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janisarkisian · 3 years

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The Beauty of Your Dance

It’s hard to believe this is my first contribution to wlw renegades week!! Anyway, today’s prompt was enemies to lovers dance au and im here to danceeee!! okay have some novissa.

Pairing: Novissa

Word Count: 1,889

When Nova had entered the 8th grade, she had gotten serious about dance. Before, she had been serious to an extent. She had danced all the time and had gotten her pointe shoes two years before. And the best thing was, everyone knew she was the best at her studio. She worked day and night at Anarchy Academy of Ballet, but part of her wanted freedom.

Ever since she had decided to become serious about dance, she had been sworn off to talk with people from any other studio. Technically, no one was stopping her from chatting with them, but it just wasn’t what was expected of her.

And of course, today was the day that Reject School of Dance held an invitational. Most studios were just there as a formality. The real competition was between Anarchy and Reject. Narcissa Cronin, their best dancer there, and was just as stuck-up and snobby as the people she worked with. Nova tried hard to understand what she was going through, she tried to remember they were working through the same problems. But the problem was, she needed to hate Narcissa Cronin, simply because of who she was.

As she tied her pointe shoes backstage, Nova regretted not sewing and breaking in a new pair yesterday. With all the dancing she did, Anarchy shipped her two new pairs a week, which still wasn’t enough.

“Ew,” A Reject dancer laughed as she walked past, “I can’t believe you even have the guts to go up against the Rejects. You should probably save yourself the embarrassment, honey.”

Nova’s lip curled up in disgust, but she wasn’t about to fight back. Before a dance competition, it was always best to have good mental health. Arguing wouldn’t help her.

Finally standing, she did a few releves’ on pointe before marking her dances. This year, she had a duet with Winston Pratt, a man she didn’t particularly like due to his clownish antics, and a trio with Honey Harper and Ingrid Thompson. Not to mention their smash group number for the end. She knew the Anarchists would win this year. They had to.

She watched in the wings as the first number started. As expected it was a really big group number from the Rejects. She had to admit they were really good. The energy their dancers had couldn’t be mistaken. And they all looked happy. Truthfully, it could have just been the lighting, but there was no mistaking the sparkles in their smiles. By the end of the dance, the audience clapped so loud she thought they would eliminate the rest of the dancers for the Rejects being so amazing.

The next dance was pretty unimportant. It was a solo done by a boy who danced at Renegade Ballet. She had never even heard of the studio, but she wondered how he was able to dance with his cane. He made it seem effortless, but she knew it must have been incredibly hard for him to dance with a disability like that.

Watching as the dances slipped by one after the next, she started to get anxious for her duet, which was coming up soon. Finally, the dance before her came on, so she checked herself over once, and headed further into the wings.

When she got on stage, everything melted away. The competition, the crowd, even Winston, who was spinning her around. There were no Rejects and no Anarchists. It was just her, and this beautiful dance. Nothing could change that. As the lighting went dark, she realized that was the first time she had ever nailed that dance perfectly. As much as she practiced, there were still moves that didn’t come perfectly natural to her that were even harder to do with Winston. But on that stage, she had been perfect.

The tensions during intermission were high. The most communication that happened were whispers between dancers in the same companies. Nova’s anxiety started to kick in, so she did what she always did to help. Plies, crunches, and pirouettes all helped her relax and get into show mode.

“Nova,” Ingrid spoke while spraying more hairspray on her bun, “We all know you’re going to be great, stop worrying about it.”

“I can’t,” she responded, knowing it was true, “There’s always an opportunity for someone to get better. If I stop now, I won’t be the best forever. I’ve got to keep persisting. Narcissa Cronin’s probably practicing right now too. I have to beat her.”

“Actually,” Honey interrupted, “She’s over there hanging out with her friends. Like you should be doing.”

Nova dropped down from her posse, sighing. “It’s not my fault she won’t be the best at her studio soon enough.”

“Nova,” Honey’s voice took a level on her heart. Her friends only wanted what was best for her. Maybe they were right. Maybe there was more to life than just dance. The only problem was that she had no idea what was missing.

***

Soon enough, the intermission was over and everyone was back in the wings, hoping their studio would win. It was no surprise that Narcissa Cronin was opening Act 2 with her solo that every Reject claimed to be amazing. Nova hoped it wasn’t true, yet knowing Narcissa’s reputation, it probably was.

As the music started, Nova felt all her worries wash away. Normally, this only happened to her when she danced, not when someone else danced. But watching Narcissa dance was like being in a dream. She flowed perfectly with the music, making the whole experience one you should have paid thousands for. Her fiery red hair lit up the stage, perfectly contrasting with the cyan lighting. Narcissa looked beautiful, and Nova couldn’t take her eyes off her.

She was caught in a trance, something she had never seen before. Then, she heard it. Narcissa had picked up the pace of her dance and fallen. At first, Nova felt no remorse. With her enemy fallen, the victory could be her’s. But not long after, she got ahold of herself. What if Narcissa was hurt? Any dancer knew that an injury could keep you out of the studio for longer than expected.

Narcissa didn’t appear hurt as she picked herself up, and continued her dance as nothing had happened. Nova admired her for that. If she was hurt, there were no signs of it, and if that had embarrassed her, there were no signs of it. But when she got back up, her dance didn’t have the same magical spirit it had before. It looked empty almost like she knew everyone in the crowd was disappointed.

Her dance ended, and the crowd clapped, though it was half-hearted. Narcissa’s dance had been amazing, yet the crowd and the judges would only remember her fall.

Still feeling remorse for Narcissa, Nova knew she needed to get ahold of herself. She, Ingrid, and Honey were on next, and they still needed to be flawless if she wanted to win.

The dance was short, yet meaningful. It was hard too, their jumps needed to soar, and all be in perfect time. Only the most elite dancers were able to perform it. Still, she felt like she shouldn't be prepping to go onstage. She should have been with Narcissa, comforting her.

She hoped that at least someone was there and that her whole studio hadn’t turned on her.

There was something that Nova noticed when she went onstage. She felt happier, but sad all at the same time. Though her dance earlier had been flawless, it had been empty. This dance felt full of feelings and all the things she had missed before. It felt whole.

Before she knew it, the dance was over. It had felt so blur-of-the-moment, just like what had happened to her when she had seen Narcissa onstage. Quickly, the exited stage left, while Ingrid and Honey disappeared stage right. Since they had unloaded their stuff near stage right, she would have to walk around the large stage, but she didn’t mind it. It would give her a quick moment to process the blur of feelings she had just experienced.

There were many reasons Nova liked the Reject’s theatre. The main reason was that the stage was so big. But another always-present reason was all the dark corridors. It was so easy to get lost if you wanted to, but easy to stay on track. Since she was done for a while, she wanted to get lost. Because sometimes, getting lost was so much easier than facing the things that were directly in front of you.

She was so lost in her thoughts and problems that she barely heard the sniffle that came from a short, dark corridor which Nova was 87% sure led out to the stage, yet most people used the main wings.

“Are you okay?” she asked the mysterious figure, who appeared to be pretty distressed.

“No,” the voice responded. She now knew it was a girl's voice, and it was pretty too. It was probably the most serene voice she had ever heard.

“Do you want some company?” She asked the shadow, hoping she would say yes.

“Are you a Reject?” The girl asked, and Nova was unsure how to respond.

“No,” She responded hoping she had made the right choice, “I’m an Anarchist.”

“Then be my guest.”

Nova stepped into the shadows, somewhat shocked to see the girl was none other than Narcissa Cronin, her former worst enemy.

“Are you Narcissa Cronin?” She needed to be sure.

“Yeah. Reject School of Dance’s biggest disappointment. I’m sure you love me for that. The Anarchists are practically guaranteed to win this year. All because of me.”

“You know what?” She asked Narcissa, “I don’t really even care about winning this year. I mean, I did, but something happened to me, and now I feel like it doesn’t even matter. Anarchists, Rejects, we’re all human so why the hell does it matter who wins this stupid dance invitational?” She felt adrenaline rush through her. Why was she admitting things like this to Narcissa Cronin, of all people?”

“I think that’s really cool because it’s a perspective I’ve never heard before. All the Rejects just want to win. It’s like their only priority. And truthfully, I’m like them. I’m like them so much that I’ve pretty much forgotten to enjoy dance.” She stopped, and for a moment, neither of them said anything. “I’m sorry,” Narcissa said after a moment, “Honestly, I have no idea why I’m telling you all of this. I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Nova. Nova Artino.”

She watched Narcissa’s eyes grow big. “You’re Nova Artino? But I heard you were like, the most competitive person on Earth!” She let out half of a laugh, but the statement hit Nova pretty hard.

“Well, I used to be.” It was true.

“Look, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. You were really nice to talk to.”

“Thanks. You were too. Do you feel better?”

“Well normally, when I’m feeling down, I just dance. But right now, I don’t think dancing is how I want to cheer myself up,” Narcissa confessed.

“That’s fair. Will you come backstage with me? I have a number coming up.”

“Yeah. I think I’d like that,” Narcissa grinned.

“Then come on. Let’s dance.”

#novissa #wlwrenegades #nova artino #queercreators #narcissa cronin #my fics #renegades #renegades trilogy #fanfiction #marissa meyer #fics #adrian everhart #oscar silva #ruby tucker #osby

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surveys4ever · 3 years

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28.

What colour is the photo frame closest to you? Gold!

Are your pets asleep right now, if you have any? She was but she just got up to go get water I think.

Would you have any idea what your parents are doing right now? They just went to my cousin’s wedding so I think they’re on their way home now.

How many windows (roughly) does your house have? 16 I think?

Do you have a good relationship with your cousins? When I was younger we were all close but they’re all either insane or bigoted as hell so I have no real desire to keep a relationship with any of them.

What was the last kids movie you saw? We watched Wish Dragon the other day but it was really cute!

Do you know anyone who was born in Africa? Yes! A few guys on my husband’s crew are from Africa.

Have you ever been to an internet cafe? At this day in age, aren’t all cafes internet cafes?

Are there any upcoming events for you to look forward to? We’re going on a lil road trip soon and I’m pretty pumped for that.

Has the year gone quickly for you so far? This year has flown, man.

How many siblings does your significant other have? 4 but one committed suicide a few years ago and I’m honestly not convinced he doesn’t have any other siblings he doesn’t know about. His dad is a bit of a slut.

Are you one of those people who can drink vodka straight? I can, I don’t want to tho.

Have you ever done three or more shots in a row? Yes.

Do you share a middle name with any of your friends? With my mom.

What was the last movie you saw in theatres? Dracula.

How many pairs of jeans do you own? Ummm...over 10 but under 20. Somewhere in there.

When was the last time you showered? The day before yesterday.

Do you know the name of the pharmacist at your local drug store? I do not, haha.

What was the first cellphone you had and how old were you when you got it? Oh lord. It was a pink Samsung flip phone and I think I was in the 8th grade.

Do you use public transport in your town or city? Newp.

Have your parents ever worked in a factory? My dad worked at a pig plant when I was younger if that counts.

Do you have several best friends? A few!

How many lights are in the room you're in? One overhead light and two lamps.

Is there a Hard Rock Cafe in your town or city? Newp.

Do you eat fast food more than once a week? Definitely.

What flavour is your toothpaste? Mint?

Have you ever shared a shower or bath with someone as an adult? I raaaarely shower alone lol.

When was the last time you had a bubble bath? A few months ago.

Are you sleepy right now? Not really!

How big is your backyard? We don’t have one!

Do you know anyone with Tourette's Syndrome? Not personally, no!

What time does your alarm wake you up in the morning? Beebs is my alarm and it’s usually 9:30-9:45.

What was the last zoo you visited? Our tiny little local one.

Do you like crime films and tv shows? Depends on the show but they’re certainly not my favorite.

When you shop, do you take a basket or a cart (trolley)? Depends on how much stuff I need!

Have you ever tasted milk straight from the cow? Yes! My aunt and uncle have cows and I used to milk them when I visited. It was actually pretty fun. The milk has a very...interesting odor when its fresh tho.

What's your favourite sleeping position? On my tummy with my leg up haha.

What colour is the bra you're wearing? As if I’d be wearing a bra while being at home lol. I barely put one on to go out.

Have you ever seen A Clockwork Orange? I haven’t, actually!

Are you bitter about anything? Definitely.

Do you like to make games out of chores to make them more enjoyable? I do!

How many letters are in your best friend's surname? 6, 7, 5, and 5.

Is there anything in your possession that probably shouldn't be? Newp.

What is your favourite flavour of yoghurt? Strawberry or vanilla.

What was the first online account you remember having? Oh god...either Neopets or Whyville.

Do you listen to music to fall asleep? Nope.

Where did you go last time you left your town or city? A different city to go thrifting.

Do you use emojis? Definitely. I don’t feel like I can properly express my emotions without them.

Have you ever wanted to be a lawyer? I can’t argue without crying so I don’t exactly think I would be the best at that.

What percentage of battery does your phone currently have? 86%

What was the last type of soda you drank? A coke slushie, if that counts!

How far away from your house is your favourite place to shop for clothes? Couple miles!

Do you have supplies handy right now to draw something if I told you to? Not on me at this exact moment in time but I have them in the house.

Have you ever been married? Yup!

What does your deodorant smell like? Cocoa butter, apparently.

Is your bedroom more messy or clean at the moment? Not messy but the bed is unmade and there are some clothes on the floor.

Do you use Twitter? I don’t really post anything, I just watch what other people are doing sometimes.

Are you any good at baking cakes and cookies from scratch? I’m a great baker, yeah!

Is there a floor lamp in your bedroom? Newp.

What does most of your weekly or fortnightly income go towards? I section it out into whatever bills we have coming out, savings, groceries, gas, and then a portion that we both get to spend on whatever we want.

Do you have any hidden piercings? (this includes bellybuttons) Nope, they’re all pretty visible!

What month is your birthday? January.

What can you hear right now? I’m listening to the Bo Burnham Inside soundtrack.

#survey

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idumpyourgrass · 4 years

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Always Waiting- Chapter two

Always waiting- Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Always Waiting Masterlist

Summary: The party introduces Y/N to Eleven, Y/N realizes how much of an asshole Steve Harrington has become, the party, Y/N and El see something they wish they wouldn’t have seen, and Jonathan, Nancy, and Y/N discover something.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

A/N: Hi everyone! I’m so glad that you all liked the first chapter! I have changed the POV from 3rd person to 2nd person, it just seemed more natural. I have finals next week but after that I’ll be on winter break so I’ll be spitting out these chapters like no body’s business. Also sorry if this seems so rushed. All the fun stuff happens later… Also sorry this chapter’s so short, the next couple of chapters are longer and much better I promise! As always criticism is welcomed and if you want to be added to the taglist let me know!

Warnings: Swearing, asshole Steve, dead body? typos probs

Word Count: 1.4K

~November 8th, 1983~

You and Dustin pull up at Mike’s house just as Lucas was getting off his bike. All three of you are greeted by Mrs. Wheeler. She tells you that Mike is in the basement. As you all start walking down the stairs you notice a bald girl sitting on the couch. You lean over and whisper into Dustin’s ear, “who’s the bald girl?”

“Oh Eleven this is Y/N, Y/N this is Eleven.” Dustin introduces you two. The girl named Eleven looks terrified.

“Um hey, what’s up?” You greet her. Eleven just looks at you. You smile at her then got to say hi to Mike. All five of you gather around a table. The boys each dump out their backpacks. Lucas has “weapons,” if you count a wrist rocket as a weapon. Dustin empties his backpack and all kinds of snacks fell out. You couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ha! Nice dude,” he looks up at you and smiles, you give him a fist bump.

Lucas and Mike look at him like he’s crazy.

“We’re going to need food for our travels, why do we even need weapons anyways, we have her!” Dustin points at Eleven. Now you were just flat out confused.

“She shut ONE door.” Lucas argues.

“With her mind.” Dustin said.

“I’m sorry what?” You could not believe what you were hearing; Weapons? Closing doors with minds? “travels?” The boys then go into detail telling you everything. They found eleven while out searching for Will, found out she had powers, and how she knew where Will was. Although you were still fairly confused, you went along with their plans.

“Ok so we all need to meet back here at 3:15 to begin Operation Mirkwood.” Mike explains.

“Yikes, sorry boys I’m going to have to take a raincheck, I have rehearsal after school.” You tell them.

“So what? Just skip it. This is important,” Dustin says looking up at you with pleading eyes.

“I can’t ‘just skip it,’ it’s the very first rehearsal.” You couldn’t miss the first rehearsal.

“Pull the ‘Will’s like a brother to me’ card. That’ll get you out of it.” Lucas suggests.

You didn’t like to lie to your director but the boys seemed to really want you there. You cautiously agree and look down at your watch.

“Shoot! We’re going to be late, we gotta go!” You tell the boys. They rapidly gather up all their things.

You all say bye to Eleven and hurry out the door.

* * *

Barb wasn’t in any of her classes today. Nancy was asking around school if anyone had seen her, but no one has. You were getting a bad feeling about this.

At lunch, since Barb wasn’t there, you were stuck sitting with Nancy, Steve, Tommy, and Carol.

“Hey Tommy, did you see Barb when you left last night?” Nancy asks. He said he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

“She was probably tired of listening to all the moaning last night.” To which then Carol and Tommy proceed to make sex noises loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear. Nancy’s face turn red and she was avoiding eye contact with you.

“You know maybe if you guys wouldn’t have left her so you guys could go fuck, she would be here.” You knew if was a wise choice of words but you were so tired and fed up with all of them. And with that, you get up and leave the cafeteria to go talk to your theatre director.

Lucas was right, pulling the ‘Will was like a brother to me’ card gave you the whole rest of the week off from rehearsal. On the way out of the classroom you run into a theatre friend, Robin Buckley. Robin tells you she’s sorry about Will insists you guys hang out soon so you could get your mind off of everything. You agree and went on your way.

* * *

After school, while heading to your car, you notice Steve, Nancy, Tommy and Carol, swarming around Jonathan, yelling at him for something. You get there just in time to see Steve drop Jonathan’s camera.

“Steve, what the hell!” You give him a hard shove to the chest

“Stay out of this Henderson.” Steve says coldly as he, Tommy, and Carol start to walk away. Nancy bends over and picks up ripped pieces of a photograph and runs to catch up with the rest of the group. You bend down to help Jonathan pick up the rest of the photographs.

“Jesus, they are such assholes.” You mutter as you give Jonathan the rest of his photos back.

He gives you a quiet thank you, and runs off.

You look down at your watch and realize it was already 3:10. You were supposed to meet the boys at 3:15, you run to your car and shoot out of the parking lot.

* * *

The five of you trail behind Eleven as she leads you to where Will is. You all stop at Will’s house.

“Here.” Eleven states.

“Oh, no sweetheart this is Will’s house…where he lives?” You try to explain it to her.

“Hiding.” Eleven states again. You look up at the three boys who seem to be just as confused as you are.

“I told you she was lying!” Lucas says to Mike, who only argued back.

You could hear the sounds of sirens approaching.

“Guys…guys!” Dustin yells. All attention was now on the sirens approaching. Police cars and ambulances race by.

Simultaneously , the five of you glance at each other.

“Will.”

You all race towards the sirens and arrive at the quarry. You all peek your heads around an ambulance as you watch paramedics pull something out of the water and onto the stretcher. When you see what it it, your heart sinks. On the stretcher laid the body of Will Byers.

“No, no, no.” You can feel your eyes fill with tears.

“It’s him, it’s really Will.” Lucas says.

You wrap your arms around Dustin and Lucas. Mike starts yelling at Eleven.

“You said he was alive! Why’d you lie?!”

“Mike.” You try to calm him down.

“Huh? Why’d you lie?” Mike keeps pressing the question. Eleven starts stuttering trying to find the words to form a sentence. Mike scoffs and walks away.

You can’t believe what’s happening, and you had no idea what was yet ahead.

* * *

~November 9th, 1983~

The next day at school you can’t focus on anything. You just keep thinking about Will. It’s not until 3rd period when you notice Barb is still not at school.

After 3rd period you find Nancy and pull her aside.

“It’s not like Barb to just run away and not tell anyone. Something bad happened to her, I know it.” You tell Nancy.

“Y/N, I need to tell you something and it’s going to sound crazy”

“Yeah ok, I’m all ears.”

“Yesterday, I went to Steve’s house, to see if I could figure out where Barb went, and I saw something.” Nancy trails off.

“Like what? A deer?”

“No, like, like, I don’t know! It looked like some kind of monster.”

“A monster?” Ok now you were starting to think she was crazy.

“It walked on two legs and it didn’t have a face.” Nancy finishes.

“Didn’t have a face? Nancy this is started to sound like something from one of Dustin and Mike’s games.” You could not believe what she was telling you.

“Y/N I’m serious. I- I just know whatever it was, it wasn’t human.” Nancy looks at you with big pleading eyes, almost begging you to believe her. You are about to respond when the bell rings. You give Nancy a small glance and you go to your next class.

* * *

As you start heading out of school, Nancy and Jonathan pull you into the photo developing room.

“Woah hello! What’s…uh what’s going on?” You question, surprised to see the two of them together.

“We might have discovered something.” Nancy says confidentially.

You all stand over the tub while the picture develops. In the picture you an barely make out what looks to be -and you can’t believe you’re thinking this- a monster.

“What the fuck is that thing.” You ask.

“That’s it, that’s what I saw!” Nancy announces.

“My mom, I thought she was crazy, she said it wasn’t Will’s body, that he’s still alive.” Jonathan adds.

“And if Will’s alive then-”

“Barb.”

Taglist:

@loulouloueh @nighttwingg @hauntedduckdefendor @l0ve-0f-my-life @labrujaprincess

#steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things x reader #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #will byers #eleven #jim hopper

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bensakindofmagic · 5 years

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Cafe Girl

Okay so I’ve been working in a cafe all summer and this is where my brain goes when I’m bored (which is constantly). I wrote it in my lunch breaks while silently wishing it would really happen

Thursday, 1st August

“I hope that fit guy comes in again,” Jenny called from the coffee machine.

You teetered in from the kitchen with a tray full of clean cups and started restocking the shelves. “What fit guy?”

“Of course, you weren’t in yesterday. This really cute guy came in for a coffee.”

“Is that it?” you scoffed. “You made it sound like something happened.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Sophie interjected. “He was gorgeous.”

“Right up your street actually,” Jenny nodded to you.

Sophie rolled her eyes, “So you’re going to get all courteous now, just ‘cause you were blatantly flirting at him and he didn’t bat an eye.”

“What girl isn’t going to try their luck with him? He was beautiful.”

“Yeah, you mentioned,” you laughed, shaking your head.

You didn’t have to wait long to find out if they were exaggerating or not. You were merrily folding napkins to keep yourself occupied when Jenny nudged your arm and whispered, “It’s him.”

You looked to the door that he had just walked through. They were right, he was something else. You’d never seen anyone pull off jeans and a t-shirt that well. His shirt was just a little too tight on his arms, making his biceps bulge out of it. You imagined that he’d bought the shirt before he’d started bulking, but liked the way it accentuated his muscles. He looked as though he had that subtle arrogance of a man with confidence and a path laid out before him; not that you minded, it was wildly sexy. His hair, bright blonde, fell in obnoxiously effortless waves over his forehead. A light tan made his skin glow.

Jenny nudged you to the till, and you rolled your eyes at her.

“Hi, what can I get you?” you said, putting on your customer voice. You were a little startled to see his eyes were bright, piercing green. Flecks of blue and grey and gold gave them such kaleidoscopic depth that you feared you could stare into them forever and never see them fully.

“Uh, just a flat white please.”

“Right,” you quickly hid your flustered moment, “to take away?”

“Please.”

You smiled — only to be polite, of course — but he smiled back and your heart fluttered. His cheeks popped into cherries and you saw his tongue hover behind slightly parted teeth, the most subtle indication of his urge to wet his lips.

You made him his coffee. Much to your embarrassment you made a heart in the foam, quite without thinking. Thank god you covered it up with the lid.

“Here you go,” you handed it over to him.

He mumbled, “Cheers,” not quite meeting your eye as he took his drink and left.

“I think he likes you,” Jenny smirked.

“Oh piss off,” you laughed, shaking your head.

Friday, 2nd August

“Remember that guy that came in on Wednesday? He was in again yesterday and Y/N flirted with him,” Jenny told James, another coworker, animatedly.

“We did not flirt,” you asserted.

“What was that smile then?”

“I smile at every customer, it’s called being friendly.”

Despite your thinly veiled condescension and dismissal of Jenny’s excitement, you caught yourself thinking about him far too often. That blonde god that had come in filled your idle thoughts against your will. You found yourself torn between wishing he’d come back, wanting to see him again, and silently praying that he wouldn’t.

But within the hour he was back. Again he ordered his flat white and while he waited you contemplated who he might be. He was in on a weekday, when most people were at work, but wasn’t in a suit. He wore comfortable clothes, usually dark colours, quite plain. So not in the offices or shops along the street. You wondered if he worked in the theatre down the road. You got a lot of actors and tech crew coming in on their way to rehearsals. They’d come in everyday, or every few days, for a couple of months and then they’d disappear again once the run of the show was over. You imagined him on a dark stage, lit in a single spotlight, reciting some melodramatic monologue, pouring his heart out to an enraptured audience...

“Cheers,” he said, taking his coffee.

“Have a nice day,” you smiled.

Monday, 5th August

You had to wait until after the weekend to see the handsome stranger again, confirming to you that he was coming on his way to — or while at — work.

“Flat white?” you smiled as he walked up to the till.

“Am I so predictable?” he laughed. It was deep, a rich rumbling sound like churning of the ocean.

“You’ll be a regular soon if you’re not careful.” You almost winked, but stopped yourself. That would be a step too far.

“Maybe we’ll start getting to know each other better then.”

With that he turned away, walking to a quiet corner to wait for his coffee. He leaned nonchalantly against the wall, his body rolling in languidity, and you tried to ignore his staring.

Tuesday, 6th August

When he came in again you smiled widely. This handsome stranger was a becoming part of your daily routine. You lit up when you saw him, and he made each day a little brighter. You looked forward to seeing him each day, even if you only exchanged a few words. Occasionally you caught yourself thinking about him, wondering what it would feel like to run your fingers through his hair or have his arms wrapped around you, and felt like an idiot. You’d known him for less than a week — hell, you didn’t even know him! While his comment about getting to know you better gave you some modicum of hope, you berated yourself and tried to keep your wondering thoughts to a minimum. But still your heart seemed to flutter whenever he walked in.

“The usual please,” he grinned.

“If you’ve got a usual then you’re definitely a regular,” you said, putting his order through and looking at him through your lashes.

“You say that but I’m new to the area, I barely know my way around. I’m supposed to be taking someone for dinner tonight but I have no idea where to go.”

“Is it a date?” you asked, perhaps a little too fast and quickly backtracked, “‘Cause there’s this really romantic Italian place just round the corner.”

“Not a date, I suppose it’s a business meeting.”

“Well, the Thai over the road is really good. A bit rough and ready but the food is incredible. Or there’s a curry house a few streets over — proper fancy.”

“Oh great, thanks.”

You latched on to the scraps of information he gave you about his life, and hungry for more, the question slipped from your lips before you had a chance to second guess yourself, “Do you work in the theatre down the road?”

He cocked his head, “How did you know?”

“We get a few actors and such coming through here, you look like the type,” you shrugged.

He laughed, “Is that an insult or a compliment?”

You bit your lip, “Whichever you like.”

When he took is coffee from you your fingers met briefly. His skin felt rougher than yours but warm and electric. You seemed to burn where he had touched you.

“That was definitely flirting,” Jenny whispered to you as you both watched him walk away.

Thursday, 8th August

“A guy came in yesterday asking for you,” your manager said with faux nonchalance, but you saw the glistening of intrigue in her eyes.

“Oh really?” you replied as indifferently as you could. Quite against your will your heartbeat started to speed up a little

“Mm, he didn’t know your name but he described you. Seemed disappointed that you weren’t here.”

You made no reply, but busied yourself loading the dishwasher.

“Y/N, can you grab the till please,” Sophie called into the kitchen.

You walked out to see him standing there, hand thrust deep into his pockets, but his face lifted when he spotted you.

“You could have got the till,” you breathed to Sophie as you walked past.

“I’m busy,” she lied, biting back a laugh.

“How did your dinner go?” you asked your handsome stranger (who didn’t feel so much like a stranger now), putting his order through without having to ask.

“Yeah really good. I think I might have the part,” he beamed. It was written all over his face how much it meant to him, how proud he was of himself. You couldn’t help but smile, and you certainly couldn’t help the way your heart fluttered like a juvenile butterfly. “Congratulations.”

He held the cup up to you in a silent cheers when Sophie gave him his coffee. Just as he turned to walk away you blurted out, “My name’s Y/N, for next time you come in asking for me.”

He blushed, the pink blossoming up his neck and onto his cheeks, “I’m Ben.”

Friday, 9th August

“Y/N, are you wearing makeup?” Sophie goaded.

“A little, so what?”

“You never wear makeup to work.” You shrugged without a word and she grinned, “It’s that guy, isn’t it? You like him.”

“Shut up,” you grumbled.

Tuesday, 13th August

Ben had come in everyday you were there, the girls even calling you back from your break once to see him, and very slowly you had started to learn more about him. He talked a bit about the play he was in and the part in the big blockbuster movie he really wanted (but he couldn’t tell you the film). You told him how you were saving up for art college, how you found working in the cafe soul destroying. He saw a customer complain to you once, being very rude about things that weren’t your fault, and saw how you bit your tongue and smiled as sweetly as you could muster until they left in a huff.

“Jesus, I don’t know how you didn’t blow up at her,” he had said.

“It never helps, you learn to just let them rant and look apologetic,” you mumbled back, disinterested.

“Does that happen a lot? People being rude.”

You nodded, “Customers tend to forget you’re human as soon as you put the apron on. You’re a robot whose only function is to serve them coffee.” You laughed bitterly.

He had shaken his head and promised to never complain to a server again.

“You’re early,” you smiled as Ben walked in, looking perfectly dishevelled, his hair still a little wet from his shower. Your mind wandered, quite of it’s own accord, to the image of him standing under the hot water, naked, wet...

“Got in trouble yesterday for being late. Chatting to you for too long, clearly,” he chuckled.

“I won’t keep you then.”

“What do you think I came in early for?”

He leaned against the counter as you made his coffee, looking casually out into the distance. He thrust his hands into his pockets. When he licked his lips your nearly burnt yourself on the coffee machine.

“I’m thinking about getting a dog.”

“Oh really?” you giggled. Of course he was a dog man. “What breed?”

“Well that’s the problem, I wanted a foxhound but they’re not great for the city I don’t think. Don’t like apartment living.”

“What about a beagle then?” you offered. “Similar breed, still a hunting dog but smaller. Don’t need quite so much exercise.”

“A beagle, you say?” he said, ponderous.

“Or border terriers have a good temperament, or a westie. Or a dachshund if you wanted a hound over a terrier.”

“You know a lot about dogs, huh?”

“God blessed us with dogs when he realised what arseholes cats were. They’re more than we deserve.”

“No strong feelings then.”

“None at all.” You handed him his coffee with a songful laugh.

Thursday, 15th August

Ben gave you the biggest smile when he walked in that morning.

“Finally it’s Thursday. I hate Wednesdays.”

“What’s wrong with Wednesdays? Hump day, it’s my day off,” you simpered.

“Exactly, I don’t get to see you.”

You blushed an impressive shade of fuchsia.

Friday, 16th August

You were rushed off your feet when Ben came in the next day. You were on the coffee machine, frantically making order after order. Latte after cappuccino after flat white after macchiato, dealing with every variant of syrup, number of shots, type of milk, wet or dry, iced or otherwise, that the world could throw at you. You were desperately trying to keep up when a familiar voice wafted over to you; your shoulders seemed to relax and your heartbeat seemed to slow, “I guess I won’t be getting my morning chat today, you look a little busy.”

“Just a little,” you laughed through a grimace, sending someone off to run an order. Instead of starting on the next one in the queue you set about making a flat white.

“Why’s it so full?” he queried.

“Cafe down the road is closed for the day, we’ve got all their customers.”

“Good for business.”

You scoffed, “Not good for my stress levels. Here,” you said, handing his drink over to him.

“But I’m not in the queue yet.”

“Wouldn’t want to make you late for work,” you smirked.

“I haven’t paid.”

“This one’s on me.”

Saturday, 17th August

You were wiping tables once it had gone quiet again in the afternoon, after the weekend lunchtime rush. The weekends had seemed to become a little more dull without Ben to put a smile on your face. You were quietly singing to yourself in a small effort to make the time go faster. You were vaguely aware of the door opening behind you but ignored it; someone else could get the till.

“I don’t care if Monday’s blue, Tuesday’s grey and Wednesday too” you hummed along to The Cure.

“So she can sing as well,” came a voice behind you. You whipped round, startled, to see Ben grinning at you. “Hey,” he said softly, barely more than a whisper, eyes glistening.

“Hi,” you mumbled. It was the first time you’d seen him up close, without a counter between you. You inspected the lines that formed around his mouth when he smiled, you noticed the flecks of hazel in his eyes.

“You have a beautiful voice.”

You laughed through your nose, “You’re being generous, I can just about hold a tune.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, examining you, his head cocked just a little. There was such intensity in that innocent gaze that you felt yourself being drawn towards him. You so nearly leaned in. He licked his lips.

There was a clatter as someone dropped a knife and you came to your senses.

“So what can I get you? The usual?”

“Actually, I’ll have it to drink in if you don’t mind.”

“Breaking boundaries there Ben,” you joked. His name still felt alien on your tongue.

“I could use some company too.”

Your chest inflated, lungs full, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Ben sat down at a quiet table in the corner while you went to put his order through. You pled with your boss for a break, even though you’d already had your full hour for the day. She smiled, glancing over at Ben, shook her head with a small laugh, and said you had 20 minutes. You had to stop yourself from skipping over to him, and placed two cups on the table before sitting down.

“You should have let me get that, I owe you one from yesterday,” he said, motioning to your cup of tea.

“No you don’t, anyway I get it for free,” you demurred with a closed-lip smile.

Twenty minutes felt like seconds with Ben. Conversation was easy despite your nervous energy and all too soon you were lamenting that you had to get back to work.

“I suppose I’ll see you on Monday,” you winked, but as you turned to walk away you felt a hand on yours, strong and warm.

“I’d like to see you again, not here I mean. Maybe we could go out for coffee or something.”

“Absolutely not.” Ben’s face fell but you laughed, “I spend far too much time in coffee shops, you can take me out for lunch.”

#ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy imagine #bohemian rhapsody #borhap #queen

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ladyadalicialove · 5 years

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

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

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

The Dupain-Chengs Wedding Date THEORY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So this concludes that…

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

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

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

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

The Date of Marinette’s birthday THEORY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So to quickly resummarise this double theory of mine:

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

and

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

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

REMEMBER THIS IS JUST A THEORY

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

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

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hallsp · 5 years

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Ramadan Diary

Ramadan is a month of fasting, prayer, and self-reflection for the world’s two billion Muslims. The observance of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, a central tenet of the faith. The holy month itself commemorates the start of the recitation of the Qur’an to Mohammad, culminating in Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Destiny, which celebrates the very first revelation.

The date for Ramadan varies from year to year, as the Islamic calendar is based on the movements of the moon, not the sun. This year, it began on the night of Sunday, May 5th, when the religious authorities glimpsed the thin crescent of a new moon.

I decided, after some encouragement from my students, to fast for all of Ramadan as a kind of personal challenge. This is a diary of my progress.

Monday, 6th May

Today was long, and hungry. I didn’t eat a morsel, nor drink a drop, all the livelong day. It wasn’t easy. I thought about food quite a lot. Bron, my roommate, is also fasting so we can do iftar together. An app tells me that the evening call to prayer, called maghrib, is at 19.27, but it began a small bit later — an agonizing two minutes — at about 19.29. Maryam, my other roommate, and raised Muslim, told me we have to wait until the prayer is finished, bless the food bismillah, and then eat. I broke the fast with some water and some dates, as is the custom, then devoured a chicken curry.

Tuesday, 7th May

Small bit easier today. Didn’t think of food so often. I was noticeably more tired though. I slept for an hour when I came home. Some strange reactions from some of the teachers to my fasting, but a lot of encouragement from fellow-fasters. Advice from other fasters includes waking at 3 or 4 AM for suhur, the pre-dawn meal, and easing into the iftar in the evenings with soup and salad. I decided against suhur, for reasons of laziness, so my fast is actually more extreme, having one meal, as opposed to two meals, per day. Broke the fast with some dates, a lot more water, and the last part of my chicken curry.

Wednesday, 8th May

Getting into the swing of things now, the hunger isn’t so obvious throughout the day, but much less energy. I’m in a very good mood, though. I’ve decided to make a fattoush salad, with the help of my Syrian friend Majd, who’s Christian and thinks I’m crazy for fasting. He also helped make lentil soup, another staple dish, with Bron, my roommate. So, this was a proper iftar: dates, soup, salad, and bread.

Thursday, 9th

Talked with the Biology teacher, who’s also fasting. He tells me that people ought to re-orient their mind towards other people during Ramadan, and that it’s not about feasting once the sun goes down. Look out, not in, essentially. More advice received: do not eat an even number of dates. Mohammad used to eat three. Broke the fast with (three) dates, and water. I made my own fattoush, which worked out very well. We also had leftover soup from yesterday, and I bought chicken tawouq, which I ate with bread.

Friday, 10th May

Today is International Day at school. The worst event for people fasting. There was food from every country on the planet. I had to borrow a tupperware container to bring the food home. Worse, today is Friday. The weekend is here. I have to go on a trip to Batroun for a bachelorette party with my friends leaving Beirut at about 5pm. Drink will certainly be taken. I can’t avoid it. Anyway, I’m not doing the fast for religious reasons, so once the sun goes down, I can eat, drink, and be merry. The hangover will be tough without a lot of water to compensate, though. We arrived in Batroun at 19:30 so I hopped out of the van, chugged some water, had a few dates, then started into the champagne. I managed to squeeze in a chicken burger in between the drinks.

Saturday, 11th May

The hangover wasn’t so bad, actually. In spite of this, I broke the fast for the first time — to drink a small bottle of water. As sins go, not so heinous. I was just so thirsty day after the night before. Religiously, you can break the fast if you’re pregnant, or menstruating, or sick. Maybe a hangover is a type of sickness? Anyway, spent the day on the beach, mostly under cover, and rested. Broke the fast back in Beirut with dates, some tuna fish, and pasta.

Sunday, 12th May

Apparently there’s an exemption on fasting if you’re traveling. I could’ve done with this on the road to Batroun! It also excuses my breach the day of my return to Beirut, I reckon. Broke the fast with dates, water, tawouq, bread, and pasta.

Monday, 13th May

People are always giving you advice when they hear that you’re fasting. Some of it contradictory. Bron was told not to drink so much water before eating at iftar. We decided to try it. Broke the fast with dates, no water, and chicken curry. Then copious amounts of water after. No obvious difference.

Tuesday, 14th May

Bron makes a strong point. Those who alter their body clocks by sleeping during the day and eating all night are cheating in a way. They’re just moving their day around, and sleeping through the hunger. It’s not a proper fast if you can’t feel the hunger. Broke the fast with chicken curry, round two, and lots of water.

Wednesday, 15th May

I feel hungrier today, not sure why. More advice with recommendations for iftar. The mindfulness coach thinks I ought to break the fast with some warm water, not cold, perhaps herbal tea, as this prepares the stomach better for eating, to be followed by three dates. He’s also of the opinion that people should be humble during Ramadan, no talking about their fast, no feasts at iftar, certainly no Instagram pictures. Broke the fast with a chicken burger from Smoked Bun, post-dates. Ridiculously nice.

Thursday, 16th May

I have a day off school today, for the funeral of Patriarch Sfeir, a Lebanese Maronite Cardinal. It was more difficult being home, actually. At work, even though I’m much more active and using more energy, at least I’m kept busy. Today, I caught myself watching cooking videos on YouTube. Broke the fast with (three) dates, and beef fajitas, but made with Lebanese bread.

Friday, 17th May

Broke the fast with a gorgeous mujaddara, a spicy mix of lentils, rice, and onions, made by a chef friend of Bron’s. Eaten with some of his delicious homemade bread, and some 961 Red Ale. Today is my good friend Enzo’s last night in Lebanon so drink will have to be taken again. What choice do I have?

Saturday, 18th May

Asma, Maryam’s friend from the UK whose working with a medical NGO in the Beqaa Valley, came for iftar. She’s a practising Muslim, so we had to lend her a Qur’an and find the Qibla, the direction of prayer. It was nice to get some more insight into the traditions. Apparently we can eat as soon as the call to prayer begins. We ate three dates, some ripe peach, and drank water, followed by mint tea. Dinner included pasta, fattoush, and more mujaddara. We also had ayran, a traditional kind of sour yoghurt drink. After dinner, we drank some Turkish coffee, then some Indian desi chai, made with ginger and milk. Finally, we had some traditional sweets, heloweyat. A proper iftar!

Sunday, 19th May

No hunger pangs at all today. I think my body has fully acclimatised to fasting. A small group of us went to see some childrens’ theatre in Tripoli, directed by a friend of ours and starring some kids from a Syrian refugee camp. It was really entertaining. The boys put on a production about a couple of swindlers selling dodgy seeds. The girls had a modern take on Cinderella. I could understand most of it, so I’m happy. We rushed back to Beirut for iftar. I decided to order a Ramadan Combo from Malik al-Tawouq: lentil soup, salad, and chicken tawouq platter, and a date cookie called ma’moul. Plus, a Miranda tamarind soft drink. The guy who delivered it was fasting and so forgot to take any money! We also ate some traditional Ramadan cheese sweets, heloweyat al-jibn, made with clotted cream called ashta, which we bought in Tripoli. They were spectacular. There’s a beautiful full moon tonight, which means: we’re half way through Ramadan! Ramadan Kareem!

Monday, 20th May

I genuinely don’t feel hungry during the day any more. Intellectually, I know I need to eat, but there are no hunger pangs. It’s not an obvious hunger. My sense of smell is more active, that’s about it. I decided to make chicken biryani today, which worked out really well. No big communal iftar today, as the final episode of Game of Thrones is available. Some things are more important.

Tuesday, 21st May

Bron invited two work friends over, a Syrian Muslim and a Jordanian Christian, and we also invited Dennis from downstairs. Bron made another batch of lentil soup, which was nicer even than the last one. She made fattoush as well. I contributed the remaining biryani. We had a huge variety of ice-creams with cones for dessert.

Wednesday, 22nd May

I didn’t eat so much today. I think my stomach is getting smaller. Broke the fast with three dates, some of the leftover lentil soup, a Mexican bean and tuna fish mix, and some fried haloumi. Fried haloumi is my new favourite food. Also, had a little pot of yoghurt.

Thursday, 23rd May

The routine now is to break the fast with three dates, and follow this with warm tea, usually mint tea. This really helps the transition to eating. Today, I had a big plate of pasta, some fried haloumi, and a yoghurt.

Friday, 24th May

It’s 38° today. It’s so hot that the cold tap runs warm. It’s at times like these that you appreciate the true value of something as simple as a glass of water. Tonight we’re hosting iftar on our balcony. Maryam made a Palestinian vegetarian maqluba, meaning upside-down, which is made with layers of fried vegetables, potatoes, and rice, which is then flipped before serving, and topped with fried cashew nuts. It was delicious. I made fattoush for seven people, complete with fried pita bread, and it was my best one yet. I was relieved, as I was serving Arabic food to Arabs. My friend Shadi brought his fiancé all the way from Damascus. We eventually made our way to Mezyan in Hamra, where I was rewarded with a free drink for boldly asking for one. It’s Ramadan, after all, the season of good will.

Saturday, 25th May

Myself and my house mates, Maryam and Bron, went to the Beqaa Valley to meet with Asma, who had invited us to iftar with her boss, Doctor Fares, and his extended family. It was such an amazing evening. Typically Syrian. First, we sat around half-talking, half-watching Arab dramas, like Al-Hayba and Khamsa Wa Nos, while the family cooked. People were coming and going all the time. We then went for a short walk with the good doctor’s kids, who were adorable. His eldest daughter, Lamar, had very good English. Then we moved to the garden where we played cards, a version of Trumps. I managed to cheat a bit with help of the kids. Finally, as the sun went down, we ate in a big group in the garden, sitting on cushions around a selection of dishes. There was soup and salad, alongside three different meat dishes: chicken, lamb, and fish. The flavours were superb. The family were a lively bunch. At one point, Doctor Fares insisted on feeding us from his hand. I also discovered that they knew one of my colleagues in Eastwood. Lebanon is a very small place! We sang happy birthday to one his kids and topped it all off with cake. It was the best iftar experience so far.

Sunday, 26th May

Went to Souq al-Ahad, the Sunday market, with Bron. Such a crazy place. We bought some spices, some olives and maqdus (baby aubergine stuffed with chilies, and then pickled) from Aleppo, and salvaged an old backgammon board. It’s a great place to wander for a couple of hours. At one stage I was offered a taste of something, and when I said I was fasting he immediately said (in Arabic): “Me too, I’m Muslim. Are you Muslim? Are you Sunni or Shi’a?” I had to disappoint him by saying neither. It was at this point that he said, with utmost confidence: “It’s only a matter of time.” We broke the fast with a vegetable curry, alongside some maqdus and some Lebanese bread.

Monday, 27th May

I was a small bit busy with work tonight so I had three dates followed by a simple pasta with pesto rosso, onions, and tomato. Naturally, had some mint tea and gallons of water.

Tuesday, 28th May

Today, I had the least amount of food yet. I just had a simple pasta with spicy tomato sauce and cheddar cheese. I couldn’t even finish it. I think my stomach has shrunk over the course of Ramadan. I’m definitely losing weight.

Wednesday, 29th May

Today was a tough day. I was in a bad mood for some reason. I think it’s to do with not having enough energy. Usually, during the whole of Ramadan, my mood has been positive. I think I need to eat enough to maintain my energy levels. Tonight I made chicken vindaloo with egg noodles.

Thursday, 30th May

I had more energy today, back to my normal self. I broke the fast with the remainder of my chicken vindaloo. Also, the requisite number of dates and some mint tea.

Friday, 31st May

Another Friday is upon us. The last, in fact, of Ramadan. Tonight is a big night for Muslims around the world. No-one is quite sure exactly when Laylat al-Qadr is supposed to fall, but most believe it’s the 27th day of Ramadan, which is tonight. It’s also a Friday, so it’s a big deal. We had our last group iftar in the apartment. This time we had three Syrians with us, so we had plenty of help with the food. We had a rice and aubergine dish, a water melon and feta salad, a tabbouleh salad, and some fried haloumi. Later, I nipped downstairs to say goodbye to some friends, before moving to Strada 51, a local bar, and winding up in a swimming pool in a club at 4am. Your typical Laylat al-Qadr.

Saturday, 1st June

I had Arabic class with my friend Majd, from about 2pm. He spent half the day preparing a chicken and rice dish to break the fast with at 7.45. Bless him. I broke the fast with this and some delicious Ethiopian soup made by our friend Jodie, called shiro. It was spicy, and the perfect match for the chicken. I followed this with a few drinks with an Irish guy visiting Lebanon for a week.

Sunday, 2nd June

I broke the fast with three dates, some water, and pasta, alongside some fried haloumi. The end is nigh.

Monday, 3rd June

I had to work today, but I’ve been given the rest of the week off work to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Fast Breaking. Today might well be the last night of Ramadan, but we’ll have to wait for the religious authorities to check on the phase of the moon. It will end either tonight or tomorrow.

If Eid begins tomorrow, Muslims will gather for special prayers called Salat al-Eid, which is usually followed by a small breakfast, the first daytime meal in a month. Eid is usually celebrated by visiting relatives, where gifts are exchanged, and zakat is given to the poor. The kids will get a tidy sum of money. Unsurprisingly, food is very important. After a whole month of fasting, all sorts of delicacies will be eaten.

It’s official. Eid begins tonight. The fast is over. I broke the fast by going to Tariq al-Jadida, a busy part of the southern suburbs, with Bron. We then went to Dahieh, where we had some saj with jibneh and zataar, before walking through the market in Sabra and Shatilla. We ended up back in Tariq al-Jadida looking for heloweyat. We weren’t very successful, but we were given free street food: foul with lemon, and seasoned corn. Tomorrow, I’ll go for breakfast in the morning, and then hit the beach.

Epilogue

This month has been really amazing. I’ve learned so much about the traditions of Islam, I’ve met so many different people, I’ve tasted lots of new foods, and I’ve had some great experiences.

It was trying at times, but the effort was definitely worth it. Ramadan really focuses the mind, and makes you very thankful for what you have. It’s also helped me to think more about portion size and also about my own health. Lastly, it’s helped me bond with others who are fasting, and brought me closer to my Muslim friends and students. I can now say with pride that I made it through the full month of Ramadan.

#ramadan #lebanon #diary #reporter

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mill3nniumforc3 · 5 years

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200: My crush’s name is: Russell :) 199: I was born in: April 1994 198: I am really: energetic 197: My cellphone company is: Verizon 196: My eye color is: hazel 195: My shoe size is: 7.5-8.5, depending on the shoe 194: My ring size is: 7.5 193: My height is: 5′5″ 192: I am allergic to: penicillin, cats, pollen, and strong scents 191: My 1st car was: I’ve never owned my own car. 190: My 1st job was: babysitting. First real job was a desk job at my university 189: Last book you read: I don’t remember. I don’t have time to read for leisure. 188: My bed is: comfy 187: My pet: Seamus the miniature schnauzer and Sugar the Aussie-mo 186: My best friend: Ashlyn 185: My favorite shampoo is: Dove 184: Xbox or ps3: neither 183: Piggy banks are: for kids and rainy days 182: In my pockets: nothing 181: On my calendar: going river tubing on Saturday, party next Saturday, trip for T’s birthday weekend, and possibly going to Kennywood and Kings Island sometime in August. 180: Marriage is: something for my future self 179: Spongebob can: do anything 178: My mom: is the bestest 177: The last three songs I bought were?: who buys music anymore? 176: Last YouTube video watched: probably an ASMR video 175: How many cousins do you have?: too many to count 174: Do you have any siblings?: three sisters 173: Are your parents divorced?: no 172: Are you taller than your mom?: yep 171: Do you play an instrument?: piano, drums, bells, and I know three chords of the guitar 170: What did you do yesterday?: sleep [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight: sure 168: Luck: yes 167: Fate: maybe? 166: Yourself: depends on the day 165: Aliens: not really... 164: Heaven: yes 163: Hell: Do I believe in it? Yes, because God is just. Do I believe people are damned there? No, because God is loving. 162: God: yes 161: Horoscopes: no. It’s funny to see “horoscope” posts and see if they apply to me, but it’s a bunch of b.s. A bunch of Aries aren’t going to have the same day/month/year. That’s ridiculous. 160: Soul mates: I’m not sure if I do or don’t, but I do believe in love. 159: Ghosts: no 158: Gay Marriage: of course! 157: War: it’s an unfortunate and unnecessary part of life 156: Orbs: no 155: Magic: yes [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: both 153: Drunk or High: drunk 152: Phone or Online: online 151: Red heads or Black haired: no comment 150: Blondes or Brunettes: brunettes 149: Hot or cold: hot 148: Summer or winter: summer 147: Autumn or Spring: spring 146: Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate 145: Night or Day: night 144: Oranges or Apples: apples 143: Curly or Straight hair: straight 142: McDonalds or Burger King: McD’s (though I’m probably biased because I work there) 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: both 140: Mac or PC: PC 139: Flip flops or high heals: flip flops 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: sweet and poor 137: Coke or Pepsi: neither 136: Hillary or Obama: Obama 135: Burried or cremated: I want to be cremated and have my ashes buried with a seed and grow into a tree 134: Singing or Dancing: dancing 133: Coach or Chanel: neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Kat 131: Small town or Big city: small town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben 128: Manicure or Pedicure: mani 127: East Coast or West Coast: east coast 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Christmas. My birthday stopped being special after I turned 19. I get good food every year on Christmas. 125: Chocolate or Flowers: chocolate 124: Disney or Six Flags: Six Flags 123: Yankees or Red Sox: Indians [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. 121: George Bush: he had some good policies. Better than Trump, that’s for damn sure. 120: Gay Marriage: should never be illegal again. 119: The presidential election: #FuckTrump #VoteBlueNoMatterWho #ImpeachTheMF 118: Abortion: all my life, I was told to be pro-life. These days, I don’t know anymore, but I think my beliefs are closer to pro-choice than pro-life. 117: MySpace: it’s not 2008 anymore. 116: Reality TV: glad it’s not my life 115: Parents: they’re doing their best. I’m not looking to be one anytime soon though. 114: Back stabbers: bye! 113: Ebay: Amazon is better. 112: Facebook: these days, I use it to get laughs and memes. I don’t interact with people I know IRL much. 111: Work: good for the money. Not good for my mental health. 110: My Neighbors: they’re ok. 109: Gas Prices: #ThanksTrump 108: Designer Clothes: I can get good clothes at Target. The only “splurge” I do for clothes is at Spencer’s or Kohl’s. 107: College: I plan to go back soon. 106: Sports: entertaining. 105: My family: family is life. 104: The future: anything can happen [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: Tuesday. 102: Last time you ate: a couple hours ago (chik’n patties and cheese) 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: last week. I saw a manager I hadn’t worked with in like a month. 100: Cried in front of someone: Monday 99: Went to a movie theater: July 2nd 98: Took a vacation: June 97: Swam in a pool: back in February 96: Changed a diaper: I don’t remember 95: Got my nails done: way too long ago 94: Went to a wedding: in April 93: Broke a bone: 2017 (broke my toe) 92: Got a piercing: 2006 91: Broke the law: never. I’m a good person. 90: Texted: three hours ago [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: Russell 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: my dog 87: The last movie I saw: in theatres, Toy Story 4. At home, Adventures in Babysitting. 86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: being off on Saturday 85: The thing im not looking forward to: working tomorrow 84: People call me: Vonnie, Vonn, Bonbon, Sophia, and “the girl” 83: The most difficult thing to do is: not cry while watching Grey’s Anatomy 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: never 81: My zodiac sign is: Aries 80: The first person i talked to today was: my sister 79: First time you had a crush: kindergarten. His name was Wally, and we were “boyfriend and girlfriend” til about third grade, and we remained friends til we graduated 8th grade. Haven’t talked to him much since. 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: Russell 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: Sunday 76: Right now I am talking to: nobody because it’s 3:30am 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I hope to be teaching English education 74: I have/will get a job: I currently work at McDonald’s, but within the next 6-12 months, I’ll be moving out of state, so who knows where I’ll work. 73: Tomorrow: work 72: Today: work 71: Next Summer: I’ll be in a whole new state, so that means new amusement parks to visit and rollies to ride. 70: Next Weekend: party. Oh, and next Saturday makes officially 18 months with me and Russell, so go us! 69: I have these pets: two dogs 68: The worst sound in the world: the beeping in the headset when I work back cash. It haunts my nightmares 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: Heather because she sends me to back cash all the time 66: People that make you happy: Russell, my mom, my dogs, Ashlyn, and Aunt Dolly because she sends me lives on Candy Crush 65: Last time I cried: Monday 64: My friends are: Ashlyn, Mikayla, Jon, Rilee, Lamar, Tae, Alexus, Clare, Katie, Mario, and Kel 63: My computer is: all mine because I bought it with my own money 62: My School: not in school 61: My Car: don’t have one 60: I lose all respect for people who: lie 59: The movie I cried at was: Avengers: Endgame 58: Your hair color is: natural 57: TV shows you watch: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon a Time, House, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and... I don’t really watch TV because I don’t have cable. 56: Favorite web site: YouTube 55: Your dream vacation: Just a big coaster trip 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: my period this month. I had cramps for days leading up to my period that were so bad that, the day my period actually came, I couldn’t stand straight. 53: How do you like your steak cooked: I don’t eat steak 52: My room is: a mess, like my life 51: My favorite celebrity is: NPH 50: Where would you like to be: with my boyfriend 49: Do you want children: someday, but not today 48: Ever been in love: ohhh yes. 47: Who’s your best friend: not answering again 46: More guy friends or girl friends: i think i have a fair amount of both 45: One thing that makes you feel great is: this is tmi, but sex with my bf. 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: Russell 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: no 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: yes 41: Have you pre-named your children: I don’t have any definitive names, but I’m thinking MaryGrace Linda for a girl, and James Sebastian for a boy 40: Last person I got mad at: Anna because she put me on back cash 39: I would like to move to: someplace south 38: I wish I was a professional: dancer.... no, writer.... no, why not both? [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: peanut butter cups 36: Vehicle: Jeep 35: President: FDR 34: State visited: North Carolina (not just saying that because I lived there for two months) 33: Cellphone provider: Verizon 32: Athlete: Trevor Bauer 31: Actor: Justin Chambers 30: Actress: Amy Poehler 29: Singer: Chester Bennington 28: Band: Linkin Park 27: Clothing store: Kohl’s 26: Grocery store: Marc’s 25: TV show: Grey’s Anatomy 24: Movie: 13 Going on 30 23: Website: Pogo 22: Animal: seal 21: Theme park: Cedar Point 20: Holiday: Christmas 19: Sport to watch: baseball 18: Sport to play: softball 17: Magazine: I only read magazines at the dentist office, and I’ll read whichever has an interesting cover story 16: Book: A Series of Unfortunate Events 15: Day of the week: Saturday, as long as I’m not at work. If I’m working, then Mondays, I guess... 14: Beach: Huntington 13: Concert attended: Winter Jam, because I got to see Skillet play, and I met Matthew West. 12: Thing to cook: desserts 11: Food: eggplant parm 10: Restaurant: Olive Garden 9: Radio station: Star 102 8: Yankee candle scent: vanilla 7: Perfume: I don’t wear perfume 6: Flower: Daisies 5: Color: pink 4: Talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres 3: Comedian: Steve Rannazzisi 2: Dog breed: I really like terriers lol 1: did you answer all these truthfully ?: For me to know and you to find out :)

#about me #bored #lol

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okdnn · 5 years

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Mail November 8th

November 8th

GOOD MORNING !

Also Good Evening~~~

Yesterday I woke up early and move a lot

Today I slept soundly（@ ￣p￣ @）

Now … Today is finallyyyyy …

Team 4 『Te wo Tsunaginagara』Performance

And my 21st Seitansai.

I’m so excited and nervous

Yesterday and today, my stomach is hurting lol

Once in a year seitansai.

I will make it the best performance ever

Together with all member who performed,

All fans who will come,

Everyone who watch it from the monitor in lobby,

Everyone who watch it on live stream

And everyone who are associated with today’s live stream!

I’ll be sure to make them enjoy it ！

freely（°∀°）following my heart（°∀°）

Let’s have fun togetjer

phew ~… I’m looking forward to it

I was trying to do 21 pose

But it ended up to 12 pose ↑ lol

Afterall I’ve already born into this world

Let’s enjoy it and have fun

Today, ganbarinaachan ！I’m off ！

Mint Mion

When the midnight come

And the day turned to November 7th

Mukaichi Mion sama is next to me (´▽｀)

As someone on the same age, as AKB comrade

She’s someone who support me … Thank you very much

She gave me mint color stuffs

I love as birthday present …！

Miion（；A；）Thanks（；A；）love you

Naseba Naru (When there is will, there is a way)

Today at November 18th

Is Kuranoo Narumi chan’s 18th birthday！

I really love the gap between her cute face

And fiery character …（*·∀·*）congrats

I want to appear together at ANN with her ~！Someday, surely ！

？

Oronamin c　～！Yeay.

I wonder what’s the lunch box for theatre today？

I’m looking forward to it now lol

Haaaaah when the performance time is getting closer

I’m getting more and more nervous …

Uwaaaaa so excited

#岡田奈々 #向井地美音 #倉野尾成美 #okada nana #mukaichi mion #kuranoo narumi

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guz-cuts · 6 years

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SPOILERS ABOUT THE HPATCC PLAY BELOW, because I couldn’t resist just pointing a few things that have recently been on my mind, because I’m overjoyed I’ll be able to listen to that soundtrack in less than a month!!

Two Cursed Child tracks released yesterday, yay! I’ve been waiting for this for so long. Can’t wait for the rest of it. As much as I love the soundtracks from the movies, I think Imogen’s music is just really perfect for the show. It fits the way the play was created and the artistic vision and approach. Equally magical and delicate and unexpected as the action and choreography and the props, and I have no problem imagining it being really the soundtrack to life in Hogwarts and actually being the part of the HP universe. Over the last two years I became obsessed with this music, because when the show ends that’s one of the more vivid things that remain in one’s head I think, and some days when I rediscover those tracks over and over I just feel the urge to tweet or dm or write Imogen Heap a letter and just say how much I’m grateful that she gave us this wonderful music, the music that is definately something else compared to the movie soundtracks we’ve been used to and that I just can’t imagine HP without her input now. (And it’s amazing that her music was created before the play and somehow they work together perfectly!)

Well, some days I want to write a letter to them all. Each and every one of the people who took part in creating the play as it is. Because I never really cared about the hate the 8th book received, I just love it so so much for so many different reasons, and listing them here, now, would be impossible, because there are too many. And I am critical too. I don’t like some of the things in the plot. I don’t like a certain character. But when I compare the amount of wonderful and inspiring things to the ones that I didn’t really like while reading it, I don’t think they spoil the rest of it. And while I enjoyed reading the story, seeing it alive, in the theatre is mindblowing and I still think about it, after almost two years from the first time I’ve seen it. Nowadays, when the memory is properly sunk in, I think of it from the backstage point of view, you know? (And no, I don’t mean the actual lovely backstage experience that apparently happens after every show). I think of how this or that was done, obviously, because the tricks in this play are really great - I mean, I’ve seen it twice (and a half. I went to see Part One some time ago) and I feel like I’ve been a perfect member of the audience seeing it for the first time, I complied (not sure if it’s the right word?) to everything they wanted me to as a viewer, to every carefully designed distraction (oh, they’re so clever, the distractions!). I loved that, I immensely enjoyed being tricked and fooled. But looking back I just find so much more as to why it stole my heart, not just the skillful illusions.

There are bits and small things and pieces of work that some amazingly talented people, with an imagination that greatly exceeds mine, designed and those small things add up to creating the play that I love and won’t ever forget. It’s not just the actors (although they’re phenomenal too) to me. It’s the little lightbulb that appears and disappears when it’s needed. The courage of someone who made the decisions to limit the props in a play that depicts a world that is richly portrayed in eight films and which filmset is associated with humongous budgets. Come to think of it, it’s a bold move to take that richness away and trust the audience will create the embellishments in their minds for themselves if needed? I enjoyed both expieriences - although it was difficult to keep up and keep track of both of them simultaneously, I had so much fun being carried away with imagination thanks to the material simplicity of the scenes leaving so much room for my brain to fill with whatever the hell I wanted as well as trying to stay present and consciously observe the raw sets in front of me just as they were. The mechanics of the stage that turns and hides some things and lets other parts of the set glide through the surface. The moves that match the music - or the music that matches the moves (the wands dancing slightly in the forest for a few seconds)? The mind of someone who came up with how to make Dumbledore’s painting (and the other portrait that appears in the play for a short moment) as stunning as an actual piece of art, like a reneissance painting that moves...I don’t even want to mention the obviously insanely impressive bits of light design like the moment when I did not believe my eyes and for a split second I was so taken aback that I literally had no idea what just happened and if the whole building actually moved or what? Sometimes I just think of the moment when someone came up with the little bits of choreography, like the boy who runs around the piled suitcases (where they piled? I’m not sure I remember that one correctly, but I just remember the graceful way he encircled them). Like, I’ve studied architecture and if I’ve learnt anything during those last years it’s that there’s always a reason the things are designed the way they are (and if there isn’t, it’s a poor design) and would just love knowing how that moment was created. I want to know why (even if I have my own interpretation, I want to know the original one), and how. I think the person who does such kind of things in theatre must be fascinating. I want to use that time turner and see the moment they agreed about the colour palette of this play, because when you see it - you know it’s not just a mindless outcome. There’s a limited amount of props and parts of set design, but don’t the scenes create that atmosphere or the aesthetic that is somehow insantly familiar?

And to end this post, because it’s getting ridiculously long and I started writing it an hour ago with an intention of simply stating how much I can’t wait to hear Imogen Heap’s CC album, my favourite bit of the design of this play is something about the way things and characters move in this show and how the scenes overlap slightly sometimes and that reminds me of the sensation of falling through the pensieve, when the memories change rapidly and you’re being thrown into the action and you only really see the essence of that particular pensieved event. In the play, you see the platform 9 3/4 and the next moment you’re watching Albus being sorted and you have little time to process that, because you’re suddenly in his bedroom watching him fight with Harry (and before you know it, you’re standing in a queue to the toilet and half of part one is behind you, haha) and so on, and so on. And it’s not just the matter of the pace this play picks up right after it launches. I swear it’s visible in the way the scene change one into the other. They merge and they coexist for longer or shorter time range, and they mix. I remember Jamie Parker appearing on stage just moments before you expect him to be there, when the scene currently in front of me was of the boys being on their adventure away from home, where he could not have been present and yet he was there, in the background already starting acting his bit. Like the last memory hasn’t yet fully vanished before the next one came up. The same way some pieces of furniture appeared out of nowhere, so cleverly brought to the scene by the actors that it just made me adore the creative mind of someone who’s responsible for that. Sometimes it’s “magic” and there’s a trick to make the desk just turn up or a chair to levitate, and that is so cool, but I’m talking about the way or the moment those beds or desks or staircases are being carried onto the stage that builds that interlocking feeling. You’re not fully out of one place but you’re starting to see how the next one materialises already. And there’s Jamie Parker’s Harry Potter in the background already being rotated towards the center of the stage on this turning floor. The inbetween moments in this play are so wow. They made them so entertaining and so intricate at times. They could just dim the lights and arrange the suitcases, but they chose to make that the part of performace and make your head spin when you try to see every detail of it.

#hpatcc #cursed child #hpcc #mypost

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annashipper · 6 years

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Megapost 2 - 31st of August 2018

Nonny Nr. 1: Clockwork (LOL)! Pissed, sour, arrogant and looking preggo. I'm really about to give up, not on skeptics but on trying to find him excuses. He really looks more and more complicit of this shit.

Anna: Oh, I’m way past finding Ben excuses. As I’ve said countless times before, I firmly believe he’s been on the steering wheel since March of 2016 :o)

Nonny Nr. 2: Can I say this is getting boring? If he's so careful to keep his private life private, why on Earth bringing his visibly pregnant wife with him? They could easily keep the pregnancy hidden and simply announce the baby's birth... unless, of course, he needs the extra-attention for his career well-being. YAWN.

Anna: His “demure”, “pregnant” wife who recently hurt her foot, but endures it all because she’s a trooper Nonny. There’s a reason he was calling her heroic two years back ;o)

Nonny Nr. 3: I dare them to go for pregnancy number 4, 5, and 6 in her forties because that’s really common. *sarcasm She’s also got the triangular belly back! And wasn’t her belly hardly noticeable on the recent fortune IG pix?

Anna: The more pregnancies we get to document whenever Ben has a project that’s being released on cinemas and needs a boost in publicity, the more realistic said pregnancies look Nonny.

Especially considering the pictures we got on the 24th of June with Weirdo looking like she’d drunk an extra cup of tea, then the pics we got of her from her friend’s private instagram account this week, where she looks like she’s drunk the same extra cup of tea again, and the triangular belly of much smooshiness and popped bellybutton we got yesterday.

So realistic, much inconsistent.

Nonny Nr. 4: "has a kids movie to promote shortly and BOOM, there she is, preggers"--No. I'm not sure what the reasoning is for this one or the 2nd one, but this isn't for The Grinch. That doesn't make sense. Way too early plus the focus audience will not care. Neither the 2nd or 3rd pregnancies occured at a time where the pregnancy would be useful to the promo at hand, and you get less attention after the 1st one to boot. TL DR there's nothing for this to sell.

Anna: I don’t think it’s too early Nonny. We’re about a fortnight away from the Emmys, so it’s perfect timing to get people to start paying attention for a big reveal at the Emmys red carpet. That would ensure Ben some free publicity and cute family-friendly topics of conversation for The Grinch promo tour, which should start about a fortnight after the Emmys (the movie’s being released in the US on the 8th of November).

Perfect timing I would say ;o)

Nonny Nr. 5: You’re right you really CAN set a watch to these times pregnancies can’t you. Literally every. Single. Time. It’s the beginning of Promotion his happens, even if we have them running to the gym a couple weeks ago w her slim as a rail. My god

Anna: It’s a shame that Ben didn’t have any movies to promote for theatre release last year Nonny. A missed opportunity to add to the CumberBatch of boys if I ever saw one...

@jazziesb: BC’s got a lot of serious issues in his life, now a third fake kid. It makes me sometimes really annoyed that BC keeps pretending to have kids who don’t exist and that SH wears her fake belly again. From what we saw in their interactions and behaviour towards each other SH can never really be pg, and I find it almost impossible for them to have had any kind of intercourse that would have produced real kids. All that makes me run up the wall sometimes. How can they be so stupid to think they can get away with it for even more years? Why does nobody publish these lies and make them all come out for people to see? Hollywood is full of fake relationships, but not many of them lasted this long.

Anna: I disagree with most of your observations @jazziesb, except for the “Weirdo could never have been pregnant” part.

@mysticalmaniac: I called it, I really did call it when I saw the "work-out" top that was wrinkled above the waist, but stretched taut across her abdomen. Then there's the twitter video from last night? That was the Oscar bump if I'm not mistaken. I don't know why there's a kerfuffle about this, this is going to be very entertaining. We've already got the wine glass JUST LIKE the first fake, aw, she's such a silly sow, she doesn't learn (or she does it to wipe it in the faces of his fans/nans). Pop the popcorn.

Anna: I don’t see any kerfuffle @mysticalmaniac, but I do see the pop corn, and it’s staring right back at me ;o)

Fat Nosed Anon: 🙄💤 colour me surprised, Anna. What shocked me more is that it's been almost two years since the last time they shared a growing bump (or 'bump') with the world. Time flies and I still haven't won the lottery despite playing :o/ (should choose :o/ FNA as the fat noses seem to be more in fashion that I'd thought). Good job that somebody 'leaked ' the privately private so very maternal pictures in advance :o) As the weekend is getting closer, have a great one!

Anna: Colour me unimpressed Fat Nosed Anon ;o)

Have a wonderful weekend! I’m starting it with a bang, since I’m going out with a group of friends for drinks tonight, and then I’m planning to go for a swim at least once this weekend, cause the heat is unbearable again on my side of the screen.

JT Anon: Personally I’ll never stop laughing over her slim enviable figure from a few weeks ago to this but hey clockwork like you said

Anna: If you’re looking for realism and consistency, you’ve tuned into the wrong showmance JT :P

Mom Anon: On gettyimages, there is NO pic of them at all so far. I think Ben should really have gone to the Jaegre LeCoultre RC, if he remains invisible for the main stream, he might as well have stayed home.

Anna: I haven’t been able to find any pics of Ben, Weirdo or Adam on any of the pap sites I keep track of Mom Anon. So ... no official red carpet walks I guess.

He did go to the party after The Favourite premiere, and had a chat with the cast, but I don’t see Weirdo in the background. LINK (thanks to @ptskeptonanny for sending me so many social media post links today by the way. You’re awesome!)

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lalka-laski · 3 years

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Do you add extra letters to words sometimes? (ex. haaaa) I did as a teenager. Though I have no clue what the point of that ever was?

Do you like the letter Z or Q better? I’m gonna go with Z because it’s in my name. Yes, that’s my logic and I’m sticking to it! Who would you like to be stuck on an island with? Whoever I know who could assist me in getting OFF the island. Perhaps my friend Tim who’s in the Navy? What’s your favorite quote? I love far too many poems, songs & book passages to ever choose one single favorite quote Name one random fact about your best friend. Again, I have too many best friends to pick just one!

Do you like vegetables or fruit better? I eat veggies far more regularly, but fruit is great too! What brand of shoes do you wear? Most of my shoes are Keds or just cheapo flip-flops What’s your favorite smiley face? My favorite smiley emoji is the one that’s somewhat blushing and holding its hands up for a hug Do you believe that if someone goes to bed thinking of u, u dream of them? That’s cute but if that were the case, I’d show up in a LOT of bizarre people’s dreams. Have you ever snitched on someone for cheating? I don’t think so. I’ve been in the position where I really wanted to break the news but I decided not to. Do you own a Snuggie? I did in high school What’s your favorite number? 7 Which of the 7 dwarves are you most like from Snow White? Sleepy, for sure. Although I share a lot in common with Sneezy these days too...

What’s your favorite month? Oh, tough! I love October-December, but I also love July because of all the birthdays in my family (including my own). And I like March a lot too for some reason.

Do you like the smell of campfires? Love it! If you could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Raise a family while I write for a living Is there a song out right now that you can’t stand? I don’t listen to the radio but I can only imagine what kind of... gems are out there right now. If you could stay one age forever, what age would you pick? I think I’d get bored and restless if I didn’t age What’s your favorite state? Despite the cost of living, I have a lot of love for New York & I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Have you ever went in public with your tag still on your clothes? I’m sure I have at some point

Would you say your loud or shy? I’m definitely more on the quiet side. I don’t feel the need to talk just for the sake of talking.

What’s your favorite symbol on the computer? Uhhh what? Are you afraid of clowns? Not necessarily but I don’t LIKE them, either. Do you wear glasses? Mhm Ever rode on a horse? Just once as a kid Do you have trouble saying or spelling some words? I’m an avid reader so most of my vocabulary has been learned from books. This means that I haven’t heard a lot of words out loud & thus mispronounce them when I go to say them Have you ever thought something was just to good to be true? Often Do you like potatoes? I’m Irish & Polish, it’d be illegal not to

Are you random? I’d say I’m more predictable than anything. I can be impulsive, but even my impulses follow a pattern. Do you believe that aliens are real? In some form, yes. Do you sleep with the TV on? Not intentionally but sometimes it just happens What’s the longest you’ve slept in? 5 pm? Have you ever seen a hairy toe? LOL yes? What’s the last thing you watched on TV? Catfish last night before bed Do you have a song stuck in your head? WAP, actually. Who do you talk to the most? Glenn and Kathleen When’s the last time you were sick? A couple weeks ago, although I still have some lingering symptoms

Which is your favorite: Music, Dogs, Shoes, Books, Jonas Brother? Music: Alternative, rock, pop rock usually Dogs: None Shoes: Also none. But I guess flip fops Books: Domestic, “slice of life” fiction Jonas Brother: Joe? What color is your hair brush? Pink, of course Do you enjoy arcades? Not really. Even as a kid they weren’t my scene Have you ever liked 2 people at once? Yes Have you taken a nap today? Nope, it’s only 8 am.

Would you ever want to be in a horror movie? As an actress? Yeah that could be fun Have you ever been to Washington D.C? Yeah for a school trip in 8th grade. It was interesting although I was definitely too young to absorb and appreciate most of it Do you hate when girls have guyish names and boys have girly names? Nah, I love gender neutral names! Have you lost or gained any weight since February? Lost almost 45 lbs, baby!! Have you ever had to use a pay phone? Years ago Have you listened to music today? The office Pandora station is playing right now, but it’s hardly audible from the room I’m in. Do you only drink bottled water? I don’t like water enough to justify spending money on it, so the only kind I drink is tap. I bet someone is on your mind right now, right? I mean, now I’ve PUT someone there Do you like writing in pen or pencil better? Pen. I DESPISE pencils. What’s the last magazine you bought? It’s been so long I can’t remember. Which is sad because I used to be a magazine FIEND. Has anyone in your family ever forgot your birthday? I don’t think so Was it any of your friends birthday in the past week? Nope Is anyone else in the same room as you? Also nope Are you one of the popular people in your grade? I’m 28 years old, my friend

What word best describes you in the dictonary? Anxious Do you like Soy Milk? Bleh, no. Where were you at 10:30am yesterday? I was here at work, reveling in my misery. And I have another 10 (now 8) hours of that to go! WOOHOO! Do you think ghosts are real? Mhm Do you know anyone who has been attacked by a shark? Nope What is your best friend’s mom name? I have several best friends Have you ever made out in a movie theatre? Yep What part of your body do you wash first? In the shower? My face or my hair, it can vary. Do you have an innie or an outie? Innie. How do you think the dinosaurs died? An asteroid. That’s not really disputable is it? What’s your favorite flavor of Pringles? None. Pringles are a disgrace to chips! What was the last thing you got grounded for? As I said a few questions ago, I’m 28. Did you go to a water park last summer? Sadly no!

What shoe do you put on first? Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure the right. Finish the sentence: Girls.. chase boys chase girls

Have you ever had a song or poem written about you? Yes, that’s the ultimate expression of love to me. Did you have a nickname growing up? Little Bit/ Libit, Lala, Enebis When was the last time you played the air guitar? Ha, I’m not sure Have you ever been dared to do something that you regretted? I hardly ever chose dares whenever I played that game Favorite website? Twitter Worst thing that has ever happened to you? ..... Best thing that has happened to you? Graduating college, getting my own apartment, meeting Glenn & getting engaged to him Do you have a wii? I did at some point. I think my sister has it now? Most used phrase on IM? Probably lol or lmao, I’m sure Have you ever heard of The Beatles? Nope never Have you ever wanted to give money to a charity? I try to frequently. I don’t have a lot of excess income but I can pitch in here and there.

Would you ever want to have 14 kids? UH. NO. Are you wearing any bracelets right now? Nope Do you have any jewelry that once belonged to an old family member? Hmm.. I actually don’t think so Do you dream every night? Always Give me on of your goals To get another paid writing gig Do you like skinny jeans? It’s all I wear Do you ever say stuff that you don’t mean? Hardly, I’m not afraid to be open and vulnerable Have you ever said “I love you” and not meant it? I would never do that What is your dream guy/girl? Glenn Do you hate when people overract? Yes, although I don’t really have room to talk.. When was the last time you used the oven? A week ago maybe? Have you ever wanted to be free like a bird? I mean, sure? Are you a worrier? It’s my greatest skill Does your house have an attic? I live in an apartment Are you going fishing this weekend? The answer to that question will never be yes

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sending-the-message · 6 years

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I need to talk about what happened in fall of 2013 by kotpotato

I don’t ever talk about what happened during the fall of my junior year. I think about it all the time. There were five of us at the start of the year—Ryan, Claire, Meg, Reid, and myself. We were lazy and happy and we spent all of our free time in Ryan’s basement watching movies and talking shit. That’s the way it had been for us since we were kids. I graduated three years ago, but only three of my friends graduated with me.

School started the last week of August, so we peeled ourselves off of Ryan’s dingy couch and packed our backpacks. We all lived in the same neighborhood so we all drove to school together. Meg had a car. She was the only one who had a job then and had busted her ass all summer at the diner so that she could buy her aunt’s old 1999 Ford Contour.

“So when are we gonna go out to the woods and make out in here?” Reid asked from the back seat.

Meg mimed throwing up and we laughed.

“When are you going to stop being a huge slut?” I asked, turning from the passenger’s seat to throw gum wrappers at him

“I’m a slut of opportunity and I will never stop,” he answered, volleying a wrapper back into my face.

“But can Claire and me borrow this car and go make out in the woods?” Ryan asked.

“Don’t answer that, Meg, we’re not going to be making out anywhere other than the couch,” Claire objected, punching Ryan’s arm.

“Please don’t say that, we all sit on that couch,” I said.

“Hey, if anyone else in this car is able to find someone to make out with, you can use the couch, too,” Ryan laughed

I saw Meg’s face flush with color, but I didn’t say anything until later.

Meg and I had our first period together, Calculus 1. During the second half of the lesson, our teacher let the class start the homework assignment.

“You’re dating someone,” I accused over the graph I was working on.

Meg’s face glowed pink again.

“Aha!” I said, “Whom?”

Meg narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t tell anyone.

“Who? And why?”

“I’m not sure if we’re dating. I don’t wanna be weird and desperate.”

“You dumb bitch, anyone would be lucky to date you. So who is it?”

“Mark Sessa,” she whispered.

I ‘ooed’ appreciatively. Mark was a year ahead of us. He was somewhat of an enigma to us; no one knew much about him. He wasn’t on a sports team, he wasn’t in band, and he didn’t do theatre. Claire was the only one of us who did extracurriculars, though, so I didn’t think poorly of that.

“He works at the diner with me,” Meg went on, smiling at the thought. “There was a night, in July, one of the other servers called in, and the kitchen staff all left already, so it was just him and me.”

“And you did it on the tables!” I whisper yelled.

“No, you’re gross. We just talked. And then it happened again the next week. And we started hanging out after our shifts, just talking. We would walk to the lake at midnight. We kissed. Once. Well it was last week.” Meg’s eyes were gazing dreamily at the wall behind me.

“So when do you get to know if you’re dating?” I asked, trying not to laugh.

“I don’t know. I can’t just ask.”

“You can,” I demanded.

And she did, later that week. Most nights after that, there were only four of us on Ryan’s couch. Every moment that Mark wasn’t working, Meg was with him. He lived a few miles away from the rest of us with his dad in a two bedroom apartment. Everything was great for two weeks. We went to school, we came home and did our homework together. Sometimes Meg would bring Mark over and we’d all watch movies.

On September 20th, 2013, Mark was absent from class. He was in a painting class with me, at the end of the day, but that day he didn’t show up. Meg hadn’t heard from him all day. We found out on Sunday what had happened.

“A woman from my building is missing,” he told us in a low voice on the front steps of Meg’s house. “She lives in the apartment across the hall from us.”

Isabelle Cooley was 22 years old. She was beautiful and alone, with no family in town. Mark’s dad had been friendly with her, and they had developed a habit of having a meal together on Thursday nights. But she hadn’t come. Her car was in the lot, though, so Mark’s dad knocked on her door. When she didn’t answer, he turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. The studio apartment was a mess, but Isabelle was gone. Her wallet—cards, license, cash, all of it—was still in her purse on the couch.

Mark’s dad was distraught. He’d been watching over her since she moved to town when she was 17. She was part of their family. How could he have let this happen? Mark stayed home with his dad on Friday; they weren’t sure what they should do, but they didn’t think they could leave their apartment.

Over the next few days, we tried watching the news and reading the paper, hoping for an update about Isabella’s disappearance. But there was nothing. No one said a thing. They reported on the weather—‘Isn’t it a bit chilly for September, Phyllis?’—and the reported on the junior high musical—‘They’re doing Mary Poppins, isn’t that sweet!’—but they didn’t report a single thing about Isabelle Cooley. She’d as good as evaporated into thin air.

Uncomfortably, we all wondered how much crime was going on under our noses that we never heard about.

By the end of September, two more women had gone missing—Alisha Jones and Starr Moore—both from low income apartment complexes near Mark’s. They were both beautiful, alone, and in their twenties, just like Isabella had been.

The only reason we ever heard about them was Mark. A neighborhood watch had been set up by some retired members of those apartment complexes. The police, from what Mark told us, didn’t care. They were wholly disinterested and despite the fact that none of the women had taken any of their belongings, they insisted that the woman had run away. Most of them had run away to our town, of course they also decided to run away from our town.

Mark didn’t believe it. We didn’t believe it either, but there was nothing we could do.

On October 9th, Meg didn’t pick me up for school. She didn’t answer my texts or my calls. With five minutes until school was going to start, I decided to walk. I ran into Claire where our two streets intersected.

“Haley!” I heard behind me, I turned and there she was. “She didn’t pick you up either?”

“She didn’t,” I said. “Did you talk to her? Any clue where she is?”

“She never came over to Ryan’s last night,” Claire told me. “After you left, she texted me and said she probably would, but she never showed.”

We felt uneasy, but neither of us wanted to say anything.

“She probably just got sick,” I finally said, if only to break the silence. Claire nodded.

“What the hell?” Reid yelled at us as we walked past his house. “Where’s Meg?”

Soon after, Ryan caught up with us as well. No one had heard from Meg since the night before. We walked to school in silence.

Meg was gone. We were called out of class one by one and asked if we knew where she was. Her mom had reported her missing that morning. She didn’t come home the night of the 8th.

She was on the front page of the paper and every local news station. ‘How could this happen to her?’ they all wanted to know. ‘She came from such a nice home—who would kidnap her?’

Her car was still parked outside of Mark’s apartment on the morning on the 9th. He told us later that he walked her to her car that night, a little while after she’d told Claire she might come over. He kissed her goodnight, she got in the car, and he went back inside his building. He said that was around 9:30. He noticed later that she’d left her jacket in his house, and had intended to give it to her at school the next morning. He never got the chance, though.

Meg wasn’t the first girl to go missing that fall, and she wasn’t the last. She was the only one whose disappearance was investigated though, the only one who the police agreed was kidnapped. They never found her. They never found any of them.

After that, I stopped going to Ryan’s basement. Claire and Ryan and Reid still hung out, but I withdrew. I started hanging out with Mark. By my graduation, he was the only person I considered a good friend. We both left town as soon as I finished school, going to a university out of state. We live together now, renting an apartment off campus. We like to spend our time watching movies and writing papers in the living room. We don’t talk about what happened that fall.

Except now I think I have to. I went to the grocery store yesterday and I saw someone who looked familiar. I recognized her from the photos Mark had shown us back in Ryan’s basement in 2013. It was Isabella Cooley. I knew it was. I went up to her—I don’t know why—and I introduced myself. Of course she didn’t know who I was—she was six years older than me. I told her about what had happened that fall—that my friends and I all thought she’d been kidnapped. I told her how happy Mark’s dad would be that she was alive.

Isabella became pale when I mentioned the events of that fall. She looked terrified and angry. She told me I was mistaken and then left the store, leaving behind her cart full of groceries.

I watched her leave, confused, wondering if I had truly been mistaken. But through the wide store windows, I saw her talk to another woman, and point into the store—at me—frantically. The other woman turned to face me, her face drained of color as well, and I knew I was right. Because the second woman was Alisha Jones.

I tried to follow them, but by the time I escaped the store, they’d gotten into a black sedan and peeled away, tires squealing.

Isabelle left something over than groceries, though. She left behind her wallet. Her photo ID says her name is Becca Smith, and it has her address as well.

They know what happened that fall. They can tell me what happened to Meg. I think I should follow them.

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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narrator-scio-story · 7 years

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Let's Just Have Some Old-Fashioned Fangirling Over Jane Austen

I could call this post "What's Happening 8/29", like I've been doing for a while now.

But seriously, this blog has now evolved from providing short snippets of context about my own experiences in Science Olympiad to explain what I write about in the novel, to begging excuses for why I haven't revised anymore of the novel (news flash - I have no excuse), to now being the primary purpose of my writing.

This is my personal blog explaining the progress of my life.

So it doesn't really make sense to simply name every blog post to show that it's an update on my life from the date it's posted. I want to really explain what I'm going to be writing about in the title, don't I?

So this is a blog post about Jane Austen.

Of course I don't need an excuse to talk about Jane Austen. Why would I need an excuse, how could you ask that?

We've been in the process, the past couple of days, of driving back east after Colorado, in time for school to start. The day before we left I just about managed to finish reading Toni Morrison's Beloved. That was a part of the book pair I'd chosen for my summer reading for AP lit, so I insisted on rereading it in full even though I already read it back in November of 2015 (I know that because I can remember reading it before a certain concert, but whatever, the point is it was a while ago and I needed a refresher). Both the partner book for Beloved and the partner book for Mansfield Park were books I'd bought new on the book this summer and read on the overnight flight to the UK in July, so those were basically the two pairs of books I was choosing between.

Now, I know I'm getting out of order in my history, but I have a confession to make.

A rather embarrassing confession. I can't imagine how my girlfriend would react if she knew.

Not only have I not read Northanger Abbey since 8th grade, and not read Northanger Abbey in its entirety since 6th or 7th grade (aka the first time I read it! Yeek!), but last summer I actually didn't get through all the other Jane Austen novels.

Between my phone and my e-reader, travelling and staying in different people's houses, all the random bookmarks and quotations in different places in the books which I turn to frequently for comfort or to prove a point, I don't actually remember anymore how far I got. So we could say it's very possible I hadn't read Mansfield Park in 2 years.

How had I been getting my necessary fix of Austen instead? Well... Um... Oops... Er... Adaptions?!

Not to mention reading about the 200th anniversary of her death in news stories, but that should've only reminded me of what I was missing. Somehow I was getting the crying-at-happy-endings stuff from adaptions.

So you've heard about all the Netflix adaptions I watched in the UK, I think. And on the British Airways flight back to the US I watched the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice. My sister was shocked that I hadn't seen it before, she claims it's her favorite and she probably hasn't read the book not to mention she couldn't sit through the whole Jennifer Ehle one with me when I rented it on disc years ago. But there you go. I've seen it now, and it wasn't what finally convinced me to do my duty by the novels.

I was only at home, my own house, my own town, for a couple of days, but I did manage to invite my girlfriend to come watch the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma with me one of those days. (Why that one? Because it was the one that was streaming on Netflix. Clueless seems to have been taken off. Not to mention the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma was an Austen movie I hadn't seen before, and yet had tolerable reviews.)

I told her we could judge it's accuracy of the books together. She admitted to me that she'd never actually finished reading Emma because the main character annoyed her so much.

Then after we'd agreed to our plans anyway, she got sick and told me she couldn't come. So I flew out the next day without seeing her, but with it still downloaded within Netflix on my phone.

And eventually in Colorado, one bored afternoon, I have in and watched it on my own. And cried at Mr Knightley's confession of love at the end even though I didn't particularly approve the wording of it. Everything.

Then soon another bored afternoon in Colorado, another afternoon I didn't fancy doing anything productive, I scrolled aimlessly through YouTube and I suppose due to my old (8th grade-era) subscription to the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, found Emma Approved.

I watched as much as I could between my late afternoon discovery and going out to dinner that night. (Actually only 16 or 17 episodes?)

I woke up early the next morning - I couldn't stop thinking about it - and couldn't wait for my parents to be out of the house (for some reason I was determined not to watch it in front of them). Once they left, I devoted about the entire rest of the productive day to watching it, putting off until 9 and then 10 getting out of my pyjamas and showering, returning to the show immediately after, failing to put it down while I ate a breakfast of very old leftovers because anything else was too much distraction, forcing myself to stop for the few minutes I knew that I really, really, really needed to devote to my summer reading in my textbooks for APUSH and AP chem.

I finished the YouTube series quite early in the afternoon and, desperate for more, watched all the Q&A's and Frank and Jane's and even some behind the scenes videos. I had somehow become just so invested in those characters.

And then that night I really couldn't sleep. I must've gotten into bed at a normal time, maybe 10 pm, but I can remember checking my watch at 1 am and feeling not at all sleepy. All because I kept playing through the events of the show in my head. Imagining additional scenarios with Emma and Alex. Thinking about what those characters must have felt.

And in that, above in watching Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma, was the source of my guilt about not rereading Austen recently. I flew through Beloved, which I really did intend to use for my AP lit book, not so much because I'd already read it as because there was something else wonderful which I'd already read waiting for me as soon as I was done. Beloved made me emotional in its way but I was waiting for Mansfield Park, that beautiful home, what had been my favorite of all love stories the first time I read it even if I've since grown to care about others.

So, we spent the last couple of days driving east across Middle American states I've never visited before, me not doing any of the driving because I can't drive, and I've been busy with two of my favorite activities of all time: reading Jane Austen and photographing went turbines.

I got through all of Mansfield Park between yesterday's drive and this morning's, and although I normally go Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, I allowed myself to continue directly on into Emma. Not go back to the beginning once I'd covered my bases for AP lit.

I've seen so many adaptions of Emma (Clueless, a Masterpiece Theatre miniseries, the Gwyneth Paltrow one, now Emma Approved) that it seemed like I really did need to check it against the actual story.

I'd forgotten until I saw Emma Approved how much I'd enjoyed the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, back years ago. I just wonder why I didn't try Emma Approved earlier. And now I'm wondering if it would be practical to watch one episode every couple of lunch times with my girlfriend, or something. Of either show. Just to have watched something together, no matter how many times we'd watched it alone.

I still keep thinking of Emma Approved in my sleep, even with several days since I finished and the original books to care about. That was a good adaption, Alex's proposal was closer to what it should've been even if he didn't say "my dearest Emma, for dearest you will always be" and that's the phrase I swear I wait through the entire book for, which makes all of it worthwhile.

And having read so much in the car? To think I used to think that made me car sick!

I am very much a Janeite I think this is obvious by now.

#science olympiad #novel #jane austen #road trip #emma approved #mansfield park #ap lit

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39-sakuchan-blog · 7 years

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bayfm: Konya, Sakura no Ki no Shita de! (11) 15.6.2017

*Note: This is not the full transcript, just important parts translated.

咲良の木の下で ! 第 11 回

Today started with the humming of ‘LOVE TRIP’

About the Sousenkyo

The AKB48 49th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo is finally in 3 days! I’m so excited! In the preliminaries, I ranked in 8th position. It was nowhere close to the position I aimed for in the first day results, which was 1st place, but it’s the best rank I got in the first day results, and my votes have increased as well, so I’m not giving up! And it was really funny as well, after 2nd place was Jurina-san, everyone kept wondering who took the first place, and it was Ogiyuka-chan. Well, it was my wish to be the one who was called when everyone was curious about who stole the top place, and I also really wanted for HKT to have a streak which made everyone shocked, but that was won by NGT, so, in the actual Sousenkyo, let’s do our best!

And Ogiyuka is around 50 thousand, right? That makes her definitely in Kami 7, right? That’s amazing. But I really want to finish as 1-2 with Sasshi! And I want HKT to be the best team!

Mails

I cried when Sakura was 8th place, so I really admire Sakura-san who didn’t react when her name was called, and accepted it calmly, unlike other members. But we will do our best for the Sousenkyo, so trust us!

Thank you very much! And everyone, I have something to say; I have a counterplan for the Sousenkyo. I’m really sorry to the record company, but from the mobile sites, you can vote for only 300¥, while the CD’s cost 1000¥, so you can enter 3 votes for the cost of a CD! And this year, only with mobile sites, 11 votes can be added, so is it okay if I ask for only about 3000¥? (laugh)

And in SHOWROOM, I didn’t cry. I was happy, actually. It was only one day, yet everyone did their best for me and voted that much, which was both the best amount and rank for me in the prelims. That’s why, if I had cried, I would feel guilty for making all the fans’ efforts seem to go to waste, so I decided that I would absolutely not cry. And everyone, first of all; Thank you very much, and I still want to do my best from now on too.

Let’s think positively. The amount of votes (21,151) can be read as; “2 ikou!” (let’s go 2!) as well as “2 koi!” (come, 2!)

Wow, that’s really amazing! It’s 3 days left, but this year I really, really want to finish with a good result. And, the other day, I was too worried that I went to a fortune teller, and she said that my lucky place this year was Okinawa! Isn’t that amazing? So I want to have hope, as well as to have fun during the Sousenkyo!

In the MC, you said you wanted to be close with Yuiri but both of you were shy to speak, how did it go? And are there any other members you find hard to talk with?

The stage was really hard, and I didn’t have any time to practice, but lately, I became able to appear in a stage after only 3 days of rehearsal (laugh) And Mion was there, so I was relieved. When I was practicing alone, Yuiri came next to me, but we really couldn’t speak, and just danced, it was really awkward. We are both so shy, so it was really nerve-wracking. I wanted to talk, but it seems like I can’t talk with members I like. In Minerva, I like Megu-chan, Yuiri and Seichan, but I can’t talk with any of them, except Megu-chan, because we’re in the same team, but I really want to cure my shyness.

About the stage, it was really hard for my stamina. In the 3rd song, my side suddenly started to hurt, and it wouldn’t stop, so I was really tired. But I realised once more that the theatre stages are are the base of AKB48.

I really loved Sakura-san in the theatre stage. I want to watch you in the Saishu Bell stage, dancing to Mammoth.

About that, actually, HKT’s Himawarigumi and AKB’s Team B held a collab-stage of “Tadaima Renaichuu”, right? So I was wondering if K and K4 can hold a collab Saishuu Bell ga Naru stage. For me, Mammoth is the peak of the stage, so I want to show how much a great song is Mammoth. No song can win against Mammoth. I love it so much that I have confidence I can dance to it cooler than anyone in the 48 Group. (laugh)

The live in USJ was great, I will bring my friends the next time. Also, I heard Sakura can’t wink, is that true?

I too really enjoyed USJ. The best thing about it is, after the live, we get to have a free time, and we’re allowed to ride anything without waiting in line! Like, I’m glad I became an idol. (laugh) This year, unlike last year, I wasn’t scared anymore, so I got in many rides! I also went to the Minion party. And, I can’t wink. I end up closing both eyes (laugh). So please don’t ask me to wink in photo events, unless you are okay with me closing both eyes (laugh).

When I talk, I end up speaking monotone, do you have a secret for talking?

Eh, I wonder how.. But, yesterday, the fortune teller I went to said that when you put you hand to your heart, the voice of your heart can be fully heard. Also, I’m shy, so people end up thinking why I act so cool and unreachable, and when I asked the fortune teller, she said that it would be better if I said first that I’m shy and not good talking with people, while putting my hands to my head. She said that putting a hand to the head makes people want to support you, that’s why, of course the tone is important, but gestures are as much important.

In my Sousenkyo speech, I think before about what to say for 2 scenerios; if I rank worse or better than I expected, and there are words that I definitely want to say. In the real speech, I end up getting so filled with emotions that my fail without fail reaches the fans. So I think if you talk by adding your emotions, it will reach no matter what.

A mail came from 2 people living in Taiwan and an exchange student!

Sakura’s reply:

Your Japanese is really good 0.0 Japanese is a really hard language, isn’t it? Intonation is really important as well, so it’s amazing you can write in Japanese. So everyone who is listening from overseas, please use this radio as a lesson in Japanese. I think the Renai Ron (Sakura’s Way of Love) segments may lead you to think that Japanese people are weird, but... (laugh) I too will do my best to use proper Japanese and be a good example.

So everyone, don’t hesitate to write mails or letters to Sakura! If you aren’t confident in your Japanese, you can always send me a message of your English/Japanese draft, and I can translate/edit! Please don’t hesitate, Sakura gets really happy hearing about fans overseas! ^v^

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Konya, Sakura no Ki no Shita de! is broadcasted every Wednesday from JST 24:00-24:27! Be sure to tune in!

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