when you realize 75% of this app has zero media literacy, the reading comprehension skills of a wet gym sock and the attention span of a fucking goldfish, you won’t feel so bad about your work or take these opinions seriously. Expecting people with a 3rd grade reading level and the plagiarism skills of an amateur thief to have anything good to say about creative writing is asking too much . Lower you expectations.

On the rise of right-wing ideation, it's consequences, and how we got here.

(Specifically why more and more people are starting to rally to leave the EU and similar unions and vote against their own good)

Right wing politicians are usually privileged, rich, white ppl. And poor (and middle class which is almost non existent anymore tho) folks that have some kind of right wing ideation still believe in the "American dream" even outside the US. "If you work hard enough, you can make a fortune." They probably won't. But because they think they could be rich one day they don't protest tax cuts for rich people for example. On the other hand, the rich know that they have to appeal to the lower classes because they would be completely outnumbered otherwise.

The easiest way to do that is to

1. Find a scapegoat, usually immigrants (or religious groups) or other minorities

2. Propagate that not only individuals from other countries are the problem, but the system that allows them to come into the country.

Which in our case is the EU. For this example, they tried to divide the number of refugees, countries would have to take in by percentage of I think population and space/area or something. I don't remember exactly. So politicians first scared people of refugees as individuals (they are terrorists, their religion is too different from ours, they steal your job, they are criminals) and then directed their fear and anger at the EU who 'forced" them to take them in (asyl is a human right so either way you can't really say no even if they try).

They say that this union with others is against the people's interests and they have to hold together as a nation which increases nationalism and individualism. "America first!" as an example.

Once people isolate themselves it's easier to radicalise them and feed them fake news because they either don't really talk about it with anyone, feel attacked and shut down if someone has a different opinion or rant with others that got the same fyp as them.

Now that they have them nice and isolated, they can give them more varied topics that might be loosely related and it all becomes a web of lies. But they are so entangled in it so they can't see things rationally anymore. You can show them articles about what's happening in the UK but they'll say it's left wing propaganda.

The rich profit off of it because the mob is so busy with being angry about the left, the media, immigrants, vegans....

They pass their bills that hurt the lower classes getting rid of workers protections or limits on rent increases or mortgages and so on and so forth.

They don't care for the people who vote for them.

And this mentality and these strategies are copy and pasted in basically every country. That's why we see this phenomenon worldwide. And depending on how good or bad the life in a country is, the quicker/slower the narrative gains supporters.

A German politician of the Afd (far right political party) said: the worse the state of the country, the better it is for the afd. They don't even try to hide their intentions. They are openly quoting Hitler and Goebbels, they are using the same talking points as the Nazis in WW II but their supporters still don't question themselves, if that's really what they want the future to be like. They have the audacity to call themselves the "alternative for Germany" while just recycling what it was 80 years ago.

We had so many major catastrophes over the last 2-3 decades - wars, terrorist attacks, natural catastrophes... - and apparently humanity has decided to take the first steps in the direction to become more and more divided. If people worldwide don't change the way they think and act, we won't stop the spread of right wing ideation.

Can we have some unpopular Sonic opinions?

I tried to cram in a lot, so I hope this satisfies you. :P I tried to stick to the ones that I haven't brought up quite as often, since by this point, we all know that I think IDW's storytelling is dire, SA2's story is overrated, X Eggman is an embarrassing portrayal (at least from season 2 onwards), Blaze shouldn't be handcuffed to Silver, Shadow's backstory had issues with or without the Black Arms, Neo Metal Sonic looks silly, etc. But anyway, here we go:

- Knuckles may be tricky to incorporate into plots that don't relate to Angel Island, but making him obsessed with his duties is no better than having him forget about Angel Island entirely.

- I like Marine, and never found her annoying. Oh, I understood what they were trying to do with her, but I honestly wasn't put off by her, and found her Aussie lingo more endearing if anything. Since her debut was during the period in my life where where I couldn't stand Sonic himself, I instead thought he was irritating (and hypocritical) for getting annoyed with her for doing shit he would often be guilty of.

- Silver is just as guilty of being shoehorned into games and plots as the Deadly Six are. Having more fans than the latter is irrelevant, since we're still talking about a character who constantly has to time travel in order to be present.

- Speaking of Silver, if he has to stick around, please do something different with him. They've pulled the doomed future routine multiple times now, and it's been boring every single time. I wasn't interested when it involved Iblis. I wasn't interested when it involved Knuckles drinking the edgy Kool Aid. I wasn't interested when it involved a council of dumbasses... give it a rest already.

- The Tails Doll can work as a mildly creepy thing, with maybe more to it than meets the eye when it's time for a boss fight or what have you. But the memes about him stealing your soul are just dumb, and I thought it was dumb even back in my teenage youth.

- “Eggman is supposed to be clownish!” Yeah, well he's also meant to be a genuine villain with a 300 IQ. These qualities don't have to be mutually exclusive.

- “Sonic is supposed to have attitude!” Yeah, well that's not the same thing as being an absolute cunt. Sonic was only ever meant to come off as having an edge compared to Mario. He was never meant to be a GTA-tier protagonist.

- Rouge is not a villain, and never was a villain. Literally the whole point of her role in SA2 was to reveal that she was working against Eggman and Shadow the whole time, albeit using sneakier tactics to do so. You'd think all those people who exult SA2's story would remember this, but apparently not. She barely even qualifies as an anti-hero, since aside from stealing the Master Emerald, she rarely does anything morally questionable otherwise. She's got a lot more good in her than people give her credit for.

- Captain Whisker is a better Eggman Nega than the actual Eggman Nega. And as far as robot characters in this franchise go, Johnny's design is pretty underrated.

- I don't like Iblis or Mephiles, but I DO like Solaris, and it annoys me that it was out of focus for most of the story due to all the time spent on its less interesting halves. Had they kept the backstory with the Duke and his experiments, and worked from there, I think they could have provided an interesting contrast with Chaos (since Solaris can also qualify as a monster with a sympathetic backstory) instead of recycling the surface level schtick.

- Black Doom may technically be just as bad as Mephiles, Nega, Scourge, Mimic, etc, since he's yet another villain with one-note characterization and fucked over Eggman. But because he never gained a disproportionate fandom, he doesn't annoy me to the same extent. It's easier to ignore him by comparison, and his Dr. Claw voice and face shaped like a lady's delicate part make him enjoyable to mock.

- Likewise, while Lyric is also on the same level as these other villains, it's easier to dismiss him because I was never invested in the Boom games anyway, and being an obvious alternate universe (compared to Sonic X or IDW, which retain the Modern designs and plot elements), it never had an effect on the main series. I also unironically like his design, and if nothing else, at least this snake didn't start a hypnotism fetish across the internet.

- Sally - and the rest of the Freedom Fighters for that matter - have had their importance in the franchise severely inflated. They may have been lucky to be the face of popular media (SatAM and Archie), but they're not these magnificent entities that the game characters are but a speck of dust in comparison to. Having a “legacy” doesn't make them more entitled to shit than any other character, old or new.

- Conceptually, the treasure hunting gameplay is one of the better alternate gameplay styles IMO. But it was let down in SA2 by its one track minded radar (the levels may have been big, but I don't think that would have been an issue on its own if the radar was better). If they brought it back and made it more like SA1's treasure hunting, I'd be all for it, although it would probably be better suited for a spinoff title.

- This goes for a lot of games, but when it comes to 2D, I prefer sprites over models. Not that the Rush models are bad (though the ones in Chronicles sure as fuck are), but the sprites in Mania and the Advance trilogy are just so charming and full of character.

- I actually like Marble Zone. Yeah, the level design is a bit blocky, but I love the concept of an underground temple prison, mixed with lava elements in a zone that otherwise isn't a traditional volcano level.

- I also like Sandopolis Zone. Again, completely understand why it's not the most popular zone around, but I've been a sucker for the Ancient Egyptian aesthetic since childhood (you can thank Crash 3 for that), and Act 1 is visually stunning.

- I prefer the JP soundtrack for Sonic CD over the US version overall... but I also prefer Sonic Boom over You Can Do Anything.

- SA2's soundtrack isn't bad by any means - I love Rouge's tracks, and The Last Scene is one of my favourite pieces of music - but as far as variety goes, it's a step down from SA1's soundtrack.

- If Sonic X-Treme had been released, it probably would have been unenjoyable and confusing. Whatever your thoughts on SA1, it was probably the better option between the two as far as Sonic's first legitimate translation into 3D goes.

- I have no qualms with Modern Sonic and the other Modern designs and characters, but I also fully acknowledge that changing gears from Adventure onwards - and doing it with a great amount of fanfare - was always going to create one of the biggest divides in the fandom, and fans shouldn't act surprised that this happened. The fact that they felt the need to hype up a new design and direction in the first place (compared to Mario, who has mostly been the same since the beginning, with only the occasional minor change with little fanfare) also indicates that they weren't confident enough in Sonic and his universe being the way it was, which often gets ignored by all the “SEGA have no confidence!!!” complaints you see with their recent games.

- Unleashed did not deserve the incredibly harsh reviews it received back in the day... but it doesn't deserve its current sacred cow status either. It had more effort put into it than '06 to be sure, and I can respect that, but much of it was misguided effort, and even if you like the Werehog, you have to admit that the idea came at the absolute worst time. The intro cutscene may be awesome, as is the Egg Dragoon fight, but 2% doesn't make up the entire game. Chip was also quite annoying, and I wasn't particularly sad when he pressed F in the chat at the end.

- On the other hand, while Colours definitely has its shortcomings, and people have every right to criticse those shortcomings, a lot of its most vocal detractors tend to have a stick up their arse about the game because people actually enjoyed it, and it had a gimmick that people actually liked. Yes, it may have been the first game to have those writers everyone hates, but then SA1 was the first game to give the characters alternate gameplay styles and have other villains upstage Eggman, so...

- Forces is absolutely not on the level of '06. It's nowhere close. A game being flawed does not make it the next '06, clickbait YouTubers. Or should I say, the game they want to retroactively apply '06's reception to, since they've been trying hard to magically retcon '06's own quality...

- To echo @beevean, ALL of the 3D stories have their issues. SA1 is probably the most well-rounded of them on the whole, but even that one isn't perfect.

- To echo another opinion, although I do love SA1, I'm not crazy over the idea of a remake, and would prefer them to just take Sonic's gameplay from SA1 and work from there. Because with a remake, you're stuck in a hard spot: Do you keep it the way it is bar the expected graphical upgrades, and risk accusations of not doing anything to actually improve the experience? Or do you try to address past criticisms, and risk the wrath of the fans who will inevitably go on a #NotMyAdventure crusade about it? What people fail to consider is that the Crash and Spyro remakes were accepted gracefully because their original iterations were still unanimously beloved for the most part, whereas SA1 - and especially SA2 - have always been divisive, and have only gotten moreso over the years.

- People take their preferences for the character's voice actors too seriously. I have my own favourites like anyone else, but I don't make a big deal out of it.

- And with fandom voice actors, they usually focus too much on doing a basic impression of their preferred official voice actor, and not enough on the acting. So you end up getting a lot of fan voices who sound like decent impressions of Ryan Drummond or Jason Griffith on the surface, but they sound utterly empty beyond that impression, because there's no oomph or depth to the actual emotions. They think about the actor rather than the character, when it should really be the other way around.

- The thing with Ian Flynn is that he is capable of telling a decent story, and he can portray some characters well. But he's proven time and time again that everything will go off the rails if he's given too much freedom (ironic, given how quick he is to point the finger at mandates when something goes wrong).

- Ian Flynn and Shiro Maekawa are not the only people in the world who are allowed to write for Sonic. I understand that one should be cautious when seeking out new writing talent, but for all the fandom's accusations of playing it safe, they sure aren't in a rush to experiment outside of their own comfort zone.

- And of course, the big one: You don't fix the franchise's current problems by crawling back to its previous problems. It's much more helpful and constructive to discuss the good and bad alike with each of the games. Less “THIS GOOD, MODERN BAD”, and more “This could work, but maybe without that part...”

What is Chloé's relationship with Alix?

Rewatching seasons 1 & 2 had me asking this question and lots of things that I saw back then were odd, but now make sense.

The first timeline in Timebreaker.

Chloé clearly saw Alix give Alya the watch. She looks at it along with everyone else in that scene. Takes it once it's out of the hands of Alya and Marinette, doesn't give it back after calling it "probably worthless" & pushes the button.

After she drops the watch, she lied by saying she had nothing to do with it. If this were some other episode in season 1 she'd be like "So, it's just some stupid (object)". Also why would she lie despite the fact there were at least five people who saw her drop it? Also this is the 2nd time Chloé stole something in season 1, but the first (and possibly the only) time she steals something (seemingly) without a motive! No contest to win, no Prince nor a mother to impress. She wasn't going to give back to Adrien and she sure wasn't gonna do so on Marinette's command. Again why did she take the watch and lie about dropping it?

Chloé with other girls:

Chloé with Alix:

Chloé is NEVER seen singling Alix out. Chloé didn't even get her akumatized by being her mean self. She was bratty and clumsy, but not (much of) a bully. If any of the other girls (mostly Marinette) were to call Chloé out on her nasty and arrogant behavior, she'd try to get back at them or at least have a comeback but with Alix... she either does nothing about it or just leaves.

No ruining her life, no getting her family to leave Paris, none of that. The most she'll do is give her a look.

Alix's stare?

In at least two episodes, Alix is seen staring at Chloé while everyone else is doing their work or looking at the teacher. Did they mean to do this?

The bus scene in the episode Zombizou.

First thing I gonna ask is what is it with Chloé and ruining birthdays? Back on topic, when the girls are sitting down, Chloé says nothing! No insults on how they're doing a lousy job of protecting her, none of that. Alix is even seen giving her a mean look for a split second before looking away. When Alix sacrifices herself, Chloé is shown to have abit of an upset look on her face and THEN she starts insulting them. She even says "You people need to stop invading my personal space," despite Alix not letting them anywhere near her.

That one scene from the episode Reverser.

This scene revealed certain things about Chloé. This wasn't the first time that Chloé tried to become a member of the art club nor was it the first time she tried to use a collage of selfies to do so. Why would Chloé want to join a club where almost all of the members hated her guts?

The Chloé/Sabrina/Alix friendship?

For those of you that are not aware of this, Alix was going to be in a trio group with Chloé and Sabrina. Out of all the girls to remove from the group, why did they remove Alix? Will this friendship come into play later on? The people who make this show are big on recycling old ideas, maybe a friendship of sorts will be brought up?

Queen Bee & Bunnyx?!

We've been getting a lot of Chloé in season 3, but very few of Alix. What we have on Alix has me asking questions. Does Queen Bee exist in the future? What is their future like? Are Queen Bee and Bunnyx a duo team in the future? Hopefully at least one of these questions will be answered later on.

Some of the questions I've got answers to (these are just opinions)!

It isn't until after Alix revealed that the watch was a birthday present when Chloé lied. We know that Chloé has trouble remembering birthdays. She even looked shocked before telling the lie.

I'm guessing the reason for Chloé not picking on Alix is because the two girl may have history. They may have even been friends at one point.

Chloé may have wanted to join the art club to show off her looks or her makeup skills. She was really surprised when Alix's guess was right. She was embarrassed, so she left.

Headcanons!

Chloé has a crush on Alix.

Chloé showed up to the race to cheer for Alix.

Alix feels the same way, but doesn't show her feelings due to Chloé's arrogant and nasty personality.

Chloé is so mean and nasty to Nathaniel because he stole Alix's friendship away from her.

@nerdasaurus1200 @evadehunt @lesbonamedjo

What’s In Your Lair?

who?: Wanna One’s Hwang Minhyun

genre:  🌺🌸 

type: scenario

Word count: 4168   

TW: violence, blood

blog navigator.

vamp! AU, college! AU 

it’s move-in day when you encounter your new neighbour who is welcoming and warm 

but his apartment is out of bounds, completely 

you’re determined to find out why, especially when he spends 95% of his time lounging in your apartment 

it’s official

vamp! AU is going to be a thing

probably will do one for all the Wanna One boys ??? but do request for specific people/groups annndddd thank you

@hamjji-kihyunnie

for requesting and starting off this entire series

- admin L 

The last of your boxes had just landed in your new living room, causing a pile a dust to fly. You let out a series of dry coughs, growling in annoyance. At least with the pile of boxes properly organised, you could have a good glimpse at your new home. You gaped at the interior. 

When you requested for your property agent of an aunt to find you a quality space for a reasonable price and discuss it with your parents, you didn’t exactly expect a high-class condominium flat within walking distance of your private music college. The price of the apartment probably cost the entire family’s savings! To your knowledge, both your parents worked extremely hard and had a fortune stashed in the bank. They also had a bad habit of spending an arm and leg on their only child, or rather, you. You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth but always remained humble about it. 

The marble of the kitchen island pretty much sparkled in the spotlights that hung above it. You weren’t even sure how much time you would spend in the new home you were sure of how much time you would actually reside here. You wanted to stay here until to married or something, there was no way you were moving out. 

Another cloud of dust floated by and elicited a fit of coughs from you. A groan left your mouth when you realised the amount of cleaning you needed to do. Sighing, you unpacked your cleaning supplies and stacked them neatly in your storage room. Might as well start now…… You tried to declutter the living room, slowly unpacking all the boxes and folding those that were empty, making a mental reminder to toss them out in the recycling bin later in the afternoon. First priority obviously went to your essentials such as clothing, toiletries and snacks. Those were shut in cupboards before anything else emerged from the boxes. Do I really need this much space? It’s only going to be me living here, I don’t even have a roommate. You pondered, but after seeing the pile of things you had, you decided against inviting anyone else into your presence. Phew! It’s a good thing I have a week to unpack before orientation week. There’s…so much, too much almost. 

The doorbell rang just as you had finished putting away the last of your kitchen essentials. You thought your ears were playing tricks on you as there were only three other units on this floor and it was clear that no one else was moving in. Just in case it wasn’t a prank and that an actual neighbour was at your door, you ran a hand through your hair in an attempt to neaten it and hastily smoothened your shirt. Your eyes scanned your appearance in the full-length mirror that replaced the wall next to your front door. You look…decent. It’s okay, just open the door. When you peeped at the electronic screen that screened activity happening outside your house via a surveillance camera, you saw a woman and two men standing at your door. They didn’t look scary. You decided to open the door. “Hello!” The woman chirped, beaming. “I’m Eunbin. Welcome to the neighbourhood!” As she spoke, you noticed the distinct sharpness of her canine teeth and how there seemed to be a chilling underlying silver glow that lined her warm brown eyes. Vampire. It wasn’t like you were irked by them, you knew of a few friends who were supernatural and that never affected your friendship with them. So why should her peculiarity change your opinion of her? Eunbin seemed like a nice person, but you weren’t sure about the broody boys that stood next to her. Eunbin gestured to the rather pale, almost translucent skinned boy to her right. He was oddly good looking as well. You had figured it was a common supernatural trait. When he smiled, you didn’t see any fangs unlike Eunbin, and confirmed that he was indeed a ghost. Well, something like that.  He also hovered a few centimetres off the ground. His voice was unusually melodious, it was like he was made to sing. “Hi, I’m your neighbour. My name is Kim Jaehwan.” The ghost smacked his other friend on the back, encouraging him to introduce himself. Just by looking at his features, there was only one word to describe the man that stood next to Jaewhan. Deceiving. His eyes held a universe deep within, completed with an underlying glow of purple. His face was sculpted, well-refined bone structure. You were somewhat envious, there was no denying he was insanely handsome too. He looked tired, agitated and somewhat unimpressed by your arrival but you knew you could read his eyes to identify true feelings. He seemed closed off and cold but something inside of you nudged you to prove that theory wrong. All it took was for you to shoot him your best, Vogue-worthy smile for him to melt into a blushing mess. Eunbin seemed to have a knowing smirk on her face. “Sorry about my cousin,” she apologised but didn’t seem very apologetic at all. “His name is Hwang Minhyun, he just turned 1- 23 a few weeks back.” Eunbin seemed satisfied with introducing him on behalf. Minhyun rolled his eyes and scoffed. He too had gleaming fangs and you weren’t sure whether to be intrigued or feel afraid. “I-I… Jaehwan and I s-share the apartment to your left,” Minhyun informed, stammering slightly but otherwise remained in his cold facade. “Eunbin stays a floor below us.” You nodded, thanking him for the information. In your head, you were scribbling down notes on who lived where in case of…incidents. “Do you need any help with unpacking? I think I can help,” Eunbin offered as she shuffled a few steps forward. You were too kind to accept her help yet too touched to reject her help. Jaewhan practically floated through your front door anyway. When things go bump in the night, you thought as the ghost boy bumped into yet another box passing through walls. I know who to call to come collect their mans.

“Hey, Y/N. How are you?” Eunbin asked as she fell into step with you, trudging across campus together. You smiled at her, enjoying being in her presence. “I’m good. You? I didn’t know you had classes this early.” Eunbin groaned and muttered complaints about her professor. She was a Sophomore in college like Jaehwan while Minhyun was a Junior. It seemed like she was already struggling and you offered to help with any work. “You,” she pointed you, snickering. “Could use some help.” Eunbin plucked about twenty-two textbooks from your arms and ignored your protests, flexing her arms proudly. “Vampiric strength, remember?” It had been about two weeks since you met the group of gifted friends and you felt yourself slowly warming up to them. Eunbin finally confessed - more like confirmed - that she was indeed a vampire, just like her cousin and Jaewhan… you had seen enough of him floating into your kitchen to steal snacks at 2 am. Naturally, Minhyun was always on speed-dial to collect him back. Each time he came pounding on your door in his thin cotton shirt and sweatpants, bedhead and all. A sharp contrast to his usual wear of slacks and a white button up, sometimes he swapped it for skinny jeans but he never actually left the comfort of a collared, buttoned shirt. You swore he had all the colours of the same shirt. Just thinking about him made you blush and you felt super guilty whenever he had to run to your apartment in the middle of the night. You would see Jaehwan out yourself but Jaehwan refused to allow you to walk him back. You couldn’t understand it. He insisted it was dangerous ( yes like two steps away is dangerous ) but honestly, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Jaehwan liked Minhyun to drag him out of trouble. Minhyun had the trouble of constantly apologising to you as he tugged the cheeky ghost out of your house. His irises were always borderline red, just tints of them since he was controlling himself around you. It was no lie that Minhyun was most definitely annoyed by Jaehwan’s playfully intrusive ways but just looking at how…domestic and innocent you seemed made him want to stray further away from you as much as he was tempted by the pull. He argued back and forth with Jaewhan about this issue. “It’s inevitable, hyung. I’m just trying to help,” the ghost pointed out, he intended to only make the best happen. “You’re delaying it. Stop that. It’s annoying.” Minhyun snorted and rolled his eyes. “And you think you aren’t?” He went into his room and slammed the door shut. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he shut his eyes and ran a hand over his face, sighing. Jaehwan had a point and he hated to admit that.

Two solid knocks hammered on your front door, you frowned but heaved yourself off the sofa to answer the door anyway. You were pleasantly surprised to see Minhyun waiting on the other side. Immediately, your heart rate sped up. Whenever Minhyun was around, you felt…oddly complete, like it was meant to be. Sure, he was charming but you swore it was so much more than that. He had a likeable personality and always seemed to be a ray of sunshine with you, unlike his dead outer appearance. 

I suppose he is dead though…..literally. “Hi, Y/N. Sorry, but can we borrow some shampoo? Jaehwan’s complaining about mine smelling too fruity,” he explained, cheeks tinting pink. You blinked, not even sure if ghosts could shower but obliged regardless and went to fetch a spare bottle of your shampoo. You came back and found Minhyun in your kitchen, concentrating on examining your rack of spices. His actions caused a whirlwind of emotions to stir within you and you weren’t sure why. Perhaps you saw it as something unique to him or maybe it was a thing couples did? Yes, inspecting the spices in the kitchen, what a romantic thing to do. You snickered at your own thoughts. He is the perfect man….Boyfriend material. What the hell? “You use this brand too! I can imagine my life without spices. Did you know that-” “You could’ve just called me if you wanted to hang out,” you cut him off, nearly giggling. “But you should probably get this to Jaehwan first.” Minhyun blushed, a playful boyish grin appeared on his face as if his plans had been foiled in the best way possible. He used his vampire speed to whiz the shampoo to Jaehwan, who yelled in shock, ruining his shower sing-off. He scolded Minhyun but the vampire was back in your living room in the blink of an eye. You lounged on your sofa as Minhyun shyly scooted closer. “So,” you started. “What do you want to do?” “It’s up to you. It is your residence after all,” Minhyun replied, shrugging. He sprawled out on your sofa and grinned lazily at you, sporting his fangs. He toyed with the remote control of the television. Your heart was going to burst out of your chest at the rate it was beating. You shook your head to clear it and to calm down. Minhyun is your friend too! Though secretive and mysterious, he is your friend! It’s okay for friends to hang out. “I have Netflix,” you suggested, flipping the channels on the television. “Let’s compare you to The Vampire Diaries, or Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” Minhyun frowned, playfully smacking your arm. “Yah, we don’t actually resemble those shitty interpretations,” he grumbled sulkily. At which you laughed at but selected to watch anyway. He didn’t protest. Y/N, if it’s you, I’d sacrifice anything.

It didn’t come as a surprise when you found Minhyun or Jaehwan at your door - sometimes the duo, other times alone - anymore. They made up lame excuses to hang out at your apartment, like ‘Oh, Eunbin burned dinner so it smells awful.’. Eunbin was an excellent chef, she was majoring in culinary arts. Another one, ‘Our house is currently under attack by lizards.’. You stared blankly at them. “Well, isn’t that great that you’re both supernaturals. A ghost and a vampire. How perfect. Bye!” The door slammed on them but you opened it a few minutes later. The vamp cousins visited so often, you had your own stash of plasma fruit juice boxes. You found those extremely adorable. However, you also realised that you had never actually visited Minhyun’s and Jaehwan’s flat despite how nearby it was. Then again, none of you actually mentioned it and you would hate to chase away your new friends. Especially since you were growing quite fond of Minhyun, the unexplainable pull strengthening each day and you found yourself daydreaming about him in class. You never lost focus in your classes. It was strange. Anyway, you were determined to enter the supernatural’s lair. A plan was hatched. Since they had been such amazing neighbours and friends, you decided to award them with coffee. Well, plasma fruit for Eunbin and Minhyun. It was no trouble delivering it to Eunbin since you had slept over at her place a few times after late night study sessions. You were grateful she didn’t decide to take a bite out of you. The Hwang and Kim lair was a totally different thing. You stood in front of their door for a good ten minutes, looking for the doorbell before settling for knocking on their door. A series of complicated locks were dislodged before the dark wooden door creaked open to reveal Jaewhan. He was surprised to see you but tried to conceal it. When you peeped over his shoulder, the whole house was rather dark and dreary which did make sense since Minhyun was sensitive to light. The interior seemed sombre and very deviant, you couldn’t quite place a finger on it. It was nothing like the bubbly character of the two inhabitants. “Hi! I brought you guys coffee since it is pretty cold today. I could set it down on the kitchen counter-” you were interrupted by Jaehwan. “Oh! Thanks, Y/N! We owe you one.” He narrowed the gap between you and the door. “I’ll take it from here. It must be heavy.” “It’s fine! I can bring the tray in,” you pressed insistently, adamant on entering despite all the warning bells that went off in your head. Jaehwan shook his head and swiftly scooped it away from you. “Thanks, sweetie! We owe you!” He chorused before shutting the door and bolting it firmly. You were confused but that only sparked more curiosity.

Jaehwan let out a sigh of relief when the door closed with you on the other side, as terrible as that sounded. You couldn’t know what happened on the opposite side. “Is she gone yet?” A husky voice growled out. It belonged to Minhyun. The Minhyun of the Hwang and Kim ™ Apartment, not the one who ventured out into the world brightly, but the creature that haunted people’s nightmares. “Yes,” Jaehwan responded and put a hand on his hip. “Hyung, you can’t keep hiding the truth! You know it’s getting worse!” It was becoming increasingly difficult for Minhyun to hide his abilities. His eyes now gleamed a lucid red, claws and fangs fully unleashed. He couldn’t contain it and it was because of you. All in all, he was a Minhyun that Y/N was unfamiliar with. “You know I can’t! I can’t do this to her. She’ll never love me, an abomination! Y/N tolerates me because we’re friends but she won’t accept me for who I am. Besides, I’ll only endanger her. She can never know the truth,” he hissed, breaking open yet another blood bag to devour. “Hyung, watch it. You’re drinking too much blood to quench your increasing thirst. It could kill you. Not even plasma fruit can calm it now. Random blood bags aren’t going to cut it either! You need Y/N, hyung. Don’t do this!” Jaehwan shouted, desperation evident in his voice. “Hyung, don’t hurt the both of you like this.” His voice was on the verge of cracking. Minhyun could only glare back at the younger boy. He couldn’t let this into a fight. They were brothers, nothing good would emerge from it. He tossed his now empty blood bag into the trash and groaned, still hungry. He knew Jaehwan was right. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said, giving in. Two slender fingers tapped his dark inked ‘W1’ tattoo just under his collarbone. “To be one.” He didn’t want to argue. Jaehwan exhaled and copied his actions on his own tattoo on his bicep. “To be one.” They spent the remaining moments in silence.

Friday rolled around and you were happily preparing to go to the new mall with Eunbin when she suddenly called to cancel. She sounded apologetic and explained that a family emergency had arisen. Eunbin seemed to be running, out of breath when she called. “It’s fine,” you had said, collapsing onto your bed. “I’m really tired anyway.” You reassured her a couple more times before hanging up. As you lay on your bed, your feelings for Minhyun began to sink in. You liked him more than a friend, maybe loved him and the urge to see him was even stronger than before. There was an ache in your chest that seemed more stabbing than before. You missed his kind words, you missed his strange sense of humour, you missed how he never failed to compliment you or how his smile could light up the entire room. You missed how he was confident even when his differences were apparent. Where is Minhyun? Where is he? Come to think of it, you hadn’t seen Jaehwan either. You had thought of him too but not as much as Minhyun occupied your dreams. Speak of the devil, you heard the telltale noise of clanging in the kitchen that the ghost had passed through your walls. This time, it was a different clanging. It was frantic and urgent. You burst out of your room. “Y/N!” Jaehwan called. He looked terrible. His translucent form was paler than usual, purple bags had begun to form under his eyes and he looked emaciated. “You have to come with me! It’s Minhyun!” That caught your attention and you chased after the Casper out the door, not bothering to properly slip on shoes. The pain in your chest seemed to intensify. You needed to see Minhyun. “Where is he?” You demanded, clutching your heart in fear. Jaehwan paused outside his front door, as if afraid to let you in. He appeared to be having an internal battle with himself which only made you all the more worried. He let out a string of curses and inhaled sharply. “Just promise me, you won’t run away.” You nodded. “You could never get rid of me even if you wanted to.” “I hope you keep the same mindset,” the casper flung open the door to his apartment which for once, had the windows open and curtains unveiled. “after this.” You ignored how spine-chilling it was and focused on following Jaehwan. Roars seemed to be emitting from one room and you knew that it was Minhyun. “What happened?” “It-it’s complicated. You may not like what you see. Minhyun’s sick, no, dying more like. Y/N, please don’t, don’t reject him.” Jaehwan’s words didn’t register before he shoved the key into the keyhole and twisted the door open. You took a shaky breath before entering. It was a painful sight indeed. Minhyun was chained to a bed, his normally neat button-down ripped in various places, his hair tossed messily. His skin was inhumanely ghastly, it appeared as if he hadn’t fed in months. The animalistic snarls he let out was enough to send just about everyone running for the hills but strangely, you weren’t afraid, just shocked at his state. You shuffled closer, face almost to his though he faced the other way. “Minhyun?” You gasped and stumbled backwards, nearly tipping over a bunch of bottles containing mysterious liquids. The trash bin fell over, countless empty blood bags spilling out. The red-eyed vampire glared menacingly at Jaehwan, he looked betrayed. “You promised not to bring her here!” He yelled. Anyone other than his best friends would have crumbled to the ground at the amount of power in his voice. Jaehwan shrugged, “You knew I had to.” Now, the vampire concentrated on you. His tongue flicked over his lips. “Y/N, you shouldn’t be here. You weren’t supposed to witness this. You aren’t supposed to know what kind of monster I can really be. Oh goodness,” he chuckled dryly. “The number of herbal potions I drank just to be normal for a few hours so I could spend more time with you. Now, they don’t work and we need to be forced apart.” He spotted the way your hand was constantly on your chest and groaned. “I wish you didn’t know. You think you love me, Y/N, but really, it’s the soulmate pull that’s attracting you to me. You don’t love me for who I am.” Tears were threatening to flow down your cheeks but you pulled yourself together. Minhyun lifted a clawed hand to cup your face. “It’s funny. I genuinely thought I stood a chance with you. You, you’re perfect, no burdens, no genetically modified problems. You can’t love me, Y/N. No one can,” he declared, hints of sadness in his voice but he was just numb as if he had successfully psyched himself into believing so. “What do you mean? It isn’t true,” you cried. “You aren’t thinking straight because you haven’t eaten.” Your eyes scanned the room for a pack of blood or plasma juice desperately. “It seems you don’t understand. I appreciate your optimism but my body is breaking down from the amount of blood I have downed. I now have an unquenchable thirst. It’s impossible. I’m about to die.” Then, he cracked a small yet genuine smile. “It’s nice to see my eternal love one last time before I die.” Your hand enclosed his own limp one, ignoring how his elongated claws dug into your skin. “Don’t say that! It isn’t true!” “But it is-” “Yah! Hwang Minhyun, I’ve fallen in love with you!” Time stood still once you blurted out your confession. The pain began to fade and colour slowly returned to Minhyun’s face yet he still didn’t believe it and that was what hurt the most. The tears you tried to hard to hold back now streamed down your face. “What part of that do you not understand?” You sobbed. “Why can’t you accept the truth!” You threw your arms around his neck and let your tears dampen his shoulder. “Why can’t you understand!” Why can’t he tell that I love him for who he is and not what he looks like? Are men so oblivious? ( yES thEy arE ) It was silent and cold if you may add. Minhyun tore his handcuffs apart and slowly returned your embraced, his own tears leaking as well. Jaehwan stepped out of the room to fetch tissues. “Y/N…..” “Shush!” He let out a chuckle but sighed in disappointment. “You love me, yes but how? I-I-I’m literally a guinea pig. I was used for experiments in the lab when I was child and I can’t regain full control over myself sometimes. You can’t love me. I’m hideous,” he whispered. “Hwang Minhyun, I don’t care how you look. I don’t care that you aren’t as ‘complete’ as others. I care about you. Your laugh, your words, your quirky ways and weird antics. I loved you before I knew anything and I still do,” you admitted, face burning up when you realised your compromising position and the fact that you were literally pouring out your entire heart to him. “I-I……..” Minhyun was at a lost for words, he never imagined that this would happen. That his soulmate would accept him. “Hush. You need to feed,” you said, offering your wrist out, which Minhyun hesitantly clasped. “A-are y-you sure?” “Yes!” He sunk his fangs in, hungrily drinking but he made sure not to drain you. He let out a low moan purely out of satisfaction which made a different part of you ache. The slight and harmless prick was unexpected, so was the sudden excitement. It made you slightly giddy. Minhyun locked his gaze with yours, his eyes now a glowing purple. “Are you sure you love me?” You didn’t reply in words but swooped down and captured his lips in yours, effectively shutting him up. Though inexperienced, you channelled all your passion and admiration into that kiss. He knew what his answer was.

The (Stolen) Final, Tense, Climatic War arc: Rebuttal

Okay so a blogger by the name of Fairytail-whathesays has recently put out what I believe one of the most head scratching things I’ve read. Now I’ve known about this blogger and while I believe everyone is entiltled to their own opinion, I will say that his claims of Hiro Mashima ripping off Tite Kubo’s Bleach Thousand year blood war arc I find has many holes. And while I am unable to actually make a comment on said post and confront him directly thanks to being blocked by him, I will say this because someone linked this to me and I am here to say, you mr. whathesays are reaching!

I’m going to tackle each and every point he brings up:

“The premise. The final arc of each series consists of another civilization’s emperor deciding to attack the main location and the heroes, starting off with a truly overwhelming, overkill number of soldiers”

Umm okay… That’s not really ripping off anything. The fight between the soldiers of the Quincy and the random shinigami is played like an actual war with devastating results of their home being destroyed and many established characters caught up in the wave of attack. There really isn’t a moment like that in FT except for up in the north, but that was not only later in the arc, but also we only got lip service of bargo being defeated by God Serena, August, and Jacob. But its neither played up like how Bleach did it with an actual war and the Alvarez first wave was defeated by the DS and Erza.

It’s also a war arc, unless the heroes are going to declare war it really is going to follow a similar beat, but this isn’t like with Naruto where we have characters fighting in battlefield separate from the main location. I don’t really know what to tell you, but bad guy individual the central home of the hero is not a new concept.

“The Sternritter. An elite group of incredibly, monstrously powerful elite soldiers and bodyguards to the emperor. Their Fairy Tail incarnations are the Spriggan Twelve, Zeref’s twelve bodyguards. “

Ummm again how is this a rip off. First of all if you are an emperor you’re going to have a select group of soldiers or bodyguards. Second, well if the leader of an organization having a group of baddies directly working for him the last arc counts as a rip off, then bleach ripped off Rurouni Kenshin, because Yukishiro Enshin had the six comrades. This isn’t an uncommon practice for arcs to have one big villain and then a bunch of smaller characters loyal to them. If you just mean that they both happen to be emperors and these are their guards, it really doesn’t make that much a difference when both series feature the technique of villain groups.

Maybe if all of the spriggans had a letter motif, then sure. But they’re isn’t even the same number of them. You’re condemming an author, for using tropes. No one author owns a trope

“Bloodman of the Spriggan Twelve is a ripoff not of any Sternritter, but of the Segunda Espada from one of the earlier arcs, Barragan Louisenbairn. He’s a large, hulking demonic figure with a god complex and a fatalism idealogy, declaring himself the God of Death and possessing powers that make him nearly impervious to damage and able to win battles by decaying enemies to death with his mere presence alone, and both make their final move attempting to take their enemy down with them. Now, which one was I just talking about, Bloodman, or Barragan Louisenbairn?”

Okay but this doesn’t exactly help your argument about the final arc being ripped off. Also where do you see Bloodman having Fatalism in personality? He’s a generic FT svillain who wants to fight and kill with the only thing different being how he talks. Barragan at least has a character and you’re more pinning this rip-off on their similar power, but Barragan’s is all about decay, but Bloodman, uses only the anti-magic barrier particles and with alright steal life, but then you have to remember that he stops using this power in favor of the other curse, but Barragan just uses respira

“The ultimate goal of the main antagonist. Yhwach desires to smash all of the worlds together and negate the laws of space, time, and death to create a world where death does not exist. Zeref’s ultimate goal, though only revealed at the end, was essentially the recreate the world through time magic. Yhwach should also be noted as being able to control the future itself. “

Again you are reaching, you just pointed out how their goals are different. Now if you want to say “both involve a plan that involves altering the world just for their own desire” then Kubo ripped off Kishimoto who did something like that, in his war arc in Naruto. This like this might have the same premise, but both Yhwach and Zeref’s goals are different. Taking in what makes characters different such as motivation is how we change something from a rip off. If we go from a blanket idea and call that rip off, then everyone is ripping things off. Yhwach was not the first villain in manga to want to alter to universe in someway.

“A quiet, serious, analytical subordinate with long white hair and high amounts of respect for his tyrannical superior. Invel Yura is the Fairy Tail version of Jugram Haschwalth. “

This might be a little pointless, but Jugram’s hair is blond not white. Also this is again a trope. The serous analytical mind in a villain group is not something new. If you mean the timing I suppose you have something there, but it’s a trope. Like Invel and Jugram are just like Van Auguer from One Piece. The character who is critical minded is not something new.

But I’m sure you mean in terms of timing, both appearing in the last arc, but Bleach already had Ulquiora in this role, so really Kubo just recycled a character’s base personality that head used.

“In the fight with Gremmy Thorneaux, a villain that can bring anything in his imagination to life, Kenpachi Zaraki cuts down the meteor Gremmy materializes in one swing. This is later blatantly ripped off with Erza destroying the meteor summoned by Irene’s Sema spell–while all of her bones have been smashed. “

Okay see this I understand as being a rip off, both the situation and the method for cutting down the meteor are the same, but I would like to bring up that Naruto had Madara send a meteor down in his war arc, but it wasn’t stopped by a sword swing. So if we are going to play the concept-ripoff game then that seems oddly suspicious

“Wall Eehto and his ability, Weakness (basically pulling giantass superweapons out of his ass) are blatant ripoffs of BG9, another mechanical being with the same power that fought Soi Fon.”

Okay I will give you this one as well, because like the Jugram-invel thing, the timing of a mechanical character that appears in the final arc in series that have never had robot like being in it as a plot point before. But I will not that the Mechina race was named dropped by Jenny in the GMG, while BG9 is stright out of nowhere.

“While it’s difficult to call the Historias of the Dead ripoffs of just Bleach alone, since “making you fight previous enemies” is one of the most unoriginal powers ever, it’s essentially a ripoff of Gremmy Thomeaux’s ability to create complex villains out of thin air….but even less original. “

YOU JUST POINTED OUT THAT NEINHART’S ABILITY ISN’T SOMETHING WE HAVEN’t SEEN! Oh Bleach is not the first story that has a cast made up of shinigami and who look over the world and protect it from demon like figures, maybe read Yu Yu Hakusho, a series many have claimed Kubo has ripped off.

Second of all the power of imagination that Gremmy uses is different from Neinharts. Neinhart actually is creating people who existed, but Gremmy can make new life from his imagination, actually FT had a character who could do that, he was called Rustyrose!

God Serena’s power isn’t a ripoff, but you can’t tell me that whole “fountain of dragons” he produces wasn’t suspiciously evocative of Hado 99: Gonryotenmetsu, used by Aizen. 

Okay. It’s not. Aizen’s Hado only had one dragon, while Serena had 8. If you mean the design then both are ripping off DB’s Shenron who also looks similar. The only difference aside the number is Seren’s look more detailed and existed more for aesthetic while the Hado was suppose to be an actual attack.

Jacob Lessio’s invisibility + teleportation are ripped straight from Guenael Lee, the substitute Sternritter created by Gremmy Thomeaux with the designation V, “The Vanishing Point”.

So wait it’s a rip off if people have the same powers? Then I guess Natsu is a rip off of Yamamoto because they both use fire. Hell, you do better saying Jacob Absolum from One Piece because he makes weapons invisible and makes women’s clothes disappear.

Look Whathesays, I am not going to tell you that Mashima is a “bastion of creativity”, no he’s not. But I find it very dubious to call it a rip off when a lot of your examples focus more on tropes, and the whole point of multiple people doing similar story methods is to see how they execute it and what they bring to it. You can think Kubo does it better than Hiro, I’m not saying you can’t. But I for one, find a lot of this criticism lacking.

If you want to hate Hiro, go ahead, but if you’re going to make claims like these, then they are going to be challenged.

Wilderness Festival 2019: the Fanciest Music Festival You’ll Ever Visit

I’ve been to a lot of music festivals, but Wilderness Festival is undoubtedly the fanciest.

Wilderness is a four-day boutique festival held in early August each year set in the rolling hills of the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire, England.

It also has a reputation for being extremely middle-class.

Say goodbye to dodgy food and watered-down beer – at Wilderness, there are lavish Long Table Banquets rustled up by big-name foodies like Yotam Ottolenghi and Deliciously Ella; a champagne garden sponsored by Verve Cliquot with waiters dressed in Great Gatsby-inspired outfits; and ex-Prime Minister David Cameron has been spotted multiple years running.

I don’t always love the elitism of middle-class events, yet somehow I’ve now been to Wilderness Festival three times: once as a first-time visitor, once as a member of a hen party, and once as a speaker (!).

At Wilderness Festival 2017, I was asked to speak about my travels to an audience of forty people sat around a campfire beside a boating lake. It was the most ridiculously picturesque setting – and it also made me re-think my initial opinions about this ‘posh’ festival.

Because middle-class or not, Wilderness Festival isn’t just about the music. Now in its ninth year, the Wilderness 2019 lineup includes sets from Robyn, Bombay Bicycle Club and Groove Armada – but the organisers advertise it as an ‘alternative’ festival and put a strong focus on experiences, too.

Over the course of the weekend you can attend wood carving, foraging and toxic masculinity workshops, lake swimming, arts and crafts, axe throwing, ecstatic dancing, life drawing, paddleboarding, stimulating talks from prominent authors, yoga and meditation, and an unbelievable amount of gourmet food.

So if you’re looking for a music festival that’s family friendly, keen on colourful costumes, and focuses more on delicious food, alternative entertainment and thought-provoking talks than getting wasted?

Wilderness ticks all the boxes.

What to expect from Wilderness Festival: a review

After three years at Wilderness, I feel pretty qualified in reviewing this fancy festival. The following is a list of my favourite aspects of Wilderness: what you should see, where you should go and what you might have forgotten about.

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1. The setting of Wilderness Festival is undeniably idyllic.

Wilderness is held at the Cornbury Park estate in Oxford, south England. That’s 5,000 acres which play host to a few different campsites, a lake, forests and woodland, all surrounded by rolling fields – not to mention a hidden valley where the late-night revellers dance their troubles away.

2. You can take a dip in the lake.

To reach the festival from the campsites, you have to walk past Lake Majestic – and that’s usually enough to convince you to jump in. The water’s pretty chilly but it serves as a much-needed refresher during the summer heat!

The lake is also the prime spot for water-based activities: you can go out in a rowboat, take a yoga class on paddleboards or chill out in the wood-fired hot tubs which sit on the edge of the lake’s waters.

3. Dressing up isn’t mandatory, but costumes are a big deal.

There’s a big focus on fancy dress at Wilderness Festival. You’ll spot groups in the same outfits, people carrying inflatables bigger than themselves, and at least one hen party dressed up as superheroes.

Each night of Wilderness Festival has a designated costume theme – this year the themes are ‘What Comes Naturally’ on Friday, ‘Hue Are You?’ on Saturday and ‘The Great Big Hats Off’ on Sunday (and for those worried about the possible cultural appropriation of Sunday’s theme, Wilderness have politely asked guests to refrain from wearing Native American headdresses over the course of the weekend.)

4. There’s plenty of places to buy yourself some sequins.

If you’ve forgotten to bring enough glitter, feathers, fur, sequins, sparkly spandex or generally shiny materials, never fear: there are dozens of stalls and shops selling every conceivable addition to an outfit.

Moreover, each year there seems to be a different festival trend – my favourite was the year of clip-on animal tails.

5. Keep an eye out for a giant snail on a leash.

The troupes of performers and roaming art installations are one of my favourite aspects of Wilderness Festival. You never know when a giant snail will be ceremoniously led past you, or when a group of Bearded Ladies will appear from behind a tree and start dancing maniacally.

And let’s not even get started on the annual tradition of streakers running through the Sunday cricket match.

6. Get involved in some immersive performances.

There are slightly more official performances throughout the weekend: choose from choirs, swing dancers, comedians, ballet, Letters Live, dance-offs, hip-hop karaoke, and dozens of small theatre events.

My first year I arrived at a meeting point close to the festival’s entrance and was led by the hand around the far end of the lake in an immersive theatre performance, which culminated in a woman standing mournfully in the lake for a very long time. Bizarre but fascinating, nonetheless!

7. Try carving wooden spoons in the Greencrafts Village.

There’s an entire area dedicated to hands-on crafts workshops – and it’s totally green-friendly. Instead of using mains electricity or generators, the Greencrafts Village use solar power, traditional tools and work with recycled and sustainable materials.

Try your hand at wood whittling, basket weaving, spoon carving, felting, silversmithing or channel your ancient metal-working skills at the Iron Age forge!

8. Indulge yourself at the Sanctuary.

How many other music festivals let you soak away the day in hot tubs beside the lake? And if you really push the boat out there’s a bottle of champagne with your name on it, too.

Wilderness has a long list of indulgent activities, which mainly take place at The Sanctuary and the Lakeside Spa. Choose from massages, aromatherapy treatments, facials, tarot readings and medicine walks.

There’s also someone from Neil’s Yard wandering the site, ready to spray your hands with citrus-scented sanitiser!

9. How about a spot of early-morning outdoor yoga?

If you can rouse yourself from your tent-based slumber in the mornings, Wilderness has a lot to offer its early risers.

Areas like The Studio and Mindful Space hold sessions of yoga, pilates, meditation, sound baths, essential oil workshops, dance classes and vocal practices dotted all over the festival site – and some sessions are so well hidden that you might accidentally come across them underneath the trees.

10. The street food at Wilderness Festival is INSANE.

Rumour has it that Wilderness are positing themselves as a food-focused festival, and you can see why: the entire site is filled to the brim with over a hundred street food vendors.

You can find all the expected festival classics – crepes, bacon sandwiches, deep vats of paella, decadent burgers – but there’s also gourmet street food like I’ve never seen before, ranging from sushi burrito wraps, Buddha bowls and an Italian pasta stand to churros, truffle chips, acai bowls, and vegan curries.

Even in the camp sites you’ll find food vendors serving up fancy coffee, artisanal fry-ups and cheese toasties.

My personal foodie recommendations include:

– Pad Thai from BangWok

– luxe Mac & Cheese from Anna Mae’s van

– bao with pork belly & hoisin sauce

– late night Marmite crumpets from ‘Strumpets with Crumpets’ (these were also the cheapest food I found at Wilderness – a steal at £2.50 for two!)

11. Wilderness isn’t lacking in fancy drinks either.

Although I wasn’t too happy about the prices of some drinks, the festival undoubtedly pushes the boat out when it comes to alcohol.

Take your pick from beverages at a Bloody Mary caravan, a Jose Cuervo tequila bar, a Rioja tent, a Sipsmith gin palace, and a double-decker Pimms bus, or try your hand at cocktail-making masterclasses run by whisky distillers.

12. Listen to talks, debates, comedy and poetry at The Forum.

You could easily spend all day in The Forum, a large bell tent with literary-inspired paper decorations hanging from the roof. There’s a huge blackboard outside revealing each day’s schedule of talks, ranging from political and academic to LGBTQ and narcotics.

There are some high-profile speakers too – 2019 guests include Rose McGowan, Jack Monroe, Dermot O’Leary, Adam Kay and Scarlett Curtis.

At night, this venue focuses on comedy, poetry and spoken word: in 2017, we spent a rainy evening settled into comfy sofas with mugs of hot chocolate and watched a swathe of stand-up performances – perfection! I wish there were more venues like this at other festivals.

13. Learn from literary folks at the Books Tent.

Nearby to the Forum is the Books Tent, which comprises an entire bookshop (and elicited strong memories of the Hay on Wye book festival!)

There are dozens of poetry readings, debates and talks hosted by leading writers and publishers and writing masterclasses led by inspirational authors, as well as book signings afterwards.

The blackboard outside the tent gives the most up-to-date schedule.

Read more: A day at Hay on Wye literary festival

14. Dance all day to the Wilderness Festival lineup.

Despite all the other attractions on offer, music is still a huge part of Wilderness. It’s easy to discover a whole range of other styles of music around the festival at the following stages and areas:

The Clubhouse: a tented space by the playing field.

The Hustle: vinyl in the day time, disco at night.

The Highground: the dance space.

The Atrium: the collaborative stage right in the middle of the site which hosts performances from Letters Live, the Wilderness Choir, Hip Hop Karaoke and the Dance Off.

A crowd of people at the Atrium stage at Wilderness Festival

The Troubadour: folk music and artist collectives.

The Carousel: self-explanatory, and my favourite stage out of every festival I’ve been to!

The Level: music from around the globe.

The Valley: a hidden ravine in the forest – the perfect place for late-night raves.

The Main Stage: where the biggest acts perform – as big and spacious as you’d expect!

15. Appreciate the tiny details which make Wilderness Festival unique.

It’s the attention to detail which really elevates Wilderness above other festivals. Everywhere you look, you’ll see tiny hearts painted on stages, dreamcatchers hung in the trees, and hand-made decorations in the rafters of tents.

It creates a really lovely atmosphere which makes people want to just sit around and strike up conversation with the strangers near them – like this guy dressed as a fox!

A few of my top tips for Wilderness Festival

Like any music festival, there are a few unforeseen circumstances which can trip you up. Here are some of my top tips for Wilderness:

16. Combat the high prices by bringing some alcohol with you. 

Call me naive, but I was shocked by some of the drink prices. A small can of lager cost me £5 and I didn’t want to buy more booze after that – so I headed back to our campsite and our small stash of alcohol.

Like most UK festivals, Wilderness has a limited quota on bringing in beer, wine and cigarettes, and no spirits are allowed. The stipulations are as follows:

12 cans of beer, lager, cider or pre-mixed drinks OR 2 bottles of wine (decanted into plastic bottles) per person OR a combination of the two i.e. 6 cans and 1 bottle.

FYI there’s also a strict site-wide ban on glass. Make sure you decant bottles of wine into plastic and only bring cans of beer!

17. Share the cost of the printed Wilderness programme (£10).

The printed festival program includes enough information to constitute a guide book – but it’s only available once you reach the festival site, and unfortunately it’s not included in your ticket price either.

These babies cost £10, and they’re the only place you can fully read up on what’s scheduled, where and when. Buy one for your group and share accordingly (or make friends with a stranger and ask to look through theirs!).

18. Book the Experiences before you arrive at Wilderness.

Wilderness Festival has plenty of exclusive activities which they call ‘Experiences’. There are three categories – wellbeing, outdoor and dining – and include everything from massages, yoga raves and sound baths to hat-making workshops, foraging for aromatic plants and Long Table Banquets.

These experiences cost extra and it’s advisable to book them ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

19. Head into The Valley early to avoid the queues! 

Most of the music in Wilderness’s main arena shuts off at around 11pm – which means there’s a hefty queue to get into The Valley, a wooded ravine which hosts DJs and music late into the night.

If you’re planning a big night, it’s a good idea to skip the end of the Main Stage headliner and head to The Valley before you have to spend an hour in the queue.

20. Bring some layers for the festival at night.

Even in the height of an English summer, Wilderness still gets cold at night – both when you’re camping, and when you’re wandering around the festival in the evenings.

On my second year we got so chilly that we ended up buying overpriced woollen blanket ponchos from one of the stalls. It felt extravagant at the time but it’s paid off since: I’ve taken the poncho to other festivals and can even swan around my house feeling like I’m festival-worthy in London!

(I’m writing a festival packing list so will link it here when it’s published!)

Wilderness Festival takes place from 1st-4th August 2019 in Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire. You can get your festival tickets here.

Getting to Wilderness Festival 2019:

When is Wilderness Festival?

It’s held every year in the first week of August. This year’s festival is 1st-4th August 2019.

Where is Wilderness Festival? 

The official address is Cornbury Park, Charlbury, England OX7 3DG.

How do I get there?

By train: The closest station is Charlbury Station, which has regular trains to London Paddington. You can walk to the festival site from the station but I wouldn’t recommend it – apparently it’s 1.5 miles but the drive on the shuttle bus seems a LOT longer! Shuttles run every half hour or so and cost £3 single, £5 return.

By coach: National Express are running special coaches to/from Wilderness. You’ll get picked up from London Victoria Coach station from 10am on 1 August and return from 10am on 5 August. Prices start at £43.

How much do Wilderness tickets cost? 

Adult ticket: from £200.95

Teen ticket (13-17 years): £126.25

Junior ticket (6-12 years): £39.75

Child ticket (0-5 years): £6.25

All the above ticket prices include a space in the General Camping sites. Other options include pre-pitched tents, luxury toilets and showers, concierge and trolley service (for a higher price!) – check out Meadow Camping and Boutique Camping for more info.

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The balancing of my simplistic complexities.     1-28-18

If I say the word balance, I imagine that most people think of equal amounts of weight on either side of scale with equal amounts of pressure on each side. For me, I picture someone walking a tight rope. In the beginning; lots of ups, downs, sways, and maybe even several falls. With years of practice someone may actually be able to walk from one sky scraper to another or across the Grand Canyon. I’ve seen it done.

So, we decided to start watching the Sons of Anarchy, mainly because the cousin and my son haven’t seen it before, at least not from the beginning. I have, but it is definitely one worth watching again. It’s a great show. As we binge watched the first season in just a few days, I started catching quotes I wanted to use, and thought of so many ways to twist it into something I could make an entry from, then it hit me.

I vaguely remembered writing an entry once before relating to some of the show. It felt like it would have been early on, so I looked. Needless to say, it took me a while to scroll back that far, but I found it, and I read it. If you’d like to read it, you can follow this link ( https://shawnjacksonsbs.tumblr.com/ ) and type this title in to the search header, “How I feel I relate to Jackson Teller and shit!!    2/22/2014”. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s been about two years since I wrote it. I have heard more than once that the spells come in two-year periods.

Anyways, I had planned on opening with one these quotes, and then twisting a narrative, to something that fits some part of my past; “Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion and liberation of the human body from the coercion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. It stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals.” - Emma Goldman

“We all had our problems with authority, but none of us were sociopaths. We came to realize that when you move your life off the social grid you give up the safety that society provides.” - John Teller S.O.A.

But have since decided not to go that route, exactly. Most of the old lifestyle was just that, old bullshit, but all of the pieces of my past, and my past experiences are what make up the whole me. I am afraid that my moral compass will never point to true North. It probably points more west by northwest nowadays, but that’s a far cry better than the south by southeast direction it used to point towards.

I’m as close as I’m ever going to get. As free as I am today, I still miss some of it, sometimes. Different times from my past that I call the good memories. Some of which would still be looked at in disgust from people who never lived that way. I also carry a lot of baggage with me from things I’ve done that I’ll never be able to share in here, or to anyone. And as I’ve said a million times before, the good memories will never outweigh the bad or outweigh the positives I’ve gained since.

The longing still hits me from time to time though. I’ve been on every rung of the verbally ladder, from the top of a crew calling shots to the bottom of the pyramid, breaking into abandoned houses stealing wire and spending all night stripping it, so the next morning we could be at the Recycler when they opened to get just enough money to score just enough dope to get through the day. I even miss some of those times, or the memory of them. If that makes sense. Some of the dumbest, most ignorant events from my past can put a smile on my face when I think about them. For all of you who just don’t get it, that’s all right. That part makes me fucked up, not you. My brain isn’t wired exactly like normal people.

I’ll never be able to clear away all of it, as much as I wish I could, but at least I can be grateful that my firm hold on this side of life doesn’t have anything to do with just one piece of my past, but instead it’s the sum total of it altogether. I’m never going to be, fully, like most people. We may never see eye to eye on every issue, but we do and will continue to have some commonalities. For those of you, like me, that feel like they don’t fit completely with this side, or the other, there is good news. We don’t have to. The only side we have to align with, is our minds with our hearts, our true hearts. Failing to fit in with the norm isn’t failing for real, its gaining ground really. You are closer than you think when you realize this.

Good and bad and right and wrong aren’t always in sync. When you can do something bad, and it feel good, you know it’s time for an alignment, if you can stop feeling the good long enough to realize you need it. It’s a huge difference. Although most of us actually know what right and wrong is or means, it rarely waivers, but our moral compasses can definitely change direction a lot throughout our lives, for any number of reasons.

I’m fortunate that I have this outlet. Wearing my heart on my sleeve for all the world to see the kind of man I say I am, and it means living up to all the things that you read. My journey, in this journal form, keeps me planted in accountability. The reminiscing of exaggerated, old, grandiose memories can get me caught up quick if I am not careful though. Luckily, in the course of the last few days, I went from missing some of the life to being completely sickened by the fact that I can still be drawn to it, or the memory of it.

Sometimes my writing can be nonsense, and sometimes it’s to relate to others. Sometimes it’s to unclog my head, but every single time, it’s for clarity (for me). It’s better than meditation. It is my weekly alignment. Sometimes, actually, most times it’s aimed to be well intentioned truths, at least as I see them. Sometimes they are more vague than others, but all for good reason. Writing this blog has saved my life and keeps my peace of mind. It’s a bonus if it touches someone else, anyone else. Sometimes it’s just my opinion, which, as I read the other day is really “the lowest form of human knowledge; it requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge, according to George Eliot, is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.”

I also heard once, that “the self-loathing becomes a little more tolerable with service to others”. I suppose it comes in varying degrees at certain levels per individual. Just like my confusion as I go from writing about “brotherhood and loyalty” to “The company we keep”, and from being fond of memories to having them disgust me at the same time, but because of what I did and why, compared to how I choose to live now. It can probably be difficult to understand, but trust me, sometimes it’s even difficult for me.

Staying up until almost midnight on Wed because as I laid in bed, I’d get a partial paragraph in “note” form in my head, so I would type it in my phone real quick, then I’d close my phone, then something else would hit, I’d open it up, type another note, etc. I am usually in bed and asleep by 10pm. That’s what this blog means to me. It has changed a lot since I started writing it, but still going in the same direction. More forward progress makes for a different Shawn, a constantly ever-changing Shawn, whose writing should be ever-changing too, to reflect that. No one needs to worry, unless I stop writing entirely. That’s when you should send help. lol

With all this in my head, I have also talked to the attorney we plan to hire to help my son (the one out here and the one is living right now), and its going to be a long, hard, and a very extensive road for us to get through, but I know we will get through it. I have also heard some vague rumors, from a few other people about this and just makes me sick that we didn’t get him out here fast enough. One way or another we will work it out.

On a more positive note, someone I know through my work that I respect, pulled me to the side the other day. He told me that he was fixing to buy another property and was kicking around the idea of turning his other one into a multi-room clean and sober living house, or maybe a transitional housing for people getting out. He said if it works out, he would need someone to oversee it, from the inside. Like living there with them. Still going to work and just making sure things stay in order in the evenings etc. He offered it to me. That made me feel pretty good. Trust like that is pretty rare these days, especially when offered to me. Rent free and working in the service of others. If I wasn’t moving back home, I wouldn’t hesitate to accept an opportunity like that. Its definitely been on my mind a lot since we talked.

I suppose that’ll do for this week. I sincerely hope you all had a great week, and that the next one is better. Please remember to keep sharing the love and the laughter with the world around you. It could brighten someone’s day, maybe even their life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have plans with my son. Going to try and make the most out of what time we have, and I may even get to video chat some family back home this evening and see my granddaughter.

Until tomorrow;

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” - E.F. Schumacher

fuck the hype about black motivated movements

Since #blacklivesmatter first arrived it held the illusion of a solution with some substance but all I’ve seen are talk and talk and more talk about the same bullshit as the news. Where how why and logical proof for you to call or speak on something you believe is factual is more than enough to off of until you can see or receive something with more confirmation. Talking about exactly that alone but not moving or even discussing how to actually progress then the probability and even logistically thinking something’s going wrong af and in this aspect it’s the message. Blacklives filled a gap but Black life for me has been almost the same since before and after someone made a hash tag for people who only register and feel themselves as black seems contradicting and took the use of just one descriptive word to segregate and also eliminating the support and more important THE RECOGNITION of pain and every type of oppression to each and every one of our minority’s which makes all of us angry. The majority within the country replicates the same basic human emotions. Sympathy and fear is the global mask on all of our people for us even be wasting the same time we’re FORCED to exhaust vast amounts in order for special looking thing called money which in actuality is more or less a voucher with no worth since Pres. Hoover stole our countrie’s gold and somehow turned it into an account where credits accumulate for paying additional taxes making any type of security almost completely non-accessible when we also have to pay the taxes for the illusion of the largest corporate marketing scheme entitled Freedom instead of ensuring it by using basic skills and motivation to make our people acknowledged as they’re rightful name in our country to the nation. American shouldn’t have classes if the plan was to come to a new land and strive. are immigrants decedents more informed of important things that help the majority such as that taxes are only in place for on reason that ended years ago. In order to perform like the advertising that our country implies we as Americans the same ones of us that rather hit the re blog button with a unruly amount of hope need to change. If you believe what happens in America won’t pertain to you just go away to you thats it then it doesn’t pertain to you. For those who are willing to do anything at all the most important thing for US TO UNIFY AS A COUNTRY IS CLARITY OF WHAT WE ALWAYS WANTED. BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS OF BIRTH AND CITIZENSHIP AS WELL AS EQUALITY FOR ALL THE PRESENT IS WHERE WE START TO INFLUENCE CHANCE THE PAST SHOWS THE PAST METHODS OR TRAGEDIES WE HAVE TO REALLY USE THOSE THINGS TO ENSURE AS A COUNTRY WE FORCE THE SYSTEMIC HATE BY UNDERSTANDING WHY AND EXACTLY HOW WE FEEL HOW WE FEEL. Since Obama departed the house it took about a week to see a solid line of digression within the financial budget and works within the house. Red and blue represents Democrats and Republican yet the white stands alone separating or in the case of street warfare politics Regarding blue for crips and red for bloods with the same color of white in between in this case is iconic segregating. I’m personally tired of feeling the weight of inhumane things we could actually prevent instead of allowing the country to benefit without the awareness of our people. The integrity and honor is at the least questionable a ultimately contradicts any way these funds may possibly ever be beneficial without existence therefore are being distributed to possible enigmas. So we can either continually act out of anger move ignorantly while also waiting and letting the courts further produce false hope thus preventing or at the very least preventing wasting one of live’s most important commodities being time which has a 2nd meaning of a man made system of measurement. That should be used as a valuable outlet for anyone to build their ideas/instincts/decisions which is not only your god given right but also your constitutional to use with a peace of mind freely. How is there freedom and equal rights within a house that keep a law that convicts entities based of off speech. I know that if we the source of any pain/loss of self identity came incomes from comes from then at the very least we could start the using this topic for discussion. We have an infinite amount of evidences of even at the simplest level and absolutely need to speak accurately in order to understand the segregated speech and levels of manipulation around us on a daily to even the depths of even sick subliminal social level. Show INDIVIDUALS within the government that just because you’re the government doesn’t all you to rule anyway that works today and say anything later. Our nation’s global actions alone now leave a stain that smears fear from our local streets {aka hoods and I’m no scientist but my brain works fine where logically in my opinion sounds like a derogatory term but used as raw attempts to survive by moving as the oppressor) embedded into our actual/literal, naturally beautiful regions around the planet. Let’s walk in the opposite direction off the footsteps of people like Elvis and countless others. We don’t have to steal, recycle or renew ideas. Pitch anything you personally believe is worth pointing out. When you realize you’re capable of forming an unbiased idea/opinion that’s real then anyone’s who’s about it will recognize real. Through observation no one except for few can even understand that Human connection is something no one actually publicly anyone says you can feel from my hypothesis and observations of 19 years, scientific, psychological and unbiased logical evidence to what’s we know as energy. The energy + body language from a person you get or lack to get is vital information for your lucid continence to just be more aware. Try to manifest it by learning how to connect with it’ll eventually expose you to the projection and in depth understanding the pro’s and con’s of a specific human and for your own personal experience try to acknowledge your actions because as humans and our human and through learning through my personal life experiences questioning everything and making sure answers have proof for absolute accuracy with the skill of finesse can open any door if not open new ones. An example of energy existence imbedded in man made items from 1 American made tool are English words and have multiple meanings where as are grammatically appropriate in a commonplace but no where near the same when used against the court of law in your own home country and sentenced to judging where the goal are lifers you’re now apparently viewed guilty and deemed guilty even by the honest mistake of misusing descriptive words well now you’re under duress and can’t even understand that’s your way out until you’re checked in. An example of the power of pure energy possesses has shown through kids who are loosely using words as weapons for cyber/mental bullying that the overlooked/forgotten tools to maneuver more morally aware properly in situations ideas and self preservation recognize your own unique aspects like your first piece of government documented image since birth. Identification signature

11/04/2017: I had to vent or rant out on this.. here we go again. I’ve mentioned this before during my rants / opinions regarding the following:

   ·         Arts

   ·         Fan arts

   ·         Social media

   ·         Collaboration

   ·         Commission

   ·         Isolation

It’s  2017 and I guess I’m going to have to rant or get something off my chest again. Let’s start off with this. It’s safe to say the digital world of the internet is the ‘wild wild west’ when it comes to content, sharing art or images are stolen, used – reused and recycled. Views that should go to you is diverted somewhere else because the person doesn’t credit the source and claims he or she is the original artist. Art has no form or meaning, it’s meaningless – we give art meaning based on our surroundings and our current life status. So we either have good things to say about art or the worst possible things to say about art. And also this.. we even use art to lie about certain stuff to gain attention and to sell art. That’s art for you in the digital world – use, copy, re use, recycle, steal, sell and claim.

Fan arts being sold without permission, and a lot and I mean ‘a lot’ of people are doing this and are getting away it, which makes me think to myself – I should stop doing the morally right thing to do and just sell the new stuff I’ve done on anime, movies and games. If people are doing this and getting away with it, it would certainly help me a lot financially. But I haven’t because I don’t want to get my backside in trouble let alone lose my account on deviant art. The simplest suggestion is to sign up with another platform service that specialize in prints and sell your fan arts there.  The problem with that, is it the right thing to do – and does anyone care these day.

Social media is suppose to be a tool or platform to share art and hope for people / browsers to support you and your arts or hobbies? It’s suppose to be a bridge where we can collaborate with others to produce fun arts. WRONG!!!! It’s a god damn popularity contest even in the arts, and it’s about who owns what regarding what people are entitled to. For example, if artist makes an illustration from a photograph of a model, and he or she would like to sell it. There has to be a written contract depending on what you agree on,  which is cool because that can be negotiable. But the problem these days, are people are too greedy.  Photographers want a percentage of what you sell on the arts, and they want the high res too for them to have to sell on their end, this goes with models as well. Because the photographer and model each has their own has their own fan base they can sell the arts with ease and choose to give you no percentage of what they sell. But if the artist has zero fan base or supporters, selling the arts is impossible. So it’s a lost, not for everyone though. Right now, even what I am typing may not make any sense at all to you, it’s what I’ve seen read from other artists, shared experiences myself of the disappointments I’ve encountered  with other individuals who go through the same or in some case even worst situations – and the biggest question is “what is the bloody point of still doing this?” – All it ever does is make me miserable when others try to sponge off free art from me rather than support or even consider the rate of fee we do. Each one of us has a different way of measuring and fixing a price for a commission, whether the number is high or low – maybe evening depending on how the negations went between you or them. It’s a number that shouldn’t be devalued because from your eyes it doesn’t fit the budget you want, if that is the case. Those who try to swindle your price down should look at others and leave you alone. Don’t waste your time with them, be humble and stand your ground. You as an artist should believe in your work and value. If you do decide to review your own fee of service it should be of a natural choice rather than someone pleaded for a cheaper fee. To follow up this, if you do succumb to a lower fee you don’t want, the process of making your editing image or illustration will fall short in quality, the outcome usually turns our poorly as your heart isn’t in it and what’s going to happen also, is that the final image will take a lot of revisits due to the customer, your customer not liking the outcome and demands the image to be redone which takes time.

It’s a lot of head ache / stress - a lot of artists / hobbyists including myself have abandon commissions to avoid all the drama and negativity it brings if you are being forced to work on a picture that you aren’t connecting with or enjoy working with. Unless you can find the right people to do commissions for and they agree on your terms and rate, the outcome of that work is far greater and better for both parties. But more importantly it works better for you.

So if commissions don’t work, how can social media help? Or how is it suppose to help, with today’s generation having support and a fan base should in theory help the artist out a lot, not only you have to have a presence in social media platforms which range from having a facebook, twitter, instagram or youtube (these sites are just examples there is more I believe).. it’s really hard to get any work exposed unless you have friends who can help share the love for your art. Which can also be difficult as well, because a lot of viewers or browsers do not like force content..  so the art you do may not appeal to others and only appeal to one. We’re fucked.. what is the point of still doing art/ fan arts or any form of art if no one is going to see it.

Well that’s the tricky part.. it’s this part you have to be brutally honest with yourself and the art you do.. can it sell, do you have the right to sell or.. do what millions are doing and just sell it without obtaining permission because that seems to be the trend these days.  I think you have to sit down and just be honest. Which is the hardest task for anyone to do. - The other point to consider is.. is what you do the art you do is it appealing to the browsers or the usual normal crowd? Can you or will change your art style?

So on a closing not for social media, I believe it is a requirement to get some views on your art, youtube seems to be a place to voice that out or share it, but with youtube.. it also comes with a lot of hatred and troll individuals who vent and rant off on videos. So best to take whatever they punch you with a grain of salt.

If none of this applies to you, then hats off. I’ve said it so many times.. you should not dedicate your art through likes & numbers. Just do the art or fan art because you enjoy it, and if there is a view or a fan base for it.. that should be natural gain rather than stress your mind and soul on ‘numbers’

Whatever you do regarding social media, wish you the best of luck and it’s never too late to have an account to share your art or just talk via your youtube account about your hobbies or whatever the subject is.. just be you and be happy with your work. Don’t let numbers control you. Don't let people put you down (Listen to Korn - Haters, music will give you a creative spark) and most importantly be happy with yourself the good and the bad, flaws is what gives a character depth - it's sort of a never ending puzzle that can be solved or left alone by the handler or friends if he or she have any decent ones.  It's just sad people can't seem to understand us because most of us are broken at some point in our lives, rather than be put to a side in isolation they preach words and advice which don't do anything but fuel your negativity. The hard part is to take that negativity and filter it in positive creative way. That is up to you do decide what to do.  It's not easy, it never is - just take it day by day for as long as it takes. The frighting thing is.. it's hard to say if there is a good ending for you. It really boils down on you and how you filter your obstacles. Wishing everyone the best. Kind regards Khuan (35)