#UN interview tips

[businessabroad]

How to Apply For A Job At The United Nations #4

Your Gateway to a United Nations Career: A Step-by-Step Application Guide

Aspiring to join the ranks of the United Nations and contribute to shaping a better world? The application process might seem daunting, but it's your gateway to an incredibly rewarding career.

Our newest video, "How to Apply For A Job At The United Nations," breaks down the process into manageable steps. Discover how to tailor your application, what to expect from the interview, and how to present your skills and experiences in line with UN values and standards.

It's not just about getting a job; it's about becoming part of a global mission. Watch our guide to prepare your application with confidence and take that first step towards your dream of international service.

#UnitedNationsApplication #ChangeMakers #GlobalCareers #UNGuide Here are all the videos in this course.

The Benefits of Working at the United Nations

UN Duty Station: What it is and What you Can Expect

The Process of Getting A Job at the United Nations

How to Apply For A Job At The United Nations

United Nations Levels and Salary - What are they?

Type of Contract at the United Nations

United Nations Steps and Contract Negotiation

United Nations Jobs, Job Role, and Posting Locations

UN Job Opportunities - How to Increase Your Odds

Best Places for Your Family to Live

How are you Competing Against

United Nations Official Languages

This is What the UN's Application Process is Like

How to success your test at the United Nations

Before Passing Your Interview at the United Nations

How to Successfully Interview For a Competency-Based Job

List of Questions used in Competency-Based Interview

What to do After the Interview at the United Nations

[sayruq]

Northern Gaza is experiencing a “full-blown famine”, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said, and warned that it is “moving its way south”. In an interview with NBC News set to air on Sunday, Cindy McCain said that her remarks are based on what the WFP has seen and experienced on the ground. UN officials and aid agencies have for months warned of such a scenario. “It’s horror. It’s so hard to look at and it’s so hard to hear,” McCain told the US broadcaster’s Meet the Press programme. “What we are asking for and what we continually ask for is a ceasefire and the ability to have unfettered access, to get in safe through the various ports and gate crossings,” she said, according to a video clip of the interview. On Saturday, a delegation from Palestinian group Hamas was in Egypt to continue negotiations on a ceasefire amid an uptick in international pressure for a deal to be reached. Hamas’s spokesman Osama Hamdan said there had been “some forward steps”. Yet Israel has threatened to launch its ground invasion of Rafah in the southernmost tip of the enclave, which is home to more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians who have fled the Israeli military’s relentless bombardment in other parts of the Gaza Strip. Israel has severely restricted the entry of critical humanitarian supplies into Gaza despite warnings from its allies and the United Nations of a looming famine in parts of the Palestinian territory. Its military has also repeatedly attacked and killed Palestinian civilians waiting to collect aid in the Strip. This week it reopened the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing into northern Gaza, but Israeli settlers attacked two aid convoys sent by Jordan. The UN has said the amounts remain insufficient to meet the vast and growing needs of Gaza’s starving population. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has previously warned that more than 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is facing “catastrophic hunger” any time between mid-March and May

[saszor]

Hello!

I was wondering if you had any tips on how to find pictures for scars/acquired physical impairments? I feel that when I’m looking for photos on scars and how they look/how they develop, I tend to instead find a lot of photos of the injury itself or of a person immediately post-injury (usually very bloody photos from news articles), which isn’t exactly what I’m looking for.

Do you have any specific key words you use to search for references or use any specific databases?

Hey, I answered this somewhere in the replies under that one post so I'll copy it here;

In general, [look for] content surrounding real life burn survivors living their lives, not un-personed burn scars. So places like Phoenix Society, Face Equality International, Changing Faces, these are all orgs that support burn survivors, have advocates that are burn survivors, etc. There's a lot of models who are burn survivors like Loide Ndemueda, Turia Pitt, Catrin Pugh. You can also look up channels by burn survivors on Youtube, SBSK has a couple of in-depth interviews with burn survivors that are great (I referenced youtu.be/sIcLiC3VnTk?si=SEoVMAl4uLoYD98X for one of the drawings in this post). When learning about drawing burn survivors you need to actually get to know some burn survivors and listen to them, most people don't even think of doing this and their "burn victim" ocs are nothing but offensive stereotypes and that's unsalvageable even with the most accurately drawn scars possible.

But for looking up just the scars:

Using hyperspecific terminology is useful to get decent google results. So instead of "burns skin", which will give you everything under the sun including shitty VFX, I try searching "acid burn hypertrophy", and the results are primarily medical resources of treatment so most of them aren't showing it right after the initial burn. Including stuff like "-reddit -fatal" to avoid things you're not looking for is helpful (putting the "-" before a word in a google search will eliminate it from search results) while putting in "management" "update" or "progress" gives you what you're looking for, most of the time at least. If you're looking specifically for photos of keloids, put the word keloid in quotes "like this", it will exclude all the results that don't have it. Don't use emotional or otherwise charged words since these will give you news articles. Try "extensive" over "really bad" etc

Whatever results you get, make sure you're not :

assuming that what you're looking at is gore if you're just starting. I sometimes see shit being categorized as gore when it's pretty clear that this is a matured scar that just looks like that, and I'm flabbergasted every time. If there's blood then yeah it's fresh but I know some people see someone who just didn't have surgery and think that person is dying. They aren't, they just don't have a prosthetic eye.

looking at VFX, cosplays, bad edits, random drawings (though actual medical illustrations done for actual medical purposes can be useful if they are not your only reference), all that shit.

Hope this helps

[kenziexoxoxo]

Please please Pato O'Ward smut

Ask and ye shall receive

Pato O'Ward x Reader

An interview

I sadly regret to inform you I do not own this picture

Warnings: smut no real plot just straight un edited porn

Pato and YN had been dating for a while now and well he knew how she got when frisky. He had a Skype interview with some brand he was endorsing he could never remember which is which nkw a days since people had started to fall for him and his charm. He was sitting at the kitchen table his back to the sliding glass door of their house she walked out into the kitchen in nothing but his arrow McLaren shirt. He looked up and swallowed hard he knew she was in the mood and knew he shouldve tied her to the bed before getting on the call he wat hed as she sunk to her knees and crawled under the table running her hands up his thighs he felt his cock twitch as he tried to answer the questions and act like nothing was going on he felt her pull down his sweats and started licking him through his boxers before pulling down his boxers too and sucking on the tip of his cock it pulsed in her mouth making her smirk up at him as he tried to keep his composure. She slowly sunk down gagging lightly making sure not to make too much noise before she started to move her mouth up and down as her hand played with his balls he was having a hard tume not moaning god she was like a cat in heat when frisky definitely should've tied her to bed the. The interview kept going and going and each time he was about to finish she'd pull away edging him he was a mess at this point nostrils flared and starting to get pissed finally the interview ended and he slammed the laptop shut and got up dragging her up from the floor and bending her over the table pushing her or well his shirt up and slamming into her he growled.

"Fucking hell woman what the fuck were you thinking doing that." He set a brutal pace as he asked his rhetorical question. She couldn't answer with how her face was pressed into the table moaning like a girl in a porno. The side of her face was pressed into the table drool coming out of her mouth as he pounded jnto her the sound of skin hitting skin and her hips hitting the table. Her clit nudged against the table making her clench around him before her orgasm hit she screamed his name as she came. Squeezing him like there was no bloody tomorrow he felt himself twitch before spilling into her and leaning over her.

"I better not have fucked up in that interview if I did im tying you to the bed and edging you till you're in tears." He said a light smack to her ass as he pulled out.

The end

I damn well enjoyed myself writing this @schumi-angel

[ioniansunsets]

Heated kisses with Runeterra Sett with reader as his rival please

🦖 a trex as a bargain gift

✖ Word Count: 550. Un-proofread.

✖ Tags: Rivals to Lovers. First Kiss. So much tension. The slow burn fic but it's just the paragraph when it is finally burning. Gender Neutral. No use of Y/N.

✖ A/N: I really said. I haven't written anything in months! And then instantly dropped this banger. I picked a ‘unrequited requited love where the dam finally breaks’ vibe for this as opposed to angry kisses. Happy Valentine's week!!!!! We're kick starting it with a good one.

----

Heated kisses: Breath huffing into mouths, angrily or passionately. Hands grabbing at clothing and pulling each other closer.

~

Heavy breaths escape the both of you. As the dust begins to settle, you see the sweat drip of “The Boss’s” forehead landing beside your face. Not that you really respected his title. At least that's what you tell the interviewers when you're asked about your long time rival, Sett.

With you being almost effortlessly picked up and thrown to the ground just seconds earlier. You now stand…no, lay, messily under him. An up close and personal view of the messy scars that litter his face. Nothing you haven't noticed before. But there was also the way his golden eyes returned the gaze. Watching how his irises seem to slowly dilate before his eyebrows furrow and they narrow yet again. What was new would be you finally noticing the way his lips seem to part so gently everytime he drew a breath. The way the tip of his tongue would run over his fangs as he heaved. Or how his Vastayan ears flicked away the falling dust every few seconds. How cute. Fighting back the thought of looking at your rival like a snack your own brows furrow. Matching his.

You could only wonder what he might be thinking as you stared back in return. Was your own gaze the same mix of awkward gentleness paired with confusion?

Probably.

But the tension between the two of you might go past simple rivalry. As Sett’s eyes flick between your lips and eyes the nth time. You decide you had enough. Ignoring your aching muscles, you prop yourself up just the slightest. Lips pressing against his. Hoping that all the time you two spent fighting has led to you being able to read his next move properly.

You could only thank the gods that this was a private spar and not in the actual arena. For the way the tabloids would have a field day seeing the way Sett kissed you back.

Fervently. Lips parted. Teeth clashing. Disgustingly passionate. Tongue pressing against his. Hands grasping at each other. The taste of residual blood from the earlier fight. More dust being kicked up as you somehow find the strength to wrestle back control and push him off you while still keeping his lips against yours. Wow you were amazing. You would have laughed if it wasn't for the mind numbing kiss. So instead you nip at his lips. Drawing out a huff of a single laugh from your rival. Sett's hands tangle into your hair in retaliation, giving it a playful tug. The playful rivalry not lost in how he seemed to be grasping at it almost desperately, trying his hardest to keep your face close to his. Almost afraid that you'd realize the mistake and get off him.

Seconds felt like minutes which then felt like hours before the two of you finally pull apart. Irises blown out. Eyes looking everywhere but each other as the two of you desperately try to form any kind of excuse for the absolute sloppy display. Swallowing hard, you watched as Sett's own adam’s apple bobs before words softly leave his bruised and slightly bleeding lips.

“ We can talk about this later.”

“ Yeah…later would be good."

He would be thinking about this long and hard in the baths later.

[thisismeracing]

CHARLES LECLERC MASTERLIST

✦ CHARLES LECLERC ▶ CL16

All my Charles posts here

▸ main masterlist | patreon guide ▸ taglist ▸ who I write for & guidelines ▸ subscribe to Patreon for exclusive content ▸ tip me on ko-fi

KEYS: s: smut f: fluff a: angst ✷: Patreon exclusive

― ✦ SOCIAL MEDIA AU

this is the last time I ever call you babe (a): It’s been a little over a year since Y/n and Charles Leclerc ended their relationship, and Y/n went radio silent from everywhere…until the Grand Prix day. They say revenge is a dish better served cold, right?

everything has changed (f): Y/n, a famous singer, drops a song that is more like a letter confessing her feelings, and some fans are convinced it’s about F1 golden boy Charles Leclerc.

his pretty girl (f) : Fans start to notice Charles around an influencer’s profile and it's easy to put two and two together to discover just how in love he is.

match winners (f): After mentioning in an interview that she roots for Charles Leclerc, Yn is surprised with a new follower who happens to show up at one of her tennis matches.

sunshine (f): In which Charles starts dating an earthy/spiritual girl who just loves nature and good energy.

my boyfriend Marc (f): In which Yn always refers to her secret boyfriend as Marc and fans take forever to put the pieces together and realize that many of the names she used were actually Charles Leclerc’s middle names.

his protector (f): Yn is a comedian, who happens to date the f1 driver Charles Leclerc and who loves to joke around about how horrendous Ferrari is, but beware: she is the only one who can laugh at her boyfriend’s disastrous races. No one pokes fun at Charles in front of her, especially not on live TV.

all because I liked a boy (a): Yn fell in love with Charles and secretly dated him for almost a year. She didn’t consider, however, how fans would react seeing they used to love and still stan Charles’ past relationship. What happens when their hidden love gets out in the open? ● part 2 here

just like in the movies (f): You’re shooting a new movie about racing cars, but you did not expect to get a racing heart from a certain driver. Or the one where they met at a racing track and fell in love.

king of manifesting (f): You’ve been secretly dating Charles for a while, but fans can’t believe it when the rumors start to go around. What do you mean a vroom-vroom Ferrari guy is dating their idol?

a real goal getter (f): When fans see Charles at one of your soccer matches, they start speculating what he is doing at a stadium he’s never been to, talking to a guy he never talked with (who happens to be your best friend). When they discover you’re together, they agree you’re the best player, but Charles is the goal scorer for landing someone as amazing as you. 

― ✦ BLURBS

you betrayed me (a)

Overprotective bf (f)

Timeless (f)

― ✦ REGULAR IMAGINES

honeymoon stunts (s): Charles and Yn just got married, and although they know too much about one another, there’s always something new to discover together, such as Charles’ new breeding kink.

the (un)lucky one (f): Charles and Yn have a history back from when he was at alfa romeo, Yn used to be his PR assistant, and they were close to best friends. Now, years later, they are still friends, but Yn is Carlos’ assistant now, and she can help but root for her new friend and boss. Meanwhile, Charles is having trouble with no longer having her undying support all the time. He’s been through an unlucky season on the speedway, will he be unlucky in love too? 

anything you want (s)✷: After getting hit by a wave of bad luck, Yn takes matters into her own hands to make her boyfriend feel a bit better about his situation. Sometimes all you need to feel brand new is a two-day vacation full of sex by the fire and words of affirmation.

love bites (a)✷: It is believed that during the Halloween season, cursed souls and entities come out to play. As it happens, some of them can come uninvited, but things get a lot easier for the dark side when people like Yn are challenged by her friends to go beyond the safety of the town and into the woods looking for a cursed church. One wouldn’t want to be near to witness humans discover history they’re not supposed to.

charlieverse (f): When Yn decided to go to a Halloween party with her best friend, Charles Leclerc, she did not consider that some of the fantasies would be so close to reality that they would terrify her. But one thing Yn had no idea about too, was Charles’ feelings for her. All Hallow’s Eve is not the most romantic scenario to confess your feelings, but it might be just the perfect one for them.

not quite love (a)✷: When you get romantically involved with your best friend you were not expecting a marriage proposal, but simply a commitment. You were sure that what you had wasn’t quite love, though it could be and maybe that’s what hurt the most. The fact that you had everything to be each other’s end game, but turned out to be strangers.

― ✦ HEADCANONS

♡ soon

𓂃☁︎ ✈︎𓂃 Around the world ♡ charles dating a korean girl ♡ charles dating a greek girl ♡ charles dating a brazilian girl ♡ charles dating a french girl ♡ charles dating a canadian girl

©thisismeracing do not copy, steal, or translate my work. do not repost on a different media platform.

[bteezxyewriter12]

Pull Your Shirt Down

Pairing- Jin x Named Reader

Word count- 1.3k

Includes- Blow Job

Tag List- @mingtina @jaxminnie @yeosayang @delightfulmoonbanana @tannie13 @y00nzin0 @marsstarxhwa

@borntowalkaway @soulseobi05 @kpop-bambi @seokwoosmole @meowmeowminnie @realisticnotes @effielumiere @svnbangtansworld @insomniacatiny @marvelfamily3000 @amyz78 @blueie-things

Gif Credit- Jung-Koook

Masterlists- check out for more fics

📝Masterlists 📝BTS Masterlist 📝Jin Masterlist

Jin POV

"You have some nerve", she says, closing the door to the dressing room

We're alone

She said she wanted to talk to me before I change for the performance

I just finished the interview part on Jimmy Fallon

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about about princess"

She snorts, "Right, as if you don't know"

I look at her bewildered

I have no idea what she's talking about

"I don't baby"

She walks to me, backing me against the wall

"Like you didn't show your stomach, your abs on TV just now"

"I- what?"

I did not

I didn't lift my shirt up

I'm not Jungkook or Jimin

They love to do that

She scoffs, "When you were doing your tuna dance. Every time you lifted your arms, you're shirt rose up, showing your body off"

It did?

I didn't mean for that to happen

"And now you're acting as if it's an accident"

"It was baby!", I protest, "Of course it was. I don't do shirt lifts. You know that's not my thing"

"Maybe you want it to be, now that you're going solo for awhile", she says, "Maybe you wanna be all sexy for your ARMYs"

"Princess, no", I shake my head

"You forgot one thing", she says, her eyes burning into mine, her hand pulling my shirt up

My heart beats faster, wondering what she's going to do

Her other hand lays on my chest, slowly traveling down my body, electricity bursting in my skin from her touch

"This is mine"

I nod, "Yours"

"Only mine"

"Yeah", I agree, so turned on

"Mine to touch. Mine to kiss. Mine to lick and suck on", she murmurs, "All mine"

"All yours", I repeat stupidly

She smirks, then she's on her knees, her lips pressing kisses to my stomach

"Fuck baby", I whimper, my eyes on her tongue as she drags it along my abs

When she finishes licking me, she gives me more kisses, sending shivers up my spine

And pleasure to my hardening dick

She holds my shirt up with one hand, her other running her fingers across my skin as her lips continue with kisses

I can't do anything but watch her, mesmerized by the sight

"Baby", I whimper, not knowing if I should close my eyes or keep them open

"Hold your shirt up", she demands, my hand immediately moving and replacing hers, holding the shirt up for her

Now both hands move to my belt, undoing it as she keeps giving me little kisses

I hear the sound of the belt being opened, watch her undo my jeans and pulling them down

She palms my hard on through my boxes and I can't help the little groan I let out

She kisses lower on my stomach, pulling my boxers down now

She continues until she's kissing along my cock, everything feeling so good

One of her hands wraps around my dick, her tongue licking my head by my slit

Pleasure hits me hard, my legs shaking

She smirks at me, "Yummy Jinnie"

"Princess", I murmur, waiting in anticipation

Her tongue runs up my cock so torturously slow, ending with a flick of the tip to the underside of my head

"Oh fuck", I whimper

She tortures me a few more times with long licks, driving me crazy

Finally, she moves her mouth over my head, sucking once

"Yes, fuck", I cry, trembling

She laughs a completely sexy laugh, then her mouth moves faster, sucking harder

"Princess", I groan

She slides just a little bit more down my cock, sucking like crazy, her hand jerking me off at the same time

My God, it feels out of this fucking world

I'm so fucking thankful the wall is behind me or I would of fallen awhile ago

She tortures me as she blows me, going down my length, inch by inch

But at each inch, she just sucks on me for however long she feels like it, her tongue on the underside, sliding with every move

I move my hand in her hair, holding on tightly, my fingers tangled in the strands

"Princess please", I gasp, bliss rocketing into my body more and more, "More baby. Take more"

She's so close to bottoming me out and I want it so much

Want to feel her tight throat around me, squeezing me when she swallows

She looks up at me through watery eyes and sinks down on the rest of my dick, giving me mercy

My cock pushes her throat open, a loud moan ripping from my mouth at the sheer tightness

Just like her pussy

She has to be the tightest girl I've ever fucked

And she's all mine

She chokes around my cock a little, the sound turning me on like nothing else

Her hands hold onto my hips, squeezing hard as she slides back down my cock, half way

She breathes then surges up my dick, taking all of me back in her throat

She starts moving more, up and down my dick, burying me in her throat over and over

Stars blast in my eyes from the ecstacy, my whole body trembling as she fucks her throat on my dick

I watch the tears fall from her eyes as she takes me all in again, this time, sucking desperately around my cock

"Yes, good girl", I praise her, "Suck harder"

She does, my legs buckling, but I force myself to stay up

She changes back to bobbing on my cock and I don't even know when my hips started moving but I'm meeting her bobs, fucking her throat

"Yes baby. Don't stop", I demand, pulling her head down my dick as I thrust in, then back as I pull out

We continue like this, the pleasure building and building

"Fuck, you want my cum don't you baby?", I ask, feeling how hard she's sucking

She whines, nodding

"Wanna swallow all my cum?"

Again she nods

"Love how it tastes?", I tease her, knowing full well she does

"Mmm hmmm", she answers, desperately fucking her throat on my cock

"I'm gonna cum princess", I grunt, my eyes never leaving my cock moving in her mouth, "Gonna cum down that pretty throat"

She nods, begging me with her eyes

"And later, at the hotel, I'm gonna fuck you until your body gives out and cum deep in that pretty pussy"

She nods rapidly, want in her eyes

"I'm my pretty pussy"

She moans around my cock, slipping up again, her throat squeezing me and I lose it

"Yes princess!", I scream, ecstacy tidal waving over me, my cum shooting down her throat

"Mmmm", she whimpers, sucking desperately, milking my cock with her mouth

I hold her head down on my length as I cum, forcing myself to stay upright

The pleasure leaves as I finish, her continued sucks sending shivers up my spine

"Mmm baby", I gasp for breath, "Good girl"

Tugging on her hair, she moves back slowly, off my cock, her big eyes on mine

Once I'm out of her mouth, she licks my slit to make sure she's getting all my cum

She sits back on her legs, swallowing

"Princess", I say softly, pulling my boxers and pants up, then kneeling down in front of her

"You're mine", she says softly

I nod, "Always yours princess. All yours"

Leaning to her, I press my lips to hers in a kiss, happiness bursting in my body

She's amazing at blow jobs, amazing at sex but her kisses are the best

They're heaven

"I love you", I tell her

"I love you too Jinnie", she answers, her lips back on mine as soon as the words are out

Sitting down, I pull her into my lap and just kiss the love of my life

I'll sit here until someone comes looking for me

But right now I just want to be wrapped up in my princess

[ceph-the-ghost-writer]

Get To Know Your Moots Writeblr Interview

Tagged by @ink-flavored (here) to do this event created by @davycoquette (question template here)! Thanks to both of you.

To anyone seeing this, consider yourself tagged in addition to @sunset-a-story @touloserlautrec @sarahlizziewrites @k--havok @thatndginger @oliolioxenfreewrites @the-scaredy-crow @words-after-midnight @space-writes @vacantgodling @jezifster @ghostpoetics @lacependragon @xenascribbles @afoolandathief @drawnecromancy @the-ace-of-wrath

[ID: A thin border divider showing a sliver of a golden sky streaked by rain clouds above a dark blue sea.]

ON THE TUMBLR WRITING COMMUNITY

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr?

Since, like, 2020? Somewhere thereabouts.

What led you to create it?

Wanting to connect with writers/readers outside of Ao3 (it's just not set up for conversations outside of comment threads). And wanting to raise my characters up like baby Simba at the start of The Lion King for more of the Internet to behold.

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

It's about the connection. 🤌 Plenty of writing communities, both on and offline, focus on critique or getting something published. Which can be great, if it's what you're after. But I think having others who genuinely cheer you on and let you ramble is just as important to helping writers through the often messy process of creating.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I can be a bit shy or slow to interact, but once I'm invited in I'll haunt follow your blog or writing even if I'm not constantly saying anything.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

People talking about what they love, in published work and with writeblr stuff. A lot of the time I read or watch something because of the way others talk about it. That includes your own writing!

What tips/advice do you have for someone who made a Writeblr today?

Be patient, manage your expectations, and focus on having some fun. There's no algorithm here and even less clout. Writers can and do build audiences on Tumblr, but it's uniquely suited to allow us to experiment and be weird too.

WIP IT GOOD

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

I'm rewriting Apophenia, a novel about a supernatural researcher enduring the worst assignment of his life. A lot of my other projects are set in the same world.

How long have you been working on them?

Over five years now, I think! I'm slow.

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

The Chocolate Box event on Ao3! The prompt was for a human captured by a vampire, but I wound up creating an entire world and series. Oops.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

If I'm not thinking about these characters it's only because I'm dead.

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

Gay vampire trash.

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

I write about characters who struggle towards community, compassion, and being better people despite a) their flaws, and b) the world burning down around them. I hope that it gives me the courage to continue doing the same.

LET’S ROTATE BLORBOS

Name any characters you created.

I'll direct you to some mood boards/intros even: Isaac Soto Márquez, Renato Faria Dimas, Dorian St-Ange, Kinslayer, Elfy Bosques-Rodriguez, Ankaris the Memory Salesman, Fior the Master Transcriber, Vess the Collector. And here's a comic sans presentation for Apophenia.

Who’s the most unhinged?

Outwardly? Any of my necromancers. They come in a wide variety of styles, from Motley sewing patches of skin onto itself, to Acacius of Antioch who drapes his bejeweled and gilded bones in black veils. Each also has an, um, unique view of (un)life, the body, and ethics. Views which could come across as unhinged.

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

At this point Isaac Soto, the protagonist of Apophenia. We do share a few similarities, but mostly I've just been writing him for years now.

Do you ever cringe at them?

At my characters or their antics? I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?

They do frequently just spring ideas and actions on me, but I have the ultimate say in what makes it onto the page. Same with having the power/responsibility of changing something I realize isn't working, is insensitive, etc.

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters?

Always and forever, yes. 💜 Send me asks, comment in the tags or on Ao3, shriek in reblogs, replies, or a dm. It doesn't matter how--I love whenever someone is curious or interested enough to ask something about my fictional creations.

ON WRITEBLR ENGAGEMENT

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account?

Sometimes it's based on vibes, sometimes I really like the sound of their stories. I appreciate a sense of whimsy and/or humor especially. And someone who likes spooky as well as fantasy stuff.

What makes you decide against following?

Two things: A) Their intro already has, like, 80+ notes (though the vibe/story will override this), and B) lots of posts hating on things/trends/people. I don't mean venting or sometimes ranting, which is everyone's right. I mean someone's whole brand is ridicule or just immediately seeing the bad in everything. Which is still their right. It's also mine to avoid it, and I think this is mutually beneficial. Thankfully, though, this experience has been very rare for me on writeblr.

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

I try to. I'll reblog, read, comment, take an open tag, whatever when I have the energy. I mean, how else do writers get readers? It takes people who might not know you personally talking about your work a lot of the time.

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

I am absorbing the essence of your blorbos as we speak, making them an eternal part of me.

[mangoisms]

come back to bed, my love, my light is low

━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader

━ summary: Tim gets dosed with fear toxin and you are there to pick up the pieces.

━ word count: 3.3k

━ contains: established relationship, emotional hurt/comfort, non-sexual intimacy

━ a/n: technically takes place as an extension of my other tim fic, i'll be the dangerous ledge (you be the parachute), but prior reading is not required! title is from this song

━ you can read this on ao3 as well

Gotham has always had a fairly impressive rogue gallery. 

You have limited knowledge of the other cities and their various rogues but you think Central City and Keystone City, the Gem Cities of the midwest of which the Flash is in charge of, are some who can match up to it. 

But in the end, Gotham’s will always beat them out. 

You have the Joker, indiscriminate in his havoc, truly, truly unpredictable and for no reason other than he simply wants to. You have Two-Face, fates decided upon the coin toss. You have Mr. Freeze, Black Mask, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, and so many more. 

The Joker is the worst of them, though. That is the general consensus in the city. 

But for you? 

You have always found Scarecrow particularly unnerving. 

Sure, the Joker has his clown thing going on but…

When you were a kid, during the fall, the town over from your own would host a Halloween festival. You could come down and pick pumpkins straight from the patches, take hay rides, drink apple cider, gorge on candy apples, and roam their corn maze. 

At the shy age of seven, you ended up getting lost in the corn maze. Separated from your parents, from any other parents or remotely responsible figure, you wandered for some time, crying, terrified, thinking, in typical seven-year-old fashion, that you would be lost forever as the sun set, plunging you into darkness. 

You remember accidentally stumbling into a Scarecrow, just a decoration for the maze, but it had seemed so lifelike with its hay-stuffed limbs and mean face scowling down on you. 

That would be your boogeyman for a long while. 

Eventually, the fear faded and you forgot about it. 

Moving to Gotham gave it a little more life. 

But it’s never been an issue. 

Still isn’t. Not technically. 

After all, you think, perched on your couch, anxiously watching the news, it’s not you currently barricaded in the water treatment plant with Scarecrow and a new batch of fear toxin, fighting to make sure he doesn’t release it into Gotham’s waters. 

No, it’s Tim. The others. 

But the fight is over. Cameras showing police officers with gas masks emerging from the warehouse with Scarecrow tucked between them, hands cuffed. His scarecrow mask is creepy as ever, scowl etched permanently in the rough material of the mask. 

“Still no word on whether Scarecrow was able to contaminate Gotham’s water supply but we do see the few workers he had hostage are now being escorted out. Little is known about this new strand of fear toxin but tips to the GCPD say that it is able to be dispersed either as a liquid or a gas. Previously, the toxin was dispersed only as a gas, but it seems Scarecrow has upgraded to another venture of chaos.”

You drum your fingers on your thigh, eyes intent on the flatscreen. Trying to pick them out in the background. But Bruce does his best to keep Batman and the others out of media eye. At least here in Gotham. When it comes to the Justice League and the Titans, they have little choice. They’re officially sanctioned teams by the UN. Batman can’t be an urban legend there. None of them can. 

Pictures here are blurry, though. Nothing more than grainy, shadow figures in the night. No stopping for interviews, no stepping into the light. 

Outside? Well, you’ve seen literal Getty Image photos of Batman at a UN hearing with Wonder Woman and Superman, looking none too pleased about it all. 

You’re not going to find them, is what you’re saying. But you try anyway. Amidst the sea of police cars, blue and red lights flashing in the night, reporters perched several feet away, debriefing their audiences. 

Just another night in Gotham. 

But not for you. 

Your fingers itch to grab your phone. Tim assured you it would be fine as he unlocked the hidden room in your walk-in closet, the room reinforced by multiple layers of lead (Bruce insisted; Tim, annoyed, relented) and only accessible by fingerprint and retinal scans from him and you, as it is the room that holds his Red Robin gear, private servers, and other confidential items. The room you could hide away in if enemies ever managed to breach your stiff security protocols (installed and programmed by Tim this time) and the thick walls and bulletproof, bomb-proof, and heat vision proof windows of the apartment. 

You’re safe as can be. 

You don’t think the same can be said for Tim. 

Even if he told you he would be fine. That Bruce and Damian are constantly mixing antidotes to the new strands of fear toxin and Joker venom that pop up. That Duke and Steph, both of whom have slowed in their vigilante duties like he has, are coming back on for this one. In addition to Cass and Bruce and Damian and Kate and more. The Birds were on standby, too. 

You can’t help but worry anyway. 

Just a feeling. A bad, bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. 

The phone call you get in the next minute affirms it. 

Caught up just as Scarecrow unleashed the toxin… Had given his own mask to another worker trapped there… Didn’t yet have an antidote… Only received one a few minutes later… in very fragile condition…

Your name jars you from the cold, petrifying fear inside you. 

“Are you alright?”

“Sorry, Alf,” you mumble, standing and shutting off the TV. Your hands shake as you do it. You feel jittery and restless. “I’ll leave now, I don’t know how fast I’ll be able to get to the manor, though, I’m sure traffic is just crazy right now —”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“But —”

“Master Tim has insisted on returning to you. Miss Stephanie agreed and so, it is next to impossible to get them to change their minds.”

“Right,” you say, sitting back down, flexing your fingers, which have gone cold, despite the apartment being well-heated for December in Gotham. A little voice like Tim’s matter-of-factly says, You’re stressed. Blood doesn’t flow as well to the hands and extremities because of it. 

You try to regroup. “Are the others okay, then?”

“They all had their masks, so yes, they’re alright. A few scrapes and bruises but nothing we aren’t used to. Master Tim and Miss Stephanie are on their way now and I imagine you’d like to prepare for his arrival.”

“Right, right, yeah, thanks, Alfred.”

“I should thank you for taking care of him. There is a reason he wants to be with you there rather than with us. It is most likely self-explanatory, but it should still be said.”

Of course. 

After so many years, he is your home. The harbor to your tempest. And it is the same for him. 

“Thank you, Alfred. I appreciate that.”

“Of course.”

You bid your goodbyes and hurry to prepare for their arrival. 

A hot meal sounds in order but you don’t think he’ll be up for it immediately, so you grab a pack of crackers. You ensure you have water, as well as some Sprite. You don’t know if he showered there, he probably didn’t, so you grab a fresh change of clothes for him, leaving it on the counter in the bathroom and grabbing him a new towel, too. 

You go back to the living room to turn the TV back on, changing it to Ice Age, then lighting a candle you like to turn on every now and then, lavender and vanilla scented. Something familiar, something to ease him. You don’t know if it’ll work but you have to try. 

After that, it is simply a waiting game. 

You keep a close eye on your phone, where you get notifications from your security system. 

Fifteen minutes later, you get an alert — not about movement on the balcony, but at the front door, camera feed showing you Tim and Steph’s figures in heavy thick coats — appropriate for the weather and to hide their suits, since their usual masks are gone. You guess he wasn’t in good enough condition to grapple with her. The thought makes your heart clench. Dismissing the message, you hurry over to open the door. 

“Yeah, there you go, sweetie, you’re home now,” she’s murmuring to him, voice softer and gentler than you’ve ever heard. 

She glances up at you as the door opens, shooting you a sad smile, then nudging Tim gently. 

Your throat tightens painfully as you see his face, paler than usual, eyes glassy, gaze far, far away from here.  

“Timmy?”

His eyes shoot to you. 

Then he’s moving, strength and vigor seemingly renewed at the sight of you, and his arms are wrapping around you, tight, like steel, painful, hurting, cutting off your breathing, but you don’t care, don’t say anything, you just hold him back, as tightly as you can. 

The pain is just a reminder that he’s here, with you, once again. Like it should be.

Steph leaves silently, mouthing Thank you. 

You mouth back Be safe. 

She shoots you a thumbs-up, then slips out, door clicking closed behind her. 

Tim is shaking, you realize, body trembling against yours. 

“You’re okay,” you whisper and his hold tightens painfully again but you push through it. “We’re okay, honey. We’re okay. You’re okay.”

What must he have seen? 

Fear. Jonathan Crane’s greatest motivation — to master fear itself and to push those boundaries by using his fear toxins on others. 

Your greatest fears, convincing you that they have become reality. 

For you? 

Losing your family. Losing your friends. Losing Tim. 

For him?

He has already lost so much. 

Been through so much. 

You can surmise that you must’ve been part of it. Of course. Of course. 

“We’re okay,” you whisper again, squeezing him. 

He buries his face in your neck, inhaling deeply. You run your fingers through his hair, not caring about how sweaty it is, Gotham clinging to him even now. You hate it. Can’t he get a break? Can’t he be free of it for even a few hours? 

But that’s why you’re here. 

To help. To ease the burden. This monumental burden put on him when he was a mere fourteen-years-old. 

You two stay there for a little while. You feel him toe off his boots at one point, which makes you smile. 

He keeps his face in your neck, despite you knowing the angle must start to bother him. But the contact is what he needs so you’ll give it to him. Whatever he wants. 

“Are you up to eat something?” you ask softly, fingers still running through his damp hair. 

He shakes his head. You guessed as much. 

“How about a shower?”

Quiet for a minute. You feel the rise and fall of his shoulders and the tickle of warm breath against the sensitive skin of your neck. Then he nods. 

It takes longer for him to let go. You don’t rush him. And even then, he doesn’t let you go far, holding onto your hand as you lead him into your shared bedroom and then into the adjoining bathroom. 

Large and ridiculously luxurious, it has a jacuzzi bathtub, a large walk-in shower with a rainfall shower head, two for the body in the wall, then one detachable head, and it’s controlled by a waterproof touchscreen. Definitely a step-up from the bathtub shower you two had at Rose Oaks. 

You turn on the shower, making it hot, then turn to Tim, reaching for the coat. 

Underneath it is his suit. Most likely, he and Steph rode here by motorcycle, then she put them both in coats for the walk up here. It’s a bit of a silly image, especially since his cape is longer than it, and you smile to yourself as you pull off the coat.

“What?” he asks quietly, voice raspy. The first time he’s spoken so far. 

“You’re cute, that’s all,” you murmur, dropping the coat onto the floor, then reaching up to unsnap the cape. 

He doesn’t say anything else. Just looks at you. By this point in your relationship, the intensity of his gaze, taking you in fully, no details missed by keen eyes, does not fluster you. It just warms you. You feel seen in the best of ways. Wanted. Loved. 

You love him, too. So much more than you thought possible. Sometimes it feels like you might burst with it. You hope he knows that. You’ll show him. 

You take care of the rest of his suit. Fingers finding hidden zippers, carefully unlatching his utility belt and setting it aside, slipping off his compression shirt and the rest of it. 

By the time everything has been taken off, the bathroom is muggy with steam. 

You step back but he grabs your wrist, saying your name, blue eyes pleading. 

“Stay. Please.”

“I am,” you soothe. “Just let me get out of this, okay?”

You strip, too, much more quickly. He steps in and you follow him, gently guiding him underneath the stream of hot water. Your skin breaks out in goosebumps, a little bit chilly from the sparse water touching you, but you ignore it. 

Everything seems to fall away. Tim’s eyes slide shut, head tilting back, letting the water run over his face, thick chunks of dark hair sticking to his skin, the water washing away the terrors of the night. You sigh, hand slipping to his cheek, rubbing the skin there gently. 

When he pulls his head away from the stream, you reach up to comb his hair away from his face, fingers stroking over his skin idly, tenderly. He leans forward, arms coming around your waist, pulling you into him. 

You go easily, hands sliding over his shoulders as he closes the distance between your bodies, dropping his head against your chest this time, right over your heart.

When you think of the reason why, your throat squeezes. 

“We’re okay,” you whisper, fingers tracing odd circles on his back, running through his wet hair, gently detangling the knots that formed during his work tonight. 

“I know,” he whispers. “I just…”

The fear toxin is effective in what it was conceived to do. Even for Tim, as analytical and logic-minded as he is. When you live this kind of life, the threat of loss is a real one. Janet Drake’s death was entirely accidental. Not for any rhyme or reason other than misfortune. Jack Drake’s, however, was intentional. The list goes on and it’s hardly limited to loss by death. There are so many things that can happen. Things that can happen to you. Either because of Tim Drake or because of Red Robin. Or both. 

But you don’t care about that. You never have. The danger is real but what you would lose in that trade-off is not worth it. 

It doesn’t help, you think. Not now. Not when he knows, vividly, how he may lose you, because saying that now is as good as saying you’re okay with dying and he doesn’t need that. 

He just needs assurance that you’re here now. And you’ll give it to him. 

“I love you so much. You know that?”

You feel his breath stutter, arms tightening, chest pressed so closely to yours you can feel the unsteady beat of his heart pounding against you, his fingers digging into the skin of your hips so hard it’ll probably leave bruises. But you don’t care. 

“And I’m not going anywhere,” you murmur. “Not in a million years if I had a choice in it.”

A small sniffle. “That’s not physically possible. Unless you’re secretly Kryptonian.”

Your lips quirk. You reach for his shampoo, squeezing out a dollop, then smoothing it into his hair. He sinks further into you, letting out a small noise of pleasure. 

“Not Kryptonian. Just human. And very dedicated to those I love.” 

A sigh. “I know.”

“Whatever you saw tonight,” you murmur and he tenses sharply but you keep going, keep massaging shampoo into his hair, soapy bubbles spilling over your palm, “it wasn’t real. I’m here. We’re all here. And we aren’t going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere.”

He’s quiet for a long while. Enough for you to rinse out the shampoo and rub in the conditioner. 

You reach for his body wash. Your body wash, really. He hasn’t used his own in a long while. 

His hand wraps around your wrist, though. Stopping you. He pulls back to look at you. 

“Tim?”

His eyes are on your face. Soft. But still a little hard to read. 

He turns you, switching your positions. You jump at the first douse of hot water but don’t fight it, allowing him to push you under the stream. You close your eyes to keep the water out. His hands come up to your face. Stroking your cheeks. Pushing your wet hair out of your face. You lean into his touch. 

“I love you,” he whispers. “More than anything.”

“More than anything,” you echo, leaning into him. He wraps his arms around you. Hugging you. Tightly but not painfully. 

You think you might hear him whisper Thank you but above the sound of the shower, you aren’t sure. 

Slowly, you get him cleaned up. He insists on returning the favor and you let him, even if you already showered earlier. It’s a small thing to ask, after all. 

After, you step out and dry yourselves off. You help him into his clothes and he helps you into yours. Insistent on reciprocation. Wanting to do something for you. But also just wanting to be near you. Touch you. Helping you gives him assurances, you think, of your presence. The thought makes your heart ache. 

His hair is wetter than you’d like it to be, so you grab a towel and lead him out into the room. He sits on the edge of the bed and you stand between his legs, taking the towel to his hair, gently drying it. 

Tim holds onto you all the while. 

You comb through it afterward, gently taking out the tangles. 

He has a distant look in his eyes when you finish, tossing the towel and comb to the side for now, not wanting to be too far from him. 

“What are you thinking?” you prompt gently, sitting next to him, taking his hand in yours. 

“That I think the last person who did that was my mom.”

You pause. “Was it… I’m sorry. I didn’t ask —”

“No,” he says, looking at you. “No, it was… it was nice.” His voice is small. A little embarrassed. A little bashful. Red stains his cheeks and you smile at the sight. 

“I’ll do it anytime you want,” you promise. “In the meantime…”

You leave it hanging, for him to fill. 

He sighs. “Let’s just go to bed?”

“Sure. Can I get you to drink some water first maybe?”

He acquiesces, drinking a glass of water, then sliding into bed. You clear the security system — with him peering over your shoulder, making certain for himself, too — then turn out the lights, curtains automatically drawing over the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Tim keeps you close underneath the covers, settling low, laying his head on your chest like he did in the shower. You press a kiss to his head, running your fingers through his hair, feeling sleep start to tug at your senses. 

By the way he relaxes into the memory foam of the bed, you know it’s not far off from him, either. 

You stay awake to make sure of it. 

Feeling his body go lax, his breathing even out. Hoping, praying, his dreams are peaceful tonight. To whoever will listen. The universe, some higher being, you don’t know, you simply want to give him a break. A break from all of this. 

It’s just a bad day. You know that. A bad day that stands out in a sea of so many good ones. But bad days for him, for you, are something so different from others’. Unforgiving trauma. Potential loss of life. 

But honestly? If changing that meant leaving him… you wouldn’t change a thing. 

God, you hope that as the time goes on, he’ll fully step back. 

Until then, you’ll be there to pick up the pieces. To tend to the aftermath. 

Always. 

reblogs are appreciated!

[businessabroad]

List of Questions used in Competency-Based Interview #17

Decoding Competency-Based Interview Questions for the UN

The questions asked in a UN competency-based interview are not just inquiries—they're a window into your professional soul. Our "List of Questions Used in Competency-Based Interview - UN Jobs #17" video is your cheat sheet to understanding and mastering these probing questions.

From teamwork to leadership, this video breaks down the questions, reveals what interviewers are really looking for, and how to frame your experiences in a way that aligns with the UN's core competencies. It’s time to turn those questions into your stepping stones for success!

#UNCompetencyInterview #JobInterviewQuestions #UNJobHunt #CareerStrategies

[jiinjiinjarra]

GQ Japan // December 2024

Interview Translation [Eng]

Q: First of all, please let me say welcome back. I heard you were selected as a 'special warrior' while serving in the military. What kind of things did you feel and learn while belonging to the military organization which is completely different from the entertainment industry?

🐹: First, speaking from a physical standpoint, in terms of fitness, I was in about top 20% amongst many younger people/ones. I'm not at the level of an athlete, but I think it's because I had been continuously training for work. I learnt many things, but for instance, seeing people older than me running 5km every day, their attitude of always striving for improvement inspired me.

Q: After getting discharged, you immediately started your solo activities, including song making and appearance on variety shows. You're very busy, but does your approach to group activities differ from your solo activities?

🐹: In group activities, there's a direction that we're all picturing (together), so adjusting our opinions amongst the members is the most important thing. We can achieve results that exceed our expectations, by having an honest and open discussion. Also more than anything, having members by my side is very reassuring. On the other hand, in solo activities, there's more freedom in what you want to do, but it comes with responsibility and quite a lot of nervousness/tension.

Q: BTS is known for being close. As teamwork is essential, I believe there must be times where maintaining a good atmosphere is hard. Please tell us tips on how you communicate smoothly.

🐹: In our case, I think our leader RM's role is significant. He listens carefully to each of our opinions, then suggests and leads us to the best way/solution. He's reliable and trustworthy. Me and RM, both have things we'd like to do, but we don't assert them strongly in group activities, so instead, we'd like to/we prefer to reflect them in our solo projects.

Q: As an artist, in music and performance, where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?

🐹: In my case, I get inspiration and ideas from unexpected things. For example, when I'm reading comics and I think 'it's a beautiful colour', I immediately dye my hair into that colour (haha). If something interesting comes into my sight while I'm walking, I wonder whether I can do something like a surprise event with it. I get inspired a lot by colours. I especially like blue and when I see that colour, I come up with many bright thoughts. It's my belief to be in a bright and happy mood in life. I want to be laughing/smiling every day.

Q: I guess you might do a solo concerts in the future, but is there a routine that you definitely do before going on stage?

🐹: I take a big deep breath right before going on stage. I hold my breath for about 10 seconds and breathe out. By doing this it makes me feel relaxed. Also, my own special pink sparkling mic. I like it so I carry it around with me all the time (haha).

Q: As part of BTS, you've been on tour overseas, gave speech at the UN, and was the torch bearer in Paris, right after your discharge, transcending barriers of race and language. I have an impression that you always seem confident and yet you're very humble. How do you control your mental state?

🐹: Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, I try not to take it too seriously. Many things happen in life, but I try to stay calm. If I don't get deeply shaken/upset, I believe I can maintain a steady mental health/have a stable mental state.

Q: There are many people who are encouraged by BTS's music, performances, way of living, and thoughts/philosophy. Based on your experience, is there an advice you can give to those people who feel lost or have lost confidence and don't feel motivated?

🐹: I'd like to say 'you can do it'. I'm/I think of myself as an ordinary person and I don't think I have any special talents. I just have been working extremely hard with the roles I've been given, and fortunately I've been surrounded by very good people which I believe has led to good results. I want to say 'anyone can do it'.

Q: BTS is also the voices of the young people around the world. In the future, what kind of messages do you want to convey?

🐹: I hope you don't lose your sense of calm. Even during busy times, I hope you don't lose yourself and find a way to make yourself happy. This is different from being selfish. At least, I want to do that and I think I am doing that.

Q: Please tell us what you aim for in the future.

🐹: What others around me say/Opinions from others around me aren't that important. My priority goal is for ARMYs to like it and for them to be happy. For that, I can work tirelessly/no matter how exhausted I get. I'll continue to walk together with ARMYs.

Q: If you have the chance to visit Japan now, where would you like to go?

🐹: Hmm, l'd like to walk around in a city with beautiful night views.

Q: That's romantic. So, now that we've finished today's photo shoot, l'd like to ask about your fashion values and anything you pay attention to.

🐹: For me (in fashion), simple is the best. I don't overthink and what I'm wearing right at that moment is my style.

Q: "GQ JAPAN" has a concept called "TOKYO NEW GENTLEMEN" which expresses an image of men with an aesthetic sense free from rules, updating from the conventional image of a gentleman. I think BTS exactly exemplifies this, but what do you think are the elements that are essential for modern gentlemen?

🐹: Well... I think it's wonderful to be free from rules, but I think someone with basic manners (alongside with other qualities) is a gentleman. This not only includes the outward behaviours/actions (that can be seen) but also the inner qualities that can't be seen for example, being considerate of how someone feels/thinks. It's the best for everyone to have a friendly feeling towards each other and live peacefully. In order to do that, I believe I/we need to brush up our inner and outer beauty.

[Jin, who was at the photo shoot, was the Jin we all knew — a lovable person who's friendly, kind and sincere. Something that was different, was the many mature expressions he showed which had fresh maturity and sexiness that we had never see before. Living in this fast paced world, he has definitely cultivated something through his experience. 31 years old, Jin's new chapter has begun.]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BTS // Magazines // Jin for "GQ Japan" Magazine // December 2024 // 241108 // 2024

date: 2024-11-08

Translation Cr. 061313purple // Interview Link (japanese)

[turneradora]

Here is a new press article concerning "Rivals", with the new pic of Aidan as Declan O'Hara !

Thanks to Emma Jones for the written version 🙏🥰 ❤️🌹

EXCLUSIVE The secrets of autumn's biggest bonkbuster Rivals: Why Emily Atack ended up giggling through the sex scenes... and Jilly Cooper's inspiration for the real-life Rupert Campbell-Black

By Sarah Oliver For Weekend Magazine

Published: 06:52 EDT, 4 October 2024 | Updated: 06:54 EDT, 4 October 2024

Hard as it may be to imagine anyone eclipsing the sex appeal of Ross Poldark by being darker, sexier and even better with horses, someone has. Yes, ladies of Great Britain, Rupert Campbell-Black has landed straight from the pages of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bonkbuster Rivals on your screens here in 2024, and you are all in trouble. A lot of trouble.

Rupert gives the best riding britches and bronzed biceps since Aidan Turner was seen scything topless. He’s hot hot hot, joining the Mile High Club on Concorde and serving up a scorcher playing naked tennis in the sun. Even dressed as Santa come Christmas, he’s the gift that keeps on giving.

So hat tip here to Alex Hassell, whose swarthy looks and CV as a serious Royal Shakespeare Company actor (he was garlanded for his Henry V) don’t immediately suggest him to play a blond-haired, blue-eyed, tabloid headline-hogging love rat. ‘I was slightly concerned at first,’ says Jilly, ‘because my Rupert in the book is blond and blue-eyed, and Alex is very dark-eyed and olive-skinned. But he’s such a good actor.’

From the moment he strides out of the loo having had supersonic sex (he makes Mach 1 at the same time as the plane) with the Daily Scorpion journalist ghosting his memoirs, Alex Hassell owns RCB, as Jilly fans call him. ‘I always believe in laying one’s ghost,’ he sighs as he swaggers back down the aisle, and the millions of women who grew up fancying the rotter know they’re in safe hands.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Alex though. ‘Some days I’d be quite intimidated because the scene would describe Rupert walking into a room and everybody stops and looks at him and swoons,’ he says. ‘I was nervous about that, but everyone was told to act as if I was Harry Styles, and then my day turned into a wonderful day.’ So what does he think of Rupert? ‘While he is in many ways a s***, he’s not a bad man.’

Rivals is a riot and a romp, faithful to the book but with some sinuous updating to make what was the ultimate 80s tale of wealth, power and corporate backstabbing more nuanced. It is shagtastically good fun and if you’re old enough to have properly enjoyed the 80s, you’ll be drowning in nostalgia for those brash, optimistic champagne-fuelled years.

There are chaps in pinstripes and scarlet braces; women in power suits with root perms and earrings the size of a bin lid. Desk toys have an un-ironic place on boardroom tables and chintz runs amok in the English country house. Everyone is somewhere between slightly tight and completely plastered a lot of the time and can get up to mischief without being found out by their phone. The soundtrack alone will make you cry with longing.

‘We do it lovingly, but as the series goes on we address feminism, racism, sexuality, homophobia and snobbery,’ says showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins, who sees Jilly Cooper as a social commentator on a par with Austen or Dickens. ‘Rivals is a raucous party that gets darker. We keep our moments of joy, but the party gets a bit more warped.’

That’s not to say this new Disney+ eight-parter is any less fruity than the book. ‘If you had that copy you borrowed from your friend and it fell open at various pages – we’ve done all those bits,’ he acknowledges.

That classic Cooper sauce is still in there too. ‘How long do you spend on a cock?’ one guest asks Lady Monica Baddingham at a pheasant shoot. ‘Well, generally speaking, I can finish one off in 15 minutes or less, but my hands aren’t as quick as they used to be,’ she replies.

Or when TV technicians prep Rupert for his interview with TV journalist Declan O’Hara (played by Aidan Turner, yes, he of the topless scything). ‘The make-up artist is going to touch you up,’ they tell him. ‘I’d love her to,’ says RCB, ‘but I’m just about to appear on national television.’

There’s lashings of this since we are back in the (imagined) county of Rutshire, deep in the (real) Cotswolds, the setting for Jilly Cooper’s multi-million-selling Rutshire Chronicles series of novels. Riders, the first book, introduced Rupert as he chased Olympic showjumping gold. In Rivals, the second, Rutshire’s commercial TV station Corinium is up for franchise renewal and RCB is again at the heart of the action. ‘In bedroom and boardroom,’ promises Jilly, ‘the fight to capture the Cotswold Crown is on.’

Lord Tony Baddingham is Corinium’s boss. He’s on Concorde too, locking horns with Rupert, now a rising star in the Thatcher government, two of the ‘rivals’ of the title. He is played, with just the right amount of aristo-executive villainy, by David Tennant, persuaded to take the role by his wife, Georgia, also an actor and a huge Jilly Cooper fan.

‘I had my research fellow, who I live with, who could tell me anything I needed to know,’ laughs David, adding his casting caused a frisson at the school gate. ‘It’s a certain generation of women who go a bit giddy at the thought this has become a TV show. I just hope we can meet everybody’s fantasies…’

Well, if those fantasies include seeing Aidan Turner’s bare bottom you can tick that one off the list though he is, unusually for Rutshire, bedding his own wife at the time, rather than someone else’s. Declan O’Hara is Lord Baddingham’s star hire, married to fiery Maud, a man-hungry former actress.

Maud is played by Victoria Smurfit who really, really wanted the role and went full ‘Rutshire’ to get it. ‘I made this big decision where I thought, “Go big or go home.” It was December: freezing cold, ice on the ground, snow coming down through London. And when I arrived at the audition space, I had my coat on, and I walked in to meet the team who were in hats and gloves because it was even cold in the studio. I said, “Hello, I am Maud. You’re all dressed for London in December and – I threw my coat off and had this flimsy dress on underneath – I’m dressed for summer in the Cotswolds, darling!” Going home was quite chilly, I’m not going to lie, but it was worth it.’

In Rivals she specialises in making an entrance: do enjoy the scene with the camel.

As for Aidan Turner, with an absolute whopper of a moustache, Day-Glo yellow socks and a battered old Mini Cooper, he’s more workaholic dad than sex god. ‘That car, it’s got four gears but only three work,’ he groans. ‘The floor has holes in it. I think we maxed at 42mph. It was like driving a go-kart.’

Like all the actors, he knows his Mini isn’t the only bit of Rivals that could have looked clapped out in 2024, if not for the clever screenwriting. ‘I think we’re saying, “These are examples of the problematic behaviour that was acceptable at the time,”’ he reflects. ‘Some of it still does exist, but a lot has changed. It’s interesting to watch a show like ours and think, “We’re still doing that, maybe we should have left it in the 80s.”’

That said, ‘people having sex’, as David Tennant gleefully points out, ‘is timeless’ and all the characters are still aboard a classic Jilly Cooper sexual carousel. Baddingham is having an affair with his brilliant American TV producer Cameron Cook (now a black character), and Rupert is fending off Maud while falling in love with the eldest O’Hara daughter Taggie (played by Sex Education’s Bella Maclean), who’s only 20.

Electronics mogul Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer) and his wife Valerie are the nouveau riche trying to crampon their way up to social acceptance, but Freddie has feelings for novelist Lizzie, whose husband is Corinium’s ghastly news anchor James Vereker. Then there’s disgraced deputy PM Paul Stratton, newly married to his mistress Sarah (Emily Atack), who we first meet playing naked tennis with Rupert.

It’s a legendary Rivals scene (inspired by the tennis court at Jilly’s own house in the Cotswolds) where the tennis ball isn’t the only thing bouncing over the net. ‘The tennis scene was probably one of my favourites,’ says Emily. ‘It was a beautiful sunny day and I’d been exercising, I’d been – I wouldn’t say dieting, I love wine and pasta too much – but I’d been doing my sit-ups and my squats, and I was ready to do this naked scene!’

So it really is Love All, even among Rutshire’s lusty teenagers, for whom ‘I’ve got some Malibu upstairs’ is still a winning pick-up line. And this only takes us to the mid-point of the series: there are four further episodes and a lot more bed-hopping and dastardly boardroom behaviour to come.

It’s hard to overstate the scale, complexity and gleaming polish of the show, with its ensemble cast and Cotswold locations crammed with pale gold mansions, buttercups, bluebells and red phone boxes. (You might recognise 16th-century Chavenage House near Tetbury, which becomes the O’Haras’ home, The Priory, because that too was in Poldark.) There are sweaty horses, bounding hounds and huntsmen in their pinks.

Dinner parties start with pheasant and finish with pavlova, and guests disco dance until it’s time for a Survivors Breakfast. Picnics are enjoyed out the back of a Land Rover – green, what else – and Rupert Campbell-Black is secretly so lonely he shares his bath with his favourite black Labrador, Beaver.

The original book was 720 pages long and they’ve done it proud. Some days, according to Alex Hassell, there were 42 main characters on set at the same time, making it, he thinks, the biggest film unit in Europe.

Vintage Ungaro and Laura Ashley were sourced for the women, 80s-style suits handmade for the men. A safe had to be brought in to stash the 80s watches which are now worth an eye-watering amount. Someone’s mum knitted a bunch of pre-divorce Diana jumpers, Nafessa Williams, who plays Cameron Cook, modelled her ponytail on Sade’s and Danny Dyer drew on his own experience of snobbery as he, a working-class untrained actor, fought to break into theatre.

Emily Atack took to watching reruns of Top Of The Pops in which her own mother, the actress and singer Kate Robbins, appeared, by way of research. Everyone is wearing Wayfarers. Cadbury’s Fruit And Nut still comes in paper and gold foil while Wham!, Roxy Music, ABC and The Communards are on the radio. You can virtually smell the Elnett extra strong hold hairspray, the Drakkar Noir aftershave and the garlic chicken vol au vents warming through in an Aga somewhere.

Like the rest of the cast, Nafessa Williams knew what she was getting into with her sex scenes (Cameron has relationships with first Lord Baddingham and then Rupert). ‘I mean, we all knew what we were coming to do, so there were no surprises. I think it’s a matter of making sure you’re comfortable with each other and you’re listening and asking questions: is it OK to do this? Is it not OK to do that? It is a dance, so you essentially have to practise that dance before going on the dance floor.’

Plus, because Rivals is a bonkbuster – a label which has both supporters and critics among the cast – there was safety in numbers, as Emily Atack explains. ‘When we were doing all these scenes, we flocked to each other to talk about it, and support each other and really big each other up and we laughed about it. They were such a huge part of our bonding as a cast and as friends. It really interested me to see what nudity does to human beings – we were all like giggling teenagers, hugging each other, high-fiving each other, going, “Oh my God! Yes! You did it!”’

That said, they were all rigorously policed by not one but two intimacy co-ordinators, something which would not have happened had Rivals been turned into telly closer to the time the book came out. The intimacy team placed a partially deflated fitness ball between some of the actors so they could rock and create rhythm while having a physical barrier. Others were encouraged to use a tap-in tap-out psychological technique, clapping their hands before a take to signal to themselves they were in character, and then clapping at the call of ‘Cut’ to signal they’re themselves again. ‘We’ve been equal opportunities with sex,’ says Dominic Treadwell-Collins. ‘You will see an awful lot of willies.’

It was the only way to film the lovely, unbridled sort of sex synonymous with Jilly Cooper and the author, now a venerable 87 years old, is characteristically relaxed and happy about the outcome. ‘I trusted Dominic like mad,’ she says, ‘I knew it would be all right!’

A superstar writer since the 60s, made a DBE for services to literature and charity in this year’s New Year Honours, she wasn’t at all bothered when one of the actors, Lara Peake who plays Corinium PA Daysee, failed to recognise her at a read-through. ‘She came over and said, “Oh, you’re the lovely Daysee,”’ Lara recalls. ‘I said, “Yeah, I’m so excited. Who are you playing?” She was like, “No, darling, I’m Jilly…”’

‘Rivals is my favourite novel,’ confirms the author ahead of the series dropping later this month, ‘because I love the characters so much. Even the most ruthless display moments of vulnerability and the shyest show courage and integrity as true love blossoms.’

But can you believe it, RCB almost wasn’t in the book. ‘Originally, I intended to leave out Rupert, my hellraising hero, because in Riders he was cruel both to women and his horses,’ says Jilly. ‘But I missed his glamour and humour.’ She belatedly wrote him back in as a lead, reinforcing his place as one of the most lustworthy men in British fiction.

She says she loves the ‘ruthless glamour’ Alex Hassell brings to her creation, while admiring the greater vulnerability and tenderness the Rivals writers’ room has imagined for RCB today.

His casting has been the subject of heated debate everywhere from Mumsnet to The Tack Room, the online chat area of Horse & Hound. The actor almost withdrew from the first audition because he couldn’t see himself making everyone swoon but, by golly!, to borrow a Jilly Cooperism, he does. So much so he was sad when the shoot was over. ‘No one was looking at me like I’m the most sexy man on the planet any more,’ he says. ‘It was tough.’

Anyway, if you’d like to watch him make your screen melt, are old enough to remember the 80s, or young enough to think it must have been cool to be there, then clear eight hours in your diary because you won’t be able to stop watching Rivals.

But start early or you’ll be late to bed, and that would never do, not in Jilly Cooper’s world.

All episodes of Rivals are exclusively on Disney+ from 18 October.

[fettesans]

Top, un-credited and un-dated photograph taken in a subway in Amman, Jordan. Don’t let any fucker whose belly is full tell you to wait patiently for hunger to pass. Via. Bottom, photograph by Nan Goldin, Thora with teddy bear, Brooklyn, NY, 2020 , Archival pigment print, Open edition, Signed by Nan Goldin, 5 x 7 inch, $250. Via.

In direct response to the onslaught of anti-trans legislation and rhetoric sweeping the country, artist Nan Goldin is holding a benefit print sale and donating all proceeds to Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP), and The Trans Income Project (TIP)—three organizations chosen for our commitment to trans lives and expression.

“Hundreds of anti-trans bills are threatening trans people’s safety, stability, and health. Transphobia has long plagued legislation and culture, and this print sale centers the needs of trans people, raising funds for organizations directly working with, responding to, and supporting them.”

—Nan Goldin

--

The illusion that language could be a shield against the monstrous was, for me, among the first to be shattered and destroyed. Language is not immune to acts of genocide and annihilation. It too can be destroyed, become unable to endure, get lost. I had never felt myself to be a master of language—more that language had mastered me. And accepting its brokenness, its actual feebleness, has allowed me to continue working through decades of the pain and injury inflicted on Palestine.

Adania Shibli, interviewed by Max Weiss for the Paris Review, March 10, 2025. Via.

[maryjane888]

On the stump (h.s.)

Author's note: english is not my first language, so please excuse any mistakes. Also, this first part is shorter but the others will be longer. Hope you enjoy. xx

Part I

"Y/n, please see me in my office after class." Professor Morris gave her a small smile after his request. "Nothing to worry about. Just some opportunities I would like to present you."

Y/n sighed of relief as the auditorium started to fill with sleepy students. She tought Mr. Morris would lecture her about the small pile of multiple choice exams in his desk that weren't all graded yet. Being a TA was reveling to be more time consuming than expected. She would have to reorganize her agenda for the third time this week, which also meant that she would have to skip tonight's plans with her friends. There was no room for mistakes or delays, if Mr. Morris was still planning to write her that recommendation letter.

"Alright, today we're going to talk about the decolonization of India. Don't forget the mandatory readings for this part of the course. I will not be speaking in detail about the process of independence of each asian countrie. If you have any questions, y/n can help you during office hours."

How wonderful, y/n thought, more workload. Must be punishment for all those exams.

...

"Take a seat". She pushed the dark oak chair back and smoothed her navy skirt before sitting down.

"This won't take long." He oppened a drawer on his desk, took some papers out of it and started to go through them.

"I have some connections in Vienna." He stopped and looked at her suggestively, adjusting his glasses. Y/n's palms started to sweat.

"I know New York would be more preferable, but Vienna is the only place now with open seats." Oh God. There was a faint quick thump sound in Mr Morris's office. It was y/n's nervous foot tapping in anticipation. He continued to flick through the pieces of paper until he found the one he wanted. Professor Morris pushed the single page in y/n's direction. Her hopeful eyes made him chuckle.

"That is a list of people responsible for selecting the interns at the UN offices in Vienna. Search their names and study them. I have also scribbled some tips for your upcoming interview." Y/n deviated her gaze from the paper to her professor in confusion.

"My interview?" Mr Morris smiled.

"Yes, your interview. Your application was accepted. You should receive an email soon explaining that you will move on to the next phase." She picked up the paper and pressed it tightly to her chest.

"Thank you, so much." He got up from his chair and buttoned his blazer.

"Now, if you fufill your position successfully as a TA by the end of the semester, I will make sure a recommendation letter gets to those offices." Y/n got up so excited her chair squeaked loudly and almost made her cringe. She was to happy to feel embarassed.

"I will not disappoint you, Professor Morris." She promised.

"I'm sure you won't." He then checked his wristwatch and complained about a meeting he was having with the faculty. Y/n took it as a cue to leave, but not without thanking him one more time.

...

The few students passing by looked strangely at the girl with the wide smile and a spring in her step. Who looks that enthusiastic on a Thursday morning? Y/n did. And she had good reasons to. All her work seemed to finally bear fruit. Being an UN intern was going to propel her career in politics. She would actually learn how things work in the real world, outside classrooms and without textbooks. She would have the opportunity to travel and meet new experienced people. And right now she also had the perfect excuse to ditch her social plans, having to make sure all her extracurricular workload was sorted out. Being an incompetent TA was not an option, and not getting that internship was a scenario that y/n refused to conceive as a possibility.

As soon as she got to her dorm, y/n started to search the people on that piece of paper. Her gold tickect to the chocolate factory. She memorized their full names, academic backrounds, previous jobs, and their personal interests. She made some social media searches for that. Then, a draft for her interview was outlined based off of Mr Morris's tips. Serious but not boring, interesting but not fake, professional but still warm. An email notification made her stop typping. She clicked on the unread message and admired the positive response. Her eyes travelled through her desk. It was a mess. She was surrounded by heavy authors and heavier subjects. A pile of crinkled photocopies of ICJ cases, an open Krugman book with dozens of fluorescent post-its, a few flashcards with EU's legislative process. If her desk was a mess, it meant she was busy and working. That mess made her happy. Y/n looked back at the email and she thought to herself, I'm almost there, I'm going to change the world.

...

"Shit." The hot brown liquid spreaded through y/n's white oversized shirt. She tossed the paper cup in the bin and tried to keep the fabric from sticking to her skin. Her brallette was now visible through the wet shirt. As she walked to the small bathroom atached to the office, she mentally patted herself on the back for keeping an extra t-shirt in her bag.

The door to the office was closed and no one usually came at this time of day. She was safe to change. Y/n tried to remove the stain in the sink as much as she could. She then placed it on the back of the chair to dry. A thin light brown outline was still visible. She sighed in annoyance. That was her favourite shirt.

As she reached to her bag to grab the shirt, the sound of the door knob brought horror to her features. She quickly grabbed the piece of clothing and tried to hide her nude state behind the fabric. As the door opened, y/n could already imagine the chocked look on Mr Morris' face at her lack of clothing. She had a plausible excuse, of course, but it was still a very strange situation. She should have locked the door. Well, too late.

Her look of fear turned to a confused one as she stared at the man that entered the room. He paused, hand still grabbing the door knob, and stared back, as confused as her. They stayed like that for a couple minutes trying to make sense of the situation. Y/n grew annoyed at his lack of action. The door was still open for everyone to see her precarious state.

"Close the door!" He awakened from his trance and quickly shut the door, turnig his back to her. She took the opportunity to dress the clean t-shirt. As she pulled the fabric down her torso, she noticed him staring at her again. Y/n was becoming more and more irritated. She had been gradding tests for the past three hours, hadn't gotten any breaks, decided to get a coffe from the machine down the hall, spilled the drink on her favourite shirt and was now being checked out by some random man that would not say anything, not even an apology. He was about to confront a very grumpy side of y/n.

"Are you a student of professor Morris? Office hours are only on Mondays and Wednesdays. I do not have time to answer any questions today." She went to sit on the desk and continue her work, not bothering to look at him as she speaked.

"I was a student of his." The man approched the desk. "I came to visit him." Y/n continued to write notes with her red pen, avoiding eye contact. Her frustration still mixed with the embarassement from moments ago.

"Well, as you can see Mr Morris isn't here, and he won't be coming in today. You can schedule your visit using the contacts printed by door. I also recommend you to knock before meeting with the professor." Y/n added the last part, staring back at him. He stood tall with crossed arms and a hard gaze. She could see that he did not like the way he was being treated. Y/n wondered who this man really was. What if he was someone important? Someone close to Mr Morris? She realised maybe she should have approched him more carefully.

"I was not aware that TAs now felt so free to seduce their superiors. I'll make sure I knock next time, promise." Her annoyance became painfully obvious and the room grew even more tense. She got up from her chair and faced him fully. They were closer now. He hovered over her, angry gazes competing. Y/n noticed his deep green eyes and a single chocolate lock fell between them. That was annoying.

"I spilled coffee on my shirt, not that I owe you any explanations." She backed away slightly and straightened her posture. "I will not admit any insulting accusations about how I work. You don't know me." Y/n tried to calm herself down. She was grumpy and he was just provoking her. It was not worth her time, so she distanced herself from him. He did not say anything else. He only observed her as she checked the time on her phone. Its late, she thought, I'll finish this tomorrow.

"What? Time to get undressed in another professor's office?" Y/n shot him a death glare.

"You're an assh-" she was interrupted by the sound of the door knob. She immediately stoped talking as Mr Morris entered the room. The other man smirked at her, enjoying her big scared eyes.

"Y/n? What are you still doing here?" He noticed the piles of exams with red anotations here and there. "It's late. Please go home and rest. You can finish another time." Mr Morris gave her a reassuring smile. Y/n started to pack her things, happy that he hadn't heard her before. Bad language was a no go with the faculty, especially insults. It could damage her image as a TA.

"And I've seen you have already met Harry." They both exchanged awkward smiles. "Weren't supposed to..." Y/n gave a questioning look at the two men. Harry was now avoyding her eyes. She tried to ignore the whole situation and placed her bag in her shoulder, ready to leave.

"I'll see you next week. Get some sleep, y/n." Professor Morris waved her goodbye. Harry simply stood next to him, hands in his pockets, as he observed her closing the door.

...

Y/n sighed in relief as she closed her laptop. She had asked professor Morris if she could take the online interview in his office. Her small dorm didn't look very professional as a background. He allowed it, telling her to not worry to much. At this point, y/n felt like she could ask him to be her garantor and he would say yes. He was like the godfather she never had.

Y/n had a good feeling about the call. She got the interviewer she most wanted and she felt like they truly connected through their mutual interests. Plus, the tips on that golden piece of paper really came in handy. She would have to thank her professor for the millionth time. Now, all she had left to do was being a good TA, keep her grades high and trust that her capabilites would be good enough to grant her the spot she thought she was worthy of. Y/n thought some relax time was needed and well deserved. She pushed all her work aside, and texted her friends. That night she would be joining them.

[darkmaga-returns]

Monday February 17, 2025 Truth Bomb

Karen Bracken

US Army Bans ‘Trans-Identifying’ Individuals from Joining - ARTICLE

DISTURBING: FDA Clears Investigational New Drug Application for Inhaled COVID Biologic - they just won’t give up. Are they living under a dang rock? I guess they have not caught on yet to the fact that we know their COVID crap is killing people - COVID no longer exists except at the tip of a fake PCR test - ARTICLE

The Ostrich You Save Could Be Your Dog, or Your Cat or Your Next Meal - or You - if you have not yet done so please process the link to send a message to President Trump to get us out of the UN. The interview is long but even if you just listen to a small part you will find it interesting - ARTICLE/VIDEO

Who Elected the Judge? - as I have stated before…….our Constitution requires but ONE Supreme Court. All inferior courts are established by Congress and Congress can and should end them. They are corrupt, political and biased entities that were created to be just the total opposite. But time and greed has changed all of that. ARTICLE

Elected Kickbacks - 2 min. VIDEO

Del Bigtree on MAHA - 2 min. VIDEO

[violetlunette]

The Ramshackle Un-Birthday Interview: If you could have any student from Night Raven College as a sibling, who would you choose?

Summary: Yuu explains who'd he want as sibling.

Notes: This is part of the Un-birthday interview for my Yuusona, who is Twisted from the Mad Doctor.

*Very minor mention of Twst Playful Land Event

If you could have any student from Night Raven College as a sibling, who would you choose?:

“Oh! I want Trey!” Grim exclaimed. His eyes glittered like sapphires and Yuu had to move his arm as he drooled. “That way I could have all the sweets I want!”

“Ha, you think that, but he’s just as much a stickler for rules as Riddle! He’d be on your back every night about brushing,” Ace teased. Oh, and you can bet he’d be nagging about homework, getting to class on time, eating your veggies…” This caused Grim to whine.

“Reow~ Seriously! I wanna change my answer then!”

“Upp, too late!”

“Noo! Lemme change it!” As Grim and Ace argued, Deuce turned to Yuu.

“How about you? Let me guess—Silver, right?” he asked, to which Yuu raised an annoyed brow.

“Uh—no. Why would I want to be related to the guy I love?" He scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I’m not some ol’ monarch interested in inbreeding to ‘keep the blood pure,’ or whatever.” He thought over his actual answer, tipping his head back.

“Hm, sibling, siblings—Pah! Honestly, if they’re anything like you three, then they’d be way too much trouble.” The trio looked mildly offended.

“Hey! If anyone’s the troublemaker in our dynamic, it’s you,” Ace complained, to which the others agreed.

“Yeah, you say that, but I’m not the one who fell for two different con men or got Riddle worked up to the point he blotted over." Yuu self-reflected as he recalled the event, then admitted, “Okay, maybe that’s partly my fault. But that’s still mostly on you two!” Yuu then grinned wickedly, and he rested a chin on a hand.

“And need we forget the incident with Zully?” The other three stiffened as they remembered how their nativity led to them getting tricked and sparking a battle between Yuu and Azul that was only stopped by Azul overblotting.

“Urk! When you say it like that..." Deuce muttered, brushing his bangs from his eyes.

“...It’s hard to argue,” Ace finished, recalling the Playful Land event as well. Both hated that he was right.

While Yuu was mentally unsound, the damage he caused was usually restricted to himself. On top of that, more often than not, he came to their aid, whether it was against a con-man, a tyrannical dorm head, or even a Phantom Beast.

Yuu ignored their concession and thoughtfully looked up at the ceiling.

“Zully, hmm—you know what? I pick him.” The others jumped, nearly hitting the ceiling in surprise.

“Azul?!”

“Are you serious?”

“Why?!”

It wasn’t a secret that Yuu and Azul, the Octavinelle Dorm Leader often clashed with one another. This was because of a series of events that happened after Ace, Deuce, and Grim made an ill-thought deal with Azul and were forced into labor.

From then on, Yuu and Azul engaged in a game of of wits and deception where stakes were raised more and more until Yuu pushed too hard and made the teen overblot.

After that, both Azul and Yuu decided to call truce, though they still engaged in small acts of rivalry. (This seemed to be in spirit of friendly competition, however.)

Yuu beamed.

“Because he’s fun~!” He said it a bit too sweetly, his smile shining. “He’s one of the few to keep me on my toes and challenge me intellectually. And his ambition and determination match my own. If we were siblings, we’d have all sorts of entertainment.” Aduce shivered as they imagined the horrors Yuu and Azul would get into as Siblings.

--

A/n:

Yuu sees Grim, Ace and Deuce as his sibling but he ain’t going to admit it to them.

As a sibling Yuu would both spoil and bully Azul. Actually, he would act just like the tweels, who he has a lot in common with.