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capcarolsdanver · 3 years

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Why Her? (Part 1)

Summary: This fic is based off a request from an anon after some speculations that have been made on my blog.

Brie enlists the help of the reader to get a date with a girl that reader knows from class, only for unexpected feelings to be caught. Drama/angst/fluff to come! Pairing: Brie x Reader A/N: Oops accidentally took another way too long break from posting. I was still writing during this time, trying to structure some kind of schedule, but every time I reread my writing I always end up wanting to rewrite most of what I have, which is exactly what happened with this one. This is part 1 of 4, more of an intro than anything. Part 2 coming very soon!

As always, feedback is always appreciated so please let me know what you think, or even any suggestions you have for future parts! It is all written but I’m open to making some adjustments if people have any good ideas to bring to the story!

Please do not repost my writing anywhere without my permission.

PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

You take another generous sip from the coffee cup in your hands, practically cradling it as if it’s your most prized possession. Although, that’s what you would be inclined to referred to it as in this moment. You relied on coffee during most of your days at the best of times, but even more so while you’re nursing a hangover like the one you currently have.

You groan quietly to yourself when you realise you’ve reached the last drop of your precious caffeinated drink, placing the cup on the table in front of you and dropping your head into your arms in probably the most dramatic fashion you can muster.

You vaguely acknowledge the sound of footsteps getting louder as they approach you but you quickly dismiss them as yet another student walking passed your table in the campus library and choose to ignore in favour continuing to feel sorry for yourself. You take note to never sit at one of the tables closest to the entrance again. Foot traffic has quickly become your least favourite thing.

It suddenly occurs to you that you can no longer hear the footsteps. How long had you been zoned out for? Surely whoever the footsteps belong to couldn’t have already passed you without any other sound.

“Hey Y/N, how’s it going?”

The voice beside you isn’t over the top loud or anything, but it still doesn’t stop you from jumping in your seat, your head springing up. You instantly wince, warily bringing your fingers to your temples in a useless attempt to ease your pounding headache.

The girl standing by your table, Sarah, scrunches her features in apology.

“Sorry,” she sheepishly apologises. “I did see you at the party last night. Didn’t think you were much of a drinker, though.”

“I’m usually not, especially when I have class the next morning,” you grumble. “Last night was a mistake that will never happen again.”

Sarah laughs quietly, clearly trying to be mindful of your current state. “I figured I’d find you here this morning. I just have one question about class and then I promise I’ll leave you in peace and quiet again.”

“Shoot,” you say in as pleasant a tone as you can manage, deciding to spare her from your complaints about how not at all quiet the library of all places has proven to be so far that morning.

Sarah smiles a grateful smile and sits opposite you before asking a question about some paper you had received in your shared class the previous day. You can barely comprehend what she’s asking you but you answer as best as you can, which seems to be enough because Sarah is again smiling brightly and standing from her seat.

“Thanks, Y/N. I owe you one.”

“How about telling me how the hell you avoid getting a hangover. I saw you last night too. I swear you drank more than everybody else combined.”

Sarah chuckles and turns to leave. “Call it talent,” she says, waving over her shoulder as she retreats.

You wave back and watch her leave.

You wouldn’t necessarily call the two of you “friends”, but you and Sarah share an English class together and you seem to find yourself at the same get togethers and parties frequently, and had always gotten along well enough. You were sure if you actually took the time to hang out together you would probably be easy friends.

You take a heavy breath and release it when you realise you’re alone again, and just barely start feeling sorry for yourself again before a figure is slumping into the chair next to you with absolutely no consideration to your clearly less than ideal state.

You jump even more than when Sarah had startled you and your hand flies to your heart.

“Oh my god!” you exclaim. Your body was so not prepared for these kinds of interactions today.

“Sorry,” the girl says, kindly enough but with much less sincerity than Sarah. You don’t recognise her and you look at her with wide eyes, trying to figure out who she is.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, actually,” she says, apparently missing the bite in your tone, or just choosing to ignore it. “That girl you were just talking to. You’re friends with her, right?”

You instinctively look in the direction of the main entrance, where Sarah had disappeared through just moments go.

“Uh, kinda?” You reply, unsure. “I guess. I mean, we have a class together but-“ you interrupt yourself, remembering that you have no idea who this stranger is or what she wants. “I’m sorry, what exactly do you want from me?”

“I was wondering if you could help me get a date with her.” She says it so matter-of-factly that she doesn’t seem to recognise how entirely strange her words are. All you can do is blink at her in response.

“Excuse me?”

You have never actually considered that Sarah could be interested in women. Sure, she was an attractive girl and she was always nothing but friendly to you, but for whatever reason you just weren’t interested in her in that way. And now that you think about it, you’ve never actually seen her with anyone else, not even at any of the parties you’d attended.

The girl in front of you, however, obviously had considered it, and had somehow come to the conclusion that Sarah was interested in dating women.

“Do you even know her?” You ask.

“Not at all. Why do you think I’m asking for your help?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” You have to admit that you’re still confused by her request. She seemed confident enough coming here to talk to you. So why would she need any help talking to Sarah?

“Oh, I’m like, notoriously bad at talking to women I’m interested in,” she easily explains. “I can’t flirt for the life of me and I’m way too awkward to try to convince a girl that she definitely wants to leave a party with me.”

You’re left without a response once more, blinking at the girl as she offers you a half smile and watches you. After a long moment, she seems to remember something, sitting up straighter to regard you again.

“Oh! I’m Brie by the way!” She holds out her hand towards you and you drop your eyes to stare at it for a moment, your hungover brain working at half speed before you realise she’s offering to shake your hand.

Your hand grips hers weakly and she shakes it with her own. Her handshake is firm yet gentle, though you don’t really know what to look for in a good handshake. Brie seems to hold back a laugh at the awkwardness of the situation.

“And you are…?” She regards you with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh! I’m Y/N.” You shake your head as if you were clearing the fog inside of it. “Sorry. It’s been a bit of a rough morning.” You force a chuckle. She squints her eyes at you for a moment before a look of recognition flashes across her face.

“Ah, I thought I recognised you. You were at that party last night, right?”

You look at her in surprise. Usually, no one ever seems to recognise or remember you from any of the parties you attend. You’d always been a loner to some level. Not totally socially inept but enough so that you generally flew under the radar quite easily.

You nod. “I’m sorry but I don’t remember seeing you there.”

“Yeah, by the time I showed up you seemed pretty plastered,” she chuckles and your cheeks immediately flush. You hadn’t meant to drink so much the previous night, but what started out as a couple of drinks had very quickly multiplied the more you had allowed yourself to wallow in your own self pity. You uncharacteristically had let the fact that you were at yet another party alone get to you.

Brie seems to notice your discomfort because she thankfully has the decency to move the conversation on fairly quickly.

“So, you think you can help me?”

You’d completely forgotten the reason why she had even started talking to you in the first place, but your brain eventually catches up and your eyebrows lift when you remember her request.

“Oh. Um…”

“Okay, listen,” Brie interrupts, watching you with amusement in her eyes. “I’ve gotta go. But if you decide you might want to help me, here’s my number.”

She grabs the notebook that you forgot you even had open in front of you and slides it across the table towards herself. She quickly scribbles her phone number in the corner of the open page and slides the notebook back towards you.

Brie stands up, considering you for a moment before she reaches into her bag that’s slung over her shoulder. You’re still several steps behind, looking down at the set of numbers she had written in your notebook, when she drops two aspirins in front of you. You startle, looking up at her and finding her smirking down at you.

“Take these, they’ll make you feel better. And maybe they'll convince you to help me, too,” she says, barely giving you a second to respond before she, too, is leaving you alone at the table.

You sit in stunned silence for a few moments until your eyes drift towards the large clock on the wall opposite you and you catch sight of the time. If you don’t leave now, you’ll definitely be late for your first class of the day. You half consider your options, wondering how much you’d really miss if you just skipped one class in favour of going back to your dorm to nap.

Eventually you let out a deep sigh and stand up, knowing you’ll just end up beating yourself up later if you let yourself miss a class because of your poor choices from the previous night. You quickly throw your belonging into your book bag, only pausing to look at the two aspirins Brie had left for you. You pick them up and quickly swallow them down with a gulp of water from your water bottle before you’re rushing out of the library doors and towards your class.

#brie larson x reader #brie larson fic #brie larson imagine #captain marvel #mcu imagine #brie larson #mine #fic

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omyeol · 5 years

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chances - 01 | kjm

word count: 2,900+ words

genre: angst, fluff, but mostly angst tho

<< story masterlist >> | << writing masterlist >>

may 2020

Sundays were days reserved for relaxing; a day where Minhyo didn’t have to worry about the possibility of getting up late. Sundays were days reserved for relaxing; a day where Minhyo didn’t have to worry about the possibility of missing a deadline for some coursework. Sundays were also days where she didn’t have to be awakened by the sounds of children yelling and crying from the kindergarten in the neighborhood. Sundays were blessing that Minhyo held really dear to her heart because it’s a day where she wasn’t tied to a schedule or anything.

But on a particular Sunday in May, she didn’t feel relaxed at all. She might have even woken up two hours later than she usually was, and she even spent extra twenty minutes rolling around her bed and scrolling through her Instagram feeds, but that didn’t help the anxiety she had felt since the beginning of the week.

This Sunday was also the day where her father would be coming to visit her for the first time since she left Seoul three years ago. All the video calls made throughout the year was not enough to quench the longing feeling she felt, but this time, everything was going to be worth it. All the pain she felt and the tears she shed would be worth it.

Well, at least, that’s what the poetic side of her brain told her as she sat in the car, trying not to lose her mind because of the traffic. It seemed like the fact that she left her apartment earlier to go to the restaurant didn’t even matter because she still managed to meet all the red traffic lights.

“You haven’t said anything since we left your place. Are you okay?” Letting out a sigh, Minhyo glanced at her right where her dear friend sat on the passenger seat with her phone clutched in her right hand and a cold cup of coffee on another.

“I’m not. I feel like we’re going to be late.” Once the light turned green and the cars in front of them started to move, Minhyo let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God, finally.”

“I think she’s about to go crazy.” Minhyo furrowed her eyebrows and glanced at her right, seeing Bomi smiling and talking to her phone. “I’m also pretty sure that she doesn’t even realize that I’ve been doing this for ten minutes now.”

“Are you doing Instagram live?” Minhyo asked with her eyes still on the road and Bomi only hummed as an answer. Her stomach churned at the answer; she could even feel her palms starting to sweat.

“Yeah, you’ve been so preoccupied with your head and the traffic to notice it.” Minhyo sometimes forgot how impulsive Bomi could be when it came to using her social media accounts. She remembered a few times where her close friend got in a bit of trouble because she posted something ambiguous; like that one time in 2016 where Bomi posted a photo of Minhyo sitting in front of TV and eating a tub of ice cream with caption ‘my soulmate’ with a few heart emoji after the caption. So many people were speculating if the two of them were dating, when in fact they weren’t. It made it to the online news portal and people were talking about it.

(It affected the relationship Minhyo had with a certain someone after that, but she didn’t want to think about that).

“Want to say something?” Bomi’s airy voice pulled her back into the present, deep down Minhyo was hating it how her best friend could put her in the spot like that.

Clearing her throat and flexing her hand on the steering wheel, Minhyo opened her mouth and finally spoke. “Uhh, hello. I don’t know if you can see me clearly, but well, it’s been too long. I hope everyone has a nice day.” She didn’t even forget to crack a small smile that actually looked nothing like a smile at all. It was so forced that she wondered if she turned out like she had been holding a stomachache or something.

Whatever, she thought to herself as she continued to focus on the road and tuned out whatever Bomi was doing next to her. After all, it was easier for her to tune it out. Although it painfully reminded her of her own Instagram that she didn’t open unless she really wanted to post a picture. She felt a little guilty, too, remembering how she disabled her Instagram posts’ comment section ever since she left. It was for the best, though, her little heart defended herself.

She didn’t know how long Bomi had been doing Instagram live, but when they almost arrived at the restaurant where they would be meeting her father, Bomi wasn’t talking up a storm to her phone anymore.

“So, when are you going to turn on the comment section on your Instagram again?” Bomi was known to be blunt, but Minhyo didn’t think that her friend would ask such questions this early. She had gotten so comfortable to not see anything under her posts and truth to be told, she didn’t even have it in mind to turn it on anytime soon.

“I don’t know,” she opted to answer truthfully, knowing that the petite friend would be asking her questions anyway.

“You should turn it on the next time you post something.” Minhyo just hummed, not wanting to respond anything again. It was better to focus on parking the rented car because she was sane enough to decide to not buy a car in New York City. The only car she had was in Seoul and it was being used by her little sister on an almost daily basis. “People miss you a lot, you know.”

That wasn’t the first time Bomi told her that. She wasn’t even the first person. Sehun, who used the app frequently to interact with his followers, told her the same things a couple of times too. She was tired of being told that and sometimes on a bad day, she thought that even her closest friends didn’t understand her; they didn’t get how toxic the internet had been for her before and how it was the one thing that gave her the final push to leave.

“Let’s just go, okay?” Minhyo breathed, glancing at her friend briefly. It wasn’t the best time to explain it all to her.

Bomi only sighed, knowing that she wouldn’t get any more than that.

K-Forum: Kim Minhyo is finally seen during Ahn Bomi’s Insta live!

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It has been a while since the last time we saw Kim Minhyo! The last time we saw her is three years ago at the airport, right? Right when she’s about to leave the country...

I’m so sad when the news of her taking a break from the entertainment industry came out, but now I can see that it’s for the better. Wish I can see her in a drama/movie soon, though.

[post response] [+1,556;-412]

[+1,231;-432] She looks healthier, though! I remember when she used to be so skinny, it was borderline unhealthy. Glad that the break and the school are doing great on her.

[+947;-209] I miss her so much… I want to see her in movies and drama again... She is such a talented actress.

[+743;-111] Not only talented as an actress, but she’s also smart and beautiful… Did she save a nation in her past life or what?

[+460;-156] What happened between her and Kim Junmyeon, though? We never got a clarification whether they broke up or not. We only got that cryptic post and sudden news of Junmyeon enlisting.

[+284;-531] She should’ve just stayed unseen though. Stay in America and don’t even go back here.

Silver and purple.

Everywhere Minhyo turned, the only thing she could see was silver and purple. It’s on the flags, and their graduation gowns and caps. It was everywhere. She had seen those colors for the past two years, and she thought she’s done with it. No matter how many times she thought she’s going to miss campus life, she actually wouldn’t. She definitely wouldn’t miss stressing out over her classes and grades.

“Oh, my daughter, look at you!” Minhyo let out an embarrassed laugh at her father’s reaction when he approached her, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “I’m so proud of you.” She could only flash her a grateful smile and open her arms, accepting his hug.

“Thank you so much, Pa.” She shut her eyes and squeezed her father. “It really means a lot that you came here.” They both pulled back from the hug and Minhyo accepted the flowers her dad gave to her.

“Do you really think I would miss such an important day?” Her father chided, shaking his head faintly when Mihyo just flashed him a sheepish smile. “Where’s Bomi, by the way? I thought she said she’s also coming.”

“She told me she’s close. I’m pretty sure she’ll be here at any moment.” While waiting for Bomi to join them, Minhyo pulled out her phone and took a few selfies with her father. She even recorded a short video too, for it to be posted on her Instagram later. It didn’t hurt to show her face once, she thought. It was her day, after all.

When Bomi finally came, Minhyo couldn’t believe her eyes. As she walked, she also had what seemed like more than six balloons in her hand and her phone on her free hand. Still unable to comprehend the whole thing, Minhyo let out a laugh and shook her head in disbelief, although the beaming smile on her face was still prominent.

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked, her eyes widening as her best friend finally approached her. “What is this?”

“Just some property for your picture.”

Minhyo ended up asking one of her classmates to take a picture of her and her father. In the end, her father even volunteered to take countless pictures of his daughter and the best friend. Those pictures needed to be sorted thoroughly later, but Minhyo wouldn’t mind the process. She could do it later when she laid down in her trusty bed after everything was done.

From that, everything felt like a blur of multicolor in her eyes.

There was a lunch at her favorite restaurant with her favorite foods and people and that was including Sehun who suddenly showed up in the middle of the lunch with a handful of balloons and a paper bag full of other goodies from the others. Minhyo couldn’t resist her tears anymore the minute she opened one of the presents, which was a scrapbook full of pictures of her alone and together with the others too and encouraging notes from the others. Her heart clenched at the fact that even though she kind of dropped her life in Seoul and moved to New York, they were still thinking of her and went out of their way to make such a meaningful gift for her.

“I’m recording this and sending this to all the hyungs.” She didn’t even have any energy to wrestle the phone out of Sehun’s hands. She was too busy sniffling while looking through the book.

The moments she didn’t know were going to be captured in-camera were surprisingly there. That moment when she was caught off guard by something Kyungsoo said and sprayed the water she was drinking all over the table, when they were celebrating Chanyeol’s birthday (this was a few months before she moved away) at her old apartment, when they were on a trip together to Japan, and so many moments in their friendship that she always treasured in her heart.

Out of everything, one picture that caught her off guard the most was the one of her and Junmyeon sitting together on his couch. In that picture, she leaned her head on his shoulder and he was leaning his head on top of hers and it was such an oddly intimate moment that they went through together after she had one of her breakdowns before the others came to have dinner together. She didn’t know that someone (it was Sehun, she knew, since he knew the passcode to Junmyeon’s apartment) would capture it in the picture.

Something shifted in her heart as she kept her eyes on the picture. It was like she missed it. She missed sitting on that couch with Junmyeon and doing nothing but talking. She missed having his shoulders to lean on and his hands to hold onto whenever she felt like she needed a grip because life liked to catch her by surprise.

“Do you have something to say, noona?” Sehun’s voice pulled her back to the moment, where both of her friends and her father were looking at her expectantly. Heaving out a shaky breath, she flashed her family (and the camera phone pointing at her) a wide smile.

“Thank you so much for this,” she breathed out. “This… This is so precious. I don’t even know what else I’m going to say.” She ended up chuckling through her happy tears. Placing the book on the table in front of her, she rose from her seat to give two of her best friends a big hug. It was a bit awkward since Sehun had his phone in hand and it was pressed up against her side, but she didn’t mind it. What’s important was that she could give them the biggest hug she could ever have given someone.

“We’re glad that you like it, though,” Bomi spoke up as she pulled back from the hug. “A certain someone was fussing about it, telling us that we have to make it special.” Minhyo didn’t ask any further about that certain someone, but she could have easily guessed who it was. It could only mean one person only and just thinking about his name already stirred something in her stomach.

“Okay, enough of this sappy moment. Let’s eat.”

It was pretty much smooth sailing after that. Minhyo didn’t shed any more tears since the tears were changed into a round of laughter that she couldn’t help but let out when Sehun shared a few stories from home. Sehun’s stoic face and his weird-but-adorable way of telling a story never failed to lift her mood. Although it was nice to hear those stories, she couldn’t help but have this forlorn hope that she was back home to experience it herself.

She wished she was there to experience it all with them. Too bad things weren’t the same as it was back then, though. After what happened, it was unlikely for things to work the way it was.

“Make sure to read the letters too, okay?” Bomi reminded her when Minhyo was looking through all the goodies in the car on their way back to her apartment. Sehun had kindly offered to drive them all because he liked driving (no matter if it was in Seoul or NYC, even though the traffic was testing their patience).

“What’s in there? Is it tears inducing?” Minhyo asked with an easy smile across her face, holding the bulk of letters in her hands. Her thumbs absentmindedly caressed the front of the letters from Junmyeon, but she didn’t even notice (Bomi, however, did).

“It’s just sappy things. I heard Chanyeol shed a bit of tear when he wrote the letter.” Minhyo couldn’t help but let out a string of giggles. Of course, Chanyeol would do that, she mused to herself.

It turned out that Chanyeol wasn’t the only one who shed tears. She did end up shedding tears, too, when she read the letters on her bed later that evening. How could she not, when the letters were filled with beautiful, touching words that moved her heart? How could she not, when she could really feel how each letter was written with sincerity? How could she not, when what she felt after each letter was how much she missed everyone and the realization of how lonely it had been for her for the past few years?

She might be torn of what she wanted to do after this. But after reading those letters, looking around her room, and realizing how painful it was that there was nothing but her traces in that place, she knew. She knew that she couldn’t spend another year in that city. Maybe it was the right time to come home.

Hi, it’s me, Junmyeon.

It feels weird writing this letter, actually. We’ve already used to text and call each other, right? It’s really weird to write this. I don’t even know what I’m going to write...

But anyway, congratulations on getting that Master’s degree! I’m (always have been and will) so proud of you, especially for finishing this graduate school. I’ve heard from Bomi and the others that you’ve been so stressed out about it, but hey, you finally made it! Now that it’s done, you can finally relax. Maybe you should take a few days and fly to LA and enjoy the sunset before going back to Seoul. Well, that is if you plan to come back home… We miss you a lot here, but whatever you’re planning for after this, just know that I will always support you (and so will the kids)!

I don’t really know what to write anymore, but well, I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re healthy and eating well and getting enough sleep too. Don’t drink too much coffee, you know you can’t drink more than 2 cups a day or it will really mess up your sleeping schedule. And I also hope that you’re enjoying your time and still managing to have a little bit of fun amid your busy days.

Once again, congratulations, Minhyo!

Love you. Always.

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daesungindistress · 5 years

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A message I received today (she wanted it published):

“Hi! I was browsing the bigbang tag here when i found your account and I had a pretty interesting evening reading your blog! Imagine my surprise when I found out you were the RcA of carnivores...... i was surprised then not at all because I remember writing you a monstrously long review then you replying me with an even longer reply XD In that spirit, I shall give my 2 cents

i saw your various posts about seungrigate, in particular the hyungline's prophecizing abilities. To preface this, I don't support Seungri and I'm not a OT5 stan but I think these videos, while chilling to watch in the aftermath of seungrigate events, have become overblown in some sort of Bigbang history revisionism

The truth is, if GD really thought Seungri was going to go to jail, or had any side illegal activities, he definitely wouldn't have aired his views in front of cameras, in a DVD recording available to everyone. Similar reasoning to every other incidence of 'prophecizing' the hyungs did. If the hyungs really suspected Seungri's club was out drugging and raping women, the stupidest way to have resolved it would have been to take it to TV. Not to mention how suddenly chilling it is if the hyungs actually did know and were complicit in the crimes, which I feel like a lot of these prophecy video retweeters don't consider.

At best, they thought (and I too thought at that time) that Seungri was maybe making bad money decisions, Lee Sangmin style.

I think its comforting to think the signs were always there, that the hyungs warned him but he didn't listen, that their relationships were fraught because of the whole Seungri never eats with us memes, that he was never a good person and he showed it all along but the fans shoved their head under the sand. But to characterize him as a 2D villain so that we don't have to struggle to reconcile the person we idolized before, and the crimes he's accused of now is only a disservice to us.

Seungri wasn't the only one who skipped out on dinners- TOP had that habit before Seungri, and i think it was even mentioned in Healing Camp (the whole gold medal thing). Seungri did like and love his hyungs unless he was the world's best actor. He talked Jiyong through things in 2009 when Jiyong read the comments asking him to comment suicide and cried on phone. He cried on Jiyong for 20 minutes in 2012 because he was disappointed in a hyung he idolized letting him down with the marijuana scandal. He texted Daesung within one minute on that Japanese show when he said he needed help, and cheered him up when he was dying of nerves before his concert. He saved Todae from getting hit by fireworks in Malaysia by physically hauling them away. When TOP was represented by a tower in variety shows, Seungri blatantly mentioned his name in Radio Star when everyone pretended he didn't exist. The kid we knew existed. It's just that there was another, more insidious side to him too. This is NOT a defence of Seungri, I just think there's been a lot of revisionism going on lately, about his character and his relationship with the band. Seungri is a shitty criminal, but sadly a criminal who did love his hyungs and fans in some way. Not everything that happened in the last 12 years is fake.

i remember feeling very grateful when Seungri showed up in Act 3 Motte and hugged Jiyong and Jiyong smiled for the first time in that whole damn tour. Jiyong loved that boy, and mentioned he was family to him so many times. Jiyong was the most attached to Seungri IMO (I guess since they were roommates back then and all), but Taeyang called him up in the military when he only had one call, forgoing his own damn wife. I think, the truly heartbreaking thing about this, is that Seungri was loved by his hyungs, and he did love his hyungs too.”

***

Do you know how many asks it would have taken to get this message to me had you gone that route after all? LOL, alright, here’s my reply (some of which will be behind a cut to save y’all’s dashboards). I’ll quote the parts I want to address in italics.

“The truth is, if GD really thought Seungri was going to go to jail, or had any side illegal activities, he definitely wouldn't have aired his views in front of cameras, in a DVD recording available to everyone.”

That's what we all thought too... and that's why we didn't take any of it seriously and casually wrote most of it off as jokes, bullying, teasing, playing, etc. And while I'm sure it was that in a way, at least in part, you know what they say: there's a grain of truth in every joke (or "a little bit of truth behind every 'just kidding'").

Many fans are also taking this as a sign of how serious the others were becoming in their warnings to him, as if they felt it was the only way to get through to him. I'm sure they had private conversations off-camera, but if they were williing to do it publicly? On national TV? (Radio Star, for example.) That appears to say something about the weight of their concerns and their attempts to reach him. (Also keep in mind that they've said they rarely saw him outside of band activities, that he was always running off as soon as events with them had ended, so who knows... maybe they felt that on camera was the only real chance they had to catch him and address him in person. Maybe they felt like it was the only way he would listen. So many maybes.)

Another thing: TOP's rather astute comments about Seungri's friends (that they seemed like bad people, that they were using him, that they weren't his true friends but were only attracted to his fame, etc)... I personally would not have said those things where the public could hear them were I in his position. There's nothing joking about it, nothing at all. He was very direct in his delivery and it was not something that could be laughed away even if you tried.

“If the hyungs really suspected Seungri's club was out drugging and raping women, the stupidest way to have resolved it would have been to take it to TV. Not to mention how suddenly chilling it is if the hyungs actually did know and were complicit in the crimes, which I feel like a lot of these prophecy video retweeters don't consider.”

Okay everyone, listen up. This is important. In all these videos being referenced by fans in recent days, it's not possible that the hyungs were hinting at the drugging and assault that occurred at "Seungri's club" (I still hesitate to call it that) because Burning Sun did not yet exist when these things were being said. The club Burning Sun opened in February 2018. The last time BB were together as a group (as four -- GD, YB, Daesung, Seungri) was during their Japan Dome Tour in December 2017. And TOP? January 2017.

(read the rest behind the cut)

Further information: GD enlisted in late February 2018 and YB & Daesung enlisted less then a month later in mid March. Burning Sun opened in February 2018 and closed a year later in February 2019 during Burning Sun gate. The videos floating around in which the hyungs appear to warn Seungri come primarily from their 2017 Welcoming Collection (filmed in late 2016), Run BIGBANG Scout (shot in summer 2016), and from various concerts and fanmeetings throughout 2016-2017.

It is true that people do need to be very cautious when speculating about just how much the others knew about what Seungri & Co got up to, seeing as how, when it comes to this type of crime, awareness of the crime can be quite damning in and of itself. But once you take these dates into account, I think the others should be fairly safe from that kind of dangerous speculation. The question then becomes, how much did they know about what Seungri & Co got up to in their own time?

That I’m not overly worried about. They made it quite clear on several occasions that they hated his friends. Why would they have had any involvement with them? And it’s difficult to imagine Seungri inviting them in, so to speak, knowing how they were always scolding him for one thing or another. The way I see it, he found his own flock and kept a tight formation. Birds of a feather and all that.

“At best, they thought (and I too thought at that time) that Seungri was maybe making bad money decisions, Lee Sangmin style.”

This is the assumption most fans seem to be going with. Additionally, they may have had some ideas about his treatment of women as well, especially taking into account his 2012 sex scandal with a Japanese woman in which he allegedly choked her during sex, never kissed her, and threw a towel at her when he was done (and after which Youngbae and Daesung moved in with him, evidently to keep an eye on him and help set him straight. I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but I’ve read that he seemed proud in the scandal’s aftermath because hey, people were finally viewing him as an adult. Talk about embracing one's bad boy image.)

On that note: if he was in fact proud of himself for getting caught up in a sex scandal back then because he felt like it made him more of a man, then what must he be feeling now? Bearing in mind the influence of his less-than-reputable friend group of the last few years? He's currently under suspicion of hooking up with prostitutes and offering them to his investors to grow his business, among other things. The public is calling him a pimp (not totally accurate but ok). His conduct lately is not that of a person who feels he's done anything wrong. He might even feel a little, well... pleased with himself. Hence that small but self-satisfied grin he's been wearing everywhere lately.

Hmm... Just some thoughts.

“But to characterize him as a 2D villain so that we don't have to struggle to reconcile the person we idolized before, and the crimes he's accused of now is only a disservice to us.”

I’m sorry you see it this way because that's not my intent at all. My goal is not to paint him as a villain but to simply show that the signs of trouble were there and to suggest that perhaps we shouldn't be as surprised as we are about recent revelations. That this isn't really coming at us -- or at the rest of BB for that matter -- completely out of the blue. I don't know about you, but I find that comforting. Understanding what went wrong and when helps me to better come to terms with what's happened here, and I've been hearing from quite a few others lately who say it's helped them too. It also reinforces my confidence in OT4′s ability to carry on, because if they expected him to leave them in the near future, it stands to reason that they had been mentally and emotionally readying themselves for it. We the fans are hurting enough; the last thing I want right now is for the members of BB to be hurting too.

I'm also hope my readers don’t think I’m suggesting that Seungri was never a good person or never did anything good for anyone. That’s not it at all. Nothing is ever that black and white. I won’t forget them or try to erase them, it’s just that right now I'm not very interested in reflecting on the “good times”... and I think most would agree. Those acts of kindness you're referencing in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013... you might have noticed that I've been focusing on conversations between the guys that took place in 2016 onward. Between MADE era and the present day. Alive era, Tonight era... I'm not interested in examining those years, because I'm concentrating on the period of time after Seungri met his new circle of friends (Jung Joonyoung, Choi Jonghoon, Yoo In Suk, etc) and began spending more time with them than with the rest of BB. I'm certainly not implying that Seungri was always this way, but I do believe he had the potential to become it given the right -- or should I say wrong influences. And he found those influences. Or should I say they found him?

Now, this is just speculation, but BB's popularity exploded immensely during Alive in 2012. After that the members of BB went their separate ways for a time to work on solo projects. They came together periodically for YG family tours, I know that much, but it wasn't until MADE in 2015 that they were promoting as five again. It can probably be assumed that it was during that absence when Seungri ~fell in with this bad crowd~ (I hate to use that phrase because it seems to absolve him of responsibility for his actions, but let’s just go with it for a sec). I suspect the sharp rise in fame went to his head and he became... let’s just say susceptible.

(If there are any Seungri stans still here, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about the timeline or chime in with additional info. My knowledge of what the members were up to between Alive and MADE is pretty murky, seeing as I wasn't "there" for it in real time.)

“When TOP was represented by a tower in variety shows, Seungri blatantly mentioned his name in Radio Star when everyone pretended he didn't exist.”

Someone brought this up in an ask that I haven't answered (sorry anon!). While it's entirely possible that he did this out of the goodness of his own heart, it's also possible that he did it because he knew it was what the fans wanted... and Seungri is nothing if not good at giving people what they want. It might not have had anything to do with TOP's feelings at all. I also wonder if YB calling him while in the military may have been done more out of concern than affection -- i.e., checking in on him to make sure he stayed out of trouble.

...and that's if Seungri's story is even to be believed, i.e., "He called me instead of his wife, can you believe it?!" Seungri is not above using the others to draw eyes to himself and prop up his own popularity (as he did when he name dropped GD constantly during his Great Seungri promotions), and given the others' comments about him exaggerating and even flat-out making up stories that haven’t a shred of truth for attention... just saying I wouldn't put anything past him at this point.

“The kid we knew existed. It's just that there was another, more insidious side to him too.”

That's really all it boils down to. Although I don't much care for calling him a "kid" anymore. I know he likes to play up the cute maknae role and all when it benefits him, but it's never sat well with me because, well... dude's a grown man, and calling him "kid" in light of recent events feels very wrong. That "kid" image is long gone, and I say good riddance. (For the record, I don't much like it when the others go all aegyo on each other either; with them now in their late 20s - early 30s, I have to say it's gotten a little weird.)

“Seungri is a shitty criminal, but sadly a criminal who did love his hyungs and fans in some way. Not everything that happened in the last 12 years is fake. ... I think, the truly heartbreaking thing about this, is that Seungri was loved by his hyungs, and he did love his hyungs too.”

I believe in... their love for him to varying degrees. Some were closer than others, of course. This is why, in a previous post, I said that I won't be surprised if some of them decide to stay in Seungri's life as a positive influence behind the scenes. However, at the same time, I won't be surprised if they choose not to. The thing is, you can still remain friends with someone but recognize that the two of you just don't work well together anymore in a, well, work environment. The bonds of friendship are important, yes, but as I think we've seen lately... it isn't everything.

With what we know now, I believe that the tension we've seen building between Seungri and the other members over the last few years was rooted in Seungri losing his passion for music as his obsession with wealth and power took over. Greed got the best of him. And I’m sure he was frustrated; there were things he wanted from Big Bang that Big Bang could not give him.

Although his hyungs surely still cared for him, more or less, I can see why in the last few years they may have been uncomfortable continuing to work with him if they felt that he was staying for all the wrong reasons. If you're going to be part of a group of artists like this one, it helps with group morale, to be confident in the knowledge that you all share a common interest and are working toward a common goal. If the others' goal was in expressing themselves through their craft -- music and dance -- and connecting with the fans through their work, while Seungri saw it primarily as a means to an end (i.e., "It's just a paycheck") then yeah. I'd have found myself getting pretty irritated with him too.

In the end, you can care for someone and still distance yourself from them, for an abundance of reasons. I think many of us have been there with loved ones ourselves... and I believe that's what we're going to see happen in the coming months when the others come back. Hell, it's been happening for years right under our noses; the difference now is they don't have to try to hide it anymore.

#ask #seungri #bigbang #burning sun #my post #do you guys know how many fics I could have churned out by now if I was putting my writing energy into that instead of these asks #lol #jk it's not that easy #k time to hit the hay

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imagineclaireandjamie · 7 years

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Mac Ruaidh - Part Eight (one of two)

This one got a little too long to be posted in one piece but it was all meant to be read as one chapter so it’ll be back-to-back posts instead.

– Mod Lenny

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven

Grey spotted Jamie and the boy as soon as he came into the yard. The boy had one of the horse brushes in hand but couldn’t reach the beast properly so Jamie had William around the waist and had lifted him so the boy could try his hand.

Jamie met Grey’s eye over the back of the horse and held it for a long moment before William drew his father’s attention and both broke into smiles and laughter.

Grey pulled his horse up short and watched them for a few moments more. There was something about the way both threw back their heads when they laughed, the way the light struck William’s hair giving it a washed out appearance…

“Shit,” Grey muttered under his breath as he set his horse to a walk and met Lord Dunsany standing with one of the other grooms near the side entrance of the house.

“John,” Lord Dunsany greeted him warmly before pulling him into the house and leaving his horse and pack to be tended. “I’m glad you came. This latest… Well, I got the impression that Mac might be getting ready to… take a step with you that I know my wife isn’t ready to accept. Indeed, not a week after I wrote you she devised a plan for the boy that I’m having no luck breaking her of. Mac has almost certainly heard of it by now and likely has refrained from speaking to me because he knew you were expected.”

“He wants his parole reassessed,” Grey guessed (though he knew if Jamie asked, he would enlist Hal’s influence in gaining a pardon for the man; several timely and important translations of intercepted documents had left the Crown somewhat indebted to the convicted Jacobite and Grey knew Jamie had likely only agreed to helping for this day when it would help him back).

“I suspect so. Perhaps you can sway my wife away from her plan and help to ease the situation with Mac. It would be a shame to see William go and I’m afraid of what it might do to my wife’s spirits,” Lord Dunsany requested in a tone surprisingly close to begging.

“I will see what I can do,” Grey promised.

They joined Lady Dunsany and Isobel in the parlor briefly before Grey was able to escape to his room to clean up and change from his ride. Isobel volunteered to show him up though he was given the same room on each visit and knew the way well.

She hesitated by the door as he began unbuttoning his coat and laid it on the bed to brush it out later.

“Do you think I’m old enough to marry?” she asked, surprising him. “I’m the same age Geneva was when she wed but Mama and Papa don’t seem to think I’m old enough. Or at least, nothing has been done about finding me a match.”

“Perhaps it is just that you are now their only child and they do not wish to part with you,” Grey suggested, stalling as he removed his neck cloth to put off getting further into the business of washing while Isobel stood watching.

“I think I should like to wed. I might be able to give my parents a living grandchild. You should see the way my mother dotes upon the groom’s little boy. He is a darling child but did you know, Mama wants to take on his education? Get him a tutor and treat him like a ward,” Isobel explained. “She needs someone to pay that kind of attention to and I am too old for it now… or too boring in my unmarried state.”

“Well, do you want to marry? Is there anyone you would choose for yourself if given the chance?”

Isobel flushed. “I should like it to be someone closer to my age than Lord Ellesmere was to Geneva,” she confessed. “And someone familiar or comfortable, if possible, though… I suppose familiarity would come with time.”

Grey gave her an encouraging smile. “Then you are wiser than you realize and yes, I think you are certainly old enough to wed,” he told her. “But for your sake, I hope it is someone who appreciates you from the start and doesn’t require time to come to value you properly.”

Her flush deepened. “Thank you, John. I’ll see you at supper.” She finally left him to finish settling and and changing.

Only arrived an hour past and the list of conversations to be had and delicate situations to maneuver was as long as his arm.

Lady Dunsany appeared to be the source of most of the trouble so he made sure to dress quickly and go down to supper early. She was always the first ready and Lord Dunsany preferred to slip into the solitude of his study to await the meal, so Grey would have a brief window of privacy with the lady of the house. He was determined to make the most of it.

“John,” she greeted him from her place at the window as he entered. “The room is to your liking, I hope?”

“Perfect, as always,” he assured her. He came to stand beside her so he could see what it was that had her attention though his gut told him he already knew.

Jamie sat hunched over on a stool that was too short for his tall and muscled frame. His knees came nearly to his ears whenever he bent forward, stick in hand, to draw something in the dust. William was on his knees with a stick of his own, struggling to copy the shapes on the ground. As Grey watched William, the boy’s tongue sticking out in concentration, he realized Jamie was teaching his son to read––or perhaps it was figures that had the boy’s brow furrowed like that (like Jamie’s did when he brooded over a chessboard contemplating his next move).

“It’s a disgrace to see him so,” Lady Dunsany murmured quietly. “He should have a tutor and proper materials, not… sticks and stones like… like…” But her words failed her. “And Mac won’t consider moving back into the house with boy and winter coming on. I even offered him better rooms than before but he insisted the loft in the barn is warm enough with the horses below. I can’t imagine what it must be like with the smell.” She shook her head and wrinkled her nose as though she could smell it in the room despite the heavy perfume of hot house flowers in the air.

William looked up at Jamie expectantly and laughed as a proud smile broke across his father’s face. Jamie’s arms shot out and he grabbed William under his arms, swinging him into the air. They could hear a childish scream of excitement muffled by the closed window.

Lady Dunsany exhaled with exasperation. “I hate it when he does that.”

Grey thought he saw Jamie’s eyes land on the window where they stood watching. He must have known they were there and was familiar enough with Lady Dunsany at that point to guess what she thought.

Jamie spun the boy faster, his screams and shrieks of laughter getting louder.

Lady Dunsany huffed and turned away taking a seat and addressing Grey. “You need to speak with him, John, for Geneva’s sake. Her son should not grow up ignorant in the dirt.”

“Isobel tells me she has yet to formally come out,” Grey remarked, pointedly changing the subject to gauge the woman’s reaction. He was pleased to see that she became self-conscious. She wasn’t unaware of what her behavior and attitudes were doing to her surviving child then. Her grief, perhaps, and fear were making her unable to focus on anything but the boy she could not properly claim as her grandson.

“And what is it you’ve been summoned here to do?” Lady Dunsany asked, ignoring his statement.

“I wasn’t summoned,” Grey fibbed; he had been due for a visit in his role as supervisor of Jamie’s parole, after all. “MacKenzie’s situation has changed in the eyes of the Crown and the conditions under which he is kept here may change as a result as well. I need to speak with him about it as well as with your husband.” Another fib; the situation would only change if and when Grey set such a thing in motion. He would consider himself bound by honor to follow Jamie’s wishes and it might only be the fact that he hadn’t had a chance to speak to the man that was preventing that from being the case at the moment.

Lady Dunsany froze while the color drained from her face.

“You can’t let him take our grandson from us,” she begged. “Talk to him. If he must leave, fine, but please don’t let him take William.”

Grey moved to sit beside the older woman. For a moment he contemplated taking her hand to comfort or calm her but decided she was more likely to take offense to such contact.

“I do not think you’ve thought through what such a gesture––or even what something like taking the boy as a ward––will do, not just to him but to you and your husband… and to Isobel. You only invite rumor and speculation that counteracts whatever good the arrangements you’ve made with Mr. MacKenzie have accomplished.”

“He deserves the best that we can give him,” Lady Dunsany emphasized. “What can the groom hope to do for him? Especially if he were to leave.”

“I’m privy to more of that information than you and I can assure you that William will be well educated and will not want in the ways that you fear.” His voice had dropped. Grey gave in to the earlier impulse and took her hand giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“You don’t understand…” she insisted. “He’s all that’s left of her.”

“I know. And not seeing him will be painful. But if Geneva had lived to raise him, how often would you have seen him––”

“You really think that fact makes any of this easier?” she snapped, pulling her hand from his and jumping from her seat to get away from him.

Lord Dunsany opened the door to his study then to inquire as to the status of supper and Isobel’s footsteps sounded in the hallway moments later.

And with that, Grey knew he would not speak with Lady Dusnany on the matter again.

#next part is back to Jamie's POV #and that'll be the last we'll see of Helwater #;mod lenny #Mac Ruaidh AU #featuring: john grey #featuring: the dunsanys #featuring: william #alternate universe #canon divergence

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m0nstera-blog · 7 years

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Ricky Watches | Mar 13-19

Grimm 06x10 | Blood Magic

After a series of brutal attacks in a local nursing home, Nick and Hank learn about euthanasia being practiced in the Wesen community. Eve asks questions to Adalind that only a Hexenbiest can give.

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Grimm has just three episodes left to tie up a whole lot of loose ends, but it seems to be doing a good job so far. I’m enjoying that, along the way, they haven’t sacrificed the smaller, one-episode plots in an attempt to cram everything they want in for the larger plot. (Though, this will likely be the last we’ll see of that.) This episode, of course, kept with the plot of Eve/Juliette and the Big Bad in the mirror - but also brought us a really compelling and somber sub-plot about dementia and dying with dignity, as well as the preservation of a way of life for a persecuted group of people that are just trying to do their best. In addition, the dynamic between Eve and Adalind has been really intriguing. Two women that were, not too long ago, bitter enemies and romantic rivals but are now warily cautious teammates? A very interesting pair not often seen on mainstream television, at least in a way that doesn’t involve sexism and cat fights. And then, of course, a little humor to make up for the box of tissues you just plowed through:

Eve having to shake one of the Hexen-books to get the letters to unscramble

The medical examiner shrugging off the tox screen results with “I suppose if any place was going to have a giant assassin bug, it’d be Portland.”

Rosalee panics and tells the Gevatter Tod that it’s her husband suffering from dementia as Monroe stares her down and then chugs some wine.

“Make sure your brother doesn’t fall off the bed. No making him float, either.”

Grimm 06x11 | Where the Wild Things Were

Nick finds a way to join Eve in the other place, while the gang reluctantly enlists Renard for help.

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The Scooby Gang pretty quickly realizes that Eve has gone rogue to ̶N̶a̶r̶n̶i̶a̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶U̶p̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶D̶o̶w̶n̶ The Other Place. This episode felt more like a set-up for next week than a stand-alone episode. We find out the prophecy, what’s probably going on (ick, child bride), what’s through the mirror, and finally we are full-circle from the beginning of the show. The keys, the magic stick, the cloth, the symbols, the mirror, the child with ridiculous powers. All is linked. Adalind offering to go through the mirror speaks volumes about her growth over the seasons. Though I do agree that, as a (possibly now single, if Nick doesn’t find his way back) mother, it’s definitely not something to be asked of her, Adalind volunteering as tribute is a stamp on the finished product of Bad Character Who Is Now Good. The heart to heart in the forest was overdo. Eve says she doesn’t blame Nick, and she wouldn’t change anything. The line "Happiness doesn’t interest me anymore, Nick. It just gets in the way,“ did make me a bit sad for Juliette. Eve has recently settled on a slightly more middle ground between the two - but she’s definitely not Juliette. I was really pleased that it didn’t end up with Nick going back to Juliette/Eve in some sort of destined to be together, endgame sort of way. Nick has moved on, Juliette is gone, and that’s where we are. No romantic happily ever after for them. And they’re okay with that. Once this season is over, I think I’ll need to rewatch the whole thing. Considering it’s been six years since I watched the beginning, the overarcing details are occasionally lost to me.

Humans are called “walking meat” in The Other Place? Jinkies.

The Schrodinger’s Cat analogy confused the bejeezus out of me. So because they went through, another dimension is no longer available? Or it might be a pre-life or afterlife, but not like in a heaven or hell type way? But sort of? And Skull Face might be the devil? What?

"I’m guessing this is your standard stone slab sacrificial altar.”

Seriously, though, did the whole show come down to a magic stick and a child bride?

Next: “ A dark force arrives in Portland with its eyes set on Diana; Monroe, Eve and Rosalee make a discovery that uncovers the origins of the mysterious stick; Hank and Wu are called to a crime scene that is linked to the gang’s greatest threat.”

Criminal Minds 12x14 | Collision Course

When pedestrians in Bradenton, Florida are critically injured following a series of car accidents, the BAU suspects that the vehicles involved in each accident were being controlled by a hacker. Meanwhile, Prentiss works with defense attorney Fiona Duncan (Jeananne Goossen) as Reid prepares to stand trial. Things take a turn for the worse when the Mexican authorities find the weapon of the crime. Reid refuses both the deals the prosecution offers him, and he’s denied bail.

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Welcome to Criminal Minds, where the stories are made up and… still completely terrifying. Criminal of the episode: car hacker. Hack the car, hack the smart phone, watch the horrified driver as they unwillingly run into a pedestrian. Fun for the whole family. (Seriously, though, stop making me nervous about things that will probably not be sci-fi in the very near future.) The unsub is a white male, in his mid- to late-twenties, who was repeatedly rejected by women. Next!

Criminal Minds 12x15 | Alpha Male

When several civilians are disfigured following a series of acid attacks in Philadelphia, the BAU sets out to catch an unsub who wants to make his victims feel as ugly as he does. Meanwhile, Reid struggles to adapt to life in prison after a guard with a grudge sends him to the general population, and makes a friend in Calvin Shaw, a former FBI agent with a dark past.

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This one glanced furtively in the right direction, and then ran away. (And yet I still chased it. I’ll never give you up, Criminal Minds!) This week, we have attractive young people getting hit in the face with acid. Early in the episode it was suggested that it might be a woman, or even multiple unsubs, but of course it was a socially awkward, white, twenty-something male with a severe case of But Why Would You Sleep With Him When You Could Have Me? What I do find interesting, though, is a detective show having a storyline - or even two, really - where the system is not working in the favor of those who are innocent. Reid being put in prison, unable to truly legally defend himself, for a crime he didn’t commit. Calvin Shaw, having to spend the rest of his life in prison for a decision he made in a lose/lose situation. Calvin’s status among the prisoners as the alpha male, and his reaching out to protect Reid, tie in nicely with the criminal of the week.

Criminal Minds 12x16 | Assistance is Futile

A mother steps forward with valuable information for the BAU to aid in their investigation of an unsub known as the bone crusher. Also, Reid must adapt to a new set of rules in prison life.

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I’m not gonna lie, I definitely fast forwarded through a few scenes on this one. Crunching bones is not my thing. -shudders- Of course the victims are women, and of course they’re tortured. In a slight shift in routine, the team actually knows who the perpetrator is pretty early in the episode - then it’s a matter of finding him. So, some people are speculating online that Reid was placed in general population as a plant. I’m… uncertain. I mean, this is the show that “killed” a main character and didn’t let her friends know it was fake, so, who knows. But I’ll be a bit upset for the team if they went through all this heartache for nothing.

Next:The BAU suspects that two unsubs are operating at the same time when victims killed in different ways are found in the same city.

Jane the Virgin 03x01 | Chapter Forty-Five

Michael is in critical condition fighting for his life in hospital, as we are given flashbacks to the start of Jane and Michael’s romance. Police question Petra (really her twin sister, Anezka) and find her acting suspiciously, and Jane and Michael’s mom finally learn to get along.

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Please excuse me while I sob into my tea.

Originally posted by rootxsam

Yes. I watched all of these in one go, so I don’t have much analyzing to offer. Next time I’ll pace myself. I will say, the flashbacks showed a relationship that I wasn’t really expecting. What I was expecting, I'm not sure. But it wasn't that. In addition, I’ve been spoiled on a development from later in the season, which has ruined me forever.

Jane the Virgin 03x02 | Chapter Forty-Six

When Rafael finally admits that he is over Jane, their co-parenting style is tested when they argue over what the best preschool is for Mateo. Xo is paranoid about Alba finding out her secret and what it will do to their relationship.

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Ouch. Jane had moved on from Raphael, of course, but that still has to sting. And Gina Rodriguez does such a good job with the slight facial expressions showing Jane feeling hurt, but trying not to look like she’s feeling hurt. I can’t remember ever seeing a show deal with a character getting an abortion as calmly and as casually as Jane the Virgin did. It was mentioned, it was a thing, and that’s that. No slut shaming, no fingernail-biting decision-making. Xo didn’t want to have kids. So she didn’t. End of story. (Well, not quite. Does Alba know? Uh oh.)

Jane the Virgin 03x03 | Chapter Forty-Seven

Jane continues to work on her thesis and she decides to add Alba’s estranged sister to the narrative, much to Alba’s dismay. In order for Rogelio to have a chance at being an American crossover star he decides to bring the Passions of Santos to The CW in hopes they will pick it up.

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Oh, this episode was exquisite. So good. The second hand embarrassment when Marlene gets the video, though, hurt me to my core. (I actually realized about as soon as she was sending the email what was about to happen, and just screeched from then until the reveal of yes-Marlene-saw-it and #yikes.) The back and forth about The CW - not quite breaking the fourth wall, but definitely giving it a solid kick - was a nice touch.

Jane the Virgin 03x04 | Chapter Forty-Eight

Jane and Michael’s housewarming party in their new home hits a snag when they discover they are being evicted for not paying their rent. Meanwhile, “Petra” shocks Rafael with what she wants to do with her shares of the hotel.

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This storyline actually caught me completely by surprise. The idea that Petra’s half of the rent might not be getting paid never occurred to me - so I was (almost) just as shocked as Jane and Michael when the realtor walked through the door. Speaking of Petra, the twins’ switcharoo storyline is just the right ratio of bonkers telenovella plot to actually plausible. The sweet spot that Jane the Virgin does so well in. (Also, I want Petra back.)

Next: Jane convinces Alba to let her read the letters from her estranged sister, but under the condition Jane doesn’t reach out to her family. Rafael is starting to suspect that something is different with Petra. Meanwhile, Michael and Rafael, with the help of Jane and Rogelio, try to create a civil friendship, but it doesn’t go as smoothly as everyone hoped.

Powerless 01x04 | Emily Dates a Henchman

After receiving a wedding invite from her ex-boyfriend, Emily finds someone to date. However, she doesn’t realize that her date is a henchman for the Riddler. Meanwhile, Teddy and Ron find a Batarang stuck to a safe door that Wayne Security is supposed to improve. Van, after learning about the Batarang, wants to use it to lure Batman to Charm City.

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It could be said that Powerless’ characters are rather two dimensional. It’s not an overly thought-engaging show, and honestly that’s why I like it. Cute, funny, upbeat - all things I need these days. There have been large time gaps - at least a few months have passed - so the sudden closeness with the group feels a little out of the blue, but it isn’t unappreciated. (Also, Robert Buckley from iZombie makes a most excellent henchman.)

Powerless 01x05 | Cold Season

While cold-themed villains rampage Charm City, Emily tries to convince Teddy to submit his super-heating gloves to an in-company competition for new inventions. Meanwhile, Van convinces Ron to assemble toys that’ll help him with his new girlfriend’s daughter.

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I really have nothing of substance to contribute for this episode.I really love this show.

Originally posted by colleenwing

Next: When Emily learns that Jackie is in need of some extra cash, she can’t help but try and do what she can to help her out. Meanwhile, Van is on a witch hunt and has his eyes set on Teddy, Ron and Wendy.

What did you think? Have you tried Powerless yet? Is Jane the Virgin making you cry like Titanic during shark week? Have you watched Emerald City? That's on my list. And why are detective shows so addictive, anyways?

until next time xo, ricky

#grimm #criminal minds #jtv #powerless #jane the virgin #cm #tv #tv review #ricky watches #mine

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lindyhunt · 6 years

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What's Happening at Facebook? A Breakdown of the Ongoing Data Story

When Facebook shared a story in its official newsroom at 9:00 p.m. on Friday night, it didn't bode well for anyone.

Maybe it would make sense to post a small, throw-away story at a time when few people would be monitoring their inboxes for breaking news or major announcements. But at that point, why publish it at all? No, this had to be something big -- something that Facebook hoped people would miss for the sake of their regularly-scheduled Friday night plans.

But it didn't quite work out that way.

Instead, the weekend was much noisier than usual, with reporters, legislators, and executives weighing in on what might turn out to be the biggest tech news story of the year: the story of how the personal data of 50 million Facebook users was obtained by a so-called data analytics firm and likely misused for a number of purposes, including, allegedly, influencing a U.S. presidential election.

How in the world did this happen?

Many are understandably confused about that question -- as well as what's going to happen now, who's at fault, and more.

Here's what you need to know.

What's Going on at Facebook? A Breakdown of the Ongoing Data Story

What Happened?

This all began when Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm, began wading into the world of politics. It wanted to find an edge that other, similar consulting companies hired by campaigns, for example, didn't have -- and the solution to that was thought to be found in personal Facebook data.

That went beyond someone's name, age, email address, and demographics. It had to be behavioral data -- such items and behaviors as Page and comment Likes that would help analysts build what they called psychographic profiles that could reveal if someone was, as the New York Times put it, "a neurotic introvert, a religious extrovert, a fair-minded liberal or a fan of the occult."

That could be determined by closely examining what a person Liked on Facebook -- and could help to compose influential messaging to sway consumers ... or voters.

That helps to explain why Cambridge Analytica was hired by Donald Trump’s campaign officials leading up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election -- and received investments from Robert Mercer (a known Republican donor) and Steve Bannon, Trump's former campaign advisor.

The data on users' Facebook behavior could be used to shape messages that leveraged what Mark Turnbull, Cambridge Analytica's political division managing director, called "deep-seated underlying fears [and] concerns" in hidden camera footage captured by the U.K's Channel 4 as part of an investigative report.

"The two fundamental human drivers, when it comes to taking information onboard effectively, are hopes and fears -- and many of those are unspoken and even unconscious," Turnbull said in the footage. "You didn’t know that was a fear until you saw something that just evoked that reaction from you."

That's where the behavioral data came in -- it could help Cambridge Analytics do its "job ... to drop the bucket further down the well than anybody else, to understand what are those really deep-seated underlying fears, concerns."

He added: "It’s no good fighting an election campaign on the facts because actually, it’s all about emotion.”

This Was Not a Data Breach

While it can be argued that this personal data was used for less-than-savory purposes, one of the biggest misconceptions of this story is that it was a breach or hack of Facebook that allowed Cambridge Analytica to obtain the personal data of 50 million users.

However, that's not what happened.

"This wasn't a data leak by Facebook," said Marcus Andrews, HubSpot's Principal Product Marketing Manager. "I think that has been misreported."

Source: Facebook

When someone creates a Facebook account, she must agree to the company's Data Policy: a rather long document that discloses the use of a user's personal Facebook data, what kind of data is collected, as well as details on how and why that data is used.

Here's a crucial, but largely unnoticed excerpt:

The "academic research" allowance played a major role in allowing Cambridge Analytica, in particular, to gain access to personal user data. At Cambridge University’s Psychometrics Centre, researchers created a method of synthesizing a user's personality elements based on the Pages, comments, and other content they liked on Facebook.

The method required users to opt-into taking a personality test and downloading a third-party app on Facebook that scraped some of that information, as well as similar data from their friends. These users were compensated for their participation in the research, and when it was conducted, Facebook permitted that type of activity on its site.

But the Psychometrics Centre wouldn't agree to work with Cambridge Analytica, so it instead enlisted the help of Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, one of the university's psychology professors. He built his own app with similar capabilities in 2014 and, that summer, started work on obtaining the requested personal data for the firm.

According to the New York Times report, Kogan revealed nothing more to Facebook and users than that he was collecting this data solely for academic purposes -- a purpose that Facebook did not question or verify. In its official statement on the matter, Facebook VP & Deputy General Counsel Paul Grewal wrote that Kogan "lied to us and violated our Platform Policies by passing data from an app that was using Facebook Login to SCL/Cambridge Analytica."

Those policies forbid third parties from selling, licensing, or purchasing data obtained from Facebook, or transferring that data "to any ad network, data broker or other advertising or monetization-related service."

On the surface, it appears that Facebook did not violate any privacy rules or standards by allowing this personal user data to be accessed. Kogan, however, allegedly violated the platform's policies by transferring it to Cambridge Analytica, where it was assumed to be used for non-academic purposes.

But it's been known since 2015 that Cambridge Analytica has been in possession of this data, when it was using it in a similar manner while working on behalf of then U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz, which Guardian reported on late that year. At the time, Facebook said it was “carefully investigating this situation,” and, more recently, claims Kogan's app was removed from the network and that it received "certifications" from Cambridge Analytica and Kogan, among others, that the data had been destroyed.

Why Facebook Is Taking a Major Blow

On Monday, following a weekend of emerging news and speculation around what Cambridge Analytica had done, Facebook began to experience was looked to be the beginning of a major fallout.

By the end of the day, its stock price had dropped over 7% (and continued to drop through the publication of this post on Tuesday), causing CEO Mark Zuckerberg to lose roughly $5 billion of his net worth. A #deletefacebook movement began. And by Tuesday morning, Zuckerberg had been called upon by members of the U.K. parliament to furnish any evidence pertaining to Facebook's connection to Cambridge Analytica.

But if Facebook didn't actually violate any rules, what's causing the uproar? Especially if it's hardly the first instance of data being used in this capacity?

"None of this tech is new to advertisers," says HubSpot head of SEO Victor Pan, an ex-search director who worked for one of the largest-known global media buying companies, WPP plc, for three years. "But there's an uncanny valley experience that is also true with personalized advertising -- and we're there right now."

In other words, users largely feel that they were being manipulated by Facebook -- or that, despite its emphasis on how much it values privacy, it wasn't doing enough to protect them from the abuse of their personal data.

"It doesn't feel very good to know that you're being manipulated," Pan said, "and people are turning denial into anger."

The timing of the news doesn't help, either. Facebook, as well as several other online and social networks, is already facing high scrutiny for the alleged weaponization of its platform by foreign agents to spread misinformation and propaganda with hopes of influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Plus, there are rumors circulating that Facebook's chief security officer, Alex Stamos, will soon be departing the company among conflicting points of view with other executives (and the downsizing of his department). Stamos is said to have wanted greater transparency around the network's privacy and security woes, contrasting the opinions of others in the c-suite.

"It also raises the wrong questions for Facebook at a time when the company is already struggling to retain its younger user demographic," said Henry Franco, HubSpot's social campaign and brand Marketing Associate. "This is a group that is increasingly wary of how the company collects user data."

And for his part, Andrews says that more users should share this concern and skepticism. "From a user perspective, people shouldn't assume their social data is in any way protected," he explained. "All the data you provide social networks is manipulated, shared, and monetized constantly -- illegally and legally."

What Happens Now

As a first step, Facebook banned Cambridge Analytica and other associated actors -- including Dr. Kogan and Christopher Wylie, the contractor working with Cambridge Analytica who is said to have blown the whistle on the alleged use of this data by the Trump campaign.

Suspended by @facebook. For blowing the whistle. On something they have known privately for 2 years. pic.twitter.com/iSu6VwqUdG

— Christopher Wylie (@chrisinsilico) March 18, 2018

As for the uncertainty of earlier certifications that the user data was destroyed after initial revelations in 2015, Facebook has enlisted the services of digital forensics firm Stroz Friedberg to determine if the data is still in existence, or in Cambridge Analytica's possession.

However, Stroz Friedberg investigators have since stepped aside to make way for an investigation being conducted by the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office.

As the story continues to unfold, there appears to be much at stake for marketers and those who use social media -- as well as data -- to shape messaging in a legal way. In fact, Andrews says, the use of social data to personalize marketing isn't always a bad thing: "It keeps the internet free and makes the ads and content you see more relevant."

But he cautions of the consequences that marketers could ultimately face because of the actors who use data maliciously, citing a "need to better understand the power these data can provide people with an ulterior motive, and protect consumers" accordingly.

That's especially true in the face of such regulations as the GDPR, which is coming into force in the EU next month. And now that the U.S. is experiencing particularly amplified cases of personal data abuse, Andrews says, it "could speed up internet privacy regulation and provide fodder for lawmakers who want that. We could be headed towards a more regulated digital marketing landscape."

But until that day comes, says Franco, it's up to the rest of us to ensure that user data is protected.

"With very little government regulation, it’s up to tech giants to enforce these rules, which highlights a huge conflict of interest," he explains. "Any restrictions on how third parties take advantage of user data could potentially impact their profitability."

And, he suspects, this event is likely not the last we'll see of personal data use coming into question.

"With so many third-party developers able to access user data through Facebook APIs, there’s no telling how many other actors might be abusing data in a similar way," he says. "While the Cambridge Analytica situation is unsettling, what’s worse is that it may just be the tip of the iceberg."

This is a developing story that I'll monitoring as it unfolds. Questions? Feel free to weigh in on Twitter.

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