#starting a new save to share elliot's adventures

[iwatzuka]

🏄🌊🦈🌴🥥🏖️🌞🐟

#starting a new save to share elliot's adventures #he need a new surf friend #the sims 3 #my sims #elliot

[trashcankitty12]

Elliot Scofield from Callisto

Only Son of Helia and Morgan Scofield

Eldest Child of Helia and Morgan Scofield

Activist In The Making

-Elliot is the eldest child and only son of Helia and Morgan. 

-He’s about 15/16 when we first meet him and is a sophomore at the Callisto Artistry Academy. (Elliot’s more passionate about his art, even if he’s slightly more into digital arts than his parents.)

-Elliot’s birthday is September 25. He’s a Libra by Earth Standards and a Nereid by the Magical Dimension’s.

-He has long dark hair like his father, and bright amber eyes like his mother. And he has slightly pointed ears, also like his mother. Tends to keep his hair done up in elven braids or a ponytail.

-He has his ears pierced too. Helps him to alleviate some tension.

-Elliot has a younger sister. He both loves her and wants to trade her in for a new camera. (Not really, but she does have a tendency to get on his nerves.)

-He’s an activist and most of his art/videography is about the causes he tries to fight for. (Climate change on certain realms, animal rights, racism and magicism.)

-(Yes, there is racism in the Magical Dimension. There are a few realms that feel like certain people from other realms aren’t safe. And there are still people who think certain types of magic are bad/evil.)

-Elliot is vegan and enjoys sharing recipes with his cousin Lily.

-He loves making his own food and coming up with new dishes to try for his family. So far, he’s pretty good with making meals, but his younger sister still likes to critique him or one-up him with her own. (Usually in the quick snack/dessert departments.)

-Elliot is a ‘go with the flow’ type when he’s with his friends. Typically this means he gets involved in their shenanigans, but he figures someone needs to keep the others in line.

-He loves cinematography and videography. Both have their reasons for existing and capture different essences, and he wants to learn how to incorporate both into his art.

-Some of his favorite subjects are the animals in the Wildlands and his fairy friends in flight. There’s just something elegant and real about it.

-(Though he has come up with stories as well. Artemis and Apollo love helping out with his more dramatic material.)

-Elliot has a touch of a daredevil/adventurous side too, something he gets from his mother. He just loves life and wants to experience as much of it as possible. 

-There’s so much to love about the Magical Dimension, I mean come on! The food, the cultures, the artworks, the magic, the lore. And it all somehow fits together in this little universe. How could you not want to experience it?! (Or document it and try to save as much as possible for the next gen?)

-Elliot is a registered bi-disaster. Or a bi-terror. Basically he could hook anyone he wants, and while he knows it, he can’t think too hard about it or he’ll lose whatever “mojo” he had.

-He’s also not entirely sure what he wants in a relationship just yet. All he knows is he wants someone who’s willing to fight “the powers that be” when they start getting greedy/dirty. After all, he wants to change things for the better, and while he’s willing to do that alone, he doesn’t want to have to.

-Elliot does some yoga/meditation classes with Layla and Nabu’s children as well as his cousin Lily. It helps him keep things clear in his mind’s eye and stay focused on his work. (And it makes him feel great.)

-(He’s partially a woodland elf, okay? Flexibility is part of their thing.)

-Elliot and Nixie actually do some art classes together. Both work with a similar tools; digital cameras and videograms, so they like to share ideas. They’ve even done a collaboration on Domino’s wildlife. (Though they had her parents worried out of their minds because DANGER.)

-Like both of his parents, Elliot does have magic. It’s a bit more prominent than the magic Helia has, but it’s not quite as powerful as his mother’s. 

-His magic is rooted in nature, which isn’t a surprise to him given his family’s magical history. However he is surprised that he seems to be able to find hidden grottos and pocket dimensions that are scattered around the Magical Dimension.

-(Which he totally does not explore or bring the others with him to explore. That would be dangerous and could have severe consequences. Why would you think he’d do that?)

-(Probably because he would… He is his mother’s son. And a grandchild of Salvador’s.)

-Elliot tried to get into more traditional artwork like his father, but he tends to get frustrated with all the different brush types and paper types and canvases and it… It just all runs together for him and he doesn’t have the patience. He can admit it.

-Helia’s just glad he tried to do things his way first, before completely disregarding it. (They still do little paintings together on occasion. Father-son bonding.)

-Elliot’s got an interesting relationship with his grandparents on his dad’s side. He tends to see his Great Uncle Saladin more than his grandmother or grandfather. (Granted they are both divorced and it takes some doing to get around both of their busy schedules. His grandma’s a general now and his grandfather’s just opened his sixth gallery.)

-He does try to keep up with them though, even if it's just a few phone calls or video chats in a month.

-As for the Sylvane side of his family? He’s very ingrained in their way of life. (AKA, he’s well-versed in controlled chaos and lovingly picking on his family despite threats of death.)

-He and his sister are also deep into learning more about their elven roots. Especially since there’s been some issues rising up in the Elven Worlds. (Which Elliot hopes to help resolve one day. After all, demonizing and ostracizing one side of magic is what led to the Great War for Magic before, what would stop the various elven communes to start their own version?)

-While Elliot isn’t much of a fighter, he is good enough at defending himself. His magic is strong enough to draw energy blasts and to commune with the natural forces around him for protection. And thanks to his Great Uncle Saladin and his father’s teachings, he’s not too shabby about hand-to-hand or sword-to-sword combat either. (Though it’s not something he totally enjoys and he’s definitely not fond of the times he goes up against his cousins. Particularly Etta who seems to enjoy making an ass out of anyone who stands against her.)

-Elliot isn’t fond of weapons, but he has developed a fondness for the sword his Grandpa Palladium gave him. It’s engraved with woodland runes, giving him a bit of an upper hand when dealing with certain types of elementals and gives him a power boost. Can’t say “no” to that.

-His school’s classes are scheduled differently than most other schools in the Magical Dimension, as most of the classes deal with certain types of artistry. 

-His favorite classes are his obvious obsessions with videography and cinematography.

-Like his father, he’s not that big a fan of working with clay. It’s messy and gets in places it shouldn’t be.

-While he doesn’t mind doing traditional painting, trying to figure out the right techniques isn’t easy for him.

-He does enjoy sketching though. It’s the perfect way to outline his ideas before he goes on shoots.

-Writing isn’t his strong suit, but he’s decent at coming up with lovely poems and thought-provoking stories. His essays are his best work though, as he can really get into the meat of what he wants to protect or stop and why.

-Elliot isn’t completely sure what he wants to do with his life yet. He just knows he wants to use his love of videography and cinematography to change the realms. (For the better.) Who knows, maybe he’ll be able to spark new life into some of abandoned projects across the realms?

#winx club oc #winx club oc next gen #winx next gen #winx oc #winx oc next gen #winx club next gen oc #winx club morgan and helia #winx club oc and helia child #winx club elliot scofield #winx club elliot scofield oc #winx elliot scofield #camera nerd #elf with a lens

[page150]

Not A Friend - (Sister to Oscar "Spooky" and César Díaz)

Request: "i was wondering if u could do a fic where oscar and cesar have a teen sister and she’s sexually assaulted and tells oscar??"

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 3181

Warnings: Sexual Assault, Guns, Cursing

A/N: I usually don't do a author's note before the imagine, but this is a sensitive topic so if this might be triggering please click away.

Y/N - Your Name f/c - favorite color

Y/N sat quietly in her room, reading a book, illuminated by a white lamp sitting on her dresser.

Outside her brother, Oscar laughed with some men and her other brother, César had left a while ago on another adventure with his friends, leaving Y/N by herself in her room. Placing the book down, she moved the curtains away from her window. She looked at the gathering of Santos socializing in the backyard. Red solo cups in hand, dancing and eating. She remembered how Oscar had let her help decorate the backyard for the party only to be later excluded from it. Looking at him laughing with a with his arm around someone she betted that he had forgotten that she was inside.

She had gotten used to being forgotten and treated differently by people. Ever since she was born her brothers didn’t know what to do with her. Oscar had never expected to have to raise a brother by himself and especially not a sister. Even though she was only a year younger than César, Oscar's idea of keeping her safe was keeping her hidden.

She was only allowed to go straight to school then straight home, never alone either. If César or Monse weren’t going to a place neither was Y/N and that’s how it always was. She was especially not allowed to hang out with any of Oscar's friends, making life extremely lonely.

Glancing at a photo that was taped next to the window, she smiled at herself situated between Jasmine and Monse with Jamal, Ruby and César in the back. César’s friends were nice, but they were his friends not hers. He was the one invited to all their parties. He was the one they had tried to save, not her.

This left school to be the only place Y/N could socialize, but no one wanted to be friends with a girl from a gang. She was labeled dangerous before anything else, leaving her by herself. Always forgotten, and always alone.

That night she went to sleep feeling sorry for herself and woke up the same way. It continued the next few days until one day when while sitting in her algebra class, a new student was introduced. He was placed next to her and, ignoring the strange looks the class gave to him, he introduced himself.

“I’m Luke. Can I sit here?”

Y/N looked up at the blond haired boy. Her table partner had moved schools a few months ago and no one bothered to sit with her since. He looked nice, he had a nice smile and it made her want to lower her guard slightly, “Yeah, you can sit here.”

Luke sat next to her and immediately tried to start a conversation. He talked about how he moved from Florida. She noticed, as they talked more, how similar they were. They both had interesting families. He had two brothers, she had two brothers and they both lived near each other.

Y/N found herself laughing more than usual at his jokes. This led to the teacher having to stop class multiple times to scold them. Y/N never had a connection to someone like this, especially not on the first day. At lunch Luke went to sit with with her and -

“Who’s this?” César asked, suddenly sitting down at the lunch table next to his sister and wrapping an arm around her. Jamal, Ruby, and Monse also sat down. The table that previously consisted of two people quickly turned to six. Other kids nearby, eyed the two “dangerous” siblings sitting together.

Y/N rolled her eyes at the unexpected attention that was now forming. “This is Luke, he’s new.”

“Lukeee,” César trailed, “I’m Y/N’s older brother-”

“By a few months,” Y/N butted in.

“Whatever, I’m César, these are my friends Jamal, Ruby and my girl Monse.”

Monse laughed, “I’m not your girl.”

“Not yet,” César winked.

Y/N sighed and threw César’s arm off her. She turned to Elliot and apologized.

“Sorry for them.”

“No they’re cool,” Luke grinned. “Any friend of mine is my friend as well.”

Y/N raised her eyebrows, “We’re friends now? It’s only been a day.”

“Of course, you’re cool.”

With the compliment Y/N cheeks turned red. As childish as it was, having an established friendship with someone made her feel nice.

“This must be how César and Oscar feel all the time.” She thought.

“I don’t know if Oscar will like you having a friend that is a boy.” Ruby remarked. “No offense, Luke.”

“None taken.”

“Oscar doesn’t like anyone anyways.” Monse muttered, taking a bite into her sandwich.

“Don’t worry” Luke smiled, “I’m one of the good guys.”

“That’s what they all say,” Jamal said suspiciously. He leaned in close to Luke’s face and gave him some crazy faces.

“Okay, great talk guys,” Y/N said sarcastically, “I would love to chat with you more but lunch is about to end and I have to show Luke where his next class is. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah I have to go, but it was nice meeting you guys.” Luke stated, before he was dragged away by Y/N.

The next few weeks Y/N spent all her time with Luke. He sat next to her in the classes they shared, they talked at lunch and while walking home after school. They even stayed up at night so they could talk on the phone. She found herself smiling every time he talked to her. Every time he offered to carry her books. He was just so nice.

One Friday afternoon, Luke came running up to Y/N, putting her items in her backpack after her last class. He put his hands around her eyes, trying to hold back his laughter.

“Guess who?”

“Mrs. Kurt, I told you we can't see each other here.” Y/N whispered.

Luke removed his hands and his face went white. Y/N turned around and started crying with laughter. She had to sit down, her face turning bright red as she continued to laugh, gasping for air.

“I don’t even want to think about you dating my mom.” He trembled, before returning to his cheerful self. “Stop laughing, I have important news. There’s a party tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.”

Y/N stopped laughing and thought about it before responding. “I don’t know. I don’t think Oscar would want me to. You know how he is about stuff like that.”

Luke smiled and picked her backpack off the floor. He then put out his hand and helped Y/N to her feet.

“Which is why César and his friends already said they are coming too. Oscar doesn’t have to know you're going as my date.”

“Your date?”

“If you want to be. I want you to be my date.”

Y/N smiled, a pink blush covering her cheeks. “I can be your date.”

“Great,” He took her hand and began to lead her out of the classroom. “It’s going to be amazing, don't worry.”

That night Y/N drank water out of a red solo cup, while sitting on the couch of a kid she had never met before. This time she was the one laughing and partying. Colors flashed around the room as more and more kids came into the house. The air was foggy with smoke and smelt like a mash of perfumes and colognes. Y/N nodded her head to the music enjoying the energy in the room.

To her surprise Luke pulled her up to dance with him. She giggled feeling his hands go around her waist. She put her arms around his neck just like she saw in the movies. Rap was blasting out of speakers placed on the ground. Somewhere someone joked about getting a noise compliment to which the crowd began shouting the rap lyrics louder. Taunting the idea, almost hoping for it so the party could gain extra excitement. Y/N shouted along with them in bliss. Ignoring the past fear she had felt once she noticed César had left. Ignoring the looks she had gotten when she first walked in the party. Ignoring how Luke had moved his hands past the dip in her back...

When she felt his hands squeeze her butt she whispered for him to stop which he did, but she still felt weird. A sinking feeling sat in her gut that this was a mistake. Suddenly the small action made the party feel like too much now. She could smell the stink of alcohol on Luke’s breath and weirdly on herself as well. How did she get drunk?

Y/N moved from Luke to where she had placed her cup. Now she could see scribbled on with a black sharpie, someone else’s name. She must have grabbed the wrong cup sometime during the party. Swaying slightly, she moved back toward Luke.

“I need to go home,” She hiccuped. “I drank someone's drink.”

In the darkness she didn’t see Luke’s small smile. “Wow, I’m sorry. Let’s get you home.”

The two exited the party and began to walk home. Y/N felt more tipsy as she walked, eventually having to lean on the blond boy. She didn’t feel really drunk, she could still tell what was happening, it was just her body felt a little out of balance. Luke seemed the same way, but before they reached Y/N house he grabbed her hips. The sudden movement left her in shock.

“You looked really nice tonight, babe.” He said, pulling her into a kiss as he ran his hands on her back, slowly moving lower onto her butt, then up to her breasts.

Immediately Y/N pushed Luke off of her, moving to wrap her arms around herself. “What the hell? I’m a Santo, pull that shit again and it's over” She yelled, backing away from Luke.

“Like you would, I’m the only one who cares enough to pay attention to you. Do you really think anyone else wants to be around you? I’ll do whatever I want. You would be an idiot to lose me.” He fumed.

Y/N froze. Luke had never acted like that before. He couldn’t truly mean what he was saying. She ran into her house and locked the door behind her. She waited a few minutes to check that he had left, which he did.

After her shower she convinced herself that Luke must have been really drunk. That’s why he acted that way, but on Monday he proved that that was not the case.

At the beginning of algebra it started off okay. Luke kept his eyes on the board and focused on his work. It was okay up to the point where he started rubbing on Y/N's leg. She told him to stop but he ignored her. First rubbing small circles on her knee. Then moving up to her thigh moving closer and closer upwards. No matter how many times she moved his hand he kept putting it back. Eventually she had to stay quiet out of fear of distracting the class, but he kept going. She begged silently for it to stop. Suddenly feeling powerless as he continued to do as he pleased for more days.

At lunch even though Luke continued to joke with César she started to go silent. It was a constant internal battle. If she pushed Luke away more, it would cause her to lose her only friend. If she didn’t she would continue to feel uncomfortable. She told herself it would stop eventually, that things would go back to normal, but they didn’t.

As more days went by Luke tried to do more things. The more he tried to do the quieter Y/N got. But luckily César began to notice. He noticed that Y/N wanted him to sit between her and Luke more. How she stopped laughing at his jokes and how Luke changed his tone when talking to her. It wasn’t always playful like it used to be.

Even though César wasn’t really close to his sister he acknowledged that they had to look out for each other. Y/N had been the one to get Oscar to let him back in the house many times. She looked out for him, and he had to look out for her.

Which is why when César and Monse accidentally walked in on Luke kissing her in an empty classroom while she tried to push him off, he freaked out.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He shouted, pulling Luke off of her and close to his face by the collar of his shirt. “I'm Lil’ Spooky I’ll have your face in the dirt if you do that shit again.”

“César, stop what are you doing here. You’re going to hurt him.” Y/N yelled. Monse gently pulled her away from Luke, but she pushed Monse back.

César punched Luke in the eye and he fell down, crumbling into a fetal position. César continued to kick him in the stomach until Y/N pulled him away.

“You’re hurting him! You can’t do this here! César stop please!”

César turned and grabbed Y/N's arm. He led her out of the classroom and out of the school with Monse trailing after them. Y/N’s items in hand.

“I can’t believe he was on you like that. Shit, Y/N. Wait, don't cry, don’t cry, it's okay.”

Y/N hadn’t realized she was crying until he said that. Tears were falling rapidly down her cheeks. She choked back sobs, trying to keep herself somewhat together.

She was thankful for César stopping it, but afraid for what would happen next. Once they reached their house César guided her up the stairs and inside where Oscar was smoking a cigarette at the dinner table. Hearing the door burst open and crying he instantly got up. He reached for his gun, but seeing that it was his siblings he stopped.

“Shit, what the hell happened César. Why is she crying?”

“Tell him,” César said softly. Monse ran in and went to Y/N’s side pulling her into a hug.

“Tell me what. Why are you crying?”

“He 's not mad at you hermana. Él va a ayudar.”

Y/N sniffled and buried herself into Monse’s shoulder. Trying to hide her embarrassment she whispered, “My friend at school was touching me in a weird way, Oscar. He wouldn’t stop. I told him to stop, though. I did. Please, don’t be mad at me.”

“We’re not mad at you and he’s not a friend anymore, Y/N. That should’ve never happened to you.” Monse murmured.

The room went silent. Monse still slowly rubbed Y/N’s back and César stood tense. Oscar looked from César to Y/N.

“César, do you think he left school yet?”

“Uh yeah, school ended right after I pulled her out.”

“Come on,” Oscar grabbed his gun and began to walk out the door, César following after. Y/N ran after Oscar begging for him to stop.

“Don’t Oscar, don’t hurt hm. He’s my only friend. He’s a kid, it was just a mistake.”

“No no!” He shouted. Oscar turned and placed his hands on Y/N’s shoulder’s. Looking into her teary eyes.

“It’s not your fault. It’s never your fault hermana. My job is to keep you safe. I've failed at a lot of things, but I refuse to fail at that again. Get in the house and rest. He just needs to be taught a lesson. Stay with Monse. Te amo como una hija bebé espeluznante.”

He left with César, leaving Y/N on the lawn. Monse guided her back into the house. She remembered what her dad did whenever she was going through a lot. She treated Y/N the same way. Reassuring her that it will be okay. That it wasn’t her fault.

César and Oscar didn’t come back until later that night.

“We got you this,” Oscar muttered, walking into the house and tossing a stuffed bear to Y/N. “We saw the idea online.” It was a f/c bear with a heart on it that said ‘Te Quiero’ with little messages César and Oscar wrote on the back. There weren't a lot, but the few ones there were were heartfelt.

“Thank you, I love it” Y/N smiled, holding the bear close. Her eyes were still slightly red from crying.

“And pizza,” César quietly cheered. On his face was a bandage, but he moved his face so Y/N couldn’t see it. “Monse do you want to spend the night?”

Monse looked at Y/N, “Yeah I already have clothes here so I’ll stay,”

She picked up a slice of pizza. “Soo, what did you guys do?”

“We took care of it,” Oscar said, sitting on the couch next to Y/N. “He won’t mess with you again. If I didn’t have a reputation I would’ve reported it.” He lowered his voice. “You can always go to us Y/N, we’re going to protect you. If that cabrón messes with you again I’m coming for him. ”

“I know,” Y/N mumbled. “I just wanted a friend, how dumb is that.”

“You can always hang out with us,” Monse added, “We’re your friends. We love having you around.”

Y/N sighed, “I mean my own friend. I love you guys too, but it gets so lonely. No one at school wants to be near me. Soy un marginado.”

The room went silent again. Before Monse spoke up, “You know you’re really smart Y/N. There’s a school in BrentWood that might offer you a scholarship to go there. I know you could pass the entrance exam. ”

“I could get a job for the tuition,” César added, rising from his seat at the dinner table. “Oscar what do you think? You’ve been making more money lately. It would keep her safe. She is really smart.”

Oscar looked at the ceiling, a good sign that he was thinking about the idea. Y/N kept her mouth shut, trying not to get too excited.

“How would she get there?”

“It’s a long bus ride,” Monse remarked, “But it’s safe. Only a bunch of rich kids. Most of them will be nice to you, Y/N. You’re smart, you’re funny, and you’re strong. Not a lot of them are like that there. No one will know who you're related to. I can get my mom to help get you in.”

César, Monse, and Y/N looked at Oscar. He took a deep breath and released it. Pulling a cigarette out his pocket, he lit it. Breathing deep he puffed out the smoke.

“I failed you today as a hermano, if I can keep you safe I will. I’ll work on getting you there.”

Y/N smiled and hugged Oscar, feeling César join as well.

“Thank you Oscar. Thank you Cesar. Thank you Monse. I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah” Oscar grinned. “Get off me I’m going to bed. I think I’ll go to the beach tomorrow. Want to come?”

“Yes!”

Author's Note: My DMs are always open to anyone who needs it. I am also on twitter to anyone who wants to talk @/thepage150. Requests are open. You are important. You are valued. You are loved. Have a wonderful day ~c'k

#page150 #page150imagines #oscar diaz #omb imagine #omb #on my block fanfiction #on my block netflix #on my block imagines #on my block #monse finnie #cesar diaz imagines #cesar diaz #caesar diaz #spooky diaz #lil spooky #sister #oscar diaz imagines #ruby martinez imagines #jamal turner #jasmine #spooky diaz imagine #oscar spooky diaz

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #464

Top Ten Feelgood Moments in Movies

Serendipity’s a funny thing, isn’t it? I’ve been planning to make this week about feelgood films since, oooh, late November maybe. I mean, we’ve had enough misery since 2016 to last us an entire Middle-Earth Extended Edition boxset. We need our Pelennor Fields moments wherever we can get them, and Joe Biden being sworn in as President is a good a moment as any right now. So anyway, that was the plan, and then along comes good old Empire magazine with a month dedicated to top cinema moments. They’re not all feelgood, to be fair – there’s the chestburster scene from Alien for a kick-off – but it’s one of those instances of curious synchronicity. What I’m saying is, I didn’t rip them off, okay? This was percolating since the Tangerine Nightmare lost Georgia.

Anyway: feelgood.

This was surprisingly hard, because the moments that I cherish aren’t always feelgood. Even in Lord of the Rings, even in the Pelennor Fields, the whole Ride of the Rohirrim stuff is laced with tragedy. The best bits of those films – “Fly, you fools!”, “For Frodo,” “I can’t carry it but I can carry you,” “Go away and don’t come back” – they’re all melancholy, aren’t they? It’s a saga about people being heroic under duress, and in those cases quite often people don’t make it back all in one piece. Think about Pixar, what are the great moments? “Thanks for the adventure, “So long partner,” “Take her to the moon for me” – they��re all about loss. Or rather, new joy from loss, hope from despair, that kind of thing. They’re terrific, they always make me cry, but they’re not exactly feelgood if you know what I mean.

So here we are. Moments of utter joy, that’s what I’m after. Heart soaring, tears pouring, euphoric moments of extreme happiness. I’ve tried for the most part to avoid joyous moments of excess: there’s one explosion and one bit where a dude gets stabbed in the face, but for the most part I’ve eschewed “feelgood violence” for want of a better word. These are scenes that are supposed to make you smile.

And y’know what? We could all do with smiling more in this day and age.

Good luck, Joe and Kamala. Do a good job. Take us to the moon.

(P.S. spoiler alert for, well, pretty much every film in the list)

“Happy birthday, Aunt Lucy.” (Paddington 2, 2017): after ninety minutes of watching Paddington bring out the best in everybody just by existing, we all feel he deserves a happy ending. And everyone pulls together and gets it for him. Everyone he’s helped, everyone whose life he touched, they’re all there, leading Paddington – and us – to the door. As an adult, you know what’s coming; kids are less sure. But it’s a joyous moment of nothing but true happiness. Two CGI characters hug with such sincerity you can feel the warmth from the screen, and then comes those last words – quiet, whispered, almost thrown away. It’s perfect.

“When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” (When Harry Met Sally, 1989): romcom endings are very hard. You’ve navigated a couple’s relationship, generally speaking you’ve split them up in act three, and now they need to get back together in a big, extravagant way, that undoes the plot machinations that separated them. No one does it as well as Harry here, delivering a soliloquy on what it means to be in love, loving a person’s quirks and foibles and how they occupy your mind, ending with that superb line. Sally says it best: when he says stuff like that, he makes it impossible for us to hate him.

“On your left.” (Avengers: Endgame, 2019): Captain America stands alone, battered and beaten, his unbreakable shield broken. The vast armies of Thanos stand before him. He faces certain death, and the probable destruction of everything. He grits his teeth, tightens his shield straps, and then… Sam Wilson’s voice, delivering a line from several films ago, a moment of levity and shared continuity. His friends arrive, slowly at first; Black Panther, the Guardians, Spider-Man. Legions from across the cosmos. “Is that everyone?” asks Doctor Strange. “You wanted more?!” replies Wong. And then giant Ant-Man bursts through a building, with Hulk and co. An army of good from across the galaxy to face the forces of evil. Cap calls forth Mjolnir (and that moment was so nearly my choice), and then… “Avengers… assemble.”

“That’ll do, pig.” (Babe, 1995): Babe is one of those films that’s mostly joy: feelgood throughout, really, despite moments of drama or sadness. But after some nail-biting scenes as Farmer Hoggett and his piggy bud do their sheepdog act, we have a moment of angsty silence before the crowd goes ballistic, cheers everywhere, women crying, top marks. And then very softly, oh-so-tenderly, Hoggett’s great catchphrase. It’ll do. It’ll always do.

“Indiana… let it go.” (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989): a film built on witty repartee and full-throated spectacle, Crusade lingers in the memory due to the subtle character work between father and son. They mend their fractured relationship over the course of the movie, but it’s really symbolised when Henry saves “Junior” at the expense of rescuing the Grail, calling Indiana by his chosen name for the first time in the film. It’s a great character beat, and is followed shortly afterwards by the protagonists literally riding off into the sunset.

“I am no man!” (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003): as I alluded to above, the Rings trilogy is full of incredible moments of awe, pathos, tragic heroism, and bittersweet joy. But arguably the biggest cheer is reserved for when Eowyn of Rohan dispatches the Witch-King of Angmar courtesy of a Shakespearean loophole in his whole “no man can kill me!” schtick. Coming between the awe-inspiring Ride of the Rohirrim and the death of Theoden, it’s a terrific punch of joy and satisfaction.

“E.T. phone HOOOOOME!” (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): E.T. is another of those films full of joy, but it’s also tinged with sadness. Melancholia bleeds into the film like sunlight through Elliot’s blinds. E.T. himself spends half the film getting sicker and sicker, until he appears to die, all pale and cold-looking. But then! The flower comes back to life! His heart glows bright red, visible through his weird hyperbaric chamber/coffin thing! Elliot flings back the lid, and E.T. barks his catchphrase euphorically. God, it’s great.

“Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.” (The Shawshank Redemption, 1994): it’s a bit of a grim watch, Shawshank; this isn’t a Paddington-style joy-fest. Andy is wrongfully impression and then spends twenty years being brow-beaten and abused before making his escape. But what an escape; not just the audacity of it – not just the fact he gets out at all – but how he ingeniously tunnels his way out over the decades, steals the warden’s ill-gotten money, exposes the scandal at the prison, and – as Red says – crawls through a sewer. It’s a beautifully put-together scene, everyone getting their just desserts and deserved rewards, and is capped off shortly after when Red himself is released and gets to retire alongside his friend.

“You’re all clear, kid, now let’s blow this thing and go home!” (Star Wars, 1977): I almost had the mothership explosion from Independence Day on this list, because I remember how much that impacted me as a teenager; seeing the baddie aliens get theirs was just great. But really it’s a replication of this, the grandaddy of all “beating the bad guys” big bangs. Luke, whiney teenager from nowhere, ends up flying an X-Wing against the evil oppressive Empire’s mighty Death Star. When all hope seems lost, Han Solo returns, proving his heroism, knocking Darth Vader for six and leaving our hero free and clear to use the Force, Luke. Cue phenomenal fireball. Joy!

“I’m singin’ in the rain…” (Singin’ in the Rain, 1952): musicals are joyous, aren’t they? A proper old-fashioned feelgood sing-song can be transcendent. “Singin’ in the Rain” – as in, the song/dance number – is about a bloke so bloody happy that he doesn’t care if he gets wet. It’s a euphoric statement of intent, a declaration of both love and supreme serenity in and of itself. And as a piece of cinema, it’s all that and more; an escalating dance routine, as the music soars and the camera lifts up, and we take in the splendour of this one bloke kicking in puddles. It’s daft, it’s funny, and it’s just, well, feelgood.

#top ten #movies #feelgood #feelgood movie moments #joe biden #kamala harris #inauguration

[thechameleonauthor]

Let me know what you think!!!!

Always having a secret that has to be kept from the world is….difficult. Especially when that secret can change everything around you from how your treated, looked at, or even be watched constantly. Not having a soul to tell a secret this big to, well besides my brother, is more hard then is possible. But coming to Highwater, was different then other places in my 17 years of being alive.

Chapter One

Moving here, to Highwater, was different than the other 9 temporary homes. I have no idea why it’s different but it is. The town was small, but it was also wealthy. Which meant going to a school where there are tons of snobby girls was going to be a roller coaster ride.

Pulling up to the new house, felt good. New start and no new friends. Actually 10th new start.

“Okay, Celeste and Jordan, grab your things, find a room. And I’ll run and get pizza.” My dad made it sound like pizza was a great idea, but it’s just processed food and one half of me can’t handle it. Jordan and I are, yes siblings, also were are both adopted. And from the same birth mother. Therefore, we share the same secret; during 1 night every month we change. Into what exactly? Well we are animagnuses, which are a werewolf but not are vicious.

“What kind of pizza? Any preferences?”

“Meat lover delight.” Jordan pointed out. He looked at me and shrugged.

“Alright. Anything for you, pumpkin?” Now in the driveway my dad turned around in his seat.

No thanks dad. I’m gonna bring my stuff to a room, and go for a run.” I looked at Jordan and smiled. “If that’s okay?”

“Of course, just call if you need a ride. Maybe your brother can pick you up.” My dad got out and walked into the new house. I faced my brother.

“Jordan, I’m going for a run. But I’ll be a bit cause I need to run.” My brother was only 19, and all the ladies loved him.

“FIne, but be careful. This place seems... different. And don’t forget tomorrow is the full moon so don’t use all your energy.” Getting out of our rinky dink Toyota, I nodded at him. For being 17, my brother still treats me as a child. Which isn’t bad but sometimes it just isn’t needed.

The trunk had suitcases and a few boxes, which I only grabbed my suitcase. I looked towards the house while I grabbed my things. White and brown exterior in a wealthy neighborhood, perfect. I walked near the house door and looked down at my shoes. Old converse, also perfect. Already at the front door, it opened. Showing a rustic interior, but it was also a new, rustic finish. I climbed the stairs that were easily spotted. I then found a bedroom that was big, with a closet and more than a room should have. I set my suitcase down on the hardwood floor. There was already a bed and a couch that was covered with plastic.

“Now that I found a room, time for a run.” I sighed as I opened my suitcase and picked everything out, as I searched for leggings and a windbreaker. My clothes all over the floor brighten up the room a bit. Then at the very bottom was my leggings and windbreaker. So I got changed and hit my phone and car keys under my makeup bag, in my suitcase.

Getting out the door was the easy part, but figuring out where to run, without people seeing me, was the challenging part. For this, I used my nose. Not my human nose but my wolf nose.

West smelled of oil and gas, South smelled just completely nasty, which left East and North. North was where the school laid, so why not adventure out that way. Heading to the woods outback of the patio of the house, I felt...comfortable. My brother always told me to go about 600 feet in and then just run. But that way being that far in I can just start running without people seeing me.

Using my wolf speed I managed to run, somewhere named, Highwater High School.

“This must be the prison, 8 hours of stress.” She eyeballed a log high enough to sit on. Sitting there for god knows how long, she caught a scent in the wind; Pine and Mint. Celeste stood and looked, then her eyes landed on a black figure. Male. He kept walking closer, then he looked up.

“Heyyy, who are you, exactly?” He almost tripped trying to talk and walk.

“Who’s asking?” Celeste crossed her arms and leaned against a tree.

“Oh, sorry. My name is Michael. I own these woods, well my dad does, and plus your trespassing.” He smiled and then walked into the direct sunlight. His hair was almost a gold tint, with his ocean blue eyes, muscular and broad body structure made him look like an actor she couldn’t quite say who he was.

“Well Michael, I’m Celeste. And I didn’t realize there were trespass signs. I’d better be going anyways.” She started to walk away.

“I’m just joking, there aren’t any signs. But just be careful around here.” They both stood there for 1 min in silence. “Well Celeste, I’ guessing you’ll be at school Wednesday.” He leaned against a tree. “Cause you only look, I’d say 16.” He smiled which showed his dimples.

“Yes and no. I will be at school, and no I’m actually 17.” Celeste also smiled, but not to a stranger, to a new friend.

“Okay well I guess I’ll see you Wednesday.” Michael stood straight and started to walk off. Looking back at where Celeste was, she was gone.

Celeste arrived home at 5:30pm, just in time for dinner. She walked in the back door which was in the kitchen. Celeste you smell of pine and lemon or something Jordan was placed at the island eating his Meat Lover’s delight.

“Geez you scared the crap out of me Jordan. But it’s actually mint not lemon, also I met someone at the end of my run.” He stopped chewing. “He owns the land by the school, well his father does at least.” Taking off her sneakers, Jordan managed to get her a plate of pizza without getting out of the bar stool.

“Well you reek of wolf, and it’s not yours. Be careful. And why were you even that close to the school? You could of been seen.” He stood from his stool and walked around the kitchen.

“For your information, I am always careful, and I was fine, no one saw me. But thanks for your brotherly care.” Taking her plate off the counter, she shoved a bite in her mouth.

“I'm just watching out for you. But I trust you to be careful.” Jordan made a smile at her walking in the kitchen.

“I know, but when school starts and you are at college, you won't  be able to cater to me.” Celeste placed her pizza on the marble counter, and gave him a hug.

“I’ll be fine. If I need advice, I’ll call you or Elliott. Elliot was there old animagus leader. And he was always like Celeste’s older brother.

“Okay, but I’m going out. Don’t stay up too late. Tomorrow is the full moon, so you’ll need everything you got.” Celeste watched as her brother walked out the door, and pulled out of the driveway. New life. I guess perfect.

It was Tuesday, the day of the full moon, and the day before Celeste started her new school. She ended up doing nothing all day but unpack her things and lay on the old bed. Saving all her energy was the worst part of each full moon. But since it kept getting later and later, the wolf was starting to stir. Then there was a knock on her door.

“Hey Celeste, I got a text from Elliot saying if I start driving, I can make it there before I shift. You wanna come?” Jordan missed his girlfriend. That's most of the reason he’s going back.

“Not really. I kinda wanna see things around here from a different perspective. So I’m good this time.” She was sitting on her bed with a book. But she wasn’t actually reading.

“If you say so. And hopefully you remember the rules.” He was still standing in the doorway with the door wide open.

“I do. Don’t worry I’ll be fine.” Celeste forced a smile. “Love you, don’t let me catch any reportings or sightings on the news. She meant it as an inside joke.

“Back at you.” Jordan yelled down the hall.

It was now 8:30pm, and her wolf was pulsing inside her body. Celeste had changed into sweatpants and a fury Columbia jacket because it was cold outside for being September.

Walking down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the door was difficult without waking up her father. 9:00pm. Celeste felt the moon pulling her insides out. In a few moments she would let go of her human side, and become a wolf, but the size of a miniature pony.

Without, her brother by her side it was more difficult, to be a lone wolf, also known as an omega.   Now it was time for her to let go of her human side. And become one with the wolf. Her hair on her head grew shorter, her claws pushed her nails out of the way. And then canines replaced her human teeth.

Within 5 minutes she was no longer human, she was a large dog. Running free in the woods, jumping, diving, and leaping through clusters of trees, was everything that she needed. The world soared by in glimpses. Coming to a clearing her human side realized where she came to; the school. Something brought her back here like it did the night before. Being a wolf, but the size of a large miniature pony, she managed to blend in with the forest around her. Then something smelled in the wind. Pine and mint. Something ran through the trees in a blur. It was to fast to be human. Celeste was kneeling in the brush of trees, but now, still in wolf form, took off like a shot. The blur tool off after her, tailing her. Jumping over a dead tree, then landing in water, there happened to be a wolf in front of her. A pure black one. Celeste took off again, dodging around the wolf. Still running, she looked behind her and saw two wolfs. They were gaining on her and fast. Digging her paws deeper into the earth, she thrusted forward. Turning her head back straight, she almost ran into a tree.

Before switching directions, a large force hit her. And made her go flying. Landing on her side and her head against a boulder, the two wolves creeped up, baring their canines. Pine and mint. That smell. Now there were two wolves, both pure black. Almost like twins. Another appeared but was a mixture of brown and black. Pine and mint. It got stronger, then a golden furred wolf appeared. Not knowing what to do, two wolves backed down. They backed up but growling and without teeth. The gold wolf appeared and came closer. Celeste was warning him to back off, by baring here teeth. The gold wolf walked closer to her, and sniffed her muzzle causing her to sneeze. Then he whined and backed up. The scent of pine and mint was still lingering in the air.

It was the morning after the full moon, the sun just broke the horizon. Celeste awoke of a snap of a twig, which jolted her up. Turns out, it was a rabbit. On full moons, Celeste always woke up outside and in the same clothes from the night before.

She stood and brushes off all the dry leaves and mud. Schooled started this morning, which meant she had to go home and get ready. Plus she was really tired. Now she had to deal with other people, especially after a full moon.

Celeste found her way home by her wolf tracks. Her brother also wasn’t home yet, but that wasn't any surprise. But the back door was still unlocked from the night before.

She turned the knob on the screen door, and she jumped.

“Morning pumpkin, you were up early.” Her dad was already setting up the coffee maker. Celeste was still standing in the doorway.

“Dad, you scared me. And I went for a run, before school.” She smiled and slipped off her sneakers, and started towards the stair.

“Oh do you want some waffles pumpkin?” Her dad managed to get the coffee maker plugged in, but didn’t know how to work it or even a waffle maker.

“Nah, it’s okay dad I have to get ready for school and I think I'm going to walk. But thanks anyway for the thought.” Nothing came as a response from here father, just him pressing multiple buttons on the coffee maker.

#story #new #author #writer #enjoy

[cordonianchoicesqueen]

Rewritten: The Royal Romance: You’re the Prince of What Now? (Part Three)

A/N: I never read the diamonds chapter for this but this is how I’d want it to go. I like to think that most people wouldn’t believe Liam outright when he says he’s a prince and actually question him on it.

Summary: Riley comes to terms with the fact the handsome stranger she has been spending time with is a prince. She decides to take him on an adventure to see the Statue of Liberty.

Choices Chapter: Book One, Chapter One, Second Half

Disclaimer: Characters and main storyline from Pixelberry’s Choices.

Word Count: 2653

Warnings: none

You’re the Prince of What Now?

He took my hand gently, “I’m sorry. I’ll tell you the truth.” “What is that then?” “The truth is, Riley… I’m the Crown Prince of Cordonia.”

I scoffed. This man is insane or at least insane to believe I would believe… I looked him dead in the eyes. I saw nervousness but not deception. “You’re a great con-artist. I almost believe you,” I shook my head, pulling my hand away. “You can google it! I promise! I know it sounds crazy. It’s a tiny country. It’s not like I’m claiming to be next in line to the thrown of Great Britain. Although, I do know their family very well…” he rambled as I pulled out my phone. “How do you spell Cordonia?” As he spelt it out to me, I searched: prince of cordonia. Immediately, images of Liam at all sorts of grand events popped up. Articles about his elder brother passing the thrown to Liam earlier in the year. Pictures of Liam wearing a crown, sat beside a man who could only be his father and king of this country I had never heard of. I slowly lowered myself back into my seat. I was in shock. The day had just been progressively becoming more like a fantasy. Liam looked as though he was about to speak but I stopped him. I wasn’t ready to speak and I read page after page. I even spotted Tariq and Maxwell in a few pictures. Finally, I landed on a tabloid page which was titled What Will Our Prince Get Up to in the U.S.A? “You’re a prince?” was the only thing I could muster. This felt like a conversation you could only have in a movie in a beautiful garden with a prince dressed like a beggar taking off his disguise and declaring his love at first sight for the girl in front of him. The reality was that we could barely hear each other over the blaring pop music and cheers of the crowds on the dancefloor of Kismet. Did this change what I thought of him?   “Perhaps I should’ve been more upfront with you… But I’m not normally allowed to go around without the Royal Guard, and I was only allowed out on the condition that I kept my identity a secret. I got to be free. I’m very aware that I have a duty to the monarchy. I’ve never known anything else. But what about you? You could be anything, do anything. What drives you, Riley?” Struggling to figure out how the conversation had come back around to me I said, “what I really want is to see the world. I’m saving and one day I’m going to go see everything.” “That’s beautiful,” Liam said, his voice light and wistful. I glanced up, taking him in again with all the information I had just learned. It weirdly didn’t change anything about how I’d viewed him. He’d seemed caring, selfless and kind, which he obviously was from his philanthropist acts as prince. He seemed both down to earth and from some other world entirely. Mostly, I was just sad to know I’d probably never get to see him again. I guess in our short conversations, I had already started to have feelings for him and had hoped we could maybe have met up again but now… this night was all I was going to have with him. So I was going to make it count. I broke his gaze and spotted the guys on the dance-floor, mingling with other club goers. Maxwell was waving his limbs all over the place, making many people on the dance-floor laugh. I could, almost, hear him egging on Drake to show off his moves. Drake stood almost still, swaying to the beat, a large glass of whiskey in his hand rolling his eyes at Maxwell but smiling. Tariq had joined them on the dance-floor, holding his glass of champagne high so that it wouldn’t spill. It was time to stop being the over-thinker I always tended to be and live in this moment. In some crazy turn of events I was out clubbing with a prince from a foreign country who was interested in me and trusted me enough to share his big secret. “Let’s dance,” I took Liam’s hand confidently. I led him down onto the dance-floor. He seemed amused by me taking the lead and his smile melted my heart. We helped ourselves to more drinks and joined his friends. They all seemed so different but fit together like puzzle pieces from different boxes creating something new, cohesive and exciting. I barely knew them but I felt included and happier than I had felt in months. I wrapped my arms around Liam’s neck, swaying and laughing with him as pop song after pop song played. His hands felt warm on my hips and I wanted to pull him closer but dared not push any unspoken boundary. “Looks like your friends are having fun,” I gestured. “Good. I’m happy for them. They deserve to have fun… tomorrow, it’s back to Cordonia for the start of the social season,” he whispered in my ear with mixed emotion. I stood on my tip-toes to reach his ear and whispered back, “It’s not tomorrow yet…” “What are you suggesting?” he said, his face so close to mine I could feel the dimple of his smile form in his cheek. “You said you wanted to see the statue of liberty. Let’s do it!” I said. “It’s so late! Won’t all the tours be closed?” he questioned. “I have my ways,” I said sneakily.

Getting Liam to ride the subway with me was a challenge. He stuck out like a sore thumb as he looked around in awe at the public transport system he had heard so much about but never seen for himself. We had swung around poles on the almost empty carriage and annoyed everyone with our giggling. Finally, we made it Whitehall street where the Staten Island Ferry docks. “So I can’t get you all the way to the statue of liberty,” I admitted, “but I can take you on a boat with the best view in town, I promise.” As if by magic, the Ferry came into view and began to dock. I explained to him that the Staten Island Ferry runs 24/7, is frequent and doesn’t cost a penny. “I used to love riding the ferry after a night out and eat some take-out food with a view. It feels classy but on a budget,” I laughed. He shook his head at me in disbelief, “what a lucky man I am to have stumbled upon you this evening.” I looked away before he could see me blush and led him onto the boat. We situated ourselves in some of the ugly plastic seats with a view out of the windows. As the boat left the docks, I felt the wind get chillier and shivered. “Are you cold?” Liam asked, concern in his voice. “I’m okay, really,” I lied, missing my sweat pants that were still sitting in my locker at Elliot’s. We sat in comfortable silence until suddenly out of the darkness, the unmistakable sight of the Statue of Liberty came into view. Liam stood, his mouth open in awe, staring at the sight. I had seen the statue enough times to no longer be hit by the history of the monument but looking at it through his eyes made me feel like it was the first time. I thought of the history of immigrants arriving in New York and seeing Lady Liberty, ready to welcome them through. Times had changed since then, some positive and some negative. History has a way of repeating itself and remembering how prejudice has affected the world can help figure out the problems of today. “Did you know,” Liam said, still transfixed on the statue, “that there are seven spikes on her crown? They represent the seven oceans and the seven continents of the world. Reminding us of the universal concept of unity and liberty.” “I did not know that,” I stood next to him. He placed his arm around me and it felt like the perfect fit. “Thank you for this, Riley, really,” he said quietly. He felt how cold I was and took off his jacket, draping it around me. “This really is turning into a corny fairy-tale you know,” I said laughing at his kind gesture. “How so?” he smirked. “Come on. Prince and his pauper on a night time boat ride in New York city, the attractive male lead puts his jacket round the girl’s shoulder so that she feels protected and cared for.” “And what happens next in his story?” he asked. I tucked a hair that was blowing in the wind behind my ear. I felt all the confidence in my body surge as I stood on my toes and kissed him. His lips were soft and tasted like a mix of honey and champagne. He took my face in his hands and pulled me closer, kissing me deeply. I could feel his nose pressed up alongside mine as he lightly nibbled my lower lip. I felt anxiety leave my body, all thoughts and worries were gone and replaced with the thought of the man who stood before me. When the kiss ended, we both blushed beetroot red and giggled. “I feel like I’m five years old,” Liam laughed. “You’ve completely captured me, Riley.” He shook his head in disbelief. I wanted to tell him that that was ridiculous, that I couldn’t possibly have done anything to make me care for him that much in the short few hours we had known each other. But I couldn’t because I felt the same. It wasn’t love at first sight but it was definitely chemistry, attraction, care and a lot of other bubbling, butterfly feelings. Enough that I knew saying goodbye would hurt.

A short while later, we stood outside the door to my apartment building. Liam, ever the gentleman, had insisted he make sure I get home safe. The stars above us twinkled. A beautiful night, for a beautiful story I would tell for years to come, I was sure. The story of my night with a prince in New York City. “Well I guess this is me,” I said, letting go of his hand. “Thank you for your company, Riley. Tonight has been… for lack of a better word incredible from the moment I met you,” Liam stepped closer to me so that I could feel so body heat radiating. He kissed me, pulling me in deeply. It was a kiss tinged with sadness, of a story that was never going to be told, of what could have been. My arms still around his neck we kept our foreheads touching, enjoying this final moment. “I am a better person for having met you,” he said softly. “I’ll never forget this night.” He kissed me on my forehead. “Neither will I. Goodnight, Prince Liam. Good luck picking a bride. She is a really lucky woman,” I said. We stepped apart. I walked up the few steps to the building and unlocked my door. As I stepped inside I looked back. Liam hadn’t moved an inch. I waved sadly. He bowed and walked away...

The next morning, I woke up with only a slight hangover headache. I grabbed some water and looked at my dishevelled morning after face in the mirror. The night before had been a dream… a memory I would have to hold close to me otherwise I’d never believe it had actually happened. It was time to get back to the real world and that meant preparing for another shift at Elliot’s. Dragging myself to the bar took a lot of coaxing but I still managed to get out my apartment with enough time to get some fresh air walking over. Just as I reached the door of the bar, I heard a familiar voice shouting behind me. “Riley! Riley!” I turned and saw Maxwell from the night before panting as he ran up to me. “Glad I caught you.” He stopped, putting his hands on his legs as he caught his breath. Maxwell then stood up straight, shook off the run and smiled widely at me. “We’re heading back to Cordonia so Liam can find someone to marry and all that jazz. But before I go, I wanted to officially extend to you an invitation to join us for the festivities in Cordonia.” “What?” was all I managed. I hadn’t expected to see any of the men again from last night, never mind Maxwell surprising me the next morning before work with an invitation to go travelling with him. “You wouldn’t usually be allowed to join… but I want our family to sponsor you!” Maxwell goofily smiled and gave me finger guns. “Sponsor me?” I was still so confused. “I’m from a noble house, but I don’t have any sisters, so we don’t have anyone in contention to marry the Prince. Instead, we can sponsor any girl we choose,” he said. “And I want you to be our pick.” “Why me?” I asked aghast. “I’m not just doing it for you. I saw how Liam looked at you last night. I’ve never seen him so happy. Honestly, I don’t want him to lose that,” he said. He waited a moment for a response but seeing my speechlessness said, “We’re kinda crunched for time, though. I’ve got a plane leaving within the hour…” “You’re moving a little fast, don’t you think? You want me to drop my whole life and move to another country with strangers to marry a prince?” I asked abruptly. “No time to waste! The opening Masquerade ball is tonight! It’s the start of the… uh, I guess you could say, it’s the start of the competition,” he said un-phased. “What do you mean competition?” “There’s a whole horde of gorgeous, rich, noble women vying to become Cordonia’s next queen. And it’s not just about winning the Prince’s hand. You’ve also got to prove to the council that you can rule Cordonia with him. But I think you’ve got what it takes. You’re witty, charming, beautiful, intelligent and Liam’s already suuuuper into you so you’ve got all that going for you!” he explained excitedly. “So… a fancy masquerade… so if I said yes… what else would I be getting myself into?” I said wondering how my mind was already talking myself into this. “Fun stuff! I promise! You’ll get to go yachting in the Mediterranean, ski-ing in the Alps and dancing in the Royal Palace… and it will all be funded by the Beaumont family as our sponsor,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows. Travelling and experiencing the world had always been my dream. This offer sounded too good to be true. “I just…” I felt reality stopping me from jumping up and down yes.   “Or you know, you can stay here… and go back to your waitressing gig with your shitty boss. That’s probably just as fun.” For a moment I thought about the life I had in New York. My friends had all moved away. My family ties were not tight. I hated my job and most days living in my tiny apartment. I felt crushed by the expectations of the life I felt like I had to lead. I then thought about the night before. Was I really going to give up everything I had for a man? But I wasn’t really giving up anything. I could do this for me, for adventure, for a positive change. I slowly started to smile. “I’m in!” I said, not quite believing what I was saying. “Yeah! GO PACK! This is going to be the adventure of a lifetime!” Maxwell yelled in glee wrapping me up in a big hug.

#choice #choices app #choices trr #trr #the royal romance #playchoices #fanfic #choices fandom #prince liam #trrgang #maxwell beaumont #pb #cordonianchoicesqueen #cordonia #rewritten

[climbingrocksandstuff-blog]

Seattle, Washington

 May 24th to May 28th, 2018

A documentation of my mom and I’s adventures in the Emerald City.

That is me by the actual Space Needle. I grew a bit, or maybe the needle shrunk a little. We may never know 

The wonderful human being I get to call my mother takes her daughters on a long weekend trip to celebrate their college graduation. I choose the destination Seattle, Washington. Why there, you are thinking? Well, in all honesty, it probably stemmed from my minor obsession with Grey’s Anatomy. But the main reason I wanted to go to Seattle was that I have yet to experience the Northwest region of the States. The dream one day is the road trip the west coast, but I will save that for another adventure. 

The trip started out pretty rough. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:40am Thursday morning. So that meant we had to leave our house at 4:00 am to drive and park our car at the airport. Wednesday night I was waitressing at Somerby, my summer job, and one of my coworkers was sick so I had to close that night and ended up leaving work at 2:30 am. By the time I got home, showered and finished packing it was 3:15am. I had time to take a 45-minute nap before we had to be in the car to catch our flight.

THURSDAY

I’ll fast forward through me getting crappy sleep on the plane in a no leg room plane to arriving in Seattle. Let me pause here for a second to explain what I pictured Seattle was going to be like. I pictured a Duluth like city, where all the building and houses are on one big hill, the water is stretched at the edge of the hill, the trees are green, the sky is grey, and hipsters are ruling the streets. 

I was partially correct except I missed some majors parts that make the city what it is today. The graffiti, the homeless population, the horrible transportation system, and the lack of Minnesota nice. 

For those who aren’t aware of how Seattle is set up, let me explain it. The airport is south of Seattle. Seattle is made up of different districts and sits on the edge of the Elliot Bay. Surrounding the bay is many large islands that can be accessed easiest by ferries.

Okay, lets hit play now. We get our bags, follow the signs to the Link Light Rail system, and jump on the Link to head to the city (about a 35-minute ride). As we rode the link I felt as if I was Katiness (from the Hunger Games) riding the train through the districts on her victory tour. Every time the Link stopped, the area was different. First, it was all towering evergreens and beautiful houses, then it turned into an Asian American cultured area, then graffiti was covering all the buildings and houses were boarded up with chains on the windows. I wasn’t expecting such a prominent change going district to district. 

We got off the Link at Pioneer Square, the closest district to the ferry terminal. We stepped foot onto the street to the smell of garbage, a lady screaming I MADE IT... WE’VE DONE IT, people mumbling to her to shut up, and a group of homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk. I looked at Mom and thought I choose this city, oh god why did I do this to us. 

We headed to the ferry terminal with our overpacked luggage trailing us. We stayed in an Airbnb on Bainbridge Island, so each day we were able to travel on the ferry and enjoy the beautiful views of the city. 

Our Airbnb, The Cottage  

We settled into our little cottage and ferried back to the city to begin our long list of touristy things to see. We explored Pioneer Square’s hidden waterfall, took the Underground Tour and walked under the streets of Seattle, and got lost in Pike Place Market. It was a very long, full packed day. 

FRIDAY 

We took an uber to the ferry terminal in the morning. We ferried to Seattle in the morning with the plan to explore a couple more districts in the north. We took the link to Capitol Hill and then walked for about an hour. We wandered through gorgeous neighbors and down 45-degree hills. We reached the Japanese Gardens. It was a beautiful garden with a koi-filled pond in the middle. It was another tranquil area hidden within Seattle. 

The Japanese Gardens 

We then Ubered back to the Capitol Hill station, because we were not about to walk up those hills! We ate at a local chain hot spot, Dick’s Drive-In then jumped back on the link and headed to the Seattle downtown center. We had to also jump on a monorail to actually reach the downtown area. 

The downtown center is the home of the space needle, Chihuly Glass and Garden, MOPOP, weekly festivals, the Armory, and the Pacific Science Center. A folk festival was happening while we visited so we walked through all the pop tents and ended up sitting down with a physic. I am not completely sure if I trust physics but I gave it a try! My mom has always believed in this practices, so I am sure there is some truth to it. It was kind of an emotional process because you are so vulnerable. I enjoyed it although and would do it again. 

We also went to the Chihuly Glass and Garden Museum. It is a beautiful museum that holds Dale Chihuly glass blown sculptures.  He is the same person that made those chandeliers in the Mayo Clinic Gonda Building in Rochester. It was a very cool experience to walk through. 

Chihuly Glass and Garden exhibits

We then used a shared bike system and biked towards the water to the look around the Olympic Sculpture Garden, an outside museum. We then biked the boardwalk, shopped around, and then ferried back to Bainbridge. 

We ended up taking 6 different modes of transportation on Friday. 

SATURDAY

Saturday was the most relaxing day of the four. We shuttled to the ferry terminal and then boarded the ferry. We were headed back to the airport to rent a car for our last two days. On the ferry, people would leave puzzles in booths so mom and I would race to finish the puzzle before the ferry reached Seattle. 

Seattle, WA skyline from the ferry

Once we got the car we headed to Alki Beach, a California like beach south of Seattle. People were playing volleyball, relaxing on the sand, even some kids were braving the ice cold water. We ate and shopped around for a bit then headed to Fremont, north of Seattle. We toured Theo’s Chocolate factory, shopped at this rad store called Evo. and visited the famous troll. 

The Fremont Troll 

SUNDAY

For our last day, we explored Bainbridge Island and then went to Seattle to tour some places we have yet to see. We grabbed breakfast at this little quaint cafe and ate on our cottage deck with the view of Mount Rainier. The mountain was so prominent all day long. 

The view of Mount Rainier on our way to the airport 

Bainbridge Island is a gorgeous place. Most of the island is a forest with small neighborhoods and big houses tucked within it. We drove on the edge of the island, stopping at different beach access points. We walked on a beach and the view of the mountains was breathtaking. It took us a minute to realize that we were walking on a beach full of clam shells. With each step we took, we were shattering the shells. 

We spent a few hours shopping the local businesses on Bainbridge Island before we ferried to Seattle for the last time. We went to the MOPOP, Museum of Pop Culture, and wandered the building for hours. It was full of a variety of exhibits all having to do with either music or film. There was this horror-themed room where there were interactive displays all around. Props used in famous horror films and tv shows filled the room. They even had severed heads they used in The Walking Dead and Michael Meyers costume that was worn in the Halloween films. 

The outside of MOPOP

I had a great time exploring a new city and spending some one on one time with my mom. This trip will be a memory I will always cherish. Thank you Mom!

#seattle #washington #travel

[puzzlepaws]

Attention PuzzlePaws Fans! We interrupt the usual blogging of reviews to bring you a special post!

Begging posture, ~2014

Our lovely mascot, Pandemonium has turned 15! She’s been with me through all sorts of adventures and I thought it a good idea to write up her story.

I have Mom’s Papasan and her platypus! 2015

I started rescue work when I was 14. We lived out in the country, and it was not uncommon for people to drop unwanted pets in the area. The summer I was 16, a scrawny, bedraggled looking tortoiseshell half-grown cat staggered down my driveway. She was dehydrated, dazed and had burnt the skin of her paw-pads on the hot asphalt, trying to find her way home. I ended up naming her Gilligan McGilicuddy after my mom’s old tortie and the fact that Gilly staggered for weeks with her feet wrapped as her burns healed. Gilly was Pandemonium’s grandmother.

Pan was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 2005. She was one in a litter of four, who were called Nick, Nack, Paddy, and Whack. (I apologize for my younger, dumber, racist self.) She is almost entirely black with a white spot on her neck, what is sometimes referred to as an Angel’s Kiss.

This is my pillow! 2013

My boyfriend at the time, immediately took a shine to Paddy. She was a complete Daddy’s girl. He renamed Paddy to Pandemonium, and spoiled her outrageously. When the relationship ended abruptly after 3 years, I’m not sure who was hurt more, me or Pan, who he left with me. Don’t tell me cats don’t mourn. Pan kept me sane, and I kept her alive.

I don’t like you, human!

For years, Pan was clingy to me, and distrustful of any men. I fostered and adopted other cats, and moved several times. Eventually, I moved to Virginia. When Spouse-Critter and I got married, Pan had a really hard time adjusting. We had a tiny apartment, and SC had a fur-son named Zane that had to adjust to living in a multi-cat household. There were cat territorial disputes, and worse, hisses and swats when SC and I cuddled. Pan did NOT want a new Dad!

Keep petting, I may like you later. 2018

It took time and moving to a larger house, but after 7 years, Pan will let SC cuddle her and will occasionally choose to sleep on him. But she is most definitely my girl. Or I’m HER human, to be honest.

Like most pet-owners, I’ve developed multiple nicknames for my pets. I’ve always held with T.S. Elliot’s Naming of Cats, and most of Pandemonium’s nicknames are variations of a theme. She is: Pan, Panu, All-the-Demons, Pan-demon, Panna-cotta, Pan-Noodle, Pan-pan, Panda, Newds, and Noodley-o.

Pan sleeping on my shoulder. 2018

When my disease started to get bad, Pan became my therapy cat. She’s mostly self-taught, but being a warm, cuddly, mobile purring companion doesn’t take much. Pan can tell when I’m having a flare or am overstimulated and makes a point of oozing up my body to cuddle on my lap or chest. I’m certain that there is a very special magic that cats have that allows them to go from weighing 7lbs to 30lbs or more.

Bad Flare day, 2015

As she’s aged, Pan has gained a few health issues. She nearly lost one of her nine lives by eating thread from a sewing project I had been working on. It got caught on her tongue and tangled in her stomach. I had a wonderful vet who worked with me to save her, but Pan has had a touchy tummy since. We have to keep her from all yarn and thread, and watch her carefully for eating and drinking too much, too fast.

Winter sweater, one of many.

You’ll often see Pan wearing outfits. She has developed an allergy to fleas (we medicate for fleas, but her brother goes on walks and sometimes brings some home), as well as over-grooming when stressed or anxious. I prefer to clothe her rather than subject her to the Cone. Besides, she looks damned cute!

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Pan is the last of her bloodline, my sister who had her half-brother lost him last fall. I’m incredibly lucky to have shared the last 15 years with Pan, and I know that every day is a gift.

Happy 15th Birthday, Pan!

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!

St. Patrick's Day is Pan's Birthday!! #blackcat #15yo #Seniorcat #therapycat #blogmascot #Catsoftwitter #catsofinstagram #CatBirthday #CatsinCostume #BlackCatAngelsKiss #JellicleCat #TSElliot #cats #NamingofCats #Pandemonium Attention PuzzlePaws Fans! We interrupt the usual blogging of reviews to bring you a special post!

#Birthday cat #black cat #Blog mascot #Cat photos #Pandemonium

[newnewyorkrpg]

NAME: Hepburn Rose Hummel-Anderson.

GENDER & SEXUAL IDENTITY: Cis female; pansexual.

BIRTHDAY: July 25th.

OCCUPATION: Singer-songwriter.

FACECLAIM: Caitlin Stasey.

( adventurous, intelligent, outgoing & immature, antagonistic, materialistic )

BIOGRAPHY

The oldest of the Hummel-Anderson children, Hepburn was famous before she took her first breaths. Her fathers were both very successful and famous on their own, but together they were one of the most well-known gay couples in the world. When the Hummel-Andersons announced they were expecting their first child, and that famous Broadway actress Rachel Berry was their surrogate, social media exploded, with #hummelanderbaby trending on twitter.

Kurt and Blaine showered Hepburn in love, attention and material goods. She knew exactly how to manipulate her dads into giving her anything, and never wanted for anything. While they were both amazing dads, they’ve always struggled with their own dynamic. When their marriage is going well, they have a great chemistry that Hepburn has only dreamed of experiencing. For as long as Hepburn can remember, her dads’ relationship has felt like a roller coaster.

One of Hepburn’s favorite things to do as a child was attending red carpet events with Kurt. It was great quality time together, but more importantly Hepburn loved getting to feel like a princess. She enjoyed the controlled chaos of the interviews, paparazzi, and rubbing elbows with A-list celebrities she was too young to recognize. Often times, the media would even cover her, talking about how cute she was or something funny she shared about her dads. As she grew up, she gradually started planning more and more of her own outfits and, just like her father, she is well known for always slaying the red carpet.

In her every day life, Hepburn feels very differently about the attention that come with her celebrity status. There has always been a spotlight on her, as well as an expectation for her to be a Broadway actress like her dads. But many of the fights she remembers her dads having were about show business. Their lives being under a magnifying glass nearly destroyed their family time and time again, and with each fight her dads had, Hepburn found herself resenting their family’s celebrity status a little bit more.

As a teenager, Hepburn easily balanced schoolwork and popularity. Admittedly, she had been hoping to go through high school unnoticed, but with a name like Hepburn Hummel-Anderson, there was no way in hell people weren’t going to realize who she was. Instead, she used it to her advantage to become the queen bee of her high school. She had always been compared to her biological mother, Quinn, but this was especially true in her teen year and Hepburn always took it as a compliment.

The Hummel-Anderson house was, naturally, a very musical environment. Hepburn can remember the exact moment she fell in love with music. After a fight with Kurt about conflicting schedules, Blaine brought her to the recording studio. From the control room, she watched him record take after take, observed the sound guy pressing all kinds of buttons on a big console that reminded her of a spaceship, and she knew this was where she wanted to be. Convincing her dads to put her in music lessons took absolutely no effort, and Hepburn quickly started to find comfort in music.

Once she was old enough to come and go as she pleased, she started to leave the house during fights. None of her friends from school knew about the problems at home, so her safe space became Elliott Gilbert’s apartment. For a dude who unironically called himself Starchild, Elliot was a pretty chill dude. He didn’t ask questions, simply letting her stop by any time she needed somewhere quiet to do homework or just hang out. He taught her how to play guitar, and encouraged her to start writing her own music.

Although Hepburn didn’t really need a degree, she found herself studying music at NYU after high school. That was what was expected after graduating, after all. It’s what all of her parents had done. All her classes taught her was how easy it was to suck any joy out of something as great as music. Who the fuck cared what an inverted interval was? Or how to associate roman numerals with chords?

Outside of her class schedule, Hepburn was having a much better time. She had partied in high school - who hadn’t? - but college parties were a completely different world. Most nights, she could be found at a party, or a club, or at a concert, and usually she was too tired and hungover to go to class the next day. She soon dropped out of college, living off the generous allowance her dads gave her and overindulging in the New York party scene. She knows that, during this time, they argued a lot about what to do and how to keep her out of trouble. None of it worked.

Meanwhile, many of her famous friends were creating names for themselves. Some found ways to escape their world and become regular people, blending in with the non-celebrity population. Others, most notably the St. James children, were passionate about their careers on Broadway. As much as she would tease them about how predictable they were being, she couldn’t help but compare herself to them and feel guilty that her life wasn’t going anywhere.

She started directing her energy back into songwriting, and it was enough to pull her out of her spiraling bad habits. With hard work and Blaine’s connections, she was able to get a lot of professional critiques on her music and started cowriting with famous musicians. A couple years later, she signed with UMPG and many of her songs have reached the top 100 charts. Songwriting has been the best of both worlds; it allows her to follow her passion of music while letting someone else shine as the face of the song.

Hepburn didn’t expect much when she put out her debut album. She knew UMG had high hopes and a launch strategy that needed to be followed very precisely. It was a lot of pressure, but Hepburn had no immediate plans for any more albums, so she wanted to enjoy it as much as she could. The record was commercially successful with two singles making it into the Billboard Top 10. UMG soon began pressuring her to release a follow up album, but Hepburn was more interested in writing for other artists. Still, she saved some of her favorite pieces for herself and, after a year, had enough songs for her sophomore album. The recording, mixing and mastering are all complete and Hepburn and UMG are getting ready to release it later this year

#rp #glee rp #lsrp #rpg #roleplay #cb.

[professor-kukui]

     So here we are~ Honestly I never expected to be here, I have been having the time of my life the past few months on this blog, and it’s been one of the most amazing RP experiences of my life! This has been one of the friendliest, most welcoming fandoms I’ve ever been in and I cherish every moment of my time here! I really can’t thank you all enough, I’ve loved sharing my Professor and all of my ideas with you guys and I’m so glad you all love what I have. You all have given me all the time I could possibly want to spend time with him. You all have even turned Squid-mun into somewhat of a character and I cannot express how much that touches my heart, so without further a-do let’s get to the thank you’s! 

     The Champions:  You guys have become such special to me, and have made some of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had on this blog. Most of you I never even imagined I’d become any sort of close to as you all are just stellar and incredible! You all have had a hand in shaping this blog just as much as I have and Kukui would not be where we are without you! 

@interdreamed: Gosh Kels what can I say about you that I haven’t said already? I was beginning to believe I’d never find a Burnet to interact with before you came along! Your Burnet is just beyond perfect and you know that Kukui and I love her to bits! You have also become such a wonderful friend to me and I always enjoyed our seemingly endless conversations. We’ve put so much time and development into out muses and I truly couldn’t be happier with how they’ve grown together. I’ve always had millions of ideas in my head as to the sort of world they embody, and you practically encompassed all of the same things with your Burnet that I had with my Kukui and they just couldn’t be more perfect to me. I adore the crazy amounts of AU’s that we have, even if we don’t get to RP them all I still love discussing them all the time alongside our tons and tons of headcanons. I don’t know when you’ll end up reading this as I know you’re still very busy, but know that Kukui and I miss you very much, and I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far without you!

@craniumaniac: Alright Kaycie let me be straight, I looked up to you so much when I started this blog. Your portrayal was flawless, you interactions with Cookie always felt so natural and fluid, and you had a really admirable confidence in your portrayal that I wish I had! Then when you and Cookie reached out to me I was literally speechless because never in a million years did I think you’d even notice me as lame as that sounds! I was really hesitant about interacting with Guzmas at first, what with the fandom being obsessed with the Kukui/Guzma ship, so meeting you and discovering you shared my opinions regarding that ship was truly a godsend! And getting to know you off of Tumblr has been an absolute joy, you’ve allowed me to confide in you and have even trusted me enough to confide in me which means more than I could ever say! 

@plumeriaxskull: Cookie I don’t know how our muses developed the sort of relationship that they have but I have to say that I love it! You were one of the first RP’ers I began talking to ooc and getting to know you has been amazing! You’re so funny and you kept me laughing during the long, LONG, car rides while I was traveling across the country not long after I started this blog. Your Plumeria is amazing, the time, thought, and care you put into your development is so apparent in just about everything you do. You were another blog I very much admired when first starting out, and I’m so honored to be able to call you a friend.

@twoskullbois​: ELLIOT WTF! You were one of the first people I ever interacted with I believe! You’re such a gem and I still remember when you sent me that god damn video and from there we just spiraled out of control. You’ve been so kind and have made me laugh relentlessly numerous times that I just don’t know what I’d do without you. 

@agentcatman​: Even though we have never interacted I have absolutely loved talking to you, Shiro! You’re an absolute joy and you even drew my waifu for me and I literally have it saved to my phone don’t think I’m joking! You’re portrayal of Nanu is top notch, and I love how passionate you are about him with all your headcanons! I’m real glad I was introduced to you and look forward to interacting in the future! 

@firespun​: Even though you aren’t as active right now, I have really loved interacting with you in the past! The AU you created and shared with me is just so amazingly sad and wonderful at the same time, and I’ve really loved that relationship we’ve made between Kukui and Kiawe. You’re such a sweetie even though you make me cry with feels!

@denkinokikai​: Haribo! You know I love your Sophocles, both the Professor and I do! I was really excited to interact with you as I have always had lots of headcanons about Kukui’s relationship with both Molayne and Soffy and getting to explore them with you has been amazing! Your Ho-Oh is also wonderful and I know I’m not as active on Lugia as I’d like to be but I still love interacting with the two of them as well!

@mocrosoft: Where would Kukui be without his best friend? Even though we haven’t had too many interactions on the dash, I absolutely love chatting with you! Both talking about our boys, forming headcanons and discussing AU’s is always such a highlight of my day! I can’t wait to do things with our Breath of the Wild AU because I have SO MANY feelings for that AU I could cry!

@lillie-in-alola​: Kai, talking with you always manages to brighten up my day! Whether it be us yelling about Kukui and Burnet or whatever else, I always look forward to out conversations. You really are an amazing person and I can’t wait to get started with this new blog of yours! 

@ofpalletown: SON. I just love your Ash, and I just love you tbh. I love chatting with you about all of Ash and Kukui’s interactions in the anime and I love interacting with you! The character dymanic we have going is just so perfect to me as I just really love the relationship between Ash and Kukui, and exploring it with you has just been everything I could have hoped for! 

Also a shout out to the Smol Fitey because I don’t even need to tell you how much I cherish you!

     The Trainers: I wish I could write something special for all of you but we’d be here forever. Regardless of how much we may or may not have interacted, you all have shown up on my blog in one way or another, either in interaction or just passing by leaving a sweet compliment. Regardless each of you have managed to put a smile on my face and I’ll always be grateful. 

@lunahaule, @moonkxssed, @alolan-traveler-lillie, @deadworlddenizens, @notquitethelegend, @tender--age--in--plume, @mohnday, @pxlitepooch, @chcsxn, @nightmarexyes, @hidoidc, @suplexfirekitty, @ambighuety, @youhavethatspark, @gocatchem, @oakmd, @telekinetiq​, @ask-haru-the-traveler​, @alolanchampiondevin​, @lack--two​, @queenlybxnes​, @beareroftheblueorb​, @azureangem​, @beat-down-boss, @professordeerest, @ub-glowing, @aetherbranchchief, @branch-chief--faba, @itsburnet, @gladion-of-aether, @rowdyruffpearl, @firstmateofaqua, @loyaldogfairy, @champofpallet, @curiousobjecthead, @candidafilium, @candylovinglightning, @orphanoftheunderground, @oriiginator, @undinaes, @gluttonousdragon, @electric--mouse, @melemeleguardian, @whxt-trial, @sad--man, @rock-empress-olivia, @pixie-hound, @nxhilego​, @decidxeye​, @askgreen​, @zenosutcliff​, @thepkmnnurse​, @resonata​, @terrortwerp​, @grunt-low​, @silvestreaelurus​, @pragmatictrainer​, @maesux4ever​, @gladion-team-skull​, @flying--sparks​, @shyxgruntxaustin​, @katsubou​, @ultra-champion​, @skull-bxnes​, @trainer-sayomi-and-jiraiya​, @rocketdouble​,  skullgruntdan, @shvrker

     The Kahunas: So many of you I really admire but mostly from afar as I don’t know how to approach you~ You all have wonderful portrayals of your characters and I love seeing them on my dash!

@rocketbcss, @typenullandvoid, @bexutyindexth, @fatedflare, @hvrriccne, @mctherbeast, @sterlingsilverchampion​, @golisopxd​, @deltaxtream​, @seaboundsongstress​, @theagentlooker​, @aquaelegance​, @fcilure​, @kalosianxbeauty​, @galacticbxss​, @primalvolcanic​, @galaxy-commander​, @hautolove​, @ghostlyroyalty​, @bigcalavera

     So once again, a big thank you to every one of my followers! You all made this milestone, not me. Without you this blog wouldn’t be anything. I apologize if some people were left out, but know that all 1,001 have brought this blog to where it is. I’d also like to say a special thank you to all the kind anons who have sent me such wonderful messages over the course of my time here. I may not know who you all are, but your compliments have made me smile countless times and I’m beyond grateful. 

     Here’s to more adventures in the future!

#;Out of the Lab Coat #;Follow Forever #[ I just can't even believe tbh #what have I done to deserve you all #I just don't even have the right words tbh ]

[netherwar-rpg-blog]

Welcome to the Wardens, Dani! Your application for a PRIEST OC has been accepted with a Elliot Knight FC.

The application can be found under the cut. You have 48 hours to create a roleplay account (cannot be a sideblog) for your character and we will be updating our opening date soon!

O O C - I N F O

Name: Dani

Age: 22

Timezone: Who cares? I’m always online.

Activity Level: Always. Law school doesn’t matter. I’ll become a professional rp writer. Cat, feed me when you’re famous.

Extra: ily <3

C H A R A C T E R - I N F O

T H E - B A S I C S

Name: Tahir Ibn Sa’id

Gender: Cisgender Male

Age: 59 (looks 27)

Class: Priest

Faceclaim: Elliot Knight

C H A R A C T E R - D E T A I L S

Nationality: Narfeni

Appearance:

Dark skin and deep brown eyes are quite often found in the Narfeni islands but never carried with the grace and status Tahir carries himself. The son of two Oracles, born and raised like a prince but always with a humble and calm expression despite his younger years of fun and excess. Tahir prefers his hair long, over his shoulders in messy locks that are sometimes braided to maintain away form his face. Otherwise, he keeps his hair short and neat, comfortable under his tunic’s hoods.

Loyal to his heritage, Tahir prefers bright robes with red, blue and golden colors. He keeps plenty of rings of all colors, shapes and precious stones in his fingers and a single golden ring at the end of his nose. Tahir also carries two necklaces; one with a dark blue, almost black crystal and another transparent crystal that belonged to his twin brother Siraj.

Finally, he has the tattoo of two intertwining snakes, one in black ink and another in white on the inside of his left arm.

Personality:

[ + ] Curious - Books have always been Tahir’s first love. His parents library was his sanctuary, intelligent eyes going through every word and spell and trick in them. He watched his parents work carefully, wondering when his time to practice his magic would come and the day it did was the happiest day of his life. From that day on, Tahir has never stopped experimenting on every type of magic he can get his hands on.

[ + ] Observant - Tahir is the type of man that sits back, watches carefully and takes notes. He dislikes violence and unnecessary deaths; he believes in balance in all things, and the fact that observing nature and human behavior grants all the answers they need. He often watches and listens to people with a kind, barely there smile to commit all information to memory.

[ + ] Calm - Death is silent, calm and all-powerful. Tahir aims to be the same, unbothered by simple remarks or taunts, he always has a relaxed, almost aloof attitude that bothers most of his enemies but he prefers it that way. He knows death is unavoidable and all else is temporary, so he smokes and drinks and reads. Time is, after all, endless.

[ + ] Humble - Tahir has a very particular set of skill; a luck, some might say. He knows his ability to handle the shadow element without fear of corruption is a strange thing, born of his brother’s sacrifice and protection, so he remains humble and kind. Death is to be respected, and so is the shadow element, so claiming power over it is not something Tahir would ever do.

[ - ] Obsessive - Knowledge is power, his father always said, and even though Tahir doesn’t care about power, he really cares about knowledge. His search for knowledge took him to Eldris, searching for the unknown and all the things that are foreign to him in the islands. He extends his kindness to the Wardens, but he’s set in only one goal and will do anything to achieve it.

[ - ] Self-centered - The death of Siraj marked a before an after in Tahir’s life. His brother was his partner in crime, the other half of his soul and the light to his darkness. After their souls were bound together, Tahir forgot about love, friendship and some times, even family. He only focused on himself and his mission to free his brother and release his soul, no matter how much the thought of letting him go hurts him.

[ - ] Conceited - Like the son of every Oracle, Tahir has never known need or hunger. He isn’t a prince, but was always treated like one. Both his parents were important Oracles in their tribe and gave him and his siblings years of the best life they could wish for, including every whim and excess his heart desired. Tahir is used to the good life and even though he adapts to every environment without much complain, he prefers warm sun and silky sheets any day.

[ - ] Solitary - After the death of his twin brother and the binding of their souls, Tahir became a solitary man. He believes he needs nothing and no one, that his mission is clear and nothing could take him away from his path. He went from having lots of friends to being only focused on his studies and pilgrimage.

C H A R A C T E R - B A C K G R O U N D

History:

A blessing of the Balance, the Elders would say when they revealed that the Oracle Ibtissam Ibn Sa’id, an expert in the shadow element, was pregnant with two children. The twins were born strong and surrounded by gifts and praise; a true miracle that proved light and shadows coexisted as one in the hearts of their people. Tahir and Siraj were raised as one, a single soul split in two and their parents couldn’t be happier. Two boys to continue their legacy, it was only a matter of time until their powers manifested.

And manifest they did. Siraj was always the kinder of the two, a smart head on his shoulders that was ruled by his heart, their father would always say, while Tahir was reckless and curious, always going after every book he could get his hands on and when he wasn’t reading, he was getting his brother in trouble. There are rules that forbid hurting a spellcaster in the Narfeni islands, but those rules do not apply to Oracle’s children before their powers manifest.

It was in one of those adventures where the boys found out about their powers and respective affinities. Siraj protecting them both with a bright, glowing white shield while Tahir covered their attackers with dark, thick smoke; offense and defense, light and darkness. The perfect balance.

News of the boys abilities spread quickly and the next day they were surrounded by tutors, more books than they could imagine and their parents pleased smiles. It was also around that time that their mother announced her second pregnancy. A girl this time, that was born soon after by the name of Amira. The boys that shared everything now had something else to share, their love for their little sister.

Years passed and sharing books turned into sharing pipes, women, men and wine. Whenever Tahir went, Siraj followed and as they grew into adulthood, so did their strength and skill until one day their youth wasn’t enough to protect them and both brothers fell ill with a burning fever, a plague that killed hundreds, peasants and kings. Siraj, a healer by nature, stood stronger against the fever but his brother Tahir grew weaker with each passing day. The reckless boy with the bright smile and the challenging eyes was withering away like a flower.

That’s when Siraj summoned their father.

They were both dying, the Elders said, but if they fought it together, they would be strong enough to survive, and so Siraj begged. He begged his father to let him die, to bind his soul to his brother’s, his sacrifice giving him the last bit of strength needed to fight. His father immediately refused, tears in his eyes, but couldn’t deny the fact that his son was right. If he didn’t do it, his two boys would leave the world forever, so he called for his wife, they said their goodbyes and started the ritual.

When Tahir woke up, his brother was gone and his only reminder was the matching tattoo they had gotten together of a white and black snake on his arm.

The grief was the worst feeling Tahir had ever experienced. He respected death and cared for the shadows and the secrets they reveled to him but he can only remember darkness at the time. Tears fell from hours until they were transformed into anger, screams and the cracking sound of magic twisting up his arm in dark clouds of smoke before going back to pained cries like an endless cycle. It took the boy a week to exhaust himself and the moment he had given up on crying over his dead brother, he saw it. A white snake, a mirror of the one in his arm, twisting and turning up his arm like smoke.

Siraj.

He could not believe their parents would do that, sacrifice one of their children to save the other but he could feel his brother’s distress, the pain and love and happiness that he was alive and Tahir couldn’t blame them. Siraj had always been the kinder one, the one with light in his heart, and Tahir had to respect his last wish and keep his brother’s memory alive.

Life continued after that, the emptiness his brother had left never filling but at least he knew his soul was still with him. Tahir became obsessed with knowledge, his old reckless self completely forgotten and he closed himself off to friends and lovers, only maintaining a close relationship with his tutors, parents and sister. He needed to continue his studies, learn all he could and when he was ready, release his brother’s soul in thanks for saving his life.

Finally, the day came. The preparations were set and Tahir was ready to start his journey, his pilgrimage to obtain knowledge and experience and finally become an Oracle like his parents were and like his brother would’ve been. When the Elders sent him to Eldris, Tahir could only smile.

Siraj would’ve loved Eldris.

Reason for joining the Wardens:

Tahir joined the Wardens out of mere curiosity, he’d say. As any Oracle in training, the Elders demand a pilgrimage, which is often done through the eight Narfeni islands, meeting with other Oracles and Elders but being the son of an Oracle granted Tahir and his family enough opportunity to see their secluded paradise, and sensing the distress that’s brewing in the continent, they decided Tahir’s abilities would be put to better use in Eldris. After months of traveling the sea and a month or so riding from town to town all the way up from Varthal until Miwor Town, Tahir found himself a group of very peculiar people from all parts of the continents and every set of skills imaginable, and out of mere curiosity for them and the knowledge they could provide, he decided to stay. He doesn’t understand or care much for the rifts and the danger that’s been growing in the northern parts of the continent, but he’s a kind soul with a useful set of skills so if the price for knowledge is fighting with them, he’ll gladly pay it with his loyalty.

Desired Connections:

Tahir doesn’t know any of the Wardens since he just started his pilgrimage a month or so ago. Eldris is an unknown continent to him and so are their customs and people. As a desired connection I could only imagine his younger sister, Amira Ibn Sa’id, who can be either a priest as well (like their parents), or a mage. They both come from the Narfeni islands and suffered through Siraj’s death when they were younger. She knows of Tahir’s bond to their brother and supports him on his decision to learn Necromancy to free him. She’s a very sweet child but also fiery in her beliefs and decisions. Tahir loves her and would protect her with his own life. It’d be a surprise to see her following him to Eldris since she isn’t old enough to begin her pilgrimage yet.

[briangroth27]

Timeless Season 1 Review

Without a doubt, Timeless was my favorite new show of the season! The adventures of history professor Lucy (Abigail Spencer), pilot/tech genius Rufus (Malcolm Barrett), and soldier Wyatt (Matt Lanter) were a blast, zipping through American history to prevent a “madman” from changing it. Shawn Ryan, Eric Kripke, and the show’s writers added much more than a dash of historical accuracy to the Time Team’s exploits, providing real context to the events the team tried to preserve.

Full Spoilers...

Our Time Team was brought in by DHS Agent Denise Christopher (Sakina Jaffrey) and tech billionaire Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph) to catch former NSA asset Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic), who’d stolen Mason’s time machine to rewrite history and save his family from the shadowy Rittenhouse organization. Matters became increasingly complicated as Lucy’s sister Amy (Bailey Noble) was accidentally erased from the timeline, Rufus and his family were threatened by the scarily powerful and omnipresent Rittenhouse, and Wyatt was tormented by the death of his wife Jessica and whether or not he could prevent it. Spencer, Barrett, and Lanter were all excellent leads, bringing vulnerability, compassion, intelligence, humor, heroism, and just a touch of darker angst to roles that could’ve easily been one-dimensional. To that end, the series mined all the drama inherent in time travel and changes to the timeline; I was surprised from the get-go that things—at least minor ones—were allowed to change so much! For example, Lucy's comment about forgetting her sister's birthday, despite being the only person in her family who knew she existed, was heartbreaking. The reveal that she had a fiancee (Daniel Di Tomasso) in the newly altered timeline whom she’d never met could’ve been played with more, but I think it was best (and probably more realistic) for her to focus on the missions over that awkward situation. Wyatt trying to peacefully prevent Jessica's murderer from being born, even though time was fighting to maintain itself, was great drama too. His reaction when the killer’s father accidentally died was perfect and the crushing reveal that Jessica was still dead once he got home was brilliant. Rufus’ growing confidence in every area of his life was a great season-long arc that dovetailed perfectly with the steadily-developing bond within the Time Team, even as it was threatened by Rufus being an unlikely spy for Rittenhouse. Barrett brought great tension to Rufus as his turmoil over spying on his friends increased from episode to episode. I thought they’d play Rufus against Lucy and Wyatt for much longer than they did to build up a bigger betrayal, but I was pleasantly surprised he came clean rather quickly and the trio worked through it, enhancing their bond. I figured the team would go rogue eventually and I'm glad it happened before the season finale. More shows should take big risks like that rather than maintaining the status quo until “special event” episodes! 

The growing familial bond between the core trio over the course of their adventures was a joy to watch, while Agent Christopher and programmer Jiya (Claudia Doumit) seamlessly fit into the group as the season progressed. I was happy Jiya was more than just a generic love interest (as cute as her romance with Rufus is) and was his equal in the tech arena, holding her own to save the day when time was tight and the odds were against them. I was genuinely surprised we met Agent Christopher’s family and continued to follow her after she was dismissed from the time travel project. That felt like the natural time to cut off the Time Team’s resources, but the show surprised me by having her go rogue and join the team. I also liked that she trusted Lucy to keep a flash drive of her family on the Lifeboat time machine in case they were erased; that was really clever. Even Mason, who I thought was genuinely a bad guy, shocked me when his self-interest (at least) won out, landing him on the Time Team's side at the last second. 

I liked that Flynn wasn’t the purely evil villain he was initially made out to be, since he really was trying to save his family. It was smart to make him the extreme version of our heroes; not only did that make him a great foil for them, but at several points late in the season I thought each member of the Time Team was just a slight push away from being ready to join him. As much as Agent Christopher arresting Flynn before he could save his family (as Lucy had promised him) in the end will make him even more of an enemy, I wouldn’t be surprised if Flynn joined the Time Team next season. I can’t wait to find out when Lucy will return the journal to him and what the circumstances of Future Lucy reaching out to him—as a last hope?—are! Matt Frewer was solid in a supporting role as Anthony Bruhl, one of Flynn’s allies and Rufus’ former friend, lending a nice bit of conflict to the villains’ side of the show. The third prominent member of Flynn’s team, Emma Whitmore (Annie Wersching), proved to be calculating and capable, making her a good foil for Flynn’s more emotionally-driven methods.

Rittenhouse was a great enemy waiting in the shadows, ever-present and ready to strike, but also just out of sight. Getting Armin Shimerman to play the original Rittenhouse back in the Revolutionary War era was excellent casting! Since the organization was so powerful and imposing, I was surprised at how low-key their seeming defeat actually was. I'd like to think bringing them down by documenting all of Rittenhouse’s affairs over half a century was inspired/foreshadowed by the team’s adventure with Elliot Ness (Micha Collins) and Al Capone (Cameron Gharaee), since that’s how he was brought down before they changed history. I was expecting big changes to the timeline with Rittenhouse finally removed from the past, but this was just as satisfying. It was truly shocking that Lucy's mom Carol (Susanna Thompson) was revealed as a member of Rittenhouse too! The status quo seems to be shattered and I can't believe any of the Time Team would work with the government ever again. Are they going to join Flynn (maybe he shares some of his plutonium to power the Lifeboat) to stop Rittenhouse from creating their “perfect” future?

Many of the show’s historical guest stars were very entertaining! Harry Houdini (Michael Drayer), Bonnie & Clyde (Jacqueline Byers & Sam Strike), Ernest Hemingway (Brandon Barash), and Josephine Baker (Tiffany Daniels) were definitely among my favorites, but all of them added an engaging aspect to the weekly adventures. My absolute favorites had to the real-life inspirations for the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Bass Reeves and Grant Johnson. Reeves’ moral code played extremely well against Wyatt’s increasing difficulty with not taking more action to save Jessica, spurring a great debate about heroes and killing. On a side note, I’d love it if Timeless’ creators made a Lone Ranger series starring Coleman Domingo and Zahn McClarnon (Reeves and Johnson here), mixing Bass Reeves’ historical past with the Lone Ranger mythos! The temporal guest stars gave the show a great, varied texture: moments like actor John Wilkes Booth (Kelly Blatz) practicing his lines before committing an assassination were hilarious and the team getting to co-star in a new James Bond book/film after teaming up with Ian Fleming (Sean Maguire) was very cool! Other historical figures became well-written parallels to our heroes, like Werner Von Braun (Christian Oliver) and Rufus, or H.H. Holmes’ (Joel Johnstone) victims and the unexplained death of Wyatt’s wife. It was also great to learn new things about history, like the fact that Al Capone had a brother in law enforcement (Mather Zickel) and Jesse James (Daniel Lissing) was a psychopath instead of some noble outlaw of the Old West. Some of the changes to history, like General Cornwallis (Brad Dryborough) and Elliot Ness getting killed, genuinely shocked me (particularly as Micha Collins’ role as Ness had been so hyped online).

The show’s aesthetic was polished and sleek while staying true to the grit of war zones and the Old West when the story brought the characters there. There was a definite formula to many of the episodes—a necessary evil, as they had to show us how history really went before showing it change—but I don’t think it hurt the series at all. When they did play with the formula, like Wyatt and Rufus’ reverse-Back to the Future attempt to stop Jessica’s killer from being born and episode 7, which opened with the team being stranded during the French and Indian War, it was a great change of pace! I loved the smart writing, which injected a lot of humanity, humor, and drama into the proceedings while deftly including history lessons that never felt like lectures. I do think the series’ ratings were damaged by the timeslot (10 pm on Mondays); there was nothing content-wise that required that time and Timeless would’ve been great as an 8 pm show, given the all-ages tone. While it would conflict with The CW’s similarly-toned superhero shows Mondays-Wednesdays, maybe Timeless season 2 could find a home on Thursdays as counter-programming to ABC’s TGIT or on Fridays.

All the time-travel physics were well-explained over the course of the season, but I do have one theoretical question: they can't go back to where they've gone before, but what if they showed up a couple of days before an earlier trip to the same time zone? What would happen if they accidentally stayed past the barrier into their previous trip to that time and crossed the time streams, as it were? I think there’s a great “ticking clock” plot in there. The one area that I’d say the show could go further—and perhaps this is about to be addressed with Rittenhouse rewriting the timeline as they see fit—is that we should probably start seeing an increasingly altered future as more and more trips are taken to the past. As pointed out by the Bitter Script Reader on Twitter, this would eventually render Lucy ineffective as she knows less and less about the new history (unless her role shifts to documenting the history that was), but I don’t think the show should be afraid to go big on the changes.  

I had a plethora of crazy theories about how the show could twist the plot and the timeline: Was Flynn from the future? Could he be Lucy’s son? Amy’s son, now existing only because he was outside the timeline when it changed and she was erased? Lucy’s father? Someone sent back in time by a future Lucy? Could one of the accidental changes to history bring back Wyatt’s wife Jessica? Did Rittenhouse kill her in the first place? Is Wyatt going to kill the parents of her killer to save her? If they eliminate Rittenhouse, will Lucy be born? Will Rufus get caught playing double agent? Will the Time Team find themselves aligned with Flynn by the season finale? I love theorizing and I love when shows fool me even more. Timeless did that often, and their reveals were never disappointing compared to my theories.

I can’t wait to see where this show goes if it gets a second season! Jessica’s death is still super suspicious; I’m 100% positive it was carried out by Rittenhouse (and they just used a different killer once Wyatt eliminated the original one from the timeline), and I can’t believe Wyatt is really ready to let it lie. If it was Rittenhouse, why would they have her killed? Was she involved with them too? Could Rittenhouse’s plans to create their perfect world bring Jessica back? The one thing I don’t need to see is Lucy and Wyatt together romantically. I know it's big in the fandom—at least on Twitter—but to me, it's clear he absolutely still loves Jessica and until he can't possibly bring her back, I don't see him moving on. Wyatt and Lucy do have chemistry, but it doesn't feel romantic from his side. Lucy’s maybe, but Wyatt seems unwavering in his devotion to his wife. I still think it'd be gut-wrenchingly brilliant if they discovered that Lucy's dad killed her, so the only way to save Jessica would be to kill him before Lucy's conceived. 

Are Wyatt and Rufus going to break Flynn out of prison so he can help rescue Lucy from her mom and retake the Lifeboat? Will Lucy ever find a way to get Amy back? I don't see why Lucy drew a connection between her mom's illness and Amy existing, but if they are connected somehow, that’d certainly be surprising. Are we going to see Lucy fill out the journal, now that she has it? Will we see Flynn time travel to meet older Lucy, or are we going to see her grow to a point where she sends him back in time? Will Mason’s self-serving nature continue to supply the team indefinitely, or are those resources shut off for good? What’s secret Rittenhouse agent Emma Whitmore off to destroy? Is my sister right, and Jiya’s visions of the past will give the Time Team their history-saving missions by cluing them in to what Whitmore is changing? 

Whatever they have in store, I’ll be very disappointed if NBC doesn’t bring Timeless back for another season! The cast, writing, and historical nature of the show are all top-notch. #RenewTimeless, indeed!

#timeless #nbc #renewtimeless #renew timeless #matt lanter #abigail spencer #malcolm barrett #rufus carlin #wyatt logan #lucy preston #agent christopher #jiya #garcia flynn #goran visnjic #connor mason #lone ranger #bass reeves #tonto #sakina jaffrey #claudia doumit #paterson joseph #time team

[erickmalpicaflores]

Erik Malpica Flores Erik Malpica Flores recommends: What is Coming to Netflix in February 2019

A new season of ONE DAY AT A TIME is coming to Netflix in Febuary 2019. You can also stream the new original series RUSSIAN DOLL (starring Natasha Lyonne) and VELVET BUZZSAW (starring Jake Gyllenhaal). The new Netflix original series THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY is also debuting its first season in the middle of the month.

Related: What is Coming to Netflix Canada in February 2019?

February 1

About a Boy

American Pie

American Pie 2

American Wedding

As Good as It Gets

Billy Elliot

Dear Ex (Netflix Film): When Sanlian’s ex-husband passes away, she discovers he has altered his insurance policy, cutting out their son in favor of a stranger named Jay. Outraged, Sanlian decides that she and her son will confront Jay, but Jay proves equal to her scheme. However, when her son unexpectedly moves in with Jay, she is forced to reassess her relationship with them both.

Final Destination

Free Rein: Valentine’s Day (Netflix Original): Zoe and the gang plan a girls only Galantine’s adventure. But when they set out to find the mysterious Maid’s Stone it soon becomes clear they’re not the only ones on the trail. As they race against Pin and Marcus, Holloway, and a not-to-be-trusted Mia, the girls’ friendships are tested to the limits. And, with the end of the quest in sight, Zoe wonders if some things might be better left buried…

Hairspray

Hostel

Jaws

Jaws 2

Jaws 3

Jaws: The Revenge

Personal Shopper

Pretty in Pink

Russian Doll (Netflix Original): Russian Doll follows a young woman named Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) on her journey as the guest of honor at a seemingly inescapable party one night in New York City.

Siempre bruja (Netflix Original): Siempre bruja follows 18 year old Carmen, a Colombian slave and witch from the 17th century who, in a desperate attempt to save her loved one, travels in time to present day Cartagena. Navigating the waters of this exciting new world, Carmen will soon discover that once a witch, always a witch.

The Edge of Seventeen

True: Happy Hearts Day (Netflix Original): On this special day, True and her friends share their Happy Hearts and celebrate love in the Rainbow Kingdom … until Glummy Glooma starts to turn things blue! The title Happy Hearts Day was chosen for this episode because the episode is about the Rainbow Kingdom holiday Happy Hearts Day. The whole village shares in the warm traditions of Happy Hearts Day. It’s a play on Valentine’s Day.

Velvet Buzzsaw (Netflix Film): Velvet Buzzsaw is a satirical thriller set in the contemporary art world scene of Los Angeles where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.

February 2

Bordertown: Season 2 (Netflix Original): Past and present collide in dizzying ways for Kari Sorjonen and his colleague Lena as they investigate murders and other crimes with links to Russia.

Romance is a Bonus Book (Streaming Every Saturday) (Netflix Original): A gifted writer who’s the youngest editor-in-chief ever at his publishing company gets enmeshed in the life of a former copywriter desperate for a job.

February 3

Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua

February 5

Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner (Netflix Original): 23 years after his last stand-up special, comedian, screenwriter, and Emmy Award-winning actor Ray Romano debuts his first Netflix comedy special, Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner. Performing two sets on the same night – one at Manhattan’s Comedy Cellar and the second at the Village Underground, literally around the corner – Romano advises on choosing friends, surviving marriage, and knowing the difference between being old and not being young. The comedy special will launch globally on Netflix February 5th.

February 6

February 8

¡Nailed It! México (Netflix Original): The fun, fondant and hilarious cake fails head to Mexico, where very amateur bakers compete to re-create elaborate sweet treats for a cash prize.

El árbol de la sangre (Netflix Film): Marc (Álvaro Cervantes) and Rebeca (Úrsula Corberó) are a young couple who goes to an old farmhouse belonging to Marc’s family. There, they write the shared story of their roots, creating a large family tree that harbors 25 years of love, heartbreak, sex, madness, jealousy and infidelity… and under which lies a deep mystery that marked their lives. Over their days at the farmhouse, each one will reveal secrets from their past to the other, putting their own love story in danger.

High Flying Bird (Netflix Film): In the midst of a pro basketball lockout, sports agent Ray Burke (André Holland) finds himself caught in the face-off between the league and the players. His career is on the line, but Ray is playing for higher stakes. With only 72 hours to pull off a daring plan, he outmaneuvers all the power-players as he uncovers a loophole that could change the game forever. The outcome raises questions of who owns the game – and who ought to. Directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) from a script by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), HIGH FLYING BIRD features an acclaimed ensemble cast that includes Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan and Bill Duke, plus appearances from NBA athletes Reggie Jackson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Donovan Mitchell.

Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History (Netflix Original): In this 1+ hour comedic special, Kevin Hart plays himself while discussing the fascinating contributions of lesser known individuals from Black history through the lens of various educational reenactments.

One Day at a Time: Season 3 (Netflix Original): Penelope studies to become a nurse practitioner, Elena and Syd grow closer, Alex gets punished, Lydia tackles a bucket list, and Schneider falls in love.

ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (Netflix Original): REMASTERED: A long form documentary series of high profile, in-depth stories about music’s impact on society, as told by critically acclaimed directors, with each episode revealing surprising insight beyond the expected or commonly known. SAM COOKE: Sam Cooke was the most influential black musician of the Civil Rights Movement and advocated for the rights of black musicians, frustrating the white establishment. An investigation into the circumstances and controversy surrounding his shooting death include theories that he had been robbed and “trick-rolled’ by a woman, later revealed to be a prostitute. But many believe in a larger societal set up; namely that he was targeted by music industry moguls with links to the mob who all wanted him dead for emerging as a totem for black musicians’ rights.

The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 2 (Netflix Original): George and Harold have to keep their grades up to go to summer camp. But it’s a tall order with Melvin — and a cyborg Melvin — running the school!

Unauthorized Living (Netflix Original): An influential Galician drug cartel leader must seek out his successor while keeping his degenerative disease a secret.

February 9

The Break: Season 2 (Netflix Original): Yoann Peeters finds himself tangled in another disturbing murder case when his former psychiatrist asks for help proving a patient’s innocence.

February 10

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Volume 2 (Streaming Every Sunday) (Netflix Original): Hasan Minhaj’s informative and innovative comedy show returns with more deep dives into global politics and culture.

February 11

Flavorful Origins: Chaoshan Cuisine (Netflix Original): Delve into the delectably diverse world of Chinese cuisine and discover its regional variations and unique histories.

Little Women

February 14

Dating Around (Netflix Original): Every episode, one single goes on five first dates filled with flirty banter, awkward exchanges and moments of true connection. Who will get a second date? Netflix’s first original dating show takes an honest and compelling look at the real world of dating.

Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho (Netflix Original): Comedian, actor and former physician Ken Jeong returns to his stand-up roots for his first-ever Netflix comedy special, Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho. Filmed at the Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena, California, where Jeong first got his start in comedy, You Complete Me, Ho reflects on how Jeong went from being a doctor to a comedy superstar and opens up about how his wife’s courageous battle with breast cancer led to him starring in one of the biggest comedy franchises of all time, The Hangover. The special is directed and executive produced by Jon M. Chu, who also directed Jeong in the groundbreaking box office phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians. Den of Thieves produced the special with Executive Producers Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager, Jared Morell, Jordan Barrow, and Brett Carducci.

February 15

Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy (Netflix Original): Legendary comedy writer and director Larry Charles travels the world in search of humor in the most unusual, unexpected and dangerous places.

The Breaker Upperers (Netflix Film): Two women run a business breaking up couples for cash but when one develops a conscience their friendship unravels.

The Dragon Prince: Season 2 (Netflix Original): Rayla and the princes hurry toward Xadia with their precious cargo. But Claudia and Soren are close behind — and determined to stop them.

The Umbrella Academy (Netflix Original): Reunited by their father’s death, estranged siblings with extraordinary powers uncover shocking family secrets — and a looming threat to humanity.

Yucatan (Netflix Film): Competing con artists attempt to creatively and ruthlessly swindle a fatherly lottery winner while on a lively cruise from Spain to Mexico.

February 16

Black Sea

Studio 54

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

February 21

The Drug King (Netflix Film)

February 22

Chef’s Table: Volume 6 (Netflix Original): A renowned Italian butcher, an Indian chef in London and two stars of Southern U.S. cuisine share their culinary journeys.

Firebrand (Netflix Film): A contemporary story about relationships and the highs and lows people deal with in their lives.

GO! Vive a tu manera (Netflix Original): Fiercely talented Mia receives a scholarship to a prestigious dance academy, where she soon clashes with the owner’s fashionable and popular daughter.

Paddleton (Netflix Film): An unlikely bromance between two misfit neighbors becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when the younger man is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Paris Is Us (Paris est à nous) (Netflix Film): Dreams and reality collide as a young woman navigates a tumultuous relationship amid rising social tensions, protests and tragedies in Paris.

Rebellion: Season 2 (Netflix Original): As the conflict between the British government and the revolutionary Dáil rages, personal connections cloud allegiances for participants on both sides.

Suburra: Season 2 (Netflix Original): As the fight for land, money and power intensifies, young upstarts Aureliano, Spadino and Lele conspire to seize control of Rome’s criminal underworld.

The Big Family Cooking Showdown: Season 2 (Netflix Original): The competition continues as 16 more foodie families put their cooking skills to the test to impress new judges Angellica Bell and Tommy Banks.

The Photographer of Mauthausen (Netflix Film): Imprisoned at the concentration camp of Mauthausen during WWII, Catalan photographer Francesc Boix struggles to survive while saving other people and hiding film negatives that will later help incriminate Nazis.

Workin’ Moms (Netflix Original): WORKIN’ MOMS is an original comedy series created by and starring Catherine Reitman that tests the modern ideal that women really can have it all.

February 25

February 26

February 27

February 28

Jeopardy!: Collection 2

The Rebound

Last Call – Titles Rotating Off the Service in February 2019

February 1

Black Dynamite

Bride of Chucky

Children of Men

Clerks

Disney’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Ella Enchanted

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Queer as Folk: Seasons 1-4

Queer as Folk: The Final Season

Shaun of the Dead

The Big Lebowski

The Bourne Ultimatum

Woman in Gold

February 2

February 3

February 19

Disney’s Girl Meets World: Seasons 1-3

February 20

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#ErikMalpicaFlores

[omcik-blog]

New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/a-historical-defense-of-the-all-american-estate-tax/

A Historical Defense of the All-American Estate Tax

(Photo: Allison Bell/TA)

In 1889, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie offered up a rousing and still-famous defense of the estate tax:

Of all forms of taxation, this seems the wisest. Men who continue hoarding great sums all their lives, the proper use of which for public ends would work good to the community, should be made to feel that the community, in the form of the state, cannot thus be deprived of its proper share. By taxing estates heavily at death the state marks its condemnation of the selfish millionaire’s unworthy life.

It’s still possible to find very rich people espousing similar views. Third-richest-person-in-the-world Warren Buffett was espousing them on television just Tuesday morning. But with yet another Republican administration proposing yet another repeal of the tax (the last repeal was enacted in 2001, took full effect in 2010 and expired in 2011), and public sentiment seemingly in favor of such a move, it’s worth considering just what has happened to change people’s minds since 1889.

(Related: Tax Reform Is Coming. But First …)

When Carnegie made his argument, he had the political wind at his back. Over the next 15 years, 24 states (out of 45) enacted broad inheritance taxes, and the Republican-dominated federal government temporarily used a 15% estate levy (it was enacted in 1898 and repealed in 1902) to finance the Spanish-American War and other military adventures. At least part of the political support for the estate tax in those days may have stemmed from a desire to stave off a federal income tax, University of California at Santa Barbara historian W. Elliot Brownlee writes in his “Federal Taxation in America: A Short History.” But it’s striking to see the words that a Republican president, Theodore Roosevelt, wielded in support of both estate and income taxes in 1906:

The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government.

The estate tax finally came to stay in 1916, after the Democratic Woodrow Wilson administration had already succeeded (in 1913) in getting a federal income tax approved. With American intervention in World War I looming, Wilson wanted money for big-time increases in military spending, and adding an estate tax was actually less controversial than expanding the income tax. And so it remained for many, many decades.

Then … something changed. In a fascinating 2003 paper, political scientists Mayling Birney and Ian Shapiro date the beginning of the anti-estate-tax movement to a 1992 bill sponsored by prominent House Democrats Richard Gephardt and Henry Waxman that would have increased the number of families facing the tax.

That brought a “strong and entirely unexpected backlash,” initially led by an estate planner from Orange County, California, that within a few years had developed into a repeal movement with bipartisan backing. Public opinion turned out, when pollsters first started asking about the issue in the late 1990s, to lean against the estate tax, with poll respondents continuing to view it negatively even when informed that it affected at most the wealthiest 2% of the population. It was not a high priority for most voters, and when pollsters asked about estate tax reform versus repeal, most respondents favored the former.

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But in a time of budget surpluses (remember those?), a dedicated core of repeal proponents was able to convince majorities in the House and Senate in 2000 to do away with the tax and, after President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill, do so again in 2001 as part of a larger package of tax cuts signed into law by President George W. Bush.Those tax cuts came with an expiration date, though, because backers didn’t have the 60 votes required by the 1990 “Byrd rule” for legislation that increases deficits past a 10-year window.

When the 10 years ended, with budget surpluses a distant memory and a Democrat in the White House, the repeal was allowed to expire — although the size of estates exempted from the tax was increased and indexed to inflation, and now stands at $5.49 million, with a top rate of 4%.

Now, the Donald Trump administration and Republican congressional leaders want to give repeal another go. This stance continues to find support in polls: An Ipsos survey conducted earlier this year for National Public Radio found that 65% of respondents favored repeal of the estate tax, and 76% favored repeal of the “death tax” (a favorite term of estate tax opponents). There’s no budget surplus this time to cushion the blow of losing the tax — although of the $2.4 trillion that the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates that the proposed Republican tax cuts would cost over 10 years, the estate tax accounts for just $239 billion.

The best argument against the estate tax, really, seems to be that it brings economic distortion (as the wealthy go to great lengths to circumvent it) and family pain without delivering a whole lot of money to the federal government. The tax’s importance to overall government finance has certainly declined over the decades:

Still, it’s a tax that doesn’t affect many Americans, with the Tax Policy Center estimating that only 5,460 estates will owe taxes in 2017. It would, however, certainly affect the family of the president — in a back-of-the-envelope calculation last week, the New York Times figured that estate tax repeal would save Trump’s heirs $1.1 billion. Which for me inevitably brings to mind the arguments of the late 1800s. Here’s the great University of Wisconsin economist Richard T. Ely, co-founder of the American Economic Association, assessing the merits of an estate tax in 1888:

One of the principles which controlled the action of Jefferson and other founders of the republic, was the abolition of hereditary distinctions and privileges, and their aim was to force each one to rely on his own exertions for his own fortune, desiring to give to all as nearly as practicable an equal start in the race of life.

It has been urged by others that one of the most dangerous tendencies of our times is the increasing aggregation of wealth in a few hands. This scheme is a slight corrective, which is in harmony with the spirit of our institutions.

Is that really a tradition we want to turn our backs on? 

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