began making her way to the copy room, probably anxious to finish the rest of her workload for the day.

And just like that, they were alone in the room together.

Both teens busied themselves in getting comfortable. Adrien did a 180 in his seat, leaning his back against the desk while crossing his legs on the bench. His jacket squeaked from the friction, and he felt Plagg re-situate himself inside the hidden pocket. Marinette tucked one leg inside the depths of her pleated skirt while the other leg hung limply from her perch, softly tapping the glazed finish of the wood.

Now that he could fully get a look at her without any pressing distractions (or conversations), Marinette managed to appear pretty in the most unassuming way. Her coat was tastefully wrinkled and creased, with one button at the top of the vest left undone. Both of her pigtails had been painstakingly groomed and conditioned to be the exact same length, despite how frizzy her hair was at this point in the day. The skirt that hid one of her legs splayed over the bench and rested an inch past the cap of her knee, longer then what most girls preferred their skirts to be. She was slouched over the desk slightly now, the sweep of her bangs casting a timid shadow on the freckles peppering her nose and cheeks.  It was as if he were to blink, he would miss Marinette in all her imperfect majesty.

Say something, nerd! His conscious admonished, snapping him from his reverie.

“I have another apology for you.” Adrien admitted casually, bringing a hand to rub the back of his neck. Marinette looked surprised, but at least she didn’t seem uninterested.

That, or she was a very convincing actor.

“Yeah? You and me both,” She replied, hastily adding, “A-An apology for you, too, I mean.”

Oh?

“Really? I’ll go first, then…” Adrien took a moment to compose his thoughts, trying his best to maintain eye contact with the girl across from him to show he was serious.

Here went nothing.

“I’m, ah, really sorry I got us into this entire damn mess. It was my fault that I…well, rather than saying sorry to you like ah’ normal fuckin’ person, I approached you like an asshole and even put my hands on you. Look, ever since yesterday, there has been this weird tension between us and I know you’re super freakin’ weirded out by me, darlin’, because we never talk like this but…yeah, I’m just really sorry about this entire damn thing.”

Adrien paused, dissatisfied with how his apology came out.

“Y’know, that sounded a whole lot cooler in my head. Figures, don’t it?” He grumbled to himself, causing the girl to break out into laughter. It was high and clear-cut, reminding him very much of Ladybug’s laughter.

A beat of silence spread between them before Marinette spoke.

“As long as you’re truly sorry, Agreste, I forgive you. I mean, you’re not fully redeemed yet, but it’s a start.” She played with a lock of her raven hair as she said this, looking more relieved than anything.

Strange girl.

“So…we good?” He questioned, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Yes, but I owe you an apology too. First off, I’m sorry I kicked your butt yesterday and that your father had to find out. Second off, I’m sorry about what I said earlier, or what I implied. It was insensitive of me.” Marinette smiled shyly at him, looking like she wanted to say more but couldn’t find the right words.

You and me both, darlin’.

“Well, t’be fair, I act like I don’t have a nice bone in my body. Its no wonder your judgment’s a little warped.” Adrien held up his hands, chuckling. The awkward tension from before was dissipating, and a more comfortable atmosphere had fallen over them.

“True, but I figured you couldn’t be that bad since you chose not to sue lil’ ole me.” Marinette teased, threading her fingers together.

“Oh, that was fuckin’ wild! Imagine, the trouble-maker being offered to sue the goody-two-shoes!” He shook his head at the irony, recalling his own miffed emotions at the time. “Shit, to think it just happened earlier…”

“I know, right? I felt bad for losing my temper, Mr. Damocles looked as if he-”

“Pissed himself?”

“Yeah.” She giggled, their conversation hitting a lull.

Adrien studied Marinette for a few moments, taking in their newfound attitudes towards each other. She forgave him fairly easily, while he just as easily forgave her. Plus, she was easy to talk to. It was so peculiar, and frankly scary, how well they got along without a crowd to impress. This caused him to wonder why he didn’t try to pursue something with the female earlier then now, like in their first year. If he had become friends with her then, maybe he wouldn’t be where he was now. Maybe…

No.

They were from two different worlds, practically. He grew up with strict parents, and even stricter rules. She grew up with loving parents, and rules that remained unbroken. His rebellious tendencies had been present ever since he learned to lie, and it had really peaked when his mother disappeared. She had been showered with love from her still-present mother all her life, with no discernable behavioral issues to be found.

Adrien Agreste was a delinquent (while Chat Noir was a golden mess), and Marinette Dupain-Cheng was kind-hearted with a thirst for justice.  

But, a late start is better than no start at all.

“Hey, Adrien, I have a serious question for you.” Marinette suddenly said, frowning. Adrien looked up, blushing lightly from the fact that he had been caught staring.

“Try me.” He replied, mirroring her frown.

Marinette shook her pigtails slightly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear as she wedged a closed fist under her chin.

She was the perfect picture of curiosity.

“What was the real reason you apologized to me? And don’t give me that dumb excuse from yesterday, I hate when people lie to me.” Adrien felt his throat close up, and he had to force himself out of the staring contest had been having with her up until then. Chat Noir was usually good at dealing with mushy bullshit such as this, not Adrien Agreste.

But Marinette asked you, not Chat Noir. Stop being a pussy.

“Uh, well…look, darlin’, I’m not too sure myself. For the most part, you reminded me of someone…close to me who gets shit on all the time like you do from Chloe. I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit yesterday, and so it just felt right to apologize. You dig?” Adrien felt his face warm with embarrassment, and he knew he would have to walk on eggshells if she asked about whom that ‘someone’ was.

Marinette kept the frown on her face for all but a second more, than smiled at him brightly.

“Good enough for me. You really are a good guy underneath all that cigarette smoke and leather.” She quipped, lifting her head from her hand. This made Adrien laugh, and for once it was genuine.

Safe, for now.

“I’m beginning to see why everyone likes you, Marinette, because I’m beginning to.” He said without thinking, reaching up to close the short distance between their desks and clapping a hand over hers.

The move was so involuntary and his words so superfluous that he almost didn’t catch the underlying meaning.

Marinette, unprepared for this sudden confession, kind of gaped at him. A flattered blush bloomed on her cheeks and spread to her nose, dusting over all her freckles like seeds on a strawberry.

What…?

Adrien, abruptly realizing his implication, removed his hand from hers at the speed of light.

Shit. That’s not what I meant.

“Fuck, hold on. I meant as friends, darlin’, as friends.” Adrien rushed to assure her, gesticulating like crazy to prove so. He saw the tension in her shoulders leave, and noticed she had lowered her eyelids considerably in the last few seconds.

Should I be offended?

“Oh, good…I mean, I knew that. Of course. Friends is doable.” She fluttered a hand over her sternum, obviously indicating she was thinking the other way around.

She looked him up and down again, and repeated with a smile “Definitely doable.”

Unable to help himself, Adrien winked.

“Yes, I am doable, darlin’.”

For the rest of detention, he was nursing a bruised cheek from the book bag Marinette had launched at his face.

[randrvstheworld]

From Rio to Guaratiba & my first Brazilian Christmas

Since my last post we have changed location - we are now in Barra de Guaratiba, essentially a tropical paradise of gorgeous beaches & jungle & glorious, continual sunshine & tiny monkeys. However more of Rio was explored before our departure, starting with the Casa de Escala: a very long set of steps decorated with lots of tiles & mosaics by a Brazilian artist called Selaron. As a massive fan of colour, tiles & repeating patterns this was literally my stairway to heaven. A riot of bright hues & a total mish-mash of tiles sourced from around the world, decorated with anything & everything from floral motifs to renderings of the places they were from; images from old film posters, famous faces, inspirational quotes, sheet music, you name it. It was so beautiful & fun & after we made it to the stop (via lots of shameless hipster-y photos & messing around on the tiled slides & climb-able bits at the edges of the stairway) we sat in the sun & drank coconuts & listened to someone playing wonderful latino guitar music. 

In what continued to be another Art Day we then went & spent a blissful hour at Rio’s modern art museum, which was for me a peaceful opportunity to sit, uninterrupted, & draw a very interesting brass Mark Bill sculpture. I just love art galleries; they are such calming spaces, always cool & quiet & great places for a good bit of quiet time drawing, plenty of inspiration. As I have not been feeling quite myself of late it was a really nice time to restore some calm & just immerse myself in my sketchbook quietly. It definitely helped.

After the gallery we headed to the top Rio tourist spot: Christ the Redeemer. The Big Guy. The Head Honcho. The main event. This involved a walk through a very pleasant, floral neighbourhood before boarding a little funicular train up the mountain upon which JC is perched. Blimey. It’s a high mountain, let me tell you. And none of this gradual incline nonsense; this mofo is STEEP. Literally like an arrowhead. The mountains here are crazy, I’ve never seen anything like them. They barely look like real mountains. But up we went, through the jungle on the little train, leaving Rio behind as we went up & up. I was frightened at the top. The whole of the city was spread out below us, so far down. It was officially the highest thing I have ever gone up. You can see for miles & miles. And then of course there’s JC himself. He’s intimidatingly tall. But oddly peaceful; there’s something in his stature & expression that feels calming. We wished him an early happy birthday & took in the frankly breathtaking views & larked about taking pictures (& oddly, starred in quite a lot of photos with a bunch of Asian tourists at their request). And then down we went, planning some fun for our final morning before we left the Big City.

This involved taking a guided tour of the Santa Marta favela; probably the most famous favela in Rio as it provided the setting for Michael Jackson’s ‘They don’t really care about us’ music video. The favela is huge, home to over 300,000 people, like a city within a city. We took the lift to the top & then walked down; our tour guide stopping to point out the first church, Michael Jackson square, & making time for some of our group to play football with some local kids. The favela is like houses on top of house on top of houses set into the hillside. The best views over Rio & the only place in the city where you can see Jesus looking down on you from the front. It’s difficult for me to find the right language to describe our experience here. I loved it, but is it patronising to describe it as humbling? But in a sense of course, it was. It certainly reminded me of my privilege to see how people live there. But is it insulting to assume that the residents there are less fortunate than myself? Less happy? Perhaps they are not. We all just live how we live & make the best of it. The people there were simply people; polite, friendly, welcoming, going about their business like you or I, taking care of their homes, kids playing in the street: just human. Very interesting & for me a real highlight. One of my main desires for this trip was to see how different people live around the world, experience different cultures & get some insight into humanity I guess. If anything it is excursions like this that make me realise that while we are all different, we are also all similar. Just people.

Unfortunately despite all these wonderful experiences - & they truly were wonderful - my time in Rio was somewhat blighted by a real cacophony of negative thoughts I was unable to shake. Feeling depressed is like a black cloud that settles over you & casts a shadow over everything you try & achieve. You can’t escape it, you just have to wait it out, which is horrible when you are trying valiantly to make the most of the travel opportunity of a lifetime. But what can you do? Try & appreciate as much as you can. Hannah got me started on something that I’m called the Positivity Project, where I make a list each day of ten things I am grateful for. Sometimes it can feel like everything is wrong but this is really helping me to see that even something that may seem trivial & meaningless to other people - or to yourself at less trying times - like eating a good, nourishing breakfast is in fact something, even a small something, that you can be positive about. In any case I feel it’s a small step in the right direction, to adjusting my ways of thinking, to helping me see good things when the dark cloud has taken residence.

After the tour we packed our things & headed off to where we are now: the Banana Leaf Eco Hostel in Guaratiba. This has been the best-timed change of location of all. We are surrounded by lush greenery, a beach just ten minutes away, a beautiful & comfortable hostel with a very welcoming host & his sweet daughter who have gone out of their way to make us feel so at home. On our first morning our breakfast was interrupted by a gaggle of marmosets who came to join us on the terrace & ate bits of banana out of our hands, which for me was truly magical. I have tried to restore a little routine into each day; making time for exercise, healthy food & art, interspersed with plenty of sunbathing & swimming in the pool, trying to rest & just trying to get myself right. It is working. I am feeling positive & grateful again. We celebrated Christmas here the Brazilian way: an epic feast at midnight on Christmas eve, surrounded by lots of local friends of Mark & Luna’s. We wore party hats & ate until late, roast things & local dishes, everything you could think of. 

Today however, was Christmas morning - as a South African, Mark also traditionally celebrates Christmas on the 25th so fully understood our excitement at breakfast as we ate fresh fruit & exchanged gifts. From Hannah: a bag of useful travel goodies including bite cream, facewipes, painkillers, plasters, & two ginormous bars of Galaxy chocolate & a package of English Breakfast tea. From Roxy: a tiny Nutcracker trinket box, purchased in Rio, as she knows that’s my favourite ballet & I’ve been listening to the music on repeat as I do every Christmas because it’s so delightful. I gifted them some fluffy alpaca socks & a painting respectively. I spoke to my brother & my mum & discussed my plans to go home, which made me really happy. We ate more delicious food & sunbathed & swam in the beautiful turquoise ocean in the late afternoon sun. It’s been my first ever Christmas away from my home & family & although inevitably that did make me a little emotional there are certainly worse ways I could have spent it. I’m now lying on a comfy sofa, writing this in the warm, listening to the sound of light jungle rain tap-tapping away outside. I can feel the dark cloud drifting away & I am feeling glad about lots of things. It’s been a lovely way to spend the holiday. 

[webpostingpro-blog]

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Internet's latest conspiracy theory: April the pregnant giraffe is just an April Fools' joke

It just can not be a coincidence that April the Giraffe, the invariably pregnant and viral video star, is called April and that April Fools’ Day is arising.

The net’s present day conspiracy concept regarding the upstate Big apple zoo’s giraffe and its a lot watched live stream of her very, very long pregnancy (she became due in mid-February and giraffes to gestate for about 15 months) is that it’s all a problematic April Fools’ funny story.

SEE Also: Humans are trolling the giraffe birth live stream through announcing giraffes lay eggs

With the pranksters’ excursion of April Fools speedy coming near, April the Giraffe can be a virtually long comic story that duped each person. Come on, study her; she appears to just be chilling — so do not bargain this as an epic prank yet.

Masses of hundreds of visitors have been looking the zoo’s live feeds day by day for weeks, so this will be a large prank in that case. This couldn’t just be an innocent #GiraffeWatch phenomenon.

Now not to say the Harpursville, The big apple-based totally Animal Adventure Park, which is closed for its has been raking it in. They now have sponsors — be aware the Toys R Us emblem on the lowest of the move. And the “discover ways to sponsor” button on their dedicated April the Giraffe website. Specific organizations are vying for a spot on the boring as hell spellbinding video that everybody is glued to.

The April Fools principle’s premise is simple: April isn’t pregnant. We have been looking this feed for nothing. April Fools! April definitely got you!

What Happens When a Wireless Home Security Camera Loses Its Internet Connection

  Ne of the principle concerns humans have with wi-fi home protection cameras is with the relationship. As you understand, internet connections can occasionally drop, and on the maximum inopportune times too. One of the maximum not unusual searches online is: my digital camera continues losing the connection. The biggest question humans then have is what happens next, once the relationship comes again. Well, the answer to that all relies upon on your cameras, the setup, and the reliability of your internet connection typical.

When the relationship Drops

Exclusive safety cameras have Distinctive alert features. If doubtful, test the alert options within the user guide. If you have not bought your safety cameras yet, preserve studying. There are a few matters you might need to appearance out for that notifies you of certain occasions that breach your safety possibilities. Any such is to send out an alert When the internet connection is misplaced.internet explorer

Common digicam alerts may consist of the subsequent three alternatives:

Movement detection-brought on by way of Motion (movement) within the digicam’s area of view (FOV) Power loss-digital camera must preserve to function on its backup batteries internet down-digicam must continue to record to its inner reminiscence (microSD card)

Concerning that remaining factor, the digital camera will best continue to record with a tool that has a continuous recording setup. In all the above scenarios, your camera security gadget should ship you a vehicle notification alert to inform you of these occasions. Observe-up indicators

With lost Energy and dropped net connections there need to be a 2nd alert. This time they tell you While the Electricity and the internet are lower back on and your device status returns to “working”. Now not all cameras provide the same capabilities though, so it is essential to test. With most safety cameras you furthermore might get to personalize the settings to suit your needs. You can have the option to turn signals on and rancid, alongside other things, so be sure to refer to your user manual for steerage.

WiFi Cameras that hold Losing Connection

If is irritating While a WiFi protection digicam maintains Losing its connection. Not only will signals bombard your SMS or email inbox, but you feel defenseless because your setup is not functioning as it should do. While checking your cameras you may probably see comparable status to these:

The Criminal Conspiracy To Increase Democrat Voters 100-Days Before 2016 Presidential Election

We all realize that crime is up inside the United states, so what does our splendid Teleprompter In Chief, President Obama, do? He we could 100s of thousands of humans out of jail. There is additionally some talk among Democrats to allow human beings in prison to vote, and ex-cons nevertheless on probation, parole or in half of-manner houses to vote. This they’d love to do via the use of a government order by the President, and if the Splendid Court docket says NO, it might be too past due, the one’s humans would have already voted in the 2016 Presidential Election, less than a hundred days away.

The current policies for former felons vote casting are this, quoted from a con-

Income voter agency; “Individuals convicted of a legal are ineligible to vote while incarcerated, on parole, or on probation. balloting rights are routinely restored two years after the final touch of all supervised launch (except if convicted of treason). Ex-offenders have to re-sign in to vote.”

There’s a piece of writing confirming Element I of the Democrat Plan to boom electorate, former prison inmates, who are anticipated to vote Democrat after being launched from prison early – published on August 3, 2016, in the U.S. Nowadays;

“Obama problems record-breaking 214 commutations,” with the aid of Gregory Korte which said: “Political scientist P.S. Ruckman Jr., who tracks pardon and conversation facts, stated it is the biggest one-day provider of commutations in history. The preceding report: July 26, 1935, while President Franklin Roosevelt issued 151 for immigration-related offenses.”

This seems to be a check to peer if the media selections up on it

If not the Obama Administration may go for a big block of releases. This fits in the Democrat Platform of racial profiling arrests and our historically large than maximum international locations jail population. There have already been big releases in California and different states, and wager what, crime is skyrocketing – and let’s not overlook the fanning of flames with riots and protests from the White Residence – those problems bring about criminal pastime, vandalism and civil unrest – which then proves their point that we’ve got race-relation problems – which yes had been created by way of the Democrats to keep their cycle of justification of awful behavior blaming the Republicans of direction – go discern?

Bernie Sanders at the campaign path has stated that those incarcerated should be allowed to vote, and Obama has stated the ones who’ve paid their because of society for his or her crimes ought to also be allowed to vote. All three, inclusive of Hillary Clinton, have said that we need to trade our crook justice legal guidelines and let tens of millions of American citizens (criminals) out of prison to walk unfastened amongst us. Think about where all that is actually going.

How to Tell A Great Golf Joke

Say your foursome involves a par three and there’s a backup – a 15 minute wait or so on a crowded path on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Say you’ve got tousled the ultimate hollow, or certainly one of your buddies is just now not playing his normal sport. Or, say you are just irritated at the imminent wait to tee off. Here’s how to inform a excellent funny story:

Loosen up and act confident. If you’re unsure your target audience will sense it. And If you act confident, you may be confident.

– Do not inform it in a monotone. Vary your voice and provide sound outcomes.

Tell the comic story with a grin, Do not in advance giggle – just keep a grin going.

Tell a tale shaggy dog story. Quick jokes Do not work too well to get out of a bad mood.

– Pause before the punchline.Wait at least one 2nd earlier than giving the punchline.

Here’s an example of the way to tell an extended golfing shaggy dog story.

John Daly walks right into a clubhouse bar and reads a signal that hangs over the bar:

Loose BEER!

Loose BEER FOR The person that CAN Skip THE Take a look at!

So John asks the bartender what the Take a look at is.

The bartender says, ‘properly, first you need to drink that entire gallon of pepper tequila, the entirety at once and also you can’t make a face while doing it. 2nd, there’s a ‘gator out lower back with a sore enamel… you have to take away it with your naked fingers. 0.33, there’s a girl up-stairs who’s in no way had an orgasm. You gotta make matters right for her.’

John says, ‘well, I’ve finished a few outrageous things in my existence, but as a whole lot as I would like Loose beer, I may not do it. you need to be nuts to drink a gallon of pepper tequila after which it gets crazier from there.’

nicely, as time goes on John drinks some, he asks, ‘Where at tee QE Elah?’ He grabs the gallon of pepper tequila with each fingers, and downs it with a massive slurp and tears are now streaming down his face.

Next, he staggers out lower back and shortly all the people internal pay attention the most horrifying grappling and thumping followed by way of a fierce roar, after which silence. John staggers lower back into the bar, his blouse is ripped to shreds and large scratches are all over his frame.

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Up near with the motoring legends of the car Driving Museum

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Up near with the motoring legends of the car Driving Museum

Just south of the Los Angeles International airport is a small however first rate car museum. the car Driving Museum is packed full of classic vehicles from during the 20th century.

                                 Driving Museum

Cars Games

Early cars like immaculately maintained Version Ts sit next to early V12 Packards and Pontiacs. Not like in lots of museums, you can get proper up to each vehicle. Best a handful of the motors takes a seat at the back of rope limitations. you can stroll all around them, although (sadly) you can’t get in them.

One of the principal ways the car Using Museum is distinctive is the motors sincerely run, and frequently. each week pick vehicles are to be had for rides on the open avenue.

The museum itself is basically just an unmarried open room, approximately the scale of a small plane hangar. It has a roughly clockwise development in time. Entering the primary area you’re greeted by turn-of-the-20th-century vehicles. Then slowly as you weave your manner thru them (or around the outdoor, in case you want) you meet the more aerodynamic vehicles of the past due the ’40s and ’50s. A painted mini street on the ground adds a chunk of flair.

Because of the many year’s growths, there are fewer automobiles. There are Most effective a handful each from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

One automobile I was surprised to see changed into a sixth-technology Mercury Colony Park station wagon, One of the epic land yachts of my teens. Anybody else has reminiscences from the turn-up seats within the returned of this type of significant boats?

although I didn’t have time at some stage in my visit to take a ride in any of the cars, they did pass a 1955 Packard that when belonged to actress Jean Peters, given to her by means of none other than Howard Hughes. It fired up loud and robust. At idle it had a deep, irritated rumble like there has been a % of Harleys below the hood.

There’s one room break away the rest of the museum, containing a handful of the most steeply-priced vehicles. Typically, they Best allow you to in with a decent. Inside there are even extra Packards, a Pierce-Arrow and a Stutz Monte Carlo with a leatherette outside.

Los Angeles has many splendid vehicle museums, just like the Petersen and the Nethercutt. the car Driving Museum is smaller, however cheaper, and can be finished in an afternoon. Honestly well worth checking out throughout per week while they’re demoing a car you like.

Lyon Air Museum – John Wayne Airport, Orange County

We recently decided to visit the Lyon Air Museum after reading that one of their planes can be doing a fly-over at the first Huntington Seashore Air Show this month. You can’t inform via the crowds that the museum has been open considering that 2009 – very empty on a stunning Saturday afternoon. We walked the minimal steps from the empty car parking zone to the front to the beat of forty’s generation music playing from outdoor speakers. After Coming into the front foyer and paying our entrance charge, we proceeded thru the double doorways into the museum. The Lyon Air Museum is the private collection of Primary General William Lyon, an adorned war veteran and a success Western U.S. Realty wealthy person. in case you’ve spent any time dwelling or working in Orange County, there may be a terrific danger you have been in a William Lyon built constructing. His museum series consists of WWII-generation planes, cars, and motorcycles for the most element. Docents are reachable from young pilots in schooling to embellished struggle vets. We discovered about certainly one of their docents on the line, Bob LaFramboise, a decorated helicopter pilot who specialized in downed pilot extraction in the course of the Vietnam conflict.

As we ambled via the big hangar we saw many perfectly restored airplanes which include an American Airlines DC-three, T-6 Texan, A-26 Invader, Cessna Birddog just like the one used by Danny Glover in the hit film, Bat*21 and a C-forty seven Dakota so one can be doing the fly-over at the airshow. Fantastic planes consist of a B-25 Mitchell just like the ones used in the famous Doolittle Raid over Tokyo and B-17 Flying Citadel that changed into used by General Dwight D. Eisenhower earlier than he has become President. The entire bottom of the hangar opens to the runways of John Wayne Airport. We stood in the doorway and listened to their air site visitors manage feed at the same time as looking helicopters and passenger planes take off and land. A 2nd story viewing deck spans the entire the front of the constructing and gives an ideal birds-eye view of the entire museum.

There are several historic vehicles and bikes on the Lyon Air Museum which includes some that have been as soon as owned by Steve McQueen (minus the ‘sixty-eight Bullitt Mustang) and a bullet-proof Mercedes that was used by Adolf Hitler. Nineteen-Thirties-technology cars include a V-16 Cadillac, Buick, Packard, and Mercedes-Benz. The gathering is bookended by using a fantastic Helms Bakery Truck and an exquisite 1929 Duesenberg, the automobile that coined the word for some thing one-of-a-kind or elite, “It is a Duesy”. Other navy motors encompass numerous Jeeps and vehicles. Particular motorcycles encompass a BMW sidecar, German 1/2-Music and Indian Chief, including one owned by way of Steve McQueen. Their most Particular is a Panther, additionally owned by using Steve McQueen, with a sidecar that resembles a traditional wood boat. Our docent said its introduction had something to do with an issue between Steve and his girlfriend. We’re going to go away the relaxation so that you can find out.

Driving Games

Different presentations of battle memorabilia include an impressive collection of warbird models, military swords, flags, uniforms, pilot helmets and greater. One show especially honors the ladies of WWII who worked inside the factories and the institution of woman pilots called WASP. “We will Do It” was their motto and that they did. on the ways cease of the hangar is a small movie theater that tasks a movie about the records of aviation. We spent about an hour to cover the museum without seeing the film but I can see spending greater time if you’re genuinely into military records or vintage cars. returned on the exit/front of the museum are restrooms and a pitcher curio cabinet that acts as a present save and is packed with aeronautical and patriotic souvenirs for purchase. Lyon Air Museum is positioned south of the fifty-five expressway on Baker Avenue. Power through Purple Hill to the end of Baker Road and enter the driveway to the left of the Lyon Air Museum signal. Observe that road (Ike Jones avenue) around the curve to the quit. The museum is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas from 10 am to 4 pm. Cost is Most effective $12/adults and $6/kids with extra reductions for veterans, seniors, companies and greater. Check their calendar for unique activities when aircraft walk-throughs are supplied or while personal events save you public access. We propose heading there quickly before it sincerely receives observed.

Yet Some other Museum in Italy

Few cars have established the reputation and records of Ferrari. Now, Ferrari is paying tribute to their legacy by commencing the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, Italy. The Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari opened on March 10, 2012, a bit over a month after Enzo’s February 18th birthday. at the same time as the museum itself did not open until March, the metropolis maximum truly commemorated his reminiscence well earlier than then. The creator of the famed automobiles that bore his call become born in Modena in 1898 and each year they honor his birth.

Entitled “The Origins of the myth,” this first exhibit possibly covers the early days of the automaker’s life. The museum itself is a bit of history, being built in the preserved, authentic home and workshop of Enzo. The roof of the museum is a lovely aluminum yellow “bonnet.” Ferrari lovers will recognize that yellow is the legit color of Modena and the color that Enzo chose As the history of the well-known Prancing Horse Ferrari emblem. The exhibition tells the tale of his existence as a fashion designer and racer during his heyday within the 1900’s. throughout that time he became the most important call in motorsports and won numerous races at the expert degree.

His original domestic already hosts a multimedia show chronicling his lifestyles. Ferrari’s motto was “if you could dream it, you can do it” and his existence pondered his pronouncing. To Enzo, the automobile was greater than just an automobile, it turned into a work of art that strived for perfection. He used the races as a trying out the floor for brand spanking new designs and technologies to further his quest for the appropriate Riding car.

Of path, no Ferrari museum will be entire without real Ferrari’s. The vehicles on display are gathered from the most prestigious collections and museums and may be displayed Because the works of artwork Enzo envisioned them the to be. Moreover, each automobile has its own exhibit complete with the unique documents, designs, and memorabilia from Enzo’s very own series. Modena, already rich with records and culture, welcomes the museum with open palms.

Smithsonian Museum

Similar to the cars it gives a home to, the museum itself is likewise a piece of art. It was designed through the famous Future Systems of London. The 54,000 rectangular foot facility may also host a conference room, records, a present save and of the path, an espresso shop. There are currently no plans to open a Ferrari dealership on the museum. All in all, the museum is a becoming and delightful tribute to the man who gave us One of the most extremely good cars ever made.

[randrvstheworld]

36 hours in Puno, the longest day & life aboard the emotional rollercoaster

Since my last post, I have spent a glorious day & a half in Puno, home of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca; survived 24 straight hours of travelling to Brazil, encompassing the world’s most long & boring layover in Lima airport, & now find myself, suffering acute loneliness & sadness in Rio, of all places.

Let’s start with Puno. The town itself is a bit of a shithole, riddled as it is with trash & mangy stray dogs & half finished buildings & piles of rubble in the street. It is, however, lively, truly a town that never sleeps. We arrived after a long bus journey, late afternoon 3 (? 4? I don’t know anymore) days ago, shattered, & managed a plate of noodles before promptly conking out. The next day was one of my favourites so far. We took an outrigger canoe - a kind of frankenboat hybrid of a catamaran, viking long boat & gondola - out across Lake Titicaca to the floating islands of Uros. It was a beautiful day, & the fantastic views & sunlight glittering off the water more than made up for the somewhat stagnant smell of the lake at the point of embarkation (it improved the further into the lake we rowed). The lake is surrounded on all sides by undulating mountains, & is smattered with thickets of reeds & other small islands, populated by llamas. The sky was a perfect blue & peppered with fluffy looking clouds. The lake itself is home to many different types of birds, including some blue-beaked breed of duck that constantly dives underwater for fish - if only I had David Attenborough on constant hand to help me identify all these exotic kinds of wildlife. They were not mallards. And that is officially as far as my knowledge of different types of duck extends.

So we rowed, across the vast lake, as I half hoped, half dreaded seeing a human hand bobbing about below the surface. A fascination with mafia movies has left me with the assumption that all lakes are secretly riddled with dead bodies rolled up in Persian rugs. But alas - or perhaps, gratefully - my day was free of macabre underwater discoveries. We rowed for about 45 minutes out into the lake to the floating community of Islas de los Uros - a collection of man-made islands that host many indigenous people, who have lived in communities such as these, completely self-sufficiently, for hundreds of years. We visited one small island where we met a delightful native woman named Melina who explained, with the help of a translator as on the islands the people still speak indigenous languages & not Spanish, how the islands are made. Basically they harvest the big blocks of roots from the water reeds, poke sticks through the middle of each one & then lash them together. Then begins the constant process of laying dry reeds over the top & tamping them down. People are invited for sports days when new islands are built as the constant running around of people playing football - what else - helps flatten & compress the reeds. All the houses on the islands are built of reeds also. If you argue with your neighbours you simply saw their bit of the island off & watch them float away. We thought she was joking til she whopped out her island-cutting saw, a ginormous serrated sword specifically for the purpose of separating unsavoury characters from your island. LOL. That’ll teach you to steal my tupperware, Barbara! If only such tactics could be employed back home. I’ve definitely lived with a few people who could do with having their rooms sawn away from the rest of the flat.

People get around from island to island on these amazing boats, shaped like giant bananas, also made out of reeds. Reeds are top currency in Uros basically. The whole island network is run on solar power as obviously you can’t start fires when your house & garden is made of dry grass. They rely solely on tourism for income & make fabulous textiles by hand, from which I bought a cute piece of home decor as Melina was very hospitable, inviting us into her home & letting us try on her traditional clothes, & I felt it my duty as a traveller to give something back to her community by purchasing some handicrafts. Trying on her clothes was one of my favourite bits  - I got a beautifully embroidered felt jacket with puffy sleeves, an incredibly heavy layered felt skirt, a straw hat, & a string of pom-poms that were strewn around my neck but would traditionally worn at the end of long braids. I got decked out in extremely bright colours because I am single - when a woman gets married she is relegated to dark, sombre shades of brown & black & grey which I found quite sad but also interesting as it clearly a reflection of the natural world where animals display colourful patterns etc in order to attract a mate.

In the evening, happily, we were able to reunite with Nick & Merc again who were also in Lake Titicaca as part of their ongoing quest to seemingly stalk me around South America - not that I’m complaining. I know I have waxed lyrical about this before but I enjoy their company so much; every time we meet we have a fantastic time, sharing stories & playing cards & laughing our asses off & I always leave in a great mood, nattering on to Roxy and/or Lucy about how cool they are & how happy I am that we have met. We traded some movies off our respective hard-drives & made plans for film nights back in London when we are all eventually back there. I honestly can’t wait to see them again.

The next day it was up at the frankly gruesome hour of 4am for the first of our two flights of the day, from Juliaca (the closest airport to Puno) to Lima, whereby we suffered through a soul-destroying 12 hour layover before boarding our night flight to Rio. At first it was quite fun because I like airports & enjoy the challenge of seeing how long I can eke out the consumption of a single overpriced muffin at an airport cafe in order to exploit their free wifi. I have also never been in an airport so close to Christmas & it was utterly teeming with people, going to & from their homes for the holidays. The novelty of the airport having worn off quite quickly I decided to kill some time watching a movie, & to make the most of a new film obtained from Nick & Merc, & in an attempt to imbue myself with some festive spirit I decided to watch Love Actually, & that’s when my mood took a sudden & unexpected nosedive & I fell head-first into a deep well of sadness that I am struggling to extricate myself from. It was all the footage of people greeting their loved ones at the airport, followed by live-action viewing of actual real life people greeting their loved ones at the actual real life airport with balloons & banners & bouquets that set me off. I felt so lonely I cried for about half an hour. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that all of my family are having a lovely time in Devon, with a beautifully decorated tree & an excitable dog & I suddenly needed a mum-hug so badly that I couldn’t stand it. We boarded our flight that thanks to time-difference saw us land at what was the equivalent of 3am & I was jet-lagged & sweaty & depressed. We eventually arrived at our hostel this morning & I have spent the day intermittently napping, fretting about money, crying & feeling generally miserable.

Here’s the thing about travelling - everyone you talk to constantly bangs on about how awesome it is that if you feel sad whilst travelling it is almost like you can’t admit t to anyone. It has been my dream for so long to see the world & I planned & I saved & I quit my job but the truth of the matter is it is exhausting, physically & emotionally, & lonely as fuck. The upsides are epic & the things I have seen & experienced fantastic but, it is also the most depressed I have felt in many years; my mental well-being does not do well with a lack of stability & although not especially exciting, my life in London was pretty fulfilling - my job wasn’t the best but I have a wonderful, supportive network of friends there & had finally achieved a balance of finding plenty of time in-between work for all the things that make me happy, like dancing & art. This trip has really made me question myself & things that I thought I knew & perhaps it was naive of me to think that travelling would automatically make me a happy person. It’s crushing to realise that even when I am seeing & experiencing wonderful things that it’s a constant effort to keep the negative thoughts at bay. And I feel guilty for even thinking these things because I don’t want to waste the opportunity that so many people would kill for, or that I have dreamed of for so long, & I certainly don’t want to look back on it & think, ‘oh yeah that was that mountain I went up when I felt fucking miserable’. But no one talks about it, which along with the separation from your friends & family, only contributes to your feelings of intense loneliness. Lucy has been a source of great comfort during these periods of sadness; I have been talking to her a lot as I really feel she truly understands what I’m going through, she said she experienced similar feelings when she was in Asia. I don’t regret coming & would still describe it as the time of my life but the truth is that travelling is an emotional rollercoaster & I am really not finding it easy. I feel like maybe to travel for this long on my first trip was perhaps a slightly overly-ambitious plan. I may have found it easier starting off with a small chunk of say, 3 months & working up from there. For this reason, I am not sad about the prospect of coming home sooner than anticipated. I can always plan & go on more trips but I want these feelings to go away, I need a break from them more than I need to continue travelling for as long as possible in this moment. I have achieved so much of what I set out to do & this makes me happy, but I truly feel like I need a break in which to restore myself. I need love & nurturing & familiarity, at least for a while before I can set off again.

As always during trying times, my mum is truly there for me & I am more grateful for her constant support than I will ever be able to truly express. Hannah also arrives tomorrow & I know it will be so great for my soul to see my best friend. Ultimately, this too shall pass & I do know that; but whenever things aren’t great it always makes being away from home so much harder. It is a real test of my mettle to get through these periods & I know in the long run it will make me a stronger & more capable person so that’s what I’m trying to focus on. 

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New Post has been published on Webpostingpro

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Internet's latest conspiracy theory: April the pregnant giraffe is just an April Fools' joke

It just can not be a coincidence that April the Giraffe, the invariably pregnant and viral video star, is called April and that April Fools’ Day is arising.

The net’s present day conspiracy concept regarding the upstate Big apple zoo’s giraffe and its a lot watched live stream of her very, very long pregnancy (she became due in mid-February and giraffes to gestate for about 15 months) is that it’s all a problematic April Fools’ funny story.

SEE Also: Humans are trolling the giraffe birth live stream through announcing giraffes lay eggs

With the pranksters’ excursion of April Fools speedy coming near, April the Giraffe can be a virtually long comic story that duped each person. Come on, study her; she appears to just be chilling — so do not bargain this as an epic prank yet.

Masses of hundreds of visitors have been looking the zoo’s live feeds day by day for weeks, so this will be a large prank in that case. This couldn’t just be an innocent #GiraffeWatch phenomenon.

Now not to say the Harpursville, The big apple-based totally Animal Adventure Park, which is closed for its has been raking it in. They now have sponsors — be aware the Toys R Us emblem on the lowest of the move. And the “discover ways to sponsor” button on their dedicated April the Giraffe website. Specific organizations are vying for a spot on the boring as hell spellbinding video that everybody is glued to.

The April Fools principle’s premise is simple: April isn’t pregnant. We have been looking this feed for nothing. April Fools! April definitely got you!

What Happens When a Wireless Home Security Camera Loses Its Internet Connection

  Ne of the principle concerns humans have with wi-fi home protection cameras is with the relationship. As you understand, internet connections can occasionally drop, and on the maximum inopportune times too. One of the maximum not unusual searches online is: my digital camera continues losing the connection. The biggest question humans then have is what happens next, once the relationship comes again. Well, the answer to that all relies upon on your cameras, the setup, and the reliability of your internet connection typical.

When the relationship Drops

Exclusive safety cameras have Distinctive alert features. If doubtful, test the alert options within the user guide. If you have not bought your safety cameras yet, preserve studying. There are a few matters you might need to appearance out for that notifies you of certain occasions that breach your safety possibilities. Any such is to send out an alert When the internet connection is misplaced.internet explorer

Common digicam alerts may consist of the subsequent three alternatives:

Movement detection-brought on by way of Motion (movement) within the digicam’s area of view (FOV) Power loss-digital camera must preserve to function on its backup batteries internet down-digicam must continue to record to its inner reminiscence (microSD card)

Concerning that remaining factor, the digital camera will best continue to record with a tool that has a continuous recording setup. In all the above scenarios, your camera security gadget should ship you a vehicle notification alert to inform you of these occasions. Observe-up indicators

With lost Energy and dropped net connections there need to be a 2nd alert. This time they tell you While the Electricity and the internet are lower back on and your device status returns to “working”. Now not all cameras provide the same capabilities though, so it is essential to test. With most safety cameras you furthermore might get to personalize the settings to suit your needs. You can have the option to turn signals on and rancid, alongside other things, so be sure to refer to your user manual for steerage.

WiFi Cameras that hold Losing Connection

If is irritating While a WiFi protection digicam maintains Losing its connection. Not only will signals bombard your SMS or email inbox, but you feel defenseless because your setup is not functioning as it should do. While checking your cameras you may probably see comparable status to these:

The Criminal Conspiracy To Increase Democrat Voters 100-Days Before 2016 Presidential Election

We all realize that crime is up inside the United states, so what does our splendid Teleprompter In Chief, President Obama, do? He we could 100s of thousands of humans out of jail. There is additionally some talk among Democrats to allow human beings in prison to vote, and ex-cons nevertheless on probation, parole or in half of-manner houses to vote. This they’d love to do via the use of a government order by the President, and if the Splendid Court docket says NO, it might be too past due, the one’s humans would have already voted in the 2016 Presidential Election, less than a hundred days away.

The current policies for former felons vote casting are this, quoted from a con-

Income voter agency; “Individuals convicted of a legal are ineligible to vote while incarcerated, on parole, or on probation. balloting rights are routinely restored two years after the final touch of all supervised launch (except if convicted of treason). Ex-offenders have to re-sign in to vote.”

There’s a piece of writing confirming Element I of the Democrat Plan to boom electorate, former prison inmates, who are anticipated to vote Democrat after being launched from prison early – published on August 3, 2016, in the U.S. Nowadays;

“Obama problems record-breaking 214 commutations,” with the aid of Gregory Korte which said: “Political scientist P.S. Ruckman Jr., who tracks pardon and conversation facts, stated it is the biggest one-day provider of commutations in history. The preceding report: July 26, 1935, while President Franklin Roosevelt issued 151 for immigration-related offenses.”

This seems to be a check to peer if the media selections up on it

If not the Obama Administration may go for a big block of releases. This fits in the Democrat Platform of racial profiling arrests and our historically large than maximum international locations jail population. There have already been big releases in California and different states, and wager what, crime is skyrocketing – and let’s not overlook the fanning of flames with riots and protests from the White Residence – those problems bring about criminal pastime, vandalism and civil unrest – which then proves their point that we’ve got race-relation problems – which yes had been created by way of the Democrats to keep their cycle of justification of awful behavior blaming the Republicans of direction – go discern?

Bernie Sanders at the campaign path has stated that those incarcerated should be allowed to vote, and Obama has stated the ones who’ve paid their because of society for his or her crimes ought to also be allowed to vote. All three, inclusive of Hillary Clinton, have said that we need to trade our crook justice legal guidelines and let tens of millions of American citizens (criminals) out of prison to walk unfastened amongst us. Think about where all that is actually going.

How to Tell A Great Golf Joke

Say your foursome involves a par three and there’s a backup – a 15 minute wait or so on a crowded path on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Say you’ve got tousled the ultimate hollow, or certainly one of your buddies is just now not playing his normal sport. Or, say you are just irritated at the imminent wait to tee off. Here’s how to inform a excellent funny story:

Loosen up and act confident. If you’re unsure your target audience will sense it. And If you act confident, you may be confident.

– Do not inform it in a monotone. Vary your voice and provide sound outcomes.

Tell the comic story with a grin, Do not in advance giggle – just keep a grin going.

Tell a tale shaggy dog story. Quick jokes Do not work too well to get out of a bad mood.

– Pause before the punchline.Wait at least one 2nd earlier than giving the punchline.

Here’s an example of the way to tell an extended golfing shaggy dog story.

John Daly walks right into a clubhouse bar and reads a signal that hangs over the bar:

Loose BEER!

Loose BEER FOR The person that CAN Skip THE Take a look at!

So John asks the bartender what the Take a look at is.

The bartender says, ‘properly, first you need to drink that entire gallon of pepper tequila, the entirety at once and also you can’t make a face while doing it. 2nd, there’s a ‘gator out lower back with a sore enamel… you have to take away it with your naked fingers. 0.33, there’s a girl up-stairs who’s in no way had an orgasm. You gotta make matters right for her.’

John says, ‘well, I’ve finished a few outrageous things in my existence, but as a whole lot as I would like Loose beer, I may not do it. you need to be nuts to drink a gallon of pepper tequila after which it gets crazier from there.’

nicely, as time goes on John drinks some, he asks, ‘Where at tee QE Elah?’ He grabs the gallon of pepper tequila with each fingers, and downs it with a massive slurp and tears are now streaming down his face.

Next, he staggers out lower back and shortly all the people internal pay attention the most horrifying grappling and thumping followed by way of a fierce roar, after which silence. John staggers lower back into the bar, his blouse is ripped to shreds and large scratches are all over his frame.