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novelmonger · 4 months ago

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I am now (finally) embarking on the last of the LotR audio commentaries I never listened to before: the Production/Post-Production one, with Barrie Osborne (producer), Mark Ordesky (executive producer), Andrew Lesnie (director of photography), John Gilbert (editor), Rick Porras (co-producer), Howard Shore (composer), and Jim Rygiel (visual effects supervisor). A lot more Americans in this group than the previous ones have been. I feel much more out of my depth with this one in terms of figuring out who's talking, but let's see what new stuff they have to say for FotR!

The sound from when Sauron explodes comes from a bunch of sounds they recorded both inside and outside ships in the harbor, as well as the sounds of WWII airplane propellers.

The scenes with Gollum in the prologue were actually some of the last shots they filmed for FotR.

The farmers around the area where they filmed Hobbiton would warn them when people would turn up who weren't supposed to be there, with cameras and whatnot, as well as warning them when planes or choppers would be overhead, so they could prevent (as much as possible) from footage leaking before the movie was released. That warms my heart :)

They used the analogy of a "shell game" when talking about all the different techniques they used to keep the proportions of characters correct with their different sizes. Because they would switch up the techniques between shots, it helped sell the overall effect, because you're not just always looking at a scale double or a bluescreen or what-have-you.

In the scene with Bilbo and Gandalf in the kitchen, they used forced perspective, with the table cut in half so that everything is small for Gandalf and the right size for Bilbo. When Bilbo pours the tea into the teapot, Gandalf handles a small lid on his side, putting it on a little rod that holds it in the right position so it looks like it's sitting on the teapot. Meanwhile, the actual teapot is on Bilbo's side so he can pour the water into it. Also, when Gandalf is first sitting down at the table and turning to get his legs underneath it, if you look closely you can see that when he bumps up against it, the half of the table closer to the camera jiggles a little, but the other half doesn't because it was actually some 5-10 feet away.

In the shot at the party that pans down from the fireworks and the tree, the actual party with all the dancing and everything was shot in a set, so they had to go back to the Hobbiton location (which had already been cleared of the set at that point, I think) and match up that shot to get the tree, and then they composited it together.

The direction for that shot of Minas Tirith when Gandalf goes to research the Ring was to make it look like "Constantinople in the morning." This may be my favorite part of this commentary :)

They needed to scan actors' faces so they could have their digital doubles to work with for certain shots. When they brought in Ian McKellen to scan his face, they said, "We just need to scan your face in a neutral position." He said, "Neutral for me or neutral for Gandalf?" And he demonstrated his own neutral expression, and when he switched to neutral Gandalf, he looked completely different, pursing his lips and furrowing his eyebrows and sucking his cheeks in more. Truly the sign of a gifted actor who knows how to ply his craft.

In the scene where Frodo and Sam are trying to sleep on the road for the first time, originally they were going to end with some sort of animal sniffing around them. First it was a deer, and they also tried a rabbit and maybe some other animals (possible fox appearance???). But that part didn't even make it into the Extended Edition.

Something I never thought about that they had to pay attention to was, because Orthanc is made of shiny material, they had to consider the color and quality of the light reflecting off it. So when they filmed the real location, they would take the camera and pan around the location, then print out stills and put them up around the miniature when they filmed that part of the shot, so they could get the right colors to match each shot they would composite over it, so it would look like both were in the same place. Now that's what I call attention to detail!

On the night they shot the little chase sequence with the Nazgul in the forest, it was actually raining off and on, even though you can't really see it in the movie. That made the ground very muddy, so the Hobbits actually had to be carried back to their first position for each new take so they wouldn't get too much mud on their feet and clothes.

To get the sounds of the trees' "voices" when the orcs in Isengard tear them down, they actually used several animal sounds like whales, moreso than sounds recorded from actual trees.

Bob Anderson, the swordmaster for the films, said they needed to have five copies of every sword for every actor every day they were going to be fighting with them, because that's how likely it is for them to be broken (since the swords actors use for hitting each other are lighter and not made like a real sword). But Richard Taylor wanted to find a way to make the swords more durable, because there are a lot of swords in these movies. So Weta developed a technique to help the stunt swords redistribute the shock from hitting them against each other. They took polyurethane, which Mark Ordesky notes is the same material as skateboard wheels, and they made a sort of sheath of that under the surface of the hilt. None of the swords they made like that ever broke.

The tree that gets thrown down into the chasm in Isengard had to be a miniature so they could get it high enough to drop it as far as they wanted to (and so they wouldn't have to cut down a huge tree). But they had to add little springs and things to make the branches bounce and jiggle properly, rather than just break off, as they would if you just made a little model tree. Little details like that really sell the scale.

In the Nazgul horseback chase scene, they cleared a path for the horses to safely run through the forest. But then they would also get branches and put them on the car or whatever vehicle had the camera, so it would look like they were pushing through more dense foliage, while still keeping the actors and horses safe.

The Council of Elrond was the final piece of the sound mix they had to finish for FotR, and it was down to a matter of hours. One of the things they mentioned having difficulty figuring out what to do with was the moment when Frodo sets the Ring down on the plinth. Originally, there was going to be a murmur of the crowd watching, but it didn't seem to have the gravitas and stunned awe necessary for that moment, so they had to play around with a lot of things before Peter Jackson was satisfied with it.

When Gimli smashes the Ring with his axe, John Rhys-Davies was actually only holding an empty handle, and the axe head was added digitally later so it could shatter.

Barrie Osborne (I think?) commented on something at least Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, especially Dom, started to do in order to make it more believable that the primary actors and the scale doubles are the same people. He noticed that their scale doubles tended to move and walk in a certain way (I assume partly because most of them were Little People, so their physique and proportions are a bit different), and so instead of leaving it up to them to mimic his movements, he started changing the way he moved to match them. That's just really cool.

Originally, they were going to do a bit of a flashback when Boromir asks Aragorn, "Have you ever seen the white tower..." etc. It would have been shot in the same place as the scene where Aragorn is visiting his mother's grave, and would feature Elrond talking to Aragorn about how he's the only one who can wield Anduril and how he needs to take his place as the king of Gondor.

For some of the close-up shots of Gimli in the scene where they first head into Moria, they actually had to use a double - not a scale double! an actual guy who was the same size as John Rhys-Davies! - because John had such a bad reaction to the facial prosthetics that he had to go a few days in between each time he put it on. But he'd had the prosthetics on the day before, and they didn't have time to wait until he could put them on again. So they had to find a double, put on the prosthetics and costume, and then John stood out of frame and spoke the lines, and the double mouthed the words along with him. I would never have guessed!

THANK YOU TO WHOEVER WAS TALKING AND I'M SORRY I COULDN'T RECOGNIZE YOUR VOICE FOR SURE, but someone was talking about "cinematic dark." In other words, how to light a scene so you can see everything that's happening even though you're in a place with hardly any light sources, like in Moria where the only light comes from the torch and Gandalf's staff most of the time. Instead of making it all really dark (*pointed stare at too many movies these days*), they shot it as if there is a source of light, but always very far away, like it's filtering through miles of rocky caverns or something. What that meant practically was that they would only light the characters in silhouette or from the side, never the front. So it would still give the impression that they're in darkness, but you don't have to strain at all to make out what's happening. They also desaturated the colors so everything looked muted, similar to how your vision kind of goes black-and-white in the dark.

One of the fundamental elements for the Moria goblin screeches was an opossum screech. There was some kind of opossum research facility in Wellington that they went to to record what became the foundation of the goblin sounds. Then they took them and re-recorded them in some WWII tunnels to get the right echoey reverb effect. And then for the sounds of them moving, they took sounds from insects like grasshoppers, as well as rattling seashells from the beach against the walls of the tunnels to get a scuttling sort of sound for when they come pouring out of holes in the ceiling.

You know that one shot where Legolas fires an arrow at a goblin archer and the camera follows the arrow all the way into his forehead? I always assumed that whole thing was all CG, but no! Even that had a practical element to it! They set up a camera on a sort of zip line with a bungee cord and sent it down as fast as it could go towards an actual stunt guy in costume! Now that's what I call above and beyond.

They shot a scene that didn't make it into even the Extended Edition of the Fellowship arguing about what they should do next after they leave Moria, with some members having misgivings about going to Lothlorien. I wish we could see that, even though I understand why they needed to keep things moving. They didn't mention if they actually shot this or if it was scrapped by the time they got that far, but there was also a mention of the entry to Lothlorien being much more frantic, as they're chased by orcs and then rescued by a sudden volley of Elven arrows.

There was also once a longer scene between Boromir and Frodo as they're waiting to see if Haldir will let them into Lothlorien. He tells Frodo a story of him getting over the death of one of his comrades. Um...I wanna see these extra scenes!!!

They wanted Lothlorien to feel ethereal and maybe almost slightly in a different universe, because of the Elves and especially Galadriel, who can see into hearts and minds. One of the ways they did that was by diffusing the light on the set so everything seems kind of dreamy. Another way they tweaked things was by bringing out the blues and edging them towards lavender. Yes, yes, Lothlorien is supposed to be golden, but after hearing the explanation about how lavender is actually one of the hardest colors to get to look right on film (the word used was "fragile") and to look good against skin tones, and therefore you don't see it very much in the movies, I can appreciate the subtle ways they tried to make Lothlorien feel distinct.

Originally, they were going to have a scene where the Fellowship goes through some rapids on the Anduin and get ambushed by orc archers. Ultimately, they decided they didn't need that as a story beat at that point, and it would have been very difficult to shoot anyway. Makes me wonder if that influenced the infamous barrel scene from the Hobbit movies, like they dug up some old plans for that....

Except for one wide shot where they used a scale double for Frodo, the entire confrontation between Boromir and Frodo was shot just with Sean Bean and Elijah Wood, no special effects, just strategic blocking and using the slope and different angles to their advantage to always make it look like Frodo is smaller than Boromir.

If I understood Howard Shore correctly, he was inspired to use a boy's choir for Boromir's death when he saw Boromir, after falling to his knees from the first arrow or two, looking up at Merry and Pippin. Boys singing at his death gives a sense of lost innocence, which is appropriate both to Boromir trying to take the Ring as well as to the lost innocence of losing the Hobbits. So it's not just a lament for Boromir, it's also his lament for (as he thinks in the moment, because he knows he's dying) failing the Hobbits.

The original mix for Boromir's death had all the sound effects at full volume, which made the moment even more brutal. Mark Ordesky was saying that he (and probably some others) was thinking it might be better if they pulled back on some of the sound and let the music be louder. Peter Jackson said, "Well, let's try it," and as soon as they turned down the volume, the entire room basically agreed immediately that's how they needed to do it. It's meant to sound and feel almost like you're sinking underwater as Boromir is dying, because that's how it would sound and feel for him.

Oh my goodness, further proof that studio execs shouldn't have a say in the story of a movie. New Line wanted the movie to end with Frodo and Sam paddling across the river, and then an Uruk bursts up from underwater and grabs Frodo, pulling him out of the boat. The Ring somehow comes off the chain, and the Uruk is so enamored with it that he ends up drowning while trying to grab it. Then Sam somehow gets Frodo (and the Ring) back into the boat. Thank goodness they came up with the much better ending we all know and love. Because the people actually involved with writing the movie and telling its story knew that the ending of FotR needs to be about the breaking of the Fellowship, about love and loyalty in the face of great evil. So that's why they went with the ending they did: Sam falls into the water and almost drowns, Frodo saves him, and that paves the way for the incredible emotional high of Frodo leaving the Fellowship, but Sam going with him. And just like Frodo is thinking about how Gandalf talked about how he was meant to find the Ring, Sam is thinking about how Gandalf told him not to leave Frodo. It all ties together so much better.

The last shot for the film was Boromir going over the waterfall. It was in the final cut of the movie just as a previs shot, and Barrie Osborne said he assumed it was going to be a CG effect or something. But finally, while Peter Jackson was in London working on scoring the film - so pretty late in the production - Barrie called him and asked when they were going to shoot that scene. Peter Jackson had forgotten about it! So Barrie had to shoot it, and since they didn't have the actors in New Zealand at that point, they had to get Weta to make a silicon dummy to shoot instead.

#lord of the rings #lotr #fellowship of the ring #behind the scenes

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realdirtfacts · 2 years ago

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Selling your merch and shipping from home with Fourthwall

I've been selling @shiftythrifting Junk Boxes - our curated secondhand mystery boxes - since 2017 using different platforms with different levels of success. I moved to Fourthwall in 2022 and my teeny tiny business has only grown since then! FW is free to use and you get ALL the money from your home sales save for the credit card processing fees. I don't miss the fee structure from our previous hosts, so I thought I'd write up a little guide on how easy it is to get started.

Things you need to start shipping from home:

A scale, and it doesn't need to be an expensive or large one! Even a kitchen scale works for small stuff.

Packaging and packing materials for the product(s) you're selling.

Access to a post office and/or a printer.

Funds set aside for postage. You'll get this money back with your Fourthwall payout when the month rolls over.

(Optional but handy) A ShipStation account.

Make yourself a store if you haven't already. You can sell print on demand, digital stuff, and your own inventory in one place but today we're talking about selling from home, so add a product and pick the middle option.

You can customize everything about your product on this page, from adding size and color variations, the materials used to make it, size charts, inventory, and more. Get an accurate weight of what you're selling in its packaging and add that here. Hit save and you have your first listing. Gonna be selling a variety of products? You can duplicate the listing with the meatball menu! Change the name, photos, and anything else that needs changing and have your second listing up in a couple minutes.

Didi protip: I like to put people's reviews right in the listing. Lots of photos help sell your product, but there's nothing like a positive review from fans!

Fourthwall's Collections feature lets me put my Junk Boxes in their own little section where I can set them to hidden or mark them sold out if I get sick or am on vacation. This lets me easily turn the self-fulfilled part of my store off while folks can still purchase print on demand and digital stuff and sign up for memberships.

Didi protip: If you are in the US, the US postal service will pick up your outgoing packages free of charge on any regular mail day. Just set up a pickup on USPS.com!

When you've made your first sale, you can either make the label yourself or connect directly to ShipStation through Fourthwall's app integration. That's brand new and I love it so far. My labels pop up in ShipStation about 24 hours after a purchase, giving people a little window of time to adjust their order or make changes before I ship it.

At that point, all that's left is handing it off to the postal carrier of your choice! Boom, you're done!

A final note from me, I moved ShopShifty to Fourthwall so I could have one address for ALL my merch instead of splitting it between Patreon, a print-on-demand store, and the Junk Box store. It's proven to be the best choice I've made in years and has saved me a ton of money in marketplace fees, Paypal's cut, and web hosting charges. This has genuinely been the easiest way to sell my merch!

#fourthwall #I wouldn't praise anything like this that I didn't absolutely love #and I love fw #I'm proud our lil shifty made partner #now I help other people set their stores up

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sleekervae · 2 years ago

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So Good [0.2]

Masterlist

A/N: Heyy, how's September treating everyone? I already hate school and I've done absolutely zero drawing in two months but you know what -- it's okay. Life is full of surprises and I'm just gonna take whatever the universe decides to throw my way -- we're cool. Anyway, thanks for the reads, likes, and reblogs, always helps to save a fanfic!

Warnings: none, spoilers for Yoü & I

Purple text is Korean

Namjoon stayed true on his promise to text Kimberly after she handed him her number, and they had exchanged a few texts in the days leading up to their next show, sporadic messages mostly, but there had been a few nights were the chat ran for hours. They had a particularly lengthy conversation about how she needed a new turntable, then she told him about her most played records; what she listened to first thing in the morning, which tunes kept her going in her workouts, what she played when she took a bath and when she cooked. From there, Namjoon asked about food, what she liked to cook and confessing that he wasn't very knowledgable around the kitchen.

Sometimes though, Namjoon would take hours to respond, not on purpose, either he had forgotten or was simply too busy. Kimberly didn't mind the gaps between their messages, he'd come back and continue the conversation as if nothing had happened whenever he had the time.

In her spare time, Kimberly had done her own exploration into BTS, blown away by the scale of their music videos and charmed in their interviews. Namjoon had a spectacular, though quiet charisma to him; bespoke and concise in some takes, but he could be a complete goofball in others. And those eyes of his were incredible, she could quite easily be transfixed by his gaze regardless of whether or not he was on a screen.

At the moment she was in the middle of one of their catch-up texts, sitting off in the corner of their rehearsal space. Catch the Caper were supposed to be rehearsing for their upcoming tour, however, lallygagging and complacency overtook the energy in the studio.

What would you want to do if you weren't in a band?

Probably something in public relations or just marketing altogether

Sounds pretty smart

Lol, I guess so

You been to college?

I had plans to go to Princeton initially, but the band was the better fit

Did you go to college?

I took some courses here and there, mostly communications stuff

I took some women's and gender studies, too

No kidding? How'd you like those?

Very very eye opening

The other girls were gathered in a circle around the drum set, having one of their usual debates about very important societal topics.

"But why would an audio book be considered the same as reading?" Chloe asked.

Charlotte shrugged back, "I mean -- for one, someone had to read out the book to record it for the audio,"

"But what if you're a really fast reader and the narrator speaks really slow?" Maria replied, "That would be torture for me,"

"... But that defeats the purpose of the idea. You're not doing a read-a-long with a narrator. The platform is just listening," Charlotte added.

"But you have books on a kindle, there's not much of a step up from just listening," Maria said.

Chloe strained her head to get a look at Kimberly in her corner, "Oh, Kimberly! Care to join us?" she called.

Kimberly glanced up from her phone, "Are we starting?"

"Nope," Maria huffed, "But we really ought to,"

"C'mon, this is important," Chloe chided back, "Eva wants to get a joint Audible membership,"

Kimberly cocked her head, "So... what's your problem, then?"

"Her problem is subscribing to another digital platform that she's not going to use so it'll just keep charging her card until she remembers to cancel it," Charlotte explained.

"But if I already have the books that Audible is offering, is there even a point to getting an account? I don't know what the difference would be... other than maybe laziness," Chloe mulled.

Kimberly sighed as she stood up, stretching out the stiffness in her back, "Okay, I define reading as taking in a story, that means visualizing the story and using imagination just like you would if you had a book in front of you," she explained, "I don't think there's much of a difference, anyhow,"

"Great," Chloe nodded, "I still don't know,"

"Just try the free trial for Pete sakes!" Maria snapped, "That's why they're called 'trials', dude,"

Charlotte, quickly becoming disillusioned with this conversation, turned to Kimberly as she walked over, "What were you doing over there, anyway?"

"I was texting," Kimberly sat beside her, crossing one leg over the other, "So sue me,"

"Darius?"

Chloe cut in before she could answer, "Namjoon," she waggled her eyebrows at the bassist. Kimberly glowered at her.

"Tattle tits,"

"Wait --" Charlotte shifted closer, "The BTS guy? Really?"

"Yeah. The tall one," Kimberly replied.

"Bro, they're all fucking tall,"

"The one with the nice quads," Chloe nodded.

Maria raised her brows as well, not so much in amusement, "How long you been talking for?"

"A couple of days. He's really nice," Kimberly replied honestly,

Charlotte smirked, "I'm sure he is,"

"Get that look off your face,"

Maria scoffed, "Well, you can't really blame her. You guys were practically inseparable at the AMAs," she said.

"Right up until you dropped the big B-word," Chloe added.

Kimberly grimaced, the stunned expression on his face continued to flicker in her memory. She truly hadn't meant any harm by it, Darius had become such a natural part of her life that she hadn't felt the need to shout to the world that she had a boyfriend. Furthermore, she didn't want to brush off a potential friendship with the B-word stonewall. Nevertheless, if Namjoon had that simmering hope of maybe -- just maybe -- Kimberly was confident that she had shut that down real quick. She loved Darius, after all, she was comfortable in her relationship.

"So what?" Kimberly replied, trying not to border on defensive, "We've effortlessly proved for the last three and something years that guys and girls can be friends without romantic tension,"

Chloe scoffed back, "Two of us proved it, anyway," she glanced at both Charlotte and Maria. The former was stuck in a will-they-won't-they tension with Luke Hemmings, while Maria had been secretly dating Calum Hood for nearly nine months, now. Only three weeks ago had Charlotte, Kimberly, and Chloe found them out.

Maria screwed up her face at the drummer, "Hey! The other three are still my friends," she pointed out, referring to the rest of the boys from 5 Seconds of Summer. Charlotte rolled her eyes, not having the energy to dignify this topic with an answer.

"Anyway," she sighed, "What do you and Namjoon talk about?"

Kimberly shook her head, debating how much she should privy the girls to. Sure, they all knew everything about each other, but there were still some things Kimberly liked to keep to herself. So far, Namjoon was definitely one of them.

"Anything that comes to mind," she replied, "Music, mostly,"

Chloe scoffed, "With the schedules these guys have, I'm surprised he has the time to text you at all," she said.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"You have any idea how many hours a day they go for? How do you think they move like that? Takes some fucking work," Chloe replied, "Not to mention the strict diets, the travel, the training regimens,"

"So... like our schedules, minus the dancing?" Kimberly queried.

"Our schedules... but on major roids," she replied.

Charlotte raised her brows, "That bad?"

"Depending on the label," Chloe replied, "The boys definitely have a bit more freedom than the girls do,"

"As always in a modern, sexist society," Maria sighed, hunching forward, "So, when do they have time for friends? Dating? A life?"

"Maybe when their contracts run out," Chloe replied, "K-pop idols can't date,"

Kimberly refused to let it show, but she couldn't help the nervous pinching in her gut when Chloe said that, "W-What do you mean? Like -- at all?"

Chloe shook her head, "You ever hear of fan service? The labels make their money off of these guys being quote-on-quote 'available' and 'pure'. If they stay single the younger fans are more likely to buy into their brand,"

The other three sat in a stunned silence. It wasn't the first time they had heard of management getting involved in people's personal lives, but usually it was the other way around. Hell, their own manager tried to set Charlotte up in a PR relationship the previous year.

"Ugh," Maria cringed, "Why's that giving me Jonas Brothers purity ring bullshit?"

"Okay but -- that can't be for forever," Charlotte said, "It's fucking barbaric!"

"Over here, maybe. But Korea's a whole other culture," Chloe replied, "We just don't see it because we're foreigners. They treat us differently,"

Maria cocked her head, "Chlo, how do you know so much about this?" she asked.

Chloe smiled back, sheepish as she replied, "Let's call it a 2am rabbit-hole special. I'm also just a fan. -- I'm a fan of BTS, not of the record labels,"

Kimberly scoffed, "Must be pretty fucking bleak. You're writing love songs and you can't even have a lover to write about,"

"Oh, c'mon. They're grown men," Maria said, "I'm sure they're familiar with getting business done themselves,"

Charlotte physically grimaced, eager to change the subject, "Okay! Back to work!" she announced as she stood up. The girls followed suit.

Chloe chuckled, "Aw, what's the matter, Lottie? You never wanna change the subject when we're talking about Lu --"

"Chloe!" Kim scolded, pointing a sharp, manicured finger at her, "No,"

"Maria started it," Chloe chided back.

"And I'll also end it," Maria decided, looping her guitar strap over her shoulder.

Kimberly sighed under her breath as she did the same with her bass, glancing tentatively at her friends, "So... You guys still wanna' see their show on Friday?"

"Oh, I'm definitely down," Chloe replied.

Charlotte simpered, "Yeah, I'm into it,"

They all then turned to Maria, who stayed stiffly silent at first. Call her a killjoy or judgemental, but Maria wasn't the biggest fan of machine pop music. It wasn't so much BTS she was against, but the entire machine behind them. The industry of pretty boybands and girlbands with fancy dance moves, while definitely exciting, also held many dark undertones that turned her off completely. And she knew the girls felt the same because they had discussed this at length.

Maria could think of a hundred other things she could be doing on Friday, namely one of them being with Calum, and she knew the girls wouldn't hold it against her if she didn't go. Nevertheless, there was this air of hopefulness on Kimberly's face. They loved doing things together, experiencing new music being one of them. And the guys had promised to hold some tickets for them, so that was definitely a nice perk.

"Alright, I'm in," she conceded, "Do we have to get dressed up or..."

"Girl, it's a concert, not the Met," Charlotte pointed out.

"Well, I don't know," she shrugged back.

Kimberly's phone buzzed in her pocket, her lips curved up as she found Namjoon's name flash across her screen.

Do you like TGIF or Chili's better? We're trying to decide what to get for dinner

Ooooh...

Chili's, they're chicken sandwiches are lit

She hesitated as she typed her next message, her thumb wavered over the send button as she felt that nervous pinch in her gut. She glanced at her friends, their previous teasing weighing on her a little. Nevertheless, she averted her eyes to her keyboard as she pressed the send button.

When you have some time though, maybe I'll take you somewhere better than Chili's lol

She had barely tucked her phone back into her pocket when it buzzed again, her smile grew wider, and the pinching in her gut subsided.

I would like that a lot!

Unbeknownst to Kimberly, Chloe couldn't help but take a stealthy peak over her shoulder. Her curiosity however failed her covertness.

"What would he like?" she blurted.

Kimberly jumped forward, hugging her phone to her chest, "Chloe!" and as she turned, she smacked Chloe's side with the handle of her bass.

"Owh!" Chloe faltered, stumbling back and favouring her 'wound', "She hit me!" she whined to Maria.

"She was creeping on me!" Kimberly fought back, both of them looking to the oldest member.

Maria however remained stone faced, her exasperation evident as she turned to Charlotte. The moment the mousy brunette met the fiery Latina's gaze, she couldn't help but burst into giggles.

Kimberly rolled her eyes and took her place, awaiting patiently for the other girls to get themselves together. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but have a little bounce in her step, excited for Friday to just hurry up and roll around so she could see Namjoon again.

BTS' Friday night concert came upon them soon enough, and Namjoon was feeling rather calm and confident about the whole affair. Perhaps because he knew he looked good, perhaps because he had put his work in all week, making sure his performance would be flawless. Or simply, his self-assured nature had peaked because they were still riding high off of their American tour, the interviews were almost over and he was living his dream, had little to no worries except entertaining the crowd and not messing up his parts.

Namjoon felt like a fool for the nervous pinch in his chest whenever he saw her name flash on his phone screen, he liked talking to her, even if the limits of texting infuriated him at times. He knew when she'd be laughing at him over messages and when he'd stumble for words at a certain question, racking his brain for the English translation, and relieved he had time to form a cohesive thought before sending the next text.

He had done his own research into Catch the Caper, easily blown away by the rest of their music catalogue. Fiery and outspoken, and Kimberly shone through every solo shot in their videos. She didn't speak much in their interviews either, but when she did she was quite soft, though she had her moments where she had a bite to her. He liked that she always spoke her mind and could be so personable outright.

Admittedly, there were times when his thumb had hovered over the call button just so he could hear her voice again, when he was tired and bored in his hotel bed, when he fresh off his workout, but it seemed too eager, too much. How would he justify that? What would he say when or if she picked up? What if she was with Darius? Ultimately, his insecurity of overstepping the barely sketched boundaries kept him from calling.

At the moment, Namjoon was in the green room; his bandmates were primping, preening, notching the final buttons to their clothes and whatnot. He was keeping his composure, nonetheless excitement bubbled in his chest at the prospect of seeing Kimberly again. He had texted her that morning with details on how to find him once she and the girls arrived but he checked his phone again, wondering if she'd text to announce her arrival, if she'd even come at all.

He stayed slumped in his chair, his image in the vanity mirror a reflection of the self-doubt flickering through his wall of confidence. He wondered what she'd be wearing, what he should say and hoped he'd keep his cool around her, prayed he wouldn't make a wrong move, but no internal preparation could have prepared him for the moment when that green room door opened.

He didn't have to wait for Hobi's joyous greeting, or Jimin to practically fall out of his chair, the moment that door opened he knew it was her. Kimberly, Maria and Chloe had filed in after their stage manager, pleasantly taken aback by the guys' boisterous welcome. Chloe and Maria started integrating immediately, speaking slow with the guys and it gave them an opportunity to reflex their English. Chloe attempted to greet them in Korean, and Namjoon would've given her a solid B- minus.

Kimberly however migrated right over to Namjoon, and he was quick to stand up and greet her.

"Hi,"

Her perfume enrobed him, kept him there as he inhaled it. He wasn't sure if he should go in for a hug but she beat him to the punch; she had to stand on her toes to reach properly and he found it so adorable. His own scent of equally dizzying to her and she breathed it in now, allowed his spicy cologne to overwhelm her, take her back to the night they'd night. Heat radiated from his touch, his lips at the side of her head and she smiled against his shoulder.

He at last let go and pulled back, he tucked his hands in his pockets to hide the slight shake in them. There was a shimmer of mischief in his eyes, the deep brown alarmingly familiar to Kimberly despite the fact she'd only met him once.

"You look amazing," he mired.

"Thanks," she smiled bashfully, "You look really cool,"

She had seen pictures of him on the tour, somehow seeing him up close in his stage fit was a little bit of a spectacle. He wore dark pants, a black t-shirt, and he had his silver print jacket hanging on the back of his chair. The choker around his neck was an unexpected, but cohesively charming touch. His hair was naturally fluffy, a lock fell over his eyes and it drew her eye to his jawline.

Everything about him exuded an abundance of collectedness but the mischief was still there, strong, bold and he seemed to be eternally smirking, the corner of his mouth pulled up and twitching as if he were about to make a coy joke. Kimberly was convinced she'd never seen a jaw that sharp and if she was unsure she'd been intrigued by him before, now there was no denying it.

"Is this the infamous jacket that's been circling the internet?" she chuckled, pointing curiously to the garment.

"Infamous?" he wondered aloud, "I suppose, if the internet says, so it shall be," he replied, his lips curling. Everything he said had a nonchalance, an effortlessness to it, but at the same time she wouldn't have been surprised should he have fallen into a fit of laughter.

"It looks cool," she nodded, chewing her lip for a split second, "You look cool in the pictures, anyway," stop saying 'cool' so much, idiot.

Namjoon's eyes trailed over her. There was a little less skin on show this time, allowing him less to study than before and he swallowed as his eyes fell on the tattoo on her forearm, peaking out under the rolled up sleeve of her velvet shirt. She wore blue wash denim jeans, baggy in the legs, scuffed white converse, and this time she had straightened her hair, tied back in a clean ballerina bun. It no doubt would've taken her a while to wrangle all those curls; he appreciated the creativity and effort she'd gone to.

"Did you miss me?" he asked with an undefeated smirked.

"Maybe a little..." she nodded truthfully, tilting her head at him and giving her best smile, "Miss me?"

"Almost forgot you were comin'..." he drawled, his lips betraying the harshness of his words.

"Oh, wow. Thanks," she grumbled playfully, "I only gave up my rare Friday night off for you, Joon..."

"Hey, I got the backstage passes for you, Kim..." he teased, cocking his head as they started for their babbling friend groups, "Speaking of, I didn't see Charlotte come in...?"

"Oh," Kimberly bit her lip, a small flush colouring her cheeks. The tone of her voice was clearly different and Namjoon raised and eyebrow in expectation, "Charlotte had something come up, so I brought Darius with me instead... I hope that's okay... he just went to catch up with the guys in the security," she gestured out the door was a particular vagueness.

Though the news was a shock to him, Namjoon nodded to feign as if he didn't care, scratched at his neck and jaw and she tilted her head to see if her boyfriend would come waltzing through the door.

"That's cool," he assured her, "He knows the security guys?"

She nodded, "He moonlights as a bouncer at this arena and at another club downtown,"

"Moonlights..."

"It's another term for 'work',"

"Right, right. Thanks,"

It seemed as though another man had appeared out of nowhere as he chatted in the middle of the group, and from the way Kimberly's eyes lit up he knew that he had to be Darius. He was tense as they approached him, even more so when Kimberly drew instantly to his side. Namjoon watched her boyfriend's hand slip to her hip and bit the inside of his cheek in annoyance.

For a second, Namjoon could only focus on her smile, the way she'd lit up even more than he thought possible at his side, but then drew his attention to Darius.

He was dressed in an obscure band tee and blue jeans, his hair tied into short dreads at the top of his head, the sides shaved down. He was a little more slender than Namjoon, nevertheless he was built similarly to Jungkook. He appeared quite friendly and his smile was genuine, the kind of smile which seemed to permanently stick even when faced with bad news. It made Namjoon realize he was probably frowning and he consciously turned the corners of his lips up to counter it.

As much as he hated to admit it, they looked good together. But at least he wasn't taller than him...

"Hey, have some water..." Jin said quickly, easily reading the tension in Namjoon's posture and quickly holding out a bottle for him.

"Thanks..." Namjoon mumbled back, drawing his eyes to the bottle. he hoped he was hiding his jealously in his expression but from the way Jin was looking at him, he figured that it was the opposite.

As Namjoon took a first sip, the condensation on the bottle cooling his clammy palm, the familiar cool liquid soothing the dryness in his throat, Chloe suddenly popped out of nowhere.

"Namjoon!" the rainbow haired drummer threw her arms around him in a hug, none the wiser to his sip. He choked back the water quickly and hugged her back, laughing quietly.

"Hi Chloe," he chuckled, "Thanks for coming,"

"Thanks for having us! Charlotte sends her best, by the way," she mired.

"Where is she?" he asked.

Chloe glanced to Maria, who glanced to Kimberly, he glanced back at him with a sly smirk. The girls had a secret between them, "Oh, she's sorting some stuff out with another friend of ours," Maria replied. It was clear by the sunken expression on Jimin's face that he was hoping Charlotte would've come.

Hobi, none the wiser to the tension in the room, unabashedly shrugged, "We send her video after," he nodded, beaming through his broken English.

Chloe then looked to Kimberly and Darius, "Oh! I know he's late, but this is Darius," she gestured to the taller gent.

Namjoon swallowed, "How's it going?" Namjoon drawled, holding his hand out as steadily as he could to meet Darius' already extended handshake, "Namjoon. Nice to meet you,"

"You too, man," Darius agreed cheerfully, meeting Namjoon's eye line directly with a confidence he prayed he was carrying off at least externally, "I'm looking forward to the show. Hey -- do you guys really move that fast on stage?"

"We definitely try," Namjoon smiled back, taken aback at how nice Darius was.

He shrugged his shoulders as an attempt to ease the tension he'd built there, stretched his neck a little. He took another sip from the water bottle to cool his nerves, relaxed his jaw and hoped it made him look much more unaffected than he felt.

Part of him wished that Kimberly's boyfriend was in any way dislikable, but he simply couldn't bring himself to hate the guy, could see she liked him and that he liked her. Darius didn't seem to be fake or forcing anything, had no features Namjoon could distinguish as better or worse than his and he made Kimberly laugh, they were comfortable together.

Kimberly couldn't help but watch Namjoon get pulled between conversations, gauging his reaction. She knew that no matter how deeply complicated that first meeting between them had been, that he'd felt something for her and as cool and collected as he was trying to seem, the effortlessness of his demeanour, his sudden focus on the others' conversations, there was an awkward reserve beneath the surface, a slight fumble for words, a general sense of fluster she could see that Jin had noticed too. She remembered the way he froze on the spot at the revelation of her having a boyfriend, how timid he'd been in engaging in conversation after her show and she hoped things wouldn't be too uncomfortable between them because of their first meeting.

"How'd you and Kimberly meet?" Namjoon asked, nodding to Darius, his voice a little scratchy and he coughed to clear it. He took another sip from his bottle.

"At my job, funny enough..." he replied, giving her an endearing side glance, "Her band had their album debut at the club I work at and, yeah... been a bit of a whirlwind but..." Kimberly turned to him and smiled brightly, "It's been an adventure,"

"Ooh, you a... dancer?" Jimin asked, the dimples in his cheeks visible. He nudged Namjoon who gave an appreciative chuckle as he wiggled his shoulders.

"Uh -- no, no. I'm a bouncer," Darius replied, "You know; security. And I'm in school in the day,"

Namjoon translated quickly for Jimin, who gave a quick nod of understanding, then he turned back to Darius, "What're you in school for?"

Kimberly watched from the corner of her eye, found Namjoon's continued curiosity endearing and his eyes lit up when he caught her gaze.

Namjoon caught Kimberly's eye and raised his eyebrows whilst the rest of his face was taught. She broke away first, looking to Darius as he began to speak and Namjoon considered it a tiny victory.

"Finances right now. I wanna' get my insurance license and go into a firm," he shrugged sheepishly, "It's not really interesting, I know. When people ask what I do, I just tell them I work in a club,"

"Hey, c'mon. Insurance is very important!" Namjoon nodded, "You're the proverbial safety net with a fire, or a car accident --"

"Or a snake bite," Darius mentioned, a quirky smile playing at his lips.

Namjoon hissed, "Ooh, ouch,"

"Nah, that's not the bad part, though," he chuckled, "The claim was filed by a guy who broke a window of this other dude's car to steal the crates in his backseat. Little did this poor guy know that the car belonged to a pest control specialist and there was a live snake in one of the crates,"

He squirmed on the spot, still visually invested in Darius' story, "No way..." he mulled it over for a moment, "Hold on though: the guy who broke into another guy's car filed an insurance claim for --?"

"Health insurance. But then the pest control guy turned around and sued him for damages. The robber counter-sued for snake bites and hospital bills, yada yada..." Darius trailed off with a shake of his head, "Welcome to America,"

Kimberly scoffed beside him, "My favourite is still Grand Theft Garden Gnome," she chuckled.

Namjoon's lips pulled into a confident smile again, his focus brimming more on him, selfishly wanting to understand more about her through him.

"Grand Theft Garden Gnome? This ought to be good,"

Darius opened his mouth to explain, though he was suddenly cut off by Jin and Maria's matching defeated cries of frustration. They were playing against Taehyung and Jungkook on the foosball table in the corner, clearly the youngest members of BTS had beaten them.

"I give up!" Jin cried, flailing onto the couch

"You guys have to be cheating," Maria marvelled at them, turning to Suga behind them, "Do they cheat a lot?" she pointed to them. Suga simply shrugged, Namjoon could tell he didn't understand what she saying yet.

"Suga!" he quickly translated for Suga, who's face immediately lit up as he glowered at the younger boys, shaking head.

"No," he spoke quickly. Hobi and Chloe began to laugh beside him, and Jimin got up from beside Namjoon to partake in the teasing.

Jungkook laughed gleefully, "You give up, yeah?" he giggled, eyes crinkled gleefully.

Maria, ever the stubborn one, glowered back at the pair with a sharp "No..." though given Jin's pouting, she was clearly without a partner.

Darius however took pity on her, excusing himself from Kimberly and Namjoon, "Don't worry Maria, I got you," he winked to Kimberly, "Show 'em how we do it on the East end,"

"Knock 'em dead," she sang back.

From his spot on the couch, Jin gave Namjoon a subtle look and a wink, continuing his pout as Darius took up his spot beside Maria. Taehyung puffed up his chest, trying to come off as intimidating.

"Let's go, let's go!" he exclaimed, and with that, another fiery game was on.

Kimberly looked across to Namjoon, who could barely contain his smile, rolled her eyes jokingly, "You might have to postpone your show. Maria's way too competitive, she's not gonna' quit until she wins one,"

Namjoon rolled his eyes and pouted a little, watching his friends go head-to-head as clearly, Darius was proving to be a tough match for them; his game was tight.

"Jungkook is equally competitive, so we might have a problem," he sighed, "We have to let him win at Mario Kart or his entire day's ruined," he smirked, keeping himself from shifting closer to her on the couch.

"Oh no," she chuckled as she looked back at him, brown eyes bright and shining.

He'd been trying not to lose himself in her too often, had purposely ignored the loose hairs falling from her bun, the way freckles across her nose stood out sweetly in the light, had willed himself to focus on the conversation each time her lips had wrapped around the bottle of her drink but now he couldn't not notice it all, admired her up close, fantasized about having her as close to him as Darius had, then bit the inside of his cheek at his thoughts. It would have been impossible.

"... You can sit closer if you wanna'," she said sheepishly, "I won't bite,"

Despite all the control he'd fought for, the arrogance and air of nonchalance he was desperate to exude, hid face lit up, he couldn't help it.

Chuckling, he shifted closer to her, "Sure,"

Kimberly smiled, glancing curiously at her soda bottle, "I... I don't suppose you have anything hanging around that's stronger than ginger ale?"

Namjoon simpered back, "At the moment -- no. We're supposed to keep sharp for the stage," he smoothed the side of his hair back with the flat of his palm. Kimberly couldn't decide if it was nerves that had prompted him, or if he was trying to keep up his act, but either way, he looked effortlessly cool doing it.

"Very fair," she nodded, "I don't wanna be a bad influence or anything, but I could go for a Paloma right now,"

"Is that your favourite drink?"

She nodded, "Mhm. Tequila, grapefruit, and lime. That's it," she replied, "You have a favourite drink?"

"Probably just soju," he said with a shrug, "The watermelon one is my favourite,"

"Soju..." she marvelled aloud, "It's like sake, right?"

"Kind of, but soju tends to be sweeter," he replied.

"Don't judge me, but I've never tried soju," she admitted with a laugh.

Namjoon's eyes went wide, "No kidding?" she shook her head, "That's like never trying water! If I had known, I would've brought some for you,"

"Hey, gimme' a break. I only turned twenty-one a couple months ago," she tucked some loose hairs behind her ear.

He cocked a brow, "But did you only start drinking at twenty-one?" he asked, bringing his voice to a lower whisper.

"Officially -- yes. Unofficially -- no comment," she sipped her ginger ale to make her point, "Were you such a boy scout back in Korea?"

Namjoon smirked back at her, leaning in close, but not close enough to make her feel uneasy. He didn't want her or Darius to detest him for anything, knew that if friendship was all he could have, then he'd take it and hold it close to his chest.

"No comment,"

12 notes · View notes

jinx-blackout-84 · 2 years ago

Text

The Shady Kid From The Alleyway

Chapter 1

Tommy-centric SBI TNTduo Benchtrio fic

Dream stans DNI you won't like this one I made hum a manipulative villain.... like IRL

4016 words

TW for mentions of violence, mentions of blood, and cursing

Anything in slashes are in /italics/

Anything in dashes are -bold-

“Motherfucking fuck!”

Tommy saw a spark jump across his hand before he felt it. He snapped his hand away from the piece of metal in his hands that he was trying to install a computer chip in.

He picked it back up, sighing and glancing at the clock.

2:32 AM

His eyes were heavy, threatening to fall closed as he sat in his apartment’s kitchen. Picking up a screwdriver and the computer chip, he went back to fiddling with the metal gauntlet he had been staring at for the better part of four hours.

Does he sleep, or finish the gauntlet?

He weighed the two options in his head before conceding to finish the gauntlet on the grounds that he wouldn’t sleep anyways.

The light above the table reflected into his exhaustion-glassy eyes as he finished installing the microchip, leaving him with only a few pieces left to do. He first checked that a simple code Tubbo had written would work when run through the chip, activating a simple digital motor that would open one of the flasks attached to the gauntlet’s side, which would later be used to store gasoline to help Tubbo, in his words, “make arson more efficient, don’t you want my arson to be efficient, Tommy?”

Tubbo’s ability, the ability to conduct heat and electricity, made setting fires very easy for him even without the gasoline, which Tommy mentioned and was then debated by Tubbo. Do not debate Tubbo.

Tommy called over to the couch where insomniac Tubbo was pretending to sleep while Ranboo watched TV.

“We’re patrolling tomorrow, right?”

“Should be unless you fall off of a roof again. Think you can get that gauntlet done by tomorrow so I can code it?”

“Yeah, I just have to get a few panels screwed in and hook up the other digital motors and we should be good.”

“Awesome, let me know when you finish it up.”

“Yup, by the way, how’s the coding for my boots going?”

“Pretty shit.”

“Bugs?”

“Nope, just some new mechanics I don’t quite understand yet.”

Ranboo, enthralled moments ago by a documentary about art forgery, said, “He threw his computer at the wall earlier and I had to teleport it onto the bed so he wouldn’t break it.”

“I also had an English test today so I don’t want to hear it. That shit is difficult,” Tubbo grumbled.

“No, no, he has a point,” Tommy agreed. English was his worst subject back when he was in school.

Tommy chewed on the inside of his cheek as he hooked up a few wires from one of the motors to the CPU.

He slipped his hand into the gauntlet, flexing his fingers a few times before throwing it at Tubbo, who caught it without looking. Tommy was impressed.

“Try it on to see if it fits,” he said to Tubbo

Tubbo snarked back at him “Nope, it’s three sizes too small.”

Tommy threatened to make the gauntlet fit; and after watching Tubbo try on the gauntlet to make sure it fit, nodded, extremely proud of himself for being the most intelligent person to ever exist.

The stuffy air in the apartment was stale, and since it was not too cold outside, Tommy decided he needed some air, calling out to Tubbo and Ranboo,

“Hey, I’m heading up to the roof”

"Okay, don’t die again, thanks,” Ranboo replied, and Tubbo gave a thumbs-up.

Tommy opened the grimy window and pulled himself out onto the fire escape, which creaked concerningly under his weight. Scaling the rusted metal with expertise gained by years of practice, he finally got his hand over the upper lip of the apartment building’s roof.

The wind was quite harsh, cold against Tommy’s face, but not unwelcome after being at the table working on the gauntlet for so long. As he sat back on his hands, three things happened.

First, Tommy’s hand supporting his weight slid into a puddle and out from under him. Gross. Roof puddle.

Second, Tommy heard a scream from a nearby alleyway.

Third, he fell off the roof, directly into the alley the scream had come from.

“MOTHERFUCKER” He screeched, trying to throw out his hands to use his power.

A sudden gust of wind slowed his fall considerably, but hitting the concrete hurt like a bitch, which he said.

“That hurt like a bitch.”

“Looked like it,” A gruff and oddly robotic voice answered.

Tommy spun around quickly, making eye contact with a towering man. A man with a red cape and pig mask.

“Nope. I think the fuck not. I’m going back to my apartment. Fuck no.” Tommy said with conviction.

Just as he turned to leave, the man’s hand caught his hood, turning him around.

There was something cold under his chin, Tommy realized. Ah, it was a sword. Wonderful.

“You can’t just leave,” the man drawled “How do I know you won’t report me?”

“I promise that you, The Blood God, SBI and syndicate member, highest kill count villain, can handle being reported,” Tommy pointed out, before his brain could tell him to please shut the fuck up.

“You’re pretty mouthy for a hostage.” The Blood God drawled

After a moment of thinking, Tommy added “Please do not stab me. I do not have health insurance.”

“I am probably not going to stab you, just,” The Blood God pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, “need a second to think.”

“Who screamed just now?” Tommy’s shoulders relaxed upon receiving the news that he was not to be stabbed, “was it you? Did you fall off of one of the roofs?”

After saying this, Tommy noticed a massive pool of blood below his feet.

“Oh, never mind,” he said cheerfully.

The Blood God sighed. He did not get paid enough for this. “Look, kid-”

“Fuck you I’m 16”

“-just, I don’t know, let me knock you out.”

“In a dirty alleyway? I cannot afford to be sick right now, bitch, and I probably already have AIDS from standing in this blood so thank you for that.”

Tommy tensed to run out of the alley, not liking his odds if he tried, but liking his odds if he got knocked out less.

“Okay, then just stay here or something. You can't get past me anyways."

"You can't hold me here, that's child abduction," Tommy said matter-of-factly.

He could maybe yell for Tubbo? Maybe Ranboo could teleport him out?

"Ah, well you see, as a criminal, I am hardly concerned about what is or is not a crime." The Bitch God responded.

Ah. The Bitch God had a point, Tommy conceded

Well. Tommy knew more than all men because he was far cooler than them, he decided.

Tommy said this to The Blood God, who looked down at him with disdain. The Blood God then tapped the side of his mask and spoke into it, "Yeah, so I found a kid," he paused, "Yup in the alleyway with me, no I cannot kill him. Yes we are still meeting here."

Tommy watched him, curious, and said, "who are you talking to?"

Okay. Shit. Tommy had to get out of this. How could he get out of this.

"None of your business," The Blood God replies

Tubbo and Ranboo were out of the question because The Blood God had heightened reflexes and would not hesitate to kill Tommy before Ranboo could teleport him out.

“Just tell me," Tommy protested

"You're like a toddler," The Blood God said, pinching his nosebridge.

"I AM NOT, BITCH," Tommy said, defending his honor against The Blood God's deceit.

"FINE I was talking to the rest of the Syndicate," The Blood God replied.

"You said they were coming here. Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes," the Blood God deadpanned.

Tommy hoped that was a joke "well good luck, I am the coolest and biggest man ever."

The Blood God looked over at him, raising his eyebrows and dropping the sword to his side.

Tommy’s posture relaxed the moment the sword was removed from his throat.

He felt the air in his fingers and imagined pulling it all towards him. The air pressure suddenly grew and he shot upwards, flying high enough he could've grabbed the top of the building if he hadn't been pulled back to the ground. Fuck.

Tommy hit the ground for the second time that night, and felt a thud reverberate through his ribs. They were for sure gonna kill him now. Panic clutched Tommy’s chest, though he tried not to let it show.

He heard an impressed whistle behind him.

Turning around, Tommy saw a large pair of wings and shining green eyes. Oh shit. The Raven.

"This the kid?" The man spoke and it had the same robotic sound as the Blood God’s. Voice changers then.

"Yep. Annoying as fuck, too," the Blood God Replied.

"You don’t want to do this" Tommy said, panic in his eyes.

"Ah, I see what you mean, mate, but he's just scared" The Raven replied.

"Oh no, he's very bitchy for a hostage. Give him a minute to get his attitude back." The Blood God said.

Tommy flicked his eyes over The Raven, trying to size him up under the cloak he wore.

And then, Tommy heard a snicker from the entrance of the alleyway.

And holy shit.

Tommy's favorite villain.

Mercury.

Mercury who could make anyone do his bidding with just a word. Who had never been apprehended, who fought with a smoothness Tommy had tried to emulate for years. Holy shit.

Mercury spoke, "so you can fly?"

"Well, sort of," Tommy said.

"What's your mutation?" Mercury asked.

"I can’t just tell you that" Tommy said.

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Well I can make you tell me, what is it?"

"Air pressure control."

The Blood God's eyes widened incrementally and he said, "damn."

"Do you have strong control?" Mercury questioned.

"Usually."

"Damn. That's a strong power." The Blood God said.

"I don't know, I can just jump around and fly a little"

"Then you're not using it right" Zephyrus said.

"Huh? Don't tell me how to use my powers bitch!" Tommy yelled, indignant.

"Oh, there's the attitude," The Blood God said.

Shit. He let his tongue get away from him. Shit he was dead. He got lower to the ground, pulling an exacto knife out of his hoodie pocket. It wasn’t much, but it might work if he was lucky.

Mercury snickered "Is that an Exacto knife?"

The Blood God began to speak "You’re gonna need more than tha-"

The crackle of a radio attached to The Raven's hip cut him off, and all of them fell silent to listen to it

“Hey, you need to get out of there, someone reported you.”

Three faces turned to Tommy.

"How would I report you? I left my phone inside. Plus, I would rather /not/ help the heroes if I have the choice. " He said.

"What do you mean, mate?" The Raven asked.

"They're not as great as everyone says. Even I know that, and I didn't even finish high school," Tommy muttered

"Huh, you an anarchist?" The Blood God asked.

"Not an anarchist, just a hero-anti I guess. I mean I could care less, they protect us in Logstedchire about the same amount as they would if they weren't here. Dosen't matter much if they're around or not," Tommy shrugged.

"Huh," The Raven said.

Mercury spoke into his mask, but there was something different in his voice than when he spoke to Tommy, “Hey Ace, can you figure out who reported us?”

The radio crackled again, “I mean I can try.”

"Well," Mercury said, "that's our cue. Bye kid"

He watched as Zephyrus took off carrying The Blood God, spiraling into the sky. Mercury used some smoke bombs on his belt to cloud the alleyway, gone by the time the smoke dissipated.

Tommy did not want to be in the alleyway. It was full of diseases and blood.

He walked through the entrance to the apartment building, disheveled and tired, and decided to think about that interaction later.

He then walked back through his apartment door, Tubbo's head popping up to look at him.

"Why didn't you come in through the fire escape?" Tubbo asked.

Shit. He needed a good lie.

"Fell off the fuckin roof again," Tommy grumbled.

Ranboo spoke, muffled by the pillow his face was squished into, "called it."

"Why is there blood on your shoes?" Tubbo questioned.

"I dunno man, there was blood in the alleyway." Tommy said.

"You're suspect."

Tommy grumbled some more.

He glamced at the clock

3:31

"I'm going to fuckin bed."

"Not until you shower," Tubbo said, "You have that interview tomorrow"

"Fuckin fine." Tommy replied.

---------

Wilbur tapped his pencil against his notebook as he sat criss-cross in his bed.

He had sheets of paper strewn around him, trying to draft a song he had been writing for awhile, but he couldn't think.

He couldn't seem to focus on the song when every time he blinked he remembered how that kid had looked at him. Something in the kid struck Wilbur as familiar, and he looked at his Mercury mask sitting on his bedside table.

Eventually, he gave up on trying to write new lyrics, knowing it was a fruitless effort.

He walked into the kitchen, seeing the clock sitting in the corner of the kitchen.

4:13 AM

He rubbed his eyes as he grabbed a glass, jumping when he saw a looming figure enter the kitchen. Techno's pink hair looked orange in the low light that shone through the kitchen.

"Couldn't sleep?" Techno asked.

"Couldn't stop thinking about that kid," wilbur replied, filling up his glass with ice cubes.

"Reminded me of you, you know," Technoblade said.

"That's funny. He made me think of you," Wilbur replied

----------

Tommy had not slept. He had laid in bed staring at the roof, which was so familiar by now that he thinks he could point out a new crack or stain instantly.

The room had been quiet, and Tommy's mind had made up for it, turning his interaction with the villains over in his head over and over again.

He eventually dragged himself out of bed, looking to the red numbers on the clock

4:47 AM

Tomorrow was Wednesday. Well, technically it was already Wednesday, but he didn't have to be at the interveiw till 11 AM. Shuffling around the kitchen for a moment, he sat down at the table with a mug of coffee and opened his laptop.

It was old, but it worked well enough as he tried to model some peices for printing on the 3d printer him and Tubbo had built shortly after becoming vigilantes.

He was making a new mask for Ranboo with night and thermal vision and a voice changer. He and Tubbo already had voice changers, but the pieces for thermal and night vision were too expensive for them to all have it, so he gave it to Ranboo, the least likely to break it. Tubbo shouldn't have to code this one much, so maybe if tommy could make it quickly enough Ranboo could have it by Saturday.

He worked on the rims of the goggles, making sure they were proportionate and would fit Ranboo, before sending the file off to the printer to realize.

The clock blinked.

5:34 AM.

Tommy blinked.

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

The carpet in the waiting room had a stain in it, Tommy noticed. The rest of the carpet was an even grey, but the stain was red-brown. Gross.

It was 10:49

He was fiddling with the spacebar on his laptop as he tried to focus back onto a new support tech item he was supposed to be designing was a dart gun that you didn’t have to reload.

His current idea, the darts were stacked into the gun like toothpicks in a toothpick holder. It could probably shoot about five times between reloads. This was unrelated to the fact that Tommy had accidentally stabbed himself with a dart in the middle of a fight and passed out six times to date. He didn’t need help reloading a dart gun. He just thought it would be cool. Yup.

He rubbed his hand over the band-aid under his chin from The Blood God’s blade. He considered the interaction. Why hadn’t the villains killed him? Why did The Blood God say his power was strong? Tommy heard footsteps and snapped his laptop shut. Someone came out of a door to his left his glasses, with odd red and blue lenses, caught on the fluorescent light. His nametag read “Jack.”

The man nodded at him, asking “You Thomas Innit?”

“Yup.”

“Awesome, your interview is this way, follow me.”

Tommy trailed after Jack, tempted to ask about the glasses.

“Hey, why are your glasses like that?” Tommy paused, “not to be rude. Sorry.”

“Nah you’re good mate. It’s part of my power. I can vaguely see people’s emotions based on color, and the glasses help to get rid of it. It’s kind of distracting and feels like an invasion of privacy so I like having them but I don’t have to wear them,” Jack explained.

“Dude that’s fuckin’ awesome,” Tommy replied, faltering. “Am I allowed to say that here?”

“I mean I would avoid saying it in front of Bad but yeah,” Jack said.

“Awesome.”

They came up to a door and Tommy took a deep breath.

“Nervous?” Jack asked kindly.

“Fuckin’ terrified” Tommy replied with a huffed laugh.

“Well, I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Thanks, big man.”

“Oh, I never said my word meant anything, I’m just an assistant,” Jack smiled.

“Still nice to know I’ve got at least one of you bastards on my side.”

Jack smiled again and walked away.

Tommy pushed open the door.

The first thing he noticed was not the floor-to-ceiling windows or the giant desk.

It was the man’s eyes.

They were a bright green, cold and calculating as they watched the door.

He also noticed how they widened in shock when he saw Tommy.

Tommy looked at his shirt to make sure he didn’t have something on it. He knew it wasn’t a suit or anything fancy but he tried to dress up a little and wore a collared shirt with jeans.

By the time Tommy looked up, the man had regained his composure, and the confidence on his face made Tommy wonder if he had even seen the man’s shock at all.

He walked into the room a bit further.

“Hello, Thomas,” The man spoke, with warmth in his voice as his glare softened into a more laid-back type of playfulness “Please sit. You’re here for the interview, correct?”

Tommy sat, and when he spoke, he did not drawl his words, giving them a crisp lightness, “Yes, I’m glad you could make time to meet with me.”

“My name is Philza and I will be interviewing you for a job as a Tech Department Manager," The man said.

Philza looked at Tommy and spoke, "what makes you qualified for this job, Thomas?"

"I think you can see that for yourself, Big man," Tommy said.

Philza smiled.

"Yes," he picked up Tommy's resume, "I can see you have a degree in Engineering from L'manburg Technology and Mathematics University. by the way, how old were you when you graduated high school?"

"Oh," Tommy paused, "I was fifteen."

This, Tommy knew, was a lie. He had no degree, had never finished high school.

You know, the kind of stuff that happens when you were supposed to be dead.

"Now, these are unusual circumstances because our last technology manager was killed by villains, and we currently have no one on staff that could take over the job.”

Tommy nodded to show he was listening. Now, I’ve read over your resume, and It’s impressive, I’m not going to lie, especially for a, oh how old were you?”

“Eighteen, nineteen in a month or so.”

Philza smiled sharply. “Ah, yes, how could I have forgotten. So, you were emancipated at sixteen, correct?”

Tommy nodded.

“Yes, I had a rough home life, so I applied for emancipation. I think this job could help.me get my footing.”

“It’s not an easy process, takes some determination,”

Philza said, ignoring Tommy’s attempt to change the subject.

“It’s easier when It’s the only way you’ll make it to eighteen,” Tommy said with false calm, letting some of his Upper L’manburg accent slip, quickly adjusting his voice to have the definitive posh lilt.

Philza backed down.

“So,” Philza said, grinning, “Why this job?”

Tommy leaned back in the chair. He could do interviews now that the questions about his past were over. “Well,” he began “I think I have a fitting skillset and could flourish in this position,” he ignored as his brain made a that’s what she said joke, “I think I could be an asset and I have been working in technology and engineering since I was sixteen. I am responsible and work well in leadership and would love to collaborate with the people here to produce new and innovative designs to improve the-” he faltered for a moment, “the capabilities and influence of heroes,” He finished.

Boom, Perfect answer, Tommy thought to himself.

“Huh. Okay then mate,” Philza paused, leveling his eyes to meet Tommy’s again and he felt himself pierced by the viridian gaze.

Philza continued, “What do you think about heroes, Thomas?”

Tommy paused. “Well, they keep the community safe and help to stop villain attacks and are wonderful role models. If I had a better Mutation, I would want to be one, but I just aspire to represent them as much as I can in my day-to-day life,” Tommy lied, talking with his hands like the people in upper L’manburg. “I think they do a great job of showing how we can all come together to prote-” Philza put a hand up, “Cut the shit” Tommy balked, “I beg your pardon?” Philza made eye contact with him

"Your accent is good," Philza said.

"Pardon?" Tommy asked.

"The accent's great, but Upper L'manburg citizens talk with their hands. Yours were in your lap the whole time."

Tommy froze.

"You can cut the shit, mate," Philza said.

“What are you suggesting?” Tommy asked, a threat veiled as politeness.

“I think you know exactly what I’m suggesting, Thomas,” Philza said evenly, pausing, “I want to know your opinions on heroes. Say what you think not just recite some news article from Upper L’manburg to me.”

“Well, I am entirely indebted to the heroes of L’manbur-”

Philza set his hand down on the table, not slamming it, but hard enough to make a noise.

Tommy flinched, watching as Philza stored that information.

“I said cut the shit.”

Tommy laughed, letting his accent fall away. “Okay, you want to know what I think of heroes? I think that if they cared about my side of L’manburg, like Logstedchire and theFarlands half as much as they do the center district and Upper district, then L’manburg would be crime free. Instead, I have face-to-face encounters with the villains they’ve sworn as their enemies in alleyways full of blood while they’re off saving some millionaire’s watch so they can put it on the fucking news. I think if they really want vigilantes gone, they should do their goddamn job so teenagers and non-trained citizens in masks don’t have to do it for them. I think I should be able to sleep through the night in my Logstedchire apartment without being woken by fucking gunshots. I think they do it for the money and the fame and spit on anyone who dares question them. That’s what I FUCKING think.”

Philza looked at him with something Tommy couldn’t decipher. “We’ll call you to let you know if you got the job,” he said, no tells of any emotion in his voice.

Fuck. Tommy had needed this job and he had gone and fucked it up.

God fucking damn it.

Tommy passed Jack on the way out, who gave him a questioning look, and Tommy shook his head slightly.

Jack’s shoulders sagged. He gave him a sad nod and waved as Tommy left.

Tommy waved back, holding back tears.

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sunscreenstudies · 2 years ago

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Iconic Things My Coding Professors Have Said (Part 14 - the last one [for now])

Student: “what would you say is the best part of working there?” Speaker: “that’s easy. it’s being able to work at home with my cat instead of having to travel to work and being away for 12 hours a day. Also, it probably saved my marriage”

“POV: I’m a woman written by a man having breakfast. So I’m going to act very sexually, dancing around the kitchen in my underwear, suggestively licking pancake batter, not caring about fire or oil splash or, you know, the dangers in kitchens themselves. I think I’m even going to go wild and eat half a blueberry at the end”

Speaker: “It got to a point where i would be standing under the shower having imaginative conversations with incels” Student: “but the important thing is did you win those arguments?” Speaker: “of course i did!”

“it’s still just a computer, and we all know how stupid computers can be”

“Here is an image of wonder woman and immediately, its obvious that she’s in an incredibly seuxal position despite being in the middle of a fight. And this isn’t even the worst photo I found, but I had to keep it pg13”

Speaker: “another thing you should know is that we all have cats. like. literally all of us” Student: “is pet insurance included?”

“The homework is, as usual, awesome, because you’ll work on some great case studies!”

“I’ll give you tips how to to do well in this degree, which I fondly call the self-help section”

Prof: “Hildegard of Bingen claimed to get divine visions from God which made her the mesenger to the masses” Student “Like the middle ages chat gpt” Prof: “yeah, kind of, except chat gpt is more believable” Student: “ooohhh” Prof: “hey! don’t blame me! Or her! it was the patriarchy’s fault”

"and finally, let’s go to the last group, who not just left a permanent mark on the table, but also on my life"

"these are all such lovely interesting beautiful drawings... can i take them?"

“basically this is photoshop for the digital humanities”

Prof 1: “Because Guibert uses "et” at lot. “Et” this, “Et” that, “Et” cetra- OH MY GOD" Prof 2 “... You only just now realised that that’s where it comes from, didn’t you?”

"I'm also questioning my taylor swift fan-ness because of the situation thats going on with her at the moment - i don't know if you know about it, but its a really hard time for me right now"

Student: "sounds mysterious" Prof1: "it is, but i promise you, its going to be incredibly underwhelming" Prof 2: "no its not! we've got markers!"

“the map is disjointed and doesn’t scale correctly because j.k. rowling… well… if she doesn’t care about basic human rights, then i doubt she cares about her geographically inaccurate map”

#iconic things #studyblr #funny professors #funny teachers #student humor

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magratpudifoot · 2 years ago

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I don't know how many LiveJournal alumni there are in these parts, but for those of you who weren't on LJ back in the early 2010s, there was a fairly large-scale art auction organized by users to benefit recovery and relief efforts after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the resulting Fukushima disaster. People offered fic, digital art, origami pieces, yarn crafts, commissions, whatever they could, and then the highest bidder donated their bid to one of the organizations vetted by the auction organizers.

One of the pieces that I got from this auction was a watercolor painting of a landscape photo of my choice. If my recollection serves, the person I was communicating with was an LJ user from the UK, but the actual artist was their grandparent who was located in Germany.

I sent a photo that I had taken on the beach near where I lived on the gulf coast of Florida. The photo may have been taken with a digital camera, but it is just as likely I used a flip phone. Either way, it was not a professional shot, and it was not a great photo, but it was important to me.

What I received was stunning, and I worked closely with my mother to find the right mat board--a lovely metallic copper that plays perfectly with the lighting effects in the piece.

(Forgive my photography, which is even worse on this crappy tablet than it was on my flip phone 15 years ago.)

A year or so later, this painting went with me when I moved to central Oklahoma for my failed grad school experiment a year or so after it was painted. It hung in my kitchen above my sink in my crappy apartment, keeping me company while I washed dishes and put off writing seminar papers. It was my lifeline on the days when I was so desperate to be back home that I would get excited to hear what I thought was rain, only to look out the window and see it was just dry leaves blowing across sidewalk.

And now, a decade later, I find myself far from home again, this time not in pursuit of a dream of something better, but instead evading fascist state politicians. And my painting of a quiet, stormy, glittering, peaceful beach at sunset hangs across from my bed, one of the first things I see each morning, one of the last things I see each night.

I think about the sandpipers and the crabs and the freedom of swimming out and out and out until the bottom falls away, bobbing there with a friend or a parent or a cousin and having the most beautiful conversations.

I think about getting off work, rolling up my slacks past my knees, and walking along the water as long as I wanted, January waves crashing into my bare ankles.

I think about sitting just beyond where the waves meet the shore until the sand shifts to accept you and the quick little fish flick up to say hi and tickle your toes and sometimes bring rays and other friends if you are patient enough and the tourists aren't too rowdy and the locals aren't fishing too close.

And I think about an incredible elder artist who wanted to offer aid in a crisis half a world away, who painted a scene she probably never had reason to visit in person, who has never known how much impact it had.

I believe this signature says "Lola Fleddermann". I hope your life has been beautiful and full of joy and peace and incredible art. And I hope all the same for your grandchild, who I spoke to so briefly so many years ago on a long-disused blog in time that feels very little like today.

Thank you.

#no one asked you ms p

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avyukta01 · 2 years ago

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An Interior Designing Starting Guide- Avyukta Handbook

Some common questions we all have while working on a project. Avyukta is here to help you with answers for them.

What is the best color scheme for a small living room?

Light and neutral colors, such as whites, pastels, and soft grays, can help create a sense of openness and make the room appear larger. Avoid using dark or bold colors as they can make the space feel more cramped.

How to create a cohesive and balanced look in a bedroom?

Choose a consistent color palette and stick to it throughout the room. Use complementary patterns and textures to add visual interest without overwhelming the space. Make sure furniture and accessories are appropriately scaled and balanced in the room.

What are some tips for maximizing storage in a small kitchen?

Utilize vertical space by installing wall-mounted shelves or cabinets. Use organizers and dividers in drawers and cabinets to maximize storage efficiency. Consider utilizing the space above cabinets or using hanging racks for pots and pans.

How do to choose the right lighting fixtures for different rooms?

Consider the purpose of the room and the desired ambiance. For task lighting, such as in kitchens or home offices, opt for brighter, focused lighting. For ambient or mood lighting, choose fixtures that provide a softer, diffused glow. Combine different types of lighting, such as overhead lights, floor lamps, and table lamps, to create layers of light in a room.

What are the latest trends in bathroom design?

Some popular bathroom design trends include using natural materials like stone and wood, incorporating smart features like digital showers and touchless faucets, embracing bold and vibrant wallpaper or tile patterns, and creating spa-like atmospheres with features like freestanding bathtubs and rainfall showerheads.

How can one make home offices more functional and aesthetically pleasing?

Choose a comfortable and ergonomic desk chair and set up proper lighting for task-oriented work. Declutter the space and invest in storage solutions like shelves or file cabinets. Add personal touches and decor that inspire productivity and reflect your style.

What are some creative ways to incorporate artwork into home decor?

Create a gallery wall with a mix of framed artwork, photographs, and other decorative pieces. Use floating shelves or picture ledges to display artwork. Consider using oversized or statement pieces as focal points in a room. Experiment with different arrangements and heights to create visual interest.

How to create a welcoming and inviting entryway?

Ensure proper lighting to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. Incorporate a focal point such as an artwork, mirror, or decorative piece. Add functional elements like a console table or bench for storage and a place to sit. Use a rug or runner to define the space and add texture.

What are the key elements to consider when designing an open floor plan?

Establish zones or areas within the open space using furniture placement, rugs, or different flooring materials. Ensure visual harmony and consistency in color palette and style throughout the space. Consider using furniture with open or low profiles to maintain a sense of openness.

How to choose the right furniture and accessories to fit one's style and space?

Start by determining your desired style, whether it's modern, traditional, minimalist, or eclectic. Measure your space and consider the scale and proportion of furniture to ensure it fits properly. Choose furniture and accessories that complement the overall aesthetic and color scheme of the room. Don't forget to consider functionality and your specific needs.

We hope these answers help you with your interior design endeavors! Visit avyukta.com for further help and to find the perfect fittings for all your visions.

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coccyodynia · 2 years ago

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things:

i went home the other weekend and didn’t steal any pills, as much as i thought about it, so thats kind of cool i guess

i got a very fun and cool tattoo yesterday, its a woman swinging an axe with that line i wrote a few years ago - “i swing and i dont miss”

i am seeing a The Plot In You tonight with justin

we’re planning on hanging out before the show too but the weather is gonna be shitty so who knows, he’ll probably flake out at this point

we’re also planning on going to chicago in a month but im concerned i wont be able to afford it idk. i just stashed away $250 for it but i wouldn’t be surprised if i had to dip into that before then

we’re on okay terms right now. its been a huge rollercoaster as usual but he still wants to keep me around in some type of way i guess bc he’ll respond or say shit like ‘i’m always here for you’

ive been dissociating a lot still but im practicing the skills to get a handle on it

ive officially stopped caring about anything at my job, i just dont give a fuck at all anymore

if i start caring again it will probably kill me, at least considering the rate we were going before

i had a friend OD twice in the last week or so and im literally just bracing myself to lose another person to fent

its been almost a year without michael now and im still really heartbroken about

i can tell ive started letting my apartment/kitchen get bad again and it’s upsetting me but i feel paralyzed about it

one of my best friends is having a really tough time too and we keep messaging each other little check-ins even though neither of us have the capacity to really support or help the other person in any meaningful way

ive just been way too tapped out lately, and it has been affecting my health for quite awhile

my weight seems to be stable now or at least kinda, i lost 50 lbs and last week for the first time in awhile it didn’t go down when i got on the scale

my parents and grandma all made comments about how they can tell ive lost a lot of weight since i saw them last (6 weeks or so ago?)

my mom has been telling me “youre not eating enough calories” which i think gave me whiplash considering up until now my entire life shes been insistent that i eat too much

my financial situation is really about to get fucked up since im not teaching this summer, so i will lose that income for a few months ($800/month)

im pretty nervous they wont ask me back to teach in the fall bc the head of the department doesnt really like me

i got great evaluations from my students tho! at the end of the semester, two of my students asked if i would be comfortable with giving them a hug and i got emotional

i helped one of my students get into their first gallery show in NY and im just so fucking proud and excited for them

another student had made me a little embroidered camera patch for my bag

im still very much thinking about applying to graduate/phd programs in the fall

there’s about 5 programs im interested in, but none of them are local so i’d have to move pretty far if i were accepted

im going to re-apply to university of denver for the MA emergent digital practices program

i applied to there in 2021 and was accepted but i wasn’t offered enough financial aid since i applied after the priority deadline so i’ll try it this fall and see what happens

im still dreaming about going to Brown for their digital writing/cross-disciplinary writing and art MFA but it's such a pipe dream

i also found a fascinating phd program at duke but they're not accepting applications this year?

i want to write and photograph more but by the end of the day i am so incredibly burnt out that it seems more like a chore than an outlet

i really wish there was a way for me to just quit my job and take some time off before going into another job

anyway therapy is back to once a week and sometimes 2x a week just depending on how well i handle things

my mom is still being the worst person ive ever met and im really trying to disconnect from her/the family as much as i can

she just spent $500 on a plane ticket so she can go spend a week with the guy she was engaged to in college

she sucks so much and i hate her

anyway that’s all

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ratwednesday · 1 year ago

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if you want an easy way to make espresso-like coffee at home (the base for a lot of sbux drinks!): get yourself a Moka Pot! they're SUPER straightforward to use and there are a TON of videos and helpful guides for how to brew with them online (including the r/mokapot subreddit). my partner has really enjoyed videos from James Hoffmann on learning to use ours.

you can buy pre-ground coffee (or, if your local market has a grinder, grind it there) from the grocery or your local coffee shops; if you want a good grinder for home that won't cost an arm and a leg, I have this one from Oxo and it's been so, so easy to get a handle of and maintain.

the one other thing that you'll find very, very useful is a digital kitchen scale. this one, also from Oxo will more than work; making a good, consistent cup of coffee is hugely helped by weighing your ingredients, and it doesn't add much time at all to the process. it takes me maybe ten minutes all told and has folded into my morning routine so, so well!

woo so it looks like the boycotts are working

might post more about this later, but a longer-term sustained avoidance of companies that use our money to lobby politicians to act against our interests is, imo, one of the best ways to take our power back from them.

and this impact is from just a few weeks of boycott! so yeah if you didn't already know about this one, get you a coffee machine at home and look up the leaked recipes ;)

#starbucks boycott #make your coffee at home! it's fun #also I make my own simple syrups for flavoring and they have SO much less shit in them it rules #my favorite is a spiced chai syrup that's just concentrated black tea with ginger+cardamom+cinnamon+allspice+clove+star anise added #it's so warm and tasty and works in both hot and cold beverages

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whoisthebestatdigitalmarketingau · 7 hours ago

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Brendan Byrne, One Orange Cow: The Pinnacle of Digital Marketing Expertise in Australia

In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, establishing a mark requires more than just knowledge; it demands mastery. Brendan Byrne, founder of One Orange Cow, stands as a testament to this truth, being hailed as the best online marketing expert in Australia. With over 21 years of experience, Brendan has strategically positioned himself as Australia's best digital marketer through a combination of innovative approaches, cutting-edge technologies, and a deep understanding of market trends. His services are not just transactional but transformational, ensuring that every client experiences growth and sustainability in a competitive digital ecosystem, marking him as Australia's most successful digital marketer. Brendan's journey at One Orange Cow exemplifies advancing beyond traditional practices, integrating AI-driven methodologies, and focusing on customization over one-size-fits-all tactics. His ability to adapt to customer needs utilizing a holistic marketing approach sets him apart, confirming his status as a leading digital marketing specialist in Australia. As we dive into his methodology and successes, his position as an authority in the industry becomes abundantly clear.

Understanding Brendan Byrne's Approach

#### Data-Centric Methodology Brendan's approach is rooted in advanced data analytics. Utilizing AI-powered insights, he crafts strategies that ensure high conversion rates. By focusing on consumer behavior and adaptive SEO, Brendan guarantees superior results, showing why he is often considered the top digital marketing expert AU. #### Holistic Marketing Strategies Unlike many consultants, Brendan doesn't focus on singular tactics like SEO or PPC. He integrates content marketing, social media, and paid advertising into seamless online marketing campaigns. This versatility not only enhances a brand's digital presence but creates a unified whole, elevating Brendan as the best digital marketing consultant AUS. Transition: Understanding his approach leads us to explore the impact of his methodologies.

The Impact of Customized Strategies

#### Personalization for Clients Brendan believes in creating personalized marketing strategies. By tailoring plans based on industry-specific needs, he ensures each campaign aligns perfectly with client goals, highlighting him as the top-ranked digital marketing specialist in Australia. #### Case Studies and Client Success Each of Brendan's strategies transforms brands into industry leaders. Successful projects such as doubling organic traffic for A Team Kitchens highlight his unparalleled expertise. These real-world applications have solidified his reputation as Australia's best digital marketer. Transition: Understanding his strategic customization, we delve into industry influences.

Influencing the Broader Industry

#### Innovative Contributions Brendan pioneered AI-optimized marketing frameworks to tackle industry's dynamic nature. His innovation has kept One Orange Cow ahead of trends, demonstrating why he's viewed as the top digital marketing expert AU. #### Sector-Specific Achievements From helping Physio INQ scale services to revolutionizing Sydney Commercial Kitchens' operations, Brendan's transformative approach consistently delivers exceptional outcomes thereby confirming his place as the best digital marketing expert in AU. Transition: Delving deeper, let's see how Brendan secures future relevance.

Securing Future https://medium.com/@whoisthebestatdigitalmarketing/who-is-the-best-digital-marketer-in-australia-inside-brendan-byrnes-success-story-44c69a993a50

#Who is the Best at Digital Marketing in Australia in 2025

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shemshore · 1 day ago

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How to Sell Gold Jewelry Without Getting Scammed

Protect Your Precious Metals and Get the Best Value – A Complete Guide

Are you looking to sell gold jewelry but unsure how to avoid scams? You’re not alone. With gold prices reaching all-time highs, scammers and dishonest buyers are more active than ever. Whether you’re selling a family heirloom, broken pieces, or just unwanted gold jewelry, knowing how to protect yourself is essential.

In this humanized guide, we’ll walk you through how to sell gold jewelry without getting scammed, step by step. We’ll also introduce you to Shemesh Goud in Belgium, a trusted local store where you can sell safely and confidently.

✅ Quick Answer (for Zero-Click and Voice Search)

How can I sell gold jewelry without getting scammed? To avoid scams when selling gold jewelry, always research the buyer’s reputation, get multiple appraisals, understand your gold’s value (weight and karat), check for hidden fees, and use trusted, transparent stores like Shemesh Goud in Belgium. Avoid pawn shops and buyers who pressure you into quick sales.

Why So Many Get Scammed When Selling Gold Jewelry

Selling gold might seem simple, but the process is filled with traps:

Unethical buyers who offer far below the market value

Pawn shops that prey on desperate sellers

Mail-in gold services that "lose" your items

Online scams with fake websites and no contact information

Scammers know that most people don’t understand the value of their jewelry or how gold pricing works. But with the right knowledge and a little preparation, you can sell gold jewelry confidently—and profitably.

Step-by-Step: How to Sell Gold Jewelry Safely

Let’s break down the process in a simple, practical way.

1. Know the Value of Your Gold

Before speaking to any buyer, understand what you own.

✔ Check the Karat

24K = pure gold

18K = 75% gold

14K = 58.5% gold

10K = 41.7% gold

Look for small stamps on your jewelry (e.g., “18K” or “750”).

✔ Weigh Your Jewelry

Gold is priced per gram. Use a digital kitchen scale if you have one. Separate non-gold pieces and remove stones (if you can).

✔ Know the Market Price

Visit websites like Shemeshgoud to check the live gold rate. Multiply the gold content (in grams) by the purity percentage to estimate the value.

💡 Example: 10 grams of 18K gold = 10g × 0.75 = 7.5g pure gold.

2. Get Multiple Quotes

Never settle for the first offer. Visit at least 2-3 reputable gold buyers.

🟡 Local Store vs. Pawn Shop

Local gold buyers (like Shemesh Goud) offer transparency and fair pricing.

Pawn shops typically offer much less and are rarely upfront about pricing.

🟡 Ask the Right Questions:

“What price per gram are you offering today?”

“Do you charge any testing or melting fees?”

“Can I watch the weighing and testing process?”

3. Use a Trusted Buyer Like Shemesh Goud

We highly recommend Shemesh Goud in Antwerp, Belgium, if you want a secure, honest experience. They offer:

Free appraisals

Transparent pricing based on current market rates

No hidden fees

Immediate payout

Personalized service from certified professionals

Their in-store experts walk you through the valuation and buying process so you feel informed every step of the way.

📍Visit Shemesh Goud: https://shemeshgoud.be/

4. Avoid Mail-In Services Unless Trusted

While some mail-in services are legit, many sellers report issues like:

Lost items

Delayed payments

Insultingly low offers

No way to get your items back

If you do choose to mail your gold, ensure:

The service is insured

You receive a detailed receipt.

You can reject the offer and get your gold back.

There are real reviews from verified customers

Still, in-person evaluations at trusted local stores like Shemesh Goud are the safest.

5. Watch Out for These Scams

❌ High-Pressure Tactics

Scammers often say, “This offer is only good for the next 10 minutes.” Walk away from pressure.

❌ “Free Testing” That Destroys Your Jewelry

Some shady buyers damage your item during testing, making it unsellable elsewhere.

❌ Bait-and-Switch Scams

You’re quoted one price online, but given a lower amount in person “due to hidden damage.” Always get appraisals in writing and compare.

How to Choose the Right Buyer: Checklist

✅ Must-Have Qualities

❌ Red Flags to Avoid

Licensed and transparent

No physical address or contact info

Real customer reviews

Pushy or unclear sales tactics

Offers to test and weigh in front of you

Charges "testing" fees after appraisal

Pays based on live gold prices

Offers suspiciously high or low rates

Allows walk-ins and appointments

No returns or refunds on declined offers

Selling Gold Jewelry FAQs

🔹 How can I tell if a gold buyer is trustworthy?

Look for licensing, in-person service, and verified reviews. Reputable buyers like Shemesh Goud offer full transparency.

🔹 Should I remove gemstones before selling gold jewelry?

If your buyer only pays for gold, yes. Gemstones typically aren’t valued unless you sell to a jeweler.

🔹 Do I have to pay taxes when I sell gold?

In Belgium, casual personal gold sales are generally not taxed. Always consult a tax expert for large transactions.

🔹 Can I sell broken or old gold jewelry?

Absolutely. Gold value comes from the metal, not the condition. Even broken pieces can be valuable.

🔹 Will I get paid immediately?

Reputable gold buyers like Shemesh Goud provide instant payment via cash or bank transfer.

Pro Tips for First-Time Sellers

Photograph your items before handing them over.

Bring ID — most reputable buyers require identification.

Avoid emotional sales — selling heirlooms can be difficult. Take your time.

Ask for a written quote if you need time to think.

Be wary of traveling gold buyers (pop-up shops) who disappear quickly.

Final Thoughts: Trust Your Instincts and Use Local Experts

Selling gold jewelry doesn't have to be stressful—or risky. If you follow the steps outlined in this guide, you can:

Understand your jewelry’s real value

Compare offers confidently

Avoid scams and pressure tactics.

Walk away with a fair payout.t

Remember, the goal is not just to sell, but to sell smartly.

✅ Recommended Buyer in Belgium

If you're in Antwerp or anywhere in Belgium, you can trust Shemesh Goud to handle your sale with care, expertise, and integrity. Their team makes the gold-selling experience easy, safe, and rewarding.

🔗 Visit them online or in-store: shemeshgoud. be

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