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laurenmm62017 · 3 years

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Codywan Week Day 2~

The prompt I chose was AU.

I've been meaning to write an Aikido AU at some point in my writing career, and it's finally time!

Aikido (合気道) is a traditional Japanese martial primarily focused on protecting yourself as well as your opponent. It is defensive, non-competitive, and focuses a lot more on spirituality, depending on your dojo (school).

Something about the way both Aikido and Soresu are both defensive really sits right with me lol

I've done aikido for 13 years and recently received my 3rd degree black belt certification (sandan 参段), so this AU really means a lot to me and truly hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions, feel free to DM me or whatever~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32849761

@codywanweek

Summary: Obi-wan loved practicing aikido. Something about the way that he is able to subdue opponents much larger while also being able to protect that person from harm was very attractive to him. While training with visitors from New Zealand, he meets one of the most interesting and attractive people he has ever met.

Obi-wan took a deep breath in, extending his energy from his fingers reaching up down his arms, to his center, then exhaled and brought his hands down his body to his toes. He repeated this motion three times along with the rest of the class.

“Alright, class, line up!” The lead instructor, Mace Windu, called out.

The younger and less experienced students lined up in the back, while the higher ranked students, like 4th black belt Obi-wan, lined up at the front. Everyone settled into a kneeling position, and looked forward to the picture of O-Sensei, founder of their martial art, then bowed to Mace.

“I have a small announcement before we close class. Next class, we will be having a few aikido practitioners from New Zealand to practice with us. They are from a dojo that practices a different style, and may do certain techniques differently than we do, so please pay attention to what they do, and be careful when you train with them. Sometimes they have… a more aggressive approach. But, just remember that your style of aikido is different from theirs as well. This will help you both learn communication and cooperation. Any questions?”

No one raised their hand, so Mace dismissed class. Obi-wan led the closing bows and then allowed the children to exit the mat while those wearing hakama began to take them off, while others began to clean up the dojo around them. One of the younger students, Zatt, ran over to him and began asking him the usual round of questions.

“Who are the new students, do you think Obi-wan?”

“I have no idea, Zatt. We will find out on Friday, hm?”

“But that’s two days away! How long do you think they will be here?”

“Well, most people stay to practice for at least a few classes, so I would say we will see them at least a few more times.”

“Wizard! What do you think they’ll be like?”

“I haven’t the faintest, my dear. Hopefully there will be someone your age to practice with.”

Obi-wan smiled as Zatt jumped up and down in excitement, then ran off to get changed and go home.

“Obi-wan.” Mace called from his office near the back of the dojo. Obi-wan finished folding his hakama, then entered Mace’s office and closed the sliding door.

“Yes, Sensei?”

“The sensei of the group that is coming is a very close friend of my master, but I’ll be a bit busy while they are here, so if you are able to, I’d like for you to take them around the city the day after practice.”

“Of course, Mace. It’s the weekend, so I won’t have anything scheduled.”

“I appreciate it, Obi-wan. I’ll see you in a couple days.”

“Have a good night, Mace.”

The next lesson, Obi-wan arrived 20 minutes early to the dojo, hoping to get to know the visiting practitioners before actually practicing with them.

After he bowed at the entrance of the dojo, he straightened up and spotted two of the visitors. They were already dressed in their gi and hakama, warming up a little bit near the edge of the practice mat. They were both fairly tall, had short black hair, and sharp features. As soon as he entered the dojo, they paused and stood up straight.

“Hello there! You must be part of the visiting dojo!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” They seemed a little nervous?

“Pleasure to meet you! I’m Obi-wan Kenobi, part-time instructor here at the dojo.” He introduced himself and gave a short bow.

“I’m Wyatt Fett, and this is my twin, Baron. Our dad and older brothers are talking with Windu-Sensei right now. We’re, ah, just warming up before class. They take care of the “ambassadoring”, we’re just here to practice aikido.” Wyatt grinned and they both gave short bows to him.

“Understandable. I’ll speak with Mace in a bit. It was nice to meet you two. I’ll be right back.” Obi-wan bowed, and then walked over towards the changing rooms, listening to the two of them bicker. Something about being a type?

He placed his duffel bag on one of the higher shelves to leave room for the children. Just as he turned his phone to silent, the men’s bathroom door banged open, making him jump and almost drop his phone. He whipped around to see who made such a racket, but he only caught the sight of his back and a green belt around his waist.

“Hm… must be one of the visiting students. The teacher’s son?” He thought, before checking his phone one last time.

He finished up and exited the changing rooms to join Mace with the visiting teacher, a stern, older looking man, and two younger men. The older man was slightly taller than Obi-wan, still in street clothes. His face was stern, but he had smile lines around his eyes that softened his face, and dark hair with a few white hairs barely visible.

The younger looking of the boys… men? Had blonde hair, a little bit of baby fat stubbornly clinging to his cheeks, and was already dressed in his gi and hakama.

However, Obi-wan’s eyes were drawn to the older looking one. His hair was longer on top than the sides, pulled back in a small ponytail. His face was sharp, but somehow kind, and he had a wicked scar that curled around his left eye, and bright gold eyes that he shared with the other two men. But this man’s eyes seemed to bore right into his soul, making him a bit flustered.

“Ah, Obi-wan. Good to see you. I’d like you to meet Jango Fett, head instructor of the Aikido of New Zealand, Auckland branch, along with his assistant instructors, and his eldest sons.”

“I’m Cody, and this is my younger brother, Rex.” The slightly taller one, Cody, gave a short bow and a sheepish smile.

“We’ll be in your care during our trip. I hear you’ll be showing us around tomorrow?” Jango asked.

“Yes, that’s right. After class, could we all exchange numbers and arrange a time and place to meet?”

“That sounds wonderful.” Jango glanced at the clock and his eyes widened. “We should get ready for class.”

“Of course. Right this way.” Mace escorted Jango towards the changing rooms, leaving Obi-wan with Rex and Cody.

“So, have you gentlemen gotten used to the time difference yet?” Nice, Kenobi, thrilling conversation.

“We’ve only been here about a day so far? We don’t actually travel outside of New Zealand often, still getting used to waking up in the past.” Cody joked, making all three of them laugh.

“I can imagine. Well, I hope you will gain a bit of energy in the ten minutes we have before class starts.” Obi-wan smiled, and exited the office, onto a much more crowded mat than it was five minutes ago.

“Obi-wan! Obi-wan! I made a new friend!” Zatt shouted gleefully, dragging the young boy that he saw in the changing room behind him. “This is Boba! He’s from New Zealand!”

Obi-wan looked down at Boba who looked away from him and pouted.

“Hello, Boba. Welcome to our dojo. I hope you have fun with Zatt and the other students today.”

“Thanks.” Boba mumbled and then promptly pulled away to be introduced to others at their dojo.

Cody came up next to him with his hands on his hips. “I’m glad Boba is making friends.”

“Yes, the children have been very excited to meet you all.” Obi-wan chuckled.

“And you?”

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow, and turned to look at Cody, who simply smiled and waited for a reply.

“We’ll, I’m certainly looking forward to it.”

Mace opened their class with an introduction of their visitors and then moved onto warm up exercises. Obi-wan tried his best to pay attention, but he has done these exercises a thousand times and he was easily distracted today.

Like most men, Cody didn’t wear a shirt under his gi, so every so often, Obi-wan caught a glimpse of what was underneath.

On accident! Obviously.

Warmups ended and they all paired up for the rest of the class.

“If one person from our dojo and one person from New Zealand can practice together, please do that. If not, try to partner with someone close to your height.” Mace called out to the class.

Obi-wan glanced around and immediately spotted Cody glancing at. He smiled and walked over to him.

“Care to practice together? I’ll have to help out with demonstrating with Mace, but I’d love to practice with you.” Obi-wan smiled, and bowed his head, which Cody eagerly returned.

Practicing with Cody was exhilarating. They matched speeds perfectly, every attack and deflection was completely in sync. The rest of the dojo fell away and focused solely on the two of them and their space. The feeling of Cody’s hands and body on his wrists, his neck, holding him down, during pinning techniques was the best feeling he’s felt in a long time. Every time he executed a technique against Cody, he literally flew through the air and hit the mat with a thud that echoed through his entire body. And whenever it was Cody's turn, Obi-wan’s skin burned wherever he made contact; he felt like he could see an outline of his hands on himself, but maybe he was just tired. He never wanted this class to end.

Of course, right as he was thinking that, Mace clapped his hands twice and called out, “Line up!”

Cody and Obi-wan reluctantly bowed to each other, then separated. Obi-wan went to the front of the mat, and Cody went to line up with the rest of his dojo.

“I want to thank our visitors for practicing with us. They will hopefully be able to attend a couple more classes next week, but in the meantime, everyone please thank them for joining us.”

“ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!!” All of the children screamed, and the adults of the class followed it with a more calm version.

Class ended and various students began shuffling off the mat to grab a variety of cleaning supplies to tidy up the dojo. Obi-wan grabbed a rag and began to clean the shomen, where O-Sensei’s picture hung. Their guests from New Zealand tried to grab things to help, but were told off by the children that they were guests and “It’s our responsibility!”

Obi-wan snickered and smiled at Cody, who shrugged helplessly and began taking off his hakama alongside his brothers and began to get ready to leave.

Once the dojo was clean, Obi-wan finally took off his own hakama and gathered his belongings.

Cody and Rex were waiting right outside the dojo for him.

“Excited for tomorrow, gentlemen?” Obi-wan asked.

“Yes, very much so.” Cody smiled, pulling out his phone.

The three of them exchanged numbers with Obi-wan promising to meet them in front of the dojo at 9am the next morning.

“Tomorrow will be a great day, I’m sure of it.” Rex butted in and patted Cody on the back.

“Excellent! I will see you all tomorrow, then.” Obi-wan smiled.

A good day, indeed.

#codywanweek2021 #codywan #commander cody #obi wan kenobi #Day 2 AU #aikido

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jajanvm-imbi · 4 years

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Headcanons of Krel living on earth because he’s my favorite and I love him and I haven’t seen anyone do this yet so I feel like I have to

^^^^^because of this very moment I love the idea of Mary and Darci befriending Krel.

Since Aja,Vex and Eli went back to Akaridion-5, Mother was destroyed, and Claire was busy with Trollhunting stuff, earth gets pretty lonely. So Mary and Darci adopt him into their friend group.

At first Krel was a little apprehensive to joining their friend group, but he quickly warmed up to it because, he, being Krel, loves the attention.

like I can totally see Mary and Darci taking Krel to like a mall or something and doing those like teen romcom movie shopping montages where he goes into a changing room and the girls judge the outfit until they find the perfect one.

I personally believe Krel would adopt a soft boy look, with like oversized button ups and t shirts tucked into jeans, but thats just me.

anyway, because he’s friends with Mary and Darci, Krel has a new found social popularity in Arcadia.

because of this, Krel would prolly get nominated for Spring Fling king and shit

I would say Krel wouldn’t really care about being nominated, but seeing how he cared so much about the science fair and the Battle of the Bands, he would definitely care

Steve is conflicted because he wants to be Spring Fling King, but he can’t mess with Krel like he did with Jim and Eli cause Krel is his girlfriend’s brother

Krel notices this and takes advantage of it to mess with Steve and actually tries to win.

like Krel would just dominate the contests, and his theme presentation would be the flashiest and most appealing and people would just generally like him, and that would really worry Steve

like Krel, with four arms would be really good at the Touch-a-Truck-athon or whatever its called.

Krel would prolly let Steve win anyway because watching Steve squirm and freak out over prolly losing the crown and not being able to do anything about it cause he's Aja's brother is much better than any highschool dance crown

also the school 100% asks Krel to DJ future dances and events to save money, and Krel absolutely loves it

He would also definitely do the school play. Seeing how much he enjoyed being in Toby and Eli's short film, and again, he loves the attention, he would totally be down

Also it would just be another chance to mess with Steve to be the lead.

Because of this, Ms. Janeth would do another Shakespearean play, but do one of those modern renditions. Like it's the same play just in a modern setting, to take advantage of Krel's Akaridion form like they did with Jim's armor.

If not in the play he would do stage crew/tech.

Like he would create elaborate settings for them using A5 tech and Ms. Janeth would adore it

moving on, because home life is pretty lonely with just the Lucy and Ricky for company, Krel loves to host his friends for parties and sleepovers and whatever

and since Krel lives in the coolest house on the block, they love coming over

He hosts girl’s night every other week with Mary, Darci, and Clarie (becauuse she deserves a fucking break)

since we’ve all agreed that Krel is 100% a gaylien, I love the idea that he casually comes out during a girls night

like Mary would be like “So Krel, are there any girls you like?” and Krel’s just like, “*snort* Girls? Who ever said I like girls?” and the others are like “….....?“ and Krel just rolls his eyes and says "I like boys, ladies” and they’re like “ooooohhhh, okay. Cool.”

So now they spend girls night talking about boys. Claire and Darci about their mans and Mary and Krel about cute boys.

One day the girls give Krel a little rainbow pin and Krel’s just like “what’s this?” And the girls tell him that it’s an earth symbol for the gays and he’s like “theres a symbol for that here? I didnt think it was that big of a deal. On A5 it’s pretty normal” and the girls explain why theres a symbol and he’s like “oh shoot wow, thanks" and he put it on his backpack.

He’s pretty confused the first time someone is homophobic towards him cause like that kind if behavior doesnt happen on A5 and hes just like, “why does this bother you? I hardly know you” and just brushes it off. Its doesnt really bother him, mainly cause he doesnt know the earth insults towards gay people so he doesn’t even realize, but if the girls (or Toby, or even Steve, too) catch anyone being homophobic towards their friend they will attack that asshole on sight. Especially Mary and Steve

Random person on the street: Ha, *slur*

Marry: WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM BITCH???

Krel: Marry its fine, it’s not that big of a dealoHSEKLOSANDGAYLENMARYGETOFFOFHIM

Marry: SAY IT AGAIN ASSHAT, I D A R E YOU

Claire and Darci: *trying to hold Mary back* maRY NO

Steve: THATS MY NINJA KICKING SPACE ANGEL GIRLFRIEND'S BROTHER BUTTSNACK I'LL END YOU

Toby: *now chasing after Steve to stop him* stEVE NO

Mary would 100% find out who the rando is and destroy their life on social media. Like she would leak their job, phone number, email, school/college (if applicable) to her thousands of followers and absolutely ruin them with no remorse. And honestly, good for her

Also whilst on the subject, Krel can not drive or cook for 2 reasons: 1. Hes gay and 2. He’s a prince so he’s never had to do either before

Like he can obviously do math but that’s it.

Proof? That one scene in Wizards when Douxie had him drive the airship. You know the one.

Coach Lawrence refuses to get in a car with him at Drivers Ed after the 3rd day Krel shows up.

Krel gets addicted to sugary coffee shop-esc drinks thanks to Darci. Not coffee cause we saw in 3Below Part 1 that he doesnt like coffee, but refreshers, coolattas, frappuccinos etc…? Definitely.

As for warm drinks, he’s more of a tea person.

Moving on

He face calls Aja everyday because he really misses her

He tells her all about school and his friends and whatever and Aja tells him about the changes she’s making to the A5 government

Thanks to the wormhole they visit each other often. Sometimes Steve tags along cause he misses his ninja kicking space queen angel girlfriend. (And Eli, but that's also for another post)

They take turns housing Luug.

Krel genuinely loves it on earth, but he hates the primitive technology so he begs Aja to send him supplies and materials for his projects.

He would 10000% apply to HexTech for an after school job. Seeing his reaction to HT in Wizards and the fact that “Akaridion tech and magic are so compatible”, he would be the perfect addition to the HT staff.

The Wizards wouldn’t be sure at first but after he shows them A5 tech and Douxie’s email of recommendation about the time loop thing they made together, the wizards are like “oh yeah we definitely keeping this kid. This is going to be so much fun.”

Their inventions become more and more extravagant because Krel can and he's just extra and the wizards love it.

He would definitely find a way to use magic using A5 tech. But he would have to study magic in order to figure out how, so the wizards help him learn all about magic. And since he's learned everything there is to learn about science and technology and whatever, he's super excited to learn about something completely different and interesting. The wizards are happy to teach him. He would be the first Akaridion to learn and use magic

Like he would make his own staff with his serrator and everything. He's like "earn a staff? Nah fuck that going to make my own"

Speaking of which he really likes human swear words. But he doesnt know when it is and isn't inappropriate to say these swear words so he's gotten in trouble a few times for swearing at the wrong time

For example:

Ms. Janeth: excuse me Mr. Tarron?

Krel: what the fuck do you want?

Everyone in the room: krEL NO

Anyway, back to Krel at HT, thanks to Toby, he would definitely have a bowl of candy in his little lab. More like multiple jars of different candy just scattered around the room. Small candy like fun sized chocolate and skittles and jelly beans and whatever

And a mini fridge, of course.

Steve, Toby and Arrrgh come over to the lab alot to mess around.

Toby has a lot of sci-fi requests for Krel to make

Toby: do you think you can make a shrink ray? Laser blasters? Invisible ray? My own hoverboard? My own serrator *gASP* WITH A WARHAMMER SETTING???? WITH SPACE ARMOR TO MATCH???!!!???!

Krel: Toby you already have a warhammer and armor why do you need more?

Toby: I dont have a space warhammer and armor Krel!!!!!!

Going back to school life, I feel like Krel would take an interest in Spanish class. I mean, his human form is latino and in Trollhunters (I'm pretty sure the lightning in a bottle episode) he said "Si" in response to a question someone asked him, so I feel like he would like to learn another human language.

I also feel like he would just like to learn about Latin American culture in general since Mother gave him that form. He'd like to get in touch with his human self.

Claire (when she isnt busy Trollhunting with Jim and the gang) is happy help him learn about Latin American culture and help him with his Spanish.

Krel, being a fast learner, becomes fluent quickly with a perfect accent.

Señor Uhl, who already liked the Tarrons to begin with, would really appreciate this.

Claire's dad would also appreciate this.

Since he has such a fascination with human music, Krel would especially love Latin American music. Specifically reggaeton, since its kind of like techno music in a way and he already likes techno music.

And naturally, he learns to dance. All the styles of latin american dances. And he becomes quite the favorite on the dance floor.

He and Claire become great dance partners cause they both have the natural Latino rhythm and because Jim respects and trusts his girlfriend he doesnt mind them dancing together at parties and stuff

Although, Jim does ask for dance help at some point cause it looks like fun and he wants to dance with his beautiful talented incredible amazing gf and Krel is happy to teach him and anyone else who wants dance help.

GUITAR LESSONS with Douxie cause in 3Below Krel said he really wanted to learn how to play guitar, steals Shannon’s guitar from the bonfire and is seen multiple times strumming it throughout the series. So of course this is included.

Toby introduces Krel to YouTube and Krel instantly makes his own channel.

of course his channel is called DJ Kleb and he posts his tracks and remixes. and maybe even some vlogs

its a little slow at first, only Arcadia Oaks students are subscribed to it but Mary blows it up by posting one of Krel’s tracks on her own social media and now he has thousands of subscribers

he also gained other forms of social media like Instagram and Tiktok, platforms to post his music

At this point every girl in school wants to be friends with Krel but not in the toxic GBF (gay best friend) way, girls just genuinely think he's 10x more interesting than every other boy in Arcadia Oaks

I think that's it for now sorry this is really long I just really love Krel and I had so many ideas. Feel free to add on!!

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poedameronloverx · 3 years

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A New Way Of Life

Life In Lockdown Series Masterlist

Poe Dameron x F!Reader

Summary - As the reality of working from home sets in, you and your friends have to learn to work around one another, whilst also finding things to relax you to make evenings with your friends a lot of fun.

Warnings - Mentions of covid

Word Count - 2090

Week 1 – March 2020

The first few days of lockdown were a challenge. Trying to get in touch with people from work was proving more difficult than you’d first thought. You were getting easily distracted as well. BeeBee spent his time going between Poe in the dining room and you in the living room, the open plan nature basically making it a massive room for him to wander around in. Anytime he came near you, you couldn’t resist picking him up for snuggles. Poe was a distraction too, he liked to sing to himself as he worked and the sound of his voice was distracting you from whatever work you were doing. After reading the same line of an email 4 times you decided to take a break, you headed to the kitchen and started up the coffee machine. BeeBee followed you, deciding to have his own drink break with his bowl of water. Rose appeared in the kitchen whilst you were waiting for your coffee to be done.

“How’s it going?” she asked

“It’s a lot more challenging than I thought. Everything is distracting me!”

“Me too” she replied “And most people aren’t picking up calls today because they’ve all obviously had to close their offices as well”

“I can’t get hold of management” you replied “And BeeBee keeps wanting attention and he’s so cute I always give in! We should put a smart watch on him. He’s probably done 10000 steps walking between Poe and I”

“How’s Poe as a colleague?”

“Distracting, he keeps singing”

“He’s a good singer, could be worse” Rose chuckled

“Yeah he’s great but my mind just hears singing and thinks it’s done with work” you replied “Have you heard anything from Finn?”

“No, the doors been closed all morning. I don’t think he even came out for a break”

“Hopefully it’s going alright for him”

“Why don’t we do something tonight” Rose said “We’re all having weird days so maybe we could plan fun things in the evenings”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Movie night tonight” she replied “We can make dinner then watch a bunch of movies. We can plan other things for other evenings”

“I’m in” you replied “It’ll be nice to have something to look forward to”

“What are we looking forward to?” Poe asked as he joined you in the kitchen

“Oh, Rose was just saying we should plan fun things to do in the evenings, starting with movie night tonight”

“Sounds great. This working remotely thing is really not fun”

“BeeBee likes it” you smiled “He’s enjoying going between us”

“Well as long as the best boy is happy then we all are” Poe chuckled, leaning down to scoop the dog into his arms “You’re the best little buddy aren’t you”

“So cute!” Rose whispered

Rose’s idea for a movie night was just what everyone needed after the first day of the strange new reality the world found itself in. The 4 of you picked a movie each, the genres ranged from musicals, to Disney, to action and finally horror. You didn’t hate horror movies but they would never be your first choice. BeeBee who had taken residence in your lap for movie night suddenly found himself being hugged a lot tighter than previously. Rose and Finn were sat on one sofa all cuddled up, Rose had a blanket over her head and Finn was chuckling at her anytime she jumped at the scares from the movie. Poe and you were sat on the opposite side of the room. A blanket covered your legs, which were crossed underneath you. Poe was stretched out, his feet hanging off the end of the sofa and his head rested on a pillow a few inches away from you. He sat up when you jumped at one particularly bad jump scare.

“Hey, you alright?” he whispered

“Just not really my kind of movie” you replied

“Me neither, but Finn loves them so I’ve got used to them! I can hold your hand if you want”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. It’s just a stupid movie right?”

“Right” Poe smiled, he sat up and moved closer to you “Just incase anyone tries to grab you, I’ll not let them”

The sun decided to make an appearance on the 3rd and 4th days of lockdown. It wasn't tropical temperatures or anything but you could get away with being in the garden as long as you had a hoodie on. Rose was completely snowed under at work and you rarely saw Finn apart from lunch. Poe’s boss had taken pity on them all after a stressful few days and given them the Friday as a day off. You could see him sat in the garden with BeeBee whilst you worked. It was approaching 12.00 and you were slowly losing the will to live. You managed to push through until 1pm when you were ready for lunch. Your boss emailed to give everyone the afternoon off so you made your lunch, pulled a hoodie on and headed out to the garden to join Poe. As soon as the sun hit your skin, you instantly felt relaxed. It had been a strange week and you were grateful to be able to start your weekend a few hours early. You grabbed one of the garden chairs and moved it over next to Poe.

“Happy weekend” he said as you sat down

“It’s been the weirdest week in the entire world. I’m so glad we made it to the weekend”

“Me too, and I’m really glad you got an early finish. Bee isn’t the best conversation holder” he winked

“He’s cute though, he gets points for that at least!”

“That goes without saying”

The dog must’ve known he was being spoken about. He got up from his place in the shade to come and get some attention.

“Wanna take him a walk with me later?” Poe asked “The ice cream kiosk in the park is open, we could get something there, and it would be nice to have some company”

“Yeah, that sounds good”

Finn and Rose were still upstairs working when it came time for BeeBee’s walk. You texted Rose to tell her you’d gone with Poe. The park was beautiful in the sun, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d actually visited it. It was only a 10 minute walk away from the house but you didn't really have a reason to go to it. There were families out on walks, people on their own, people with dogs. Everyone was out enjoying the weather and taking their one form of daily outdoor exercise. You chuckled as BeeBee tried to make friends with every other dog and human he came across, his little tail wagging the entire time. Poe led you over to the ice cream kiosk he had mentioned; there was a long socially distanced queue.

“You keep an eye on Bee and I’ll get us some ice cream” he smiled “There’s a bench just round the back of this kiosk, nobody ever sits at it but it’s at a really good bit for Bee to run around. I’ll come and get you once I get the ice cream”

You nodded and made your way round to the bench Poe had mentioned. Like he said, the area was quiet; there was one woman with a dog that you’d seen earlier on, BeeBee and her dog had sniffed one another when you'd walked passed her just after walking into the park. You took the ball you’d lifted before leaving the house out of your pocket and threw it for the little dog. He happily chased after it, always bringing it back. He set it down for a second to talk to the woman who was stood at the other side of the grass, her dog spotted it’s opportunity and grabbed it. The woman chased after her dog and eventually got the ball back. She walked over to the bench and stood far enough away from where you were, but close enough to lay the ball down.

“Sorry about that, he’s terrible for stealing from other dogs”

You chuckled “It’s not a problem, it’s this ones fault for trying to be too sociable”

She smiled “Your dog is so cute!”

“He is cute, but sadly he’s not mine. I have to give him back”

“Ah, he’s your boyfriends. The guy you were walking with earlier”

You could feel yourself blushing “Em, yeah he belongs to him, but he’s not my boyfriend. Just a friend and lockdown house mate”

“Oh, I’m sorry I just assumed” she replied “You guys looked liked a super cute couple when I spotted you earlier”

“It’s fine” you replied with a shrug.

You wished he was your boyfriend, you’d had a crush on the man since the first day you met him. The two of you had clicked right away when Ben had introduced you. Him and Poe had been classmates that didn’t keep in touch, you vaguely remembered seeing Poe at your brothers birthday parties when you were kids but nobody paid you much attention back then because they were all older and you were the annoying little sister of their friend. Poe and Ben had met back up again when Ben became a client of Poe’s work. You were introduced to Poe when Ben and Rey got engaged and had a party. You’d later found out you had a mutual friend in Finn and the 3 of you started to hang out. You’d known Finn since high school, you never went to the same school but you both had a part time job at a local café. Finding out Poe was Finn’s best friend and roommate made you re-connect with Finn. You’d kept in touch on social media for years but didn’t really spend a lot of time together so through Poe that all changed. When you’d introduced Finn and Rose it had been love at first sight. The 4 of you could be found hanging out on a regular basis; everyone always assumed it was a double date because of how close you and Poe were. He was a touchy, feely guy. He would often be found with his arm round your shoulders, his hand on your back when you were walking anywhere with him. You loved it but also hated it because you always wanted more. The reason you had never mentioned anything was because you were scared he wouldn’t feel the same and you didn’t want such a good friendship to fall apart if you told him and made things awkward. Rose knew, but she promised she wouldn't tell Poe.

BeeBee and the other dog went back to playing together and the woman wandered back to where she had originally been stood. You took a few photos on your phone and uploaded them to social media. Everyone needed a boost during the weird times you were in and you thought there was no better way to cheer people up than photos of cute dogs. After what felt like hours, Poe finally came to join you. He handed you a small tub of ice cream and a slushie.

“Man are they busy” he said, flopping down next to you on the bench “Did Bee behave?”

“He did, that dog he’s playing with stole his ball but they’re on friendly terms now”

“That’s good news” Poe chuckled

The two of you sat and enjoyed your ice creams, the weather and one another’s company. When you were ready to head back home Poe phoned Finn, the local takeaways were open for delivery and Poe decided it was too nice a night for anyone to be cooking. The evening was spent eating as much pizza as you could and watching videos on YouTube. Finn was really into the ones exploring abandoned places and you all fell down a rabbit hole of watching video after video. Rose fell asleep first, and you soon followed. Eventually leaning over and falling onto Poe’s shoulder. Poe and Finn smiled at one another. You had all survived a crazy week, you’d had to adapt to an all new way of life and there had been some hiccups but overall you’d all coped. You were thankfully all healthy, and you had good company and were surrounded by your best friends. Life was far from perfect but both of them knew that things could be a lot worse, and that worldwide things would get worse before they improved.

So once again please let me know what you thought, I want to get better as a writer and I can only do that with your help. Thank you for all of the kind comments one the last part, they really made me smile! <3

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x f!reader #tw: covid 19 #tw: covid #poe dameron x solo!reader

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uwuwriting · 3 years

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My OCs

Okay okay so these are my OCs, I’m sorry if their names aren’t really Japanese I googled most of their names back when I started creating them. I hope you enjoy them and well let's get started. I didn’t include Sky aka Shirakumos daughter even though technically she is one of my OCs, I felt that since I have introduced her in my fics *by name* I’ll leave her a rather blank slate for yall *I can describe her as well if yall want that though*. Hope you like them and yes some of the quirks were inspired by Avatar. Love ya💖💖💖

Kenushima Akane

Akane is in her mid 20s, her birthday is on 30th of December making her a Capricorn and is part of our favorite villain group, the LoV. She was the eldest child of two pro heroes who married because it would satisfy the media and boost their careers. She had two younger siblings, the twins Annya and Arakan. She is around 5’7 (170cm) with fairly long auburn hair which are always braided so they don’t get in her way, amber eyes and a burn mark on her right shoulder from a small scuffle with our favorite fire user. Her hair and eyes become a dark red when she uses her quirk making her even more menacing. She wears a black mask over her eyes, keeping that way her identity a secret and a rather tight uniform consisting of black leather overall-shorts matched with a black-red plaid shirt and thigh highs with black military boots. Her weapon of choice is anything you can swing. Her quirk is a powerful blood bending type which she inherited from her mothers’ side. She can control the blood in someones’ system to the point of a heart attack or a stroke. Once the blood is out of the persons’ system she can still wield it, sharpening it into a blade like shape and cut through both flesh and bone, the new blood adding to the power of her makeshift blade. Her limits begin when she gets a nose bleed followed by either her eyes or ears starting to bleed as well; the final stage is giving herself a heart attack but she has never reached that point thankfully. It’s a self-destructive quirk since she pushes her body’s boundaries everytime she activates it, making her vulnerable to diseases after a particularly hard fight. She is a master of many forms of martial arts, kicking anyone's ass without even having to use her quirk. Her family is wreck *lmao*. Since her parents married out of convenience the kids were results of moments of weakness between the two adults. Her household wasn’t very affectionate, partnered with her fathers’ constant absence and negligence and her mothers overly obsessive quirk demands, her relationships soon turned abusive. Excessive training and brutal punishments were her mothers’ tactics to ensure a picture perfect quirk state which she could boast about in the media. Her father was a decent figure during the sparse moments when he was actually in the house. He treated his kids with some trace of humanity and not like objects but he too didn’t really care. Everything went downhill when rumours of affairs surfaced and her mother lost her senses, killing their father on the kitchen floor before getting to the children. Akane tried to protect her siblings but was easily tossed aside by her mother and she doesn’t remember what actually happened that night. The only thing she knows for sure is that she was now an orphan and one sibling short, losing both her home and her brother that night. She didn’t stay in foster care for long since she dipped, joining a group of castaways called the Deck. Due to her quirk she was named the Queen of Hearts and became one of the most feared and powerful villains in Japan. Soon she joined the LoV after Shiggy approached her, officially meeting Dabi *who is her s/o btw lol*. She’s still close with her little sister Annya and owns a bookstore so she won’t have to steal. She has morals *shocker*, killing only those who have comitted crimes varying from abuse to murder or fraud. She is against useless killing and would prefer to clear the streets from scum rather than litter it with herself. She’s kinda like an anti-hero. She joined the LoV so she could have easier access to the insights of the hero industry and slowly help take out those hero frauds. She likes cooking Mexican food, her favorite animal is the fox and she is deathly afraid of spiders to the point she once burned her table using a lighter and hairspray because she had seen a spider on it. All in all she is a lovely person *I think*.

Kenushima Annya

Annya is 15 and part of class 1-A, her birthday is on the 3rd of January *like me heh* making her a Capricorn. She is the youngest of a twin set and has an older sister, while her parents were pros. She is around 5’7 (170cm) with shoulder length dark brown hair, amber eyes and faint lightning like scars scaling down both of her arms. Dark lavender streaks appear in her hair when she over uses her quirk and her scars shine the same color many times pulsating along with the surges of her blasts. Her uniform consists of a tight black crop top with azure and magenta details alongside black pants, black boots which are specially designed to give her extreme jumping power helping her also levitate for a short period so she can unleash her attacks and lastly gloves that cover almost all of her scars *also black with the same patterns as the top*. Has basic combat skills but she mostly prefers to rely on her quirk. Speaking of her quirk, she has a combo of a water and a lightning quirk making her able to easily electrocute others without short circuiting like Kami. She can control any form of water, making her easily overpowered in seaside missions but she can also control any liquid which has some water in it. However she cannot create water from thin air, like Shoto can make ice, and she can’t freeze it. Much like her sister she uses water mostly as a whip or a blade. Lightning is used mainly as one of her ultimate moves since she doesn’t have full control over it and it tends to hurt her scars when she does use it. She can let the purple strings of light course through her and hit her target with incredible force making her excellent for range attacks. Just like her sister she reaches her limits when her nose starts to bleed and she can pass out from dehydration due to her quirk using up some of the water inside of her body with each attack. Now for her family life. She was a late bloomer and that was unacceptable according to her mother. She didn’t showcase signs of having a quirk until the age of 9 when her mother attacked her and her siblings. In a fit of rage and despair her mother tried killing her for ruining the familys’ image with her quirklessness. Her twin brother tried to save her from her mother *just like Akane did* only to be tossed aside as well, hitting the back of his head on a nearby table. Seeing both of her siblings on the ground *and almost being choked to death by her abuser* Annya activated her quirk, losing complete control over her powers resulting in her scars and the death of her mother. Arakan was pronounced dead on arrival leaving the two girls the only surviving members of the Kenushima family. After Akane’s disappearance, Annya was moved from home to home for about a year before being adopted by a couple and living as much of a normal life as she could. Her mental health isn’t the best as one can imagine, suffering from PTSD from the incident and having self hating tendencies. Becoming a hero is her way of proving to herself that she’s not a monster and that she can indeed help others. In class 1-A she tends to hang out with the Dekusquad and two other girls who I’ll introduce down the line. Her hero name is Electra and her s/o is Shoto *lol siblings are dating siblings tf*. She likes Autumn and Winter, loves going ice skating, has many plants in her room and loves watching horror movies with her friends.

Aizawa Kaiya

Kaiya is 15 and part of class 1-A despite her father being the homeroom teacher. Her birthday is on the 19th of June making her a Gemini. She sports the legendary jet black hair, her hair is also pretty long so she always has to braid it or put it up in a ponytail and she has egirl bangs *I don’t know how else to describe them*. Her eyes are a striking azure and she has dyed the tips of her hair the same color. Ya girl is shorter than the Kenushimas, barely reaching 5’2 (160cm). Her hero costume consists of black cargo pants with multiple pockets, a black turtleneck and chest straps(?) around her waist and collarbone finishing the look with black military boots. Sometimes she might wear a gas mask which helps her control her breathing. Now for her quirk. It’s some type of psychic power, she can hear people’s thoughts making it easy for her to know what they are about to do, giving her the upper hand almost every time, but she can aslo channel her own and others thoughts and make dark shards out of them. These shards can be thrown with amazing speed or create a protective wall in front and above her. Her quirk ,though drains her very easily, making it hard to breath and walk in a straight line. She gets light headed while the voices inside her head get overly loud. Through practice she can push her boundaries and use more of her quirks’ power. Lastly in order for her to hear your thoughts she needs to see you. Once she sees you for even a quarter of a second, she can see into your head even long after you have left her line of sight. Her family life is very calm compared to the Kenushimas. She is the daughter of Aizawa’s sister who vanished when Kaiya was five. Having no one else to care for her since her real father wasn’t in the picture, Aizawa took his niece in and raised her as his own. She was too little to remember her mother and for years she believed that Shouta was her actual dad but Dadzawa did tell her the truth. Nothing really changed, she still calls him dad and they have a lovely father-daughter relationship. She loves Eri and loves being her older sister, playing with her, doing her hair and taking her to the dorms to meet her friends. She has a pet cat named Majesty who she uses to bribe Aizawa to buy snacks. She likes rainy days, beating Shinsou’s ass during training, being pinned by Shinsou while training, Halloween, cats and fluffy blankets. She is friends with mostly Annya, Shinsou and Sky but she doesn’t mind hanging out with the Deku or the Baku squads. Her hero name is Calypso. Her s/o is Shinsou much to Aizawa’s dismay. He is salty because this happened right under his nose, Dadzawa was too busy looking out for the 1-A boys that he completely ignored his trainee pinning his daughter down during training *he is really glad that she likes Shinsou bc he knows that he is a good kid*.

TAG TEAM AY:

@the-arcana-fan-fic @angelwritings @axerrri @reinyrei @bemorefiction @dnarez @dark-thoughts-and-red-roses @threeamwriting @ezoyscorner @letscheereachotheron @wolfkid22

#bnha #bnha oc #my oc #oc #since i cant draw #take these poorly written descriptions #im sorry #i tried #why are clothing so hard to write?#bnha x oc #dabi x oc #shoto x oc #todoroki x oc #shinsou x oc

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for-gold-and-glory · 4 years

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Weekly Events for April 27th to May 3rd

Here are some events G&G Members will be involved in during the week. Or just events that I think are really cool and you should definitely go to. If you’re interested in joining these events just show up or send a message to Aegir, Lirilith, or Aedwen Or join our discord: https://discord.gg/dCRSWTx

Monday - Palazzo Aldenard Presents! A night of duets @ 9:00pm EST - Mist W7, P15 Tuesday - The Big One: Walking Death Fortress…. of Plunder! Pt 2 @ 8:00pm EST - Idyllshire Wednesday - Garlean Extra: Defiant Reiterations Shadow Mission Pt 2 @ 8:30pm EST - The Monstrance, The Lochs Thursday - The Big One: All that glitters…duh’ its gold PT2 @ 7:00pm EST - Forgotten Springs Friday - Garlean Weekly: Lost Knights @ 9:00pm EST - Castrum Aquilonis Saturday - Rock the Boat @ 8:00pm EST - (New Location) The Astalicia, Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks Sunday - The Missing Member Pt 5? Set Sail for the Old World! @ 3:30pm EST - The Salt Strand, Lower La Noscae Sunday - Salt Barons Rescue Mission Pt 2 @ 8:30pm EST - TBA Monday - G&G Adventure: Tales from the S’ewer Drain @ 8:30pm EST - Lost Hope, Central Thanalan (will need Lochs unlocked)

Monday - Palazzo Aldenard Presents! A night of duets @ 9:00pm EST - Mist W7, P15 https://savothesewercat.tumblr.com/post/616126716499410944/savothesewercat-a-musical-review-at-the-palazzo A MUSICAL REVIEW at the PALAZZO ALDENARD ! Status: Open, please check the link Type: Performance GM: Palazzo Aldenard

Tuesday - The Big One: Walking Death Fortress…. of Plunder! Pt 2 @ 8:00pm EST - Idyllshire With the bandits driven off (and sights seen better left unseen...) the plunder of the bandits is now in Gold & Glory's hands, as well as the means to make the caravan master give up the pattern that the legging monstrosity follows! Now it's just a matter of stopping their hike and plundering their shapely chasis for their magitek ~~boots~~ loots~ Status: Open RP, come join us! Type: Adventure Comedy GM: Lucien Korbinius

Wednesday - Garlean Extra: Defiant Reiterations Shadow Mission Pt 2 @ 8:30pm EST - The Monstrance, The Lochs - Regret in the face of death can let slip the door to many truths… and interesting tid bits. As he passed, Lucis Crysanthos revealed many things, including the coordinates of an underwater facility in the Lochs where a powerful tool may lay to help them defeat the remaining Terastios. The final push is coming, but STELLA wants to arrive at the party prepared. Imperial Shadows have been assigned the task of investigating this facility and the ‘tool’ inside. They are taking a few Allagan experts with them. Will they be able to keep up with the Empire’s ninjas, or will they all fall out of the shadows? Status: Open to Imperial Shadows, Allagan specialists (New characters welcome) Type: Action/Investigation GM: Aegir Thursday - The Big One: All that glitters…duh’ its gold PT2 @ 7:00pm EST - Forgotten Springs - Someone is out to get the Osiris Tribe! Or are they??? More later! Status: Open RP, please join us! Type: Action/Adventure GM: Yisu

Friday - Garlean Weekly: Lost Knights @ 9:00pm EST - Castrum Aquilonis https://fustuarium.tumblr.com/ - Rumors have reached STELLA's leadership of a problem that has begun to make deadly, deadly waves. While the regions of Dalmasca have been held under control thanks to preparation, the IVth's own efforts, as well as a strategic removal of resources and personnel to the Resistence centered in Bozja something is beginning to destabilize this tranquility. STELLA is called to begin handling a rather unusual request then - what ties do a series of attacks in Dalmasca have to STELLA's mission? And who is the Signici Cell - and what is _their_ tie to the brutal Resistance cell calling itself the "Lost Knights"? Status: Open to allies or agents of S.T.E.L.L.A - not a member? We're recruiting! Speak up in #event-planning to ask how to be involved! Type: Investigation GM: Lucien Korbinius

Saturday - Rock the Boat @ 8:00pm EST - (New Location) The Astalicia, Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks https://for-gold-and-glory.tumblr.com/post/615414742194995200/for-gold-and-glory-balmung-rock-the - Welcome to Rock the Boat! What is ‘Rock the Boat’? It is a musical celebration of Blitzball and all of the teams from the 3rd annual Menphina Madness Blitzball tournament through a good old fashioned rock concert! We invite each team to take this opportunity to show us how THEY can not only rock, but show us that they can…ROCK THE BOAT.Featuring performances from Limsa Lominsa, Ul’dah, Gridania, Ishgard, Ala Mhigo, Kugane, Garelmald, and Ivalice! Each nations performance lasts 15 minutes, so be sure to check out them all! Status: Open RP, come join us! Type: Performance GM: Dylan Thorne and Aegir

Sunday - The Missing Member Pt 5? Set Sail for the Old World! @ 3:30pm EST - The Salt Strand, Lower La Noscae - Okay, so now they’re wanted in Limsa Lominsa. This is fine. This is fine. They just have to make it to Candlekeep Quay, where a ship is supposedly waiting for them, then it’s straight sailing to Idyllshire, right? Simple. Right? RIGHT??? Status: Open RP, come join us! Type: Adventure, Comedy GM: Aegir

Sunday - Salt Barons Rescue Mission Pt 2 @ 8:30pm EST - TBA - With one Salt Baron unaccounted for an a disturbing message broadcasting across Garlean media, a coordiated attack has been planned by several Blitzball members. Utilizing resources from the sky, the sea, and ancient history, the blitzballers launch their next move! Because you now what they say! When you got the ball, you gotta score! Status: Open RP, come join us! Type: Action GM: Aegir + Others Monday - G&G Adventure: Tales from the S’ewer Drain @ 8:30pm EST - Lost Hope, Central Thanalan (will need Lochs unlocked) - Scholar and Tomb Raider, Professor Gridania Djones, has hired the Gold & Glory assist him with an exploration dive of the Sil'dih Aqueducts. Why can’t the dashing scholar/grave robber handle the exploration himself? Well, it would seem that any time he and his team attempts to penetrates the ruins, they’re driven back by mysterious individuals. Small, scuttling, and suited for aquatic travel and darkness, these fiesty fiends need to be dealt with so the Professor can continue his research! Note: Must have Lochs unlocked Status: Open RP, come join us! Type: Adventure GM: Aegir

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har0ld · 3 years

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The Last Dance (Long Version) The Last Dance was great. Since then I have watched The Last Season: the 1998, 82 games Bulls regular season. It’s fantastic basketball and makes that last run feel even more spectacular. First off, in 1998 the Bulls team is a *lot* slower than the two previous runs. It’s obvious. Their bodies –especially Scottie’s, who’s on the bench until January- are messed up. When Phil Jackson says in the documentary that they wouldn’t have been able to get a 7th title, I really agree with that. Second, EVERYONE wants to beat them. They’re the champs, the 5-time champions. Every single team wants to beat the Bulls and most are extremely well prepared. They also know that they’re not as quick as before and ALL the young guns are ready to show Michael who’s taking the crown next. They all know how the Bulls work, how to double team, when etc. The Bulls are known, dissected. The Bulls have no secret. I’ve never seen MJ getting blocked or smacked to the ground or forced to pass the ball more than those games. There’s a game at the end of the season where Grant Hill absolutely dominates Michael. The NBA teams knew what the fuck was going on. When the Bulls lose during that regular season, the other teams look like they just won the Finals and Olympics combined. There’s this game where MJ has 47 pts, Dennis has 29 rebounds and they win by single digit. They look completely exhausted and it’s only October or November. The media talks shit. The Bulls are super good and strong as hell, but you can see the cracks. Plus, they already have 5 titles, how can you possibly want more? There might be fatigue. There’s also this halo around Michael. The man is a god at that time, more than ever. No one wants him to retire, but everyone wants to beat him. So it’s a strange mix and probably an insane and absurd pressure on the players’ shoulders. Observations: The Bench Shout out to them! Even though they’re struggling at the start of the season, they end up being crucial, allowing the starting 5 to recover. Wennington is hitting the baseline Js like it’s nothing, Brown is stealing the ball like there’s no tomorrow and Buechler is setting things on fire from those corner 3s. Burrell also has some excellent games at the end of the season and provides a lot of energy. Kerr Steve is a defensive beast. Of course he gets thrown around against the biggest guards in the league but his relentlessness is relentless. If you wonder why now as a coach he gets players to become much better defenders (Andrew Wiggins), that’s why. MJ’s feeding energy Now that I saw it, it’s true. This man wants to win every single *play*. He doesn’t want the other team to succeed at anything. He goes so hard, all the time. But that season, it’s barely enough to keep a 5-8 pts lead. He spends so much energy though that when he hits the bench, the bench is ready to throw it down just by sheer respect for his incredible hustle on the field. It’s feeding other players and without it, there’s no championship because the team would crumble under the pressure. Phil Jackson is scary He spends that season berating Kukoc, I mean, it’s unreal. There’s not a timeout without Phil going at Toni with “what the fuck are you doing out there you piece of shit?” vibes. It’s frightening because he’s supposed to be that cool, zen dude who wrote a book about LSD and all of a sudden he stomps Croatians for dinner. It’s wild. But it works, because Toni gets better and becomes a key to the Bulls offense (Game 7 against the Pacers in the eastern conference finals, he will go 5/5 from the field in the 3rd quarter, sealing the win). Time Out Phil calls them at the absolute perfect time. The second the other team feels some kind of flow, he calls it. He absolutely destroys momentums like that. It’s a beautiful thing to see and I’ve only seen Greg Popovich being that good at calling time outs. Weirdly, other teams don’t use theirs to disrupt the Bulls. Dennis He is so crucial to that championship team. We forget how essential rebounding is when MJ hits that crazy fadeaway J, but without Dennis getting that offensive board, there’s no win. He’s also quite nasty, locking people’s arms and getting under people’s skin like no other player. FOR THE WIN The Pacers From the start of the season, you can tell they’re the team the Bulls are afraid of. Even during regular season, it’s on sight. The Pacers are absolutely excellent with their 3 lefties and Reggie. The games are tough. I think the last game they meet, the Bulls again barely win and MJ who give everything on the floor is a bum for the next game like, he’s not even caring about it because he knows that they just beat their strongest opponent. The Bulls are also at that time like 25-2. Unreal. Triangle and Defense I say that the Bulls have no secret for other teams but their triangle offense in 1998, is a thing of beauty. They circulate the ball so well and always find something to do where they can get a nice shot. It’s honestly the most beautiful offense I’ve ever seen. Only the beautiful game of the 2014 Spurs comes close. And then the defense is just something that we don’t see anymore these days. They’d press you 24/7, basically. Long bois everywhere. The Jordan-Pippen-Harper claw, yeah, good luck with that. Kobe Damon Allen There’s a couple plays in LA where MJ defends Kobe without holding anything. Kobe drains the Js in his face, but knows that holy shit, that was close. Damon Stoudamire slaps the ball off Michael’s hands once, it’s dope to see a small player block OG 23. Allen is not able to shake MJ much, but he’s scoring efficiently against the Bulls. The Bulls win anyway. Fast forward to those last moves in the last game of the finals, –clutch free throws, layup, steal, jump shot, it almost feels like MJ simply reminds himself of how painfully hard that year has been and that it’s time to fucking end this shit. Right now. *squares up for The Shot* http://har0ld.com/playground/2021/02/the-last-dance-long-version/

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libbieswmp1 · 3 years

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Week 9

1. Why do you think the company asked us to watch the play on a phone and what did that add to the performance and the dramaturgy?

I feel like this request was made because of how much it makes the audience feel personally involved in the story that is being told. With the layout being on a phone screen that you’re holding, of the character’s phone screen, it made it feel rather familiar as it is a sight that I often see, although obviously slightly different as it is someone else’s phone with different contacts, apps, etc. This, in itself, is a reminder of how individual and personalised every person can be and also how much something as simple as a phone screen can tell of a person’s characteristics and personality. For example, the character’s phone that was displayed during the performance did not seem to show many social media apps and, other than the section of the play where a lot of people were contacting him to offer their condolences, the man did not receive much contact from people on a regular basis. This is then contrasted with the section later on in the play where he is talking about his previous partner’s interest in apps like Twitter, for example, talking about how he himself had not fully understood the point of it, however the character of Luka was a regular user of the app and therefore used it to show off many elements of his life, unfortunately also causing the character to discover that not many of those elements included him. In relation to the dramaturgy of the play, the use of headphones was definitely the most effective aspect for me. The ability to use them almost as a barrier against everything around me, allowing my attention to be fully committed to the play in front of me, made not just the story being told but also the character’s being introduced and described feel so realistic. There were times throughout when I felt like I knew these people that were being talked about and felt the main character’s pain and loss, causing me to simply want to comfort him for some reason.

2. If you were to describe this play to a friend how would you describe it?

I would describe this play as the type that really makes you start to unintentionally think deeper or question elements of your life that you can reflect on. These could be either where you may possibly have lost contact with someone over time, regretted not acting on certain situations or certain people, wished you had dealt with something differently or even just treasured particular moments more while you were there experiencing them. If I was describing this play to a friend, I would warn them that it is a very emotional and touching piece, even if you cannot necessarily relate to the happenings throughout. I would also describe it, without a doubt, as the type of play that needs your undivided attention within every single second of it, not just to be able to keep up with or to understand the story, but just to be able to really appreciate the messages of love, loss and also humour that it is very successful in portraying to the audience.

3. What specific dramaturgical choices were made in the piece - which made it feel immersive as an audience experience?

The dramaturgical choice to include sound effects did occasionally cause me to feel slightly uncomfortable and on edge, especially the part when the character was talking about drowning and the sounds of the water crashing in my ears was getting louder and louder. Another particularly effective part was when the character claimed he saw a magnificent lioness enter the cafe where he seemed to spend so much of his time, and the noises created from that lioness panned from side to side across my headphones, making it feel as if this animal was quite literally stood behind me, preparing to inspect me like a meal. It was amazing to experience how genuinely scared it had me feeling for a brief moment, proving that even though I was fully aware that it was just a play created for people like me to watch, it completely encapsulated me to a point where I felt like it was real life. Even with everything completely stripped back, so as only to hear the sound of the character speaking, it was very touching and highlighted a sense of fragility as it caused me to feel as if everything he was revealing to me was a secret that it was my responsibility to keep. Another dramaturgical choice that caused the experience to feel somewhat immersive was the way the play went back in time to enlighten the audience of the character’s life and how it has led up to the current moment and the way he is handling the death of his ex-partner. Even something as small as the date and time visible on the phone screen was a massive indicator of how quickly time passes and can result in people being in places they never expected to be.

4. What specifically might you take away from this piece when developing your own final performance?

I really liked the specific use and technique of switching between time frames at certain intervals throughout the play. Not only did this allow more of a story to gradually build up and include various characters from both the past and the present circumstances, but it also allowed the audience to feel like they were a part of the character’s life all the way through. I also feel like, personally, this is a very effective technique when used successfully as it allows the audience to feel a journey of emotions while watching the entire piece, particularly the final emotion of some kind of completion and satisfaction. If I take that away to use in my own final performance to highlight the opportunity that is presented for the audience to take and follow, then I will be very confident in knowing that my audience will be left feeling very emotionally affected by whatever my piece ends up being, and whatever the overall imagery and messages are that are portrayed to them.

Bibliography:

Dante Or Die (2020) USER NOT FOUND: A video podcast. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCvR4y2yk8 (Accessed: 3rd December 2020)

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xhalfprincex · 7 years

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Lance Headcanon

So, we’ve seen theories such as Altean Lance, long-lost prince Lance, adopted Lance, and many others that I could not think of now. I love each and every one of these theories, they are awesome! But we can’t have theories without questions, so before I talk about my theory how about I tell you the questions that led to it.

How did Lance become an expert at underwater combat?

How did Lance become such a good swimmer?

How did Lance become such a great sharpshooter and marksman?

REFUGEE Lance Headcanon.

Voltron is set in the future, so what if in that future Cuba is not a communist country but one under a dictatorship with rebellion/war going on? At first glance, the rebellion and protests were peaceful (for about 5 to 10 years), but the government became annoyed and angered with it after years of being unable to stop it. They tried to stop it by using bribery/threats, after seeing that it wouldn’t end, they went to violent actions.

Let me set the stage for you all, shall I?

The year is 2844 and the peaceful rebellion between the Cuban government and its people. Even though this peaceful rebellion has been going on for over eight years there has been surprisingly no world-wide media coverage, then again, the government has never been one to show their countries news to others.

After many years of peaceful protests, many Cubans could see the start of an all-out war waiting to happen. And the ones who could see this happening are José Milian de la Rosa (age 27) and his wife, Rocio (age 22). The thing about Jose, was even though he sided with the oppressed Cubans, he was first cousins with the Cuban dictator, Franciso Olivera-Espinoza (age 40). The upcoming forty-year war would be marked as the longest war to have ever occurred and one of the longest family feuds ever.

The war has been going on for over 43 years with no end in sight. By this time José and Rocio already have three adult children, one has already died due to the war. Cruz Milian de la Rosa and his wife Ana, left behind one child – Marisol “Sol” Milian de la Rosa – when she was only 13-years-old. She was adopted by her aunt Luisa Milian de la Rosa (sister of Cruz) and her husband Leon after the incident. Luisa and Leon already have children at this point – two pairs of twins in fact – 13-year-olds Alison and her brother Junior, and 6-year-olds Lorenzo and Micheal. They have two other cousins, David Jr. and twin sister Marisol “Mari” children of David Sr. Milian de la Rosa and Mary.

Because of the strong influence that Milian de la Rosa family has in the war, they are constantly heavily protected and trained in different fields of combat. José, Rocio, and their children are all-rounders in combat. The children, however, have begun to choose their own weapons and favored combat style. Sol and Junior have already chosen hand-to-hand combat – ground fighting and standing fighting respectively – their weapons of choice are their hands and improvised weapons. David Jr. and Mari are still going through basic training in combat and are being taught by David Sr. and their bodyguards. Alison and Micheal have recently been training in close combat with weapons such as batons, daggers, and knives. While most of his family preferred close combat, Lorenzo favors ranged weapons, but he will use close combat when he needs to. Some of the weapons that he is usually seen practicing with are crossbows, bows, swiss arrows, slingshots, and guns.

In 2887, seeing that the war was nowhere near ending the family decided to make a sacrifice. Letting the children go. Luisa and Leon took it upon themselves to escape the country for the sake of the children to live in Miami, Florida with family. Preparation for this journey began in January of that 2887 and would be acted upon by the end of July and beginning of August.

The night had finally arrived on the 27th of July it was three hours till midnight when they had boarded their two boats with their necessary supplies and children. Leon and Luisa had let the children sleep while they kept watch during the journey. All was peaceful until was not. It was already 11:50 when they were spotted by the Cuban Naval forces and so a chase ensued. This chase shook the children up with a stark, while it had startled many of them a wave had knocked Lorenzo off the boat. Micheal was the first to respond by jumping into the water after him. While Luisa was distracting the Cuban Navy, Leon rounded back to get the two boys. By the time Leon returned to their location he spotted Lorenzo going in and out of consciousness on a drifting piece of plywood. Micheal was nowhere in sight.

By the time Lorenzo had finally become conscious they were on solid ground with their family surrounding them. Lorenzo didn’t need to hear what they were discussing to know what was being discussed. Micheal hadn’t made it back with them, and it was all his fault, no matter what they said to him to make him feel better he wouldn’t listen. Micheal had died on their birthday.

This is them three years later:

David Jr. – David

13 years old

Student

Taekwondo

Marisol “Mari” – Mari McClain

13 years old

Student

Taekwondo

Marisol “Sol” – Alejandra “Alex” McClain

23 years old

First semester in University

One a marine-life scholarship

Highly skilled at ground fighting and using improvised weapons

Alison – Maria McClain

23 years old

Part-time pharmacy technician and is working on becoming a Pharmacist

Highly skilled at close combat especially the baton (Micheal’s favorite weapon)

Junior – Cesar McClain

23 years old

Works at his father’s auto shop

Highly skilled at using stand up fighting

Lorenzo – Lance McClain

16 years old

3rd year in the Garrison

Best swimmer in the family – was offered a position in the junior Olympics, however, couldn’t do to familial reasons. He is practicing for the 2886 summer Olympics.

Master sharpshooter and marksmen (guns, crossbows, and bow).

Hopes to become a fighter pilot in honor of his brother.

Everything he does is in honor of Micheal.

Hand to hand combat is on par with his older siblings but is better at it underwater.

Most importantly, he doesn’t wish to be a burden to his family, especially not after that night.

Headcanon Version 2

Lorenzo wasn’t the one who made it out alive, it was Micheal who did. He made himself pass off as his as his older brother because he had blamed himself for not being able to save him in time. Since that moment he made himself to be the Lorenzo he and his family lost. It helped that he and Lorenzo wore the same articles of clothing that day, as they usually did on their birthday. His family doesn’t know, he has kept it all to himself throughout these 3 years.

Micheal “Lorenzo”– Lance McClain

16 years old

3rd year at the Garrison

Master sharpshooter and marksmen (guns, crossbows, and bow).

Hopes to become a fighter pilot in honor of his brother.

Everything he does is in honor of Lorenzo.

Hand to hand combat is on par with his older siblings but is better at it underwater.

Most importantly, he doesn’t wish to be a burden to his family, especially not after that night.

Headcanon Version 3

Micheal was unable to get to Lorenzo in time, instead, Lorenzo washed ashore a military training base close to Havana. There, he was questioned numerous times where he was from, his family, and his name. Not once did he succumb to the torture that he was put through. As days became weeks and weeks became months, the young boy gave his name to be Lance McClain, a child trying to escape human trafficking. Surprisingly they brought it. From that moment onwards “Lance” was taken in by the recruits who brought him up as a younger brother; they gave him military lessons where he excelled at sharpshooting. At the age of 16, he went to study abroad at the Garrison as a Cuban spy.

Lorenzo – Lance McClain

Trained Cuban spy

Trained long-distance assassin

Hopes to become a fighter pilot not just for the gain of the Cuban government but for himself as well.

Micheal “Lorenzo” – Lance McClain

Has no idea that his brother is alive because of that he took Lorenzo’s place.

Regular high school student, hoping to get into university and attain an athletic scholarship.

Is thinking about joining the US Marines in order to protect the rights of his family and the rights his older brother would never have.

#vld lance #lance mcclain #lance #cuban lance #lance theory #headcanon #long post #family #family drama #siblings #lance's family

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bornoffside · 7 years

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Holland - Marco Reus (3)

May 3rd 2016.

Mario was nervous.

You’d think he’d be used to the pressure that came with the Champions League, but it was something he doubted that even the best players got used to. It was the semi-final against Atletico Madrid, and they needed to win at least 2-0 in order to make it to the final.

He knew that he wasn’t starting, but that didn’t change the fact that he was sweating before the game even started. For what it was worth, they were all nervous, some were just better at hiding it than others.

“You ok?”

Mario hadn’t even noticed how hard he was staring at the floor, until the calm voice broke him out of whatever trance he was in.

“Yeah…yeah, I just- I’m…”

Robert chuckled at his anxious response, not even betraying an ounce of nervousness. He was starting, there would be enormous pressure for him to score, and yet he was calmer than anyone Mario had ever seen. He really didn’t know how the Pole did it.

“Get out of here, get some air before the match starts. You have half an hour before Pep gets here, so go and clear your head.”

Mario nodded determinedly, it wouldn’t be good for anyone if he was nervous when the game started. The last thing he wanted was everyone else getting antsy because of him, so he took his friend’s advice and walked out of the changing room. It was still early, over an hour before kick-off, so he headed down the tunnel and sat down on the grass just beside the pitch.

He stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his palms and shutting his eyes somewhat peacefully. When his arms started hurting, he moved to a new position, crossing his legs and allowing his elbows to rest on each knee as he hunched over.

He didn’t know how much time had passed since he sat down, but the tension in his posture was enough to reassure him that he was far from relaxed. As if hearing his very thoughts, two gentle but firm hands were placed on either shoulder, massaging the tension away.

It felt so good, Mario wasn’t even paying attention to the fact that there was probably a stranger touching him at the moment. Instead, his head fell back and he just knew that it had landed on a chest…a woman’s chest. His eyes shot open instantly in panic, only to be met with a cheeky smirk and cocked brow.

A happy laugh escaped him, and he shot up off of the ground to face her.

“Cara!”

He crushed her in a strong hug, and she chuckled at how childlike he looked with the small blush on his cheeks, it was adorable. Mario relaxed as she wrapped her arms around him, she had that effect on him. Even though he still had a tiny crush on her, she was a comforting person to be around. Just like he was for her during her tour.

“What are you doing here?”

He let go of her, but kept a hand on each of her shoulders anyway. She looked good, as usual, he thought. Her waist-length dark brown hair was curled effortlessly and tied into a high ponytail that revealed the small cannon tattoo on the back of her neck. Her tanned complexion stood out nicely against the white top she wore beneath her black leather jacket, a healthy glow from the Californian sun. He knew she had a thing for being comfortable, so he wasn’t surprised to see her dark wash skinny jeans tucked into red All Stars.

“I’m watching the game, did you seriously think I wouldn’t?” She gave him a contagious wide smile, excited to see her friend again after so long, and mentally ‘awwww-ing’ at the familiar accent that laced his words. She was happy to be back in Germany, and knew that being back in London meant she would be seeing a lot more of him.

“I’m just surprised to see you here…I thought you would be staying in London for a while.”

“I was there for like…2 weeks. My mum says ‘hi’ by the way.” She joking rolled her eyes, knowing that her mum and Mario got on like a house on fire as soon as they were introduced. In all honesty, he was the first real friend she ever had. Which was extremely sad considering she met him when she was 19.

Sure, she had acquaintances and workmates before she became a famous singer, but never someone she would hang out with on the weekends or go shopping with.

They had met the year he had signed for Bayern, when the German team had to face Arsenal in the Champion’s League. It was entirely by chance that they had run into each other (literally), but he was apparently a fan of her early work which had been released in the same year, so they hung out a bit. From there, they had become great friends, and he was the very first person she had introduced to her mum.

“Ah, Lisa! I miss her, tell her I will come and visit soon.”

Cara let out an exaggerated groan, which turned into a chuckle as soon as he shoved her shoulder in half-hearted reprimand.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let her know! Hey, what time do you have to go back?”

“Oh, scheiße!”

Mario took his phone from his pocket, hastily checking the time and lightly grabbing Cara’s leather-clad elbow to lead her back through the tunnel when he noticed he only had five minutes.

“So, do you have any plans after the game?”

Cara shook her head, she didn’t plan anything while she was in Germany, she was just going to wing it. Mario beamed at her, glad to be able to spend time with his friend.

“Not really, I was just going to head back to the hotel. I bought my driver tickets for his family, so at least I’ll have something to talk about on the way back.” She joked.

“No way, I’ll drive you back. We have a lot to talk about anyway.”

She gave him a grateful smile, and accepted his offer. She’d choose Mario over some random driver any day of the week, but she would never ask him to go out of his way to do so. She was about to reply when her eyes landed on something else, and only a gasp escaped her lips.

“Oh my god.”

He let out a quiet hiss when he felt a surprisingly tight grip on his forearm. She had latched onto it like a vice, and he looked over to see what was wrong with her. Her face was completely blank, but he could see the awe in her eyes.

“What? What’s wrong?”

By now they had completely stopped walking, but her grip was unrelenting.

“Is-is that…Oh my god, it is.” He almost laughed when her jaw clamped shut tightly, knowing that she was suppressing a squeal. What he didn’t know, was what she was willing to squeal about. She never freaked out for anyone, not even the celebrities she had met in the States.

He followed her gaze and burst out laughing when he noticed who had her so starstruck. He really should have known, he knew about her total fangirling when it came to Lewy. She had a Borussia Dortmund shirt with his name on it, it was the only shirt she owned that wasn’t Arsenal-related. Well, that was what she had told him...

The Polish striker noticed Mario’s loud laugh straight away and shot the two of them a charming smile as he approached them.

Cara’s grip on Mario’s arm tightened the closer he came, and the German winced but he knew that she wasn’t even aware of it.

“There you are, I was looking for you. We have to go soon.”

Mario nodded at his friend’s words, while Cara just stared at him. Lewy gave the younger man an expectant look, waiting for him to finally introduce the woman he had heard so much about.

“Oh!” Finally realising what his friend was waiting for, he turned to look at Cara. “Uh…Lewy, this is Cara, and Cara, this is Lewy.”

“I know.” They both replied at the same time, and shared a laugh while Mario rolled his eyes. He was surprised that Cara could even talk without stuttering. She could have been an actress with how easily she made it look like she wasn’t panicking. He knew she was on the inside.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, the boys are big fans, and Mario has told me a lot about you.” He gave her that charming smile again and she mentally squealed.

“Thank you, I’m a huge fan of yours too.”

He could see that she was being genuine, rather than just saying out of necessity. Mario had really told him good things about her, and from what he could tell so far just by looking at her in person, without the influence of the media, she seemed like a sweet girl.

“Oh, I won’t keep you any longer. You have to get ready, right?” She looked back to Mario for confirmation.

“Yes, but if you want I can introduce you to the team, and then we can catch up after the match?”

She was hesitant to agree to his offer. Cara wasn’t particularly sure she would stay conscious if he introduced her to the team, she had practically torn his arm off and it had only been one player that had approached them.

“I don’t thi-” Just as she was about to refuse, a loud and happy voice interrupted her.

“Hey, losers! What are yo-Oh! Hey guys, Cara Tate is here!”

Robert closed his eyes and shook his head lightly in exasperation, knowing the woman was about to be completely hounded by the team as soon as Thomas opened his mouth.

“What? Really?”

“The singer?!”

“Wait! I haven’t got my shorts on yet!”

The woman in question released a breath she didn’t realise she had been holding, as soon as Thomas Müller made his way over.

“Hi! Uh…my name? My name is-”

“She speaks German, you idiot.” Robert chuckled at Mario’s blunt response to their teammate’s English-speaking attempt. But the other striker seemed to perk up at the news, giving both the former Dortmund players an uneasy feeling.

“Great! That makes it so much easier to introduce you to everyone.” He grinned his usual grin, and threw an arm over her shoulder, not even giving her enough time to argue as he dragged her to the locker room. Cara could only turn her head to look back at her best friend, a pleading look on her face as she was hauled away and out of sight.

Surprisingly, Cara had survived the introductions quite well, but she wouldn’t deny that it was amazing to meet half the team - most of the starting 11 had already made their way out to warm up. It made her a little self conscious knowing that she was completely out of her depth. These were football players, and while singers were pretty high up on the social ladder in the States, she felt beneath them here.

She had grown up watching football 24/7, in her eyes, they’d always be more important than she was, and that made it feel like trying to impress the popular kids at school all over again!

But they were so nice, and she was surprised to see that they really were fans. When the time came for her to leave, they had taken a group selfie for her to upload, and they’d even coaxed her into wearing a Bayern shirt for the night. Mario was surprised that she had chosen one of his, knowing that she could have taken one of Robert’s easily, but he wasn’t going to complain. It was nice knowing that she’d wear his jersey when all she usually wore was Arsenal kits.

So now she stood in a VIP box that Chris had arranged (how? she had no idea) and waited patiently as the seats of the Allianz Arena filled in. Cara decided that it was a good time to post the selfie and quickly typed out a tweet.

@TateMate: Hey there, Munich! Look who’s with me at the Allianz Arena right now? #MiaSanMia They got this!

She mentally scolded a few of the boys when she was notified of them retweeting, knowing that they shouldn’t have been anywhere near their phones at this time. It was time to focus, and she had completely faith that they would win, she just hoped that Atlético wouldn’t score.

It didn’t take long for word to spread, and before she knew it, her face was on the big screen. Cara was used to the attention by now, but she gave the fans a perfectly practiced smile, and a short wave when they cheered. Her twitter account had already blown up with notifications.

“Hello, do you mind if I sit with you?”

Cara’s attention snapped over to her left, and she gave the beautiful woman a small smile. She knew exactly who she was, but Mario had never introduced them, only spoken of Ann-Kathrin.

“Not at all, please…” she waved a hand to the seat beside her welcomingly. “I’m Cara, I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet.”

In truth, she was nervous to meet the older woman. Cara didn’t want to think of stereotypes, but she really hoped that the model wasn’t a snob.

“We haven’t, but I feel like I already know you. You can call me Ann.” Ann-Kathrin laughed lightly, putting Cara at ease when she realised that she would hopefully be pleasant.

“You’re one of Mario’s best friends, so I wanted to thank you for coming today. He gets so nervous, it always takes his mind off of the game when a friend comes along. Sometimes it’s Marco, but he doesn’t see you very often so it’s even better.”

Wow. Ok, so maybe Cara had misjudged her. But she faltered for a short moment when she heard the familiar name.

“Oh uh, it’s no problem. I don’t have many friends back home, just in America and well…Mario, so I don’t mind visiting when I get the chance.” She gave an awkward chuckle, not quite sure how to talk to a complete stranger.

But she learnt that the older woman was quite good at small-talk, and eventually conversation ran smoothly between them. Though her German was a little rusty so she sometimes asked Ann-Kathrin for help in that department. Either way, she was glad to not be sitting alone in silence any more.

They had exchanged numbers, and Ann-Kathrin had seemed excited to have someone she could spend time with, without having to wonder if they were only friends for the fame. Cara was after all, a singer/songwriter who was easy to spot no matter where she went.

The game had passed by in a suspenseful and bittersweet blur.

The boys had won 2-1 against Atletico, thanks to goals from Alonso and Lewy, but Antoine Griezmann’s goal sealed their fate in the 53rd minute. Atletico were going through to the final because of the away goals rule.

The hard part for Cara would be facing her best friend now. She suppressed a groan when she remembered that Mario would be driving her home, and hoped that Ann-Kathrin would be there too in order to ease the tension. Mario hadn’t played, but it would have still hurt him -probably even more so.

Cara waited for the stadium to clear out a bit before leaving, the last thing she needed was anyone hounding her in the crowd, especially when she didn’t have her security with her. Chris would murder her for it!

Ann-Kathrin had left a while ago, telling Cara that she was going to go see if she could cheer her boyfriend up a bit. Bayern didn’t lose very often, and even though they technically won, it was still counted as a major loss to not be going to the Champions League final. So there was no doubt in her mind that her boyfriend was devastated.

Seeing that there weren’t many people remaining, Cara started making her way down to the changing rooms, getting a little lost once or twice. In the end, a security guard named Martin had led her there, telling her to follow the hallway down with a smile, she had offered her thanks and he had shyly asked her to sign his match programme for him. He didn’t really have anything else, but she didn’t mind.

She made her way down the hall after thanking him, her eyes trained on the shiny floor as she fiddled with the hem of her Bayern jersey and thought of what she could say to Mario. If she was paying attention, she would have noticed the person who had just come out of the door to her left. If she was paying attention, she could have avoided the collision that followed. But she wasn’t paying attention.

“Oomph!”

The impact had knocked the air out of his lungs, but he remained standing. Unfortunately, even his quick reflexes couldn’t save the person he had collided with. Cara was sent to the ground, but her fall hadn’t been hard enough to keep her down for long. She was on her knees, hauling herself up almost instantly.

It was obvious that the person he had collided with was a woman, but he couldn’t quite identify her just yet, as her back was facing him. His pale brows furrowed in confusion.

The name on her back was 'Götze', but he knew that she wasn’t Ann-Kathrin. Mario’s girlfriend had just left, and this woman’s hair was both longer and darker. Though he couldn’t think of anyone else wearing the younger German’s name on their back. The only logical explanation was that she was a fan…but that couldn't be it either, fans weren’t allowed in this area.

When she finally turned around to face him, dusting herself off in the process, everything became clear. How could he forget? The whole team was talking about her, hell…the whole world was talking about her. He didn’t get an introduction, unfortunately he was warming up when they had met her.

“I am so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention…” Her apology trailed off quietly when she realised who she had literally run into.

She knew he’d be tall, most goalkeepers were, but she didn’t think he was that tall. She wasn’t short, her 5’7’’ frame was above average for women, but his strong arms alone were enough to make her feel far smaller than she was.

“No, it was my fault. I’m sorry.”

Cara felt her cheeks heat up at his reassuring smile. It was difficult to not stare at him, especially when his pale blue eyes held her own dark gaze. She had never met Manuel Neuer in person, but from what she had seen of him on TV, he was someone who didn’t lack in confidence.

He seemed so sure of himself and so composed during matches, it made her nervous to be around someone like that. She had the feeling that he probably excelled in whatever he set his mind on. He was probably a joy for his parents, a straight A student…you name it.

What was even worse, was that Cara had no idea what to even say to him. She didn’t know him, and the last thing she wanted to do was make a fool of herself in front of him. So she went for the safest option and reverted back to German.

“Oh, um…that’s ok.” She shot him a polite smile, her eyes awkwardly darting around the hallway instead of looking at him. “Actually, do you know where I could find Mario?”

Not wanting to seem rude, she returned her gaze to him once more, and unsurprisingly, he looked the picture of calmness. She probably looked like a lunatic, avoiding his gaze and blushing like a schoolgirl, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to find Mario and get out of there.

“Oh! I’m sorry, that was rude of me…I’m Cara.” She held her hand out in greeting, and an amused smile tugged at his features while he shook the offered hand.

“Manuel.” He nodded his head in the direction he had just come from, before continuing. “Mario should be out soon, just down the hall.”

She nodded with a grateful smile. “Thank you, this place is so big!”

He chuckled quietly, bidding her farewell before walking away. He may not have shown it, but not making it to the final had been tough on him, and he just wanted to get home.

——————————— “Hey, you ready to go?”

Despite the false cheer in his words, Cara could clearly see he was forcing a smile. Mario hadn’t even gotten the chance to play, so she could only imagine how down he was feeling. Ann-Kathrin had left a while ago, knowing that Mario wanted to catch up with his friend.

“Yeah…” she hesitated for a moment but decided to say it anyway. “I’m sorry, Rio.”

He quirked a genuine smile at the nickname. She had been trying to think of a decent nickname for him since they had met. First it was Luigi, which he absolutely hated, and then when he scored the World Cup winning goal she had started calling him ‘Rio’. Not only did it remind him of his greatest accomplishment in a city with the same name, but it also matched the ending of his own name.

“It’s ok, come on…I’m starving!”

She chuckled, but was all for getting something to eat. They had a lot to catch up on. In the end, they had decided to get pizza. It was a favourite for them both, and Mario had picked out a movie as soon as they got back to his place.

Mario set everything up, from the popcorn to the crazy amount of pillows and blankets that were all over his theatre room. They were sitting on the wide couch, Cara’s feet pressing up against his left thigh as they leaned on opposite armrests.

Halfway through the second Harry Potter movie -yes, you read that right- Mario had decided to ask something that had been on his mind since the moment he saw her.

“Cara?”

“Hm?” She looked over to him with wide eyes and a mouth full of popcorn. He laughed at the sight, and she almost chocked when she joined in. She nudged his leg with her foot, a silent way of telling him to stop making her laugh.

“Ok, ok!” His chuckles died down a little before he continued. “I was wondering how long you were staying in Germany.”

Cara’s dark brows furrowed in thought, not entirely sure herself. She hadn’t really decided when she would be going back to London. Her mum had told her to enjoy herself and come back when she really wanted to, and she’d heed the advice.

“Not sure…why?” She raised a brow in question, and tore her eyes away from the polyjuice potion scene.

“I just wanted to know if you were planning on coming to the Pokal final.”

She took a moment to think about it, knowing that she hadn’t even considered it before he brought it up. She knew it was only a few weeks away, and she also knew it was against Dortmund.

Cara didn’t know whether to risk it or not, but the hopeful expression on her best friend’s face won her over in the end.

“Yeah, of course…if you want me to?”

He didn’t hesitate in nodding, glad that he’d have her there for support. Mario knew that she preferred Dortmund to Bayern, but she’d still be there supporting him.

Now she just had to mentally prepare herself for the trip. She had two weeks to do so, and knew that under Mario’s watchful eye, it would be important to act as normal as possible…she just hoped that he would do the same.

#marco reus #mario gotze #robert lewandowski #thomas muller #bvb #borussia dortmund #arsenal #bayern munich #football #soccer

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jakepaschal · 5 years

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August 1st-August 6th, 2018

It was the evening of August 1st 2018. Life was going great for me and my family as my parents had pretty much finished their duties of raising 3 good children. My then 27 year old sister Casey was getting married in 3 weeks to the love of her life, a moment we had long been waiting for. Jimmy (26) was also at an exciting stage in his life, as he had a job that he was passionate about and girlfriend that he adored. It’s safe to say he was going to build a career and family off of. And finally, I was in my first job out of school that I landed with my degree and hard work, making money and relieving stresses of student debt and educational pressure. Things were really looking up. Then tragedy struck.

After a typical day at work, I got off the train and headed to a dermatology appointment. My iPhone 6 was nearing the end of its life as I had to charge it multiple times a day, so, by the time I left my evening appointment my phone had died and I did not have a charger in my car. When I got home I was pleasantly surprised to see my mom had made one of me and Jimmy’s favorite dinner. The first thing I did was plug my phone into my charger in my room, subsequently I went back down stairs to eat dinner. It was around 7 or 730, and Jimmy was not home for dinner, which was strange because my parents had seen him boating on the Rez a short time earlier while they were simultaneously walking around the nice man-made body of water in town. I didn't think much of it.

I finished my dinner, went upstairs to my now charged up phone and had some texts from friends in a group message. The first one read “theres some shit going down at the Rez right now”. My heart sunk a little bit. The following messages were describing what was going down as some of my friends also live near Reservoir. They were talking about helicopters, ambulances, fire trucks, really all the things you don't want to see or hear about in a tight knit community. My first thought was that it can’t be Jimmy, there were a decent amount of other people on the lake that night. However, at the same time, I had a bad feeling. I then shouted to my parents downstairs as they were already worried as to why Jimmy hadn't come back. I said something along the lines of “Mom, Dad, this isn't good, I think Jimmy might be in trouble” which triggered panic. My dad bolted back to the Rez as I followed up in conversation with my Mom about what I was reading in my group chat. My mother then also went to the Rez.

I stayed home for a little bit. I called the Canton Police to ask what was going on at the Rez. They informed me their were 2 trucks where the owners could not be located. James Paschal was one of them, and the other, who will remain nameless for the sake of this article, was also a friend of mine. Throughout the duration of finding out this news via text, Jimmy’s phone was going straight to voicemail and he wasn't answering anybody's texts. I then decided to call the owner of the other trucks friend, asking if he had talked to him recently. Sure enough, they had spoken 5 minutes ago. It was at that moment that I knew it was my brother who was seriously in trouble.

I had to wait a few more minutes at the house for the police to come after I frantically drove a third car to the Rez. When I showed up, oh man, it was the worst possible sighting I could imagine. Police and Fire lights everywhere, multiple news stations trying to figure out what was going on, and a crowd of a few dozen people pondering why the media and emergency vehicles were in the vicinity. I rushed through the “police do not cross” tape and on to the beach where a boat had washed ashore. It was my brothers boat, with his Nike shoes inside and the motor missing. There was a diver preparing to go into the water, and a helicopter hovering above with search lights. I didn't know what to do, I think my mind and body were in complete debilitating shock. I was then confronted by some Police and Fire who asked me some protocol questions about my brothers disappearance and confirmed my identity in relationship with him. That sucked.

They escorted me over to my Mom and Dad on a hidden street away from the crowd. We waited. During this time I made some calls I never imagined I would have to make because I knew Jimmy’s luck was running out at that point. It had been around an hour since somebody heard him shouting for help, approximately 30 feet from the shoreline. I called my boss and told him I wouldn't be at work for a few weeks, I called my sister who was at her home in Woburn to tell her how serious the situation was, and lastly I called Sarah, Jimmy’s girlfriend, to break the news to her. I'll never forget her instantly start crying with a questioning “what” on the phone when I told her why Jimmy wasn't answering her calls and texts.

Fast forward a few hours (of what seemed like an eternity) while endlessly praying and hugging my parents, we were advised to go home and not wait for Jimmy to show up, whether it was dead or alive. The police drove me and my parents home where we were met with many friends and family to comfort us, anticipating the news we never wanted to hear. Some people stayed up while others were able to sleep a tiny bit. I crawled into a ball in my bedroom, basically paralyzed by the thoughts running through my head.

August 2nd

It was a little after 2am, and the worst moment of my life. The State Police had knocked on our door to give my parents the news. I was awoken by my Dad opening my door with tears coming down his face. He said “Jake, they found him” in a panic. I think I responded with “is he, did he” and before I could finish my dad just shook his head. We hugged for a couple minutes to try and comfort each other. Meanwhile, in my brothers bedroom adjacent to mine, my Mom was on my brothers bed hysterically crying. At that point, me, my Sister, and my Dad all huddled on his bed with her, again trying to comfort each other in the darkest of times.

I finally got to sleep somehow and when I woke up in the late morning I wasn't sure if I was in a dream or real life. The rest of the day felt like that. Eventually, me, my Dad, and my uncle had to muster up enough power to pick Jimmy’s truck up at the Rez and drive it home. That was tough. Oh and the news showed up at our house asking to speak with us, real professional. That’s about all i remember from the 2nd.

August 3rd & 4th

Depression. Couldn't eat, couldn’t sleep, I had never experienced a feeling this low in my life. Knowing the person I was closest to was no longer going to be involved in my life made seconds feel like minutes, and hours feel like days. And I honestly don't remember much of anything during these days because I still was not sure, if I was in a dream or real life. We then had to plan funeral and wake arrangements. WHAT?!? It was not easy to get out of the house and do that.

August 5th

Jimmy’s wake was this day and it ran for about 7 hours because of the amount of gratitude displayed by Jimmy’s friends, family, coworkers, and community of Canton. I still don't know how my family (or any family that has a tragedy) is able to physically do this, but I honestly, can't remember much of the procedure because my mind was still in shock with all that was going on. I remember so little to only write as much as this paragraph. Still don't think I had brushed my teeth or showered since the first.

August 6th

Well, this was the day we had to lay Jimmy to rest. After the funeral service, me, my cousin, and some of his close friends carried his casket from a hearse to his spot at the cemetery that we had purchased, and we watched him leave this earth forever. wtf. Just like that, life changed forever.

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jamesscythe · 7 years

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Where Is James Scythe?

Summary

With the second EP they introduced the Callous Heart gang with the backpatches.

Their Halloween Homecoming show in 2015 was heavily themed and playing in the background all night was a fake radio show called CRPR radio playing old music (I don’t actually remember anything that played but I’m gonna go with 60s era because that’s the vibe it gave me and the Spectral Sceptic podcast says the majority of Callous Heart sightings have been in the 60s). The presenter kept giving warnings about the Callous Heart gang, describing their backpatches and appearance, and then before Creeper came on stage it had sounds of people breaking into the studio and taking it over.

The preorder for the third EP had the South Coast Coroners tshirt which had a phone number on it; when you called it, it would play a song that sounded like some sort of lullaby but it was too low quality to make out any words so we haven’t worked out what it is. Once the song finishes, you would receive a text saying “where is James Scythe?”. This was the first mention of him.

The third EP also introduced the character the Stranger, a cloaked figure that has various influences from sleep paralysis hallucinations and Pazuzu from the Exorcist to Tick Tock the crocodile from Peter Pan.

The night after they played Leeds Festival (August 27th), pictures of static kept being posted from their Twitter account and the tweets kept being deleted a couple of minutes later. The band tweeted saying they were being hacked and that they weren’t the ones posting the static and had been deleting the tweets. Then, all of their accounts went down, including all their personal twitters and facebooks and instagrams and the band’s accounts on all social media as well; everything to do with them was gone.

After the accounts disappeared, we called the South Coast Coroners number again and it played the same song but sent a new text with a link to a website: whereisjamesscythe.co.uk.

The website has lots of information about the disappearance of a man called James Scythe. You can look yourself, there’s a lot on there - missing posters, news articles, information about his life and job, evidence photos from the scene of his disappearance in the Dolphin Hotel in Southampton, and a video of the Stranger that seems to have been filmed by him and a link to his podcast The Spectral Sceptic.

The podcast has 20 episodes titled after famous urban legends and conspiracy theories. The point of the podcast seems to be to critically analyse the stories and explain/debunk their supernatural elements (similar to the purpose of his previous job). The first 19 episodes contain nothing but static noise, but the 20th episode talking titled The Callous Heart and The Stranger explains the stories of the two Southampton phenomena and how he believes they’re connected, and explains them through links to alien abductions, gangs and sleep paralysis - I’ve got a more detailed description of the podcast that I’ll throw in at the end or you can just listen to it: https://soundcloud.com/james-scythe

The video of the Stranger on the last page of whereisjamesscythe.co.uk was found in James’ abandoned hotel room and seems to suggest that the Stranger was involved in James’ disappearance.

Another evidence photo from the hotel room shows a scrap of paper with an address for the websitehttp://www.strangesouthampton.club/. This site contains similar information to the podcast about folklore in Southampton written by an unknown contributor. There are pages dedicated to The Callous Heart and to The Stranger full of information along with pages pages titled ‘Ghost Walk’, 'Tudor House’, 'Merchants Hall’, 'South Western Hote’ and 'UFOs over Southampton City Center’. This seem to be site or instances of supernatural events in Southampton such as hauntings or obviously UFOs but all of these pages redirect to a 404 error. The author of this website mentions in the page about the Callous Heart that it’s come to their attention that a former “Ombudsman of the Preternatural” arrived in Southampton and had been asking questions about the Stranger and the Callous Heart. We know this to be James as Ombudsman of the Preternatural is an apt title for James’ former job as described by whereisjamesscythe.co.uk, an OTP badge was found at the scene of his disappearance, and James would have been asking questions about these two subjects for his podcast. The author says they want to track down James to interview him as they believe James will be able to fill in the blanks of their own research on the Callous Heart and the Stranger. In an update the author says they failed to find James despite looking all over, but managed to photograph Callous Heart members after a day of door to door research. The author of strangesouthampton.club doesn’t believe the members of Creeper to be the immortal members of the Callous Heart, but instead “art crudely imitating life”, however his own photos of Callous Heart members appear to feature Will and Ian, as well as 'Madeline’, the girl from the Stranger album cover.

On August 28th, the band’s official Facebook page reappeared, and posted the missing poster for James Scythe as well as new missing posters for everyone in the band, claiming they had disappeared while travelling back to Southampton from Leeds. The bands Twitter reappeared later in the day, posting the phone number, James’ missing poster and an article about James’ car crash in 2006 in which his wife died.

All missing posters have a phone number to contact with information - the same number from the South Coast Coroners shirt. We tried calling the number again and instead of playing the song as it had been for months, it played a recording of what sounds like an artificially lowered voice, saying “on the second of October 2016, we’ll die holding hands”.

The Podcast

says he’s had a long week

podcast episode posted a “day late”

chose this subject for the episode because he’s received numerous emails about the cases

spent lots of time on the case

stranger case and callous heart are separate but both centred in southampton and he thinks they’re linked

covered southampton before in conspiracy theories about the sinking of the titanic

the mediaeval house and tudor house mentioned as having supernatural events

lots of ufo sightings in the city, mentions daily echo article about ufos and southampton group 'sufog’, oldest ufo group in the uk

youth gang named the callous heart has been in Southampton for over 100 years and has supposedly always been the same people not aging

documented earliest in newspaper in 1903

1930 newspaper article describes them as 2 girls and 7 boys with heart patches on their backs

appeared threatening but didn’t actually seem to commit crimes

no photographic evidence - account: saw 5 of them in his shop and kept a camera under the counter in case he saw them again, they returned 5 years later and he took photos of them, no images came out when they were developed, thinks they’re ghosts

Southampton proud of the stranger, offering a stranger walk like ghost walks

stories of the stranger involve a a visit from a tall stranger at night in a cloak with a skeletal face

people normally see him during sleep paralysis, seeing him in the corner of the room

sometimes speaks in a low voice

first account is from 1850, intruder in house in Shirley, man woke paralysed, saw a tall figure in the hallway, had too duck to get through the door frame into the room, didn’t talk just stared, purple mouth

another sighting in 1962 - woman staying with a friend and sleeping on the sofa, saw him staring through the window, seemed familiar and then she felt paralysed

tall genderless, long black cloak, painted face or mask, every report makes him sound intensely terrifying

always tied to themes of death - haunted a family after the death of a grandparent

james says that his whole life and show is about being sceptical and taking apart the myth

doesn’t doubt there was a gang, many gangs exist for a long time ie the scuttlers in manchester

thinks gang could have recruited younger members in the 30 years between first two sightings

thinks papers using fear to sell copies, exaggerating them

majority of reports in the 60s - birth of British counter culture

thinks it would have been an easy and appealing way for kids of that era to rebel

his explanation: gang members grow up and are replaced by younger people, camera that’s been under a counter for years wouldn’t work well

stranger mimics typical stories of ghost or alien sightings - visits occur at night when victim’s in bed

explains first ever alien abduction report as being influenced by media and pop culture - h.g. wells selenites, more ufo sightings while x-files was airing

thinks all people who have seen the stranger were experiencing sleep paralysis and hallucinating visions of the stranger

1850 first report of stranger, in 1843 Dickinson published Christmas carol, Scrooge visited by 3 ghosts, 3rd ghost described as scattering gloom and misery, tall, presence filled him with dread, didn’t speak, ghostly eyes, hooded phantom, suddenly disappears

thinks this character had a profound effect on the person, they therefore hallucinated the character during sleep paralysis, described it as a stranger in their house and the name stuck

word of mouth spreads the story, people become afraid of the stranger and he therefore begins to appear in their sleep psychosis episodes

people experience the same supernatural phenomena because people themselves spread it around

thinks they’re linked but are polar opposites of eachother - callous hearts never grow up and stay young forever whereas the stranger is a grim reaper who represents death and time ticking down

immediately after he says this about the stranger he starts to sound distressed and nervous and stuttering “i’m gonna …… i’m gonna have to go…… bye” and ends the podcast

Theories

James disappeared from room 309 of the Dolphin Hotel. The band had a “mysterious adventure” in room 309 of a hotel several months back which Will tweeted about the next morning, you can read a compilation of the tweets here: http://www.upsetmagazine.com/read/hotel-hell-creeper-story/. We’re now unsure whether this really happened or whether it was planned as part of the lead up to their disappearance. We can’t find any solid links between what supposedly happened to Creeper in their hotel and what has happened to James Scythe. Additionally, an evidence photo shows zener cards laid out for a zener test with evidence markers 2, 3 and 9. It seems out of place for the marker for 9 to be next to 2 and 3 as the rest of the numbers up to 10 are in order, so it has obviously been set up so that “309” is spelled out on the table with an out of place circle zener card not relevant to the test making up the 0 between 3 and 9.

Zener cards are use to conduct experiments for extra sensory perception (ESP), most often clairvoyance. James appears to have conducted a zener test by laying three cards face down on the right and then laying another three face up to the left of them as a prediction of what the three face down cards would be. An overturned card on the right shows that he predicted the square correctly. The band posted this evidence photo on Twitter on the 29th captioned with “+” suggesting that the next card to be overturned would be the cross which he would also therefore have predicted correctly. The results from this test therefore suggest that James had psychic abilities.

As shown in his podcast and by his former profession, James is supposedly sceptical of the preternatural and has spent his life logically explaining such things away, however the presence of a zener test and an EMF reader in his room suggest that he may have been beginning to believe in them; his obsession with the case of the Stranger could be explained by him believing it to be linked to his wife’s death. This would explain the photos of his wife in the room. Also, the EMF reader is in his bag which is purple, we think this might be signifcant because of the lyric in Astral Projection “purple and true, I do this all for you”. Alternatively, he states in his podcast that the Stranger sometimes begins to haunt people who have experienced grief such as the passing of a loved one, so the Stranger may have began to haunt James after his wife’s death.

The knocked over bin in his room, the incomplete zener test and the fact that all his belongings remain suggest that he either left in a hurry, or perhaps he was taken by the stranger

The video of the Stranger which was found in the hotel room has been posted from a YouTube channel under the name James Scythe. The description of the channel is “The Spectral Sceptic”, the same as the title of his podcast. We believe that this mystery is leading up to the release of Creeper’s first full length album, and that it will be titled The Spectral Sceptic. (This fits with the titles of the previous two EPs which have been about the Stranger and the Callous Heart. Its clear that their next release will be about James and as a former “Ombudsman of the Preternatural” you could say he was professionally sceptical of spectres).

There are many links to Peter Pan throughout the story thought none of them have helped lead us to anything which we think might be the next stage - There are various lyrical references to Peter Pan in Creepers songs: Henley’s Ghost has the line “tell John I miss him, tell my brother of my love”. In Peter Pan, Wendy’s brothers are called Michael and John. Also, J. M. Barrie’s inspiration for the character Wendy was his friend’s daughter named Margaret Henley, hence the title Henley’s ghost. Creeper have also previously introduced a character Madeline, the girl on the Stranger album cover. She has only come up briefly so far in the James Scythe story; several photos of her appear on strangesouthampton.club where the author is excited to have finally taken his own photos the Callous Heart gang. She’s mentioned in the lyrics of Black Mass (“Madeline, your friends don’t understand the thing we have” / “Madeline, when you were young did you think we would wed”) and is believed to be tied to Wendy in the same way that the Stranger is tied to Tick Tock. There are therefore split ideas about whether Black Mass is from the perspective of Peter Pan or the Stranger. Finally, the ending of Astral Projection (“That place between sleeping and awake, that half dreaming space is where I’ll always keep you”) is almost a direct quote from Tinkerbell at the ending of Hook (“You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I will always love you Peter Pan”). - Peter Pan was written by James Matthew Barrie. J. M. Barrie was born in Kirrimuir, Scotland before moving to London. This is described on whereisjamesscythe.co.uk as exactly what James Scythe did. J. M. Barrie married Mary Ansell, whereas James Scythe married Mary Darling, which is the name of the mother in Peter Pan. - James Scythe checked into the Dolphin Hotel on the 23rd of December 2015. The original Peter Pan play began on the 23rd of December 1904. - In photos of the scene of Scythe’s disappearance, evidence bags state that evidence was recorded by Matthew Barrie. - As well as sharing a name with J. M. Barrie, he also shared a name with Captain (James) Hook. Last names are also similar, a scythe being similar to a hook. Captain Hook’s hook is always on his left hand, and a news article on whereisjamesscythe.co.uk describes James severely injuring his left hand in a car accident (note that the grim reaper in the callous heart logo holds the scythe in its right hand). - The band have mentioned in several interviews that the Stranger is tied to Tick Tock the crocodile, and similarly represents the things that you fear as well as time ticking away. In Peter Pan, Tick Tock is to blame for Hook’s missing hand, so we believe that the Stranger may have been to blame for the car crash which injured James’ hand and killed his wife. - the Callous Heart are supposedly immortal and never age, much like Peter Pan and the lost boys. The band themselves have previously described the Callous Heart as being a gender-neutral lost boys.

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womenofcolor15 · 4 years

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EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK: ‘Marriage Boot Camp’ Star Chozus Is Concerned 'LAHH' Star Girlfriend Bianca Was Pregnant By Another Man Last Year…Was She?!

Mama’s baby…daddy’s maybe? “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” star Chozus wants to know if his pregnant girlfriend Bianca was pregnant by ANOTHER man last year. Was she? Peep out exclusive clip inside….

Bianca Bonnie and her boyfriend Chozus are gearing up to welcome their bundle of joy into the world. But before their baby boy arrives, they have some things to work out with the help of WE tv’s “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition.”

The couple has been on and off for about 4 years, so there are some gray areas they need to make black and white. To clear the air, Bianca (who also starred on “Love & Hip Hop”) wants to know if her man/son's father Chozus is in another relationship with someone else. On the flip side, Chozus wants to know the truth about Bianca’s past pregnancy. Was she pregnant by another man?

Peep the clip below:

youtube

Watch it all play out on tonight's episode of "Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition" at 9pm EST on WE tv.

That's not the only issue the couple is facing...

View this post on Instagram

Wassup y'all so this pic is from me last Monday when I went in for physical therapy on my knee. I wore a mask the entire time. This was the first time I left the house for a week and the only time. Later this day I developed flu like symptoms and got almost 104 degree fever. It was impossible to sleep for longer than 3 mins and I felt body aches like never before. After two days of feeling like this I went to a drive-thru testing sight for COVID-19. A day after getting tested I felt almost back at 100% with just minor headaches. I got my results back today and they were positive for COVID-19. I'm already feeling much better so I wanted to reach whoever I can and tell y'all yes this is a real virus spreading and it can take one time to leave your home and you can impact the rest of your family. Luckily I'm young and healthy so I was able to bounce back somewhat fast. This virus is really attacking our elders with weaker immune systems. If anyone is feelings symptoms like I've listed what worked best for me is steamed showers for 15 mins, drinking about 2-3 gallons of water a day, a lot of orange juice, and vitamin-c pills. Stay Safe. God Bless

A post shared by Chozus 2RARE (@chozus) on Mar 29, 2020 at 8:57am PDT

Sadly, Bianca - who is seven months pregnant - had to self-quarantine solo in Miami as she gears up to welcome her first child during the Coronavirus crisis. Her child's father, Chozus, recently tested positive for COVID-19 in NYC following ACL surgery. Yikes.

"He's having a bad spring. He had ACL surgery on his leg again. Then he got tested positive for corona in New York," Bianca told TooFab. "This week he got it back. He had a fever of 104 for like a couple of days ago."

On Sunday (March 29th), Chozus hopped on social media to confirm he testes positive for the virus. He also shared his experience and warned people who aren't taking the pandemic seriously that it's REAL.

"I developed flu like symptoms and got almost 104 degree fever. After two days of feeling like this I went to a drive-thru testing sight for COVID-19. A day after getting tested I felt almost back at 100% with just minor headaches. I got my results back today and they were positive for COVID-19."

He continued, "Yes this is a real virus spreading and it can take one time to leave your home and you can impact the rest of your family."

Baby & Me 3rd @tiktok_us #canttouchthis #Quarantine #COVIDー19 #Pregnant #Belly #Dance #Fun pic.twitter.com/L17xGaFjNi

— Bianca Bonnie (@BIANCAisKING) April 1, 2020

The "Chicken Noodle Soup" rapper said she's taking precautions to keep her baby and herself safe.

"I don't trust it. We don't have a cure, right? We don't have a vaccine for it," Bianca began, adding how Chozus tried to alleviate the situation by telling her he won't be able to get the disease again. "But I'm like... that doesn't mean I can't get it or the baby can't get it. I don't know. I don't know the details. Obviously, if we knew everything, we wouldn't be trapped in the house still."

"People are dying left and right and I just think that June is very close," Bianca continued. "It's 2 months and I don't think the baby is going to be able to handle anything. I just don't know. I can't call it, so I want to play it safe."

On top of stress from COVID-19, the couple is unsure about their relationship status going forward.

"Me and his relationship is complicated," explained Bianca. "We are just still trying to get it together. It's a lot. We are taking it one day at a time, basically. We try to get on the same page, but it's just a lot of work we gotta do still."

Baby & Me 2nd @tiktok_us #BoredintheHouse #Quarantine #COVIDー19 #Pregnant #Belly #Dance #Fun pic.twitter.com/QKjfAYkv2X

— Bianca Bonnie (@BIANCAisKING) April 1, 2020

Right now, she's trying to keep a positive attitude. She's working on new music that she plans to drop later this year.

"I have to be optimistic in these times," she admitted. "I'm gonna drop a song on Mother's Day, like a single on iTunes. But I probably won't put my other project out 'til July now."

Next week, Bianca will host a virtual baby shower to celebrate her baby boy's arrival:

pic.twitter.com/uFeAhN4X7a

— Bianca Bonnie (@BIANCAisKING) April 2, 2020

Congrats to the couple!

Photos: WE tv screenshot

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/04/02/exclusive-sneak-peek-%E2%80%98marriage-boot-camp%E2%80%99-star-chozus-is-concerned-girlfriend-bianca-was-

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ncmagroup · 4 years

Text

By Sarah Semple

At the start of every January—and now the beginning of a decade—many of us welcome a new year with updated resolutions and goals to reach.

For some, that may mean getting in shape, eating healthier and saving money; for others, that may involve shifting their business routines to meet new sales goals.

Print+Promo recently spoke with Gerry Barker, president of Barker Specialty Company, Cheshire, Conn.; Cliff Quicksell, MAS+, MASI, vice president of affiliate marketing for iPROMOTEu, Wayland, Mass.; and Steven R. Flaughers, owner of Proforma 3rd Degree Marketing, North Canton, Ohio, about how salespeople can position themselves for success in 2020.

1. Plan in advance

Chances are, you’ve already outlined a few professional goals for the new year. If not, don’t wait any longer, because a new year without a plan is essentially setting yourself up for failure. If your 2020 goal is to increase revenue by 30 percent, for example, there’s an entire strategy—complete with a lengthy list of subtasks—that goes into hitting this target, and that takes time.

But as Flaughers suggested, there is such a thing as overplanning, or as he calls it, “persecution by analyzation.”

“You have to have a plan and you should have started that 2020 outlook back in October [or] November only to shore it up and be ready for implementation in December,” he said. “You can’t effectively plan out your entire year during that dead time from Dec. 25 to Jan 1. I mean, you can put down numbers and figures, but there is not a lot of thought in that if you have not prepared properly.

“Once you have that plan in place, go [and] hit the ground running,” Flaughers continued. “Make those calls, do the prospecting, hit the social media, ask for those referrals, review your prior year with clients, find a reason to stop in [to see clients] to find out what is coming up this year. Do something instead of spending too much time talking about what you are going to do and plan to do.”

If you’re new to the industry, it may benefit you to find a mentor who can help guide you through creating a profitable business, Quicksell mentioned.

“If you really want to elevate the game, you really need to do things differently to create that differentiation between you and your competition,” he stressed. “The reality is, anybody, can sell a coffee mug, but how do you grow or form a … a profitable business that maybe years from now, down the road, will have some value that you can sell.”

Quicksell added that, as a mentor himself, he doesn’t tell people what to do. Instead, he gives advice so that his clients can come to their own conclusion.

“That mentorship is critical in business,” he stated. “That goes for the promo business [or] any business that you’re in.”

2. Check-in with your goals periodically

The easiest way to know if you are staying on track with your business and sales goals is to check in periodically. Whether that is daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly, staying on top of it will ensure that you’re on the right path.

Barker prefers to reassess his own goals daily and review staff goals on a monthly basis.

“We set goals for our staff in many areas and review them monthly,” Barker explained. “However, we view goals as an ever-changing process (i.e., goals ebb and flow with the constant evolution of business and relationships). While goals certainly provide direction, we all want to enjoy the journey getting there. I check-in and question myself on a daily basis, and have great respect for my staff, who are straightforward and honest when giving me opinions. I learn so much from everyone at Barker Specialty Company, and see every day as an opportunity to grow.”

Flaughers and his team stay on track by posting oversized adhesive notes around the office. Whenever they walk in or out of a room, that’s something they notice, so it serves as a constant reminder.

“We look at our trends monthly, and also our written plan for the year to ensure we are on track,” he said.

3. Stay focused and on track

One of the biggest distractions when completing any task can be unanswered emails in an inbox. For some, answering an email as soon as it comes in may feel great, but doing so can take time away from a project, thereby reducing productivity. Flaughers recommended programs, like Mailbutler and Boomerang, to help schedule emails or halt incoming messages while you focus on the task at hand.

Another tip he shared was to designate a certain day of the week to visit clients.

“You can also incorporate a strategy of having a known out-of-office day that is strictly reserved for being out in the field,” he said. “We have a sales professional on our team that has a ‘Tuesday field day,’ [and] on Tuesdays, he has groomed his many great clients that he will be walking through the door no matter what. Just saying ‘hi,’ dropping off samples, sharing supplier information, etc. His clients expect him there on Tuesday, and it is truly a sight to see him come back into the office at the end of the day with stacks of orders.”

4. Know when to say ‘no’

In any profession, you want to stay busy, but it’s important to know which tasks are worthwhile so that you can stay focused on your goals. One of the biggest lessons Quicksell learned from 2019 was that there is power in saying “no.” As someone who genuinely enjoys helping people, he realized when he had to step back and say, “My bandwidth is such that I can’t do anymore.”

“I guess the one thing that I have been able to weed out of my system is to [not] chase the shiny object,” Quicksell said. “I think a lot of people that I work with and a lot of my friends that I know in the business, they do have a tendency to do that. And … I think it all goes back to having your plan and understanding what you want to accomplish in that particular year, and what are the goals that … [will] get [you] there. People, as you can imagine, that do not have a plan are the ones that are bouncing all over the place. Those that have a plan really become more strategic and focused.”

As an example of chasing the “shiny object,” Quicksell shared the case of a consulting client competing for a 1,500 T-shirt order—even though the end-buyer wasn’t part of her targeted vertical markets. Quicksell advised against it, but the client went for it anyway. After an entire day of working with this potential client, she didn’t get the order and wasted her time.

“It could have been totally the other way around,” he said. “An hour deal and she could have walked away with two or three grand in her pocket. But, when you do that, you take your eye off of your strategy and your plan.”

5. Own up to mistakes

No one likes to make mistakes, but they’re sometimes hard to avoid. In any case, honesty is the best policy—a point that Barker and his staff live by.

“The best favor you can do for your clients is [to] make sure you avoid them having those ‘oh [snap]’ moments when they are taking a shower in the morning,” said Barker. “It happens to all of us. [We question] ‘Did we forget to email the order?’ ‘Did the factory ship?’ ‘Did I double-check the phone number?’ ‘Did I anticipate this snowstorm?’ ‘Will the order arrive on time?’

“We teach our staff to anticipate the unexpected because we expect the unexpected,” he continued. “And we communicate with our clients, both good and bad news. If [it’s] bad news, we own up to problems and take responsibility.”

Go to our website: www.ncmalliance.com

5 Sales Tips to Start Your Year Off Right By Sarah Semple At the start of every January—and now the beginning of a decade—many of us welcome a new year with updated resolutions and goals to reach.

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alternative-eyes · 5 years

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http://www.openminds.tv/wp-content/uploads/Larry-Hatch.jpg

In reflecting on the past year, we often think of those individuals we have lost. In the field of UFOlogy, it is no different. Indeed, in recent years, we have lost many pioneers in this field of inquiry. One such pioneer was a man named Larry Hatch who passed away on August 3rd, 2018. Unfortunately, many were not familiar with his passing or the legacy he has left this field of study.

Larry was a computer programmer by trade. His high level of intelligence was rivaled only by his creative talent for developing innovative ideas using the latest technologies. This went way back to Larry’s childhood. At the age of fourteen, he created his own private telephone system for his neighborhood friends to communicate with. We are not talking about the old cup and string concept. Rather, he developed his own actual stand-alone telephone system as this old news clipping from the San Mateo Times reported in the 1960s.

Later in life, Larry’s intellectual prowess persisted. It was no surprise that he eventually became part of the burgeoning computer industry in California where he was born and raised. Larry held many positions starting as a Senior Electronics Technician followed by a long career working for National Semiconductor as an Engineer.

Later, in 1993, Larry branched out on his own as an independent computer contractor. It was during this time that he focused his computer skills on a subject that was always near and dear to his heart – UFOs. Since early childhood, Larry was fascinated with the subject and had some personal experiences that he preferred to keep private.

Larry created from the ground level one of the most robust UFO databases up until that time – the *U* UFO Database. This was a database that the public could use on their home PCs. The *U* Database itself could do queries based on word search, geography, or UFO characteristics. There was also an impressive UFO mapping tool that visually displayed any relevant UFO cases based on your search criteria. This was amazing considering the database was written in a DOS-based environment.

UFO Map from the *U* UFO Database by Larry Hatch

Despite various computer UFO catalogs that had existed, there were only a few computer UFO databases before the *U* Database’s creation. There were the IBM punch data cards employed by the Battelle Memorial Institute in the 1950s used to examine Project Blue Book cases. Then, based on this concept, there was another computer database, compiled at Northwestern University in the 1960s. This included all unidentified cases from Project Blue Book through the efforts of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallee, et al. This work was eventually turned over to the Condon study at the University of Colorado in 1968 and eventually formed the basis for David Saunders’ UFOCAT database. Other UFOCAT versions were to follow in subsequent years.

The *U* Database also had several updates in later years after its release in 1994 when I first heard of Larry’s creation. Obviously, I had to have a copy for my own UFO research and purchased one of the first versions. After my initial contact with Larry, I had a number of emails interspersed with a few phone calls in the early to mid-nineties. In maintaining ties with him, I was always on the list for any later software updates but also was in a position to eventually provide case material for his latest 2002 update.

Larry had spent thousands of hours combing every possible UFO book and periodical he could get his hands on. In doing so, he took each case documented therein and then converted it into code for database entry. The last tally I saw was over 17,000 UFO cases that Larry personally entered into the database! Most of us cannot imagine the time, dedication, and personal sacrifice he made doing all of this work.

Although he was the sole individual that did all the data entry, he was not alone in gathering the relevant UFO case files and information. Despite avoiding the social scene, Larry was well connected with leading UFO researchers and historians worldwide. Some of these included: Jan Aldrich, Barry Greenwood, Jacques Vallee, Dominique Weinstein, etc.

Jan Aldrich recently informed me that his role was two-fold in collaborating with Larry. First, to properly vet the UFO data for removal of IFO reports or spurious cases. Second, to add interesting cases not formerly in the system. Jan emphasized Larry’s continual work in this area to ensure not only the quantity of information but quality information.

Additional reflections on Larry’s work were conveyed to me by Vallee in the writing of this article. Vallee stated,

“From my point of view, the most memorable lesson from his life is the observation of how much good research can be done by a single person with talent and the willingness to pursue a well-focused goal. Larry single-handedly accomplished what the leading UFO organizations of the time were unable to do with their resources, membership fees and access to media: an effective, well-functioning, cleverly interfaced graphic database of important UFO events! He also managed to build it in a way that made it economically accessible and legible to hundreds of people, on personal computers.”

He further added,

“I was part of Larry’s extensive correspondence network and brought him items that might be of interest in his work. I enjoyed visiting his house “down the Peninsula” and discussing the sightings, as well as gossiping about technology trends: He was indeed a very gifted software designer and implementer, and a kind man with no interest in the quarrels that plagued ufology. He remains an inspiration to me.”

The saddest part regarding the life of the *U* Database was that it was written in a DOS environment. As technology began to improve with numerous versions of Microsoft Windows and Macintosh or Mac computers, the DOS platform went the way of the dinosaur. Consumers then, like today, wanted the latest and greatest. As a result, DOS-based software programs and their followers diminished. So too did the *U* Database audience – for the most part.

Larry Hatch

Over time, I eventually lost touch with Larry in the early 2000s. I always meant to re-connect at some point. But I had heard rumors years later through the UFO grapevine that he was in ill-health. I had also heard that he retired to a nursing home. However, in speaking with older researchers who knew Larry more than myself, they too weren’t 100% sure what his status was at the time. It was a mystery.

Recently in November of 2018, after many years of losing touch with Larry, I saw items for sale on eBay that stated they were from the Larry Hatch collection. Eager to have these for my UFO research library, I purchased the items. I noticed the return address had the name of the seller, Yvonne Hatch. I thought to myself this must be a relative of Larry’s. My suspicions were proven correct.

I was able to email and then eventually call Yvonne Hatch who turned out to be Larry’s niece. She regrettably informed me that her late-uncle had passed away due to medical complications on August 3rd, 2018. She and other family members were dealing with the aftermath of his passing. This is what resulted in some of his UFO items surfacing on eBay.

Yvonne was gracious with her time, and she told me things about Larry I did not know from his personal life. She provided the photos included with this article. Yvonne stated her late-uncle was a man of high-intellect who had a passion for the subject of UFOs as evidenced by his tenacious data gathering and data entry that ultimately created the *U* Database. From the conversations we had, I could also feel the bond she had with her uncle and the subsequent loss with his passing.

I am not ashamed to admit that I have in my UFO research room to this day a fully-functioning DOS-based computer that is still running my version of the *U* Database. It was and continues to be extremely instrumental in my UFO studies. When fellow-researchers come to visit, I always try to make it a point to introduce them to the database as it proves useful in many research endeavors.

But more importantly, I tell them about the creator of the *U* Database, Larry Hatch. He was a man who was never to be seen at a UFO conference or UFO meeting. He never wanted to be the focus of attention. Instead, he wanted to be a facilitator in providing UFO data in a manageable form for serious researchers. To that end, he succeeded – admirably.

I wanted to pay tribute to Larry and let the UFO community know about his demise. But, as in these types of situations, not to just mourn his passing. It is a time to also celebrate the man’s contributions to the UFO research field. I hope memories of him and his *U* Database will live on. As Vallee stated, “He remains an inspiration.”

Download this PDF with information about the *U* UFO Database.

Larry Hatch, UFO Database Creator, Remembered http://www.openminds.tv/larry-hatch-ufo-database-creator-remembered/42142

#January 3 #2019 at 10:14PM

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everettwilkinson · 6 years

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GARY COHN and REINCE PRIEBUS break bread in the back of Capital Grille — SEXUAL HARASSMENT fallout hits the Hill — TAX REFORM by Thanksgiving? — SPOTTED at the Bush twins’ book party — B’DAY: Michael Calderone

Good Friday morning. SPOTTED: GARY COHN having dinner last night with REINCE PRIEBUS in a booth in the back of the Capital Grille.

FUN VIDEO — ABC News (@ABC): “Sec. of State Tillerson stops at statue while touring parks around Geneva: ‘Some days I feel like I need to do that. Curl up in a ball.’” 23-second video http://bit.ly/2zTU8jc

Story Continued Below

SEXUAL HARASSMENT FALLOUT HITS THE HILL — “Sexual harassment policies on Capitol Hill inhibit victims,” by Rachael Bade and Elana Schor: “Two female lawmakers and several congressional staffers are calling for an overhaul of Capitol Hill’s policies on sexual harassment, citing a culture of tolerance in a workplace long known as a boys’ club.

“The sexual harassment scandals involving major Hollywood and media figures are focusing new attention on Congress’ procedures, which critics say are woefully inadequate for deterring bad behavior in an institution filled with powerful men and young aides trying to advance their careers. Each congressional office operates as its own small, tightly-controlled fiefdom with its own rules and procedures, which makes it that much harder to come forward.

“Lawmakers and congressional aides are not required to undergo sexual harassment training — a shortcoming even the office that handles complaints says should be changed. And victims must submit to as long as three months of mandated ‘counseling’ and ‘mediation’ as well as what one lawyer involved in such cases called a ‘cooling off period,’ before filing a complaint against an alleged perpetrator. That’s assuming they’re even aware of how to lodge a grievance.” http://politi.co/2y7Q5SU

MORE HALPERIN — “‘I don’t want to sit on your lap,’ she thought. But, she alleges, Mark Halperin insisted,” by WaPo’s Paul Farhi: “The alleged conduct ranged from relatively trivial unwelcome contact — grabbing and holding women’s hands, for example — to inappropriate late-night phone calls and aggressive and repeated sexual propositioning. Several of the accusers recounted episodes in which he rubbed his erect penis against them — a claim specifically denied by Halperin in an interview. One woman said he appeared wearing only an open robe when a young campaign operative was summoned to deliver information to his hotel room.

“Separately, Emily Miller, an author and political correspondent for the One America News cable network, said she was ‘sexually assaulted’ by Halperin when she worked at ABC News. ‘I did not report Halperin to ABC because I thought I was the only one, and I blamed myself, and I was embarrassed and I was scared of him,’ she wrote on Twitter and Facebook on Thursday. … Halperin … specifically denied her statement. The women who spoke to The Post said Halperin was at his most aggressive during the 2004 campaign, when he was in charge of ABC News’s political coverage.

“As political director for the Disney-owned network, he was empowered to select the embeds, a low-level position but an important step in a highly competitive business. Out of roughly 60 people who were interviewed for 13 positions, Halperin selected 11 women — all of them young, attractive, well-educated and ambitious.” http://wapo.st/2y8cUGf

— “HBO, Penguin cancel ‘Game Change’ over Halperin’s alleged sexual harassment,” by Michael Calderone, whose birthday is today: “The 2016 edition of ‘Game Change,’ the most lucrative franchise in political journalism, appears doomed as Penguin Press canceled the much-anticipated book and HBO dropped the movie version in response to five women accusing co-writer Mark Halperin of sexual harassment during his time at ABC News.” http://politi.co/2i90F1a

–JILL ABRAMSON in THE GUARDIAN: “I’ve spent the past two weeks investigating sexual harassment allegations at another media company. I’ve approached lots of scared young women who tell me about awful experiences but won’t talk on the record because they’ve signed non-disclosure agreements or fear becoming unemployable if they talk.” http://bit.ly/2gIG4QS

THE TAX REFORM: BILL BY WEDNESDAY, DONE BY THANKSGIVING?– “Major divisions remain as GOP nears its tax deadline,” by WaPo’s Mike DeBonis and Damian Paletta: “Republicans set an aggressive timeline for passing legislation to overhaul the nation’s tax code, putting pressure on senior lawmakers and the White House to resolve major disagreements about the effort before a Wednesday deadline to introduce a bill.

“In a sign of the challenge to come, House Republicans narrowly passed a budget measure on Thursday allowing the tax overhaul to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over a decade. The effort succeeded with support from only two lawmakers to spare, as a group of northeastern Republicans opposed the budget resolution because of concerns that the tax rewrite could hurt their constituents.

“The Wednesday deadline sets up what is likely to be several days of intense lobbying to shape the bill. The House and Senate aim to pass legislation by Thanksgiving, with the goal of finalizing the bill and sending it to President Trump by year’s end.” http://wapo.st/2llIBpg

— THE RICH RUBIN REPORT: “House and Senate leaders each want to pass tax legislation before Thanksgiving, which means going from having no publicly available bill to consequential votes in 22 days. …

“Obstacles loom in every direction. In the House, where Republicans have a 239-194 edge, opposition by members from high-local-tax states narrows the party’s margins significantly, though that won’t be the only issue. So far, party leaders haven’t been able to reach a compromise that would continue some federal tax break for local property taxes. New York and New Jersey lawmakers went to the leadership’s offices for a meeting on the issue after Thursday’s vote but emerged without an agreement.” http://on.wsj.com/2yVJw5i

SEUNG MIN “SCOOP” KIM — “McConnell preps judicial confirmation frenzy”: “The top Senate Republican on Thursday teed up votes to install four nominees to the powerful appellate courts, which give the final word on the vast majority of cases that don’t reach the Supreme Court. The nominees are Allison Eid for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Stephanos Bibas for the 3rd Circuit; Joan Larsen for the 6th Circuit; and Amy Coney Barrett for the 7th Circuit. Eid and Larsen are among the names Donald Trump floated during the presidential campaign last year as potential Supreme Court picks, adding more significance to their confirmations to the appellate courts.” http://politi.co/2y94YVe

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TRUMP’S OPIOID ANNOUNCEMENT — “Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a ‘Health Emergency’ but Requests No Funds,” by NYT’s Julie Hirschfeld Davis: “[E]ven as he vowed to alleviate the scourge of drug addiction and abuse that has swept the country — a priority that resonated strongly with the working-class voters who supported his presidential campaign — Mr. Trump fell short of fulfilling his promise in August to declare ‘a national emergency’ on opioids, which would have prompted the rapid allocation of federal funding to address the issue.

“His directive does not on its own release any additional funds to deal with a drug crisis that claimed more than 59,000 lives in 2016, and the president did not request any, although his aides said he would soon do so. And he made little mention of the need for the rapid and costly expansion of medical treatment that public health specialists, including some in his own administration, argue is crucial to addressing the epidemic.” http://nyti.ms/2y8FBTk

TOUGH DALLAS MORNING NEWS EDITORIAL – “John Cornyn betrays himself and his party with embrace of Roy Moore”: “Sen. John Cornyn’s endorsement this week of Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate from Alabama is a new low not just for the former jurist and ex-Texas attorney general, but for the party he claims to love. We had hoped, as many have, that Cornyn would stand against the tide of populist, nativist and exclusionary politics that have come to dominate the Republican Party in Texas and elsewhere. That hope has now been all but extinguished.” http://bit.ly/2y830Ey

MUELLER WATCH — “Republicans spoil for a fight over Russia probe budget,” by Darren Samuelsohn: “Republicans trying to hobble Robert Mueller’s sprawling probe into President Donald Trump and Russia matters are about to get a new weapon: the special counsel’s budget. Lawmakers haven’t yet seen the Russia investigator’s first spending report, which must go through a Justice Department review before being made public. But they’re already setting up a fight over how much the probe is costing taxpayers — and the fact that there’s no end in sight.

“‘For them to say to us, ‘Vote for an open-ended appropriation into a Mueller witch hunt,’ I think you’ll see significant objection there,’ Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) told POLITICO. Mueller’s public budget is expected to contain only top-line figures covering broad categories like staff salaries, travel, outside contracts, supplies and equipment. But money will become a recurring fight as the investigation drags on, because Mueller is required to produce public expense reports every six months — giving opponents repeated opportunities to paint him in a negative light.” http://politi.co/2yP2EQl

ABOUT THOSE RUSSIA PROBES — “GOP winds down Russia probes with Trump collusion unanswered,” by Kyle Cheney and Elana Schor: “Republican lawmakers say they’re approaching the end of their investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election even though the most politically explosive issue — whether associates of President Donald Trump colluded with the Kremlin — remains unresolved. That will present Democrats who have spent a year amplifying suspicions about Trump’s own ties to Russia with a wrenching choice: to join Republicans and set aside the most momentous aspect of their probes — or to break from the GOP and end any chance of presenting a united front against a continuing Russian threat.” http://politi.co/2yQ0dNc

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Corker: Trump administration moving ahead on delayed Russia sanctions,” by Elana Schor: “The State Department is set to begin implementing new Russia sanctions after lawmakers in both parties raised questions about the weeks-long delay, according to a Thursday statement from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). At issue is an Oct. 1 deadline to identify entities in the Russian defense and intelligence sectors in line for new sanctions under a sweeping bipartisan bill that President Donald Trump signed in August. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began clamoring for action after the Trump administration missed that deadline, urging Trump to use the powers they gave him to get tougher on Moscow.” http://politi.co/2yQOZYY

BUT, BUT, BUT — “State Department Scraps Sanctions Office,” by Foreign Policy’s Robbie Gramer and Dan De Luce: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson eliminated the Coordinator for Sanctions Policy office, which had been led by a veteran ambassador-rank diplomat with at least five staff, as part of an overhaul of the department, former diplomats and congressional sources told Foreign Policy. Instead, the role of coordinating U.S. sanctions across the State Department and other government agencies now falls to just one mid-level official — David Tessler, the deputy director of the Policy Planning Office.” http://atfp.co/2gN229m

MAUREEN DOWD: “Mark Cuban’s Not Done Trolling Donald Trump”: “He puts the odds that he will challenge his fellow loud billionaire, master salesman and reality TV star in 2020 at 10 percent — ‘maybe 11.’ ‘I’m considering it, yes,’ he tells me. ‘I would put the odds against it right now for family reasons, but there is still plenty of time.’ …

“I met the voluble owner of the Dallas Mavericks at Jean-Georges in the Trump hotel at Columbus Circle, where he keeps an apartment. … When I ask if he would run as an independent, he replies: ‘Probably, or a Republican. I’m registered as an independent. I mean, I’d rather do it as an independent.’ But running as an independent has not proved successful in modern times. You just become a spoiler like Ross Perot. (Who is Cuban’s neighbor in Dallas, along with W.) ” http://nyti.ms/2gHARsU

THE JUICE …

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: VP MIKE PENCE is beefing up his legislative affairs staff, bringing on a top floor aide to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. CHRIS HODGSON, Scalise’s deputy floor director, will be the deputy director of House legislative affairs. Hodgson has been with Scalise for four years. In Hodgson, Pence gets someone who has been intricately involved in whipping. “As our deputy floor director, Chris has played an important role in many legislative victories for the American people and built strong relationships with members and staff alike,” Scalise said in a statement. “I’m confident that in his new role he will help bring about many more victories for American families as we work together to enact President Trump’s agenda.”

— FRIDAY NIGHT VIEWING: WASHINGTON WEEK: Bob Costa has Peter Baker, Nancy Cordes and Ed O’Keefe tonight on PBS.

TRUMP’S FRIDAY — THE PRESIDENT is meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

PHOTO DU HOUR: North Korean soldiers look at the South side while Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo visit the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone on October 27 in Panmunjom, South Korea. | Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool/Getty Images

COMING THIS WINTER — “Mar-a-Lago to host Trump booster bash Jan. 18,” by Palm Beach Post’s Alexandra Clough: “President Donald Trump’s fan club is throwing a party in January to celebrate his first year as president — and to support Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, which saw an exodus of private charity events booked for galas this coming winter season. The Trumpettes will host a Red, White and Blue Celebration for the first anniversary of Trump’s presidency … Toni Holt Kramer, the Trumpettes’ founder and an ardent Trump supporter … said she watched from afar as charity after charity canceled at Mar-a-Lago.” http://bit.ly/2zUfDQU

ABOUT THOSE JFK FILES — “7 new findings from the latest JFK files,” by Cristiano Lima and Akela Lacy: http://politi.co/2yVdiaa … WAPO: “Strippers, surveillance and assassination plots: The wildest JFK Files” http://wapo.st/2hdFnQk

— “What you won’t find in the final JFK assassination records,” by Bryan Bender: “Don’t expect an end to the conspiracy theories about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — even after the vast network of JFK-obsessed researchers pore over the final trove of government documents. That’s because the thousands of files made public by the National Archives late Thursday — and others that President Donald Trump announced will undergo an additional 180-day review — are still vastly incomplete, according to former government officials and leading assassination scholars, including those who believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and the many more who don’t.” http://politi.co/2iD84d2

REUTERS’ NATHAN LAYNE: “While advising Trump in 2016, ex-CIA chief proposed plan to discredit Turkish cleric”: “Former CIA director James Woolsey pitched a $10 million contract to two Turkish businessmen to help discredit a controversial U.S.-based cleric while Woolsey was an adviser to Donald Trump’s election campaign, three people familiar with the proposal said. Just eight days after formally joining Trump’s campaign as an adviser on national security issues, Woolsey met on Sept. 20, 2016 with businessmen Ekim Alptekin and Sezgin Baran Korkmaz over lunch at the Peninsula Hotel in New York … Woolsey and his wife, Nancye Miller, proposed a lobbying and public relations campaign targeting Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who lives in Pennsylvania.” http://reut.rs/2gMXRKL

ON THE WORLD STAGE — “Tracking Down North Korea’s Elusive UN Ambassadors Isn’t Easy,” by Bloomberg’s Kambiz Foroohar: “North Korea’s UN mission is located on the 13th floor of a nondescript Manhattan office building above a Hallmark Cards store. The diplomatic outpost of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as it’s formally called, shares the floor with the ‘Delegation of the Basque Country in the U.S.’ and Cahn Capital Corp., an investment bank. … On repeated visits, no one answered the door and phone calls went unreturned.

“The mission’s lack of a bathroom is its most visible shortcoming: North Korean diplomats have to tread down the narrow corridor to the other end of the floor to a shared toilet facility. On a recent trip, after repeated unanswered ringing of the mission’s doorbell, the door inched open and a man in casual clothes holding a toothbrush in one hand edged out, closing the door behind him. The man shook his head when asked about meeting the ambassador.” https://bloom.bg/2y8Kw6X

WHAT HAPPENED IN NIGER — “U.S. Soldiers Were Separated From Unit in Niger Ambush, Officials Say,” by NYT’s Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt: “In the chaotic moments after an Army Special Forces team and 30 Nigerien troops were ambushed by militants in a remote corner of West Africa three weeks ago, four of the Americans were separated from the larger group. Their squad mates immediately alerted commanders that they were under attack — then called for help nearly an hour later, as a top Pentagon official said this week — and ground forces from Niger’s army and French Mirage jets were both dispatched.

“About two hours later, the firefight tapering off, French helicopters from nearby Mali swooped in to the rescue on the rolling wooded terrain. But they retrieved only seven of the 11 Americans. The four others were inexplicably left behind, no longer in radio contact and initially considered missing in action by the Pentagon, a status that officials say raises the possibility they were still alive when the helicopters took off without them.” http://nyti.ms/2i8cAfK

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HMM — “Georgia election server wiped after suit filed,” by AP’s Frank Bajak: “A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was quietly wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned. The server’s data was destroyed July 7 by technicians at the Center for Elections Systems at Kennesaw State University, which runs the state’s election system. The data wipe was revealed in an email sent last week from an assistant state attorney general to plaintiffs in the case that was later obtained by the AP.” http://bit.ly/2yPT7se

BUSINESS BURST – “CVS Makes Blockbuster Aetna Bid,” by WSJ’s Dana Mattioli, Sharon Terlep and Anna Wilde Mathews: “CVS Health Corp. is in talks to buy Aetna Inc. for more than $66 billion as the drugstore giant scrambles to fortify itself against looming competition from Amazon.com Inc. amid a continuing reordering of the health-care industry. CVS has made a proposal to buy the health insurer for more than $200 per share.” http://on.wsj.com/2hd7Dm

— PROTECTING AGAINST AMAZON … NYT’S ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and KATIE THOMAS: “The talks between CVS and Aetna appear to be in part an attempt to fend off a move by Amazon into the drug-selling business — or at least to insulate the companies in case Amazon does invade. Signs are emerging that Amazon has designs on the pharmacy industry, with The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporting on Thursday that Amazon had gained licenses in 12 states to become a wholesale prescription drug distributor. A larger company — CVS and Aetna have combined annual revenues of about $240 billion — could enjoy greater leverage in negotiations with drug companies, helping it defend itself against newcomers like Amazon.” http://nyti.ms/2yajtI6

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Down hundreds of staff, Weather Service ‘teetering on the brink of failure,’ labor union says,” by WaPo’s Jason Samenow: “[T]he National Weather Service workforce is spread razor thin, with hundreds of vacant forecast positions. The National Weather Service Employees Organization, its labor union, said the lack of staff is taking a toll on forecasting operations and that the agency is ‘for the first time in its history teetering on the brink of failure.’ Managers are being forced to scale back certain operations, and staff are stressed and overworked. … [T]he team of 15 forecasters serving the Washington and Baltimore region will be short five full-time staff heading into the winter months.” http://wapo.st/2gIRG6p

MEDIAWATCH — “12 hours v. 20 minutes: Fox’s uneven sex harassment coverage,” by AP’s David Bauder: “Bill O’Reilly and Harvey Weinstein are the celebrity faces of sexual harassment in 2017. But on Fox News Channel, O’Reilly’s former home, the Hollywood mogul’s fall has gotten far more coverage. Fox has devoted more than 12½ hours of airtime to Weinstein since Oct. 5, when The New York Times broke the story about his misconduct, according to the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America. By contrast, Fox has spent 20 minutes, 46 seconds, on the accusations against O’Reilly since the Times revealed many of them in April.” http://bit.ly/2ljQLP3

PLAYBOOK INBOX – From Fox News’ Jon Decker: “Great news! I just learned I passed the DC Bar!! First time. And I did it while covering this White House. I’m simply overjoyed!! I just wanted to share my good news.”

SPOTTED at an AEI dinner honoring Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks receiving the 2017 AEI Irving Kristol Award (transcript of his remarks: http://bit.ly/2xr8DsZ): Dick Cheney, General Jack Keane, Amb. James Jeffrey, Josh Rogin, Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Hadas Gold, Sam Feist, Hugo Gurdon

OUT AND ABOUT — Connie Milstein, Dr. Mark Dybul, Anita McBride and Tammy Haddad hosted a book party yesterday at the Jefferson Hotel to celebrate Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush’s new book, “Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life.” The book will premiere next week on the NYT bestseller list. $16.80 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2zaJ8k6

SPOTTED: Josh Bolten, UK Amb. Kim Darroch, Tim McBride, Bob Woodward, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale, Bret and Amy Baier, Fred Ryan and daughter Genevieve, Jason Claire, Kasie Hunt, Howard Fineman, David Lane, Amb. Pete Selfridge, Steve Clemons, Shailagh Murray, Evan Ryan, Stephanie Cutter, Jonathan Capehart, Juleanna Glover, Craig Gordon, Francesca Craig, Mark Ein, Ryan Williams, Addie Crimmins, Sarah Whitworth, Sara Bonjean, Matt Mowers, Dan Meyers, Robin Goldman, Kevin Cirilli and Susan Blumenthal.

–Pool report: “VIEW PAC (Value In Electing Women Political Action Committee) celebrated its 20th anniversary of working to elect Republican women to the House and Senate. Over the past two decades VIEW PAC has helped infuse over $4 million into the coffers of female GOP candidates and incumbents.” Pic http://bit.ly/2gMaOnU

SPOTTED: Speaker Paul Ryan, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers (Ohio), GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Reps. Kay Granger (R-Texas), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Diane Black (R-Tenn.), Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), Mia Love (R-Utah), Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Mimi Walters (R-Calif.), Martha Roby (R-Ala.), Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), and Karen Handel (R-Ga.), former Reps. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), and Connie Morella (R-Md.), Cindy Stevens, Becky Anderson, Chris Frech, Jo-Marie St. Martin, Kathryn Lehman, Sally Vastola, Megan Cummings and Sue Andres.

SUNDAY SO FAR — “Fox News Sunday”: Ohio Gov. John Kasich … Panel: Carly Fiorina, Jane Harman, Ari Fleischer, Mo Elleithee. Power Players: Miles Teller and Jason Hall of “Thank You for Your Service”

— CBS’ “Face the Nation”: Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) … New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Political panel: Ben Domenech, Ruth Marcus, David Nakamura, and Julie Pace … Jon Batiste, the band leader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”

— ABC’s “This Week”: Panel: Matthew Dowd, Roland Martin, Karen Finney, Katie Walsh, and Brian Kilmeade

— CNN’s “State of the Union”: Panel: Jennifer Granholm, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), Charlie Sykes, Nina Turner

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Mike McCurry, former Clinton WH press secretary now distinguished professor of public theology at Wesley Theological Seminary and of counsel to Public Strategies Washington, is 63. A trend he thinks is undercovered: “The reduction in global poverty and the progress we are making in combating famine and diseases of poverty like Malaria. We still have a long way to go…but we are making progress. Also hunger in the U.S. – one in five kids in the U.S. faces ‘food insecurity’ – maybe not hunger but in a home where there may not be enough money to put food on the table. How can that be? (I work on these issues in my spare time.)” Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2zcwkJW

BIRTHDAYS: Nina Easton … Politico’s Michael Calderone and Ali Watkins … Richard Clarke, chairman and CEO of Good Harbor, is 67 … Stuart Roy of Strategic Action Public Affairs (hat tip: Blain Rethmeier) … American Airlines alum Will Ris … Phil Anderson, founding partner of Navigators Global … Jon Doggett, EVP at the National Corn Growers Association, is 62 … Chris Vlasto, senior EP for investigative reporting at ABC News … Clark Reid of the office of the Inspector General at Commerce …

… Zoé Zeigler, VP of content strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (h/ts Cally Baute and Jon Otto) … Christina Mountz, senior associate at Glover Park Group … Nicole Morrell (h/t Jon Haber) … Lori Otto Punke, founder of LOP Strategies … Nicholas Roosevelt … Mike Appel … Chrissy Terrell Murray, PR/comms for Gannett/USA Today Network … Ed Dippold … Jennifer Mandel … Abbey Shilling … Jackie Bray … Victoria Hargis … Mollie Rorrer Gore … George Landrith … Luke Harvey … Leslie Churchwell … Greg Gorman … Jonathan Sender … Gretchen Lee (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook http://politi.co/2lQswbh … Playbook Power Briefing http://politi.co/2xuOiqh … New York Playbook http://politi.co/1ON8bqW … Florida Playbook http://politi.co/1OypFe9 … New Jersey Playbook http://politi.co/1HLKltF … Massachusetts Playbook http://politi.co/1Nhtq5v … Illinois Playbook http://politi.co/1N7u5sb … California Playbook http://politi.co/2bLvcPl … London Playbook http://politi.co/2xfDPuK … Brussels Playbook http://politi.co/1FZeLcw … All our political and policy tipsheets http://politi.co/1M75UbX

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