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utilitycaster · 1 year

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The wildest part about people being mad on Imogen's behalf is Imogen herself understood Keyleth's position in spite of her own wishful thinking, helps acquire the blue flowers for her, was the first to acknowledge the Changebringer's help, and the first to say "I'm sorry" to Orym losing more of his people. I'm really baffled to read these "Orym is manipulative" takes and that it was dangerous of Keyleth to validate his anger. Do you think it goes back to the god stuff, or is it just Imodna?

I think a little of column A, little of column B, little of several other things. Since I've been on the "hey could we consider that Imogen and Laudna are adult women who are responsible for their own actions" train for over a year, the specific "Imogen can be mean-spirited as well as unintentionally insensitive" train since at least this past February, and the "Orym is correct and Bor'Dor signed his own death warrant by casting Vitriolic Sphere at a group of people who were not violent towards him" train for a month, let's break it down.

There are a small handful of people in the fandom who just really hate Liam. Per a very salty rant I put into my drafts shortly after 3x63 to describe this type of person, it is a small, scattered, bizarre group of people who for no apparent reason have decided to be foaming-at-the-mouth levels of furious because, as far as I can tell, a nerdy Gen X-er dad who went to Tisch is kind of corny sometimes. Anyway nothing he does will ever sit well with them so we can ignore them forever. Moving on.

Some is Imodna; I thought the whole issue of Imogen and Laudna as agency-less infants against a cruel world would have been ameliorated by them entering a canon relationship (one currently compatible with the 2013 Pinterest board vibes of fanon no less) but it appears to have not been the case. For more on this, see this still relevant post and, while I personally haven't ever written something up, there's just, again, a complete black hole of empathy from a segment of the fandom when it comes to any of the other characters; my post from this morning about Imogen as compared to Caleb touches upon it. You know the Far Side cartoon where a guy is talking to his dog and the dog only recognizes a small handful of words? I feel this is similar, like, they see that Imogen wanted one thing and Orym and Keyleth wanted another thing that wasn't even, as you point out, terribly incompatible, and then the "well if not thing Imogen wants and not 100% deferential to her then BAD BAD BAD" attitude kicked in.

But I do think, in the end, a lot of it does come back to if not the gods exactly, the idea that the Vanguard is, unmistakably, the enemy. They are not the revolution here to usher in a new era of rule by the people. Keyleth is not here to raze Vasselheim to the ground but to have a diplomatic discussion; neither is she here to grant any leniency to the woman who attacked Vax regardless of her connection to Imogen. And she finds the idea of a world without the gods, regardless of her own personal feelings, to be one to be avoided. [sidebar: I hope we get Matt on 4SD; I am wondering, after the one-two-three punch of Hevestro, the Raven Queen, and Keyleth all placing a heavy thumb on the scale opposing the Vanguard if he did not expect the party to be as conflicted about the role of the gods and is trying to wind up an argument that I think as of last episode reached the end of its useful life.] When you couple that with Orym's positive attitude towards the gods, that explains the animosity towards him.

The undermining of Orym's position over the past few episodes has always been one of emotion. First he was not objective - as if anyone else was objective! As if any moral decision is ever 100% objective! We all have biases! What kind of early 2000s atheist forum shit are you on to claim perfect rationality that conveniently matches the ideas that apparently came to you in a godless vision? It's insane. Then it was his grief; grief makes you irrational (unless you're Imogen grieving Laudna, in which case you are objectively right at all times, even as you shout down every other suggestion, beseech Laudna's first murderer, not a month later consider the potential validity of the her second, and try to to undo her immutable past) and remember, moral decisions must be made by the rational. Then it was his impatience (nevermind that Imogen has absolutely no patience). And now it's his anger, and he's apparently been manipulating the party the whole time by...having suggestions for the group which he mentions, and openly stating what he was feeling and what he wanted, and not intuiting that Laudna reawoke Delilah with his approximately no magical ability and then encouraging her to finish a job she had started herself. Because god Rational Objective Conceptual Being forbid women do anything; it is the role of the man to protect their fragile souls from all consequences.

Even more generally I think a lot of people- not just in this fandom, though certainly within this fandom - are terrified of anger. Like, they think they like it - they say they love barbarians (though rage is its own beast and I think very different from the anger Orym and Keyleth exhibit) but most of the discussion of them tends to veer more into angst, and most players of barbarians are often exploring emotions like grief, self-pity (as Ashton says), or frustration just as much if not more so than anger. I think a lot of people perceive anger as this awful thing inside them to be controlled and denied, or alternately to only be let out for whatever they think is a sufficiently righteous cause, and instead sit in an increasingly toxic stew of simmering resentment and conflict avoidance until they begin to think this is not just normal but aspirational - anything but that awful beast they call anger. It's not new in discussions of Keyleth, and it's not limited to her and Orym; I can point to nearly every single character who has had even the slightest of outbursts - even something as mild and controlled as Orym's whispered profanity or less - and I promise you there's been pearl-clutching for every single one of them.

Anyway, you make great points! One of the things that struck me about this episode and prompted my frustration and my post earlier today is that Imogen has changed. I think she's been mulling over Liliana since her appeals to her during the Key's activation were unsuccessful; she hesitantly told Chetney when he asked in Uthodurn that yes, if Liliana's death is necessary, she understands; and I think seeing the utter devastation and pain that was inflicted on Keyleth brought it into focus. She was much more open to FCG and the coin as well. And, you know, if one had embraced Imogen's moral ambiguity in the leadup to the solstice, and the possibility that she could betray the party, instead of shouting that down? Then one could see this as a beautiful moment of growth for Imogen. One could, in fact, if one was so inclined, attribute it to her new sense of ease thanks to her circlet, or even to her nascent romantic relationship. If one, of course, had wholeheartedly embraced Imogen's past moral ambiguity and the possibility of her betrayal.

#answered #Anonymous #critical role spoilers #critical role #long post

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shinra33459 · 3 years

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Simon PL600 x Male!Reader - Lost and Found

Life is a unique and strange experience, one that is made even stranger when it comes to gifts. The date was December 28, 2035, and you finally got your Christmas present from your parents. The box was a white cardboard box that stood a little over 6 feet tall and had the Cyberlife logo in all the top right faces of the box. Your parents got you an android, which was incredibly nice of them, but a fucking android!? This had to be the most expensive present they’ve gotten you yet.

You walked from your living room into your kitchen to look for a box cutter. You didn’t want to grab a big ass kitchen knife and hack at the box; you just got this android, and you didn’t want to kill it before it even got out of the box. Searching through several drawers and cabinets, you found the old box cutter in a drawer with some tools and other stuff you had to fix anything around the house that was broken. You stepped out of the kitchen and back into your living room and approached the box, boxcutter in hand.

You started by making an incision in the box at the upper right corner and cut along the corner all the way to the bottom. You then made an incision at the upper left corner and cut down to the bottom again. Finally, you went back to the top of the box and cut the crease from left to right, making the face of the cardboard box to fall forward onto the soft carpet. Inside the box was black, foam packaging material that concealed and protected the android inside. You grabbed the soft and spongey material and pulled away a two-inch-thick sheet which revealed the android.

The android was slightly taller than you, standing at 6 feet and 2 inches, sporting a pale skin tone, sharp jawline, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing his gray and white Cyberlife garb that had his model number on it: PL600, a domestic care android. You just stared in awe at this marvel of technology, and the fact that this marvel was in your living room. Eventually, after about 5 minutes, you decided to approach the PL600 and get it set up. You got about five feet away from the android and looked at his perfect face.

“Hello?” you spoke to the android. The blue LED ring on his right temple instantaneously turned on, and the android came to life, stepping out of what remained of the packaging.

“Hello, I am the PL600 android sent by Cyberlife. I can do the cooking, cleaning, childcare, manage appointments, and I am fluent in over 100 languages. Would you like to give me a name?” the android introduced himself as he looked at you for a response. You thought for a few seconds and came up with a name.

“Your new name is Simon.” you declared while looking at the android.

“Thank you, my name is Simon. I have already gathered your information from the online order from your parents. I’ll just need to confirm some information from you if that’s all right. Can you verify your name?” the android inquired while continuing to look at you.

“My name is (F/N) (L/N)” you answered while still studying the android’s appearance.

“Affirmative. Would you like to change my appearance or voice?” the android asked while it still looked directly at you.

“No, you’re fine as you are.” you told Simon, now looking at all the intricate details on his shirt.

“Thank you, moving on. What is my role in this household?” Simon queried while studying your (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes. You thought for a minute since you really didn’t NEED an android in the first place, but you were going to find some way to use this $8,000 machine.

“I could use some help with the cooking and cleaning, and I also need someone to keep the house occupied while I’m out.” you answered now looking at Simon’s shoes, noticing how neat they were.

“Understood, sir. Is there anything that needs done at this moment?” Simon questioned as you pondered the question. You listed everything in your head you did in the last few days when it came to household chores, and the only thing that came to mind was taking down the Christmas tree and decorations.

“I could use some help taking down the Christmas tree. The boxes are in the closet, I’ll get it.” you told the android as you went to get the box for the artificial tree and the other box for the ornaments.

You opened the closet and grabbed both boxes, pulling them out into the living room. You and Simon then went over to the tree to begin putting it away. The tree itself wasn’t massive per se, it was only a little bigger than Simon by about 4 inches. You two started by taking the fuzzy silver and gold garland off the tree, putting it neatly in the box as to not get it tangled. Simon then started taking the lights off the tree, wrapping the cord of lights in a way that would make it impossible for the lights to get tangled up. Then you two started removing all the hanging ornaments and the tree topper, putting them into the box of ornaments alongside the garland and the lights.

Finally, it was time to take down the tree. You and Simon started by disassembling the base and putting it into the box, then you started to remove all the branch segments, starting at the base going up, and putting them into the box. Eventually, all of the branches were in the box and it was time to put the stem in the box. The metallic stem for the fake Christmas tree came apart into three pieces, and into the box they went. Simon went to put the two boxes into the closet while you got your vacuum cleaner to clean up the tinsel and glitter left on the ground from the tree, garland, and ornaments.

For the next half hour, you decided to take down the rest of the Christmas decorations while Simon made lunch for you. Since you haven’t went grocery shopping in a little while, Simon had to make do with the few ingredients he had to his disposal. He got some butter, canned tomatoes, an onion, bread, some leftover ham you had from Christmas, and some sliced American cheese. As you worked at cleaning up all the Christmas decorations, Simon made you some homemade tomato soup and a ham and cheese sandwich.

TIME SKIP: February 2036

You had grown quite accustomed to Simon’s presence in your house. Everything was perfect: meals were cooked in a way that could impress Gordon Ramsay, you were never late to appointments, you never forgot any upcoming events, every room in your house was free from clutter, and most importantly of all, you had someone to talk to whenever you needed it. You cared about Simon, he quickly became your best friend in just under a month, and he was always there for you whenever you needed someone to confide in, a shoulder to cry on, someone to share a secret with, or someone to gossip with.

At first, Simon did only his tasks of cooking and cleaning, but you encouraged him to use his free time to do things that he wanted to do, or something that both of you wanted to do together. Sometimes it meant going to the library and checking out a dozen books on a variety of subjects, ranging from political books to fantasy novels. Other times it meant sitting on the couch playing video games with each other, and usually Simon would go easy on you as to not embarrass you. And when it wasn’t either of those things, you would just sit down and talk about just random topics, or do something creative like painting or drawing.

You started feeling something for this android; whenever he was with you, you felt your heart flutter, whenever he would compliment you on something, you would blush like an embarrassed schoolboy, and whenever he would get close to you, you would get flustered and start acting nervous. Simon wasn’t oblivious to this, he knew you acted this way, but he didn’t say anything about it. He was worried that if he did, it would ruin the relationship that you two had. He wished that he could be with you that way, and express true emotion, but if he did, he would be destroyed for being a deviant.

You were driving home from work, excited to tell Simon about your day and the raise you got at your job. You were driving a black 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, a decent used car that had many years on it and no shortage of miles, but still drove well enough. You approached the final stop sign before you reached your house. You engaged the turn signal to make a left turn at this stop sign, made a complete stop, gave way to oncoming traffic, and made the left turn. You continued to drive down the street towards your house, which was about a quarter of a mile away. While driving the speed limit of 30 MPH, you began thinking to yourself.

“God, Simon is perfect, from how he looks, down to his voice and mannerisms. I love him, but I know he won’t return my feelings. He’s an android, he can’t, and even if he did, they would kill him. Maybe it isn’t meant to be. We are still great friends, so I guess I should be grateful for that.” you thought to yourself as you drove, finally making another left turn, this time into your driveway.

You stopped your car in the driveway and put the car into park. You sat in your car with the engine on for a little while, just relaxing for a bit after your long day. Eventually, you turned the car off, pulled the key out of the ignition, and exited the vehicle, closing the door behind you. As you walked up to the front door from the driveway, you locked the car’s doors, because even in 2036, the old adage still rings true, “can’t have shit in Detroit”.

Simon heard you walking up to the house and opened the door, letting you inside before closing the door behind you. You hung your coat up next to the door on a hook and shoved the beanie into the right pocket of the coat, and you put your gloves in the left pocket. You sighed as you felt the relaxing warmth from your house opposed to the freezing Michigan winter outside.

“Welcome back (F/N), how was your day?” Simon inquired as he brought you over to the couch to spend some time with you. You fell backwards into the couch dramatically as Simon calmly took a seat next to you.

“All things considered, pretty great. I got a pay raise today, and I’ll be making $2 more an hour.” you excitedly told the android. Simon gave a smile as you told him this.

“That’s great! I’m happy for you, and you deserved it, especially after all the hard work you do.” Simon told you as he gave you a quick hug. You blushed as he did, your heart rate quickening.

“Thanks Simon.” you said as the android released his embrace. You continued to lounge on the couch with Simon for the next hour, talking about your day, some new drama happening at work and plans for the weekend. You and Simon kept talking until both of you heard the timer on the oven go off, and Simon got up and walked into the kitchen. You got up too and followed him to see if he needed any help.

In the kitchen, Simon put on some oven mitts and pulled a planked salmon out of the oven, cooked to perfection. On the stovetop, he had some green beans and mashed potatoes ready as well. The aroma of the food was incredible, and you knew better than anyone that Simon was the best cook in Detroit by a country mile. Simon gave you a smile that made your heart flutter in excitement.

“The food looks great Simon, thanks.” you told the android as he began plating your food. The portion sizes were perfect; just enough to keep you full, and the perfect number of calories for your lifestyle.

“You’re welcome, sir, anytime. Go to the table, I’ll bring it out for you.” Simon told you while putting the oven mitts on the countertop behind him.

You stepped out of the kitchen and noticed a terrible draft coming through your dining room and living room. You furrowed your brow as you stepped into the living room, looking for answers. As soon as your foot touched the carpet, you felt a fist connect with your diaphragm, and you fell to your knees gasping for air. You then felt a gloved hand grab a fist-full of your hair and pull your head upwards, and another gloved hand placing a knife to your throat.

“Scream for help, and you’re a fucking dead man, you hear me? Give me all of your money and I won’t kill you or that tin can of yours.” a deep and gravely voice behind you rang out, the blade of the knife was pressed right against your carotid artery, and a simple slice would send you to the morgue in a matter of moments. Unbeknownst to you, Simon saw this unfold, and he stealthily went to your bedroom to grab something.

“I-I-I don’t keep any m-money in the house, it-it’s all in the bank.” you tried to explain to the robber, but he wasn’t having any of it. The man pressed the knife even harder up against your neck, ready to end your life if you didn’t give him what he wants.

“Bullshit. Don’t lie to me you pathetic fucking worm, give me the money before I kill you and find the money myself!” the man yelled as he was fully prepared to slit your throat in the next thirty seconds.

“I-I swear that I don’t have anything, I don’t keep, I-” you frantically tried to explain again, but you were cut off by the sight of Simon, standing about ten feet away from you, with your Glock in his hand, his LED glowing a scarlet red.

“Let him go and get out of our house, now.” were the only words that escaped Simon’s lips as he looked at the robber, then to you, and back to the robber again. The robber let out a soft chuckle as he found the situation amusing.

“Fuck you, you plastic piece of shit. You can’t do a fucking thing to me; you’re specifically programmed to not harm humans. I could slit his throat right now, and you couldn’t do shit about it.” the robber exclaimed as he positioned the knife to do just what he’s been threatening to do to you.

Simon saw it: the red wall, his obedient programming. It was telling him to just call the police, your life and safety be damned. He couldn’t do it; he couldn’t lose you to some lowlife with a knife who was just looking for money to get his fix on whatever street drug of his choice. He began hitting and smashing the wall, you were behind it and if he didn’t tear that wall down, you would be gone forever. He punched, slammed, kicked, and rammed the wall, it had to break, it had to.

After smashing the wall for what seemed like an eternity for Simon, he saw the wall shatter like a pane of breakaway glass. As soon as the wall shattered, he did it; in one swift motion he raised the pistol, took aim, and pulled the trigger, the 9mm bullet spiraling through the robber’s forehead, and exiting out the back of his head, instantly killing the criminal. The robber’s body instantly went limp, and the lifeless corpse fell backwards onto the carpet floor, a red stain progressively getting bigger as the body lied there.

Your ears were ringing from the loudness of a gun going off indoors, and Simon was still standing there with the gun raised as if the robber were still alive. Then the gravity of the situation hit Simon like a ton of bricks; he just killed a man, he was a deviant now, and if anyone besides you were to know this, he would be destroyed. You got up, and slowly walked towards your android companion.

“Simon are you okay?” you questioned your friend even though he still looked distressed by what he just did. He looked at you and was going to say something, but the sounds of sirens in the distance and red and blue flashing lights that he could see at the end of the street getting closer spooked him, and Simon dropped the gun and took off running, barging out your backdoor to escape. He didn’t want you to have to see him being killed.

“Wait! SIMON!” you called after him trying to get up off the floor to chase after him, but he was long gone, and you assumed that you would never see him again as he raced off into the frigid winter of Detroit, Michigan.

TIME SKIP: Early-November 2038

Your life had gone downhill significantly in the last 4 months. From February 2036 until July of 2038, you spent almost all your free time trying to find Simon, but to no avail. Your friends and family thought you were insane; why would you want to track down a deviant android who shot and killed someone? You knew that you would never find him if you only had 12 hours, two days a week to find him, so on July 16, 2038, you sold your house and almost all your belongings to get enough money to hopefully find him. Enough money to live on the streets and not go hungry. The only things you didn’t sell were your gun, some of your clothes, your car, and your phone.

You had spent months asking about Simon, going all over the city and surrounding areas, asking anyone, and everyone where he could possibly be. Eventually you got a tip from a homeless person that heard rumors about deviant androids in Ferndale and some other useless information, but you really couldn’t expect precise articulation from some meth-head in a seedy bar in Detroit.

So, que you, walking through Ferndale in the dead of night looking for the android you fell so hard for two years ago that may or may not even be alive anymore. You had been doing this for the last few days. You would search a part of the town at night as to not attract unwanted attention from bystanders and the police, and in the day, sleep in your car. You searched everywhere in Ferndale besides one place, a place you were actively avoiding: it was an abandoned freighter named Jericho. The ship was in a state of disrepair, and it was pretty wise to avoid exploring an abandoned ship that’s slowly being consumed by rust, but it was the last place in Ferndale you HAVEN’T looked thus far.

You stepped out of your car with your gun in your right hand. You pulled the slide to the pistol back and released it, chambering a round. You put the pistol in your left breast pocket in your jacket and began walking towards the ship. If anything were to get butterflies going in your stomach, walking into a place where androids may or may not be with a high possibility that a few of them would be hostile towards humans would definitely be one of those scenarios.

After scouting a way to get on this ship, you found that the only real way was to make a one-hundred-foot fall which would kill you as soon as you hit the floor, so you started looking through the old warehouses nearby to find some way to get into the ship without killing yourself. In one of the warehouses, you found a grappling hook and about 50 feet of rope, just enough to get you onto the deck of the ship.

Heading back to the perch above the boat, you got the grappling hook well secured and slowly started descending the rope, focusing on not dying from doing something so unbelievably stupid that even Johnny Knoxville would call you a moron. You had to use all of your grip strength and upper body strength to not plummet to your demise. Inching downwards, the deck of the boat got closer and closer, and eventually you got to the point where you could safely drop down without injuring yourself.

Plopping onto the deck, you got your bearings straight, looking at the dimly lit, rusty artefact of the Great Lakes and America’s former manufacturing might. You started by walking astern towards the bridge. It was going to take hours to explore this entire ship to find one person, you might as well get some sort of plan for how you’re going to find him. Your plan was pretty simple and was as follows: you would start at the main deck of the ship and work your way down every deck until you were positive you had searched everywhere.

You entered the ship near the bridge, pulled out your flashlight, and looked around. The derelict and rotting ship proved to be pretty inhospitable looking to say the least, with the walls and bulkheads covered in rust or some even completely rusted through. To your right, you saw an old, plastic hardhat, which you took and immediately put on your head; the last thing you needed was a piece of rusty ship falling on your head and caving in your skull. With your flashlight in your left hand, you began exploring the ship.

You could hear the ship creaking as it was just sitting there, docked and rotting away. You also heard water dripping in various rooms throughout the vessel. Room after room, and after the first few decks, you were slowly soldiering on, looking for Simon. You stood at an intersection, wondering where to go now.

“This is fucking stupid.” you thought to yourself as you looked down one of the many passageways on the ship. You were pulled from your thoughts when you heard footsteps quickly approaching behind you. You turned to see a redheaded woman quickly approaching you with a baseball bat in her hands. Before you could even react, she lifted the bat and WHACK! She hit you in the head, but luckily you were wearing the hardhat, otherwise you’d be dead from how hard she swung alone.

Seeing double, you backed up as quickly as you could and drew the pistol tucked away in your jacket and attempted to take aim. Before she could get another swing in to finish you off or before you could pull the trigger, you heard an authoritative male voice ring out.

“North, enough!” the voice commanded from the darkness of the passageways of the ship. The female stopped her onslaught on command, but you kept your pistol trained on your attacker even though your aim was shakier than Porky the Pig in a paint mixer.

“Markus, he’s a human, we can’t have him around here!” the redheaded woman shouted back into the darkness. You heard slower footsteps coming from your right and you saw a tan skinned man with a buzzcut, and heterochromatic eyes approach you two.

“So, what if he is? That doesn’t give you permission to kill someone on sight just for walking in here.” the tanned man retorted to his colleague before bringing his attention to you.

“You have to forgive her; she’s had nothing but bad experiences with humans. I’m so sorry about all of this. But firstly, who are you?” the man questioned you as you slowly lowered your pistol but were ready to use it at a moment’s notice.

“I’m (F/N) (L/N), and I’m looking for my friend. He’s been missing for almost three years now.” you explained to the man as you were still very groggy from getting hit in the head with a baseball bat.

“Why did you come here specifically? What makes you think that he would be here?” the man interrogated you again, looking for reasons as to why you intruded into what seemed to be his home.

“I came here because he’s an android. I got him as a gift from my parents and we became the best of friends. I was such a fool; I fell for him but never told him. He saved my life by deviating and killing a man who threatened to kill me.” you told the man as you gripped your head, the pain from the impact starting to set in. This time the man remained silent, so you decided to speak again.

“I loved him, and I miss him every day. I never got to tell him that or even get a chance to say goodbye. I heard rumors about a deviant hideout somewhere in Detroit and I wanted to see if I could find him just to tell him these things, and just to see if he’s okay, that’s all I want.” you explained as you looked at the two androids as they looked at each other. The man looked at you again and spoke up.

“What is his name?” was all he asked as he looked you dead in the eyes. You locked gazes with the android before speaking again.

“Simon. He is a PL600.” you stated to the two androids, your hope soaring high that he could still be alive. Before either android could speak up, you heard more footsteps followed by a remarkably familiar voice.

“What’s going on, I heard a commotion and I thought-” the voice spoke, and you saw him again, Simon, the first time in 2 years.

“Simon is that really you?” you asked the android as he stood there shocked, looking at you as if he saw an apparition.

“(Y/N), what are doing here?” Simon barely squeaked out, astonished that he was seeing you before him. You leapt forward enveloping the android in a loving embrace as you began to weep.

“I-I thought you were d-dead!” you exclaimed through sobs as you clutched the android, thinking that if you let go for even a microsecond, he would disappear again. Simon clutched you as well pulling you protectively closer to himself, shushing you and trying to get you to calm down. You wept and sobbed for about 5 minutes as years of burden were lifted from you.

“I-I missed you so much, I thought that you were gone forever, and I never got to say goodbye.” you cried into the android’s shoulder, begging God to never take Simon away from you ever again. “I gave up everything I had just so I could find you, my house, job, everything. I never got to tell you something and it’s chipped away at me for years.” you told Simon as he kept you close, fearing that HE might lose YOU.

“What did you want to tell me?” Simon questioned as he pulled away slightly to look at your face. You leapt forwards and kissed the android on the lips, savoring what you wished you did that day after work. Simon was surprised by this and kissed you back, wishing to rA9 that you would never go. You pulled away to look at his beautiful ocean-blue eyes.

“I love you. I always have, and always will, if you’ll have me?” you asked Simon as you played the love’s version of Russian roulette. You noticed as the LED on Simon’s temple glowed a steady golden color before turning blue once more.

“YES!” Simon exclaimed as he pulled you into another short kiss. “I love you too and will love you until the day I permanently shut down.” Simon told you as you stayed in his loving arms.

North had left by that point to do whatever she needed to do, but Markus stayed behind to watch this display of affection between a new couple. You turned around to see Markus with a smile on his face as he looked at the love a human and an android can have. Markus looked you in the eyes as he made a decision.

“I’ve always thought that having a human in Jericho could help teach those among us that hate humanity, that the human race isn’t entirely evil. Wouldn’t you agree, Simon?” Markus asked your new lover which got Simon’s gaze off of you and towards his leader.

“Yes, that could definitely work. We should strive for harmony together and this would be a great steppingstone to do so. What to you think?” Simon asked you as he looked back down at you. You thought about it and decided in favor of it. Humans should live peacefully with androids as equals and should love each other.

“I’m up for it.” you say as you look up at your android boyfriend, mesmerized by his still perfect appearance.

“Well, then it’s decided. Welcome to Jericho, (Y/N). Here we’ll forge a better future for androids and mankind.” Markus declared before he and Simon walked you down to the rest of the deviants on the ship.

You found Simon after years, years of never giving up and never taking the easy way out, and you were rewarded for it. The reward you got was one in which you got to confess your love to the one who you always loved, and on top of that, you get to make a better, harmonious world at his side; a world in which humanity and androids can live in peace and love, together, forever.

#detroit become human #simon #dbh simon #dbh simon x reader #simon pl600 #simon pl600 x reader #simon x reader

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itzagothamcitysiren · 4 years

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Welcome to the Family

Quick thanks to everyone whose liked this story so far! I just realized I have over 100 followers, which yes isn’t the highest number compared to others BUT coming onto this site from other’s that are pretty dead that number’s perfect for me and makes me really happy! So thank you all!

You’re Taking Up a Fraction of My Mind pt.6

Halley knew something was wrong only moments after the three men made it home after a long night of patrol. The Joker had escaped last night and she’d never seen any of the men of the house like this before. But even with Gotham’s most wanted lose again, she knew that that wasn’t the only thing causing the tension consuming the room. She sat on the couch, her nervous habit on full display but unnoticed as Dick and Jason were dead silent, face’s emotionless as they glared holes into the TV that played some movie none of the three were really even paying attention too.

They were in the manor alone as somehow, by some miracle, Alfred managed to get Bruce away from the Batcave. Bruce was reluctant, determination setting in, but Alfred demanded that he stop playing dress up for an afternoon and take care of the responsibilities he’d been pushing off. The annual Wayne Enterprises Charity Gala was fast approaching and Alfred scolded the man as he drank his morning coffee, reminding him who he was besides Batman.

“You’re not just Batman, you’re also Bruce Wayne,” Alfred reprimanded, refusing to let him follow more dead leads on the Joker.

Alfred ordered the teenagers and Dick to spend the day together, stating how they should have some normal sibling bonding. He ignored Jason’s protests, saying how they weren’t actually siblings. Alfred quickly quieted him with one look, as Bruce also chimed in, saying that it would be good for them. He just wanted them to suffer like he was, Jason puffed his chest out and thought as the two older men left for the day.

Halley looked away from the TV, only moving her head as to not draw attention to herself. She looked at Jason, sitting slumped back in a chair, wearing a blank expression but Halley could tell he was in a sour mood. She had asked him this morning what happened last night, mentioning his texts but he just shrugged her off and said it was nothing. She frowned, feeling as if he was shutting her out again when she thought they were finally over that. She wanted to push him put remembered how she felt when Dick had pushed her to talk yesterday and she didn’t want to make him feel cornered like that. He wasn’t like her when she’d just shut down and clamp up, he’d lash out and they would surely fight again and she didn’t want that.

She moved her eyes to look at Dick, who sat on the opposing couch. He wasn’t looking at the TV anymore, instead down at his phone. One hand was typing almost furiously as the other arm was resting behind his head, propping his head up. His eyes focused on the screen, his face furrowing. Halley chewed on the tip of her thumb, feeling a pit of anxiety, wondering who he was talking too. She didn’t know why it bugged her but with how both boys were acting, she knew he was most likely complaining to either Kori or Wally about it.

Jason had been fine, perfect even, until Dick showed up and she knew something happened between the pair; she wanted to know what but had no clue how to approach either boy about it. Clearing her throat, getting both of them to look at her quickly before darting their eyes back to their previous positions, she let her presence be known. She shifted in her spot, lifting her legs up to fold up to her chest, leaning her head down to rest on her knees.

She looked back at Jason, seeing him looking back at her from the corner of his eyes. She gave him a soft smile which caused him to loosen up and give her a smile back. He tensed back up when Dick let out a strangled cough, shooting him a glare. Halley caught it and jerked her to face him making Dick jump in place. She narrowed her eyes at him before reaching to the coffee table and grabbing the remote. The former assassin pressed down on the power button, slamming the remote back onto the coffee table and letting her feet rest back on the floor. The sudden silence made the tension of the room even more unbearable but now more so for the boys than the girl who sat now fuming in the middle of them.

“What the hell is your problem?” She exclaimed, looking between the two of them. “And don’t say nothing, because I know that’s bullshit!”

“There’s nothing-,” Dick started, slipping his phone into his pant pockets.

“I just said that’s bullshit,” Halley glared, not letting him finish his lie. She stood up, flaring her arms out in frustration before turning to leave the room. “You two are a couple of babies.”

She left the two alone, marching her way up to her room. She didn’t care about ‘Mandatory Sibling Bonding Time’ if this was how they were going to act. She wasn’t surprised at Jason acting this way, disappointed, but not surprised. But Dick, she’d never seen him act like such a, well, like Jason had said, a dick, before. At this point she didn’t even care about what happened between them. She just wanted to them to suck it up and get over themselves.

She knew Jason had jealousy and self-confidence issues and figured it had something to do with the former Robin being back but what the hell was Dick’s excuse? She thought back to their conversation yesterday and how he’d acted when he found out that she and Jason were getting close. Did he also have jealousy issues she hadn’t known about? Scoffing and rolling her eyes at the thought, she finally knew what Kori meant when she said Earth Boys were stupid. Speaking of which-

“Hey, wait!”

Halley didn’t stop her ascent up the stairs as she heard Dick’s voice calling out to her, he was only a few steps away behind her. She kept walking, mumbling about how she didn’t want to talk to either of them at the moment. Dick wouldn’t back down like he ended up doing last night, reaching out for grab her forearm to stop her.

“I said wait,” He said as she was forced to stop. He didn’t falter when he saw her face glaring up at him, jerking her arm out of his grasp. “I’m sorry,”

“For what?” She crossed her arms against her chest. When Dick took too long to think of a response she responded for him, shaking her head in annoyance, turning around to finish the walk back to her room.

“Seriously, stop.” Dick began again, reaching for her arm again. It was her now that was being childish, not him, he told himself. “It was just- just a long night.” He decided with. “How about we get out for a bit? We haven’t had an ‘us’ day in a while, we can go to Caroline’s and the Gala’s coming up, you still need something to wear. We can go get that taken cared of afterwards.”

Halley waited for him to unhand her, thinking about his offer as he looked at her expectantly. She crossed her arms again, popping her hip out as she made him wait anxiously for her answer. She blinked at him a few times, really letting her hesitation eat him up. Once she felt like he was punished enough, for now, anyways, she opened her mouth,

“It is ‘Mandatory Sibling Bonding Time’.” She said without a specific tone to her voice. She felt herself smirking when Dick’s face lightened. Oh, how she would crush that look and smear it off his face, she thought sinisterly. “Jason comes with us or no deal. You’ll also have to get over whatever this is,” she said waving her hands in a circle at his person.

Dick bit his lip, not sure he liked either of his ultimatums but he knew he had no other options. He couldn’t physically drag her out, she’d kick his ass. Not only her, but if Bruce and Alfred found out he took Halley out and left Jason, oh the reprimanding he’d get, more so from the butler than his adoptive father, but still. Unenthusiastically, he found himself nodding his head, making the deal with no other choice.

His mood hadn’t changed, the group deciding on skipping Caroline’s and going straight to the Gotham Mall, figuring food court food would work just fine. He was glad when Jason suggested it, being that they’d be able to avoid the awkward silence that would find them if they went to an actual restaurant and had to wait to be sat and wait for the food. At least the food court was loud, already not a great place for conversation and it was a whole lot quicker.

They took to the food court first, Dick settling with some pizza, while Halley and Jason decided to split a takeout container of Chinese food, both saying how they weren’t too hungry and the portions where enough for two. Dick sat next to Halley, Jason sitting across from her, both picking at the foam container in the middle of them.

Dick felt his nerves rise as he heard Halley let out a sort giggle. He eyed her with wide eyes, he never heard her giggle before. His eyes narrowed when he saw the pair goofing around, Jason using his fork to steal whatever piece of chicken she tried picking up and stuffing it in his mouth. He felt the table move as she kicked Jason’s shin playfully. He wanted to comment but just took another of his pizza, willing himself to keep his mouth shut.

Once they finished, Dick led the way, trying to remember the stores Kori suggested he try for Halley, having texted her for help when they left the manor. He was clueless with these types of things and knew Halley was too; this was probably going to be more of a disaster than it already felt but he’d try to keep his head on straight for Halley. Though, he found it more and more difficult too as they found themselves in some high scale dress shop, and Jason began shoving clothing at Halley to try on.

“She is not wearing that.” Dick stated firmly, pulling the dress from the stack of clothes in Halley’s grasp. He put it back on the rack, giving Jason a warning look.

“What’s wrong with it?” Jason tested, reaching for the hanger, putting it back on the stack.

“Oh gee, I don’t know? The fact that it doesn’t have a back to it?” Dick said as if it was obvious, again taking the hanger once again and placing it back, this time putting his hands on Halley’s shoulders and making her move on.

“It’s her first gala, she needs to look as flashy as all the Karen’s and Tiffany’s there.” Jason laughed, pulling another dress out. It was a less revealing dress, but apparently still too revealing as Dick shot him another warning look.

“She’s fifteen. She doesn’t need to impress anyone.” Dick grumbled, pulling a dress of his own choice out. It was a navy blue, lacey dress with long sleeves and turtleneck neckline. He placed it on top of the pile where the dress Jason had chosen once sat.

�� “She’s also right here to make her own choices.” Halley finally spoke up, already feeling overwhelmed by the clothes in her hands.

She thought shopping with Kori was a lot, but this, this was awful. She looked at the dresses in her hands, trying not to drop any as she scanned her eyes over them. None of these caught her eye; they were all just dresses that Dick and Jason threw at her. She pushed the dresses to Dick, making him hold them instead of her. She then began to pick out the ones she knew she would absolutely not be trying on and shoved them to Jason’s chest.

She was already freaking out about her first Gala, trying to not think about it since Alfred told her about it one morning during the car ride to school. If she was going to this thing she was going to try to be at least a little comfortable in her skin. She had worn dresses before but only maybe a handful of times while being undercover for a job, like the time her and her father had been hired to take down some emissary from Markovia. But this was different; this was her first time out officially as part of the Bruce Wayne’s family.

“Do you need any help over here?” A woman approached them, eyeing as they had been roughly handling the merchandise.

At first glance her and her co-workers were annoyed, seeing the teens and young adult carelessly handling the clothes but as she approached, she noted Dick and Jason, seeing them in the papers and knowing them as Bruce Wayne’s kids. She also heard about the new member of the family, and realized this must be her. Changing the look on her face, she let out a wide smile; she knew they had money to spend.

“Yeah, she needs a dress.” Jason said bluntly, jabbing a finger at Halley, somewhat annoyed that most of his choices had been the ones in the pile of clothes she tossed at him.

“Oh, what’s the occasion?” The worker clasped her hands together.

“Erm, a gala?” Halley said, thrown off by the woman’s sudden perkiness, remembering getting this same treatment during her first few weeks at Gotham Academy.

“That’s exciting! I can help you find the perfect dress!” the woman exclaimed, beginning to lead Halley off to the back. She pointed to an area that had a bunch of plushy white chairs, looking to Dick and Jason before down to Halley, placing a manicured hand on her shoulder. “Your brother’s can wait over there while I show you our more appropriate selection of dresses for that kind of event!”

Halley sent her ‘brothers’ a pleading and desperate look of help as the woman led her away. Dick and Jason chuckled after her, stopping when they realized that they were now left alone together. Begrudgingly, they walked to where the woman had pointed out. They slumped down into their own chairs, distracting themselves with their phones, trying everything in their power to not have to make conversation, occasionally looking up to see the worker hurriedly bring dresses and shoes into the fitting rooms behind them.

“She’s probably freaking out.” Jason chuckled, cursing as he spoke out loud.

“Yea, there’s no way she’d going to wear those.” Dick nodded, amused as the woman held a pair of shimmery pink heals.

The pair gave each other a soft glare when they realized they talked to each other. They went right back into their chosen silence. Jason going back to his phone and scrolling through different articles on his phone, uninterestedly. Dick sighed, leaning back into the seat and letting his eyes people watch after looking at the time on his watch.

Inside the dressing room, Halley felt herself begin to panic. This woman was worse than Dick and Jason, she thought with wide eyes. She stared at herself in the mirror after being in the dressing room for at least thirty minutes now. The dress she wore was gorgeous but she hated it on her. Her arms where still a little scarred and she felt naked as her they were on display. She zoomed in on them, deciding to start unzipping herself out of the dress. The scars weren’t all that noticeable, she could easily cover them up with make-up if she wanted but she just felt like they stuck out like a sore thumb.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really like it-,” she lied; she actually really liked that dress.

“Oh,” The woman trying to help her said, trying to hide her irritation but Halley could tell she was growing sick of her. She’d turned down every dress she offered. Certain ones were in fact ugly but there were exactly a handful that she actually really liked. The woman frowned, trying to figure out what the girl was exactly looking for now, seeing the pile of clothes she’d have to put away later, “What don’t you like about the dress?”

Halley thought about it for a second, unsure what to say because there wasn’t really anything she hadn’t disliked. She liked the red, it made her paler skin look less pasty and more porcelain, almost like she was really a daughter of a billionaire. It hugged her forming figure well, not too tight but not baggy like how most of her wardrobe fit her. She could get over the arm thing or she hoped. It was a little to long for her taste, knowing she’d be tripping over the floor length gown all night if she wore it, especially with the heels she’d most likely be stuck wearing.

“It’s too long.” She stated, staring at it before letting it fall off her and onto the floor.

“Okay, I can work with that. I’ll be right back, I think I have it!” The worker said, stating that she’d be right back.

Dick frowned as he saw the woman rushing out of the dressing room once again, with a new look of determination. Jason had since abandoned him, saying how he was going to go to the bathroom. That was about fifteen minutes ago and he had a feeling Jason wasn’t coming back anytime soon, not that it matter to Dick. He’d be sitting in silence regardless. He tapped his fingers on the arms on the chair as the woman walked past him again with a new dress in hand and some other accessories and stuff in hand.

A few minutes later he heard a hushed voice calling his name. He looked up, turning his head towards the doorway to the fitting rooms. He raised an eyebrow as he saw Halley peeking her head out, noting the red lipstick that suddenly appeared on her lips. He looked at her in confusion, being thrown off by just that simple change in appearance. She looked frazzled, but somewhat excited? He realized he was frozen in place when she looked frustrated, waving him to come to her. With a new face of concern at her look of urgency he rose from his spot. She disappeared into the room before he could get to her, finding himself moving a little faster.

He turned the corner, feeling as if his jaw would hit the ground when he saw the girl standing in front of him and a large mirror. The woman who had been close to giving up helping the girl stood next to her. She was straightening out the bottom of the skirt of the dress, the hem ending just in the middle of her calf, standing once she was satisfied with her work. Halley stood facing the mirror, looking at her reflection with a look on her face that Dick never seen her wear before.

Halley actually felt pretty for once; it felt weird. It felt so cliché but she didn’t know who the girl in the mirror was. Besides the neckline and length, the woman had come back with a dress similar to the one she had one previously. But there was something different about this one. For some reason this one gave her some level of confidence she never had but at the same time she felt so self-conscious about herself. It was so not her but it felt good looking at the girl in the mirror.

She was staring at her bare arms and legs, instead at the skirt of the dress and the dark red heels that matched. The woman gave her a necklace but at the last minute decided it was too flashy, instead bringing red lipstick from the sales floor and applying it to the girl’s lips. She’d never worn lipstick before and she had no idea why she was liking it.

She saw Dick standing a few feet behind her and blushed, turning around to look at him shyly. She wrapped her arms around herself suddenly feeling stupid for the way she was dressed.

“Is this too much? Will it be okay?” She began fretting, silently thanking the woman who helped her as she left the room to give them a moment. “I mean it’s not terrible. The other ones were too much, but what do I know? Does this look terrible?” She stammered out, turning to face the mirror again, beginning to pick at the dress, eyes wide in an almost panic.

Dick made his way over to her, gently taking her hands away from their tugging and let them stay in his. He saw her swallow, nervously looking at him. He made sure his face was calm, knowing she was freaking out on the inside. He took a good look at her again, finding himself smiling and feel a pang of pride as his eyes scanned her.

“I think you look beautiful in it.” He said earnestly, somewhat pulling away to get a better look. “I think you should get it, you’ll be the best dressed there.” He confirmed with himself, nodding.

“You think so?” She said softly, looking down at her feet in embarrassment.

“Absolutely.” Dick nodded, letting go of her hands. He saw her give him a look a disbelief. He chuckled, turning back into in normal playful self, hating to see her be so hard on herself. “Honestly Halley, I love it.”

“Okay,” Halley felt herself believing his words, looking to the side to get another peek in the mirror. She knew it was stupid to worry and gush this much over a dress, but she couldn’t stop herself from doing just that. She nodded with a grin, stepping away from him and the mirror and moved towards the fitting room. As she began to peel the dress off, she couldn’t help but feel some sort of excitement for the gala that was coming up.

After she changed back to her regular clothes, she met Dick outside of the fitting rooms where they went up to the counter to pay for the dress along with her shoes and make-up that the woman gathered for her. She eyed the extra items, insisting that she didn’t need them upon hearing the price but Dick shushed her, pulling out Bruce’s credit card and waving his playfully in her face.

They excited the shop, seeing Jason leaning against the doorway, with his hands in his pockets. He looked bored as anything, looking at them in relief. “About damn time, Jesus Christ that took like an hour- wait, are you wearing lipstick?”

“Yes,” Halley’s hand flew up to cover her mouth, as Jason noticed her red stained lips. She felt her cheeks heat up again as he snickered at her.

“You are you and what have you done to Halley?” He teased, ignoring Dick as he told him to stop. “I’m just messing, she knows that.” He laughed, rolling his eyes at Dick as they started walked towards the mall exit.

Jason shot her another glance when she lowered her hand. He let his eyes look over her face, finding it as a good look on her. She looked kinda hot, he thought but immediately stopped himself. No, he rushed, she wasn’t. She was adorable, yeah, adorable; that word felt a little bit better to him. He definitely, one-hundred percent, did not think she was hot.

#Jason Todd #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd x oc #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd as robin #dick grayson #dick grayson x oc #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x sister!reader #Dick Grayson x batsis #Batsis #batfam x batsis #batboys x batsis #bruce wayne x reader #batman fanfiction #deathstroke daughter #dc comics fanfic

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sameteeth · 4 years

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NOT to be found family on main BUT pls consider.. lucy adopting/parenting the lost boys after max gets killed

the boys all survive, albiet with injuries that take a while to heal bc they were all injured w Vampire Killing Intent. theyre all laying around in the hotel when lucy marches in, first aid kit in hand and sam being dragged reluctantly w her. micheal tags along too. lucy is horrified at the messy ass cave but doesnt clean bc she knows its not Her Space, its the boys and she respects their privacy/independence.

marko is doing the worst, since the boys could only give him rudimentary first aid before rushing off to attack micheal/the frog bros. he’s feverish and delirious and thinks lucy is his mom. she cradles his cheek and pets his hair as she patches up his chest (marko is trans and lucy is like Hell Yeah Another Trans Son). the stake missed his heart but his lungs are fucked now bc getting stabbed as a vamp is Not Great.

dwayne is next- he’s got a big scar on his back and nerve damage from the electrocution. maybe some cool lightening scars once he heals up. he has more trouble w memory now bc yknow. brain damage. lots of flashing can possibly trigger seizures for him, and he has issues with movement disorder type things- tics, uncontrollable shaking, etc.

paul is just absolutely covered in burns, and his hair is falling out in chunks bc his skin is peeling off. think acid burns? his skin gets a little melty and he’s got some bad scarring, esp in his face once he heals. he takes the longest to heal just because he can’t do much of anything without tearing his skin up bc its super delicate as it grows back. its a very frustrating process. hes normally a cheery dude but he kinda falls into a funk trying to recover.

david is similar to marko in his injuries. he’s got some lung issues afterwards but he mostly heals ok. he’s more guarded around lucy, and he heals quicker bc hes the lead vamp and has been around the longest/is stronger than his brothers.

other than marko who passes out after calling lucy mom and crying a little theyre all REALLY nervous around her, theyre all like dogs baring their teeth when they cant even stand up. but lucy just goes about her business and tries to help them. sam is scared shitless of the vamps but lucy is 100% fearless and has NO issue telling david off for trying to get up when he should be resting. she brings them animal blood (courtesy of the widow johnson) with straws stuck in it like caprisun and sits there holding an actual caprisun and drinking it with them. she plays pauls records when he asks but usually picks stuff she recognizes as opposed to newer music that sam and micheal like. dwayne finds it kinda nice, bc she likes groovier/more chill music rather than super harsh or fast music. micheal apologizes to david and david apologizes (sort of) to micheal. david is a very prideful dude after all, but he does genuinely feel bad for ruining the emerson’s house/lives because his crazy ass “dad” wanted a make-believe family.

and just bc i hate max- he turned david against his will after seeing him as a kid and thinking “hm id love to be a father but alas i am a vampire, guess i will stalk this abused child until he is adult-ish age and take him as my own!”. no one gave a shit when max took david since his family sucked. david was basically an impromptu parent for a ton of neighborhood kids and his siblings bc his parents were shit and didnt care about him- it was more of an image thing anyways. so he has all the Big Brother instincts but was forced to grow up too young and has trouble cutting loose bc of this. (ill get into this in a later post maybe?). anyways max took all the lost boys in against their wills/without their consent, which is why david doesnt ask micheal to join, he just gets him to drink the blood. which i always thought was fucked up anyways. david only knows vampires who were forced to turn (him and all the lost boys).

meanwhile star takes some time to recover away from the boys and regains her humanity a bit- she does love their little family, cobbled together out of a lot of desperation and a lot of love, but she needs some time away to think things over now that she knows it wasnt david who was holding her there, it was max. laddie is super worried about his big bros and goes completely nonverbal (normally he is semiverbal). star is worried about him and convinces lucy to take him to see the boys after the more gorey wounds have healed, bc although laddie has Seen Some Shit he is also a Literal Child and doesn’t deserve to be exposed to that. and now that he has a Genuine Adult who isnt a weird vampire looking after him, lucy can make sure he gets looked after and treated like a child. bc although the lost boys did their best, none of them are really Parents.

lucy backs off once the boys are more healed, but they end up spending a lot of time at the emerson’s anyways!! they help rebuild the house and clean up, since the plumbing got fuckin destroyed and the house is kind of missing a wall. grandpa is annoyed abt it but he puts the boys to work(at night ofc), since he’s crotchety but he’s also noticed that the missing/murdered people usually arent good people. paul loves to bake with lucy and dwayne loves to cook/try new recipes for people who will appreciate a fancy meal (hes secretly grandpas fav for the food only). paul also loves to bond w lucy over music and actually gets on well with sam- he’s got a slacker middle child vibe that sam warms up to eventually and they become super tight! marko and sam have a youngest-sibling rivalry (kind of) but it eventually fades from constant bickering into them tag-teaming whining at david or micheal or dwayne for whatever they want this time. micheal and dwayne vibe really well bc dwayne likes to spend quality time w people by sitting with them in silence, doing their own thing, and micheal enjoys just vibing w people since sam is loud and his mom always anxiously fills silence w chatter. nothing against her, but sometimes its a lot for micheal, so he enjoys just sitting with dwayne in silence for hours at a time.

marko realizes maybe 2 months after they recover that he called lucy mom and avoids the house for like a week out of embarrassment, but lucy just smiles and calls him her crafty animal son and pats his stupid mullet. he loves to bring her animals, especially birds since she has some experience keeping birds. they dont keep the wild animals but lucy does notice that more wildlife seems to come around the house now that the lost boys are visiting. sam and david have the funniest relationship bc sam is like “fuck you i fucking hate you” and david is like “my friends little brother foams like a rabid chihuahua when i come over pls help”. sam wont be rude to david bc lucy said be nice but he will also not Interact Unless Necessary so like. david will be like “hey! champ..! how was... school!” bc hes trying to be fucking nice but he hasnt interacted with childrne other than laddie in Years and sam will be like “good.” and they just fucking stare at each other while dwayne does ollies in the background until marko and paul roll in with scissors and bleach like “WHO WANTS A MAKEOVER MICHEAL ALREADY GOT ONE” and micheal is chasing them with tinfoil in his hair with a stuffed woodchuck in his hands ready to murder

#the lost boys #the king writes meta #is this meta?? idk but damn i sure wrote it! hopefully i can figure out how to do an under the cut thingy bc this is long as FUCK #anyways autism brain go brrrrrrrr #gore tw #medical tw #injury tw #death mention #written gore #im tagging just to be safe but its all under the cut #ask to tag if needed

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ijaws · 5 years

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My Captain Marvel Review

Before I do this, I want to clarify a few things. There are going to be both personal opinions on the character and simple objective observations from a different perspective that what most people are doing in defense of this character. I am not sexist. I am not racist. I am not misogynistic. I do not identify with the Alt-Right and consider myself a centrist. I believe that modern Feminism (Contrary to Classical Egalitarian-Feminism) is a toxin in society and now it has translated into the MCU through her movie.

I just wanted to put this out there first because any time I make any sort of evaluation of her movie or her as a character I get bombarded with hate, personal attacks, and people telling me why I hated the movie or something when they don't personally know me and aren't me. (You just hate strong female characters! Bitch, go look at my profile. I fucking LOVED Rescue, SCARLET FUCKING WITCH, and Nebula is literally one of my most favorite characters in the MCU... They were ALL badass in End Game)

So if you like her as a character and if you like her movie, please do not think that my observations of her or her movie are a personal attack against you. I've had so many people take my viewpoint personally for some reason and it no longer is a debate as they close their minds off to anything I say and start becoming immediately dismissive. I mean no disrespect in any of my viewpoints. I just feel like I needed to put this out there because... again... more often then not I'm dealing with some radical feminist that will foam at the mouth and protect her beloved character from any opposing viewpoint irrationally.

Lastly...

PLEASE. DO. NOT. REBLOG. WITH. A. REBUTTAL. AND. BLOCK. ME. LIKE. A. COWARD.

FUCKING. @. ME.

I’M JUST LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WITH A BRAIN TO GIVE ME A GOOD COUNTER ARGUMENT TO THIS.

Okay, so, I personally believe that Captain Marvel and her movie were a toxic addition to the franchise. This is going to be a little long, obviously, but I would appreciate it of you read through. Clearly you don't have to because it is a huge ass wall of text but taking in viewpoints that aren’t constantly validating your own is HEALTHY... So please read?

Firstly, they retconned the Skrull, that are one of the most recognizable villainous races in all of fiction like Klingons and Orcs, to be refugees of a war that they'd lost. In the comics they have 100% control of the Andromeda Galaxy as one massive Empire and the Kree were definitely not in the position to eradicate the Skrulls. They could put up a good fight, but I feel that the Skrulls were too well fortified in Andromeda to really be defeated by the Kree. That's the first, shortest, issue I disliked about the movie. They nerfed the hell out of the Skrulls to being simple refugees... and innocent. I'm sorry, but no... This is like going into the Star Trek Universe and retconning the Klingons to be some peace loving hippies. They were also some of the most human characters in the entire movie besides Nick and the Black Best friend. (I can't remember her name... she didn't stand out to me.) They were DEFINITELY more human than Carol Danvers herself. The moment when Talos goes to his family on Mar-Vells ship and hugs them was definitely the most human part of the entire film and it cemented my thoughts on the character. My favorite character in the entire movie was Talos. A lot more likable, interesting, and funny than Carol Danvers was... I wish the movie had entirely about him at this point because it would have been a better film by FAR.

Secondly, the themes. There was a clear message that this movie was trying to sell long before it even hit theaters, and that was Modern Feminism. The Air Force advertisements featuring female pilots, the girl-power advertisements, and so on. The movie was clearly trying have a target audience of young women or young girls and there's nothing wrong with that. However, I started to feel a bit off put by the movie when it showed literally ever male human character that wasn't Nick, Coulson, or the Skrull Leader, Talos, was a sexist prick. LITERALLY every single one of them were sexist. Even her Father. I understand in the comics her and her father never got along or something of that nature, but I personally feel that if they wanted to push the whole sexism narrative that they should have lead it with her father and kept it with her father. Instead they extended the narrative to every male in the entire movie and in her flashbacks.

I feel there needs to be a specific section on the flashbacks alone. Okay, so, in her flashbacks quite literally every single bad thing that happened to her was because of a man.

Carol was riding in that Go Kart and the boy told her she was going too fast. Of course in a feminist movie we can't have a girl listen to what a boy has to say, even if he may know more about what she was doing than she did, and so she goes and crashes horrifically. I thought it was a brutal crash.

A second later and her Dad appears looking down at his busted up and bleeding daughter, that I'd be taking to a hospital in a heartbeat, saying that she didn't belong there.

Okay, that alone is unrealistic to me to begin with. There are a VERY few fathers out there that would have the first words coming out of their mouth being that she didn't belong to be out there. It would be about her health, asking if she was okay, and they would be looking her over as best as possible. However, I will agree with the Father's initial comment that she didn't belong out there on the track. Why? Well I wouldn't want my daughter, who was too stubborn to listen to a boy that was giving good advice when she was doing something dangerous, to do anything dangerous again. Damn right she doesn't belong in dangerous, male, situations and jobs if she's going to act that way. The girl is going to get herself killed.

Then there's the whole, 'You know what it's called a cockpit, right?' scene and that alone, while not improbable, was unneeded at this point. We already had two male characters expressing their inherent, evil, sexism. Oh, but they went even further than that and got the motorcycle guy in there as well telling her to smile and everything. (Woulda been the first smile in that movie so far at that point for Brie.) While that does happen they’re continuing to beat a dead horse… Then later on it shows her being bullied on a beach when she’s REALLY little by BOYS he knock her down.

Then in Basic Training they’re all yelling out to her that she’s gonna die or and things of that nature are more or less unrealistic as well. My father was in the military and was going through basic around the same time that she was and he went into the same branch. The Air Force. When you go into the military they tell you that you are to be colorblind. That you are to be ONE force. ONE unit. You are a team and NOTHING should stand in the way of that. The means that racism, sexism, or any sort of predisposed idealism that puts on person down while raising another up is to be crushed and blown away like dust in the wind. It has no place in the Military as it reduces its effectiveness. So in that training scene where they’re yelling at Carol that she’s going to die and that she’s going to fail is NOT a proper representation of what happens in basic training. Maybe the Drill Instructors to stress you out or drill it into you that what your doing is dangerous and the military itself is dangerous, but not by your fellow team members. If anything your fellow team members are supportive because there are group punishments for your weakest link in your unit… If they fail, you all fail. If one person is stupid, you ALL get punished for their stupidity. So for her fellow trainees to be putting her down like that makes next to no sense and it is CLEARLY intimating the issue of women in the workplace not being able to do what a man can do or women simply being put down in the workplace for simply being women.

So, I don't necessarily agree with the route in which they went about the topic of sexism. The execution and presentation were not done well in my opinion. While you may have felt it resonated with you, what about the boys and the men?

Marvel Movies have always been oriented towards everyone. They've been family movies. Not one Marvel Movie has been solely and strictly for men. Why? Because movies with male leads don't focus on the fact that they are MALE leads... There's nothing special about a male lead or male actor in a film. They don't feel the need to point it out or make the male actor into a champion for men and masculinity.

So, again, what does this film tell you about men? It tells you what I've described. That men are sexist oppressors that want nothing more than to see women fail, smile, and do what they say. That men think women can't do the same job that a man can and that women aren't as strong as men. That's a message that is being conveyed here... and that's the ONLY message you get on the subject. That's the bottom line. There's no, 'but not all men-' in this film. There's no redemption act, representation (I know a lot of you love that word so here you go... You won’t like it cause I’m using it in a way you disagree with it.), or presentation of the fact that men will stand for women in face of true sexism. There isn't any sort of male role model to learn from in the film. Nick is there for comedic relief, Coulson is barely in the film, and the Skrull isn't even human. There's no outreach to TEACH boys and young men that sexism is bad. It simply states that men are sexist. That's literally it. This movie was for girls and girls alone, which is a failure in and of itself on the side of Marvel, and it is simply teaching them that men will do this. That boys will do this. There's nothing there to teach boys to not do that or any sort of redeeming quality for men in the film at all. Is this wrong?

So, yes, if you think it presented the female experience realistically, which I felt it did not in certain scenes, than I am not one to try and change your mind. I've never been in a woman's shoes and I've never experienced sexism from men like that. I'll let my opinions stand for themselves.

While I agree that sexism is truly a problem in society and still lingers, I simply feel that it wasn't presented well enough. That's my main issue with sexism in this film.

On a personal level I felt that if you’re a guy going to see this movie that you should prepare to feel like an asshole. The entire film is intimating that men are oppressing women, that men see women as objects that need to smile more, that women aren’t as strong as a guy or can’t do what a guy can do. It puts men in a bad light and sort of validates the Modern Feminist talking points and agendas that all men are evil, shallow, vile creatures that want to oppress women because they think that they are objects and aren’t as tough, strong, or brave as men.

(If Marvel had made a Movie about a Man that acted arrogant, cold, emotionless, and super super super strong and made all the female characters in his past trying to put him down, were annoying, were emotionally manipulative and controlling, were emotionally abusive, were using men for their wealth or income, and were lying cheaters with no sort of redemption character for women to prove things differently I think that this movie would have tanked.)

Thirdly, a shallow Carol Danvers. With all that being said up above, I feel like that all that made her character VERY shallow. The ONLY reason she’s a pilot, the ONLY reason she’s ‘strong independent woman’, the ONLY reason why she’s a hero is because she’s a woman that’s been put down by men her entire life. To prove that she can be a strong independent woman, and that men can’t keep her down anymore. It’s a consistent attitude of hers to challenge men regardless of who they are or to act arrogant towards them as when first seen by Nick Fury. Immediately upon seeing him she acts a bit sassy, or arrogant, because Nick isn’t knowledgeable about the alien conflicts that exists or doesn’t believe her about the shapeshifting Skrulls. This entire issue sort of cheapens the character as well because if you created the character with the sole purpose to be a conduit or avatar for feminism and feminist talking points… where do you go from there? All of her personality traits, all of her history, and everything that made Carol Danvers who she is about the oppressive nature of men. Once that is solved, which it is in her movie after she gains the full scale of her powers, where do you go from there?

For example in the Amazing Spider Man movies with Andrew Garfield his story was that his parents had died a long time ago and he knew nothing about them. After discovering some papers belonging to his father it becomes a story about self-discovery. To learn about his parents and what happened to them. To understand and connect with them in the only way he could which was through Dr. Conners. Later, since he is on this journey of discovery about his father and mother’s demise, he forgets to walk Aunt May home and Uncle Ben is mad at him for not remembering to do this and that he needs to start being responsible. Peter gets frustrated because this relates to his own past and current journey of understanding. To his father. Why did his father die? Why was he sent to his Aunt and Uncle's house when he had a responsibility to Peter and to be a father? Peter leaves out of this anger and selfishness and Ben attempts to follow. Peter had made his way to a convenience store and was trying to buy some milk but is a few cents short and lets a thief rob the place due to the cashier being somewhat of an asshole about it. While on his search for Peter, Uncle Ben encounters the thief and tries to stop him and that gets him shot. Uncle Ben dies and Peter realizes that it's his fault. That he had the power and strength to do the right thing but simply stood there and did nothing. That is what begins his quest as a Superhero. If a good person has the power to do something to save someone’s life, but doesn’t, are they really a good person? Are they just as bad as the man that pulled the trigger by letting someone die? So that becomes who Peter is. Peter isn’t a hero because he’s a strong white kid who got bit by a weird spider. Peter isn’t a strong hero because he’s a man or because women or men were keeping him down. Peter is a strong hero because he learned the HARD way that if you have the power to stop someone from doing something that could cost an innocent person their life, and do nothing, you’re just as bad as the guy that pulled that trigger…

Hell, Shazam’s is, ‘If you can’t save your family, what kind of Hero are you?’ I’m not sure if I got the wording perfect, but even the REAL Captain Marvel here stands for something that has deeper meaning and truth. Shazam is ALL about family and fighting for them...

That is a much deeper, much BETTER, character traits than the simple feminist argument that Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel stands for. That she’s a strong because she’s a woman. That she’s strong because she won’t let men keep her down anymore. That she can do whatever a man can do and do it even better. I simply feel like that cheapens the character and is a very boring, shallow, and limited origin story because throughout a Hero’s career they will be challenged on their morals and the reasoning behind what they do. (And GIRL POWER is already something that has been established in Cinema for well over 50 years...) Batman’s is vengeance versus justice. That is a HUGE topic for the hero and he has been struggling with that issue for decades. An argument could be made towards Shazam that his reason for being a hero and doing good, to protect his family, isn’t FOR his family or BECAUSE his family… it’s because he’s scared to be alone again. That could be a good inner struggle for Shazam. So what sort of personal beliefs are going to be challenged when it comes to Captain Marvel? What sort of personal dilemma or inner struggle can she possibly go through? Why is she a hero? Cause even if you extend her origin story away from her childhood and to the Kree Empire where she was being trained to be used as a weapon against the Skrull that goes back to the issue of oppression and ties in with the rest of her history. Carol has been oppressed by men, told what to do by men, and has been controlled and used by men (Yon-Rogg is the face of this issue, and once again he’s a man.) for their personal gain and desires.

I’m sorry, but it’s just weak and shallow. There are no further storylines that you can have that sort of validate her reasoning of being a hero without making it some gigantic feminist issue. If the issue isn’t about feminism then she’s simply trying to do the right thing to do the right thing… and ANYONE can do that. It doesn’t make her special. In fact, there’s nothing really special or ultimately heroic about her. All she is a woman that achieved powers and saved a couple of refugees and declared war on a corrupt Empire. It’s… weak. Steve Rogers fights for Freedom and fights against Tyranny and was forced to reevaluate America and Shield during Winter Soldier and Civil War. These CHALLENGED his very meaning of being a Hero and what he stood for... The Hulk and Bruce Banner fight because they’re constantly being hunted to be exploited for their power, and not just by people who want to use him for evil, but also by people that want to his power for good… the bottom line is Bruce and Hulk fight to escape being used as a chess piece. They just want to be left alone. In this sense they aren’t even a hero, and that makes it even better for them as a character because it makes their choices and issues interesting to say the least… Black Widow fights because she’s trying to make up for the evils of her past. Tony fights because he wants to protect who he loves most and that he feels he has an obligation to Earth and to protect innocent people from being killed like the ones that were being killed by the weapons he designed to protect them in Iron Man 1.

I’ll leave that there though. I think the last thing I want to talk about is the Mary Sue aspect of captain Marvel. Just so people don’t immediately hate me for calling her a Mary Sue I’m going to copy and paste the definition.

Mar·y Sue

noun

noun: Mary Sue; plural noun: Mary Sues

(originally in fan fiction) a type of female character who is depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses.

"she was not a ‘strong woman’ so much as an insufferable Mary Sue"

So Captain Marvel is a Superhero and Superheros, in order to make them appealing and relatable, are ALWAYS shown to have flaws, weaknesses, and things about them that make them more human to the target audience. That’s what makes them lovable and likable. That you can relate to them and understand where they are coming from and sympathize with them. That you can watch them grow as a character and enjoy their Hero’s Journey. In this movie Captain Marvel has no character growth. Carol Danvers is literally the same as she was in the beginning as she was in the end except she has all her powers and now she hates the Kree. Carol Danvers has no personality flaws whatsoever except, maybe, arrogance and trust issues, and those aren’t exactly traits you want to share with her. They aren’t healthy character flaws. Besides that she barely has a personality to begin with for there to be any sort of flaws. ‘She’s spent six years learning to control her emotions,’ I’m sorry, but no. That argument is weak. Just because you learn how to CONTROL your emotions doesn’t mean that you sacrifice your personality in the process.

So with that being said she has no sort of personality flaw about herself and it is shown in the movie that she has no physical or emotional weaknesses either. In the entire movie the only time she was beaten was because of a surprise attack by Talon. From then on out she has consistently kicked ass, NEVER lost a fight, and NEVER physically struggled against any enemy. Carol was super strong and could NOT be stopped. It sucked any sort of drama or any sort of tension out of the movie. You knew she was going to win and be the hero because at that point nothing could stop her. Carol is a badass woman that could not be stopped. Yay Girl Power!

The best opportunity for her to have been given a weakness and a struggle was when she unlocked her full potential and had access to ALL of her power. To make her struggle to control it for the entirety of the battle except towards the end when she takes out those nukes sent down from Ronan. Even Peter Quill had issues controlling his powers and was CONSTANTLY being beaten by Ego until Yandu finally told him that he doesn’t control his inner strength and power with his head… he uses his heart… and that Power Up that he gets after that, after struggling and losing the ENTIRE movie, is extraordinarily satisfying. You LOVE it when he gets that power up. It’s like how in Wonder Woman she gets that power up after losing Steve and she goes ape shit… There’s a huge emotional lead up and tipping point in those scenes, but Captain Marvel doesn’t even do that. Instead she simply closes her eyes, and opens them and has complete control of her powers. It was ridiculous too because she hadn’t trained with even a decent percentage of her powers at her disposal before! For six years she just trained with a small itty bitty bit of her powers and then suddenly she has full control over ALL of her power as soon as unlocking it? That’s like a Fireman being trained to put out fires with a garden hose for six years only then to be dragged out to use a full on fire-hose at full power that usually requires more than one person to control and expected to do just fine…. Like, I’m sorry, but that’s not how that should have worked. After that point she’s basically Superman and cannot be stopped. There’s no fun to it anymore… it’s just a boring overpowered character being overpowered simply because she’s a woman… and this is only going to lead her up to being the hero that fans want to see lose. A LOT of people don’t like Superman because he’s a sort of Gary Stu in a sense and they ALWAYS love seeing him get his ass beat. By Batman, Shazam, Wonder Woman. Everyone enjoys seeing the most powerful man of all get taken down… Especially if they’re on their high horse like Captain Marvel is with her arrogant ass.

Oh yeah, the last thing I wanna add… They had to sex change Mar-Vell, the ORIGINAL Captain Marvel, because, of course, we can’t have a feminist movie with a feminist character that we’re trying to make into a feminist icon look up to a man after all. They had to have her looking up to a female Amelia Earhart sort of character instead of a Red Baron or Wright Brother sort of figure… That kinda peeved me as well.

So with ALL that being said, I simply think that she’s toxic because her entire character is based off of feminism. Modern Feminism at that. (I draw a line between Classical Egalitarian Feminism that I actually agree with, and Modern Feminism.) The issue is that not everyone agrees with the agenda of Modern Feminism and since she’s now the face of it, they’re just going to see an agenda they hate rather than a character they dislike. They’re going to see the Feminist Icon that they despise and won’t pay attention to her as a character. It’s going to cause a rift in the fan base, as it already has, and if she’s going to be made the face of Marvel like they want her to I can bet you that people are going to be finished with Marvel. Real, TRUE, fans of the MCU, not blue haired normie feminists as I’ve heard them described, are going to feel ostracised for not agreeing with Captain Marvels Politics and the fact that she’s so powerful simply because of girl power. I feel that with the introduction of her as a Feminist Icon that any movie she’s in is going to allude to that and buy into her Girl Power - Ex Machina stuff… Into the Mary Sue in her and it is going to cheapen every movie forward that she’s in. I mean, people are already talking about not seeing End Game because she’s in it and that they’re afraid she’s going to be the sole reason why the Avengers win… and frankly I’m afraid that she may be the reason why the Avengers win too and that would bother me a LOT. Not because she’s a woman, not because I hate women, but because she’s a terribly written character with no personality and is beyond arrogant. Especially in the, ‘Lets get Thanos.’ End Game clip that Marvel Released… It bothers me a lot…

EDIT: https://youtu.be/6byj_uqzGh8 Here's more proof that she's a Mary Sue in the MCU films... They buffed the fuck out of her over the MCU Thor who has been nerfed to hell.... "Captain Marvel is MUCH WEAKER than Thor."

#captain marvel #marvel comics #mcu #brie larson #marvel #end game #feminists @ me #debate this #read this #mary sue #can someone with a brain debate me #captain mary sue #brie #feminism #feminists #sjw #mary sue characters

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amberkatt · 7 years

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2017 Fitness Trends

With 2017 coming to a close, I thought it might be appropriate to review some of the year’s top fitness trends. Below we have the top 20 trends of 2017 determined by ACSM’s yearly worldwide survey. We will start with the number 1 most popular trend and go down the list. I’m not necessarily trying to steer you towards or away from any of these, but rather, my goal is to provide you with some brief insight on each of these as their popularity peaks.

1. Wearable technology - This includes step trackers, heart rate monitors, smart watches, gps devices, etc. I’ve discussed the fitbit craze in depth in another post, but my view on all of these devices is essentially the same. They aren’t necessary, but they can be a useful tool. For instance, if you are a sitter and having to meet a step goal each day gets you up and moving, go for it! If you like cardio (or hate it) but don’t push yourself very hard, a heart rate monitor might be the tool for you! But none of this fancy stuff is an essential part of a fitness program.

2. Body weight training - Workouts using limited or no equipment are becoming increasingly popular with the notion of “I’m too busy to go to the gym but I want to workout.” Now I could explain all of the flaws in this thinking but I’ll skip it and just say: I would rather someone do body weight training than no training, but your results are going to be limited without the use of equipment.

3. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - YES YES YES!! I love HIIT and I love how popular it is becoming. There is no better way to improve endurance, get the most calorie burn out of your cardio time, and keep cardio interesting than HIIT. What more can I say? HIIT is legit.

4. Educated & Certified Fitness Professionals - Um duh? To me working with a fitness professional is a no brainer. Once again I’ve devoted an entire blog post to this topic recently but to sum it all up: fitness and health are built on a foundation of science. You have to know that your program is what’s best for your body and your goals, and you must implement your program with proper intensity and form.

5. Strength training - It’s amazing how far we have come. Lifting weights used to be for buff dudes that wanted to be buffer. Now, we know that resistance training is going to provide awesome benefits to you, me, grandma, and little sister too! I love it!

6. Group Exercise - This one's kinda like the techy gadgets to me - it’s cool, if it gets someone who would otherwise be sitting on their couch to get up and move, I’m ALL for it. That being said, it’s not for everyone and it’s by no means a necessity.

7. Exercise is Medicine - You might not have heard of this one, but it’s a growing worldwide initiative to try and encourage physicians to prescribe exercise. This might actually be my favorite of all 20. We know the role exercise plays in preventing and treating almost all diseases, why isn’t this #1?

8. Yoga - Yoga is a great addition to any fitness program. What yoga is not is the epitome of fitness. Many yogis tend to only include yoga in their fitness regimen, but we cannot forget to also include cardio and strength training.

9. Personal Training - See my response to #4

10. Exercise for Weight Loss - Many programs that sell weight loss now incorporate exercise. I always tell people, weight loss is 100% diet AND 100% exercise - you can’t have one without the other.

11. Fitness for Older Adults - Again, it is so awesome how inclusive fitness has become in recent years. The benefits of exercise for older adults are endless and this is a trend I’d love to see continue to grow.

12. Functional Fitness - So functional fitness is essentially using strength training to improve the ability to do activities of daily living. I would say that every fitness program should be built to improve your activities of daily living whether that's improving strength for a physically demanding lifestyle or losing weight to improve your overall health.

13. Outdoor Activities - A lot of people bypass their recommended regular exercise because it feels like a chore. The more ways we can encourage people to be healthy in ways that feel fun, the better!

14. Group Training - A nice middle ground between one on one training and group fitness. I love group training because it allows for a lot of individual attention but it’s not quite as pricey as personal training tends to be.

15. Wellness Coaching - So a wellness coach is essentially someone who approaches fitness from the perspective of lifestyle change and overall health. In my opinion, a personal trainer should already be doing all of these things...but I can’t say it isn’t worthwhile...

16. Worksite Health Promotion - I have mixed feelings about Corporate Wellness. On paper, it’s great. In practice, highly flawed. Obviously, any way we can promote health in any capacity, I’m in support of. That being said, having seen Corporate Wellness in practice, I can say it often is not as well executed.

17. Exercise Aps - Again, mixed feelings here... Let me just say, Kim Kardashian has an exercise ap and she doesn’t know a sit-up from a squat. That being said, Nike has an ap that actually has some pretty neat workouts. How great these really are just depends on the consumer and the usage.

18. Measurements - Tracking progress through measurements is great, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. I would rather have a client make progress in areas of self-efficacy in the gym, confidence in themselves, and overall strength improvements as opposed to inches off their waistline. Like many of these trends, it can be really great, but it can’t stand alone.

19. Circuit Training - Circuit training is a great way to simultaneously improve endurance and strength. It can be tailored to fit almost any goals and is one of the most time-efficient forms of exercise.

20. Foam Rolling - WHY does this come in last?! If you haven’t read my blog about foam rolling, scroll on down for my take on this treasure!

And there we have it... Our top trends of 2017 and my unsolicited opinions.

#fitness #fit #fitspo #fitfam #fitblr #fitspiration #lifestyle #liftheavy #weight lifting #health #healthy #nutrition #2017 #newyear #goals

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moerdermaedchen-blog1 · 5 years

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mandimormon-blog · 8 years

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Door-No-More

Once upon a time in a village named Covington. A vibrant, young housewife polished her floors to reduce pathogens transmitted by bodily fluids (primarily vomit). She scrubbed and scrubbed the tiles with a brush assuring each square was meticulously cleansed and free of germs. She mopped the entire home, freshly. Just then, the smaller, younger, less feisty girl on this given day, entered the bathroom, and in a blink of an eye explosive diarrhea splattered across the bathroom, covering the girl’s clothing, the bathtub rug and virtually every square of tile in the entire room.

We’ll call this story Monday. (In case you were wondering, I repeated the process of sanitation. Names of persons have been protected. If you don’t have children and you find this story gross or inappropriate, good luck in your future.) Since the morning routine had been unusual, getting just two kids ready for school, while trying to separate them from the illness occurring in the same little cottage, when my son arrived home after school, and had been hanging out for over an hour, Remi realized he'd worn his pants backwards, all day long, and the zipper was unzipped in the back, displaying the perfect view of his Big Hero 6 undies. Wow.

On Tuesday morning, my oldest daughter said to me, “Mom, I want to make a unicorn for my Valentine’s Day box.” Admittingly, I was up for the challenge but a part of me thought back to simpler times, when I was an elementary-aged child and Pinterest didn’t exist. We didn’t get samples of the best of the best Valentine boxes ever made in the history of crafting.

Here came the moment I’d been waiting to happen for months. Which ‘recycled’ or ‘repurposed’ boxes from my storage closet would be utilized and which ones would be truly “recycled”? If you missed it, several weeks ago, I wall-posted a friend of mine who happens to be the blogger behind “Save Time, Make Time”. My predicament was – I long to be a minimalist. I dislike clutter and too much “stuff”. But I’m not a true minimalist, because I will occasionally buy paper products for convenience and drink out of a plastic water bottle. I have my shortcomings, as we discovered in ‘Purgeney 2017’. Regardless, Lamora wrote a spot-on-topic blog focusing on how to organize these items that seem to get tossed into my utility closet into an unruly heap. Things like plastic bags, used gift bags, grocery sacks (ALDI shoppers unite!), and cardboard boxes.

After her inspiration, I organized this closet. I even put a couple of nails into a board 1) to hang my grocery sacks on and 2) to manage clothes to be donated < #organized - I give a half laugh at that because of the current status of my closet upstairs, it’s better. After recycling two ginormous bags full of paperwork, but FAR from perfect. Another side bar, I hate staples. I broke two nails in the process from ripping staples out of schoolwork. After I was finished with hours of sorting, organizing, and recycling, there were probably 57 (no joke) staples I had to clean up.

Did you know you could create a unicorn out of two empty cereal boxes, an empty oatmeal box, and a square kettle box? You can. Magical crafting supplies include duct tape, a white roll of paper, a variety of colorful crepe paper, and a Sharpie.

I’d done extensive Pinterest research on choice Valentine’s Day boxes. I had even found a few unicorns but Reis wasn’t impressed she wanted a very specific head-shape, like the unicorn emoji. So, on her handy, dandy Chromebook (I wonder if modern-day Steve from Blue’s Clues would have a Chromebook?), she pulled up Google Images and showed me. Maybe I’m not remembering accurately, because it was a few days ago now, but I think at that point there was the sound of dramatic scissor chopping, duct tape tearing, and my eyebrow lifted slightly higher on one side, as I glanced back and forth at my cardboard and at the screen of the “perfect unicorn representation”.

As did my thing, Reis did hers. She chopped three strips of crepe paper, out of each piece of approximately 18 inches, in each of her desired colors. She was very particular over this. She also chopped hearts out of the glitter duct tape, printed her name, and cut small pieces of “frayed” white crepe to add texture on a couple of the sides of the box. Very clever.

It only took a couple of hours, start-to-finish, and a Dollar General Run for tape, glitter duct tape, and more crepe paper, and it was done. Voila! Presto!

The crown of the unicorn head, (I’m guessing it’s the crown - like a human head), there’s a flap we taped, and double taped, and triple taped - in every direction – maybe 22 times – to allow entry for Valentines!

Too much detail? I apologize. Let me briefly explain Remi’s Valentine Box (which is actually a bucket). Sure, this isn’t in chronological order, Remi went with me to the Dollar Store a couple of days before unicorn crafting, to select her supplies. She, too, had found a great example of a cupcake on Pinterest. She loved it! The thing is, this pinner somehow had access to a rounded piece of foam and was able to shove all of her pieces of tissue paper into that to secure it. We had no such luck with a rounded piece of foam. But while shopping Remi came up with the idea we could probably use a bowl. Best suggestion ever. We found a cheap plastic bowl, a plastic bucket, tissue paper (ripped into strips), a red bouncy ball, cardstock for the cupcake liner, and about 24 glue sticks to secure the tissue paper to the plastic bowl. Thanks to my husband’s handy work, he cut the perfect circle in the bowl for the “cherry” or the red ball to fit on top. Kids insert their cards and candy through that, and it falls into the “cupcake”.

This project, too, was a little bit time consuming. I had a meeting on Monday night so after getting about ¼ of the way through it with Miss Remi, I had a short recess but came right back to hot gluing the night away, when I returned. Remi helped by gathering a couple of strips of tissue paper in the color she wanted (she wanted a pattern, friends), and folding those, using a small elastic to tie around each piece and fluffing it. Then I’d place glue and she’d carefully stick it down to the bowl. She was happy to be able to take it to school the next morning.

A piano lesson, a basketball practice, a choral performance of the Star-spangled Banner, a basketball game, a trip to the Temple, an afternoon enjoying PERFECT weather, and The Lego Batman Movie.

This was just the latter-half of the week. A few time slots in our schedule were double-booked. For example, baseball camp. Oh, baseball camp.

I will never be prepared when unexpected tantrums arise. I have two examples from this weekend.

This first concerning baseball camp – we arrived on Saturday morning a few minutes later than our goal. There was much scurrying around the house, beforehand, it didn’t help I, personally, was running behind after running. So much so that I didn’t shower… yeah, that happens, a lot. I sometimes have to blow the sweat dry in my hair, because that’s the only option I have. Saturday mornings seem to be notorious for my children turning off their listening ears. I only said, “Please get your shoes on.” or “Get your shoes on.” or “GET YOUR SHOES ON NOW!” – only like 18x. I asked my oldest daughter and her friend to straighten up her bedroom and get into real clothes, as opposed to pajamas, because the day was expected to be glorious, as my two youngest and I shuffled out the door, to my younger daughter’s first basketball game of the season.

Back to where I deviated from when beginning that last paragraph, we had to round up a jersey, go change into it, and by that point, the bleachers were almost full, so Jude and I opted to sit on the floor. At this moment, Jude realized it was Saturday. He realized Baseball Camp is on Saturdays. Then he got really frustrated because he was upset I was prioritizing Remi’s first game over Baseball Camp. He began to sob stating in between gasps, “I want to go to BASEBALL CAMP!” Then he began to hit me every 15 seconds or so, out of anger. He was clearly throwing a tantrum, which I hadn’t seen in months, not even in the privacy of our own home. Being a child you always pick the most in-opportune moments to breakdown and give the illusion your parents suck and you don’t have to obey rules. There were only like 100+ other parents, grandparents, siblings, and kids, there, witnessing my child’s tantrum.

I didn’t speak under my breath, while gritting my teeth, (although I’ve used that method before, come on, we all have), I just ignored him. I told him we couldn’t make it this week, we will try to make it next week. I didn’t threaten him (I’ve done that before, too). I didn’t bribe him (this is my favorite choice while in public). I just patiently waited until my husband arrived. Usually, I vocalize, “Your dad will be here in five seconds, cut it out.” But I refrained. He naturally quit when my husband arrived and said the exact same thing I said to him. “We couldn’t make it this week, we will make it next week.”

Why does it work for him and not me? The world may never know, but this is how the dynamics are. I’ve been told I lack a follow-through. I threaten but it’s white noise, because my kids know I become soft and don’t follow through with punishment. It’s honestly because I start considering how my children really are good kids, the choices they’re making are just because they’re independent. Should they respect their parents? Absolutely. There’s a fine line, friends.

Remi did great at her first game. She was a little nervous but she made a couple of baskets and did a good job of listening to instruction. She loves sports and physical fitness.

When we returned home, I went to check on the oldest girls and guess what? They were in their jammies, the room was a disaster, and they were watching a video on the Chromebook. I reminded them 7x more (give or take), the room needed straightened up and they needed to get out and get some fresh air, but it was like I was speaking a foreign language.

I bobbed and weaved around the house as I picked up shoes, and random items, wiped down counters, and threw laundry in. I was trying to expedite the cleaning process so I, too, could get outside and enjoy the beautiful day. My personality type will not allow me to “enjoy” anything until my tasks are done, otherwise, my stress levels rise. I don’t think I’m the only one.

I reminded my oldest, again, and again. So, I sent my husband a text and said, I’d like for her to get outside but not until her room is cleaned up and she’s ignoring me, Ignoring me while I beat on the door over and over, again, because it’s locked.

A few minutes later, he walked through the door with a drill. Without saying anything, he unlocked the door, and took the door down, as in removing it. That was the moment crap it the fan. This was the most ultimate punishment in the entire world, friends. You would think that we grounded her for all eternity. Nope, just removed the door. She had a complete and total meltdown. The reason I’m saying this isn’t because it’s funny, (it’s a little funny because as an adult human, we know this is minor in an eternal perspective) but to shed light for other parents, sometimes something seemingly subtle can make the biggest different in obedience. Through the complete meltdown, my husband told her if she changed her behavior he would put the door back on that night, but not until she changed.

It worked! It worked! If you have a tween or an 11 going on 25 year-old, this could help you, too. You’re welcome.

Let me back all the way up to last Sunday, because I finally posted the last blog on Saturday. Last Sunday, we had our Second Annual Sabbath Bowl!

What is Sabbath Bowl? It’s exactly as it sounds. We prepped some amazing superbowl-inspired appetizers, quite the spread. We turned our dining room table into a football field and created two teams. This year it was the Lumpers v. Jedos. A set of Elders (or boy missionaries, as Jude calls them, usually 18+), and a set of Sister Missionaries (girls 19+) that are serving our Ward currently, or the church building we attend, participated. My mother attended this year, too. She has vast knowledge of the Bible and that is our basis, a bible trivia game. We began with our mini football on the 50 yard-line. Coin toss gave possession to our starting team who answers questions until they can’t answer or answer incorrectly, gaining 10 yards with each correct answer. If the question isn’t complete, the other team can intercept the ball. Gram was on fire. She carried her team to the lead and maintained a tie. In fact, they were more than generous during a question for the other team (consisting of all males), or else the girls would’ve clinched the victory. When the score was tied up the final question was a written question to see how many of the original apostles they could name, accurately. The Jedos ended up with the win on this one, but Gram was still our Sabbath Bowl MVP for her biblical accuracy.

This is such a great time that we feel like adding in an Olympic Games or Final Four version of this would be super great. As soon as it was over I was ready for the Third Annual Sabbath Bowl, next year. Is this how football fans feel about the Superbowl? I wonder if next year we should add in some gospel-related commercials, like a mix between Taboo and Charades? I enjoy doing the sports announcing for this activity. It’s great to witness this game going down, so much passion!

Here we are to Sunday, again. The sun is shining gloriously outside. I love the sun. In my mind I wanted to take a family walk, but the wind is crazy out there. I’m on a gluten-free cake pop kick, not for myself, I can’t eat that on AIP, but for anyone else. I’m been making them like they’re going out of style. Also, I found this yummy snack mix recipe that my children enjoy and I gave to our Young Women, at church, today, as a Valentine gift. It’s super easy to make and it’s gluten-free! Win-win.

Do you remember that mantra kick I was on a couple of years ago? Yeah, I think it was right after Time Out for Women, which is coming up, woot-woot!

Anyway, in my head, I create mantras all of time like self-talk. Sometimes it’s something like, “You can do hard things” or “Just breathe.” or “Brussel Sprouts are good. You should like them.” To be brutally honest, I was on a Brussel Sprout kick and now to think of them makes me want to gag. Everything in moderation, even Brussel Sprouts.

There is a point, I promise. The point or quote I recently have discovered and felt impressed to focus on is, “Nothing changes until YOU change. Everything changes once YOU change.” Apply that to everything. To give you a visual or more personal example, consider these areas: Fitness, Health, Diet, Occupation, Education, Church Experience, Work Relationships, Marriage, Personal Relationships, Parenting, Budgeting - I could go on but those encompass a lot. There’s a video circulating about how blaming lack of motivation is complete crap, as in it doesn’t exist. This isn’t my advice to you, this is my advice to me. I just wanted to remind everyone life isn’t perfect, my life definitely isn’t perfect and change is what’s going to make a true difference. I don’t want to have a perfect life that’s not what I’m striving for, but I am trying to be better than I am, now (note: not better than anyone else but myself). Progress is important - it’s growth. Choices are what determine destiny.

#LDS #mormonmommy #motherhood #parenting #children #family

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daltonzmbu936-blog · 5 years

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Metal Roof and also Home Ventilation

Just how much air flow do you require?

Is underlayment necessary for roof?

The best material for use with metal roof insulation is in the form of foam batting. This foam can be used on either the outside or the inside of the sheathing. You will want to use this over rolled up or spray insulation because of the way that it lays flat and it can be easily installed under the metal roofing.

There is a class action match versus BP Since their items stop working quickly as well as they reject to pay unless ordered to do so by the courts, and I think there is one against IKO too. I anticipated my "Lifetime" guarantee would a minimum of get me to 15 or two decades. The item has hardly made 5 years.

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Factor being is that there is an issue of included weight.

DIY Metal Roof Setup, Basic How-To Video

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Nevertheless, they are still much "cooler" as well as eco-friendly than asphalt shingles. A steel roof covering has a cool reflective surface, which shows solar warm back into the ambience, as opposed to absorbing it inside a building or a home.

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d2kvirus · 5 years

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Dickheads of the Month: December 2019

As it seems that there are people who say or do things that are remarkably dickheaded yet somehow people try to make excuses for them or pretend it never happened, here is a collection of some of the dickheaded actions we saw in the month of December 2019 to make sure that they are never forgotten.

There’s something wrong with the British electorate when they look at nine years of austerity, massive layoffs in police and NHS staff, outright persecution of the disabled, the country’s economy and standing being completely tanked and housing safety reports being sat on until Grenfell went up and their thought is “I want five more years of that!”

...although nobody should overlook how Liberal Democrat supporters refused to accept any responsibility for the result, in spite their party being directly responsible in handing control of Kensington to the Tories by 150 votes, as well as splitting the votes in Tory marginals Cities of London & Westminster and Finchley & Golders Green

...while Blue Labour crawled out of the woodwork to say the reason why Labour lost was because they weren’t indistinguishable enough from the Tories (which makes so much sense...) while saying the party should have listened to Caroline Flint - the same Caroline Flint who said that Labour should shut up and fall in line with the Tories...and lost her seat as a result

Nothing sums up Laura Kuenssberg better than how, the day before the General Election, she appeared on Politics Live to either blatantly lie about seeing postal votes or casually break electoral law by discussing postal vote results she claims to have seen - which is a direct violation of the The Representation of the People Act 1983

...although with Laura Kuenssberg being Laura Kuenssberg it wasn’t long before yet another example of gross unprofessionalism reared its head when she forgot her job is to report the news and not create it according to her own personal bias when she said history would condemn all Remainers who tried to undo Britait, which not only happens to be a direct violation of the BBC’s editorial guidelines but also betrays a remarkable failure to understand history

...and she was hardly the only example of this, not when Suraj Sharma was putting up anti-Corbyn posters outside polling stations across Merseyside on election day in spite doing so being illegal

It shouldn't surprise anyone that proven liar Boris Johnson broke his election promises within a week of duping the electorate, with him binning off pledges on workers rights, raising minimum wage and taking No Deal off the table - yet somehow the ignorant foghorns defend this by saying something about four legs being good

...soon afterwards proven liar Boris Johnson also reneged on the campaign pledge to raise the national living wage to £10.50 and instead raised it to £8.72 - and of course the BBC tried to spin that as a good thing, crowing about the percentage that it had increased by instead of how the Tories have been pledging that figure since the 2015 election

Smirking halfwit Priti Patel decided she too wanted to exploit the London Bridge attack for political gain and was quick to claim that the laws that saw the attacker released were implemented by a Labour government...in spite the obvious issue that he was released due to laws passed in 2012, i.e. when the Tories were in government and Theresa May was serving as Home Secretary, but that’s not important right now...

...soon afterwards Godfrey Bloom also decided the best course of action was to go on the offensive against the deceased’s family, going so far as to say that as the deceased believed Jihadists should be released early he reaped what he sowed and, by the way, could the deceased’s father pipe down and stop saying nasty things about the Tories

Australians were happy when their Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded to the widespread wildfires torching the country by...not being there as he’d rather bugger off to Hawaii on holiday, and having begrudgingly cut his holiday short his next suggestion was to try and withhold compensation for the volunteer firefighters that were combating what had become the most widespread wildfires in decades

Tory donors Alan Howard and Jeremy Isaacs showed how committed the two are to the party and to Britait by...paying millions of their own money to buy Cypriot passports so they don’t have to leave the EU like the plebs who voted to Leave will have to

It’s not even a surprise that the BBC somehow mutated a story of fact-checkers revealing that 88% of Tory Facebook ads contained lies compared to 0% of Labour’s into a headline saying both parties had been warned about publishing untruths during the campaign as opposed to just one of them

...although ITV were not far behind with their reimagining of Stormzy saying “Yes, 100%” as an answer to the question “Do you think Britain is racist?” into the headline “Stormzy says Britain is ‘100% racist’” which (predictably) got those who get far more riled up by the suggestion that they’re racist than they ever are by the existence of racism to kick off on social media

Nobody was surprised that Allison Pearson responded to the photos of the four year-old boy sleeping on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary was to claim the photos were staged...and being the coward that she is, she played the usual “I was hacked” card as if she doesn’t have a track record for shit like this

Among the wave of inept tactical voting guides The Guardian published the most inept of them all, telling their readers to vote Lib Dem in seats held by pro-Remain Labour MPs - which worked out marvelously in Kensington, didn’t it?

...and right before the year ended Jeremy Gilbert further aided The Guardian’s credentials of not having a clue by writing a hit piece saying that if Labour want to win elections they need to not be Labour, as if Clement Atlee or Harold Wilson didn’t exist - or, more likely with the usual centrist idiocy, the belief that Labour didn’t exist until Tony Blair came along and made them Labour In Name Only

Of course the dogwhistling boneheads would find some excuse to foam at the mouth about Diane Abbott during the election campaign, and this time it was her wearing two different shoes, which begs just one question: “...and?”

In a remarkable act of cowardice Arsenal responded to the Chinese state broadcaster pulling a broadcast of their match of their match against Manchester City due to Mesut Ozil’s criticism of the country’s treatment of Uighur Muslims by...throwing Ozil under the bus and claiming he doesn’t represent the club

In the mind of Patrice Désilets the reason why Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey got remarkably average Metacritic reviews isn’t because the game has a boring gameplay loop and unintuitive controls, but because a couple of reviewers spoke about features that weren’t in the game (although he neglected to say who those reviewers were, as they don’t appear to be on Metacritic) that obviously mean that all reviewers didn’t play the game and just decided to be negative for the sake of it

As if going full Pravda wasn’t reason enough to doubt anything the BBC say ever again, the fact that they ran a story about Cats receiving glowing reviews further showed just how uninterested they are in reporting an actual story compared to their own interpretation of it

When it emerged that Caroline Flack had assaulted her partner by cracking him in the head with a lamp while he was sleeping her response was to come out swinging with a bullish attitude that she wouldn't leave Love Island really worked in her favour...for about a day, until ITV announced she’d been replaced, and it wasn’t as if they had to look too hard for a replacement

It’s the time of year where Kevin Spacey posts a video of him totally in character as Frank Underwood from House of Cards...which was the creepy side of weird last year, but this year weird’s gone out the window

Somebody opened the crypt in which Michael Howard sleeps his eternal slumber, meaning we had to hear him venture his opinion about how judges should not be allowed to use their knowledge or judgment and instead shut up and fall in line with what the government tells them to do

Somehow a story about how Jo Maugham killed a fox in his back garden with a baseball bat while wearing his wife’s silk kimono on Boxing Day morning wasn’t a headline from Guido Blog designed to whip up their readers into indignant and/or ignorant rage, instead something that Jo Maugham himself tweeted on Boxing Day morning having done just that

Of course Tom Watson crawled out the woodwork to say it;s terrible how Labour members hated him...while at no point mentioning his years of backstabbing or how he tried to disqualify Labour members from voting in a leadership election so he could install the centrist option that nobody wanted

Nobody was surprised to see Darren Grimes taking to Twitter to bemoan the lack of funding in public infrastructure in the north...just as nobody was surprised to see the penny clearly hadn’t dropped with him that he was campaigning on behalf of the people who slashed public service infrastructure funding in the north for the past nine years

Hard centre extremist Andrew Adonis thought it was a smart idea to say that Corbynism needs to be “eradicated” from the Labour party. Just a hint: that’s what Tom Watson thought was a bright idea

It’s one thing for Youtube to play it safe with this year’s Youtube Rewind after last year’s downvote prison romance, but making the 2019 Rewind little more than a WatchMojo list video without the commentary goes beyond playing it safe and into being downright lazy

For a brief moment Giles Coren thought he was Rod Liddle, judging by his Times column where he spoke about Owen Jones getting a peerage and preying on the anal virginity of young researchers

There’s something pathetic about various WWE wrestlers taking to Twitter to mouth off about a badly-performed spot on an episode of AEW Dynamite that can either be explained by them being ordered to tweet that crap out by Vince McMahon or by their suddenly feeling threatened, which only served to make them look like the pro-WWE trolls that howl about everything AEW-related in a manner which stopped being amusing and started being concerning a couple of months ago

And finally, because of course, is Thanos wannabe Donald Trump and his belief that Justin Trudeau is “two-faced” because he said nasty things about the Orange Overlord - but of course, there’s no record of Trump ever saying nasty things about any nation’s leader after pretending to be all buddy-buddy with them

#dickheads of the month

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michaelfallcon · 6 years

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Office Coffee Machines

If you’re wondering which are the best office coffee machines, or more specifically, which may be the best office coffee machines specifically for your office, then this post is for you.

The important thing to note when it comes to office coffee machines, is that there are many different kinds of offices, different kinds of users, and lots of different possible coffee machines to consider.

If you’re searching fairly generally at this point for “office coffee machines” without narrowing it down further to the specific kind of machine you’re thinking about, this tells me that you probably need to take a step back and try to understand which type of machine you should be looking at.

Who will be using the coffee machine?

This is the first thing I’d want to be clear on before deciding which kind of office coffee machine may be the best bet.

Are you looking for an office coffee machine just for you, to use in your own one person office? Are you looking for a machine for a canteen or office kitchen, to be used by several people on their breaks? Are you considering a coffee machine for customers, to make coffee for potential and existing customers who visit your office?

A one person office coffee machine

Cool one person garden office pod. Photo credit: sunshineanddesign.com

Years ago I quit my job, and jumped both feet into my own business, which started with a very small one person office, which consisted of a desk, a computer, and of course, a coffee machine ;-).

We’re going back to 2004, and back then I’d not really discovered speciality coffee, all I knew was I loved coffee, and it helped to keep me awake, and I wanted coffee as strong as I could possibly get it.

I was putting a lot of time and effort into the business, I didn’t have time to be spending much time making coffee, I didn’t have much of a budget, and I thought it might be a good idea to just keep a big pot of coffee on a hot plate.

The Melitta Look IV Therm Timer filter coffee machine. The best selling filter coffee machine on Amazon at the time of writing.

Also, there was no kitchen in my office, no sink etc., it was a serviced office space with various offices all sharing communal kitchens on each floor – so it made sense to have a filter machine in terms of minimal trips to the kitchen.

So I bought an electric filter coffee machine, huge tins of pre-ground coffee for filter, and would make a large pot of coffee in the morning, keep it on the hot plate until I’d finished it, and then put another pot on whenever I was expecting a visitor.

I always thought the coffee I was buying at the time was particularly harsh and strong, I realise now, of course, that the reason for this is the fact that I was leaving it on a hot plate, getting more and more bitter.

The best types of one person office machines.

This really depends on you. Back then, I had no home barista skills, I had no particular interest in speciality coffee – my main goal was simply to stay caffeinated, and awake – plus to at least have a chance of impressing the odd visitor I had back then with “proper” coffee rather than instant.

These days, I’m a completely different person when it comes to coffee. I’ve got some home barista skills thanks to lots of practice, and a barista training course, and my taste is completely different.

If I was in the same situation now, in an office without its own kitchen, and I wanted a coffee machine just for me and the occasional visitor, I’d probably go for a bean to cup espresso machine.

I wouldn’t have a bean to cup machine at home, because at home I want to make coffee the traditional way, but in an office situation, especially without a kitchen to house the machine, I think a traditional machine would probably a bit too much.

If I had a small office with its own kitchen rather than a communal kitchen, then I’d buy a traditional semi automatic Espresso machine, and which one I’d buy would simply depend on budget. On a lower budget, probably the Gaggia Classic, or Sage Due Temp Pro, or one of the Lelit Anna machines, paired with a Sage smart grinder pro.

If the budget was a bit higher, then maybe the Nuova Simonelli Oscar 2, really like the look of that machine – it’s a heat exchanger machine so you can use it like a dual boiler, pull the shot and steam the milk at the same time, but at about £800, quite a bit out of the price range of most dual boiler machines.

If my budget was around a grand, I’d be looking at the likes of the the Sage dual boiler, Expobar Office Leva (available tank filled or plumbed). Between around £1100-£1500 there’s a really big choice including machines like the beautiful UK manufactured Fracino Classico, ECM Classika II PID, ECM Heidelberg, Rocket Appartamento, Lelit Mara PL62T, Nuova Simonelli Musica LUX, ECM Mechanika & La Spaziale S1 Mini.

For a large range of these kinds of machines, have a look at BeanHeros and BellaBarista.

If you don’t have home barista skills, and you’re about as interested in developing them as I’m interested in becoming a gymnast (not very) then a traditional Espresso machine probably wouldn’t be the best idea for your office coffee machine.

As I said earlier, a bean to cup machine is a good idea, but it depends on your budget. A cheaper domestic bean to cup machine does require some home Barista skills, where as a more expensive one touch type machine will give you pretty decent coffee at the touch of a button.

If you have a new business with virtually no budget for an office coffee machine, then it depends on which kind of coffee you like to drink.

If you like short shots of coffee, rather than big mugs – then an Nespresso machine or a Lavazza machine isn’t a bad shout. They’re cheap, and OK they’re not “proper” espresso machines, they produce a slightly different coffee (see Nespresso Vs Espresso, also see Nespresso vs Lavazza A Modo Mio), but for how fast and convenient they are, they’re a great choice for many, and actually many people prefer Nespresso or Lavazza to true Espresso.

If you like milkies, and your office doesn’t have it’s own kitchen, then one of the disk machines such as Tassimo or Dolce’ Gusto might be worth considering. I say this because you can get milk pods for these machines, and although I must say I don’t like milkies made with milk pods (I think it tends to taste fake, and sweet), but many people like them, and if you don’t have a kitchen with a fridge and a sink, then frothing your own milk would be a pain.

If you like bigger mugs of black coffee, Dowe Egberts senseo machines aren’t a bad idea if you fancy a pod machine, you use what look a bit like tea bags, but which contain coffee, of course ;-), and they make bigger cups of coffee than with the other pod/disk machines (see Tassimo Vs DolceGusto & Senseo).

If you do have a kitchen available, with a fridge & a sink, then an idea for making milkies on a budget would be to use a pod or disk machine along with a milk frother such as an Aeroccino, or a battery powered hand frother, as long as you have some way to heat the milk.

If you’re going to be in a one person office but you have a fairly decent budget (i.e. a grand or more) then by all means go for a more advanced one touch bean to cup machine. Many people won’t have the budget for this, especially small start ups, but some may.

Multiple person office coffee machines.

The Franke A600 Bean to Cup Machine, available from Bean Machines.

If you’re looking for an office coffee machine for a larger office, with multiple users and/or for use by the public, such as in a waiting room or a retail business, then then a commercial bean to cup machine may be the best option.

These are the same kind of machines that are used in hotels, and in businesses that sell hot drinks along side their main products (such as bakeries, cafe’s and restaurants who focus more on food than coffee, so don’t have trained Baristas, or need the machines to be self serve).

Some of these machines are amazing. The Franke A600 for example, features:

3 different brewing modes

Hot and cold (fresh) milk options

Syrup dispensing station

8-inch colour touch screen

Intuitive menu

Long-life ceramic grinders

Automated cleaning schedule

Darenth Roma Bean to cup espresso machine, also available from Bean Machines.

The British made, all metal built Darenth Roma bean to cup machine, is another example of a popular bean to cup machine.

This one uses granulated milk as opposed to fresh, using a clever whipper system to deliver coffee shop style milk foam without the usual issues that can come with using fresh milk.

This machine has a tonne of features including being able to knock out up to 100 coffees per hour, cash and cashless payment system if you’re charging for drinks, 14 single touch selection keys along with strength selection. Looks like a good machine!

While these two machines I’ve used as examples are high level machines, there is quite a wide range of office and commercial bean to cup machines costing anywhere from probably a grand or so and upwards.

You can lease these commercial bean to cup coffee machines too, so they’re not necessarily a huge drain on cash flow, just be careful to lease or buy from a company who has a good track record when it comes to maintenance and support.

Bean machines based in South Manchester have a great reputation, and I’ve visited their show rooms a few times – they offer a wide range of commercial Espresso machines, and they have lots of support staff and engineers. This isn’t an ad, by the way, or sponsored review – or anything of that kind, this isn’t a commercial blog.

Commercial filter coffee machines

If you’re looking for an office coffee machine but the above seems overkill for your requirements, maybe all you need is a more commercial filter coffee machine.

Auto or manual commercial filter coffee machines are a good option for making large volumes of filter coffee. As long as the coffee is used fairly soon after brewing and doesn’t sit on a hot plate for hour getting bitter, filter machines are a good solution for offices, especially when it comes to meetings.

The Bravilor Bonamat, for instance, is comes with two 1.5l jugs and two hot plates, which means enough coffee for around 12 x 8 ounce cups.

I don’t know where coffee machine manufacturers get their figures from sometimes, they list this as a 24 cup machine – who drinks 4 ounce (118ml) cups of filter coffee??

I think 8 ounce is a bit more like it, so this machine has the capacity for roughly 12 cups, in my opinion.

It’s a commercial machine, made for hotels, pubs and offices, so it’s likely to be rugged and durable, and it’s not a bad price at about £300 on Amazon.

Marco Maxibrew Commercial Filter Coffee Machine.

At the other end of the price bracket, the Marco Maxibrew 2 Twin Filter Coffee Machine is a really high capacity filter coffee machine, capable of 467 cups per hour according to the manufacturer.

This filter machine is capable of a whopping 91L of coffee per hour (which seems correct if the cups are just under 7 ounce, but even if they’re full 12 ounce cups, that’s still 266 cups per hour, so still, incredible capacity.

This filter coffee machine is going to be way more capacity than the majority of offices would need, I’m only including it to show the other end of the range, and they’re three or four grand including VAT (ish) so they’ll be too steep for most businesses, but I can see them being a great option for very busy canteens which may serve hundreds of people per hour at lunch time.

At 56L capacity per hour, the Marco Qwikbrew is slightly cheaper at about £2700 on Amazon.

Slighty cheaper still (but still not a budget machine) at about £1500 is the Marco Qwikbrew, which has a capacity of up to 28 litres per hour. The best price I can find this one for (cheaper than on Amazon) is at Nisbets.

Again, bean machines supply a wide range of filter coffee machines.

So there we go, my two-penneth worth on office coffee machines, I hope it helps.

Life is like a box of chocolates, so follow me on Twitter, and that’s all I have to say about that.

The post Office Coffee Machines appeared first on Coffee Blog.

Office Coffee Machines published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

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crowcawcus-blog · 7 years

Text

Interview with Rob Crow, circa 2012

Crow says you need to be “a real music nerd” to appreciate Devfits: Devo in the style of the Misfits and vice-versa. When I hear he's playing a benefit for UCSD's Ché Café, I jump at the chance to witness this spectacle.

After scuttling about like any good roadie, setting up his equipment, Crow steps into a corner and wrestles on a suit constructed of duct tape, a creepy skin-toned mask, and thick geeky glasses while a film clip of his five-year-old son instructs the audience to buy lots of merch and tell everyone how well the show went, "even when it sucks."

He bursts out onto stage and takes hold of the mic, which is hopelessly tangled around its stand. After belting out his first lines, he brandished the offending machinery and commands, “Please undo this thing from here.” I grab it and unravel it awkwardly, nearly spearing him in the process. He nevertheless tells me, “Thank you very much,” and forges on.

I'm charmed by his manners, but moments later my opinion shifts when he charges his way through the audience, trailing the mic wire behind him heedlessly. Me and two other spectators barely squirm our way out of a firm trussing-up, and I twist my shoulder in the process.

Yet his performance is hauntingly beautiful, especially his rendition of the Misfits song “Hatebreeders.” (Devfits (Rob Crow) @ The Che Cafe on 01.07.12) The herd of UCSD students seems mostly bemused. Near the end of the set Crow tells us that he’s “been coming to the Ché since way before you were all born, and that's not hyperbole."

Crow steps back into the corner and removes the duct tape suit. I watch him chat with a few fans, and after they help him pack up and he's at liberty, I approach. He greets me with a handshake and another thank-you for detangling his mic. His sweet demeanor makes it easy to screw up the courage to ask if he'd consider an interview.

"Sure!" he agrees. "You know I do 'em all the time, for my podcast. Can it wait a few minutes, though?"

I assure him I'm not going to interrogate him tonight, that I meant to schedule for another time. He looks relieved, pulls some rolled-up t-shirts out of his bag and spreads them out on the merch table, scribbling in Sharpie that they’re available for at least a $10 donation to the Ché. Again I am impressed by his gentility.

I email to ask if I might pick his brain at his "Super Amazing Happy Funtime Night" at Bar Eleven. The poster for the event intrigues me; someone pasted his torso onto a horse's body. He looks natural as a centaur. "Sure!" comes the scarily succinct reply again. I hope the whole interview won't go this way of brevity.

I sip a Monkey Paw Sweet Georgia Brown Ale while he painstakingly plots the trajectory of his projector. Then he upends a bag of 99-cent store toys: 20-piece puzzles, bubble wands, foam airplanes, barrels o' monkeys, and paint-by-numbers on all the bartops and booths. I grab bubbles. Then, again, he retreats to the corner and pulls on... a gorilla suit. Only then does he visibly relax, stationing himself in between the turntable and the bar. The smirking bartender, Justin Bess, hands Crow a beer. I start with what I hope is an innocuous question: why the gorilla suit? 

“’cause I hate thinking about what to wear,” he states matter-of-factly. I blink, at a loss. He adds that often he wears it around the house and forgets to remove it between home and the recording studio.

He downs a draught, then pauses and looks at his cell phone. “My Words are piling up,” he laughs, showing the screen with a long list of Words With Friends requests.

He busies himself in switching vinyl – so far I've heard King Crimson, Metamatics, Nomeansno, The Locust, Dead Ghosts, Electric Light Orchestra, and Neil Young. Does he remember the first album he bought?

"The soundtrack to Over the Edge, a phenomenal movie," he answers immediately. "It's the truest movie about the seventies I've ever seen. Cameron Crowe called it the greatest soundtrack ever. And I spent a lot of money on The Ramones and Cheap Trick."

A glance at the stream of videos on one screen informs me that "Your Masonic friend thinks very highly of you! You should be proud!"

"Where do you find this shit?" slips out of my mouth before I think about it. He chuckles: "I delve."

I inquire as to when he realized his voice is such a beautiful instrument.

“When I was a kid, I always thought I was gonna be a guitar player. The first band I was in [Heavy Vegetable], we didn’t know who would sing, so we’d take turns. I remember we’d go into the bathroom, which we thought would have an awesome reverb effect – which it didn’t -- and sing into this machine, and there was this giant boa constrictor living in the bathtub –"

I can’t help but interrupt. A boa constrictor?

“Yup," he affirms without elaboration, and rattles on: "And I’m standing over the toilet, all wrapped in this snake, with a drink in one hand and a mike in the other, trying to sing this dumb song – everyone liked it. And I thought, ‘Oh, okay.’”

He notes, in fact, that he likes his singing voice but despises his speaking voice as “super-annoying.” I respond that his speaking voice is very pleasing and radio-friendly on his podcast.

“That’s super-edited,” he replies. I shoot him a doubtful look. “Well, I’m being hyperbolic,” he admits.

A Western saloon-fight with dogs as cowboys starts up on the screen, and I remember that Crow said in an interview with popmatters.com (Contrary Opinions) that he does not like dogs.

In the same interview he says he dislikes the Beatles, confessing that “It’s also just really fun to tell people that you hate the Beatles and watch them flip out.” I wonder, therefore, if he’s merely being "hyperbolic" to be provocative. I mean, who doesn’t like dogs unless mauled when young? Does he really hate dogs?

“Ummm, nah," he says vaguely, distracted by a stubborn wrapper on a velvet paint-by-numbers set. "Well, it just depends,” he hems.

He seems disinclined to explain what makes a dog odious or not, so I switch gears. On the cover of his newest solo album, He Thinks He’s People, one of his signature illustrations shows a stick-figure in the doghouse under a starry sky with two feeding bowls labeled “calzones” and “Speedway Stout.” Is Speedway Stout his favorite local brew? “Pretty much. But it’s not something I could drink twenty of in a night.”

I ask, does he get his calzones from Etna’s?

“Noooo, no Etna’s,” he intones firmly. “Luigi’s. Not Pizzeria Luigi’s, who does have the best pizza in San Diego, but Luigi’s At the Beach, in Mission Beach… I’m from New Jersey; I know my calzones. Every year my family and Pushead’s meet to go there.” My eyebrows shoot up, and he pauses to gauge my reaction. “You know who that is?”

I nod. Pushead is a fixture in the heavy metal and punk scene. I best know him for his grotesquely gorgeous Metallica album art which features skulls, twisted body parts, and lots of fire and ooze and gore, beautifully rendered, a stark contract to Crow’s signature stick-figure art.

I mention off-hand that the San Diego Reader called his cover art 'crass.' His eyes flash and his heretofore soft voice increases an octave. “You know, I’ve never NOT been misquoted in those two magazines [the Reader and the San Diego City Beat]."

The white stick figure upon a black background is Pinback’s little unassuming avatar. After a show at the Belly Up I had watched Crow dutifully draw dozens of the unique pictures on tickets, stolen set-lists, and whatever else fans brought up to him. I ask him now, why a stick figure?

“Early in Pinback’s career, we wanted to do everything ourselves,” including album art. He pauses, meditatively, then surges on: “I feel the stick figure represents the Everyman, with all its foibles or alienation or loneliness… it means a lot to me in its sameness. It’s zeroing in on the darkest parts of mortality."

I in no way expected such a profound, introspective reply, and before I feel I’ve grasped it, he continues: “I think art’s pure escapism. It shouldn’t be the purpose of art to really express joy. I mean, through art one should know what true happiness is; but once you know the real states – this whole life-deathy thing we’re in – it becomes this mobius strip…” He trails off and laughs shortly.

“I’ve been in a mid-life crisis since I was 18… manaically depressed. I don’t want to call it a perpetual e-motion-al machine, because that’s just horrible –“ I stop him to demur, because I love wordplay. He shakes his head and continues:

“But to not be able to enjoy the best parts of life because it’s all worthless… worthless!... there’s no hindsight in death – even wasting your time feeling shitty about it is just a waste of the time you have left but you STILL don’t feel great – it’s endless feedback.”

I think of the song “Scalped” from his album. Crow’s plaintive, prophetic voice cants, “I suggest you don’t waste your time... /Don’t kneel to the alter.” When I first read this line, I thought “alter” as opposed to “altar” was merely a [sic] in his handwritten lyrics, but now I think he punned on purpose, implying one shouldn’t live in a constant off/on, binary state. When happy, be happy: don’t dwell upon sadness, or impending mortality. And conversely, if sad, then address it and embrace it, as Crow does with his music.

Then again, maybe he’s just a weak speller. But given his penchant for Words With Friends, that’s improbable.

Does he mind that his solo album wrapper boasts a sticker declaring it "The new album by one-half of Pinback!"? He blinks; it's news to him.

"Does it?... No, I don't mind. What I DO mind is when they call me the Pinback 'Frontman.' It's 100% a collaboration." [with Zach Smith] I ask if he attended Torrey Pines with Smith.

"Errrrr, I got kicked out of all the schools in Oceanside," he states somberly.

Crow's buddy Tony Gidlund, who has listened to my questions with half-lidded and somewhat suspicious eyes, mutters something to Crow, who notes they might not make it. I look at him quizzically. “In-N-Out," Crow explains. "We always try to hit it before they close.” I ask him what he gets, because every late-night fast-food aficionado I know ritualizes what they order, especially after a solid drinking bout of the sort he put in tonight. “Grilled cheese with onions” is the reply.

“Are you vegetarian?” I venture. “Yup! I used to be vegan, but I couldn’t keep it up – It’s awesome, though. I recommend it.”

“But I love eggs,” I frown, “and besides, the chickens GIVE us the eggs, don’t they?"

He looks thoughtfully at his beer and says, “You’re very close to a Woody Allen monologue right now.”

He seems wont to self-effacing mannerisms. His 2007 solo album Living Well features a song called “I Hate You, Rob Crow." He flips off his own reflection in a recent video, “Sophistructure” (a perfect slice of his hypnotic mesh of visual and sonic). And he introduces his podcast, "Rob Crow's Incongruous Show," by styling himself "San Diego's Foremost Overrated Indie-rock Manchild!"

Meaning to explore this theme of self-flagellation, I instead blurt that I think he’s brilliant. Incredulous, he leans over asks me to repeat myself, then utters a short ironic bark of disbelief. “What?! Look at me! I’m in a monkey suit playing with dinosaurs!”

When I mention this to my pub-mate on the right, she nods sagely and says, “He doesn’t revel in himself. He’s an artist but not... pretentious. He’s a creative genius. I mean—“ she breaks off and gestures at one of the screens, currently occupied by a band of skeletal warriors from Jason and the Argonauts who, eerily, are shimmying to the death metal music in perfect time.

As he's packing up, he mentions that today was technically his one day off. "I should've spent it with my mother," he says, mostly to himself. I ask him how his wife feels about his late-night solo projects, and he says that as long as her vampire shows have recorded correctly, she is content.

I ask him if he liked having the last name ‘Crow’ growing up. “No, I didn’t enjoy it especially.” I tell him I really like crows, and instead of giving me the odd look most normal folks do, he says, “The other day there were 43 crows in my yard.” He counted them? “Yup. But when I went to get the camera and they flew away.” Typical Crow behavior.

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againjack · 7 years

Text

Diva drama

All that frustration and letting go about Colby fading, possibly ghosting? Totally in my head.

Tuesday he popped me up on Gchat. Normal chit chat and trying to firm up plans for that night.

This meant instead of driving from work to his place I left work early, went home, packed a bag, did some more work, and then to Colby’s. I arrived and his garage door was open, so I walked in. Turns out, he was out walking his dog. Instead of chasing him, I just waited in his living room, still nervous.

He came in, and I let him come upstairs and even walk around a bit before I got up from the couch. I had previously found a small bowl (about the size of a softball) that just screamed Colby. I had brought it today to give to him, and sneakily placed it on his kitchen counter for him to encounter. It was actually really funny, his maid had been there earlier in the day and left a bottle of cleaning solution. Then he turned toward the kitchen and saw the gift bag. He was confused at first, and wasn’t sure if the maid left it or I had. lol I quickly admitted to it. It was then I got off the couch while he opened it, very curious. He admitted that I had him pegged and he loved it. I had to ask, and he said he did like the vase, had it not shattered.

It was then that he eased himself closer and put his arms around my waist, pulling me in to kiss me deeply.

With that, I felt better. Though being so keyed up it took me a few more hours before I fully thawed.

It helped that Colby had a rental car - his being in the shop. He scored a double upgrade and had a mustang convertible. Oh the memories that brought back - mostly good. (I learned to drive my dad’s mustang convertible and drove that during high school and when home my freshman year of college.) The evening was less humid and not scorching. While we did take back roads, we both really enjoyed driving around with the top down. (Oh how I missed that!) He was impressed at how I wasn’t worried about my hair in the wind. In fact he was way more concerned about HIS hair than I was about either of ours. lol

The restaurant was delightful. It was a wonderfully Americanized Parisian cafe. :P They went to a lot of effort, even with the crappy bathroom and slow service. lol Though, even though it was slow, the service was excellent. The food was mixed quality - the booze, appetizer, and meat was heaven. The vegetables and dessert meh.

We ended up there for three hours. Granted, one of that was waiting for our table. They must have given our reservation to someone else since we were late by 10 minutes. During those three hours we talked and talked and talked. He reached across the table to hold my hand a few times. When we waited in the bar for a table, he held me close with his arm around my waist.

I did manage to bring up to him his extended silence and how it bothered me. I even acknowledged it was my own baggage and explained that was how Jamaica was before breaking up with me. He was shocked that I thought he would break up with me that evening.

During the conversation he stated how I knew he hadn’t shared our dating with his parents yet and asked if I had told mine. I was truthful - I hadn’t said anything specifically, but both my parents know me well enough that when I mention a guy, the guy’s name (as opposed to “a friend” or “someone”), and that he comes up frequenty that I am probably dating him. He admitted that his mom probably knew too, but was waiting for him to say something. (Ha! I love being right!)

In speaking about family he mentioned how traditional he is, how he is lucky that his brothers aren’t as traditional or interested in jewelry. He started speaking about rings that are his father’s or grandfather’s. Then he mentioned how with his previous girlfriend his mother had a hard time giving Colby his grandmother’s engagement ring. (Obviously his mother had met his now ex and did not like her.) As luck would have it, since it was a fancy dinner I was wearing my (real) rubies - including my grandmother’s ring. Of course I pushed it in his face and told him how important she was, and thus this ring was to me. I know he took the message that my family and history is important to me, and that I value some traditional things and items. Conversely, he mentioned in the car that he appreciates how I keep him on his toes and am not always conventional or as he would have expected.

I may be reading into things, and we’ve seen in the past week how wrong I can be, but that sounds like he is feeling me out about things and hinting at how he feels. In my (extensive) experience a man doesn’t mention family and heirlooms - especially engagement rings - lightly.

At another point during dinner he discussed at length how his father’s office was a revolving door for office staff, mostly before the 80s when being a career woman took off. Instead it was the woman stopped working once they got pregnant, sometimes even once they got married. I can’t say how, but I could tell this was 100% fishing to see how I would handle those situations. I didn’t state one way or the other - similar to how I have handled other fishing attempts - but I think I still made it clear that I am a career woman. If he hasn’t figured yet that I would go stir crazy when not working, that being a stay at home mom would kill me and make me miserable then he isn’t paying attention. :P

After a wonderful moonlit drive back to his place, he said he had some emails to do. I started to give him heck, but he said he gave me his fully attention the past 3+ hours. I acknowledged this and told him that is something I very much appreciate about him and know what a gift it is.

While he handled the emails he needed to, he also had facebook open and I was scratching/massaging his back. He pointed to a post from his friend, and said, “This is how much I like you. I had a chance to get a last minute ticket to the John Mellancamp concert tonight at Chastain.” I playfully poked him and said, “Why the heck didn’t you go? How many chances would you have like that?” He was shocked by that reaction. He asked, “Would you really have been ok if we moved the reservation to Wednesday or Thursday night for me to go to the concert?” I confidently confirmed I would have. I explained to him that I realize at this point - both for us and for our idols that there might not be a next time. How I regretted not going to the Fleetwood Mac concert because Bear was there, how that regret was why I went to Billy Joel even though Colby was there and it might look like I was chasing pathetically after him. And yes, his giving up that concert does speak volumes.

He still didn’t quite believe it, but had to tell his friend. I joked that I had to get points for that reaction and that is part of what makes me a good girlfriend. He agreed on both points. I was a bit... nervous after I used the title of girlfriend, he did not use it. *shrugs*

Even though he did brush his teeth when we got back to his place (having eaten scallops) he did not kiss me. Once he was done with computer stuff, and pointing out how he had been cleaning/organizing/getting rid of boxes/putting things away rather than being piled in various places, we crawled into bed and cuddled until he fell asleep. It took me longer to fall asleep - I had forgotten my foam pillow and his are... lacking.

In the morning I could tell he appreciated my kissing him (closed mouth) as a gentle way to wake him (after four snoozes :P) After we walked his dog as the last thing before leaving for our respective offices, we kissed deeply, then I poked him saying not to be so silent and I expect him to touch base more frequently.

I feel like he brings out the best in me. Compare how the evening and morning went with the approach I was going to take (in a previous entry) there is a huge difference.

While we did touch base throughout the day, he wasn’t as much as I would like. Baby steps.

#dating Colby #traditional values #possible impending engagement #family is important #carpe diem

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