#i wish i could photograph this better but paintings r so hard to get the lighting right 😩😔

[tessasangeltom]

NSFW Alphabet: Harry Holland

Author’s Note: An anon requested this sooo long ago and I wish I posted this sooner but Im trying to get everything together rn with some stuff. Everything written will be updated quicker, I promise. Requests are open! And thank you everyone for getting me to 1k followers! EEE im so ecited. I love you all ♥

A: Anal

Harry wouldn’t be so into it as much as you think. It would be something that would come up in a conversation between you and him randomly. But once you guys talked about it, you said “fuck it” and decided to do it anyways and you both end up really liking, only doing it once in a while though.

B: Boobs

Boobs. Tits. Breasts. Juggers. Doesn’t matter to you or him what their called, he loves them. He loves the way they fit perfectly in his hands and how they feel on his mouth. He uses them as comfort like pillows, or something to grab at when you guys are cuddling just to pass the time. It doesn’t matter, he loves them anyway anytime he can get them.

C: Cum

One of his favorite things to cum on are your boobs. He finds it the sexiest thing ever with his cum painted on your chest like a Bob Ross painting. Whiteness all over your moving chest, face red and hair all fucked out of its ponytail. Woah 

D: Doggy Style

This position has him screaming out your name louder than you scream his. Deep and hard is how you both like it, and this position is perfectly fitting. Your back arched, ass sticking out, and your limbs shaking constantly. His thrust get sloppier and sloppier until you both are too sensitive to keep going, then he ends up collapsing on your back, covering your body with his. 

E: Eyes

Harry’s eyes provide you the most comfort you’ve ever experienced. Yet they show the high fierceness you’ve never witnessed before. His eyes reveal his incoming actions, with mischief or gentleness, you know what’s coming for you when you look at his gaze.

F: Food

When you said you wanted to try something new, for some reason the first thing that came to Harry’s mind was food. Nothing to specific, all he knew was that he wanted to try it. More or less, you guys weren’t fond of the outcome: the stickiness and the clean up. But if it didn’t work in the bedroom, you guys found other ways to make it up, like you sucking in lollipops or Popsicles, shit drove him wild.

G: G-Spot 

Hitting it or not, it didn’t matter, Harry was a fucking legend in the bedroom. Whether it be his tongue, fingers or dick game. He knew all the ways to drive you crazy. When you spread your legs for him, you know your for a crazy ride, gentle or not.

H: Hair

Damn, Harry and his wild curls. It’s one of your favorite physical things about him. Between your legs, all you see are his brown curls bouncing left and right along with his mouth and tongue moving on you. You can feel them against your thighs; soft and fluffy, teasing and tickling, comforting and playful. 

I: Initiative (who starts first) 

It’s mainly you that starts it first. Harry is a pretty chilled laid out guy that can be playful at times, so he doesn’t trigger things much unless it’s one of those rare times when he really needs you. He loves that you initiate it first though, it saves him from the constant blushing and shyness of probably not knowing what to do or say next, even when you explained that he doesn’t need to be around you.

J: Jacking off

One of his favorite things to watch you do is touch yourself. Harry probably likes to watch or look at you, taking private photos of your hand rubbing on your clit furiously while looking at him. Or even without the camera and it’s just you and him alone, he likes to guide your hands to your heat and instruct you what to do.

K: Kink

It’s known. The fans know it (even though it will never be said outside of the bedroom), you know it, he knows it, even Tom accidentally knows it. But that’s beside the point, it’s the pictures. The photographs, Polaroid or not. All different types of them. They range from you sleeping in his shirt with bed head all over the place, to his cum shot on your arched back. Harry hid them as best he could though, but Tom wanted to find the watch he let his little brother use. Instead he came across an exotic photo of you with your lips wrapped around his brother’s cock and eyes looking up at the camera as innocent as can be. 

L: Location

It’s only been once but his favorite place to do it is on a beach. Tom has a small bungalow on a private beach and Harry uses it once in a while, the last time made him realize that he’ll definitely come back more often. A white bikini with thin frillies that you bought was his favorite; easy to put on, easy to swim in, and easy to take it off. Seeing you in it the first time had him on top of you, groaning loudly as he entered your tight pussy, and his curls rubbing on your ear with his head buried in your neck.

M: Mouth

The kisses: sloppy, gentle, rough, passionate, wet, small, the list goes on and on. So many types of kisses you both express your love with that at some point you’re going to run out. Small little pecks in the morning when you wake up next to each other, short kisses when you say goodbye, rough ones while his hands hold onto the back of your neck when your grinding into one another. Forever it goes on but you never want it to stop.

N: No

He would, under no circumstance, ever choke you. You didn’t like it, feeling scared, not wanting anyone but yourself to have the power to end your life or not. He didn’t even like it himself. The one time you guys tried it, it gave him an uncomfortable feeling. He felt too violent, too rough on you. You guys stopped immediately, vowing never to do it again.

O: Oral

Giving and receiving are you and Harry’s favorite thing to do. Lips on each other, breaths lost. From the views below, you see the other’s chest rising, hair spread, and lips parted. Maons escape the other’s mouth and you never get used to it.

P: Part

Your lips drove him crazy. Soft and sweet, he couldn’t get enough of them. So smooth against his own, its like a drug; takes one hit, has to have more the next time. For you, his hair. Those crazy curls had you smiling at all cost, scrunching your nose when they tickle your face and moaning louder when they rub against your thighs when his head is in between them.

Q: Quiet

Neither of you are either too loud or too quiet. But the moans and whimpers that come out your mouth make him feel like the world is empty and only you two are on it. It makes him feel like every single noise you make, sexual or not, are for only him to hear. So private, and secluded that he feels as he deserves it.

R: Rhythm

There’s never really a rhythm with you two, just together. You guys rock your bodies with the other to be in sync, skin in contact and sweat dripping. No specific speed, no erraticness, just the two of you and no other need than that.

S: Sexy

Its the little things with you. He loves the way you walk away, the way you click the remote, the way you move your mouth when you eat something. Just the way you move has him thinking how you move your body and mouth on his. With him, its his passion. The passion he has for everything he does, even if its something so small, makes you aww and wet at the same time. He has the same passion in bed as he does outside the bedroom and you know it.

T: Top

There’s a special neediness when Harry’s on top. He spreads your legs, hiking one up in his hand to have a better angle, and he goes in. He buries his face into your shoulder, so deep to the point where his curls are touching the back of your neck and gives sloppy kisses to the skin there. He dives his hips into yours, rubbing his pelvis into your clit and keeps moving faster and faster until you both are too sensitive to keep going.

U: Unprotected

Everything is so much more enhanced when you guys fuck raw. Skin to skin, wetness grows with every second, your walls clench more often than you think, everything is touching and it builds to the fire. 

V: Virgin

Harry wasn’t a virgin when you met him but you were. He was gentle with you your first time, there was no reason why you didn’t want to give yourself to him. He always asked if you were okay, taking it slow, and focusing on what you wanted.

W: Wetness

It’s all over him; his fingers when he trails them down your slit, his mouth when he’s fucking you with his tongue and sucking on your clit harshly, his cock when he’s teasing you with the head. And he fucking loves it, he’ll drown in it if he could, and he’s actually trying to make that possible. 

X: X-Ray

It doesn’t really matter what size Harry is, you have nothing to compare it to. But he really was bigger than you thought he was gonna be, but you’re not complaining.

Y: Yearning

With passions ignited and sparks flown, the yearning you guys had for each other was almost overwhelming. When you guys are away from the other for so long, the urges become more powerful and neither of you can resist.

Z: Zzz

It takes a while for him to fall asleep, stroking your hair to make you drift off. You guys would have small conversations, barely remembered and cheek kisses exchanged. He would fall asleep with his head on your chest, and your arms around his.

~~~

#Harry holland #harry holland x reader #harry holland x y/n #harry holland headcanon #harry holland imagine #harry holland oneshot #harry holland smut #harry holland blurb #tom holland

[outhereontheprairie]

Sheyenne River Academy Campus, North Dakota 2

Welcome to part 2 of our adventure through the old Sheyenne River Academy campus! Check out part 1 here. 

Would you like a full, immersive experience of our visit to SRA? Let the music take you back while you scroll along!

Click here for the secular playlist for 1970s SRA.

And click here for the special SDA playlist!

--

When we last left off, we were at the camp meeting cabins. Something I didn’t know existed on this campus. Let’s go!

So here are those bathrooms that the campers and cabin dwellers used. 

And on the side we spotted a sign from after the SRA days.

In keeping with SDA tradition, they did not allow alcohol on the grounds even though it was no longer an SDA school. Interesting. 

Here are the cabins! Rows and rows of them. I had no idea these were in existence. 

Apparently dad’s grandpa’s cabin was somewhere in here. 

If you had the means, you were able to rent your very own little cabin and use it for camp meeting. Dad said each cabin had the owner’s name on a sign by the door. 

There were so many rows of cabins!

We headed over to where dad’s family cabin was. 

So much junk was again piled up outside the cabins. 

Dad checks inside a cabin he believes belonged to his parents, below.

I peeked inside the same cabin. The old curtains were charming to me. Dad said he believes those curtains were hung by his mother - the pattern was familiar to him.

Despite the piles of junk crammed in every cabin (why!?) they seem to be holding up fairly well! I was impressed. 

They’re quite basic but apparently, according to one of my family members who did not grow up with much, if you had your own cabin you were really something! She had to camp, so the cabin dwellers were very privileged in her eyes.

Even overgrown, I found the cabins charming and pretty in their own simple way.

We went back behind a row of cabins. Dad said that during camp meeting they’d run around all over campus. So the kids played back here a lot. Now it’s just occupied by more junk.

We turned around and walked back toward the main part of campus. Note the No Trespassing sign - that’s why you get permission from the owner! 

I wandered back to the other side of the Ad Building. 

There are trees growing on the roof and most of the windows are knocked out. 

I followed this path to the side of the building to see inside. 

More junk out back. 

More knocked out windows. The state of this once beautiful building was tragic to me. 

Looking into a ground level classroom that was once the elementary school. 

There was no getting through these doors. There was too much junk in the way.

And...some horse friends. I felt so bad for them. 

I walked over to another ground floor classroom. Spot the horse face.

There are still cabinets on the walls but there’s like a foot of horse poop and junk on the floor.  This was once the science department.

Why hello there, horse friend. 

Poor horse. This is no way to live. The building is imploding and reeks of mold and decay. 

Below: two photos from the SRA 1976 yearbook, taken on the second floor of the Ad Building.

This photo was of a SW corner classroom, second floor. Dad remembers having an English/Lit class there. Also auto mechanic classes.

And this was taken in the student center. 

I had to step away from the old Ad Building. It was too sad to go on. 

Instead I focused on the boys’ dorm. 

Dad pointed this area out to me.

See the railing? It went down to a half-basement that housed the plumbing shop and connected to the boiler system. 

I spied this through the window. That’s dad’s class! 1976. 

And apparently the class of 1972 sucks. Ha. 

I walked to the front doors of the boys’ dorm. 

Dad ran inside first. 

The doors were hidden among old farm equipment and overgrowth but I could already tell it was going to be in better shape than the girls’ dorm. But only marginally. 

Already the entrance was full up with junk. 

Dad observes what used to be the entrance to the boys’ dorm. 

If you can look past the junk you can kind of see what it would have looked like. 

The smell of decay and mold was overwhelming. 

Dad turned right around and left, saying it reeked, and my husband didn’t even bother due to the mold smell meeting him at the door. But I pushed past the smell.

I wanted to see where at least one of my parents spent their years of school. And this was it. 

I’m guessing this was the front desk. Perhaps a student would have been watching the phones, perhaps not. At least that is how it was at DAA.

Here’s a photo from the 1975 SRA yearbook taken in this same spot. That’s my dad, second from the right, top row. And his friend Arlo, on his right. 

The decay was very, very bad. Worse in some parts than others. 

And of course the junk was overwhelming. 

I would imagine some of this furniture belonged to the school and was left behind. 

I noticed the stairs. My feet literally squished on the soggy carpet. 

Looking downstairs - it didn’t seem promising. 

A group of sinks had been pulled out and sat at the bottom of the stairs to the second level. 

I looked up toward the light. I wanted to see what was upstairs. So I went.

On the second level I reached this drinking fountain. 

Beside the drinking fountain was the way to the showers and toilets - as you can see by the painted sign on the wall. I wanted to go back there, but the carpet and floor in general was squishing under my feet so badly, I didn’t. 

Looking down a hallway.What was with the paint scheme in this place? All bright, primary colors.

Another room just full of desks. 

I wanted to take one with me so much. My mom probably sat in one of these! And my dad, and their siblings, and all their friends. But I never touch anything in any place I explore - I leave everything as I found it. 

At this point dad was back to check on me. I think he was afraid I’d fallen through the floor or something. 

I asked him about the big writing around the water fountain: “Drinking Fountain Mineral Springs”. Dad laughed and said “As if it needed a label!”  Dad isn’t a fan of stating the obvious. He said he recalled thinking it was rather goofy even when he lived here. Regarding the labels and primary colors throughout the dorm, the new dean (his junior or senior year) had tried to exercise his "artistic ability" to try and add some accent to the old place; he said you really couldn’t blame him for trying to liven things up a bit.

A clock, fallen off the wall and smashed. 

I looked through another doorway. It looked like a nice room, once. 

I made my way through to what dad said was the dean’s apartment. 

I can see how this would have been beautiful once. The big windows letting in all that light. And such nice, big rooms too! 

Dad shooed me out. But he couldn’t get me out the door quite yet. I ventured to the stairs to the third level. 

I saw the windows and marveled at how pretty they were. 

I wish my photos had turned out better. Light streamed into the crumbling stairwell. Also, again, paint scheme. Why? Bright yellow and blue and at the top - bright green. 

Once on the third level I only briefly stood on the landing looking back and forth down the hall. 

Looking down one direction - bright orange, green, and blue doorways. 

And in the other direction, a pretty view. 

You can see the Sheyenne River Valley. It’s so lovely. Why would you abandon this beautiful campus and location? I’m sure there are many practical reasons, but the dreamer in me refuses to see them. 

Quickly I turned to leave. Dad wanted us out of the crumbling dorm so we could go on with our day. But I paused one last time at the top of the landing, carpet still squishing under my feet. The view overlooking the campus was bucolic. I tried to picture, briefly, students from many eras hurrying back and forth. My mom and dad meeting out on the campus, perhaps to walk to a class together. My mom skipped a grade to graduate early with my dad. She must have studied so hard here at SRA. 

Back down the stairs I went to the second level. 

And then to the first. The clutter and decay was making me more and more sad.

Goodbye, boys’ dorm.

Out the door I went, away from the smell of mold and rot. 

Here’s a picture of that newest addition to the boys’s dorm where the entry was. 

And there is the window to my dad’s dorm room with an auger sticking out of it.

We walked back the way we came, chatting about all we had seen.

I stopped to photograph the pretty brick pillars, one with a light still sagging to one side. 

How I would have loved to see this place when it was open. And I can’t help but wonder, how would my life have been different had I attended SRA instead of DAA? Perhaps no different at all, but I’ll never know. 

We walked back to the former principal’s house, currently the parsonage for the  Harvey district SDA church pastor. 

Here are two photos from the 1975 SRA yearbook taken in the general vicinity we were walking through. The sports fields were in this area. Top photo shows a flag football huddle, the bottom is (L to R) the Bible teacher, maintenance director, and principal.

We stopped on the road for one last look.

Dad said this is the road where he got his snowmobile up to 80 mph - just shooting down the road. Of course all I could think about was - oh my word the school’s liability. I had to chuckle. How times have changed. 

Then I got a few photos of my dad beside the entrance to the school.

This is my dad. Mark Seibold. Class of 1976. Eventually married to Neta Lunday. Junior year coal hauler. Resident of the first floor boys’ dorm, and master of wiring his room so he could have a radio. Haver of his own snowmobile at school. Lifelong close friend to many, many people he met here at SRA who I grew up with as a part of my life, who remained by his side when my mom died. SRA was defining for my dad. His high school years were very good. He truly made friends for life.

Thank you dad for finally making my dream of seeing SRA come true! It was pure fun to walk through the campus and hear all of your stories. And I’ll cherish the memories of our tour for the rest of my life! 

I could wax poetic about how I if I was a millionaire I would pour the money into this campus and restore it. That isn’t reality. Reality is that this once beautiful place is a hazard and probably nearly beyond saving. It’s become a junk yard. A dumping ground for all sorts of scrap and trash, and an animal pen on top of all that. I’m usually never one to advocate for demolition, but seeing the state of SRA it seems it would have been less cruel to just tear it down than to let it sit and rot. Then again, I wouldn’t have gotten to take this great tour with my dad had they demolished it. 

And I’m so glad we went. I’m deeply thankful - to my dad and to the owner for letting us take the tour. We were safe and didn’t get to go inside many places due to hazards or junk. So if you want to visit, make sure you check with the owner first! And be very, very careful. 

I’m aware that this place isn’t going to be precious to everyone. My own dad was fairly unbothered by the state of it. The practical side of me understands buying up the property for cheap and just using it as you see fit. But the sentimental side? All I can see is the place where my parents met and aunts and uncles and grandparents attended and the state of it gets me down. And how would I feel if my alma mater looked like this? Well, that’s another story entirely. In the end, I’m just romanticizing a place I never really knew.

Now, let’s take a quick look at photos from when SRA was still open courtesy of my parents’ yearbooks! Years 1975 and 1976.

First, my mom. I had to share these beautiful photos of her, 1975. I wish I looked half as well put together when I was in high school!

And here is my dad and a bunch of his classmates in 1975! My dad is in the western style shirt. Comment from dad that made me laugh: “The look on my face - channeling Michael Jackson?”

My mom, her junior year! She is top row, second from left. And the fun thing about these yearbooks is that I recognize so many people. They are either family, former classmates’ parents, current friend’s parents, or family friends. That’s how long most of these people stayed in my parents’ lives!

Below: my dad (and other classmates) his junior year of academy. 

Below: my mom is front left. 1976.

It was an SRA tradition at that each class was expected to come up with some memorable way of announcing class officers. Might have been a short skit, or simply some dramatic entrance at an unexpected moment when all students were gathered, maybe chapel or rec time.  Janelle, the bride and new class secretary, joked the rest of that year that she and my dad were married, and called him her “husband”.

...Kind of wondering how my mom felt about that? Haha! 

I love this photo. My dad is in the cowboy hat - iconic. One of the people in this photo has been my dad’s friend since elementary school! They remain friends to this day. That’s Arlo, bottom row, left.

Here is dad again. 1976.

Spot my dad! His senior photo, 1976. 

And my mom’s photo, 1976. I walked by these photos on the walls of DAA, and eventually my parents’ photos hung across the same hallway from my own. 

If you have memories of your time at SRA to share, please leave a comment! Did I happen to photograph your room? A classroom you remember? What was your favorite food the cafe served? What was your job on campus? Do you have a fun camp meeting memory? 

*And remember - please be kind to me and others! No need for nasty comments.*

--

Thank you for taking the tour with us! It takes time to photograph these places and edit the photos, and I happily share for all to enjoy. If you’ve enjoyed or appreciated this trip back in time to SRA, please consider supporting me with a donation of a couple bucks! You can donate here, or if you’re interested in prints you can find them here! If you can’t find the print you’re looking for, please let me know and I’ll be happy to help.

#Sheyenne River Acadmey #boarding school #abandoned #abandoned boarding school #North Dakota #Harvey North Dakota #academy #abandoned acadmey #abandoned school

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #239

i just want to sincerely apologize if my surveys take a negative nosedive again. i know this one’s kinda grim and i don’t want to make that a routine, but things are just rough right now and i’m not gonna lie on a survey, y’know.

Do you know anyone who works at McDonald’s? Not that I'm aware of. Do you know anyone who plays heaps of sports? Probably through school. Have you ever been suspended from school? No. Where do your cousins live? Aaaaaaall over the U.S. Have you met any of your second cousins? Possibly at some point? Do you like the All-American Rejects? I like "Move Along" and "It Ends Tonight" is good, but that's all off the top of my head. Oh wait, of course there's "Gives You Hell." When was the last time you wore a skirt? WOW I have ZERO clue. Probably not since elementary years. Have you ever finished a whole video game? Plenty. If so, which one(s)? There are way too many. Do you know anyone with a pet snake? Me, Sara, probably others. Which one of your friends has great music taste? Sara. Was the last person you hung out with single? That would be my young niece and nephew... so yeah. Have you ever attended a private school? I'm a private college now. Have you ever been in an abusive relationship? No, thank Christ. Have you ever cooked for anyone other than yourself? I made breakfast for Sara once. If your phone has a hole for phone charms, is it on the left or right side? I don't have one. Would you rather live in the city, the suburbs, or the rural area? Kinda like... suburban mixed with rural. I don't wanna be totally isolated, particularly away from necessary stores and such, but I also do NOT wanna be swarmed by people. Maybe like a loose neighborhood in the woods outside a small town? Do you know someone who is really ambidextrous? Sara. Did you use a pencil today? No. Are you adopted? Nope. Have you ever had your car break down on you? Never when I've driven, not that that's been much. With Mom, yes. Dad, idr. Jason's prom night, yeah; his truck broke down otw home at a stop light. Oof. Who was the last person that cried in your presence? My mom. It's the worst. When was the last time you ate at your favorite restaurant? Oh wow, probably not since my last birthday. What was the last thing someone gave you? A close family friend/my former teacher lent me a $20 just in case I needed anything while my mom was up in NY. Can you write your name in a foreign language? My first name (at least) is the same in German; even though "y" doesn't exist in the language, I guess it does for foreign names?? Idk about my last name. Who is the person you often go to for venting? Sara. Do you keep an actual journal or diary? No, not anymore. I did briefly when I had that WILD and totally random Jason obsession episode, but once I came off that godawful medicine and I went back to normal, I deleted it. Have you ever been prescribed Vicodin? That sounds very familiar... Maybe? Perhaps that's what was prescribed after my surgery? Have you ever cheated on someone without them finding out about it? Well considering I've never cheated and never would, I can't answer this. Was the last person you kissed male or female? Female. Who were you with the last time you went swimming? Colleen, at the beach. Does your dining table currently have place mats on it? No; we don't even eat at it. What was the last thing you cooked in an oven? I myself have literally never used an oven. I'm scared to. Oh wait, yeah I have... on some occasions where Mom needed me to put something in there or take something out, but idr what. But boy and I can tell you without memory that I was jumpy as hell about it. Is it hard for you to be “just friends” with the opposite sex? No. It's difficult for me to like-like people, especially men when you consider I'm generally afraid of them, on top of I'm just paranoid and don't trust easily. Do you prefer wheat or white bread? Wheat. Do you have an electric toothbrush? No, but coincidentally, I actually have that on my Christmas wishlist. Have you ever had an “exotic” or “abnormal” pet? Do you consider a Chinese water dragon "exotic?" Then I have a ball python morph. Have you ever eaten lobster? No, and considering crab is nauseating, I doubt lobster would be too different. What is your grade point average (if you’re still in school)? I don't know right now and don't know where to find it. Have you ever played croquet? Oh yeah. My sisters and I LOVED that shit as kids. Who was the last person you called? Dad. Have you ever watched Ghostbusters? No, believe it or not. When was the last time you drew a picture? Yikes... been a while. Not since I started a concept drawing of encompassing a panic attack in a meerkat form, as I tend to do. I haven't touched it in months. It's right on the second shelf of the table beside me, so... my only remaining excuse as to not finish it is that the paper is horribly wrinkled now. Are you happy? Not exactly. Should you be doing something now? I could be doing the practice exam work my math professor gave us all considering it's extra credit, but. Yeah. I'm absolutely awful at math and barely passing but I don't exactly need another stressor right now. Is there a smoke detector on every floor of your house? We only have one floor. What was the last kind of soup you ate? I tried vegetable soup anyway when I got my tongue pierced because I literally could not eat solids for over a week, but I'm a picky asshole who didn't like it so wasted the can. I had to survive almost exclusively on meal replacement shakes and popsicles. Warning from the wise: you want your tongue pierced? You better fucking want it bad because healing is a P R O C E S S. Or at least mine was, having to get it re-done and all... Have you ever had to do a class in summer school? No. Have you ever went a year without getting your hair cut? I don't think a year... but maybe? Do you think you could go a week without sugar? Considering sugar is in like... EVERYTHING, probably no? Would you be willing to go one day each week without meat? I don't really pay attention, but I probably already do. I'd like to eat as little meat as possible. Hell, I wish I could go full-on vegan. Do you feel comfortable telling people how much you weigh? NO. Do you have any talents that your friends don’t know about? No. Are you any good at sewing? Never tried, not interested. Has anyone ever interviewed you about one of your hobbies/talents? No. Would you ever consider experimenting with drugs? Marijuana for medical purposes if I didn't have to smoke it. I'm not smoking anything, I don't care what it is. What’s been tugging on your heart lately? I guess life in general. Mortality, death. Teddy died in my arms, I saw my grandmother physically ravaged by cancer, and just life hasn't been the kindest lately. I've been thinking about how time just flies, how every moment should be cherished even though it's so fucking hard, and just yeah. I don't wanna go down this rabbit hole. Are you comfortable with who you are? Have you accepted who you are? I don't know dude I shouldn't be taking a survey during like an existential crisis lol. What is the last thing you did that made you feel guilty? Decided to get some really unhealthy fries with my dinner. Would you have sex with the last person you texted? It's not a matter of "would," I want to. I may have already, I don't really know what separates foreplay from lesbian sex. Do you consider weed, marijuana, pot, etc. a drug? This isn't even an argument anymore, it's fact. It's a mind-altering substance. "Drug" does not always equate to bad, either. Are you planning on kissing anyone tomorrow evening? It'd be nice. Do you require a lot of private time? Oh yeah, but way less than I used to. I get depressed if I'm alone for too long now. Have you ever done something humiliating while drunk? N/A What is your favorite classic Disney movie? The Lion King. Do you like looking at old photographs? Yeah, usually. Do you enjoy puzzles? Yeah. Do you prefer painting or drawing? Drawing by a long shot. I'm taking a painting course this upcoming semester though, so hopefully that'll up my skill and thus enjoyment of it. Do you ever wear high heels? No, I don't have a reason to. Do you use belts? No, considering I never wear anything with belt loops. When was the last time you played Uno? Oh my fucking god, it's been forever, thankfully. When I lived with Colleen, as did her younger sister, we played Uno a lot, and then, AND THEN, came the night Chelsea dyed my hair red. Mind you, the ONLY TIME dyeing my hair had been truly successful and long-lasting. The process took hours, and we played Uno round after Uno round... and now I literally hate it. What do you like better, kiwis or pineapple? Oh man, I love both, but I gotta say kiwi. Are you trying to grow out your hair? No, I actually need to cute it again. What is your favorite perfume/body spray/cologne? Don't have one, really. Have you ever wanted to try karate? Not seriously. How often do you drink water? Ah yikes... I really fell out of my regular habit of drinking multiple bottles daily. Do you ever wear headbands? No. How many video games do you own? A lot. There's like a huge CD case in a living room drawer full of them. I've been considering making an EBay or something to sell a shitload of them as I'm sure a lot are actually pretty valuable now, but I think a lot about how I want to pass them down to my current and possibly future nieces and nephews when they get to a certain age to figure video games out or even have a console that can play PS1-PS3. Have you ever been to a casino? If so, which one(s)? No. What’s your favorite suburb in the city you live in? Why would you... name that on the Internet...? Besides that even, I pay no attention to suburbs' names I happen to pass. Have you ever visited a sex shop? No. I don't know if I could ever muster up the courage to even go in one. I'm the type that would just order online. What’s your favorite place to get pizza? I'm a basic Domino's bitch. How many times have you been to the beach? Multiple, but not a LOT. I have little reason to ever go, and it's never my idea, that's for sure. Has there ever been a fire inside your house? Tell me the story. Childhood home. Trying the Jiffy Pop popcorn that you make over the stove. Next thing y'know the thing is seriously on fire and we had to use the fire extinguisher. Fuck you, Jiffy Pop, the harbinger of the next fucking idiots moving in setting the entire house on fire thanks to the stove too. Have you ever had a scary encounter with a wild animal? No, besides like bees 'n the like being near me. Have you ever had a spray tan? No. Do you own any sports bras? Where’d you get them from? No, but I'd like at least one. Wouldn't know what to use it for, it's not like I go jogging or anything, but. I think it'd be good to have at least one. Have you ever had sex in a kitchen? No. What’s the most expensive restaurant you’ve ever eaten at? I have zero clu- no wait I'm gonna guess the Italian restaurant we went to on Sara's birthday, but that's just a guess judging by how it was fancy as fuck. Who crosses your mind the most? Sara. Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt? Probably as a kid. Ever been to an auction? No. would you ever get acupuncture? omg no Ever got stitches? At least twice. What is a must have on your french fries? At least some salt. Entirely saltless fries are boring. How do you like your meat cooked…medium rare? well done? Nothing less than medium well. If meat tastes even a little bit beneath lukewarm I can't take that shit. Are there two colors that you just simply despise? Bright yellow and puke-green. What do you usually do with recurring dreams? ... Nothing? What CAN you do? Have you ever been told you were hot by a complete stranger? I don't think someone has used the term "hot," but I know I've been called pretty, at least. Do you want to be single or with someone? I want to be with Sara. It kinda feels like we still are, like no feelings have changed, we're just not "official" anymore and not "bound" to one another. Have you ever had a sleepover with the opposite sex? I actually have twice (or thrice?) platonically with my younger neighbor FOREVER ago. We were still kids. Then there was a big (birthday?) party at my place where Juan stayed the night, and then I believe there was an occasion Girt totally knocked out on the couch so... I guess it turned into a "sleepover?" lmao Who are you closest to in your family? My mom. Who were the last 3 people to text you? Sara, Mom, and my sister. Have you ever dated someone in jail? No, and I wouldn't unless it was for something incredibly stupid or I'm aware was a false charge. What’s a movie you cannot BARE to ever watch again? Nothing's coming off the top of my head. Who got you hooked on the addiction you're addicted to (If you have one)? ... I just connected it all in my head. Jason got me into the Amnesia game. I got into custom stories for it. I was playing one one day. I got stuck. I YouTubed it for help. Guess. Who. I. Fuckin'. Found. This is a revelation; I have discovered the main purpose of my and Jason's relationship. Perhaps things do happen for a reason lmao. Are you a little bit cautious around horses? Do they scare you a bit? Not really, but I wouldn't say I'm in no way cautious. They definitely don't scare me, though. I just respect that they're very powerful animals and I'm not experienced with handling them. Have you ever burnt your tongue like REALLY bad? If so, what on? Yes, on rice that was literally right off the fucking stove lmao. LOOK I didn't know it had JUST come off and I was hungry as fuck but boy did I have REGRETS considering the burn lasted for well over a week, maybe two. Do you think having a sleepover with a guy is theoretically acceptable? Um, yes...????? Do you like to have cake on your birthday? Which kind of cake in mind? Yeah, and red velvet or chocolate frosted, depending on what I'm feeling.

#survey #quiz #questions #bored #random

[hearteyes-for-killmonger]

Meet and Greet

Yes, this is an MBJ fic and don't be mad. It's all in good fun. We fans. Not the crazy ones, just...

Anyway. Mike wouldn't be mad, he has a sense of humor. Happy Birthday @ange-sensuel my fellow scorpio queen. I love you, you're beautiful, and my mind got to working, so this is what came out.

Smut Ahead

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"Fuuck..," Michael dragged through flared nostrils watching the petite and masterfully built brown woman work voodoo magic between his thighs. She was down on her knees sitting on a pillow, sucking her little heart out along with his soul. Her silver dress draped over the hotel bed along with her fur. Without him having to ask, she'd kept the heels on.

When he'd initially invited the stranger to his room, it was out of intrigue. She was a beautiful, clean, classy woman with long hair, long elegant legs and neck, a beautiful face, and big titties. He didn't think she'd be so nasty or focused on his pleasure, yet here she was.. making a mess of his dick and he couldn't take it. He could barely even speak. God if this woman looks me in the eyes she gone fuckin get it, he thought unsure of whether he wished for it or against it. She was fuckin him all up.

Angel's eyelashes fluttered and she gazed feverishly with bloodshot eyes up into Mike's own hooded eyes, her throat full of heated raw dick that was sensitive to the touch. Thick ropes of white saliva spilt from the corners of her full ruby red lips, collecting at his base as she moved her head back and forth swiftly. She could feel his tight fist gripping her long blown out strands into a makeshift ponytail.

"You fuckin nasty, suck that shit," he strained, sweat forming on his brow. The look is his eyes said, suffer bitch. His mouth was wide, an O before his big lips began to purse and pout. He was locked the fuck in, nodding, making tense eye contact.

Angel could feel his strong lust, palpable. It only made her hungrier to possess the man she'd dreamt about since she was a child watching Hardball. This meeting was a decade in the making. Meeting Michael was everything she'd dreamed it would be. When she'd approached him at the New Orleans meet and greet, he was taken by her flamboyance. Distracted. Her mild peacocking had worked. He was extremely friendly, playful, and flirtatious. In a short, fitted satin rouched silver dress coupled with a luxurious fur and tulle bolero that read old Hollywood glam, she was in her element. Photographers mistook her for a celebrity asking her name, but no one recognized it. Michael was no different, he'd asked her identity not recognizing her from any magazine or red carpet. Despite that, she sent him all the signals she knew how to show him she was interested and he'd picked up on every one, ultimately asking if she wanted to go with him back to his hotel. She was years past ready.

But he sure wasn't.

The wet and echoing gluck, gluck, gluck, was only interrupted by her harsh gasp as she attempted to cram minutes of breathing into a brief second. The glossy strong dick coated and dripping with her thick spit was calling out to her. She let the pool of excess spit collecting in her mouth drool heavily onto his length, sliding down his balls and to his hairless asscrack. The large cloth hotel chair Michael sat on was wet, stained with her spit. She grasped his dick firmly in her small hand, her index, thumb and pinky nails painted salmon pink with small silver and crystal appliques at the base. Her middle fingernails were marbled pink and grey. Her matching bra and panties were pink lace. She could tell he was enjoying that colorful view along with her silver stacked finger rings. She hadn't done it for him at all, but she knew he loved and appreciated it. It was just who she was naturally. Panting, she gobbled his length hungrily with a desperate moan. She felt insatiable.

Her perfume kept hitting him, the smell alive in the air. Light and natural notes, sweet but mildly floral. She had elegant taste to the most minute of details. Out of all the girls he'd had sex with since he'd been poppin in Hollywood, she smelled the best and her head was top tier. She dared him to look away from her pretty, messy face, but he knew better. If there was anything he was good at to the same degree as acting, it was sex and though Angel was great, he knew he was better. He refused to be shown up in either field.

But in that moment, as he was squeezing her head and simultaneously digging his thick fingers into the arm of the chair, it was a struggle to last like he was used to doing. Her aggression was about to explode him. He lifted his hips feeding himself to her as she devoured all he had.

Angel watched his control slip, his face contorting and his breathing getting louder as he gradually lost control over his body. She felt herself getting wetter just knowing that the control had shifted to her. She wanted him to cum hard and in her mouth and when he did, it was with a heavy sigh as though he were releasing a ghost. The taste of him was pleasant, something she was already adapting to having had no previous experience. Indeed, she was a virgin, but an eager and hungry one. She'd plotted for years to lose her virginity to this man.

As she cherished the oxygen hitting her lungs, she watched him breathe, spent, his head thrown back against the seat cushion. He had a fresh close cut, almost bald and he was the thickest she'd seen him since Black Panther. God bless his trainer, Corey, she thought. In a blink, he was up.

He'd leaped from the chair, recovered, and lifted Angel to her feet then into his arms. She weighed next to nothing. Perfect to manhandle. He dropped her onto into the bed and yanked her ankle flipping her quickly onto her stomach. Immediately she arched and he took a step back to admire the view. If he was half hard before after nutting.. he was fully hard now. She wiggled her ass in the air, her middle on full display.

"Do you want this ass? Come get it. Come on, Kari," she encouraged playfully.

"Damn, the government huh," he joked, his thick hands coming down hard to slap both of her cheeks before spreading them. He turned to pull a condom out, lubricated.

"Eat this pussy," Angel said a bit more directly. "I wanna feel what those lips do."

Before she could finish her sentence, his mouth was on her, his lips soft like two plush pillows. She felt those pussy pillows pinch and suck on each part of her flower, teasing and testing the sensitivity. She moaned softly as she ascended to heaven feeling his warm, long, wet tongue flatten and drag purposefully.. slowly, up her slit. The juice from his mouth mingled with her wetness as he drooled his excess saliva back onto her core. She could feel the sensation of it dripping. Long, quick laps followed, his flat tongue licking wet stripes before using the tip to strike her with precision.

He ate her cat from the back, wet noises filling the air. It sounded like a pitbull lapping water from a dish and it was what he resembled. Angel's dish overflowed with her water. Mike could feel it in his mustache though he'd shaved his beard.

"That muhfucka wet," he whispered to no one in particular, licking his lips. Her taste was still there. He let his heavy bottom lip hang as he kneeled on the bed and pushed Angel forward, scooting closer. "You gone throw it back?" He pushed Angel's back down again and her arch was immaculate. With the perfect angle he slid in and she made a noise that was a hissing groan on transition to a purr.

"When the last time you got some good dick," he asked gliding in and out, working her open like a blossom. "You the first," she laughed breathlessly before biting her lip, her small hands gripping the cover. She felt the power of his strokes knocking her forward. It was no wonder he had so many women, he had good díque and knew how to use it.

"Uh, fffffuck," she gasped, panting. It was a new and intense feeling for her but she was determined to show out and make this moment something truly special. She planted her hands firmly and threw her ass back, matching a surprised Mike stroke for stroke. She was close to coming and then she did, her rhythm breaking then ceasing. His heavy hands came down again on both of her asscheeks and he reached forward to collect her hair, pulling it to make her arch again, her head back and close enough for him to bend and whisper into her ear.

"Use my government again," he grunted hammering her into the mattress.

"Bakari," she moaned. "Now say my name."

"FUCK... Angel with the good pussy," he smiled. That was exactly how he planned to save her into his phone. Next time he was in New Orleans, he knew who to call for some good box.

Showered and redressed, Angel stepped to the door. "Anytime you want a true local to show you the city the correct way, call me, we can link."

"Where you think you going Angel with the good pussy," he smiled, the look in his eye saying to stay put. He was on his way to shower, but he had to stop to stop her from walking out. "Y'all swear I'm some fuckboy or fuck nigga.. Nooo," he shook his head dramatically before whispering, "No." Angel stepped away from the door with a smile and humored huff causing her shoulders to bounce.

"Stay put. I'm a take a shower and you can show me the city. I wanna see some crocodiles," he said quickly.

"Boy, that's Florida. Alligators are native to Louisiana. I'll take you to the swamp to see some."

"That's why you the tour guide," he pointed. "I'll be right back," he confirmed before disappearing into the bathroom.

Angel checked her phone for messages before hitting up her group chat. "Met Bakari." That was all the juice she was giving away until her little adventure ended. She could see her mentions blowing up already in the chat. Her friends knew she was in love and plotting. She was clever, driven, supermodel beautiful, and full of love to give. He didn't deserve her, but she'd chosen him and after her positive experience she was glad she had. She could hear the water running from the shower and she cut the television on to a random channel to pass the time. Angel looked around and grinned, kicking her feet, tickled. She planned to be the best tour guide in all Louisiana.

The End.. or is it the beginning? 🧐💕💕

Lmbo jk it's a one shot. Happy Birthday again baby love.

@hold-me-like-a-heart-beat  @simplyyamberr @whoramilaje  @bitemyxxx  @bonita-juanita

@eriknutinthispoosy  @blackpinup22 @thadelightfulone  @yaachtynoboat711 @youreadthatright

@inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @bidibidibombaclaat  @priya212 @romanceoftheeveryday  @muse-of-mbaku @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade  @kreolemami @myboyfriendgiriboy  @loosewindmill  @wakanda-inspired  @madbadsiren  @theunsweetenedtruth @panthergoddessbast  @allhailnjadaka @amethyst1993  @thehomierobbstark @purplehairgawdess  @supersizeme @blackpantherismyish  @drsunshine97  @thiccdaddy-mbaku  @wawakanda-btch  @killmongersprncss @imaginewhoever  @niggarachi15 @hidden-treasures21  @pupyluv247  @phoenixxx1225 @violet-ines  @indigoxsummers  @janelledarling @imasmille   @sweetsexysavagery @mermaidchansons  @destinio1  @ash-moneyy @ljstraightnochaser @forbeautyandlife @iamrheaspeaks @elle-luring @yoyolovesbucky @ilovebubblesz  @awkardlyabstract @beautifulqueenflaws  @slimmiyagi @sidneebleu@vikkidc @chaneajoyyy

#that's an mbj imagine smh #original

[prydon]

a ( VERY LONG) long island geek rundown

aka me just rambling on about paul for paragraphs upon paragraphs, complete with pictures.

so i went to the con with the lovely @haiileyrutledge aka maggie who drove me all the way there from the philly bus station (god bless), it was our first time meeting in person and i still can’t really believe we did this just a few months after we were just kinda joking about going together on twitter when we hardly knew each other

literally the first second we walked into the con, before we’d even gotten our badges, paul mcgann was sitting RIGHT THERE at his autograph table and i may or may not have started aggressively hitting maggie in the shoulder and freaking out and hissing “he’s there, HE’S THERE” and she had to drag me past him so we could get our badges

then we sat in on the panel before his to make sure we got good seats for his. it was a panel with wendy padbury and frazer hines and they were adorable!! by the end of their panel we were literally buzzing tho bc we knew what was next

when paul came in the first thing he did was squint up at the ceiling and complain about the brightness of the lights, like “oh this is quite harsh isn’t it” so they turned them down for him, much to maggie’s chagrin bc she’s a photographer and it made it very hard to take nice photos (look forward to her uploading her photos btw, she got some GREAT shots regardless of lighting)

then we all sang happy birthday to paul, per the interviewer’s instructions! it was v cute. someone uploaded a video of it on youtube. (i took one too, but it was much worse quality)

first question the interviewer asked was what the secret to paul’s eternal youth was, which paul took a SUSPICIOUSLY long time thinking about before finally just claiming it was his insomnia. how not sleeping is supposed to make you look better i have no idea, but it’s clearly not hurting paul’s appearance, despite him “not having slept since the nineties” (his words)

and so on went the panel. it was quite fun, and though i’d heard almost all the anecdotes paul told before, they weren’t ones he’d told a million times and the interviewer asked interesting questions about his brothers and some of his earlier roles.

he also asked him about holby- the most recent episode, even- which i was not expecting lol. he asked paul if gaskell was really dead, and paul was just like “lol it’s a soap, who knows what could happen” and joked about another soap character whose death had turned out to be a dream. 

also of note is that paul never called gaskell by name once and exclusively referred to him as “doctor death” lmaooo. i actually know why this is- he mentioned on a radio show a week or so ago that a holby city fan yelled “doctor death!” at him in the street once- but he didn’t....explain this background to the panel audience, so i’m sure many were baffled by it :”D the interviewer was like “so your most recent role, professor john gaskell-” and paul was literally like “ah, yes. doctor death!” asoifjsaij what a dork

^ this pic is actually from the sunday panel but god, actual dork with a heart of gold paul mcgann being juxtaposed next to menacing shots of “doctor death” was never not hilarious 

speaking of holby, I GOT TO ASK HIM A QUESTION DURING THE Q & A, and i asked him what it was like working with guy henry! he said working with old friends is tough bc they know all your acting tricks lol. he went on gently roast guy and say he’s looked like he was 40 since they were at rada and that one of their professors told guy that he was the kind of person who wouldn’t find real success until he WAS like 40 bc he just had one of those faces, and lo and behold, that was case. notably, paul said all of this while holding eye contact with me since it was my question, and i was literally trembling by the end of his response bc i can barely hold eye contact with my family members let along PAUL JOHN MCGANN

he also said “fuck” at one point. at another he pulled the cap off his water bottle with his teeth and maggie and i were both like...*sweating*

after that we got our photo ops! then managed to get some food in us, and then i went to get paul’s autograph and give him his bday gift, which i already detailed here [x] so i won’t get into that. notably he also called maggie photogenic and said their photo op looked like a housewarming photo of a couple just moving in. we were both dying afterwards.

theeeen that evening i attended a dinner party for fans with vip passes that the stars also attended! the food was v yummy. there was ice cream too.

unfortunately i didn’t end up at paul’s table, but i was at the table next to him so i may have eavesdropped. my table had jon davey, who plays cybermen and daleks and ood etc, and who was very funny and decidedly attractive, and who at one point pulled out his phone and showed me this video while nearly dying of laughter over it

paul was actually late to the dinner because he crashed a painting panel!!

^ here’s him painting his tardis picture with his dorky ass reading glasses on. what an old man. i love him

he did show up eventually, and ended up drinking a decent amount of red wine and i’m pretty sure got tipsy and at one point misheard the person next to him as saying “penis hands” and was like “penis hands???? PENIS HANDS???”

all my table ended up leaving early but paul’s all stayed hanging on his every word bc that’s the effect he has on people :’)) so i ended up scooting over there just to listen. at one point his assistant came over and whispered to me that paul HAD gotten the letter i gave him with his gift and he WOULD read it tonight and i was like “omg no it’s ok, i didn’t need him to reply asap or anything, i just wanted him to have it!!”

i left the dinner when paul left- his table were the last ones out- and maggie was outside the dinner waiting for me and may have collapsed into a fit of giggles when she saw paul. then we went to our airbnb and fuckin CRASHED because we were so damn exhausted

on to SUNDAY

i started placing bets on what paul would be wearing that day on sunday morning, since i know he only has like three different con outfits that he wears. lo and behold we get to the con and he’s wearing THE EXACT SAME CLOTHES AS SATURDAY. like, down to the scarf and shoes. they were 100% the same.

idk why he was, but he must have washed them, or he must be an ethereal being incapable of sweating because he was just as nice and fresh as the previous day [shrug]

we wandered around the dealer’s room for a bit, maggie bought a vinyl from a charity sale booth and i bought a couple dwms with bb eight on them bc why not

my lovely internet friends and fellow paul superfans @savageinkspillage and @paulmcgannlesbian both paid me to buy them autographs, and i was happy to oblige because it meant i got to talk to paul again

i went up to his booth and he said “good to see you again!!” and told me he was so touched by the birthday card :”0 and thanked me again for the drawing!

i told him what names to sign to for the autographs and there was an incredible moment where i told him to address one to “brittany” and his brain like. short-circuited and he tried to spell it out to me except he spelled it some ridiculous white mom way like “B-R-I-T-N-I-Y” or something and i just stared at him for a moment not sure if he was fucking with me before being like “.....no?”

once i told him “two t’s” he got it and said “like the place!!” and asked me if i knew where brittany was in a stern teacher voice and i was p sure it was france but not 100% so i was just like “d-don’t quiz me”

he also let me take pictures of him holding the autographs that i could send to my friends, which was very sweet!! here’s him with @savageinkspillage‘s.

he was very determined that we let them dry before taking them because he didn’t want them to be smudged, and blew gently on them himself like a dork.

before we could go, he also fully just was like “give me a hug” and got up and hugged me AGAIN. THREE PAUL MCGANN HUGS IN ONE WEEKEND. T H R E E.

then after he hugged me he noticed the bowie vinyl that maggie had just bought in the dealer’s room and was like “!!!!!! is that a vinyl!!!! can i see!!!”

maggie was like “of course” and handed it over and he was FAWNING over the thing and promptly informed us that it was definitely an original print bc it was made of a special sort of material only used to make records in the 70s, and that it had never been played. maggie said she got it for $10 and he was like “TEN BUCKS??”

he also sniffed it because apparently “that’s what you did with vinyls” and took it out of its sleeve (with maggie’s permission) and freakin’ messed with it to show us how bendy the materal was before giving it back to maggie and emphatically telling her to “treasure that”.

he asked us where we got it and i said it was at a table in the dealer’s room, next to where they were keeping his painting from the night before. upon hearing about the painting he was immediately like “noooo don’t remind me of that!! i’m so ashamed!!” and i was like “WTH PAUL NO IT WAS SO GOOD”

here’s paul’s painting!! it’s lovely!!

also at one point maggie’s hoop earring fell out and full on, like, made a break for paul mcgann and rolled behind his chair. she was embarrassed but he just picked it up and messed with it, feigning putting it on his ear and saying he wished he was a girl so he could wear earrings like that and i was like “you should get your ears pierced!” because he SHOULD. he just laughed.

we literally had a whole, like, probably 10 minute conversation with him and he was just so lovely and funny and warm and thanked me one last time for the drawing before we walked away soasifjsaoifj 

THEN it was time for his sunday panel!! it was a great change of pace from usual panels, it was called “doctor’s orders” and run by a podcaster who’d based it on advice columns- basically, he asks paul a bunch of questions looking for advice that he’d gathered from fans and paul had to impart his wisdom.

here are just a few choice tidbits from the panel:

q: what do i do if my boyfriend never puts the toilet seat down? paul: get rid of him

q: there are beehives in my house, what do i do?? paul: don’t kill them!! bees are our friends. move out. let the bees have the house instead

q: boxers or briefs? paul: briefs. *pointed look at audience* some of us need the support.

he was asked the trolley problem and said without hesitation that he would move the trolley to kill the one instead of the five. he also endorsed stealing from businesses to feed the hungry (unsurprising because *cough* he’s a socialist). he revealed that he shoplifted all the time as a kid as a right of passage in working class liverpool and asked the audience to raise their hands if they’d ever shoplifted. when a decent amount did, he called it a sign of a healthy society. he doted on his sons quite a bit which was adorable, and said he was the “soft touch” when they were growing up while mum was bad cop.

at one point he said if liverpool won the premiere league he’d “sit naked here in front of you” and then immediately was like “...i don’t know why i said that.” the audience was roaring with laughter the entire time. it was legitimately the funnest panel i’ve ever been too :’0 and we had front row seats!!

at the end, the host opened the panel up to the audience to ask their advice questions, and maggie asked one about how to survive while studying abroad in london next year. paul gently ribbed her at first being like “well, remember to sleep and eat” but then reassured her “you’ll be fine” and i could physically feel her melting beside me.

after the panel he chatted a bit with the women next to us, who i know to be old guards of paul mcgann fandom. i didn’t hear much but i did hear paul refer to “that brexit shit” lol.

the last time maggie and i saw paul, he seemed to be leaving the con and nearly tripped over a remote control cybermat on the way out, which was cute.

all in all...i really don’t have words for how amazing this was. i couldn’t have asked for a better environment to meet my favorite actor in, and i have gained so many wonderful memories that i can’t even keep track of them all, and i can’t wait to do it again.

#personal #li geek #paul mcgann #i am sorry about the obscene length of this lmao #but did you guys really expect anything less from me #also sorry the font on my blog is so small #ctrl + might help you read

[tlbodine]

Hair

I’ve always had...baggage...about my hair. 

I was born bald as a cue-ball, a situation that took nearly a year to remedy before a fuzz of baby-fine curls installed themselves. There’s a curl from my first haircut in my baby book, and it’s the color of butter and finer than a spider web. 

By the time I was three, my hair was past my shoulders and coiled, bouncy gold ringlets that put Shirley Temple to shame. Strangers wanted to touch it, and often did, approaching me on the street and cooing in delight about what a pretty little girl I was and what wonderful hair I had. They called me Goldilocks and Rapunzel and sighed wistfully that they wished they could have hair like this. Sometimes they would run their fingers through it and say just how much they’d love to play with it; they’d say I was just like a real life Barbie doll, and how much fun must it be. 

By the time I was six, my hair was butt-length and still baby-fine. It was the color of fine gold chain and just as prone to tangling. Five minutes in the wind and it would be an unbearable snarl that would take hours to uncomb. 

We kept it braided most of the time, because there was no other way to tame it. Every morning my mother would unbraid my hair, and brush it, and it would be free for just a few minutes before going back into a braid. Curls always worked their way free of the braid, leaving a halo of frizz. 

On fancy occasions, we would braid it into a dozen cornrows that fell to the middle of my back and swung like a cat-o-nine-tails. I felt like Medusa, imagining the coils of snakes, and felt empowered and curiously afraid of myself. 

~*~ 

"I hope you’re not tender-headed,” they would say, and I would grimace and brace myself because it would not matter if I was. 

My mother would take me to salons sometimes. More strangers touching my hair, fussing over me, wielding combs and sprays and blow-dryers. All of them wanted to play with my hair. None of them knew quite how to handle it. Little blonde girls with curly hair to their knees, fine but dense, so thick that things could be taken up into it and consumed -- they thought they were prepared, but they never were. 

I never got a haircut. It would have been such a shame to cut such beautiful long hair. But a few times a year, we would book me for a shampoo and style, and they would detangle my hair. It would take three stylists. It would take three hours. 

By the end, it felt as though my scalp were bleeding. But I dared not say anything, because I understood that being tender-headed was a character flaw that i could not afford with the type of hair I had. 

~*~ 

My hair did not belong to me. 

It belonged to the stylists, who would loom close in my personal space and come up with ideas and suggestions. No one asked what I wanted, and I would not have known what to tell them even if they had because I had never had the opportunity to form those opinions. 

“It’s so long and curly and blonde!” Was the delighted, surprised refrain. “Let’s straighten it, and cut it, and what if we dyed it?” 

My hair belonged, too, to my mother, who spent so many hours with it, and grew so impatient with me when it would not behave. A day or two of neglect would lead to the creation of terrible, golf-ball-sized mats and snarls of hair. It would take hours to work through them. 

It got tangled from a swimming pool once, leading to hours of painful pulling and tugging and frustration. We were staying in a motel in another city where my father was traveling for work. There was a Toys R Us, and they’d promised I could go and pick something out for myself after we were finished making me look presentable. 

I snuck away to the bathroom and found scissors and cut away at a little bit of the impenetrable snarl of hair. I thought maybe if I just cut a little bit of it, the rest would come loose and the tangle would fall out and we could finally be done with it and I could get the toy I wanted. 

“You cut your hair!” My mother sounded horrified and accusatory. I had betrayed her deeply, done a thing that was unforgivable. We did not go to Toys R Us. I was grounded. I never cut my hair again. 

I was eight years old. 

~*~

I did cut my hair once before that. My mother always cut her bangs straight across her forehead, a classic look for the sort of long, gently wavy dark hair she wore. 

At three years old, I tried to do the same. I grabbed a fistful of hair and chopped. My hair curled and coiled like the top-knot of a poodle dog. 

My childhood photos are all of a chubby blonde wild child, hair in a messy unkempt braid, a mess of frizz sticking straight up at the top. 

My mother kept cutting my bangs that way for the next eight years as an implicit punishment for my transgression. Even now she tells me: “You did it to yourself.”

~*~ 

“If you ever cut your hair,” my mother told me once, when I was in college, “I’d want you to have it braided and cut off the whole braid and give it to me to keep. Then you could style the rest however you thought you wanted.” 

~*~ 

I grew up with a certain paranoia about something happening to my hair. I was admonished never to fall asleep while chewing gum or candy, lest it fall and tangle my hair (never mind the choking risk, that was not important). I was made paranoid about the prospect of boys behind me putting things in my hair or cutting it with scissors if I sat at a desk. This never happened, but I was warned against it many times. 

When I went to sleep-overs, my parents advised me to sleep with my braid pulled around to the side, to hold it like a teddy bear, so that no one would cut it in my sleep like in the Bible story about Samson and his beautiful long hair. 

~*~ 

By the end of high school, I had disengaged from my hair. 

It was no longer a part of me, or a thing that belonged to me. I shared a body with it, but I knew better than to touch it. There were rules in my house regarding my appearance and what I was and was not allowed to do with my body. I could not cut or dye my hair. I could not wear makeup. I could not paint my nails. I could not wear revealing clothing. I could not read Seventeen magazine. I could not perform femininity. 

I did not bother with trying to rebel against these limitations. I surrendered to them whole-heartedly. I wore jeans and shapeless t-shirts and tied my hair back in a ponytail and pretended it was not there until it grew so matted that I had to spend a day detangling it, and then the cycle would resume. 

Strangers stopped commenting on it. People stopped asking to touch it. 

~*~ 

In every photograph from my twenties, you cannot see my hair. 

A terrible irony: All your life, your most iconic asset becomes the one thing that no one ever sees. My hair itself had become like Rapunzel, locked away, too powerful to set loose. 

Every so often, I would let it down. Hours of preparation would go into it. It would look nice in photographs for an evening, and then it would return to its captivity. My hair was a wild animal that could not be trusted to run loose. 

~*~

In the shower, my hair becomes like razor wire, hard and sharp. I have scars on my fingers where the strands dig in, slicing down into the meat as I try to work out the knots and tangles. 

~*~ 

There is a difference between knowing what to do, and being able to do it. 

People will try to give you help, as if advice were the thing you were missing -- as if it were knowledge, and not ability, holding you back. It’s always well-meaning. It’s rarely helpful. 

Stop using shampoo. Stop using a brush. Use a comb. Blow it straight. Use a flattening iron. Detangle it wet. Only comb it when it’s dry. Use mousse. Use vinegar. Use coconut oil. Use this brand of shampoo. Conditioner, conditioner, conditioner. 

But you know. That’s the thing that no one ever realizes. Of course you know, because you have lived with this thing for all your life. 

The reason for your unhappiness is not, and has never been, because you don’t know what you’re doing. 

~*~ 

“I think I’m going to cut my hair.” 

I proposed the thought nervously, anxiously, the way you might confess to a crime that has been weighing heavily on your conscience. I had been up late the night before, imagining what it might be like, searching for images on my phone under the blankets in the 2-am darkness. 

“How short?” My husband asked, with signs of trepidation. 

I started to cry. And then I started to yell. I half-screamed, half-sobbed at him about hairdressers and a lifetime of baggage and fear and shame and bodily autonomy. 

And he held me and petted me and said, “Don’t worry about this. I’ll make the appointment. You can do whatever you want with it. I support you.”

I apologized for crying and he held me tighter and gently scoffed, almost incredulous. 

“Baby. You’re allowed to be angry. You’re allowed to feel things.” 

~*~ 

We went to Supercuts. 

It’s not a fancy salon, but I didn’t want a fancy salon. I did not want to be fussed over. That kind of pampering, invasive attention would send me running. 

I waited for my walk-in. I did not throw up. My stomach rolled around in my gut and I thought I might start crying again, but I didn’t. I read a Joe Hill novel in the waiting room, and again under the dryer while a heat treatment worked whatever detangling black magic it was supposed to do. 

My husband (ever the gossip) prepped his hairdresser for me. He warned her that I had a lot of baggage about getting my hair done. She didn’t understand, not really, but I don’t think maybe anyone could. But she got the gist of it. She knew well enough to leave me mostly alone.

I showed her pictures of what I wanted. She did it, with minimal fuss, and minimal commentary, and at the end I saw myself in the mirror and all she said was, “That looks beautiful! Do you feel better now?” 

I did. And I do. 

BEFORE: 

AFTER: 

#true story #personal #selfie #my hair #changes #my writing #long post

[vanilla-blessing]

qb anime of the year list 2018

Anime of the Year 2018 - the year of girls going to aquariums together

I’ve seen at least one person who claimed that 2018 was the best year for anime in recent memory and I’m inclined to agree. A large majority of my top ten list is shows that I would consider perfect and even shows that blew away what I thought was possible in the medium. It was a revolutionary year and makes a strong argument that anime wasn’t a mistake after all. - qb

#1

Hugtto! Precure blew away my expectations every week for close to a year. I don’t exactly know what to say about it here, since this isn’t the last time I’ll talk about it for sure. It doesn’t even end in 2018, but it was such a huge part of my 2018 in anime that it would be inaccurate to not include it. The only way I can think to explain Hugtto! Precure is to talk about the Netflix She-ra reboot. She-ra’s a pretty basic modern Dreamworks cartoon, with some interesting ideas thrown in and likable characters, but mostly held back by what they could realistically allot for production. Because of this limitation, She-ra goes hard on a single perfect episode (if you’ve seen it, you know which one) that stands out in a big way and shows the full potential of what they set out to make. Usually, Precure is lucky to get a handful of these stand-out episodes in a season, and most of the time just gets by, due to being an annual series that can never, ever take a break. Normally, the first few episodes of a Precure season can be counted on to be strong, but the realities of anime production being hella tough inevitably catch up.

Hugtto! Precure started with an incredible opening arc, then never let off the gas pedal. Nearly every episode of Hugtto is a stand-out, never-before-seen, innovative tour-de-force. The combination of production miracles that resulted in Hugtto has been talked about by me on this blog before, (http://vanilla-blessing.tumblr.com/post/176000267859/hana-is-getting-unstable-a-pink-precure) but the length of time that Hugtto stayed in the paint, going extremely hard every single week with few exceptions, was just absurd. Every season of Precure has one or two peaks, sometimes a good season gets lucky and has even more, the best seasons bat a solid average, but are still expected to be held back by reality. Coming out of the fifteenth season of Precure with a majority of the best episodes in the entire franchise isn’t something that I can wrap my head around, but it definitely happened, mostly in 2018. It’s simultaneously a love letter to the franchise’s past, present, and future made by the biggest Precure fans on the planet, and it’s unquestionably the best season. Hugtto threw what we all knew was true and had accepted about Precure clear out the window, retroactively made older seasons better, watered my crops, brought world peace, ect.

Oh yeah and boys can be cures now. 

#2

I’m definitely not done with Revue Starlight and this won’t be the last time I talk about it. Revue Starlight essentially carried the Summer 2018 anime season on its back. Starlight absolutely dominated my anime watching schedule; my week was seriously just waiting for and watching different translations and releases with every other show being almost incidental, far less important than waiting for the song lyrics to get translated for an episode I had seen three times already. I won’t get into everything here, since I’ve already talked about it on this blog after all (http://vanilla-blessing.tumblr.com/post/179023723689/subtext-is-for-cowards-revue-starlight), but I need to reiterate that it was such a commanding, unique, stylized experience and didn’t drop a single episode in its entire absurdly high-level production. The only reasonable explanation for this is devil magic, and hell, it was worth it. Revue Starlight is probably in my top 5 anime of all time and I wouldn’t get this list out if I said everything I wanted to say about it. It’s great. Watch it twenty times. 

#3

Pop Teen Epic, or Hoshiiro Girldrop, was the most wildcard that has ever been in seasonal anime, and could have been absolutely anything. What none of us predicted was just how much of anything this show would be, encompassing an unprecedented range of artists, voice acting talent, and whatever AC-bu are, each giving their very individual takes on a self-described shitpost comic strip, sometimes covering the exact same material two or three times, with no regard for any sort of cohesion or structure.

Nothing about this idea should have been funded, nothing in Pop Team Epic has any reason to work, and as a straight adaptation probably wouldn’t have worked. PTE spun gold from trash through the raw effort of artists doing their own thing, which captures the original spirit that made the formerly-cancelled comic popular in a way that’s much too intelligent for haters to understand. Also it got a dub, which is the most ridiculously bad idea i’ve heard in my life, and it owns that it happened.

#4

Spider-man into the Spider-verse is legit the best comic book movie ever made. It’s a fun, expressive twist on the most tired superhero origin story of all time, and showcases some of the most sssssssssstyle and raw, real emotion I’ve ever seen in animation. Its particular selection of influences is brilliant and poignant, rising far above the simple fanservice you’ve come to expect from Spider-man. The unrelenting individualistic spirit of this movie will stick with you the longest in the soundtrack, bravely incorporating a side of pop music that you don’t usually get to see in big-budget productions, pulling soundcloud rappers out of their grody (i’m told) dens into the spotlight with equal importance alongside the heroic score. Spider-verse is all about establishing your own unique flavor, and it manages to overwrite every other entry in this cursed franchise with its bold taste.

#5

It doesn’t make sense to me how amazing Aggretsuko’s dub is. The impeccable timing of each line, the perfect integration with the comedy, and the optimal length of the episodes are all far beyond what I expected from a Netflix show. It not only converted the original series of shorts that I already had on my top 10 the first year into a godlike longer series I didn’t know I wanted, but went to the effort to bring real metal singers in for the karaoke. Honestly just repeat everything I said in my 2016 list and multiply it by five. I hope they make more. They’re making more.

#6

I was pretty slow to pick up anime in the Winter 2018 season, but I never missed Hakumei and Mikochi, maybe because it was like, the only simulcast on my favorite online anime streaming subscription service HiDiVE. The subs weren’t great, and it certainly wasn’t all that popular, but it was just the relaxing show I needed. Hakumei and Mikochi brought me back to my favorite non-racist parts of the Redwall series of books: friendly animals, delicious foods, alcohol, and rustic songs. I was ready to put it on my list for simply being a cute healing foodie anime, but to my surprise, it had much more in store within its tiny world: stark confrontations with mortality, a shy riverside necromancer, the inexplicable remake of The Raid: Redemption in miniature, fashion trends, frogs, carpenter weasels, carpenter skeletons, ghost celebrations, a country beetle with lofty dreams. The list of memorable people, places, and things contained in the gnomish roommates’ tiny world goes on and on.

Masaomi Ando’s directing went completely along with the storybook aesthetic, maybe even to an overall detriment, which is exactly the kind of reckless commitment to style I love to see. The distinctive paneling, constantly gorgeous backgrounds, and deliberate pacing perfectly captured the imaginative stories I loved to read as a kid, but with more alcohol, and more sophisticated themes under the surface. Even something anime rarely get right, endings, were perfectly capstoned every week with a short digest that explored more of the history, legends, and very personal lore of their small, unique world. At its core, Hakumei and Mikochi is the calming story of tiny roommates you think it is, but it’s also so much more. They have day jobs and get drunk and remodel their house after it explodes that one time. They gamble dangerously to escape a blizzard, help a photographer give herself a little credit, and rescue their neighbor from a fancy grave of her own making. By the end of the show Hakumei practically built half a town. The collective stories from their everyday adventures build into something tremendous, and it all wraps up on the most perfect ending sequence I could have hoped for, which calls back to every story thus far as a new verse of the show’s central duet is sung. In any reasonable AnimeOTY Hakumei and Mikochi would be my top anime of 2018, but this year, the competition was unreasonable. This show will just have to settle for being the best regular anime of the year.

#7

Bloom Into You is an incredible adaptation of an apparently yuri romance manga that raises the bar for anime adaptations in general. I don’t know when, but somewhere along the line I stopped expecting that serious capital R Romance anime would have a distinctive style, and gave up to the notion that there was no demand anymore and a stylized, seinen/josei romance would just never get made. Well that was 2016 and then Scum’s Wish happened which this blog has covered extensively.(http://vanilla-blessing.tumblr.com/post/168842023559/how-lerche-adapted-an-average-trashy-romcom-into, http://vanilla-blessing.tumblr.com/post/168789506264/scums-wish-and-our-messy-uncomfortable) To me Bloom Into You feels similar in concept, as a difficult romantic situation with no easy answers or completely happy people. The main perspective character, Yuu, is among my favorite romantic leads in any series; she doesn’t get romantic feelings, although she wants to, and despite being easily motivated, is kind of dispassionate. Her relationship that she was pushed into with Touko might as well be out of mutual convenience, since Touko doesn’t want to fall in love with someone who would love her back, and Yuu doesn’t think she can.

Yuu filters the developments of the series as they grow closer through a very different perspective compared to more emotional leads of usual romance stories, methodically breaking down and considering where she’s at, observing where others are at, before taking an action that makes sense to her. Her growth through the series takes a very different direction than the common dramatic formula; instead of running headfirst into misunderstandings to overcome romantic challenges, she’s compelled to take a step back and position herself in a way that allows her to understand and confront her girlfriend’s issues. The changes that she experiences herself during this process are extremely gradual, but are no less significant to her. Although the dramatic weight of the series is obviously all about Touko, the central thesis of Bloom Into You is to explore Yuu’s complex feelings, and ask to what degree our actions are dictated by our emotions. It’s a heavy topic to be sure, but what makes this anime adaptation special in particular is how the directing and production pull it off, to maybe an even stronger degree than the original material.

Bloom Into You’s most striking and noticeable feature is the incredible conservation of small movements that connect expressions naturally. Minute changes in characters’ faces are vital to observe the almost imperceptible changes in Yuu over the course of the series, and every aspect of the direction is in service of highlighting these subtle moments. In addition, repeated cinematic themes are reinforced over the show’s run, such as the use of light to impart a blinding realization, flower language to inform deeper personalities, even using a literal (not literal) cinema. Symbols such as trains, masks, and mirrors are used constantly and consistently to reinforce the show’s themes, which should be immediately obvious from the opening animation. I’m still kind of stunned that Bloom Into You’s ending theme is such a banger and managed to use an oscillating sine curve in a metaphorical way. These details might be lost without the brilliant layouts, intentionally resembling a stage, which always push the minute differences front and center. As an anime adaptation, Bloom Into You adds so much value in such a subdued, conservative way that it puts uninspired adaptations to shame.

#8 

Thunderbolt Fantasy 2 rounded out the year with a good old new-fashioned Japanese-speaking Chinese-Wuxia Taiwanese puppet show. The novelty of this wild series, like, existing at all, is still incredible to me, but I was really wowed by the new characters and the direction the series went in after the already high standards of the first season. Following the outrageous action and fights of the previous season, I did not expect that season 2’s introductory goon would 1. Live past the first episode 2. So quickly become my favorite swordfighter and 3. Have inarguably the most complete character arc of the entire show thus far. The Princess of Cruelty’s struggle against her inner and outer demons in a unreasonably stacked, desperate situation developed her into easily the most compelling character of the season, and the rest of the cast including a corrupt police officer with extremely disconcerting and bad puppet teeth, a ventriloquist rock-lutist, and a nihilist monk each bring their own unique flavors to the table. The table that they throw the puppets in the air from to make the show. All of the new elements of Thunderbolt Fantasy 2 improved an already strong formula even more, and revealed an emotional depth to the series that I’m excited to see developed further. Some people might not call this anime, but those people haven’t seen Thunderbolt Fantasy for longer than 2 seconds. It’s so anime.

#9

I blasted all available seasons of Star vs the Forces of Evil early in 2018, and it was basically my first foray into straight-up American cartoon magical girl, despite watching all the Japanese ones, which was probably an oversight on my part. That’s because Star Versus is really good, and provided a flavor of magical girl I had been missing out on. I could talk about the excellent sparkle witch aesthetic of the show, fluid animation, and hilarious comedy, but I’d rather spend this blogspace posting Star Butterfly faces. 

#10

A Place Further Than the Universe, or YoriMoi, or my preferred moniker That Antartica Anime, wasn’t on my radar until well after it had finished airing, but it stuck with me for most of the year. Although it’s definitely melodramatic at times, it utilizes this tendency in exactly the right way to enhance the individual characters’ emotional arcs. Even though I was personally sort of taken out of it for many of the girls’ personal trials, :penguin emoji: is obviously thoughtfully written and carefully constructed, and especially knows how to orchestrate an immense emotional reaction with pitch-perfect timing. If there’s one particular aspect this anime has absolute mastery over, it’s hitting that perfect note and cue to create a memorable narrative climax. And for all my bellyaching about not fully relating to some of the characters, Miyake is definitively the #1 qb-relatable character of the year.

Here’s the rest of my list. Don’t @ me about it because if its not on my top ten then it doesnt really count anymore i dont make the rules thats just how it is

11. Yuru Camp

12. Hisone and Masotan

13. Asagao to Kase-san

14. Devilman Crybaby

15. After the Rain

16. Planet With

- friend of the show @queuebae on twitter 

That’s why the 2018 anime of the year award goes to Kaiju Girls 2.

#top ten anime 2018 #top ten pop team epics #pop teen epic #pop team epic #hoshiiro girldrop #poppiteppikiu #popttippiku #bob team epic #bob epic team #PTE 2018 #Pop Team Epic Season 2

[g0ldpainted]

4th December - CtC’17

Chocobros and how they show their love for you/relationship headcanons

Hiya! :D

Today I present you a little headcanon. And on a side note, I really suck at finding names for anything. xD

My original thought came from how people sometimes don’t notice all the little things people do when they love someone. And then I spend time thinking about how the chocobros would change/adapt once they truly love someone and what they’d start doing for them - and only for them. ^^

This is the outcome:

(No spoilers nor tw’s needed - just some kinda fluffy stuff)

Noctis: 

Although he could buy you all the expensive things in the world, he refuses to

Doesn't like spending a lot of money on gifts because he fears you'd only be in for the expensive gifts (at least early on in your relationship)

Prefers meaningful gifts

They don't necessarily have to be cheap but he prefers to start off small with gifts

Unlike his father wants him to, he doesn't gift 3000gil bracelets but chocolate and flowers for a one month anniversary

Sometimes even likes to DIY some gifts

And those tend to be a disaster but it's the thought that counts, right?

However, if you tend to have a certain wish he tries his best to grant it

Technically, since he's the prince, he can make anything happen

Wanna ride a horse through the city? Sure thing. 

Wanna travel to Altissia for the weekend? Alright, pack your bags.

Want the most exclusive jewelry? Yeah, that's possible, too.

But he's not only proving his love through gifts

It's the little surprise dates he plans

It's the massages he loves to give you after a stressful day

It’s the way he worries about you to the point he orders the best nurse of Insomnia over to check on you

And the way he cares for you when you go through cramps

He’ll happily be your body pillow and heater anytime

Although he's not a good cook, he'll cook for you, too

You bet Ignis was involved, though - the risk of poisoning you without his help was too high

Noctis will shower you with little gestures

Pecks. All. The. Time.

Very touchy, loves caressing your body

Will do anything for you - that includes brushing your hair when you’re too tired to

Yeah, he's a pretty innocent lover.. Unless he's horny

Giver! He’s a total giver.

Always puts you first.. Even though he sometimes should put his duty as future king first

See's his future in you and doesn't fail to remind you whenever he can

He'll name a street after you to some anniversary once you're married

Also makes sure the garden is always top-notch and full of flowers you like

He's all about you and takes note of everything you seem to show a liking in

When he says he loves you, he really means it.

Prompto: 

The moment you two start dating, you become this sunshine's fuel of life

You make him happy with your presence, voice and touches

You make him feel so much better about his own struggles, he wants to give you back somehow

Now he isn't exactly on the rich side, tends to work a lot to provide for himself

Nonetheless, he never fails to surprise you with little gifts

Picks flowers for you whenever he can

He loves traveling and therefore always saves money to be able to afford trips with you 

With Prompto by your side, you'll always have splendid photos of yourself

He loves photographing you

Makes sure you know he loves your beauty 

Wants to portray your character through your photos

It's not about model photos but authentic ones

Prompto just really wants you to love yourself as much as he does

Aside from that, he's a very gentle lover 

Will be your butler 24/7 

You're always his no.1 

Your happiness is his main priority

He'd go to the end of the world if it'd mean you'd be happy

Feeling sad? Give him a call, he'll drop everything and be over in a minute

In case you're sick he'll take the best care of you, you could probably imagine

Gift-wise he really loves plushies and flowers - corny stuff is what he loves to gift

Plushies of chocobos, of course

Sometimes he may be a bit childish in terms of proving this love but doesn't that make him all the more lovable?

Since he's the most creative one out of all the chocobros, he also definitely likes DYI gifts

Want a cool frame for your photo? He's on it.

Or maybe a nice box? Well, he won't craft it but he'll find a nice way to paint it

Another very sensitive topic for Prompto is his body

Showing his body to you used to give him anxiety but now he's all okay with it - but only in front of you

He doesn't mind you seeing him naked, he trusts you won't make fun of any of his stretch marks or other flaws

If he wouldn’t love you with his entire being, he wouldn’t show the part he’s most insecure about to you

Ignis: 

He's probably the busiest chocobro 

While he looks after Noctis, he also has to take care of himself and his royal duties

He used to think he would never have time for an S/O but then life happened and he actually fell for you

Money isn't really a big issue with him by your side; he never had enough time and will to spend it on himself

So now he can spend it all on you.. Or so he thought

While he can buy you expensive jewelry or clothes from exclusive brands, it doesn't make either of you happy

“Money can’t buy us happiness”

Sure, gifts are nice but.. They aren't everything

His actual "gift" to you is his time

He absolutely loves spending time with you, yet he's unfortunately incredibly busy

But whenever he can take a day off, he spends it with you

He'll take you out on dates

Breakfast at a café, lunch at a fancy restaurant and dinner at home 

All day long you two go watch a movie, go (ice) skating or just spend a romantic day at the park with a little picnic

Ignis doesn't want to miss a chance to cook for you

Also, candlelight dinner at home is his favorite kind of date night

Although he's busy and hard to reach, you can always call him

If he doesn't pick up, he'll call back

And if it's an urgent matter, he would drop his duty and run to you

You're his main priority and always on his mind

You don’t have to fight for his attention nor battle yourself with anyone, Ignis always puts you first.. it’s just that he can’t neglect his duty

So unfortunately, Noctis has to be right behind you, though

Whenever he can, he includes you in daily his routines

Working out? He'll call you and ask to join.

Grocery shopping? Maybe you wanna join and grab a snack?

You’re his motivation, he relies on you just as much as you rely on him

There’s not a single day passing by without him telling you and showing you how much he loves you

When he's dead busy, he finds time to send a bouquet to you

And when you're sick, he'll try his best to take care of you, too

Massages, tea, grabbing your medicine for you, your favorite movies - he knows all the things to ease your mind

Ignis is a very attentive lover and that shows in his gifts

No matter what he goes for, it's always something he's 100% sure you'll like

He's never been wrong before - not even when it came to clothes and makeup

This guy has a brilliant taste

Besides sending flowers, he also sometimes sends surprise letters pointing out every one of his favorite moments with you, or 100 reasons why he loves you - sugary stuff like that but with a touch of romance

Gladiolus:

Although Gladio is fairly emotional, it's usually only anger that he releases

He's not the type of guy to continuously say he loves you

Saying it is rare for him because to him it means showing weakness

But he’s a tough guy, believes he shouldn’t do that

So sometimes he has weird ways of showing he cares

One time you gained a little weight and he blatantly pointed it out

While he meant well - loved you regardless of your weight - and really just wanted to point out that he noticed you changed a bit and wondered if something was wrong, it certainly didn't come out that way

There are plenty of fights because of situations like that

He’s just not good with words and this whole loving someone thing confuses him

To make it up, he usually takes you hiking or on some other trips

Gladio loves nature and feels most at ease when he's surrounded by trees and not houses - and you

The only thing improving this trip even more for him is you

It wouldn't be half as fun without you

And he certainly wants you to know

He really opens up when he's with you in the middle of nowhere

That's when he showers you with love and becomes one hell of a gentle teddy bear

No one besides you will see this side of him

He'll pick you flowers, help you fish.. And even teach you some survival tips or knowledge about animals and insects

Whenever he finds a specifically beautiful flower, he puts it behind your ear

He's a little awkward on speaking about how much he loves you, he prefers to show it 

Gentle kisses, soft touches,.. He's a lot more careful with his actions now that you guys are actually a serious thing and not just a fling

His secret talent is back rubs or really just any kind of massage

He knows exactly what spot to press and how to massage it properly, using just enough power to ease all your pain and help you relax

His favorite method of showing how much he cares is between the bedsheets, though

When you first started dating, he was very self centered

Nowadays he's all about you; he genuinely cares

He won't always show it but he knows when you're doing bad 

And he'll do his best to fix it

Running a bath, cleaning the house, cooking some.. More or less good.. Food

In terms of gifts, he's always pretty clueless

No matter how much time passes by, other than flowers and chocolate he never knows what to get you

In all honesty, he did grab pretty ugly accessories clothes once - but it's the thought that counts, right?

Mom-friend Iggy will come to the rescue, though, don’t worry

However, he really pays attention to what you like

If you mention that you want a specific item, you bet he'll remember that

Gladio is just a secretly awkward guy that loves you with all his heart and he'll do everything he possibly can to let you know

2nd December ; 3rd December ; 4th December ; 5th December ; 6th December ; 7th December ; 8th December ; 9th December ; 10th December ; 11th December ; 12th December ; 13th December ; 14th December ; 15th December ; 16th December ; 17th December ; 18th December ; 19th December ; 20th December ; 21st December ; 22nd December ; 23rd December ; 24th December ; 25th December

Masterlist

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #final fantasy 15 #ff15 #final fantasy fanfiction #final fantasy fan art #final fantasy headcanons #headcanons #fanfiction #fanfic #hc #noctis lucis caelu #noctis #noct #prompto argentum #prompto #gladiolus amicitia #gladiolus #gladio #gladdy #gladaddy #ignis scientia #iggy #ignis #chocobros #chocobro headcanons #countdown to christmas

[speckeh]

2017 Book List

BACK AT IT AGAIN. JUMP IN THE CAR!!! I’M STILL READING A SHIT TON OF BOOKS!!!!

1. How It Works: The Cat. 2.5/5 stars. I read this at a book store in Bergen because my brother laughed while he read it. I picked it up and it was ok?? I don’t understand why people who write about cats always, ALWAYS talk about how much of an asshole they are and how they don’t truly love you. And I just sit there like, have you ever owned a fucking cat??? Some parts of the book was super cute but I hate the trope that cats are “assholes.” yeah they’re dicks sometimes. But they’re not assholes 24/7 unless you’re an asshole to your cat.

2. The Greenest Island. 3.5/5 stars. This is another small book that I’ve been meaning to read for a couple of months now. It was pretty interesting and like Mrs. Dalloway I read last year, I’m not sure if I want to sell it or keep it. It’s beautifully written, the story is strong, but some of the characterization is just sort of annoying. Like I get that it’s a very real sensation and issue a young couple who get pregnant WAY TOO SOON without knowing each other. But only a man would think of something so drastic as the end in reference to raising a child. 

3. Letters for Lucardo: 5/5 stars. I saw this comic advertised early in 2016 and I’ve been watching the project closely. I help funding the gofundme and I bought a download and a signed copy of the physical book. The story about a 60 year old man falling in love with a Vampire stuck at the age of 36 was SO INTRIGUING plus the artist had a webcomic which I absolutely adored so I knew not only would the art be excellent but the storyline would be solid. This is one of four volumes and I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. The story line was so cute, the art was beautiful, the smut was *mwah* beautiful. But the best part was that it left me wanting for me and I can’t WAIT until the next three volumes are here. Support your local tumblr artist and enjoy some gay vampire storylines with well drawn wrinkly aging men. 10/10, 100/100 please read and enjoy.

4. A Special Study Set of Fine Art Reproductions. 4/5 stars. A little black spiral bound book of black and white copies of famous art works. It’s cute, it’s a good bite sized art book to get the gist of Western Art history. I knocked it down because the art pieces are in black and grey when I know for a FACT some art pieces are in color. So that was a bummer. But overall a nice rendition of some of the classics.

5. Alphonse Mucha: Masterworks. 5/5 stars. I bought this book probably 2 years ago? I’m in a reading funk right now and flipping through art books seems pretty doable. This book is chalked full of history of Mucha while I will read later. But the art quality is excellent, the sizes are big enough to view with pleasure. This is a excellent excellent book full of his art work. I love it. It makes me feel better for the fact I’ve only been drawing girls for the last year because I love drawing delicate features and strong women. If Mucha can just draws women for most of his career, I don’t have to feel guilty in only drawing women for a year.

6. Assassin’s Creed: A Visual History. 5/5 stars. Ok I’m going to repeat this over and over again. But I’m such a fan of the AC series, even if the latest editions have been a u t t e r let down. But I have to admit flipping through this book I got emotional. AC was such a fun series for me when I started and it helped me through a manic depression I had after a very serious illness almost 3 years ago. I don’t pretend the history is accurate or the plot lines are all there, but they means so much to me. As a history lover to the point I’m getting a Minor in college in history. I’ll always enjoy my AC games, no matter how cringe worthy and disappointing some of them end up becoming. Shout out to my boys (and girls) of the assassin creed order. <3 

7. The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle: 5/5 stars. I’ve had this book for a long time, when my childhood best friend and I would hang out nearly every day and sleep overs every weekend. She gave me this book a few months after I watched Howl’s Moving Castle because I was so enchanted by the movie. Howl’s Moving Castle is a favorite movie, book, and soundtrack. This art concept book is beautiful, it’s like a novelization of the movie without any dialogue. The back is the FULL script, there’s concept art, and fully fledged art story boards. If you’re a big fan of Howl’s Moving Castle, this is a great book to have in your library.

8. Tango! The Dance, The Song, The Story. 5/5 stars. My father lived in Argentina for awhile so he would make dishes growing up of delicious food. I love the tango, it’s so beautiful and down right seductive. So of course finding this book for 4 dollars I had to have it. It has photography, drawings, posters, female tango singers, the history of the tango. It’s chalked full of excellent information and it’s really enjoyable to flip through. 

9. Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics. 5/5 stars. I bought this book for my birthday last year because it was absolutely silly. It features “Cat Artists” and their aesthetics and their art pieces. Warning there are mummified cats in the beginning of the book which can be upsetting. This book is really goofy and the people who write it are serious but in a fun way? It’s a great book to read like today when I’m stuck in the house because of bad weather and having my own two cats it makes me curious to see if I could make my kiddos paint like those kitties in the book.

10. Life: The Classic Collection. 5/5 stars. A decent sized photography book of the most recognizable Life photographs. Not to forget there are 25 extra prints available for you in the book you can take out and frame. I love editorial photography and seeing the most iconic photos throughout the century. Idk man if you like photography and Life Magazine this is a great book to have.

11. Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th century. 5/5 stars. Beautiful book. Beautiful clothes. 

12. The Pharos Gate. 4.5/5 stars. I saw this book at Barnes and Noble early in 2016 and the intrigue had me thinking about it for awhile. I bought it for christmas, waiting to read it in right time. Early on this week I went to my favorite second hand book store and found out it had 3 books before this one. The Pharos Gate is the final book in a series but it can be read by itself. To be honest I think if I had to read the three books before this I would have become bored. That’s three books worth of people trying to find each other but keep missing connections, that’s infuriating. But this book was lovely and the letter writing kind of reminds me of the letters my best friend and I send to one another. She just went back to school and I think she would really enjoy this book so I’m going to send it to her with my own letter attached. I think she’ll like that. 

13. Pirateology. 4/5 stars. These series were my SHIT as a kid. Dragonolgy, Greek Myths, Pirateology. While Hastings went under and into ruins, I found this book for super super cheap. I have certain niches I love to learn/read/aesthetic. Regency, 1950s murder mystery (Looking at you 007), Westerns, weird vintage novels, and pirates. I love the history the book gives you, but as an adult the information is sort of lacking. This is a book definitely for kids, the plot line throughout the guide book is meh it’s ok but it doesn’t capture you, and the interactive bits are the best. I just wish there was more about specific pirates but other than those complaints this is a great book.

14. Viking Poetry: Of Love and War. 5/5 stars. I went to Norway for New Years and I didn’t buy a lot of souvenirs. I mostly bought key chains. I think I only bought two books, maybe even just the one. I bought this viking poetry at THE famous viking ship in Oslo. It was very very cool. I read this book today because I don’t feel well, I want to go to bed but I know I shouldn’t. I have too much homework to do but I’m not motivated to read. The viking poems are unique as they are pretty. I was sometimes disappointed they didn’t have great rhyming schemes but you have to remember these were written in various old languages and then translated into modern day English. If you want to read what the vikings considered poetry, this is a great introduction without reading the giant lores.

15. The Elements of Style: 5/5 stars. Oh my god it’s been so long I completely forgot what my book tag was. February has been crazy for me. I got a internship, I dropped a class because of stress, I’ve been stressed out like crazy, I’ve been doing a lot of school work. I felt like I’ve had no time to read for pleasure. I actually didn’t read this book for please (half pleasure) but for work. It was actually a lot of fun. We studied this book in AP Literature when I was a senior in highschool and I wanted to have it for myself as a writer, but also it’s excellent for my ambitions to become an editor. The writing is a little hard, sometimes I’d read a whole page without really absorbing what was on it. But it was interesting and you can read White’s frustration with writers with certain rules they ignored. I actually loved the add on V chapter by Strunk which said that English rules are extremely important but take in mind the language of your time and how you write. Your voice is important. Which I found very important and also felt like an eye opener with Editing for my job. I’ve been wary of making sure not to change anyone’s voice but also trying to keep with proper English rules. It’s been a lot of fun.

16. The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher: 5/5 stars. This book took me me almost 2 full months to read. I’ve been so busy. I first started reading this book before my trip to Norway, took it all the way across Europe, back and I finally finally finished it today. I don’t know why it took me so long? I absolutely loved it. I played Witcher 3 last semester and really really loved the story line and characters. My sister-in-law loves the books so I gave it a try! I would definitely recommend this book if you like spins on fairytales and medieval magical worlds. I had a lot of fun but I’m glad I can finally pick a new book.

17. Shackleton: Antartic Odyssey: 4/5 stars. Today has been a recovery day and I’m, emotionally dead/it comes in waves. So I spent like 5 hours in a bath today and read this comic. The art is really good, the story is super intriguing! I was in Norway this last December and we went to a arctic ship museum because Norway was the first to reach the South Pole. But the author even said himself the comic needs to be at least 300 pages but his hand would fall off. And I wish he did do 300 pages. The story was short and choppy. I know it’s selfish, but as a reader I wish he did do his main goal because he had the perfect art style for this comic. Either way, I did enjoy.

18. Creole Folktales: 5/5 stars. If you love mythology, this book is pretty great. If you love Louisiana, black folklore, this book is pretty great. It doesn’t have 5 stars on amazon or goodreads because I think people take issue with the writing or they’ve heard these stories before. This was my first introduction to Creole folktales and I have to say i loved it. The nostalgia of reading different myths is pretty great plus the storylines can be hilarious to kind of terrifying. The author says to read this story by night and I have to agree. I read it all in one sitting this evening and I wouldn’t change that experience. 

19. I Shall Not Be Moved: 5/5 Stars. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a poetry book. Since February I think. Sundays are usually my comic or poetry days and I was in the mood for some poetry. I was going to read this book for Black History Month for my book club (if you wanna join hit me UPP) but February was so crazy and stressful that I couldn’t read anything. So this time I did read a Black Poetress but just for National Poetry month. I loved this book, super powerful and moving. I’ll probably be thinking about this poetry book for a long long time. 

20. Artists and their cats: 3/5 stars. Being stressed out in my finals week means I want to do a lot of book things just so I can procrastinate. I bought this book as a Christmas present for myself. I'm slightly disappointed in it because the book is called Artists and their Cats, but it's really more like, A mini biography of artists and oh, some cat photos. I was expecting heart warming stories about their cats. But no. I loved the photos though which make this book conflicting for me.

21. The Monkees comic book: 5/5 stars. Super cute. I feel bad because Mickey was drawn pretty horrible. But I loved the art. The choppy scenes were kind of hard to get into and that 1960s humor can be kind of cringey but I really really enjoyed it.

22. The Art of Drowning: 5/5 stars. So I was thinking this would have completed my Billy Collin’s reading, but apparently I read this book in 2014! How crazy! Well I read it and enjoyed it. That’s all. 

23. A Queen’s Journey: 4/5 stars. I’ve been having a lot of heart ache for my birth state as of late. I visited Hawaii this time last year since moving when I was 2 and not remembering a single thing about it. Everything fit and I felt like I was home (when I was in the ocean) and it was such a strange feeling. I’ve been missing it hardcore this last month and so I decided if I can’t go to the Island I’d read a book about Hawaii or a Hawaiian. I’m also a book traveler, I bring books on trips and my favorite souvenirs are books. I’m a person who can remember times and feelings by looking at books. This is one of the books I bought while on the big island and haven’t read until now. For the story itself, I definitely give it a solid 4 stars like most people have. The book is unfinished as the author died while writing it. But I actually love how the book ended, the last chapter is perfect for a finale. But everything leading up is meh. Don’t get me wrong, I flew through this book and found it so much fun but it’s written from the perspective of a white entitled reporter who doesn’t really understand Hawaiians but “loves” them because of the Queen. I would have preferred to have a story told from Queen Lili’uokalani’s perspective but it was a nice read.  

24. Lights Out and Away We Go by @naum-e : 5/5 stars. I’ve been following Naume-e for at least a year now and they draw the absolutely cutest/breathtaking spirk doodles on tumblr. When I saw they put up their formula one au book up for sale, I had to get it. They even sent me a sheet of adorable spirk stickers. I love it. The art is so professional, the cover is beautiful! The storyline is short and I wish there was more background and developlement but that’s just me being greedy. Only criticism I would have is that one page would be crisp and saturated black and the next would have a grey tone to it so it wasn’t as sharp. I don’t know if that was due to printing costs or stylistic choice but sometimes it worked, other times it was kind of distracting. Either way I really enjoyed it and loved the art!

(I’ve actually read 44 books but 20 of those are yaoi mangas/I don’t have the energy to type up individual reviews) 

25. And Three Makes Tango. 5/5 stars. I’m doing a summer class and this is a book I picked for a 5-7 page project about censored books. And Three Makes Tango is the true story of two male penguins who fell in love at the New York Zoo. They made headlines when the zoo keepers gave them a fertilized egg which made them the first male couple to raise a baby penguin. It’s super cute and the art is adorable and I can’t wait to write this 5-7 page essay on it.

26. Goldfinger. 4.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed this book! Dr. No was kind of a hot mess with a huge octopus, guano, and the girl not being entirely likable. This book was definitely a treat! It may be kind of boring because the first 150 pages is a slow burn of James finding a guy cheating at cards and like 3 chapters dedicated to just him playing golf. But I really really loved this? The only reason why I don’t give this book 5 stars is because of Bond’s very sexist and homophobic views he suddenly stated out of no where. There were a TON of lesbians in this book, Pussy Galore, Tally, and he seemed ok with them except he was disappointed he couldn’t fuck them. And then said lesbians and gays were all sissies who he had no time for (even though Bond is like super, mega gay for James Bond. SUPER MEGA GAY.) and the ending they made the strictly lesbian badass gangster woman say, “Well I’ve never met a real man before.” and UGH. WHY. I would have given it 5 stars if they had just left Pussy Galore’s lesbian nature alone and not justify it with a “She just needs a strong man.” Also I apparently bought this book for me for Christmas 2015 ahah. 

27. The Mad Kings & Queens, History’s Most Famous Raving Royals: 4/5 stars. I enjoyed this book. It’s marketed as a reference book and it discussed the insane breeding of The Kings and Queens of Europe. This book should really be called, “Inbreeding fucked me up.” because most of the insane issues came from inbreeding lines and madness from parents and grandparents being passed down to their kiddos. But there were several monarchs where I didn’t believe they fit underneath the “mad” title. Like King Henry VIII was just a pissbaby. And there a handful of monarchs included who just had severe depression and anxiety which affected the way they ruled, it doesn’t mean they’re mad. Other than that, it’s a great little book for a quick overview of Europe’s fucked up royalty. 

28. Strike Through The Mask! 2/5 stars. It’s not my favorite poetry book, it had some poems I enjoyed! I bought this from the annual library book sale because it was signed by the author and was super cheap. Though after learning about Peter Viereck, I’m not really sure what I think about him? He’s super conservative and is VERY loud about people being extremist but is sort of seen as an extremist himself. Nothing wrong with that inherently but I’m still not super sure about these poems. A lot of them were about trees talking to humans or other trees. Debating on giving them poetry book to donations because it’s really not my favorite. 

29. For the King: 2/5 stars. The premise of the book is quite interesting! It follows the assassin attack on Napoleon in 1800 on Christmas at Midnight. It cause da wave of destruction, death, horror, and a huge police investigation which resulted in more death and conspiracy. The book did not live up the potential. It kept my interest and it had some great writing, but the characters were flat, the main character was whinny, and the plot was a little jumbled. It was also strange because it’s a historical fiction but also murder mystery but you know who did it by chapter 1 and you follow the policeman’s thoughts and instincts to capture the assassins. It’s weird, there were a lot of strangely written sentences, and it was over all a just ok read.

30. The Old Man and the Sea: 2.5/5 stars. There is a lot to enjoy about The Old Man and The Sea. The story is compelling, the relationship between the old man and the boy is pleasant, and Hemingway has a way of using metaphors and descriptions which are breathtakingly beautiful. But there is also a lot to be disappointed in. It’s a lot of rambling, several sentences could have been edited, and the old man was pretty much senile in the way that he fishes. I read it in one day and still processing it. I’m pretty sure there are a few pages that I didn’t really read, I fell asleep the first 60 pages, and the story doesn’t truly touch me in the way classics usually do. But there is also something oddly charming which makes rating this book more difficult than I thought.

31. The Lost Estate: 5/5 stars. This book has been on my shelf for awhile. I bought it because you can design your own cover once you finish the book, so I bought it not expecting the story to be great but at least I can art a book. This is one of the best reads I’ve read in several months! I loved the story! I loved the characters! It felt like a fantastical children’s story with romance, magic, and French school boys. The chapters were short and the main character has such a charm. The only downside is that the story has a weird time lapse where you’re not really sure how old the kids are or how many years have passed. All in all, I’m really thrilled with this book and it’s easily going on my favorite shelf after I draw the cover!

32. Lunch Poems: 4/5 stars. Frank O’Hara’s poetry isn’t like your classical poetry. He’s irreverant which makes reading his stanzas refreshing and different. There were some poems where they were too strange and convoluted for my taste, ones I wished I could be heard out loud, and there wasn’t anything that punched me in the chest with wowing words, but it did inspire me to write my own poem. And for me, that’s the highest compliment of a poetry book, to make you write poems. I really enjoyed 14 of the poems which is a pretty decent amount to like for me. Billy Collins has the highest likes of poetry for me, and Lang Leav having the least amount of poetry I liked in her book Love & Misadventure. Frank O’Hara was a decent medium for me and a nice introduction for anyone who doesn’t particularly care for “flowery” poetry. My favorites were: Cambridge, Poem (1959), How To Get There, Pistachio Tree At Chateau Noir, and Yesterday Down At The Canal. 

33. Howl And Other Poems: 6/5 stars. Very rarely do I hold a book to my chest after I finish reading it. The books I remember doing this were The Secret Garden, Shadow of the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, and Howl’s Moving Castle. I can add Howl to my list. I first heard of this revolutionary poetry book in one of my university classes about censorship and banned films and literature. We watched the James Franco movie about the whole trial over Howl, and I thought it was pretty, but I didn’t feel a great pull to the way he read the poems. I decided to pick it up for myself and I read it today all the way through. And reading it for myself was something magical and far more touching than the movie could ever produce. All of the poems were a punch to the gut, made me feel something, made me want to create art, and that’s what poetry is supposed to do for you. I may have found my second favorite poet in Allen Ginsberg. This is definitely on my favorite 2017 reads and also in my top 10 favorite books of all time. 

34. Monstress Vol 2: 4.5/5 stars. I agree with the main consensus that the second volume is way better than the first. I actually contemplated getting rid of and stop reading the series because the first volume was very bizarre. But now I’m super invested in it. The story line unfolded in an interesting and made more sense way. The art was gorgeous and dark. THERE WERE SO MANY BADASS WOMEN CHARACTERS. Plus I finally caught on that the cats are called Nekomancer and I’m in love. If you like dark, blood, gore, and creepy storylines, Monstress is a great comic to read. 

35. Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. 5/5 stars. I picked this book up back in 2011. I was browsing Barnes and Noble, looking at their new arrival table. I was in 10th grade, newly in high school, and I had watched the movie Cleopatra in my western civilization class. I loved the writing, bought the book, I remember my mom saying “If I had known who the book was about, I wouldn’t have let you bought it.” and I was enjoying myself. Things happened shortly after that had me pausing from reading the book for 6 years. I decided to try to read it over the summer, had summer school, then my beginning of the semester was too crazy to read this book, and after I dropped from one of my classes, I found I had time to read it. I really loved this book. It’s heart wrenching, you feel the love they had for each other, but you also saw the abuse and tragedy that became their relationship. There are only two notes of importance I would say that is this book’s downfall: 1. The book has minor editorial flaws (commas outside of quotes, periods in parenthesis, Earth wasn’t capitalized). 2. The writers are very much infatuated with Richard and Elizabeth, coming to their defense about the scathing reviews. They did a great job, but it also brings into question just how accurate they can be when they’re so emotionally charged about Richard and Elizabeth. If you want to know more about Richard and Elizabeth, how they came to be, their marriage, and how the marriage fell, this is a great book. 

36 + 37: Maus I & II. 5/5 stars. I’ve been wanting to read this collection for years. It has everything I love, history, contrasting colors, and comics. But whenever I found the books, they were full priced and too much for my wallet. Well, a few weeks ago I found the boxset at my local second hand store for 22 bucks. I snatched it. I read the first book on the 29th and the second on the 30th. This, is a heavy story. It’s gut wrenching, it hurts, I nearly cried in book 2, and it’s a poignant story about surviving, the effects of surviving horrible situations, and how it affects your children. The art is beautiful, very symbolic, and doesn't hold back from showing the ugly of WWII. If you want a heavy read to make you think about history and humanity, 100% recommend this comic series.

38. Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit: 4/5 stars. A classic fairy tale book that I read because one of my friends had it on her shelf and I wanted to read it. It’s very cute, very Peter Rabbit esq. but with more danger and violence to it. It’s not my favorite collection, I didn’t get the warm fuzzies from it, but I did fly through the stories. Though my book is so old that it doesn’t have a publication date and I’m slightly terrified that if it’s from the victorian era that it’s laced with arsenic to make the blue color ahah! But it was cute. A very short fairytale that is chalked full of mythologies of forest creatures and how their distinctive features came to be. 

39. Sword of Destiny (Witcher 1, but technically 2) 5/5 stars.  I’ve been reading this book since the end of October. I don’t know why, but short story compilation books always take me months to read while James Bond takes me 3 days. I think it’s to do with the pacing and the fact the stories tend to be more condensed and I need to think about a book for at least a day before starting a new one. I really enjoyed this book! Having played the games and adored them, I love the character building and foundations in this book! Baby Ciri warms my heart and I fucking called who her parents were in the prologue which I just realized I actually read this year. Much better than “The Last Wish,” and the angsty Yennefer romance just makes the book with its angst and Geralt just hating everything about his life except for Ciri and Yen. 

40. Bing Love: 3/5 stars. I saw a GoFundMe post for this comic book earlier this year and the art is adorable, the plot line got me, and I was so excited to get my copy of this book! I’m torn because on one hand, I love representation and the love story between Hazel and Mari, and the fact the writer took an approach that people had to settle for a fake happiness and how families can be torn apart when you realize they were built on a facade. But there’s a huge pacing problem with this story. It jumps, it skips details, I know this story would have been so much more vibrant with even 20 more pages added to it. Limiting it to 97 pages really killed the vibe of the story. The character development was lackluster, their reactions became unbelievable, and the ending felt so rushed. I would honestly probably give this story 2 stars if it weren’t for the art work making up for where the story lacks. 

41. Call Me By Your Name: 5/5 stars. @haremshame for those who don’t know, was my very first, serious love. They’ve been loving Call Me By Your Name and essentially has become the spokesperson on tumblr for the book. They told me to give this book a listen to (which is something I do not do on the regular), gave me a link, and but I was in the middle of the semester. I think maybe more than a week ago I finally started listening to it, how could I not when your first love tells you the story reminds them of us??? And I have to whole heartedly agree. Call Me By Your Name reminds me very much of the excitement of a first love and the everlasting long heart ache that comes when that first love inevitably ends. I loved this story. I wish I picked up the book and read along with Armie Hammer so I could mark all the passages I loved because there were quotations that made me shiver and hum and felt a literal twist in the gut. I’m not entirely sure how this book will go as an experience for other people since I went in to this reading with heavy expectations and knowing it would remind me of Percy and the specialness of our fumbly, young and naive teenage relationship, makes me heavily biased. But the writing is breathtaking, Armie Hammer does a fantastic job, and the story will have you aching in some form or another. 

#2017 books #you guys should just get used to this #I'm probably in this for the long haul

[richardtheteacher]

An article by Richard James Rogers

Illustrations by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati

A warm, inviting classroom that’s colorful, fresh and light can really benefit your students. In fact, expansive research published by the University of Salford shown that well-designed classrooms can improve learning progress in primary school pupils by 16%.

This was the first time that clear evidence of the effect of the physical classroom environment on learning was established.

  Oftentimes, teachers are stuck with the classrooms they are given. If your furniture is old, natural light is bad or the air-conditioning isn’t perfect, then it’s tough luck. One thing we can change, however, is the quality of our displays. Other aspects of the classroom environment can also be adjusted alongside this (See my article about this here: The Starbucks Protocol), so don’t neglect that side of the equation either.

So what are the best ways that we can create beautiful classroom displays?

#1: Display Student Work

Why?: 

Provides kids with a sense of pride and accomplishment

Acts as a ‘living demonstration’ of the excellent learning that’s going on in your class

Provides a benchmark for all students to aspire to

How?

Provide opportunities for students to complete large projects (groupwork lends itself well to this). 

Make the output theme-based and creative (e.g. ‘Create an infographic about the events leading up to World War Two)

Have very clear success criteria in place (e.g. The newspaper article should contain at least three neat paragraphs and two clear and colorful pictures)

CRUCIAL: Select work to display based on the agreed success criteria

OPTIONAL EXTRA’S:

Get the students to select the best work to display

Display the brief of the task given and the success criteria

Display your comments on the work (or, even better. get the students to write two things they like about each piece of work and use sticky notes to attach to each)

#2: Display Student Achievements and Progress

  Why?

Can motivate high performing students

A number of parameters can be celebrated: attainment on tests, sporting achievements, progress made on a project, etc.

If done properly, it will develop a ‘growth mindset’ in your students, where they realize that they can always learn new things and make progress

Creates ‘lifelong learners’

How?

Try setting up an ‘Achievements Wall’, where examples of achievement can be constantly updated as the academic year progresses

Maybe get the kids involved –  set up a plastic wallet for each kid where they can add examples of work or achievements they are proud of

“An AMAZING book! A must-read for all teachers!”

Hold an ‘achievement sharing’ afternoon or lesson, at the end of each term, where students can talk about each other’s achievements

Include all of your students – don’t leave anyone out

Possibly use this kind of display to track progress on a project the kids are doing (e.g. you could have a large column for each group, where each lesson one group member adds a few bullet points to summarize what the group did).

#3: Display key words and command terms

Why?

Every subject has its own set of key terminology which is essential to understanding and expressing concepts, contexts, events, and processes.

Regular exposure to the correct use of key terminology creates greater confidence in exam-prep classes

Great for bilingual, ESL and EAL students

Works with any subject

How?

Display command terms and meanings for examination classes (e,g, ‘Explain’, ‘Describe’, ‘Outline’, etc.)

Display different versions of common words for your subject (e.g. subtract/minus/take-away)

Display topic-specific terminology when kids are learning particular units (e.g. Food and Digestion words might be ‘Stomach’, ‘Foodpipe’, ‘Small Intestines’)

Use diagrams to display the key terminology for visual concepts (e.g. the parts of parallel electrical circuit)

If some students in your class speak a language other than English as their mother tongue, then you can even make your terminology multi-lingual by getting those students to translate the words

  #4: Use plastic wallets

Why?: 

Plastic wallets keep work neat, they’re easy to stick up (only a pin is needed for each one) and they’re easy to update

Plastic wallet displays lend themselves to being more ‘interactive’ than traditional displays

How?

Fill plastic wallets with samples of excellent student work (see number 1 above)

Put the exam syllabus, program of study and exam papers inside

Students may wish to use them to store answers to quiz questions, clues for crosswords and puzzles and even revision cards for exam-preparation

If you use them to keep key words inside, then this allows you a quick access point when playing learning games such as ‘Mystery Word’ (see instructions below)

#5: Display upcoming events

Why?:

Students need to know their key deadlines and key events (such as coursework hand-in dates and examination days)

They can be used to get students excited about a theme-based event, such as World Book Day, British Biology Olympiad or school Sports Day

They can motivate students to get moving on their projects and coursework, such as their IB TOK Presentation.

How?

If the event has a glossy poster that goes with it, then definitely display that

Display the key parts of the event (e.g. the schedule for the day)

Clearly display the instructions the students must follow to get ready for the event

Display photos of past-students who were successful at this event last time (if available)

#6: Display Mission Statements

Why?

When students are reminded of their school’s overall aims, theme, and focus, it gels the school together as a winning community

When mission statements specific to courses are displayed, discussed and applied (e.g. the IB Learner Profile), they can provide students with valuable principles that will guide them their whole lives.

How?

If your school already has a published poster/document containing their mission statements, then display that

Think of ways in which the statements apply to your subject area, and display that (e.g. We are thinkers – ‘We critically evaluate our experimental methods and use the lessons learned to modify future methods).

Displays large, colorful key words from the mission statements and get your kids to add ideas as to how they can be applied inside and outside of school

#7: Display biographies of famous people

Why?

Provides inspiration

Can be used to teach about the skills and personality traits the famous people have or had

How?

Get large, clear photographs or paintings of the famous people and display those

Try to make it subject specific (e.g. Science could be Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc.)

Include a paragraph of two of their story. Make the text large. Emphasize the fact that they all worked hard in the face of adversity

#8 Display memorable events

Why?

Events which have already passed, especially if used to reinforce a subject area, can provide students with useful triggers and memories than can help their exam performance

Provides lots of talking points, which gels the school or class together as a community

How?

Include lots of photos of the event that took place

If the kids produced some kind of output (e.g. baking cakes, making scarfs, etc.) then display the work or photos of it

Try to include student summaries of what they enjoyed about the event, and what they learned from it

#9: Display model answers

  Why?

Another way to get the students used to seeing key terminology in practice

Reinforces the importance of the exams

Provides a benchmark to aspire to

Gives the students an idea of how to format their answers, and how much to write

How?

Print questions from past-papers (maybe as A3 sheets) which cover fundamental, key concepts in your subject area (e.g. A classic right-angled trigonometry question in maths)

Get your students to fill in the model answers using exemplars you give them, in different colors

Display the model answers yourself, but get the students to annotate the answers in colored pens with the marks given at each stage, plus reasons why. 

#10: Display revision summaries

Why?

Brings all of the concepts together

Provides a point of reference on the run-up to exams

Provides stimulus material for student-led revision

Provides motivation to revise

How?

Use mind-maps, bullet point lists, infographics and checklists

Display every page of the syllabus

Split the class into groups. Each group produces a revision poster for a particular topic

Display the URLs of websites that students can use for revision

#11: Display processes

  Why?

Many subjects have processes (e.g. T, F, A, R means Thoughts lead to Feelings, Feelings lead to Actions, Actions lead to Results)

Can be used to reinforce moral or logical principles (e.g. the Four D’s of success: Discipline, Dedication, Drive, and Desire)

Can be used to memorize physical actions (e.g. DR ABC from First Aid – Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, and Circulation)

Can be used for essential safety information (e,g, the Green Cross Code: Stop, Look, Listen)

How?

Colorful flowcharts lend themselves well to this

Display photographs or pictures of each stage

Display instructions for each stage

Show a completed template at the end (e.g. a completed scientific report on an experiment)

#12: Make it 3D

Why?

3D displays look more attractive and unique than 2D ones

Can be made of unusual materials (such s fabrics) to create textures

How?

SAFETY: Make sure no hard parts stick out too much. I once remember a display on the corridor in an old school where a glass trophy was displayed on a glass shelf, at about head-height. A partially blind student walked into the shelf and really hurt himself. 

Paper is the best material for turning in 3D shapes – it’s cheap, available and relatively safe

Students can make little boxes out of paper, attached to the display board, containing answers to quiz questions

Pop-up images and ‘flip to see the answer’ type pieces lend themselves well to 3D displays

#13: Make it multi-sensory

Why?

Tons of research shows that students learn using all of their five senses

It brings an interactive and fun element to the display

ICT can be incorporated

How?

Think of ways to include smells, textures and sounds to your displays (taste probably won’t work well!)

Fabrics work well for textures. Sometimes you can use the materials discussed in the display (e.g. copper wires for a display on electricity, aluminum and steel cans for a display on recycling)

Try to rig up a push-button sound system (e.g. an iPod connected to speakers with pre-loaded audio files installed)

#14: Display essential course information

Why?

Vital for exam preparation classes – they need to know what % each exam paper counts for, what their coursework is worth, etc.

How?

Include large, colorful titles of the course components along with their percentages

Include exemplar work for each component

Include real case-studies (e.g. Student X got 83% on Paper 1, 65% on Paper 2 and 71% on Paper 3, and ended up getting a grade B)

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  Creating Classroom Displays: Essential Tips for Teachers An article by Richard James Rogers Illustrations by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati A warm, inviting classroom that's colorful, fresh and light can really benefit your students.

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