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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Rapunzel’s Return Part 1

We’ve finally made to season three and the entire reason why I made this review series. This season features some of the worst writing I have ever witnessed in a television program. And this season kicks off with the third worst episode of the whole series. Rapunzel’s Return is the iceberg that sinks this show and manages to assassinate everyone’s character.

Everyone’s.

Summary: Inside the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow (as seen off screen in "Rapunzeltopia"), Cassandra is greeted by the Enchanted Girl, a spirit who reveals that Cassandra is the biological daughter of the late Mother Gothel, who abandoned her on the night she kidnapped infant Rapunzel. Enraged that Rapunzel has been (unknowingly) overshadowing her for the entirety of her life, and that she will always be unfairly overlooked, Cassandra snatches the Moonstone Opal, absorbs it, and declared Rapunzel's destiny as her own. She manages to escape from the group and cuts all ties with them, with Rapunzel unable to wrap her head around the entire situation. The group returns to Corona and find that it has been taken over by Varian, who has aligned himself with Andrew and the Separatists of Saporia to erase the King and Queen's memories and enslave Corona's citizens.

Plot Hole Number One: Why Would Cassandra Just Blindly Follow A Ghost While Trapped Inside a Haunted House?

Outside of that one snarky remark, Cassandra never stops to question the literal ghost who is bossing her around. The ghost she met in a creepy haunted house. A haunted house that she was already suspicious of before ever going in and that has tried to kill her and her friends many times now.

Cassandra, the most distrusting and cautious of of individuals in the show thus far, just suddenly decides to leave her brain behind from this point forward for no given reason whatsoever.

If you have to dumb down your main character and have them behave OOC in order to get your plot rolling along, then you haven’t a good plot.

Plot Hole Number Two: Cassandra Sees for Herself How Awful Gothel Was to Her Here, So Why Would She Obsess Over the Woman?

Forgetting for a moment that Cass very well knows that Gothel treated her best friend like shit and tried to murder her other friend, Eugene, as evidenced by Quest for Varian; Cassandra can see for herself right here that Gothel is a crap person who never treated her right.

I mean there’s denial, and then there’s flat out stupidity. Cass being hurt by the this reveal is one thing. Cass believing that Gothel really loved her and blaming everyone else for her death is totally another and not based in any kind of sensible logic.

Plot Hole Number Three: Why Would Gothel Even Have a Child to Begin With?

Look, I’ll accept that the flower can deage Gothel enough for her to get laid and bare a kid, but that only brings up the question of why she would keep said kid?

She kept Rapunzel cause she needed her powers in order to stay alive, but Cass? What reason would she want to have Cassandra around? A baby can’t do chores for you and it's a hell of a lot of work to raise one. Plus the show repeatedly tells us over and over again that Gothel doesn’t really love her or even likes having her daugther around so... yeah, what is the point of this? Why didn’t she just drop Cass off at an orphanage to begin with?

You can’t make this type of reveal and have it go against the what we fundamentally know about the characters without explaining why they would partake in such actions.

This is Manipulative Writing

But of course the real reason why this flashback and “twist” exists is just to manipulate the audience into feeling sorry for Cass. It’s not here to actually enhance the story, further the characters, nor answer any mysteries in any real way. That’s why it’s such a poor plot point.

It’s setting up the viewers to have a bias so that they’ll more readily forgive Cassandra for her irreprehensible actions later. In short, it’s the same bullshit that the writers pulled for Frederic back in season one. Only it makes even less narrative sense here because this ‘tragic backstory’ is so divorced from later events in the story.

It’s also flat out lazy because all it’s doing it slapping Rapunzel’s backstory onto Cass instead of letting Cassandra be her own character with her own battles and character development to have.

And before you say, “well that’s the point”, then let me tell you it’s a stupid point. One that makes zero sense for the character and is insulting to the audience’s intelligence.

Plot Hole Number Four: Why Didn’t Gothel Just Stay Hidden Till the Soldiers Left?

Hell, why did Gothel even come back here? We already established that she doesn’t really care about Cass and it’s a plot point that’ll only be further reiterated as the season goes on, so why? Why would Gothel behave like this? How does this help her in her goal? Gothel’s suppose to be smart remember?

Plot Hole Number Five: How Does Any of This Logically Help Zhan Tiri?

So Zhan Tiri is the blue ghost girl and while the series tries to keep it a secret reveal for later, it’s pretty obvious from the get go, so I’ll just be calling the character by her name.

Anyways, Zhan Tiri’s plan is to show Cassandra her past, in order to make Cass angry enough to steal the moonstone and fight Rapunzel, so that the two powers fighting each other will then release her from her interdimensional prison.

Now ignoring how literally none of that was set up nor previously established, and ignoring that Zhan Tiri’s disciples were trying previously to stop the sundrop and her friends from getting to the moonstone, thereby undermining their master’s plan; just how exactly is any of this suppose to work?

Why would showing Cassandra how her mother was a shitty person somehow make Cass angry at Rapunzel, angry enough to try and kill her even, and somehow keep her angry for months on end, in order to fulfill this clearly illogical action that holds no personal benefit to herself?

I don’t mind Cassandra becoming a villain; I just want it to make sense.

This does not make sense.

Not only does it require incredible leaps of logic and Cassandra acting out of character to work, it also depends far to much upon conquincidence and things playing out just in exactly the right way to benefit Zhan Tiri and her poorly laid out plan.

Would it not have made more sense for this “evil master manipulating worlock” to just, you know, lie?

Like shouldn’t she be trying to make Gothel look good? Shouldn’t she be trying to make it all seem like Frederic’s fault (which it mostly is anyways)? If you want Cass to attack Corona and turn against Rapunzel, then why not lie about their involvement or tell some half truth?

Or better yet why not make Gothel and actual complex figure for real?

Ugh... I got to move on from this point, but believe me, we will be back to this dumbfuckery in later episodes.

Plot Hole Number Six: You Can’t Just Ignore that Cap Exists and Is the One Who Raised Cassandra for Most of Her Life

Like I’m sure finding out that you mom was a piece of crap who abandon you hurts, but that doesn’t automatically erase the fact that Cass’s dad was there for her, raised her, and loved her for the majority of her life. I’m not saying that Cap is perfect, but he at least tried to do right by her (and is consequently the best parent in the show) and Cassandra is old enough to recognize that fact. Pretending otherwise is a disservice to everyone. It’s a disservice to the Captain, to Cassandra, to Rapunzel, to Gothel, and to the viewers watching along with this BS.

Trauma Doesn’t Make You Suddenly Stupid

Look, I’m not downplaying Cass’s trauma here. She is allowed to feel upset and yes trauma is painful and effects us all in different ways. Also yes, past trauma can carry on through into adulthood and still harm you.

However that’s not an excuse for hurting others. Cass’s trauma isn’t any less traumatic than any of the other characters’, but neither is it somehow more important than any of theirs. She doesn’t get a free past to step on people just because she was sad once.

Cassandra is, once again, old enough to know this and more importantly smart enough to realize that what happened in the past, if even true, has nothing to do with what she is currently dealing with right now.

Like why is she believing any of this? Why is she still listening to the suspicious ghost that she met in a magical house that’s tricked her and her friends numerous times before? Why would finding out her mom was shit make her turn that anger against her best friend? What does any of this have to do with her current struggles with trying to build up her career or staying friends with Raps?

Remembering past trauma does not make your brain shut off. Even having a mental breakdown or panic attack still does not render you completely senseless and anything done under extreme pressure like that is temporary. You don’t wind up acting bananas constantly for over a year.

As a woman who suffers from complex-PTSD and is an abuse survivor myself, Cassandra’s story is deeply offensive to me. Not the least of which because it actively dumps her down.

This Is the Point Where Cassandra’s Character Gets Assassinated

Like I said in the opening, everyone’s character gets assassinated in this story. Cassandra just happens to be the first to die and it’s right here with this line.

Not only is this line incredibly cringy and poorly worded, and I have to just feel sorry for the VA here cause there’s no way to make this much stupid sound good, but it’s also completely divorced from what’s going on.

Cassandra is suppose to be explaining to her friends why she’s stealing the moonstone and her answer is “I’m this dead bitch’s daughter”? Like oookaaay, and that has what to do with it exactly?

Did Gothel have any connection to the moonstone? Does stealing the moonstone somehow bring her back or fulfil her revenge? What does grabbing the moonstone actually gain Cass and what does that have to do with her dead abusive mom?

The reason why Cass doesn’t work as a villain because she has no goal nor reason for doing what she does. She just lurches from plot point to plot point with no idea of what she is doing nor why she is doing it.

But watch as the show keeps digging in its heels and keeps insisting that Cassandra’s connection to Gothel is totally a sympathetic motive even as it makes less and less sense every damn time it's brought up.

What Does Destiny Even Fucking Mean Any More???

What Destiny?!

There is no damn destiny. There is no prophecy to fulfil, no world to save, no consequence for just having everyone sitting on their asses for two whole seasons. And even if there was a destiny to even steal; why would Cass even want it? What does actually she gain from any of this? And how does any of it connect back to Gothel?

This Should Have Been the Point of Resolution Not the Inciting Incident for Their Break Up

Look no idea is without merit. You can make the stupidest sounding idea engaging if you present it right.

This was not presented right.

If Cassandra being Gothel’s daughter was to hold any meaning to the story, then it needed to be what brought her and Raps back together again, not what broke them apart.

Rapunzel says it right here. Logically this should be common ground for the two of them. There’s no real reason for Cass to direct her anger at Rapunzel over this.

But this show doesn’t care about logic, reason, or treating it’s audience with intelligence. It’s just flashy bullshit “drama” that pretends to be deep but is really a shallow puddle once you stop to think about it for two seconds.

Let’s Talk About “Sisters”

Cass’s face just says it all doesn’t it?

The creator, Chris, wanted to make a story about two “sisters”, because he has two daughters and he thought that would be inspiring and speak to little girls everywhere.

It’s a nice sentiment. Shame he’s so utterly incompetent at it.

There was no build up to them being sisters. Instead all we got was a bunch of meaningless parallels and a very toxic friendship. Even with the Gothel reveal the connection to them being siblings is tenuous at best because there’s no biological relation and more importantly, they weren’t raised together.

Chris is basically trying to rip off the likes of Frozen or Guardians of the Galaxy here with Raps and Cass’s relationship but it doesn’t work when the two siblings in question didn’t actually grow up together. There’s no reason for Cassandra to project her anger at their abusive parent on to Raps because that parent wasn’t the one to actually raise her. And on top of that, said abuser is dead, and both her and Raps have separate guardians in their lives, so the jealousy angle doesn’t work either.

And to make it all the more confusing, Chris failed to inform his crew of this brilliant plot twist, so we now have two seasons of gay baiting put in by the storyboard artists hitting that Cass is in love with her “sister”, And because the hardcore Cazzpunzel stans are the only fanbase that hasn’t given Chris the boot, there’s still even more gay baiting to come.

Why are We Victim Blaming a Baby?

Seriously, Cass? You are twenty four and have a brain. Why are you blaming someone for being kidnapped as a baby? What kind of sense does this make?

Worse, there’s plenty of real shit Cass could get angry at Rapunzel over and this is what you go with show?

If anything Rapunzel should be the one who is pissed here. Cass got to escape and lead a normal life with a loving father all because she got kidnapped as baby. And now said bitch is trying to gaslight her while stealing the very thing she’s been risking her life to grab for a year now.

No You Haven’t Cass

Once again, you got to live a normal life with a loving Dad. You had plenty of chances to build relationships and further your career for 18 years while Rapunzel was trapped in a dang tower, and Rapunzel returning from said tower didn’t cut you off from anything. In fact Rapunzel being rescued from the tower actually presented more opportunities for you and you spent all of season one climbing up the ranks.

There’s Nothing In the Show to Back Up This Statement

Nothing is at stake. There’s no threat here other than Cassandra herself. Cassandra is dranger to the world here not the moonstone. If you wanted it to be the other way around then you should have kept the rocks active during season two.

So Why Didn’t We Go With the Original Set Up From Season Two?

As said before, there are real reasons that were set up during season two that could have motivated Cass.

Rapunzel is irresponsible and can’t be trusted to save the world

Rapunzel is a shit friend and Cass is better off going her own way and leaving everyone high and dry.

Cass’s hand was injured by Raps and the moonstone might be able to heal it

Cass sees the injustice in the class system and wants to fight back against the royals in order to help everyone, not just herself.

Cass might believe she’s stopping Zhan Tiri and not realize she’s being manipulated by her instead

Or is playing along with Zhan Tiri under the idea that she can stall for time figure out how to stop her.

Cass wants to play her and use the power of the rocks to save people only for it to go wrong later.

Possession (which was the original idea in the concept stage)

Like I said, there were plenty of ways to make this work. In fact some are so dang obvious that you’ll hear Cass fans try to claim that a few of those are what her real motivation was despite the the show clearly going against them later. The “fighting against the class system” is a real popular one despite the fact that Cass herself attacks a bunch of poor people repeatedly and doesn’t seem concerned about anyone but herself.

But I digress.

The real reason why we have this bullshit is cause Chris doesn’t want to hold his favs accountable. Rapunzel’s flaws can’t be called out in any meaningful way and Cass gets a convenient scapegoat in Zhan Tiri.

In short both Cassandra and Rapunzel have their agency stolen away from them by the narrative, while still trying to pretend that they’re “strong independent women”. Even though those two things aren’t compatible at all.

What Exactly Have You Been Denied Cass?

Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Lance, Eugene, and Lady Caine were all denied physiological and safety needs while growing up in an orphanage and then later on the streets as a thieves.

Rapunzel was denied psychological needs while being raised by her abuser.

Varian was denied everything on that dang list.

Cassandra tho?

Trauma or no trauma, Cass was still raised in a safe and loving environment for the majority of her life. She, at best, has been denied “self-fulfillment” needs and even then that’s a stretch cause throughout season one we see her time and time again gaining what it was she wanted.

Cassandra isn’t anything special. She’s not suffered any more than anybody else in the show and in fact has lived a pretty cushy life when all is said and done, especially when compared to other characters in the show.

The worst that she has to complain about is working a crappy job for a little while and having a shit mom that she can barely remember. Boo Fucking Hoo.

Note How Easy It Is For Cass to Control the Rocks Here

The show can’t even keep Cassandra’s powers consistent. Like everything else about the character, Cass’s powers come and go as is convenient for the narrative with little explanation as to why.

This Song Doesn’t Work Because It was Cut In Half Due to Time

I’ve talked about the problems with this song before in my songs from TTS ranking list. It’s choppy and consistent. Yet it only feels that way because it was cut down. It’s missing a full other verse, second chorus, and a bridge.

Which is inexcusable because there’s so much dang filler in this show!

We could have had time for the full song if they had just cut one of the non-essential episodes and made all of this a full episode on it’s own. Just save the Corona and Varian stuff for later if need be.

The management of this show is just atrocious.

Why Wasn’t This the Cliffhanger for Season Two?

Speaking of making all of the Cassandra stuff it’s own episode... Everything we just seen should have been in season two.

It’s more connected to what happened last season, it flows better, it would have had more time to breathe, and it would have given us more time in the Dark Kingdom. Given as that this is what season two was building up too, it would have been more satisfying there.

And if the writers still wanted a cliffhanger to end the season in order to draw crowds then this right here was it.

So We We Spent A Whole Season Getting Here and We’re Just Going to Leave Now?

The Dark Kingdom is Wasted!!!!

And because the Dark Kingdom is a bust, the entirety of season two now feels even more pointless.

Chris said he cut the Dark Kingdom stuff because it didn’t interest him.

Chris is a fucking fool.

Ignoring that different people will gravitate towards different things and you need to keep that in mind when writing for mass audiences; you don’t spend valuable time setting things up just to drop them later.

If you didn’t like that particular plot thread then you needed to just not bring it up to begin with. Once you’ve put it in there you need to commit to it.

Behold the Only Thing Useful Shorty Does This Whole Season

There is less Shorty overall this season which is ultimately a good thing, but it does highlight what a stupid decision it was to bring him along to begin with.

I mean did we really drag him around for a whole season just for this? Couldn’t some other Pub Thung or townsperson have found them? One that could talk.

Adria Gets Put on a Bus

Adria doesn’t get assassinated like some of the other characters, but she does get unceremoniously shoved off without any real closure. The character will return later in the season, but brainwashed and without any lines. Which is doubly insulting to the VA who voices her.

And Here Is Where Lance Gets Assassinated

Lance is drastically dumbed down in season three. Even more so than in past seasons. You could call it flanderization specifically, more so than assassination, but the effect is the same. Lance’s character is effectively dead from this point onwards.

Also this should have ended the Lance & Adria ship in the show for good. She flat out rejects him here, but nope.

Eugene is the Only Person Acting Like a Real Human Being This Episode Thus Far

Edmund spent his whole life protecting the moonstone. He lost everything to it. He was convinced that letting Rapunzel take it would be best only for her to lose it right afterwards. And what does he do? Immediately become the “comedicly bad dad” in show oversaturated with both comedic foils and poor father figures.

Meanwhile Eugene is the only one properly responding to what is going on. Don't expect that to last.

I Thought You Left Cass?

Remember that foreshadowing with Quirin way back in the pilot?

This is just that, but dumber.

There’s no reason for Cass to hang around out of sight only to stare menacingly at Rapunzel and company as they leave. It’s just a lazy hook to get viewers to believe that there might be more going on with Cass then what we’ve been told. There’s not.

So This Map Proves That the Dark Kingdom Is North East of Corona

Continuity and worldbuilding in this show is utterly garbage, so I’ll latch on to any little scrape of info that we get.

According to the map shown here, the balloon is heading Southwest back to Corona. That means the Dark Kingdom is Northeast.

So if Corona is somewhere in Northern mainland Europe that means the Dark Kingdom is either in a Nordic country (Norway,Sweden,Finland, ect) or Russia.

Meta Jokes About Being a Bad Writer Doesn’t Excuse Bad Writing

Get use to this. Season three is full of meansprited meta jokes that try to defend against the quite frankly valid criticism that the show has received. Or more specifically the criticism Chris had received.

Most of season three was written during the hiatus of season two back when Chris was seeing backlash from the fans due to his PR fiasco and that’s not even taking into account the crew walkout after season one.

Not only is that too late to be writing your final season, but it’s also reflective of how Chris can’t handle critique with grace nor listen to other ideas as jokes like this are in poor taste.

Everyone Acts Shocked Here but Honestly this Fits King Frederic’s MMO

This is the same guy who prosecuted poor people for eighteen years with his crack down on crime, and thrented the life an orphaned teen. Is anybody really surprised by this?

I Thought Your Real Name was Hubert?

I guess he just prefers the name Andrew. I don’t know. But what do know is that “the devil is in the details” is a thing my animation teacher in college use to say repeatedly, and no one working on this show seems capable of remembering or keeping up with details.

Why Are There Only Five Saporains?

Saporia was set up as an entire race of people who’d been displaced from their homeland for generations. They’ve been living as nomads for centuries according to season two. Why are there only five of them in this episode?

How did they overthrow a kingdom with only five people? How do they maintain hold of it with only five? How do they expect to further their bloodline and culture with only only five of them?

Why did we waste money on a bunch of one off villians that we sent packing in season two and not built more Saporian models instead?

Like you could have had the core five here, as like leaders, and then imply that there are more of them with background citizens and guards ect.

NO!!!

WE DO NOT IMPLY THAT A 15 YEAR OLD BOY WAS LOCKED IN A JAIL CELL WITH A GROWN MAN FOR NEARLY A YEAR!!!!!

I.... What?!

Who the fuck thought this was a good idea to put in a children’s show?

Did no one behind the scenes stop to think, “Hun, maybe we shouldn’t suggest that a teenager was trapped inside a small enclosed space with no way out twenty for hours a day with an adult who attempted to murder his girlfriend when lying to her stopped working. Perhaps someone might get the wrong impression.”?

Like I hate censors as much as the next person, but editors work in the business for a reason, and that reason is to pull the artists aside sometimes and go “Hey, that shit don't fly with normal folk.”

What’s worse is I don’t think the writers were even trying to be shocking and edgy here. I just think they were careless. They needed a quick exposition dumb to explain how Varian and Andrew know each other, and didn’t think through the implications of that line nor considered how Varian’s age changes the context of his situation.

Which is beyond inexcusable because it’s so damn lazy!

You wouldn’t need rushed exposition had you actually took the time to set up this plot point back in season two. Heck, you wouldn’t have needed to even set this plot point up had you not cut Varian’s original story out at the last minute. Finally, you should care enough about your characters to at least take their age into consideration when writing their development.

There’s also the fact that it makes most of the ‘heroes’ look like assholes.

We’ve seen these dungeons several times throughout the show. We know of their poor conditions. There’s little light, the food is slop, there’s no way to stay clean or use the restroom, prisons are never let out for exercise, ect. Like these are medieval style dungeons that are considered inhumane my modern audiences.

Just because the show tries to play off the horribleness of it for laughs doesn’t mean the audience is going to find it funny that they traumatized a fifthteen year old with it.... again!

Moreover Frederic had promised last time we saw him that he would give Varian help. He idea of ‘helping” Varian is supposedly to throw him into a nasty jail cell with a violent criminal? WTF? And there’s no indication that he tried anything to save Quirin either.

Not to mention that none of the mains act surprised by this revelation, nor comment about how awful Varian’s treatment is. As usual for them.

It’s just sicking and most of the atempts to explain away this line by the fans have been super pathetic.

“Frederic was giving him therapy while in jail” - there’s nothing to indicate therapy exists in this world and even if this were true it would be undermined by stupidly throwing him in a cell with Andrew.

“It’s not literal, Varian was in a separate cell” - once again there’s nothing to back this up and even if that were the case it’s not that much better because it’s still a dungeon cell with zero privacy and Varian would still be close enough to Andrew to talk to him thus invading his personal space to some degree or other.

“Well he tried to help but Varian wasn’t cooperative” - still not an excuse and there’s nothing on screen to back up this headcanon.

“It’s someone else’s fault.” - Who’s? Frederic is in charge of everything. The buck stops with him. If a guard did this without his knowledge then that means Frederic neglected his duties and his promise anyways.

“Well maybe it’s true, but Varian did a bad thing and teens who do really bad things get sent to prison in the real world too” - Not an argument. Teens aren’t typically jailed with adults and the conditions for modern jails are at least somewhat better than those in Corona. Plus kids being sent to jail in any form is major topic of controversy in today's time. I’ve already covered why trying teens as adults is a vile abuse of power in the real world; I shouldn’t have to mention that the current government throwing children in cages is a bad thing as well!

“Well that’s just part of the time period” - Doesn’t make it right, and sadly it’s not something in the distant past either. It’s currently happening right now in the US. It was happening when this episode and season was being written. The writers unthinkingly threw in a very real thing that affects hundreds of thousands of children and didn’t bother to follow up on it or comment about how wrong it is.

There’s just no excuse for the way Frederic and Rapunzel treat Varian in this show. There’s just not, and some of y’all really need to stop trying to do so cause it means you’re inadvertently condoning real life abuses of power.

You can like a character and except that they’ve done wrong. That’s a thing that you can do, you know.

Let’s Talk about Character Design

For the most part the art direction in the show is top notch. It really is the best looking animated show on tv today, and the character design is usually of this same quality. But they really dropped the ball with Varian’s design here.

The structural bones of it isn’t bad. Taken on it’s own it would be fine, but good character design is supposed to give context and enhance the story and this doesn’t do that.

We’ve haven’t seen Varian in a year, but instead of visually showcasing the passage of time by having him physically age we just get season one’s design but in bargain bin hot topic clothes and a drawn on barcode.

Even the color palette is wrong.

Varian’s is suppose to feature blues and earthy browns to go with his eyes and hair but instead we get bright reds, neon chimballs, and sharp contrasts with blacks and whites that just clashes with his base colors.

And what does any of this tell the audience? How does it add to the story? What can we glean from his new design about what transpired in the last year?

Nothing.

At best it just reinforces that villian Varian is a try hard edge lord, but we already knew that. We would have known it even without the villain arc cause he’s a teenager. Not that he looks it. The boy is supposed to be either 16 or soon to be 16 and he still looks fucking 12.

What’s more they spent money on this. They made not one, but two new models with two new outfits, but they couldn’t be arsed just to make him a little taller? And no, he’s not actually any taller in season three. He was always Rapunzel’s height regardless of animation errors and squash and stretch techniques.

It’s a waste. Just like nearly everything in season three.

This Is Such a Cop-out

Speaking of things being a waste. Wiping Frederic’s and Arianna’s memories is taking the cowards way out. It’s them escaping any sort of meaningful consequence for their past actions and robs them of the chance to grow and develop as characters. All cause Chris didn’t want to deal with people pointing out the bullshit his self insert caused.

Well guess what, I’m still pointing out Frederic’s BS, only now I’m extra angry cause I was robbed of a genuine character arc, so fuck you!

Was Varian Actually Needed for This Plot?

No really. What does Varian even do here? The wand of oblivium is Saporian magic and they could and apparently did wipe the king’s and queen’s memories without Varian’s mindwipe concoction. That alone apparently gives them the power to run the kingdom.

All Varian does is give them some alchemy based weapons and a bomb he accidentally invents. Both are things that the Saporians could have made themselves given how they know apothecary according to Rapunzel Day One.

I’m currently in the middle of writing an AU fanfiction where Varian winds up in another world before the events of this episode, and let me tell you it is incredibly easy to write him out of the majority of season three without changing the plot much.

Given how Varian is meant to be a main character this season, that’s not a good thing.

So How Come None Of the “Heroes” Give a Shit?

Like I said above, none of the protagonists show the least bit of concern for what Varian is going through. Even though ignoring his needs is precisely what lead to this mess in the first place. It not only makes them look heartless, but it also makes them look plain stupid as well.

Why is it so hard to just even pretend to care about the fact he’s been orphaned? Half of them are orphans themselves for fucks sake!

Varian’s Not the One in Charge Here Rapunzel

I know Varian is the bigger threat and has more of a personal connection to Raps, but it’s pretty clear that Andrew is the mastermind behind this coup. What good does shouting at Varian do? What makes Rapunzel think that any of the Saporians would listen to him even if he did change his mind? What makes her think ordering Varian around after she helped ruin his life would get him to change his mind. Like, my gosh is Rapunzel dumb!

Why Are We Victim Blaming a Child Soldier?

That’s what he is at this point. He’s a weapons specialist for a rival kingdom fighting for control of the government. A government that has abused its own people leading to such an uprising.

A teenager may not be as blameless as a baby but it's still beyond callous and cruel to blame kids and young teens who join extremist groups in war torn lands out of desperation.

Is This Suppose to Be the Inciting Incident for Varian’s Redemption, Cause If So, That Makes No Sense

This look of regret is the only indication that Varian is questioning where he stands before his redemption in part two. Except there he points out that he’s been thinking about it for while now, even before Raps showed up. Only there’s nothing to suggest why Varian would suddenly change his view point and motives. So the audience is still in the dark about his thought process even with this “hint” and I use that word loosely.

Conclusion

So that’s the end of part one. I hope to have part two up before the week is out.

#tangled #anti-rapunzel #anti-cassandra #anti-tangled #varian #tangled the series #rapunzles tangled adventure

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emilykinncy · 3 years

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Normily My Caffeine Withdrawal Podcast episode (transcript of certain parts)

EK intro: I first met Norman Reedus working on The Walking Dead of course. Over the course of my four seasons on our show, I got to know Norman better and better and we became good friends. And in a sort of interesting parallel, our characters storylines also became more intertwined within the show. Norman is so special, he seems to have endless amounts of creative energy that I find incredibly inspiring. He also has great taste in music and coffee which makes him a perfect guest for this podcast. Welcome back to My Caffeine Withdrawal, I am so incredibly excited to share this episode with all of you today. Norman has so many fans and I know this to be true because everyday someone in my life or someone on social media asks me ‘hey, how was it working with Norman? What is Norman Reedus like?’ Well, now today you guys are going to get to know Norman in the same way that I know Norman! We talk about how Norman got into acting and when and why he moved to California, as well as what his life was like as an artist first starting out in Los Angeles. We talk about a book he’s been writing! And he tells a lot of great stories! But first, Norman explained his current coffee setup situation and how he’s currently weathering the quarantine from Costa Rica.

This gets long so putting it behind a cut!

I put a timestamp of where each segment starts at the end of them!

NR: Hi Emily!

EK: Hi!

NR: I just set this up cause I’ve been listening to your podcast which I really like and I know it’s heavy on the coffee so I brought my coffee setup down the mountain in my backpack on the motorcycle and this is my coffee jam here (I’m not 100% sure of the last 2 words) so, this is what I do. You ready?

EK: Yes!

*NR shows her & describes his coffee process*

EK: What was the thing um, on Instagram, you posted this picture of a hummingbird, that was crazy! What made you post that?

NR: It’s this person that I’ve become friends with, they only try to post positive things…*he explains more about the person & post* (starts at 6:08)

EK: You wanna hear something kind of crazy about the hummingbird thing? I don’t know if you know this about me but I’ve definitely gotten more like spiritual…but like *Emily giggle* this is gonna sound crazy and I don’t even usually talk about this stuff, but I sort of have this sign of when I’m like guided where I’m supposed to go, and my sign has been a hummingbird. And you had text me and I randomly looked at your Instagram and saw—

NR: Wow

EK: —It definitely was like one of those where like ‘go there’, maybe it was just if there is a god or whatever just being like ‘oh nice, connect with your friend, you know, like connect with Norman…’

NR: I actually believe all that. When I texted you I was having breakfast at this place by the beach, the lady that makes the honey, by her place. And I was listening to your podcast with Lennie. And I had already heard Lauren’s and I was listening to Lennie’s, and at the end of it you were like ‘you know what I hope during Covid everyone can reach out to a friend’ and I was like ‘I’m just gonna text her’ so I texted you at that moment. I have the same thing with a bird like my dad, before my dad died he was always talking about cardinals, those red cardinals. So everytime I see a cardinal I think the same thing. And then the night before, Danai called me out of nowhere. I hadn’t spoken to Danai in forever. And she’s like ’what are you doing?’ and I’m like ‘I’m sitting on my patio with all the lights off…’ and there was a meteor shower, it was called like the Gideon meteor shower, this huge meteor shower that happened. And I saw 21 shooting stars before I went to bed. I pay attention to all that shit—

EK: Yeah

NR: 21! And I was like talking to her I’m like ‘there’s 11! There’s 12!’ and it just kept going. I believe all that stuff.

EK: I grew up Catholic so I kind of, like…religion in general felt sort of overwhelming even though prayer and stuff like that came naturally to me and then just over like the last like 5 or 6 years or so I’ve like really embraced it where I’m sort of like ‘yep, I think these things are happening, I have little signs that tell me like where to go…’. I guess I don’t really talk about it with people much but it’s just, like I read about it and stuff. Yeah.

NR: I believe it, I believe all of them. I’m not really religious but I believe all those signs all the time. I see little signs in everything, yeah.

EK: Yeah! (starts at 9:38)

EK: That sounds like you’ve had a very productive quarantine, or whatever this corona-pocalypse quarantine time.

NR: I’m not good with sitting still, you know what I mean, so I’m always doing something.

EK: Yeah! Yeah. I mean that’s one thing, when I was thinking about—when I was around you more working on the show, was that you were always…like you know sitting down to dinner and then like noticing this saltshaker and this fork should be next to each other in a certain way and then you can take a picture. You know what I mean, like I remember that about you like always making something, I guess. Or looking for the art in it or the picture. Or, you know, which um—

NR: it’s ADD or something I dunno what…

EK: I admired it because I feel like I can be so slow. Like, I love making stuff but I can sort of like piece it together over weeks and then I finally do—like in my head somehow, like I’m more of like a turtle! You know just like—

NR: Yeah but you make music! I mean, we all wish we could write songs and perform songs. You know, you make music. We all wish we were musicians, you know what I’m saying, so. (starts at 18:18)

EK: I remember you telling me a story of how you got an agent by like going to a party and then someone said ‘do you want to be in a play?’ and then you were the understudy and then the guy just happened to have to call out so then you were in the play, you didn’t have to be the understudy and then an agent—and that’s how it all started with acting, um, *laughs* did I just tell your story for you?!

NR: You’re right. No, no you’re exactly right. That’s exactly what happened. (starts at 26:08)

NR: I actually made an album, a music album

EK: You did?!

NR: Yeah

EK: Oh, that’s—you wrote all the songs and stuff? Or did you—

NR: I didn’t write any of it. And I didn’t really sing it, it’s more of a spoken word thing

EK: Yeah!

NR *tells story about how this came about, which involves an igloo*

EK: Wait, why were you in an igloo in Switzerland?! *laughs*

NR *tells more of the story…it’s long ok I don’t wanna transcribe it sdhfhsfh*

EK: Yeah I wanna hear your album! I mean…

NR: It’s out—

EK: It is?!

NR: It played…it did pretty well in France, it was on the radio and shit

EK: Yeah, will you email it to me or something, so I can…

NR: I will. Yeah yeah.

EK: I also wanted to make sure today to get some of your music picks because I remember back when we were on the show you always gave me the best music, like stuff that I hadn’t heard. I don’t know if if it’s just like because of your friends in New York or like maybe you’re a little bit older than me so you know different bands than I do. But, I remember like Dinosaur Jr., you like introducing me to Dinosaur Jr. Like I didn’t really know Dinosaur Jr. before you

NR: That’s crazy that you don’t know Dinosaur Jr. then (? I really can’t tell for sure that last word he says)

EK: I know! I think I might have pretended that I kind of I knew but like you introduced me for sure and I like totally dove in. But yeah during this quarantine, what have you been listening to?

NR: *lists some bands* Sean Lennon’s band that he made with Les Claypool is really good. He was on Ride with me.

EK: Oh, he was?! I’ve only see—I haven’t seen all the episodes of that, I’ve only seen, um, a few of them (adsdfdjf don’t lie Emily it’s probably actually 0 but we all understand babe) (starts at 35:10)

EK: It was so fun to talk to you today

NR: Yeah I miss you! I miss you, it’s good to see you and hear you.

EK: I miss you too, I’m going to check out that sock method…although I think it’s just pour over it’s just with a special…reusable—

NR: Yeah, a dirty sock

EK: Yeah, but something about it, yeah….*both laugh* Thank you for being on here, it feels so good to like chat with you

NR: Yeah, I miss you it’s good to hear your voice

EK: I miss you too, yeah. *she starts talking about twd & the connection with everyone etc* (starts at 41:36)

NR: *after he mentions everyone from the cast he’s still in touch with* You get these friendships with people and it becomes a big part of your life, your friends on the show, so. I’m glad I’m talking to you

EK: Yeah, I’m glad I’m talking to you too. (starts at 44:03)

From Emily’s end blurb: I hope you guys enjoyed Norman and I’s little catch up call over Zoom, I hope that you learned something new about Norman you didn’t know before. You know, Norman and I really hadn’t connected much over the last couple years (we all know this Emily and we pretty much all know why lol) we’ve just been on sort of different paths (yeah, that’s a way to put it I guess haha) but again and again I’m finding that one of the blessings of this time, being stuck at home, is remembering and reconnecting with people I care about and people that care about me. Maybe you have a friend you used to work with that you haven’t caught up with for a while and now you’ll feel inspired to send them a little text saying hello.

(How do they literally have chemistry on a *podcast* okay bye I’m going to go fly into the sun now)

#emily kinney #normily #i remember the old days ok i'm not putting this in the nr tag lol #jeez this took a while...i feel like i'm back in 2014-17 lol #can't believe he invited himself on the show lmaoo #like i can but...why is he like this #i realize that isn't said specifically but it's kinda the natural conclusion

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bestworstcase · 3 years

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farran rereads lost lagoon: chapters 7-8

- re: romance novel: chapter seven opens with rapunzel defending cass to eugene, including saying that she’s “never been more sure” about anything (except him, added as an afterthought). it feels equal parts aggressive sunny optimism and rapunzel has a serious crush because, it bears repeating, at this point she has exchanged maybe fifty words with this girl. the sum total of their relationship is a chance glimpse of cass in the field and then two stilted conversations cass did her damnedest not to participate in. then she kicks eugene out and passes on their ‘nightly stroll’ so she can meet cass alone lol.

- lagoon eugene continues to have an actual work ethic and ambles off to ‘catch up on’ his readings in diplomacy. when could tts eugene ever,

- i have decided that i lay most of the blame for the ‘cass is emotionally walled off and refuses to communicate at all ever until rapunzel drags her out of her shell’ fanon at the feet of lost lagoon because this is just… ridiculous. tts cass firmly but politely and clearly spells out her boundaries with rapunzel as early as beginnings and emotionally opens up to her within a matter of days. lagoon cass acts like a sulky brat and again does this monosyllabic thing with her and literally sits in dead silence glaring while rapunzel chatters on. but especially in cassunzel circles lagoon is SO popular and has SO thoroughly infiltrated the popular fanon that cass’s normal state of being is so emotionally constipated that she can’t even admit she likes sweets is now the standard assumption. –__–

- unlike the writers of tts howland actually understands what a lady-in-waiting is. good job ms. howland.

- i say this with love. because i too have made historical poems a key plot point in bitter snow which means i have to actually write said poems and i am suffering, so i relate. but this poetry is really quite bad. ⭐ you tried ma’am

- as the self-appointed president of the saporian!cass au club i feel the need to reiterate that it is not canon that cassandra speaks saporian and ‘cass knows saporian in lost lagoon!’ cannot actually be used in support of cass having saporian heritage because she does not, in fact, know or speak saporian. she is able to recognize the second language in the book as saporian, but she can’t read it. she learns saporian over the course of lost lagoon, with materials provided by xavier. there are textual arguments to be made from lost lagoon to support interpreting cassandra as saporian but this is not one of them and i’m tired of seeing ‘cass speaks saporian!’ tossed around as the primary bit of ‘evidence’ that comes up when saporian!cass gets discussed. /pet peeve

like i approve and wholeheartedly support and personally agree with headcanons that cassandra is fluent in saporian for whatever reason, most especially that she is herself saporian, but i think it is important to emphasize that that’s not canon and that lost lagoon directly contradicts this idea.

- anyways,

“Hundreds of years ago, Corona was two different lands—Old Corona and Saporia. The fact that this is written half in Saporian means that this book is genuinely ancient. No one speaks Saporian anymore except a few scholars.”

i’ve ranted at length about how the sudden death of the saporian language in a matter of centuries suggests some very unpleasant things about the ‘unification’ of these two countries and the suppression of saporian culture that likely accompanied it so i won’t get too much into it again. but it is worth noting - while ‘hundreds of years’ is equally as vague as tts’s ‘centuries,’ the (sigh) english portions of this book are written in very modern english, which suggests that the language of Old Corona was quite similar to the language currently spoken, which in turn suggests an upper limit of maybe three hundred years between the unification and now. yes, the worldbuilding is thin enough that howland may well have intended this to be thousands of years in the past and the modern english poetry is just a suspend your disbelief thing, but… i’m not inclined to be that charitable. especially when, if i’m remembering right, this book rapunzel found is said to be an original first edition of the poems which, like, that straight up isn’t possible if it’s supposed to be from many hundreds of years ago.

plus… this is an american book written for an american corporation by an author i can only assume is american, and americans love to pretend that a couple hundred years qualifies something as ‘ancient’ so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

we’re filing this one under ‘clear evidence that corona conquered saporia and then aggressively sanitized that history by calling it a love story’ and just… moving on now.

- cass grabs the book and bounces, fully convinced that the vague poetic ‘directions’ in the poem can guide her to the lost lagoon and the mystical hidden source of power it allegedly conceals. she stays up all night mapping out a path (because it’s inconceivable that the terrain has changed that much since the poem was written: another strong point in favor of the 200-300 year timeline on the corona-saporian war and unification) and then heads out.

- she heads west, which is impossible, because corona is situated on the western coast,

- this is the one bit of the book i’ve read multiple times and fuck me but i still don’t have any idea what this place looks like. cass scales a boulder, which… splits open at the top, with water running between the two halves. then there’s… a gulch? and at the end of that the two halves of the boulder(?) connect again. cass… crabwalks along the gulch or possibly the split halves of the boulder somehow. it’s unclear whether the direction of this gulch/boulder crack/river is perpendicular or parallel to the direction of travel cassandra was moving in when she climbed the boulder in the first place. it’s also described as a ravine but it’s so narrow that cass and rapunzel can both crabwalk along it and the whole thing is contained inside a boulder apparently and it’s so shallow that they can just hop down into the water and i do not understand what is going on with the geography here!!! help

#lost lagoon reread #rta #cassunzel

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imnotwolverine · 4 years

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Nerdflirt 2

Henry Cavill x reader twoshot (2/2)

Word count: 2.768

Disclaimer: good ol’ domestic fluff

Summary: I think we need to talk. Read this after part 1

This story is based on a prompt I received from @aestheticqueenb

Tagsquad: @tumblnewby

(Link to my Masterlist)

‘O.M.G. Did you see that? Henry Cavill, wew, what a total snack.’ Jessica, your colleague came bursting into the ladies room, her head automatically flicking towards the mirror to check out her impeccable make-up.

Jessica and you had been working at Brunello’s for three years now and were close knit colleagues. You worked the same shifts, had the same interests and a little gossip in the ladies room wasn’t out of the question.

Today seemed to be no exception, even though it felt strange after you hadn’t seen eye to eye for months as you had been stuck at home due to the Corona virus. This first day back at work sure was…strange.

Your eyes flashed back to your phone. “I think we need to talk” Talk? About what? Your eyebrows knit together as you thought this was very unusual for SirEltharin. What’s with the seriousness all of a sudden? He wanted to stop the amicable thing they had going on? Did he have like a wife he never spoke of, who had found out about his new “friend”?

‘Hey, what’s that?’ Jessica peered over at your phone, noticing you were staring a some chat message. You shrugged, quickly tucking the device back into your pocket. ‘Nothing.’ You smiled, stepping back a bit as Jessica stretched out her neck even further, curious by your sudden exhibition of mysterious shyness. ‘Nothing? Oh come on. Show me.’ She demanded, stretching out her hand. ‘Mm..don’t think that’s wise. Corona and all?’ You shrugged, knowing full well that even without the Corona virus you’d never had shown your phone to Jessica. You just knew that Jessica would have hijacked the conversation, stealing your phone for long enough to find out who the mysterious SirEltharin was.

‘What’s up with you today?’ Jessica shook her head, her body turning back to look into the mirror and apply some new lipgloss. ‘Nothing. It’s just..weird to be back. I mean. It’s literally been months. I haven’t been home alone that long..like..ever.’ You widened your eyes and also moved to look back into the mirror, your hip leaning into the sink.

‘So did Henry Cavill say anything to you? I saw you standing at his table Grimmy.’ Jess tried to sound only mildly interested, the brush of her lipgloss slowly gliding over her pouting lips.

‘Jess..ugh..you’re incorrigible.’ You rolled your eyes. ‘His table just wanted to order some drinks, nothing more.’

‘Right. And that’s why he rushed to the men’s room right after you left in a hurry?’ She clicked her tongue, laughing merrily. ‘Highly HIGHLY doubt it.’

You knit your brows together. Was it…? No. It couldn’t be. Like ..what were the chances your mysterious Insta-friend was some A-list celebrity. Ha. That’d be TOTALLY ridiculous.

‘Well I highly doubt there’s any correlation. I just had to use the restroom..and so did he..most probably.’ You shrugged and walked back out of the ladies room, waving Jess goodbye. ‘Got to go before the boss lord fires the both of us for lazying around. See ya later Jess.’

Before long you were swallowed back into the hectics of work, your feet zipping past the neatly laid out tables as you carried trays of food, your thoughts about SirEltharin easily pushed to the background.

One o’clock at night. Your first day back at work had been exhausting. Perhaps because your team had been slightly understaffed for the amount of guests. Perhaps because you weren’t used to working together anymore after such a long hiatus. And perhaps, just maybe, you, personally, had spent a bit too much energy gawking at Henry Cavill whenever you could, his eyes meeting yours every now and then. Jess was right. He was a total snack.

But now you were back at home. Reality settled in again. And that mysterious message still remained unanswered. Opening your Instagram your eyes immediately fell back on SirEltharin’s last message.

SirEltharin - ‘I think we need to talk.’ - 5 hours ago

‘I think we need to talk.’ You leaned into the old oak desk, your head tilting slightly as you crossed your arms. He didn’t look up, too engrossed with his brush as it stroked in minituous movements over the tiny plastic wings, their size no bigger than a thumb nail. A very nicely manicured thumbnail that belonged to one bear of a man.

‘Mmm.’ He hummed, encouraging you to go on, his eyes still trained on the tiny object between his fingers.

‘Babe.’ You sighed, your hand hooking under his chin and tilting his head back so he had no other choice but to look at you.

‘Yes dear?’ He smiled sweetly, albeit clear his attention was still elsewhere.

Talk, you mimed, your lips speaking soundless words, your eyes widening as he still seemed reluctant to the idea of talking, his eyes quickly flicking back to the miniature in his left hand.

‘Okay okay. Give me a moment to store this away.’ He sighed, offering you his sweetest of puppy eyes. Rolling your eyes you gave in, a soft chuckle escaping your lips as you crossed your arms again. ‘Go on then.’

With nimble fingers he placed the little wings back on a toothpick, ready to dry along with the other hundreds of small items that were pinned into the piece of styrofoam at the end of the desk. Your eyes followed his moves with interest, travelling back and forth as he moved to settle everything just right. When he seemed to be stalling a bit too much, you cleared your throat, alarming him to not test your patience.

‘Okay! Done!’ He quickly turned in his chair, smiling sweetly while looking up at you, your body still leaning against the desk. You sighed and looked down at him, trying your best to be stern but also desperately failing. Those big blue eyes could make you do and say anything, really.

‘What is it dear?’ He smirked, looping his hands around your wrists and pulling you closer to him, your body automatically stepping into the room between his legs, his arms quick to circle your waist.

‘You and I had a deal, remember?’ You quirked your head waiting for him to process, seeing the little cogs and wheels turning in his head. Then he remembered, his eyes clearing as his smile grew. The deal. Ah yes, the deal.

‘I remember, sweetheart.’

‘No more secrets.’ You reminded him.

‘Absolutely.’ He smiled, squeezing your buttocks with his large hands. You widened your eyes, admonishing him for his cheeky behaviour - literally cheeky.

‘So, why is the door to the garage locked?’ You raised an eyebrow.

‘Oh..that.’ He swallowed a chuckle, his teeth quick to bite his lip.

‘Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill. Are you keeping secrets from me?’ Your eyes widened even further, when his chuckle burst through, his lips turning into a wide grin.

‘Don’t be Grim, baby.’ He cooed, kissing your navel through the thin material of your shirt.

‘No playing games with me, good Sir.’ You tilted up his head again with a finger, raising your eyebrow in question. ‘Now tell me what you are up to.’

‘Well..okay..’ He got up at once, his height towering over you all of a sudden. He smiled down upon you, his hands moving to gently cup your face.

‘Paint Hen. Paint.’ You protested, but he didn’t stop, his thumbs now brushing over your cheeks.

‘Sshh it’s fine. My hands are clean.’

‘And your conscience? Clean as well?’

‘I guess you’ll have to see for yourself?’ He shrugged, playfully pecking your lips.

‘Henry.. I don’t like surprises..you know that, I..’ He turned you around with the least bit of effort, his hands settling in your lower back as he pushed you in the direction of the hallway, down the stairs and to the garage.

From his pockets he retrieved a pair of keys, making you gasp softly. Ah! So that’s where they went! The sneaky bear! The garage had this really old lock with only one set of keys - near impossible to get copied - and so usually it was unlocked, except for today. You had found it more then a little strange. Why would he want to suddenly start locking the garage? It was just the door from the hallway to the garage, there was no need to lock it..right? Did he buy something silly again? Oh please don’t let it be like a sea of a thousand roses or some corny shit like that. You always thought such a thing was a waste of money.

‘Okay, now, close your eyes.’

‘Oh Hen..no… No surprises. Come on. Just…’

‘Close. Your. Eyes.’ He pleaded gently, kissing your forehead.

‘Am I going to ..like..this?’

‘Stop talking.’ He chuckled, slowly turning the key in its crunchy old lock, your eyes now finally closed.

Please don’t let it be corny. Please don’t let it be corny.

Henry looped his arm around your lower back and walked the two of you inside, halting you somewhere in the middle of the garage. It was…strange. Wasn’t the car usually here? Oh dear… Did he make it into some tacky game room with big black leather seats? He had fantasized about it the other day. Oh please no. That’d be so..

‘Open your eyes.’ Your thoughts slowed as you opened your eyes to see…wait..what? This was not a thousand roses, or a bunch of stinky black leather couches. No. It was..a landscape..table? You moved closer, the TL light flickering above your head as you quirked your head, finally realising what it probably was. Ah.

‘Is this what I think it is?’ You looked back at Henry with a glint of surprise in your eyes. Henry shrugged casually.

‘A Warhammer ..game table?’ You started to giggle as you saw Henry’s eyes glimmer with boyish enthusiasm, even though he truly tried his best to play it down like it was nothing. It was more than a little clear he was enjoying every second of it.

‘Ah you know, it’s a shared hobby of ours and..the shelves are running out of space..so..I..’

You turned back to further examine the table. Deep oak wood just like the furniture in the study - it would probably fit just perfect there. And from the looks of it, it was made to offer the player full flexibility, thousands of tiny holes making a large grid, which could be used to secure building structures or landscaping elements. For now there were already a few of them placed, creating a small little sci-fi town at the far end of the table.

‘It’s got drawers too.’ Henry noted, stepping in and pulling at the sides, long drawers opening there. ‘Good for the pieces we want to hide slash store away. Separate armour pieces, guns, ..’

Your soft giggle turning into laughter. ‘Oh my dear lords Henry..hahahahaHAHA.’

‘What? Is it bad? Too dorky?’ His face fell a little flat, worrying that you didn’t like it.

‘Oh no. It’s just like.. like telling a woman; oh, and the dress’s got pockets too.’ You laughed as Henry gave you an even more puzzled look.

‘Which is..?’

‘Good Henry. It’s good. It’s great. Oh my. Praise be the God Emperor!’

You turned back to face Henry, your lips still stretched in a wide smile. He grinned, relieved you liked it, then stepped back behind you, looping his arms around you and laying his head on your shoulder. Your eyes kept travelling across the board, taking in the little details.

‘Hey..is that..are these our..?’ Your laughter quieted down for a moment as your fingers brushed over golden letters that were lain into the wood.

‘Initials. Yes.’ He nuzzled your neck.

‘What?’ You blurted out, your voice laced with your confusion. Like, you totally understood why he wanted to have such a table. Especially with the vast collection of miniatures he had collected and painted by now. But have your initials there too?

‘At the other side you can also find our in-game names.’ He pointed at another set of shiny letters.

‘SirEltharin?’

‘And LadyGrim. Mhm.’ He nodded into your neck, playfully biting your ear, his body pressing you into the table, your hip now stuck between the table and a very happy-to-see-you Henry. You twisted your body slightly so you could look him in the eye, your hip still stuck between him and the table.

‘Why?’ You asked, completely flabbergasted by this ridiculous gesture. You had been dating for a year now. And let’s be honest. Most of your relationships would end by this time. Guys would lose interest. Cheat. Start to become big boychilds who nagged you until you snapped. But Henry? Oh no. He ordered a custom made Warhammer game table with both your names engraved into it. Like..really just…why?

‘Because I really, really love you. From the moment I first saw you I just knew.’

‘Embarrassingly so.’ You added.

‘Yes..a bit, hmm?’

‘You stared all night.’

‘And you didn’t even know I was..well..like..that you knew me.’

‘Yea..you sneaky bugger.’

‘Will you ever forgive me?’

‘Mmm..gotta keep working on that.’ You tutted. ‘Maybe, repay in kind?’

‘What kind..hmm?’ He hummed.

‘Oh..you know..’ You pushed your hip into his groin, making some room for yourself to turn and face him, his body not wasting a moment to pin you back to the table, his frame crowding you as he leaned in, his lips hovering mere inches away from you.

‘Like..this?’ He leaned down for a heated kiss, his soft lips feeling like hot little pillows on yours, his dimpled chin scratching you just a little. And you liked it, humming into the kiss, his hands now pinning you fully into the table, spread at either side of your body.

‘Maybe.’ You sighed against his lips.

‘Well, at least I started..’ He grinned.

‘Gotta keep up with the practice.’ You agreed, squealing as he easily picked you up, his hands pulling your legs at either side of his hip.

‘Now let’s see if there’s more we can make on here.’ He growled, bending you backwards over the table, your arms now sprawling up over your head and your back flat on the pinboard like structure. You sure must have looked like you were some kind of large space monster, your arms only missing the little village with mere inches as you squealed and writhed beneath Henry’s administrations.

Let’s just say that his hands were not only good at painting tiny miniatures.

‘Oh you are quite something Sir.’ You breathed, your eyes meeting in between passionate kisses, his hands drifting down to the hemline of your skirt.

‘Always sweet LadyGrim. Always.’ He smiled.

‘Hmm..I think I might need to change my name.’ You smiled, giggling as he brushed feather light fingers over the inside of your thighs.

‘I can help with that.’ He whispered.

You crooked up an eyebrow. ‘Can you?’

‘..If you’ll let me.’

#henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill fluff #henry cavill x reader #nerdflirt #warhammer 40k #miniatures #painting #game table #board #ladygrim #sireltharin #surprise

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tangled-the-series-forever · 3 years

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Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon

As soon as I heard about this book, I put it on my birthday wishlist. But alas, my birthday had come and gone. No Lost Lagoon. Apparently my mom didn’t see it on the wishlist, so that’s why. Flash forward to Christmas Day and I held the book in my hands, which were trembling with excitement. Not really, but you get the idea. I had been waiting to devour this book for months on end and I did. So without further ado, I will present to you this handy-dandy post that encapsulates my thoughts on Lost Lagoon before, during, and after reading. I thought it would be fun to record my expectations and compare them to what I discovered. If you’ve read Lost Lagoon, what did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts! ❤️

Before Reading

honestly, I’m not quite sure what to expect. All I know is that there’s a lot of moments between Raps and Cass and I am ready for them!

maybe it explains how Cass came to be Raps’ lady-in-waiting? (I hope so because I’ve always wondered this...)

I think I’ll like the book as a whole (I’m hoping I’ll love it)

I’m guessing that it is cute, funny, serious, and adventurous all in one

maybe we’ll learn more about Cass?

will Raps tell Cass about her life in the tower?

what will be the ratio of lighthearted to serious moments? Am I more likely to laugh or cry? Probably both 😅😂😂

this book’s design is absolutely gorgeous! 😍😍😍 I literally just stared at it for a while beginning to read it

During Reading

Rapunzel’s hair hasn’t grown back yet? Oh, it’s her first week in Corona. Okay...

“Something was missing. I was hoping painting would help me find whatever that was, or at least help me end the afternoon on a happy note.” (is this relatable or what? I know not to chase after the elusive beast referred to as happiness, but I do often strive to end the day on a good note because I feel like Satan wins if I don’t)

Friedborg is Arianna’s lady-in-waiting? That makes more sense now. I always feel bad not knowing much about her or her background. I hope she makes some appearances in the book (no sooner did I type this than I look down and skim the scene where she teaches Raps how to sit. Crazy, right?)

Eugene referring to Rapunzel as “my girl” (so sweet 🥰)

“Eugene’s warm brown eyes and mischievous smile are irresistible from any angle” (she’s head over heels, ya’ll 😂💕😂)

first look at Cass 🥰 That’s my girl! Not only does she want to be part of the guard, but she wants to succeed her father as Captain! Go after your dreams, girl! I support you ❤️

“I’d rather shovel sheep dung than mend clothes and gossip.” Mood 😂😂

she recently discovered a hidden spot by using maps of an ancient underground tunnel system? How cool!

okay, but Cass’ animosity towards Raps is fair. And the fact that she refers to her as “that girl”? Priceless

names of nearby nations? Like, yes please!

the irony of Cass piquing Raps’ interest in her by leaving as soon as she can after throwing the shot put 😅😂😂

Cass worrying she got herself in trouble by practicing shot put. Poor thing!

the angst Cass feels towards her dad because he wants her to be a lady-in-waiting when she clearly doesn’t... so relatable (it’s tough when a parent’s expectations and our own dreams/desires don’t match)

I didn’t realize Cass created the maps herself! She’s so determined to prove herself to her dad, it hurts 😭😭

I wonder if the pools in Yultadore are what make up the lost lagoon...

“Her enthusiasm was so shiny and bright I had to squint” (I totally understand this)

pretty boy Eugene and his quips 😂😂

Cass trying to keep her distance from Raps by calling her “Princess” and firmly saying “Goodbye” before shutting and locking the door behind her

So that’s how Cass and Eugene met... okay, cool. Nothing too crazy or weird. I don’t know what I expected but it’s nice to know how their battle of wits began

I’m noticing a pattern in the words used to describe Cass: knowledgeable, brave, etc. I think that’s cool because I feel like her pessimism gets a lot more attention in the series. It’s nice to acknowledge her other qualities as well.

Arianna chose Cass to be Raps’ lady-in-waiting. I always wondered how she got the position. I’m loving how many little things this book is explaining 🥰

Also, just noticed the bird illustrations on the page of every new chapter. I wonder if there’s a pattern...

OWL!!! 😍😍 he literally “senses her distress”. I wish we got to hear about how they met

I wanted to cry for Cass. Poor thing just wants to follow her dreams. I like the way the finality of the decision was described. It’s so tragic 💔

“When Cassandra saw him [Eugene], her face clouded over like a stormy afternoon” 😂😂 I love how Cass doesn’t try to hide her feelings about people. It’s true that she keeps personal things close to her chest, but not when it comes to what she thinks of others. Honesty is the best policy, right?

I love how Cass continuously prompts Raps to keep reading the poem. She’s like, “Yeah, yeah, just get to the good stuff” 😂

about that poem... maybe it’s from Herz Der Sonne’s perspective. Could the “truth sealed in precious stones” be a reference to Zhan Tiri’s disciples and how they were trapped within stones? And what about the three gems? What’s the emerald tapestry supposed to be? Does it reference Saporia? I HAVE TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

“A few times I thought I heard some rustling behind me, but I kept going” (me: yeah, Raps is definitely following her) 😂

me when I realize the “emerald tapestry” is grass: 🙃

why is Cass so fearful around water? Did someone try to drown her? someone please tell me who is responsible so I can PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE 😅🤣

painfully ironic how Rapunzel can swim despite being locked in a tower all her life and Cass can’t

Raps nonchalantly offering to teach Cass how to swim just warms my heart 🥰❤️

okay, so Cass is responsible for her fear of water. That’s almost worse because it invites shame and self-hatred, which makes it more difficult to push against that fear or overcome it 😔

the importance of Raps agreeing to help Cass even after realizing she doesn’t want to be her lady-in-waiting is HUGE. This is something I feel like should have happened throughout Season 1 but never did (Raps supporting Cass and trusting that she has a good reason for things even if she doesn’t understand)

“But now I have to teach you which fork to eat your waffles with and stuff” 😂

the first time they call each other Cass and Raps 🥰😍🥰😍

woah, I didn’t expect there to be a time jump. I should have known because I kept wondering why they would depict Rapunzel with her blonde hair on the cover if this takes place before it comes back. Anyways...

I forgot to take notes as I read the majority of part 2. I’m currently a chapter or two away from part 3 and all I have to say is that something bad is about to happen. I can feel it. Dahlia’s definitely shady and so is Marco. I suspected Marie earlier but now I’m not sure. She wasn’t obvious until she was but now she’s not again so maybe she is guilty after all? Either way, Raps is making dumb decisions and I’m over here yelling at her to get her life together before she gets killed or kidnapped (whichever comes first, I guess) 😅🙃

Cass is absolutely roasting Rapunzel and I am here for it! Don’t mind me just munching away on my popcorn over here 🍿

Cass said she’s finally gonna leave Corona so I bet Raps will fess up and tell her that Dahlia’s been helping her with the painting for Cass so Cass will let her guard down and think Dahlia’s okay after all. But... she won’t be and they’re gonna realize she was the bad guy after all 😎

didn’t think Cass would get attacked 😅 also, the fact that she is highly skilled and powerful yet trips and twists her ankle is such a mood. Like, that’s literally me in a nutshell. She is beauty, she is grace, and she falls flat on her face 🤣🤣 while I’m here, I’m guessing Marco is her attacker because he probably has a rough voice

Okay, so I guess Dahlia really is innocent then... idk, I still think she could be up to something

I WAS RIGHT!

Marco’s the bad guy and things just escalated quickly cause now he’s got a knife against Cass’ throat 😳😬😵

so Dahlia’s innocent after all... I thought she or Marie might be working with Marco but I guess not (kinda disappointed to be honest)

okay so this Dahlia chick is exasperatingly hilarious 😂😂 she legit took part of Raps’ bookcase to use for an art piece. Like, who does that?

“Pascal shook his head, totally fed up” me too bud, me too 🤣

After Reading

so I did get to see how Cass and Raps first met (also how she first met Eugene as well)

I like how they combined their talents and passions at the end to create the map painting

There were a bunch of lines that made me laugh, although there were just as many that hit me like a knife to the chest (pretty much anything angsty from Cass’ POV) so I like how it made me feel all the feels (I felt like an investigator trying to figure out who the bad guy was and that was a blast 😆)

overall it was pretty good. I did feel like the characters were off (Arianna seemed like she swapped personalities with Frederick at times and Eugene apologized for joking Cass- as if!), but other than that I enjoyed it. There were a bunch of new characters being introduced so it was somewhat hard to tell who was bad and who wasn’t but I guessed correctly in the end. I was hoping there would be more than one bad guy but oh well.

I’m glad I read it because now I know a few extra things about Corona and its surrounding countries (plus I can finally read through all the Lost Lagoon related tumblr posts I saved for later... I was waiting until I read the book and here I am!)

If anyone needs me, I’ll be going through LL tumblr posts. I should definitely be sleeping but that’s not important 😅😂😂

#tangled the series #rapunzel and the lost lagoon #tts lost lagoon #lost lagoon spoilers #tts lost lagoon quotes #lost lagoon quotes

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ogkunty · 4 years

Text

Furcadia Toxicity

The complete log file is provided, everything here is unedited, this all transpired publicly and should be available for everyone to have access to at all times. Thank you. (19:14:03) Tacada: watching the riot police going (19:14:21) Kixy: Protesting doesn't do anything. (19:14:23) Kunty: Nah, tell people to spend time with their fucking families they keep trying to ride dicks/cunts out of (19:14:23) Tacada: theyre taking the hong kong approach the protestors. using cones n water to stop tear gas nades (19:14:32) Kunty: they riot if quarantined. (19:14:33) Ditty: god (19:14:37) Ditty: turned out as expected (19:14:45) Ditty: Kixy: People will make a bigger stink out of not being called the correct pronoun than anything important. (19:14:48) Ditty: so peoples pronouns are important (19:14:52) Ditty: not sure why you have to bring that into this lmao (19:14:58) Puffin: ^^^^^^ (19:15:01) Ditty: Maya: Just offer free heroin and meth, you'll see enough people. (19:15:02) Ditty: so thats gross (19:15:07) Ditty: not sure why you have to bring that into this either (19:15:08) Kunty: IDC about pronouns, why is that even a thing? (19:15:09) Kixy: The point was that people get more angry over stupid shit than anything serious? (19:15:15) Ditty: pronouns are not stupid shit (19:15:19) Kunty: They are (19:15:21) Kixy: Yes they are. (19:15:27) Puffin: Riots are the language of the unheard, fam (19:15:29) Kixy: Compared to SO SO many things. (19:15:34) Ditty: why do we have to compare (19:15:39) Ditty: peoples identities are extremely important (19:15:41) Ditty: you cant rank it among other things (19:15:54) Ditty: did you know humans have the capacity to care about multiple things at once or are furcadians not able to do that (19:15:55) Tacada: sorry ditty i started all of this O.O (19:15:57) Kunty: I agree with Kixy, pronouns are NOT important in comparison to riots, killings, and corona. (19:16:03) Ditty: why are we comparing them (19:16:06) Ditty: answer the question

SEE THE REST WITH THIS LINK TO THE HTML LOG FILE

----- ^^^ ----- ^^^ ----- ^^^ -----

The Devil’s Den Discord Meanwhile... Yes, you may Join.

/6:33 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: IMAGINE SEXUALLY HARASSING PEOPLE AND BEING TRANSPHOBIC AS FUCK ON FUCADIA [6:34 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: LITERALLY JUST FOR ATTENTION [6:34 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: WHO FAILED YOU [6:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: JK ITS YOUR OWN FUCKIN FAULT [6:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: "THE DEVIL'S DEN" THIS IS SOME SERIOUSLY TEEENY EDGELORD SHIT [6:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR GROSS RAPE FANTASY THESAURUS-FUCKING DESCRIPTION [6:36 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: UNAPOLOGETIC SEXUAL HARASSERS SHOULD BE SHOT [6:39 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: jesus your discord server is dead as fuck [6:39 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: small wonder you have no friends [6:39 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you are human garbage(edited) [6:43 PM] Hellcat: I'm here to fuck ass [6:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: its completely dead its no use [6:44 PM] Hellcat: Plague queens are my fetish tho [6:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: im here to fuck ass and fuck bubblegum [6:45 PM] Hellcat: Who failed you lmfao [6:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: yeah i had to rethink that cuz that'd mean it's someone else's fault [6:46 PM] Hellcat: It smells like poop and semen [6:47 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: as expected [6:55 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: [REDACTED] just thought yall should know your friend is a gross transphobe who repeatedly talked about my partner's genitals after being asked not to [6:55 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: and also claimed corona was a good thing because the world needs a "plague" [6:55 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: attention seeking teen edgelord bullshit [6:56 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: could only respond with "k" when it was brought up [7:08 PM] Ill: ? [7:09 PM] Ill: Logs please @Xzfgiiimtsath#6669(edited) [7:11 PM] Ill: It is without saying that unless evidence is provided, everything else is simply hearsay. I’m sorry to say that, without visible proof of this outrageous claim, you’re kind of just making empty accusations and slanderous character bashing. ): [REDACTED] [7:12 PM] Ill: Oh, I guess they just wanted to troll. ): I’m sorry, hopefully this can be cleaned up. [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: OH HI [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: JUST ASK HER SHE WONT DENY IT [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: she was pretty proud of it on furc [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: i can post logs but judging from your response to that you'd just say i'd edited them lol [7:29 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: is it really hard to believe that she'd say something like that? seems pretty in-character for her [7:31 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: i mean you guys jerk it to beast porn tho i dont have high hopes for any moral outrage here [7:31 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: but if there were any trans people in the server id def want them to know [7:33 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: she was shit-talking people who care about their pronouns [7:33 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: my partner, who is trans, tries to explain to them what's wrong with that [7:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: then Kunty's response is to repeatedly talk about not wanting to hear about their genitals(?) which has nothign to do with pronouns and wasnt part of the conversation [7:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: when asked to stop talking about their genitals she continues unabated just to piss them off(edited) [7:36 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you can choose to believe im just making this up for no reason if you want, but that would be really fucking brickheaded of you [7:37 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: care more about your shitty transphobic friend repeatedly who was bringing up my partners genitals randomly and without their consent(edited) [7:37 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: @ill [7:40 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: again, 0 hopes for you response, youre a fantasy animal r*pe enthusiast who says things like, "It is without saying that unless evidence is provided," [7:40 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: holy fuck get your head out of your ass [7:41 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: but ill STILL warn you of your transphobic friend since judging on your art youre lgbtq+ [7:43 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: are you just gonna wait til i leave again to respond? figures [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you didnt even ask them about it, just "NO EVIDENCE SO ITS FAKE" [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you'd really go that far to defend this person when you have no idea what happened? [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: god you fucking suck [7:44 PM] Ill: Okay but [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: but nothing [7:44 PM] Ill: You are actively here [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: wow youre a fuckin genius or something eh [7:44 PM] Ill: Why are you being aggressive? [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: because im pissed [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: obviously [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: stupid question [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: why are you deflecting [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: and defending your transphobic friend for no god damn reason [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz [7:46 PM] Ill: Okay, I understand that you are in an emotional state right now, but I would really need you to calm down first before coming off on a rage to people that have no idea what you are upset over. [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: ? [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: read my post dumbass [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: then you'd know [7:46 PM] Ill: No [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: LOL [7:47 PM] Ill: Here is why [7:47 PM] Ill: The stupidest things we say are said out of Anger. [7:47 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: are you legit like 14 [7:47 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: im wasting my time [7:47 PM] Ill: I will advise you a little more directly that you take time to calm down before you come venting. [7:48 PM] Ill: No, I am asking you to be an adult [7:48 PM] Ill: And not a raging tween with a hormone spike [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: said the literal child who thinks having emotions means "not being an adult" [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: lmfao [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: not being pissed about transphobia is a character flaw [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: work on it bitch [7:48 PM] Ill: I emphasize with your anger, I am not saying it is wrong to have them [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: emphasize with my anger [7:49 PM] Ill: I am saying that you are abusing everyone else for things we have no knowledge or control over [7:49 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: what the fuck are you talking about [7:49 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: im warning you about your transphobic friend and youre being a piece of shit about it [7:50 PM] Ill: You are acting like a child, I’ve been there and done that - it does not end well. Please take time to self care for yourself first so you can be an adult that can have a calm conversation [7:50 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: and you also fantasize about r*ping animals so again: 0 hope for you to have any concept of why things are wrong [7:50 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: total fucking human garbage [7:50 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: [8:05 PM] Ill: I am going to go step away before I address this further, I am losing some patience very quickly. I am kindly asking you to do the same so that you may take time to care for yourself during this clearly highly emotional state you are in. Maybe sip some cool water, dab your cheeks with ice, and/or take a moment with a loved one that makes you feel safe. I do not know what else to recommend here, I do not assume ignorance right away when meeting people, and I would like to think that other people can also step back to rationalize themselves down from tensions like these. I call this being an adult, growing up enough to get beyond yelling and throwing every accusation at someone simply because you’re angry. Accepting that it could be possible there is a grave misunderstanding, or maybe even misinterpretation of intent/meaning. As a person that never gets these opportunities to rationalize issues away from pure misunderstood hatred, I have never seen the actual outcome. In the adult world here, if we are angry with someone that offended us, we can’t just go into their family bbq and be screaming like lunatics about how their goat fuckers based solely on our interpretations, either. That would lead to calling the police... it doesn’t get you anywhere ... not in the adult world. You need to stop and care for yourself before you come guns blazing. You don’t DO this in the adult world and then call the adults staring at you like a tantruming toddler “children” because they won’t feed your anger. I’m sorry, for whatever it is you feel WE did to you specifically. You came here, though and whatever your assumptions are, I understand that there is no arguing with you or reasoning with you beyond you are the victim of some unproven atrocity.

- Xzfgiiimtsath#6669 - Hellcat#0186

(19:15:15) Ditty: pronouns are not stupid shit (19:15:19) Kunty: They are (19:15:21) Kixy: Yes they are.

#this is not okay #are you dumb #please read carefully #furcadia #furres #trans #misanthropy #unedited #real log #yes you may join #furries #furcadians #wow dude chill

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momofaddict · 4 years

Text

Well, I'm almost 5 months in. The struggle seems to get worse instead of better, which I halfway expected. I felt so numb in the beginning and distracted with having to take care of a baby at 52 years old.

It is absolutely bizarre the range of emotions that I have felt. I'm sickened by the relief that I feel not having a deal with her addiction anymore. I'm excited, exhausted, and totally feel robbed of the grandmother experience that I've spoken of so many times. I feel embarrassed and like a shitty grandma that I feel relief when my ex takes the baby oftentimes. He never, ever, ever seems exhausted or ready for a break the way that I do. I love that baby with every fiber of my being. But I think I have not yet mourned the loss of the life that I thought I was building for myself. Not to mention my ex barely works at all, so it's easy for him to have energy and excitement for taking the baby as often as possible. He has his own business painting houses. And between losing his daughter, his own depression, and the coronavirus pandemic, he has hardly worked lately. So on top of everything else, I'm paying his bills, because without that, he's unable to help me with the baby.

After Melody died we decided as a family that it would be best that my ex move into the dreaded condo. This is the same condo that my ex-mother-in-law lived in when she had her heart attack. And the same condo that my daughter overdosed in. But that fucking condo is paid off, it was bought with cash. So, because my ex was essentially homeless, he has to live there if he's going to help me. And the only bills are the HOA, and the utilities. Plus there's the added expense of Melody's car that my ex is driving, the car payments that go with it along with the insurance payments. So I'm literally paying all of those plus my own bills so I can have a few days on my own... Until the long awaited inheritance comes from my ex's mother's estate -which will be just enough for my ex to buy a van for his business, get his teeth fixed, and overall get back on his own 2 feet - then my paying his bills stops. Should be in June sometime.

I feel sickened even saying all this. I should be elated to have Melody's flesh and blood offspring in my life, and I am most of the time. Not to mention this kid is amazing. He is so joyful, completely has Melody's spirit, and is about as easy as a baby can be. But that doesn't make my struggle any less.

The level of guilt that I feel because I'm relieved when I have a break from the baby is reprehensible to me. The level of sadness and missing my daughter is incomprehensible to me every time that baby learns something new or does something new. I can literally hear her voice, her laughter, her love for her child every time he pulls up to stand or laughs or crawls or eats his dinner with his own hands or when he babbles "Mamamamama". That's by far when I miss her the most.

I also feel super guilty when I think about if she was still here, knowing the downward spiral that she was on before she overdosed. There's this devil and angel sitting on my shoulders arguing with each other about how I don't miss the addict, but I do miss my daughter. How do you reconcile that? I don't think you can.

I feel like if she was still here, she would be making my life a living hell as an addict, and would have probably died from Corona, because of the major lung and heart damage that she had done to herself, along with the reckless life that goes with being a heroin addict. But near the end of her life, she was literally fighting everyday to find long-term rehab. And what if she had gotten in? I feel like we would have been living the life that we had been for over a year that was clean and sober and fun as hell. There are just so many questions, and scenarios, it boggles my mind.

I found out a lot of stuff after she passed away. I found out that she was far more down the rabbit hole then I thought. She was living the addict life 100% over the last two to three months before she died. I thought that her grandmother getting sick and dying was the catalyst, for the most part. But now, as I said before, she was completely and utterly relapsed. How on God's green earth, after everything I've seen and been through, could I still be so fucking blind? And the pain doesn't stop there. Just the other day I found that my toolbox was missing. She clearly hocked it.

I'm just posting because I don't care what groups are out there for support, I still never feel like I can speak my brutal truth. Not to mention, groups like Nar-Anon and others are all about the God talk. I'm so fucking over the God talk. Can I just find a fucking group where we can just let loose of our feelings no matter how grotesque they are and not have to pray at the beginning in the end of it? I'm always strangely comforted to know when other people have been through what I've been through, while still being sick that this could happen to more than one person, not to mention hundreds of thousands of people. That's the only real reason I want to join any group at all, is just so I don't feel alone in all this mess. So in my mind, I have nowhere else to go accept my Tumblr blog.

I'm so lost, and so alone. I really, genuinely do not know how to deal with my shit. I need to be up and happy and perky for this baby, and for the most part I am. But when it's bedtime, and I'm playing one of mommy's videos for the baby while he drinks his bedtime bottle, he always smiles at a certain part, and I'm shattered every time. There's not a single soul on this Earth that knows how much pain I'm in, but not in the sense that one might think. Yes, I miss my baby girl more than words can express. But I'm so fucking glad the addict is gone. And I feel disgusted even saying that. I also feel a lot of guilt around not promoting his father's memories at all. There's a lot of resentment there, but I feel like the right thing to do is to make sure he remembers his father too. How do I resolve that?

And other logistical thoughts come to mind. Like I am going to be 70 when he turns 18. I'm going to die when he's fairly young (assuming I don't die younger of a car accident or some other stupid shit). It's so not fair to him. And I think about what am I supposed to tell him throughout the years? He's going to know who mama is thru videos on my phone, the pictures on the wall, and the gravesite that we visit all the time. I don't know how I'm going to answer the questions this sweet baby is going to have. I don't know how to tell him how much she loved him and make him understand that she did not choose drugs over him. Drugs chose her over life. I also need to make sure that I put in my will who will take the baby if I die. Let's look at the options... There's my sister who has desperately wanted a child over the last 10 years or so and is 48 years old. She's had mental health issues for as long as she's been alive. To put it bluntly, she's incompetent of having a child full time. She is also narcoleptic I think I mentioned before. Sorry honey, you've got to stay awake for this one. Then there's my ex, who loves the baby equally as I do. But he doesn't have a responsible bone in his body and is an anarchist and conspiracy theorist. He's incapable of taking care of a baby or child from a responsibility standpoint, not to mention the crazy shit he would put in his head as he gets older. Finally there's my son. He's pretty much the only one I would trust to do right by this child. But he's made it quite clear that he's never wanted to be a father. I did ask him about it, and he said that he would accept the task if it came to it. But I want someone who wants the baby, not has to take the baby, not just someone who would accept the responsibility.

I need help, no question about it. But no matter how many Google searches that I do, I can't find a single place or counselor where I can get very specific help for my issues. I don't want to let this baby down. I don't want to fuck him up either. I want to be the very best grandma and mother that I can be for him.

What do I do?

Oh and finally, I've been drinking a lot more - or more frequently. If it was up to me, I'd drink daily. Quantity wise, it's not that much. At most a bottle of wine, mostly when my ex has the baby, but sometimes after he's asleep for the night. I'm not trying to get drunk, per se. Just trying to unclench my muscles and stress. Sometimes it eases my sadness, sometimes it exacerbates it. Plus it helps me fall asleep, which has been a challenge for me since entering menopause. I take a 1/4 bar (.5mg) of Xanax frequently before bed to help sleep, and never up my dose (too scared). But if I skip a couple of days, by the 3rd day I have withdrawals that feel likey old anxiety attacks. I take a quarter & the symptoms fade. Well ain't that just the last thing that I need! I want to phase it out, but as long as I have sleep issues, a job, and a baby, I don't see how I can. I skip days purposely so it remains effective without taking higher doses. Now that I'm working from home, this would be a great time to phase out. But every time I try to skip, I'm tossing and turning all night - which is torture.

I just wish I could get into a yoga routine or any other exercise routine, as well as meditation. I know that that would help all of my issues. But gumption is not exactly my forte right now.

#narcotics addiction #drug addict #heroin addiction #addict #addiction #recovering addict #loss #death by overdose #overdose #mourning #heroin

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sureivy · 4 years

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is that HALSEY? no, that’s just IVY CALDER. SHE is TWENTY-FOUR years old and is an EMPLOYEE AT DON’T FRET & PAWS 4 LOVE. rumor has it they’ve been in town for FOUR MONTHS / TEN YEARS. on a good day, they’re CREATIVE & VERSATILE. but watch out! they can also be IRRESPONSIBLE & VOLATILE. TRIGGER BANG BY LILY ALLEN (FT. GIGGS) plays in my head whenever i think of them. can’t wait to see them around springhill!

hello my pals ! i’m amy ( 20 // est // she/her ) and i am super excited to be here! we also over here bringing back a fairly old muse (i,, apparently,, play her during election years,,) with a couple of tweaks, so we love that for me! also! pls forgive me if this is lowkey disorganized, we’ve been in and out of airports all day! can’t wait to contract that sexy corona!

QUICK FACTS:

full name: ivy rose calder

date of birth: may 2, 1995

*does not perfectly reflect the below big three zodiac chart because that’s too much math

zodiac big three: taurus sun, pisces moon, aquarius rising

gender & pronouns: cis woman & she/her

sexual orientation: bisexual ( preference for women bc we luv that for her but we also luv leaving things open to chemistry )

education: high school diploma

enneagram: 7w8?

mbti: enfp

moral alignment: chaotic neutral

positive traits: creative, versatile, passionate, compassionate

negative traits: irresponsible, volatile, impressionable, hedonistic

BACKGROUND INFO:

triggers: brief implied sexual abuse, suicide, a lot of death talk?, drug abuse ( desoxyn ), overdose

ivy lived the first eight years of her life in newark, nj. she had a mere family of three – her mother, a model-turned-stay-at-home-mom, her father, a politician, and herself. she was much closer to her mother, but she and her father were close at night.

when her mother finally found out about this, she wasted no time in taking ivy’s father’s side. what a good mom! instead, ya girl was already getting in touch with cps herself... but wow... it was gonna ruin his career in politics :\

“Now, one thing I lerned from Storys is, when something big is about to okur, a riter will go: Then it hapened! This tells the reeder: Get Reddy. Here I go: Then it hapened!” - fox 8

then it happened!

humiliated, clearly never getting a platform back, and absolutely bitter, ivy’s father killed himself before being sent to prison.

Very Tragique™

ok. so. to distance themselves from the poor memories, but to save money, ivy and her mother moved to springhill, temporarily sharing ivy’s aunt’s apartment while her mother began collecting enough money to buy an apartment of their own and keep it.

during this time, ivy was seeing a lot of people and she didn’t know why! they asked questions about her mental health, but she didn’t know why! i mean, totally not traumatic, right?

yes. instead of managing communication well, she became very fascinated by the concept of death. she had many questions about it, she, a youth, had some extended conversations with clergymen about it –– she never killed any animals, god forbid, but she was absolutely fascinated when she ran across them.

SO CLEARLY THAT WAS ALSO TRYING TO BE DEALT WITH.

ok, i’m gonna skip ahead a little. now in teen years and still fascinated by death, but in a healthier way!, and no longer in therapy because... like... that costs a lot of money!

she dealt with it the best she could. became enamored with music... because why wouldn’t she? some covers here and there, some originals here and there, living that youtube lyf, but not expecting anything to come of it. just liked validation! mood!

she also dealt with it the worst she could! became enamored with drugs! naturally, it started out small. some weed, some lsd, some molly –– you know, just drugs that you don’t typically think of as addictive. although her grades suffered, it was harmless enough...

upon graduating high school, she figured... no college. instead, with barely any money to her name, she was like “i... will go to new york... and i will become famous.”

and she did! she did go to new york! she found a few sketchy places that didn’t charge much for a few nights as she began networking - both socially and “i would like to be known for music” (i literally just forgot the word for networking like..... employment wise.... y’all i’m so dumb). when she’d made some friends, she began crashing on couches that were not quite as sketchy!

but :\ she did meet these friends in sketchy places :\ and they were like “ok here r some new and more addictive drugs for u to try!”

what she wound up abusing using the most was desoxyn. it kept her awake, it kept her focused, it even shed a few pounds to create an excellent figure! what wasn’t to love!

i mean it’s literally a prescription methamphetamine,,, when abused,,, literally almost exact same effects as meth,,, but when meth mouth, skin lesions, acne, etc aren’t occurring as a side effect? who was she to care!

20, she released an actual ep with the help of a super cool friend who made everyone call him puppy mills! wow! things were excellent! it wasn’t necessarily seeing mainstream traction, but there was a decent enough following! enough to release an album at 22!

perfect timing, btw! desoxyn was starting to become too expensive for puppy to afford and trying to fake having such a severe form of adhd that desoxyn would be prescribed as opposed to something like ritalin or adderal when it’s literally illegal to prescribe in some countries now?? too hard :\ but the money from the album helped her and puppy!

*olaf vc* puppy died. *end vc*

she was there for it too. she thought it was just a freak-out, took a LITTLE too much, but not OVERDOSE worthy... then he l i t e r a l l y died. and it was a painful death!

“oh wow! maybe prescription meth isn’t super cool after all! shucks!” but that was also an opening?? to visit death herself?? like... she didn’t necessarily want to die (sort of), but she wanted... an answer to the question that had plagued her her entire life... so she was like “ok hope i die then someone revives me but if i die then :\ i guess i die!”

did not die. but also did not get a satisfying answer to her question. the only way it would’ve been truly satisfying? if she had been dead for longer than a minute - then it would’ve given a definite answer! because the answer she received was just nothingness which, while peaceful... is it true?

she tried to detox alone, what because rehab is a business, and it... only... sort of worked. she would be clean for a few weeks, then fall back in, then clean for a few weeks, then fall back in. whenever she wasn’t just naturally focused and awake, or whenever what she was focused on was the past, she would fall back in.

i mean, a side effect is memory loss, so win/win!

she made the semi-wise decision to move back to springhill. wisest would’ve been to just move to a town/city she had absolutely no memories in, but better than moving back to newark!

so... without much to show, and with an unreliable streak, she knew she wouldn’t be able to start looking for much of an occupation – but she still needed money! so she began working at don’t fret out of a love for music, then began working at the animal shelter after completing training.

the main training was, of course, for putting animals to sleep.

FULL CIRCLE.

ah yes. how she pretends it’s healthy... even tho there are studies and statistics relating suicide to veterinarians and shelter workers who euthanize animals... ah yes.

has been back for four months now. love that. do not know how to finish this.

TL ; DR:

born in newark. moved to springhill at 8. childhood trauma that she is still carrying causes fascination with death. “i love music.” moved to ny at 18 because realistic. childhood trauma also causes dependency on desoxyn. releases an ep and an album. does not become famous, but they both have decent traction. moves back after an overdose. relapses... often. now sells records and puts animals to sleep. miss american dream since she was 17, amirite?

PERSONALITY / MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

one person one week, a totally different person the next.

wants to please people, but also wants to be her own person? it’s a whole deal!

in spite of her slight icarian incident, she still hopes to maybe one day become a real musician and performer. until then, we selling records and saying ‘goodbye’ to sweet animals!

can truly flip like a switch in interactions! does love ruining things for herself! almost always feels bad after bc :\ damn :\ alright :\

i’m very bad at these sections i really hate that i always include them!

is still avoiding healthy coping mechanisms. love that for her.

favorite movie is, unironically, the bee movie. favorite horror movie is cats.

SO GOOD at memorizing random lines or trivia. could probably recite literally all of who’s afraid of virginia woolf? other than that?? her memory is so bad. hate drugs for that :\

she uses her hair to express herself! (that sounds really boring.) ...she uses her hair to express herself!

but no. seriously. wears the black shag weave the most, followed by the blue/yellow combo ( we stan the badlands aesthetic ). occasionally forays into other colors and styles when money permits, but it’s usually gonna be one of those two!!

was an envy on the coast stan in high school which makes an inappropriate amount of sense.

will go out and steal the dumbest shit when she’s drunk. has a history of stealing chickens.

once again: hate that i always include these!! feel free 2 j consult the personality parts in the quick facts!!

CONNECTION IDEAS:

ok we gonna list some general ones for right now! all are open to multiple people unless there’s an asterisk by it!

close friends –– moonie, teagan,

ride or die

childhood friends –– moonie,

bad influence ( mutual or her on them ) –– veronica ( mutual ),

good influence ( them on her ) –– presley, hayden, gabrielle,

exes ( can be from high school or something like that if based in springhill, can be from 20s in new york if based in new york )

fwb –– trent,

will they, won’t they –– presley,

someone who knew her music ( can be neutral, a fan of it, or hate it afhkjsl ) –– presley, moonie, teagan, indiana,

will also possibly be sending in some wanted connections for things that are! more specific!

truly anything!! also up to brainstorm and/or look at yours if you have them!!

UPDATE: i have created a wc page so we luv that for me.

OK. like this or hmu if you’d like to plot!

#springhillintro #DONT WORRY THERE'S A TL;DR I. DIDNT KNOW WHEN TO STOP.#also!! am gonna leave the ooc post up for a few so i have reference for who liked it bc i must!!#depart for about an hour and a half and i do not want!! to forget!! y'all idk what im doing today.

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earaercircular · 3 years

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Munich International Motor Show : Now in eco mode

The International Motor Show in Munich has begun this Tuesday. Instead of models in front of sports cars, the providers are now presenting recycled cars and bicycles. This should underpin the change in the industry - but by far not everyone likes it.

If one last proof was needed that the German auto industry really wants to do everything completely different now, then it is this, well, airy demonstration. In the coming week, the International Motor Show, better known as the IAA[1], begins in Munich. And the Association of German Automobile Manufacturers, the VDA, [2] has invited the reporters to a preview - but not by bus or in an electric car convoy, but by zeppelin.

At a height of 500 meters you will glide gently over Munich and see how what how this probably most important German trade fair has changed. The IAA no longer only takes place in exhibition halls, but also right in the middle of the old town: at Königsplatz, for example, at Odeonsplatz, at Stachus or Marienplatz and also on the A 94 autobahn where people can try out futuristic vehicles.

In the past, the bigger the better

The change of perspective is necessary. Everything used to be clear, the rule of thumb was: the bigger, the better. Business is still running according to these rules - extremely well in fact, following current sales and profit figures. But in times of lightning-fast computers, threatening climate change and overcrowded cities, the managers in Wolfsburg, Munich and Stuttgart are increasingly discussing other things, sometimes with an anxious tone: Which robot car will come from the USA tomorrow? Which new competitor is behind the corner in China? What new forms of transportation are in demand? How green do you have to get? And yes, that too: How desirable are you actually?

When the industry gathered for the last time at the IAA, in autumn 2019, already a lot of certainties for so long in the automotive world had been shaken. And the car people hardly had any answers. This is one of the reasons why the IAA 2019 in Frankfurt turned out to be quite a disaster - which is not an exaggeration - that should not be repeated.

When Chancellor Angela Merkel visited, climate activists grimly climbed some cars and held up posters: "Climate killers". The BMW employees stood around their occupied cars, perplexed. The dented roofs were the smallest problem. The managers simply didn't know how to deal with this situation, for which there is probably no good solution. Halligalli [3] was also outside the gates: demonstrators blocked the driveway with bicycles. Which, by the way, was quite right for the mayor of Frankfurt, Peter Feldmann. The SPD man - after all, actually the host - was not allowed to speak at the opening. His speech was then of course known anyway: "Frankfurt needs more buses and trains, but not more SUVs," it said. And he also thanked the demonstrators - their fight for a better climate is important.

From then on, the disturbed car people only wanted to get away from Frankfurt. Eventually they agreed on Munich. Here, too, urban society does not embrace the auto industry. But it is probably the safest big city in the world, a main argument when looking for a new venue. "Here there are cavalry squadrons and, in case of doubt, a stable police cauldron," said someone from the industry who was involved in the decision-making process some time ago. But that alone is not enough to make the trade fair a success again.

Because the car itself has lost traction. In Frankfurt there were only a good 500,000 visitors. Half as many as a few years earlier. Even in this area of life, providers and consumers have migrated to the Internet. And the avant-garde is somewhere else anyway: Google, Apple and Tesla are leaders in robot functions and electromobility - and what are the Chinese actually building with massive state support? Hardly any of this could be seen in Frankfurt.

The big trade fairs were long regarded as high masses: the car show in Geneva or Paris, the motor show in Detroit - or the IAA in Frankfurt, that was glamor in all its facets. Whoever could went there. The others at least devoured the reports and photos about horsepower cars and the scarcely clothed young women that manufacturers like Ferrari put on hoods, which they thought was creative.

It was the time when car managers secretly hung around the competition's exhibition halls, sometimes more, sometimes less, to see what their colleagues were up to. When they met in the back rooms of the pavilions to make deals and start mergers. When men like the former Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche and the long-time Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn sat on the big stage, talking about cars, marriages and all sorts of other things and the audience wondered whether what took place was more of a cabaret . Ghosn later got into trouble with the Japanese judiciary and at some point fled to Lebanon in an instrument case. Behind the big cars was often also a perfectly staged drama.

The VW family owners made the managers act like gladiators in the Coliseum

In all these years, however, nobody had encouraged the knighting of the car more than Volkswagen. On the eve of the official car show openings, the Wolfsburg always invited people to a large hall, in Frankfurt, in Paris, in Geneva, regardless of the main thing: big. When every brand boss then presented his latest models in front of the big players, the music came off the tape at discotheque volume, when the bosses of Porsche, Audi and Skoda bowed to the powerful, the family owners Wolfgang Porsche and above all Ferdinand Piëch, then this copied Roman Coliseum-style events: Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant.

It was loud on those evenings in the VW Coliseum, very loud. Sometimes the Pet Shop Boys performed, sometimes the French film diva Catherine Deneuve, sometimes rope artists and dancers. Each act was kind of out of place in its own way. But these evenings weren't about the total work of art being convincing. The names were important. The celebrities. And the volume. When the twelve cylinders of the Lamborghini Aventador also cracked to the pounding techno music, to light shows and artificial fog, then you wondered how - for example - Mr Piëch, who was already older at the time, could stand it. Mostly he sat there, stoic, immobile, absent.

As soon as the show was over and the gladiators bowed to him, the emperor stood up and left the stands. Walked slowly down the stairs into the arena. Pretended to be inspecting cars, but the truth was he wanted to speak to the people, and so he did. Often only a few minutes, but that provided a topic of conversation for days. For example, when he said between half sentences that he would like to buy the Fiat subsidiary Alfa Romeo. Just like that, maybe also to drive the then Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne to white heat. Incidentally, the latter took revenge a few years later. When the Germans sank into the diesel scandal and Fiat was accused of having also manipulated diesel engines, the Italian said: "Anyone who compares us with the German company has smoked something illegal."

The "i Vision Circular" should consist of almost 100 percent recycled material

Perhaps the diesel scandal was the beginning of the end of the big trade fairs, in any case it accelerated change. As a result of the crisis, the evitably oversized cars were trimmed down to normal. At the same time, new competitors with new technologies pushed into the industry. Then Piëch and his top managers disappeared from the scene. And the new managers also break the existing professional rules. At the IAA 2019 VW boss Herbert Diess tried out the embrace technique with the demonstrators, he went almost completely out to the people, discussed with an activist of the "Sand im Getriebe"[4] initiative. That was a bit obnoxious on his part, but at least he had tried it.

Nowadays even in Munich, they want to appear more modern here and everything should run more smoothly, the industry hopes. And other content has been agreed. In particular, visitors can see electric cars, such as a stretchable sedan from Audi. And BMW wants to talk about the circular economy in its "Joytopia": How can mobility function in a resource-saving and low-CO₂ manner? The company wants to present the "i Vision Circular", a vision vehicle that consists of almost 100 percent recycled material - and is designed in such a way that it can be easily recycled. VW, in turn, would like to introduce the "New Auto", the robot driven car of the day after tomorrow. "Mobility is a basic human need - and fulfilling it in all its facets is an ever greater challenge for our society, which business and politics have to face," says VDA President Hildegard Müller and is certain that the "new IAA " will show ways how these mobility tasks can be combined:" efficiently, economically, socially and ecologically ".

It should be possible to experience it in the literal sense of the word, which is why the IAA no longer takes place in noisy, stuffy exhibition halls for the most part. But outside in the squares. Because that's where the industry wants to get into conversation with critics, at least in theory - as long as they don't trample on the roofs of cars.

A pleasant approach. The corona epidemic could destroy some of it. The incidence is rising again, now fences have to be put up around the scenes in the city. So this time there is an inside and outside, which will lead to conflicts, especially since a number of initiative-takers have announced protests and rather do not want to debate in the chair, from the anonymous alliance "Smash-IAA"[5], whose posters are hanging all over the city, to the Greens Youth[6]. Many criticize the car industry for promoting its event as a green mobility fair.

The critics are not entirely wrong. Because there are also those in industry who are unfamiliar with the new IAA concept, which wants to unite everything that rolls. We are car manufacturers and should just display our cars nicely instead of having to take buses, trains and car sharing as well, they say behind closed doors. These orthodox do not think much of the fact that bicycles are now also exhibited at the "new IAA", although some car manufacturers now offer them themselves. They can't do much with expert panels on "Smart Cities", instead they complain that the IAA is not international enough, which is probably due to the Corona epidemic. In fact, even VW is not represented with all brands, Peugeot, Opel, Fiat, Volvo, Honda and Toyota completely save themselves the appearance, even expensive super sports cars will not be on display, not even the US company Tesla, which will soon have a plant in Germany opened. The German competition is afraid of the Americans, but they also know that Tesla would attract people, potential customers for everyone.

Or should bigger things be negotiated after all, the transport turnaround, climate protection? It depends on who you ask. The car people are not in agreement. The IAA 2021 is a very exciting large-scale experiment in an industry that is currently having to find itself anew. And which sometimes relies on the tried and tested. On Sunday - after the Zeppelin flight - there is a VW break in the Isarpost[7]. A large hall, there is probably loud music, and of course wine and beer, Corona or not. As always. Because as exciting as everything is right now - it would be more convenient if everything stayed the same.

Source

Thomas Fromm & Max Hägler: Jetzt mal im Öko- Modus, in: Süd-Deutsche Zeitung, 3-09-2021 https://sz.de/1.5400871

[1]die Internationale Automobilausstellung [2] The Verband der Automobilindustrie e. V.(German Association of the Automotive Industry) is a German interest group of the German automobile industry, both automobile manufactures and automobile component suppliers. It is member of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The VDA represents carmakers including BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler but also counts foreign suppliers and foreign-owned carmakers like Opel among its members. The group is located in Berlin, Germany. [3] Halli Galli is a crowd awareness game for two to eight players. [4] Sand in the Gears; https://sand-im-getriebe.mobi/ Sand in the gears is an action alliance made up of various climate, transport and globalization-critical groups and was founded in early 2019. It sees itselve as part of the global movement for climate justice. [5] https://smashiaa.noblogs.org/ The International Motor Show (IAA for short) will take place in Munich from September 6 to 12, 2021. In the midst of the climate crisis, the large automobile companies want to celebrate private transport and hide what we all actually know under a green cloak: that they fuel the climate crisis for their profits. We don't want to leave that unchallenged. That is why we call for direct campaigns during the fair! [6] https://gruene-jugend.de/ [7] https://isarpost-eventlocation.de/

#electric cars #recycled cars #circular economy

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shortqueershakespeare · 3 years

Note

Do all the asks! Hope you had a good Christmas!! <3

In ausOkay here goes, all the asks from the end of 2020

1. How many lockdowns did you go through until now?

I actually can’t remember if I was in one or two in the UK, because I barely changed my habits, I stayed in my house throughout lockdown and non-lockdown. But either 2 or 3.

2. Ever been quarantined? (contact person, waiting for test result or positive test result)

Yep, right before the start of UK lockdown one because of possible symptoms in my household and once in Austria now.

3. Ever taken a Corona test?

Yup, I took one, a gargle test.

4. Have you lived together with someone during lockdown?

Yep, lockdown in the UK with my dad and sister, in Austria with my flatmate.

5. Something you enjoyed about lockdown?

Spending more time with my sister and also seeing my puppy grow up.

6. What bothered you most about lockdown?

Not being able to hug my mum when we lost our rabbit and not being able to hug friends.

7. Which change, e.g. home office, would you like to keep once it´s all over?

Teaching from home wouldn’t be bad to keep, also normalising wearing masks and distancing when ill.

8. Been to any Corona related demonstration?

No.

9. On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (completely), how well do you stick to government´s rules? Explain.

In the UK I would say 10, and I did more than stick to them, I rarely left the house except for walking the dog. In Austria 7 or 8, we don’t really have the concept of bubbles here but through lockdown we had our friend in our bubble. I did also accidentally break curfew at one point.

10. Favorite lockdown activity?

Sleeping, frankly.

11. How did the lockdown affect your work/education?

The end of my year at uni was done at home, with take home exams and now my work is going to be distance teaching again. And of course masks and distancing at in person teaching.

12. Any new hobbies you tried out during lockdown?

I taught myself to sew and cross-stitch!

13. Any new subscriptions you made due to lockdown?

Disney plus!

14. Anything new you tried to learn during lockdown?

Sewing, a few new recipes.

15. Any old hobbies you took up again during lockdown?

I started writing a lot more again and did a lot of crafting.

16. How did you keep in touch during lockdown?

Zoom calls, skyping, postcards.

17. Favorite mask you own?

My rainbow one!

18. Favorite online conferencing tool?

Teams for teaching.

19. Any new technologies and technological tools you tried out due to lockdown?

Zoom, google meet, MS teams and a few online games.

20. Have you been able to go on any holidays this year?

No.

21. Are Christmas markets allowed in your country?

Sadly not:( It was part of what I was looking forward to about my year abroad and I’m genuinely gutted about it.

22. How are you going to spend Christmas in this situation? (or whatever you are celebrating!)

I spent Christmas with my flatmate, we did polish dinner on the 24th, British Christmas on 25th and then called my family on Christmas day. I managed to make all of Christmas dinner all by myself which I was really chuffed with.

23. Any small business you support?

Yeah, plenty of local shops.

24. Any small artist you support?

When I find people on instagram or tumblr i try yeah!

25. Favorite online shop?

I am in a very bath having mood so bomb cosmetics.

26. Dumbest impulse buy?

My terrible Christmas hat.

27. First thing you bought when the shops reopened?

Quite literally no idea, but I would assume something food related.

28. Been to the hair dresser this year?

Nope, but I’ve been cutting my own hair for 2 or 3 years so that’s not unusual.

29. Got a new tattoo or piercing this year?

Nope!

30. What did you only start to appreciate because lockdown took it from you?

How easy it was to meet new people.

31. Favorite book that was released this year?

Contacts by Mark Watson or Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh.

32. Favorite book you read that year?

The same as above.

33. Favorite movie that was released this year?

uhhhhh bold of you to assume that I paid attention.

34. Favorite movie you watched this year?

101 dalmatians, a classic but gave me a lot of comfort.

35. Favorite series that was released this year?

Staged or the Goes Wrong Show.

36. Favorite series that you watched this year?

Same answer.

37. Favorite podcast that you listened to this year?

Cryptid Cape or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha.

38. Favorite artist this year?

Taylor Swift.

39. Total minutes on Spotify this year?

I don’t have spotify!

40. Favorite album that was released this year?

I can’t separate folklore and evermore.

41. Favorite album that you listened to this year?

Again, folklore and evermore.

42. Favorite song that was released this year?

I’m gonna go with dorothea.

43. Favorite song you listened to this year?

dorothea or rainbow by dodie or Sad Girl Summer by Maisie Peters.

44. Favorite Corona related song?

So Will I - Ben Platt.

45. What do you do to prevent yourself from going insane during lockdown?

Sat outside and watched the stars at night listening to songs, took my dog for a walk, did some writing.

46. Describe a typical lockdown day of yours.

I mean I’m in a kinda weird position of living with/being a kind of key worker. When I was in the UK, I would wake up at 9 to look after the pup, take her for a walk, do uni work or plan for my year abroad. Cook or help my sister cook dinner, play as a group with the puppy, then chill in the living room with family, play animal crossing. In Austria It’s been waking up half an hour before my first class, teaching, cooking and chilling.

47. Something you did during lockdown that you´ve been putting off for way too long?

Had some proper heart to hearts with my sister and organised my year abroad.

48. Trying new baking recipes or new cooking recipes?

Yeah! I made profiteroles and some new curries.

49. Netflix or Amazon Prime?

Prime because you can buy stuff too, it would be netflix but my dad keeps forgetting to tell me his password.

50. Did you get Disney+?

Yeah, I share it with a few friends.

51. Any new social media you started using during lockdown?

Not sure actually!

52. Any trends you fell for?

Not that I can think of?

53. Did you achieve more or less than in a normal year? Explain.

Frankly, since November 2019 life has been utter hell so if it was less I wouldn’t be shocked but I think the tail end of the year has been pretty successful, I moved countries, signed my first rent contract and am supporting myself for the first time. But it’s kind of a mixed bag.

54. Did you start therapy this year?

Nope.

55. Books or audio books?

Both but I find reading really relaxing but hard to get into. I’ve read a shit ton of fanfic though.

56. Audio books or podcasts?

Podcasts mostly.

57. Twitch or Youtube?

Youtube.

58. Attended any online concert?

Tessa Violet’s “the something to look forward to” tour

59. Favorite stream/streamer this year?

I really enjoyed Mark Watson’s Watson-A-Thon and also Broadway Jackbox, the Evan Hansen one.

60. Most used social media this year?

Either twitter or tumblr.

61. Yoga or long lone walks?

Long lone walks.

62. Did you get a pet this year?

Yeah! My puppy!

63. Did it snow where you live this year?

Yeah It snowed in Vienna for one day.

64. What were you doing when you found out about the announcement of the first lockdown?

I think I was in quarantine, looking after the dog.

65. Did you panic buy anything?

No, I don’t think so.

66. Ever ran out of toilet paper?

Yes.

67. Favorite lockdown comfort food?

Something with gravy.

68. Selfcare tips for lockdown?

Be gentle with yourself. Try to give yourself structure but don’t feel guilty for not being productive.

69. Did you use delivery services this year? For what kind of food?

God yes, supermarket a few times. And also meals, kebabs a fair bit.

70. Any weird coping techniques you developed during or after lockdown?

Not especially I don’t think.

71. Favorite game you played this year?

Animal Crossing!

72. Favorite drink this year?

Pornstar martinis.

73. Favorite food this year?

Christmas Dinner.

74. Favorite App this year?

Puzzle Page! I’ve enjoyed doing crosswords and stuff a lot.

75. Favorite memory of this year?

Drunk dog walk with my sister in the pouring rain.

76. Any plans you had for this year that you could realize?

Wait what does this one mean?? Any plans I COULD do? My year abroad I guess. Any plans I couldn’t - interrailing.

77. Do you even plan anything for next year?

I still have the rest of my year abroad plan.

78. Did you find new (online) friends this year?

Yeah - one at my uni who I didn’t know so that was nice!

79. Did you go through a break-up this year?

No.

80. Did you get into a new relationship this year?

No.

81. Did you do something creative this year? Tell us about it.

Yeah, I cross-stitched a bee, a snake and a butterfly and I also did lots of writing and a few doodles on my writing blog (lovenliterature).

82. Favorite blog you found on tumblr this year?

A bunch of wolfstar or ballum ones - I really like @aeternumregina and @shanastoryteller too.

83. What did you buy way too much of this year?

Take out and alcohol.

84. Did you win anything this year?

Nope.

85. Did you drastically change your diet this year?

Not especially, I tried to have more fruit though and I started drinking coffee.

86. Did you move to a new home this year?

Yeah! I now live in a flat in Vienna.

87. Did you do something this year that you never did before?

Signed rent and work contracts in another country. Also got corona.

88. Celebrity crush of the year?

Ben Platt or Andrew Scott.

89. Most expensive thing you bought this year?

My phone!

90. Been abroad this year?

Yep, I moved abroad.

91. Favorite tumblr trend of this year?

Just fucking waiting for more Destiel news.

92. New Years Resolutions you broke this year?

I didn’t make any this year tbh.

93. NYRs you kept?

Same answer.

94. NYRs you have for next year?

Just be nicer to myself and remember to renew prescription/make doctor’s appointments sooner.

95. How are you going to spend New Years Eve?

Drinking with my flatmate in my flat.

96. Will you get your fortune told in any way around NYE?

No I don’t think so.

97. Any new shops (online or real) you discovered this year?

Billa, our supermarket lol.

98. Any food you tried out for the first time this year?

Polish Christmas food!

99. How did you celebrate your birthday this year?

It was in Feb so had friends round and had drinks.

100. Was this ask game better or worse than 2020?

Better

#personal #personal post #personal posts #ask game #ask games #anons #answering questions

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selelunars · 4 years

Text

(1/2) Scariest Roller Coaster Ride.

Here is a big TMI: all roller coaster rides are scary. I think the only ride I can stand is "Alap Alap" which equals to kiddie's ride, but my legs have become too long for me to ride it comfortably. Sad.

But what I am going to call as "scariest roller coaster ride" is not the literal one. I know we tend to say that life is like a roller coaster ride--sometimes you're going up slowly, then on the next second you sliding down with a speed you never imagine of. However, the past two months really feel like a period where I am sitting on an endless ride, constantly going up and down. The difference with the regular roller coaster? I have no idea when it is going to end. (Spoiler: thank god it already ended now!)

Truthfully, I think the ride started when I entered the final year of university with two final assignments on my way. The end of 2019 was really crazy, as well as beginning of 2020, when I feel like I only came home to take a quick bath and sleep. It was a period when I was drained physically and mentally, with the crazy class schedules, insane amount of workload, and the hours I spend outside that leaves me with so little personal space to charge myself. But that is going to be a story for another day.

Skipping through the timeline, we all know that Corona pretty much ruined 2020 for all of us--especially for third and final year students. Some people have to postpone their internship, some people can't even continue their final assignments and could only be waiting patiently for miracle to happen. I was the second type of person. As my final assignment required me to do a laboratory activity, being at home was a total let down for me--I was mad that I had to postpone everything after struggling with lots of things, yet I know that I could not do anything about it, not even asking my lecturer because it would be pointless to ask about things no one sure about the answer. We were constantly given a false hope as when would the school be open again. Sucks.

This crazy ride started when last July, my friend and I gathered courage to ask our lecturer in charge of our final assignment after seeing some of our friends got a "replacement" for their final assignment. At that point we didn't expect anything, we just thought that it was best to have the initiative to ask about the matter first. Because if there was any chance of doing something, we really would do it in a heartbeat. I think it was the peak of our desperation after knowing that we really couldn't went to the lab in July after getting a tiny bit of hope about it, while our super tight rundown said that we HAD to start gathering data on first week of July if we want to make it to September cut-out.

My lecturers proposed that we changed our method in doing research to do a literature study. At that announcement, I was like: "YES MAYBE I GOT A CHANCE." Moreover, on the first glance, doing literature study might seem slightly more simple than doing an overnight stay in laboratory ONLY for one data. So right after the said proposal, I started to gather up some papers that could be useful.

It turned out gathering papers were not as easy as I thought it would be, given that we had very specific requirement for the papers to meet our objective. Like, when I thought this paper gave the end-product that was similar to what I wanted to talk about, they didn't use the procedure that fit my thesis and vice versa. It was like doing treasure hunts but make it on steroid, judging how I feel like I turned googled upside down while doing this first batch of papers-hunting. On first week, we only managed to gather less than 20 papers, which I only contributed in half of those amount while feeling like I've read hundreds or so. I mean, just imagine--back then, I spent hours in front of my laptop to see that by the end of the day, only one paper fit the "requirement" we had.

When we started put the data from the table into words and paragraphs, that was when the real struggle begun in this literature-study-in-the-making. At that point, we weren't even sure how would we present the data--were we going to do statiscics? if yes, what were we going to test? So we just started to put the explanations of the data and phenomenons we read on the papers. But here was the thin: you couldn't just compare what happened in paper A to what happened in paper B as the experiments weren't done in same conditions. So the best we could do was trying to find a reason why certain phenomenon happened.

That, too, was a huge struggle.

When you analyze your own data, you could think of lots of reasons why the experiment didn't turn the way you planned based on your experience. Even more, you could just blame your own inadequancy in doing the experiments or managing the data. But when you did a literature study, it felt as if all the questions and weird phenomenon had to have an EXACT and more detailed answer as it was something that has been researched before. It was a struggle too, because published papers were different from a full report--published papers only cover the main point of the research without telling the reason why such result was obtained. So this part of the research became another batch of treasure hunting. Aha.

For weeks, we had tried to think about how we could make a statistical analysis possible with the data that was super varied. On the same time, the lectures had begun for underclass so naturally our advisors get busy--and we were lost. Luckily, miracle happened when my friend found a method that could fit literature study without burning our brains in process. Oh, here was one funny thing, have you ever thought of discussing with your thesis advisor in the middle of the night? I never, but it truly happened to me! I was not ones who stay up late a lot, so it was real struggle but also blessings because we know that there weren't lots lecturers that were as dedicated as mine are. Just in the right time when we found a method, they approved the one we wanted to use as well as giving input on how we could possibly compare the data we have without risking the comparison being invalid.

With the new light and spirit, everything went smoothly as we now had clear direction on what we were going to do with our thesis.

But of course, just like a roller coaster, the calm phase didn't stay for a long time. I remember it vividly, right on the first day of September, my lecturers suddenly texted us that the deadline for final thesis defense is on 10th so we had to submit our report at 6th the latest. At that point, we were really surprised, considering that our final report was only 80-85% from being done and we were scared that there would be lots of things we had to revise. I think it was safe to say that the next two-three days we were like mad robot trying to meet deadline. I didn't even want to think about the time I spent typing and correcting--what I remember was at some point, reading about fats made me nauseous. HAHA.

Long story short, we have managed to DRAMATICALLY make it before the deadline. And yes, there were lots of last minute revision but I am not going to talk about it. Wink wonk. Our final defense happened on 9th and I swear that I started getting stomach cramps on the night before from being too nervous. The good thing about online seminars was, when you were the one presenting it to the audience, all you saw on your screen was your presentations--not the one who were in charge to examine you. I thought it was what made me a bit calm when practicing. I just thought it like this: "take it as if you are shooting for something and you only have one shot in doing so!" But on the same time, it was stressing since I was the one presenting, I couldn't have a cheat-sheet on my laptop HAHAHA.

I tried to make some cheat notes on post its, but I ended up memorizing everything. It wasn't hard, as I've read those words non stop for the past few months. It turned out that my biggest struggle didn't come from me failing to memorize things. It went smoothly and I maintained to keep calm throughout the presentation until I see my camera sensor went off. YES. My internet decided to fail me on important date despite my effort to use the best one available at home. It was really embarrassing especially since it happened during the time I was pointing out something. But other than that, it went smoothly to the point my lecturer even complimented our composure, which was a big accomplishment to me since during practice I was known to talk a beat to fast than I supposed to.

Another compliment that I remember clearly came from my examiner, who first appreciated us for reading 100+ papers during the process of this thesis. He appreciated our effort for making this truly a "proper way" to replace the lab and took the literature study seriously. I think it was one of the highlight since we were pretty nervous that the examiner would find a literature study unamusing.

I never talk about this out loud, but before my thesis defense, I had lots of issues regarding my confidence and my social skill. I asked myself, "would everyone even notice that I passed huge stone tomorrow?" after seeing the amount of support people give to my friends through social media, knowing I was (am) not the most sociable and communicative person on earth. It somehow made me worried that I might be the only one happy during a faithful day. I thought about telling people too, but I had this knack of being invisible that I would rather stay silent than knowing no one hear my voice.

However, the world told me otherwise. Even since the night before my presentation, people told me good luck and even asked whether they could watch my defense--those whom I thought don't care about me turned out to be the one handing me big amount of support. Some friends gave me encouragement through texts, some even sent me small treats to celebrate the happy days. I was really happy--the word was even understatement on how I feel. It wasn't the treats that made me happy--it was the support and the fact they cared enough about me to sent me an encouraging messages.

It turned out that there were more people who cared about me. All I had to do was to be more appreciative of those who care and love me instead of trying to fit with someone who I wanted to be with--who clearly didn't want me in return. I told myself that I should be grateful of people in my life while stop comparing how many friends to I have with the others. This was not a competition and I should stop putting people's life as the standard of feeling happy. That was not healthy at all.

You too, in case no one told you anything today, you have done well and you are loved by many.

Ah, do you think the ride ended after my final defense? Sadly, it isn't. But it would be too long if I make this into a oneshot. So I guess, this cliffhanger would work for now. Until then! Let's say... we just finished going down and currently going slowly while making our way up.

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monasatlantis · 5 years

Text

Kingdom Hearts 3 and why I was disappointed

(Obviously, Spoilers included.)

We were waiting forever for this game and I think that makes it natural to have high expectations, which of course also makes it easier to be disappointed in the game. Which, sadly, I was. I would give the game barely a 7 out of 10 and even tho that is not exactly bad, it isn’t as good as it should be.

The biggest disappointing point for me in this game was, that visiting the Disney-Worlds either had no purpose at all or that sometimes the purpose was never (fully) fulfilled.

We go to Hercules to find Soras lost powers. We do help Hercules solve the problem of his world successfully, but that’s it. We do not find a way to bring Soras powers back, we don’t even really get a hint on how to find them – besides of course, you think it is a worthy hint that Sora has to figure it out himself. I mean, come on. Even Donald says that this mission was a huge failure.

We visit Twilight town to find Roxas… or to find a way to bring him back. But the only thing we do for it is to convince Hayner, Pence and Olette that they knew Roxas and were his friends and for some reason that I totally do not get, we opened the way to the “other Twilight town” but I have simply no Idea why we did that. It definitely did not bring Roxas back. So once again, we leave a world without fulfilling our actual goal.

Next, we going to visit the world of ToyStory. At this point I totally lost track of why we even did that. I heard something about searching for Terra… but honestly? Did we do that? Not really, if you ask me. Besides, did Sora even know how Terra looked like or had any other hint how to recognize him, just in case he has lost his memories or something – which doesn’t seems so far off given the fact how long he has been missing. In this world, we did not even fulfill the actual goal of the world, all we do is save the people that were in danger because we interfered with this world. Yes, at least now the characters of the world know what is going on, but that’s all. I get why the characters couldn’t go back to their original world immediately, as Sora should have still been able to visit this world for training, hidden Mickeys and stuff… but why didn’t we at least found out how to get the characters back and then they decide to stay a little bit longer for Soras sake, since they can now go back whenever they need to? I felt really empty after this world, because I had the feeling all we did there was cause more problems. We solved almost nothing.

We move on to the world of Tangled. Still I was missing a purpose and here… something else starts that made me somehow dislike most of the Disney/Pixar-Worlds. Sora becomes less and less part of the story of the actual movie that the world is based on. He misses out on several pieces of information that are needed for some things of the story of this world to make more sense. And while it was mostly minor stuff in the Kingdom of Corona it gotten worse in Frozen and Pirates if the Caribbean. The World is finished and a few pieces of information about the future of the Characters that grew on Sora were given. Okay. At least we fulfilled the purpose of the world, although Sora himself didn’t find anything but new friends and the chance to gain more experience in fighting. And even tho we constantly meet members of the organization, at that point, most of the stuff they say doesn’t make any sense or lose any meaning at the end of the game. As we never officially found all 7 new lights, nor did we actually need them. It seems more like a cheap excuse for the fact that in every world a member of the organization showed up. Like, at least they needed a purpose, although the purpose of keeping an eye on Sora was good enough for them in my eyes.

In Monstropolis the Story was nice for once. The information given on the original movie weren’t that big, but enough to understand what was going on right now. It was one of the worlds I enjoyed a little bit more and also when Vanitas showed up, he was there with a purpose that made sense. He wanted Ventus to be finally complete and Sora has his heart hidden – which also finally added some useful information for Sora. (Which brings me back to the question of how Mickey and co. took so long to figure out that Terra was norted… because it also seemed weird that Sora so far only realized Roxas was in his heart, but not Ventus…) The worlds purpose was fulfilled and finally we see Sora doing something useful with his keyblade by locking a door. Wasn’t that always the purpose in the first two games? Weren’t we visiting the worlds to lock or unlock doors or hidden paths? Sora finally using his keyblades real power again made me almost happy.

When we were in Frozen, we had time to actually watch a fully animated version of Elsa singing “Let it go”, but we missed out on A LOT of plot of the actual movie the world was based on. If I hadn’t seen the movie, almost nothing would have made sense in this world. I wondered why Sora never quotet Olafs “Who is this Hans?” – line as his character was just some random dude who kidnapped Elsa and tried to kill her, because Sora had basically no idea of who that guy was and why he was doing what he was doing or what connections he had to Elsa in the first place. The end of this world was also… irritating at best. Sora did not talk with the Characters again after the worlds purpose was fulfilled. No explanations, like in Tangled, no one worried about the Snow Monster despite it being blown to god knows where when he helped Sora in the fight against dark Hans – granted, we see him well in the end, but it is so not like Sora to not worry about a friend who has helped them in need and then seemingly vanished after that. This world was advertising and minigames and that’s basically it.

The Caribbean was also a big disappointment for me (adding to the fact that I hated beein in control of this ship and fighting with it instead of with Keyblades and Magic most of the time XD) as we basically fell right into the plot of the second part of a two-part-movie and then got kicked right out of it again, then we were in again… but then we weren’t because we had to search for over a hundred fucking white crabs in PortRoyal as if there was nothing better to do with the plot of the world still somehow happening somewhere in the background. In the end Sora technically doesn’t even have enough information to understand what happened to Will or why Elizabeth suddenly is Mrs.Turner. In fact, he should barely be able to understand anything at all with the lack of informations he had. I think the only purpose of this world was Sora being able to be a pirate – don’t get me wrong, my little sunshine deserves that, but it would have been nice if he would have gotten what he deserved while actually being part of the freaking plot of that damn world.

San Fransokyo was my favorite world, as the plot was made in a way (like in Monstropolis) that made sure that the few informations we had about the original movie were enough to mostly understand what was going on. Plus, this time too, you were mostly part of the plot yourself and not just someone who goes in and out of the worlds plot so that in the end you have no idea of what is going on. Plus, I really really liked the plot of this world and the ending of it as well. Still… we had no purpose in this world either. Granted, bad-Riku caused the problems here, so I guess it was our job to solve them, but why did we go to that world in the first place? There was no reason for it. Like in almost all the other worlds, we were just there because… well… because the game needs us for some advertisement-reasons to visit Disney-Worlds before the real Kingdom Hearts Plot can happen.

And happen it did afterwards…

Something that also bothered me a lot was… that suddenly, no one had trust in Soras amazing ability’s. We’ve all seen Sora doing amazing things, things people never expected him to do. He was not suppose to be chosen by the keyblade and yet he managed to be the most amazing and most powerful of all the keyblade-wielders of that age. He never got his master-title and for some reason they constantly had to pick on that, but he is yet the one who in the end did all the hard work in KH3 and made the biggest difference in almost all of the battles against the organization and also finished of Xehanort. So… when he said he wanted to go save Aqua… why did no one actually see that he was the best choice for this mission no matter how you looked at it? If anyone can show Aqua the way home then it is our Sora and I can not understand how not even Riku, who said himself that Sora would be able to swim his way out of any darkness, believed he would indeed not be able to save Aqua. I mean, screw the power of wakening. I mean, putting aside that he never really needed that power to save Aqua or that this damn power was never lost in the first place, Master Yen Sid said it himself, that Sora can do miracles in moments of need, so why didn’t they trust he would be able to save Aqua the way he has worked countless miracles before? Mikey and Riku failed twice in the realm of darkness – since Riku would have probably not been able to win this one battle without him literally summoning Sora for help. Two fucking Keyblade Masters, who laughed about Soras wish to go and save Aqua, got saved by a guy who should not have been able to even get into the realm of darkness on his own and still managed to do so. The same guy, without a mastertitel, without finding the power of wakening in himself yet, also fought and saved Aqua himself in the end. On his own. How on gods mighty earth is it possible that people like Soras best friend Riku ever doubted that he would be able to do all this? That didn’t make any sense to me. It was totally out of character for Riku and they only did it to have an excuse to send Sora to all those Disneyworlds (for pure advertisement-reasons….) before the actual real Kingdom Hearts plot could start and I don’t like that. It makes the game look cheap in a way. I am well aware that Kingdom Hearts has always been advertisement for Disney. But this time, they overdid it, by not giving Sora any real reasons to actually be in most of those worlds.

I could also talk about the fact that it took them a damn lot of time to save Aqua, despite the fact that right at the beginning, Riku was urging Mikey on to hurry as he knew how awful it felt to be stuck in the realm of darkness. And yet they did spend multiple worlds in Hollow Bastion (and no, I am not even getting into the fact that all the Final Fantasy Characters were missing from this game…) with excuses like “finding someone that is connected to Aqua” – especially since at some point they must have screwed that idea again – or getting sidetracked and making sure they find a body for Roxas. Once again, a lot of bullshit that didn’t make much sense and once again only served the purpose to postpone the actual Kingdom Hearts plot. And I somehow get that it was necessary, but could they not have made it more realistic? Why not saving Aqua earlier but then she had to rest for a few worlds so Sora can continue his Disney-trip before saving Ventus? They did a really bad job in this game with mixing the plot of the Disney-Worlds with the Kingdom Hearts plot. And seeing that they didn’t do so well with the plot of the Disney-Worlds themselves, that makes you wonder what they were doing with this game.

A hug point that a lot of people seems to miss when the criticize Kairis role in the Final Battle is the fact that they were starting the final battle so damn unprepared. Lea and Kairi have hardly any real-world-battle-experience. They trained in a different realm, were time didn’t really matter. Did they really learn how to beat heartless and nobodys in this world? Did they learn how a real battle feels like? How different it is to fight when there is no one who would save you if you fuck up? Did they ever fought against a keyblade-wielder who had more experience the themselves? Honestly, Kairi has always been protected. There was this one battle in KH2 were she fought, but here too she had Riku by her side, who would have never let anything happen to her. And Lea might have experience in real-world-battles against heartless and experiences keyblade-wielders, but not while wearing a keyblade himself. I mean, that showoff-scene with Sora in the Big Heroes 6 world would have never looked the way it did if Sora would not have had gained a lot of battle-experience over the past years/games. But instead of sending Kairi and Lea to some of the Disney-Worlds to give them some more real-world-experience and training, they straight up all ran into the final battle. They didn’t even train together to see how they would do as a team. In all honesty, it is well deserved that they all die when the final battle begins… because neither of them was really fully prepared. Like… at all. I mean, look at Sora, he was crying and on his knees after loosing everyone. They should have emotionally prepared them for possible losses. They should have prepared them for a lot of things. I mean… how did they even beat that damn organization if they couldn’t even take on a mass of heartless? Not to mention that no one could beat the big bads without Soras help. And Lea lost his Keyblade for a moment (however that was possible… lets not talk about that) really early on in his fight and Kairi was abducted soon after the fight started….anyone still thinking these two were really prepared at all? What was Master Yen Sid actually thinking? Was he thinking at all? Was anyone thinking?

Something which was… a problem for me personally while playing this game was, that I felt like I had no time for emotions. Like… I was so happy when our two long lost trios were finally reunited but it just happened so… badly timed. I didn’t really had time to process it, to enjoy it. Also… the scene with Sora crying on his knees? I had tears in my eyes when I saw it in the trailer. When I saw it in the game… I felt… empty somehow? Like… I couldn’t feel it. And it happened so damn fast. And at first I wasn’t even sure that they were all dead and then suddenly we already were in this nice looking cloudy-place and… were searching for Soras. When was I suppose to let it sink in and cry with Sora? The same goes with the Ending. We have no freaking idea what happened to Sora. I felt so devastated after he vanished, but I barely cried a minute, because I… had no idea what I was crying about. What happened to my poor baby boy? And why was everything nice and fun and games before he suddenly vanished? What the hell? I really felt like the game didn’t give me any time to actually really, really, feel something. Everything happened so fast and there was no time to process it. And I wanted to feel this game so badly… this also disappointed me a lot.

(We could also discuss how it wasn’t weakening Soras abilities that Ven and Roxas left his heart… but… lets not even go there…)

Of course, the game had also some good side. The worlds and characters looked simply amazing. The CGI-scenes were looking even more awesome. I have to tell you… most of the time I was simply drooling over Sora because he looked so… amazingly beautiful all the time. Speaking of Sora, it was also really amazing to be finally reunited with him. I really enjoyed being on an adventure with him again. The nostalgic-feelings he brought by simply being himself were amazing. The game was a bit overdoing it with the possibilities in fights, if you ask me, because I really think Disney-World-Rides AND transforming Keyblades were a little bit too much. But I appreciate the possibilities it could bring – although I personally never managed to use the possibilities as I found the Disney-Rides rather… annoying most of the time, as they kind of disturbed my kind of battle-style. Anyway… I was also really happy about what they did with the Story of Big Heroes 6. It felt… really good how this turned out in the end. It was also really nice that we could control Riku and Aqua for a bit, but I would have preferred actually controlling Roxas as I remember how much fun it was to fight with two Keyblades XD Also I have to tell you, I am currently watching my cousin play the game and I really have to say that you have to appreciate all the foreshadowing. Starting with the freaking Intro and continuing with the various talks with the organization-members that doesn’t usually make much sense the first time…. but make so much more sense the second time. I really loved how my cousin sat there with a big questionmark over her head while I was sitting there like: “OH! Now that all makes so much more sense!” XD And of course I was happy to be able to save all those people and reunite them with their friends. It felt good and right. Anyway… as you can see, there is a lot I do not like about the game, so getting a 7 out of 10 was actually pretty generous of me if I look at it now.

0 notes

bestworstcase · 4 years

Photo

in the wake of once a handmaiden i’ve seen a few posts drawing comparisons between the final shot of cass in the ruined throne room and either (1) varian at the end of queen for a day or (2) varian and the saporians in the throne room mid-rapunzel’s return. which... sure, i guess, but to me both of those feel a bit superficial, as parallels go. they’re like the “hu hu hu gothel said ‘now i’m the bad guy’ and so did cass (but the context and meaning is completely different)!” of comparing varian’s villain arc to cassandra’s SO INSTEAD!—

the plot of handmaiden is best understood, imo, as kind of moral argument between cassandra and zhan tiri. cassandra’s side of the argument is “i am not a bad person; i did bad things, but i can fix it.” zhan tiri’s side of the argument is “you can try to fix it, but you will fail, because just like me, you are a bad person.” cass pursues a convoluted plan to “fix” things that involves very low risk to her (and also in no way addresses the bad things she has actually done) because she is, deep down, afraid that zhan tiri is right. all zhan tiri has to do is coax that fear to the surface, then gently place her thumb on the scale to ensure that the fear becomes reality, to make cassandra snap, thus “winning” the argument.

when cassandra exclaims “zhan tiri was right!” after breaking free from the amber, she’s talking about the existence of project obsidian, but subtextually, she’s also talking about this argument. that’s is why the next thing out of cassandra’s mouth is “you want me to be the bad guy? fine. i’m the bad guy.” using zhan tiri’s potion against rapunzel and taking over corona is cass lashing out in rage, yes, but it also has an edge of defeat: zhan tiri is right, cass is a bad person.

thus, this final shot with her in the destroyed throne room of corona is not a triumphant moment; it’s grim, and dark, and she sits heavily and hunched over in her stolen throne. this is cass at what i would argue is her lowest, most miserable moment thus far. here, cassandra has achieved everything she’s worked for this entire season: she has total control over the moonstone’s power, she has usurped rapunzel’s destiny, brought corona to its knees, and claimed her throne. she has her power. she’s won—but she’s still angry, still hurting, still lost, and now that she knows who her “friend” is, she’s beginning to understand the ways she’s been (figuratively) imprisoned and (literally) manipulated and thus controlled, and the worst part? she has wholly accepted that she is a bad person, that she can’t escape from being a bad person, and the only thing left for her to do is embrace it no matter how awful it makes her feel.

she has never been more powerful, or more trapped.

NOW LET’S TALK PARALLELS!

in this scene at the end of tangled: before ever after, rapunzel faces her father’s wrath and disappointment. her coronation was crashed by a group of criminals who wanted to kidnap everyone in attendance, including her father, and rapunzel beat them soundly and saved everybody. instead of celebrating her accomplishments, however, all frederic can see is the danger she is in: because her famous magical hair is returned, and because she threw herself into a high-stakes battle against his express commands. he demands an explanation that she can’t offer fully (because she has to lie about cassandra’s involvement in the black rock adventure, in order to protect her friend from being forcibly sent to a convent), then doubles down on “protecting” her by controlling where she goes and what she does, literally imprisoning her in her own home.

like cass at the end of handmaiden, rapunzel’s victory earlier in the day should have been a moment of triumph, as a culmination of everything she longed for at the beginning of BEA: freedom, excitement, the ability to live according to her personal values and truths. instead, it’s soured and becomes a source of misery.

and, just as cass’s hollow victory at the end of handmaiden is visually represented by the framing, so too is rapunzel’s. in both shots, the throne room is in ruins and looks dark, cold, and unwelcoming, and cass and rapunzel are both dwarfed by the enormity of the room. but there are also a few key differences:

in the handmaiden shot, the camera looks straight into the throne room, making the set symmetrical save for where the black rocks and rubble have disrupted the order of the room, and cassandra is positioned in the exact center. this emphasizes the power cassandra has over this situation. fundamentally, this misery is something she did to herself. zhan tiri has never forced her to do anything; manipulated situations, twisted facts, and blatantly lied to persuade her, yes, but even so, every step cassandra has taken along the road to razing corona is one she took of her own volition. she isn’t intrinsically bad; she does have a choice.

whereas in the BEA shot, the camera is set at a slight angle and places the tiara in the center of the shot such that it separates rapunzel from frederic. rapunzel isn’t trapped by her own hopelessness, as cassandra is; frederic’s authority is real, and the conflict between them hinges on his overprotectiveness and the expectations and responsibilities of rule, both represented by the tiara (this symbolism continues through the rest of the scene; when fred confines rapunzel to corona and orders her not to speak to the black rocks to anyone, he hands her the tiara. it’s a physical symbol of the weight of his authority). while the handmaiden shot establishes that cass is sitting in a deep, dark pit of her own making, the BEA shot shows the precarious balance of rapunzel’s relationship with her father, the authority he has over her, and foreshadows his role as the major antagonist of the season.*

(*varian is the villain of season one, but fred is the antagonist in the sense that he is the primary obstacle preventing rapunzel, the protagonist, from achieving her goals.)

further, the BEA shot is much brighter than the handmaiden shot, with lots of moonlight pouring in through the windows and the side door and the polished floor reflecting it back while in the handmaiden shot, the entire room is in shadow save for a tiny beam of moonlight filtering through a broken window pane. the comparative brightness of the BEA shot reflects the comparatively lower stakes (rapunzel is being confined against her will, but the kingdom is not in immediate danger, and rapunzel has friends/allies whom she can rely on for emotional comfort, whereas in handmaiden the kingdom is literally in ruins and cassandra has driven away everybody but her emotional support demon). at the same time, the handmaiden shot is not entirely without hope: that last, lonely beam of light falls through the window and lands directly on cass, symbolizing that she is not past the point of no return.

lastly, comparing these two shots side by side is interesting because they can represent the broader conflict between rapunzel and cassandra. rapunzel struggles against external forces that seek to confine her or steer her in directions she doesn’t want to go, and most of the time she comes out victorious (by the end of s1, the clash with her father set up in the BEA shot is resolved with him encouraging her to leave corona and find her destiny). in contrast, cassandra’s struggle has always been internal: she is fighting her self-doubt, her fear of abandonment, her inability to believe that she is loved, her discontent with her station, and her tragedy is that she keeps trying to fix this internal problem with external solutions, and failing because she is applying a bandaid to a hemorrhage. and the end result is that she is left like this: sitting on a broken throne, in the ruins of a palace, in the dark, completely alone, with nothing.

BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET!

let’s talk about varian.

varian’s villain arc and eventual redemption gets compared to cassandra’s a lot, and that makes sense because there are some obvious similarities. they’re both friends of rapunzel who eventually become frustrated with her, blame her for their problems, and lash out violently out of anger. however, i would argue that in spite of this, they are much more different than they are similar, and to talk about why we’re going to talk about the real parallel between varian and the handmaiden shot. and that’s this:

this shot, when varian is being dragged away by the guards in the middle of queen for a day, does not take place in corona’s throne room, but it has the exact same visual symbolism as both the handmaiden and BEA shots. varian is made insignificantly small in the enormous but somehow still claustrophobic halls of the palace, and the lighting is dark and cold to reflect the emotional mood of the scene. he is rendered powerless visually (he’s minuscule compared to rapunzel, who occupies fully a third of the shot and is the character with all the power in this scene) as well as literally (because he is being dragged away by two guards who are twice his size).

and, like both cass and rapunzel in the handmaiden and BEA shots, a moment that should have been triumphant for varian—he finally made it to the palace after a grueling journey through a deadly snowstorm, and he found the one person who might be able to save his father!—goes horribly wrong, and he’s reduced to begging frantically for rapunzel’s help while the guards drag him away from her and, back home, his father dies.*

(*of course, quirin does not actually die, but varian has no way of knowing that a year and a half from now, rapunzel will be able to safely release his father from the amber. for purposes of this analysis, quirin is effectively dead.)

ANYHOW. the key difference between this shot and the handmaiden shot is that for varian, this moment of powerlessness is a) not in any way his fault and b) happening at the very beginning of varian’s descent into villainy, rather than at the end or very close to the end.

this scene sets the rest of varian’s villain arc in motion. his agency is taken from him at a critical moment, preventing him from fixing a horrible mistake that cost his father’s life. instead of collapsing and being eaten alive by his own guilt, varian funnels his anguish into rage directed at rapunzel, who is easier to blame than himself (especially because he is fourteen and doesn’t grasp that rapunzel did make the correct choice when she refused to leave corona). this blame and anger is exacerbated by rapunzel’s inaction after the storm; in failing to check up on him, she leaves varian to fester in resentment until he finally just snaps.

like rapunzel in the BEA shot, varian is up against an external force (rapunzel) preventing him from achieving his goal of saving his father, and his villain arc is a kind of counterpoint to rapunzel’s s1 struggle against her father; they both fight back against their antagonists, she against fred and he against her, but varian does so in a violent, destructive way and thus ultimately fails to achieve his goal; rapunzel by comparison fights back by asserting her independence and relying on her friends/allies to help her, and ultimately achieves her goal by persuading fred to see her as a capable individual rather than an object to be guarded.

like cass, varian lacks rapunzel’s extensive support network; he spends his villain arc alone, stewing in his resentment and guilt, spiraling deeper and deeper until he is unrecognizable as the innocent boy he used to be.

unlike cass, however, varian has a clearly-defined, straightforward external goal: he wants to free his father and punish rapunzel for her inaction. as i discussed earlier, cassandra by contrast is trying to fix an internal problem with external measures, which is why her villain arc is so much messier and more complicated than varian’s, and why it has been driven partly by cassandra falling victim to the manipulations of a demon who keeps passing her concrete goals to pursue with the promise that achieving them will fix her problem.

and this is why varian’s handmaiden parallel happens at the beginning of his villain arc while the handmaiden shot occurs at the end or very close to the end of cassandra’s: the QfaD shot is varian’s inciting incident, but the handmaiden shot is cassandra’s end result.

in the QfaD and BEA shots, varian and rapunzel both have choices taken from them, and everything they do from this point onwards is driven by their drive to fix that injustice. but in the handmaiden shot, cassandra has given up on her ability to choose, and this comes at the end of a long, self-destructive road. unlike varian, whose villain arc hinges on an external problem with an obvious, clear-cut solution (save his father), cassandra’s villain arc hinges on an internal problem (she is unhappy, anxious, and hurting) with no real answer, and because she is unable to seek comfort from her friends (who have spent a year not treating her well in general) and rapunzel specifically (because rapunzel doesn’t hear her when she voices her pain, and because a lot of her pain is connected to or outright caused* by rapunzel), she clings to the first source of emotional validation and comfort she encounters—which happens to be an ancient, evil being who’s really just using cass as a means to an end, and who keeps telling cass, “if you do this bad thing, you will fulfill your destiny (and your pain will stop).” and cass, because she doesn’t know how to fix her problem, and because zhan tiri starts with small, palatable ideas like stealing the moonstone, swallows this hook, line, and sinker.

(*to be completely clear, the pain rapunzel caused stems from their argument in the great tree, cassandra’s subsequent horrific injury, and the way rapunzel blamed cass for everything that went wrong in the tree. i am not talking about gothel’s abandonment.)

all of which is a somewhat long-winded way of saying varian’s villain arc and cassandra’s villain arc are not really comparable, because varian’s involves him turning to extreme, violent, desperate measures to save his father, while cassandra’s involves a self-destructive downward spiral exacerbated by the machinations of a demon, and the timing of when these parallel shots in QfaD and handmaiden occur in their respective villain arcs perfectly encapsulates that difference.

#rta #tts #cassandra #rapunzel #varian #tldr i rant about visual symbolism and framing and character arcs #for ... a long ... long time.#tts spoilers

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thefearlessgastronomist · 7 years

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¡ FELIZ CINCO DE MAYO !

Wednesday May 3rd, I decided I wanted to put together a meal for Cinco de Mayo.

Yes, my new favorite thing is to cook dinners for those days/holidays I previously ignored. Saint Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, even some of those silly miscellaneous days (like National Burger Day, which is on May 28th). Any chance I can get to try new foods and cuisines, or to appreciate another culture, I’m totally game to do so.

The trick for this particular Cinco de Mayo-inspired meal was planning and executing it in a day and a half. Not super hard, but it took some brain power, and thankfully some very accommodating family members who picked up some groceries for me.

The bonus for me is that I have a friend of Mexican heritage, so I did what any resourceful person would – I asked her for ideas of what I should make for Cinco de Mayo. Her response was tostadas and margaritas, because she knows I love tostadas... but I wanted to take this opportunity to branch out this time; I want to do something I haven’t done before. So we came up with some form of steak tacos that would also put my red onions to use, and Mexican rice.

But do you really think I’m one to end there? Nuh uh. Absolutely not.

Let me tell you, the internet is a very helpful place. And sometimes a little too helpful. My browser’s bookmarks (and I’ll admit I use multiple browsers) are packed with recipes I’ve saved for some purpose or another. Sometimes I question why I bother with cookbooks... but then I remember that I’m also a sucker for pretty printed materials.

For this particular occasion, I first took the time to do a bit of research about the day itself. Because really, like most people I’m sure, I didn’t know much about Cinco de Mayo other than its part in Mexican history. Similar to Saint Patrick’s Day, it would seem the typical American uses the fifth of May as an excuse for excessive drinking. Even more so this year because Cinco de Mayo falls on a Friday. Ohhh, lordy. But I, for one, knew that it was more than just a day for Corona and tequila. Not to be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day (which is September 16th), Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the unexpected defeat over the French Army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. (x) Funny enough, it is really only a minor holiday in Mexico; it is much more popular here in the United States.

Read all about it here ➛ (x)

MENÚ DE COMIDA

Tacos 3 Ways – Carne Asada/Steak with pico de gallo Shrimp with mango slaw and Chicken with chipotle lime crema (and pico from the steak)

Elote (Mexican Grilled Corn covered in mayo, chili/cayenne powder, and cotija cheese)

Mexican Rice

CHOOSING THE MENU

Once I started actually searching for recipes, it turns out I want to cook a lot of Mexican food. It’s part of the reason I’m doing tacos three ways; because I didn’t have it in me to choose just one. I’m a big fan of having options, since my family doesn’t always agree with my unorthodox cooking habits; they also have vastly different taste buds (i.e. my mother liked the sweeter taco; my brother preferred the spicier). The fact that it may or may not give us leftovers to feast on for a few days doesn’t hurt either.

I adore seafood, so when I found a recipe for a shrimp taco (and fish too, but I’ll save that for a later date), I absolutely wanted to include it. Even better when it involved mango slaw. You (or at least I) expect Mexican food to be relatively spicy, so the use of a fresh, non-spicy element as a topping is most interesting to me. ONE RECIPE COLLECTED, moving along.

I know that seafood isn’t doesn’t always fly for everyone, especially when it comes to tacos, so I also went for the classics: chicken and steak. I’m starting to realize that I have underappreciated steak as a Mexican food ingredient and I now want to actively fix that, starting with this Cinco de Mayo dish. I naturally didn’t want just plain a steak taco filling (how boring), so I found a recipe for carne asada – which is steak that is marinated and grilled. The typical marinade for asada is called “mojo,” a combination of cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and olive oil, sometimes even a few other spices. I am fascinated by marinades (and smoking meats), so I was definitely excited to give this a try.

As far as chicken, I have done it a few times before to make it easily this time around. But I came across a recipe online that included a mixture for crema, a flavored Mexican sour cream. This particular chipotle lime crema included sauce from chipotles in adobo, but because I decided to include/use this chicken recipe at the last minute, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to the grocery store again to get said adobo. A lot of my work in the kitchen involves improvising, so it doesn’t surprise me that I’m improvising this time. I substituted tabasco sauce.

Within the last year, I have also developed a great appreciation for corn. More specifically grilled corn with those streaks of char *swoooons* So delicious. As such, I have had my eye on trying elote – grilled corn, Mexican street food style. Grilled in or out of the husk, brushed with mayonnaise, sprinkled with a chili powder and cayenne powder mix, and then sprinkled or rolled in cotija (very similar to grated parmesan)... Anything that takes a regular ol’ corn on the cob above and beyond is on my list of must-tries.

And Mexican rice, an excellent final addition as per my friend’s suggestion, is a very intriguing concoction. The rice gets toasted in olive oil with garlic and jalapeño; a large can of tomatoes gets pureed with onions; the two get combined along with some other ingredients in a symphony of boiling bubbles that will also make you fear for the safety of your hands. But it’s worth it, so worth it. It’s one of those things that, once you make it yourself, you have a greater appreciation when you eat it somewhere else.

So, some firsts for me:

Jalapeños and Serranos. Anybody else intimidated by these little peppers? Because I sure as hell am. It’s kind of like spiders; the smaller they are, the more deadly 😆 But I am the person crazy enough to take a small piece of each as I was mincing them and try them, separately, and straight up. I literally said out loud to myself, “I regret this decision” because my mouth was immediately on fire. But hey, just another day of fearlessness in the kitchen.

Mortar and pestle. Fun fact: I’ve had a mortar and pestle for a while. Mostly, like so many things in my life (*cries*), I have them but they generally go unused until I rediscover them by some divine intervention – like when cooking food for Cinco de Mayo. When I was making the mojo for carne asada (don’t worry, even my Mexican friend didn’t know what mojo was) and it called for a mortar and pestle to mash ingredients into a paste, I was like OKAY I’M DOING IT, I’M CHANGING THE PURPOSE IN WHICH I OWN THIS MORTAR AND PESTLE AND IT IS NOW FOR CULINARY USE. And strangely enough, I think I’m actually excited to use it more in the kitchen. Though I’m also the person that, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking to myself that I’d like a bigger one than the one I have. Anywho... someone please send me recipes or things to make using a mortar, please and thanks.

Making rice on the stovetop. We have a Pampered Chef microwave rice maker that we typically use when we eat rice. That’s all I’ve ever used to make it in my life. Let it be known that on May 5th, I made my first official rice dish on the stove top. And the way Mexican rice is cooked, I definitely thought I was going to hurt myself (i.e. pouring a boiling hot tomato-onion puree into the Dutch oven pot that held the rice. Ayyye-aye-aye; the way that boiled was crazy!) The rice was a hit though. 👍 I just suggest adding extra chicken stock or broth to moisten it up a bit.

The Experience

Here’s the truth: This meal took me about... 4 to 4.5 hours to make. In my defense, I will say that when I’m making something for the first time, I’m always a little slower because I’m trying to get my bearings. Not to mention I was doing this by myself (by choice, of course), doing each dish one at a time rather than multiples at the once, and also trying to clean up as I went along.

The thing is, despite how long it took and the eons of dishes I used (I’m pretty sure I used every major gadget I own in order to make this), the amount of time didn’t bother me. Not a single bit. People will often say to me “See? That’s why I don’t do that, it’s too much work” ... or “Just cut corners and use store bought stuff because it’s faster.” BUT I LOVE DOING IT THIS WAY. No matter the fact that it takes 4 hours to cook and only 5 minutes to eat, it is infinitely more satisfying – at least for me – when it’s done from scratch and/or from fresh. Okay sure, I used a few things from the frozen section of the grocery store (i.e. the ears of corn) or items from a bag/can (bagged coleslaw and canned diced mango) to cut a few corners here and there, but it was still amazingly delicious and didn’t taint the flavors and freshness of the meal one bit.

While all of it was AMAZING (seriously, my mom said so!), my favorite parts by far were the mango slaw and elote. Coleslaw and corn will never be the same for me. I dare say forget butter, always put mayo on your corn on the cob; the Mexicans know what they’re doing.

And my gawwwwd, the love I have for cilantro has deepened so much thanks to these dishes. It’s such a fantastic compliment to the mango and the coleslaw; I could eat it – the slaw and cilantro – forever.

I gave some to my friend, to get it authenticated by someone who knows this type of food well. I had to know if I did right by the Mexicans! 😂

And I did! It wasn’t spicy to her standards (us white people have more sensitive taste buds obviously haha), but she told me that it was the best (or some of the best) Mexican-American cooking she’s had. 🙌 Thanks, lady!

Turns out that I need to make tacos like this more often. Everyone seems to love them! I'm stoked for the next time I make Mexican, and can use all those other recipes I found

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wittynshitty-blog · 7 years

Text

CH 7-An UN-FAVORITE Mistake!

Every mistake is a lesson…………………..is that so!

Can a mistake be so big that it can change a person to his soul and by soul I really mean SOUL.

So there he was looking at the land of Korea on the brink of the ocean,he was excited as for the first time in 8 months he will be going out of his ship, the feeling of land touching his feet,the people yes the people which he will be meeting after so many months, and yes not to forget the call cards which he will be getting by which he can talk to his parents and with her for as long as he may like,he was just so excited only by the thought of it.

He reached Korea in the following afternoon,he got his call card and dialed her number 7838____70! he knows it by heart with a smile on his face he pressed the call button.

he-hi

she-hey

he-i m Geeta speaking

she-i know,i know your voice

he-really i wish i could say the same to you but it seems like i m talking to a man!

she-Ha ha! very funny! tonsils!

he- you and your tonsils!

she-hmm….

they kept on talking for hours about everything they can think of like how much they miss each other,how they are just living life by counting days,how her coaching is going,how one guy have sang a song for her “muskurane ki wajah tum ho”, then all her other new friends in her coaching class etc etc.

After 2 to 3 hours of talking to each other,he said aacha i have to call my parents too and after that will talk to you tomorrow as you are busy in studies too!

he called his parents talked and then it was it! he got carried away in the call so much that he forgot the timings to go out,so didn’t went out to see Korea and went back to his work.

The next day 04/07/2014

he got up and called his parents it was his mom…..

mom-wait a min,you said your call card have talk time of 4 hours,you only talked to us for half an hour what happened to the rest? what was the need to buy new call card?

he-yeah but friends bhi toh hai! he said laughing!

mom-friends? only one i can think of!

he-correct! usi se baat kar tha!

mom-okay but…………anyway aur tell whats going on?

he-nothing much just some pending work! and ermm but…….? kya?

mom-nothing its just i have seen her roaming with other guys near our house!just that i thought you both don’t talk that’s all.

he-aaray it nothing we do talk and the guy you are talking about is her cousin brother who is there,she did told me about him!

mom-okay but no brother roam around in green belt with her sister.

he-mom? its okay! forget it so where is dad?

then he talked to his dad then his sister about everything, how are they doing etc etc!

when he cut the phone the 1st thing on his mind was guy? roaming? green belt?

He thought of calling her but realized its too early for her i mean 8am and she will be up impossible he smiled and opened his Facebook.

he went to her profile and started looking at her pics,she looks cute in each of them miss photogenic he said to himself he did saw some pics of her with some guy but she have already told him about it. its okay he said he did felt jealous of him being near her but hey its 21st century not medieval period.

He went out in Korea roaming here there, buying stuffs and then in the end he was forced by his colleague to go inside a bar and by bar I mean it was a strip bar which was common in Korea.

suddenly he had an idea!

he called her

he-hey beautiful

she-hi and why so romantic?

he-aise he,aacha im out in korea streets and need your full attention now!

she-ermm okay! tell?

he-I am outside a strip bar and i promise i wont go inside if you say “no need to go inside come back and you can have your own show” he started laughing!

she-NO! (she said firmly)

he-really no? (he got a bit disappointed and angry at the same time,he shouldn’t be angry as he asked her that in a funny sense but that straight no was not expected by him)

she-yeah no! ain’t gonna happen!

he-(wanted to scream, have a great walk with whosoever you are roaming with but instead…….) okay im going then!

she-enjoy (frustrated)!

he was frustrated too, he was thinking why he is getting upset and angry?, he meant that in a funny way surely she would have said no but the tone of her voice that firmity, that was just what made him angry,he started thinking she would have at-least said something funny or smart, but NO ,okay he said to himself “no after 3 years, and also for doing exactly what she said all this time,okay what was the last thing she said “enjoy”,okay lets not disappoint her now…………..and started walking towards the strip bar.

Back in India she was thinking what just happen? why he was asking all this all so sudden? is he okay? is he sad or is he just so excited? I might have used or said something else as he did sound angry by the end………….!

Back in the bar!

Strip bar of Korea was a complete disappointment for him,it was a dim lit hall where on one side there was a stage for singing karaoke, the middle part have chairs where you can order food and drinks, on the other side there was a bar where you can drink and on the far end there was a door for private shows and the girls who are serving should be paid well enough to get a private show from them,and not to forget the private shows means a 20 min lap dance if you can last that long and if you are lucky enough then you might have a kiss or two!

He-“what?” his first reaction after hearing all the terms and conditions of the bar, which was told to him by his senior officer.

He-“so what are we going to do here sir?”

senior-“I am going to have drinks and wait for the guys you can tag along,and you sure you didn’t wanna go inside?” (he said with a wink)

he-“No,having kind of a rough day got up in fight with my gf”

senior-“women’s god’s mystique” (he sounded totally drunk after finishing up his 2nd bottle of corona)

he- “right”

senior-“you want anything to drink, no issue bill is on me”

he-“no thank you sir,you know i don’t drink”

senior-“yeah but they do serve cold drinks too if you like to have it”

he-“okay i might like coke sir”

so after that they waited for there remaining members,talking about all the time they have spent together,talking about home,how much they miss it etc etc

suddenly he was disturbed by a female voice

she-hey Mr. Cold drinker?

he-Ermm excuse me? are you talking to me? (he noticed a girl from the bar)

She-yeah I am talking to you only, so if you don’t drink then why are you inside the bar?

he- I am waiting for my friends that’s all.

she- oh i see, so from where you have come to Korea?

he-India

then they kept on talking about each other what they do, why they do it, he literally asked her “so why do you work in a place like this? she replied with a faint smile “i have a son and need money for him as his father have left them both” he “oh i see i am sorry,i don’t know what to say”

after that they again talked and talked…….he was happy because after so long someone out of the ship was actually talking to him, understanding him etc etc,they end up being friends and exchanged there emails.

she-so since you don’t drink, i might have to pay for my own drink just to talk to you more!

he-yeah maybe but if you want you can go and talk to someone else, its okay i understand its your job!

she-(with a smile) no i prefer to sit and lets have a bet!

he-bet? (seeming excited)

she-okay i am going to order a drink and you wont be paying for that if you can undo the hook of my corset with one hand? (she said with a wink)

he-(he remembered the video he have seen in school where Zac efron undo the hook of girls corset on a TV show) you know i know the trick!

she-okay lets see! (she said by bringing her back to him)

he did it and was really surprised by himself that he can actually do that, and for the readers (the girl didn’t got naked she was holding the front part so nothing came off and logically i think its not possible too, okay and he did put the hook back on and surely this time he used both his hands)

so after that they bid good bye to each other he did kissed the girl goodbye and went on with his group!

While coming back he remembered how he forgot the issue he had with his gf due to all that what happened after that! he did made a good friend he was happy about it!

he opened his Facebook to text her sorry but……………..his senior have already posted the pic of him and the girl from the bar on his wall!

Shit!-he screamed!

and texted to his gf-“jealous?”

she-“little bit but there was no need to go that far?”

he-” I didn’t went far,actually my senior posted it and i will tell you everything what happened! once i reach the ship over the call!

she-okay!

he got back and told her everything and by everything he meant everything including the girl,the bar,the talk,the bet,the goodbye kiss. (he thought she would have done the same as that’s the way it was suppose to be)

she sounded a bit angry and said “kya zarrurat thi jaane ki”? (what was the need to go inside the bar?)

he couldn’t help his frustration and cut the phone and typed on fb!

“What do you think,how i feel?

Missing you for all these months,every time i think about touching you,hugging you,i miss you so very much and because of that i asked about the show,but no you think i asked that out of lust and now you think i did something with her too isn’t it?

Am i angry or not we will see! but till now i am okay! And if you think i am mean and i don’t care for you, i am there for you just out of lust,well its okay,maybe you deserve someone better!”(THE MISTAKE)

he went offline with tear in his eyes, he was hurt cause she was the one who understood him so much and why she is unable to understand him now,why she thinks he is a lewd person.

she on the other hand was shocked after reading his texts and texted him back, but there was no reply from his side to her apologies………….!

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