#entering my AOS era for sure

[existentialcrisistime]

it's him! Spock!

based on that one 2007 screen test photo I fell in love with // watercolour on paper

[affixjoy]

Today I continued my Star Trek journey by rewatching Star Trek (2009) and boy howdy do I have some thoughts.

So first off, I saw this for the first time when I came out in 2009. It wasn’t my first experience with Star Trek, but it was probably my first with Kirk and Spock and that gang. I remember liking it a lot.

Now that I’ve watched all of TOS and a few of the movies with the original cast my feelings are a little more complicated.

Overall, fun movie! I imagine they had to have felt the weight of recasting and redoing such iconic characters, and in a lot of ways they succeeded. It certainly got younger people like me interested in the franchise!

💫 Spock: I do love this version of him. His “live long and prosper” to the VSA is perfectly bitchy and I’m obsessed with it.

💫BONES!! if you’ve read any of my other posts you’ll know that somehow Bones snuck up on me as my favorite character. I love his intro here, and I think Karl Urban gets the tone just right. This really is a buffet for the McKirkers out there, I can see how this led to 1000 academy era fics of them.

💫Kirk: oh Jim. Jimmy Jim Jim. Baby boy. What are you doing. How did being played by Chris Pine (who is incredibly hot) make you LESS attractive??

Obviously this Kirk suffers from some Kirk drift and the added trauma of losing his dad. He’s so much angrier, so much less sweet and nerdy. Rewatching this now I can see why I was so hesitant to like him in TOS because he’s a lot less lovable here.

💫 I get it’s an emergency and they had to for plot reasons, but almost all of Pike’s staffing choices make no sense. Sure, Spock as acting captain, I get that. But everyone else?? Imagine being one of the other people there who has been with starfleet for years and seeing him hand Kirk the role of first officer. The ship can’t be entirely cadets can it?? Imagine the group texts going around after like “thank god he didn’t die because I really need to bitch about this.”

💫 I love all three Uhuras (tos, aos, and snw) and I get why they made her Spock’s love interest here because they’ve got fun chemistry! They have a lot in common, they’re both hot and smart, I get it. But cmon guys, that man is a 6 on the Kinsey scale. You keep pairing him with women and it doesn’t work.

💫 I feel like they worked in lots of little references to classic trek, from plot stuff to smaller details like when Spock enters from the turbolift at the end in a very TMP way. I love that, it makes me feel like the people making the movie really care about the stories and the characters. When Spock Prime says good luck I felt all the weight of his relationship with his Jim and how it changed him. So lovely and touching.

And just how close they made Kirk and Spock stand, especially towards the end of the movie. They were always glued to each other in TOS and JJ must have known us Spirk shippers needed something to latch on to 😅

💫 There’s too much action in this movie for me. We didn’t need to see Scotty beamed into the water tank. The best sf stuff is always story based, I don’t need extravagant fights and cgi shit. I’m sure there are people who watch science fiction for the spectacle but I’m here for the ideas and the feelings.

💫 goddddd everything with Vulcan and losing Amanda. Rip all our hearts out why don’t you. Spock’s mom dying is just heartbreaking. I know they had to lose someone we knew to make the destruction of the planet more real to us as viewers but so crushing to see it.

💫 Old Spock 😭😭😭

He knows right away who Jim is and expects that Jim found him on purpose.

Old Spock just launched right in to the mind meld huh. To me this really says that he and his Jim are on very casual mind meld terms and he’s not fully understanding that this Jim is not his Jim.

Think about how fucking weird all this must be for old Spock. How heartbreakingly strange it would be so see a young version of your husband and send him to a young version of yourself. Meeting all your old friends young selves, years after you’ve lost them all.

And from here out it’s just miscellaneous thoughts I jotted down while watching that don’t fit great anywhere else:

⭐️I love when the redshirt is so excited to get the Romulans and Kirk gets this look like… that’s why you’re here? Dude the battle not the appeal here. A nice glimpse of how this Kirk is similar at heart to TOS Kirk.

⭐️Love you Sulu and your fencing skills

⭐️I love when they stop the lift for emotional reasons.

⭐️“Our destinies have changed” goddddd great speech Spock

⭐️Jim has the look of a man who is frequently escorted places by security

⭐️Spock wants to break Kirk so bad 😂

⭐️When Jim slaps Spock’s back and Spock has a look of “I think that just awakened something in me.”

⭐️Spock you’re calling him Jim already? You slut. (Delighted, affectionate)

Overall I think it’s a fun movie but it misses a lot of what’s at the heart of the classic Trek I love. They try to do everything too fast and it just doesn’t work as well for me. I’m excited to rewatch the next two and see how these versions of the characters change!

[crystal-mouse]

hiii! :) ❌, 🖊️, 📚 for the ask game!

Hihi!!

❌ One storyline/plot point that you hate from your favourite ST show/movie. 

hmmm if I had to pick a storyline that I really didn't enjoy (and not that this is my favourite show but I can't think of another atm)- I'd probably choose ENT s3 (aka the 9/11 plotline) I mean other than the obvious reasons why its not a good storyline, I don't really like it because the way the crew deals with the entire situation (especially considering they're meant to be in entering utopia era mindset??) and IMO goes against everything trek is about.

In particular, there's an episode where Archer imprints on the Insectoid children and wants to not kill them, but then everyone on the crew says hey let's do that!?? It really destroys any connection you have with the characters because, aside from the fact they've just killed innocents (who were children)!! surely sparing their lives and helping them would prove to the Xindi that humanity isn't going to actively end their home world and maybe their information was wrong and they had nothing quantifiable to fear?? ANYWAY yeah. Don't like that plotline.

🖊️ Do you have a favourite quote from ST?

I think the one that sticks out to me is probably Jim's monologue to Edith Keeler in City on the Edge of Forever (and also Spock's "I am and always shall be yours" and Chekov's "could you tell me where the nuclear wessels are?")

also "Live Long and Prosper (a contained 'fuck you')" and "I am expressing multiple attitudes simultaneously sir, to which are you referring?" deserve mentions from the AOS series because they are too funny to exclude.

📚 Favourite ST fic you've read.

this is really tough to pick (I have 1601 spirk fics bookmarked) but Echolation by Darksknight is one of my earlier spirk bookmarks I have reread a few times and it still cracks me up!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11697684

Thanks for the ask!!

[marcelllyn]

Sleepover.

Sinopse: Você é uma babá que foi contratada para ajudar Dean a cuidar de sua irmã em uma festa do pijama.

Advertências: Nenhuma.

It has not been reviewed. !!!

English is not my first language

(Não sei até que ponto isso será mediano, afinal isso parece mais um teste do que uma história.)

 You pressed the doorbell more than three times. With a bag full of sweets and snacks that the customer's mother had asked to buy, thrown between her legs.

  It wasn't the first time you would babysit, but this time it was a little different, helping Dean, the boy you had a crush on since the moment he came to Stars Hollow, take care of his little sister at a party. pajamas. This was totally different from taking care of some babies when the mother just wanted to go to the movies or get her hair done.

  The door finally opened, a little girl opened the door with a smile from ear to ear, she had beautiful blue eyes.

— Are you the nanny? — He said, looking at the bag of goodies.

— Yes. — Picks up the bag from the floor. —Clara, isn't it?

— Yes, you can put the bag in the kitchen.

  The girl made room for you to pass. When he entered the house, the smell of cookies made his stomach growl.

— Clear! — The same voice that contacted you on the phone appeared. — Has the nanny arrived yet? — The lady, who was probably Clara's mother, wiped her hands on her teddy bear apron. — Always punctual like this? — He smiled.

  You returned the smile and went to place the bag on the kitchen counter.

— Well, I'll be leaving in thirty minutes, enough time to tidy things up until the girls arrive. She looked through the bag, making sure everything ordered was there.

— Bacon was missing on the market. — You scored.

— I noticed. — He smiled. — Let's follow the rules, no drinks, cigarettes or any type of drugs. The girls must be in bed at eleven o'clock sharp and preferably with their teeth brushed, no violent films. Let Clara choose the songs. Dean will help you with most things.

  Listening carefully to everything and nodding your head, you just smiled a fake smile.

- I understood. Before I start helping you pack your things, can you show me where the bathroom is?

— Claro, querido, é só subir.

Enquanto subia as escadas apressadamente, Clara ligou Oops!… I Did It Again, de Britney Spears. Você podia ver seu bom gosto.

Assim que chegou lá em cima, caminhou pelo corredor cheio de fotos de família, bebês e algumas paisagens de Chicago. As quatro portas estavam fechadas e, além da porta branca cheia de brilho, com um unicórnio desenhado, não havia como saber qual era o banheiro.

Seguindo sua intuição, resolveu abrir a porta do final do corredor, pensando que talvez fosse como a maioria das casas daquela rua.

Girando a maçaneta, seus olhos se arregalaram ao ver Dean arrumando o cabelo sem camisa. Você deveria ter fechado a porta rapidamente, mas ficou ali parado, imóvel como uma estátua.

Seu olhar encontrou o dele, o que fez seu transe passar, sentindo suas bochechas pegarem fogo. Ele era tão alto, bonito, cheirava tão bem e muito alto.

— Sorry. — You closed the door tightly.

Suddenly, you wonder what you wanted to do going up the stairs. Dean and you weren't complete strangers, you saw each other at the market where he worked, at school and sometimes you did group work together. But they were never one to talk about outside of those same places.

— Hey? — He smiled that damn pretty smile. —Are you looking for something?

Você não percebeu que estava parado na frente da porta dele sem dar um passo para frente ou para trás.

— Yes. — You said, looking into his eyes.

A silence fell between the two.

— And what would it be? - He laughed.

Você teve vontade de bater a cabeça na parede algumas vezes por agir como uma idiota na frente dele.

— The bathroom.

— It's right there. — He pointed to the door next to Clara's room. — Are you the nanny my mother hired? I imagined it would be some fifty-year-old lady.

— I think they're busy watching the newspaper at this time.

- Probably. — He looked you up and down. — Did you wear jeans to a slumber party?

— I don't have any decent pajama pants.

— You can take a pair of my sweatpants if you want, it's going to be hell to wear those jeans all night.

— That would be very kind of you.

It was true, sitting all night in those tight jeans would be a nightmare.

Clara's quick, heavy footsteps appeared on the stairs.

— Mom just left, she asked the two of them to go down. — She looked sadly at her brother. — Dean, why haven't any of my friends arrived yet?

— They must be late. — He entered the room and came back with black sweatpants.

Dean piscou para você e seguiu a irmã escada abaixo. Não havia mais tempo para ficar paralisado pela beleza daquele menino. Você foi ao banheiro e vestiu uma calça de moletom preta que, apesar de não ser muito larga na cintura, ficou grande demais nas pernas. Ter que dobrar a barra da calça quatro vezes.

Descendo as escadas o mais rápido possível, ele se deparou com Clara aos prantos, abraçada pelo irmão.

— They will arrive soon. — Dean said as he patted the poor girl's head.

O som da campainha dá um pouco de esperança, a menina sai dos braços do irmão, enxugando as lágrimas no moletom rosa.

— I open the door. — You say trying to sound helpful.

Quando ele abriu a porta, apenas uma menina com cabelos cacheados presos em um rabo de cavalo estava parada na porta. Os pais sorriram brevemente antes de jogar as duas sacolas da menina em suas mãos.

—Letty! — Clara screamed, jumping into her friend's arms.

— Why do children's parents check in on them if they don't come? — Dean snorted.

— Maybe they just like making other kids sad, like sadists.

Dean deu uma risada longa e sincera.

— You are so strange. — His face fell as soon as he said that. — It was not an insult.

— Dean! Come put Sleeping Beauty on television! — The girls screamed.

Ele foi, enquanto você colocava os sucos nos copos, a pipoca na bacia e os biscoitos fresquinhos no prato.

— Who is your favorite prince?

Seu corpo ficou chocado com a presença repentina dele.

— I don't know, maybe the prince from Sleeping Beauty? — He picked up the plate of cookies. — It’s just that he knows…

— To dance. — He interrupted. — My sister says that this is the best quality in a prince, knowing how to dance.

— Eu ia dizer porque ele é o mais lindo de todos e rico, mas claro que dançar faz uma grande diferença.

Vocês levaram a comida e as bebidas para a sala e sentaram-se um ao lado do outro. As duas garotas ficaram viciadas no filme. E você está obcecado pelo garoto mais lindo de Stars Hollow. Observando como ele estava lindo, prestando atenção no filme.

— I think your mother will think hiring me was a waste of money, you would be able to deal well with both of them.

— But at least I have great company. — He said with a smile on his face.

Você sorriu com o sorriso dele. À medida que o filme avançava, seus olhos ficavam cada vez mais pesados. De repente, sua cabeça estava apoiada no ombro dele enquanto você dormia pacificamente.

Okay, that wasn't the best story I've ever written. But it was something brief and quick just for me to learn how to post it here.

[ourotakuparadise]

Penguin Family

Hello @bnhathotbitch​! Here’s the little scenario of when I commented on your blog! Hope you have fun, I even had fun writing!

Warning: Fluffy, swearing (Has Bakugou, expected what?)

……..🐧……..

Era um final de semana tranquilo nos dormitórios, ou quase…

Isso até eles ouvirem um estranho som do lado de fora e quase toda a classe correu para fora para encontrar uma construção de gelo que lembrava um tanque que cobria metade da área livre do jardim sem obstruir a passagem do jardim até a entrada principal do dormitório. Saindo eles avistam Todoroki e você usando sua peculiaridade de hidrocinese para encher o tanque.

“Oh! Oi pessoal!” – Você cumprimentou com um sorriso.

“Mas o que é isso?” – Midoriya perguntou confuso.

“Depois de pedir autorização ao Aizawa-Sensei, pedi ajuda para Todoroki construir esse tanque.” – Você respondeu ainda sorrindo.

“Mas porque precisa disso?” – Jirou pergunta confusa.

Você apenas sorriu e pegou um apito que estava pendurado em um cordão do seu pescoço e apitou.

“Happy! Hora de nadar!” – você disse alegremente enquanto entrava na sala.

Eles ouvem um grito, ou melhor, um grasno de algum pássaro. Na sala comunal havia um pinguim andando por aí sem se importar com os olhares dos demais, enquanto a ave alegremente corria para fora indo para o jardim e sem hesitar correu até Todoroki e o pinguim se aninhava esfregando-se na perna direita do rapaz de olhos heterocromáticos e cabelos bicolores, que não se incomodava com a demonstração de afeto do animal.

“Todoroki… Tem um…” – Kaminari tentou falar com o colega de classe.

“Sim, eu sei.” – Todoroki respondeu calmamente enquanto era seguido pelo pinguim até ele se agachar um pouco e pegou o pinguim para colocá-lo dentro da água.

A ave grasnou feliz antes de começar a nadar nunca saindo perto de Todoroki e você deu uma risadinha abafada.

“Só uma pergunta Todoroki… Porque você tem um pinguim?” – Sero perguntou completamente confuso.

“Esse pinguim é o mascote de (Nome).” – Todoroki respondeu.

“O que?!” – quase todo o resto da classe gritou surpreendidos.

“Isso é sério?” – Sero perguntou espantado.

“Isso explica a cozinha ter um frigorífico só com peixe…” – Satou comentou se lembrando que a cozinha tinha um frigorífico com incontáveis quantidades em quilos de vários tipos de peixe.

“Esse pinguim é seu?!” – Kirishima perguntou espantado.

“Sim! O nome é Happy! Happy, diga oi!” – Você disse rindo e bateu a mão na água algumas vezes e apitou duas vezes.

Percebendo seu comando o pinguim quase de imediato nadou antes de subir desajeitadamente na pequena plataforma de gelo perto da margem do tanque ao reconhecer sua voz e grasnava feliz enquanto ia até você deu um carinho no topo da cabeça dele. Happy carinhosamente segurou seu dedo mindinho com o bico. As garotas acharam terrivelmente adorável.

“PORQUE VOCÊ TEM UMA MERDA DE PINGUIM?!” – Bakugou gritou, irritado como sempre.

“Ei! Não fale assim! Happy é um pinguim amoroso e controle seu linguajar, não quero esse tipo de ambiente perto do meu fofo floquinho de felicidade.” – você reclamou fazendo beicinho antes de sorrir para seu pinguim.

Foi então que você ouviu seu telefone tocar e quando viu era o despertador escrito “Happy 🐧🐟🍽”. Esse era um dos despertadores para te lembrar dos horários da alimentação de Happy.

“Shou, você pode ficar de olho no Happy? Preciso buscar a comida dele.” – Você pediu gentilmente, embora já soubesse a resposta.

“Claro.” – ele respondeu calmamente.

Você saiu e foi atrás da comida de seu amado pinguim, dizendo que seus amigos podiam chegar perto do pinguim com Todoroki monitorando.

Não foram todos que se aproximaram, apenas as meninas e alguns rapazes como Modoriya, Kaminari e Kirishima.

“Todoroki! A quanto tempo você sabia que (Nome) tinha um pinguim de estimação?” – Mina perguntou excitada enquanto admira a ave nadando.

“Logo depois que começamos a namorar.” – ele respondeu e logo seus olhos pousaram no pinguim – “Happy, nem pense nisso.” – seu tom de voz foi repreensivo quando notou o que o pinguim estava prestes a fazer.

A ave aquática estava de pé na plataforma de gelo e o pinguim pronto para bicar a orelha de um Kaminari distraído e desavisado, Todoroki sabia do mal habito que o pinguim de (Nome) tinha a respeito de bicar as pessoas que acabara de conhecer.

Happy grasnou parecendo estar emburrado e Todoroki suspirou cansado. Isso chegou a acontecer algumas vezes com ele quando soube de Happy, mas não durou mais que duas semanas, ainda sim ele não pretendia permitir que o pinguim fizesse o que queria.

“Não, você sabe que é errado. Não pode simplesmente bicar as pessoas só porque quer.” – ele repreendeu o pinguim.

Alguns não puderam evitar a risada em ver Todoroki repreendendo Happy como se fosse seu filho, era fofo e engraçado até certo ponto. Depois de repreender o pinguim por mais algum tempo, Happy caminhou até Todoroki e se aninhou do lado direito do rapaz de cabelos bicolores, como Happy admitisse que o que iria fazer a Kaminari era errado.

“Happy realmente gosta de você.” – Uraraka disse rindo achando a cena fofa.

“Acho que Happy gosta mais do lado direito de Todoroki, até agora eu não vi Happy se aninhando do lado esquerdo do nosso amigo aqui.” – Kaminari fez uma brincadeira, o que era verdade.

Você logo voltou com um balde com gelo recheado de peixe, interagindo com seu adorável Happy enquanto Todoroki permanecia ao seu lado. Como uma bolha envolvendo vocês três criando seu próprio mundo. Sinceramente, a partir desse dia o trio foi chamado carinhosamente de Família Pinguim.

……..🐧……..

It was a quiet weekend in the dorms, or almost … That was until they heard a strange sound outside and almost the whole class rushed outside to find an ice building that resembled a tank that covered half the free garden area without obstructing the garden passageway to the main entrance to the dormitory. On their way out they spot Todoroki and you using your hydrokinesis quirk to fill the tank. “Oh! Hi guys! ”- You greeted with a smile. “But what is this?” - Midoriya asked confused. “After asking Aizawa-Sensei for permission, I asked Todoroki for help building this tank.” - You answered still smiling. “But why do you need this?” - Jirou asks confused. You just smiled and caught a whistle that hung on a cord around your neck and blew it. “Happy! Time to swim! ”- you said happily as you entered the room. They hear a scream, or rather a quack of some bird. In the common room there was a penguin walking around without regard for the eyes of the others, while the bird happily ran out into the garden and without hesitation ran to Todoroki and the penguin nestled rubbing itself on the right leg of the haired boy bicolor that did not bother with the show of affection of the animal. “Todoroki … There’s a …” - Kaminari tried to talk to her classmate. “Yeah, I know.” - Todoroki answered calmly as he was followed by the penguin until he crouched a little and took the penguin to put it in the water. The bird croaked happily before it started swimming, never leaving near Todoroki and you chuckled. “Just a question Todoroki … Why do you have a penguin?” - Sero asked completely confused. “This penguin is (Name)’s mascot.” - Todoroki replied. “What ?!” - almost everyone else in the class shouted in surprise. “Is that serious?” - Sero asked in amazement. “That explains the kitchen having a fish-only fridge …” - Satou commented remembering that the kitchen had a fridge with countless pounds of various types of fish. “Is this penguin yours ?!” - Kirishima asked in amazement. “Yes! The name is Happy! Happy, say hello! ”- You said laughing and hit your hand a few times and whistled twice. Realizing your command the penguin almost immediately swam before climbing awkwardly onto the small ice shelf near the edge of the tank as he recognized your voice and croaked happily as he walked over to pat you on the top of his head. Happy lovingly held his little finger with its beak. The girls found it terribly adorable. "WHY DO YOU HAVE A SHITTY PENGUIN?!” - Bakugou shouted, annoyed as always. “Hey! Not talk like that! Happy is a loving penguin and control your language, I don’t want that kind of environment around my cute little happiness flake. ”- You complained pouting before smiling at your penguin. That’s when you heard your phone ring and when you saw it was the alarm clock written "Happy 🐧🐟🍽”. This was one of the alarm clocks to remind you of Happy’s mealtimes. “Shou, can you keep an eye on Happy? I need to get his food. ”“ You asked kindly, although you already knew the answer. “Sure.” he answered calmly. You went out and went after your beloved penguin’s food, saying that your friends could get close to the penguin with Todoroki monitoring. Not everyone approached, just the girls and some guys like Modoriya, Kaminari and Kirishima. “Todoroki! How long have you known that (Nome) had a pet penguin? ”- Mina asked excitedly while admiring the bird swimming. “Soon after we started dating.” - he replied and soon his eyes landed on the penguin - “Happy, don’t even think about it.” - his tone was reprimanding when he noticed what the penguin was about to do. The waterfowl was standing on the ice shelf and the penguin ready to peck the ear of a distracted and unsuspecting Kaminari, Todoroki knew of (Name) ’s penguin bad habit about pecking the people he had just met. Happy croaked looking sulky and Todoroki sighed tiredly. This sometimes happened to him when he heard about Happy, but it didn’t last more than two weeks, yet he didn’t intend to allow the penguin to do what he wanted. “No, you know it’s wrong. You can’t just peck people just because you want to. ”- he scolded the penguin. Some couldn’t help laughing at seeing Todoroki scolding Happy as if he were his son, it was cute and funny to some extent. After scolding the penguin for some time, Happy walked over to Todoroki and cuddled up on the right side of the bicolored-haired boy, as Happy admitted that what he was going to do to Kaminari was wrong. “Happy really likes you.” - Uraraka said laughing thinking the scene cute.

“I think Happy likes Todoroki’s right side more, so far I haven’t seen Happy nestling on our friend’s left side here.” - Kaminari made a joke, which was true. You soon returned with a bucket of fish-filled ice, interacting with your lovely Happy while Todoroki remained by your side. Like a bubble enveloping the three of you creating your own world. Honestly, from that day the trio was affectionately called the Penguin Family.

……..🐧……..

Fue un fin de semana tranquilo en los dormitorios, o casi … Eso fue hasta que escucharon un sonido extraño afuera y casi toda la clase salió corriendo para encontrar un edificio de hielo que recordaba a un tanque que cubría la mitad del área libre del jardín sin obstruir el pasillo del jardín a la entrada principal del dormitorio. Al salir, ven a Todoroki y a ti usando su peculiaridad de hidrocinesis para llenar el tanque. “¡Oh! ¡Hola, chicos! ”- Saludaste con una sonrisa. "¿Pero qué es esto?” - Preguntó Midoriya confundida. “Después de pedirle permiso a Aizawa-Sensei, le pedí ayuda a Todoroki para construir este tanque”. - Respondiste todavia sonriendo. “¿Pero por qué necesitas esto?” - Jirou pregunta confundido. Solo sonrió y atrapó un silbato que colgaba de una cuerda alrededor de su cuello y lo sopló. “ Happy! ¡Es hora de nadar! ”- dijiste felizmente al entrar en la habitación. Escuchan un grito, o más bien un graznido de algún pájaro. En la sala común había un pingüino caminando sin preocuparse por los ojos de los demás, mientras que el pájaro salió corriendo alegremente al jardín y sin dudarlo corrió hacia Todoroki y el pingüino acurrucado frotando la pierna derecha del niño con ojos. pelo heterocromático y bicolor, que no molestaba con la muestra de afecto del animal. “Todoroki … Hay un …” - Kaminari trató de hablar con su compañero de clase. “Sí, lo sé” - Todoroki respondió con calma mientras lo seguía el pingüino hasta que se agachó un poco y lo tomó para ponerlo en el agua. El pájaro croó alegremente antes de comenzar a nadar, nunca se fue cerca de Todoroki y tú te reíste. “Solo una pregunta Todoroki … ¿Por qué tienes un pingüino?” - preguntó Sero completamente confundido. “Este pingüino es la mascota de (Nombre)”. Todoroki respondió. “¿Qué?” - casi todos los demás en la clase gritaron sorprendidos. “¿Eso es serio?”, Preguntó Sero con asombro. “Eso explica que la cocina tenga una nevera solo para peces …” - comentó Satou al recordar que la cocina tenía una nevera con innumerables libras de varios tipos de pescado. “¿Es este pingüino tuyo?”, Preguntó Kirishima con asombro. “¡Sí! El nombre es Happy ! ¡ Happy, di hola! ”- Dijiste riendo y golpeaste tu mano varias veces y silbaste dos veces. Al darse cuenta de su orden, el pingüino nadó casi inmediatamente antes de subir torpemente a la pequeña plataforma de hielo cerca del borde del tanque cuando reconoció su voz y gruñó alegremente mientras se acercaba para acariciarte la parte superior de la cabeza. Happy cariñosamente sostenía su dedo meñique con su pico. Las chicas lo encontraron terriblemente adorable. "¿POR QUÉ TIENES UNA MIERDA DE PINGÜINO?” Gritó Bakugou, molesto como siempre. “¡Hey! ¡No hables así! Happy es un pingüino cariñoso y controla tu idioma, no quiero ese tipo de ambiente cerca de mi pequeño flotador de felicidad ”. - Te quejaste haciendo pucheros antes de sonreír a tu pingüino. Fue entonces cuando escuchó su teléfono sonar y cuando vio que era el despertador escrito "Happy 🐧🐟🍽”. Este fue uno de los despertadores para recordarle las comidas de Happy. “Shou, ¿puedes vigilar a Happy? Necesito conseguir su comida “.” Preguntó amablemente, aunque ya sabía la respuesta. “Por supuesto”, respondió con calma. Saliste y fuiste tras la comida de tu amado pingüino, diciendo que tus amigos podrían acercarse al pingüino con el control de Todoroki. No todos se acercaron, solo las chicas y algunos tipos como Modoriya, Kaminari y Kirishima. “Todoroki! ¿Cuánto tiempo hace que sabe que (Nome) tenía un pingüino mascota? ”- preguntó Mina emocionada mientras admiraba el pájaro que nadaba. “Poco después de que empezamos a salir”, respondió, y pronto sus ojos se posaron en el pingüino, “Happy, ni lo pienses.” Su tono era de reprensión cuando notó lo que el pingüino estaba a punto de hacer. La ave acuática estaba parada en la plataforma de hielo y el pingüino listo para picotear la oreja de un Kaminari distraído y desprevenido, Todoroki sabía del mal hábito del pingüino de (Nome) sobre picotear a las personas que acababa de conocer. Happy gruñó con aspecto malhumorado y Todoroki suspiró cansado. Esto a veces le sucedió cuando se enteró de Happy, pero no duró más de dos semanas, sin embargo, no tenía la intención de permitir que el pingüino hiciera lo que quería. “No, sabes que está mal. No puedes simplemente picotear a la gente solo porque quieras “. - regañó al pingüino. Algunos no pudieron evitar reírse al ver a Todoroki regañar a Happy como si fuera su hijo, fue lindo y divertido hasta cierto punto. Después de regañar al pingüino por un tiempo, Happy se acercó a Todoroki y se acurrucó en el lado derecho del chico de cabello bicolor, cuando Happy admitió que lo que iba a hacer con Kaminari estaba mal. "A Happy realmente le gustas” dijo Uraraka riendo pensando que la escena era linda.

“Creo que a Happy le gusta más el lado derecho de Todoroki, hasta ahora no he visto a Happy acurrucado en el lado izquierdo de nuestro amigo aquí”. Kaminari hizo una broma, lo cual era cierto. Pronto regresaste con un cubo de hielo lleno de peces, interactuando con tu adorable Happy mientras Todoroki permanecía a tu lado. Como una burbuja que los envuelve a los tres creando su propio mundo. Honestamente, desde ese día, el trío se llamaba cariñosamente la Familia Pingüino.

[skunts-own-truth]

Taking the Gloves off With Warhammer Lore and Slapping it Around a bit

I’m more than sure I’ve talked about this before on here, but I am excited and I’d very much like to articulate what’s bubbling and brewing within my dome piece here. That said, y’all I’ve been into the Warhammers for almost... damn, 12 years now, give or take; and in that time I’ve been writing and GMing in the setting for as long as I’ve felt confident in my understanding of the setting. Since the beginning though, I always felt a bit shackled by Warhammer. I saw some concepts and storylines as off-limits, or simply saw patterns in exactly how to tell a 40k/Fantasy story and how not to be called a fake-fan by my local peers, or some other foolish backlash that was probably never real. What I am saying is, I always felt that Warhammer had a very fixed status quo of what could be shown and told and what couldn’t.  I’d really like to thank this new era of Black Library authors for showing me, nah, that doesn’t have to be the case at all. Wraight, Haley, Reynolds, Horth, Goulding, St. Martin, and French have really ripped open the doors to me on what can be told as a Warhammer tale. You got Primarchs coming back to life now, ancient Dreadnaughts from the Horus Heresy under shrine worlds, Imperial folks hooking orks up to giant machines to control the power of the Waaagh!, Tech-Priests who innovate, humans gifted powerful astartes relics simply because they thought the human was cool, KISSING SCENES, main codex characters as main characters in books and not just fleeting mentions or stage hazards, and more Space Marines written as people and not simply stone cold bores or that weepy daddy issue Marine that got popular a couple of years back. Not only that, but you got Gav and Kelly spitting Xenos novels out like it’s something to DO! That’s just rad.  And that’s on the 40k side of things. You hop over to AoS, and you got stories about gods and monsters. Actual gods doing godly things! Fantasy would NEVER have done that. I remember when people got pissed off to Reynolds about trade routes and farmers and shit when Age first came out, but homie, at this point I couldn’t give two shits and a fuck. I’ll take Nagash turning a flock of crows into his face to wink at a band of Nurgle Knights any god damn day over sad nerds crying over farmers. I’m reading Spear of Shadows right now, and can you imagine a story like THAT being told in Fantasy? Nah? Me either, and damn, do I like this a lot better.  Shit’s changed, and it’s changed for the better. Stuff is laxer than I could have hoped, and we’ve entered an area that makes me feel so, so comfortable to write. I feel wholly welcomed by these authors and the stories they are telling; they make me see an invitation to also write whatever the hell I want without fear of it being “NOT CANON” or whatever. The canon is, and really always has been, malleable, like Iron in the forge. You don’t bend to the iron, you make the iron bend to you, and you beat the hell out of it until it’s something that suits you best. Pert himself would call all you sweaty nerds crying about your lore weak for not doing whatever you wanted with it. You’ve let the lore rule you, when you are the true ruler of the lore! Take it by the dick, twist it, and forge greatness! 

That’s what I plan to do anyways. I feel much more confident to write whatever the hell I want, and it’s all thanks to the new era of the Black Library and the authors in there pushing to get their stories told. Keep it up, and maybe one day we can all have more than only six jokes in our Black Library novels without the editors breathing down our necks. 

[portalplugado]

ENGLISH / PORTUGUÊS 

O segredo do sucesso de Cebolinha: fé em Deus

De reserva no Grêmio em 2015 a titular da Seleção Brasileira e melhor jogador atuando no Brasil em 2019. As descrições dos posts no Instagram do Cebolinha (@evertons23), comprovam o quanto ele é grato e honra a Deus, por isto, Cebolinha está sendo cada vez mais abençoado. Confira abaixo, descrições de 9 posts marcantes da vida pessoal e da carreira dele.

The secret of the success of Cebolinha: faith in God

In professional football, Cebolinha (Little onion, in English) appeared as substitute player of the Grêmio in 2015, and gained the position of holder of the Brazilian Selection and better player acting in Brazil in 2019. The posts on the Instagram of (@evertons23) Little onion, prove how grateful he is to God and how much he honors him, and that's why Cebolinha are getting more and more blessed. Check out below descriptions of 9 landmark posts from his personal life and career.

*******

01 - Montagem: Cebolinha, Everton, e Everton desenhado com traços do Cebolinha e com a camisa do Grêmio. O segundo desenho, foi um presente do próprio Mauricio de Sousa, criador do famoso personagem de história em quadrinhos. 

01 - Montage: Cebolinha, Everton, and Everton drawn with traces of Cebolinha and dressed in the Gremio shirt. The second drawing was a gift from Mauricio de Sousa himself, creator of the famous comic book character.

*******

02 - Primeira foto do Instagram de Cebolinha, em 2015, quando ainda era reserva no Grêmio. Pouco mais de 8 mil likes e nenhum comentário: "A estrada para a vitória não é uma reta... Existe uma curva chamada fracasso... Um quebra-molas chamado dificuldade... E uns pneus furados chamados de inveja... Mas se você tiver um estepe chamado determinação... Um motor chamado perseverança... Um seguro chamado fé... E um motorista chamando Jesus, com certeza você chegará a um lugar chamado 'SUCESSO'." 

02 - First picture of his Instagram in 2015, while still an alternate player in Gremio. A little more than 8,000 likes and no comment on the post: "The road to victory is not straight... There is a curve called failure... A speed bump called difficulty... And some drilled tires called envy... But if you have a spare tire called determination... An engine called perseverance... A safe called faith... And a driver calling Jesus, sure, you will come to a place called 'SUCCESS'."

*******

03 - Grêmio Tricampeão da América: "Um grupo que fez por merecer, um ano de muito trabalho, com seriedade chegamos ao nosso objetivo, o TRI, agora rumo ao mundial e com Fé em DEUS vamos rumo ao BI..." Na bandana que ele tem na cabeça está escrito Glória a Deus. 

03 - Grêmio Three-time Champion of America: "A group that worked to earn this title, a year of hard work. Acting with seriousness, we reached our goal, now towards the World Club, with faith in God we are heading for the second consecutive title..." In the bandana that he has on his head is written Glory to God.

*******

04 - Bola de Prata ESPN - Um dos melhores atacantes do Campeonato Brasileiro 2018, ao lado de Paquetá, do Flamengo (atualmente no Milan), e Dudu, do Palmeiras: "Momento único, gratidão ao SENHOR." 

04 - ESPN Silver Ball - One of the best attackers of the Brazilian Championship 2018, next to Paquetá, of Flamengo (currently in AC Milan), and Dudu, of Palmeiras: "Unique moment, gratitude to the LORD."

*******

05 - Casamento - Marcos 10:8 (Bíblia): "E serão os dois uma só carne; e assim já não serão dois, mas uma só carne". 28/12/2018, um dos dias mais especiais da minha vida, só tenho a agradecer a DEUS, porque dEle e por Ele aconteceram todas essas coisas. 

05 - Wedding - Mark 10: 8 (Bible): "And the two shall be one flesh: and there shall no longer be two, but one flesh." 28/12/2018, one of the most special days of my life, I only have to thank GOD, because of Him and through Him all these things happened.

*******

06 - Orando - "Tu és o meu abrigo e o meu escudo; e na Tua palavra depositei minha esperança." Salmos 119:114 (Bíblia)

06 - Praying - "Thou art my shelter and my shield: and in Thy word have I put my hope." Psalm 119: 114 (Bible)

*******

07 - Comemorando gol - "Não temas, porque Eu sou contigo; não te assombres, porque Eu sou teu Deus; Eu te fortaleço, e te ajudo, e te sustento com a destra da minha justiça." Isaías 41:10 (Bíblia) 

07 - Celebrating goal - "Fear not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I strengthen thee, and help thee, and uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10 (Bible)

*******

08 - Entrando em campo - "Bem sei eu que tudo podes, e que nenhum dos Teus propósitos pode ser impedido." Jó 42:2 (Bíblia) 

08 - Entering the field - "I know that You can do everything, and that none of Your purposes can be prevented." Job 42: 2 (Bible)

*******

09 - Equipe - "Orgulho imenso em fazer parte desse grupo! Parabéns rapaziada, grande jogo. Seguimos por mais..." 

09 - Team - "Great pride in being part of this group! Congratulations guys, great game. We continue for more..."

[snezario]

Sta//r T/re//k (AOS); M/cki//rk

A/N: ac//adem//y era, pre-ship, mutual suffering?? first foray into fetish!characters and of course it’s my faves… let’s see how this goes.

The sliding doors to the dorm room hissed open as Bones entered, laden with a grocery bag in one hand and a take-out bag in the other.  Setting both down, he noticed Jim laying face-up on the floor.  Jim who sat bolt upright as soon as Bones had walked in.  Jim who was supposed to be in bed, resting.

“I have been resting,” Jim interjected before Bones could utter a sound.

He intentionally beat the doctor to the punch, knowing the physician would have launched into a frenzied scolding, which would have likely lasted over half an hour.  Getting the first word in was the best way to curb Bones’s temper, something he wished he had learned sooner.

“Usually sick people do that in bed,” Bones said gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well I was in bed but I got bored. I’m feeling way better now anyways!”

Jim had been on house arrest for nearly 3 days now and he was beginning to get a little stir crazy.  The doctor was in… and he was not letting Jim out.  He thought it was a little extreme of his roommate but he had learned (the hard way) not to interfere with his doctor’s orders.

Unfortunately for him, his nose decided to undermine his previous statement.  Ducking into the crook of his arm he muffled a pair of ticklish sneezes.

“huh’zZZCCHh’uu! h’iTSSHh’oo!”

Bones arched a brow in response.  “All better huh?”

Jim made an obscene gesture with his hand while grabbing tissues from the nearby tissue box with the other.  Thank god Bones had the foresight to place them all over the dorm room when Jim first began showing signs of illness.  Looking the doctor up and down, he noticed that his roommate was looking a bit worse for wear.

“Hey maybe you should heed your own advice doc,” he remarked.  Bones dismissed Jim’s concern with a wave of his hand.  Although he briefly pressed a knuckle to his nose, which didn’t go unnoticed by Jim.  Bones may be a doctor, but he was no super being.  The latter decided not to press the issue… not just yet.

“I’m fine.” He rifled through the bag he brought with him before handing Jim a takeout container.  “You on the other hand, still need’a rest.  Now eat this while I check your temperature.”

It only took Jim a couple minutes to slurp down the soup Bones brought.  Probably something from the clinic cafeteria but Jim was touched nonetheless.  Between his physician duties and taking care of Jim, Bones had been pretty busy as of recent.  Speaking of the grumpy doctor… he had gone to the bathroom to get some medical equipment but still had yet to return.

“Bones?” Jim poked his head into the en suite.  Bones had his back to him, but his posture deteriorated as he violently pitched forward with a half-stifled sneeze. “ih’NGGTCH’uu!”  

Jim bit the inside of his cheek as a shiver of delight ran along his spine.  Bones wasn’t much of a sneezer, in fact he was pretty sure this was the first time he’d heard him sneeze.  What he wouldn’t give to hear an unsuppressed one from him.   He felt a little naughty fantasizing about Bones, given they were roommates and all.  He pulled himself out of his imagination, hoping that Bones hadn’t caught him staring.  Luckily, Bones didn’t seem to have noticed that he was there, but Jim was about to change that.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”  Bones whipped around to see Jim in the doorway, trying (and failing) to hide smirk.  “Gesundheit by the way,” Jim added.

Electing to ignore Jim’s comments, Bones swiped a knuckle under his nose, giving a hard sniff.  Jim wasn’t deterred.  Leaning against the doorway, he continued to give his roommate a smug look.  Jim quipped, “So how’s that impenetrable immune system of yours working out?”

Bones cast his patented death glare, brushing past him into the bedroom.  The doctor sat on his bed and began to remove the cadet uniform, pointedly turning his back on Jim.  Boy was Bones particularly cranky today.

Jim plopped right next to him, which earned him a grumble about “damn personal space” but at least Bones didn’t move away.  A sudden tickle in Jim’s sinuses had him muffling the sneezes into the doctor’s backside.  “heh’zZZSHH’uh! huh’NNSHHhoo!”

“Goddammit Jim!”  Bones jerked away, out of surprise rather than disgust.  He sighed then handed his roommate a cluster of tissues.

“You know most people say bless you.”  Jim snuffled into the tissue then leaned his head on the Bones’ shoulder.  Angling his gaze, he admired the gentle slope of his friend’s nose.  It looked a bit twitchy and before he could stop himself he booped the doctor’s nose.  Bones started, spinning to face Jim.  “Jim, what thhhe hh—“

The scowl on his face transformed into a distant, hazy expression.  An urgent gasp told Jim he was about to witness another sneeze from the physician.  Bones twisted away from him, barely having enough time to stifle into his shoulder.  “HHH’IMFFSSHH’uh!”

He slumped against the pillow, making use of the unused tissues he had prepared for Jim not so long ago.  The facade of invulnerability fell away, revealing a weathered, cold-stricken doctor.  Jim opened his mouth to make a self-righteous comment when a congested snore broke the silence.  It was Bones’s turn to rest.

[cultwalks-blog]

Malahide Castle and Gardens

Last week I went to the Malahide Castle and Gardens, one of Ireland's oldest castles, that had been owned by the same family for over 800 years. The Talbot family arrived in the country in the 12th century, and in 1185 the lands and harbor of Malahide were awarded to Richard Talbot for services rendered in the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland. The castle remained in the hands of the family until 1975 (except for a few years in the seventeenth century), when the last heiress, Rose Talbot, sold the estate and moved to Tasmania.

The castle dates to the 12th century - nowadays we can see part of what was built in the 15th century and later. The castle is beautiful and in great condition, probably because it has been occupied by the family until recently. On the first floor there is a brief exposition on the history of the family and property, and we can see in which period each part of the castle was built.

On the upper floor the rooms are filled with incredible works of art and furnishings, some of them belonged to the Talbots while others were later purchased, or borrowed from the National Gallery of Ireland. The guide presents not only information about the property, but also about the history of the family and the country. Inside the castle you can see different styles from varied periods, wonderful decor details, incredible and valuable furnishings and learn a lot of curiosities, such as the ghost that haunts the property and the ink made especially for the family, Malahide orange.

The property consists of the castle, a ruined church and gardens. You can buy the ticket only for the gardens or the ticket that entitles you to a guided tour of the castle plus the gardens. I highly recommend doing the tour and then relaxing through the gardens. The property is beautiful, and in winter has an almost magical air. The gardens are also very beautiful, and were mainly raised by Rose's brother, Lord Milo Talbot, who passed away in 1973, and was an enthusiastic collector of plants. In the visitor center, where there is the passage to part of the garden, there is also a brief exhibition on the gardens of Milo. My favorite part was surely the huge Cedar of Lebanon, a majestic tree of more than 350 years. For those going with kids it is worth getting informed about the Fairy Trail, an interactive tour in one of the gardens.

The church is also worth stopping by, specially if you love ruins, like I do. Malahide Abbey dates from the 15th / 16th century and was built on the site of an earlier church, probably dating back to the 12th century dedicated to St. Fenivus. At the time of the Talbot family served as parish church and cemetery, where it is possible to find several tombs, including the one of Maud Plunkett,  one of the ghosts supposedly seen in the property. Worth the visit!

Personal opinion:

The Castle is in good condition. The castle's exhibition is informative, and can be visited before or after the tour. Particularly I would like to have been informed of this when buying the ticket, because I stayed at the door waiting for the tour to start, while I could have entered directly and started to see the exhibition. All the staff were very helpful, the tour guide was great. The folder with the property map was also very useful. I liked the little exhibition in the castle and the one on the entrance to the garden. The first one basically presents information that is passed in the tour, but it is interesting to be able to see them calmly and with more details. The one in the garden is interesting because it briefly presents information about the garden itself, its creator and plants in general - it has a symbol present in the exhibition which means that the plant mentioned there can be found in the property gardens. There is also an interactive part where you can find gardening tips from members of the Talbot family, and where the visitor can share their own advice on the subject. Today the castle is under the protection of the Fingal County Council. 

. Malahide Castle and Gardens é um dos castelos mais antigos da Irlanda, e foi propriedade da mesma família por mais de 800 anos. A família Talbot chegou no país no século XII, e em 1185 as terras e o porto de Malahide foram concedidos a Richard Talbot pelos serviços prestados na conquista Anglo-Normanda da Irlanda. O castelo continuou nas mãos da família até 1975 (exceto por alguns anos no século XVII), quando a ultima herdeira, Rose Talbot, vendeu a propriedade e se mudou para a Tasmania. 

O castelo data do século XII - hoje em dia podemos ver parte do que foi construída no século XV e posteriormente. O castelo é lindo e está em ótimas condições, provavelmente por ter sido ocupado pela família até pouco tempo atrás. No primeiro andar há uma breve exposição sobre a história da família e da propriedade,e podemos ver em que período cada parte do castelo foi construída. 

Nos andares superiores os cômodos são repletos de obras de arte e mobílias incríveis, algumas pertenciam aos Talbots enquanto que outras foram adquiridas posteriormente, ou são pinturas emprestadas da National Gallery of Ireland. O guia apresenta não somente informações sobre a propriedade, mas também sobre a história da família e do país. Dentro do castelo você pode ver diferentes estilos de períodos variados, detalhes de decoração maravilhosos, mobílias incríveis e valiosas e aprender um monte de curiosidades, como os fantasmas que assombram a propriedade e sobre a tinta feita especialmente para a família, Malahide orange. 

A visita vale muito a pena. A propriedade é composta pelo castelo, uma igreja em ruínas e os jardins. Você pode adquirir o ingresso somente para os jardins ou o ingresso que dá direito à visita guiada ao castelo mais os jardins. Recomendo muito fazer a visita no castelo e depois relaxar pelos jardins. A propriedade é linda, e no inverno tem um ar quase mágico. Os jardins são muito bonitos, e foram criados principalmente pelo irmão de Rose, Lorde Milo Talbot, que faleceu em 1973, e era um entusiástico colecionador de plantas. No centro de visitantes, onde tem a passagem para parte do jardim, há também uma breve exibição sobre os jardins de Milo. Minha parte preferida dos jardins com certeza foi o enorme Cedro do Líbano, uma majestosa árvore de mais de 350 anos. Para quem vai com crianças vale a pena se informar sobre o Fairy Trail, um passeio interativo em um dos jardins.

A igreja também vale a pena parar para observar. Eu particularmente amo ruínas. As de Malahide Abbey datam do século XV/XVI e foram construídas no lugar de uma igreja mais antiga, provavelmente anterior ao século XII e dedicada a St. Fenivus. Na época da família Talbot serviu como igreja paroquial e cemitério, onde é possível encontrar vários túmulos, inclusive a de Maud Plunkett, supostamente um dos fantasmas vistos na propriedade. Vale a visita!

Opinião:

O Castelo esta em boas condições. A exposição do castelo é informativa, e pode ser visitada antes ou depois do tour. Particularmente eu gostaria de ter sido informada disso ao comprar o ingresso, pois fiquei na porta esperando o horário da tour, enquanto poderia ter entrado direto e começado a ver exposição. Todos os funcionários foram muito prestativos, a guia da tour foi ótima. O folder com o mapa da propriedade também foi muito útil. Gostei da pequena exposição no castelo e da da entrada do jardim. A primeira apresenta basicamente informações que são passadas na tour, mas é interessante poder vê-las com calma e mais detalhes. A do jardim é interessante pois apresenta brevemente informações sobre o próprio jardim, seu criador e plantas no geral - tem um símbolo presente na exposição que significa que a planta ali mencionada pode ser encontrada nos jardins. Há também uma parte interativa, onde é possível encontrar dicas de jardinagem de membros da família Talbot, e onde o visitante pode compartilhar seus próprios conselhos sobre o assunto. Hoje o castelo está sob a proteção do Fingal County Council.

#cultwalks #culture #malahidecastle #ireland #irelandtravel

[gameridernews]

Ex-Aid review: Choh Superhero Taisen

Ex-Aid's spring movie, from a distance, just looked like the familiar Rider/Sentai crossover format doing its usual thing. But recently, a producer at Toei has confirmed that they will no longer be doing crossover movies in the spring, meaning that Ex-Aid - turns out - has given us our final "so-called spring movie" experience.

In this world where weird and questionably written crossovers may cease to exist, let's see if it at least went out with something akin to a bang. 

Choh Superhero Taisen is a bit of a silly name. I mean, it implies this is a SUPER version of the usual spring movie crossover, but to be a little more accurate, this movie is... kind of like a better version of the first couple swings they took at the Rider VS Sentai angle.

To recap, we got a Fourze-era crossover that did not really give a good first impression, then a Wizard-era crossover I can't remember a single thing about except Space Shocker. Gaim and Drive went the route of Rider VS Rider, both in kinda interesting but shaky executions, and Ghost had a focus on the original Kamen Rider making a modern day appearance.

Oh and just to quickly establish the timeline here, Maximum Gamer premiered in the show and Kuroto got what he deserved. Bit of a shame since I’m sure he’d have a lot to say about the kid in this movie. Anyway, let's begin!

The movies opens up in Korea being attacked by the game Xevious. The Kyurangers send all of their attack stock footage at the invaders, which you would think the Cyber Rescue Center would know about but they are instead dealing with a strange patient who apparently has a tail. Oh hey, Zyuoh Tiger!

The way the movie plays out beyond this point is really weird. It feels like when Inoue wrote the OOO portion of Movie Taisen Core - things are oddly slow and somber for a series known for being bright and peppy. 

It’s uncanny. Hiro literally proclaims he will operate on Zyuoh Tiger even if she's an animal and no one bats an eye at that comment. That’s how weird it is. And when they see the Kyuranger mech land in the middle of the city, it’s treated as a quiet ominous moment like something bad is about to go down.

Okay, to be fair, that part is ominous because the Kyurangers are here for Poppy since they think this video game character is linked to other video games attacking reality - I guess since they have a lot of research at their disposal, because they know what Bugsters are!

But just as the Ex-Aid VS Kyuranger stuff begins, it quickly ends once Shishi Red... decides Kamen Riders are heroes because there's a game called Choh Superhero Taisen that Riders and Rangers are both part of. I mean, he's not wrong?

So yeah, that's a thing! Choh Superhero Taisen is a game that’s invaded this world and challenges Ex-Aid. Among its returning Riders/Rangers is an alternate version of Hiro, transforming into Kamen Rider True Brave. 

I was VERY interested in learning the backstory of this character - is it an alternate universe thing, or what? Turns out, he's a video game character... and for story reasons, it’s a Hiro who took a different path in life. 

It sorta makes sense, I promise.

Things get interesting once Ex-Aid and Poppy enter the world of Choh Superhero Taisen, which is more or less a bunch of Toei's usual filming locations but with returning actors accompanying them!

The first being Kyoryu Gold from Kyoryuger, Utsusemimaru - or Utchy for short. I watched at least half of Kyoryuger so I can appreciate his cameo. He does his Brave Daze thing and he gets some good action. 

More importantly, you can't have a bunch of returning actors without Toei proving they can somehow keep getting all of the Imagin from Den-O. And I can understand someone being sick of them by now, even if you were a fan before, but the scene where Ex-Aid has to pick his team makes me smile. Although... considering ToQGer's premise, should Urataros really be flirting with one of the girls? 

MOVING SWIFTLY ALONG, Emu chooses a "Gorider" team, with Momotaros being Pink - it's a pun. Ex-Aid uses Robot Action Gamer to cheat his way into the Red slot, which I kinda wish someone called him out on.

Ao Ninger makes an easy return as Blue, providing a nice callback to Ninninger as he basically takes charge and tell's Emu to pick his master, Magi Yellow, who taught him magic - but ends up calling Beet Buster from Go-Busters instead, because same actor. That was cute.

Lastly, filling out the team’s Green slot, the out-of-nowhere return of Zolda from Ryuki! I... y'know, it's best they didn't address his cancer since this is supposed to be the "game world" Zolda. Instead, they lean into his lawyer-ness - it felt very appropriate for him to dismiss the Gorider thing and only take part if they signed a contract. I also enjoy how he keeps referring to Momotaros as Goro-chan. It’s cute. I don’t have the heart to tell him Goro is in Zawame. 

With a team decided upon, this starts to feel like an entirely different movie with Riders VS Rangers. My only gripe here was I could've used at least one more fight. You get a nice tournament chart that shows you all of the different fights happening offscreen, and to be quite honest I needed to see the Dandy team in action.

Right, so I should talk about the kid now. There's a patient Hiro was responsible for, who made the Choh Superhero Taisen game and disappeared afterwards. This is where things get interesting because Hiro has this logic of "I won't perform surgery on a patient unless they want it", which was used well in the show. Hiro presented the kid a chance to be cured, and he said no, so Hiro reluctantly accepted the kid’s choice. 

Essentially, Alternate Hiro was made in this kid's game world as a personification of Hiro's guilt, and acts as his aide. It kind of works. But it kind of doesn't? Which is really a good way to describe spring movies as a whole. 

However, I dig the alternate Hiro in concept. He isn't an evil version of the character like you'd expect - he has some sense of justice to him, he's protecting this kid after all, it's just that he's wrong in the eyes of the actual Hiro because it conflicts with his own ethics. This may be the best part of the movie, or at least the part with the most depth.

Oh right, so Ex-Aid and the others on his team become Kamen Sentai Gorider... which is a combination of the original Sentai and the original Kamen Rider... and it's about out of place as it sounds. 

It feels right at home with all this chaos, I guess. But I don't have much to say about it beyond that. I still gotta watch the actual Gorider special.

Not a shocker for something to feel out of place in one of these movies. You know what’s also out of place? Shocker! Yes, the original villains are back again, and this time-- they don't have a different name, but I'd like to call them Game Shocker, because it implies they're living on in yet another form.

They also have a new young leader, Shocker Leader III to be exact, which I was admittedly interested in learning more about. The actor made a big deal about how he thinks of Shocker as a group that admires the Kamen Riders, quoted saying "I want you to understand Shocker's feelings".

In all honesty, though, the character doesn't stand out to me as being any different than a generic Rider movie villain, and would have probably been better off in a different movie. A shame too, because I love the idea it sounded like he was hinting at.

The movie is all over the place, and there's some things I wanna talk about but feel like I don't need to dedicate a whole screencap to. Let's go through these real quick...

Among the many cameos, we get the Kamen Rider Amazons crew, which includes Alpha, Omega and the then-new Neo! I haven't seen Amazons and this cameo taught me... they fight aggressively. I’ll be honest, I really felt nothing from this cameo. But I can appreciate how they added the dramatic lighting Amazons is known for. And Ex-Aid cleverly added some game logic to the fight by looking for a hidden power-up. He probably connects all of the pork chops in Castlevania. 

The Zyuohgers make a cameo! That's pretty fun considering this is one show later. Unfortunately this cameo also made me realize Amu really did not have much to do with the story. I legit forgot about her while writing all this.

Brave uses Galaxian Quest Gamer, which wins the award for most pointless and rushed movie form debut. Like, I think he put on the armor and fought some dudes real quick and you never see it again. Galaxian played some part in the game world destruction earlier, but now that I think about it, you could replace that with Shocker to make them fit in better...

To end on a positive note, Ex-Aid uses a special giant Energy Item with Maximum Gamer to grow to Sentai mech size and fight alongside the Kyurangers' mech, which was a very fun visual since it involved a unique transformation in which Ex-Aid grows in size as the armor builds around him. This felt like a "They knew this was cool and wanted to take it a step further" moment.

Since I sped through all of that, let's get to the ending.

There's a nice moment with the kid and Naga from the Kyurangers, as they both share the inability to properly express emotions, and I can appreciate how they made use of Naga even if I have little exposure to Kyuranger - that was nice and heartfelt.

Through a combination of Ex-Aid's previous efforts and Brave's current efforts (pretty cool having both of them involved there), the kid is saved, everyone who got sucked into the game world is back out, and the status quo returns to normal.

The credits roll with a nice collection of cards based on all the characters in the movie.

So how did this one turn out? Well, as a movie, pretty awful. As a toku movie, not great. As a Kamen Rider spring crossover movie, it's a'ight I guess? I feel like I'm a lot more forgiving of these than others - even though I'm not opposed to making fun of things like Tsukasa's bad hair day or Space Shocker, I do get something out of these, so that's why I watch them.

With the idea in mind that this is the final spring crossover movie we'll get out of Kamen Rider and Sentai - as the upcoming spring movie is gonna be about Amazons instead and the future beyond that is uncertain - I think they could have ended on a far more typical clusterfuck note. Arguably, they did? But I think among the far-too-many ideas this one had, some of the ideas were good. And for a movie trying to make heroes fight other heroes, it's doing so in a fun way by making use of Ex-Aid’s game motif.

I'm gonna miss these movies. They weren't great, but they were fun eye candy. I'm gonna be interested in seeing what they do with that spring movie slot - will Amazons be the last spring movie entirely, or will it be Toei's go-to for "We just wanna make some kind of thing" movie projects? Only time will tell!

I think you know what comes next, right? I’ve got the first winter movie reviewed, now the spring movie - so obviously spinoff material next. Or the summer movie! Whichever happens first. 

[blogadrianaleite-blog]

FINADOS E A MINHA QUIZILA COM OS CEMITÉRIOS

 O dia de finados é tão forte entre os católicos quanto entre os de religião de matriz africana.

Uma vez, acompanhando uma amiga, vi um cemitério cheio, com pessoas vestidas de branco e, ao que me parecia, fazendo rituais em volta das sepulturas.

Havia o clichê da venda de flores, velas e os “coveiros de última hora”, gente com enxada na mão, oferecendo serviços de capinagem e limpeza de túmulos. Principalmente nas covas simples, sem jazigo, enterrados sob a terra e uma simples cruz. O filho da Rosa estava nesse estado. Ela nunca teve dinheiro para adquirir um jazigo para o filho, que morreu jovem.

 No candomblé e na umbanda, espírito de morto recebe o nome de egum. E não é uma coisa boa.

Os mortos devem seguir o seu caminho.

Se ficam por aqui, perdidos ou presos na nossa realidade, podem ser chamados de encosto, o espírito, nem sempre de um morto, que vive de sugar as forças de um vivo. Atrasando, atrapalhando a sua vida.

 Apesar de cadavérico e de jogar na nossa cara, o nosso futuro, a nossa próxima e última morada, cemitérios me fascinam.

A arte, o epitáfio, a foto no morto.

Mas em tempos em que eu frequentava e acreditava nessa religião, aprendi que cemitério não é um bom lugar para os vivos. Pois sem proteção e/ou preparação, podem sair dele com uma dezena de eguns nas costas.

 Antes de acompanhar Rosa, tomei um banho, passei uma pipoca na cabeça, vesti a roupa, que não pode ser nunca preta, e fomos, e  ao volta a mesma bosta, e retirar as roupas antes de entrar dentro de casa, e deixa-las do lado de fora. Guardá-las somente depois de lavá-las.

 Há muito tempo desisti desse caminho, não tenho mais fé em Orixás, e xingo sem pudor a minha pomba-gira, mas a quizila de entrar em cemitérios continua.

A vida já é uma bosta.

Pra quê arrumar ainda mais problemas, com um egum de graça, perturbando a sua vida?

 Anexo

Apesar de as almas terem um dia da semana dedicada a elas, é TERMINANTEMENTE PROIBIDO acender vela para as almas dentro de casa.

Meu pai, que depois da morte da minha mãe, com influência da maldita tia Leninha, ficou fanático pela religião. Passou os onze anos da sua vida, acendendo vela para senhora falecida minha mãe dentro de casa.

Mesmo com todas as pessoas avisando para não fazer isso. Que deveria procurar um cruzeiro em igreja ou cemitério mesmo.

Com o tempo, acho que ele passou acender velas para uma legião de almas, pois toda a segunda-feira, era uma caixa e meia de velas.

Quem acompanha o blog, sabe no que deu a vida de meu pai. Se a sua decadência financeira, e psíquica tem um pouco a ver com isso, não sei. Mas deixo aqui a lição.

Quando ele cismou de acender aquela montoeira de velas na porta do meu quarto, eu simplesmente não consegui dormir, quando eu olhava para elas, meus olhos ardiam e minha cabeça doía. Isso pra você ter uma ideia, do que você pode tá arrastando pra dento da sua casa.

 Anexo II

Nunca entrei no cemitério de Mesquita. Mas décadas atrás me intrigou um sonho: Eu estava no cemitério e via nele, várias entidades. Entre elas, a Senhora Pombagira Maria Padilha do Cruzeiro das Almas. A maldita que dizem eu carregar.

Não lembro o que ela me disse, mas lembro do seu tom debochado, seu vestido vermelho, seu cabelo loiro, com certeza zombando de mim. O seu “Cavalo” que desde os 15 anos cuidou dessa falsa e só tomou na bunda.

Parabéns pra ela. Burra fui eu em confiar.

FINALDOS AND MY QUIZILA WITH THE CEMETERIES

The day of the late is as strong among Catholics as among those of african religion. Once, accompanying a friend, I saw a cemetery full, with people dressed in white and, it seemed to me, doing rituals around the graves. There was the cliché of selling flowers, candles and "last minute gravediggers", people with hoe in hand, offering weeding services and cleaning graves. Especially in the simple pits, without deposit, buried under the earth and a simple cross. Rosa's son was in this state. She never had the money to acquire a deposit for her son, who died young.

In candomblé and umbanda, spirit of the dead is named egum. And it's not a good thing. The dead must go their way. If they stay here, lost or trapped in our reality, they can be called a backrest, the spirit, not always of a dead man, who lives to suck the forces of a living. Delaying, disrupting your life.

Despite cadaveric and playing in our face, our future, our next and last abode, cemeteries fascinate me. The art, the epitaph, the picture on the dead. But in times when I frequented and believed in this religion, I learned that cemetery is not a good place for the living. Because without protection and/or preparation, they can come out of it with a dozen guns on their backs.

Before accompanying Rosa, I took a shower, i put a popcorn on my head, i put on the clothes, which can never be black, and we went, and around the same shit, and remove the clothes before entering the house, and leave them outside. Store them only after you wash them.

A long time ago I gave up this path, I no longer have faith in Orixás, and I curse my dove-gira unabashedly, but the want to enter cemeteries continues. Life's already a piece of shit. Why get even more trouble, with a free gum, disturbing your life?

Annex Although souls have a day of the week dedicated to them, it is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to light a candle for souls indoors. My father, who after my mother's death, influenced by the damn aunt Leninha, became fanatical about religion. He spent the eleven years of his life lighting a candle for my mother's deceased lady in the house. Even with all the people warning you not to do that. That you should look for a cruise in church or cemetery anyway. Over time, I think he passed lighting candles for a legion of souls, because all Monday, it was a box and a half of candles. Whoever follows the blog knows what gave my father's life. If your financial and psychic decay has a little to do with it, I don't know. But I leave the lesson here. When he thought of lighting that pile of candles on my bedroom door, I just couldn't sleep, when I looked at them, my eyes burned and my head hurt. That's so you have an idea, of what you might be dragging into the back of your house.

Annex II I never got into the Mosque cemetery. But decades ago intrigued me a dream: I was in the cemetery and saw in it, several entities. Among them, Ms. Pombagira Maria Padilha of Cruzeiro das Almas. The damn one I'm said to carry. I don't remember what she told me, but I remember her debauched tone, her red dress, her blond hair, sure mocking me. Your horse who since he was 15 took care of this fake and just took it in the ass. Congratulations to her. Stupid was me to trust.

[firemedicdiaz]

S is for Stress (19/26)

Fandom: Star Trek (AOS/TOS) Pairing:  ReaderXBones Prompt: Fic 19 of 26 in the CMO’s Log – A to Z series.  Click here for a listing of all the fics in this series!  S is for Stress.  Academy era AU. Word Count: 2263 Warnings: None. Rating: All ages. Author’s Note: This one goes out to all those out there who are going through some kind of stress or other right now.  I know I could have used someone like Leonard while I was preparing for my last round of exams.  

S is for Stress You throw your stylus down in frustration as you finish writing out the last of the study notes you’re making for your third year Advanced Robotics class.  You’ve been studying for your upcoming final exams for weeks and tomorrow morning is your first – and most dreaded – one.  Sighing, you run a hand over your tired eyes and scroll back to the beginning to read your notes again. A quarter of the way through your material, a knock on your door sounds and you instruct the computer to unlock it. Without hesitation, the door slides open and you can tell just by the footfalls behind you that it’s Leonard who has entered your quarters.

“Hey darlin’,” he says softly, striding over to where you’re seated at your desk and settling his hands on your shoulders. “How’s the studying going?” You groan in frustration by way of answer and he chuckles. “That well, huh?”  He says gently, and you can hear the smile in his voice.  “Do you want me to leave you alone?” You shake your head, turning your attention away from your notes to look up at him over your shoulder.   “I just want to review these notes one last time,” you explain. “If you don’t know it now, you probably won’t in time for the exam,” Leonard says apologetically. “I do know it,” you assure him.  “It just never hurts to take one last look.” He nods and, as you turn back to look down at your PADD, begins to knead your shoulders gently.  You moan softly at how amazing it feels to have him working the tension out of the muscles there and it’s all you can do to focus on your reading as he massages the aches away. “You’re tense,” he comments.  “Are you nervous?” You nod a little; enough to answer him but not enough to disrupt his kneading. “I’ve been stressed out about finals for weeks,” you reply.  “I have really bad exam anxiety and I know that I know this stuff inside-out and backwards, but I still feel like I’m going to screw it all up.” “You won’t screw it up, sweetheart,” Leonard reassures you.  “But if you’re really worried about it and need a day or two more to prepare yourself, I can write you a deferral letter.  As your primary care physician I have the authority.” You smile softly, leaning back so you’re sitting straight up in the chair as his warm, deft hands continue to work out the knots in your shoulders and neck.  Part of you wants to take him up on his offer, but the other part of you just wants to get the exams over and done with so you can finally properly relax. “No, but thanks,” you murmur.  “I’d rather not have to wait another week or two to be done – that’s just another week or two for me to spend freaking out. I’ll be okay.” “Then give me your PADD and come join me on the couch,” Leonard offers.  “You can snuggle up with me and I can quiz you on this stuff.” You smile as you hold the PADD up over your shoulder for Leonard to take. “That sounds lovely,” you agree. You miss his touch as soon as his hands leave your shoulders and you stand up, stretching your aching, bunched muscles before following him over to the sofa.  You give him a moment to get comfortable and then you curl up against his side, drawing your knees in to your chest as he wraps an arm around you. He holds the PADD in his free hand, far enough away that you can’t read what’s on it, and begins to flip through the information you have gathered there. As he begins to ask you questions, you respond automatically, reassuring yourself that you know the material cold. You close your eyes after a little while, inhaling deeply and feeling warmed by the scent of his cologne; it’s something dark and spicy, and it’s comforting in its familiarity. The two of you spend an hour reviewing before you’ve gone through the remainder of your material and you let out a long exhalation as Leonard powers down your PADD and sets it aside.  He leans in to press a kiss to your temple and you shift so your head is resting on his pec, his heartbeat echoing in your ear. “Thanks, Lee,” you murmur.  “Now all I need is a good night’s sleep and maybe I won’t fail this exam.” His hand absentmindedly strokes your hair as he looks down at you, his gaze lingering on the dark circles beneath your eyes and the frown of your mouth.  He glances at the chron and realizes it’s getting late – not really, but late enough that you should be getting to bed in time for an 0800 exam the following day. “Why don’t you wash up and get changed?” He suggests.  “I’m going to run and get something to help you sleep.” You shake your head. “I can’t afford to be drowsy in the morning,” you rebut. “You won’t be,” Leonard promises.  “Have I ever lied to you?  Just trust me.  I’ll calibrate the dosage so you’ll be right as rain by 0700 hours so you’ve got plenty of time to shower and eat a good breakfast before your test.” You consider his words for a moment and finally nod in agreement.  You sit up, moving away so Leonard can stand, and you take the hand he offers you a moment later so you, too, can get to your feet.  You smile as he leans in and presses a gentle kiss to your lips and you watch him leave with a promise that he’ll be right back. Moving to your private bathroom, you quickly brush your teeth and comb your hair.  You fill up the glass that resides on your counter with water and savor it, setting the empty back down again before stepping back into your bedroom. You groan as all of the muscles in your neck and shoulders ache from all of the tension you’re holding there while you pull off your clothes.  Stretching your arms over your head, you whine softly at the pain that comes before the relief. You open the dresser next to your closet and pull out your favorite, most comfortable pair of pajamas.  Slipping into the familiar, nearly threadbare shorts and tank top, you move to your bed and turn down the covers.  Kicking off your slippers, you climb into bed and lie back against your pillow, groaning at how good it feels to be relaxing even a little bit. You’re still tense a few minutes later when Leonard returns, slipping into your quarters quietly with his kit in hand. The embrace of the pillowtop beneath you and the comforter on top are inviting and welcome, but you can’t get comfortable.  In the silence of Leonard’s absence, all sorts of awful scenarios had played themselves out in your head and now you’re jittery.  It doesn’t’ escape Leonard’s notice, either, as he immediately reaches out for you when he takes a seat on the edge of your bed, stroking your cheek with his thumb. “Take a few deep breaths for me, darlin’,” he instructs you as he meets your gaze, his expression reassuring. You’re amazed at how much better you feel for seeing him – though the stress is still wreaking havoc on your body, his stalwart reassurances, stoicism, and unwavering cool countenance make you trust him when he says everything will be okay, and make you listen as he tells you to breathe. You watch him as he reaches into his bag and produces a tricorder, and you can’t help rolling your eyes at him.  Always the consummate professional.  Your expression isn’t lost on him and he smiles softly as he scans you. “Just making sure you’re hydrated enough,” he explains.  “It’s important for how your body handles the drug I’m going to give you.  The good news is, everything looks fine.” He puts the tricorder away and loads a vial into a hypospray, holding it out toward you, giving you another chance to refuse if you want to.  You don’t, however, and he treats your silence as permission.  One of his hands is gentle against the angle of your jaw as he encourages you to tip your head back and relax, and the other is swift and competent as he presses the hypospray to your skin and injects the medication before you can really even sense the stinging.   As he puts the hypo away, you rub at the spot he’s just injected, making the small bit of pain there dissipate in moments. His attention is back on you a second later and he reaches out, taking your hand and giving it a squeeze. “You’re going to ace that exam tomorrow,” he says with confidence.  “And all of the others.  You’ll leave everyone else in the dust.” You can’t help but chuckle at his words and you sigh a moment later as you feel a wave of warmth and sedation wash over you. You lick your lips and feel your eyes fluttering closed.  You cling to Leonard’s hand, a bit startled by the feeling, and he leans in, pressing a kiss to your forehead as he soothes you. “It’s alright darlin’, I’ve got you,” he says softly.  “You’re doing great.  Let yourself sleep.  I’ll be right here.” You do as he says and he is; he’s still by your side when you wake up in the morning, though now he’s pressed up against you, sleeping with his chest to your back.  He stirs as you turn off your alarm and you sit up with a yawn, shaking off the waking warmth of a fading sleep.  You quickly realize that he’d been right: you slept amazingly well and you don’t feel the least bit drowsy.  Smiling, you glance at him over your shoulder, doing your best to quell the fresh wave of anxiety that breaks over you as you think of the exam you’ve got in an hour. “You’re the best,” you say brightly.  “I slept like a baby.” He grins smugly and you can’t help rolling your eyes. “I’m going to go get changed for the day,” he calls to your retreating back as you head in to the washroom.  “I’ll meet you in the mess hall.” You shower quickly and get changed, forcing yourself not to power up your PADD for one last quick glance over your notes. You know you know your stuff, and you have to be satisfied with that or else you’ll miss breakfast. Heading out of your quarters, you make it to the mess hall and glance around, noticing Leonard waving at you from a nearby table.  You head over and sit down, looking at the tray in front of your spot.  It’s got a bowl of oatmeal, a banana, a cup of coffee, a bottle of water, and a container of your favorite yogurt.  He wasn’t joking last night when he’d said you needed to eat a good breakfast, and it looked like he was ready to sit and make sure you did just that. “How’re you feeling, Y/N?”  He asks as you pick up the coffee and take your first sip, savoring it. “Okay, I guess,” you reply honestly.  “I’m still really freaked out, but I’ve got to get it over with, right?” He nods and reaches out to take your free hand as you down the rest of the coffee.  You watch him over the lip of the cup, wondering what he’s up to as he pulls a small spray bottle out of his pocket and uncaps it.  He sprays a little spritz of the liquid inside on your wrist and you’re both content and confused as you inhale and smell his familiar cologne. “Smell is the strongest sense tied to memory,” he says by way of explanation.  “I figured since you could smell my cologne while I was helping you study last night, maybe this would help you recall some things during your exam this morning.” You’re touched by his sentiment and you beam at him, setting your cup down. “Thank you,” you say with a grin.  “It couldn’t hurt, right?” He returns the smile and the two of you finish your breakfast in silence.  You glance at the chron on the wall to check the time as you finish and you stand up swiftly. “I have to be across campus in ten minutes!” You yelp.  “Can you take care of this for me, please?!” You gesture to your tray and Leonard nods, reaching out to take your hand.  He gives it a quick squeeze and lets you go.  You’re already rushing away as you wave to him, heading for the exit. “Good luck, Y/N!”  He calls to you.  “You’ll do great!” You’re smiling as you run across the courtyard and head for the robotics building.  As you jog, the heat of your skin causes the scent of the cologne he sprayed on your wrist to intensify and fill the air around you.  You breathe it in deeply and feel yourself relax a little bit, especially when you consider that in a few short hours, after your exam, you’ll be enveloped in that smell again as Leonard hugs you in celebration. Walking into the room, you find your seat and pick up your stylus.  As the clock strikes 0800 hours, you settle in and let it fly across the screen. Stress or no stress, you’ve got this.

@whatsthematterwithamelia @imamotherfuckingstar-lord @feelmyroarrrr @starshiphufflebadger @ababyinatrenchcoat @trekken81 @fandomheadrush @yourtropegirl @theonlyparadox @musingsongbird @the-alpha-otter @gerardnot-gerald @arrowsshootyouforwards @alluramc

Graphic by @wonders-of-the-enterprise

[angellazull]

O Gato e o Falcão

Parte 2 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Durante o almoço de Segunda-feira, Angelo não viu quando Cath saiu da aula de poções, mas quando chegou no grande salão, ela não estava sentada à mesa da Sonserina, ele achou que essa seria uma boa desculpa para tentar falar com ela, já que o professor Snape tinha passado uma redação sobre o uso correto do sangue de salamandra em poções.

Talvez ela estivesse no pátio, ela disse que era difícil encontrar aquele lugar vazio, e um dos momentos em que ele fica praticamente vazio era a hora do almoço. Ele saiu do grande salão e depois de ter certeza de que o corredor estava vazio, ele assumiu sua forma animaga e correu para o pátio, assim que chegou lá, Cath estava sentada perto da fonte, Angel se aproximou e miou para a garota que assim que o viu sorriu para ele.

– Oi, é você de novo. – Ela se inclinou e acariciou suas orelhas. – No sábado você saiu correndo, o que aconteceu?

Angel pulou para se sentar ao seu lado e descansou a cabeça sobre o colo da garota da Sonserina.

Esses encontros continuaram se repetindo do mesmo modo durante aquela semana.

As vezes Angelo corria para o pátio para encontrar com Cath, porém ele sabia que isso não podia continuar assim, uma hora ele tinha que contar a verdade, mas o que será que ela pensaria quando ele contasse a verdade e notasse que ele esteve mentindo e usando sua forma animaga para “engana-la”.

Contudo, na sexta-feira, Angelo entrou no pátio, mas não encontrou Cath em lugar nenhum, o que era estranho, já que sempre que ele chegava aqui, ela já estava esperando por ele. Olhando para todos os lados, se ver absolutamente ninguém, Angel se destransformou, porém o que ele não esperava era que, era que em um galho na arvore, havia um falcão observando a movimentação do lugar.

A bela ave bateu as asas e passou a centímetros da cabeça de Angelo antes de pousou na frente do garoto, o pássaro fitou o garoto com seus olhos dourados antes de se transformar na garota da Sonserina.

– Então você é um animago. – Ela disse cruzando os braços, Angelo estava totalmente chocado, ele nunca poderia imaginar que ela estava ali e que também seria uma animaga, ele pretendia contar toda verdade, mas não aconteceu como ele planejava.

Ele sentiu o rubor tomar conta de seu rosto, ele coçou a parte de trás de sua cabeça, enquanto ela o olhava com um olhar severo. Ele começou a pensar que ela poderia começar a gritar com ele por ter usado sua forma animaga para se aproximar sorrateiramente dela, e era evidente que Cath estava esperando uma explicação:

– Bem... sim. – Angelo começou a falar envergonhado. – Me desculpe, eu pretendia contar, é que depois que nos vimos na biblioteca, eu fiquei curioso em saber quem você era, mas... eu não tive coragem, não sou muito bom para interagir com pessoas novas, eu ia contar quando o Ollie apareceu na semana passada, só que eu estava atrasado para o clube de transfiguração e acabou que nessa semana... achei que você iria pensar muito mal de mim, me desculpe.

Angelo olhou para o chão se sentindo muito envergonhado.

– Eu não vou mais te incomodar, é que já vi você conversando com o Ollie... desculpe.

– Geralmente, quando se quer conhecer alguém, você se apresenta. – A garota disse quebrando o olhar severo.

– Ah, é... me chamo Angelo Lancaster. – Angelo estendeu a mão para garota. – Será que podemos recomeçar e fingir que... eu não te enganei e tal?

– Olá Angelo, me chamo Catherine Stark. – A garota segurou sua mão, retribuindo o aperto. – Então Angelo, você quer fazer a lição de transfiguração comigo?

– Claro Catherine, isso seria ótimo.

Os dois jovens se sentaram próximo a fonte e pegaram seus livros, apesar de tudo que ele fez, ela não parecia sentir rancor disso, e ele estava feliz de finalmente falar com a garota misteriosa e não podia negar que era muito bem receber afagos em suas orelhas felinas. Agora Angelo sabia quem ela era, seu nome era Catherine Stark.

Após terminarem o dever os dois continuaram conversando.

– Então você se tornou uma animaga sozinha? – Ele estava impressionado com a garota.

– Foi bem fácil, eu meio que não falava com ninguém antes de conhecer o Ollie, então até que foi fácil ficar com a folha de mandrágora na boca. E você?

– Bem, quando a professora McGonagall nós ensinou sobre os animagos no terceiro ano, eu realmente fiquei interessado, e depois da aula eu ouvi ela falando com o Talbott sobre o assunto, foi quando eu perguntei a ele se ele sabia sobre o assunto, nós dividimos o mesmo dormitório, ele me explicou melhor os aspectos, e a Penny me ajudou a preparar a poção, foi bem legal, não tão legal quando conseguir fazer tudo sozinha, é claro.

– A sua forma é um gato preto então?

– Sim, fiquei muito feliz em assumir essa forma, ela é importante pra mim, e você é um falcão?

– Um gavião na verdade.

– Deve ser bem legal poder sair voando a hora que quiser. – Disse Angelo imaginando se sua forma animaga fosse de alguma ave.

– É legal, mas você pode entrar em qualquer lugar se levantar suspeita, é mais sorrateiro.

– Bem é verdade, já entrei no salão comunal da Sonserina uma vez, quando o Ollie ficou doente eu fui visitá-lo. Se quiser aparece na janela do salão comunal da Corvinal, posso te mostrar o lugar se quiser.

– Isso seria legal.

Ângelo realmente gostou de passar esse tempo conversando com Catherine, ela era uma garota muito legal, no final, ele não se arrependeu nenhum pouco de ter feito o que fez. Ele havia ganhado uma nova amiga.

-------O--------O--------O---------O--------

The Cat and the Hawk

Part 2 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

During lunch Monday, Angelo did not see when Cath left potions class, but when she arrived in the great hall, she was not sitting at the Slytherin table, he thought that would be a good excuse to try talking to her, since that Professor Snape had passed an essay on the correct use of salamander blood in potions.

  Maybe she was in the courtyard, she said it was hard to find that empty place, and one of the moments when it was practically empty was lunch time. He left the great hall and after making sure the corridor was empty, he assumed his animagic form and ran into the courtyard, as soon as he got there, Cath was sitting near the fountain, Angel approached and meowed at the girl like that. who saw him smiled at him.

  "Hi, it's you again." She bent down and stroked his ears. "On Saturday you ran out, what happened?"

  Angel jumped to sit beside him and rested his head on the Slytherin girl's lap.

  These meetings continued to repeat the same way during that week.

  Sometimes Angelo would rush to the courtyard to meet Cath, but he knew it couldn't go on like this, one time he had to tell the truth, but what would she think when he told the truth and noticed that he was lying and using her animagic form to "fool her".

  However, on Friday, Angelo entered the courtyard, but found Cath nowhere, which was strange, since every time he got here, she was already waiting for him. Looking everywhere, if he sees absolutely no one, Angel was transformed, but what he did not expect was that, on a branch in the tree, there was a hawk watching the movement of the place.

  The beautiful bird flapped its wings and inches from Angelo's head before landing in front of the boy, the bird stared at him with its golden eyes before turning into the Slytherin girl.

"So you are an animagus." She said crossing her arms, Angelo was totally shocked, he could never imagine that she was there and would also be an animagus, he intended to tell the whole truth, but it did not happen as he planned.

  He felt the flush wash over his face, he scratched the back of his head as she looked at him with a stern look. He began to think she might start yelling at him for using her animagic form to sneak up on her, and it was obvious Cath was waiting for an explanation:

"Well, yes." Angelo started talking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I intended to tell, is that after we met at the library, I was curious to know who you were, but ... I didn't have the courage, I'm not very good at interacting with new people, I was going to tell when the Ollie showed up last week, only I was late for the transfiguration club and it turned out this week ... I thought you would think very badly of me, I'm sorry. "

  Angelo looked at the ground feeling very embarrassed.

"I won't bother you anymore, I just saw you talking to Ollie ... sorry.

"Usually when you want to meet someone you introduce yourself." The girl said breaking her frown.

  "Oh yeah ... my name is Angelo Lancaster." Angelo reached for the girl. "Can we start over and pretend that ... I didn't fool you and all?

"Hello Angelo, my name is Catherine Stark." The girl held his hand, returning the grip. "So Angelo, do you want to do the transfiguration lesson with me?

"Of course Catherine, that would be great."

  The two young men sat near the fountain and picked up their books, despite all he did, she didn't seem to feel a grudge about it, and he was happy to finally talk to the mysterious girl and couldn't deny that it was all too well to receive cuddles in her. Feline ears. Now Angelo knew who she was, her name was Catherine Stark.

  After finishing their duty the two continued talking.

"So you became an animagus alone?" He was impressed with the girl.

"It was pretty easy, I kind of didn't talk to anyone before I met Ollie, so until it was easy to have the mandrake leaf in my mouth. What about you?

"Well, when Professor McGonagall taught us about animages in the third year, I was really interested, and after class I heard her talking to Talbott about it, that's when I asked him if he knew about it, we We shared the same dormitory, he explained the aspects to me better, and Penny helped me prepare the potion, it was pretty cool, not so cool when she could do everything herself, of course.

"Is your shape a black cat then?"

"Yes, I was very happy to take this form, it is important to me, and you are a hawk?"

"A sparrowhawk actually."

  "It must be really nice to be able to fly anytime you want." Said Angelo wondering if his animagic form was of any bird.

"It's cool, but you can go anywhere if you get suspicious, it's more sneaky."

"Well, it's true, I already entered the Slytherin common room once, when Ollie got sick I went to visit him. If you want to appear in the Ravenclaw common room window, I can show you the place if you want."

"That would be cool."

  Angelo really enjoyed spending this time talking to Catherine, she was a very nice girl, in the end he did not regret having done what he did. He had gained a new friend.

-------O--------O--------O---------O--------

🇧🇷 – Aqui está a segunda parte de O Gato e o Falcão. Espero que gostem.

Parece que Angelo conseguiu fazer mais uma amiga em Hogwarts.

(Lembrando que isso é uma fanfic, e não altera em nada o verdadeiro universo da Catherine Stark. Espero ter escrito tudo certo)

Catherine Stark – @catherinestark-hphm

🇬🇧 – Here's the second part of The Cat and the Hawk. Hope you like it.

Looks like Angelo managed to make another friend at Hogwarts.

(Remembering that this is a fanfic, and it does not alter Catherine Stark's true universe at all. I hope I wrote it all right.)

Catherine Stark - @catherinestark-hphm

[akatsuki-no-tsuki]

Proposed Timeline for the Akatsuki

Alright, so I’ve had a bit of a nap since this- so it’s onto the promised part two~

The Akatsuki, according to everything I’ve ever been able to find on it, was supposedly founded after the Third Shinobi World War (which we have already established ended a maximum of 1 year before Naruto was born and was definitely over by the time Naruto was born). That basically gives us a general starting point for when it makes sense for the civil war in Amegakure to break out.

In my opinion (though it is certainly just a single possibility) I think Nagato spent the 3-4 years between Yahiko’s death and the war’s conclusion to hone his abilities as Pein (Pein as an entity was likely conceived more around the time of Yahiko’s death as Yahiko is one of the Pein bodies.) This time period gives Nagato a chance to adapt to his new way of life, develop his warped ideals into the new Akatsuki, gather the other five who would become part of his Six Paths of Pein, and perfect his usage of the abilities he unlocked. How much Obito is involved in this is a little questionable, but we do know from flashbacks and statements that Obito and Zetsu are involved with the Akatsuki from a very early point.

Basically, my personal theory is that within a time period of less than a year after the Third Shinobi World War (when Hanzō‘s forces would still be weakened from the war) Pein launched his civil war and effective take-over. How long this war lasted isn’t something I am too confident about, but I do believe Pein had won the civil war in Amegakure before the Akatsuki started operations. It makes more sense for Nagato and Konan to finish one war before preparing for the next and also offers Amegakure as a sort of base of operations for the Akatsuki to fall back onto. In addition, I think the potential protection of a country is something that adds to the Akatsuki’s appeal- If they planned to recruit criminals from the start then the promise of protection (despite not being from a major shinobi village) is something extremely valuable.

So then, the question begins: When did the Akatsuki form?

The furthest bookmark we have is when Orochimaru is stated to have left the Akatsuki 10 years ago during part 2. The problem isn’t so much that it makes no sense for Orochimaru to have been involved with the Akatsuki then (assuming the civil war in Amegakure was launched soon after the Third Shinobi World War concluded and was won not long afterwards, we have the Akatsuki potentially forming as early as the year Naruto was born, or six years prior to this date of Orochimaru supposedly leaving the Akatsuki. The problem with this time frame is rather the fact of Orochimaru leaving the Akatsuki as a result of his loss to Itachi.

With Itachi, we know his joining of the Akatsuki is linked to the killing of his clan. At the time Itachi was 13 years old, which places this event as 8 years before the Orochimaru statement was made. In order for Orochimaru to have left 10 years ago, and to have fought Itachi leading up to that point, Itachi would have been 11 years old at the time. Which um... Doesn’t make sense. Itachi’s backstory is something rather extensively known, so I am fairly confident in stating that the earliest Orochimaru could have left the Akatsuki is 8 years prior to that statement being made.

In Naruto “10 years” pretty much never means 10 years. It’s like a rough estimate for anything that happened in a period of time that was long enough to be history but recent enough not to be ancient. However, just for the sake of fun- What if that statement was meant to be more of an’ Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki 10 years ago? Assuming that ends up being a vaguely accurate statement (and knowing Orochimaru leaves Konoha at 1 year before Naruto’s birth at the earliest thanks to Minato having been installed as the fourth Hokage instead of him at some point prior to Orochimaru’s leaving) We get a bookmark of the Akatsuki being a thing 6 years after Naruto’s birth with Orochimaru leaving circa 8 years after Naruto’s birth. 

The other vague bookmark we are given in this direction is Sasori’s leaving of Sunagakure. He is stated in the beginning of Shippuden to have left Sunagakure 20 years ago- Which actually makes me realize a flaw in my age system...Naruto’s group is 15 at the start of Shippuden and if Sasori was 35 at the time of his death then he is actually closer to 20 years older than Naruto. This means Sasori left Suna around the time Naruto was born and the war had concluded. We can assume from a lot of things that Sasori was one of the first members recruited, but that doesn’t help narrow down the Akatsuki’s formation date much more than ‘after Naruto was born, but before Naruto was 6′.

Konan, Nagato, Zetsu, and Obito don’t have any good landmark points for this time period either... With Deidara all we know is that Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori were already members by the time he was recruited and Orochimaru had presumably left already as Deidara was to be his replacement. (Which, once again, doesn’t narrow things down much more than Deidara joining some point after/during the time Naruto was 8 years old). Hidan is pretty useless too since he is the last member to join the Akatsuki and depending on media referenanced potentially doesn’t even join the Akatsuki until after pre-shippuden. Kakuzu doesn’t offer much help either since he was imprisoned after fighting Hashirama who had died years before this Akatsuki was even an idea in Nagato’s head, and left Taki after escaping from that.

Which leaves our only hopeful marker (that I am aware of) as Kisame’s joining. Now this in itself is going to be problematic since he is recruited into the Akatsuki after killing Fuguki and taking Samehada- But I’m not sure how to place it... We know Yagura was the acting Mizukage at the time and that Obito had him under his control. Yagura’s rule was largely marked by the “bloody mist” but even pinpointing that is hard... In part one Kakashi states that Zabuza forced the bloody mist into an end 10 years ago (and remember that 10 years ago thing?) when he was still just a kid who hadn’t yet entered the academy himself. Problem is that Zabuza is 26 at the time this statement is made, so either Zabuza’s age is a mistake or 10 years was meant to mean 20. [Personally, I’m not sure which to give more credit to]. Soooo if we move on to Yagura himself- He was the three-tails Jinchuriki after Rin (supposedly) which would mean he was not a Jinchuriki until around the time the Third Shinobi World War concluded. Since extracting a Bijuu from a Jinchuriki results in their death, this is really the only time frame that works? If we assume the bloody mist era did, in fact, end around 10 years prior to part 1, then we get the rough estimate of the bloody mist coming to a close around the time Naruto is 2. Trying to narrow this down further, we know Ao recognized that Yagura was being controlled with the Byakugan he obtained during the Third Shinobi World war- Though I am not sure if we have any other details. So trying a different angle, Mei is seen as a marker of change for Kiri- Given that she, herself has kekkei genkais, she’d likely end the war on them. So in we usher Haku and Kimimaro- Haku is 3 years older than Naruto, while Kimimaro is (i believe) 2 (though it could possibly be 3 years as well, I don’t remember when the Chunin exam arc takes place). Haku and Kimimaro were both children when this kekkei genkai war was going on- And we know Orochimaru found Kimimaro while Zabuza found Haku... That means these events have to occur after Zabuza kills a graduating class but before Mei becomes Mizukage- And, it is also likely Orochimaru takes in Kimimaro prior to his own joining of the Akatsuki. Guessing Kimi might have been 5 when Orochimaru found him- That would give us the marker of around 3 years after Naruto was born. To give more wiggle room let’s go with Kimi being 8 and this marker being 6 - it still theoretically works with Orochimaru joining the Akatsuki around then. Essentially, we can narrow Kisame’s joining down to some point after the third shinobi world war and probably around the time Orochimaru possibly joined- (ugh. so much for that bloody mist end thing being helpful).

Basically all we know for sure from this:

* Nagato, under the alias of Pein, launches a civil war in Amegakure after the Third Shinobi World War 

* This war is won some time between the war’s conclusion (12 years before the series’ start) and when the Akatsuki is formed.

* The Akatsuki’s exact start-up date is unknown. Nagato and Konan were members from the previous Akatsuki, with Obito and Zetsu essentially supporting and sparking the new one (The Akatsuki, to this extent, could have potentially formed before or during the Amegakure civil war).

* Going off of rough estimates, Orochimaru and Kisame might have joined the Akatsuki around 6 years prior to the start of the series- Sasori and Kakuzu, who had left their villages years prior to this point, were also likely recruited around this time. (There is circumstantial evidence (such as Kakuzu not being present at Deidara’s recruitment, and non-manga media not showing him in most early-Akatsuki flashbacks) however, to make Kakuzu’s joining date closer to that of Deidara’s.

* If nothing else is true, we know that Itachi joined the Akatsuki 8 years prior to the start of the series.

* Orochimaru gets into a conflict with Itachi and leaves the Akatsuki at some point after Itachi joins, assuming this is somewhat immediate, he leaves 8 years prior to the start of the series. Orochimaru’s leaving means he needs to be replaced and Deidara is recruited (8 years prior to the start of series at the earliest) 

* Kakuzu has numerous partners before Hidan, and Hidan is mentioned to be the newest member of the Akatsuki during Shippuden- Manga canon potentially indicates that Hidan was not a member until during the gap between part one and part two, but even if this is not the case he is recruited at some point during or after 8 years prior to the start of the series at the earliest.

* The start of the Akatsuki was likely rather hush hush, it was probably not until a full 10 member list (or 9, rather, with Orochimaru leaving) was created that the Akatsuki made enough moves to be noticable, making this time frame approximately 8 or so years before the series starts.

* By the series start, they are well-known enough for rumors to be circulating about them; by the start of Shippuden their existence is practically common knowledge.

[bedb90]

I took my boots off for this.

So, I need to get very real about what's going on.

Sinto que preciso de falar directamente do assunto, embora isso não seja elegante, bonito, artsy, edgy, inventivo, atraente, nem sequer interessante. Nem sequer útil, nem sequer novo. É a mesma narrativa de há anos. De toda a minha vida adulta.

Mas nem por isso se torna mais fácil. Aliás, torna-se mais difícil, porque eu me estou a deteriorar, os problemas persistem ou agravam-se, e eu perco ferramentas, em vez de as ganhar.

My dog is very old. Fucking old dog, que não vê, não ouve bem, tem de ser carregado a maioria das vezes para a maioria dos sítios. E também é co-dependente da minha mãe. Não que eu viva com a minha mãe, mas ele vive. I'm a bad parent to my dog. He comes from a broken family. E assim continua o legado de disfuncionalidade... Ou continuaria, se eu não tivesse capado o meu cão. My dear old three legged dog. Smelly old horny bastard. Ex-horny. Se ele comesse às escondidas, teria o mesmo efeito na sexualidade. Just saying.

O cão passou os últimos minutos em pé nas suas patas restantes, a andar às voltinhas e a olhar para os lados. E é assim que vai ficar, até que a minha mãe chegue. Apenas a fazer nada útil, incapaz de fazer outra coisa qualquer.

Eu sou uma porra de um cão velho com três patas, e é essa a razão final para eu ter ficado com este anormal traumatizado e problemático e cansativo, em vez de outra solução mais óbvia.

Mas não preciso de metaforo-analogias, preciso de dizer que eu como às escondidas. Bolachas e tudo o que houver, até ao fim, porque sofro de uma desordem de comportamento que gostava de compreender melhor e da qual gostava de me poder culpar menos, e pela qual gostava de me perdoar, e com a qual gostava de me poder aceitar.

Também como sem ser às escondidas, obviamente. I double down on my eating. That won't make your heart hurt or anything.

Gostava de poder aceitar a pessoa que sou, com a depressão, e as compulsões, e a disordered eating e questões de auto-imagem, e inseguranças. Gostava de compreender melhor isso tudo, para compreender melhor o que sou.

É difícil que seja tão difícil por vezes definir a minha identidade. Não tenho essa capacidade, assim como não tenho capacidade de me avaliar fisicamente de uma maneira que considere normal. Não consigo identificar-me nem qualificar-me.

Nunca chegou a parar realmente.

Tive uma infância triste e dolorosa, e não me lembro de alguma vez ter sido feliz. Não sei se é possível nascer-se deprimido clinicamente, por isso acho que simplesmente tive uma vida foleira. E tive mesmo uma vida foleira. Isso encolheu-me o cérebro, ou o raio.

Mas, francamente, não posso supor. Sei que não se trata apenas de comportamento exterior, sei que há fisiologia por trás, mas não sei, parece-me um ovo de Colombo, e estou demasiado gorda e burra para dissertar sobre o assunto.

Quando atingi uma idade de alguma maturidade sexual e fiquei ciente dela, suponho que isso tenha despoletado outra série de sentimentos diferentes com os quais também não sabia lidar, e "olá, o meu nome é anorexia nervosa, vou ser tua companheira on and off para o resto da vida, e talvez te apresente a mais alguns amigos, mais tarde, ok?"... "Gostas de um gap de vinte quilos de peso entre intervalos de tempo de vida adulta? É que é para isso que viemos."

Não que o meu comportamento para com a comida fosse normal antes da adolescência. Não era. Familialmente, não era. Era-lhe dado demasiado ênfase, a um ponto obsessivo. Na verdade, já tinha comportamentos de compulsão alimentar, antes da anorexia. Todos na minha família tem.

I bored myself with this.

Mas bem, eu maioritariamente tenho compulsão alimentar, agora. Estou demasiado cansada para outra coisa qualquer. A minha orientação sexual é cansada, o meu credo é cansada, a minha ideologia é cansada, a minha profissão é cansada. A anorexia exige rigidez, dedicação, método, foco, perfeccionismo. Já não estou nesse estado mental há muito tempo e, francamente, tenho saudades dele. Até porque o meu corpo a lutar pela sobrevivência faz a minha mente mais sharp. Agora, sinto-me apenas um caracol gordo, inútil e incapaz, sem personalidade.

"Onde se vê daqui a cinco anos?" Cansada. Ou morta. Ou gorda.

Estou num sítio que adoro. Mas todas as vezes que vim aqui, todos os últimos anos que vim aqui, vim acompanhada da compulsão alimentar. And it ruins my fucking day, everyday.

It's lovely, it's warm, it's sunny out. Tenho praia, livros, memórias bucólicas, inspiração por todo o lado.

Mas passo invariavelmente 80% do tempo em casa, a comer e a dormir, e a esconder-me, com roupa de inverno que me tape, com visão enevoada, confusão mental, azia, culpa. É bizarro.

Já não é possível adorar-se nada. Não é possível adorar-se nada, preocupada com a barriga a crescer. Em torpor calórico. Com o humor comprometido, com o nível energético em baixo, com dores de cabeça, com problemas digestivos. Preocupada com se vão gostar de mim na mesma. Com se Ele vai gostar de mim na mesma.

O meu Jesus Nosso Senhor. O homem que me bate mais do que a minha consciência, e que me julga mais do que a própria Igreja. Mas a culpa não é dele. Tive depressão e problemas alimentares nos melhores e piores momentos da minha vida, it's fucking useless.

Quando tento tratar-me, e explicar aos médicos (portugueses e ignorantes, o que pode ou não estar relacionado) o que isto é, porque É PRECISO, costumo dizer que isto me ataca sobretudo em alturas de mudança, seja ela negativa ou aparentemente positiva.

Perdi o emprego - compulsão alimentar. Emprego novo - compulsão alimentar. Perdi o namorado - compulsão alimentar. Apaixonei-me - compulsão alimentar. Namorado novo - compulsão alimentar.

Mas guess what. I'm in my twenties. A minha vida não tem passado de mudanças. A vida são mudanças. Sim, it flares out with stress, like fucking herpes, mas eu sou uma senhora muito stressada. I don't like my fucking life. I don't like being poor and helpless, and insecure, ugly, sick and unloved and afraid. Não me abandona realmente. E é sempre segredo. E é sempre tabu.

Tentei contar esta treta monstruosa e embaraçosa apenas a uma pessoa. O meu pai, que é quem mais gosta de mim no mundo. E o meu pai disse... "... just don't do that, then"... and "i'm pretty sure you're overeacting"... "you need to eat".

Well. Touché.

Mas os meus pais (para dizer a verdade não sei se alguma vez conheci realmente pessoas que não fossem assim, o que, bem vistas as coisas, é óptimo) são pessoas que acham que a depressão é um capricho e uma indulgência. São pessoas liberais, e relativamente inteligentes e informadas, mas essa treta não existe nos livros deles. "Eu também blá blá blá e ando aqui." "Eu não me pude dar ao luxo de blá blá, porque tinha de trabalhar." Parabéns aos dois, e mais informo que apesar disso produziram um ser marado dos cornos. "Faz-te a vidinha, minha filha." "Levanta-te e anda!"

A merda manifesta-se nas pessoas de maneiras diferentes. Eu tenho distúrbios de comportamento, e eles têm outros distúrbios de personalidade, mas é suposto ignorarmos isso, só porque conseguem ser (mais) funcionais com eles. Em parte porque podem ter tido a sorte de contextos menos estúpidos, mesmo até historicamente.

Eu não estou catatónica, neste momento, embora já tenha estado. Já estive incapaz de tomar banho. De atender o telefone, even. De dormir. Já perdi os marbles por falta de sono, e garanto que ninguém consegue ser produtivo com tais restrições.

Neste momento tenho trabalho e vou trabalhar. Até à data. Mas é um trabalho precário, e irão ser todos, pois por performance insuficiente ou falta de endurance da minha parte, eu sou despedida ou venho-me embora de TO-DOS. Maior parte das vezes, a última. Porque não consigo lidar com a vida, com as exigências, com a responsabilidade, porque são trabalhos de merda, aqueles que eu consigo ter, por via das minhas decisões de vida merdosas, porque me mato durante horas pelo ordenado mínimo ou menos, e simplesmente não vale a pena e eu não consigo. It just adds insult do injury.

I've never enjoyed working. Ever. I have enjoyed going to work, for the social aspect of it (not the current situation), I have enjoyed learning new stuff (when it happens), but I've never enjoyed working. I have no remarkable skills, apparently, for the jobs I think might make me happy. Instead I have to make do with sales, data entering, tutoring, minimum wage, long hours fucking jobs, and it is just fucking painful.

Passei seis anos a estudar, o que é minha culpa, parcialmente. Ou melhor, culpa de eu não ter informações suficientes acerca da vida para tomar melhores decisões, para saber querer outras coisas.

I mean, it was great. But... not awsome. It was fucking hard work, sometimes, and not quite as fullfilling as one might think it should be. And I was struggling, even then, with not being happy enough with it, or good enough at it.

And I quit, suddendly, in the middle of a thesis. Very much depressed, anorexia-ish, wanting to kill myself. I could be riding in the fucking car home from the research centre, making small talk, and at the same time picturing vividly and reallistically... ways to end my life.

And it was fucking heeellllll.

And it's still fucking hell. Gostaria de poder terminar isto numa boa nota. E sim, eu gosto de muitas coisas na vida, e de viver, e de sentir uma data de coisas, e até de ser uma data de coisas.... e... suponho que será este o meu pequeno silverlining (este "atavismo", como diz o Sr.) que me vai permitir suspender esta prosa e ir ler romances de mistério. Ou outra coisa que me distraia da náusea. E sim, isto é both uma Sartre - referência e uma binge-eating - referência. Isto porque eu sou o terreno infértil onde todos os conceitos vêm morrer, e todos convivem na morte, que ela não é esquisita.

[bluemoonball]

Running Around the Sunset

As we all continue to contemplate the cupcake Wimbledon #8 that was, we know it’s time for predictions. Now, when it comes to Roger, I’m truly unsure. I thought the AO 2013 semifinal was the end. The rest of 2013 seemed to confirm it. Then we entered this dark age and he was surfacing back up in major finals, even if not playing well enough yet to beat Djokovic. Now this.

Two points I’d make about the current run of form: First, this was a long process. Roger retooled his game just about as thoroughly as a mature tennis player can starting in late 2013. It started with the racquet, went through tactics and moves, and extended to an overhaul of his mentality. To remind himself to attack second serves, an area he'd always been woeful at (especially on break point), he started charging the net on second serves every now and then, which, we should bear in mind, is a ridiculous concept. To give himself the maximum benefit of the bigger racquet, he sharpened the drive backhand--another new set of ideas. And there was a period of accommodation with more errors, particularly against the best players. This overhaul didn't finish by reaching the 2014 Wimbledon final. The SABR was new at the 2015 USO. The new and improved drive backhand came at the start of this year. Despite that he was the second-best player of 2014-2015. Weak era!

Second, it can end at any minute, and probably will. This improbable flowering is held together by a physical corpus which, although as gently treated as any in the sport, has played 1,358 ATP matches. I expect since Djoker is out for the year, we won’t see more than one or two high-quality matches between those guys again--they’re simply traveling in different compartments of the revolving door. When you’re on the outside, there’s never a guarantee of getting back in, regardless of if you did before.

Given that, here are my expectations:

1) Roger will finish up at 20 majors. 2) Roger will be world #1 for another 30 weeks. 3) Roger will play another clay season, and he will surprise and delight with a fluke tourney win.  4) Roger will not even his head-to-heads with Nadal or Djokovic. 5) He will suffer at least one more devastating loss at the hands of Rafa, blowing multiple chances to get ahead, then getting broken himself. I’m getting angry already. 6) Rog will win two Masters titles in 2018. 7) Someone under 27 will win a major by the time Rog retires. 8) Retirement will come in 2019... although the media might get jazzed over an Olympics comeback.

So my expectations are, in one sense, modest and mostly centered around this season, and yet, pretty ambitious for the tail end of the tail end of an already-mind-boggling career. I feel much less sure about this than I did my other predictions, some of which have been proven wrong (Rafa retiring in 2016). It could be over now, or it could keep going, because apparently Federer doesn’t stop. 

Federer has, incredibly, defeated the news cycle. For most athletes, as the sun sets on their career, a chorus of chirping turns into clucking and then frenzied pecking as the athlete’s skills slide inexorably away, the pressure mounts, and the athlete faces a semi-public coming to terms with diminishment. Fortunately for Rog, he’s not an American athlete, or a British one, but he is treated as a world treasure and hounded accordingly. (Those sponsors don’t hurt.)

Rog kept at it through all of that, and here we are: he outlasted the pecking.  pecking subsided, people got tired of asking him to retire, and the sky kept floating. The ”retire now,” the “tarnishing legacy” sorts have all shut up and had the happy felicity of forgetting that they said those things. (They might say “the critics were proven wrong,” without dwelling on the identity of those critics.) Rog has been running around the sunset and smacking it back for return winners.

Anyway, here’s to the old fogey! May my predictions be wrong in the right direction!