#my due date was 6th of June but I was a little early as well

[canisalbus]

Darn, Machete's birthday is what my due date was, but I was born premature. Intercepted by fate

So close, yet so far.

#my due date was 6th of June but I was a little early as well #it would've been cool to have 6.6. birthday but alas #answered #anonymous

[redrisingsun]

Swedish Holidays for all your Young Royals needs

Due to popular demand (by like five people) here’s a brief description of all the major Swedish holidays and how they’re celebrated because I can’t stand here and pretend as if we really celebrate Christmas the 25th. We have more holidays, I've only written about the ones we celebrate in my family. I come from a working class family and live in Southern Sweden, however I do have family in Stockholm. I'm not religious in any way and as far as I know, most families don't celebrate these holidays because they're religious, but because it's tradition.

yall better appreciate this, it took me literal hours

January

1: Dubbed as one of the collective pizza days in my household. It's the day after New Year, and most people either order in or eat leftovers.

Week 2 or 3: Most people return to their jobs, schools and other daily activities.

February/March

Fettisdagen ("Fat Tuesday"): celebrated 47 days before Easter. The actual date varies, all from early February to early March. It's an old Christian tradition where you'd eat fatty foods before the "before Easter"-fast and is supposedly a thing in other Christian countries as well. These days, most people celebrate by eating semlor with their family, and most don't fast before Easter.

The semla is a sweet bun with whipped cream and almond paste.

Våffeldagen (Waffle Day, 25th of March): I think this day stems from a Christian tradition, but these days the day is mostly to get together with family and eat waffles.

April

Påsk (Easter): Again, the date varies, but Easter is usually in April. Easter stems from Christianity and is celebrated to remember Jesus' death and resurrection. Easter spans over a week, but I personally only celebrate one of those days.

Påskafton (direct translation: Easter Eve, English translation: Holy Saturday) is the Saturday of the Easter week. In my family, the children get to look for Easter eggs (often filled with candy).

Some children also dress up as Påskkärringar (Easter crones) and I think this tradition has to do with the Witch Trials in Sweden, but I'm not sure. Chances are you won't need to know anything about this for your Young Royal fics, because mostly girls dress up.

Sometimes, we decorate eggs.

Later, we sit down to eat together and spend time with our families. Common things to eat for Easter is potatoes, eggs, herring and meatballs.

Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Night, 30th): We burn a big bonfire in the evening to celebrate that spring is here. I live in a fairly small town, so mostly everyone gathers at one spot and burns the fire together. When the bonfire is burned, most people go home and that's it. It's also seen as a reason to have a party (mostly for teenagers and young adults, I think) and get drunk as fuck.

May/June

Sveriges Nationaldagen (Sweden's National Day, 6th of June): Most people are home from school and work. We hoist the Swedish flag. Idk. However, the Royal Family celebrates by getting dressed up in Swedish costumes. This year, the King held a speech and the family went to Skansen (which is an amusement park/zoo. You can read more about it here). There's music and the military does their weird little thing. You can watch the National Day Celebration on Skansen from 2014 here.

Midsommarafton (Midsummer): date varies, but is celebrated a Friday in late June. I'm sure there's a Christian explanation for this one, but I don't personally know it.

Midsommar (midsummer) means middle of the summer.

Again, this is a day to eat and spend time with your family (or drink, depending on who you are). We eat pretty much the same things for Midsummer as we do for Easter.

For Midsummer we also dance around a Midsommarstång (direct translation: Midsummer Pole, English translation: Maypole) and make flower crowns.

How Midsummer is celebrated depends a lot on your age (most teenagers and young adults again see this as a reason to party), where you're from and a million other things.

My personal favorite Midsummer tradition is probably more common in the country than in the city, for example. You're supposed to pick seven different flowers without saying a word. Then, you sleep with the flowers under your pillow. Supposedly, you'll dream of your future husband (or wife! But I think it's more common that women and girls do this). This tradition also varies. Some people say you need nine flowers and some people say you have to climb over fencing for it to count.

Some teenagers or young adults spend time with their friends to party, instead!

You can watch part of a Midsummer celebration at Skansen here.

The Royal Family usually celebrate Midsummer privately, but I think there's usually new pictures of the entire family around this time.

Day after Midsummer: Collective Pizza Day 2. Everyone either eats takeout or leftovers because no one can be bothered to make anything and like half of the population has the worst hangover they've had since New Year.

Summer Holiday Note: most people in Sweden have four weeks of paid leave each summer.

July/August

Kräftpremiär (Crayfish party) - date varies, normally early August. Basically people get together to eat crayfish and drink. You can usually get paper plates and plastic cups and whatever with ugly crayfish motives (which is fun), but I've never done this.

October

Halloween (30th): Halloween is nowhere near as big in Sweden as it is in the States. We just buy some lösgodis ("loose candy", where you can throw whatever kind of candy you want in a bag. See pictures). Trick or treat is so unusual in the town I grew up I've only ever had one kid ask for candy and when I celebrated Halloween with my grandparents (in a city not far from Stockholm), it was the same. I usually buy some candy and watch a horror movie, but that's about it.

However, Halloween is (again) a reason for teenagers and young adults to drink and party.

November

Alla Helgons Dag (All Saints' Day): Date varies, usually early November. It's a day to remember the dead and we usually light a candle at the grave yard.

December

Första Advent (First Advent): Date varies. Sunday four weeks from Christmas Eve. We mostly just light a candle, honestly. Then, each Sunday for the next four weeks, we light a candle. Here's actually the Crown Princess wishing Happy First Advent with her family! Unfortunately without English subtitles, but here's the translation: "Today is the First Advent. Advent means arrival and hope, something that feels extra important this year. (her husband lights the candle) We want to wish everyone a happy first advent!"

Andra Advent (Second Advent): date varies. We light the second candle.

Tredje Advent (Third Advent): date varies. We light the third candle.

Fjärde Advent (Fourth Advent): date varies. We light the fourth candle. In my family we usually decorate the tree this Sunday.

Julafton (Christmas Eve): Celebrated the 24th. YES, THE 24TH. Christmas Eve obviously varies from family to family, but there's a few things most people have in common. Usually, we get one gift in our sock (which hangs on our bedroom doors in my home, because we don't have a mantle) when we wake up. As kids me and my brother almost always got a movie or something to keep us busy until it was time to leave for our grandparents house.

For lunch we eat the Christmas dinner. It's the same damned food as our other holidays. Herring, meatballs, potatoes, sausages etc, but now, we also have julskinka (Christmas ham). Some people eat ham even for Easter, but we only really eat it for Christmas in my family. Obviously the food varies a little from season to season, but as a picky eater I always just eat potatoes, meatballs and ham.

At 3, Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) is on. Yeah, we watch the same damned stuff every year. It's tradition, alright? Anyway, Donald Duck lasts for an hour or so, and first you get to see Santa work in his workshop, then Disney characters wish you a Merry Christmas with scenes from their movies (original, I know). There's Lady and the Tramp, Donald Duck (obviously) and a million other things. Then there's also one or two trailers for movies Disney will release the coming year. I really couldn't be bothered to find everything on YouTube for you to watch, sorry!

After Donald Duck, we open the Christmas gifts in my family. Normally we just rip out gifts open lmao.

After opening the gifts, we usually eat a second time. This time it's time for porridge. Tomtegröt (Santa porridge) is sweet and often served with cinnamon. Usually, everyone is so stuffed at this point that you only eat because you "have" to eat porridge for Christmas (again, at least in my family).

The last thing we do in my family, is to get a puzzle out. My grandpa almost always gets a new puzzle for Christmas, so we'll put that on the dining table and work on it together until it's getting too late for us to stay.

The Royal Family usually release new pictures of the family for Christmas and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Day after Christmas: Not a collective pizza day! There's usually too much Christmas food left to be able to order pizza. Usually, we have Christmas food to eat for four-ish days after Christmas, and by then you're getting really tired of it.

Sometimes we watch something on television, but for the most part we just sit around and spend time together. I think the Crown Princess read something from the Bible this year? I'm not actually sure if the Royal Family go to the Christmas Service, but I don't think so.

Nyårsafton (New Year's Eve): last day of the year. We shoot fireworks, eat food and dessert and spend time with family. This day we normally eat something "fancy" or something you we don't usually eat.

At twelve, we go out to light some fireworks (or just watch fireworks). When that dies down, it's time for the cheese platter. My dad wants it, no one else ever eats from it, we still do it every single year because "it's not New Year's without it". When we've had the cheese platter, everyone go to sleep and that's that.

People obviously celebrate this differently, as well. It's not uncommon to go see your friends or have guests over, and some people party rather than have fancy dinner with their parents. I personally prefer spending time with my parents, because that's what New Year's is for me.

Some people give resolutions, but I think it's more common in the States.

Christmas Holiday Note: It's common for people to not work between Christmas and New Year's Eve where I'm from.

Some things you might want to know about the Swedish Royal Family and Sweden overall:

The Royal Family in Young Royals is not the real Royal Family (obviously).

The Royal Family usually spends time on Öland during the summers.

Chances are Wilhelm and his family live at Drottningholm Slott (Drottningholm Palace) and not Stockholm Slott (Stockholm Palace). Drottningholm is used as a home for the current King and Queen and is located west of Stockholm. However, the scenes where Wilhelm is home is shot at a palace called Stora Sundby Slott. I doubt Wilhelm and his family would live here if they were the actual Royal Family since it's used as a place for people to gather when they want to hunt for sport. However, if they truly live at Stora Sundby, it takes almost two hours to drive from Stockholm to the castle.

Bjärstad is AT LEAST two hours away from Stockholm.

Bjärstad to Stora Sundby Castle takes approximately an hour and a half by car, and between nine and twelve hours by bus. Which means these two boys can't just take a twenty minute bus to see each other.

Bjärstad to Drottningholm takes a little over two hours by car and four-ish hours by bus.

Bjärstad to Stockholm Slott takes over two hours by car and three and a half hours by bus.

Hillerska is shot at Kaggeholms Slott (Kaggeholm Palace), and is a hotel.

The age of consent in Sweden is 15, HOWEVER it's illegal to have sex with someone four or more years younger than you if you're not both over the age of 18. Let me illustrate: -Person A is 15 and Person B is 15. It's legal because both are 15. -Person A is 15 and Person B is 20. It's illegal, because there's a five year old gap between them. -Person A is 15 and Person B is 18. It's legal (but probably frowned upon), because they're both 15 or older and there's not a four year gap between them. -Person A is 18 and Person B is 30. It's legal, because both are 18 or older. Idk if this makes sense or if this is what it looks like anymore, but this is what it was like when I still went to school. Obviously people aren't going to run around and call you names if you happen to date someone four years younger than you (I know a girl who met a guy when she was 14 and he was over 20), but please, be mindful of this. Our age of consent doesn't give you a right to be weird and nasty to teenagers (yes, I'm talking about Edvin).

Also, the Royal Family have their own website, which you can find here. As far as I can see, there's more information on the Swedish page, but there's plenty translated to English. You can also read of the Swedish Royal Family and its history on the palaces's website, here.

All pictures have been taken straight from Google. I haven't used any sources, because this is shit I do every single year with my family. Feel free to correct me or add things you do, but keep it respectful, please!

Friendly reminder that I've simplified some parts of this to make sense, specifically the dates of the Advent celebrations.

If there's anything you don't understand or want more information on, you're welcome to contact me! I take pretty long to reply, but I'll definitely try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!

#young royals #young royals netflix #yr netflix #yr #wilmon #please im begging you love this

[desdealgunlugardelsur]

Harrison Ford: 2020 summary

A year like no other, as you must have heard countless times. The pandemic changed almost everybody´s life on this planet and Harrison wasn´t an exception. Our lil´ bean is strong and healthy but also has to be safe at home, so this year didn´t deliver many news about Harrison. Still, we had a new Harrison movie, The Call of the Wild, released in February, and a few other events before the lockdown. 2020 was also marked by the death of 3 former Harrison´s costars: Chadwick Boseman, Sean Connery and David Prowse. May all of them rest on peace on Heaven.

A new year begins, and we all wish Harrison (and everyone by the way) a productive, happy and healthy 2021. Stay safe!

JANUARY

Early January:  Harrison Ford enjoying his holidays in the caribbean island of Bonaire

25th: Harrison Ford with singer Carole Bayer Sager in a dinner in support of US Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg

28th: The Call of the Wild “Adventure Companions” Featurette.  Harrison Ford talks about dogs and companionship in The Call of the Wild’s “Adventure Companions” featurette.

28th: not sure where these pics were taken. Probably in Wyoming?  (pics from Rich Elali)

FEBRUARY

3rd: Verizon Super Bowl Ad Features Harrison Ford And New Pearl Jam Song

Kathleen Kennedy Says Harrison Ford Is Still On For ‘Indiana Jones 5’

Early-mid February: the national and international promotion  of The Call of the Wild  begins

5th: In Mexico City:

Harrison Ford: America Has Lost Its Moral Leadership And Credibility:  The “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” star calls out U.S. policy on immigration and climate.

11th: On the Jimmy Kimmel Show:

More here 

13th: Harrison Ford, actor and watch designer.  Newly adapted from Jack London’s literary classic, “The Call of the Wild” transports us to the snowy expanses of Alaska in the 1890s, with Harrison Ford as prospector John Thornton. The actor talks about climate activism, technology and why mechanical watches beat smartwatches every time.

14th: Indiana Jones 5 Starts Shooting In Two Months Says Harrison Ford :  The long delayed fifth Indiana Jones film is finally about to get underway, as Harrison Ford reveals that he will begin shooting in two months. (that was what they were planning before COVID-19 hit the world...)

14th: Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones 5 Will “See Part of His History Resolved”

17th: “A Force ghost? I don’t know what a Force ghost is…I have no idea what a Force ghost is. And I don’t care!“. Legend.

21st: The Call of the Wild is released in cinemas

At the movie premiere in Los Angeles:

BRING ON THE PUPPIES:

More videos:

Call of the Wild Survival Tips!

SNACK??? (Kudos to that girl)

Find epic stories at your library! 

More news:

Of Course Harrison Ford Did His Own Call Of The Wild Stunts And 'Wore Out' The Stunt Team

Harrison Ford's shirtless chest is that buff (at 77) for his 'Call of the Wild' swim scene

26th: Steven Spielberg Won’t Direct ‘Indiana Jones 5,’ James Mangold in Talks to Replace  

27th: Harrison Ford Breaks Down His Career, from 'Star Wars' to 'Indiana Jones'  (Vanity Fair)

Late February: Harrison Ford visits Google´s offices in San Francisco to test the company´s self-driving car. [x] [x] [x] [x]

MARCH

14th:  Harrison spotted in South Hadley, Massachusetts [x].  Apparently Harrison and Calista went to Massachusetts to pick up their son Liam after college shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

MARCH

MARCH

MARCH

MARCH

...

APRIL

3rd: Disney delay multiple release dates including Jungle Cruise, The French Dispatch, and Indiana Jones 5  

(…) Another big reveal is that Indiana Jones 5 – which will reportedly be directed by James Mangold – is being pushed back a year, from July 9, 2021 to July 29, 2022.

29th: Harrison Ford under FAA investigation after making a mistake while operating an airplane on the runway

According to the audio obtained by TMZ, Ford, 77, did not follow the direction of a tower operator to “keep short” on the runway because of “traffic”. It seems that the actor did not hear the direction. He nevertheless started to cross the runway, which prompted the operator to reprimand him for not following his instructions.

“Cross this trail now!” I told you to keep it short! You have to listen, “said the operator.

“Excuse me, sir, I thought exactly the opposite. I’m really sorry, ”said Ford immediately.

TMZ said there was no risk of an accident. The other aircraft was allegedly 3600 feet from Ford’s aircraft.

MAY

6th: Lucasfilm Reportedly Wants Harrison Ford To Return For Han And Chewie Star Wars Spinoff (Note: this hasn´t been officially confirmed by Lucasfilm)

15th: No news but I think this is cute: 

From twitter.com/siikasele

21st: The Empire Strikes Back 40th anniversary. 40 years ago, TESB was released on theaters the 21st of May of 1980.

27th: James Mangold Confirmed To Direct Indiana Jones 5.  Producer Frank Marshall confirms James Mangold is directing Indiana Jones 5 and says he's only just begun to work on his own script for the movie.

28th: James Mangold plans to take Indiana Jones franchise 'someplace new'. 

Indiana Jones Writer on How Pandemic Will Affect Film's Script

JUNE

Nothing happens but look at this

You are welcome.

JULY

13th: Happy birthday king!

AUGUST

23rd:  Harrison Ford dropping off his son Liam at College with wife Calista Flockhart via private plane (from tinyrebelstuff)

28th: Chadwick Boseman dies of cancer at the age of 43

Harrison Ford Calls Chadwick Boseman "As Much a Hero as Any He Played" 

“Chadwick Boseman was as compelling, powerful and truthful as the characters he chose to play,” Ford said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “His intelligence, personal dignity and deep commitment inspired his colleagues and elevated the stories he told. He is as much a hero as any he played. He is loved and will be deeply missed.”

SEPTEMBER

24th: Harrison Ford Cleared by FAA in Runway Investigation. "The FAA has closed the case involving the pilot who crossed a Hawthorne Municipal Airport runway without authorization on April 24, 2020. The FAA required the pilot to take a remedial runway incursion training course. When the pilot successfully completed the course, the FAA closed the case with no additional action," the FAA said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

OCTOBER

19th: Harrison Ford & Ed Helms To Star In STX Seafaring Comedy ‘Adventures Of Burt Squire’ 

22nd: Actor and Pilot Harrison Ford Becomes Airlink Spokesperson. Video here

31st: Sean Connery dies at 90.

Sean Connery: Harrison Ford pays tribute to his Indiana Jones father and 'dear friend'

"He was my father... not in life... but in Indy 3," he said.

"You don't know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the sidecar of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm.

"God, we had fun - if he's in heaven, I hope they have golf courses.

"Rest in peace, dear friend."

NOVEMBER

2nd: Harrison Ford And Lincoln Project Back Anthony Fauci, Advocate Firing Donald Trump  

In the waning hours of the 2020 presidential election, the Lincoln Project has enlisted Harrison Ford to narrate a new ad that plays up President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The spot features a scene from a Trump rally on Sunday in which supporters began chanting “Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci!” and the president responded, “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait til a little bit after the election.”

Ford then says, “Tomorrow, you can fire only one of them. The choice is yours.”

3rd: Harrison Ford and Bloomberg on Biden 2020

7th: Destiel becomes canon. Harrison doesn´t give a single fuck.

Also Joe Biden wins the US elections. Trump is defeated. Harrison, we know you hate Donald Trump. Congratulations.

21st: Harrison Ford back in Boston, Massachusetts, to pick up his son Liam for Thanksgiving Day.

28th: David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original trilogy, dies at the age of 85. Sorry, I didn´t find any words from Harrison on his memory... it seems they weren´t so close. Also, Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett, dies at 75 the 17th of december.

DECEMBER

10th: Indiana Jones: James Mangold, Harrison Ford Team to Close Out the Character  

Harrison Ford and James Mangold's Indiana Jones 5 will serve as the final chapter for the iconic character.

Disney changed the Indiana Jones logotype. I have a bad feeling about this.

15th: Rare, behind-the-scenes look at 'The Empire Strikes Back'

Including this jewel:

Gif from the @theorganasolo​

31st: And just at the very last day of this weird and strange year...

Disney Reportedly Wants Harrison Ford For Indiana Jones Streaming Show 

Thankfully, then, it seems that the fifth (Indiana Jones) outing may not be the last we see of the actor in the role, as insider Daniel Richtman claims that Disney wants Ford to appear in a series that’s being developed for their streaming service. Further details are unclear and the tipster doesn’t say if it’s an all-new show or a reboot of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, but as one of the Mouse House’s most valuable assets, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they wanted to continue mining the property once Indiana Jones 5 wraps up the big screen stories for good. 

Thanks everyone! Hopefully in 2021 the pandemic will fade and the world will return to normalcy. Luckily the production of Indiana Jones V will start this spring, as well as other Harrison projects such the tv show The Staircase and the movie starring with Ed Elms. Fingers crossed for a year full of (good) news about Harrison. Have a happy and safe 2021.

#harrison ford #2020 #indiana jones #star wars #lucasfilm #the call of the wild #chris sanders #dan stevens #omar sy #karen gillian #carole bayer sanger #michael bloomberg #pearl jam #kathleen kennedy #jimmy kimmel #mark hamill #carrie fisher #jack london #donald trump #joe biden #2020 US presidential elections #TESB #chadwick boseman #sean connery #david prowse #jeremy bulloch #ed elms #steven spielberg #james mangold #waymo

[agreste-image]

okay so to clarify on a couple things with the timeline stuff (like events in it)!

warning this is long af

all of Bustiers class wouldve been born 2001-2002. 

character list is:

chloe bourgeois

ivan bruel

alya cesaire

marinette dupain-cheng

juleka couffaine

luka couffaine

mylene haprele

max kante

alix kubdel

nino lahiffe

nathaniel kurtzberg

rose lavillant

le chien kim

sabrina raincomprix 

lila rossi

felix graham de vanily, maybe.............?

generally, if the character is around adriens age, they’re available. certain characters can control certain NPCs (kids get their parents or families as npcs, so i would control gabriel and emilie, and potentially nathalie and adriens bodyguard). however, im open to having some others taken. just ask.

the events of the show have been stretched over the course of 4 years, and akumas with episodes are some of the harder akuma that theyve faced / some of the most common ones (mr ramier is a repeat akuma thats easy to defeat, but someone like desperada was an INTENSELY difficult akuma). there are many other, smaller akuma that are more easily handled, and thus not shown on the show itself.

given the out of order episodes of the show, well say the last ‘episode’ that happened was timetagger, occurring in late march.

none of the city specials have happened (new york, shanghai, christmas..?), and the season three finale didnt happen. (chloe deserves to not have her development dumpstered thanks-)

kwami, their magic and guardianship work differently: 

kwami can use magic naturally occurring in the world to boost certain transformations without use of potions; example, if adrien goes into a timeline where magical beings, animal people, and humans all live together, plagg can draw on the ambient magic to turn the Chat Noir transformation into a cat person. (ever played kingdom hearts? if you have, then imagine something like how sora gets a different appearance on a lot of worlds.)

miraculous magic partially hides the identity of their user when transformed. this can vary from person to person, due to how the transformations are decided (which is by what they want and expect from it deep down). once someone fully realizes the wielders identity, the disguising magic doesnt work on them anymore. when used by someone from another timeline/universe, it generally overrides that person’s own magic (if a werewolf, for example, transforms with the miraculous, they wont transform into a werewolf while theyre using the miraculous.)

guardianship; im not going to have it erase the memories of the previous guardian, but havent quite figured out what itll do instead. given the finale/miracle queen didnt happen, though, its not a very big concern.

and there’s what ive already had the other characters do:

i started interacting with @eris-the-phantom-thief early on, thus meaning that Persona stuff has also kinda become a thing here. we can explain that away as a timeline slip, wherein two timelines are close enough to blur some lines. i would simply say an au, but by now, adrien has long since discussed things regarding hana and phantom thieves with others, so well probably have to go with that. (this also allows more opportunities for potential ocs.)

marinette has hung out with hana and adrien on multiple occasions. hana has asked if they were dating and both said no. marinette has had a sleepover with hana and alya (and, potentially, juleka and rose). stuff ive written involving marinette can be found under marimuse on my blog.

alya has done a sleepover with marinette and hana. she has also made an effort to get to know hana, with little success. stuff ive written for alya and anyone else in the class can be found on my blog under classmuse.

ladybug has been working with eris the phantom thief at the pleading of chat noir. she has earned chats trust by giving him a pair of raccoon miraculous earrings that she stole from the louvre, realizing the dangers of miraculous jewels simply sitting in a museum. ladybug is also aware that at least one person knows chat noirs identity, and has an idea of the multiverse, given said person ( @theheartmuncher ) is from another timeline filled with general magic. theheartmuncher has also filled in for chat noir by becoming chat picaro when adrien was transformed into a cat, and when he was akumatized. she is not aware of heart’s identity.

felix is aware of adriens identity as chat noir, due to adrien being a dumbass and mixing up the phone his father gave him, and the personal phone he secretly bought. he has matured since the episodes hes in on the show, and has offered to help maintain the secret by occasionally filling in for adrien while hes chat noir. stuff ive written for felix can be found on the blog under Signed. Felix Graham de Vanily

then, it finally comes to what has happened on the blog.

on may 9th, adrien joined tumblr.

on may 24th, theheartmuncher discovered chat noirs identity.

on june 6th, chat noir encountered eris the phantom thief for the first time.

on july 1st, adrien was turned into a cat by magic anons. theheartmuncher, as chat picaro, explained to ladybug that chat noir was on a trip he couldnt get out of, and he had discovered adrien agreste had been turned into a cat. (how he knew?: adrien stole his phone and managed to type ‘im adrien agreste’ on it.) adrien was legally missing for 24 hours, and was watched closely for two weeks after.

on august 1st, felix discovered he was chat noir.

on august 13th, adrien was akumatized into simulacrum, then was saved by @gardencracks and @daviscatessen coming to paris in spite of him telling them to stay away, and to leave things to ladybug (and, unbeknownst to him, chat picaro). adrien also vowed to move out of the agreste mansion.

on august 15th, eris brought chat noir the raccoon miraculous.

on august 16th, eris met up with ladybug and chat noir to discuss what to do with the earrings.

on august 24th, adrien fully moved into his own apartment. magic anons gave him two cats, one of which was a certified emotional support animal.

on september 8th, gardencracks and daviscatessen brought adrien to a large 18th birthday party they had planned and invited the classmates to. he also dyed his hair pink.

and that is the blog major-event timeline.

this is long as fuck and i apologize, but i kinda needed to get all this laid out anyway even if i wasnt potentially doing a timeline LOL thanks for ur patience

#laempost #long post but its under a readmore so #important

[samanthaswishes]

My Breakdown of Descendants Characters’ Ages and Birthdays

So I’m really bored, and out of nowhere, I began thinking about the ages, birthdays, and birth orders of the Descendants characters.

Now, I know everyone has different headcanons about when their birthdays are. (I’ve seen a headcanon that Evie’s birthday is on Halloween and she decides to share it with Gil AND THAT’S SO ADORABLE), but here has been my own general headcanons/analysis for them:

The references I’m using are the 3 movies, the 4 Isle of the Lost novels, and the Villain Kids’ Guide for New VKs (which I don’t own, so any information from this book, may be incorrect. I’m just going off of pictures I’ve seen on Tumblr that are now lost somewhere in my likes and I totally forgot to reblog them)

If I got my facts wrong from the novels, feel free to correct me because I’ve only read each book maybe two or three times each.

From my understanding, this is the timeline for the books and movies:

Isle of the Lost (a couple months before Descendants)

Descendants

Return to the Isle of the Lost (Is actually stated in Rise of the Isle of the Lost that the events of this book happened only a few days before the events Rise of the Isle of the Lost)

Rise of the Isle of the Lost (If I remember correctly, only about a month before Descendants 2)

Descendants 2 (6 months after Descendants)

Escape From the Isle of the Lost (I don’t think it’s stated, but I think this one takes place a little over a year after Descendants 2, but probably only a month or two before Descendants 3)

Descendants 3 (Over a year after Descendants 2)

*By the time D3 comes around, which takes place in the summer, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos had been living in Auradon for almost 2 years.*

Mal: In Isle of the Lost and the first Descendants film is stated to be 16.

Evie: I did a quick skim of Evie’s intro chapter in Isle of the Lost, to see if it mentioned her age. I may have missed it, but from what I got, the book didn’t blatantly state her age. It does state that she was banished to the Castle Across the Way at age 6 and lived there for 10 years. Making her 16 during the novel, which takes place (I think) a few months before Descendants.

*Due to the fact that Mal was already 6 years old on Evie’s 6th birthday, Mal is older than Evie (most likely not by much. Maybe a few months at the most)*

Jay: Like Evie, I don’t think Isle of the Lost blatantly states his age. He can be assumed to be 16 given that he seems to be the same age as Mal and Evie. He also graduates with them. Due to his “older brother” attitude towards Mal, Evie, and Carlos, I believe he is the oldest of the four.

Carlos: It’s kind of obvious he is younger than the other three. I’ve seen him as both 14 and 15. To me, I feel he just turned 15 (or has been 15 for at least less than 6 months) at the time of Descendants.

Ben: In Isle of the Lost, it states he is 15. The opening scene of Descendants takes place a month before the rest of the movie, as said by Beast. In this scene, Belle mentions that Ben is turning 16, making him still 15 a month before the film. During the rest of the movie, Ben is 16, as he stated during his date with Mal.

Audrey, Chad, Lonnie, Doug: Their ages, I don’t think, are blatantly stated anywhere, but, like everyone else, they can be assumed to be 16 at the time of the first film.

Jane: Like Carlos, it’s obvious that she’s on the younger side, especially since Carlos and her end up dating. I believe she’s 15 as well at the time of the first movie, but had only just had her birthday maybe a month or two before.

Uma: I believe she is to be the same age as Mal just younger than her by a couple months or so, given that when they were kids, Uma was said to be “too small” (even though we all know Uma’s taller and Mal just wears massive boots). Given that Descendants 2 is 6 months after the first, she may be 17 at the time of D2.

Harry + Gil: Again, these two are most likely the same age as everyone else. I do headcanon them to be more on the older side of the group though. Probably around 17 by D2.

Dizzy: I’ve seen a couple of references say that she’s 12 in D2, but In The Villain Kids’ Guide For New VKs, her application says she is 14 at the time of Descendants 3, so, in Descendants 2, which is over a year before, she is most likely 13 (which is how old Anna Cathcart was when filming D2).

Celia: In The Villain Kids’ Guide for New VKs, her application says she is 13 at the time of Descendants 3 (which is how old Jadah Marie was when filming D3)

Squeaky + Squirmy: in The Villain Kids Guide for New VKs, their application says they are 12 at the time of Descendants 3.

Now for everyone’s birthdays. For reference, I’m using the ages of the Class fo 2019 since Escape From the Isle of the Lost and D3 were released this year when the majority of the characters have graduated. Also, I was part of Class fo 2019, and I’m in that age range. (I’m only using the years I used as a reference for an idea of how old they are in each film since we don’t actually know what year it is, and the timeline of the movies doesn’t line up to the 2-year time between releases)

We also need to take into consideration what grade they were in in D1 along with when in the school year.

Descendants (I’ve heard) takes place in the beginning of the school year. Given that the majority of characters are 16, coming into the new school year, those in Class of 2019 are in their Junior Year (11th Grade), which would’ve happened August-September 2017.

Descendants 2 takes place 6 months later, making it still the same school year. This puts them at about February-March 2018.

Descendants 3 takes place, most likely, over a year later, during the summer of 2019. I believe it is July.

Class of 2019 was born between 2000-2001. Here’s how the birthdays would be separated:

Early Birthday

July - September 2000 (I was born in September 2000, so I would be considered an early birthday for Class of 2019)

Average Birthday

October 2000 - May 2001

Summer Birthday

June - August 2001

Late Birthday

September - November 2001 (or whenever the school’s cut off date was. I think the elementary school I went to, the cut off was within the first week of December 2001)

*For future and past years, you use the same months, just add or subtract one year until you reach the class year you want.*

Mal, Evie, Jay, Harry, Gil, Uma, Ben, Audrey, Lonnie, Doug, and Chad are Class of 2019, which puts them born between 2000-2001. (I know Audrey didn’t graduate with them and is in summer school, but for the ages sake, she’s here)

Carlos and Jane are confirmed to be only a grade younger than the rest, putting them in the Class of 2020, which puts them born between 2001-2002. However, I headcanon both of them to be born in 2002 (will explain).

Dizzy is 14 during D3, which is the summer of 2019, but will be turning 15 later in the year (will explain), so she was born in 2004 and in the Class of 2023.

Celia is 13 during D3, which is the summer of 2019, but will be turning 14 later in the year (will explain), so she was born in 2005 and in the Class of 2024.

Squeaky and Squirmy are 12 during D3, which is the summer of 2019, and their birthday had already passed (will explain), so they were born in 2007 and in the class of 2025.

Given that, here’s my breakdown for their birthdays (this is just my headcanon)

FROM OLDEST TO YOUNGEST

Chad (September 2000)

I feel like Chad is the oldest of the group mostly because Jedidiah Goodacre is the oldest of the descendants. Also, since Chad isn’t exactly the smartest, there is the possibility he could have been held back and was a late birthday for the Class of 2018.

Gil (October - November 2000)

Dylan Playfair is in the older half of the cast, so I feel Gil would be up there as well. Also, I don’t know if it’s because of the colors he wears, but Gil feels like an Fall birthday.

Jay + Harry (November - December 2000)

Jay and Harry just feel like they are the exact age, so I feel like their birthday would be super close together. I don’t know which would be older, but I’m leaning more towards Jay.

Mal (January 2001)

Mal I feel like fits pretty well in the middle. I don’t know if it’s because Dove Cameron’s birthday is in January, but Mal just feels like a January birthday.

Doug (February 2001)

Just feels like a February birthday

Uma (February - March 2001)

I feel like she fits perfectly age-wise between Doug and Lonnie.

Lonnie (March 2001)

Just feels like a March birthday. Also, even though Dianne Doan is in the older half of the cast (2nd oldest actually), Lonnie feels like she’s in the younger half.

Evie + Audrey (April 2001)

These two feel like Spring birthdays. Also, both Sofia Carson and Sarah Jeffery were born in April

Ben (September 2001)

Just turned 16 when Junior Year began, making him a late birthday.

Carlos (May 2002)

I feel like he had been 15 for at least less than 6 months at the time of Descendants, and he’s only a grade younger than the rest. Also, Cameron’s birthday is in May

Jane (July 2002)

Her birthday is during the Summer as confirmed during Descendants 3 when she has her birthday party. However, she’s still Class of 2020, so she had to be born in 2002.

Dizzy (November 2004)

I’m pretty sure her application said November (correct me if I’m wrong)

Celia (October 2005)

I’m pretty sure her application said October 31 (correct me if I’m wrong)

Squeaky + Squirmy (June 2007)

I’m pretty sure their application said June (correct me if I’m wrong)

So after all that, I’ve came to the headcanon breakdown of how old each character was at the time of each film:

Descendants (August - September 2017):

Mal: 16

Evie: 16

Jay: 16 (birthday coming up close)

Carlos: 15

Ben: 16 (birthday just passed)

Audrey: 16

Lonnie: 16

Jane: 15 (birthday just passed)

Doug: 16

Chad: 16-17 (birthday coming up close or just passed)

-------

Uma: 16

Harry: 16 (birthday coming up close)

Gil: 16 (birthday coming up close)

Dizzy: 12 (birthday coming up close)

Celia: 11 (birthday coming up close)

Squeaky + Squirmy: 10

Descendants 2 (February - March 2018)

Mal: 17 (birthday just passed)

Evie: 16 (birthday coming up close)

Jay: 17

Carlos: 15 (birthday coming up close)

Ben: 16

Lonnie: 16-17 (birthday coming up close or just passed)

Jane: 15

Doug: 16-17 (birthday coming up close or just passed)

Chad: 17

Uma: 16-17 (birthday coming up close or just passed)

Harry: 17

Gil: 17

Dizzy: 13

-------

Audrey: 16 (birthday coming up close)

Celia: 12

Squeaky + Squirmy: 10

Descendants 3 (July 2019)

Mal: 18

Evie: 18

Jay: 18

Carlos: 17 (birthday just passed)

Ben: 17 (birthday coming up close) (WHO IS LETTING THIS BABY RUN A KINGDOM AND PROPOSE WHILE STILL BEING A MINOR?!)

Audrey: 18

Jane: 17 (her birthday is literally that day)

Doug: 18

Chad: 18 (birthday coming up close)

Uma: 18

Harry: 18

Gil: 18

Dizzy: 14

Celia: 13

Squeaky + Squirmy: 12 (birthday just passed)

-------

Lonnie: 18

Anyway, I hope you all liked my little, pointless analysis of how old I think all the characters are and when their birthdays are. 

#descendants headcanons #descendants #descendants 2 #descendants 3 #disney descendants #descendants wicked world #descendants under the sea #mal #mal descendants #dove cameron #evie #evie grimhilde #evie descendants #sofia carson #jay #jay descendants #BooBoo Stewart #carlos #carlos de vil #carlos descendants #cameron boyce #ben #ben descendants #mitchell hope #audrey #audrey rose #audrey descendants #sarah jeffery #lonnie #li lonnie

[ladyadalicialove]

MLB Dupain-Cheng Wedding and Marinette’s Birthday theory!!

An updated version of this theory can be found here. Some new info was revealed and I decided to talk about it.

Here I have developed two theories; when Sabine and Tom got married and Marinette’s Birthday. I have finalised two dates as to when they got married and when Marinette was born. This is pure speculation by the way, so take what I say with a grain of salt!!! 

The Dupain-Chengs Wedding Date THEORY:

To figure out when they were married I gathered clues from all available episodes.

Lets start with “Timebreaker”! In this episode Sabine says they are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary with a special dinner. And since “Timebreaker” was in season 1, this episode is speculated to have occurred sometime sometime in February-April.

I have theorised that “Backwarder” is set in either April of 2011 or May of 2018 This is because Adrien, Gabriel, Kagami and her mother are going to attend a Royal Wedding in England. And Thomas Astruc must have been inspired by a royal wedding and since this episode aired in 2016, Astruc would not have known about Harry and Meghan meaning that Kate and William was probably his source of inspiration.

So if Tom and Sabine are celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary in February-April 2011 or 2018, that means they were married in 1991 or 1998.

However in consideration to the style of Sabine’s dress, it is more likely to be in 1998. 1991 Wedding dresses were extremely puffy, most likely due to the after effects of the 80s fashion. Sabine’s wedding dress actually closely resembles the wedding dresses of the 2000s. Meaning that it is highly likely the wedding happened in 1998, here’s a photo comparison.

(Credit: Me, I googled some pics of both 1991 and 1998 wedding dresses and created this collage.)

Basically since Sabine doesn’t look like any of the snow beast brides of 1991 and closer to 1998 wedding dresses, I think it’s a safe bet that it was set in 1998. FYI: I did loads of wedding dress research and her dress is closest to the 2002 bridal styles, especially with the BOHO-chic fashion trend. 

Now fun fact, this means we actually know when the exact date they were married because of Marinette’s calendar (which is basically Adrien’s Schedule) back in “Timebreaker”. The episode as we know starts off with Sabine talking about their 20th wedding anniversary. However in this episode, Alix and Kim have their rollerblade race, This is the only episode we know of to have rollerskating in it, and in Marinette’s calendar April 6th is marked as “Roller Time”.

(Credit: https://amour-chasse-croise.tumblr.com/post/142955283453/miraculous-ladybug-timeline-complete )

This means that April 6th is the day that Tom and Sabine were married!! (And Alix’s birthday lol)

So this concludes that…

Tom and Sabine were married on April 6th of 1998.

Also this means that Tom married Sabine when he was twenty!!! Because he turned 40 in Bakerix which is set in 2018, we knows this because the events in “Bakerix” happen before "Backwarder", as the inauguration of Startrain is shown. And we know “Backwarder” is set in May of 2018, meaniNG BAKERIX IS HAPPENING IN EARLY 2018!!!!

Our bakery boi snatched his wife with that broom-stache at 20 holy moly. I wondered how old Sabine was, I think she might have been 19, making her 39 in “Bakerix”. Love to hear anyone’s theory on Sabine’s age.

This means that Tom and Sabine totally dated in high school. oMG SO CUTE!! Can’t wait to draw the art for that one!

The Date of Marinette’s birthday THEORY:

This theory isn’t as concrete as the previous but I had to do some hard core predications and assumptions!! So don’t take my word for it!

It took Tom and Sabine a couple of years before they had Marinette. Because we know she is 14 in “Befana”, that means she was born in 2003 or 2004 if this episode took place in 2017 or 2018. And according to the MLB wiki timeline, Befana takes place in July, meaning Marinette is born in July. No joke the wiki has a timeline. 

If we look at her personality we can actually determine what part of July her birthday is on with zodiac signs!! July 1st to July 22nd are members of the Cancer zodiac sign, and July 22nd to July 31st, are a part of the Leo zodiac sign.

I did a little research for Cancer because as a Leo myself, I know that sign pretty well. And guys, “Cancers are born people-pleasers and emotional caretakers.” and not just that but “You’ll often see Cancer women busting their butts behind the scenes building props on theatre or movie sets, or as head chefs making magic in the kitchens of busy restaurants. These women prefer to work with their hands, and do work that they feel emotionally connected to, rather than spending hours staring at spreadsheets or mathematical abstractions.” (source:https://www.astrology.com/cancer-woman.html)

MARINETTE IS A MEMBER OF THE CANCER ZODIAC SIGN CONFIRMED SHE IS A CRAB!!!!! CAN YOU IMAGINE HER LIKE THAT I CAN 

So we can confidently say her birthday is between July 1st and 22nd, we just gotta find the specific date!! Here’s another clue I found thanks to another birthday theory on Amino; In the Webisode "My Birthday Party", Marinette's voice over says "It's my birthday on Saturday". (In the English Dub)

Now the webisode was released in 2016, while “Befana” was released in 2017. In 2016 would have been 12 if Marinette was born in 2004, which is inaccurate as she was 13 when she received the miraculous. Meaning she is born in 2003 making her thirteen in 2016 the year of the webisode aired!!

Now if her birthday in that webisode was set in 2016, the Saturday’s between between July 1st and 22nd land on three dates. The 2nd, 9th and the 16th of July.

How do we narrow the three dates down to one I hear you ask? Well Kung Food is set sometime after July 14th according to this tumblr user, meaning we can eliminate the 16th because her Great Uncle would have mentioned her birthday but he didn’t.

(Credit: https://ladybug-x-chatnoir.tumblr.com/post/138842131342/here-is-a-visual-timeline-based-off-of )

Now that means it’s either the 2nd or the 9th. I think if we look at the school dates when the year “Befana” takes place we may determine her birthday.

So if Marinette is turning 14 in “Befana” and if she is born in 2003, that means “Befana” occurs in 2017. In the episode she talked about being at school that week, and “yesterday” she caught Nino listening to her fav song at school , however she did not mention being at school on her actual birthday. Which in 2017, Mari’s birthday is on a Sunday and I had to check but France does have Middle and High schools that choose to have courses on Saturdays. So we are deficiently in the right timeframe!

It occurred to me that July is when Summer Holidays begin for France. And according to this website, France’s summer holidays begun on July 8th in 2017.

(Credit: https://www.renestance.com/blog/2017-school-holidays-in-france/ )

Now if we rewatch “Befana”, we can see that the classroom is bare of any school work or posters. Now everyone who has been to middle or high school knows there are big clean ups that happen the day Summer Holidays begin. And that’s what I think we are seeing here. A completely clean classroom ready for a new year.

(Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTz8SC39s24)

I can conclude then that Marinette’s Birthday is on the 9th of July, and she was born in 2003!! THE PROOF IS IN DA PUDDIN THAT IS ADRIEN LOL!

So to quickly resummarise this double theory of mine:

Tom and Sabine were married on April 6th of 1998.

and

Marinette’s Birthday is on the 9th of July, and she was born in 2003.

Wow I spent six hours researching all this and now I’m super tired, I’m posting these theories because I will be MIA during May and possibly June because of Exams and Assignments for Uni. Enjoy reading this and I hope to hear your opinions and thoughts!!

REMEMBER THIS IS JUST A THEORY

Posted on 5th of July in 2019, sometime after Bakerix aired.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #miraculous theory #ml spoilers #theories MLB #mlb #mlb spoilers #ml season 3 #ml #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Marinette #sabine cheng #tom dupain

[hellomemoriesxoxo]

My 6th Birthday!

Fun fact about me: I was born on June 19. Yes, I’m a gemini, but that’s besides the point. So my lovely parents decide it would be best if we threw my birthday on July 1st, Canada Day, because it would be convenient for the parents since its a statutory holiday. It definitely wasn’t convenient…. I’m going to give you a little insight on what happened. 

I woke up so excited and put on my cute white dress with pink polka dots.  So we grab my ice cream cake from the freezer and drive to the bowling place. The party started at 11:00 and we arrived around 10:30 cause my parents love being early… to EVERYTHING. We go to open the door but it was locked so we start knocking hoping someone will open the door. My mom was very frustrated but was trying to keep calm because she didn’t want me to throw a tantrum. My friends start showing up and the door is still locked. I could overhear the parents talking. They were so confused especially since my mom made the arrangements with the manger and confirmed the date and time. 

After 45 minutes of waiting my mom said “It’s ok sweetie, we can go to the water park instead.” I started tearing up and all the other parents start hyping up this park so I just went along with it...not like I had any choice. Here I am in the water park wearing a dress slowly watching the ice cream cake melting under the sun. 

So my friends and I start playing all these games and it turned out to be a lot of fun until my older brother decided to push me into the water. I fell and had cuts on my knees and elbows. Blood was running all over my arms and legs and even got onto my dress. I cried for a solid 15 minutes and kept repeating “This is the worst birthday ever.” 

To stop me from sobbing, they surprised me with the cake. My dad was kind enough to buy a new one and this one had extra chocolate. You probably think my birthday was about to get better. WRONG!! Guess what? You know that annoying kid in your class that no one likes because he’s well...annoying. Yeah, my mom invited him because she was friends with his mom. He thought it would be funny to push my face into the cake so he did. Yup, I had enough. Honestly at that point we were all done. We finally go home and I take a shower. 

The next day, my mom calls the bowling place and yells at the manager. He felt awful due to this misunderstanding. He gave a $500 complimentary gift card to make up for it and believe it or not we trusted this man for my 7th birthday. Maybe I’ll write about that some other time.

(Pic from https://www.gettyimages.ca/photos/funny-birthday?sort=best&mediatype=photography&phrase=funny%20birthday)

[mrsandok]

Remembering the Quarantine and Quarantine Fridays <3

I’ve been meaning to write about how special Quarantine Fridays were to me for a while.  I think I was holding off because I thought writing it would make me sad.  I mean--when will an opportunity to connect with friends and strangers in that particular manner happen? what up, delta?

But I think I’m in a better place to reflect on it now.  In fact, I really like reflecting on the quarantine knowing I survived it in a somewhat productive manner knowing many other people weren’t as lucky.

I’m blessed.

This is going to be a two-part post knowing that finishing school with the class of 2020 and 2021 (my juniors) really helped me make sense of my worth during those trying-ass-times.

Part One: Teacher Lyfe

March 2020

The Coronavirus was in the news since December ‘19.  However, just because the world is the way that it is, our news centered around that orange dude and whatever he said.  In fact, he continued to dominate the news until that silly little insurrection he started.

this all sounds like the old-me festering on shit that’s beyond my control that would affect my happiness and being reactive of it.  

I’m not sure when I changed but I definitely changed during the quarantine.  I honestly don’t feel the need to voice or be reactive in any way that involves people’s different values.

I think this post is an attempt to try and make sense of how and why I changed

I have so many odd memories of early quarantine.

I remember that strange feeling of turning off my alarm to wake up at 6 AM knowing that school is indefinitely suspended.  

Haha--I remember when it was a ~3-week pause in an attempt to ~flatten the curve~.

I remember feeling weird sleeping in on a Wednesday--a school night.  

It felt like Spring Break but we couldn’t really do anything so there wasn’t really anything to celebrate?   

It was somewhat exciting to not have work (and thankfully being paid when millions of people were out of jobs 🙏) those first few weeks.  

Making sense of not being able to visit my family, my best friend that lives 20 min away, or even go out to my favorite restaurants was hard for me to grasp but I learned to enjoy my solitude while keeping in contact with people via technology.

Remember Zoom happy hours and group face times?  Haha.

April 2020 I can’t imagine what it was like to have children during the early days of the pandemic.  

I can’t imagine what it was like to teach 9th grade and below during the pandemic.

How do you help kids understand the world during those trying-ass-times?

Props that all of ya’ll that did it.

I was blessed to be in the middle of teaching my juniors and seniors how to understand the world on their own terms when the quarantine began.  AP11 is a class centered around language and writing so there was always a focus on current events and making sense of it together.  The American Literature curriculum was always easy to relate to current events because, well, we’ve always been broken.  My teaching just became that much more real when we were experiencing this pandemic together.

I forget the actual logistics of how distance teaching/learning was but essentially these were the guidelines:

You can give opportunities for students to raise their grades.

You can’t diminish students’ grades for any work they do over the pandemic

There was no “set” schedule but you have to make an effort to reach out to them.

I had 3 preps for about an hour each.

1 AP11 section

1 CP11 section

1 CP12: Search for Human Potential section

AP11 was more concerned with the rhetorical analysis essay.   That was easy enough to teach.  People understood rhetoric and how to write about it pretty quickly.

Barely anyone showed up for the CP11 sections

CP12 was beautiful knowing that people that showed up genuinely wanted to make sense of the pandemic together through the existential unit I always teach.

We read Notes from Underground and The Stranger.  

It was a legit book club.

The problem was...we had weeks left before the contractual end of school.  I was out of material.

May 2020 Existentialism is related to postmodernism, the movement I was teaching to my juniors, what better opportunity to teach one of my favorite postmodern books?  White Noise.

Though that was my second to last year teaching English, it was definitely my most memorable because I was able to teach something for the sake of understanding the current climate of the world.

Mind you, this was before the vaccine, this was when we were trying our utmost best to understand how the virus operates, this was still very, very early in the pandemic.

For those unfamiliar with White Noise, it’s about a College professor who suffers from imposter syndrome and has a crippling fear of death and the unknown. All this gets accentuated when there’s a airborne toxic event that occurs in the middle of the book.   It hit home for a lot of people.  It hit home with me with imposter syndrom during my 6th year in my third English department 💃.  

There were plenty of moments where I no longer felt like their teacher but a peer trying my best to make sense of the world through this book written in the ‘80s.

We found solace in the fact that people have feared death since the beginning of time.  

We found solace that all the political rhetoric concerning who’s to blame for the virus or how people are handling it may be a projection of their uncomfortabilty of the unknown or their own fear of death.  It’s easier to blame ____ than confront whatever is making us feel negative emotions.

It was liberating getting to the end of that book knowing that the pandemic still exists (in the book and in real life) but all is well.  

All is well simply because there are other things in this world to care about versus worry about.

It’s a lesson of being proactive of what you can control versus reactive of what you can’t control.

It’s a lesson that took me months to practice in my own life.

Early June 2020 I tell my students how much they mean to me in a genuine way at the end of the year.  Understanding the pandemic together was definitely something I needed in my life.

All my lessons somehow tie into the idea that school is only important if you make it important.  Sometimes that includes getting good grades and letters of recommendation to get to where you want to be.  Sometimes it means simply knowing how to interact with others to finish a group project.  Sometimes it’s getting close with a teacher knowing that he’s going through the same shit you’re going through, too.

That’s what made these students so special.  They saw I genuinely cared and genuinely gave it back through these optional class meetings we had.  

This meant the world to me when the world was standing still.  I had an alarm to wake up (10:00 AM?) so we could discuss the next chapters and it was something I genuinely looked forward to.

I learned so much from them from that silly little book I read when I was 18/19 at Orange Coast College.  Mind you, I definitely wasn’t as mature as they were at that age.  But again, we weren’t literally living a pandemic, too.

I felt like my AP11 students graduated with my CP12 students.  So much, in fact, I was pretty confused to see them on campus when we returned.  I thought they were already off doing big thangz.  

I’m proud of you all.  I’m thankful for ya’ll experiencing that with me.

Signed--from the bottom of my heart, Mr. Sandok

---

I think this is an appropriate transition to talk about how special quarantine fridays were to me during trying-ass-times now that I was able to collect my thoughts on why teaching was so important during the early quarantine stages.

I don’t actually remember the actual day I attempted to livestream.  I attempted it on Instagram Live and Twitch and it was so fucking awkward.  I remember anxiously walking out in my patio to shake off the rust I had from DJ’ing.  

Damn--I simultaneously wish and not wish I recorded that set.  What on earth did I play?  Was it bad?  Or was I just nervous at randoms tuning in?  Because I remember that was definitely nervewracking

April 17, 2021: The Birth of The Quarantine Series

I only know this date simply from my first Quarantine Series Flyer on Instagram.  It correlates with my first instagram highlight of the initial days of the series.  

It’s wild at how bare this production looks revisiting it.  

Still got that red light, thoooooo 💃

-- 

It’s hard for me to remember how I got comfortable with DJ’ing in my living room for my friends and select strangers.  However, it was the biggest source of happiness during the quarantine--especially after the school year ended and my extroverted-ass didn’t have the means to connect with others through literature and bullshit about life with my students. 

I’ve had these turntables since I was 13.  I used to lug them with my Vestax 06 mixer (which I finally dropped off at good well when I moved into my new place) along with two crates of records and CD booklets of burned CDs during my early days DJ’ing.

I bought a new’ish mixer for the turntables but never really used it because I graduated from bedroom DJ a long time ago.  This was literally the first time I used the mixer heavily.

This was also the first time DJ”ing with in-ear-monitors. I’ve always been a diva about in-ear monitors.  I attempted to use them at Mesa once and hated it because I couldn't feel the music like a real DJ should when they’re catering to a crowd feeling your vibe. 💅

--

Slowly, I learned how to up the production of my twitch sets.  My visuals were due for an update.  I forget how long they were before #quarantinefridays but now they’re 2 hours long of just pure red thirst.  Hahaha

--

Quarantine Friday Highlights

Heavy Hip Hop Reflection Night

One of the special things about the Quarantine Series was knowing that I wasn’t getting paid for this and I was able to play for an audience of myself on some nights.  

I never get to play obscure 2000s hip hop anymore.  I dedicated an entire night to it when my mentor and my student’s father were reminiscing about their college days in the early 2000s.  

Here it is again for those of you that haven’t read it.

Realizing that I don’t want to be ‘90s DJ anymore

This has been a long time coming.  The first few years at Mesa were fun because I was able to bring a “classy ratchet” or “clatchet” vibes to Costa Mesa when the scene was flooded with house music.  

But damn...there came a point where I simply didn’t wanna play that shit anymore.  I avoid “Ain’t No Fun” and “Regulate” like the plague.  

This was especially true seeing other DJs on twitch playing that stuff.  As talented as they are--I feel like I outgrew that sound in the same sense I don’t listen to The Beatles or Led Zeppelin anymore.

Realizing that new hip hop isn’t that good

It was somewhere around the Future/Migos mumble rap era when I realized that this is this generation’s version of No Limit records.  Hot trash.

Then Drake, a dude that popularized being a fuckboy, became the face of hip hop.

No thanks

Realizing that the shit i fuck with now is R&B

I’ve embraced this for a while in my personal life but it’s definitely dictating the type of DJ I am--so much that someone at Mesa asked me politely to play some hip hop.  I smiled and realized, “wtf am i doing?”

YO JORJA, SZA, SUMMER, H.E.R., JHENE---KEEP THAT SHIT COMING.

Realizing that I want to continue to be a pioneer in this R&B trend that paak and mars are doing right now

Funk is alive and well.  There’s even a fire playlist on spotify called Retro Pop that captures the vibe I want to have in my sets.

I gotta practice that shit more.

Shoutouts:

Dknypinay: definitely my biggest fan.  Definitely my biggest influence.  Everything dope about me is attributed to her interest in music in the ‘90s.  She listened to KROQ, The Beat, Powe 106 and gave this 7 year old some flavor.  My first album was her tape of Snoop’s Doggystyle!!!

Bryan_black6: I helped this dude move from Dallas to Cali in December.  Pre-vaccine.  We had big plans of doing an “on-the-road” set for the quarantine series.  LITTLE DID WE KNOW WE’D ALMOST DIE IN THAT UHAUL MULTIPLE TIMES.  A lot of the R&B I’d play on twitch was reminiscent of the music we’d listen to when he’d tattoo me in his bedroom.  

Implicithero: One of the biggest compliments I got over #quarantinefridays came from Drew and Mel.  “Damn, EJ.  I knew you were good from Mesa, but I never knew your knowledge of music stretched that far.  You’re mad talented.”  I do it for ya’ll, boo 😘 Even that weird-ass-Morrissey-Emo night.  hahaha

Jonpham: I dj’d this dude’s wedding pretty recently.  Jon and I have similar mindsets where we try to stay humble but know our worth in regards to what we give back to the hip hop community.  I know I’m no scrub DJ and he knows he’s no whack bboy.  It was an honor to show you the ropes of DJ’ing and sharing some sets with you during the pandemic.  

Anditapandita: No idea how you find me but I’m glad you did!  It’s always a special feeling when I meet someone that can not only vibe to my music, but my generic silly lifestyle, too.  It was great meeting you at Mesa the other day!  I was definitely playing some #quarantinefridays hits for bits of nostalgia.

Fr4ncheesie: According to Bryan, Fr4ncheesie is my looper.  Parallel Filipino lives in different states.  It was tight getting to know you strictly through the twitch chats knowing Bryan has always wanted to link us up.  It was a pleasure dropping some classic John Legend for ya’ll.

Lordnik0n_: A former student’s father.  Prior to joining my Twitch sets, he let me know he listened to my mixtapes on Back to School Night.  It was the wildest thing ever to hear a parent listen to my ratchet/sleazy mixtapes.  I wrote an entire blog post about how special that hip hop night was so I’ll keep this brief.  Here it is once more.

Rubadubinatub: One of the only reasons I keep it real at Mesa is to please the bartending staff with what I drop.  Crabtree has always been a fan of my shit and I always try my best to throw in some Mobb Deep and Fleetwood Mac when I can.

Aimeegg: It was always fun seeing my sister and Aimee flood the chat with their own conversation.  I remember you appreciating hearing Alicia Keys’ A Woman’s Worth knowing it doesn’t get that much love these days.  but...THAT’S WHAT I DO.  I revive the forgotten but dope.

Ki55my6utth0l3/bbcwif34u: you fucking weirdo

Bkdthvn: Damn.  Many memories playing for my boy.  Some of those memories include my neighbors, both sets, asking, “what song was ____?” and it being a BKDTHVN song.  It’s wild how far you came with music.  It was an honor to bless the twitch radiowaves with your shit and it will continue to be an honor to bump Mesa with your shit.

Pbisharat11:  thanks for always tuning in.  particularly thanks for tuning in and sending this over.

Jspinsir: I will definitely enjoy the select nights where you would partake in Paola and I’s ludicrousness during #quarantinefridays

Itserica143: 😅 thanks for...that

Dj_redline: Damn...It was always a crazy honor for my DJ mentor to bless his presence in my channel.  I was able to have a respectable record collection from the stuff you gave me when I was in middle school.  I was able to learn the secrets of how to buy beat junkies and ISP skratch records knowing that shit isn’t obvious.  It was the foundation I needed before I was lucky enough to be taken in by Dwenz and join Foundation FunKollective.  DJ’ing and DJ’ing my way is literally part of me because you showed me the ropes and I’ll forever be grateful.

Jen_lu: My biggest fan on the east coast!  It was so humbling to know that during the pandemic her group of friends would look forward to my sets.  They even rocked space buns showing their support!  I remember the days I had to start early because of the time difference.  Love ya’ll to death.

Mylove3169: South Bay in the houuuuuse! Damn.  It was always fun to play some classic funk for you.  Even the G-Funk brought me back to my days spinning at your parents’ front yard.  I definitely wanted to keep my shit Westcoast when you were on.  Holla!

Disrupty: A later staple of the quarantine series in 2021.  Shit was always fun to see you and mayo reminisce about back in the day knowing I missed out being part of that crew.

Alejandrooo825: My literal neighbors.  Kayla heard my patio door open during the pandemic and struck up a conversation.  I invited them over to socially distance in my patio as a proper introduction and to talk about the pandemic.  They had a squat rack five feet away from where I taught so they heard many lectures as well as shared many ratchet nights on quarantine Fridays.  The quarantine was definitely a great way to get to know ya’ll.  Definitely loved playing Mac Miller for ya’ll any chance I got.  

Snookie23: Oh man--anytime I would be able to sneak in a Freestyle set was because you and Chris wanted to groove at your place and I was happy to oblige.  Always loved to shout out Monrovia as much as I could during those late nights.

Claraamontt17: A former student that would study for her APs listening to my rebroadcasts.  If it were any other person, I’d be nervous about the shit that I play on twitch--but your taste in music is as ratchet as mine soooo 💃

Sashaaa_i: One of the last quarantine sets consisted of maddd Doja Cat because sashita put me on to it.  She even got red lights at her place to match the quarantinefriday vibes 💃💃💃

Earthtovirgo: Always appreciative of strangers finding me and vibing with my set.  It really reminds me when I play somewhere in public and I see heads boppin’.  I remember you being stoked I played Monsune.

#rememberingthequarantine #quarantinefridays

[adlerianfrog-blog]

A Family in Crisis

June 2017 Family Systems Studies 

This is a graduate studies self-reflection presentation in partial fulfillment for Masters of Fine Art in Psychology with an emphasis in family systems and Marriage and Family Therapist licensure.

This was the life I started with.

Family System Genogram Reflection

Section One

Index Person (IP) is a 45-year-old, twice divorced mixed race male. IP is a decorated combat veteran. IP served with the US Navy from 1991-2010. IP has **six combat deployments as a Navy SEAL, his final combat deployment was OEF-1 in Afghanistan (Dec 2001-July 2002). (**Every deployment a Navy SEAL makes is a combat deployment)

At the time of this writing, IP is presently attending graduate school. IP states he is of mixed ethnic descent. IP does not know his actual birth date. He stated that in an early childhood recollection, he asked his mother when his birthday was and she said, “When would you like your birthday to be?” IP states “I said”, “Today!” and per him, his mother smiled and said, “Voila! Today is your birthday!” IP states that “Finding my birth certificate was impossible.” IP states, “The state of Georgia issued me a replacement based on the information the state of Kentucky provided, which was provided to them by me or the child protective services social worker.”

Per the Index Person this typified his style of life and movement. He stated that this was “Circularity defined; I found out on October 6th, 1975/6/7 that my birthday was, October 6th and per my birth certificate, I was born in 1971 on Oct. 6th.”  IP experienced abandonment by biological father, a forced cut off, pseudo abandonment from mother due to court system involvement. Client states “I do not know my biological father or his family system.” And that “I know very little about my family of origin.” Client states he is cut off from adopted family as well. Client has three children from first marriage to T.W. (46). Daughter (16), Son (13), Son (11). Client’s children have lived on the east coast with their mother and her second husband since moving away four years ago. IP’s kids visit during 2 ½ month summer breaks and holiday breaks if budget supports travel expenses.

Attachment Prefracture

IP states he was born in 1971 in Tifton, GA. IP states “I lived on the streets; homeless; for the first six years of my life.” Index Person states from birth until approx. 1977 “I didn’t know that my life experience was any different than anyone else. We spent a lot of time on the road. Hitchhiking, sleeping under cars. Stealing food to survive.”

IP states, “As I think back to my earliest childhood recollections I remember being adored. I remember my mother singing to me and how her eyes would light up with delight as I would sing along with and eventually to her.” IP describes his family of origin She was educated at Julliard in New York City. Per IP, the name of his mother is Mary Elizabeth Catron. IP states that he has two half-brothers. D.G. (62, Married, 2 daughters), R.G. (58,Married, 1 daughter). Mary Catron (deceased 1987) is the daughter of Mr. James Catron (deceased), a minister and Family Medicine Dr. who died at the age of 56 of congestive heart failure and Alberta Catron (deceased), an English school teacher died at the age of 92.

Mrs. Catron had a brother, Jimmy (deceased), who was disabled with cerebral palsey from a breached delivery at birth.  Client states “I absolutely know that I was loved very much by my mother.” And that “While she absolutely loved me, took care of me as best she could, per the social norms of the day, my mother was not a good mother.” Client presents tearful demeanor with deep sadness emerging. Client states “She had difficulty in finding and keeping work; Providing a stable home environment proved to be the hardest thing for my mother to do; Ultimately that ended up as the reason that her rights as my only known parent were forever stripped 41 years ago.

Attachment Fracture

From the age of 6 until 9 Index Person states he was a “ward of the state.” He “quickly transitioned from unstable living situation with my mother to a more stable environment, a solidly middle class lifestyle awaited me.” Per IP “In 1977 the efforts that were made to help children like me were more than likely personality driven and community values oriented.” He further states that, “the decision was made to strip my mother of her parental rights because of our living situation.” Client states “the relationship was broken with my mother; My one and only caregiver.”

Per Mr. Surmont, “The relationships that I did have were remarkable in that I came out ‘pretty much unscathed’. I wasn’t damaged by not having enough clothes or toys or even a place to call home. The damage was the termination of my relationship with my mother. The forced “cut-off” has had a psychic effect on my that has and will continue to ripple and echoes across generations of lives. That’s been the source of damage for affecting me into my present-day life.”  

The literature speaks to the importance of validation and empathy when working with trauma survivors. “We must appreciate the adaptive & resilient strategies developed by families who are not part of privileged groups in our society.” (McGoldrick, 2016)

Per Mr. Surmont, “I’m continuing to deepen my own understandings and meanings into the importance, value and worth of intact relationships. My attitude is that relationships are critical to survival. Cut-off relationships make it difficult to survive be free and live well. At 45 years of age, I reflect that the decision that day to cut-off my relationship with my mother, my only known parent, “baked in” a certain set of beliefs. I’m sorting out what that means to me, my world and my future. Part of me believes that it has served me incredibly well. Someplace deeper I feel a deep hurt and am leaning in to understand it and how best to learn from it.”

Attachment Instability

The early part of Mr. Surmont’s life involved instability from the perspective of environment and basic physical needs. Mr. Surmont believes that his emotional and developmental needs were met very well and his basic physical needs were minimally met. The abrupt cut off from his mother of his family of origin caused a culminating trauma that as of the date of cut-off “all experiences before were bad.” Mr. Surmont has experienced a pattern of extremes of insufficient care as well as social neglect, rearing under unusual settings that severely limit the child’s ability to develop. Per the Index Person, “the court viewed my mother as broken and damaged. They sent the message to me that my experiences with her were averse to my health and well-being. “Adverse Childhood Experiences; i.e., nonaccepting childhood environments can be lifelong burdens.”

Client was removed from his mother’s care. Became a ward of the state. Six foster homes in 3 years. Approx. Ages 6 – 9.

1976 Smith’s: (Western Kentucky) Mormon family. Working farm family. IP: Loved this family”. 9 children. IP was the 10th. inherited 99-acre farm in Utah. Couldn’t get permission to take me from state. said goodbye; moved away; IP moved on.

1977 Hall’s: (Mercer County Kentucky) Auto Mechanic. Stay at home mom. 4 children. IP was the 5th. IP asked to leave due to CSA. IP moved on.

1978 Dibble’s: (Barbourville, KY) College Professor. Homemaker. No children. IP was the 1st and only. IP was caught smoking. IP was told “IP wasn’t good enough to be their son.” IP moved on.

1978 Barnett’s: (Corbin, KY) Small Business Owner’s. 2 boys. IP “Loved this family.” The Mackey family asked if IP could live with them they were thinking of adopting. The Barnett’s said ok. IP moved on.

1978-1979 Mackey’s: (Corbin, KY) Owner and Provider of Family Optometry practice. 4 Children. IP “Loved this family” too. They decided to adopt him. The Surmont family asked Mackey’s to allow them to consider adopting IP. Surmont family promised to “stay home” and work with IP. Initially very happy with the Surmont family. IP said thank you to the Mackey’s, IP kept in touch with Mackey’s throughout his life. But IP moved on.

1980 Surmont’s: (Corbin, KY) Both Parents worked in their family owned and operated business. 3 Daughters. They adopted IP. Eventually IP moved on from the Surmont's as well.

Per Mr. Surmont, “Family "alliance patterns" may pose an additional, separate, unseen and potentially difficult set of obstacles impacting, impairing or even interfering with an adopted child’s ability to successfully integrate and attach within the family system that selected the child for integration into the family in the first place; this experience rife with mixed messages; possibly described as an "outsiders effect" does shape views of self, world and future; it may not be obvious in situ that these individuals may be encountering burdens such as additional unseen or unknown horizontal anxieties; as well as additional vertical anxieties inevitably transmitted throughout the family system.

What most people miss is this child must contend with two family systems - not one. And the biological family system the child is coming from maybe dying or going extinct - a true death in my mind. The life and developmental stage of the adopted child is a factor; children adopted beyond age of 5 have life experiences that must be honored by the adopting family to develop, incorporate and hold to produce existential meanings for the child to age appropriately integrate and hold BOTH old and new family system membership narratives.

If the integrating family does not encourage and foster this type of acceptance and inclusion into the family alliance the child must incorporate resilient survival strategies or avoid altogether which fundamentally compromises the child’s sense of self by having to choose the integrating family system over the birth family system all in the context of family integration; ultimately and predictably causing additional burdens to simply survive and be seen by others as equal; The child (in this case me) is left with unseen burdens and with no understanding with which to cope.”

Failure to Attach

In 1981 IP was adopted by the Surmont family. S.S. (66) and B.S. (66), small business owners and parents to three daughters, S.P(45, Divorced, 1 daughter), S.J. (43, Married, 1 daughter, 1 son), B.W. (41, Married, 1 daughter). Mr. Surmont describes a series of experiences and ultimately the experience of his failure to be integrated into his adopted family alliance system.  

IP states that his “late childhood and early adulthood. Not that much time with the Surmont’s but important period of my life developmentally. IP states he “learned lessons primarily through observation.”  IP describes “never feeling welcome.” And that he “always felt like an outsider or an intruder.”

Per Mr. Surmont, the Surmont family’s interactions gave him insights into the world of family that he had never experienced before. He states that he “so much wanted to be accepted and included.”

Client also ran away from home at the age of 13.

Client describes that there has been little to no connection to them or with them from the beginning; client states “They did their best to keep up appearances.” Per IP, “Looking back on things now, the Surmont family didn’t have a good chance to successfully integrate me into their family system.” He describes feelings of helplessness and that “we were both set up to fail.” And that “Family Courts favor those with families.” is a truth he learned the “hard way”.

Per client, “because of his own personal experiences, he developed his own set of strategies.” “We must appreciate the adaptive & resilient strategies developed by families who are not part of privileged groups in our society.” (McGoldrick, 2016)

Client states that his “private logic had accepted that attachment stability and environmental stability were relative terms for me and mutually exclusive.” Client demonstrates dichotomistc either/or thinking informs that client has experienced severe attachment instability.  

Client believes the Surmont Family made the best efforts they could. He states, “They didn’t know what to do.” Client finds himself wondering “what do I owe them?” Client states “At least they gave me the ability to “Hide in plain sight” as a member of a family as far as someone might ascertain with a cursory look.” Client continues to process blame or defending those adverse or traumatic relationship experiences. Client admits to experiencing new confrontational insights as he examines his genogram.  

Client states, “I felt like I was on the trajectory for family alliance integration.” Mr. Surmont describes an event that happened when he was 10 years old, about six months after he was adopted, about a year into being with the family. IP states “everything changed after reporting an intimate touching incident I accidentally observed between two children one of the children of my new family sister and a neighborhood child who was one year older.” Per Mr. Surmont, “This report was not received well.” IP states that “The interfamily political winds of my intended integration into the Family were no more.” He believed that his role in the adopted family had shifted from “Oldest son, only son, carrier of family surname, big brother) soon after this incident, IP believes he became the adopting family’s “scapegoat”. Per IP, he “tried hard to enjoy and appreciate my childhood.”

Client is very appreciative of the environmental stability the adopting family provided. For client, “Things never quite felt right.”

Per Mr. Surmont, he worked very hard to push this sense of unease away. He tried to convince himself that he had no other past than that of his adopted family’s history. Client tried to convince himself that his family of origin history didn’t exist, was damaged, broken and not worth remembering.

Over time the superficial relationship with his adopted family system began to deteriorate and eventually die. IP states he “recently decided to allow it to die the death it deserves.”

Client shared what he called an encouraging mantra for him to repeat during his mindfulness practice. Mr. Surmont wrote the following phrase expressing his feelings of being unburdened by guilt and shame of his adopting family that contributed to many of his coping skills as well as other difficulties that exist as a facet of his life experiences.

“The cool healing waters of ancestry are finding me; rebinding me; flowing through me; Rising in me from the ashes of many deaths; My unbound identity binds unto its own lifespring, taking flight.”

- John Surmont, July 2017

References

McGoldrick, M. (2008). Genograms: Assessment and intervention. New York: Pearson.

McGoldrick, M., Preto, N. G., & Carter, B. (2016). Expanding Family Lifecycle, Individual,

Family, and Social Perspectives (5th ed.). New York: Pearson.

Surmont, J. S. (2017). Book Report: Hillbilly Elegy. Unpublished manuscript, The Chicago

School of Professional Psychology, MFA Clinical Psychology, MFT Specialization. J. D. (2016). Hillbilly elegy: a memoir of a family and culture in crisis. New York: Harper.

#adlerianfrog leadership veterans

[your-dietician]

NBA Draft 2021: Keon Johnson Scouting Report

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nba/nba-draft-2021-keon-johnson-scouting-report/

NBA Draft 2021: Keon Johnson Scouting Report

Nineteenth century French author Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr famously coined the phrase “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Upon embarking on one of the more critical off-seasons in recent franchise history, the Orlando Magic organization is once again finding itself in a familiar situation: change (and lots of it).

Orlando’s top executives, led by Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman and General Manager John Hammond, made franchise direction-altering moves this past March, trading All-Star center Nikola Vucevic (nine seasons with the Magic), starting forward Aaron Gordon (seven seasons with the Magic), and starting wing Evan Fournier (seven seasons with the Magic) prior to the league’s trade deadline. After appearing in the playoffs for two consecutive seasons from 2019-2020, Orlando’s front office decided to change the organization’s course – at least partly due to the significant knee injuries suffered by Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac (which caused the Magic to fall considerably in the Eastern Conference hierarchy).

If that wasn’t enough change (or maybe because it was too much), the Orlando Magic organization will also be searching this offseason for their sixth head coach in the last eight years. On June 5th, an announcement was made that the team and former head coach Steve Clifford had “mutually agreed to part ways”. Clifford, who was an assistant in Orlando under Stan Van Gundy from 2007-2012, compiled a 96-131 record leading the Magic over the last three seasons. It is widely believed that the Orlando organization’s new blueprint- with so many young players on the roster – doesn’t align with a veteran coach such as Clifford’s timeline.

So here we are, with a turned-over roster full of 20-somethings, and a new lead coach yet to be hired. But with so much change, why do things in Orlando still feel the same?

The draft. Once again, the Magic organization is embarking on a critically important draft – and they have to get things right. The mainstays from recent Orlando past are gone, the team is in full rebuild mode, and much of what the franchise has done over the last year hinges on hitting a homerun during this draft process.

So I’m back for my fourth consecutive offseason, putting together a series of scouting reports on players the Magic will likely be targeting, either with their first round pick or Chicago’s pick (which Orlando acquired in the Vucevic deal). Chicago’s first round pick this year will be conveyed to Orlando as long as it doesn’t land in the top-4.

Some important dates in this process to keep in mind between now and the end of the summer are: June 21st-27th (the NBA Draft Combine), June 22nd (the NBA Draft Lottery), and July 29th (the NBA Draft).

In this series, I have compiled scouting reports that include film observations, loose player comparisons, talking points, Magic-specific potential fits/needs, and more. Next in this series is an athletic wing with a very raw set of skills – Tennessee swingman Keon Johnson.

Keon Johnson: 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals (25.5 minutes per game) 51.9% TS%, A/TO ratio: 0.94 Height/Weight 6-5/185 Wingspan 6-8 Standing Reach n/a

Film study: Eye in the sky

-Athleticism is the first thing that jumps out on film, very bouncy; easy leaper off one and/or two feet -Crafty finisher around the rim; can also finish through contact (and will get stronger) -Release on jump shot looks smooth (results weren’t always there), holds follow through, high release -I like him more shooting off movement than in wide-open catch and shoot spots -Wiry strong, defenders seemed to bounce off of him despite his lean frame -Kind of a throwback game – as a guard, often operated in post-up situations -Uses athleticism to cut with purpose, can wreak havoc working the baseline -Has the feet and quickness to be an excellent on-ball defender in the NBA -Two-way potential, and will probably be able to help on the boards at the next level once he adds some bulk

His game resembles…

Latrell Sprewell – I have to give credit to Kevin O’Connor (The Ringer) for this one. This comparison seems to really fit. Sprewell was more of a prolific scorer than I think Johnson will be (and he shot it more efficiently in college). But bodies, playing styles, and athleticism are eerily similar here. Terance Mann – Mann has shot the basketball extremely well over the first two years of his career in the NBA, but it was a struggle (like Johnson) at the collegiate level until his senior season. Both players are tenacious defenders who hustle and utilize their athleticism to make things happen on the floor Derrick Jones Jr. – I’m making a connection here because of the leaping ability; Johnson possesses that kind of athleticism. Obviously, if you’re taking Johnson in the lottery, you hope his ceiling is a bit higher than a Jones Jr. outcome. I do think Johnson will be able to make more of an impact on the defensive end

Best games/films of the season

February 6th vs. Kentucky: 27 points (9-16 FGA’s), 4 rebounds, 3 assists March 12th vs Florida: 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists March 13th vs Alabama: 20 points (8-16 FGA’s), 9 rebounds

Video Credit: The Scouting Rapport

Video Credit: Tremendous Upside

Resume & By the numbers

Two-time Tennessee Mr. Basketball (2017-18, 2018-19)

Named to the SEC All-Freshmen Team (2020)

Ranked 9th in the SEC in Defensive Rating

Marched to the free throw line six or more times in a single game on nine occasions this past season

Recorded at least two steals or blocks in a game on ten occasions in 2020-21

Talking Points

1) Patience

Whatever team ultimately drafts Johnson is going to need to be very patient with him. This is a young man who just started playing organized basketball in high school. I think his offensive game at the NBA level will be a little bit behind his potential defensive contributions, mostly because he struggles shooting the basketball.

A team is going to start from scratch with Johnson and completely re-work his shooting stroke, but like I mentioned above – I don’t think it’s a form that is broken. He utilizes a high-release and holds his follow through; there is work to be done with his lower-half however. Johnson connected on just 27.1 percent of this three-point attempts during his freshmen season at Tennessee (51.9 true shooting percentage). He was able to use his wiry strength and plus-athleticism to get to the free throw line at a decent rate, but he only converted 70.3 percent of his free throw attempts.

Johnson didn’t get the kind of volume and “run” on offense early in his career that you would think a five-star blue chip freshmen would receive- the Vols had a veteran-laden squad who head coach Rick Barnes entrusted to run the offense through. But the keys to the offense were turned over to Johnson and fellow freshmen Jaden Springer as the calendar tuned to 2021, often with mixed results.

One of my biggest concerns with Johnson, other than his perimeter shooting, is his decision-making with the ball in his hands. He committed four or more turnovers in a single contest on eight separate occasions in 2020-21, a number that is rather high for someone who averages just over 25 minutes per games (3.7 turnovers per/36).

Of course, the NBA has transformed into a league where outside shooting is a skill that is more common (and required of a player) than ever, and that’s another area of Johnson’s game that has a long way to go. From January 1st through the conclusion of last season (21 games – SEC play, SEC Tournament, NCAA Tournament), the five-star freshmen made more than one three-point field goal in a game on only one single occasion (2 for 6 3PTA’s against LSU on February 13th). In catch and shoot situations, Johnson will let it fly if left open, but he showed virtually no ability to create his own perimeter shot off the dribble. He was a lot more comfortable using physicality to create for himself in the post and/or mid-range against smaller defenders.

2) Two-way potential

Of course, teams are also forever on the look-out for wing players that possess “two-way potential”. If Johnson can go to a team that helps him develop his shot, handle, offensive awareness, etc. – then you will probably have a pretty solid player on your hands.

Because I think he will be able to defend. Johnson is an incredible athlete with elite NBA-level run and jump ability. He seems to play with passion, tenacity, and hustle that is requisite of elite defenders in the league. That aggressiveness led to Johnson being a bit foul-prone (committed three or more fouls in 14 of 27 games) last season, but the athleticism is something that can’t be taught.

Johnson gets his hands on the ball defensively some (I wanted him to be more instinctual at times), but he is a guy that can produce steals by jumping passing lanes and swallow up an occasional block helping off the ball.

I think Johnson will eventually find success in the NBA defending shooting guards in “on-ball” situations, because of his lateral quickness, size, and agile feet. Again, it’s just going to take some time.

Making a case for the Magic to draft Keon Johnson in the ‘21 draft

Does Johnson fit the Weltman/Hammond archetype? Not really Would taking Johnson in the lottery be considered a BPA/value selection? No (Magic pick) Yes (if the Chicago pick falls towards the end of the lottery) Would Johnson provide the Magic with depth in a needed area? Yes

This is a strange spot, because I don’t really feel like Johnson fits the model of the kind of prospect Weltman and Hammond have targeted in the past (plus-positional size, lengthy wingspan). And he certainly wouldn’t be in consideration for Orlando’s own pick, which will likely fall before Johnson is projected to be picked.

But with that Chicago pick (if it conveys, remember – top four protected), now Johnson comes a little bit more into the picture. Depending on which industry site you look at, the Tennessee native is projected to be drafted anywhere from just outside the top five, to towards the back end of the lottery.

ESPN has Johnson ranked 8th on their “best available prospect” board (as of June 17th). Sam Vecenie of the Athletic ranks the young wing 17th on his Big Board 3.0 (updated June 3rd), while O’Connor has him sitting at 6th on his board (NBA Ringer Draft Guide. updated May 6th). And Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report) has Johnson coming off the board 7th in his latest mock draft (June 15th), one spot before the Magic pick (via Chicago).

It will be interesting to monitor Johnson’s stock throughout this pre-draft process. If some of these projections hold true, then Johnson (while not necessarily fitting the mold of what Orlando’s top executives usually look for in a prospect) may just represent a “best player available” on the board type situation, where the Magic pull the trigger and take on the project.

But yes, I do think the bouncy former All-SEC Freshmen Team member is a significant long-term project. And with as young as Orlando’s roster already is, perhaps this wouldn’t be the spot to take a big cut at a “home run” prospect. “Doubles” are good too, even in the lottery. Okay, enough with the baseball analogies.

The Magic do have Terrence Ross on the wing signed for two more years, and Gary Harris heading into the last year of his contract. Neither of those veterans seem to fit into Orlando’s new timeline, so you could certainly make the argument that the Magic need more depth on the wing. They acquired R.J. Hampton last season, and he’s probably better suited to play the wing than a lead guard position right now, but there are still potential minutes in the future available.

Still, I think the Magic would be better served looking for a long-term piece with more shooting upside to pair with the pieces they already have in place. Due to his athleticism, run and jump ability on the break, and defensive two-way potential, I think Johnson makes a lot of sense for some teams in the lottery.

I’m just not sure Orlando is one of those teams.

Aaron Goldstone has been writing for Orlando Pinstriped Post since 2017. You can follow him on Twitter at @AaronGoldstone. Also, check out Aaron’s other scouting reports in this series: Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner.

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[lapsed-bookworm]

Grey Shades of Love

Ch 3: Red Sky In Morn [ao3]

Characters: Severus Snape, Charity Burbage, Scabbers (HP); [2] Cuthbert Binns, Albus Dumbledore; [3] Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew

Ships: Charity Burbage & Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew & Severus Snape, Lily Evans / Severus Snape (Unrequited); [2] Severus Snape / Charity Burbage

Tags: Potions, Muggle Studies, Rats & Mice, POV Severus Snape, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Aged-Up Character(s); [2] Coming Out, Trans Female Character, Transitioning; [3] Falling In Love, Asexuality Spectrum, Sexuality Crisis, Identity Reveal, Animagus

Ch Summary: Severus Snape and the year his past came back to haunt him in the form of Professor R.J. Lupin. A rather stressful year during which Severus had to brew Wolfsbane Potion for the werewolf that almost bit him in his youth, apologize for anti-lycan pettiness, discovered he was not very good at dating, was caught off guard by an unexpected side effect of Charity’s Transmogrification, unpleasantly figured out a man had been living with him as a rat, and did not get paid enough, especially to prevent Potter and his fellow Gryffindors from getting bitten by the werewolf in residence or trying to go after escaped convict Sirius Black on their own.

Category: Updated to F/M

Added to Characters: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew

Added to Tags: Falling In Love, Asexuality Spectrum, Sexuality Crisis, Identity Reveal, Animagus

A/N: Title plays on weather folklore. More Potions expansion (cryopotions referenced) and headcanons about Transmogrification and Animagus related magic.

Excerpt from the Morning After section:

[...] She began twirling her wand in a blaze of diagnostic spells until a double image of a heart was floating in front of her. One was yellow and beat a silent but steady rhythm, but the blue one struggled in spasms and had a gaping hole that was torn around the edges with barely an overlapping green section between the two of them. Shimmering gold Ogham lit up around the wound, and Minerva steadied herself as she dismissed the imaging.

[...] Minerva spoke quietly, apparently recognizing an integral Animagus passage, “The Witch’s Familiar Talisman allows a Controller to capture the soul-shard of the Animagus form and thereby control the wix in a way that is utterly unimaginable for those who have not researched this topic, or - Gods forbid - encountered a victim.”

[...]

“There are very particular cases where a Controller’s order is unable to be followed”, Minerva absentmindedly flicked her wand to adjust Pettigrew’s chair out of arm’s reach from the wall, “Certain magical skill sets that take more practice than innate talent, such as Legilimency, and magic the Animagus cannot already perform, such as university level Healing, cannot be done simply by ordering it. Often, orders must be very thorough and literal, or the Animagus can rules lawyer their way out of compliance.”

[...] Albus continued a different line of questioning, “I find it quite curious that you were unable to transform back into your human form and reveal your side of the story before now. I can only assume you were ordered not to, but how can an order extend beyond the Controller’s death?”

“He’s . . . mostly dead”, Pettigrew frowned in the direction of his knees, “Just enough to not be outside the door, and I haven’t gotten any orders since 1981. But . . . I can’t close the door either, which should be my sign that I don’t have a Controller.”

“A seamless passing to a new Controller is possible in theory, but it’s very difficult in practice”, Minerva recast the spells to show the split hearts and studied the golden Ogham on the blue one closely, “There should be signs of a brief lapse into freedom, typically a scarred wound with the second Controller creating a new hole. Sometimes the fylgja itself will appear injured”, a tugging motion with her wand brought forth a wispy white copy of Scabbers from inside the wound with foreboding chain links extending out of sight, “Well, your fylgja is clearly still trapped, but it doesn’t show signs of a new Controller.”

[...] He [Severus] was willing to bet his second best cauldron that a strategy for the best optimization of a newly reinstated spy, who could provide early warning for how the Dark Lord’s attempts at being reborn from a horcrux shade were going, was already in the works.

End Notes: Under a cut due to length. Like, I hit the character limit for the box on ao3 length.

Easter 1994: Madam Pomfrey’s Patronus doesn’t have a canon form, and I merely have a work / personal wand headcanon (neither descriptions were taken from canon for Poppy). Initially, I really wanted to include common European frog, Rana temporaria, eggs, but that species is protogynous (ftm) rather than protandrous (mtf). I wanted something other than the commonly thought of clownfish, and I wound up with humbug damselfish based on this study. Hippocampia is used as a reference to seahorse reproduction, though there’s no exact reason for specifically using Hippocampus erectus, the lined seahorse, in the Hippocampia Potion.

June Full Moon 1994: Severus doesn’t have a canon middle name (father’s first name used based on pattern from other characters). I get the whole not caring about calendars while writing thing (I kinda shifted the Scabbers going missing, blood, Crookshanks shindig from winter to spring, according to a PoA calendar I didn’t find until the end of this chapter). However, the werewolf writer in me is pained when I have to play fast and loose with lunar timing because canon has the full moon on the 6th when it was actually the 23rd.

Werewolf Registry number is loosely based on on the NI Number format, but makes a point of mostly using Remus’ birthday (10 March 1960) and an indicator for being turned as a Child. Sirius also does not have a canon middle name. Azkaban ID as seen in Sirius’ Wanted Poster uses Eohl / Algiz [ᛉ] as the second rune and Gyfu / Gebo [ᚷ] as the first, but the versions minus hands show a bit of an exaggerated Peorð / Peorth [ᛈ] instead. The Ogham letters indicating notes were chosen for sequential progress - Muin [ᚋ], Gort [ᚌ], nGéadal / Gétal [ᚍ], Straif / Straiph [ᚎ], and Ruis [ᚏ].

Headcanon that wixen who don’t want to enter the British Animagus Registry may try to enter a different country’s registry. In this, James used the name OISÍN (“little deer”) WALLACE (“foreigner, stranger”), Peter used JOHN (popular) O’BOYLE (“son of + pledge?”), and Sirius used CUÁN (“little wolf, hound”) DORAN (“exile, wanderer”).

I don’t particularly want to delve into UK criminal law for a fanfic, so I’m just going with a guess based on what I’ve heard in my country. Involuntary manslaughter usually refers to an unintentional killing that results from criminal negligence or recklessness, or from committing an offense such as a DUI. It differs from voluntary manslaughter in that the victim's death is unintended.

Morning After: The fylgja (pl. fylgjur) is used here as the name of the Animagus soul-shard, and in certain high level Transfiguration circles, can also be used as a name for the Animagus form itself. The fylgjur have several meanings in the Norse sagas, but I particularly want to pull out “the animals reflect the character of the person they represent”, a connection to shape shifting, and an acceptable alternative for non-Native or Indigenous people wanting to describe a spirit animal or totem animal without misusing a closed culture’s terminology.

While I am aware that “bay’td” looks weird it’s a play on ‘baited’ (as in baited breath) and holding bay under the tongue during the process of becoming an Animagus (sh, I remembered fan theory, but I already have my word play going, just roll with it). War code names aka allusions to Greek myth (Styx, Charon, Lethe).

#fanfiction #my writing #Rat Fic

[furederiko]

As I said a few days ago, I have prepared this Random News Digest ever since I posted the previous one. Thanks to that sudden unexpected situation on my part, this could be the one and only for the month. Of course, nothing is set in stone just yet. But just in case I'm not posting another ones in the following weeks, with this, you should already be aware of the reason why... *sigh*

Transformers

In a rather unexpected and a bit unusual news, Paramount has decided to release "Transformers: The Last Knight" two days earlier next month. The 5th Michael Bay-directed movie that was supposed to be out on June 23rd, will now arrive on June 21st. It's a Wednesday by the way, which is the unusual fact, because big Hollywood movies like this usually aimed a weekend release. I'm honestly not sure what the primary reason behind this shift, but perhaps... Paramount is pushing it to open at the same date internationally? Such personal speculation makes sense though, because movies tend to open on weekdays in many non-American countries. And the "Transformers" franchise is indeed a bigger name in international market, as proven by the 4th movie. This way, just like what "The Fate of the Furious" have recently accomplished, the movie has a bigger chance to break worldwide opening record. At least for the month of June, or that particular weekend. Anyway, I'm sure fans of the franchise would be delighted by this news. I... guess?

DC Films

Speaking of June, "Wonder Woman" is close to be released as well. I haven't been on social media for the past few days (even without visiting one, my data charge is close to running out! Aaaarggghh), so I can't tell if they have held the first screening for the movie or not (likely not, perhaps in the coming weeks or two?). But apparently, Warner Bros just released a new poster for the movie. For a movie set to be released on June 2nd, I do expect the marketing presence to start getting bigger, and promotion to get louder. Strangely, it doesn't feel that way. For some reason, it felt like WB is holding out a bit on this one, which is NOT a good sign. I mean, even if the movie isn't as good, at least they should go all out when promoting the first female-led superhero movie of the modern age. That alone deserves the biggest attention, right? There's a new trailer airing during the MTV Movie Awards 2017 that was held a few hours ago. I haven't seen it (due to lack of interest? Nah... lack of BANDWITH), but perhaps that's a sign that the studio is taking further step forward. Oh well, we'll see what happens in the near future then... but seriously, I don't have a good feeling about it.

Marvel Studios

Filming for "Avengers: Infinity War", which opens less than a year from now, is still taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was said that directors Anthony and Joe Russo have arrived in the location last week. We know that several actors have been spotted there, like Robert Downey Jr., Paul Bettany, and Elizabeth Olsen. It seemed, more actors have arrived to join the production.

Chris Evans has been spotted at a nearby club in George Street, confirming his participation in the city. Anthony Mackie, recently openly tweeted that he's leaving the location (possibly along with Olsen and Bettany), hinting that his part might have been completed there. Soon after, the upcoming headlining duo of "Thor: Ragnarok", Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, were spotted at the Durham Cathedral, England. The ancient Cathedral was shut down from May 4th to 6th, indicating that it will be exclusively used for the production. It seems Scarlett Johansson was seen in the same place as well, aside from other secretive areas like Waverly Station, Cockburn Station, St. Abbs, Inverness, and High Street's St. Giles Cathedral. Quite a reunion for the core Avengers, right?

They were not alone, because turns out actress Tessa Thompson also showed up there, indicating that her Valkyrie might be arriving on Earth alongside Hemsworth's Thor and Ruffalo's Bruce Banner. While this served as confirmation of the actress' inclusion, in a way, it also potentially teased a potential spoiler to the ending of "Ragnarok". There are also hints that Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange will be involved, which once again, might give us a clue to the character's inclusion in "Ragnarok". Adding to the list of cosmic characters, a stand-in model of Rocket Raccoon was also present. Since Rocket is a CG character, obviously he would be inserted in post production. One would only wonder if he's the only Guardians members there, because their actors might have already filmed their parts in Atlanta instead.

Around the same time, other cast members weighed in their thoughts of the movie to the press, giving clearer details to what we can expect in the movie. One of them, the third Chris of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chris Pratt thought that the movie is going to be timeless and iconic. "It's going to stand the test of time. It's maybe this decade's movie, if not a longer period of time", he said to Toronto Sun. He also revealed to Nerdist that the Guardians of the Galaxy will be supporting casts, but still has a strong presence in the movie. Considering he's the architect to the Cosmic side, and might apparently stay that way until "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", director James Gunn reiterated the same fact, while admitting that he's "incredibly involved in what happens in Infinity War with the Guardians".

Meanwhile, Downey Jr. once again collaborated with Omaze and openly offered fans for the chance to win an all-access visit to the set. This isn't new, since several other actors have done similar charity projects as well. But the important bit to notice here, is how it pretty much confirmed that the actors will return to Atlanta to shoot more stuff. Since production is wrapping up in just a few months before proceeding to the 2019's "Avengers 4", clearly this set visit will take place very soon. Unless Downey was referencing "Avengers 4". Which reminds me again, we're less than a year away before "Infinity War" hits the global market on May 4th, 2018. That's why the hype is certainly building bigger and bigger everyday!

As for what comes after Avengers 4, there are two confirmed titles so far: sequel to "Spider-Man: Homecoming" that is set to be released on July 2019, and "Vol 3" that will likely take the May 1st, 2020 date. A sequel to "Doctor Strange" has been partially confirmed, but not yet announced officially, since director Scott Derrickson is still busy with other project. Intriguingly, the one that we already started to get a good grasp at, is none other than "Vol. 3". That's because Gunn has already begun planning and working on that sequel. Aside from focusing on some of the bits teased during the mid-credit scenes of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", which had just hit the US market a few days ago to massive revenue, Gunn teased that Zoe Saldana's Gamora is primed to have a significant role. Gunn had indeed said that all three Guardians movies will form one big story, so perhaps we'll be seeing Gamora's past coming back to haunt her? Especially following their little side adventure with the Avengers in "Infinity War" and "Avengers 4" that involves Daddy Thanos? Who knows, perhaps that one massive cosmic character will play a crucial role in it too, considering the being's romantic history with her in the comics. Hmmmm... I guess we'll just have to wait and see! And of course, speculate on!!!

Marvel TV

Hulu and Marvel TV has officially unveiled the official logo and look for the characters of Marvel's "Runaways" last week! Arriving on Twitter in form of a strong nod to a particular omnibus cover, this reveal might have also confirmed the inclusion of fans-beloved character, Old Lace the Deinonychus. Which will be of course, a completely CGed creature. Interestingly, before the image was announced officially, it was already leaked alongside a quick trailer early on. Assuming the link hasn't been taken down, you can probably catch it on Youtube. Said trailer, that hasn't been openly released until now, showcased the characters interacting with each other, and discovering that their parents are... 'evil'. Which is the gist of their story.

To be honest, I'm feeling a bit mixed with that leaked trailer. While the characters looked spot-on like their comics counterparts, the scene came off rather... cheesy? Somewhat in the same level to Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger" that had its trailer released last month, it didn't work charm for me. In particular when "The Pride" showed up, which looked more like an occult rather than a group of super-powered villains. Apparently, reactions were mixed as well, as some Marvel fans are admittedly still on the fence with it like yours truly, but the rest of the community were thrilled with what they saw. Of course, we've only seen the trailer in poor quality, so we can't really judge it yet. Here's hoping we'll get a better look of it, when it is officially released. Though probably not in the near future, because well, the show will not arrived until 2018 anyway.

It's still unclear until now, whether this show will take place in the MCU or not. Unlike Freeform, which is still part of ABC (meaning it belongs to Disney... you get the point), Hulu is its own company. It honestly doesn't look like this show exists in the same world to the Avengers and Defenders. Because if it is, the contradicting appearance of Tina Minoru alone is already causing huge continuity issue with the "Doctor Strange" movie. But perhaps, it does take place in the MCU, but in a separate reality/universe? Remember, the keyword here is Multiverse, a concept introduced through "Doctor Strange", hence the possibility exists. Hmmm... I hope we'll get a clear explanation to this issue real soon. Otherwise, that means Jeph Loeb and Marvel TV is messing up BIG TIME.

Speaking of MCU, we do know that there's another show that will surely take place in the same reality: Marvel's "The Inhumans"! And look and behold... Entertainment Weekly has debuted the first official look to the mini series last week. And holy terrigenesis, it was... uhm... eh... MEH?!!! O_O. Fans immediately voiced their mixed feeling about it, because eventhough it had some nods to the comics (like Crystal's hair or Karnak's... face tattoo), other parts were glaringly unappealing. I mean, what's the deal with the HAIR of Serinda Swan's Medusa?!!! It doesn't even look like a natural human hair! Seriously, WHY use such hideous-looking WIG, when she only needs to dye her hair brunette or red. You know, just like... Zoe Saldana's Gamora or Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff? Even Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy still looked better! This one looks like FOX-inspired no matter how you see it! Not just Medusa, Eme Ikwuakor's Gorgon didn't even resemble the massive built of his comic counterpart (where's the hooves?), Anson Mount's Blackbolt seemed to have forgotten his pitchforked mask, and Ken Leung's Karnak totally didn't meet my expectation of a famous martial artist. Which shouldn't even be THAT hard to pull off. Isabelle Cornish's Crystal were among the few who looked wonderful, but the only one I was actually fond of was Iwan Rheon's Maximus. Even if I honestly don't understand why he needed the beard. Certainly not because the actor's British, right?! *coughQuicksilvercoughDaredevilcoughDannyRand*

We also got an official teaser that... uhm... eh... was NOT really helping either. Simply because it showed nothing but the logo, through a possible dialogue from someone I assumed to be Maximus (since he talked about freedom, yada yada), and Daphn... er, Medusa. After all, Blackbolt does NOT speak. Never mind the speaking, where's Mike Moh's Triton? Did his bodypaint look too hedious to be portrayed in the same photo? How about Lockjaw?! Showrunner Scott Buck did help confirm that Triton will NOT be a CG character. And also, that the teleportation mutt exists and is "probably going to end up being the audience’s favorite character. We certainly enjoy working with him. He’s fun to write, he’s fun to shoot. There’s not too much more detail than that that I can give, but he is going to be a standout on the show.". That's nice sentiment, but it still doesn't answer the question to why both of them are conspicuously excluded from the photo. Nor the main reason why the Royal Family needs to be cast out from their magical city of Attilan, and spends more time on Earth. A fact that obviously will make audiences question its position and continuity in the larger MCU universe.

If you were among the many those who were disappointed by how his "Iron Fist" turned out, then well, Buck's follow-up statements about this show and how he got involved in it, won't likely inspire confidence either. One of the more concerning fact, was how Loeb approached him and pitched him the project. NOT the other way around! In a way, this somehow signified that Marvel TV liked his interpretation of "Iron Fist", a show that's now sitting at the lowest approval level for any Marvel and Netflix's releases so far. I don't know about you, but to me, there's also a vague indication that Marvel TV was 'quite desperate' to get this show done no matter what. And obviously, that does NOT sound reassuring. Comparison to how Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios operates is inevitable, as their rigorous process to find a director with passion and fondness for a particular project, has been properly documented ("Captain Marvel" being a great example). This was undeniably one of the key to their box office and critical success, a method that brought people like James Gunn, Peyton Reed, Scott Derrickson, and others to deliver movies that reflected their love for the source material. So learning that it's Loeb who wanted Buck to do this, is enough to make me roll my eyes.

The approach sounded slightly different with Buck too. Instead of fully utilizing the Inhumans' visual super power and otherworldly abilities, embracing their larger-than-life weirdness, he opted to make them... 'grounded'. "We approach these all as real people who just happen to have these abilities, so they’re all very grounded people. We try to write them as real as possible, and then have fun with the powers when we can. We want their powers to seem like a very natural part of their personality.", he said. That was... an interesting choice of words, because I frankly believe 'grounded' has become a thing of the past these days, as proven by movies taking more risk by going the other way. But I seriously felt Buck totally 'dropped the ball' when he diplomatically admitted that he has NO CLUE about the source material. Thanks to that, his approach was... "Obviously if you look at those comics from the early ’60s, they’re a very different tone than what we’re doing. It was fun to see how it all began, but I just continued to leap forward. I have not read all of them, but I continue to look through some of them. There were so many different incarnations of the Inhumans, though, so it was more a matter of figuring out, what’s the story we want to tell? Going back and then reading the whole backstory of them all was very helpful, but from that, we just pretty much moved forward.". You know what? I was left speechless after reading that. Many signs are hinting towards failure, and that's concerning.

Which also gets me thinking. We know that the mini series is set to debut on IMAX theatres. It even has a cast of actors with past experiences in both TV and movies. Then why are Marvel TV treating these first two episodes with the mentality of a TV show? No offense to the director, but I sincerely think they should have regarded it as a movie-level instead. After all, eventhough IMAX is co-producing, it would be such a waste of use of that IMAX cameras, if not utilized properly to its highest potentials. Beside, it really doesn't hurt to consult with Marvel Studios, that has had years of experience in the field, just to get it right... right? In fact, the movie division ARE filming "Infinity War" entirely using the same sets of camera right now, so what a nice coincidence! Unless of course... pride stands in the way, which helps explains why the movie division is NOT involved at all (seriously, they could've just hand over the project to them instead). Buck did say that we can expect something 'a little bit bigger' than normal network shows, eventhough his portofolio thus far (he can't even do Shou-Lau properly!!!!) and other comments are saying otherwise. So let's just wait and see if he's actually true to his words... this time. A friendly suggestion though: Take a deep breath, and start crossing your fingers, pray that he won't mess up all over again. Because I honestly fear he will...

Last but not least, it would be a crime to not talk about the first series that started it all. Yes, Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", what else? It might not have the same ratings, nor the number of audience as before, but we wouldn't be getting these other shows if AoS didn't exist in the first place. As the currently airing 4th season is about to air its final two episodes in the coming weeks, the biggest question to its devoted fans is whether there will be a new season afterwards or not. If Deadline's report is to be believed, looks like a renewal is close to reality. Not quite surprising, because reception for the series DOES show an increase lately due to the stellar storytelling of "The Framework" arc. But what I'm more curious about, is whether this 5th season will serve as the finale or not. Surely, we shouldn't be treated with the kind of Agent Carter's cliffhanger experience all over again, should we? I guess we'll learn about this when ABC announces its lineups in the next few days...

Netflix

Oh hey there, the first full trailer for Marvel's "The Defenders" has arrived! If we were treated with a quick and rather annoying elevator tease before, followed by that equally confusing zombie shot via Twitter, Netflix finally unveiled the big one last week.

There's a lot to take in from this short trailer alone. Both the thrills of seeing the lead actors bouncing off each other's throat, as well as the mystery throughout the shots. Yet I'm also quite surprised to see how... SMALL the scope of this mini-series feels. Upon repeated viewing, it becomes more and more obvious, and in a way, disappointing. Just think about it, the Defenders are taking on The Hand in this one, which naturally should've been an ARMY. So it should've felt bigger, right? Instead, we're getting another hallway fight scene, which is basically the fifth time (excluding Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, who perhaps might get hers in the second season?) already. Why repeat the same formula over and over again? It took such a long time for Marvel TV (and Netflix) to deliver a crossover, so seriously, why not go all out? Also, seeing Mike Colter's Luke Cage and Finn Jones' Danny Rand meeting one another made me grin and frown at the same time. Because dang it, we COULD have gotten a proper "Heroes for Hire" show instead of the somewhat-underwhelming solo for Cage, and sadly-disappointing one for Danny.

Co-showrunner Marco Ramirez talked to Forbes following the release of that teaser, and hinted that we're going to see a change in these characters' mindset. Even if they have had moderate luck in working solo, through the event of this mini-series, they will "realize they have to work together and that they are much stronger together.". Of course, while that's easy to be said in theory, Ramirez admitted that the execution proved to be quite a creative challenge anyway. "It was quite a journey to keep them all very involved and active at every point", he stated, particularly because the last two shows were not yet released during production of "The Defenders". Both he, and Douglas Petrie did successfully brought a strong second season for Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock. So smart money is that they won't have any issue with this one as well. I can only hope that there won't be any continuity issues when it is released. After the poor result of Iron Fist's solo series, I'm pretty sure many eyes have been keeping an eye on Marvel TV closely, to see if they might f-up any further. Hope the best and expect the worse, then! Marvel's "The Defenders" arrives on August 18th, 2017.

Second season for the critically acclaimed "Stranger Things" won't be released until Halloween, but that doesn't mean its audience aren't already excited about it. In fact, some of us probably has been counting the days until that release date. Some of the cast recently talked to Emmy Magazine (via The Playlist) about it, and revealed that we can expect a bit of change in the series. Why? According to Mike Wheeler's actor Finn Wolfhard, the season will be "a lot more dark, a lot more horror-oriented", before adding that audience would probably like it better than the debut season. That certainly an interesting comment, eh? Dustin Henderson's actor Gaten Matarazzo chimed in by revealing an intriguing plot, "They feel a little bad because their best friend is back and he’s not acting like their best friend anymore. He’s changed.". Clearly, he's talking about Noah Schnapp's Will Byers, who DID exhibit some kind of strange supernatural phenomenon as the first season closed its curtain. I have a feeling, whatever it is Will is dealing, would be the driving force of the new season. Seriously, why can't October arrive any sooner!

Meanwhile, the third season of the highly-anticipated comedy "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", will be arriving real soon. Mark your calendar, fans, because it's coming NEXT week on May 19th, 2017. YESSS... Hi-five!!! To celebrate that, Netflix has released the first full trailer for the new season, that comes with a few surprises already. Kimmy is going to college! And the relationships of both Titus and Lillian seems to be in jeopardy. Oh noes!!! Of course, that's definitely one of the major charm of the series. I just love how it continues to progress its characters, taking them in a real life journey both emotionally and psychologically. It's like watching a close friend or family member growing up on screen! Aaaaaw...

Sure, the series might not work for everyone, but to those who were already hooked, it has become addictive in its own weird way. I mean, I've been re-watching the first two seasons in anticipation to the third. And eventhough I've seen these episodes more than I probably should have, dang it... I'm still laughing like a crazy nerd. Honestly, it's not hard to tell whenever a show is simply good or bad. And this one is certainly among the very best of the recent years. At least for me personally. LOL. The writing, the intricate themes hidden within the story, the brilliant and occasionally dumb deadpan humor, the strong comedic timing from most of its cast and guest stars? It definitely has everything that would keep me satisfied for such a long time, it's more than you could ask for! I'm expecting big things for this new season, and I hope it will be as strong or even better than before. Dang it, forget October, even May 19th feels like ages already!!!

Zero Escape

Following the release of "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games" that contains the first two games in the series, fans of the mystery franchise obviously wondered whether its third, "Zero Time Dilemma" would be getting a HD release for a console as well. After all, the game only debuted less than a year ago (precisely in June 2016) for the Nintendo 3DS, and Playstation Vita. Turns out, fans won't need to wait much longer! Aksys Games has announced that a Playstation 4 version is coming really soon. And by soon, on August 18th, 2017. Sure, the company hasn't officially revealed that release date, but Amazon has already listed it as such. Wow, these companies are lacking in synergy, huh? LOL. Just like "The Nonary Games", the graphic will of course be remastered. It shouldn't be an issue though, because a PC version has already been released previously, just not for the bigger consoles. Now I can't help but wonder if the company is preparing a 3-in-1 combo pack in the coming future? That would be more convenient to play with, because you can easily proceed the story in one media.

Pocket Monsters

"Pokemon Go"'s Worldwide Bloom event should be hours away from ending by the time this post goes up. While it certainly didn't feel as big as previous ones, and to certain extent, practically non-existent (no kidding, where are all the promised Grass Pokemon? My area is flooded with WATER ones instead), I have come to realize that there's a reason to this short lived event. What is that? Turns out, Nianti had just held a huge community event in the US on May 7th, 2017 (which is a few hours ago, in their time region), situated in Charlotte, North Carolina. Collaborating with John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, this experimental event closed off car traffic, and promoted various festivities for pedestrians and bicycle users. Basically, a 'Car Free Day' thingy, eh? As a follow up, Niantic will also collaborate with Open Streets 704, to hold similar kinds of celebration in the future.

This is a good sign, because looks like they are moving forward in realizing the promise they've showcased in the App's teaser trailer last year. I wouldn't be surprised if in the near future, Niantic will be holding their first major event that features a Legendary Pokemon, considering those ones have been absent ever since the App was released. Of course, this makes me curious to know, how Niantic will apply the same concept in countries outside of the US. Should they cooperate with local governments? Or perhaps, via business outlets like Starbucks or McDonalds? I can only hope that there won't be any countries being left out in the process. It'll be unfair to its gamers, right?

Assassin's Creed

Before I wrap up this R-N-D, I'm going to talk about one more rumor, namely about the next game in the "Assassin's Creed" franchise. The last core game released by Ubisoft, "Assassin's Creed: Syndicate" took place in a Victorian Era London, featuring twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye. According to WWG, the next game will continue its globe-trotting adventure, by taking place in Ancient Egypt. The title is rumored to be called "Assassin's Creed: Origins", and it is expected to be officially announced at E3 2017 that will be held next month. It is also said to be released on Fall this year. Apparently there will be two main characters of different genders once again. Its gameplay will focus more on exploration, and has a huge scope that might consists of the basics of the franchise, naval combats, as well as travels to countries like Greece. Take this with a grain of salt, but this report feels legit, and sounds like an intriguing idea already. I know I, with my love of "Tomb Raider: Revelations" would be thrilled to give this one a shot, knowing the vast mysteries surrounding the region. Of course, we still have to wait and see whether this is true or not. Ubisoft is expected to deliver their E3 presentation, likely on June 12th, 2017, so fans of the franchise can mark their calendar to anticipate any official announcements during that week...

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