#he’ll be so pro science in one sentence | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

smoakmonster · 4 years

Text

G is for Gadgets and Gimmicks {3/3}

A/N:‌‌ ‌Well‌ ‌folks,‌ ‌the‌ ‌conclusion‌ ‌to‌ ‌my‌ ‌little‌ ‌bookstore‌ ‌AU‌ ‌is‌ ‌finally‌ ‌here!!‌ ‌Sorry‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌extreme‌ ‌delay‌ ‌in‌ ‌finishing‌ ‌out‌ ‌this‌ ‌series.‌ ‌I‌ ‌appreciate‌ ‌all‌ ‌of‌ ‌your‌ ‌sweet‌ ‌responses‌ ‌to‌ ‌this‌ ‌fic.‌ ‌There’s‌ ‌just‌ ‌something‌ ‌so‌ ‌precious‌ ‌about‌ ‌fluffy‌ ‌Olicity,‌ ‌isn’t‌ ‌there?‌ ‌I‌ ‌hope‌ ‌you‌ ‌enjoy‌ ‌the‌ ‌wrap-up!‌ ‌Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌again‌ ‌for‌ ‌reading!‌

‌Special‌ ‌thanks‌ ‌to:‌ ‌‌pleasantfanandstudent‌ ‌for‌ ‌this‌ ‌adorable‌ ‌cover‌ ‌art!‌ ‌

(Part‌ ‌1)‌ ‌(Part‌ ‌2)‌ ‌(Read‌ ‌on‌ ‌AO3)‌

***

com∙pro∙mise (v.)

3. to cause to become vulnerable or function less effectively

***

“Hey, the QR code on the door isn’t working, so do I still get the coupon?”

Oliver glances up from meticulously arranging rows of his latest mini-soufflé experiment to find a gangly teenage boy (probably a college freshman) watching him with expectation and just a hint of entitlement.

He frowns, stifling a sigh. “The what?”

This has been happening a lot lately. Interruptions. Deep down, Oliver knows that any form of interruption is a good interruption, that droves of customers, albeit annoying ones, do not detract from his work, but rather are the purpose of it. Strangers mean business. They mean another day where he gets to make payroll and keep his archaic practice of second-hand bookselling from dying out.

He’s not sure when or why or how his antiquated cardboard box of a business managed to draw this sudden influx of cantankerous college kids buried in cancer-causing gadgets, but he has his suspicions. Perhaps it has something to do with this QR...something? While Oliver may not understand ninety-percent of the latest digital discourse, he does know what a coupon is. And he’s pretty sure he would remember issuing said coupon.

As though the fringes of his very thoughts have pulled her forth by a string, the oh-so-familiar staccato of heels on old wood flooring tears Oliver’s attention.

“I’ve got this,” Felicity says brightly, with a brief hand on his arm. She inserts herself into the conversation with ease, brushing past Oliver to smooth things over with the impatient customer.

Her touch is so quick that for a second he thinks he might have imagined it. Only the warm buzzing just below the surface of skin is proof that it was real. In truth, her touch has become a more regular occurrence. This marks at least Number 10. Not that he’s keeping track. Not that his body even remembers. Every reaction is like the first time.

Simple, innocent little touches that cause his mind to stray to dangerous places. She probably has no idea the effect she has on him.

Felicity suddenly peeks his way and shoots him a quick wink. Or more like her attempt a wink. The squinty-eyed delayed blink is so endearingly Felicity that Oliver has never had the desire to correct her.

So maybe she has some idea.

Oliver shakes his head with a soft smile. He’s not sure when this happened, either, but somewhere along the way Felicity and he stopped exchanging the usual social greetings and formal pleasantries. Now, she just barges into his store with as much zeal and belonging as Thea.

The conversion taking place directly in front of him quickly devolves into Domain Lookup and Cloud Networking, and a mere five sentences in Oliver finds himself on the periphery. Feeling inept and oddly foolish, as he so often does in the presence of Felicity Smoak, and yet also a bit bereft that this kid can keep up with her whirlwind trail of thoughts and he cannot, Oliver decides to venture into the nonfiction recesses of the store. The only safe haven he has left apparently.

Oliver finds himself gravitating towards the cramped little nook nestled alongside the brick fireplace that’s been inoperable since Plymouth Rock (Thea’s words, not his). Last year on a whim, Oliver tried cleaning out the old fireplace and ended up drowning himself and the entire back of the store in soot. He spent days washing soot out his hair. Thea got a real kick out of that, dubbing the incident Gray Day.

Even now, it is not uncommon for the occasional customer to find a book sprinkled with the stuff and mistake it for dust.

The conversation up front grows muffled, lending a calm stillness to this part of the store. Hardly anyone ever ventures back here, partly because the aisles are more narrow and the lighting is poor, and partly because according to Rene it smells like a murder happened here. As if the kid knows what a murder smells like.

Personally, Oliver kind of likes the pine and leather aroma. It reminds him of simpler times, when Dad and he would go camping in the woods every summer. Oliver chuckles, remembering what a poor sport he could be and how patiently Dad taught him how to start a fire and set up a tent. He’d give anything to get more days like that with his father. More days at all, really.

What would it be like to get away like that again? Even just for a weekend? To go somewhere off-grid, no cell reception, no emails, no internet or WiFi or QR Codes or...

A flash of yellow binding catches his eye, and Oliver spots a book haphazardly stuffed on the third shelf. Carefully, he yanks the book out and reads the cover. Beginning Programming for Dummies.

A huff escapes him. It seems he can’t get away fast enough.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Oliver flips through the book, hopelessly searching, but not really wanting anything to stick. Maybe something in here will remind him of Felicity. Maybe if he can find even one word embedded in all these hieroglyphics, he’ll be able to make more sense of her world and actually be able to communicate with her about the things that are important to her.

But with every turn of the page, every heading and diagram just serves to confuse him all the more. With a frustrated groan, Oliver slams the book shut and attempts to shove it back into its tight crevice; at this point, he couldn’t care less if the book’s misshelved.

“Hey, what did that book ever do to you?”

Oliver stills. Her voice both jars and soothes him.

Feeling strangely guilty, he turns around but has trouble meeting her gaze, stuffing his hands into his pockets, as though he’s been caught cutting up in Mrs. Hannoven’s fourth grade class again. “Sorry,” he mumbles.

Felicity tips her head, wearing that adorably confused pout of hers. “I’m not sure I’m the one who needs you to apologize.”

“Oh. Um…” Does she seriously want him to apologize to a book?

“What I mean is…” She takes several steps closer to him and has the decency of a saint to wait until he’s looking her in the eye before she continues. “Oliver, I’m sorry.”

“What?” What on earth could she possibly have to be sorry for?

“I shouldn’t have pushed for the QR codes. I knew it was too soon, but I just got so excited after all of my contacts agreed to help sponsor your website. And then, during a webinar last Thursday there was this study that said QR codes can help increase foot traffic by upwards of 30%. And I thought, ‘Hey, that seems like it could work for my friend Oliver’—I hope it’s not too presumptuous that I called you my friend. We are friends, right? Of course we’re friends, what else would we be? It’s not like we’re exactly colleagues or anything—”

“Felicity.” He rests his hands on her shoulders, effectively halting her ramble, a tried and true tact. And if she happens to shift a bit closer to him as a result, well, who is he to stop her?

He likes this about them. That in this one, predictable way he can give her the same sense of quiet security she gives him.

“Yes, we are friends,” he says, giving her a slight smile, the finality of the word friends sinking into his gut. After all, it’s like she said. What else could they be? She is so many leagues out of his league. He's t-ball, and she's the Seattle Mariners. He doesn’t even own a digital watch, much less a smart watch. What could she possibly want with a guy like him?

Clearing his throat, Oliver moves on, “And I don’t know if I’ve said this to you yet, but...thank you. I really do appreciate everything you’ve done to help me out here.”

“Really?” That tentative, searching look makes him want to pull her close and wrap her up in his arms. She only wears that look when she’s seeking approval. She wears it a lot around him. Though why she’s still aching for his approval is beyond him. She’s had his approval and more since that first rainy Sunday.

“Yeah. Although I do have to ask…”

Felicity raises her eyebrows.

“When did I start offering coupons?”

“Oh. Um...since last week?”

“Uh-huh,” he nods, not wanting to cave just yet but secretly pleased. It’s a smart ploy, even if it was never part of his original plan. So much of their relationship and business schemes are way outside the bounds of his original plans. And he’s a better person for it.

Looking a little too pleased with herself, Felicity reaches into her pocket, pulls out a slip of memo pad paper, and hands it to him.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a list of all the computer science books you need to stock up on before the Starling University summer quarter starts up. There’s an Advanced Algorithms course that’s only offered once a year, and I have it on good authority that the college bookstore never carries enough textbooks. And let’s be honest, your computer science section is lacking. Pretty much all of your STEM material, actually.”

Oliver huffs a laugh. “What are you, my sales rep?”

“I could be.” She gives him a knowing look, telling him he can either waste time arguing with her about this or just accept the inevitable.

And after altering all the basic mechanics of his store, what are a few additional books really going to do?

“In the meantime, let’s see this little guy back to his proper home.” Felicity proceeds to extricate his paperback nemesis and saunter further down the narrow aisle, looking for the right Dewey Decimal destination.

“I also think we should advertise at the grad school,” she calls over her shoulder.

“We?” he replies, following her down the aisle.

“Yeah, bring in some study groups. Do you know there is a perfectly good History and English Literature study hall that meets at the Starbucks around the corner, when they could be meeting here?”

“No. No. I don’t do study groups.” He’s caved on a lot of things, but there has to be a line somewhere. And so help him, if this is the hill he has to die on to preserve even one ounce of dignity, then so be it.

“Since when?”

“Since always. Felicity, they’re a bunch of toddlers who leave scone crumbs all over the floor and never actually buy any books.”

Felicity just chuckles at him, and if he were in a better mood he might actually be able to enjoy the sweet sound. “Oliver, stop being such a grumpy old man.”

“No, Felicity, I think—”

She’s already moving up the ladder before he can stop her. The rickety, unstable pile of firewood that technically qualifies as a ladder he’s been harassing Rene about pitching for months. Honestly, he’d all but forgotten it was still tucked away back here.

While she makes her way up the rungs, Oliver latches onto the base, holding the ladder firmly in place. With an excruciating amount of restraint that he barely even knew he had in him, Oliver watches her heels lift up and settle on each rung, all the while discreetly avoiding a glance at her pencil skirt. Not even a peek.

The ladder shakes as Felicity engages in a wrestling match with the top shelf. “It. Won’t. Go. In,” she says through gritted teeth. Finally, on the third push, Felicity lets out a strong exhale of relief. After wiping her hands, she makes her descent.

Like a hawk following its prey, Oliver keeps his gaze glued to her feet. Even so, he’s still not quite prepared when one of those black t-straps slips, throwing her off balance and tumbling straight into his arms.

“Oliver!”

He catches her easily, pulling her soft frame snuggly against him. Felicity wastes no time in wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “Hey, I gotcha. I gotcha.”

Her head plops against his shoulder, her warm, rapid breaths tickling his neck. He tightens his own grip around her back and under her knees, as if to reassure himself that she’s alright.

“You okay?” he finally asks.

Her only answer is to press her cheek more deeply into his shirt, her soft hair nuzzling against his jaw. He catches a faint whiff of her strawberry shortcake shampoo.

“My hero,” she breathes without a trace of humor.

I’m no hero, he wants to say. It’s his gut reaction any time a single mom commends him for his “Cool Books” section that finally got her teenage son to try a book of his own accord. As though selling books can compare with saving lives every day. His greatest risk comes in the form of avoiding papercuts. And rescuing toppling patrons apparently.

Selfishly, he’s currently enjoying the feel of Felicity in his arms a little too much to be considered a hero. Can she feel his own racing heartbeat beneath her ear?

He clears his throat but fails to put any real distance between them without releasing her. He’s not ready for that just yet. He’ll prolong the sweet agony for as long as physically possible.

“Well, this is a bit compromising,” he admits.

“Compromising?” She snickers, lifting her head, a spark of mirth shining behind her eyes that wasn’t there before. “What are you, a Jane Austen character?”

“Blame Thea. She made me read them. It was in our original founders’ agreement. I have the contract to prove it.”

If you’re going to own a bookstore, Ollie, then you have to know who Mr. Darcy is. It’s a requirement. Plus, it’s catnip for women. Nothing gets girls more excited than if you acknowledge the perfection of Jane Austen protagonists.

That knowledge has never served him until this moment. Until Felicity.

He still hasn’t liberated her, and she seems in no hurry to be free of him. His ego far too eagerly takes note of that.

“Are you making an actual joke, Mr. Queen?” Her smile is contagious. “You know, if this were a novel, this would be the part where we would um…” She flushes, her gaze suddenly faltering to his mouth.

His heart jumps to his throat, pounding with misguided hope. While he’s not an avid reader, despite his self-appointed line of work, he can read between the lines now. And he knows Felicity well enough to know that she only ever blushes over accidental innuendos.

She can’t really mean it. Can she?

“Where what?” he asks gruffly, not trusting himself to crave more than she is ready to give him, yet aching for a way to turn fiction into a reality, to give Felicity Smoak her happy ending. And maybe find his own in the process.

She doesn’t pull away. She doesn’t correct her misstep. She just watches him with a strange and quiet expectancy.

Oliver gently shifts his hold, bringing her a bit closer, leaning down to meet her. The tip of his nose brushes against hers, and when she lingers there with him, it’s all the invitation he needs…

“Hey, boss, we got a spill behind the counter!”

Felicity starts in his arms, and Oliver very nearly groans. Of all the times for Rene to interrupt him. The spill is probably minor. How many times does he need to remind his employees that if you make a mess, you should just clean it up yourself?

“Ollie?” calls Thea. Her voice comes from far too nearby for his comfort. It must be a real pickle if Rene’s managed to rope his sister into the ordeal.

Reluctantly, Oliver loosens his grip on Felicity, and she slides right out of his arms with a graceful plop, returning their difference in height to its usual status. The top of her head aligning with the level of his heart.

“I uh…” His entire vocabulary seems to have vacated his brain at present, leaving him feeling ten times more abashed than he was ten minutes ago.

Felicity tucks a golden strand behind her ear, still dodging his regard with robust persistence. “Yeah, you should go...take care of that…”

He nods once, not that she notices. As he slowly turns to walk away, she stops him with a simple question.

“Same time tomorrow?”

He really should not put much stock in the hope her voice carries. But he can’t seem to stifle the grin spreading over his face when he glances back over his shoulder. “Same time tomorrow.”

***

Thea pulls out a small chalkboard from under the counter, erases the number ‘1’ with her fist, and then writes a ‘2’ in its place. The sign now reads “12 Days Since Last Attempt To Date.”

Scowling, Oliver is almost too afraid to ask. “Thea...what is that?”

His sprite of a sister proudly places a hand on her hip. “This, dear brother, is a record of the number of days since you last tried asking Felicity out on a date.”

“What?” A flicker of panic rushes through him. What does she know? She can’t know about the almost-kiss. Besides, that wasn’t twelve days ago. Again, not that he’s keeping track. He opts for being as evasive as possible. “And when was the last time I supposedly did this?”

“That day you bought Big Belly Burger for the entire staff as a thank you for staying late to reorganize the science section. You gave Felicity the burger with extra pickles that mysteriously ended up in the bag—even though, last I checked, she does not work here.”

She gives him that pointed look, the one she usually wears when she’s guarding a straight. They really need to have a discussion about the merits of a refined poker face.

“That wasn’t a date, Speedy.”

“Hence the word attempt.”

Oliver shakes his head, returning his focus to the monotonous task of counting the till. Where was he again? Oh yeah, the fives. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five…

Once he’s got that row tallied, he finally tells Thea, “Felicity and I...we’re just friends.” The words burn his throat. Felicity might think of him as nothing more than a chum, but after that near-kiss nestled behind the dusty stacks, Oliver has ceased lying to himself about his feelings, resigned to this new, unrequited reality.

“Sure.” He can feel her eye roll. “Friends who just happen to spend all of their free time together and buy each other beverages and have inside jokes—”

His head snaps up. “We don’t have any inside jokes.”

“Really? Then how do you explain this?” Thea holds up the cassette player tape dispenser Felicity got him as a gag gift. He still has no idea where she stumbled upon the trinket. Using her internet prowess no doubt.

Oliver snatches it out of Thea’s hands while purposefully searching for anything in need of repair, as if to justify its very existence. “Our old tape dispenser broke.”

“Uh-huh. And what about that little emoji keychain you bought her? The one with the glasses on it?”

Oliver shrugs. “It just...reminded me of her, that’s all. It didn’t mean anything.”

Thea is clearly ready to keep arguing, but Rene wanders over with a pastry order for one of the offices across the street. For once in his life, Oliver is grateful for Rene’s keen ability to interfere with his private conversations and begins boxing up the order. His heart does a strange flip when he recognizes the usual list.

Unfortunately, Thea remains undeterred. “Hey, Felicity works there, right? I’m sure you could swing by for a quick visit.”

“Thea.”

“Don’t ‘Thea’ me. This is a good idea! Just tell her you were in the building and wanted to see if she’s available to go out to dinner this weekend. Easy.”

“I work on the weekends. You know that.”

“And you could schedule yourself some time off once in a while. You are the boss. Plus, you’ve built this place so that even Rene can practically run it with his eyes closed.”

Both Rene and Oliver shoot her a look.

“Alright, I said practically.”

Rene grunts his agreement, stuffing the to-go box to the brim with chocolate chip muffins. “You know, she’s got a point. You could think of this delivery as a trial run. You bring the order across the street, while Thea and I monitor the store. If all goes well, then you might feel comfortable enough to take a more extended break in the future.”

“You’re just trying to spend more alone time with my sister, aren’t you?”

Rene smiles, guilty as charged. “There’s no reason why we can’t both be winners here.”

Oliver sighs. “Thea?”

Thea chuckles, crossing her arms. “Don’t worry, Ollie, I can handle him.”

Still he hesitates, running his thumb back and forth over the box, the box he’s supposed to bring to her workplace. He has so much more riding on this than a mismanaged store in his absence.

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes. Do not burn down the store while I’m gone.”

***

“Ms. Smoak?”

“One second, Curtis. This alphanumeric algorithm isn’t going to crack itself.” Huddled in front of the monitor and nibbling on the remnants of a Twizzler, Felicity has been doing the digital tango for the last hour.

“Well, I hope you get cracking in the next ten minutes, because Coffee and Coding is about to start.”

“We have Coffee and Coding on Wednesdays,” she dismisses without tearing her gaze from the screen.

“It is Wednesday,” says Curtis.

Felicity darts a glance at her IT Director, who just lifts his eyebrows in confirmation. Flustered, she pushes up her glasses. “But who ordered the pastries?”

“I did,” Curtis admits. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget to call your favorite little coffee shop around the corner. Or across the street in this case. Can you believe they still don’t have online ordering?”

A pang of disappointment flutters through her. While it’s not much, Felicity has come to treasure her little Wednesday morning ritual, an easy excuse in her routine to spend more time with Oliver.

Still, it’s not like they don’t see each other an ample amount of time during the week anyway. Though after The Incident a few days ago, things between them have been different, more uncertain than usual. He hasn’t been avoiding her exactly; he just seems a bit...distant. Like he’s carrying a secret he doesn’t know how to share yet. Takes one to know one. The mystery has been driving her crazy.

She’s also been racking her brain for the perfect scenario to recreate that heated moment they shared after her Humpty Dumpty debacle. But the trouble is...as soon as she hints at the depth of her feelings, she’s going to have to tell him everything.

Hey Oliver, so you know how you assumed that I was an Executive Assistant, and I never corrected you? Well, the thing is I’m actually more like the CEO of a product-pushing conglomerate that is slowly encroaching on everything you know and love. Do you want to go out sometime?

Ugh. A stealthy flirter she is not.

So maybe today’s mishap is for the best. A chance for her to rally some gumption and figure out how to phrase her affections while still salvaging their fledgling friendship.

The workshop will likely provide plenty of opportunity to strategize. Denise tends to drone on and on about the benefits of heapsort every time it’s her turn to talk, so the redundant lecture will afford Felicity added time to do some real romantic brainstorming.

Sufficiently mollified, Felicity pops up out of her chair and strolls towards the conference room.

“The food just arrived,” says Jerry as soon as she’s outside her office.

She stumbles to a halt, blinking at her executive assistant. He says it so casually, as though her entire, perfectly orchestrated little enterprise isn’t coming crumbling down around her by one bakery blunder.

“What? Now? Here?” She’s pretty sure she’s having a stroke. Although her ability to remain upright negates that possibility. But what good is logic at a time like this?

Of all the truth-telling scenarios she had running through her head, this was not one of them.

This is why she never asked for delivery! Why she personally has placed and picked up every order.

Okay, no need to panic. This is no different than any of the other work-related conflicts she has resolved in the past. Of course, those were mostly software issues, but surely the skills are transferable. She’ll just have to insist that Rene not breathe a word of this to Oliver until she has a chance to talk to him later. This afternoon, in fact. She can come up with an adequate confession by then.

That cursory idea gets zapped the moment she turns the corner and finds the apropos man of the hour waiting in the hallway. Oh frack.

Every blessed thought evaporates straight out of her skull. Only one person on the planet has this effect on her.

As though it’s been days and not mere hours since she’s seen him last, hungrily her eyes feast on every part of him, from his golden-brown hair with little flecks of gray that he likes to pretend aren’t there, to those broad shoulders and sturdy arms beneath that favored blue henley. She remembers far too well what it’s like being wrapped up in those arms, all snug and safe and wonderful.

Then she starts to catalog his overall uneasy demeanor, hands stuffed into his pockets, shoulders rigid with discomfort.

Guilt pricks her heart. He looks a little lost.

She tries to observe her office through his eyes. Surrounded by glass walls, open and exposed. Screens scrolling with tech lingo. Not a single paper product in sight or dusty nook to duck behind. Everything is quite literally the opposite of his usual environment. And it has never been more apparent how contrary their lives are.

All this time, she’s been invading his world and never once has he stepped into hers. Because she wouldn’t invite him. Not until she was ready. She’s driven them to this precipice. Her little lie is the grain of sand slowly corrupting the motherboard, eroding their communication from the inside out. Some friend she is.

And yet, him braving the unknown and everything he opposes just to come and see her has to mean something, right?

“Should we wait for you?” asks Curtis.

Felicity shakes her head, keeping her focus on Oliver. “I’m not going to make the meeting.”

“Well in that case, can I have your muffin? Because you know I’ve been working out in the mornings, and my tummy is a rumblin’—”

“Curtis!”

“Okay. Okay.”

Footsteps retreat into the conference room, until at last the door closes, encasing them in peaceful silence.

Swallowing, Felicity hedges closer to him, the clank of her heels echoing down the long hallway. “Hi,” she says when she’s standing just a foot away from him.

“Hi.” He’s looking at her in that soft, affable way of his, making her heart short-circuit.

She has a masters degree in cyber security, and she’s taken many a profit-hungry board member to task, so why can’t she seem to come up with a better conversation starter than ‘hi’ ?

But Oliver, her sweet friend, saves her from her own awkward web of absurdity. “So...” he begins, nodding to the wall in between the elevators. The wall covered in bold, betraying letters Smoak Technologies.

Oh crap on a cracker. He knows. Already. Duh, Felicity, he walked into your building, you know this. The man can read. What did you expect?

Felicity slams her eyes shut and blurts, “I can explain.”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“I know it was wrong. And I hope you know that I would never want to take advantage of your friendship, and that my lying to you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I was afraid that if you knew the truth that I would lose you—”

“Felicity, hey.” Oliver’s hands, solid and steady, grip her shoulders. She has no right to draw from his comforting warmth. “You’re not going to lose me.”

She licks her lips, daring to meet his gaze again. She’s startled to find those bright blue eyes looking back at her full of sympathy, absent of judgment. “Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve broken every cardinal rule in the friendship book.”

His face softens. “I don’t care that you lied to me. I don’t. I care...that somehow I made you feel like you had to.” He sighs, his voice deepening to a near whisper. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Felicity fights a wince and loses. “Because I...I kind of liked not being a CEO for a few minutes a day? It was nice. Freeing. And I didn’t know how you would react to the fact that basically my entire livelihood stands for everything you hate—”

“I never said I hated it.”

Felicity tilts her head playfully. “No, you just loathe the mere suggestion of technological advancement.”

Oliver chuckles. “Fair enough.”

“So you’re not mad?”

As he shakes his head, relief and elation spill through her.

Not for the first time, Felicity is grateful that her charming literary companion is truly a good person. And not just the kind of good where he’s friendly toward impatient customers or gracious with incompetent employees—although, he is that, too. But his integrity runs so much deeper; it’s the core of who he is. Modest and generous. Forgiving to a fault.

Oliver fundamentally embodies all that her corporate associates do not. Is it any wonder she was so drawn to him from the very beginning?

She may have ruined her chances for anything more than friendship to develop between them, but as long as he remains in her life, she’ll be happy. She can settle for cordial camaraderie. Besides, it won’t feel like settling with him. Not really. Not completely. At least, she’ll convince herself of that sooner or later.

Oliver withdraws his hands, leaving an alarming coolness tingling on her arms. Instantly she misses his touch.

She watches in puzzled silence as Oliver shifts his weight, clears his throat, and suddenly evades her look. He’s nervous, she realizes. How did she not notice sooner?

Because you’ve been a little too preoccupied with yourself, Felicity, that’s how.

“Listen, Felicity…I came by because I was in the neighborhood. But I guess I’m always in the neighborhood. You don’t need to be told that.”

Felicity bites her bottom lip to hold back a smile. He’s awfully cute when he’s flustered.

“I know I’m just an obsolete bookstore owner, with no degree, and you…” He glances around the hallway, as though the point he’s trying to make is engraved on the walls somewhere.

“And I what?” she prompts, a sudden burst of panic flaring in her chest, more terrified than anything that he’s never going to finish that sentence.

Oliver studies the screens for a long time, his gaze finally coming to rest back on her, and what she sees there makes her want to hold on to him and never let go. “You’re going to change the world,” he says. “You’ve already changed mine. For the better, I might add. But, I don’t know, maybe our worlds are just too different.”

“But I don’t care about the differences, and I thought you didn’t either.”

“I don’t!”

Everyone in the conference room can probably hear their conversation by now, but that is a low priority issue. All she cares about is Oliver.

“Okay, so then what are we arguing about?”

“Felicity…you should be with someone who deserves you, someone who won’t hold you back.”

“That’s what you came up here to tell me? Oliver, what I deserve is up to me.”

He dodges her look again, and she can feel him retreating, feel the invisible barrier he’s erected between them.

Not one to forfeit so easily, Felicity calmly sidles up to him and lays a bold hand on his chest, right over his heart. “Please, Oliver,” she whispers. “Ask me what you really came here for. Whatever it is, I’ll say yes.”

“Promise?”

Her inability to read his face scares her more than anything. “Promise.”

He sighs, and an anxiously long time passes before he says, “Felicity, would you like to go camping?”

She starts. “What? You want to drag me out into the woods with your sister—”

“Thea will not be there.”

“Oh.” Nibbling on the inside of her cheek, Felicity processes this information before it dawns on her. “Oh.”

Oliver nods faintly, as though he can hear the flurry of questions her heart is suddenly screaming.

“Are you asking me out on a date? Like an actual date? Like a date...date?”

“I mean, the implication with me standing here…” He bobs his head around, like he can’t really decide whether to confirm or deny that. She’s really put the poor guy through the ringer today.

“Or we could go hiking,” he suggests with a shrug.

“Hiking?”

“Yeah, there’s a great trail about an hour north of the city. My dad and I used to go there all the time. There are waterfalls and plenty of wildlife. I should warn you, though, that it’s near impossible to send or receive phone calls in our spot.”

He wants to take her to his special haunt? Her heart twists with bittersweet excitement. She deceives him, and he rewards her by sharing yet another coveted piece of his history.

How can this man think he’s not worthy of her? If anything, their situation is exactly reversed. What are gadgets and gizmos compared to goodwill and grandeur?

With more boldness than she thought herself capable of, Felicity meticulously wraps her arms around Oliver’s waist, leaning her head way back to keep eye contact with him. “Well, Mr. Queen, that sounds perfect. So...am I forgiven?” she whispers, pinching her lips together.

His own lips twitch as he follows her movements and pulls her close. “Always.”

***

“I like you like this,” Felicity tells him, following his lead down the winding, rocky trail, her hand snuggly wrapped around his.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, sort of Man Versus Wild.”

He laughs, a loud, rich melody that vibrates through the core of her being.

She’ll admit she was curious to see what side of Oliver the great outdoors would bring forth, and reality did not disappoint. Out here, away from the chaotic noise and hustle and bustle, he seems so...free. Happy. Like he’s really alive for the first time. And she feels privileged that she’s the one he chose to let so close to him.

The perks of the great outdoors have surprised her, too. Not once has she missed the ding of her cell phone.

They stop for a break on a small cliff ridge (small according to Oliver, anyway) overlooking a waterfall and a trickling stream. The views today have been glorious. All of the views, she thinks, sneaking a peek at the man beside her.

Though he doesn’t turn, he squeezes her hand once, and there’s a slight flicker at the corner of his lips, acknowledging that he can feel her ogling him unabashedly. She gets to do that kind of thing now, though.

“I’m thinking of closing the bookstore,” he admits, causing her to trip over a branch in shock. His grip steadies her, and then he motions towards a large rock. Once they’re sitting beside each other, he continues. “I’ll turn the business into a full-time bakery and cafe. It’s something I probably should’ve done a long time ago. You were right.” He glances her way, wearing a reluctant half-smile.

Reeling, all Felicity can say is, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. You were right about the QR codes, too.” He leans in conspiratorially. “Our weekly customer traffic is up 25%, and the sales reflect that the majority of those purchases are from the coffeeshop. Just seems like the smartest decision.”

“But Oliver, don’t you love the bookshop side of things? Helping people find their next go-to read?”

He shrugs. “Sure. But I love staying in business more.”

Felicity doesn’t understand it, but the thought of never smelling second-hand pages or stumbling over disarrayed book stacks sends a pang of longing through her. “Well, it sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I have,” he confirms.

“But will it make you happy?”

He hesitates. “It’ll give me some stability to put Thea through college. That’ll make me happy.”

He’s so selfless, it breaks her heart a little every time she beholds that soft underbelly of his gentle nature. She wonders what other secret dreams he’s sacrificed over the years to provide for his sister and his employees. And maybe even for her. If she gets her wish, she plans to return the favor and help make his tucked-away dreams come true. First she has to discover what they are.

Shuffling closer, Felicity rests her head on his shoulder. “You know, I hate to break this to you, but bakeries are just as liable to collapse as bookstores. You can never fully predict the market, even in the most stable of economies.”

“I need information about what I don’t know,” he says in her ear.

She perks up. “What about a compromise?”

“Compromise?”

“Yeah, it’s where two parties agree on a mutually desirable outcome.”

He chuckles, the hearty sound warming her down to her toes. “I know what a compromise is, Felicity. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, you’ll be happy to hear that I have converted the entire IT department over to the ways of Verdant-roasted coffee. We could make you the official sponsor of our weekly Coffee and Coding. Think of all the free advertising that will bring.”

“I don’t want any handouts, Felicity.”

“It’s not a handout if it’s good business,” she argues, pleased to see him giving it some genuine consideration. After a long time of companionable silence and sharing a water bottle, she says, “And if all else fails, there’s always the kindle route.”

She giggles at the dismissive look he shoots her before growing serious again. “Don’t give up, Oliver. Your little bookstore...it’s changed my life. You opened up my heart to ideas and worlds that I didn’t even know were possible.”

Pulse hammering in her throat, she wonders if he catches her accidental revelation, that the depth of her urgency has far less to do with treasured paperbacks than it does her utter dependency on him.

“A compromise. It could work.” He nods to himself. “Speaking of…” He slips his hand into his back pocket.

“What are you doing?”

Oliver pulls out a phone. A shiny, non-retrograde phone.

Felicity gasps. “Since when do you have a smartphone?”

“Thea got it for me after she spilt a latte on my old phone. I’m choosing to believe it was an accident.”

“That is very sensible of you.”

“We could take a photo,” he suggests.

“You mean with the front-facing camera? That, my friend, is called a Selfie.”

He scowls. “I don’t think I’m ready to say that word. Baby steps.” After an arduously humorous struggle, with Felicity patiently helping him navigate all the buttons, Oliver finally manages to snap a photo or two or twelve.

While she’s fairly certain the majority of the photos turn out blurry, they take an unnatural amount of fun in making ridiculous faces at the camera anyway. “Okay, you have to delete that one.” She points to a photo that paints her in a particularly unattractive light.

Oliver studies the picture fondly. “Can’t. I don’t know how.”

“Here, then let me.”

He holds the phone out of her reach. “Oh, so you can delete all of them?”

“Not all of them, just the ones that make me look bad.”

“Felicity…” he says her name as if it explains everything. And suddenly he’s not laughing anymore, though his eyes still carry a spark of secret amusement. “Let me have this keepsake.”

Keepsake. Such an old-fashioned word from this unconventional man. If Oliver were a book, he would be just like those scuffed up, intimidating volumes he’s always trying to convince novice readers to sample. Judged for his strange and rough exterior, yet guarding a mysterious sweetness and—more than he will admit—gooey epicenter. You just have to crack the spine and ruffle a few pages to get there.

“Felicity…” Just the way he says her name makes her feel like she could do anything so long as he’s with her.

He leans in just enough to let her know his intent, but stops halfway, leaving the final choice to her. What a gentleman he is. And like all the great heroines, Felicity doesn’t let him do all the work. She meets his kiss eagerly, pouring out in little touches what they’re both unsure to say out loud at this early stage.

But she knows it. Deep down in her bones, she knows she loves him. And she can feel his love in the way he responds.

What a risk she’s taken, giving her heart to the most anti-technology human on planet earth. She has a feeling the dividends will be well worth it.

***

Tag Team: @angelalafan / @austencello / @dust2dust34 / @emeraldoliverqueen / @hope-for-olicity / @mel-loves-all / @memcjo / @releaseurinhibitions / @scu11y22 / @smoakqueenz

#olicity #oliver x felicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfiction #olicitysquee #olicity au #my stuff #my fic #shelley does fic #g is for gadgets and gimmicks

44 notes · View notes

underoossss · 5 years

Text

Dancing Under The Rain - H.O

Prologue

pairing: Detective!Harrison x female!reader

words: 1.5k

AN: Hello everyone, spooky season has begun with me scaring myself with a new story idea after months of writer’s block and being SO SELF CONSCIOUS of everything I wrote. This idea came to me out of nowhere and I talked to some friends about it which helped me get the confidence I needed to start writing it. This will probably have 5 chapters in total, each of them is kind of like a time skip. This was also inspired by the song RAIN by Ben Platt, hence the title, and it’s about two people who have shut everyone out and are scared of opening up to the one person who might understand what they’ve been through. Harrison and the reader are around their late 20′s early 30′s and the town I used is fictional of course. I hope you enjoy it and I would love to read your comments on this short prologue I’ve written for you. (If someone wants to help me with a moldboard hmu)

----

Over the years you have learned the pros and cons of living in a small town.

The pros:

You can escape from your previous life, from anything that hurt you and start over. No one knows who you are or the past that seems to sometimes follow you like a shadow sometimes. It’s a fresh start and 4 years ago, that was exactly what you needed.

That’s how you ended up in Dewitt, three hours away from Cambridge where everywhere you went people look at you with pity in their eyes. It’s as if losing your brother hadn’t been enough, no, people had to remind you with every look and every how are you? What were you even supposed to say? Devastated would only make people worried and okay made them believe you’re lying to them. Either way you felt like shit, there wasn’t a place you could go that didn’t remind you of him so you did what anyone else would do. Pack up your things and move to a remote town close to the sea where no oneknew you.

The cons:

People talk. A lot.

Not that people aren’t nice, they are, well most of them. However, that doesn’t make them any less nosy or gets rid the river of gossip that inevitably flows when something different from the routine happens. You expected it going in, if word got around in Cambridge then it would certainly get around in Dewitt. Therefore you kept quiet about any personal details or stories, to them you were the psychology professor that owns the bookshop/café in Harold street. You drive up to Cambridge twice a week to lecture your students and Skype any of them who need office hours. During the summers you give online classes and put pastel blue tables outside your store for people to read or talk. To everyone there you were the nice young lady who makes some really nice coffee, who is always smiling and who tutors whoever needs help in science or English lit. Gossip is a plague though, one that no one can escape so that’s how find out a detective has moved into town. Richard Mensen has gone missing and it’s been a week since his family, or anyone else saw him. The local authorities haven’t gotten anywhere so they sent someone else to help.

You walk to the entrance of the bookstore and glance at the police station as a man steps out of a car and walks inside. Harrison Osterfield, the detective from London who you can tell already walks with a massive weight on his shoulders.

----

Everyone is looking, there are cameras and reporters and Harrison just wants to go home. Eight and a half months after arriving to Dewitt, the case was finally solved. Richard Mensen was dead, that they discovered three weeks after arriving. The next eight months that followed were about finding out who did it, why they’d done it and convicting them for ruining a family’s life. They were also full of judgement, Harrison should be used to it by now, but he’s not. His palms sweat and his heart beats too fast under the attention of everyone in the town, every look of disappointment they had sent his way for taking so long.

You do it, Harrison wanted to say, go and solve it if it’s that easy. He puts on a neutral face, his mask, and tries not to give away how terrified he is of fucking up someone else’s life because of his shortcomings. He hasn’t so far, but he lived in fear of it happening. It’s brought him sleepless nights trying to figure cases out, cost him relationships and his confidence. He is sure of one thing though, they got the right guy convicted and now he can go to his little house in the outskirts of town and sleep for ten days.

“The case has been closed, the killer was sentenced to life in prison around thirty minutes ago. We kindly request the press to let the affected family rest and finally deal with their grief at this time. The people of Dewitt can be in peace now, we consider this case to be an anomaly in the otherwise safe community they live in. That’s all I have to say.”

Harrison steps aside and leaves the reporters standing outside of the station as he takes off his tie and shoves it in the pocket of his navy blue suit. The cool spring breeze pushes his hair back as he walks along the sidewalk by the many stores in Harold street. He takes a deep breath, feeling the tension leave his shoulders and smelling freshly ground coffee. Your bookshop is right ahead, the red flowers by the window blooming beautifully under the spring sun and contrasting with the pale yellow of the storefront. Harrison checks his watch, 2:30pm, it’s a bit too late for a coffee but he didn’t drink his usual one this morning and he’d be dammed if he doesn’t take this excuse to see you.

You’re sitting on a table by a bookshelf when he steps into the shop, there’s some papers in front of you, a cup of tea far away from them and what looks like a blueberry muffin by your right hand. Your eyebrows are furrowed while you focus on the words in front of you, almost dropping the piece of muffin you bring to your mouth with a fork. Setting down the fork, you chew on the pastry as you grab a pen and scribble something on one of the papers. It’s only when someone clears their throat behind him that he realizes he’s been leaning on the doorway and staring at you for more than a couple of minutes.

His ears feel like they’re burning when he steps into the shop to let the other person in. It’s George, the owner of the convenience store, who gives him a nod as he walks towards the shelves in the back of the shop. Harrison mumbles a quick apology and walks towards the register where the drink menu is displayed.

“Detective Osterfield.” You smile, standing up when you notice him come into the bookshop. “How was the court this morning?”

“Please, Y/N, call me Harrison.” He feels himself smile as he shakes his head. The case was over so there are no need for formalities, he’d hate it if you only saw him as a professional doing his job whenever he came for coffee. He’s here to see you, the coffee is an added bonus. “Court went well, he got a sentence and the case is closed.”

“That’s good. I bet you’re looking forward to rest for a while.” You walk around the register and move to the expresso machine. “Your usual?”

“No, umm, if I drink coffee right now I won’t sleep and I really need a nap.” He scratches the back of his neck. Why is he always so nervous. He’s seen crime scenes and blood but he can’t talk to you without feeling like a teenager? “But maybe one of those chocolate cookies you’ve got there.”

“Oh! I’m sorry if I’m keeping you then, let me get that cookie for you.” You push your hair behind your ear as you grab a small paper bag and use a napkin to pick a cookie from the jar. “Here you go.”

Harrison can’t help but return the smile you give him and moves to take his wallet from his jacket. “No, you’re fine don’t worry. How much to I owe you?”

“Oh, nevermind that.” You chuckle, smoothing the white blouse you are wearing. “Take it as a thank you for making our town safer.”

Harrison’s ears burn once more, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” You shrug, suddenly looking shy. “Are you, umm, staying in Dewitt? With the case being closed and all?”

Harrison hadn’t even thought about leaving, this town had become part of his routine and he dared say he’s grown fond of it. Not to mention he’d grown fond you. “Yeah, I’m staying.”

“Good, err, great... that’s nice.” You smile. “Would you like to take a walk down to the beach someday? It’s okay if you say no, don’t feel like you have to say yes because of the cookie, it’s not a bribe or anything I just-”

“Y/N.” Harrison stops your rambling stepping towards you. His heart is beating a mile a minute, you just asked him out. The broody shitty detective that takes eight months to figure out a case. He’s the luckiest shitty detective there is. “I’d love that.” He says, taking you hand.

“Really?” You smile, your eyes find his and he’s surprised to see his own. Eyes that smile but not all the way. Eyes that are hiding something painful that’s locked away in your heart.

“Yeah.” He smiles back, squeezing your hand with his before stepping back. “We can go whenever you want, just let me know.” Let me get to know you, he thinks.

You nod your head and smile at him again, and he is almost certain that you will. It could take time, but he’s willing to wait until the moment you decide you will because he’ll try to do the same.

----

tagging: @lovestruckhaz @parkerpuffwrites @deleteidentity @lonely--witch @the-claire-bitch-project @rachramblesstuff @peeterparkr @hollandharrison @angelhaz11 💓

#harrison osterfield #harrison osterfield x reader #harrison osterfield series #detective au #harrison osterfield au #pauwrites #haz osterfield x reader #haz osterfield

64 notes · View notes

iamonlypartlymajestic · 4 years

Text

KAIJU FORCE (SPACE FORCE/GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS FANFIC)

*Co-written with @awildtrashcan*

AO3 LINK CHAPTER 1

Chapter 2 - Mark and Mallory (and Fuck Tony and Sam) Go to Washington

Sam smiles when he sees Dr. Mallory walking towards him, but the grin wilts when he sees how annoyed the older man is as he walks closer. The Monarch director had already finished any work pertaining to his actual job and since he was already in the area, decided to make a visit to Space Force. He was having a quite invigorating discussion with Dr. Chan about the effects of MUTO radiation on terrestrial plant life (his PhD may be in computer science, but he’s always up for learning new things), when he noticed Dr. Mallory’s ID lying forgotten on one of the nearby tables. Having recently been informed about the upcoming budget hearing that day, he figured the chief scientist was with the general getting ready.

"Dr. Mallory, I saw you left your ID back in the botany lab."

Mallory's eyes widen in surprise as Sam holds his credentials in front of him, before he breaks into a relieved smile. "Thank you, Dr. Coleman. I was just on my way to grab it."

“No pro—blem?” Rather than take the ID from Sam’s hand, Mallory drags the younger man by his jacket down the path he just came from and through the main building, all the way into General Naird's office waiting room, and pushes him in front of a guard. Why do people in Space Force want to manhandle him all the time? However, unlike with Fuck Tony, Sam doesn’t want to be rude and resigns to letting the chief scientist do as he pleases.

Mallory silently holds Sam's arm which is still carrying the older man’s ID and pushes it into the guard's face. The guard squints to stare at the small rectangular piece of plastic attached to a random man’s arm. "Thank you,” he says pleasantly, “Doctor...Mallory."

Dr. Mallory abruptly drops his hold on Sam causing the younger man to stumble on the ground. “You knew that,” Mallory says utterly deadpan.

Sam stands up and straightens out his suit and tie when the general’s assistant, Brigadier General “Just call me Brad!” Gregory, informs him about General Naird’s last minute media prep with Fuck Tony.

Mallory just sighs deeply. And walks out of the waiting room.

“Wait! Dr. Mallory!” Sam picks up the dropped ID and quickly goes after the man.

~O~

It was just supposed to be a quick hang out sesh with the science team, despairs Sam as he trails after Dr. Mallory. Now the chief scientist has asked (read: forced) Sam to pick up what is most likely the science team budget binder for the older man so he wouldn’t have to walk back to the lab himself.

Having finally found the general (and Fuck Tony), Mallory commands his new manservant to chase after the two.

“Gen-general Naird!” Sam’s voice cracks, his lungs tired after having to jog back and forth the entire length of Space Force so many times (he's definitely met his weekly physical activity quota within the last hour). Thankfully, the general stops, allowing Sam to take a break. He holds the binder out like a shield as he pants.

“Where is my rat blood pressure research funding?!” Each of Mallory’s words are emphasized as he walks up behind Sam.

Sam barely registers that the three men have started walking again when he finally catches his breath.

“Uh, er. Dr. Mallory?” He strides up to the two arguing men, “I hate to interrupt, but now that the general is here, I’ll just head out myself.” Sam wants to just go home and take a nap. He wasn’t expecting the sudden work-out today.

As Mallory takes the binder from him, General Naird stares at Sam with a raised eyebrow. The general hums and asks, “Isn’t one of your tasks in Monarch to speak in Senate hearings?”

Bewildered by the sudden question, Sam answers with a hesitant yes.

“Do they include budget meetings?”

“Um…” Sam glances behind the general’s shoulder at Fuck Tony’s obviously amused expression.

“Perfect! You’re coming with us.” General Naird continues walking, firmly ignoring any of Sam’s and Dr. Mallory’s protests. The two PhD holders look at each other in commiseration before following.

Outside, a young woman bounces up to the general. Sam, Tony, and Mallory stand a couple feet back as General Naird and his daughter speak. Sam takes the time to look at the pilot waiting in parade rest and the helicopter behind her. It’s been a while since Sam has been in a helicopter as Monarch typically uses an Osprey to carry multiple passengers as well as important cargo over the long distances between outposts. Having looked his fill, he turns back to the conversation in front of him.

“...gave the teacher the finger,” says the general’s daughter proudly.

"Nice! Y’know, one time my history teacher gave me a C so I planted drugs in his desk, and now? He lives under a bridge like a troll!" Tony excitedly informs the teenager. He elbows Sam in camaraderie and wiggles his eyebrows.

"I never went to high school,” Sam pipes up after Tony, but quickly finishes his sentence when the general turns around to give him a hard look. “I mean—I graduated university at fourteen...so I didn’t have to?” Sam gives the older man a pained smile and tells himself to shut up.

Tony rolls his eyes and scoffs, “Nerd.”

Sam doesn’t miss Dr. Mallory’s nod of approval, however, and tries hard not to blush.

The three men watch the very uncomfortable (at least for Sam) conversation between father and daughter. General Naird then commands the pilot of their helicopter, Captain Ali, to basically babysit his teenage daughter, which Sam honestly thinks is uncalled for.

Sam gives the captain a sympathetic smile, who returns an unamused glare. A bit scared for his life now, the Monarch director hurries after the three other men into the helicopter.

“At least someone else here knows how to fly,” General Naird says gruffly as he sits himself onto the pilot’s seat. Sam’s surprised but pleased that the general remembered. Nervous about the awkward start of their first meeting, Sam had told the older man about having a pilot’s license as to create some common ground between the two.

“Kiss ass,” Fuck Tony calls him in a hushed sing-song voice. Sam rolls his eyes and refuses to answer back, buckling up his own seatbelt. As the youngest, they were both delegated to the back seats of the helicopter with Dr. Mallory up at the front passenger’s next to the general.

Sam wishes he could say he gets the last laugh upon learning how freaked out Tony gets during their flight, but the brunet man is an utter nightmare to sit next to on an aircraft.

After flying for a few minutes, Mallory takes the time to continue his argument, “Rat hemoglobins are substantially—”

“Jesus, just let him fly the fucking thing!” Tony ends up screaming into Sam’s ear as the asshole bends closer towards Dr. Mallory, who’s in the seat directly in front of Sam. “You’re talking, he’s gotta fly!”

Sam pushes the panicked man off of him, and not one to be so easily deterred, Fuck Tony pushes back, which eventually leads to a slap fight between the two younger men.

"Oh, for the love of—I will turn this helicopter back around if you don't knock it off, do I make myself clear?!" The general yells at the two behind him who quickly stop and settle down.

Sam just hears Mallory sigh wearily over the microphone.

~O~

"So why'd you come here?" Tony asks him, eyes still fixed on his phone. The two younger men sit on wooden benches outside of the Chief of Staff Gold Room, waiting for General Naird. Unlike Mallory, who settled himself right outside of the door, he and Tony are in an empty hallway nearby, not wanting to disturb the other visitors.

"What?" Sam says, taking a pause from twisting and flexing his fingers (a nervous tic he’s developed since childhood from his need to constantly tinker with something).

Tony finally looks up from his phone and waves a hand at Sam, gesturing...something. Sam doesn’t know what. "It wasn't that surprising to see you act like Mallory's personal gofer, you science dudes tend to travel in packs. But letting Naird drag you with him? You do know the general doesn't really have power over you, right? He's your business partner, not your boss."

"I...I just thought I'd help him out? Since we're business partners I may as well make sure the group I'm working with doesn't implode weeks into our partnership." Sam chooses to ignore the fact that Fuck Tony has a point, embarrassed at his own lack of a backbone.

"Well, if you say so. Honestly, he'll need all the help he can get." The brunet sends Sam a pointed look.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sam stretches his fingers even tighter, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

"You'll see," Tony says in a tone implying lots and lots of experience with the matter, and goes back to playing with his phone.

~O~

As they walk into Capitol Hill, Sam feels his back straighten automatically, holding his head up higher to show he’s much more confident than he really is. A Pavlovian response that formed from having to speak to several crowds on behalf of Monarch.

It probably doesn’t work considering many senators still tend to disregard his existence.

Sam startles at seeing a balding senator grab the general in a forceful hug and almost bumps into Dr. Mallory in front of him.

“Well! That was awkward and horrible,” Tony declares with a grin. And Sam is about to agree until the other man continues, “The man is about to grill you, let him bring it in for the real thing. Remember!” He points a finger to emphasize his point, “You gotta embrace to get those dollars for space!”

“What? No!” Sam blurts out. Unfortunately, his warning goes unheard when an older woman passes by.

The secondhand cringe Sam gets seeing General Naird give his own non-consensual hug to Representative Pitosi makes the younger man’s skin crawl.

“What the fuck, Fuck Tony?” Sam whispers and gives his own look of disbelief towards the brunet as they wait to be let inside. The Monarch director then turns to the general and says placatingly, “Maybe you shouldn’t follow Tony’s advice, sir.”

Tony cocks his head toward the shorter man and narrows his eyes. "I'm sorry, since when were you the PR guy?"

“Oh no, I’m sorry,” Sam gives Tony a sarcastically pitying look, “I’m just the man whose job is to speak at these things.”

"Great job you're doing when you tell the general's daughter to skip school as you're telling her not to skip school." Tony raises his eyebrow and crosses his arms.

“What the hell does that even mean?!” Sam throws his hands up in the air.

“Gentlemen…” Dr. Mallory’s voice creeps up from behind the two, irritated by the noise. Sam and Tony face the chief scientist. His eyes stare coldly at them.

“Sorry, sir.” Sam says meekly.

“Whatever,” sneers Tony at the same time.

~O~

Sam closes his eyes and focuses on breathing slowly so he doesn't end up bashing his head into something as he's forced to listen to a fucking flat earther that somehow got a position in Congress. Granted, considering the fact that the current POTUS is a Piece Of Shit he really shouldn't be surprised but holy crap, he is losing brain cells by the second. Brain cells that are very important to MUTO research, thank you very much…why the hell is here, again?

Tony obnoxiously lets out a fake guffaw and pats Sam’s shoulder harshly as the general makes a joke. Sam gives his own awkward giggle since the rest of the crowd behind them laugh along.

He really doesn’t want to be here.

Tony pulls his phone out yet again and starts typing away. Sam’s already beginning to tune out the whole hearing when his phone vibrates inside his jacket pocket. He ignores it.

Tony continues to text. Sam’s phone continues to vibrate.

Sam’s noticing a trend here. He pulls out his own phone, staring disapprovingly at Tony and then at his messages.

Told you so

You enjoying your front row seat for the cringe show?

Saaaam

Sam takes a quick peek at the senators sitting above them and then leans towards Tony, whispering, “Why are you texting me right now?”

Tony presses a finger against his own lips and shushes him, “It’s rude to talk when others are speaking.”

Sam huffs and returns to his phone. What an asshole!

You’re an asshole. Stop texting me.

bold words for someone texting me

Sam leaves Tony’s messages on “read” and tries to refocus on the meeting. Representative Pitosi is holding a stack of documents filled almost entirely with black lines.

Wow. And people thought Monarch—a literally secret (or rather semi-secret now) science organization—had a problem with being open about their experiments and research?

Sam frowns as he sees the general begin to tap a pencil on the desk and clear his throat an unnecessary number of times. The Monarch representative glances around in case anyone notices him and then types out a text.

Is Naird ok?

dw this happens anytime all of us depend on him being able to talk like a human being :/

Wow How does Space Force function?

we dont

Sam doesn’t even bother to reply back, pressing his hand to his forehead. “Jesus…,” he whispers.

It also doesn’t help Sam’s anxiety when the general seriously says—out loud, he wants to emphasize—that “Space is hard.” He receives another text.

"Space is hard." - General Mark R. Naird, 2020 #newmotto

Sam sinks deeper into his seat.

But then straightens up again as General Naird continues to speak.

“...I want her to have a taste of the Earth and remember what she’s fighting for.” The general’s voice trembles slightly but stays strong as he talks. It shames Sam to say this, but before this moment, he hadn’t realized how passionate General Naird is about Space Force and its role in helping society. The older man’s speech reminds him of Dr. Serizawa. How the Monarch scientist would speak in their own Senate hearings, fighting for the respect Titans deserve as fellow beings living with us on Earth. If we took care of our home and its inhabitants, they would take care of us in return.

A symbiotic relationship, if you will.

Sam smiles, his regard for the general increasing.

Incoherent chanting echoes from the back of the room. The crowd turns around to find a group of women wearing Handmaid’s Tale costumes and holding up signs with various “Pro-choice” slogans.

Bad timing, but good for them, Sam thinks.

Tony shakes him as they watch the protestors leave. “Hey, quick! Take a picture of me with them.”

“What?! Do it yourself.” But Tony has already thrown his phone at the other man and leaves Sam to juggle to not drop it. He quickly takes the picture and gives Tony back his phone. Sam’s own cell vibrates not long after.

cant even take a proper pic smh

Below the message is the photo Sam just took. More than half of the picture is covered by his thumb, completely obscuring Tony’s face.

Who said it was accidental?

He sends Tony the middle-finger emoji.

Tony sends three back.

Sam sends a GIF of a group of people flipping off the camera.

You win this time Coleman this time

Sam smirks and puts away his phone. Just in time for Dr. Mallory to classily put the young senator on blast. He could see the woman get increasingly more embarrassed from his front row seat.

Sam wants to be like Dr. Mallory when he grows up.

Representative Pitosi finally dismisses Space Force, and Sam and Tony quickly get up to follow the general and chief scientist.

Fuck Tony glides through the center walkway, holding his hand out for high-fives along the way. However, unlike the social media director, Sam is not a child and just stares admiringly at the two older men as they walk out of the room.

"So, Dr. Coleman," General Naird turns to him and Sam has to physically shake his head to remove the heart filter over his eyes. "How was our first Space Force budget hearing?"

Sam's casual smile vanishes into a thin line. He brings his hands, palms pressed together, over his mouth and inhales sharply. Next to him, Fuck Tony grins.

#fanfic #middleditch & schwartz #middleditch and schwartz #space force #Godzilla #godzilla: king of the monsters #longer chapter #woohoo #sam coleman #f. tony scarapiducci #dr. mallory #general naird

3 notes · View notes

douxreviews · 5 years

Text

The Terminator (1984) Review

[Big honking spoilers below! If you've never seen this movie, go watch it first!]

Kyle: "Come with me if you want to live."

I love science fiction, time travel stories, and strong female characters. And I'm a romantic. So you can imagine how I've always felt about this movie.

The whole freaking story is a paradox. How could John Connor even exist in the first place if John himself had to send his father back in time to rescue and impregnate his mother? And yet, it's the circular time travel elements that I love most. Like the photograph of Sarah that Kyle carried with him in the future. He always wondered what Sarah was thinking when it was taken, and of course, she was thinking of him. I always wondered why James Cameron didn't give us the biggest paradox of all: the name of the factory in that final action sequence, Cyberdyne Systems.

I've never liked Arnold Schwarzenegger. I particularly dislike him in his most recent role as governator. But I will grudgingly admit that he was pretty much perfect casting as a killer cyborg, and this movie launched his career. His best work as an actor was always physical, and this was a very physical role. And his expressionless and memorable delivery of the line, "I'll be back," has become part of our culture.

Anyway, Arnold, smarnold. I've always felt that this was Michael Biehn's movie. Kyle Reese was a tragic, memorable character. A refugee from an unspeakable future, he made a quixotic, heroic journey through time because he fell in love with a photograph, and sacrificed his life after only one night of love. His death was painful; we didn't want him to die, and it hurt when he did. No wonder Sarah threw herself at him. I'd do it.

Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor was also very good, although the sequel was where her character really shone. Sarah started out as an aimless young waitress, helpless and completely out of her depth. She weathered the deaths of her best friend, her mother and her lover, along with the complete rearrangement of her entire universe, and she became exactly what Kyle believed she was in the first place. She was the one who had the strength to kill the Terminator in the end, after all. I've always loved the way Linda Hamilton delivered the line, "You're terminated, fucker."

This movie was James Cameron's first original work, and it was pre-CGI and made on the cheap since Arnold wasn't a big name yet. Nearly all of it holds up, though, because the story and the acting were the center of the movie, not the effects. The stop-motion metal skeleton in the final action sequence looked a bit jerky, but when we saw it in close-up, it looked really scary. (And it even looked like it could be Arnold.) The only scenes that looked fake to me were the ones with the cyborg head. It just doesn't look real, and I can't imagine that it did when the movie first came out, either. I think Cameron should have made do with just the actor, the X-acto knife, and the eyeball plopping into the sink. It would have worked.

This is a fast, exciting, memorable movie. It's also bleak and dark, with a fatalistic, negative view of a future where technology has destroyed our humanity. In the end, Sarah, like a pre-apocalyptic Madonna, is waiting for the world to end in order for her son to play his part. John Connor is the holy child, the twenty-first century Jesus who will come to save us all.

Bits and pieces:

-- The action takes place in May and November, 1984. The future sequences were set in 2029, although they were mostly Kyle's dreams, all of which ended with his death. As the movie did.

-- I've always loved the skilfully filmed scenes in TechNoir ("black technology," exactly what the Terminator was). There were other interesting, negative images of technology throughout the movie, too, like the answering machine that "needed love, too." My favorite was the children staring into a fire burning inside the shell of a television set.

-- The scenes of the future showed wreckage twisted in on itself, like the story. When the metal skeleton of the Terminator rose from the fire (the scariest moment in the movie), the wreckage behind it was twisted in much the same way.

-- The opening scene with Arnold and the three punks was shot at one of my favorite places in Los Angeles, the Griffith Observatory. One of the punks was future star Bill Paxton; another was Brian Thompson, who played multiple monsters on Buffy.

-- Paul Winfield and Lance Henriksen were just marvelous as the two cops, bouncing lines off each other like the pros they are. Henriksen was originally Cameron's choice to play the Terminator, but the concept of the movie changed.

-- We got a very romantic, poignant and sexy love scene. You don't usually get those in sci-fi movies. I've always loved it. Why can't sci-fi movies be romantic?

-- In an early scene, Sarah was wearing a tee shirt with the Jetsons on it.

-- I just have to say that most single women don't put their entire name in the phone book. If this had been done realistically, the Terminator would have had to work his way through every S. Connor in the listings.

-- The music Ginger was listening to when she was killed was "It's a Mistake." One of the songs in TechNoir was, "You've Got Me Burning," which was what happened to the Terminator.

-- Sarah called her mother. What was she thinking? Yes, it was the only way to start the action again, but come on. She called her mother?

Quotes:

Waitress: "Look at it this way. In a hundred years, who's gonna care?"

Traxler: "A one day pattern killer." Vukovich: "I hate the weird ones."

Vukovich: "That coffee's two hours cold." Traxler: "Um hum." Vukovich: "And I put a cigarette out in it."

Kyle: "That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

Silberman: "And this computer thinks it can win by killing the mother of its enemy. Killing him, in effect, before he's even conceived. A sort of retroactive abortion?"

Kyle: "He'll find her. It's what he does. It's all he does." This has always been one of my favorite quotes, especially the last two sentences and the way Biehn said them. Dan and I say it all the time about a lot of things. Mostly about my cat Spike.

Sarah: "So Reese is crazy?" Silberman: "In technical terminology? He's a loon."

Kyle: "I'd die for John Connor." Sarah: "At least now I know what to name him. I don't suppose you know who the father is, so I won't tell him to get lost when I meet him?"

Sarah: "You're talking about things I haven't done yet in the past tense. It's driving me crazy. Are you sure you have the right person?" Kyle: "I'm sure." Sarah: "Come on. Do I look like the mother of the future? Am I tough, organized? I can't even balance my checkbook."

Sarah: "What have we got? Mothballs, corn syrup, ammonia. What's for dinner?"

This movie is classic, excellent science fiction, and I love it. Four out of four paradoxes.

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#The Terminator #Sarah Connor #Kyle Reese #T-800 #James Cameron #Doux Reviews #Movie Reviews #something from the archive

7 notes · View notes

junionigiri · 6 years

Text

The Clumsy Square and the Lady Fair [BNHA] preview

Summary: Iida Tenya is presently the top student of UA Boys Academy, square in shape and personality, working hard for a comfortable square-shaped future following in the footsteps of his brother Sergeant Iida Tensei of the National Police Academy. However, he finds himself deviating from his square-shaped path when he helps a girl from Shiketsu Girls High School from being harassed by a group of perverts! As fate, circumstance, and questionable life choices bring him and Yaoyorozu Momo-kun closer, Iida-kun finds himself needing more and more courage to let things fall unpredictably--and naturally--into place.

Relationship: Iida Tenya/Yaoyorozu Momo; lots of other background relationships to be determined!

Rating: T for language!

Notes/Warnings: So some time ago, I received a suggestion to write a real honest to goodness IDMM fic rather than the sad one I published for YES. For some reason, this is the first thing I thought of!

This is a quirkless AU inspired mainly by Densha Otoko/Train Man. Characters from both the canon story and the spin-off (BNHA: Vigilantes) are set to appear here to support our fav square. Apart from Bakugou’s Potty Mouth (tm) when he appears in the story, I have no real warning other than ‘dorks in love’ (and maybe a little awkwardness in narration since I’m trying out a new style). By my planning this is 11 chapters long, but the chapters are... long lololol so it will take a while before I publish the whole story for real. Just feeling a little impatient so I’m publishing the beginning of the story here!

Our story, simply put, is a love story between two high schoolers who meet, become friends, go through the tumultuous confusion of puberty, and eventually fall in-love. Like most stories worth telling, the events that lead to the lovely outcome isn’t as smooth and easy as it sounds. This comes much to the chagrin of our main character, who likes angular, standard glasses, straight, measured lines, and as such spent his childhood running into walls and breaking his glasses because he doesn’t know how to change directions. But as he is about to learn, the best things in life occur off the beaten path.

Let’s begin with our main character. His name is Iida Tenya, 15 years old and, as his friends and family are prone to tell you before the events of this story, he is single for the same number of years as his age.

There are other important things you have to know about our dear Iida-kun. First, he is a first year high school student at the prestigious all-boys’ school, UA. It is a school of great renown, with various opportunities for sports and science engineering scholarships. Were it a different universe, we’re sure that superheroes would choose this school to fast-track their careers into the world of pros!

Impressively, our main character got into this prestigious school with no problems. In fact, he is the number one student in his class, the track team’s star, and also the class representative. In any other school you’d think that he’d be popular and having the unique problem of getting love letters in his school locker everyday, or receiving a table full of chocolates ever Valentine’s day.

Unfortunately, as mentioned before… this is an all-boys’ school. And even though Iida Tenya-kun is classified as one of the ikemen group in 1A because of his looks, he is surprisingly, severely… unpopular. His fellow students like him enough as Class President, but also tell him outright that he’s too stiff or he’s too stern or he talks like an old man or he’s got a weird way of being fired up and why do his arms do that thing?

(You know, the thing when he chops his hand down like a director’s clapperboard? Or the thing that goes down in the parking lot right before you pay your parking fee? That one.)

Bakugou Katsuki-kun, the top 2 student in their class, as well the top 1 in distemper and volatility, eloquently regarded him as such: a Square. A Square in shape, a Square in personality, and a Square in everything he does. Being Bakugou, he says it with more unreasonable expletives than warranted. Iida-kun doesn’t like it very much, but he has to admit, the square shoe fits too well.

It’s distinctive enough that Iida Tenya-kun isn’t regarded by his many classmates as a romantic prospect or a future rival, which is fine by him, because romance with a boy or a girl is the farthest thing from his mind. But he also isn’t taken seriously a lot of the time, which he minded a lot. He likes his classmates well enough, but nary a day passes that he isn’t laughed at for his different way of doing things.

At the end of the day though, despite all the challenges that accompany a square existence, Iida Tenya-kun is happy the way he is. After all, even though he is single, he has acquaintances and those he even dared to call close friends. Namely, Midoriya Izuku-kun, the top 3 student of their class, and Todoroki Shouto-kun, the top 4 student of his class, who both like him well enough. On odd days that he feels the pang of loneliness, he reminds himself that he has too many responsibilities like class rep work and academics and the track team and living up to his brother’s name to really worry about being 15 years old and single for the same number of years.

He’s… happy the way he is. Perfectly happy as a Square, fitting in the square-shaped future he plotted out for him on a clean, precise sheet of graphing paper. There’s no reason for him to change his shape.

So, back to the story. Our Square Friend is in a rush trying to reach the dorms before curfew at 2100 hours. He’s had a long day of working on class representative matters, training with the Track Team, and cleaning out the 1A classroom for a second time (which he tends to do when Kaminari-kun and Monoma-kun are assigned that day’s cleaning duties). After that, he’s had to rush to the Hosu City Mall, where they are selling the limited edition Ingenium Recipro Boost running shoes. It is extremely necessary because it is the only running shoes appropriate for track. When it comes to running shoes, you shouldn’t settle for anything but the best!

Before he realizes it, it is already 2032 hours and his dormmate Midoriya-kun is already asking where he is. He makes a run for the train and barely makes the 2045 train headed for the UA Campus.

At this time of the evening, there aren’t many fellow students on the train, and the carriages aren’t that full. All the seats are taken, mainly by tired salarymen, housewives who did their shopping, and a few elderlies who are seated with their eyes on the floor.

Oh, but somebody else catches his eye. As he remembers the story later on in his life, this must be the moment when his life changed.

The girl is a fellow student, just like him. The first thing he notices about her is her aura, an elegance he cannot quite explain by her appearance alone. Her eyes were dark like ebony, but bright with intelligence as they scanned through an English copy of Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time.[3] Her hair is similarly dark and shiny, neatly tied behind her head in a ponytail that fell in a curious, spiky spiral that only makes her look more distinctive. Her posture is impeccable--he was sure that her upbringing was similarly refined, just by looking at the way she sat. She is wearing a blazer and a dark skirt that Iida-kun identifies as the Shiketsu Girls’ High School uniform.

And… she looks up at him briefly with a curious look in her eyes.

Oh dear. He might have been staring a tad too long. He instantly averts his eyes and focuses on the floor, trying not to blush. Ah, but his ears are getting warmer and his palms are getting sweaty and any minute now his glasses might fog. How embarrassing.

For the first time in his life, Iida-kun thinks of this sentence, in reference not to a Italian Renaissance fresco (such as the likes of Raphael’s The School of Athens), but to an actual human person:

How… breathtaking!

And almost immediately he fights the urge to karate-chop himself in shame. Iida-kun, do not pick up Kaminari-kun’s unseemly habit of ogling at females!

His stop is five stations away. This breathtaking girl is likely going to get off at a different station, and he’ll probably never get to see her again. It’s a little sad, he admits, but it’s not like he has the means or the will to introduce himself to her under these circumstances… he just has to get a hold of himself and stop staring already.

But the universe isn’t done with Iida-kun just yet. Looking back, this must be the second moment when his life changed.

“Heya, heya, hey-yaaaa! Three Sturm Und Drang Brothers comin’ yer wayyy-ya!”

Three shady-looking individuals clad in tight, dark outfits and identical black beanies enter the carriage, swaggering left and right. A strong stench, which is probably a mixture of alcohol and cigarette smoke, wafts from their general direction.

Including Iida-kun, everybody else on the carriage clamps their nostrils shut with their hands and give in to the impulse to face the floor and avoid all eye contact.

“Where the pretty ladies at, yo--? Come out, come out, and have a good time with us!”

What fiends! What a blatant disrespect for women! How despicable! Iida-kun rants silently. He hears his pulse throbbing angrily in his head, and feels his teeth clench. Somebody needs to do something about this!

But for all the angry thoughts in Iida-kun’s head, he keeps his head down.

“Whaa? Bro, looks like we got the wrong carriage, huuuh?” Iida-kun hears one obnoxious voice say, followed by an ominous chuckle. “What is this, the elderly car? There’re only haggard housewives and grannies and ugly old salarymen here, wuuut?”

He peeks a little to observe their rampage. He sees them appraise all the women in the car one by one, leering at them in the face with a sickening grin. The salarymen, all able-bodied men who are seated near the perverts, are obviously aware of what’s happening, but keep their eyes down.

What are these adults doing? Isn’t anybody going to do anything about this?! He feels his fist tighten a little more, but again, he keeps his head down. Iida Tenya! Maybe you should do something about this! If nobody will do the right thing, doesn’t the duty befall on YOU?

“Man, and I thought we’d have another panty run tonight. This blows! Looks like we’re at the boring part of town…”

What would your older brother, Sergeant Iida Tensei of the National Police Agency, do in this situation?! Don’t let him down! Be brave! Be Brave!

“Oh ho ho! Bros! I found a beaut right here!”

He suddenly hears a high-pitched squeak, followed by the sound of somebody being pulled up to their feet. Iida-kun’s head snaps upward, all apprehensions instantly dissipating.

“Oh lordy! We hit the jackpot here!”

To his horror, the perverts now had the Shiketsu High girl in their grubby grasps. The tallest of the trio held her by the arm, causing her to drop Professor Hawking’s book to the floor. The other two leer at her, pushing their faces very, very close to her personal bubble.

“Hey, cutie? What’s your name? Come on, don’t be a snob. Smile for me, won’t ya?”

Someone… someone has to help… somebody? Anybody? A quiet rage, one that our main character has not felt before ever in his fifteen long years of life, begins to build up in his chest.

“Help me, please!” The girl manages to cry, to which the pervert trio around her only whoops in false offense.

Suddenly, he loses all impulse to keep his head down any further. “You FIENDS! You perverts! Sexual harassers! Let her go this instant!”

Before he even realizes that it is his voice booming out all over the carriage, and it is his loud footsteps thundering towards the scene, he is already there, facing off against the surprised perpetrators and the terrified girl.

“Oh~ is that so, aniki?” The tallest one isn’t even fazed, even when Iida-kun attempts to puff out his chest and appear as the most intimidating square as he could be. He turns to the girl, who whimpers as his unpleasant mug is again near her face. “Oh, I know what you want! You want onee-chan here for yourself, huh? Too bad, we got dibs on her!”

Within the next instant, the other two perverts flank him on the side. Caught by surprise, the usually sturdy Iida is suddenly falling to the ground. He flinches and groans as two of the Sturm Und Drang brothers make quick work of him, stomping him and kicking him until his body started screaming in pain. He hears the muffled gasps and cries of all the other passengers, but not a single one of them stands up, or even dares to look.

He shields his face with his arms when the perverts attack his ‘nerd-glasses’ next. Even then, he sees the despairing look in the Shiketsu girl’s face, as the pervert’s tongue goes nearer and nearer her skin…

“Freeze!”

In the next instant, Iida realizes that the stomping and kicking has stopped, and instead three frenzied yells from above him ring out. Within the next ten seconds, he hears a series of precise fists hitting gasping flesh, clicking noises, and the huff of a job well done.

Stunned, he sees an arm reach out to him. He takes it and sees a handsome face smiling down on him. “It’s all right now, buddy,” he says, as he pulls him up to a standing position.

The Shiketsu girl is still shaking, but she is now standing behind the man and at a safe distance from the perverts, who are now handcuffed together on the floor. They seem to have the breaths knocked out of them and didn’t have the energy to look at the mysterious helpful stranger with consternation.

The passengers seem to awaken from their stupor and have exploded in thunderous applause, all thanks of course to the stranger. Not knowing what else to do, the beat-up high school boy bows his head to him. “Thank you,” Iida supplies weakly.

“No, thank you,” the stranger says, reaching out to shake his hand. “If you didn’t yell at the harassers back then, I wouldn’t have known there was trouble from the other car.”

He then looks at the girl, who is still stunned and shaking in silence. He puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and nods. “How about you, miss? Are you all right?”

The glazed look in her eyes dissipates briefly. “O-Oh! Y-yes, I am n-now.” As if just snapping back to her senses, she bows low in front of the stranger and says, “Thank you v-very much for s-saving me from them! Y-you’re my hero!”

Somehow, the way she says hero rings in Iida’s head and lingers there, an unexplained emotion creeping into his heart.

The stranger laughs it off and shakes his hands in front of him. “Oh, no, it’s my job. See, I’m a police officer. Well, an off-duty one, but a police officer just the same.” He reaches into his pocket and shows them his ID and badge. “I’m Inspector Tsukauchi Naomasa.”

Iida’s jaw drops. A police officer! Just like his beloved older brother, Sergeant Iida Tensei of the National Police Agency! No wait, he’s even more specialized than that, he’s an Inspector! A higher ranking! His glasses shine in respect. Police officers are just too cool!

Not like him, who was definitely uncool just a while ago. He feels his glasses fog in shame.

“And I’ll have to ask you two to hop off with me on the next station,” he continues as he walks closer to the apprehended perverts. When he regards the look of horror on the high school students’ faces, he laughs. “No, I’m not going to arrest you two. But I do need your statements, and I need to make sure you two are safe. All right?”

The two high school students nod in relief.

#bnha fic #bnha #iidamomo #iida tenya x yaoyorozu momo #iida tenya #yaoyorozu momo #attempt at something that's not depressing for a change

22 notes · View notes

the-adorable-vinnie-dakota · 7 years

Text

The Perfect Picture

Remember when I mentioned i was writing a one-shot of Orton being a troll to Block? Well here it is ^^ Honestly while i like thse two as rivals, i also liked the idea of them having a dorky frenemyship where one does nasty things that turn out to be mere tactics for self entertainment which turns out proper at the end for the other.

*whispers* Block and Orton friendship is a new thing :3 Gotta thank @annamaetion for motivating me to finish this - Which I’m about three paragraphs from the end x3

"THIS is my photographer?! Gretchen what is the meaning of this?!"

Orton smirked snidely while Block was towering over his assistant in demanding. The bespectacled woman that is Gretchen remained nonchalant and she responded in a monotone voice. "There's no meaning, Sir. You were asking for the best photographer there is in Danville so here he is," She coolly gestured at Orton.

Block started to shriek like a spoilt child who didn't get what he wanted. "But...! Oh for crying out loud - I only asked for a photographer! Not a movie star of some ridiculous science sitcom!"

Gretchen flinched and Orton spoke up with crossed arms. "Hey you do realize I can be that and a photographer at the same time, right?" The words shut Block up and he fumed, eyes casting on Gretchen.

Gretchen sensed the hostility and gave her boss the crossed arms. "Orton's the only photographer I've found to be available twenty four hours a day," She pointed out and flashed Orton a grin. "Besides, he's a pretty photogenic man if you ask me. He'll know exactly how to help you make the best photo for the Bureau's Hall of Agents Portrait."

Block's eyes twitched and he groaned in frustration. Of all decisions it had to be this - It's either let that punk work or no picture. It's only one day left and he had absolutely no time to waste..

"Ugh fine! You get the job Mahlson," He curtly shook the offered hand. "But you better make it good."

Orton just nodded in reply. "Oh of course Percival. Of course..." He smirked.

In his annoyance, Block did not see Orton's grin flash with mischief…

Block stared at the well-decorated room while Orton concentrated on nicely bunching up some flowers. The once just plain white room is now home to fancy chairs, mountainous wallpaper and plastic potted plants. How Orton managed to fit all of those in his backpack? He'll never know.

"Hey I thought I had Gretchen order a photographer! Not an interior designer!" He snapped.

A card flew right into his face and Block caught it in two fingers before it could slide down. He read the card.

Danville's Pro Actor Slash Dr Zone Franchise Creator Slash Top Notch Photographer Slash Freelance Interior Designer.

"Wow. That, is a lot of modern positions for someone from the 60s. How exactly did you fit in with society here so easily?!" Block looked incredulous.

Orton rolled his eyes and casually fiddled a flower in his fingers. "Sheesh Blockhead, your brain sure is living the luxurious life of taking its time to process - I have friends, you know? Want me to name them?"

When Block opened his mouth, Orton pinched his lips shut. "You know what? Forget it, I'd rather keep my brethren safe than give their info away to a rotten toad like you so topic closed."

He smirked at the growling Block let out before he gracefully twirled and clapped his hands. "Now chop chop, we still have your photoshoot to do!"

Block grunted and stood up. Orton looked skeptically at the black and red suit from head to toe. Block found it hard to resist punching the guy with the reminder of personal space.

"What's the problem Orton? Why are you staring at my clothes like a fool looking for a scrap of dirt?"

The tawny man stood up and put a hand to his chin. "Hmph nothing serious except - Oh boy... Well I got some news for you." He pulled a part of Block's uniform. "Your clothes cannot do. You need a complete redo! A makeover."

No way. Block gasped. "A makeover?!?"

Orton gave a curt nod. "A makeover."

Nothing could describe the girly squeal Block suddenly let out. The bulky man stopped the embarrassing reaction and gave Orton a questioning look. "Hey you're doing a manly one, right?"

"My! Percy you look fabulous! Oh just come out and look at yourself!"

Orton facepalmed in frustration before going into the closet room to pull Block out. "Seriously, come out you big baby! I have a time limit here and you are wasting every ounce of seconds with your stubborn ass!" He yanked hard on Block's arm and pulled him outside.

The surrounding backdrop workers (lesser time traveller agents) bit their lips in trying not to laugh out loud at their boss.

Block just growled through his pursed mouth, busy stiff and arms pressed at the sides. In the forty minutes of scuffle and dressing up, Orton did a fine job of decorating him.

Wearing the Napoleon-like attire, it made him feel like he's being squeezed and suffocated alive while the high-heeled leather boots aren't making things any comfier. His pants are white and its leggings poofed out at where the boots are overlapping.

Light pink blush and tan colored cream colored his abnormally pale face and his curled ebony hair is tied up in a ridiculous bun. To make things worse, Orton had him wear a navy blue hat resembling that of a pirate's topped with this ridiculously big pink feather. If anything, he looked like a vintage bootleg toy.

Orton snickered and proudly admired his work. "You look gorgeous. Oh you are bound to get a lot of ladies falling for ya!" This sentence made the agents crack up. They hushed however when Block sent them a deadly glare. Orton's fingers turned Block around so he's facing him.

The man was staring right into his face and a devious grin formed. "Now... I believe something is missing,"

Block fumed. "Ooh what could that be? Eyeliner?" He sarcastically said. He's clearly pissed off with makeup at this point.

"No, no! Silly! Eyeliner? Not with those ridiculously large eyebags of yours my friend. I nearly had to use up all of my cream just to cover them up!" Rebuked Orton.

Block winced. His eyebags are so deep it took Orton a long time to apply and rub the covering cream to hide them. "Touche," He muttered and watched Orton pull out a black purse - His makeup kit.

To his horror, the man took out a certain object and opened the cap. Twisting it a bit, a soft red solid rose and Block stiffened. "Is that?!?" He backed away as Orton smirked and went near. "Don't you dare - Get that thing away from me Mahlson! Put that stuff on my face and it's your head!"

His desperate shrieks were ignored and nothing but the sound of grunting and struggle is heard...

Not long later, Block stood in front of the mountainous wallpaper - With his cheeks covered in large lipstick spirals. Block internally swore to knee Orton in the crotch if he plans to make him wear white face paint next. The current extra accessory made him look ridiculous enough.

I could have sworn this shot is supposed to be themed epic and dynamic. Block thought with annoyance. What on earth did Gretchen tell this guy? A request for a Halloween shot?

"Hey no need to be moody, Blockhead. We're all done and over with the makeover!" Orton chuckled and patted the Napoleon clothed shoulder of Block as he seethed still. "Besides, the lipstick makes you look like that one scary Jigsaw puppet with the tricycle and violent methods of criminal punishment. Everyone loves that guy - Right boys?" Orton innocently asked the other agents.

The agents didn't reply for they immediately exited the room to laugh out loud outside of Block's hearing range. Orton gave a fake wince and looked at Block. "Well, I think you're perfect," He ignored the look of disbelief on Block's face and pulled out his phone.

Block blinked. "You're using a phone to take your photos?!" The man nodded without taking his eyes off the phone as he went through filters.

"I had to. You know, DSLR cameras are too big and bulky even for me - So I created a model that is basically that and a cellphone in one! The first of its kind, exclusive to myself, though I do have some plans of production. It's still a prototype you see? But it's working fine!"

He lowered his phone so he can grab a nearby ladder and drag it to the center of the background. He returned to the front and horizontally held the phone. "Alrighty, we are all set Block! Now climb up the ladder!"

Block looked stunned. "What?"

"You heard me! Now do it!"

The big man gripped the metal sides and took a step. Three steps later, he was shaking in fear and halfway to the top of the ladder. He flashed Orton a hopeful grin. "Is this enough?"

Orton rolled his eyes and shook his hand in a 'keep going motion'. "Higher." He said flatly. Block winced and climbed farther up. The ladder shook when Block set one foot on the summit step and he shrieked. "Is this enough?!"

To his relief, Orton nodded. But it wasn't the last.

"You're doing great! Now do an epic pose like all those men who pull swords out from stones!"

Before Block could reply, Orton tossed him a large sword that pulled his arms down when caught. The ladder shook beneath from the sudden weight pull and it nearly fell over - The man gasping when he almost fell. He managed to stabilize the ladder and do as instructed.

With Orton raising a thumbs up, Block put on a plastered grin as the phone was raised to capture the picture…

He waited for the flash. It never came. For a good second, Block thought Orton didn't consider using that like most people who use those things - Until a shocked outcry came out of the latter's mouth.

"No!"

Block gaped and became alarmed. "W-What's the problem? Is it the hair?! The makeup?! A one-off?!"

Orton said nothing. Instead, frowned and sighed in frustration at his phone before flipping it for Block to see the blinking Low Battery logo on the screen.

"Dead Battery.”

Orton slipped the phone into his pocket and pulled out a camera and its aparratus from his backpack. "Give me a moment and stay there, I'll just have to set up my DSLR - You're lucky I brought it with me or I'll have to steal another camera from someplace!"

Block's eye twitched with rage and if he wasn't covered in so much foundation amongst other things, his face would definitely be red like the lipstick spirals on his cheeks. With his emerald glare upon Orton, he could only think of one phrase.

Could a mere photoshoot day get any worse?

For the next half hour, Block didn't say a thing and let his ridiculous picture be taken. He knew it was embarrassing and something to not be displayed on the Hall of Agents - Especially when his picture is gonna be the biggest frame and takes up an entire side of wall.

As much as he wanted a proper formal re-shoot, his mind has already been inflicted by the intense makeover, the clothes and the Nasty Photographer from Hell as he had dubbed Orton for this day.

When the latter finally left with a casual side of teasing remark, the first thing Block did was rip off the suit (not literally.. Maybe?) and scrub his face with lots of soap. After that bath, bed was the first place he went to and he did just so - Planting facefirst on the mattress and pillows...

The next day came by faster than he thought and he badly wanted to be absent, save himself from the chuckling of his agents as Orton further provoked them into laughter with stories on how the shooting went.

Block grumbled and got to his feet. No, it's just a dumb old picture. He put on his usual uniform and sighed. He can just suspend agents that laugh or give some much as one chortle. He's the boss, he's got the privilege. They don't… right?

Moments later, he found himself in the portrait filled room where his agents are admiring or happily chatting about their developed works. A few portraits, notably Brick and Savannah's, are said to be home captured and sent them in for photoshop and so on.

The latter pair stood proudly while describing their precious work to the watching fellow agents. The portrait as Block expected from every agent in pairs, displayed Brick and Savannah in a cloudy landscape. Brick was riding a winged horse and Savannah, standing in an epic archer's dress with a spear in readying to shoot the man and steed…

Block winced. So this is how the woman treats her guy. He snorted with an eyeroll. Typical. He moved on to see the other portraits.

His steppings grew slow the moment he entered the chatty environment of the room. Something about the chit-chat bothered him. Although he has no intention of being a busy body, his ears picked up a name amongst the chat - The one name he doesn't consider pretty after yesterday…

Orton.

Block blinked in disbelief. Many of his agents are talking about that guy. Talking about how great he is amongst other words of praise. "What the heck?" He rubbed his ears as if to make sure they weren't deceiving him. He wasn't. He was indeed hearing them talk good about Orton and it stuns him. Does everybody know this man? He blinked. Dr Zone. Of course.. He rolled his eyes.

His emerald gaze froze and set upon another certain pair where a lot of agents are crowding around with cameras and compliments. They were standing in front of a large portrait taking up there whole wall but Block was too distracted to see. In the center of the crowd stood Balthazar and Vinnie along with a very familiar man Block knew too well - He stiffened.

"Orton?!"

Silence filled the air and the trio acknowledged Block. Orton especially let out a loud chortle before giving Block a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Why hello Block! So good to see ya drag your heavy butt out here before the crowd! And good thing too because you're just in time for the big premiere!"

He ignored the shocked look on Block's face and clapped for Gretchen. "Hey Gretch! Gather everyone here will you not? The star has finally entered - time to get this event started!"

"I'm on it!" Gretchen called for everyone and in minutes, the entire bureau is crowded around before the spectacle - Brick and Savannah being included in the batch. Orton has an arm raised as a hand enclosed around a part of the cloth covering the large framed portrait. The crowd silenced in time for Orton to begin his opening speech.

"My dear friends and agents of the Bureau of Time Travel, it is with great pleasure that I stand here today to present the most awaited Frame of Honor containing the most wonderful face of no one other than the Bureau's most adored boss, the amazing Mr Percival Block!"

He readied to pull away the cloth but a blur of black and red screeched and grabbed Orton's shoulders with desperate shaking.

"Don't you dare!" He barked much to Orton's 'surprise'. "You already made me look like a child's mannequin - I cannot have you humiliating more in front of all of my agents!" He snapped.

Orton gave him an offended look. "I beg your pardon?" He pried the bigger man off of him. "Oh Blockhead. Why on earth would I do that? I am a man with a heart - I'd never humiliate someone in front of a crowd!" He held in a snicker. Unless it was you that is. He thought to himself but quickly shook his head. No he’d never do that even to him...

Holding Block away with one arm, Orton gripped onto the cloth and with a swoosh, the drape was pulled down and came clean off from the portrait. Block shrieked and shut his eyes, shaking madly. I'm doomed I'm doomed I'm doomed!!! He shot Orton a second lasting death glare. And it's all your fault - Dammit Mahlson!

He covered his ears in expecting the ringing of laughter and words of humiliation to be thrown upon him. None of that came - Instead, the clapping of hands of one person, Vinnie Dakota, before the entire crowd joined in with whoops and cheers.

"Wha??" Block felt Orton's hand grasp his and hold it up in victory pose. "Everybody! Lo and behold - The Block is in the house and is shining with spotlights ever so glorious! Stand back and stare at him! In awe!"

Orton's other arm was gestured to the huge portrait and the cheering applause intensified. Block now felt whatever tense feeling he had drift away and he slowly turned to look at what's behind him.

Instead of an image of him in ridiculous clothing and makeup, Block found himself staring at a much vibrant image; Him in metallic knight's armor and riding an armored steed, his arm raised up high and holding a sword.

To top it off, his face is full of bravery and instead of the dark perms, his hair swayed with the wind in epic motion. It looked so realistic…

"Wow neato!" Vinnie was enthralled and he clapped with Balthazar. "My, that was flashing! Your photographer really did the job!" Added Vinnie's tall partner in amazement. All the other agents were giving out praises of impression and their applause grew louder.

The noises weren't fully acknowledged by Block however as he stared at the portrait as if his mind is taking a while to process things. Before he knew it, he felt a smile tug on the corner of his lips. "I can't believe it!" He grinned and for their first time since yesterday, looked at Orton with immense joy. "How did you do this?! In one night... I don't know what to say!"

Orton shrugged with a chuckle and smacked the man in the shoulder. "If that's so, then don't say anything then." He glanced around the room. "Look about you, with you being the boss I thought it'd only be fair to give you the most supreme piece so there you have it!"

He dug into his pocket for a receipt book and clicking a pen, wrote in some words. He ripped the page off the pad, folded it, and handed it to Block who took the paper slowly. "Here's the bill Block. I'll be expecting to be paid within this week," He smirked and he went forward and through the crowd of agents - But not without giving Block one last devious wink over his shoulder.

"… Okay?" Block muttered and reluctantly, he opened the paper with sheer panic in fear of seeing a huge number with so many zeroes at the end - That one day and he already knew how cunning Orton can be. His fingers tipped up the upper half of the paper and reluctantly, he scanned the words and to his surprise, found no number.

Spare those dimes in your wallet because my time having fun with you yesterday is already all the payment I could ask for. That and... I apologize for being too childlike. Hope you can call me again soon, that way I could at least make it up to you. Well. It was nice bonding with you Percy! :)

- Orton Mahlson

For the first time since his hostile rivalry with Orton, Block wore an actual touched smile.

#milo murphy's law #orton mahlson #mr block #oneshot #friendship

8 notes · View notes

thiswasasuperterribleidea · 5 years

Text

I’m baaack!

And I know I’ve said this before, but this time I am “back back” like, “big mad”…but “big back”, so I am “BIG mad, and BIG back”.

The only reason I ever took my little blogging hiatus was because some stuff went down, and I promised Darren I wouldn’t let strangers in on his life choices and share and blog about it…. But then I opened my big ass mouth, broke my promise and told actual real life humans what was going on… and now he hates me for a handful of reasons soooo FUCK IT, HERE’S THE TEA!!!! (PS-Sorry for acting as if you aren’t real life humans…. You know you’re my virtual fam for life)

So while you were all out enjoying your holidays, and I was remaining silent.. I was busy having really, REALLY hot breakup sex. The kind where you can barely make it up the stairs without ripping eachother’s clothes off, driving 30 minutes away at midnight for a quickie, and fucking in the kitchen before making it to the couch or bed..,. yeah it was THAT hot.

And yet here I am, after all that hot and dying for more sex… currently eternally blocked… for the second and fair enough… probably final time… I’m calling it my third breakup…. WITH THE SAME DUDE.

So of course me and Darren have broken up way more than 3 times. But here’s the logic I have recently created. (Which is obviously very illogical, along with almost all of my thoughts). I never once accepted our breaking up. Legit until about a month ago when he brought some new broad around in public and I had to watch them check into a hotel room directly next to mine, and black out and sleep with a pillow over my ears so I didn’t hear them fucking through the hotels paper thin walls…. *takes massive gasp for air after that run on sentence * That did it for me TBH. I think that would do it for anyone TBH. But I like to think that I almost accepted him breaking up with me one time prior... Back in May –ish when I was essentially kicked out on the mean streets and living with my Nonny, Darren dumped me for what iiiii personally consider to be the first time. (He’ll for sure say it was probably the 50th time). I was so devastated, I decided I’d go out and buy a Louis Vuitton bag cause it made me feel like a boss ass bitch. It legit made me feel sooo good though. Like I was still shopping around the mall after, and store employees and other shoppers were having me unpack the bag and pose with the bag showing them which one I got. I was strutting around Nordstrom like the boujee girl that I am while everyone “oooed and ah-ed”. It was as close as I was to being famous before this blog. (Still not close to being famous lol) Thennnn, the other day I decided no break up can be deemed a breakup until a new Louis Vuitton is purchased. SO. Here we are, the first step in recovery… ACCEPTANCE. While I bought hundreds of other things when Darren broke up with me at the end of August, I didn’t buy a Louis. So now that I’m making dumb money at my job, I decided I’d backtrack and make all these breakups official. So in May I bought my first child.. and today I bought my second and third. So I had bought brown leather in May, so now it’s time for a white bag to make up for the August break up. But let’s be real. We broke up in August, but it was NOT cold turkey. Darren loves telling me “WE BROKE UP 6 MONTHS AGO YOU OBSESSIVE FUCKING WEIRDO” But let me just say, breaking up 6 months ago and having breakup sex on Christmas is not exactly a 6 month old breakup…SO third breakup is right now, present day, and I of course think I deserve another bag for that too! So I bought myself a Louis clutch as well. (Which is really the only thing I intended to buy in the first place… but I’ve been listening to my girl Ariana Grande too much lately, and 7 Rings is a verrrry dangerous song . SO therefore I was over inspired to buy them both). And now. I have accepted my three breakups, the third of which I completely created on my own to justify retail therapy, and now just like that…I have a realistic mind set on where I’m at.

So let me stop rambling, and explain what you’re actually looking to hear. This part isn’t going to be long. Or funny. Because it’s something I want out of my head, not to talk about but I want you guys to be able to follow my mind. Darren teased me with the idea of trying again. He was very open and honest, and the whole thing was my idea.. but he agreed that if we were to continue hooking up and talk a little here and there, that we could potentially try again. Now he did let me know he was also talking to someone else, that he did have feelings for them, and that he did not have feelings for me. Dope. So my dumbass went forward with opening my legs, and arguing with him over time he spent fucking me but not talking to me. GUYS- we all know go with the flow is not my fucking thing. But the sex was toooo good. Still too good. Like better than any other sex I have had. I’m thinking it hasss to be in my head now. Like I must be ruining other experiences for myself just comparing penises… anyway besides the point. I ruined it by insecure arguing over who he was spending time with instead of me. And now I have no hot breakup sex, or communication with Darren.

But the thing is. I don’t get me... I am doing well. Really well. It’s not a front. It’s not me tricking myself. I do positive things for myself and my mind all of the time and I feel good about them and I am happy. I feel good about myself, my life, where I’m at. But for some reason… I can’t control my other thoughts. It’s like whenever I talk to Darren, (WHICH I SHOULDN’T EVER BE DOING) my mind screams out, “TELL HIM HOW SAD YOU ARE, LET YOUR DESPARTE OUT, TELL HIM HOW IN LOVE WITH HIM YOU ARE” As if my mind thinks that’s doing myself a favor, or telling him what he wants to hear.. when I know it isn’t. So let me brag to all of you people, and maybe it’ll help you guys. So here’s some more classic advice from your emotionally unstable girl.

I meditate before going to bed, and first thing in the morning. Instead of waking up and texting Darren to see if I am unblocked, or to continue an argument…. I do a 5 minute meditation. Insecurity was always something I struggled with, so I wake up and tell myself things I like about myself. It doesn’t matter if anyone else likes them about me, because what I’ve been working on is falling in love with myself. Sometimes it’s my appearance.. like my eyebrows are on fucking point. Or …my life may not be perfect, buy my eyelashes always are!!! Or I remind myself of the freckles on my nose that I always make sure I don’t cover up with my concealer. Or my smile with my big white teeth, and disappearing top lip. I make sure to look in the mirror and be happy with what I have and to not get down on myself and pick out everything I see is wrong. Darren was a pro at comparing me to anyone else. Like how this new girl is a dime, and I am just kind of cute and that’s all I’ll ever be. What the fuck, right??? Sometimes it’s not my appearance at all… it’s how big my heart is. How despite what people have put me through, I still try to see the best in them and not let their nasty traits or actions be what I judge them for. It’s my vulnerability, that makes me a good human. Or the fact that I am good at my job. Dwight was a good mentor to me, Darren helped me from time to time. But now this is me. Or even the little details about me like how I close my eyes and lift my feet and make wishes over railroad tracks. (I NEED AT LEAST ONE OF YOU TO TELL ME YOU’VE HEARD OF THAT BEFORE BY THE WAY). I am a hopeless romantic and I love it. I am an awesome fucking person.

I started karate classes again! (I know weird flex, right?)

Well I did karate when I was a kid. Like 5 year old kid. I quit when I was 10. I did it with my family friend Zach. I would cry every time I had to go to class. It was because once I reached a certain age, we had to spar . Like put on full head pieces, equipment and fight for points. I was the only girl and I would always spar against Zach who I had a massive little kid crush on because he was like… the only boy I even knew lol. And one night sparing, he punched me in the area of what I still to this day call my non-existent boob. I was so humiliated so I went home cried and quit.

BUT NOWWW . I’m ready to get my black belt bitches. My Sensai and I did the math the other night. I haven’t been to classes in 14 years. 14 FUCKING YEARS, IT’S DAY 1 AND THIS GUY IS WORKING ME LIKE I’M STILL A PURPLE BELT AND CAN REMEMBER SHIT FROM BACK IN THE DAY WHEN I CAN BARELY EVEN REMEMBER WHAT CAR I DROVE HOME TONIGHT. It’s wild. But it’s so good for stress and honestly guys are such perverts that being single I deff need to know self defense on how to fuck a dude up. I’ve has some scary uber drivers.

Uhm uhm uhm what else do I have to report…

I have been talking to this kid. We’ve been out a bunch. He makes me really happy. He listens to me, always is so interested in my day, and is golden retriever innocent. But I’ve been trying to force it more than I should. He’s so sweet and so fun to talk to and hang out with which I love. But I just don’t feel the right sexual chemistry (ironic because he’s a science teacher ) . But like that is such a huge deal to me. Let’s be real … not all girls are comfortable saying they love sex.. But I LOVEEEE sex. No shame. It’s natural. But I am also very cautious of who I am sleeping with. I’ve told you my 3 time rule. Anyway, the chemistry wasn’t right. And while this 2019 dating world is not something I have really ANY experience with… I decided the next move was “ghosting” . Kind of fucked up huh? I would hate that happening to me. I am such a talker, I need answers so bad. But I mean he wasn’t my boyfriend, we were just talking for a few months, I didn’t have the energy to explain myself and it was so causal like I just didn’t think I needed to. BUT THEN I MADE A ROOKIE MISTAKE. I planned to leave that night and never respond again. But as soon as I got in my car to drive home… I realized I was missing one of my hoop earrings. Mind you this was not just my 17 dollar cheap sterling silver hoop earrings…. This was my SOLID GOLD FAVORITE HOOP EARRING EVER. I was so mad at myself. Girls literally do shit like this on purpose. They’ll leave earrings , or underwear fucking anything to prove they were there. Whether it be to make sure they have another excuse to talk to the guy again or to show any other girl that there’s someone else in his life too, it’s all an evil plot. BUT NOT ME. How could something like that happen to me by accident?!?! Just my damn luck. So I texted him and asked him to put the earring in his mailbox that way I don’t have to do a walk of shame back to my earring, and he can hopefully take the hint that was that. But no. The hint was not taken. I had to hit him with the classic Dwight line, “It’s not you, and it’s not me”. Lmao I am a bitch. It’s nothing I’m proud of honestly. But I am just truly done looking for anyone. I’m just waiting for my future husband to walk into my branch and rent a car, someone to just fall into my life. I am not searching, and I am not trying. I like being alone anyway. The only thing that I wish I had was someone to just lay with at the end of the night when I’m lonely to talk to about my day. Someone to wake up next to in the morning with their hands all over me making me late for work… Other than that I’m so busy Monday- Friday that I don’t even have time for a boyfriend. I’m finally content.

The only real problem I have is that my mind still races about blowing it with Darren. I have accepted it’s over, but I haven’t been able to cope well with the fact that I completely fucked up the only thing I wanted, which was him. But I have to be careful cause I haven’t calmed down enough for those restraining order threats to stop yet… and I don’t think they are threats any more. I have to get better control over my emotions.

But now you guys are completely all caught up on my crazy ass life. I hope I didn’t get too boring on y’all. I’ll be back to posting regularly as soon as the next fucked up shit happens. Cause you knowwww there will be something.

0 notes

rposervices · 5 years

Text

13 Resume Blunders That Can Cost You The Interview

Judi Perkins, contributing career writer for JamminJobs.com A BLAND OR GENERIC OBJECTIVE: If your objective could be applied to a marketing resume as easily as a resume for an accounting position, then your objective says nothing and will get you nowhere. An objective is NOT some required paragraph at the top of the page that is an exercise in 5 lines of job speak. It's an actual and real description of your skills as they're related to who you are and what you want. It should vary with the type of job for which you are applying. BLAND JOB DETAILS: "Responsibilities included overseeing construction of 4 Hilton Hotels in Tri-City Metro Area, each 50 floors in height." Yeah? So what? That doesn't say if they went up on schedule or if you brought the projects in under budget. It doesn't say if you took all four from site work up or if the guy handling two of the four hotels was fired and you were promoted to overseeing all four. Differentiate yourself from the others coming in to interview. If you don't tell the hiring company how you will be an asset to them, how will they know? WHO'S THE MYSTERY COMPANY?: Don't assume the name and purpose of your company is common knowledge. If it's a competitor, it might be, and if it's in the same industry and located nearby, it might be. To be on the safe side, provide a sentence or two about the focus of your company's products or services. ANOTHER JOB, ANOTHER PARAGRAPH: Don't keep adding on to your resume job after job, year after year. By the time you're in your 40s, you need to have weeded out some of the earlier stuff. You don't need all the college activities, just your degree. You don't need ALL 5 bullets for each of your first two jobs. REFERENCES: Shouldn't be listed on your resume. "References available on request" is the proper phrase. You present them separately when they're requested. This isn't about protocol. This is about protecting your references so they aren't called until you and the company are serious about each other. IT'S NOT A STORY!: Don't - whatever you do, DON'T - write your resume in the third person! SKIP THE PERSONAL INFO: You might think your weekend baseball coaching or your church choir participation shows you're an interesting and well-rounded person, but they're irrelevant. If the interviewer wants to know who you are as a person, aside from the job interview and your qualifications, he'll ask. DEGREE DATE: No matter how old you are, don't leave the date of when you were graduated off your resume. It looks like you're hiding something (well, you are, aren't you?), and then everyone counts the years backwards and tries to figure out how old you are. Sometimes you can be ruled out - just for leaving the date off. If you're trying to hide your age by not stating the date, what else might you not be forthcoming about? SPELL CHECK, SPELL CHECK, SPELL CHECK: Spell checking visually by you AND someone else, any fewer than three times, isn't enough. And don't forget to check your punctuation. GETTING YOUR RESUME OUT THERE - part one: Don't use one of those resume blaster things. Half of those sites they blast it to aren't even valid. You don't know how it will come out on the other end. You don't even know where it's going or if the landing targets are employment related. It's bad form and just....NOT the way to find your perfect job. Finding your perfect job takes focus, attention, detail, individuality, tailoring, specifics. Resume blasting is about as far from that as you can get. GETTING YOUR RESUME OUT THERE - part two: If it's an ad, you probably have instructions as to how to send it. If it says email, cut and paste it in the form, AND attach it. You never know what it can look like on the other end because of the variety of settings available to each user. Quite frankly, you're better off not emailing it at all, because it usually just goes into cyber space, and then it's all about the hiring company - but unfortunately, besides not sending it at all, sometimes that's your only choice. Emailing your resume takes any option for further participation right out of your hands, because often there's not even a name given for a follow up contact. You've no other option than to wait and wonder. (And half the time it's going to HR or an admin department to be scanned into an electronic database.) GETTING YOUR RESUME OUT THERE - part three: If you know the company, call and ask if they prefer email, fax, or snail mail. I know a recruiter who never even opened his email. Because he was listed in The Kennedy Guide to Executive Recruiters, he received so many resumes emailed to him cold (so NOT pro-active) that he just did a mass delete every morning. Candidates contacted for a specific search were requested to snail mail their resume to him. How about that? I'll bet less than 10% of those who emailed their resumes even bothered to follow up to see if it was received (this isn't a numbers game). RESUME VISUALS: Ivory paper. Black ink. Individual pages. No plastic, 7th grade, science report cover with the plastic slider or metal push down tabs. Your name centered at the top, not on a cover page that says "Introducing Clifton Lewis Montgomery III". No exceptions. Your resume is a professional document, not a school book report or an art project. Until every resume is done this way, yours will still stand out in the crowd. You are the product, and your resume is the marketing piece. To find your perfect job you must differentiate yourself from the other people who will be interviewed. Your resume must be specific, individualized, easy to skim so it invites a closer reading, and focused on the differences you've made with your previous companies, as well as the accomplishments you've achieved with - and for - them. This tells the hiring company what you can do for them - and it IS about the hiring company, not you. Of course this assumes you meet the requirements for the job - otherwise it doesn't matter how good your resume is! The resume is what gets you in the door. If your resume is poorly written, looks sloppy, is difficult to read, is cryptic in any way, or necessitates being slogged through to learn your information (they won't bother), you won't even get in the door. And how can you decide whether you like the company, if they've already decided they don't like you? Read the full article

#career #employment #jobs #resume #resumeblub=nders #resumemistakes #work

0 notes

thatweirdmod · 4 years

Text

Sainwell and Iglair PART 6 END

Love is over.

I'm sitting in the lawn chair on my porch again, the cool beer in my hand dangling from my fingertips idly. I'm staring ahead blank-faced. I observe the worn down homes and trailers beyond my soggy, green patched lawn, the grey sky above them, the bright light cracking through as if through broken glass.

I see it. I lift the can to my mouth, sensitively aware to everything about it- the uneven weight due to its half emptiness, the sharpness of the opening, the uncomfortable wetness of the drop of beer on the opening as I place my mouth to it again.

I take one last sip, and throw the can across the yard, watching some of the beer spill. I rub the bits of stubble on the face that I haven't shaved for two days.

I'm set to meet Iglair in 15 minutes. We're just supposed to hang around in the arse of town, maybe find some smellies to abuse. I don't know though. No matter how hard I work to clean up the trash around here, when I look around, it's still piled around me.

Bash one's brains, but there will still be a town full of them, loitering, consuming, existing when they ought not to. A gun is what I need- something automatic, specifically. "Charity begins at home." That sentence is vaguely comforting to me. Step by step, I'll start small and close.

I rise, and gather my things. You know what those are by now, but if not, you can make an educated guess. I walk, half dragging myself to the shortcut through the forest, where Iglair will likely meet me halfway.

Sure enough, there he is. Poor observational skills as usual- he doesn't notice me approaching. My dead, red-eyed stare pierces his casual form from behind.

I take my knife, and slice his throat before he can fully turn. Sweet red blood pours from his open throat like a decadent wine. Fool. How dare he look at me with that shock, almost like he's accusing me of a betrayal of sorts.

He gags, coughs, and chokes on his flowing blood, hands clutching his neck- helplessly, as if he could stanch the pouring. The slice parts and closes as he makes gulping and gurgling sounds. Is he attempting to swallow, I wonder?

I myself wouldn't be able to fully understand the look I know he sees on my face, in my eyes. He crumples to the ground. His blood soaks into the decaying leaves and fertilizes the dirt beneath him. Here he is, his final, gasping breaths sopping with thick, red blood.

He is pathetic, a victim and a cancer at the same time. This is not a paradox, because Iglair is just a human, just a notably terrible one. This whole time, I hated him. He was disgusting. It sickens me to even call him sad, like he invokes any sympathy.

Who was he, pretending to be some sort of superior predator alongside me? There is little difference between us and the so-called sheep in the end. The difference is only positive for.. do you remember it, the creature that has been reduced to skulking about on the edges of its raped forest?

It has already been made so that happiness is barred, at least partially, by our very nature. I expose parts of that fact. I'm honest in the areas where others choose blindness, but the price I've paid is blindness in the areas where others can see.

This place is nothing if not balanced. I'm no scientist, but if you've also read the science and behavior of electrons, atoms, and pressure, you will understand. Where else does that science apply?

I release a deep sigh. Iglair is no more. His legacy is nothing but a sack of bloody flesh. No more giggling girls will follow him, no more of his ignorant, idiotic smirks, no more of the weight of having a companion at my side, no more of his hypocrisy, no more arrogance.

I stand there for a while. It almost embarrasses me to move, but I know I'll have to eventually. Bastard- me this time. Then I smirk. I know a guy who sells drugs around here, and I've come into quite a collection from the bums I've been killing. I'll redeem the drugs for money today.

I have a little bit of blood on me, but he'll overlook it with the discount he's getting my meth and heroin for. The guy's place probably what you have in mind- worn down, concrete, dirty, and graffitied on the outside, and cluttered with bottles and other crap on the inside.

"What?", the thirty-something year old waste of scraggly hair asks me at the door. "Product", I respond. He nods, and steps aside for me to come in. I present him with a bag of drugs prolly about 1 pound. "Can I get $20 for these?"

"If you wanna sell yourself short, sure", he says with a light chuckle.

"It doesn't matter. I mainly want to get rid of them easily. The drugs weren't my main target." His face sobers a bit at this. Yeah yeah, he doesn't understand me, thinks I'm a creep. Whatever. Why the fuck's he getting serious anyways? I've done this 10 times before.

"Hang on a sec", Richard says. He goes to the back, to his bedroom, to get the money. He's returning. I wonder if he noticed that my hands are casually in my pockets now? When he's close, stretching out his hand with the cash, I whip my hand out of my right pocket, and slash his throat like a pro with the knife it's now holding.

He makes a gurgling sound of surprise and fear. His eyes are wide, and his blood splatters onto me, and the 20 dollar bill, unfortunately likely rendering it ruined. I'm sure he has much more around here though, along with the things that I actually came here to get.

This jackass, or former jackass, was bragging to me one day, waving around an AR-15 and other mainstream, infamous weapons of semi-auto destruction. He used them to rule the block. Now I will use them to kill the block. *Sigh*, why do I even try? I sound like a lamer version of the MC of Hatred.

I tear through his drawers, search underneath his bed, and any cranny I think he could be hiding money in. After a half hour, I've come up with $2000 cash, loads of ammo, two trusty big boy guns, and one pistol. I brought my extra large bag today, so I can stash everything in there, and go back out on the street looking only like some weird twat hauling around too much stuff.

I walk down the street, eyeing the bums and other disgusting people I pass by. I would like to start gunning these people down, but do I really want to be caught and stopped having only killed trash that was already prime for pick-up by someone else? There are better locations. I'll have to choose wisely.

Let's see. There's the downtown shopping area with the despised burger joints, the residential areas, and of course, the classic school. Might I just comment that no one seems to know how to do a school shooting properly.

For the amount of ammunition, and the vulnerability of the targets, few are actually killed. If the droves run away from me, I will empty my gun into the crowd and watch as many fall as possible. I won't fuck around, picking off randoms and missing 90% of the time. Kill like you mean it at least!

Even the infamous Columbine shooting is no exception. With the amount of ammo, and the quality of the weapons that the killers had, many more than 13 could have been killed. It's like they shot for the stars, wanting to and having the equipment to kill hundreds, probably, but they ended up fucking around and shooting the ground.

They sucked at building bombs too. They should've known that those barely tested, plain bombs would fail them. Fools, in many ways than just their failure at what they're so remembered for. Hah, they didn't even kill those jocks they hated so much.

To think there are idiots falling on their rotten cocks when they all did such sorry jobs. They were crazy and stupid, too. Maybe I'm getting too cocky, though. There's only one way to find out if I'll fair any better generally speaking, but I promise you this: I'll act with much more purpose and precision than any of them did.

Ah, how could I forget. There are four guys at school who like to rough me up. I've had a lot on my mind, and getting beaten is just a regular part of my schedule. So I've got a plan forming: start with revenge, then work my way down in the public spaces.

And to start with revenge, I need to start with my dad. I head home, and dump all the stuff I got back in my room. Hopefully no one will trace Richard's murder back to me until earliest the day after tomorrow. I strip down to my undershirt and boxers, and hop into bed. My alarm is set for 1:00 AM, a half hour before I can expect my dad back tonight.

After waking, I sit on my bed waiting with a half-finished beer. Sure enough, I hear the door banging open at 1:32 AM. I hear his familiar footsteps walking past my room into the bathroom. I walk out, and stand next to the door with a knife ready in my hand. When the door opens, I waste no time in stabbing the figure that presumes to step forth.

"Blerghhh!", he gurgles in reply. Blood pours from the stab wound in his lower neck as he looks at me when confusion and fear. It takes another several seconds of throat clenching and him staring at my cold face before understanding and indignation register in his age-murkied, alcohol reddened eyes. He dies as he lived- in anger and ignorance.

I realized now that I should've waited for him to settle down in a chair for supper instead of killing him where his fat, dirty body will be blocking the bathroom doorway. I'll also have to sidestep a huge mess of blood if I wanna shit in there.

I killed him well though, and the relief this has provided me is worth celebrating over the petty regrets. My name is Sainwell, said like "sane well". But I am neither sane nor well, it seems. What was I going to do after this? Ah yes; go to school in the morning, with my oversized bag and no books.

I try some of my dad's whiskey. Hmph, it's too strong and bitter for my tastes. Should I be embarrassed to admit that? Sleep comes easily. On the walk to school, I realize how empty this place is becoming.

Iglair, and the two giggling bitches who used to curse us with their unwelcome company, Brownie and Airey, are dead. This is the first time I've really noticed the benefits and effects of my work. I could almost cry. I've never been proud of myself before, and this is the closest I've come to it.

I arrive at school, and begin to place my marks. I'll start outside during lunch, when those four assholes who beat me everyday over by that fence will be expecting their toy to show up.

I wait around the corner, burglar's mask covering my face. The troglodytes start lining up, but of course, they don't see me. "Where's that little creepy loser at?", one asks. "He thinks he's being smart by being a no-show? That was the obvious solution from the start, but we'll give him double when we catch him next", another responds. So on the trolls grunt, laugh, and rave, until I've gotten my gun out, and have heard enough.

I swing out, and fire into the lot of them. Screams and yells of shock and horror rise from their midst as bullets cut through the air and strike through the worthless sacks of flesh, bone, and liquid. I cap down one who's trying to escape, and finish off the others with several bullets to the chests and heads.

I go over the wannabe escapie with the shot leg, and blow a hole clean through his head and out his eye. Glorious gore, brains, and blood are revealed and splattered. Skull fragments are blown about.

Shouts of alarm are starting up in the main part of the school. I have to hurry. I slip over the fence, and wait around the wall for evacuating students to cluster at the entrance. They're familiar with this type of thing, so they're just gonna gtfo. I hope no one sees me.

Once I'm satisfied with the crowd. I fire into it. And it is wonderful. Screaming, blood spraying, bodies falling, destruction. I can't go back and finish everyone, but hopefully I hit enough vitals to at least get a better fatality rate than losers like Klebold, Harris, and Cruz. Okay, maybe not Cruz (bitch with his 17 fatalities), but to make up for it, I have to get down to the burger joint quickly.

I cut through the woods. There are shouts behind me. Someone's probably suspicious and coming after me, even though I hid the weapon. I make it into downtown, and run down the street as fast as I can in my burglar's mask. I'm doing this for and with everything I have, so appreciate it. People are getting rattled up, but I made it in time. God, I made it in time!

I enter the burger shop, this hateful place that stinks of grease and the BO of selfish blobs. This hateful place where ungrateful, miserable employees in stained, greasy clothes and unwashed hats fill out the orders of an even more despicable populous. This place that embodies the concrete that smothered the creature's home, and devours all within a trillion mile radius.

My friend, I am here again, feeling every movement and thought in slow-motion as I pull my gun out and fire into these disgusting, short-sighted, arrogant, self-satisfied pricks.

I'm blocking the exit that the customers would use, but what of the one in the back, that those slimy distributers of filth and socially acceptable rape and agonizingly slow annihilation will use to escape the wrath being dealt? Yeah, bitch, I'm talking about the employee exit or something. Well, I've already blocked the door, so voila!

Bang bang bang bang bang!!!

Oohh, one of the fat pigs just tried to come past me directly. Down he goes onto the dirty floor, to lie in his own fat and blood, until someone picks him up and carries him off to mourn the end of his worthless life.

They're hiding behind the counter. I hear some idiot talking to the police. I rush over and shoot her in the head, right through the phone she's holding to her ear! She's goes dead and blank-eyed. Dark, sticky red pours through the hole in her phone. It falls from her limp hand.

Other women are wailing and screaming at the death of this worthless and awfully annoying woman. I shoot them too. I bet they've never been quieter in their lives. "I just did you all a favor", I shout to the rest of the "restaurant". "Now you won't have to hear those shrill, stupid, irritating voices anymore!"

Cries of accusation, disgust and pleading rise from the remaining fools behind the counter. I gun the rest of them down, and head into the kitchen. "You're all FIRED! Get it?" I kill the employees that are there. One falls over, bleeding all over an unfinished burger and knocking over a condiments container. The kitchen is as dirty as one might imagine. I shake my head in disgust.

The blue-baptized army of justice is arriving, but I can't die in here. So I run. I run as fast away as I can. They're shooting at me, but by the justice that once roamed the free land, the wind allows my escape. The birds' honor gives my feet flight into the woods. I kneel, panting, with one of the big boy guns in hand.

The voices of the concrete monster behind me disturb and echo through what should be peaceful air and atmosphere, seeking more blood and retribution for "tragedy". How strange and sad that the grey monster knows NOT that it is the bringer of the greatest tragedy. It's brainwashed itself into thinking itself handsome. Even as it looks into the mirror in the place of cleansing, it sees not the reflection.

And now I have to die to the ringing of its voice? Beggars can't be choosers, though, and I'm far from an innocent. Here I take the life which I gave, and pull the trigger.

A bullet blasts through my chin, up through my tongue, thunders through my brains, parting them with explosive intensity, and finally, goes out through the top of the inside of my skull, leaving a hole in my plain, light brown hair.

#finale #suicide #crime #crazy

0 notes

thoughtfulcupcakesublime · 4 years

Link

Healthcare, transportation and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour were the main topics discussed at a Woodbridge event.

Local representatives spoke about the 2020 Legislative Session at the Prince William Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Kick-Off Breakfast.

The annual program was hosted at Old Hickory Golf Club, 11921 Chanceford Drive in Woodbridge, on Thursday morning.

Delegate-Elect Dan Helmer, and Delegates Elizabeth Guzman, Danica Roem, and Luke Torian were the panelists.

Here is a video of the event:

This is the transcription of the video, which was done with 80 percent accuracy:

Guzman: [inaudible]

Roem: your preferred option. So let’s talk about funding for this. Number one, the one really wants introduced HB 2085 that we will get done this time around. [inaudible] store the loss in NBTA money. Don’t shift their way because tan Homer’s predecessors trued up over and say that will never happen again. You won’t never ever, ever allow something like that. Something that’s so poorly mismanaged. It can happen again into this Commonwealth where we’ve lost our ability to do hybrid over in Centerville because of this and this. And I’m going to make sure that we pass one of the largest [inaudible] secondary and by learning not interstate highway improvements specifically around intersection designs to make them safer for everyone no matter where.

Speaker 3: Absolutely. So I would start first,

Guzman: I would read it with me. See if I recognize your new [inaudible] Adam [inaudible] very own class though. So congratulations. I haven’t had that living to tell you that and I’m so proud. I’m sure. Lose it. Break on snow and I didn’t cross her face faces. So I was go back to playing 17 after I won my first election and I actually met with the IPC and I am a cosponsor of the [inaudible]. So you that first year, the money that we are using now for all of the expunction that director was talking about Aaron and Eric, some of their horrible comms. I’m glad to hear that there is no email city and if that Eastern side of the County, if they think that we could do that funding as well. We talked to the chairman right here so I’m sure he’ll be a more than that so probably not.

Guzman: That was something she saw because I have these things happen in my DC and I represent our football kit, Prince William County and I dealt, I know that our sample is working veto where we actually get rid of that Hans. So promptly unite, going nuts on her mind. Kids by [inaudible] area there we are working to get up because by back then there was some elementary school, we have a load of accidents and that happened so we mentally beat up [inaudible] and it’s so science and it speaks to being in science. Why are we getting up? We have a study that was last many years ago on the route one corridor or hit slash about every soul of that is sadly what a CPA, a box is robbing from formation system and I’m going to want to cover unfortunately that is Sadie edit and wounds. So we want to do Rick date. That conversation. I’d be able to look at more different types of transportation. They eat a fast rapid transit that will go know something but actually go to [inaudible] and with that you know that that’s a whole nother topic. Number nine number goal, but we are all on board to bring more [inaudible].

Guzman: We shouldn’t be proud, obedient, worst bottleneck in this country. I think that we [inaudible] to take that out. For instance,

Torian: good morning. I take a different perspective. I’ve seen legislation to forward and uh, [inaudible] obviously work [inaudible] what we’re going to see enrich enrichment this year we’re going to say and we’ll take those meals and we will for our daughters the number one issue in order to address transportation issues and restructured and other issues will be the levels of funding legislation, [inaudible] transportation and prioritize and assign dollars to the various cities. Obviously we’re going to be looking very closely at North Virginia and the challenges that we have. We’ll have a big, big task before us because we don’t have 100 members in a corporation and we will do our best that we can. Hopefully we will get on Metro as well for 10 years. We have the numbers now that we can at least get a study now.

Helmer: I’m so excited to be here with you guys. I’m Dan the delegate elect and uh, excited to be here. [inaudible] we also one of the few folks who runs a small business fire that getting involved in elected politics. I advise fortune companies and go South Boston consulting group in these days. I have three partners. We run a 35 person firm that works in five States right now advising a small and medium size businesses in the U S so when I come to and say I’m very interested in working with businesses in Prince William County, I come from that, from a position of a person who is deeply interested in both a large couple of us, somebody who does it every day. Um, you know, when I think about transportation here, uh, you know, I do think it’s time that we stop thinking small and starting to thinking big. Uh, the reality is that our lack of great infrastructure in multimodal transportation and gets us more quickly or places of business is, uh, the attacks on us as businesses. It drives up the cost and the difficulty in attracting great talent to our businesses. It also keeps us away from our families. And so, uh, it is going to take a new era of thinking. We made a first step revive electing a pro transportation majority is going to prioritize funding multimodal transportation. Uh, our next step is to think regional, uh, to make sure that we’re thinking about all of the impacts to provide you with creative thinking that new things like Artize teleworking, incentivize, uh, working, uh, incentivize, uh, transportation other than with your car. Uh, that doesn’t make that every single time you expand a road, you’re going to get less traffic because there’s a lot of data that shows that’s not the case. And so it’s time for us to look at the water [inaudible] solutions to look across the region and to be aggressive about how we think about funding and how that reduces our carbon footprint and increase new businesses that help us take both about transportation and energy diversification and create that kind of thing.

Speaker 3: Well, as the house appropriations committee, and congratulations

Torian: [inaudible]

Speaker 3: we understand that Senator Sasse was already in the new Senate bill seven, a piece of legislation now incrementally increase the minimum way to review from sentence 25 to $15 over the course of five years. What is your position on increasing the minimum wage? Is this a bill you have support? Should it crossover? And if so, how would you address the financial burden these doing? So may place on the back of small businesses, which are the life blood work,

Torian: [inaudible] progressive, not all at one time because they could not afford, we cannot afford the hurt our small business. But when you have a minimum wage has been at seven 25 for a number of years, for a long time. There has to be something that has to be done. And I think that, uh, I’ll take a look at the [inaudible]. It makes sense to me and I’ll support it. We need to know that you have a problem with minimal waste needs to be addressed, but not on the backs of hurting small businesses. We have been very strategic and we’re going to do this thing. We have to be very

Guzman: great. All the stakeholders, the room. So I would start, uh, like looking in the goal of Regina. What is that? If you can shut off a small business, I want to put a goal number. Diaz small business is still kind of under 50 employees. So I would like to start changing that because I think that all of these benefits and advantages that are out there for small businesses, I never been thinking of dynasty. He goes, we caught the cheap stuff. Now everybody [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] myself. It was probably three jobs to make ends meet. I definitely have to change because that was the soul of this is a children are suffering [inaudible] at home. I don’t have many of those in my district. It breaks my heart when I knock on books on the weekend and I see these children by themselves and I asked him to leave mom and dad are they?

Guzman: I won’t work so that tells me that we to change. Now we, I’m sure many of you, because I have spoken with many of you, I know why you use no faith, but you said a lot of somebody by says, we know it’s only past we’ll find a way to make a rice and I had a record, a Senator, sexist fields. Oh we definitely did. I will set kind of work dedicated. Gloria said, Oh, we will definitely have some checked it and cost compliant. I bought wait, who continues a nights of routines? We are going to say from wealthiest to safety that country. So we have to take care of our workforce as well. And I am saying that that Google [inaudible] we what you are talking about John Burbidge. So because if my employee is treated well, they wouldn’t say we drove out of station. So the time we’ll take a look at things nor how things are going to be earth. Uh, but actually [inaudible] thank you

Roem: just by a show of hands console here. It’s only if they go with the minimum wages in West Virginia.

Guzman: Okay.

Roem: Dollars and 35 cents an hour. We are at seven 25 the federal minimum in Virginia. Can someone here in this room completes? Tell me what part was by God. Virginia has a higher cost of living than anywhere in new Orleans opinion. How was that Constable that we’ve allowed this to happen? It’s not. The fact of the matter is we have to get this done and here’s a reality check as well. When I had my first job working right down the street or with your nursing for the total cans. At the time I was making $5 and 15 cents an hour for a 15 year old working in the year 2000 when I transitioned and I found myself one for 35 of my job search and like the thirties I took a side job for $5 an hour plus tip and this isn’t 2016 $5 an hour plus to delineate the bobs or three in Orleans and every person I worked with was an adult and the thing is a lot of those folks had an, it’s like Elizabeth.

Roem: It is why you will leave important that we are truly going to take care of our minority majority community here in Prince William County and throughout Northern Virginia that we give our current constituents the full benefits of society here. Why do I have the same time? We recognize that the fallacy because the minimum wage only somehow pay to teenagers coming up is wall. It’s not based on any bed exact whatsoever and instantly not based on the living experience I’ve had at age 32 and I’ve had that job right before I decided to run for office. Let’s just make sure that as we’re doing this, yes, you can do this incremental, you know, we don’t have immediate shock through the system overnight. At the same time, let’s make sure that when we’re posting about how Virginia is the best state for business, that we stopped being the third of the 51st state slash city Z for workers. We should also be the best state for workers as well and frankly if they’re going to be the best. Safety for business has to be the best day for your workers you want to speak to in the first place.

Helmer: Exactly. I agree with my colleagues. Look, we majority say the predicted devastating consequences of a $15 minimum wage that we through fear, mom ran out. I’m going again, I have not worn fruit in the places that have instituted $50 at a $15 minimum wage is $30,000 a year in salary. I would argue that that still put somebody in significant risk of [inaudible] red state. We operate in order Virginia. Um, and so if who are we talking about earning $50 minimum wage. You were talking about a woman I spoke to on the doors as I was running for office who was working in a preschool and had to take on multiple jobs as to someone who was taking care of our children who justice and our home had to take on multiple jobs because she was getting paid $9 an hour. We’re talking about a huge majority of our veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan after they leave the military.

Helmer: So by saying no, by being in transit, in transit, I guess raising the minimum wage, you’re condemning those who served in our country to live in poverty after they return from their service to our country. So it is incredibly important that we get to a $50 in wage should we index a current version. And we are responsible in our approach to ensure that we don’t impact businesses both small and large in ways that devastated our economy. But I am excited to work with a chamber of commerce that takes a new approach to thinking about the upsides of getting to a $15 minimum wage, the economic growth that we can spur a 50 element in wage and not just about potential downsides of having foreign fruit in places where we can Institute, et cetera.

Guzman: [inaudible] has some questions for you all. Basically we’ll go into the next question. You’re going to sell much advocate for [inaudible] and addressing the rising costs of healthcare. Many have called for the creation of multiple employer welfare racists or consortium health fans to see an access and healthcare benefits for small businesses similar to the larger counterparts. Banks and private universities are examples of these consortions. What’s your opinion on sexual dysfunction? I can find ways though. It’s anybody. Some people providing or a benefits. There’s a couple of things on the stuff you know about Gail care. We actually want to recognize entirely organize them. A third Nuffield care uncle. I thought that once I joins and brains that says what it was an excellent experience for us. Jesse learner. What does it experience like when they, I mean, um, ran? Uh, there are some numbers that may be shocking for many of us [inaudible] and we see that actually women of color are the ones who are dying while they are. So we definitely do want to work together to address those needs. I have multiple views that are on finally stage yet. It’s not a volume of my method of care, but I’m definitely seeing some more or finding those resources to help easy [inaudible] of the benefits that are out there. Okay.

Roem: So the number one both get Murray that I have right now, 13 is making sure that all 3,800 my constituents who are eligible for Medicaid expansion are enrolled. And I can tell you right now that the latest data that’s come in as of November 15th shows that we have now enrolled more than 343,000 Virginians who are uninsured or under insured last year who now have quality affordable healthcare this year. And we’ve got it done in less than a year since the moment you can when January 1st in. The reality that goes along with that is that this is going to be open for 400,000 Virginians. That means that we’ve still got more, some more, we still have thousands people in the greater Prince. William area is still eligible. We’ve now enrolled just under 13,000 people in Prince William County and when I’m looking at a little sane city like Vanessa’s, Mark 491 people, that is a really, really big deal by Austin.

Roem: No, we’ve got another 800 salon folks who live in Manassas park. We’re still eligible and so that’s going to be my top healthcare priorities. Making sure that my chief of staff or is also myself, the robust constituent service that we’ve had to make sure that we’re going to roll into our eligibility positions in the first place. While at the same time I’ll make sure that you know, the folks who are coming in dollars and the appropriations committee or who are setting the, you know, [inaudible] wants this case, are going to be the ones who basically have the potential to either help with small businesses in terms of, you know, expanding their ability to fully insure their employees. Or at the same time figuring out what sort of pools and small businesses salt into that at the same time don’t undermine the affordable care act because that’s one of the big things that happened in [inaudible] is we’ve seen a lot of legislation about healthcare that seems designed to be nice. And then what we really find out about it is it’s meant to pull lady [inaudible] all the way people to keep premiums down within our exchange. So it’s wildly, wildly important that we have a good balance between making sure that you can take care of your employees in the same time that would keep the ACA [inaudible].

Roem: So this is one of my partners [inaudible] I believe strongly that every single Virginian should have access to quality, affordable healthcare and pay 90% of the gradings, which is the maximum wall every single one of our employees as any of you who run businesses here, overhead business meetings after too many cases right now reaching 50% of our operators, 50% of of the salary increase time, so I am very much concerned about the cost of healthcare now when it comes to healthcare plans, we allowing multiple businesses to group together in order to purchase insurance on its face. It makes sense. Traditionally the way we’ve approached drive out costs is by allowing insurers to removing the things that we come to cover elsewhere from these plans and drive down costs. If we can make sure that the coverage within these plans is as robust as covered with the plans. I think there’s a lot that can be down there. And I think collectively we do need to take a approach as a business community that demands that we look at the cost side of healthcare, how healthcare being marketed,

Torian: what joins companies are doing to drive premiums, the amount of profit that you can know, what did you do with non healthcare expenses? We should have a room. Any instead of that health insurance companies had to control costs. The way they maintain the profits today is by expanding the cost of healthcare safe and healthy profit margin stays the same. The amount of profit they’re making is larger. There’s lots of players in the healthcare marketplace that are elected. We work together to drive up costs, each of which is active rationally within that marketplace. Uh, but we need to fundamentally change our approach to that market place. And I’m looking forward to working with the business community, whether it’s group health plans, whether it’s banding together and other approaches. So long as we may take robust coverage for workers and employees, we can work together to drive down costs. You found gains on looking forward.

Torian: So the elephant in the room comes to health care is the recognize that I have no system in this four o’clock and you tell the truth and since healthcare is a for profit entity, we’re going to always have this long or eight years, eight years in the house we tried to pass a Medicaid expansion. 400,000 Virginians could have access to health care. The balloon side of it changed and the bills passed. Let me tell you why I was packs because of the politics. When our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the numbers we want to change, they came back with intent passed Medicaid expense. That was the only reason they didn’t come back. We didn’t come back and drive down costs because when you drive down cost, it’s take benefits away. Look at your own healthcare, how much you paid. We are privileged stuff because we are on the state plan. We were not on the state plan. It would be costing us several hundred dollars a month.

Torian: You didn’t say for profit entity and until we change that, we’re not going to do it. Any of us any good favors at all and I just, I am so disturbed by them because they’re equal who cannot afford healthcare and they will not go to the hospital because they cannot afford and if we really want to be bold, we really must have breast and be very truthful about it. Someone made a $25,000 a year can not afford health and as long as this is a full rock if we’re going to have a serious problem. Thank you. The

Speaker 3: affordable care act, the research that we have right from the business community is that the plans are not in direct competition into the marketplace.

Torian: The ACA, what is disturbance with these candidates on the national level, they want to come up with all these new plans and so many years since to get the plan in place, don’t try to reinvent something improval what we had. That’s all we need to do. Look at what we have improve on that and do not threaten to take away people’s shorts because whatever they come on with health care fall, they don’t take away somebody’s chores and all they need to do is work on improving what we have in place in her ears. If ACA, let’s just work with a group.

Speaker 3: Thank you. Delegate OLED Telmar. First I’d like to thank you for [inaudible]. Access to a seal workforce continues to be a tremendous heat for our local employers. We are severely lacking technicians. We can as welders electricians, two additional traits to fill the onset of jobs being created by companies like Amazon. What programs and initiatives we support like these guys have career technical education partnerships or the reintegration of certification of veterans to ensure we are creating sustainable talent pipeline.

Helmer: It’s a great question and one that we should all be concerned about. As folks are talking about the national stage, we should be talking about what we as automation has changes in the workforce take place. Increasingly your ability to operate them work as businesses. We’re going to require a technically, technically educated workforce and in order to have sustainable levels of employment here, we’re going to have to have folks who have access to that education. Now I would offer by probably an unpopular sentiment here is that one of the reasons that we are lacking technical education in the trades is that we as a EMT union Commonwealth of undermine one of the most effective training pipelines for those who are able to act in the trade apprenticeship programs by the carpenters, by the electricians or the other word of other trade unions. I have been very effective elsewhere in the country at providing a technically effectively educated workforce that can do things like build clean rooms, right by sight. My mind that I can work on very specific specifications that help us operate and continue with the workforce shortages in areas like construction where we’re struggling right now to keep up with demand. Why do you have the cost for all of us? So there are two sides of the cost equation on labor when we fly now the cost of labor so much

Helmer: that you can’t attract your brave. We were going to pay for it somewhere. So encouraging uh, unions to get engaged in workforce training area as well as looking at how we do technical certification with military veterans leaving the military, making sure that if you drove a noose and a half or two and a half on truck in the military, we give you a commercial driver’s license here in Virginia. Looking at how we make sure that military spouses aren’t impacted by different certification requirements or all the phones that is certainly making significant and major investments in technical education. Some of the wonderful state schools like George Mason university,

Roem: so, um, I higher than 80% of my LA and I can tell you that when you talk to military families especially, you will hear that transfer transferability of skill sets is such a huge deal when we’re talking exactly about what [inaudible] was talking about. There is currently sub licensing for example, that if you are a teacher in Washington state that you are a teacher in another city, that you should be able to be able to teach in Virginia with as little pain as possible. Especially because your spouse or your parent or whoever it is is serving abroad and that requires you be transferring seats. It’s safe. At the same time, we also see that we can come to Kampala, which owns the educational credit transfers for military families as well. And this being said, if you’re going to college in another state or you’re going to a higher learning Institute, wherever it is in another safe, or even if you’re just doing your K-12 and you’re in high school, then when you are then transferred here somewhere in Virginia, not all of those credits come along with you every single time.

Roem: If you want to support our military, support, our military families, it is wildly important. At the same time, and we’re talking about career technical education, one of the prompts that we had in the NAS as part shirts and both as I’ve talked to the CC a teacher actually on the men’s part, it’s a lack of physical spaces in the building at the high school to adequately, um, train a number of people who are going to go through what lead into the workforce. Because even though we will still have a lot of students from [inaudible] high school who will go into, you know, who will go to Nova or we’ll go just to apologize, all a lot of students with us or in high school must be labor ready by kind of dig it out. And so if I’ve got folks over at IDW willful 26 in the 13th district golf ball sport road telling me that Hey, we keep, not only can we keep these young adults out of debt, but at the same time that we will either $20 an hour to learn the trade and then we’ll even $25 an hour starting salary and they’re actually out of the, that’s

Guzman: being if you passed it. And the more I can urge the more. So I would start by sharing you through the legislation that was able to last this year. That will help [inaudible] if you had a nurses every Sunday vacation process is like Jake’s not in the past [inaudible] you would think that boy year. So now any maybe dice falls with a nurse and local Virginia. The recent litigation roses will take only 30 days because they need to. Joanie, that report CDN, that’s not a veterans. I think I have that. I just hope relation with veterans in my district. If I have [inaudible] on the area, maybe child long pair and I’m passionate about it has been a deal. So I have health, how they’re accountable. [inaudible] delegation and we [inaudible] will address the needs that were mentioned earlier. We all know it’s a reality that we need to also support systems.

Guzman: We provide resources, lower veterans [inaudible] world. It is necessary. We’re trying to find resources right now. For example, one of the things they’ll have dreads, looting these some holes was that map of assessments with better knots. Are these charts on early? Only on dishonor only, so we don’t know what that exhaust is that they need, but that was a fit. At least installation. We’ve have Olsen my notes here. Then I also, we have also address the need of or children, you know, what gym or moving for places with Lexus. We must go by the support system for them so they could you know, accommodate these new environments when they are Jakey from maybe from the state was saved and they never had to study at UT. So we that we have provided for our school counselors, we need more money and I would ask the chairman

Speaker 6: [inaudible]

Torian: awesome

Speaker 6: [inaudible]

Torian: so is the unemployment rate is 2.6% 2.6% and we CA have jobs so we are unable. That’s an amazing problem that we are moving from our traditional work force design where our kids go off to college and they graduate and come out with a skill set and they are now fence but more specialized where we’re going to be moving away from the traditional sense of how we educate and train and be a lot more specific. That’s where we need to have, that’s where I need Julia, you give me the suggestions. I mean Ivy as a cute thing will work. We can’t come up with all this. You got about business owners, you have to tell us what you need. And then if there’s legislation that is needed to appropriate to meet the need, then we submitted that legislation so that we can support your efforts and what your concerns are. I often tell my constituents, uh, I’m meeting with them. You can give me your concerns. Tell me what your concerns are. And then that is how I feel that I’m not the brightest guy in the room. Don’t pretend to be, but I think I have a little bit of wisdom. Part of my wisdom is say, come share with me what your challenges are and the ways that you think we can fix those sounds, but to have a 2.6% unemployment rate, I’m going have jobs that you still cannot deal. What a great problem to have

Speaker 3: there. Four questions. I’ve heard choice. So this next question [inaudible] view is related to your [inaudible]. There’s been much speculation that majorities in both houses [inaudible] Virginia was just recently awarded the number one state can do business by CMEC due in part to right status. You support, maintain and ensure employer choice. If not, why?

Roem: Well in 2016 I joined the majority of the 13th district debt residents and voting against the constitutional amendment. That would have been shrined work into the state constitution and if you want to call it by this other term, which is a feeler term. Then finally to do that as well. At the same time, I also know that this is going to be a chief policy position for art and so if you want to talk to the person who’s going to be meeting on that issue and then please by all means talk to our colleagues in the city of NASA’s. In the meantime I’m going to be making sure that I’m continuing to expand Amit rights and I’m going to make sure that I’m continuing to find the cost effective way to expand the, you know, very out of Gainesville for example. I’m going to do a lot of things that people in this room are going to be really, you know, we’re going to be able to work collaboratively when it comes to transportation, when it comes to education, when it comes to making sure that you know the person who was hearing you actually have healthcare.

Roem: Then at the same time that don’t on the house floor, I know how to be following the will of the people. The 13th district voted for it and wasn’t dealing with that. With the choice part of this,

Helmer: when we were doing our chamber, I already discussed this with bras and the other people you are on that call where we talked about what existing precedent duty under the siege, where this free follow, right, and if we’re talking about that number one rating, well let’s talk about the [inaudible] and because of the right people ranked dead last in the country, how’s that possible? We felt behind West Virginia. Again, how is that possible? [inaudible] [inaudible] so with that I’ll just turn it over to the delegate. Tim, Audrey, Charlestown [inaudible]. I think Bridget has spoke louder this crime for us to reject old notions that say the best for business means being more, uh, I think we didn’t just have an election in which a chamber endorsed candidate who was endorsed in part because of a position position on so-called right work lost decisively. But we had an opportunity to get right.

Helmer: Like so I ran against somebody or the chamber. Dorsey said it was because he was in support, right to work, brought us here. The reality is is that we talked through Virginia as I talked to my district and you can see a two track comedy in which women, minorities and many of our veterans that have been left behind in which witnesses which wages are not living wages. And we need to fix that. And what we need is the cooperation of the business community and that’s awfulness of the business community and how we get there. And so rather than perceiving rather than perceiving a desire to make sure we lift people out of poverty and recognize that they can be a work as a threat. I think we, all of us here as hardworking people, many of us who run businesses I need to talk together about how is it that we create an economy that works for all of us now this that that I’m going to be fighting for in the general assembly so that every Virginia who works in this common level has the opportunity to live in dignity and getting rid of laws that inhibit the ability of people to collectively bargain for their wages is one of the ways in which we’re going to ensure that our wheat, we no longer have to track of wages and benefits keep up with the growth, the economy and that is 2.2% unemployment rate means that people are able to live.

Guzman: Note that of the data or the statement that you made about being the number one business, another one your business is because we have way to ride for the state. I think that that other is conveyed the amount of work that businesses have. Bully blades, they’ll retain their employees. So I don’t know, I’ve never seen that data. I would like to see if you will, that you shared with all of us or that you would like to see it. I think that we’ve talked rate basis, this business of emerging. I would say that all that needs to go so fast and I wouldn’t have to recognize that we believe in a safe where we are and that is not right. You know, it’s like we have to revise those uh, those spaces. Often they do say no, I’m not going to use it. The right for the safe and I’ve really never, I do work via if that’s for, I mean it’s closer but I don’t do league. Guzman: I’m a union member and this is also information that is publicly available. And my union, Rutgers says the safe that please, I want to, I enjoyed and junior needs because it’s important for me when I have, what we have for them is Jane DOE, what salaries [inaudible] that were benefits, what we’d have to know. How the trainings that we need as an employee [inaudible] class, we’ll have a seat at the table and thought when these decisions are made, now wouldn’t that be wonderful when you are writing in our conversation that is running our inclusiveness. We’ll have one person from your workforce sit at the table. They got half a voice on the styling, what is best for them and for, and that’s what,

Torian: why didn’t work is a real big political issue. Really big into a great deal of politics. If you want transparency, that’s the deal, not see what you have here, you would like us to maintain why you work other opposed to I can see that change. I will tell you that the current administration, uh, has issues with uh, overturning over billing. Like at work. Um, members of the Senate has some issues with it. Members of the house we’ll also have issues with, uh, someone get rid of it. Some do not. The government has grave concern going away. And so what I would share with the folks is that we believe get in the room, maybe you’d have a discussion. Now there are concerns to be voice and move away from always had an absence of those things up fixable, equal ability to get the room and have a conversation and really find out what all the real issues. Once the real issues come in identified, then there are solutions to them. But oftentimes we want to deal with absolutes and absolutes are not always the answer. But I will tell you going into the 2020 session in his normal meeting, a very hot political issue,

Guzman: we have repeatedly reached out to him and ESPN system. He declined to participate in the business unit. So I’d now like to open it up. Appreciate you mentioning the unemployment rate 2.6 and I can tell you that there’s a solution to that problem, which is the one third of people with disabilities are currently participating in the workforce with the two first were not for geez, 39 and funding for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And there’s a long way that we have to go and uh, over 10,000, 14,000 people are on waitlists right now waiting to work. It’s a phenomenal workforce. It’s an untapped talent that we’re not utilizing. And I think it’s a big issue for us in a state where some of the solutions, what we propose to increase the [inaudible]. So at [inaudible] last year, [inaudible] was not harder than the Republican majority. I lost all of that. I already passed [inaudible] but I’m coming back and I’m bringing my day to station with Lily blues kind of preferences where people with disabilities at the same level. It’s not a program that it’s already been a bummer and it will grow by of references when people kind of lose the job, you know, intellectually the death study, civility things not done a waste their farm, that job. And they will provide at least some points during that interview when they’re [inaudible].

Torian: The only thing I want to share that you and I’ll probably sit down, that’s all I, you know, you have an insight and expertise that I do not have. That helped me tremendously because I really wouldn’t win. When we talk about the workforce, that’s the population of our citizens and our community that we very rarely think about. And so you have us, Guzman: what I just want to point out that oftentimes people consider people who are born with a disability and not acquired disability, disability,

Helmer: a stroke, heart attack, as well as all of that very, very excited to carry on a conversation. I’ve talked like this as part of loss. He’s like in Afghanistan, choir, choir, stability, right? So this issue of personally passionate about it runs a huge spectrum. It is, it is a, a cross disciplinary issue. Things like a low minimum wage, actually discouraged people with disabilities at times from being able to enter the workforce riders. The trade off is, uh, you know, there are all sorts of things we need to look at structurally to encourage people and recognize the incredible benefit that we get from, uh, providing opportunities for those specific cities to enter the workforce. And the unique perspective you to all my evidence. Like, Hey, I love to find people with disabilities, but biking, I gotta accommodate. And actually the reality is, is that by bringing in folks with diverse perspective, you empower and create a better workforce that is more able to serve more diverse customer base that represents more of what Virginia is. So I think there’s real power in making sure that we give them opportunities at those with disabilities. And it’s not just a disadvantage that each way me [inaudible] need to change that. [inaudible]

Helmer: so I’m listening to a few things here. Number one, um, my immediate family actually went through the independence arts center by the way, and taking care of them, taking care of the folks that are in the art. Prince William art, Northern Virginia was a passion project and said, if you want to follow up offline in this, talk about it, because as the always talking about is this is part of meeting entity. I put in a bill the last two years that would require insurers to have to cover the costs for mechanical prosthetic devices. For me these, for example, because it’s one of my constituents, you know, she’s missing her [inaudible] elbow and you know, she’s actually the first person in Paris state to get more money. [inaudible] and so I want to make sure that all the constituents where you teach, for example, have the ability to have all four Linden, sorry.

Helmer: Because it’s not just a physical health issue. This is a mental health issue. And at the same time it also is what allows her to be doing a lot of our games to drive a car. You know, she fell back to work. She has a lot of different jobs and she wants to do, she wants to work in crunch for example, and she can’t do right now. So being insured that are, have insurers actually provide for people with ongoing disabilities especially is why we imported it. And I was one of the delegates in 2018 who introduced the legislation to, uh, to eliminate the cap, the autism healthcare in this year. You know, we all got past [inaudible] stable. Um, we got passed the bill that eliminated all these restrictions on. [inaudible]

Helmer: didn’t make any sense about why we’d actually have an each family. And so I’ll say look offline and be very, very happy. I’m pretty loud. [inaudible] so I, uh, some, gosh, 10, 12 years ago, um, when, uh, Senator Colgan became Senate finance committee chair, I had the opportunity to ask this question and now I get dumped in the lab of delegatory and um, uh, but, but the question was everybody, uh, any, any, uh, early comments you wanna make about budget amendments that we might see coming forward, uh, that, uh, that will, uh, impact a business community here in Prince William County in the city of masses. [inaudible]

Torian: martyr. We have not, uh,

Torian: we have not begun to develop the legislative, uh, corporations then, or let me just take a moment to share with you where we are with the democratic majority, obviously about changes that take place and where we are right now. Certain growth rates, uh, make some decisions relative to staffing. Uh, getting organized is a huge job that’s new that, uh, right now I am well, to be honest with you, just the transition itself, uh, taking on a new role, learning that new role. Uh, I will tell you that it’s great to be in a position where we can help put a slip. It’s good to be in that position and learning what that means and how we will be able to do, uh, financially, uh, counted to benefit you all. Tell me what recommendations you all are in the lease, in your community from an economic development stand for things that you may see that financially we can take the Richmond as budget amendments and they perhaps have some favorable results.

Torian: I’ve always said that inclusiveness for me is important. I don’t have all the answers, you know, but if you’re in a position [inaudible] position, you allow that vision to work for others. And, and so, you know, I will tell you, I, it’s, it’s, it’s humbling to be in that position, but it’s also overwhelming, right? To seek the transition. But I’ve always weighed it out, developed with dysplasia. And the way that operative budget amendments is that when we have these legislative meetings, lunches, Rutgers, whatever, what have you either from you all helps me when I go back to Richmond, that that’s been my approach and that judicious nature. It’s exactly why I think you’re the man from job

Guzman: so why didn’t it happen? So I thought it was spoken with a general number of patients yet that’s something that is very important. Not that it’s a need right now. It brings me to felonies or seven eco BTC. The amount of Navy waivers, there’s a huge amount of waiting. They, so they’re hopeful that we can get more money or any waivers. Uh, another appropriation piece is going to be the transportation part. I strongly believe that D bulls, a lot of the transportation system, we don’t have no businesses establishing. It brings me a county’s officer as well as he was mentioning something about the other care. It wasn’t dress, the niece and nephew moments. A few names that go about the number of people that have not accessed either eligible but they have not taken advantage of either Medicaid or the marketplace. Other conversations right now be definitely be to, well maybe that question when you are finding your estate that’s if you resent the form where you are going insure or you are thinking the fines on those values insurance, we can not fit. I think that that’s wrong. We’ll ask that question. I’ll provide you have all in and we can provide the information and send your information to the same people that marketplace or you’ve got to get access [inaudible] for that and that’s what I can think of right now as far as money.

Roem: Oh, so surprised to know you. What I’ll just [inaudible] here is for everyone in the room here is my top funding priority is going to make sure that we are taking care of the PTA because I recognize the boy that we have without us having the chairman of the MBTA being from [inaudible] and I’m going to be making sure that we have a constant constant voice in the majority caucus for fully funding the MBTA and taking care of our regional transportation needs. [inaudible] out all nine jurisdictions that make up names as you’re eating. This is the time where as before we have you borrowed transportation. Jordan is time for us to fully fund transportation, especially in the economic engine that drives Virginia, which is this is not an option for us. It is mandatory for us meat pass to get this done and all the remind folks here that we’ve lost out.

Roem: Let me FBI relocate my headquarters relocation in the first round where they all feel important point the whole thing we lost out in the first round. We did not have Metro rail, how to innovation department with one word change in the federal level from Metro rail to commuter rail. If we add theory to innovation Mark, we could have made a hell of a competitive case for that and we can also, by taking care of Walbridge in particular, I will tell you the most important rail, uh, that we can possibly win the state is both fix the existing problems. We have the long version as well as dealing with the widen for the, for the basics that you have one freight by lion if we take care of that with meals up for your research here considerably. Because when we were looking at $616 million price static, Sabrina would be area 11 miles out to a market.

Roem: I don’t believe that we’re the County supervisors. That point for instead is opting to expand a blog one station at the same time. I’ll just tell you from doing the door to door, door to door to door, anyone in Gainesville, why constituents want to hear the data that came back to the County. This is not complied with the reality that I have from talking to [inaudible] or asking me, when are we going to get this? We have to get this. And that means fully plunging your PTT and the same time to be here to body never voted our roof.

Helmer: So [inaudible] UTA mass transit, uh, is, uh, I agree that we need to identify, uh, creative revenue sources. We need to look at the cost side of the equation as long to make sure that you’re investing in transportation architecture that allows us to spend more time with our families and employees. We’re closer to the political, closer to where they were and encouraged folks to basically make sure that our infrastructure has anything on it. We talk a lot about the concerns of the chamber. I’m, I, I’m very concerned about the growth of the small businesses and innovation and the workforce here in Virginia and Virginia. And so I want to look at budgetary options to increase the availability of capital and funding for small ways, innovative technology solutions for issues of major importance from IOT to AI to um, clean energy. And we need to become the clean energy and technology, just the region of the country by creating access to capital. What makes sense for small businesses to grow here. And so that’s where I’d like,

Torian: so we just completed preparations [inaudible] two days.

Torian: One of the things, one of the forecasts and the loads being all of you who were in business problem seekers right now when moving along, pretty decent pace, but potentially the growth as well as stall down maybe next year, maybe a couple of years from now, two or three years from now. But at the level where we are now forecast is, is that our economy is about to slow down. So what do we do from an a corporation stand for, we put money in the reserve so that when the economy shifts we are not adversely impacted. That was rainy day fund. And then we created a new reserve fund where we’re seeking to increase that budget to about $3 billion so that when the economy changes, Virginia is not adversely impacted. You know, until you said in those seats where you see these things, we can talk about spending, spending, spending funding [inaudible] but my top and our job is to help protect your quality of life. That’s what we’re there for. That’s what I’m there for. And so when you see these trends, that is our job as leaders to be prepared for those threads when they come out away.

Speaker 3: Awesome. I appreciate it. I’m [inaudible] supervisor [inaudible] district and I think that, um, just briefly, this is such a wonderful opportunity for us as uh, our chairman. I only went to chairman for the appropriations committee has said and that we are transitioning it to change and no one likes to change, but I look at the supervisor’s position as a rigid filter if you will, and supporting the business community, supporting the constituents, but being a raise bill through to the nugget, the dominance for the general assembly. And so my question with all of that said, because this is such a great opportunity, is what can we do as a new mind coming into our roles because it is overwhelming but it’s an opportunity and it’s based upon building the trust and the respect within the community. What can we do to support a better Virginia being in the seat coming into the seat first I just want to mention the year so excited

Roem: to work with our new kind of supervisors

Speaker 6: [inaudible]

Roem: as the acrimonious relationship that we’ve seen before. We’re not happy antagonistic relationship at least before I have complete confidence in dealers and they’re going to up in front of the generalist [inaudible] paper with the confidence that we’re going to have adults sitting in the tables and actually talking in good faith with each other to make sure that we are taking care of Prince William County and that are not jeopardizing Prince William status within the general assembly by insulting members of the majority party. While we’re doing [inaudible], we’re going to have to be functional working relationship and to supervise the Bailey. Even if you are on the Eastern and among the Western head, you are welcomed in the opposite of the 13th dessert anytime. Have you ever talked to mr office as well? Because as far as I’m concerned, taking care of Dumfries, taking care of robbing order, that is a principle accounting issue, whether or not it’s on the Western or the East.

Roem: We have four together and we have to work together in good faith so that our constituents trust us to get the job done and that because Prince William now has the incredible clout with LV orient beach or the appropriations committee, we’re not going to be treated as a laughingstock of Virginians. It’s not gonna matter. We’ve seen it on the house floor. We have seen Prince William County called out with council for bad behavior that nothing happened. Now we’re going to be in a really good place where we’re being inclusive of our minority majority community. We’re going to love you because of who you are, not despited. And that goes for no matter what you look like, where do you come from, how you worship you do or that you weren’t Prince William County or you were in Virginia? Well, the budget here

Helmer: I am very excited or where does all the members of the board of supervisors and I echo more than I’ve ever said, although I’m looking forward and to the moment

Speaker 6: [inaudible]

Helmer: to, to uh, to the broader point. I think, look, I think we have in a unexplained County we have real opportunities to invest smartly create a regulatory legal framework that incorporates Prince William not as a stepchild. I hope that this associated port of Virginia that as a full member of the family, uh, that is welcomed into the economic growth and benefits of our adjacent counties. And I think in some cases we have missed out on those opportunities. Uh, sitting down with supervisor Catlin next week. I don’t think these are partisan issues. I think they are issues in which we all need to work together to even where we need your help. Which was would you ask is to articulate the vision of what that looks like for all of our constituents here to support the needs of a broad and diverse, uh, group of people. Our business community, our, uh, our working families hopes of every single race and religion and the incredible diversity that makes this County a great one. And so where I look forward to working with all of you is to, uh, hearing what you’re hearing, understanding what the needs of our community are, and to begin that process of truly integrating principal even County into an engine, uh, that joins the rest of the, the pistons that are pumping in Northern Virginia and really grows alongside of it in a way that works for every single day.

Guzman: Well, if I did, I could start for a [inaudible] service or kind of supervisor marquee knowing my constituent. Thank you for your time.

Speaker 6: [inaudible]

Guzman: I was asked to acknowledge that [inaudible] nice. Had that great to relationship and excited about the future as well. You know, I definitely think having conversations for the new amount of work supervisors on Francois station [inaudible] something that is so important right now for our communities. Reading at justice reform, being able to defend our office [inaudible] and [inaudible] say [inaudible] myself, there are so many and I’ve chosen the soundings in raising income and is my hole that you started with divisiveness and Hey, the mom communities run through the body. This is the December 31st and we started running generally the first being proud of who we are, what we represent, and three, every single wonderful woman Steve Jones with dignity and respect.

Speaker 6: Thank you. My advice, you [inaudible] the board

Torian: of County supervisors have lost years of institutional knowledge and institutional knowledge matters when you’re trying to cover is so extremely important that not only do you learn the processes, but you learn, you learn how to vote and people may take that. That’s those just words. But it is truly the process to learn how to govern. You learn how to lead and to receive the constructive criticism and you vote to be faced with, uh, you cannot shut out. People like mighty annoyed. You should welcome him into your life.

Speaker 6: [inaudible]

Torian: there was enough of institutional knowledge that he has that he in partly you that’s still there to help you make no mistake about it. You all have targets on your back. You were responsible for leading on camera and you must leave. Well, you must leave.

The post $15 an hour minimum wage supported by local legislators appeared first on What's Up Prince William.

via What's Up Prince William

#IFTTT #What's Up Prince William #PWC News

0 notes

xlewandowski · 6 years

Text

NFL Mock Draft — 2018

Welcome to my annual 1st round mock draft!

Why I lead off like an announcer I will never know..

Before I get into my picks I need to get something off my chest, it’s obviously quarterback related, because with this years draft how could it not. It’s my ranking of the top 5 quarterbacks, yes FIVE. This whole nonsense of Lamar Jackson not being in the mix of the top quarterbacks is simply ridiculous.

Josh Rosen. Over this draft process I’ve read and heard a lot on how Rosen is the most pro ready and natural thrower of all the quarterbacks. So why is he not in contention for the 1st overall pick, mainly cause Cleveland isn’t the most intelligent, but I feel the real reason, not this ‘he’s too smart’ thing (actually), I believe it’s his injury concerns with sustaining two concussions as well as a shoulder injury in his final collegiate season.

Lamar Jackson. Picture Michael Vick, but more committed to the game (early in his career that is), will put in the time and not just rely on his God given ability. He could add a bit of weight to his frame, but overall he is the most dynamic player in this draft. And no, he’s not a wide receiver, that was simply an ignorant statement to make.

Sam Darnold. Has the potential to be the best all around/overall quarterback in this years draft. Has all the tools to be a franchise quarterback (height, weight, health). Biggest knock on him is the turnovers in college, and that’s where you have to wonder if it was the talent around him or his decision making.

Baker Mayfield. Let me just go on the record with that I do not like Mayfield, I think he’s too arrogant, cocky and immature to last long in the NFL, however, he won games and no matter how much I am not a fan of his character you can’t deny that he can win. Now there is the whole height thing, but I don’t think that’s the biggest flaw; when Ryan Leaf and Johnny Manziel are mentioned within the same sentence as you, red flags will be raised. Tread lightly.

Josh Allen. He’s big, he’s tall, he has a cannon for an arm and could very well be the next Carson Wentz! Look, if people keep telling themselves that or saying that they will believe it, and a lot of people believe that, I just don’t. When (Lamar) Jackson was getting trashed about his accuracy and Allen is being praise, yet he had a lower average I just don’t get it. The only way Allen can be successful is if he sits behind an experienced veteran. The ceiling is there, but the floor is also very, very low.

Without any further ado, this is my prediction for the 1st round for the 2018 NFL draft:

Please note that I will not be predicting trades in this mock; they are inevitable, a mock draft is already a guessing game so why add to the fire with trades.

1. Cleveland Browns — Quarterback, Josh Allen 

Let’s be honest, Cleveland is going to screw this up, they just are, and the real sad part that it may not be the talent around Allen, and you know what it may not be Allen himself - he does have the potential to be great, but that’s the thing, potential and Hue Jackson don’t coexist. Sorry Cleveland, but you deserve better then Hue Jackson and his average of 0.5 wins a season. Good luck, Josh!

2. New York Giants — Quarterback, Sam Darnold

You guys all know Sam, he’s the quarterback that has been predicted to go to Cleveland for months on months. New York said they wanted Darnold and that he is the only quarterback they like out of the bunch. Darnold gets a chance to learn behind a successful quarterback who too turnovers the ball more than you’d like.

3. New York Jets — Quarterback, Josh Rosen

Baker Mayfield is the flashier, more Joe Namath pick, but Todd Bowles does not strike me as the flashy guy, nor do I think he cares. Rosen is the best pure passer in this draft and he gets to learn behind a real pro in Josh McCown (All the Joshs!). This further makes you wonder why they even bothered bringing in Teddy Bridgewater for the year.

4. Cleveland Browns — Defensive End, Bradley Chubb

Hue Jackson said he fantasizes of teaming up Myles Garrett and Bradley Chubb; I’ll refrain from making an innuendo joke on how Hue gets a chubby… Look this pick is a solid pick because you can never go wrong with multiple pass rushers, just ask the Philadelphia Eagles.

5. Denver Broncos — Running Back, Saquon Barkley

I mean C.J. Anderson was just released 10 days before the draft, it just makes too much sense + Case Keenum is good, he proved this last year, so why not equip him with the best player in the draft which also happens to be one of Denver’s biggest needs.

6. Indianapolis Colts — Offensive Guard, Quenton Nelson

Andrew Luck is going to be back… right?… maybe?… Look I have no idea, but I do know that Indianapolis finally has to upgrade their line. Nelson is in the running with Barkley for one of the best and safest picks in the draft. Guard isn’t a sexy pick, though sometimes you need to go against the grain. Protection isn’t for everyone, but sometimes you need to play it safe.

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Offensive Tackle, Mike McGlinchey

I had Minkah Fitzpatrick in this spot but I couldn’t commit to it as Dirk Koetter is now grasping at straws on how to make Jamesis Winston somewhat competent. McGlinchey shores up the offensive line giving Winston the time he needs to connect with 2017 free agent acquisition DeSean Jackson.

8. Chicago Bears — Cornerback, Denzel Ward

Chicago had surprisingly a pretty decent defence last year; though in a division with the likes of Rodgers, Stafford and Cousins, you can never have enough talent at the cornerback position. Ward is the best pure corner in the draft and Chicago is banking on him being like ex-college teammate Marshon Lattimore of New Orleans.

9. San Francisco 49ers — Wideout, Calvin Ridley

Linebackers (Roquan) Smith and (Tremaine) Edmunds have been flipping back and forth for the 9ers since mocks came out but I just have a feeling that this pick has the ripple effect of Jimmy Garoppolo. Ridley is slightly undersized, but so was Sammy Watkins when he came out of Clemson. He is a fluid runner that can hopefully be for them what Buffalo thought/wanted Watkins to be for them.

10. Oakland Raiders — Linebacker, Tremaine Edmunds

I’m going to do my best Jon Gruden impression in describing Tremaine Edmunds:  Tremaine Edmunds, man, wow, I mean that guy is a freak, I call him Freak-a-Leek. Man that’s crazy, it’s like Pablo Petey went to Virginia Tech or something man. He’s a joker as well, you know why, he makes you laugh but not cause you’re happy, cause you’re scared man. Wow. 

But seriously, this kid is 6’5, 250lbs and he’s not even 20, just let the resinate with you. Edmunds has the potential to not only be a sideline to sideline linebacker, but could also rush the passer as well - scary next to Khalil.

11. Miami Dolphins — Defensive Tackle, Vita Vea

Adam Gase still believes in Ryan Tannehill, why I do not know, especially with Jackson and Mayfield still on the board. Miami goes with Vea in a lateral move in shipping off Suh and plugging in Vea. Miami is basically where they were to begin the off-season just without a significant cap hit owed to one player. Vea is however the most dominant interior defensive lineman in the draft, and with him it will allow Wake and newly added Quinn to put pressure on the quarterback.

12. Buffalo Bills — Quarterback, Baker Mayfield

This is the dream scenario for Buffalo, as they don’t want to use the 12th pick to reach for Mason Rudolph and they hate any quarterback that reminds them of Tyrod Taylor, sorry Lamar, it’s not you, it’s Buffalo. Mayfield brings the spark and excitement back(?) to northwestern New York where he has some pieces to be successful in LeSean McCoy and Kelvin Benjamin. Buffalo may actually be the most ideal place for Mayfield to land, as the media market is very small and unless he’s going to Niagara Falls on a weekly basis there are very few places for him to get into trouble.

13. Washington Redskins — Defensive Back, Minkah Fitzpatrick

The slide stops at lucky number 13! Fitzpatrick’s slide has less to do with his abilities and more for the teams ahead of them going for players that fit their scheme and need. Fitzpatrick can play in either the slot corner position but I believe his best spot may be safety; he’s a very rangy and ballhawking defensive back that will bring stability on the back end for Washington.

14. Green Bay Packers — Linebacker, Roquan Smith

Like Rodgers back in 2005 falling to them, Green Bay lucks out in getting a top talent that somehow fell to them. Roquan is the linebacker Green Bay has needed for what seems like forever now. Smith will shore up the linebacking corps and allow Matthews and Perry to get back to what they do best, focusing solely on rushing the passer.

15. Arizona Cardinals — Quarterback, Lamar Jackson

Jackson trades in his Louisville cardinal for the Arizona cardinal. Teaming Jackson and his all world abilities with David Johnson and an ageless Larry Fitzgerald just makes sense. Steve Wilks was part of a team (Carolina) that had a running quarterback (Cam Newton) so he has seen the pros that the mobility can bring to the game. The fact that Arizona signed Sam Bradford means nothing, as two years ago Philadelphia resigned Bradford then traded up to get Carson Wentz, it’s just science.

16. Baltimore Ravens — Defensive Tackle, Da’Ron Payne

This is what Ozzie Newsome does, he drafts Alabama players, and with his final draft as GM for the Baltimore Ravens, he says why not. Payne also works with the rotation alone the defensive line and further anchors that position. Baltimore could use more playmakers on the offensive side, none available (to them) are worth drafting this high.

17. Los Angeles Chargers — Safety, Derwin James

Derwin James has the potential to burst on the scene like Eric Berry and Earl Thomas; he’ll make an already solid defence and take them to dominant/elite status. If Jason Verrett can stay healthy LA may have one of the best secondaries in the NFL.

18. Seattle Seahawks — Edge Rusher, Marcus Davenport

With the release of Michael Bennett, Seattle is in desperate need of restoring what used to be a once dominant defence. Davenport brings not only size but also versatility and could be that chess piece that Seattle has desperately been needing. With the back end not as potent as it once was, Seattle needs to get to the quarterback faster; Davenport helps tremendously.

19. Dallas Cowboys — Cornerback, Josh Jackson 

Dallas needs more impact players for their defence, and with a not so elite pass rush they need guys who can cover. Jackson, a taller ballhawking corner can team up with second year player, Chidobe Awuzie and then allow Byron Jones to move to safety (his more natural position) and Dallas will have solely built up their secondary that desperately needs to make the jump to help out their middle of the pack pass rush.

20. Detroit Lions — Edge Rusher, Harold Landry

Detroit has one pass rusher that strikes fear into opposing offensive lineman, Ezekiel Ansah, that’s it, that’s all; Matt Patrica needs to bring in an impactful player to take the focus solely off Ansah. Landry (like Davenport) has the ability to play with his hand in the dirt or as a stand up edge rusher.

21. Cincinnati Bengals — Offensive Guard, Will Hernandez

Hernandez is the second best guard in the draft after Nelson; his height is a bit on the shorter side, however his power and footwork make up for anything he may be lacking physically. Andy Dalton borders on the line of not great and passable, and the only way Cincinnati has a prayer in the AFC North is if he can be protected and they have a solid run game. Hernandez brings the physically back to the Bengals that was solely lacking last year.

22. Buffalo Bills — Offensive Tackle, Orlando Brown

Bit of a reach here for Brown, but Buffalo is hoping that what Baker Mayfield told them that Brown is an ideal left tackle and someone who he trusts in blocking for him from college and into the NFL. Brown was horrible at the combine, I mean dreadful, but his game tape was fantastic; he is the player that will define if the combine measurables mean absolutely nothing.

23. New England Patriots — Offensive Tackle, Connor Williams

Brady is 41 and Nate Solder just left via free agency, look just because it’s obvious doesn’t make it not true. Williams fills a massive need for New England and provides much needed leadership along a line that is good but not great.

24. Carolina Panthers — Edge Rusher, Sam Hubbard

Carolina needs to (finally) address their aging pass rush, Julius Peppers can’t play forever, (I mean he probably could) and there hasn’t been a player ready to take the reigns from him. Enter Hubbard, he has all the measurables to be a dominant pass rusher, but it is his athleticism that leaves something to be desired, however Hubbard can use his tremendous motor to get off blockers.

25. Tennessee Titans — Tight End, Michael Gesicki

Mike Vrabel was brought in to be creative for Marcus Mariota; Gesicki gives them a younger option to learn behind a real pro in Delaine Walker, who is still serviceable but is getting up there in age. A young core of playmakers is being brewed in Tennessee, and Gesicki could be that final piece that could make the Titans a dangerous offence, if they gel.

26. Atlanta Falcons — Cornerback, Mike Hughes

Hughes is what Dan Quinn thinks is the final piece to creating a secondary that resembles what he had in Seattle as their defensive coordinator. Hughes isn’t the biggest corner in the draft but his coverage makes up for his lack of height, think Jason Verrett of the Chargers but who can stay healthy.

27. New Orleans Saints — Tight End, Dallas Goedert

New Orleans, and especially Drew Brees, has missed a game changer at the tight end ever since they traded Jimmy Graham away to Seattle. Goedert may as well be a Jimmy Graham clone, and seeing as New Orleans tried to sign their former tight end but failed, why not get a younger, significantly cheaper option. Goedert would be the perfect compliment to the outside presence of Mike Thomas and the dual threat of Kamara and Ingram. This offence would be downright scary.

28. Pittsburgh Steelers — Linebacker, Rashaan Evans

I don’t mean to be the bearer or bad news, but Ryan Shazier isn’t coming back. Don’t get me wrong he is a tremendous story, an inspirational story but for his short term and long term health, his career is over. Enter Evans who can anchor the middle of a linebacking corp that has severally been lacking a dominant presence, even when Shazier was in the lineup the group left something to be desired. Evans hits like a linebacker but has the speed of a safety.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars — Wideout, Courtland Sutton

Jacksonville has a lot of number 2 wideouts but not a true number 1, big bodied wideout to keep the defence honest. Sutton will give the Jags what they had briefly with Allen Robinson. Sutton isn’t the fastest in this years draft but with his size he can out muscle the majority of corners. You can’t teach 6’4.

30. Minnesota Vikings — Offensive Tackle, Kolton Miller

When you pay 84M guaranteed for your quarterback you want to keep him upright, hell, you don’t want him to be touched, ever. So solidifying the offensive line, which made great strides with it’s upgrades last year isn’t a bad idea.

31. New England Patriots — Linebacker, Leighton Vader Esch

New England has needed a big rangy linebacker ever since Chandler Jones was shipped off. Vader Esch just looks like a Patriot, not just because he’s white, but he reminds you of a Mike Vrabel, Rob Nikovich do everything linebacker except he can rush the passer and easily get around blockers with his enormous wingspan.

32. Philadelphia Eagles — Running Back, Derrius Guice

Your Super Bowl Champions just keep getting better and better! If Philadelphia wants to reduce the amount of hits and runs Carson Wentz receives the best way is to keep the ball on the ground and let the running backs do the damage. Guice is a luxury pick who teams up with an already formidable running back core in Jay Ajayi, Corey Clement, (pending return off injury) Darren Sporles. Guice will be the hammer that LeGarrette was, but with more juice (I’m horrible) in his legs.

Thank you for taking the time and hope you enjoyed reading what I believe, but will ultimately not even come close to unfolding in Round 1 of the 2018 NFL Draft!

If only I lasted as long as my articles..

Enjoy the Draft on Thursday!

#nfl #nfl mock draft #nfl draft

0 notes

dynastieskrp · 6 years

Photo

KIM JONGIN as TAN JAEHYUN TAN, SON TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD PARALEGAL

WHAT IS HE LIKE?

tan jaehyun, a curious boy at heart. he’s sweet — loyal to a fault. right off the bat, people remember him by his boyish smile and natural charm. spend any more time around him, and it’s pretty easy to figure out that jaehyun is a rather mellow and peaceful person; he tries to avoid conflict as much as possible, even if it seems to follow him around everywhere.

bring up anything worth talking about, though, and he’ll flip like a switch. in this aspect, he sees conflict as good: it’s a means to an end. as such, he’s good with words — a sweet talker, as they say — and prone to engage in any kind of discourse (or argument). it’s just how he thinks; he’s always debating with himself in his head, and he’d be happy to debate with someone else, too. jaehyun is also an extremely self-aware human being, which means he’s constantly assessing his opinions, thoughts, and behaviors. he likes meeting people, talking to people, if not to hear their stories then to challenge the purpose of his own existence on this earth. and, maybe because he grew up around the snooty and rich, he loathes boring people.

at all ends, jaehyun tends to battle against the idea of depending on others, and seeks personal independence in all aspects of his life, even when he doesn’t need to. he’s afraid of commitment. he’s disposed to abruptly isolating himself. he’s brutally honest, and sometimes emotionally unintelligent.

but he’s also kind, and very generous. earnest, but also compassionate. it’s hard for him to open up to people, but jaehyun truly is a very honest, real person.

his mom always said few could resist falling in love with him.

WHERE IS HE FROM?

09: YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY

the first time that he sinks his teeth into the flesh of his sister’s forearm constitutes the first lesson he can remember learning.

agile fingers hook around each of his arms and pull him back. without looking, he knows it is mother. she rushes to his howling younger sister (“ugh, so dramatic…”) and carries her into their home, leaving jaehyun in anticipation of some punishment or discipline which he can only assume will be long and unpleasant.

to his surprise, there is no go to your room or give me all your toys — at least not when dad isn’t around. mom kneels onto the floor in front of him and teaches him three important things. one, that hitting — or in this case, biting — women is unacceptable, and that he won’t understand why right now but will understand when he’s older. two, that it is never wise to settle matters with his fists.

and three, in response to his tormented exclamation (“i hate my sister!”), that blood is thicker than water.

01: COME TOGETHER

jaehyun loses mom when he’s fifteen. it feels like he might lose his mind, too.

now, home is just a house — or a mansion, or three mansions. for a long time, he speaks little with his sister, and even less with his cousin. what words are exchanged with his father are usually in passing. to be fair, it seems like he doesn’t really speak to anyone, anymore. jaehyun keeps mostly to himself, burying his mind in books and anguish.

but a thinker gets lost in his own head. he realizes he is angry about all the injustice in the world, and that his family plays right into it with one thing: money.

05: OCTOPUS’S GARDEN

he’s said he hates his father a million times inside of his head, but the sentence, in all of its gravity, never actually parts his lips until dad punishes him for embarrassing the company. imagine the RC group’s very own heir attending a protest against the empire that he is expected to one day lead. in his father’s words, it’s deplorable. (“you always go around like this, neglecting your responsibilities. making a fool out of yourself.”)

the cold and oppressive shadow of his father falls upon the kitchen, where jaehyun sits with his hands in his lap. mr. tan’s presence once invited warmth when jaehyun was a child, but it’s hard for him to remember any such time now. and when those words (“i hate you. i really do.”) leave his throat, dad relapses into a paralyzing silence.

no car, no cellphone, no girls. no more concerts, or movies. quit the part-time, come home right after school. no more friends over at the estate, no more band practices in the garage, and no more bass lessons until further notice. and certainly, no more of those stupid protests.

jaehyun tells himself he doesn’t care, anyway. nothing matters anymore.

14: GOLDEN SLUMBERS

an acceptance letter to columbia university over in new york is a surefire way to get away from the suffocating bubble that is family. at least, for the next four years.

economics is the major to appease his father, but secretly, he picks up a second in political science, and eventually a minor in psychology. jaehyun wants to practice constitutional law, but he knows he’s expected to pick up the company from wherever his father leaves off. still, it doesn’t make sense why he’s put in this position, especially when a certain someone is so much more excited to take up that kind of power than he is.

but that’s far ahead in the future, right? for now, it’s red solo cups and frat parties. kegs and the super bowl. halloween, spring break, saint patrick’s day. roommates, girlfriends, new york city.

and, his first fist fight. so much for nonviolence, right mom?

15: CARRY THAT WEIGHT

after graduating, he spends a year traveling and doing humanitarian work in lesser developed countries, spending a month or two in each. brazil, senegal, india, vietnam, you name it. it’s a humbling experience, to say the least. and it entails dumping a lot of tan family money into the hands of the poor families he meets.

when he’s back in korea, jaehyun lands a job as paralegal with the minbyun firm, executing mostly pro bono work for labor-related cases. he’s praying that he doesn’t one day have to help prosecute the RC group, so he keeps a close eye on his father’s actions.

unsurprisingly, that means he actually has to talk to his father. but maybe it’s time to repair their relationship — to come back to that estate, be a part of that family.

what’s the worst that can happen?

#D: ACCEPTED #F: TAN #kpop rp #kai #exo

0 notes

chaj · 7 years

Link

via www.pyimagesearch.com

My Uncle John is a long haul tractor trailer truck driver.

For each new assignment, he picks his load up from a local company early in the morning and then sets off on a lengthy, enduring cross-country trek across the United States that takes him days to complete.

John is a nice, outgoing guy, who carries a smart, witty demeanor. He also fits the “cowboy of the highway” stereotype to a T, sporting a big ole’ trucker cap, red-checkered flannel shirt, and a faded pair of Levi’s that have more than one splotch of oil stain from quick and dirty roadside fixes. He also loves his country music.

I caught up with John a few weeks ago during a family dinner and asked him about his trucking job.

I was genuinely curious — before I entered high school I thought it would be fun to drive a truck or a car for a living (personally, I find driving to be a pleasurable, therapeutic experience).

But my question was also a bit self-motivated as well:

Earlier that morning I had just finished writing the code for this blog post and wanted to get his take on how computer science (and more specifically, computer vision) was affecting his trucking job.

The truth was this:

John was scared about his future employment, his livelihood, and his future.

The first five sentences out of his mouth included the words:

Tesla

Self-driving cars

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Many proponents of autonomous, self-driving vehicles argue that the first industry that will be completely and totally overhauled by self-driving cars/trucks (even before consumer vehicles) is the long haul tractor trailer business.

If self-driving tractor trailers becomes a reality in the next few years, John has good reason to be worried — he’ll be out of a job, one that he’s been doing his entire life. He’s also getting close to retirement and needs to finish out his working years strong.

This isn’t speculation either: NVIDIA recently announced a partnership with PACCAR, a leading global truck manufacturer. The goal of this partnership is to make self-driving semi-trailers a reality.

After John and I were done discussing self-driving vehicles, I asked him the critical question that this very blog post hinges on:

Have you ever fallen asleep at the wheel?

I could tell instantly that John was uncomfortable. He didn’t look me in the eye. And when he finally did answer, it wasn’t a direct one — instead he recalled a story about his friend (name left out on purpose) who fell asleep after disobeying company policy on maximum number of hours driven during a 24 hour period.

The man ran off the highway, the contents of his truck spilling all over the road, blocking the interstate almost the entire night. Luckily, no one was injured, but it gave John quite the scare as he realized that if it could happen to other drivers, it could happen to him as well.

I then explained to John my work from earlier in the day — a computer vision system that can automatically detect driver drowsiness in a real-time video stream and then play an alarm if the driver appears to be drowsy.

While John said he was uncomfortable being directly video surveyed while driving, he did admit that it the technique would be helpful in the industry and ideally reduce the number of fatigue-related accidents.

Today, I am going to show you my implementation of detecting drowsiness in a video stream — my hope is that you’ll be able to use it in your own applications.

To learn more about drowsiness detection with OpenCV, just keep reading.

Looking for the source code to this post? Jump right to the downloads section.

Drowsiness detection with OpenCV

Two weeks ago I discussed how to detect eye blinks in video streams using facial landmarks.

Today, we are going to extend this method and use it to determine how long a given person’s eyes have been closed for. If there eyes have been closed for a certain amount of time, we’ll assume that they are starting to doze off and play an alarm to wake them up and grab their attention.

To accomplish this task, I’ve broken down today’s tutorial into three parts.

In the first part, I’ll show you how I setup my camera in my car so I could easily detect my face and apply facial landmark localization to monitor my eyes.

I’ll then demonstrate how we can implement our own drowsiness detector using OpenCV, dlib, and Python.

Finally, I’ll hop in my car and go for a drive (and pretend to be falling asleep as I do).

As we’ll see, the drowsiness detector works well and reliably alerts me each time I start to “snooze”.

Rigging my car with a drowsiness detector

Figure 1: Mounting my camera to my car dash for drowsiness detection.

The camera I used for this project was a Logitech C920. I love this camera as it:

Is relatively affordable.

Can shoot in full 1080p.

Is plug-and-play compatible with nearly every device I’ve tried it with (including the Raspberry Pi).

I took this camera and mounted it to the top of my dash using some double-sided tape to keep it from moving around during the drive (Figure 1 above).

The camera was then connected to my MacBook Pro on the seat next to me:

Figure 2: I’ll be using my MacBook Pro to run the actual drowsiness detection algorithm.

Originally, I had intended on using my Raspberry Pi 3 due to (1) form factor and (2) the real-world implications of building a driver drowsiness detector using very affordable hardware; however, as last week’s blog post discussed, the Raspberry Pi isn’t quite fast enough for real-time facial landmark detection.

In a future blog post I’ll be discussing how to optimize the Raspberry Pi along with the dlib compile to enable real-time facial landmark detection. However, for the time being, we’ll simply use a standard laptop computer.

With all my hardware setup, I was ready to move on to building the actual drowsiness detector using computer vision techniques.

The drowsiness detector algorithm

The general flow of our drowsiness detection algorithm is fairly straightforward.

First, we’ll setup a camera that monitors a stream for faces:

Figure 3: Step #1 — Look for faces in the input video stream.

If a face is found, we apply facial landmark detection and extract the eye regions:

Figure 4: Step #2 — Apply facial landmark localization to extract the eye regions from the face.

Now that we have the eye regions, we can compute the eye aspect ratio (detailed here) to determine if the eyes are closed:

Figure 5: Step #3 — Compute the eye aspect ratio to determine if the eyes are closed.

If the eye aspect ratio indicates that the eyes have been closed for a sufficiently long enough amount of time, we’ll sound an alarm to wake up the driver:

Figure 6: Step #4 — Sound an alarm if the eyes have been closed for a sufficiently long enough time.

In the next section, we’ll implement the drowsiness detection algorithm detailed above using OpenCV, dlib, and Python.

Building the drowsiness detector with OpenCV

To start our implementation, open up a new file, name it

detect_drowsiness.py

, and insert the following code:

Lines 2-12 import our required Python packages.

We’ll need the SciPy package so we can compute the Euclidean distance between facial landmarks points in the eye aspect ratio calculation (not strictly a requirement, but you should have SciPy installed if you intend on doing any work in the computer vision, image processing, or machine learning space).

We’ll also need the imutils package, my series of computer vision and image processing functions to make working with OpenCV easier.

If you don’t already have

imutils

installed on your system, you can install/upgrade

imutils

via:

$ pip install --upgrade imutils

We’ll also import the

Thread

class so we can play our alarm in a separate thread from the main thread to ensure our script doesn’t pause execution while the alarm sounds.

In order to actually play our WAV/MP3 alarm, we need the playsound library, a pure Python, cross-platform implementation for playing simple sounds.

The

playsound

library is conveniently installable via

pip

$ pip install playsound

However, if you are using macOS (like I did for this project), you’ll also want to install pyobjc, otherwise you’ll get an error related to

AppKit

when you actually try to play the sound:

$ pip install pyobjc

I only tested

playsound

on macOS, but according to both the documentation and Taylor Marks (the developer and maintainer of

playsound

), the library should work on Linux and Windows as well.

Note: If you are having problems with

playsound

, please consult their documentation as I am not an expert on audio libraries.

To detect and localize facial landmarks we’ll need the dlib library which is imported on Line 11. If you need help installing dlib on your system, please refer to this tutorial.

Next, we need to define our

sound_alarm

function which accepts a

path

to an audio file residing on disk and then plays the file:

We also need to define the

eye_aspect_ratio

function which is used to compute the ratio of distances between the vertical eye landmarks and the distances between the horizontal eye landmarks:

The return value of the eye aspect ratio will be approximately constant when the eye is open. The value will then rapid decrease towards zero during a blink.

If the eye is closed, the eye aspect ratio will again remain approximately constant, but will be much smaller than the ratio when the eye is open.

To visualize this, consider the following figure from Soukupová and Čech’s 2016 paper, Real-Time Eye Blink Detection using Facial Landmarks:

Figure 7: Top-left: A visualization of eye landmarks when then the eye is open. Top-right: Eye landmarks when the eye is closed. Bottom: Plotting the eye aspect ratio over time. The dip in the eye aspect ratio indicates a blink (Figure 1 of Soukupová and Čech).

On the top-left we have an eye that is fully open with the eye facial landmarks plotted. Then on the top-right we have an eye that is closed. The bottom then plots the eye aspect ratio over time.

As we can see, the eye aspect ratio is constant (indicating the eye is open), then rapidly drops to zero, then increases again, indicating a blink has taken place.

In our drowsiness detector case, we’ll be monitoring the eye aspect ratio to see if the value falls but does not increase again, thus implying that the person has closed their eyes.

You can read more about blink detection and the eye aspect ratio in my previous post.

Next, let’s parse our command line arguments:

Our drowsiness detector requires one command line argument followed by two optional ones, each of which is detailed below:

--shape-predictor

: This is the path to dlib’s pre-trained facial landmark detector. You can download the detector along with the source code to this tutorial by using the “Downloads” section at the bottom of this blog post.

--alarm

: Here you can optionally specify the path to an input audio file to be used as an alarm.

--webcam

: This integer controls the index of your built-in webcam/USB camera.

Now that our command line arguments have been parsed, we need to define a few important variables:

Line 48 defines the

EYE_AR_THRESH

. If the eye aspect ratio falls below this threshold, we’ll start counting the number of frames the person has closed their eyes for.

If the number of frames the person has closed their eyes in exceeds

EYE_AR_CONSEC_FRAMES

(Line 49), we’ll sound an alarm.

Experimentally, I’ve found that an

EYE_AR_THRESH

0.3

works well in a variety of situations (although you may need to tune it yourself for your own applications).

I’ve also set the

EYE_AR_CONSEC_FRAMES

to be

, meaning that if a person has closed their eyes for 48 consecutive frames, we’ll play the alarm sound.

You can make the drowsiness detector more sensitive by decreasing the

EYE_AR_CONSEC_FRAMES

— similarly, you can make the drowsiness detector less sensitive by increasing it.

Line 53 defines

COUNTER

, the total number of consecutive frames where the eye aspect ratio is below

EYE_AR_THRESH

COUNTER

exceeds

EYE_AR_CONSEC_FRAMES

, then we’ll update the boolean

ALARM_ON

(Line 54).

The dlib library ships with a Histogram of Oriented Gradients-based face detector along with a facial landmark predictor — we instantiate both of these in the following code block:

The facial landmarks produced by dlib are an indexable list, as I describe here:

Figure 8: Visualizing the 68 facial landmark coordinates from the iBUG 300-W dataset (larger resolution).

Therefore, to extract the eye regions from a set of facial landmarks, we simply need to know the correct array slice indexes:

Using these indexes, we’ll easily be able to extract the eye regions via an array slice.

We are now ready to start the core of our drowsiness detector:

On Line 69 we instantiate our

VideoStream

using the supplied

--webcam

index.

We then pause for a second to allow the camera sensor to warm up (Line 70).

On Line 73 we start looping over frames in our video stream.

Line 77 reads the next

frame

, which we then preprocess by resizing it to have a width of 450 pixels and converting it to grayscale (Lines 78 and 79).

Line 82 applies dlib’s face detector to find and locate the face(s) in the image.

The next step is to apply facial landmark detection to localize each of the important regions of the face:

We loop over each of the detected faces on Line 85 — in our implementation (specifically related to driver drowsiness), we assume there is only one face — the driver — but I left this

for

loop in here just in case you want to apply the technique to videos with more than one face.

For each of the detected faces, we apply dlib’s facial landmark detector (Line 89) and convert the result to a NumPy array (Line 90).

Using NumPy array slicing we can extract the (x, y)-coordinates of the left and right eye, respectively (Lines 94 and 95).

Given the (x, y)-coordinates for both eyes, we then compute their eye aspect ratios on Line 96 and 97.

Soukupová and Čech recommend averaging both eye aspect ratios together to obtain a better estimation (Line 100).

We can then visualize each of the eye regions on our

frame

by using the

cv2.drawContours

function below — this is often helpful when we are trying to debug our script and want to ensure that the eyes are being correctly detected and localized:

# import the necessary packages from scipy.spatial import distance as dist from imutils.video import VideoStream from imutils import face_utils from threading import Thread import numpy as np import playsound import argparse import imutils import time import dlib import cv2 def sound_alarm(path): # play an alarm sound playsound.playsound(path) def eye_aspect_ratio(eye): # compute the euclidean distances between the two sets of # vertical eye landmarks (x, y)-coordinates A = dist.euclidean(eye[1], eye[5]) B = dist.euclidean(eye[2], eye[4]) # compute the euclidean distance between the horizontal # eye landmark (x, y)-coordinates C = dist.euclidean(eye[0], eye[3]) # compute the eye aspect ratio ear = (A + B) / (2.0 * C) # return the eye aspect ratio return ear # construct the argument parse and parse the arguments ap = argparse.ArgumentParser() ap.add_argument("-p", "--shape-predictor", required=True, help="path to facial landmark predictor") ap.add_argument("-a", "--alarm", type=str, default="", help="path alarm .WAV file") ap.add_argument("-w", "--webcam", type=int, default=0, help="index of webcam on system") args = vars(ap.parse_args()) # define two constants, one for the eye aspect ratio to indicate # blink and then a second constant for the number of consecutive # frames the eye must be below the threshold for to set off the # alarm EYE_AR_THRESH = 0.3 EYE_AR_CONSEC_FRAMES = 48 # initialize the frame counter as well as a boolean used to # indicate if the alarm is going off COUNTER = 0 ALARM_ON = False # initialize dlib's face detector (HOG-based) and then create # the facial landmark predictor print("[INFO] loading facial landmark predictor...") detector = dlib.get_frontal_face_detector() predictor = dlib.shape_predictor(args["shape_predictor"]) # grab the indexes of the facial landmarks for the left and # right eye, respectively (lStart, lEnd) = face_utils.FACIAL_LANDMARKS_IDXS["left_eye"] (rStart, rEnd) = face_utils.FACIAL_LANDMARKS_IDXS["right_eye"] # start the video stream thread print("[INFO] starting video stream thread...") vs = VideoStream(src=args["webcam"]).start() time.sleep(1.0) # loop over frames from the video stream while True: # grab the frame from the threaded video file stream, resize # it, and convert it to grayscale # channels) frame = vs.read() frame = imutils.resize(frame, width=450) gray = cv2.cvtColor(frame, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY) # detect faces in the grayscale frame rects = detector(gray, 0) # loop over the face detections for rect in rects: # determine the facial landmarks for the face region, then # convert the facial landmark (x, y)-coordinates to a NumPy # array shape = predictor(gray, rect) shape = face_utils.shape_to_np(shape) # extract the left and right eye coordinates, then use the # coordinates to compute the eye aspect ratio for both eyes leftEye = shape[lStart:lEnd] rightEye = shape[rStart:rEnd] leftEAR = eye_aspect_ratio(leftEye) rightEAR = eye_aspect_ratio(rightEye) # average the eye aspect ratio together for both eyes ear = (leftEAR + rightEAR) / 2.0 # compute the convex hull for the left and right eye, then # visualize each of the eyes leftEyeHull = cv2.convexHull(leftEye) rightEyeHull = cv2.convexHull(rightEye) cv2.drawContours(frame, [leftEyeHull], -1, (0, 255, 0), 1) cv2.drawContours(frame, [rightEyeHull], -1, (0, 255, 0), 1)

Finally, we are now ready to check to see if the person in our video stream is starting to show symptoms of drowsiness:

On Line 111 we make a check to see if the eye aspect ratio is below the “blink/closed” eye threshold,

EYE_AR_THRESH

If it is, we increment

COUNTER

, the total number of consecutive frames where the person has had their eyes closed.

COUNTER

exceeds

EYE_AR_CONSEC_FRAMES

(Line 116), then we assume the person is starting to doze off.

Another check is made, this time on Line 118 and 119 to see if the alarm is on — if it’s not, we turn it on.

Lines 124-128 handle playing the alarm sound, provided an

--alarm

path was supplied when the script was executed. We take special care to create a separate thread responsible for calling

sound_alarm

to ensure that our main program isn’t blocked until the sound finishes playing.

Lines 131 and 132 draw the text

DROWSINESS ALERT!

on our

frame

— again, this is often helpful for debugging, especially if you are not using the

playsound

library.

Finally, Lines 136-138 handle the case where the eye aspect ratio is larger than

EYE_AR_THRESH

, indicating the eyes are open. If the eyes are open, we reset

COUNTER

and ensure the alarm is off.

The final code block in our drowsiness detector handles displaying the output

frame

to our screen:

To see our drowsiness detector in action, proceed to the next section.

Testing the OpenCV drowsiness detector

To start, make sure you use the “Downloads” section below to download the source code + dlib’s pre-trained facial landmark predictor + example audio alarm file utilized in today’s blog post.

I would then suggest testing the

detect_drowsiness.py

script on your local system in the comfort of your home/office before you start to wire up your car for driver drowsiness detection.

In my case, once I was sufficiently happy with my implementation, I moved my laptop + webcam out to my car (as detailed in the “Rigging my car with a drowsiness detector” section above), and then executed the following command:

$ python detect_drowsiness.py \ --shape-predictor shape_predictor_68_face_landmarks.dat \ --alarm alarm.wav

I have recorded my entire drive session to share with you — you can find the results of the drowsiness detection implementation below:

Note: The actual

alarm.wav

file came from this website, credited to Matt Koenig.

As you can see from the screencast, once the video stream was up and running, I carefully started testing the drowsiness detector in the parking garage by my apartment to ensure it was indeed working properly.

After a few tests, I then moved on to some back roads and parking lots were there was very little traffic (it was a major holiday in the United States, so there were very few cars on the road) to continue testing the drowsiness detector.

Remember, driving with your eyes closed, even for a second, is dangerous, so I took extra special precautions to ensure that the only person who could be harmed during the experiment was myself.

As the results show, our drowsiness detector is able to detect when I’m at risk of dozing off and then plays a loud alarm to grab my attention.

The drowsiness detector is even able to work in a variety of conditions, including direct sunlight when driving on the road and low/artificial lighting while in the concrete parking garage.

Summary

In today’s blog post I demonstrated how to build a drowsiness detector using OpenCV, dlib, and Python.

Our drowsiness detector hinged on two important computer vision techniques:

Facial landmark detection

Eye aspect ratio

Facial landmark prediction is the process of localizing key facial structures on a face, including the eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, and jawline.

Specifically, in the context of drowsiness detection, we only needed the eye regions (I provide more detail on how to extract each facial structure from a face here).

Once we have our eye regions, we can apply the eye aspect ratio to determine if the eyes are closed. If the eyes have been closed for a sufficiently long enough period of time, we can assume the user is at risk of falling asleep and sound an alarm to grab their attention. More details on the eye aspect ratio and how it was derived can be found in my previous tutorial on blink detection.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog post on drowsiness detection with OpenCV (and want to learn more about computer vision techniques applied to faces), be sure to enter your email address in the form below — I’ll be sure to notify you when new content is published here on the PyImageSearch blog.

Downloads:

If you would like to download the code and images used in this post, please enter your email address in the form below. Not only will you get a .zip of the code, I’ll also send you a FREE 11-page Resource Guide on Computer Vision and Image Search Engines, including exclusive techniques that I don’t post on this blog! Sound good? If so, enter your email address and I’ll send you the code immediately!

Email address:

The post Drowsiness detection with OpenCV appeared first on PyImageSearch.

0 notes