Connecting Us To Peace Collage Project

For the collage, please go to the Instagram page.

For all questions and links, please go to our Carrd.

If you are in the US, PLEASE share this, consider donating an eSim, and joining the collage. Thank you.

Also, we will be taking international requests, but US requests will be prioritized.

The Walt Disney Company Annual Report (2004) Scans

So this is a bit of an odd find, but I just had to pick it up for less than a dollar - The Walt Disney Company 2004 Annual Report.

Honestly, the cover art was what grabbed my attention.

I mean look at that! I'm not even a huge Disney fan but I did get excited seeing this collage art.

So cool...and so weird?

I feel like so many characters are missing - characters that would be "obvious" for a more recent Disney collage.

Remember Disney before Star Wars? Encanto? Frozen?

I do. Vaguely. I am pushing 30 after all. (I jest). But I basically had almost forgotten how "small" the Disney roster used to be.

Kind of hard to imagine Chicken Little was the upcoming big animated movie for 2005!

I wasn't sure what exactly an annual report magazine was, but my boyfriend knew of them. Basically, they are breakdowns of the company's products, output, projects, commitments, sales, etc., as information for current/potential investors/shareholders to have an analyze.

That being said, I truly don't have much to talk about in regards to this book. Most of it is numbers numbers numbers, math, math, math.

It was a bit of slog to scan, but I did it!

However, there are some tidbits I am interested in - primarily the pop culture ones. I'll share a few with you.

Take this page for instance: Olympic swimmers vibing in a pool with Mickey Mouse.

Doesn't get much more guys being dudes than this.

I'm being unfair, this is a picture from when they did a Disney charity swim. But still...it is funny to me with no context lol.

Or this page, about recently released/upcoming movies:

Am I the only one who didn't know NATIONAL TREASURE starring THEE Nicolas Cage was a DISNEY MOVIE?! I have no idea how this knowledge evaded me.

Also take note of the goofy photo of all the execs photoshopped into a Chicken Little backdrop. There are many of these kinds of photos, typically one for each "category". They're all a hoot because the backgrounds are so whimsical and they're all so...proper and stuffy in their suits lol.

I wanted to include this page since it references a lot of great movies, but mainly Sky High.

I'm a simple woman - I see Sky High, I simply must have to say justice for Layla x Warren Peace.

Anyways, here's a page giving MY Queen Hilary Duff her recognition for carrying Disney on her back:

When I tell you I was (and still am) obsessed with Hilary, Raven, and Jesse McCartney's debut albums.

Don't even get me started on Raven and Julie Andrews from Princess Diaries 2!! Their singing scene was so cute.

Also the double take when I saw BREAKING BENJAMIN? WITH HOLLYWOOD RECORDS?? HUH!!! I had to google, and it's true.

News to me!

It is kind of jarring to actually read and see how many seemingly random names/projects are associated with or straight up owned by Disney. This is especially apparent in the Broadcasting and Cable sections of the book.

I feel like we all know that now, but it's kind of jarring to look at media I grew up with and realize they're a lot more connected than I thought.

Just because I love references to old tech and the World Wide Web, I'll leave off with the first page of the Walt Disney Internet Group section.

The absolute chokehold Toontown Online had on me as a kid, and I never even played the game!! The thought of an online MMO was so fun to me, but I never got the chance to play it. I did regularly visit the Disney Channel website to play the games though!

As always, feel free to view the full book over on my Internet Archive account.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pioneer Teen Ishrat's symbol was home!

Here is their artist statement: Home Ishrat Jahan

Out of all the various possible symbols I was given to choose between. I decided to go with home. Home can have a variety of symbolic meanings to it: one’s comfort place, peace, a meaningful memory, and/or an important person that could have caused a great impact on their life. During the first day of ARAS, I solely based my collage from my heart, using images that caught my eye and or things that I felt a good connection towards.

Visiting museums also left me with remarkable inspiration. For instance, the Metropolitan Museum which in each room contained different living styles that the people of that time lived. This was definitely something that I wanted to incorporate in my project; including things that made up my own lifestyle, such as modern objects.

Throughout planning this project I had several ideas. One of which was to create my own poem. Later, making a painting based on it. Sadly, due to a lack of time, I was not able to. Instead, I painted several things that held meaning to me. One of which was a precious memory of the food that me and my friends had in a restaurant, this memory was what gave me comfort. I soon after painted velvet flowers with a butterfly on one of them for the inner peace that it served me. The dark figure represents all the important people in my life that have been by my side: friends, family, teachers, and my parents. The figure with a wide range of hues represents me and all the colors that these people had brought into my life. The electric guitar with all the musical notes and the two hands holding a book; both shows the love I have for reading and listening to music.

The curtains however were the most emotional part for me to paint out of this entire project. They were painted based off of something I’ve read in the library at ARAS, purdah. Curtains were used as a power symbol for anything considered to be sacred. This comes from places like China and in Muslim societies (quote is provided below).

Together with screens and veils, curtains provide concealment and define space…Muslim societies, curtains are central to the practice of purdah, which involves concealing women from public view. To perpetuate their holy authority, the emperors of China always kept a veil between themselves and their visitors so that they could see their guests without being seen.” —The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Signs & Symbols

In my language purdah also means to veil. Discovering such remarkable facts about it really reminded me of the hijab, which I wear on my own head, the scarf that I hold dearest to, it is what creates a piece of me and who I am. So when coming across such a powerful meaning for it was truly beautiful to read.

And this is what makes up my home.

Unleashing Creativity: A Day of Artistic Adventures

Hey there, fellow adventurers! Welcome back to my channel. Today, we're diving headfirst into a whirlwind of creativity, embracing a day full of artistic exploration and self-expression. Join me on this exciting journey as we paint, craft, and imagine our way through a day that's all about letting our inner artists run wild.

Morning Inspiration: Sunrise Sketches

The day kicks off with a burst of inspiration, right as the sun peeks over the horizon. Armed with my sketchbook, I head to a serene park to capture the magic of the morning in quick pencil sketches. The gentle rustling of leaves and the quiet symphony of birdsong create the perfect ambiance for my artistic endeavors.

Midday Craft Extravaganza: DIY Dreamcatchers

After a morning of sketching, it's time to roll up our sleeves and dive into a craft extravaganza. Today's project? DIY dreamcatchers! Armed with a variety of colorful threads, feathers, and beads, I guide you through each step, from creating the intricate webbing to adding personalized touches that reflect your unique style. Get ready to infuse positive vibes into your space!

Culinary Creativity: Art-Inspired Lunch

Who says art is confined to canvas and paper? It's time to explore the art of culinary creation. I whip up a delicious lunch that's not only a treat for the taste buds but also a feast for the eyes. Using vibrant ingredients, I craft a salad that's almost too pretty to eat, with colorful arrangements and playful patterns that bring art to the dining table.

Outdoor Masterpiece: Nature-Inspired Painting

The afternoon sun beckons us outdoors once again, this time armed with an easel, canvas, and an array of paints. As we set up amidst the beauty of nature, I encourage you to let go of perfection and embrace the joy of expression. With the sound of rustling leaves and the occasional chirping bird as our soundtrack, we paint the world as we see it, infusing our surroundings with splashes of color and imagination.

Artistic Reflection: Journaling and Meditation

As the sun begins its descent, we find a cozy spot to unwind and reflect on the day's creative exploits. I introduce you to the world of art journaling, a unique way to combine writing, sketching, and collage. Through introspective journal prompts, we delve into our emotions and experiences, capturing the essence of the day's journey. A short meditation session helps us connect with our inner selves and find peace amidst the artistic chaos.

Evening Entertainment: Art Cinema Night

To wrap up this unforgettable day, we transform our space into a mini cinema for an "Art Cinema Night." We watch thought-provoking movies that explore the lives of artists, their struggles, and their triumphs. This cinematic experience adds depth to our appreciation for the creative journey and reminds us that art is a powerful vehicle for storytelling.

Closing Thoughts: Unleash Your Creative Spirit

As the day comes to a close, I encourage you to embrace your inner artist every day. Whether through a simple doodle, a heartfelt poem, or a deliciously artistic meal, there are countless ways to infuse creativity into your life. Remember, it's not about perfection; it's about the joy of creation and the freedom to express yourself. So go ahead, pick up that paintbrush, dance with your words, and let your imagination soar.

Thank you for joining me on this incredible artistic adventure. If you enjoyed this vlog, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more journeys into the world of creativity. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep creating, and keep smiling. Stay inspired!

For more information visit our website https://www.prishatheexplorer.com/ or call us at +44 (0) 78670 90363.

FINAL EVALUATION

My whole project is about how nature makes me feel and how it benefits me, I have used color psychology to help me communicate by using yellow and green. I used these because they symbolize happiness and nature, so the repetition is vital to highlight my feelings towards nature. My research has definitely help me develop my final outcome, Sarah Eisenlohr worked with imagination and nature. Her pieces were all eye catching by the way she was playful with her collages, and this is what inspired me to have an unserious and free outlook on my work and you can see this being communicated on my final piece. There is also Edith Meusnier, she places her artwork in nature to reflect the setting and mood which emphasizes the beauty. I was yet to place my samples in nature to emphasize the beauty in my community, but I did go out and bring nature to my samples. I went out to collect leaves and placed them in aqua film and embroidered into them, this resulted in a failure as the leaves was too delicate, so it broke into pieces, but I was able to cut out the bits that were not completely ruined and I included that in my final piece and paired it with a weave sample that was inspired by autumn leaves. I really think that they both complement each other so well and I can thank Edith for inspiring this idea. 

My primary research images are all moments where I feel connected and at peace with nature and when I view them, I see nature's cycle before my eyes autumn, summer and spring. I have tried to bring that to life by embroidering it into one of my pictures and giving it texture so you can feel what I would have felt when I was in that moment. 

In my time of this module, I have learnt many skills which have helped me develop my final outcome one of them is printing, with printing I can have fun with various shapes and images and create nature in a different view using my imagination just as Sarah Einslohr did. With this I have created successful samples such as the river as the path in the forest. The only weakness I can point out is choosing the "right" fabric, the choice of fabric is so important because you need material that is going to emphasize your photos/ shapes you are printing and with time I was able to play around and see what fabrics benefited my samples and what fabrics did not. Sometimes my vision did not come out the way I wanted but I took this as advice and to what I should not do in my next printing sample but overall, I made many print samples that I loved. 

In the beginning I struggled with what to write in my blog in terms of how nature made me feel and I think it was because I wasn't too sure about my narrative yet. To overcome this, I put myself in nature more often and focused on the feeling it gave me so that it was fresh, and I was able to become more passionate when writing my blogs. This goes the same to my samples, it took time for me to realize what worked for me and what helped me communicate my narrative, for example embroidery was a weak spot for me because I struggled with following the lines which resulted in my samples looking messy. But in time I realized I was the most successful at print and weave, I was able to bring my vision to life with them.

I really liked how my final outcome turned out, especially with all the bright colors it makes it more enticing to look at. However, I wished I had made more (bigger) samples but overall, I think it successfully communicates my narrative and secondary research. 

(Esther | The Welcome Wagonから)

Esther by The Welcome Wagon

In the very early morning of July 1, 2017, Pastor Vito Aiuto stood before a bonfire on a grape farm in the Central Valley of California, just outside of Fresno. It was still dark, the embers of the bonfire rising into an infinite black sky. Vito’s arms were around his wife, Monique, as they watched the morning light slowly illuminate the face of their 10-year-old son, Isaiah. Soon, they would fly back to Brooklyn to a life left behind two months before, a life that had begun to feel unmoored, maybe even unbearable. But the sabbatical trip had been filled with moments of grace, large and small. The bottle of icy grappa left on their table with a smile in Rome. The view of the city, ancient and lovely, from the window of their hotel. The sense of ghosts weaving between the tourists, nuns, and schoolchildren. The days spent on the farm, making bad table wine, having good conversation, and sleeping in the beds of dear friends. In the moments of connection these other moments bestowed, Vito knew something had been restored. He was ready to go home. “It felt like we had been changed, and so to go home was going to be all right,” he says. Home would feel like home again. That feeling, of being welcomed back into your own home, your own life, your own family, and your own faith pervades Esther, the fourth release by Welcome Wagon. Shortly after Vito returned to Brooklyn, he found himself holding his guitar and allowing his fingers to play a few notes that just felt…right. Those notes would come to remind him of that morning outside Fresno and would eventually come to be “Isaiah, California,” the first song on the album, and the first song written for it. Over time, other songs arose, and Vito captured them with gratitude. An album began to take shape. Then the pandemic hit, and Vito’s strumming, lyrics, and thoughts became the soundtrack of the family’s lockdown lives. Though Monique had given up painting a decade prior, she now felt an urge to go home as well, to reconnect not just with an artistic identity but with her midwestern family. As an art student at The Cooper Union in New York, she had passed the lonely hours in her studio listening to the calming crackle of cassette tapes her grandmother had sent on which she’d recorded herself reading the bible. As a young mother, Monique had flown home from her grandmother’s funeral with a treasure trove of old magazine clippings, wrapping paper scraps, and invitations sent more than half a century before. Now, with her grandmother’s cassettes playing in the background, Monique began using pieces from this collection to create large-scale collages, beautiful, evocative, and almost haunting in their pastiche of the past. “Using the music as a starting point, I wove together any objects on hand that fit with the chords, the vision, the melody, the spirit of the songs,” says Monique, whose paintings provide the album art. Her grandmother, Esther, gave the album its name. In fact, to the extent that Esther is a departure for Welcome Wagon, it’s thanks to Monique’s contribution to it—an artistic representation of the wholeness the couple found after their sabbatical trip. Recorded mostly in the spring of 2021 at Mason Jar Music by Jeremy McDonald and in the summer of 2021 at Sounds Familyre studios by Daniel Smith (Danielson), the songs often put Monique’s voice front and center, giving the album a certain balance and depth. Meanwhile, some of the bible recordings feature in the songs, making the project both a family affair and a tapestry of legacy. Yet as much as Esther is about homecoming, it is also about making peace with—and a home in—uncertainty. In both family and faith, there is a sense of profound knowing and equally profound mystery, which Welcome Wagon explores lyrically and sonically. Chords remain unresolved, their progressions posing questions rather than offering answers. “I Know You Know” poignantly details what doesn’t need to be asked of an intimate partner, while the delicate chorus of “Consolation Blues” repeats “I know, I know, I know, I know” as if the singers were trying to convince themselves. The raucous ‘Lebanon’ describes a childhood experience through the uncertain filter of memory, is followed by the gorgeous exaltation of revelation and transformation in “Nunc Dimittis,” the Latin text of Luke 2:29-32. In “Matthew 7:7,” the verses speak of the reliability of unconditional love. But even that song of ultimate affirmation begins with a question. In Esther, the questioning is the destination, and it is one where peace can be found and home—and art—can be made. There’s a salve there. There is music. There are moments of grace, large and small. Welcome. クレジット2022年11月4日リリース Performed by: Monique Aiuto, Vito Aiuto, Will Graefe, Emily Haselschwerdt, Evan Mazunik, Jeremy McDonald, Sean Mullen, John Mark Painter, Daniel Smith, David Smith, Jeff Taylor, The Welcome Wagonyre Choir. We worked on this album between March of 2020 and January 2022. Primary recording was done at Mason Jar Music in Brooklyn, NY, produced and engineered by Jeremy McDonald, with additional engineering by Christian Thomas. Later recordings were done at Sounds Familyre Studios in Clarksboro, NJ, produced and engineered by Daniel Smith. We are indebted to these fine producers during this strange, hard time of life. Additional tracks were recorded in Henderson, Tennessee, Watertown, Tennessee, and Denver, Colorado. Special thanks to Elin Smith for creative assistance and support. The album was mixed by Daniel Smith and mastered by Greg Reirson at Rare Form Mastering in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bible verses were read and recorded by Esther Andre (1919 - 2013) in her home in Wauseon, Ohio, between 1992 and 1995. Those recordings were initially made so that her granddaughter, Monique of the Welcome Wagon, could listen to her read the Bible while she worked on paintings at the Cooper Union. Art direction by Monique Aiuto, Andrea QasGuargis, and John Beeler. Creative direction and copy by Lia Strasser. All photography of The Welcome Wagon by Denny Renshaw. Special thanks to Tami Lowman for spiritual support. And to David Jennings for the Friday afternoons. Words for “Bethlehem” and “Noble Tree” are by Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus and were translated by John Mason Neale. “Nunc Dimittis” is the traditional Latin text of Luke 2:29-32 in the public domain. All other song lyrics and music © 2022 Vito Aiuto New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP. All rights reserved.

𝑀𝓎 𝒟𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈

⤑ Paring: Jungkook x reader (with a little bit Namjoon x reader and Taehyung x reader)

⤑ Genre: wolf!au, soulmate!au, collage!au

⤑ Summary: y/n has been feeling a certain darkness ever since she got her period. Something was calling her and one day that ‘light’ came into vision. You’d never thought however, that it would be a werewolf.

⤑ Rating: 18+

⤑ Warnings: mentions of rape, depression, smut, oral sex, window-sex, shower-sex, knotting, marking and animalistic behaviour.

⤑ Wordcount: 9.5k

⤑ A/n: hey!! This will be my first story on this account. I used to run another tumblr account, but I felt like I needed a new start hehe. Hope you enjoyed this one!

‘why is it so dark?’, you ask yourself as you try to see, but nonetheless fail to do so. It’s too dark. You can’t understand what you feel, but it has been the darkest feeling you have had in your whole life, though you might not yet be that old. It is creeping up on you, like a tiger or some other creature. It might’ve always been there, but never this strong. Never since this very moment. A white ray stands tall in front of you, all too sudden but not unwelcome. You feel like you need to be there, like this might be the place that brings you the peace you have been seeking. You know the feeling, the dark feeling, ends with this light. It all fits too well…

You take a step forward, but when you look down to see where you are walking on, you don’t see your feet. It’s only you, like a floating conscious. Even though it got you distracted for the smallest second, you knew this wasn’t important enough. The only thing worth doing right now is taking another step towards this warm and sunny light. Another step was taken and you feel your body heating up. Even though the light is your answer, you are still reacting to it in all the negative ways. ‘Is this what I need? It’s probably better than that horrifying darkness around us. Around me and this light’.

So without another thought, you take three more steps. There it is, right in front of you. You can feel your whole body reacting in heath, but you still feel save somehow. It’s resisting and it feels unnatural, but you haven’t felt as connected in so long with such a simple thing. You want it. No, you need it. And it also needs you. Two sides, two consciousnesses needing one another. But it doesn’t feel enough. You need more. You need to be closer. You need hi-.

‘Y/n? You are burning up! Are you okay? Wake up!’.

The sudden voice wakes you up in one simple snap. Your eyes spring wide open as you look scared towards your friend, who just as well returns that look. Namjoon puts his hand on your forehead. You flinch as he retracts his hand as fast as lighting, making a gesture as if your forehead is about a 100 degrees. ‘Damn y/n, that should be illegal. It’s way too hot. Please go to the nurses office’, he exclaims.

You put your hand on your heart, feeling how fast it’s beating. It’s so fast that you can feel it in your whole body. You are trying to recall your dream, but you only seem to remember that you felt a dark feeling. It must’ve been a nightmare. You check out your surroundings as you felt quite out of place, but you soon notice you are still in the comfort of your school’s library. You let out a breath, shaking off that weird experience and you try to calm down your body. ‘I think I had some kind of nightmare’, you inform Namjoon before picking up your pencil.

You have been working all night with your classmate. You were assigned to work together on a project. Since the both of you had a hard time to find a good spot in your agendas to work together, you found that only today you could really work on it. So you both took the chance and ended up working all night. You pull out your phone and you notice it’s already 11 pm. Your eyes widen. ‘Namjoon, why didn’t you wake me up? We really need to get going. Can we still get out of the building?’. He chuckles and shrugs. ‘Thought you could use some rest, you’ve only been gone for twenty minutes, so don’t worry. But you’re right. We should go home’. You let out a small sigh before clearing out your desk. He didn’t mean it bad, so you let it go. You both pack your things and go home.

As you walk your way to your dorm, you can’t help but feel that same creeping feeling. You feel that darkness. It’s not uncommon for you anymore. It has been a few years already, the moment you had your period. You have felt it ever since that moment. You can still remember the first dream about it. It was like just now, dark and alone. As if there was something or someone missing from your life. Your mother showed her concern about it and took you to a doctor, who gave you a number of a psychologist. There we thorough experiments, but no one could really tell what it was and how to get rid of it. At some point you found yourself at a more spiritual room. That was even more traumatic, as she just looked at you in fear and told you to leave within a few seconds. It got you thinking. Are you some kind of devil? Some kind of lost soul from another world, what certainly isn’t holy? This time though, this last dream, it was different. Different from your other dreams. You did feel the darkness, but there was something else. It felt refreshing and warm, something you haven’t felt in so long. Whatever it is, you hope that same feeling will return to you. And this time you won’t be woken up. This time it will stay with you.

It’s the following day. Last night hasn’t been easy on you. The darkness has been closing in on you. This time it really seems too real and too attentive. Like it’s watching you. You feel it all over your body. It keeps you heavy and almost a depressed feeling washes over your body. The amount of strength it took you today to get out of bed, get ready and walk to your classes was just too much. You could barely keep your eyes open as your professor tries to explain the laws of physics to you. You must be really sick this time, your body just keeps on heating itself up. Your brain almost feels fried. It’s only a matter of time before you pass out. You can feel it, the life just wanting to seep out of your body. You can feel it pulling. You need it. You need that light right now. You need him.

And exact on that moment, all the lights turned off. Your body had completely given up.

His ears perk up as he felt a weird feeling passing through his body. He sits up straight, looking around his new apartment complex as he looks for some kind of clue. It’s some type of feeling he can’t describe, but it’s very strong, but still goes unnoticed if it wasn’t for his wolf-senses. Something was wrong. But with what or whom, he couldn’t figure out. He sets his eyes on his alarm, reading 10 am. His class will be starting in about an hour. He normally wakes up in 15 minutes, but he is up already. It had been a busy night with the pack. Since they had to move because of a inner-circle rivalry, Jungkook had decided the pack would split in two. It’s for the best this way and he felt like he needed a new start. But ever since he had come here, he felt like something was coming. And not only he has felt it, his closest beta friend Jimin also felt it. ‘I don’t know what it is boss, but your vibes has changed. I can’t put my finger on it’, Jimin said to him. Today, however, the feeling had dubbeled itself. It felt dangerous.

He got out of his bed, walking towards his bathroom. He takes a moment to show his desire towards his surroundings. His pack really put effort in this one. Since the pack had been living on for generations, they have a lot of old money to spend. So when he instructed Jimin to pick out a luxurious appartment for him, he had the best one in mind. He really appreciates his mates and treats them like equals. He has always believed in that. Although Jungkook did have the last word in everything, he never ignores his pack. Dreadfully, Taehyung had a different idea. He wanted to have the upper hand in the pack and run it with an iron fist. Some others within the pack felt like they needed that, to have such a leader. It took 1 month of fighting, arguing and just too much stress to figure the situation out. Which was: to go our separate ways. The whole pack found this the best way and now Jungkook is here, with his most trusted set of wolves. He finally feels happy again.

He puts off his clothing as he gets under the shower. He lets out a deep breath as he feels the warmth flower on his skin. He thinks about his following classes. He is so happy he decided to start with school again. With a new start in a new city, it’s only fitting to start a new career. He wants to learn, maybe be a bit more human-like. Of course he understands he could never be a human, but he just loves how every human has kinda their own purpose. A deeper meaning than just hunting and surviving. Their lives aren’t about surviving anymore, it’s about really living. He wants that for him and his pack. To just feel…. Normal.

His thoughts run wild before he notices something strange. His body is heating up. He shrugs it off, thinking it’s probably just the shower heat. But it doesn’t stop. He begins to breathe louder and his heart is picking up a faster pace. He starts to panic as he immediately turns off his shower. What’s going on?

He feels something suddenly so strong. Something wild, something very primitive. An instinct. He only feels this way when there is a full moon. He runs to the windows in his apartment, but it’s clear daylight. He also knows it shouldn’t be a full moon for at least 2 weeks. So what’s going on? ‘Just follow your instinct then’, he tells himself as he rushes to put on his clothing. He needs to find out and he has a feeling it has to do with that weird feeling from this morning. It must be, it’s the only thing that’s different and has been throwing him off. It could’ve be a heath, but it somehow feels like that. Only, he can still very much control what he does. Jungkook takes a breath as he closes his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts before taking any actions. ‘Okay, it’s definitely something you haven’t felt before, it’s new, but it feels very wolf-ish. So it couldn’t be wrong or bad. Just follow it then’. So he followed it.

You wake up, light piercing through the creeks of your eyelids. You noticed a black ceiling before your senses took over. There was a very manly smell hanging around the air, some type of heavy shampoo. It soothed your mind somehow. You could still remember how you blacked out because you felt very ill, but that ill feeling found it’s way out of your body.

You sit up in a fast motion as your heartbeat begin to quicken again. You can’t seem to recognize you surroundings. You are somewhere unfamiliar. The panic comes back into your body like a train, because for all you know you’ve been kidnapped. How the fuck did you end up here?

‘So you’re the one who has been giving my boss a hard time today hmm?’, someone in the corner of the room speaks out. You quickly turn your head as you lock your eyes with the stranger. You notice his features are silky, almost beautiful as you began to stare in awe. He is handsome, but he can’t be trusted. Because now you are in a strange room with an unfamiliar face, talking about some boss. Is this some kind of dream? Because this can’t be real. The stranger sighs before leaning off the wall and making his way towards a door. ‘Whatever, just don’t break his heart. And oh, welcome to the family sweetheart’, he says before leaving the room.

You frown, not understanding a single word this man just blabbered on to you. ‘Welcome to the family?’, you repeat his words, as if you could maybe make sense of it. You decide to take a moment to inspect your surroundings. You notice you are in some type of bedroom, which is beautifully decorated in all kinds of beautiful earthy-tones. The drapes of the room are closed, but you can clearly see the windows are huge and you must be in an apartment. Well, escaping through the backyard won’t be an option then. You move your legs to the side of the bed, wanting to stand up before you notice in what uniform you are in. You are pretty much only wearing a long button-up shirt with only your panties and bra under it. It shocks you, flashing bad images through your head, scared you might’ve been raped. The possibility isn’t small, as someone had undressed you.

And suddenly something pierces right through your body, making you to let out a small yelp. It was everything but what you expected to feel right now. But somehow it made you calm, it made you feel safe and you knew you aren’t somewhere dangerous. You feel your body heating up again, but this time you don’t feel the darkness, like in your dreams. This time you only feel that light which you have felt in the past few dreams you have experienced. It’s that ray of warmth that has been keeping you safe from the empty feeling.

Without skipping another heartbeat, your door swung open. There you are met with a new set of eyes. His eyes are wide, drained with concern as he looks just as sweaty as you are right now. You look one another in the eyes as you slowly realize he is the one. He is that light. Because suddenly everything finally fits. Everything seems right and he has come for you. He won’t leave this time, he is real and he will be with you for a long time. You can feel it and you can’t help to let out a small moan. Your eyelids lower, just as his does while both of your feelings mash into one. He closes the door behind him before sitting down on his knees in front of you, staring at you in awe. He adores you, the way you look, the way you make him feel. His heart burns for you and he must do anything to protect this kind of purity in his life.

You scan his appearance and he is everything that you ever wanted. His hair as black as night, his eyes shine almost yellow, like a beast looking for its pray. Only you are his pray, in all the most delicious way you can think of. His muscles shine through his button up, showing how capable he is of protecting you. Which has never been a priority in your relationships, but is somehow extremely import now. You notice his strong legs and tall figure, you can almost not hold yourself back from just feeling this man closer to you. That was, until you notice something you didn’t yet see. On top of his head there are two very fluffy ears standing out, as if he is playing some type of cosplay. You squint your eyes, trying to see it more clearly.

‘You are more than I thought you would be’, the guy suddenly sighs. Your eyes fixate back on his, making you melt all over again. You can feel your body fill with love, but you can’t shake the idea that this guy is way more than the eye meets. The first sign is the way he makes you feel, but besides that, he has a lot of animal-like features. You need to know what’s going on.

‘I- we need to talk first. I need to understand, first’, you tell him. It feels like whatever it is that’s different about him ,you will not mind. You have felt different your whole life, you know there must’ve been more than just the ordinary. He closes his eyes for a second, knowing full wel what you mean as he nods his head. He stands up, this time looking down at your figure, which he likes even more. You look so fragile and cute. He wants to have a taste, he can barely contain himself. His urges to claim you are so big. But he knows humans don’t work that way, this is all too unfamiliar. But he has to admit, this is pretty new to him too.

He sits down beside you on the bed, making himself clearer in the light. His features are so beautiful, so tender yet so sexy. You swoon over him, as if your entire body is waiting for him. Wanting him to touch you. He needs to claim you. He grunts, closing his eyes as his head falls back a little, showing his pretty neck. He can smell your body, he can smell that you are becoming aroused. He knew you would react like this, your body is hardwired to seduce him in every way possible. Such a good puppy for me.

You press your legs together, heat spreading through your core by hearing him groan. It’s now that you can see his ears more clearly. They look so cute from up close, but you got thrown off when you see them move. They move. As if, it’s a part of his body. They react with his body. His ears were going sideways in a very calm way. You can kind of guess what he must be, but your conscious still feels uneased. It’s still hard to believe this when you have been living in a world where werewolves, vampires and all those kind of creatures just didn’t exist. Your brain is going against your instinct. Can you trust such a creature? Is this all a prank or am I going to live in fear from now on?

‘Baby, I am what you suspect I am. I however am not what society thinks I am’, he exclaims while looking into your eyes. His expression has gone serious and somehow his eyes have turned black, like a normal human being. He must have sensed you felt uneasy.

‘So what can I expect from all of this? What is my purpose here and what is this… feeling I get…’, you ask, hopefully looking at him and praying for a good answer. An answer you can be happy with and feel comfortable with. Everything but that darkness.

‘Well, where to begin? As a werewolf I live in a pack of 10. We all recently gone to this area. You right now are in a combined apartment-‘, he begins to explain, but you cut him off. ‘That is not what I meant. I mean more related to us…’. It’s the only thing that matters right now. You will get to know the others, but this man in front of you… it’s like you’ve waited for him your whole life. You can’t wait to know more, to feel more. He bites his lip as if he hears your thoughts, feels your body. He probably can. You can also notice he felt a bit annoyed when you cut him off, is he that sensitive?

‘Well, as it seems, we are soulmates. Although wolves rarely find their soulmates, since the world is just too big, an alpha’s soulmate have it a bit tougher. My wolf is just stronger in every way, also my connection to you is therefore stronger. I don’t know if you can relate to that in any way. Maybe the feeling that you talked about…’, he questions and you nod. ‘Yeh, I think that might be it. I’ve felt a darkness around me the moment I became fertile…’. He nods ‘Yeh, its like nature calling you to come to me’, he tells you.

You have to process this information for a second. It all sound way too crazy and you should be freaked out because of this. But somehow you aren’t. It’s like he said, Mother Nature has prepared you for this your whole life. It’s hardwired in your head not to be scared for this man. Because he is emotionally and physically yours to have and to keep. And that also counts the other way around.

‘So, how do we proceed?’, you ask, your eyes falling on his ears again. You are beginning to love them, they are literally so cute. ‘Well, that’s kind of complicated. You have been out for two weeks. The moment I got to you, your body went through a lot of stages of sickness. You were too weak to wake up, but I stayed by your side’, he informs you. Your eyes widen by shock. You have been gone for so long. You missed a lot of school and your friends and family must be livid. You look around for your phone and notice it on the nightstand. Luckily it was charged and you could check the messages. Weirdly enough you didn’t get any, which made you a bit sad. Has really nobody missed me during these two weeks?

You get pulled out of your thoughts when you here the man chuckling. ‘Don’t worry, we took care of everything. We have some special guys in the pack who can manipulate other’s… minds? I don’t know how to describe it.’ He tries to explain, what got you nodding. Not like you understand it though, but what do you really understand of this situation.

‘For the rest of it, I was planning to mark you as soon as you woke up. But it’s full moon tonight and I don’t think you could handle that. You’re still a human and all-‘, he says, but you cut him off again. ‘Sorry, Mark? Full moon?’, you ask. This time his face changed darker as his annoyance at your disrespect kicks in. ‘Don’t cut me off when I am close to full moon, my alpha comes up way faster and will find a way to shut you up’, he says with a stern tone of voice. You gulp, but still feel aroused by the way he is bossing you around. Like this is the way it’s supposed to be. He is the alpha and he has the control over you. He is your mate.

‘But to answer your question, I have to mark you to kind of make our bond final. It’s like marriage but just way more intimate. And I don’t know how much you know about werewolves, but full moons make us full-wolf. Meaning, it’s the closest I get to being as primitive as I can be. During the transition, which takes about 1 hour, my uhm… sexual beast comes forward and I will fuck anything that comes in my way. So I have to tie myself up. And you being around, i will look for you and you will probably not survive’, his words are fast, but the information lays heavy on you. Somehow you don’t really care for the part where he might kill you. Only flashes of imaginary images of him fucking you like an animal runs through your mind and it might just be the thing you want the most.

‘So I won’t be seeing you today then?’, you ask him and he shakes his head. It got you saddened, but you understand. He wouldn’t want to hurt you, you are literally the most important thing he has in his life. So he had already bought extra chains and rented an abandoned house so he wouldn’t be able to touch a hair of you. He needed this to go perfectly. He would be leaving in an hour and his wolf senses aren’t as high yet, so him being with you in the room is just right. But it wouldn’t be smart to touch you yet, that would make him more needy for you.

‘What’s your name by the way’, you suddenly ask, remembering you didn’t have that piece of information yet. He chuckles before answering, looking as pretty as ever while doing so. ‘My name is Jeon Jungkook’.

After about 30 minutes of catching up, telling each other about your lives, Jungkook felt ready to introduce you to the pack. As they all heard the news you had woken up, they came rushing to the pack’s apartment, a place for their meetings and just random chillings. Jungkook felt it would be safest to keep you there, since there are always other wolves to protect you if something went wrong. Maybe an enemy or an imposter. He trusts his pack with his whole life, so he trusts them with you. Today only three members were there to support Jungkook during the full moon. Other wolves had to chain up themselves or had some business to attend to. He didn’t mind only three being there since you weren’t yet used to wolves in general. So to begin with three first should be the right move.

He opens the door and you immediately curiously look around. You notice that the apartment is very big, beautifully decorated. You notice three other men being there in the room with you. You can recognize one, the person who was by your side when you woke up. He is already looking at you, having a light smile on his face as he looks a bit more friendly now. The other two also looked at you in curiosity, sniffing the air to see who you are. Jimin showed Jungkook a quick smirk, knowing full well you have been on edge the whole time. Smelling your arousal got Jungkook a bit boiled up. He didn’t want other wolves to smell you and the urge to push you back into the room became immense big. But, he still knew how to contain himself, as he knew you had to get to know his pack.

‘We have already met, I am Jimin. Jungkook’s closest friend and second in rank of the pack’, he exclaims proudly while walking up to you. You can hear a very low-toned growl coming from Jungkook, warning Jimin to not get any closer. You look up to him, trying to guess what is going on right now. You figured it must be some kind of power-play. It’s something you shouldn’t pay your mind to, it’s a wolf-thing. It’s their thing and you are going to respect that. ‘Nice to meet you Jimin’, you say while looking away. You want to show Jungkook that you are going to obey him today. You want to be his good puppy.

‘The one on the right is Hoseok and the other one is jin’, he says before he already wants to leave the room, needing you for himself. The others only had the briefest moment of waving to you before you were already disappearing behind the door you came from.

‘Okay I’m going to be honest with you. I am very protective of you right now. I can’t have you too close to the others, it will drive me mad. You drive me mad’, he says in a rush as he has you pinned against the door. He is suddenly so close and it’s the only thing you can focus on. His refreshing smells fill the air and you see his eyes flashing yellow again. You can’t help but to get fluttered by him, he is just so immensely handsome. You just need a little taste, you want to feel him.

He growls at you, warning you not to touch him. But you can’t help yourself. How can he expect for you to not touch him when you have longed for him. At has taken you years to finally feel free. He is the one you want. Your hand makes his way up to his cheek, carefully watching his being while doing so. If he becomes too angry, you will stop. But you don’t see him changing, you just see him closing his eyes, enjoying the smallest touch. You glide your thump over his cheek, it’s so soft and milky. Your hand traces the features of his face before making your way to his ears. You have been wanting to touch them since the moment you saw them. They move around a lot, indicating he is a bit nervous en unsure. He looks into your eyes as you touch his ear carefully, petting it softly and you hear him growl once again. His body falters forward a little bit, coming closer to you and only leaving little space between your neck and his mouth. He wants to have a taste of you so bad, but he’s scared he will ruin it. He needs to protect you… but just a small taste… he can have a small taste right? He isn’t that far gone yet right?

He pulls your body away from the door before slowly leading you toward the bed by your hips. He lays you down before hovering his body on top of yours. Your legs open for him like some type of instinct, and he happily complies. He grunts again, loving the way you look under him. You are so pretty, so delicate. He can feel himself being as hard as a rock, knowing full well that his body is ready to claim you. He really wants to, maybe he should. Your eyes are hooded while you look into his. You wrap your legs around his hips while pulling him against your pussy. You are so wet and you want him to feel it, you want to make him feel what he does to you.

‘Hmmm baby, you’re making it so difficult for me. You are so wet for me, my pack could smell it from a mile away’, he says while nudging his nose into your neck, savoring the smell. You smell so sweet. You gasp as he roles his hips into your, making known how big his member is. You let out a small moan as you want to feel more. You want him to be inside You. ‘Please Jungkook’, you yelp out, hoping for some type of release. He groans again, his breath picking up a pace because he feels it too. He has to claim you as fast as possible. He has to fill you up.

‘I can’t, I shouldn’t. I can’t be trusted right now’, he sighed into your neck, letting his body fall on top of you in defeat. He pulls himself up on his elbows, looking into your eyes and admiring them. ‘Tomorrow I will make you mine. It’s one night. We got this’, he says with encouraging words. You show him a small smile before bringing your forehead against him. ‘Be quick, I need you’, you tell him. With that he gets off you and makes his way towards the door. ‘I don’t want you out of this room tonight. Don’t talk to my pack. You are mine and no one can claim you before I do’, he says with a firm tone of voice. ‘Okay, hurry then’, you tell him with a wink and he let out a small frustrated groan before leaving the room.

You check the clock. It must’ve been the thousandth time, because you really can’t wait to see him again. It’s 10 pm. You know by now, he has been tied up. Another hour and he will be full wolf. The others in the pack have been sliding you food through the creak of the door, which you are very grateful for.

You suddenly hear the front door opening. Curious to know who it is, you sit beside the door, waiting to hear any tea from the other side. One of the wolves walk their way up to the door and immediately the air changes around you the moment that door opens.

‘Tae, what the fuck are you doing here?’, you hear Jin asking. ‘I heard your alpha has a new toy? He surely wouldn't hide it here right?’, you hear the ‘Tae’-guy asking. You frown. Are they talking about me? ‘What is that of importance for you?’, Jin asks and you can hear the other wolves walking towards the front door. You know something is very wrong. Jungkook had told you their pack had split up because of a rebellious member. Is this that person? ‘You really can’t be here right now, you know it’s full moon. We’re all on edge and I can barely keep up with my own suppressants. You’re an alpha, are you out of your mind being outside right now?’, you hear Jimin almost yelling. He sounds very angry. You can feel the air shifting even more when Tae’s displeased growl fills the air. ‘You’re wrong Jimin. This is the perfect night to come here’.

Those were the last words before the room got filled with a lot of angry growls, punches and claws. It seems there are way more people in the appartment than before, indicating Tae brought more people than you thought. Your heart starts to race and you feel panic infiltrating your body. You need to get out of here. You quickly find your way towards your closet, hoping to hide there, but before you knew the door swung open. A tall guy stands before you, eyes orange and teeth standing Proudly. He eyes you up and down. You curse yourself for staying in that button-up from Jungkook, because you practically stand pretty much nude in front of this wolf. He smirks, slowly walking up to you after closing the door behind him.

‘We haven’t met yet, I’m Kim Taehyung, alpha male of my pack. Whatever I am going to do to you tonight will partly be because you are such a delicious meal, but also because Jungkook can’t have you. He can’t have happiness, not after abandoning me… us’, he says calmly while closing the gab between your bodies. You try to back away, but he has grabbed your sides, slinging you around to the bed. Your heart pounds like crazy, not able to control your feelings. You are feeling so scared and if anything, this man represents the darkness you have been feeling.

Taehyung doesn’t wait before he has you pinned down on the bed, his body hovering above you as he looks lushness at your body. You cringe under him, looking away. You try to yell for help, but the other wolves are still trying to find their own battles. This can’t happen. I would be save here.

‘Don’t worry kitten’, he says as he rips open all your buttons, exposing your bra to him. ‘This won’t take long. I just need to claim you’, he informs you while also breaking you bra and panties off. You yell because of the sting against your body. He is very strong, you don’t stand any chance against him. Even though you do try. You wiggle around, trying to make it harder for him, but it’s impossible. ‘Please don’t do this’, you beg, fighting your tears. You are fully naked under him. He will rape you tonight. This is it.

That’s when you hear a loud growl outside. Your body shivers as you know all to well who that might be. Taehyung ears immediately perk up and fear enters his body. He knew, if he wanted to live, he’d have to make a run for it now. Jungkook on his Heath during the full moon while you are trying to mark his soulmate? Yep, no chance. So he gets off you immediately, walks out of the door. You hear a whistle, calling his pack to retrieve. It didn’t take them long before you could hear them running outside, only to be met with Jungkook and a few other members of his pack. He wanted to look out of the window, wanting to know if Jungkook was alright. But you couldn’t move. You felt too disgusted to even do anything right now. You only felt like you wanted to shower. To get that creeping smell off your body. Jungkook is strong, he can handle it.

You slowly make your way towards the bathroom. You feel weak as you walk and you can still hear the faint noises of an immense battle going on outside. You get under the warm stream. You let the soap cover your body, cleaning and washing away that horrible person. You got lost in your tracks as you didn’t want to leave the shower. You just want to be clean.

10 minutes later, the bathroom door opened. You immediately sprung out of your trance and got met with the eyes of your soulmate. He looks broken, covered in dirt and scratches. You can see that he is still panting from the battle. He somehow looks bigger than normal, his ears are bigger, his claws too. That’s when you remembered he was still transitioning that night.

Jungkook stripped himself from his clothes, eyes firmly on your body. He gets under the shower with you and pulls his arms around you. He was so scared. The moment it went wrong in the apartment, he could feel it. He felt how scared you suddenly became. He felt that you needed him, so he came immediately. It didn’t take him any effort to break those chains. He ran as fast as he could while he called out for his pack to come join him. He didn’t know what he would find, but it couldn’t be good. He had a feeling it might’ve been because of Taehyung and he was right. Taehyung was still mad, but Jungkook would’ve never guessed Tae would go this far.

‘Sorry for leaving you y/n…’, he sighs into your ear. You slipped a smile while relaxing in his arms. You feel like you can finally breathe again. ‘No don’t say that. You were trying to protect me…’, you comfort him. He sighs into your neck as you enjoy one another’s company. There was a comfortable silence, just the water streaming down your bodies as you can finally hold each other. Before you woke up today, you didn’t know this person excited. But a life without him now seems impossible.

‘Y/n…’, he groans into your ear. You can feel his body coming even closer than it was before. His body rubs on you, slowly backing you up against the bathroom tiles. You feel an icy sting hitting your back as Jungkook breathes onto your shoulder. You know he is in Heath and you know he will not be able to stop it this time. But frankly, you don’t care anymore. You need him to claim you. You have now seen how dangerous it is for you at this point, he needs to be able to protect you fully.

‘Jungkook… I really want you… I need you to be mine’, you breathe into his air. He groans loudly at that, his eyes are now shining with yellow as he looks into yours eyes, looking to make sure. You feel his erection poking against your belly, he feels so big. You nod at him and give him a reassuring nod before your hand makes its way to his torso. You feel all his muscles tensing under your touch, fuck you have so much power over him. He plants his hands beside you on the tiles, wanting you to make him feel good. Your hand makes its way down, right towards where his member is standing tall against your stomach. As your eyes are still locked with his, you let yourself get down to your knees and now being face to face with the huge dick you’ve been wanting to feel for about the whole day.

‘Fuck y/n, I won’t be able to hold back much longer’, he says as he jerks his hips forward out of desperation. Your hand finds his member, feeling how thick and heavy it feels in your hand. You already know you haven’t had this big of a cock inside of you, hopefully you can take it. You give his dick a few bumps and you hear him groan in response. You love the way he is so vocal. You bring your mouth closer, circling your tongue around the tip a few times before taking it into your mouth. You take it slow first, wanting build up the sensation. He thrusts his hips with the movement of your mouth. His member feels so big in your mouth and he tastes delicious. It’s as if you can’t get enough, this is what you needed all along.

‘Stop, get up’, he says while pulling his dick out of your mouth. You let out a small whine, wanting to make him cum with your mouth. ‘Why…’, coo at him, standing up. You pout at him, but you were met with the most darkest of looks. He stared right into your soul with his yellow eyes, shocking a wave of heath through your body. ‘You are dripping all on the tiles, it’s a waste’, he grunted as his body closes in on you again. His hand finds it’s way down your belly, right to your core. He teases you, circling his fingers on the outside of you folds, making you shiver by the feeling.

‘I bet the whole building can smell your cunt right now. Hmmm… how they would want to have a taste… but only I can have it’, he says as his fingers now found their way between your folds. He slides it up and down, gathering all your juices before bringing it up to his mouth, licking it off and moaning while he does so. ‘I want more baby. I need to fuck you, taste you and make you my bitch’, he groans, laying his forehead onto your shoulder.

You hesitate for a second before replying: ‘then do so. Make me yours. I can handle it’.

He didn’t need any more confirmation. Maybe in a different moment, he would make more sure that you were okay with this. But his wolf could’ve resist anymore. This is his soulmate. Someone tried to take that away from him tonight, he can’t risk that again. He needs to seal the deal in the most delicious of ways.

He pulls you off of the ground, making you straddle him in the air. He turns off the shower before making his way to the bathroom. The way he did this all so easily made you swoon, making you more wet than you already were. That made him chuckle. ‘Hmm never had such a strong man taking care of you hm?’, he joked and you could only shake your head. He let you slide down a little while he made his way over to the bed, making contact between you pussy and his member. You couldn’t help but to wiggle your hips around, needing to feel some type of release. He grunts as he feels your intentions and instead throws you down on the bed.

‘Careful baby, I might really destroy you when you are being naughty like that’, he exclaims, smirking down at your small figure. You lay down comfortably for him as he makes his way on top of you. You again instictly open your legs for him, showing just how much he is turning you on. His wolf-instinct immediately kicks in as he follows his nose directly to your pussy. You sniffs a few times before licking making line on the outside of your folds. Your body sniffers in response, letting out a small moan as you do so.

Jungkook loves your smell. You are so sweet and flower-ish. It drives him crazy. Your smell is to him like catnip is to cats. He can’t help but to indulge himself in that smell. With that thought, he digs in. His tongue makes long strokes through your folds, licking up all your juices. Your body reacts immediately, your hands finding his hands that were places right beside your hips. He looks up to you in lust, loving how you look right now. You are completely and utterly submissive to him. He is in control and he will make sure you will have the best time. He also is still trying to prep you, because he knows that the moment he will be inside of you, he won’t be able to hold back. He will destroy that pussy.

His tongue glides a few more times between your folds before settling on you small nub. He knows his way around it, you notice, since he starts to lick uncontrollably. Making circles and letting your body react to it in shocky movement. Your legs are really having their own life as Jungkook keeps on hitting the right spot, not even missing it once. ‘Jungkookkk….’, you moan as you are coated with his warmth on your clit. He growls against your pussy, sending shockwaves through your body. The pleasure is almost too much to handle and like some type of cue, he start focusing on another part of your cunt.

His tongue glides down again, sucking up all your juices, before settling on your entrance. As he does so, he grabs your calves and bends your legs towards your stomach. He has better access to your entrance that way. He takes a look first, admiring how pretty you look under him like that, before going down on you again. While one hand holds you legs down, the other holding his own weight, his tongue finds its way into your pussy. You let out a loud moan, indicating that you are loving his movements on you. His tongue begins to pump inside of you, licking and sucking all the wetness out of you. You go crazy as he does so. You have never been pleasured like this before.

‘Hmmmm it’s so good Jungkook, please don’t stop’, you moan. And he doesn’t. He needs to taste more of you, you need to get more wet. Like a wild dog he starts to aggressively bump two fingers with his tongue inside you. Another finger starts to stimulate your asshole, giving you that extra edge you have been needing to start building up your height. Your body starts to warm up as that familiar feeling grows stronger. It’s almost like your body goes numb as he keeps on bumping into you, making you moan and wet. He loves the sounds you make while he makes you feel this pleasure. He will want to hear this for the rest of his life.

‘Almost…’, you moan as you feel yourself entering the final stage. With that He burrows his face closer against your pussy, putting his nose against you clit as he jerks his head side to side. This trick really got your body jerking in pleasure, head swinging back as you can help but to grab his hair tightly into your hand. It only took a short amount of time before the building heath exploded and your climax runs through your body like a burning fire. He notices that you came and slowed down his movements, making sure he doesn’t overstimulate you.

He lets go of your body before settling his hips between your legs, tight against you as he curiously looks at your worn-out state. Your eyes were closed due to the intense moment, but when you open them again, you meet a cute, but still dark face in front of you. You know it isn’t over yet and you wouldn’t want it any different. He needs to make you his first and you still crave for him to be inside of you.

‘You okay?’, he asks. You nod as your body is finally calming down. Your heart is slowly coming back to a normal pace and you let out a deep breath. You can’t help but to stare at his blump lips which you haven’t kissed yet.

‘Hmm good idea’, he says, as if he could read your thoughts. He slowly closes in on your lips, the touch finally finding yours. You can still taste yourself on him, but it only made it that much hotter. He takes it slow at first, grabbing your face into his hand, tenderly showing his affection to you. Your legs instinctively find their way around his torso, needing him closer to you. He moans a little in the kiss as his member slides between your folds and he can’t help but to jerk his hips forward a little. The kiss deepens and your tongues find their ways I’m each other’s mouths. Your are both just taking your time to feel each other and getting to know one another’s body. His member slides easily between your folds since it’s still wet from his tongue and your juices.

You can’t help but to jerk your hips up a little, letting his dick slide in your entrance just the tiniest bit. He growls into your mouth, eyes locked on yours. ‘Y/n…’, he says with a warning tone. You shake your head. ‘I don’t care Jungkook, fuck me already’, you say. That is all it took for Jungkook to let go of his human side and fully commit to his primitive wolf.

His face changes within a second to a very dark expression, teeth growing inside his mouth as his ears perk up. His whole body seems to tense up and a loud groan leaves his body. He didn’t waste any more seconds as his hips bump into you with one swift move, his member now fully in you. You let out a Yelp, flustered by the sudden sensation. You could feel it sting, but you didn’t care. The way Jungkook is looking at you is the most manly and horny thing you’ve ever seen.

He grabs your legs again, pulling them flat against your stomach before pulling his dick out and right back in again. His thrusts are hard, full of power. He immediately picks up a steady pace while he uncontrollably growls over your moans. His member fills you up in the most positive ways. Not a littlest space is left in your gut. With this position he can also go so deep, you can almost feel it in you stomach.

‘Such a good bitch for me… so pretty and small. No one can have you’, you can hear Jungkook mutter under his breath while his strokes don’t fail to send shocks through your body. You moan loudly by his words, loving how he is so dominant over you. You have never felt this way before.

Suddenly he pulls out and flips your body over on your stomach. Like you shared the same mind, you immediately lift your ass in the air as your legs are still closed. He puts his legs on both sides of your legs as he bends over your, sliding his dick right between your Ass cheeks and finding your entrance again. He did it all n such an easy movement, you could help but moan when he entered you again. In this position your walls are stretched to the max, it makes you go crazy. You can hear him growl as he makes a fast pace onto you. His dick slides in and out. His body falters onto your back, grabbing your neck as he tries to suffocate you a little. You love the pressure and moan even louder, feeling a heath building up in your core again. He fastens his pace onto your pussy, knowing damn well that you are close again. He doesn’t show any mercy and starts to nip on your neck, giving you goosebumps. He needs you to cum again for him.

His pace is becoming so fast that you are barely able to think. Everything that he does right now is just too much. It only took you a few seconds before the same burning sensation washes through your body again. Shocking motions leave your body as Jungkook sees you cumming right under him. He doesn’t stop though this time, his pace keeps on going as he now seeks his own height. He can’t control himself, he needs to claim you now. He turns you around again, detaching his member before standing up off the bed. The drags you with him before finding the big window in the room. He roughly pulls off the drapes, not caring that they are probably unrepairable now. He lifts your body up and you immediately bring your legs around his hips. You are now both bare naked pushed up against a window and you both don’t care.

He didn’t wait and immediately slides his dick back into your entrance, making a fast pace against your body. You don’t have to put any effort him holding yourself up as he seems to keep your body steadily against the window. His eyes stare into yours, both hooded and sparkling yellow. At some point he stops holding one of your legs as he puts it beside you on the wall, making it way more easy for him to thrust forcefully into you. Your moans fill the roam and he can’t hold back his growls as well.

He pulls you off the window before laying you on the floor. ‘I’m gonna make you mine now’, he growls as his member again has an ungodly pace into your cunt. He brings his head forwards, lips finding the crook of your neck. He licks in a few times and suddenly you feel something growing in your gut. It’s as if Jungkook's dick is growing. You also notice it by his movements as he slows down, indicating his is tuck in some way. Whatever is going on, it can only be good.

Suddenly he stops moving while a loud growl erupts from his body. You only hold onto him with all your strength, wanting to be as close to him as possible while this moment happens. His teeth suddenly dig into your neck, a painful sensation running through your body as you jerk your head backwards. It was at this moment Jungkook jerks his hips even further into you, cumming in you as he marks you. You feel immense pleasure out of this, his cemen coating your walls and his teeth marking you as his. The feeling of light finally fully became yours and you have never felt so much at peace as now.

You hold onto him as he jerks a few more times with his hips, riding out his own height before detaching his teeth with your body. He let himself rest on top of your body, head resting beside yours while you both close your eyes for a small second. You cans till feel his dick inside of you, being blown up and stuck inside of you.

‘Hmmmmm… that was so delicious’, he mutters into your neck. You smile and nod. ‘Yeh… it was’.

You finally feel him softening and after a minute or so he finally is able to pull out without hurting you. He gets off of you before pulling you up in his arms, bringing you to the bed. He tucks you in and grabs you a towel to clean yourself. He really is a gentleman, even though we just had such a moment.

He lays beside you while looking at you cleaning yourself. ‘You are so beautiful. I could do all of that again for pretty much the whole night’, he says as his hand can’t help but to find it’s way to your boob. He lays closer to your, circling uproar nipple and putting his tongue on your other, teasing you. You sigh by the sensation, letting your head fall back.

‘But sadly my suppressants will work out in about 30 minutes. I will turn to a wolf then. It’s a wonder I haven’t destroyed you just now. I don’t know where hobi got these pills from, but they work wonders’, he mutters to himself while still admiring your boobs. You chuckle as you are in awe of how he is kind of precious even though he really just gave you the best sex you’ve ever had. You pet his head, tracing his ears again. They are really so pretty.

‘30 minutes is pretty long you know’, you exclaim. He looks up at you with a smirk before planting his lips on your breasts again, but this timing sucking hard on it. ‘Well looks like a second round then princess’, he says before turning you around again and giving you the best night of your life.

Thank you for reading!

Blog #4: Nature Through ART

For this weeks blog post I will be discussing the relationship between nature interpretation and art in my life. First, I would like to share that my two main passions in life are nature and art. In high school I would describe myself as creative and artistic, I took classes like media arts, visual arts and photography. I was in love with nature as well, I would always use nature as my muse for most of my projects for photography, painting, collaging and more. Nature truly inspires me, and my creativity. With knowing my passions I was able to chose what route I would like to take educationally- landscape architecture- This field allows me to work with both my artistic side and my love of nature. I use my skills to create art through nature. 

When I look at the natural world around me all I see is art, I cant help but take photos whenever I can, to keep that peaceful moment with me forever. To me “the gift of beauty” is the beauty that nature organically creates. It is not painted or made....nature grows. The true beauty lies in the unique art that nature holds. For instance, an obsession of mine is to capture the natural patterns that nature produces. See here, an example of a photograph I have taken that showcases natural patterns in nature

Turkey Tail Mushroom 

Why is nature art to me?

Nature is art to me not only due to the natural patterns, colours, textures and sculptures that exist within it, but also because of the emotions that are evoked by it. Nature is always strongly related to wellness and metal health, experiencing nature in any way to me is extremely therapeutic. Many people also strongly relate art to wellness, making art often has a therapeutic effect much like experiencing nature. My ideal mental rest day, when I am not feeling the best involves music, my phone to take pictures, art and taking a long hike through nature. I love to let the visual art of nature cure me in a way, the fresh smell of dirt and trees, the sound of birds singing in the distance, the feeling of the bark of a tree or the water that runs though the forest on my fingertips. This ideal day is like one great work of art, one amazing composition of sound, colour, shape, texture and more. 

I also feel like nature is almost spiritual to me, I feel so connected with the earth on my ventures into nature. I feel so at peace in my mind and find a space in my thoughts for personal refection as-well as gratitude. The art in nature, the gift of beauty it gives makes me reflect on all of the other things in life that I am grateful for. 

That is why I chose Landscape Architecture, so I can create spaces that evoke these feelings for others. I want to create spaces, utilizing nature because it is art. For example, I went to Niagara falls during the summer. See here, 

Niagara On The Lake

As you can see, there is so much art through nature lining this strip. This use of nature as a visual art form is amazing because it makes this side walk experience more alluring in comparison to a regular sidewalk with grass. The walk on this path can be related to a walk through an art gallery, each garden, each tree, each flower is a work of art in itself. 

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and learned a little bit more about me, hope you have a great day :)

Peace Flag Ensemble - Noteland - pastoral jazz group citing Keith Jarrett and Mark Hollis as influences (We Are Busy Bodies)

Peace Flag Ensemble is an experimental jazz collective from scattered points across Saskatchewan. Their debut album, Noteland, is available June 18, 2021 on We Are Busy Bodies. Noteland is an exercise in pure collaboration. Built around Jon Neher’s piano improvisations, it is free flowing in form and meter. Each member contributed freely but also remained open to having their playing completely recontextualized. Travis Packer’s electric bass is tightly moored to the piano while Dalton Lam and Paul Gutheil, trumpet and saxophone respectively, drift between melodic passages and textural elements. The album was produced by ambient artist Michael Scott Dawson, who also contributes electronics, guitars, and field recordings to the collective. The result is a pastiche of improvisation, composition, and collage that cycles through quiet moments of imperfection and discomfort followed by peaceful resolutions. It draws from such influences as Keith Jarrett and Mark Hollis. “Peace Flag Ensemble is the sum of its parts. Everyone leaned into their own intuition and inspiration. I think that kept us from limiting possibilities.” Dawson shares. “Sometimes that means a saxophone is reduced to just the crackle of a spit valve, sometimes it’s blurred into pastoral ambiance, and sometimes… well, sometimes it’s just a saxophone.” The genesis of the project is unlikely to be included in a canon of debaucherous music myths. Neher and Dawson connected at a book club. Bonding over 70s ECM, contemporary minimalists, and Musique concrete the two began to discuss collaborating. Somewhere between reading Her Body and Other Stories by Carmen Maria Machado and Murakami’s Killing Commendatore, their ambitions morphed into a jazz collective. Reflecting on the outcome, Neher states “This record really allowed us to explore so many kinds of spontaneity while still crafting and polishing a finished work; that is a rare treat in improvised music.”

3 Easy Things to Help Gaza if you're from the U.S.

Think the original post is stale, so I'm reposting everything.

Donate an eSim to Gaza. Per the Instagram account running the eSims for Gaza effort, they are down to 300 eSims, but they send 3000 a day. Here's their site with instructions, pamphlets, etc: gazaesims.com.

2. Send in a character request for the peace collage. If you did 1, you can use that effort for 2!

Essentially, I've been trying to compile a "peace collage" aclled Connecting Us to Peace. How it works is if you show us proof of donation after 1/24/24, you can send in a character for us to draw and add to the collage. I wanted to send this to my reps (and also provide the collage for others to use) and appeal to them to call for a ceasefire.

However, unfortunately, we have not received any requests since the campaign started, even though I know the original post made some rounds. Please, please consider--I believe that art has the power to make a change, but this is not an art piece I can do by myself.

3. Contact your congressional reps and tell them to call for a ceasefire NOW. This, in my opinion, is equally, if not more important to do if you are from the U.S. Here is a link to a site (Action Network) that makes sending letters to your reps VERY easy--they even find your reps for you.

Black Women in Visual Media

Like the previous blog, this blog will highlight multiple Black Women in Visual Media. Not to be considered just painters or collage makers or sculptors, these women are held highly as innovators and visionaries in the art community. In no particular order, this blog will bring a quick glimpse into just a few of these Black Women creators in modern world visual media.

Delita Martin, born in 1972 in Conroe, Texas, received her BFA in drawing at Texas Southern University in Huston, Texas in 2002. In 2009, she then later earned her MFA in printmaking at Purdue University. Knowing that she wanted to pursue art since the age of five, she became a multidisciplinary artist and has worked across various mediums such as printmaking, painting, and stitching, the latter incorporating indigenous and modern art-making. Martin actively uses storytelling to provide a platform for marginalized Black women and frequently uses various forms of symbolism to represent women in her artwork. Much of her work contains West African masks, similar to Loïs Mailou Jones from a previous blog, which highlight the connection between the mortal and spiritual world. Martin's influences include Elizabeth Catlett after she was exposed to her work as an undergraduate student.

In 2008, Martin founded her own studio called Black Box Press while also working as a lecturer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock from 2008 to 2012. She is also a founding member of Black Women of Print, founded in 2018 which acts as a printmaking collective for Black Women, as well as a ROUX artist collective member.

Her work has appeared in the Havana Biennial and in Art Basel Miami and she has permanent collections held by many museums including the following; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Salamander Resort, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Bradbury Art Museum, C.N. Gorman Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, David C. Driskill Center, Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American-Art, Studio Museum in Harlem, Thrivent Financial, William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the US Embassy (Mauritania) and more.

Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze, born in 1982 in Nigeria, is a Nigerian-British Brooklyn based artist. Having been raised in the United Kingdom until the age of 13, she moved to America in 2004. She received a B.F.A. summa cum laude from the Tyler School of Art at Philadelphia's Temple University and received her M.F.A from Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, majoring in photography and textiles even though her favorite and most used medium is drawing. She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York where she continues to work with graphite, ink, and pigment drawings, often combining them with photo transfers, with many of her mixed-media drawings centering on the concept of cultural hybridity and displacement. She draws much of her inspiration from Nigerian artists and the Nigerian history of drawing.

Amanze was an Artist-in-Residence at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York, NY in 2011, in 2012 she earned a Fulbright Fellowship, and later received the Fulbright Scholars Award for Teaching/Research at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka the following year. She then became an Artist-in-Residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2014 and at the Fountainhead Residency in Miami, Florida in 2015. Amanze also participated in Opens Sessions at the Drawing Center, New York from 2015 to 2016 and was an Artist-in-Residence yet again at the Queens Museum in Queens, New York, from 2016 to 2017.

April Bey grew up in New Providence, The Bahamas, and earned her BFA from Ball State University in 2009 and her MFA in painting at California State University in 2014. Bey’s work has been exhibited at Band of Vices Gallery, Coagula Curatorial, Liquid Courage Gallery, and Barnsdall Art Park’s Municipal Art Gallery and she currently teaches in the department of Studio Arts at Glendale Community College.

Bey is best known for her mixed media work which mostly includes collage work that intertwines various materials such as caulking, resin, wood, and fabric. She uses her work to create commentary on contemporary Black Female rhetoric and attempts to capture strength, power, passion, and sensuality. Her work also explores the resilience of women as well as the hypocrisy of societal expectations towards women. Bey commonly uses photographs of Black Female figures such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Solange, Issa Rae, and Michaela Coel and adds text which speaks of the narratives Black Women are creating regarding their identity in modern times.

Dana King was born on March 7th, 1960, in Cleveland, Ohio, and served as a news anchor for San Francisco CBS Affiliate KPIX and a co-anchor on ABC's Good Morning America Sunday in the early ’90s before moving to CBS's CBS Morning News during the mid-’90s as well as other CBS News programs. King was well recognized for her career in journalism, even receiving a local Emmy for her reporting in Honduras in 1998 and 2000 and an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award in March 2005. Eventually, King ended up leaving her anchoring job in 2012 to pursue an art career and follow her passion for sculpting.

King's mediums include charcoal drawing and oil painting but she is best known for her sculptures as well as many community projects that revolve around portraying political messages, stemming from her career as a journalist. One of her best-known sculptures is an outdoor sculpture dedicated to the memory of the women who led and sustained the Montgomery bus boycott which is currently on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, as of 2018. Not just an artist and ex-news anchor, King is also an entrepreneur, owning a thriving artists’ enclave located in Oakland, California. She also donated space from the building she owns at East 12th Street and 13th Avenue in Oakland, California to the Oakland community to paint a mural with the theme of “Oakland for all of us.” King donated the wall in hopes of bringing the community together and bringing awareness to political change.

There are so many other artists and influential Black Female visual creators out there making a mark on the world through innovative means and consisting of important messages. It’s a common theme among these artists that portraying the beauty of Black Women and women, in general, can be done elegantly and gracefully. There are powerful messages held in all of their work and their craft acts as an inspiration to women across the globe.

Miraculous Ladybug Fic Recs!

I keep going looking for these and realising there aren’t loads so, while this doesn’t fix my problem, hopefully this helps you if you’re looking for some good fics!

For some reason, I’ve had a bit of a thing for longer fics recently so most of these are over 10k. Hopefully, there’s enough of a mix that you can find something you like!

Key

* - unfinished

M - mature

☆ - favourite

Arranged in alphabetical order.

Allez Savoir Pourquoi by Yilena | 30k - M

After seeing her soulmate for years without knowing his identity, Marinette bumps into him at a newly opened cat café. When he confesses that he needs help, she agrees to work for him on a whim. AU.

breathe— by frostedpuffs | 22k

Adrien had always been fond of Marinette. That was a truth he held close to his heart.

When he nearly meets his fate on an otherwise peaceful autumn afternoon, his world is thrown into typhoon of muddled thoughts and vague memories. Though questions burn at his mind as he lies awake, one particular detail stays constant: a familiar face in the crowd that's been by his side every step of the way.

It's a long road to recovery. But with his partner close, what's there to be afraid of?

☆ A Co-meow-dy of Errors by othellia | 31k

While chasing down a thief, an ancient artifact causes Adrien and Alya to swap bodies. Desperate to keep it a secret from Ladybug, the two decide to try and live life as the other until they can re-track down the thief and switch back.

Things... don't exactly go according to plan.

My thoughts: I read this one on the way to school and boy was it hard to keep from smiling while reading it

☆ Chasing the C/h/atwalk by Inkkerfuffle | 112k

Paris. The city of lights, love and fashion. Follow the progress of Marinette Dupain Cheng as she enters the extremely competitive world of Reality television for a chance to be the winner of Project Runway: France.

My thoughts: this one is literally my all-time MLB fanfic. If you’re willing to read a longer one, then this one is definitely definitely worth it!

☆ Cheaters by 11JJ11 | 8.7k

Alya discovers Adrien kissing Ladybug, and she's not happy that he's cheating on her best friend. Adrien knows that he can't reveal his Lady's identity, and he just might have to take the fall– but he's not going down alone.

My thoughts: Now with an extra 2nd part that makes it even better!

Checking Sources by DOMinMatrix | 10k

Marinette is having a rough day when that night, when she's supposed to have a solo patrol, Chat Noir shows up asking a single question: "Have you revealed your identity to anyone, accidentally or otherwise?"

Derrière l’ecran - ENGLISH TRANSLATION by Mindell | 6.6k

Little virtual conversations between Ladybug and Chat Noir, after which Chat Noir was successful in convincing his co-teammate that it would be very practical for them to have the possibility to contact her when they are not transformed into their hero alter-egos. The Internet is there to guarantee anonymity-- something so dear to the heart of the young girl…

☆ Fermeture by KarmaHope | 9.4k

The hardest part of being a superhero is no longer being a superhero. It’s been five years since Marinette last saw Tikki; since she last saw Chat Noir; and she can’t take it anymore. A reunion/reveal fic.

My thoughts: this one almost made me cry but it was also so good. I couldn’t not put it on this list

fierce competition by Bumblewyn | 3.3k

"I have a problem," Ladybug laments as she theatrically drapes herself across one of the Eiffel Tower's support beams.

"What is it?" Chat Noir asks, curiously looking up at her slumped form.

"I think the boy I like has a crush on me."

"Hold on," Chat says, holding up a finger to halt her as he frowns intensely.

They stare at each other in silence for a couple of seconds.

Chat shrugs and drops his finger. "I give up," he declares. "I have no idea how that could possibly be a problem."

"Because he's got a crush on Ladybug! Only on Ladybug!"

My thoughts: I just love their relationship in this. This one is short but sweet

give ‘em pumpkin to talk about by alooxsnaps | 3.8k

“Wow Marinette, great Ladybug costume!”

Alya’s words reverberated in her head like someone kept hitting pause and rewinding the moment over and over again, until sheer, unadulterated panic swallowed her whole.

She wasn’t IN a costume. She was transformed. ...As LADYBUG.

~

Alya throws a Halloween party and chaos ensues.

How To Break Superhero Rules by GayFairyRoyalty | 7k*

What happens when Chloe argues with Marinette?

What happens when Marinette finally loses her cool?

What happens when all of Miss Bustier's class find out Marinette's and Adrien's secrets?

If You Give a Kwami a Cracker by PFTones3482 | 5k+

...it might just end up with your best friend figuring out your secret identity. One shot.

In the Middle of a Very Happy Ending by ProbablyVoldemort | 4.3k

Senior Theme Week is fast approaching. But what happens when there's too many real akumas for Marinette to make her and Adrien's Akuma Day costumes?

☆ Paws Fur Coffee by Zaphirite | 32k

He was so sure that Ladybug would already push him off a rooftop if she knew his civilian identity worked at a café called “Paws Fur Coffee” of all names (the owner is a dog person, but he’ll take it), but his flub on the chalkboard menu just topped it all off.

His neat handwriting read back to him: “Chai Noir”.

(In which Adrien Agreste has some really cool ideas about the special drink of the week and gets to know a regular customer.)

☆ Pick-Up and Chase by SKayLanphear | 30k

After she accidentally trips into Adrien and apologizes about "falling for him," Marinette learns that he's no match for cheesy pick-up lines--whether they were unintended or not. And while she finds it flattering that he turns into a flustered mess with only a few words, Marinette comes to regret making him uncomfortable. That is, until she learns he's Chat Noir. At which point the phrase "just deserts" becomes a permanent fixture in her everyday plans.

A story in which Adrien is flustered, Marinette is smooth as glass at dropping lines, and Chat Noir gets the romance he was always asking for--even if he doesn't quite know how to handle it.

My thoughts: this one was hilarious and had me screaming a couple of times

Poster Boy by Amateum

Ladybug let out a relieved sigh and slumped against the wall surrounding the bed they had landed on. “That was close.” She looked over to where Chat was sat on the other side of the bed.

He glanced around the darkened room, taking in the details. He loved having night vision. “How did you know where the key to the house was?” He asked, turning back to Ladybug.

“Because…” An uncomfortable look crossed her face, followed by resignation. “Because this is my room, Chat.”

“Really?!” He immediately perked up and peered over the edge of the bed to get a better look around. Unfortunately, her lack of night vision doesn’t stop Ladybug from finding his ear-the human one- and using it to yank him back to the top of the bed. “Chaton!”

“Right. Secret identity. Sorry,” he said sheepishly. After a beat he said, “Hey, why do you have a collage of Adrien Agreste pictures?”

Shellter Chat by Bridgetinerabbit | 58k

A peek inside Adrien's school bag gives Nino some very unexpected insight as to what makes his good friend tick, but leaves him in a very delicate position. He never expected to strike a deal with the Kwami of Destruction, but now he and Plagg are working together to relieve some of Adrien's (and Chat Noir's) burdens for his own good. But being Adrien's guardian angel isn't as easy as it seems; other secret identities start falling apart, and there's no telling where the falling dominoes will stop.

Sixty Minutes by mikochan_noda, peonydee | 13k

Alya Césaire, award-winning pursuer of truth, is honored with an intimate interview with Ladybug and Chat Noir. However, she doesn't count on finding out certain things that are making her regret asking in the first place.

☆ spotty connections by agrestenoir | 66k

(1:14 pm) So you never told me how you planned to make Gabriel Agreste cry.

(1:20 pm) Oh my god, how drunk was I last night?!

(1:22 pm) They live.

(1:23 pm) Barely.

(1:24 pm) How do I know you again?

(1:24 pm) I don’t think you do? I’m Wrong Number. You were texting me your New Year’s Resolution earlier.

(1:25 pm) …I’m too hungover to deal with this right now.

(1:26 pm) Well who’s fault is that?

(1:40 pm) …Hello?

(2:01 pm) Well this was fun.

(Marinette sends a text to the wrong number, and things progress from there until it becomes the right one.)

My thoughts: I’m an absolute sucker for texting fics and this one is no exception!

something happened on the way to heaven by dragonsinparis | 5.4k

When the two heroes discover that Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste, Chat Noir throws him out the window for everyone to see.

Adrien Agreste comes to live with the Dupain-Chengs.

Chat Noir vanishes.

Marinette is fine.

At first.

Tandem by BullySquadess | 11k

Two students get carried away in a friendly game of dodge ball.... and two other students get very suspicious. Its a double reveal fic!

My thoughts: another guilty pleasure of mine. I love gym reveals and this one was great

33 Stimulating & Satisfying Activities to Do During Social Distancing

By Leighana Martindale

It’s an absolute bonkers time right now! Many of us are feeling anxious, fearful, depressed, and so many other intense feelings from the Coronavirus and hysteria surrounding it. Most of the world is currently partaking in social distancing, a lockdown, or quarantine. Either way, that’s a lot of free time at home!

Instead of falling into a negative pattern we can choose to do things differently, instead of scrolling on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook or binge watching Netflix we’ve brainstormed 33 stimulatory and satisfying activates you can do at your house. Don’t drag yourself down by consuming so much social media, news, and junk content. Fear lowers your immune system and now is the time to be building it up.

We all have the chance to use this as a learning opportunity, to focus on the projects we never have time for, to nurture our creative sides, and allow our inner child to come play! We have the ability to use this time to connect and grow.

33 Stimulating & Satisfying Activities to do During Social Distancing

*Safety Tip: Please keep in mind that some of these items only apply if you are not sick or experiencing symptoms. Not spreading germs is key right now so please don’t partake in activities that could jeopardize your health or other people’s health.

1. Breathing Exercises Breathing exercises are so good for calming and centering us. This can help combat the stress and anxiety you may experience. Corvid-19 has been nothing but stressful and if you haven’t been stressed once then you’re insanely amazing and I need to know what kind of goddess witch you are!

2. Yoga & Stretching This is another amazing way to connect with the body and ground yourself. When you are stretching or doing your poses, try to go slow and take your time. Mix these with your breathing exercises and really let gravity help relax and stretch your muscles. Especially your hips if you sit a lot.

3. Dancing This is such a great mood booster and something that may sound silly but will make you feel great! Make a playlist of your favorite jamz and get jiggy with it!

4. Exercise Helping combat stress again, breaking a sweat will you give you the happy endorphins which we all could use a little more right now. Plus we should be getting healthy and taking care of our bodies regardless!

5. Meditate Meditation is a great technique but one hard to master, give it a try and if you find you need help, Youtube has a lot of amazing guided meditations all varying to what you are looking for/need!

6. Collage Find some old magazines, newspapers, photos, or anything with pictures and make a collage! This can be time-consuming depending on how deep you get into but something really fun and satisfying when you finish.

7. Learn more about using CBD in your workout routines.

Give it try when/if you do any of the physical activities above.

8. Do a puzzle

Puzzles are so fun, especially ones that take you a while to figure out. Create a little corner in your home and start puzzling away. This is a great activity for keeping the brain sharp.

9. Deep clean your house Oh yeah, this one isn’t the most fun but damn is it satisfying! What better way to come out of a lockdown than with a squeaky clean house that you can get the fuck out of!

10. Organize your house Go through that junk drawer, fold all that laundry, match those socks, all the annoying organizational stuff we tend to put off is the perfect thing to cross of the list.

11. Create a donate bin

Definitely DO NOT do this one if you are sick, but if you are not - start a donate pile to take to Goodwill once we’re allowed to socialize again.

12. Upload items to Depop and/or Poshmark If there were items in your donate that you want to sell now is the perfect time to upload them to resale apps. Why not try and make some extra cash if you can?

13. Learn more about the birthplace of medical cannabis

Taking this time to expand your knowledge is a great way to spend your time so why not learn about the place that changed it all for legalizing cannabis.

14. Read some books Books are always are favorite and there are so many great ones! Check out our recommended reads here.

15. Watch Abstract on Netflix Definitely not the mind-numbing type of TV you might normally be attracted to, Abstract is a really amazing documentary on various artists who do a lot of nature like and perception based abstract art.

16. Watch Our Planet on Netflix Another great one, Our Planet is perfect to watch while stoned yet you still learn a lot about nature therefore making it okay.

17. Watch The Universe on Netflix Like Our Planet is The Universe which is a similar concept expect about space and one we would recommend.

18. Watch Unacknowledged on Netflix Finally, learn more about extraterrestrials and how they are peaceful from my hero Dr. Steven Greer. This is honestly the #1, absolute best and most credible documentary on aliens I have ever seen. Definite must watch!

19. Learn more about growing your own weed indoors Nothing like a time like this to make you think about growing your own, and I’m not talking about just vegetables but weed too. Self-sustainability is the true goal.

20. Learn more about Cannabis and the ancient science of Ayurveda

The word Ayurveda can be translated to ‘the science of life’ or the ‘the are of longevity’,

21. Practice learning another language There are tons of free courses on Spotify and Youtube. Give it a try!

22. Journal Check-in with yourself. Read previous journal entries and just connect with your deeper self. Sometimes it’s crazy what can surface when we just start writing.

23. Learn a new skill by watching Youtube channels There are SO MANY YouTube videos out there and on pretty much everything there is. So pick something that you’ve always been interested in and start learning!

24. Clean your computer files and desktop Oh yeah, not fun but SO necessary.

25. Delete photos from your phone Again, you’ve got a lot of time and when are you ever going to actually do it if you don’t do it now?

26. Delete old conversations from your phone

Yup, keep going. You’re going to be clutter-free!

27. Clear your email storage

Go through your inbox and delete any spam/promotions/ trash Definitely the most intimidating task but one that many of us need to do. Did you know all your emails take us physical storage on the server? So that means there are islands of servers out there taking up space and energy that hold your spam.

28. Call and catch up/check in with your family, friends, and any elders in your life.

Especially now, just do it. Even if you don’t get along that well, a little kindness can go a very long way.

29. Read up on local politics and prep for the election *Trigger warning: This may add wayyy more stress and anxiety but also it’s really important and the elections coming no matter way, so are the primaries. Be prepared.

30. Contact your mayor to ask for their plan on handling meals for children when the schools shut down

Many schools are shutting down, some school districts have made it a priority to provide meals for the children still because for many that is their only meal. So please ensure your community is feeding people who don’t have food.

31. Find out what efforts to feed people are going on in your community and see how you can contribute

Again, this is so important, if you think this is scary for you, just imagine someone who can’t eat now, has no home, is looking at getting evicted, etc.

32. Spread love not germs and practice your daily positive affirmations Positive affirmations, love, positive affirmations, love. Spread it, spread it, spread it! [not germs though].

33. Digital Detox Connect and share love. But also this can be overwhelming so do a digital detox one day. The amount of negativity in the air is inescapable if we are constantly feeding it to ourselves.

No matter what you do, just remember to stay safe, boost your immune system, and wash your hands!

Dangerous women in His Dark Materials

CW: Sexism, racism

Spoiler warning: spoilers for all of the His Dark Materials book series. Extremely tiny spoiler for The Secret Commonwealth.

In the opening pages of Northern Lights, we meet our heroine Lyra Silvertongue as she sneaks through the collage where she has grown up, to get access to a forbidden room. Her daemon Pan chides her to behave herself, which she, of course, does not listen to; as the lovely hosts of the podcast Girls Gone Canon are fond of saying when anyone says “Lyra, no”, her immediate response is “LYRA YES” (look, I tried to find a specific episode where they say this so I could reference that, but even though I love their podcast I didn’t want to relisten to hours of the podcast just to find that). In many ways, Lyra is perhaps the very definition of the word “willful”. Another early example that the reader gets of her willfulness is in the second chapter of Northern Lights when Lyra’s relationship to the scholars of Jordan Collage is described: “(…) they were men who had been around her all her life, taught her, chastised her, given her little presents, chased her away from the fruit trees in the Garden (…)” (Pullman 2011a, 19). That last part about chasing her away from the fruit trees in the Garden is particularly interesting since it clearly connects Lyra to Eve and the Garden of Even. Later in the story, we find out that Lyra is prophesised to play a sort of Eve 2.0 role, something the Magisterium dreads (Pullman 2011c, 68). I’ve previously written about the power relations in His Dark Materials and their connection to gender and sexuality here. In this essay I want to continue on a similar track, by analysing femininity and female sexuality specifically, and the Magisterium’s view on them.

But before we get into all of that, I want to return to our dear Lyra. When the reader is first introduced to her, she’s disobeying rules, and this is, of course, a theme that continues through the series. Throughout the books, she is constantly doing things she’s not supposed to do, no matter what the adults or institutions around her say. She is at different times described as “half-wild, half-civilised”, “fierce and stubborn”, and having “some nerve” (Pullman 2011a, 19 & 120; Pullman 2011b, 202). Now, this portrayal of a half-wild young girl sounds very similar to the idea of the “willful girl” that Sara Ahmed describes (2017). Ahmed writes that wilful girls show up in all sort of fiction, and one specific example that she gives is the Grimm story called The Willful Child. Ahmed quotes the story in her text, and since I think it is very illustrative of the point both she and I try to make I will do so as well:

Once upon a time there was a child who was willful, and would not do as her mother wished. For this reason God had no pleasure in her, and let her become ill, and no doctor could do her any good, and in a short time she lay on her death-bed. When she had been lowered into her grave, and the earth was spread over her, all at once her arm came out again, and stretched upwards, and when they had put it in and spread fresh earth over, it was all to no purpose, for the arm always came out again. Then the mother herself was obligated to go to the grave, and strike the arm with a rod, and when she had done that, it was drawn in, and then at last the child had rest beneath the ground. (Grimm & Grimm 1884, 125. Quoted in Ahmed 2017, 66)

As Ahmed points out, it is only when the willful child gives up her own will that she can become at peace. Furthermore, Ahmed writes:

Note that the rod, as that which embodies the will of the parent, of the sovereign, is not deemed willful. The rod becomes the means to eliminate willfulness from the child. One form of will judges the other wills as willful wills. One form of will assumes the right to eliminate the others. (Ahmed 2017, 67)

Now, if this doesn’t describe Lyra’s story, I don’t know what does. Ahmed also notes that willfulness is generally a trait which is assigned to girls, while boys are described as “strong-willed” instead, a more positive trait (ibid, 68). This is because girls are generally not supposed to have wills of their own. However, it’s not just girls who are not supposed to have wills of their own, of course. Ahmed also notes that a similar framing was used to describe enslaved and colonised people, who were often positioned as children, and was supposed to obey their master (ibid, 80). Continuing with the theme of the strong arm who breaks expectations, Ahmed references the famous speech Ain’t I a Woman by Sojourner Truth (ibid, 87). For those who don’t know, Sojourner Truth was a former enslaved black woman and abolitionist who in 1851 held a speech at a women’s convention in Ohio (there exist several performances of this speech that you can find online, I would especially recommend this one by Kerry Washington and this one by Alfre Woodard). There she criticised those who said that women should not have rights because they were the so-called weaker sex. It is said that during her speech, she bared her right arm to show her muscles and pointed out that as a formerly enslaved person she was hardly weak. I’ll return to this speech later, but here I’ll just reiterate the point that Ahmed makes: “The arms of the slave belonged to the master, as did the slaves, as the ones who were not supposed to have a will of their own.” (ibid, 87). This, I think, is a point that becomes clear throughout the His Dark Materials. The powerful claim the right to override the will of the marginalised, be it women, people of colour, or other groups. In previous essays, I have written about how this becomes clear with the illusions to eugenics, etc in the series, so I will leave that here for now. But it is important to remember how race and class interact with gender, and I think that if Lyra didn’t have white privilege and class privilege, she would have a much harder time getting away with being so willful.

Now, Ahmed notes in her text, that all of these stories in literature about willful girls really go back to the “first” willful woman, Eve (Ahmed 2017, 70). These other stories:

(…) becomes a thread in the weave of the stories of willful: returning us to Genesis, to the story of the beginning, to Eve’s willful wantonness as behind the fall from Grace. The wilfulness of women relates here not only to disobedience but to desire: the strength of her desire becoming a weakness of her will. (ibid)

Here we see another twist of the willful woman; the woman whose desires overpower her self-control. Having returned to Eve, which I previously noted is deeply connected to Lyra since she’s considered an Eve 2.0 of sorts, it feels necessary to look at how the Magisterium of Lyra’s world sees Eve. The Church in Lyra’s world (in a parallel to our own) teaches that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of knowledge in the garden of Eden, their daemons settled, and they start experiencing shame over their bodies (Pullman 2011a, 370). That is of course also the moment sin comes into the world, and the first humans are cast out of the Garden. I’ve previously written about how this has led to the Church wanting to control sexuality and sin (both in our world and Lyra’s world). If possible, they would eradicate sin from the world altogether. As Mrs. Coulter puts it in The Amber Spyglass: “If they could, they’d go back to the garden of Eden and kill Eve before she was tempted.” (Pullman 2011c, 205). The church here puts the blame for humanity’s sinfulness on the first woman, and much like in our world, I would argue that this has been transferred upon women as a whole. As for instance, Yolanda Betata Martín has written, in the middle ages, the church would generally describe female sexuality as particularly sinful, if not outright demonic (for instance by linking it to witchcraft). She writes:

First, the sexuality is perceived as an activity linked exclusively to reproduction and no to sexual pleasure. Second, female sexuality is projected symbolically as a phenomenon endowed with negative connotations and even destructive defined in terms of greed, insatiability and animality. Both beliefs are based more immediate ideological patristic discourse, i.e., in a Discourse of biblical inspiration that projects an image of women deeply misogynist based on the biblical figure of Eve and her role in the Edenic fall. (…) The Discourse gives patristic principles of rationality, morality and intellectuality to men so that women are defined, following the principle of otherness, as irrational, immoral and visceral. This view of feminine nature, supported ideologically on the supposed natural inferiority of women under the Edenic fall, is radicalized throughout the Middle Ages and especially from the thirteenth century. (ibid, 48)

Women are, therefore, simultaneously seen as potentially dangerous and inferior. Sounds familiar? This, I would argue, is not just how Lyra, but perhaps, even more, her mother Mrs. Coulter, is seen by the Magisterium in His Dark Materials.

Now, I’ve pointed out how Lyra most of the time outright goes against the wishes of the adults around her (with some notable exceptions of course, she is Lyra Silvertongue after all, and can be really sneaky). Mrs. Coulter, on the other hand, usually plays into the perception people have of her. In a world where she can only hold a limited amount of official power (she can’t become a priest in the church, and rise in the ranks in that way, for instance), she has been forced to rely on other means (Pullman 2011a, 372). In this patriarchal world it is quite clear that women are generally devalued, I mean, just look at the disdainful way Lyra describes female scholars at the beginning of Northern Lights (ibid, 71). Lyra is however transfixed by Mrs. Coulter’s charms, and to the reader who already knows how she kidnaps children, it is clear that these charms are dangerous too. But to Lyra, and quite a few other people in the story, they are not obviously sinister. Later, in The Amber Spyglass, Mrs. Coulter uses these same charms to trick Metatron (Pullman 2011c, 405). She seduces him, while simultaneously portraying herself as a weak woman. As a reader, you definitely realise by this point, that the Magisterium is right in fearing both Lyra and Mrs. Coulter. To quote Sojourner Truth (see, I said we’d return to her!):

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them. (Truth 1851. Quoted in Women’s Rights National History Park n.d.)

Yes, these women will turn the world right-side-up again. They’ll create a world (more) free from religious control, and with more equality.

I want to note, that when Lyra sees the female scholar Dame Hannah Relf again, at the end of The Amber Spyglass, she thinks that Dame Hannah is much more clever, interesting, and kind than she thought before (Pullman 2011c, 515). Perhaps Lyra has just grown up, perhaps she has learned to value women more, I’m not sure. However, Lyra definitely has changed. Later in the same chapter, she is described as defiant but lost by Dame Hannah. I don’t quite have the space to go into Lyra’s changing character later in her life, mainly in The Secret Commonwealth, here but perhaps that’ll be a separate essay one day. However, I think it’s quite clear that Lyra has lost some of her wilfulness and daring (not all of it though). And, if she is to save the world again, then she must regain that. Perhaps that is part of Pullman’s message to his readers; be critical of authorities, be brave, be willful.

As we’ve seen throughout this essay, the patriarchal society in Lyra’s world is fearful of willful girls and women. This fear goes all the way back to their hatred and fear of Eve, and their resentment of her being responsible for humanity’s expulsion from the garden of Eden. As Sojourner Truth puts it, they’ve seen that women are strong enough to turn the world upside down. Therefore women, and their sexuality, must be controlled. It must be demonised, and women must be seen as inferior as to not get too much power. In a way, the Church’s fear is proven correct by the story; the women of the story are able to change the world again. This time to turn it right-side-up.

References

Ahmed, Sara. 2017. Living a Feminist Life. Durham: Durham University Press.

Beteta Martín, Yolanda. 2013. “THE SERVANTS OF THE DEVIL. THE DEMONIZATION OF FEMALE SEXUALITY IN THE MEDIEVAL PATRISTIC DISCOURSE.” Journal of Research in Gender Studies Volume, 3:2, 2013, 48–66.

Pullman, Philip. 2011a. Northern Lights. London: Scholastic.

Pullman, Philip. 2011b. The Subtle Knife. London: Scholastic.

Pullman, Philip. 2011c. The Amber Spyglass. London: Scholastic

Women’s Rights National History Park. n.d. “Sojourner Truth: Ain't I A Woman?” National Park Service. Accessed March 22, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/articles/sojourner-truth.htm

Four wheel driving, van repairing and living slowly: Week 6, Spain

It was a week mostly spent in a cottage in the hills, editing films, fixing the van and exploring Iberic villages. It was a week of taking things slow. Here’s my round-up of week six on the road.

By far, this has been the least ‘eventful’ week on the road. By that I mean we haven’t done loads and loads of travelling around, exploring or seeing lots of different stuff. But it has made me realise two things. Firstly, the reality of vanlife is that there will always be weeks like this one just past, where we knuckle down with work and van admin. And secondly, that time is the greatest asset of all.

Living slowly is a revelation.

I’ve always been the kind of person who tries to cram as many things as possible into a  day. Even if I’ve got a spare ten minutes, rather than just chill out I’ll look for any small job or activity I can do to ‘make the most of’ that time. The downside of this approach is that you’re always rushing around, you sometimes don’t give a task or activity the attention it deserves, and you’re often late because you never quite finish one thing before another pops up!

Life on the road feels like a therapeutic process which is deconditioning me from being so busy all the time. Rather than thinking about the next job I need to do or how I could make something even more time-efficient, I’m taking things one by one and really relishing activities which I might’ve previously avoided because they were ‘indulgent’ or slow. That has meant reading more books, cooking, and this week even playing my violin (which I promised myself I’d play, given that we’ve brought it all this way!). It has also meant reaching out to friends and family, and being there for others.

(image) ‘It’s okay, I’m right behind you’, my latest collage for Analogue Bryony which was made in the Barraca.

I think there’s something in the ‘slow movement’ that we should all consider. In the modern world, the idea that time is the most valuable resource we have and that we should indulge ourselves in it has been replaced by the idea that time is money and efficiency is king. It’s kind of scary that I’ve had to embark on a trip like this to see how wrong that is, and to unburden myself from being a slave to efficiency.

Spending solid days and long hours working on filmmaking and admin for Broaden makes day trips and adventures even sweeter when they come.

On Thursday, I insisted that we get out and about. Even though we have spent most of the week staying in the ‘Baraca’ (the small cottage in last week’s post), George transformed the van parked on the driveway into his own editing office and practically locked himself in there from 9am - 8pm most days. By Thursday, I was keen to explore the region around us, and George was keen to test Suzi’s 4x4 abilities, so we headed north, up towards the Iberic villages of Ullastret, Peratallada and Palau-Sator.

It was only thanks to recommendations from a family friend that we found the villages, as they were tiny settlements away from the coast. We took some pretty sketchy roads to get there, but were really impressed by how well the van can handle off-road situations, especially when put into four wheel drive. Suzi the HiAce has selectable 4WD, which means that she’s only in 4WD when you switch a button and go outside, twisting the locking hubs on the front two wheels. This manual 80s style approach may seem antequated, but so far seems pretty foolproof and means that we can cruise along in 2WD most of the time when it suits.

(images) A pretty fun morning of proving Suzi’s off-road abilities!

A series of fortified medieval towns with narrow streets and stone buildings, the Iberic villages were utterly charming.

Ullastret, Peratallada and Palau-Sator all had a similar urban structure, with an old town wall and circular street pattern. Churches, markets, towers and prisons were some of the key historic buildings, and Peratallada even had a castle situated in its core. Ullastret was perhaps my favourite, not least because so many of the modified buildings featured beautifully-designed and understated architectural interventions. It was definitely apparent that Catalunya is a wealthy region, because even civic elements like street lamps, bins, railings and paving stones are well-designed and well-made, carefully crafted to remain in-keeping with the impressive historic setting.

(images) The historic Iberic villages: peaceful and charming.

(images) Sophisticated architectural detailing characterised these towns.

From the villages, we headed east to find one of the famous beaches along the Costa Brava - a beach I’d been recommended called ‘Aigua Blava’. We’ve had so many great travel recommendations, and surprisingly many of them have been from Australian acquaintances (it really is true that you Aussies see a lot of Europe when you visit this part of the world!). Aigua Blava lived up to its name, with aquamarine water framed on both sides by fancy hilltop houses and a small sandy beach. Unspoilt by the tourists of summer season, we practically had the whole beach to ourselves. Of course, I had to go in for a swim too.

Wild swimming feels like another part of living ‘slowly’ and of being present. It’s my way of connecting with my surroundings, of celebrating the natural world and the incredible opportunity George and I have to explore these places.

(image) Another wild swim in the bag, still cold this time of year but the stunning setting of Aigua Blava made up for it.

On the note of celebrating the natural world, I’ve been determined to spend as much time as I can outside. That said, it can still be pretty chilly here in Spain even though it’s been really sunny. Whilst George spent most of the week putting the final touches into the running documentary in his van-office, I stubbornly insisted on working on my laptop outside, on the porch in front of the cottage and wrapped up in lots of layers! From my ‘outdoor office’ I wrapped up some graphic design for the running documentary (artwork to be released soon), researched film festivals to enter it into (any recommendations welcome), and pitched our videography services to countless potential clients.

(images, left to right) George editing in his van office, me wearing all the necessary gear to be working outside, and the grape vines which surrounded our cottage.

Launching a videography channel and company can feel like a bit of a daunting task, but I’m generally finding that George and I have a lot of complementary skills. It’s really nice having someone to bounce ideas off, and the more we produce, film and edit together, the more we can learn from each other and fill in the gaps of our knowledge. I know it feels like every week I say we have video content coming soon, but I really can’t wait to release some stuff to show you all. That said, filmmaking is a time-consuming process and in the name of living slowly, I’m going to embrace taking as long as we need to get the videos ready!

Sunday was our last day at the cottage and saw us dedicate our time and energy to Suzi the van.

There had been a growing ‘to do’ list for the van, and so we finally set about getting it done - cleaning her out and fixing her up. It’s hard to admit it after the painful van-building process, but George and I have realised we actually really miss having a building project on the go. We both love making things, and are already plotting future tiny-houses and electric campervan conversions (yep, just six weeks into this trip…!). So on Sunday, it was all hands on deck. I cleaned the floor and all the drawers and shelves, which collect dust and dirt so quickly. I also installed some latches on cupboard doors, which have been propelling themselves open when we drive around corners.

Meanwhile, George set about replacing the headlights and reversing lights with LED bulbs. A few had blown, so we decided that if we were going to try and take off the light clusters, we might as well upgrade all the bulbs for brighter ones at the same time. The light clusters are an absolute pain to take off, and involve removing the grill and other parts (confusing construction seems to be a trend for 90s Japanese car design). Unfortunately the bulbs we had ordered for the rear lights and the fog lights weren’t the right fit, so those two are a job for the future.

George also fitted an LED light bar below the rear bumper so that we can see more with the reversing camera, and it worked first time! It’s so cool how many different types of LEDs there are on the market these days and how affordable they are. With a little bit of electrical knowledge you can do a lot of lighting modifications.

(images, left to right) Replacing old (and dim) bulbs, removing the headlight units to get to the bulbs, and George working underneath the van to wire up our new reversing light.

Ready to hit the road again, we rounded the week off by heading south towards Valencia.

Valencia is our next destination, but we plan on splitting the journey over a few days. The first leg involved us skirting around Barcelona, naïvely taking the ‘no toll road’ option which involved a huge detour and some insane elevation. The price of the toll would’ve probably been less than the time (and fuel) spent slogging up towards Manresa at about 40MPH! Nonetheless, we battled the hills and some insane winds and finally made it back to the coastal road.

Late Monday afternoon we stopped at Torredembarra and wandered along the beach. Eerily quiet, it seems this area is popular with holidaymakers through peak season and almost abandoned off-peak. We only stayed for about an hour, walking against strong winds with a beer in hand and photographing repetitive apartment block designs. It is the curious places like this that make travelling by road so worth it, because you can stop by for a short stay and see the in-between places, places just as locals see them, and places in their off-peak state.

(images) Golden hour scenes from the empty beachfront of Torredembarra.

It feels great to be living in the van again. We had a marvellous stay at the cottage near Palamós, but Suzi is our home, wherever that may be. I’m going to carry on living slowly and take each day as it comes.

Next week, Valencia.

𝕰𝖓𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗

Unit 8: Developing an art and design project.

For our FMP (Final Major Project), we are required to do some research activities. This includes the following;

Select an image or and object that inspires you. This could be something in your home/garden/room/journal. Take a photo of it and explain why you selected it.

Select an image of an artwork or design in a museum collection that you like.

Select a quote or textual reference that interests you. This could be a passage from a book you have read, a headline from a newspaper or magazine, text from a comic book or graphic novel, something inspirational someone has said or written, a song lyric, etc.

Afterward, we are told to ask someone that we know to do the same and to make sure to document their responses. Ask them to tell you about their choices and make a note of what they say.

Create drawings/sketches/doodles based on the research you have collected. These will be necessary for the next part.

Using all of the material you have collected, create a collage/mixed media piece/image that visualises your ‘encounter’ with the person you spoke to.

By the end, we are expected to be able to present all of the above in the first week of our FMP, making sure that it can be presented in an appropriate format such as a sketchbook, blog, production file or portfolio.

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01: Select an image or and object that inspires you. This could be something in your home/garden/room/journal. Take a photo of it and explain why you selected it.

For the selection of the image/object that personally inspires me, I chose plants as a general. I have always grown up around greenery, helping my parents in the garden since I was a kid. It was an unavoidable thing to encounter in the Danish countryside where I grew up. I have always found that the cycle of growth, death and surviving is inspirational to me. I have gone through many things in my life already, most of them not coming from a healthy place, but having plants decorating every possible wall and surface in my room was helped me more than I initially would have thought that it could. I felt less alone; like I had a reason to live, although it might seem little to some, I couldn’t end things for good, knowing I would completely abandon all those plants; living organisms; sending them to deteriorate with me. Although I am doing better, I cant seem to fully feel and be me without the presence of the green leaves and spiky cacti all around.

Below is a picture of all the plants I currently own:

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02: Select an image of an artwork or design in a museum collection that you like.

This step took me some thinking to do- I have many favorites that come to mind when thinking of artworks that I feel some sort of connection to, but I found myself coming back to one specifically, multiple times; Lucifer by Franz Von Stuck. My first encounter with this painting was in a museum in Germany. I was touring with my music school and our choir, (Ollerup Efterskole kor 16/17), in which we were allowed time off to just wander around the different cities we went to, exploring all the different corners of each destination. With some friends, we found a museum in Erfurt.

I don’t remember the name of it, but I recall it to be quite small. I picked up a magazine in there, showing different old paintings and artists, all German. That was where I found a small picture showing the work of Franz Von Stuck and the piece Lucifer.

Below is a picture of this painting:

Lucifer, Franz Von Stuck, c. 1890

I feel as if there are many different reasons as to why I was so immediately drawn into this. At the point that I was in my life when I saw this painting, I was going through some tough times. Within the magazine, around all of the colourful landscape paintings and portraits, this stood out immensely. There’s little colour and light, making for less clear information for your eyes to read, causing you to fill in the gaps yourself.

This is something I myself have adapted into my own artwork, for the main reason being how I find it intriguing and fun to twist people's minds to think and see something different every time they lay eyes on a piece of artwork.

One thing that I have found myself to have adapted since discovering this piece of artwork is the eyes; the way I draw them has changed over the years after seeing Franz’s art. Below are various examples of this:

I have found inspiration in his artwork, the darkness of it, the lighter aspects and everything in between, but it is not only his use of colour and shade that I admire but the way that he has managed to convey emotion. I personally find myself to aspire to be able to convey it as successfully as he has here; the rawness of it makes it all the better.

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03: Select a quote or textual reference that interests you. This could be a passage from a book you have read, a headline from a newspaper or magazine, text from a comic book or graphic novel, something inspirational someone has said or written, a song lyric, etc.

For the quote, I knew right away what I wanted to pick; a lyric from a boy band called Brockhampton, more specifically from their song J’ouvert. 

One of my favorites in this group is a guy called Russell Boring, but is better known as JOBA.

In J’ouvert, his verse goes as such:

'Til the casket drops, I will play God Fuck the world, let's start a riot Got too much, too quick God damn, I'm feelin' sick, bitch, call the doctor Don't act like I ain't been dead to ya Don't act like I ain't deserve this shit Couldn't last a day inside my head That's why I did the drugs I did Got issues with these motherfuckers Looking down from they pedestals From that petty view, on that petty shit Pray for peace with a knife in my hand Speak my piece like a gun to my head Come equipped just to blast this shit Misunderstood since birth Fuck what you think, and fuck what you heard I feel betrayed, you can keep the praise And all of the fuck shit need to get away Still ain't got the fright to the fickle-minded people I thought I knew better, wish I knew better Should have known better, wish that I was better At dealing with the fame and you fake motherfuckers Guess I'm too real

But the part that really hits deep with me is near the end of the verse, which is the highlighted part; (I thought I knew better, wish I knew better, Should have known better, wish that I was better).

This quote hits deep for several different reasons, but mostly it’s on the background of how I’ve been raised; how I’ve been taught to see and view the world, as well as myself. My parents have always been there to push me further; which I don’t see much wrong in, but well...

If I came home with a B, all that I’d get back would be odd looks of disappointment and “Huh... a B? Why not an A? or an A+?”.

Still, this ideology is stuck with me. I always feel as if I should know better, should do better and be better. - I don’t think I’ll be able to let go of this for some time, although I’ve tried countless times. I believe it’s built on the fear that If I don’t live to impress my family, they will completely cut me out of their lives; as they have done on all social media already. It used to be a go-to threat that would echo through the house a year ago.  ; “Do this, and this will happen”. - Come out to your friends as trans? Well, then we’ll force you to wear a dress while touring Denmark and Germany with the choir in your boarding school:

Ever since I physically removed myself from that place, it’s been a process of healing. In Joba’s verse in J’ouvert there is another part that applies seamlessly to what I used to feel and probably still feel quite a lot today, marked in bold:

'Til the casket drops, I will play God Fuck the world, let's start a riot Got too much, too quick God damn, I'm feelin' sick, bitch, call the doctor Don't act like I ain't been dead to ya Don't act like I ain't deserve this shit Couldn't last a day inside my head That's why I did the drugs I did Got issues with these motherfuckers Looking down from they pedestals From that petty view, on that petty shit Pray for peace with a knife in my hand Speak my piece like a gun to my head Come equipped just to blast this shit Misunderstood since birth Fuck what you think, and fuck what you heard I feel betrayed, you can keep the praise And all of the fuck shit need to get away Still ain't got the fright to the fickle-minded people I thought I knew better, wish I knew better Should have known better, wish that I was better At dealing with the fame and you fake motherfuckers Guess I'm too real

I’ve been through so much at this point, that things such as people talking behind my back, calling me names, or doubting me seems so little and worthless. I simply don’t care anymore; Don’t care what people I barely known thinks of me, don’t care what they’ve heard about me. I am who I am and no one can take that away from me, at least not anymore.

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04: Afterward, we are told to ask someone that we know to do the same and to make sure to document their responses. Ask them to tell you about their choices and make a note of what they say.

I chose a good friend of mine to fill in the other side of the coin for this task. I let them explain everything since I feel that it’s personal to them, and they will know how to word it the best; I simply just asked them questions.

01.2: “Why have you chosen this object, and what is it?”

“I chose this to be the object because it has great sentimental value to me, but from first glance to those who don’t know what it is - it seems ordinary. The picture is an illusion piece, by tricking your eyes to look at the pattern a certain way, the background appears to completely drop back - as if there is depth to it - and from the background, an Eagle of the same colours emerges. What is interesting about this object, is not only that it first belonged to my late grandmother who gave it to my father (her son), and then my mother but also that it appears only me and my family are able to see it. As far as I know, the illusion hasn’t been worked out by anyone else who we’ve showed it to; it’s almost like our own personal piece of art.”

02.2: “What painting did you choose, and why?”

Artwork: NIGHTMARE FUEL by Oleg Vdovenko

“This piece of art has been the center of a great deal of curiosity and confusion for many years, for me at least. I’ve always wanted to understand it, and if ever came the opportunity I would love to ask Oleg Vdovenko what exactly is happening within the piece, the story behind this strange and somehow almost religious scene. The piece is so compelling, and as a writer, it has always made me want to understand the events leading up to the scene in this painting.”

03.2: “Which quote have you chosen, and why this in particular?”

Quote 15, by Plato.

“This quote speaks to me primarily because I am someone who as a child was fascinated by sleep. I have always been interested in sleep, what happens and where exactly we go. Training myself to achieve lucid sleep was something I used to do often as a child, as well as practicing the art of being able to remember dreams. Even now in my young adult years, I still continue to write down my dreams and remember each of them very clearly due to the practice that I did as a child. Sometimes, as someone who has experienced the less desirable aspects of sleep as well (i.e. sleep paralysis and insomnia) the line between asleep and awake can become blurred. This quote really spoke to me, and made me recognizer the existential idea that we may never know if we are truly all just asleep, or awake.”

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05: Create drawings/sketches/doodles based on the research you have collected. These will be necessary for the next part.

Below are some scans of some doodles and sketches that I did while just letting go and try not to think too much whilst drawing;

06: Using all of the material you have collected, create a collage/mixed media piece/image that visualizes your ‘encounter’ with the person you spoke to.