#monty had a few bangers

[seagull-scribbles]

Today is brought to you by the letter H

Sketch by @shadlay

#sth #Shadlay #vector the crocodile #im not explaining discord jokes they’re funnier to me when you see stuff without context #anyway i did one doodle in my lecture and it was shocking and then Shadlay sent this and I couldn’t stop thinking about it #this is the kind of thing i would frame in my classroom when i get one of my very own lmao #anyway in the discord we where coming up with things beginning with H to describe vector #which wasn’t the joke but feel free to tag and comment your additions #vector hugs was my one #Shadlay said vector haunted which is very good #monty had a few bangers #there was a whole story and series of illustrations i just #so good #but look at him here #so scrungly #not my art #Sesame Street core lmao #maybe he stayed up to late watching an episode with charmy ahahaha #not me trying to turn this into something serious

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

It’s hard to believe nowadays, but there was a time where the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp duo was known for delivering nothing but certified bangers. Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow… It was just hit after hit when these two joined forces. But in the mid 2000s, something shifted. It suddenly seemed like people were sick of Burton, sick of Depp, and most of all sick of them working together. Sure, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd were still well-liked, but once Alice in Wonderland hit theaters people weren’t shy about voicing their dislike of the director and especially the actor. Burton kind of skidded to a halt for a while, while Depp just kept making increasingly worse movies with Disney and generally not doing anything worthwhile after Rango, and while Alice was the breaking point, the cracks started to show in 2005 with a little film called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

An attempt to redo Roald Dahl’s novel about a precocious child touring the candy factory of a wacky candymaker was being planned for a long time, with even Nicolas Cage in talks at one point to be Wonka, and at another point good ol’ Martin Scorcese was attached to direct. But things just kept falling through until Burton got dragged in, and from there he proceeded to get things done and talk the studio out of stupid decisions like killing off Charlie’s dad and making Wonka a parental figure. Ah, but speaking of Wonka, that crucial role needed filling, and it seemed a lot of famous actors were considered for the role by the studio—Robin Williams, Patrick Stewart, Michael Keaton, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, Leslie Nielsen, Robert De Niro, Will Smith, Mike Meyers, Ben Stiller, pretty much every living member of Monty Python left at the time, Adam Sandler, and Marilyn Manson among them according to TVTropes—and Burton had an interesting idea for his second pick to play the guy:

But instead he went for his first pick, someone who’s actually very similar to Marilyn Manson in a lot of ways! Good ol’ reliable JD himself! Surely this was gonna bring in the big bucks! And... it did! It's the highest-grossing adaptation of one of Dahl's works ever, and Burton's second highest-grossing film!

Critics seemed mostly fine with it, but audiences were a lot more divided. Some people liked that it was a new and different take on the story that stayed a lot more true to the book than the beloved 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (a movie that Dahl famously hated as much as he did Jewish people, so frankly who gives a shit about his opinion), while others clung to the nostalgia of the Gene Wilder Wonka and treated this new film like a war crime. How dare they remake their favorite movie, even though this isn't a remake, it's just a different adaptation of the same book!

So yes, this movie isn’t the most reviled film out there, but it definitely is incredibly divisive, and what’s more I distinctly recall even as a child being aware of the attitude towards Depp and Burton shifting towards the more negative when this film came out. So I figured it was a high time I see about revisiting it and find out if this second cinematic outing into Wonka’s factory was really that bad, or if it genuinely was a work of impure imagination.

THE GOOD

It may surprise you to hear that this film actually does a few things better than the 1971 film. This is especially evident in the four shitty children touring the factory with Charlie.

The ones from Willy Wonka were, to put it bluntly, dull and forgettable, and came off as far too sympathetic in regards to their fate because none of them aside from Veruca Salt showcased any terrible traits that would lead to them deserving their punishments. In this film, all these kids are assholes, so watching them fall prey to the karmic justice of Wonka's factory is all the more satisfying. We also get to see what happens to them after they get out, which is kind of funny. I’m not gonna pretend that they made them the deepest and most complex characters ever, but with how they updated them and with the young actors they got to portray them, they managed to inject a bit more life into them than you’d expect.

This movie also fixes Grandpa Joe, who is pretty infamous to fans of the '71 film as a total asshole who constantly encourages Charlie to steal and just in general seems like a massive burden to his family. Here, he actually is every bit the sweet old grandpa that you’d expect, and his motivations for wanting to go on the tour are a lot nicer and more sympathetic. He also never tries to push Charlie into a life of crime, which is nice.

Of course, the very best aspect of this movie is Deep motherfucking Roy. He’s the second best dwarf actor out there, only oovershadowed by Warwick “Leprechaun” Davis, and much like Davis was in Star Wars as the ultimate Glup Shitto—Droopy McCool.

And in this film he gets the incredible honor of being every single fucking Oompa-Loompa there is, and he is clearly having a blast and busting his ass. He had no prior dancing experience, but you could not tell with how he’s pulling off all these sick moves while spitting out diss tracks for children like he’s Blood on the Dance Floor. He really is the single best actor in the movie, and that’s not to slander anyone else—Roy is just that good. Like we have a scene-stealing minor role for Christopher Lee as Wonka’s dad, a crabby dentist who hates candy, and as amazing as he is Roy still is better. You better respect this man.

Speaking of men to respect: Danny Elfman. Taking lyrics straight from the book and weaving a unique style for each kid—Big Bollywood spectacle for Augustus (that was Roy’s idea), 70s funk for Violet, psychedelic rock for Veruca, and hard rock for Mike—the songs are all genuinely great and fun to listen to. I’d never go as far as to say they’re more iconic than the Oompa-Loompa tracks from the ‘71 film, but I think they function better as songs, and the fact each of them has their own distinct style to set them apart from each other was the right way to go. I do think Mike’s song is the weakest of the bunch, feeling a lot messier than the other three, but it’s not unbearably awful or anything.

THE BAD

The biggest issue with the film is that the two most important characters—Charlie and Wonka—fucking suck.

Let’s start with Charlie. Now, to be clear, I’m not putting any blame on Freddie Highmore—he was literally a child, and even then I think he’s doing his damndest to make Charlie cute and whimsical. The issue here is definitely on the writers, who saw fit to stuff him full of all the syrupy sweet Tiny Tim-esque kind-hearted poor child cliches but forgot to impart a personality to go with them. Charlie is, to put it bluntly, a boring and generic nice guy, and one who ends up feeling like a living plot device to further Wonka’s character development, something that feels especially egregious when his name is literally in the title.

And now let’s talk about Wonka. Boy, is there a lot to unpack with this guy.

Literally everything about this take on Wonka is incredibly awkward and off-putting. The most infamous aspect of him is definitely the look; with his pale skin and dorky haircut he looked a lot like Michael Jackson, who at the time the film came out was going through a very serious scandal where he was accused of doing awful things to children in his big rich guy mansion… which is essentially the plot of this film when you think about it.

But that’s just an unfortunate coincidence! It’s an ugly look, sure, but a good performance could make it palatable, and this was Johnny Depp during his big post-Jack Sparrow renaissance working together with the guy who helped put him on the map. Surely he wouldn’t deliver an incredibly awkward, cringey, and insufferable performance that dials up all his acting quirks to annoying levels, right?

Here’s the thing: On paper, Depp’s Wonka is honestly not that different than Wilder’s. They’re both weird, quirky, reclusive confectioners with a not-so-hidden disdain for the kids touring their factory and snarky, condescending attitudes. What it all comes down to is the presentation, and to show you what I mean I’m going to use the most batshit comparison you’ve ever seen:

Burton’s Wonka is very similar to Zack Snyder’s Ozymandias.

“Now hold on, Michael,” I hear you exclaiming in utter bewilderment, “how are these two comparable? I know that both are fine with the wonton murder of children if it helps achieve their goals and that a lot of people are weirdly horny for them, but how is this a good comparison?” Well luckily I’m not trying to compare a mass-murdering anti-villain to a quirky chocolatier in terms of character, but in how the adaptation drops the ball with how they’re presented by removing the more warm and positive aspects of them. In Alan Moore’s comic, Adrian Veidt is essentially a relentlessly charming gigachad, an affable and approachable fellow who seems beneath suspicion because he exudes a traditionally heroic warmth. In the movie, however, Snyder chose to portray Veidt as a cold, distant twink who doesn’t seem particularly approachable at all (another case of Daddy Zaddy tragically missing Moore’s point).

This same "missing the point" issue plagues Wonka. Yes, Wilder’s take is just as much a smug asshole reveling in the comeuppance the children are receiving, but he also has a genuine warmth to him which is codified perfectly with him singing “Pure Imagination.” Sure, he’s perfectly willing to traumatize everyone with a demented boat ride shortly after, but Wilder’s performance and the presentation of his Wonks help sell him as a quirky genius who is more likable than insufferable, and you really understand how despite being kind of a dick he is also a beloved figure.

Depp’s Wonka fails as the character in the same basic ways that the movie version of Veidt does: He's a condescending, cold, openly rude, guy who is just genuinely unpleasant to be around despite the movie really trying hard to make him likable and relatable, to the point where unlike Wilder's take it's hard to grasp why this guy gets any respect from anyone. He’s like the proto-Rick Sanchez, except he’s not even particularly funny to make up for it. Maybe this take is more accurate to the book, but if it is it’s really just proof that taking liberties when adapting really is for the best.

And this failure is only compounded by the movie piling on a tragic backstory for Wonka. Yes, Christopher Lee is great, but there is genuinely no need to pile on a traumatic childhood and weird daddy issues to Willy Wonka. The character works best as this weird, trickster mentor figure who dishes out karma to the naughty kids and ultimately rewards the good egg of the bunch. Trying to bring a guy with a magical factory full of dwarfs who do choreographed diss tracks every time a kid falls into the incinerator down to earth and make him relatable is just a mind-boggling decision.

These are really the only two issues with the film that stand out as excessively bad, but… you see the problem, right? The titular character and the owner of the titular chocolate factory are both bad. One’s a living prop, the other is just an obnoxious asshat who is given unneeded character development that ends up falling flat, and while this would be easy to ignore if they were side characters it’s impossible to let slide since they are the main fucking characters. The whole film revolves around the two very worst things in it, and no matter how good the other stuff in the movie is these elements alone drag it down a lot.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Look, I’m not going to pretend like this is a great film. If it really is closer to Dahl’s book, all it managed to do is convince me to never read it and solidified my belief that being pragmatic when adapting books to screen is the way to go. It’s also really easy to see how the Burton-Depp fatigue came about, as this is some of the weakest work in both of their filmographies.

But I still feel like there’s plenty to like here. The songs, the bratty kids, Deep motherfucking Roy, it’s all genuinely good shit! There was never a chance it was going to be iconic as the Wilder film, but it’s disingenuous to write it off entirely when it does a lot good things (and a few things better than the '71 version). A lot of people are nostalgic for this one these days, as it's the one this generation grew up with, and honestly? I can't really blame them entirely. It's a decent enough movie, and I honestly think that score it has up there is pretty fair. It's certainly a mixed bag but when it actually succeeds at being charming it does it in its own unique way rather than trying to ape the beloved classic that came before it, and I do respect it for that.

And hey, if Johnny Depp's worst and most annoying movie role is in a movie I'd still say is okay, that's a good thing right? He couldn't possibly ever take a role more cringeworthy and annoying than Wonka in a film that's genuinely shitty, right?

Right?

RIGHT?!

#is it really that bad? #IIRTB #Charlie and the Chocolate Factory #Tim Burton #Johnny Depp #Willy Wonka #Roald Dahl #book adaptation #review #movie review #Youtube

[youtastelike-sunlight]

4, 19, and 26 for the three song ask game!

4. Three songs that you know thanks to your parents

Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners - fun fact, when I was eight or so my stepdad told the joke... well, I say it was TO me, he says it was IN FRONT OF me, it's a point of contention. Anyway, it's a ridiculous and very common joke: What's worse than Grease on Olivia Newton-John? Come On Eileen. And because I was EIGHT it will literally never leave my brain and so EVERY time this song pops up, that joke appears in my head.

Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus - my mum was a fitness instructor and I can still see the step aerobics routine to this song in my head. It involved a grapevine.

Decomposing Composers by Monty Python - we had this thing on VINYL (before the vinyl renaissance) and I fucking love it

19. Three songs that are your guilty pleasure

You know, I refuse to feel guilty about the songs I like anymore. I spent my teenage/early twenties downplaying and defending my love of TSwift to my rock/metal friends, my love of hard rock to my Swiftie friends, my adoration of movie versions of Broadway shows to my theatre friends.... etc. You get it. HOWEVER, I will put here three songs from my Barbecue Beats playlist that always get me a "THIS?" when people are at my house and hear them lmao.

Get Low by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz - the day after the RWRB film came out my spouse came into the kitchen while I was cooking and this song was playing, and they were like "Oh, this is stuck in your head because of the film?" and I had to be like no, it's been on my playlist for ages lmao.

Everywhere I Go by Hollywood Undead - also on my 'Feminism Off Misogyny On' playlist for obvious reasons, it's ridiculous but fuck is it fun to sing.

Pull My Beads Of Love by Mr Fantastic and Sam Riegel (from The Legend of Vox Machina) - this song is fucking unhinged and I'm obsessed with it.

26. Three favourite non-English songs

I actually have two separate playlists for non-English songs: Waiata has all my te reo Māori songs and Esperanto has everything else.

Bist du down? by ACE TEE - this song fucking slaps start to finish

Te Ao Mārama by Lorde - the lyrics are absolutely fucking gorgeous and it's one of those songs that's so fun to sing along to

Kia Tū Au Hei Ariki from Lion King Reo Māori - so far Lion King, Moana, Frozen, and Coco have all had full te reo Māori releases and I believe Encanto is next? And every damn song is incredible, the films aren't direct translations, the use of pronouns, dialects etc is VERY deliberate, and they are all amazing, BUT as Lion King is the only one of these films from MY childhood I have a particular soft spot for it. This song is a banger in every language, but what I like about this one is there are a few lines in it that are sentences/sentence structures you learn very early in te reo lessons, so beginner Māori speakers will listen to this song and be like OH!

["The Three Songs" ask set]

#three songs asks #cha-melodius

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Imagine:

Erik’s groomsmen are panicking because his fiancé is at the door when the room is full of strippers. Little did they know, Erik called her ass there for some pussy.

“Grab that nigga from the room and bring his ass out here!!!!”

Erik’s best man, Monty, yelled to one of the groomsmen to retrieve Erik from his bedroom. Walking up the stairs towards Erik’s master bedroom, his groomsmen takes a swig of liquor straight from the bottle before knocking on the double doors with gold handles leading to his fancy room.

“Yo, E, the strippers are here, bruh.”

They rounded up the best strippers in Cali. A popular stripe club called Heat was a favorite of theirs since they were in their early twenties. The type of strippers didn’t matter. They could be all shapes and sizes, all different shades of brown, but the most important thing was the tricks they did. All of them had to put on a good enough show if they expected some money from them. Erik’s boys had a few stripper poles put in place for the night and even went in for a bar tender and a personal DJ. Erik’s entire entertainment room was turned into stripper paradise.

“E?!!!!” The groomsmen yells, banging on the door. That was a mistake, the minute Erik opened the door, his hands were fisted into the man’s shirt, yanking him up like a damn doll.

“Fuck is you doing banging on my door like that?!!!!” Erik’s eyes were flaming and his lips were turned up in a snarl, eyes glaring down at this man who was a best friend of his. That Henny was like devils nectar whenever Erik drank it.

“Chill out!!! I’m just letting you know about the strippers!” Erik’s friend yanked away from him, “damn, tryna kill me, Killmonger?”

Erik adjusts his silk Versace shirt, all gold jewelry from his neck to his fingers gleaming. Stroking his dreads back, Erik walks back into the large room, grabbing his Hennessy bottle and cell phone.

“Don’t do that shit again, bruh. You know how I get.” Erik takes another sip. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he smirks mischievously at his friend before gripping his shoulder.

“My bad, homie. I ain’t mean to scare you like that.”

Erik’s groomsmen kisses his teeth, jerking away from Erik, “man, whatever.”

Both men leave the room, heading downstairs towards the banger hip hop beat and howling from the horny men.

“Finally!!! Ladies!!! This is Mr. Bachelor himself!!!”

Erik stood at the top of the stairs, arms stretched out wide and a handsome grin on his face. The selection was a good one. Better than good...all they ass was THICK AS FUCK. One couldn’t move with out the other clashing cheeks. Titties all out, bouncing around like they were ready to be sucked on. G strings and crotch-less painties in all different colors.

“Y’all tryna get me in trouble with Y/N, I see what y’all niggas doing,” Erik jokes. The minute he stepped down into the room, two strippers flanked his sides while another steps forward, titties out and a tiny ass lime green thong on. Erik laughs, the stripper in front of him down in a squat now running her hands all over him. She popped her ass while looking him in the eyes, her hands becoming a little too comfortable as they ran over his crotch. Erik grips her wrist, tilting his head down at her with his nostrils flared. He shakes his finger back and forth in front of her face, her lips pouting out like a damn brat.

“That’s for my main bitch, my future wifey.” He looks from her and to the other women on his sides, “Behave if y’all want this fucking money.”

“You here that, it’s for wifey,” The deeply mocha skinned stripper says while sharing sneaky looks with the other two strippers.

“Behave?” One of them, a light skin chick with a mouth full of braces and two pig tails, “How are we supposed to behave when all we wanna do is popped this ass and pussy for you?” She ran her finger along Erik’s cheek, rubbing his dimples with her stiletto nail. Erik clenched his jaw, leaning away from her. This shit was going to be too much. If they kept it up with all this talk and throwing ass on him, like the stripper bitch with the lime green thong was doing, then he would have a hard dick.

Erik thought about his equally thick and more beautiful fiancé, Y/N. He hadn’t seen her in a few days since she was with her brides maids but she was still close enough if he needed her.

Baby, if you need me, I’m only a phone call away

That’s what she had told him on the phone earlier. She knew he would have strippers at his party, she probably had a few herself. Erik wasn’t tripping, that shit didn’t faze him because he knew and SHE KNEW what time it was.

I ain’t worried, ma, we know who that pussy belong to

“Shit,” Erik seated himself on one of his suede couches, watching his friends and future male in-laws go crazy over these half-naked women. Erik was indeed a man, he had eyes. He could see nothing but ass, pussy, and titties. And yes he was officially horny. A cute stripper chick with big doe eyes like his fiancé and long curly hair kept eyes on him while she twerked in front of some of his groomsmen. Her violet g-string held ones to hundreds resting in it, almost falling to the crack of her ass the way she moved. She had those pouty lips like Y/N too. Fuckkkkkk.

“Hi, Mr. Bachelor,” she flirtatiously says, lifting from her position to walk towards him. Erik clenched his jaw, liquor to his lips while this chick dips down low in front of him, popping her ass over his dick. Erik grunts, pulling out his wallet to make it rain on her graciously. She was throwing that shit back on him, a teasing smile on her cute face.

“Go head, touch me. She ain’t gotta know.”

Those challenging words. Erik glared at the young girl, slapping her ass hard as fuck with his stack of crisp hundreds and watching pure ecstasy crowd her face. Erik threw his head back then, his arms thrown over the back of the couch now while this chick decides to put her whole ass in his face. Erik’s friends cheer him on, all of them wishing they were him in that moment. Once she was finished, Erik gave her some more money, her fingers lingering on his chest. She had a look beyond tryna earn her money. She looked like she wanted him to risk it all. Erik wasn’t about to risk a fucking thing on a stripper.

She stands, walking away purposely slow with a sway of her thick caramel hips. Erik pulls out his phone, Y/N’s text thread up. Erik types away, his skin hot and sweaty from lust and dick so hard it felt like the crotch of his pants were about to rip.

Come here. Now.

That’s all he says while drinking his Henny. He couldn’t look around that room without ass being in his face. In his peripheral he could see money raining over a couple strippers who were grinding on eachother.

What’s wrong, Daddy? Everything okay?

She always thought the worse.

Nah. That’s why I need that ass here. now.

Daddy, I’ll be there in 20 minutes, okay?

Erik groans. He couldn’t stand being at his bachelor party with all this ass. He would have never imagined he would be craving his fiancé right now. He always craved her but the fact that strippers threw themselves at him it made him want her to throw her ass back on him. His lips and tongue itched to taste her pussy. His dick twitched to fuck her lights out.

Make it ten, you fucking hearing me?

🥺😩 okay.

Erik’s rage was at its peak. He didn’t feel like waiting.

————————

Y/N pulls up in front of their luxury home, turning off her car and stepping out into the warm California evening. She was dressed in a white velour track suit, Bride on the back of her form fitting velour hoodie spelled out with rhinestones. The velour skirt clung to her curves dangerously. At the door, keys in her other hand, Y/N opens the door, the loud commotion hitting her full force like a rush of wind.

Ass. Ass. ASS.

She smiles with a shake of her head at the way Erik’s male friends and and future family members gawked at these beautiful women. They acted like they’d never seen a woman in their life. As soon as she made it inside, one of her older cousins caught her eye, making a chain reaction of men look towards her with guilty looks.

“Y/N?!!” They looked hysterical.

“Hey Fellas,” she waves, hands on her hips and an accusatory look in her eyes.

“Girl why are you crashing your man’s bachelor party?! Hell wrong with you,” her older brother, Devin, was really heated about this. The strippers kept doing their thing, earning money and shaking ass. The DJ was mixing a good set too, the entire place lit up.

“Don’t worry about all that,” She says while holding her hand up in his face to shut him up, “where is my man?”

Her brother rolls his eyes, “at the fucking bar getting wasted.”

Y/N gives her brother a kiss on the cheek before walking away and to the bar. Y/N couldn’t keep her eyes off of the strippers either. None of this bothered her. She knows where Erik’s heart resides. Spotting her man looking delicious with his Versace on, white linen pants, Versace slides on his feet and all gold jewelry. He was knocking back shot after shot of Hennessy. Y/N’s knees almost buckled because she knew why she was here. Erik wanted some pussy and the sight of all these stripper women teasing him had him horny and insatiable like always.

“Better have a clear head for the brunch tomorrow, Daddy.”

Her soothing voice made him close his eyes in longing. Placing his shot glass on the counter, Erik turns to meet her big bright eyes, a not so innocent smirk on her pouty lips.

“I’ll be aight,” Erik looks his fiancé over, lips parted slightly, “You look so fucking good, baby.”

Y/N blushes, “and so do you...future husband.”

Biting his lip, Erik pulls Y/N close to him, placing his lips over hers and dominating. Their tongues danced slowly, wet soft lips smacking and Erik’s teeth biting her lower lip from time to time. Taking his thumb, Erik wipes spit from Y/N’s chin.

“You know what time it is, right?”

Y/N nods her head slowly with a bite of her lip.

“You gon’ give me that pussy, wifey?”

“What you think?” She looks Erik up and down, reaching over him to pick up one of his shots, “You ain’t even gotta ask me that, Erik. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, “whatever I tell you?” Erik pulls Y/N close to him, grabbing her ass, “You bold, cuz if you do whatever I tell you I’ll have your ass cumming and crying.”

Their lips connected again, the passion more evident. The bar tender had to slip to the other side of the bar to keep it cool from watching them both. Erik rewards Y/N with two slaps to her ass.

“Get yo ass up stairs and pull out them toys you got from your bridal shower.” He whispers with seduction. Y/N chuckles softly before slipping away and up the stairs to their master bedroom. Now in the room, Y/N undresses, walking over to her closet to retrieve her stripper heels that Erik loved and the gift bag filled with vibrators and but plugs. She picked out a 5 inch butt plug colored black with ridges all over it. This was Erik’s favorite because he loved the way his dick fit in her pussy when it’s in her ass. He could feel all the ridges.

Opening her strawberry lube, Y/N puts lube in her ass, tossing the bottle on the bed for Erik to use. She arched her back on the bed, eyes looking up at the ceiling mirror to watch her ass bounce, lubed up ass whole and pussy glistening. She was a little tipsy herself. The Bachelorette party did involve male strippers but Y/N wasn’t impressed. None of them made her want to spend her money but she did play nice and accept a lap dance from the most popular one there. She gave him a few hundred before slipping away to play some drinking games with her girls.

Y/N thrusts her fingers into her pussy, stroking it with an erotic rhythm like she was listening to baby making music. Erik needed to hurry the fuck up and murder her pussy because if she kept this up she would be making herself cum not him. Turning her head to look at her reflection again, she jumps slightly from the sight of Erik standing in the door way with his shirt opened and eyes glazed over with lust. Erik slams both doors shut, the sound echoing down the hallway.

“Bitch, I didn’t tell you to play with that pussy I said get the toys ready, talking bout I’ll do whatever you say.”

His angry voice made Y/N smile. She pushed him further, rubbing her clit now. Erik storms over, grabbing hold of her wrist, stuffing her fingers in his mouth. Her sharp gasp made his dick jump in his linen pants.

“So fucking hard headed,” Erik claps both of her ass cheeks before sinking his fingers inside her pussy. He moves them around, rubbing her sweet spot and walls deliciously.

“Fuckkkkkkk,” Y/N looks back at Erik, eyes crossing. He was really digging in her pussy, Y/N’s legs shaking and juices running down her thighs.

“SHIT!” She could feel herself squirting. Every thrust Erik made had her squirting in long streams. The entire silk comforter was soaked.

“You squirting all over these fucking sheets!!!!”

Erik pulls his creamy fingers out, sucking on them while grabbing the butt plug and lube. Erik squeezes a generous amount onto the butt plug, his eyes watching the liquid drizzle over the ridges.

“Mmm, this about to have your ass cumming and squirting. I love this shit.”

The minute he pushed that plug inside, Y/N starts hollering. Erik toys with her, pulling the plug in and out making Y/N beg and plead like a damn baby.

“Damn that shit feels so good,” Y/N smiles, an occasional “ha” escaping her mouth while he fucked her tight hole. Erik left it there, watching as Y/N’s tight ass suffocated the toy.

“Damn,” Erik undresses behind Y/N, “tonight just might be the night I put a baby in you.”

She could feel his dick burrowing deeper and deeper. Her screams of pleasure had her face shining with tears and her voice hoarse. Erik fucked with quick succession, his hips drilling her like he wanted to break her tight walls. She couldn’t even move. His hands held her wrists and at that point Y/N didn’t have a choice but to lay there and take it.

“DAMN, this tight fucking pussy!! This my wifey tight little pussy, gripping daddy dick like you asking for a baby!!! What’s wrong witchu?! I will fill this shit up girl and keep my dick deep!!”

She clenched her pussy, causing him to grown.

“Oh, so you wanna play?” The threat was like venom.

Y/N could feel the pressure from the butt plugs ridges pushing down on Erik’s dick. The added sensation had her saying ooo and ahhh each time she felt it.

“Throw that ass back!!!”

Y/N starts meeting Erik’s strokes.

“Come on, Bride to be,” Erik slaps her ass, “Sexy ass! You listened when I told you to come here right? Like a good bitch...Daddy’s good BITCH!”

That was it. Y/N came hard. So hard she felt dizzy. So hard she felt like the retinas of her eyes were out of focus and she was loosing vision.

“FF-fuckkkkk,” she speaks into the now makeup stained pillow, “E-Erik,”

He just looks at her from the side, dick still deep in her guts. He was craving giving her back shots. All that other shit was just as amazing but something about fucking his fiancé in a home full of strippers, her face down and ass up was a huge turn on.

“You had me wishing you could pop this phat pussy on my dick,” She was zoned out, drooling on the silk sheets with her eyes low and trained on him like she was in some sort of neurological shock.

“Fuck my pussy,” she chokes out in a nasally tone, “Be good to me, fuck my pussy...fuck me daddy, yeah...my pussy.”

That damn butt plug was killing her. Y/N felt so full. She was about to explode again only this time it felt worse. Erik’s dick grew in size causing Y/N to tap out.

“Can’t go no more, huh?” She could feel him grabbing her hair, arching her body more. Her eyes looked up at that ceiling mirror, neck hyperextending, mouth wide open and eyes watering. Her hands fought to grab hold of the sheets but each and every time he would thrust into her she would loose balance. This man was demolished her pussy. Y/N could only respond with choked up cries and mumbling incoherent words.

“Got me over here fucking this pussy up girl.”

Erik damn near growled from the way she came on him again, her soul in his hands now. He loved this woman’s pussy so damn much. He loved her period. The fact that he was more turned on with fucking her instead of strippers is growth. He would have never been the type of nigga to tie down, but the moment he met Y/N, the shit was fate.

“Begging me to fuck this tight pussy now I’m about to buss a nut!!!”

“Daddy! Your cumming!” She was finally able to speak.

Shefelt his dick move like a rippling wave, warm cum feeling heavy inside her pussy. Erik kept up with slow delicious strokes because he wants to make sure he smeared all of that cum on her walls, and cervix.

“Watch you end up pregnant,” He grabs hold of her hair, pulling her to against his sweaty chest for yet another searing kiss.

[ruoyeming]

My Fav Books, another chaotic list

Another quarantine review fest! I know I ranked my top anime but this is seriously too hard so I’m just going to list them to avoid hours of debate. Enjoy!

1) The Skulduggery Pleasant series

This whopper of a series (now at 15 books jesus christ I didn’t know there were that many I’ve only read about twelve) has a special place in my heart. I was FULLY obsessed with it throughout my tween - and teen - years, and for a reason. This shit just butters my bread like nothing else. The story follows a young girl Valkyrie Cain (who eventually becomes a young woman through the series) and her partner in crime, a fashionable living skeleton called Skulduggery Pleasant. They’re MAGICAL DETECTIVES!!!! Bitch!!! They use elemental magic - water, earth, fire, air - to fight off magic-wielding bad guys and look good doing it. The duo is hilarious and seriously shaped my sense of humour, the dry wit and comedic writing style stuck with me and influenced my own writing style to this day! As the series progresses we get a massive cast of characters but to me they’re all memorable, likable (mostly) and well-developed so that’s not an issue. I have no fukcing clue how Derek Landy comes up with his stories because every book in the series has an absolutely wild (yet unique) plot with its own twists and turns. It gets REALLY dark and depressing at times, gory, brutal etc etc especially in the later books I have no idea why this is labeled as a kids series.

10/10 for badassery, humour, and MAD codependency issues

2) The Feverwake series

This bitch is one hell of a YA series. It’s actually only a 2 book-series which is rare, but that’s not the only thing that sets it apart from other creations of its genre. It’s hard to explain the setup without waffling so I’ll just quote the blurb of the first book: “In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.”

As you can tell from this, the series is heavy on its politics but in a grounded, realistic and relevant way which is different to many other YA series. Marxist theory is brought up, and you can make some pretty strong links between the books and real events. The magic also has a semi-scientific explanation which is cool and adds to the realness. Anyways this series is action packed and full of twists, plus there’s a bisexual main character and queer romance at the core!! Wig!!! Very good for moral debate - how far is it acceptable to go to protect the oppressed before you become one of the oppressors? Dark and exciting series.

10/10 queer representation and political themes.

3) Spin the Dawn

It’s probably obvious that I’m biased towards YA books but they’re just so exciting and cool! Anyways this is about a girl living in a kind of alternate universe ancient China where magic exists. Maia Tamarin is a skilled seamstress who dreams of being the Imperial Tailor, a position that can only be held by a man. She poses as her brother to go to the royal palace and enter a competition full of skilled tailors, all vying for the role of imperial tailor. She also meets Edan; a mysterious, annoying, but SEXY mage who seems to know her secret identity? Oho? IMO this would be an elevated book if Edan had been a girl but that’s just me being gay. As the final challenge Maia is tasked with making 3 dresses from the sun, moon, and stars - a mission that takes her to the ends of the world in search of these magical materials (obvs Edan goes with her and they kiss kiss fall in love). It’s a fairly classic YA plot and characters but the combination of Project Runway, Mulan, and kind of Lord of the Rings(??) vibes makes for a very entertaining read. It’s also really fun to imagine what the clothes look like, plus the romance between Maia and Edan is very cute. Second book is yet to be published but sounds lit.

10/10 magic fashion and romance (despite its heterosexuality)

4) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Usually I steer clear of angsty gay stories because I’ve consumed too much of the depressing narrative which is all about suffering because of being gay, but fuuuuuuck this book is like the definition of bittersweet. Mostly bitter to be fair but it has a happy ending which was lovely after the emotional torment of the book. It’s about two teen boys - Aristotle is angry and repressed, Dante is eccentric but kind, and the two eventually form a strong friendship after meeting at the local pool. It’s kind of obvious that Ari is in denial about a few things, which leads to some real sad boi hours. There’s also a devastating moment around halfway (not sure) through with a car accident which makes the whole thing 10x heavier. Despite all this, the book has its sweet moments - parents play a big role, but not in the way they usually do in queer stories - and like I said the ending is the bandage for your broken heart. I’m not sure what it is about the writing style, maybe the way it just cuts between scenes randomly or perhaps the way the dialogue and actions are so realistic, but it’s so different to any other book I’ve read that it’s stayed in my mind for a while after reading it.

10/10 really good philosophy plus supportive parents

5) The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

Okay if this was a ranked list, this bad boy would be on its way to the top spot. It’s got everything: historical setting, gays, pirates, alchemy, humour, adventure, angst, character development, and some healthy second-hand embarrassment. It’s not complicated or philosophical but reading this book all in one go is like taking five shots and diving into a pool. It’s exciting and witty, but deals with darker themes like child abuse too. One of the MCs also has a disability and doesn’t treat it as something to be cured, which is a lesson our protagonist has to learn. Speaking of protagonists, Henry ‘Monty’ Montague is a great main character. He’s obnoxious, oblivious, and hedonistic yet quick-witted and passionate, and he has a good heart. Sometimes you just want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him for being such an ignorant idiot, but throughout the book he grows and learns to open his mind more (as well as becoming more humble). He’s a great example of a flawed yet likable main character. He is also a bisexual icon.

Oof forgot to even talk about the story. Monty embarks on a tour of Europe, usually taken by lads his age to get all cultured before they settle down and inherit the family company or whatever. With him are his younger sister Felicity, a girl with a brilliant mind for science who isn’t taken seriously by anyone because of her gender, and the lovely Percy, Monty’s lifelong best friend (and crush). Monty ends up stealing a very valuable object that turns the Tour into a manhunt across Europe, and drags the trio into a big ol’ conspiracy involving something that may or may not be the philosopher’s stone????

Issues of race, gender, and disability in historical context are really well done, and it’s an absolute banger of a book.

10/10 very exciting adventure, plus GREAT GAY ROMANCE

6) Heaven Official’s Blessing

HOOOOOO BOY. This is probably my absolute fave on this list. It’s a webnovel (originally Chinese but the full translation is online). Set in ancient china in the cultivation world (difficult as shit to explain if ur not into all of that but I’ll try), basically there’s three realms - the heavenly realm, the human/mortal realm, and the ghostly realm. If a mortal reaches a certain point (good deeds, power etc), they ascend to become a god - or if they fall far enough, they become a ghost. 

I’ll just quote the author’s description again cause I don’t have the brain cells required:

 “Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom. He was loved by his citizens and was considered the darling of the world. He ascended to the Heavens at a young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, was quickly banished back to the mortal realm. Years later, he ascends again–only to be banished again a few minutes after his ascension. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock among all three realms. On his first task as a god thrice ascended, he meets a mysterious demon who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens, yet, unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this demon king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time.”

It’s hard to describe the enormity of this story and all the emotions it encapsulates, you really have to read it for yourself. But bitch the undying, pure, Hozier-devotion-level LOVE is by far my favourite part of this story. If you’re looking for an epic, god-tier gay romance, then this is it baby!! This story has comedy, action, and downright harrowingly depressing moments, but throughout is this achingly beautiful love between fallen god and last believer.

I don’t wanna give too much away cause there are some big ol’ plot reveals, but oooh this shit made me cry. The protagonist is MY FAVOURITE EVER I didn’t think it was possible to like a protag so much!! He’s legit my fave character! At first he seems oblivious and carefree but he’s just doing his goddamn best after all he’s been through and he’s so fukcing kind and just wants to help everyone for fuckcs sake excuse me I need to go have a breakdown.

Okay I’m back, anyway there’s a great cast of characters, even the background characters are all incredibly memorable and all given their time to shine and develop. My faves include Quan Yizhen, a rowdy himbo who just wants to fight, and Shi Qing Xuan, a friendly genderfluid god who controls the wind. Read this shit I’m not joking it’ll change your life. 

10/10 for everything

#book review #book recommendations

[chase-the-windandtouch-the-sky]

What about a Bellarke one shot where Madi sets up a date for the two of them? She is aware that Bellamy is in love with Clarke and vise versa and decides to take them to a secret date she planned because she is tired to wait for them to be together!

Oh my gosh, I never got these notifications! Tumblr mobile app, WHY?!

The theme of the above prompt?!

PARENT TRAP.

It took three days to set up.

Madi isn’t proud of it - well, she is but she won’t be telling Clarke that anytime soon - but she is tired of the dancing around. All it took was an old book Shaw found on the Eligius ship, Murphy’s help through intense bribery (and then Raven’s subsequent help and forcing Murphy to do as well for free), and an honest request. She flipped through the pages of 101 Ways to Tell Her How You Feel, the pages old from dust, mining for hints and tricks for courtship. Shaw chuckled as she does so, insisting that even a hundred years ago, the book was outdated, but she had nothing else to go on. All she knew is the following:

Clarke and Bellamy are idiots.

She would never say it to their faces, but even Raven admitted their actions after the valley was won were exhausting. Madi figured they would need some time to settle back in the valley and learn how to live with the Eligius crew, but once everything was figured out, wouldn’t they at least talk about it? Instead Clarke and Bellamy did what Clarke and Bellamy seem to do best: throw themselves into work for ‘the greater good’ and ignore the one thing that would make them happy. Add the fact that there was no sense of privacy in the village, Madi was convinced nothing would ever happen.

So? Madi decided three days ago that she was going to change this.

On the night of the set-up, Madi pours over the book one last time. It talks about candles and fancy food that she’s never eaten, but she gets the gist: do things you wouldn’t normally do to show someone how you feel. She hunted for days trying to earn enough to barter the Eligius members for trinkets and knick knacks, get extra meal tokens, and after three days - and one threatening session from Raven and Murphy to a few Eligius members, she’s got everything she needs.

Diyoza stands in front of the crowd of people, her eyes searching for Madi. Once they catch her eye, Diyoza smiles. “Alright, due to some concern of the southwest barrier, we’re going to need a handful of lookouts.”

Clarke frowns, where she stands next to Madi. “Lookouts?” She repeats. “Is there a threat we’re unaware of?”

Diyoza shakes her head. “It’s the one part of the underground fence that hasn’t been completed yet. I think we all can agree that we’d feel safest if it’s guarded until Raven and Shaw have an opportunity to finish their project.”

Raven scoffs. “I don’t think you realize how complicated it is to set up the security system you’re requesting. It’s not something you can snap your fingers and have it done overnight.”

Diozya sighs, “No one’s saying that, Reyes, I’m simply say that you never know what’s out there.”

“We’re literally the last humans on earth, why are we worried about that?” One of the crew members call out.

“I think we can all agree from experience that, that sort of mentality always leads to trouble.” Diyoza says with a smirk. “First watch will be Blake, Griffin, Murphy, and Shaw.”

Madi can’t help but smile, ducking her head when Diyoza winks at her. She was the only one that didn’t need a ton of convincing. Madi had a feeling the longer her pregnancy continued, the more likely she would be amenable to shenanigans Madi came up with. So, she better get Clarke and Bellamy together now, because Diyoza wouldn’t be as lenient with her forever.

Rushing over to Murphy, Madi, sneaks a something into his hand. “All you have to do is put this on the radio,” she whispers, trying to find Clarke. Of course she’s already next to Bellamy, shouldering her pack and beaming at him. Once the war stopped, the two seemed to have a weight lifted from their shoulders. The loss of life was minimal and for at least the foreseeable future, everyone was getting along. They were safe. For the first time everyone was together, they were safe. While Madi could always see the ghosts of the past behind Clarke’s eyes, they lighten when Bellamy is near. “Raven says once it’s in place, it’ll sound a memo of Diyoza calling you and Shaw back.”

Murphy takes the device from her, rolling his eyes. “Why not simply ask Diyoza to call us back? She agreed with everything else.”

“She said that while she’s 'fine with ordering people for the safety of others, she won’t get drawn into my prank.’”

Murphy laughs. “Sounds about right.” He ruffles Madi’s hair in the way that she hates, pulling on her braids. “Alright pipsqueak, let Operation Bang It Out commence.”

“Good god, Murphy,” Raven says exasperatedly. “Can you at least pretend you have a filter?”

“I’ve never had a great internal imagination.”

Raven shoves Murphy so he stumbles toward where Bellamy, Clarke, and Shaw are. She then turns to Madi with a smile. “Ready? With your tracking abilities, they should never know we’re following them.”

“Shaw and Murphy could distract them, you know.”

“Dumb and Dumber? I don’t want to hold my breath with those two.”

“I thought you said that Shaw was smart enough to hang with you?” Madi asks, confused.

“Yeah, with engineering.” Raven snorts. “Poor boy has been frozen for one hundred years, which leaves his social skills to be desired.”

“You mean he hasn’t asked you out yet?”

“No need to parent trap this one, Madi. I am very desirable and go for what I want.” She flips her hair. “Did you think Shaw even had a chance?”

Madi giggles and the two trek in the forest several feet behind the group, who are chatting. Raven catches Madi’s eye and rolls her eyes, pointing at Clarke and Bellamy, who are so far ahead of Shaw and Murphy, but lost too much in their own conversation to even notice. “We don’t even need to be discreet.” Raven mutters to herself.

Pulling the book out of her backpack, Madi opens to a dog-eared page. “It says here that music is a good way to indicate the goal of the evening. 'For example: if you want to maintain the boundary of friendship, play something light and poppy, as to tell the other person thank you, but we should remain friends.’” Madi pulls out a device she traded the Eligius crew for on the ship and hands it to Raven. “Do you know any of these songs?” She asks, scrolling through.

Raven flips through, “Uh, not really. They would play some music in Engineering on the Ark, but it wasn’t romantic songs. Think: more head bangers. Hey, this one looks like the person is holding a paintbrush.”

Madi smiles, “Perfect, Clarke loves to paint. We’ll use that one. It’s an album called 'It’s Blitz!’ I have no idea what that means.” Madi flips through a couple pages. “So, it also say alcohol helps, specifically something called 'wine.’ I don’t think we have any of that, so I got some moonshine from Monty…” She rummages through the bag. “And tonight’s the perfect night because there’s a full moon! They say the evening sky is the perfect setting for ambiance.”

Raven chuckles. “Madi, I’m sure everything will be perfect.” She places a hand on her shoulder. “Do you mind my asking why this is so important to you?”

“Aren’t you tired of them not talking?” Madi exclaims, huffing. “Clarke spoke with Bellamy on the phone every day for six years - I had to listen to it for six years.”

“That’s a lot of years, Madi.” Raven says with a soft smile.

“And,” she continues, wincing. “I always felt bad.” Madi shrugs, trying to shove down her guilt.

Raven frowns. “Felt bad? For what?”

Madi sighs. “Clarke was left behind. And sure, I’m grateful because that means we had each other, but it had to have sucked for Clarke, you know? It’s not fair. It’s not fair that you guys got six years of peace together and she was stuck here, even if it meant I had someone too.”

Raven stops walking. Madi almost argues, but Raven places her hands on her shoulder. “Madi, she got six years of peace. Sure, it wasn’t with us, but it was with you. And she doesn’t just try to make you feel better when she says she’s happy she’s with you. She talks about it all the time. How grateful she is everything worked out and how grateful she is you found each other. Don’t feel bad for something you had nothing to do with, because I am not lying to you when I say, she does not.”

Madi can’t help but smile to herself. “Thanks, Raven.”

Once they reach the checkpoint, Clarke and Bellamy cast looks over their shoulders and realize Murphy and Shaw are way behind them. They laugh, Clarke placing her hand on her hip and tapping her wrist at Murphy until they catch up. Murphy bellows a laugh and shoves her playfully, causing Clarke to stumble forward. She places a hand on his shoulder and shakes her head, jogging up to where Bellamy is chuckling at the two of them. Madi and Raven creep up to where they are, pushing back a few branches.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand your friendship,” Shaw is saying.

“What’s to understand? We’re high class and Ark trash.” Murphy answers. “I’m obviously the high class.”

“It’s true,” Clarke answers, leaning down to tie her shoe. She sucks in a breath and extends her arms. Madi can barely remember the last time she looked this at peace and free, Clarke spinning around a few times. Bellamy watches her with a soft look in his eyes, not even trying to hide it. Raven elbows Madi’s side and nods at him, to which she can only laugh. “This is actually one of my favorite spots in the valley.” She says with a smile. “Look how the moon reflects across the water.”

Bellamy steps forward to where she is, crossing his arms. “It’s not something we could see from space, that’s for sure.”

Murphy turns around, searching for them. When he finds Raven and Madi, he mouths, “Oh my god,” causing Madi to need to clasp her hands over her mouth before giggling.

Murphy fiddles with the radio, which crackles to life. “Shaw, we need you back at camp. Something malfunctioned on the ship. Murphy, walk back with him for safety.”

Murphy puts on a good show, snarling into the radio, “That was a nice demand. Where’s my please?”

The radio doesn’t even crackle.

“Rude.” He states. “Well, it’s been fun. You guys good by yourselves?”

Clarke and Bellamy frown. “Everything okay?” Bellamy asks, suspicious.

Madi should’ve seen this coming. They’ve been through too much not to be suspicious.

“That ship, man,” Shaw tries to cover. “If I had a dollar every time it broke… well, since we don’t use dollars anymore, it doesn’t really matter, but you catch my drift.”

“Dude, please be cool, for once in your life.” Murphy hisses.

It’s clear neither of them are convinced. Before Shaw can dig himself a deeper hole, Murphy grabs his arm. “Duty calls and all that. Radio if anything happens. Here, have my pack. It, uh, has food. And Monty packed some moonshine.”

He yanks Shaw behind him, the two stumbling through the forest. Clarke arches an eyebrow at Bellamy, who shrugs. “At least we get the view?” He offers.

The two sit at the edge of the water, the moon rippling off the waves. Madi almost feels guilty watching because it’s such an intimate moment. The two are shoulder-to-shoulder, arms crossed against their knees. After a few moments, Clarke takes off her boots, tossing them to the side. Dipping her toes into the water, she sighs. “What are you doing?” Bellamy cries.

“It’s very refreshing, you should try.”

“You’ll get sick! Plus, what happens if something actually happens? How are you going to run barefoot?”

“I got very good at running barefoot, I’ll have you know.” Clarke grins. “A radiation-soaked planet is a hot planet.”

All he does is shake his head in response.

Clarke bows her head, tilting it slightly toward Bellamy. “You doing alright? After everything?”

Bellamy sighs. “I suppose. Octavia still won’t talk to me for talking Diyoza’s deal behind her back and causing a mutiny in Wonkru. She doesn’t agree it saved their lives.”

Clarke hesitates before responding. “She’ll see. You know Octavia, she’ll fight you, but she’ll come around. One day she’ll see how you saved everyone’s lives. Once we get settled and she realizes that death isn’t the only answer, she realize what you’ve done for her. What you’ve done for everyone. She’ll remember how special you are. And really see it this time.”

Madi can’t see it, but she knows exactly the look Bellamy’s giving her right now. It’s a smile saved especially for Clarke, slight and grateful. “Is it time for the music?” Madi whispers to Raven, pulling out the device and a set of speakers. Raven nods and Madi plugs it in, pressing play.

“Off with your head!

Dance, dance til your dead!

Off, off, off with your head!

Dance, dance til your dead!”

“What is that?” Raven cries. “Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off!”

Madi scrambles, yanking the chord out.

Bellamy shoots to his feet, unholstering his gun and pointing it where they’re hiding. “Who’s there?”

Clarke pulls on his pant leg. “Put the gun down, it’s just Raven and Madi.”

The two freeze in their hiding spot.

Clarke rolls her eyes. “You’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are, I’ve known you were following us since we left camp.” Bellamy lowers the gun with a frown, but doesn’t sit back down. “Raven, please take Madi back to camp. Madi, you know it’s past your bed time. And Raven, tell Murphy and Shaw I will deal with them in the morning.”

Madi gulps. “Sorry,” she mouths to Raven, who is fighting a smile.

“We wouldn’t have to do this if you two would just TALK, you know.” Raven calls to them.

On their way back, Madi observes the album cover closer. “OH, it’s someone breaking an egg with their hand. It’s not a paintbrush at all.”

Raven bursts out laughing. “Yeah, that’s why this plan became a disaster. Otherwise flawless.”

Except neither of them bring it up when they make it back to camp the next day. When Clarke and Bellamy arrive, Madi catches as they slip their hands out of each other’s when they come into view. She catches when they smile at each other when they think no one’s looking, or how they disappeared for an hour in the afternoon.

Before everyone separates to go to sleep, Bellamy approaches Madi. She prepares herself for a half-hearted argument, but is greated by a high five. “Thanks,” he mutters before walking away.

Perhaps it wasn’t such a disaster after all.

#bellarke #bellarke fanfiction #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #the 100 #madi #prompt #the 100 prompt #parent trap #thank you so much for the prompt! #I’m sorry I didn’t see it #tumblr app whyyyyy

[onestowatch]

Unusual Demont Delivers a Mesmerizing Vibe in the Prince-Inspired “Purple”

Fresh off the success of his previous single “Pine,” Unusual Demont returns with “Purple, ”his second single of 2021. Though the past few months have brought the Wisconsin native an incredible magnitude of attention from press and fans alike, Unusual Demont’s music still bursts at the seams with personality and intimate attention. Though “Pine” was a relatively upbeat banger that existed in the middle ground between funky and psychedelic, “Purple” sees Unusual Demont branching into a much more seductive and hypnotic style.

On his latest single, Unusual Demont delivers fans a soulful and downtempo track that oozes artistic potential at every moment. Where “Pine” drew comparisons to Thundercat or Miguel, this time around “Purple” carries subtle parallels to dvsn, Steve Lacy, or more transparently, Prince. 

In an interview with Variance, he reveals that he had been listening to a lot of Prince prior to the creation of “Purple,” describing the beat from producer Elijah Cruz as “divine timing.” Over an ethereal and reverberating mix, Unusual Demont offers a heart-wrenching performance describing a bittersweet moment of romantic tension.

This year Unusual Demont is two for two, with each single giving an in-depth look into his affinity for clever songwriting and careful composition. Whether or not Unusual Demont can maintain this artistic momentum in the future is yet to be seen, but given his track record, it would be unwise to bet against him. Whether or not you’re already a ‘Montie’ pining for Steve Lacy to hop on the remix, or if this is your first time hearing Unusual Demont’s music, now is the perfect time to vibe out to “Purple.” 

Listen to “Purple” below:

#unusual demont #purple #R&B #soul

[junker-town]

The NBA’s Kawhi Leonard rest fine for the Clippers, explained

We have that and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.

On Thursday, we talked about Kawhi Leonard resting for a national T.V. game and the NBA being okay with it, but fans perhaps not loving it. Later Thursday, the NBA decided it didn’t love the way Doc Rivers talked about Kawhi’s rest and fined the team $50,000.

Huh?

The Clippers received pre-clearance from the NBA to sit Kawhi by telling the league that this wasn’t “load management” -- it was rest related to his injured left knee, the one that clearly showed wear during the reigning NBA champion Raptors’ title run last spring. But then after the game where Kawhi sat, Clippers coach Doc Rivers talked about how great Kawhi feels health-wise, how he’s “never felt better.” The NBA felt duped and issued a $50,000 fine on Thursday. Then Kawhi played (as planned) in a national T.V. game on Thursday and looked fine.

In the end, the NBA fined the Clippers for telling the truth after giving them permission to tell a lie.

A more charitable and nuanced read is that the NBA wants to support teams resting players for back-to-backs, but can’t get away with it if the teams don’t at least try to convince fans that players actually have ongoing health concerns that only adequate rest can help solve. In this reading, the NBA acknowledged the Clippers’ rationale, and then Doc undercut it and so the NBA had to revisit its initial decision.

The problem for the NBA is that by fining the Clippers after giving them the thumbs-up, they are drawing further attention to a situation they’d prefer everyone ignore. The hope for the league is likely that other teams don’t give up the game when resting players by then calling them models of health hours later.

So basically, at its core, the NBA wants teams, if they lie about the reasons for resting star players, to keep up the lie. The NBA doesn’t want to look duped for a public already feeling duped by this whole arrangement. Fair enough.

Scores

Celtics 108, Hornets 87 Thunder 112, Spurs 121 Heat 124, Suns 108 Blazers 101, Clippers 107

Schedule

Only Friday has any national T.V. games this weekend: Cavaliers at Wizards at 7 ET on ESPN and Heat at Lakers at 10:30 ET on NBA TV.

League Pass has quite a few bangers, though. See the full schedule here.

Links

Great reception and celebration of Kemba Walker back in Charlotte. In related news, Boston is pretty darn good.

I wrote about a new stability in NBA head coaching jobs. Turnover is at its lowest point in at least a decade. Note: this stability does not apply to all teams.

Zito Madu on why Ja Morant is so thrilling to watch.

Matt Ellentuck on Luka Doncic already playing like an MVP in his second season.

Eric Bledsoe had a hilarious night against the Clippers on Wednesday.

Michael Pina on the questions that Andre Drummond’s hot start poses.

Jimmy Butler is real good.

Devin Booker is crediting Monty Williams with the Suns’ strong start.

Seems like the Lakers are the favorites to land Andre Iguodala if he’s bought out. I still think someone will instead trade for him.

The revelation that is Ivica Zubac for the Clippers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo on taking it easy and what type of coach Jason Kidd was.

A forgotten man integral in getting the Sonics out of Seattle and into Oklahoma City.

P.J. Tucker’s important sneaker free agency.

Whitney Medworth remains on the THINGAMAJIG IS VICTOR OLADIPO beat.

All hail Cole Anthony, college basketball’s new freshman superstar.

Updated WNBA salary database.

Graham MacAree is reviewing SEVEN WORLDS, ONE PLANET as sports and I don’t know whether I can’t wait to watch this show or whether I would rather leave the planet than watch this show.

Be excellent to each other, my friends.

[cw-as-fieldresearch]

A big day in the field (on foot)

Yesterday was our first long day out on foot of the year. We have easily put in 10+ hour days doing snow surveys before the melt began, but now we’ve done one of those days without a ski-doo to carry our tired selves around.

The main project that we’re working on right now is monitoring seven shrub patches and adjacent shrub-free areas to see how frost table (the depth to frozen soil) changes over the transition from spring to summer. We’ve been keeping an eye on a bunch of things – we measured snow depths, and now we’re tracking snow off dates, soil moisture, incoming solar radiation, bud break of shrubs (their shading might affect thaw when leaves come out), and incoming solar radiation. This means that every third day when we have to do these measurements, we’ve got a lot of walking and a lot of measurements to take! It’s also important to note that walking on the tundra is no easy feat – walking on the “flat” parts is a comparable workout to walking up stairs made of sand. Let’s not even talk about walking up hills …

Anyway, we started to get our tundra legs back and got all the measurements done in about 10 hours. We’re starting to see some of the plant life greening up and budding, despite there still being considerable deposits of snow in some areas. It’ll be interesting to see the patterns of how things start to grow in the next couple of weeks!  I’m particularly excited to see things start to flower – unlike Cory who has seen the tundra in full bloom, I have yet to experience that.

We did get some pretty amazing non-plant sightings yesterday. The first part of our day was narrated by an angry swarm of whimbrels that were dive-bombing any raven that flew by. Things got way cooler after that – midway through the day, I spotted a couple of caribou wandering across the tundra! They were pretty far away, so there are no good pictures since I only had the little field camera, but we watched them for quite awhile.  I was surprised to see that they’re still wearing their white winter coats – they stood out like a sore thumb against the tundra right now! At first I thought it was a couple of white ski-doos driving across the snow-free tundra.

On the walk to the next patch I found a small mammalian skull that looked like it had been there awhile. My guess is that it is a siksik, but googling “siksik skull” camp up with some weird stuff so no confirmation on that. Our next cool sighting was a snowy owl that was hunting along the creek! Obviously due to our 24 hour daylight that started a few days ago, these owls have no choice but to hunt in daylight, which makes it great for us to actually see the owls. Just as we were about to make it back inside the bear fence at camp, we had a close call with a more common critter around here – a ptarmigan nearly pooped on me and just about flew right into my head! There was a bit of a show of “who’s the more manly bird” going on and apparently us being there didn’t matter. These birds are ridiculous and about as smart as a rock. They also like to very ungracefully land on tents in the middle of the night – not cool, Ptarmi. The last sighting of the day was a beautiful little fox that found some edibles at our slop bucket drain hole. Our last fox, Monty, hasn’t been seen since we spooked him off with a bear banger. This one seems a little less concerned about the bear bangers, but hopefully if I keep running after it like a lunatic it’ll stay away. It’s very pretty though – a little more compact than Monty, and a really soft greyish orange.

That about wraps up the big day. In other news around camp, it’s been pretty cold and we’ve had some somewhat unpleasant weather – drizzle and freezing rain, and some thick fog at times. This morning there was a little dusting of snow. I brought back my first tundra trophy (caribou/reindeer antler) of the year – we have an antler yard in camp of our findings. We’ve also got water pumping from the creek now, and our sink which formerly drained into a bucket now drains directly to the slop station outside camp (so thankful to not have to haul a full bucket of nasty water across the tundra). I also set up a shower (!!!) in camp – a nice little outhouse shaped tent with propane burner-heated water! Granted, I haven’t used it yet, but a couple others have and the reviews are good. I’m just waiting for a warm enough day that I’ll be warm enough being wet. Tomorrow we sling out the ski-doos from camp, lose one person, and gain one person, keeping our TVC population steady at 5. We’ve started getting into the board games now, playing Settlers of Catan and Coup (both of which I have been dominating at). In other entertainment, the entire camp is playing various versions of Pokemon on emulators which is kind of hilarious. Gotta catch ‘em all, you know!

#fieldwork fieldecology plantecology camping nwt

[haiskulstories-blog]

Hai Skül Story #1; 2 Girls : 1 Boy

PART II: Anastacia Raynolds

My name is Anastacia Raynolds. My friends call me Ana. I’m one of the brightest girls in school, but I hate school. Fuck Wilson High School and all the shitty kids that go there. Except my friends, who are OK. We like to hang out and systematically plan the deaths of all the popular kids while we paint our nails and watch Heathers or Twin Peaks. Sometimes we watch My Sweet Sixteen if we run out of popular kids to fantastically destroy.

I do well in school because I’m bright and I’m nice to the kids who are smart but too socially incompatible to aggregate any sense of a circle of friends. Turns out, they are some of the coolest kids in school because they die to have a class next to me and in exchange, they will do anything for me. Usually it’s like: “Will you please get me a cup of water? I’m still working on this problem,” but they are happy to fulfill a variety of purposes. Needless to say: wrapped around my little stinky pinkie.

Part of the reason I like them is because I have a lot of shit to take care of in my life and I don’t always have time to go to Hot Topic in the mall if, say, my striped leggings get a run. Diane Blair works there. She acts so goth with all of their weird, glittery, off-color makeup, but she honestly just makes herself look like a clown. The popular boys seem to like her though, so whatever.

Now, you get the basic idea of what I do in and out of school, except I have a few hobbies I didn’t mention that I like to keep to myself. I’m actually really tight with my family. I have a little sister who I aspire to mentor as much as possible. She is going to Wilson High next year and I’m almost done with her starter kit. It includes profiles on the ten most popular seniors-to-be, including their favorite brands (in case she decides to fall in with them). She’s awfully pretty and I could see her falling in with one of the jocks. I’ve also included for her where the ten people they live and what kind of cars they drive (for obvious reasons, if she follows in my footsteps).

I’m a little bit torn about what social group she is going to choose, but I’ve made a full proof plan to flat out not care. She may be more popular with boys than me since she flat out likes them more than hitting the books, a divergence of our personalities. She’s had some guys over that, yeah, I can call guys, to the point that sometimes I’m slightly concerned for her since she’s still only 14, but the guys drive awesome cars and buy her clothes and she seems happy enough. She gets them to help her with homework, so I really can’t complain.

When we were younger, we used to be a pair of tomboys and would fight like boys with the neighborhood boys, play in the mud, steal the other kids’ bikes and such. I guess we both have the rebel bred into us, we just have matured into different ways in terms of how we logically put it to use. When I started to see the way she was getting guys to do her bidding, I figured she might have picked up better on our mom’s pretty housewife thing.

All for good reason: our mom is a fox. I guess I got girly when I hit high school and switched up my style, started puting on a little makeup. But I still never dropped my boyish pursuits. Quite the contrary. Neither my sister nor my mom were much thrilled when I started excelling in math and became the president of the motorsports club. They end up opting to spend Saturdays at the mall and for reasons I cannot comprehend, Jaqueline, my little sis, never got over going to church. Personally? I say burn it.

They say having a large network of friends is a guaranteed path to increasing the likelihood of longevity. I care a shit ton about my little sister, so when I saw she wasn’t growing out of her Catholic pursuits, I felt I needed to take action, so we could sit together well after our primes, saggy wrinkles eating up the Carribean sun, sipping piña coladas. I had the realization  just about halfway through sophomore year and up until then, I’d been hitting the books hard, outperforming even the nerds and not thinking too much about a social life to any degree. But I have a decent amount of foresight and I imagined my girly little sister getting to High School, failing at academia and not having any friends, so I figured I should buff up on the real extracurriculars for her sake; I started going to parties.

It was just around that time that I began to gather a following. My grade is a little weird in that most of the alternative girls are of the gothic persuasion and they simultaneously have a lot going for them looks wise. Using my head to grow my popularity but sticking to my cute and nerdy alt guns, I became a pin-up magnet and I soon had every pierced and ungodly chick’s posts rolling out a black carpet for a funeral-themed wedding whenever I scrolled through my Facebook feed. I guess they were excited by my bad-chick sleuthing skills to find the ragers and for good reason: I got them skin with boys they probably would never have seen until finishing their tattoo artist apprenticeships after graduation.

In turn, I was granted a spot in the throne as the prettiest in a flock of birds who would peck to pieces any sausage party. To put it plainly, we get what we wanted by sheer volume of pussy. I don’t even have to make plans on a Friday and by nine, I know where the party’s at and I know my gang will blow it up and turn even the lamest bangers into a roving burlesque.

And that’s exactly what we did over winter break when Stacy Fields, one of my prettier girls, let on that her boy Monty was having a get together with the basketball team. Stacy had visited Diane at Hot Topic earlier that day and snagged a couple bottles of O.P.I Midnight Glitter, so as soon as the bell rang, we all piled over to her house, ate strawberry Poki and watched The Devil’s Rejects while we spread layer after layer of shimmering jet black nitrocellulose over upwards of 100 nails.

We like to be fashionably late, so we rolled up to the party around quarter past eleven, ten girls decked out in torture garb with purses full of candy in a big black Chevrolet Suburban. When I got inside, it was apparent the party had already started because there were quite a lot of empty bottles sitting around, but the music was a little soft, dishearteningly acquiescing to hoots in a smoky family room focused on a plasma TV playing a videogame.

Monty walked up to me out of the smoke and asked me if I’d like a drink, so we headed to the kitchen where a couple other girls from the South Valley were comparing their boyfriends’ dick pics while sitting on the tile countertop, tugging out of a 32 of Miller High Life. Monty mixed me something strong that tasted flowery and vaguely like blue toilet liquid, but it got the job done. Uninterested in the dick pics, I walked back into the smoky living room, took a hit off a blunt that was being passed around and was lit. Then, I spotted him.

Across the room, sitting on an overstuffed brown faux-leather couch, was Erik Crooners, A-team player for the Wilson Wildcats basketball team. He looked uncomfortably out of place, not playing video games and not doing much at all except just kind of waiting for me to pounce on him and eat him up like he were a cup of soft serve.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. If I told you my taste in men, I’d first have to tell you my taste in women, to have a juxtaposition with with which to easily compare. I like Latina girls: tall, thin, but muscular. If she has a tattoo: especially my type. The more, the better. As for men: ditto! And Erik fits the bill to the ‘T,’ his sinewy body was even just ever so slightly caramel color, surely from all that time he spend with his oafish bestie DeShawn. Even made his white ass look a little bit vato: Swoon!

So then I stood there for like a split second, eyeing his most prominent tattoo, a ridiculously vain spidery scrawling of his own name that seemed to bulge out of his tank top on his left pectoral. I didn’t want to be a deer in headlights though. The faux-leather furniture set made the room feel especially ‘den’-like, so I took off my shoes and pranced over, flinging myself onto the big brown cushion next to Erik.

The whole chase was as much like eating soft serve as it had looked from a distance; all I had to do was pull on the little black bow in my hair and kind of tilt my head to show him my neck and he was melting. He tried to make conversation a little like a car trying to start when it’s battery’s dead. After he tried for the third time to say something incomprehensible, then he just kind of pulled his head back a little bit and squinted his eyes all Chinese.

We were up in the master bedroom for probably 20 minutes. He was acting a little like putty, but I’d had only one drink so I decided to take control. I’d had a crush on Erik Crooners ever since the third grade, ever since he gave me a stupid valentine that had a bunch of misspelled words on it about farm animals. I remember when he gave it to me, I took the sweater I had just taken off and threw it in his face.

Ever since then, my feelings of guilt had sort of blossomed into an obsession with his pathetic attempt, his embarrassment, his red little cheeks after I threw the sweater, stuck in my mind as cute but also loving. But when he came, his face got all sort of red and puffy and his eyes bulged. It was a little repulsive and made me question the whole engagement. I didn’t waste time and quickly got up to use the bathroom. On my way down the hall to the bathroom, I got a string of texts from Stacy: 

“Where R U??? // 

We jackt the keg! // 

Alreds in car + keg + we gonna leave yo asssss!!!!”

Even though I felt like I was about to piss myself, I sprinted downstairs and out into the car. As soon as I got in, everybody started asking me where I’d been and then Felicia shouted out that she’d seen me go upstairs with Erik. While my opinion had just been stilted by Erik and the idiosyncrasies fornication will no doubt pull out of a lover every once in awhile, all of the girls started screaming. The keg had already been tapped and we took turns pulling out of it directly, half the girls in the car, including myself, blacking out by the time we reached Stacy’s house.

Looking back, maybe Erik wasn’t all that bad in bed. I remember at one point he started saying something and it pains me to think that I might of heard him confessing, “I love you.” Maybe that’s why he didn’t pull out and maybe that’s why I had to pee so bad after running out of the room, even though I thought he had. All in all, one thing came out of that night: me, pregnant with Erik Crooner’s baby.

#haiskulstories #highschool #popularkids #teen #highschoolclicks #collegebasketball #danceteam #pointguard #dating #parties

[cw-as-fieldresearch]

Three weeks in - here’s what’s happening at TVC!

Hi everyone!

Well, I make no promises about a consistent blog, but how about periodic updates? The first stretch here was pretty busy – the problem with doing work in the snow is that you never know when it is going to disappear, so there was a lot of rushing to get our snow work done! A few weeks later and it has still barely melted … hence, we have time for things like a big update on what we’ve been up to. Let’s start at the beginning!

We had a beautiful trip up here – an overnight in Vancouver, which was sunny and beautiful and blooming – it almost made me not want to head north to winter again! There we got to catch up with a whole bunch of Cory’s friends at an amazing potluck, and I got my all-time favourite espresso beverage, the Spanish Latte. The next day brought us to one of my favourite cities, Whitehorse. Cory has only had really brief stopovers in the city, so we spent the afternoon wandering around the awesome trails along the Yukon River, and admiring all of the sights of pretty frozen rivers and snow-topped mountains in balmy 8 degree (Celsius) weather. The next day was an early morning start to take the milk run to Inuvik. We jumped aboard the good old reliable Air North Hawker Siddley, and hopped from Inuvik -> Dawson City -> Old Crow -> Inuvik. We lost the spring weather pretty quickly en route – still in the -20 degree (Celsius) range once we landed in Inuvik!

We had a few days in Inuvik to get organized, and on April 19th we hit the trails with a couple ski-doos dragging toboggans full of our gear for a 3 hour trip into camp (midway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk)! Cory started off with a bang – before we even left the boundaries of town, Cory launched his ski-doo and toboggan over a snow bank and caught at least 4 feet of air, and still managed to stick the landing. Apparently the large bump pushed him into the throttle. A very dramatic start to his snowmobiling career! Things were much less exciting for the remainder of the trip – just a lot of really beautiful sights as we travelled from the north edge of the boreal forest into the tundra!

We’ve been kept well through the worst of the cold and it’s just going to get warmer from here (we hope). Cory and I have been very grateful for our army surplus purchased sleeping bags – so toasty every night, no matter how cold it has been! The first few nights in camp we had some darkness, and with darkness in the north comes auroras! There were some pretty spectacular auroras that only lasted for a maybe a minute one night, but in that minute we saw greens, reds, and purples dancing right across the sky! Not long after that night and complete darkness became a thing of the past – no more dark for the tundra until August.

Science progressed slowly but surely, and the very slow snowmelt worked in our favour. We had three main projects that we wanted to get done before snowmelt:

1)      Take a bunch snow cores from shrub patches to count seed in the snow (green alder drops its seed over the winter, so that’s the best place to find its seed)

2)      Snow survey (aka measure snow depth and density) across a bunch of shrub patches and Cory’s snow fence that he set up to test aspects of the snow-shrub hypothesis that is a pretty big deal in the tundra shrub world

3)      Measure the temperature at the snow-ground interface

As with most science, we had our fair share of hiccups – Cory and I came to hate the snow tube that we use to take snow cores. Sometimes the snow would get stuck in it and we would lose a bunch of time trying to get it out, or the “plug” of soil that it usually grabs would get stuck too and be impossible to get out, or we would just hit a thick layer of “wind slab” in the snow that was almost impenetrable by the corer and took ages to get through. And then there was the first snow pit that we dug to measure the temperature at the snow-ground interface – the darn thing was 160 cm deep! It takes awhile to dig that deep in snow! We aren’t talking light fluffy stuff either, it takes some serious chipping to get through some layers! This insanely dense snow is what makes igloos so much easier to build here than in more southern snow though – we pulled out some pretty awesome snow bricks.

I was really surprised at how different the snow is here from what I’ve seen at Scotty Creek (near Fort Simpson, NWT). There is so much more variability across the landscape on the tundra – some areas are hardly 15 cm deep, and other areas you get several meters! When there’s nothing but hills, low vegetation, and a whole lot of wind over the winter, you get some serious snow movement and drifting.  One of the other really neat things is the ice fog – beautiful, shimmering ice fog that leaves the most amazing frosty crystals on everything it touches! I can’t get enough of the intricacy of the crystals. We also have gotten some cool variability in the shape of the snowflakes that fall. Apparently the usual thing for up here are these tiny little snow columns that fall (they look like delicate little sprinkles), but when it got milder we got perfect little traditional snowflakes. Very pretty!

There’s been a little bit of wildlife around camp – we had a fox (“Monty”) who was a bit of a regular around camp, but we spooked it off with a bear banger when it started to get into garbage. He was quite the beautiful fella, and I got some awesome pictures of him. One morning he even posed for me in front of a stunning early morning sun dog! There are a ton of ptarmigans around, ladel-ladel-ladelling through the night, and the usual ravens occasionally flying over. The past week all of the migratory birds have started flocking back in mass though – Canadian geese, snow geese, sandhill cranes, and loons have all started making overhead appearances! I don’t know where they’re all going to go right now considering everything around us is still snow/ice covered, but it’s a welcome sign of “spring” anyway. There was a grizzly bear sighting a few kilometers away from camp, and some big grizzly tracks through the snow in Trail Valley Creek itself, but no major threats to camp.

We went out on a big ice fishing expedition awhile ago to the Husky Lakes – this is the place where I had hiked to last summer (a 3.5 hour hike) and caught lake trout and arctic grayling. The snowmobile trip was soooo much easier of course, but our fishing was not so successful – we only caught tiny little sea monsters (sculpin). It was still a very lovely relaxing day after Cory and I had been putting in some very long days of fieldwork for 10 days non-stop.

Life around camp has been great. There have been some great improvements to camp this year, like incinerating toilets that actually work effectively (thanks Incinolet!) and a stellar little propane stove/oven that has been well used. One of the perks of winter work is actually having meat in camp, so we’ve had meals featuring roast beef, chicken parmesan, steaks, and soooo much bacon for breakfast! We’ve done a fair bit of baking too – cookies, cakes, muffins, biscuits, peach crumble, quiche, and pizza! It’s a pretty awesome place to be all-around.

I think that covers all of the highlights of our fieldwork adventures so far. Now that we have down time while we’re waiting for the snow to melt, Cory and I are going to work on writing some papers that need our attention – much less exciting than playing in the snow, but it’s gotta happen!

Until next time!

-Ana and Cory

#fieldwork #arcticecology #research #north