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santiagoeu · 3 years

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⟨ TAYLOR ZAKHAR PEREZ. CIS MALE. HE/HIM. ⟩ though the mist might prevent some from seeing it, SANTIAGO DE ANA is actually a descendent of D I O N Y S U S. it’s still a question of whether or not the TWENTY-FIVE year old LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAJOR from TEQUILA, MEXICO has taken after their godly parent completely, but the demigod is still known to be quite LOYAL & STUBBORN

.basic info

NAME: pablo santiago de anda sauza

PRONUNCIATION: SAN-tee-AA-goh

NICKNAME: santi, tiago, chiago

GENDER: cis male

PLACE OF BIRTH: tequila, jalisco, mexico

DATE OF BIRTH: november 23, 1995

AGE: twenty-five

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

MAJOR: landscape architecture

EXTRACURRICULARS: Vicepresident of the botany and gardening club, bird watching member, vicepresident of the latinos student association, eonia choir member, traveling club president

SPORTS: water polo captain, cheerleading member

.character inspo

TBA

.background

I WILL MAKE A PROPER BIO SOMEDAY, NOT TODAY

tw: death, drugs use

born in tequila, mexico. his mother was the daughter of an important family. the family business was tequila and they were very conservative. that’s why when carolina came home with a man, pregnant and unmarried her family kicked her out.

the man, the father of this baby was none other but dionysus. i guess he liked that carolina was a tequila heiress bc shots! but he actually did love her? i mean at least he stayed for a year following santiago’s birth. then he was like i miss the party life gotta yeet

little issue here son of a gun dionysus never told her he was a god, so she know how to raise a demigod without knowing.

he spent six years in mexico city with his mom but when he was 6 years old and earthquake struck, or that’s what everyone believed. it had been a monster and dionysus actually showed up and saved santiago but he couldn’t save carolina.

upon hearing the news, carolina’s family were like meh poor caro and her bastard child but... his uncle had a heart and traveled to mexico city to pick up his nephew and raised him as his own.

he considers his uncle, his father and loves him more than anything.

he had a nice comfortable life and it was boring until his 12th birthday when dionysus came back to claim him.

his uncle was like “uh, what?” but in order to prove that he wasn’t lying dionysus took them to a dope party in ibiza, which is not suitable for a twelve year old but dio be dio.

anyway, his uncle was like “okay you be telling the truth” and he allowed santiago to go to different camps.

things were smooth until santiago turned 15. he became a party animal, and started doing drugs which concerned his uncle but santiago was like “yo, tío, it’s in my blood”

he got in sooooo much trouble and failed school even if he’s not dumb he just never wanted the party to stop

he touched rock bottom (sort of) when he drove his ex boyfriend mad. after that, he was like bye mexico and just jumped from party to party for two years.

he came back when he was 20

he worked at the family’s estate until a monster, again, found him for using his powers to help the agave plants and almost destroyed everything.

after fixing the estate, his uncle said it was for the better for him to attend eonia and he agreed bc he loves his uncle and doesn’t want to put him through more pain

full bio (NOT YET)

.personality

Santiago is a fun person to be around, he can be a bit intimidating and definitely not the friend you call whenever you want a non honest opinion. He’s brutally honest but he doesn’t say things with malice, instead, he would help you out. Despite his honesty, he is very kind and grateful for what he has. He is a family guy, and still calls his father who lives in Mexico every day. He can be very sarcastic and sometimes people don't understand his humor. He is also very proud of his roots and will try to find any excuse to brag about his country. Sometimes he can be too demanding and some would even describe him as arrogant, but that's just a facade. He loves to argue because he's so stubborn and always thinks he's right, but overall, he's happy to help and a very loyal friend.

.powers

chlorokinesis: this is the skill santiago has more developed. he first noticed when he moved back to his family’s estate in tequila. it had been a difficult time for his family because a rival company had poisoned their agaves plants, so they were losing almost all their plants. he was very young to understand what was happening but he sensed that something was wrong, and he always had a thing for communicating with plants. his mother always believed it was just kids stuff, but really, it was his powers manifesting. he was able to communicate with the agave plants and he healed them, ever since, his family’s estate has had the best agave plants in the region. he was a special relationship with nature, especially plants, he considers them his best friends and he feels at ease in a place full of plants or vegetation.

alcokinesis: party trick!!! no wonder santiago was the most popular kid at his high school. somehow he always managed to get alcohol, his friends often wondered how but he never revealed his secret, mostly because they would think he’s insane. now that he’s at eonia he doesn’t do it as often because well, he has siblings and he’s a lazy mf. he doesn’t mind not feeling the effects of alcohol, after all, that’s what drugs are for, no?

cause madness: it’s a power he discovered when he was about seventeen and he’s only used it once and by accident. he had a relationship with a classmate but he decided to break up with santiago and as someone who doesn’t know rejection he felt very bitter, like never before. it also didn’t help that mentally he was drained after partying too much and too many drugs. they had a fight at a party and he said some hurtful stuff, out of spite and apparently he said the magic word or whatever and that threw his ex off the edge. it was a very traumatic event and he still feels guilty because he doesn’t know how he did it or how to fix it.

natural acting abilities lol no. he’s a terrible liar, has stage fright and finds theater boring

ability to appear at any party being held: pitbull aka mr. world wide has nothing against santiago’s party skills. after he drove his ex mad, he spiraled down and pretty much lived a party lifestyle for the next two years.

.headcanons

Born in Tequila, Jalisco but he and his mother moved to Mexico City shortly after his birth. He returned to Jalisco when he was six.

He can speak Spanish, English, Greek and Portuguese

He’s a bobarista at tea-o-logy

Loveeeees nature, and he’s always talking to his plants

His family has money but he doesn’t talk a lot about it.

Favorites: Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel (book); Scent of a Woman (1992) (movie); De música ligera by Soda Stereo (song);

Again, no one asked me but I will reply: “Ella, does Santi hates Iker?” “Well, thanks for asking. Yes, he does. He’s fucked half of his siblings.”

pinterest | | wanted connections (dont look mace, there’s nothing here)

#euintro #tw death #tw drug use #have this mess

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socutesoevil · 6 years

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Opinions™ on MCL UC Beta

Well then! Got my beta pass today. Curiosity satisfied. Bad taste left over, (and not just from the mojitos.)

I was on the fence about Campus Life and wanted to give it a try, but I'm edging my feet over towards no now. Yes, it’s just one episode, but when it’s not right, you just know. I’ve put down books after reading a chapter or two because they held no interest. And that’s okay.

To be perfectly honest, my interest in the MCL universe has been fading for a while now. The past few episodes were pretty meh. They felt rushed and generally unsatisfying, like someone roughly pushing you out of the house because they don’t want you to see the body in the closet 'Thanks-for-coming-see-you-later-okay-bye'. Episode 40 aka the Finale was just... the cherry on the sour sundae. And that sex scene! I like a nice big helping of sin, but it has to flow with the story. (I like my porn with plot, is that so much to ask?) And this was... awful and super-forced like the 'now kiss' meme. Especially sweet Lysander's. Here's this angel baby, talking about antiquing, and poetry, and how he's a pure unicorn who's never had a girlfriend before, and how much he loves and treasures Candy and she's like 'mm-hm, that's nice, let's bang'. Seriously girl?! I would just cuddle the hell out of him and call it a successful night. (Sex is neat-o and all, but cuddles FTW.)

And while that episode left a bad taste in my mind, I was still excited for the University sequel. I didn’t mind a break up ‘cause I assumed (a safe assumption in an otome game, yes?), there would be a make up. I was curious to see the new settings, how the characters grew up, how they changed or not, their new redesigns, their new stories, etc.

Which brings me back to the beta. (Sorry, took the scenic route there.) The graphics are truly beautiful. The animations are... amusing. A lot of the old supporting cast is here. We find out what happened to the guys who are not there. It has a familiar vibe, like watching a once-fave show after it jumped the shark in season six and became utter shite.

For me personally, there are two cementing factors why I most likely won’t be continuing with the game if it stays as is:

1) The new AP system. Movements are free, but every line of dialogue you click on costs 2AP. Seriously. The first episode was just under 1k for me. It would take a really long time to collect that many points naturally and the story is in no way interesting enough for me to pay real money for.

2) Quite honestly, none of the datable characters caught my eye... in this dating game.

Here’s the buffet on offer:

Hyun - Will probably be the most popular new character. (That's my bet anyway). He's got that whole soft cinnamon roll thing going on which is totes on trend right now, but that has never been my thing. I like cinnamon rolls for breakfast. For my pixel harem I like angst with a dash of sin.

Rayan I-have-a-last-name-I'm-so-fancy The prof who looks like he's mentally undressing you with every arch of his brow and has young ladies gathering around him like fruit flies on a rotten apple. Now, I have nothing against the whole hot-for-teaching meme. Hell, my Candy would be down for it 'cause it works with her rebel child personality. However, while someone like our favourite bumbling history teacher, who was charming in his awkwardness, would be fun to romance, Rayan the undead lounge lizard is sketchy fucker. (By the way, the whole trend of loafers with no socks? Needs to die. And button up your damn shirt, man! You're a professor! Ugh.)

Priya - I don't even want to be friends with this girl. *shrug* So... yeah, no.

Castiel - The notorious Cassychu, the one of the perma-scowl and bad-boy tats and poor hairstyle and lifestyle choices. Candy already dumped him once. Will she want to take him back?! Probably. She clearly has major issues when it comes to understanding how relationships function.

Mysterious fifth character to be revealed at a later time. (Do we get to vote on which one of the lost boys we get to bring back? Oh wait, no, that's democracy. Sorry! Forgot myself for a moment.) My guess? Most likely it will be Nathaniel who became a dude-bro likes a bit of a party now. Rock on, Nath. Rock on.

*pulls an Eldarya and sets crush to no one*

It was fun while it lasted but now it's time for something new. And by new I mean re-reading the SLBP Shigezane route. My precious <3

That’s about it! Some more randomness below.

random comments from my play-through + points of interest

Rosa and Candy lost touch 'cause this is the dark ages of communication before phones. (JK. Candy is a lazy fuck who can't be bothered. Relationships are not cacti, Candy!)

After four(!) years of silence, this little shit Candy appears back on the scene again to pursue her lame degree and everyone just accepts her back into the fold like nothing happened. The hell?! I'm not saying give me telenovela levels of drama, but c'mon!

The only happy ending Lysander got was in Episode 40. That sweet child. </3

These animations are... hilarious. (They can be turned off). The randomly jiggling boobs are the best thing! Any girl will be standing there and outta nowhere boop-boop. *snort* Did they look at any breasts before animated these, or did they use a custard as inspiration?

Chani is precious.

Why is Melody here? Oy... Still a teacher’s pet. (Yet she gets annoyed when I say she hasn’t changed? Lie to yourself much, Melody?) Probably still holds a torch for Nathaniel but won’t admit it. Mean-funny scene if you invite her but not Chani to drinks. Your pals are not excited about seeing wet-blanket Melly.

Our roommate has a stick so far up her ass she's sitting on top of the Eiffel tower. Dunno who spat in her oatmeal, but I left the spilled paint on her bed and called it karma.

The Cozy Bear Cafe sounds like some sort of sweet lolita place... but it isn’t... False advertising much?

Rayan stop staring at me, you zombie creeper.

Mojitos or beer. Those are my sedative options. Awesome. Can’t even get a decent drink around this joint. (If you ask why mojitos, it doesn’t translate as ‘where’s the wine’. You get lemonade instead. -_- )

I will say this, the backgrounds are gorgeous. They don't match the art style of the characters, but they're stunning. The park is incredible.

The black in the outfits is true black, so you can satisfy your inner goth child or chic Parisienne all you want. The hair is still a blue-black though, like a raven’s wing.

The petal game is still there. You will need it.

#mcl spoilers #mcl rambles #mcl university #mclul #my candy love spoilers #this ended up being really long

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maiji · 6 years

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Tag game

Wooops I totally missed this in my notifications! I've definitely answered a few variations of this meme before, so BY THE POWER VESTED IN ME BY ME I have taken the liberty of adjusting most some of the questions if I’ve answered them before.

Tagged by: @taki-flower ^^ (thank you!)

(Nick)Name: Maiji

Most frequent typo I make of my own nickname: Nauhu, thanks to wrong home keys

My Zodiac sign, and a Zodiac sign I think is super cool for whatever reason: Gemini. I think Aquarius a super cool sign because it’s eccentric and idealist and humanitarian and COOL TO DRAW

Height I think I am VS height I actually am: I always think I’m like 5′6″ or something but I’m actually more like 5′4ish. (I never remember how tall I am so I keep a note with this information on my phone in case people ask lol)

Languages and levels:

English - fluent

Mandarin - fluent speaking, reading meh, writing lol omg what is that abomination you write like you’re in grade 3

Spanish - muy muy basic everything

Japanese - super basic everything (can read some kanji thanks to Chinese but not know the pronunciation in Japanese, can read katakana and hiragana but not necessarily know the meaning lmao)

French - super basic everything

3 fruits I like:

Bananas (but not necessarily banana-flavoured things)

Longan

Dragonfruit

3 smells I like:

Fresh air

Fresh laundry

Fresh books

3 colours I like:

Green - but not green green, I like greens that are more yellowy-green or sometime more bluey-green

Neutrals (greys, browns etc.) that defy easy classification

Black

3 fictional characters I would marry:

Hokushin (Yu Yu Hakusho). Also we’re already married

Kaoru Chujo (Tale of Genji)

Arikoto (Ooku)

A story involving me and candy I like: I used to love White Rabbit candy. When I was in high school (I think) I had a whole bag of it next to my bed. My bedroom was in the basement, and at some point the whole thing hardened into something inedible and/or I got so sick of it that I haven’t eaten any since. Although, I did have a white rabbit candy-flavoured ice cream from Wong’s Ice Cream much more recently. It was really good!! And they have vegan and gluten-free flavours too!!

If I could make a national or worldwide whatever day to celebrate something (e.g., Cat Day, Pancake Day etc.), what would it be? Comic Arts Day!

3 songs on repeat and why:

The Echo Game (House of Flying Daggers soundtrack) - it sounds badass and I like it when I’m working on/imagining fight sequences

To Die For (The Birthday Massacre) - it’s cool but not in your face, great music when I’m drawing or writing. And the lyrics are very evocative, so if I happen to pause and actually pay attention to them, it’s fantastic mood and inspiration.

Ai Shuuressha (Kosugi Juurouta & Horiuchi Kenyuu) - HOKUSHIN lmao

What’s a memorable dream you’ve had? The memory of this one still puts a smile on my face.

3 things on my bed (this question originally was “blankets I use to sleep” and my answer is always one. I KNOW IT’S MINDBLOWINGGGG RIGHT):

A ditto

A giant IKEA carrot

A neck pillow

A memory from a trip I really enjoyed: Going to Tamsui/Danshui with my mom the first time I returned to Taiwan as an adult. It was just a really lovely day trip that started off with one of the best meals ever, and strolling down the Old Street and drawing the views of the river and people-watching and listening to the security guard telling stories and watching the sun set.

Dream job: I didn’t change (I MEAN, ADJUST) this question because it actually made me reflect quite a bit. I used to say something ridiculous here, like travelling Taiwan eating food while drawing Yu Yu Hakusho doujinshi, but to be honest I'm not entirely sure I would want that to be my job even jf it were possible. In all honesty I’d say my dream job is one where I...

Work with people I like.

Have positive engagement - interest, enjoyment, achievement - the majority of the time. (Because even things I love can still frustrate me to the extreme, like art.)

Have, and am encouraged to have, the energy, passion, flexibility and time to work on my personal projects - art, comics, fandom, etc.

In short, I'm incredibly fortunate and privileged to be able to say I have my dream job right now. Everyone is different, but I personally don't relish the idea of having my own creative projects tied to the pressure of making money or being judged by other people's values of what is worthwhile. And I don't know if I'd love doing it all the time. Burnout is very real, and working in an industry where I do work with other creatives, plus my own hobby, I know so many professionals who almost never have the time or energy for their own projects.

My thoughts and feelings on this matter may change, but as I’ve written on this topic before, I've felt this way since I first realized what it was that I actually love about the things I love when I was in high school. And for me, that answer wasn’t “do it on demand" nor “have my livelihood rely on it”.

Go to the nearest book, pg 23 line 17: It’s actually page 711 because Grasses of Remembrance doesn’t start at page 1 lol. It’s right in the middle of a poem quotation and translation, so I’ll post the complete thing or it makes no sense.

Asa madaki / Okite zo mitsuru / Ume no hana / Yo no ma no kaze no / Ushirometasa ni (”Early in the morning / I arose and went to look / At the blossoming plum, / Uneasy over the weather / And what the night wind had done”)

- Prince Motoyoshi (SIS I:29), translation by Edwin Cranston

Have you ever had a song or poem written about you?: Yes, I have written many dumb ones and a long time ago I even recorded some with a sped-up chipmunk voice as silly jokes. They’re like 10 seconds or something like that. And every so often, because I never bothered deleting the files, they come up on my music library shuffle while I am working and I’m like WTF WAS THAT???????

My friends have probably written about me too, usually in our random chat conversations lol.

3 sounds I have a hard time with (I removed “hate” because it’s so strong to me lol):

Balloons squeaking against each other

Most high pitched scraping/squealing of objects against each other

Beijing opera vocals when I’m stuck in traffic and it’s hot so the window is down and the highest falsetto is blasting nonstop from a TV on the street right next to the car (I realize this this is very specific)

3 sounds I love:

Wind chimes

Ordinary background hum/presence of people going about life in a familiar space (at home, in the city, on a subway train, in a cafe, etc.)

Benign rustling sounds (e.g., grass and leaves in the wind, paper, soft breaths/whispers)

Do you believe in aliens?: TBH I don’t know. I find the idea interesting but I don’t spend enough time thinking about whether or not I believe in it.

Do you drive?: No.

What is the last book you read?: 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupré

3 things I’m obsessed with:

Hokushin

Tale of Genji

Rocks

Do you hold grudges: Yeah!! I just don’t really do anything because I’m too busy/lazy. And then I forget. BUT SOMETIMES I REMEMBER

Tumblr URL generator - go to http://www.spinxo.com/tumblr-names and share your results.

SpyderHokushin? ???????

MaijiMaihem and HokkuHokushin are pretty good though. (Also HokushinMine made me laugh.)

If you didn’t like that one, try this one. https://www.mookychick.co.uk/games/tumblr-name-generator.php

Not bad. And is this why Hokushin has no hair

Tagging (Up to Ten People): Only if you want to do this, otherwise IGNORE @taki-flower if you wanna do this again with any of the questions I modified lol, @om-nom-berries, @llljjj, @sunhawk, @naomiknight-17 @iwroteyoualoveletter @logicheartsoul @totidem-verbis @syntheticsolitude @cjjoughin and YOU if your username or real name is up to 10 letters long! :D

#meme #hokushin #hokushin hokushin hokushin #lol #my life as a maiji #taki-flower #me

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rachaelacheson · 4 years

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Day 20: Sunday, April 5, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 868. Cases in Story County: 5.

Cracked into my reserve of Coffee and a Classic book boxes.

Amazingly, I had never read any Agatha Christie before today. Obviously, I’ve encountered many parodies and retellings of And Then There Were None; I don’t live under a rock. But somehow, I’d gotten it into my head that I “wasn’t really a mystery-genre person.” So I’ve been avoiding — well, no, not exactly “avoiding” so much as “meh”-ing out — of the original Christies for a while now, thinking they were going to be dry, high-concept antiques, rendered shallow and predictable by the generations of writing that have built on them since. Sort of like gothic horror or early SciFi. And boy was I wrong. But I’m glad I was. It’s comforting to remember how many good things I’ve yet to encounter in the world. And not just brand-new things, either. There is still so much that has been here all along that I haven’t had, or taken, the time to get to know.

Day 21: Monday, April 6, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 946. Cases in Story County: 5.

Thunderstorms. Makes me think of the opening line to Jane Eyre: “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” Sigh. Good thing I got outside yesterday.

It never occurred to me that there would be so many make-up pictures in this series, because I genuinely never wear make-up. But here we are.

It was hard to get a good shot of the sparkly eyeshadow (second photo was the best I could manage), but it was particularly nice blended-ombre, and the colors came from a particularly Rachael-ish palette that I bought myself on eBay for Christmas (it had been featured in a December Boxycharm box, so there were a slew of unopened ones going for cheap).

I used “Enchanted” for the base color, “Beauty” for the outside shading, and “Fairies” for the corner and brow highlights.

Très romantique, n’est-ce pas?

Day 22: Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 1,048. Cases in Story County: 6.

More make-up! Different concept. Unfortunate amount of white liner in the lash line. But whatever. Whitewash is a mood these days.

Since it was also GORGEOUS outside (nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit!) I also spent the evening reading outside on the porch.

Day 23: Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 1,145. Cases in Story County: 6.

Hadn’t thought to try to get pictures, but wasps have been getting into my house. One camped out in my bathroom all morning, and started buzzing around angrily every time I went in to pee. Would suck enough normally, but in current circumstances, there’s nowhere else to go — nowhere to get away.

Day 24: Thursday, April 9, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 1,270. Cases in Story County: 7.

Looking at mega-mansions with underground spas, private cinemas, boutique-sized closets, gyms, and backyard waterparks on YouTube. I’m clearly quarantining in the wrong place.

youtube

Also, listening to Harry Potter (yet again) on Audible while I work. I know I should be taking the opportunity to read new things. But this is the most comforting thing I think I’ve done since quarantine started. I think I might just go through the whole series.

Day 25: Friday, April 10, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 1,388. Cases in Story County: 7.

35 cases in Black Hawk County where Mom, Dad, Andrew, and Steph are. Now at 31 deaths in-state.

Went to the store again today, but did drive-through curbside pick-up, since I finally (FINALLY) snagged a time slot. I had been stalking the pick-up times on Hy-Vee’s website for well over a week before today’s 8AM slot opened up on, I think, Tuesday or Wednesday. But it was worth it, because, even with the inevitable “out-of-stock” and substitution notifications, I managed to get hold of some paper products (napkins, bowls, etc.) and medicine stuffs (Tylenol and cough drops) that I couldn’t find on my in-person run to Faraway. Plus, of course, fresh food (eggs, milk, spinach for salads, sausages) that you can’t order online.

I forgot to make another napkin/tissue/duct tape/rubber-band mask the night before, though. So, instead, I tied a dish towel around my mouth and clipped a clear plastic sheet protector onto my glasses once I got to the front of the pick-up line, and just prayed that I didn’t look like I was trying to rob someone at gunpoint.

Precautions definitely proved excessive this time, however, as I only had to roll down the window once to tell them what my name was, and they didn’t ask me to sign or handle anything.

The worker was also wearing gloves, thank goodness, so I guess Hy-Vee is taking safety a little more seriously than Fareway was. It’s too bad they haven’t also given their hourlies masks (and guaranteed insurance, sick leave, and a fat raise for being “essential workers”!), but it’s something. Guess I’ll be shopping there for the remainder of the pandemic.

It’s unrelated, but, as a bonus, here is a picture of me multi-tasking while “at” work. Watching an SAA webinar on my work computer, creating a documentation project submission form on my personal computer, and petting a very lazy cat all at the same time. And also beginning to pack for moving (that’s what the mess of boxes is in the background).

Day 26: Saturday, April 11, 2020

Cases in Iowa: 1, 510. Cases in Story County: 7.

Cracked into a second box from my Coffee and a Classic stash. I’ll need to pace myself better from now on. But the March Once Upon a Book Club should finally ship next week, so I will have more options. I mean, of “special,” curated book boxes. As opposed, you know, to my gigantic library of ordinary, unaccompanied books. How could I possibly read any of those without getting to open coordinating presents?? Gosh, I’ve gotten spoiled.

This one isn’t entirely from Coffee and a Classic. The mug, tea, colored pencils, and black-and-white artwork are. But the full box was out of stock. So I paired this gift set with my own copy of Robert Frost and a couple of other themed goodies I found on Etsy. Supporting small businesses, whoo! And perfect box for a dreary, rainy day.

Self-Isolation Week 4 Recap Day 20: Sunday, April 5, 2020 Cases in Iowa: 868. Cases in Story County: 5…

#coronavirus #COVID-19 #diary #quarantine #self-isolation #social distancing

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dracox-serdriel · 5 years

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Game of Thrones

Under the cut for series finale spoilers.

Overall, my response to this episode was meh. After last week’s episode, pretty much everything that played out was expected and boring (even Bran’s selection as king was meh).

First, the narrative symmetry is the kind of thing that exists in traditional fantasy stories. The kind of thing the Game of Thrones is supposed to subvert. Yet, Dany was murdered in the Throne Room by being stabbed by someone she trusted to protect her, just as her father was.

One of the selling points of the show was a complete lack of poetic justice (e.g., the good guys don’t always win, the bad guys don’t always get punished). In fact, many of the characters who did the worst things reaped the most reward. So, if Dany really did go full-on tyrant, that shouldn’t have challenged her control of Westeros. After all, wouldn’t it subvert yet another fantasy trope to end a grand epic series with a new (possibly horrifying) tyrant on the throne?

They could’ve subverted the “conquering hero” trope via Dany’s narrative by seriously injuring/killing her in the battle for King’s Landing. (I mean, she rides on the back of a dragon, which has many pointy things fired at it constantly, without any armor. Hmmm, how to kill this character?)

The finale showed

the Unsullied sailing for N’aath

Jon Snow with Ghost, abandoning the Night’s watch to go live free with the Free Folk of the far north

Sansa being crowned as Queen in the North

Arya beginning her explorer’s journey

King Bran the Broken

Tyrion is Hand of the King

Lord/Ser Davos Seaworth is Master of Ships

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, Lord of Highgarden and Master of Coin

Brienne is now Commander of the Kingsguard

Ser Podric Payne is part of the Kingsguard

Samwell Tarley, Archmaester

The finale did not

Mention what happened to the Dothraki

Mention what happened to Mereen, as well as the other cities Danny freed during her time in Essos... presumably, the Second Sons still protect Mereen, but how long will the new governments (and mandates against slavery) last now that Dany is no longer alive to provide aid should they fall?

Tell us Ser Bronn’s last name

Give us the name of the new Prince of Dorne

Introduce Ser Davos’s wife

Mention who the Warden of the West is, or who is Lord of Casterly Rock

Appoint any of the primary leaders to the Small Council (unless Tyrion Lannister is now also Warden of the West?)

Introduce anyone to the small council that we’ve never met before, (despite the fact that Samwell Tarley is not a trained maester and now has the time to actually complete his training)

Introduce any new checks and balances to the system of rulership, except that the succession is decided by all the major Lords of Westeros - which, let’s be honest, is hardly a check at all. There’s nothing mentioned about unilateral appointment (so a majority is all that’s needed) and a current ruler who wants his/her child to inherit the throne will have plenty of influence to throw around during their time as ruler to ensure that outcome.

Break the wheel at all - more like put a hardly noticeable dent it in (after all, even the new Small Council only has 2 members who weren’t born noble, one of whom is now noble by assignment - whereas the previous Small Council had... oh, right, 2 members who weren’t born noble)

One thing that I had expected - but did not happen - was Ser Davos suggesting the establishment of a school. (He is the only character we know who learned a skill as important as reading during late in his life as a key part of his character development.) He was “raised up” by Stannis, which is why he was loyal to the man, even when he did stuff that scared the crap out of Davos.

And isn’t that part of the wheel, this idea that the only way to better things is by some highborn deicing you are worthy? Often they’re doing it for themselves, as it almost always grants them lifelong loyalties.

It seems to me that Ser Davos would be the person to see this best, and to realize that teaching children of non-Lords might be the best way to identify true talent and abilities, giving at least some people the opportunity to change their stations by merit rather than highborn handouts.

Overall, the episode tried to be heavy and harsh and real, but it handed out far too many roses to be real in the way that GoT is real, in any case. The lack of music/background sound should’ve played into the devastation and the weight of the episode. But the complete and utter lack of real stakes in this episode makes the lack of background sound and music feel boring or even lazy.

I feel like the only real moment in this episode - the only one with real emotion, real stakes, real effect - was Drogon trying to wake Dany’s dead body. This is the only real pain we witness from the loss of Dany. Despite her many followers wanting justice for her murder, and despite Jon’s horror at himself for his actions, the only one who seems to genuinely morn her is her last remaining child.

I feel like if this show was trying to be the “real” world represented by the original GoT - the one where Ned Stark lost his head and the Red Wedding took Catelyn and Robb Stark - then at the very least, we should’ve seen something like Ser Brienne’s page(s) of the Kingsguard, listing that she’s defeated every single knight in single combat - because let’s be honest, a woman knight - knighted by, of all people, Ser Jaime Lannister - would not go unquestioned in a world like that. Not that she doesn’t deserve it - but let’s be honest, in the GoT world, who gets what they deserve?

It was also weird that Brann was concerned about Drogon. Or any of the Small Council, really. I suppose if one of Dany’s followers found Drogon and wasn’t immediately eaten/burned to bits, said follower might coax the dragon into some kind of rebellion or warfare in Dany’s name. But that seems rather far-fetched, as the only other human being who has ridden a dragon solo besides Dany was Jon Snow.

Again, the only reaction I have is... meh.

#game of thrones spoilers #got spoilers #game of thrones #finale

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everyonethinksmynameiskayla · 7 years

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Casa to Barca, part one: Random men sitting with me in silence while I eat

I’ve always wanted to go to Morocco, so when I got to Senegal and was putzing around on the internet, as one does, and discovered that flights from Dakar to Casablanca were only like $100 I decided I was going to make it happen before my Fulbright was over. Then, when I was in the planning in my head but not actually scouring travel blogs and booking stuff stage, I downloaded VirtualBox and started running Windows parallel on my Mac (see an earlier post about that) and the default background for Windows was a photo of a beautiful landscape in a magical-looking place. I did some image-based searches and discovered that place was Ronda, a small city in the southernmost Spanish province, Andalucía. So I decided I would go there too. Ronda is indeed a magical place, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

This trip was a bit more than two weeks total so these posts might be a bit long, so I’m going to divide them up into smaller parts. I’ve already posted some of my favorite pictures on Wanderlust and will be uploading a few more as well as some videos shortly.

So! I flew into Casablanca, which I had heard was nothing special from a touristic perspective so I just went to see the big famous mosque, Mosquée Hassan II, hung out in a café for a bit and then took the bus to Marrakech. I flew through Madrid to get to Casablanca (ironically, since later I went to Spain but not Madrid) and I realized while I was tying to sleep on the couch at Starbucks that the last time I was in the Madrid airport was when I was leaving Senegal in 2014. It was raining when I got there, which was bizarre because I hadn’t seen rain in at least seven months (since the rainy season here hasn’t started yet).

Anyway, my taxi from the airport took me right to Mosquée Hassan II. They are not messing around with that thing, it is absolutely one of the largest and most beautiful structures I have ever seen. I happened to be there at the call to prayer, which was deafening from directly below the minaret but I love me a good call to prayer so that was a bonus. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in a café in the main plaza, marveling both at how I seemed to be the only woman sitting at a sidewalk café out of the hundreds of patrons around the plaza and also at how if I didn’t know where I was and someone told me I was in Europe I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. Seriously, Casablanca looks and feels so European. Then I went to the bus station and was totally mind blown by how fancy it was and then was even more mind blown by the bus I took to Marrakech, it had the most leg room I’ve ever had traveling in something that wasn’t a train and maybe even then and each seat was like a small lazy boy recliner with like a foot rest thing that popped up and everything. I guess since I was coming from the Senegalese context I was expecting Moroccan travel to be a bit more similar to the sept-places and mini-buses of Senegal and perhaps that was unfair or presumptive but man, was I wrong. To be fair, even once I got to Spain I kept almost burning myself in the shower because it never occurred to me that there might be hot water. I get so wrapped up in however/wherever I’m living.

Marrakech was kind of meh. The proverbial ‘everyone’ is always like “obviously Marrakech is a must for any trip to Morocco” but everything was the exact same color (seriously, by law everything has to be a terra-cotta orangey color because otherwise sandstorms make the buildings too dirty) and the medina is cool but parts of the newer part of the city kind of look like when rich suburbs try to give their “downtown” that “downtown” feel by unnecessarily putting the shops and restaurants into strips and the parking lots in the back, but all the stores and restaurants are still chains and you’re like “well, you tried”. There was even a Fudruckers. Like. What? What even is Fudruckers? But I digress.

Like I said, the medina was cool as always – every mid-size to large Moroccan city has a ‘medina’, or at least it would seem to me that’s the case, which is basically the “old city” and generally only accessible to pedestrians (except in Marrakech motorbikes were allowed which meant that my life flashed before my eyes every two minutes, it’s okay though it made up for the uniformity of color in the excitement department). The medinas are always labyrinthine and full of narrow alleys and little maze-like paths with vendors selling sweets and tea and scarves and oils and accordingly they’re generally the main tourist attraction. Plus all the cool monuments and mosques are usually inside the medina. The Marrakech medina was the same color as the rest of the city, but since it was my first medina I enjoyed wandering around, until I got to the souks, or market area, which is when I realized what a couple of my friends who had been to Morocco meant when they said that Marrakech is mostly for tourists to shop. In the middle of all of this is a huge square that has at least 50 of the exact same—seriously, they’re all identical—juice stands set up in rows in the middle surrounded by some ladies doing henna on little benches under umbrellas and snake charmers playing for giant cobras which were just casually hanging out on the street which seemed like a good idea. I got a lot of juice from those stands, it was so good and it was so hot outside, but it was always a bit stressful because when you get close they all start yelling and trying to get you to come to their stand but since there is no distinguishable difference between them it’s hard to choose and I would think okay I should go to the first guy I make eye contact with but then it was always too much pressure and I felt bad for the guys that I didn’t buy juice from. As I write this I’m realizing that maybe that’s the point…

The highlight in Marrakech was actually my hostel, which was right in the center of the medina and was exactly how I would picture a hostel in Morocco. It was ‘riad’ style, which meant it had an open air ‘courtyard’ in the middle and then each floor looked down into that, except instead of a garden in the ‘courtyard’ as is required to be an actual ‘riad’ it was a bunch of rugs and cushions and low tables and the whole place was dimly lit with those metal lanterns with the holes punched in them in cool patterns. When I got there I knocked on the door and the guy who opened it immediately said “Kyla?” which surprised me and then he gave me my first thé a la menthe (mint tea, Moroccan signature, so good) and some weird things that were either crackers or cookies. There were only two other people there, a Congolese guy who appeared to be living there while he worked at a travel company call center (probably practical, the place only cost like 3 euros a night) and a Slovakian guy who was touring the world on his motorcycle.

^ Lighting wasn’t great for photos, but I tried

While exploring, I came across a café where you could also get henna, which I did because I missed having henna on my hands and arms all the time like I did in India since the girls would practice on me. Then I had my first ‘Moroccan crepe’ from a lady making them on the street, she even put an egg in mine for me and made me a little sandwich and I had that with some tea for lunch for a dollar. Thus began my love affair with Moroccan crepes.

^ My henna, while drying and the next day, and lunch

To get to my next destination, Imlil, up in the Atlas mountains about an hour and a half outside Marrakech, I took a ‘grand taxi’ which is as close as you’re going to get to a Moroccan sept-place except it’s a 2013 model Toyota minivan and it only seats six which means that being in the way back doesn’t break both your neck and your spirit which was good since I was in the way back. As you drive out of Marrakech the mountains quickly come into sight behind the clouds and then all of a sudden you go from the desert to the forest and mountains so fast that I actually missed it because I was selecting a podcast to listen to.

Imlil is tiny and quiet, most people use it as a base to climb Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in the Atlas, which I did not have the time nor the gear to do. So instead I decided to try to find this waterfall that I had heard tell about. However all this hear-tell had not included the factoid that there are in fact two waterfalls, one which is about a mile up the mountain and the other which is about 20 miles up the mountain. So, long after I had passed the impossible-to-see turnoff for the path to the waterfall I was actually looking for, people I was passing in the little villages and trekking teams with their mules were telling me “yeah, yeah, just keep going you’ll come to the waterfall”. Eventually it had been several hours and I sat down on a rock and said to myself okay, you’ve definitely walked more than a mile at this point. Since the hike had been lovely so far, with great mountain views complete with bubbling springs and wildflowers, I decided to just backtrack. I made a pit stop at a rooftop restaurant I came across in a little village that seemed entirely dedicated to housing trekkers preparing for the ascent, except I was the only person there so when I asked the guy hanging out at the bottom of the stairs if the restaurant was open he looked at me like I had just asked him to marry him for a second and then recovered and said uh yeah sure and led me upstairs to the terrace which had a stunning view but all the chairs were on top of the tables and he scrambled to put them down and then came over and asked what I wanted to eat and I said well what do you have and he was like well what would you like and I was like uh do you have tagine and he said no, we only have Berber omelets, which seemed pretty straightforward so I got that. No regrets there, turns out Berber omelets are really good—they’re basically deep-dish omelets made in a tagine (the cone shaped thing that they make Moroccan food in) with tomatoes and onions and all kinds of yummy spices.

^ My Berber omelet and the view

They guy who brought the omelet upstairs, not the same guy as before, put the omelet down in front of me and then pulled up a chair and sat sort of across from me and said absolutely nothing for like five minutes before getting up and leaving while I stared with great determination at the omelet waiting for it to cool down a bit which was really strange but turned out to be a theme in Imlil. When I got back to my hotel, which I had wisely chosen based on the quality of the roof top terrace and view (10/10, plus my room was also on the roof so all I had to do was step outside to enjoy it) I took my first hot shower which was super exciting and then sat outside for dinner, which was vegetable soup and then a vegetable and chicken tagine that was as breathtaking as the view, the guy who seemed to be the sole person running the place also sat silently adjacent to me while I ate for the most amount of time possible without me exploding from confusion and awkwardness before getting up and leaving. I always thought it was annoying and invasive when men outside of a normal social setting in which such behavior would be acceptable (i.e. a party) asserted their ‘right’ to my time and attention but my god this was so much weirder.

^ Tagine and the roof terrace

But anyway to get back to my hike, I was just about back to town when I saw out of the corner of my eye a small path going straight down next to me and a tiny sign that said “waterfall” with an arrow…and so I actually did find the original waterfall, which was full of day trippers from Marrakech and some industrious locals had set up a little restaurant on the rocks next to it and everything. I took a different way back, following the irrigation canals down to the main street.

^ The waterfall

The next day I was pretty tired so I mostly hung out on the roof and read and ate more tagine and Moroccan crepes and drank tea, but I also spent a few hours trying to find and eventually finding the radio tower, to get the panoramic view of the valley. One would think that since you can see the radio tower from almost everywhere it wouldn’t be hard to get to but one would be wrong. I spent a lot of time making false starts up the steep rocky hill below it before I finally found the actual “path” that led up there, and when I got up there I couldn’t stay long because despite the view being beautiful it was so windy that I couldn’t stand up during one of the gusts because of a legitimate and well founded fear that it would blow me clear off the top of the mountain. (My pictures from these hikes are on Wanderlust)

The next day I was heading to Fez and I was a little bit stressed because my train was at 10:45 from Marrakech and it would take about an hour and a half to get there and you have to wait for the Grand Taxis to fill up before they leave which could take five minutes or an hour so I got to the station/town parking lot as early as I could and I walked in and told the guy who had a clipboard and reflective vest and therefore seemed to be in charge I was going to Marrakech and before he could even say anything another older white guy who was getting into a car said “we can take you, we’re leaving now” so I got a free ride straight to the train station from a Montenegrin man and his daughter. Funny how things just work out that. Continuing the trend of things working out, I got to the station and my Moroccan friend had advised me that I should switch out my second class train ticket for first class one since it was usually only a few dollars more and you were guaranteed a seat and it was much more comfortable for the kind of 9 hour ride I was about to do, so I decided to take his advice. I got my new ticket and then went and got a coffee at the McDonald’s in the station and waited to board. When I threw my coffee away I also threw away my old second class ticket because that made sense to me and I can’t read Arabic so I did not know that it said on my new ticket that it was only valid alongside my old one. However the ticket collector on the train could read Arabic and so just when I was settling in to my comfy first class train car and celebrating my good fortune he took my ticket and goes “where’s the other ticket” to which my only response was “uh”. Long story short, he said I had to buy the second class ticket again, which had been $20 and I was basically beginning him to have mercy, like how could I have known?? and so he literally gets on the phone, calls someone back at the train station and has them look in the trash at the McDonald’s, but they don’t find it so in great agony I bought the ticket again. Then the very, very nice older lady sitting across from me felt bad and was like it’s okay I would have done the same thing, you couldn’t have known and then she reached into her purse and pulled out the equivalent of ten dollars and insisted that I take it because she didn’t want my trip in Morocco to be stained by having to buy the ticket again. Then when I came back from the bathroom I discovered that her daughter, who was sitting next to me, had bought me a juice from the food cart guy. Traveling is humbling.

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