#I don’t think that this is an especially balanced class schedule but I assume they’re playing catchup

[thebluestbluewords]

happy holiday break, let’s talk class schedules

According to the Secrets of Auradon Prep tie-in book, AP runs on a rotating block schedule. Six periods per day, plus lunch. Pretty reasonable for a high school class schedule.

Homeroom once a week feels a little weird to me, but after an unofficial poll of some friends, it’s apparently not too uncommon for American high schools to only have it at the start of the week.

It’s sort of nice that the students get a study period every day, instead of having their free block/study block worked into the rotation with the rest of their classes.

In Mal’s Diary, we get another look at her schedule.

She’s in most of the same classes as the sample from before, but no chemistry class. Is Mal not interested in chemistry, or did Fairy Godmother decide it was more important for her to learn about evil fairies instead? Are there other “cultural history” type classes for other students, or did Fairy Godmother and whoever planned the class schedules for the other VKs just decide to pile on allll of the history/social studies classes for the VK to educate them in the ways of Auradon?

I think it’s funnier for me personally if Fairy Godmother received transcripts from Dragon Hall, looked at the VKs’ classes so far, and decided to say ‘fuck it’ on math and science classes, what these kids need is Auradon cultural education. Woodsmen, Fairies, Auradon History, and straight-up Goodness 101. One singular math class will take care of the rest, they’ll be fine.

[bluefirewrites]

‘A Flowery Back-And-Forth’- Juke Florist!AU

Juke AU where Julie’s mom had owned the Petal Pushers Floral Company, now run by her Tía Victoria and she helps by delivering orders on her bike. 

Another riff from the Triad Chat Vault. Happy JATP Appreciation Month!

"Alright, I'm on it, Willie!" Julie calls out, slipping the arrangement in her basket, foot primed to pedal-

"Wait!" Willie sidles up to her with a conspiratorial smirk, "Can you do me a teensy weensy favor?"

Her eyes shut, already groaning, "No, no. Willie, no-"

The skater sticks out his bottom lip, pouting, "Please? I'm willing to pay for the 'Julie Molina Special'"

Julie points to the sign hanging in the Petal Pushers shop, "Do you see a 'Julie Molina Special’ or arrangement up there?"

Willie presents her a wad of cash.

She eyes it warily, "You're shelling out so much for this, aren't you?"

"It's Alex," he says, eyes twinkling, "He deserves the best," he elbows her playfully, "Right?"

Shit. Romance isn't dead after all.

And Julie does need the money.

"Okay, fine," she pockets the cash and mounts her bike "One 'Julie Molina' delivery special coming up."

"Yes!" he hugs her from behind, careful not to squash the flowers, "Thank you. He'll appreciate it for sure."

"I'm doing this for you," she rings the bell and starts rolling down the street, "And you better properly introduce me to your boyfriend next time!"

"Here you go, courtesy of your boyfriend,"

"Will do!"

Julie bikes over to the address, not too far from her house. 

“He’s in band practice right now, so take the flowers there,” Willie had told her. 

She could already hear the music flowing from the garage as she pulls up and parks her bike. Carefully scooping up the bouquet, she knocks on the double doors. 

It takes a moment for anyone inside to notice the knocking due to the loud music (which is pretty good from what Julie has heard so far. And she doesn’t really listen to much music anymore). 

The guitars and drums are put to a halt. Then a voice calls out. 

“Who is it?” 

“It’s Petal Pushers Floral Company. I have a delivery for an ‘Alex Mercer’?” 

“Cool. Come on in.” 

Heeding instruction, she pushes the doors open and walks inside. She spots Alex immediately, by the drums. The blonde raises his hand and Julie comes forward with the large bouquet Willie ordered for him.

"Um..." Julie e starts, rubbing her hands together nervously, "There's more."

"Thanks!" Alex blushes, admiring the rainbow of flowers collected.

“And the card,” 

Alex quickly swipes the card, eyeing his bandmates in case either of them would dare to steal it and read it outloud. He reads the note to himself and he blushes even more. 

“Happy One Month, Hot Dog,” he recites an excerpt for everyone, to which they all go ‘aww’. Then Alex nods at her, “And you’re Julie, right? Willie tells me all about you. Thanks for coming by.” 

“Really no problem. Just doing my job. As a delivery girl and his friend.” 

Speaking of friend duties...

Then she looks around the room and shrinks in on herself seeing that she does have an audience, one that she recognizes. 

There’s Reggie from her Home Ec class and the other boy, Luke, she thinks, the one she always spots with a guitar case in his hands.

"Um..." she starts, rubbing her hands together nervously, "There's more."

"Oh," Alex says, surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah..."

"I don't know what it is that makes me love you so...I only know I never want to let you go...'" she sings, snapping to the beat, trying hard not to look at anyone else but Alex.

I'm so gonna kill Willie for this...

She clears her throat. And goes for it. 

"'Cause you started something, can't you see...That ever since we met you've had a hold on me...”" she starts moving around the space, spinning and dancing like an old-timey singing-gram.

Coming back around, she catches eyes with Luke, and she immediately averts her eyes, turning red.

No, Julie... just keep singing. This would all be over soon. So you won't have to keep embarrassing yourself in front of cute boys...

“It happens to be true.... I only want to be with you!" she finishes on own knee, with jazz hands.

She's met with a round of applause as she stands up, feeling awkward.

"Wow!" Reggie claps, "Your boyfriend got you flowers and a pretty girl to sing you a song."

"That was great," Alex beams at her, "You're really good!"

She blushes, waving off the compliments, "Not really a thing we do at the shop, but Willie insisted."

"What a shame," Luke finally pipes up, his eyes never having left her ever since she walked in, "I bet a lot of people will buy flowers... if they're being delivered like that."

Julie swears she's glowing red like Rudolph at this point, with the way he stares. 

Julie walks her bike up to the garage, finding only Luke there playing away on his guitar.

"Thanks..." she mutters shyly, rushing out the door and towards her bike, “Have a good one guys. And you sounded great by the way.” 

“We’re Sunset Curve,” Luke shouts after her. 

“Tell your friends!” Reggie follows up. 

Julie politely waves at them and bikes away, all too keen to continue on with her route and try to put this whole embarrassing moment behind her. 

If only Luke Patterson was planning to do the same. 

Ever since she made the delivery, the guy would try to flag her attention at school. With a ‘Hey Flower Girl’ and striking up conversation, which throws her off balance. 

She tries not to associate with people in the music program as often, not since she left due to... personal reasons. (Flynn is a notable exception)

Julie would be friendly, to Alex and Reggie to an extent as well, (to Alex especially since he is Willie’s boyfriend), but she’s just trying to get by with her busy schedule of school and her job at the flower shop. 

She goes to work after school two weeks later and makes her rounds with the deliveries Tía sends her on. Tía only gives her the remaining orders that the trucks couldn’t take, last minute ones that are within riding distance.

(Julie can’t wait until she’s able to get her license and really make a contribution to her family’s business). 

She’s just about to call it a night when Tía surprises her with one last minute arrangement. A call made while she was out. 

It’s about 6 at this point, getting darker and so she packages the bundle of peonies quickly, puts it in her basket and looks at the address. She rolls her eyes when she reads where it’s going and who it’s for. 

She knocks against the door, bearing the small bouquet of peonies, "Ahem?"

It startles the boy and he fumbles with his instrument. He looks up to find her standing there and grins. Soon, the guitar is off his person and he's meeting her at the door.

"Hey," he greets.

"Hi," she smiles, although confused, "Delivery for 'Luke Patterson'?"

The boy glances around the empty space before feigning realization, "Oh! That must be me!"

"Looks like," Julie couldn't help but giggle. She gives him the flowers, their hands making brief contact during the exchange. 

"You like peonies?" Luke sniffs the flowers, playing with the paper wrap.

She pulls back, clearing her throat. She wants to ask that question at the forefront of her mind, but she really shouldn’t assume anything about their customers. But she couldn’t help but wonder who the flowers are for. 

So she just settles for: "Nice arrangement.”

"They're pretty, yeah,"

He tilts his head, "But are they your favorite?"

Julie purses her lips, "Nope. Not really."

"I swear you give me a peonies kinda vibes,"

"That's a thing?"

Setting down the flowers onto the table, Luke nods, "Oh yeah. Don't you try and guess what kind of flowers people would buy when they come in?"

"Sometimes,"

"But still," he pinches a peony from the bunch and offers it to her and Julie's breath hitches.

"For you,"

She crosses her arms, despite the butterflies. Instead of accepting it, she raises an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not one to take a customer's flowers,"

He shrugs, "Consider it a tip?"

"Why? ‘Cuz you don't have any money?" she jests, making her way down the driveway.

"C'mon, Julie," he calls from the open garage, "Here." he holds out the flower again.

Rolling her eyes, she mounts her bike, "I'm not a peony-kind of girl, remember!"

"I'll figure out what kind of girl you are," he says, almost like a promise.

"Good luck with that!" she shouts back, racing down the driveway and onto the street.

The last thing she sees is him grinning like an idiot in the doorway, tossing aside the peony, and watching her ride off into the evening.

Little does she know that this is only the start of their little flowery back-and-forth...

Tagging: @blush-and-books​​ @lydias--stiles​​  @thedeathdeelers​​ @ruzek-halstead​​, @pink-flame​​, @ourstarscollided​​, @nottheleastbrave​​, @echocharm17618​​ @smolfangirl​​ 

[a-d--a-s-t-r-a]

Until2022′s Guide to Catching Up When You’re Drastically Behind in Study:

I. Assess the damage

The first step in the plan is to confront how bad the situation is and then make some calls about what you can realistically achieve in the time you have left. 

List everything you have to do, down to exact detail - don’t write ‘catch up on readings for Virology’, but instead note down every chapter. This will make it a lot easier to gauge how much time and energy you need for each assignment or exam, and will help to motivate you as you work through. 

Use an Eisenhower matrix to sort these tasks:

Important and Urgent: Any and all compulsory assignments, exams, tests, etc. 

Important but Not Urgent: Lectures for upcoming exams, compulsory readings or labs, etc.

Urgent but Not Important: Additional homework or tasks that are due soon but aren’t worth much, like logbooks or small quizzes

Not Important and Not Urgent: Additional readings, nice lecture notes, and other ‘good-to-haves’

Now cross out everything that you can afford not to do. That’s going to be everything in your ‘Not Important and Not Urgent’ zone, and probably all of the things in your ‘Urgent but Not Important’ zone. I know that it’s annoying not to get everything done, or to sacrifice the 5% that you could have gotten, but unless you can do it in 10 minutes and it’s really worth it you simply don’t have the time to spare here. 

Having said that, if a class has lots of small assignments due, don’t overlook them because they’re not worth much on their own - make sure you take a look at the overall percentage left to go in that subject. If you can dedicate a whole day to just that subject and smash through all those assignments in one, you’re crossing a lot of work off your list. For example, I have weekly quizzes and 2% labs in my Pathology course - if I’m behind, I’ll dedicate a whole day and do all of those assessments. That’s 20% out of the way and a big leap towards catching up. 

II. Tackle the low-hanging fruit

Seeing the product of countless days of procrastination is probably pretty daunting right now. I could offer you platitudes here but it’s a lot easier for you to actually take some action and feel better about it yourself, so:

Do everything that will take you less than 10 minutes to complete. Reply to those emails, the messages in the assignment group chat, upload your peer assessment, do all the little things you need to do for someone else. That should cross out a big chunk of things from your list, and you’ll be left with the important stuff like finishing assignments and studying for exams. 

If you’re panicking (seeing the huge list of stuff which you have to finish in an impossibly short time will often do this!) then try an easy square breathing exercise. Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, repeat. Splashing cold water on your face is helpful too, as is having a glass of water. Do not use this time to procrastinate! It might sound like a good idea to relax by watching Youtube or Netflix, scrolling through Instagram or playing a video game, but you’re going to be sucked back into the procrastination game that got you here in the first place. 

III. Create your plan of attack 

You’ve left it too late to be regularly revising, so our plan of attack is basically going to be: cram every subject consecutively. This is the best way to get everything done when you’re pressed for time like this - don’t switch tasks or subjects. Interleaving subjects is great when you’re on schedule, but right now you don’t want to spend quarter of an hour getting into the groove of a certain subject and then switching before an hour has passed. 

University is just one assignment after another, no breathing space in between, especially towards the end of the semester. All you need to do is work out what’s due first and what’s worth most, order everything according to those criteria and then focus on the first assessment until you’re done. Once the assignment is handed in or you’ve sat the exam, then you can move onto the next task.

If you have two different assignments due for different classes on the same day, plan ahead so you can dedicate a full day to each subject instead of working on both at the same time. 

Plan out every single day - make sure you’re scheduling in time to eat, shower, sleep, and take breaks as well as to study. Be specific when planning your time out each day as to what tasks you’re hoping to achieve - don’t allocate too much time to any single lecture, but at the same time, be realistic about how much you can cover in one hour. 

Choose wisely based on what you do or don’t know. There isn’t much point in spending this precious time revising the things you already know you’re good at, so suck it up and schedule in the hard stuff first up, but be prepared to move on if you can’t get it down. You’re far better off going into the exam knowing 10 things badly, than 1 thing really well, so focus on the basics and if you have time to learn the more complex details then go back and do that later. 

You also need to be flexible and prepared to adjust - sometimes an assignment will take longer than expected or a day just won’t be as productive as you thought it might be. Don’t panic, just re-plan and shift things around so you keep moving in the right direction. 

IV. Grind it out 

Now that you have a clear idea of what you need to achieve and when, it’s time to get it done.  

For once, you shouldn’t need to worry about simple procrastination. You’re  probably already panicking, so turn that anxiety into motivation which will fuel you and let you focus for long time periods. Fear can be a great driver - when the threat of the exam is looming over you, it’s amazing how well you can knuckle down, assuming you don’t want to fail. 

Pack a bag with everything you need - your laptop or tablet, your charger, headphones, a water bottle and a travel mug, snacks and meals for the day, and anything else you like to have with you when you’re studying. Then take yourself to the library, the local coffee shop, the office - wherever you like to study, but don’t sit at home. There’s too many opportunities for distraction and you cannot afford that right now. Being in an environment where other people are working will motivate you to do the same. 

If you’re working on an assignment, the best way to get things done quickly is to let go of any preconceptions of doing a great job, or having a perfect draft, and instead just focusing on having a draft. Bash out the worst draft you’ve ever written, fill it with run-on sentences and spelling mistakes. But make sure you finish a draft. Then all you have to do is edit it, and it’s a lot quicker to do it this way than it is getting bogged down in the details before you’ve even begun. 

When you’re studying for exams, the number one way to learn is through active recall. There is no point in wasting time writing out a full set of notes if you’re two days out from the test. Even if you feel like you don’t know a single thing, start off straight away by testing yourself - do past exams, drill flashcards, try and write outlines or mind maps and then check your notes or textbooks and fill in what you’ve missed. If you don’t know the answer or you get it wrong, look it up and try to understand it, and then test yourself again in twenty minutes. 

It’s important to strike a balance here: don’t overextend yourself, but don’t continually take breaks. If you think you need a break, you probably don’t. Take two minutes to stretch your legs and drink some water, but do not pick up your phone. If you’re starting to feel mentally fatigued, especially after a few hours, it can be helpful to switch locations - go outside and study on a park bench, or shift to the dining hall. Sometimes the change of scenery is all you need to feel refreshed. 

V. Rinse and repeat

This is your life now. Make sure you stick to a regular sleep schedule - aim for at least six hours a night - because otherwise your fatigue levels will seriously impact your memory, retention and critical thinking abilities. It’s not worth the few extra hours you might get in, and you probably won’t be productive anyway. 

Remember that the advice I’ve given you here is based on what I do when I am severely behind, not how I study on a daily basis when I’m on top of everything. These tips aren’t all great for long-term learning, but are the most efficient way to cram when you’re behind and under pressure. 

You’ve got this. 

[starshine583]

could you do A for the soul mate thing with felinette?

(Sorry it took me so long to reply! I’m still trying to keep up with my schedule for the “New Girl on the Block” fic, but rest assured that I’m totally writing all of the requests for this when I can! The next one I’m going to be working on is V for Daminette. I hope you enjoy the snippet and thank you for the ask!!)

If someone had the choice between technical immortality and certain death, it should be safe to assume that that person would accept the former. Technical immortal was the only logical option, after all. No one wanted to die. And yet, people chose death everyday. In fact, they were obsessed with it, because certain death guaranteed one thing that immortality couldn’t: a soulmate. 

When a person turns eighteen, their aging process freezes due to some strange magic that scientists still can’t explain. From then on, that person will remain eighteen until they find their soulmate, specifically until they touch their soulmate directly with bare skin. Once their soulmate is found, they will begin aging as usual, as if they’d never become temporarily immortal in the first place. Some people speculate that this gives the two soulmates a chance to grow old together.

Felix, personally, believed that it gave him a chance to harbor an unlimited life span free of charge. Who needs a soulmate when you can explore all of the things in the world that are normally hindered by the aging process? There were too many things that he wanted to accomplish for him to worry about something as fickle as love or relationships. 

One of those things happened to be building up the fashion empire that he had inherited.

It was hard to gain the respect that he deserved at first considering his physical appearance made him seem like a child, but once people found out that he was in his late twenties, it made things much easier. Now, three years has passed since his accepting the role of acting CEO, and the company’s success rate has been steadily rising until their profits were through the roof. He’s quite proud of it, if he’s being honest.

Felix straightened the papers on his desk and set them to the side, catching the glimpse of his golden wrist watch as he did so. The little hand pointed towards one in the morning, telling him that he’d spent another late night at the office. He didn’t mind, though. These were the things that needed to be done for his company to excel.

However, he also needed sleep for the company to excel, and this seemed like a good stopping point if ever he saw one, so Felix stood from his rolling chair to begin gathering his things to leave. 

“Hey, Sir, are you up there?” A voice crackled across the intercom. Felix paused his preparations to smile at it. It was the unmistakable voice of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, his personal secretary for the last two years (and his close friend for the last year and a half). They always happened to work late on the same nights, didn’t they?

He pressed the glowing red button on the intercom. “You know I am. What do you need?”

“I’m working on another piece for a fashion show. I want your input.”

Felix chuckled. How many of her pieces had he given his input on now?

“I’ll be down there in a second.”

“You’re the best!”

Felix set his stuff back on the desk and moved towards the door to his office. He hesitated briefly when he spotted his black, leather gloves on the edge of his desk- he made a point to wear them constantly, along with a number of other pieces of clothing, so he could avoid direct skin contact with others. No sense in taking any chances -but decided to leave them alone for once. Marinette should be the only other person in the office, anyway. It wouldn’t make a difference.

He took an elevator down to the second floor, where most of his top designers worked, and walked over to the desk that had its lamp turned on. He’d know which desk was hers either way- could probably find it in his sleep at this point -but it was a nice give away.

Marinette was crouched on the floor when he got there, stabbing a needle into some material that was draped across a mannequin. Her eyes were narrowed with concentration, and her tongue was poking out of her lips as it always did when she was working hard. Felix held back a snort at the endearing sight and glanced around her desk while he waited for her to notice his presence. 

When she first joined his company, she was a budding fashion designer, someone who had been gaining a bit of fame for working with Gabriel Agreste, Jagged Stone, Aubrey Bourgeois, and many other note-worthy people. Apparently, she thought it was time to build a business of her own, and therefore, applied for the job as his personal secretary in an effort to gain experience on how a business should be run before actually starting anything. 

The notion admittedly impressed Felix. People rarely thought to find personal experience in running a business before actually starting one. They normally just took a class and hoped that it paid off. Someone with that kind of rational thinking was someone he knew he wanted in his company, though, so he agreed to hire her, even if she would still be working independently on personal commissions.

Now that two years had passed, she would probably be leaving any minute now to become her own boss. It might be in a week, or in a few months, perhaps even a year, but he found himself dreading it no matter how long she continued to work for him. He’d grown quite accustomed to having her in his life, be it getting lunch together or going over the morning schedule or giving each other advice on their work. The quiet moments they shared made work life a little more enjoyable and made those rare nights of loneliness from refusing a soulmate a little more tolerable too. 

“Oh, Felix!” 

Felix’s eyes dragged back down to Marinette, who was staring up at him with wide eyes.

“When did you get down here?”

A small smile crossed his lips. “You know how it used to be one in the morning?”

Marinette tisked, picking up on his light-hearted tone. “Oh, whatever. If you don’t want to get stuck waiting then tell me when you get here. Now, come look at this and tell me what you think.”

She stood up and moved away from the mannequin, then gestured for Felix to step closer, which he gladly obliged to do. The outfit hanging on the mannequin was a dress that appeared to have several layers and a few frills. It seemed to be made out of silk on the inside, and on the inside was another material that had an antique, flower pattern. The way the materials were sown together, though, and the things she must have added to the flower pattern, didn’t  give off the impression of it being old or outdated. It was a mix between old and new that created a unique combination.

“I think it looks fine.” He said after studying it.

Marinette groaned. “Fine doesn’t help me, Felix. What does it strike you as? Stunning? Charming? Old-Fashioned? I know you have more descriptive terms than ‘fine’ in that word bank brain of yours.”

Felix laughed. “Work bank brain?”

“You know what I mean.”

He does.

“Alright, Alright.” He knelt down next to the outfit again. “Might I inquire about your purpose for this garment?”

“See, there are fancy words you use all the time.” She remarked teasingly, even though she often used the same words herself. “I’m trying to create a modern Victorian type of style for my next show.”

Felix hummed. “Can I see the sketches?”

“Oh, yeah, they’re right over here.”

The pair moved back to Marinette’s desk, and she sat down in her rolling chair to slide a paper towards him. Felix leaned towards Marinette, placing his palms on the desk for balance.

“So, if you look at- oh!” Marinette had just started explaining her original thoughts for the design, when their hands brushed against each other. She drew her hand back immediately, surprise reflecting in her bluebell eyes.

“You’re not wearing any gloves.”

“Ah.” Felix drew his hands back as well. “No, I’m not. I figured they were a waste of time tonight, since it’s only us here.”

“Oh..” Marinette said. “I don’t think I’ve ever touched your bare skin before.. N-not that I’m keeping track or anything! Wow, that sounded so weird-”

Felix, being used to her ramblings by now, only chuckled. “It’s alright. I don’t think we’ve ever touched like that either.”

In fact, he knew they hadn’t, because he does keep track of who he does and doesn’t touch with his bare skin. So far, he’s managed to maintain a low count of five or so, but he supposed adding one more to the list didn’t hurt.

“Anyway, I like the way it looks. The colors combine nicely, and I can certainly see where you’re coming from with the modern, yet old-fashioned design. I’m sure people will enjoy them, especially for costume parties.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Marinette smiled. “Thanks for your help.”

“Of course. I’m actually on my way out the door, but don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything else.”

“You know I won’t.”

Felix laughed and pushed himself off of the desk to begin making his way back to the elevator. “Make sure you leave soon too.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.. Eventually.”

Felix threw her a playful glare over his shoulder. “I’m not kidding, Dupain-Cheng. If I see bags under those eyes tomorrow, you’re going to be fired until you get a proper night’s sleep.”

“Thank goodness for make-up then.” She joked back.

Felix rolled his eyes and bid her farewell as he entered the elevator, and her soft call of “Goodnight, Boss” managed to reach him right before the doors slid closed.

-

The next morning began as any other morning. Felix woke up to his blaring alarm clock, forced himself out of bed, and started the brew for his morning coffee. He then dragged himself over to the bathroom to get ready for the day, starting with his hair.

The mirror provided a picture of his sluggish figure as he combed his platinum blond locks to the side. His hair didn’t seem to care to cooperate that morning though, because his cowlick was refusing to lay aside as they were told. No matter how many times he combed over it, the chaotic locks refused to budge.

Felix huffed and leaned closer to the mirror, but before he could continue furiously coming his hair, something caught his attention.

At the front of his bangs, dangling loosely to the side of his face, was a single, grey hair.

Felix frowned, moving even closer to the mirror to get a better. It was definitely a grey hair, but why on earth would he have one? People at the age of eighteen didn’t get grey hairs, and he’d never gotten one before. The only reason he could possibly get a grey hair out of the blue like this was if-

Felix froze, his eyes blowing wide. No.. no, it couldn’t be. There’s no way he found his soulmate. It was impossible. The aging process only started when he touched them directly, skin to skin, and he’d been horribly precise not to do so with anyone under any circumstances. 

Well.. anyone except..

A knock came from the front door.

Although his mind was racing for answers, Felix pulled himself together enough to throw on a robe and go answer the door. 

Imagine his surprise when he found none other than Marinette standing right outside.

She looked up at him, her figure tense, and a certain anxiety painted her features. He wanted to ask what she was doing there, or why she hadn’t called to tell him that she was coming, but all he could do was stare. Perhaps it was because a part of him already knew why she’d come to visit him. She was the only person he’s touched directly in the last year, the only person who could have caused his hair to change.

Slowly, Marinette held up a strand of her hair. It was hard to make out, being a single strand, but Felix didn’t need to see it know it was grey too.

They stared at each other, both floored by the discovery, but then Felix almost had to laugh. Because of course it was her. Of course the person who he had come to know and adore and yearn to be around daily would be his soulmate. He should have known that soulmates would find each other eventually, whether they had “Soulmate Magic” to guide them or not.

Before he could say anything, Marinette let out a grieved sigh and buried her face in her hands.

“Oh, Felix, I.. I’m so sorry!”

For a moment, Felix stalled, and worry started to set in. She’s sorry? Why would she be sorry?

“What do you mean?”

Marinette looked up from her hands. “I know you didn’t want to find your soulmate and start aging. I should have noticed your ungloved and been more careful, but I just wasn’t thinking, and-”

Felix blinked as she continued rambling. This girl was apologizing to him because she accidentally found out that they were soulmates. She wasn’t thinking about how much she’d wanted to find her soulmate- because he knew that she did -or that she would have gone without a soulmate for the rest of her life had she not made the discovery. No, she was thinking about him and what he had wanted, just as she always did.

“Marinette.” He said, taking her by the shoulders. “Marinette, stop.”

The ravenette paused, glancing up at him with her beautiful, concerned eyes, and he felt himself smile. 

“If anyone had to be stuck as my soulmate.. I can’t express how delighted I am that it’s you.”

A wonderful blush tinted her cheeks. “R-Really? But I thought- what about being immortal?”

Felix chuckled, and he reached out to cup her cheek. “Immortality’s a small price to pay to have you.. if you’ll have me too, that is.”

Marinette exhaled, looking completely baffled, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss.

“Yes.” She breathed, a shining smile coming to her features. “Yes, of course I’ll have you.”

Felix couldn’t help grinning as well, and as he pressed another kiss to her lips, he wondered how it could have taken him so long to realize what the soulmate magic was really all about. It wasn’t a choice between immortality or death, but rather a choice between immortality and life. All of the things he’d been searching for- fame, fortune, glory -and the experiences he’d been chasing meant nothing without Marinette by his side. She was the one who made him feel truly alive, and he never wanted to live without her again.

(Send me a letter and I’ll write a thing!)

[undertaker1827]

Hello! I hope you're doing well ✨ I was wondering if you have any Othello headcanons? Could be fluff, or basically anything. He's my second fave. shinigami (first is Grelle 🥺) and I just like reading other people's thoughts or headcanons for him ❤️ thank u

Greetings! I am well thank you and hope you are too! Of course you can (I love Othello and Grell, they’re both so awesome) and sorry this took so long!

Masterlist

-

I see Othello as quite a confident person

He may not seem it at first glance, especially when in comparison to personalities like Grell and Undertaker, but I think he’s quietly confident in his own way

That said, completely different story when it involves his S/O

I suspect he gets all blushy and a bit nervous the first time he asks them out on a date (assuming they didn’t get in there first)

Probably quite a bit of hesitation and should I hold their hand? I mean, I want to, but would they mind? Should I ask or would that ruin the atmosphere?

To be honest, you’ll probably end up making the fist move in that sense

Once he realises its okay with you though, all that nervousness is going to go out the window

He’ll walk you back to your place, likely give you a goodbye kiss on the cheek

He’ll get more comfortable with you the longer you two go out together

More little touches just to keep a bit of contact, more hugs

He probably kissed you first as well

Othello is definitely introverted, but not to the point of trying to avoid company or being nervous around others

I’d probably call him a charismatic, confident introvert

He’s obviously very clever - I wouldn’t be surprised if he came up with some of the forensics techniques used by Dispatch, purely because he went to use the original methods then thought ‘there’s a better way of doing this’

He has a real passion for science, beyond just work

He’s probably the person who sits in the canteen purely to tell other people about new discoveries he’s made (other people being Grell, albeit begrudgingly and because wherever she goes, Othello manages to be there)

That’s only when he has time to, though

Most of the time, he stays in the lab to carry on working

I have a headcanon that all the reapers are literally surviving on coffee and he is no exception

He’s always so energetic, so I kind of picture him as the kid who sits in the back of the class drinking a flask of black coffee mixed with some sort of energy drink

Sleep schedule? What’s that? For that matter, what’s sleep in general?

Likely dozes off at his desk more than he ever actually goes to bed

Even when he’s at home, I think he falls asleep in his armchair/on the sofa more often than anything else

Night owl and early bird all in one sleep deprived, caffeine fuelled package

His house is probably an extension of his lab though

Like, home experiments, making stuff that explodes out of whatever happens to be lurking in his cupboards

Research everywhere

Papers piled on the coffee table, important things to remember pinned to the walls, kitchen counters covered in stuff

Generally very cluttered and untidy, I suspect

Food-wise, I think Othello is either the sort of person who eats like one sandwich at lunch and that’s it, OR he looks like the kind of person who only eats one sandwich at lunch but he actually eats everything all the time

In all honesty, he’s probably the second one

I see him as someone who snacks constantly as well, rather than eating many full/balanced meals

I mean he’s a reaper, he can absolutely get away with doing that and nobody is going to stop him (his own body included)

Othello finds the human world interesting, certainly, but probably more in the ‘ultimate science experiment’ kind of way

Humans are very interesting to him, certainly not something to be frowned upon, but again likely because he’s very curious about them

Really, the thing that would make him very happy is to just corner a human of any variety and full out grill them on the human world and their life in it

He wants to know everything. Literally everything

That said, he would also be open to having a human S/O

I mean it’s probably illegal (according to Dispatch) but as long as he’s careful and quiet about it, then what does it matter?

It’s certainly not going to detract from his work or work ethic

In fact, his S/O would be really helpful in him understanding their world better

He doesn’t get down there very often (though he makes far more effort to see his S/O) so he doesn’t get to carry out field research very often

With a human S/O, he has his very own personal tour guide

It’s great!!

And if the S/O other also enjoys science or is a scientist themselves, this dude is absolutely smitten

AND THEN if they willingly help him carry out research/provide him with information, he is going to be in love foreverrr

Othello might not be as bold and ‘out there’ as some of the reapers, but he is still involved in the social aspect (such as it is) of working at Dispatch

He rocked up to the Christmas party wearing the most hideous jumper he could find - a reindeer with a flashing nose - and antlers with tinsel wrapper around them on his head

Grell, dressed only in her finest, was utterly appalled by the display, which really only made it funnier for Othello

He does wear more normal things if he’s going out for after-work drinks though

A lot of the forensics division go out together on a fairly regular basis (for how irregular their schedules are), with the occasional reaper from admin, assuming they’re incredibly bored and don’t mind everyone talking science for the whole evening

As a kind of overall picture, I see Othello as the incredibly smart professor with multiple PhD’s who rocks up to lectures with steaming instant noodles in hand wearing something incredibly scruffy and who only tells his students his first name

[thecrownnet]

Season four began filming immediately after three wrapped. The ever-aggressive paparazzi snapped many scenes of Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) filming the penultimate installment, which just narrowly completed production before the Covid-19 shutdowns in the U.K. But the rush to finish didn't affect the costume department.

"With all those custom-made pieces, you have to be ahead of the game," explains Roberts. Her couture house-like department regularly operated on a three-week to one-month-ahead schedule, especially for the "ceremonial" pieces for principles.

"In fact, the last day, it was a huge scene with Diana and that was it," she continues. "We went out on a bang, you know. A massive scene with her in New York, and that was it. No more filming."

[Spoilers Ahead]

Season four extends to 1989, when Princess Diana embarked on a solo trip to New York City — actually shot in Manchester, England — prior to her 1992 separation from Charles. Playing the People's Princess, Corrin was photographed wearing a stunning re-creation of a gold-embroidered, pearl-embellished Victor Edelstein gown and bolero jacket that Diana wore to attend a Welsh National Opera Gala production of "Falstaff" at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music.

As "The Crown" stans anxiously await the announcement of a season four premiere date from Netflix, Roberts revisits some of the costume and behind-the-scenes highlights from three with Fashionista, including Colman's reaction to donning Queen Elizabeth II's intimidating investiture helmet, Princess Margaret's historically inaccurate White House visit dress and Prince Charles's and Camilla's imagined meet-cute outfits. And, yes, the costume designer drops more teasers for the upcoming season, including Princess Diana's "fantastic journey."

Your re-creations for Queen Elizabeth II were so accurate, like the fur-trimmed coat she wore to Aberfan (episode three) and her investiture suit — especially the hat. What was the most challenging costume to recreate and why?

The investiture costume with that extraordinary hat. In "The Crown," you have key moments with actual events that we know about. [The images are] very much out there on film and photographs and you are acknowledging those looks. I hate to say we're "copying" them. I think we're making a nod to them with hopefully a bit of us in there.

But that was quite a challenge because everybody knew that extraordinary medieval hat that the Queen wore. [We made ours out of] a very fine satin georgette and getting that color, that pale clotted cream color, [was a challenge]. For Olivia, that was quite a challenge to wear as well. She's a remarkable actress to work with, as you can imagine. She just lets you do your job. But even she looked slightly askance when that hat came out. But being Olivia, she went with it.

Which costume for Queen Elizabeth II allowed you the most creative freedom, because it wasn't a re-creation?

I'm really fond of when I imagine dealing with the real woman. There's a series of outfits [in episode five], when she is very involved with sorting out her riding stables and her horses aren't doing very well. And she leaves her [royal] role in the care of her mother and goes off [to Normandy, France and then Kentucky] with Lord Porchey [John Hollingworth].

I loved doing her like that. In macs [trench coats] and blouses and skirts and headscarves. The scarves are such a cool look. People can really relate to that now with that slightly Prada and Miu Miu-style shirts, blouses and colors that we went for.  When she dines, for once, she's not done up in a long dress. She's in rather attractive — well, I think they were nice — floral silk dresses.

I loved being able to see or pretend or imagine that side of her; that kind of upper-middle-class country woman doing things that she loved. [Spending time with] her horses — not that there are many dogs in that episode — which I think she probably feels most at ease with. Olivia looked fantastic in those clothes. She's like glowing in a way.

Everybody assumes [my favorites are] all the big ball dresses, which are lovely to do. But I like doing that more real element of people. This other side. 'The Crown' gives you that fantastic opportunity — the big, glamour, out there moments — and there's a lot of very intimate personal stuff, where you don't know what they would wear or what they would say, but you can have let your imagination go with that one and that's lovely to do.

In episode two, Princess Margaret goes to the White House to see President and Ladybird Johnson, to help secure U.S. aid. You designed a floral, off-the-shoulder, arm-baring dress, which made sense for her to trade dirty limericks with POTUS. But in real life, Princess Margaret wore a pink, long-sleeved jacket over her gown. What was the inspiration behind changing the design, and what are the print and silhouette telling us about her?

I just wanted to be a bit bolder and more startling. I just remember when we saw that fabric in one of the shops, I thought, 'That's it. That's it! Let's use that for that [part].' Sometimes things jump out at you, don't they? Also, it's a portrayal of Margaret by an extraordinary woman, Helena Bonham Carter. So somehow you're also taking that on board. With Helena, you could push it a little bit further and she would just be bold and brave with it herself.

Princess Anne is considered a fashion icon and as young woman in the late '60s and '70s, she was able to push the fashion envelope and do things like wear jeans and mini-skirts. How did you use her costume to show her as the more independent one in the family?

I don't think she represented the wild '60s. But the mini-skirts — the short skirts — that she wore, represented the '60s in a kind of posh-girl way. The first image that we had of her [to work off of] was written in the script as Anne in jodhpurs. That blew it all apart, didn't it? Here's this girl, strutting through the palace in riding breeches and boots — I think that's how it was written — that was my big guide into how we would deal with her.

There's a little shot of her [in episode six], when she visits her brother, when he's performing the play and she's in the audience. She's got '60s baker boy cap on, but there's nothing extreme about her. It's sort of sensible. It's getting that balance of that youthful brashness, but still she's a princess.

I did enjoy the scene where a buttoned-up Prince Charles calls her from Wales because he's homesick. She's in her room at the palace — and it's all messy — and she's wearing high-waisted flare jeans and a Hawaiian-print, long-sleeved T-shirt.

[That] was a scene where you could do that. She's on her own and I quite like that because it was contrasted against Charles, who never gets to be relaxed. He's at university. He's still wearing those little old man clothes, like tweed jackets and sweaters. I mean he looks adorable, because the actor's quite adorable, isn't he? [Ed. note: Yes.] He never somehow lets his hair down. So it was quite fun that she was dressed like that and he was in corduroy trousers or slacks — they were called slacks then — and a jumper.

It was really quite funny, the director of that particular episode, Christian Schwochow, is quite young himself and also German. So his view on the Royal Family was quite refreshing and we wanted to blow it out of the water as much as we could.

What inspiration and process did you go through to design and create the costumes for imagined scenes between Charles and Camilla?

There's very little reference [imagery] on her in that early time. With Camilla, it's a sexy posh girl with, dare I say, not a huge amount of style. Why should she? Why should she have that? So it's just that Sloane Ranger girl. We were just trying to tune into that and her country pursuits. So after she marries [Andrew Parker Bowles, played by Andrew Buchan] in series four, suddenly she looks a whole lot more herself, really. She's living the life she wants to in the country, [as part of the] the country set. It was a little point to what she'd become, probably. She's fun, relaxed and not particularly into clothes.

In series three, you know that you'll see a lot of these people again in series four. So you're kind of giving little pointers to what they'll become when they're a bit older and more settled. And people have a style. You change, of course, but you are what you are. You just get a little more sophisticated or get a little more confident.

Speaking of, images of Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in famously-photographed outfits (or variations of them) have been caught by paparazzi. How does Diana's place as an international fashion icon influence how you designed her portrayal in season four?

Well, she was brilliant to do because she has a real journey in four. Most of them do, but she, in particular, has a fantastic journey — a real arc — again, like Camilla. We kick off with a nice little Sloane Ranger, wearing bobbly old jumpers, and you end up with a dramatic change. A complete manipulation of her look. Like, she puts on suits of armor to protect herself. So that's all we'll say about that.

What hints can you share about the other members of the Royal Family in season four?

The Queen grows in being steadier in her role and her marriage. I'm always saying this, but whatever issues she has — or had — in the marriage, [she and Philip, played by Tobias Menzies] found a way of dealing with that, like a lot of marriages. It's just everybody maturing.

And Margaret — that very tempestuous relationship she has with Tony at the beginning, it's just getting more and more toxic. Of course, in four, her life is really a real mess and we just illustrate that with her clothes. But the colors are much more dour and bruised and her flamboyance from three is slightly toned down now. Charles actually matures into a married man, quite stylish, but, again, an unhappy marriage. And good old Queen Mum stays the same. Lovely Queen Mum. I love her.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

[spring-emerald]

this thing called love

“You know, it’s really unfair that Stingyshima is popular,” Hinata says with a huff, lips pouted in disgruntlement.

Kageyama pauses writing, dragging his eyes from Yachi’s neat notes he’s copying from to Hinata. “What?”

Hinata shrugs, mechanical pencil balanced between his nose and upper lip, sliding even further in his seat as he insolently spreads his legs apart under the desk, looking like a real picture of laziness and an absolute dumbass who don’t have time to act carefree at the moment. Kageyama frowns and kicks him on the shin, startling him and causing the pencil to lose its balance, earning him a glare from the shorter teen.

“I’m just saying,” Hinata bends to rub his abused leg, “his personality’s awful and yet so many girls have a crush on him. I don’t get it,” he says as he finally sits properly before throwing his hands in the air.

Kageyama just rolls his eyes at Hinata’s antics and reaches over to thump him on the side of his head. “You really don’t have time worrying about things like that,” he says, nodding down at the notes with emphasis.

They’re on the cusp of failing a class again and he really, really doesn’t need that to happen and he really, really don’t want to take supplementary lessons for it and miss any training camps that might be scheduled during that.

“I know. But I get a little jealous! Just because he’s tall and-”

Kageyama zones out after that, pointedly ignores Hinata’s tirade about Tsukishima’s supposed popularity in favor of looking back down at the notes and try to find where he left off.

“-Don’t you get jealous, Kageyama?”

Kageyama knits his eyebrows together as he looks up at Hinata again, who now has his chin resting on his hand, head tilted curiously to the side. “No,” He says with a shake of his head then promptly returns to his task.

The thing is, after that particular conversation, Kageyama started to notice things about their schoolmates’ interaction with Tsukishima.

Like how the students part and give way and girls watch Tsukishima walk along the grounds with admiring gazes, very reminiscent of the way they sometimes do in shoujo mangas when a prince-like character is introduced. Or the way underclassmen, especially girls, would huddle together and giggle amongst themselves when they catch sight of him during lunch time rush in the cafeteria. Or how Tsukishima would be at the receiving end of assorted pastries like a small packet of freshly baked cookies, or a cup of pudding. Or that in some instances, Yamaguchi would arrive at their lunch spot without Tsukishima because he’s been held back by an underclassman, and arriving a few minutes later from the direction of the courtyard, looking a little annoyed and weary.

Kageyama never gets the chance to ask him about it, figures Tsukishima would talk about it if it’s really bothering him, but he does give him a questioning look, one that Tsukishima returns with one that Kageyama translates as ‘nothing, don’t mind it’ along with a light shrug of his shoulder.

-----

It boggles Kageyama, to say the least. Why people would suddenly react that way around Tsukishima. Not that he didn’t think that Tsukishima can’t be popular or that he doesn’t have the right to, but…it’s just Tsukishima.

Cool, aloof, unbothered Tsukishima, who walks around with his large headphones and chin held high as he casually pass by other people without a care for the world.

Tsukishima who prods and tease and sometimes annoys the hell out of people just for the heck of it.

Tsukishima who sometimes give solid and sensible advice, if approached seriously about matters that bother you.

He’s a skilled middle blocker and a national level player one at that, so he’s been shown in television and is probably well-known especially among volleyball fans. But Hinata’s gotten a little famous too, especially to those who see him as inspiration or those he’d ‘blown the minds of’ (Hinata’s words, not his).

He’s smart and belongs to the honors section, and had gotten academic awards despite his active participation in club activities. But so is Yachi and Yamaguchi. Kageyama’s relieved that he knows smart people because they’d been really helpful in keeping his grades afloat enough to participate in club activities.

He’s got other talents as well. Kageyama knows that he plays guitar and bass and can sing well. He’s got a channel where he covers songs, though they’re the only ones who knew that it’s actually him since he’s never really showed his face in any of his videos. So he’s kind of popular in a way, Kageyama guesses.

Ultimately though, it’s just Tsukishima doing what he usually does. So there’s no reason to act like that around him.

-----

Apparently, Kageyama underestimated how popular Tsukishima actually is.

Because, as it turns out, he’s really popular. If the screams and swoons of his names of most of the girls in the auditorium are to go by.

The music is already loud as it is but they decided to add more to the noise contained in the domed room.

Kageyama’s head and ears ached, and he even fills a little dizzy because of the shrill yell-singing happening around him and he’s somehow relieved to be pushed back by the throng of girls that went closer to the stage to get to where Tsukishima is currently performing with other third years students-an impromptu band formed for tonight’s concert to culminate the festivities of the school festival.

He’s playing guitar and singing an old but catchy English song that Kageyama doesn’t completely understand, but one that he’s heard and knows that is included in the playlist Tsukishima’s recently made for him.

Kageyama doesn’t know where the other three are, supposed they also got swept away by the crowd, but he won’t risk going back in there, and decided to just stand against the wall at the far end of the room. Not only was the volume more tolerable, it’s not cramped and hot, and has a good vantage point, a full view of the stage where Tsukishima seems to be having fun performing, especially for someone who claims to have been forced and blackmailed to do so. He must be feeding off the excitement of the audience, though Kageyama wished that they were less rowdy in showing their appreciation.

It’s kind of nice. Seeing Tsukishima like this that is. Kageyama’s only ever seen him be occasionally passionate about volleyball, and when he’s commenting and teasing them and their juniors about their idiocy. Watching him having fun while doing something else is a welcomed change.

The song eventually comes to an end, and the auditorium gets filled with even louder screams which Kageyama decidedly escapes from in favor of catching some fresh spring air.

-----

“So this is where you’ve been hiding, King.”

Kageyama stops humming and breaks out of his reverie upon hearing the familiar voice, noting the hint of relief and exasperation on the tone. He scoots to the side, giving Tsukishima space.

“I wasn’t hiding.”

Tsukishima plops down beside him. “The three didn’t know where you’d gone. They were worried when they couldn’t find you inside.”

Kageyama winces in guilt and sends a short mental apology to their friends. “I got pushed out by the crowd. And it was getting quite loud in there. But I only stepped out after you’ve finished. You were really good,” he says with a small, soft smile.

Tsukishima searches his face. “You didn’t leave because of anything else?”

Hinata had mentioned something about why Kageyama probably left when he came looking for him, though he’d taken it with a grain of salt. Hinata likes to assume things and make a big deal out of nothing most of the time after all.

Kageyama’s frown and unsure “No?” confirms this.

“So you didn’t leave because you were jealous?”

“Jealous? Of what? Why would I be jealous?”

Right. What did Tsukishima even expect? Kageyama’s obliviousness to things not related to volleyball is an impenetrable wall- hard to scale and harder to breach, unless one uses a direct method.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Tsukishima shrugs rather dramatically. “Maybe because girls were going crazy for me?”

Goodness, Tsukishima was already pointedly ignoring that, had been for the past couple of years now, but of course Hinata and even Yamaguchi dare to rub it in his face from time to time. He’d hoped his nonchalance and disinterest, which isn’t even a façade would turn them away, but as the years go by, it only seemed to have the opposite effect. Yachi anxiously remarks that after tonight though, they’ll be sure to be more obvious and aggressive and that Tsukishima needs to be careful about accepting gifts from them after Home Econ class because they might have slipped in some love potion or something.

Kageyama makes a face upon remembering how the female student population seemed to have collectively lost their minds over the band. “Ugh, no. I definitely don’t like that kind of attention.”

Tsukishima gives him a hopeless look, then softly snorts and eventually laughs. Kageyama startles and stiffens at his reaction and frowns deeper. “What? Why are you laughing?”

When Tsukishima stops laughing, Kageyama immediately catches on the teasing smile and glint on his eyes and tried to back away. But Tsukishima’s faster and he soon finds his face squished in between large hands, making his lips pout before it meets Tsukishima’s own in a quick, chaste peck.

“That’s not what I even meant, King,” Tsukishima says, shaking his head a little while squeezing Kageyama’s face harder before letting it go.

Kageyama rubs his cheeks and wills away the warmth that crept up his face at the sudden affectionate gesture. “Then what did you mean?”

Tsukishima just laughs again before pulling him into a hug, forcing his head and face to rest against Tsukishima’s shoulder and chest. “What I meant is that you’re jealous that girls are crushing on me, who is, you know, your boyfriend?”

Kageyama blinks. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. But I get it. Your Majesty can’t be bothered to be jealous over such trivial things, since he’s above all the lowly common girls.”

“Well, I don’t get why they’re suddenly paying attention to you. It’s not like you’re doing anything special.”

Oh wow. Tsukishima feels his something inside his chest squeeze. “Ouch, my King. That actually hurts.”

Kageyama lifts his head and looks up at Tsukishima. “No, but Kei…” Tsukishima looks down at him, surprised at the use of his given name moreover the softness of it, though a little wary about what Kageyama’s going to say next. “You’ve always been doing great. You’ve always been admirable. So I don’t understand why they’re only seeing it now.”

Kageyama says it so matter-of-factly, like it’s that simple, a universal truth and oh wow, Tsukishima’s chest is squeezing for an entirely different reason. He will never get over how Kageyama can say these kinds of things easily, will never get over the way he naturally but unconventionally affirms his feelings for him. Until now, even almost a year of dating, Tsukishima still gets unbalanced, still gets flustered, by the King, of all people.

Tsukishima doesn’t bother hiding his wide, giddy smile from Kageyama before gently smooshing him against himself.

-----------

Tsukishima performing ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ won’t leave me alone.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

For the past few months, Alicia Wertz has barely seen her husband. Since schools closed in their northern Alabama town in March, they’ve been single-mindedly focused on a single goal: making sure that someone was watching their three kids. At first, Wertz tried working from home. But she wasn’t getting anything done, so they tried splitting the hours: Wertz’s husband watches the children in the morning, then a sitter comes to relieve him in the afternoon until Wertz takes over when she returns from work.

“When we’re not working, we’re by ourselves with the children. It almost feels like you’re a single parent. All you do is go to work and care for the kids,” Wertz said.

In her mind, Wertz is counting down the days until schools reopen. But there’s a nagging worry at the back of her head — what if they don’t open at all? “The thought of [my kids] not going back in the fall is devastating,” Wertz said when we spoke in early July. “It raises this question of — if one of us has to stay home with the children, whose job is more important? I think it was something that we did have conversations about before, but COVID-19 has made it much worse.”

Wertz isn’t the only working mother for whom the thought of the fall calendar sparks both relief and dread. And what comes next could have disproportionate — and long-lasting — effects on the careers of countless women across the country. Studies have shown that women already shoulder much of the burden of caring for and educating their children at home; now, they’re also more likely than men to have lost their jobs thanks to the pandemic. And the collapse of the child care and public education infrastructure that so many parents rely on will only magnify these problems, even pushing some women out of the labor force entirely.

“We’re in danger of erasing the limited gains we’ve made for women over the past few decades, and especially women of color,” said Melissa Boteach, Vice President for Income Security and Child Care/Early Learning at the National Women’s Law Center.

The crux of the issue: Child care just isn’t as available as it was before the pandemic. Data provided to FiveThirtyEight by the job-search website Indeed shows that child-care services have been much slower to hire again (a useful proxy for re-opening) than other areas of the economy:

Combine that with the news that many schools will remain closed in the fall, and it’s easy to see the crisis at hand. If polling is any indication, the vast majority of the fallout is being weathered by mothers, who were already doing the majority of household work even before the pandemic began.

In 2015, the Pew Research Center asked parents about how they divide family responsibilities when both work full-time.1 Some tasks were split relatively evenly: Twenty percent of respondents said the mother disciplined children more, 17 percent said the father disciplined more, and 61 percent said that responsibility was shared equally. For every task, however, more respondents reported that the mother carried a greater amount of the load than those who said the father did — including areas involving managing children’s schedules, caring for children when they’re sick and handling household chores.

Moms usually shoulder more of the load at home

Share of parents in households with two full-time working parents who say each parent does more work in a given category, according to a Pew poll

Share of parents who say… Category Mother does more Father does more Work split equally Managing children’s schedules/activities 54% 6% 39% Taking care of sick children 47 6 47 Handling household chores, etc. 31 9 59 Playing/doing activities with children 22 13 64 Disciplining children 20 17 61

Based on 2015 poll by Pew Research, with a sample size of 531 respondents. The sample included male/female married couples only.

Source: Pew Research center

Along similar lines, Pew also found in a poll from 2019 that 80 percent of women living with a partner who had children did the primary grocery shopping and meal-preparation duties for their families. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey — which tracks the average amount of time people spend per day on different categories of activity — married mothers with full-time jobs spent 56 percent more time doing childcare and housework than corresponding fathers. By contrast, fathers spent more time on work-related tasks, travel and leisure activities.2

All that extra time moms spend really adds up

Daily time spent doing various activities by married parents of children under 18 who both worked full-time, according to the American Time Use Survey

Hours spent per day Activity Mothers Fathers Diff. Household activities 1.87 1.23 +0.64 Physical care for children 0.59 0.28 0.31 Child care – other 0.36 0.22 0.14 Child-related travel 0.25 0.13 0.12 Education-related activities 0.10 0.06 0.04 Reading with children 0.05 0.03 0.02 Playing/hobbies with children 0.27 0.29 -0.02 Total 3.49 2.24 1.25

Survey data covers the combined years of 2015 through 2019 and includes both opposite- and same-sex couples.

Source: bls.gov

Even under normal circumstances, it was difficult for mothers of young children to balance work against the heavy burden of child care. The BLS found that in 2019, the labor force participation rate for women with children under age 6 was 66.4 percent, well below the rate for women with children age 6 or older3 (76.8 percent). According to a 2014 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, 61 percent of women who were out of a job and have young children listed “caretaking” as a reason why they were not employed. Forty-six percent of women who were out of a job and have older children said the same. To put that in perspective, only 10 percent of all respondents who were out of work gave caregiving as a reason.4

A similar strain is apparent in working mothers’ decisions to take unpaid leave, or even part-time jobs instead of full-time ones. According to that same census survey from 2014, 30 percent of women who were part-time workers with young children — and 19 percent of women with older children — said caretaking was a reason they worked part-time. (Among part-time workers, the overall share is just 7 percent.)5

Now, with schools closed and day cares struggling to remain open, even more women may conclude that the best — or perhaps the only — choice for their family and their own sanity is to reduce their hours, or even press “pause” on their career.

“Sometimes I’ll get to a point where I’m like, ‘I’m so tired, I’ll have to go part-time to make it all work,’” said Lee Dunham, a lawyer who lives in Delaware. Since the pandemic started, Dunham has been mostly responsible for her 10-month-old daughter during the day — which means her work day doesn’t start until 8 p.m. and usually wraps around 2 a.m.. “I’m just basically not getting enough sleep because I’m watching the baby 40 hours a week and doing my job 40 hours a week. It’s really rough.”

Dunham feels she’s lucky to have an understanding employer who told her earlier this year that they’d be cutting all of their employees some slack because of the pandemic. But at the time, she added, everyone was assuming day care would be up and running by mid-summer. “It might be that I have to dial back my hours, which of course means I will get paid less.”

This kind of calculus already depresses women’s wages and makes it harder for their careers to progress. According to the National Women’s Law Center, mothers are typically only paid 71 cents for every dollar paid to fathers. In fact, a lot of recent research into the gender pay gap has found that much of it is simply due to the constraints on working mothers. For instance, a 2018 analysis of data from Denmark — which offers a counterpoint to the United States in terms of social safety net, yet still has a very large and persistent gender wage gap — found that women’s earnings drop significantly after having their first child, while men’s earnings aren’t affected at all. And crucially, several studies in the U.S. and other countries have found that the trajectory of wages for women who don’t have children resembles those of men, whether they have kids or not (although some research has actually suggested that becoming a father can contribute to men’s career success).

This disparity is particularly intense for women of color. Black mothers are paid only 54 cents for every dollar paid to a white father, according to NWLC; for Latina mothers, it’s 46 cents. Low-income women of color are also among the likeliest to have lost their jobs in the current recession. And they’re disproportionately likely to be the child-care workers who are being asked to come back to work, sometimes in unsafe working conditions, for low wages. “We’re in a vicious cycle where we need child care as one of the tools to get women to equal pay, and yet unequal pay is one of the primary reasons that women are pushed into staying home,” Boteach said.

Leaving the workforce, even if it’s just for a year or two, has ripple effects that can follow a woman for the rest of her life, even depressing her earnings in retirement. Finding a new job after a few years on hiatus can be very difficult for mothers, who may be stereotyped as less serious about their careers because they took time off to be with their children. One study from 2007 found that mothers were perceived to be less competent than fathers, and their recommended salaries were also lower.

During this pandemic, you can already see the disproportionate impact taking shape. The unemployment rate for women in April was 16.2 percent, higher than it has been in any month since at least 1948, before dropping to 11.7 percent in June — a percentage point higher than the rate for men (10.6 percent). Even more striking, labor force participation for women dipped to 54.7 percent in April before rising to 56.1 percent last month. Both of those numbers are reminiscent of the rates for women from the 1980s — back when the very notion of women in the workforce was still gaining momentum.6

Wertz has no plans to leave her job — at least for now. “I worked incredibly hard to get to where I am now,” she said. “I essentially paid my way through school with no family support. For years I worked entirely too hard for not enough money.” Already, she worries that she’s perceived differently in the workplace because she’s a mother. “Even if it was just a year, I know how that gap would look on my resume,” she said. “If I had to take that step back, I just don’t know if I’d recover from it.”

[indecisivebreadpeas]

Hollow Knight & My Hero Academia crossover idea

Note: I’m mostly gonna wind up plain rambling & get off-topic, plus all I’ve read of BNHA is from fanfics & the fandom wiki, I’ve never watched/read official sources, so disclaimer on that. 

Hear me out, the Radiance’s fluff is a similar color to Himiko’s hair & I mistoke Toga’s eye color for orange when they’re actually yellow according to the wiki, but the hair part still holds true. If we do some cannon divergence, maybe change up Himiko’s quirk into being able to turn into a moth, a moth goddess, or maybe the Radiance just winds up infecting Himiko, unless you wanna use the Infected Radience theory, in that case, whoever’s using the Radiance as a puppet infects her & she gets it willingly or something like that.

Wait, Hollow Knight, but w/ quirks, that makes things so much more interesting. Getting back on topic, however, may be the Radiance is actually a sibling of Toga & they had the Moth Goddess quirk, wind-ups, perhaps even loses their memory, in what is now Hallownest, the other higher beings: Pale King, White Lady, Nightmare King Grimm &/or Nightmare Heart, Unn, God of Thunder & God of Rain (what if we threw Godseeker in there?), Wyrms, Lord of Shades & The Abyss Creature were all just humans w/ shapeshifting/mutant quirks that maybe even forgot they were humans & forgot how to turn back. Imagine the mental whiplash when even one Higher Being finds out how to become human again & word gets out. A Higher Being has a form that is some pale pink to dark brown squishy being. Imagine if they remembered their memories w/ the human world & some of them were friends! PK & Radiance were the closest besties & now their enemies.

Now, are we doing the Big Bugs, Bug Tank, or the Human Sized AU? I’ll provide an idea or more for all 3!

Bug Tank AU: That GIANT squishy thing a Higher Being turned into! The Abyss creature is the first one to regain their memories & the forgetting mist doesn’t affect humans for some reason, it’s too low. They’re benevolent & worried for Hallownest & it’s neighbors they do the most logical thing. Put them in a giant tank & care for them. They’ll protect them with their life, & the insanity of the other Higher Beings having to adjust to this.

In a nutshell (if we make the Godseeker’s previous gods alive), like at least 9 people are living in this house maybe they have to have a schedule of ‘who gets to be human when,’ as they decided to live in a single house, & only some people can be in public. The villain & hero chaos doesn’t help, it’s hard enough hiding Hallownest in the usual day.

The shock of everyone else, their lives were a lie! What if the entirety, of Hallownest’s ancestry, was humans that could turn into bugs & they could become humans, or half-human, half-whatever species they are people, maybe their size is a balance between their the small bug & large human height? Quirked Hollow Knight AU!

Human Sized AU: Mosscreeps & other adorable bugs get domesticated, heck though, what would they think of their smaller unintelligent counterparts? Anyways, let’s focus on the “Radiance was sealed & it worked for some time” era. The cultural whiplash (that should have already been brought up), & the technology gap here. There’s also a possibility there’s a gap between how long the humans & bugs have been sapient for. Not to mention the shock of all the laws & the whole quirk stuff, & there are so many meetings between official leaders & ambassadors. I’m not sure if the maggots were slaves, but if slavery was a thing & the fact especially the upper class will have to think “I’ll have to pay everyone I want to work for me”. The possible tension between the two! They hear the story of the first quirk & they may be torn between “Did the Pale King/the Radiance/some other light Higher being create quirks?” The language gap, how could I forget that? Assuming the more people that believe in you the more power you get as a higher being, humans w/ permission explore this alien world & find out about almost every Higher Being we know about, & the population is like in the billions, everyone’s power level, skyrockets, whomst has awakened the ancient one skyrocketing. Hallownest’s reaction to nukes . . .

(I just made a whole branch AU) I wanna focus on the Mantis Lords tho, assuming the brother was yet to betray his tribe, what if they pushed the disabled to be as equally strong as the abled? What if they looked down on most of humanity for regressing practically just because they by chance got powers that could be greater than what could be done w/ soul by chance? What if word got out of their opinions and the quirkless flock to becoming mantis tribe citizens because they have a chance at being equal not because of their birth state, but because they worked for such a state? The Mantis Tribe population becomes large as heck since 20% of the human population is almost 1,600,000,000 likely, maybe not the whole percent but a large majority. The economy on a positive note maybe becomes Mt. Everest on the charts for both groups & it doesn’t crash hard.

The introduction of Void & Soul to humans may be a bad thing tho, what the difference between human souls & bugs? Does the murder rate especially towards bugs goes up, does a war break out? Multiple? Does the relationship between bugs & humans stick on the edge of breaking? Does Hallownest split into several groups & countries with different opinions thinking humans should be wiped out, they should be lower than them, they should join them? Do even the maggots join the “I don’t feel like praising the Pale King anymore” squad since humans without much direct contact with gods have gone so far they think “We don’t need gods, we need masks.” The Mask Maker now has a business & several apprentices making masks. This branch AU has the most opportunities for drama, that’s for a fact. The whole opinions split large populations happen w/ the humans too. Criminals may see Hallownest as an easy target for a mass steal meaning security & law enforcement will have to be increased and improved, they’re given aid but this also to an extent makes them dependent on humans.

What if the Kingsoul’s discovered & it’s mass-produced, killing’s not necessary guys! You can stop now! What if the same happens to the Dreamnail? 

The Howling Cliffs is certainly an obstacle here tho too, whether you go the easy or complicated route, that’s up for debate, does being outside of Hallownest effect Higher Beings, do Higher Beings also naturally have sapience & language as well?

Human Ancestry AU part tho, bugs went from having their exoskeleton outside, to having them inside, every bug needs clothes now (Editing this for a second time I thought that on the spot, why would they all have to wear them now?), not to mention, the different foods they’ll sometimes be able to consume & sometimes not- CORDYCEPS! It messes up non-sapient bugs but has medical properties & is edible to humans if it can affect the big bugs, perhaps a quirk made, scientific &/or magical vaccine will have to be made, maybe a quirk w/ time reversing effects are used to cure a victim. Some bugs try to even make their human form permanent if we’re in the “Pure Human form” side of the AU. If not, more debate between the two groups~! Heck, a cure’s technically impossible meaning bugs would have to wait for a vaccine to be made & it may likely take a really long time since vaccines for bugs are likely rarely be focussed on, & pray they go their life never contracting it. We can also just go the “the sapient bugs are unaffected enough/immune“ route to make things easier or ignore Cordyceps altogether. Would bugs have a coffee equivalent or could take just some coffee before it’s too much, pure human sub-branch tho, heck yeah. Does the whole food & drink stuff means bugs have to wait till they fully digest food then they’re safe to shift to the other form? Is soul needed to shift? Does the body know when it’s safe to shift after eating/drinking food deadly to the other form? 

Anyways, this AU also means bugs have to learn their bug language & human language in human tongue. Some bugs like the Mantis Tribe will stick as a bug as much as possible as an exoskeleton is more appropriate with a culture like their’s but even the Mantis Lords seem to have just a single claw, the equivalent to a single finger, they definitely shift when in need of hands. People like Quirrel & Monomon have 4 fingers per hand/many limbs to get the job done, so shifting is much less likely for people like them.

If the Higher Beings has quirks humans, chances are there were missing searches for them, they remember everything & they go “oh.” Even w/ any AU if this is the case, even more, legal stuff happens. The family reunions could be every awkward.

Big Bugs AU: Mt. Lady would quickly be considered a candidate for ambassador thanks to her quirk, however, that’d be shot down. Likely she’d speak the actual ambassador’s mind if they decided to have meetings. Humans may also help with technological progression though the main issue comes with materials available on Earth, time to mine the other planets & go to other universes.

That’s enough of those three AUs & branch AUs I feel like thinking about, however, the Human Ancestory AU+Human Shapeshifting Higher Beings can both individually be their own separate AUs w/o the whole BNHA Crossover stuff. 

It’s amazing how much came from me mistaking Himiko’s eye color. This is why you twist even the tiniest detail for no reason or remember what you made a mistake about in a show/game etc. & think, “what if that was actually the case?” Edit: Frick, mistoke Mosscreep for Mosskin

[onestowatch]

Blu DeTiger Is Bridging Indie Pop and the NYC Underground Club Scene [Q&A]

New artist Blu DeTiger is not so new after all. The NYC-native has been a bassist since age seven and was named “the coolest DJ around” by Vogue Magazine in 2017. The young talent, known for her combination of disco-funk DJ sets and live bass playing, has more recently become a touring bassist for acts like Caroline Polachek, The Knocks, Kitten, and FLETCHER.

Now it is Blu DeTiger’s moment. While she has been writing and producing music for most of her life, her first single “In My Head” was released in 2019. With a four-on-the-floor beat and nonchalant vocals, “In My Head” carries with it the hypnotism of the dance music she plays during her DJ sets. 

Most recently, Blu DeTiger released “Figure It Out,” a bass-heavy funk pop track with an irresistible groove. Its laidback lyrics and catchy chorus make it the perfect song to start the summer and shows Blu DeTiger hitting her stride as an artist.

We spoke with Blu about postponing tour plans, proving herself in male-dominated spaces, and writing “Figure It Out” with her brother, Rex.  

Ones To Watch: After spending years as a DJ and touring musician, how have those experiences helped you navigate being a solo artist? What were some of the most important lessons learned?

Blu DeTiger: Touring experience was extremely beneficial to me. Loading in, setting up gear, monitor mixes, in-ears, staying healthy, green room etiquette, sleeping on a tour bus, being in a van, stopping at gas stations, setting up merch, payouts, staying SANE — you really have to learn this stuff yourself. Playing a lot has built up my confidence and overall comfort level onstage. I absolutely love to perform.

And DJing made me develop a better knowledge of music. I know the hits throughout the decades, what makes people move, what slows them down, what’s popping on the charts, how to read a room, what song is best for that moment.

You once noted that although you've always been a musician, you felt you've really had to prove yourself as a woman in male-dominated spaces. Do you still feel that others underestimate you as a musician?

I always feel I need to prove myself. It’s part of my personality and I don’t think it’ll ever change. It’s really more of a shock factor thing that people have when seeing me play. People are so surprised when they realize I can actually play bass or DJ properly. It’s partly flattering that they’re complimenting me — but why did they assume otherwise? Would the assumption be the same for a guy? I want to change that perception.

I don’t think people give enough attention to women in the producer role especially. I think there needs to more opportunities and more recognition of women in all aspects of music (mixers, engineers, A&R, for example) — not just as writers and singers.

I’m really hoping to inspire and empower girls to express themselves and be whatever they want to be.

You've been playing bass since age seven and DJing since age 17. Did songwriting come later for you or have you always been creating your own music?

Yes, I’ve always been creating my own music. I’ve always been in bands and writing / doing creative work. I did some music for commercials, made DJ mixes, produced remixes, played on records, etc. It wasn’t until I met B-Roc from The Knocks that my own creative project under the name “Blu DeTiger” really started to take shape. I’ve always had a desire to do my own music, and I just kept moving forward with that intention. It felt like a natural progression. 

What has been your greatest career highlight so far as a musician?

It’s difficult to answer because I think I’m in the midst of it now and there are a lot of exciting things in the works!

Are you still going to NYU? If so, how are you able to balance touring, music making and school?

I’ve been on a leave-of-absence from NYU since January 2019. Balancing everything got pretty challenging. My last semester in school got crazy—I was flying out every Thursday morning to tour on the weekends, then taking a red eye flight back every Sunday night to make it in time for my class on Monday morning. Meanwhile, I was in the studio during weekday nights finishing my original songs, and also DJing until 4am some nights… I wasn’t sleeping much, and it became really difficult for me to continue to put my 100% into the schoolwork — I still got all A’s though! Ultimately, I decided to take time off because I got offered a great touring opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up. I’m grateful for the time I spent in school, but it was definitely the right decision for me.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your plans for 2020?

All my touring has been postponed/rescheduled… I was about to go on a 4-week European run, opening for FLETCHER, as well as playing bass in her band. Following that, we were meant to go on an Arena run in the US (which would’ve started a few days ago). I was also scheduled to join Caroline Polachek as her sole bandmate on multiple festivals this summer. It’s a huge bummer, and I was really looking forward to all these shows. If there’s a bright side, it’s given me the time to write and produce more music. And engage with my fans!

Your latest single "Figure It Out" was written alongside a few other musicians, one of which is your brother, Rex. How did this track come together, and how often do you write with your brother?

Basically, I got this beat from a producer named Novodor, and I immediately connected with it. I was in a session and the first verse and chorus just exploded out. I put the song aside for a while, but always really loved it. Months later, I came back to it and finished it up with this producer named Jeremiah Raisen, and my brother, Rex, while we were working in New York. I’m writing more and more with my brother, especially since we’re quarantined together. It’s been amazing, he’s so talented, and it feels like we have a really good flow right now.

Who are your Ones to Watch?

Channel Tres, girl in red, Melanie Faye, Claud, Spencer., Remi Wolf — to name a few!

Listen to “Figure It Out” below:

[uncloseted]

Hey Christina!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I’m hyped. I was wondering if you could do a “50 things about yourself” idk if you’ve done it before but I’d like to know about you cause you’re so cool! 😎 and we love you

Hi!  I haven’t done one before but I’m happy to.  And of course, if there’s anything you guys want to know about me I’m an open book.  This particular “50 Things” tag is old school Tumblr, so it’s sort of random, but hopefully something in there is interesting for you guys.

1. What takes up too much of your time?

Reddit.  I’m an information junkie and most of the stuff on there has very little use in my life, but once in a while I come across a gem and it’s what keeps me scrolling.

2.       What makes your day better?

Iced coffee.  There’s a coffee shop near my house that I really like, and I also bought a bunch of the fancy flavored syrups so I can make it at home.

3.       What’s the best thing that happened to you today?

I’ve been having a pretty chill day so far, but spending the day with my boyfriend has been really nice.

4.       What fictional place would you like to go?

The Night Circus!  It’s one of my secret ambitions in life to actually build it.

5.       Are you good at giving advice?

I sure hope so, otherwise I’m running some of your lives 😂. But seriously, I do my best.1.

6.       Do you have any mental illness?

Let’s say I know my way around a therapist’s office and leave it at that.

7.       Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Yes!  I used to get a combination of sleep paralysis and exploding head syndrome semi-regularly, but that hasn’t happened in years.

8.       What musician inspired you the most?

I don’t know about “inspired” but I think The Velvet Underground had a big hand in shaping who I am.  Also Patti Smith, she’s great.  I highly recommend her book “Just Kids” to all of you.  There’s something about it that feels Skinsy even though on paper they’re nothing alike.

9.       Have you ever fallen in love?

Absolutely.  I’ve been with my boyfriend for four years now and I couldn’t be happier. 

10.   What’s your dream date?

I love driving to a new city and checking out what there is to do there.  I think having a place that you share just with that one person is really romantic. 

11.   What do other people notice about you?

My hair, my clothes, or my “intimidating” face are the ones I hear the most often.

12.  What is the annoying habit you have?

My boyfriend really hates it when I do “active listening” (where you nod or make noises to let people know you’re still paying attention to them).

13.  Do you still talk to your first love?

No, but I hope they’re doing well.

14.  How many ex’s do you have?

6ish would be my guess?  I’d be interested to know if all of those people would say that I’m their ex, though.

15.  How many songs are on your playlist?

I don’t really make playlists, so I guess none.  I’m sorry that’s a super boring answer. 

16.  What instruments can you play?

Piano and bass guitar pretty well and tuba badly (and I can’t actually carry the instrument anymore).  I could play the flute when I was younger but I imagine I can’t anymore.

17.  Who do you have the most pictures of?

My boyfriend, I think.  I have a Polaroid camera and I like taking pictures of him when he’s not paying attention. 

18.  Where would you like to go before you die?

Argentina, Scandinavia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, Vietnam, South Africa, Morocco, Australia, Antarctica, and the moon.

19.  What is your zodiac?

Libra!  My birthday is coming up on the 17th. 

20.  Do you relate to it?

I do!  And I feel sort of badly about that because I know that zodiac is just the Barnum Effect in action, but the Libra desire for balance, idealism, and love of aesthetics is me. 

21.  What is happiness to you?

Being free of expectations from myself and other people.

22.  Are you going through anything right now?

In my experience, adulthood is just going through different things for the rest of your life, so yes. Pretty much always.  But right now I’m looking for a new job and that’s been a lot.

23.  What is the worst decision you’ve ever made?

How much time do you have?  I did a lot of things in my teenage years that I’m not particularly proud of.

24.  What is your favourite store?

I love really giant department stores like Harrod’s, or covered markets with tons of different random stalls.  I like the idea that you don’t know what you’re going to find.  I also love antique stores for the same reason.

25.  What is your opinion on abortion?

It should be available and accessible to anyone who wants or needs it.  But so should birth control.  And I think it’s important that people understand all of their options before making a decision and are given mental health support if they need it as well. 

26.  Do you have a bucket list?

Not really.  I had basically one thing that I’d always wanted to accomplish and that happened way earlier than I expected, so now I’m trying to figure out what my next thing will be.

27.  Do you have a favourite album at the moment?

Blue Scholar’s Cinematropolis or Belle & Sebastian’s Dear Catastrophe Waitress.  And Velvet Underground’s Loaded, always. 

28.  What do you want for your birthday?

I’m hoping my boyfriend and I will go away for the weekend.  Fingers crossed that our schedules work out!

29.  What are most people’s first impression of you?

I think people find me to be intimidating (when they’re being generous) or mean (when they’re not).  Like I said before, I have a bit of a bitchy face and so I have to make a conscious effort to smile at people.

30.  What age do you seem according to most people?

I’m not sure.  I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just sort of “in my 20s” and people don’t care what the exact number is.  But in general, I think people assume I am however old they are, so anywhere from like 18-30.

31.  Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

Right next to my bed, which you shouldn’t do.  But I read on my phone before I go to sleep and I use it as an alarm clock, so it ends up on my bedside table.

32.  What word do you say the most?

It’s probably “but”.  I spend a lot of time considering all the possibilities in a given situation so I spend a lot of time being like, “but what about this? But what if that? Things could be this way, but on the other hand they’re like that”.  I don’t think I really have a catchphrase, though.

33.  What’s the oldest age you would date?

Thirty, probably?  I feel like anyone older than that is probably in a different stage of their life than I am.

34.  What’s the youngest age you would date?

Twenty three or so?  They would have to be out of college.

35.  What job/career do most people say would suit you?

Other than the job I do now, I get a lot of people saying that I should be an art curator or a museum curator.  And I get people telling me I should be a therapist, obviously.

36.  What’s your favourite music genre?

Like most people I like your general pop/rock situation.  I really like baroque pop, which is pop music but that includes orchestral instruments.  And then I also love electroswing, I think it’s such a fun blend of genres.

37.  If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be?

Either the Netherlands or Denmark.  But I would also like to spend some time in France and more time in Italy, where I did study abroad.  I also really love the UK, but given the current political situation I’m not sure I’ll be moving there any time soon, especially since I’d need a visa.

38.  What is your current favourite song?

I don’t know if I really have one.  I do enjoy when I hear Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” on the radio, though, does that count?

39.  How long have you had this blog for?

Since October, 2013!  I’m coming up on my six year anniversary.  I think I have something like 30,000 posts.

40.  What are you excited for?

The future! I think no matter how the present seems, the future is always an exciting prospect. 

41.  Are you a better talker or listener?

I think this might surprise some people, but I think I’m a better talker than listener.

42.  What is the last productive thing you did?

The last really productive thing I did was to film a pitch video for a project I’m working on, but the most recent is doing some work for this blog.

43.  What do you want for Christmas?

The impeachment of Donald Trump? Can Santa do that?  I would also take “people taking climate crisis seriously”.

44.  What class do you get the best grades in?

In high school, philosophy/religion and psychology. At university I did very well in “Iconic Figures of Popular Music: Simon and Garfunkel”.

45.  On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling?

Around a 7.  I need to get dressed and leave the house, but I don’t have anywhere in particular I need to be so I’ve been putting it off.

46.  What can you see yourself doing in 10 years?

I’d like to be living in a different country than the one I do now with my boyfriend.  I’d like to be self employed or remotely employed, so that I have flexibility in when and where I do work.  I want to be doing something where I’m bettering other people’s lives or the world at large. But mostly what I’d like to be doing is traveling and learning.  But really my priority is that by that time, I want to be content with myself.  I think what you’re doing and where you’re doing it is so much less important than how you feel while doing it, and in 10 years I hope I can say that I’m living a happy and worthwhile life, whatever that ends up being.

47.  When did you get your first heart broken?

I think I was 14.  What I’ll say about it is this- in the moment it mattered so, so much to me.  My parents were the first person that each other dated and I assumed that was how all relationships worked, so when that wasn’t how this one worked out, I was devastated.  But now I barely remember that person, and  I live with someone else who’s completely different and totally awesome and I couldn’t be happier.  I know it sounds like a lie but with time and perspective all wounds can heal.

48.  At what age do you want to get married?

I didn’t think I wanted to get married at all.  I don’t like the idea of having a big wedding where you’re the center of attention and everyone is starting at you.  But in the long run being legally married is practical, so my boyfriend and I will probably do it at some point when we feel like it makes logistic sense.

49.  What career did you want to have as a child?

I wanted to be an Imagineer at Disney.  They’re the people who design the theme parks.  I also wanted to be the president of the moon.

50.  What do you crave right now?

Excitement!  Nothing is going on in my day right now and I’m starting to get bored.  I have a very low tolerance for boredom so days like this really get to me.

[paperanddice]

Ragnar’s Keep Review

Recently I was approached by Ian Brockbank (who runs the blog Melestrua’s Musings) with a request to take a look at his published setting location Ragnar’s Keep, available on DriveThruRPG. Despite never having done a review like this before, we learn by doing and so I accepted the free copy he offered and I’m determined to give it as fair of a look as I can offer.

Ragnar’s keep is a 36 page document that details a fully realized and established location for low level adventurers to visit or interact with. It’s not designed as an adventure itself; while plot hooks are provided it doesn’t come with a specifically intended storyline or goal for players to approach. It is a setting location, written to be usable in a wide variety of ways, and to provide a map and location for GMs who are looking for some hard details to build off of. Ian specifically contrasts it to the more generic d100 plot hooks style design, offering up something that requires less improvisation and gives the GM a cast of characters with fully established character motivations, flaws, and relationships with one another and the location. This may limit the use of it in some ways if the specific dynamics don’t fit within the setting already planned, but aspects of it can be picked up or dropped as fits within a specific goal the GM has in mind. The material works for any “standard” fantasy setting based off of medieval Europe with magic, but the given mechanical rules are designed for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons.

The titular keep is a three and a half level fort with a basement, ground level, second story, and a half third story, along with some extra details in a path leading down to the nearby waterfront. Two different maps are provided for each castle level, one with grid and annotations and the other a detailed illustration created by Heroic Maps. The illustrations are simply gorgeous, and provide a wonderful and deeply immersive location on their own, and are available for purchase as a separate product on DriveThruRPG from the artists directly (link here). Every room is given a detailed description, and a cast of over 20 NPCs fill in all the major roles needed to keep the castle running (along with the castle’s own personal haunting ghost).

The keep and the country around it are given a 1 page backstory detailing how the lands came to be and the political situation it exists within. This information is very specific, creating and naming specific people, locations, gods and a loosely detailed empire that all come together and define many of the keep’s inhabitants and their relationships with one another, and while renaming these details is possible it does keep this from being able to be inserted into any setting without rewriting. The established setting relies heavily on colonial activity to set up tensions between different people, and this could be an aspect of the writing that creates the largest obstacle in using the keep as written. The empire of Thraesya and their goddess Tenesia invaded a formerly independent land by sea, conquering settlements and laying claim to the countryside for its rumored silver deposits and bountiful natural abundance. The native groups were subjugated and made vassals of the empire, but of course it was an unsustainable position as the expected riches were never found. Nearly 80 years after the invasion the empire handed the territory over to a young nobleman who titled himself Grand Duke, named the territory Melkantor and set about ruling it himself. The present day situation is the Grand Duke attempting to forge Melkantor into a unified country, and Ragnar’s Keep itself, overlooking the town Ragnarston and its important position in the only passable trading rout back from Melkantor to Thraesya.

 The full description of the castle grounds and rooms takes up 12 pages, and goes into great detail. Every room gets at least a paragraph of description, listing any important details in the design and layout of the room along with its use. Specific inhabitants are described in how and when they may be found in this room. As the castle is meant to be usable for more than just an invasion based adventure, there is more detail on the daily schedule of non-combatants than I’ve typically seen for castles in premade adventure modules, which is useful for games where the characters may integrate themselves deeply into the castle’s life. While few groups will encounter many of these details, those that do will have plenty of fun little secrets and interesting bits of environmental storytelling to reward them. The options here allow a much greater depth of verisimilitude in a wide range of story opportunities, from infiltrating the keep as a member of the serving staff to entering as a guest of the lord or lady to fighting through the halls… either for or against the lord.

The castle is actually incredibly well stocked with magic items, giving a huge reward to groups who have motive to assault or rob it. From the lord’s +2 longsword to the cleric’s staff of healing, new magic items such as the scales of identification and the ring of clairvoyance, plus a large number of uncommon magic items and magic potions scattered among the important NPCs, magic equipment is quite prevalent. It’s enough to well stock a full adventuring party if they clear the place out thoroughly. It’s not necessarily a game breaker, since characters are only likely to gain these items if the GM sets up a reason for them to fight the entire castle, but if a low level group does have reason they’ll come out potentially quite far ahead of the curve, item wise. I do enjoy that one of the junior clerics has a cursed rapier though. He’s a thoroughly unlikable person, and the perfect target for such a thing.

The largest section of the PDF is actually the character roster. Twenty-three NPCs over 13 pages, it details every character who has a hand in running the castle, and those most likely to be relevant in a wide range of stories. The Lord and his family, the heads of the serving staff, captain of the guard, the assigned cleric and his students, the local bard, the castles ghost, and a number of other roles within the castle are detailed. Not every inhabitant is detailed, the regular guards, cooks, cleaning staff and such going unnamed and not even clearly counted. The GM has some leeway in deciding the numbers and composition of these groups, depending on the way they’re making use of the material (though the easiest way would be to just assume that every bed mentioned is filled). The characters that are detailed though cover a wide range of different archetypes and personalities, allowing plenty of opportunities for interesting role playing. Characters could make friends or enemies out of many of the different characters, and several have very forward present story hooks to take advantage of, from the local bard who wants to attract the Lady’s attention, to the wererat butler with a history of theft, to the maid who was aged thirty years by the castle ghost. Most NPCs get unique stat blocks, many built using PC classes, though a number are functionally similar enough that they may have simply pulled from the same one. There’s three level 4 fighters whose stats mostly only differ in a few small ways that don’t necessarily benefit greatly from the space spent on different stat blocks. In this case, the method used in a lot of adventures of taking a more generic stat block and indicating the differences in the text may have been more useful, especially if the text and the generic stat block are kept on the same page. 

The plot hooks provided are all solid enough to work off of, mostly positioning the keep as a neutral or friendly force to the players to function around. It could be a home base for the group, a location to collect missions to defend the pass or surrounding countryside, or simply a place that exists nearby and rarely directly influences the characters. Of course, the keep could pose a threat to the group, either if they stand against the colonizing force of the region or other reasons. Breaking in or laying siege to it could be a climactic set piece to a lower level adventure. There’s a few character based plotlines that can function well if the group establishes a notable enough presence within the keep as well.

Two new magic items round out the document, and look fine to me. I will admit, magic item power levels are one part of 5th edition where I have nearly given up attempting to understand the balance of it, but the provided ones are fun, flavorful and interesting to work with. Neither is particularly powerful for a rare item, instead providing information in some capacity. The ring of clairvoyance, well, allows the user to cast clairvoyance at will, though each use after the first in a given day forces a saving throw against exhaustion, and the scales of identification are a weaker 3/day identify spell. A group without access to the spell would definitely appreciate having the scales, even with the weaknesses it has built in.

Overall, I think the castle itself is fantastic. The design is good and the rooms and areas within it have plenty of potential to explore in a wide range of stories and situations. The characters are detailed and many are interesting, with plot hooks easy to build off of the major ones. Where I personally have trouble is with the backstory, and the way that plays onto the NPCs. To put it simply, I have a lot of trouble with using colonial stories within my games, and I do not feel that the material provided gives a strong enough weight to the implications it sets up with that narrative. This is, by my estimate, more meant to be an example of Roman colonization of Britain than Europe to America, but similar implications are still built into it. The colonizing force’s culture and religion are given far more relevance to the setting than the natives’, who exist mostly as scared and nameless servants. The prejudice of the lord and many of the keep’s inhabitants are the driving force of much of their characterization, and the few native characters who are given real merit and weight in the castle are those who have assimilated into the dominant culture or literally died to it. I don’t know if this was intentional as well, but all named native characters are women. Just a weird fact that caught my attention.

Having these narratives in a game is not bad entirely in and of itself. Many people want to examine these stories, whether to overcome that aspect of history or as part of building a world that mirrors our own. But it requires a lot of careful consideration to use them without being harmful towards people who still live under the results of colonization. I am not the best person to make the decision of what is and isn’t good use of these narratives. And so, I personally choose to largely avoid them, along with other examples of real world oppression, unless actually directed there by a member of such a group who wants to explore it in a game I’m running. This means that a large portion of the implied background of this environment and a big part of the character motivations and relationships do not fit within a situation I would use. I feel the specific background set in place by the keep would exclude it from my game, but I would absolutely use the map with a different background. 

I don’t have a number out of 10 to give this product, as I feel there are some very strong elements within it that keep me from being able to define it so clearly. There is a lot to enjoy with it, from the artwork to the well realized characters to the excellent design of the castle itself. If you are just looking for a good castle map with detailed interior descriptions and at the minimum a good starting point for the inhabitants, it fills that perfectly. I think beyond that it’s up to you to decide whether the backstory elements that bothered me are a breaking point for you as well. If you are interested in checking out Ian’s work, you can purchase it here, which will get you $2 off of the standard price. This link is valid until the end of 2019, so you have two and a half months to act on this deal.

[amiafairyprincessyet]

You said that you are getting your ESL teaching certification, right? I want to get into teaching ESL to adults after I graduate, but my college hasn’t been much help and I’m not of where to start. If you don’t know this that’s totally fine, but I am wondering if a certification all you need to teach most places, or would a Master’s degree be better?

Okay bear in mind I’m not an expert, and most of my knowledge is applicable to my specific situation (which is different from yours) but here’s what I know.

A lot of it comes down to the program you want to teach with–for example, the company I work for will take a certificate or a degree in something related (my degree is in Linguistics so that works) or… I think also a more general teaching certificate?  I got an ESL certificate on top of my degree just to be safe.  So if you have a Master’s in something like Linguistics, English, Teaching… that might work!  Again, it depends on the program.  But the problem is, even if you know a lot about language, you don’t necessarily know how to teach English.  It can be surprisingly hard to teach your native language, because you didn’t learn it in the same way an adult learner is going to!

My impression is that a degree works for somewhat more casual companies–the one I work for is online, and they write the lessons for you, so you don’t need a ton of teacher-specific training.  (At least right now; standards are changing, hence getting a certificate.)  However, for more formal companies (especially ones where you’d teach in person) a certificate is the way to go.  There are a LOT of people out there who want to teach ESL, because they think that since they speak English, they automatically know how to do it.  It’s really a big advantage if you can show that you actually know what you’re doing, and it’ll get you much better jobs.

A big variable here is where you’re planning to teach–in the U.S. (or other English-speaking country, I shouldn’t assume you’re American) or abroad?  There are (I believe) different certificates for those two.  If you’re teaching ESL in the U.S. (or other English-speaking country) you’re probably teaching to immigrants who need to learn to speak English so that they can interact with the large English-speaking population here (or there).  If you’re teaching in a country where English is a foreign language, then you’re probably teaching it more like a foreign language class, like how you might take Spanish or French in school in an English-speaking country.  Those are very different situations, and they require different teaching methods!  I don’t remember the names of the certificates for each one, but if you’re certain you’re only interested in one of those and not the other, you can just get that certificate.  If you’re interested in both, there are certificates that cover both–that’s what I got.

The certificate I got is good for teaching pretty much anywhere, so it’ll work if I want to teach in the U.S. or if I want to go to another country.  It’s probably overkill for my current job, but I wanted to get a really good certificate, so that I have more options later.  I chose an in-person class near me that met twice a week in the evenings, because I know that I don’t learn well on computers and I need a schedule, rather than just doing the work whenever.  It also meant that I got to practice teaching real ESL students, which was something I really wanted to do in a situation where I’d be able to get lots of feedback.  It was a huge time suck though!  I’m really glad it’s finally over, even though I enjoyed it.  The exact certificate you get is up to you, but I wouldn’t recommend automatically going for the cheapest one.  I know there are some on Groupon that have really low prices, but I’ve seen other teachers who work for my company talking about what they’re learning in those classes and… it doesn’t sound great.  The class I took WAS fairly expensive, and you definitely don’t need to spend as much as I did, but I recommend shopping around and finding a balance

Another really useful thing about taking a certificate course, especially one of the fancier ones, is that they’ll help you find a job afterwards!  Most of us in the class already had teaching jobs and were looking to change them up slightly or become more qualified for what we were already doing, but there was one guy in my class who was looking for an ESL teaching job.  The teacher helped him look at programs and apply to them, and by the last week of the course, he’d been offered a position in China starting this summer!  That’s definitely a big pro of taking a fancier/possibly in-person course–they offer you a lot of support, even after the course is over.  My teacher told me to reach out if I’m ever looking for another ESL teaching job and he can help me find one.

So yeah!  Sorry for such a long rant on what’s ostensibly a fashion blog, but that’s what I know about ESL teaching certificates.

[recentanimenews]

Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun – 01 (First Impressions) – Don’t Blame the Game

“You cannot lose if you do not play.”—Marla Daniels, The Wire

“I’m not fucking crazy … I’m just goal-oriented.”—Annie Landsberg, Maniac

Our protagonist Tomozaki Fumiya (handle nanashi) is teen with a dearth of social skills and friends and seeks solace and contentment in the world of gaming. In the first of a veritable festival of metaphors this show dishes out, he’s a god-tier player of the popular fighting game Tackfam, but a bottom-tier player in the Game of Life. As such, even though he splashes the popular Nakamura Shuuji in Tackfam, it’s Shuuji who leaves school flanked by two pretty girls.

This leads Fumiya—who is not a refugee from a war-torn nation—to declare “The game of life is garbage”, followed immediately by an establishing shot of his family’s above average-sized detached home in a quiet neighborhood, thence to his spacious bedroom with hardwood floors, a Mr. Slim, and his own entertainment center.

I actually laughed out loud at this juxtaposition, even if it wasn’t quite the show’s intention. Then I couldn’t help but think: This guy is a whiny loser and I don’t like him. But hey, that’s the point: I’m not supposed to! In stories like this, something or someone becomes a catalyst for positive change.

In this case, it’s a someone—a fellow gamer (handle NO NAME) who is second only to Fumiya in the Tackfam national rankings. Fumiya respects NO NAME a great deal, and when he plays him he can tell how much effort and dedication he puts into training. When NO NAME suggests they meet up IRL, Fumiya doesn’t hesitate.

Little does Fumiya know that not only is NO NAME not a guy, but she’s someone he already interacted with at school prior to their meet-up, as she extended him some obligatory class-rep friendliness upon learning he and Shuuji played. NO NAME is Hinami Aoi, the “it” girl at his school: top grades, top athletes, loved by all. He considers Aoi a god-tier player of the game of life, like Shuuji.

Thankfully, Aoi’s reaction to Fumiya being nanashi is spot-on: “This sucks,” she declares, quickly losing her interest in further interaction. Her reason is plain: just as Fumiya is in awe of her as a player of life, she was in awe of nanashi as a player of Tackfam. To learn the real nanashi is a “rock-bottom loser” who has “given up on life” is deflating, and in turn reflects poorly on her, since she pegged nanashi to be a better person IRL.

Voiced by the wonderful Kanemoto Hisako, in with a feminine strictness that had me wondering if Aoi was really Nakiri Erina with dyed hair and contacts, Aoi brings legitimacy to “polite rudeness”—a term I may have just made up—in her takedown of Fumiya. She also has just the right response when Fumiya protests that the game of life is unbalanced, and her “high initial stats” imbue her and those like her with baseless confidence.

What’s so satisfying about her response, and can be tied to the tightness and cleverness of the dialogue throughout the episode, is that she repeats to Fumiya the very same words Fumiya said to Shuuji when he called Tackfam trash: There’s nothing more shameful than blaming the game, especially when you’d barely played. Fumiya goes on to argue that you can’t change characters IRL…and that’s when Aoi takes his hand, and before he knows it, he’s sitting in her bedroom.

It’s at this point in the ep when I began to develop a measure of concern about the emergence of a somewhat unpleasant subtext: Aoi seemed to be going extremely out of her way to be this dude’s archetypal “guardian angel”. After all, what does she get out of helping him? You can say she’s simply being every bit the “good person” and “perfect heroine” Fumiya saw her as to this point: helping those in need help themselves.

But there’s more to it than that, which justifies the extent of her effort vis-a-vis Fumiya, which we learn when she invites him to her room…her very similarly-sized and appointed room:

They’re practically mirror images of each other! Whether this was intentional or the creator/producers simply drew up some normal high school kid rooms, I appreciated the symbolism. There’s common ground between Aoi and Fumiya: their passion for the games at which they excel. Aoi happens to be good at both Tackfam and life, but she shows Fumiya the latter success isn’t due to high base stats.

She does this simply by being who she is—someone Fumiya didn’t know—by appearing before him in cozier clothes and without makeup. She assures him he can attain normie-level looks just fine by practicing better expressions and proper posture. When Aoi watched Fumiya play as nanashi, she saw the same serious effort she applied IRL—in fact, she thought him more capable of effort than she!

So yeah, from where Aoi stands and how hard she’s worked, Fumiya doesn’t get to say the game of life is unbalanced garbage. He just needs to start applying the same effort of which he’s already proven more than capable in Tackfam. She’ll prove he can—and validate her ideals—by helping him out. Fumiya is initially dubious because he assumes Aoi ranks life higher than Tackfam, but when she reveals her belief that life is tied for first with Tackfam, he’s moved.

He’s moved because while he’s always gotten online recognition for his online efforts, those same efforts have netted him precisely zero friends and recognition…until he met NO NAME, who bridged the divide between games. In Aoi he finally has someone IRL who recognizes and moreover values his efforts.

As flawed as Fumiya is, he still recognizes his own hypocrisy and has a sense of honor, and is thus motivated to put more effort into “playing” life as Aoi suggests, so he can find out for himself if the game is actually good. This, along with Aoi using the Fumiya Reclamation Project as a means of continuing to grow herself, goes a long way towards making their budding relationship both balanced and compelling.

As for what form Fumiya’s training will take, well here’s where we must suspend disbelief in Aoi having a half-hour to spare in her clearly packed academic, athletic, and social schedule. They meet at the school’s deserted sewing room (where I thought for a moment she’d teach him how to make better clothes, LOL) and Aoi lays out an aggressive plan composed of large, medium, and small goals. The primary goal is “to be as satisfied with offline life” as she is.

Fumiya can see by the structure of the plan that it’s not all that different from how he trains for Tackfam, a realization Aoi was both counting on and appreciates as it will save some explanation time. She’s already given him a facemask behind which he must constantly smile behind in order to improve his expression (this leads to an awkward scene with his imouto, who asks him not to be more creepy than he already is).

But like Nakiri Erina, Aoi has no intention of going easy on Fumiya; considering she knows the effort he’s capable of online. He must acquire a girlfriend before starting his third year. Before that, he must get a third party to notice his appearance/vibe has improved, which has already started with the smiling training, but also means he must actually talk to at least three girls at school.

That’s no mean feat for a bottom-tier character in a game he’s barely played to this point, but part of improving one’s character involves occasional stumbling and ass-kicking (figuratively, of course). I notice there are four girls in the middle ground of the promo art, so I imagine Fumiya will start with one of them. So begins a long, fraught, but hopefully rewarding journey towards not thinking life is a garbage game. And as you can tell by how many words I’ve written about it, I’m game!

By: sesameacrylic

[comicteaparty]

October 21st-October 27th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from October 21st, 2019 to October 27th, 2019.  The chat focused on Unlikely Heroes by Azalea Ortega.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Unlikely Heroes by Azalea Ortega~! (http://unlikelyheroes.thecomicseries.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until October 27th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. Why do you think Allie’s world is mired with sexist attitudes towards women? Also, in light of that, what do you think of Allie’s dad’s choice to ignore those attitudes for the benefit of the town at one point? How will sexism continue to affect Allie?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What do you think the significance of the title is to the entire of the story? Why are the heroes to be focused on unlikely, and how do you think they’ll manage to become heroes in spite of that?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. How do you think the events in the story so far have affected Allie emotionally, especially in terms of growth? After becoming hero of the town, do you think Allie will be content to stay, or do you think she’ll want more adventure?(edited)

Delphina

Just finished the archive! I thought the celebration montage scene was very sweet and probably my favorite http://unlikelyheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/140/

It seems like the story is just starting, so I assume we have yet to meet the other "unlikely heroes" but I'm curious if it's going to be more folks who are coming from underestimated or environments of discrimination.

Delphina

It's not hard to get me excited about lady paladins, but I really liked seeing Allie come out in the armor, and this is probably my favorite scene with her. http://unlikelyheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/99/ She's definitely got the most development at this point. Her parents also seem sweet, supportive, and encouraging despite the overarching societal views of women of the land. It seems like Allie hadn't even really noticed that she'd been discriminated against for being female until someone mentioned it, which is interesting. Clearly the machisimo/idolization of the men of the land is pretty widespread if Lord Valerus was able to take advantage of it to the extent that he did, though. I wonder if it's just because she'd been more of a head-in-the-clouds girl before now or if there's some other factor in play. I'm glad at least in her own village she was able to be the hero. Hopefully the news will spread to other villages, and if Lord Valerus intends to continue his evildoings, they can get out a warning that the dude is bad news.

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene so far has been the one where Allie heals someone at least and her dad is just "Well looks like you're a paladin." Despite the seriousness of the moment, I kind of found some levity in the line that was much appreciated, just cause it sounded like only just then did he remember being a paladin is a valid D&D class. But levity aside, I just think it was a positive development for Allie that felt earned after all the stuff that happened. 2) I feel like the attitudes just stem from ego, to be honest. Cause lots of people seem to be fine and have no issues with women. The only people who have in so far demonstrated this are a power hungry creep who probably feels superior to everyone and those guys who kept losing to Allie and needed something to blame cause of course it's totally not their fault or anything. As for Allie's dad's choice, I really liked how that's kind of this really gray issue. Cause fighting for equality and fighting for the many over the few are both good virtues. But when you have two good virtues, how do you pick one over the other? I personally lean more towards the dad's point of view, but at the same time, his lack of support was really lacking and that made me sad. I'm sure this will not be the first or last time Allie experiences sexism. However, I think she'll learn to turn it to her advantage, since opponents are easier to beat when they right you off as "just a girl."

3) My favorite character is probably Allie right now, if just for the fact she's had the most prominence and has already grown as a character. I'm interested to see her journey so far. 4) I feel the title is signifying that were going to be dealing with outcasts and those who don't fit the social norms. Like Allie, even if you don't count the fact she's a girl and there's clearly sexist attitudes in the world, even her dad told her she couldn't be a soldier and a healer. And yet she overcame that and became a Paladin. I think the other heroes will be in a similar vein, where their ambitions and dreams don't match up with what society tells them they're capable of. And that other features of their identity will make people judge them versus by their actual skills at first. And I think in each case they'll band together and prove them wrong through determination.

5) My fave illustration is probably the last panel on this page: http://unlikelyheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/132/ I just really appreciate the effort that was put in here because this is a lot of characters to draw for one panel, and all the designs are really unique as well. It makes the town/village feel more lively because there are so many varied people living there. 6) Emotionally speaking, I feel like the events have given Allie a lot more confidence that she can actually use her skills. During the earlier parts of the story, I felt there was a disconnect. Like she knew she had the skills, but putting them to practical use when everyone was looking down on her was a different matter. And I think she's just overall gained the confidence to know that she can put her mind to it and achieve what she wants. However, I also think on the downside, she might have some slight over-confidence, since she's not taking a dangerous threat very seriously. XD So there may need some balance to be struck. As for Allie staying or going, I actually think she'd be content to stay. However, I think that threat will cause her to leave home, as to protect her town, she'll need to go beat up some bad guys who prefer to do their evil from long distance.

IzzyNinjaMaster

Aaah! All these answers are so good! I just want to thank you guys for really putting thought into your answers. It's very much so appreciated. Your insight into the different situations in the comic is incredible.

IzzyNinjaMaster

By the way, feel free to ask me questions about the comic. I'll do my best to answer without giving any spoilers.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Will the attitude changes towards Allie in the town be temporary or permanent do you believe? Thematically, what do you think the sudden changes in attitude say about people’s general ability to change and what causes it?

snuffysam

I love the comic so far! I do wonder what Allie does now. Because, like, she could move on to bigger and better things (exploring the world as a paladin), but I really don't see any reason to leave home when they still need protection.

I think the change in attitude towards Allie is permanent, at least for now. ... that may be an oxymoron, but what I'm saying is - I think it's possible some outsider turns the town against Allie again, but I doubt it will happen naturally.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Do you think Allie can excel as a paladin, or was Allie’s dad right in regards to it being better to choose one specialty? In what ways do you think Allie being a paladin might serve her better than being a soldier (besides the obvious)?

RebelVampire

7) I enjoy seeing Allie and her mom interact the most I think. I just enjoy its a positive, mother-daughter relationship. And honestly, I don't read enough comics that have that. So for me it's a nice break from what I usually read and just gives me warm fuzzies. 8) I think the attitude change towards Allie will be on a more permanent nature for the town. Cause you don't really brush something like that aside so easily. As for the thematic stuff, I do think this story shows how disaster can really change someone's perspective on what's important in life. I actually think there's a positive message here that at the end of the day, even if you hate your neighbor, you can come together if you try to overcome a mutual threat. And it's nice to see a story where attitudes can change once common ground it struck.

9) I've mentioned this a bit earlier, but I like the detail put into the character design. Like so many of the people are clearly just background characters, yet there's a lot of care to make sure everyone is fairly unique. And like I said in this chat earlier, that's a lot of effort but brings a really nice touch. 10) I think Allie can excel as a paladin, but I also think she's gonna struggle at first. Especially in this case cause her healing showed up in a moment of desperation. And without dedicated training there's no gurantee that she can just heal on command. And I think that will give her some amount of anxiety. I do think being a paladin is just better suited to Allie. Cause there's a good balance between methods of protection. And so rather than the benefit of abilities, I think there's a lot to be said about how Allie will emotionally benefit from being able to dedicate herself to her goals in every way that she wants. Plus, I imagine it'll give her an advantage if people just assume she's a soldier and then is like "wa bam healing powers."

IzzyNinjaMaster

By the way, new pages of the comic are up today!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Do you think Runian can do anything to Allie from jail, or is Runian just bluffing? Also, who do you think Runian knows that makes him so assured he’ll get out of jail? What other consequences might there be for Allie’s actions?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Given the comic’s description mentions other party members, what other sorts of characters do you think we’ll be seeing? In what ways do you think they’ll challenge Allie as a person, and why do you think they’ll join Allie’s team?(edited)

RebelVampire

11) I think the comic's strength is how it lives up to the title. While there are plenty of titles that do tackle themes of discrimination, "unlikeliness", and people's journeys overcoming, this come has a really special way of just integrating every moment comic with those themes. Like even small moments speak to this journey, so the ultimate triumphs so far really stick with you. 12) I 100% think Runian can do stuff to Allie from jail. Not necessarily personally, but I'm sure he can hire some people to go after her. Alas, money is the Achilles heel of prisons. It just takes one person willing to take a bribe. Given that Runian seems well-off and nobility to some degree, I'm sure he has friends in high places who are happy to rig things and get him as slap of a wrist punishment as they can. Who I can't say, but there's definitely a someone in the ranks. As for other consequences, I'm sure Allie has made her town a target, not just her. And I feel like that will be a hard pill to swallow since in an effort to save her town, she probably made the crosshairs on it bigger.

RebelVampire

13) I am looking forward most to meeting some of the other heroes and just finding out their general place in the world. It'll be interesting to see how they and Allie work together. 14) As for what other sorts of characters, I assume were at least gonna get a mage, probably one who has trouble with magic. I also feel like some of the other races are gonna be in there - like an orc or something. As for the second part of this question, I think they'll each challenge Allie to consider society in a bigger whole and realize that nope, there's a lot more problems than she realized and not all of it is physical threats. And I think she'll have to discover how to overcome societal pressures and values alongside each companion. Something to that nature.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Unlikely Heroes this week! Please also give a special thank you to Azalea Ortega for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Unlikely Heroes, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

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An interesting article by Zeynep Ton on HBR today raises a very important point about what should be an adequate compensation for service employees, and retail associates in particular. The link to what we have discussed yesterday commenting the Business Roundtable new view on corporate purpose.

The call to pay people more, but also to create more “good jobs” is especially valid in retail. It’s true that by looking at the hard facts of a store P&L, labor cost is one of the most significant cost factors in retail, which leads too often to all possible efforts to cut and contain this line of budget. But reality is that without creating an investment mentality on store associates (i.e. pay more to get more), retailers will not succeed especially in the wake of Digital Transformation affecting the business.

Traditional approaches have led retail to pay too often just minimum wages, but also creating a lot of other negative effects with low minimum contracted hours, requests for high flexibility, no real career prospects.,

These workers struggle to pay for basic necessities like rent and health care and are rarely able to save for retirement or emergencies — even a new car battery. Many have unstable schedules, affecting not only their income but also their children’s education and their family’s healthcare. Many are assumed by their employers to be, as one retail worker told me, “a dime a dozen, just human robots.”

Zeynep Ton – Service jobs should be – and can be – middle class jobs

The article reports some interesting numbers from the US. But also in. Europe we can track some very interesting data. About 17,2% of employees in the EU is defined as “low wage earner”, and most of these belong to Service jobs. For sure, total labor cost pays an important aspect in defining the weight of labor on retail performance, but overall we still see a lot of issues in this domain, especially in countries like UK, and in the largest cities. Where Retail is more developed and relevant, paradoxically salaries don’t even reach “living standard” level due to the costs of large cities.

The key point here is that many retailers are not putting enough focus on this. Too many spread words about the importance of consumer facing roles, but this rarely translates into focused actions.

I doubt we can identify a one size-fits-all answer to what is the correct salary. But I think whatever policy we adopt needs to answer 4 key dimensions:

Salary needs to allow employees to afford a living, aligned to their age and living necessities. Too often some retailers reason that part time jobs can be underpaid simply because they’re students who don’t need to make a living out of it. But reality shows that in many countries most retail employees do need to make a living out of their retail job.

Salary needs to cover for additional flexibility required. Retail needs flexibility, But this needs to be fairly compensated, because otherwise it becomes a new burden for the person. Each company needs to find a way to balance flexibility and employees needs through appropriate rewards policies, if needed.

Perks are fine but are not the final answer. Retail population is typically very variegated, geographically dispersed, differentiated. Many perks that can make sense for office jobs are either impractical in a store environment, or do not make sense to all. That’s why sometime is best to translate them in salary where possible.

Make sure incentives are consistent. Variable is an important tool to ensure that labor cost is somewhat linked to results. However it is really important that incentive systems are aligned to the Customer Journey the brand wants to represent. Else too quickly targets become unreachable, and the motivating element disappears or becomes even detrimental.

Is all this just a dream? Quite some brands are proving the opposite, and showing that increases wages are good for the business also in Retail, as they drive better customer satisfaction.

Just treating workers better, however, will not boost a company’s competitiveness. This is an important first step, however we need to consider also that a radically different operating system is needed. One designed to better serve customers’ needs and increase workers’ productivity, motivation, and overall contributions across multiple dimensions.

published on: August 31, 2019 at 10:00AM