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houseofbrat · 1 year

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“King Charles is not a housing association for distant relatives”

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/king-charles-plan-slimmed-down-monarchy-frogmore-cottage-harry-meghan-b1069700.html

And so it begins…the changes to course correct a bloated operation. Ready for the KC3 haters who were calling him weak the other day to start calling him cruel 🍿

The news came as the King’s visit to France was delayed after extensive rioting on Thursday night. Senior figures have told the Standard that after the period of transition following the coronation, the King, assisted by Queen Camilla, will move to tackle inefficiencies in what is being viewed as a largely overstaffed and outdated system.

Vice-Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the Household, and the Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens, responsible for finance, will execute the shake-up of what is described as a “top-heavy royal household”. Camilla has been overseeing the fine detail of the King’s plan to ensure that after the coronation the royal household will be run the “Clarence House way”.

One senior figure said: “It is not about cuts, it is about getting the best value for money from those on the payroll. Sometimes less is more.”

Another source added: “The King is not some sort of housing association for distant relatives.” Harry and Meghan were given use of Frogmore Cottage, a five-bedroom mansion on the Windsor estate in 2018, by the late Queen.

[...]

However, the couple’s loss of the cottage, their only British home, is said to be just the “tip of the iceberg”.

It is understood Charles is keen to reduce the number of royals with a financial dependence on the crown, especially if they do not have an active role to play. He wants funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, the portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the King, and the sovereign grant that covers the cost of royal travel on official engagements, to be spent more effectively. He also wants to pay his staff competitive salaries and pensions so that he gets the best people for the jobs.

“There will be staff cutbacks. That has already started. The buzz phrase is ‘value for money,’” said the source.

Several members of the extended royal family have enjoyed subsidised palace accommodation, with some having apartments that are being used by their children as “London pads”.

The source said: “Over time, that is going to change. Properties will be let at commercial rates going forward and to people outside the family. Where it is in a palace environment they will of course be security vetted.”

Privately, the King’s senior staff have made it clear to members of the extended family that if they cannot afford where they are living, they should “cut their cloth”. “A lot of practices that have evolved during the last reign will be changing. The King is not heartless or reckless, but if the family members are not part of the core family and not working for the crown, it is fair for them to house themselves and fund themselves,” a senior figure said.

[...]

One insider said: “The staffing has been on the top-heavy side. That has built up over time, with advisers to advisers and so on. That’s all going to stop. The boss wants effective people in effective positions doing effective jobs being paid appropriately.” The senior source added: “Much of what was in place doesn’t make economic sense and will be changed during the new reign.”

Yup. This is about what I expected.

People forget that Charles turned the Duchy of Cornwall into the behemoth it is now. It was struggling and in debt when he took it over from his mother.

#ask #Evening Standard #Robert Jobson #King Charles III #King Charles III in CHARGE!#Chuckie Trips FTW #real estate #frogmore cottage #duchy of lancaster #crown estate #the crown estate

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anntoldst0ries · 3 years

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shinrin-yoku (Ethan x MC)

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Dr Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr Noelle Valentine) Word Count/Rating: ~1.7k, PG Summary: When life's difficulties hit, Noelle navigates her way through them by turning to the nature. Category: Hurt & Comfort Warnings: mentions of trauma

A/N: May is a Mental Health Awareness month and here in the UK the theme is nature. My MC, just like me, runs to the woods when things get tough. It helps her clear her head and reconnect with inner strength.

I struggle with mental health myself and it’s important for me to speak up and address the subject. There is nothing worse than shaming or discrediting someone’s difficult feelings. It’s fine not to be fine.

If you struggle alone, please don’t. My inbox will welcome you with open arms. Two heads are better than one, even if we just complain, at least we can complain together 💜

For @choicesmaychallenge2021 Day 13 - Mental Health

SHINRIN-YOKU - A Japanese term for ‘forest bathing’ or the sense of well-being you experience while in nature.

It all starts with a seed. This tiny element which, without aid, is sentenced to certain death. But give it the right soil. Give it water, sun. And it can grow. Into something big. Powerful. Scary.

She is five years old.

They live in a townhouse, a classy Victorian era building. Undistinguished, one of many merging into the background of a typical London street. The colors are also very standard, dirty white married to ivory beige, bar for the deep green door - their rebel child.

For the random passerby, it’s nothing special. But for her, the walls of a storey house encapsulate the whole world.

The garden behind the house is neat and clean, visibly well taken care of. She doesn’t remember exact details anymore, but she remembers begging her parents to go camping in the garden with her brother. The ticklish feeling of long and slim blades of grass on her tiny feet. Looking at the stars with pure awe and delight, that only the unspoiled mind of a child is capable of.

The plot of land that the house has been built on borders a beautiful forest. A wooden fence separates the two.

To her, it’s a passage to a magical world.

A world without any particular order, living its own life, unconstricted by rules. Not in the slightest does it resemble the garden on her side of the fence, where things grow according to the rules laid out by the adults.

There is a feeling inside her that she’s too young to name, to throw it in lingual context. It’s not until years later that she realized what it had been. Freedom. To grow however you please. To be what you want to be.

Robust, effuse trees tower over her, making her feel so small. As if she hasn’t already been feeling small enough, living in a world full of giants.

But they mean something else too. They bring a secret and a promise. Promise of a bigger world out there, far from the confines of the place she calls home.

The forest draws her, singing a melody that only her heart can understand. One day, she will be a part of it.

She lives the teenage dream life.

That’s what everyone says.

She doesn’t have any real problems. She’s lucky not having to worry about money. She’s got friends. Her family is great. She just needs to stop whining. Her life is perfect.

Their words, not hers.

None of them know what happens behind closed doors.

The childhood forest is a cloudy memory. Her home is now thousands of miles away, in a city with a giant red bridge, which for some bizarre reason has ‘golden’ in its name.

But the call from nature doesn’t care about distance. It can find you about anywhere. It’s different and yet the same.

Because nature beats in one rhythm and speaks in the same language, everywhere.

The morning is chilly and humid. She’s wearing a wooly coat, carelessly threw on a pair of PJs hiding underneath.

Her steps are brisk, breathing short and heartbeat elevated. Something’s bothering her blanched face.

The voice, again.

When it first appeared, she thought it had her best interest at heart. Used to give her advice and like a good friend, ream her out when she did something bad.

Over time, things took a turn for the worse.

Snarky comments. Casually mentioned wrongdoings. Feedback on what she could have done better, differently.

Noelle hoped the voice would go away on its own.

It hasn’t.

Not only did the voice not go away, but it was actually growing stronger with each passing day. Became more vocal. Judgmental. Openly hostile.

It fed on her fears.

It’s your fault - it told her - that your parents are getting divorced.

You are not good enough.

Even a lie, repeated enough times, will finally become the truth. And so it did for her, to the point where she couldn’t distinguish her own voice from the voice of the tormentor. Sounds faded into one.

Whoever said words can cut like a knife was right. But those who knew thoughts could leave scars that are much deeper, were truly wise.

The young, beautiful girl who never hurt a soul, became a hostage. A prisoner locked in the jail of her own head.

A giant tear rolled down her face. Made of all the words her heart couldn’t say.

She hugged the tree tightly and inhaled the woodsy aroma, the scent filling her lungs fully.

It’s sensuous.

Just like that, she is small again.

She’s got all that she ever wanted.

Degree from one of the best medical schools. Graduating with honors and glowing recommendations from even the strictest professors, who kept assuring her that her future in medicine is so bright it’s actually blinding. Then, a dreamy residency in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country.

Pretty impressive, right? Even a fool could see that. But the only fool whose opinion she cared about, couldn’t. All these things were clearly not good enough for Ethan Ramsey to stay.

She wasn’t good enough for him to stay.

Not longer than a year ago he was just a concept, an ideal without a face, body and voice. To her, he was a celebrity, a hero, someone whom mortals don’t have access to.

It was preposterous to consider for even a second Dr Ramsey could actually see something in an intern.

Standing among the moss-covered trees, every fiber of her being was filled with the thought of him.

Did the Amazonian forest remind him of her, just like every forest around reminded her of him?

Just when she won the battle for her career, she lost another. Because life had to be a zero-sum game.

As painful as that would have been, she wished she had something to hold onto. A scene she could replay in her mind. An image of him walking away. Or saying goodbye.

But he left without a word.

That was the pattern. That was history repeating itself.

She took her shoes off and stepped on the soil frosted with morning dew. It’s cold and wet. It’s refreshing. She is grounding. Reconnecting with Earth.

Tunes in with the rivers of grass, towers of trees, fences of bushes.

If the trees could speak, they’d tell stories not many people would believe in.

Tales of heartbreaks. Parables of spirits.

They are all nature’s poems.

Hauntingly beautiful. Riveting. Written without a single word.

Because nature speaks its very own language that only the soul, not the mind, can understand.

Pain is ripping her apart. But it reminds her that she’s alive. And this, in itself, is a miracle.

She doesn’t know who she is anymore.

Some people call her a survivor. But it doesn’t feel like the right word. So many things in her died. So much was lost.

The attack took a lot from her. Danny. Bobby. Sense of security. Identity. Direction.

Right and wrong, good and bad, righteous and vicious. These are all just words. Someone needs to come and teach her the meaning of them anew. Draw lines, mark out frontiers. Save her from herself.

The ground is soaked. Torrential rain turned the soil into soft mud, warm and easily slipping through her fingers. She falls on her knees, praying for the ground to consume her.

Fill every part of her. Silence the internal cacophony. To sink into oblivion.

Not many people knew about the panic attacks and recurring nightmares. They’re always the same.

She’s standing in the middle of a swamp. Danny and Bobby are drowning, their arms reaching out for her. She knows she can only save one of them. She runs out of time trying to figure out how to save both. As a result, they both die. Time stands still and yet everything is spinning, moving, racing. The reality is a riot of overbright colours.

Suddenly, a ring breaks the silence. A polyphonic intruder. She looks at the screen through hooded eyes and notices the caller’s name. It’s him. He’s petrified. Worried to death. Asks her to stay where she is.

Some time later, maybe 10 minutes, maybe an hour - who knows? - he emerges from the gathering of stocky oaks.

The moment he catches the sight of her, he starts running. She notices a lab coat underneath the jacket. He’s soaking wet.

Even though he is so close, he doesn’t slow down. Crashing into her, he scoops her in his arms. Catches her in the tightest of embraces.

Asks her if she’s fine. No. Not that question again. She’s tired of people fussing over her and gets angry.

Had it not been for the attack, would he even be here? The voice asks mockingly. It doesn’t matter to her. He’s there now.

Deep baritone is gentle and full of concern. It’s not like that. It’s not his intention to fuss. He’s simply worried. Because she is the most important thing to him in the whole world. Yes, he wasted so much time. That’s why he refuses to lose even one more second.

A dam breaks within her. Eliciting a quiet sob. She clutches his shirt, holds onto him for dear life. Moments later, she’s screaming at the top of her lungs. Singing her poignant birdsong.

How is she supposed to cope? Will things ever go back to normal? What is normal anyway?

In the confines of the infamous patient room she never felt more scared in her life. But here, out in the open, she feels so safe. As if she’s had a silent agreement with nature, which vouched to protect her at all costs.

And this time, nature had an ally. Because Ethan will protect her, even if it’s the last thing he does. Holding onto each other, they stand in the nothingness.

It keeps them grounded. Connected to their roots. Turning over new leaves. Bending before they break. Growing.

They get lost. Mother Nature has a reward for those who do. They have a chance to find themselves. Over and over again.

~~~

If you made it this far - thank you & you're awesome 🥰

Tag list: @genevievemd @gryffindordaughterofathena @terrm9@starrystarrytrouble @the-pale-goddess @jamespotterthefirst @lisha1valecha @writer-ish @maurine07 @drakewalkerfantasy@iemcpbchoices @liaromancewriter @lem-20 @lucy-268 @oldminniemcg @queencarb @qrkowna @mercury84choices @lsvdw-blog @utterlyinevitable @stygianflood @udishaman @romewritingshop @romereadingshop @alina-yol-ramsey @stateofgracious @xxsugarplumfluffsxx @binny1985 @tsrookie @fayeswiftie @archxxronrookie @tinkertailorsoldierspy @schnitzelbutterfingers @wingedhairstylemusicweasel @theinvisibledreamergirl @custaroonie @irisofpurple @chasingrobbie @ethandaddyramseyx @quixoticdreamer16 @coffeeheartaddict @takemyopenheart @aworldoffandoms @potionsprefect @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

#open heart #Ethan Ramsey x mc #choices fic writers creations #fics of the week #mental health awareness

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dherzogblog · 3 years

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The Birth of The Daily Show: 25 Years of Fake News and Moments of Zen

It was July of 1995 and I had left MTV to become President of Comedy Central. It was the basic cable equivalent of going from the NY Yankees to an expansion team. I was on the job just two weeks when I received a call from Brillstein Grey the high powered managers of Bill Maher, host of one of the networks few original programs, "Politically Incorrect". We were informed Bill and his show would leave the network when his contract expired in 12 months. It was a done deal. Bill wanted to take his show to the "big leagues" at ABC where he would follow Night Line. Comedy Central was left jilted. Terrible news for a network still trying to establish itself. We had a year to figure out how to replace him and the clock was ticking. So began the path to The Daily Show.

It was very much a fledgling Comedy Central I joined, available in barely 35 million homes, desperately seeking an identity and an audience. It was just over three years old, born into a shot gun wedding that joined two struggling and competing comedy networks, HBO’s Comedy Channel and Viacom’s HA!, Watching them both stumble out of the gate, the cable operators forced them to merge, telling them: "We only need one comedy channel, you guys figure it out”. After some contentious negotiations the new channel was born and the red headed step child of MTV and HBO set out to find the pop culture zeitgeist its parents had already expertly navigated. The network had yet to define itself. The programming consisted mainly of old stand up specials from the likes of Gallagher (never underestimate the appeal of a man smashing watermelons), a hodgepodge of licensed movies (“The God’s Must be Crazy and The Cheech and Chong trilogy were mainstays) and Benny Hill reruns. The networks biggest hit by far was the UK import “Absolutely Fabulous”, better know as “AbFab”. Comedy Central boasted a handful of original shows, including the wonderfully sublime "SquiggleVision" of “Dr. Katz”, the sketch comedy "Exit 57" (starring the then unknown Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert) and of course Maher’s "Politically Incorrect". In retrospect I don’t think Bill got enough credit for pioneering the idea of political comedy on mainstream TV. Back then he was the only one doing it.

Politically Incorrect performed just fine, but got more critical attention than ratings. It was a panel show, and I had something a bit different in mind to replace it. I knew we needed a flagship, a network home base, something akin to ESPN's Sports Center where viewers could go at the end of a the day for our comedic take on everything that happened in the last 24 hours….."a daily show". I had broad idea for it in my head. I would describe it as part "Weekend Update", part Howard Stern, with a dash of "The Today Show" on drugs complete with a bare boned format to keep costs low so we could actually afford to produce it. We could open with the headlines covering the day's events (our version of a monologue), followed by a guest segment (we wouldn't need to write jokes...only questions!), and finish with a taped piece. Simple, right? We just needed someone to help flesh out our vision.

Comedy Central was a a second tier cable channel then and considered a bit of a joke (no pun intended). It had minuscule ratings, no heat and even less money to spend. Producers were not lining up to work with there. Eileen Katz ran programming for the channel and the two of us began pitching this idea to every producer who would listen. One of the first people we approached was Madeleine Smithberg, an ex Letterman producer and had overseen "The Jon Stewart Show" for us at MTV. We thought she was perfect for the role. “You can’t do this, you can’t afford this, you don't have the stomach for this, it will never work ” Madeliene said when we met with her. We could not convince her to take the gig. Ok then....we moved on. The problem was we heard that same refrain from everybody. No one wanted the job. So after weeks being turned down by literally EVERYONE, I said to Eileen: “We have to go back to Madeleine and convince her to do this with us"!

Part our pitch to her was we would go directly to series. There would be no pilot. The show was guaranteed to go on air. We had decided this show was our to be our destiny and we had to figure it out come hell or high water. As a 24 hour comedy channel, if we couldn't figure out a way to be funny and fresh every day...what good were we? We told Madeliene we were committed to putting the show on the air and keeping it there till we got it right (for at least a year anyway). That, plus some gentle arm twisting got her to sign on. Shortly after that, Lizz Winstead did too.

Madleiene and Lizz very quickly landed on their inspired notion of developing the show and format as a news parody. It brought an immediate focus and a point of view to the process . All of the sudden things started to take shape and coming to life. Great ideas started flowing fast and furious while an amazing collection of funny and talented began to come on board. Madeliene and Lizz were off to the races. Now all we needed was a host.

The prime time version of ESPN's Sports Center was hosted by Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann back then and it was must see cable TV. But I had recently started to notice another guy hosting the show's late night edition. He was funny, with a snarky delivery reminiscent of Dennis Miller. His name was Craig Kilborn. On the phone with CAA agent Jeff Jacobs one day, I asked if he knew happened to know who repped him? “I do" he said. "We just signed him”. Within days he was in my office along with Madeleine, Lizz, and Eileen who were all a bit skeptical about the tall blond guy with the frat boy vibes sitting across from them. After opening the meeting with a few off color comments that would probably get him cancelled today (an early warning sign fo sure), Craig ultimately won them over and we had our host.

FUN FAC#1: Minutes after the news of Craig's hiring went public, Keith Olberman's agent called me directly to ask why we hadn't considered hiring him?

Ok, we had a host and producers...but what to call it? After sifting through dozens of ideas for a title, Madeleine called me one day and said, "I think we should just call it what we've been calling it all along...."The Daily Show". As we approached our launch date we taped practice shows and took them out to focus groups to get real life feedback. The groups hated it.... I mean with a red hot hate. They hated Craig, the format, the jokes, everything. We were crushed and dejectedly looked around at the room at one another. "Now what?" “Either they’re wrong, or we are". I said I think they are...but it doesn’t matter, we're doing this!" We never looked back.

The show took off quickly garnering some quick buzz and attention, we felt like we had crashed the party. Well, sort of. We had no shortage of fun, growing pains and drama along the way. The Daily Show version 1.0 was about to unravel. In a December 1997 magazine interview Craig made some truly offensive and inappropriate remarks about Lizz and female members of the staff. Whether it was poor attempt at humor or just plain misogynist (or both) is beyond the point. It was all wrong, very wrong. Craig was suspended for a week without pay. Lizz left the show. In the moment I chose to protect the show and its talent more so than Lizz. That was wrong too. It's more than cringe worthy looking back now, and I regret not making some better decisions then. My loyalty to our host was later "rewarded" when in the Spring of 1998 Kilborn's team, a la Bill Maher, unceremoniously informed us he had signed a deal to follow Letterman on CBS when his contract expired at the end of the year. No discussion, a done deal. Comedy Central jilted again. Like Maher, Kilborn wanted his shot at the network big leagues and we had a little over six months to figure out how to replace him. We all know how that chapter ended. That search would eventually reunite us with Jon Stewart who along with The Daily Show took Comedy Central and basic cable to the "the big leagues" on their own terms, redefining late night comedy in the process The rest, as they say, is "Fake News" history.

Fun Fact #2: before approaching Jon (who I did not originally think would be interested) I initially offered the job to a chunkier, largely unknown Jimmy Kimmel, fresh off his co hosting duties on "Win Ben Stein's Money" ...only to have him turn us down.

My fascination with late night began as a kid. I remember how exciting it was to stay up to sneak a peek at the Carson monologue and watch him do spit takes with his chummy Hollywood guests. Later on I also loved the heady adult conversation Dick Cavett would have with everyone from Sly Stone to Groucho Marx. But it was the comedic revolution of Saturday night Live in 1975, followed by Letterman's game changing show in 1981 that truly established late night as the coolest place on the television landscape. I could only dream of one day being part of it.

25 years on, I couldn’t be more proud of The Daily Show and its legacy. Those days helping build it alongside Madeleine, Lizz, Eileen and the team were among the most satisfying (and fun) experiences I have ever had. It was thrilling to take a shot at the late night landscape and try and make our mark, especially when no one thought we could.

I am prouder still of what Trevor Noah and his staff have achieved since they took the hand off from Jon, evolving and growing the show through a new voice and lens. I think my personal "Moment Of Zen" will last as long as Trevor remains behind the desk, allowing me to selfishly boast of having hired every host this award winning and culture defining franchise has ever had.

25 years later. it remains as relevant as ever, a bona fide late night institution, standing shoulder to shoulder with all the great shows that inspired us to start.

#the daily show #jon stewart #trevor noah #comedy central

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badfey · 4 years

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is there anything u wish u had known pre-top surgery? I’m trying to schedule mine next yr and I’m worried I rushed into picking my surgeon even tho I looked at a Lot. I’ve got a list of questions to ask but curious if there’s anything you can think of! Thanks, if u get a chance to reply 🥺

firstly congrats and good luck with your top surgery, i hope the wait goes quickly!!

There were a lot of things i wasn’t expecting about top surgery - not necessarily that i wish i’d known in advance, just that i didn’t anticipate. I wrote a document of them not long after surgery which ill post soon and link back to here :) right now ill go through the main stuff i wish i had known, and any questions i had (under a cut because it got long)

Stuff I Wish I’d Known

Some of this depends on how your surgeon does things. I had 6 days before my post-op appointment w chest reveal.

That first week is tough. Ymmv, but for me it was really hard. I knew that post-op depression was a thing, i didn’t realise what it would feel like. For me it was a lot of being tired and not being able to sleep because of not being able to get comfortable (having to sleep elevated for a few days & pain), so getting more tired and bored but too fatigued to do anything in that classic frustrating cycle. Once i slept decently for the first time i felt human again (nytol is a lifesaver). It’s also tough bc ur sweaty n uncomfortable and u haven’t showered or taken off the post-op binder for a week, and with the dressings and swelling it doesn’t feel like its really happened yet? After chest reveal thats a lot easier

Sometimes moving around you’ll feel something like pull or pop and you get so so paranoid about pulling a stitch i seriously thought id pulled a stitch but its usually like the dressings adhesion or something, you don’t need to freak out. My best friend here was this uk trans fb group because i could search and find years of posts with ppl having the same problems, or ask and ppl would give advice and calm me down, so it’s good to join a community like that ready for if you inevitably get stressed about something (also good for post-op boredom)

You cant use your arms to move. Sounds obvious but like i never realised how much i reflexively rely on using arms to move sitting positions on a bed, and how you need to pay attention to override that impulse.

Peeing after anesthetic is weirdly hard. It really helps if you practise consciously releasing the specific muscles to pee beforehand

I was so hungry. I got fed sure (great food too) but i wish i had taken snacks.

Questions to ask

Im gonna list some stuff that you may already know/have on your list but it might help fill any gaps :)

When are your post-ops? Are they included in the surgery price? Mine were at 6 days (chest reveal) and 8 weeks (normally 6 weeks but my surgeon was on holiday lol) and both included in the price of surgery (which is standard for here i think). Its good to have rough timeframes in advance so you can plan around it.

Ask about revisions - are they included in the price, what is the timeframe you can get revisions for, how you would start the revision process if you need it? Hopefully you won’t need it but its important to know just in case & so you don’t need to worry about it. I think my surgeon got a bit touchy when I brought up revisions but i was just clear that if I’m getting this surgery and paying a lot of money for it i need to know this stuff in advance which as a professional he should be fine with.

Can you have a say in scar shape and/or nipple size? Usually you can, and this is often at the pre-op when they draw all over your chest before surgery. Don’t feel like you can't weigh in - this is your chest. Also even at consultation they might be able to give you an idea of what your scar/s will look like.

If you’re getting nipple grafts, ask about their graft success rate!! I was super stressed about my nipples falling off, but my surgeon said that even though stats say about 10% of nipple grafts r unsuccessful, in practise he sees a much smaller percentage than that, and even ones that do reject often grow back (lmk if u wanna know more what i mean) or can just be easily touched up with tattooing. Also if theres anything they recommend for graft success.

Does your surgeon recommend using arnica? Arnica is a homeopathic remedy for bruising, swelling, and wound healing. There’s differing views on whether it actually works, but in my case i took arnica tablets 1 week before and 2 weeks post-op and i think it really helped. They also tasted nice. Some people use arnica gel to aid healing once you can start massaging.

Where will you be for overnight recovery? Will you be on a ward or in a room? Do you have access to a TV? Do you have access to a plug socket or charging point? Do you get wifi? Chances are you’ll be bored at some point over the time you’re in there, especially if you struggle sleeping. It’s good to know whats available in advance so you can come with things to keep you entertained.

Does your surgeon use drains? You probably already know/have an idea of this bc its something a lot of ppl consider when choosing surgeons, buts its good to know if you don’t. Also, it can change - I chose my surgeon partially because he only uses overnight drains so you don’t have to deal with them in recovery. When i was there i found out he has stopped using drains altogether for smaller guys so i never actually had them (pleasant surprise).

Does your surgeon want you to wear a post-op binder? Do they supply the binder? Post-op binders r a good idea they stop swelling soo much, so even if your surgeon doesn’t recommend it i’d definitely ask if it’d be safe for you to wear one. You can't wear regular binders. If you’re sourcing your own, again trans groups r great bc they can give local recs and lots of people sell/pass on their old ones. I am happy to give anyone recs, but they’re all uk based.

How will you communicate with nurses post-op? Most people don’t live too near their top surgeon, so you’ll probably check-up remotely. I just sent nurses emails of my nips and incisions and anything i was worried about the healing of and they’d let me know if it looked okay.

If you have any conditions/disabilities/illnesses, ask if they’ve ever operated on someone with them/similar before. I have fibro + hypermobility and tbh it was reassuring to hear him talk about experiences other patients with chronic pain had had before and how they coped.

Okay sorry that was really long, but its pretty much everything i could think of question wise! I hope it helps! Let me know if there’s any other questions you have at all :)

#asks #anon #trans stuff #top surgery #top surgery advice #DI top surgery #double incision #transition advice #ok to rb #Anonymous

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the-english-student-studyblr · 4 years

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This is very UK specific but I’m pretty sure the sentiment is shared globally so whatever.

Our government is giving teachers a 3% pay increase. That’s... nice. That’s fine. Pay increases are good.

Except the funding for that comes out of the existing budget. There “isn’t any extra money” so there isn’t anything to help local councils with the pay increase. This is a problem.

Our schools are already chronically underfunded. Our teachers are paid but below the national average wage. Our buildings are often in disrepair or unsafe. There are memes about the permanent “temporary” classrooms for a reason.

When I was at secondary school, about to sit my GCSEs, my German teacher told our class very seriously about how much teachers struggle with the budget. She was the head of the MFL department and was grappling with the decision to either replenish our dwindling glue stick supply, get some new chairs because half of them were broken, or replace our decade old textbooks. Either choice would tip them over budget. They couldn’t afford new glue sticks and new whiteboard pens, couldn’t afford more dry-erase boards so we wouldn’t have to break them in half to have enough for one between two in a class of thirty, couldn’t afford display board supplies for open day and the technician for the broken smart board. In English, we had to use folders because the department could no longer afford to provide notebooks, had to buy our own books because there was only enough money for five per classroom and olny for the neediest students. In History, we had no textbooks because the ones we had were so old the information was proven false. Our experiments were done in groups of five so every group got a working bunsen burner and still sometimes we had to double up.

How are schools meant to afford this pay rise?

I did some maths and the average NQT will get less than 1k added to their yearly wage. Less than 1k, for the teachers shoved in the deep end of a global pandemic with far too little experience, teaching their kids with software they don’t know how to use or in a classroom with kids who could be carrying it, risking their lives to keep children learning. It is a teacher’s job at the moment to get free school meal vouchers to under-privileged families, to make sure that at-risk young people are at school and safe instead of wandering the streets or trapped at home with abusive family members. More experienced teachers might get somewhere between 1k-2k extra. These are people who have devoted their lives to educating children, to caring for them and investing in their futures. Thousands of hours in the classroom, hundreds more in overtime at home. Teachers deserve far more than a 3% pay rise.

#teaching & academics #teaching tag #uk politics #teacher #pay rises are great #but like this needs to be thought out more #where is the money?#fund your fucking schools #kids are the future #schools are one of the most important things a government can put money into #and yet they refuse #why is the military getting extra funding?#but not education?#also what about doctors?#where's their pay rise?

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behrooz-musigns · 3 years

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+ Innovative, warm, witty, kind, protective, geeky +/- Intellectual, observant, horny - impatient, unreliable, outspoken, easily distracted

++ BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Behrooz Hakim Najm PRONUNCIATION: Beh-roes MEANING: Lucky ZODIAC: Pisces ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Bi SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Poly CURRENT LOCATION: Epineios OCCUPATION: Student, IT

++ BIOGRAPHY

Behrooz personally invented the saying ‘I guess luck is just on my side’, or so they would have everyone in their school believe when they got another high score in one of the games they played in the back of the school. They would do guessing games, with people asking them a number which they had written down, and Behrooz would always guess right.

Sadly luck rarely followed them home. They were raised by their grandmother, who forbade them to hang out after school, and certainly ensured they would never be seen hanging out with girls on their own. She would remind them time and time again of their father, a gambler who had made it big winning game after game, then one day showed up with a baby, only to drink himself to death a year later. She would remind them that they were the family’s burden, and they would have to behave in order to not bring another burden upon them.

And as they grew older, luck left them more and more often. Being a practicing Muslim was already a hard sell, but with the world growing more extreme around them, they found the community stifle their ambitions daily. It confused Behrooz that while their religion gave them anxiety, praying chased the demons away. It was almost as if they couldn’t have the one without the other.

Life was a constant . Bad people walking in and out of their life, bullies, racist teachers, judgemental neighbors, judgemental extended family members. Behrooz tended to lock themselves up in their room every day, listening to music or playing games of chance. A knot seemed to live inside their stomach all the time, a fear of being plucked off of the street and never arriving home.

When that actually happened, it wasn’t like they had imagined.

Being mostly interested in digits, numbers, code, etc. Behrooz hadn’t paid much attention to history class when Ancient Greek and Ancient Rome were being discussed, and as they saw a creepy creature with goat legs walk up to them, they really wished they had. There was a whole speech about being in mortal danger, gods, strange creatures on the loose, yada yada. Behrooz had a headache by the time the goat legged creature told them to follow him. Very close to sparking some lie about soccer practice or prayers, their head snapped back to attention when the creature suggested they had a mother who was a God.

The only thing driving them forward was the possibility of learning who their mother was, something in their brain sending out constant messages of: gotta meet mom, gotta meet mom, gotta meet mom. Rather than forming coherent sentences. They disappeared into some cleared out old train tunnel, and emerged on the other side of the bleedin’ ocean. All Behrooz knew to say was: “thought your accent sounded funny.” Before being swarmed by the strangest assortment of kids, some younger than their fourteen years, others older, everyone excited. Was this the right time to say they were Muslim and watch everyone slowly disappear like they had done back in school?

Nobody really seemed to care however, over the years - in which they discovered their godly parent, never got to meet her, discovered she was probably the most difficult goddess to find, got a large portion of the camp to join them during Ramadan - Behrooz stayed at the Camp the whole year round. They didn’t wish to return to the UK, and followed online lessons to keep up with their education. Of course they were bleedin’ lucky, and with time they learned how to use that luck to their advantage, and to that of those around them. Yet, Behrooz started to appreciate the balance of it all, the bad and the good.

To them, code was good. Watching others struggle with programs and computers, just made them more interested in it. Algorithms fascinated them, they could spend hours looking at code trying to figure out how it worked. When the time came for them to move out of the warm nest of Camp Half Blood, Behrooz had already set their sights on studying Programming at the University of New York.

++ HEADCANONS

++ Horny as hell, and often very lucky in love, although they can never seem to hold on to anyone for long.

++ A skilled programmer with a love for code and numbers and digits. They can stay up nights on end trying to figure out some new program or write an algorithm of their own.

++ Despite their interests in the digital, Bez spends most of their time outside if they can help it. They love forests, trees, the fresh air. They take walks a lot, driving the metro to the park and helping themselves to a huge thermos of coffee.

++ Religion is an important part of their life, without it they would be nowhere. Whenever they feel lost or anxious, they tend to be eager for it to be time to pray, something they do five times a day.

++ They’ve read the Quran, although their grandmother never taught them Arabic beforehand, so they’re currently reading it in English in between classes, thesis writing, and walks.

++ Bez is a very kind individual, who will help others whenever they can - mostly with IT stuff. As a job, or a way to get money mostly, they help teachers or partake in arranging anything that needs a programmer. They’re a regular Upwork user.

++ In fights Bez uses their ability to generate luck to get other Demigods out of trouble and make the damage less.

++ They love bunk beds.

++ Wears very loose-fitting clothing.

++ Drinks way too much coffee and black tea.

++ Doesn’t like it when people constantly nag.

++ Extremely messy, will end up finding coffee mugs everywhere.

++ Is always running from one place to the next because he has too much planned on a daily basis.

++ SKILLS & ABILITIES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: Above average OFFENSE: Lacking DEFENSE: Main attribute SPEED: Above average INTELLIGENCE: High ACCURACY: Descent AGILITY: Good STAMINA: Fine TEAMWORK: Speciality TALENTS: Luck manipulation SHORTCOMINGS: Easily distracted, no overview LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: English DRIVE?: yes JUMP-STAR A CAR?: not really CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: absolutely not RIDE A BICYCLE?: absolutely SWIM?: decently PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: piano and guitar PLAY CHESS?: no BRAID HAIR?: one day maybe TIE A TIE?: yes PICK A LOCK?: yes

++ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Viveik Kalra EYE COLOR: brown HAIR COLOR: brown HAIR TYPE/STYLE: semi-long, wavy, thick GLASSES/CONTACTS?: no DOMINANT HAND: right HEIGHT: 1.75m WEIGHT: 65kg BUILD: lean EXERCISE HABITS: jogging in the morning, some sparring during the weekend SKIN TONE: brown TATTOOS: none PIERCINGS: none MARKS/SCARS: none NOTABLE FEATURES: three-day beard on account of forgetting to shave USUAL EXPRESSION: concentrated or dreamlike CLOTHING STYLE: loose clothing, soft fabric. JEWELRY: two rings on their right hand ALLERGIES: incense

++ PSYCHOLOGY

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral ELEMENT: earth MENTAL CONDITIONS/DISORDERS: Dyslexia, slight ADHD SOCIABILITY: normal EMOTIONAL STABILITY: average, let’s not talk about it. OBSESSION(S): code COMPULSION(S): gambling, drinking coffee and forgetting coffee, hyper-focus PHOBIA(S): fear of people being Islamphobic ADDICTION(S): caffeine DRUG USE: none ALCOHOL USE: none PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: no

++ MANNERISMS

SPEECH STYLE: quick, active, excited ACCENT: London British QUIRKS: licks teeth, uses swear words HOBBIES: coding, walking, jogging, drinking coffee, is Starbucks a hobby? HABITS: forgetting to sleep, running from place to place NERVOUS TICKS: tapping feet, sighing a lot DRIVES/MOTIVATIONS: meeting their mom, finishing their education FEARS: fear of being neglected or ignored SENSE OF HUMOR: yes, mostly dark British humor. DO THEY CURSE OFTEN?: a lot, though they use ‘bleedin’’ and several other more British less terrible words. CATCHPHRASE(S): “must be my lucky day” “I was born lucky”

++ FAVORITES

ACTIVITY: walking/hiking in the forest ANIMAL: raven BEVERAGE: coffee BOOK: Thief Lord by Cassandra Clarke CELEBRITY: Tom Hanks COLOR: Green DESIGNER: ?? FOOD: Sharma FLOWER: Lotus GEM: Emerald HOLIDAY: Eid al-Fitr MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: Bike MOVIE: The Internship MUSICAL ARTIST: Sigur Ros QUOTE/SAYING: “No person knows what he will earn tomorrow” SCENERY: forests SCENT: freshly grinded coffee SPORT: soccer SPORTS TEAM: Manchester united TELEVISION SHOW: I, Robot WEATHER: overcast and drizzly VACATION DESTINATION: -

++ ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: to create their own algorithm that can help people choose what they want the most GREATEST FEAR: being targeted or discriminated based on their religion MOST AT EASE WHEN: at home, in their bed, with coffee, coding, or hiking in the forest, or at a mosque praying LEAST AT EASE WHEN: in a crowded place, discussing religion WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN: being killed before finishing their degree BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: getting a scholarship on luck alone BIGGEST REGRET: never having known their father MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: grabbing a girl by her boobs in a hug from behind by accident BIGGEST SECRET: sometimes wishes they weren’t born a Demi-god. TOP PRIORITIES: finishing their thesis

#about

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mechloe-blog-da · 3 years

Text

A short extract from a novel in progress. (I apologise for the grammar)

2020, Harrogate, England

“Hey, look what I found”

My peaceful sunbathing is interrupted by a shadow blocking the warm sun from my face. I opened my eyes to find my brother Archie standing over me with something tightly gripped in his fist.

“I found it in the pond. It looks expensive, I think it’s real gold”

He then started dangling a pocket watch over my head, the sun reflecting off the shiny trinket and straight into my eyes.

I let out a frustrated groan and sat up on my elbows, the prickly grass scratching my arms.

On a hot Saturday morning, Archie and I decided to sunbathe in the garden behind our house. Archie got bored after 5 minutes and decided to swim in the pond planted in the middle of the garden. That pond was commissioned by my dad for my mother when they first moved in to this house. He thought the huge back garden needed something to fill up the space.

I suggested that it was a bad idea but my brother has never been a person to follow wise suggestions or use his brain.

“Is it seriously not possible to have just 5 minutes to myself ”

I snatched the watch from his hand and tossed it back into the water. Not interested in knowing what his reaction is, I hauled myself up from the ground and retreated into the house.

It felt good to walk into the air-conditioned house, away from the scolding heat of the sun. My family is lucky enough to afford air conditioning, or should I say rich enough. Finding a house in England with air conditioning is extremely hard to come by, especially since the UK is not known for it’s hot weather.

I found my mother sitting on the breakfast bar in the middle of the kitchen. Her hand wrapped around a cup of tea and a newspaper is in the other hand. Her hair is a light blonde with loose curls, much like my hair except mine is natural and her curls are the result of heated rollers.

I study her face and notice the dark bags under her eyes that are being ineffectively hidden by concealer.

I sat myself on the bar stool beside her.

“Are you still working late? You shouldn’t do that. You need your sleep” I said.

She looked up from her newspaper and gave me a jaded smile.

“You’re the one who needs sleep. Studying medicine is not easy. And it’s not going to get any easier if you’re tired all the time”

I want to tell her that her health is much more important to me than my medical degree, but I decide to let her have her ‘good parenting moment’ since she rarely gets to have one those. Both my parents work at their own company office most of the week so spending time with us is a privilege they only get on the weekends. They do respectable work as lawyers for a firm, but the larger part of their wealth derive from their rich forebears. It is tradition to entrust that money to the next offspring in the family.

“I’m not tired, I’m fine.” I said.

She chuckled softly and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“It’s so endearing that you care about me but trust me when I say I’m completely fine. Making sure you pass your exams are my top priority. Speaking of which, how well are you doing?”

“Well, you were not wrong about how difficult it is. I always thought it would come natural to me since I’ve been obsessed with biology and the human body for most of my life, but I’m not too sure about it anymore.” A tired sigh escaped my mouth as I close my eyes and rest my head on my palm. I feel my mothers soft hand gently stroke my forearm.

“You are the smartest women I know honey. Everybody knows you will pass those exams marvellously. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”

I can feel a small lump form in my throat as she speaks. The praise my mother is giving me should make me feel grateful ,but it only me makes me nervous. As of now, everyone I know assumes I will do extremely well and eventually become a doctor. My expectations are not so guaranteed.

“Hey mum, look what I found!” My mum and I both turn our to the sliding door that leads to the back garden. Archie is standing in the kitchen. His hair and clothes are dripping wet causing a shallow puddle of water to form around his feet.

“What the hell have you been doing!” Mum springs into action immediately.

“Cathy, come here quickly!” She calls to Cathy our housekeeper. She is a stout old woman with streaks of grey in her brown, lifeless hair. She almost looks lifeless with her hollow, tired eyes but that doesn’t mean that she is not always at the ready to clean up any little spill we make.

She comes scuttling in from seemingly nowhere with a mop in her hand and elbows Archie out of the way.

“I had to jump in the pond because someone had thrown my watch in there” Archie said.

“You jumped in that pond for a stupid watch? How injudicious of you.” I spat back at him and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Injudicious? Who are you trying to impress with those “big words” This isn’t one of your fancy college classes you know. There isn’t any professors here to grade you.” He glared at me but there was a look of amusement in his eyes.

“Can both of you take your petty argument somewhere else please. Cathy has enough to deal with already.”

I let out a barely audible scoff and marched out the kitchen. Archie followed close behind, almost tripping on my heel. He followed me all the way to my bedroom until we got to the door.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me around all day?”

“What can be more fun than annoying you?” He winks and I shove his shoulder.

Archie is such a facetious person and because of that, I can never stay angry for long. A brother and sister relationship is often thought of as turbulent and emotional, however, our relationship is more stable and joyful than anything. Once and a while we have our petty arguments only to forgive and forget rather quickly.

“Can I show you my watch now or are you just going to throw it away again?” He said, dangling the watch in front of my face.

“What’s so great about an old watch?”

“Are you serious? It could be an old family heirloom or something.” He replied enthusiastically.

“What would an old family heirloom be doing in the bottom of that pond? Dad hired someone to build that just before we were born. Surely if it was that important, they wouldn’t of just thrown it in there.”

“Ok maybe it’s not an heirloom ,but it must have been thrown in there for a reason. Would you please just have a look at it” He said.

I sighed and took the watch from his hand.

The golden pocket watch glittered as I held it in lamplight. Its aluminium hands were frozen in place, pointing at half past twelve. I flipped it over and saw a name was engraved in cursive writing.

S.M.Parker

“There’s a name engraved on the back” I turned to Archie and placed the watch in his hand.

“S.M.Parker? I’ve never heard of that name.” He said and I hummed in agreement.

“Me neither. It must a relative or an ancestor.”

I took the watch from his hand and inspected it again. There was nothing else out of ordinary about it but for some reason, I was determined to find something. I searched through the names I knew in my head but S.M.Parker didn’t ring any bells.

“We should go to bed, we will ask mum about it in the morning” said Archie as he started towards the door and headed back to his bedroom. I watched him leave and placed the watch onto my bedside table. Grabbing the book that was also on the table, I plopped down on the bed and opened it. It was my one favourite books I always read before bed: Wuthering heights. You must think it’s very strange for 19 year old girl to be slightly obsessed with everything to do with the 19th century, however my interests have never been considered normal.

The history, fashion and politics were also very interesting in my opinion.

A lot of people, especially my brother, find the way I talk very amusing. The students, who I go to college with, also tend to snicker and ridicule me when they hear my voice.

Reading two books a month has extended my vocabulary and improved my knowledge tremendously well. Even though I feel quite proud of my intelligence, I can’t help but feel somewhat dejected and withdrawn.

After five or so minutes of reading, I began to nod off. I closed my book and settled it in its original place on my bedside table. I admired the gold pocket watch next to my book as I proceeded to rest my head on my pillow.

When my eyes began to feel heavy, I continued to stare at the watch as I imagined what it would be like to live in 1865.

The peaceful silence in the bedroom did not last for long. A low humming sound started to emanate from the pocket watch. As the sound increases, the watch begins to jolt and tremor violently. Suddenly, a glaring white light emits and fills the room.

My pleasant sleep was rudely interrupted by a tedious tugging at my hair. My hands tried to bat away the obtrusive attacker. I continued to thrash my hands around aimlessly, until my nose picks up a very putrid scent that smelt specifically like cow dung. I wonder, what would a horrific smell like that be doing in my typically pleasant smelling room? My eyes flutter as they adjust to the light. Wait a minute, it’s light already? It feels like I barely slept 5 minutes. My eyes spring open and I sit up with a jolt. My head spins from the sudden movement and I attempt to take in my surroundings. I’m sitting in, what looks like a grass field dotted with cows, harmoniously chewing grass. My brain struggled to process what was going on. Only a few seconds ago I was asleep in my room, now I’m in a field I am completely unfamiliar with. What the hell happened?

“Lizzie, Your breakfast is ready! What are you doing in that grass you silly-“ A voice called from behind the girl, followed by a loud gasp. My eyes peered over the girls shoulder and saw a stout old women with her grey hair wrapped up in a white bonnet. She was wearing a filthy kitchen apron and a grey woollen dress.

Her shocked expression quickly turned into anger as she darted towards the girl, seized her elbow and pulled her up quite aggressively.

“You are trespassing on private land! So I suggest you sling your hook before I have the coppers ‘round here”

I senselessly gawked at the old woman as my brain attempted to make sense of this absurd situation. Why is the old women shouting at me? Why do I not recognise this place? Where the fuck is my brother? As if on cue I heard a slurred voice that sounded very much like Archie.

“Hey lady, can you shut the fuck up, I’m trying to sleep!”

I turned my head to search in the direction the voice came from. My eyes landed on my brother lying in the grass behind me. His legs are curled up to his chest and his eyes were half closed.

Before I could react, the old woman marched over to Archie with her walking stick in her hand and started beating his head with it.

“You better give me a good reason you two scroungers are sleeping on my lawn before the bobbies get here! Do you understand boy?” She continues to beat him as Archie howls and attempts to fan the stick away.

The sound of my brother wailing causes my protective sister instincts to kick in and I quickly rush to my feet.

“Hey, get away from my brother you old bat. What makes you think you have the right to beat him like that. We have no idea how we got here either and hitting us isn’t going to help.”

Her cane freezes in mid-air and she turns to look at me.

“You don’t know how you got here? Are you simple?” She asks.

“No of course I’m not simple. I’m just as confused as you are. One minute we were sleeping in bed and the next we wake up in this field with no memory of how we got here. And speaking of which, where is here?”

She sighs and lowers her cane before walking towards the little girl who I’d forgotten was stood there. Archie scoffs and hauls himself up from the ground while rubbing the spot on his head previously assaulted with the cane.

“Why the hell was that old woman hitting me with a stick? And why does she look like a extra on ‘Little house on the prairie’? Where the fuck are we?”

“You are in a place I call my home so you better watch your tongue, boy...You are in Hereford.” She said.

“Hereford? But, we live in Harrogate.” I racked my brain trying to find a plausible explanation as to why we are so far away from home, and why I don’t remember anything. There is no possible way we could have walked all the way to Hereford. Maybe we were kidnapped in the night or maybe we were sleeping walking and got on a bus or train. Archie and I were both sleepwalking last night? No. Absolutely not. That makes no sense. Mum would have woken us up or noticed we were gone.

“Archie, what about mum? Surely she is worried sick by now. We need to call her and tell her we are all right. Do you have a mobile?” I turned to the old woman who is still standing there looking very disgruntled.

“A mobile? Never heard of it.” She replied, her brows furrowing.

“Oh, come on. Surely you’re not that old. You must have a mobile or at least a landline.” Archie said still rubbing his head and dusting the grass off his trousers.

“Did you two knock your heads or something? You’re talking nonsense. Since you two seem quite disoriented, why don’t we walk over to my house and sit down. I’ll put the kettle on the stove and we’ll talk over a cuppa tea.

(If you found any grammar mistakes please reply and let me know)

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parkersfm · 4 years

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[ charles melton, cis male, twenty-six ] did you see RILEY PARKER? looking as broke as ever. rumor has it HE is usually -CHOLERIC and -REFRACTORY but is also known to be +INDIVIDUALISTIC and +BOLD. we’ll see about that. they kind of remind me of BAND TEES STAINED WITH MOTOR OIL, GREASY DINER FOOD AT THREE IN THE MORNING, SPITTING BLOOD INTO THE BATHROOM SINK AT AN UNDERGROUND PUNK CLUB. maybe because they’re an AQUARIUS. they’ve been living around here for TWO YEARS. i wonder when they’ll make it out… [ sam, 23, she/her, est ]

it is i, sam, here with the emo cousin who was born rich, but isn’t anymore. details are under the cut and feel free to message me if you would like to plot!

STATS

FULL NAME: riley ignatius parker-worthington

NICKNAMES: literally everyone calls him parker and most people don’t even know that it isn’t his first name.

GENDER + PRONOUNS: cis male + he / him

DOB + AGE: january 31st, 1994 + twenty - six

ZODIAC: aquarius

HOMETOWN: alderley edge, cheshire, uk

OCCUPATION: auto mechanic

FUN FACTS: he has a tongue piercing + has a pet rottweiler puppy named heroin bob.

HISTORY

riley ignatius parker - worthington was born and raised in alderley edge, a small and affluent village in england’s northwestern county of cheshire. he’s the youngest of four boys, so he has three older brothers.

his family, the parker - worthingtons, are one of the richest in not only the uk or england, but the entire northern hemisphere. throughout a history that spans over 150 years, the family business which began as a small architectural firm expanded its reach to areas such as real estate, banking, oil, and mechanical engineering and is worth approximately 60 billion usd.

he was under constant guard at worthington manor, but not by his parents. raised by nannies and educated by private tutors, he went through most of his childhood prohibited from leaving the property and training to one day occupy a prestigious spot in the family company.

it was a very sheltered life and he rebelled against it from the start. being the unplanned child ( along with his twin brother ), his parents went through the motions of hiring private tutors and grooming him to be a successful businessman, but he was still quite young when he figured it out : they didn’t really care. their eldest sons were already the heirs, primed and eager to carry on their legacy of wealth and power. their youngest sons were simply the spares, and they were treated as such all their lives.

he began acting out the moment he realized it, refusing to participate in a game that would always be rigged against him. his parents viewed him as a problem? fine. he could be a problem.

he was kicked out boarding school ( several times ), he got a sketchy back alley tattoo, he was failing every single one of his classes, and the only thing he showed any real interest in was music. he had been taking piano lessons since before he could even reach the pedals and had a natural talent for it. his instructor ( the only adult he ever really liked ) actually believed that he could become an accomplished classical concert pianist, and he wasn’t necessarily uninterested in that path...until he discovered punk music at the age of sixteen.

he was seventeen and attending boarding school in switzerland when he snuck off campus one night and never came back. he went to seattle, los angeles, new york city, houston, miami, and several much smaller dots on the map. his parents cut him off when he ran away from home, so with the sleek black card in his wallet suddenly rendered completely useless, he had to learn how to fend for himself and he did. he worked several odd jobs in order to pay for courses in auto mechanics, he bought a motorcycle, and he learned how to how to cook, clean, and take care of basic household issues like leaky faucets and squeaky hinges.

settled in crawford about two years ago on a whim. he works as an auto mechanic at a local shop, but he also does some freelance handyman stuff on the side and even makes some money from paid gigs with his band every once in a while.

PERSONALITY

has this very intentional standoffish, stoic, don’t fuck with me vibe, but...he’ll also hold the door open for a total stranger and help an old lady cross the street.

guarded. his bandmates wc wink wink are probably his closest friends and two of the very few people he would admit to caring for. his parents never said the words i love you to him. no, not even once.

will say exactly what he’s thinking. he doesn’t coddle anyone and he won’t lie to spare anyone’s feelings either. if someone fucked up, then he’s going to tell them so, but it’s usually out of an honest desire to help rather than rubbing someone’s mistake in their face.

stubbornly independent. would rather struggle in silence than ask for help.

never under any circumstances will he talk about his family, especially his parents.

EXTRAS

has the thickest, most posh british accent.

pretends like his favorite beverage is jack daniels whiskey when it’s actually the quintessential british cup of tea ( he doesn’t even drink coffee because he doesn’t like it ).

fluent in english and korean ( although he’s really rusty ) & knows some german.

he literally never watched movies or television growing up so 100% of throwback pop culture references will fly right over his head.

has a pet rottweiler puppy named heroin bob ( harry for short ).

his motorcycle is a norton that he basically built from scratch all by himself so it’s his child and he is very protective.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

his bandmates / roommates * wc on the main seeking bassist!

his messy on / off relationship * wc on the main

cousins ( he’s half korean and half white for reference )

friends

party friends who can only stand each other when drunk

clients ( either at the auto body shop or his freelance handyman work )

former bandmates maybe

ex friends / enemies

these are just a few base ideas and i’m open to brainstorming other things!

#crawford:intro

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gaelstudies-blog · 5 years

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A new university year (or rather, the first university year) is starting for University students all across the UK. As I am going into my third year this Monday, I thought I would share some of my tips and advice.

1. Don’t beat yourself up if other people seem to have it easier

Sometimes it can feel like cliques develop straight away, which if you’re struggling to make friends can make the experience even more isolating. I remember turning up to my first ever class and there was already groups of friends who had bonded well. This made me feel really anxious and hesitant to make friends incase I was intruding on friendship groups. The reality is that you can make friends at any point in the year, and a lot of people don’t limit how many friends they have.

2. Your Freshers friends might not be the people you stay friends with

I know a lot of people who had big groups of friends during Freshers and then not long after classes properly started, these friendship groups no longer existed. These people stuck together because they were scared of being alone, and because they didn’t want to miss out on fun events. Which is completely normal and fine. But it does mean that when people feel more confident in themselves and when they branch out more in classes that they might not want to hang around with you anymore. Plus you’ll often find that conflicting timetables, different campuses, and high workloads can put a strain on even the most genuine of Freshers friendships.

3. Don’t slack off just because other people seem to

There will be a lot of people that simply won’t turn up to a lot (if any) classes, or do any of the readings for seminars or any lecture preparation. And this can make it really tempting to do the same, after all, everyone else is doing it right? But don’t let your grades suffer because you don’t want to stick out. It’s better to be the nerd of the class than make your workload so much harder on yourself. I made the mistake of doing readings before every seminar until a lot of people weren’t doing it, and then I stopped because it felt like there was ‘no point’ to it. But the point is to learn, and that preparation could’ve made exams and assignments a lot easier for me.

4. Reach out for help - be that mental or academic

As scary as it can be, reaching out for help at university is so crucial. Don’t understand an assignment? Your lecturer will have contact hours and will likely be pretty responsive via emails. You’ll also have a personal tutor that you can flag up issues with. Struggling with mental health issues? Be sure to let your university know so they can put support in place. Your university will have that support available, but sometimes it might not be so well advertised, so be sure to have a look at your university website and ask your lecturers for help. Your university lecturers want you to succeed, and they’ll be really happy to put in the extra support you need to boost your grades.

5. Take first year seriously

For a lot of university students, first year won’t count towards their end grade. Which is why they’re often told to be laid back and just have fun. And whilst not overdoing yourself and having fun is essential, so is putting in the work. Use this year to experiment with different study techniques, use this year to experiment with how you dedicate your time to studying. This way you can really see what works for you and what doesn’t, without you having to worry so much that a mistake can mess up your grade. A lot of people will find that their old study techniques don’t work for them quite so well now that they’re at a higher level and potentially tacking topics in a different way. Instead of desperately trying to make ineffective techniques work, branch out and learn new ones.

6. Don’t overdo yourself with non-course related commitments

A lot of people will stress the importance of getting involved in societies, trying to build up volunteering experience, as well as having a social life. And again, yes this is important, but it can come at a cost. You might find that this can be really draining for you, leading to mental health complications. You might find that this gives you a lot less time to study which impacts your grades. Be realistic in your expectations for your social life. You don’t have to have something planned every day, or even most days. Try and ease yourself into it, starting off with 1 or 2 commitments and increasing / decreasing later on depending on how your schedule goes. Try and avoid getting involved in any commitments that you can’t back out of, because this can also have a negative impact on you. Be sure also to not miss any classes because of non-course related social events because often times classes cover 1 topic per class, so it can be really easy to fall behind or miss out.

7. It’s never too late to sort out your studying

If you find yourself later in the year not doing much (or any) studying or preparation for classes, don’t be afraid of taking a step back and sorting out your priorities. It might be harder to get back on track, but it’s important to try and get back into studying. At my university, my first lots of assignments are often November or December, which can be a big gap between when I start and when I get proper work to do. This can mean it’s really easy to end up closer to those times having fallen back on my studying. Instead of letting it overwhelm you, choose to get yourself prepared for your next lecture and do some studying straight after having it. This way you can focus on your upcoming lectures and not neglect them for lectures you’ve missed out on in the past.

8. Look out for lectures and events outside your course you can attend

My university often invites speakers in from places like Buzzfeed, Vice, BBC, etc to give lectures which are open to all students. They also host networking events for different industries. Getting involved with these can be a great way to network, develop career knowledge, and also potentially learn things that can improve your own studies. Sometimes I’ve attended a lecture by a speaker for a course outside mine and they’ve touched on a topic which I then studied up on to apply to a current assignment. I also know people that have gotten work published because they spoke to journalists after their talk who were more than happy to help them gain connections or give them advice. Don’t neglect your own classes for them, but be sure to consider them next time you’re bored and looking for something to do. A lot of these will be free also, so it doesn’t matter too much if you end up not enjoying it.

9. Talk with your lecturers

This is one which is often talked about, but I find that a lot of people talk about it in the wrong way. I really would not recommend meeting up with your lecturers every time they have office hours like some people suggest. Instead, meet up with them for the purpose of answering questions that you’re struggling with. Are you struggling with sources? Are you struggling with formatting or understanding an assignment question? They can be a great source of knowledge. Also look to see what work they have published and actually read up on it. This can be a great opportunity to not only find new sources that are likely relevant to your studies but also discuss it with them so you can have a deeper understanding of it. This can also be a great way to build up a relationship with your lecturer. I’ve had lecturers send me free books or give source recommendations because they’ve been interested in what I’ve had to say in class and would like to give me something back in return.

10. Don’t be afraid to turn down drugs / alcohol

So for a lot of people, Freshers events will have finished. But these opportunities can present themselves again further down the line. Here’s the thing, if people are pressuring you into drinking, smoking, or doing drugs then they’re not your friend. If someone is insistent on you trying drugs or drinking (especially for the first time) then it’s because they want you to embarrass yourself so they can have a laugh. Don’t be afraid of standing up for yourself and saying no and meeting new people who won’t pressure you. You’ll often find that even if you like drinking, sometimes you’ll get invited to nights out when you have a lot of work to do. Again, if they’re your friends then they’ll understand you have other priorities. Yes, it can suck to miss out on things but remember that there’ll be plenty more opportunities to go out and have fun but those hours spent out drinking and being too hungover the next day to study won’t be something you can do over.

11. Get involved with the student union and other university jobs

Your university Student Union is a fantastic resource, where they can help you if you’ve been accused of plagiarism or any other academic misconduct. They will represent you against the university to ensure that you get the best possible outcome. They can also assist you with housing issues, financial issues, and a whole host of other things. Additionally, they will often put on great events and the student union can be a chilled place to hang out. As a university student, you’ll automatically be a member of your student union so be sure to check it out and get to know more about your one. They often provide students with jobs, which are usually extremely flexible to fit your timetable. Additionally, at my university there’s a student ambassador scheme. Where I get paid to help out at open days, visit schools to tell them about university life, and more. I sign up for shifts, so I can tailor it extremely well depending on the time of year and my timetable. Be sure to check out if your university has this or anything similar. As it can be a great way to make money alongside your studies, without having to worry so much about having a boss that wants you to prioritise them instead of your studies. I know a lot of people that have had bosses schedule shifts for when they’ve had classes which can cause a whole host of problems. Because I work as part of the university and as part of the student union, this isn’t an issue for me - so it’s definitely something to look into and consider.

12. Get involved in mentorship schemes or workshops

A lot of universities will have a mentorship scheme in place. Be that, a 2nd or 3rd year student helping a student in the year below to improve their studies or having someone from a particular industry come in and help a student with improving their career development skills. My university puts on a lot of workshops where they will go over your CV and help you improve it, as well as offering tailored workshops for industry particular CVS (e.g. making or improving an engineering CV). They also have workshops where they help students improve their academic writing, or their English (if their native language isn’t English) and many more. I also know that the same is true of a lot of other universities. So be sure to have a look out for these events and put yourself forward for them. Having a mentor can be invaluable for networking, improving study skills, improving grades, or knowing how to get your foot in the door to a particular industry and all sorts. Doing workshops might seem boring, until they help you get in to the job you want or help you know what job it is you want. A lot of them will be free, and they’re definitely worth giving a go. Remember that whilst university life is about your academic success you want to then be able to get a good job at the end of it.

I hope you all have a fantastic first year, and I’m always happy to answer any questions you may have. I’m a third year Global Politics and International Relations student in London, I also transferred courses in my second year. I’m a student ambassador and I’m a worker in the student union. So don’t be afraid to ask me any question, no matter how silly you think it might be.

If you liked what I had to say and/or found it useful in any way, then consider donating to my ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gaelstudies

#university #studyblr #studying #uniblr #studyspo #mine

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1045

surveys by lets-make-surveys 1 - What did you do to celebrate your last birthday? Did you get any decent gifts? Guh I honestly barely want to recognize my birthday this year because 2020 has been a huge waste of my time...but fine, I guess I’m 22. It had been during the peak of the quarantine/pandemic, so we had no choice but to stay home. I just played the Switch all morning, then I think I watched my dad play video games, and then Angela and Hans sent over a box of sushi to our place. Real chill day.

2 - What was the last “random act of kindness” you experienced? It was my first day at the office today and I had to go up and down the stairs several times to bring packages to delivery riders, since I had to send those out to certain people. A member of the maintenance staff in the area was super nice and offered to carry some of the boxes for me, since he saw how much I was struggling with the boxes.

3 - Have you ever “paid it forward” by putting money behind the counter somewhere so the next person can get a free coffee or similar? Not yet. I’d love to be able to do that soon.

4 - What caused the last injury that made you bleed? Was it a serious injury? I was trying to open a bottle of soju last night but the cap just would not budge. Next thing I knew my finger was already bleeding. Never got to drink my soju :(

5 - Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? Are you close to that person at all? One of the delivery riders who took my package earlier. Bless his soul, he was very new to the delivering thing and I think I was his first-ever customer, and he kept asking for my help. I did my best for a while but eventually I had to tell him I genuinely did not know how to answer some of his questions as I wasn’t a driver myself.

6 - What was the last item you received in the mail? Something I had ordered online. It was the gift I’m planning to give my grandma for Christmas.

7 - When was the last time you received flowers? What kind were they? A year ago, I think. It was a single stem of a rose. We were saving up last year hahaha so I had gotten her a single stem as well.

8 - Are you a fan of salted caramel? What about other “odd” combinations like sea salt and chocolate or chilli and chocolate? Ooh, I didn’t know salted caramel was considered odd; it’s a pretty common flavor here and has even gotten more popular in the last few years. I like it as a flavor in desserts, like cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. When it comes to food, I’m generally open-minded and will try any combination that exists at least once; that said, chili and chocolate sound especially intriguing haha. I’ve only ever tried chili ice cream, which was delicious.

9 - Do you enjoy watching bloopers or outtakes from TV shows? If so, which series do you think has the funniest ones? Yes. Bloopers in general are great but it’s best when they come from shows that have a reputation for being more drama-heavy and serious - that said, Breaking Bad bloopers are the fucking best. ‘Bloopers’ from animated movies are hilarious too; they were always made so well too that as a kid, I legit thought the characters were actual actors as it never crossed my mind that animators would take the extra effort and time to make bloopers out of fictional characters and that they had to be real actors in some way lol.

10 - What’s your favourite dessert food? OMG macarons for the win. I’ve been craving them so much. Cheesecake is great too, and also cupcakes.

11 - Do you have any really dangerous wild animals where you live? Have you ever encountered any of them? Nope only stray dogs and cats, and probably some chickens somewhere.

12 - Have you ever dreamed of owning your own shop? What kind of thing would you like to sell? I’ve never dreamed of this; it’s never been a goal of mine and running a business doesn’t sound like my kind of thing.

13 - Are you a twin? If not, would you ever want to be a twin? If you are a twin, do you ever wish you weren’t? No. I’ve never really found myself wishing for it, either.

14 - Do you prefer wearing your hair straight or curly? Maybe just a little wavy. Definitely not in the extreme of either side of the spectrum.

15 - Would you ever want to go and visit the moon? If I had the chance and everything was paid for and stuff, hell yeah. It’d be cool to get to cross out one of my childhood bucket list items.

16 - What was the last hot drink you had? What about cold drink? Or alcoholic drink? My last hot drink was...probably the coffee I asked my mom to make last Friday, but I did wait it out until it was considerably cooler as I didn’t want to drink it hot. My last cold drink is the iced caramel macchiato I ordered tonight and still have with me at the moment. Then for alcoholic drink, I had soju mixed with Yakult about two weeks ago.

17 - Does anything on your body hurt or ache right now? My lower back, unsurprisingly. I also cut my right middle finger trying to open a soju bottle last week, andddd I gained a blister on my right foot today because of the shoes I picked to wear for work.

18 - When was the last time you struggled to get to sleep? Was there was a specific reason for that? I can’t remember exactly when, but it happened within the last week or the last two weeks. Sometimes I just drink too much coffee during the day that it affects how sleepy I’d ultimately feel at night.

19 - What three countries would you most like to visit? Morocco, India, and Thailand.

20 - Who’s your closest friend from another country? How did you come to meet this person? I don’t really have one anymore...I’ve grown apart from my internet friends from different countries a long time ago, and I also don’t tend to keep up friendships with my friends who’ve since migrated from the Philippines to another country. I suppose the one I’m on best terms with is Angel who migrated to Toronto around a decade ago; but I use ‘best’ very loosely as the most we do is comment on one another’s posts whenever we reach like a life accomplishment, like when we graduated college.

21 - When was the last time you had a cold? With everything going on in the news, did you worry that it was COVID? It’s been a while. I can’t remember; it was definitely pre-Covid.

22 - As of today (10th December, 2020) the COVID vaccine is being rolled out in the UK. Are you going to have it once it’s available to you (if it ever is)? A part of me is a little concerned because I know vaccines take years and sometimes even decades to be fully developed, but that doesn’t mean I don’t trust doctors and science. I very much do, of course. It’s just that I’d personally prefer to wait it out first to see if it’ll have any negative effects once rolled out on a massive scale.

23 - What are your favourite websites to browse when you’re bored? Wikipedia black holes are the way to go.

24 - Do you think people should have to pass a test in order to own pets? A local animal welfare NGO already does that; Nina had to go through several tests before she was allowed to adopt Arlee. There was a verbal interview, a written form she had to fill out, and a representative from the organization even visited our house to see if it was a suitable environment for Arlee; I’m sure there was a few more steps she was required to undergo. I certainly think it’s a good and responsible process.

25 - When was the last time you fell asleep/had a nap during the day? Is this something that happens often? It’s been monthssssssssss. I don’t really take naps during the day anymore.

26 - Do you suffer/have you ever suffered with bad acne? What kind of things did you do to try and improve it? I’ve never had issues with acne and was always rather fortunate when it comes to my skin. I’ll have a pimple or two show up once or twice a year, but they go away within a week or so. Since I don’t want to jinx it, I just wash my face with water and I’ve never experimented with any skincare products ever.

27 - When you think about it, do you think it’s odd that we stop drinking human milk at a young age, but we happily drink milk from other species instead? Not really.

28 - How’s the weather where you are? Is this a good or a bad thing for you? These days it’s humid and hot during the day (as always), but now that it’s Christmas season the weather tends to plunge to like 24-26C during nighttime. I’d say the night part is good for me as I prefer being cold than hot, so I’m glad we’ll be having this weather until March at most.

29 - When was the last time you ate a pizza? What toppings did you get? Tuesday. Relatives came over then and my cousin got us pizzas. I don’t remember what toppings he got but both pizzas had stuffed crust in it.

30 - How often do you wear make-up? What kind of make-up do you wear? Wow, almost never. Gab used to put makeup on me but now that she’s gone, I don’t really see myself wearing makeup for the meantime as I definitely wouldn’t apply them onto myself.

1 - If you have caffeine late in the day, does it cause you to struggle with your sleep? Eh, sometimes. Sometimes it’ll do what it’s supposed to and make me stay up for a while, but other times it doesn’t work and I’ll end up getting sleepy the same time I usually start feeling so.

2 - When you struggle to sleep, what do you do instead? Watching videos has eternally worked for me.

3 - Who was the last person you spoke to for the first time? How did you come to speak to this person? Hmm I met my co-workers Ysa and Bea for the first time today, if it counts. I’ve only ever talked to them through Viber since we’re on a WFH set-up, but we had to go to the office today to fix up some boxes that we needed to get delivered. But the last person that I really hadn’t met nor spoken to before was Jhomar, the company messenger who takes care of pickups for the day.

4 - If you have a pet, have they ever embarrassed you in public or in front of friends or family members? What happened? Kimi is typically unfriendly towards strangers, so as cute and cuddly as he looks he would probably bite your finger off. I’ve had to explain that to guests who’ve felt puzzled about his demeanor. He’s my little baby though and I wouldn’t say he’s embarrassed me because of it. Cooper on the other hand is hyper-friendly to the point that he looks aggressive and it has scared some people away; in reality, he’s always SO pumped to meet anyone and everyone and can never contain his excitement haha. He’s literally the nicest dog.

5 - Do you leave the house every single day? I never leave the house, except if it’s to withdraw cash or go to the Starbucks drive through to pick up a coffee.

6 - Would you rather spend the day at the beach, or a day in the snow in the mountains? I would normally pick beach, but I think the mountains would be best for me at the moment.

7 - Do you prefer tops that are plain, or ones with patterns/logos/slogans? Plain.

8 - Are there any TV shows from your childhood that you still watch today? I’ll watch Spongebob every now and then. When I’m bored and have enough time on my hands I’ll sometimes watch other shows from my childhood just for that nostalgia wave, like Barney or Hannah Montana.

9 - How many texts would you say you send on an average day? Used to be hundreds, but now it’s probably like...5, on average. Sometimes I’ll need to text media for work and that’ll come up to around 15-20 texts but that happens only occasionally, like once every two weeks.

10 - Do you enjoy buying gifts for other people, or do you never know what to buy them? I never know what to buy for people. I like buying gifts for a significant other, though. I tend to spoil one to no end.

11 - Girls - if you get periods, do you suffer from period pain or any other horrible symptoms? I get the hormonal symptoms, but the physical symptoms are almost never there. My stomach will usually contract in a way that tells me it’s coming soon, but it never really aches. Most of the time, I just cry and mope a lot and that’s how I know it’s on its way, ha.

12 - The last time you were in a car, where you were travelling to? Were you the driver or a passenger? I was headed back home. but I came from the office. I was the driver as always.

13 - Who were you with the last time you went out for a meal? I took myself out on a date.

14 - What book do you wish they’d make into a film or TV series? The Septimus fucking Heap series, please. They’ve been trying to get it made into a movie series for years but as far as I know the talks have always fallen through.

15 - The age old question - do you prefer coke or pepsi? That’s a big ‘or’ for me. I don’t drink soda.

16 - What’s the last thing you watched on TV? Is this a programme you watch regularly? Bea took over the office TV earlier and she had it set to a BTS + Taylor Swift music video playlist so that we had background music while working. No, neither are my artists of choice, really.

17 - Do you have a favourite documentary subject (eg. nature, celebrities, history, crime)? Pro wrestling (a seriously underrated documentary subject) and crime. Documentaries on anthropological issues or discoveries are great as well. I do love history, but I prefer to absorb it in text/museum form.

18 - Do you prefer sweet or savoury snacks? What snack would you say is your overall favourite? Savoryyy. I get tired of sweet snacks pretty quickly. My current favorites to munch on are any salted egg flavored chips.

19 - Does having to wear a mask stop you from doing anything, just because you dislike them or find them uncomfortable? It can be harder to breathe and I get exhausted a lot faster with a mask on, but I keep it on because I would want to keep other people safe and because it’s so easy to keep a damn mask on.

20 - Do you prefer zip-up or overheard hoodies? Either is fine.

21 - If you have a yard or garden, how much time do you spend out there? I prefer the rooftop, and if I do go there I usually stay for a few hours during the evening just to have some time to myself. Being in a house with four adults can get pretty overwhelming and taxing sometimes.

22 - When was the last time someone bought you flowers? What was the occasion? I think it was for Valentine’s Day last year. If not, it was for the anniversary which was a week after Valentine’s Day.

23 - How often do you get takeaway? What’s your favourite thing to order? I don’t really do takeout. I usually dine-in or have food delivered to my place.

24 - Do you own a lot of clothing items in your favourite colour? What is your favourite colour, anyway? I don’t have a lot of clothes in pink. It’s not my best color, but I like it in everything else hahaha.

25 - When was the last time you stayed overnight away from home? Was this with friends, family or in a hotel somewhere? What was the occasion? Idk probably a sleepover at Gab’s place early this year.

26 - Would you ever be interested in seeing a live magic show? Sure. Magic shows are already a staple at kids’ birthday parties here, and I’ve always enjoyed them especially since magicians are quite the comedians too.

27 - What’s your favourite period to learn about in history? What got you interested in this particular era? I don’t have a favorite period per se but I’ve always had an affinity for the royalty. I like reading all about them, no matter what period they reigned or what house/country they’re from. Historians have kept impressive and super detailed accounts or records for most of them, so reading about their lives has also allowed me to learn more about the culture they lived through.

28 - Do you still use or carry cash, or do you pay for everything via card? I heavily rely on cash and I actually realized how behind I am just today, when Bea ordered lunch for the office. I paid her with cash and she looked at me all puzzled and was like, “Can you do bank transfer instead?” another big girl stuff I had to learn lol. Everyone in college used cash pls forgive me

29 - Are there any TV shows that remind you of your grandparents for some reason? Not really.

30 - Have you ever had to wear a tie for school or work? If not, do you know how to tie a tie without looking it up? I had a necktie as part of my uniform in my old school. I never knew how to tie it and always asked someone else to do it for me whenever it came loose.

#survey #surveys #multiple surveys

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flve-hargreeves · 4 years

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( chris wood, 28, he/him ) class is in session for ANSEM WARBECK. their resume says they’re a WITCH and they’ve been teaching MENTAL MAGIC at the academy for THREE YEARS. the psychological report says they are LETHARGIC and CONTEMPTUOUS, but they’re also IRONWILLED and COMPASSIONATE. we wish them good luck in the new school year.

— * | ansem warbeck is the oldest child of ragnor and celena warbeck. he has a twin brother named arson and while they are identical, they couldn’t be more different. both ragnor and celena are influential members of the magical community and always prided themselves on having a stellar reputation. stellar isn’t quite so stellar though; they are morally gray. they never get into dark magic themselves, but their family has profited heavily from it over the years. ( think … war profiteers, i guess. they never get their hands dirty but they have plenty of blood money ). arson is the dutiful son, the good son, and ansem’s always been the disappointment who couldn’t live up to their expectations. ( the michael bluth )

ansem was never good at doing what he was told and rebelled against the behaviours his parents tried to ingrain in him. he never listened, always liked to do his own thing, and never bought into the whole ‘pureblood supremacy’ thing that they tried to drill into his head. so what if they came from an old witch family? la creme de la crop? magic was magic. he figured if you could do it, you were just as good as anyone else. ( his family disagreed. ) he started at arcanas when he was eleven, like his descendants before him, and was a member of house aquis.

personality wise, ansem is sharp, sarcastic, and doesn’t have a high tolerance for people. the list of people he dislikes is longer than those he likes. he likes to have a good laugh ( sometimes at the expense of others ) and isn’t one to take on responsibility. ironic, given he’s now teaching at the school he used to go to. for someone as intelligent as he is, he does the least amount of work possible and does well but never really exceeds his own expectations. he’s incredibly lazy and can usually be found snacking or napping around the school.

shortly after graduation he worked as a for hire curse breaker. if there was a hex you couldn’t undo, or a curse on your family name, he was the guy you called to fix it. he was good too. it was only after a curse backfired and nearly killed him that he got scared and backed out of it. the fear was greater than the love he had. arcanas was safe, a reminder of good days (and far far away from his family) so he was happy to ya yeet out of the real world. less than a year after graduation, he was enrolled at a magical college and eventually became a mental magic teacher.

another point of irony, given how much he claims to hate people, is the story of how a twenty/twenty one year old mess accidentally adopted an eleven year old. it was an assignment from one of the teachers or housemasters, a mentorship program between tenth and first years. he was assigned jade brantley and at first ? oh boy did he hate her. or rather, the responsibility he felt towards her. it became pretty evident the more he got to know her that they were put together for a reason. her family had sent her to arcanas without so much as a second look and couldn’t have cared less if they ever saw her again. she stayed behind at the school for christmas, as did he to avoid tense family dinners with the warbecks, and that was when their mentorship started to become more like family.

by the end of the year, he looked at her like — his kid, if he was being honest. it was kind of terrifying, wanting to protect another person from the realities of their life, but he knew it was the right decision to make. it helped that his partner agreed; they’d come to care about jade in those months too, and they both knew it was the right call. he contacted her parents, assumed temporary guardianship, and she moved in with them that summer after they graduated. ( the individual that set all of this up, the cheeky bastard, sent them a potted plant as a housewarming gift. a plant that would have needed to have been potted SIX MONTHS EARLIER. he’d be mad about getting played if he wasn’t so happy. )

they formally adopted jade a few years later. they were already family in everything but blood and name — it was simply a formality. the three of them — four, if you counted jessica the cat ( famously known for stepping on faces ) — had been more of a family than any of his blood relatives had ever been. he’s never regretted his choices.

that being said, things weren’t always happy. he and his partner fought a lot, sometimes over nothing and couldn’t remember why they ever loved each other in the first place. but this isn't a story about vindictive exes, it's about two people that do love each other, probably always will, but just didn't love being together anymore. they're excellent co-parents to their adopted daughter and they're working their way back to being best friends even though it's a little awkward. they split up roughly three years ago, shortly after ansem started teaching at arcanas.

he was a bit of a mess that first year, i won’t lie. he probably drank too much, smoked like a chimney, and was trying to remember how to be a person instead of 1/2 of a couple. he’d been with his partner almost his entire life, it was a process — discovering himself again. he eventually started seeing jude montague ( who, ironically, he’d always had a schoolboy crush on when he was a student ) who also taught at the school. one thing led to another and they’ve recently taken things to the next level: they got married. ansem’s still a little terrified this one is going to go belly up too, that he’s going to mess things up, but they’re still in the newlywed phase so he’s not quite as pessimistic on their outlook. it also helps that his family hates jude: 1. he’s much older, even without the whole phoenix thing, 2. he’s not a pureblood witch who comes from a good family name, and 3. he’s a man. yeah, celena warbeck was not happy and threatened to cut him off. she didn’t, of course, but his father hasn’t spoken a single word to him ever since they got married. it’s a game now, trying to see if he can say or do something to make him break. so far, he hasn’t won.

when he’s not staying at arcanas, watching over his water demons, he’s at his house nearby. now that he’s married jude, however, the clan ( bc ansem doesn’t go anywhere without jade, jessica, and by extension kit ) will be moving into his definitely-haunted house nearby. it’s an old victorian, fits jude’s goth boy aesthetic perfectly, and tbh as long as it has decent wifi and an espresso machine? he’ll be fine.

he’s been teaching mental magic at arcanas academy for three years, so connections can be assumed with other staff members and students !! he’s also been the housemaster for aquis, who he refers to as his water demons, so that’s opportunities for connections too! ( there’s also a 99% chance he calls all of his students by pokemon names. sorry not sorry. ) he’s your typical panic first, think logically later, type person, so if he heard about the orb being stolen he’d fear for their inevitable demise. y’know, chaotic and assuming the worst case scenario from the get go.

so that’s basically him in essence. see some quick stats below for more tidbits.

— * | BASICS !

NAME: — ansem ragnorius warbeck.

NICKNAME(S): — ansem.

PRONOUNS: —he/him.

AGE/DOB: — twenty seven / july 25th. ( he’s almost 28, so don’t @ me )

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: — pansexual.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: — panromantic.

ETHNICITY: — caucasian.

NATIONALITY: — british.

HOMETOWN: — manchester, uk.

EDUCATION: — he previously attended arcanas, aquis house. four years @ a magical college near aurora / arcanas school.

— * | PERSONALITY !

STAR SIGN: — leo.

PERSONALITY TYPE: — ESTP.

ALIGNMENT: — chaotic neutral.

PHOBIA(S): — enclosed spaces, clowns, snakes.

VICE(S): — cynicism, impatience, vindictiveness, spitefulness.

VIRTUE(S): — accountability, candor, realism, honesty, loyalty.

— * | RELATIONS !

PARENT(S): — ragnor and celena warbeck.

SIBLING(S): — arson warbeck ( twin brother. )

SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): — married.

— * | PHYSICAL !

FACECLAIM: — chris wood.

HEIGHT: — 6'0.

WEIGHT: — 71kg.

EYE COLOR: — brown.

HAIR COLOR: — brown.

GLASSES/CONTACTS: — n/a.

TATTOOS: — n/a.

PIERCINGS: — n/a.

SCARS: — jagged scar across his collarbone.

— * | MEDICAL !

ALLERGIES: — shellfish.

SMOKING/ALCOHOL/DRUGS: — former smoker. he hasn’t had a cigarette in approx. 112 days. he drinks more than he should. no drug use.

DIAGNOSES: — n/a.

BLOOD TYPE: — universal donor.

***

AESTHETICS:

NEATLY TRIMMED BEARD, LAZY SMIRKS, SARCASTIC QUIPS. THE MICHAEL BLUTH. REAL LIFE NATHAN DRAKE. BLEEDS COFFEE NOT BLOOD. UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH TEEN MAGAZINE QUIZZES.

CONNECTIONS

students with an aptitude for mental magic that he provides additional / advanced work for to challenge them. (2/2) dominic masters & rome hawks.

students who need extra help in one or more of the aspects of his curriculum. this would include after hours help, extra assignments, or one on one attention if they were struggling with concepts (1/4): ella bloom.

students that give him a hard time in class for one reason or another. could be people who sleep in class, talk back, distract others, etc. (1/??): morgan stife.

the unholy trinity: fellow teachers who like to get together and be chaotic, shittalk their students, and forget they’re not seventeen anymore bc they’re fucking idiots who like to troll (2/2): maximus & reserved

fellow teachers who like to get together and drink wine after stressful days, or just when they feel like it tbh. (1/????) maxwell gray.

a rival/enemy from when he was @ arcanas who now also works at arcanas. he can’t remember why they don’t like each other but he’s dedicated to the feud. it’s petty, he knows, but he sucks at admitting he’s wrong. (0/1)

ex-wife. see wanted connections. (0/1)

childhood friend. fellow witches who would have hung around people who were haughty and thought they were better than everyone else. ansem’s parents thought they were hot shit so maybe their parents felt the same. they both rebelled against what their parents wanted for them and it bonded them. (0/1)

partner in crime. (28 years old) this person was very different from ansem. different species, a little more serious, the kind of person you wouldn’t expect to be friends with him. they’re probably the only reason ansem even passed his exams, forced to study, and he forced this friend to actually have fun and live a little. they’re still close but maybe fell out of touch over the years. this person would be new to arcanas as a staff member, or teacher, but would be an alumnus preferably from house aquis but could be any.

others to be added when it isn’t 2am and my brains fried.

#arcanas:intro

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japanessie · 4 years

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MY FIRST STORY & Saitama Super Arena capacity

I received this question on Twitter regarding the attendance at MFS TamaAri Tour Final. I think it would be interesting to share with my readers especially for those who might aspire to enter the showbiz.

Disclaimer: Answers were based on my personal observations as a longtime music fan. Also, I used ONE OK ROCK as a comparison because that's what my readers are familiar with. Peace everyone 😊

Question:

So I just read that MFS TamaAri was 18000 tickets? Normally I know the venue has a much larger capacity, so why is that? Are they taking it safely? And do you know what’s more important to secure bigger venues? Is it to sold out or the number of tickets you had there? Just trying to understand if this was necessary to get to Tokyo Dome. It just kinda makes me sad because they deserve so much!

I always just assumed that it’s 37000, didn’t know there was two modes, any idea on what’s the difference and why they went with arena mode instead of stadium.

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MFS held an “arena" tour NOT “stadium" tour

First of all, from the start, MFS had declared their Kobe World Hall & Saitama Super Arena dates as “ARENA Tour". They never said “stadium". So, it only made sense that they booked Saitama Super Arena in its arena mode.

Based on MFS' proposed seating plan, they were honest from the start that they were NOT aiming for >30000 capacity. Just look at how small the space they allocated for standing spectators. The rest were all seated. They were pretty realistic about their crowd attracting capability & current limitations. They knew they were not OOR who could easily dedicate the entire floor area for standing spectators.

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Saitama Super Arena was designed to be mechanically multi-sized to suit multiple purposes

Look at the “Stadium vs Arena” diagrams from the venue's official website.

Saitama Super Arena does have TWO modes i.e "stadium" and "arena". It is a multi-purpose venue which means it can be used for concerts, sports events, exhibitions, death memorials (if you want) etc. Thus, to serve the different functions, it was designed in such a manner.

What is meant with max capacity of 37000 pax is the entire fixed seats taken up PLUS the maximum additional seating that the floor area can take, which is more suited for sports events where a smaller space for the athletes/performers is needed e.g. boxing, wrestling etc. For sports such as soccer or baseball, the floor area obviously will not be used for seatings.

Stadium vs Arena configuration

Stadium = the full length space with seats all around facing the centre.

Arena = the space is partially blocked off reducing the seats & floor area.

Stadium Mode

Let's look at a typical concert stage end side configuration.

1. A chunk of the space is already taken up by the stage. Meaning the seated area behind the stage is already unusable for the spectators. Then, some artists have a runway or even multiple runways extending into the floor area. To my eyes, at least 1/4 or even 1/3 of the space is already reduced. Then, when you put designated seats on the arena floor, the number of people will be reduced even more because chairs take up more floor space per person than a free-standing area.

Arena Mode

How about centre stage configuration to maximize the viewing?

Here is an example of a centre stage from KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR 2015 at Saitama Super Arena. Even with this configuration and a more packed crowd than MY FIRST STORY, this only packed in 21000 spectators.

http://music.emtg.jp/liveReport/20150806213e27519

For safety reason, you can’t pack in more people than the officially declared maximum capacity

I'm not sure how the Law is in Japan or what legal obligations that the management of Saitama Super Arena needs to comply. However, generally, it concerns evacuating people safely and quickly in the case of fire or any disaster.

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

However, it looked like MFS didn't quite reach the number they were originally aiming for.

Got to be honest, there was a big block of unused seats at the end of the arena. The staff covered it with a huge piece of cloth. There was also some rather generous spaces around the floor seating area. They are not yet at OOR level who can easily attract >30000 crowd. But overall, it was good enough and not disastrous like the Shanghai show (unwise choice of venue that one... sorry my boys).

Photo by Taka Tallman

The difference of the Final outcome compared to the Original plan based on the official photo.

Why was it announced as "Sold Out"?

1. Logistics reason.

They needed to finalize the layout of the seatings and the number of chairs they actually needed. If they kept the ticket sales open to the performance day, it would be difficult for the staff to arrange the overall seated / standing areas. Notice how they often announced on-the-day tickets (toujitsuken) for their free standing Livehouse shows but not for Halls and Arenas. It's easy to squeeze in free standing audience as long as it is safe enough.

2. They very likely had already reached the sales target to cover the cost of the concert.

If you already sold out the quantity you needed to make profits, then it's not a lie to declare it that way. "Yeah, we sold out!". MFS is blessed to be an indie band because the money they earn mainly goes to them. Well, looking at the luxuries MFS members pampered themselves with (a huge rehearsal studio, holidays abroad, head-to-toe designer fashion etc), these guys made A LOT.

Despite playing to smaller crowds and playing less shows per year, MFS members are able to live comfortably at a more leisurely pace. Compare that to the major-label-and-talent-agency-tied OOR who certainly sell more in quantity but is being worked to death by their management with every Tour to make $$$!

3. In showbiz, image is everything.

Notice how once an actor won an Oscar, his publicity promo will always attach the term “Oscar winner (insert name)" with almost every appearance? Because it gives “value" to his name! Even if you only got nominated, being known as “Oscar-nominated actor" elevates your status.

It's the same with music artists. Saying “the band held a Sold-Out show at (insert a place)" gives “value" to your resume. The general public rarely ask the numbers or even question it.

Not only MFS, even OOR plays the same publicity game. For example, their Nagisaen show has always been hailed as attracting >100000 people. What is being downplayed is it was >100000 people over TWO days. Meaning >50000 pax per day and many of them actually went to BOTH days. But still, saying >100000 sounds better and it's not like they're lying. It's technically correct. So MFS saying, “Thank you. We sold out!" is technically true if they had passed their profit threshold. Anything extra is a bonus 😊.

Why still went for such a huge venue even though their fanbase still has not reached that level?

Just a basic management strategy no matter what field you’re in. Once you set a big target, you need to measure your achievement from time to time. They want to do Tokyo Dome. So, they need to see how far they can reach and what to plan to achieve it. With the Nippon Budokan, they knew that they could do 12000 pax. With Makuhari Messe and Yokohama Arena, they knew that 18000 figure was in their hands. With Saitama Super Arena, they very likely wanted to see if they could reach more than 20000. Now that MFS knew 20000 is a figure they need to still work on, they can plan from now what to do next. My prediction, there is a HUGE chance that the Tokyo Dome show would be fully or mostly seated.

What’s more important to secure bigger venues? Is it to be sold out or the number of tickets?

Strictly from the economic point of view, the number of tickets you can sell is more important. You'd want to earn enough to recoup your investment first & foremost. The venues don't care if your event is sold out or not. They just want their money. Being “sold out" is more for the artist's image.

Every artist has their own sales threshold of what they can call “sold out". MFS put limited standing tickets from the start which means they have a lower “sold out" threshold compared to a bigger band like OOR who allocates a lot more standing tickets.

The bigger your name, the higher the stake. I still remember when the late King of Pop Michael Jackson was deemed a failure for selling “only" around 45000 tickets for a stadium concert in the UK back in the late 90s.

So, was MFS playing it safe with Saitama Super Arena?

Nope.

On the contrary, they were daring themselves to take the risk in order to know where they are at. But hey, ANY indie artist in the world would KILL to have 18000 people per night. It’s awesome that MFS could reach that number as an independent band.

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My 2 cents

Why did MFS struggle a bit to fill up Saitama Super Arena?

To me it still boils down to one thing. Their archrival ONE OK ROCK.

This had been the first time ever that MFS was doing a major Tour head to head against OOR. They even had a few clashing dates!

* (Remember that Summer Sonic Tokyo (MFS) vs Osaka (OOR) incident? A small crowd in Tokyo vs a packed crowd in Osaka?）

OOR by Julen Photo

For the most part, getting the majority of their fans from OOR fandom has been a huge blessing for MFS. But we must take note that many of them still keep OOR as their main band and thus, are more likely to spend their money on the OOR Tour instead. Not to mention that OOR ticket & merch prices are higher.

MFS hardcore fans are still way smaller and probably will never top OOR, which is fine to me (seriously, I don’t want MFS to compromise their music like OOR did 😑 ). However, I do believe that the day will come when MFS can attract 30000 crowd in one show but it will take more time for that to happen.

But comparing it to OOR, it wasn’t too bad even though it is still a long way to go :-)

Someday MFS will be able to pack in fully standing crowds on the floor 😃 !

What MFS needs to do?

1. Keep on with their current strategy of reaching out and expanding to fans outside of the OOR crowd. Keep on collaborating, guys!

2. I personally hope that the little darling Hiroki can continue being careful with anything that comes out of his mouth so as not to make another faux pas e.g that misunderstood MC at Summer Sonic (OOR fans accused him of jealousy towards Taka again because of it... oops 🙈), that "kiddy tantrum" at Storyteller Tour Osaka (your warped sense of humour may not necessarily work outside of your band & crew, Hiro 😑). Watching him in the later part of 2019, I do feel Hiro had learned a bit from it all though.

3. Continue strengthening the bond with the existing fans. It’s important to cherish their loyalty. I had talked before about the benefit of keeping your core fans. Thankfully, MFS is doing it right in this area. Bringing awareness to ALS, dedicating their songs to special selected fans and helping in realizing their dreams. After all, support is a two-way street.

4. Connecting with the younger crowd like they did during the ALONE era with the “university tour” might be a good idea too 🤔. I still remember photos of the members walking through the crowd among the stalls at students’ fairs 😃. That was an exciting time 😊

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

So, what do you all think 😃?

#reply #my first story #maifasu #マイファス #one ok rock #oor

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thatdarnblogagain · 4 years

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AEW vs NXT - Why calling it a ‘war’ is wrong?

All Elite Wrestling has come along and to some extent stirred up the stew that is Pro Wrestling. It is a new ingredient to a dish that has brought eyes onto the overall business, which is a good thing if you ask me. However there are those that wish to see the company fail for whatever reason that maybe.

My take on it however is that the company may fail thanks to supporters and detractors alike for one simple reason. Calling the wednesday night time slot AEW and NXT share a ‘war’.

Let me make it clear. AEW in no way has the means to compete with World Wrestling Entertainment. They may not have that for years to come, if the company is allowed to grow. One threat to that is comparing it to WWE or stating that this is a war. Figures in the AEW such as current champion (at the time of this post) Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes have stated they are not looking to compete but only to provide an alternative.

(Chris has put AEW on his shoulders and done amazing! Lil bit of the bubbly!)

Legendary commentator for WWE, NJPW and currently AEW, Jim Ross in an interview even said AEW can not compete with WWE. But it should not have too. AEW took up that wednesday slot due to no other wrestling show being there; WWE RAW is on Mondays and WWE Smackdown has moved from Tuesday’s to Fridays.

So there was never an attempt to compete with WWE on tv from the smaller company mainly because they knew that would be an uphill battle for a new organization such as themselves. WWE however brought their next brand, NXT into this wednesday slot and the so called war was born, thanks to the media and fans labeling it so. Once a passion project by Chief Operating Officer of WWE, Paul Levesque also known as Triple H, NXT now stands toe to toe to AEW for the viewing audience who crave pro wrestling.

However NXT is head and shoulders above AEW in so many aspects it is unfair. Let me explain because I am in no way insulting AEW. NXT has a talented roster and so does AEW but the former has far more stars to pull from thanks to WWE’s large pool of wrestlers across the brands.

(Whatever you want to say about the man, HHH has done wonders with NXT!)

RAW, Smackdown, NXT, NXT UK, Superstars, Main Event, 205 (before being folded into NXT and the other brands) and Evolve to some extent. AEW has...AEW. So if WWE wants to boost ratings they can have cross promotions, with stars invading, leaving or visiting NXT. There are near endless possibilities. AEW has none of that as they seek to get their roster rolling. So if the company struggles with getting stars over they are in far more trouble than WWE.

WWE and AEW have Billionaire backing in the form of Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon and Mr. Sahid Khan but there is a huge difference and it is like Starbucks and McDonalds. Sure McDonalds can make coffee but if that fails they just go on to something else. Starbucks is coffee!

(Laughing internally reading comments of him not knowing what he is doing!)

McMahon has been in this business longer than I have been alive. Wrestling is his business. On the other hand Mr.Khan, a football team owner of the Jaksonville Jaguars, is allowing his son, Mr. Tony Khan to give his passion project a try. Vince can toss all the money and resources he wants at this because, this is where his focus is. The Khans, not so much.

Fans are doing the most damage however in my opinion. Why you ask? Why is there a problem supporting one company and not the other? Simply put because it fosters a false idea of us versus them. It makes us draw lines that should not be there. WWE in my opinion very much wants this because they know they have very little to worry about financially.

(Do I look worried!?!? How are we doing with ticket sales....)

Their network, Raw and Smackdown, PPVs, Ticket sales will ensure that they are fine if NXT underperforms. Even if it does, the ad revenue that NXT is pulling in is added gravy for WWE. Remember NXT was limited to the WWE Network, now it is on television. People are paying to have their ads played during this so it is more revenue to WWE win or lose.

AEW once again has itself. So there is nothing else to fall back on. No other show besides the free, AEW Dark on youtube every tuesday. So everything is really on AEW’s shoulders to perform well or face possible financial collapse that can occur for new companies unfortunately.

It’s like looking at a fleet of tanks versus a group of guerilla fighters who have only bayonets in an open pasture and saying this is a fair fight or a war. It is not. WWE wins everywhere easily and McMahon is far too smart -eccentric yes- to not know this.

A petty but brilliant move on WWE’s part has caused a situation AEW now has to try to comprehend while also seeking to grow. That is weight established companies would fear let alone a new one. We are watching a caterpillar trying to become a butterfly but we are seeing it as a butterfly already.

(Will AEW grow further or sink? Time will tell but I pray it is the former!)

We want that caterpillar to try flying against another butterfly but that is impossible. For now. AEW needs to grow so much more in all its divisions and areas. It is in need of further backing and support. What it needs most of all is time but WWE has made that a race against a clock because with the constant fight for ratings it has brought about, people will be looking to see who comes out on top all of the time.

We as fans have to know this as well and stop calling it a war and call out media outlets or YouTubers for labeling it as such because it will only hurt AEW in the long run. Shut down the pundits who wish to see a company die because it is not ‘real wrestling’ to them and embrace the idea that pro wrestling has numerous outlets and avenues to view matches. AEW is but one trying to do that. Why be roped into picking sides when we can enjoy it all.

#aew #all elite wrestling #Wrestling #pro wrestling #wwe #world wrestling entertainment #ring of honor #jim ross #cody rhodes #kenny omega #mcmahon #khan #chris jericho #le champion #lil bit of the bubbly #not a war

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lovestillaround · 5 years

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Thoughts about Phil’s last video (Draw My Life: Part 2)

So, it’s been two days and I still have trouble processing all the information from Phil’s newest video - that’s why I’m writing my thoughts down, hoping that it will give me more inner peace. Disclaimer: following text includes critique of the video, so if you’re sensitive to that kind of stuff/ not in the mood for hearing my negative opinions, please proceed with caution or stop reading. Love ya <3

So, Phil starts the video saying that he’s aware that we know what’s been mostly going on in his life during the last six years and that he’s gonna share with us all the behind the scenes facts. And that on itself is fine, but oh boy, nothing would prepare me for the amount of negativity that I was going to endure (and no, I’m not talking about the subjects of death and illness). I said it to my friend and I still stand by that opinion - the video was for me more like “20 minutes of complaining about/listing every bad thing that happened in my life” than actual “draw my life”. And well, obviously Phil has the right to reflect on his life in whatever way he wants, but as I was watching the video, I couldn’t help getting more and more frustrated with his lack of awareness, especially regarding the massive privilege that he has and has always had. (Also, I’m not trying to call him out for being rich and being able to afford things that I can’t afford - that’s not at all what this is about, it’s about the attitude and the way he chose to speak about those things).

While I do think that the video was full of lovely and cute moments, I’m going to focus mainly on what I found annoying or upsetting, just to keep it (relatively) short. So, I was talking about how in my opinion the video was filled with negativity. You might ask - where is it, Daria? Or more importantly - why is it bad? The response to the video is (at least from what I saw) overwhelmingly positive. Well, I’ll try to explain how I see it.

The video literally starts with Phil saying that London was (is?) 5x more expensive than Manchester, and that if their career in London didn’t work out, they would have had to move back to their parents. I have enough compassion to understand that it must have been hard for them to feel insecure about their finances (I know this feeling damn too well) - but I also think that people should, idk, be generally aware that their actions have consequences? They took a risk, and it was hard to live in uncertainty - I get that - but people having to live with their parents is a reality for so many people! So many young people don’t even get a chance to start an independent life, for various reasons. And I’m not saying that he doesn’t have the right to talk about his struggles - just for me, in the light of the rest of the video that is played on a similar note, it becomes clear that Phil isn’t aware of how much luck he’s had in life and how he has already started his life from a much better position than - can I say that? - probably the majority of people. So for me, what lacks in the video is, idk, maybe just one instance where he acknowledges his privilege? Or just generally him using a different language while talking about his experience, choosing his words more carefully, but I’ll get to that later.

The negativity continues when Phil talks about how he could not work out how to operate the radio control panel, how it was a bad decision to say yes to everything (although I admit, this one is just Phil acknowledging sth that he has learned over the years, which isn’t really negative but let’s still keep it on the list of bad things), anxiety, lack of sleep, stress, juggling responsibilities, people that they used to work with getting more from dnp than dnp did from them, dnp doing things out of obligation, not being able to fully create things how they wanted to, people being cynical about youtubers doing projects/not understanding youtube and media’s negative reactions, loads of office work, risking all their life savings to go on tour, heteronormativity of the interviewers, lots of work related to creating gaming channel videos, overworking themselves during gamingmas, frustration with people not realising how much work happens behind the scenes, people cancelling projects, losing money because of Manila.

On the other hand, the positives that Phil talked about were getting job at the radio, getting 1 million subs, interviewing people being a cool thing, everything about his relationship with family was very positive, getting a new team of people to work with and dropping some responsibilities like the radio show, success of the books and tours and games they created, creative freedom, positive relationship with his audience, improvement of the press over the years and people in traditional businesses becoming aware of what youtube is, creating and expanding irl merch, having fun on tour.

Then comes the moment when I got genuinely quite confused, aka the moment when Phil talks about not having a life. Like.... really? He has every right to feel what he feels but honestly, not that many people would count themselves lucky enough to be in a long term relationship, having a loving family, four friends that want to hang out with them, going out to dinner dates and cinemas on the regular, regularly going on vacations, being able to take private yoga or boxing lessons etc.

When I heard him saying “and I didn’t do any normal stuff people do, like getting a house or a dog”, that’s the point when I’ve lost all my hope. Like, I’m sorry Phil, but are you really gonna complain about not having time to get a house because of the life choices that you’ve made? Just… think about it. I’m not an expert on the standard of life in the UK but I personally can think of exactly zero people that I know who bought a house in their 20s. And I have to say, it’s upsetting that he seems to be so detached from what is the reality for many many people.

Sharing personal stuff on the internet requires courage and I don’t want to be the one who takes all this knowledge and uses it against him. But I’m genuinely upset with the way he handled things this time. As I was watching the video for the first time, at the end of it all I could think was - wow, you’re really that entitled, aren’t you?

And it makes me sad, because I see two possible reasons for him being like that:

a) He is not in the best place mentally, so that he can only really focus rn on the negative aspects of his life, regretting his past choices, being disappointed in how his personal life looks like. This could be supported the fact that for basically any major thing that happened in his life he decided to share with us and elaborate mostly the negative details attached to it, rarely the positive ones (see the list of positive and negative things that I included above).

b) He is completely unaware of what’s the average threshold for a “good quality life”, and he’s not aware of his own privilege.

To elaborate a bit more on the point b): one could see Phil’s video as maybe a reminder that everything comes with a prize and that even though a youtuber’s life might seem super easy, there’s still a lot of stress and work involved that we just don’t see. But… I’ve been aware of that. Nobody’s life is one-dimensional, and everyone has struggles. And of course they have to edit their videos and do the business stuff. But when Phil says how he sometimes wishes people were aware of his personal struggles, I can only think that this is the reality for many many people, not only celebrities on the internet. Idk, maybe I just wasn’t the target of this whole segment in the first place, but for me it sounds borderline patronising, and again, entitled, because as I mentioned, everyone has their own struggles.

But for me, Phil doesn’t seem to be aware that he was only able to make some of the life choices that he’s made because he already had a good start in life in the first place. He’s always had a safety net in form of his parents, so he could make a choice of risking everything and moving to London for example. And yes, coming back home and asking his parents for money could have been embarrassing for him and emotionally hard, but so many people could not take such risk, or any risk, in general! Because they have families that they need to take care of. Because they have not enough money to move to an expensive city, no matter the circumstances. Because they have no one left who would help them financially if something went wrong. And so many other reasons!

On one hand, I can empathise with his frustration. I know how it is to work my ass off just to be able to go to uni, while many people that I know get money from their parents, go to a couple of lectures and then party/do nothing really. And then having other people thinking that everything is easy for me because idk I’ve always had good grades so according to them I don’t need to work as hard. Is it frustrating? Yeah. It’s hard to be misunderstood, or having your work belittled. But I would never blame other people for not being aware of how much work comes with the lifestyle that I’ve chosen. And I’m aware that dnp were working their asses off to create good things for us, but also, obviously, they were hoping to make financial profit out of it. It might sound awful but they did not have to do most of those things. In many instances, they totally did not have to overwork themselves, because it was not like they were making money to survive, they were making money just to make more money, basically. Nothing evil in wanting to make money but honestly Phil, most people work super hard, and they don’t get millions for it. While I do acknowledge that they’ve been working hard, and that a part of their audience might have not been aware of that, I think that complaining about that seems quite… inconsiderate? Complaining about the lack of private life seems inconsiderate too, especially because most people aren’t privileged enough to just decide to put their work aside and focus on their private life whenever they want. Many people I know are overworking themselves too, simply because they don’t have another choice.

So, I’m quite upset. I don’t know what my point is. It seems to me like in that video Phil comes from a place of deep frustration, and well, I’m frustrated too. Fair game, I guess?

I want them to have a good life. I want them to do whatever the hell they need to do in order to be happy, I want them to get a goddamn dog and a house. But I also hope they’ll continue to grow, and that maybe next time Phil will be more considerate, and more careful with words.

#amazingphil #phil lester #dnp #phan #ramble

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odinsonsobsessed · 5 years

Text

Talk Loki To Me • Part Fourteen

Businessman by day, someone else entirely by night… An AU where Tom Hiddleston isn’t a famous film actor. He’s just a normal guy, your roommate of two years. The two of you are really close and you think you know everything about him, until you discover his secret… He’s a popular erotic audio star, taking on the persona of Loki, a god hellbent on making you cum. And when you accidentally discover this secret of his, everything begins to change.

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston/Reader || Word Count: 1.3k || Rated M (18+)

A/N: Wow, you guys! We've made it to the end of the series! I want to thank all of you for your lovely comments and likes and reblogs throughout each update!

Series Masterlist

It was time.

Your train had arrived and it was time to board.

You stared at it for a while, until they called for it again. Something was holding you back. Something was locking your legs and keeping you from standing. It was ridiculous, you had to go!

You swallowed down your reluctance and stood up, gathering your things. Taking a deep breath, you began to walk toward the platform.

Your heart clenched tighter and tighter the closer you got to the train, to the point where it became hard for you to breathe. You stopped, loosening your hold on the suitcase and drew your hand up to clutch at your chest as tears blurred your vision.

No. Everything is wrong.

Your mind, your heart and your soul were screaming at you, begging you not to go. But why?

Tom's face entered your mind and when realization hit you like a mack truck barreling down the road, you drew in a sharp breath and nearly dropped your bag.

You were in love with Tom Hiddleston.

You were in love with your best friend, your roommate. The man who had stuck by you for three years, you were in love with him. That's what was holding you back. You were suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to tell him. You had to tell him now.

Last call for London to Manchester.

You bit your lip, looking between the train and the exit. If you left now, you would miss that train and you weren't sure if there would even be another one until tomorrow. But, if you left now, would you have the courage to tell him later? Would you have the chance?

Hastily grabbing hold of your suitcase, you whipped around to leave. You knew you still had to go, but you couldn't leave without telling him that you loved him first. You couldn't let this be how you left things. And if he didn't feel the same way, then at least you tried.

Struggling to run with it, you tugged as hard as you could and almost fell a few times, but finally made it to the exit. You ran out to flag down a taxi, getting absolutely soaked in the process, as the rain came down harder than it did when you first arrived. You scrambled into the backseat, flinging your suitcase onto the seat next to you.

“Hey! Be careful with that!” The taxi driver barked.

You quickly gave him the address and told him to hurry. When he started to complain, you bribed him with more money. With a grumble, he accepted your bribe and took off.

God, it seemed like it took forever to get back to the flat. There were a couple of times when you nearly flung the door open at a red light to run the rest of the way. You argued with the driver, urging him to drive faster, but he was firm with refusing to go any quicker.

When the taxi finally arrived in front of the flat, you grabbed your things and rushed out of the car, tugging your suitcase with you. After you raced up the steps, you pounded on the door impatiently, “Tom!” You called out.

“Tom!” You shouted again when he didn't answer. Had he left the flat already? Why wasn't he answering the door?

When the finally door opened, Tom looked at you in confusion, your name passing through his lips. “What are you…?”

“I couldn't do it…” You gazed at him, your heart pounding a mile a minute. You were panting, exhausted from your hurried movements and nervous to tell him, fearful that he didn't feel the same. But if you didn't tell him, you would never know and the secret would eat you alive if you kept it inside. It was now or never. “I couldn't go without telling you that I--”

“I couldn't go without telling you that I love you!” His eyes widened and you wanted desperately to know what he was thinking. “Look, I know this was supposed to be a no strings attached, no emotion, no commitment arrangement, but I fucked up.” You looked down, nervously fidgeting with the strap of your bag while you wished he would say something.

“I've been feeling really strange lately and I couldn't figure out what it was until I was about to leave… I know that I shouldn't, but…” You looked back up, gazing into his eyes, “I love you, Tom.”

Tom seemingly searched your eyes, completely silent before he surged forward, grabbing your face between his hands and kissing you hard. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Neither of you cared about the rain beating down on you both as you kissed. Nothing else mattered in that moment but each other.

When Tom pulled away, he was panting as he brushed soaked strands of hair that were plastered on your face. “I love you, too.” He stroked your wet cheek with his thumb. “It was only supposed to be a temporary thing, something fun and carefree. But somewhere along the way, things changed and I was afraid to tell you in case you didn't feel the same. God, I wish I had told you sooner.” He pressed his lips to yours again for a short but sweet kiss.

When he pulled back, your face broke out into a grin as he smiled at you and the two of you laughed.

“Come inside, we're getting soaked.” He grabbed your suitcase and the two of you went inside of the flat.

As soon as the door closed, you turned around and kissed him again, pushing him against it. He kissed you back, snaking his arms around you to hold you against him. You sighed in contentment, leaning into him as the two of you kissed.

Yes, this was how it was supposed to be.

~~~~~~~~

Three Months Later…

Things were great. Your new position was amazing and the branch opening was quite successful. You absolutely loved your flat and where you were living. The people were nice and you made friends fairly quickly. The only thing that was missing was Tom.

The two hour train rides to and from Manchester and London were getting harder and harder to do. Your schedule was busy as ever, now that you were running a branch, and a new one at that.

You took turns with Tom each weekend with who travels. Sometimes it was two or three weeks until you saw each other again. You missed each other greatly when you were apart, you talked nearly every night and phone sex had become a regular thing and Tom was wonderful at it, of course.

But, as fun as it was and as nice as it was to visit on the weekends, it wasn't enough. You wanted so badly to live with him again. To see him every day and cuddle with him every night. You got weepy with him on the phone sometimes when you were feeling particularly stressed or overwhelmed with missing him.

Until one day, everything changed.

It was a Saturday afternoon and you were lounging on the couch, watching a movie when you heard a knock on the door. You thought it was strange, seeing as you didn't know very many people in the area yet and who knew your address. You hadn't invited anyone over and Tom wasn't able to come out to visit that weekend, due to him having other plans.

But when you opened the door, much to your surprise, Tom was standing there, causing your eyes to widen, “Tom!” Your heart squeezed in excitement and love, as you realized Tom had come to surprise you! Your gaze traveled to a few large bags next to him and your brows furrowed in confusion. That was an awful lot of stuff for staying overnight… You then looked back up to his face, which held a wide grin,

“Have room for an audio porn star?”

@fandom-and-feminism @fadingcoast @igotloki @mrshiddleston-uk @nikkalia @manager-of-mischief @spidey-bites @kcd15 @dangertoozmanykids101 @xxloki81xx @starletah @msunnsstuff @redfoxwritesstuff @just-the-hiddles @thatweirdwalangpake @loki-and-hiddles @kitsuneharo12 @thathedonistgirl @littlefrogstuff @maximeshepard-beavakarian @iris-suoh @devilbat @furstinnajoelle @exbandragirl @sabine-leo @fire-in-her-veinz @midnight-queen-1 @lady-loki-ren @sinder3llaizzy @melsmontanabear @blatantly-lokean @alexakeyloveloki @screw-real-life-i-pick-fandoms @wholelottatiffy @writingmi @januarycalendargirl @runningawaywithloki @officiallyunofficialperson @drakesfiance @yzssie @this-fine-ass-queen @lokixme @crystalxxmeth @officiallyunofficialperson @eyelismloki @joyofbebbanburg @devikafernando @winterisakiller @lokislilslut @wishrains

#talk loki to me #tom hiddleston/reader #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston

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