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marshmcore · 30 days

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Pondering Sniper with his Emotional Support Scout (AU)

Modern+College AU speeding bullet

Both in their early transitional age (Scout is 19, Sniper is 22), they’ve already spent a handful of years, supposedly taking the steps to build their futures, but are they where they want to be? Are they going to where they want to be? Where is it anyways?

I just had the idea for a more grounded side to their story, slice-of-life in a coming-of-age setting, with themes of existentialism. I aged them down to make it work… Under cut for info dumps about these goobers 8)

Scout took a break right after high school, working for his family business (an unsuccessful one, ran by one of his oldest brothers). This used to be a summer job, a way to get extra money as a kid, but now he’s been a full time worker for 2.5 years, familial obligations exploiting him to stay, while being undermined by his narcissistic brother. He eventually gets out of it, but has to face the hurt from being used, and also the fact that he had to grow up so quickly as a kid (especially when he has to deal with the fallout caused by his Mom’s and Spy’s affairs. He and his Mom are in good terms, it’s just his Mom isn’t a good support system atm). Left to face the real world by himself, he tries to find a way to stabilize by himself, while trying to face his trauma (trauma from a missing father figure, and being treated as the black sheep of his family) as he finds a way to be more himself and be happy. He’s optimistic and responsible when the world calls for it, otherwise he’s most likely to test this new freedom (for better or worse). Eventually Spy comes around to try to reconnect with Scout, there’s no telling how Scout will cope with it when he’s in the midst his new-found freedom.

Sniper went straight to university, never once took a break from the school work, because he thinks that’s the only way to go about in life. He took up a program and career plan that was not right for him, but struggled his way through by retaking course’s countless of times, pulling off impossible all-nighters, etc. At some point he gave up, began to drop classes every semester, and finally quit the program. However, he started working somewhere in the industry he had been studying years for. He thought this could bring him forward, but it kept digging him a deeper grave. He’s a workaholic, impulsive, but lost. At a very young age, he was a subject of a tough custody battle between his neglectful biological parents (Lar-nah and Bill-bel), and his grandparents (who are Mr and Mrs Mundee in this AU). From that, his guardians want him to be better than his parents, and in return he strived for that. However, after giving up, he feels like a failure and is currently going through a period of depression. However, with the money he earned from his job, he wonders if he should take that road-trip he used to fantasize. He told himself doing this will help him find himself, but a part of him wonders if its just him trying to run away from something. Either way, he’s got a deal for a junk RV and he wants to renovate it!

After all that, Scout and Sniper meet, their lives are in the cross roads, and their relationship is a turning point as well. It feels like the world is moving faster than they can cope with, but can they find some respite in this new relationship together? DUN DUN DUUUN

Phew this was really fun to write! I really like their dynamic, romantic or not (idc). Them being the same age range inspired me to write this, because I know myself and some friends have gone through this similar experience aswell, and I just think its fun/interesting to explore that with they have in cannon.

A lot of this projection tho lmao with a loose base derived from cannon, and some embellishments to make this AU work.

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vro0m · 2 years

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vro0m’s rewatch - 114/304

2013 Bahrain GP

Oh hallelujah we have a full broadcast again?

Alright well we'll have a quali report but I can already tell you Rosberg is on pole to the surprise of : everyone. However, no journalist believes he has the pace to stay ahead in the race. Lewis, on the other hand, received a 5-place grid penalty for a tyre failure? Ah. So the suspension broke which apparently broke the gear box so they had to change it hence the penalty. He's starting in 9th.

Look at this f1 mafia talk lmao terrifying

The journalists think they're talking about the tyres, which have been degrading extremely fast in the first three races of the season, as we’ve seen.

Complete quali report then : Maldonado was out in Q1. Perez is 12th. Jenson made it to Q3. Raikkonen is only 8th and Grosjean 11th. Di Resta and Sutil profited from that as they are 5th and 6th for Force India. Webber has a 3-place grid penalty from China (??? I checked the Wikipedia article after that race and they weren't talking about any penalties, it's almost like Wikipedia isn't a reliable source /s anyway I guess it’s about that dangerous driving thing when he lost his tyre on the track, then), he's 7th. Alonso and Massa are 3rd and 4th. Everyone was expecting Seb to swoop in and get the pole at the last second but as we now know, it was Rosberg this time. It's Mercedes’ first pole since 1955. Damn. It's difficult to imagine nowadays how long it had been since Mercedes was successful (also of course they didn't exist as a team for a good long time but still, hearing such statistics feels weird.)

(I checked and actually they only were a team for two years in 1954 and 1955 before quitting after the infamous accident at Les 24h du Mans. They won the title these 2 years. Then they came back as a proper team in 2010 so these stats are actually pretty useless lol. Anyway.)

Edit as I’m writing the season summary : this actually makes no sense given Lewis was on pole in China?

Rosberg says he didn't expect the pole because they were struggling during the Friday FPs but they worked really hard Friday night. He says he's always finished where he started in Bahrain so it's a good omen, his biggest challenge will definitely be the rear tyres grip and some other teams are doing better with it.

Lewis (who's chilling with Seb) is asked what he can do from 9th today.

He says "I don't know, we'll see !" it's going to be a tough race for sure but he's looking forward to it. (His hair looks weird).

He thinks– he corrects himself : he hopes he can do some overtaking but it's difficult with these tyres. If you go flat out you have the pace, you can overtake, but to save the tyres they have to drive 80% of what they can do. Looking after the tyres will be the hardest thing today. The journalist says it's insanely hot and they're saying it might be the hottest race in history. Lewis laughs.

She insists : it's true! He says it's not a problem, they're prepared, they're drinking. The tyres are more of an issue.

It's Alonso and Webber's 200th race starts. I don't care.

Oh wow yeah, they expect the harder tyre to only last 17 laps?! That's gonna be a MESS.

We get an interview with Lewis! Brundle says "there's a story that you went into the McLaren garage and they politely asked you to leave, is it true?" – "yeah!" he laughs, Brundle asks what happened.

He went to see the guys in winter testing, just to say hi and they were stripping the car down because they had issues. He says he went in with his back to the car so he wasn't looking at it but he was "swiftly escorted out".

Wait. That's all? That's all the interview we get? Ah no phew, it was just a snippet before the ad break.

Lewis says it was a difficult weekend so far. He messes up an English expression that I don't know of but basically he says it happens and you have to deal with it.

He talks about the issue he had with the tyre. Brundle says a lot of fans think it's unfair that he has to start 9th because he had nothing to do with it. Lewis says it does feel pretty harsh but that's the rule. They agree it's a long race and all about tyre degradation. Lewis says looking after these tyres is a real pain. Brundle asks what he thinks of it because Alonso said in a previous interview he's driving at about 80% (it's funny because they explained earlier when he said that during the driver's parade interview that it came from Alonso and basically all of the drivers have been saying it since then). Lewis agrees with that. But he says it's just the way F1 is at the moment and everyone is on the same boat so you just have to enjoy it. Brundle says Rosberg did 2 pole-worthy laps during quali after his own pole in China but what about race pace?

Lewis says they struggle with tyre degradation during the races. He doesn't quite know what causes it, is it the exhaust? They had that issue at McLaren. They're working on it. Now we hear the McLaren garage anecdote from the snippet again. Lewis says he did get a message from Martin Whitmarsh saying he was welcome at any time which is nice. He's been really supportive throughout his racing career and still is today. Lewis says he's got nothing but love for him. Brundle asks what it feels like to overtake a McLaren during a race nowadays, is it just any car? He says no, it's still THE McLaren, it feels surreal, strange, to be behind a McLaren and thinking that's my old car, that's the car that I've grown up in.

But everyone moves on and experiences something new and he's enjoying it. Brundle asks what he would be satisfied with here in Bahrain starting 9th. He wants to get as many points as possible. "I mean," he explains, "I just wanna get some points." That's gonna be the target. He'd love to get a really good start and push his chances and get a bit higher up. It'd be awesome to get in the top 5, but it's a huge ask. Still that's what he's aiming for.

Ah they're interviewing Jules Bianchi on the grid. They're saying he's impressed everyone so far this season. It's so surreal seeing him here and thriving.

Alright it's time. Formation lap.

And they're racing!

Challenging start for Rosberg, the Mercedes doesn't have the performance to fight the Ferraris and RedBulls. He barely stays in the lead in the first corner. Alonso overtook Seb. Seb overtakes Alonso. Sutil seems to have damage after contact with Massa. Oh Lewis lost a position. This is going to be a difficult race isn't it? Seb attacks Rosberg. He's in the lead but he goes wide and Rosberg is ahead again. Seb is only 0.1 behind and Alonso is also 0.1 behind him, it's just THAT close. Yellow flags? JEV has a puncture. Aaaand Seb attacks Rosberg again. And again. He's ahead. Now both Rosberg and Alonso have the DRS but it's not enough. Lewis down in P11?! Arghh. Alonso overtakes Rosberg. But Rosberg overtakes Alonso. Alonso overtakes Rosberg. Di Resta overtakes Rosberg. Massa has damage. I guess it's from that incident at the start with Sutil. He's now attacking Rosberg. Alonso is called in, he has a DRS problem, it's stuck open. They close it manually. Webber pits. Grosjean pits. Massa overtakes Rosberg. Alonso pits again, the DRS is stuck open again. He won't be able to use it for the rest of the race I imagine. Rosberg pits. We're 10 laps in out of 57. Jenson is also in.

Seb is called in. Massa pits. Many people pit. Did Lewis? I think so, he's P13 at the moment. Jenson overtakes Rosberg for P7. I'm switching to x2 speed, this is a bad race. P6 to P10 is a close fight. Seb overtook Raikkonen, who hasn't pitted yet, for the lead. Lewis is up in P10 now. I think it's more due to pitting than overtaking. Raikkonen pits. He's behind Lewis. Massa has a puncture, he pits. JEV retires. Jenson and Rosberg are fighting over third place and Jenson wins. Then Rosberg is also overtaken by Grosjean. The Mercedes are really not doing well here. We're 22 laps in. Lewis pits.

Rosberg is fighting the 2 McLarens over 8th place. But he loses. Seb pits from the lead and stays in the lead. It's not a really interesting race tbh. The tyre degradation really messes things up. Lewis overtook Bottas. That's P10. The McLarens still are fighting each other and they ultimately make contact. Rosberg is still behind. Lewis is P9. 31 laps in.

That McLaren fight is getting heated, one of them was pushed out. Now Grosjean is in the midst of it. He also touched one of them. Raikkonen overtakes Di Resta for P2. He pits. Jenson pits. Pitting pitting pitting. Massa gets a second puncture. Lewis currently in P3 because of the stops. That's not gonna last as Raikkonen and Perez are closing on him. P4. He pits. Out in P10, just behind poleman Rosberg. Aaaah seriously how can the race pace be that much worse than the quali pace. (Rhetorical question, the answer is mostly tyre degradation). Webber is under investigation for making contact with Rosberg. 40 laps in.

Lewis is surprisingly closing on Jenson. Rosberg pits. Lewis overtakes Jenson! Didn't see that coming. He's up in P6. Jenson was overtaken by both Perez and Alonso. Jenson pits and Alonso overtakes Perez. Perez got back at Alonso but Alonso is still ahead ultimately. Now Lewis is catching Webber! We're 50 laps in.

Lewis overtakes Webber for P5! I had no faith for this race I guess that's on me. Grosjean overtook Di Resta for P3. But Webber gets his position back. Lewis is not giving up. Only a couple of laps left… oh my god it's close. Webber resists. Come on. Scaryyyy. Webber is swerving so much. I thought it wasn't allowed? Final lap. Lewis is ahead!

It's the end of the race!

Seb wins ahead of Raikkonen and Grosjean. Lewis is P5!

Let's see if we got a post race interview.

We did! He has water in his ear lol.

He's satisfied you can tell right away.

The journalist asks if he's pleased with the result. He hums and he says with emphasis "very, VERY happy. I'm massively happy. Just because the race started out so bad."

He said he wanted to get a good start, he got a terrible start "and then I was just so slow!" he says with surprise in his voice. "I was nowhere!" He's so animated it's adorable. "I had no speed at all."

Whatever he did to the car, it wouldn't go any faster. And all of a sudden, after the second stop, it started reacting differently and he was able to push and he had grip again. He thinks it has to do with quali and the change of gear box, something must have modified the car. She says he did some good racing with Mark. He smiles and says at the beginning he wasn't overtaking anyone, he was a sitting duck getting overtaken and it was great to be able to do some overtaking in the end.

He's so grateful for the result. The team did a great job these first four races. "Onwards and upwards!" I like how chatty he gets when he's happy 💜

Time for Europe!

#f1 #lewis hamilton #vro0m's race reviews #2013 #2013 bahrain gp

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pornaddictionsymptoms · 2 years

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10 LIES YOU TELL YOURSELF ABOUT PORN

For those quietly battling porn addiction symptoms, the fight can be brutal.

Multiple relapses over the years, the guilt, betrayal of loved ones, the erectile dysfunction the jump into acting out in real life

It’s a rough journey, alright!

Sometimes, its easier to deal with everything by unconsciously telling ourselves lies. These lies grow and overtime turn out to be the greatest hindrance to our progress.

This post will help you identify the most common lies we tell ourselves about our porn use.

1) POWERLESS LIE: I CAN’T STOP WATCHING PORN. I CAN’T QUIT.

This another lie and a red flag for low self-esteem. Most frequently told when you feel that you are completely powerless to control your addiction.

You CAN quit. You are more powerful than you imagine. Perhaps you grew with some rough experiences that knocked you down a few notches. You can still rise.

Willpower is a muscle- it gets tired, but it will get you far enough to see the mountaintop in this tough climb. Once you have a glimpse at freedom, you will do whatever it takes to get there!

A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind. – Elly Roselle.

2) DOWNPLAY LIE: I MUST HAVE RECOVERED.

This!

This was one of the biggest obstacles in my porn addiction journey.

I would quit porn and masturbation for a few weeks and feel amazing then the thoughts would begin to slowly creep in well, I haven’t felt the urge in so long- I must be fine! Phew- thank God it’s not an addiction!

Well, guess what downplaying led to?

I fell right back into the porn and masturbation cycle.

Another variation of this lie occurs when you quit watching porn, but then try to masturbate. To your surprise, you find that it’s almost impossible to do so without watching porn. Back to porn again. Both are lies we tell ourselves to rationalize the addiction.

3) WHITEWASH LIE: I WAS DRUNK., I WAS HIGH, IT WAS RIGHT THERE.

In my college days, excessive drinking and smoking was a one-way ticket to the masturbation station.

No matter how much I wanted to quit, putting myself under the influence invariably led to a relapse. For those trying to give up porn, the effects of alcohol and drugs on the process of quitting cannot be emphasized enough.

Once your inhibitions are lowered, or certain senses chemically heightened, the last vestiges of restraint fly out the window.

4) MINIMIZE LIE: JUST 5 MINUTES.

I’ll only look at this anime porn on Tumblr for 5 minutes.

Two hours later and 30 Firefox tabs later, you’re exhausted and disgusted from your porn binge.

The time trap always escalates. You play down and attempt to minimize the actual amount of time you know you will spend on porn.

5) INFLATION LIE: I’M STRESSED

I feel like crap, so I deserve to watch porn. It’s been a crazy stressful day, screw it, I need this.

Another common lie where you inflate a rough situation into an excuse to binge on porn.

You haven’t developed alternate means of coping with stress, so when you experience above-average stress, you automatically return to the thing that soothes you.

Solution: Work on developing positive habits that you can turn to the moment your triggers kick in. Meditation has worked very well for me.

6) IMPLICATION LIE: MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER ISN’T INTO WHAT I WANT.

My girlfriend doesn’t give blowjobs and she doesn’t like anal.

Yeap- I used that one too, and it nearly cost me my relationship.

It’s easy to blame or implicate someone for your porn habits. An easy, but a weak lie.Its also one of the top lies we tell ourselves before, during and after we act out porn fantasies in real life.

In our program Porn Reboot Intensive, I emphasize that taking responsibility is among the first steps to giving up pornography.

7) PRIVILEGE LIE: I’M A LATE BLOOMER.

I’m a late bloomer, and I missed out. I married early, that’s why I’m acting out. Wow. I feel like I’ve used every lie so far!

As a guy who teaches men how to meet and attract women, I’ve noticed that this lie is most common among the “Get Girls” crowd in the community.

Men who gain success later on in life develop confidence and improve self-esteem through self-improvement or career success tend to develop a sense of entitlement when justifying their porn or sex addiction. If your habit of having with women outside of your relationship is fueled by porn, it’s time to start cutting back.

8) STANDARD LIE: A MAN’S BIOLOGY DICTATES THAT HE SHOULD SLEEP WITH MANY ATTRACTIVE WOMEN AS POSSIBLE, OR EVERY GUY DOES IT.

I am guilty of this lie as well. While the statement is true, painting the picture of porn as a normal, standard part of a man’s lifestyle as an excuse for porn addiction constitutes lying to yourself.

Not every man watches porn and masturbates on a daily basis. In fact, some of the most accomplished men in history stayed far away from pornography.

9) NON-ACCEPTANCE LIE: I DON’T WATCH PORN ANYMORE.

I used this lie for too long. My rationalization was that spending the same amount of time that I used to spend on porn browsing Instagram for chicks in bikinis was obviously not watching porn.

The reboot process is sabotaged the moment you replace your addiction to porn with something else. Its the equivalent of someone addicted to cigarettes trying to quit by switching to e-cigarettes. It doesn’t work.

Quitting porn by rebooting involves completely avoiding and isolating yourself from any habits that that may potentially lead to a trigger.

10) NEGATING LIE: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PORN, OR PLAYING OUT MY ADDICTION IN REAL LIFE.

If you say this, but one day you are attracted to women, and the next you’ve had sex with more sex workers or prostitutes from Craigslist than actual women, you’re lying to yourself.

Porn use escalates as our brain craves more stimulation. Negating the effects of pornography is the singularly most devastating lie you can tell yourself.

What are some of the lies not included here that YOU frequently tell yourself?

I’d love to know. Leave your comments below.

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scnteria · 3 years

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( alex wolff, cis male, he/him, muse b ) oh snap! is that THEODORE “TEDDY” WELLS ? they work over at high volume where some of the other employees have labeled them as THE MISCREANT. that’s probably because they can be a bit ( affable ) but also pretty ( misguided ). they’re 22 and they’ve been living in woodstock for FOUR YEARS. it must be their shift because i totally hear RADIOHEAD blasting from the record store.

( @volumeupdates )

hi everyone !! phew i’m so hype to be here... hello... you can call me wren ! i’m in the est timezone and use she/her pronouns. a lil bit about me: i love making playlists and my silly little lattes every morning, i have two puppies at home that i love more than anything, and i’m currently watching ted lasso and falling in l*ve with jason sudeikis and no i do not think i named teddy after ted lasso but it might’ve been an unconscious thing idk

anyway, i’m going to try not to ramble too much about my boi teddy but you’ve been warned:

sweet boy theodore ! he mostly goes by teddy. i don’t think he minds being called theodore but he DOES hate the nickname ted. sorry to mr. sudeikis

he was born and raised in chicago but his father is from woodstock. he has some distant family here but growing up, it was teddy, his mom, dad, and older brother mccartney ( mick !! )

( alcoholism, hoarding disorder tw ) teddy’s older brother was like a refuge for him in a household that was pretty tough to live in. his mother is an extreme hoarder so teddy felt pretty trapped in his own home. on top of that, his father is a functioning alcoholic who had a tendency to pick fights when really wasted. ( end tw )

teddy shared a room with mick, so that was like their little escape from it all ! but mick left for college because he’s a Smart, Good Boy when teddy was fifteen ! so he took it super hard to be living alone in this environment

( depression tw ) naturally, at that age ( and with evident mental health issues running in the family ), teddy started to show signs of depression. in an attempt to alleviate that, his fam fulfilled a lifelong dream and adopted a lil border collie pup ! ( end tw )

he realized his home wasn’t suitable for him, his mental health, or his dog winnie. he saved up money by working odd jobs throughout high school and on his eighteenth birthday, he and his pup moved to woodstock.

his dog winnie is named after his celebrity crush, winona ryder ! he absolutely carries a polaroid photo of her in his wallet because truly that is his child and god bless you if you even mention dogs around him

he got the job at high volume four years ago so he’s been around for a bit ! jerry was actually really good friends with teddy’s father, so he’s known jerry pretty much his entire life.

( drug use and alcoholism tw ) teddy has a chronic intestinal disease that basically attacks his immune system and can be preeeetty painful ! it’s manageable ofc and although teddy would say: “kurt cobain had it too so it’s fine,” it still Sucks to deal with. he is on medication for it, though another prescription works wonders for pain too...... and that ‘prescription’ is just Weed. he smokes a lot lol and also likes to drink, both as a source of self-medication and just because ! ( end tw )

( violence and ptsd tw ) oh haha also he saw jerry get shot in an alley but i imagine he is currently going through the many phases of ptsd at this moment. very much trying to keep it together but in reality, he’s a ball of pure anxiety and could crack at any given moment. definitely going through some bouts of denial and doubt ? jerry is not only his boss but he’s a family friend and someone he kind of looked up to, so it’s safe to say he’s not Doing Well ( end tw )

ok now more about his CHARACTER:

teddy is a sweetheart. he’s got golden retriever tendencies, i’d say ! verrrry sociable, loves to be around people.

he’s pretty independent and self-sufficient for someone who makes dumb decisions and doesn’t vibe with being alone ! he has learned to look out for himself but at the same time, he’s one of those people that make you wonder how he got this far ??

overall, a pretty great friend to have. he’s a man of his word and basically likes to make people around him feel comfortable and happy !

kinda charming, an accidental flirt at times. like i don’t think he realizes when he’s flirting ? he’s a little oblivious and definitely does better with people who are direct with him. like if you’re dropping hints that you like him or need him to do something, he won’t pick up on it at all lol the boy is stuck in his own little world that has karma police playing on a constant loop

walking into a shift with him means you’ll either be: entertained, annoyed, distracted, or high lol

( drugs tw ) like he has shown up to work high before and probably has smoked outside during a slow shift i’m SORRY ( end tw )

messy, messy boy makes questionable decisions because he doesn’t quite think them through. he’s SO responsible with his dog, but himself ? a hot mess

perhaps he’s not ... wise when it comes to money... i’ll leave it at that for now :)

perpetually running late and rambles a good amount

weak-willed and self-destructive ! he’s easily swayed to do pretty much anything bc he’s kind of a happy-go-lucky kind of dude. pretty much does Not say no to plans and maybe he pushes his alcohol tolerance from time to time

CONNECTION ideas !!

he moved to woodstock four years ago and i wanna say he lives alone but tbh a roommate would be Cost Effective ( must like dogs tho )

that being said, if your character happened to grow up in chicago let’s do some childhood connections ! maybe an old friend, previous unrequited crush, etc.

pls give me a favorite coworker that just doesn’t get anything done when they’re working together

he absolutely will get on people’s nerves. he gets on MY nerves. so give me enemies of any sort lol

i don’t think he’s much of a relationship guy. i could see one longterm relationship in his past so an ex is a possibility !

a previous one-night stand is pretty accurate for him too, but i don’t see him thinking it’s weird or anything. i see him being pretty casual with hook-ups in general, so... do with that as you will

friends ! teddy is a talker and really likes to get to know people, so i can see him having friends of varying levels lol whether you’ve spoken twice but he’s like That’s My Guy ! or you regularly see him walking his dog or you just vibe at work... truly this man will talk to a wall. the possibilities are endless

a BEST friend ! i would very much like someone that teddy spews mostly everything to. he will indeed lay his life on the line for this person lol

party-goers, fellow druggies ! this is a scene teddy OFTEN dabbles in, whether you indulge yourself or provide. >:)

could definitely see him on the receiving end of a mom/dad/parent friend kind of relationship. like that john mulaney quote GET SOME REST, TALL CHILD

okay i seriously need to stop this got so long please end me anyway hit me up here or on discord for all of the plots. i really like to get into the nitty gritty of plots so if that’s your jam, let’s make some toast, baby ! i’m SO excited to get things going !

#volumeintro #i added a few tws within this ok

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ddeonghwaa · 4 years

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Moving On (Jaehyun)

Characters: Jaehyun x reader (ft. Johnny)

Genre: angst, fluff

Word count: 3.2k

Hi guys! Here is another Jaehyun imagine that I’ve been writing for a while. I really hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don’t forget to leave a comment! A short message would make my day :)

The girl who has been chasing him for years, but has never gotten the chance to even date him once. Who? It was you. You have a crush on Jaehyun, who is now one of the most popular guys in school. Throughout your years in middle and high school, you’ve expressed your feelings pretty clearly to Jaehyun, but he never responded. He has never accepted your feelings or rejected them. Other girls who had their shot on Jaehyun would always tease and make fun of you, calling you desperate for his attention.

But what is so wrong about having feelings for someone? Their sneers made you insecure at times, as if they were mocking the feelings you own. But that didn’t stop you from always trying your best to be good to Jaehyun. Always buying him snacks, baking sweet treats for him and giving him presents for his birthday - which coincidentally falls on Valentine’s day. He never rejects your gifts, but he has also never given you a present on your special day. You have been holding on to the small hope of him liking you back someday and that was what has kept you going all these years.

However, time passes by really quickly and now both of you are in college. Thinking back about the efforts you have put to impress Jaehyun all these years made you laugh at yourself. Maybe it was finally time that you realise, he’ll never like you back because you never got an answer from him.

You sighed and talked to your reflection in the mirror, “Y/n, it’s time for you to move on. Meet new people in college. Strive in your studies. The world doesn’t revolve around Jaehyun.”

It was quite hard for you at first, especially when you knew he was going to the same college as you. But thank god you were in a different department than him.

“So y/n, pretty sure you heard that Jaehyun goes to the same college as us, right? Are you going to shoot him a shot again?” Sophie asked playfully and nudged your arm. She was the only one who stayed with you when all the other girls in school looked down on you. She claimed that she would know how you feel if she had someone she liked too.

You laughed and shook your head, “Nah. I told you I’ve moved on. I feel like I’ve been making a fool out of myself in the past.”

“I think I’ve heard that before, but I’ve never seen you this passionate about moving on. I’ll see you after class? We need to go shopping for bags soon!” Sophie bid goodbye and you returned the wave with a smile. “See you!”

Your next class was scheduled to be in an hour, so you decided to head to a cafe near your college. You had your earphones on and decided to just spend your free hour in the cafe, reading some books you’ve brought along. When you entered the cafe, you saw two familiar faces sitting there as customers. Just when you thought you could escape Jaehyun in college, there he was, sitting in the seat near the window, looking so perfect- with his friend Johnny.

You acted like you didn’t see him but unfortunately Johnny didn’t get the hint. “Hey y/n! Over here!” He called as he waved his hands to let you see where they were sitting.

“Oh no, Johnny. WHY must you do this to me?!” You muttered under your breath and put on an awkward smile while heading towards them.

“Hey, Johnny,” you faked a smile to him and turned your sight to Jaehyun. He smiled and nodded to you as a sign of acknowledging your presence. You awkwardly smiled back and turned to Johnny again. “Y/n, I’ve been looking all day in college for you because I heard you go to this college too. It’s been a tough task as if you’ve been avoiding me, but we finally meet here in the cafe, huh?” Johnny took a sip of his daily coffee.

“Well yeah I was planning to stay away from you,” you unconsciously answered.

“What? Really?” Johnny stared at you in shock, clearly looking offended at what you just said. “No! That’s not what I meant. Um, I..I mean, not you, specifically. Nevermind, just ignore what I said.” You noticed Jaehyun’s stare on you and it made you uncomfortable. “I’ll get going first. Gonna grab a drink and go to class. See you guys soon, I guess.”

You gave them a small smile and saw Jaehyun returning it with his dimpled smile. The dimples you have always been whipped for.

You walked away from their table and exhaled in relief. “Phew, I never knew getting over someone was this hard.” You hit your head as you thought about how handsome Jaehyun looked, how he was dressed like a college boyfriend….

Snap out of it, y/n! You’re moving on!

You shook your head and waved the thoughts away.

The days passed by and you realised it was getting easier for you to get over your crush on Jaehyun because you didn’t see him as often. You managed to avoid him on campus whenever you saw him from afar, because too much interaction with him might ruin your plan of moving on. That day, rain decided to pay you a whole day visit.

You were on your way to college with your bag, umbrella and earphones in your ears, listening to your rainy day playlist. You took a glimpse of your phone screen to look at the time and couldn’t help but notice the date.

14th of February.

A date you would always look forward to. A date when you actually put in more effort than your own birthday.

It was Jaehyun’s birthday and you were surprised at yourself for not preparing anything for him this time. On top of that, you didn’t even realise it was his birthday already. It has been like a ritual for you every year to prepare gifts for Jaehyun since middle school, but that day, it was different.

You had an hour left before your class starts so you went to the cafe to get a cup of iced chocolate. The cafe was half filled with people and you noticed a familiar figure. You saw Jaehyun sitting by the window again, alone this time, with a few boxes of chocolates on the table. You chuckled to yourself.

Right, it wouldn’t even make a difference if I actually got him something. He received plenty from others.

You headed to the cashier to order your drink and paid for it. While waiting for your drink to be ready, you scrolled your phone, killing time. Suddenly, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned and had the biggest surprise of your 20 years of living. “Jae…Jaehyun? Hi.”

Jaehyun chuckled at your reaction and replied, “Hey, y/n. Iced chocolate, huh?”

Your iced chocolate was served then and you thought it was your lifesaver. “Oh, my drink is ready. I’ll go now, bye.” You tried to escape from Jaehyun because his presence was making you panic and you didn’t know what to do.

“Wait!” Jaehyun held your wrist. You turned crimson as you stared at his hands on your wrist, and back at him. “Oh sorry,” He released your wrist when he realised he was probably holding onto it too hard. He then scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, “Um, I thought I could just ask you a question before you go.”

“Hm? What is it?” You asked, as you poked a straw in your takeaway drink. He has never approached you to ask a question before. Weird.

“Uh… Don’t you have anything to give me? It’s a special day.”

You blinked in confusion, “W-what?”

“Wow, for the first time ever, you forgot about this day?” Jaehyun asked, his face portraying a look you couldn’t decipher. Was he surprised? Hurt? Relieved? You could not tell.

You sighed and closed your eyes. To tell someone that you are no longer interested in them is never an easy job, especially when he has never treated you badly. How should you put your words politely to not hurt him? After contemplating for a while on whether you should just be honest with him or not, you decided that you should just come clean with him.

“Jaehyun, listen. I know I’ve been chasing you my whole life and it probably made you uncomfortable. I’m sorry about that and if you’re asking this question to make fun of me, then you probably shouldn’t,” you bit your lower lip, hesitating whether to continue or not. “I’ve shown how I feel towards you for so many years and you didn’t give me an answer, not even once. So I thought that maybe it’s hard for you to reject me without hurting my feelings and I didn’t want to pressure you into liking me when you actually don’t. I’ll admit that I’m trying to avoid you now in college to get over my stupid little crush on you, so will you please, help me move on and continue ignoring me?”

Jaehyun calmly listened to what you have said, still keeping his eyes on you. He did not say a word and just stared at you blankly.

You felt a sense of guilt after exploding to him on his special day. “I-I’m sorry, Jaehyun. I shouldn’t have bursted out like that,” you awkwardly tapped his shoulder, “Happy birthday, Jaehyun. I hope you have a great birthday. I’m sorry for not buying you anything this year, although I’m pretty sure it doesn’t affect you in any way. B-bye.”

Emptiness started to fill your heart as you said those words to him. Never have you imagined not getting any presents for his birthday, it did feel weird but you thought it was a good first step to moving on from Jaehyun. You walked away two steps from him when you heard him say a soft thank you, “Thanks y/n, for remembering my birthday,” You turned to look at him, clearly confused as to why he would say that when he has received tons of gifts today. “What do you mean?”

“I get chocolates every time on Valentine’s Day, but no one really ever wished me a happy birthday,” he shrugged, “except you,” he weakly smiled at you, his eyes turning into a crescent, but this time they looked sad compared to his usual eye smile. “I’d look forward to this day every year to see what you’ll get me, because you’re the only one who gets me gifts for my birthday, and not just Valentine’s Day.”

You felt your heart skip a beat. “Jaehyun.”

A wave of guilt washed over you as you approached him, “Jae-”

“It’s okay, don’t feel bad,” he interrupted and tried to laugh it off, but you could still feel the hint of sadness in his chuckle. “Do you mind having a talk with me?” You nodded and he led you to the table he was sitting at previously. The two of you awkwardly took a seat as you placed your drink on the table.

“Um, don’t you have any plans with your friends or family today?” you asked, trying to break the ice. He chuckled and shook his head, “Nah, didn’t feel like it today. Besides, they are all busy with school and work.”

Way to go in making things worse, y/n!

You cleared your throat, “Oh I see.” Your hands reached for your drink as you took a sip of the sweet, chocolate cold drink. “So what was this about? Getting over your little crush on me?” Jaehyun asked with a playful smile, making you almost choke on your drink.

“Jaehyun, I swear if you’re trying to make fun of me about it, I’ll kick your ass.”

“Wow, easy there,” he opened a box of chocolates and popped one into his mouth. “To tell you the truth, I’ve always known about your feelings for me,” he paused, “And I purposely didn’t give you an answer.”

You tilted your head to the side, “Why?”

He sighed and bit his bottom lip, “If I rejected you then I wouldn’t be able to see you anymore because you’d be embarrassed and stop chasing after me. On the other hand, I didn’t accept your feelings because I was afraid of admitting that I had feelings for you too. I know for a fact that people will start making fun of me and you if it happened.”

Silence.

“What are you saying?”

“I like you too, y/n.”

You scoffed at what you just heard and furrowed your brows. “You’re such a coward, Jung Jaehyun.”

You didn’t know what got into you but you were there, blurting out things to him. Throughout the years of liking Jaehyun, never once did you think of stopping just because you were scared of what others would say. Their words did hurt you, no doubt, but you were still pursuing your sincere feelings for him. And now, a dream come true was laid out in front of you, your longtime crush saying he likes you back, but why is it that you feel so hurt and disappointed rather than happy?

Jaehyun widened his eyes and stared at you, confused. Definitely not the reaction he was expecting. “I’ve been chasing after you for so many years not knowing when to stop because you never gave me an answer. And now, right when I am finally trying to move on from you, you come at me with this ‘I like you too’?”

He looked surprised and tried to answer you but you interrupted, “You cared more about what others think of you than your own feelings?” Your eyes started to tear up but you refused to let them fall and looked at him for one last time before leaving the cafe,

“Do you really like me or do you finally feel empty because there isn’t anyone desperately chasing after you anymore?”

The scene where you left the cafe after the conversation the two of you had kept replaying in Jaehyun’s head. He realised how much he had hurt you because of his own selfish feelings and thoughts. You were brave enough to tell the world how much you adored him but why couldn’t he do the same for you? Why was he so tied down to what others have to say about him?

He messed up his own hair and banged his head on the table. Johnny who was sitting next to him looked at him and nudged his arm. “What’s with you, dude? Got rejected by a girl or something?” Jaehyun’s head shot up as he glared at Johnny. Johnny blinked and leaned closer, “Really? Are you serious? Did y/n reject you?”

Johnny listened closely to Jaehyun’s explanation of what had happened between the two of you and let out a sigh. “I mean, I do understand her. You were kind of… a jerk,” he shrugged as Jaehyun groaned, “I know. I’m such a jerk. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”

“But try making up to her, apologise for faults on your part and ask for another chance.”

That day, Jaehyun became determined to make things right with you. He immediately made his way to your department and looked for your lecture hall. Yes, he checked your schedule and the lecture halls you had to be in. After rounds of looking around, he finally found the lecture hall you were currently having your class in. Five more minutes before you finish class and his heart was beating so loudly while he stood near the exit door.

When the door finally opened, students came out one by one, some staring at him weirdly while others just didn’t care. It felt like eternity until you finally exited the hall with your friend, chuckling at what she just said. Your chuckle halted as you turned to see who was standing in front of you. Your friend bid you goodbye and you were left alone with Jaehyun. Again.

“Y/n, I need to talk to you. Please hear me out,” he spoke softly, awkwardly avoiding eye contact because he was not ready to see how your reaction will be. “I don’t think I have anything to say anymore to you,” you replied with a cold look. “But sure, I’ll let you speak for the last time, so stop bothering me after this.”

Jaehyun looked up into your eyes, “I just want to say that I’m sorry. I admit that it was my fault because I cared too much about the words of others rather than my own feelings and yours. I don’t remember when I started liking you, but I am confident enough to tell you that it was even before we entered college. I was so scared of losing you that I thought it was better for our relationship to stay like how it was. That was, until you told everyone you were getting over me, I felt so sad because I knew things would end even before it started.”

He paused to see your expression, but your face did not change, “I really do like you and I am not saying this because ‘I feel empty there’s no one chasing after me’. It’s because I’m just that dumb and I’m a coward for not being able to express my feelings for you before this. I’m really sorry for hurting you all these years and I appreciate every single thing you’ve done for me. Will you give me another chance to make things right?”

You stared at him and took a deep breath. He waited for you to say something, but nothing came out. “Y/n? Talk to me, please.”

You bit your lower lip and took a while before parting your lips to give him an answer, “Okay, I’ll give you another chance. And I’m also sorry for being mad at you on your birthday the other day,” you said.

Jaehyun felt relieved and jumped on his spot. “Thank you, y/n! Don’t worry about that, a jerk like me deserved it.”

His dimples appeared as he watched a smile creeping up your face. “I got you something,” he reached out for something in his bag and took out a box, beautifully tied with a ribbon. “I’ve been such an ungrateful jerk who never returns your gifts, so I hope you’d like this first gift from me. Open it.” He handed you the box and you whispered a soft thank you. You untied the ribbon and gently opened the box to see a small star necklace. “Jae-”

“Here, I’ll help you put it on,” he took the necklace and put it around your neck, hooking the ends together. The necklace falls beautifully on your chest and you took a closer look at it. “Do you like it?”

You smiled and gave a small nod, “It’s beautiful.”

Jaehyun’s lips lifted from both sides and he offered out his hand, “Can I hold your hand, y/n?” You turned red and felt heat creeping up your cheeks, but you nodded in response. Jaehyun cheekily took your hand and intertwined fingers together. “Let’s go eat!”

masterlist

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vulpes-incendium · 3 years

Text

I made this long time ago, but I thought it's a good time to share it here for @aphasiaweek!

I chose 《Hoi Sam☆Nice Guy》over 《Maji Kandou☆Hong Kong Night》because there are more stuff about HK in it. So let's see if the lyrics are accurate in a native's point of view!

Spoiler alert: it's very accurate

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Hoi Sam = Happy (in Cantonese)

Guy = sounds like street in Cantonese (gaai1)

“Yooooo, so since there’s a song… while I’m at it I kinda put some effort into my costume… I think I’ve got like, serious swag Pardon? You can’t see me…for real? Woah!!!!”

FASHION: yes, HKers love to be trendy, always want to be on top trends! Trends come and go very very quickly, it's seriously really hard to follow trends in HK.

MIXING ENGLISH WITH CANTONESE: yup, we do that a lot, we almost couldn't finish a sentence without English, some words just sound "uncool" in Chinese lol (it’s always about being cool in HK lol), but we don't really say “pardon” unless we are speaking English

Sup-sup-sup-sup-sup-super mobile (snap snap) It’s my hobby to take pics and collect them (I guess) Not gonna lie, everyone’s got a mobile phone, penetration rate (highest in the world) Yeah! If you’re going sightseeing then Nathan Road! (Fuu~!)

TAKING PICS WITH SMARTPHONE: Aph HK loves taking (embarrassing) photos (of China lol), but in real life HKers do love taking pictures, or videos too (it's dangerous if you misbehave, people would film you and post on Youtube or Facebook)

MOBILE PHONE PENETRATION RATE: I couldn't find data for HK, but I think I heard on average, each HKer carries at least 2 cellphones! So this could be true!

NATHAN ROAD: It's the longest street in HK and there's so many things, good food, good shopping places and yup sightseeing! (A lot of our streets are named after the Governors during the colonial time, this street is named after Sir Matthew Nathan for example)

Welcome this makes me kinda happy (Check it out!) Learned this from England - tea in the afternoon (high tea) Welcome, this is kinda fun (Shake it up!) Yum cha, Hong Kong milk tea, cha-cha Nice culture (frivolous)!

AFTERNOON TEA: Yes, it's still a tradition for us to have tea time, we call it 3:15, workplaces would have tea breaks, restaurants do tea time menu during 2-5pm, it's really cool and cheap! We usually drink HK milk tea (evolved from British milk tea) during tea time and there are so many delicious snacks like French toast, pineapple bun and of course egg tart!

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YUM CHA: It literally means “drink tea”, but Chinese tea this time. It's a tradition for us to go Yum Cha every Sunday with our family! Dim sum is part of Yum Cha! We just eat and catch up with each others for HOURS!

Oh. My. God. “LOHAS LOHAS” Oh. My. Mind. “Gonna take a pic~” Take away “Is this delivery service for real?” Like, seriously, even if it’s way out of the way, no problem man

LOHAS: I didn't know what this refers to for a long time, I finally found the answer. This refers to LOHAS park, an eco-friendly residential area newly built few years ago. But what's so special about it? Is it famous in Japan?!

DELIVERY SERVICE: Well delivery service in Asia are generally good anyway, but I guess we are good and fast?! (but I think Korea too!)

Super Feeling unlucky? If it’s getting to you, go villain hitting at Ngo Keng Kiu A medium will perform an exorcism, and hit a paper doll with a shoe For fortune telling, go draw fortune sticks, or get a divine answer by throwing moon blocks at the temples… at Wong Tai Sin, light the fire of your incense! If you’re feeling tired, maybe you can give Feng Shui a try or something? A spiritual site in Lantau Island The Wisdom Path…is super Awesome for meditation, but there aren’t any toilets, so watch out Gold fish, bring me luck! (In money!)

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NGO KENG KIU: Generally HKers are not THAT superstitious, but the culture still lives within us. I have never known anyone who did the villain hitting, but it's still quite a thing (and a great tourist spot). It's mainly for people who backstab you (we call them "small people" siu yan), but I guess evil spirit too.

WONG TAI SIN: Again, it's more for older generation who are still a bit superstitious. People like to go to Wong Tai Sin Temple during Lunar New Year to wish for luck in the new year. It's still quite popular!

See I told you we have natural landscape (source)

WISDOM PATH: I've never been there lol. Apparently it's a "path lined with 38 wooden monuments inscribed with the Heart Sutra prayer". In general, HK has a lot of nice hiking trail, our landscape is actually amazing, it's just we focus too much on making money...

P-Pe-Pe-Pearl of the Orient is me! (I guess?) Got completely wasted? Ended up in a dress (totes sick) Not gonna lie, population density is highest in the world in Ap Lei Chau Yeah! If you’re going sightseeing then Hong Kong Island! (Yeah~!!)

PEARL OF THE ORIENT: It's the nickname of HK, the Philippines is Pearl of the Orient SEAS

(Ending up in a dress refers to this comic, thanks parallel France!)

POPULATION DENSITY: Yea, that's what we are famous for really, small place lots of people (HK is a very hilly city, surprise, surprise), we have the most expensive estate price in the world 🤦‍♀️, not sure if Ap Lei Chau is particularly population-densed, but the whole HK is like that!

Good luck in everything this makes me kinda happy (Check it out!) Learned this from England - how to be a gentleman (ladies first) I wish you good health, this is kinda fun (Shake it up!) Typhoon, Kung Fu, WA-TAHH Supplements, Chinese herbal medicine (healthy~!)

LUCK: The newer generations are less superstitious now, but luck is still kind of important for us? It's more like a tradition than a belief, we do them just in case (like Feng Shui).

TYPHOON: As a coastal city, we get typhoons a lot in summer, but they are not as strong in comparison to the Philippines or Indonesia.

KUNG FU: We are known for our Kung Fu films, as the actors are all trained martial artists! Bruce Lee (WA-TAH was his catchphrase), Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen are great examples! Because of the wars and Cultural Revolution, many people fled China to HK, resulting the influx of high quality martial artists (eg. Ip Man).

HERBAL MEDICINE: As western as we are, we still believe in Chinese Medicine, but more in a preventative way.

Oh. My. God. “Air conditioning in full blast!” Oh. My. Mind. “That’s not eco-friendly…” Oh well “The air will become cleaner, I think?” Seriously a Mistake, but, no problem man

STRONG AIR-CONDITIONING: This line had me laugh die (Imao in Cantonese)! It's so accurate! You can catch a cold from the airconditioning in HK! And that's why we always carry a jacket even in summer! It's not very eco-friendly and our government is trying resolve that.

AIR POLLUTION: Yes we have smog (smoke + fog), it is becoming quite the problem really. The root of the problem is that Shenzhen, the city next to HK, is developing rapidly and a lot of factories moved there, so the smoke is blown towards HK (we don't really have many factories left, it's too expensive here).

Awesome Riding on a roofless bus, cruising through the neon streets If you want to, like, go shopping… at Ladies Market There are stalls with cute stuff, souvenirs (lots and lots of them) Talk the price down! Haggling is what really counts For some more miscellaneous and deep junk, more for the adult and thrilling The street where mystery thickens… Temple Street Would you like to try some cheap eats at the street stalls? Absolutely delicious! Asian food is the best!

NEON LIGHTS: You've all seen the stereotypical HK streets full of neon lights, but it's actually decreasing, because there's no newcomers to the industry (the lights are handmade).

LADIES MARKET: You can find so many stuff there indeed, for a cheap price! Branded stuff, fake stuff (we don't make them but yea you can find a lot of them), food and goldfish. Yes, there's a goldfish street. Why? I dunno, for luck I guess?!

TEMPLE STREET: Similar to ladies market, it's also great for shopping. This street is also known for (illegal) prostitution and triad, but it's still safe to visit, never in my life have I encountered any of them.

“Yoooooo, Mister, so I kinda sang this song, but seriously, rapping is surprisingly, like, tough?” “It’s also a shame that no one can see what I’m wearing, I’ve got serious swag, y'know.” “Phew… I kinda want to go home already… I mean, the peach buns are gonna be sold out.” “…can we go now?” “…can’t we go yet?” “Haah…” “Okay fine, like, whatever.”

One, two, three!*

PEACH BUN: They are actually eaten on birthdays, for longevity (that's what peach represents in Chinese culture).

*this line was spoken in Mandarin in the song, which would be the only critism I'd give. Yes a lot of people may understand Mandarin, but Cantonese and English are preferred and they are our official languages. One, two, three in Cantonese would be "yaat, yi, sam".

Oh. My. God. “The rent is really expensive…” Oh. My. Mind. “It’s not easy…” Why oh why? “It’s like, the highest in the world” We have serious inflation, but, whatever

EXPENSIVE RENT: We are the most expensive in the world, thanks to the high population density (and foreign buyers 😶), it's really not easy to afford a flat in HK, that’s why most HKers live with their parents until they get married (it’s also a cultural thing).

INFLATION: Stuff are still relatively cheap, but they are getting more expensive really quickly, mainly because of the rent of the shops.

Super they’re so adorable it hurts, the perfect balance of black and white pandas that bring you happiness… we sell them, sort of So fluffy and cute, such big round eyes The kinda? Make you Happy! Uh-huh

PANDAS: We actually only have 2 pandas here like everyone else, in Ocean Park (it's like an amusement park and zoo). They finally successfully mated recently, probably because of Corona shutdown lol!

There are over 100 of them, Tin Hau Temple, so super Before I head there, I seriously wanna eat… mango pudding! So many gods, like, one in every street Pay homage at the temple, light the fire of your incense!

TEMPLES: We still have the temples built before the colonial time! Hopefully, we are able to keep them too...

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MANGO PUDDING: It's so good yes! Our dessert culture is just the best seriously! We have so many restaurants just for desserts! They are great places to hang out with friends after work or school!

The air conditioning at its max, the fire burning strong A steaming hot pot made with a carefully chosen soup base If you want to detox, have a Chinese herbal hot pot Absolutely delicious! Asian food is the best! Riding on a roofless bus, cruising through the neon streets If you want to, like, go shopping… at Ladies Market There are stalls with cute stuff, souvenirs, lots and lots of them Talk the price down! Haggling is what really counts Absolutely delicious! Asian food is the best! Every minute Happy☆Nice Town (Guy)

HOT POT: We love it! We basically love when a lot of people sit together, talking, sharing food (like Yum Cha), it's the harmony and atmosphere that we like so much! And yes, there are a lot of different soup base you can choose from!

BARGAINING: Yes do it, especially if you're in places like Ladies' Market and you're a foreigner, they do price things up if you don't look like a local.

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Shout out to Takagi Motoki, the voice actor of HK, his voice fits the character perfectly! (and please get a new va for the new season please funimation) And how can he speak so fast?!

#aphasiaweek #APH Hong Kong #hws hong kong #hetalia #not biased at all but hk has one of the best character songs pls give him new songs in the new season himapapa #sorry im not following the prompts that well i dont have much time to make stuff #science poetry coming up i promise #Hong Kong culture

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missn11 · 3 years

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I tried sending this question on Anon earlier (only my desktop has Tumblr and I was zoning out away from thinking of this), but what if Ming Xiao was a Cainite and Nines and LaCroix were Kuei-jin? What Clan/Dharmas would they be, and how would they feel about it, and how would it affect their storylines? Like maybe Nines rose and was taken in by the Chinatown Wu, and LaCroix has been living somewhere in China since the Napoleonic Wars? Thanks!

@badass-at-cuddling oh wow this is a big question to go into but I’ll try my best! XD

Well, I think it would be best to make changes to LaCroix’s and Nines’ backstory since as far I know Kuei-jin are made from people of Eastern or Southern Asian descent.

Now I think we can keep Nines being an American, in this case a Chinese American (he could be even be part latino as well), and it would makes he could’ve received the second breath after dying during a strike or perhaps he got caught in a cross fire, regardless, he would’ve died young and before his time. (Noooo ;_;)

Considering Nines’ clan in vtmb being a Brujah, his connection to humanity through his politcal beliefs, I feel the Dharma of the Dance of the Thrashing Dragon is likeily the one that fits him best since tbh, not only would that give him the chance to continue to fight for others but also give him a second chance to really live life to the fullest. (Honestly I was thinking of the Way of the Resplendent Crane for him as well but I think that’s too restricted for Nines’ character to be honest but I wonder what you guys might think)

I do think Nines would be quickly taken in by LA Chinatown Kuei-jin but I do think he would butt heads with the elders a lot but also perhaps more being willing to listen to them as well, provided they didn’t treat him badly that is. Although, he could end up becoming the leader of a movement within the Chinatown court that don’t want to be messed around by their elders. But while I think Nines would try to broker some peace treaty with the Anarchs in LA he could end up butting heads with some of the more rowdy Anarchs. And Nines wouldn’t feel happy with the mainland Kuei-jin taking over and saying “Hey we gotta kick or enlighten those awful Cainites to stop the Sixth Age!” but he would also be fed up with the Anarchs just leaving their shit everywhere and whoops the freaking Camarilla and the Sabbat are rolling into town as well!

So I would say that Nines is in a bind in what to do! 0_0

As for LaCroix, oh man this is a tricky one, because I’m trying to figure out if there was enough of a French Chinese presence in France at the time of Napoleon or not.

If there was and they allowed Chinese men to join the army then, I think that LaCroix could have been a French ex noble’s illegitimate son with a Chinese woman and even though there was a draft, I think he would want to prove himself to his father and country that he is worth something. (Ohhh don’t make me sad again ;_;) But he instead dies on the battle field and receiving the second breath and finding out that all of the beliefs his Chinese heritage actually are partly true and he would be super confused and likey eat some people before coming to on his own or being found by his fellow Kuei-jin and after some time he sent around europe to scope things for the Kuei-jin (not for conquering purposes per say but to see if there is any way to help the Kuei-jin in the mainlands).

However, if not then I can see him being a son of a trader in Hong Kong (obvs he isn’t going to be called LaCroix here in this case) and soon following in his father’s footsteps, perhaps even getting involved in the opium trade, (I’m going to be honest here and say that I don’t know as much about China during the 1800s at this point so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know :D) However, he would’ve died young and maybe to move his brith and death forward to from liekly 1794-1815 to 1815-1839 so he could have been involved in the first Opium War and died in the conflict. Upon receiving the second breath and being found and taken to the Hong Kong court.

Now picking LaCroix’s Dharma in either origin story was difficult for me to be honest, but I’m thinking for the first origin LaCroix might have been attracted to the Howl of the Devil-Tiger Dharma, since I can see him wanting to be a powerful demon (Yomi ain’t a nice place bro) and that could go for his second orgin too.

Buttt the other Dharmas he might also go for are the Way of the Resplendent Crane or the Dance of the Thrashing Dragon Dharma, Resplendent Crane cause he might feel guilty for not following tradition and sinning a lot when he was alive and Thrashing Dragon so he could really live his unlife to the fullest!

Now LaCroix regardless would either be sent to LA to asist the Kuei-jin in conquering the city or he would already be in LA and butting heads with Nines no matter his Dharma! XD But LaCroix would have ambitions of becoming an Ancestor (It’s going to take a bit though) but first he’s going to do his bit to help the effort to stop the Sixth Age (it’s going to get in the way of his goal darn it!) and of course that means screwing over the Kindred through manipulative means!

Ming Xiao is a tricky one for me as I wanna say she could be a Ventrue due commanding air and her ability to be a Leader of a community, I can totally see her rock Domination and Presence easily and with Fortiude, she’s one tough lady that’s hard to kill! However, she could be a Tzimisce, maybe a Tzimisce who isn’t too into changing her image so much but is into having a kick ass war form! (either way, she’ll have some high level Vicissitude baby!!!)

Okay as for Ming Xiao’s Kindred origins, I’m thinking that while the Kuei-jin are the main undead creatures of Eastern Asia there is a tiny population of Kindred scattered around as well. and one of those Kindred (Ventrue/Tzimisce) found an interest in Ming Xiao, in my headcanon a unhappy and necglected wife to a minster of the imperial palace during the Tang Dynasty. A beautiful, intelligent, charismatic and manipulative who would do anything to get what she wanted (since her husband wasn’t going to, lol!) she quickly drew the eye of her sire and they wanted to show a fun time and have her as their companion (dominating or meatcrimes) and embraced her after ghouling her husband.

And after Ming Xiao enjoys herself and gaining herself some power in a little domain for around 400 years (I guess she got bored with her sire and ate them or something) or so, she’ll go into torpor after the Kuei-jin come a knocking to tell her to knock it off. so after like a 1000 years or so (phew that’s a long nap) Ming Xiao wakes up and sees that China had really changed, but oh boy those Kuei-jin are sure to be annoying when she tries to build a domain here again!

Rude, why won’t they let her to do meat crimes or any dominating anyway, instead she’ll be sharing her wisdom to those who need to hear it duh. Regardless, Ming Xiao then searches for a great place to crash without these annoying Kuei-jin trying to kill her!

So Ming Xiao’s arrival in LA is going to spook some of the Kindred cause she basically nearly at Methuselah level, but they don’t know it’s her cause she’s not advertising how old she really is. However she is real annoyed that the Kuei-jin are here as well, and well the Camarilla are too european, the Sabbat are just no and the Anarchs really need her help! So Ming Xiao starts subtly recruiting herself some pawns likemind Kindred to help her cause to get the Anarchs’ shit together.

So here you have it, Nines and LaCroix are still butting heads but are way more on the same and Ming Xiao manipulativing the Anarchs for her goals, it’s quite a difference but yet has some shades of the original plot of VTMB!

Phew this was a long post, I hope this answers your question @badass-at-cuddling I’m sorry it took so long to answer! thank you again for the ask it was really fun to think about! :D

#vampire the masquerade #Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines #VTMB #kindred of the east #Sebastian LaCroix #nines rodriguez #Ming Xiao #asks #badass-at-cuddling

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 4 years

Text

Dawn in Your Eyes Part 21

Summary: Alfie has little to no idea why Caroline ever gave him the time of day. The blind woman seemed far too sensible to even speak to him. But soon he finds himself falling helplessly in love.

Part 21: Alfie and Caroline adjust to being first time parents.

Once Julia went home, Alfie and Caroline were sort of left on their own. Granted, they had extra hands to help them around Letwin but neither of them was willing to hand over responsibility of their child to just anyone. Eventually, Candace would probably take more on once Alfie went back to work. But that was something they were putting aside for the time being. Instead, they were focusing on the first weeks of their beloved daughter’s life.

Just the little moments they shared as a new little family. Things they might not appreciate as much if they went on to have more children. Although that was the last thing on their mind. Especially after the frightening labor that Caroline went through. And, the sleepless nights they endured.

One such night, Alfie woke to hear Chava’s cries from next door. “I’ll get her, love.” He murmured to Caroline who started to stir about the same time he did. Pulling himself out of bed, Alfie yawned and plodded to the nursery. Apollo followed him, a bit interested in the crying, his ears perked up. It appeared only Cyril and Pilot had gotten used to the baby crying. They usually woke but just turned over and went back to sleep.

Alfie turned on a lamp in the nursery, setting a soft glow over the room. “What’s wrong, sheifale?” He asked gently as he scooped her up out of the cot.

Chava’s fists were clenched in discontent as she wailed. Julia had been right when the little girl was born, she had a set of lungs on her like nothing Alfie had ever heard before. But Alfie only said it meant she would be outspoken when she was grown.

“Yeah, I’ve gotcha.” He soothed. “What’s got ya down, love, aye?” He lifted her up a bit to see if she needed to be changed. “Phew, well no wonder you’re crying. That’s quite the stink you’ve made, little miss.” He chuckled and set her down on the changing table. Apollo walked over and curiously sniffed at Chava’s hair. “See, you’ve got Apollo sniffing at ya now. Ain’t a good sign when you’ve got a dog tryna smell you.” He shooed Apollo off so he could change Chava’s nappy. “There, nice and clean.” He lifted her back up and kissed her cheek. “Now you can go back off to dreamland again.”

Chava seemed content in his arms but the second he laid her back down in the cot, she began to fuss again. She kicked her feet and whined unhappily.

Alfie looked perplexed. “Are you hungry?” He asked, scooping her back up. “Alright, alright, let’s go see mum then.” With Apollo at their heels, Alfie brought Chava into the bedroom.

Caroline turned over when she heard her daughter. “Alf?”

“She might be hungry, dunno. I changed her but she started crying again.” He explained.

“Oh okay.” She sat up with a yawn and slipped off a sleeve of her nightgown so she could nurse.

Alfie placed Chava in her arms but the baby didn’t seem to want to latch. Instead, she cried louder.

“I think she just wants to be held.” Caroline couldn’t think of any other reason why she would be so upset.

Her husband looked a little confused but it was too late to be questioning her. “Alright…” He picked Chava up again. And she did seem to quiet down once she was in his arms.

Caroline adjusted her nightgown and laid back down. “There you go. She just wants you to hold her.”

“Well, I can’t hold her all night, Carrie.” He replied, but his wife was already dozing off again. Alfie sighed and took his daughter back to the nursery. He got comfy in the rocking chair by the window, letting Chava lay on his chest. “The second you fall asleep I’m going back to bed, love.” He warned as if she could understand what he was saying. He often talked to the newborn as if she did know what he was saying. Caroline did the same. Neither of them could explain it, but it just felt like an endearing thing to do. Plus, Alfie noticed that when Caroline was speaking to Chava, the baby started to nod off, soothed by her mother’s voice.

Chava made a noise of displeasure, scrunching up her little nose and whining.

“S’alright, I won’t leave until you’re asleep.” He promised and rubbed her back. He sighed and rocked back and forth slowly in the chair. Hoping he could talk her to sleep, he continued on. “Did mum tell you what your name meant? She picked it out couple weeks ‘fore you were born. It’s a good Hebrew name, means ‘to live’. Thought it was fitting. Now if you happened to be a boy, we would’ve named you Eli. That was my choice, means ‘my God’. Figure it was a strong name. But God blessed us with you and we wouldn’t want it any other way.” He smiled and let Chava grab onto his pointer finger. “We can always save the name if your mother has a boy in the future. Or maybe we’ll only have girls. Oy, can you imagine a house full of girls? All complaining about…boys and clothing…or whatever the hell girls worry about these days.” He chuckled. “Might make my hair go grey.”

Chava yawned and her eyes slid closed as her father spoke softly to her.

“You’ll be like your papa though, won’t you? Tough as nails? Intelligent? Probably more intelligent than me, one could only hope.” Alfie’s voice trailed off as his mind began to wander. He wasn’t sure the kind of life he’d be giving his daughter. The occupation he chose had already proven dangerous to his wife. Now that Chava was born, his brain couldn’t help but go to the worst-case scenario. Realistically, he could keep an infant safe. She could stay at Letwin with Caroline, there was no reason to raise her in Camden Town. It was far too dangerous there. No, she had to be kept in safety as long as possible. But beyond that, there wasn’t much he could do. When she went to school, when she wanted to go out to play, or when she wanted a life of her own outside of the safe arms of her parents. Alfie could close up shop, but that didn’t scrub away the past. He worried that even if he did retire, that wouldn’t keep the vultures away.

For the longest time, Alfie expected to die by the sword. To die doing what he did every day. To have some sharpshooter get lucky. If that wasn’t the case, then he’d probably die an old man alone in Margate. If someone came to kill him then, maybe some vengeful widow or outstanding debt, he probably wouldn’t even put up a fight. Why would he? His life would be complete at that point, no use dying a fool.

Never in a million years did he imagine himself sitting in a nursery, holding his daughter while his wife slept in the next room over. Since the impossible came true, he would have to adjust his plans. Adjust his will. Adjust his outlook of life. If someone came knocking, he’d fight until he was drained of blood. Nothing would stop him from keeping his family safe.

He didn’t have to tell Chava or Caroline that, they would know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Chava Solomons began to sit up and crawl, she became the hellion everyone expected from a child of Alfie Solomons.

Alfie had gone back to work, much to his own dismay. But duty called. No one could think that he was going soft because he was a father.

That’s when Candance had to take on a more hands-on role. Before, Caroline could manage quite well. But once Chava started to crawl away from her, she found it difficult to take care of everything on her own.

At first, Chava wouldn’t go very far. She could only really roll over and sit up. But once she got a taste of freedom, crawling everywhere she could possibly reach, she was hard to rein in. And there wasn’t much they could do to quell her fascination for adventure. If Caroline tried to keep her in her arms, Chava would scream and cry until she was put down. So, her mother had no choice but to cave in.

Candace did what she could to try and take a more backseat approach. She didn’t want to undermine Caroline, and take on the position of mother. Instead, she was more content of being a nanny when Caroline needed a rest or just an overall infant wrangler.

Caroline was grateful for Candy’s help but she couldn’t help but feel a little defeated. She made her thoughts known one night when Alfie came home.

“Alright, alright, yeah I came back like every other fucking night.” Alfie fended off the three large dogs as they scrambled over each other to greet him at the door. “Nothing new here, nothing new.” He picked up a rope toy and tossed it so they’d lose interest in him.

“Alfie?” Caroline called from the parlor adjacent to the foyer.

“Yeah, love, I’m home.” He went about taking off his coat and hat.

There was a small coo as Chava crawled out into the doorway.

“Hey there, Chavaleh, did you escape mum again?” He scolded playfully and bent down to scoop her up. “Can’t go wandering around.”

Chava giggled and clapped her hands together, almost reveling in her ability to give her mother the slip.

Alfie went into the parlor to find a mess of toys on the floor. The door to the dining room was closed and the entire room seemed to be in a disarray. The cords to the lamps were lifted off the ground, the ends of the curtains had been tied up, anything loose had been either removed or secured, and all the pillows had been carefully tucked away. “Ah, I see Candace has Chava-proofed this room.”

Caroline looked tired from her spot on the floor. She was trying to gather up any toys she could find. Pilot was lying beside her also looking a little worse for wear. “Alfie, she’s gotten so much worse.” She said in a defeated voice. “She won’t even go down for a nap anymore, she just wants to wander around the house. She just cries when I hold her.”

True to form, Chava began to try and wriggle out of her father’s arms, pushing at his shoulder. Alfie set her down and watched as she crawled to the small pile of toys her mother had managed to get control of.

“Should put one of Cyril’s leashes on her.” Alfie joked.

But his wife wasn’t in the mood to laugh. She frowned. “I can’t keep up with her so Candy has to step in and I just…I feel useless. All I can do is nurse, change her nappy, and put her to bed.”

Alfie sighed and lowered himself to the floor beside her with a grunt. “Well, I could try to convince you about how good of a mother you are, but I doubt you’ll listen to me. You never listen to me when you’re cranky like this.” He ran a thumb over her cheek.

She batted his hand away. “I’m not cranky.”

“Then talk to me, love.” He coaxed.

Caroline swallowed and shook her head. “I was so stupid. I felt so confident before. I felt like all these worries I had about being a mother were silly. I could take care of her when she could hardly do anything but cry. Now she can practically run circles around me and there’s nothing I can do. She doesn’t want to be around me at all. She’s hot and cold. First, she wants a cuddle then she doesn’t even want me to touch her.” A tear slipped down Caroline’s cheek.

“Oh, love.” He wiped the tear from her cheek and kissed her forehead. “We knew it would be an adjustment, right? S’fucking hard enough to be a parent but you do it blind. Do you know how much respect I have for you for that? Carrie, I could never compete with you because you take every obstacle life hurls at you and you handle it with so much grace. Think about when she gets older, yeah? When she’s old enough to understand? You’ll be her hero, won’t you? You cared for her and did everything you could no matter what.” He murmured softly.

Caroline sniffled and bit her lip. “I just don’t feel like I’m enough for her.”

Chava crawled over to Pilot and gurgled happily. She adored the dogs and they loved her right back. They were never rough with her and always let her play with their ears or tails. Pilot was especially patient as he’d been trained to be. He didn’t even flinch as she patted a hand on his stomach.

“You’re more than enough for her, Caroline. Trust me. I’m just sorry she got so much of my personality.” He chuckled.

“As if we had any control.” She finally let a smile break through her tears. “I should’ve expected her to be so rambunctious.”

“If me mum were alive, she’d have more than enough stories to tell ya.” He agreed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side. “Solomons children aren’t easy.” He admitted.

“Well, we’ll just have to adjust and adapt.” Caroline yawned and rested into the crook of his arm. “Thank you.”

“For what, love?” He asked softly.

“For reminding me that I’m more than what people think of me. No one has ever thought of me as highly as you do.” She closed her eyes as he rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

Chava abandoned Pilot and went to crawl up Caroline’s legs. Alfie scooped her up and cradled her with his free arm. Holding both his wife and daughter in his arms was unexplainable. He felt so blessed to have them and his goal to keep them safe was met, for the time being, because he could keep them close. Nothing else on God’s green Earth could make him feel as needed and loved as Caroline and Chava.

Yiddish

Sheifale-lamb

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii @enrapturedbythemoon @vampgirl1997

Tag list: @zazasblogxx @thinkingsofamadwoman @deaflikehawkeye @bellarkebxtch @evelynshelby

Masterlist

#alfie solomons #alfie solomonsxoc #alfie solomons x oc #alfie solomons imagine #peaky blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky fookin blinders #peaky blinders fanfiction #tom hardy #tom hardy character #tom hardy fanfiction #fanfiction #fic #ofc #oc #blind character #jewish character

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medeafive · 3 years

Text

Blood and Stone - 21

Masterpost

"This is gonna be the worst Christmas ever," Tony mutters, sanding off the edges of a piece of metal. "If we even make it till then. Doesn't look great, does it."

"Christmas?" Natasha questions. "Seriously?"

"It's December, you whale," Tony returns, wiping grease onto his forehead. "And then a new millennium. Thought that would be a lot cooler. All the tech we were gonna have, right… though you probably don't care about that in Russia, you count the years since Stalin's death or something."

"Fuck off," Natasha returns, clutching the bag of peanuts. "Like you would know that, you imperialist capitalist fat cat."

"Sounds about right," Tony admits. "So you're really going to have the monster baby, huh?"

"You don't know it's going to be a monster," Natasha says.

"And you do?" Tony questions. "Because of what, your supreme female intuition?"

"Come on, it's literally inside of me, I can tell whether it's trying to kill me or not," Natasha returns. "You looked at it once under the ultrasound."

"Yeah, you're full of pregnancy hormones, though," Tony points out. "Weird that you're so dead set on that."

"Why is that weird?" Natasha hisses. "Because I'm not the, what was it, the womanly kind of woman, not a real woman?"

Tony groans. "Oh come on, I didn't mean it like that. Nothing negative about it. Just, you're obviously not… that ."

" What ?" Natasha asks.

"You know what I mean!" Tony shakes his head. "Kind or nurturing or… soft, really. Caring. None of that's you, and I thought you knew that and were okay with that, but maybe you're not."

"Maybe I am," Natasha suggests. "But I still want that fucking baby."

"I mean, that's your business," Tony allows. "But you're kinda skipping on the job, letting us deal with the invasion of the black cloaks on our own. There, done."

She didn't even think about the black cloaks. "Done what?"

"Metal arm," Tony replies briefly, raising smooth pieces of metal. "As promised. I'll get your friend and fit it to him, and then go the fuck to sleep."

"Isn't it hurting?" Natasha asks, nibbling away at a cookie.

"Yes," James replies, not even pulling a face as Tony removes another piece of metal from his arm.

"Just give him anesthesia already!" Natasha complains. "What the fuck is this?"

"Yeah, and what, and how much?" Tony questions, putting the rusted metal plate down. "No one knows how his body reacts. I thought you'd prefer if we didn't potentially poison him."

"It's fine," James mutters. "Really."

Natasha snorts. "Oh fuck off. Don't give me that tough guy macho bullshit."

James smirks, almost grins, until Tony starts cutting out another piece of old metal. "Not gonna lie, this is gonna take a while. So brace yourself, buddy."

Natasha swallows the rest of the cookie, slipping down into more of a lying position. "Yeah, Bobbi said pretty much the same thing."

"Does it hurt?" James asks, and she could hit herself for worrying him again.

"No, no, not at all." She sighs. "Just feels weird. Bloated. I don't feel it moving, by the way, not sure why."

"I could give you an electric shock," Tony ponders. "That'd numb your arm. Probably hurts just as bad, though."

"No electric shocks," James states, no room for discussion. "Are you sure it's… fine?"

"Bobbi said so," Natasha replies, for the umpteenth time. "And I'm pretty fresh on the vampire blood, so I feel quite good, actually. Maybe it'll start kicking soon, who knows."

Tony snorts, pulling out another metal part. "Yeah, then it's over with sleeping all day long like a princess-"

The door at the back of the lab cracks open, apparently not locked, and James jumps up before Tony yanks him down again. "Hey, hey, hold still."

James sits down reluctantly, turning his face away from the door where a blonde guy is peering in carefully. He doesn't look good, popped veins under his skin, looks like inflammation as well, and very pale. "Uh, hey. Is… is Sam here?"

"Hey," Natasha replies, rearranging her shirt. "I think Sam's upstairs. I'd go check but… well."

He stares at her belly, which, yeah. "Oh. You're…"

"Yeah, long story," Natasha agrees. "Just sit down and wait, I guess, somebody will come down here sooner or later."

"Yeah, can't move right now," Tony adds. "And this guy either."

"Sure, thanks," Steve says, clinging to the door. "Just, uh- wait, Bucky?"

James cringes hard. "No, wait, he got lost years ago," Steve retreats. "50 years ago, if- wow. No, sorry- unless…"

"Steve-" James starts weakly, careful not to open his mouth too much.

"Oh gosh." Steve takes a step forward. "How did you- You look weird. Your eyes- Are you okay? How did you get here? I'm really glad to see you but you really look strange, sound strange too-"

James presses his lips together. Tony looks increasingly amused, not very helpful. "Hey Steve," Natasha interjects, pushing herself upright. "Maybe we could walk a few steps and talk a little, could we do that?"

"Uh, yes, sure," Steve agrees with surprise. "But you really don't have to get up if-"

"It's fine, totally fine," Natasha waves off, breathing deep before pushing herself up, gripping the IV. "Phew. Haven't been up in a while. Just a second. No, no, I don't need the help."

"Are you sure-" James starts.

"Yes, yes, don't worry," Natasha interrupts even though she still sees stars. "I'm not sick. Over there, could you just hold the door- yeah, thanks, that's it."

Steve holds the door open for her dutifully, chancing a look towards James who's staring at the ground. She pushes past him, dragging the IV drip with her. She's kind of forgotten how to walk so she has to do it slowly and pay attention. Her center of gravity has shifted slightly as well so she has to balance that. "Close the door, please?"

Steve rips his eyes away from James, pulls the door shut and turns to Natasha. She rubs the very tight skin of her belly. "Yeah, so, I know it's a lot for you right now, everything… I guess there's no easy way to break it to you."

"Bucky is a vampire," Steve states. "Is that- Bucky is a vampire ."

"Yes," Natasha confirms quietly. "He's a vampire. Has been for 50 years."

Steve staggers back slightly, leaning against a shelf. "Oh gosh. Is he- did he- does that mean he killed someone? Has he killed people?"

"Probably," Natasha admits. "I'm sorry."

Steve rubs over his slightly swollen face. "Did he turn- he turned people into vampires, did he?"

"Yeah," Natasha replies. "Probably a lot of people. He didn't want you to know but that wouldn't have worked for long."

" Fuck ," Steve breathes. "Sorry. But he's still- still Bucky , isn't he? He's still the same- even with the teeth and the eyes and that, even if he- did that, all of that, he must still be the same person?"

"I don't know if he's the same," Natasha replies. "I can't tell you that. But he's still a person. He's not a monster, even if he did all that bad shit."

"Oh man." Steve rubs his face again. "I don't know if I can- I need to sit down. Sorry."

"Yeah, sure," Natasha replies with amusement. "Take your time."

Steve drops onto the stretcher which creaks loudly. "But if Bucky is still- even if he's a vampire- then aren't all vampires still people? Redeemable?"

Natasha snorts. "Nah, I wouldn't go that far. He's… he's special."

Steve stares at her belly as if he only just remembered. "Wait, are you-"

"Yep."

"You're having Bucky 's baby?"

"Yeah, that's his."

"But he's a vampire -"

"It was an accident but I'm going with it. For now."

Steve rubs his eyes. "Oh man. Sorry, but- who are you again?"

"Natasha," she replies. "It's a long story."

"Steve," he replies reflexively. "Uh, I'm sorry if that was rude, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's fine," Natasha assures him. "This must be pretty difficult for you. I guess I'll just go back and leave you to stomach that, take your time."

"But aren't you one of the ones who hunt and fight against the vampires?" Steve insists.

"Yeah, sure," Natasha confirms, patting her belly. "Right now, not so much. Long story. But really, we don't have to do it all right now, just sit with it for a while and come back when you're ready."

Steve closes his eyes. "Yes. Alright. Just- Bucky's under- he's not dangerous right now? He's under control?"

Great, one more guy that's worrying about her safety. "Yes, yes, don't worry about him. He's not going to hurt anyone here."

"Okay," Steve mutters. "I'm sorry, I think I need to lay down again. Thanks for telling me all that."

He really doesn't look good, greener than before. "Sure. I'm going to lay down as well. Uh, do you want something to eat? I have a lot of food over there."

"Thanks, but my stomach is not doing so well yet," Steve admits, settling down on the stretcher. "Sam brought me a lot of dry bread, so it's fine."

"Yeah, okay." Natasha opens the door again, dragging the IV drip out of the way. "If you need anything, just come over."

James and Tony are still exactly where they were before, James looking up when she closes the door behind her. "It's okay. You just need to talk to him at some point."

"Okay," James says, even though he doesn't sound okay. "Is walking really-"

"Jesus Christ, for the final time, just hold still," Tony interrupts with exasperation. "Is that so hard?"

"Maybe I could go upstairs, or even outside," Natasha ponders, settling on the bed. "Some fresh air, sunlight…"

"There's a chance that's really bad for the little vampire spawn," Tony remarks, trying to fit a shiny metal plate in. "Or for you on vampire blood. Burst into dust bad. Abortion by sunlight bad."

"Is everything that's remotely fun forbidden?" Natasha complains.

"I thought sex with vampires was forbidden," Tony states carelessly. "But apparently… oh, he doesn't like it when I mention that."

"Fuck off," James hisses.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tony replies, picking up the next metal plate. "You're touchy about that."

Another door opens, this time the one leading to the stairs. "Hey," Clint greets. "Supposed to check in on you."

"Everything's totally fine," Natasha returns. "Could you help me up the stairs? I haven't seen anything but this room in days."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Clint rubs through his hair. "Guess I'll carry the IV thingy. Really a shame we never got that elevator."

"Yeah, really hard to get a mechanic these days," Tony mutters. "No, seriously, don't let her in the sunlight if she wants to keep that cute fangy baby."

"What?" Clint questions. "Isn't the whole point of the baby that it's inside of her?"

"You guys are weird," Natasha remarks, slipping off the bed. "Good luck with the arm, though, it looks promising."

"Why, thank you." Tony bows his head graciously. "It was a lot of work. Now, if this guy would stop fidgeting-"

"I'm not fidgeting," James hisses. "It just really fucking hurts ."

"Told you," Tony states coldly, pressing the metal plate in deeper.

"It's gonna be alright," Natasha repeats. "Okay? I'll come back down, won't be a long trip."

"Yeah, okay," James mutters, teeth gritted.

Clint holds the door open for her as she makes her way through it with the IV. The stairs look taller than ever. "Yeah, so, for the sake of your jealous boyfriend, I'd prefer if I don't have to carry you up the stairs," Clint remarks. "So take it slow and pace yourself."

Natasha snorts, gripping the railing. "He's not that jealous. Oh boy."

Clint presses a hand against the small of her back, steadying her. "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, just wasn't pacing myself enough," Natasha mutters. "Uh, I'm sorry he said that. To Bobbi. Well, to everyone."

Clint huffs with amusement, picking up the IV and stepping up the stairs behind her. "Eh, not that big of a deal, actually. Whether she knows or not."

"Did you fight?" Natasha asks quietly. More steps. "I thought I heard screaming last night."

"We always fight," Clint replies earnestly. "Her knowing doesn't change what happened, so no big deal."

Natasha stops to catch her breath. "What do you mean, what happened?"

Clint sighs. "Look, you couldn't know that at the time, but- that really was pretty shitty on my part, from the space I was in then, and it was dumb and spiteful and literally everything she says now. I shouldn't have dragged you into the aftermath of our breakup and expected that to make the pain disappear. Whether or not Bobbi knows, I know what it was and that's enough."

"Mhm." Natasha shakes her head. "Sounds pretty dire. Do you regret it?"

Clint grins. "Eh, not that bad. Look, you almost made it upstairs, don't give up now."

Natasha snorts. "Just pacing myself. Really, don't give yourself such a hard time over the whole thing. Yeah, sure, maybe it was all that but people just do dumb shit after breakups. I know I did."

"Like sleeping with a vampire?" Clint suggests.

She would've slapped him if he hadn't ducked. "That's years apart! Nothing to do with each other! If anything, sleeping with you."

"Yeah, okay." Clint shrugs. "Guess I shouldn't ignore all the mental politics and baggage you had involved, because you clearly had. Focusing too much on my own bullshit again."

"When there's so much bullshit to go around," Natasha notes, turning to look up the stairs again. "Okay. Just a few more. We can do this."

Clint snorts. "Not to brag, but I can walk up stairs in one go."

"Oh, wow," Bobbi remarks, jumping up. "You're up?"

"Yeah, just had to move," Natasha breathes, gripping the first thing she can. "Don't worry, I'm just going to sit down right now."

Sam doesn't meet her gaze. "Wait, I'll move that out of the way," Bobbi suggests, pulling the couch table back. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm- ow! " Natasha grips her belly with both hands, almost toppling over. "Fuck. That hurt."

Bobbi helps her lay down on the couch. "Oh yeah, don't believe the magic gift of life bullshit, it's really fucking annoying and the rest is just lying hormones. Better?"

"Yeah." Natasha breathes deeply, head dropping back, eyes closed. "Just- felt like I was going to explode."

"Nah, you're stronger than that," Bobbi replies, putting a hand on her belly. "Whoops, there we go again. Should feel less intense when you're lying down."

It does. "That thing's pretty strong, isn't it," Natasha whispers.

"Yeah, but not abnormal," Bobbi returns. "But we can look at it if you want."

"Mhm, maybe later," Natasha suggests. "I'm just going to lie here for a while. Tony's blowing around a lot of metal dust down there."

"Oh yeah, he said something about that," Bobbi replies. "Pretty interesting. Right, I wanted to check that out."

"Sure, why not," Natasha agrees. "If you're sure I'm not going to explode."

"You're not going to explode," Bobbi assures her, getting up. "Okay? Call me if you need anything."

"Will do," Natasha replies. "Uh, Clint?"

Clint, who had kind of faded into the background, takes a step forward again. "Hm?"

"Sorry but- I'm kind of hungry again?" Natasha asks carefully. "Could you...?"

Clint snorts. "You're unbelievable. I'll be right back."

"Looks like you're taken care of," Bobbi remarks, disappearing around the corner.

Sam sits down on the couch across from her, hands folded. "Hey."

Natasha closes her eyes again. "Mhm. Hey."

"Sorry I'm being awkward," Sam says quietly. "When that's exactly what you didn't want."

Natasha snorts. "Eh, it's fine. Can't pay that much attention to that sort of thing right now."

"Can't unsee and unfeel that," Sam suggests with amusement. "It'll pass."

Natasha opens her eyes. "You're not- hitting on me?"

"No, no," Sam replies quickly. "Just being awkward again and making it worse."

"See how that feels?" Natasha remarks with amusement. "Glad it's hitting you this time."

"Nah, you can have it back," Sam returns. "You were way better at not giving a fuck."

"I give way too many fucks," Natasha replies. "By the way, I talked to the frozen guy, Steve. Told him his buddy is a vampire now and all."

"Sounds fun," Sam replies. "About the baby thing too?"

"Very briefly," Natasha allows. "Maybe you should go down and talk to him, he seemed more comfortable with you."

"Honestly, it helps just to leave him alone," Sam explains. "Otherwise, you constantly come upon new things he doesn't yet know about."

"Pepper's chocolate chip cookies," Clint announces with the jar in hand. "I really don't want to cook, badger Sam about that."

Natasha snorts, taking the entire jar. "Nah, it's fine. Thanks."

"I'll make you a protein shake," Sam offers. "Minerals and all."

"Good idea, thanks," Natasha replies. "Is everyone else in bed?"

"Bruce is," Clint replies, dropping onto a chair. "Fury too. Pepper and Sharon are out on patrol."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Natasha asks, reaching deep into the cookie jar.

Clint snorts. "It's always dangerous. But if black cloaks come into our town, we'd better know soon."

Natasha pats her belly. "This is just really bad timing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, why couldn't you hook up with a vampire after we kill them all," Clint remarks sarcastically. "Really a lack of foresight on your part."

"I'm serious," Natasha insists. "I could be out there. I should be out there."

"But you can't and you aren't," Clint returns. "That's just what it is. Fretting about it doesn't help. And it's probably too late, you wouldn't be back in shape even if, you know… if you had the abortion right now."

"Clint, this is-" Natasha sighs. "This is really important to me. I know it's hard to understand but it just is."

"You're fretting again," Clint informs her. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. Just do it."

She sighs, closing her eyes. "Do it is a little much for lying around, sleeping and eating."

"Princess's asleep?"

"Yeah, the stairs must have really exhausted her."

"Your ex is way too smart for you, by the way."

"Already knew that, didn't we."

"Hence the ex."

"Oh, fuck off."

"What, you just said it yourself!"

"Still don't like you saying it."

"Yeah, the Widow's too hot for you, too, so I see how that wouldn't work."

"Not that shit again-"

"Like, she's Lara Croft. Or the chick from Resident Evil. Every guy wants that, including the vampire."

"I'll tell Pepper you said that."

"I'll tell Bobbi all the mean things you said about her after your breakup."

"...how about we don't do either of that."

"Agreed."

"Now shut up about Nat, she's a friend."

"Oh yeah, I see that."

"Jesus Christ, fuck off."

"Gotta be hard, having the vampire run around."

"They both know I don't like him, so I really don't have to bother."

"And the baby."

"Yeah, but… we all throw our hopes and expectations out every year or so, so nothing new."

"You sound really old."

"Stopped trying not to."

"You mean, when you stopped chasing the twenty-something feral cat?"

"Jesus Christ, shut up before someone hears you."

#blood and stone #buckynat #vampire au #natasha romanoff #bucky barnes #black widow #winter soldier #my writing #fanfic

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larprambles · 4 years

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Small Character Details.

Phew, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been here right? Well, here’s a post to help your character kit look unique. It focuses on cheap, small items that can be bought on like, eBay or Wish. These items can be added or subtracted to the same base kit and end up with a completely different characterisation but like, inexpensively.

Costume Jewellery I know this is VERY obvious, but seriously, the effect some necklaces, rings and bracelets can have is outstanding. I’d like to particularly mention some items that are less considered. Lockets can contain pictures of important IC relationships, light up rave wear can make kit instantly cyberpunk. You can get pretty much ANY word on a necklace, so like, labelling your character from the off is totally an option. Of course, if you have piercings, there’s a whole world to explore there too, which brings us to...

Fake Piercings Clip on earrings, non-piercing ear cuffs and non-piercing nose piercings. I promise you they have come on along way since the nineties. Most of them are much more comfortable than they used to be and nearly all of them are cheaper than the real thing. Temporary Tattoos I’m not gonna lie, this is my absolute favourite. There’s metallic ones, glow in the dark ones, white ones, customisation ones, words, images, PHOTOGRAPHS. If you have the cash, there’s even ones that develop over twenty four hours and last a few weeks. For a little extra tip, you can buy gels on etsy that take the shine from temporary tattoos while simultaneously making them longer lasting. Get on it.

Coloured Hair Wax and Spray While I am a person that has and would do again dyed my hair for a character, not everyone has that level of commitment/silliness. In the past five years, there’s been a LOT of developments for super temporary colour. I find hair wax works the best if you don’t mind the slightly odd texture, followed by hair chalk, followed by hair spray. They often are cheapest around Halloween so I stock up. And yes, there is usually a glitter option.

Hair Accessories Look, I’m just gonna list a bunch in case you hadn’t thought of one. Cool? Cool. Ribbons, headbands, alice bands, bandannas, clips, sliders, clamps, animal ears, hair jewellery, beads, hair jewels, hair stickers, bobbles, scrunchies, box chains, bows, crowns, tiaras and you get the image.

Badges and Brooches I have a box of badges with various slogans on them to stick on character bags and coats. Political slogans, pride badges and fandom symbols are particularly good for showing a character trait or interest. If playing a historical larp or a classy character, brooches are the way to go. I recommend an association with an animal or precious stone. Hats and Gloves I am not going to list every sort of hat. There’s a lot. Google the era and the word hat and do your best. Remember you can personalise hats too with badges, ribbons or things to stick in the band if it has one (feathers and flowers encouraged). Gloves! Mittens, knitted, (faux) leather, driving, fingerless, arm warmers, lace, silk, evening, hand wraps... There’s a lot here. They can represent either end of the class spectrum and can either make a character look instantly tough, instantly soft or instantly classy as fuck.

Veils Don’t be racist, but face/hair coverings can be incredibly versatile in a setting that encourages and incorporates them into the kit brief sensitively. Choice of fabric and pattern can make two otherwise identical looks worlds apart. Masks This is just about verging into actual kit, but I wanted to put it here in case you were in a setting where this would be a STATEMENT rather than a core piece of the kit brief. Lace and filigree masks can be worn easily and are inexpensive to acquire. Other types can be mouth coverings or entire face masks. These tend to be a little more aggressive and/or unusual. Be safe though - I promise you at some point you will deeply regret this costume choice.

Scarves (in the loosest possible sense.) I am EVANGELICAL about the power of scarves. Gain a collection. Add them to fucking everything. Not just as a scarf but. Belts, head coverings, sashes, skirts, shawls, shirts, hand wraps, belt drops. A strip of fabric can do SO MUCH for a costume. My personal favourite is a cheat for an instantly feminine priestess look - get a belt, tie a hundred scarfs and necklaces around it, boom, done.

Nails Paint your nails! If you’re particularly devoted and have the cash, a manicure to achieve a specific nail shape is also an option. You want claws you can actually use? This is the way to go.

Glasses and Contact Lenses I won’t talk about actual glasses worn for sight here because I’m lazy and that conversation would last all day. I am mostly referring to sunglasses here but I also enjoy differing frames for daily wear. There’s a practically endless amount of glasses designs with colour, frame and glass colour being combineable and changeable. In what situations your character wears glasses can be a character trait in of itself. If you prefer them, contact lenses can make you an instantly different person by changing your eye colour or pupil shape. They can indicate different species, different moods and so much more. Single day ones tend to be cheaper but year long can be quite the investment if you larp regularly.

Bits and Bobs Belts! Ties! Cravats! Bow ties! Braces! Shoelaces! Charms! Fetishes! Socks! Perfume! Bags! Tights! Aprons! Bandages! Plasters! Slings!

(And like, make up, obviously).

#larp #costume #advice #tips

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters

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Warning: contains Brooklyn Nine-Nine spoilers.

Brooklyn Nine Nine is one of the funniest sitcoms around thanks to its fantastic ensemble cast and just-broad-enough humour blended with almost-realistic cop show elements. But that great regular cast are supported by an equally brilliant array of recurring characters and guest stars. In this list, we’re celebrating the funniest of the show’s less often-seen characters, those guest appearances who’ve turned up once or twice to inject a fresh burst of comic energy into the show.

Note that we’re not counting regular recurring characters like Adrian Pimento, Madeline Wuntch, or Kevin Cozner, aka Mr Raymond Holt. If they turn up more than once a year, or in more than three episodes in one season, they’re off the list.

12. Adam Sandler, played by himself in Operation: Broken Feather, Season 1, Episode 15

Adam Sandler’s appearance as himself in Season One is beautifully self-deprecating as well as funny. His deadpan delivery of “I’m a serious person” is hilarious in just the right way – of course the real Sandler is, presumably, as serious and as complex as anyone else, but he knows his own public persona and just how to play on it in the right way to raise a different kind of laugh. The interest in antiquities, the planned film about the Russian Revolution, it’s all funny – and somewhat undercut, even more amusingly, by his taunting of Jake straight afterwards. The whole scene did help to flush out a criminal though, so it wasn’t a total loss for Jake.

Funniest moment: Admitting his “serious” Russian Revolution film features Kevin James as Trotsky, and a wife who doesn’t wear a bra through the whole film.

11. Geoffrey Hoytsman, played by Chris Parnell in two episodes in Season 2

When Jake’s lawyer girlfriend Sophia uses her boss as a transparent excuse to break up with him (by going on ‘pause’), Jake wilfully misunderstands and decides that the boss is the key problem, so he sets off to make the man like him. It all goes horribly wrong when Jake finds Hoytsman snorting cocaine in the bathroom, which Hoytsman claims he was doing accidentally while screaming loudly that Jake is arresting him to the whole room of lawyers. Sophia somehow still ends up blaming Jake – probably because she simply wanted to break up with him in the first place – and Hoytsman ends up returning to take Jake hostage and quite seriously threaten his life later in the season. Parnell’s over-the-top performance as a character who is, of course, high for much of the time, is what really sells the character.

Funniest moment: Sniffing cocaine off his collar in the middle of the police precinct.

10. Jessica Day, played by Zooey Deschanel in The Night Shift, Season 4, Episode 4

Back in 2016, both New Girl and Brooklyn Nine Nine were active Fox sitcoms, so the network decided to do a crossover event in which the New Girl characters travelled to New York City and ran into the 99. Most of the crossover scenes actually ended up in the New Girl episode, but Zooey Deschanel’s character Jess Day did make a brief appearance in the otherwise stand-alone Brooklyn Nine Nine half of the crossover. While the New Girl episode provided a lot more context for Jess’s feelings about New York and her stress level surrounding Schmidt’s mom’s car and the soup she’s carrying, her appearance as an apparently slightly nutty woman who resists Jake’s attempts to commandeer the car is an entertaining interlude during the half hour.

Funniest moment: Insisting that Jake’s oath to serve and protect applies to her soup.

9. Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown in The Box, Season 5, Episode 14

If this were a list of the show’s ‘best’ guest characters, rather than ‘funniest’, the top ranked would surely be Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown. ‘The Box’ is a tight, taught bottle episode that takes full advantage of Brooklyn Nine Nine’s hybrid status as both sitcom and cop show, and Brown’s Davidson forms a strong third of a triangle in this three-header with Holt and Peralta. It’s a really strong performance, but given that he’s playing a tough-to-crack murder suspect, not really the funniest, exactly. Still, he gets a good few laughs when appropriate over the course of a really engaging half hour of comedy/cop show crossover.

Funniest moment: When Davidson finally cracks, he cracks hard – his confession is equal parts triumphant, cathartic, and hilarious.

8. Karen Haas, played by Maya Rudolph in Coral Palms Parts 1&2, Season 4, Episodes 1&2

Maya Rudolph has a good line going in slightly weary authority figures (see also: The Good Place). Handling Holt and Peralta while they’re in witness protection is not an easy job and her exasperation at Jake’s refusal to accept his situation is well played. Haas is really funny, though, when she starts bringing her own issues into her official duties, clearly trying to get permission to cheat on her husband from someone, anyone – and Holt is happy to oblige.

Funniest moment: Whoever it is she wants to sleep with is “really young” – something that clearly shouldn’t be funny, but the face Rudolph pulls as she says it is what sells it.

7. Lin-Manuel Miranda as David Santiago in The Golden Child, Season 6, Episode 9

Miranda is marvellously smarmy as Amy’s too-perfect brother, her demanding parents’ favourite, who snubs popular culture and shows off by saving people’s lives (including Amy’s own husband). Amy’s delighted reaction when he’s arrested for cocaine possession and deep disappointment when he turns out to be innocent are highlights, but the funniest scene by far is the dance-off between David and Amy, in which both comprehensively demonstrate that dancing is not among the Santiago family’s many strengths.

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Funniest moment: David thinks elbows should form a bigger part of a dance routine than they really should.

6. Frederick, played by Nick Offerman in Ava, Season 3, Episode 8

Any time we meet Captain Holt’s friends and family, many of whom share his stoic, Vulcan-like demeanour, it’s always hilarious. JK Simmons as his old friend Dillman very nearly made the list, but he was just pipped to the post by Ron Swanson – sorry, Nick Offerman – as Holt’s ex-boyfriend. There’s a lot of crossover between Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine among the cast and crew and Offerman isn’t even the only Parks & Rec alumnus to appear on this list, but he’s probably the one whose appearance most quickly calls to mind his earlier character. The idea that Holt’s ex-boyfriend is Ron F-ing Swanson is just genius. OK, Frederick lacks Swanson’s magnificent moustache (though he has a glorious beard) and he’s even more brusque and stand-off-ish, but he’s a perfect match for Holt, even more in their post-break-up mutual antagonism than we imagine they were in their relationship.

Funniest moment: His straight-faced insistence at the door that they have a “wooden-duck situation”.

5. Mark Devereaux, played by Nathan Fillion in Serve & Protect, Season 4, Episode 14

It’s always funny any time police characters in a cop show visit the set of a TV cop show, and for added meta humour, in this case the actor playing the fictional detective is played by an actor who works on a cop show (albeit as a non-cop character). Phew! That’s a lot of layers of meta. Nathan Fillion’s pompous star who apparently thinks playing a detective makes him a detective is very funny, and it gets better when it turns out that was a ruse to cover up his own petty criminal activity before he folds like wet paper. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see more of him.

Funniest moment: Devereaux tries turning on the angry detective act from his show to cover up his own crime, only to be confronted with quite a lot more than a “shred” of evidence and fold immediately.

4. Eleanor Horstweil, played by Kathryn Hahn in Hostage Situation, Season 3, Episode 11

We heard a lot about Boyle’s ex-wife over the first couple of seasons, partly because Boyle was still living in her basement, hanging out with her new husband Hercules. We knew what sort of person Eleanor was when Boyle explained that he gets the beach house from December to February. When we finally meet her in the flesh, Kathryn Hahn does not disappoint – Eleanor is surely one of the most purely horrible characters we’ve seen on the show (and yes, we’re including all the murderers). She hits a 90-year-old priest with her car and then destroys Boyle’s frozen sperm, all with no apparent sense of guilt, and she largely gets away with it, too. But she does it all with a perfectly deadpan expression and carefree attitude, each horrifying act funnier that the last.

Funniest moment: She goes further than Jake ever thought she would when she “shoots a hostage” – i.e., throws some of Boyle’s sperm down the drain.

3. Seth Dozerman, played by Bill Hader in New Captain, Season 3, Episode 1

Bill Hader’s screentime on the show is relatively brief, but he is hilarious from start to finish, attacking the squad with every shouted command like he’s firing metaphorical bullets at them. It might actually have been really cool to see the squad try to deal with him as their Captain for more than one episode, with his extremely demanding requirements and very highly strung personality, but on the other hand, perhaps this is a joke that works better in small quantities. Any character whose dying words are “Tell my wife I love her work ethic” is probably a character better enjoyed for a shorter period of time.

Funniest moment: Both heart attacks are very funny, but the first (non-fatal) one just pips it for the sheer suddenness of it.

2. Caleb, played by Tim Meadows in three episodes in Seasons 5 and 6

Jake is shocked to discover his only friend in maximum security prison is a cannibal (though he would prefer to be identified as a wood-worker), having assumed everyone in protective custody was a wrongly accused police officer. Caleb is surely Brooklyn Nine Nine’s best streak of really, really dark humour – not only did he murder and eat nine and a half people, they were small children too. Every reference he makes to his “nightmare” past is sickly hilarious, and gets worse and worse every time, including a reference to his “skin suit”. But he really does care for Jake, even if he still kind of wants to eat him. The sheer audacity of the black humour surrounding this character is fantastic and always funny.

Funniest moment: Caleb shows that he has a softer side when he saves Jake’s life – but he immediately deeply regrets it and would not do it again.

1. Doug Judy, played by Craig Robinson in multiple episodes (one episode or two-parter per year)

Yes, we carefully defined a recurring character as someone who is either in more than three episodes or who appears more than once a year specifically so that we could include Craig Robinson‘s Doug Judy. It’s our list and we make the rules. There’s something twistedly beautiful about Jake and Doug Judy’s tender but tense friendship, even in the early years when Judy is constantly double-crossing poor Jake. The two of them have perfect comic chemistry, and each running gag in their friendship, especially their fondness for swaggering out in a new outfit or disguise, just gets funnier and funnier. Long may Doug Judy continue to turn up roughly once every twelve months to harass his long suffering best friend.

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Funniest moment: Having escaped yet again, Doug Judy leaves Jake a pre-recorded message in a karaoke booth – complete with a full hour of pre-recorded singing for Jake to duet with.

The post Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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theuniversitychallengereview · 4 years

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UC 50.13 - Manchester vs Edinburgh

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of all-conquering sporting dynasties - those that seem fair, and those that don’t. In the second category we have the likes of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in the early 2000s or Manchester City and Chelsea in modern football.

While there is undoubtedly a massive amount of sporting talent on show in each of those cases, there is something about the inevitability of their successes that makes them feel a bit unearned, be that by virtue of the vastly superior car the German had in at least three of his five consecutive championships, or the stinking piles of dirty money that has allowed Pep Guardiola to squander more than £400m on defenders in his tenure as City boss.

In the other category we have Michael Phelps, or Serena Williams and the Big Three in men’s tennis. They have exerted a vicious dominance over their sports, but without any seemingly unfair advantage over their peers, other than their sheer talent and determination (obviously they will have had various advantages that allowed them to reach the top in the first place, but I think professional sports is one of the few places where consistent greatness is truly reflective of who the greatest people are at a given thing).

This realisation, as to why I always resented Schumacher his relentless winning, while simultaneously being annoyed when someone other than Federer, Nadal or Djokovic (or Andy, of course, one of the only people to ever make me cry) won a Grand Slam (how dare they break the streak), only came to me today when thinking about the Manchester University Challenge team.

There’s just something that feels more organic, and therefore more impressive, about Federer making 34 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals than there is about the Golden State Warriors winning back to back NBA titles having signed MVP-calibre Kevin Durant off the back of the best season in NBA history (not sure how niche that reference will be to the readership here, but I already deleted a bit about him earlier on, and I’ve put a link to the story in so you’ll have to deal with it).

The Manchester Uni Challenge team of 2005-2013 fall somewhere in the middle of the two categories (so I guess there is, as with all things, another category that encompasses everything between two extremes). Those of you who have been reading this for a while (and I have no idea how many people will have stuck around even since last year) will have heard this spiel about the semi-final streak before (because I relish talking about it every time Manchester are on), but I’m going to go through it again because its a great story.

So, first of all, Manchester do have some obvious advantages over other teams competing to win University Challenge. For one, its pretty massive, with more than 40,000 students. This means its more likely for them to be able to put together a team who will make it onto the live recordings - and indeed there are only two teams (Durham and tonight’s opponents Edinburgh) who have made more appearances on the show in the Paxman Era.

However, between them Durham, Edinburgh, York and Warwick (the other two most appearing-est institutions) have fifteen semi-final appearances out of seventy five. Manchester alone have ten, with nine of them coming in a ten year period when they didn’t exit the tournament before that stage. This historic run saw them lift the trophy four times, tying with Magdalen College, Oxford for the all-time record.

The source of their sustained excellence can be attributed in part to the coaching of Stephen Pearson, a man known as the Sir Alex Ferguson of University Challenge (I really do recommend reading the linked article here). Under his tutelage, successive cohorts of students were able to create a dynasty this quiz had never seen before (and isn’t likely to see again). Thats one of the things which makes it seem fair, that the system he built allowed different sets of four students to repeat the same results.

Another is that it broke up the historic duopoly that University Challenge is famous for. Between 2008 and 2019, Manchester were the only non-Oxbridge side to win the competition, and it is the teams from Oxford and Cambridge who you can most easily level the ‘unfairness’ tag at, what with their combined ten entries a year (yes, yes, I know. If you combined the college teams you’d create a monster team and no one else would ever win (I think they would, but that’s beside the point) but that’s beside the point).

Manchester haven’t reached the semi-finals since the end of that run in 2013, but with back-to-back quarter-finals in the past two years they look to be on track for a return to the top (I’m going to look very silly after all this if they lose tonight, which you probably already know, reader).

I’d like to talk about Edinburgh too, my beloved Alma Mater who finally upgraded my degree after two years of appealing recently, but I’m conscious I’ve already spewed out a full article on my Manchester intro. I will say, however, that if Edinburgh win, there will be four Scottish Unis in the second round for the first time since ever (there are already there guaranteed for the first time since 1995).

Anyway, you’ll all be exhasuted if you’ve made it through all that, so I won’t bother with the rules; here’s your first starter for ten.

Edinburgh are introduced first, with Jeffcoat, who’s actually wearing some kind of tweed blazer rather than a coat, but I’ll let him off. Their mascot is possibly the best I’ve ever seen on the show - a framed photo of the moment Robbie Campbell Hewson won Edinbugh the title in 2019 (bottom right of below picture). They have a scottie dog too, but its the picture thats the real star.

Manchester have a pig in a hat (or possibly a scarf, or possibly something else entirely), but the main interest on their table is Jones-O’Brien, who has perhaps the first name I’ve ever seen to contain both a hyphen and an apostophe. Good job all round, there.

It is his captain, Spacey, who kicks things off in a luxuriant velvet jacket, with Jane Eyre. Manchester take a full set on the bonuses, and then another, racing off into a 50 point lead. Jones-O’Brien is whats known in the game as a leaner, and rotates his body 45 degrees towards Spacey each time Paxman reads out a question. It seems to be working though.

Jeffcoat, who has a pen stored in his blazer just incase he needs to do some working out, gets Edinburgh off the mark and shoots his teammates a wink for good measure. They zap a hat-trick out quickly too to halve the deficit.

No one gets the first picture starter, which is an arrow on a map to ‘Worthing’, and I’m not surprised - who the heck has even heard of Worthing let alone knows where it is on a map (offence to Worthing), but Manchester pick up the bonuses, which are more towns that have won Pier of the Year, as according to the National Piers Society, something I am extremely happy to hear exists but never wish to be a part of (I’m sure they wouldn’t want to write University Challenge blogs either).

Paxman laughs as Edinburgh’s Clarke gives an answer which suggests that a puffin makes a noise that sounds like the word puffin, and to be fair thats a pretty funny mental image (mental sound image?). The perfect bonus streak is over, though Manchester will manage a fourth set before they miss any five pointers. The music starter goes to Edinburgh, but they remain ten points adrift despite having been better on the buzzer, thanks to Manchester’s bonus-work.

Now, I’d actually been taking notes for once this week, but around this stage I got so caught up in the action that I quite literally was unable to pick my pen back up, so I’ll just go from memory (I know I could just slide the timer back on iPlayer, but I’m on a bit of a roll here and I don’t want to slow myself down).

Manchester went on a bit of a run at this point, opening up a lead that would probably be unassailable. By the time of the second picture round the gap was in three figures, so Edinburgh would purely be fighting for one of the high-scoring loser spots (tough first round draw for both teams this).

Jeffcoat jolted them out of their stupor with Degas (who I almost spelled as Degat. For some reason I can never spell painters names correctly. For years I though Titian was Tischen), but only a single bonus followed (though Clarke did pronounce Seurat impeccably, both as a wrong and right answer). Spacey hit back with O, but Manchester struggled for the second time tonight on science-y bonuses. They wouldn’t score another point, but they’d already won.

The two captains then guess the 8th and 2nd of December as the date of Jesus’ conception - the heat of the competition was getting to everyone - but Clarke makes up for it with Oak next time around, and Fricker comes up clutch with Flag on the next starter as well.

A full set of bonuses saw them reach 150, which would be enough to see them make the play-offs, but Winter negged on the next to drop them down to 145 (which would also have been enough, as it turned out, so I was getting too excited at the end). Clarke then got them another to put me at ease for the final few seconds.

Final Score: Edinburgh 155 - 200 Manchester

Another excellent, high-scoring game - probably the highlight of the series so far for me - and I’m very glad we’ll be seeing both sides again.

Phew, that was a long one. If you’ve made it this far (first of all, congratulations) then you might like the retro reviews I’m doing of the 2015/16 series of The Challenge over on my Patreon. To sign up for exclusive content, for as little as £1/month, you can follow this link.

Thanks for reading, see you next time out.

#university challenge #bbc2 #manchester #edinburgh #Jeremy Paxman

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latin-dr-robotnik · 4 years

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10 characters for 10 people

Thanks @beevean for tagging me!

1) Vector the Crocodile (Sonic The Hedgehog): My boy Vector doesn’t get enough love. He loves money, listening to some bangers on his headphones and taking on cases with his friends, who doesn’t love that? He also has to make ends meet, which makes him a lot more relatable than you’d think. And let’s not forget the fact that in IDW Sonic he is such a trooper, going out like a champ. Mad respect, my brother.

2) Rouge the Bat (Sonic the Hedgehog): “Fated not to be tamed // Watch me I never will lean upon you // I can go – by myself”

Rouge is a lot more than her “one polygon” or the sax guy in Sonic X going nuts every time she’s on screen, and it’s sad to see her character has gone to waste ever since -probably- Sonic ‘06, even if I kinda liked her in Forces. Rouge is a tough lass to deal with, she won’t stop until she gets what she wants, and that may lead her to push her luck a little too hard, but don’t let that take away from the fact that she also knows when to step down a bit and focus on other things, even if it hurts her ego quite a lot. She also has a soft side, and she managed to keep Team Dark together for a while now. That last point is what most fans have been pointing out over the years, so I don’t think it’s necessary to go in detail there.

She also has the best SA2 vocal theme, of course ;P

3) Rayla (The Dragon Prince): What can I say that hasn’t been said before? Even A:TLA comparisons have already been done to death (and the TDP fandom is frowning at me rn for mentioning it.) Rayla has done a lot, and she’s lost most of the ones she loved; but her determination to do the right thing and bring the Humans and Xadians conflict to an end has given her a lot of experiences, a new family and much more. There’s still lots to see from her in Season 4 and beyond, so I implore you to go watch TDP if you haven’t done so already.

4) Dracula (Netflix’s Castlevania): This is a more of a mellow, sad, tired and melancholic Dracula than I was used to (specially after coming from the old school Castlevania games), and I absolutely love it for that. The fucking Inquisition burned his wife, of course I would sympathize with him during his crusade against humanity; and now that those times are long gone, well... I miss him.

5) Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender): There’s not much else to say, he stood right by Zuko even when he turned his back on him, he wasn’t perfect, he learned some truly hard lessons in his life, but he ended up doing what he wanted to do the most: make others happy, serving them tea. This year I revisited Avatar for its 15th anniversary, and found myself crying a lot more than I remembered with Iroh’s moments. This show, man.

6) Theo (Celeste): I love Madeline to death, but Theo has struck me on a personal level. What seemed to be a happy-go lucky young man with a passion for selfies and Instagram (it’s actually real btw), turned out to be a man struggling to find a meaning in his life as he realized he kept hating the boring routine of the city life, and who isn’t going through something similar? His relationship with Madeline also reminded a lot of myself with my best friend, considering she also suffers from similar emotional struggles like Madeline. Celeste is so brilliant, and I’d love to hang out with Theo irl tbh.

7) Gaunter O’Dimm (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt): The extended universe of The Witcher is in no shortage of fucking amazing characters, but there’s one character exclusive to the third game that’s just... well... it’s evil incarnated. The motherfucker that has its own song that children sing it in the game, that plays in every cutscene where he is present or his name is mentioned, and that, should you choose the “bad” ending of Hearts of Stone, will simply walk away whistling that very fucking song. Oh, and did I mention he’s, like, EVERYWHERE during HoS main quest?

“His smile fair as spring, as towards him he draws you

His tongue sharp and silvery as he implores you

Your wishes he grants, as he swears to adore you

Gold, silver, jewels - he lays riches before you”

8) Elizabeth (BioShock Infinite): Bruh, that Burial at Sea Part 2 ending. THAT. ENDING.

(Although overall I prefer the first BioShock over the rest, the first half of Infinite with Elizabeth being cheery is absolutely unforgettable for me.)

9) Soren (The Dragon Prince): Yeah, another repeat, but can we get some salutes in the chat for my boy Soren? A true trooper, he endured all the abusive shit he was getting from his father, decided to do the right thing™ by leaving him behind, and now he’s such a badass at it! I’m still pretty much worried about his sister, Claudia, but it makes me very happy to see my boy fighting for global peace.

10) Kass (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild): I just love him a lot. I found myself several times spending north of 10 minutes just listening to him playing that accordion time and time again on different beautiful places.

Phew! That took a lot longer than I anticipated. Now I tag @skull001 @xsailormobian @isakthedragon @imilenium @isakthedragon and... and... well, I give up, anyone else that wants to do it please go ahead and have fun!

#sonic the hedgehog #tdp #castlevania #the legend of zelda #celeste #the witcher #bioshock infinite #multifandom #yeah now it shows that i spend more time playing games that watching series or movies #a:tla

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putschki1969 · 4 years

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hello! i hope you're doing well and i just wanted to say I love your blog!^^ I've just wanted to ask how you've personally been handling the Keiko drought? Seeing Wakana and Hikaru do so much recently and just nothing from Keiko (I am not super up to date but shes only been in the one ykl and then nothing since those ended right?) makes me wonder how she's doing or if she's planning her own solo career like W&H have been. Its just strange to me how silent she is now when she was by far the most

(cont.) charismatic and had the best stage presence and seemed like she enjoyed the spotlight and performing the most out of the 3 of them. maybe its just not the same to her without w and h being there? I just wonder how you’ve been taking it personally too (sorry if this is too direct) since you’ve been more used to following them and constant updates more than any of us over the years. i hope she has plans for her own sollo career down the line!

Hi there lovely anon!

I am doing good, thanks for asking.

Phew, that’s a big question, I hope I can do a good job writing a proper reply.

First of all I wanna say that it’s definitely been hard for me, harder than I might have let on. As you probably know already I am a hardcore Keiko fan, she has always been my favourite so I have missed her terribly in the time she has been gone. Going from almost daily blogposts in 2017 to literally nothing in 2018 and early 2019 was hell on earth for me. There were moments where I felt I had lost my purpose, where I just sat in my bed and cried, where I regretted all the times I did not make it to one of their lives or events. These times were tough, there is no denying that.

But then I realised there was no point in sulking and pitying myself. I tried focusing on the positive aspects (which is something I always try to do when it comes to Kalafina). The most important thing for me was to be grateful for the past ten years and to cherish everything they had done for us in that time.

Taking all the past and present interviews/statements into account I came to the conclusion that Kalafina’s “disbandment” was the most logical (and probably best) option for them (in some ways it was almost a natural progression). It gave them all a chance to take a break and Wakana and Hikaru were finally able to pursue their solo careers (something they had always wanted). Following their solo activities has kept me busy and it is making me incredibly happy. It’s so amazing to see them live their dreams.

When Keiko had her official comeback this spring, it was a huge relief, it felt great to finally see her again, to hear her talking, to hear her singing. All the YK live concerts, Keiko’s pamphlet interview, being able to attend the live in Taiwan, hearing about the Taiwan fan club event, the different pictures posted by Hikaru, Kaori and the others, the pictures uploaded by Keiko’s hair and nail salon, everything felt and still feels like a blessing. On the one hand we got spoiled with a ton of Keiko content but on the other hand it feels like I can never get enough of her. I was sad that no one posted a proper picture with her during the Princess Principal Lives and it seems like she is not really going to the hair salon anymore (or at least she doesn’t have her picture taken when she is there). So yeah, it’s been getting quiet around her again. We know she is going to attend the FictionJunction Station event in March 2020 but it’s stlil quite a while till then. Hopefully Hikaru will post some pictures with Keiko until then (I am pretty sure she will).

I think Keiko still enjoys the spotlight quite a bit, she is a natural performer and singing Yuki’s music gives her immense joy. She was practically glowing when I saw her in Taiwan. She seemed really carefree and happy. However, in her pamphlet interview it didn’t sound like she had any plans for a solo career. She doesn’t have the same aspirations as Wakana and Hikaru (writing their own music and such) so becoming a solo artist would be rather pointless for Keiko. She doesn’t just want to do anything, she wants to do something she can be proud of. Bringing Yuki’s world to life makes her proud so it’s great she can continue doing that. Yuki better write some songs for her though, that would be amazing!!

As for Keiko being so “silent”, she obviously doesn’t want to deal with social media at the moment. Just like Hikaru she could have launched her own twitter account or any other SNS account ages ago but she didn’t. That tells me that she has currently no interest whatsoever in sharing parts of her life with us. I can respect that, I am sure she has her reasons. It pains me of course but I am not gonna sit here all day complaining about the lack of Keiko content when I know it’s Keiko’s very own choice to lay low and fly under the radar. I am content with whatever content she chooses to share with us, I really don’t wanna be greedy or demanding. As I keep preaching, fans are NOT OWED ANYTHING. Yes, we want updates, yes, we want pictures, yes, we want solo releases but we have NO right to any of it. If it happens it’s great but if Keiko doesn’t wanna provide any of that then that’s it, we need to deal with it...Period.

#kalafina #wakana #keiko #hikaru #reply #Anonymous #random musings

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gofancyninjaworld · 5 years

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A Tale of Two Goals

One of the things that surprised and puzzled me for a long time about the way the Saitama and Garou fight had ended was why Saitama had branded Garou's goals as half-assed and accused the latter of taking 'the easy way out.' Most trenchantly, he said 'after all, all you had to do was defeat heroes.'

Looking at how tough it was for Garou to push himself, breaking past limit after limit, until he was hideously strong, I could see how he was misguided. But taking the easy way out? What gave?

It finally all came to me in a rush. And comes down to the goal that Garou had.

A: Just a little further...

Before I go into this, I'm going to ask you to forget anything and everything you may know about 'Boku no Hero Academia.' It's a fine series, but it's its own story with different premises, principles, characters and development. A lot of needless confusion arises when people misunderstand just how superficial the similarities are. Let's go on.

Fundamentally, Garou wanted to stand for the oppressed and downtrodden, which is a pretty heroic goal. However, he wanted to do it by scaring people straight. His goal was to become The Symbol of Fear. This is important to keep in mind. The manga has done a very nice little expansion of what he means by it. Even drunkards are to be scared straight by the reign of terror he would like to unleash on the world.

His approach to becoming the Symbol of Fear was to attack heroes. It was straightforward enough. All he had to do was beat the twenty or so strongest heroes in the world to declare himself the Symbol of Fear. Why heroes?

1. IT IS NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE STRONG. Sorry for the emphasis, but it’s important. One thing we've learned in OPM, particularly in the manga, is that there is no shortage of strong people. In the webcomic we've had to wait until chapter 106, well after the Hero Hunter arc to be introduced to the idea of there being a pool of really strong people, but the manga brings this up with the Super Fight arc and then builds on it further [link]. As Genos muses, there are many people as strong, if not stronger than heroes who don't use that power in a heroic way.

And Garou knows where to find them. After leaving Bang's dojo, he went to the previous Super Fight and won the tournament handily. He went and busted many dojos in the six months before he formally declared war on the Hero Association. But fighting strong people in and of itself is utterly meaningless to his goal. Strong people like fighting each other for whatever reason, money, pride, testosterone. Whatever. Being the strongest man fighting regular men means nothing to the general populace. Garou had to attack heroes specifically.

2. HEROES ARE LEGITIMATELY GOOD IN OPM. Garou is the opposite of Stain. Get any and all bullshit about heroes in OPM being hypocritical and somehow deserving of being punished out of your head. Leave it in BNHA. The heroes Garou beats up have individually and collectively saved hundreds of thousands of people. We've seen it with our own eyes, heroes throw themselves at monsters to save people, even if the situation isn't going to go for the hero. Not just Mumen Rider, but far, far more than that. The Tank Toppers people love to hate on? The experiences of the patients in the large hospital monsters invaded was that these guys forced themselves out of their hospital beds to protect them.

In fact, let's put some numbers on this. A large hospital has upwards of 500 beds, with three times as many people present as outpatients, staff, and visitors. Many bedridden patients cannot be moved. We learn that 5,000 people were in the shelter the Deep Sea King attacked. A stadium, such as the one Amai Mask sang at, 25 - 30,000 people. City Z and its environs will have upwards of a million people. For all these people, their personal experience is that but for the heroes present at the time, most of them would be dead. And it's not just about big numbers. The manga has further been able to show us that heroes, almost to a man (Metal Knight is the exception), value every life. They will save anyone.

Even the 'lesser' heroes, the ones who can't fight monsters, we've seen for ourselves that they've gone in to bring people out of situations too dangerous for the rescue services to operate in. Far too many people have been directly saved by heroes, or have had a friend, family or acquaintance saved by a hero, or know of someone who has for any idea of heroes not being worthy to stick.

The trust that heroes have built up over the years isn't due to the Hero Association. It isn’t due to marketing. Not due to press coverage. None of that matters. It's due to hundreds and thousands of lives saved by hundreds of painstaking, unflagging efforts, often in the teeth of great suffering. Heroes may be human and flawed, but they are legitimately symbols of hope in OPM. And thus it is that attacking and crushing them kills that hope and spreads fear. Let me put it another way: if heroes were not legitimately good in OPM, then Garou would have no reason to attack them. Garou is not policing heroes, looking for the worthy or unworthy. Indeed, the better the hero, the more valuable a target they are for him.

Putting it together, this is why Saitama castigates Garou so roundly. Garou wants peace. He wants global recognition and the impact to create this peace. Which are good things. However, instead of building it by painstakingly working on creating it by good work, he looked to capitalise on the hard work heroes had done and create fear through notoriety. It's quick! It's easy, certainly a lot easier than doing hero work. It's effortful, but it's not hard. It's a very distinct, limited and specific goal. All he has to do is beat the twenty strongest heroes and then announce himself as the greatest monster whom all should fear.

That it wouldn't be an actually useful or helpful thing to do, isn't something Garou thought too much about. Thankfully, he couldn't beat one hero, the hero called Saitama, who has challenged him to get an actual worthwhile goal and do better next time, one that is helpful and authentic to what he truly wants to be. Which is actually to be a hero. We wait to see what Garou comes back with.

B: ...So far to go yet

Phew! That's quite long! And I'd have ended it here if it weren't for my good friend @the-nysh, who has listened patiently to too many of my half-formed rants and suggested that I look at Genos too.

So, look at the picture above. See over in the right corner? There's a guy who's slumped over like a broken puppet. If he seems to be listening intently to Saitama's lecture, that's because he is.

At this point, Genos had come to the realisation that he'd made a similar mistake to Garou, one that looks much harder to set right. A little earlier in the evening, he'd had an epiphany that getting rid of his human body and reaching for body modification as a quick and easy route to power was anything but. The despair on his face is one for the ages. What next, ah we'll have to see.

That said, one of the interesting things that is happening with the manga is that ONE isn't holding his characters artificially static to match their development in the webcomic. They've done more, so they've developed more. A fuller look at all the different characters who have progressed more in manga than webcomic has got to wait for another day. In the manga, Genos has gotten a higher goal than just find and kill the mad cyborg. Long term he's set his eyes on becoming the Symbol of Strength.

Hoo hoo, let's unpack that one! It's definitely not a nice, neat goal. There are three necessary parts to it.

First, you have to be able to beat everything and we do mean everything. Any monster, any person, any threat. Not a bunch of heroes. Anything. Everything. No mistakes, no excuses. If it threatens people, you have to be able to save them from it. The requirement to seek strength is if anything even more imperative than it has been to date.

The second part is that you can't declare yourself to be the Symbol of Strength. It's like calling yourself honest -- no one believes you, whereas if other people attest to your honesty, then you're considered it. Being seen as the symbol of strength is a reputation built up slowly, by being consistently there and making the difference when it matters, so that people know that they *can* run to you and feel safe behind you because their experience is that you will use your power to end their oppression. Protecting people is something that we do find out is truly important to Genos, at least as important as getting vengeance. While he castigates himself for falling short, the truth is, Genos hasn't been doing too badly that way in the manga. Between the Deep Sea King debacle and Elder Centipede, he’s actually protected people extremely well. [I apologise, anime-only viewers, JC Staff edited out crowds whenever they could, so you missed the fact that Genos successfully both protected people while killing monsters with the G-4 robot and in City C. You also missed that he's learned to resist being distracted by people, the mistake that had cost him so dearly with the Deep Sea King and with Mosquito Girl in Season 1.]

That said, going up against monsters for whom ‘cyborg’ is a synonym for ‘tinned human’ (only no one remembers to pack a tin opener) and dealing with a public whose gratitude lasts no longer than a mosquito’s life are nothing compared to the third hurdle. The third one is the doozy: you can't become the Symbol of Strength while being a less than. If Genos is serious, at some point he will need to come from under Saitama's shadow and shine with his own light that borrows nothing from Saitama's own. Not easy when he’s got an obsessive admiration for and is psychologically over-dependent on Saitama. He will also need to break out from the frame that Kuseno has cast him in. All while having the very real handicap of being a cyborg and thus having real physical and financial dependency on the old man at least. Attaining a healthy independence from both people is an absolute must.

This is going to be some long-ass drama. Not that I'm complaining -- as long as the story has things to say, it's not going to end too quickly. :D No decisive set-piece battle will attain this goal for him. It’s a long hard road to becoming the best person and hero you can be and we have no idea how far Genos will get, but it’s a most worthwhile journey. And if there’s any one thing we know about this guy, it’s that he’s damn serious about whatever he does.

C: Wrapping up

If I were going to wrap up what these long-term goals (aspirations?) look like, it’d be this: Authentic to what you really value. No shortcuts. Actually helps the world. Makes a better person of you.

Oh, and it’s not easy. You’ll need a lot of courage to see it through.

I wait to see how these two guys get on.

#OPM #meta #long #Saitama #Garou #Genos #half-assed goals don't succeed #long-term goals #it's a long road to becoming the best hero you can be

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