poppinparties

[wlwizard101]

holy shit. the reason why the Old One sounds like that is because hes meant to be from massachusetts. it all makes sense now...

[shuxiii]

Everyday pt. 10

Hanni Pham x reader pt1, pt2, pt3, pt4, pt5, pt6, pt7, pt8, pt9, pt10, pt11, pt12, pt13

A/n meow meow credits to "every day" by david levithan, I am in the stages of insanity at this moment its 7 am and I haven't slept at all, not a single blink of sleep lord save me. P.s: this made me kinda sad this chapter <\3 if u want i recommend listening to "something between us" george romance 101

Day 6008

I go to the computer as soon as I wake up the next morning. But there’s no email from Hanni. I send her another apology. I send her more thanks for the day. Sometimes when you hit send, you can imagine the message going straight into the person’s heart. But other times, like this time, it feels like the words are merely falling into a well.

I head to the social-networking sites, searching for something more. I see that Austin and Hugo still list their relationship status as being together—a good sign. Jiwon’s page is locked to non-friends. So there’s proof of one thing I managed to save, and another where saving is possible.

I have to remind myself it’s not all bad.

Then there’s Haruto. The coverage of him continues. Reverend Poole is getting more testimony by the day, and the news sites are eating it up. Even the Onion is getting into the act, with the headline: WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS TO REVEREND POOLE: ‘THE DEVIL MADE ME EAT THE PLUM.’ If smart people are parodying it, that’s a sure sign that some less smart people are believing it.

But what can I do? Haruto wants his proof, but I’m not sure I have any to give. All I have is my word, and what kind of proof is that?

Today I’m a boy named Jeongwoo. He has diabetes, so I have a whole other layer of concerns on top of my usual ones. I’ve been diabetic a couple of times, and the first time was harrowing. Not because diabetes isn’t controllable, but because I had to rely on the body’s memories to tell me what to look out for, and how to manage it. I ended up pretending I wasn’t feeling well, just so my mother would stay at home and monitor my health with me. Now I feel I can handle it, but I am very attentive to what the body is telling me, much more so than I usually am.

Jeongwoo is full of idiosyncrasies that probably don’t seem all that idiosyncratic to him anymore. He’s a sports fanatic—he plays soccer on the JV squad, but his real love is baseball. His head is full of statistics, facts and figures extrapolated into thousands of different combinations and comparisons. In the meantime, his room is a shrine to the Beatles, and it appears that George is by far his favorite. It isn’t hard to figure out what he’s going to wear, because his entire wardrobe is blue jeans and different variations of the same button-down shirt. There are also more baseball caps than I can imagine anyone needing, but I figure he’s not allowed to wear those to school.

It’s a relief, in many ways, to be a guy who doesn’t mind riding the bus, who has friends waiting for him when he gets on, who doesn’t have to deal with anything more troubling than the fact that he ate breakfast and is still hungry.

It’s an ordinary day, and I try to lose myself in that.

But between third and fourth periods, I’m dragged right back. Because there, right in the hall, is Haruto watanabe.

At first I think I might be mistaken. There are plenty of kids who could look like Haruto. But then I see the way the other kids in the hall are reacting to him, as if he’s this walking joke. He’s trying to make it seem like he doesn’t notice the laughter, the snickers, the snarky comments. But he can’t hide how uncomfortable he is.

I think: He deserves this. He didn’t have to say a word. He could’ve just let it slide.

And I think: It’s my fault. I’m the one who did this to him.

I access Jeongwoo and find out that he and Haruto were good friends in elementary school, and are still friendly now. So it makes sense that when he passes by me, I say hello. And that he says hello back.

I sit with my friends at lunch. Some of the guys ask me about the game last night, and I answer vaguely, accessing the whole time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Haruto sit down at his own table, eating alone. I don’t remember him being friendless, just dull. But it looks as if he’s friendless now.

“I’m going to go talk to Haruto,” I tell my friends.

One of them groans. “Really? I’m so sick of him.”

“I hear he’s doing talk shows now,” another chimes in.

“You would think the devil would have more important things to do than take a Subaru for a joyride on a Saturday night.”

“Seriously.”

I pick up my tray before the conversation can go any further, and tell them I’ll see them later.

Haruto sees me coming over, but still seems surprised when I sit down with him.

“Do you mind?” I ask.

“No,” he says. “Not at all.”

I don’t know what I’m doing. I think of his last email—PROVE IT—and half expect those words to flash from his eyes, for there to be some challenge that I will have to meet. I am the proof. I am right in front of him. But he doesn’t know that.

“So how are you doing?” I ask, picking up a fry, trying to act like this is a normal lunchtime conversation between friends.

“Okay, I guess.” I get a sense that for all the attention people have been giving him, not many people have been asking him how he’s doing.

“So what’s new?”

He glances over my shoulder. “Your friends are looking at us.”

I turn around, and everyone from my old table suddenly looks anywhere but here.

“Whatever,” I say. “Don’t pay attention to them. To any of them.”

“I’m not. They don’t understand.”

“I understand. I mean, I understand that they don’t understand.”

“I know.”

“It must be pretty overwhelming, though, having everyone so interested. And all the blogs and stuff. And this reverend.”

I wonder if I’ve pushed too far. But Haruto seems happy to talk. Jeongwoo is a good guy.

“Yeah, he really gets it. He knew people would give me grief. But he told me I had to be stronger. I mean, having people laugh is nothing compared to surviving a possession.”

Surviving a possession. I have never thought about what I do in those terms. I never thought my presence was something that anyone would have to survive.

Haruto sees me thinking. “What?” he asks.

“I’m just curious—what do you remember from that day?”

Now a wariness creeps into his expression.

“Why are you asking?”

“Curiosity, I guess. I’m not doubting you. Not at all. I just feel like, in all the things I’ve read and all the things people have said, I never really got to hear your side. It’s all been secondhand and thirdhand and probably seventh- or eighth-hand, so I figured I’d just come and ask you firsthand.”

I know I’m on dangerous ground here. I can’t make Jeongwoo too much of a confidant, because tomorrow will come and he might not remember anything that’s been said, and that might make Haruto suspicious. But at the same time, I want to know what he remembers.

Haruto wants to talk. I can see it. He knows he’s stepped off his own map. And while he won’t pull back, he also regrets it a little. I don’t think he ever meant for it to take over his life.

“It was a pretty normal day,” he tells me. “Nothing unusual. I was home with my parents. I did chores, that kind of thing. And then—I don’t know. Something must have happened. Because I made up this story about a school musical and borrowed their car for the night. I don’t remember the musical part—they told me that later. But there I was, driving around. And I had these … urges. Like I was being drawn somewhere.”

He pauses.

“Where?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. This is the weird part. There are a few hours there that are completely blank. I have this sense of not being in control of my body, but that’s it. I have flashes of a party, but I have no idea where, or who else was there. Then suddenly I’m being woken up by a policeman. And I haven’t drunk a sip. I haven’t done any drugs. They tested for that, you know.”

“What if you had a seizure?”

“Why would I borrow my parents’ car to have a seizure? No, there was something else in control. The reverend says I must have wrestled with the devil. Like Jacob. I must have known my body was being used for something evil, and I fought it. And then, when I won, the devil left me by the side of the road.”

He believes this. He genuinely believes this.

And I can’t tell him it’s not true. I can’t tell him what really happened. Because if I do, Jeongwoo will be in danger. I will be in danger.

“It didn’t have to be the devil,” I say.

Haruto becomes defensive. “I just know, okay? And I’m not the only one. There are lots of people out there who’ve experienced the same thing. I’ve chatted with a few of them. It’s scary how many things we have in common.”

“Are you afraid it will happen again?”

“No. I’m prepared this time. If the devil is anywhere near me, I’ll know what to do.”

I sit right there across from him and listen.

He doesn’t recognize me.

I am not the devil.

This thought is what echoes through my mind the rest of the day.

I am not the devil, but I could be.

Looking at it from afar, looking at it from a perspective like Haruto’s, I can see how scary it could be. Because what’s to stop me from doing harm? What punishment would there be if I took the pencil in my hand and gouged out the eye of the girl sitting next to me in chem class? Or worse. I could easily get away with the perfect crime. The body that committed the murder would inevitably get caught, but the murderer would go free. Why haven’t I thought of this before?

I have the potential to be the devil.

But then I think, Stop. I think, No. Because, really, does that make me any different from everyone else? Yes, I could get away with it, but certainly we all have the potential to commit the crime. We choose not to. Every single day, we choose not to. I am no different.

I am not the devil.

There is still no word from Hanni. Whether her silence is coming from her confusion or from a desire to be rid of me, I have no way of knowing.

I write to her and say, simply:

I have to see you again.

Yn

Day 6009

There’s still no word from her the next morning.

I get in the car and drive.

The car belongs to Kang taehyun. He should be in school. But I call the office pretending to be his father and say he has a doctor’s appointment.

It may last the entire day.

It’s a two-hour drive. I know I should spend it getting to know Kang taehyun, but he seems incidental to me right now. I used to inhabit lives like this all the time—testing the bare minimum I needed to know in order to get through the day. I got so good at it that I made it through a few days without accessing once. I’m sure these were very blank days for the bodies I was in, because they were extraordinarily blank days for me.

Most of the drive, I think about Hanni. How to get her back. How to keep in her good graces. How to make this work.

It’s the last part that’s the hardest.

When I get to her school, I park where Ahn yujin parked. The school day is already in full swing, so when I open the doors, I jump right into the fray. It’s between periods, and I have all of two minutes to find her.

I don’t know where she is. I don’t even know what period’s starting. I just push through the halls, looking for her. People brush by, tell me to watch where I’m going. I don’t care. There is everyone else, and there is her. I am only focused on her.

I let the universe tell me where to go. I rely purely on instinct, knowing that this kind of instinct comes from somewhere other than me, somewhere other than this body.

She is turning in to a classroom. But she stops. Looks up. Sees me.

I don’t know how to explain it. I am an island in the hall as people push around me. She is another island. I see her, and she knows exactly who I am. There is no way for her to know this. But she knows.

She walks away from the classroom, walks toward me. Another bell rings and the rest of the people drain out of the hall, leaving us alone together.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hey,” I say.

“I thought you might come.”

“Are you mad?”

“No, I’m not mad.” She glances back at the classroom. “Although Lord knows you’re not good for my attendance record.”

“I’m not good for anybody’s attendance record.”

“What’s your name today?”

“Yn,” I tell her. “For you, it’s always Yn.”

She has a test next period that she can’t skip, so we stay on the school grounds. When we start to encounter other kids—kids without classes this period, kids also cutting—she grows a little more cautious.

“Is Minji in class?” I ask, to give her fear a name.

“Yeah. If she decided to go.”

We find an empty classroom and go inside. From all the Shakespearean paraphernalia hanging on the walls, I’m guessing we’re in an English classroom. Or drama.

We sit in the back row, out of sight of the window in the door.

“How did you know it was me?” I have to ask.

“The way you looked at me,” she says. “It couldn’t have been anyone else.”

This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to make it possible, endlessly possible. And when it’s just the two of you, alone in a room, you can pretend that this is how it is, this is how it will be.

I take her hand and she doesn’t pull away. Is this because something between us has changed, or is it only because my body has changed? Is it easier for her to hold Kang taehyun’s hand?

The electricity in the air is muted. This is not going to lead to anything more than an honest conversation.

“I’m sorry about the other night,” I say again.

“I deserve part of the blame. I never should have called her.”

“What did she say? Afterward?”

“She kept calling you ‘that bitch.’ ”

“Charming.”

“I think she sensed it was a trap. I don’t know. She just knew something was off.”

“Which is probably why she passed the test.”

Hanni pulls away. “That’s not fair.”

“I’m sorry.”

I wonder why it is that she’s strong enough to say no to me, but not strong enough to say no to her.

“What do you want to do?” I ask her.

She matches my glance perfectly. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to do whatever you feel is best for you.”

“That’s the wrong answer,” she tells me.

“Why is it the wrong answer?”

“Because it’s a lie.”

You are so close, I think. You are so close, and I can’t reach you.

“Let’s go back to my original question,” I say. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to throw everything away for something uncertain.”

“What about me is uncertain?”

She laughs. “Really? Do I have to explain it to you?”

“Besides that. You know you are the most important person I’ve ever had in my life. That’s certain.”

“In just two weeks. That’s uncertain.”

“You know more about me than anyone else does.”

“But I can’t say the same for you. Not yet.”

“You can’t deny that there’s something between us.”

“No. There is. When I saw you today—I didn’t know I’d been waiting for you until you were there. And then all of that waiting rushed through me in a second. That’s something … but I don’t know if it’s certainty.”

I know what I’m asking of you, I want to say. But I stop myself. Because I realize that would be another lie. And she’d call me on it.

She looks at the clock. “I have to get ready for my test. And you have another life to get back to.”

I can’t help myself. I ask, “Don’t you want to see me?”

She holds there for a moment. “I do. And I don’t. You would think it would make things easier, but it actually makes them harder.”

“So I shouldn’t just show up here?”

“Let’s stick to email for now. Okay?”

And just like that, the universe goes wrong. Just like that, all the enormity seems to shrink into a ball and float away from my reach.

I feel it, and she doesn’t.

Or I feel it, and she won’t.

[slivensays]

❤️‍🩹 Do you like to have happy endings in stories? Bittersweet?

👽 What's the weirdest idea you've had for a story?

👀 Any snippets you could share?

Oh fun!!!

❤️‍🩹 Do you like to have happy endings in stories? Bittersweet?

Oh, happy, for sure. I’m all for escapism, I want to know that the characters I’ve been investing in emotionally gets a good ending. Or, at least, that it was all somehow worth it.

👽 What's the weirdest idea you've had for a story?

Probably the LOTR/101 Dalmatians crossover “Elrond and the 101 Mary Sues”. It is totally daft but I had a lot of fun with it, back in the day. Gríma gets a scene. 😊  

👀 Any snippets you could share?

I have a little epilogue of sorts to “Finding new words” in the works. Little things that didn’t quite fit into the main story.

…

“Got a sweet tooth for jam?” There’s a smile playing around the corners of Éomer’s mouth as they set out for home, riding once more along the path lined with lush plum trees and bees going about their business.

Gríma shakes his head; “The goodwife wanted to prove her worth, prove the worth of her work. And you were about to refuse it.”

Éomer’s eyes widen; “Never did I question her worth, nor her work. I clearly remember praising her and her husband, both, at their table.”

“All good and well, but she wanted to show you how worthy they are of your praise. She wanted you to know they had an abundance to share.”

“Sounds a bit obsequious.”

“No.” Gríma turns to look Éomer in the eye; “It’s not. Not when coming from one of your loyal subjects delivering directly to the crown.”

…

It was supposed to be about potatoes, but plums somehow happened. I blame May.

Thank you so much for the ask!

[lovelyprincessn64]

🎄Jingle Bells Jingle Bells all I want for Christmas is you. 🎁 it is the special time of the year December a month of Christmas joy and happiness and this year I'm giving it to everyone special for everyone to enjoy🎁

Don't be shy and have a happy holidays of a lifetime:

1. 12 days of Christmas

2. Jingle the reindeer

3. Toy day

4. Hot cocoa hot tub

5. Christmas from Japan

6. Sexy Santa fan service

7. Too much eggnog

8. Any type of Christmas theme

9. Hot cocoa nights

10. Secret Santa

11. some cheese with that whine

12. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

13. Horrific Xmas Tales

14. Icy nights

15. Snowball at Met Gala

16. Your ocs (Christmas theme)

17. Under the mistletoe

18. Home Alone

19. Christmas with Disney

20. Kiss at the fireplace

21. Mean one Grinch

22. Christmas with Disney

23. Jingle Bells

24. Eating at grillby's

25. Don't tell on me

26. Ice Zone

27. Mythical wishes

28. Sugar plum Clefairy

29. Handsome nutcrackers

30. Dark times in Midwinter

31. Ugly sweaters

32. Drunk like crazy

33. Minty fresh

34. Shopping like crazy

35. Troublesome toys

36. Psycho Happy Fella

37. White elephant gift Exchange

38. Grumpy bah humbug

39. Candle of Hope

40. Hanukkah

41. Zombie Santa (he's from Eddsworld zanta)

42. KFC rather than turkey

43. All I Want For Christmas

44. Naughty or nice

45. Winter vacation

46. Ice skating

47. Sugar coma

48. Bayonetta's birthday

49. Delicious cake rather than fruit cake

50. Christmas prompts

51. Time of the 90s

52. Isabel's birthday

53. Retro from the past

53. Holiday High Jinks

54. Pizza dinner

55. Kiss me at midnight

56. Time for a new year

57. South Park like crazy

58. Russia's too cold for me

59. Tea party at France

60. Joyful spirit

61. Wishing for a snow day

62. Fruit cakes

63. Ready for the new year

64. Yandere surprises

65. Overwatch winter event

66. Nightmare Before Christmas

67. Gothic styles

68. Christmas with NiGHTS

69. National cookie day

70. Beauty of a snow angel

71. Just a dream

72. Special Starbucks month

73. Dangerous frostbites

74. Nintendo prizes

75. Cabin Fever

76. Cutest gingerbread

77. Happy gift big smile

78. Jolly Sora

79. Christmas with Charlie Brown

80. Horror tales Christmas

81. Winter Legends

82. Milk and cookies

83. Whipping up with cream

84. Sonic Channel arts

85. Ben 10 anniversary

86. Snowball fights

87. Lovely Vintages

88. Winter Aesthetics or Christmas Aesthetics

89. Ed Edd and Eddy

90. Once Upon a December

91. Miracles in a best way

92. Baby don't go outside

93. Christmas wedding days

94. Baking cookies

95. Redraws gifts

96. Colors of Poinsettias

97. Frosty the Snowman

98. McDonald's special

99. Aurora lights

100. Made with love

101. Wishing on a shooting star

102. Together stargazing

103. Satire of gifts

104. Ice cream dreams

105. Run Over by a Reindeer

106. Licorice taste

107. Hanging by a candy cane

108. You don't seem marry

109. Frostbite heart attack

110. Smashmas

112. My lips turn blue when I'm with you

113. Holidays with Eddsworld

114. He enjoys the feast

115. A hole in my heart a rip in the face

116. You better watch out

117. Sing along

118. Desires of a heart

119. Stealing crayons

200. Evil Candy Bar

201. Dashing through the snow

203. If I was your vampire

204. Golden hours

205. Sneaking through the fridge

206. Choices of flavors

207. Chandelier woman

208. Present from Mario

209. Playing with Game Boy

210. Decoration fun time

211. Toy store Mayhem

212. Countdown to end

213. Exotic joys

214. Dead on silver platter

215. Bacon for breakfast

216. Frozen

217. Served cold

218. Lilith and snowy

219. Coca-Cola season

220. Ornament creations

221. Animal Crossing

222. DIY times

223. Cartoon times

224. Thinking fruity

225. Wine and dine

226. Horror mix

227. Cheap chills

228. Party at Club Penguin

229. December birthdays

230. Nostalgia from the past

230. Gaming through the 90s

231. Time with coffee house

232. Makeup for a lame Christmas

233. Last Christmas

234. This year I'm giving it someone special

235. Daily activities

236. Holidays with Pokémon

237. True love gave to me

238. Making Reindeer nip

239. Got bloody

240. Dead by Christmas

241. Christmas or Halloween

242. Drink of ice coffee

243. Cookies on the Run

244. Mickey's Christmas Carol

245. Sing me a story

246. kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii

247. Woman you are a lump of coal

248. Boy to the world

249. Building gingerbreads

250. Waking within morning

251. Wonders of life

252. Fruit cakes

253. Lollipop crazy

254. Don't hike in snow

255. Frostbites

256. Sing of carols

257. Isabel's birthday

258. Holiday Bashs

259. Revenge of the snow plow

300. Colors of snow cones

301. Coffee & Mints

302. SpongeBob Christmas specials

303. Nezuko's birthday

304. For my Nezuko

303. Villain Hawks

304. Hawks's birthday

305. My favorite food is chicken

306. Hawks wearing US military uniform

Note: please read the rules before requesting also if you prefer Halloween or Thanksgiving feel free to go these events also have a merry Christmas

[travelingstrawberry]

Round up of all my fics for this year’s Three Sentence Ficathon. The general theme is I completely failed at 3 sentences most of the time. 

Fandom: 锦心似玉 | The Sword and The Brocade (TV)  

economics 101: It is the job of a current landlord to teach his son and heir all the knowledge he needs to carry out his future duties. And Xu Lingyi takes his son’s education very seriously.

no cause to repine: “Do you feel the need to play the part of the virtuous wife, or do you really want me to have more concubines?” Xu Lingyi/Shiyi Niang fluff  829 words

Fandom: 当家主母 | Marvelous Women (TV)  

for better for worse: Today, Zeng Bao Qin was to become Ren Xue Tang’s official wife. Ten years ago, she would have wept in happiness at this day, and laugh at Cui Xi’s regrets. Cui Xi/Bao Qin, 510 words 

Fandom: 向风而行 | Flight to You (TV)  

flight over water: Gu Nanting watches Cheng Xiao on the beach after that ill-fated first Luzhou flight to Singapore. 1,115 words

with the wind | 顺风: Snippets of the pilots and crews of Luzhou Air, written for the Three Sentence Ficathon. See chapter 1 for Table of Contents.

dereliction of duty: How the investigation of the accident where Cheng Xiao turned the plane instead of braking like Jiang Tao ordered should have ended.  903 words

Fandom: 卿卿日常 | New Life Begins (TV)  

rolling the dice, got the wind in my hair: Hao Jia gives birth to a son, Yin Song wants to make her his official wife even if he has to get creative to get rid of Zhao Fangru, then so be it. Hao Jia cannot let this happen. For the Three Sentence Ficathon prompts "any, any, I stuffed them full of death caps / and killed my lover dead" and "any, any, it's a good day for someone else to die" but ended up being way longer than three sentences.  2,265 words

they three: You did not have to be just one husband and one wife to be happy, Li Wei realised, not when everyone was willing to be together. (Li Wei/Yin Zheng/Yuan Ying OT3)

incomplete the collection: Haitang vows their band of sisterhood would never, never reach 24.

memories feel like weapons: Alone in her cold chambers, sometimes Hao Jia thought the only friend she had was regrets.

Fandom: 如懿传 | Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (TV)  

green plum blossom promise: Loosely-connected three-sentence fanfics reflecting on Ruyi and Hailan's relationship.

Others

Milestones: You Are My Glory - this year’s 3sf entries start from chapter 25

the changing of the guard(s): It is the year of the Rabbit...or is it? (Anthropomorphic)

a certain step towards falling in love: “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.”Michael was not so much fond of dancing as needing to dance to avoid match-making mamas. (Bridgerton Francesca/Michael)

lost and found: “Hi, have you seen a bag containing a Toblerone, a bottle of Talisker and a lemon?” (Cabin Pressure)

[amenomiko]

Request from Ikemen Sengoku FB Group ❤

MC: *Sings "Never Enough"*

------

Nobunaga: Yes. Especially the konpeito supply in my hidden stash.

Hideyoshi: Ehem.

Nobunaga: ( ͡°з ͡°)

------

Hideyoshi: Never enough? Is it my time to spend with you? Asgdjdjlslf MC I'm really sorry! I will try to spend time with you more and more once I'm done with this documents-- and chasing Masamune for bringing Shogetsu for a walk in castle halls-- and feed Mitsunari-- and to stop Ieyasu from hitting Mitsunari and to spy on Mitsuhide if he is plotting against Nobunaga-sama (´；д；`)

Mitsuhide: ( ͡^ ͜ʖ ͡^)*Starts to play "Papparazi" by Lady Gaga*

------

Masamune: Never enough? Was it the food that I cook for you? Or... *smirks* my hot, wet , kisses? Aaaaayyyyy naughty kitten 😏😏😏😏😏👉👉👉👉👉✨✨✨✨✨✨

Hideyoshi: (ﾉ_-;)…

------

Mitsuhide: Never enough? Be specific, little mouse ( ͡^ ͜ʖ ͡^). Oh I know. You can't get enough of my tease, right? You know you like it when I tease you 😏😏😏😏✨✨✨✨

MC: *instantly stopped singing*

FML (　☉д⊙)

------

Ieyasu: Never enough? W-was it my time to love you? *Small voice* Damn it. I was not checking my contrary side again-- now she make the lack of love into a song. *self blame 101 until MC had to stop him with a kiss*

------

Mitsunari: *Dumbfounded* Wow 😮😮😮😮! MC you are so good in singing! But may I ask? What is the thing that is not enough? ...Ah! I get it. It's the book, right? Book for me to read. *Nod nod* Yes I agree. It's never enough as I need more. MC, you are so kind for singing the song for me (❁´◡`❁)❤❤❤❤

MC: ..........

------

Kenshin: Yes. Indeed it is. The amount of sake and plums is NEVER ENOUGH for me to indulge..! I will never get enough of it..!

Shingen: I don't think that's the meaning of the song--

Kenshin: And for Shingen to breathe is more than enough. *click his tongue*

Shingen: H E Y

------

Shingen: Ah. As expected of my goddess. Of course it is never enough, especially the kiss we shared last night. *smirks* How about we share it again now? 😏😏😏😏😏

Yukimura: 😑😑😑😑😑😑

------

Yukimura: *Frowns* What is the thing that is never enough for you?? Is it the amount of running into people in the forest? *shakes his head + mumble mumble* This wild boar

*BONK* - sound of him got hit by the mic

------

Sasuke: *Was watching MC's performance with the most stoic face ever* MC... That was astounding.

MC: Hehehehe thank you, Sasuke ((o(*>ω<*)o))

Sasuke: Now let's continue with "Rewrite the Stars". It's alright, I'm a ninja, so let me bring female part to swing here and there, okay? (･ิ_･ิ)ノ✨✨✨

MC: Oh. Wow. Now from "Mizusaki Mai", I am "Mac Mefron" ಠ_ಠ

[hagridkeeperofkeys]

August 2021 Posts

IF YOU DO ANY OF THESE POSTS AND THEN  SEE THEY WERE ACTUALLY CLOSED, PLEASE REACH OUT TO YOUR HEAD OF HOUSES  AND THEY MAY STILL BE ABLE TO AWARD YOU THE POINTS!

Elimination Challenge:

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote One) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Two) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Three) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Four) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Five) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Six) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Seven) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Eight) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Nine) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical PLants (Vote Ten) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Eleven) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Twelve) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Thirteen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Fourteen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Fifteen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Sixteen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Seventeen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Eighteen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Vote Nineteen) - CLOSED

Favorite Magical Plants (Final Vote) - CLOSED

Favorite Horcrux (Vote One) - CLOSED

Favorite Horcrux (Vote Two) - CLOSED

Favorite Horcrux (Vote Three) - CLOSED

MAGIC Bingo:

First Sign Up - CLOSED

First Card - CLOSED

Puzzles:

Wormwood (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Wiggentree (54 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Sneezewart (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Snargaluff (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Puffapod (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Gurdyroot (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Fluxweed (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Cowbane (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Bubotuber (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Leaping Toadstool (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Venomous Tentacula (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Fanged Geranium (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Elder Tree (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Niffler’s Fancy (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Dirigible Plums (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Dittany/Mimbulus Mimbletonia (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Aconite/Belladonna/Flutterby Bush (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Wandwoods (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Bouncing Bulb (Swap Puzzle - Medium Level) - CLOSED

Whomping Willow (56 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Ginny Weasley Swap Puzzle (Easy Level) - CLOSED

Chamber Of Secrets (62 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Happy Birthday Arthur (49 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Happy Birthday Umbridge (63 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Devils Snare (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Crying Mandrake Video Puzzle (Medium Level) - CLOSED

Dear Mr. Potter (300 pieces - Riddikulus Level) - CLOSED

White Deathly Hallows (204 pieces - Riddikulus Level) - CLOSED

Oh My God! I’ve Killed Harry Potter (55 pieces - Easy Level) -CLOSED

Ginny Birthday (42 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Ginny Sliding Puzzle (Easy Level) - CLOSED

Let’s Watch HP (91 pieces - Medium Level) - CLOSED

Hogsmeade Castle (198 pieces - Hard Level) - CLOSED

Severus Snape Predictive Text - CLOSED

August Birthdays (30 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Moondew (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Dementor Got Your Tongue (63 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Gillyweed (48 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Whomping Willow (99 pieces - Medium Level) - CLOSED

Easy Points:

Name The Magical Plants - CLOSED

What Does Your Flutterby Bush Smell Like? - CLOSED

Declare A GIF War - CLOSED

What Is Bellatrix Looking Up On Google? - CLOSED

What Magical Telemarketing Call Would You Get? - CLOSED

Choose A Dirigible Plum - CLOSED

Where Are The Dursleys Going On Vacation - CLOSED

Create A New Magical Plant - CLOSED

What Plant Do You Get Transfigured Into? - CLOSED

The Golden Trio Are Looking At You (GIF Reaction) - CLOSED

Who Did Neville Give What Plant To And Where? - CLOSED

What Do You Think Of The Mermaids - CLOSED

What Happened To The DADA Teachers? - CLOSED

Langelock, Avada Kedavra, Or Amortentia (Magical Plants) - CLOSED

Langelock, Avada Kedavra, Or Amortentia (Weasleys) - CLOSED

Langelock, Avada Kedavra, Or Amortentia (Professors) - CLOSED

Langelock, Avada Kedavra, Or Amortentia (Magical Plants 2) - CLOSED

Name A Song Professor Sprout Plays To Her Plants - CLOSED

Create A New Name For a Magical Plant - CLOSED

Predictive Text - CLOSED

Replace A Hogwarts Teacher With A Celebrity - CLOSED

Spread Some Love And Thank Someone From The Group - CLOSED

Suggest A Book For Hermione’s TBR List - CLOSED

Drop Your Favorite Memes Or Pictures - CLOSED

Sort A Star Wars Character Into A Hogwarts House - CLOSED

Compliment Dolores Umbridge For Her Birthday - CLOSED

What Is Your Reaction Seeing Umbridge As Your Teacher? - CLOSED

Funniest Pick-Up Line - CLOSED

What’s Your Favorite Spell? - CLOSED

GIF Reaction of Going Back To School - CLOSED

Favorite Harry Potter Fan Art - CLOSED

Match The Drawing To Name Of Magical Plants - CLOSED

What’s Your Favorite Thing About Your House? - CLOSED

GIF Reaction (Rita Skeeter Is Spying On You) - CLOSED

Quizzes:

Harry Potter: Herbology Quiz - CLOSED

Can You Pass Herbology 101? - CLOSED

Harry Potter Quiz - CLOSED

How Well Do You Know Gilderoy Lockhart? - CLOSED

How Well Do You Know The Marauders - CLOSED

Dursleys Quiz - CLOSED

A Harry Potter Quiz - CLOSED

What Percent Hufflepuff Are You? - CLOSED

Hogwarts Hebology Exam - CLOSED

Complete The Quote Quiz: Professors Edition - CLOSED

What’s Your Animagus Form? - CLOSED

Professor Sprout Quotes - CLOSED

Templates:

This Or That (Teachers And Subjects Edition) - CLOSED

Which Villain Are You? - CLOSED

Dolores Umbridge Party Invite - CLOSED

I Spy... - CLOSED

Rate The Books - CLOSED

Are You More Like... - CLOSED

This Or That (Hufflepuff Edition) - CLOSED

This Or That (Magical Plants Edition) - CLOSED

Harry Potter Asks - CLOSED

Word Scramble - CLOSED

Would You Rather... - CLOSED

Spot The Pair - CLOSED

Which Neville Are You Today? - CLOSED

Which Ginny Are You Today? - CLOSED

Which Luna Are You Today? - CLOSED

Creative Writing:

What Underage Magic Were You Caught Doing? - CLOSED

Who’s A Part Of Your Golden Trio - CLOSED

How Would Your Favorite Subject Be Different From The 90s - CLOSED

What “Back To School” Items Would You Bring? - CLOSED

What’s Music Without A Little Magic?:

Create A Harry Potter Themed Music Playlist Title - CLOSED

Ron And Harry Take The Car - CLOSED

The Epic Chess Match - CLOSED

Yule Ball Dance - CLOSED

Prepare For Battle - CLOSED

Dobby’s Sacrifice - CLOSED

Fred And George’s Grand Exit - CLOSED

Beauxbaton’s Academy of Magic Entrance - CLOSED

Collages:

Dolores Umbridge “Vision Board” - CLOSED

Hogwarts Aesthetic - CLOSED

Magical Plants - CLOSED

Coloring Sheets/Drawing:

Venomous Tentacula - CLOSED

Aconite - CLOSED

Dot-To-Dot - CLOSED

Dumbledore - CLOSED

Create Your Own Potion - CLOSED

Pickett The Bowtruckle - CLOSED

What Potion Is Harry Brewing? - CLOSED

Turn This Potato Into A Character - CLOSED

Word Search:

Magical Plants - CLOSED

Wolfstar - CLOSED

Harry Potter Places - CLOSED

Crossword:

Magical Plants - CLOSED

DOMC:

Daily Prophet Mass Breakout (28 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Escaped From Azkaban Coloring Sheet - CLOSED

Prisoners Of Azkaban Quiz - CLOSED

Have You Seen This Wizard? - CLOSED

Character Name Match - CLOSED

Dementors At Quidditch (60 pieces - Easy Level) - CLOSED

Escapee Suspects Word Search - CLOSED

Final Post - CLOSED

[hollywooduniversityalumnus]

5. headhunter

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Another day, another lecture.

Thomas paced in front of his students, having abandoned his stance before the lectern more than half an hour ago. With only fifteen minutes left until class ended, and still much to cover, he spoke at a slightly faster speed than usual. He doubted his students noticed; most of them had packed away their notebooks already and were distracting themselves with their phones held in their laps.

Fools, he thought. Do they think I don’t know what they’re doing?

He didn’t have time to raise hell for their insolence; he had a meeting to attend. So, as much as he hated letting things slide, he gritted his teeth and pressed on.

“The more credited ‘writers’ a film has, the worse it will be. The sheer number of revisions a screenplay must go through to rack up six, seven, eight writers . . . it’s appalling!” He rubbed his temples with his fingers, as if trying to erase the memories of his time trying to – and ultimately passing on - play script doctor for an action-adventure franchise that had employed no less than eight writers to cobble together the final, nonsensical storyline that effectively alienated large droves of the franchise’s fans.

Checking his watch, he mentally cursed at the time before heading right for his desk.

“Remember, your papers on prewar and postwar experimental cinema are due next class. Any submissions sent in later than precisely nine o’clock in the morning will be deducted points. None of you could stand to lose any points, if the grades so far for this class this semester are any indication. Class dismissed.”

Thomas turned his attention to packing up his things and hightailing it out of the lecture hall. Yet, beyond the rush of feet moving towards the door and mindless chatter about what people’s plans for the evening were – did I ever consider Wednesday nights party nights in college? he wondered briefly – he could hear a few distinct voices among the din.

“Since when does Hunt check with you before he does something?” he heard Ethan Blake say.

He paused in the middle of stashing away his laptop.

After a pause, Miss Schuyler said, “I just meant . . . don’t you think he’d tell the class before-”

“Are we really discussing this in front of him?” Miss Sinclair stage whispered.

He lifted his head to find the three students still standing by their desks, looking directly at him. Upon capturing his attention, they started at being caught and leapt into extremely unnatural stances: Ethan Blake rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while staring pointedly upwards, Miss Sinclair focused intently on the palms of her hands, and Miss Schuyler . . . was still looking at him, but had pasted a terrifyingly wide smile on her face.

He glanced again at his watch. He truly didn’t have time for this.

Rolling his eyes at the trio, he headed straight for his office to grab his jacket and keys. Then, it was off to the inanely named restaurant where he’d be meeting the faculty recruiter of Southern California University’s film school.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“Don’t you think he’d tell the class before ditching us in the middle of the year?” Margot asked. “He isn’t the type to cut and run. I just know he isn’t! We can’t let him leave!”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose. “You’re awfully emotional about this news.”

Margot glared at him over the table grill of Grilling Me Softly, a Korean barbeque restaurant that opened twenty minutes away from the university. Their platters of pork belly, lemon-and-herb marinated chicken, chadolbagi, and bulgogi had arrived, and it was her turn to do the cooking. She tweaked with her hair, which she’d pulled up into Sailor Moon-like buns to keep the long locks from enticing the flames.

The sight of her with metal tong poised in the air and her glare piercing him from across the circular table had Ethan quickly changing his tune.

“It’s good that you care,” he backtracked. “I just . . . if there’s any professor who would evoke that kind of response from me if there were rumours of them leaving, it would be, like, Moriyama. Someone with a heart.”

Addison, who was already digging into her portion of their wild mushroom japchae starter, nodded, cheeks bulging with food.

“He did defend me in my hearing, or have you forgotten?” Margot picked up a few pieces of meat from each plate and dropped it onto the grill, reveling in the satisfying sizzle and steam that instantly came out upon contact. “He’s not so bad.”

Addison dabbed at the corners of her lips with a napkin. “Okay, but how are we going to convince him to stay?”

A body slid into one of the seats next to Ethan so suddenly that the agent nearly leapt from his. Crash, smiling broadly, immediately reached for a bowl of soft rice and egg, chopsticks at the ready in the blink of an eye.

“Convince who?” he asked.

“Jesus, Crash,” Ethan said, pressing a hand over his heart to calm it.

“We’re convincing Jesus?”

Margot rolled her eyes. “Where’s Lisa? Didn’t she give you a ride here?”

Crash, around a mouthful of egg, mumbled something about paparazzi. Margot craned her head around just in time to see her pink-haired friend arrive, settling into the seat beside her while keeping her gaze focused on one of the booths in a corner of the restaurant.

“Hey, Lisa,” she said, turning the meat over with precision.

Lisa wrangled her hair into a high ponytail, securing it with an acid-green scrunchie that clashed horrendously with her outfit and made Addison mentally weep at the fashion faux pas. She finally tore her gaze away from the corner and shot them all a look.

“Hunt’s here,” Lisa said.

Margot’s eyes widened. “Here? In a place called Grilling Me Softly? There’s no way.”

Ethan snickered. “I feel like he’d disintegrate before he’d set foot in a university student hangout, much less one with a punny name.”

“Maybe it’s another man who wears a suit every minute of every day,” Crash suggested.

“Uh, this ‘university student hangout’ is more expensive than our usual fish and chips or burger joints,” Lisa pointed out. “Still, isn’t it strange? And who is that woman he’s with?”

Margot’s cheeks flushed at the mention of a woman.

Not that she had any claim on him whatsoever. She wasn’t even sure of her feelings for him anymore. Sure, they had . . . something, but it wasn’t clear what it meant to him, and she didn’t want to act like a fool for him if he was solely focused on being her instructor.

Maybe he’s a friend now, she considered. He’s done some friendly things. He’s held his umbrella over me, drove me home after the date auction, and comforted me on the movie set. He didn’t have to do those things, but he did.

He also kissed me, she reminded herself, and she quickly busied herself with replacing the meat on the grill with new slabs, distributing the cooked pieces to her hungry friends.

Meanwhile, with the subtlety of a bull in a china shop, Ethan maneuvered his head until he caught a glimpse of the professor sitting in the corner booth. He squinted at the person he was seated across before turning back to his friends, a mixture of awe and shock on his face.

“Penelope Locke,” he said in a hushed voice. “Headhunter for Southern California U.”

Lisa’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Like an assassin?”

“Who would eat dinner with their assassin?” Ethan replied.

Crash smiled. “I would, just to say I did.”

“You wouldn’t have survived-”

“Guys.” Margot turned her attention back to Ethan. “A headhunter, eh? So he really must be considering leaving Hollywood U.”

Her stomach twisted. Though the smell of the sizzling beef and pork belly was intoxicating, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to eat any of it knowing that Professor Hunt was sitting across the room possibly planning his escape.

And then the dak kalguksu she ordered came, and her stomach untwisted itself in anticipation of the noodle soup she’d been craving for weeks.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Across the crowded restaurant, Thomas tasted the plum wine Penelope Locke ordered for them both and sighed. It wasn’t scotch, but it would tide him over until he could get home and have a few fingers from his favourite bottle before bed.

The woman sitting across from him knew his game already, but still pitched him on an open faculty position at SCU Cinematic Arts. But mostly, she kept her expression serious, even when they endured the forty-five minute “meeting” with mostly small talk and occasional glances at the paparazzi waiting for . . . whoever was important enough to be present and photographed at a place called Grilling Me Softly.

Eventually, the bill arrived. Penelope tucked a credit card into the black leather booklet quickly and handed it back to them. Thomas polished off his wine before slipping out of his seat.

“Thank you, Penelope,” he said quietly.

“Anything for a friend.” Penelope’s face was carefully blank as she added, “The paparazzi was a nice touch. They’ll hear about this meeting in no time.”

“Perfect.” He pulled on his coat. “Though I admittedly didn’t plan that part.”

He turned his head to survey the room, searching for the person who had attracted the photographers outside like moths to the table grill’s flames. A shock of pink hair that he usually saw in a bedhead disarray caught his attention, and he groaned internally at noticing that Miss Schuyler and her entourage (including the celebrity in question, Lisa Valentine) were stuffing themselves with near-reckless abandon.

“Do you know them?” Penelope asked, tilting her chin towards the group.

Thomas grimaced. “Yes. I’ll admit I’ve never seen them eat before. It’s . . . rather disturbing.”

Penelope laughed. “Good thing we arrived when we did. They might bankrupt this restaurant yet.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

The week after his meeting with Penelope, Thomas settled behind his desk in the lecture hall as his Hollywood 101 class filed in slowly. He had already laid out the grading rubrics for the students presenting their midterm projects that day. And, as the presentations began, he immediately regretted staying out a little later than usual the night before, catching up with an old colleague who had since become Hillview Film Academy’s recruiter.

Seriously, Thomas thought, Lance’s continued attendance at this university is inconceivable. Who does a midterm presentation on “glossy, tangle-taming hair masks for the modern male model”?

When it came to Miss Sinclair’s presentation, however, he was admittedly impressed by the line of men’s business suits she had come up with. Though he felt she should have cited a more recent point of inspiration than Mad Men or Sex and the City, he marked her accordingly, noting the special craftsmanship and detail-conscious care that she had put into every suit on display.

I wouldn’t mind wearing the gray one . . .

Clearing his throat authoritatively, he spoke up. “I’m surprised at your drastic change in artistic direction, Miss Sinclair. I hope you have defended your decisions in the accompanying write-up.”

Miss Sinclair nodded.

Thomas checked his list. “Finally, Mister Yamaguchi.”

Spencer Yamaguchi grinned, already making his way to the door. “All right! I’ve got it all set up in one of the auditoriums. It’s a one-man show about a plucky hero, who struggles with his-”

“Save it for the show, Mister Yamaguchi.” Thomas sighed as he looked at his neatly organized desktop. “And in future, please inform us beforehand if we are to move locations for project presentations. That goes for all of you.”

Grumbling, Thomas picked up his rubrics and laptop and herded the class to the auditorium. While they settled into their seats, Mister Yamaguchi disappeared behind the red velvet curtains that obscured the stage. Among the murmuring of the students waiting for the show to begin, Thomas could hear a microphone check and a five-second snippet of music being tested on the sound system.

The lights went down.

The curtains came up.

A spotlight turned on, illuminating a backdrop of two-dimensional high-rises and streets edged with trees and parked cars.

And the song that had begun to play as part of the sound system check began and continued as the protagonist appeared.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“Welcome to The Many Adventures of the Amazing Arachnid Boy!” crowed Crash from where he dangled from the ceiling, parallel to the stage. “I’m your host, Arachnid Boy himself, and this is the story of . . . me.”

From behind her, Margot could hear Professor Hunt snort. Hearing such an undignified sound from him made her smile.

The hip-hop beat kicked in, and Crash began climbing a cardboard skyscraper, freestyling about his new superpowers without stumbling over his words. His dark red leather jacket had an iron-on spider-shaped patch on the back, and he turned around to show the audience it as the song slowed down for a melancholy bridge.

“No one knows my pain, no one knows the strain,” Crash sang, “on my mental health, gotta be so stealthy . . . I know I seem witty, ‘cause I fly above the city, but when I stop, I can’t stop, I won’t stop . . .”

The beat kicked back in, and he jumped around and immediately leapt to the next cardboard building with exuberance.

“I can’t risk someone getting the drop on me, finding out my identity, putting the serenity of my family at risk . . . ya hear me, villains? Take a shot at me, you’d better not miss!”

As Crash’s show continued, Margot snuck glances over her shoulder at the professor. He seemed more shocked than anything else, and his pen was moving at lightning speed over the paper he had balanced on a clipboard.

Hopefully those are good notes, she thought.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

After Mister Yamaguchi’s self-insert rip-off of an existing superhero defeated its archenemy, the Emerald Elf, the audience around Thomas jumped to its feet in raucous applause. Thomas brought his hands together twice before returning to his notes, jotting down some last-minute observations – rhymed “city” with “litty”; did the Emerald Elf need a self-deprecating R&B solo? – and then ushering the class back into the lecture hall.

“Our presenters for next class are Miss Valentine, Miss Stone, Mister Ortega, Miss Perez, Jayden, and Miss Schuyler. The remaining students will be presenting the following class. Until then, class dismissed.”

As Thomas unlocked his laptop to begin inputting grades, he sensed someone sidling up to him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who might be approaching him.

“Hello, Professor,” Miss Schuyler said softly. Her bag was already slung over her shoulder. A quick glance to the door indicated that her friends were leaving her behind; he almost wished he could call them back in, to make sure that whatever it was she had to say was said in front of witnesses.

After the Fairy Kingdom Formal, he’d felt odd whenever he so much as looked at her. He wasn’t sure what to make of the new sensation. He worried that it meant something. But it couldn’t, could it? She was a decade younger than him. She was his student. It couldn’t be-

She told you about her childhood, he reminded himself. She confided in you. It’s not love. It’s you worrying over how she lived when she was younger. That’s all.

He wanted his thoughts to stop right there, but they kept coming anyway, like a second inner voice had joined the conversation to argue a different opinion.

You knew it was her at the masquerade. You spoke with her. You danced with her. You kissed her.

Stop.

You took care of her when she was hungry, cold, and sad. You slept in the same bed as her.

It meant nothing. It was nothing-

You drove her to her dorm after Chris Winters left her in the aquarium. She told you she thought you mattered to her, and you lived off that feeling for days after.

Stop-

You held your umbrella over her. You helped her get to her ride home with little incident.

That doesn’t mean anything-

You like her.

Stop-

You might even love-

“Professor?”

He blinked and found himself staring up at a very concerned Margot.

“Are you all right?” She adjusted the strap on her shoulder. “I was just . . . did you like Crash’s musical?”

He felt a bit dizzy. “It was interesting,” he said slowly.

“Good interesting?”

He cocked his head to the side, which didn’t help the vertigo. “I always find it fascinating when students suddenly decide that their passions have changed, Miss Schuyler.”

And, though she was an admittedly talented actress, Margot did not hide her nervousness. “Oh, yeah. I see how that could be interesting.”

“Might you know anything about Mister Yamaguchi and Miss Sinclair’s newfound passions?” he asked, mostly to see her squirm.

There, see? he told himself. I revel in making her uncomfortable, in treating her just like all my other students. This “love” theory is absolute bull-

“Maybe.” Her eyes widened comically. “I mean. Um. That’s all. Bye.”

She sped-walked out of the hall, and Thomas took a minute to gather himself before turning back to his laptop.

Sifting through his notes, he took extra time with Miss Sinclair and Mister Yamaguchi’s rubrics. They had both delivered impressive projects, ambitious if a bit contrived, but if her reaction was anything to go by, Miss Schuyler had something to do with their sudden fascinations in suits and musical theatre.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He can’t leave. He just can’t.

Margot had been standing in the main building of the university with her friends, rehashing Lisa’s surprise operatic performance as well as her own avant-garde film she directed, when she saw him hurrying towards a clearly marked administrator’s office. Though his stride was purposeful, and he attracted attention wherever he went due to his being Thomas Hunt and all, something about him radiated the energy of a man who did not want to be seen.

Before knocking on the door, she watched the professor take a deep breath.

And then he stepped through the doorway and out of view, leaving her to draw her own conclusion.

“I hope we did enough to convince him to stay,” she said quietly.

Lisa placed a hand on her shoulder. “If my rendition of Pavarotti didn’t convince him, I doubt anything could.”

“He did like your film, Margot,” Addison said reassuringly. “He didn’t trash it or anything!”

“Sad how that’s a good sign, isn’t it?” Ethan lamented.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

The first class after the midterm project presentations was mostly silent. Thomas had planned it that way; after hearing some of the most illogical projects from this class, he wanted a break from them in a way that still kept them on track with the semester work. He was playing a series of short silent films on the projection screen while he finalized the midterm grades, and apart from some minor whispering – another thing he’ll temporarily turn a blind eye to, as he simply did not have the energy after faking so many recruitment meetings the past ten days – it was peaceful.

“Any word about Hunt’s job situation?”

Or not.

Before Miss Sinclair could reply, Thomas cleared his throat.

“Miss Schuyler. Care to share with the rest of us what you were about to ask Miss Sinclair?”

He’d never seen Miss Schuyler’s cheeks so red. They almost suited her, drawing attention to her high cheekbones-

Stop.

“Not with the rest of the class, no, Professor,” she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Then perhaps you will share it with me . . . after class. My office.”

She nodded, turning her attention back to her worksheets.

And, as he similarly went back to his own work, he fought to keep the grin off his face.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“You wanted to see me?”

He leaned back in his chair, setting his arms on the structured arm rests of his chair. “I know what you and your friends have been doing. Don’t play dumb. Miss Sinclair designing suits, Mister Yamaguchi doing a musical, Miss Valentine singing opera.”

She winced. “I guess we were kinda obvious.”

He rolled his eyes. “Extremely obvious.”

“Did it work? Are you gonna stay?”

Was he imagining the eagerness in her voice? The hope that permeated those questions, as if she wanted him to remain at the university, to continue being her professor? He worried he was projecting, but there was something about the way she was looking at him that made him feel . . .

Made him feel.

“Do you want me to?” he asked.

She shook her head hard enough that her earrings clacked against her neck. “No. No, I – don’t leave.” She caught herself and added, in a much less emotionally wrought voice, “In my opinion, anyway.”

He looked at her, taking in her slightly trembling hands.

She looked at him, noting the curiosity in his eyes.

Desperate to know what the other one was thinking, but afraid of what they might be thinking of, they stared for a long moment in silence, trying and failing to read each other simply from body language.

Finally, he said, “Then it’s a good thing I was never planning on leaving anyway.”

She let out a sigh – of relief? he wondered – and sunk into the chair opposite him. Instantly relaxing into his own seat, he watched her take a few calming breaths before looking back at him with a new question burning in her eyes.

“Wait, so if you were never planning to leave, then why did you meet with those admins from other schools?”

He smirked. “For leverage during salary negotiations, obviously. I only do it when I feel it’s necessary, and this past year has been quite trying, particularly due to some students.” He looked pointedly at her, and she feigned shock.

“Crash’s musical was ingenious,” she argued.

“Stan Lee’s estate is on its way with a lawsuit as we speak,” he said dryly. “Dr. Seuss could – and has – written better verses.”

“Those are fighting words, Professor.” Margot’s eyes twinkled. “Crash could write The Cat in the Hat, but Dr. Seuss could not write ‘Emerald Elf Hates His Emerald Self.’”

[rockerfemme]

all the colors

yas king indulge my need to talk about myself online! we stan!

orange: if you could, would you change your eye color? why? to what color, if so?

would change to green bc green eyes are gorgeous and the idea of being able to actually see your own pupils is whackadoodle

yellow: name of an artist you think is underappreciated

thin lizzy

green: do you have a favourite flower?

i do not

blue: preferred type of weather?

overcast

purple: a poem you think describes your closest friend

listen i know 2 poems off the top of my head and one of them is about a funeral and the other is the raven. i cannot answer this

magenta: do you keep your fingernails long or short?

i like long nails but i’m also a guitarist so they’re short on my left hand and long on my right. yes i know im unhinged

turquoise: favorite sea animal?

ooh girl shock me like an electric eel

cyan: are you religious? spiritual?

fuck no i actively dislike religion

sea green: can you fold a fitted sheet?

honestly? never tried

violet: are you a part of the lgbt+ community?

yup

amber: what's saved as your phone's lockscreen?

it’s like a metallica logo with a skull

aqua: do you thrift?

nope ive only bought 1 thrift store item ever

pink: what's your natural hair color?

black

beige: have any pets? what're their names?

never had any pets :(

black: would you ever try going vegetarian or vegan?

i could never i love eggs and bacon

coral: an animal you wish hadn't gone extinct

not actually extinct but yknow that post thats going around about how america used to have millions of bison

grey: how many languages do you speak? do you want to learn any more?

just english and a school-level amount of spanish, which i want to get fluent in eventually

maroon: do you care for clothing brands?

nope i just go for whatever looks cool

rose: favourite scent on a person?

no idea

charcoal: have you ever been camping?

nope

copper: gold or silver jewelry?

gold

cream: any piercings or tattoos? do you want any?

piercings: i have both nostrils, septum, and industrial and i want a bunch more tattoos: i have a few and also want a bunch more

salmon: how many pairs of sunglasses do you own?

none bc i wear glasses but i really want a pair of aviators so ill prob have to look into getting prescription ones

ebony: would you ever want to play a game on television? (jeopardy, family fued, etc)

idk probably not 

indigo: have you ever lived on a farm?

no but it seems like it might be fun

lavender: relationship status?

taken

fulvous: another name you think would suit you

i literally keep thinking about this bc i’m not sure im satisfied with kyler but i can never come up with shit. maybe just jeffrey

coconut: a subject you enjoy learning about

chemical weapons

frost: a -core you enjoy

proud to say that i do not enjoy any damn cores

porcelain: an tv show you used to love

zoey 101

fawn: any interesting family stories?

the time my dad allowed the basement to flood TWICE in TWO different houses bc he ignored my mom when she said “hey maybe you should check on the tank the shower water is turning brown” and, 3 or 4 years later, “hey maybe you should check on the tank i can quite literally hear water running under the floor” 

gold: do you wear your socks mismatched?

yes all the time. it even became a running joke with my dentist bc every year id visit and lay down on the chair and my socks wouldn’t be matching

honey: your thoughts on magic- does it exist?

don’t think so

ginger: any sideblogs?

yup theyre all in my about

cherry: YouTubers you enjoy watching?

danny gonzalez, emily boo, it’s black friday

wine: do you have a 'type'

punks and metalheads basically

mahogany: your sun, moon, and rising signs

sun: capricorn. i’m not into astrology so idk any of the others

blood: twin beds, queen, or king?

i have a twin but god Damn i would like a big bed

hot pink: did you/do you had/have strong feelings against the color pink?

yeah i used to hate it but i’m accepting it back into my life again

plum: a food you've never tried

shawarma 

lilac: dogs, cats, or fish?

dogs

amethyst: do you collect anything?

vinyl and i want to start a lighter collection at some point

mulberry: earbuds or headphones?

headphones

azure: jean jackets?

only if they’re black

teal: have a job?

yup

denim: kill the spider or take it outside?

kill kill kill kill k

sapphire: do you think you can sing well?

perhaps

mint: favourite flavour of gum?

hate gum. shit runs out in like 5mins and then you have to SPIT it back out? disgusting 

penny: icecream or cake

ice cream

ash: can you do your own makeup?

yeah

jade: ever written fanfiction?

yeah

grape: how many blogs do you follow?

1459

umber: do you brush your teeth before you eat?

no why would i

chestnut: type of phone you have

refurbished iphone 8

prussian blue: what's your first choice at the vending machine

skittles

aquamarine: beach or pool

pool

brass: least favorite food condiment

relish. never had it but it looks nasty

mustard: how much sugar in your tea/coffee?

i don’t put sugar in tea but 2 packets for coffee

silver: ever broken a bone?

nope

rose quartz: rings or necklaces

neither really but necklaces

onyx: do you still play Minecraft?

never did 

scarlet: favorite holiday

christmas, in theory

apricot: opinion on 3 in 1 body wash/hair wash

bad

platinum: do you follow politics?

yup

magnolia: your Instagram handle?

alice_nchainz 

[psychnerd47]

Monster College Part 2

Rating: G, warnings none. 

Characters: Jackson Jekyll/ Holt Hyde, Invisi-Billy, Deuce Gorgon,  Frankie Stein, and Operetta

Invisi-Billy pulled out his phone, and started to call Abbey.

“Um, hey Abbey, it’s Billy.”

“Why are you calling so early in the morning?” the abominable snowwoman asked abruptly.

“Heath, has an 8:00 class, but he is still asleep, I was wondering if I should awaken him?”

  “You are not his mother, but if you think it’s a good idea?” Abbey added.

 The disappearing boy walked over to Heath’s bed and gave him a slight shove. But Invisi-Billy soon realized that really didn’t think this through, as all of a sudden Heath jolted awake with a head full of fire, triggering the sprinkler in their bedroom. Billy pushed his now soaked, blue-black hair out of his face, he didn’t have time to change he was now going to have to meet Scarah all soaked. Heath sat up, totally unfazed by the large amount of water in the room.

“Oh, look at the time,” Heath said as he jumped out of bed, “I need to get to class”.

 In the meanwhile Holt ran down the hall towards Jackson and Deuce’s room. “I just need to grab my swimsuit, Holt’s headed to the pool!” the blue skinned monster announced. But since subtlety was not one of Holt’s greater talents, as he crashed the door open he awoke Deuce. Deuce who was actually a morning monster, immediately knew what to do after he saw Holt’s presence.   “Hold it there dude,” Deuce called out, “Jackson, has to get to class.” The gorgon boy grabbed Jackson’s headphones and put them on the head of the blue-skinned monster. Instantly turning him back into, nerdy human boy Jackson.

Jackson started to freak out, “Why am I only in a towel? Where are my clothes? I need to get to class.”

 “It’s ok dude, Holt showed up, probably while you were showering.” Deuce said calmly, “I’ll go get your stuff for you and then you can go to class, might save you some embarrassment,” Deuce said in a supportive voice.

“Thanks,” said Jackson sheepishly.

    Invisi-Billy made finally made it to the dying-hall, to meet Scarah. The Banshee girl was sitting at a table waiting for her disappearing boyfriend. “Are you alright?” she asked when she saw how soaked Billy was.

 “Heath had an accident this morning, and he set off the fire sprinkler,” Billy explained.

 “You poor dear,” Scarah said. Since Scarah was telepathic Billy always had to tell the truth, even if it was embarrassing.

       After Jackson got his backpack and clothes back, he started to run to get to class. He didn’t have time to grab breakfast so he just grabbed a Zombie Energy drink, since he didn’t want to fall asleep in class. When Jackson made it to Coding 101 he spotted Ghoulia Yelps. She was a zombie, who also had a prefect GPA in high school and was even valedictorian for their class, so it was not surprising to see that she also bypassed Introduction to Coding. Jackson grabbed a seat next to her.

The coding teacher was a middle age cyborg who looked like he had been working with computers since they first came out. The class was going well until Mr. Cybernik decided to share his favorite music video about coding with the class. Jackson spent that time hiding under his desk with his hands over his ears. The coding class ended with Mr. Cybernik assigning a whole caskets worth of homework.

 Billy went to find his Monster Anatomy and Physiology class, he had written that it was in room 235 of the Stoker Building of Natural History and Science. The disappearing boy spotted room 235. When he walked in he spied some fellow students he recognized from high school: Jinafire Long, Skelita Calaveras, Rochelle Goyle, and Deuce’s mummy girlfriend Cleo de Nile. Invisi-Billy was so glad he would be in a class with people he knew. He found a seat next to Jinafire. “I didn’t realize you were all taking this class,” the invisible boy started, “but I’m greatful.”

The Chinese dragon girl just smiled awkwardly. A pompous looking gargoyle walked into the class room. She was large and wore an expensive looking pink dress. Billy was confused, she didn’t look like the teacher on the My Campus page for his class. He had been expecting a skinny, mad scientist with a long beard.

The gargoyle teacher had a list she was starting to call off for attendance, when she got to Billy she asked him who he was in a voice that sounded like she did not have time for any nonsense. “Um, Invisi-Billy Mann,” the disappearing boy answered.

 “You are not on my list, you are taking Introduction to Monstropolgy aren’t you?” the instructor asked.

 “No,” Billy answered, “I’m supposed to be taking Monster Anatomy and Physiology.”

The gargoyle instructor rolled her eyes, “You supposed to be in room 235 ‘B’, this is room 235 ‘A’”.

Billy blushed, and then started to turn invisible from the embarrassment. The rest of the class watched as what appeared to be a hoodie, jeans, beanie and back pack walked out of the classroom.

Invisi-Billy quietly sneaked into the correct classroom. Luckily for him the professor Dr. Choppenguts had not begun to call attendance yet. The dark-blue haired boy spied Lagoona Blue and Gil Webber, and grabbed a chair next to the beautiful Australian sea monster girl. “Crikey, Billy. You were almost late for class, that is not like you at all,” Lagoona said.

Insvisi-Billy blushed again, “ I accidently went to the wrong class room,”

Gil laughed, “It’s ok, Billy that could happen to anyone. Yesterday I showed up to the wrong dormroom and I thought I was going to have to be roommates with Kieron Valentine instead of Clawd,” the river monster laughed.

Billy smiled, “I would never want to be roommates with Valentine, with his extra Southern Accent, and he’s so uptight you would think his underwear is three sizes too small.”

“That’s really funny,” Gil whisper laughed, “but you know who won’t be laughing? Johnny Spirit. Operetta says that he and Valentine were assigned to be roommates.”

 Johnny Spirit was a Rockabilly Greaser ghost, who played the fiddle and was Operetta’s boyfriend. Operetta was the sassy, high octane Rockabilly daughter of the Phantom of the Opera’s daughter.

Billy laughed again, but then turned to face Doctor Choppenguts who started his lecture about how even though how all monsters are very different, their bodies all function very similarly. Billy started to mentally drift off, he doodled in his notebook, maybe he shouldn’t have followed Mr. Rotter’s advice about being a doctor and followed his dream of being a stage tech.

Frankie Stien, the beautiful and sweet daughter of Frankenstein’s monster and his bride, invited Jackson to an early lunch with her at the campus Ick-Fil-A. Jackson still felt a little awkward with his relationship with Frankie because she had previously broken up with him, when his going back and forth between Jekyll and Hyde had gotten out of control, but he still harbored a crush on her, even if she just saw him as her best friend. “I actually kinda miss having my mom around,” Jackson admitted to Frankie, “she kept me company and helped me to remember the silliest little things I always forget such as clean underwear,” Jackson sighed.

Frankie put her hand on his shoulder, “It will be ok, at least you get to be roommates with two of your best friends. I’m sorry you are feeling discouraged by the ‘Holt’ episode this morning, but don’t give up yet.” The stitched together girl encouraged.  Jackson didn’t say anything a quietly sipped his soda, but the quietness was not going to last.

A lilac-colored skinned girl, with a bright red Victory Roll hair style waltzed over to the two of them, it was Operetta Phantom. “Hey, y’all,” she called out with her smooth, charming Southern accent, “Johnny and I are hosting a big ‘ol  rockin’ shindig tonight, we got permission to use the student union hall, which is just a floor above this here dying hall. So be there or be square,” she laughed.

“That sounds amazing,” Frankie said in awe, “what is going to happen at the party?”

 “Well,” the Rockabilly phantom answered,“ Johnny and I are going to play rockin’ live music for us all to dance too. I’ve even gotten Deuce to help me cook up some of my family’s dang famous gumbo recipe,” she turned to Jackson who looked super uncomfortable about going to a party with hot music, “you are going to come right?”

Jackson grew even more awkward, he jumped to his feet clumsily, “I just remembered,” he started awkwardly, “I really have to go to the bathroom.” suddenly the human boy shot out of the room.

*                       *                                   *

 Jackson sat on the floor of a bathroom stall crying and hoping no one would notice him. Why did people have to keep inviting him to parties, didn’t they understand that he couldn’t come.

From his hiding place Jackson heard someone else walk in, “Hey Jackson dude,”

Jackson recognized the voice to belong to Deuce, “are you alright? Frankie sent me to check on you. She’s concerned.” The Gorgon boy explained, “you need to come out. I know you have been having some setbacks with Holt. But you can’t keep avoiding everything,” Deuce continued, “you really need to get out more often. Frankie and I will look after you, even if you turn to Holt, we won’t let you get out of control,” the snake-haired boy assured his friend.

“Ok,” Jackson answered quietly as he started to leave the bathroom, he hoped that Deuce wouldn’t notice he had been crying.

 Meanwhile, Invisi-Billy sat alone in the dying hall with a very pathetic piece of cafeteria pizza, as he sat in his misery, a certain red-haired Rockabilly phantom waltzed up to him. “Why so glum sugar-plum? I bet ya haven’t heard about my party?”

Tags @queenofworry

[mindingmyownbusiness]

Tag Thingy

Rules: Tag 10 people you would like to know better

I was tagged by @angryschnauzer​ so here goes...

Put your playlist on shuffle and name the first four songs

Yeah how bout I just share four songs that I can’t get enough of lately:

1. Bad Liar - Imagine Dragons 2. Call Your Girlfriend - Erato 3. I’m Not Here (Original Score) - Me + T 4. We Fall Apart - We As Human

Grab the nearest book, turn to page 23, line 27

"He’s quite a pig,” said Lurvy. -from Charlotte’s Web

Ever had a song or poem written about you?

I was about to say no but when I was student teaching one of my music theory students wrote a song and named it after me. Super sweet kid and I loved his song.

When was the last time you played air guitar

I’m sure a student has talked me into it at some point in the last couple years

Celebrity crushes:

Sebastian Stan, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy Jordan... there’s more but I’m done embarrassing myself

What is a sound you hate/love?

Hate: when little kids squeal as high and loud as they can

Love: steady rain/thunderstorm, the ocean

Do you drive? And have you ever crashed

Yes and yes but not while I was the one driving

Last book you read?

I’m in the middle of Charlotte’s Web. I’ve challenged myself to read 101 books you should read before you grow up. I’m on #28 since Jan 1st.

Do you Believe in ghosts?

Nope

Do you believe in aliens?

Hmmm... I mean the universe is just too vast to think there isn’t life somewhere else out there

Do you like the smell of gasoline?

Ugh no.

Last movie you saw?

Incredibles 2

Do you have an obsession right now?

Yep. But I don’t have to tell you what it is. ;)

Do you tend to hold grudges?

I wanna say no but... Let’s say I forgive but it’s really hard for me to forget.

Are you in a relationship right now?

Yes. The hubs and I have been together for 21 years, married for 19.

Tagging these fine peeps: @dianelogan @sebspocketsquare @notimetoblog @trinityjadec @delicatelyherdreams @papi-chulo-bucky @arawynn @bucky-plums-barnes and anyone else who wants to, esp any of my mutuals cause I wanna know you better!

[wlwizard101]

what the fuck does this mean.

[wineschool-blog]

Blind Tasting Wine

https://j.mp/3g1uaRq Say the secret word and win $100. OK…umm, merlot? Well, maybe, maybe not. Blind tasting of wine can be much more challenging than answering questions from a 1950’s quiz show, and perhaps more fun. However, for many people who enjoy wine, blind tasting is often a very humbling, albeit educational experience. Table of contentsBlind TastingWine VarietalsWinemakingWine AgingSommelier Skills Blind Tasting There are professionals who regularly blind taste wines as part of what they do for a living. Other people do it for the fun of it. Quite frankly, there are so many wines being made today in so many different styles in so many different regions, the odds are against successful identification in many cases. Wine Varietals It’s not always enough to know what the basic flavor profile of a particular grape is. Our friend merlot for example (yes, that’s right – our friend, there’s no need to be wine snob), is often characterized as having black cherry, plum, currant, and clove flavors (there are chemical compounds that make this so). But even if you could remember that information and the basic flavor profiles of 50 of your other favorite Vitis vinifera grapes, there are several other factors that need to be considered. The soil where the grapes were grown, the amount of moisture, the ripeness level of the grapes when picked, just to name a few, all contribute to a wine’s attributes such as the level of acidity and herb like-flavors. Winemaking As if that weren’t enough, other factors introduced in the wine-making process itself play a big part in how a wine will taste. Every winemaker has a goal of what they want to express in their wines. The origin and type of oak used and the duration of time a wine spends in oak casks can impart different flavors like vanilla and smoke. Wine Aging The duration of time a wine spends in a bottle will also affect the flavors by potentially developing earthy or mushroom qualities, for example. Let’s not forget that many wines are created by blending one or more grape varietals, each with its own basic flavor profile and set of flavor variables. This all makes for interesting wines, but it certainly adds to the difficulty of the blind tasting process. Sommelier Skills Fear not. You do not need to successfully blind taste to enjoy wine. Furthermore, despite the somewhat grim picture of blind tasting success described here, many people are surprised at how much they really can identify about what they are tasting in a wine. With some basic knowledge about even just a couple of grape varietals and some experience with tasting a few different types of wine, you’ll begin to build a frame of reference for wines that you know and be able to spot similar characteristics in other wines. Most importantly, don’t overthink it, and don’t worry about getting it wrong. Fortunately, with a blind tasting of wine, practice makes…well, not quite perfect. Just remember, it’s the journey of exploration that counts. If this is really your passion, you should consider strongly consider earning your sommelier certification. Tasting Classes Wine Tasting Cheese Pairing Cocktails Food Pairing Wine 101 Articles Wine 101 Wine Tasting At Home What is Wine? Blind Tasting Wine Wines for Beginners Essential Wine Terms Wine Books Wine Phrases for Beginners By Keith Wallace https://j.mp/3g1uaRq

[fizzypopie]

135 song prompts

UHhh these are all from my playlist on Spotify. I write for newsies, Heathers, Hamilton, Deh, a couple of youtubers, Everything sucks!, IT. Um, just ask for something and i’ll probably do it.

1. "No one ever had much nice to say, I think they never really liked you anyway!"

2. "If life ain't just a joke than why are we laughing?"

3. "I thought I saw the devil."

4. "I'll be good, and i'll love the world, like I should"

5. "The blood on my hands scares me to death."

6. "How do you feel?"

7. "Do you see how in love with you I am?"

8. "A dumb screenshot of youth."

9. "What the hell would I be without you?"

10. "Hide the truth."

11. "You're as fucked up as me..." "So how do we win?"

12. "Where's your heart?"

13.  "I've been wishing that I was sober."

14. "I'd steal my parents vodka, fill it up with water."

15. "I just came to take my stuff."

16. "Days, weeks, months, it doesn't get any easier."

17. "Who am I to judge?"

18. "Never found someone I knew I could trust."

19. "Love is like a bomb."

20. "The rest of us can find happiness in misery."

21. "I said I don't care!"

22. "Sad boy, who did this to you?"

23. "Head up in the clouds, laughing really loud."

24. "Up to nothing with you."

25. "I met a homeless man named Rich."

26. "I went to a store looking to buy something, but they only sold paintings of the same sad guy. Turns out it was a mirror store."

27. "Hey! What a fucking idiot!"

28. "Goodbye sadness, hello jokes!"

29. "Lower your expectations."

30. "Have a little self respect."

31. "Shut the fuck up, right now, let me do my thing."

32. "Quit hitting my phone up."

33. "People talk too much shit."

34. "Slow down."

35. "In a little bit of time it won't hurt so bad."

36. "I don't know what goes through her mind when she takes drugs."

37. "She breaks my heart and she breaks her word, but i still act surprised."

38. "The sad thing is the boys all say she's something of a slut."

39. "I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations."

40. "I wanna be cool but I can't quite figure it out."

41. "I like to tell jokes that no one understands."

42. "I hate doing laundry."

43. "I'm not an extra."

44. "She held the world upon a string."

45. "She spun the stars on her fingertips."

46. "She said she won the world at a carnival."

47. "I don't love you, i'm just passing the time."

48. "The sun was always in her eyes, she couldn't even see me."

49. "But that girl has so much love."

50. "I'm sure I didn't ruin her, just made her more interesting."

51. "I think i'm catching feelings."

52. "Remember why you said this was the last time?"

53. "It's crazy what you do for a friend."

54. "What are you thinking about?" "Whatever you're thinking about."

55. "You gotta bleed to know that you're alive and have a soul." "You're dying!"

56. "The songs on the radio are okay."

57. "I'm on fire."

58. "Well you fooled me."

59. "Someone's gonna get to know the better you, when i was supposed to."

60. "My heart's running out of tape."

61. "I was so sure it wasn't gonna be you."

62. "Whatever it was, it was wonderful!--" "But none functional."

63. "What do I do?"

64. "Everybody tells me life is precious."

65. "Where does it say you gotta live and die here?"

66. "Trapped where there ain't no future."

67. "Let them laugh in my face, I don't care."

68. "Tough love, now get over it."

69. "You shouldn't be crying in the shower, and they shouldn't be comforting you."

70. "Stop looking for her face!"

71. "I'm not talking to you, because i simply don't care."

72. "My voice can be heard on it's own too."

73. "Aren't you getting tired of playing the victim after all these years?"

74. "What if we run away?"

75. "Stop asking me questions!" "I'd hate to see you cry..."

76. "Mama..." "We all go to hell!"

78. "It was the heat of the moment."

79.  "Telling me what your heart meant..."

80. "I never meant to be so bad to you..."

81. "One thing lead to another, we were young..."

82. "I'm here to collect your hearts."

83. "I'm a creep... I'm a weirdo, I don't belong here."

84. "I got drunk, I forgot what I was talking about."

85. "If I could get my shit together, i'm gonna run away! And never see any of you again."

86. "I really mean, I didn't plan on showing up at all."

87. "I hate all my friends."

88. "This isn't how the story goes."

89. "Hold me tight, or don't"

90. "I got so high again."

91. "We're we ever friends?"

92. "I love the world! But i just don't love the way it makes me feel."

93. "I got a few fake friends, and its getting hard to tell what's real."

94. "I woke up on the wrong side of reality."

95. "Tell me that you love me." "Even if its fake?"

96. "We were never supposed to make it half this far."

97. "I forgot what I was losing my mind about."

98. "Peach or plum or strawberry." "Any kind is fine."

99. "Her picture was on the back of a pack of cigarettes."

100. "My old aches become new again."

101. "I know i expect too much."

102. "You and me are the difference between the real love, and love on tv."

103. "Get them drunk on rose water."

104. "Anything you say can and will be held against you. So only say my name.:"

105. "I know i'm bad news."

106. "Letting people down is my thing."

107. "Nathan was in plays in high school."

108. "She's beautiful, so smart..." "And no good for you."

109. " There's nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody."

110. "I really mean i didn't plan on showing up at all."

111. "I became such a strange shape from trying to fit in."

112. "I'm gonna be high as a kite by then."

113. "I miss my wife."

114. "I'm not the man they think I am at home."

115. "In fact it's cold as hell."

116. "All this science, I don't understand."

117. "I'm scared to say i miss you."

118. "It's no big surprised you turned out this way."

119. "Hey man, I love you, but no fucking way."

120. "I wanna contribute to the chaos."

121. "I wanna be your drunk text romance."

122. "So people think you're funny." "How do you get those people's money?"

123. "There's other people you selfish asshole."

124. "How was i supposed to know that something wasn't right?"

125. "I don't think i love you anymore."

126. "Look at us, burning down in flames for kicks."

127. "We're in love we just don't know it yet."

128. "I think i've been telling lies."

129. "I'd rather date an idea."

130. "Let's face it, i'm cute."

131. "I can't stop staring at those ocean eyes."

132. "You really know how to make me cry."

133. "I'm okay if you're okay."

134. "I'm spilling out on this linoleum ground."

135. “All your boyfriends go to film school.”

[positiveopportunities]

1. Try dim sum

2. Eat alligator

3. Try Peking Duck

4. How to pogo stick

5. Go on a silent retreat

6. Ride in a dune buggy

7. Make my own bread

8. Shoot a crossbow

9. Make rhubarb pie

10. Learn how to walk the dog with a yo-yo

11. Spend the night in a lighthouse

12. Ride in a dumbwaiter

13. visit paris, france

14. learn how to surf

15. skydive

16. watch the ball drop in times square

17. scuba dive

18. ride in a hot air balloon

19. learn how to play guitar

20. build a treehouse

21. go on a roadtrip

22. donate blood

23. see the northern lights

24. attend a masquerade

25. visit all 50 u.s. states

26. write a book

27. visit sydney, australia

28. see the great pyramids

29. go to egypt

30. go to italy

31. go on the skydeck in chicago

32. see a broadway play

33. shoot a gun

34. go zip lining

35. go to london

36. see a cirque du soleil show

37. visit the great wall of china

38. ride in a helicopter

39. stand under the hollywood sign

40. kiss in the snow

41. find a four leaf clover

42. ride a gondola

43. run a marathon

44. go to a spa

45. go to hawaii

46. lay down in a field of daisies

47. attach a lock to a love bridge

48. swim in a fountain

49. be in a game of naked twister

50. visit ireland

51. have a romantic night picnic

52. visit niagara falls

53. go parasailing

54. catch a firefly

55. try escargot

56. see halley’s comet

57. learn a card trick

58. receive a dozen red roses

59. ride in an airplane

60. slow dance in the rain

61. ride in a limo

62. see stonehenge

63. build a giant sand castle

64. run through a field of sunflowers

65. finish an entire coloring book

66. go on a cruise

67. make gingerbread men

68. go snorkeling

69. build a snowman with someone i love

70. go paragliding

71. ride in a submarine

72. see the statue of liberty

73. go on a mini golf date

74. visit amsterdam

75. kiss under the northern lights

76. finish a wreck this journal

77. try authentic onigiri

78. visit the hershey’s chocolate factory in pennslyvania

79. get lasik eye surgery

80. ride in a hot air balloon with someone i love

81. go on an aquarium date

82. go to a drive-in movie

83. visit yosemite falls

84. try baked alaska

85. successfully ride a unicycle

86. touch a moai statue on easter island

87. explore the crystal cave, skaftafell, iceland

88. build a card pyramid

89. visit area 51

90. take a mud bath

91. learn self defense

92. read all the chronicles of narnia books

93. go on a pedal boat date

94. visit a glow worm cave

95. be hypnotized

96. hypnotize someone

97. learn a yo-yo trick

98. stay the night in a castle

99. go spelunking

100. have a paintball fight

101. visit machu picchu

102. stand on the equator

103. paint with balloons filled with paint

104. climb a water tower

105. paint with bubbles

106. ride a romantic carriage with someone i love

107. get my american passport

108. inhale at an oxygen bar

109. try chocolate covered bacon

110. take a milk bath

111. dress up like a chicken and cross the road

112. dance under a gazebo

113. discover the mystery behind mystery spot, santa cruz, california

114. see wicked on broadway

115. stay in the mountains at a log cabin

116. jump naked into a pool

117. try water rafting

118. kiss at the library

119. rope swing into water

120. lay at the four corners of the united states

121. write something in wet cement

122. eat at urth cafe

123. ride a cable car in san francisco

124. score a bullseye in darts

125. visit the bean

126. eat a starfruit

127. find a pearl in an oyster

128. play messy twister

129. make love in a tent

130. make love in the kitchen

131. go mattress surfing down a flight of stairs

132. kiss someone while sitting on their shoulders

133. ride on a glass bottom boat

134. go to oktoberfest in germany

135. try lemon drop melon

136. make love in an elevator

137. be able to do the splits

138. try beignets

139. have sex in a hot tub

140. learn to fence

141. watch every saw movie

142. own a pea coat

143. ride a jetski

144. take a picture under the las vegas sign

145. learn to whistle

146. find out my blood type

147. learn how to drive stick shift

148. make sprite and gummy bear popsicles

149. eat poutine in canada

150. try fried mac & cheese balls

151. try rambutan

152. ride a tandem

153. go hang gliding

154. kiss on a boat

155. eat at urth cafe

156. milk a rattlesnake

157. be buried up to my neck in sand

158. Work at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving

159. Learn how to carve a turkey

160. Learn how to play bridge

161. Walk on stilts

162. Face everyone else in the elevator

163. visit the palm springs street fair

164. find out what happens if I put pop rocks in a vagina

165. take a picture with the hollywood sign

166. make a sky lantern wish

167. live in a victorian house

168. push slinky down an escalator

169. go to a palm reader

170. take cute kissing pictures in a photobooth

171. toast pumpkin seeds

172. leave my mark in wet concrete

173. leave the country

174. go to a strip club

175. try a lemon plum

176. leave a note in a library book

177. visit a hard rock cafe

178. swing on a chandelier

179. ride on a train

180. learn to swing dance

181. Try and mac and cheese hot dog

182.  Make jam from scratch

183. Serpent's kiss store in Santa Cruz

184. make a painting using different flavors of ice cream as paint

185.

[wineanddinosaur]

Wine 101: Argentina

This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by Alamos Wine. At Alamos Wine, we craft flavorful, approachable, and authentically Argentine wines. Our flagship wine, the rich Argentinian Malbec, thrives in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, where our unique growing conditions give our Malbec incredibly concentrated notes of plum and blackberry. Here, in the shadow of the Andes Mountains, all our grapes reap the benefit of incredibly clean air, intense sunlight, frosty cold nights and mineral-rich Andes snowmelt to provide water for the vine. Indulge in the adventurous spirit of Argentina: Alamos wines.

In this episode of “Wine 101,” VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers explores the arid, windy highlands of Argentina — home of some of the highest-quality Malbec in the world. The climate of Argentina, specifically that of the Uco Valley, is ideal for maintaining vine growth. The Uco Valley is known for producing wines that have a distinctly structured profile and markedly juicy taste.

The history of how Argentina became a wine-producing superpower is rooted not only in Spanish colonial expansion, but also the passion and perseverance of the South Americans who were indigenous to these regions. Tune in as Beavers narrates how Argentinian wine came to be — a story just as labyrinthine as the vines in Cuyo and Mendoza.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation Here

Keith: My name is Keith Beavers and is “Positions” the new “Thank You, Next?” I mean, close, right?

What’s going on, wine lovers, welcome to Episode 5 of Season 2 of VinePair’s “Wine 101 Podcast.” My name is Keith Beavers – I’m the tasting director of VinePair, and… hey.

I know we’ve talked about Malbec, and we dipped our toe in Argentina, but now we’re going to dive into the high desert of Argentina and understand what is this place that we love so much. Well, we love the wine. What do we know about the place?

OK, so we understand Malbec, right? We know how it got to Argentina. We need to talk about Argentina itself. There’s some fascinating stuff that you need to know to understand what happened to get to the point of us falling in love with Malbec.

OK, I don’t understand economics very well, but in the end of the ‘90s and into the 2000s, like 2000, 2001, Argentina went into recession. For some reason, the Argentine peso is pegged to the U.S. dollar, and it devalues the Argentine peso. This is bad for the Argentineans because they were exporting some other products, but they weren’t really exporting wine. But because of that price being so low and attractive to American importers, the Argentine people decided to start exporting their Malbec into the United States. Before that, the majority of the products that we got into the United States from Argentina were cattle products and fruit products. The Argentine people weren’t about exporting wine. Their entire history of wine in that country is domestic, more so than a lot of other countries, especially in the New World and the Old World.

In 1960, there was a study done showing that the average annual wine consumption per head per capita in Argentina was 23 gallons a year. At that same time, in the U.K., it was six. So as we in America started falling in love with Malbec, the Argentinians were like, “Hey, welcome to us. Welcome to what we’ve been doing.” It’s wild because Argentina is considered a New World wine region; it’s not European, and it doesn’t have very strict winemaking rules. But the origin and the history of wine in Argentina begins in the 16th century with Spanish explorers, then conquerors, then colonists. From the 16th century to the early 19th century, Argentina evolved into one of the largest domestic wine industries in the world. So by the time we fell in love with Malbec, there was so much going on.

The 16th century was very active for exploring. There were a lot of explorers leaving Spain and Portugal and coming to look for other places to live. They ended up in Central and South America — specifically in what is now Mexico City, in what is now in Mexico, and what is now Lima in Peru. These colonies from Spain were getting supplies from Spain all the time, but as they started to acclimate and take over this land, they started planting their own vines because it was getting harder and harder to get good wine from Spain to this area. It would usually go bad by the time it got there. So they started planting their own vines, and a lot of those vines were concentrated in Mexico City, and in Peru. A lot of this is being done by the Jesuit monks.

Here we are with monks again. Of course, it was the monks that maintained and cultivated and found the best places to grow vines. So from Mexico City to Peru, there was a bunch of wine being made. There’s a bunch of land being conquered. Now, we have what the Royal Crown is calling “New Spain.” The wine activity was intense. Peruvian wine was a big deal — the Jesuits were doing it, secular people were doing it. Wine was happening in Peru.

Of course, all this activity has humans moving even further south — they move south from Peru into Chile and into Argentina, and they bring with them vines and monks. These Jesuit monks are pretty intense. They’re all over what is now Argentina’s land. They’re trying to convert the native people to their religion. They’re setting up missionaries. In 1557, the first recorded vineyard was planted in a town called Santiago del Estero. It’s the first city founded by the Spanish settlers in this territory. To this day, they actually call that city Madre de Ciudades, which means “the Mother of All Cities.” In 1561, the city of Mendoza was founded just at the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Very quickly, north of Mendoza, in a place called San Juan, vines begin to be planted. This moment right here is really where people started realizing the potential of this wine-growing region.

So by the end of the 16th century, “New Spain,” or South and Central South America, have a good thing going for them. There’s wine being made in Peru. There’s wine being made in Mexico City. Now, there’s wine being made in this new place called Mendoza. It’s a self-contained domestic wine industry. It was going very well — it was going so well, they weren’t ordering wine from Spain anymore. So over in Spain, the wine merchants are like, “Wait a second, what’s going on? Our orders are drying up.” So they approached King Philippe II and they were like, “Hey, can you do something about this? Because we’re not making any money off this New Spain.” King’s like, “OK.” And in 1595, he actually sends out an edict banning all wine production in New Spain: You can’t grow vines and you can’t make wine unless it’s for the Catholic Church. Nice loophole. But — and this is so great — New Spain ignored it. They were like, “What are you going to do? This is too big over here. You can’t mess with this.” They continued to just make wine.

In Argentina, wine becomes the main economic activity of this new country. A middle class starts to develop to the west of Mendoza in a place called Cuyo. A lot of wealthy families go to this area, which is the foothills of the Andes. They start planting vines there. The vines start being planted all around the surrounding areas of Mendoza, basically creating some of the wine regions we still know today in Argentina, like San Juan, and Salta. This is all before Malbec even enters the chat. The main variety of grape they were working with was a Spanish grape called Listán Prieto. And then at some point that grape moves into the Canary Islands, which is another hub for the explorers, and that grape becomes called Palomino. Then at some point, they get to the New World, into Mexico City, and the grape becomes known as the Mission grape. Then they move down into Peru, into Chile, and the grape is called Pais. By the time the grape gets into Argentina, it’s called Criolla Chica. I know — it’s confusing. It’s a lot of names. It’s one grape, a red grape. A white grape they were playing around with was called Moscatel de Alejandría, which creates these very sweet, aromatic wines. And at some point, Criolla Chica and Moscatel de Alejandría cross-pollinate and a new variety pops up. It’s crazy. It’s like an Argentine variety. They ended up calling it Torrontés, and it actually thrives in Salta, which we’ll get into. By the end of the 19th century, there were more vineyards. There were export routes going to different parts of South America. They started using irrigation channels that the native people had built to capture the snowmelt from the Andes to use as a water source.

To this day, they do the same thing. Winemakers start using oak barrels. The secular part of wine production becomes more popular. At some point, the Jesuit monks are kicked out of South America, and the Royal Crown of Spain starts distributing all the missionaries and the winemaking facilities to the bourgeoisie and other clergy members. Mendoza was thriving. Cuyo was thriving. I think there were 8,000 people living in Cuyo. San Juan was thriving. At the end of the 18th century, Argentina had done so much with wine. Unfortunately, in the beginning of the 19th century, a civil war broke out. Because of the civil war, wine trade throughout South America dried up. This is what really began the focus on domestic consumption in Argentina. During the civil war, a lot of Argentinean people went over to the Andes and found refuge in Chile.

And if you remember, in the Malbec episode, there was one guy who did this. His name was Domingo Santiago Sarmiento. If that name sounds familiar, we talked about him in the Malbec episode in the last season — he meets up with Michel Pouget and another guy named Claudio Gay. He convinces them to come back over the Andes to start and bring vines with them to help develop the wine industry in Argentina. This is after the civil war is over and it’s safe to come back to Argentina. An agricultural school is set up, vines are planted, and this ushers in a new era of Argentine wine, the one that we’re pretty familiar with. This is where Malbec just takes over everything. This is the spiritual home of Malbec. It’s just so crazy how these wine regions were already established. But when they planted Malbec into these regions that are already established, like, oh, my gosh, Malbec takes to the soil here like you wouldn’t believe — and not just in one place. Mendoza is big and there are warm, low-lying areas. There are foothills and high-elevation areas. But Malbec took to all of it and gave Argentina different styles of Malbec, depending on where it’s grown.

And the generations of families that make these wines. These are people that came from France, Italy, Spain, and when the railway was built, they made their way into Mendoza, and they started planting roots there. That’s why some of the wineries that you hear about in Mendoza have non-Spanish names, because all that European wine skill and influence has been in Argentina for a very long time. Because Argentina went through some tough times, quantity became more important than quality at some point, but that was just a very brief moment in time.

So let’s talk about what you’re going to see on the American market from Argentina, pretty much in the form of Malbec. This is how diverse Argentina is, and the majority of the wine growing area is in the west part of the country, against the Andes Mountains, because that’s where some of the best wine-growing soils are, very poor soils. The thing about Argentina is it’s a high desert. The elevations of some of these vineyards can get up to 5,000 feet above sea level. It’s very high up there, and it’s very cool. There are a lot of very poor soils throughout this wine growing region, whether it’s Mendoza, or Salta, or San Juan. You get little rainfall in this area. Some places get more than others — I think it’s an average of 12 inches per year. All this, with summers that can reach up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Mendoza is by far the largest wine producing region in Argentina, and the most important. This area is responsible for 70 percent of all the wine output of Argentina.

The way Mendoza works out is there’s not really a controlled appellation system. There is, but it’s very loose — it’s actually in development now. But generally speaking, Mendoza is divided into departments which are then subdivided into districts, and then within those districts, you have actual single vineyards. There are names for each of these. It’s not official yet, but they’re working on it, and it’s coming because there is so much terroir to talk about in Mendoza alone. To the east and north of Mendoza are about six departments: Lavalle, Las Heras, Santa Rosa, La Paz, San Martín, Rivadavia. These departments are furthest away from the Andes. It’s a more low-lying area. Tons of sun, of course (this place gets tons of sun no matter what) and more fertile soil. In this area you do get Malbec, but primarily you really see Tempranillo and Bonarda, and they make these really great everyday red wines. They’re awesome. There’s more focused wine being made in this area. But this is a really good source for good, everyday Argentine red wine. South and west of Mendoza are two departments, Maipú, and then closer to the Andes, Luján de Cuyo. Together this is considered the prima zona — the first area. It’s one of the oldest wine districts in Mendoza. This is where all those wealthy people back in the day were building houses and wineries over towards the Andes, in Cuyo.

Maipú and Luján de Cuyo both have about seven districts within their departments, and this is the place that really helped define Malbec from Mendoza. Luján de Cuyo is at a higher elevation and makes more refined, structured wines whereas Maipú is a little bit lower area, and a little more fertile, making big, round, juicy Malbecs. Those are the two Malbecs we know. We know the juicy stuff, and we know the structured stuff. That’s where it all began.

But an hour and a half south of Mendoza, there is a valley called Uco Valley. This place is very special, not only in Argentina, but in wine in general. You have the department of Tupungato with four districts within that, and then you have single vineyards within that. You have the department of Tunuyán with its four districts and single vineyards within that. And you have San Carlos with its four districts and single vineyards within that.

This place is a focused study in how vines, soil, and climate interact with each other. The varying soils of this area are pretty overwhelming. The fact that we have three departments, four districts each, with single vineyards within them shows that there is such a varying soil composition, that they all need to be defined. As rocks, and glaciers, and rivers are formed in mountains, it displaces a lot of soil. These are called alluvial fans, and towards the bottom in the foothills of mountain ranges, in certain areas of the world, there are a significant amount of alluvial fans, meaning all different kinds of soils end up on top of each other — it’s chaotic. It’s almost like Burgundy, but a little bit different because it’s a mountain range and not a massif.

You could sit down with a Malbec from each of these areas, and you would know the distinct differences between them. Malbec has a lot to offer. It has a lot of beautiful dark fruit. Sometimes herby notes, sometimes a little bit of pepper, but nice, big structure to it, good tannins. There is a separation of character that Malbec wants to show us, and Uco Valley does that.

The people that are making wine there are so into the soil, it’s ridiculous. They dig holes, they study, they plant. It’s a very sustainable area as well. A lot of the winemakers there are doing sustainable winemaking. It’s a beautiful place. These wines, I have to say, they’re not inexpensive. This, I believe, is Argentina’s Napa Valley. There are more affordable wines being made there, but Uco Valley is about structure and focus. These Malbec are amazing. You can find Malbecs from Uco Valley that are upwards of 70, 80, 90 dollars a bottle because there’s such a small production, because they want you to, they want you to to feel the terroir. They have their departments, and their districts, and their single vineyards are what they call paraje. That’s their name for single vineyards, and this is the word that they’re hoping to be part of the new controlled system that they’re trying to create. So it would be: department, district, paraje (or single vineyard.) This is where it’s all really happening. It’s very exciting.

You’re going to see wines from all over Mendoza on the American market. It’s not just Malbec — there’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, there’s Merlot, there’s Syrah, there’s Chardonnay, there’s Sauvignon Blanc. They’re doing all kinds of stuff in Mendoza, but Malbec just kind of reigns supreme because of its ability to express itself in different ways throughout the region.

North of Mendoza, all the way towards the southern border of Peru in northern Argentina is a valley called the Calchaquí Valley. This valley is big, and it spreads over a few provinces. The most important of those provinces, just because we see it mostly on the American market, is a place called Salta. This department makes Malbec, they also grow Cabernet, Syrah, Bonarda, even a grape called Tannat, which is actually doing really well in Uruguay. But it’s the extremely aromatic, dry, sometimes fizzy white wine made from the Torrontés variety that shines in this area. You’ll remember Torrentés is the variety that was discovered in Argentina that had been a cross between Criolla Chica and Moscatel de Alejandría. Well, this region is well over 5,000 feet above sea level. There’s actually a vineyard 10,000 feet above sea level in this area. It gets 300 days of sun. It is extremely windy, which is perfect for a white wine grape that produces a lot of sugar. It is very aromatic. If it was grown in any other place (and sometimes it is) it could be a little bit cloying and intense and a little bit syrupy. But in Salta, Torrontés is amazing. It’s fizzy, it’s bright, it’s vibrant, it’s dry. There are these smacks of sweet that hit your palate. But they’re not cloyingly sweet. They’re just kind of aromatic sweet. They’re beautiful wines, and you’ll find them on the American market.

There are other wine departments in Argentina, but these are the ones we’re going to see on the American market. This is just the beginning. Argentina is in the midst of a big development. It’s going to be very exciting. But if you get a chance, try to find some of those higher and focused Malbecs, or even Cab Francs or even Cabernet Sauvignons, whether they’re from the Uco Valley or from Luján de Cuyo, give them a chance. Spend a little money on a Malbec. Let it show you what kind of structure and beauty it can have, and then get one for like $9 and have yourself a burger night, you know what I mean?

So, as usual, there’s more about Argentina I want to tell you, but I don’t want to waste all your time. We have more to talk about, so go out there. Enjoy Malbec from Argentina, knowing a little bit about how it all happened.

@VinePairKeith is my insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from, it really helps get the word out there. And now for some totally awesome credits. “Wine 101” was produced, recorded and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big shoutout to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. Big shoutout to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.

This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by Alamos Wine. At Alamos Wine, we craft flavorful, approachable, and authentically Argentine wines. Our flagship wine, the rich Argentinian Malbec, thrives in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, where our unique growing conditions give our Malbec incredibly concentrated notes of plum and blackberry. Here in the shadow of the Andes Mountains, all our grapes reap the benefit of incredibly clean air, intense sunlight, frosty cold nights, and mineral-rich Andes snowmelt to provide water for the vines. Indulge in the adventurous spirit of Argentina: Alamos wines.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Argentina appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-argentina/