Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890-1976), Goldfischfang im Großstadtdschungel (Goldfish in the big city jungle), 1925.

Jeanne Mammen, watercolorist, painter, printmaker. Raised in Paris. Studied art in Paris, Brussels, and Rome from 1906 until 1911. As a German citizen, was forced to flee France with her family at outbreak of World War I; lost all possessions. Impoverished, settled in Berlin in 1916, where she eventually earned a living making illustrations for fashion magazines and posters for Universum-Film AG (UFA), the film distributor.

After 1924 frequently published drawings and watercolors in major satirical periodicals such as Ulk and Simplicissimus, for which she chronicled the experiences of Berlin's crop-haired, self-reliant "new women" at work and leisure - experiences that mirrored her own. Often showed them in cramped, distorted spaces, some rendered in lurid tones reminiscent of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and others in brilliant, orphic colors of the prewar Parisian avant-garde. Enjoyed growing commercial and critical success; in 1930 had first solo exhibition at Galerie Gurlitt in Berlin. At publisher Wolfgang Gurlitt's behest, made lithographs illustrating a book of erotic Sapphic poetry, Les Chansons de Bilitis, in 1931–1932, which was banned by the Nazis.

Under Nazi dictatorship, remained in Germany but lived in a state of "inner emigration"; refused to exhibit or publish. Turned increasingly to painting in Cubist and Expressionist styles out of solidarity with artists who Nazis defamed as degenerate.

so I was doing some research after watching movie 6...

...and apparently it was originally written as a comedy

Yeah, I was surprised, too

Baron Omatsuri is not my favorite One Piece movie—Film Z has too many of my favorite tropes to be usurped from that position—but I do think it is the most daring. Of all the supplemental material I’ve seen and read, it feels the least...One Piece-ish. 

Yes, that includes the noodle commercials. 

If you haven’t seen the movie and can stomach a little spookiness, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. Unlike movies like Strong World or Z that have the look and feel of a manga arc, Movie 6 transplants the Straw Hat Pirates into a world that doesn’t feel like a One Piece story, taking risks and exploring themes that would never fit in the manga proper. 

In addition to the obvious changes in art and animation style, there are supernatural elements that don’t make sense within the One Piece world. None of the Straw Hats win a fight—Luffy included, although he is heavily implied to have killed the big bad at the end. The moral of the movie, if it can be said to have a moral, is if you lose the people closest to you, the answer is to forget about them and make new friends. The story ends with many questions left unanswered and the main drama between the crew unresolved.

And, if you allow me to get philosophical for a moment, I wish there were more movies like it. As I wrote in my review of Novel A, I don’t go to supplemental material or side stories looking for a repeat of what’s in the manga. Oda has written 1000 chapters of One Piece—why not spice things up a little and try something different for a change?

I know the answer isn’t that simple, and by their very nature not all risks will pan out. There will be people who don’t like this movie because it’s different, both in look and tone. But there’s something to be said about a creator putting their heart and soul into a work and having it show in the final product. 

Which brings us back to the original premise. How does a movie go from a light-hearted comedy based on a variety show theme to...this

Baron Omatsuri was directed by Mamoru Hosoda and came out in 2005. To put that into perspective, the movie was in production when the Luffy vs Usopp fight was first seen in the manga. Manga!Luffy had not yet faced the challenge of an inter-crew disputes when the story was being written and boarded, nor did the creative team have the events of Sabaody and Marineford to see how Luffy would react to the loss of his loved ones. They were working without a full understanding of Luffy’s character, and to a lessor extent the character of the Straw Hat Pirates, and it seems like Oda was much less involved In production than has been in movies since Strong World and beyond. 

Likewise, Hosoda had just left a tumultuous situation at Studio Ghibli while working on Howl’s Moving Castle, and if this interview is anything to go by (https://instrangeaeonsblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/mamoru-hosoda-on-omatsuri-danshaku-animestyle-interview-part-1/) was going through a lot of personal shit when he was brought on as director. The script he was given was originally written like a variety show—something that was carried over into the various trials seen in the final movie—and meant to be a lighthearted affair after the relatively serious Movie 5 (which I have not seen am thus unable to compare tone). 

With that backstory in mind, it’s easy to see how the bickering and backbiting between the Straw Hats early in the movie is a metaphor for Hosoda’s time at Ghibli, which is something he admits to in the interview. Movie 6 feels different than any other One Piece movie because it’s the project of a man who has had to endure the loss of those who he was close with, at least in a professional capacity. 

There are moments in Movie 6 where Luffy doesn’t feel like Luffy. More than once a member of the Straw Hats ask him to intervene during arguments, moments Luffy either ignores or doesn’t notice. It’s a version of Water 7 where instead of fighting Usopp, Luffy ignores the underlying differences within his crew, and as a result loses everybody. 

The structure of the three trials follows a clear path of deterioration within the crew, the initial goldfish scooping game showing the Straw Hats at their best and inciting the jealousy of the Baron, the ring toss sowing discord among the crew even as they snatch a narrow victory, only for them to be utterly crushed in the third and final challenge as they’re unable help one another survive. 

It is somewhat implied that the Breaking of the Fellowship(TM) is magical in nature—that like the One Ring, the Lily Carnation was able to influence the Straw Hat’s thoughts and actions, but this is never stated outright and I prefer the more mundane interpretation: That without strong leadership the Straw Hats fell victim to the manipulative machinations of the Baron, and simply self-destructed as a result.  In the end, it’s up to the interpretation of the viewer. 

And speaking of things up to interpretation, I love how the Lily Carnation isn’t explained in the slightest. The plant that initially absorbs the Straw Hats looks more like the stem of a devil fruit than a flower, it for some reason rings like a gong when hit, and somehow is able to turn pieces of itself into facsimile of the Baron’s old crew who can somehow move around despite being plans. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and the element of the unknown works so well in the horror-lite setting. 

My personal theory is the island somehow managed to eat a devil fruit which manifests itself as the Lily Carnation (which due to the L/R conflation in Japanese, is pronounced ‘reincarnation’, which I think is a nice touch of foreshadowing that may or may not have been intentional).

(Also, I can’t decide if little chewing animation it makes when it’s eating people or the weird bullseyes it makes when shit gets real are the most terrifying thing in the movie.)

Hmmm, tasty.

Anyway, this is getting long, so here are some final thoughts:

1) This movie has some low key fantastic outfits. The Straw Hats all look very cool without being over designed like a lot of recent movies. Big hat Robin is of course a fave, and makes me really want to see her in a Carmen Sandiego getup.

2) Screenshots do not do the animation of the movie justice. It’s very fluid and has a lot of excellent expressions/poses, although I admit the 3D is jarring at times. Do not let the art put you off if you haven’t seen it 

3) Also, I don’t think there’s any shading? Like at all? The movie does a lot of cool stuff with color instead. For example, the scene where Luffy initially loses to the Baron his skin goes all grey, and I thought it was because he was fighting at night, but it stays grey even in the better lighting of the underground tunnels and stays that way until he finds out the Straw Hats are still alive, where it returns to his normal color

4) There’s an extended Benny Hill-type gag when Luffy first chases after the little mustache pirate that’s perfectly timed to the music, and ends when Luffy just uses his power to grab him. The comedic timing is amazing and it’s probably my favorite funny moment in the movie, of which there are several despite the overall darker tone

5) The extended jungle shot from Nami’s POV? Very cool

6) I love how from the earliest scenes nothing is as it seems. The opening text is Robin reading the map, but the storm that’s seen on screen is the one that sank the Baron’s crew. Likewise the whole fancy city is shown to be fake panels early on, the goldfish catching game is a trap, etc., etc. It does a good job clueing the viewer in early that’s something’s very wrong on the island, even if they don’t realize it at first

7) I don’t think this type of movie would work in modern One Piece without somehow nerfing Luffy. Horror works best when the protagonist is weak and vulnerable, and that fits best with a pre-Gear 2/3 Luffy (same with the rest of the crew, tbh. I was waiting for Nami to use her lightning stick during the games, forgetting it hadn’t been boosted yet). 

8) I like how there are four captains on the island representing different levels of loss—the Baron has lost his crew and wants to destroy all others because of it, mustache pirate lost his crew and is willing to put it behind him to make new friends, Luffy has freshly lost his crew and hasn’t decided what path he will go, and coward dad hasn’t lost his crew yet but is at risk if he doesn’t change his cowardly ways

9) I think the reason why Chopper was the first Straw Hat to disappear is he’s the most likely to play the part of peacemaker. He’s also the only crew member needing rescuing at the end of the goldfish scoop game, when Luffy foolishly puts his life at risk trying to save him from drowning, just like he recklessly charges the Baron at the end of the movie. Except that time there was no Sanji to save him, leaving Luffy to get his ass thoroughly kicked

10) This is a very good Halloween movie, and I’m glad I watched it in October

TGWDLM/Black Friday as shit the shreklets have said

Emma: babies don't even pay taxes what's their purpose

Bill: i cried at a chili’s while mr brightside played

Ethan: i didnt know wafflehouses were real until last year

Ted: we're all fat moods rn and I think that's very sexy of us

Wilbur Cross: My jeck my jack my jussy and my jrack

Hidgens: i’m sitting on the counter to commemorate the 1.5 year anniversary of me falling off this very counter while listening to legally blonde and getting too into the bend and snap

Charlotte: i have done a lot of sitting on counters and crying today

Wiggly: YOU HAVE BEEN CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM. NOW VORE JESUS

Lex: I'm going to drop out of school and become the village disappointment

Emma: i have one foot in wine aunt territory and the other in babey territory

Mr. Davidson: i was going to say something and it has gone out of my head and gone splat against the window of my never ending thoughts

Kris Kringle: welcome to my school, where in English class one half is discussing gender roles and the other is arguing if Scrooge is hotter than the onceler

Gary Goldstein: Perry the Platypus railed me in a walmart ✌️

Alice: my hands are so cold they would be so much warmer if a pretty girl with big hands maybe held them

Linda after Feast Or Famine: chile my hair is wet my forehead is all torn up and there’s mascara where mascara shouldn’t be

Emma: don’t call me a bitch😡 my preferred insults are harlot or whore😎👍

Ethan and Lex: thunk is the noise that it makes when we headbutt each other.  it is hollow

Gary Goldstein: i’m dummy thicc and the clap of my ass cheeks keeps making me forget where i put my glasses

Deb: i don’t want a gf because that means i have to share the large ikea bear plush and i am not ready for that commitment

Becky: I can handle g minor scales. You know what I can't handle? Bitches.

Jingle and Jangle: who wants to eat mozzarella out of an Italian sink with me

Hidgens, letting the gang into his house: lmao y’all are coming over to my loud no electricity house we’re gonna eat canned goods and wear studded collars

Man In A Hurry: I’m kin with george of the jungle

Becky and Tom during Do You Want To Play: Arsenic? We're feeding you something that all pedophilic priests love

Bill: my autobiography will be titled: knees giving out unexpectedly in the kitchen section of ikea

Sherman: beating you over the head with a fifteen chord Oscar Schmidt autoharp (ASMR)

Hidgens: the last time i threw it back was absolutely catastrophic

Hannah: sure you may be “cool” or “successful” but can you eat an entire bag of rainbow goldfish in twenty minutes?

Lex: sometimes i remember im older than billie eilish and i have to take a moment

Hidgens: if i’m ever on broadway i hope i do a show at the lyceum so i can meet the ghost of bob fosse

Bill: tired go sleep night night dream dreams of glitter and dancing

Tom: my body is a prisoner and my brain is also a prisoner and they’ve gotten into a scuffle and are now beating the shit out of each other

Ethan: this time yesterday i was tripping balls

Emma: i have two aesthetics and it’s old timey romanticism vs tokyo drift neon district post apocalyptic vaporwave city

Charlotte: (tearfully) HEWWO???? HEWOOOOO??????? 

Sherman: Nothing compares to taking a shit in a camper while listening to 1812 overture on repeat

Linda: ginger men are disgusting they smell like mustard

Alice: You best bet i was hatching hella eggs in pokemon go

Becky: i am a vegetarian but. i will cook biphobes and feed them to the gators in my backyard

General MacNamara: can’t spell kaleidoscope without kale

Ethan: i’m simultaneously baby and a 73 year old man living in a lighthouse with nothing but his monthly shipments of bourbon and his leather bound journal

Hannah: i pinned my two braids to my head and immediately i feel like a pious unmarried woman of russian nobility

Lex: i have two trucks having sex in one ear and moscow great comet in the other

⭐️

✨✨🌈⚡️✨!

Why am I getting stars? Have I forgotten something? Is or a prophecy of doom? Who knows! I’m not complaining haha

OH I’M DUMB SOMEBODY JUST CLUED ME IN

okay hold on lol. See, this is why I say I have the memory of a goldfish

Okay I’m back and now I remembered what this is supposed to be lol.

So this is for that writing ask meme where I give commentary on a scene I’ve written. That being said...

-_-_-_-

Shoppers yelp and dodge out of the way with indignant reprimands as the Party sprints through Starcourt Mall. They leave a trail of hey!s and watch where you’re going!s as they maneuver through the crowd, and Will lifts one hand of apology, shouting back, “Sorry! ‘Scuse me!”

And introducing: Starcourt Mall! 

Of course I had to introduce this setting early on... yanno... for no particular reason...

His backpack knocks against the small of his back with every step, heavy and rattling with their haul. If they hadn’t stopped at the convenience store to get snacks first they wouldn’t be late - but what fun is a movie without twizzlers, skittles, and soda that may or may not explode when you try to open it?

Hey, here’s a fun game: who bets they can name my favorite candy based off of stuff I’ve written? (If you guessed Twizzlers it’s because I’m not subtle lmao. They appear in like everything I write.)

They skid past a sunglasses kiosk, around a corner, and tumble down an escalator packed with people. The mall is a shiny blur around them. Glossy floor and glass skylights. Blue and pink tubes of neon, spelling out STARCOURT on the sign above the food court - as if they could possibly forget where they are. The pots of lush greenery, fronds and leaves straight out of the Amazon; the shining round lights dotted along the ceiling like a runway; the ten-foot-tall advertisements full of impossibly perfect food and hair and athletic men and women laughing and holding up their products. It really is like another world, like another planet. They pass the Camera Repair shop, the jungle-safari-like front of Banana Republic, the Gap, and hurdle through the front entrance of their destination: Scoops Ahoy, lower level, just past the food court.

Again: I had to give a little bit of “hey, look at this setting! Look at it. See it. You got it? Yeah? Okay cool, remember that.” Just for reasons. Also, I needed some establishing “shots” in this scene so that it could be contrasted with the movie scene later when Will sees the Upside Down mall.

Not to mention, I wanted Starcourt to feel kind of like how malls used to feel when you were a kid. Remember that? Remember being like seven years old and your parent would take you to a mall and you’d just be awed by how big and air-conditioned and shiny it all was? With the glossy floors and high ceilings and all the glass and lights and colorful advertisements? Starcourt is brand-spanking-new in Hawkins, and these are small-town kids. They’ve probably been in malls before (in the City probably), but they’re not gonna be used to it in the way that we are in modern day. It’s still gonna be pretty dazzling and magical-feeling, with the jungle-like potted plants and the fountains and food court and skylights and all that. All the sounds and smells and slippery-shiny floors. It’s gotta be an information overload, especially when you’re dashing helter-skelter through it.

Will tilts his watch to see the time. “Made it.”

Mike makes a beeline for the counter, tapping repeatedly at the bell despite the long-suffering girl standing behind the counter. She takes one look at the Party, rolls her eyes, and calls, “Hey, Dingus, your children are here.” Behind her, the frosted glass partition slams open.

Even Steve Harrington himself can’t make the Scoops Ahoy uniform look good. In the navy blue sailor suit, red sash, and the white cap pulled down over his trademark hair, it’s hard to believe he was once loved and feared on the grounds of Hawkins High. There’s a smudge of chocolate on his jaw, which he swipes at ineffectually as he sighs.

This is Will’s POV. And Steve is an attractive guy, sailor uniform or not. Will takes notice of that. ‘Nuff said.

“Again? Seriously?”

Inktober #14: Overgrown

Not sure what I’m doing with 13: Ash yet, so here, have 14. This features a character from the Cold Light universe but not part of that book. He’s a Proxima, like Meg, but instead of becoming a hero or villain with his powers... he does something else.

Max looked over the yard. “Yikes.”

The executor nodded. “It looks like they didn’t do anything to take care of the yard for the past 10 years. When Walter died, the paramedics had to borrow a weed clipper from the wife to get the walkway wide enough that they could get the stretcher through.”

“My God,” Max said. “Is – was there any chance they could have saved his life otherwise?”

“Oh, no, I’m sure there wasn’t,” the executor said. “He was pronounced DOA. But Helen wants to sell the place and move to an assisted living community. Apparently Walter’d been telling her for ten years that he was having things taken care of – either he was doing the chores, or he was having a landscaper come by, or something – and with her being mostly bed-ridden, she took his word for it.”

“That poor woman. She really hasn’t left her house in ten years?”

“Aside from going outside to bring in grocery and package delivery, neither did Walter. We’ve found a few paths he made through the underbrush to get to the gate where they’d leave the packages, but they weren’t big enough to bring the stretcher through.” The executor shook his head. “The best we can figure, either he was a hoarder of garden vegetation, or he had the worst cast of procrastination anyone’s ever seen.” He gave the suburban jungle one last eyeing-over before turning to Max. “What can you do with this?”

“A lot,” Max said, “but too much of that growth is woody for me to just make it all disappear. When green-stem plants die, like flowers and tomatoes, they just collapse to the ground, but woody plants like trees and shrubs and some kinds of vine will still be there when they die… they won’t continue to grow, their roots will shrink and they’ll dry out and be easier to dig out or cut down, but it’s still going to take some work to remove them.” He pulled at a woody vine that had completely swallowed the white picket fence… at least he thought it was probably a white picket fence from the tiny bits of picket that showed through the vines.

“Well, any cost from landscapers coming in and cutting down whatever’s left after you do your job will be more than made up for by what Helen can get from selling the house, and it would cost a lot more to have them cut it all down while it’s alive.”

“Not to mention the rats.” Max looked at the executor. “You did know about the rats, didn’t you?”

“Uh… no. Helen didn’t mention rats.”

“Just for due diligence, she doesn’t have a family of pet possums or a colony of feral cats living on the property, does she?”

“She has two cats, they’re indoor cats and fixed.”

“And they’re not on the property anymore? It’s important that nothing she wants alive should be on the property at the moment.”

“I get that.” The executor’s smile was nervous. Max took a step away from the man, casually, as if he was inspecting the vines, and saw out of the corner of his eye the executor relax slightly. “She’s got her cats with her, I believe.”

“Staying with kids or something?”

“No, a friend’s house. Walter and Helen never had any kids.” The executor snorted. “If they had, I’d be having words with those kids now. Walter was obviously mentally ill or something, and Helen wasn’t physically capable of enforcing him dealing with the yard even if she knew there was a problem, but if they had kids, there would be no excuse for anyone letting their parents live like this.”

“There’s some smallish creatures in the house. Can we confirm she doesn’t have fish, or other terrarium pets she might have left behind?”

“Huh. She did go to her friend’s in a hurry; it’s not like she’s moved out yet. I’ll check.”

While the executor called the widow to confirm whether or not the lives Max was sensing in the house were wanted or not, Max walked along the fence. Most of the life he was going to have to deal with was deep inside, nowhere near the fence. It was a large property, and he wasn’t going to be able to do it by radiating an area of effect, since there were neighbors. He sighed. Dammit, he was going to have to get the hedge clippers himself, or a machete or something, just to get deep enough into the yard to be able to do his job.

“I don’t get paid to be a gardener,” he muttered.

Well, he didn’t get paid to be a plumber either, but there’d been that colony of mutant amphibious mice that he’d had to track through the pipes in that one house. And at least the homeowner was willing to make a clean sweep, none of “don’t touch my prize rosebushes but get everything else”.

Still, he made a mental note to quote the executor a 20% increase in his usual fee.

“Good news,” the executor said. “Nothing in the house is supposed to be alive.” A little nervously, he asked, “How do you know there’s living things in there? Can you tell what they are?”

“I can tell their approximate size, and, vaguely, about how high off the ground they are,” Max said. “What I’m seeing could be consistent with pet fish, or animals in terrariums… or it could be a few colonies of mice living in the walls. There’s also a lot of insect life, all over. Uh. I think maybe you’re gonna want to check for termite damage after I’m done.”

“Wait, there are termites?”

“Some kind of insect living in parts of the wall that I think might be studs,” Max said. “Could be something like powder post beetles if there’s wooden furniture up against the walls.”

“But you can take care of them?”

“Sure can, but I can’t fix the damage they might have done, so get the place inspected thoroughly before you put it on the market. I can certify that I treated the place for you, once I’m done; I’m licensed to certify state-approved no-toxin extermination was performed. There’s bedbugs, too. That’s weird for people who never leave the house.”

“I’ll just… have the mattresses burned.”

“No need, I can deal with those little suckers too, including the eggs. But the mattresses should be thrown out; there’s gonna be tiny little bloodstains all over them. Nothing bio-active, but people looking at it won’t be able to tell it’s been sanitized. Don’t burn them, the chemicals mattresses are made of turn toxic when you set them on fire.”

“Anything else?”

“Major flea infestation. Those poor cats. Let the friend know and get the homeowner have them professionally treated right away.”

“Is that something you could do?”

“Not without making the cats sick. I don’t do parasites on living creatures; I’m an exterminator. I kill stuff. People aren’t a big fan of exposing their pets to things that kill stuff.” It wasn’t impossible; he’d killed skin cancer once, and the person who’d had the melanoma was still alive, but it was delicate work and dangerous and he’d only done it because his friend hadn’t had insurance and he’d been terrified the thing would metastatize before his friend could raise the money for chemo. Also because chemo was probably worse for people overall than one exposure to a pinpoint death touch. Cats were more fragile than people anyway.

“Okay, I’ll let Helen and her friend know. If Helen’s cats infest her friend’s house with fleas, you’d be able to help with that, right?”

“Yep, with all the usual caveats. Get your pets out of the house for the day, that includes any fish, prized houseplants, and if you want me working on your garden you show me every plant you don’t want dead when I’m done, yadda yadda.”

“Sounds good. So when do you want to get started on Walter and Helen’s yard here?”

Max pulled out his phone, did some quick calculations, and presented the executor with the total. “You can give me a check now, or you can call my secretary and give her the credit card number over the phone.”

“We’ll do a check, that’s simplest.” The executor didn’t even blink at the price. Silently Max kicked himself for not raising the price even higher.

“And I’m gonna need those hedge clippers.”

“I figured as much.”

***

Half an hour later the executor was gone, driven off to get lunch or something, far more than a safe distance away. Max could sense as far as a city block, but he had no idea if he could actually drain life that far away, because he’d never tried.

Numerous supervillains had tried to recruit him since he’d discovered his powers around the age of 14, but Max thought that capes were, in general, ridiculous people. Well, the Peace Force were all right, as heroes went, and his doctor was great despite being a supervillain in her spare time, but why the hell would he ever want to work a job where the entire reason he was on board was to threaten to kill people, or actually do it? He still had nightmares about his grandfather’s death, and the man had been in his 60’s, old enough to die of a heart attack even if Max had had nothing to do with it. Max felt bad when he accidentally killed someone’s pet goldfish – which had happened, in the beginning of his career, because idiots heard “get your pets out of the house” and for some reason mentally tacked on “except for your fish, they aren’t really alive.” Why would he ever want to kill anything another person cared about, let alone a person themselves? Hell, the only mammals he was cool with killing were the rats and mice, and that was mainly because they carried disease and ate people’s food. He wouldn’t take on rural assignments, they kept wanting him to dispose of bunny rabbits and gophers. No thanks. And he didn’t do birds. Pigeons were beautiful creatures and geese were shitheads but mostly just because they weren’t scared of humans, and Max respected that.

His extermination business was certified by the state to be wholly organic and no-toxin, which was good for the environment and for the health of the people he helped. From Max’s perspective, he’d taken a power that terrified most people and kind of screamed “supervillain” to anyone who paid attention to capes, and used it to improve the life and health of people and their pets.

He started at the gate, where the paramedics had hacked a pathway to the house wide enough to get the stretcher through. The pathway was partly the actual original walkway, partly ground that had once been occupied by tall pokeweed plants. As Max walked along the path, he cast his awareness out as far as he could see, to the limit of the yard edge or his eyes’ vision, whichever came first. Life everywhere, from the bacteria and the worms in the dirt to the weedy jungle overrunning every square inch of the yard.

They’d have to replace the worms, when he was done. If Max was going to get all the seeds, he’d have to get everything within the top six inches of the soil. He could leave the bacteria alone – they were small enough that they couldn’t be anything else, and soil needed bacteria to rot the things he was going to kill – but worms were, unfortunately, indistinguishable from small plant shoots, and the garden wouldn’t do well once the worms were all dead.

He stood in the middle of the area he’d mentally bounded, and pulled life energy from it.

Most of the plants slumped immediately. The pokeweed, which wasn’t exactly woody but was easily the thickest non-woody stem Max was familiar with, stood up for a while even as its leaves shriveled, but eventually collapsed on itself. The woody vines and the overgrown shrubs lost their leaves, pulling the water out of any extremity they had in a doomed effort to save themselves. Plants interpreted the pulling of their life force as dehydration, probably because they weren’t evolved to experience this kind of death from any other force.

When he was done… there were still woody sticks and vines and leafless shrubbery everywhere, but everything green was gone, slumped to the ground.

With the clippers, he began cutting himself a path through some raspberry plants that had gotten way out of control, moving toward the side of the house. Once he was far in enough that he could see an area of the yard he hadn’t been able to see before, he did the same thing. Set the range, then pull the life.

It was very important to Max that he could physically see the area he was killing. He could sense life, and its approximate size, so things like the time some absolute shithead had left a child playing in the basement weren’t a real danger for him. He’d notice something as large as a child right away, and had,  that time. (He couldn’t prove that said shithead had wanted him to kill the kid so they could sue his insurance for wrongful death, but at the very least the act had been neglectful enough that he’d seen the kid taken away and given to a foster family, and he’d testified at the hearing that had terminated the asshole’s custody. The kid had deserved better.) But kittens, puppies, songbirds, other creatures like that… life came in sizes, for him, and he couldn’t tell the difference between a mouse and a hummingbird, aside from the fact that hummingbirds didn’t stay still as often as mice did and were usually found higher than mice (not always, though… mice climbed on things.) So outside, where most living things were just minding their own business and not bothering the humans, he wanted to be able to see what he was killing.

Back out of where he was, head up to the porch, over to its side where he could see the other side of the yard. Set the range, pull the life. He included part of the house itself in his sweep this time, killing infestations of insects and an absurdly high number of rats and mice. What the hell had been wrong with that guy, that he’d let his disabled wife live in this shithole without doing anything to maintain it or keep the pests under control? Max got the concept of procrastination – the dishes in his own sink hadn’t been done for a week, he just kept killing the fruit flies and mold rather than actually washing them because he hadn’t run out of dishes yet – but this was appalling. He really didn’t want to go in the house, and from what he could see through the windows of the piles of clutter everywhere, the house plainly didn’t want him to go in, either. Hopefully he’d be able to get the place fully sterilized without having to enter.

The whole job took two hours. It was easily the longest a yard this size had ever taken him. By the time he was done, he was twitching with restless energy. The life went somewhere when he took it – it went into him. Max was in his thirties, but physically looked and felt like a man barely out of college; he grew facial hair just so people would take him seriously as a business owner. He’d been sick exactly once since he’d developed his power, mainly because he’d been binge drinking a lot at the time, and apparently that suppressed his immune system no matter how much life force he was brimming with. Max used to know a guy whose power allowed him to siphon off the excess life energy, which he used to pay Max for since he could use it to help sick people for cash, but someone had shot the dude last year and Max hadn’t found anyone else with a similar power set yet.

So here was the part where he wound up the job and went to the gym, because he had to do something to get rid of the energy, and neither of the exactly two girlfriends he’d had in his life had been able to keep up with him in bed when he was like this, so he needed other outlets.

As he left the place, Max looked back at the disaster of a yard. It actually looked significantly worse now – instead of green overgrowth covering everything, now it was sparser, but winter-brown and dry, nothing but lifeless shrubs and the tracery of woody vines still twined around everything despite being leafless and dead. But at least now, the landscapers would have an easier time of it; there’d be no difficulty telling the difference between legitimate, desired plants and weeds when all of them were dead, and dead plants were significantly easier to cut or remove.

He pulled out his cell phone as he headed for his car. “Hey there,” he said to the executor’s voice mail. “I finished the job. Go ahead and send the landscapers in before rats move into the vacuum I just left.”

Max really needed to find someone else who could siphon his excess energy, he thought. The money he’d just made was good, but it’d be better if he could do two or three jobs this size in a day without having to have a few hours in the gym to burn it off before draining anything else. Although, on the plus side, at least now he was really, really buff. Too bad that didn’t help much on the dating scene after he told girls about his power, but it wasn’t like he was going to lie.

Self-Care Tips for Exam Season

Exam season is the worst, keeping the mental and physical health in mind. The month prior to exams is sincerely the most hectic as students are cramming their minds with information and data that has a 50% chance of going to waste. If you’re someone who has a memory of a goldfish, then this period might even appear to be a nightmare for you. Imagine, constantly reading and rehearsing knowledge, repeating the same information over and over, and still not being able to recall it. Hence, this inability to retain information can quickly transform into anxiety.

Therefore, it becomes essential to maintain peace of mind while studying hard for the exams. Failure to comply results in insomnia, distress, and poor performance in exams. Below some tips and tricks are presented for students who find it difficult to balance personal and academic life.

·         Document everything

One reason for anxiety before exams is that students begin to feel as though they forget things. They’ll constantly be anxious and double-checking everything to ensure that they follow the right instructions and correct time table for the exams. Although it’s beneficial to double-check everything, it can also backfire if the double-checking pattern turns into an obsession. This practise shouldn’t dominate your life. The easy way to keep it simple is to document everything. Write down the plans for the day. Maintain a journal for everyday tasks and tick mark when you are done with them.

·         Chunk down the tasks

Again, a basic but very crucial step that can reduce the level of anxiety in you. Weeks before the exams, you should always formulate task sheets and divide the daily work accordingly. It would be understandable by now that planning is vital when it comes to self-care. This is because it saves you a large amount of time that goes into waste as a result of anxiety and disorganisation. Therefore, develop big and small goals. They must be given proper time as strategising everything is key to making the most of the chunking process.  

·         Apply the alphabet relaxation technique

Usually, when you’re stress or anxious, you’re recommended to seek counselling or therapy. However, you don’t always have to spend awful amounts of money to ensure peace of mind. Basically, this technique is effective when it comes to creating a distraction to reduce the effects of stress and anxiety. It is normal to feel overwhelmed by the academic load. Hence, you can pick an alphabet, and come up with names, cities, and animals that start from it. Have you ever played “name, place, animal and thing”? This game essentially follows the rules of that game!

·         Stop checking social media

Do you what else trigger feelings of anxiety in you? It’s social media! Really. Don’t you feel like you’re wasting your time when you look at people posting stories of them studying or reviewing their notes? Or don’t you feel left behind when the entire class is discussing some topic, and you haven’t even reached that chapter yet? Well, it happens with everyone. To avoid such feelings of insecurity and uncertainty, you should consider avoiding social media platforms just before the exams.

·         Keep catch-up slots for the weekends

Finally, it is normal not to be able to work through a plan or skip a deadline. However, the mistake that most student makes here is that they continue the work way past its due date. This takes away the time of another task, and that becomes an unending saga of irregularity. Keep catch-up slots for the weekends and finish the extra work then without disrupting the time for other assigned work.

Conclusion

Thus, exam season is a frantic jungle of unpredictable events and uncertain emotions. From Essay Writer to dissertations and quizzes, you’re trying to meet deadlines for everything. During such a critical period, it is important to find time to practice self-care regimes.

After a successful inaugural event in 2016, Cirque Du Soul will present the second edition of El Dorado Festival June 30 – July 3, 2017. With over 80 live performances and DJs across seven stages, with two new stages added for 2017, this year’s festival will be even more spectacular than the last.

The Lineup

Leading the charge for this years lineup are dance music royalty Groove Armada. The London native duo is known around the world over for their electric shows and unrivalled DJ sets. The Garden stage will also play host to some of the Cirque Du Soul family including undisputed legends of hip hop The Sugarhill Gang. Grammy nominated brass outfit The Hot 8 Brass Band, will be performing with their full setup, loved by collaborators from Lauryn Hill and Mos Def. Gentleman’s Dub Club and Goldfish will also be bringing their infectious live shows to The Garden.

TheSoundYouNeed will be presenting the Bondax, Gorgon City collaborator Zak Abel, and SG Lewis on The Garden stage. With 1.4 billion views, TheSoundYouNeed are renowned for showcasing the finest music of our time to their 4 million strong YouTube audience. AJ Tracey will take over The Cirque Du Soul Big Top. He is without a doubt one of the brightest MC’s to emerge from the grime scene. My Nu Leng will be returning to El Dorado this year. In addition, The Cirque Du Soul Big Top will feature Redlight, Shy FX and TQD, the newly formed supergroup from Royal T, DJ Q and Flava D.

You can find one of the UKs biggest acts, Dusky, at The Lost Ruins. Solardo, and Dubstep pioneer Artwork also join the line up alongside Denis Sulta, Dan Shake, Klose One and more. The Holy Bale will be making its first appearance at El Dorado this summer. Jungle Jam present Congo Natty, Channel One and a Jungle set from Kenny Ken. Greg Wilson will play an extended disco-only set as part of the Caramello funk and soul takeover.

  The Experience

Set against the beautiful backdrop of Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, the beautiful park is transformed into a treasure trove of hidden realms for music lovers. It’s a place where curious wanderers can explore the beautiful surroundings. While music may be at its core, El Dorado has plenty of extra-curriculars on site. Attendees can expect shows from contortionists, acrobats, trapeze artists, fire breathers, and stilt walkers, all under the watchful eye of the El Dorado Ringmaster.

Co-Founder of Cirque Du Soul, Luke Wolfman stated, “After seeing what we could do at the very first El Dorado we’ve decided to go bigger and bolder. El Dorado is an escape and a rite of passage for any music lover. Expect plenty of glitter and gold.”

For attendees looking for a little R&R, El Dorado features its own Wellness & Recovery space at the Mobile Massage Parlour. There will also be morning yoga classes, lake swimming, and skinny-dipping for the bravest. All of this is joined onsite by their selection of world street food.

For More Information

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Rashae- FestPop Staff Writer

  El Dorado Announces Groove Armada, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Bondax & More For 2017 After a successful inaugural event in 2016, Cirque Du Soul will present the second edition of…

Giant George - Dog George is the type of dog Great Dane from Tucson, Arizona with the high reaching 43 inches that has the record as the tallest dog in the world. The record is announced as Giant George when appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Since then, Giant George has many fans. In addition to the website, Youtube, and Twitter account, a giant dog also has a book entitled: "Giant George: Life With The World's Biggest Dog." Unfortunately, George was dead, he died a month before the birthday 8 on October 17, 2013 last. Ulric - Cat Ulric is the fattest cat in the UK. The Weight reached about 9 kg at the age of 15 months. The problem Ulric is very greedy. From the  owner, Jan. Mitchell  hope that the cat will  no longer holds the fattest cat. He took Ulric participated in a fitness competition pet that requires Ulric undergo strict  diet  for 6 months to lose her weight. Hercules - Liger Liger is a  crossbreeding between  lion and tigress. Liger parents come from different species, but they are one gene that is Panthera. Liger is an adorable big cats. He likes to swim like her mother, but the leadership and high social are like his father. It was an impressive blend. Currently, Ligers can only be found in captivity, but there is a story in the history of Ligers found in the wild. Ligers have long considered sterile, but this theory was denied in 1953, when 15-year-old Liger successfully mated with a male lion. The boy grew up, despite having poor health. At Jungle Island, an animal park in Miami, you can see Hercules. Liger Hercules is great, and weigh up to more than 410Kg. Hercules holds the record in the Guinness World became the largest cat in the world. She is very healthy and will expected to be able to live longer and happier. Ralph - Rabbit The rabbit Age 4 Years Of UK singer has Weight Approximately 55 pounds and is recorded in the book of Guinness Book of Records as the World's Largest rabbit Until Year 2010,  As A rabbit named Darius SUCCESSFUL beat Ralph. He earned his title the SUCCESSFUL taxable income is often devoured FOOD EVERY week worth $56.30, which consisted differences As exciting vegetables: cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, sweet corn, apples, wheat bread and crackers. The Body Shape of The big Ralph caused by its genes. As is known Ralph's mother Amy EVER recorded in the book of Guinness Book of Records as the World's Largest rabbit and did not want Losing his father, Roberto Also NEVER Become Largest rabbit. Gary - Capibara A Capybara (a kind of guinea pig) named Gary was adopted by a couple from Texas. Melanie adopt garry from someone who is no longer able to care for her in the Arkansas area .Gary has become part of the family, she often swim even slept with her boss Melanie. Gary is also very agreed living with horses, turtles, cats, rabbits, and dogs were also maintained by the couple. Goldie - Goldfish Goldie, a goldfish from the city of Kent. Goldie is believed to be the largest  goldfish   in the UK. From its size, its length of 15 inches, width of 5 inches and weighs almost 1 kg. When first purchased, Goldie only 1-inch, and 15 years later he has been enlarged to break the world record in 2008. Big Jake - Horse The Horses is a pets have been implemented even thousands of years ago. The physique Tall , loyal, and make the owner more  stout, making the horse becomes very exclusive pet.For the largest, Here's  one of horses , The name is  Big Jake. Jerry Gilbert's horse has a body size that is not common to horses in general. The Aged is 11 years, Big Jake has a weight of 1,179 kilograms with a body height reaches  about 210 centimeters. Food affairs, Big Jake could spend the straw-sized and 37.8 kilograms of oatmeal per day. #amazing #amazingpets #amazingdogs #amazingpetstoown #amazingpetstohave theamazingpets #thebiggestpets #biggestpetsintheworld #fattestcatintheworld2017 #thefattestcatintheworld #GiantGeorgeDog #UlricCat #HerculesLiger #RalphRabbit #GaryCapibara #GoldieGoldfish #BigJakeHorse https://youtu.be/zdYlleR8vCM

Hi. Do you by any chance have the source information for the Jeanne Mammen painting "Metropolis Berlin"?. I'm using it for a project and need the date it was created and where it was created for the bibiography.

Hi. Goldfischfang im Großstadtdschungel (Goldfish in the big city jungle) is probably painted 1925 in Berlin. To be sure, contact the Stadtmuseum Berlin. You will find link to the museum here: Good luck! Best, M. 

https://www.stadtmuseum.de/jeanne-mammen

Giant George - Dog George is the type of dog Great Dane from Tucson, Arizona with the high reaching 43 inches that has the record as the tallest dog in the world. The record is announced as Giant George when appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Since then, Giant George has many fans. In addition to the website, Youtube, and Twitter account, a giant dog also has a book entitled: "Giant George: Life With The World's Biggest Dog." Unfortunately, George was dead, he died a month before the birthday 8 on October 17, 2013 last. Ulric - Cat Ulric is the fattest cat in the UK. The Weight reached about 9 kg at the age of 15 months. The problem Ulric is very greedy. From the  owner, Jan. Mitchell  hope that the cat will  no longer holds the fattest cat. He took Ulric participated in a fitness competition pet that requires Ulric undergo strict  diet  for 6 months to lose her weight. Hercules - Liger Liger is a  crossbreeding between  lion and tigress. Liger parents come from different species, but they are one gene that is Panthera. Liger is an adorable big cats. He likes to swim like her mother, but the leadership and high social are like his father. It was an impressive blend. Currently, Ligers can only be found in captivity, but there is a story in the history of Ligers found in the wild. Ligers have long considered sterile, but this theory was denied in 1953, when 15-year-old Liger successfully mated with a male lion. The boy grew up, despite having poor health. At Jungle Island, an animal park in Miami, you can see Hercules. Liger Hercules is great, and weigh up to more than 410Kg. Hercules holds the record in the Guinness World became the largest cat in the world. She is very healthy and will expected to be able to live longer and happier. Ralph - Rabbit The rabbit Age 4 Years Of UK singer has Weight Approximately 55 pounds and is recorded in the book of Guinness Book of Records as the World's Largest rabbit Until Year 2010,  As A rabbit named Darius SUCCESSFUL beat Ralph. He earned his title the SUCCESSFUL taxable income is often devoured FOOD EVERY week worth $56.30, which consisted differences As exciting vegetables: cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, sweet corn, apples, wheat bread and crackers. The Body Shape of The big Ralph caused by its genes. As is known Ralph's mother Amy EVER recorded in the book of Guinness Book of Records as the World's Largest rabbit and did not want Losing his father, Roberto Also NEVER Become Largest rabbit. Gary - Capibara A Capybara (a kind of guinea pig) named Gary was adopted by a couple from Texas. Melanie adopt garry from someone who is no longer able to care for her in the Arkansas area .Gary has become part of the family, she often swim even slept with her boss Melanie. Gary is also very agreed living with horses, turtles, cats, rabbits, and dogs were also maintained by the couple. Goldie - Goldfish Goldie, a goldfish from the city of Kent. Goldie is believed to be the largest  goldfish   in the UK. From its size, its length of 15 inches, width of 5 inches and weighs almost 1 kg. When first purchased, Goldie only 1-inch, and 15 years later he has been enlarged to break the world record in 2008. Big Jake - Horse The Horses is a pets have been implemented even thousands of years ago. The physique Tall , loyal, and make the owner more  stout, making the horse becomes very exclusive pet.For the largest, Here's  one of horses , The name is  Big Jake. Jerry Gilbert's horse has a body size that is not common to horses in general. The Aged is 11 years, Big Jake has a weight of 1,179 kilograms with a body height reaches  about 210 centimeters. Food affairs, Big Jake could spend the straw-sized and 37.8 kilograms of oatmeal per day. #amazing #amazingpets #amazingdogs #amazingpetstoown #amazingpetstohave theamazingpets #thebiggestpets #biggestpetsintheworld #fattestcatintheworld2017 #thefattestcatintheworld #GiantGeorgeDog #UlricCat #HerculesLiger #RalphRabbit #GaryCapibara #GoldieGoldfish #BigJakeHorse https://youtu.be/zdYlleR8vCM