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borahaerhy · 6 months

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Sorting the BTS Members into Hogwarts Houses bc I can

My credentials: I have two hyper fixations in my life, the only two things I actually care about, the only two things I spend all day and night thinking about and they are: Harry Potter and BTS.

Without further ado, here is how I would sort them

THERE ARE ONLY TWO THAT I AM CERTAIN OF, ONLY TWO THAT I AM ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE THAT THEY ARE IN THESE HOUSES AND THEY ARE:

Jung Hoseok: Hufflepuff

Where tf else would he go

Sweetie pie

Chill

Always trying to be nice to everyone and make everyone seem loved and appreciated

Possibly a stoner

OBSCENELY humble and cool

Mom Friend™

Min Yoongi: Slytherin

Smart as fuck

Knows what he’s good at and doesn’t need any validation whatsoever

Not unwilling to cheat in order to win a game

Along that note: Competitive

EXTREMELY prideful in where he came from

Confident

NOW AS FOR THE NEXT TWO, I AM FAIRLY CERTAIN ON WHAT HOUSE THEY WOULD BE PLACED IN, BUT I COULD SEE ARGUMENTS MADE FOR OTHERS. THEY ARE:

Kim Seokjin: Gryffindor (?)

Cool Guy™

Funny, class clown type

Studies well, but prefers to do just about anything else

Competative, but moreso in theory

Like he goes to all the quidditch matches and screams so loudly for his team, and talks made shit on whoever they’re playing against, but would never actually play the sport.

Overly Confident

HOWEVER

I could literally see him being sorted into any of the houses and it making sense.

Hufflepuff?

Sure, he’s a chill guy.

Prefers to spend his time relaxing rather than doing things

Has known how to sneak into the kitchens since first year, and does it almost nightly.

Ravenclaw?

Why not? He’s smart and works hard

Dad jokes are basically cheesy riddles, so he can get into the common room no problem

Would probably be studying anything other than what’s been assigned to him.

Slytherin?

He might not fit in perfectly, but the traits are there

Smart mouthed and overly confident

Doesn’t need validation from anyone

Competative - very okay with cheating/lying in order to win the game

It’s all in the name of fun, right?

He could be literally any of them bro idek at this point.

Kim Taehyung: Hufflepuff

All for chilling the fuck out

Sporatically hyper

Also possibly a stoner

Doesn’t like when others are left out

LOVES ANIMALS

Also class clown vibes but more like he just wasn’t paying attention and was accidentally funny when he was called on

BUT I could see the argument for Ravenclaw:

So smart bro

Would have an absolute blast with the riddles

Probably loves researching niche topics that have nothing to do with anything but he’d much rather know if polyjuice potion would give it’s user the same ailments as the person they’re becoming than complete the essay McGonogall assigned two weeks ago

You can’t really tell if he's just really smart or a little crazy (affectionate)

NOW, WE MOVE ONTO THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE, FOR HE IS SPLIT DEADASS DOWN THE MIDDLE BETWEEN TWO HOUSES, AND I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME DECIDE WHICH ONE IS MORE ACCURATE. I PRESENT TO YOU:

Park Jimin: Slytherin/Hufflepuff

He’s a Slytherin because:

Smart, but make it mischievous

Knows exactly how to get what he wants

Very sure of himself

C O M P E T A T I V E

Get’s top grades and will tell everyone about it

Generally not unwilling to cut a bitch

But he’s a Hufflepuff because:

The most loyal and empathetic man to maybe have ever existed

Will do anything to make his friends/loved ones happy

There are more important things than academics (still gets top grades though)

Generally not unwilling to cut a bitch

AND FINALLY, THIS LAST SECTION COULD’VE GONE INTO THE SECOND SECTION JUST FINE, BUT I’M PETTY AND DISAGREE WITH NAMJOON’S SORTING DECISIONS (that he made like 7 years ago) AND LIKE I CAN SEE HIS POINT BUT HE’S SO WRONG. FINALLY, AT LONG LAST, WE HAVE:

Jeon Jungkook: Ravenclaw/Gryffindor

He’s a Ravenclaw because:

Very smart, and he definitely prides himself on it to some degree

A true Jack of all Trades

Wants to be the best at everything, and is very willing to work towards getting it

Namjoon said he’d be a Ravenclaw (and who am I to argue with Joonie?)

But he’s a Gryffindor because:

Outwardly, he’s the most Gryffindor person you could get

Competative

Athletic

Academically driven

Popular Jock type

A mischievous little shit

Seriously, would make the Marauders proud

But he would take the house cup so fucking seriously guys

I cannot stress that enough

If they lost even one of the years he attended Hogwarts

He’d never let it go. It would keep him up at night for years to come

(And I feel like that’s a very Gryffindor trait)

(Turns out I’m very willing to argue with Joonie. Sorry, babe)

Note: Regardless of all of this, I think it'd would be hilarious if Jungkook was still sorted into Ravenclaw. He's just outwardly extremely Gryffindor, bringing complete chaos and unprecedented success to Ravenclaw that they haven't seen in centuries. 10/10 concept.

SPEAKING OF JOON:

Kim Namjoon: Gryffindor/Ravenclaw

He’s a Gryffindor Because:

Outrageous amounts of leadership potential

Because Namjoon said he’d be a Gryffin– damn I already made that joke

But he’s a Ravenclaw because:

Do I really have to say it?

The smartest person I’ve never met

An actual genius

Would get top grades but only because he’s smart so everyone expects him to

Would much rather be researching literally anything else

Animagi

Unicorns

The Philosopher's Stone

Literally anything because he’s in a magic school and anything’s possible

(He would also be muggleborn, but that’s more of my own headcannon)

Really couldn’t give a fuck less about Quidditch

Or winning the house cup

Wtf is house pride? I’m just here to read, man

ALSO, in my PROFESSIONAL OPINION, he would really fw Divination, and I generally just don't think Gryffindor's really do, because it's so theoretical.

If you have any other points that I've overlooked please let me know, I love talking about this kind of shit.

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specialagentartemis · 6 months

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We talk a lot about reading comprehension and misinformation on this website, but learning how to slow down, assess sources, and fact-check is a skill. A skill a lot of us have not been called on to demonstrate since high school, but a skill that's vitally important in the modern world.

I'm in graduate school for the social sciences (anthropology) - critically assessing sources is part of the skillset we are taught. I've had people ask on my post about historical misinformation, "How can I only reblog things that are true? How can I tell?" And it's a good and important question!

A couple core questions to ask, about history, science, or current events, are:

Who is saying this?

Where are you seeing this information? Is it a legal scholar, a historian with a PhD, a museum curator, an on-the-ground activist, a rando twitter poster, a Mormon conspiracy theorist? For scholarly questions, look for people with PhDs and published articles; for questions of current events, look for what people who are actually there are saying and showing.

Who agrees with them?

Can you find articles from other sources corroborating this, or is it just one guy who is saying this? Conversely, do you see anyone disagreeing and correcting this information? Who?

Does this person have an ideological bias that might cause them to discount conflicting information?

Everyone has biases, of course, but some are obvious. A lot of revisionist American history is put out by Mormon groups to try to prove the literal truth of the Book of Mormon; ditto for history that seeks to prove various things in the Bible. It may be easy for us to laugh at that, but a lot of tumblr revisionist history involves inventing gay historical figures out of flimsy sources because we want it to be true. Is there a reason that the person making this claim might want this to be true? This doesn't necessarily make it false, but it does mean you have to require more robust claims.

What sources do they cite?

Do they cite well-documented research or well-provenienced archaeology? Do they have photographs of what they're claiming happened? Or do their claims rely on nameless, dateless, "I can't show you my sources yet" or "I swear I heard about a guy..." Do they cite any sources or is it "just trust me bro"? Are those sources that they do cite reliable, or are they circular? Do the sources they cite actually say what this person is claiming they say? Are they cutting out half of a quote, or ignoring conflicting evidence presented in the same source?

Is this conspiracy theory thinking?

Is this making claims that an individual or a group is secretly hiding information from the general public? Is it blaming one individual or group for widespread societal problems? Is it claiming that the only reason this isn't common knowledge is because Somebody is suppressing it? Is it claiming that the solution to a complicated political problem is actually simple and everybody knows it but people just don't want to do it for nefarious reasons? That's conspiracy thinking, and it's almost never as clean or easy as the claimant wants you to believe.

Just because someone is saying something confidently doesn't necessarily make it true, but also, just because you don't like something doesn't necessarily make it false. Ask these questions when you see a claim that makes you feel angry - or makes you feel righteous. Look for journalists, scientists, historians, legal scholars, who present their credentials and their sources. Look for multiple independently verified news reports or scientific articles. Determining The One Truth about things is not always easy and sometimes not possible, but asking these questions helps you assess what you're reading critically and evaluate claims.

#history #science #misinformation #current events #saw a post about how people should stop criticizing lack of reading comprehension or falling for misinformation #and should present advice or help instead #which is fair. so here I am #falling for someone saying something wrong confidently is not a moral failing #but it is in all our best interests to try to cut through the bs

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dogsuffrage · 4 months

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Send me a dream you've had and I'll interpret it for you. My credentials: trust me bro.

#dream interpretation is not real and I'm just going to make a joke about it

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variangetsrawed · 1 year

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I need ur advice. I’m in this discord that’s supposed to be supporting writers but it’s incredibly cliquey. Like they have another private server and then a private area within the public server. And ofc anyone who’s not In gets ignored. Do I blow up everything or do I try and tough it out

IM IN MY NEWSPAPER ADVICE COLUMN ERA LETS GO SEND ME UR PROBLEMS I WILL GIVE TERRIBLE ADVICE

ok jokes aside being genuine this server honestly just does not sound worth it. like honestly it sounds like you'd be happier in the long run just leaving silently (assuming you're talking about fic writing and not professional writing). please for the love of god always remember that fandom is a hobby. fanfiction is something you're doing for fun and if you're not having fun anymore/if you aren't enjoying yourself anymore there's absolutely no shame in jumping ship and in fact i encourage it. variangetrawed's completely unprofessional advice. my credentials are a piece of paper that says Trust Me Bro and a picture of my very pretty face

#keeping the nice and seriousness under the cut #i have a REPUTATION to uphold

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gvftea · 10 months

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marcus kings wife kaylee or whatever the hell her name is (i’m probably way of the mark there) has probably the most rancid fashion taste i’ve ever seen in my life like it’s horrible to look at it’s putrid

fashion credentials: just trust me bro

#greta van fleet #gvf #josh gvf #sam gvf #jake gvf #josh kiszka #danny wagner #danny gvf #jake kiszka #sam kiskza

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7-deadly-simpin · 3 years

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I'm sorry I couldn't find the rules so feel free to ignore this if it doesn't fit, but I was thinking on a disaster wedding, like everything goes wrong or weird, the "priest" Mixes up the names, groomsmen faints, flower girl throws poison ivy instead of flowers, things like that. And to top it all MC forgets their vows and runs!?

I wonder how would they (not-und or bros, or whoever you want, heck, you can do Mephistopheles if you want but I feel Lucifer would be the funniest one) react, what would they do.

Any format you'd like. I just leave the idea!

Love your writing and chaos! Good night!

Well poop...I...I don't even have rules set up. I really need to get on that. On that note, you are completely fine lovey!

Oooooh yes yes yes! Let's have some fun! Thank you so much lovey! This ended up much longer than expected. This is unedited so there may be a few mistakes..!

Wedding Misadventures- Lucifer

It was meant to be the perfect day for the two of you.

You were to marry one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom.

Handsome, stoic, pretty nice butt as well (stop saying that last part out loud, you know how much it embarrasses him)

But you must have forgot where you were, NOTHING is simple here.

First off, Mammon had to be forcibly dragged to the ceremony....in chains.

He was probably the most upset of the brothers that you chose to spend the rest of your life with Lucifer.

Second, the colors were all wrong.

A minor inconvenience to you, but a death sentence for whoever messed up for Lucifer.

And the FLOWERS???

Loudly exclaims “My peonies…!”

Belphie ready with a retort yells back “THEY’RE MARIGOLDS…!”

This demon is about to lose his shit, and of course you’re nowhere in sight…!

The groom isn’t supposed to see his partner until the ceremony begins!

You didn’t have too many friends in the Devildom, so who else would step in as part of your team other than the exchange students?

Luke was the cutest little flower angel, and although he wasn’t the happiest about it, for you he promised to be the best.

Too bad Luke dropped the flowers he was supposed to throw into the lake.

Panicked, he quickly grabbed a bunch of flowers from the surrounding area and some leaves for good measure.

As he threw petals and leaves here and there, a murmur could be heard from the stands.

Maybe it was because there was dirt and grass mixed in with the petals...he did hastily pick them from the ground after all.

Or...ouch...why is his skin so itchy right now? It feels like...oh sugar cookies

(This is how Luke curses, change my mind)

NOW he gets why it said that field was “off limits”....

All is well when Lucifer is waiting at the altar and you saunter in looking absolutely stunning.

The color, the fit, everything looked amazing and no one could keep their eyes off you.

You bet your butt Solomon and Simeon were balling their eyes out on your side of the altar.

For your happiness or because you were getting married to Lucifer, they couldn’t stop crying long enough to clarify.

Your eyes were set on your love though, even Lucifer couldn’t help but forget everything that was troubling him earlier when he saw you approach him

Cue all the brothers beginning to UGLY SOB.

You thought that was the end of it, oh honey….not even close.

Barbatos is the ordained minister, trust me it shocks everyone but he’s got the credentials.

He can’t stop glancing at the prince, who is visibly distressed by the situation.

Oh f...Did Barbatos just call Lucifer….Satan?

By the shocked look on everyone's face, except Satan who looks smug AF, he can confirm, yes….yes he did.

You bring the focus back with a light joke that makes your future husband lose the literal skulls in his eyes and get ‘em back to hearts.

Lucifer declares his love for you with gorgeously laid out vows about your journey together.

Something inside you noticeably snaps as you feel around for the little paper vows you swore you kept on you

That’s not it, nope not that either.

Oh no, you were starting to sweat and the silence was getting a bit awkward.

You panicked and asked for a few seconds, Barbatos tolerated that.

Everything would have been fine, but you hauled ass off the stage.

As if it wasn’t awkwardly silent enough…

Did...did you just leave Lucifer at the altar…? The brothers started to murmur.

You really did just run to find the vows, it was difficult to remember the words when staring in such a beautiful demons eyes.

As you returned, you couldn't tell whether you should stop what was happening or not.

It sure was a sight.

Diavolo, assumed you left for good, so he took his chance and stepped in and was mid-proposal to Lucifer.

You decided to watch it all play out.

The rest is history ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#obey me crack imagine #obey me crack #obey me shitpost #obey me! lucifer #obey me hcs #obey me imagine #obey me! shall we date?#obey me x gn! mc #obey me x gn!reader #gn! reader #obey me lucifer crack #obey me!#obeey me belphie #obey me luke #obey me solomon #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #obey me diavolo

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tellywoodtrash · 3 years

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bade acche lagte hain 2 30.08.21 lb

this better be worth the time i'm not using to watch my hotass korean show (Mad Dog) or i'm gonna get captain holt lvl of huffy.

entry of nakuul sir to sad khnh heartbeat theme to establish sadboi credentials.

damn, ib camera work really did the most to make him look taller and more imposing huh? dude looking kinda puny here.

chick he's here to meet for...... breakup/goodbye/whatever looks suitably apologetic for the misery she about to cause.

he's promising this woman (vedu) that he'll accomplish something (oooooooooh mystery, but lbr, it's prolly that he'll move on/get married or some such shit) by agli baarish. seems like a weird way to establish a deadline, what with climate change and our weather patterns being totally fucked up, but.... ok whatever works for y'all.

music has transitioned to prem's tune from dum lagake haisha to REALLLLLLLLLLLY drive home point ki THIS IS A GOOD MAN WITH LOTS OF HEART, HE IS WORTHY OF TRUST THIS SOFT MAN. he better be coz i've put up with 3+ years of him playing an absolute demon, so........... i deserve this.

ok some creep is chup ke taking video of them. ok??? they're just standing a very respectable distance apart and talking very calmly. what's the point of taking video of that????

oh god samajh gaye na ki achcha aadmi hai, itna bhi don't beat us over the head with his niceness.

anyway, phir se resolute vaada has been delivered that he'll fulfill her wish by next year.

vedu going in for grateful feelsy hug but weather is cockblocking.

ofc he is a manic pixie baarish enjoyer. pft.

vedu like yeah ok mereko pneumonia nahi chahiye and peaces out, while sir vows internally his ek tarfa pyaar will last all life. yeah, let's see, bro. let's see.

video lene waale creep ka creep boss decides to hang on to that totally fucking non-controversial video as blackmail material. ok?????? such low stakes bs i swear.

1 saal baaad......... ram has upgraded to shiny silver shoes. guess he's been pandemic shopping for absolute nonsense things to just feel something on the inside, like the rest of us,

his friend/chamcha/whatever is asking him about the promise he gave vedika a year ago, and there's something about behen ki engagement, while ram is too busy snacking. same, bro, same.

his delhi waala asst introduces himself as varun and ram's like.... i'll call you tarun, i call all my assistants tarun. um ok wtf????? you can't be arsed to just remember the names of ppl who work with you????? ALSO IT'S JUST ONE LETTER DIFFERENT, YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THAT AND CALL HIM BY HIS GIVEN NAME????? GOD. I HATE RICH PPL.

backstory time; vedika went and married someone else, and wants her brother in law to marry ram's sister shivi. ok idgi, ismein itna bada promise waali kya baat thi???

anyway sadboi ram is like oh it's gonna be sooooo great, it'll be me and vedu, pandit hoga, dj hoga, ppl will come and dance and celebrate.... but it'll be someone else's shaadi. and i'm totallyyyyyy fine with that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

friend/chamcha is like........ ummmmm ok sus, but whatever, i don't have the mental bandwidth to delve into this, so come let's do some random comedy. (which still isn't nakuul's strength. he only works when he's playing straight man to shenanigans happening around him, than participating in it himself.)

blah blah meeting time, where he throws around lotta buzzwords and jesus christ, i am so glad i don't have to sit in corporate meetings anymore.

character exposition time from chamcha to new asst varun/tarun: ram is best dealmaker businessman ever, a hypochondriac, insomniac, has sabse bada dil, loves his family beyond all else, and is a foodie extraordinaire. wow what an innovative and never seen before type of character played by nakuul mehta.

varun/tarun is asking chamcha friend what hopes he has for ram's life and future and like........ who are these ppl who think about their bosses like this? like, i don't give one flying fuck about my boss's life outside of work hours; as far as i'm concerned, they go back and lie in their coffins like vampires, till it's time to rise and make employees' lives difficult again.

anyway chamcha friend is like my friend is a lost child and i just want someone to help him come home. man fuck off, this dude looks perfectly sane and sensible and like he has a handle on all the shit in his life, so fuck off with this infantalizing bs. he doesn't need some woman to "fix" him.

moving to some college debate class where a chick is raving about mumbai ki baarish being an ~~~~~emotion~~~~, and like..... dude, have you seen your city's infrastructure????

the gen z college audience is like snapping their fingers to show agreement, and omg lol whutttttttt??????? is this a real thing young'uns do these days???? can't wait for when this gen reaches parliament.

priya is sitting in this class (evaluating/auditing it?) and scoffing at this trite romantic bs and gotta say she's a WHOLEASS MOOD.

snotty backbenchers are judging her (the new eng lit teacher.) whatever brats. focus on your snap streak or reel transitions or whatever it is that you kids these days care about.

passionate rain loving girl is like EXCUSE YOU MAAM WITH THE ROLLY EYES DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY BASICASS BAARISH LOVING PERSONALITY and priya's friend is like oh god don't start, they're just rich spoilt kids...... priya is like, if they're rich and spoilt, they're not kids, and if they're kids, they shouldn't be so spoilt..... logic is shaky but passable, but this isn't going to execute well sis.

priya destroys this pluviophile college crowd with her middle class logic and rationality and they cannot seem to handle the realness, coz they all like...........

cut to ram wanting pakode coz its thundering. casually skipping over fact that he just got a 400 cr deal signed in that meeting. pft.

cut to snotty kids bitching about how priya is pakau coz she's 32 and single and is "frustrated". because.......... we can't give ourselves orgasms????

anyway priya and her friend roll their eyes at the kids and their belief in "true wuv" as they discuss friend's divorce case and alimony issues, with patented balaji heroine dukhiyaari theme music in bg.

kids following her and saying the only man in her frustrated life is her autowaala. and honestly lemme tell y'all, that's the only reliable man needed in life.

priya's brother is ram's sister shivi's ex and he's depressed about her engagement to someone else and she has to go to some bakery to cheer him up or something.

shivi is in a snit about wanting last minute vegan cupcakes and not liking any of the shoes she has at her disposal, while ram tries to talk sense into her but..... ok i think i just don't care about ppl who are rich AND young. their issues are extra unworthy to me.

ram like she wants leather shoes and vegan cupcakes???? make it make sense, pls. he's right and he should say it.

anyway i think priya's fam runs the bakery snob sister wants her cupcakes from.

priya surrounded by a buncha lovelorn idiot siblings and is the only voice of sense here.

ram is calling to order the vegan cupcakes which should have no anda no sugar no maida and he's like what's even in these, hawa????

priya is like yeah these are our special ameeron ke chonchlein waale cupcakes with extra hawa, thanks for asking.

some bantering and bickering about him being kind of a rich dumbass and her totally not here for that bs.

lol he's like can i have a normal non healthy waala cupcake and she's like ok these are all the flavours we have, and he's like is there an "all in one" type, and she's like "nahi, aaj tak kisi ne itna laalach nahi kiya." lmaooooooooooooo.

before hanging up he asks if it's raining in mumbai (he's in delhi) and she's like oh great another fucking one of these baarish loving freaks.

omg one of his..... brothers???? is that ponky fellow from naagin 5. he has done cupcake pickup (800 cupcakes fit in in the trunk???? huh), one of which ram swiftly shoves in his gaping maw.

priya's siblings trying to keep her in the bakery after closing time, idk for what joy; while ram obsesses over gaadi ka ac not cooling enough and his eyes being red or some such...... idk man, i really don't care for rich ppl's problems.

he's switching out his silver shoes for gold ones. ick.

chamcha friend's name is adi and his wife is calling and she's mad and ram has been put on video call to cool her down. post hanging up, some stupid haha wives suck, they only feed you tinde kinda bs jokes.

priya is getting little toooo worked up over this romantic baarish spiel. sis, it's not thaaat deep. chill.

adi making some jab teri shaadi hogi jokes and ram gets all smiley sad again with khnh sad tune in bg.

priya ka bhi koi past heartbreak trauma ubhar aa raha hai and like...... get therapy sis.

ram ka car breakdown. rickshaw lena padega.

guess who else is standing on same street, cussing at the rain, and has her hand out for an auto.

she gets the auto first and he's standing outside haggling saying he'll pay double triple and all (they can't see each other coz she's lowered the rain shade on that side) and auto waala is like fml i hate my job i just wanna go home.

auto starts to drive away when priya hears ram lamenting ki meri behen ki sagaai hai yaaaaaar, and stops the auto to let him in, but his friends hailed another cab or something by then and he heads towards that.

precap: ram rushes in saying omg everyone must be waiting for meeeeeeee and i delayed the function, while engagement is full on going ahead without him only. priya's brother asks her how she felt about some maitreyi didi marrying her ex bf and she's like idgaf. shivi seems to have run away and come to priya's house (i guess back to her ex?) and ram's mom proposes priya and him get married. phew. too much information in 30 seconds.

#bade achche lagte hain 2 #balh2 lbs #episode liveblogs

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game-boy-pocket · 3 years

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Happy 40th Anniversary Donkey Kong. I hope you get a new game soon. Considering that Mario's anniversary is considered to be when Super Mario Bros. came out instead of when Donkey Kong came out, it wouldn't suprise me if Nintendo only considered it DK's anniversary relative to when the first Donkey Kong Country game came out. But it doesn't matter, we all know Nintendo only celebrates Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon anniversaries. Some better than others. I'm becoming skeptical of those new DK rumors. There's no credentials to any of them, just a bunch of people on twitter saying "dude trust me" and that one K. Rool account that has temper tantrums when people doubt him.

Anyway, i'm playing through DKC1 to celebrate today. This may sound like a bit of a hot take but I still think DKC1 is the best game in the series. Mostly because of difficulty balance. The other ones crank it up a little too much far too early into the game for my liking. DKC1 doesn't start feeling that brutal till Gorilla Glacier and they never overdo it, I can still mostly blaze through the game. Only thing I don't like are those moving platform levels with the fuel tanks.

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blackfemmecharacterdependency · 3 years

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Share a Lair 08 || Share Our Talents

The two of them had been at each other’s necks all day, a little more than usual. On the one hand, Max generally seemed to be playing around with Henry or at the very least, unaware of how much he was bothering him. But, he definitely had to be purposely upsetting him today. Charlotte… didn’t want to get involved. In general, she was a peacemaker, and specifically, she was their peacemaker. But… This was supposed to be a fun weekend!

She had been having a blast with Oyster, who wanted her to try to do his hair like hers. “Your hair isn’t the right texture for this style.”

“Can you do it to Angus?” He wondered. Angus’ afro was 3c, maybe 4a, so close enough to her curl pattern where she might.

“What makes you think that Angus wants this hairstyle, Oyster?” Charlotte asked.

“I’ll take it,” Angus said, laughing. Charlotte then proceeded to make rows of braids on the sides of Angus’ head, pulling up into a fro hawk, as he played videogames.

On the other side of the room, Henry glared at Max and Ray came up with a plan, “Look at that! Look at that!” He said.

“What?” Henry and Jasper wondered.

“Charlotte and the puffy haired kid. They’re hitting it off, right?” He asked. “What if… he asked her out on a date?”

“She’d say no,” Henry said, at the same time Jasper said, “He’d get embarrassed in front of his friends.”

Ray rolled his eyes and said, “You kids no nothing. I’ve gotten rid of a TON of women by just pushing them off on somebody else and I’m sure that I can get Charlotte off of that kid you hate, the same way.”

“Charlotte’s NOTHING like anybody that you’d date,” Henry tried to point out to him.

Meanwhile Jasper said, “You can’t outsmart Charlotte, Dude.”

But Ray was on his way. He flopped down next to the two and made Charlotte mess up her current braid. She scoffed and looked at him. “So… This is cute,” he said and pointed between the two. Angus glanced at him, confused. “You two look… mighty cute together. Anything in common?”

“Max,” Angus said. This was Max’s girlfriend, as far as he could tell.

“Oh, that guy, yeah. I don’t see how either of you are friends with him, if I’m being honest, but you’re JUST friends, right Charlotte?” Ray asked. She laughed nervously while Angus got distracted from the game to look up at her reaction, messing up the same braid again.

“Yeah, yeah, we are,” She said, then told Angus, “Eyes front, Bro. I’m almost done.”Angus returned to the game, but Max had just won the match. He groaned, but this wasn’t Max’s girlfriend? That was… interesting… But, she definitely wouldn’t be interested in him though. She seemed really smart and stuff. He was some artsy dude who embarrassingly had once referred to himself as a living Drake song.

“Well, I think that you would be adorable together,” Ray said.

“You don’t know anything about this guy,” Charlotte told him.

“I know that he’s beautiful. His voice is very soothing. His hair is nice and full. He’s great at video games. He has fashion sense, I think… for your generation, I guess. You like fashion and video games, too.”

“I’m a musician!” Angus said, more to Charlotte than Ray.

“Charlotte LOVES music!” Ray said, giving him a playful punch in the arm. Charlotte squinted her eyes at Ray. What was he up to? “You know, she was in a band once?”

“I was too, with Max,” Angus said. “Now, I have my own. I make tracks, they’re kinda rock, kinda rap, but not like that metal rap stuff from your day. Good, honest rap and good honest rock. It’s a vibe, really.”

“My day?”Ray repeated. “I’m not that old…”

“So, there’s like an age gap between you and your partner?” Angus wondered.

“My partner?”

“He thinks you and Schwoz are together,” Charlotte presumed and clarified.

“WHAT?” Ray said and now, he was done speaking to this guy. He returned to Henry and Jasper and told them, “Not gonna work. Kid’s a complete moron.”

“You sure about that Mr. Schwartz?” Henry asked, laughing. But, they heard Angus ask Charlotte, “So… You’re… really single?”

She laughed and looked at him, “I don’t know how anybody finds the time not to be, to be honest. I’m single by choice. I have no idea why he’s trying to play matchmaker. He’s not good at it. He’s not good at most things…”

Angus got eliminated and sighed. Two losses for him, then. “Well, yeah… I can’t imagine what somebody like you would see in me,” he said.

She furrowed her eyebrows and said, “All done! We oughtta take selfies.”

Max was watching the whole time. He couldn’t hear the conversation, but he felt territorial, nonetheless. Technically, he knew that he probably shouldn’t be. Charlotte was very independent and wasn’t officially his, and even if she was, she was the type to value her freedom and love someone who could trust her to be around anybody else. But, not everybody else knew her like he did. He had paid a lot of attention and learned a lot of information. While Angus might be hitting it off with her or was happening right now, he had no idea that their little whatever was happening right now, he had no idea that their little superficial brief connection was cutting into Charlotte’s lunch time.

Soon, her blood sugar would be low, she’d be cranky and ready to snap at people, then be mad that she had to fix something to eat/that she had let herself get hangry.

Max left them to their laughter and such and went to fix her a sandwich, some fries, put a few cookies on the plate, and make some tea. He set everything down and went outside to grab some flowers, just to accent the tray. Whenever he got back inside, she was getting up from the couch with her grouchy face on…"Char!“ He called.

She looked up, and he could tell that she was about to brush him off because she needed to get something to eat, so he spoke quickly as he handed her the tray, “Made you lunch. I know that you’re approaching hangry hours.” She stared at the tray for a moment as he announced, “Grilled gouda BLT with arugula and spinach and honey mustard, fries, lemon white chocolate cookies and a chai latte… Your… brunch order, right? Whenever you call The Deli Royale? I just… hacked into their system for the recipe so I could make it for you at home for a fraction of the price… free to you!”

She looked up at him, and he could see in her eyes that he had won. She stepped closer and smiled, picking up a fry. “Wanna share?” she asked.

“Not really hungry, but might grab a few fries.” They sat at the island and chatted while she ate and touched him casually, numerous times. They were sitting close, knees touching and he leaned in to tell her stuff the entire lunch.

“So… Are you on truce with Henry right now?” She asked. “You two sure seemed out for blood earlier.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “He was out for my blood. I basically was just plucking him in the forehead. You know that if I ever actually wanted to come up against Henry, he’d be destroyed.”

“I appreciate you holding back for him,” she said with a little smile.

“I don’t do it for him.”

“You know, you’ve said that before to me, but you never expound. You do it, why? For the sake of being a hero? Because you’re bigger than that or something?” She wondered as she took a sip of her drink.

“I do it for you,” he said, as plainly as one might say ‘hello.’ She choked on her latte and he winced. She laughed at herself by the time she stopped choking and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to catch you off guard,” he said, blushing. “You all set to destroy these guys?” He asked.

“Yep!” She was about to take her dishes away, but he grabbed the tray from her, kissed her on the temple of her head, which she leaned deeper into, and he smiled against her skin and went to put the dishes away. Charlotte slowly slid off of the stool to go back to the others, unable to stop smiling about what had just happened. That was… not platonic, right? That was definitely not her imagination. Max had made her lunch, told her that she mattered and kissed her on the face. Sure, friends did stuff like that, but… This didn’t feel like that.

“Where’d you vanish to?” Oyster wondered when she showed up again.

“I was right there, at the island, having lunch,” she said and pointed to it. Max laughed from the kitchen… which was open to the living room. “Or, are you messing with me, Oyster. Because, I honestly can never tell if you’re actually confused or pulling my chain.”

“I actually have never joked about anything, ever in my life. I’m a very serious person,” he said. Charlotte sat down in between Oyster and Angus as Angus played against Henry. Max came to the couch and Oyster and Charlotte slid over so that he could be in between her and Angus.

Whenever Henry and Max played against each other, they were bickering again. Charlotte laughingly watched them, but the more that they played against each other, the uglier it got. “I mean, maybe I won’t beat you in this game, but I definitely think that there’s something that I have to be able to beat you at.”

“Whenever you think you’ve figured out what that is, let me know and I’ll be happy to prove you wrong,” Max retorted and stuck his tongue out.

“Invoking Best Friend Privilege for Charlotte to tell me Max’s weaknesses!” Henry declared, on the verge of losing the match.

Charlotte’s legs were draped across Max’s lap as she listed off on her fingers, “Well, I know for sure that you can’t defeat him in anything academically especially not math or science related, he’s a former tennis champ, master of pranks (Henry scoffed, but he knew that it was probably true. Max was smart. Smart goes a long way with pranks), his Hero Tracks shows that he’s got more hero credentials than you, he’s whupping you in video games…”

“I asked for weaknesses, not to add insult to injury while he decimates me!” Henry fussed at her.

“SORRY! I’m doing the process of elimination out loud!” She fussed right back. “For instance, we know that he can cook AND ALSO bake, he plays guitar, is good with animals and babies… OH! Can you draw?” She wondered. “Henry is pretty artistic. Remember that time you carved that pumpkin to look like Ray?” She asked Henry, excitedly hoping that she was helping, because Max had just beat Henry and Henry had fallen back onto the couch in exhausted defeat.

“I can draw. Remind me to show you some of my gadget designs and portraits,” Max said, coolly, then asked Henry, “Can I get you some ice, Hen?” He smiled as Henry slammed the controller into Schwoz’s hands.

“He’s not good at writing,” Oyster said. “Remember those songs you used to try to write?”

Max narrowed his eyes at him, but just as well, because Charlotte shook her head and said, “Henry sucks at writing. Jasper’s the writer of our group.”

Max’s head turned quickly towards her and he pointed a pinky at Jasper and asked, “That Jasper?”

“He’s the only one I know,” she said, defensively. Jasper lowkey worshiped Max. There was no need for him to start being ugly to him. “He could’ve helped you write a song, Mr. Extra Toe.” Max chuckled and handed off his controller to Wolfgang. Charlotte tilted her head, trying to think. “Oh! He’s good with flowers!” She cheered, excitedly.

“Once brought a plant back from the dead,” Max bragged.

“It became a room sized monster,” Nora reminded him.

“So, I made it EXTRA alive!” Max said. His sister rolled her eyes.

“I need to know that story,” Charlotte said. Max moved his mouth to begin, but she cut him off. “Not now, though. Jasper… I’m invoking Best Friend Privilege for you to remind me of Henry’s strengths as his best friend and soulmate.”

Henry frowned. He couldn’t BELIEVE that it was this hard for Charlotte to tell him something that he could be better than Max at. But, Jasper was READY to be tagged in. He yelled, “Dance Battle!”

Henry’s ears perked up, but when Max smirked, his shoulders sank. “Are you a dance champion too?”

“I mean… not a champion, but if you’ve seen me fight, you should know that I’m very fluid and agile… also I’ve danced for many years.”

“Didn’t you have a dance battle at a school dance one time?” Nora asked.

“Sure did. Dude got served. Then, I swerved on the girl that I battled for.”

Charlotte sat up more erect and asked, “It was for a girl?”

“Mostly for my pride. After she chose me, I realized it was really pitiful that I was willing to put all those moves into getting her to like me.” She nodded, but she looked bothered. “You… okay?” He asked.

“Sure.” She laughed. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Then, after Jasper yelling out random things, Charlotte finally said, “Brotherhood!” Max furrowed his eyebrows. “No offense, but whenever we met you, you sold your sister out and while that may have changed by now, your siblings are here way less than Piper is and Henry NEVER would have done anything to ever hurt, harm or shame Piper, all the years of her life, so… I’ll say that. And, it’s gonna have to be enough for Hen, because I have racked my brain.”

“Max has DEFINITELY done a lot of crappy things as a brother,” Nora said, nodding her head. She and Billy began to list off some stuff while Henry gave Charlotte a high five.

Max smiled and said, “Well, at least there’s that, Henry Hart.” Then, he began a slow applause that made Henry feel less excited about the small victory.

Charlotte placed a hand on Max’s and stopped him, giving him a look and mouthed the words, “For me?” Her eyes did the questioning. Would he stop bothering Henry right now , for her? He immediately stopped taunting Henry and intertwined his fingers with Charlotte’s.

“Anything,” he whispered.

#Share a Lair #Henry Danger #The Thundermans #crossover #crossover fanfic #Nesha Crossover #Thundanger #Thunderbolt #Share a Lair Repost #Nesha HD Fanfic #fanfiction #Share a Lair 08

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pinnithin-writes · 3 years

Text

Good Jokes

Chapter 18

Benrey reappeared with a vengeance to play hardball with Gordon’s head.

Tommy could do little to buffer it. As soon as they set foot in the Lambda Complex, he was gripped by a sense of vertigo that nearly knocked him flat.

This sucked. God, this sucked. He could feel the rift in space like a tear in his gut, and it only grew worse the farther into the sector they went. Staggering along with the group took all he had, lacerated as his nerves were by the rending of time, and Benrey took full advantage of his weakness to find new and creative ways to make Gordon suffer.

The entity very carefully skirted around the man’s modified arm, having received a taste of the beating it could give and preferring not to subject himself to it further. The damage he dealt was more psychological in nature, and he seesawed wildly between making ominous threats and firing off nonsensical bullshit. Gordon held onto his resolve as best as he could, gritting those pretty teeth of his and brushing the entity off as he and the team waded through waves of aliens.

Some of his resiliency slipped when they encountered the first helpful soul they’d seen in hours and Benrey promptly shot him. This nameless person had stayed behind for them, surviving unimaginable horrors alone at his post by the door, an admirable bravery for the sake of such a slim hope. Benrey put a bullet in his skull with a bored look on his face and stepped neatly over him while he bled out.

Pointless. Death for death’s sake, purely for the sick satisfaction of watching Gordon’s expression crumple as he passed the fresh corpse on the ground.

“I’m sorry, man,” Tommy heard him murmur, his words brittle and shaky. “I’m fuckin’ sorry.”

His heart broke for him.

The best he could offer in comfort were fleeting touches here and there, halfhearted jokes that landed flat, his words dropping limply to the floor as soon as they left his mouth. He could barely put one foot in front of the other, much less keep the mood light as time knotted a noose around his neck. Whatever was at the heart of the Lambda Complex, it undeniably wanted them dead.

Everyone except Benrey. He was beginning to hum with a vitality Tommy rarely picked up on, taking bullets as an afterthought and grinning like a maniac while the laws of physics loosened around them. The extraterrestrials continued to pay the entity no mind, but the portals they opened into Black Mesa hit Tommy with the force of gunshots, and he suddenly knew what it felt like to be helpless. He stuck behind the others for protection as the interdimensional nausea rendered him all but useless. The pressure built behind his head like a hungry thundercloud.

This sucked.

Tommy felt too shitty to be relieved when they reached the sector they were looking for. A huddle of nervous scientists greeted the team when they arrived, and they hurriedly gathered around Gordon, because Gordon was the leader, Gordon was the one with the suit, Gordon was the messiah that would deliver them from this hell. What a burden to place on someone who just wanted to go home - who probably no longer possessed a home to return to.

He didn’t have the necessary energy to pay attention to the exchange, so he trusted Gordon to handle it as he sat wearily against the wall. Tommy rested his head in his hands and ran them obsessively through his hair, as if he could make the awful boiling in his stomach go away if he fingercombed hard enough. Dimly, he registered discussions of teleportation and a planet called Xen, a term he recalled vaguely but certainly never possessed the security clearance to know much more beyond that.

Off to the side, Benrey had a scientist cornered and was grilling him about PlayStation Plus, which seemed like a suspiciously benign conversation topic considering the gravity of the situation they were in. The entity caught Tommy’s eyes from where he stood and showed his teeth in a cheeky grin, causing the scientist he was speaking with to take a nervous step backward. Tommy returned his head to his hands, too overwhelmed to bother.

Once Gordon was given the appropriate run down, the science team reassembled to keep moving. Their destination: a rift in the very fabric of space. This should be fun, Tommy thought grimly as they headed down the hall.

All at once, the pressure bearing down on him lifted and he could breathe again as a presence entered the complex. A familiar wave of energy rippled outward and everything stood still, freezing Tommy in place along with the other members of the group, save for Gordon. Tommy would let out a sigh of relief if he could make any sound. His father had arrived.

Up ahead, Gordon stopped in his tracks as he registered the change in the air. “Oh, no, not this again,” he breathed. He cast a narrowed glance to the entryway in front of him. “Come on - come out,” he said, waving his left hand in a beckoning gesture. “Come out, man.”

Tommy’s father stalked coolly into the hall with them, looking pin-sharp as always. The barest ghost of a smile touched his lips as he surveyed the group before landing his nebulous gaze on Gordon.

The man huffed out a sigh. “What do you - what now?”

“Doctor Freeman,” his father began, “it’s so good to see you in such… good spirits.”

‘Good spirits’ was a stretch, Tommy guessed, considering Gordon had been on the receiving end of Benrey’s psychological warfare for the past several hours. He tried desperately to make eye contact with his father, but the man in the suit was lasered in on Gordon. His chosen one.

He went on. “You are nearing the end of your journey, my friend, and I thought it would be only fitting to-”

His sentence crumbled in the middle as Benrey stepped casually out of his place in time. The entity cut his cat’s eyes over to Tommy while he passed his frozen form, grinning a smug grin and joining the two bewildered men at the head of the hallway.

Tommy’s nerves raced with alarm. Benrey wasn’t able to do this last time. Breaking free of his father’s influence was something that was beyond even Tommy’s power, and the fact that Benrey had shaken off the shackles of time with merely a shrug did not bode well for them. He held his breath and watched.

Gordon was equally disbelieving, eyebrows drawn behind the frames of his glasses. “What?”

Benrey ignored him and stared straight at Tommy’s father. “D’you have - you have credentials?” he asked.

The swirling galaxies that made up his father’s eyes flicked to the entity, a gaze so piercing it would make any mortal man balk. He knew who Benrey was - had heard enough stories about him to place his name and face - but had never been formally acquainted. Benrey held his stare defiantly.

In that hall in Black Mesa, a god actually faltered. “Uh - I-”

Tommy had never seen his father fidget before. The sight of Benrey causing his father to scramble for words made his skin crawl.

“They’re in my… other coat.” he finally said. “I - if you wouldn’t mind, I’m trying to um, talk to Mister Freeman over here.”

Enjoying the man’s discomfort, Benrey pressed further. “It’s okay, I wanna see them, though? Do you have PlayStation Plus - uh, voucher?”

“Oh my god,” Gordon murmured.

“I don’t know... what - um…” Tommy’s father paused, forehead furrowed into contemplative lines. “Hm.”

“I just - I’m waiting, I wanna - I wanna get another month, but I want, like, a free trial?”

Gordon wheezed with incredulous laughter under his breath.

Tommy’s father tried once again to ignore the entity. “Right, um. Doctor Freeman, if you wouldn’t mind. You have to bear in mind, now, the next leg of your journey is going to be the-”

“Where are we?” Benrey cut him off suddenly.

Tommy, motionless, could only watch as his father snapped his mouth shut in shock. An achingly long stretch of silence followed, and Tommy wondered if his father was contemplating destroying the entity then and there. Benrey had an innocent look plastered on his face, expectantly awaiting an answer.

“What is happening?” Gordon asked, darting his eyes between the two.

The god among them finally waved a dismissive hand and turned his back on the group. “Y- You’ll You - You’ll f - figure it out,” he said. “You’ll figure it out.”

As the space around them began to shimmer and warp, Tommy’s stomach dropped with realization. His father was leaving them to deal with this on their own, all because some churlish creature had caused him to misstep? Anger and disappointment warred inside him, but both feelings were quickly overpowered by nausea as the pressure of space tearing apart gripped him once more.

His father hadn’t even looked at him.

“Bro, add me - what’s your tag on PSN?” Benrey called, but the man in the suit was already gone.

Time began wheeling again and the team shook out of their stupor.

“Yo what the fuck,” Benrey sighed. “I just wanna play games with people, man.”

Bubby, who apparently hadn’t witnessed anything from the past few minutes, shouldered past the entity toward the next room. “Um… me too, I guess?” he commented.

Gordon gave a sharp shake of his head, freeing a few stray curls into his face. “Can I confide in you guys about what just happened?” he asked. “You’re never going to believe me.”

Racked by vertigo and the crushing reality of being left to his fate by his own father, Tommy barely paid attention to the conversation. No, Gordon was not going crazy, and yes, the previous maddening exchange had actually happened, but whatever was beyond the threshold of that door was hammering into Tommy’s skull with a painful, distracting insistence. His head might split open if they stood out here deliberating much longer. He pinned Gordon with a troubled look through slitted eyes.

Gordon got the message, nodding back at Tommy with a grimace. “Let’s go to the alien homeworld,” he said with finality, “and kill a space god or something.”

In the chamber beyond, the Dimensional Portal Device looked a lot like the machine that started this whole disaster, and Tommy could tell right away it was the source of his torment. Colossal metal claws thrust up from the subsurface of the chamber, looming over a cylindrical conduit in the center. Tommy trailed behind Gordon blindly, fighting down the nausea and the memories as Gordon called to the attendant to turn it on.

The room rumbled with the force of the machine groaning to life, and as Tommy flinched away, he caught a wide, placid smile unfurling across Benrey’s face. The entity’s expression was an eerie calm, relaxed and expectant as his skin was bathed in the blue glow of the device powering on.

He looked like he was awaiting a homecoming.

As Tommy realized this, a tremendous shockwave overhead sparked and spat, and an alien ripped into their dimension. Coomer and Bubby, already alert to danger, pelted the creature with artillery as it swung around the chamber. Gordon grabbed Tommy by the sleeve of his lab coat and dragged him out of the line of fire. A jarring vibration hummed deep in Tommy’s chest, but he suspected that had more to do with the machine that was rapidly expanding with power than Gordon’s concern for his life.

Benrey continued to move through the chamber with a dreamlike bliss, and it was an unsettling contrast to the gunfire and the flailing monster and the great, shuddering drone from the portal. Tommy nearly blacked out from the rift in space that appeared at the device’s epicenter, a debilitating punch to his solar plexus. Gordon kept him standing with a strong hand under his elbow, his free arm raised to fire at the flood of aliens that began rolling into the chamber.

“We’ve gotta go!” he roared to be heard over the din.

Bubby’s mouth was a grim line, taking shots at the creatures like they were clay birds. “You’re wearing the suit,” he called back, “you go!”

“It’s ready? Okay!”

Gordon passed Tommy to Dr. Coomer as gently as he could with the world ripping apart around him. Tommy sagged against the old boxer’s steely shoulder, watching Gordon as he strode toward the platform. Extraterrestrials and bullets screamed around them and the machine began to buckle under the weight of its own creation. In Tommy’s periphery, Benrey was smiling.

“I’m going for it!” Gordon called over his shoulder.

He charged in with the boldness of a supernova, and Tommy didn’t think he would ever be that brave in his life.

The portal flashed outward and the world went white.

Chapter 17 <-----> Chapter 19

#ink #fanfiction #good jokes #part of my endeavor to relocate all my ao3 work #guns #violence #hlvrai

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belonglab · 3 years

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More than fed up with being labeled “less than”

by Neha Sampat, Esq.(!)

December 15, 2020

You know what bothers me about the whole brouhaha (or shall I call it “bro”haha) about Dr. Jill Biden’s use of her earned title? It’s not just Joseph Epstein’s mega-misogyny or even that the Wall Street Journal chose to publish the piece and then doubled-down on their bad judgment. That this [bleepity-bleeper] had the audacity to think he can publicly cut down someone who has out-schooled, out-accomplished, and clearly out-classed him says a lot about our society. He and the WSJ made themselves easy targets, and trust me, I’m not here to block your aim at them.

But what also is bugging me is the fact that Epstein and the WSJ gave voice and amplification to a too commonly shared notion that women are “less than” and should be maintained as “less than” by being cut down when they reach beyond the confines of the patriarchy and threaten those glass ceilings. This notion is so commonly shared that I suspect many of all gender identities first bristled when they heard Dr. Biden referred to or introduced as “Dr.” I teach people (especially women) to shout from the rooftops about their accomplishments, I try to model that by standing firmly and publicly in my own expertise, and one of my dearest and oldest friends is a brilliant woman with a PhD. But I admit (with horror) that even I was momentarily startled at first when I heard Dr. Biden introduced as “Dr.” a while back, and I had to take a good, hard look at myself to explore why.

So, like it or not, we now have an opportunity to look inside ourselves to examine our own biases (even the women among us harbor bias against ourselves and other women). Were you taken aback (even ever so slightly) when you first heard/read Dr. Biden introduced with her title? Did it bug you in the slightest bit to hear her husband and her referred to as “Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden?” Hmmm…why is that? Please, take a moment to sit with this, as it will help you de-bias yourself, and we all need to constantly be combatting our biases.

And, yes, this also is an opportunity to look outside ourselves at a culture that allows for (and in fact rewards) the cutting down of women and the minimizing of their accomplishments. Don’t even get me started on how multiply and historically excluded women such as WOC (and especially Black women) have their achievements and expertise questioned, belittled, and censored on a daily basis and to a far greater extent than most others! (Check out how Dr. Timnit Gebru was treated by Google, and read The Memo by the incomparable Minda Harts to learn more.) This absolutely is a societal, structural, and organizational issue.

Parallel to the Dr. Biden story hitting the headlines, I had been noticing a number of programs and posts attempting to debunk Imposter Syndrome, including some from colleagues I admire and trust. Yet, I have observed (and experienced, myself) Imposter Syndrome as a very real struggle. (I do wish we had another name for it that could be universally recognized; I’ll work on that).

Where I think my colleagues and I agree is here: Imposter Syndrome is not another externally-imposed mark against those who have it (which, by the way, is most of us). Imposter Syndrome is not a disease or personality flaw. It is not self-inflicted. It is not a black or brown person issue. It is not a women issue. There are plenty of black and brown women, for example, who don’t struggle with it, so let’s be careful about making generalizations. Imposter Syndrome is a human issue.

That said, the causes of it for historically excluded people are unique: Imposter Syndrome is a manifestation of internalized bias/oppression for many of us. Imposter Syndrome is the damage done by a society built on exclusion and othering, bias, prejudice, and marginalization. When Dr. Biden and other women are told their doctorates don’t matter and have their expertise publicly questioned on such a powerful platform, they (and all other women) are being told that they are not good enough, that they don’t matter, that they are “too big for their britches” (a phrase Dr. Brené Brown satisfyingly dismantles in her work). When the world is constantly telling you that you are not the giant force you are, you may start believing it. That voice of the doubters can become the voice in your own head that tells you that you are out of your league, that you are maybe not so great, that you are “less than.” That’s how Epstein’s effort to take down Dr. Biden serves as a perfect example of how Imposter Syndrome can be created.

By acknowledging Imposter Syndrome is real, we are not saying that it is the fault of the people who have it, and we are not letting off the hook the excluders and otherers, the biased and prejudiced, and the structures that support them. Society and orgs create and cultivate systems that birth and feed Imposter Syndrome. They are the cause, and Imposter Syndrome is the effect. Work must be done on societal and organizational levels to address this (and we are proud to do that work!). But at the same time, healing can happen in the individuals who experience Imposter Syndrome as a form of the harm done to them. External oppression does not have to become internalized oppression.

Thus, it has been so heartening to me to see women publicly claim (and for some, reclaim) their earned titles on social media this past week. We as women shouldn’t have to offer proof of our academic and other accomplishments to be taken seriously, but the truth is that we are constantly having to prove ourselves worthy of respect. By stating our credentials, we are honoring ourselves and our achievements and also honoring the credential itself by letting it sit proudly next to our blessed names.

I don’t have Ed.D., but you can bet that if I did, you’d know about it! But I have other achievements of which I am proud and which position me uniquely to make this world better in ways only I can. You, too, have achievements and credentials that position you uniquely to make this world better in ways only you can.

As we close out this year (finally!), I’d like to refer you back to a blog post we wrote to close out 2018, “Wrapping Up the Year: Turning the Page from To-Do to Ta-Da,” which empowers and encourages you to take a reflective moment to honor all that you did (your “ta-das”) this past year. But let’s take it a step further this year: Once you note your ta-das from 2020, I challenge you to boldly share at least one of your ta-das publicly. It can be on social media, or it can be with someone with whom you normally wouldn’t share it. By doing so, you practice owning (and believing) your own value and, like Dr. Biden so beautifully does, you create space for all people to stand strong in their expertise and be valued and celebrated for it!

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hedwigstalons · 4 years

Text

The Tracy Prize - part 13

Here are the earlier parts for those that want to go back to the beginning: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12

xoxoxox

Claire and Virgil pulled up at the GDF base ready to start the return journey to the island.

Initially Claire had been sceptical of International Rescue’s close relationship with the GDF but Scott had made it clear that they were completely autonomous. International Rescue were under no obligation to share their technology with the military unit however much the GDF might like them to. The two organisations would work together on occasion, and the GDF bases were handy places to land the Thunderbirds, but overall the GDF let International Rescue operate without interference.

As they finished loading the Claire’s belongings into Tracy Two a GDF armoured car approached. An imposing looking woman wearing the uniform of a colonel jumped out.

Virgil straightened up. He had been hoping they could depart without a fuss but it looked like that chance had gone.

“Virgil!” The greeting was warm despite her stern appearance. “I heard you were making use of GDF hospitality again.”

“Colonel Casey, always a pleasure to see you.”

It was evident to Claire that the two knew each other well. She tried to stay unobtrusively in the background.

“You have been making rather a lot of visits to Denver recently. Not that we mind of course. I was so pleased when Gordon gave me the good news. You must be Claire. Delighted to meet you, I’m Val Casey.”

Claire found herself subject to the full attention of the GDF colonel. She shook the proffered hand.

“Pleased to meet you too Colonel Casey.”

“Please Claire, I’m Auntie Val to the family.”

“Good news? Um, what exactly has Gordon been saying?” Virgil was feeling distinctly on the back foot.

“Jeff would have been so proud to see one of his boys finally settling down. I hope you will be very happy together. You look after him Claire, this one has a tendency to push things to the limit. Now I must be getting off. Fly safely you two.”

They watched as Colonel Casey climbed back into the armoured car and drove off over the apron.

Claire and Virgil looked at each other in confusion. Gordon had some explaining to do.

xoxoxox

Once they were in the air Virgil opened a link between Tracy Two and his aquanaut brother.

“Gordon, I’ve just had a very interesting conversation with Colonel Casey.”

“Oh, uh, she came to see you did she?”

“Yes. Wanted to congratulate us on the good news. Care to explain exactly what you have been telling her?”

They could hear the smirk in Gordon’s voice over the airwaves.

“Only the truth…sort of. She called up wanting to know why we needed hanger space in Denver for the third time in a month. There’s been no emergencies and she was getting susupicious. What was I meant to say?”

“Gordon…” The implied threat from Virgil was clear to hear.

“Well I didn’t think it would go down well if I announced we had a new super scientist on the team. You know how much the GDF would like to get their hands on Brains’ inventions. I just told Auntie Val that Claire was a someone you knew from university and that she had finally decided it was time for some commitment, hence moving in. It’s not my fault if Auntie Val jumped to the wrong conclusion.” Gordon’s tone was saccharine innocence.

“Gordon, you knew exactly what you were doing. Auntie Val is practically buying a hat and booking a celebrant for us. You are in so much trouble when I get home.”

“Chill out, bro. At least the GDF aren’t going to start looking too closely into Claire’s credentials. You should be pleased. Now you can carry on getting that lumbering bus of yours up to a decent speed without interference. I’m just amazed she bought it though. Now if it had been me bringing a girl home it might have been more believable.”

Virgil growled and killed the link. Little brothers could be so annoying. He also hated to admit it but Gordon had probably done the right thing. Colonel Casey would likely be very interested to hear that International Rescue was expanding its personnel; she might give them some leeway in respect of her friendship with their father but she was GDF first and foremost. Virgil just wished that Scott or John could have been the one to take the call.

“Sorry about that”, he tried to smooth things over with Claire. “It’s one of the perils of working with family. Nothing is off-limits. I’ll get my own back somehow.”

“Is Gordon always that cocky?”

“Afraid so. He seems to think it’s his purpose in life to drive the rest of us to distraction. On the Gordon scale of things that was actually pretty mild.”

The rest of the flight passed with Virgil regaling Claire with tales of Gordon’s various pranks and the retribution that had followed. It gave her some eye-opening insights into the inner workings of the Tracy family. Family being a term that seemed to encompass everyone on the island, not just those related by blood.

Beneath the calm and professional exterior was a family that evidently needed the release of occasional bursts of humour. It made sense really. Their working lives were so high stress it would be easy to crack under the pressure. An existence that was punctuated only by one disaster zone after another would lead to burn out very quickly. The small and secretive nature of the organisation meant they not only trusted each other with their lives out in the field but they relied on each other for support dealing with the aftermath too; sometimes that support was intensely emotional, sometimes it was just a good dose of laughter to clear the gloom after a tough day.

Sitting there in the cockpit, watching the cloud tops skim by far beneath and listening to her pilot, Claire finally found herself relaxing. It was hard not to be put at ease and feel safe with this big bear of a man. He was kind and unassuming but also fiercely protective and loyal.

Claire also discovered that Gordon wasn’t the only brother with a mischievous side. The frown that had creased Virgil’s face before due to his brother’s antics had been replaced by a twinkle as he drew her in to a possible plot for revenge. By the time they were on final approach to the island a plan was beginning to come together. Gordon had better watch his back.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #scott tracy #virgil tracy #john tracy #gordon tracy #alan tracy #kayo #brains

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neshabeingchildish · 4 years

Text

Share Our Talents

Okay, this can be the last Video Game Tournament Weekend chapter. I’ve been stagnant for the past few weeks. Between being sick, broke, overworked, and depressed, I just had a hard time creating. Seeing the promo for Cave the Date helped, though. All up in my “Love on Charlotte” feels at the moment.

Share-a-Lair 8

She had been having a blast with Oyster, who wanted her to try to do his hair like hers. “Your hair isn’t the right texture for this style.”

“Can you do it to Angus?” He wondered. Angus’ afro was 3c, maybe 4a, so close enough to her curl pattern where she might.

“What makes you think that Angus wants this hairstyle, Oyster?” Charlotte asked.

“I’ll take it,” Angus said, laughing. Charlotte then proceeded to make rows of braids on the sides of Angus’ head, pulling up into a fro hawk, as he played videogames.

On the other side of the room, Henry glared at Max and Ray came up with a plan, “Look at that! Look at that!” He said.

“What?” Henry and Jasper wondered.

“Charlotte and the puffy haired kid. They’re hitting it off, right?” He asked. “What if… he asked her out on a date?”

“She’d say no,” Henry said, at the same time Jasper said, “He’d get embarrassed in front of his friends.”

“Charlotte’s NOTHING like anybody that you’d date,” Henry tried to point out to him.

Meanwhile Jasper said, “You can’t outsmart Charlotte, Dude.”

“Max,” Angus said. This was Max’s girlfriend, as far as he could tell.

“Well, I think that you would be adorable together,” Ray said.

“You don’t know anything about this guy,” Charlotte told him.

“I’m a musician!” Angus said, more to Charlotte than Ray.

“Charlotte LOVES music!” Ray said, giving him a playful punch in the arm. Charlotte squinted her eyes at Ray. What was he up to? “You know, she was in a band once?”

“My day?”Ray repeated. “I’m not that old…”

“So, there’s like an age gap between you and your partner?” Angus wondered.

“My partner?”

“He thinks you and Schwoz are together,” Charlotte presumed and clarified.

“WHAT?” Ray said and now, he was done speaking to this guy. He returned to Henry and Jasper and told them, “Not gonna work. Kid’s a complete moron.”

“You sure about that Mr. Schwartz?” Henry asked, laughing. But, they heard Angus ask Charlotte, “So… You’re… really single?”

Angus got eliminated and sighed. Two losses for him, then. “Well, yeah… I can’t imagine what somebody like you would see in me,” he said.

She furrowed her eyebrows and said, “All done! We oughtta take selfies.”

Soon, her blood sugar would be low, she'd be cranky and ready to snap at people, then be mad that she had to fix something to eat/that she had let herself get hangry.

She looked up at him, and he could see in her eyes that he had won. She stepped closer and smiled, picking up a fry. “Wanna share?” she asked.

“So… Are you on truce with Henry right now?” She asked. “You two sure seemed out for blood earlier.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “He was out for my blood. I basically was just plucking him in the forehead. You know that if I ever actually wanted to come up against Henry, he’d be destroyed.”

“I appreciate you holding back for him,” she said with a little smile.

“I don’t do it for him.”

“Where’d you vanish to?” Oyster wondered when she showed up again.

“Whenever you think you’ve figured out what that is, let me know and I’ll be happy to prove you wrong,” Max retorted and stuck his tongue out.

“Invoking Best Friend Privilege for Charlotte to tell me Max’s weaknesses!” Henry declared, on the verge of losing the match.

“I asked for weaknesses, not to add insult to injury while he decimates me!” Henry fussed at her.

“He’s not good at writing,” Oyster said. “Remember those songs you used to try to write?”

Max narrowed his eyes at him, but just as well, because Charlotte shook her head and said, “Henry sucks at writing. Jasper’s the writer of our group.”

Max’s head turned quickly towards her and he pointed a pinky at Jasper and asked, “That Jasper?”

“Once brought a plant back from the dead,” Max bragged.

“It became a room sized monster,” Nora reminded him.

“So, I made it EXTRA alive!” Max said. His sister rolled her eyes.

Henry’s ears perked up, but when Max smirked, his shoulders sank. “Are you a dance champion too?”

“I mean… not a champion, but if you’ve seen me fight, you should know that I’m very fluid and agile… also I’ve danced for many years.”

“Didn’t you have a dance battle at a school dance one time?” Nora asked.

“Sure did. Dude got served. Then, I swerved on the girl that I battled for.”

Charlotte sat up more erect and asked, “It was for a girl?”

“Max has DEFINITELY done a lot of crappy things as a brother,” Nora said, nodding her head. She and Billy began to list off some stuff while Henry gave Charlotte a high five.

Max smiled and said, “Well, at least there’s that, Henry Hart.” Then, he began a slow applause that made Henry feel less excited about the small victory.

“Anything,” he whispered.

#Share a Lair #henry danger #the thundermans #crossover #crossover fanfic #Nesha Crossover #Thundanger #Thunderbolt

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thewritewolf · 5 years

Text

Nino’s Quest Chapter 7: Audience With the King

The party finally meets up with the King and they receive their next quest.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3. My ko-fi.

Direct Message From Alya

Alya: babe. Have you noticed anything… ...weird? With the babies

Nino: Our babies? Yeah M’s back to her usual with my bro And adrien is a blushy mess around her Crazy

Alya: Is this progress? It feels like a side step Or taking a step forward… ...and tripping on their face.

Nino: Well, if they could get comfortable around each other before…

Alya: Babe its WAY worse now than what it was before Now NEITHER of them are talking to each other God they’re frustrating

Nino: Did it have something to do with that last akuma? You said you saw them heading toward it before things got crazy

Alya: Maybe? BUT OMG THAT BATTLE

Nino: ??? What happened??

Alya: After they beat the akuma They got the hell away from each other Super pale No fist bump I posted pics on the ldb

Nino: Lemme check Wait Are they blushing?

Alya: gr8 Now i’m even more confused

Nino: lmao Your fleet of ships! It is sinking, babe

Alya: Don’t even JOKE about that! Ladynoir WILL set sail Marinette WILL get her hamsters with Adrien

Nino: lol Just teasin Let em figure stuff out on their own They’ll get there

Alya: I hope youre right…

Nino: Trust me, babe. I AM a master of romance

Alya: Yeah? Where’d you get those credentials, huh?

Nino: I got you, didn’t I?

Alya: … Smooth, cappy Very smooth

-------

Lord DM: Alright, my dudes, we have agreed that there WILL be dnd this weekend. The question is now… ...where the heck is it going to be.

Adrien Regreste: Definitely not at my place They are barely letting me out No way are they going to let me have friends over [crying cat face]

Alya’ll Beware: yeah and its not going to be any better at my place Esp with Nora back in town

Lord DM: What bout u, M?

Marinoodles: There is a big order at the bakery They don’t need my help BUT They DO need the extra space My place is out

Lord DM: Well dang Looks like i’ll have to bring out the big guns You guys can come over to my place

Adrien Regreste: [shocked emoji] I never thought I’d see the day…

Alya’ll Beware: lol, chill sunshine. Stay focused on the dnd

Lord DM: No no Let him bask Few mortals get this honor

Alya’ll Beware: [eye roll emoji]

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

Saturday arrived at long last, and Nino took stock of his preparations for the day. His little bro out with their parents. A stack of chip bags and pop and all the things that would make Adrien’s nutritionist twitch. Bean bag chairs for him and all his friends. Ambiance from tabletop audio. Everything had to be right - they were meeting with the Good King Haman, after all. It was one of the climaxes of the campaign.

Which was why he was worried when everyone finally got there.

Adrien had picked up everyone, of course, which might explain why he and Marinette were already a blushing mess. Nino glanced to Alya for clues, but all she had for him was a frown and a shrug.

The two of them sat opposite each other, with Alya opposite Nino. There was a pregnant silence where usually they would have their pre-session chat.

Nino considered himself a pretty empathetic kinda guy. It wasn’t that hard for him to get a feel for the room, or put himself in other people’s shoes. But even for him, his two friends were a stone wall. The only thing he could say for sure is that they weren’t angry with each other. Maybe just… scared. Which was weird, but hey - Dungeons and Dragons hadn’t let him down yet. Maybe it could help them now.

With that in mind, Nino started the session. “After spending the morning making yourselves look like you totally belong at court - with different amounts of success - you make your way to the royal castle. Looks like someone’s looking out for you, since the usually long line to see the king is super short today.”

“Finally, some kind of break,” Alya grumbled. “After bandits and assassins, at least we don’t have to wait in line.”

“After an hour, you finally find yourselves face to face with the King himself. While it is clear that he is no longer the adventuring knight of his youth, he’s still got the broad shoulders and strong arms of a fighter. His jeweled, golden crown rests easily atop his head. He watches you intently as you approach, a well groomed eyebrow raised as he takes in your martial appearance.”

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, we’re in armor and stuff?”

“Well,” Marinette responded, “we are adventurers. We should never be too far from our gear.”

Bowing his head in acquiescence, Adrien returned his attention to Nino.

“After you are declared, the King seems even more curious about you. He speaks with a clear, booming voice, one used to commanding armies in the field. ‘I recognize your names. There was a wretched matter afoot last night - one that you were the center of. I admit, I had wondered what would force someone’s hand in such a way as to send assassins. What business do you have with me?’”

When it became clear that both Marinette and Adrien weren’t going to speak up - each seemed to be stuck in a cycle of catching the other’s eye, blushing, and looking somewhere else - Alya sighed and responded.

She cleared her throat. “During our travels, we uncovered something that we felt you ought to know. There was a…” Her eyes widened and she glanced between her flustered friends. “Um… What was he called? An evil sorcerer?”

Marinette mumbled something that might have been, “Dark adept.”

“Thanks, M.” Straightening her back, Alya looked toward Nino again. “There was a dark adept raising the dead to fight for him.”

“A flurry of murmuring erupts around you. The royal guard flanking the King tighten their grips on their halberds. The King himself has his lips tighten into a thin line before saying, ‘That is a bold claim, young knight. I trust that you brought justice to this renegade, in accordance with the laws of our land?’”

Alya nodded. “Of course! But there is more to it than that.” She checks her character sheet. “Who has the decrypted journal of the dark adept? It looks like it isn’t on me.”

There was a rustling of papers.

“Oh, right,” Adrien said, “I forgot that I was checking it for other clues.”

“Is that when you rolled another one and forgot how to read for a few hours?”

“Hush.”

“Anyway,” Alya said, returning to her character voice, “My ally has a decrypted journal we took from the adepts quarters. There were repeated references to the adept’s master, and hints of a larger plot against the kingdom.”

“The King frowns. ‘Let me see this journal.’”

“I’ll take it up to him.”

“He takes it from Adrien’s character and quickly skims through it, his eyes narrowing as he reaches the end. ‘I must thank you for your work in ending this threat, but it seems a larger one has made itself known. While I am sure you must want to rest, I must ask you to meet this threat to the kingdom.’ He gestures to an advisor nearby. ‘Pay these heroes five hundred gold pieces for each of them.’ His eyes land on you once again. ‘I’ll pay double that once you bring me proof that the Necromancer is dead, and his plot has died with him. Do you accept?’”

The other three exchanged looks between them.

“I’m all for earning a name for myself. And a quest from King Haman himself is about as good as it gets. I’m in.”

“I don’t have anything else planned,” Marinette shrugged, her eyes pointedly on the table in front of her. “I’m sure fighting evil will be its own kind of fun.”

“And where she goes,” Adrien nodded towards Marinette and met her eye. His voice lowered to almost a whisper. “...I’ll follow. Always.”

Something passed between them and it felt almost as if Nino were intruding. The moment passed, and the two of them broke out into furious blushes again.

“Right… so. The king nods, a faint smile on his lips. ‘Excellent. May the gods be with you in your quest.’” Nino took a sip of his drink. “Well, now you’re a little richer, and its time to level up your characters.”

For the rest of the session, Nino walked them through their first time leveling up and taught them the time honored art of spending their hard-earned gold. A new rapier for Adrien. Alchemist’s fire for Marinette. That sort of thing. They were feeling more confident now that they had more than their starting array of equipment, and Nino smiled as he watched them work. It was good to be the dungeon master.

--------

Later, after Adrien had taken Marinette home, Alya and Nino cuddled on the couch. With how big both their families were, it wasn’t often that they got a chance to hang out alone.

For a while, Nino was comfortable with the silence. But then curiosity got the better of him.

“So… how are you liking Dungeons and Dragons now? Still think it’s just for nerds?” He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I admit… I’m having loads of fun. It’s always nice to spend more time with you guys. And you especially,” Alya said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. “I’ve gotten surprisingly invested in this story. It almost feels like being Rena Rouge again, fighting evil and all that.”

“Not as likely to end up getting thrashed by a super villain, though.”

“Fair. And it’s nice to act like someone else for a while. Although,” she stretched, “it’s also nice when I don’t have to be the one taking the lead. I hope the babies get their act together soon. Being the leader is exhausting.”

“Poor babe,” Nino cooed, earning himself a gentle punch in the shoulder from his girlfriend. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll figure things out sooner or later.”

“It’s the later part I’m worried about. I just hope they’ll get their act together by next session.”

“I’m sure they will.” Nino wrapped his arms around Alya. “What’s the worst that could have happened? It’s not like they have big secrets that they are sitting on.”

They considered this for a few moments before Nino added,

“Besides the obvious crush thing, at least.”

#Miraculous Ladybug #Nino Lahiffe #Alya Cesaire #DJ Wifi #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Adrienette #D&D #Dungeons and Dragon #DnD #ml fanfiction #my writing #Nino's Quest

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 1, Chapter 5

• I'm back! I missed doing these. It's fun taking a look at the beginning of this series knowing what lies ahead, especially when you can recall exactly what it felt like when you first read it.

• In the time it took for me to get back to doing this series, I decided to do a fail-play to answer a few questions I had about the series. I was dying guys I was dying. The secondhand embarrassment level was off the roof. Oh God. I hope I NEVER EVER have to do that again 😭

•

So you guys have already met my MC, Esther (If you haven't, she's the one on the left! She has a new hairstyle now though, she has the long hair with the braids on top. The big cream flower was clashing with everything). On the right is my Disaster!MC, Persephone. She romances Hana and when I say her crush is painfully obvious, I mean painfully.

• The last chapter I did a Book 1 QT for was Chapter 4, where a Liam stan could FINALLY dance with their Prince (and maybe sneak a kiss in the hedge maze if you spent the diamonds), and then meet Bertrand just minutes before he loses his shit completely and almost drags the name of his own House in the mud (why you so stupid, Bertrand)

• We're attending a horse race, so obvious title will be obvious. It's Off To the Races.

• A Day At The Races would have been better, because Queen xD

• So apparently it's now the day of the Derby, and we either go for the press-friendly runway-worthy gown, the modern one that'll catch the eye of Queen Regina, or...uniboob (yes, uniboob. I have painfully huge ones and I get even more conscious of them in outfits like that one 😣).

It's kinda interesting that Drake-dislike is the default for the MC at this point. But I also think it's also a good strategy to ease the reader (and their MC) into this association with him. You have this best friend who has a painful insider/outsider relationship to Court, has a massive chip over his shoulder, is trying really hard not to soften to this strange woman his best friend likes, has this painful past he's reluctant to share with anyone.

• While Hana's and Liam's first diamond scenes emerge very early and from a place of concern (because they have already established themselves in the narrative as likeable to this MC) Drake is the kind of person that takes some getting used to. If you tried to sell me a sob story about his sister shortly after he made sexist, classist comments about me on a plane, my first instinct would be to flip the bird at him and save my diamonds.

So instead he's given a bodyguard-type role with you, then you can choose to tease him mercilessly during that cronut excursion, then he thaws a little more towards you at Lythikos...leaving that field open to him finally opening up to you (via diamonds) when his Savannah-related wounds are reopened. The reader gets a chance to feel differently about him, ergo invested enough in him to pay diamonds for that scene.

• Esther will drag Bertrand mercilessly behind his back since Bertrand has no qualms doing the same. Sauce for goose, sauce for gander. So yes she responds to "how will you address Bertrand?" with "Hey you".

•

Unless he's around Savannah, then he has one at the moments he least intends to.

• NOW Maxwell tells us what the house and duchy name is. Now! You had enough time to tell me this last night dude!

• Bertrand comes to us to figure out our progress in terms of learning etiquette, and Maxwell and the MC prove to him that they've covered the basics. Which Bertrand brushes off as protocol that can be brushed off as stuff you can get on an internet search.

Me Back Then: Oh sorry I can't process information in the speed of light, bro 😒

Me Now: You know, Bertrand, if you'd just spent less time poring over Maxwell's scrapbook for the raciest photos...and actually spent more time sitting down and teaching me protocol, you wouldn't be grinding your teeth at me today.

•

So Persephone fell for Olivia's little lie and kissed King Constantine's shoe. Looks like the court had a field day with that because it gets mentioned to her twice. Once from Maxwell before she goes to see Liam, and once now, from Bertrand, who has just heard about her disaster of a performance and now cannot trust Maxwell with coaching her.

• Bertrand decides to test exactly how prepared we are with a small test. After a round of greeting, he takes our hand with his right hand, and gives it a courtly kiss (in this universe, the proper way is to take the lady's offered hand with your left hand, otherwise it is viewed as an insult). We're supposed to figure out what he did wrong. If we do give him the right answer, he is happy about our observational skills but demands that the MC not become too complacent since she's "ever only one mistake away from a scandal".

What does interest me are the exchanges that come out of the wrong responses:

"Didn't Bow" brings into play the hierarchy that the nobility maintains. Bowing here is viewed as a sign of respect to someone of a higher rank, and though the MC is now a lady by virtue of her sponsors, she is still regarded as a commoner. There is the joke response, "Didn't Address Me As Your Highness", which Bertrand hardly graces with a response besides highlighting the MC's 'arrogance'. The common thread is this exchange, though:

I think this gives us a tiny insight into how much ground the MC has to cover in understanding the society she is trying to become a part of. The last two chapters we had Liam and the other competitors, to help us understand exactly what we were up against - this time we're grappling with the reality of all the people we will need to please (in one day, we have to pretty much win the favour of both the Queen and the press). The MC has to not only familiarize herself with how she should behave but also be aware of the signals other people send. And she isn't exactly going to get a lot of help at this stage, not when the men sponsoring her have their own problems and are viewing her experience from the eyes of people who have grown up in Cordonia.

•

LMAO @ the MC's shit-eating grin the minute they say "limo" 😂

• So we're on our way to Honeyhill Downs on a limo, and since we need to deal with the press the moment I get out, the Beaumonts now try to convince us to impress the press.

• Book 1 is about this commoner woman schmoozing among the elite and trying to fit in, so really the only people who are seen (unless they're Drake) are the nobles. This is understandable in the first two books, where MC is kind of the underdog - not so much in the later books. You never get to see actual commoners who live in houses and walk on the streets until Book 3, and even then it is a fleeting glimpse. Anyway, the narrative attempts to bridge this gap by making the press the representative of the people.

• Bertrand and Maxwell now give us advice on tackling the press: we'll be asked easy questions (basically to figure out who we are and create a story around us accordingly), and then hardball questions about the country, how you'll be as a potential royal, and most importantly - Cordonian apples. The MC is confused at first but agrees to roll with it.

• The moment the MC mentions that the Derby area looks like a fair, Bertrand says "this isn't a county fair where you weigh pigs and eat pie". Between this and the Downton Abbey reference the next chapter, I'm pretty sure Bertrand was created initially to lend the image of Cordonia a bit of an "old world" appeal - given that he and Maxwell are the nobles we most regularly interact with in the first two books.

• Now comes the part I'm most excited about! Our actual first press interview. It's separated into two categories: easy questions (Donnie Brine) and hardball ones (Ana de Luca)

•

Donnie Brine: You know how in reality shows you hear about the importance of spinning a 'story'? How to get the audience's sympathy, sometimes your 'story' can get you where your talent may not (in fact, a few weeks ago Fiona Syed was saying just that to the MC when they were auditioning for "One in A Million" in Platinum!). Well, that's why we have Donnie Brine of the CBC (Cordonia Broadcasting Center). He's here so we can choose and carve our own narrative. So depending on our answers, we will get a moniker that will be carried forward throughout this book, and briefly referenced in the next:

1. The Mystery Woman: The answers suited for this option are 'A mystery' (when asked who you are) and optionally 'Liam couldn't figure me out' (when asked why you're the Prince's favourite). She is literally someone who emerged out of nowhere, and apparently sets herself apart from the other suitors by not being too open about her background.

2. The American: She can call herself the "lone American wolf", and optionally also mention that Liam and she shared a love for the Statue of Liberty. This spin on the MC's story highlights her "difference" in terms of foreignness and unfamiliarity with the country, which can be a challenge but also could wound up making her eventual triumph that much sweeter. In a very good playthrough especially, she will be the foreigner that embraced the customs and traditions, and fit in perfectly despite the odds.

3. The Everywoman: Now for a very long time I thought the responses in this one would yield a negative reaction from Donnie, but turns out thankfully it doesn't!! You need to choose both "just a regular woman, like many out there" and "I was his waitress". I also noticed an interesting difference about this that I will expand on later. But the point is that The Everywoman is as good a choice as any tbh, refers to her commoner origins and positions her as someone who can connect with the people.

Ana de Luca: Throughout the series, and for a half of Book 2, she's the tougher interviewer. She works with Trend, a fashion and celeb news magazine - and because of her already-established fashion credentials (introduced in MW as fashion designer) - becomes the mediaperson that compliments you on wearing the dress Olivia recommended.

Besides this, a lot of the political, country-related questions esp in Book 1, tend to come from her. She asks you your thoughts on Cordonia as a newcomer, how you would fare as a ruler and the inevitable question on apples. This is the interview that could affect your early popularity if you fail it, because any response you choose for Donnie Brine's (including showing the silly face for his photo), will work out alright. If you fail this one, the press largely ignore you to focus on the next candidate before you can even say "goodbye".

Me Back Then (hovering over options for the press photo): OMG OMG OMG don't press silly face don't press silly face don't -

Me Now (shamelessly clicking over aforementioned silly face): So Donnie doesn't mind my silly face at the Derby but will suddenly be ZOMG SCANDALIZED by it at the Regatta? HMM 🤔

• We now move towards the tents, except that Maxwell told us the wrong colour. Was he so distracted by the pinkness of the (optional) diamond outfits that he blurted out that colour instead?

• We end up in a stable with a horse that's as scared of us as we are of her.

• Drake jumps into temporary-bodyguard duty and saves...the horse.

• There are two ways you can respond to this: either focus on the fact that Drake saved you from the horse, or on the fact that he might have been following you. Interestingly he comes out with the truth of the matter faster if you're more suspicious of him - probably because that's a response he's expecting. On the other hand with the nicer response, he falls back on snark - thus annoying even the MC that wants to be nice to him. Either way, Drake eventually spills out the truth: he's here because Liam asked him to look out for the MC. And it won't be the last time Liam thinks ahead and takes measures to either protect or guide her.

• The option to either join Drake to Liam's private tent, or go ahead to where the other ladies are, comes with a price. Spend the diamonds and you'll see Hypervigilant Liam, pushups and at least a few minutes less to worry about a couple suitors roasting you for not fitting in the NANOSECOND you arrive. It also features this bombshell of a line from the MC:

Fun Fact: When this chapter first came out, I was at a point where I'd regularly panic about getting options wrong, and going through an entire chapter before a replay. To make sure that didn't happen too often, I'd watch a non-diamond playthrough on YouTube, and figure out the correct answers that way. It was fun.

So imagine the amount of cringing I did at Olivia and Kiara making smartass comments about the MC, which led me to believe that maybe the other option would save me from that kind of roasting.

Ladies, gents, non-binary people - THAT is how I ended up buying my first scene this book. To escape from the ladies of the court 🙈 (which didn't happen but at least I got a nice Liam scene out of it. Teehee. Teehee)

• The Private Tent diamond scene has the following:

- proof that Liam can and will pounce on someone for fear of attack. this is part-defense-training and part (IMO) trauma response because he's been the target of a number of assassinations

- you get to confront Liam about having Drake look out for you, and if you don't like the gesture, Liam is contrite BUT tells you the Derby atmosphere can be chaotic and scary for a newcomer, and since he couldn't directly watch over her he needed to ensure she'd be okay somehow. This is something he keeps doing for the MC in small, easy-to-miss ways throughout the social season, actually.

- this conversation about horses, which took a symbolic turn I wasn't exactly expecting if you choose "trapped". But it killed me. Killed me guys 😭

That last line. "Nothing like a little gilding to make a cage bearable", Liam says and you can TELL that's most of his life captured in a single sentence.

- shirtless Liam

- Drake-Liam banter, and I mean genuine good-natured Drake-Liam banter that isn't Drake "calling out" Liam on being privileged while never admitting his own privileges (though Drake does say that his presence in Liam's life is to keep him humble, which...eh).

- one more blue star point from Drake if you're nice to him, and overall the MC and Drake leave on better terms (although, the second thing already happens even if you walk straight to the suitors' tent).

- a kiss if you're romantically involved.

• Me Back Then: So if I take the diamond scene, the mean ladies won't @ me for tardiness, right? Right?? 👀 👀

Me Now: WRONG. But at least you got to sit on Liam while he was doing push-ups.

Me Back Then: Well. When you put it that way...

• Whether or not you choose this diamond option, you'll be called out on being late anyway. It's mostly Olivia and Kiara: Olivia stresses on how "fashionably late you are", and Kiara comments on how it's only Day 2 and you can't keep up (...she'll eat those words in Lythikos, I think), with Hana being the only support and defending the MC, pointing out (like Liam) how chaotic things get after the press interviews are done. The only difference is that in the diamond option, these dialogues occur after the race is over, and in the free option it's before. Esther gets roasted by them after the race is over, poor Persy gets it before the race has even begun 😭

• What interested me about this scene were the brief parallels between the race portions of the Liam/Drake scene, and the free scene. Two of my current favourite characters in this book take their place in the free version 😁

In each version of the scene, a character viewed as more 'friendly' (to the MC) pins their hopes on Twilight Dash. A more distant character will however guess correctly that Marabelle's Dream has the edge. Kiara doesn't exactly give us a reason why, but Drake tells Liam he's been looking at the stats and seems regardless to have pretty extensive knowledge about horses.

The funny thing obviously is that the fun element in Liam's scene (the bet), is hinted at in Hana's scene when she tells the MC that she was fortunate they couldn't bet anything.

Me Back Then: Liam didn't exactly lose anything!

Me Now: He lost...his shirt 👀👀

Esther: 👀 👀 👀 👀

Persephone: (Blissfully unaware that any of this ever happened, too busy making heart eyes at Hana. I would too, Persy, I would too)

• The ladies - mainly Olivia and Penelope - are disappointed about not seeing Liam (hah! says Esther) but hope to meet him at the tea party where his step mother Queen Regina is also in attendance. Our last scene is with Hana, building up to the first scene next chapter where she tells us about the tea party!

• I made some pretty interesting observations about how Donnie's end of the interview was coded, based on what I played in the game + what I observed from the other YouTube playthroughs. Here it is:

- as you already know, there are three monikers, all of which apply to this MC - the Mystery Woman, the American and the Everywoman.

- Each moniker emphasizes on her differences. She is different from the rest of the court in her penchant for mystery, she is a foreigner in a country where foreigners may not always be viewed in the best light if they don't fit in, and she is a commoner by birth to the Cordonian nobility here. All of which serve to either make her eventual success in assimilating even more impressive than usual, or in emphasizing why she would be wrong for the position if she doesn't do well.

- In the case of "Mystery Woman" and "The American", if you choose the first option, THAT is what will be coded as your moniker regardless of what your second option is. So if I chose "American Lone Wolf" in my first option, but mentioned "Liam couldn't figure me out" (mystery option) in my second one, I would still be called The American.

- The twist is that this is completely different if when you go for a first "Everywoman" option. If I choose "just a regular woman out there" for my first option, but the "fascination for Statue of Liberty" (American option) for the second...it will default to The American anyway.

- Only if you choose the option to tell Donnie that the MC was a waitress, does she get the "Everywoman" moniker. It's like the writers would really, really much rather you picked one of the other two!

• I enjoyed the diamond scene, I think. It was fun, cute and fluffy the first time I played, your MC and Drake got the chance to slightly thaw towards each other, and when you came back to the "Liam's reaction to you scaring him" scene later on, there was so much you could gain out of it! (an essay of mine "Trauma and Triggers", explores that part of this scene in detail, if anyone would like to read it. I'll probably give the link in the comments).

• I find it interesting, in the overall scheme of things in the books, how Kiara's comments seem to revolve around settling in to the court. (In her first scene if you choose to ask the women why they're okay with Olivia speaking of them as 'harpies', Kiara's first response is that they all knew what they were getting into, and surprise that the MC didn't - and her second comment is about fitting in. Her third actual scene with us, she compliments us on the same if we do gain support by the time we reach Lythikos). When you do actually do well, she's more ready to support you. It makes me more interested in the dynamics of the scene we have with her at Lythikos.

• Me Back Then, however, hates her guts right now. Don't worry, Me Back Then, you'll get there, you'll get there 😂

• The thawing towards Drake sets the stage for the cronut scene next chapter, I think, which further sets the stage for the bonding with him in Lythikos.

• I find it interesting how the press is viewed as "a window to the people" in the initial books, but it's disheartening to think about now. Especially when we don't really get to see a lot of commoners outside of someone like Drake, at least not one with a full fledged role yet.

• I'm hoping I can make a regular thing out of this!! 😁 It's been fun to do.

Tally Counts:

Number of Times Drake has Called Esther/Persy by Their First Names: 2 (I forgot he called her that again at the Masquerade Ball)

Number of Times Tariq Has Mentioned His Shoes: 1

Number of Times Drake Has Taken A Drink that’s Not Whiskey: 1

Number of Times Someone Has Called A Reigning Monarch 'Your Highness’: 2

Number of Times You Can Leave Hana Shook. SHOOK I TELLS YA: 2

Number of Times We See Penelope’s Angryface: 2

#long post #trr quick thoughts #trr book 1 #trr qts #the royal romance #king liam #hana lee #drake walker #maxwell beaumont

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snowflake-apocalypse · 5 years

Text

OP: Mission Control

Musical inspiration: Thrift Shop; Macklemore

2 Christmas’ after the Big Apple Caper, Team Red makes a trip to Ontario, Julia tells the Chief she’s visiting family, she brought coffee as a house warming gift. And the gang finally gets to see the finished product.

Player: “Hey guys! Welcome to Ontario!”

Carmen: “Player! It’s so good to see you!”

Everyone hugs and says hi.. then they make their way to MC.

Player: “So... you all want to see the finished product?” He says mischievously.

Ivy: “Heck yeah! Let’s go see this bad boy!”

Zach: Wait, you really built a bunker? I thought you were just talkin’...”

Player: “With that stash? No, that was a call for action, my friend. And this is way more than a bunker.” As Player motions for the rest to follow him. Carmen, Jules and Shadowsan all exchange glances and then follow. They take a path that leads down behind the falls, there’s a mechanism that separates the water. Then that reveals a solid lead door, with a biometric access lock.

Player: “While you’re all here, I’ll add your biometrics to the database.” As he scans his hands and eyes to open the door.

Carmen: ”Okaaay...” She glances at Shadowsan, he’s like 😐. Once inside, everyone is overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place, they don’t say anything for a little while.

Player: “Team Red! Fam! Welcome to Mission Control! What do you think?” His voice triumphantly echoing throughout the wide open space.

Everyone: “Whoa....” 😱

Player: “Come on, I’ll give you the tour. ....Did you bring coffee, Julia?”

Julia: “Uh.. yes. House warming gift.. I suppose...” She’s still stunned. He’s explaining everything, showing them around.

Player: “Thanks. We’ll drop it off in the kitchen.

So this place is 300% off the grid. Over 100 of layers of encryptions on the rig, doesn’t show up on any radar, doesn’t give off any energy signatures. This place doesn’t exist. And pretty much everything was made from recycled materials. There are bedrooms for everyone, a library, a gym, a garage for the cars, a section for building the gizmos, whozits and whatsits, oh and also I put in a traditional Japanese garden...”

(Shadowsan looks surprised and impressed. He and Player exchange a quick bow. And to note, the gizmo corner is already lined with new tools and tech.

So their all walking around, the shock is easing..)

Ivy: “Is there a bowling alley?”

Player: “Do you want there to be?”

And everyone is like 😮😐. Cause this boy WILL put in a bowling alley.

Player:”So, Red.. what do you think? V.I.L.E. change well spent?”

Carmen: “I- Player this is incredible! You built this in 2 years? I don’t even know what to- holy cow is that a jet?!” They round the corner to the aircraft hanger. And low and behold, there’s a jet.

Player: “Haha. Surprise. Everyone, meet “Alicanto.”

Zach: “Alicanto? What’s that mean?”

Player motions for Julia to explain, as they scope out their new plane.

Julia: “In Chilean mythology, the Alicanto is a desert bird said to brought luck to miners in search of gold and silver.. though if someone was greedy enough the Alicanto would have lead them off a cliff.”

Carmen: “Oh. Lovely..” She gives Player a 🤨 look. “Red and gold, huh?”

Player: ”Naturally.”

Zach is sitting in the pilot seat, Ivy is in the co-pilot seat, getting familiar with the controls.

Ivy: “You gotta learn how to fly a plane, bro.”

Zach: “Yep.”

|Later...|

Everyone is at the dinner table, eating their tacos.

Julia: “I have to ask, Player. How did you do all of this without raising suspicions?” Everyone else looks to Player like “yeah, how you do that?”

Player slides over a fake ID and other credentials.

Player: “Cause I’m a 30 year old businessman who’s investing in numerous projects.” Then everyone is like “😨.” Ivy goes to pick up the IDs.

Ivy: “No way, dude. From where?”

Player: “Albakerey. The company hasn’t been active in over a decade.”

And then Carmen slightly drops her head in amazement. She thinks this is awesome, but now she’s doesn’t know whether to think this is getting out of hand. Like Player went and masqueraded this whole cover story to build this place. He notices the look on her face..

Player: “This is home, Red. If you want it to be.” And everyone knows he wasn’t talking about the place. This is her family. Their family.

And then after everyone finishes dinner, they go back down to the computer to add their biometrics to the database, everyone’s handprint comes up with automatic recognition, except for Carmen. She places her hand and eyes over the scanners.. And right on the big screen: “No Record Found”

Everyone gives her a sad, sympathetic look. Especially Shadowsan. He feels the worst.

Carmen: “It’s fine, guys. Really.”

Then Player manually types “Carmen Sandiego” into the database.

————————————————————-

| And the only ONLY exception to this non- hackable bunker is Cookie. Cookie can get in on her own.|

| This takes place in the future. Shit is bad. There is a sliding scale of who the Team can trust. ACME/ Chief is looking really shady. Everyone is scared and on edge and the stakes are high. Carmen is infiltrating this new organization and she’s sweating.

Player is making sure comms and GPS stay connected, everyone is in place, and trying to compose his nerves when someone suddenly appears beside him- none other than Cookie Booker. Everyone slightly wonders how she broke in, but everyone silently agrees it’s right.

Player: “....😨”

Cookie: “Eyes front, young man. You have a job to do.”

Player:” ..yes, ma’am.”

Cookie: “Now Carmen, listen to me. Whatever anxieties you have, let them go. Concentrate on what you need to do. Infiltrate, Aquire, Vacate. Got it?”

Carmen: “...Yeah. Got it, Cookie.”

Cookie: “Get to it.”

This mission has a new control crew. Player & Cookie.

- Finally, after hours of stress, held breaths and high stakes, Team Red is for the win. Mission Accomplished to everyone’s relief.

Cookie, Player, Julia, Zach and Ivy: “ Yes!”

And after everyone regroups at Mission Control,

Cookie: “Great work, Sandiego.

#carmen sandeigo 2019 #carmen sandiego #team red #au #writing #apocalypse’s stuff #the real rough drafts

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