#and that Wally is going to have a revelation of sorts along the lines of 'oh fuck my kids are RIDICULOUSLY powerful. world ending powerful'

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

In wild news, Adams said in an interview that Jai is stronger than a Kryptonian?? So.... Uh... Not sure what's up with that tbh

#idk i guess you could interpret it as 'Jai creates more force than a Kryptonian' rather than just straight up strength #which i can kinda understand the logic behind that. the same logic as the infinite mass punch. the faster an object is the harder it hits. #but yeah Adams was talking about how Jai's thunderclaps are more powerful than Karen's thunderclaps #and how that's only going to increase #and that Wally is going to have a revelation of sorts along the lines of 'oh fuck my kids are RIDICULOUSLY powerful. world ending powerful' #and that motivates him to seriously train them. so that they use that power safely and to be good people #and to avoid 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' #i always got the Irey side of that. i didn't really clue in that he meant Jai as well. at least not as he is rn. #i figured he'd develop further powers and thatd be what makes him dangerous. but no. his super strength is apparently fucked up #like ridiculously fucking over powered #he's out preforming Kryptonians at NINE #Wally your kid is gonna sneeze one day and accidentally trigger a second big bang i stg #dc #dc comics #the flash #kid flash #wally west #jai west #surge

[aion-rsa]

Malignant and Shock Twists That Ruin Movies

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Malignant spoilers.

No matter what you think of James Wan’s Malignant, you have to give him this much: it’s pretty original. The filmmaker behind some of the biggest horror movies from this century—Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring in all under a decade—used that clout to pass on a sure thing like directing The Conjuring 3 and instead created something absolutely batshit crazy. In fact, it is on a hill of that batshit where Malignant will live or die for most viewers.

If you’ve read this far, we hope you’ve seen the movie and it’s not a spoiler to say that Gabriel—the mysterious “imaginary friend” from a forgotten childhood—is actually a parasitic twin. Yes, the monster killing everyone is actually the forgotten sibling of Madison (Annabelle Wallis). He stopped developing early on during their mother’s pregnancy, yet he’s shared literal space in Madison’s head and on her body ever since… and he’s been lying dormant for nearly 30 years until a nasty bump on the head gives him the ability to take over sis’ body and crawl out of her skull!

The concept is pure lunacy, and stranger still James Wan pivots his entire movie around the “reveal” of this image of Gabriel emerging out of the back of Madison’s head. Not until audiences are over an hour in do they realize what kind of schlocky silliness they’ve signed up for. It’s a bold gambit from a filmmaker who has the security of a billion-dollar Aquaman franchise behind him to take big swings like this. It also fails spectacularly on nearly every level.

On paper, the twist of Gabriel’s origin might suggest Wan is attempting to mainstream and revitalize a different type of horror, just as he did with “torture porn” in Saw and modern haunted house movies in Insidious and The Conjuring. In that sense, the image of an underdeveloped “cancer” growing out of a little girl’s back in Malignant is pure body horror. Is this Wan’s attempt at playing in David Cronenberg’s sandbox?

Perhaps. There are definite similarities between Malignant and several Cronenberg horror movies from the late 1970s and early ‘80s, which trafficked all in the shock of physical deformity to get under the skin—and closer to darker thoughts in the mind. Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979) bears particular similarities to Malignant. In that film, a couple’s messy divorce and child custody battle takes on horrific connotations when the wife (Samantha Eggar) seeks experimental psychological treatment from a doctor (Oliver Reed) who convinces her to physically manifest her pain: which involves the shocking ending where she gives birth to a brood of monstrous alien-children who kill her subconscious’ enemies and attempt take her daughter back from her estranged husband.

The revelation of these children is visually more shocking and scarring than any image of twisted, misshapen appendages or opening skulls in Malignant. But then that’s because like all other Cronenberg films, the body horror was merely a means to an end. A metaphor about male-dominated society’s anxiety toward the bonds between mother and children, and even a fear of the reproductive process unto itself, underlies the entire running time of The Brood. It’s the ugliness of this paranoia made visceral.

Yet this comparison shows where Malignant fails. Like the Cronenberg movie, Wan’s film pivots on a shocking twist and an uncomfortable image of physical distortion. Yet that twist and that image are ends unto themselves, divorced from any sort of significant meaning or depth.

The revelation that Madison is attached to a deformed and malicious twin brother who hides, quite literally, inside her head appears to serve no purpose beyond the initial shock of seeing Gabriel crawling out of a little girl’s back like one of the grosser gags in a Troma film. Wan and his co-writers—Ingrid Bisu and Akela Cooper—don’t appear to have anything to say after this other than “boo.” When Gabriel finally reveals himself in the film’s present timeline, it isn’t for anything as loaded as the image of a mother licking her newborn’s afterbirth before the eyes of a disgusted husband; it is just so Gabriel can take over Madison’s body and brutally kill a bunch of other prisoners inside a jail cell. It’s maximum splatter for minimal payoff. As a story, Malignant isn’t really about anything else.

In this way, Malignant falls into the long line of empty calorie “twist endings” that define their movies for all the wrong reasons. These are twists that rather than get under the skin settle for tickling the funny bone.

For better or worse, perhaps the filmmaker most associated with these types of misjudged shocks is M. Night Shyamalan. He’s another undeniable auteur with a taste for the peculiar and daring. He can also lay claim to one of the all-time best narrative twists in a horror movie or any other genre thanks to The Sixth Sense. The realization that Bruce Willis has been a ghost for almost that entire film’s running time, and what it both means for the scenes between him and Haley Joel Osment as well as his character’s own sense of anguished regret, earned Shyamalan a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination.

Which is likely why so many folks still cackle about some of Shyamalan’s attempts to recapture that magic with subsequent twist endings. To be clear, Shyamalan has achieved some great shocks in subsequent movies, from Unbreakable to more recently The Visit and Split. But nothing can forgive the disappointment found in revealing the characters in the 19th century-set The Village have actually been living in the 21st century the whole time—and that their town’s elders have simply been lying to younger generations about monsters in the woods for reasons. Nor can anything silence the giggles that still curl the corner of the mouth when one recalls that “it’s the trees” out to cause humans to commit mass suicide in The Happening.

Twists that exist purely for the purpose of shock are a bit like a camp counselor making up a ghost story as they go along. The results might be amusing (or not), but they rarely make sense.

When the desire to shock becomes the sole reason to tell the story, the “twists” are more often remembered for their absurdity (like figuring out that Matthew McConaughey is a video game character in Serenity) or outright incredulity (such as Robert Pattinson’s coming of age story in Remember Me turning out to be a 9/11 movie the whole time with the final scene occurring on a Tuesday morning in September).

I don’t think the twist in Malignant works. At all. It’s an unsatisfying answer to an otherwise uninspiring mystery, which is unspooled in an obligatory fashion. Since viewers don’t know who most of the murder victims are in the stylish if otherwise uninvolving first half of the picture, Wan’s visual flair amounts to little of interest. The same goes for Wallis’ flat performance.

When coupled with a “reveal” that has nothing meatier to add beyond Madison developing inexplicable super-strength, so as to allow her to punch her fist through other inmates’ bodies, the movie becomes downright laughable. Yet in its way, that laugh will stick out in the memory a lot longer than other failures that are just going through some other movie’s formulaic motions. So maybe Gabriel really will get the last laugh in the end?

Malignant is in theaters and streaming on HBO Max now.

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The post Malignant and Shock Twists That Ruin Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3A95wGk

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[queenofcats17]

Me again! I wrote the next part Saccharine! Hope you enjoy!

Part 2/3

—-

It took about an hour, but Sammy got his office prepared for a minimal-frustration day. He had everything in place, and, from the way the pipes above his desk were creaking, he’d need everything he could get.

Sammy was surprised by a knock at his door. He quickly pulled the smile back on his face as the door opened soon after. Jack stepped in, looking down at a few sheets of paper.

“Here, Sammy, I finished up the-“ he cut himself off when he looked up at the grinning musician. “What’s got you in a good mood?”

“Is it so strange to just be smiling?” he asked, leaning his elbow on his desk and resting his face against his palm.

He heard the other man mutter something along the lines of, “So they weren’t pulling my leg,” before he shook the thought away. “Alright, I’ll just leave these here,” he said at a normal volume, handing him the stack of papers.

“Thank you,” you he replied, taking the stack and sorting through it, listening as the steps retreated down the hall.

He leaned back in his chair and stretched, checking the clock on the wall. He had to leave to conduct the band in a few minutes. He took a few breaths to prepare; this would most likely be the most difficult part of the day. The band was extremely frustrating on good days and blinding-rage inducing on the worst. He just needed to remember his goal, no matter how much they got on his nerves.

He ran into Norman on the way to the band room, probably coming to get him from his office. He paused in his step upon noticing the music director. He eyes scanned over his imperfect hair and his colorful tie before landing on the smile on his face. He let out a resigned sigh, obviously being told about this beforehand and probably not believing it.

“Hello, Norman!” Sammy cheerily greeted. The projectionist gave an awkward smile back with a small wave.

“Hey, Sammy,” he said. “I was just coming to get you. The band’s ready and waiting for you.”

“Okay, sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologized, voice sheepish.

The entire band froze when he walked it with a bright smile on his face. They were even more put off when he started speaking to them in an excited tone. He brushed off any questions and comments the same way he’d done all morning. He organized everything and started conducting.

A few hours later, they finally finished, and Sammy was exhausted. It took every ounce of self control not to yell at them when they continuously made the same basic mistakes over and over. While directing, he had noticed Bendy peaking in the music department, watching his sweet act with mixed emotions. He didn’t think he’d hear from the little devil for a while, that was until he’d been heading back to his office and heard him in the hall.

“I’m telling you,” he heard him say around a corner, “it’s got to be an act. There is no way Sammy can just suddenly be all cheery and happy-go-lucky one day. When he came in, he was acting like nothing strange was going on!”

“Maybe he’s just in a really good mood?” Wally’s voice responded. “I don’t know; he wasn’t acting much like himself when talking to me either.”

“Maybe he’s trying to get back at us for that prank last week?” There was a pause. “Nah, this is too extreme. He’s only ever retaliated with super glue, not this psychological junk.”

“What should we do?” Wally asked. “Him being happy isn’t bad; it’s pretty great, actually. It’s just so different and it’s making everyone… uncomfortable.”

“Well, why don’t we just try and get to the Sammy that we all know?” Bendy asked, the grin on his face translating into his voice. “I’ve got a plan. Come tell me when he gets back into his office.” The sound of footsteps retreating towards the animation department creaked through the hall.

Sammy waited until the coast was clear before continuing through. He passed the janitor and pretended that he hadn’t heard anything. He had a feeling that he knew what his boss was planning, and he was prepared for it. He sat at his desk for a while, organizing his papers and working on the next score.

After a few minutes, he heard the telltale sounds of pressure building in the pipes above his head. He reached for something he’d leaned against his desk that morning and flipped it open before the pipes burst.

Bendy rushed down to the music department after increasing the ink flow to break the pipes. Franks had been irritated after he found out, but he’d do whatever he could to break this weird spell over his music director.

At first, he’d thought his plan didn’t work from the lack of shouting, but the growing puddle of ink coming from under Sammy’s door let him know that the pipe had indeed burst. He splashed through the liquid before knocking on Lawrence’s door.

“Come in!” a lively voice responded. He opened the door to a sight he was not expecting. A completely ink-free Sammy was still sat at his desk, writing away despite the pipe that should be leaking on him. Above his head was a large umbrella blocking the black liquid from staining himself and a large part of his desk. The ink was up to his ankles, yet didn’t touch his clothes from the rain boots the his pants were tucked into.

Sammy looked up from his work towards the clock on his wall.

“Welp, it looks like it’s time for lunch,” he announced. He messed with the pages on his desk before getting up to stretch. “I’ll be back it about an hour, boss. See you later!” He whistled as he walked past Bendy, out the door and disappearing out the door. After investigating, Bendy found that every paper that would have been ruined by the spill was put in a protective plastic cover.

“I need to call a meeting,” he muttered to himself.

A little over thirty minutes later, Sammy came strolling back into the studio with a pristine white box. After asking one of the animators, he found out that Bendy had called a few of his coworkers into a meeting. He grinned wider, figuring that he was the topic.

“I’m telling you, he’s probably just in a good mood today!” he heard Susie shout from the meeting room, almost making him giggle.

“Nothing can make that man that happy,” Bendy retaliated, sounding exasperated. “His office flooded and he wasn’t even bothered. It’s like he prepared for this!”

“To be fair,” Alice cut him off, “this does happen often enough that he might of done that beforehand.”

“Possibly,” Henry hummed, “but he was acting like it was odd to think that he could be unhappy this morning. Even the way he’s dressed is different.”

“And he was actually patient with the band,” Norman added. “He didn’t even shout when they definitely deserved it.”

“Maybe it’s something with the ink?” Boris suggested.

“Probably not,” Bendy said. “It’s done some weird stuff, but nothing this weird.” Sammy decided that he’d eavesdropped enough and took that moment to enter the room.

“Hey, boss!” he excitedly greeted, causing every head to swivel his way. “I got a gift!” He set the box on the table, opening and unfolding it to reveal a large chocolate cake. “I figured that whoever wanted some could come by and get a slice.”

The silence that followed was tense for everyone but Sammy. He reveled in it, having to push down his growing joy to put a confused expression on his face.

“Do you not like chocolate cake?” he asked in a slightly worried voice.

“No, we do,” Henry nervously assured him. “It’s just that… are you feeling okay, Sammy? Does anything seem off about today?”

“No…?” he responded, raising an eyebrow at the animator. Nobody responded after that. “Well, if that’s it, I’m going back to work. See you later. Oh, feel free to stop by my office! It gets quiet down there sometimes.”

He paused outside the doorway for a while, listening for their reactions. It was almost a full minute before another word was spoken.

“What the hell did Joey do?”

I really love your writing. 

And I’m really flattered you’d write this for me.

#bendy and the ink machine #hell's studio au #sammy lawrence #wally franks #henry stein #norman polk #bendy the dancing demon #susie campbell #submission

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff ~ Seven of the Season: Amphibia

WARNING: Still ain’t new to making countdown lists, but I keep trying. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

Amphibia is quite a fresh series, and I’m not just saying that cuz 2016 Me had frog legs that one time. While I’ve reviewed it before, it puzzles me sometimes as to why I gush and admire this series so much. Maybe it’s the main cast, the great looking environments, the nice stories, the originality of it all, it takes my mind in quite a few directions on good days. So with the season over, I say let’s bring things back to center and look into the TOP 7 BEST Episodes of Amphibia’s debut. Seven, because it’s lucky, babey. Here we go...

7. Family Shrub

I was hoping for a good hangout with Anne and the kids and this episode stood upon the rest spectacularly. Unfortunately it’s far down the list for subjecting me to the most horrifying image in the entire show and that is a fact. But seeing Anne, Sprig, and Polly go through the home’s catacombs and discover something new about themselves, topping off with the most badass moments from Sprig and Polly, was flexing to say the least. It got me intrigued in how Sprig will pursue the arts and sciences, who will Polly be grown up, how will Anne think of herself later down the line after being with the family for so long. I honestly hoping for more episodes like this, without the scaring horror please.

6. Fiddle Me This

Am I re~~ally gonna put an episode on this list solely because of Sprig’s incredible fiddle playing? Yes.............................

5. Civil Wart

Man, there’s just something about cartoon episodes about fandoms that can really strike a chord with ya. Or keystroke, you know, interests. This was a surprising fit for a sibling rivalry episode between Sprig and Polly, with the two sides being completely in line with their built character. You probably could have a field day trying to figure out what inspired all of this. With a lovely ending to top off the great jokes that came within a huge, wonderful joke itself, this just added to the streak of fandom episodes that never cease to be entertaining.

4. Anne Theft Auto

I’ll say Bessie is an underrated character, and getting to know her history along with Anne was a poignant moment that made me more invested in this series as a whole. I love learning is the key to experience and getting out of a jam. The scene where Anne goes to finish that book when the adventure was over especially tied things up so well, following that up with one of the most memorably hilarious moments of the show so far. Even the B plot with Sprig and Mrs. Croaker kept this episode afloat with its amazing punchline. But above all, this made me respect Bessie a lot more, and the couple of callbacks to this episode further solidify this thought with of how much she contributes to the Plantar family.

3. Wally and Anne/Cursed!

(& Monkey’s next line will be “perception is quite a key theme for the series”)

Perception is quite a key theme for the series... *gasp* NANI?! Amphibia shares that surface-level assumption isn’t a good sociable trait to have and these episodes are very complimentary to each other in that aspect. What’s great about these and episodes like these is that, like previously, you’re generally with Anne and/or Sprig to see and appreciate a dimension of Wally and Maddie that you haven’t seen before up ‘til now (that’s why I’ve come to like Pacifica more than Mabel). And as @jennydyn cleverly pointed out, Wally and Maddie have only visible eye each, which makes “more than meets the eye” a lot poignant than a clever pun I just figured out writing this. Again, the message can be on-the-nose, but the wholesomeness of it all is strong.

2. Hop Pop and Lock

I adored this episode. Nobody was in or got into any danger, nothing was really at risk, and the only bit of chaos was that off-beat dancing like woof. While Anne does try to make Hopadiah dance a certain way, she and the siblings had his back regardless. In the end they didn’t so much win the crowd but Hop Pop got Sylvia’s heart, and that was what mattered. It was especially fun to see Syl and Hop Pop get nuts together to then have a nice slow dance with Sprig dishing well on fiddle. What else to say? The episode was fun from start to finish.

Honorable mentions: Night at the Inn, Toad Tax, Plantar’s Last Stand, Taking Charge

1. Best Fronds/Reunion

It is reasonable to call these episodes dusk and dawn? Can’t say night and day cause that would mean they’re utter opposites, nah these episodes both work the tightrope together between giving Anne a realization and a revelation. The crew says ‘Best Fronds’ was the original first episode and I believe them in that it plants the seed in Anne’s mind that her original friendships weren’t what they seemed. Sprig was notably the first to make Anne think differently, about herself and her sense of bonding with others. And after literally and figuratively getting her hands dirty to protect and be with those she’s grown to love, the seed has grown strong to confront somebody that she feels has pushed her one too many times. While it’s reasonable to say she hasn’t fully understood, Anne at least grasped that what Sasha was pulling, regardless of intent, wasn’t gonna cut it anymore. And what makes the finale work, out of everything, is that even when you know Anne has grown up and is willing to fight Sash for the fate of those that have treated her better thus far, you know that Sasha isn’t a full on bad guy. They’ve given her some well needed dimension early on and with her sacrifice, she knows that even when Anne was willing to risk her life for her, willing to bet she doubted that she’d be able to return that favor well enough. So they split. Until another time. In the least, they have those who care about them, for better or for worse.

Not only are these episodes just well constructed and paced in their own right, they build off each other well. Both offering us how Anne’s growth started and gradually risen without making it all feel cut and dry. In addition to culminating quite a bit from previous episodes into a solid climax of sorts. Certainly sandwiched Part 1 to be a wonderful start to this series all together.

As such, it’ll certainly be a wait or so until we return to this world. And really, I’m up to the wait. I enjoyed this series 100% and I recommend wholeheartedly if you’re up for another world adventures. The series has certainly proved itself. All that said, I’m Monkey Makaveli, and that’s all I got.

#amphibia #disney's amphibia #anne boonchuy #disney #cartoons #animation #reviews #Good Stuff #long post #analysis

[independentartistbuzz]

7 FROM THE WOMEN: JENNY KEEL

Based out of Virginia's scenic Shenandoah Valley, bassist Jenny Keel spends most of her time on the road. This year alone, she's toured nationally with bands the Larry Keel Experience and Keller and the Keels, playing multiple major festivals and appearing on co-bills with artists like Tyler Childers and Billy Strings. Comprised of Keel, her internationally-acclaimed flatpicker bandmate and husband Larry Keel, as well as mandolin player Jared Pool, The Larry Keel Experience has continued to grow a cult-following with their energetic performances and skilled musicianship. The group's newest release, One, follows the trio from the philosophical to the supernatural to the sardonic to the unapologetically romantic. The band had a clear vision for One: to create an album without distractions and to give listeners a hard copy of exactly what they would hear at a live show. The album was then mixed by Jeff Covert of Wally Cleaver Studios and mastered by legendary Grammy award-winning engineer Bill Wolf (Grateful Dead, Doc Watson, Emmylou Harris). Not only does One illustrate each member's honed talent at their respective instruments, it embodies the unique cohesion, energy, and magic that is sparked when the three combine forces.

Jenny, Larry, and Keller Williams make up a power-trio side project called Keller and the Keels. On November 22, they released their acclaimed new album Speed and will continue to tour the country in support of the album in 2020. Read more and view full tour dates here: https://larrykeel.com/home?

What have you been working to promote lately?

Professionally, I've had an incredibly busy and gratifying year with music. Our band, The Larry Keel Experience, has toured all over the country playing major festivals and theaters from coast to coast; we've toured with so many great acts and artists and I've done 2 recording projects this year that I'm extremely proud of. In June, we released One. It's all of Larry's original music, performed completely fresh and 'live', without using any studio tricks or overdubs... just pure, in-the-moment music, expertly recorded in our road manager's basement and mastered by industry legend Bill Wolf. It's an exquisite musical ride, concocted by maestro Larry Keel and myself on upright bass and our mandolin-playing and singing phenom, Jared Pool. Just recently we released our third recording project with our long-time friend and jam hero, Keller Williams [known collectively at Keller and the Keels]. This latest album, Speed,came out in late November and it's so us! It's Keller and the Keels at our best, captured on recording. The song choices are fantastic, and we love the way Keller leads us in creating fresh interpretations of ultra popular pop and country tunes that we Keels may never have heard before, cause we're just intentionally backwoods like that! We'll be doing lots of shows with Keller this coming year and touring this new album. 

Personally and on a day-to-day level, I'm really into promoting mindfulness. In ordinary activities and routines and then expanding into giving thought and attention to larger matters. Hopefully I'm promoting this by example! I feel it really starts with each individual's intention to focus and 'be present' with whatever is going on at the moment... from the first thoughts of the day, to the way we greet the first people or animals in our day, to the way we listen, to the way we navigate traffic or move around and interact with the general population around us, to how we present ourselves in our work and at play, etc. It's a huge undertaking to always try to consider all the elements of my surroundings in every moment, but I really do want to promote that kind of mindfulness and attentiveness to what's going on around me and who is involved. It's sort-of like the 'golden rule' teaching of 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' in the way that everything we pay attention to (or neglect paying attention to) is directly affected by us. 

Please tell us about your favorite song ever written, recorded or produced by another woman and why it’s meaningful to you?

It's hard to pinpoint... but maybe it would be something from Joni Mitchell, like the whole album Blue. When I heard her music in my teens, I just thought she was so incredibly strong and confident and fearlessly artful and original. Her lyrics are gorgeous and Beat-poet-esque, and her singing is athletic and refined at the same time. I love every song on that album, and I listened to it a million times when I first got wind of it. Her musical landscapes took me places, deep into nature, travel, romance, sorrow, and reveling in just being alive.

What does it mean to you to be a woman making music/in the music business today? Do you feel a responsibility to other women to create messages and themes in your music?

I can't begin to express how grateful I am to have had a career in music for most of my adult life. Once I started 'burning' to learn to play music, and then actually started to play live performances for pay (!) I have never wanted to do anything else, so I consider myself very fortunate to be following the dream path I set out to accomplish (against all odds, I might add! But that's another story, and nothing at all to do with being a woman!) I absolutely encourage other women to do exactly the same thing: pursue the dream that burns inside of you. And you can't just bail because things get hard or overwhelming, without sticking with the grind of it all for a good several years until you start to see the results you're interested in. It's just like the adage "If you look really closely, most overnight successes took a long time." My feeling is that this message applies to anything a person (man or woman) burns to do with their lives.  

Who was the first female artist you saw that made you want to create music/be in the business?

If I go waaaaay back, it probably began seeing so many awesome Broadway musicals with my family when I was really little. Both on stage in the theater and on the big screen with motion picture versions of the hit musicals like "The Sound of Music", "Funny Girl", "West Side Story", "Annie", etc. The unbelievable talents and strength of character beaming from women like Julie Andrews, Barbara Streisand, Natalie Wood and the child actress Aileen Quinn (who played Annie), just thrilled me and inspired me from an early age. I'm sure I felt the urge to be an entertainer from having seen so many of those epic musical performances. 

In the realm of radio rock and pop music that I listened to and went to see in concert, I'm thinking the women who really impressed me and fired me up to play would have been artists like Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Linda McCartney, Annie Lennox and Blondie. 

What female artists inspire you and influence you today?

Susan Tedeschi, Mimi Nadja (of Fruition), Allie Kral (of Yonder Mountain String Band), Lindsay Lou... all badasses.

What was the most challenging thing you have had to face as a female artist?

For me personally, this is probably the same stuff that male musicians face... which is mostly that along this whole journey/quest/pursue-my-dream thing, the challenge has always been to seek as many opportunities as possible in which to play the best music I can, and have the music that my bandmates and I play come across with all the magic and heart and energy we know we can create as long as the sound equipment and the venue environment and our combined efforts all line up. Sometimes that's a big challenge – getting all the conditions right! The challenge of keeping up a steady drive to continue to grow and expand musically, and the challenge of hopefully always being in demand booking-wise! In other words, the continuous challenge to do all it takes to have a long, satisfying career in music.

If you could form an all-female supergroup, who would play in it?

If I could time travel, I'd go with Ella Fitzgerald, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Mother Mabelle, Mary Ford, Mimi Nadja, Allie Kral. I really could go on and on!! Thanks for inspiring me to think about this one along the way!

Connect with Jenny Keel online via

https://larrykeel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LarryKeelFishinAndPickin/

https://twitter.com/LarryKeel

https://www.instagram.com/larrykeel/

https://www.youtube.com/user/Larrykeelmusic

[ranjumiah]

Luxury Homes

Many people love L.A. -- why is this so? Using the possible exception from the The Big Apple, can there be anyplace else within the U.S. that may legitimately call itself the middle of the World?

Within the situation of Los Angeles, it's the core entertainment world and it has more legitimate celebrities per sq . inch than almost any other put on earth. For more information on mulholland estates gated community, visit our website today!

And thus visitors come for that glamor and also the glitz, for an opportunity to trap sight of the star maybe just visiting the supermarket or walking in quasi-designer cut-offs and tee-shirts lower Melrose Avenue. They are available to determine how movies are created, how tv shows are created, to become thrilled through the area's theme parks and to absorb the endless sunshine on beaches populated by the most amazing people on the planet. Downtown L.A.

On the newest visit, we attempted different things: establishing base camp in downtown Los Angeles, which obviously may be the hub from the Los Angeles Basin with spokes heading in each and every direction for each type of adventure imaginable. Checking in in the Omni Los Angeles, our "camp" was really the lap of luxury. This hotel is really a modest size for downtown L.A. ' just 17 tales,' but located right in the middle of downtown alongside California Plaza's restaurants and shops and merely a brief walk from many interesting sites. The rooms in the Omni are tastefully modern, decorated within the tan, beige and subtle eco-friendly combination that you simply see in a lot of new houses nowadays. Wealthy mahogany furniture, elegant lights and chocolate velor couches contrast nicely using the overall color plan. In a nutshell, it is simply what you are able expect in L.A. , lavish and very current.

Such as the "giants" from the Redwood forest, downtown L.A. features its own "Valley from the Giants" giant, mostly modern, gleaming structures which will help you stay straining your neck while you constantly feel compelled to appear skyward at these items of man's resourcefulness. With L.A.'s sunshine, the structures reflect one another, each one of these supplying a different, fascinating visual pattern. And almost none of those skyscrapers are elongated boxes, all of the newer ones have angles of some kind, all snugly placed alongside one another like some huge three-dimensional puzzle.

Should you appreciate art and style, it is a two-minute walk towards the Museum of recent Art using its imposing "tree" of plane and transportation parts greeting museum-goers in the door. Or, it's another two minutes lower the road towards the Wally Disney Theater, home of L.A.'s classical music and perhaps probably the most unusual searching structure throughout downtown using its billowy, non-straight line angles. Sculptures along with other types of artwork are sprinkled through the downtown area, leading someone to believe this really is one very art-conscious city.

Obviously no trip to L.A. could be complete without encountering some movie-making. There always appears to become an L.A. movie shoot on weekends -- which trip wasn't any exception. A crew on the truck rigged having a camera platform that decreased to just about road level was filming an automobile "chase scene" because it went by our hotel.

Individuals who love movies and also the Oscars will recall that, for a long time, the Oscars received out in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, another two-minute walk from your hotel. Actually, the whole downtown social center is nearby which a part of Los Angeles could be a particularly convenient destination should you desired to incorporate a play or concert, or possibly a game title at Staples Center.

Back at our hotel, we learned that a sizable portion of the 4th floor continues to be transformed into a health spa and condition-of-the-art gym. You will see an apparent demand for latter for those who have dinner in the Omni's fine restaurant, Noe, where you will find tasty "progressive American cuisine."

While there's much in downtown Los Angeles to go to and revel in, there's also short excursions to such nearby places as Hollywood, Santa Monica, the Getty Museum and a whole lot. Listed here are a couple of in our favorites:

Getty Museum

Once the Getty Museum first opened up in 1997, the museum's parking and transportation system were rapidly overwhelmed to the stage that anybody considering going to the museum needed to make parking reservations several weeks ahead of time. Individuals reluctant to hold back hoofed it for miles after which anxiously waited as much as four hrs simply to have a tram ride towards the museum's spectacular hillside setting west of downtown Los Angeles.

Exactly what a difference ten years makes. Today no reservations are needed and you can drive to your parking place, grab a tram and become on the top from the mountain only a couple of minutes after your arrival.

A visit to the Getty is sort of a quickie art seminar which will educate you simply enough names and buzzwords to create your buddies believe you're really educated. It is a welcome addition to the Los Angeles vacation.

Santa Monica

If you are searching for that awesome factor, it might be unequalled Santa Monica, a playground for L.A. TV and movie people who is nicely compressed into 8.3 miles strategically bordered through the Santa Monica Mountain tops somewhere and also the Gulf Of Mexico alternatively.

The language "trendy" and "hip" appear to appear a great deal within the descriptions from the some 400 restaurants packed into this little bit of property. Toss in a couple of galleries, some luxury hotels and ' indeed ' celebrities and you've got the makings of the eye-popping diversion out of your everyday hometown. Obviously Santa Monica includes a gorgeous location. The views from Palisades Park are breathtaking and consume not just the expansive beaches but such distant features as Malibu around the north as well as Catalina Island towards the southwest. The Santa Monica Pier may be the dominant feature around the water's edge ' well as over water -- and it is a popular for families.

La Brea Tar Pits

Near to downtown may be the La Brea Tar Pits, among the world's most well-known fossil localities. More extinct Ice Age plants and creatures happen to be retrieved here than elsewhere on the planet.

It's difficult to assume but here, only a couple of blocks south from glitzy Beverly Hills, there have been once such creatures as saber-toothed cats and mammoths roaming the area. The museum offers skeletal reconstructions of a few of these monsters as the surrounding area, Hancock Park, offers pathways around a few of the archaeological dig sites along with the tar pits.

The fossils collected at La Brea go as far back to between 10,000 and 40,000 years back. Almost all of the skeletons displayed within the museum are really the fossil bones available at the tar pits. Since 1906, several million bones happen to be retrieved in the La Brea Tar Pits representing 231 types of vertebrates. Another 159 types of plants and 234 types of invertebrates happen to be identified.

Hollywood

Hollywood's certainly well worth the short trip from downtown L.A. The famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine really is not everything appealing, although there's been some major renovation within the area just previously couple of years. Hollywood at Highland ' an excellent place to fit, incidentally -- is definitely an impressive new upscale shopping complex next to Grumman's Chinese Theater (using its feet and hands prints), and also the Walk of Fame stretches in the complex on lower Hollywood Boulevard for many blocks.

It's interesting to look at those who, in other metropolitan areas, may be known as street performers. In Hollywood, they are movie figures with elaborate costumes that lure unsuspecting vacationers into taking photos of these using their arms, tentacles, paws or whatever wrapped around other vacationers.

Near by may be the home from the Oscars, the famous Kodak Theater. For just $15 an individual, it's possible to take 30 minutes tour from the theater.

Instantly

WHERE: Los Angeles is in the center from the entertainment world, 400 miles south of Bay Area, 125 miles north of North Park.

WHAT: A sizable, sprawling metropolitan city with sufficient interesting attractions to help keep you occupied for days.

WHEN: Anytime. Great year-round L.A. weather conditions are legend. Want to know more about property management? Visit our website for more information.

WHY: There's something for everybody: culture, beaches, theme parks, fine dining, take your pick.

[anavoliselenu]

Heart of stone chapter 19

Surprisingly, shopping for Selena had been rather enjoyable. From sweaters and skirts, to jeans and boots – the possibilities with women’s clothing seemed endless. Looking at various styles and picturing certain items on Selena was an experience unlike any other. I was careful with my selections, keeping her tastes above my own. I wanted her to be pleased with my choices and know that I was keeping her interests in mind. And most importantly, I wanted to show her how much I wanted to take care of her, yet still allow her to maintain her individuality.

 I knew I was taking a risk. Selena might be down right furious once she saw everything that I had bought. But I also knew that she might be more apt to accept my gifts if she knew that I personally selected each item.

 When I arrived home shortly after six, I was pleased to see that the packages from the day’s spree had been delivered and that Vivian already organized my spacious walk-in closet to accommodate the purchases. It was strange to see the colorful array of cottons, silks, and cashmere hanging next to the line of utilitarian colored suits. Yet, I also derived a certain amount of satisfaction over seeing it, as if I had achieved some kind of great accomplishment.

 As I closed the closet doors, the intercom to the penthouse buzzed. I assumed it was Jeffrey letting me know that Selena had arrived, and it irked me that he hit the call button to announce her arrival. I had given him explicit instructions to simply send her up whenever she came to my home.

 “Yes!” I snapped into the intercom.

 “Mr. Stone. Ah…I, um Miss –,” Jeffrey started.

 Just what I thought.

 “Allow Miss Cole into the elevator, Jeffrey. Now please.”

 “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. She’s on her way.”

 I walked away from the intercom speaker, not bothering to thank him. Whatever patience that I had for the bumbling doorman was starting to run thin.

 I waited in the entryway for the elevator to arrive. When the doors opened, my breath caught in my throat. No matter how many times I saw Selena, her beauty took my breath away. Her hair was in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck, allowing a few stray curls free to frame her delicate face. Her tight jeans and scoop necked sweater accented every flawless curve of her body.

 She was perfect, like a goddess from the heavens. Little had I known that this woman would turn my world upside down when she slipped and fell that day at Wally’s. I wanted her then and I want her even more now – more than I ever wanted any other woman in my life. She was an angel.

 My angel.

 I closed the distance between us in less than a second and scooped her up under the legs to cradle her my arms.

 “Justin! Put me down!” she half scolded and giggled at the same time, swatting at my arm. I ignored her and breathed in the sweet smell of her hair.

 “Mmm…not a chance. I missed you,” I murmured into her ear.

 “Already?” she laughed.

 “Very much,” I admitted before kissing her softly. “You’ve been on my mind all day, angel.”

 “Oh, have I? I can only imagine all of the wicked things you were thinking today.”

 “Miss Cole, you have no idea.”

 I ran my nose down the length of her cheek to nuzzle the sweet spot below her ear. She hummed and closed her eyes, angling her head to the side. I moved back up, savoring the softness of her skin, nipping along the line of her jaw. My teeth grazed her parted lips and I kissed her again, but this time it was long and possessive. She surrendered and gave into my tongue, allowing me to revel in the taste of her.

 “I could get used to greetings like that,” she murmured once I gave her a chance to come up for air.

 “My girl likes being swept off her feet I take it,” I joked.

 I felt her stiffen in my arms.

 “I guess I do,” she said with a small smile. However, her grin didn’t quite reach her eyes, and I knew that she was thinking metaphorically about what I had said.

 “I was only messing around, Selena. After all, I did quite literally sweep you off of your feet.”

 “I know,” she said, planting a placating kiss on my cheek. I set her down, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I thought she looked relieved. Her sudden change of demeanor was perplexing.

     “You okay?”

 “I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I think I’m just tired, that’s all. Somebody wore me out last night.”

 “I didn’t hear any complaints,” I said with a wink.

 “Oh, not at all. But I’ll have to admit, the day is finally catching up with me. I’d love to just lounge on the couch for a little while. Maybe watch a movie? What do you say?”

 A movie?

 Lying on the couch and watching a movie with a woman was foreign to me, yet it provoked some very interesting ideas. The thought of getting Selena horizontal had me readily agreeing.

 “I’m game for that. But first, I have something for you. Come with me.”

 I took her hand and led her into the bedroom. When we reached the closet doors, I paused before opening them. I was thrilled at the chance to give Selena her surprise, but I was nervous about it too.

 What if this is a mistake?

 I thought of the way her new clothes looked hanging next to mine. For me, it was simply a gift, one that I was anxious to give her. However, Selena had a tendency to look too much into things, and I was afraid of how she might perceive the appearance of my closet.

 Maybe I shouldn’t show her this. Not yet.

 “What is it?” she asked.

 Her question tore me away from the indecisive meanderings.

 I shook my head to clear it, feeling uncomfortable with the way I seemed to be questioning my every move as of late. I have always been confident in my choices, yet I seemed to stumble over the smallest of decisions surrounding Selena and it was starting to wear on me. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

 Get your shit together and just give her the damn clothes!

 “It’s here. In my closet,” I told her.

 I opened the doors and gestured her inside. She stopped when she reached the threshold, not having to venture any further to see what was plainly before her. I saw her visibly blanch, in what I could only assume to be shock, before she slowly turned to face me. Our eyes locked, and hers were flashing with accusation.

 I should have waited.

 “Justin, you said that you had something for me. These are things. As in plural. Very plural.”

 Her voice was strained and I could tell that she was trying to keep her temper in check.

 “I just wanted you to have a choice, that’s all,” I tried to shrug off.

 She got quiet, unusually so. By the way she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, she appeared agitated. She attempted to tuck a curl behind her ear, but it sprang free again. I reached up to do it for her, but she jerked her head away so that I couldn’t. I dropped my hand to my side, knowing that she was just as angry as I feared she would be.

 She cast her eyes down, seeming to stare at some invisible speck on the carpet. Occasionally, her eyes would dart back up to her new wardrobe, but then down again as if she couldn’t bare the sight. Her silence was vexing, but I held my tongue, waiting for her to break it first.

 “I wish you didn’t do this,” she eventually whispered.

 “I wanted to,” I stated simply.

 She looked up at that, sticking out a stubborn chin.

 “What if I don’t want to accept?”

 I pursed my lips in annoyance, trying not to feel insulted over her rejection. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that Selena responded best to brutal honesty.

 “You’re not getting it, Selena. I want to buy you things. I want to take care of you. It’s a need that I can’t explain,” I told her, trying to sound as earnest as possible. “It makes me happy to do so, as I so discovered today. This is just something that you’ll have to get used to.”

 “Look, I appreciate it, but it’s you that isn’t getting it. A week ago we were both saying no strings attached. All of this is a whole lot of strings,” she said, motioning to the clothes with her hand.

 I chuckled at her unintentional pun, trying to keep the mood light. I was just grateful that she was talking again.

 “Angel, it’s only clothes.”

 “It’s more than clothes to me. It’s what it symbolizes.”

 “I understand your hesitation. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know what possessed me to do it. I’ve never personally gone shopping for a woman before, not even for my sister. It was just…” I struggled trying to find the right words to explain my compulsion. “It was just something that I wanted to do. Accepting would make me very happy.”

 Her face looked pained, as if she were suffering from some sort of internal battle. She looked at me, eyes full of uncertainty, before walking into the closet and running her hand up and down the sleeves of the hanging blouses.

 “You shopped for all of this by yourself?”

 “Sort of. Hale may have had a thing or two to say about some of the stuff I bought.”

 Her head snapped around so fast that it threatened whiplash. Her eyes were round with apparent disbelief, but then she let out a loud and genuine laugh. The sound was infectious and music to my ears.

 “You two must have been such a sight!”

 I crossed my arms and smirked at her.

 “Are you laughing at me, Miss Cole?”

 “I would never dare,” she retorted.

 Her eyes twinkled, a sure sign that I was on my way to securing the win.

 “Does this mean that you’ll accept my gift?”

 “I suppose I could,” she mused the consent.

 I hesitated before dropping the next bomb on her.

 “I hope so, because this isn’t all of it.”

 Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head back and forth.

 “No more gifts, Justin,” she implored.

 “You said you’d accept. What’s next is just part of the package.”

 “Please. No,” she tried to deny, but I ignored her pleads.

 I went over to the dresser and picked up the small gift-wrapped box that I had left sitting there. When I turned back to face her, there was no describing the look of horror that spread across her face. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the package that was in my hand.

 I looked from her to the box, then back up at her. And then it dawned on me.

 “Chill out, baby. If I was going to propose, I’d do it better than this,” I said dryly. “Just open it.”

 I thrust the cube shaped box into her hand, annoyed that this was going so badly.

 A blush crept over Selena’s cheeks. I was fairly certain that her embarrassment over jumping the gun was the only thing that kept her mouth shut while she went to work on opening the package.

 Carefully, she pulled at the satin bow and slid her fingernail across the tapeline to unwrap it. Inside the box, nestled in a royal blue pillow, lay the necklace that I had a local jeweler custom craft for her.

 “Justin, it’s beautiful,” she said in awe. She ran her fingers across the platinum interlocked spiral emblem and over the three smooth sapphires that were placed in the surrounding circle. She looked up at me and smiled.

 Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

 Confident that she wasn’t going to argue with me about the necklace, I released a sigh of relief.

 “It’s a triskelion, or at least a variation of one,” I told her. “Some people call it a triskele.”

 “What’s a triskele?”

 “It’s a symbol of the BDSM community.”

 “Oh. Well, um…” she hesitated and her smile faltered. “Am I…to wear this? I mean, don’t get me wrong – it is truly a beautiful necklace. I’m just not too keen on advertising my new-found interests.”

 “Don’t worry,” I lightly laughed. “The triskelion symbol has many meanings actually, depending on who you ask. Most people you encounter will think it means something entirely different. I personally believe that may be why the BDSM community adapted it. Look it up one day, Selena. You may be intrigued by it’s history.”

 “How so?”

 “BDSM may be a subject that is never talked about, but many aspects of it are often in plain sight. Here, let me put in on you.”

 I reached to take the box from her hands. I could still see the apprehension on her face, but she didn’t argue when I secured the clasp around the back of her neck. The emblem rested perfectly against her smooth skin, accenting the flawless swell of her breasts.

 “Well, whatever the symbol is, you have impeccable taste. I love it, Justin. Thank you.”

 “I’m glad you do. That will make it easier to give you the last surprise.”

 “Justin,” she said in a warning tone. “I said thank you for the necklace, not the clothes. I’m still not sure what to think about those, let alone a third surprise.”

 “It’s nothing, really. This one is more meant as a joke than anything else. Open the top drawer for my dresser.”

 She eyed me suspiciously, but did as I instructed.

 “What’s this?” she asked after she peered at the contents.

 “Replacement underwear for the ones that I ripped off you. Remember?”

 I flashed her a devilish smile, recalling the night that I tore the black lace from her hips. The image of doing that again caused a stirring in my groin.

 “Oh, I can certainly remember! But this is more than a replacement – there’s got to be at least ten pair in here!”

 “A dozen to be exact,” I moved over to her and circled my arms around her slim waist. I leaned down to whisper in her ear. “So that means, I get to rip them off of you twelve more times.”

 I felt her shiver in my arms, and I knew then that I had truly won. I reached down to cup her behind, pulling her hips tighter against me.

 “Twelve more times, huh?”

 Her words sounded breathy already and I hardened in response.

 “Yep,” I confirmed, nipping at her ear. I trailed a line down her neck, feeling the beat of her pulse beneath her skin. My hands found the hem of her sweater, and I slid them up her back to undo the clasp of her bra.

 “Well then,” she started, but then paused to moan when I found one of her nipples. “We should, ah…we should get to work on that.”

 “I thought you wanted to watch a movie.”

 I rolled her taut peaks around between my thumbs and forefingers, flicking them softly while I did so.

 “The movie can wait,” she breathed.

 “Yes, it can,” I agreed, relishing in every response she had to my touch. I stepped away and reached into the drawer to retrieve one of the lace thongs. I looped it around my finger and held it out for her to take. “I think you need to go put on a pair of these so that we can test their durability.”

 “I’ll be right back,” she promised, taking the panties from me.

 After Selena disappeared into the bathroom, I went to the stereo to select a playlist for inspiration.

 Something darker I think.

 I wanted to show Selena something new tonight, to take her to a place that she hasn’t been. Selecting music that I thought was appropriate for what I had in mind, I turned back to the bed. Reaching up, I began to unlock the latches that held the crossbars in place for the St. Andrews cross.

 Once I was satisfied that everything was secure, I fished keys out of my pocket and headed over to my private closet to retrieve the leather cuffs that I would need. However, I was stopped midstride when I heard Selena cry out from the bathroom.

 “Oh, no!”

 She exited the bathroom looking like she might cry.

 “What? What’s wrong?” I asked, completely alarmed by her outburst.

 “I have my period.”

Justin started laughing like it was the funniest thing that he’d ever heard. I, on the other hand, was thoroughly annoyed,

 “This isn’t funny, Justin!”

 “Well, it does put a damper on my plans for you, but it’s your reaction that’s making me laugh.”

 He laughed harder when I scowled at him. I reached for one of the satin throw pillows that was on the bed and threw it at him.

 “You’re such an ass,” I told him, although my words didn’t carry any true venom. I too was fighting off a smile.

 “I take it that you’re surprised by your monthly friend?”

 “Sort of. I started getting a headache this afternoon. That’s usually a warning that it’s coming.” I frowned, feeling somewhat chagrinned over my negligence to the matter. “I really should keep better track, but since I wasn’t having sex until recently, I guess I didn’t see the necessity. I’m sorry.”

 “Don’t apologize for nature, Selena. It’s not your fault.”

 “I suppose, but that doesn’t change the fact that our night is ruined. No point in me staying over now.”

 “Don’t be ridiculous!” he exclaimed, as if it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. “There are other things we can do besides have sex.”

 “Like what? That’s the only thing we do!”

 I tried to say it with a laugh, but it sounded forced. I was all revved up with nowhere to go. I wanted nothing more than to sit in a corner and pout for the remainder of the night.

 This sucks.

 Justin came over to where I was standing, his expression stoic as he pulled me into his arms.

 “You really should give us a bit more credit, Selena. Do you still have a headache now?” he asked.

 “Yeah, just a little one though.”

 “Well, let’s see what we can do about that. Shall we?”

 He released his arms from my waist and took hold of my hand. Leading me into the bathroom, he opened up the linen closet and began searching for something. I expected him to pull out aspirin for me, but instead he produced a bottle of bubble bath and scented oil.

 “What are you doing?” I asked curiously.

 “My grandmother used to say that the best cure for a headache was a hot bath. So, my angel, that’s what you’re going to have.”

 He went over to the massive, sunken marble bath and began to run the water. Unscrewing the cap for the bubbles, he began to slowly pour the thick soap into the water, mixing it with the scented oil. Before long, a soft smell of lavender and vanilla filled the room.

 “You know, if your trying warm me up to the idea of you taking care of me, it’s working.”

 He flashed me one of those sexy grins that I loved so much.

 “I must say – you certainly make me work for it,” he said lightly. He leaned in to plant a tender kiss on my forehead. “I’ll give you a minute of privacy so you can get into the bath. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 Once I was alone, I had a minute to digest the unexpected. The impromptu bath that Justin had drawn for me was sweet – remarkably so. It was the exact sort of thing that Justin said he wasn’t capable of, and the same thing that I told him I wasn’t looking for.

 Teddy bears and roses.

 If the perfumed bubble bath wasn’t the definition of teddy bears and roses, then I didn’t know what was.

 An uncomfortable feeling began to form in my stomach, and I tried to ignore it as I undressed. After removing my clothing, I wrapped myself in a towel and stood in front of the vanity mirror. My cheeks looked flushed from the swelling steam in the bathroom and my hair was growing bigger by the minute. I hastily pulled it up into a messy bun on top of my head and secured it with a rubber band that I had around my wrist.

 Satisfied that my hair would stay put, I made my way over the bath. Seeing that it was almost filled, I reached down to turn off the faucet.

 Once the noise of the running water was silenced, I noticed that music was coming from somewhere. I looked around and saw that little speakers were strategically built right into the walls of the bathroom. The sound was soothing, fitting to the serene environment that Justin had created for me.

 However, despite the luxury that I was surrounded with, I still felt anxious and I wasn’t sure why.

 It’s because he’s breaking down your defenses.

 I dismissed the bothersome voice in my head immediately, determined to just enjoy the moment.

 It’s like I told Ally – live for today. Just take it as it comes.

 I stepped into the bath that was fit for a god, and sunk down into its sweet foam. Leaning back, I appreciated a few minutes of uninterrupted relaxation.

 When Justin returned, he was carrying two glasses of wine and was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. The lines of his abs rippled when he bent to set the glasses down on the ledge of the bath. I wanted to reach out and run my hands over his muscular contours, but stopped myself when I remembered why I couldn’t.

 “Justin, I’m sorry. But if you have plans to join me, I can’t when I have my –,” I started.

 “Relax, Selena. I have no expectations. Tonight, it’s all about you. Now slide up in the tub,” he ordered.

 I hesitated for a moment, but then did as I was told.

 Justin dimmed the lights so that there was only a soft glow about the room, adding to the tranquility. When he shamelessly dropped his towel, I found myself blushing for some unknown reason. I cast my eyes down, not wanting to brazenly ogle while he climbed in behind me.

 Once he was settled, he procured matches from somewhere and lit the candles that were placed in the corners of the marble surround. Pulling me back against him, I had little choice but to settle in.

 After a moment or two, he began to massage the muscles in my shoulders. A sigh of appreciation escaped me as I sipped on a delightfully sweet white wine and absorbed the music. I literally felt like a queen being pampered.

 “This song that’s playing...it’s really good. Who is it?” I asked, curious about the female artists sensual lyrics and textured contemporary sound.

 “It’s called “Breathe” by Of Verona. It’s on one of the playlists that I made for you.”

 “Oh, I didn’t realize. But then again, I haven’t had a chance to listen to all the songs yet.”

 “That’s a shame, but it might explain why I still have to try so hard to coerce you,” he laughed.

 “What do you mean?”

 “This particular song is on the Surrender playlist.”

 “I see,” I mused, suddenly very intrigued by what Justin hoped to accomplish with his playlists. “I’ll make a point to listen to them all soon.”

 “Actually, it’s okay if you don’t. I like seeing your reactions when you hear a song that you like. You’re very responsive to music.”

 “I know. It’s hard to explain. It’s like I can feel music, if that makes any sense,” I told him.

 Justin shifted his position slightly, causing his manhood to brush against my backside. The seductive music alone was doing a fine job of provoking my already heightened sexual ache – the last thing I needed was to feel that. A shiver of desire raced down my spine.

 “Is the water too cool?” Justin asked, seeming oblivious as to why I had quivered. I gave myself a lecture in an attempt to ignore the longing that I felt.

 Focus on the massage. Tune out the music. Just disregard the feel of his body.

 That’s wet and warm.

 And slick with bath oils.

 “No, the water is fine. Perfect actually,” I said, my voice sounding slightly higher pitched than normal. It was a real struggle to focus exclusively on the kneading of his phenomenal hands on my shoulders.

 “Hmm, yes. This is nice,” he agreed easily, but he seemed distracted.

 I glanced up at him. He looked lost in thought, and totally unaware of the torment I was experiencing.

 “What are you thinking about?”

 “Actually, I was thinking about this weekend. If the weather holds out, I thought maybe we could go out on my boat on Saturday.”

 “You have a boat?” I asked, seizing the opportunity to break the progression of my salacious thoughts.

 “Yes, I do. It might be the last chance we have to use her too. I don’t expect to have many more days of good weather.”

 “I don’t think I’d be much fun out on your boat. Frank used to take me fishing on Rensselaer Lake when I was a kid. I would always get seasick.”

 I could feel his chest vibrate with a low chuckle.

 “I’m sure my boat and the water conditions are quite a bit different than being out on Frank’s fishing boat. But don’t worry. I can get you a bracelet for seasickness if you need it. And there’s always a motion sickness pill, although I’m not a huge fan of them.”

 I watched the steam furl in the air above the tub and contemplated the likelihood of getting seasick. After a while, the lazy swirls were mesmerizing and I began to fully relax for the first time since Justin joined me in the tub. It seemed silly to fret over whether I may or may not get sick aboard his boat.

 “Whatever you say,” I agreed easily.

 Content to just appreciate the moment, I closed my eyes and breathed in the soft scent of the billowing moist air that surrounded us.

 Justin continued to knead the muscles in my neck and shoulders. When his hands moved down to massage my arms, I was starting to get drowsy with sleep. However, my eyes snapped open when I felt his fingertip brush over one of my nipples. I couldn’t be sure if it was by accident or not. However, when he skimmed over it a second time, I sharply sucked in a breath, knowing that it wasn’t merely happenstance. My nipples hardened in response, just aching to be touched, a painful reminder of what could not happen.

 Slipping both hands under my arms, he captured both breasts and I realized how heavy they felt. Yet, despite their fullness, his gentle rolling of the ultra sensitive points began communicating to another part of my body. Unfortunately, that area was currently wearing a do not disturb sign.

 It was like torture of the worst kind.

 “Oh, why couldn’t my period have come tomorrow?” Frustration gripped me and made the rhetorical question sound like a whine.

 “Shh…don’t talk, Selena.”

 He tilted his head forward and began trailing kisses up and down my neck. His teeth tugged at my earlobe, causing a shiver to race down my spine. I could feel his erection growing and pulsing against my lower back, a sure sign that he would soon have a frustration to match my own.

 “Justin, you’re making this worse,” I moaned. He moved his hands down my belly, coming precariously close to the mark before I stopped him by squeezing my thighs together.

 “Open your legs for me, Selena.”

 “You know I can’t.”

 “You can,” he persisted. Shifting his legs so that they came over the top of mine, he locked his ankles around mine. In one swift motion, he spread our legs out together. Water sloshed out onto the floor.

 “You’re making a mess,” I scolded, hoping to distract him from whatever it was that he had planned.

 “You really are a terrible submissive,” he murmured into my ear. Moving his hand back down to my waist, his finger circled my belly button before traveling farther south to find my sweet spot.

 “Or maybe…” I began, trying one last time to divert him from the inevitable. “Maybe I just have a bad teacher.”

 “Hmm,” he growled. “Don’t remind me.”

 Without warning, he pressed down on my clitoris. I could feel the nub instantly begin to pulse beneath his finger and I cried out. I arched my back, trying to squirm out of his reach, but my efforts were in vain. He still had my legs trapped and one arm secured tightly around my waist. There was nowhere for me to go.

 “Justin…” I tried to plead. However, my attempt to stop him was halfhearted. Despite my reservations, I craved his touch with every fiber of my being.

 “Trust me for a minute and just let yourself feel, Selena.”

 Ever so gently, he began to flick back and forth, teasing my pressure point. I was amazed at how quickly Justin had learned my body. He knew all the places that brought me the greatest pleasure, and he used that knowledge to make me crazy with need time and time again.

 Angling my head up, I looked at him. His blue eyes were blazing with so much heat that I had little choice but to surrender. I reached to pull his head down to meet mine, and gave myself over with abandon.

     ****

     I lay curled up against Justin’s side, listening to his even breathing while he slept. However, sleep was evading me, as the past few hours had been playing like a tiresome broken record over and over again in my head.

 Overall, our evening had been amazing in ways that were indescribable. Justin had unselfishly satisfied me without taking anything for himself. From the erotic pleasures he rewarded me with in the bath, to the way he carried me to bed for the night – he was true to his word and made our night together all about me. I couldn’t have asked for anything to be more perfect.

 But despite the seamless end to the evening, I couldn’t help but to remember how it started out. Justin was slowly tipping the scales in his favor, and it was terrifying.

 I was apprehensive about the slew of woman’s clothing that hung in his closet, clothes that I could not bring myself to think of as mine. I had concerns over accepting the necklace, which I was sure cost a small fortune. And while the clothes and the necklace may simply be material things, it was hard not to think of them as something more.

 I glanced down at the emblem that was still hanging around my neck. The sapphires sparkled, reflecting the moonlight that was streaming in through the windows. It was a beautiful piece, but I knew it would probably be best if I gave it back to him. It may be a symbol of the BDSM world, but to me it was more like Justin was putting his stamp on me, serving as another reminder of how fast we were taking things. We were moving at a breakneck speed, and it was more that just a little bit troubling.

 Just that very morning, I promised Allyson that I wouldn’t get in too deep. In fact, it wasn’t just an assurance that I gave to Allyson, but it was personal vow that I had made to myself. Yet here I was, ready to blindly fall. I couldn’t shake the nagging worry that I still may be subconsciously clinging to the hope of someday finding that white picket fence.

 The idea made me feel edgy. Restless.

 I rolled over, facing myself away from Justin. He stirred but didn’t wake. I punched at the pillow, but my efforts to get comfortable were not working.

 Happily ever after will never happen, Cole.

 After all, I was the one to set the rules. I had been blatantly clear about no strings attached. The time that I was spending with Justin was supposed to be a small step to putting the past behind me, not some massive leap that would leave me fumbling to find my footing again.

 I flipped over onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

 There was still too much that Justin didn’t know about me, and I barely knew a thing about him. He lived in a clandestine world of kink and sex clubs, where everything was one giant secret that I couldn’t be privy to. He spoke of domination, and that it was my duty to submit to his every need. But what he said that he wanted was confusing to me, as his actions showed differently. He catered to my every whim, striving to please me at every step, while I gave him nothing but push back out of fear that he would eventually change me.

 However, I was able to see the shift in Justin during the short time that we were together, and I was very conscious of the fact that it was me who was unintentionally changing him. Whether he was aware of what was happening or not, no good could come from it either way.

 What had begun on shaky ground was shaping up to be something more – something that I didn’t want. And I was fairly certain that Justin didn’t want it either. I felt like I was being pushed, lost in a colossal storm of emotions that I wasn’t ready to feel. I knew it was time to take a giant step back. If I didn’t, I sensed that it wouldn’t be long before I slipped and fell from the ledge.

>

[queenofcats17]

BATIM D&D Party

I wanted to write out backstories for the BATIM characters in a D&D world, so here we go. These are very much my versions of the characters, as well as some of my oc’s. 

I also kind of made a story out of it.

I used this to help me decide everyone’s classes upon first thinking about this, but this is also very helpful.

Thank you to @randomwriteronline and @chaostheparrot for their input and help in ironing out what classes would fit each character. 

I especially loved Random’s comment that the Music Department would be, and I quote, “just increasingly off the shit bards”. 

-------------------------------------------------------

Timeline:

Joey and Henry meet up and decide to adventure together. 

Original party is formed: Joey, Henry, Norman, Wally, and the bard band

Henry and Joey get into a fight and Henry leaves the party

Shawn and Grant are inducted into the party

Joey’s party passes through Cordelia’s town and she joins as they are in need of a healer

Asmodeus reaches out to Joey and becomes Joey’s patron

Tom and Allison are brought on. Joey explains that they need another healer and Tom has some experience with magical artifacts. He refuses to explain what sort of magical artifacts he wants Tom for

Joey approaches Bertram to make an artifact for him which leads to Bertram and Lacie traveling with the party in order to gather the materials for the artifact

Joey leads the party to defeat a necromancer holed up in a castle, and takes up residence there once the necromancer is defeated. 

Joey starts conducting immoral experiments, occasionally kidnapping residents from the nearby town

Joey turns his attentions to his party members, beginning to experiment on them

Henry gets a letter, inviting him to the castle. Joey has something to show him...

Now on to the backstories. 

Sammy, Susie, and Jack are all bards who have been friends since childhood. Johnny is Sammy’s younger brother and also a bard. They each have their own reasons for wanting to go out adventuring. Sammy because he wanted to spread his music, Susie because she wanted to see the world and sing for people, Johnny because he was not about to let Sammy see the world without him, and Jack basically because he wanted to be around his friends. They’ve formed a band of sorts. Sammy plays banjo (although he can play nearly any instrument), Jack’s on violin, Johnny basically plays a keyboard, and Susie sings. They’ve been run out of a few towns due to Susie and Sammy’s strong personalities. Sammy gets into fights with people about music and Susie squares up when her friends are threatened. Although there was one time someone broke Jack’s violin and he did a number on them. 

Sammy and Susie will flirt with anyone and everyone. They are disaster bisexuals. Favorite targets are Norman, Tom, and Allison. Sometimes Wally, although that’s mostly Sammy. Meanwhile, Jack has kind of a thing for Grant. And sometimes Sammy. He’s a quiet and distinguished gay. Johnny falls in love very easily and it’s hard to get him to move on from them. He had a crush on Susie when they were all little and Sammy continues to tease him about it. Susie thought it was cute.

Joey: Warlock. His patron is Asmodeus, the Lord of Hells. Growing up, Joey dreamed of adventuring. His parents strongly discouraged this, knowing the dangers that came along with adventuring. They didn’t want him to get hurt. Joey, however, took this to mean that they thought he was too weak to make it in the world. It didn’t help that a lot of the other children liked to pick on him due to his small stature and sickly nature. He threw himself into studying magic, being too weak to class as anything particularly physical. His success was rather...mixed. He was alright at magic, but nowhere near as powerful as he’d hoped. 

He ran away from home at around 18 in order to adventure and find a way to boost his magical power. He ended up in Henry’s town and the two became friends. Joey suggested they go adventuring together and Henry agreed. The two set off on their adventure when they were in their 20′s, forming a party with Norman, Wally, and the bard band. Joey's search for power was temporarily forgotten as he reveled in the joy of adventuring with his friends. However, tensions began to run a bit high between him and Henry, who thought Joey was being greedy and pushing the party members farther than they were capable of going. The two of them fought and Henry left the party.

Joey was convinced he could make it without Henry, bolstering the ranks of the party and continuing to press on as though nothing was wrong. However, this was the beginning of his spiral downwards. He began to throw himself even more into trying to bolster his magic. He started dragging his party into even more dangerous situations in order to find a way to make himself more powerful. 

It was at this point that Asmodeus reached out to him. He appeared as a handsome red-skinned young man and promising he could give Joey everything he desired. Joey took his offer, becoming a rather powerful warlock. 

For a bit, things were alright. Joey was happy with his newfound power. He had to perform sacrifices to Asmodeus, which was a little inconvenient given his party’s moral compass, but the party was already killing evildoers. Asmodeus seemed perfectly satisfied with these sorts of sacrifices, though.

But soon...Joey began to wonder. Why did they have to rely on gods for magical power? Why couldn’t they just have it themselves? He’d seen many a warlock fall due to losing the favor of their patron. It was incredibly dangerous to rely on these gods for power when their favor could so easily be lost. If he could find a way to allow humans to have godly powers without the contract, then he could prevent others from falling. And so, unbeknownst to his party, he began to look into magical artifacts and rituals. 

Norman: Ranger. No one knows what his background is and he refuses to give a straight answer as to what it is. His story changes every time he’s asked. In reality, he was part of a rebellion against the tyrannical ruler of his town. The rebellion failed, unfortunately, and in retaliation, the ruler killed those who had taken part in it. Norman managed to escape, but his family and many of his friends died. He doesn’t like to talk about it. Sammy, Susie, Wally, and Tom are some of the only people he’s told the truth to. Prior to joining up with this party, he tried not to stay in any place for too long for fear of being recognized and turned over to the ruler. Initially, he wanted revenge against the man who killed the people he loved. He plotted out exactly how he would do it, fantasized about sticking the bastard’s head on a pike. But he’s been running for a long time. And that fire has long since been extinguished. Now he just wants to be free from that looming shadow. 

Henry: Monk. He never really planned on being an adventurer. He grew up in a small village that was pretty far away from any kind of danger. His parents ran a bookstore. He didn’t have any siblings. He had a pretty boring life. He met Joey after Joey ran away from home and ended up in Henry’s town. When Joey suggested they start adventuring together, he was excited. He’d never left his town before. So he left with Joey and the two of them began adventuring together with their party. Things were good for a while until Henry and Joey began to butt heads about Joey’s leadership of the group. Henry ended up leaving over this argument. Angry and upset, Henry went away to train at a monastery. It was during this training that he met Linda, who was passing through on her own errands. The two of them adventured for a bit after Henry completed his training before settling down together. 

Linda: Cleric. A follower of the Lliira. She came from a long line of healers, and while she wasn’t expected to follow in their footsteps, it was highly encouraged. Luckily, she was interested in helping people. She chose Lliira as her patron as she had little interest in fighting or continuing the cycle of violence in their world. Once she’d reached the appropriate age, and had trained sufficiently with her family, she set off on a journey to bring healing and joy to all she could. She met Henry when she stopped off at the monastery he was training at during her travels. She thought he was rather adorable, especially since he tended to accidentally hit himself in the face with his staff whenever she watching him practice. She was more than happy to journey with and later marry him. 

Henry works as a historian/librarian in their town while Linda is the local healer. A not-insignificant portion of the town has crushes on both of them. They’re both very kind and compassionate and surprisingly buff. Linda may be a pacifist, but she chops their firewood herself. 

Tom: Fighter who dual classes as an artificer. He’s made a bit of a name for himself as an artificer, but more often he’s just called upon to fix things. He grew up in an orphanage as his parents were killed in a monster attack. He made himself indispensable to the orphanage staff by being the best at fixing things. He taught himself to fix just about everything. Chairs, plumbing, wagons, weapons. You name it, he figured out how to fix it. Once he got older, the orphanage directors apprenticed him to a blacksmith. Tom tried to find fulfillment in it but couldn’t. He ended up training himself as a fighter, while beginning to hone his craft as an artificer, and set off wandering. He found Allison when she’d gotten herself into a fight she wasn’t prepared for and helped her get out. He thought she was a nice woman and decided to travel with her. She gave people hope and he wanted to be a part of that. 

Allison: Paladin. A follower of the goddess Istus. Her family are nobles and frankly bastards. She ran away from home at a young age to join a convent. However, during her journey to the convent, she saw the injustices of the world. So, instead of going to the convent, she went to join a paladin order. The paladins were initially a little unsure about whether to take her on, especially since she was the daughter of a noble and they didn’t want to have her father storming their building demanding her back, but she proved she was serious about the situation. After she completed her training, she set out to help those in need. She met Tom after stumbling into a fight she wasn’t prepared for. The two started traveling together after that. She believes that there is always hope, no matter how many times she is knocked down. There are many who take comfort in her unshakable faith.

Shawn: Rogue. He grew up in the slums of a major city, learning how to pickpocket and swindle in order to provide for his family. His mother constantly told him that there were other ways for them to get by, but no matter how many jobs she or his siblings picked up, they never had enough. Shawn saw stealing from the rich as the only viable option. It wasn’t like taking from the ultra-rich of the city would hurt them, he thought. And it didn’t. They just threw huge fits before eventually moving on. He earned a bit of a reputation among the city guards as a troublemaker. Shawn started having a bit of fun messing with them, which led to guards to target his family. He ended up leaving the city in hopes that it would improve his family’s lives if he wasn’t there. He began to travel, becoming a Robin Hood-esque figure. The poor lauded him as a hero while the rich saw him only as a villain. Joey found him in a holding cell after getting caught stealing from a corrupt baron. He continues to send money to his family even now, hoping that he can still try and make up for the mistakes he’s made.

Bertram: Artificer. Born to a well to do family, Bertram was never particularly interested in adventuring. He was, however, very interested in inventing and figuring out how to imbue magic into the things he created. He ended up becoming a rather successful and sought after artificer due to his uncanny knack for figuring out how things worked and how they could be improved. He began traveling in order to expand his business, which is why he hired Lacie. He needed a bodyguard and she wanted to travel. He ended up encountering Joey when Joey approached him to design an artifact for him. Bertram didn’t particularly trust him, but business was business so he agreed to do what he could for Joey.

Lacie: Monk. Kind of like an older, more tired version of Beau from Critical Role. Her family were wealthy and wanted a son, but they got Lacie instead. They tried to force her to be the ‘perfect’ daughter which led to her rebelling quite a lot. She ended up running away to join a monastery. The monks helped her to deal with the anger and frustration she felt, teaching how to channel it into more productive avenues. She stayed at the monastery for many years, gaining a reputation as a competent fighter and a general pillar of common sense, until she was approached by Bertram to be his bodyguard. She’s been traveling with him ever since. She tries not to pick fights, but she will absolutely finish any ones started by other people. 

Grant: Wizard. From a young age, Grant had an insatiable desire for knowledge. It was this desire that led him to begin to study magic. His family didn’t have much but wanted to send him off to a magic academy so that he would be able to study magic. Thankfully, a magic academy did take notice of his aptitude and sent him a letter. Although Grant excelled at his magical studies, he proved too anxious to function as a power player. He had no interest in playing mind games or working in a court. He was better suited to academia, and so became a professor and scholar after graduation. Grant was more than happy teaching others magic and often regrets leaving his position at the school to travel with Joey, especially since Joey doesn’t exactly treat him well. Joey wanted Grant for his vast knowledge and tactical mind, often treating him as nothing more than a walking encyclopedia. 

Wally: Druid. A follower of the goddess Eldath. He grew up in kind of a hippie commune. He has a really big family and the kids were basically allowed to run free in the forest and do whatever they wanted. He was happy in the commune, but he always kind of wanted to see the world. Plus, he felt a bit bad that he wasn’t as good of a druid as the rest of his family. He just didn’t take it as seriously as others did. He left the commune when he was about 16 and started just roaming around. He ran into Joey and Henry and joined their party because they thought he was absolutely adorable and just a little ray of sunshine. He’s not much of a combatant, because Eldath abhorres violence and won’t fight even to defend herself. The few times he’s tried to fight he’s lost his powers from her. It was easy enough for Joey to take him down in the end. Wally would never hurt a friend. 

Cordelia: Cleric. Follower of the goddess Hel. Despite Hel’s less than savory reputation, Cordelia follows her because it gives her comfort to think there is someone looking out for her parents, both of whom died from sickness. Had a rather sheltered upbringing in a small village where nothing much happened. Roy left for adventure when she was about 15. He returned when she was 17, carried back catatonic by a few paladins. She volunteered to take care of him since both of their parents needed to work. This is how she started learning how to be a cleric in the first place. She was 18 when Joey’s party rolled into town, making her want to go adventuring like her brother had. She specifically latched onto the bard band, wanting to be just like them. Maybe even travel with them. Her parents were averse to the idea, especially after what had happened to Roy, but they didn’t want to quash her dreams. They died later that year from a sickness she could neither treat nor cure. She was devastated, shutting herself in her room for days on end. But, upon Roy’s suggestion, the next time Joey’s party came around she left with them.

Roy: Former bard. Formerly a rather successful bard before an adventuring mishap put him out of commission. He got bored in their little village and set off for a life of adventure. Although he couldn’t play music too well, nor sing, he had a charismatic presence that drew people to him. He was part of a rather large adventuring group filled with similarly eager young adventurers. They were all predictably naive and foolhardy, rushing headlong into danger and getting into their fair share of scrapes and danger. One day, they ended up going on a quest that they couldn’t handle. Roy was the only one who survived. He was found, catatonic, by some wandering paladins who managed to get him home. He didn’t say anything for years until his and Cordelia’s parents died and he forced himself to step up and be there for Cordelia. He was the one to suggest she become an adventurer. Despite his own misgivings toward that career, he thought it would do her good to get away from their town and the memory fo their parents.

Esther: Paladin. Follower of the god Tyr. Although she’s not an adventurer, she still takes her job very seriously. She wants to protect those who cannot protect themselves. She became a paladin after Joey ran away. Specifically, she went on a journey to try and find her brother again. Along the way, she witnessed the injustice and cruelty of the world. It horrified her to see the way people treated each other and the abuses that people got away with. When she returned, not having found her brother, she went through paladin training and became the protector of her town. She later met the man who would become her husband, Robert, when he was passing through the town as a traveling bookseller. The two struck up a friendship, which later turned into a relationship.

#bendy and the ink machine #batim au #d and d au #batim oc #henry stein #joey drew #norman polk #sammy lawrence #thomas connor #allison pendle #shawn flynn #bertrum piedmont #lacie benton #grant cohen #wally franks #cordelia bell #roy bell #esther drew #esther klein #jack fain #johnny batim #tw death #tw illness #tw murder #tw experimentation

[ranjumiah]

Luxury Homes

Many people love L.A. -- why is this so? Using the possible exception from the The Big Apple, can there be anyplace else within the U.S. that may legitimately call itself the middle of the World?

Within the situation of Los Angeles, it's the core entertainment world and it has more legitimate celebrities per sq . inch than almost any other put on earth. For more information on toluca lake homes for sale, visit our website today!

And thus visitors come for that glamor and also the glitz, for an opportunity to trap sight of the star maybe just visiting the supermarket or walking in quasi-designer cut-offs and tee-shirts lower Melrose Avenue. They are available to determine how movies are created, how tv shows are created, to become thrilled through the area's theme parks and to absorb the endless sunshine on beaches populated by the most amazing people on the planet. Downtown L.A.

On the newest visit, we attempted different things: establishing base camp in downtown Los Angeles, which obviously may be the hub from the Los Angeles Basin with spokes heading in each and every direction for each type of adventure imaginable. Checking in in the Omni Los Angeles, our "camp" was really the lap of luxury. This hotel is really a modest size for downtown L.A. ' just 17 tales,' but located right in the middle of downtown alongside California Plaza's restaurants and shops and merely a brief walk from many interesting sites. The rooms in the Omni are tastefully modern, decorated within the tan, beige and subtle eco-friendly combination that you simply see in a lot of new houses nowadays. Wealthy mahogany furniture, elegant lights and chocolate velor couches contrast nicely using the overall color plan. In a nutshell, it is simply what you are able expect in L.A. , lavish and very current.

Such as the "giants" from the Redwood forest, downtown L.A. features its own "Valley from the Giants" giant, mostly modern, gleaming structures which will help you stay straining your neck while you constantly feel compelled to appear skyward at these items of man's resourcefulness. With L.A.'s sunshine, the structures reflect one another, each one of these supplying a different, fascinating visual pattern. And almost none of those skyscrapers are elongated boxes, all of the newer ones have angles of some kind, all snugly placed alongside one another like some huge three-dimensional puzzle.

Should you appreciate art and style, it is a two-minute walk towards the Museum of recent Art using its imposing "tree" of plane and transportation parts greeting museum-goers in the door. Or, it's another two minutes lower the road towards the Wally Disney Theater, home of L.A.'s classical music and perhaps probably the most unusual searching structure throughout downtown using its billowy, non-straight line angles. Sculptures along with other types of artwork are sprinkled through the downtown area, leading someone to believe this really is one very art-conscious city.

Obviously no trip to L.A. could be complete without encountering some movie-making. There always appears to become an L.A. movie shoot on weekends -- which trip wasn't any exception. A crew on the truck rigged having a camera platform that decreased to just about road level was filming an automobile "chase scene" because it went by our hotel.

Individuals who love movies and also the Oscars will recall that, for a long time, the Oscars received out in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, another two-minute walk from your hotel. Actually, the whole downtown social center is nearby which a part of Los Angeles could be a particularly convenient destination should you desired to incorporate a play or concert, or possibly a game title at Staples Center.

Back at our hotel, we learned that a sizable portion of the 4th floor continues to be transformed into a health spa and condition-of-the-art gym. You will see an apparent demand for latter for those who have dinner in the Omni's fine restaurant, Noe, where you will find tasty "progressive American cuisine."

While there's much in downtown Los Angeles to go to and revel in, there's also short excursions to such nearby places as Hollywood, Santa Monica, the Getty Museum and a whole lot. Listed here are a couple of in our favorites:

Getty Museum

Once the Getty Museum first opened up in 1997, the museum's parking and transportation system were rapidly overwhelmed to the stage that anybody considering going to the museum needed to make parking reservations several weeks ahead of time. Individuals reluctant to hold back hoofed it for miles after which anxiously waited as much as four hrs simply to have a tram ride towards the museum's spectacular hillside setting west of downtown Los Angeles.

Exactly what a difference ten years makes. Today no reservations are needed and you can drive to your parking place, grab a tram and become on the top from the mountain only a couple of minutes after your arrival.

A visit to the Getty is sort of a quickie art seminar which will educate you simply enough names and buzzwords to create your buddies believe you're really educated. It is a welcome addition to the Los Angeles vacation.

Santa Monica

If you are searching for that awesome factor, it might be unequalled Santa Monica, a playground for L.A. TV and movie people who is nicely compressed into 8.3 miles strategically bordered through the Santa Monica Mountain tops somewhere and also the Gulf Of Mexico alternatively.

The language "trendy" and "hip" appear to appear a great deal within the descriptions from the some 400 restaurants packed into this little bit of property. Toss in a couple of galleries, some luxury hotels and ' indeed ' celebrities and you've got the makings of the eye-popping diversion out of your everyday hometown. Obviously Santa Monica includes a gorgeous location. The views from Palisades Park are breathtaking and consume not just the expansive beaches but such distant features as Malibu around the north as well as Catalina Island towards the southwest. The Santa Monica Pier may be the dominant feature around the water's edge ' well as over water -- and it is a popular for families.

La Brea Tar Pits

Near to downtown may be the La Brea Tar Pits, among the world's most well-known fossil localities. More extinct Ice Age plants and creatures happen to be retrieved here than elsewhere on the planet.

It's difficult to assume but here, only a couple of blocks south from glitzy Beverly Hills, there have been once such creatures as saber-toothed cats and mammoths roaming the area. The museum offers skeletal reconstructions of a few of these monsters as the surrounding area, Hancock Park, offers pathways around a few of the archaeological dig sites along with the tar pits.

The fossils collected at La Brea go as far back to between 10,000 and 40,000 years back. Almost all of the skeletons displayed within the museum are really the fossil bones available at the tar pits. Since 1906, several million bones happen to be retrieved in the La Brea Tar Pits representing 231 types of vertebrates. Another 159 types of plants and 234 types of invertebrates happen to be identified.

Hollywood

Hollywood's certainly well worth the short trip from downtown L.A. The famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine really is not everything appealing, although there's been some major renovation within the area just previously couple of years. Hollywood at Highland ' an excellent place to fit, incidentally -- is definitely an impressive new upscale shopping complex next to Grumman's Chinese Theater (using its feet and hands prints), and also the Walk of Fame stretches in the complex on lower Hollywood Boulevard for many blocks.

It's interesting to look at those who, in other metropolitan areas, may be known as street performers. In Hollywood, they are movie figures with elaborate costumes that lure unsuspecting vacationers into taking photos of these using their arms, tentacles, paws or whatever wrapped around other vacationers.

Near by may be the home from the Oscars, the famous Kodak Theater. For just $15 an individual, it's possible to take 30 minutes tour from the theater.

Instantly

WHERE: Los Angeles is in the center from the entertainment world, 400 miles south of Bay Area, 125 miles north of North Park.

WHAT: A sizable, sprawling metropolitan city with sufficient interesting attractions to help keep you occupied for days.

WHEN: Anytime. Great year-round L.A. weather conditions are legend. Want to know more about hancock park? Visit our website for more information.

WHY: There's something for everybody: culture, beaches, theme parks, fine dining, take your pick.