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19 Things You'll Understand If You Have A Crap Tattoo

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Maybe I didn’t think this through properly.

The tattoo was probably something you really liked at the time.

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Or it was a tattoo trend that you thought was pretty cool.

Think Chinese characters and tribal tattoos, which were cool about a decade ago, and not even so much then.

instagram.com

Either way, you definitely thought you'd like it forever.

Either way, you definitely thought you'd like it forever.

Like, Pikachu is cute. Or meant to be anyway.

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But now there's just a whole heap of regret.

Jon Bovi? Who dat?

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19 Parents Share Their Kids' Funniest Fails

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Growing up takes a whole lot of #fails.

"I was so horrified. I think I need therapy."

"I was so horrified. I think I need therapy."

"I was signing for a few packages at the front door one day when my 18-month-old daughter squirmed through my legs and stuck something onto the UPS man's leg. To my horror I looked down and realized it was a USED maxi pad she had dug out of the trash."

—Jordan Simpson, Facebook

Bravo

"My 4-year-old accidentally rolled down the window a couple inches while we were in an automatic car wash..."

"My 4-year-old accidentally rolled down the window a couple inches while we were in an automatic car wash..."

"I just happened to look behind me in time to see soap come through the window and spray him from his head down to his belly."

kassied496ece194

instagram.com

"It was bedtime for my 3-year-old, so I put her in bed and started to get the laundry ready..."

"It was bedtime for my 3-year-old, so I put her in bed and started to get the laundry ready..."

"I had the basket in the hallway when she bolted out of her room to escape bedtime and hit it at full speed. She went headfirst over the basket and did a full front flip before landing on her butt. It was hilarious. She was totally fine and laughing."

kate112

Flickr: amboo213 / Via Creative Commons


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Making Great Pho Is Hard, But Making A Life From Scratch Is Harder

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Will Varner / BuzzFeed

Two of the hundred thousand Vietnamese refugees rescued by American troops in 1975 were my mother and father: He was sent to Camp Pendleton in California and she to Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. Their families were eventually relocated to Stockton, California, where they met and fell in love.

My mom and dad adjusted to life in the States because they had to. They figured out how to fill out college applications, how to pass English proficiency tests without actually knowing English, how to find good schools for their kids, how to understand when those kids didn't want to be engineers and went to work for BuzzFeed instead (“Is that a website?”). They assimilated, because that’s what it takes to make it here.

They're hardly the first or last immigrants to understand just how hard that social adjustment is. The language barrier was the first hill they had to climb. Navigating a new school system, and not having to wear uniforms, was another; there was barely enough money for clothes, let alone “cool” ones.

Phở served for breakfast in Hanoi.

Courtesy of Nicole Nguyen

But none of that was nearly as difficult as the aspect of assimilation no one prepared them for: that conforming to another culture’s norms would make them feel as though they were giving up pieces of their past selves, abandoning a part of their own identities in order to fit in. Americans don’t slurp their soup, and they always tip the waiter.

When life in America seemed particularly alien, there was one thing that always helped: food from home. My mom told me that during her time in Texarkana, Arkansas, her family would drive three hours to Dallas to shop at the nearest Asian supermarket so they could recreate phở, a beef noodle soup with magical healing powers — and a cure for intense homesickness. Cooking and eating that soup, my mom could forget about the sisters and grandmother she left behind, thousands of miles away. Every spoonful was like a short trip back to Vietnam. For a little while, in this new, foreign place, she could feel like herself again.

I grew up in one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the U.S.: eastside San Jose, a Northern California suburb. My brothers and I are first-generation Americans. We’re a pretty typical American family. We pose for Christmas photos in Santa hats, we love The Voice, we live for trips to Costco.

I’ve been called “banana” and “Twinkie” many times, cruel slurs that mean "whitewashed" — Asian on the outside and white on the inside. The insults came mostly from my Vietnamese peers, who ruthlessly questioned my Vietnamese-ness. Maybe because I had never been to Vietnam, or because I didn’t have enough Asian friends, or because I loved things like art history, camping, and MTV. I’m still puzzled by it.

The accusations, in my opinion, were just a misunderstanding. Those kids probably didn’t know that Vietnamese is my first language, or that when I’m far from home, the things I crave most are bánh mì (sandwiches), gỏi cuốn (spring rolls), bánh cuốn (rice rolls with meat), and, most of all, phở — just like my mom.

Lunch at Phở Hoa, in Ho Chi Minh City.

My parents’ families (and the waves of immigrants who followed) brought over recipes for traditional dishes that are preserved and served in Vietnamese enclaves around the U.S. today. And many of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the country (hi, Pho Y #1) were steps away from my childhood home. I loved everything about them: how loud and bustling they were, how they were one of the few places where I didn't feel like a minority, and (not least) how freaking delicious all of the food was.

After the fall of Saigon, everything changed — except for the food. And so this food is how my parents show my brothers and me the Vietnam they knew. It’s a tangible reminder that, despite the ways they remade themselves to make their long journey here worth it, we are, in fact, Vietnamese. And when we come home, that’s how we eat.

My parents, with family and friends in Stockton, on their wedding day in 1985.

Courtesy of Nicole Nguyen

Phở, a clear chicken- or beef-based broth with rice noodles, thinly sliced meats, and — depending on the region — a small mountain of fresh herbs, is undoubtedly the most well-known Vietnamese dish in the U.S. Restaurants dedicated solely to the noodle soup are now found in essentially every major American city. There is nothing like its savory, spice-filled broth, due in no small part to the 12 hours of careful attention required to make it.

It’s pronounced “fuh,” as in No fuh-king way! (and CERTAINLY not “foe”). Because Vietnamese is a tonal language, it actually sounds more like “fuh?” with a question mark (this video will help).

Homemade phở at a family friend’s home in California.

For my extended family, phở is an event. My paternal grandmother, or bà nội, makes legendary phở. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and significant others — 21 of us in total — will make the two-and-a-half hour drive to Stockton from the Bay Area to get it.

Several times a year, we trek to my grandma’s house for giỗ, or a death anniversary, to honor my grandfather and other family members. My grandma will typically spend the entire day cooking a banquet for our ancestors. But in recent years, because of arthritis, my grandma has had to enlist my aunt to help cook the soup under her careful supervision. Phở is always part of the feast, not because it is tradition, but because it is our family’s favorite.

The day before the festivities, my grandma prepares the broth, which fills the house with delicious fumes as it simmers for hours and hours and hours. The following afternoon, when it’s time, we light incense, pay our respects, bow our heads, then sit at the dinner table. My family is so big that we have to eat in shifts, and my uncles often compete to see who can finish the biggest bowl.

My parents, at their engagement ceremony in 1985.

Courtesy of Nicole Nguyen

To understand phở is to understand Vietnam itself. Traditionally, it is a breakfast food, simmered all night long and served in the morning before the blistering sun has a chance to get too hot. Many suspect that the soup originated in 1880s Hanoi during French colonial rule, and that it’s actually a Southeast Asian interpretation of pot-au-feu, a beef stew that uses a similar blend of spices.

There are as many kinds of phở as there are regions in Vietnam. The two main styles hail from Hanoi, in the north — a simpler version with wide noodles, strong star anise flavor in the broth, slices of beef, and a sprinkling of green onions and cilantro as garnish — and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, where you’ll find a more elaborate variant with thin rice noodles, a more fish sauce–forward broth, and a generous amount of bean sprouts, basil, hoisin sauce, lime, and chili.

The country still bears deep wounds from the conflict that divided its people. There isn’t a consensus on whether the enemies in The War — the one that forced my parents to flee — were the Northern Vietnamese communists or the American troops.

And yet phở shops are the places where people gather despite their political or socioeconomic differences. I saw this for myself when I visited Ho Chi Minh City in 2014. American tourists, merchants, officers, and patrons of the nearby luxury boutiques bumped up against one another at the same crowded phở restaurants. During the war, Northern Vietnamese and American troops famously dined under one roof.

No matter what kind of phở you’re enjoying, it’s the type of soup that requires your entire body’s attention. Phở is a two-handed operation: chopsticks in one hand, spoon in the other, and a piping hot bowl of steamy broth below. You really have to get in there. You might even work up a sweat.

When I was a kid, homemade phở nights were one of the few occasions that could break my very bad habit of reading at the dinner table. The same was true of my gaming-addicted brothers and their Nintendo DSs. There simply aren’t enough limbs to prop up a book (or, these days, a phone) when you’re eating phở.

When we're ready to eat, my mom will add the final touches to the broth while each family member softens their own noodles, assembles their own variety of meats, rips herbs into their bowls, and dresses them with hoisin sauce and Sriracha. For one night, we abandon our individual routines and work in the kitchen in tandem, as a family, together. When we’re finally at the dining table, we slurp our noodles — a little act of rebellion against American conventions.

Making phở is one way my family holds onto our heritage through food, and there are others, too. I love watching my dad smile as he sips his daily cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee with condensed milk), or my mom’s face light up when she talks about bún bò huế, a spicy red vermicelli dish native to Central Vietnam, where she grew up. It reminds me that they — and my grandparents — left behind so much to make a better life for themselves, and for us.

I may never fully understand what it means to be “truly” Vietnamese, but I do know how to make a damn good, aromatic broth. I don’t thank my family enough for their love and sacrifice, and to me, learning how to make a great phở is one of the ways I can express my deepest gratitude. When my parents crave a taste of “home,” I’ll know exactly what to do.

My grandmother, honoring ancestors during giỗ in 2015.

Courtesy of Dana Loury

A family portrait (including my father, yellow collar, bottom right) at their home in the the city formerly known as Saigon, in 1968.

Courtesy of Monique Nguyen

For Everyone Who Didn't Get The "X-Men: Apocalypse" Post-Credits Scene

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There are still plenty of threats in the mutant world.

Warning, the following post contains...

Warning, the following post contains...

If you still haven't seen X-Men: Apocalypse continue under your own risk.

Fox

OK, you've seen the movie and didn't understand what or who was in the last scene, right?

OK, you've seen the movie and didn't understand what or who was in the last scene, right?

Before we start, let's go back a few steps to make everything clear...

Fox / Via Twitter: @amirahakiim

The post-credit scene occurs inside the lab at the Alkalai Lake dam.

The post-credit scene occurs inside the lab at the Alkalai Lake dam.

Fox

The same dam seen in X-Men 2, where William Stryker did his experiments on Wolverine.

The same dam seen in X-Men 2, where William Stryker did his experiments on Wolverine.

As you probably remember, in Days of Future Past we saw a young Stryker looking for mutants to experiment on.

Fox


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22 Things You Know If You Pee Slightly More Often Than The Average Person

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You’re forever grateful for roadside service stations.

You're just like every other person, except you pee slightly more often.

You're just like every other person, except you pee slightly more often.

Universal Pictures

Which means you're always aware of the location of the loos.

Which means you're always aware of the location of the loos.

NBC

And if you're not, then you're scoping out their location.

And if you're not, then you're scoping out their location.

Buena Vista Television / ABC

In fact you've seen so many public bathrooms that you probably have a ranking of the best and worst ones.

For example, the loos in Sketch are probably the best part of the whole place.


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Can You Pick The Starbucks Drink With The Most Sugar?

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Put your sweet tooth to work.

19 Summer Problems Every Girl Dreads

I’m A Writer And A Father, Not One In Spite Of The Other

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Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

Our 3-year-old often assumes some other form — gargoyle, white-backed vulture, blue whale — and perches on the arm of one of our living room chairs. I bought these chairs from an antique dealer who found them in two separate estates and reunited them, like long-lost siblings. They’re decades old and have survived who knows what until meeting their match in my household.

My little gargoyle’s antics have loosened the arms of these chairs. Not so big a deal; stuff is only stuff. But it’s easy, when you have kids in your family, to pin all sorts of blame (scuffed walls, stained tables, sleepless nights) on them. Having a child changes your life; this is as it should be. Let the kids break your mid-century furniture, but don’t let them break you.

It’s fine, and fair, and also funny to blame the unused gym membership and the unread New Yorkers on your kids. I do it all the time on Twitter! I know I’ve had a charmed experience of being a parent, with healthy kids, a helpful partner, access to good day care and great public schools. And perhaps because of this, I have the luxury of saying that my kids have in fact, maybe, sort of helped me get my work as a writer done. I mean, they’ve done the opposite, too, at times, but hear me out.

Parenthood is not the enemy of anything; it’s the condition without which none of us would exist.

Parenting advice is mostly useless because every family is uniquely its own; artistic advice is mostly useless because every artist works in their own way. Thus, figuring out how to balance the two has an intense specificity. Kids are the ultimate trump card: a way to get out of co-op board meetings, or lunch with a friend you don’t want to see, or your brother-in-law’s set at a comedy club. It’s fair to use your kids as an excuse to sidestep what you don’t want to do; it’s less fair to blame them for not being able to achieve what you do want to do.

To ask whether parenthood precludes creative work — as people continue to — is to ask a flawed question. It’s akin to when people ask celebrities on the red carpet “Are you a feminist?”; the only reasonable answer to that query is “Are you a bigot?” Parenthood is not the enemy of anything; it’s the condition without which none of us would exist.

Before the arrival of my first son, I gave up on the moribund business of magazine publishing, where I had long dreamed of a career, and went to work in advertising. That I could be paid great money to write was incredibly hard to believe. And it was writing, of a fashion. In my spare time, I wrote short stories and tried and failed to write a novel; in my work time, I wrote five-word taglines and television commercials.

I’d say that it requires a certain level of delusion to attempt any artistic pursuit. Why not embrace that delusion and choose to see everything in your working life as contributing to your artistic work? Learning how to come up with five artful words that might entice someone into buying something felt enough like art to me.

Then we had another son. All the usual stuff pertained — it was exhausting, it was exhilarating — and writing even the shortest of short stories became much more challenging. Still, because it was a priority, I forced myself to try. I gave up on a social life, I gave up the gym membership, but I didn’t give up on my own delusions.

At readings over the past couple of months, I’ve heard three different writers mention constraint, and how it’s essential to their work. All were talking about books they’d just published; only one of these writers was a parent. They meant the constraint of time, under which we all live, as well as constraint of form, which pertains to anyone working creatively. We are all constrained by our bodies, income taxes, the weather. Even Nabokov couldn’t ask Vera to make the sun shine.

Constraint is such an elegant word, but it has eluded me until just now (other writers always say things better than I can). This helped me see that parenthood — again, my circumstances are charmed, I know — is also a constraint. So be it.

Seeing the passage of time reflected in my ever-changing children was a good kick in the ass to get to what I most wanted to do: writing.

A baby is, grimly enough, a tiny reminder of your own mortality. For me, seeing the passage of time reflected in my ever-changing children was a good kick in the ass to get to what I most wanted to do: writing. Once the kids were out of infancy, I threw myself into my creative work while still working to pay the bills. It was not fun, but it was important to me to try it. The book I spent this time writing will be published in a couple of weeks; it has not escaped me that I never managed to write a novel in the years of my adulthood in which I was not a parent.

My writing requires a lot of passive work that looks suspiciously like leisure: reading, thinking, looking at art, having conversations. It can feel, when you have a baby who never sleeps for more than four consecutive hours, as if you’ll never again read a book or look at a painting or talk to anyone about anything other than the fact that your baby will not sleep more than four consecutive hours. When I figured out that my first kid was a good napper, I read novels while he dozed on the sofa. This felt like a victory; it felt like work.

I was so hungry for the chance to get to my work that I was vigilant about finding the time to cram it in. Babies change, constantly; it’s not that parenting gets easier, it’s that the nature of children’s demands is ever in flux. I learned how not to squander 45 minutes at my desk; I learned how to read during the 20 minutes in which the kids’ naps overlapped; I learned how to make dinner while the kids ate breakfast, thereby freeing up the last hour of my day; I learned that it was not the worst thing in the world if they watched The Magic School Bus so I could fold the laundry and know that, come bedtime, my own work (instead of the laundry) was waiting for me. The constraints on my time made me adept at finding and exploiting the few loopholes that existed.

If parenthood took my leisure, it gave me other things beneficial to my work. I’ve been able to watch, firsthand, as two separate human beings acquire language; if I were a painter, surely watching a 6-year-old experiment with watercolors would feel similarly instructive. I love my kids in this way that’s weird and powerful and still surprising and that has surely helped my writing in some way I can’t articulate; big feelings — grief, romantic love, passionate friendship — are often good for art. I wrote a novel in the middle of the night; it was my kids who taught me that sleep can be rearranged this way.

Jenny Offill took this question of parenthood’s role in creative work as part of the subject of Dept. of Speculation, one of the best novels I’ve read in the past few years. It’s a book that I’ve seen resonate particularly strongly among my peers who are also writers and parents. Offill beautifully articulates the struggle we probably each thought uniquely our own: parenthood and marriage and the morass of real life pulling us away from the work we care about. She seems to be writing her story as well as our story. And it’s vindicating.

But here’s the thing: She has a kid, and she wrote the book. I don’t mean to suggest that we can all dash off wonderful novels during nap time. Some people can, but I hardly think it’s reasonable to expect yourself to paint a masterpiece while breastfeeding, to come up with perfect sonnets while potty training. I do think it’s worthwhile to remember that kids grow, that life changes quickly, and that the person who decides whether or not you engage in your passion, however possible given the circumstances of your life, is you.

The person who decides whether or not you engage in your passion, however possible given the circumstances of your life, is you.

When I was staying up all night writing what turned out to be my book, I was often interrupted by the cries of my younger son, then well out of infancy. I’d stop working, trudge up the creaky stairs, and comfort him back to sleep, sometimes three times a night. It was not easy, going from the reality of a crying toddler to the imagined world and invented problems of my work. But I can’t quite say that it was hard, either. It was simply what I was doing.

Now, most nights in this household are blissfully uninterrupted. My older son has almost mastered the art of making his own cinnamon toast, and has just started taking a shower by himself. He still needs me to close the shower curtain for him, to help him dry his hair, to get the toothpaste out of the medicine cabinet, but he won’t need me for this stuff much longer.

Those future minutes I am not spending picking out my older son’s perfect Afro or helping my younger one figure out which shoe goes on which foot are minutes I will be free to devote to my work. They’re minutes I will be free to squander on missing the days the children needed me in the urgent way that children need adults. For now, I still spend a lot of time on Twitter complaining about my kids. Every second I do that is a second I could be investing in my next book. I could blame myself for thus wasting my time, but I won’t.

Rumaan Alam's first novel, Rich and Pretty, will be published in June.

Parenting Week is a week of content devoted to honoring the hardest job you'll ever love: being a parent. Check out more great Parenting Week content here.

Andrew Richard / BuzzFeed


26 Essential Products Everyone Who Loves To Bake Should Own

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Every baker should consider having these products in their arsenal. Get a digital scale, French rolling pin, silicone everything, and soon you’ll be baking like a bona fide boss.

Zoe Burnett / BuzzFeed

We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.

A French style, tapered rolling pin gives you more control over the dough than one with handles would.

A French style, tapered rolling pin gives you more control over the dough than one with handles would.

"Throw away the ones with handles! The tapered end of a French pin allows so much versatility when rolling out pie crusts or pizza crusts! Rolling with your palms gives you better insight as to how much pressure you’re exerting on whatever you are rolling."
jerrim4377fdac6

Get one for $15.

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This "Game Of Thrones" Time Travel Theory Is So Crazy It Just Might Be Real

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Are Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven the same person?

This season, we learned that Bran Stark's destiny was set in stone, thanks to some complicated time travel.

This season, we learned that Bran Stark's destiny was set in stone, thanks to some complicated time travel.

He was always supposed to meet the Three-Eyed Raven, become marked by the Night's King, turn Wylis into Hodor, and cause the Three-Eyed Raven's death. Even though Bran's time-traveling caused all this, it's still how it was always supposed to happen. As the Three-Eyed Raven himself says, "The past is already written. The ink is dry."

HBO

The crazy nature of time travel on Game of Thrones now has some fans wondering: Was this quote from Jojen Reed in Season 3 more literal than we thought?

The crazy nature of time travel on Game of Thrones now has some fans wondering: Was this quote from Jojen Reed in Season 3 more literal than we thought?

Initially, fans passed this off as more of a metaphor from Jojen, that the Three-Eyed Raven would simply pass the torch to Bran, who would then take on the title of Three-Eyed Raven. But this post from Redditor Sandusson suggests otherwise.

HBO

What if Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven are LITERALLY THE SAME PERSON?

What if Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven are LITERALLY THE SAME PERSON?

It's possible that the man known as the Three-Eyed Raven could actually be Bran permanently warged into someone from the past, i.e., Brynden Rivers, who is named as the Three-Eyed Raven in the books.

HBO

The timeline would look something like this, and would mean that Bran actually trained HIMSELF by inhabiting the body of Brynden Rivers (or someone else).

The timeline would look something like this, and would mean that Bran actually trained HIMSELF by inhabiting the body of Brynden Rivers (or someone else).

HBO


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21 Mac And Cheese Recipes That Will Blow Your Kids' Minds

19 Pictures That Perfectly Sum Up Having Terrible Sleep Habits

How To Make The Most Pho-King Delicious Soup Ever

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A hearty beef noodle soup that’s *so* worth the wait.

Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed

For the uninitiated, it has a clear chicken- or beef-based broth, thinly sliced meats, and — depending on the region — a small mountain of fresh herbs. The flavorful broth takes two days to make, which is why homemade pho is reserved for only the most special occasions. For my family, pho is an event, and I wrote an essay on how, as refugees in the U.S., my family would make pho to transport them back to Vietnam, a country divided by war.

This variety is a little more elaborate than the northern style. It uses thin rice noodles, a more fish sauce–forward beef broth, several cuts of beef, and a generous amount of bean sprouts, basil, hoisin sauce, lime, and chiles. I learned most of my pho-making techniques by watching my grandmother for many, many years. But procuring details, like measurements, from my grandmother was impossible — she has a sixth sense for good flavor, and in her kitchen, everything is estimated, added, and reduced by taste.

She, like my grandmother, makes a legendary pho. It's an extremely time-consuming endeavor (which is why you should make as much as they can at once) — but so, so worth it. Here's how to make it.


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What To Expect From "Sense8" Season 2

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The cast of Sense8 in Season 2.

Netflix

Over the course of their 20-year career, filmmakers and siblings Lilly and Lana Wachowski have operated as a single creative unit. They've written and directed seven feature films together, and in 2015, they launched their first television show: Netflix’s Sense8, which they co-created with J. Michael Straczynski.

Now, for the first time in her professional career, Lana Wachowski is going it alone as the singular director and guiding voice of every episode of Sense8 Season 2. “Lilly needed to take some time off,” Jamie Clayton, one of the show's stars, told BuzzFeed News of the executive producer in a phone interview. Lilly, who came out as transgender in March, is using this time to focus on her well-being, but she could return should Netflix order a third season.

Sense8 amassed a cult following in its first season, which juggled the complex, interwoven story of eight strangers (aka “sensates”) scattered across the globe, who discover they are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually linked (aka “a cluster”). To properly bring to life each of the diverse characters’ worlds, the show is both set in and filmed on location in dozens of countries — America, Korea, England, Kenya, Germany, India, and Mexico most prominently.

Lana Wachowski with star Miguel Angel Silvestre on location for Season 2.

Netflix

Now, in Season 2, the enormity of the series rests solely on Lana’s shoulders. “Lana is absolutely a superwoman,” said Clayton, who plays American hacker Nomi on the show. “The way she channels her energy and her creativity … it keeps me in absolute awe whenever I'm in her presence. She's an absolute force.” Clayton’s co-stars echoed her sentiment about Wachowski’s unflappable dedication to the series. “I've never seen anything like this. It's superhuman what she's doing,” Brian J. Smith, who plays Chicago cop Will, told BuzzFeed News on the San Francisco set of Season 2. “She works long days, six days a week, and then travels with us, but is on the plane writing and rewriting. I want more people to understand the scale of what someone's creative energy and their drive to tell a story can accomplish. It’s incredible.”

The collective reverence the cast shares for Wachowski shone through when another major change struck Season 2: Wachowski and one of the show’s Season 1 regulars — Aml Ameen, who played Capheus, a bus driver in Nairobi — did not see eye to eye and he left the series. (Ameen declined to comment for this story.) Fans were, understandably, concerned by the news. After all, substituting one actor for another well into a show’s run is tricky.

Aml Ameen

Netflix

“I am not prepared to change,” tweeted one fan. “Doesn't make sense. Aml was GREAT. Why did he leave?” another asked. Some speculated that Ameen had an issue with the transgender community, but Clayton, who is also transgender, immediately shot down that theory. “NO. Please help stop that rumor,” she responded to a fan who suggested that reason for Ameen's exit.

“I knew the fans would be concerned, but I wanted them to know that we were OK,” said Clayton, who was the most vocal Sense8 cast member when the news broke. “It's just a case of, creatively, two people having a really different idea of what they want to do," said Tuppence Middleton, who plays Icelandic DJ Riley. "I think the most important thing is that Capheus's storyline lives. He's a great character, and it would be a real shame to have that go away.”

Enter Toby Onwumere, a recent graduate of UC San Diego, who will take over the role of Capheus. The actor joined Season 2 while it was already in production, and when he met up with the cast for the first time in Mexico City, he instantly noticed the deep connection his co-stars share. “I remember going into the restaurant and … I saw the energy of this family immediately,” Onwumere said. “I stood back for a minute and thought, Wow. The testament to this show is when you see these people with this unified energy, you want to be a part of that. And that's the message of the show: We are all connected. And I felt connected to them as soon as I got there.”

Wachowski with Brian J. Smith, Max Riemelt, Tina Desai, Silvestre, and executive producer James McTeigue in a behind-the-scenes photo from Season 2.

Netflix

The seven actors immediately welcomed Onwumere into their cluster, properly sensing that he was approaching the project with the same sense of excitement and openness they were.

“[The Wachowskis] wanted to bring people in from the beginning who were going to honor the stories we were going to be telling, who would be respectful of the material, who wouldn't have any limitations as far as the material was concerned, who were happy, outgoing, fun, all-around positive people, because we would be a big traveling circus,” said Clayton.

Given that the cast travels as a unit from city to city and country to country for more than half of the year, it's of particular importance that the group's metaphorical hive mind be in tune at all times. Doona Bae, who plays Korean kickboxer Sun, said she “felt connected to Toby quickly.” “We call it family, which sounds a bit weird, but we feel like family,” she explained. “The seven months traveling is not easy, and when you have to travel to 15 cities, it's not easy. We need each other all the time. It's like brothers and sisters, not like friends. There's a sticky bond between us.”

But at the end of the day, the actors want fans to focus on the story they’ve united to tell, not what’s happening behind the scenes. After all, “there's a lot stranger things we're doing than recasting an actor,” Middleton said with a chuckle.

Naveen Andrews and Terrence Mann in Season 1.

Murray Close

What kind of unusual things can fans expect from Season 2? “There's more sex, more violence, more of everything! We're pushing the boundaries,” Max Riemelt, who plays German criminal Wolfgang, told BuzzFeed News in San Francisco. The second season will also make good on the final act of Season 1 and will feature the sensates working together toward a common goal: defeating the mysterious Whispers (Terrence Mann), who is trying to obliterate their cluster.

“Lito's problems become Riley's problems become Nomi's problems — it's this beautiful tapestry,” Smith said. “The show is so much more interconnected this year. There's very rarely a scene that someone will have in their home city where someone else doesn't get folded in from the cluster.”

If the Sense8 fan art celebrating each and every cluster permutation — both romantic and platonic — all over Tumblr is any indication, Season 2 will be exactly what viewers have been waiting for. “We have eight protagonists, so getting to know all those people intimately and investing in them takes a long time,” Middleton said of the show taking its time to bring the sensates together. “That was delicately handled in the first season, but by the end it's like, well, what happens now?”

To answer that question, each of the actors offered up some hints to BuzzFeed News as to what fans can expect to see from their characters in Season 2.

Will Gorski (Brian J. Smith)

Will Gorski (Brian J. Smith)

Murray Close

At the end of Season 1, Whispers psychically linked himself to Will. In Season 2, Will is in a highly medicated state, and that altered consciousness interferes with the villain's ability to track him mentally.

“Lana described it as a fugue state,” Smith said. “It's an in-between consciousness and unreality that he has to stay in to both hide from Whispers and hunt him at the same time. A lot of Season 2 is this really interesting chess match between the two of them that takes some really surprising turns. When you think someone really has the upper hand, you realize that someone has been played the entire time and there's a whole other layer where you think the person who is doing the playing has also been played. What is it like to get in someone's head and hunt them from inside their eyes? That's so freaky to me.”

Riley Blue (Tuppence Middleton)

Riley Blue (Tuppence Middleton)

Murray Close

In the season finale, Riley came to terms with the baby she lost years earlier and accepted her role as both Will’s protector and the cluster’s emotional center. Now she's effectively on the frontline of the war with Whispers.

“Riley spent a lot of Season 1 trying to find herself and being rescued by Will, and now the roles have completely reversed because he … sacrificed his entire life to come and save her,” Middleton said. “I think she's naturally a rescuer, and it's going to be an interesting ride for her because she has to toughen up and take that responsibly. While Will's in this state, she has no choice but to look after him and become the momentum behind the relationship. Now she has to put her practical mind to work, and that's something she's not used to doing. She has to start making a lot of tough decisions now, which is tough for her.”

Wolfgang Bogdanow (Max Riemelt)

Wolfgang Bogdanow (Max Riemelt)

Murray Close

After spending an entire season on the run from local heads of organized crime, Wolfgang killed everyone who opposed him. In Season 2, he finds himself in uncharted territory.

“There is this new landscape that he has to find his new position within,” Riemelt said. “There are new power games taking place, new dark characters who come after him — he has to restructure everything. He has to find purpose again in living and staying in Berlin and chasing his plan of being free but still in power so no one can come after him. We also explore more of his sensate side and his storyline gets more interesting because there's something new to explore for him and for the whole cluster.”

Kala Dandekar (Tina Desai)

Kala Dandekar (Tina Desai)

Murray Close

Much of Kala’s arc in Season 1 revolved around the struggle to resign herself to an arranged marriage, in part because she was simultaneously discovering romantic feelings for Wolfgang. In the finale, it was revealed that Kala is a brilliant pharmacist whose scientific knowledge proved invaluable to the cluster.

“At the end of the season, we learned her contribution to the group is her scientific knowledge, and I was very excited about that — specifically because I get to say a whole lot of words I don't understand and jam needles into people,” Desai said, with a laugh. “Going forward, she'll only be able to contribute more, because in this season, there's more of Whisper hunting us while we're simultaneously trying to hunt him. And then there's also the love story that continues with both boys — but there's a lot more of her brain and the person she's been brought up to be.”

Sun Bak (Doona Bae)

Sun Bak (Doona Bae)

Merie Wallace

After taking the fall for her brother’s financial crimes in Season 1 and going to prison to save her father from social disgrace, Sun’s world was rocked by the revelation that her brother murdered their father.

“She was growing up, mentally, in Season 1 — she was physically very, very talented, but also her heart is quite soft,” Bae said. “This season, she's getting stronger … as a weapon and she's finding a way for revenge. In Season 1, she was quite confused and she was growing up. But by the end of the season, she realized something, and in Season 2 she just drives fast for something.”

Capheus (Toby Onwemere)

Capheus (Toby Onwemere)

Onwemere, with the cast and Lana Wachowski, on his first day of filming.

Netflix

With his status as a brawler (thanks to Sun’s sensate skills) firmly cemented in the minds of his neighbors, Capheus emerged as a force to contend with in his town. And it sounds like that higher profile will result in a surprising new Season 2 connection.

“He meets [a woman] and [she] expands his influence on the cluster and in where he's at,” Onwumere said. “In Season 1, we were looking at micro-interactions with the people in Capheus's life; in Season 2, it starts to expand a little. That's what I'm really excited about and interested in. I'm interested to see the growth in him and how his influence on other people grows. He takes a big step in Season 2.”

Lito Rodriguez (Miguel Angel Silvestre)

Lito Rodriguez (Miguel Angel Silvestre)

Murray Close

After years of living in the closet, Lito chose his boyfriend Hernando (Alfonso Herrera) and their companion Daniela (Erendira Ibarra) over the possibility that his career would implode if the world learned he was gay.

“His life is a roller coaster in Season 2,” Silvestre said. “The three of them are going to face a very rough, cruel reality. It's like a big test for the three of them, where love trembles too, because everything trembles around you when the soul or the ground is so rough. It proves that you're always making decisions, love-wise. We’ll see how they handle their own love when everything around them is trembling.”

Nomi Marks (Jamie Clayton)

Nomi Marks (Jamie Clayton)

Clayton with Freema Agyeman, who plays Nomi's partner Amanita.

Murray Close

As the first character to embrace and harness the sensate experience, Nomi was at the forefront of bringing others into the cluster and figuring out how they could pool their collective talents for the betterment of the group. Now, with the world literally at her fingertips, the hacker is poised to be the cluster’s central hub of information in Season 2.

“The thing that I love about the characters getting to come together more is that it means we're getting to figure out how to use our abilities to visit and communicate,” Clayton said. “The visiting part is really cool, and the sharing of the knowledge and the skills. The thing that excites me the most about the whole season is it goes in a direction that I completely had no idea about. It starts taking off very quickly. There's just so much stuff that's happening that I had no idea could even happen. It's so good.”

34 Reasons To Drop Everything And Visit Westeros

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A peaceful world away from home.

Welcome to Westeros, the greatest continent of the known world.

Welcome to Westeros, the greatest continent of the known world.

HBO

It's a land where romantic adventure awaits.

It's a land where romantic adventure awaits.

HBO

And you can really enjoy the privacy of nature.

And you can really enjoy the privacy of nature.

HBO

There's plenty of safe forests to trek through.

There's plenty of safe forests to trek through.

HBO


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These Giant-Ass Dogs And Their Human Best Friend Are A Dream

19 Things Taylor Swift Does That No One Else Could Ever Get Away With

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What’s that on my arm? Oh, it’s just my cat.

Take a trip to Disneyland, but make sure all the rides are shut down so the only people who can ride them are you, a Victoria's Secret model, her daughter, and your bodyguard.

Instagram: @taylorswift

Have a self-timer* photo shoot on the beach in a mysterious tropical location with your super-hot DJ boyfriend.

*I'm assuming the camera is on self-timer because if it's not, imagine being the person who has to take those photos.

Instagram: @taylorswift

Be the maid of honour at your best friend's wedding and completely upstage her but she can't even be mad because you're Taylor Swift.

Instagram: @taylorswift

Pose in a bush with Selena Gomez, which is completely hilarious because you once released a hit song called "Out of the Woods".

Instagram: @taylorswift


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51 Fifth Harmony Lyrics For When You Need An Instagram Caption

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Not for them girls that do too much.

FifthHarmonyVEVO

1. I ain't got a lotta money but I got a lotta style.
2. Passed out real and I woke up realer.
3. Working for the money 'cause that what my momma taught me — so yo ass better show me some respect.
4. Purse all heavy, gettin' Oprah dollars.
5. My body's telling all the secrets I ain't told you yet.
6. Give it to me, I'm worth it.
7. I may talk a lot of stuff; guaranteed, I can back it up.
8. So free, so young. So you can't blame me.
9. You've been down before. You've been hurt before. You got up before.
10. I'm sending pic after picture, I'mma get you fired.
11. Let's put it into motion, I'mma give you a promotion.
12. Flex, time to impress.
13. I don't want man like Midas.
14. Telling me you got money to spend. You wanna spend it on me. Baby, please.
15. If you keep on staring I'mma show you what it's like to fall.
16. Don't wanna be selfish, but I can't help it.
17. I know I'm cool as shit. You want more of it. This much I know is true.
18. Wrap me in leather before you wrap me in lace.
19. My daddy told me I should have better taste but I'd rather pay to see the look on his face.
20. Tell me the truth, I like the danger.

FifthHarmonyVEVO

21. There's gotta be a million faces up in this room, but the only one who gets my attention is you.
22. When you touch my body got me singing like Mariah.
23. I've said I love you but I lied 'cause love never got me this high.
24. Dimming the lights just so that they don't blind us.
25. I won't leave you for a money man, no matter what we go through.
26. Needles and static and stutters.
27. I don't know what else to say but you're pretty fucking dope.
28. Put your arms around me, baby, and squeeze.
29. You got that real love. That text in the morning, that real love.
30. You are my friend, straight and no chaser.


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Can You Guess Which Sneaker Is The Most Expensive?

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Sneakerheads, where you at?

37 Books Every Parent Needs To Read

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Here’s what to read when you’re expecting.

Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby's First Year: From Doctors Who Are Parents, Too!

Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby's First Year: From Doctors Who Are Parents, Too!

"Our pediatrician gave us a copy of an older version and it was the best reference. No parenting advice, just unbiased information. I give it to every new parent I know." —Lou LaChute, Facebook

"They weren’t alarmist and let you know what to be watchful for without being scary. I also liked how everything was broken down month by month as well as by topic. I found them super helpful." —jilliang4ee629412

"It gave me a good heads up of what to expect with my first baby, and I've even cracked it open a couple of times with my second." —Justine Fitting, Facebook

Da Capo Lifelong Books

The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine

The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine

"It's both hysterical and incredibly accurate about what exactly is going to go on with your body." —Maimah Phillips, Facebook

Pocket Books

Toddlers Are A**holes: It's Not Your Fault by Bunmi Laditan

Toddlers Are A**holes: It's Not Your Fault by Bunmi Laditan

"If you ever look at your toddler and wonder what they are thinking, this book will answer that question. It's sarcastic and funny, but oh so relatable." —Sara Lee, Facebook

"You HAVE to read Toddlers are A**holes. Go ahead and read it when yours is still an infant to get a good chuckle, and then read it again when that infant is a toddler and you need some reassurance that the craziness is normal." —eryncuz

Workman Publishing Company


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