#(hope this iso kay!!)

[xhanelia]

What i feel about you based on your main agent (bad edition)

I will write the requests but i am in my writerblock era so hoping this will cure it. Love u all <33

Brimstone

Please stop smoking our entrance when we are the attackers please i beg you.

You never speak nor listen. We all know your mic and the whole team is either muted or you are basically deaf.

I have never seen a child play him so you are old. I mean old old. Like a dad or smth

Chamber

The chamber nerfs are a delusion you suck either way

Stop spending your whole 800 credit to a pistol that you will forgot for the rest of the game.

"I was in my prime before chamber nerfs guyss!!🤓🤓" Yea yea we get it.

Chyper

Can you stop saying "I kNoW eXAcLY wHErE U ArE" for five seconds?

You cannot aim so you place a setup that is unbreakable to attackers and letting your traps do all the work for you. How smart. (Thats me)

Cannot do shit when the last one left. You get one or two kills with your trap and u die middle of the round.

Deadlock

Stop placing sensors to our back, trying to hold the backsite but enemy can slow walk and bypass you u know? Then you be raging "I PuT a SeNSoR ThErE"

Istg if i get tangled down by your c one more time im gonna ragequit.

Your ult never gets anyone yet there is the whole five of the enemy team.

Fade

Your prowler shows no one, girl. Stop throwing it at the start of the round.

Stop trying to control your c you are losing so much time and its gonna get no one.

Ult when your team is near PLEASE. Its no effective if you are by yourself and scream "FACE YOUR FEAR" bcs you are the one that will be facing it.

Iso

No one mains iso.

Stop smurfing. Its no fun.

Go back to your own league. You coward.

Jett

You are a little child screaming into mic bcs you dashed forward to enemy and died.

Stop sitting onto the keyboard and actually aim maybe you'll get a kill.

Play with the team once. (I hate you with my whole heart)

Kay/o

You either never use your flashes or you blind just your teammates.

Your ult doesnt makes you undying you know? Stop running towards to the enemy like its new paradise.

The most avarage player. Middle fragging the whole game.

Killjoy

Just gives the info, maybe gets one or two kills because of the stupid dasher enemy jett and dies.

That turret be doing no damage if its on your team but be dealing 50+ if its on the enemy team.

Dont just sit there and wait FUCKING ROTATEEEE

Omen (my main)

Stop using c and teleport mid fight. Its no chamber tp or yoru tp. It takes time to teleport and takes time to handle the gun. You are going to die.

That blind hit no one. Stop being delusional and do not push. You are going to die.

If you do not know how to put a smoke when you close the 'astra' mode, do not. Place it slowly if requires. And again, if you dont do it fast enough, you are going to die.

Phoenix

STOP TROLLING YOUR TEAMMATES WITH YOUR MOLLY AND WALL ISTG I HATE YOU

That flash will hit you. It doesnt matter if the phoenix is on the enemy team or on your team. Or worse, both.

You are not that bad, you just need some humanity.

Sage

I hate you if you are an egirl that instalocks sage just to be a pocket sage to your eboy that plays reyna like reyna cannot heal herself. Stop. Also stop talking. Your voice irritates me.

Her voicelines are so unnecessary. Especially the ones at the start of the round.

We all know you are on top of your wall that closes mid. Dont peak. Also, stop throwing slows to OUR entrance.

Sova

Nobody is going to do anything about your arrow that you throw at the start of the round and showed three or four people. The team will still push. Stop trying to learn freaky arrows and waste your time.

Shock dart kill? What is that?

This agent is not friendly for beginners. Stop making your friends that just started the game play sova. They will show no information for you. Even being a pocket sage is better than a new-starter sova.

Viper

Its ok if you do not have linups. But if you do, then we all know that you havent touch the grass for a looong time and you probably smell like her ult. Please shower.

She be no mommy to you. She is kind of woman that rejects chamber, what made you think that she will even let you look at her way?

"Last player standing"

Yoru

Like kay/o. That flash is here only to blind you. Not the enemy.

Taking the spike and going to another site, saying you'll be back to us then will die and make it drop at the farest site possible. Either stop taking the spike or dont do this shit.

You either bottom frag or top frag. There is no in between. And you are probably 12-13 years old.

Astra

I have never seen someone mains, even plays astra.

So i have nothing to say. Im so sorry :(

Your smokes looks pretty tho. Keep it up!

Breach

You are a man that cannot stand woman. If a woman says anything bad about you, you will blind them, hit them with all of your abilities and do whatever it takes to make them unable to play the game. (Totaly not single-handed experience)

I hate your abilities. Very much.

I do not have any good experience about someone that plays this agent. Not a single one. I will dodge the game if someone picks breach no joke.

Gekko

Your molly is useless. I have seen once maybe twice that it kills somebody.

You have so much potential with wingman when you are the last one standing but wingman is the last thing that comes to your mind. Use it.

Why tf that trash is pickable and usable more than once??? Why?? (You are a nice person tho. Cannot move on without saying it.)

Harbor

Players that plays harbor are no joking. They are not here to learn the agent. They MAIN main him. But that doesnt makes a difference because this agent is close to useless.

Tbh he could have been my main if his abilities were a bit more versatile. Its just smoke and smoke. All about closing the sight of enemy. So fucking boring.

I bet if harbor was a girl, there will be so much people that would play him. Either way, he is boring.

Neon

Stop running and jumping around like an autistic.

You will never be able to nail those neon edits that you saw on tiktok. You look like an idiot while running towards enemy and dying first.

I hate her ult.

Raze

You are a child. A problematic one indeed.

Probably siblings with jett mains.

I bet even i could do better satcheling than you. (i have never played raze)

Reyna

I have no words.

Stop instalocking her. You are no useful.

Either top frag and smurf or bottom frag because your friends said that she is strong and you should play her. (0/11 powerspike. Yasuo of valorant.)

Skye

Just like kay/o and yoru. But that flash will hit the whole 10 that plays the game.

PLEASE HEAL I BEG YOU YOU HAVE HEAL PLEASE PRESS C PLEASEEEEEEE

Deserved nerfs tbh.

#valorant #headcanon #brimstone #chamber #chyper #deadlock #fade #iso #jett #kay/o #killjoy #omen #phoenix #sage #sova #viper #yoru #astra #breach #gekko #harbor #neon #raze #reyna #skye

[chryspoeia]

@pennedpersona​

    “ well-- I’m not a DOCTOR.  Ah, I’m not even that well versed in modern science to be honest with you.  I’m an Editor for a publishing company-- so I read a lot and research things I would need to know in order to be sure all those books are in order before they’re published but-- no, I suppose I don’t know much about what you’re asking.  I am of course very familiar with your story, but that’s not really the same thing as a knowledge of the science behind it.  Sorry. “  && Cecil sets the tray of tea down before him with a hum.  Nature of Duality-- he is perhaps more pessimistic than DUALITY.  He isn’t sure there is a good in humanity for an evil to counter.  Perhaps they are simply evil. 

#pennedpersona #c. assassin || jekyll && hyde #v / ( two. ) — trade it all for love but he's caught in the crossfire ( fate. ) #hope this iso kay~

[pangolin-404]

ALL 73 JAZZPUNK TERRITORIES AND THEIR REAL-WORLD EQUIVALENT(S) (I HOPE) (brought to you by the Expedition theme driving me up the wall and staring at world maps so hard I can’t look at Kazakhstan and surrounding countries ever again without thinking of Turbostan)

United Partitions of Brazilia (Brazil + Colombia and Venezuela)

Parabola (Paraguay)

Tangentina (Argentina)

Guyanalog (Guyana)

Gate of Ecuanor (Ecuador + Peru)

Panarama (Panama)

Cape Horn (Chili)

Frag Grenada (Lesser Antilles)

E. Honduras (Central America)

Port Au Parallel (Haiti + Dominican Republic)

Bayamahas (Bahamas)

Salsa Lessons (Cuba)

Mechsico (Mexico)

United Prefectures of Japanada (US + Canads)

Bad Sector (Baffin Island, Canada)

New Frost York (Greenland)

Serial Portugal (Macronesia)

Irewall (Ireland)

Text-To-Spain (Spain)

Country Formerly Known As France (France)

Nether Regions (Netherlands + Belgium)

Germanium (Germany + Switz + Part of Austria)

Vatican Tube (Italy)

Transistor Sylvania (Czech Republic + Slovakia + part of Austria + Slovenia + Croatia + Bosnia + Serbia)

Thermal Greece (Greece + Turkey + Bulgaria + Romania)

Mechanical Turk (Turkey; see above)

Stockholm Syndrome (Sweden)

Xorway (Norway)

CMOScow (Moscow, Russia)

Cyberia (Syberia, Russia, see above)

Turbostan (Kazakhstan + Uzbekistan + Turkmenistan + Kyrgyzstan + Tajikistan)

Packetstan (Pakistan)

iRAN (Iran)

Industrael (Israel + Lebanon + Syria + Iraq + Jordan + Saudi Arabia + Yemen + Oman + United Arab Emirates)

Electric Qatar (see above)

Free Tibet* *with every purchase (Tibet)

Quad Korea (North Korea + South Korea + parts of China and Russia, possibly Japan)

NANDjing (Nanchang, China)

Telekong (Hong Kong, China)

Formosfet (Taiwan)

Ball Bering Strait (Bering Strait)

Master Bhutan Record (India + Nepal)

India Gamia (India + Bangladesh,  see above)

Siri Lanka (Sri Lanka)

ThaiLAN Party (Thailand + Cambodia + Vietnam + Myanmar + parts of Malaysia)

The Quarantines (Philippines)

Orangutan Penal Colony (Indonesia + parts of Malaysia)

Democratic Republic of Doctor Moreau (Papua New Guinea, parts of Indonesia)

Beyond Thunderdome (Australia)

Thunderdome (Australia)

Island of Discarded E.T. Cartridges (New Zealand)

Kai Tak Resort (Polynesia, possibly)

Fiji Film (Polynesia)

Polygonesia (see above)

The Cube™ (n/a, in the Pacific Ocean)

Robotswana (South Africa + Botswana + Lesotho + Eswatini)

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad Gascar (Madagascar + Réunion + Mauritius)

Hadokenya (Tanzania + Rwanda + Burundi)

Congo Line (Democratic Republic of the Congo + Zambia + Zimbabwe + Botswana)

Nikon Cameroon (Cameroon + Equatorial Guinea + Gabon)

.ISO Malia (Somalia)

Sedan (Sudan + South Sudan)

Ataria (Chad)

Higher Volta (Burkina + Ghana + possibly Togo)

Control Group (Côte D'ivoire + Mali)

Test Group (Senegal + Gambia + Guinea + Guinea Bissau + Sierra Leone + Liberia)

Algebra (Algeria + Tunisia)

Morocca (Morocco)

Mummyboard (Egypt)

Metaterranean Sea (Mediterranean Sea)

Death (Antarctica)

Absolute Zero (see above)

Unallocated Space (see above)

#thoughts #jazzpunk posting #jazzpunk #jazzpunk wiki #(this'll go there i just need to slap it all into a graph) #*cracks every bone in my body* my power grows #the key to productivity is forcing myself to keep listening to the expedition theme until i got done #please tell me if I got anything wrong/misspelled anything #etc etc

[r0b0tb0y]

delphineera replied to your post “I was tagged by @thiccflint to do an iso meme, I tag anyone who’s...”

SCREAMINGGGGG I was actually thinking/hoping that Mando can have a cameo in the Cassian series Disney is developing... I think you can speak it into existence with your fic ������

It’s gonna be interesting! I have some rough notes on how it could work: could be spoilery for anyone who wants to read it in its final form. But this is some stuff I need to workshop if anyone wants to help!

Mando would be a couple of years younger than Cassian, and I’m curious to explore what he was like in his 20s. I think a little more fiery, angry at the Empire. Less experience, no beskar, but maybe more willing to improvise. The hardest thing is finding ways for him to believably open up to Cassian. (ETA: apparently Cassian is meant to be 26 during the events of Rogue One? lol he’s lived a hard life)

I don’t have the energy for a slowburn, but I can’t see either of them getting comfortable enough with each other to consider hooking up otherwise. I really like the idea of sharing a cell, for the privacy concerns this would bring up for Mando and Cassian’s anxiety about his mission/a rescue/Kay. Perpetual darkness might be interesting as a psychological technique that both of them ultimately work to their advantage.

Kay would be a dealbreaker for Mando, so I’m considering bringing him in late in the story to throw a curveball. I don’t know how far to take Mando’s fear of droids (especially a younger Mando), but that could create some really interesting vulnerability. I also need to decide whether Mando has his weapons, and how it affects him if he doesn’t.

Cassian is tricky to write as a POV character, but they’re both so closed-off it’s no easy choice. That’s probably the biggest roadblock in the story: balancing the intimacy of their situation with all the things Cassian wouldn’t disclose to Mando or the reader (I’ve got something in my head for this that I don’t want to say yet, in case it does turn into a workable fic).

#delphineera #fic #star wars #once again i've got a killer ending in mind and that's what i need to get started #fairweather friends

[suosims]

The Clements Legacy Chapter One, Part 3

When monday morning finally came, Claude was very excited to start his school day. He remembered the teacher saying that today they would start learning about the Solar System, which excited him a lot - he loved learning about space and all what could lie there beyond humans reach, and secretly even hoped to become a astronaut one day. It was one of those things he daydreamed about in his little caravan when there was nothing else to do. He’d be a space ranger, fighting evil aliens and discovering new planets in his awesome rocket ship, somewhere far far away from this boring old town... Strangerville was a great town for stargazing, not a lot of light pollution and a great view of the Milky Way. So, when you take all this to account, you could say he was pretty pumped up when he heard what their next big school project would be. They were to build their very own Solar System! They had the whole week to finish crafting it by themselves - and ofcourse, with the help from their parents.

When Claude got back from school, his excitement shifted to anxiousness. Would his mom be able to help him at all? He feared he couldn’t finish the project in time all by himself. He really wanted to do good job, given his perfectionist trait, but at the same time he knew he could be really slow with these things.

Claude ran up the stairs into the trailer, and got greeted with a familiar sensation - the air reeked of alcohol and his mom, Amberly, was sleeping on the couch, TV blairing in the background. She woke up when Cloude shut the door. “Oh Claude, you are back already? Now why don’t you go play outside, mommy is tired.” She yawned and reached towards the remote control, closing the TV: “Actually, mom... I was wondering if you could help me with... a school thing? It’s really no big deal, it’s just that I have to finish it quickly...” Claudes voice trailed off while he watched his mother’s face grow irritated. “Really, another school project? Those teachers of yours really need to chill with the work they give you...” She got up from the couch with a sigh. “I’m going to head to the pub with Dolores later, but I suppose I can help for a little while.”

(In Finnish below, suomeksi alempana)

Clementsien perintö, ensimmäinen luku, osa 3.

Kun maanantaiaamu vihdoin koitti, Claude oli hyvin innoissaan alkavasta koulupäivästä. Hän muisti, että opettaja oli sanonut heille viime viikolla, että tänään he aloittaisivat opinnot Aurinkokunnasta. Claude oli siitä innoissaan, sillä hän rakasti avaruutta ja kaikkia niitä mahdollisia kummallisuuksia, mitä ihmiset eivät olleet vielä löytäneet. Claude jopa haaveili salaa astronautin ammatista. Se oli yksi niistä asioista joista hän haaveili niinä päivinä, joina vaunussa ei ollut mitään muuta tekemistä. Hänestä olisi avaruusseikkailija, joka tappelisi pahoja alieneita vastaan ja löytäisi uusia planeettoja hänen hienolla raketillaan, jossain hyvin hyvin kaukana tästä tylsästä, vanhasta kylästä... Starngerville oli hyvä kaupunki tähtien katseluun, koska kaupunki ei tuottanut paljoa valosaastetta ja Linnunrata näkyi upeasti. Eli, kun huomioidaan tämä kaikki, ei ollut ihme, että kun Claude sai tietää että he rakentaisivat ihka omat Aurinkokuntansa, hän oli hyvin innoissaan. Heillä olisi viikko aikaa rakentaa ne, tietysti vanhempiensa avustuksella.

Kun Claude palasi kotiin, hänen innostuksensa muuttui jännitykseksi. Pystyisikö hänen äitinsä auttamaan häntä ollenkaan? Claude pelkäsi, ettei hän saisi projektia valmiiksi tarpeeksi nopeasti aivan yksinään. Hän todella halusi tehdä hyvää työtä, olihan hän perfektionisti, mutta samaan aikaan hän tiesi olevansa aika hidas näissä asioissa.

Claude juoksi portaat ylös asuntovaunuun, jossa häntä tervehti tuttu aistimus - vaunun ilma haisi alkoholilta, ja hänen äitinsä, Amberly, oli nukahtanut sohvalle TVn pauhatessa taustalla. Hän heräsi, kun Claude laittoi oven kiinni. “Ai Claude, pääsit jo kotiin asti? Menepäs vähäksi aikaa ulos leikkimään, äitiä väsyttää.” Amberly haukotteli ja kurotti kohti kaukosäädintä, laittaen TVn pois päältä. “Oikeastaan, äiti... mä ajattelin jos voisit auttaa mua yhdessä koulujutussa? Se ei oo mikään iso juttu mutta... mun pitäis saada tehtyä se nopeesti...” Clauden ääni hiljeni, kun hän katsoi äitinsä ilmeen muuttuvan ärsyyntyneeksi. “Oikeastikko, taas yksi kouluprojekti? Ne teidän opettajat voisi vähän rauhoittua niiden koulutehtäviensä kanssa.” hän huokaisi ja nousi sohvalta. “Lähden illalla pubiin Doloresin kanssa, mutta kai voin auttaa sinua vähän aikaa.”

#ts4 #thesims4 #the sims 4 #ts4 legacy challnege #clementslegacy #strangerville

[skyflyinginaction]

Assassination classroom: Class E classmates name meanings

In case if you didn’t know if I didn’t add the names its because I didn’t know what kanji with hiragana and katakana to use for there names

Yūma Isogai 磯貝 悠馬 Yuu (悠) means "distant, leisurely,permanence” ma (馬) means “horse” Iso (磯) means “seashore” gai (貝) is an abbreviation of “kai” means “shellfish”

Taiga Okajima 岡島 大河 Tai (大) means large or big and ga (河) is an abbreviation of ka means “river” together means “big river” Oka (岡) means “hill” jima(島) is the abbreviation of shima means “island”

Hinata Okano 岡野 ひなた Oka (岡) means “hill” and no means “an area, field”

Manami Okuda 奥田 愛美 mana (愛) means “love, affection” and mi (美) means "beauty" together means “affectionate love” oku (奥) means “inside,inner depths,one's heart, true feelings, heart, interior” and da (田) means “rice paddy”

Megu Kataoka 片岡 メグ Kata (片) means “one part of a pair” oka (岡) means “hill”.

Yukiko Kanzaki 神崎 有希子 Yu (有) means “possession” ki (希) means “hope” and ko (子) means “child” Kan (神) means “a deity or god” and zaki (崎) the abbreviation of saki means “peninsula; promontory; cape; spit”

Masayoshi Kimura 木村 正義 Masayoshi (正義) means “justice” in kanji his real name Justice so the kanji is used to fit it. Ki (木) means “tree” and mura (村) means “village”

Hinano Kurahashi 倉橋 陽菜乃 Hi (陽) means “the sun”, na (菜) means "vegetables, greens" and no (乃) is “a possessive particle” means “of” Kura (倉) means ”Storehouse”and hashi (橋) means “bridge”

Sōsuke Sugaya 菅谷 創介 So (創) means "genesis, hurt, injury, originate, start, wound" and suke (介) means "concern oneself with, jammed in, mediate, shellfish”. Suge (菅) means “sedge” and ya (谷) means “valley”.

Tomohito Sugino 杉野 友人 Tomo (友) means “friend” and hito (人) means “person” Sugi (杉) means “a Japanese cedar” and no (野) means “an area, field”

Kōtarō Takebayashi 竹林 孝太郎 Ko (孝) means “filial piety,mourning” and taro (太郎) means “eldest son or strong, heroic, masculine” used at the end of boys names Take (竹) means “bamboo” and bayashi (林) is the is the abbreviation of hayashi means “woods”

Ryūnosuke Chiba 千葉 龍之介 Ryu (龍) means "dragon”,no (之) means “a possessive marker” and suke (介) means "forerunner, herald" Chi (千) means “thousand” and ba (葉) the abbreviation of ha means “leaf” all together means "thousand leaves"

Ryōma Terasaka 寺坂 竜馬 Ryo (竜) means “dragon”, ma (馬) means “horse” together means “Dragon and horse” Tera (寺) means “a Buddhist temple”, saka (坂) means “slope, hill”

Rio Nakamura 中村 莉桜 Ri (莉) means "white jasmine" o (桜) means "cherry blossom" Naka (中) means “middle” and mura (村) means “village”

Kirara Hazama 狭間 綺羅々 Ki (綺) means “thin twilled silk fabric”, ra (羅) means “lightweight fabric” and ra (々) is a repeater of ra Kirara means something that is “like twinkle or something shiny” (キララ) Hazu (狭) means “cramped, narrow, contract, tight” and ma (間) means “space and room”

Rinka Hayami 速水 凛香 Rin (凛) means “dignified,severe, cold” and ka (香) means “a pleasant smell; a scent, a fragrance, an aroma” Haya (速) means “fast, speedy” and mi (水) means “water”

Sumire Hara 原 寿美鈴 Su (寿) means “longevity, long life,congratulations”, mi (美) means “beauty” and re (鈴) means “a bell, chime” Hara (原) means “meadow, plain, field”

Yuzuki Fuwa 不破 優月 Yu means “tenderness, excel, surpass, actor, superiority, gentleness” and zuki means “moon” together means “Tender moon”. Fu means “un-; non-; negative prefix” and wa means “break,cut”

Hiroto Maehara 前原 陽斗 Hiro means “the sun” and to means “Big Dipper, ten sho (vol), sake dipper, dots and cross radical (no. 68) ” Mae means “the front” and Hara (原) means “meadow, plain, field”

Kōki Mimura 三村 航輝 Ko (航) means “navigate, sail, cruise, fly” and ki (輝) means “radiance, shine, sparkle, gleam, twinkle” Mi (三) means “three” and mura (村) means “village”

Takuya Muramatsu 村松 拓哉 Taku (拓) means "expand, open, support" and ya (哉) “an exclamation” Mura (村) means “village” and matsu (松) means “a pine tree”

Tōka Yada 矢田 桃花 To means “peach” and ka means “flower” Ya (矢) means “arrow” and da (田) means “rice paddy”

Taisei Yoshida 吉田 大成 Tai (大) means “big or large” and sei (成) means “to become,to do something” Yoshi (吉) means “lucky (or good)” and da (田) means “rice paddy” together means “lucky (or good) rice paddy”

Ritsu 律 Ritsu’s (律) name means “law” her name is taken from Jiritsu (自律) meaning Autonomy

Itona Horibe 堀部 糸成 (イトナ) Ito means “thread” and na (成) means “to become,to do something” Hori means “ditch, canal,moat” and be means “section, bureau, dept, class, copy, part, portion, counter for copies of a newspaper or magazine”

#ansatsu kyoushitsu #assassination classroom #name meaning #names

[cephalo-trio]

Deepsea Escape Part 4

A Splatoon 2 Story written by Splat-Tendency

Starring: Lexi Camellia (POV)

((Lexi was on her way to deliver the last mail at first, and then she wakes up in the underground subway station. She has no clue where she is or how is she going to get back to the surface. She has no choice, but to venture through this abandoned station alone.))

I stared restlessly at the Mem Cakes that I've collected so far. I was back at the main station to buy something out of the vending machine. The tests are rather tedious at first, but they were enjoyable to pass. Either if it's pushing the 8-ball to the goal or a Ranked mode, I had no trouble. I managed to find one of the four thangs in Line B. The telephone seemed pleased that I brought it over to the Deepsea Metro.

As I continued snacking on a bag of BBQ chips with a cold bottle of water, one of the passengers in the train stepped out for some fresh air. He was tall and well-groomed. Pretty much like a businessman.

"Excuse me, young squire. I can't help, but notice the little trinkets you were carrying." The suave isopod sat down next to me. ("I hope, I'm not too off putting to the young lady.")

"Huh..? Oh! Yeah, these Mem Cakes are like collectables.." I was startled a bit when the isopod caught a glimpse of a Mem Cake that I collected. "These memories of mine are from my visit to Inkopolis.. Some memories are from 3 years ago..."

The isopod strokes his whiskers and nodded. "I see.. I used to be an applicant like you.. Riding through the deep underground and hoping to taste sweet freedom. Unfortunately, I discontinued the thrill of collecting memories.."

"Sorry to hear that, Mr. uh....." I paused mid-sentence to the tall isopod.

"Call me Iso Padre, young squire. That's what everyone calls me, nowadays. A pleasure to meet you." Iso Padre shakes hands with me. "If you find anymore Mem Cakes, you know where to find me where I keep my stuffed toys." He got up from the bench and went back inside.

I stared down at the Mem Cake in my hand. "Guess, I better get back to completing those tests.." I finished eating my chips and went back to the train.

I returned to meet Cuttlefish until I heard his conversation with Pearl and Marina. Just what are they talking about while I was returning that thang.

"I hope Agent 8 is doing okay.. After a few tests, she didn't say much.." Cuttlefish looked concerned for me.

"Maybe, the tests are a bit hard on her.." Marina responds through Agent 3's walkie talkie. "If she does come back, try to cheer her up. She's having a hard time.." Marina was analyzing the new lines that I will be heading too.

I remained silent and avoided eye contact with the captain. They shouldn't be worried about me all the time whenever I pass half of the tests. Cuttlefish's attention was fixated on me as I walked passed him.

"How was your short break, Agent 8?" Cuttlefish got up from his seat. "You did a great job collecting one of those doohickies. Just three left and we'll be outta here in no time!" Cuttlefish was concerned at first, but he is putting on a smile.

"Yeah.. Thanks a lot, Captain.. Even though I'm a tad hasty.." I turned around and faked a smile. "Is Marina still keeping tabs on the system..?" My back was facing against the sliding door. I just needed to get through Line D and move on from there.

"She still is! She said if you need help passing the test, she'll use her tech skills to hack the system an-" As soon as Cuttlefish finished, I interrupted him.

T-That's not necessary, Cap'n.. I don't need her help to hack in order to pass.. It's pretty much cheating your way out.. Besides, I'll find another way to pass.." Even if Marina hacked the system, I won't be able to prove to have what it takes to live in Inkling society.

Cutterfish stares at me for a few seconds until he nods in agreement. "Understandable, Eight. Just be careful out there." Cuttlefish let me off the hook for now.

I responded with a salute and walked to the next train cable where C.Q is standing. He's waiting for me to travel to the next test in the D-Line. "Can you take me to err..." I checked the map on my CQ-80 and noticed the station in between Line D and J. "Girl Power Station..?"

C.Q Cumber nods in response. "Understood. For this test, you must defend the orb until time runs out. Be weary because they are other enemies trying to destroy the orb. Are you up for the the challenge?" He asked before making the call.

"I have no time to waste.. I must pass the rest of the tests in order to escape.. I'll be fine out there, kay? How bad can it be?" I gained a bit of confidence before CQ gives the operator the signal to the next station.

Meanwhile in the surface world, Marina looks rather worried. "W-What..?! She's alright with this..?!" The tall octoling kept tabs on the map.

"Afraid so, Marina.. She's going to the stop at the next station. Which is between Line D and J.." Cuttlefish was peeking through the sliding door window while speaking to Marina through the phone. "Agent 8 is her way to Girl Power Station.. If she's in trouble, you know what to do."

Suddenly, Pearl swiped the phone from Marina's hand. "Don't sweat it, Cap'. You have seen Eight kicking ass out there! She'll be fine on this one!" Then, Marina took the phone back and scowls at Pearl until she sighed.

"Yeah.. I'll still keep in touch with you, Mr. Cuttlefish.. I'm just worried about her, y'know.. I'll call you, later.." She hung up the phone and went back to her laptop.

2 minutes later..

"Whoa.. That's a lot of weapons to choose from.." I stared through the glass and saw the entire weapon category in front of her.

"You may choose any weapon that is suitable for you. Once you're finished, step on the launch pad." C.Q will be keeping an eye on the battlefield.

There are 9 weapons to choose from. Something that Sheldon keeps in his display shelf everyday. "I can do well with dualies, but I'm might be comfortable to use a melee weapon..." I looked at the two melee weapons: the Splat Roller and the Octobrush. I stared deeply at the Octobrush, feeling a bit uneasy after what I horribly did in the past. "This is the weapon that Fynn uses most of the time... I hope, I didn't hit him too hard to get a concusion..."

I grabbed the Octobrush in my hands and made it towards the launch pad. "Now, I have to defend the orb and I'll pass this test. But, what am I defending the orb from...?" That was when a couple of sanitized Octolings appeared. They seem to be waiting for me to land. "Shit.."

Suddenly, Marina immediately contacts me through the phone. "Eight, it looks like you're in for the fight for your life.. I will be contacting you while Cuttlefish is away." Marina started analyzing the test on her personal laptop.

"Ms. Marina, right..? You said that there are no vital signs..? If so, then how are they moving..?" Along the way, I've encountered a number of those guys including the Octotroops in the chamber. They must've been trapped down here before I fell in.

"I have no idea.. Maybe, they're under control by someone.. I'm trying the best I can to get to the bottom of this. Right now, you need to pass this test." Marina has a bad feeling about this, but she still has faith in my abilities.

I arrived into the battlefield where the orb is located. Around me, there are also a number of special weapons and 2 armor cases. It didn't take too long to choose a special weapon. If they doo get too close to the orb, I can try to push them away from me with Splashdown.

As one of the sanitized octoling landed on the other side of the field, I quickly went for the two armor cases. I have to be fully equipped before they arrive. "I-I'm sorry for what I have to do...." I charged into battle, regretting my decision. They're not themselves anymore.

A few strokes from the brush caused the poor octoling to burst into a puddle of my own ink. My body felt cold when she screeched in a glitchy, yet eerie tone. I just want to get this over with and finish the job.

I looked up at the number of octolings. They're all staring, dead at me as I'm defending the orb. I felt a cold sweat, running down my cheek. I wish I could look away, but it feels like they're staring into my soul. I slowly backed away to look out for more intruders, but someone's blocking my path. As I turned around, there are two octolings right behind me.

"You seem nervous..." The octoling on the left speaks as I yelped in suprise. There was two octolings behind me and I was careless about my surroundings.

"H-How did you get here so fast..!?" I cried. She must've got here so quickly, while I took out one of the attackers. Something about her looks vaguely familiar. The sanitized octoling was sporting a white ribbon around her ponytail.

"...If I were you, I'd check the orb..." She pointed to the direction to the orb in the middle. I could hear a loud pinging.

I looked over at the orb and my eyes widdened in panic. "S-Someone's attacking the orb..!!" I quickly ran past her and caught up to the orb. There was another octoling. Just like the white ribboned octoling, she has two black ribbons on her twintacles. She continuously hammered down on the orb with her roller.

"Hey! Knock it off!!" I lunged at the attacker and started to flail around with the Octobrush. Suddenly, the octoling looked at with a grin on her face. That was when I hesitated again. I have no idea why, but it feels like I've known them in the past.

"Tooooo late~" She responds as she immediately destroyed the orb. She giggled as she watched the orb explode in a huge puddle of unstable ink.

Then C.Q spoke through the intercom to me and said: "The orb is destroyed. You have failed the test, No. 10008." For those who have failed the test, C.Q will detonate the air bag that is strapped to my ink tank. This happened to me, 3 times already.

The air bag started to inflate. The beeping started to get louder in my ear as was panicking. "N-No!! C.Q, wai-!!" I was cut off as the air bag exploded and splatted me in a puddle of their sanitized ink. All was left was my clothes and weapon on the ground. I could hear the twin tailed octoling was applauding for the quick fireworks show.

"Agent 8!! Are you alright?!" As soon as I respawned, Marina cried in my ear. I groaned and dust myself off.

"I'm fine.... Turns out that two sanitized octolings are keeping me from protecting that orb... ow...." I felt a sharp pain on my back after the inksplosion. "That damn cucumber...." I hissed as I felt my backside. It left a huge mark on my back.

"Maybe the weapon you're choosing isn't going to help.. You might need some weapon to protect yourself with.. Like the Splat Brella!" Marina suggested. "You've heard of it, right? If you hold your shield longer, the sheild will launch itself but it leaves you vulnerable.."

I found the Splat Brella can in front of me. If Marina's right on this one, I might have a chance to clear test. "I did use this weapon before, but I'm no good at it..." The can opened and I see the Splat Brella in my hands.

"It won't hurt to try, 8. Maybe someday, you'll become a pro with this weapon once me and Pearl get you outta here! I hope you survive the inevitable.. I... No... Me, Pearl, and Cuttlefish are counting on you! Good luck." Marina ends the transmission for now.

I proudly nodded. At least this test is kind enough to give me only five tries for this kind of test. "The twins.. I'm starting to recognize them.. I can't let them get into my head.." I went back into the battlefield and tried again.

The sanitized twins both stared at me from afar. "....It looks like she chose another weapon.. No matter... She'll soon fail..." The first twin with the white ribbon is the calm and collected of the bunch. Her go-to weapon is the Octo Roller.

"I don't have all damn day, y'know...." I hissed in response. The twin octolings are about to make their move and I have to focus on the objective. I still have a minute to protect that orb.

"Try as you might, but you can't win....." The white-ribboned girl lunged at me with her own roller. The other twin is trying to cornered me. "I got her blind spot, sis~!" The other twin cackled.

I sighed in annoyance. If they're trying to get me to fail, then it won't work twice. Without doing anything, I morped into an octopus and snuck out of harm's way. As a result, they both crashed into each other.

I morped back to see the twins on the ground. They were both stunned from the collison. I wonder if they still feel pain from that impact since they have no vital signs.

Before they could get up back up, I splatted the twins with a wide spread of ink. My eyes widened when I first fired that thing. "So, this is the power of the Brella that Marina was talking about.. Not bad.." The orb is still unharmed for now, I still have enough time to prepare myself for the other guards to attack the orb.

It was their queue to charge into the battlefield, now that the twins have been dealt with. It appears that I'm not the only one who uses special weapons. Nonetheless, they're doomed either way as I splatted them one by one. I just want this test to be done with, so I can lay down in the train.

30 minutes later of protecting the orb, Marina contacted me through the phone again. "I think, that's all of them.. You can rest now, Agent 8.." Marina felt relieved. "So, how's the Splat Brella treating you?"

I stared at the new weapon as the timer ran out. "It feels different.. It's not something to get use to, yet.. But, I did like it." Since the orb is safe and sound, I can finally go back.

"Great! Cap'n will be back, momentarily. Get some rest while you still can, mkay?" Marina ended the transmission.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my back like before. The explosion from earlier made it worse on my back and was unable to keep my balance. I reached hand to feel my back and something wet touched my fingers. At first, I thought it was the cyan ink from the airbag, but it wasn't. As I stopped feeling my backside, I stared at my fingers. Instead of the ink from the explosion from earlier, it was my own blood.

"M-My back is bleeding..." I trembled at the sight of my own blood. The impact must have wounded my back and I didn't notice it during my 2nd attempt. I felt really light-headed as my back won't stop bleeding.

"A-Agent 8..!! What's wrong?! Please, answer me..!!" I could hear Marina contactating me through the earpiece.

"I-I... can't move... So.. tired.." I'm starting to lose my balance. All Marina could hear was a loud thud as I collapsed on the ground near the orb.

"AGENT 8!!!!" Marina screamed as I laid there, still bleeding from my back.

I don't want it to end like this. If I hadn't fell down that hole in Mt. Nantai, I would be still safe and away from the underground subway. But still, my father would be still missing for decades. Before I slowly closed my eyes, the sanitized twins stared at me as I lost consciousness. "H-Help...me.." I called out for help as my vision fades to black.

The twins were hesitant at first until they decide to carry me to cod knows where. If only my friends were here to get me out of this mess.

To Be Continued...

#;;lexi #;;agent 8 #;;plot: deepsea escape

[adoptabledogs]

Daisy

Hello, my name is Daisy. My animal id is #57388. I am a desexed female brown dog at the Brooklyn Animal Care Center. The shelter thinks I am about 2 years 4 months 1 weeks old.

I came into the shelter as a owner surrender on 11/12/2019, with the surrender reason stated as animal behavior - too fearful.

Sorry, this pet is for new hope partners only.

Daisy is at risk for behavioral concerns. Daisy remains highly fearful in the care center and allows only minimal handling, observed on multiple occasions. We feel she would be best set up to succeed if placed with an experienced rescue partner who can allow her to acclimate and decompress at her own pace. There are no medical concerns for her at this time.

You may know me from such films as...

Kai 80884 & Daisy 57388 | Kai falls for Daisy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTgUkb8B9ME&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0yrgZiOjxIRH_EqRUKJ8LG8hN2yt9l9oNrIMpFIq8eo8B3AsBDhaYtiJ0

Our Blooming Daisy in play group with senior Milky Way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YcRg-mtAvc

Daisy 57388 🌸🎾

https://youtu.be/qPK31EdyKZs

When Zoomies Hit And You Can´t Resist!

Feat. Milky Way

https://youtu.be/3YcRg-mtAvc

Daisy sees her favorite person & spins like a top!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkfRt6Z9dPA

Daisy <3

https://youtu.be/gRL8gT5qiCk

Daisy splish splashing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZdrfbQiJ24

Love is in the air <3 Playtime!!! Daisy, Carey and Skippy https://youtu.be/0M0t0MKN7Zk

Let's get to know each other a bit more...

A volunteer writes: Sweet mama Daisy!! This girl's heart is so big - almost as big as that long tongue she wants to kiss you with! Daisy takes a while to warm up to new people and places, but once she does she is soooo affectionate and friendly! Everyone in the care center knows and loves her; when I take her out for a walk she has so much fun greeting and loving on all her human friends! When with other dogs, she may persistently solicit play, so our Behavior Department recommends that Daisy be placed in a home with tolerant resident dogs that are comfortable with her high energy play style. Daisy has so much spirit and so much love to give - will you be the special human she gets to share it with furever?!

My medical notes are...

Weight: 70.8 lbs

Vet Notes

Post Surgery Note

3/18/2019

DVM Intake Exam

Estimated age: 2yrs

Microchip noted on Intake? no

Microchip Number (If Applicable):

History: O/S

Subjective: Dog is Q/BARH

Observed Behavior - fearful (whale eyed, tail tucked, startles at loud noises), muzzled as precaution for exam, allows handling with minimal restraint

Evidence of Cruelty seen - no

Evidence of Trauma seen - no

Objective

T = NA

P = 150

R = 30

BCS 5/9

EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted

Oral Exam: Grade 1/4 dental dz

PLN: No enlargements noted

H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic

ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated

U/G: Female intact, mammary development, lactating

MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, partial alopecia along dorsum, no associated erythema or dermatitis

CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities

Rectal: Externally normal

Assessment: Lactating (rule-out post partum vs pseudopregnancy), Alopecia

Prognosis:

Good

Plan: Acceptable candidate for adoption or rescue pending behavior evaluation

SURGERY:

Okay for surgery

3/26/2019

Progress exam-New CIRDC noted on rounds

History: Intake 3/18-lactating, alopecia

Subjective: BARH. Coughing and sneezing.

Objective :

P = wnl

R = wnl

BCS 4/9

EENT: serous nasal d/c bilaterally, no ocular d/c ou

PLN: No enlargements noted

H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupneic but coughing and sneezing

ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated

U/G: FI, no vulvar d/c, no MGTs, pendulous teats

MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, good haircoat with alopecia between shoulder blades

CNS: mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities

Assessment:

CIRDC

Alopecia between shoulder blades r/o allergies vs drug rxn vs other, not bothering her at this time

Plan:

Start baytril 10mg/kg PO SID x14d until 4/9

Recheck at day 7

Move to iso

Prognosis: Good

4/2/2019

History

3/18: Intake, owner surrender. Diagnosed with alopecia, lactating

3/26: CIRDC, baytril 10 mg/kg PO SID x 14 days (until 4/9), moved to iso

S: BARH, wags tail and comes to front of kennel, low growl once. No v/d noted.

O:

EENT: Eyes clear, mild serous nasal discharge and sniffling noted

H/L: No coughing/sneezing, eupneic, normal respiratory rate/effort

ABD: No obvious distention

MSI: Ambulatory x 4, alopecia between shoulders dorsally, BCS 5/9

CNS: Mentation appropriate, no signs of neurologic abnormalities

Assessment:

CIRDC

Alopecia

Plan:

Continue baytril 10 mg/kg PO SID until 4/9

Recheck day 10

4/5/2019

Hx:

3/18: Intake. Diagnosed with alopecia, lactating

3/26: CIRDC, baytril 10 mg/kg PO SID x 14 days (until 4/9), moved to iso

SO: BARH, timid but attention seeking. No csvd. fair appetite and unremarkable elimination

EENT: Eyes clear, Ears clean, no noted discharge

H/L: eupneic, normal respiratory rate/effort

ABD: No obvious distention

MSI: Ambulatory x 4, alopecia between shoulders dorsally

CNS: Mentation appropriate, no signs of neurologic abnormalities

Assessment:

CIRDC - resolved

Alopecia

Prog good

P:

Continue baytril 10 mg/kg PO SID until 4/9 - no need to redose after

4/11/2019

pre op exam

Estimated age:1.5 yr

Subjective:owner surrender

Observed Behavior - wary

Objective BARH mm pink

P = WNL

R = WNL

BCS 5/9

EENT: Eyes clear, ears clipped, no nasal or ocular discharge noted

Oral Exam: clean adult dentition

PLN: No enlargements noted

H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic

ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated

U/G: developed, hyperplastic MG and teats, no MGT

MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat

CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities

Rectal: not performed

Assessment

healthy

post partum 2-3 months ago

Prognosis:excellent

Plan:

OHE

SURGERY:

Okay for surgery

4/11/2019

Dog Spay

Was this dog in heat, pregnant or have a pyometra?

Ventral Midline Incision

Ovaries Ligated with: 0-PDS

Uterine Body Ligated with:0-PDS

Abdominal Closure: 0-PDS

Green Linear Tattoo Placed on Midline

Surgeon: 1204

Additional Comments: engorged dermal vessels

5/1/2019

History

3/18 OS intake, lactating and dorsal alopecia noted

3/26 CIRDC, enrofloxacin

4/5 CIRDC resolved

4/11 spayed

S/O: BARH, whale eyed and tense, but allows all slow handling

EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted

Oral Exam: mm pink, CRT <2, mild tartar

H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic

ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated

U/G: FS, spay site healed well, pendulous MGs, no MGTs palpated

MSI: Ambulatory x 4, healthy hair coat, BCS 5/9

CNS: Mentation appropriate, no signs of neurologic abnormalities

Assessment: Apparently healthy

Plan: Continue to monitor while at BACC

11/13/2019

DVM Intake Exam

Estimated age: 2 years

Microchip noted on Intake? positive

History: return. Previously here 3/18/19-lactating

3/26-started on baytril for CIRDC (resolved 4/5)

4/11-spayed

Subjective: BARH.

Observed Behavior -tense, nervous, whale eyes, head flipping. Muzzled for exam. Expressed anal glands and urinated and was rolling. Limited exam.

Evidence of Cruelty seen - no

Evidence of Trauma seen - no

[dhofberg]

Where does the money go? 11/26/2027

If you have been following the blog, you have already heard some of the stories of the refugees we meet in the clinic. And a bit about the meetings I have been to for Interagency Communication. So by now you probably get it that the flow of money from the EU to the Greek government for the shelter and protection of refugees ( I have heard the number 400 million Euros), is not a stream that is easy for volunteers or refugees or most NGOs to follow.

There are Greek agencies that are set up to help refugees get registered, have health assessments, set dates for asylum interviews. But they ate woefully understaffed. The office in Lesvos that awards asylum seekers an AMKA ( like a social security number), is open a few hours of the day and can process about ten applications a day. There are between 70-150 new arrivals on Lesvos a day, so we are not even counting arrivals to other places in Greece. The medical clinic run by ERCI in Moria can see about 40 patients a day, and if you don’t yet have registration papers, you might have to wait weeks to be seen in a clinic, unless you are deemed an emergency case. Pretty much everyone who has just been through the traumas of fleeing a war torn country, paying smugglers to put them on a perilous journey across the sea, feel that they have some urgent needs. And most of them have some unrealistic expectations about what life will be like when they reach Europe.

Yesterday we finally went back to Moria camp where we had worked in January 2016. You might remember that that was immediately before the transition camp became a detention center because of the Shengen rules applied to asylum seekers when the borders in Europe were closed. We had been told we would never get in there, they no longer allow small NGOs to walk in, so I devised a plan to get in. Because I have been communicating with a dental relief program from U.K. and also a Palestinian dentist at One Happy Family to develop a small dental education program for the children at OHF, I thought she might be able to get me in to the camp the week that her team was coming to Moria to provide emergency dental care there (toothache=extraction).

It turns out the way we got in, was by walking straight in he gate, right in front of three or four Greek policeman, without hesitation, so basically got in on chutzpah. They didn’t stop Michael either who was walking right behind me, so I suppose we looked like we knew what we were doing?

One doesn’t take photographs in the camp as it can endanger refugees, and also probably the reputation of the Greek police and government. It was shocking to see that this place we felt was grim in 2016, was now holding more than three times the number of people ( between 6-7,000), built up with more ISO boxes ( container housing would be a stretch, especially compared with the ones pictured last year in Bremen), small family tents lining every pathway. Some of the areas were orderly and relatively picked up. But many were on a muddy gravely hillside, hopelessly studded with the refuse of living. The cyclone fencing is where clothes drying happens, of that I did take a few pictures.

We made our way through people living their lives in tents, some smiling kids, women carrying basins of water from the bathrooms to wash clothes. We have heard that the water only runs for certain hours, and the shower is usually cold. I can’t think why this is, there is a lot of water on this island. After a quick walk around the camp, we made our way up to the “fourth level”, where the medical clinic has an office. We were able to speak with one of the volunteers there who explained their triage and appointment process. Communication between the health care agencies is really important. We need to know, in Doc Mobiles clinic for instance, if we can refer a patient to a specialist or not. If Doc Mobile is here long enough, and makes the right connections, they might be recognized enough for KEELPNO to accept their referrals. They do accept some from ERCI, so at present, we might refer someone back to the ERCI Moria clinic to be seen and then referred to KEELPNO, who might then be able to do the needed referral. Can you imagine in an American or British health care system, you go to a doctor and they say, yeah you have terrible psoriasis, I’llrefer you to another clinic, where you might have to wait two months to get in, and then they see you and say, yeah, true you have REALLY bad psoriasis, and we will refer you to KEELPNO and they might give you an appointment with the specialist in a few more months.

I use this example, because the fellow I saw with really bad psoriasis, had arrived here a few weeks ago. But he had no medication, and though he had been seen at Moria, they gave home some ineffective low potency steroid creams, which did nothing, and he was near to be kicked out of his tent because his tent mates ( none of them his family or friends, men traveling alone are often forced to share a four person tent with men they don’t know), thought he was contagious.

Doc Mobile has limited funds, but we are seeing 40-50 patients a day and there are times when we can make something work out for a patient like this man. We bought him some of the medication he needs, and on Monday when the pharmacy opens I am hoping to find him the rest. We are trying to find contacts in Kara Tepe ( the camp for more vulnerable persons), and see if there is any way to facilitate his transfer. He needs to be able to bathe his skin regularly to keep it from becoming dangerously infected. I don’t know if we will be successful in getting him relocated, but I know he will get some help from us, and the day after I first saw him he came back to One Happy Family community center and gave me the warmest smile and thanks. There is a gesture that these people use to thank you, the hand over the heart, that is unmistakable in its meaning. And that afternoon I saw him hanging around the construction of the new greenhouse at the center, and by the end of the day he was helping the crew.

One Happy Family Community Center is run and built by and for refugees with the help of Swisscross, Israid, The Hope Project and others. Yesterday they allowed some journalists in on a Saturday afternoon to do some filming and interviewing. There was a photographer from Hamburg, Where Doc Mobile hopes to do some fundraising. I met for the first time in person, Kai Wittstock, the man who conceived and is the main director of Doc Mobile. A gentle, middle aged German guy, with no medical background ( the story of how he started docmobile included in an earlier entry),he successfully persuaded me to stay and see patients on a Saturday when I had planned to stay home to avoid the film crew. The journalist-videographer also put me at my ease when she assured me no patients would be filmed unless they agreed to be and had this explained to them through a translator. I was also interviewed by a journalist from Chicago, I have no idea what paper he works for. He said he’d send me an email letting me know what he wrote, but so far I haven’t heard from him. It will be great if this results in money for Doc Mobile, One Happy Family, Israid.

For my friends and community who have donated money for refugees, this is where it has gone so far. Doc Mobile for medicines I bought in US at Costco and brought with me . Wish I had brought more Prenatal vitamins, melatonin, throat lozenges, things that make people feel cared for when they don’t really need prescriptions. Humans For Humanity for their work bridging the gaps in feeding and clothing new arrivals before they are registered asylum seekers and for being a happy pleasant place for refugees to come and help. To the independent carpenter gang of three who built the Hope Project’s medical clinic at OHF , self funded and now on their way to Serbia to do more ad hoc construction. As more money has come in from home, by Bob’s report, I will also make some donations to OHF especially it applies to the school and dental education, and perhaps to Bashira for contraceptive information. I am honored that I was trusted with these funds, and I feel certain it will all be put to the best use for the benefit of the refugees. ( Okay, the carpenters might use it to fill their truck with petrol to get to Serbia, and maybe a few beers, but that money came out of my wallet anyway).

So that’s where your money goes, wish I could be more clear about where the 400 million Euros goes. Hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend and giving thanks for the roof over your head, a warm bed, a hot shower, and your loved ones close by.

[texasborderbusiness]

Wells Fargo Does it Again, Gifts 5k to United Way

Pictured L-R: Kay Garza, Wells Fargo Bank Branch Manager; Laura Robles, McAllen Chamber of Commerce Latina Hope Representative; Lilly Lopez-Killelea – United Way of South Texas President; Yolanda Gonzalez – Wells Fargo Bank District Manager; Jorge Sanchez – McAllen Chamber of Commerce Latina Hope Representative; Alma Ortega-Johnson – Wells Fargo Bank Region Bank President, and Andy Bravo, Wells…

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#Latina Hope Program #United Way of South Texas #Wells Fargo

[fiifiadinkra]

EXCLUSIVE CLUB GH launches in Accra

EXCLUSIVE CLUB GH launches in Accra

EXCLUSIVE CLUB GH

A new authentic sneaker shop, Exclusive club Ghana have opened for business in Accra.

Located on the Spintex road, Soro Mall, the 100 percent original shop was opened for business last Saturday at a very colourful event.

Check Out : Kay Bryn – Sherry Coco

The shops according to executives’ hope will change the way consumers shop for their favourite sneakers and apparel.

Speaking…

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#EXCLUSIVE CLUB GH #EXCLUSIVE CLUB GH launches in Accra

[bigendering]

This isn't a question, just me being a nerd, but since I'm bigender (woman and nonbinary) and I'm AFAB, I don't really feel trans because my gender isn't GOING anywhere, at least, that's how I feel, but I'd prefer they/them so I'm not cis exactly, so I now use "iso" to describe myself because it comes from isomer and cis and trans are isomer types. aaaanyway, I hope you're having a good day

Ooh I love it! (Biology nerd here)

Would iso be a good term for anyone who doesn’t feel either cis or trans, or for anyone who doesn’t feel cis?

Kai

#anon #trans #cis #iso #terminology #Anonymous

[wandering-neko]

Outpost 11

More adventures of Iso (Isobel) Merrow!

Friday night, we were told we’d ease into the game with some smooth jazz like stuff. We were lied to.  I was over in Sec A hanging out with everyone, when elemental beings started coming in from all sides. I’m not sure if they were Fae or Genie, but they did annoying elemental things, like icing people or burning them. There was something in the ether that kept making faedra berserk, so i was caught a couple times. Lucky GoGo has a shield and i really didn’t have anything of substance. It was kinda funny. I’m honestly not sure what happened later friday XP

That morning, we were forced by Envy’s hand to kill all of our civilian friends. They were terrified of us after that. We tried to rangle some freed goats. We freed a Genie from a tyrant of a king, spent the day killing Loki’s generals, and that night, we faced loki. When there was some down time, i reached out to Valentine. we hadn’t chatted much, but I wanted to help if i could. They needed more ritual casters. it was clear that i would first need a patron, and that would be whenever the next time there was a fae around who’d want to teach me. But when i asked if he could, as he spoke as a master of the art, he had to think about it. He vouched for me and gave me the first tools, and i was going to help that night. I was excited, and nervous, to be given such a task. We started defending against Loki’s elemental beings and Krampus. Then thunder struck down and Odin appeared, and granted us all to be Asgardians. I was sent with Kay to the Mess Hall to collect blue orbs. We snuck off,by the grace of .. well perhaps ourselves! as asgardians, that we were not followed or attacked as we snuck off the battlefield. We made it up and set the circle, then hid in the shadows, waiting.

Soon, we both saw glowing and jingling. I recognized them as my teammates, Matt and Lt Athena! And Doc Scully, Faith and Emmy were there too. We came out.. and realized they were with Loki. Loki informed us they were his body guards. It seemed to me there was some sort of accord. So we chatted. I stayed in my circle. and realized that Kay had left, assuming all was safe. They had been commanded. And i was alone. Faith broke first, and informed me while maintaining the charade. So .. we did. During the conversation it became clear that Kay had left, Loki decided to grant me HIS body guards! and broke the command! I was so relieved. Athena had gone back in form to tell people what was up, Emmy left (i forget why). But it was Doc Scully, Faith, and Powers just.. waiting. Then Kay came back out of no where with an orb!! We pinned Loki away from the circle.. Faith and Powers had fun with the punching bag. Then Nicolai came out with the 2nd orb! not long after Caleb came with the 3rd.  after that, we had no idea what we were suppose to do. As Faith, Scully and Powers kept fighting off Loki, at one point Powers got pinned out in the wastes. Faith and Scully came into my ritual circle to be safe. Just as Loki called Slain to outside circle.  I was focused, but could only hope that Matt would be ok. Finally, Loki said we should head back to the battle. we waited, to be safe, and headed over. THEN i realized i needed the orbs. So i snuck back before i was seen, with Nikolai. We sit to regain ourselves before grabbing the orbs to head back. Trey comes over to tell us that all of Triage is dead. In so doing, Nicolai fell, tethered to one of the humans in triage. The orbs get back, and i come to hold the ritual with Seth, Nira and Wes to imbue Odin’s spear with the power to defeat Loki, Faith as its wielder. We were victorious! there was cheering! But it was short lived as half the town fell - many were given an IOU on their deaths by Aier.  Soon we were all dragging corpses up to the reanimator, hoping that our friends would come back to us. Aware that our human friends could not. Then something happened. Valentine stopped and handed me his magic focus, telling me to talk to his teacher. And he went and talked to Odin. Together, he sacrificed himself for all the humans to come back.

Sunday there was a service, tears, and stories. but we couldn’t grieve for long, before Mercy was about as a vision, taunting us, sending waves of her minions after us. We managed to use the Hammer of Ashtaroth to kill her spiders, and thus destroying her power, so she’d be banished to Hell for a long time to come. But its ok. I got it on a reliable source, that Valentine will be back. I hope i can practice and make him proud in the mean time! 

#Outpost #Larping #Personal

[carolcooks2]

Welcome to Saturday Snippets were anything goes…whatever catches my eye or my imagination could be on this post…something for everyone…I hope so…so whatever your timezone grab a coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy!

Everyone knows how I love to cook and I am pretty good now at cooking Asian food I have had a few years practise and practise makes perfect…Fried Rice …all the chefs are making fried rice some better than others…my grandson showed me this video and although there are a few foofs in it it is funny…so just a little warning there are a few profanities personally I  am not given to profanities myself but I found this very funny…I give you Uncle Roger reviewing for want of a better word Jamie Olivers Fried Rice…

Personally, I will never eat fried rice for a while without thinking of Uncle Roger…

How many boys ask for a metal detector I know Aston did as did my sons they took them to the beach, the local woods and parks and unearthed a few things but mostly nothing of any worth…This young Irish lad however like my boys started out with a dream and that dream became a reality when he unearthed a Historic Irish Sword as he was prospecting along a local river bank…How often does that happen?

Sadly Johnny Cash passed away on September 12th 2003…he was an American Singer and Songwriter who fired up country and western music…raised in the rural South he grew up listening to songs of work and lament, hymns and folk ballads it wasn’t until he joined the army that he learnt to play the guitar and write songs when he reti=urned from his military service in Germany he settled in Memphis, Tennessee with the aim of pursuing a career in music…He sang at county fairs and local events until he was signed up after auditioning with Sam Phillips of Sun Records, who signed Cash in 1955. Such songs as “Cry, Cry, Cry,” “Hey, Porter,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “I Walk the Line” brought him considerable attention, and by 1957 Cash was the top recording artist in the country and western field. His music was noted for its stripped-down sound and focus on the working poor and social and political issues. Cash, who typically wore black clothes and had a rebellious persona, became known as the “Man in Black.”

Did you know?

Elizabeth Barrett eloped with Robert Browing on September 12, 1846.

Barrett was already a respected poet who had published literary criticism and Greek translations in addition to poetry. Her first volume of poetry, The Seraphim and Other Poems appeared in 1838, followed by Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Barrett (1844). Born in 1806 near Durham, England, at her father’s 20-bedroom mansion, she enjoyed wealth and position, but suffered from weak lungs and tended to be reclusive in her youth. She became even more so after the death of her beloved brother in 1840.

Recycling is high on my agenda and especially circular recycling especially when the artist produces something like these …

I think they are spectacular I just wish I had a talent like that…Awesome use of scraps of wood…

Wellness Corner by Sally Cronin…Liver health and the Milk Thistle.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/smorgasbord-health-column-the-medicine-womans-treasure-chest-herbal-medicine-liver-health-and-milk-thistle/

This week I have been soup making...Carrot Soup normally I stick to chicken, mushroom or tomato but this week it has been carrot soup..which was really nice very orange but a soup I would make again it needs a few tweaks and then the recipe will be in my cookbook …

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sauteed carrots

Carrot Soup

But I will as I promised to give you the recipe for foraged wild mushroom soup…

Here in the northeast of Thailand, there are various kinds of tasty mushrooms (hed), all filled with nutrition. Three favourites are hed kay, hed tub-tao and hed ra-ngok. In the villages, these mushrooms are often prepared in a soup along with bai yangang juice (Tiliacora Triandra), sweet basil and pla-ra ( fermented) fish which is often added to the soup…

I have adapted the recipe as you would most probably not be able to get some of the ingredients or want to use them like the Pla-ra…

Ingredients:

2 cups various kinds of mushrooms

2 stalks lemongrass, lower tender portions, cut into 2-inch pieces and slightly crushed

5 – 7 each chillies, slightly crushed

3 – 5 each red shallots, slightly crushed

2 stalks spring onion, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tbsp pla-ra juice (liquid of pickled fish) (optional)

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 cups of water

4 – 5 sprigs Thai basil leaves

Let’s Cook!

Pour the water into a pot over the high heat. When it begins a boil, add lemongrass, chilies and shallots. Then follow by adding the mushrooms. Let simmer briefly until cooked. Season with the fish sauce and pla-ra liquid. Add  basil and spring onion. Remove from the heat.

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wild mushrooms

wild mushroom soup

Serve in a bowl.

Thais would also add some local vegetable called Cha-om which is a vegetable native to here… It has a particular fragrance that may seem unpleasant at first to the unaccustomed, but when it’s cooked up, it’s so tasty that most people can’t stop eating it and the aroma is just part of the package and soon becomes quite likeable.

Many Northern Thai dishes use quite sour tasting vegetables and of course Phla the fermented fish…it is a taste our western palates are not used to but if you eat it enough your taste changes and it becomes quite palatable.

Now for some music…I have selected “Million Dollar Quartet” which is a recording of an impromptu jam session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash …recorded on December 4th 1956 in the Sun Record Studios in Memphis Tennessee…

Impromptu jam sessions are one of my favourite kinds of music…

How young is Elvis there he must have been star struck…

That’s all for today’s Saturday Snippets I hope you have enjoyed it…xx

About Carol Taylor: 

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a fabulous week and stay safe these are troubling times xx

Saturday Snippets…12th September 2020…

Welcome to Saturday Snippets were anything goes…whatever catches my eye or my imagination could be on this post…something for everyone…I hope so…so whatever your timezone grab a coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy!

Saturday Snippets…12th September 2020… Welcome to Saturday Snippets were anything goes...whatever catches my eye or my imagination could be on this post...something for everyone...I hope so...so whatever your timezone grab a coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy!

#blogging #Johnny Cash #Music #Thai wild Mushroom Soup #Uncle Roger and Jamie Oliver

[prowrestlingpost-com]

A Rivalry Revisited | Coming Up NXT for 8/5/20 | Preview

It is a rivalry revisited as Rhea Ripley and Dakota Kai face each other for the #1 Contendership of the NXT Women's Championship | Coming Up #NXT for 8/5/20 | Preview .@MakeTheCaul

Between threats of title reigns, a frustrated William Regal, and a women’s division in constant battle, the NXT brand continues to roll on it’s way to Takeover XXX. But on this week’s edition, we can only hope the fighting gets contained to the squared circle as we settle differences and find out what will become once again one of NXT’s most historic pay-per-view events in the brand’s short…

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#Bobby Fish #Cameron Grimes #Dakota Kai #Damien Priest #Fabian Aichner #Keith Lee #Kyle O&039;Reilly #Marcel Barthel #Oney Lorcan #Rhea Ripley #Shane Thorne

[gramilano]

The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because now home, for Nela, is London, which also happens to be home to her beloved company at The Royal Opera House.

We caught up via Skype in June: I was in my office in Milan, and Nela was 11,000 km away, sitting against an orange wall which steadily turned maroon then almost black as the day drew in.

Daily 500-metre walk

Nela’s dad during lockdown

Lockdown

Lockdown in Argentina! How’s that working out?

It’s very strict here. We started lockdown at the same time as England, pretty much – I know you in Italy started earlier. There were only a few cases, but obviously here there are more difficulties compared to Europe, and they were worried that the health system would collapse.

Here, the problem is that we are now getting into winter, which is difficult, and a lot of neighbourhoods are very poor. People don’t have running water and they’re living literally on top of each other. This is in Buenos Aires because actually the rest of the country is running more or less normally.

We’re only allowed out once a day to walk 500 metres, so we just go around our place, then everything else is at home. It’s unbelievable how suddenly your home becomes a studio by moving the furniture around. It’s been hilarious, and it’s incredible how creative people are.

So, why Buenos Aires and not London?

Alejandro [Parente, her boyfriend and former principal dancer at Teatro Colón] is the reason I came here because my idea was to stay home, and for me home is London. I didn’t want to leave London and my little flat, because I knew that as soon as things became easier I would be closer to my other home, The Royal Opera House.

I just wanted to feel safe, and the last thing you want to be doing at this time is travel. I travelled on the 22nd of March! At the airport, it literally felt like I was in a movie. It was scary and sad, so empty, and we were running not to miss the plane – it was way too stressful. But it was a complicated situation: Ale had only just arrived in Argentina from Italy where he was dropping off his daughter Luna who had spent the holidays with him in Europe. Then he was meant to be coming back to teach in Milan.

Obviously, that didn’t happen because everything was closing. Also because my mom and dad are also here, and they’re over 60, and my brothers too, it seemed like the best place to be. Otherwise, I would have been alone in my flat in London without knowing for how long. It was the worst moment to realise just how divided your life is. I’m just waiting now for the airport to open here then obviously, I need to go back home. [Since we spoke, lockdown has been extended in Argentina, and now she’s hoping to get a plane back to London at the end of July]

Believe your inner Nela

Alejandro making a barre

Barre made

With the homemade barre

What are you doing to keep in shape?

I have to do Pilates because otherwise my body won’t function and just hurts, so yeah, Pilates is a must. I just finished a session before you called. I do it with online with a studio opened by Luciana Ravizzi, an Argentinian teacher who’s a friend of mine from The Royal Ballet School, though I was already in the company when she joined. When she graduated, she went to Scottish Ballet, but we stayed friends. Then she opened her Pilates studio in Argentina. I’m doing three times a week.

The rest of the time I do my own thing together with ballet lessons that the company’s been providing us with. A friend of mine, Erico Montes, from Brazil, is a dancer with the company and he’s starting to teach, so he’s giving me lessons too. Sometimes Alejandro teaches me. I don’t often catch the live version of the class that the company does, but they record it, so I’m able to access it later. The choices are unbelievable. Olga Evreinoff, who often comes to The Royal Ballet to teach and take rehearsals, teaches us online. She’s a wonderful, wonderful teacher. I wonder if she ever imagined teaching a company via Zoom! She’s always giving corrections, ‘Stretch your knee!’ Fantastic. Amazing.

It’s also a way to see your colleagues.

The first time I will never forget because to do a class live with them online I need to wake up at 5.30 am –  I’m four hours behind and class starts at 10.30. I did it twice! The first time I did it, it was wonderful –Zoom went on and suddenly you see all these people popping up on the screen. I was in tears. Even when I do the recorded version and I see everyone again I just… [tears well up]. Well, I’m missing them so much. I can’t wait to see them.

Self-portrait with orange wall and cat

Yoda

Nela with Yoda

Do you do class with Alejandro?

Alejandro does his own thing and he’s also teaching a lot, so basically he does his own little bar, but he’s quiet and I hardly even see him do it. He’s been giving classes to Rome Opera Ballet online and on Thursdays a class with Joburg Ballet in South Africa. Before lockdown, I was meant to guest there. I was going to do Don Q [Don Quixote], and as it didn’t happen, they were disappointed because it was going to be a highlight for them, and for us as well. So their CEO Esther Nasser asked if we could do an interview online, talking to the dancers and all of that. We did, and it was such a lovely meeting that now Ale is teaching them class, and I do it with them every Thursday.

That sounds encouraging. What are some of the positive things you’ve got from this period?

You know, funnily enough, there are a lot of positive things because online I see this big dance community that is all together, not just little groups. All over the world, we are trying to inspire and support each other. Every time I see a video of dancers doing class at home, trying to stay fit, trying to be creative, I find it amazing and I feel so proud. I feel touched to see how dancers are saying, OK, this is tough, but we’re going to do something with it.

I feel honoured to be part of an institution like our company. Our management calls us, you know, and they’re constantly in contact with us, sending us emails and making sure we are OK and providing us with classes online and ballet and yoga and all sorts of fitness. To feel that you have your company behind you is amazing. We’ve literally stayed together throughout all this.

I actually get very emotional because it’s powerful to see all these people trying to produce art from home and helping each other. One of the biggest positive things is that our creativity, and wanting to stay together, and keeping in shape to be ready for coming back, has come through.

The emotional element is palpable. Another Royal Ballet dancer told me that the company was offering some of their online teaching to smaller companies who don’t have that possibility. That’s a beautiful thing to do.

Kevin [O’Hare – director of The Royal Ballet] decided to just open it up because not every company has the facilities that we do. It’s an amazing gesture. It’s kind of scary right now, and a gesture like this brings the community together. It’s just phenomenal. I was so touched.

Aeternum. Marianela Nuñez © ROH, Bill Cooper, 2014

Beginnings

So you’re back in Argentina where it all began… why did your mother send you to ballet school? Why not gymnastics or something else?

I had three brothers, so everything was very boyish at home. Football, football, football. My mom had had enough, and finally a girl finally arrived she was like, ‘OK, thank God, I’m not alone in the house anymore!’ She dressed me in pink. She loved dancing herself, and although my granddad was amazing – my number one fan, now looking down at me from up there [she indicates the heavens] – he didn’t want her to dance. She just did a little bit of Argentinian folk dancing and that was it. So as my mom loves dancing, she took me to a little ballet studio, three blocks away from our house.

What she didn’t expect is that little Nela would love it too. The teacher’s studio was her garage. She would take the car out and there were some barres and a concrete floor. My kindergarten friends were also there but it wasn’t serious enough for me… it was more like playing. Why I wanted something else I can’t explain because I had never seen ballet, but that little girl said that she wanted to dance seriously. I think you’re born with your calling and there is no other way.

I read this wonderful book that you have to read. I had it in my dressing room and Alex Ferri saw it and she said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve read it, it’s wonderful.’ It’s called The Soul’s Code by James Hillman. It’s about how you are born with this, and no matter what you think, if it’s definitely your calling, somehow you’ll get there.

It may have been your calling, but for you to fulfil that it must have meant a big change for your family.

For the family it was a revolution, especially when I really took it seriously because from that studio, I went to another studio, still in the neighbourhood, but where they only did ballet. But it still wasn’t the Teatro Colón, you know? But the teacher was wonderful and actually she’s a figure that is still in my life, helping with the shows that I do at home every year for charity. She had trained at the Colón school and she said, as soon as she saw me, ‘She’s got a lot of talent, she’s determined, and she’s disciplined, and I think she should definitely go to the centre of the city to study.’ She and another teacher got me ready and I was accepted.

When that finally happened, my mom had to travel around with me a lot as we lived far away from the Teatro Colón school. I basically stole away my mom for me, and my brothers had to adapt to that; so it was a big shift for the family. My grandma would stay and cook for them. But they all did it, and I’m so grateful because obviously I was doing what I loved but the whole family had to support that. Even though they were not interested in ballet, they were definitely interested in what I was doing and my achievements.

And do they come and see you dance now?

They do. They watch everything online and if our relays are shown in Argentina they will go. They read everything that’s printed about me and are super proud.

Nela backstage with her parents

Nela with her parents

Nela in her parents’ house

How old were you when you entered the Teatro Colón School?

At the Colón school you start at eight years old and you finish at 18, so it’s ten years. But I only did half of that because Maximiliano Guerra wanted me to dance with him when I was about 13. He was doing the same as I do now when during the summer break in Europe, he would come to Argentina and do his performances here. There was a tour that he was doing around Argentina with La Scala principal Anita Magyari.

So we toured around Argentina. They were doing the third act pas de deux from Don Q and I was one of the two friends. At the end of that tour, Anita had to return to Europe and as there were some performances in Uruguay coming up, he said, ‘OK, I’ll dance with you.’ We did Don Q and the Diana and Acteon pas de deux. I mean, unbelievable! I was always super star-struck with him, and he had this wonderful presence, but when you’re young and naïve you just kind of do it, like you don’t really see what’s happening.

We were at the beautiful Teatro Solís in Uruguay and I remember when we finished the Don Q  I was thinking, thank God I made it. But the audience went wild and wanted us to repeat the coda. We did. That meant doing the 32 fouettés again.

I had a temperature afterwards from all the pressure and I was shaking when we were having dinner, but it was wonderful. At that performance was Raquel Rossetti who was the director of the Teatro Colón and had been a principal ballerina. She said, listen, I want you in the company. So I joined the company of Teatro Colón right after that. I was 14.

I did a lot of corps de ballet work, but the director really liked me, so whenever there was a gala somewhere, she would take me to do a pas de deux, and that’s when I danced with Alejandro for the first time – I was 14, he was 24! We did the Don Q, and Graham you have to see that online – I’ll send you the link. I stayed in the company that year, but I’d known since I was about 11 that I wanted a career outside Argentina, and I had it clear that The Royal Ballet was my dream company.

I had all the videos: La fille [mal gardée] with Leslie [Collier], Bayadère with Altynai [Asylmuratova], Darcey [Bussell] and Irek [Mukhamedov], Romeo and Juliet with Alessandra [Ferri] and Wayne Eagling, Manon with Sir Anthony Dowell… I had all of them. I had never seen ballets like that before. I saw Onegin at the Colón and although I was really young, I went, whoa, as I’d never seen anything like it. But all the other powerful ballets I saw were on video and with all my favourite dancers at The Royal Ballet.

Teachers explained how the company’s repertoire was amazing and how important repertoire is in a dancer’s life. Massimiliano said, ‘If you go to a company like that, not only will you have all that, but also, they will look after you properly; with someone like you who is super talented, it could easily happen that people will take advantage and you’ll get burnt out, but in a company like that you will be guided, and you will grow as an artist.’

So I decided to audition for my dream company. It was my 15th birthday. The fiesta de quince años for a girl here in South America, especially in Argentina, is big. You have a party, kind of like a wedding, and you wear a big dress. My parents said, ‘It’s either the party or we’ll pay for the ticket for you to go to LA.’ The company was in Los Angeles on tour, so I went to LA, auditioned, and I got my place.

Marianela Nuñez’s 20th-anniversary with The Royal Ballet after Giselle © 2018 ROH. Photograph by John Phillips

The Royal Ballet

Did you know that you couldn’t immediately go into the company and work because you were too young?

Actually, I didn’t know. When I auditioned, that wasn’t taken into consideration. But then they said, ‘No way, you’re 15, you can’t, it’s not possible.’ So they said, ‘Listen, we’ll keep the contract for you, so go to The Royal Ballet School for one year and when you turn 16 you can join the company.’ So I said, ‘OK, fine, I’ll go back to school.’ Now, this is me looking back, being mature about it, but at the time it was a little bit hard for a 15-year-old to understand. I’d been dancing all these roles, but I had to go back to school. It was emotionally quite difficult because I was in a new country, far away from my family. But it was a blessing. I needed to finish school and I needed to learn the language. I also needed to learn what the company was about, what our style was about, what the history of the company was. I just needed to nurture myself. So that was definitely, definitely the right choice. That was back in 1997.

It was necessary.

It was totally necessary. From a very young age, my teachers here had given me a strong technique, a really good base, so that’s why I could do all that stuff. I probably was born with some of that, but I think my teachers played a big part in it. They gave me the confidence to be on the stage. When you see pictures of me in competitions, or the videos with Massimiliano or that video with Ale, you can’t believe it’s only a girl. Of course, you see it’s not refined, and my port de bras is not great, but there is a presence, and even though I’m standing with principal dancers, there is nothing childish about it. I guess my teachers gave me that. What I needed to learn in London was how to refine all that strength and confidence and really understand what this art form is about.

What opened my mind in London was the importance of stagecraft and the artistic side of things. I had seen that, obviously, in the videos that I had, but when I saw it live when I attended my first full call, I was amazed. I just had never seen ballet done like that before – they weren’t just dancers; they were actors.

It was Belinda Hately in Giselle. I loved her so much… beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And it was her debut. I had never seen a ballerina like that. And then I kept looking around the stage and usually in the classics people will be standing all in the same way and moving their arm at the same time. This was the first time I saw each person in the corps de ballet with their own character and they were standing in different ways. They were not reacting in the same way at the same time. I had never seen such a beautiful thing in my life; it was so real. I thought, OK, definitely, I have so much to learn.

Your drive is strong, but not in a negative way. I imagine you don’t put broken glass in other ballerinas pointe shoes, but you just want to be the best you possibly can.

From a very young age, like five, I wanted to do this for real. When I started at the Colón school, I said, I definitely want to become a professional dancer. I knew I didn’t want to be in the corps de ballet. Not that there is anything wrong in being in the corps de ballet, but I personally wanted to be a prima ballerina. Having clear what you want from such a young age definitely helps you to focus in order to get what you want.

Tell the truth: you didn’t want to be in the corps de ballet because you can’t keep in line!

You’re laughing, but it’s true! Really! I got promoted to first soloist when I was a baby, because I joined the Royal Ballet aged 16 and usually people are about 18, so the girls in the corps looked after me really well. When they found out that I got promoted they were so happy and one of them, Julie Lack, who has a great sense of humour, wrote in lipstick on my dressing room mirror, ‘Congratulations. We are so lucky you’re finally out of the corps de ballet because you can’t keep in line.’

And I thought I was joking!

[laughing] It was brilliant: ‘Congratulations, we’re really happy that you’re out of here!’

Vadim Muntagirov as Aminta and Marianela Nuñez as Sylvia in Sylvia © 2017 ROH. Photographed by Alice Pennefather

Technique and preparation

I hear people say that you have an ‘easy technique’, yet everyone knows that technique is never easy. How much have you worked to make it seem easy?

My teachers gave me a good base, working hard on me to make it clean and strong, but they did it in a positive way… they never pulled a trigger on me, and they gave me a sense of freedom and ease. Now, I constantly work on my technique. I feel that to be completely free on stage and live the story and have fun and project that to the audience, you mustn’t think about the steps. The audience can tell when you lie, or if you’re insecure: ‘Oh my God, is she all right? Is she going to make it?’

I really work hard on that because, especially now, at this point in my career, I can use it to really let go. It doesn’t mean that I go crazy on stage and do whatever I want because I really like to keep my technique neat and in the style of the ballet. Just because I can do certain things doesn’t mean that I need to them in every ballet. I know what I want to do and what each ballet requires, and I think to do that you need to keep your technique in top form.

Vadim Muntagirov as Prince Siegfried and Marianela Nuñez as Odile in Swan Lake, The Royal Ballet © 2018 ROH. Photograph by Bill Cooper

Genesia [Rosato, principal character artist with The Royal Ballet for over a decade] once told me that as the Queen in The Sleeping Beauty, sitting on the throne before Aurora’s entrance, she sees the ballerina in the wings. She said you were the only one who looked excited, as though you could wait to get on stage.

Well, I do get really nervous and the older I get, the earlier the nerves start… probably three or four days before a performance. I get more nervous now, but at the same time, seriously, I really want to go on that stage and do it. It’s so weird, and I can’t explain it, but there are other nerves that say, oh my God, let me get out there. But if you put The Sleeping Beauty music on now, I’ll really feel like I want to be there. It’s unbelievable. So, I do get nervous, but at the same time, my body wants to do it. I get most nervous before Swan Lake. With Swan Lake, it’s the whole four weeks of rehearsal that I’m nervous thinking, oh my God I have the performance, I have the performance! But then you hear the music [she sings], and you see the Prince, and I feel as though my heart is going to break. It’s the best feeling in the world.

You positively use that emotion and don’t let it destroy your performance. Others could crumble under the stress of that responsibility.

Yeah, It could definitely go the other way! But I was born loving pressure and pressure makes me kind of push more and get in the zone. It just drives me. I’m not going to lie: now that I’m older, there are moments where I have to tell myself, come on Nela, you’ve worked hard, you’ve done this before, you’ve rehearsed. So yes, the nerves are very strong but so is the passion and that counterbalance is fantastic.

Marianela Nuñez as Kitri in Don Quixote, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Marianela Nuñez as Kitri and Carlos Acosta as Basilio in Don Quixote © ROH Johan Persson 2013

Carlos Acosta as Basilio and Marianela Nuñez as Kitri in Don Quixote © ROH Johan Persson 2013

Carlos Acosta as Basilio and Marianela Nuñez as Kitri in Don Quixote © ROH Johan Persson 2013

Your career has been relatively injury-free.

Well, in 22 years I’ve never missed a season. I did have a couple of minor things. I pulled the TFL muscle, which stabilises the hip, so it’s kind of an important muscle and its super painful. The first time I did it, I didn’t stop. Like all dancers, I never want to miss anything and we were doing amazing ballets like Ballo della Regina, which I’d never danced before, and we were getting ready for The Prince of the Pagodas. I thought that there was no way I was going to miss that, and I carried on. Then six months later, I did it again.

The second time, I had only three weeks until my debut in Onegin. I had waited all my life to dance in that ballet and I was like, OK I’ll do it with one leg, I don’t care. But I seriously couldn’t walk because the pain was so strong and so I was crawling. It was before Christmas, so I said, OK, I can rest over the Christmas break and then come back, I don’t care what it costs, I’ll do it. I did, and so I didn’t miss that debut. Phew! I also had something in my foot early on, and I needed to have a little injection. It’s probably the only injection that I have had in my whole career. I’ve had nothing major for a long time, so I’m lucky.

And your feet? Those pointe shoes can be cruel.

Look at them [she holds up her feet to the camera]

Ballet feet!

They are taped because I was doing pointe work just now – but you know, I never had a problem in my metatarsal, and I do a lot of jumping… a lot! I don’t have bunions either, which is unbelievable for the amount of work I do. My toes are the only thing that probably are not great because they have a shape from being so much on pointe. So my feet are all right – they’re not pretty, but they’re all right.

They’re healthy.

They’re healthy. They’re not pretty but they’re healthy.

When you’re not in lockdown, what other things do you do to keep your body healthy?

We are super lucky at the Opera House because we have an amazing team of physiotherapists and it’s like a clinic on the fourth floor. We’re constantly looked after, so I make sure I have treatment all the time. I get massages during the weekends. I look after my body at all times, and the first thing when I go guesting is to find a masseur – I’m very conscious about that. Exercises and recovery treatment are essential.

When do you do a massage – immediately after a show?

It’s changed over the years. When I was younger, I would have a massage before the show. People were like, are you mad? [laughs] I’ve got such a strong body that I sometimes feel better when I feel more relaxed. I don’t like soft massages but really strong ones. Now, I will probably do it the day following a performance, just to recover.

Dances at a Gathering. Marianela Nunez and Alexander Campbell. ©ROH, 2020. Photographed by Bill Cooper.

You’ve said in other interviews that you are very neat and ordered in your house and your dressing room. Is there any connection between that need and feeling secure with your technique? Everything always is in order.

The control freak in me. Definitely. Yeah. There has to be a connection for sure. I don’t function without order. I say to Alejandro, look I need things neat around me because otherwise, seriously, I freeze, I can’t cope.

If you see my ballet bag, it is freaky. It’s like perfection. Otherwise, I feel sloppy. And it’s the same with my dressing room and the same with my wardrobe at home. It’s the same with my little bag that I take on to the stage. I’ve told this story before, but when we were doing Dances at a Gathering, not this time but around 2009, I took my leg warmers off and folded them neatly, as I always do, to put in my bag. Most dancers will chuck them into their bags, but I always take my time. We were about to do the pas deux and Fede [Federico Bonelli] shouts, ‘Nela!’ and I turn around and see him scrunching up my leg warmers. I gasped and really wanted to go and refold them, but I’d have missed my entrance. Oh my God, what do I do? It was like Sophie’s Choice. Of course, I went on stage, but I think there’s definitely some connection there.

Thomas Whitehead and Marianela Nunez in The Sleeping Beauty photo by Andrej Uspenski ROH

Show time

On a performance day, how do you gear your body up to go onstage? I imagine that you do a company class before the performance, but what about The Sleeping Beauty or a gala when you are offstage for a long while, and then you have to come on and fire off some technical pyrotechnics?

In our company we don’t do a company class before the show because usually we’re working until 5.30pm, so everybody does their own warmup. But if I’m doing Aurora in the evening, I won’t be rehearsing during the day.

What I do is that I come to the theatre in the morning and do my Pilates class and then ballet class with the company, but I take the rest of the day off, when I usually sew my shoes and so on. I start getting ready in the theatre about three and a half hours before the show – I take my time. Then I calculate for the role. For Aurora, I would probably be warming up just a little before curtain up, and then during the whole prologue. Then I like to put my tutu on for the interval and go on stage. I try things out with the cavaliers, I feel the stage, and then I go into the wings. I don’t exhaust myself. I keep warm, and I need to feel calm. Some dancers make themselves almost late so they don’t have to think about going on, but I’m the opposite. I need to just kind of drop, you know, just to be calm. If it’s a gala or something – and when I dance I’m often on last because its Don Q or Swan Lake or something – and maybe it’s cold in the theatre, then you have to be clever with layers and leg warmers and so on.

Marianela Nuñez and Vladislav Lantratov in The Sleeping Beauty, Rome Opera Ballet © Yasuko Kageyama

Of course, when guesting abroad, you might find yourself on a stage with a rake – I remember your performances with the Rome Opera Ballet where the rake is steep.

I used to freak out with rakes. In fact, the first few times I went to La Scala, I felt like I couldn’t dance. I think it was back in 2006 and then again in 2009. I couldn’t find my balance, no way, but it’s amazing what experience brings. I still worry about rakes because I’m not used to them, but now I get nervous, but I can do it.

What does guesting give you – apart from some extra income?

Many things. Obviously, you see different people doing ballet in different ways, with different styles, so it kind of opens your mind and enriches you.

I love waiting and watching. Especially dancing with Vadim [Muntagirov] we’re usually at the end with the classical pas de deux, and sometimes those galas can be long. So I like to watch all these dancers up close, dancers that I don’t get to see often, or only online, so it is super inspiring. Usually, the audience for galas are so excited and you can see the bubbles, like champagne, it’s fantastic… fantastic.

And the pressure dancing alongside other top dancers and having to show your worth?

Galas are like parties where you see all these dancers together and it’s amazing to see, but of course you do feel the pressure because, as you say, you have the best of the best around you. You just have to show your game, though after doing it for so many years you kind of know-how to beat that pressure.

Galas are actually really difficult thing to do because usually you arrive either the day of the performance or the evening before. You’ve probably done a full-length ballet the night before, you need to adjust to a new theatre because the floors can be hard or the lighting can be strange, so it’s certainly a challenge, but it actually makes you grow as an artist because you are out of your comfort zone and you have to make it work.

Marianela Nuñez as Tatiana and Ryoichi Hirano as Prince Gremin in Onegin, The Royal Ballet © ROH Bill Cooper, 2013

Roles, casting and interpretation

Do you ever feel taken over by a character and so immersed in the story that you are able to get lost in the moment, even while following the choreography?

I think lately I’ve gotten to a stage where I can do that quite often. Of course, there are performances where it’s more but always in the second act of Giselle you can totally forget about the world. Like suddenly you’re there. Definitely in Onegin.

In the last performances I did of Swan Lake before lockdown, well wow, I wish those performances had been recorded. It was unbelievable. And not just because of how I felt or how Vadim felt but also the company and the audience. I never thought it would be possible to experience that with a ballet like Swan Lake, which I love very much, but I get so nervous about. Seriously, I could close my eyes and almost forget about myself. It was like when we did the recording of Bayadère when we worked with Natalia [Makarova] and suddenly I felt as though I’d left Nela behind and I was on another planet. I think the older I get, the more I have those experiences, and they are super strong.

I think the audience senses when that’s happening.

In those performances of Swan Lake before lockdown, I could feel that the audience was in the same bubble as we were… there was something in the air. You’re right – the audience can sense that for sure.

Have you ever had roles given to you that you felt that you’d rather wait for, and also the opposite, that you were desperate to do a part and it wasn’t offered to you?

The opposite! All the time! Now, the mature me can say that it was right to wait for certain roles, but most of the time I’ve had to wait. I did my first Onegin when I was over 30, and also Manon. For Giselle, I was 27 or 28. So I have had to wait, but I’m now so grateful for that because I think you can do them when you’re young, but the understanding you have when you’re more mature is something else. It’s another game.

I recently did Marguerite and Armand and A Month in the Country for the first time, but it was the perfect way to do it because when you get the chance, you’re so hungry that you want to do your absolute best… ah, finally! Also, you understand things in a different way and you can prepare in a different way, and absorb the information you are given in a different way. I think that that waiting for roles, and for a lot of things in my career, as I said at the beginning of our conversation, comes from the fact that I was looked after properly as an artist. It’s a journey. I think I’ve matured in the right way and, after 23 years of career, I hope I’ll still have chances to learn and to improve. And I want to do it. I don’t think, OK, I’m done. No, I’m still like, oh my God, I have so much to improve on, so much to learn.

Francesca Hayward as Vera, Gary Avis as Rakitin and Marianela Nuñez as Natalia Petrovna in A Month in the Country © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Tristram Kenton

Marianela Nuñez as Giselle in Giselle, The Royal Ballet. ©ROH 2018. Photographed by Helen Maybanks

You revisited the role of Myrtha after many years. That seemed such a wonderful thing for you to do as it’s such a difficult role physically, but also so difficult to judge emotionally: she’s got to be strong, but she can’t be spiteful. She’s not the wicked stepmother, and I’ve seen dancers get it totally wrong.

When I did it for the first time, it was filmed – it’s the one with Alina [Cojucaru] as Giselle and I’m the queen, and I was probably only 22 at the time. I had the most amazing time with Monica [Mason] in the studio. She can coach that role like no one else. Someone should film her and put it in the archives because what you can learn from her is incredible.

We worked, and we worked, and we worked. She has such an amazing way of coaching that it stays with you. It really does. Obviously, I moved on to doing Giselle, and I did that for many years, but then the last time we were doing it, I said to Kevin, ‘Listen, I would love to go back to that.’ You know Graham, as you were saying, it’s such a demanding role, technically and artistically, but I felt that as I now have a little bit more knowledge and a little bit more experience, I wanted to go back and see what I could do.

It’s was a challenge because it’s probably harder than doing Giselle [she laughs]. Monica came to coach me again, and I remembered every correction that she had given me years before because it had made sense. It had such a big impact on me. You know, next time we do it, I definitely want to do it again because I think it keeps you intellectually alert and helps you artistically in many ways. As you said, it’s a very difficult role to get just right, and you’re the character that sets the scene: the first act has been very earthy and human with all this emotion going on, and then suddenly you go to a different world, and you see this person crossing the stage in a pas de bourrée. Monica said that crossing that stage you really have to set the mood, and you have to make the audience believe in the world we’ve gone into. It’s a huge responsibility.

Gary Avis as Dr Coppélius and Marianela Nuñez as Swanilda in Coppélia, The Royal Ballet ©2019 ROH. Photograph by Bill Cooper

Marianela Nuñez as Lise, Carlos Acosta as Colas and artists of The Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, The Royal Ballet © ROH Tristram Kenton, 2012

Marianela Nuñez as Lise and artists of The Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, The Royal Ballet © ROH Tristram Kenton, 2012

Marianela Nuñez as Lise, Carlos Acosta as Colas and artists of The Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, The Royal Ballet © ROH Tristram Kenton, 2012

You danced with Alejandro for his farewell performance in Argentina in a role which I think is perfect for you: Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow. Those demi-caractère roles seem aligned with your offstage personality.

That is kind of where my career started. I always feel La fille’s Lise put me on the map. The soubrette roles, even Kitri, are very fiery, and they come naturally to me, so that’s why, at the beginning of my career, I was doing those kinds of roles. The Merry Widow was recent, but with Coppélia and Lise, I was worried that I was going to get stuck… get pigeonholed. I love them, but I knew I could do all the ballerina roles. I knew I had a dramatic side in me.

I don’t want to sound big-headed and arrogant, but one of the things that I really treasure and work hard on is having a full range. Not just for the sake of it, but because I really feel comfortable in all those different roles. I feel equally comfortable doing Lise as I do playing Tatiana, Swanhilda and Odette/Odile, Giselle then doing something abstract like Balanchine. I feel the same joy doing them all. I feel comfortable. I don’t feel fake going from one extreme to the other.

These two extremes come together in La Sylphide, yet you’ve never played her, or indeed danced in that other sylph-themed ballet, Les Sylphides.

I was never cast. It’s funny because a lot of people go, ‘Oh my God, with all the jumping and being so joyful, it’s so you.’ But no, I was never cast.

And you are good at acting naughty…

Oh yes, she’s so naughty – unbelievable! I would love to do that part but, like anything really, it would have to be properly rehearsed. I think there is so much of the style to get absolutely right. To learn how to do those movements correctly. And Les Sylphides? Definitely!

You know I love Makarova very much, and there’s a video of Les Sylphides with her and [Yuri] Soloviev [she sings and moves her arms]. Oh my God, I keep looking at it, and I go, how is it possible to dance like that? It looks effortless. It’s phenomenal what they can do, a piece of art in capital letters, and though it’s from many years ago, I don’t think anybody can come close. I keep rewinding and going forward. It looks like she’s not real. Incredible. To do a ballet like that, you need a lot of rehearsal… rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

Like Giselle, they’re the ballets that are meaningless if there isn’t an understanding of the style.

You might get close to the style, but that’s not enough. You see Carla [Fracci] in Giselle, act two, and with some of the steps she does you think, are you human or what? It’s like she’s floating. And look at those eyes of hers and how they focus into another world. It’s faultless. You need to study these roles for hours and hours and hours.

Marianela Nuñez as Masha in Winter Dreams, The Royal Ballet © 2018 ROH. Photograph by Alice Pennefather

Marianela Nunez as Hermione and Dancers of The Royal Ballet in Act I of The Winter’s Tale © ROH Johan Persson 2014

Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares in After the Rain © ROH 2016. Photo by Bill Cooper

Coaching at The Royal Ballet is treated very seriously, and it must be fantastic working with someone like Leslie Collier, the latest of a long chain of dancers who now creates new links of the chain by working with younger dancers.

It’s made me the ballerina that I am today. Thanks to The Royal Ballet, I’ve worked with the best of the best. You get to work with people who worked directly with Kenneth [MacMillan], with Ashton, with Balanchine and the roles were often created on them. It’s like drinking water from the fountain. It’s important not only for a debut but even for a ballet such as Sleeping Beauty that you’ve done many times to return to the coach. And it’s not just the steps, but they cover all the angles of a performance. It’s never, OK, just do this and do that, and then they leave. No, it’s about the meaning… why we do these steps. At The Royal Ballet, you are cared for from head to toe – how your makeup is, your wigs, the length of your costume, the lighting. You’re continually refining everything to the highest level, and so you feel safe because you’ve been looked after in such a complete way.

It’s the biggest advantage of being in a company, and something you don’t get when guesting.

I’ve built my career thanks to all these people teaching me, looking after me, dancing with me, and being able to see the others dance and share the stage with them. When I do Sleeping Beauty, the King and Queen are not just sitting there watching, but you feel like they are the King and the Queen. You do Swan Lake, and you have a Rothbart who acts the role which is it’s so inspiring. When I do Onegin, the letter for Tatiana is not just a piece of paper, but our wonderful prop department actually writes it. So I’m standing there, and I’m literally in tears already, and then I look at that letter and I’m in pieces. The audience won’t see that writing, but for the artists, it’s amazing. They’re doing their job at the highest level. It really is an unbelievable place.

Serenade with Marianela Nuñez © ROH, Tristram Kenton, 2014

Being Nela

After the performance, you’re very generous with giving autographs and chatting to people at the stage door, but there must be times when you’d rather just go and eat, or get home and put your feet up.

I genuinely love it, and I’m telling you the absolute truth. I’m dancing for them, you know, so it’s like give and take. I’m grateful for the fact that they have come to see a performance and given me their support. People go to the theatre also to forget about the world and their problems and to connect with art, which is so necessary for all of us. At the end, to have that interaction is unbelievable, not only for them but for me too. They’re sharing my passion and that’s why I genuinely love connecting with my audience.

That’s why I love social media too because I generally love to interact with ballet fans. Also to show them my gratitude for everything that they give me. I love to have that contact and if I’m tired it actually gives me energy back.

Do you know when it’s hard? It’s when I feel that I didn’t perform well, and I’m a little bit upset. It’s almost like I feel guilty. I kind of want to go, I’m so sorry, I feel bad, you paid for the ticket, and I didn’t deliver what I wanted to deliver for you. But generally, I love it and I’m so grateful to them.

Although you’re a dancer who adores everything about dance, what do you like doing when you’re not sewing shoes or doing Pilates?

As you know, I’m a city girl, and I love London, so when I’m not dancing, I make the most of that city and oh boy, there’s a lot to do in London. Even when I don’t have a specific thing to do, I enjoy sitting in cafes and walking around the city.

A lot of Sundays, which is my only day off, I go to Columbia Road Flower Market or the garden centre. I don’t have a garden myself, but I have window boxes, and I love buying plants and playing around with flowers. I love flowers a lot. I’m lucky that I get a lot of flowers after performances, but I just sometimes go to Colombia Market to see the different kinds of flowers and talk to people to learn about flowers. Hopefully, one day I will have my own garden so that I can really get into it properly.

For me, a lot about London is seeing performances and we also have The National Gallery just next to the theatre and that’s a place that I go to often. But for much of my spare time, I’m not going to lie, I often just want to stay home. I travel a lot, so when I’m home I enjoy having a hot bath, candles everywhere, cashmere socks, good pyjamas… just being at home, chilling out. Enjoying home is great. There will be time to do more things when I’m 80.

At 80, when you retire.

[laughing] Yes!

Marianela Nuñez as Tatiana, ©ROH, Bill Cooper, 2013

Everybody loves Nela. Is there a nasty Nela hidden away somewhere?

Oh, I can get in a bad mood. Probably my parents get to see that. Maybe not nasty, but I get frustrated, mostly with myself if things don’t go as I’d like or if things aren’t done as I want. I’m a perfectionist, like every dancer, but I’m good at keeping irritations to myself. The words can flow if a rehearsal is not going well, so my coach will see that, but it’s frustration mostly with myself. I wouldn’t be nasty.

You seem extremely happy having Alejandro in your life. What does he give you? He must be special as logistically it can’t be easy, living in different continents.

Ale is older than me, and we have totally different personalities. His feet are firmly on the ground. I think he has helped me mature as a woman, but also artistically. He often has a different view of things, and that has opened my mind to see things in a totally different way. He’s wise, and I’m not saying that because he’s my boyfriend. He’s a deeply grounded person and that has helped me a lot, I think people who know me have seen a change in the last five years.

But he’s also fun.

Crazy fun! Unbelievably fun. And very spontaneous. We laugh a lot. He lets me relax.

[Whispering] Is he tidy?

[Shrieking with laughter] No, he’s not!

I knew it!

I think he’s helped me with that because I’m so the opposite and we compliment each other. We balance each other, but he’s learning too: you know the Japanese lady on TV who teaches how to tidy up things? In lockdown, that’s what I’ve been doing in his flat!

Marianela Nunez by Rick Guest

In conversation with Marianela Nuñez The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because now home, for Nela, is London, which also happens to be home to her beloved company at The Royal Opera House.

#Anthony Dowell #Federico Bonelli #La Scala #Marianela Nuñez #Rick Guest #Rome Opera Ballet #Royal Ballet School #Vadim Muntagirov #Vladislav Lantratov #Wayne Eagling