I already have mother Mary’s face tattooed on my hand and would really like an old detailed knight sword down my wrist to my mid thumb.
My concern is will potential employment view that as offensive and violent? Most places never have an issue with my current tattoos but they are all angles I fear this will be viewed violent like having a brash gun tattoo or a naked woman. Thoughts l?

Disclaimer: Minor spoilers for Arxur Nursery.
This was made at the request of u/frame_late
In case you don’t know, Arxur Nursery is a series continuation of a good ending rewrite of a oneshot known as Graphite Dreamland written by u/CornSquashBeans. The original oneshot made everyone incredibly depressed, so I took it upon myself to save the precious babies.
Now, the precious babies live in Arxur Nursery.
Arxur Nursery is a mostly slice of life fluff fic about “defective” Arxur hatchings being sent to an improvised orphanage and being cared for by humans. Some of them might even get adopted.
In preparation for the days of adoption, here’s a list of all of the hatchlings present in the story.
Every hatchling has a name, gender, age, hobbies/likes, and an article of clothing that helps identify them.
I hope to get the chance to actually introduce them all ion the story!
Minuli, Female, 8 years old: The only named hatchling from the original oneshot. Loves drawing and astronomy, being a surprisingly talented artist who draws random planets in her free time. She was given an astronomy t-shirt depicting the solar system.
Timothy, Male, 4 months old: Is the youngest of all of the hatchlings. Loves playing with alphabet blocks and making laser gun noises. He was given a blue plaid button up shirt.
Baroz, Male, 10 years old: Is the oldest of all the hatchlings, and is nearing the arxur age for puberty. Loves observing his surroundings and reading… anatomical diagrams. Maybe has some issues. He wears a belt with a pouch and carries around various forms of… literature.
Jurra, Female, 7 years old: Has a taste for fashion and an eye for aesthetics. Also has ADHD. She wears a poofy little girls dress.
Kuno, Male, 7 years old: Older brother to Saba. If you adopt him, you have to adopt her as well. Wears a shirt that says “Big brother” on it.
Saba, Female, 5 months old: Younger sister to Kuno. If you adopt her, you have to adopt him too. Wears a shirt that says “Little sister” on it.
Kilo, Male, 4 years old: Loves the texture of wool and fleece. Wearing a wool scarf.
Barka, Female, 6 years old: Loves geology and gemstones. Needs glasses. Was given a gemstone necklace.
Tazka, Male, 9 years old: Is fascinated by color theory and art. Wears a tie-dye rainbow t-shirt.
Kana, Female, 3 years old: Loves the color purple and pretty flowers. She wears a purple ribbon tied into an elaborate bow around her wrist.
Jax, Male, 8 years old: Likes pretty ladies and being a proper gentleman. Wears a button up shirt with a clip on tie.
Pyon, Male, 2 years old: Likes touching things. Has high functioning autism(also known as Asperger’s syndrome). Wears a fur textured armband.
Jeremy, Male, 10 months old: Likes hopping around and running after things he finds cute, which includes you. Has ADHD. Wears a set of bunny ears.
Lennon, Male, 1 year old: Named after a member of the Bettles band. Loves listening to music and grooving. Wears a wild wig of black hair.
Bethany, Female 2 years old: Loves clinging to the nearest person and bouncing on the bed. Has a habit of randomly kicking things without control(possibly a variation of alien hand syndrome). Wears a pink t-shirt.
Raja, Female, 6 years old: Loves piggyback rides and large animals. Wasn’t given any clothes, but was given a Godzilla plushie.
Helen, Female, 5 years old: Named after Helen Keller. Is blind in one eye and deaf in one ear due to abuse. Wears a white ribbon around her wrist.
Walter, Male, 3 years old: Loves chewing on rocks and eating glitter glue. Wears a beanie.
Surak, Male, 7 years old: Loves being the center of attention. Wears sunglasses all the time.
Yalga, Female, 7 years old: Born slightly malformed and lopsided, and also suffers gigantism and Asperger’s syndrome. Loves making herself look as pretty as possible. Wears a pretty pink bow tie on her head.
Lefty, Male, 7 years old: Born blind in one eye. Has a massive crush on Yalga. Loves water and fish. Wears a pirate style eyepatch.
Sapat, Male, 9 years old: Suffers from depression. Has an interest in biology and bioengineering. Wears a torn lab coat.
Fisa, Female, 8 years old: Loves sneaking around and watching any form of media that she can get her claws on. Wears a watch.
Croja, Male, 7 years old: Older brother of Sarep. You must adopt them both. Loves metal music. Wears a leather jacket.
Sarep, Male, 3 years old: Younger brother of Croja. You must adopt them both. Has high functioning autism. Loves any music that is happy in tune. Wears a t-shirt with a music note on it.
Rya, Female, 3 years old: Older sister to Belet. You must adopt them both. Loves to chase bright lights. Wears a t-shirt depicting a sunset.
Belet, Female, 7 months old: Younger sister to Rya. You must adopt them both. Has a faster than average metabolism. Loves trying to eat everything. Wears a bib.

I’m a tattoo apprentice looking to practice designs to transfer onto fake skin! Send me your ideas and if it stands out I’ll create a line work drawing/ sketch for you :) I will try to get to as many as possible
Some things I love to draw - plants/ flowers/ nature -portraits -animals -whimsical creatures - filigree/ ornamental -skulls/ anatomy/ eyes
Check my account to see some of my posted drawings for reference of my style 😊 cheers!

Rescue Hospital, Venlil Prime
Some time after the rescues were situated and calmed.
——— ———
C-S-433
Out of the myriad of emotions that fluttered up within me upon landing on Venlil Prime again, the chief among them was annoyance, strangely enough.
The first step of achieving my goal - barring being actually discharged and having access to equipment to facilitate communication with the Head Researcher - was standing little more than half a room away from me, in the corner. Obviously a human as memorised from the information I received, the proportions were correct, and yet all of their mysteries were metaphorically hidden behind the reflective full-face mask all of them insisted they wear.
It’s just that the humans were so. Damn. Uncooperative!
They insisted on this charade of pretending that they were ‘Gaians’ and were actually prey just like the Venlil around us. I knew it was a lie since the information I was provided with would have mentioned something so significant, but I couldn’t point it out because I wasn’t supposed to know!
My emotional suppression training was being tested rigorously and it has only been little over a day.
The Venlil doctor pestering me wasn’t helping either.
“We just need your name, miss. It’ll help us inform your friends and family that you are safe now.” He asked, for the dozenth time.
And so I repeated my answer, for the dozenth time. “My name is C-S-433.”
At the very least, they stopped insisting that my name wasn’t my name. The masquerading human gave up on the second attempt, but it took till the double digits for the Venlil to get the message.
The way his ears flattened out at my response and his tail flicked sadly angered me to no end, but unlike him I was professional enough to keep my tells in check. My ears unmoving, my voice level and patient. His right ear flicked, signifying that he was about to ask the question again and somehow expect a different answer.
Luckily, the disguised human chose that moment to ask his own question. “What would your parents refer to you as?”
The idiot doctor looked up at the human in annoyance at the interruption while I thought about the question. There was a myriad of ways that one could be answered but the one that they desired sprung to mind after some searching. “I used to be called F-Fori. After a flower.”
The name tasted like ash.
“And where did you live, when you were Fori?”
“A small town near Shadeside, called Meadow’s Bounty. I was a florist.”
“Well!” The human clasped his hands together and nudged the doctor. “That’s some great progress today, but I think it’s about time you got a little rest from people. There’s some books besides your bed if you feel like reading.”
He all but shoved the Venlil out of the room and gave me a small wave before shutting the door, leaving me alone with the books. Having nothing better to do, I got to reading.
—
The selection of books was... lacking.
Everything was nonfiction that I wasn’t interested in and the only remotely useful thing was a leaflet someone was using as a bookmark. It was an outdated advertisement for an abandoned colony site that was liberated by the Arxur some time ago. Still, outdated as it was, the nostalgic slogans and faded pictures were leagues more interesting than the the first pages of that ‘Frankenstein’ drivel someone saw fit to leave besides my bed side.
Why was I even confined to a bed if I was healthy enough to walk around? I completed entire training exercises on an emptier stomach!
I eyed the door suspiciously, imagining just what exactly I could find behind it. Maybe a human dropping their Gaian masquerade or a Venlil doing whatever it is they do around humans. But... no. The human implied that I was supposed to stay in the room and disobeying orders off the bat would be a horrifically bad first impression.
Rapport was important when finding out secrets, or anything really.
—
“C-S-127, you are horrible at this.”
Those words weren’t exaggerated or slander, as the very second I finished speaking the ‘Jenga’ tower collapsed, leaving only C-S-127’s paw hovering in the air for all to see.
He lowered his paw in failure and sullenly began the process of rebuilding the tower while the human currently accompanying us added another tally to his ‘score’ - score of failures!
We were taking part in a learning/social exercise: if the human knocks the tower over he has to answer a question from all the other participants. Originally thought to be a perfect opportunity for the two of us to interrogate the human, it turned out to be an afternoon of humiliation for C-S-127 due to the human’s surprisingly dexterous fingers.
Or maybe C-S-127 was simply bad at gracefully dismantling small wooden towers.
A rich chuckle escaped from with the human’s mask. “You should listen to Fori-
“C-S-433.” I correct.
“-and maybe take your time more. There’s no rush.”
Was the dexterity of human fingers significant enough to report to the Head Researcher? Surely he would already know about something like this as it could be reasonably assumed that species with longer digits are more dexterous... and yet not a word about this was mentioned in the information provided to me.
Was this an invitation to take initiative?
By the Prophet, I sure hope not!
But then again it was inevitable, really. With orders like ‘investigate’ I would eventually run out of pre-determined avenues of research and have to strike out on my own. Or with the others. Still, none of that mattered as long as I was stuck in this hospital and brooding wasn’t going to get me discharged any sooner.
“C-S-433 it’s-“
“Fori” The human ‘corrected’.
“-your go.”
It was? And so it was! C-S-127 had already went and managed to snag one of the pieces of the lower tower without toppling it, leaving it unbalanced at its foundation. If I could take the piece opposite the one her took... then the human’s efforts to keep the tower standing would be significantly harder!
I prodded the desired piece out of the tower and swiped it once I deemed it ‘out’ enough, wobbling the entire construct. It held stalwart!
Then the human plucked a piece from the second-most highest level of the tower without any effort.
The tower toppled the next round.
A deep, guttural of mirth came from the human sitting besides me and suddenly the room fell into dead silence. Both me and C-S-127 turned our heads to look at the human, mimicking their natural forward facing focus, and bored into him. He knew that we knew something was up, even if he didn’t know the exact extent.
There was no way that the sounds that just left the ‘Gaian’ could be compared to the high pitched squeaks they were feigning the entire afternoon.
“... forgive me, I’ve got a hoarse throat. It acts up every now and then.”
I glanced around to see if there were any Venlil nearby, finding none. Our designated minder was still busy doing whatever it was they set off to do.
“I think that both me and S-C-127 would appreciate if you stopped mocking our perception.”
The human went to get up but both me and S-C-127 reached out and stopped him almost simultaneously, each holding onto a different wrist. The human flinched at our accidental coordination and made to lean back. “I don’t know what you guys are-“
“Stop.” S-C-127 sent me a significant look as he said that, and we both nodded in understanding. A similar scenario was foreseen and we had a script to follow. “We’ve caught you out, and now you have two choices, Gaian.”
“Option one,” I piped up. “You take of that mask of yours and explain things really quickly before your Venlil minder returns...”
“Or Option two, we mention this incident to our fellow, ah, rescues.” S-C-127 finished.
At this point we let go of his wrists and sat back, ready to spring to action should the situation require it. As passive as it was trying to appear, the human was a Predator and deserved the respect and caution that title demanded. The human drew his wrists up to his chest and then reached up to his reflective mask. “You two are real devious bastards putting me on the spot like that, you know? Downright diabolical.”
He turned his face fully to see the door, not even trying to hide his true nature anymore.
The mask lifted up with a ’click’ as the human began explaining what was really going on. “So, my name is James. And you two will have to get real cool with a whole lot of stuff real fast for this to work...”
——— ———
First - Prev - Next

Let’s look to the Japanese pictogram meaning Consider (Observe Fully) It has Five Parts: 1. Ears to hear. 2. Eyes to see. 3. Undivided attention to focus. 4. Mind to think. 5. Heart to feel.
I believe the greatest need of a human being is not to be loved, not to be understood, but to feel I have been considered. To consider something is to get outside of myself and spend a considerable (there’s that word again) amount of time observing, beholding, discovering, and perceiving; in an attempt at understanding. First I must consider myself then I can consider others.
We start out life as dependent on our parents. Hopefully as we grow we learn to become independent. Interdependence is a choice that an independent person can make. Interdependence means that I have trust in what you can do for me.
But interdependence is not just a relationship of Creator to man or man to man read on…
(Luke 12:24) Consider (Observe Fully) the ravens; for they do not sow nor reap, and they have no storerooms and barns; and yet God feeds them; how much more important are you than the fowls? (Luke 12:27) Consider (Observe Fully) the flowers, how they grow; for they do not toil nor do they spin; but I say to you, that not even Solomon with all his glory was covered like one of these. The Greek words translated as consider or observe: to observe fully: – behold, consider, discover, perceive, to “know” (absolutely), – allow, be aware of, feel, have knowledge, perceive, be resolved, can speak, be sure, and understand.
How much more should we consider the human beings around us?
Righteousness
(Mat 6:33) But you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added to you. The Greek word is often translated “righteousness” or “justification”, but really means, ” to render (that is, show or regard as) just or innocent “. In English there are two kinds of being innocent: not being guilty, and being pure inside. The Greek word can also refer to either aspect of innocence. The Gospel writers use it to mean “to make innocent/prove not guilty”.
This distinction is really important, because I cannot really love others or myself until I believe I am guiltless, innocent, pure, and holy. Then I need to believe others are also guiltless, innocent, pure, and holy. This improves my ability to consider.
The observer and the detached witness:
An observer is usually seen as standing apart and independent of what is observed. The observer tries to have minimal influence on what is observed.
A witness, as defined, is one who can attest to the truth of what occurred. As such, a witness is often called upon to verify legal actions such as signatures, exchange of marriage vows and the like. They can attest to the fact that events really did happen as reported. The witness is about seeing objectively. As detached witness I stand apart from any filter of perception I may have about what is occurring.
The concept of the detached witness recognizes the fact that in the creative process the observer and the observed are intimately connected. It is much like the phenomenon in physics where the observer affects what is observed. It is to recognize that minimum influence is caused by simply the observer being present in observation and to realize the more profound influence is caused by how I choose to observe. The detached witness intentionally chooses this interconnection. But once I choose my method of observation, that is, how I am influencing the situation, I detach myself from what is happening and hold myself seemingly apart to observe the flow. I am aware that my own observation is giving rise to what I see and experience.
Both the detached witness and the observer are about becoming detached and seeing the events that I am experiencing more as a movie rather than the events happening to me. As observer I just observe, as detached witness I choose to be intimately involved in the movie I am watching. First I realize I am watching life events like a movie much like becoming an unnamed camera person observing from behind the camera recording the movie rather than being the performer. The script can be changed.
As detached witness I know I can change the script to whatever I wish if I so choose. That is, I go back and deal with the past issues in my life that I believed created the movie, my life, as I now witness and experience it.
In becoming the detached witness, I will begin to see the events themselves from a different perspective and I will begin to see “stories” behind “stories,” or layers upon layers that each has a story that can be told on that layer of reality.
The detached witness is the initial step one needs to take to step out of mind see the true nature of reality. The detached witness is to step out of the thinking and judging mind and become witness. It is not something that can really be just mentally understood – it ultimately must be experienced.
One of my methods to be an observer is Wide-Angle Vision (meditation on awareness)
This can be done sitting or moving; start with sitting and gradually progress to moving. The purpose of this exercise is to de-focus my eyesight to be aware of my whole visual field. The important thing is to concentrate on awareness. When a specific object draws my attention I will then automatically focus on it.
The first benefit of this is that the awareness of movement and sound is greatly increased.
Another benefit of this is that my awareness is set free to seek out different things in my whole visual field. In the outdoors, my awareness might be attracted to a plant, tree, or animal; I might gain a new insight about the object. In a crowd of people, my awareness might be attracted to a certain person; I might gain a new insight about that person or be lead to a need that person has.
One of my methods to be a detached witness is Sacred Silence (meditation to set aside conscious mind)
The first nine steps program step ten as a trigger to set aside the conscious mind. The first nine steps must be practiced regularly to keep step ten effective.
Also this technique starts to open you up for dynamic body control. That is the possibility of controlling involuntary body functions with intentional imagination.
(1) Lie down, get comfortable, relax (goal-meditate actively)
(2) Concentrate fully on breathing (feel inhale-rise exhale-fall)
(3) Command breaths – inhale, hold-collect tension, exhale-release breath and tension
(4) Complete body relaxation – inhale-tense body area -exhale-relax body area
(5) White light sequence – imagine light moving from feet to head (soothing, relaxing, warming, and healing)
(6) Body positions sequence – direct full attention to body areas
(7) Gravity sequence – imagine body areas heavy (pulled to earth)
(8) Pain sequence – shape pain (negativity) and force out of the body and into earth
(9) Soaring, flying, floating sequence – imagine soaring, etc.
(10) Trigger sequence – breath to heart: (emergency only short cut)
deep gentle inhalation,
hold & collect the rest of tension (pain builds in chest),
steady gentle exhaling until you feel heart beating in chest
Repeat 2 or 3 more times until I can feel pulses in wrists, thighs, neck, even the scalp tingling.
Then I am ready to review past experiences to change the script of my life.
I am also free to project future possible experiences.
I can also imagine experiences in the present moment that are just as real as any physical experience.
Let’s go back to the Japanese pictogram meaning Consider (Observe Fully)
If you condense this fully I believe it is “unconditional acceptance”. This is the state of mind that makes “Active Listening” possible. Take notice of the order of the process: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.
What is “Active Listening”? It is a moment of being there to consider someone:

Without any strings attached to an outcome
Without any thought of what I must think or say (no advice or suggestions)
Without any of the “cares of life” to distract
With a total commitment to unconditionally serve the other
Using as many of my senses as I can (hearing, seeing, feeling, etc.)
Soliciting feedback to make sure I have complete understanding.

I may have missed an explanation somewhere, but I thought Grishas had a specific power? But there were a few times in S2 where they were able to do something else. For example, Nina is a heart render but was shown erasing the tattoo from Inej's wrist. Or when Genya was able to detect David's heartbeat even though she's a tailor. Plot hole or is that explained in the books?

Welcome back to the Popheads Jukebox! Here are last week’s results:

j-hope - on the street (feat. J. Cole): 7.58
Demi Lovato - Still Alive: 7.14
Roisin Murphy & DJ Koze - CooCool: 5.94
Loreen - Tattoo: 5.90
Nicki Minaj - Red Ruby Da Sleeze: 2.00

Lucy Dacus - Night Shift: 9.58
ITZY - WANNABE: 8.97

It's a bit of an underwhelming week across the board, with j-hope and Demi scraping past the 7.0 mark with their songs that were just decent. The newest efforts from Roisin and Loreen get mixed reviews, both about on par with each other, but it's Nicki who flops the most and topples Miley's Flowers for the lowest score of the year thus far by over two whole points.
Everyone is taking the night shift as we celebrate 5 years and the music video release of Lucy's smash, with it scoring extremely well. ITZY are also not too far behind with WANNABE for the catch-up!

Rules Refresher

Rate the songs a score from 1 to 10. Please keep it to one decimal place at the most (so 7.5 is fine but 7.58 is not). Also don’t get too hung up on the final scores. This is a fun exercise and not a competition so don’t worry about oveunder rating things. Just give what you think the song is to you.
For your review, reply to the comment that will be posted by one of us for each song. Avoid posting your reviews as a top level comment cause we probably won’t notice them if you do. Non-reviews such as questions or general commentary as upper level comments are fine.
Must have some sort of justification. Try to be a bit more concise than “It’s a bop!” or “I don’t like it”. Explain why! It doesn’t have to be long, two or three sentences can be plenty (though more is definitely allowed). We reserve the right not to include a review in the final total if proper justification is not given.
You don’t have to review each song to participate! You can do all of them or only the ones you’re familiar with.
The thread will be open for 6 days and close the following Wednesday at 6PM EST. The scores will be calculated and a new post will come up the next day (Thursday) at 3PM EST with the next week’s tracks.

This Week’s Tracks

Aly & AJ - After Hours
Calvin Harris - Miracle (with Ellie Goulding)
GAYLE - everybody hates me
Meghan Trainor - Mother
Miley Cyrus - River

Throwback:

Ariana Grande - The Way (feat. Mac Miller)

2020/2021 Catch-up:

Hikaru Utada - One Last Kiss

—

Next Week

Next week we’ll be rating the following:

Rina Sawayama - Eye for An Eye
Taylor Swift - All The Girls You Loved Before
Tori Kelly - missin u
TWICE - SET ME FREE
Yves Tumor - Echolaila

Throwback:

Anna Kendrick - Cups

2020/2021 Catch-up:

Japanese Breakfast - Be Sweet

Spotify playlist, updated weekly with new tracks that are being rated

Jukebox wiki, where you can find all results

Reminder Discord Server, where you can join to get bi-weekly ping reminders for when new posts go up and when they’re about to close.

I am looking for an artist to create voxel characters for my game Cube Universe.
You should have experience with both regular modeling and voxels because I'll be using a system to add decal textures (armor, tattoos, ...) to the models, similar to how this is done on regular 3D models. The only difference is that the texture is sampled at the voxel level, i.e. each voxel has a single color. Just imagine the model being voxelized and the voxel color being the color of the closest point on the regular model.
I need models for the 6 different playable species with some customization options. 5 of them have two genders, the 6th one is a ~~flower~~ highly intelligent plant-based lifeform. Some also need different hair styles for the player to choose from.
Feel free to contact me on reddit, via email to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or via Discord (Beosar#8149).

Jennifer after the bar
Another night at the bar, people say I’m an alcoholic but I think that’s just fucking bullshit. I can control myself!. And I don’t need my boyfriend tell me, “oh Jennifer, you should stop drinking for a while” who the fuck does he think he is? I guess, I have to just break up with him. He’s so annoying these days, he wasn’t always like this, he’s just not the same person that I used to know. And I don’t give a fuck right now, I just want to drink and look at these people in the bar and wonder, is their life also fucked up like mine? From outside they all look fine but I guess from inside they are damaged just like me, maybe even more, I guess the more damaged the people the more they hide and try to project an image that is not real.
Bartender: Would you like to order anything else?
Jennifer: Yeah I’ll have another tequila please.
I guess after having many drinks the world just went totally dark, I fell asleep. Something is shaking my arm, it’s a strong hand, I can feel it, it must be a man’s hand.
Bartender: Hey Jennifer wake up, Jennifer?
Jennifer: I don’t know what happened I guess I just fell asleep.
Bartender: Well I do know, you fell asleep like a plane smashing to the ocean.
I don’t know if he said that to sound smart or wanted to flirt in a sexy way. As I wake up no one’s in the bar anymore, all I can hear is the music. It’s only me and the bartender. Huh, damn I never asked his name, should I ask it?
Bartender: By the way my name is jack!. I just realised you never called me by my name.
oh I guess I don’t have to ask it anymore. Why did he say his name right now? Does he want to fuck? Hmmm I don’t think so, he’s married!. Would I fuck him if he wasn’t married? I don’t know, maybe not or maybe yeah. He has a nice body for sure, I guess I should play true and dare with him the next time, to see what’s under that shirt!. I don’t know, Ah I guess, I drank a bit too much!.
Jack: You have to go now, sorry but I have to close the bar, I have to go home. Jennifer? Jennifer? You hear me?
Jennifer: Oh yeah, I’m really sorry, it won’t happen again.
Jack: You say that all the time.
Jennifer: This time I’m serious.
Jack: oh I thought you were serious the last time!.
I leave the bar and john, was it, john? I guess it was john. He closes the bar.
Jack: See you next time Jennifer.
Jennifer: See you, bye John.
Jack: My name’s Jack not John.
Jennifer: I guess it’s the alcohol!.
As he’s going towards his car, he says to me.
Jack: aha, Yeah I guess too!.
He gets into his car and drives off. It's really cold outside. No one’s on the street. I check my phone and it’s around 3am!. Wow, Jack was really nice to let me sleep for few hours Or maybe he wanted to fuck? I guess that’s what all men think about in one way or another when they see me, I guess I’m a bit too hot for them to handle, not crazy hot but hot enough!. I kind of feel bad that I didn’t know his name. I guess, sometimes I’m a bit of an asshole but everyone’s an asshole once in a while, so I guess it’s ok!.
As I’m walking down the street, I see a car going by very fast, so fast that I felt for a moment it's going to hit a wall or something!. It’s a bit of a weird feeling to walk in the streets all alone, Sam is with me all the time, maybe I should’ve told him to come with me instead of going to the bar all alone. These streets are usually full of people, after all it’s berlin!. I guess, people in berlin sleep too, it’s 3:20 am after all.
Everything just feels different. I can smell the streets, the alcohol bottles all around the streets. Oh what’s that smell? It’s, oh no fuck, I hate this smell!. Someone has probably puked over there. I go over the other side of the street and I can still smell it. I wish there could be a magical flower in my hand right now!, I’d smell it for hours!.
I keep walking for another 10 minutes. I guess, if I continue with this speed I’d be home in 15 minutes!. I could walk faster but it’s just too dark and I don’t want to fall down on my face!. I have to finally talk with this new costumer. My boyfriend Sam can be annoying at times but if it wasn’t because of him I wouldn’t be able to get the attention of this new costumer. Maybe if Sam was with me right now I wouldn’t have to go through all these empty streets all alone. We’d be home by minutes. He’s kind of a guy that respects the law so much and always acts properly but at nights, at nights, oh, he can get really wild!!!. It’s as if he gets colour blinded at nights and can’t see the difference between red and green!. I bet he doesn’t see my underwear in green instead of red at nights!. It really gets him turned on when he sees the colour red!. As I'm walking I hear a loud sound!. What was that? I can sense from which direction the sound came from but I can’t see what it is!. I’m just standing here!. I don’t know whether I should keep walking or not. What if someone’s hiding and grabs me from the behind? What then? Will I be dead? Oh god, what should I do now? Ok, It might be a crazy idea but I'm just going to get close to that sound!. Oh shit I hear it again!. I get closer to it, the closer I get to it the less light there is, as a kid I was really scared of it but now I kind of like it!. I see shadows moving, I can’t really say what those shadows look like, a human? Or something else?!. Something with such speed comes at me. The sound is so loud that I scream!. It gets near to my feet, I look at it with eyes wide open and with such intensity!. I can’t believe what I'm seeing, this shit scared me?!. It’s a bottle of fucking beer!. Wow, I almost was about to lose my shit because of this? No, no hold on!. How did the bottle get here? It didn’t just roll here right? Suddenly from behind I sense something moving very fast!. I turn around but there’s nothing! But I'm sure, there has to be!. I never get these kind of things wrong!.
I just continue walking as fast as I can, I guess that’s the right move. Even if I fall on my face, it doesn’t really matter at this moment, my life matters more than some new costumer!. Oh fuck, I should’ve not slept at the bar. Maybe I even shouldn’t have went to the bar tonight!. Fuck, fuck it!. So If I die tonight I want to at least die in a dramatic way and not by falling down on my face!.
I still feel that thing following me, I don’t know from which direction. It’s as if it wants to haunt me. I never felt like this before. Hold on!, Someone’s coming!. It seems like a car is passing by, it’s going quite slowly, the colour of the car is white, so white that it creates this light alike effect around it even though it’s totally dark right now!. I wonder if the person siting in it can maybe help.
oh oh, I don’t think so!. There’s red all over the front window of the car, I’m pretty sure it’s blood, it’s fucking red blood!, I can’t really see the person siting in it. For some reason I didn’t start running, I’m not sure why!. The car slowly passes by!. And I couldn’t even see the person sitting in it, because of all the blood covering the window!. I continue walking but then I hear the sound of car stopping, I also stop and stand still, I can’t see the car anymore since I walked by a bit and the car is behind me, but I can hear it very closely, the door of the car opens!. I’m not sure whether I should turn back and take a look or not. What should I do now? Should I just continue walking or just run as fast as possible? I never felt this much anxiety before. I hear the door being slammed, the sound is very loud, so loud that it echoes though the street!. But I hear no word from the person!. I assume it’s a man!. I’m not sure why but I guess most men are just crazy, at least that’s what my aunt always says!. I still don’t know what to do! I can hear his footsteps, he’s slowly reaching towards me!. What if he was the one throwing the bottle near my feet? I’m so confused right now!. I wonder what he’s having in his hands, maybe an ax or a shotgun? He's getting closer and closer, I can sense it with all of my body!. My ears were never this accurate before, everything is so clear and sharpened to my ears!. He’s right behind me, I don’t hear a word, I don’t hear a sound but only my breaths!. The sweats are coming off my face, my hand are shaking, my eyes see for a moment blurry, my heart’s going faster than ever before, I wonder, I wonder if this is the end!.
He puts his hand on my right shoulder, I want to scream but I don’t, my eyes are just wide open, I’m breathing very fast!. He slowly moves his hand from my shoulder to my arm and shakes my arm a bit, I can sense he’s having something in his hand, I’m not sure what that is. He touches my hand and tries to give me something, now I can see it, it’s a knife!. I wasn’t able to see his hand, why is he giving me a knife? I’m sweating faster and faster, my left hand’s shaking, I’m holding the knife with my right hand but my right hand isn’t shaking at all!. He puts his hand on my shoulder again and shakes it a bit, and slowly moves it towards my neck!. He’s just having his hand around my neck, I don’t know what to do, I feel very scared, I have the knife, maybe I should just stab him as fast as possible!. I must do it, this is the only way, I can save myself from this asshole!. He’s still having his hand around my neck, I try to turn around and stab him with all power and speed, BUT I can’t, what is happening to me? I can’t move my body, I can’t move, my hand, I can’t feel my hand, I’m just standing!. Omg, someone please help me, I don’t understand what is happening, it’s as if I can’t feel my body But I can feel his hand around my neck!
I can sense his left hand reaching my shoulder and then moves it towards my face, I try to move but I just can’t!. He covers my eyes with his left hand, as he’s having his right hand around my neck!. I can’t see anything right now! It’s totally dark, I can sense how warm his hand is even though it’s very cold outside!. He puts away his left hand, I can see again but his right hand is still around my neck, he slowly pressures my neck, it’s becoming a bit harder for me to breath now, I still want to move my hand and stab him but I just can’t, I can’t move my body!. It’s as if I’m frozen!.
Suddenly he lets go of my neck! He brings his left hand in front of my face now I can finally see how his hand looks like!. Hold on a second, it’s a woman’s hand, I don’t get it, so all along, it’s a woman that is trying to kill me?!.
She reaches my jacket's pocket with the same hand, and pulls something out of it!. I can’t remember right now what I had in my jacket!. She immediately brings the same hand in front of my face, I can’t exactly see what is in her hand, she slowly turns her wrist, it’s a mirror!. She’s holding it in a way that I’m not able to see her face!. All I can see is the reflection of my body and hers!. But something is very strange, she’s wearing no cloths!. She’s totally naked!. With the mirror in her hand, she shows my body and her naked body to me!. I just don’t understand, I don’t understand what’s happening right now!. I know her body, it’s very familiar!. The legs, the arms, the breasts, the shape of her hands and fingers, the legs… There’s a tattoo on her belly, on the right side, it’s a, it’s a name!. It says SAM!!!. My eyes, my eyes, they have never been this wide before!. why does she have my boyfriends name tattooed on her belly?
She slowly brings the mirror upward, now I can’t see the tattoo, the legs, the breasts, the arms… All I can see through the mirror is her hand around my neck!. I still can’t see her face!. She moves the mirror very slowly upwards, now I can see my own face, but only my chin, I don’t see her face yet. She keeps moving the mirror upwards!. Now I can see her chin too and now I see her lips, why, why is she smiling? She has this strange smile on her face!. Now I can see my face completely, I’m very scared!. Now I can also, I, I , I can see her face, oh no, I can’t, this can’t be true, no this is not true, this can’t be, noooo!!!. I want to scream but i just can’t!. Her face, her face is exactly like mine, she looks literally like me, she still has this strange smile on her face, this can’t be true!. I can’t take this anymore, I can’t!. She grabs my right hand, in which I’m holding the knife with, she’s holding my hand firmly, she comes closer to me, I can feel her naked body behind my back!. She’s still smiling, as my eyes are wide open!. She just swings my right hand with a fast speed towards my chest, ah, my breath slows down, I can feel the knife in my chest, my breaths are becoming fast but inconsistent!. I want to yell, I want to scream, but I can’t!. I can’t move, I can’t do anything, all I can do is see myself and her through this mirror!. Blood is coming slowly off my chest, my cloths are getting red from the blood!. She’s still smiling, her hand and mine get red from the blood! She let’s go of my hand. Suddenly she stops smiling. She moves her right hand towards her mouth, with her tongue she licks her hand, which has blood on it!. I can’t believe what I’m seeing, I blink very fast, my vision is getting blurry, blurrier and blurrier!. She moves her right hand towards my mouth, which has blood on it, I can feel her hand around my lips, I can feel the hot blood around my lips!. With her bloody fingers, she touches my lips and pressures them a bit!. My vision is getting darker and blurrier, she moves her hand upwards and covers my eyes!. I see nothing, I hear nothing, I feel nothing!. It’s just darkness. I can’t even feel her naked body behind me anymore!. Is this it? Is this death? Is this how I die? I don’t know for how long but everything is just dark!.
I can feel something, something very warm, something very familiar, something that I’ve been missing, something that I’ve been yearning!. I feel as if I’m gaining control again, I feel as if I’m getting my senses back!. Something is shaking my arm, it’s a strong hand I can feel it, it must be a man’s hand. I feel like I had this thought before!!!.
I slowly open my eyes. I can hear everything, I see can everything again, I can move my body!. It’s Sam! He’s been shaking my arm!
Sam: Jennifer? Are you alright?
I’m at the bar? Ah, I, I don’t, it was all, was it all a dream?
Sam: Jennifer? Do you hear me?
Jennifer: Yeah Sam, I do hear you! I missed you!
Sam looks at me with a wondering face!
Sam: I think you drink a bit too much, Are you ok?
Jennifer: I, I never felt better!
I come close to Sam and kiss him gently on the lips, he seems to be a bit confused, so am I!. Oh that’s Jack, the bartender, he comes to us.
Jack: You want another drink Jennifer?
I laugh a bit as he asks this.
Jennifer: No, I think I had enough for this night!. Sam, what time is it?
Sam: It’s 12 am!. Do you want to go home?
As he asks this, I smile, I’m just so happy that he’s here with me. The dream I had, it was just so strange, I guess I’ll tell him about it tomorrow!
Jennifer: Yeah, let’s go home!.
I put my head on his shoulder and breath as deeply as I can!. I see a woman passing by us, she gets close to the exit door, before leaving she turns back and looks at me and smiles!. I get this weird feeling. She smiled like the woman who looked like me in my dream!. On her right hand I see a tattoo, it’s a black snake!. She leaves the bar!.
Sam: Aright, let’s go then. You don’t want to miss the new buyer tomorrow right?
Jennifer: Oh no, I don’t want to miss it!.
We pay and then slowly move towards the exit door. Jack smiles at us and then says.
Jack: Be careful, there’s a lot of bottles on the streets at this time!.
Sam: Alright jack!.
We leave the bar. Sam starts the car and then we go home. We both immediately get in the bed, he falls asleep right away!. I also try to close my eyes and sleep. Now everything is dark! Now everything slowly gets bright again!. I can feel something shaking my arm!.
The End

By Mani ravandi

We have arrived here at the non-English language tournament, FG. This will be a long tournament, as we had nearly 300 movies nominated from all over the world (though as to be expected from the history of cinema the most nominated countries were France, Italy, and Japan), so this will take us over the next few months. As always, the polls will last for one day, so get your votes in and come back tomorrow for the results and the next battle.
Letterboxd list of all the participating movies: https://boxd.it/lOu1o
Results of Round 1
8 1/2 (1963) - Italy (48) beat Martyrs (2008) - France (26), Elevator to the Gallows (1958) - France (11), and The Aviator’s Wife (1981) - France (5)
The Battle of Algiers (1966) - Italy/Algeria (28) beat 3-Iron (2004) - South Korea (7), Embrace of the Serpent (2015) - Colombia (5), and Massacre Time (Tempo di massacro) (1966) - Italy (2)
The 400 Blows (1959) - France (34) beat Memories of Murder (2003) - South Korea (32), Battleship Potemkin (1925) - Russia (21), and Eyes Without a Face (1960) - France (12)
Metropolis (1927) - Germany (51), beat Fanny and Alexander (1982) - Sweden (32), 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) - Japan (16), and The Bothersome Man (2006) - Norway
Fantastic Planet (1973) - France (23) beat Minari (2020) - USA (16), A Brighter Summer Day (1991) - Taiwan (14), and The Conformist (1970) - Italy (13)
Mirror (1975) - Russia (21) beat Farewell My Concubine (1993) - China (10), The Cranes Are Flying (1957) - Russia (10), and A City of Sadness (1989) - Taiwan (6)
Fists of Fury (1972) - Hong Kong (21) beat A Man Escaped (1956) - France (15), The Cremator (1969) - Czech Republic (9), and Moolaade (2004) - Senegal (5)
My Neighbour Totoro (1988) - Japan (44) beat A Separation (2011) - Iran (22), Fitzcarraldo (1982) - Germany (20), and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) - France (12)
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - Japan (25) beat The Double Life of Véronique (1991) - Poland (22), A Short Film About Love (1988) - Poland (11), and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) - India (6)
Night and Fog (1956) - France (14) beat A Very Long Engagement (2004) - France (8), The Emigrants (1971) - Sweden (6), and Girlhood (2014) - France (4)
Nosferatu (1922) - Germany (39) beat Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) - Germany (26), Godzilla (1954) - Japan (24), and The Exterminating Angel (1962) - Mexico (10)
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979) - Germany (36) beat Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) - Germany (21), Goodbye Lenin (2003) - Germany (12), and The Foreign Duck, The Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker (2007) - Japan (5)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009) - Sweden (17), beat All About My Mother (1999) - Spain (16), Grand Illusion (1937) - France (16), and O-bi, O-ba: The End of Civilization (1985) - Poland (3)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - Japan (33) beat Amarcord (1973) - Italy (14), One Cut of the Dead (2017) - Japan (10), and The Green Ray (1986) - France (9)
Amelie (2001) - France (79) beat The Handmaiden (2016) - South Korea (40), Only Yesterday (1991) - Japan (10), and Hamlet (1964) - Russia (6)
Harakiri (1962) - Japan (33) beat The Hidden Fortress (1958) - Japan (22), Amour (2012) - Austria (12), and Ordet (1955) - Denmark (10)
Andrei Rublev (1966) - Russia (29) beat The Holy Mountain (1973) - Mexico (26), Headhunters (2011) - Norway (10), and Obsession (1943) - Italy (4)
The Host (2006) - South Korea (30) beat Another Round (2020) - Denmark (29), Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) - Russia (7), and Out 1 (1971) - France (7)
High and Low (1963) - Japan (33) beat The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973) - Poland (10), Pale Flower (1964) - Japan (5), and Any Number Can Win (1963) - France (2)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) - Mexico (85) beat Apocalypto (2006) - USA (42), Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) - France (19), and The House is Black (1963) - Iran (5)
Parasite (2019) - South Korea (106) beat Holy Motors (2012) - France (16), The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959) - Japan (16), and Army of Crime (2009) - France (1)
Hour of the Wolf (1968) - Sweden (16) beat Army of Shadows (1969) - France (13), The Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer (1961) - Japan (9), and Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974) - Japan (3)
The Hunt (2012) - Denmark (42) beat I Saw the Devil (2010) - South Korea (25), Ashes and Diamonds (1958) - Poland (9), and Pater Brown – Das schwarze Schaf (1960) - Germany
Ikiru (1952) - Japan (34) beat The Killer (1989) - Hong Kong (25), Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) - France (10), and Pater Brown – Er kann's nicht lassen (1962) - Germany (4)
The Lives of Others (2006) - Germany (42) beat Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) - France (27), Pauline at the Beach (1983) - France (11), and Il compagno Don Camillo (1965) - Italy (1)
Il Decameron (1971) - Italy (14) beat Pépé le Moko (1937) - France (13), The Man Without a Past (2002) - Finland (11), and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion 2017) - India (10)
Battle Royale (2000) - Japan (76) beat Persona (1966) - Sweden (36), The New Land (1972) - Sweden (7), and Il ritorno di Don Camillo (1953) - Italy (4)
Beauty and the Beast (1946) - France (19) beat Phoenix (2014) - Germany (14), The Platform (2019) - Spain (11), and In a Year with 13 Moons (1978) - Germany (5)
In the Mood for Love (2000) - Hong Kong (42) beat The Raid (2011) - Indonesia (30), Belle de Jour (1967) - France (16), and Pixote (1980) - Brazil (10)
The Red Balloon (1956) - France (23) beat Playtime (1967) - France (22), Inside (2007) - France (12), and Belle Époque (1992) - Spain (10)
Bicycle Thieves (1948) - Italy (39) beat The Rules of the Game (1939) - France (14), Intouchables (2011) - France (6), and Port of Shadows (1938) - France (2)
Ip Man (2008) - Hong Kong (37) beat The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) - Poland (11), Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (2008) - France (6), and Pratidwandi (a.k.a. The Adversary) (1970) (India) (2)
Princess Mononoke (1997) - Japan (73) beat Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) - India (47), The Sacrifice (1986) - Sweden (17), and Black Girl (1966) - Senegal (13)
The Seventh Seal (1957) - Sweden (53) beat Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) - France (18), Jauja (2014) - Argentina (6), and Pushpak (1987) - India (3)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) - China (28) beat The Skin I Live In (2011) - Spain (23), Bob Le Flambeur (1956) - France (14), and Jean de Florette (1986) - France (6)
Ran (1985) - Japan (32) beat Breathless (1960) - France (14), Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) - Belgium (9), and The Tin Drum (1979) - Germany (2)
Johnny Gaddaar (2007) - India (45) beat Rare Exports - Finland (17), The Turin Horse (2011) - Hungary (15), and Cairo Station (1958) - Egypt (13)
Rashomon (1950) - Japan (37) beat Castle in the Sky (1986) - Japan (23), The Twilight Samurai (2002) - Japan (7), and Joyeux Noël (2005) - France (4)
Raw (2016) - France/Belgium (35) beat Jules and Jim (1962) - France (32), Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) - France (19), and The Ugly Swans (2006) - Russia (3)
The Virgin Spring (1960) - Sweden (25) beat Red Beard (1965) - Japan (20), Katyn (2007) - Poland (4), and Cemetery of Splendour (2015) - Thailand (3)
Rififi (1955) -France (27) beat Kin-dza-dza (1986) - Russia (8), Children of Heaven (1997) - Iran (6), and The Warped Ones (1960) - Japan (3)
Chungking Express (1994) - Hong Kong (25) beat Three Colors: Blue (1993) - Poland/France (24), Roma (2018) - Mexico (18), and L’avventura (1960) - Italy (17)
Cinema Paradiso (1988) - Italy (23) beat Three Colors: Red (1994) - Poland/France (15), Rome, Open City (1945) - Italy (10), and La Belle Noiseuse (1991) - France (6)
City of God (2002) - Brazil (63) beat La Dolce Vita (1960) - Italy (31), Run Lola Run (1998) - Germany(27), and Three Times (2005) - Taiwan (5)
Throne of Blood (1957) - Japan (42) beat La Femme Nikita (1990) - France (25), Cold War (2018) - Poland (14), and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) - India (5)
Come and See (1985) - Russia (50) beat La Haine (1995) - France (27), Through a Glass Darkly (1961) - Sweden (24), and Samurai Rebellion (1967) - Japan
La Jetee (1962) - France (26) beat Cries and Whispers (1972) - Sweden (19), Sansho the Bailiff (1954) - Japan (18), and Time Regained (1999) - France (3)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - Taiwan (80) beat La Notte (1961) - Italy (21), Tokyo Godfathers (2003) - Japan (14), and Santa Sangre (1989) - Mexico (13)
Tokyo Story (1953) - Japan (31) beat Satantango (1994) - Hungary (11), La Vie de Bohème (1992) - Finland (5), and Daens (1992) - Belgium (1)
Das Boot (1981) - Germany (47) beat Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) - India (7), Tokyo Tribe (2014) - Japan (5), and Satya (1998) - India (1)
Scenes from a Marriage (1974) - Sweden (21) beat Day of Wrath (1943) - Denmark (11), Lakshya (2004) - India (6), and Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954) - France (4)
Seven Samurai (1954) - Japan (90) beat Train to Busan (2016) - South Korea (51), Death Rides a Horse (1967) - Italy (4), and Landscape in the Mist (1988) - Greece (3)
~~Sholay (1975) - India (74) disqualified~~, Troll Hunter (2010) - Norway (36) beat Dekalog (1989) - Poland (33), and L'atalante (1934) - France (17)
Solaris (1972) - Russia (40) beat Delicatessen (1991) - France (22), Late Spring (1949) - Japan (13), and Ugetsu (1953) - Japan (12)
Umberto D. (1952) - Italy (16) beat Le Cercle Rouge (1970) - France (14), Soy Cuba (1964) - Russia (11), and Departures (2008) - Japan (8)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (2003) - South Korea (19) beat Victoria (2015) - Germany (9), Le Doulos (1962) - France (5), and Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war (1937) - Germany (4)
Stalker (1979) - Russia (43) beat Le Samourai (1967) - France (16), Der Untergang (2004) - Germany (6), and Viridiana (1961) - Spain/Mexico (5)
Wages Of Fear (1953) - France (19) beat Dersu Uzala (1975) - Russia (14), Le Trou (1960) - France (7), and Sunset (2018) - Hungary (5)
View Poll

As stated, I'm looking for any sort of feedback on the book I'm writing. A preemptive thank you to anyone reading through my arrogant ramblings :). Random chapter:

22. Nice catch.

Along came the day of the wedding and with it, a lot of stress for Esmée as she had not finished her dress yet despite having been warned about this every day for the past weeks. Peter was sitting in his tuxedo, amazed at how good he looked in it, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette while she frantically worked on finishing her dress.
‘Anything I can do to help Ducky?’ he would ask as she rushed past him, rolls of fabric in hand.
‘No, let me do it!’ she would snarl at him as she disappeared in to her room of creativity and old junk hoarding.
He knew full well he shouldn’t bother her while she was this stressed as she would always simply lash out at whoever was nearest to her at those times however they would have to leave in less than two hours and time was starting to become an issue. As he deftly flicked his cigarette in the ashtray from a few meters away arrogantly wondering why he was so good at that he got up and knocked on her door.
‘Ducky, it will be time to go soon please let me help you. I know I’m not exactly a fashion expert but at least let me do something.’ he asked, hoping she would not lash out too badly at him.
Mildly sobbing, she opened the door and hugged him.
‘It’s ruined!’ she said, tears gently rolling down her cheeks.
He looked at her in her self made wedding dress which was objectively beautiful and very well made especially since she had gone for a corset type top and she never stopped reminding him that that was the hardest type of clothing to make. The only mistake she had made were the silk straps which were too long and thus she stood there looking like a gorgeous fairytale princess with her tits hanging out.
‘Ducky it’s beautiful! And I’m not just saying that because you added your tits to the design which I think is just brilliant design work by the way. I’m not sure our family would agree though.’
‘That’s not funny!’ she said defiantly but he was certain he saw the slight hints of a smile being suppressed in the corners of her mouth.
‘It’s silk! I wont be able to shorten them without making them ugly and I don’t have any more on hand.’ She said as her suppressed smile turned into gentle sobs.
Ever the pragmatist, he set his own bad jokes aside for a minute (At least you won’t have to worry about people looking at your make-up. - Great wedding bells Ducky! - Well that’s a problem isn’t tit. - You could start a band with Chad Kroeger and call it Nippleback. - Got milk? - Uhm… something about boobs!) and stepped past her into the room of creativity and old junk hoarding and grabbed two safety pins pulled up her dress to the proper height and fastened them behind her shoulders where they would be least visible.
‘There, but I really do think you looked better the way it was.’ He said smiling broadly.
‘Puppy, I love you!’ She all but screamed in his face as she hugged him and left to do her make-up, hair and put on her jewelry.
Fighting the urge to say I told you so in a slightly mocking fatherly tone he sat back down on the couch and waited patiently for her to return. When Esmée was all done and entered the room he was speechless. She was the absolute picture of perfection.
She had curled her hair in that way she did where it doesn’t exactly curl but rather flows down smoothly in a golden spiral shaped wave. Her bright blue eyes radiating happiness from underneath impossibly long black eyelashes. Her lips soft, full and brightly red coloured in that way that always reminded him of that first time she kissed him on the cheek as she whispered: ‘Told you so.’ in his ear. Her cheekbones chiseled and framed perfectly by waves of spiraling gold. Her broad toothy smile that could light up even a terminal cancer ward. Her beautifully handcrafted white dress with its silk touches and decorative pearls which coloured in to the fabric seamlessly. Her nails shining in that same shade of red. Her perfect figure cleverly still visible despite her fairy tale dress. Her beautiful rose gold diamond (Not real ones mind you, we weren’t exactly Rockefellers you know.) jewelry set framing one of her wrists, one of her fingers, her neck and her ears. To finish off her fairy tale outfit you could barely see the front half of her perfectly bright white All-Stars protruding from under her long elegant dress.
‘Ducky, you are perfect.’ is all he managed to say as he felt his eyes tear up in the manliest of ways.
As a final touch they took Eddie for a walk in the nearby park dressed in their full wedding regalia. Every single passer by stared at them, greeted them, congratulated them or took pictures of them. A little girl from across the street shouted: ‘Hi beautiful Princess!’ at Esmée as a sleazy looking guy shouted: ‘Nice catch!’ from the window of his Golf GTI.
They got in to their pretty 1980’s Porsche and drove off towards the ceremony arriving five minutes late to their own wedding so they could make a dramatic entrance.
The ceremony was held at a cute old Dutch canal side hotel that from the outside still resembled the giant barn it once was but from the inside it was a pleasant rustic stone floored hotel filled with an eclectic combination of artworks in the form of decorated old wagon wheels, huge ebony bookcases and various little nautical and bird themed statues. It had a beautiful grand garden fenced in by weeping willows and the flowers were all in full bloom creating a sea of bright and varying colours on one side contrasting with the typical Dutch view on the other side.
Large stretched out open green fields filled with sheep, cows and horses segmented in perfect little squares separated only by a thin straight ribbon of brown water. Geese flying overhead making their awful but somehow adorable geese sounds. Ducks bobbing gently on the tiny ripples created by the wind flowing over the canals. The smoking chimney of a faraway farm on the horizon accompanied by a windmill that had long since forgotten its function of grinding wheat.
The ceremony itself was beautiful, their whole family was there. Everyone had champagne while Peter and Esmée ostentatiously had beer. Rather than the typical cake they shoved sausage rolls in each others faces and laughed at their own childish whimsy. Some beautiful words were said, some dirty jokes were made, some documents were signed and just like that they were married.
They basked in the afterglow of their beautiful ceremony for a while before heading back to the very garden where it had all begun years ago for their wedding party. As a special treat there in the very spot the pool chair had stood, where that awkward stunted semi adult taught that shy little girl to play the guitar, now stood the very swinging couch they remembered so well which had been brought over just for this occasion.
The party slowly turned from an It’s so nice to see you again-contest in to a fun gathering as people got progressively more drunk where Peter could unashamedly annoy people with his prog rock obsession and dirty jokes flowed freely.
‘If only I had brought my guitar, we could have continued our little lesson.’ He said jokingly as he sat with his gorgeous wife on the swinging couch.
‘If only we had a way to provoke and then scientifically measure the redness of my dads face.’ She replied smilingly as she kissed the happiest man on earth. He could not help but laugh as he remembered the one and only actual spit-take that he had ever done years ago in this very spot.

I watched The Mandalorian season 3..and I saw one interesting thing...and that is Bo Katan..we are given hints of a meeting between Bo Katan and Mythosaur..Bo met Mythosaur in living waters..mandalore mines..
and it was not just a meeting with a giant creature...but a hint of their meeting..but what if Bo Katan is preparing not only meetings with Mythosaur...but also preparing Bo to meet much more famous characters...Kratos from the God of War ..
Kratos is certainly not a canon character for Star Wars, and he won't be, I know... but within the framework of the non-canonical meeting of Kratos and Bo Katan...but it would be interesting to see how they interact...
And why am I saying this...but because Bo Katan has a similar story to Kratos...but their stories are different....Kratos - The Ghost of Sparta who killed the ancient Greek gods .. But while Bo Katan - was a member of the Nite Owls who served under Pre Vizsla ... but each of them was lost dearly to them by people ...Kratos lost his family because of Ares...because Kratos killed his wife and child..But Bo Katan lost not only Pre Vizsla, but also her sister Satine because of Maul...and there are differences between Kratos and Bo Katan... Both wanted revenge for their loved ones...only Kratos achieved revenge and killed Ares and became the new god of war ... and then it turned out that Zeus was also to blame, although he had nothing to do with it because evil power got out of Pandora's Box .. But Kratos received Good power, Hope ..But with Bo Katan, she didn’t get revenge and killed Maul..because she didn’t have a chance to take revenge…For Pre Vizsla, and Satin…and even worse, she lost her chance to be the leader of the Mandalorians…and they both go through the arc of redemption ..only Kratos went through the redemption story arc in games... where he went to Norse mythology...Where Kratos became wiser and more calm ... If Kratos used to be driven by a thirst for revenge ... then Kratos became more humane ... in the game God of War Ragnarok ... in the end Kratos became not only the God of Peace and War, but he also became the All-father in nine worlds...Whereas Bo Katan, she's just going through the Redemption Arc...her house was bombed..but she was accepted by the children of the watch..after diving the living water and meeting with Mythosaur..However, the Armorer does not yet believe that Bo Katan saw the Mythosaur..and interestingly, Bo Catan doesn't talk directly to Din Djarin about the Mythosaur...because she saw the Mythosaur and Din didn't..because in Din's head she thinks that some creature dragged him underwater..but in Bo Katan's head she begins to understand that all those fairy tales that were..were not fiction, but the very truth...and you notice the Bo Katan armor...it wears blue color..while Kratos wears red color tattoo...after all, the original idea of Kratos was to wear blue .. but the authors of the God of War then refused, considering that he would look like a Diablo character from Blizzard....By the way, the Kratos ax also has a Blue color, but when the ax shines brightly .. The ax begins to glow with bright blue flowers .. and the Levaithan Ax is associated with the element of ice ...but in the Star Wars universe there are ice planets... but of the Mandalorians who live on snow and ice... only Krownest has Sabine Wren's home...and The Darksaber can become an analogue of Thor's hammer ... some compare The Darksaber with the Elder Wand ...
this theory of the meeting between Kratos and Bo Katan is some kind of nonsense...but the facts say otherwise... Damn it.. For the Mandalorians, the word God will be bad for them, since they have not met any gods more than once... and for Bo Katan there will be such a thought when it is possible to meet Kratos...Bo Catan will consider that the words of God are unfamiliar ... because she never believed .. before meeting with the mythosaur ... While Kratos for him the words of God are something at the same time a gift and a curse .. since he lives for centuries ... And according to -at the beginning of Bo Katan, she will consider Kratos Some kind of old man who can’t do anything ... but when she fights against him ... she will understand that Kratos is God .. and not some kind of god from a book, but a real god..whose god killed gods...and there would be a cool dialogue between them, first Bo Katan would ask... "What are you, monster?"Bo Katan would say....to which Kratos would answer her with the canonical phrase from the game "I'm no monster no longer!" unless it's part of a fanfic...And if Bo Katan asks that he has a son..he will answer her that he has a son and he went to look for jotuns...Kratos will mean Atreus...because in the Ending of God of War Ragnarok Atreus went in search of giants jotuns...but that's just a theory...this might sound like bullshit...but if someone could make a fanfic about it...that would be cool to see...

Flower wrist tattoo