#And her having something like dyslexia would have been interesting especially since its not something you see commonly in fantasys

[arson-09]

Feyre not knowing how to read… doesn’t make sense?

she said she wasnt taught to read, and other social related things because she was too young when they lost their fortune. However she says she was 8 when their mother died, and they lost their fortune soon after.

Now theres no certainty over what historical era fits the mortal lands best, which makes it harder to base at what age you learned to read but clearly women were taught (her sisters learned) but at what age? I learned to read at around 4, half the age of feyre. And historically boys were taught around the same age too (I used english Tudor era because i felt it fit the description best but if theres another lemme know) so feyre not knowing how to read because of her age doesn’t make sense

Now this could have been easily solved by her having a learning disability like dyslexia, didn’t have to be by name but make it clear she struggles because of reasons outside her control. Otherwise her not being able to read or write doesn’t make sense. Which is a common issue found in sjms books sadly, giving characters a trait or issue that makes no sense. sigh

edit: yes she was neglected, that kind of explains it but it makes me question why? i genuinely cant remember if its explained or not WHY her parents didnt gaf (which also makes her strange loyalty to her father confusing?) Maybe its just because but thats such a unfulfilling answer. Yes its common in real life for that, I can’t suspend my belief for this one. Just because doesn’t cut it for fantasy fiction books, non-fic and contemporary sure but in fantasy it feels cheap

and i wanna make it clear cause i already got a weird ass anon message, im not criticizing feyre as a character? im talking about the writing choices and how i feel about them as a reader and writer.

[ahjustroza]

Do you have any hcs abt Last Legacy modern au?

Sorry for the wait! I just write very slow 🥺😭 btw I am still writing other requests! I'll post them as soon as I finish writing ✨😌😏 And YES I still take requests😏😏😏

Lol btw I haven't played the catboy Felix tale yet but found his delicious CG. Also, there might be typos etc. My dyslexia was a hoe for the last couple of days (･_･

Last Legacy Modern Au Headcanons

Sage

Lmao the first time you went to his place you faced with an ancient-looking old computer that he found in a garage sale

"It still works"

"Sage with its monitor alone you can heat your entire house in winter"

"Aye, but I don't have to use that to get heated if you catch my drift."

Let me give you a concept: thrift store dates

You took him to a thrift store once and thought it might be fun

But at the moment you entered the store Sage found a damn fake fur jacket and gold sunglasses

He will buy anything with a famous brand logo and say it is original and is an antique

But he'll only do that to annoy people

Mostly.

Sage cares about his looks but doesn't go crazy about it

Before dating you he just lived his life like a street kid like in cyberpunk 2077

Sage and Tulsi grew up in slums and then Sage got an apartment so that Tulsi could grow up in a safe environment

He didn't go to college but made sure that Tulsi did

Sage basically works as a mercenary in the modern au as well

He travels a lot and has to disappear for a looong long time

Tulsi is used to it but you aren't

Once you two are in a relationship and he feels ready to settle down he might get a job closeby to your shared house

You made him realize that he needs his family around him

And now he is not alone to carry all the burden by himself

He knows that if he can't make it in time you will be there to help out Tulsi or take care of all the work for him

He feels lighter around you

Also, he makes many people jealous on the streets lol

Whenever you two are on a date no one can believe that you, a literal divine being, could look at a Boku no pico catboy maid-sama man like him.

He is also jealous of you

But never possessive

He likes to send you out of context memes in the worst possible times ever

Like you got Luigi and Mario animations, doing the waltz, with the Britney Spears' Toxic song during the busiest hour of your shift

He also texted "This us"

The audacity

Sage would also LOVE video games

Especially Final Fantasy games

But he suck at playing them so he makes you play instead

And he'll give instructions too

"I saw a checkpoint in the other room babe,"

"Love, I gotta run away from the boss right now."

"It's not the boss, bosses have their boss rooms. This is an obstacle"

Sage also suck at filing taxes

So good luck with that

I can see Sage having PTSD treatments because of his traumatized childhood and the life he had to live until now after settling down with you

You convinced him to go to therapy and Tulsi backed you up

So he will take medications every day

At first, you had to remind him a lot, but then he just made it an addiction and now doesn't need reminders

He was never happier and finally had a taste of a healthy and caring relationship with you

He is also not so terrible with putting the IKEA furniture together.

Felix

He got expelled from Harvard.

Then his rich father had to convince the headmaster to reconsider the decision and Felix ended up with suspension instead smh

Felix's grades are great but he has disciplinary issues

I can see him majoring in criminal justice and mortuary science

Or maybe just mortuary science

Escell was very disappointed in him.

He is also famous for dating with the valedictorian among Harvard graduates

Then they broke up and you yeeted yourself in his life

Or he yeeted himself to your arms

He literally dramatically fell one day and you happened to be close to catch him

Then the Titanic music played in the background with the slow summer rain fell down to your heads

You are hot so he was flustered

Like he internally screamed when he fell in your arms

Or shall I say fell in love?

You two then started as friends since not too later he found out that he might actually have a chance with you after you mentioned your love of video games and romance books

After starting to date he confessed that he has an AO3 account asddgf

Rime was a burden too

He was the one who broke Felix's heart

But still wanted him to only love him and him alone

Then you were like

"Hoe listen to me..."

Rime hot

But no

Felix cried until morning the day you fist fought Rime in the grocery store parking lot

AAHGDHFA

Scylla secretly approved your determination that day and watched the fight afar

Escell got drunk and Florian came home the day after for everyone's explanations

The deeper your relationship got the more a part of his family you become

I mean every Friday it was now a routine that Felix and you attended family dinner

No one even asks anymore they just put your plate down and Escell hides his most expensive wine bottles from everyone

Felix is not good to live in his own house though

He always lived with someone in the house so he wasn't alone

Ever.

When you moved into the same house with him Felix was relieved

You two will be emos together and watch fifty shades of grey movies during the quarantine

Please ask Felix if he thinks the movie is interesting, he will avoid you all day long

Then become a blanket burrito at night lmao

Oh btw he might tell you random facts about mortuary

Like you are in the shower and he comes in to brush his teeth

Then he'll tell you a fact you didn't have to know then leave

"Truly fascinating, if you ask me."

He is also the type to text you from the other side of the room

Or call you from the other room to ask you if you can bring him something to eat

Felix would also love to go to the farmers' market too

"Finally some quality food."

Whenever you two go on a vacation together

lmao someone ALWAYS takes his hand and reads his palm

Only to be ended up getting scolded and getting a proper palm reading from Felix

Anisa

Call her and ask if she wants drive tru

"Love, it is thREE IN THE MORNING, I have work tomorrow-"

"So two? Or nah?"

"Get a coffee."

Actually, she wants a cookie but won't admit it

She knows you'll get her a cookie

You always get her a cookie with coffee

Anisa might be a great investigator if you ask me

If not a detective or a police chief or lieutenant

But I think she would work in law enforcement

Or she might also start her own company and rise as well

Unlike Sage and Felix, Anisa will not live in the same house with you before she decides to settle down for good

It's not because she doesn't want you around her

But because she is always at work and doesn't want to leave everything to you to handle at home

But she is always with you on her day offs

Will call you once a day at least

Text you during her breaks or whenever she can

If you can show up at her workplace during the lunch break she will take you to the nearest coffee shop

"Their coffee is not nearly as good as yours, but among other shops, this is the most drinkable one."

She will spoil you during your dates!

She likes to see you smile and will do anything for you to have a good time with her

So expect sweets, movie nights, amusement park dates, or just traveling during both of your yearly week/month offs/breaks

She won't admit it but likes it when you try to match your clothes with hers

She will know your favorite everythings lol

Take her to a dinner date and she will be so happy and feel spoiled

She will let you paint her nails

Let you get all the hot water in the shower

Will let you wear her clothes

Pillow fights are allowed every now and then

When she gets sick she'll try to power through but likes it when you baby her

Whenever you get sick she will try to not fuss over you but every 15 minutes she'll ask to take you to see a doctor

She is a cereal gal

You might have to drag her to bed many nights because she will take work at home

Oh my god, do play dungeons and dragons with her

If you visited somewhere she has never been she will ask a lot of questions about your trip

Likes to binge a tv series you two found online

Also enjoys just silent but comfortable moments with you

When you read your book she will gaze at you

All heart eyes

Will put her favorite picture of you two as her profile picture in her social media accounts

Will like your every post

ALWAYS TEXTS BACK TO YOU. ALWAYS.

Never leaves you on read/seen

She will either give you a proper text or just let you know that she is busy at the moment

Also if you come home later than her she will ask if you want her to prepare anything special you want for dinner

otherwise, she'll do dishes that you both like anyway

If she is late, she'll call you to ask if you need anything from the grocery store, etc.

[dragynkeep]

You know I'm still pissed how they handled the whole Argus/getting to Atlas thing so let me word vomit for a bit because I have a better idea on how they get there. (Part 1) First throw Rubys, "we've gotten by without adults before" speech out the window. Instead we follow through with her calling Qrow out on his shit. At least Jaune is thinking of ideas that's more than Qrow right now. If he wants to be useless fine stay in argus or fuck off but *they* will continue the fight and get to Atlas

Qrow realizes he's being a dumb bitch is like okay fine there is one thing we can do. I can't believe this hasn't been established but here goes, there are certain access points that are safe guarded where the inner circle can get a direct message to James so he can give his permission to esquort them to Atlas. Problem is for Argus it's the military base so instead of stealing an airship they just gotta sneak into the base long enough for Qrow to get through to James

it's then decided that Maria can act as a distraction by antagonizing Cordo into a fight between them giving Kerry his old lady fight (mmm okay) and also gived pay off into their rivarly. Qrow sneaks in as a bird and gets to the communication room. Meanwhile teams rwby and jnpr go patrol the outskirts of the coast to keep the relic away from people and pick off some grimm to keep busy. This is when Adam ambushes them. Oscar gets sent back to the military base for backup and his safety

So Oscar gets sent to the base for backup to capture a high profile terrorist and also keep him safe. But since Blake and Yang haven't dealt with their trauma it attracts even more grimm forcing jnpr to double back and take care of the grimm so it doesn't make its way to the city. Rwby then *all* face Adam as a team. But he's a punk bitch and decides he has to hurt them all. So he attacks Ruby like slash to the gut and sends her flying into the ocean to either drown or bleed out

This leads to all of team wby to give a final team attack. Adam can either be killed or subdued. Meanwhile Ruby has her breakdown wondering if all this is really worth it, if she's just meant to die like her mom? Her blood and fear attract sea grimm she has the montage of bad memories but she can just barely see something or someone coming her way. Jaune most likely since he'd be closer to the water He grabs her and wraps her cloak around the wound and trying to swim to the top.

his armour however weighs him down and using one arm to hold up Ruby makes it hard to swim to the top. Here Ruby realizes it's either Jaune or one of her friends trying to save her. She now has the montage of good memories maybe even Summer saying words of encouragement. Silver eyes vaporize all grimm in the surrounding area. This gives Jaune the push to swim up and get Ruby to shore Jaune closes the wound withhis semblance but Ruby still has blood loss. Now the military comes to help

Cordo sees Adam either captured alive or dead and an injuried Ruby is quickly transported to the military base for medical treatment. We can even do a cliche but very much needed scene wher Ruby is in the afterlife and talks to Pyrrha or her mom sharing her guilt and fear of failing but they encourage her to keep going. Ruby wakes up weak but alive. Nice family moment between Yanh, Ruby, and Qrow where they all agree this fight is worth seeing to the end and they can't give up.

Cordo as thanks for capturing/killing Adam gives them a pardon and Ironwood is contacted and gives special permission for them to be esquorted to Atlas. They either leave right away needing to get the relic put away or wait until Ruby heals. Ruby and Jaune can have a nice moment where she thanks him for saving her life, he's all like you saved my life in so many ways and he couldn't save Pyrrha he wasn't about to lose her too. Volume ends with the fleet in Atlas as a cliffhanger. Fin

First off, thank you for the word vomit ‘cause we know have an essay to ready through. Never put us through this torment again, I have dyslexia.

Starting off, getting rid of Ruby’s speech about not needing adults when the show seriously contradicts her is sorely needed. It makes Ruby come off as ungrateful and arrogant, and I’m not here for it. Qrow still needed that stern telling off from Ruby because he is being unreceptive to any of their suggestions and he isn’t helping at all, but none of the others even tried to help Qrow through his depressive spiral. I’d have Ruby and Yang trying together to get through to him, but not acting like he’s a burden when he’s having a relapse and needs help.

Mentioning other ways for Ozpin’s inner circle to contact one another would’ve been an interesting point, but it hasn’t been established at all. They should have some way to contact each other, but they don’t, and it’s just like what? How the fuck do they ever contact each other, use the bog standard CCT Towers like everyone else? That’s not secretive! No wonder Cinder hacked your phone, James, get Nord VPN! 

Because of this, you run into the territory of an Ass Pull. The heroes have run into a problem and are in a dead end, but wait! Qrow has this secret way to contact James that wasn’t established before and only brings it up now rather than attempting when they were in Haven! It would require redoing things in previous volumes for that to work. 

And a quick note, the idea of the heroes sneaking into the military base has me thinking of the prison scene in Shrek 2 where Shrek’s friends break Shrek, Donkey and Puss out of jail.

Positive note, but at least here Qrow remembers that he can turn into a bird to sneak into places, which is why Ozpin gave him the powers in the first goddamn place. 

With RWBYJNR staying away from Argus because of the relic actually gives consequences to the relic seemingly drawing Grimm. They can’t remain in Argus for long without putting it in danger, but now they’re in danger of Grimm attacks and anyone against them coming across the group. But having Adam do it, especially with the whole group, doesn’t really work. I’m always one to say that Adam is a good fighter, but there is no way he could take on the whole of Team RWBY and JNR, even if Yang and Blake are struggling with their own trauma relating to him. 

If he was picking them off one by one like Blake warned Sun about, then yeah, but I doubt the group would split up like that to allow him to pick them off, and they would just be dumb to split up anyway because they’re at risk of Grimm. I like the idea of Oscar going back to get backup, because it means that the heroes aren’t so arrogant that they believe they can handle everything themselves, plus it doesn’t hurt to build good relations with the people who you want to gain passage from. 

However, the reason that JNR tracks back doesn’t really make sense when you realise that for the amount of Grimm needed for them to deal with without fear of failure, the city could easily handle themselves if they appear. The only reason that Argus was overwhelmed by Grimm in canon is because Cordovin took the mech to fight the heroes and took it away from defense. Here, the mech and defenses are still in Argus, ready to use if the amount of Grimm that would be attracted by the negativity of two people appeared. It feels like JNR left because the plot told them to, not because there’s a legit reason for them to. 

Even the whole fight between WBY and Adam has the same problems as canon. This is Blake versus her abuser, but rather than Yang overtaking the fight in canon, it’s now Ruby being thrown off the cliff that’s taken precedence. It’s the wrong person taking the attention. Also, I’m not a fan that it’s Jaune that saves Ruby when he’s not even supposed to be there, since he’s doubled back with his team. It really should be Yang, we already have problems with the sisters not being given moments to be sisters. There is one later when Ruby wakes up, but that’s shared with Qrow, and it being Jaune who saves Ruby doesn’t fit in my opinion. 

The meeting with Pyrrha/Summer and Ruby in the afterlife? I would nix that. It’s a special thing that happened between Ozma and the GoL to show the otherworldliness of the gods and that Ozma is special. It’s not a common occurance that happens a lot in RWBY like in other shows like Naruto. Also, Ruby was not that close to Pyrrha, they had a handful of scenes together before Pyrrha died. I would see it more like Penny than Pyrrha in terms of someone who’s close to Ruby, but either way the scene doesn’t really work.

I get what you were trying to do with Jaune’s character. He couldn’t save Pyrrha so he wouldn’t let another one of his friends die, but this comes with the problem of taking away a moment that should’ve gone to Yang rescuing her sister, and that by the time this fight would come, Jaune has already reached the conclusion over Pyrrha. He has already started moving on from his guilt over her dealth. 

And reading the rest of this, that’s unfortunately the feeling I get. There’s some good bits here that I think would’ve made the season better, but it feels convoluted and that once again, the plot is driving the characters, not the characters driving the plot. 

[catalinaroleplay]

Gender & Pronouns: Cis man, he/him

Date of Birth: December 20th, 1986 (34)

Place of Birth: Catalina Island, California

Neighborhood: Lafayette Square

Length of Residency: Native

Occupation: Professional Golf Player

Face Claim: Derek Theler

BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGERS: ADHD, Dyslexia, Car Accident, Suicide.

When Sylvie and Johnathan got pregnant with their second child, they weren’t ready for how different their experience with the boy would be from his oldest sister. Starting by his premature birth (by a whole month) in the middle of the holidays. He soon proved to be strong through, he wasn’t a quiet baby by any means, Gabriel tested his parents’ will power and patience every night when he made them have a taste of his healthy lungs at three in the morning, sometimes not keeping quiet the whole night. He would hear those stories continuously while growing up, especially when he brought girlfriends home to meet the family. He still thinks they are Sylvie’s finest way of making him feel embarrassed as any good mother should. It’s needless to say that he grew up surrounded by what most people envied: a good, supporting family. He was incredibly close to his parents, even closer to his sisters. His proximity with all that female energy made him inevitably stray away from some male stereotypes which didn’t make school any easier for him. He spent too much time with his mother in Carmichael Roses, which made him learn everything about flowers, including the best of each season, and as a teenager helped with their shipments for a while. The rest of his time would be spent in a green field, playing and falling in love with golf alongside his father and his older sister.

Gabriel never felt like he was a child as the other children around him. He was loud and rambunctious, yes? However, his mind was far too scarce for him, he was disruptive in class, impatient, he was forgetful of his tasks and had a difficulty in concentrating, not to mention, he constantly complained about his difficulty in reading and writing. It would take a while for the family to  this as more than a kid just being a kid, thankfully, his parents paid his symptoms much mind, and when Gabriel’s grades started tanking in elementary school, before everything got worrisome, he was sent to a therapist and diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. From that moment on, both Sylvie and Jonathan would do everything in their power to make sure that it wouldn’t hinder him in any way in his future and that he would have a chance as any other kid would, even if he was already behind by a grade from the rest of his classmates.

From the moment he was diagnosed, Gabriel remembers working harder than ever just to fit in. He was still made from the same mold as his older sister, but as a young boy he couldn’t feel more different if he tried. His diagnosis translated into anxiety to deal with most social situations, but over time, and with the proper support, not only from his family, but medically speaking, he got better. Gabriel understood that quite possibly he would never be able to function the same way other children did, and it was perfectly fine. Both himself and his parents were completely against medicating him as a child. For once they were afraid it would cause some sort of dependency, and for Gabriel, he was scared of the side effects and that instead of giving him just enough to concentrate, it would numb him out and he was not interested in that. Therapy, stress management and educational support, not to mention cognitive behavioural therapy became normal in his life. His parents hired tutors to help him study after school in attempts to keep up, but he was always a step behind no matter how hard he tried. His difficulty with learning words and how to write properly, paired with a brain who thought too fast for how slow he was able to scribble words on a page, or read them for that matter. He hated math, the symbols confused him to no end and he thought that if he never had to see math in his life, he was fine with it.

As a part of his therapy, though, to learn how to concentrate better, his therapist told him not to abandon golf, in fact, she prescribed him more time on the field, as he had described a sense of peace and quiet whenever he was swinging a golf club.

Golf would soon become his whole life, much to his father’s happiness. It was as if he was someone else when he was on that course. He managed to get the queues without having to read anything on a board and his mind had its own way of processing what his hands needed to do, the exact amount of force he needed to put in to make sure that his swings were precise. Besides, it was nice to see people praising him, instead of being concerned over something that if he had any say in it, would never hinder his professional path. It was clear that he wanted to be just like his father and it was also clear to see that Johnathan took it as a compliment, especially when he saw his son had a natural talent for the game. Gabriel would want to start competing as soon as his father and his teacher thought he would be able to do so. Competitions brought a different side of him and made his fear of failure and being a disappointment flourish. He didn’t win every tournament under his belt, by any means, but it wasn’t until he was ranked high enough to participate in the 2000’s masters that a loss hit him so hard.

Coming back home as a second placer did not bode well with what he demanded of himself, thinking that because he lacked in certain areas of his life, he needed desperately to compensate in others. Everything pertaining to Gabriel needed to be handled carefully, it was easy to see that the boy didn’t treat himself kindly upon failure and naturally, the family had been wary of it, with reason too. After the failure in the masters and with other competitions approaching, he turned to performance enhancers. There was no denying his head felt more in the game, and he did better in practice. It wasn’t until the next year’s masters that he even attempted to take one for an official competition. He was busted, of course, his reputation tainted and he never saw his father as disappointed with him as he was at that moment. It was agreed that maybe he should take a break from the game, handle the penalties that were put his way and try another time, in a few years perhaps. Not knowing what he would do with his free time, Gabriel turned to working for Carmichael Roses, helping his mother with shipments and anywhere he couldn’t mess up. Golf had put him in a certain place at the school’s social hierarchy, but things definitely changed after his use of drugs hit the national news.

His next few years in school were a way for him to rebuild his reputation. He stopped using the enhancers and logged in extra hours in the therapist’s office to try and deal with the feelings properly. He got himself his first girlfriend, which would not end well on both parts, and while he wanted to follow the family’s footsteps and aim high for Stanford, he knew it was an unnecessary risk for his well being and years of treatment to try and fit in alongside people who were, for the lack of a better word, overachievers. By the time he was 17 years old, he had returned fully and carefully to golffing and because of the game, and how he was so good at rebuilding his image (alongside a marketing team, of course), Gabriel landed a sports scholarship to UCLA. Getting a superior education and having something to fall back on was Sylvie’s condition to let Gabriel play his game. It would soothe her heart, she used to say, but he was pretty sure that after the stunt he pulled on her, she would never stop worrying again. His father, on the other side, had forgiven him entirely after he apologized and swore to him he wouldn’t take anything. Truth be told, Gabriel missed the way golf made him feel, and while he had his fun while working at Carmichael’s, nothing quite compared to the thrill of being recognizably good at something.

His time at UCLA came with a nasty break, but breezed through. He was happy for the scholarship, although it wasn’t really necessary. He was the first, in a long time not to attend Stanford, but his parents seemed to be okay with it. He was trying and while he was going through college for his mother, there was nothing that could make him feel interested there. During the four years of university, Gabriel concentrated more than never in what he was there for. The close proximity with Catalina, made him able to commute and be home to practice with his father whenever the man could. Soon he would be making headlines again. Sports channels predicted a larger than ever return, because up until his 18th birthday, he had been only playing in minor tournaments, ranking himself up again, rebuilding his reputation from the ground up and handling all sorts of jokes from his peers. He would go on to play his next masters at 19, this time coming home with a victory, and that scene would repeat itself for the many years to come.

It wouldn’t be easy, but by the time he was 24 he managed to get his degree in psychology and the whole family was there to see it. Among every trophy and medal he had conquered so far, getting his diploma meant more to him than Gabriel was willing to admit. It meant, more than anything else, that he had conquered his childhood difficulties, and while he would always live with them in one way or another, he had spent years learning how to make himself better. Ever since he had enough money to do so, Gabriel has been very vocal about his support for organizations who do their part for kids who went through what he did and did his best to educate other people on what that meant for him and what it would mean for other children who had different experiences and harder experiences than he did. For years and before starting his own organization once he had a good influential level, he was a spokesperson for children and their parents. Especially those who weren’t as lucky as him. His condition was also one of the reasons why he chose his degree, and what made him even more proud to have gotten it. After his diploma, Gabriel would once again settle back in Catalina, despite his constant travels, the island would always be the home he would return to.

The next year, one day after his 25th birthday, Gabriel would receive a call in his parents home telling him of the passing of his best friend. Few things had been pivotal in changing the way Gabriel thought about things, or caused disruptive changes in his life. Peter had been someone he knew since he was 2 or 3 years old, he was always with the family, almost glued to Gabriel’s hip in a way and he had commited suicide. Gabriel was devastated and numb at the same time. He would spend his next few months (and the rest of his life) doing everything to support Peter’s family, but even when everyone had moved on, he didn’t. He got depressive and reclusive, only leaving home for practice and even then, he took too many weeks off the game to process what had happened. While Sylvie and Johnathan had raised their children in a free environment, as a young boy, Gabriel had turned to the catholic church for many answers, he was regular in his attendance to Sunday church, he had a good relationship with the community, he went to the confessional weekly and thought that all those rituals brought his mind some peace, but once Peter passed away, there were no answers his church could give him. He went soul searching, he took a break from the game, traveled places, met new religions, but none quite spoke to him like spiritualism. He doesn’t know now if he considers himself to have broken up from catholicism, but he definitely found a place that gave tranquility to his heart when nothing else had done ever since Peter died. Gabriel’s depression gave place to peace and he was able to close that chapter in his life.

From late 2013 to middle 2020 Gabriel collected trophies and ranked high among other golf players such as his own father (who had retired to take care of his family) and Tiger Woods. He got endorsements, appeared (much to his chagrin) in underwear commercials. He was officially sponsored by Nike for the 2014 Rio Olympics and while he didn’t come home with a gold medal, he knew how to deal with that now. Despite his romantic slip ups, and those were many, Gabriel didn’t lose his place as a hopeless romantic, saying in many interviews, he wanted what his parents had: someone to be with him for the rest of his life.

Enter Rebecca. They would meet at a journalist and players get together after a particular game, during interviews. Truth be told, Gabriel never cared for any sport other than golf, but he would listen to her going over football plays forever. He was struck from the moment he met her. He would ask her out on a date, which would not go good, and be fairly surprised when she was the first one to contact him the next day. They would be together for three years total before Gabriel popped the question. He didn’t do it in the middle of the field, or anything for the world to see, it was just between the two of them. She would go on to plan the wedding alongside his mother and while being a romantic at heart, Gabriel knew better than to put himself in the middle. As the wedding approached, Rebecca changed, Gabriel brushed it off for wedding jitters, since the nuptials were so close. It would be an intimate ceremony, just the family, no media, no press, no nothing. It wasn’t until he knocked on her dressing room door on the morning of their wedding that he found a small note. She had ran away with her best friend, and claimed to be in love with him. Gabriel never took such a high leap again, but he still made some minor mistakes for love over the next few years. He had to go through some awkward press conferences after he was left.

Gabriel was thankful to have his game to fall back on. Rebecca had been a big part of his life for the last four years, but he needed to move on. In some ways, he was happy that she was happy. Was there anything he could ask more? He started prepping for the next Olympics and ranking high enough to be a part of the team. He was okay with being resumed to the one thing he loved the most (aside from his niece and nephew, of course). Being left at the altar only hyped people’s interest over him, his PO box had never been more full and he had good laughs about it.

Around November 2020, Gabriel got into a car accident with another friend. They were just making a short ride from his parents’ house to his friend when a car came straight towards theirs. In an attempt to get rid from the collision, Gabriel’s friend swerved and they ended up hitting a tree instead. His friend had the seatbelt on, but Gabriel, because the ride was so short, didn’t. In attempts to soften the blow and buffer the impact, he put his right hand on the dash, which caused him to dislocate his shoulder, shatter his thumb, broke his wrist and tore a ligament. A concussion cost him his consciousness and he would only wake up hours later after the surgery was done. Naturally, he was worried about his game, and was relieved when the doctor explained that the injury wouldn’t cost him his grip or his swing, but he needed to be careful, take it easy and not overstep himself and injure himself further. It would take him months to return fully and he needed to be patient with himself, although patience wasn’t exactly what Gabriel was known for.

Since the injury took him out of any future competitions, Gabriel has moved back to Catalina full time now, getting himself an apartment in Lafayette Square, large enough for him and his big ball of fur. His mother has been overwhelmingly around, but he doesn’t complain about it. His time is both devoted to his physical therapy and everything he needs to do, but also he has been spending a lot of time on the organization he has helped fund about two years ago and became his baby. The Smile Foundation came from an effort to help underprivileged children with learning disabilities to reach their full potential, Gabriel spends most of his time now at their building close to his home and makes sure to speak to children and parents alike. Since it’s non-profit they thrive out of other people’s volunteering and donations, and they have been offering a good space. Naturally, Gabriel is doing everything in his power to return to where he left, but it doesn’t mean that for the first time in forever he hasn’t been enjoying some off time from the game.

PERSONALITY

Positive: Optimistic | Spontaneous | Fair-minded

Negative: Restless | Tactless | Naive

Gabriel Livingston is portrayed by Rosa.

[petersheart]

me again, i sent you the big long 2 part finn rant! i found you on tumblr bc on ao3 in you profile you had a tumblr (which i presume was an old username) but when i looked it up this acc came up! i think maybe the fic you're thinking of, and i could be wrong here, is "independent" but peakyblinders1919. i read that a while ago and it was the first fic i ever saw that tried to fill in finns plotholes. i also thought maybe he had dyslexia or smthn and i would SO LOVE to see the shelbys (part 1/2)

(part 2/2) teaching him to read. i also always think about how finn is an orphan and was pretty much only raised by pol and yet she doesn’t seem particularly close to him? you would think he would be like a child to her but michael comes along and she drops finn like hot shit. tbh it feels like everyone drops finn when michael comes along. & i see it alot around tumblr but loads of ppl say “finn was/is closest to arthur” (part 3) do ppl just presume that bc arthur is the oldest and finn is the baby or is there a scene i missed somewhere? bc yes i see that arthur is one of the few who show finn affection but he’d also the meanest imo what with finn not being able to breath without being told to shut up or fuck off. but don’t get me wrong i love the idea of finn being closest w/ arthur. thoughts? ❤️ (ps sorry for spamming, but u seem just as concerned about finn as me 😂)

noo dont say sorry, i love your messages a whole lot, and i appreciate getting to ramble on about this!! I got so excited when I saw you were back!

I also feel like I should clarify that all my opinions mainly come from what I read out of scenes, since we’ve seen very little of this stuff, and alot of this isn’t “facts” but just how i see it

I was actually just thinking about Finn and Pol today! In math class bc you know, it was boring

Theres a scene, very short, in s2ep5, (i think michaels just been arrested and Pol is LIVID) they’re having a family meeting, and she goes “This life is ALL BAD” and she walks over and grabs Finn’s arm, and he lets her drag him out of the meeting only asking “what are you doing aunt pol???” and she answers “just shut up and walk,” and that he does. And none of the siblings say anything? Just looks on? It’s one of the few times, after the first ep, we get a very clear show of Pol’s feelings about Finn. And it shows the respect the others have for her and her responsibility over Finn, since none of them argues with her. I really wish we could’ve gotten more of Finn’s reaction to the whole “Pol suddenly having a son” thing, and the fact that Michael so quickly got a better position than Finn, though I guess it was because Michael is older. and i know that they only have so much time and so many characters and a whole plot to tell but still, my heart aches for those family feels and i do totally agree with you on how it seems like everyone drops finn the second michael arrives, and it hurts my heart. I feel like even if they haven’t shown it too much, they have built up that kind of view that Pol stepped up and took care of Finn after their mother died? that we’re meant to assume that? maybe its just fanon, idk, i just really wish we got more of that. she barely reacted when she got told Finn had gotten shot in s5????? Like what?? I know that it was probably because he wasn’t in any danger but stilll! and once again; there’s much potential angst and fluff studying that relationship! 

Also for the other part, I think Arthur telling Finn to “fuck off” and stuff, is his own a little misguided way trying to protect him. Finn is his kid-brother, always will be, and especially in the first seasons none of the shelbys wants Finn, for his own best, to be in on all the “grown up” shit they do. Arthur, kind of like Polly I guess, wants Finn to stay out of things for as long as possible, and that means him “fucking off” in serious meetings or him staying out of it when shit hits the fan. Arthur is more open with his care than Tommy, but is also very a kind of “tough love” guy. The scene in s4ep2, when Finn gets to sit at the table, and Arthur grabs him and says “Little Bastard. Sending his fucking kid, Sergeant Major, to do men’s work.” The acting is so great, like that HURT and its right after they lost John,  and i feel like it says alot about Arthur’s relationship with Finn, and how he views his little brother as just that - little, and wants to spare him for the kinda life his older brothers have lived and still do live. 

I think Tommy’s way of protecting Finn is trying to make him more hardened, more of a man, and teaching him the right ways to do things, how to survive in this life they’ve made themselves, while Arthur is more on the “keep him out of it, keep him safe that way” side, at least at the start, and it’s a very interesting contradictory

ALSO the scene i mentioned over when finn gets to sit at the table, it hurts when you later watch the scene where finn admits that he isn’t john which i could go on and on about, and i think it must be quite heartbreaking for Arthur to see that just as much as he wanted to keep his little brother out of “the life,” Finn maybe didn’t actually want it either when he realised what it meant?? and still he was brought into it because honestly, it was bound to happen, they never couldve kept him out of it even if Arthur really wanted too and maybe thats me going a bit off my feelings and not something that clearly shows in the actual show of course s5 fucks all that over but, well

can they please give us more family scenes, i need to see some brotherly bonding or angst with finn, i mean come on

i could continue but this is getting so so long, but yeah, dont hesitate sending me more asks, i love talking about finn and worrying about this poor boyo

[avengers-nextgen]

For each kid, what would be the most painful thing to lose?

Okay, so I’m going to try and go the less obvious route here because I think it’s more interesting and not base these entirely off of loved ones or significant others. James: Losing his sense of purpose. All of his life he’s grown up with the idea of becoming a hero and doing good things. It’s a huge part of his identity, and he’s pretty much the only one in the group who doesn’t have a major defining interest, moment, end goal, or ambition. If he ever lost sight of what his purpose in life is it’d hurt him. It’s partially why he tries so hard to define good and evil as a black and white concept. It’s why he’s so hesitant to even consider that people like Sage can be good and bad. For him it’s always been one or the other. It’s also why he tries so hard to justify his growing attachment with Fox because-like Sage- she’s in that thin grey area. Not good or bad just human. Fox: To me the most painful thing she could ever lose is her sense of dignity. It’s one of the few things she’s managed to hold onto despite all of the crap she’s been through. If it somehow was ruined it’d be very hard for her to find a reason to get back up again. It’s the entire reason she’s managed to survive so long. Just to keep her chin up and even if she’s not feeling it-exhibit dignity and confidence. It doesn’t matter what people have done to you, you make yourself confident or weak. Which means something extremely devastating would have to happen in order to destroy her dignity. Siyanda: Watching her kingdom slowly degrade right in front of her and she’s unable to help. It’s one of her worst fears. It would emotionally destroy her to feel so helpless and at the same time feel like she’s supposed to be doing something. It’d be easier if it happened quickly. If it was over with, and you didn’t have to think about it much, but the lengthy decline is sort of like watching a person starve to death. It’s absolutely horrible. She loves her home more than pretty much anything else in the world and there’s a deep spiritual connection there as well. It’d be devastating. Thalia: Losing hope. Thalia’s always been resilient and hopeful. While it makes her seem naive at times she’s only trying to believe that things can change. If she lost hope It’d not only effect her but everyone else around her as well. If she can’t believe that she and the others make a difference in the world then it takes away any point in fighting. It would become a waste of energy. And that’s ultimately what’s happened to Thor. He’s just lost hope. After spending so many years fighting he just can’t believe that he makes a difference anymore. Thalia’s hope is what separates her from her father and it’s also what unites the people around her. Nathaniel: Well, he’s already lost a lot but I think one of the most painful things for him to lose would be his relationships. He thrives on making others happy and he adores seeing people grow. He members baby James and baby Alex and he’s just so full of love all of the time. It’s why he’s always afraid he’s messed up the relationships he has with his siblings. Even if you’re not close with him it would hurt. He’d feel like it was his fault and he gives everyone a tiny piece of himself. So if you break off that bond you take that small part of him with you, and if doesn’t come back to him. Piper: Creativity. Piper sees everything from a completely different perspective. She’s a creative soul to the very bone. All throughout school she hated the basic black and white. Technology is supposed to be innovative and inspiring. If she ever lost that creative drive she’d become very depressed. Things would be glum, and it would take all the joy out of building, planning, creating, and just dreaming. She’s always been the girl with a vision whether it’s achievable or not. Creativity is what makes Piper: Piper. Without it she’s just another scientist in a dull lab doing work because they have to. Scout: I think that aside from what @mug-full-of-classic-rock said with the dementia head-canon-Scout losing his eyesight would be horrific. He wouldn’t be able to read like he used to, wouldn’t be able to process things as quickly as before, and he’d miss the expressions of his fiends. He doesn’t smile much on his own but he loves the smiles everyone else has. There’s so much visual information in the world that her thrives off of just by being an observer, that if he was no longer capable of that he’d be crushed. Orion: Hearing. Music grounds Orion. He’s very collected on the outside but he’s extremely messy on the inside. He has to balance two worlds, and atmospheres, that each have their own set of challenges/ problems. There’s earth and there’s space. The only constant throughout it all is music. It’s the only thing that connects the two hemispheres of his life. Losing the ability to fully enjoy music for all its worth would throw his inner balance off. He’d be a complete mess. Alex: Losibg her sense of compassion. She’s always been the girl to give people her all. She’ll pour her heart and soul into you without asking for much in return. While James worries about her because of this trait-it ultimately makes everyone happier. It’s nice to see someone so warm and caring despite the cold reality of life. If she became calloused and uncaring it’d make everything seem bleaker. Sort of like Thalia’s hope, Alex’s compassion helps hold things together. It’s what makes her the Alex everyone loves. Sage: Magic. It sounds shallow and stupid, but magic is the only continuity in her entire life. It’s the one thing that remotely connects Sage to her father, it’s what connects her to Enzo, and it’s what made her friendship with Bianca even possible. Most of the good things-despite the bad things- in her life have happened because of magic. To lose it would be icing on the cake and I don’t want to really think what would happen if it did somehow go away. Bianca: Bianca’s harder to pin point on this one because she’s still trying to assert her own identity. I think what she values most is her voice. Having an opinion, being able to vocalize interests, and expressing emotions are all things she never had before. It helps validate the fact that she’s a real person. Losing that all over again would crush her spirit. It’d make freedom always seem like a temporary thing when it should be permanent. Penelope: Believe it or not the most painful thing for her to lose would be her Dyslexia and ADHD. While it’s challenging at times it’s what makes her-her. She wouldn’t trade it for the world. It puts things in a constant perspective that people have challenges, individual challenges that effect day to day life. She also loves showing people that you may not be perfect but you can still function as a productive member of society. Penny hates when people use disabilities, disorders, or other troubles to escape every day responsibilities. Arthur: His sense of self worth. It took Arthur ages to build up his confidence and self esteem. For a long time he felt like he just wasn’t worth anything. Wasn’t worth the money his dad used for his surgeries, wasn’t worth anyone’s time, and wasn’t worth anyone’s affection. He’s come a long way and is really rocking self confidence. The last thing he or Chloe would want is for him to lose all of that and have to start from scratch. Chloe: Inspiration. Losing inspiration is one of the hardest things in the world to respark. Once you get burned out it’s hard to find joy in something you used to love. It would take a lot of comfort and security out of every day life. It would be especially difficult to lose inspiration for writing since it functions as a huge and healthy outlet for her. Enzo: His ambition and childishness. He’s such an excitable kid and he wants to do so much that sometimes it seems he gets over loaded with hopes and dreams. Still, losing his ambition and his childlike wonder would make things too grey and cruel for him. In a way it’s a defense mechanism, but it also is just who he’s always been. A kid with a big heart and big hopes. It would also hurt Sage to see his spirit ruined, she admires his ability to be so positive, and even if she doesn’t say it she kind of wishes she was more like him.

[midnight-writing]

ᴛ ᴇ ᴍ ᴘ ʟ ᴀ ᴛ ᴇ

ʙ ʏ

dog dad

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╭──────────────────╮

s ᴛ ᴀ ᴛ ᴜ s • Completed

ᴛ ʀ ɪ ɢ ɢ ᴇ ʀ s • Death, light amount of blood within images, mention of bullying, and mental disorders.

ғ ᴀ ᴄ ᴇ ᴄ ʟ ᴀ ɪ ᴍ • Maddie Hasson

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ᴄ ᴏ ɴ ᴛ ᴇ ɴ ᴛ s ˎˊ˗

i Teaser

ii Name iii General

iv Appearance v Personality

vi Health vii Combat

viii Stats ix Background

x Relations xi Roleplay Info

xii Author’s Notes

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❝I’m not great at the advice can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?❞

—Chandler Bing, Friends

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ᴏ ᴄ ᴛ ᴇ ᴀ s ᴇ ʀ ˎˊ-

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Girl On Fire

“There is a girl

She is wise

and wary of flames

but still, she knows

she will survive the fire

life scorches sometimes.

she has been a phoenix before

and every time

she burns to ashes

she knows

exactly how to rise

again.

She carries

destruction grief

carved river deep in her bones

specializes in

wrecking ball

knows how to bring

the whole thing down

surveys the broken

claims it as wholeness

and names it all good

she knows well

the holy necessity

of beginning again.”

-Jeanette LeBlanc

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ɢ ᴇ ɴ ᴇ ʀ ᴀ ʟ ˎˊ-

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—full name

Kallel Hope Hartman

People don’t bug her too much about her name, besides about it being a rarer name.

—meanings

[Kallel] Laurel, Keeper of the Keys.

[Hope] The feeling that a desire will be fulfilled.

[Hartman] Strong man.

—aliases

Kallie. This is what she goes by since she’s not a huge fan of her full first name, everyone calls her this except her step mom.

Kal. Something her best friend Caleb calls her and sometimes her dad does too, there’s no reasoning behind it and she doesn’t mind it.

—age

16. She can be a bit immature at times, but most of the time she acts about her age.

—gender

Female. She was born this gender and has never really thought about changing it.

She/Her

—birth

June 6th in Minneapolis Minnesota. Gemini.

—species

Demi-god

—Godly-Parent

Nike. The Greek Goddess of Victory

—attraction

Bisexual and Biromantic

❝Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.❞

—Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

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ᴀ ᴘ ᴘ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ᴀ ɴ ᴄ ᴇ ˎˊ-

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Kallie is only a little smaller than average height for her age, she is 5’ 3”. She is on the thinner side weighing 110 lbs. She may be a bit thin but she’s fit and has a bit of strong muscle. She doesn’t eat a ton of junk and keeps active since she is on track team.

Her Hair is a light blonde and her eyes are hazel with a strong brown hue. Her hair is straight and soft, usually up in a messy bun or a ponytail. Her eyes are darker in color and she has under eye bags due to not getting enough sleep every night. Her eyelashes are of a medium thickness and length. She has 20/20 vision and has never needed visual assistance. Her eyebrows are thinner, slightly arched and about the same color as her hair.

Her skin doesn’t really have any freckles, or birthmarks, but she has a tiny dot near the left corner of her lips. She gets blemishes ever once in a while due to being a teenager, but does not use makeup to cover it up and normally doesn’t wear makeup at all. She has a thin scar of a line going from the bottom of her left ear towards her nose. Her hands and feet are smaller and thin due to being small boned. Her hands are in between soft and rough since she plays sports and sometimes works on cars, outdoor equipment, etc…

Kallie tends to wear shorts until it becomes way too cold to. She wears a lot of t-shirts, hoodies, flannels and ripped jeans. She mainly wears darker colors and more neutral tones, a lot of black, white, and gray. She rarely wears dresses, during formal occasions there’s a stronger chance of her wearing a feminine styled suit. She doesn’t care too much about her appearance and mainly focuses on comfort.

❝She wasn't looking for a knight, she was looking for a sword.❞

—Atticus

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ᴘ ᴇ ʀ s ᴏ ɴ ᴀ ʟ ɪ ᴛ ʏ ˎˊ-

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P E R S O N A L I T Y T Y P E

ENFP-T

ᴍ ᴀ ɪ ɴ ᴛ ʀ ᴀ ɪ ᴛ s

Stubborn | Sarcastic | Independent | Altruistic

Strong-willed | Outgoing | Curious | Absent Minded

Kallie can be very stubborn at times, if she does doesn’t want to do something she will or won’t, she doesn’t let peer pressure affect her too much unless it’s over something not serious that would affect her in the long run. Being strong-willed can connect to her stubbornness since when she wants to do something she will do it no matter how difficult a task or how long it takes her. She’s friendly and outgoing to most people as long as they don’t do anything to offend her, she tries to be friends with as many people as she can. Although she likes having friends, she can be by herself for a while and do things herself since she is independent and may not feel the need of another person to be present all of the time. Due to her being both curious and absent minded she can get distracted easily. Her mind will lead to something else and may throw her off task from time to time. She also tends to ask a lot of questions about unknown things due to her curiousness. Being altruistic or selfless leads her to put others before herself, if someone else needs help she is likely to put herself in danger to help them without being in ti to benefit herself.

She tends to tap on tables or her leg without realizing it along with picking at loose threads on her clothes, peeling paint on objects, or loose stickers. Picking at things tends to happen more often when she is nervous or in a stress inducing situation. When she is happy she tends to have energy and be talkative, which becomes stronger when she is excited, she’ll be more willing to socialize with someone who she may not like as much. The opposite will usually happen when she is sad or angry, she will become less energetic and less talkative, although she tries not to let a lot of negative emotions show since she doesn’t like bothering people with them or talking about her feelings. When in social situations like parties she tends to try and initiate conversation with people she doesn’t know well as long as they don’t seem to be in a sour mood or bothered by her. If it’s her friends she’ll speak to them no matter their mood and try to make them feel better.

Kallie is claustrophobic and does not like to be within small spaces that have no area to escape from, it isn’t as bad as some people have it since she is okay as long as there is a way to get out of the small space when she begins to panic. She has a slight fear of needles but it has dwindled as she has gotten older, she can’t look whenever they are used and sometimes needs a stress reliever, she won’t pass out but she will be quite anxious during the process. There’s no real cause for these fears within her past, she just has never liked small spaces or needles.

F A T A L - F L A W

ㅤOver confidence.

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❝She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.❞

—Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor and park

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ʜ ᴇ ᴀ ʟ ᴛ ʜ ˎˊ-

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Kallie has only some visible muscles on her biceps, but she is fit and healthy. She has a flat stomach although with slightly defined abs. Overall her body is thinner since she is smaller boned and has a faster metabolism than most people. She also stays fit due to going to the gym at least once a week depending on her schedule, playing sports helps her stay fit too. She is also naturally more athletically bit due to her godly-parent. She tends to eat more snacks, but works them off.

Overall her skin is pretty clear of scarring, there are random small ones from working on things and playing outside when she was younger but she does have a thin scar of a line going from the bottom of her left ear towards her nose. She has no need for visual hearing assistance since both her eyes and ears function well.

Her immune system is pretty well and works as well as the average person, she gets sick every once in a while but due to her lifestyle being a bit healthier she tends to not catch the cold when it’s going around.

She has both Hyperactive-impulsive ADHD and Dyslexia due to being a Demi-god.ㅤ

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❝Normality is a paved road: It's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.❞

—Vincent van Gogh

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ᴄ ᴏ ᴍ ʙ ᴀ ᴛ ˎˊ-

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Kallie is pretty agile but her hits don’t do as much damage as she wished they did. She doesn’t really have an algorithm with how she fights someone yet, she just does whatever seems right at the moment and doesn’t really plan her hits. She usually only fights in self defense and usually is pretty lucky about how much damage she takes in a fight. She knows the basics of self defense since she has taken a couple classes in the past.

Kallie’s main weapons are her fists, pepper spray or anything else she can grab, but she rarely uses anything lethal. Once she is taken to Camp, her main weapon will become a celestial bronze sword, which she would find she has the most confidence in using.

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❝It doesn’t matter what you are, it only matters what you do. It’s your choice.❞

—Sam Winchester, Supernatural

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s ᴛ ᴀ ᴛ s ˎˊ-

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sᴛʀᴇɴɢᴛʜ

8/10

She is on the stronger side due to the influence of her mot. She is a bit stronger than an average person her height and weight naturally would be. She wants to gain strength so she can feel more confident in defending herself when needed.

��ᴇʀᴄᴇᴘᴛɪᴏɴ

6/10

She is aware of what’s happening around her most of the time and has natural battle instincts, although since she becomes distracted easily she can lose track of events that are happening and what she is doing. She is okay at reading people’s emotions, most of the time she can interpret how they feel, but sometimes she may be oblivious.

ᴇɴᴅᴜʀᴀɴᴄᴇ

9/10

Her endurance is pretty high since she was always taught to be tough and keep going even when it gets difficult. She’ll get right back up after being down, both emotionally and physically. She can run for a while longer than the average person, especially in the case of meeting a goal.She can endure quite a bit of pain, though she’s also stubborn enough to keep going even if its a lot. Emotionally her endurance is pretty good also.

ᴄʜᴀʀɪsᴍᴀ

7/10

She does very well in social situations since she is an outgoing and friendly person. She’s also pretty good at fooling people when telling a lie. Most of the time people believe what she says since she’s not one to lie about anything that would hurt anyone. She’s not much of a flirt and can be slightly awkward when it comes to romance since she doesn’t think about romance often.

ɪɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ

6/10

She is more street smart than book smart, her lowest grade being a C in math due to the trouble she has understanding the subject. She has mainly Bs in her other classes, she tends to get As in the more hands on classes that she has as electives. Though it’s difficult to keep her grades consistent since she has moved schools quite a few times.

ᴀɢɪʟɪᴛʏ

9/10

She is very quick and flexible and has always been. She participated in gymnastics when she was younger, leading her to be quite a bit more flexible than the average person. She is quicker too since she runs a lot and focuses on being faster when participating in track practice or a meet.

ʟᴜᴄᴋ

6/10

Her luck tends to be pretty good, it’s better than the average person due to her mother’s influence. When guessing she is more right than wrong most of the time, especially when guessing who’s going to win something. She does believe in luck and that 13 is her lucky number.

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❝Being underestimated is one of the biggest competitive advantages you can have. Embrace it.❞

—Unknown

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ʙ ᴀ ᴄ ᴋ s ᴛ ᴏ ʀ ʏ ˎˊ-

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Kallie was born into a good environment, her family loved her and they had enough money to be comfortable. At a young age she learned about hard work since her parents didn’t give her an allowance unless she did her chores and didn’t misbehave too much, the same went for her siblings. She was a very active child, she had a lot of energy, and was always wanting to play inside or outside. She would often try and help her dad fix things around the house or in the garage. She could often be found taking clocks or random electronics apart to try and put them back together again, this led her to discover her hobby of tinkering.

In 1st grade when Kallie was 6 she was diagnosed with ADHD. She had been falling behind the other kids a little since she seemed to have attention problems. This caused her teacher to call her mother and talk about it. Soon Kallie was taken to a pediatrician and was diagnosed. Around the age of 6 she also discovered her love of videogames when she began playing games with her brothers when they let her.

She also learned the lesson of grieving and strength when she lost her mother at 8 years old. Carolina had died in a car crash due to a drunk driver, both drivers had died. It was difficult for her to lose her mother since she was very close to her and didn’t quite understand what had happened since she was younger,, but together as a family they supported each other.

Kallie joined a small dance team when she was 9 and managed to make quite a few friends on the team and school but eventually grew apart from a few as she moved on to middle school. During middle school she joined the track team and the lacrosse team. She quickly figured out she was pretty good at sports and was naturally athletic. Although she had found joy in the teams at school, she found a bit of struggle in academics due to her ADHD, especially within her math classes. She had also become a target for a few girls that would pick on her weight and grades, but her friends helped her cope with it.

Once she moved onto high school Kallie had lost a few more friends but still had multiple that she enjoyed spending time with. She also met Caleb freshman year when he moved to Minnesota from England. They quickly bonded and over the years became best friends. She had a boyfriend her sophomore year that ended in a bad breakup at the beginning of that summer. During her high school years she participated in track, swim, and lacrosse, along with the dance company she had been in for years. Being on that many teams kept her busy and also added to her struggles in school, but she didn’t really mind. The bullying continued throughout high school but gradually diminished.

After highschool Kallie moved into her own apartment and began college. She picked an engineering degree and worked at a local restaurant as a waitress. Her wage and tips were the main source of her income but sometimes she would work as a handyman within her apartment complex if the landlord didn’t come to fix something quick enough or she’d help fix people’s cars if she could.

ㅤ ❝She needed a hero so that’s what she became.❞

—Unknown

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ʀ ᴇ ʟ ᴀ ᴛ ɪ ᴏ ɴ s ˎˊ-

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m o t h e r

❝N/A.❞

status: [Unknown]

Nike left Steven (her father) as soon as she was born so she never knew her mother or knew that she was a goddess. Her father knew but had made the agreement to never tell.

f a t h e r

❝He may be forgetful sometimes, but he always has good intentions.❞

status: [alive]

Steve(n) and her were really close but they’ve gradually separated. He cares a lot about Kallie but sometimes work gets in the way of spending time with her. When Nike and him were together, he was apart of a city level hockey team, though now he is a business manager.

s t e p - m o t h e r

status: [alive]

❝Her and I don’t exactly see eye to eye.❞

s t e p - b r o t h e r s

❝Sometimes he’s a bit too serious, but I still love him.❞

status: [alive]

Alex(ander) and her were closer when she was younger but they grew apart once he moved out and went off to college.They had separate mothers and he and Jason are from Diana’s previous relationship.

❝We are two peas in a pod.❞

status: [alive]

Jason and her are and always have been very close, especially since they are only a year apart. They may get in simple fights but they get along again afterwards.

B e s t f r i e n d

❝We know each other so well we can almost read each other’s minds.❞

status: [alive]

Caleb/Abe and her are really close even though they only met freshman year. ㅤ

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❝The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.❞

—Carl Jung

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ʀ ᴏ ʟ ᴇ ᴘ ʟ ᴀ ʏ ɪ ɴ ғ ᴏ ˎˊ-

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Find my rules [here] (WIP)

ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙɪʟɪᴛʏ

ㅤ

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❝I won't sit still, look pretty.❞

—Daya, Sit Still, Look Pretty

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ᴀ ᴜ ᴛ ʜ ᴏ ʀ s ɴ ᴏ ᴛ ᴇ ˎˊ-

[pussiehands1]

meta #7 // ‘you and i understand each other’ tw: childhood/sexual abuse, partial headcanon/speculation based, homophobic slurs, autism mention.

           The closest thing Mac has to a healthy bond is with Charlie, mainly stemming from the fact they’ve known each other since childhood and they therefore know more about each other than any of the other members of the gang. Since there’s a lot of ground to cover I’ll try and split the parts into periods of chronological age rather than of specific moments ( although they will have examples ). Some of this is speculation based, anything that is not followed by an episode number or ‘in one episode’ is headcanon surrounding other elements of the show. You’re welcome to ask but this won’t be expanded on in this meta.

Childhood:

            Mac and Charlie have known each other since they were children although there’s never a clear cut reason as to how they’d met or why. My speculation is that they met on some kind of playground. Since both their mothers are lax when it comes to their whereabouts / their actual safety, their early days could have consisted of a situation where Charlie attempt to run away from home only to end up on the bad side of Philly where he finds Mac. The two strike up a friendship and then they attend the same school etc. The only glimpse we see of Mac and Charlie as children is in the Christmas episode (S6E13). Where they spend the day throwing rocks at trains as their own special tradition. Without any money but a strong bond, Mac and Charlie pick out piles of rocks for each other as gifts. Charlie picks smooth rocks ( and chomps on the rough ones until they’re smooth because they hurt Mac’s hands ). Mac picks the misshapen ones because Charlie likes to make stories about them. The fact their parents allow both of them to spent time together on a very family orientated holiday shows the kind of family bond that they have. Regardless of the holiday/time, they always find time to share it with people they love - each other. As well as this, Charlie becomes the first person to actually buy Mac a gift, something that he always wanted, years later after finding out about the traditions he had as a child. Charlie, who is usually emotionally ignorant of most, shows an act of selflessness that’s arguably only present around Mac - this being one of those times.

                Charlie for a lot of reasons views Mac as safety, specifically regarding Charlie’s years of sexual abuse at the hands of his Uncle. The song ‘Nightman’ (S4E13) and the play itself tells a story of how Charlie perceives the events of the molestation from Uncle Jack, who is the Nightman ( he comes in the night and he touches the ‘baby boy’. Charlie’s Mom being a prostitute and potentially ‘selling’ Charlie - the troll - 'you gotta pay the troll toll to get into this boys hole' etc) . In the original script Charlie writes Mac as The Dayman who is regarded as the hero of the song, he protects the baby boy from the Nightman. This plays out until Dennis decides he wants to be the Dayman instead which Charlie gets angry about. As mentioned above he and Mac were together as children. My personal thought is that Mac used to stay over at Charlies and offered protection unknowingly, Uncle Jack couldn't have came into his room when Mac stayed over and therefore he kept the Nightman away. In the song, Charlie refers to the Dayman being someone who is a fighter of the Nightman, a friend for everyone and a master of karate. The last two are things are what Mac would define himself as. Mac is by far the easiest member of the gang to communicate with, he gets so excited about making ideas or talking to people because its in his nature and he also has a wild obsession with martial arts. Charlie especially had NO other friends as a kid, so to him Mac is the ultimate best friend and he would almost worship their friendship at that age because of how their mentality works. Charlie’s ability to extend himself to be like Mac (when Mac dances Charlie copies the dance moves (S6E2), when Mac is standing in a specific way Charlie will copy (S7E4), Charlie laughs at Mac’s jokes even when he doesn't understand him etc). Mac projects a lot of 'badassary' onto people and Charlie has no reason not to believe it. If Charlie can believe he's like the Dayman then he in turn can fight the Nightman, which in turn would make the abuse stop. Charlie then adopts the role of the Dayman at the end of the play which then allows him to move on with his life.

Teenagers:

                Mac and Charlie as teenagers used to canonically hang out and get high, they were then later joined by Dennis (S7E12). This didn’t just happen at school but also at Charlie’s house where they used to dwell in the basement. During this time they begin to grow into their own personalities and since they’re the only real comfort each other have, they probably talk about girls they like or what interests them. As this would have been in the 80s, it’s unlikely that Mac would confide in Charlie about his types of fantasies regarding men. Charlie who also has very toxic relationship with men ( Mac being the exception ) would most likely try to steer away from this kind of conversation. As two guys who are experiencing changes there is a possibility that they may have kissed a couple of times, if only to break their kissing virginity, but with how their relationship then develops it’s unlikely anything more came from it. Mac and Charlie also used to ‘wrestle’ together and gave each other ringworm which then spread to the whole team. As this would have been a pursuit of Mac, mostly because of how its regarded as a manly sport - but also to get closer to other guys - Charlie is the one that offers support, agreeing to help Mac home in the skills before practice. This kind of support also stems into adulthood both as a physical and emotional trait.

Adulthood:

             The close bond that Mac and Charlie have has grown from the above section and developed further as they reach adulthood. Dee and Dennis both go to college and these two are left alone again. They slowly become, at this point, the only people they can each rely on. They have a closer bond than Dee and Dennis, who arguably should be closer considering they’re related. The shows makes us aware of this by placing them as direct parallels to them (S7E7, S11E1). In the games especially they’re very supportive, often their cards involve team work like mending a broken bottle, their flag is composed from a joint imaginative idea rather than depicting themselves and during emotional battery, Mac tries to amp up Charlie not to cry. Dee and Dennis however are very competitive, they have to force themselves to team up (Dennis gluing his hand to Dee) all for the sake of winning. Mac and Charlie in this regard become a collective, two halves of a whole that’s a title that should only really be reserved for biological bonds. The show makes a good point here: You choose your family, which is what they regard themselves as.

           Mac will always have a soft spot for his parents, however, and while the other members of the gang don’t mention it, the relationship between them and Mac is toxic. Charlie however continuously goes with Mac to see his dad in prison (S2E10,S3E11,S10E7) for no other reason than to support him which often ends in terrible situations. Not only that but Charlie sits back and watches as Mac’s Dad rejects him, not telling him how much Mac’s Dad hates him from the lack of love in his voice. Pair this in direct contrast to how Dennis delivers the news regarding the letters he was hiding from Luther (S11E10) or how Charlie reacts to Dee mentioning that her mom used to call her the worst (S10E9). Charlie takes notice of Mac’s feelings whereas the other members don’t and Charlie does not offer this kind of support for any of the others. In the same way, Mac gives Charlie support in his ideas and in Charlie’s lack of understanding and mental capabilities (S8E1) regarding his Dyslexia. While there are times where they will argue or friction will occur, the two get over the arguments quickly and this isn’t brought up later.

           It’s normal for Charlie and Mac to be paired together, episodes that stem - but are not limited to (S1E1, S2E3, S3E9, S4E5, S4E10, S5E11, S6E5, S7E4, S8E1, S9E7, S10E1, S10E10, S11E8, S12E4). These schemes are often out of the blue, random and generally obnoxious. They are plans that nobody else wants to get involved in that the other’s can’t understand. Wheres most character dynamics have changed regarding canon ( Mac / Dennis. Dennis + Dee / Frank. Frank / Charlie etc ) these two have remained consistent in their support for each other. From S2 and them going to spend Frank’s money all the way to S12 where they catch a leprechaun. No matter the situation the two can usually convince each other to do what the other wants. It’s a mixture of their own head-space and complete trust in each other. Charlie, just as he did when he was a teenager, supports Mac in his pursuits and selflessly lends a hand (S6E4) without a want for anything. Whereas Dennis + Dee usually have motive to lend a hand, Mac and Charlie exist in a world where it’s very give and take (in relation to each other). There are times canon strays from this (S2E4) and Charlie manipulates Mac to get what he wants. However Mac is also capable of this (S3E5) where they will play on each other’s insecurities/weakness’ to get what they want. This, however, is nothing compared to what other members of the gang are willing to do to get what they want.

Insecurities:

              Mac’s big arc in Sunny is that he spends a long walk coming out of the closet. Charlie, for all his lack of understanding in everything, knows every part of Mac. It’s already fairly established that Charlie looks up to Mac, specifically when he mentions about not believing until Mac says something (S7E8, S8E10). Charlie can often misunderstand levels of humour in a situation (mostly due to his his PDA - a rare form of autism) and a strong example of this is in (S10E9). Mac tells the gang that there are two gay guys on board and Charlie responds with a ‘who’s the other guy’ laughing with the rest of the gang when Mac remains unimpressed. His intent isn’t to make Mac feel uncomfortable but to bring light to the situation at hand. In my own personal beliefs, I think somewhere between S10 and S12 Mac confides in Charlie regarding his sexuality. I believe this for two reasons. 1) Mac has confided in his insecurities with Charlie before (S8E1) when he informs the gang that Mac assess people with ocular pat downs because he’s insecure. Something Mac would never openly admit to to anybody else. His masculine pride won’t allow it - showing he trusts Charlie more than he trusts himself. 2) Charlie has expressed multiple times that he knows Mac is gay and Mac hasn’t been as offended as he is when Dennis or somebody else brings it up. (S8E8) Charlie states ‘whatever it is you’re into, men, women’ and Mac shrugs. (S12E4) ‘My friend has weird women issues’. Charlie never explicitly says it and for Mac that’s comforting, it’s the label that triggers him more than anything, especially since gay has such a negative connotation. Charlie was probably there as they were called faggot, gay boys because he was also part of it. These words demean and push away a place in the community, in the 80s being gay would take you out of the traditional family, you would be regarded as ‘other’. Mac has never had a real home, he comes from a broken family, he wants that anchor/security family provides. He strives for it, Charlie KNOWS this and does not push for Mac to come out.

               Mac has always had Charlie to rely on for his own thoughts/feelings because in a way they share a lot of them. Charlie to Mac is someone that won’t judge him and who will protect him ( emotionally and physically as shown (S8E5) when Charlie punches Dennis ). It’s then logical to assume that this is something he talks to Charlie about, at least in passing, before it actually happens. Charlie - with respect - then doesn’t use this as a form of manipulative abuse or to force Mac out of the closet before he’s ready. Mac on the other hand, helps Charlie without even realising it. Mac protected Charlie from Uncle Jack and by association Charlie sees Mac as safety, though he doesn’t always believe it (S10E9) ‘Your head of security just choked himself out’. This is again not mentioned to his face and Charlie doing things like, spraying Mac’s cologne on himself (S3E10) almost as a comfort when he’s uncomfortable position, shows Charlie as a very dedicated best friend/follower of Macs. 

            Mac and Charlie might not be the best kind of people but together they bring out a kind of love that people strive to find, it’s supportive and unconditional. They regard each other as family but more than that. They’re two pieces of a disjointed puzzle from very deprived families who have experienced unbelievable horrors as children/teenagers, they’ve grown up together and continued to remain dedicated to their friendship despite absolutely everything. For them home is not a place, it’s a person. Home offers a sense of safety and family - two things that they both want more than anything.

[the-desolated-quill]

The Hungry Earth - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

The day Steven Moffat announced he was finally going to relieve us of our torment and leave the show for good, my reaction was mixed to say the least. On the one hand, yes that bastard is no longer going to be ruining one of my favourite shows, but on the other hand he’s being replaced by Chris Chibnall. A writer who’s almost as incompetent as Moffat and has written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who and its god awful spinoff series Torchwood. (And to those who occasionally ask me if I’m going to be reviewing Torchwood at some point, the answer is a definitive no. I have got other things to do, you know. Stop pestering me). While he has earned some of my respect since then by casting Jodie Whitaker as the first female Doctor (and about time too), I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t deeply concerned about the quality of the show moving forward.

I mention this because this two parter, The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood, was written by Chris Chibnall and I feel perfectly demonstrates all of his weaknesses and shortcomings as a writer.

In a small Welsh village in the year 2020, some scientists have drilled deep into the Earth’s crust, further than anyone has ever done before. But something is drilling up to the surface to meet them and has left some bio-programmed dirt (just go with it). Some guy called Mo, upon seeing this suspicious patch of dirt with steam coming out of it, does what any smart, sensible person would do and sticks his hand in it.

So he gets dragged underground, and soon enough Amy joins him in an admittedly tense scene where the Doctor desperately tries to hold on to her.

From there, this giant energy dome thing seals the village off from the outside world and the whole thing becomes a bog standard base under siege story. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with a base under siege story. It’s just the base under siege story has been done so often in Doctor Who now that it’s hard not to let your eyes glaze over while you’re watching it. Of course it’s possible to revitalise the base under siege narrative, like The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit did, but The Hungry Earth most certainly doesn’t. So the whole thing was a bit of a snoozefest for me if I’m honest. Everything you think is going to happen does happen and with an extra dose of stupidity. 

The Doctor tells everyone to set up shop in the church, but wouldn’t the TARDIS be safer? I know you can’t fly it because of the energy dome thing, but surely it’s better than a church. Then he gets everybody to set up a security surveillance network that covers the entire village in 8 minutes flat, which is remarkably daft even by Doctor Who’s standards, and it never goes anywhere. Then he gives Ambrose a strict telling off about her rather sensible decision to stockpile weapons. Sigh. I think I’ve mentioned numerous times before how much I despise New Who’s pacifist bullshit considering that the Doctor has always been pretty violent and has frequently used guns before despite claims to the contrary. I wouldn’t mind except the Doctor then completely contradicts himself a few minutes later. How is knocking the Silurians out with a sonic pulse any less violent than hitting them over the head with a cricket bat? And then, after bonding with the kid Elliot, he stupidly lets the kid run off to fetch his headphones just two minutes before the Silurians are due to arrive. What a pillock! Not that I was upset to see Elliot get taken. He’s a bland, one dimensional kid whose only character trait is he’s got dyslexia. Also I can’t fucking stand children. Especially fictional children. if I was there, not only would I hand Elliot over to the Silurians, I’d offer to gift wrap him for them as well. (Yes I am an arsehole. How did you know?).

Yes The Hungry Earth sees the return of classic series ‘monsters’ the Silurians, and my God do I wish Chris Chibnall wasn’t writing a Silurian story.

The thing is the Silurians have only ever had one good story, Doctor Who And The Silurians, way back in the Jon Pertwee era, and it was phenomenally good. A seven part serial that’s nuanced, morally complex and with a truly shocking ending that cemented the Doctor’s frosty relationship with UNIT. It’s one of my all time favourite Doctor Who stories and I recommend everyone should watch it. In all honesty, I’d have been okay if the Silurians never came back after that because it was a truly brilliant one shot story, but if we must keep bringing them back, they could at least find some way of moving the story forward. Instead all the BBC ever seem to do is just repeat the same story over and over again to diminishing returns. The Sea Devils was basically the same as Doctor Who And The Silurians only without the moral complexity, the reptiles now emerging from underwater rather than underground, and the pantomime villain the Master was in it for virtually no reason. Warriors Of The Deep tried to use the Silurians and Sea Devils to make a Cold War allegorical narrative that really didn’t work. And now here we are with The Hungry Earth. So this is the fourth time they’re telling story now and I’m sure you all know the drill (no pun intended). Reptiles want their planet back. Humans don’t want to give it back. Whatever shall the Doctor do? Been there, done that, got the T shirt.

Now let’s quickly address the elephant in the room. The new look for the Silurains. For the benefit of @captainivyb and others who may not be familiar with the classic series, this is what the original Silurians looked like:

YYYYYYeah. What can I say? It was the 1970s. But Doctor Who And The Silurians is still good, honest!

The new makeup definitely looks more convincing than the original Silurians, but I’m not too fond of it. They just look a bit too human for my liking. Couldn’t they at least have kept the third eye?

A definite highlight for me was seeing the Doctor interrogating Alaya, the Silurian they take hostage. It’s a really good two hander between Matt Smith and Neve McIntosh, who both add a lot of dramatic weight to a scene that, let’s be honest, doesn’t really deserve it. The reason Doctor Who And The Silurians worked so well was because all of the characters, human and Silurian, were well written and complex. It wasn’t a simple case of good vs evil. Both sides had a point and both sides do horrible things to the other, motivated either by fear or self preservation. Chibnall tries to replicate this here, but he’s not doing a very good job so far. While McIntosh gives a good performance with the material she’s been given, the character of Alaya is boringly one note. A rabid zealot with no sympathetic qualities whatsoever. The humans too are drawn with very broad strokes. Most of them aren’t even remotely interesting and despite the Doctor insisting that they can just trade hostages and everything will be okay, they’re still talking about dissecting Alaya. There’s no slow buildup or anything. No nuance or depth. They just jump straight to the most violent option. So much for showing the best of humanity. Frankly I’m amazed the Doctor still thinks a peace can be brokered between the two species considering this is the fourth time he’s tried to do this now and it’s always ended in disaster.

The only character I gravitated towards in any way was Nasreen, played by Meera Syal from The Kumars At No. 42. I enjoyed her open mindedness and scientific curiosity, and right from the off both she and the Doctor seem to have a mutual respect for each other. And Syal is always a ton of fun to watch in everything she’s in. In fact I liked her so much that at the time I may or may not have written Doctor Who fanfic with her as the companion... Well I’d sit down and watch that.

So that was The Hungry Earth. Bit dull and uninspired, but maybe things will get better in Part 2, right?

[quesokween]

A Little Brown Girl in a Not-So-Brown World

It’s not a secret that I’m a little black girl (probably not so little), but I’m sorry if that’s a news flash for you. It’s an interesting being a person of color in a predominantly white institution, and I wanted to blog a little bit about my personal experience. I’ve grown up going to mostly white schools anyway, so I thought that college would be a similar experience, but I think I’ve been proven wrong.

For one of the classes I’m taking this semester, we have to create this final group project. My professor, bless her heart, was very open with what we decided to do this project on. My partner and I decided to take an inside look at discrimination on our campus and how various students view what’s being done in that area. We ended up getting responses from every part of the spectrum, from students who think our school is doing everything in its power to protect their students of color, to the school not doing anything at all and pushing the responsibility onto the students. All of the information we collect is being compiled into one vide to be shown to our class. Right now, we have over an hour of footage filmed, cut down roughly to about a half an hour, and it needs to be a 12-minute video by December. So, it’s easy to say we have our work cut out for us. I’ll most likely show this video off in every way I know how, which means be on the lookout in the next couple of weeks for the debut.

The stories shared throughout the video reminded me of things I experienced when I was younger, but never thought of them to be offensive or prejudice in any sense. The example that comes to my head is when I was in first grade. I want to preface this story with the fact that I was a whole year/year and a half younger than all my classmates and I was in the highest reading group in my classes since I knew how to read. My first-grade teacher -who wasn’t a nice person to begin with- told my parents and our school administration that I was dyslexic because I wrote my A’s backwards and sometimes mixed up my B’s and D’s. Obviously, my parents didn’t believe her, but they got me tested anyway and I wasn’t dyslexic but I actually performed higher than the average for my grade level. As a first-grader I didn’t realize the problem with this, and even up until high school I didn’t see a problem with what my teacher had said. Eventually it clicked for me one day, her claiming that there was something ‘wrong’ (having dyslexia obviously isn’t wrong but I’m using the word in order to make the point clearer) with me, was just perpetuating a stereotype that black kids aren’t supposed to perform on the same academic level as their white counterparts. That might seem like a stretch to some of you but it happens to countless kids of color when they’re in elementary school, which stunts their growth and academic performance. Mind you, this is also the same teacher that locked my mother out of her classroom because she didn’t want her help, when parents were always allowed to come, observe, and help out in a classroom.

I’ve become more educated in the land of microagressions since being in first grade, and I clearly see them when I attend class or walk around campus, it’s become a way of life for me and others. But that statement doesn’t make the slight-of-had comments acceptable. I don’t really know if there is a message to this whole post, but please be aware of things you say and do to others, especially those who don’t look the same as you.

[abubakerchikhaliaphotography]

Artist Analysis Comparison: David Bailey & Annie Leibovitz

Attitude: a settled way of thinking or feeling about something.

David Bailey

David Bailey is a British fashion and portrait photographer born in Leytonstone and raised in East Ham in East London. When he was young, Bailey found interest in natural history leading to his love for photography. Bailey suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia thus causing him to have problems in his school life. He left school at the age of fifteen and reportedly attended only 33 lessons in one academic year.

In 1959, Bailey became a photographic assistant at the John French studio and in 1960 he became a fashion photographer for British Vogue. Soon enough, Bailey became insanely successful - getting attention from then American Vogue Editor, Grace Coddington. Coddington was also a model and praised Bailey for him and his work saying, “It was the Sixties, it was a raving time, and Bailey was unbelievably good-looking. He was everything that you wanted him to be – like the Beatles but accessible – and when he went on the market everyone went in. We were all killing ourselves to be his model, although he hooked up with Jean Shrimpton pretty quickly.”

Bailey once said, “It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter, because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the ordinary.”

Since Bailey’s work was focused mainly on fashion photography, he has multiple images of famous models such as Kate Moss. In 2013 for Vogue Paris, Bailey was the photographer for her appearance in the magazine. In this picture, it is unclear whether or not Moss is wearing makeup thus leading the viewer to believe that she is naturally this beautiful. Most of Bailey’s work is in black and white which compels the photos to look smooth evening out Moss’ complexion. Moss has very prominent facial features such as her widely spaced eyes and prominent cheekbones. Moss looks directly down at the camera with a blank stare, almost as though she was looking over her shoulder and captured without her knowing. Furthermore, her hair which has been styled with tight curls makes her face look smaller but also exaggerates her strong features. Moss’ look on her face almost replicates the ‘Heroin Chic’ trend that grew in the 90’s with her angular facial structure and dark circles under her eyes. Bailey effortlessly captures Moss’ portrayal of attitude.

Who is the stylist? Geraldine Saglio is a French stylist based in Paris. After finishing her studies at Esmod Paris, Geraldine began her career as Emmanuel Alt‘s assistant for Vogue Paris. In 2009, she became Fashion Editor for the magazine. Since then, Geraldine has built a reputation to collaborate with numerous companies : Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Mango.

Which photographers has this stylist worked with before? Saglio has also worked with Mario Testino, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott who have worked for Versace.

Who do you consider to be the most important person in the creation of this image – the stylist or the photographer? In my opinion, I feel as though both the photographer and the stylist play equal roles in producing the perfect image. In this case, the stylist did have an agenda to present Kate Moss as almost ‘royalty’ in the fashion industry. Bailey, as a photographer, has a job to capture the natural that Moss already

“Models are casted carefully and I gladly take in the crew’s opinions as well. For beauty especially, it is important to have the makeup artist be inspired by the model’s features as well.” – Jamie Nelson

Jamie Nelson is a contemporary fashion and beauty photographer who discovered her passion for photography at the age of seventeen. She moved to California to attend Brooks Institute of Photography where she graduated and moved to New York City to become a fashion and beauty photographer. Her work can be found in magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Allure, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar and many more. Her commercial collaborations range from Maybelline to Sony - working with celebrities such as Solange Knowles and Gwen Stefani. In addition to this, she has directed videos for Vogue Portugal and Vogue Taiwan. Her global success has allowed her to be represented in places like New York City, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Germany and Dubai.

I personally agree with Nelson because when it comes to photoshoots, everyone has a role in order to allow the photographer to capture the perfect shot. For example, the hair/make-up artist has a responsibility to create the perfect look for the purpose of the shoot as well as the model. The stylist has the job to create a story/message in the look for instance establishing a purpose for the shoot. The photographer has a role of taking advantage of angles and manipulating lighting in order to encapsulate the message the behind the photo through the model.

In my opinion, if I was the photographer for a photoshoot, it would have to have intense preparation and planning. I would have to find the right hair/makeup artists, creative stylist and perfect location to shoot. I would find some inspiration on how makeup on a model should be done and always keep in mind the purpose of the shoot. The styling of the model would have to reflect the theme of the photoshoot. David Bailey is a visionary keen on the ideals of beauty and the concepts of it. His way of thinking is similar to that of Nelson’s in the way that they believe that a photo shoot is a collaborative effort between all the cast and crew.

I think that the image has been subtly edited, only enough to remove any imperfections such as wrinkles or spots. This wouldn’t have a large impact on the viewer of this image but it may set unrealistic body standards for the viewer of this image.

Personally, I like this photo because of how simple yet effective it is. The image is simply of Kate Moss looking into the camera with a blank face with her makeup looking very natural but her hair being an important factor of the image. It reminds me that as a photographer, it is sometimes better for the photo to not be so complicated but instead just capture a simple photo that is still effective. As humans, we tend to overthink things therefore it is better to just take a look at the more effective parts of simple things.

Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer born on October 2nd 1949 in Connecticut in the U.S. She is the first woman to have held an exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery in London.  She photographed John Lennon on the day that he was assassinated by Mark David Chapman in 1980. Her career began when she started working for Rolling Stone magazine as a staff photographer. In 1973, she was promoted to chief photographer of Rolling Stone, a job she would have for ten years. For the decade that she worked for the company, she started the company’s trend of taking intimate photos of celebrities for the covers. Furthermore, she became aware of more magazines that she could work for, even if it was just to build her portfolio. Leibovitz said that she takes interest in people who "open their hearts and souls and lives to you." Photographers such as Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson influenced her during her enrolment at the San Francisco Art Institute. Leibovitz said that “their style of personal reportage‍—‌taken in a graphic way‍—‌was what we were taught to emulate." Portraits by photographer Richard Avedon are described as a powerful and important example in her life.

The black and white picture of actress and activist Angelina Jolie is strong because of its simplicity yet effectivity. Angelina Jolie doesn’t have any noticeable flaws therefore it may be considered that she is naturally beautiful. The dominant colour is black which in my opinion symbolises mystery and also strength, power and provocation. The picture is smooth in the way that Leibovitz has opted to go for a monochrome look thus compelling colours to flow and blend. Jolie has striking features such as her high-arched eyebrows, big and wide-set eyes, prominent cheekbones and her large lips. The lighting in the picture contours her cheeks which makes her face look very structured. Jolie looks into the camera with her head resting on her hand which accentuates the strength of the photo along with the symmetry of her face. The image’s strength is almost intimidating because it is very rapturing. Furthermore, it makes Jolie look effortlessly regal even though it very simple.

I think this photo has been very slightly edited. I think the only aspects of this photo that have been edited are the monochromatic look and it may be airbrushed. I don’t think it would have a large impact on the viewer because Jolie is notorious for her natural beauty.

In my opinion, I think the style of photography combined with Leibovitz’s creative approach is very inspiring. She said in an interview “You to have trust in what you think. If you splinter yourself and try to please everyone, you can’t. It’s important to stay the course. I don’t think I would have lasted this long if I’d listened to anyone. You have to listen somewhat and then put that to the side and know that what you do matters.” This is very important to me and I think a lot of aspiring photographers should take on this advice. When starting out on photography, we often tend to think that a picture has to be perfect with complicated editing, expensive/high end cameras and an editorial set up. However, perfecting a photo shouldn’t be difficult, nor should it be overthought. A perfect photo is captured when the photographer’s vision is encapsulated and their passion overcomes them, thus leading to perfection. Sometimes, pictures can be ruined if the photographer overcomplicates the image and does not leave it alone.

Comparison

Describe the subject of both photographs.

In Bailey’s photo, it is a picture of Kate Moss in black and white with tight curls in her hair and a blank look on her face. For Leibovitz, it is a picture of Angelina Jolie staring into the camera with some curiosity expressed by the look on her face and how her head rests on her hand.

Describe the colours captured within both photographs.

Both pictures are monochrome however I feel as though the lack of colour allows the viewer of the image to focus mainly on the subject on the photo and does not create a bias.

Are the colours symbolic or anything or do you associate the colours with anything specific?

I feel as though the black background and black sweater that Jolie is wearing in Leibovitz’s photo evokes mystery but also strength, power and provocation. In Bailey’s photo, the black and white is less intense thus exposing more aspects of the photo to the viewer e.g. Moss’ dress, her hair etc.

How do you feel when you look at each photograph? What is your initial response/ feeling toward the 2 photographs? What do the photographs remind you of? Explain your answer in details

I feel as though both pictures were taken to capture the beauty and power of both women. For example, the camera is angled lower from Moss’ face in Bailey’s photo almost as though she is looking down on us - possibly to make the viewer feel intimidated. In Leibovitz’s photo, it is not done so much with angles, but instead the unbalance of colour. With the only visible part of the picture is Jolie’s face, it evokes a sense of significance and how she is important in the media. The longer you look at the photo, the more you are enraptured by her beauty and the eye contact that Jolie makes with the camera is enticing yet daunting as her face emerges from the dark background.

Describe which photograph you think is most effective and state why

For a fashion shoot, Bailey’s picture is a lot more effective in the way that he displays the stylist’s vision, the makeup artist’s look and the hair stylist’s idea. It is also a very simple yet hard-hitting photo of Moss as it does not have any complicated editing or styling.

Explain, in detail, how you plan to make links to the photographer’s work in your own work.

For my work, I would like to present my theme through simple ways: the diversity of adolescence. I want the photos to evoke a reaction from the viewer and almost have them question its purpose but also have them think about what the theme could be.

[alohastatearts]

Congratulations, Kim!

Your application for SAM EVANS (Chord Overstreet) has been ACCEPTED!Please check our orientation list and submit your account within 24 hours!

OOC INFORMATION:

Your preferred name: Kim Age: 21 Preferred Pronouns: she/her Timezone: EST Activity Level (1-10): 7/10. I’m generally pretty active as far as trying to get on at least once a day. Triggers: rfp Anything else we should know?: Thanks for reading!

IN-CHARACTER INFORMATION:

Name: Sam Evans Face Claim: Chord Overstreet Age/Birthday: 19, May 5 Preferred Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: Bisexual Hometown: Portland, Oregon Ships: /Chemistry Anti-Ships: /Forced

Three Positive Traits: Kind, loyal, considerate. Three Negative Traits: Insecure, naive, impulsive.

UNIVERSITY

Field of Study: Illustration. Possible secondary subject(s): Music. Duration at ASSA: Freshman.

BIOGRAPHY

Sam Evans had a fairly simple life early on. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, he and his parents and younger siblings were just your typical, happy, cookie-cutter family. Sam was a good kid. He prided himself on being the kind of kids that his parents loved to brag about. They loved to praise him for how he did his schoolwork even when it was hard for him, how he was a great big brother, helping out with his little brother and sister whenever and however he could. Sam didn’t need praise to want to keep doing it — after all, his parents taught him that a job well done was its own reward — but it certainly helped. A loving family was something Sam was forever grateful for, even as he got older. It set the framework for a lot of his values in life.

As a child, Sam was a little ray of sunshine, always bursting at the seams with enthusiasm about his various interests. He had multiple outlets for his natural athleticism and creativity in the form of playing several sports and participating in extracurricular activities (specifically art classes). His favorite sport was baseball, and that was where he met one of his closest friends at the time, Artie Abrams. The two had a lot in common even outside of baseball and Sam was glad to have a friend like him in those early years.

Sam has always been a self-proclaimed nerd and has never felt any embarrassment about it — mostly because, especially when he was young, he didn’t see anything to be embarrassed about. He loved superheroes and comics and all sorts of things of that nature; his parents encouraged his passions, so Sam continued to pursue these things as he got older. It was especially helpful to have these passions in his early school years. He struggled with schoolwork more than his peers seemed to. He could never quite keep up. His parents finally got him tested when they saw how distraught it made Sam to explain he was trying his trying his hardest and it just didn’t seem to be working. It was discovered that Sam had dyslexia, and things started to fall into place. He had a tutor that worked with him and school slowly began to get easier. But Sam knows if he didn’t have things like drawing and reading comics to lift his spirits, it probably would have been a lot more difficult for him to pull through.

Sam was a sophomore in high school when things took a turn for the worse. His father had recently gone from the job he’d had since before Sam was born to a newer one, but he lost it shortly after. Following this, the family lost their home because they could no longer afford it. They lived with a family friend for the remainder of Sam’s sophomore year, where he had to share a room with both of his young siblings. He did all that he could to support his family, including taking any part-time job that would accept him. This was where he really learned that family came first, always, no matter what. He had to sell some of his stuff, including part of his comic collection, even though his parents hadn’t asked him to. It was just the right thing to do.

Eventually, they got back on their feet as his mother and father both landed jobs that would keep them afloat and allow them to live in their own home again. Sam vowed that, whatever it took, he would never let his parents or siblings get to that point again. So he knew he had to get his act together and do something that he would really be able to benefit from, and thus let his family live comfortably. Modeling was a simple enough decision. He knew he looked the part, he just had to get a job. It was his senior year that he traveled to California to attend an open casting call (using the money he continued to save up from part time jobs), and there Sam met Mike Chang. They hit it off instantly. Mike was the one who enlightened Sam about Aloha State. It seemed to be everything Sam could hope for: focused on the things he loved (art and music), and constantly being in the sun. The only problem was how far it was from home. Sam was hesitant about leaving his family after all that they had been through together. But his parents encouraged him. He had to get his life started and pursue his passions, like they always told him to. And he was going to be able to help his family by extension once he had a legitimate career.

So, he took a leap of faith and applied. He decided to pursue illustration, since drawing had always been something he enjoyed and knew he was good at. He’s also fond of playing music, which he continues to spend a lot of time his time on. As for the future, Sam isn’t sure exactly what he wants to do, but he has ideas for comic books. It would be nice to publish his own work someday and have it be as influential as things like Marvel are to him and so many others. But his biggest goal is to remain close with his family, see where live takes him, and to never forget where he came from.

ENTRANCE ESSAYS

Here’s a sample!

[hudsonblaketraining-blog]

Hudson Blake Training- The story behind the start up

I was a qualified nurse within learning disability services for 9 years around Hampshire. During this time I was raising my beautiful, yet incredibly spirited, boy. Every day I worked to pay the mortgage and childcare with little spare time for much else. I loved my job, I really did, I had an amazing team and the managers were supportive but there was no fire in my heart for it anymore because I saw it as the barrier of time with my baby and certainly I had no time for myself. There was one manager who really changed things for me. She allowed me the freedom at work and confidence to go back to university to do a degree in Clinical Practice, I felt I was doing something for me. This manger moved teams and started training the student nurses it was then that I thought I wanted to go along a similar route of supporting the training of others.

I found at work I started doing more and more training of staff teams within various residential homes around every day things within my role, Epilepsy, behaviour planning ,behaviour analysis, dementia, care planning. I felt like I was upskilling staff for a better outcome and I learnt so much from the participants. They trusted me with their tales of experiences and there was a mutual respect around the learning process. I never thought I would have the time, money or business knowledge to go alone and so put the idea on the back burner so far back that it left my thoughts. Moving forward a few years I had married moved house and had my daughter and this changed everything. I experienced time with my son during maternity leave and I wanted to be at home with my babies more, watch them grow but I still had a mortgage and general life to pay for. I didnt have money to invest in a business...because all businesses need a huge cash injection right? Wrong! They just need hard work, an idea and the right support but it was many months later I realised this. I started working from home in childcare to earn regular money but still see my children. I loved the kids I looked after but it wasn’t even close to my passion, I started dreaming about training and the fire was relit!!! I HAD to make my dream a reality, I had no time, no money but I had passion and the most supportive husband.

The start up The next few months I started googling everything, at any opportunity I could find (usually in the middle of the night as I was awake frequently feeding my baby anyway) and dumping interesting websites or articles in an email account I had set up to read later when I was more awake. What qualifications, what insurances, what was already out there, who did I need to register with, how to write a business plan (I wanted to avoid this as much as possible as my Dyslexia hates plans) I had lists of lists, so many things, my head was in overdrive but nothing achieved because I still had the idea that I needed this huge pot of cash. So I organised my lists...what was free, what could I do now towards my goal of being a freelance trainer. I could design a free website ready for when I could put it live-that would only give me 3 basic pages, but it felt like a start at least, I could find providers of courses that I needed to do to become qualified and then I would know how much money I needed, I could start putting workshops together on powerpoint, designing the paperwork to make things smooth once set up, sign in sheets, booking forms, terms of business, policies, collating current certificates to prove my knowledge base, researching competition, networking….nope scrap that, money and time needed for this one! I had a few things to do that felt like I had started and I could do them around my 50hr working week and kids…it just meant that my time with my husband was sat next to him on the laptop every evening going into early hours of the morning. I had no plan still-I kept focusing on the fact I had no plan-no business knowledge and no plan, just this idea that I was going to teach courses in working with Learning Disabilities and really focus on epilepsy and behaviour as these were my passions. I was convinced the lack of any plan meant I would fail-(although I now have a formal business plan-I have not looked at it since completion) I sat in on a first aid course for my current job and I was thinking how easy the knowledge bit was, how many times I had first aid courses, I started thinking of ways the teaching could have been improved and I then realised my direction. My niche was Learning Disabilities but that has a limited market, my regular courses could be first aid. My direction had completely changed but it needed to otherwise it would have taken years to establish a client base big enough to pay my bills by just doing Learning Disability training and suddenly there it was…my business model. No fancy words no charts of jargon just a simple plan in my head but it made sense and it was do-able.

Its started My husband funded me on a first aid instructor course which I could do over only a week due to my nursing qualification, intense was an understatement. I had already completed a number of assignments prior to starting and there was homework every night, my mother in law played mum to my kids for the week. It was horrible working every hour of the day but it had to be done to not affect my day job. At least the rest of the time I had children time but this week it was just work. I gained my qualification in education and training also during this week-that was the main qualification that I needed to start any kind of training business. I got my insurance activated, this was set up so that if I did have a booking I was able to actually do it. I had decided to buy only the minimum kit needed as I refused to be in debt, I was not starting a business with a minus figure on it. I needed just enough to run a small course in first aid. I already had an enquiry from a childminder to do the training for her and her assistants over a weekend, almost immediately after my first aid course, she paid in advance and this brought me my kit, which thankfully arrived in time. I still had not networked or advertised as I had no time, I was worrying how to get my name out there without paying for expensive advertising. Even still, I had my small kit and I had a course booked, Hudson Blake Training had officially begun in May 2016.

Advertising and Networking My free 3 page website was set up and it was so easy (I used Yola.com), I even had designed a logo myself which I proudly put on top of everything I could, but I had no idea how to get people to my website. I heard words like marketing, promotion, advertising which to me all meant the same thing. I used Facebook to keep in touch with friends and thought this was where I needed to start getting out there as I saw a lot of business posts in various groups that I was part of. I created a page, added my logo and started sharing the odd post…that was plenty to get me noticed, of course the work will come flying in now! Wont it?? I had posted a whole 3 adverts in groups, why were people not responding? Maybe because I was promoting adult courses in a child orientated group or maybe because I was clueless to what I was doing. I started with the “target audience” I had no idea what this meant but now I started to see I needed to now this, I signed up to be a trainer for children and created a bespoke course for babysitters, I could then promote this in the childrens groups I was part of on Facebook. There was loads of interest but the actual bookings were mostly through word of mouth not through Facebook. This opened my eyes to the power of networking!

I spoke to everyone I could about my new business. If you spoke to me about anything, even if I was stopped to be asked the time, I would throw in that I was a first aid instructor (and a qualified nurse because I had decided this was my USP-unique selling point). I started getting enquiries yaaaay. So my next course brought me a projector and the following one brought me sweatshirts, tshirts and I even signed up to my website package so I get more than 3 pages and my own domain-with email too! I felt very business boss lady! I started using Facebook differently, I would find online network groups and just chat to other businesses. Get my name out there and find out who else is out there. People were starting to talk about me, someone would ask if anyone knew of a first aid course locally-somebody I had networked with would tag in my page.

I got invited to a network group by a friend of mine and I was excited so went along as a guest, it felt great and I met some lovely people I was inspired, until I saw the sign up fees especially as lunch was not included in the price. I could not afford that, I had to prioritise kit and I still didn’t really see the true power in face to face networking at this point. I later saw an advert for a session at the university for new start ups to become ‘tooled up’ in what was available support wise locally it was free so what harm could it do. I went along and met the next person to inspire my journey. It was like speed dating with various tables set up each with an expert of different areas. Loads of new businesses there each with different stages of their journey, however all seeming more confident than me, I later felt this may have just been an exterior image. I signed up for a free business mentor, as I still had no written business plan (oops-winging it was having to stop and actual processes had to start otherwise I would fail), I realised from various talks at the different tables that I did not need legal documentation or an accountant at this point in my business and so I was finally prioritising those initial lists I had made with a thought process, rather than just doing the bits I could afford.

I had dragged a friend along with me who had started her business a year ago, she wanted to go to a marketing table and I didn’t as I assumed it would just be about spending money of which I had none to spend but I sat in anyway. The lady there was Rebecca Lodge from a business called Little Kanga.  I had seen her EVERYWHERE, and I mean everywhere. She had already added me as a friend on Facebook, I wasn’t entirely sure what she did but I knew of her and her logo. She started saying about twitter and LinkedIn-what were these to do with my business I had no idea but she seemed to know what she was talking about and I felt I needed to know more-after all I had never met her before but I knew of her so she must be good. I sat (eating one of the free chocolates) feeling completely overwhelmed with all the things I had to learn and all the buzz words that I needed to find out the meaning of. I had a new list of to-dos,

• What was my brand – remember that logo I did myself! • Who was my target audience? • What did they look like-as in what did they actually look like? Where did they ‘hang out’ • What platform (what was a platform was my first question) was the best for my business with regard to social media? • What is a market strategy and once I figured that out-what was mine? The list was huge but it gave me loads of food for thought….and my google search recommenced. I learnt the business talk and what it meant because if I was going to attend more start up groups I was not going to let my avoidance of Jargon get in the way. I spent too long at school feeling thick because I was undiagnosed dyslexic and probably, as I have recently discovered, also dyspraxic. I was not going to have negative barriers, to succeed I needed to be a step ahead and get my head into the books-well internet! Rebecca mentioned a brand new network group called Start Up Disruptors, I took the paper with the details and put it in my filing tray aka my bag never to be seen again. I later saw something on Facebook with her name in it-seriously this woman is a social media genius -she gets everywhere- its rare a morning goes by where I do not see a video link of what shes up to that day. So I got out the notes that had previously been given to me and saw it was a new group that was FREE! I liked that word. My husband was working on the date of the first one so I went to the second one with no idea what to expect. I was clueless to what I was meant to do but Rebecca and Laura who ran it were supportive and I soon relaxed into it. I had this speech planned of what to say if I was asked to stand up and talk about my business-it wasn’t until I stood up that I realised that I wasn’t entirely sure of what I did…first aid training but what made me unique, why should people use me, what was my “tag line”. I suddenly felt completely out of my depth.

Start Up Disruptors So this group was new when I joined, only about 6 people there but it very quickly grew and I started using it to its worth, I asked questions and got informed answers from others who had been there already. Rebecca and Laura had businesses designed for new startups (as well as established) but there were no sale pitches, no fakeness, no look at me I am great, just a nurturing support group for people in the same boat as me. Some people came and stayed in contact online due to commitments not allowing attendance, others came monthly-and there were those of us who went to every single one, stayed in contact online and then ended up sponsoring the group, I must admit I’m a Disruptor addict. It was a dynamic group and it was working, I was learning so much about business start ups. I came home inspired and buzzing after each session with yet more answers, hints and tips to help me grow. Rebecca wrote a great piece on networking tips, it can be found here http://littlekanga.co.uk/blog/outstanding-networking

Social media I was building my knowledge of running a business but I was so confused about what I now needed to do with regard to getting out there more with no time. I was working a 40 hour week in my day job at this point and then running 1 course a week with paperwork every night. I did not want to be a statistic in the “business that fail” group. I was convinced I would not be and I needed to do anything to get there. I was still stuck that I had to have time going out to networks or spend money on advertising to get my name out there or I needed to hire all these fabulous people to get me along the way, but no, for this stage in my path I just needed to enter this world called Social Media. So I created an extra hour in the day (from somewhere) started to get my brand finalised and get it known. I designed a tag line and colour palette so that I was the same across all platforms of social media…something I later changed to make significantly more professional when I could afford a professional logo to be made-in hindsight I wish I had done this earlier so that I was consistent, but I was unaware of the cheaper sites to use for this and so again thought it cost the earth to get a professional one (I used a great site called fiverr-where a logo can literally cost £5!! However I paid about £16 as I wanted to original file etc). I started putting myself EVERYWHERE. I learnt twitter-self taught which again in hindsight I should have gone to a class as it would have been a much quicker route, Rebecca ran one for around £30 which would have been a very small worthwhile investment (and Laura is a Facebook guru-they recently ran a course together 2 in 1-but et again I couldn’t go) but I did not have the time to do this due to my day job, after a while anyway I got the hang of it. I even found a twitter network event weekly in the evenings so I could sit on my laptop after the kids were in bed and network without worrying about what shift my husband was on or cost! I doubled my followers in the first session! I aimed to be like Little Kanga-everywhere people looked they would see me but it cost my time, I would sit all evening doing these posts and putting them on the various platforms, different post for each one. I couldn’t do this long term, it was killing me staying up late to get my brand about and then also the paperwork side of things, plus my day job had paperwork to do. I needed to either get an assistant (not in my budget) or get organised.

No matter where you went, my image was the same-although this did not happen overnight. There were many other images and logos I tried but finally settled on this.

Organisation is the KEY

The other lady who ran the network group was Laura Kenward from Office Asset. She was a virtual PA and knew so much about making life easier. I am so thankful I met both these ladies at this stage in my path. Laura knew apps where I could design professional looking posts, ones where I could schedule posts to the various platforms at different times during the day without it affecting my day job! I could even do a month at a time, only have one evening designing them and sit back while they posted themselves (I am yet to achieve more than 2 at a time but I’m getting there). There were systems to organise my client base, to task reminders that courses were due, to track mileage, complete invoices! You can find some of theses in Lauras blog http://office-asset.co.uk/2016/10/24/passing-procrastination-busting-baton-2/ It was amazing, my world had opened up in just one hour with Laura, although there was one big issue…I couldn’t understand the main system that I needed in my life, but Laura did and so I invested and I outsourced her skills to get me set up. I had all my systems working as I wanted them to and all I needed to do was maintain the information-which again I may outsource Laura to do as although I now get the system, she can do it in 4 min when it takes me 20!  Rebecca explained at one of the groups about working out the value of our time. If I am worth £60 (for example) per hour and it takes me 3 hours to do something but it costs me around £20 to hire someone for an hour to complete the same tasks then financially this makes sense. Laura discusses this in her blog http://office-asset.co.uk/2016/06/25/why-entrepreneurs-should-hire-an-assistant/ I wish I wasn’t so worried about hiring her and done it earlier.

Nearly there After only 10 months I think I am nearly there, the roots to my business are starting to embed-how do I know this? Because life feels easier! I have processes in place, I have a network of people that I can outsource or turn to for advice, help and support if needed. I am being head hunted from companies that have heard of me, I have regular clients from some large well known establishments. I have spoken to others who I trained with and they have just completed their 2nd or 3rd course while I am about to send out my 40th invoice. I work Wednesdays and weekends on this job (well I train these days I work daily on various bits) and I am not just making a profit-I am actually making enough money to live off if I wasn’t doing the day job too, I am ready to buy the last bits of my kit and I’m done. My year (10 months) has been crazy, there have been so many challenges, I had barriers before I even started with regard to my dyslexia, family, finances but barriers are there to be broken through. If you cannot get through the barrier, embrace it and move around it in a different way but don’t stop. I’ve made mistakes, I know I have made silly ones, wrong priorities, wrong branding, but I corrected them and learnt from them. I would not change my path as it has taught me so much. I have a long way to go and many more dreams to achieve but for now I am using my organised process to do one step at a time and enjoying the ride. My advice to others starting up-what ever you have in your head as “must haves” ignore them and find a way around, just work one step at a time, don’t blink and just let the waves take you on your journey. Whats the time you ask? Its quart… Im a qualified nurse who freelances training in Learning disabilities and associated conditions, I also do accredited first aid-here have my business card!