#that's what we call multi-talented

[brodieland]

.˚ 𓈒 ࣪.𝝑𝝔 Can we finally call a Truce? ´ˎ˗

Percy Jackson x Fem!Hades!Reader Synopsis: After hanging out, they are now calling each other friends. But now Percy's lonely at his dorm !!! Warning(s): some swearing Word Count: 3160

╰➤ MASTERLIST pt2

After you kicked Percy out, you went to bed and crashed. And by crashed, you plopped on your stomach without changing and fell asleep till 9AM. Never have you been happier to not have a class today. When you finally woke up, you grabbed your phone to check your messages and saw Annabeth texted you five minutes ago.

'I'll be there in 15 minutes for breakfast :P'

Alright so you had ten minutes to get ready. As you got up to brush your teeth you kept going through your messages and saw one from.. Percy? Forgot you had his number honestly.

'yo Y/N, I had fun last night. u still suck tho LMAOO'

Oh okay.

'Ur a ball of sunshine yk that'

And with that you put your phone down and finished getting ready to meet Annabeth. While getting ready you were debating on whether or not you would've told her of last night. It's not like anything happened, but getting drunk till 1am with a boy might be seen a little.. you know. You also were debating on not telling her because it was actually kind of fun, to be fair you were insulting each other the whole time but it was funny.

'Knock, knock'

Gosh, pounding noises. You rushed over to the door and opened it to see the amazing Annabeth in all her glory. As she handed you a glorious treat, coffee, you guys headed to get some actual food.

"Thought I'd grab you a coffee since you missed the party to do homework, god knows how long you stayed up. Freakin scholar" Annabeth said. What a scholar I am, instead of finishing my late work, I got hammered with the one guy who absolutely turns my gears.

"Yeah about that, um, I didn't really do that much studying that night" you said. "I ended up drinking half a bottle of vodka till like, almost 2AM." You took the chance to take a big sip of your drink while Annabeth gave you such a perplexed look.

"Who the hell would spend the night drinking alone when there's a party going on with all your friends" Annabeth asked.

"Well I wasn't alone" you said, now Annabeth was really confused. "I was with Percy." As Annabeth screamed you took the chance to take another long sip of your coffee.

"What. You spent the night drinking with PERCY. What happened to" and here she goes with her air quotes "we hate each other?"

"We still do, we just put it a side for the night and got drunk, we were still insulting each other the whole time. Nothings changed" you stated calmly.

"Yeah okay. Clueless" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"If you keep doing that, they're gonna get stuck like that" you both started laughing. Finally you made it to the cafeteria, where you saw Percy getting a donut. You decided to walk up to him.

"Wow, a donut already? Are you just big or hungover" you made yourself laugh as Annabeth caught up behind you her the banana she snagged.

"Well, the ladies like to say I'm big and hung if that's what your asking." Wow, just wow.

"Why do I even bother sometimes" you said while rubbing your temples.

"Because of how awesome and beautiful everyone says I am" Percy gloated.

"Oh right, then you woke up right" you smile and tilted your head while pointing at him.

"Are you only nice to me if I have alcohol" Percy asked while smiling.

"Perhaps, why? Do you have more" you joked.

"At 9AM? You know your a Hades kid, not a Dionysus kid right" Percy asked.

"Did you know you're supposed to be a half-blood, not a walking pain in my ass, right? I guess we're all multi-talented like that" You said. You and Annabeth started laughing as he gave you a side-eye, laughing just a little bit. That's when you and Annabeth walked off to go get some pancakes.

"You sure nothing happened last night" Annabeth asked as you both took a seat in front of each other.

"Extremely sure, why do you ask" you said.

"Well, I know you guys were insulting each other, but that felt.. different." Annabeth thought was truly on to something when she said that. Almost felt like swiping the tray straight from her.

"Literally nothing has changed" you said.

"Um no. You don't seem upset about having had a conversation with him." Oh she really thought she hit the nail on the head with that one.

"Okay Ms. Detective, let's enjoy our breakfast and meet up with Silena when we're done okay?" And with that you both kept eating. After you guys finished, you both got off and walked with your arms interlocked towards Selena's class. When you got there the bell rang revealing the gorgeous Silena.

"Hey guys" greeted Silena.

"Guess who Y/N got drunk with last night" Annabeth was jumping up and down waiting for Silena to answer. Not even a hello or good morning.

"What, who!!" Silena screeched.

"PERCY" Annabeth is so excited over nothing it's crazy.

"Finally they-" you cut Silena off.

"They nothing! Nothing happened! We got drunk and acted like we always do. Now, let's move on shall we" You said with a psycho looking grin on your face. The pair muttered an agreement and reluctantly moved on. As you guys walked around campus, just hanging out you got a text on your phone from.. Percy.

'hey styx girl, you busy?'

You giggled at the underworld nickname. This sadly caught your friends attention.

"Oh? Giggling at your phone?" Silena leaned over.

"Whose texting you hm" Annabeth was also now leaning over.

"Oh, um, Its nothing. Percys just asking if I'm busy right now." Great they're screaming now. Oh my gods.

"YOUR NOT BUSY" they yelled simultaneously.

"Honestly I might go just to get away from you crazy people" you said.

"Fine with us" said Annabeth.

"Oh" you said, "so you guys hate me is what your saying"

"So, so much. Now tell Percy you're not busy." You, reluctantly, listened to Silena.

'No I'm not busy what's up'

And he responded instantly? Lets calm down now.

'alright then, grab a bathing suit and meet at my dorm'

"So, um, I gotta go guys. I'll catch up with you later kay" The two girls quickly waved you off knowing exactly where you were going, and who you were finding.

As you ran off to your dorm to change, you continued to wonder what your friends were seeing between you and Percy. What kind of relationship consist of two people constantly poking fun at each other.

And finally you made it to your dorm. You quickly changed to the first bathing suit you found, a dark red two piece. You threw on some shorts and a black tube top, and headed out. Not before being stopped by Nico.

"Where are you going" Nico questioned.

"Out" you said.

"With who, Percy?" Nico interrogated.

You hit a quick 180 and looked at Nico. "Hm? What?"

"Yeah, Percy? The same guy you stuffed in your closet last night? And the same guy you threw out that very door thinking I wouldn't notice?" Oh wow, this might be the true detective here.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you put that all together, but yeah I'm gonna go see Percy" you admitted.

"So what, are you taking my advice now?" Nico smirked up at you.

"What? What ad-" you trailed off, then you remembered. The library. "What no! Gods no, can't we just hang out?"

"Whatever you want Y/N, love ya, bye" Nico waved you off.

"Yeah, yeah love you too Nico, bye" you waved and walked off the door.

That kid got a WHOLE lotta nerve. Whatever. You then made your way to the Poseidon dorms. When you finally got there, you walked up to Percy's room. And just as you were about to knock, the door swung open.

"Wow, were you waiting by the peephole? Obsessed much" you joked.

"No I just felt your strange presence infecting my home" Percy said.

"Remember you invited ME over" you said as you pointed his finger in his chest.

"Yeah okay" Percy grabbed your hand, swatting it away. His hand lingering for an extra few seconds. "Let's go, shall we!"

He lead you out his doorway. As you guys entered the Poseidon common area, you walked toward the back door. It had a walk way that stretched over to the beach.

"I forgot you got a whole beach to yourself" you said.

"Meaning, we have a whole beach to ourselves" Percy said as he looked at the ocean. "Sorry I didn't supply-" he turned to look at you, but you already through down your clothes and were halfway to the ocean. Percy took after your example and threw down his shirt as he ran after you. You both collapsed into the ocean. Laughing at all the salt water you got into your mouth.

"Wanna see something cool" Percy asked.

"How cool is it" you asked.

"Extremely" Percy gloated.

"I've caught you watching paint dry, so the bar is very low" you retorted.

"No but this is actually cool follow me." And with that Percy grabbed your wrist and pulled you close. "Hold on tight." You guys were close. So you said something smart.

"Have you ever heard of something called a breathe mint, preferably spearmint?" Wow.

"Every chance you get huh." Without letting you answer, Percy dove the both of you underwater and quickly sped forward 100 feet into somewhat deeper water, and sprung you both above the surface.

"Gods, that's how you swim" you said dazed.

"What, you don't do that" Percy said stupidly. Then he went quiet for a few seconds. 'whats happening.' And before you had the chance to speak up, these two sea horse looking things popped out the water. Wait, these are hippocampi. Holy shit, you'd never seen one before, and they were really cute. Your mouth was agape while Percy spoke to them.

"Told you they were cool" Percy said. You just shook your head. Nobody moved for a split second. "So you gonna hop on one, or are gonna stay close to me?"

"I can ride one?!" You turned to Percy wide-eyed. He shook his head. You quickly hopped off of Percy and hopped on the hippocampi while Percy did the same.

"Hold on tight" Percy said. You decided you'd, for once, just listen to Percy. And with that, the sea creatures sped off into the ocean. This might've been the coolest thing you've ever done. Sure summoning ghosts are cool but, this is really fun. You guys were riding around, laughing and racing each other till the sun went down.

"Yo Y/N, are you getting kinda hungry" Percy asked. As you opened your mouth to answer him, you stomach let out a loud rumble. You both laughed. "Let's go to the cafeteria and get some food." You happily agreed.

You guys got dressed and walked down to get some food together. You two were joking together and going back and forth with each other till you got to the cafeteria. You both then walked up and grabbed some pizza then sat together. Munching.

"You know what Percy" you started as you took a bite from your pizza "your actually not that bad."

"Wow, is that a compliment" Percy said, jokingly shocked.

"Take it however you want" you said.

"I'll take it as you declaring your love for me" Percy laughed and you just rolled your eyes.

"Haha, in your dreams" you said, taking another bite of your pizza. "But seriously, hippocampi are adorable. Sure Hades creatures are cool, but there not as fun to look at you know."

"Poseidon knows what it is" He's talking about himself by the way.

"Someones a little confident aren't they" you joked.

"Insulting me after I gave you the chance to meet one of the creatures you've always wanted to see since we were like 13 is actually crazy" Percy said. Wow, that's so long ago. Sometimes you forget how long you've known Percy.

"Wait, you actually remembered that, how sweet of you" you playfully pouted at him. He smiled and threw a napkin at you, making you laugh.

"Of course, you didn't shut up about it for like a month" he said.

"Yeah like five years ago, in our prime pranking age. I didn't think you listened to anything I ever said" you said.

"Just because I was putting Nair in your shampoo doesn't mean I was deaf" Percy said in a matter-a-fact tone.

"Yeah okay, fair enough. But hey, at least are pranking days are behind us, right?" you questioned.

"Right, they are." You both smiled. "Does this make us friends now or something?"

"Ugh, I mean if you want to be. No need to twist my arm about it" Percy dragged. This guy.

"You know I may just take it back, if I may" you gave him a side eye.

"You may not, but I love the enthusiasm" you both started laughing. After you guys finished your pizza, it was dark out and you remembered you still needed to finish the project you had due tomorrow. So, you both walked back to your dorm.

"Today was actually fun, thanks seaweed brain" you said approaching your door.

"No problem styx girl" Percy said. You both stood there in front of each other. No one was moving. Were you supposed to hug him, fist bump him, what is this silence. Then, the door opened, both of you whipping your heads toward it. And of course, the lovely Nico di Angelo was standing right there with his shit eating grin.

"Hey Y/N, you're back. Oh was Percy coming in too? Were you gonna have a sleep over or something" Nico rambled. This man needs to calm it down.

"Your sisters a nerd who needs to finish homework, so I'm getting banished to my dorm" Percy said, jokingly rolling his eyes.

"Let's remembered who ruined my homework to begin with" you pointed your finger in his face. "And banished is a strong word calm down."

"Okay you two break it up" Nico joked as he pulled you inside.

"Bye Percy"

"Bye Y/N"

And Nico shuts the door. Hand still on the doorknob as he turns to look at you. With his stupid grin never leaving his face. "Interesting, interesting."

"Whats so interesting" his grinning was contagious. You were now smiling too.

"You could at least admit that you think he's hot." Nico pleaded.

"I'm so tireddd" you playfully dragged making you both laugh as you two made your ways to your room.

"Why are you like this sometimes, you know I'm right." Damn Nico. You sat at your desk not even bothering to change before starting.

"Fine, whatever you're right. Are you proud of yourself, would you like a medal to go along with that" you taunted causing him to roll his eyes as he plopped down on your bed.

"I hope it shiny, now tell me what happened" Nico insisted.

"Percy introduced me to some hippocampi, and they might've been the coolest things I've ever seen, and we've taken trips to the underworld." You gloated.

"Interesting, he took you to see the creatures you didn't shut up about at camp" Nico asked.

"Yeah, he actually said that. How I never shut up about them for a month when we were 13" you remembered. "I didn't think he actually remembered that."

"Of course he did" Nico said.

"Whats that supposed to mean" you asked.

"Oh nothing, nothing. I'm gonna go take a shower" Nico got up and started walking out.

"Alright, don't slip" you chuckled to yourself.

"That happened" Nico whipped around, "ONCE." This caused you to cackled as he turned back out and shut the door on his way out. You turned back to your computer and started to get to work.

[10:47] PM

Finally, you were done with your homework and showered yourself from all that salt water.You thought about going to sleep but you just weren't tired. So you got a brilliant idea and texted a certain someone.

'Percy can I come over'

You put your phone down and waited. Two minuted went by before your phone went off.

'Miss me already?'

This made you roll your eyes. He sent another message

'come over'

You hopped out of bed ad threw on the first hoodie you found. You rushed out your room and as you headed out, you heard a special someone clear his throat behind you.

"Going out to see Percy again?" Nico said. You turned around to look at him.

"Wow Nico, we gotta stop meeting like this" you hoked, throwing your arms in the arm.

"Haha very funny, so you going to see Percy" Nico said.

"Yeah, um, I am. I don't even know why" you said.

"We all know why. Stay safe though" Nico said.

"Safe from what, your acting like a monsters gonna attack me" you said as you turned around to go toward the door.

"That's not what I meant, bye" Nico said.

"Bye Nico." you said as you shut the door behind you, now standing in the hallway. "Wait, then what did he mean.." you said to yourself. Then it hit you.

'I just got what u meant, ur weird'

You texted Nico and continued your way back to the Poseidon dorms. 'What were you doing.' Finally you got there and knocked on the door. After waiting a moment, the door opened revealing Percy. Maybe Nico was right, maybe that's why you're here. But that's no ones business but your own.

"Hey Y/N, good to see you again" Percy moved to the side letting you in.

"Hey Percy, did I wake you" you asked.

"Nope, couldn't sleep" he admitted.

"Darn, I was hoping I caused an inconvenience" you snapped your fingers. Percy laughed at your antics. You followed him to his room. You guys sat on his bed, just chatting away like it now wasn't almost midnight. You yawned, making Percy also yawn.

"Hey, I should start heading back" you said. You stared standing when Percy pulled you back down. You looked at him a little confused.

"Cmon, it's late. Just stay here and keep me company" Percy suggested. It sounded like a good suggestion you were tired, but you were thinking of what Nico would say if you went to Percy's dorm for the night and didn't come back. So you made a sound decision.

"Alright, if you insist" you said, falling back onto the pillow.

"Oh, I insist" Percy got up and turned off the light before laying down next to you. Both of you laid next to each facing each other, laying very close not saying anything. Both of you to tired to move, you just drifted off to sleep.

..............................................................................................................................Pt. 3?🫡

#percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #percy jackson pjo #percy pjo #percy series #percy jackson fluff #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson x y/n #percy jackson x you #nico di angelo #silena beauregard #annabeth chase #pjo #pjo series #pjo tv show

[cieloclercs]

what would you say (if i told you i love you)? — charles leclerc

PART: 1/?

summary. in which childhood best friends blur the lines between what they’ve always known, and something more

warnings. swearing, reader and charles are oblivious idiots but they’re cute so it’s ok, ending is annoyingly abrupt (sorry)

pairings. charles leclerc x artsy!reader

face claim. tara michelle

author’s note: so this is a multi-part social media fic inspired by this ask that i’ve been working on for a while. as always, all media and pictures used in this belongs to the original creators. hope you guys enjoy! ps, all i really know about art is what i learned in my gcse class (and my teacher was awful) so if i use any incorrect terminology at any point in this series i’m so sorry! i’m trying my best 🫶

liked by pierregasly and 11,386 others

yourusername monaco summer 🐚🌊🦋☁️

view all comments…

yourfriend prettiest ever 🥹

yourusername oh hush you 🤭

username girl your figure 😮

username she literally has my dream body 😭

charles_leclerc no photo credits? 😃

yourusername 🙄🙄 photo creds to char ig

arthur_leclerc looking a little windswept there

yourusername do you want me to block you again

arthur_leclerc no thanks u look very pretty !!!!

yourusername aww thank you arth 🥰

username wait who tf is this girl and how does she know charles??

username she’s his childhood best friend! they’ve known each other since they were five 🫶

username i firmly believe y/n y/l/n is a goddess not a human being

*charles_leclerc liked this comment

username CHARLES WHAT THE FUCK???

liked by carlossainz55 and 2,376,926 others

tagged: yourusername

charles_leclerc opening day for y/n’s latest exhibition, ‘flow’! je suis très fière de toi, mon artiste. ne jamais cesser de rêver 🌊 / beyond proud of you, my artist. never stop dreaming

view all comments…

username now if this isn’t obsessed boyfriend behaviour then i don’t know what is

yourusername aww charlie 🥹 merci de m'avoir soutenu, je vous en serai toujours reconnaissant / thank you for supporting me, i’m forever grateful

charles_leclerc toujours

username and they say they’re just friends?? THIS IS NOT FRIEND BEHAVIOUR

username omg these paintings are so beautiful! what’s the exhibition about?

charles_leclerc it’s a study of water and the ocean!

username they way he’s answering questions about y/n’s own exhibition for her 😭 babes ur not subtle x

username she’s so talented wtf

*charles_leclerc liked this comment

leclerc_pascale Incroyable 😍

yourusername merci, maman 🥰

username SHE CALLS PASCALE MAMAN OH MY GOD???

liked by joris_trouche and 17,936 others

yourusername summer break, week one ✅

view all comments…

username everyone say ‘thank you y/n’ for feeding us the soft charles content 🥹

username thank you y/n 🙏

joris_trouche elvis is the star of this dump

yourusername i’ll let him claw you again

joris_trouche PLEASE DONT

charles_leclerc woah who’s that handsome guy in slide 2? 😏

yourusername you wouldn’t know him he’s kind of annoying x

charles_leclerc ouch

username charles featuring twice?? we’re losing her 😔

username three guesses who took the pictures of y/n

username hmm…joris? 🤔

username try again

username elvis 🤨

username close!! but not quite

username is it maybe…charles?!

*charles_leclerc liked this comment

username bingo!!

username trade lives with me please 😫

charles_leclerc i hope summer never ends

yourusername you and me both

username he doesn’t want to go back to the sf-23 and ferrari fucking up his race every week 😔

*yourusername liked this comment

username LMAO Y/N LIKED

username she’s just as sick of ferrari’s shit as we are

joris_trouche everyone ignoring the fact that i’m also in this dump as well !!!

charles_leclerc mate you’re not even looking at the camera

username GAHAHAHA CHARLES

➜ part 2

#request #charles leclerc #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc x oc #charles leclerc x fem!reader #charles leclerc x fem!oc #charles leclerc au #charles leclerc social media au #charles leclerc instagram au #charles leclerc twitter au #charles leclerc smut #charles leclerc angst #charles leclerc fluff #charles leclerc drabble #charles leclerc blurb #formula 1 imagine #f1 imagine #formula 1 imagines #f1 imagines #formula 1 x reader #f1 x reader #formula 1 x you #f1 x you #formula 1 x female reader #f1 x female reader #formula 1 social media au

[pickypickypeak]

So I FINALLY got the art of wish book which is so so good and? I’m honestly a little surprised that the only things that got leaked online were the starboy and evil amaya concepts when it’s literally filled with gems? Here’s a few but first let me tell you, the art alone makes it worth it. It’s amazing

THE HAMLET! LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE HAMLET!! Apparently in an early draft Asha and her community had left Rosas and started living hidden in the forest so their wishes could be safe from Magnifico. This hidden place was called “The Hamlet” and it still exists in the final movie, though it’s just a part of Rosas and doesn’t have the original lore. I really hope this trope gets reused for a future Disney movie because it’s a really cool concept!

Live action Valentino??

Some Sakina dump because I love her (also meet Tomás)

Oh and you know the wishing tree in the movie? It’s based on Walt Disney’s own actual wishing tree?? Wtf???

Also there’s a whole 2 pages about Dahlia explaining how much effort and care were put into her creation as a character with a disability. They actually had consultants making sure that ANY form of representation felt authentic and positive. They did not just made the cast multi-ethnic, they actually did their research so that any culture was well portrayed, all the way to the littlest details like textures on their clothing or even each character’s way of greeting.

And about the animation not being fully 2D… Haters conveniently forget mentioning that the movie is expressly made to celebrate both the past AND future of WDAS. Then like it or not, but you can’t possibly celebrate all of Disney without CGI animation. CGI is also Disney. Tangled and Frozen and Moana became instant Disney classics. I would die for a traditional animated movie, but when you put it this way, it makes perfect sense to me that they went with hybrid style for this movie specifically. It just feels right.

Also going through these pages… you just feel the love the producers and animators put in every single reference to older classics. Animation techniques were literally inspired by actual frames from Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. So were coloring techniques, lighting, cinematography… There was a breathing effort of paying homages to these movies with tremendous talent in them, while also creating something new. So hate on this movie as much as you want, but mind you calling it “AI-made”. It’s not. It’s made by humans.

Oh, and finally, Starboy. Well, yeah, I fell for it. People literally made it all up. There’s zero indication that he was gonna be Asha’s love interest, let alone be the one singing At All Costs instead of Magnifico. From what the book says (there’s literally two short paragraphs about him, before Star comes in) I think they didn’t even have a plot then, they were just exploring ideas and made some brainstorming sketches deciding how Star could have been. Same with evil Amaya! That one pic that leaked of her with Magnifico is all we got. There’s no indication that it was gonna be “a better movie” because there is no plot for that lol

#wish #wish disney #wish 2023 #the art of wish #disney #asha #king magnifico #queen amaya #star wish

[lauranalanthalasa]

You're a dark horse, Mr. Fell!

I'm no native speaker and although I am under the impression that my knowledge of the English language isn't that bad, I hadn't heard the expression of "being a dark horse" before. From the context in which it was said by Nina I could deduce it's meaning and at first I didn't really think it was relevant in any way. Just an expression I hadn't heard before, totally fitting from Nina's point of view.

But then Crowley used the same phrase to describe the multi-talented Jane Austen in the pub scene and I was surprised that two different characters used these exact same words to describe two different people. I started wondering if there could be more to it. And knowing Neil Gaiman, there probably is. (I'm just not smart enough to figure it out)

The next thing I realise is, that there's an actual dark horse in Aziraphale's book shop! It's a figurine of one of the two Marley Horses by the French sculptor Guillaume Coustou. Crowley noticeably uses it to store his glasses - we see him put them there and grab them back multiple times throughout the season - and in episode one the later vanished plate of Eccles cakes is placed right next to it.

So all of this really REEKS as if there's more to it! But what exactly?

Because, as I mentioned, I'm not a native speaker, I looked up the meaning of "being a dark horse" online in the Cambridge Dictionary. This is what I found:

a person who keeps their interests and ideas secret, especially someone who has a surprising ability or skill (that was the meaning I deduced after hearing Nina calling Aziraphale a dark horse because of the whole naked man business)

a horse or a politician who wins a race or competition although no one expected them to (Aziraphale being - seemingly - promoted to Supreme Archangel of all Heaven by the end of season 2 wasn't exactly on my bingo card)

a person who is not expected to succeed in or unexpectedly wins an election, race of other competition (could this be a hint that the Metatron underestimates Aziraphale? I mean, he used to guard the gate to Eden with a flaming sword and apparently he's fought in a war and blew up demons with his halo, so...)

So what to make of all of this? I don't know. As I said, I'm not clever enough for this. But I would be surprised if this dark horse was just a red herring.

Please feel free to hit me up with your ideas.

#good omens spoilers #good omens theory #good omens speculation #good omens meta #You're a dark horse Mr. Fell #neil gaiman #battle angel aziraphale #wartime footing

[agentc0rn]

Another Pretty Long Character Analysis: Kieran and Nemona - Strength

disclaimer: not claiming this to be objective, just another writing piece full of thoughts done for fun because Kieran is such an interesting, in depth character ever

Okay so I mentioned this in my older post about kieran being the foil of nemona and their shared struggles with being at the top, socially excluded, and how strength as social arbiter displaced them in social settings. Like Kieran, Nemona became overly strong that no one wanted to compete and keep up with. Her passion is misread because of that plus the top statuses she holds as a wealthy multi-talented, high-achieving student. She is a good person and true to herself (her naivety to social cues perhaps is because of her lack of social connections with others). She means well and just want someone to battle with their efforts no matter the outcome and enjoy to the fullest. Battling is her expression of self, her way of enjoyment and connecting with others. Kieran is alike to an extent, with his strength already at a high level (stated by Carmen in the beginning), and his joyous expression seen during our first fight. This is supported by the fact as stated by Drayton how Kieran had fun battling pre-Teal Mask. These two rivals' love for battles run parallel with each other!

However, Kieran's transition reflects a common mindset that artists, athletes, musicians, etc. all resonate with: competitiveness + measure of worth in the things you like the most - you have to be good at them. I feel this strongly as well with art being my major source of passion - I pressured myself into thinking I had to be really good at it and not enjoy for the sake of doing it regardless of skills.

Battling was not only something Kieran liked doing, it was his main source of confidence and self-esteem.

We see that clear in Blueberry Academy, in dialogues and student culture, competitiveness is high, demanding, and brutal. Kieran may have internalized the idea, provided with his insecurity of weakness and his goal to become independent and reliant. Seeing that we were able to defeat him and sister with ease, he grew to admire but also envious of our esteemed strength, how our power seems to be favored by luck (having speical mons like Koraidon), inducing him to believe that if he worked hard, he could get to our level too. To add further, his lifelong admiration of Ogerpon supports his motivation and his aforementioned desire to be stronger. He wanted to be strong and cool as the ogre, not caring what others thought.

What I find interesting is how Kieran and Nemona handles their way of battling with us. Nemona guides you through the journey while challenging herself to learn in new ways - she restarts her journey essentially. For Kieran, even though he has experience, he struggles with the losses against us (confidence issues and again, aside our MC Role, there is some skill difference given that we fought the titans, area zero mons, team star, and gym leaders). He does change up his tactics, but ultimately does not see victory. He ends up restarting in a way back at BB academy. As a result, Kieran becomes more isolated throughout his training arc and his domination in the league. Him strictly calling out others for slacking inadvertently turns him into the fearsome "oni" figure that he idolized and thus earns him an unfavorable reputation as the president (similar status with Nemona) of the League, for instance, a dialogue between two students mentions how how ever since he became champ, the League club became less fun....Despite the contrast of tensity in these circumstances, Nemona is misunderstood in similiar manner with Kieran.

If memory serves correct, Nemona really gets into the battling mood and sometimes forgets about hers and others' limits, but does acknowledge them given a few instances when she does not battle you. Whereas for Kieran, once he entered the extreme zone, he fully devotes himself to strength at the cost of his mental, social and physical well-being. He discards his limits, giving everything he has got that ultimately eats him from the inside. The final scene when he reacts to losing may also show not just his struggle to grasp reality but a literal side effect on his health (no sleep = poor mood, poor thinking)

He desperately clings to the idea that endless training would grant him the guaranteed chance to beat you ("I know I am making the right choice") and no longer enjoys battling. Battling became a constant test of worth, the last and only means of proving himself. Even though he did become stronger, it drained his health, energy, sanity and reputation. Again, in an ironic way, he really became the oni (self filling prophecy).

at the end however, when we reach out to him to be confident in himself, that we needed his help, it gave him that confidence boost. We all believed in him - he really needed that support. Maybe seeing terapagos going berserk had him gain self awareness that he was like that too and how that caused harm to not only himself but to others.

One small thing to point out that he is like Terapagos in a way. Both are small, secluded and strong lads who end up going wayhire with their mass power.

Not to sound corny but I really felt Kieran’s frustration about losing. I was competitive too but soon let go of that. It’s fine to improve yourself but doing that to be better than others as your main reason can really cause burnout. Anyways this is a disorganized list of thoughts I wanted to share but if you read it the entire thing I really do got to say thank you for taking the time to do so.

EDIT: fixed some grammar and stuff because this was just a run-on draft lol

#Terapagos + Ogerpon hyperfixation got me connected to more people which is nice cause I’m no talker like Kieran #Looking back on the story I saw bits of myself in Nems and Kieran #ac rambles #pokemon scarlet and violet #indigo disk #the indigo disk #kieran #pokemon kieran #rival kieran #pokemon nemona #Man sv has solid characters

[welcomehomediscordserver]

(joking) CW: AGGRESSIVE SUPPORT AND LOVE FOR CLOWN FROM THE MOD TEAM AND MEMBERS OVER AT OUR DISCORD SERVER !!

I have found joy in your little show that I rarely find in things. The overwhelming love and care I have not just for these specific characters but for your art and talent as a whole is astounding. I want you to know that your community, the good parts of it, support you in any endeavor you choose to take. Although this project may have blasted your popularity you are 3-dimensional, you are much more than the creator of welcome home. You are a multi-medial, skilled, talented, and strong artistic being. Throughout all of this I have had nothing but the utmost respect for you. I will continue to no matter what. Just know we over at The Welcome Home discord server have been following your art closely and appreciating every detail! Do what is best for you clown, and continue to do so! -Reggie

It's been a while since something has grabbed me like this... Welcome Home is one of the most precious things I have ever seen, the creation has and will it always have a place in my heart. Thank You creator for sharing this piece of you heart with us. But your safety is more important, I hope that you'll be safe. -Jax

"dear clown, from the heart of one fan to many others, i find so much comfort in your project that i hope that even when things just like now are awful, you know that there's people simultaneously supporting you in every step of the way! We can wait however long you believe is necessary, you deserve to feel respected with your own passion project! And with that to a close, i wish you well! Thank you for giving us a grand welcome home!" -gremints

dear clown, you don't know me. i don't know you either. but everything you've been working on? it's changed my life. and i know that sounds cliche and silly, but it's true. you've inspired me to keep working on my own passion projects, to keep going. because of you, i have found a little community to call home. because of you, i have rekindled my love of silliness and color and creativity. i cannot thank you enough. without you, i would not have found the friends i have now. whatever you do, i want you to know that we're here to support it. and i hope that wherever you go, you also find home. - moth

Hi you dont know me but im Bug, one of the mods^^, I just want to start my message with this, Before I found welcome home, everything for me was going downhill, I had lost so much that was important to me in less than 2 weeks, I couldn't get out of bed and I wasn't doing my favorite things anymore. I couldn't even smile, My eyes were tired and heavy from crying. But thanks to you, Clown. Wonderful you..and your beautiful vibrant creation. With characters I saw and adored right away. I've smiled, danced, sang my favorite songs again, met new and amazing friends & began to draw again. I felt happiness faster than I thought I would again. A peace from your life helped heal some of mine and I'm grateful. Your creations bring me and so many others joy, But even then it as not as important as you. Yes It brings many smiles to people and i hope that doesn't sound to overwhelming.. But although we can't fix the issue people have caused you, we can't apologize for those who don't respect the boundaries you've set and we can't take back what others have done we want you to know that no matter what, the good of the community will always Have what's best for you in mind, in our server we make sure all rules are followed and you're privacy and mental health is respected. Take as much time as you need to take it all in, relax, do what's best for clown. 💚 take care of yourself before aything else. We thank you for all you've done already. -Boogerbug

EVERYTHING BELOW WAS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS !!

Hi Clown! Just another rando passing through! While I have known about your artwork for a few years now, I never dove into it until Welcome Home became popular, and I genuinely love the vision you have. Your other artwork is also phenominal and genuinely inspires me, and it always has, even before I discovered the Welcome Home website. Your character designs are impeccable, the way you portray the muppets is genuinely awesome and brings back a lot of good memories, as I grew up watching puppet shows. Explains one reason I enjoy your work doesn't it?Despite making godly artwork, people forget that you are a human like the rest of us. Most people who become famous or popular because of something they have done experience this and it is unfortunate, but there are some of us that know you have a life and are already struggling. Take the time you need to rejuvinate yourself and try not to let these people get to you, as hard as it is to do, as even I still struggle with this daily. These are your creations, and you deserve to have control over what happens with them, and the disrespect this slowly growing fanbase has for your requests is terrible. Hoping that things eventually improve on your end, especially since you already aren't in a safe environment, something I also understand. I've already planned on throwing some bucks at you through Ko-Fi once I open my new bank account, and even if I cant, I still want to help prove that you are worthy and deserve better than this. You are incredibly talented and I hope to see Welcome Home and all of your other works of art flourish over time! - Sunnie/Mizo

Now onto the big reveal....

Our server members as well as a few mods all banded to together to create a collage showing our appreciation and support for Clown during these rough times. I hope this can serve as a reminder that despite the shitty people out there, there is a large community who still very much respects and enjoys every aspect of Clowns artwork.

An art collage put together by the moderators with art submitted by members.

Below are more signages as well as the usernames of everyone who participated:

Micah

Maximus

Beans

Wynn

Avery

Global

Vinnzhe

- and lastly, the rest of the welcome home discord server 🩷

@partycoffin

#welcome home #welcome home discord server #welcome home puppet show #welcome home community #clown #partycoffin #support clown #sending our support #support #respect to artists #respect #sending our love #wally darling #eddie dear #Barnaby b beagle #julie joyful #frank frankly #howdy pillar #sally starlet #home #love and respect for clown

[walli3darl1ng]

I’m currently obsessed and thought of this :3 enjoy! Should I make a part 2?

You are a well-known, local doll maker and oftentimes you get calls from toy companies to make prototypes of the most popular character kids were obsessed about. That’s just how unique and comforting your talent is. You also get calls from previous clients for repairs on your dolls.

So it wasn’t a surprise that you got a call for a repair. What was surprising is getting a call from a kid’s show director asking you to come fix one of the puppets they have.

You never worked on puppets, but it’s an opportunity to get out of your artistic comfort zone so why not?

The building was intimidating. How many floors do you need to film a kid’s show? But then again, you’re not really sure how much effort it takes.

Inside is just as cruel. So many hallways and doors! But after admitting to a passing worker, who saw you wandering around frantically that you were indeed lost, they were happy to show you to the main studio set for Welcome Home.

it’s an amazing set! Everything that looks big is small. Grass so green it looks fake—cause it is. Colors of any bright hue were present and shine almost dangerously bright for any human capacity.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for the director?” You ask softly, afraid to interrupt whatever they were doing. It did seem like they were in the middle of something, they had other puppets with them.

After meeting the director, who knew really well of your work. You don’t let the fact that a multi-billion dollar company has requested your assistance. You do this for the kids not for fame or money, but let’s be realistic, you need money to start any business, big or small.

Now in a meeting room—more like a regular storage room. The director was informing you of the show as well as the puppets they used to make it.

“The main one is what we want you to fix, just clean it up and make it look presentable again.” The director orders without looking at you then leaves. How rude.

‘It’. You know objects can’t feel but this is a puppet that kids believe they have. So why not just address them as living? They are created with a name, personality, likes, dislikes. You can have debates over this for ages but it’ll never go anywhere.

Are you supposed to just sit here? It felt like forever when the director walked back in with someone else carrying a wooden box. The box is old, small and looks like it could fall apart.

“Sorry, I had to get it packed and ready.” Again with the ‘it’. How hard is it to call them by their name?

You look at the box suspiciously then raise an eyebrow. “They’re in the box?”

The director miserly shrugs and takes the box from the other worker before sliding it over to you, dismissing the worker. “The only box we could find to fit it.”

You hum with curiosity, thinking it was a small puppet you had high hopes this repair would be simple and easy. How wrong you were.

Upon opening the box, keeping clear of the splitters and chipping wood you gasp softly under your breath at the sight.

There was the puppet, dark yellow and blue, crammed into the box, tangled in string? You carefully jammed them out and looked in horror at their condition. Their clothes unravel and tear, shoes more worn down than an energetic toddler and the string is from their dirty cardigan basically coming apart. It saddens you to the core. How can people be so neglectful?

“We have a special next week so you have until then to fix this. Good luck!”

“Wait, hold on—and he left. Unbelievable.” You scoff. Turning back to the poor puppet you look inside the wooden box to see a name faintly on the top. “Wally?”

You gently sit Wally up and hold his felt hand in yours. “Well, nice to meet you, Wally. I hope we can be friends in this journey of making you look like how you deserve.”

You get no response back but you didn’t expect one. Giving Wally a smile you take his arms and wrap them around your neck as you pull him closer to you body and hold him up. You take the wooden box and throw it in the trash. You’ll make a new one.

You felt the loose grip of Wally’s arms tighten.

But that could be your imagination,

Right?

#welcome home #welcome home wally #wally darling #wally x you #wally x y/n #wally darling x self insert #wally darling x reader #welcome home x you #welcome home x reader

[robertreich]

Busting the “Paid What You’re Worth” Myth 

You’ve probably heard that everyone is “paid what they’re worth.” Don’t buy it.

According to this mythology, workers at the bottom are “unskilled” and don’t deserve more than what they currently earn.

Minimum wage workers at McDonald’s are paid what they are worth in the so-called “free market.” If they were worth more, they’d earn more.

By the same logic, the CEO of McDonald’s is worth his multi-million dollar compensation package.

The notion that people are paid what they’re “worth” is by now so deeply ingrained in the public consciousness that many who earn very little assume it’s their own fault that they don’t earn more. That they simply lack the skills they need to be paid more.

But there’s no such thing as unskilled workers. Only underpaid workers. Their productivity — that is the value of what they produce — has been growing for decades. The problem is that their wages haven’t kept pace with their productivity.

The “paid what you’re worth” mythology also lures the unsuspecting into thinking nothing can be done to change what people are paid. It’s simply the way the market works.

Meanwhile, according to this same view, CEOs who rake in tens of millions and Wall Street traders who rake in hundreds of millions, are simply being paid what they’re "worth” because that’s what the market has dictated.

Rubbish. The “paid what you’re worth” fairytale ignores power and disregards policies that have made inequality skyrocket. Like the demise of antitrust enforcement, which has given big corporations the power to set prices, make record profits, and reward their CEOs unprecedented compensation. This fairytale ignores the attacks on labor unions that have reduced union membership from over a third of all private-sector workers in the 1950s to just 6 percent today. All of this resulting in a massive shift in power and wealth from workers to owners.

Those at the top justify their staggering wealth, and they’re “worth,” three ways:

The first is trickle-down economics. They claim that their wealth trickles down to everyone else as they invest it and create jobs. Just wait for it… But as we know, wealth at the top has soared for decades and nothing has trickled down.

The second is the “free market.” They talk about market forces beyond their control. But remember, markets are created by rules. These rules don’t exist in nature; they are human creations. The political power of the wealthy has let them change the rules for their own benefit — busting unions, monopolizing industries, and reaping big tax cuts.

The third is the idea that they’re superior human beings. Sure, they may be talented but this doesn’t justify the staggering amount of wealth they are now taking home. Nor does it justify the amount of wealth they will pass down to heirs. The biggest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history will occur over the next 25 years as the richest 1.5% of Americans hand down roughly some $36 trillion dollars to their children and grandchildren. That doesn’t make those heirs superior. It makes them lucky.

The reality is there’s no justification for today’s extraordinary concentration of wealth at the very top. Or for how little people are paid at the bottom.

The “paid what you’re worth” myth has proven to be a cruelly effective way to put the blame on workers for not getting ahead — while giving the rich and powerful cover to rig the game for their own benefit.

It is distorting our politics, rigging our markets, and granting unprecedented power to a handful of people while millions of Americans struggle to get by.

Don’t fall for it.

#youtube #economics #inequality #workers #unions #video #videos #politics #wealth

[helloalycia]

the king’s ward [one] // morgana pendragon

summary: when you and your brother travel to Camelot to compete in a fighting competition, there's one problem: women can't fight. So, naturally, you convince him to switch places with you whilst you have your chance to fight. And impressing the King's Ward is merely a bonus.

warning/s: mentions of fighting and violence.

author's note: hello! so this was impulse written not long ago when i rewatched merlin bc who doesn't love katie mcgrath? it's inspired by that merlin ep where arthur uses a decoy in his jousting (?) match! and it's kind of like she's the man if you think about it haha, so do enjoy! it's a multi-part imagine :)

two / three / four / masterlist / wattpad

"This is gonna be amazing, Y/B/N," I said with a grin, trying to contain my excitement as we approached the tournament grounds.

"Reign it in," he said lightheartedly, though I knew he was right. I wasn't supposed to be competing, he was, so I had to play the part.

Every year, Camelot held a fighting tournament that anybody could compete in, even those who weren't knights. There were no rules and it was an open competition, however despite nothing explicitly saying women couldn't compete, it was a given. And so every year, I only dreamt of competing so that I could see if I was as good as I hoped. Finally, I came up with the genius idea for my brother, Y/B/N, to pretend to compete whilst I actually did the fighting. It wasn't foolproof, but I was desperate, and he agreed after much convincing.

We'd arrived in Camelot last night, our first ever visit to the kingdom, and were staying in the full to-the-brim tavern in a room above the pub. It wasn't ideal, but it would do the job. The real reason I was here was right before me and I couldn't be more excited.

"Y/B/N Y/L/N?" a voice called, and my brother and I both spun around to see a servant boy approaching. "You're up first. You can use the tent over there to get into your armour, if you have any."

"Thank you," Y/B/N said with a nod before we both headed over to his – AKA mine – tent.

"This is perfect for making the switch," I said with a contained grin, looking around the enclosed space.

"You heard the boy, you're up first," Y/B/N said with a smile, before dropping our bag on the bench. "Let's get you suited up."

He helped me pull my armour over the top of my clothes, a bulky-looking but lightweight set that fit us both and was easy enough for me to manoeuvre in whilst also hiding any distinguishable feminine body parts that could give me away. After that, he handed me my sword and gave me a supportive nod.

"Good luck out there," he said, my helmet in his hand. "You're gonna smash it, sis."

I grinned. "I will indeed. They aren't going to know what's hit them."

He laughed and helped me put on my helmet, the metal covering my whole head except for some slits in the eyes to let me see.

"You ready?" he asked once more, and I gave him a thumbs up, already committing to staying quiet. He patted my back. "Go and win!"

Taking a deep breath, I left the tent and headed to the grounds, the sight of all those people watching only exciting me more. All I'd ever dreamt of was showing people my skills, for them to take me seriously. Not as a woman or a man, but a fighter. And this was my chance, finally. I wasn't going to let it slip by.

"I'm sure you're all excited about the tournament, as am I," the King began to speak, silencing everyone in seconds. "It's going to be a magnificent week of fighting, skill and talent. We shall see who the best fighters of Albion truly are. Starting with our first match of the tournament – Y/B/N Y/L/N versus Henry Wright!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as my opponent and I walked in the centre, our chosen weapons at our side. The King looked down at us both with anticipation, waiting for quiet. And then when he was ready, he raised his hand.

"You may begin," was all he said, and I barely had chance to take a breath before my opponent, Henry, swung first.

His mace, spiked and heavy, almost took my head off if I didn't move in time. The crowd 'ooh'd' as it did and I tried to tune them out, focusing on the fight. I couldn't afford distractions.

As Henry kept moving forward, slashing his mace at me and trying to touch my armour, I dodged effortlessly. Henry may have been strong, but he was slow, and his weapon of choice was particularly terrible. Once he'd worn himself out, it was my turn to take a swing at him, my sword coming down on his gauntlets in a wide arc. Contact was made and he grunted loudly, grossly, and stepped back. I slashed a few more times, to which he was now on the defensive, using his clunky weapon as a barrier. But it didn't faze me as I kept on slashing, trying to back him into the side.

Once he was trapped, I let him take a shot at me, only to roll to the side at the last second and swipe his legs out from beneath him. He hit the ground as quickly as I directed my sword at his neck. Lifting his hands in defeat, I couldn't fight the grin from my lips.

The crowd erupted into cheers, yelling my brother's name, and I lowered my sword before offering out my hand. Henry let me pull him up before letting go bitterly, walking off the grounds. I laughed to myself before looking around me at the crowd, waving a little too cockily. I couldn't help it – I'd won! My first match!

When I turned to face the King, I saw he was clapping in his chair, impressed at my handiwork. Seated beside him was his ward, Morgana, and I'd heard so much of her but never seen her before. I wasn't prepared for her beauty, nor the vibrancy of her green eyes in the sun, even from a distance. And once again, I couldn't help but let my cockiness get the better of me. Between waving, I blew her a kiss, facing her directly in a way that I hoped she knew it was for her. Judging from the way she immediately turned pink in the face, I knew I'd succeeded.

After soaking in the glory a moment longer, I left to return to Y/B/N who was waiting for me in the tent. As soon as he saw me, a grin was on his face.

"Sounds like you gave them a good show," he commented as I rushed to remove my helmet and armour.

"Y/B/N, it was like nothing I've ever experienced," I admitted, still buzzing with adrenaline and excitement. "It was perfect. And you should've seen the way I got the other guy on his butt!"

He chuckled as I helped pull the armour onto him. "I'm sure it was something special. It's a shame I can't watch."

"We can't risk you being caught," I reminded him, before handing my sword and helmet. "Go on. Do your final waves. Don't forget to rub it in their face that I won, yeah?"

He rolled his eyes playfully. "I'm not doing that."

I laughed as he left the tent. My smile was permanent as I stood alone. One round down, several more to go.

"The other guys are pretty rough," Y/B/N said as we hung back to watch the other matches and get a better feel for the competition. "You sure you're up for it?"

"Don't even joke," I said to him with a knowing look. "You know it's all I want. They don't scare me."

He raised his eyebrows. "Hey, I was thinking more about them. They're gonna get smothered and not even know it. You don't wanna give them a chance?"

A smile grew on my lips as I shoved him in the side. "You're so stupid."

He mirrored my smile before paying attention to the fights. We stayed there until the last fight before chatting about what we'd seen by the tents. The crowd was dispersing and the other fighters were talking about getting a drink at the tavern, even inviting my brother to join them. He found it strange, the attention, especially since he knew it wasn't for him. I assured him he had to be a team player and not raise suspicion, but he wasn't impressed.

As we were chatting, I couldn't help but notice a blur of black hair in my peripheral vision, and when I looked, I saw the Lady Morgana walking by with her handmaiden. She spotted my brother and I and, naturally, her attention was on my brother. She flashed him a smile, to which he awkwardly returned, and then began to approach us.

"Er, why is the Lady Morgana coming to talk to us?" Y/B/N asked nervously.

"No idea," I said, though my own smile was tempting to break out as my eyes wandered over her figure. She was seriously stunning.

"Hello there," Morgana spoke when she stopped before us. "It's Y/B/N, right?"

He nodded slowly, before clearing his throat and bowing. "A pleasure to meet you, my lady."

"Please, no need for the formalities," she said with a slight laugh, one that I knew I'd be dreaming of for days. "I just came to say that you put up a good fight this morning. I look forward to seeing your performance throughout the week."

"Thank you, my lady," was all he said, and I almost rolled my eyes at his dense self. Couldn't he see she was interested him?

"And who is this pretty lady?" she continued, and I realised she was speaking to me.

"I'm Y/N, my lady," I introduced myself with a smile. "Y/B/N's twin sister. Not identical, thankfully."

Y/B/N rolled his eyes as Morgana laughed at my joke.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Y/N," she said, eyes lingering on mine. "Might I say, you have a very talented brother."

I hummed in agreement, biting my tongue and trying not to laugh. Talented... I'd take it.

"I should be going, but have a good evening, both of you," Morgana finished, glancing between us before leaving.

"Y/N, what did you do? Why is she suddenly interested?" Y/B/N asked as I watched her walk away, entranced.

"Nothing," I reassured him, before tearing my gaze from Morgana and looking to Y/B/N. "What? I didn't do anything!"

He rolled his eyes and shoved me before walking away. I bit my lip to contain a grin and skipped after him. I was beginning to like it here.

The next fight was soon upon me and it was safe to say that I was nailing it. My opponent was supposed to be a challenge, but I could swear it was only getting easier. He was over six feet tall and towering over me. Compared to me AKA Y/B/N, he was huge. Luckily for me, height wasn't an issue as my brother and I were close enough in height, a solid five foot eight and nine respectively, so it wouldn't give us away.

The fight was over in minutes, with me landing a winning blow to my clown of an opponent, right in the gut. As soon as he was down, the crowd were up and out of their seats, cheering me on. The intensity of their cheering surprised me at first, as I didn't realise they loved me so much. It took them longer to calm down, and a few flowers were thrown from the stands, making me grin as I waved at them. When I looked to the King, he was surprisingly smiling as he clapped his leather-gloved hands heavily. Morgana was stood up beside him, clapping with the crowd, and I couldn't stop myself.

Without thinking, I picked up a flower from the ground, dusted it off on my armour and threw it up to her. I was relieved when it landed at her feet, worried I'd missed, and she seemed surprised as she picked it up. When she looked at me, I bowed respectfully, making the crowd cheer even louder, and I tried to pretend I couldn't see King Uther losing his smile as he looked at me with suspicion. Oops?

I jogged back to the tent, feeling lightweight and overwhelmingly happy. Y/B/N clapped me on the back in congratulations before we exchanged gear and he headed back out to reveal his face, waving once more.

After he soaked in the glory for a little longer, I packed up our things and we left the tent to get some water. A few knights, to our surprise, approached us and began chatting to Y/B/N about his technique. He played along perfectly, since he was a decent fighter himself, and I merely watched as they spoke of my moves and skill, grinning to myself. Clearly I was doing better than I thought if the knights of Camelot were complimenting me.

"Hey, Y/B/N," a voice called from behind, and we both turned to see a flirtatiously-smiling Morgana walking past. She nodded at my brother, saying, "The flower was cute."

Poor Y/B/N was clueless. "The flower?"

Morgana laughed, thinking he was joking, and left. I suppressed a smile as we both turned to the knights. One of them gave Y/B/N a knowing look.

"Bold move giving the King's ward a flower right in front of the King himself," they said with a snicker, before leaving.

Y/B/N blinked and began to turn to me. "I did what?"

I smiled sheepishly. "What? She was impressed by my skill! How could I resist?"

"Y/N!"

"Look, she's pretty and she deserved it, okay?" I said nonchalantly. "It's no biggie."

He facepalmed and I could tell he was already regretting changing places with me.

Later that same evening, Y/B/N and I were making the most of the training grounds that Prince Arthur was letting the contestants use for the week. To everyone else, I was merely practicing with him, but to us, he was actually helping me practice. 

For the third time in five minutes, I knocked Y/B/N on his butt and laughed at the expression on his face.

"C'mon, at least give me some sort of challenge," I teased, holding out my hand for him.

He let me help him up as he gave me a knowing look. "Don't be too good or people will suspect."

I scoffed. "Nobody will think twice about me."

"Oh yeah, because you're so inconspicuous dressed like that," he said sarcastically.

I ignored him, though I knew he was only looking out for me. Ladies wore frocks and dresses, not pants and shirts. But I didn't like to be restricted – why was that such a bad thing? I hated that I had to put myself in a box just to make others feel comfortable. It wasn't fair.

"Are you ready?" I asked, readying my sword.

He nodded and did the same before coming at me without warning. I held my own well enough, even with him giving his all, and with the utmost satisfaction, I managed to land him on his butt yet again. He narrowed his eyes at me and I began to laugh before pissing him off that little bit more by twiddling the hilt of my sword on my forefinger in the air, watching it spin before catching it. It was a silly little celebratory move I liked to do, one that Y/B/N hated because it usually meant I had beaten him.

Grumbling to himself, Y/B/N helped himself stand up as I watched on with amusement.

"Impressive."

Surprised, I turned around and definitely didn't expect to see the Lady Morgana approaching us.

"You're almost as good as your brother," she commented, looking at me.

Smile fading slightly, I tried not to draw anymore attention to myself. "Something like that."

She lifted a brow curiously. "It's a shame you couldn't compete. You're better than half the men in this competition."

"It's just how it is, my lady. The King's rules," I said, though I was secretly smiling because she thought I was good. As me, the real me, not my brother.

"If it were up to me, I'd have loved to watch you fight," she said, making me smile to myself. I risked glancing at her and saw she was watching me with her own smile, before looking to my brother.

"Good luck tomorrow," she said to him considerately.

"Thank you, my lady," Y/B/N said, bowing.

She nodded her head at him before catching my staring, offering a smile, then leaving.

"Gosh, she's so pretty," I said, unable to look away from her.

"Not here, not now," Y/B/N said in a warning tone before slapping me on the back.

"I'm gonna win just to see her smile," I decided, finally looking away from her retreating figure.

Y/B/N rolled his eyes, shaking his head with disbelief. I raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"Another round?"

"No way," he said immediately, making me laugh as I watched him walk away.

"Like you always do," I whispered to myself as I stood face to face with my next opponent. "Come on."

My opponent carried a sword and shield and was very good with both, as I'd seen him using it these past few days. Probably the first real challenge I had, I was a little nervous, but one look at my sword reminded me why I was here and what I was capable of. I wasn't going to let this man throw me off.

As we fought, I quickly realised he wasn't going to tire out easily. As quick as he was skilful, he dodged all of my slashes, blocked all of my stabs and avoided all of my feigned shots. He was too good, keeping me on my toes. I was growing tired as the minutes dragged on and he knew this, using it as his opportunity to slam his shield against me, knocking me back. I tuned out the audience's reactions, shaking my head to get back into it.

I let him believe he was going in for a strike before rolling out the way and slashing the back of his legs. He groaned as he spun around, blocking my next hit. This seemed to piss him off as he came at me quick and hard, striking every second and driving me further and further backwards. One sturdy hit with his shield and I was on my back. Just as he tried to strike me, I rolled out the way and stood up, putting some distance between us.

Collecting myself, I saw that he pulled his shield over him once more and knew I needed to use that to my advantage. He wasn't going to let it go, no matter how hard I hit it. And I was already growing tired, my body battered and bruised, my energy depleting. If he kept going like this, he'd surely win. And I couldn't let him.

A stupid idea came to my head and I figured it was worth a shot if I was already losing. Why not?

Running directly at my opponent, I watched as he tucked in, shield up and ready to block my hit. Just when he was about to shove it towards me, I used the momentum to jump on it, over his head and hitting the ground, just about. I was so shocked it worked that I almost forgot to use his own surprise to my advantage. Without wasting a second, I spun around and smacked the hilt of my sword at the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. Worried I'd hit him too hard, I kneeled down to listen in.

When he let out a breath, I sighed with relief and stood up, eyes closing for a moment. Then the stands shook as everyone stood up, cheering and yelling and clapping, and I opened my eyes with a smile. As I waved my sword hand in the air, bowing, the cheering only intensified and I couldn't stop grinning. Admittedly, the thrill of it all got to my head and I began to show off, waving to the crowd on all sides. Just because I could, I twiddled my sword on the tip of my gloved forefinger in the air and threw it up before catching it by the hilt. The crowd seemed to love it and a grin was permanently fixed on my face as I left the grounds to return to my tent.

"That's the loudest I've ever heard them," Y/B/N said as soon as he saw me. "What did you do?"

"Whatever I could," I said between a laugh, before pulling off my helmet. "Get me out of this, I'm so hot."

He chuckled and helped me out of it, and I helped him into it as usual. Giving him his sword and helmet, I sent him off before taking a deep breath and drinking lots of water. My body was aching and there were definitely bruises all along my legs and chest, but I didn't care because that was insane. How the hell did I manage that?! Whatever it was, it was incredible and I couldn't wait to do it again in my next fight.

Y/B/N returned after soaking in the glory, pulling off the armour and ready to help me pack it all away, but to both of our surprises, Prince Arthur walked in the tent.

"Hello," he greeted awkwardly, before looking to Y/B/N. "You fought excellently today. I wanted to ask if you'd have a word with me outside."

I hid my smile as my brother nodded, exchanging glances with me before following after the prince. Prince Arthur was impressed by me? No way. There was no way! I'd have to fight him soon enough, since he was also competing, but who cared? He was impressed!

I tried to contain my excitement as I went about packing away my armour, stuck in my own daydream land. So much, in fact, that I didn't hear anybody enter the tent behind me.

"It's you!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a familiar voice came out of nowhere. Spinning around, I was surprised to see the Lady Morgana standing there with a shocked smile on her face.

"Huh?"

She licked her lips, stepping fully inside the tent and glancing behind her, before looking to me. Lowering her voice, she said, "It's you. The fighting out there. It's not your brother, it's you."

When I finally managed to stop getting distracted by her pretty smile and listened to what she was saying, my own smile faded.

Swallowing hard, I played dumb. "What? That's crazy."

I tried to busy myself with packing my bag whilst also panicking inside, but she kept going with it.

"The sword trick at the end," she stated with confidence. "Where you twirl it on your finger. You did the same thing when you beat your brother yesterday. It's you, isn't?"

I closed my eyes, cursing myself at my stupidity. The damned sword trick. Why did I have to let my cockiness get the better of me?

"Maybe," I admitted, turning to face her, and she smiled to herself.

"I bloody knew it! Well– okay, maybe I didn't, but it makes sense," she said. "Your brother acts like a completely different person out on the grounds compared to when he's literally anywhere else. Because it's not him."

I stayed quiet, both embarrassed that I'd been caught out and nervous to what it meant for me.

"Wait," she realised, pausing, and I could practically see her brain working everything out. Green eyes met mine as she asked, "The flower. Blowing me the kiss. That was... that was you?"

If only the earth could swallow me up there and then.

"I was committing to the role...?" I said dumbly, making me her chuckle. Beginning to panic even more now, I said, "Look, if I'm in trouble, please don't punish Y/B/N. He didn't even want to do this, but I made him. It was the only way I could compete. I just wanted to see how far I could get."

She furrowed her brows, a confused smile on her face. "Y/N, you're not in trouble."

I blinked, taken aback. "I'm not in... huh?"

"I won't tell a soul," she promised, expression softening. "Keep doing what you're doing. You've single-handedly impressed every member of the court, all the knights, the prince and the King himself. You're amazing, Y/N."

At her words, I began to smile, feeling a sense of pride take over. "Why are you doing this?"

She shrugged, playing coy. "Maybe it's women sticking together. Maybe it's because I enjoy watching you fight. Or maybe I don't want to see you getting punished for being such a good fighter."

I sighed quietly, a sense of relief spreading through me. "Whatever it is, thank you, my lady. Truly."

"It's Morgana," she corrected, eyes flickering between mine.

I pursed my lips to stop my smile from widening, and then she stepped forward and kissed my cheek, making me freeze at the contact.

"And thank you for the flower," she whispered in my ear, before stepping back.

My mouth went dry as I watched her red lips curled into a smile before she left the tent. I was certain I was as red as her lipstick, my heart racing in my chest. A grin soon formed on my lips and I couldn't stop.

Moments later, Y/B/N returned and seemed surprised with his chat with Prince Arthur, but I was too distracted thinking about Morgana, my cheek still tingling from her touch.

"The prince wanted to personally congratulate me on my progress thus far," Y/B/N shared. "He hopes to see me make it to the finals so he can see what I'm all about up close."

His words went in one ear and out the other. Did Morgana always smell of jasmine, I wondered?

"Seriously? I thought you'd be dying to know more," Y/B/N said with suspicion.

"What?" I finally tuned back in, kind of. "Yeah, that's great, Y/B/N."

He studied me curiously. "I just saw the Lady Morgana leave here. What did she want?"

"Huh?" I asked, half listening.

"Y/N!" he said, startling me.

Finally, his words settled and I answered, "She just wanted to compliment how great you did today."

"How kind," he said, not believing me.

I couldn't tell him that she actually knew the truth – he'd get cold feet and back out of the competition, and then I'd never get to prove myself. Besides, Morgana said she wouldn't tell anyone, so we were still good to go. What Y/B/N didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Wait," I said, finally acknowledging what he said earlier. "What did Prince Arthur say about me?"

Y/B/N groaned dramatically and grabbed the bag of armour, ignoring me. I was forced to chase after him, doing his head in about everything the prince said.

#morgana x reader #morgana pendragon x reader #morgana pendragon #merlin #bbc merlin #merlin imagine #katie mcgrath

[forlorn-crows]

All this talk of soft ghouls got me thinking some unwise thoughts...

Can we, the clamoring public, see some Sunny softness? One of her ghouls (gn) showing her how loved she is once everyone gets back from tour? Taking some time to spoil her and just feel some pleasure with her? Please can we see that from your skilled and talented brain?

hi mallll you know i love my sunny girl

whats better than one multi ghoul? two multi ghouls. swiss spending time with his multi girl to get you all warm and fuzzy wink wink

a little bit of slice of life, a little bit of porn. mostly banter, some makin' out and some frotting action.

transfemme sunshine, with cock/dick/balls to refer to her anatomy.

“There she is, little miss Sunshine,” Swiss beams, pulling her into a strong, warm hug. “Missed you, multi girl.”

Sunny giggles, bouncing on her heels and squeezing him tight. “Missed you so much, Swissy.”

He gives her a chaste kiss on the side of her face, pulling back and holding her at arm’s length. Just to look at her. Breathe in that bright clementine smell of hers that they’ve all gone without. 

He sighs, giving her a lopsided grin. “I’m sure Cir and Lus will wanna steal you away first,” he rumbles, smoothing his thumbs over her freckled upper arms. “But maybe we can catch up later. Just us. How’s that sound, bunny?”

Sunny grins right back at him, clapping her hands together softly. “Yes! I’d love that.”

“Perfect,” he says, leaning in to kiss her on the nose. He eyes the other air ghoulettes who are quickly approaching them. “Uh oh. Gotta dash before Cir bites a chunk outta me for stealing her girl,” he teases, mock-whispering against her temple. 

“You better,” Cirrus lilts, flicking the forked end of her tongue out at him with a playful hiss. 

Swiss raises his hands in mock surrender, taking two steps back. “All yours, ladies,” he assures with a wink. 

“Thank you,” Cumulus says, turning her nose up proudly and crossing her arms. It’s all show though, her face splitting into a grin a second later, dimples on full display. The two of them take Sunny arm-in-arm, predictably whisking her away from the rest of the group—but not before Cirrus lands a smack on Swiss’ ass with her tail on the way out. 

“Bye,” he chuckles, offering Sunny a little wave. 

“Hey!” Aurora calls out from across the courtyard where she’s been flinging the few remaining suitcases into manageable stacks. She’s hunched over a random equipment case, ushering the multi-ghoul over. “I need your muscles. Big boy ran off with the other lovebirds already, and Lucifer knows where Rain and Aeon are.” 

Swiss rolls his eyes. “Slackers. The lot of ‘em,” he jests. “I gotcha, sweetheart.”

—

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” Swiss muses hours later, pulling on a lock of Sunshine’s hair to watch it spring back out of his grasp.

She pouts and wrinkles her nose. Furrowing her brow, she blows a stream of air perfectly upwards to put the curl back in its place. “Yes. But you’ve interrupted me to say so.”

“It was really important, bunny.”

She rolls her eyes, even with the grin tugging at the corners of her lips. “You don’t wanna hear the rest of the story?”

Swiss pulls her closer by the waist, melding their bodies together for the first time in a long while. “I do, sweetheart. But I’ve heard my fair share of griping and groaning about human taxes from Aether himself. Can’t blame a guy for getting distracted by other things.” 

Sunny snorts. She walks her fingers up his forearm, over the swell of his bicep, and over his shoulder to poke him in the cheek. “And what are you thinking about instead, hm?”

He snaps his teeth at her finger, smiling when she yelps and pulls her finger away with a giggle. Then he leans in close, holding her gaze. He runs the tip of his nose along her browline, sighing when that sweet scent of her flares at his proximity. 

“You, sweet thing. My beautiful bunny whom I’ve missed so dearly.” He nuzzles further into her with a raspy purr, squeezing into the space between her and the pillow and tucking his nose right into the crook of her neck. 

“Swissy,” she half laughs, half whines. 

“Come onnn,” he groans teasingly. “Lemme be sweet to you. Show you how much I’ve missed you.”

“You just wanna get in my pants, you fucker,” Sunshine says bluntly, all while lifting her chin to give him better access. 

“Now, who said that?” he says at length. Swiss presses a kiss to her skin, smoothing his hand up and down her back. He inhales her scent again, ripe citrus and warm honey. “Fuck, baby, it’s been too long,”

She hums, coaxing him out from the crook of her neck. She holds the side of his face, smiling sweetly. “So dramatic,” she whispers before closing the distance to kiss him.

Swiss rumbles happily, tasting her slowly, softly. Though the sun is dipping below the horizon just beyond the hills outside, neither of them are in a rush. He cups her face in return, his fingers curving along her jaw. Not pulling or gripping. Just holding, caressing. 

Their lips meet and part, then meet again, over and over in chaste little touches that are paired with sighs and pleased chirps. An easy pace full of affection and mutual appreciation. 

“Missed havin’ you in my arms, bunny,” he mutters against her lips after what feels like ages. He gives her a tight squeeze, migrating back to her jawline.

“What, Rora didn’t keep you busy?” Sunny snorts without malice. 

Swiss huffs a laugh. “‘Course she did, that insatiable little thing.” He slips his hands down to her ass, kneading softly and pulling her as close as she can get. “But she’s not you, is she?”

Sunny hums. Rolls her hips against his very obvious bulge. “No, but I bet she looked real nice from the floor,” she grins.

He lets out a real laugh this time, pulling back to look at her. “Oh, you would know, wouldn’t you?” 

Sunny gets right back up in his face, nipping him on his kiss-swollen bottom lip. “What’s it to ya, Swissy?” she challenges.

He scoffs, eyebrows raising at her. “Oh, she wants to play games, does she?” he asks with a playful growl, bullying her onto her back. “Guess it’s time to bring out the big guns.”

Sunshine catches the glint in his eyes and the way his fingers twitch at his side as he straddles her. She narrows her eyes, realizing too late that she’s now trapped beneath him.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Swiss gives her his signature frightening smile, all teeth.  “Oh, wouldn’t I?”

It’s all the warning she gets before he descends on her, fingers fluttering along all her ticklish spots—the middle of her ribs, the crease of her hips, her armpits, the divots of her collarbone. She swats at him helplessly, caught between shrieking and laughing uncontrollably. He’s always too fast, dodging and dislodging her hands to go from one spot to the other, pinning her down with strong legs despite how hard she tries to buck him off. 

“Swis-suhhh,” she whines, gasping for breath. “Lucif—hah-have mercy.”

Swiss smirks, ceasing his torment. He puts his hands on his hips, grinning smugly at the ghoulette still pinned beneath him. “Mercy granted.”

She sucks in a deep lungful of air, groaning on the exhale and scrubbing her face with her hands. She tries to twist out from underneath his thighs, groaning louder when her pelvis grinds against his. Her face quickly blooms with a rosy hue as she peeks at him through her fingers. 

“Uh oh,” Swiss lilts. He rocks his hips against hers, chuckling when she lets out a breathy moan. “What’s this, bunny?”

She swallows, attempting to catch her breath. “You know what.”

“Every time,” he laughs to himself. He drops down onto his hands, tail whipping behind him as he boxes her in with a hungry gaze. Licking over his fangs as he admires the way her freckles stand out against her blush. 

“What will I do with you, sweetheart?”

Sunshine reaches up to grip the hem of his t-shirt, twisting it between her fingers and tugging slightly. She bites her lip. Looks up at him with her big, amber eyes. “Kiss me?” Her eyes drop down to his chest, exposed a little now with her pulling on his shirt. “Make me feel good. Please?”

Swiss trills and melts himself against her. Guiding her hands to wrap around his waist as he tucks his forearms under her head. He presses a kiss to her forehead and ruts against her, sighing into her curls and sinking further into her infernal warmth. 

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Swiss promises, dipping down to kiss her deeply. 

Where it was lazy before—chaste pecks and delicate touches—the pace is heated now: tongues exchanged, hands roaming, and hips rolled unabashedly against each other. Taking one another in like stifled flames no longer deprived of oxygen, drinking each other down like parched earth after a drought. Greedy, but relishing in it at the same time.

Sunshine claws at the back of his shirt, wriggling beneath him until she can wrap her legs around his hips. She groans when he slots between her legs, Swiss’ dick hot and hard against her own even through the layers of fabric between them. 

“Fuck,” she gasps against his lips. 

“Yeah,” he groans back. “So hard for me. Wanna get my hands around you.” 

Sunny nods, quick little movements of her head that rub her nose against his cheek. “Together,” she begs breathlessly. “Your dick against mine.”

Swiss groans louder, already pulling away from her to strip his clothes. “Fuck, that’s hot, bunny.”

The ghoulette all but yanks off her pants and underwear in one fell swoop, kicking them off and wrenching her crop top over her head simultaneously in an awkward flailing of limbs. She exhales triumphantly when she’s bare to the world, grinning up at Swiss with that crimson blush still on her cheeks and a cute leaking stiffy between her thighs. 

“Multi girl, you are something else,” Swiss says affectionately. With another shimmy of his hips he’s bare too, slinking back to lie side by side as before. He twines their legs together and pulls her right back into a hungry kiss, all tongue and fang. 

“Touch me,” she moans against his mouth. Pawing at his bicep until his hand moves from the curve of her back. 

Swiss wraps his hand around them both without further preamble, huffing a grunt as her length snuggles up to the underside of his. Likewise, she can’t contain her keening sigh as she bucks into his fist. Writhing atop the sheets and begging him sweetly in nonsensical syllables. 

“Just like that, baby,” he rumbles. He latches onto her neck, sucking a bruise into her heated skin. Warm tongue matching the pace of his hand. “Gonna make you feel so good.”

“Shit, Swiss,” Sunny whimpers. “So good—fuck—I love you so much.” 

“Love you so much, sweetheart,” he purrs into her skin. He tilts his head up, dipping his hand further down to brush against her tight little balls as he presses his lips against her ear. He smiles when she whines and gives her a squeeze. 

“Lemme show you how much I do.”

#the band ghost #ask #mal #ficlet #the band ghost fanfic #ghost fanfic #swiss ghoul #swiss army ghoul #sunshine ghoulette #transfemme sunshine #swiss/sunny #sunny/swiss #swiss/sunshine #sunshine/swiss #swissunny #we dont get to see these two together enough and i think thats a shame #i love these two #i proofread this time guys! woo!

[imperatorrrrr]

You Know What? Fuck It. Here’s my Fuck Lindy Ruff Manifesto.

Alexander Holtz - For a coach who was hired and praised for his ability to mold the youth and allow them to make mistakes and grow and give them grace and patience, he surely is doing the exact opposite with Alexander Holtz. I understand the want to make him a well rounded player who is solid defensively, but to continuously put him on the fourth line and bench him or limit his ice time is actually ludicrous. He has proven himself all season with the limited minutes and the shitty lines he’s been on. He’s a pure goal scorer. Let him do what his fucking innate skill is. Stop trying to make him into a player he’s not and then punishing him for not being exactly the player he’s not supposed to be anyway.

Player Usage Generally - I don’t think he actually understands the strengths of the players he’s coaching. He doesn’t know when to use them or where or how. Why is Timo constantly playing on his off wing? Why isn’t Holtz’s shot consistently on one of the power play units? Why does he not know what to do with Nico? Does he fail to understand that Nico isn’t just a defensive forward? Does he not realize Nico was a Selke finalist because of his offense AND defense? And how about Nico being one of the main factors in Taylor Hall’s Hart trophy win? How do you look at Nico Hischier as a player and not give him actual fucking goal scorers on his wings? Like why was Nico being deployed on a damn checking line? Like is he blind?! His overuse of Brendan Smith. Last season his benching and scratching of players like Shango or Siegs. His fucking goaltending decisions.

Timeouts - Why does he refuse to use timeouts. When your team has just given up three consecutive goals on three shots, when your team gives up its two goal lead and then is losing altogether, when the other team scores in bunches against us. How do you not call a time out? Use that time to slow the other team’s momentum. Use it to get the team out of their heads. To regroup. Anything.

Slow Starts - For two straight seasons we have rarely if ever been ready to play at puck drop. That is a coaching issue. Or at the very least a problem that needs to be addressed by the coach if it’s not his fault. How has it been a season and a half and he hasn’t fixed this.

Home Record - Another multi-season issue. Why has he not been able to address or fix or make any progress on the fact that the boys can’t put a solid effort together in front of a home crowd. They’re an amazing road team but they get to the Rock and it’s never as easy.

Player Treatment - Players are not treated the same. Luke and Nemo are constantly allowed to mess up, which good! Holtz, however is benched. It’s been happening for two seasons at least actually probably longer. If you’re gonna be punishing type coach then do that and do it with everyone. If you’re gonna be a coach that gives people a chance to make mistakes and still go out there again then do that! He has never treated players equally. There have always been guys that get away with murder while others are benched instantly. Two players can make the same exact mistake and only one gets benched. Explain the logic. Treat your guys equally!

Lack of Adaptability - When teams figure us out, Lindy has no solutions. He thinks doing a line blender will solve everything, but it doesn’t. You need to be able to change game plans and adapt quickly and he just doesn’t. Same with our season of injuries. He’s trying to hide behind the fact that we aren’t playing as well due to our treasure trove of injuries this season, but if your entire play style is around one or two players and you can’t coach this incredibly deep and talented roster to wins in the absence of the Jacks and the Nicos then that’s a coaching problem. This team should not crumple without Jack.

Line Changes - Fairly certain we have the most too many men on the ice penalties in the league because we can’t complete a damn line change properly. Also so many of the high danger chances against or goals against come off of bad line changes or slow line changes. That’s such an easy fix Lindy! Fucking do your job!

Physicality v. Skill - I think Lindy prefers the old school style of hockey and values players that bring grit and physicality that’s why he was so high on Miles Wood. It’s why he’s high on McLeod. It’s why my beloved Nate is being promoted to third line when Holtzy is on the fourth line. It’s why Brendan Smith is getting starts. But this team and this league is moving past that style of play. You have some of the most skilled players on this team when it comes to the puck: Jack, Jesp, Nico, etc. Your team identity and the way you play needs to prioritize that skill. I’m not saying physicality is bad but it’s not the focus on this team. Lindy tried to change this teams identity with the first two games of the Rags playoff series and look what happened. When we played our game then we shut out the Rags TWICE during a playoff series.

I’m sure I’m missing some massive points, but I’ll leave it at this.

Goodnight.

#New Jersey Devils #Lindy Ruff #Devils #NJD #NJ Devils #this is because of that post game presser Lindy gave #it got me all heated #Text

[communistkenobi]

Do you think andor stans are pretentious? I'm seeing people calling them that more and more. I know some are annoying but every star wars fan is annoying imo.

the most beloved past time of star wars fans is bitching, and andor has provided us with an extremely productive frontier from which to do so. I’ll just agree and say that yeah sure it’s pretentious, because I don’t think trying to like logically refute that is a good use of time.

I think part of the reason why the “andor is better than the rest of star wars” sentiment is so popular (beyond the subjective enjoyment of it as a superior show) is that andor has a completely fresh take on star wars, one that is deeply connected with the “guts” of star wars canon, and its presence in the canon is making people go “wait we could have had this kind of Star Wars content all along?” and then rage at the rest of the franchise for not being andor.

It’s sort of hard to describe why it feels this way (at least in short form lol), but like I think the main difference between andor and the “traditional” star wars show is that andor is taking the canon extremely seriously. not in a strict factual manner, but in the sense of like, okay how does the empire operate? what is its internal structure like? How does it respond to rebel attacks? What impact does that have on civilian populations?

These of course are not new questions (I think SW Rebels for example does a decent job of exploring these things), but it feels different. To use the mandalorian as a counter example, take the tracking fobs the guild hands out. These are simple devices that provide location data for targets. They make the plot go forward. Easy and simple. But like, I don’t think that would fly in a show like andor. Not only on a technical sense (how tf do you get sub-metre accurate positional data on another person who is dozens of solar systems away, frequently on fringe planets that do not have global satellites?) but also in a sociological sense - if this technology is available, how else is it used? Who else uses it? What kind of society produces this kind of technology? I think andor pushes audiences to think of these silly little gadgets as technologies of power. It must always be considered in its ability to oppress people and its role in structuring society. The infrastructure required to make something as simple as those tracking fobs work is itself a commentary on the state of the galaxy. And these questions are multi-scalar - if something as simple as a tracking fob can provide extremely accurate, unrestricted data on virtually any person in the galaxy, where do those data come from? Where are those data being held? Who controls those datasets? Why are these data being collected?

I think andor most excels at attending to the bureaucratic and administrative elements of the empire. “The Empire” is not a literal physical thing that you can point to and say it exists, it’s a collection of people and equipment and buildings and processes and laws and ideas. You see proof of the state in andor every time a database is queried, every time a criminal record is made, every time a security contract for another planet is secured. a person could go their entire life without seeing a star destroyer and still know the empire is very much real. It’s literally doing “we live in a society” shit with star wars. It approaches star wars not at the level of individual characters but at the level of systems, as a process of history that you are watching unfold, and that history is being told through the lens of people experiencing it.

This is sort of drifting off topic, so to circle back - I think andor is demonstrating the power of star wars canon in a way previously unconsidered, and people are (i think understandably) irritated that, for all the money and brain power and talent behind a lot of the other shows, we aren’t getting the same level of curiosity for this incredibly expansive fictional universe. I don’t think star wars always has to be this way, or even be this serious, but I think the recent narrative failures of the other shows (the mandalorian, kenobi, book of boba fett) demonstrate that star wars does not have to be about itself - you can explore the canon seriously and create stories from what already exists. You do not need to treat characters as saints or action figures, you do not need to flinch away from them showing vulnerability or humility or flaws. People will disagree that the shows I mentioned do this in the first place, but then they’re the people who say “you’re pretentious” to begin with, so in the immortal words of sun tzu. who give a shit

#sw.txt #asks #andor

[lheewonz]

Wish That I Could ╱╱ 희승 ✧ l.hs

synopsis :: fwb!heeseung x fem!reader aren’t dating, but they want to be

“wish that i could be your lover”

The ambiguous nature of your relationship was unsatisfying.

Lee Heeseung wanted to completely be yours.

warning :: swearing, kissing, implied/referenced nsfw (?), they almost get arrested?

word count :: 3.3k

“What do you want?” Your flat expression met his gleeful one.

“Damn babe, don’t get too excited to see me.” Heeseung and his annoyingly attractive half-smirk were at your apartment door at 3 in the morning. Under one arm he held a white motorcycle helmet with cat ears, under the other was a similar black helmet without ears. “Let’s go for a ride.”

“No. Do you have any idea what time it is? I have school in 6 hours.” Which really meant four hours since you took forever to get ready, and four hours was definitely not enough time to be well rested. You got cranky when you were tired and usually took it out on the boy currently standing in front of you.

Heeseung shrugged, nonchalant as always. “You just need to learn how to manage your time better.”

You level him with a glare. “You’re the reason it takes a whole hour to get breakfast.”

“And I pay for it. Maybe if you didn’t take an hour getting ready.” Heeseung leans forward, raising his eyebrow at you, his tone tinted with a bit of jealousy. “I’m not in your class, who are you putting so much effort in for?”

“No one.” You avoid his eyes. He was right, as he usually was when it came to topics related to you. You made sure to wake up two hours earlier to have enough time to dress nicely for Heeseung, of course. Not that you would ever admit to that. “It’s too early for your shit. I have to sleep, go home.”

He practically shoves the white helmet into your hands, forcing you to hold onto it. “It won’t take too long. I promise.”

“Last time you said that, I missed a majority of the most important lecture in my class.”

He rolls his eyes and waves you off. “C’mon, love. It’ll be fun.” He takes a step forward, reaching out with his free hand to take yours.

Your heart flipped at the pet name and your voice was quieter when you responded, “Don’t call me that.” You were fighting a losing battle.

He smirks again, bringing your hand up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it. “You’re wasting more of your sleep time saying no when we both know you’ll give in.”

There’s a beat of silence while the two of you stare at each other before you sigh heavily. You walk over to the couch and grab a pair of long pants from your freshly folded laundry to switch out with your short pajama bottoms, ignoring Heeseung’s appreciative whistle from where he stands in the doorway. You grab the leather jacket Heeseung had gifted you, getting a matching one for himself that he was also wearing, around the same time he had gotten his bike and head back to him. “I hate you.” You say as you slip the helmet on, glaring at him again.

Heeseung only grins and slides your visor down after booping your nose. “No, you don’t.” Heeseung waits for you to shut and lock your apartment door before tugging you towards the stairs. He briefly lets go of your hand to put his own helmet on, he lifts you up into his arms, chuckling at the small scream you let out and starts running down the stairs three at a time.

Your eyes widen at the actions of this complete madman and wind your arms around his neck tightly. “Heeseung. If you fall I will kill you.”

“Carrying pretty girls is my hidden talent, you should know.”

You were thankful the visor hid your blush. “Ah, really? I thought it was getting on my nerves.”

“I’m multi-talented.”

Soon enough the both of you were outside standing in front of Heeseung’s motorcycle. You climb on after him and wrap your arms around his waist. “Where are we going?”

Heeseung shrugs, “Not sure yet.” He slips his gloves on and within the next 3 seconds, he’s pulling out of the parking lot and speeding onto the road.

As Heeseung drives, your grip on his waist tightens and you cling to him, resting your head on his back and sighing. The drive is peaceful. Heeseung rests his hand on top of yours at every red light. You love the short moments with Heeseung where neither of you speaks since you can’t go more than two seconds without playfully bickering. Whether it be while the two of you are kissing, going for a midnight ride, or other silent activities. Those sweet, silent moments with him almost manage to convince you that Heeseung is more than just a friend. Just like you want him to be.

It isn’t long before you reach your destination, an old park that you used to visit when you were in middle school. Surrounding the park was a locked gate. “Are you sure it’s okay to be here?”

Unbeknownst to you, Heeseung glares at the locked gate that was definitely not locked when he had gone there earlier. “Yea, it’s totally fine.” He pulls your helmet off and helps you off the motorcycle, setting your helmet down on the seat and pulling his own off.

You trail behind him with your arms crossed skeptically as he stalks over to the gate and starts to climb it. “What are you doing??”

“I’m gonna unlock the gate.” He hops over the top and turns to you with a smile.

The lock makes a long clanging sound as he fumbles with it, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration and his lips pouting slightly. He looks up at you and catches your stare as the lock finally gives and clicks open. He pulls the gate open with a smirk, “See something you like?”

A hand pulls on one of your arms to tug you closer to him. “No.” You avoid his knowing stare.

“You wound me, my love.” Heeseung pulls you up against him. You shiver as he leans down to whisper in your ear, breath hitting your ear, “No need to lie to me.” A furious blush spread across your cheeks. You stay silent, burying your face in Heeseung’s shirt, and you can feel his chest rumbling as he chuckles at you. “Let’s take a walk, yea?”

It takes a small bit of coaxing for Heeseung to get you to start walking, but when you do start walking it’s peaceful. The two of you walk with your arms intertwined, talking about anything that comes to mind. Heeseung recounts anecdotes about living with his friends Jake and Sunghoon, animatedly telling you about the very recent time Sunghoon almost burned their apartment down while he was sleeping and forgot to wake him in his haste to escape, and Jake eventually put out the fire.

Eventually, the two of you walk around the entire park and come back to the fountain close to the front gate. Heeseung lets go of your arm and hops onto the thin edge of the large fountain.

“Give me your jacket.” You hold your hand out to take it from him.

He rests his jacket on your arm, a slightly worried expression on his face. “Are you cold?”

“No, but I have a feeling you’re going to fall in.” Despite the fact that you seemed to have no faith in him, your precaution and the fact that you care enough about him to want to make sure nothing happens to something special to him almost makes him blush.

“It sounds like you’re gonna push me in.”

“I wouldn’t. I’m not cruel.”

“I’ll be fine.” You grab onto his shirt anyway for your own comfort, though if he actually started to fall you would probably be dragged down with him.

The two of you continue to walk in silence this time, as opposed to earlier. The silence is suffocating and awkward. You can see Heeseung continuously steals glances at you from the corner of your eye and you can tell he wants to say something. You stay silent to give him time to figure it out.

Heeseung’s tone was surprisingly serious when he started talking. “I was thinking. Are you… happy with the way we are?”

“What do you mean? Like our relationship?” You could feel your heart sinking into your stomach.

“Yea... Are you satisfied like this?”

You start to fiddle with the sleeves of his jacket, all of a sudden finding great interest in the grass. “Uhm, I guess… Why?”

“I’m not.”

Your head snaps up to stare at him in silence and he stares back. Your stomach churns almost painfully and you suddenly feel like vomiting. You let go of his shirt and take a step away from him. “You don’t want to be my friend anymore?”

“No! That’s not what I meant, I just-“ He cuts himself off with a yelp when the next step he takes sends him backward into the fountain with a loud splash. You both stare at each other with wide eyes and then you burst into laughter, previous tension disappearing and dropping yourself to the ground while Heeseung grumbles, but smiles a bit at the sight of your laughter.

Your laughter stops abruptly when you think you hear someone shouting in the distance. The both of you look at the angry guard currently running in your direction and then look back at each other. “I thought you said this was legal??” You hissed at him, grabbing his hand to help him out of the fountain.

“I had to climb the fence to open the gate, why did you believe that?” The both of you run back to his motorcycle. You toss him his leather jacket and then put your helmet on.

“HEY! YOU TWO! STOP!” The guard was closing in, but still, a decent amount of space away, his booming voice echoing through the otherwise quiet park.

“Hurry the fuck up! You’re unbelievable, if I get arrested-“

“We’re not getting arrested. Saving damsels in distress is also a talent of mine.” He puts his helmet and jacket on.

“You put me in distress.” You knock your fist against his helmet as you settle down behind.

Heeseung shrugs. “Details aren’t important.” Then the both of you are off, speeding away as the guard finally makes it to where you were just seconds later.

Heeseung makes it back to your apartment in 10 minutes, compared to the 20 minutes it took to get to the park in the first place. “You’re gonna get arrested one day.” You say as you pull off your helmet.

“Not if I have you with me. You’re my lucky charm, love.”

“You’re so… corny.” You can feel your cheeks heat up at his words regardless and you knock your fist against his helmet again at the sight of his smug grin. “If I were that lucky, you wouldn’t have fallen into the fountain.”

Heeseung’s face falls into a grimace when he remembers how uncomfortably wet his clothes were. He pulls his own helmet off, running his hand through his damp hair a few times. “Right, can I shower here?”

“Obviously. You’ll get sick if you stay in those clothes.” Both of you head towards your apartment doors, unlocking the door quickly and heading to the elevator.

Heeseung leans against the wall next to you. “On second thought. Maybe I should get sick, would you take care of me?”

“No.” You both knew that you were lying.

Heeseung plays along, his stupid (hot), smug smile never leaving. “That’s harsh, love. It’s okay. I know you love me.” His smile softens when you hum in response, red spreading across your face. His hand grasps yours and he pulls you to stand in front of him, his hands going to rest on your waist while yours rest on his chest, ignoring your protest at leaning against his wet clothes. His voice is soft as he asks, “Did you have fun?”

Your smile grows and you nod, resting your head on his wet chest. “I don’t know how you always know, but thank you. I had a lot of fun, Hee.” Your arms go to wrap around him, and he responds by doing the same. You briefly think about how you’re going to have to re-dry your clothes, but the thought is banished from your mind when you feel Heeseung lean down and press a kiss to your hairline.

“Part of my saving damsel in distress talent is knowing when they’re in distress. I also woke up to your tweet about doing laundry.” Everyone who knew you knew that when you started doing your laundry of all things, especially at some god awful time like 2 a.m., that you hadn’t left your apartment for fun in more than a couple weeks. “I’m glad you had fun, love.”

His arms tighten around you and it’s peacefully quiet in the slow moving elevator. You close your eyes basking in his presence as he plays with your hair. Near the end of the elevator ride you remember that he had been trying to ask you something. “Hee?”

Heeseung hums in response, looking down at you when you pull back from him. He continues playing in your hair, brushing your strands all across your face, smiling when you scrunch your nose at him, and waiting for you to speak. “At the park, what were you trying to tell me?”

“Oh.” Heeseung’s eyes widen slightly and he opens his mouth to respond but the elevator dings instead. He sighs, then smiles and taps your nose, “I’ll tell you another day.”

He walks you out of the elevator and you raise your brow at him. “If you say so, weirdo.” Heeseung stays pressed against your back as you unlock your door. “Your clothes are in the very last drawer.”

“Aw, I have my own drawer?”

You push him off you, decidedly having had enough of his wet clothes pressing against you. “I have like 4 pairs of your pants.”

He has the decency to look somewhat embarrassed at the implication that he’s left your apartment without his pants on multiple times. “…I’m sure there’s a good reason for that.”

“Yeah, sure.” You give him a doubtful look. “You’re going to shower, change, then get out.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He leans in to quickly kiss your lips before running into your room to avoid getting swatted at.

“I mean it. I’ll kick you out if you try to stay any longer.”

You did not kick him out.

The way Heeseung’s calloused hands gripped your waist was a feeling you could never get tired of. However, your favorite feeling hands down, had to be the way his lips felt against yours. Heeseung kissed you slowly like he was taunting you, forcing you to pace yourself and not be so eager. He kissed you like he was savoring it like he was afraid that it would be the last time he would be allowed to. He kissed you senseless, tongue tracing the seam of your lips, making you forget what you had declared earlier. He left you breathless, gasping for air and gripping his pajama shirt in your fists.

He trails light kisses down your neck and along your jaw careful not to leave marks, knowing you weren’t that fond of them. With your head tilted back, you catch a glimpse of the clock on your bedside table.

[ 5:27 a.m. ]

“Shit.” You reluctantly push Heeseung away, struggling as he somewhat fights against you. “It’s bedtime, go lay in your corner.”

“I can’t sleep next to you?” The fake pout he is sporting is evident to you even without looking at him as you make sure your alarm is on. “You don’t trust me?”

“No. Last time you asked me if trusted you, you made me almost burn down my apartment.”

Heeseung tsks but still settles away from you on the bed. “It’s not my fault you can’t multi task, love.” He sulks against the wall and you giggle quietly as you sneak glances in his direction as you settle down on your side of the bed. “I just want to touch you.”

You fully turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow. He turns back to meet your gaze before clarifying what he meant. “I meant cuddling. There’s time for anything else later.”

“Right... You stay over there and I will sleep.�� You close your eyes to Heeseung staring at you.

Except after 15 minutes you still couldn’t sleep and Heeseung was still staring at you. You groan softly, pretending to not want to give in to what Heeseung wants. “Get over here. You stare too hard.”

Heeseung shuffles across the bed before you even finish your sentence, loosely taking you into his arms. “Good night, love.”

“Good night, Hee.”

Heeseung loses track of time as he stares at you while you try to sleep, his gaze soft and loving. A gentle hand comes up to brush the stray hairs from your face without disturbing your peace. He leans in to press a kiss to your forehead before he wraps his arms around you bringing you impossibly closer to him resting your head against his chest and continuing to stare down at you. You shift in your sleep a little, moving your head so he can have a better view of your face.

Heeseung smiles softly and then thinks back to the unofficial date he had taken you on. While he was successful in his attempt to relieve your stress, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to ask you to officially be his. Somehow it was even more nerve wracking than when he had first come to you with your current arrangement nearly six months ago.

You had finally broken up with your shitty boyfriend and started talking to all your friends again. During a party, you, Heeseung, and a couple of other friends had snuck away from the main party with a couple of bottles of alcohol and just sat and talked. At some point, the conversation turned to you and your breakup to which you had answered that you were done with romantic relationships and just wanted to kiss someone every now and then. Weeks later Heeseung couldn’t get the thought of what you said out of his head and eventually gathered up the courage to approach you with the idea to be friends with benefits and you agreed.

At the time Heeseung considered it a win, but since then his feelings for you have grown exponentially and he regrets the way he friend zoned himself. As much as he thinks you like him back, there was still no guarantee you would agree to actually date him since the premise for this had been no romance in the first place. He sighs, settling down to sleep. “Wish I could be your boyfriend.” He mumbles, “I’d treat you so much better than that asshole.”

“Maybe if you ask properly, your wish will come true.” His startled gasp makes you giggle as you crack an eye open.

“How long have you been awake??”

“I never went to sleep. I told you, you stare too hard.” You shake your head to refocus. “That’s not important. You should ask.”

“Ask what?” You deadpan at him. “Oh.” He sits up a little and scratches the back of his neck, a light blush dusting his cheeks, the most awkward you had seen him since you first met him. You prop your head up on his chest with your hands.

Seeing your face clearly in the moonlight helps to ease Heeseung’s nerves just a bit. “Y/n, my love… Will you be my girlfriend?”

Your responding smile is an image Heeseung will never be able to forget. The way you seem to shine even brighter and are able to easily render Heeseung breathless is a talent that only you possess.

Instead of responding verbally, you lean in close and press a gentle, chaste kiss to his lips once, twice, three times, smiling in between each one. The both of you are giggling together, smiling so wide your cheeks hurt. “Is that a yes?”

You kiss him once more and then rest your forehead against his and whisper, “Yes.”

"i could treat you like no other"

a/n :: send help i spent a fuckton of hrs on this and idek why lord help me pls give me feedback!! like and reblog <3

#heeseung imagines #heeseung soft hours #heeseung x you #heeseung x yn #heeseung x reader #heeseung fluff #heeseung oneshots #lee heeseung #enhypen heeseung #enhypen imagines #kpop imagines #enhypen oneshots #kpop oneshots #sv.lhs ☆ #sv.enha ☆ #sv.imagines ☆ #sv.oneshot ☆ #sv.softie ☆ #sv.xreader ☆ #sv.library ☆

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 1

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T (Not expecting the rating to go up, but this is me we're talking about, so who knows, lol.)

Story Summary: You are a journalist working for the NY Bulletin when you get assigned to interview multi- Michelin star chef Matthew Murdock, co-owner of Daredevil, the hottest new restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately for you, however, Chef Murdock isn't exactly trusting of journalists. As you work to peel back the layers of the closed-off culinary genius, you find yourself becoming interested in more than just his cooking.

Chef Matthew Murdock is struggling to rebuild his culinary reputation after being burned by his former flame, renowned food critic Elektra Natchios. So naturally, when a journalist from the NY Bulletin comes around for an interview he isn't exactly welcoming... Until he finds himself starting to fall for you.

Can two hearts learn to trust one another or will your budding romance go up in flames?

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, more tags to come as the story develops

Word Count: ~900

A/N: Thank you to everyone for all the excitement over the teaser and I hope you enjoy my self-indulgent Hallmark rom-com chef AU!

And extra thanks to the ultra-talented @theradioactivespidergwen for the adorable divider she made for this! 🥰

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock

…And the secret to such a long life?

"Lots of love and laughter," Beth replied with a cheeky smile, "and just not giving a damn what other people think."

You nodded to yourself as you finished reading over your latest story for the New York Bulletin, the newspaper that you worked for. Perfect.

You sent it off to your editor, Mitchell Ellison, for final approval then looked up from your desk as you heard him call your name. "Yeah?"

"I've got a new assignment for you. Walk with me."

You scrambled up from your chair as Ellison passed by your desk, excited to hear what your next assignment was. "What is it?"

"I want you to interview the executive chef at this new restaurant that just opened. Apparently the chef is a big deal in the culinary world."

Your smile fell. You were hoping for a good investigative assignment this time, not another fluff piece. "But Kelsie covers the food and restaurant beat."

"Yeah, well, Kelsie is out sick with food poisoning -- and before you say anything, yes, I do realize the irony." Ellison sighed as the two of you entered his private office. "I really need you on this one -- apparently the chef doesn't usually do interviews but his business partner promised us an exclusive, and besides, you're the best reporter I've got. You'd really be saving my ass here."

You folded your arms and looked at Ellison pointedly. "If I'm the best reporter you've got, then you're gonna start paying me like it. I want a raise." 

Ellison narrowed his eyes at you. "What kind of raise are we talking about here?"

You did some quick mental math. "Twelve percent."

Ellison balked. "Twelve? Are you insane? We could maybe do six."

You shook your head. "Ten, plus I want to move to Lauren's old desk by the window."

After Ellison remained quiet, you shrugged. "You know, maybe I should call that person from the Times back about the position they offered me..."

You turned to leave.

Ellison groaned. "Okay, okay, wait, fine. You've got a deal."

You turned back and shook his hand. "Okay, so who am I interviewing?"

Ellison picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to you. "Guy's name is Matthew Murdock. He's the owner and executive chef of Daredevil, just opened up on 44th."

You scanned the name and address. "What's my deadline?"

"Two weeks -- we need it ready to run in the New York Restaurant week edition."

You nodded. That was pretty tight, but doable. "So when's the interview?"

Ellison coughed. "In 30 minutes."

You looked at him incredulously. "30 minutes? I have zero time to do any research or prepare any questions!"

Ellison shrugged. "If anyone can wing it, you can."

You shook your head and turned to exit his office once again. "You're lucky I'm so good, Ellison!"

You hurried back to your desk and typed "Matthew Murdock chef Daredevil NYC" into your search engine, eyebrows raising at the photograph that popped up. Chef Murdock stood in front of Daredevil, arms crossed and lips turned up into a smirk. He had dark, wavy hair and was wearing a red chef's coat with black trim and round sunglasses with red lenses. Damn, he's hot. 

You quickly made a few notes based on his (very brief) bio on the Daredevil website before dashing out of the office, praying that you would make it to the interview on time.

"You did what?" Matt hissed as Foggy Nelson, his business partner and sous chef, stood in the doorway of his office.

"Scheduled you for an interview with the food writer from the Bulletin," Foggy replied. 

Matt shook his head. "You know I don't do interviews. Not with wannabe food bloggers, not with TV reporters, not with writers for culinary magazines, and certainly not with food critics for newspapers."

"I don't think she's actually a food critic, she just writes for the food section of the newspaper." Foggy huffed out a breath. "Come on, Matt, you know we need the publicity. The opening hasn't gone as well as we'd hoped and if we have too many more slow nights we're gonna already be in trouble."

Matt scowled. Unfortunately, Foggy was right -- business had been way slower than they had hoped in their first month of opening and a front-page interview with the Bulletin during Restaurant Week actually would be great publicity. "Then you do it."

"You're the culinary genius behind the food, I'm just your business partner and sous chef." Foggy sighed. "My point is that it's your name attached to all those Michelin stars, not mine."

"So what am I getting out of this?"

"The editor promised us the front page of the Restaurant Week kickoff edition."

Matt huffed out a breath. "I hate you so much right now, you know that, right?"

Foggy chuckled. "Thanks, Matty."

"When's the interview?" Matt wanted to do some research on the Bulletin's food writer before he sat down with her just to see if she actually understood the culinary world or if she was just a glorified 'foodie'.

"In 15 minutes."

"What?" Matt shook his head and got up to put his chef's coat on and get ready. This had better be worth it.

#lotmf writes #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x fem!reader #matt murdock x female reader #matt murdock x you #chef!matt murdock #Cooking Up Love Masterlist

[vro0m]

Ok I have one. Explain to me a very basic, level 1 concept of F1. Like. The most simple way. Everyone should know this but I don't.

Hi Sae 💕 I set out to explain simply a very basic level 1 concept of F1 and ended up writing you an essay, I hope you don't mind. I can't help myself but infodump.

If you ask people what's most important in F1, chances are they'll tell you about the cars, the engines, the aerodynamics, the driver's talent but I'm here to argue that some of the most decisive and/or exciting moments the sport has given us to see were down to : relationships.

You always, always have to do better than your teammate (an unnecessarily long essay by vro0m)

I wanna preface this by saying I'm unfortunately missing a chunk of good examples because although I've been, as most of you know, watching Lewis' entire career from the start I've not yet seen 2016-2018 but it doesn't matter.

Introduction :

As you know, F1 is made of 10 teams, and each team has 2 drivers. It also awards 2 titles per season. One is the World Constructors' Championship, hereby referred to as WCC, that is won by a team, as per the points both of their drivers earned combined. The other one is the World Drivers' Championship, hereby referred to as WDC, which, as the name suggests, is awarded to the driver who's won the most points over the season.

This unique feature creates one of the most complicated networks of relationships in the world of sports, because each team wants the most points aka for both their drivers to do well VS. each driver wants to do better than his teammate. They have to work together to help the team, but they have to work against one another to help themselves.

It's a recipe for angst and drama, and god knows we love it.

It's also very much a key feature of the sport, and you can find examples of it influencing the way events unfold in all eras, although I will focus only on the years I have myself seen.

Teammates, rivalries, and egos :

Take the very famous Multi-21 drama. Mark Webber joins the young Red Bull Racing team in 2007. His teammate is David Coulthard, a veteran who's soon to retire. Webber was a midfield driver, who got his hands on a new, midfield team seat and must have thought he was set for life. Who knows, the team might even get better? But in 2009 the stars align and shine not on him but on young, golden-haired Sebastian Vettel, his new teammate, who ran into him once before in 2007 during his first season, after what Webber called him "a kid" and blamed his lack of experience.

Indeed Sebastian is a decade younger, brazen and moving through the ranks about as fast as the rocketship RBR has suddenly managed to put together. It's his third year in F1, against Webber's eighth, and he finishes 2nd in the WDC, not one, but two ranks ahead of him.

In 2010, they collide again during the Turkish GP, while Webber is in the lead and Vettel tries to overtake him, sparking controversy over the team's management of the drivers. Webber finished 3rd and Seb had to retire from the race. But it didn't matter in the end, because that year, he won his first WDC, and RBR won their first WCC. And then again in 2011. And then again in 2012. The blond kid turns out to be the golden goose.

And Webber is pissed. Because as a driver, when your team puts together a winning car, you don't have a good excuse for not winning the title anymore. All there is to it is that he's not as good as his teammate, and that's the worst thing a driver can be in F1. You always, always have to do better than your teammate. Even when your team is last. Why? Because you're in the same car. Your teammate is the gauge of your actual driving skill. If you end up behind another team's driver, you can always say his car was better. There's no hiding your shortcomings when it's your teammate. Even less so when the spotlights are shining on you.

So what does he do? Work his ass off? Train? Study the car better? No. He blames the management. Right from 2010, as soon as he realised who he was up against, even though he was leading for most of the season, he claims RBR is giving Seb the preferential treatment.

Team principals :

See, that's the third angle of that love/hate triangle. Driver-driver-team principal.

If you're a team principal, your drivers are a constant headache because chances are they fucking hate each other. Might or might not be okay off track, but as soon as they sit their asses in the cars, they most probably hate each other. And the more your team wins, the more they hate each other! Backmarker teams usually have rather minimal internal drama because what are you fighting about? P19? But when you start winning... boy oh boy.

Because that's the whole point, right? You're more or less happy to be a team player when there's not much on the line for you (although as stated earlier, you still wanna finish ahead of your teammate). But when you're in a winning car??? That might be your only chance to win a WDC in your whole life. Better seize it. Better run your teammate off the track as you do it because he now also has a winning car. Better fucking win.

Back to the team principal. You don't care which one of your drivers ends up first, as long as your team ends up first. You know what doesn't help teams end up first? Drivers crashing into each other while racing for the win, like Webber and Vettel in 2010.

Enter team orders.

Team orders... or not :

Team orders are exactly what they sound like : the team is ordering their drivers to act a certain way, whether they like it or not, because the team is looking out for the team and the drivers are looking out for themselves. It's the team being a stern parent and getting a grip on its rowdy children. No more games. Now you sit down and obey. Now you're also looking out for the team. After all, we're paying you.

Team orders are controversial, because nowadays when a team is good, a team is usually dominating. Hence there's no real racing at the front, the dominating team's drivers finish first and second most of the time. So if you don't let them race, and they have no real competition, then there's really nothing to see, and it gets boring. Team orders are also controversial because it doesn't give the other driver a chance.

But you don't give a shit, you're a team principal. Doesn't matter in which order your cars arrive. As far as you're concerned, your cars are first, out of all the other teams' cars. So you give team orders. You protect your 1-2 finish. Better believe Horner was fucking pissed when his drivers crashed in 2010.

Now, not always. Not all the teams. There was a time Mercedes let their drivers race for real, for real.

RBR tried it the stern parent way. It doesn't always work though. Malaysia 2013. Mark Webber is leading the race. Sebastian Vettel is second. They have about 10 seconds on the Mercedes, there's no threat on the horizon. "Multi-21," they are told. That's team orders for you guys are finishing in that order. That's stern parent for fall in line and bring home the 1-2. Webber is obedient, of course, he's in the lead. His goal aligns with the team's goal. But Seb is a brat, and his goal is not P2. The tensions have been piling up for several years now. While his elder relaxes in the lead, reassured by the team orders, Seb doubles down, attacks, and overtakes him for the lead. Fuck your team orders. Although he claims the relationship didn't impact his decision, Webber quits F1 at the end of the season.

That same year, Lewis Hamilton joins a then "best of the rest" team. Upper midfield, if you will. Lewis and his new teammate, Nico Rosberg, are childhood karting friends who are finally living their shared dream of being F1 teammates. And Mercedes takes a different path. A risky path. They decide that their drivers can race each other. They claim it pushes them to do better. Rivalries drive people, right? As much as your teammate is a gauge, he's a benchmark. You always, always have to do better than your teammate.

The team is doing really well, finishing 2nd in the WCC. Lewis finishes 4th, Nico 6th. The challenge is set. And in 2014, new regulations, new cars, the racing gods smile down on Mercedes like they did RBR in 2010, and they get a fucking rocketship for the next eight years. We're in a dominating situation, mostly. They had some competition, but most of the fighting was, in the end, infighting. It's the brocedes era. The most brilliant example of the complexities of F1 team relationships.

At first, it's exhilarating, racing each other at the front. But it's like Icarus and the sun, you cannot lose sight of the goal. Because you can't win and have a friend. From using engine modes they weren't supposed to use to try to beat each other, to controversial pole positions that might or might not have been won by cheating, Lewis ends up calling an end to their friendship only a third of the way through their second season together. And then, it's Mercedes' version of the 2010 RBR drama : Nico collides with Lewis, costing the team the 1-2. Turns out all the F1 roads lead to drama.

Lewis wins in 2014. Mercedes wins in 2014. Lewis wins in 2015. Mercedes wins in 2015. Nico wins in 2016. Mercedes wins in 2016. But Nico is so frayed by the rivalry, he quits. Just like Webber.

Now what? Mercedes tried the other way and they got the same results RBR did. Many wins, and one driver short.

Toto Wolff hires Valtteri Bottas. And Bottas is the final example of F1 relationships because he's the sacrificial lamb on the altar of Lewis' career. It's the last concept : first and second drivers.

First and second drivers :

See the last, and arguably most common, solution to the thorny team VS. teammate problem is to have, more or less explicitly, but mostly less, a first and a second driver. Which means, as a team principal, your order of priorities goes team > driver 1 > driver 2. It simplifies things for you because you don't have to juggle your drivers, favouring one over the other and then the other over the one, to keep them both happy and obedient and not crashing into each other like Mercedes had to at some point to try to tame the intra-team war the Lewis-Nico situation quickly evolved into. They thought they had a spark, they ended up with a forest fire.

But does it, really, simplify things? No. Because you always, always have to do better than your teammate. No driver is in it for the team. They're all in it for themselves. They put up with the team because they have to. If the team doesn't support them, well... Why would they support the team? And that's why they end up ignoring team orders. See, although Webber did it (as long as he was in the lead, anyway) most drivers will not ever admit being a second driver. Think Perez pretending RBR supports his fight for the title. Why? Well my friend, because you always, always have to do better than your teammate. They will never admit that the whole team decided that their teammate is the one they should back, at their own cost.

And that's just another source of resentment, right? They hate the team for not backing them up, and they hate their teammate because he's better. On top of it, they can't vent openly about it because it would be admitting that they're the second choice. So amp up team radio drama and internal problems shushed behind closed doors.

Now that's not what Valtteri did, actually. Surprisingly. Valtteri thought he had a chance, but he didn't. First of all because Lewis is untouchable as I mentioned in another essay, but also because his seat was built on the ashes of Nico's. There was no way they were letting the situation get that out of hand again. Enough with the permissive parenting. Turns out Mercedes is not the fun dad after all.

Valtteri is good. But Lewis is great. Valtteri doesn't have the kind of record sheet Lewis does. Choosing a first and a second driver is not so much a thought-through decision than common sense. The Mercedes management most probably didn't sit down at a table and write it down. It just. Was. Valtteri never got close to winning the title. And I know I've said it before but it's truly a wonder he didn't start hating Lewis for it. For being the second driver. Oh it did damage, don't get me wrong, but most drivers externalise such things rather than internalise them like he did. But eventually you can only sacrifice yourself for so long. Again, none of them are in it for the team. Valtteri was a perfect second driver, he obeyed, he didn't create drama, and he pushed himself to the point of exhaustion trying to catch up to Lewis to beat him the right way. Some people might argue he's not selfish enough for F1. I'll argue at least he's a decent human being. It might even have worked with a different teammate, but it was Lewis.

So he left. Now he's not stepping on podiums anymore but he is better than his teammate. And you always, always have to do better than your teammate.

#f1 #essay #vro0m's asks

[sirfrogsworth]

Who is your "drop everything and watch right now" YouTuber?

I think mine is NerdForge.

Martina has to be one of the most talented multi-discipline artists I've ever seen. Painting, drawing, sculpting, woodworking, model making, cosplaying. She literally took up tufting for the first time in this video and created a goddamn masterpiece.

Like, I'm still unsure of what I just witnessed.

HOW?

Perhaps her other skills just easily translated to a new medium?

Or tufting is deceptively simple to art on?

Or she is just an art goddess and we don't deserve her.

Also, she has a little mountain corgi that isn't really a corgi (not quite stumpy enough) but I call him a mountain corgi anyway and I love him.

#Youtube