#also loves to sing and recently found the best hobby that is fishing

[panzershrike-pretz]

top five ocs :3

Lou you like to make me suffer???? It would be easier if this was like. A top 50 ocs 😭😭😭 i can't possibly choose only 5 🥲👍 (i'm lying)

Since I have Too Many Characters(TM), I'll narrow it down to choose between the 92 (oof) that already have ther ref sheets drawn :] and this is in no particular order, it's just numbered to look pretty,,,

1. Pangea Coldwell

She's a fairly recent character I created back in 2022. She's Peggy's handler, and a second world war medic (i was in my biggest WWII era at the time). She's a gentle and kind woman, with a big heart but almost no patience at all; usually seen as smart by her peers and fast-to-act, despite whatever's in he way.

Despite her interest in medicine, she's extremely fond of ice-skating, acting, singing and reading - some of her favorite hobbies that don't include her insane dog.

Her power is that of future-sighting, though it's not nowhere near as strong as Horace's. She sees only bits and pieces based on probability, normally of the immediate future (at most, she sees only a few hours ahead, while Horace can see years in advance).

2. Peggy

The absolute sensation. My baby. THE stupidest thing to ever walk this planet. Precious bean. The devil's child, born to put everything in her mouth (and hopefully eat it before dying). The one and only:

Peggy, the Belgian Mallinois is a medical-rescue war dog owned by Pangea. Don't worry, she's dumb even while at work. She has a magical shield against projectiles, so she's a walking barrier (RIP for everyone who tries to hit her with a shoe while she howls and barks)

Things that she eated included (but are not limited to): frogs, fish, insects, rocks, shoes, bones she found where bones shouldn't be, twigs, a dead starfish, baby turtle, tried to eat a crab but failled, a hat, her own leash at least 3 timess, wood, alcoholic beverages (she's fiiiiiine), a mushroom, triessd to eat a snake, etc.

3. Constance Ezebel

The Goddess of Oceans and Curses. I consider her to be one of the strongest Gods among my characters; she's as ancient as water.

Since she was cursed to stay stuck on a Loop in Tortuga, unable to be free at sea again, she takes her anger in those who choose the waters to be their homes. She controls floods and storms, but also when fishing is good and the seas are calm. The fate of all who chose the sea lie within her hands - and those of her se monsters and creatures, who do her biding.

She's a fucking bitch who never does anything for free and usually only accepts stuff if it's paid with a soul or sacrifice,,, she also throws the best parties so she's forgiven :3 and she's half goat so she's cool

4. Stiggy the Stygimoloch

He was just a joke I turned real. He's extremely OP (the indistructable, extremely agresssives and immortal little dinosaur. Who is VERY little and VERY angry) that I turned canon because I love him so much xD

His first appearance was back in 2019 (you see, he's OLD). His backstory is that all the anger in the universe fuels him and he was created by the Gods as a weapon or something. Anyway the only person who he listens to is Miss Kestrel

He's my fave joke character and i'm very glad I made him canon (even if he lives in a forest in the middle of nowhere without ever being interacted with xD)

5. Athena Crow

Death and Freedom Goddess! One of my mains like Pangea and Peggy! Blithe's iresponsible First Mate and Constance's biggest pain in the ass (Athena cursed her to be forever stuck on land and Constance cursed Athena to forever roam the seas. They are bestfriends but also hate each other's guts)

I have SO MANY thoughts about this woman it's unreal,,,,, I love how much of an annoyance she is in general. Alway here to make a fool of herself and have people questioning why the fuck they follow her

Form this I discovered that: of my favorites the only one who is not a complete and utter imbecile is Pangea. Good for her 🤡👍

#pretz oc #pretz ask #🥨🪶

[lydiaalin]

Who’s your favorite OC right now? What’s their most appealing traits/themes to you? 👀

I got a couple favs at the moment but Ryan definitely takes the cake right now. She's a relatively old OC but I recently got back into the game she's from (guild wars 2) and all her shit got brought at the forefront of my mind again and I'm like (shakes fist)

there's so much I love about her, I'm not even sure where to start lmao

she's a sylvari, a race of plant humanoids who emerge fully grown and retain the knowledge of the sylvari before them, to a degree, they're not a hivemind though, each sylvari being its own person. besides being mentioned that they don't have a heart but do have a digestive system in one (1) article, how the sylvari work is largely unknown which is great for headcannons

I'm really pleased with her visual design as well, but I think at the end of the day the thing that really appeals to me about her is the story, both what I've created for her and the actual gw2 story

she's technically only 15years old as a sylvari, though she'd likely be in her late 20s - early 30s as a human. She emerged from her pod with her twin brother Wyn and went straight into a proto-reality world war (whatever the fuck means, wiki) where they fought for 5 years, losing her brother in the process. Coming back from that, she was thrust into commanding and then leading an alliance against the dragons trying to destroy the world, along with every other world disaster and none stop crisis for like 10 years so like my girl ain't got no fucking sleep

and the plot points or things she's been through that literally drive me insane thinking about are, pretty major spoilers SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET SPOILERED FOR GW2 GET OUTTA HERE

having to climb up a seemingly endless tower built like a maze, full of hallucination inducing poison, having to fight enemies she's not even sure are truly there, just to get to the top to put a stop to it

trying to save a city that no only was bombarded to hell and back, but was also filled with a toxic miasma, which still affects people near a decade later - bonus points for all the civilians screaming in the background while you're trying to find your way around the ruble

sylvari turns out are, or at least were, dragon minions and the dragon they come from straight up just talks in their head while they're trying to kill him (you don't get that if you're playing as another race)

the commander (aka Ryan) literally, straight up died to the hands of a fire god, who toyed with her the entire fight, and she then had to claw herself out of the underworld, spurred on by the anxiety of what will they do without me

this antagonist throwing it in her face that everything she's done in a desperate attempt to save the world is actually making it worse and the world actually needs saving from her

almost canonically died. again

there's probably more but like you get the point - she's not alright 🙃

#here come the spoiler tags #gw2 spoilers #hot spoilers #pof spoilers #on a brighter note UUUHM she has a griffon named Askel whom she loves very much #she keeps rescuing stray cats #also loves to sing and recently found the best hobby that is fishing

[jaskiersvalley]

Look I knew from things my friend reblogged that you have A Gift but now I'm following you and crying every time you post because it is ALWAYS top quality and I am but a poor little goblin with Feelings. You are my favorite and I love you. (also "oh what a hairy valley it is" is fucking hilarious I laugh every time I read it)

You are my new favourite and I love you too! Especially because you find “oh what a hairy valley it is” funny. As thanks, I hope you like a bit of a twist on the Witcher Wolf Pack and their Bard in a modern setting.

Street life was harsh but the wolves had learned how to play the game over the decades. Witchers had become nothing more than myths and they had died out. Or rather, they faded from visible existence and found ways to get with the times. But nobody really wanted grizzly, musclebound men with facial scars so the wolves of Kaer Morhen were left behind by society. It wasn’t like they could get paperwork and ID needed for work and rent, so they lived on the fringes, accepted the ‘help’ of a sorcerer. It wasn’t much better, living on the streets as wolves most idiots mistook for large dogs. But at least they could slink around relatively undisturbed. They could shift forms as they needed but most of the time, they remained four legged.

They had a whole system worked out, honourable as much as thieves could be. Because they needed to steal, needed food and money to survive. The back alley that they’d pulled blankets and cardboard boxes to had become home. But they couldn’t live off things they fished out of the dumpster all the time. It was how they ended up with a range of schemes and ploys.

Easiest was the sad, scared puppy game. It was one that Lambert excelled at, looking vulnerable. If he rolled in a puddle first, he could look exceptionally pitiful. His scars showed up the least too and, as the youngest, he often got the most response. Some days he would hang around outside a food shop and whimper at those going in. The more generous humans would emerge with their shopping plus a little something for him. When something was thrown his way, Lambert would snatch it out of the air and run, hide the stash until he could haul his trophies home to share.

More elaborate was the teamwork of Vesemir and Eskel. They didn’t pull it off often because it was much more dangerous for them both. At some traffic lights where cars were slowing down, Eskel would step in front of a car and get clipped. He’d perfected the art of just getting a glancing bruise on his shoulder but it sounded impressive enough. Once the car stopped, Vesemir, in his grizzled old glory, would fling himself in front of the car with a whimpering howl. That usually got everyone’s attention, the poor old dog, shaking and quivering on the floor. It was enough of a distraction for Eskel to shift to human form and dive into the car, pulling anything of value out. They had to be so careful, not taking anything from those who obviously were in need. That was on top of the constant worry that Eskel could actually get hurt or Vesemir would get carted off to the pound. But the few times they did it, they often got enough things to pawn or, once, a shopping bag full of party food.

Geralt was too bulky to look sad in front of a shop, he got chased with a broom more often than not. He also didn’t have Eskel’s light fingers to steal from cars or Vesemir’s gravitas to look convincingly injured. What he could do though was pickpocket and steal bags. It was so easy to walk pad through a square, a stray dog nobody paid attention to. A snout in a passing pocket resulted in a mouthful of wallet. And the times someone put a bag down to look at their phone or, rarely, to pet him, he could pick up the bag and trot off without much fuss. The other thing Geralt did was trail buskers. He learned about them, knew those who were busking for fun and those who needed the coins tossed at them. Those who did it for a hobby, Geralt had no qualms about ambling up to and snuffling their things. It usually earned him a pat on the head and a laugh. It meant he could curl up with whoever it was playing and, at the end of their stint, Geralt could snuffled a little more under the pretence of curiosity. Nobody ever thought to look in his mouth to find the coins they could have sworn were there.

It was a great ploy until a new busker turned up. Geralt couldn’t get a read on him. The man looked and acted like a peacock but he smelled tired and hurting. Before Geralt could even approach him to investigate, the man was setting his instrument to the side and reaching out in invitation for Geralt to join him.

“You might need a bit of rest.” The man said and pulled a water bottle from his pack. Shoving his handwritten sign of gratitude from the plastic container, it was filled up with water instead. “It’s a warm day, I doubt there are puddles around for you.”

It turned out, the man chattered a lot when he wasn’t playing. He was called Jaskier, had no real family to speak of and loved singing. There was an art to speaking a lot without saying much and Geralt knew Jaskier was a master. In the evening, when Jaskier packed up, Geralt couldn’t bring himself to take any of his coin.

“If you’re ever in the area, you’ll always have a blanket to rest on with me,” Jaskier promised and waved to Geralt. It was only then that Geralt realised that not once did Jaskier touch him.

Once a week, Geralt sought Jaskier out. It was oddly relaxing and on his third visit, Geralt found he had actually fallen into a deep sleep, trusting this stranger to keep him protected. Of course, the others teased him about it relentlessly. Late at night when they were all sprawled in their alley with a rare treat of beer Eskel had managed to snag, they laughed about Geralt’s crush.

“Fine. You go see if you can do better,” he grumbled.

From then on, the wolves took turns and each came back suitably cowed. Eskel had taken the first chance to go see Jaskier for himself. He’d come back subdued and quiet. “He told be about his White Wolf,” he’d said. “How I must be his brother because I’m just as handsome.”

There was nothing handsome about Eskel, or so he thought. His scarring in wolf and human form had his lip pulled up and, as a wolf, he looked like he was continually snarling, teeth bared.

“He wasn’t scared,” Eskel whispered in wonder.

Unable to believe it all, Lambert went to see Jaskier next. He only came back late at night and refused to say anything. It was only later the next night that he whispered to Eskel that he’d tried to goad Jaskier into hurting him, to prove a point. And he got belly rubs instead. Which were a lot nicer than anything Lambert had experienced in a long time, so he had to slink off and think for a few hours before returning home.

Vesemir still had his doubts. His three pups might have been taken in by the singing stranger but he was suspicious. Determined to get to the bottom of their infatuation, Vesemir set out to spy on Jaskier. It didn’t go as well as planned because he was spotted and beckoned over. Even worse, there were freshly bought treats in Jaskier’s pocket, coming out to appease him.

“You look like you could be their father,” Jaskier prattled, handing over another treat. “The same noble, ancient look they’ve got. Living on the streets is no easy feat and I imagine you’ve done it your whole lives. But your pack seem wonderful. You ought to be proud of your boys.”

Vesemir would have thought it all some great, cunning plan were it not for the fact that he could smell the street on Jaskier. Obviously he’d been sleeping in hostels or the like until recently. And yet there he was with the best treats he could afford for a bunch of stray dogs who he knew to be wolves.

From then on, Jaskier enjoyed the company of a wolf beside him for four of the seven days of the week. Geralt slept on the blanket, running and eating in his sleep. By contrast, Lambert was needy, demanding attention and petting, constantly by Jaskier’s feet. Eskel liked to lie calmly and watch, sometimes he’d howl along and get laughs. Occasionally trotting off and coming back with a snack or a drink for them, clutched carefully in his mouth. The first time he presented Jaskier with a sandwich, he man had looked both scandalised and then blissed out as he bit into it like he was starving. Vesemir was by far the calmest, he watched Jaskier rather than the crowds around them, keeping track of how things changed.

“He sleeps on the streets,” he told his pups one night. “I worry for him.”

They couldn’t find Jaskier though, it was a large city and there were a lot of places to hide. By pure luck, they were settling down into a tangle of limbs, tails and fur when they heard voices.

“Just hand it over and you’ll live.” A menacing voice growled.

“I can’t give you that. It’s how I make what little money I have. I’ve already offered you everything I can!” That was definitely Jaskier.

“Along these parts, our word is law. You’ve not paid your dues and now we’re raising fees.”

There was the soft thump of someone being struck and the smell of blood. The wolves were up on their feet as one, quietly padding closer to investigate. Jaskier was on his knees, guitar behind him along with his usual pack which looked like it had been rifled through already. Opposite him were three men, one of them with a nail studded baseball bat.

“I think you need to be taught a lesson,” the man snarled and raised the bat. It arced through the air and there was the sound of it striking flesh and a sharp whine of a wolf in pain rang through the alley.

“What the fuck?”

Geralt was laid flat on the floor and panting, white fur staining red. The other three wolves were snapping and growling at the attackers while Jaskier knelt and watched in awe. Lambert jumped first, jaw latching around the wrist holding the bat and shaking his head.

In two minutes, the attackers were running, bleeding and cursing and the alley was silent save for the panting of the wolves. Eskel and Vesemir shared a look as they approached Geralt. They shifted, ignoring the gasp of surprise from Jaskier.

“You need to shift, pup,” Vesemir stroked over Geralt’s head. “Let us get a better look.”

It took a moment longer but Geralt was human once again and wheezing.

“Fuck,” he gasped, hands clenched in fists.

“Let them sort it,” Lambert murmured from just behind Jaskier, making him jump. “It’ll be okay. Geralt’s just a drama queen.”

“A drama queen with broken ribs,” Eskel grumbled. “At least the nails didn’t puncture his lung.”

In all of that, Jaskier was quiet and surprisingly unafraid. Puzzled, most definitely but he didn’t panic or run.

“Will he be okay?” he asked, soft and worried.

“He’s a strong one, survived a lot worse.” The reassurance from Vesemir lifted a little of the tension. “Why aren’t you running and screaming?”

“Why should I? You saved my life and you’re the wolves I’ve known for weeks now. It’s nice that you can talk back now.”

That seemed to settle matters somehow. And the wolves got a fourth act in their repertoire. Now, Jaskier sang and busked with the protection of a wolf by his side at all times. And, when he returned back to the alley, he always shared his bounty with the others.

“And when I get famous, you’re all coming with me. We’ll tour the world together,” he promised each night from the centre of the wolf pile. It usually earned at least one tail thump or a chuffed out wolf-y laugh. The wolves might have indulged him in such fantasies but they were the ones who had to eat their words. A talent scout did indeed pick Jaskier up. Along with his four wolves who became his bodyguards.

Part 2 here.

#geraskier #geralt of rivia #jaskier #eskel #lambert #vesemir #witcher wolf pack #hurt/comfort #modern au #long post #tldr: the witcher wolf pack adopts busker jaskier #cw: mild injury #shifter au

[sofiahanover]

— ♔ In the past, people were born royal and for SOFIA HANOVER, nee KAISER, the TWENTY-NINE-year-old CROWN PRINCESS of GERMANY, that is a tradition SHE intends to keep. To others, SHE looks an awful lot like EMILIA CLARKE and has been painted as THE KING’S LOVE-CHILD but behind closed doors, SHE is QUIRKY & UNPREDICTABLE but also ADAPTABLE & CARING. It has also been said they are NOT BETROTHED.

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME: Sofia Emilia Hanover [nee Kaiser]

NICKNAMES: Sofi, Princess Love-Child [by her siblings], The King’s Love-Child [by the tabloids]

DATE OF BIRTH: October 23, 2091

AGE: 29

HOME TOWN: Hohenschwangau, Bavaria, Germany

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Russia

OCCUPATION: Crown Princess of Germany

LANGUAGES: Primarily German & English

PARENTS: King Luis Everett Hanover (father); Marie Lilly Kaiser (mother)

BROTHERS AND SISTERS: 3 younger half-brothers, one of which is deceased and a half-younger sister.

HUSBAND OR WIFE: N/A (not currently betrothed)

SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: Her dog, Stewart named after James Stewart. Her best friend from back home.

RELATIONSHIP SKILLS: Sofia is loyal to those whom she cares about. She would do anything for them. She has a kind heart and cares about the people around her, and even though she’s faced much ridicule and cruelty from both her father’s side of the family, including her siblings, and much of the public, Sofia still wishes the best for those around her and would try and help them to the best of her ability. However, she can have a very sarcastic and cheeky side, especially if someone upsets her. While doesn’t go out of her way to be mean to anyone on purpose, she will stand her ground and refuses to let people walk all over her, especially in light of the information that has come out in recent years about who her father and her family is.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

(TW: Sleep Disorder, Alcohol Mention)

HEIGHT: 5′2″

HAIR COLOUR: Brunette, sometimes blonde.

EYE COLOUR: Blue

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Sofia’s eyebrow game is like no other. She’s very expressive in her emotions. And if she’s truly happy, you’ll know it by the smile that lights up her entire face. She’s been told many times that her laugh and smile are infectious. Good luck keeping a straight face around her.

DRESS STYLE: Sofia dresses for comfort. She can often be found in sweaters and jeans. And even though she’s recently taken her place as Crown Princess, she does know a good heel when she sees one. Getting dressed up in the fanciest outfits has been one of the best parts of this entire lifestyle change, including getting to wear designers she could never afford before.

PHYSICAL HABITS: Aside from red wine and chocolate, Sofia has tried marijuana, before and sometimes smokes it to relax. A little secret she’s kept hidden from her father. Her mother doesn’t mind it as much.

MANNERISMS: Sofia’s biggest tell, when she’s nervous or anxious, is one or both of her legs shaking. She’s been scolded multiple times by her etiquette teacher, since becoming the Crown Princess. She also likes to chew on her cheek or bottom lip. Her eyebrows are also a big tell for her when she’s happy, sad, or upset.

HEALTH: Sofia is in good health. She prefers fruits, veggies, and if any kind of meat is available, she orders fish and other seafood. Though she does have a weakness for a glass of red wine and dark chocolate. She exercises daily. She loves to snowboard and ride horses. Running has also been a hobby for her since she was a teenager having ran in several races over the past several years. Sofia does have Sleep Apnea, which has been undiagnosed, and often leaves her feeling groggy in the morning from waking up multiple times throughout the night. She’s talked to several doctors, including the ones who work for her father’s family, but no one has cared to officially diagnose her, most believing she’s making things up for attention, as a lot of people still don’t trust her.

HEADCANONS

Sofia Hanover, nee Kaiser, is the illegitimate daughter to the King of Germany. A young prince, who was once wild in his ways, had spent a drunken, euphoric summer with a sweet, village girl by the name of Marie Kaiser. But when word got out that he was in an affair with the young woman, he was immediately reprimanded and sent back to the castle to fulfill his duties as the future king. However, what he didn’t know was that Marie had gotten pregnant and nine months later gave birth to a baby girl who was almost the spitting image of the future Germanic King. Fast forward several years later and Marie found herself struggling to raise the young and rambunctious child. Reaching out by letter to the man, who had just been crowned the King of Germany after the death of his father, Marie got no response. However, Luis, whose heart was torn at the thought of having a child in the world, held the letter close under lock and key praying no one would ever find out.

It wasn’t until the death of his second eldest son, that Luis realized life was precious and he had a daughter somewhere in the world who deserved the best life had to offer. By then, however, Sofia had grown into a young woman, who had dreams for her future, but unfortunately not enough funding to reach them. It was then that she received a letter that would change her and her mother’s life forever. King Luis Hanover wanted to meet Sofia and her mother.

Reluctantly accepting his offer to become a part of the royal family, especially after her mother had insisted to the point of them arguing, Sofia’s life took a complete 180. Word had gotten out of the bastard child of King Luis from a previous relationship, before he was ever crowned as the King or married. At the age of 24, she became known as the German King’s Love Child and tabloid after tabloid was written about her. But what seemed more like a curse than anything was the realization that because she was the King’s first born, she held the rights to the crown; snagging the title by being just a few months older than her predecessor and younger brother. Her life, as she had once known it, was over, and while both her mother and Luis had only wanted what was best for their daughter, life for the young woman was growing increasingly dangerous.

After nearly five years spent in the castle, and commuting back home to see her mother when she could, it was decided that Sofia was to be sent to Khatanga with her half-siblings as a means of safety with the increasing tension growing around them. It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to her mother, and she had almost renounced her spot as the future Queen of Germany, but not wanting to let Marie down, and knowing that she had a solid future laid out for her, Sofia tearfully left Hohenschwangau for a small village in Russia.

Since arriving, things haven’t exactly been the easiest for the young woman. She feels as isolated as ever with her siblings treating her like an outcast. While she learned proper etiquette and was well on her way to becoming a princess, there are still many things she struggles with. But the hardest part to bear has been not having her mother nearby or being able to communicate with her regularly. Only time will tell if Sofia can weather this shitstorm of a new life she’s found herself in, or if she will renounce the crown hoping to go back to the life she once led.

Sofia is an avid horseback rider and snowboarder. She also likes other extreme sports, including skydiving, most of which she’s had to cut out since becoming Crown Princess.

Before accepting her father’s offer to the Crown, she was working at a small holiday themed shop in her home village. Her goal was to save up enough money to attend university for a degree in Art.

Speaking of Art, Sofia can often be found with paint all over her hands. She’s an avid painter and has even sold some of her work, including being hired to paint a mural on the side of a local house. Not enough to make a huge difference in her finances, but enough to help her get by with her job at the Christmas shop.

Most people, including her own family and other members of the royal party in Germany, as well as the press, believe Sofia just accepted her title for the money. While that’s partly true, she mostly did it for her mother and to get to know her father. While she does hold some regret and anger towards him, she’s starting to find out he genuinely cares for her and wants what’s best. He also believes that because she has lived as a commoner most of her life, that she would understand what the people of Germany genuinely need as opposed to his legitimate children who were originally in line for the throne and have lived more lavished lifestyles.

Sofia has a dog named Jimmy Stewart, James for short. He is named after the actor James Stewart, because of her love for his movies and the memories they hold spending time with her mother.

She loves music and loves to sing. Sometimes she can even be found dancing around her room in an oversized t-shirt to classic rock and other songs that she finds are true bops.

Red wine and chocolate are her true weaknesses in life. Well that and puppies and kittens. But she loves to unwind with a glass of red wine at the end of the day. And put chocolate cake in front of her, and she goes weak in the knees.

The Brothers Grimm hold a special place in her heart, just like Jimmy Stewart, because of the book her mother passed onto her before she left for Khatanga. Though the tales often scared her as a child when her Oma and mother read them to her, she grew to love and respect them as she got older, which has also led to her being an avid fan of horror movies and books.

More to come...

#{when i was older; about} #wor.intro

[kakashiwife]

TIMELINE: matters to no one but me: takes place in a nebulous zone apart from whatever story im going 2 tell later on :-) although everyone has the same problems :-) its set in the Beginning! haha

also you can ask the secret evil guy questions

CHARACTERS!:

LILY!: self proclaimed hottest and smartest in town! also most fashionable:-) also most bitchy :-) a hard worker with big plans for her life and a LARGE chip on her shoulder!! <3

AINO: shes new in town! dedicated programming nerd and neurotic mess.. proud owner of a cool apartment and a slight resentment for lily, who she is glued to at the hip ATM.

CASEY: just some guy! :-) he goes to work a lot, takes care of his folks.. watches..... sports, drinks his beers. claims to enjoy fishing, loves his Truck.... Can often be found chainsmoking outside somewhere!

PENNY: the gas station’s ultimate darling.... she appreciates the nice things in life and has a strong & healthy fear of everything else.. best friends with damien and work friends with casey ^____^ big fan of shitty fun art :D!

DENISE: she has 2 fulltime jobs and a horrible attitude :/ hobbies include: sulking, walking everywhere, hiking whenever possible, listening to evil music and being depressed. really wants to go to college!!

DAMIEN: just a cool dude from california!! moved here recently, best friends with penny, secret softie. does a lot of singing in his car and farm chores these days! he used to skateboard!!!!

#reference #outside

[pea-milk]

Get to know me tag 🌙

I was tagged by the lovely @fourfinefreshfishforyou and @rosymiel . Thank you!

I tag @dafadolly  @early-grape  @simulationcowboy @bratsims @obi-uhie@crescentcrustacean @cupidlet @ridgeport @faaeish @herbalbrew and anyone else who would like to do it. (Also you dont have to do this if ya dont wanna. It’s a lot of questions lmao)

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Eliav somethin somethin

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? Eli...?? I sometimes go by ben

3. BIRTHDAY? 1st of September

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? None

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? Aliens probably

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? Toni Morrison or David Sedaris

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION? NPR or this one french music station once awhile. 

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? Ah either spicy anything or a nice fruity flavor with vanilla

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? “Oh Cool” or just literally great/wonderful

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG? Railroad Bill - Andrew Bird or Sabor a Mi - Kali Uchis

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? Orke / Gide or anythin with hard “ch” 

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO? You Are The Light - Jens Lekman

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? Uh Dark! I recently watched it and it was good!

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN?  The Ritual. Its a good horror movie.

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? Yes. But not like...hardcore? I dont like online multi player just like casual games. I will however become a hardcore gamer once I get my lil goblin hands on Red Dead Redemption 2. Yeehaw.

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Idk why but I think it’s bad luck to name your fears out loud. 

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? Mm...Humour? 

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? I lack...empathy ...and have a very hard time relating to people

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? I like both.

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? Autumn.

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? No.

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? Being able to just be...loose? Just not have to worry about things.

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? I’d like to say my highschool “bestfriends” but we havent talked in a hot while.

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? Hazel

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? Dirty Blonde

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? Hm.

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? No one lmao

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? Not a specific individual but just...people who’ve left my life? People I dont talk to or see. Just wonderin how life goes for them.

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? Uh, not in a longterm sense, but just being in the apartment alone and going to work.

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? Small deviances.

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? Courage the Cowardly Dog, Hey, Arnold or Country Mouse City Mouse.

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE? Hmm...No one? 

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? Somewhat.

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? No.

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT? Behind.

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? Gardening.

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Calypso - David Sedaris

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Ballad of Buster Scruggs. 

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? I used to play violin and clarinet.

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? Wombats.

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? I like just sorta weird aesthetic blogs or overall blogs with no general direction.

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? Shape-shifting or just like bein immortal but the kind where, if for example, my head were to be chopped off from my body, I’d just be a conscious, bastard head.

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? In my room or a quiet cafe while it rains outside.

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? Small things. Nothin real specific

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? I used to do track and lacrosse. I hated both.

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? Lavender Lemonade or a Cappuccino. 

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? Yesterday. I write post-cards to a ceramic teacher that I still keep in touch with. He’s a very funny man. 

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? Depends.

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Sloppiness. Just general disorganization. (Also loud chewing)

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? Yes.

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? I dont generally eat heavy meats. Especially red because I vomit if I do. I eat a lot of fish though.

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? An Undertaker. I met one at a friends funeral, she was very interesting.

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN? Hmm. Maybe a rural-ized time locked town? Or a cabin in the middle of a foggy evergreen wood, not really fantasy I suppose.

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? Health.

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? No.

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? If it’s a rock ballad in the middle a long road trip with friends, yes, but mostly I sing when alone.

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? Yes. Alot.

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? I’ve tiny places, or just moments that I enjoy.

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? A lot of places. Mostly rural.

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? Two Dogs. Zelda and Charlie.

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? Night Owl.

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER? Both.

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? No. Im gay.

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? Earbuds.

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? Yes.

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? No specific genre.

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? ...No one

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? Not recently.

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? Selfishness.

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? Physical copies are nice. I like the smell.

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? I’m not in school but uh Math. Art.

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? 1

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? Vanilla Extract.

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 179cm

75. CAN YOU COOK? Yes. I bake for a living. I make a mean puff pastry.

76. WHAT ARE THREE FOUR THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? Smelling spices, like cinnamon, red peppers, hard rain, when my dog snores.

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? Sweat, being yelled at, alcohol

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? More male identifying friends.

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? Bi. More lenient towards male identifying individuals.

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? The US.

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? My Manager.

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Thursday.

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? None really. Just the weird video once awhile. Like “will it blend.”

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? Yes and no.

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP? ????

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE? I get along with my mother when I can. Father could be dead for all I care.

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? Any accent.

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT? Too many places

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? I like 8 I suppose

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? No.

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? I was raised under a Jewish household, but as I’ve gotten older and more bitter, I’ve grown out of faith. However, I still identify as Jewish.

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OR THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? Yes and Yes.

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? Sometimes. Depends.

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? Peanuts.

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? Yes.

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? No.

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? If I act wrongly to someone I apologize right away.

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? Both.

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU? None.

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR? Yes.

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? Ravenclaw?

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? Once awhile.

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? Introvert.

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? Not anymore.

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? Yes and No. If its absolutely awful, then I’m quick to cut ties.

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? If there’s cash, take it. Return everything else. Sorry. 

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? Yes. As long as they keep accountability for there actions. 

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? In certain areas, but hardly.

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? Yes.

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? I did, but they closed up.

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? None really.

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? No.

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? Seeing a psychologist.

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? Somewhat.

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? Yes.

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? Probably.

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? The best friends I havent talked to in a while.

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? There’s a lot.

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? Yes.

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOU CLOTHES? Black. Earth tones. Problem Patterns.

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? Sometimes

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? Yes.

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 19

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? None.

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? Both

#that was alot #but cool to think about #simblr

[the-wardens-torch]

LFRP - Falerin Arcita

(Following @painted-foothills​ ‘s lead here and using this more as an updated character profile for my “About” link than an RP solicitation - I’m not sure I have the guts to RP with anyone who isn’t already a mutual and even that’s super hard for me and almost never happens hahafffff.)

Falerin Arcita The Basics ––– –    Age: 22    Birthday: 16th sun of the fifth astral moon (9/15)    Race: Mostly Midlander Hyur with a smidge of Duskwight Elezen    Gender: Cisgender male    Sexuality: Pansexual    Marital Status: Single, never married Physical Appearance ––– –    Hair: Black - Straight and waist-length, usually worn in a ponytail or braid.    Eyes: Royal Blue    Height: 5’11    Build: Angular and long-limbed    Distinguishing Marks: Scars; one slanted over his left eye running from hairline to mid-cheek, another along his jaw line (usually covered by his sideburns) and a third horizontally crossing his right shoulder. Freckles on his face, shoulders and back.    Common Accessories: Leather jewelry, pointy wizard/witch hats, strappy boots/sandals, feathered hairpins, long fancy skirts, crop/tank tops. He tends to be an ostentatious dresser. Personal ––– –    Profession: He considers himself a musician first and foremost - he has a wonderfully deep, smoky voice and sings very soulful, heartfelt songs - some of which he writes himself. He’s also Eorzea’s best accordion player *pause for laughter* and can also play piano and a few other instruments. Aside from that, he makes leather jewelry and accessories that he sells to a handful of independent shops. His “adventurer” job is Summoner, but you wouldn’t know it from talking to/looking at him.    Hobbies: Collecting and writing songs, poems and stories (in print or spoken form,) occasional archery (more as an exercise/meditative practice than for combat reasons.)    Languages: Common, Seeker Miqo’te huntspeak (though he’s pretty out of practice,) a handful of songs, poems and phrases in several other languages.    Residence: Has a room in the Lavender Beds, but is more commonly found crashing at any of a number of friends’ houses around the main city-states.    Birthplace: Arcita - a small port town in the Cieldalaes Islands    Patron Deity: Azeyma    Fears: Abandonment, loss, walking on shaky scaffolding/suspension bridges. Relationships ––– -    Spouse: None    Children: None    Parents: Adoptive Mother - N‘elyrha Kikitu; Bard living in Wellwick Wood (estranged)    Biological Mother - Roxane Seaborne - Inn manager living in the Cieldalaes (has never met her.)    Biological Father - Uther Alcyone; Arcanist living in Idyllshire (estranged until very recently.)    Siblings:  2 maternal half-brothers and 1 maternal half-sister (has never met them, is unaware of their existence.)    Other Relatives: BFF-practically-soul mate Reonora Aestethe - who belongs to @aspected-benefic​    Pets: Ruby (aka Ru-Bee) - A “familiar” of sorts that resembles a sparrow-sized, translucent, red honeybee made of some sort of condensed aether. He is never without her, although she’s not always visible due to a knack for hiding in his clothes, accordion case or travel supplies.   Friend - A feral, fish-loving Tight-Beaked parrot who’s not really a pet so much as an occasional tag-along. She(?)’s loud, obnoxious and not very friendly, but sometimes preens Fal’s hair or tries to eat his jewelry. Lamrei -  A retired Twin Adder cavalry chocobo. She’s got a calm temperament and a penchant for eating any insect or rodent unfortunate enough to cross her path. Traits ––– -    Extroverted / In Between / Introverted    Disorganized / In Between / Organized    Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded    Calm / In Between / Anxious    Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable    Cautious / In Between / Reckless    Patient / In Between /  Impatient    Outspoken / In Between / Reserved    Leader / In Between / Follower    Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic    Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic    Traditional / In Between / Modern    Hard-working / In Between / Lazy    Cultured / In Between / Uncultured    Loyal / In Between / Disloyal    Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful Additional information ––– – Smoking Habit: Nah. Drugs: Indulges in something to soothe the nerves and/or trip balls once in awhile. Alcohol: Not much. He has a glass of wine a few times a sennight, otherwise he only really drinks at gigs and social events, and then just enough to loosen up (although he‘s pretty loose already hahaffff.)

RP Hooks ––– –    Reluctant Mage: Fal doesn’t volunteer that he’s an arcanist/summoner, and really can only be caught using (or even talking about using) magic in dire situations. However, on the rare occasion an experienced mage might see him break out the spells, they would notice that his technique is unrefined and atypical to say the least. He casts via gestures and verbal/auditory components rather than diagrams and symbols, and does not summon -egis, though Ruby can mimic their abilities. He does carry a “grimoire” but closer inspection will reveal that just a book of dirty limericks rebound to look appropriately mystical. As a mage, he’s a unique curiosity at best and a butcher of ancient arts at worst, depending on your perspective.    That’s What They Said: Fal’s into casual sex and will happily go home with/take home people of most any gender/race as long as they have a compatible personality and provide enthusiastic consent. A one night stand could easily turn into a lasting friendship. He also has a great respect for sex workers and adult entertainers of all kinds, and even spent a few years performing in the orchestra at a burlesque house.    Bohemians: Fal performs solo most of the time, but its mostly for the sake of convenience.  He actually loves the company of other creative folks and artists of all types, and is naturally drawn to them. Need to hire a guest musician in your band?  Want some creative leatherworking ideas? Just want to talk poetry? Need people to come to your gallery showing? He’d love to. Even if you’re not a creative type, you can still hire him to play at your nameday party or make you a nice set of wristbands!     Lowlives: Fal isn’t a member of the criminal underworld and doesn‘t actively commit crimes himself, but Eat the Rich and Fuck the Police are two of his favorite phrases.  He’s happy to look the other way or even aid/abet people that fall on the wrong side of the law (within reason.) Please note that this DOES NOT mean he can’t make friends with individual nobility or authority figures, he‘s just inclined to be distrustful of them at first. On the flipside, it also DOES NOT mean he condones violent criminals.

RP Preferences ––– – I actually don’t do in-game, real-time Rping, due to my schedule and pathological shyness/social anxiety (sometimes it takes me a few minutes/hours/days to work up the courage to respond to friendly overtures dasdasdsdfff).  Long-form, paragraph based RPs are my favorite - Discord chats work great for those!   A little darkness is fine - horror, mature themes, angst, combat, injury, but please miss me with that super dark edge lord shit. I’ve seen some Bad Shit IRL and I don’t take kindly to gratuitous cruelty, torture, abuse or violence for its own sake. I’m also not interested in ERP at all, and I‘m not big on shipping or fluff as a goal or focal point. HOWEVER, I’m not against the idea of it if it develops organically.

OOCly I am ––– – -Full disclosure; In my 30s and would rather not RP with minors. -Employed full-time as a veterinary (laboratory) technician at a decent-sized small animal practice. -A longtime RPer - I started with D&D in high school and never looked back. -Very happily married (my partner is an Rper as well, just not into MMOs.) -Ace and honestly dgaf what pronouns you use for me because I’m Tired. -In the PST time zone. Contact Information  ––– –

Discord is my preferred RP method - My handle is Falkyrie #6034

Also, I LOVE getting tagged with character/writing prompt memes - I want them all and will return the favor.

#About #Falerin Arcita #RP profile

[thesimparrot]

Get to know me tag

I was tagged by the amazings @racingllama @sixamart and @notdaniella! 💕 thank you so much guys for thinking about me, you always make my day better :’) besides I’ve been trying to find a way back to this blog, it annoys me not to post anything... so here it is! and it also was a good excuse to show my new haircut huhu

RULES: Post a pic of your simself with your traits and answer the questions!

I’d now like to tag @intricately-silly @purplebex @pollinationqueen @omiscanking @bleumimosa @mellowsimss @cakeiko @weirdsimfreak @pixel-whimsy @adrianaplays @lilacsimblr @amykii @xastraea @blurri-sim-kid @stephanine-sims @amessofsims @johnnyzest @gloomyplumbob @puddingplace and as always whoever wants to do it!

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Zoé

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? Zo’

3. BIRTHDAY? July 28th

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? Harry Potter

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? I don’t think so, but in the dark I’ll believe in anything

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? Katherine Rundell atm

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION? a french one called Rire & Chansons (literally Laugh and Songs)

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? mmmmm bergamot?

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? AMAZING

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG? Move Along by The All-American Rejects

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? I’ve noticed I say “cool” a lot

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO? No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? F.R.I.E.N.D.S.!!!!!

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN? Ocean’s Eleven

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? hell yeah

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? people I love leaving me

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? loyalty, I think

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? ooof, too many of them

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? DOGS (i'm afraid of cats so….)

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? summer I think

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? nope

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? insouciance

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? childhood ones

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? dark brown

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? dark brown

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? family and friends

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? family and friends

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? my older sister

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? I went to a book fair this afternoon!

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? right now, going back playing the sims huhu

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? The Totally Spies

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE?

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? I don’t think so?

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? I’m afraid of cats but try to learn not to be anymore

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT? behind

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? reading and playing

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The Princess Diaries

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? clarinet

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? 🐸

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? 5 spots are not enough!!

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? becoming a human torch

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? when I take my shower

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? puppies

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? I recently started rock climbing

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? tea

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? a looooong time ago

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? yes I think?

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? people who breathe loudly (but like, very loudly)

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? a few in fact, I think the last one was Queen of the Stone Age

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? nope

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? when I was 6 I wanted to be a taekwondo teacher (for like a week)

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN?

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? everything

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? yes

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? yeup but sadly I don’t sing very well

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? if pretending to be sick count then yes

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? my bed

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? not near Paris anymore

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? sadly no but I have a panda bear called Casey

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? definitely an early bird. If I woke up after 9 am on a day off I feel like my day has already been wasted

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER? sunrise

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? I do have my licence but if I can avoid using it….

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? earbuds

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? nope

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? pop-rock

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? Shadowcat

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? YEEEEES

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? a lot of things, in top of the list right now are impolite people

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? real books!

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? my cinema class in high school

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? one sister, 10 years older than me

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? a book (well, two actually)

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 154cm (I’m smoll)

75. CAN YOU COOK? still debating

76. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? playing, going to the movie, eating chocolate

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? not knowing what comes next, being sick, being upset over dumb things

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? female

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? straight

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? near Paris, France

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? if tumblr i.m. count as texted then it’s Ale from @sixamart

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? this morning

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? he’s not really a youtuber but I thought immediately about a french streamer called Mister MV

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? nope

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP? pinterest

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE? I’m really close to my mum she’s one of my best friend, my dad is a more reserved person but we got along pretty well too

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? british

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT? Sweden

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? don’t have one

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? nope

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? nope

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OF THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? outer space

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? hell no, I’m a big coward

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? some kind of makeup (or my face will turn into a moon fish)

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? yes

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? nope

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? when I will be, I’ll let you know (I’m a very funny person)

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? forest

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU?  “when I’m upset about something, I pause for a minute and take the time to ask myself if it’s worse the trouble. Most of the time it’s not, so I move on.”

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR? nope

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? Hufflepuff and proud

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? waaay too much

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? it really depends on the situation

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? I used to but it was too depressive so I stopped

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? yes

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? leave it where it is probably (I’m a coward, remember?)

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? kind of

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? ooooh yes

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? yes

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? nope

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? I really don’t know

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? nope

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? searching for work right after my three years of “university” (despite my mom’s wish to go on on the studies)

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? hell yeah but I doubt karma believe in me

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? glasses

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? don’t know yet

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? a childhood friend

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? oh yeah I remember

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? I’ve tried but never succeed

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOU CLOTHES? blue or yellow

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? not really

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? nope

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 23

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? “I'm not great at the advice... Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” (Chandler Bing, F.R.I.E.N.D.S.)

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? sweeeeeeeet

#tag stuff #personal stuff #this was fun! #simself

[dandelliongirl]

New year

And a new decade!

Wow, what an original title.

My Christmas vacation was amazingly cozy. I spent the 23rd-27th of December at home with mum and dad. On the 23rd me and mum went to the flea market to buy yarn and thin knitting needles for my bunny plushie project. We also found an adorable winter themed PowerPuff Girls duvet cover that I got to have in my bed for the holidays.♥

On Christmas Eve I got to watch morning cartoons on mum’s new sofa in my soft Oodie. We spent Christmas Eve traditionally having rice porrige for breakfast, going to take candles to the graves, going to the sauna and having a delicious dinner of smoked fish, salads, roast, mashed sweet potato, fried carrot and parsnip, and a dessert of home made gingerbread ice cream. Then we watched From all of us to all of you and handed out presents. My photo book was a big hit and made both mum and dad tear up. They both loved their moomin themed presents as well. I got Jamie Oliver’s VEG cook book, a radio for my summer house, a face wash from the Body Shop, and some gloves that got mixed up with dad’s at some point. Now mine are pink and mum has a purple pair. My dad also got me a 100 square meters of protected forest that will by law be kept in its natural state forever, which is an incredibly magical and special gift. ♥

On Christmas morning we woke up to the most beautiful snowy landscape and a calm little snowfall. Me and mum shovelled the driveway and went for a really long magical walk to the beach and around our area. The beach was full of little lanterns and candles burning in the snow. In the evening I started knitting my bunny plushie with the instructions found on the book I got at grandmum’s place. Mum helped me get started but I made her entirely by myself. By January 19th she already has a face too, with only a few details missing.

On Boxing Day me and dad drove to see the cousins and mum went to see granny and grandpa. It was really good seeing my cousins again for the first time since I think last Christmas (?), and dad’s cousin visited my aunt that day as well, so dad and his sister got to see their cousin as well. Me and my twin cousins finally made a Whatsapp group, which will make keeping in touch a lot easier.

On the 27th I came back to the apartment to spend some time working on my projects (and play some Sims..). My guy came back home on the 28th and we opened the rest of our presents. We got some cute kitty mugs and some (less cute) moomin pillowcases. I got new socks from my guy’s grandpa and my guy got me the brick oven bakery and the pizza delivery set of Sylvanian Families! ♥ My guy loved his Otamatone and we’ve had a lot of fun with it. ♫

We spent the day before New Years with my twin cousins who came over. We went to a trampoline park and Burger King, and played some Smash Bros Ultimate and Mario Kart. Then we spent about 4 hours until 2 am playing Overcooked. One of the twins works at a fast food restaurant so he was really damn good at coordinating our team. We decided that we would only accept 3 stars and had to spend a lot of time on some of the stages, but it was a blast. My guy is really bad at communication and team work though (heh, sorry) so it sucked for whoever was on his side. My cousins left on the morning of New Years Eve, and our friends came over around 6 pm. We made pizza, talked, went to see the mayor’s speech and watched the fireworks. For once the weather was completely clear and comfortably warm so the fireworks were a lot of fun. After midnight we spent the rest of the night until 6 am playing a quiz game, cards against humanity and Overcooked. I’m so glad I went back to work on the 7th and not on the 2nd.

My New Year’s resolutions this time are to continue working on my crafts and finish at least 2 of them, to only buy recycled items (apart from a couple things that I’ve planned on and needed to buy for a while), trying to spend a plastic free July (no single use plastics or plastic packaging), continuing my photo project with at least 3 photoshoots, working on my grimoire and finishing at least 12 pages, continuing to play the piano and get better at reading sheet music, spending the coziest and witchiest summer at my cottage/summer house, reading/listening to books and stretching/body care. A lot of these are things that are already habits and a part of my life so they aren’t that big of a deal even though the list is long. Mainly my resolutions are there just to push me to continue creating. I have set a date around midsummer/Litha to check my progress. So far piano has definitely already fallen behind so I need to try and pick that back up real soon. I have my new pile of sheet music books to start with.

So my winter has been filled with cottage visits nearly every weekend. At Christmas we went for a bonfire and carols. We have been feeding lots of little birds, walking in the nature and even went ice skating last weekend. This winter has been almost entirely snowless and very warm, and the birds are already singing and starting to nest even though it’s only January. There is no snow on the lake ice so last weekend my mum, dad and I had a perfect private skating rink with some magical sunshine and beautifully frosted trees. These are the moments that make winter worth it even though the lack of snow makes everything so dark, which makes me so incredibly sleepy. Luckily the days get about 7 minutes longer every day. It’s already almost light out when I leave work. Only 3-4 more months until we get to spend more time at the summer house, and soon I’ll be out there on that lake on my SUP board. That place truly heals me and helps me remember what's important in life. Nature is always beautiful no matter the weather, and everything over there has a purpose, unlike in the city.

Almost all of my apple seeds sprouted, and every one of my first saplings has already died from what I suspect is the lack of light. Some of the second batch are still alive, and I’ve got a third batch to plant. Hopefully those will make it to be planted outside. I even picked up a board from our cottage shed to make a windowsill in the kitchen for the saplings.

My guy and I have been enjoying our second playthrough of the Witcher 3, this time on the Switch. I love laying on the sofa all warm and cozy in my Oodie and working on my crafts, or putting photos in an album while he plays. Our PC playthrough was tedious because I had to sit down and do nothing through hours of gwent or side quests. Now I get to lie down and work on my own projects during the side quests. The PS2 era graphics do bother me a bit, but the story is immersive enough and the cutscene quality is not reduced too bad.

The first 2 weeks of work have been pretty decent. I’ve even had a couple of good days. ☼ I’m about to start a rough spring of trainings for both staff and teachers, which will be mentally exhausting, but I will try to keep myself busy with hobbies, and enjoy the coming spring to the fullest. January has already flown by, which is both exciting and scary. As for working out, this spring I’ve got a lineup of body combat, the occasional 45 minute guided meditation class (which I love because last week we had a body scan meditation and that’s my favourite type), HIIT ‘45 whenever I can leave work early to go to class, and ballet.

Yesterday we celebrated grandad's 90th birthday. Lately I’ve been really sad thinking about my aging grandparents. I recently went through my old post cards because I’m planning on making some crafts with them, and while doing that I found all of granny and grandpa’s letters and post cards and got some very emotional flashbacks to my childhood and the stories grandmum used to tell me. After a few glasses of cognac grandpa gave me a really emotional and sweet speech about how proud he is of me and how he remembers the time the swing in their yard broke down from under me and the times he taught me how to ski. He has truly taught me to never give up and be resilient in everything I do. I love my grandparents so much and I want to try and spend as much time with them as possible. It is so unfair that we never get enough time to spend with all the loved ones... Regardless, happy 90th birthday to the best grandpa. ♥ ♥ I love you so much.

Speaking of family and celebrations, I was asked to be a bridesmaid to my friend whom I've known since kindergarten. It is an incredible honor and I really can’t put into words how special it is to have someone who’s known me since I was 4 years old - and now she’s getting married! I will do my best to make her day special, but it is a lot of stress and pressure on me - especially as I’ve never planned a wedding and I’ve only been to 2 in very recent years. Her other bridesmaid got engaged the same week as she did so they are both planning on getting married the same month. We’ll see how that goes, and if one of them has to postpone their wedding or not, but regardless the other bridesmaid won’t have as much time and focus for my friend as I will since she’ll be planning her own wedding at the same time.

I think we only have 61 or 62 days until Animal Crossing New Horizons, and still no AC direct. Instead we’ve had a Pokémon direct and a Smash Bros direct.. If preordering seems worth it and/or there is a Switch console bundle I’ll take the 20th of March off work to go get it in the morning. We were planning on taking a trip to Japan this spring but we’ve postponed it until the autumn since the Super Nintendo World will be opening in the summer, and my guy can earn some money at his summer job.

Me and my friend were going to have a photoshoot today but the weather isn’t great (it’s very windy) and she had a weird stomach bug last night so we postponed. Instead I’m trying to finish up some odd to-do list jobs so that I can start preparing for Imbolc. It’s coming up so fast, but that’s also very exciting. ☼

#personal #diary #January2020 #memorial

[jamesginortonblog]

5 Things to Know About Grantchester’s Leading Men

Test your knowledge of the series’ leading men, James Norton and Robson Green, with this list of five must-knows. Who’s a closet daredevil? Who moonlights as a fashion model? Find out!

1. Robson Green’s Record-Breaking Past

Before he was Geordie on Grantchester, Robson Green was a secret pop music sensation! In 1995, Robson and his then co-star Jerome Flynn had to sing during an episode of their TV series Soldier Soldier, and soon the UK public was clamoring to buy the tune. After the pair released the song, it stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks and became the best-selling single of 1995 (beating even Bon Jovi and Michael Jackson!). The surprising songsters adopted the moniker “Robson & Jerome” and found success with two additional number-one singles, and two number-one albums.

2. James Norton’s Haute Hobby

The actor is quite the trendsetter offset. In his spare time he’s been known to cultivate a small vintage clothing venture with his friend—and Wolf Hall actress—Charity Wakefield. But whether he’s sourcing for a project or just his closet, Norton told the Telegraph he makes sure to find a flea market wherever he is shooting. The actor’s passion for style has also bled into his professional work: He’s modeled for English fashion brand Smythson, Vogue, and Italy’s L’Uomo Vogue.

3. Robson’s Love at First Bite

When he’s not on the set of Grantchester, Robson has a surprising hobby: fishing! The actor has been a long-time angling enthusiast, and recently got to explore his passion on two namesake projects: Extreme Fishing with Robson Green and Robson Green’s Ultimate Catch. The shows take Robson around the world to fish the most exciting of species, including sharks, giant stingrays, piranhas, and more.

4. James and Sidney Chambers’ Surprising Connection

They share an alma mater. Although James Norton is no vicar himself, fans of Grantchester may be surprised to know that he and his character Sidney both studied religion extensively. Norton began his journey at age 11, when he attended a boarding school run by Benedictine monks. The actor later received a theology degree from the University of Cambridge—the same college his character attended.

5. James’ Special Shadow

Norton’s father, Hugh Norton, a retired teacher, has appeared in most of his son’s television projects—including Grantchester, War and Peace, Death Comes to Pemberley, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover. According to the Telegraph, Hugh Norton has become such a beloved presence on the Grantchester set that his nickname is “Papa Norton,” and in Lady Chatterley’s Lover he advanced from a mere extra to a speaking role. But even the most talented actor sometimes drops the ball—James told The Independent that while Hugh played a member of the Grantchester Season 2 congregation, his father embarrassingly fell asleep on camera.

#James Norton #Robson Green #article #pbs masterpiece

[skinny-chef-blog1]

On Video Games or Life is Not a Roguelike

As a lifetime gamer, I often contextualize a lot of my life by comparing it to video games. While I’m not sure if that is healthy or not, it is nonetheless how I do things.

To follow my metaphor, I’ll have to explain a few things. I’m going to present three games and explain how they work.

First: Pokémon. As one of the best-selling franchises of all time, I’d be shocked if anybody didn’t know anything about it. However, what I’m going to explain is less “Catch Em’ All” and a bit more number-crunchy, so bear with me. In Pokémon, each creature has statistics which determine it’s speed, strength, and other combat factors. Different Pokémon are good at different things - where Charizard and Starmie are both all-out attackers, they use different types of attacks to achieve their goals. Similarly, Snorlax does much less damage than either of them but can take more than a few hits. What determines these differences is base statistics, which are universal for each monster - every Snorlax has the same BASE statistics. However, two factors influence those statistics - HOW the Pokémon is trained, and who its parents were. In the world of Pokémon, there are values which determine the genetic advantages or disadvantages each monster has. I’ll expand on this later. 

Second: The Binding of Isaac. This game is a bit more recent, but still pretty well known in most circles. It’s a roguelike (or rogue-lite) which is a type of game where players are dropped into a dungeon and have to fight a series of monsters, collecting power-ups along the way. Die once, and it’s back to the beginning with no items, no gold, no nothing - in most Roguelikes, each run is entirely independent from the previous ones. In Rogue-lites, players unlock items and characters which may make the game easier as time goes on, but in general, you start at square one, every time. Each item you get may make your quest harder or easier, but ultimately it comes down to player skill when attempting to be consistently successful. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and get great items which trivialize the hardest parts of the game, sometimes you’ll get items that actively hinder your success. It’s a brutal engine which requires players to get good or get out. 

Finally, the game nearest and dearest to my heart: RuneScape. This game defined my childhood in many ways, as my first “social network,” my first MMO (massively multiplayer online) game, and as my first addiction. Originally, this article was a six-page essay about how much I love RuneScape, which is why it was so delayed from last week. The basic concept of RuneScape is incredibly simple. It’s a sword and sorcery point-and-click game in which players collect resources, level up skills, fight deadly monsters, and complete quests. The game is extremely input light in general, meaning I can play full-time by clicking once every 30 seconds. Sounds a little lame, right? 

Wrong. RuneScape rules. It’s a crazy time sink in which players can easily get lost and spend hours questing, talking to friends, fishing, or countless other activities. It’s been one of my most played games, in fact, I’m terrified to know how many hours I’ve spent playing it. The reason I love RuneScape is it isn’t combat-centric. In every other MMO I’ve ever played, the stats that matter most (sometimes the only stats) are combat stats, which determine how well you can fight things. In RuneScape, you have myriad skills which are not combat-centric: how well you can fish, how well you can cook, how well you can make potions, the list goes on. Each of these skills can make you money in some form or fashion, and each is at least somewhat unique in the ways you train it. This is very important to me. 

For a long time in my life, I would try something, not be good at it, and quit - it happened with tons of sports, certain recipes, artistic hobbies - it happened a lot. I was totally convinced that if I wasn’t talented towards a certain activity, it wasn’t worth pursuing. I found a few things I was good at and focused entirely on them. For the formative period of my life, those things were primarily focused around the theatre - acting, directing, singing, dancing - I did it all. I had a real knack for it, but I didn’t want to pursue it in college. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I knew it wasn’t that. 

When I got to school, I tried a few things - clubs, fraternities, etc. I wasn’t immediately good at most of them, so they fell out of my life entirely. I also wasn’t good at my major, so I dropped that too. Recognizing a theme? 

I believed that I had Pokémon-style base stats. I was good at certain things, so I improved in those categories, but when it came time to branch out, I was bad at them, so I tried to focus on what I knew. That didn’t work very well, and I became somewhat jaded and resented much of the world around me. I began to put a lot of stock in class issues - where most of my graduating high school class had gone to private universities, I went to our in-state institution because it was the best financial option. I became obsessed with the lucky breaks other people got- I convinced myself that I was living a run of The Binding of Isaac, and I had been cursed with bad items. I knew I was good, but I was getting no help from the world around me. I got a few jobs, sometimes in the things I was good at, sometimes not. I found myself upset whenever I was doing something I wasn’t already good at. 

Then, last year, I got a job working at a very cool restaurant, doing a job that was pretty unique: my job required me to teach and recommend board games to customers. What a great blessing, right? Getting paid to do something you already love? Well, maybe not. When I started, I was lousy at teaching games. I loved certain games and wanted other to play them to try them out, and I was pretty good at playing games, but I had to learn what the best way to teach games to others was. I spent a few months finding appropriate staple titles, honing down how to describe games to people, and ultimately trying to find the best way to serve our customers. Then last winter, my bosses approached me with a huge project: they wanted to reorganize our huge game library, and needed the help of their employees. I had to work collaboratively with people in earnest for the first time in a long time, and together we came up with a system which is good, but can still be improved upon. This was something I had never done before - I’ve never been very organized, so a system more complex than simply alphabetizing was very foreign to me. After doing that, I became interested in another facet of the restaurant: coffee. It started thanks to some friends and a desire to learn something new: pouring latte art. I was mostly just blown away by how good my friends were, and how odd the entire thing seemed. When I started, I was miserable at it, and I felt the same feelings of wanting to quit welling up constantly, but I realized that life wasn’t Pokémon, or The Binding of Isaac. In my video-game driven conceptualization of the world, life was RuneScape. I wasn’t going to be good at something at level 1, and I wasn’t going to be able to do much. But I spent a lot of time grinding (literally) and I got to the point where I could pour a decent-looking latte. Then I started learning other things about the barista station, and eventually became a barista in addition to my other job at the restaurant. That grinding paid off, as I not only met a bunch of new friends in the process, but learned new skills and changed one facet of my outlook on life - a real victory for someone as stubborn as myself. Would it have been easier if I’d had naturally steady hands, or my own tools to practice with at home? Of course, but base stats and good items matter much less than getting experience the RuneScape way. 

[fuelgrannie]

Child of God

I have very controversial views of Jesus Christ, at least to Christians. I was raised in the Catholic faith and can thus attest to having played in the Jesus-as-God pool. I do believe Jesus existed and was an extraordinary bright, curious and loving mortal, but I do not believe he was a god nor in a god’s direct bloodline (because gods have no form, no blood, no sperm). But I do believe a higher force, God, exists.

I came to believe Jesus was mortal very early on in my life by a combo of logic and gut. This doesn’t mean I’m right. This just means I never bought into the idea that a couple thousand years ago a virgin gave birth to the lone valid god of all humankind. This belief in me has never wavered.

In my college Byzantine and Christian art history classes, I learned the Bible was edited in the 4th Century by the Council of Nicaea (a bunch of bishops and Roman Emperor Constantine at the latter’s lake house) so to exclude the years of Jesus’ life from age 7 to 32 when Jesus had traveled the world to learn about as many religions and forms of faith he could find and study. Decades of this trek, decades of this personality’s life and record of what he learned, were promptly and permanently erased from the primary tome of the Christian church.

By the fluke that I loved the teacher, I was in this particular art history class to learn potential confirmation of something I had long suspected: a more complete and full story of Jesus Christ, his travels and studies, perchance even his own attesting to his human mortality, may have been purposefully kept from public knowledge by the church itself.

The Council of Nicaea in AD 325 also decreed that the Bible universally refer to Jesus as the actual son of God, eliminating the concept and possibility that Jesus may have preached all humans were children of God, not just him. I’m not the only one to wonder or even suppose Jesus meant being a child of god was a universal concept, not just his sole status, so the Council of Nicaea deliberately set in stone for all forthcoming editions of the Bible that Jesus meant to refer to himself alone when referencing being a child of God; he more solidly and literally became the son of God.

It is not just my own supposition that Jesus never directly said, “I am the son of God and you are not.” He was known to have said that we were all God and that God was in all of us. Only an unresolved douchebag would land on this planet and say essentially, “I am better than you all, I am the son of an almighty power and you need to follow me,” yet that still happens from time to time when someone tries to pull off a second coming and pretends to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. These people are nothing unless, and until, they are believed (and then the trouble starts: “hey, is it me or does this Kool-Aid taste bitter?”), but, as of yet, none have proven to be Jesus, who has made only one earthly appearance so far. Still, what Jesus lectured, the word he tried to spread, was made foggy by the spreaders, the editors of his very lectures: it’s hard for me to trust what’s left. The Council of Nicaea had its own intentions: as previous empires declined in power, the rising popularity of this new Christian religion had become a critical tool for human leaders. Emperor Constantine recognized the power of unifying his people, perhaps with more than a whiff of fear, to keep his own flock in check.

There are very few versions of the Bible to be found that originated before the Council of Nicaea and they are certainly not in English, a language whose long, clumsy unearthing is centuries yet to come. No one talks about the Council of Nicaea anymore, but some people will tell you exactly who they think God is, as if they know. They’ll tell you Jesus Christ is the son of God. They’ll be sure they’re right. They’ll pray for your soul because they’re sure they’re right.

Glory

One night in the mid-1990s, I was up very late with the TV on, and instead of watching infomercials, I stumbled upon televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and thought, “okay, what the hell: let’s just see what this is all about.” Swaggart paraded on his stage, his face wet from tears and sweat. He yelled and sobbed “glory, glory, glory” over and over again. He said nothing else. People in his audience howled, throwing up their arms, crying, dancing, responding as if new words, different words were coming out of the mouth of the minister with the blow-dried hair in critical need of a decent trim.

“Glorrryyy, galloryyy, glORY, oh glorrryyyyy.” He cried looking at the ceiling.

“Say something,” I told my TV set.

“Ahhh, glorrrrryyyyy,” he stomped from one side of the stage to the other. He then held the microphone close to his mouth and stood still. The camera closed in, framing his face which glistened with tears, snot and dripping hair product. He raised his eyes again to the heavens, shaking his head, the mike capturing his raggy breath, the camera tight on his visage.

He inhaled. “Here we go,” I thought. Now he’s going to say something, I reckoned. You could hear the saliva in his mouth, the audience held its breath.  

He sucked in air, the microphone steady at his wet chin.

“Glory,” he whispered.

The crowd went even more insane.

I watched for 20 minutes. I wanted to give it a fair shot. The camera panned from sweating Jimmy, exhaling only the syllables “glore” and “ree,” to his hysterical constituents, who in turn shook their heads with an affected joy, smiling those creepy, religious know-it-all smiles that have never rung true to me. Nothing else was ever said other than that one word in as many ways as that word can be uttered. I finally turned the channel to Cher hawking shampoo. At least she talked. At least she was selling something you could actually buy.

Pliz Coiny

My sweet Brazilian neighbor Cecilia recently invited me to join her one weekend at a Baptist church service.  

“Awww hell to the no!” I thought as I tried to think of an excuse not to go but the truth always works best: “I don’t feel comfortable.” I said.

“Pliz, Coiny,” she pleaded “please Connie” pinched by her Portuguese. “Oi neffer ask anniting uff you. Pliz.”

I wasn’t thrilled with her logic. It’s true she never asked anything of me but then again she shouldn’t; I hadn’t of her, I don’t operate that way. Neighbors are not automatic friends to me: I’m a New Yorker after all. And now here she was asking me to join her at church, let alone a Baptist church, and she had somehow decided I owed her something because she had never asked me to do anything before.  

Given the choice, I would have rather cleaned her toilet with one single Q-Tip than haul myself to an hours-long non-English service (“dey haff interpritters,” she tried to sway me) at an outer-borough Baptist church. Baptists go crazy, don’t they? Crying in the aisles, yakking in tongues, yelling at the perceived devil? Did my neighbor expect that I would stagger out of a Queens storefront church at 6:00pm after having arrived at 11:00am, singing “Paaarrraise Jahesus!” and vowing to “spaaaarrread the WORD” to all non-believers?

I mean, I got stuff to do on a Sunday: I got to launder my unholy panties and stock up on ice cream and tortilla chips. I got DVRed episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Love & Hip Hop I got to catch up on. Sunday is for me, not Jesus.

“No, Cecilia.” I was firm, I was smiling: there were no hard feelings. I was not going.

“It do you good, Coiny. Pliz. Comm on.” Cecilia likely envisioned me burning in hell, innocent to the fact she’s arrived decades too late and with way too little ice.

“No, Cecilia,” I replied. “It’s not for me.”

HE HAS RISEN!!!!

Ten years ago, I worked at a Christian organization. My first week of work was a shock: I received emails that started with “Greetings in the Precious Blood and Name of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior!!” with signatures that screamed “Blessings in Christ!!!” and “He has RISEN!!!!” It was being shoved down my throat in capitalized words and ever-extending exclamation points. This was not my belief system and I resented seeing it so blatantly and that I felt unable to say anything about it because I suspected I would be perceived as offensive. And I did know no true ill was meant by these words so I learned to tolerate them even though they never became less jarring to me during the four years I worked there.

A Southern man called our office (the ecumenical agency of a major American Christian church) to complain that the Today Show had featured the Encyclopedia Britannica’s assertion on evolution. He sounded gay to me (a totally unfair assumption on my part but my gaydar is on point, sister, even over the phone) and he wanted me to do “something about” the fact that NBC may actually not believe that Adam and Eve are the ultimate foreparents.  

What shocked me even more was my kindness and tolerance of this man; I did not yap into the phone, “are you kidding me and when are you going to do yourself a favor and get out of that closet?” Instead, I told him I sympathized with his frustration, which is the truth: frustration is one of my favorite hobbies. Everything makes me kind of crazy, too and I’ve never been shy with my opinions, but my caller was absolutely beside himself with horror, he almost couldn’t be consoled.  

“They need to present both sides!” He squeaked in a lilt. “Doesn’t Al Roker beLIEVE?”

Apparently not. Maybe it’s out of Al’s hands even if he does.

I calmed down the Southern man and said I would follow up, which of course I never did. What could I say to NBC?  And why hadn’t this guy contacted them directly himself?  Did he know that only guffaws awaited him?

I emailed my gay friends immediately: “Wait ‘til you hear what I just went through!” I was living in a skit from The Kids in the Hall.  I was a fish out of water: all the elements felt false and I chose to play along just to stay neutral.

My first year at the Christian office, at their Christmas party, with home baked cookies and apple juice, the few other employees and I stood in a circle with our heads bowed while our boss led a prayer. I felt extremely self-conscious and didn’t mouth any words. I am not one to say anything “in his name;” after all, I hadn’t bowed my head to take two minutes to sing the praises of the New York Stock Exchange during previous parties at previous stints at financial service companies. I felt resentful this Jesus business was something in which I was literally being forced to participate. But I went along. How could I not?

Pussycats in Outer Space

I was five years old when a human boot first hit the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969 so I grew up grudgingly watching the plethora of space travel TV shows from the 1960s and 70s, the airways thick with the concept of this new frontier. The prospect of such a life, tooling around on a space ship with a bunch of people wearing the exact same upside-down-triangle uniform while exploring the dark unknown, was one of my first visions of hell. My autistic brother Christopher loved Star Trek and we watched it every day, I bored out of my mind yet totally anxious at the same time.  

Star Trek at least depicted willing participants in space travel. A horrific sub-genre grew from this theme: the unwilling, like in Lost in Space, a dreadful scenario built around the non-Swiss family Robinson, forever banished from planet Earth due to some spaceship mishap and doomed to an existence of trying to get back home while accompanied by a talking robot (clearly a costumed man resembling a large vacuum cleaner) and an obnoxious, fussy British guy. The latter two were almost like a couple, TV’s first inter-metal, intergalactic, gay marriage.

But the absolute worst for me by far was the animated series Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, a spinoff of the Archie comic books. Josie and the Pussycats were a musical group of beautiful girls, all small-waisted with turned up noses, who wore tight outfits, sang songs and played instruments, including an obligatory token African American girl who played the tambourine. These characters suffered a similar fate to the hapless Robinsons: the band accidently fell into a space vehicle which was then suddenly catapulted into deep space. The group proceeded to then float from planet to planet, back-dropped by paisleyed psychedelic purple swirls, running endlessly from kidnapping aliens who all (magically!) speak English. Josie and the Pussycats never make it back to Earth: every episode depicts another nightmare of being lost and being doomed, running and escaping. It was the ultimate exercise in frustration, almost pointless to watch. Gee, I wonder what will happen this week? Um, let’s see: they don’t make it home. No satisfaction, no variation, no happy ending: no ending at all. The same thing, the same existence of longing, loss: being trapped. 

Heaven

Every Sunday morning, my father hauled my four siblings and me five blocks south from our Fifth Avenue apartment to St. Thomas More, the Catholic church in which my parents were married, although my mother scandalously remained a Presbyterian. My mother was thus spared the pilgrimages down to the 89th Street red brick building where my dad assisted in services and sang in a loud voice. I paid no attention to any words spoken and instead spent my time people watching because people all performed when they were at church. I watched my father, too: at times he was called to the front, near the altar, to read from the Bible, he took it very seriously. I remain confused by my father’s blind allegiance to Catholicism; it was a faith that made not one milligram of sense to me at any time in my life. Even as a tiny child, I disagreed with the religion, especially appalled by the lack of romance allowed for its clergy.

“You mean they can’t get married? That’s ridiculous!” I announced at age three.

It all seemed so sad to me: nuns and priests couldn’t even kiss, couldn’t have kids or live together or make dinner together or wear normal clothes to not stick out. They were alone in a lonely life and I wanted to play matchmaker for them: it seemed so easy to just pair them all up, like by size or age maybe. But apparently the clergy had no use for base physical needs; they chose this life, this consequence, but to me they seemed trapped. Church was the last place I ever wanted to be, church was the last life I would ever want to live.

I deeply believe in something outside myself. But I don’t need to gather with other humans to express my respect and thankfulness for that something. I do that on my own, and not only by praying because, really, I am more of a thanker. I thank God constantly all through the day. I live like a queen in comparison to the vast majority of my fellow global peers, especially the female ones, and I never forget it, with every water faucet I turn, with every bite of Thai takeout I enjoy, with every precious second I get to spend by myself in the exact way I want. I don’t need church to remind me of what I have and how lucky I am; believing in and thanking God is me, church is not. Church is about the other people in the church.

I don’t know why religion segregates people; you’d think it would bring us all together but it’s just another thing by which we compete. I can’t begin to understand why we have spent centuries yelling at each other and killing each other because we think our version of God is the right one and that anyone who doesn’t think the exact same way that we do must experience our vengeance. None of us can ever prove we’re right and yet we are violent with fear to be proven wrong.

I look at our planet-mates: animals don’t need religion. They don’t gather at a certain place during regular time periods to ponder something outside of themselves. Their souls and brains are too busy making sure their bodies sustain. Religion has no place in any animal’s process of being alive and neither does God. The existence of God doesn’t affect their own existence or prove to them their presence on this planet: their very birth already did that. Instead of “I think therefore I am,” it’s “I’m alive therefore I am.” And unlike us, they don’t kill for God: they kill to eat. Or to not be killed, to just keep living. Somehow this is too simple for humans.

I also don’t believe God is a Christian.  

This concept makes some Christians absolutely crazy. I don’t believe a loving God (a male god) would plop his “son” (male child) on Earth (via untouched, virgin female flesh) and have that son represent only one religion. That’s favoritism, a very human tendency, and I do not believe God operates that way.

The old white guy who lives with his wife in the apartment upstairs from mine, rolls his eyes on occasion when he sees burqa-wearing Muslim women running after their kids on the sidewalk.

“I tell you,” he exhales, “I’ll never get used to it. They need to go back to their country.”

“They’re in their country, Monty,” I yap back. We both know he doesn’t mind finding no kindred in me when he gets into one of his rants. And I tolerate not one ounce of his crap.

“I know, I know. My wife says the same thing. You two are better than me.”

“Aww Mont, we’re not better,” I laugh, “she and I just look at it differently. Think about it: when you go to heaven, if there is such a place, do really you think it’s just Americans, just whites, just Christians who are allowed into heaven? Do you honestly think when you traipse through the Elysian Fields that you will be only surrounded by ‘your kind?’ Honestly?”  

(It’s not gonna be like Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space: the folks you meet outside this stratosphere will not always know your native tongue.)

Monty’s eyes slant as he ponders this. “My wife says ‘angels come in all colors.’”

“Well, there you go,” I say.  

All colors, all languages.  Each child with their rightful place at the messy table, as it should be, amen. No “get out of my country:” instead “come sit next to me, I saved you a seat.”

Earth

The dirt of me has no god, the material of which I am made is leaderless, it is solely of this earth. I have not risen, I am not lost in outer space. I am selfish and arrogant about God: I expect Him to accept me, not the other way around. I taste Him in pork and chive dumplings in Flushing, Queens; I see Him inside the running sweat off a lover’s chest; I decide He loves me when I watch reality TV on the floor drinking lite beer out of the can with a pink bendy straw. I am the basest of humans. God is my ally, I honor Him by merely living, I pay no other respects, I am a rotten subject.

I assume I am loved by God but by no one else. I assume God loves us all. I assume organized religion is a joke and doesn’t really count, that it’s a human construct and no direct creation of God’s. I assume some humans wouldn’t mind killing me for such thinking, or at least feeling that I deserved a good yelling at.

It’s awful: I actually think I have all the answers for me in this area. I must be wrong: it just couldn’t be that easy.

All I have is the truth I know in my heart, it’s all I can go on, here on the grimy path: my church is portable with God existing inside and outside all bricks.

Glory, glory, glory and even some more glory.

#queens #religion #nyc #nycblogger #heaven #search #path #childofgod #fuelgrannie #opinion #newyork #newyorkcity #earth

[rockthecotswolds]

Stuck in a Barn with...

Tom Dunn, Founder and MD of delicious cider company Beard & Sabre

Following a busy day at the press, you’ve gone for a stroll, taken in the Cotswolds view and decided to have a little snooze in a comfy barn, but when you wake up the door is jammed.  Eek what to do?….

Answer our nosey questions of course:

So Tom…..who would be the first person you’d want to ring once you’d realised the barn door is jammed?


I don't want to be too cliché and predictable but i'd have to say my business partner, I've phoned Angus when i've found myself in a lot more trouble than getting locked in a barn and his relaxed attitude (sometimes too relaxed I worry!) is always helpful. Problems must always be put in perspective and it seems these days our job as directors mainly involves sorting short-notice problems of varying degrees of severity. 

If you read the countless books that are available on start up businesses and business in general they often advise against going into business with friends but after two and a half years of hell and happiness he still remains my closest.

You’re trying not to panic so to change the subject, tell us how you went from the Navy to running your own cider empire?


One of my biggest flaws, that I like to blame on stress, is incredible short term memory loss, sometimes I forget how we got to where we are and I always wonder what the journey must look like from an outsiders’ perspective. I wish I kept a diary and always think about starting one but at present there's simply no time. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I was growing up, I liked history and ended up doing film at university – I thought it would be an adventure but the Royal Navy offered far more appeal, I could 'do' things rather than film them and that's why I signed up for the Warfare Branch (despite the scary name it was mostly navigation!). 

The only downside was the lack of freedom of expression and scope for solving problems in unconventional ways. I always had a close eye on the craft beer revolution and wondered why cider, a historically British drink, hadn't seen such a transformation. I thought we could lead that change and as it hadn't really been attempted before there was a lot of freedom to experiment and make the rulebook so to speak. I still remember the day I phoned Angus from the forward tracker officer of HMS Northumberland and said it's now or never. I think a lot of peoples dreams fizzle away if they are afraid of making that big jump – and for me the idea of looking back with regrets is absolutely terrifying.

Where did the name Beard & Sabre come from?  We hear it’s a mix of old meets new….

This is a funny one and people often say that a brand image finds you, not the other way around. Chronologically after we decided to go into business we began brainstorming and building a thorough business plan, we really struggled on the name. We wanted something minimalistic, something relatable and something that inspires images such as the interesting and 'alternative' names in the craft beer world do. Empire era Britain was always a big theme of ours, commercialism, trade, pioneering, exploration – cider played a huge part during that period, most farmsteads would pay for labour with cider and labourers would choose farmsteads that produced the best. 

We were looking for a name that fits the bill, something quirky and interesting that would inspire our target market when they are browsing the beer festival drinks list for something to try. We wanted to steer clear from “Cirencester Cider”, “Gloucestershire Cider” etc. as we thought it was self-limiting and traditionally cidermakers have standard or simple company names followed by 'dry' 'med' 'sweet' for their cider offerings. If we followed suit we would not be leading the craft cider revolution at all. It was only until we took the name Beard & Sabre to our graphics designer that he actually interpreted that to be myself and my business partner, Angus, an archaeologist and myself, a Royal Naval officer, whilst this wasn't what we intended it was perfect for what we wanted as we really were combining traditional methods with modern vision – in a sense the logo personifies our business model.

What songs are you singing to while away the time?

Angus likes Folk, I like Indie-Rock, but what really winds people up who have worked around me is my love for old army marches and traditional folk, there's nothing like singing one of those when you can't afford to repair your shoes and are living off rice and bread. Have a search for 'The Regular Army O' / 'Pound a Week Rise' or 'The Girl I Left Behind Me' / 'I'll Go Enlist For a Sailor', that sort of thing! I can guarantee that nobody has heard of them and i'd like to maintain that never once have I viewed myself as 'cool'. Our company secretary, Kyle, who is currently serving in the Army, enjoys them as well – thankfully, but he can confirm that the modern armed forces aren't enthusiastic fans! I bought a guitar to learn, as people often do, but it's currently sitting gathering dust.

What makes you laugh?

Sometimes when you are living life in the present, in first person, you often think what you are doing is completely sane and is absolutely the most efficient way of doing things – looking back, we have made a lot of stupid mistakes between us and not once did we question them at the time. We used to store our cider two tiers high, three 1,000 litre tanks below a set of racking and three above – we were wondering how we could possibly move the tanks on the top whilst they were still full of cider and we all agreed that we could simply buy a manual pallet stacker and lift them using it. 

Not once did we think that it would be impossible to lift a one ton tank at 1.5 metres under our universes' laws of physics. We found out... the hard way... and at once it was apparent how idiotic our clever plan was. Rather than be hurt by the setback we decided to print this mistake, and all of our other similar mistakes, onto the back of beer mats so everyone could enjoy them. Trust me, there are some really bad ones that aren't public knowledge and they all make me laugh!

Which one of your ciders are you planning on drinking as soon as you’re out?

My personal favourite is Berrymaster, which is our best seller, I should really push our traditional range, Apple Smuggler and Yardarm as we pay cider duty on those, currently at 40p a litre – our fruit ciders come under 'made-wine' duty which is currently at 89p a litre; we take the burden of this cost upon ourselves to remain competitive. These are challenges all craft cidermakers face, unlike breweries that have a lot of scope to experiment and create interesting and quirky drinks we are penalized by an archaic duty system that is designed to hinder large corporate alcopop manufacturers yet doesn't cater to artisan producers. 

The same duty regulations classify 'cider' to be anything made with only 35%, which is an absolute dis-service to the consumer as many big brands that claim to press 'traditional' cider actually are selling rehydrated 35% apple juice concentrate. It's a mission of ours to campaign for changes to this system so that consumers can recognise 100% pressed, craft, ciders compared to misbranded alternatives. We also push for our older audience to give our fruit offerings a go – at present we have had almost 100% positive feedback from those willing to try our fruit range and that's what the craft cider revolution is all about; combining tradition with vision to craft drinks people enjoy drinking. Given the season it's a great opportunity to share with you our mulled cider recipe:

To make up 5 litres:

5 Litres Apple Smuggler, 5.5% 500g Sugar (or to taste) ½ Sliced Orange 1 Cinnamon Stick 3 Star Anise 15 Cloves

Warm until there's a strong spice aroma, whilst heat will naturally evaporate the alcohol content you may add apple juice to reduce potency or add brandy to increase.

We have pre made kits available at all of our markets if gathering the ingredients is a burden!

What’s your first delicious item of food going to be when you’re free?  Where will you get it from?

Angus and I have an obsession with carveries. During our first year when we built our presence up for scratch – the hard way; often pub to pub, we'd regularly stop off at carveries to unwind. In some cases we'd end up having two carveries a day. 'Business Carveries' as we'd call them. We wouldn't want to mention specific places as we've been to so many, but we did have a secret 'Carvery of the month' facebook group where we'd review each one in detail! Failing a carvery, you can't beat crispy aromatic duck.

Where would be your favourite place to stay in the Cotswolds, if you weren’t sleeping in a bale of hay?

I've recently moved to Cirencester from Wotton-Under-Edge as it's next to the press and I am really happy here, there's a pond outside, apple trees and fields and woodlands for miles. We are fortunate enough to visit lots of nice places including Stow on the Wold, Stroud and we sometimes venture into West Oxfordshire. It's all very nice, we've seen almost all of the Cotswold Hare's. I grew up in Bussage, a village east of Stroud and we were right on the edge of the valley. As I child we used to build bases, camp, fish and other things youngsters used to do and it holds a special place in my heart, perhaps my answer is to trade the barn for open skies.

What are your immediate plans as soon as the barn door is open? Any hobbies you’re going to take up?

As business has taken up most of my free time I've actually had to work hard to find some hobbies! I would like to learn the guitar as I've mentioned, although I don't think I have the patience. Writing a diary may sound nice but I've found blogging more practical, we have a slightly populated one available on our website: https://www.beardandsabre.co.uk/blog. I'm hoping to find the time to add further articles relevant to cidermakers and drinkers alike. I recently got a baby rabbit to look after as it seemed like a lot less maintenance than a dog, given my busy schedule, but it's proved a lot more trouble than I first thought and requires constant attention. Even as I'm writing this she's slapping a tube against the floor repeatedly because she knows I'm about. She's called Ida, the anglification of the old norse goddess Iðunn: goddess of apples and youth.

What would you say to anyone planning on starting their own business in 2018?

I think this question could have an interview dedicated to itself, I also don't think I'm qualified to give advice as each situation is different to the next and the battlefield is ever changing. There are a few news articles doing the rounds as of late that suggest university candidates should be dissuaded from going into business as an alternative, due to the risks in the current climate. Unfortunately I have no choice but to advise anyone planning on starting their business in 2018 to 'just do it'. There's never going to be a right moment, it's not going to naturally happen on its own. 

You have to make sacrifices and swim upstream like a salmon wishing to spawn: and once you're in, don't stop and don't look back. I think there's a grace period for all new businesses where you only think about the rewards and the successes you'll achieve, but the grim reality is it takes a lot away from you, financially and mentally – you need a good support structure. We would never have made it this far without family and friends, you'll also lose some on the journey as well. Once you've set off, the best piece of advice I can give is to make friends, be nice, business isn't about trying to cut the best deal at the other party’s expense – some people operate this way, so be cautious, but from experience we can tell you that the most successful people tend to be selfless and in turn attract more people of the same ilk around them.  

We have a great relationship with our suppliers, landlord, and wholesale customers – and that's something you'll need because there will be bumps along the road and sometimes you can't meet obligations, it's much nicer to have the liberty of discussing options, solutions, alternatives with understanding friendly people than it is with someone that's always trying to get one up on you. In summary, 'Do It', be prepared to make sacrifices, fight the 'good fight' alongside family and friends and always be nice to your suppliers and customers; you don't know when you'll need their help.

What are your plans this Christmas?  If you get out of that barn of course…

Unfortunately, and I don't want to give a boring and predictable answer, but this Christmas will be entirely consumed by cider related activities. It's always a challenging period this time of year, when summer ends and before Christmas sales pick up, so we are all working flat out. We have a hugely busy Christmas schedule which can be seen on our website or social media – we'll be at a lot of Cotswold markets and events (ironically I'll be in a barn again in Cheltenham). Christmas eve I will be at Swindon market and after that I think i'll be sleeping in until late afternoon Christmas day. 

For any market or event enquiries, Judith is the expert – she'll happily put aside anything you'd want, especially our mulled cider kits. [email protected]

www.beardandsabre.co.uk 

Rock the Cotswolds is a not-for-profit campaign created to promote the talent and creativity of the area.  

It is sponsored by Crowe Clark Whitehill in Cheltenham - their belief in what we’re doing and generous support helps keep the campaign alive and kicking!

www.rockthecotswolds.com

#cider #christmas #christmasmarkets #shopping #alcohol #recipe #hotcider

[deactivatedashe-s]

Yet Another OC Meme (50 Q&A)

I'm not sure what the original post was but if anyone knows please tell me so that I can link it to this one. (blame 9th grade me). http://nekotan-chou.tumblr.com/post/120740460331/loi-got-this-from-some-other-post-1-your-first So this is a "yetanotherocmeme" that I did a couple years ago //cries// and I cringe. I cringe heavily. I don't roleplay anymore much less create individual or fan OCs nowadays. This questionnaire will only revolve around the 200+ characters I acknowledge as still in use. Virtually all of the ones from the first post are abandoned. SO MUCH CRINGE. Also, I know that a lot of these questions specify just one OC but I like talking about ALL of them. 1. Your first OC ever? Looking back through old sketchbooks, it was actually a group of Kingdom Hearts OCs. The one that sticks to memory most, however, was supposedly the daughter of Kairi and Sora. 2. Do you have a personal favorite among your OCs? Liluna Maefield. She's my absolute favorite character. I love developing her character and her design is actually one of my favorites. Ironically enough, she's also the furthest away from my general character designs/personalities. 3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else? I don't believe so. I have many characters that are influenced by other people and their characters but I don't think I've ever had one directly. 4. A character you rarely talk about? Seiren. He exists but I don't normally delve into him. During the early drafts of Secret (during the cringe years), Seiren was the Teacher to Violet, whose a special type of Mage. In the current version of Secret, Seiren is the father of Violet and Liore 5 If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be? Riden. If I make Riden popular, that would mean people would read Litheliun. All my time and effort put into that story won't have been for naught. Also because Riden is one of my most complicated and the second favorite after Liluna. I love his character designs. 6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related? Prior to my redesigning to diversify my character designs, the characters that were most similar without purposeful relation were Lucas of Secret and Day of re:Meetings. Looking back on it though, I think re:Meetings was a recycled plot line of Secret but I just forgot that fact. 7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories? All of them are. I'm a writer nowadays so all of my OCs are characters created for my stories. I have a master list of my main works /here!/ 8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here! All of my OCs used to be RP OCs, however, I mentioned I wouldn't use any of the ones from prior to 9th grade and that was really the last times I role played. There was one, however, from this year. Their name is Anaro. They're a merperson from the Voltron: Legendary Defenders universe. I used them as a character for an OC-centric Voltron AU with my friends. They're flirtatious. They also travel around on either a wheelchair or a fish tank on wheels. 9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else? I really would depend on the situation, what I'm getting in return, and which character. 10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design? I want to Sora Davit due to his scar and eccentricities but almost all of the main characters of Dragons have rather ornate designs. 11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”? Mikaela Kay. Now and forever. She's no longer a universal RP character since s has a set role as one of the leading sidekicks of the Litheliun: Eternal. 12. Name an OC that isn't yours but who you like a lot. Jun's character Alwyn! He's been put through a lot! He deserves happiness with his family!!!! 13. Do you have troublemaker OCs? Gods below, yes. A majority of my characters are chaotic neutral or even just chaotic in general. 14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory Liore and his older sister were suddenly dropped off at the orphanage. There he met his soulmate. He wasn't a prime candidate for adoption because he couldn't be separated from his sister who was too old, in her teens, for most couples. His soulmate did get adopted and they began to fade away from each. Then he and Violet "die" at the hands of his soulmate. He resurrects with no memories or hints of his life beforehand. He wanders around until he's picked up by a kind couple who had recently founded what would become the Red Outlaws guild. Unfortunately, the happiness wouldn't last when a family friend betrays them. In a course of events, battles wage and his parents die. 15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people? Yes! Please! Talk to me! I created this entire blog just to do that (and world build). 16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)? A lot of my Litheliun characters. Pheal is actually an anthropologist with a hobby focusing around cryptozoology. Ziren learned a lot from Pheal and is a scientist in his own right as a botanist. Chiron, despite being a renowned chemist, would actually be very good at biology. She just doesn't like it. Reidoux would also be best at biology since she studied the body. Had it not been for the war, she would've actually become a marine biologist. 17. Any OC OTPs? Yes! Chiron and Liluna are my precious married girls! I love drawing them together and it's fun to do so. 18. Any OC crack ships? I'm terrified to say that there is one. It's Ziren x Jasper. The idea once popped into my head and it hasn't left. Ever. 19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why) Riden Olivyon. Believe it or not, he's actually one of my oldest original OCs right next to Ziren. I never really delved into him as much as I tried to outline a plot for Litheliun back in my younger years so he's not really brought up often from back then. If memory serves right, Riden was also originally based off of my mom (they're both born in August Leo's). I worked, reworked, and fixed Riden from the jumbled mess he already was into a pretty decent character. He's probably my greatest achievement. 20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)? Hm... Yes? Riden does technically sing when he has a voice. The world of Litheliun doesn't really have verbal music since language had been destroyed not too long ago and it's been a struggle to build it back up. His voice is lilting and is reminiscent to bells. It's also pretty raspy. He sings to music boxes. Oh, and they're Harriet! She is quite literally a famous singer named Rehenna (a cheap alias based on a book series he likes). It's difficult to pinpoint his music genre but it's something like pop and Celtic. 21. Your most artistic OC Chiron Hallows. Prior to becoming a chemist, she worked as a commissioned artist. On the flip side, Cedar Flores became an artist as a hobby after taking a liking to drawing the blueprints for Meth's inventions. 22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how? I wouldn't know. I doubt anyone even knows my characters exist beyond a visual design. 23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like? ..... Virtually all of Litheliun, all of the Secret Series. Holy frick none of my original plans go out right. However, there is Skylar Davit of Fantys Aurea. His original personality was meant to be a true villain who greatly enjoyed villainy. However, after infiltrating the hero school and befriending the students there, he decides to become a hero himself. In his current personality, he became a vigilante in hopes of finding his missing brother. When Sora does eventually return, Skylar finds himself enjoying screwing around. He's a trickster over a sheer villain. He stays a villain through the rest of his life with bouts of vigilantism here and there to assist his hero boyfriend Joseph. (also, I wanted to give him blue hair so I made his original sociopathy a side effect of a loss of emotions while using his power) 24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why. No. They'd all try to kill me. 25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?) Chiron Hallows actually uses a redesign from //cringes// Kanoka Seiwa, an RP OC who was based entirely off of me. Not only is her physical appearance similar but she's also an artist. Luckily, I've managed to make her her own person over the years. On another note, Sapphyr Mata is quite literally based on a self-insert with a design taken from a character physically based off of me, Phiran Korand. A lot of the characters from Secret are based on my irl friends and myself. 26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? With my current characters, no, not really. If I change something about them, it's mostly because I either wanted to or forgot the original aspect of them, improvised, and it stuck. 27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? While the characters themselves were created based on the song, Blake and Ruby's story, as well as their personalities, were inspired by the song "Both Sides of the Story" by We Are The In Crowd. I did end up changing this plot line so the original is more of a backstory leading to the events. They still hate each other but they don't end up back together in the current version. 28. Your most dangerous OC. Depends on your definition of dangerous. If you mean by potential danger, then Kylan, Goddess of Destruction. She can remove anything from existence, even souls. Luckily, she's level-minded and is very responsible. If you mean as actually shown being dangerous, then... Oh, that's difficult. Many of my antagonists/morally ambiguous protagonists are ALL considerably dangerous. 29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going? Avery "AJ" James. It's pretty much her job to investigate abandoned areas without telling anyone. Aside from her.... Jamie Rowen maybe? 30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? Secret? Almost any of the ones who have a stuffed animal collection would display it proudly. 31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really) Pheal Nascal would have a conspiracy/science blog. They'd have spent days upon days coding the layout with Matrix by their side. Ironically, it'd be mostly pastel colors. 32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? ..... Um.... The characters of Dragons? I've been tempted to dive into the tragedy genre and me doing so usually means horror genre too. It's kinda weird. Aside from them, Sora Davit. Previous child quite literally went through a horror game scenario on his way to escaping. 33. Your shyest OC? Young Phiran. He was a rather tiny thing and during the course of Litheliun, he had just awoken from a coma and with amnesia. He's not very good at socializing and can barely speak more than a few words at a time at a whisper-level. He was easily frightened. 34. Do you have any twin characters? A LOT. The most notable are Sora and Skylar. Under the right circumstances, they can pass as identical and have a tendency to steal each other's identities since they're both wanted criminals. There's also Riddle and Rhyme (although Riddle had stopped aging around 16 while both of them are presently 19), Derek and Dylan, Evan and Eloise, Mil and Mira, and Ioryn and Carolyn. Then I have my fraternal twins, Wren and Harriet. Neither of them know they're even close to related. Both of them like to hide behind their undefined ages. 35. Any siblings characters. Aside from the twins, there's also A LOT. Most of them are adopted, half-siblings, or dead. Justin and Jay, Jasmine and Jaden, Avery and Avalon, Stella and Alice, Jun and Jewel, and Violet and Liore are the most notable siblings. Sonja is the older sibling of Sora and Skylar, while Riddle and Rhyme are the eldest to Silica, Erick, Meric, and Pyrus. There's a lot more. 36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)? I'm not entirely sure what this is supposed to mean now that I'm actually reading it. "Pair" is a rather vague word. 37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human. I'm a fantasy genre writer. NONE of them are "quite human". However, I'll introduce Rubee Sonata. She's a vampire born after the fabeled Flooding of Terraria and her parents had apparently been born shortly before the Flooded waters sunk down to regular bodies of water. Her clan had joined together with another clan, the Novellas. During her youth, she was childhood sweethearts with the Novella heir, as was to be expected as she was the Sonata heir. Rubee, like her predecessors, were cursed to rely entirely on the Novellas for their immortality while the Novellas relied on the Sonatas for sanity. The curse manifests itself as a ruby embedded in the front of her neck. 38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer? Either Onyx Mata or Eloise Tallon. Both are vaguely based off of my sister who is a rather amazing competitive dancer. 39. Introduce any character you want Avalon James is the deuteragonist of Secrets Behind Lock and Key. During the original concept, however, he was the sole main character. His book was styled like a journal and he was the author. In the current version, it's Avery and she is the one who found the journal. Avalon is considered the "host" of the Seven Vices. While his body does indeed act as the basis of the Seven Vices, he himself as a soul is the vice of Lust. During the current version of SBLAK, Avalon is around 27-28 years old and is one of only three members - the other two being his closest companions - of the gang literally known as Vices. He's also thought to be dead for most of the book. It isn't until an infiltration mission where he is mistaken for his sister is he revealed to have been alive this entire time. 40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share! I don't think I have any linked to the characters themselves aside from the actual process of creating them. No one is really interested in my characters so I never get the chance to develop or think of them outside of the words being put down through typing or through pencil. 41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!) Yes! Henry draws my characters on occasion without me having to request that she do so. My favorite one is of Ziren with Riden's back facing the camera in the background with leaves everywhere! The link to it is here! 42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods? My actual God characters, of course! Godly Affairs occurs in a world where the human race managed to wipe itself out. The Greek pantheon is one of the few pantheons that managed to survive and flourish in the new world so the newer pantheons admire them greatly. 43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess I have a rather wide range of characters designs but in earlier designs, you could typically find a reoccurring theme of white hair, red-eyed undead characters, fire-powered red-heads usually as an ode to my first original work OC, Mikaela), and characters with short black hair, a blue color scheme, and somewhat relating to sapphires. In my stories, you might even notice how some characters tend to have altered replicas in groups of 4 to 7 across their universes. I enjoyed using my irl friends as the characters themselves. 45. A character you no longer use? Look at the original post for this. All except for Mikaela. 46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly? Yes. All the time. I tell it to myself too. 47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child? No, not really. As I've mentioned before, no one really cares. 48. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes Rubell and Joseph. They are casual existential despair personified that cover it up with memes. 50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want All of Them: Help me.

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