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woman-loving · 3 years

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Who is a Malaysian lesbian?

Selection from “Queering the State: Towards a Lesbian Movement in Malaysia,” by Rais Nur and A.R., in Amazon to Zami: Towards a Global Lesbian Feminism, ed. Monika Reinfelder, 1996.

This selection from a 1996 book discusses lesbian identity in Malaysia from a lesbian feminist perspective. It acknowledges a range of meanings that “lesbian” can have, and selects one defined by sexual practice. Note that many women didn’t identity as “lesbian” themselves, and that the term was defined and applied here according to the authors’ goals. The authors also touch on multiple “butch” identities, “femme” identity (“femmes” weren’t seen as unable to be with men), and potential political dimensions to lesbian identity.

We felt it was necessary to give our definition of the term ‘lesbian’, given the multiplicity of definitions in currency. These range from extremely broad definitions of the word, which include metaphorical[2] (e.g. notions of ‘lesbian’ as a space or positionality) or emotional dimensions (e.g. a woman whose primary emotional attachments are formed with other women, though she may not necessarily have sex with them), to definitions which are strictly narrow and literal, and which have sexual intimacy between women as their lowest common denominator (i.e. a woman can be called a lesbian only if she has sex with other women, whatever the other dimensions of her relationships with, or the depth of her feelings for, them). However, despite the diversity of meanings of the word ‘lesbian’, and the rich range of experience it can be said to cover, we believe that our purposes in this essay would best be served by limiting our use of the term to apply to any woman who has sexual relations with other women.

This definition is not unproblematic, as such a narrow definition necessarily excludes many people who consider themselves lesbian but do not practise lesbian sex, such as lesbian celibates or other women-identified women. In fact, early on it our research, we wanted to include women who identified themselves as lesbian as part of our definition, and therefore hinge our definition on the self-identification of the woman concerned. This, however, became untenable, because as we progressed we came across many women who have sexual relations with women but do not use the word ‘lesbian’ to describe themselves. For some of these women, such a word was alien to them, and in some cases they were hardly aware that other lesbians existed. Others were familiar with the concept of homosexuality, but used words other than ‘lesbian’ to identify themselves. Thus we decided that our use of the term would refer to women who have sexual relations with other women, regardless of whether or not they used the word to describe themselves.

Our knowledge is primarily of urban and middle-class lesbians, although we have made attempts to access the experiences of others. Lesbianism is a phenomenon which exists very much underground, in the sense that there is very little public discourse about it (and what little there is frequently pathologizes it) and very few safe spaces in which lesbians can be out or come together to share their experiences. Furthermore, the experience of being a lesbian in Malaysia is heavily influenced by ethnicity and class. These two factors make it difficult to extract an account of lesbian experiences which can address lesbian existence in both urban as well as rural areas, and apply across class and ethnic divides.

Unlike gay men, who have been united through work against HIV/AIDS, there has been no similar phenomenon which has sparked this move towards a sense of community for lesbians, so that by and large there are many tight-knit groups, based on race or class, which do not intermingle with each other: Malay lesbians generally have a different network and socialize at different places from Chinese and Indians, working class from middle class, urban from rural, etc.

The players

In as far as it is possible to generalize, one aspect which can be said to be common to all these different subcultures is role-playing, or the construction of lesbian identity around notions of the ‘butch’ and the ‘femme’, with their attendant ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ traits. While Western countries like the UK and the USA have recently seen a resurgence of the butch and the femme in lesbian culture, this has mainly been dictated by fashion and the ‘lesbian chic’ trend, which in the UK saw many straight women dressing like dykes and lesbian characters suddenly appearing in various soap operas, and partly by postmodern notions of parody, irony and ‘genderfuck’. That is to say, while some lesbians do take butch/femme roles seriously in these countries, many others see adopting these roles as a fashionable thing to do and/or a way of subverting essentialist notions of sex and gender, and parodying notions of identity/sexuality as stable and immutable rather than fluid and constantly changing. So a lesbian who dresses as butch one day may very well decided to dress as a femme the next, and vice versa.

In Malaysia though, butch/femme roles are taken very seriously by the majority of lesbians, and there is no element of playfulness or parody to them. The word ‘butch’, though generally used to refer to a lesbian who adopts or exhibits traits and behaviour socially deemed to be masculine, in fact covers a continuum of identifications or definitions. At the lower end of the scale is the ‘tomboy’ who dresses in a boyish manner, generally looks like a cute boy, and yet is still possible to tell that she is female. The tomboy figures in all cultures.

‘Peng-kids’ occupy the middle of the continuum, and are generally associated with Malay working-class lesbians. The word ‘peng-kid’ is derived from ‘punk kid’, as they are deemed to have borrowed heavily from punk culture in terms of their attire. Peng-kids often feel that they are men trapped in women’s bodies. They bind their breasts as well as use men’s underwear and aftershave. They are renowned as very loyal and extremely attentive and generous to their girlfriends. The peng-kid phenomenon, which can be traced back to the 1970s, is now very widespread and exists in both rural and urban Malay communities. The term has also been adopted among some Chinese lesbians, who abbreviate it to ‘PK’.

Finally, there are the ‘hardcore’ butches. In the West, what is known as a ‘bulldyke’ or ‘bulldagger’ would be the closest equivalents to the local hardcore. Whereas peng-kids feel that they are men trapped in women’s bodies, and thereby acknowledge their femaleness to some degree, in many cases, these hardcore butches do not even perceive themselves as women, and pass as men whenever possible. Many consider the idea of sex-change operations seriously as some stage in their lives. Hardcores exist in all cultures in Malaysian society, but appear to be predominately working class.

Butch identifications in Malaysia are therefore multiple and complex. Things become simpler when we come to femme identity. Generally, femmes are perceived to be straight women in disguise, or women who, although they might be involved in a lesbian relationship, have the option to ‘become normal’ and conduct relationships with men. A femme’s lesbianism is therefore not seen as essential or fixed; whereas butches see themselves, and are perceived, as having no choice about their sexuality--they are definitely and incontrovertibly lesbian. Many femmes have lesbian relationships in order to avoid the complications of becoming pregnant, which might happen in heterosexual relationships. Another reason why femmes prefer butches to men is that they believe they are more secure in a relationship with a butch, since it is not as easy for butches to abandon one woman for another as it is for men, given the relatively small lesbian subcultures which exist in Malaysia.

In many senses, this emphasis on roles is very restrictive, and those who resist defining themselves in such a way often find that they are treated with distrust and hostility by their peers, as are lesbians who change identifications. There is some degree of policing within the lesbian communities in Malaysia, and what is acceptable in terms of clothing and appearance, sexual practices and roles is clearly defined and strictly enforced. This means that lesbians who reject such pressures and constructions of identity are excluded. More importantly, in their insistence on butch/femme identifications such lesbians reinforce the stereotypical notions of lesbians and lesbianism harboured by society at large, rather than challenging them or presented alternative constructions of identity, alternative ways of being lesbian.

Partly, this dependence on roles has to do with the fact that lesbians feel beleaguered by the homophobia and hostility of society as a whole, and therefore do not trust people easily--choosing a role and sticking with it signifies a willingness to belong, to play by the rules, and indicates that one is an ‘insider’ rather than an ‘outsider’ and therefore can be trusted. But we feel it is also partly to do with the lack of any political dimension to lesbianism in Malaysia, restricting it solely to the sexual dimension.

Lesbians in the West have played a prominent role within feminist campaigning since the 1960s, and have contributed greatly to, and learned a lot from, feminism and its insights. Lesbian and queer theory, as it exists in the West today, has its roots in the feminist movement, and has built upon feminism’s interrogation of the categories of gender, its assertion, for example, that, as Simone de Beauvoir put it, ‘one is not born a woman, one becomes one’. ‘Masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ were shown to be states of being which were socially constructed and therefore avoidable, rather than biological and inevitable.

While, on the one hand, many feminists made the political decision to become lesbians in the light of feminism’s analyses of gender relations, and as a logical extension of their politics, on the other, many lesbians used and extended the analytical foundations laid down by feminism to challenge and deconstruct the institution of heterosexuality--to expose it as an instrument of patriarchy or, at any rate, something which is neither more natural nor more inevitable than any other sexual preference or tendency. Lesbian feminists, in line with the early feminist tenet that ‘the personal is political’ therefore identified the realm of sexuality and sexual practices as the locus of much patriarchal power and oppression, and proceeded to problematize heterosexuality and politicize lesbianism, arguing that it represented a subversive force in its refusal to fall in with dominant/patriarchal concepts of what is natural or permissible in society.

This perception of lesbianism as having a political dimension rather than simply a sexual one, of being not simply something restricted and limited to the bedroom, but having wider implications and political resonances, is, however, largely absent in Malaysia. There is very little sense (or perceived need) here that lesbianism is or can be a political force, or that it can be used to critique or challenge dominant patriarchal and heterosexual ideologies and institutions. We believe that his has to do with the fact that feminism, which is closely connected with the lesbian movement in the West, has not translated well here, nor has it had the impact which it had in the West. As a newly industrializing country, Malaysia faces different challenges and has different priorities to that of ‘first world’ or Western countries, and often feminism is not perceived to be, or made relevant to, the needs and lives of women here.

At any rate, without feminism’s insights on how patriarchy works to oppress women and how gender roles function to reinforce patriarchal power, many lesbians simply adopt heterosexual notions of gender and replicate heterosexual relationships without questioning or problematizing them. It may, of course, be argued that these lesbians adopt butch/femme roles as a conscious eroticization of difference.[3] But we believe that it is rather a case of a lack of alternatives. The invisiblizing of lesbians in society, and the lack of roles models who practise alternative ways of defining themselves or conducting relationships, of course reinforces the above.

#lgbtq #lesbian #malaysia #what is a lesbian #lesbian feminism #amazon to zami #butch femme #lesbians

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starbright-cobweb · 2 years

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i'm also having my semi-regular Community Depression, like tonight i want to dress up and go out

(out? out where? it's probably San Francisco c.1973, but I'd settle for Avebury, or anywhere)

it's about getting to exist for a little while.

i wish i knew how to stop feeling so glassy and raw about what happened; it still feels like such a before-and-after, from feeling like an active queer subject who was alive and inhabiting a world, back to (what feels to me like) a closeted and teenage space of, "maybe I'll just read the books about what other people have done and consume the art that other people have created by participating in scenes".

Which isn't coincidental, I think. there are lots of factors to the way community abuse manifests, but in part it's about control of access to resources (and the power that having power over that access gives you to wield over others). So it seems like a natural following-on: the promise of a participatory space which in practice is a "be a consumer and supporter of somebody else's career" space, a disempowering experience. From the promise of mutual aid and organising as a liberationary experience, even if you never really accomplish much, because experiencing certain kinds of connections and newly-imagined ways of being is itself a relief from the kyriarchical world. But you lose that - because Being An Activist is itself a resource, a sort of main character role for people who want to publish their books and then sell out and be consultants or professors in their 40s or w/e - and a thing like that cannot be shared; you lose the radical possibility of non-hierarchical spaces, and go back to mean girls with an undercut. If to be queer is also to be a radical, be politically engaged, and be in community - well, people have the power to just strip that from you, and then what are you?

i come back to this a lot: the difficulty of existing without interaction, and without foundation. it's a form of nonexistance. As a queer person, you sort of...only exist when being looked at. It's a social experience, after all. i don't endorse this argument, but do you remember "bi women can't be butch because butch is a situational role only exists in the concept of butch-femme cruising in bars in 1959?". I think it's a bit like that: it's hard to exist in a social role when there's nobody around to recognise you in it. And other queer people represent the only people by whom you can be seen.

& so knowing real world queer spaces to be dangerous - knowing that in your gut - it does represent a very real loss of identity, it transcends the material problems of "how do i make it without support from others?" into something very internal, very interior, a lost world and a lost self.

anyway, this essay is good, although it's not about that at all; but there's related stuff about how if one vector of inclusion and seen-ness is activist and/or social spaces, the other is sex - how important that process of being seen through play and intimacy - and how much i would like that, but also to never be touched or speak to another human being again (because community abuse, of course, incorporates both).

there's emotional components, but also practical ones like: there's every indication that the scene locally is as messed up as my old one - this isn't a failure mode, it's how these scenes naturally occur; and I'm in no fit state, really, to date or cruise or anything. A burdensome self-awareness: one can know oneself too well; other people are not there as a vehicle for your temporary self-actualisation needs (but one can be very sure that half the people on my app are basically doing the same thing; great polycules have been built on less)

I want to wear the most attractive jeans and stroll along the street as the sun goes down, and feel Acknowledged and Present somewhere, and to breathe in how nice it is to exist.

#community values

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adarlingwrites · 3 years

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Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who's willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

XVIII

February 10, 2278.

The plan is set. DeLoria went ahead and travelled to Underworld yesterday to tell Dr. Barrows that we are planning to transfer Percy. It will happen tomorrow, at night, when the courtyard is clear, and the tin cans are sleeping. Our only problem would be the night guards.

Logistics won’t be a problem. Dr. Li said that the machines that I thought was keeping Percy alive were just there to monitor her, and that she can live without them. Barrows will know what to do. He revived Reilly, the wounded, comatose merc leader Percy and I helped a few months back, after all. Maybe he can wake Percy up too? Dammit.

I’m not sure how we will pull this off, but screw it. Anything’s better than scribes probing and poking my partner with their needles.

I was servicing my shotgun this afternoon when Dr. Li stepped in the room. She looks at me with scrutiny, carrying a bag. I assume she’s preparing to leave. She’s not wearing her lab coat. It would be impractical for travel, anyway.

“Charon, was it? May I have a word with you, before I leave Persephone in your hands?”

I nod, not looking up from my task.

“What are you to her?”

Well, that made me pause.

“I’m her partner. That’s all you need to know.”

The doctor drags a chair and sits in front of me. I look up, and she looks pensive, her frown similar to Percy’s when she was waiting for the results of her lab test.

“I told you before, I’m not sure about the nature of the relationship the two of you have, and it’s probably not in my best interest to pry. But I’ll be frank. I’m seeing signs of codependency.”

My eyes don’t leave her, demanding her to explain in silence.

“Your world revolves around her. Almost to a point of obsessiveness. That isn’t healthy. Persephone doesn’t seem the type to enable that… but I can be wrong.”

Something twists in my gut.

There’s a little truth to what she’s saying, about how my world revolves around Percy ever since she waltzed in the Ninth Circle in September, and that makes it sting more than it should.

But she knows fucking nothing about what Percy and I went through to get where we are now.

“I don’t care. I don’t have to explain anything to you. Go away.”

Dr. Li looks at me, uncertainty in her eyes. “Fine. I just want to let you know that I’ve been put in a similar situation before. With her father, James.”

I guess first impressions can be deceiving. What else had James done?

“If Persephone is anything like her father, get out while you can,” Dr. Li tells me, voice barely a whisper, but she’s firm.

This time, I stand up and glare at her. I towered over her, but she kept seated to her chair, defiant.

“I didn’t know James much. But if there’s someone I certainly know, it’s Percy. She’s not her father. Give her some damn credit.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“This is the only thing I’ll say to you, doctor: she wanted me to have a life of my own.”

Dr. Li gave me a faint smile, but the relief in her eyes is telling.

“I suppose I can give the two of you the benefit of the doubt.”

She stands up and straightens her clothes, puts back the chair where it was, and heads to the door.

“One last thing,” she says, looking over her shoulder.

“If Persephone wakes up, tell her not to look for me.”

I didn’t respond. I just nodded.

Li’s words lingered on my mind throughout the afternoon. “If?” No. When. Percy’s waking up.

...it’s too late. My mind wanders to a possibility of a future without her.

I stand up, parting the plastic curtains around her bed, and take a long, hard look at her. The muscles of her face relaxed, expression blank in her sleep. Almost lifeless.

Usually, her brows would be knitted in concentration, like when she’s figuring out how to use fission batteries to power the motorcycle she’s tinkering with, or when she’s cleaning up a wound I have from shielding her against gunshots.

One look at her eyes, and I can tell when she’s afraid, angry, or just happy to see me. The more I think about it, the more I realize how I missed the cues. My eyes weren’t the only ones lingering on her more than necessary. She does that to me too. Whether what she felt for me is the same as I feel for her, the desire and the fondness, it did not matter. The trust and devotion in them are enough.

When she’s not using her voice to express her anger or frustration, her mouth’s usually smiling, grinning, or open in her laughter. Kind words came out of it for the dog, the kids in Big Town and Lamplight, Gob, Nova, and even Moira from Megaton, and me. Above all, it’s sweet, as I found out before she ran in the chamber.

I try to imagine a world without her, and the knife twists deeper into my gut.

I remember the question she asked me, on New Years’ Eve.

December 31, 2277.

The last day of the year, and I’m back to where I was when it started, but with better company.

The stench of alcohol and jet-addled sweat no longer lingered in the Ninth Circle. I don’t think I can even call it that now that the sign is gone. Ahzrukhal’s shelf of watered-down piss was cleaned out in favor of a common pantry. A section was being separated by sheets, converted to a common house with a number of beds and mattresses. The tables and chairs still remained, where ghouls can sit down and rest, if they desire.

DeLoria was sitting in the corner, looking utterly fucking lost. The only other human in the room was that relic hunter Percy accompanied while looking for a piece of parchment, and she wanted nothing to do with him. At least the dog kept him company.

The greaser sighed in relief when he saw me and Percy.

“About time,” he greets, patting Percy in the back and giving me an acknowledging nod. “Watching you mope and cry because he wouldn’t wake up has gotten boring.”

“Shut the fuck up, Butch,” Percy replies in jest, punching the boy’s arm.

For some reason, it’s comforting to see that these two are at it again.

Percy drops to a knee to give Dogmeat a long hug and kisses on his forehead. Then, the dog comes over to me too, and I carry him, allowing the mutt to lick my face with affection.

“At least give me credit for showing up to rescue your asses, Grognak.”

“Grognak? You came up with that all by yourself?”

“Yeah? You sure as hell looked like him when you smeared them mercs against the floor and carried Charon all the way here,” DeLoria teases, making clubbing motions with his arms.

“If my dog didn’t run away and left you panting after him, you wouldn’t have found us. I should be thanking him,” Percy teases back.

Butch pouts and I couldn’t find the strength to hold back a snicker. Percy ruffles his hair and laughs, earning her a hard glare.

“Hey, watch the hair!”

“Thank you, Butch,” Percy finally relents, offering Butch a smile. Then, she turns at me with an expectant look.

“...thank you,” was all I could say. He’s not so bad. Maybe.

“And thank you,” Percy coos at Dogmeat, voice pitched a few octaves up, ruffling his ears as I held him.

“Isn’t that right, boy? Who’s the smartest, bravest, and toughest doggy in the whole wasteland? You are!”

Dogmeat gives my friend some licks and happy barks. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Holy shit, I think I’m gonna barf,” DeLoria remarks, pretending to dry heave.

“Fuck off, Butch. I’m trying to spoil my baby here.”

They fought for the entire afternoon.

We spent the rest of the night in Underworld, under doctor’s orders not to engage in anything strenuous. Butch got to know the local ghouls, and though he still looks half-terrified at the sight of my people, he’s polite enough not to call them zombies. Probably because Percy punched him when he called me one, or he’s outnumbered. Might be both.

Carol was thrilled to see us again, giving Percy a hug that she reciprocates just as hard. Percy lapped up all her attention. Carol’s probably the closest thing she has to a mother now.

We were having dinner when Percy brought it up.

“I can’t believe this is my first time counting down to the New Year in the wasteland,” she comments, chewing on… whatever the hell we were eating.

“Huh. You’re right,” Butch adds, wiping the grease off his mouth.

“We should celebrate!” Percy quips, enthusiastic. “Maybe we could take us to Tulip’s place and get new stuff for the new year. We never really had that much stuff in the vault, did we Butch?”

“Yeah, they were mostly shitty hand-me-downs. But, uh, I’m still kinda broke Perce. It was supposed to be my first day on the job days ago but all that shit happened…”

Percy blinks, and wipes her lips with a handkerchief. “C’mon boys, let’s go shopping. My treat.”

“For real?” Butch asks, looking a little giddy.

“Are you complaining?”

“No.”

“Let’s go then.”

We went to Tulip in Underworld Outfitters. She was glad to see Percy as usual. While they caught up with each other, DeLoria got a new pair of jeans and a shirt.

Percy found a tattered red scarf. My friend ran her fingers against the fabric, lingering where the holes are.

“I’ll learn how to sew, and I’ll patch you up in no time,” she says to no one in particular. The greaser rolls his eyes.

“Still talking to things, I see,” he teases her.

“No I’m not. I don’t talk to inanimate objects.”

I snort, and join DeLoria. “Yes you do, Percy.”

She crosses her arms and pouts. “Yeah? Name one time.”

“You were talking to that robot you were fixing for the Big Town kids,” I say, and Butch gives me a conspirational look.

“Ha! And you used to talk to them plants in the hydrowhatever garden in the vault too.”

“Hydroponics. Plants tend to grow better when you give them extra attention, you know,” Percy retorts, cheeks going red.

“You used to talk to Mr. Bubbles,” Butch cuts in, and Percy gives him a playful jab.

“You were talking to your Mr. Handy while it was shut down for repairs,” I chime in, and Percy lets out a mock gasp.

“Not you too, Charon! I can’t believe it, you two are teaming up on me,” she laughs, running a hand through her hair. Butch was laughing, and Tulip was looking pretty amused as well.

“You vaulties bicker like a married couple,” Tulip comments.

DeLoria smirks, wagging his eyebrow, while Percy rolls her eyes and huffs. Yeah, they’d make a nice married smoothskin couple. A beautiful smoothskin girl with a smoothskin pretty boy.

Just how things are supposed to be.

“More like a caveman arguing with an astronaut,” Percy scoffs.

“For the record, you’re the caveman, Grognak.”

Putting a hand on her hip, Percy flips DeLoria the bird and looks around for other items. Then, she turns to me, a black shirt in her hand.

“Try it on, big guy. You could use some more clothes,” she says, and I nod.

I take off my shirt and put the new one on. It covers me, but the sleeves are too tight for my liking. I turned to Percy and caught her eyes flick down for a brief moment before looking me in the eye.

“So, is it comfortable?”

“It’s fine. The sleeves are too tight.”

“I’ll just cut them off. We can use the scraps for cleaning,” she replies, eyes averting mine. She clears her throat and goes back to Tulip’s counter. Butch was leaning in the corner, nose wrinkled, avoiding looking at either of us.

Yeah, pretty boy’s jealousy is showing again. It will never stop amusing me.

We left after Percy paid for the items. She looks at her PipBoy display and smiles.

“It’s almost midnight,” she says, and she turns to me. “Hey Charon, know a place where we can get away from all the noise?”

I think about it. “I know a way to the rooftop.”

“Nice. C’mon, let’s get some air.”

“The air’s gonna kill us, Perce,” Butch remarks, and Percy rolls her eyes at him.

“Says the smoker,” she replies.

Percy and Butch fucking bickered again as I led them outside, to an exterior fire escape. We climbed up the stairs until we reached the top in a single file; I’m in front, Percy in the middle, and DeLoria at the rear. I had to carry Dogmeat. He was terrified. Shaking.

We sit on the edge of the roof, Percy in the middle, and the dog on my lap. Percy produces some bottles of Nuka, whiskey, and scotch from her bag, along with some packets of food. Butch ate a snack cake in one bite and chases it down with whiskey. Percy unscrews the scotch, drinks straight from the bottle, and shudders. She passes the bottle to me and I take a long swig of the stuff.

“New Year's in the vault was boring,” Butch comments, looking in the distance. There were Super Mutants roaming about. “It's always streamers and trumpets. I wanted to see what the fireworks looked like.”

“Fireworks will set the vault on fire,” Percy replies as she grabs her Gauss rifles and loads it with a microfusion cell. “I don’t think anyone produces them now, either.”

“But,” she says as she lies on her belly and angles her rifle downwards. “We have ammo.”

A mutant fell in the distance. The big, dumb, green bastards never knew where the shot came from.

“How did you celebrate New Year's way back, Charon?” Percy asks.

Huh.

“We used to put up trees.”

“Well, we can’t do that unless we get a vertibird to Oasis and chop one down,” she chuckles.

People also kissed as the clock struck twelve, but I didn’t tell her that.

“Let’s just make our own traditions then,” Percy continues. “Like shooting up these guys.”

Aside from Percy’s gunshots, we’re silent, drinking and eating as we waited the minutes away.

“So, what are you guys planning to do this year?”

Butch puffs out his chest. “I’m gonna lead a gang. The Tunnel Snakes are gonna slither again!”

Percy chuckles softly.

“That’s a start. When this is all over, I’ll start my own garden. What about you, Charon?”

What kind of question is that?

“I go where you go.”

Percy sits and looks at me.

“Don’t you have plans of your own?”

#lone wanderer #female lone wanderer #charon #fallout charon #charon fallout #fallout 3 charon #charon fallout 3 #butch deloria #madison li #oc: percy zhou #fanfic: absolution #series: through river acheron #fallout #fallout 3 #fallout fanfic #writers on tumblr

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theangrypokemaniac · 4 years

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I've been on Tumblr ten months now, and this blog has existed for nine of them. During that time I have noticed something.

The majority of the posts I've come across have been by and for the S&M scene, as is to be expected.

The second-most frequent are Indigo League, which I don't think is bad going considering it was broadcast before most Tumblerries were born.

Third-most popular I would say is Sinnoh, probably for being the introduction for many here.

After that I've seen bits on Johto, a smattering of Orange League (unsurprising given it's briefness) and maybe a single item on Hoenn.

No one likes that then? Is it Max? Go on, it is.

What I find odd is that, in all that period, I haven't seen anything on Unova or Kalos. No fan art, no screen shots, nothing.

I'm sure someone can point to a bounty of pieces I've overlooked, all done within the last year, but if so, they're well-hidden, as none of the people I follow have shown any interest in re-blogging them.

If you have done any, you must admit the amount has depleted considerably.

Why is this? Is it of no interest anymore?

This in itself validates my own opinion. Had I been here when Unova and Kalos were broadcast, I presume over half of the posts I'd see would've been devoted to them. If I then spoke harshly of either, that would not have been well-received.

However, if dropped, both by the audience and writers as soon as the latest generation arrives, wasn't I right to not be impressed?

If cast aside by those who claimed to worship them, were they really of any worth at all?

Well the same fate has now befallen Alola. I make no secret of how much I despise it, and can not grasp its appeal for anyone.

I don't know how Pokémon even has a fanbase anymore, given that it's ugly, boring and repetitive.

Prior to the arrival of the S.S., I suspected that Alola material would drop, vanishing altogether once a year's worth came to a close, and so it has proved to be.

It's gone from making up roughly 60% - 70% of dashboard posts to about 10% - 20%, in only a few months. Is it that bad then?

It can't be explained as excitement for the new, not with the amount of coverage Kanto gets, and even that isn't motivated by reminiscence, given the average age of the current viewer.

Why are you still posting about something that old? It reminds me of my wasted youth, but what's your excuse?

Why, when the writers want to wallow in nostalgia, do they hark back to Kanto, which no modern fan can remember?

Is no one looking with misty-eyed fondness at Iris and Cilan? Why not?

Or is that an admission that it was so appallingly bad even the writers recognised it, that's why it's been so hastily forgotten?

You could watch Pokémon from the beginning to the close Sinnoh, skip the next two eras, starting again with Alola, and you would never know there'd been a between.

Unova is described as a 'soft reset', with regards to its inverted nature. The arrogance of those writers is staggering:

• Trying to erase all that'd gone before, supplanted by their half-arsed efforts.

• Redesigning everyone with Fish Eye and flat profiles.

• Resetting Ash as not even knowing the basics.

• Warping Team Rocket's established personalities into disgusting, soulless lizard people robbed of all charm and charisma.

• Only new Pokémon existing.

• Catches kept with Juniper not Professor Oak etc.

The irony is that Unova Pokémon are copies of the first 151, so whilst deliberately ignoring the past, they can't resist imitating it, thanks to their own woeful inadequacy. I suppose they hoped if they didn't notice, we wouldn't either.

They then undermined their own decision by stuffing everything available into the third run, as a blatant effort to win back the crowd, including:

• Reverting to Team Rocket's actual motto, not that embarrassingly pretentious codswallop.

Too bloody lazy to make it rhyme now!

Notice they opted not for the Sinnoh one, although more recent. It was straight back to the beginning.

• Look at these hundreds of Pokémon we suddenly remembered!

Just before Giovanni's mid-life crisis, Ash spotted a Rattata, but it having been so isolated from the outside world, his brain fell to mush at the concept, and pronounced it 'retarda'.

Idiots are so easy to please!

• Charizard! Genwunners love Charizard! Give 'em Charizard and they'll forget everything else we've done! Let's condense his entire story arc into one episode of meaningless retelling!

So, Charizard was there to bait the first wave, and yet we had the plot we know repeated to us anyway?

Don't refer to the past and everyone will think it's brand-new!

It makes no sense. How could this be done with the hope of drawing in old fans, and yet filling up an episode with it as plotline isn't an issue, when the intended targets know it's been done before?

• Butterfree! Genwunners loved Butterfree leaving! Let's condense his entire story arc into one episode of meaningless rehash!

Why would they remain when finding the same thing again, absent of feeling and subtlety, not to mention upon discovering the damage done elsewhere?

Recent incomers, who might assume it's a fresh idea, have no emotional connection with Butterfree, so who is it meant to please?

Why is Mewtwo a woman?

• Mewtwo! Genwunners love Mewtwo! Let's copy its background for Genesect rather than be creative! Look, it's Mewtwo! Watch it!!!

Erm... It's not the same Mewtwo...

It's not the same Mewtwo?

You believe the way to an original fan's heart is to lie to them, and in the process smash a fundamental principle of canon that there can only be one Mewtwo?

The writers get a deserved excoriation round these parts, because someone has to, as what part of that film suggested the current crop give the tiniest toss about what matters to you and me?

I'm glad Unova is labelled 'the Dork Age' as every series since its dawn has been atrocious.

Hoenn and Sinnoh held massive flaws, but they're masterpieces compared to what followed. At least they felt like Pokémon, albeit a watery interpretation.

Unova has to be truly lowly for the dunces responsible to recognise it, and neither Kalos or Alola have been as cut off from their predecessors.

I don't believe that's a sign of contrition, more a matter of necessity. Thanks to the same personal limitations there just weren't enough new Pokémon in either era to make such insularity possible. Even between the two it'd be a scrape.

Except whilst previously invented Pokémon designs may be involved, there's no sign of actual familiar characters.

Ash took his original team to Johto, and even in Hoenn and Sinnoh, where local catches took precedent, older Pokémon were still referenced and came back for the League, but that stopped with Unova.

It's evil influence strikes again!

Despite flimsy nods to the past, which can't be avoided, each generation is now a world unto itself, to the point that individual episodes live by their own canon, a feeble web of strands unrelated to anything else.

Why is it considered 'retro' enough to say, have Forms of Kanto Pokémon, for which we're expected to be so grateful, when there's no mention of Ash's earlier squad?

Remember Tauros? And Kingler? And Muk?

Remember Bayleef? And Noctowl? And Heracross?

Remember Corphish? And Torkoal? And Swellow?

Remember Buizel? And Gible? And Torterra?

They don't. As far as I can tell none of them exist anymore, and maybe aren't meant to ever have done.

Same as Gary, Cassidy and Butch, Jessibelle, Tracey, and so on. Until they do, and don't again. Whatever is convenient to today's storyline.

My typical attitude is that the first series is the best thing ever, and it's all been downhill from there, with Unova and all that came after reaching incredible depths of tedium. I don't suppose you like that, but the ephemeral tendencies displayed on Tumblr hardly help change my opinion.

At some low ebb I'll get round to watching Galar, which I'm confident I'll hate as much as the last few generations, based on what I've already seen and heard.

There's little point doing otherwise. Why bother getting involved with the 'plot' or characters if, when it's over, they'll never be spoken of again?

What incentive is there for me to even force myself to like Galar when, once the ninth generation (Pokémon Keenan and Kel) emerges on the distant horizon, those who've sung its praises for three or four years and scoffed at criticism, will drop it without a backwards glance?

Yet talk about the Indigo League is ever present, somewhat proving its superiority. Attachment to it is a subconscious acknowledgement of the dearth of quality in the modern mentality, but which no one can bring themselves to admit.

#Pokémon #Unova #Iris #Cilan #Charizard #Butterfree #Mewtwo #Tumblr

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jordm · 4 years

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Heartland 13x08 - Legacy review

Previously on Heartland: Caleb is over the moon happy about being a daddy and I’m over the moon for them. But unfortunately, it’s back to “mention only” land for Cass. That’s the life.

Georgie and Jade

Jade is the worst roommate, and even if part of the cause for Georgie’s mood is because of Quinn going back to Florida, seeing how she’s woken up by Jade in the morning and the place is seemingly a mess, I don’t really blame her. She moved out to have her own space, and Jade being there kind of defeats it. And even so, why is Jade so surprised she has no waffle maker?! She obviously goes over to the main house to eat most meals. Is Jade even paying rent? Where is Jade even sleeping? The Sofa?

Besides the point, Georgie and Jade decide to have a little friendly competition. Georgie bets she can jump rope a horse better than Jade can jump a horse. Amy can do both and i’m reminded that Amy, in Heartland world is an anomaly. What can’t she do? She can even joust and do archery on a horse.

Back to the main point, they go to the jumping course and Georgie, getting flashbacks of her time with Quinn and clearly still missing him and possibly regretting sending him away on such a bad note, elects not to jump. To say that she is missing him is one big understatement and it’s nice to see Jade acknowledge that she’s sorry about Quinn (even if she doesn’t know the full story) once they call the match a draw. Georgie needs friends and in time, I do believe that something that talking to Quinn may help her feel a little better. We know he shows up near the end of the season... so here’s to some conclusion.

Amy

Ty and Lyndy still aren’t back and Luke is off to Summer Camp (hey that’ll be fun and a totally legit way to write someone off of the show for the episode instead of say, MONGOLIA). Anyways, we get a really cute video call between the fam and I still wish we saw this visit with Ty’s mom but hey, at least he isn’t off in Mongolia right? Plus, the framing for their house is on the way so bets on if the house is going to be done by the end of the season?

When riding Lisa’s cross country course, Spartan ends up breaking his leg (torn ligament or something) and this situation with Spartan is not nearly as serious... but more on this next week. Amy acknowledges he isn’t as young as he used to be (at the very least 13 years old since she rescued him in season 1) and perhaps might need to take it easy. We get a Cass mention that she checked out the Spartan and I wish that with Ty out of town, we got to see some more Cass/Amy scenes; even a scene where Cass is eating breakfast at Maggies with Amy.

Tim and Casey

So, we hear from their own words, that they simply decided not to get engaged oh so long ago (how long ago? last season ended with Georgie going to Europe, so let’s say July and she’s now graduated and into her summer job at Fairfield, let’s say it’s been one year). I know we’ve said this a thousand times but just because they decided not to get married, why does that mean that they had to break up?!

We find out that it was mutual, and apparently Casey is marrying Greg because he isn’t as challenging. So... it was mostly Tim? I get it, Tim is challenging and runs a thousand miles a minute but this still seems like a VERY thinly veiled excuse (i’m sure @the-real-tc will agree). Casey didn’t say “he’s a better fit for me” or “we just connected”, it was more of a “he’s easier to handle and more predictable” but sometimes we need a little bit of unpredictability in our lives right? And Tim isn’t that unpredictable and always means well, at least in my opinion. I don’t know about all of you, but it sounds like maybe Casey is settling, although I am willing to give her the benefit of doubt because we haven’t actually seen this guy and she may be trying to protect Tim’s feelings.

Anyways, Tim makes a wise choice to not buy Casey’s business. By buying Casey’s business, he is still holding onto that Casey connection but he makes the wise choice to cut ties completely. Hopefully now we can move on from this ridiculous excuse to end a relationship even though Casey promised to never leave.

Jack

Jack is going around recruiting rodeo legends for the Hudson classic when he runs into Butch, who is having trouble the past few years due to concussions; so is the life of a rodeo star back in the day I suppose, when they competed with little protection and no health insurance or pension.

Jack, being the good guy he is, wants to start a foundation to support retired rodeo vets. And while he, the rodeo owners and the vets all realize it’s a good cause, when it comes to cutting into profits, the rodeo owners are a little more stingy. They want to make money off these legends/riders but don’t want to support them after their retired. And not that i’m saying the owners being skeptical was right but perhaps Jack should have given them some time to think, look over their books and work out the kinks of this like, how it’s going to be spend, distributed... etc. before just saying “donate % of your profits” because let’s face it, they could be like, “okay, we agree to 1% of profits” and it amounts to nothing. Perhaps he should have proposed “okay, 5% of profits to a maximum of $5,000 a year” or something and outline the tax benefits or the social benefits.

Frankly, i’m surprised that 40 years later after Jack was in the circuit, the rodeo riders/participants haven’t started a union they can pay into and get a benefit (ie. pension/insurance) from yet. Granted, I don’t know how hard it is to start a union but generally, a union helps to negotiate these benefits. I’m actually pretty sure that in real life, some kind of union does exist.

Jack manages to get Tim on his side and at the event, through part of Jack’s speech but probably mostly peer pressure, he gets all the rodeo owners to agree to donate a percentage of the profits and all the proceeds from the Hudson Heritage Classic.

Lou

JD Worth is campaigning around Hudson for mayor, but Lou is worried that this change he keeps campaigning for is too much. I say the giant posters of his face on the walls are way too much.

Lou thinks somethings up and even thinks about running for Mayor. And... i can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Especially once she sees JD’s plans to completely modernize main street - something I dare say small towns in real life have had to contend with in order to stay alive - and once she hears JD’s opponent has dropped out, I dare say as a local resident and business woman, she has a pretty good chance of winning.

This reminds me of Randall’s storyline on This Is Us, anyone else?

Songs in this Episode @heartlandians

Long Wet Day - Sunday Jones

Without - Sunday Jones

Lean on Somebody - Caution Cat (LOVE this name lmao)

Frank, AB - The Rural Alberta Advantage

#heartland #review #season 13 #legacy

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disgruntledkittenface · 5 years

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hey hi hello I updated the girl direction fic rec link you can find on my blog on desktop. perfect formatting eludes me, but this list of my personal faves is now to up to date! I’m also going to link under a read more. enjoy <3

Updated January 2, 2019

Her Love On My Lips (1k)

Harry and Louis take a late night drive. And Louis makes a confession.

another lovesick afternoon (2k)

a coffee shop au where harry pines and can't say no to a dare

Too Great a Temptation (2k)

Harry and Louis attend a fancy dress ball.

brighter than the sun (2k)

Louis meets Harry at a flea market.

that time of the month (3k)

Harry and Louis both reach for the last box of tampons at the store.

makes me wanna be all yours (3k)

Harry meets Louis when she visits her best friend Niall, who's away at university

Our Own Little French Club (3k)

It's a simple movie night. Or is it? Louis invites herself over to watch a movie with Harry, and the question of whether or not it's a date waits for an answer.

A Prank Or Two (Let Me End Up With You) (3k)

Hogwarts AU where Louis loves pulling pranks and ends up in detention with a fifth-year Ravenclaw, who does look kind of cute though.

the wheel breaks the butterfly (4k)

AU. harry and louis are roommates. girls' night ends a little differently than usual.

All’s Fair in Love and Laundry (4k)

Harry has run out of clothes to wear. So she puts on the hideous nightgown Gemma got her for Christmas and prays no one sees her as she makes a mad dash to the laundry room to fix her clothing situation. Of course, the universe hates her (or maybe loves her) because in walks the most beautiful girl Harry has ever seen. Banter and teasing ensue and maybe a bit of romance too. And maybe, just maybe, that ugly nightgown wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Quiet Afternoon Crush / Violent Overnight Rush (4k)

Louis and Harry are models, flat mates and Halloween costume connoisseurs. They’re also best friends who occasionally fuck. It’s not a big deal though.

the summertime and the butterflies (4k)

Louis works at a charity shop, Harry’s the hot hipster-ish girl who buys all her clothes there.

It’s A Long Way Down (4k)

There’s a loud rumble, along with the sound of something shattering below the hood. Louis has just enough time to swerve her car to the emergency lane before it comes to a standstill and they’re stranded on a road. Very public car sex ensues.

all down your shoulders and back (5k)

Louis has known Harry for three years now, and she's had plenty of practice avoiding thoughts like that, for her own sake and everyone else's. If she ever slips up, it’s because she’s drunk, or high, or Harry’s just threatened to cut off her hair. (Non AU. Harry and Louis are cisgirls. Everything else is more or less the same.)

Lay Down, Decide Me (5k)

She sends off a last text reading, "I just really want Lou to pull my hair while I eat her out. Is that too much to ask," before burrowing herself under the blankets. When her phone dings with a reply, she's expecting Zayn to complain about overshare, but instead what she gets is, "be there in 10." From Louis. Which. Oh fuck.

Lips Won’t Let Me Go (5k)

This is it. This is the highlight of Louis' life. She hooks her chin on Harry's shoulder, and then says ecstatically, "Driver? Roll up the partition please." Or, Harry and Louis are celebrity girlfriends who fuck in limos.

Ridiculous (5k)

The first time they meet, Harry’s got her tits out and Louis inhales hairspray. The events might be related.

Take All of Me (5k)

“So, my rut’s coming early,” Harry says, straight to the point because she’s had all day to dwell on this and worries are starting to cloud her thoughts. “Like, the doctor gave me these new suppressants for my asthma, and she said it’s coming early and there’s no way your heat won’t trigger it.” Or, Harry and Louis' rut/heat cycles sync up for the first time.

Bittersweet, Irrepressible (5k)

In which Harry's been in love with Louis all semester but can't tell the difference between platonic and romantic interactions, leading to pining and confusion and at least one date.

You’re Here, Where You Should Be (5k)

three years after having last seen her best friend, Louis shows up at the Christmas party Harry's family throws every year. Old feelings might not be as buried as Harry had thought.

Just Say the Word (5k)

Five times Harry watches Lou from across the bar and one time she actually makes a move.

Genderswap AU series (6k)

Part 1: Harry figures out how to make herself come and shows Louis.

Part 2: they go from putting on eyeliner to sex.

As Time Goes By (6k)

Louis found herself enthralled with the way Harry talked; kind of hesitant and drawn out, like she wasn’t really expecting to be heard. Louis wondered who in Harry’s life talked over her or tried to make her stop in the middle of a story. That would be a shame, because Louis was loving their conversation. There was something about the way that Harry’s mouth formed the words, and the rasp of her voice. Louis hated talking on the phone as a rule, but she imagined she could listen to Harry talk for hours. She wanted to curl up next to her on the couch and listen to Harry talk about anything and everything.

Wow. Louis needed to get a grip. They hadn’t even opened the wine yet, and Louis was already fantasizing about cuddling Harry.

the pressure’s rising (i won’t make it through the night) (7k)

harry goes out. the night ends unexpectedly when she meets louis.

Dream About That Casual Touch (7k)

Louis and Harry fuck up two dates before they finally get it right.

Rush Crush (7k)

Stumbling through the entryway was a slender girl with dark chocolate curls. Louis picked her out of the crowd immediately seeing as how she was the only one who wasn’t wearing something overly feminine. No, this one was dressed in black skinny jeans that accentuated the obscene length of her legs. Her black Chelsea boots were shiny, softly reflecting the glow from the hanging chandelier. Louis’ eyed trailed back up and noticed the faint trace of ink showing through the girl’s white t-shirt.

In the Heat of the Night (7k)

“You’re sleeping with me, obviously,” Harry says then, pausing to regard Louis with a funny expression, nose wrinkled and brows drawn tight. “Don’t tell me you thought that I’d let you freeze out here!? Absolutely not! C’mon, the bedroom’s cozy, I dragged a space heater out.” Louis wants to protest about as badly as she wants to sleep next to Harry Styles, which is a lot. Too much. --- Or, Louis is the only butch in London with a truck and Harry needs to move a couch.

bright lights (she’s fading) (8k)

Harry and Louis are psychology students in uni. Their professor is a bit of a fuckwit who makes it seem like kink discussion in a classroom is completely normal. It gets a bit out of hand.

Who Run the World? (Girls!) (8k)

A femslash take on the beginning of Relief Next To Me, complete with girl!Direction, lots of tongue action, and lots of hints to the original work.

lonely in a crowded space (8k)

Harry runs a coffee shop and Louis is half-famous. They meet again years after a turbulent past.

Riding Comfortable (8k)

Harry is the 19-year-old intern, Louis is the 25-year-old CEO, and they fuck in the office a lot.

Always Enjoy the Taste (9k)

the Starbucks AU where Harry writes a pick-up line on Louis' cup every day

From Now Until Forever (9k)

The girls go to Britney Nite and Louis wears Juicy track pants and Harry is not ok.

Make The Yuletide Gay (9k)

A Christmas In Connecticut AU in which Louis is a mommy blogger, Harry is a pop star, and nobody's really what they seem. Featuring a lot of lying, tons of domesticity, some badly faked heterosexuality, and a few Christmas kisses.

Clap your hands (if you’re feeling gay) (10k)

Louis has had a shit year involving a shit break up. The last thing she wants when coming to Minehead is to meet someone new. She is 'getting away from it all' by going to work in a language school in one of the crappiest places imaginable. The chances of meeting anyone hot, let alone anyone hot and into girls, are nil. So why is she so obsessed with the hot, tall, curl haired girl who happens to be her boss? Why does she fall head over converse heels just as soon as she steps foot in the centre? Those are questions that Louis refuses to even acknowledge, let alone answer. That is until her curly haired boss asks to kiss her, and she has to confront them all.

Lumiere, Darling (11k)

She’s so gone it’s not even funny. It really isn’t funny because falling in love with your best friend is such a stupid, idiotic, dumb thing to do, and there’s only ever a happy ending in romantic comedies. Louis (she claims, loudly and publicly whenever anyone will listen despite the fact that she’ll watch them with Harry any time Harry asks her to) hates romantic comedies. The thing is, when it really comes down to it, Louis never stood a chance.

Wild at Heart Ain’t Hard to Find (11k)

Louis and her best friends Niall and Liam always take an annual vacation together. This year Niall has picked Redwater Canyon, a small tourist town where everyone lives like it's the Old West. There are saloons, stagecoaches, and limited access to WiFi. The town boasts tours, excursions, activities, and the hottest woman Louis has ever seen in the form of the local blacksmith.

bambi legs (11k)

Harry works at her family’s fabric store sometimes and always sells the most interesting fabrics to Louis. Louis is the wannabe fashion designer who keeps buying fabric she doesn’t necessarily need just to find a way to talk to Harry.

my heart is untamed, still (12k)

the one where Harry pines and Louis' mean, but it's not so fun when the tables are turned.

Crystal Ball on the Table (12k)

Harry Styles is just an ordinary witch from an old-fashioned Boston family trying to survive in her regular job as the fiction manager at a local bookstore and café. Her magic isn't exactly something she advertises when looking for potential new girlfriends, so when Louis Tomlinson arrives in her life like a breath of fresh air, she tries her best to hide how strongly her magic is reacting to Louis' presence.

sink into tomorrow (13k)

Harry is the new (supposedly heterosexual) freshman who gets convinced by pretty blue eyes and soft skin to join a club about body positivity and self-image. Louis is the definitely-not-male upperclassman who makes her come to terms with some things she's been denying.

long way from the playground (14k)

Louis should really get over being in love with her best friend. Harry doesn't help by acting less than platonic.

just a touch of your love (15k)

The only thing standing in the way of Harry and Louis getting together are...well, Harry and Louis.

Blush (15k)

the Christmas FxF Larry fic in which Louis is 99.5% sure she's straight and Harry likes to walk around shirtless and watch lesbian films

i found my place, i see your face (15k)

Harry and Louis hate each other but they’re forced to be in the vicinity of each other because they’re friends with the same people. They’re also forced to work together for a Christmas concert and end up falling in love, which obviously surprises no one.

Love You a Latte (16k)

Louis Tomlinson doesn’t drink coffee and definitely doesn’t go to Starbucks. Enter barista Harry Styles. Add a double shot of espresso, stir in 90s references to taste, and top with whipped cream and love. Or, the coffee shop AU featuring girl direction, creative espresso, and a professor and a barista falling in love in one beautiful autumn.

and we live like legends now (16k)

harry works at a juice bar, and louis is the cute girl that skates at the park right next door.

Diamonds in the Moonlight (16k)

The 70s au where Harry is a rich girl stuck in the suburbs who thinks she loves Shaun Cassidy, and Louis is the skater who breaks into her backyard and changes everything forever.

strawberry things series (16k)

Part 1: It bubbles in her chest, dissolving in her lungs like sour salt on her tongue, it rises to her throat, transforming into an elated hum. Their heartbeats battle between their skin, and the feel of a pulse should not be as riveting as it is, but Louis finds herself yearning for it, stretching her neck, tensing her muscles in longing. And then Harry presses her lips sweetly to Louis', letting electricity tingle between their two lips. "You taste like strawberry margaritas," Louis whispers.

Part 2: the sequel about the morning after where harry and louis try to make breakfast, harry is quite literally hot and cold and sweet fluff ensues

daydreams are made of this series (19k)

Part 1: And now she’s here, on her way to seeing Louis again for the first time since that first night and it’s… she’s just a bit nervous is all.

Part 2: It’s been five days since Harry had Louis pushed up against the kitchen windowsill and they haven’t spoken a word since.

Part 3: Harry is the kind of girl who deserves to be taken out on sweet romantic dates and to be showered in compliments because she's never expecting them. And now she's with Louis. And Harry acts like she's the one that lucked out.

Daisy Chains series (20k)

Part 1: Ten minutes later, an awkward, long-legged, curly-haired, so pale she’s reflective, and so obviously gay-looking Harry Styles is sitting shotgun next to Louis in a bikini, denim cut-offs, and heart-framed sunnies. Or, Harry and Louis and a too-small bathing suit.

Part 2: Harry thinks it’s a fever-induced delirium, at first. After all, she’s been sick in bed for a full forty-eight hours following the Best and Most Important beach trip of her entire life because fate is a cruel and jealous bitch who doesn’t want Harry to go on a date with the girl of her dreams. or, Harry is sick and Louis comes to visit her.

back and forth (i kinda like it that way) (20k)

girl!direction where they all work at a magazine. Liam is the big boss, Zayn is her girlfriend and raises her eyebrows a lot. Louis is 24 and a sports journalist, and not equipped to deal with Harry, who's a gorgeous 21 year old intern, that will be leaving at the end of the summer - so it's not like she should get involved anyway, right?

scraping the skies with our finger tips (21k)

fem slash flower child/punk au no one asked for

Read Me Like a Book (21k)

The librarian AU featuring girl direction, Pride and Prejudice, a little Shakespeare, and a crash course in love.

Find Another One, Cause She Belongs To Me (25k)

Girl Direction Uni AU, where Louis is desperately in love with her best friend Harry, who might not be as straight as she thought, Ziam can't fool anyone, and Niall is just happy with football being her only relationship.

Bleeding Love (27k)

Louis is an animal rights activist who throws red paint at fur coat wearing it-girl Harry Styles. Then there's a crack in the surface and something new starts bleeding through.

Guilty Was The Book (28k)

Harry refuses to return her book to the library and Louis has no patience

tell them we’re like magnets (31k)

Louis and Harry are roommates and best mates who like to kiss when they're drunk. Louis doesn't want her feelings to ruin things, so she starts seeing someone else, but she still can't seem to stop kissing Harry. uni au where girl direction/little mix live together and get wasted a lot and make questionable choices.

Gently As She Goes (33k)

A modern fairytale (literally!) featuring a quest to bring a lost girl home, celtic goddesses, braiding, friendship, true love, and magic.

that good girl faith (and a tight little skirt) (43k)

“What the fuck did you do to my shampoo?” Harry shouts, brandishing the offending bottle like it’s a vial of poison. “Is this fucking mud? Did you honestly replace my shampoo with mud?” “Not just your shampoo,” Louis says calmly, then cracks up when Harry visibly pales. Harry and Louis are camp counsellors. They hate each other. The amount of sex they have in the camp showers probably contradicts that.

If I Was Stronger (50k)

AU where Louis holds universes inside her, and Harry just wants to hold her.

I love your demons (like devils can) (60k)

Harry didn’t plan to join the football team. She didn’t plan to sleep with the captain of the football team. She definitely didn’t plan to sleep with the closeted captain of the football team, who promptly acted as if nothing happened and left Harry a pathetic, pining mess.

Shades of Pink (Crazy in Love) series (259k)

A 17/25 age difference story (light D/s)

#girl direction #fic rec #we are so blessed so by no means exhaustive #there's so much more out there!!#mine

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emilyplaysotome · 6 years

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Chapter 8 - Hiding in Plain Sight

Catch up on Chapters 1 - 7 here! (or just Chapter 7)

I calmed myself down by reminding myself that Meg was no bright eyed fool.

She was a New Yorker in the most stereotypical sense - slightly cynical, (at the moment) jaded towards relationships, and completely self-sufficient. Her second year into her relationship with Noah, Meg had gotten laid off when a major brand had left the agency she was employed at.

Noah was an engineer and steadily rising in the corporate ranks at the time. He’d suggested that they move in together in order to take any pressure off of her, but Meg had flatly refused. She had appreciated the gesture but refused to allow herself to be rescued by some white knight. Instead, she revised her resume and updated her site, applying to jobs and freelancing before she was offered a creative director role at a superior agency than the one who laid her off.

With her upgraded title and upgraded employer, she then considered Noah’s offer to live together and rather than move into either of their apartments, they found a new place together that was also a considerable upgrade.

I remember secretly admiring how Meg had handled herself back then and wondered if I would have handled myself as well as she did. With that said, there was no way she would let her guard down (even in otome-ville) and certainly not with a PUA type like Baba.

Rather than get derailed with what ifs, I refocused on what I needed to do in order to get her home in a timely fashion. I pulled out my laptop and saw that Anita had sent me another message, “Naomi I know you’re sick but we couldn’t reschedule - can you do a video conference at 2? Please!?”

I’d hoped to sneak down to the Tribeca precinct that was dangerously close to my office during that time but with the realization that pressing pause on my life was impossible, I begrudgingly agreed to dial into the Zoom meeting. With an hour to kill I sent a flirty text to Hiroshi - confirming that we were still on for our date tomorrow in the park.

He didn’t reply immediately and I wondered if this was thanks to his new persona, or if he was merely tied up at work.

As for Soryu, I was at a loss but figured it couldn’t hurt to take a closer look at Terek’s card. I noticed that there was a phone number and email address listed but waffled on whether or not emailing him would lead anywhere. Instead, I opted to google Soryu and his arrest information. I was surprised to find out that he’d posted bail - something that seemed off considering the fact that bail had been set fairly high and he had been mugging people on the train for spare change.

There was no further information as far as if he’d been the one to pay or if someone else had covered it, and before I knew it I had to stop sleuthing and instead dial into Anita’s video conference.

“Hey Naomi - are you with us?”

The quality of the feed made it hard to see who exactly was in the room, but it was clear that the office’s largest conference room was packed full of clients and coworkers.

“Yep! I’m here. Hello everyone.”

“Thanks for dialing in. I know you’re feeling under the weather but I wanted to make sure you were present for this discovery meeting,” Anita said, leading the meeting. “We’ve already done intros so when you’re back in person we’ll be sure to go through that again, but for now I’d like to make the most of our time together and dive in.”

“Sounds good. It’s nice to meet you all.”

I saw the pixilated people nod in acknowledgement and Anita let them know in a lighthearted way that I was 360i’s resident digital marketing expert before moving on to the brand discovery.

I learned that this “new brand” Anita had been hinting at was actually a hospitality behemoth in Asia that was looking to break into the American market. At the moment their luxury hotel was almost ready to open in New York and they were looking to partner with an agency who could lead a successful digital marketing campaign that would help launch the brand.

We would have one month of prep and discovery (where we’d learn about the brand, their guidelines in order to formulate where in the NYC hospitality space there was a gap that they could fill), a pitch against two other agencies, and once awarded, only one month before the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The owner of the hotel (Hyun Kim) was a heavyset gentleman with salt and pepper hair who sat next to Anita taking notes on a sleek laptop. His fingers made an abnormally loud clacking sound on the keyboard, but his colleagues seemed used to it whereas I noticed a few of my coworkers glancing over from time to time.

Nothing was said during this initial discovery meeting that I found particularly meaningful. In general, I’d worked on and for several hospitality brands and they all required the same type of marketing. The only thing that stood out to me was the fact that this brand did not offer the standard amenities of a luxury hotel but also had created a “health and fitness” component.

LT Hotels was planning to roll out in addition to their spa offerings spin, barre, and yoga classes. Having just been reminded of how cramped NYC gyms tend to be, I silently wondered if there might be an opportunity in our NYC launch strategy by opening up these services to the public for a healthy fee. It seemed like a way not only to define LT Hotels (allowing them to keep half of the space in their classes for guests and half for local members) while maintaining the upper class, expensive and exclusive atmosphere.

I jotted down a small note to research luxury gyms in the city and get a cost estimate, also factoring in that members would have access to LT Hotels’ spa services at a discounted rate, should we propose something along those lines.

At the end of the hour, I thanked Mr. Kim and his team for their time and Anita brought the video meeting to a close.

Just before she did, I caught a glimpse of some of the men who were on Mr. Kim’s team towards the back and noted that it was slightly ironic that a luxury hotel and spa brand that appealed primarily to women was headed up exclusively by men.

With my work obligation complete, I pulled out all the stops to find Namba knowing that once 6 pm hit I wouldn’t be able to find him until Monday, should he currently be working a 9-5. I raced down to the TriBeCa precinct (and by raced I mean hobbled seeing as how I was incredibly sore), and strolled right up to the front desk where a weathered, butch female officer asked, “How can I help ya hon?”

“I’m actually looking for someone who used to work here - Jin Namba?”

Unimpressed, she raised an eyebrow and said, “And who would you be?”

“Naomi Lee.”

“Hold.”

I watched as she dialed a few numbers on a beat up phone and gruffly said, “Yeah, Fitzgerald - do you remember Jin ever mentioning someone named Naomi Lee?”

There was a pause and she eyed me up and down before quietly saying, “I dunno, regular lookin’ for this area. Dark hair and eyes. Why? Ok. Ok…sure.”

She hung up and informed me to take a seat.

I wasn’t entirely sure as to what was happening but after a short wait a burly, Irish cop in his 40s approached me. His ID revealed him as the man the woman at the front had been speaking with and with a smile he gave me a small wave.

“Hey there.”

“Hi,” I said, standing.

“Do you mind going for a walk with me?”

It was a little odd, but Officer Fitzgerald didn’t seem to be shady or scary and so, I followed him outside. We made small talk for a block and a half before he finally revealed that he wasn’t really supposed to say anything about Jin, but had remembered him talking about a girl he was crazy about.

“You’re that girl, aren’t you?”

I flushed and nodded, “I think so.”

“So why you lookin’ for him now when before you didn’t give him the time of day before?”

“Did he tell you I was engaged?”

“Was?”

“Yes, was.”

Officer Fitzgerald smiled, “Shit. I’m a sucker for a happy ending. I was gonna grill you but fuck it - he’s a PI now.”

“That’s a real thing?”

“Sure it is! You mean to tell me you thought it was only somethin’ in movies?”

Officer Fitzgerald let out a good natured tsk and with another grin told me the address of Jin’s office a few blocks away.

“You think I can just…go?”

“You better go! I expect to be the best man at this wedding, ya know.”

“Officer -”

“Call my Fitzy - all my friends do.”

There was something magical about a city where a tough looking man had a soft cuddly nickname and I found myself smiling as a result.

“Thanks Fitzy. I owe you one.”

“Hope it works out. Don’t break my dude’s heart, ok?”

I started to walk in the director of Jin’s office, but Fitzy stopped me by calling out, “And Naomi - if anyone asks…you didn’t hear any of this from me.”

“You got it,” I said and then picked up the pace towards Jin’s office in the west most section of TriBeCa.

“Can I help you?”

I found myself frozen standing in front of Jin Namba as the magic hour light flooded the large windows and illuminated his office, creating a warm glow around a man who still occupied a special place in my heart. He was the same Jin he’d always been - tall, serious, and eyes that had a hint of good natured mischief behind them.

Out of all of this world’s iterations, he was the closest to his original self - wearing a rumpled, outdated suit that was slightly too large as his five o’clock shadowed ventured on beard territory.

I think it was because of how familiar he currently felt to me that caused all these old feelings to come racing back and I found myself fighting back tears knowing that I wasn’t familiar to him at all.

“Miss - are you ok?” He asked cautiously.

“It’s Namoi,” I said. “Ami. Naomi. You don’t remember either one, do you?”

“Either? I don’t understand…”

“No, it’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

Jin ushered me to have a seat in his office. The space had a small waiting area, but there was no receptionist and from what I could see it was just Jin in an office resembled the one he’d occupied in Her Love in the Force. It was ironic that he’d lost his recollection of who he was, and yet had managed to recreate a space from his past.

He sat behind a large mahogany desk and I sat across from him and watched as he pulled out a vape pen and inhaled.

“So what brings you here?” He asked quietly, sensing my emotional upheaval.

“I’m looking for someone, but I don’t know who…”

Jin grinned and I felt my heart jump in my chest, “Sounds like quite the pickle Little Bird.”

“What did you just call me?”

For a moment, I could see in Jin’s eyes that he looked lost. He whispered the nickname to himself again and then apologized, noting that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but that there was something familiar about me. Hearing that made me feel received - as if for once, I wasn’t experiencing something that was completely one-sided.

It was strange that I felt so nostalgic now, seeing as how since our breakup, I’d never looked back.

I knew why I had chosen Zyg and had also not-so-secretly thought that Jin was slightly too old for me. Despite that, there was something about the fact that even the “changed” Jin at his core was so closely tied to the man he was that even the king himself failed to alter him drastically. Perhaps it due to his age that he had maintained this strong sense of “self” while his younger otome counterparts had been altered much more.

The utterance of his old nickname for me conjured a bunch of feelings in both of us, and he mentioned that he’d gotten into a skirmish at work and suffered a blow to the head which the doctor said caused temporary amnesia.

I knew it was less of a blow to the head and more the doing of a nefarious king, but seeing as how Jin didn’t seem to want to go into detail he changed the subject and asked, “Anyway, how do you propose finding someone whose identity you don’t know?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “which is why I came to you hoping that you could help.”

“I mostly do cheating spouses, runaway kids, that kind of thing…this….”

“Why’d you quit the force?”

He paused, and I watched a flicker of curiosity flash through his gaze causing him to take another drag of his vape pen and avert his eyes before asking, “You knew me from before?”

“Something like that.”

“Being an officer in this city is dangerous. I’m gettin’ too old for that kind of thing. I thought tailing adulterers would be a bit safer and have far more job security.”

“That doesn’t sound like the person I knew.”

“How did we know each other Little Bird? I get the sense we weren’t just casual acquaintances.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because when I look at you…no. Nothing.”

“No, what?”

I could feel myself leaning towards him with a seductive look that I hadn’t anticipated wearing. He grinned at me and ran his fingers through his hair and with that irresistible smirk of his playfully noted, “I gotta be on guard around you heartbreaker.”

I pretended that he didn’t, though of course I was planning to get that kiss. For now, I celebrated the fact that I’d found five of the six men and left his office fifteen minutes later, promising to compile a list as far as who my top suspects for the king’s mystery sixth person was in this world.

As I stood in that small waiting area, I boarded the elevator feeling pretty good about this plan of Jin helping me locate this mystery man. However, when the elevator doors closed and I was alone once more, I realized that time was a flat circle and I had a legitimate, authentic crush on Jin Namba once more.

I managed not to run into any of my coworkers on the way home, and walked into my apartment tired but feeling on top of the world.

I collapsed on my couch and took out my planner to make sure I was on track to get Meg back (and also show the king who was boss). As I reviewed things, I also took notes with the hopes of brainstorming for situations that didn’t seem to have a clear answer at the moment.

Regardless though as drained as I was, I was also feeling very accomplished.

Tomorrow I was set to go out with Hiroshi. I’d met Soryu but had no idea as to his whereabouts. Thea’s contact information was in my phone and as much as it pained me, I could follow up and hopefully figure out what Zyglavis’ new life looked like. Hijikata had me popping Advil like they were candy but I was hopeful my haiku had started to thaw his heart. And finally, I was relieved to know that Jin hadn’t been transformed into some sexist, racist bad iteration of a NYPD cop.

Just as my guard started to come down there was a bright light and a snap and the King of the Heavens stood with an annoyed looking Meg standing next to him.

“Meg!”

I ran towards her and gave her a hug which she reciprocated.

“Ah tut tut,” the king said, gently separating us. “I’ll admit that I was amazed by your progress, but until you tell me the names and whereabouts of all the men you don’t get this one back.”

“Meg, are you-”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me…”

“Goldfish!” The king barked, “Names and whereabouts now or I send her back!”

“But I’ve only found five of the six.”

With a devilish grin the king laughed and noted, “Oh ho! I should have known you weren’t that clever.”

“Excuse me?”

“You didn’t even realize that you found the sixth man?!”

The king’s laughter grew from a chuckle into a hearty belly laugh and I racked my brain trying to think of all the places I’d gone today - from the subway, to the bodega, and even those at Hijikata’s gym. Either way, I’d been far too distracted to really notice and was beating myself up as a result.

Meg caught my attention by covertly waving her hands in the hopes of pulling me out of my stupor. She stood slightly behind the king (out of his eyeline) who was having a grand ol’ time at my expense, and mouthed something at me while pointing to her pocket. Before I could process everything that was happening the king snapped his fingers and she was gone once more.

“Just text me when you figure out the identity of the 6th man,” the king said flippantly, dabbing the tears that formed from laughter before snapping his fingers and leaving me alone again.

I let out an angry moan and collapsed on the couch once more, frustrated and wondering how it was possible that I could have met the last man without realizing. I had been so tired when I came in that I was still in my army jacket and as I slumped onto the couch I heard a crinkle and remembered Meg’s gesturing.

It was then that I reached into my pocket and discovered the list of possible suspects I’d written out before the king had taken her. My eyes widened as I saw that not only had Meg survived her time in the otome world, but she’d continued to be my ally as more than half of the names on my list were crossed out.

I now had three suspects for the mystery sixth man, and to be honest I wasn’t happy about who they were.

Chapter 9 here

If you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend or buying me a coffee!

Thanks for reading :)

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#jin namba #her love in the force #her love in the force fanfiction #her love in the force fanfic #voltage fanfic #Voltage fan fiction #voltage fan #voltage fandom #voltage games #voltage inc #voltage romance sims

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xenosaurus · 6 years

Text

Vermilion City Pokemon Shelter (chapter 1)

Rating: T Tags: animal shelter setting, original characters, lesbian protagonist, worldbuilding

also available on ao3!

By this point in her career, Marianne Joy has learned to be wary of calm. It’s the same for the shelter as it was for the pokemon center her mother worked at when she was growing up-- if things seem relaxed, that means you’re either missing something or it’s about to get very loud.

After 45 minutes of paperwork with no noise except for her Nidoking’s gentle snoring, Marianne is ready for an interruption.

Right on schedule, the receptionist knocks on the door. Marianne knows it’s Lilo even before the door opens-- she’s the only one in the office who knocks like she’s setting the beat for a song.

“Yeah, Lilo, you can come in,” Marianne calls back. Her Nidoking, curled up in the enormous pokemon bed set up next to her desk, makes a snuffling sound and lifts his head in response to her voice. Marianne gives him a quick pat between the spines.

Lilo hovers in the doorway to Marianne’s office, an apologetic look on her face. She’s a short young woman, dark-skinned and pretty. She’s wearing orange lipstick today, the exact same shade as the trim on her uniform.

“Sooo, we have a situation.” Lilo draws out the word ‘so’ like she’s trying to delay having to actually finish the sentence.

Marianne puts down the paperwork she was reading with a sigh.

“Pokemon situation or people situation?”

“People situation,” Lilo says, grimacing. “Mrs. Bernard is here again.”

Marianne mirrors the sentiment. She’s heard stories about this one, and it must be serious if Lilo came for backup.

Marianne gets up from her desk, grabbing a clipboard from the rack on the way out of the room. Her Nidoking watches her sleepily, before deciding the situation isn’t worth sacrificing his nap. He’s back asleep almost immediately.

“What’s the clipboard for, Mar?” Lilo asks, while Marianne takes a random packet of papers from her desk.

“Makes me look more official. She’s obviously not scared of the damn Garchomp in the lobby, but maybe human authority will work.”

Marianne leaves her office. Lilo follows her, and out of the corner of her eye, Marianne can see the receptionist’s shadow jump unnaturally.

“You have your Gengar free-roaming today?” Marianne asks as they walk down the hall towards reception.

“Yeah! She’s doing so good, isn’t she? She even came out from under my desk!” Lilo turns to address her own shadow, which currently shows no sign of concealing a pokemon as far as Marianne can tell. “Did you hear that, Lucy? You’re such a brave girl!”

Sure enough, Lilo’s shadow shifts in response, swaying side to side. Marianne smiles. This is a good pick-me-up right before she has to deal with entitlement personified.

“Ma’am, you really should go through the Good Start program.”

Shit, that’s Tyler. Marianne turns to Lilo in alarm.

“You left Tyler alone with her?” she whispers.

“Peggy’s on lunch, somebody had to stay with her!” Lilo protests. Marianne just sighs and pushes open the door.

“Hello, Mrs. Bernard. How can I help you?” Marianne asks, customer service voice in full effect.

Mrs. Bernard is a middle-aged woman with the least practical fake nails Marianne has ever seen. Tyler, the shelter’s volunteer coordinator, is a tall black man with a honeycomb tattoo on his wrist and braids pulled back with a yellow elastic. His Ribombee, Daisy, is perched on his shoulder. Behind the front desk, Lilo’s Torracat and Garchomp are watching the humans with a shared sense of boredom.

“Nurse Joy! Finally, someone reasonable!” Mrs. Bernard exclaims, ignoring Marianne’s question entirely.

Lilo and Tyler exchange a look and Marianne resists the urge to throw the clipboard at their guest.

“Mrs. Bernard, as I’m sure you’ve already been told, we don’t have any pokemon that would be appropriate for your daughter--”

“I don’t see why I can’t go in and see for myself,” Mrs. Bernard interrupts, which greatly amplifies Marianne’s desire to throw something.

“I already explained the training class to her,” Tyler says, arms crossed over his chest. Daisy starts patting his cheek with her tiny hands, trying to soothe him. Tyler tilts his head into the gesture to acknowledge her efforts.

“She’s already taking lessons through the school! She knows how to handle pokemon,” Mrs. Bernard argues.

“Ma’am, the pokemon we have here generally aren’t appropriate for a kid just starting out, especially if she isn’t going to have adult supervision,” Marianne explains, desperately willing this woman to understand.

“I know multiple families whose children got their first pokemon through your organization!” Mrs. Bernard is only getting more agitated, and Marianne really wishes she’d brought her Nidoking along after all. Butch is good at looming until people stop yelling at his trainer.

“Oh, they probably got them from the Good Start event we hold in the fall!” Lilo jumps in to explain. “When we get very young pokemon or eggs, some of our fosters raise them special for the Good Start program so they’ll make perfect partners for new trainers.”

“And why can’t I have one of those pokemon?”

“Um. Because they all go into the program. So that kids from the smaller towns can get starter pokemon too. The Good Start program finds trainers for them much easier than we could, so we really don’t keep suitable pokemon around unless Good Start’s doing one of their local events. It’s mostly pokemon with issues or older pokemon that--”

“Then give me an older pokemon!”

Lilo’s good cheer falters a little, and her Torracat finally comes out from behind her desk. He nuzzles her knee, then sits at her feet, glowering up at Mrs. Bernard.

“The older pokemon are rescues. They have specific needs--”

“I know some of your pokemon come from retired trainers. Those pokemon would make <i>great</i> partners for a new trainer!”

Lilo’s Torracat does not appreciate his trainer being interrupted. He meows at Mrs. Bernard-- it isn’t terribly threatening, because he has a particularly small, cute meow, but Marianne is fully aware he’ll start spitting embers next. As much as Marianne would love to see that, it probably wouldn’t be good PR for the shelter to light a visitor on fire.

“Ma’am. I don’t mean to be rude, but we are not denying you a pokemon for your daughter out of spite. I’ve seen otherwise tame pokemon take bites out of beginner trainers seemingly out of nowhere, because the kids don’t know the pokemon’s limits. The pokemon in Good Start are trained from birth to be safe partners to young trainers who are bound to make mistakes. Pay Good Start’s registration fee, or, if you can’t afford it, talk to someone at the pokemon center,” Marianne says, in a tone that brooks no argument. Mrs. Bernard tries to interrupt her twice, but Marianne just talks over her.

That’s actually enough to make the woman falter, which Marianne takes as a victory. After a moment, Mrs. Bernard speaks again, less indignant this time. She isn’t addressing Marianne, having apparently decided Tyler is a safer conversational partner.

“So, um. What was that you said about classes?”

Marianne groans. Lilo’s mouth twitches like she’s trying not to smile.

“Come back with your daughter, then we’ll talk to her about classes,” Tyler says, staying remarkably calm. Lilo loses the fight against her smile and covers her mouth with a hand instead.

“I can’t believe you told her to get her daughter. I mean, you’re totally right, the ten-year-old is more likely to be reasonable, but it’s like telling a little kid to put mommy on the phone,” Marianne shakes her head and laughs.

Now that they’ve got Mrs. Bernard out of the building, she’s sitting across from Tyler in the break room. They’re sharing a styrofoam container of greasy takeout stir fry, their pokemon eating lunch nearby. Tyler’s Ribombee is sipping nectar from a special bottle, still sitting on his shoulder, while his Volcarona devours a large bowl of alfalfa on the floor. Marianne’s Nidoking is snacking on some high-protein kibble (figy berry flavor), occasionally trading morsels with her Audino, who prefers the pecha berry blend.

“I don’t know what her problem with the Good Start program is,” Tyler complains, gesturing with his chopsticks. He talks with his hands, even when there’s something in his hands. Marianne has seen him point to things with a Caterpie before. “I wish they had that program when I was a kid! My first Weedle stung me four times in my first week!”

“Probably would have helped if you hadn’t tried to hug him. Don’t try to tell me you didn’t, I’ve known you for half a decade.”

Tyler points the chopsticks at Marianne.

“Bug pokemon are adorable and they deserve hugs.”

His Ribombee squeaks in agreement and throws her arms around Tyler’s neck. He raises his free hand to pet her, grinning.

“See? Daisy knows what’s up. You too, right, Cinder?”

Tyler’s Volcarona makes a tiny chittering sound but doesn’t even pause in her quest to devour her bowl of sprouts.

“Admittedly, I also got poisoned a lot when I first started. Hugging may have been part of the issue,” Marianne says, tilting her head towards her Nidoking. “But I had basic medical training.”

“Don’t rub it in,” Tyler says. “We can’t all come from globe-spanning families of doctors.”

“That woman knew my name without an introduction. There are downsides.”

“Wait, you hadn’t met her? Lilo seemed to think you had.”

“Nah, Peggy dealt with her last time, and Lilo got her out of here herself the first time.”

“Holy shit, Marianne, you shaved your damn head and you’re still getting recognized?”

“It’s the cost of my beautiful face. Everyone I’m related to has the same one.”

“You should have taken your wife’s last name. Maybe they’re reading it off your nametag.”

“Do I need to get out my family photos? We all look identical.”

“Maybe it’s some kind of cloning--”

“Tyler, do not start with the cloning theory again.”

Tyler laughs and leans in, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“Come on, you don’t know--”

The door to the break room swings open. Tyler startles mid-sentence and turns to look at whoever has interrupted the conversation. It’s Peggy, the shelter’s adoption counselor, her Togetic fluttering over her shoulder and one of the Pichu she’s fostering tucked under her arm. She has long brown hair and oversized glasses, a fashion choice Marianne has never fully understood.

“I’m gone for 20 minutes and I miss Mrs. Bernard?” she asks without offering a greeting, sounding affronted. “Did anyone die?”

Tyler laughs and pulls out a chair for her.

“Come sit, we’ll tell you everything.”

#pokemon #pokemon shelter #vermilion city pokemon shelter #long post

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totalrockfiend · 4 years

Text

Billy Corgan Serves Up a Track-By-Track “Deep Dive” into the Smash Pumpkins Monster Debut Album, Gish

I still recall, quite fondly, picking up a copy of Gish at my local Warehouse Records back in ‘91...

The store was located on South University Avenue, just off the campus of the University of Michigan, in my home town of Ann Arbor, MI.

The store been there for nearly a decade, but had the misfortune being located less than a block for the site of Ann Arbor’s first, and only, Tower Records outlet.

Tower was, of course, four times larger, and eventually became my go-to record store. But I still pursued Warehouse’s racks regular. And for whatever reason, that’s where I snapped up my copy of Gish, Smashing Pumpkins. Which I still own, and often spin to this day.

MTV “Buzz Bin” Video: I Am One

Anyhoo, I, like many others, first discovered the Smashing Pumpkins thanks to MTV, when they featured the video for I Am One, the album’s lead single, as one of their “Buzz Bin” clips, highlighting “cutting-edge new music.” (Yeah, ‘member when those folks still plays “music” videos?)

The immediately engaging tune mixed heavy, Sabbath-esque riffing (along side a somewhat Ozzy-infected vocal howl) with loads of snarling punk attitude.

Grunge Before Grunge Was Grunge

Grunge had yet to break “big time,” as this was a good five months before Nirvana conquered the world via their sophomore outing, Nevermind (incidentally, also a Butch Vig produced joint).

But it would become clear the Chicago-based Pumpkins shared a great deal, both sonically and in terms of musical ethos, with the “Seattle bands” who would quickly come to dominate the mainstream rock airwaves.

But Gish Was Sooooooo Much More Than “Grunge”

While the album’s openers, I Am One + Siva, rawked impossibly hard, the remaining balance of the album veered in variety of stylistic directions... Haunting ballads, swirling psychedelia, and, dare I say, shoegaze?

In fact I do dare, given I’ve often characterized Gish as... “How do you get from Black Sabbath to Shoegaze in five songs or less?”

Sorry For All the BLABBING!

Anyway, this is an exceptionally looooooooooooooooooong winded intro to a series of videos, chief pumpkin himself, Billy Corgan recently published on YouTube.

Acknowledging the celebrated, landmark status Gish has achieved...

Corgan (perhaps with a bit more time on his hands than usual, considering all the current goings on) has embarked on a track-by-track “deep dive” into the album Billy concedes “launched our career.”

The series is filled with A plethora of interesting insights -- delivered live + direct -- by the man himself. So, rather than blab any longer, I’ll let Billy talk...

youtube

Part I: "I Am One" GISH Deep Dive

youtube

Part II: "Siva" GISH Deep Dive

youtube

Part III: "Rhinoceros" GISH Deep Dive

youtube

Part IV: "Crush" + "Suffer" GISH Deep Dive

We’re holding at track five, with Tristessa, Window Paine, and Daydream not yet discussed. But the videos profiled above all dropped last week (between May 31 + June 7th).

So, hopefully Billy will eventually charge through the entire album. (Fingers crossed!)

#totalrockfiend smashingpumpkins gish billycorgan

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thechasefiles · 4 years

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The Chase Files Daily News 29/11/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Friday, November 29th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).

HERITAGE BODY: DEVELOPERS MISLED US – The Government’s advisor on the preservation of places of historic, architectural and archaeological interest has withdrawn support for construction of the Hyatt Hotel Resort based on its latest design. An upset President of the Barbados National Trust (BNT) Peter Stevens is accusing the developers of misleading the trust into believing that once additional land space was acquired by Government the height and overall scale of the hotel would be reduced. Stevens said the trust had therefore agreed to the construction of the revised Hyatt based on those objectives, only now to find his organisation had been “railroaded”. He said the BNT, which also advises Government on places of ecological importance or natural beauty, is also retracting an earlier statement of support for the demolition of the Liquidation Centre – a listed building – to provide an additional 30,000 square feet of land. “The trust now feels we have been in a sense, railroaded into believing this was going to produce a lower height. Instead, the main structure, the bulk of it has been broken into four towers. One of those towers is taller than the previous Centric Hyatt, now at 196 feet,” he told Barbados TODAY. The BNT head also described the new design as boring, stating that the developers failed to do their homework. “It is like a bunch of 1970s offices that have been put together. It provides no architectural progress to Bridgetown. Yet we are told the design is reflective of the architectural heritage of Bridgetown; and my staff and a bunch of other people cannot see this. There is nothing to recommend the architectural style. The previous Centric was much better,” he declared. Stating that while the national trust can only make recommendations to Government and had no legal authority to force its hands, he is warning that the present design of the Hyatt – if approved – will privatize certain portions of the water with the construction of piers for restaurants. He also said that the revised Hyatt will dominate the sky scape of Bridgetown by even overwhelming the Central Bank, the Treasury Building and the old National Insurance Building. Stevens told Barbados TODAY the BNT had been willing to sacrifice the Liquidation Centre in order that the planned 19-storey Hyatt could be reduced. “But the developers have now decided that having been given a larger plot, they are going to build a bigger hotel. Not only that. They have gone from an open-type operation…they decided to go to the Ziva type which is an all-inclusive…and in the Barbadian point-of-view, all-exclusive,” he stressed. Stevens expressed concern that the all-inclusive would cut out many local residents or small businesses and prevent them from benefitting from the hotel’s operations. He is also worried that even though the beach would not be privatized, it would become uncomfortable for ordinary Barbadians to use it as a result of “these big businesses” that are set near the sea, The national trust boss revealed that his organisation has submitted its recommendations to the Government placing on record its opposition to the construction of the revised Hyatt which he said are now being assessed. Efforts to reach developer Mark Maloney tonight proved futile. (BT)

D-DAY COMING ON SANDALS – The $840 million Sandals Beaches Resort development at Heywoods, St Peter, remains stalled, but Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds hinted on Wednesday this would not continue for much longer. Government and the developer reached a stalemate over the issue of exclusive concessions granted for the project. While delivering the Budget last year, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley had said: “We have reached a difficult moment in the negotiations. Barbados welcomes the Beaches project, but it cannot be at any price.” In a statement from Sandals Resorts International, chairman Butch Stewart said in response that the stalling of the Beaches development was “equally disappointing for us”. “We wish to clarify that we were not asking for anything more than what was promised,” he said. “The Beaches project . . . would have represented not only our largest single one-time development but also the largest long-term hotel project in Barbados.” (WN)

BUY IN BIM, RETAILERS TELL SHOPPERS – Praising Government’s announcement of a $1,300 reverse tax credit for people earning less than 25,000 a year, the former chamber of commerce president and Managing Director of Abed and Company Limited, said the measure is only fair considering the increased burden placed on taxpayers. Abed said: “I understand the rationale behind it. “The cost of living has increased because of added taxes on petrol, land and water rates, which are all indirect taxes. “Government recognises that it has a responsibility to persons earning under a certain threshold that they are no worse off with the introduction of these new rates as they were prior to it. “From my perspective as a retailer, it comes at a great time, where there is more disposable income in the marketplace and no different to my competitors, we are hoping that a lot of that remains here and is spent in the local market place.” Abed said the months of October, November and December account for 70 per cent of retail income nationally and indicated the next few weeks would be critical. He added: “I don’t have to tell you if we have a good season, how well that will be reflected in 2020 and equally if we have a poor season, the ramifications as we go into 2020. “So it is an important time of year; there’s no question.” The businessman is among dozens of others who are preparing or have already started offering massive sales for Black Friday, which traditionally occurs on the Friday after the North American Thanksgiving Holiday. Having adopted the tradition retailers offering clothing, electronics, appliances and even vehicles have lowered their prices, extended their opening hours, beefed up security and launched large advertising campaigns ahead of the event. Abed explained this year is his company’s third year participating in the craze. “Generally speaking, Black Friday has become a very important part of the calendar, the lead up to Christmas, and consumers expect savings because it is so heavily advertised on cable TV. In addition, retailers want every opportunity they can to offer their merchandise to consumers in a way that resonates with them, which can obviously translate to sales,” Abed said. Some sales extended throughout the week leading up to black Friday, while other retailers simply could not afford to offer the massive savings for longer than two days. “These events have taught us that three things are very important. We need to advertise in a manner that reaches as many consumers as possible. We use every media including social media that is available to us. We need to ensure that the safety of our staff and our customers is met at the highest level. We need to ensure consumers are given as much time as possible to enjoy the savings. That’s why we go into two days, do the extended opening hours and we do it again on Sunday,” explained the businessman. (BT)

EMIRATES AIRLINES IN TALKS WITH GOVERNMENT – Barbados has begun talks with several African and Middle Eastern airlines in a bid to bring travellers from fresh markets year-round, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Kerrie Symmonds has said. While divulging few details, he identified the Dubai-based Emirates, ranked by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the world’s fourth-largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger-kilometres flown. It’s the second-largest freight carrier based on scheduled freight tonne-kilometres flown. He declared he intends to travel to Africa as part of an effort to diversify the base from which the island currently draws its visitors, suggesting that this was one way of making Barbados an all-year destination. He said: “In January of next year I will be in Africa because we are trying to break new ground into certain strategic targeted areas in Africa.” The Minister promised more information at a later date. The discussions were currently with “many” airlines at this stage and officials were still in the process of coming up with likely routes, he added. Symmonds said: “A part of the reason I am going to be in Africa next year is because we are finalizing the logistics for a route that will take us to Ghana and also Nairobi. “But I can tell you the people who have expressed interest. “The Kenyan Government has expressed interest and they have their own airline. “Equally, we have had discussions with Qatar, which is an ongoing process and I really don’t want to make announcements, but there are discussions with Emirates at the same time so that we have to see where this goes. “So we are seriously interested now in supporting the increasing demand for the Barbados experience and the Barbados products and opportunity for business, by having an airport that can lend capacity.” Acknowledging that the aircraft would need to be filled on both legs for any scheduled or chartered flights, he said it was possible then for Barbados to be a hub by “taking along the rest of the Eastern Caribbean with us on this journey” thus making it easier for the two-way traffic. Currently, the UK makes up the bulk of the tourists visiting Barbadian shores, accounting for about 35 per cent of total arrivals. This is followed by the US at 30 per cent, Europe and Canada together representing 20 per cent, and the remaining 15 per cent is shared between CARICOM, Latin America and other markets. Pointing to Brexit developments in the UK and European markets, Symmonds said international events could easily send the island’s bread-and-butter industry into turmoil, and therefore there was an urgent need to ensure new markets were secured. He also disclosed that the twice-weekly COPA Airlines flights between Bridgetown and Panama City could soon be increased to three. Symmonds said: “Based on current trends, we believe that we can move to thrice weekly in short order.” “We have been doing rather well out of Panama. We feel there is a lot of traction to be had for a number of very good reasons. “The major one is the heritage aspect of it felt on strongly on the part of Barbadians because a lot of Barbadians can trace parts of their family going to Panama to work on the Panama Canal, and equally there is a heritage aspect on the other side because a lot of Panamanians are very keenly aware of the contribution Barbados and Barbadians made. “So there is mutual degree of interest.” He said it was with this in mind that his ministry would be working closely with other ministries to find ways of “deepening the interest” through “sporting and cultural exchanges”. Symmonds said the We Gatherin’ 2020 would also serve as a gateway to encourage Barbadians living in Panama and Panamanians to come to Barbados more frequently for business and leisure. He added: “We have people from Panama who have expressed interest in coming to Barbados because it is kind of a reunion with family. So that is the reason, looking at the current volume of traffic, it is a likelihood we can make a compelling case for there to be a third flight.” Symmonds, who pointed out that people were also using the Bridgetown to Panama City route “strategically” to get to other countries and avoid going through the usually busy Miami airport gateway. (BT)

MORE TANKS COMING TO BWA – Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams said Government was in the process of acquiring five custom-built water tank trucks that should be on island by the end of April 2020. He said the trucks were being paid for by grant funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), at a cost of over US$350,000. The cash-strapped BWA currently has ten operating trucks. “We have five tankers coming early next year, [between] March and the end of April next year. These things have to be purpose-built,” Abrahams told reporters on Thursday during a media conference at the Ministry of Water Resources on Country Road, St Michael. An apologetic Abrahams said he understood the challenges being faced by residents as the island continues to witness drought conditions that had been compounded by recent water outages. He said it was therefore more critical that the BWA has additional water trucks to adequately meet the needs of residents. He explained that some of the BWA’s current trucks are problem-plagued because they were not built for the “bumpy and rough” roads in Barbados, making it very difficult for them to even get to some areas and critically those areas more in need of water delivery. “The trucks have to be a certain size to get in certain areas, so you are having problems with a number of the trucks so these [custom-built trucks] have to be spec properly,” he said. “We have some older trucks that have been working perfectly. So we have gone back to the manufacturer of the older trucks and we have asked them to build some with the same specs for us,” he said, adding that Government was not after a “quick-fix” that would then result in another replacement in the short-term. He said the BWA’s board was also in the process of sourcing some “stand-in trucks, whether it is by rent, gift or swap, in the interim, from other Caribbean countries that may have some redundancy”. Without giving details, Abrahams also gave an indication that Government was on the verge of reaching a deal with Innotech, who had provided services to the BWA under a special water tank programme, starting several years ago. “We are about to close off our negotiations with Innotech that stock up a number of things including the tank programme,” he said. “As part of the settlement with Innotech, we are going to have access to two desalination plants – one is going to go in St Lucy and the other in the area of Joe’s River – to try to put some more water into St Joseph,” said Abrahams. However, he made it clear that it was not an ideal situation to rely on majority desalination plants for the island’s water supply since these would cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars per year to operate. He also pointed out that work was ongoing to get additional water supply from Groves, St George to a new reservoir for storage in Stewart Hill, St John, which will then be used to supply parts of St Andrew and parts of St Joseph. At the same time, Abrahams is urging residents to install water tanks and store the commodity. “When we ask you to store water we are not talking about filling up the lemonade jug or the mauby bottle. You need to be thinking of five gallons per person, per day, and you should ideally have a supply for seven days during the hurricane season,” he warned. “The things we can control we are trying to fix. We are trying to fix pipes. We have ordered more water tanker trucks. We are going to go with the personal tank programmes, but at the end of the day if the rain continues to not fall what happens thereafter is outside of our control,” said Abrahams. (BT)

PUMPING STATION STILL UNDER REPAIR – Residents of St Philip and several parts of Christ Church can expect more disruptions in water service next week as the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) continues repair work at the Hampton Pumping Station in St Philip that was crippled by recent power outages. The BWA suffered extensive damage to its equipment last week following an islandwide blackout that caused further disruption to the water supply. Yesterday, Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams told the media all ten pumps and the attached variable frequency drives (described as the brains of the pump) at Hampton went down as a result of the outages. He revealed that it would cost $200 000 to $300 000 to replace all the damaged equipment. He added ten new variable frequency drives had been ordered. In terms of seeking compensation from the Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd for the damage, Abrahams said Government had not yet discussed that. (WN)

COSTLY REPAIRS NEEDED AT PUMPING STATION – Two days after reporting that its Hampton pumping station was back on line, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) says it will have to spend some $300,000 in equipment to restore the facility, which it says was damaged mainly as a result of the power outage experienced last Monday. At the same time, officials say they are unable to give any guarantee that those who have been experiencing water outages for the past ten days would not continue to, leading up to the Christmas period.During a media conference at the Ministry of Water Resources’ Country Road, St Michael office on Thursday, officials said that when the island-wide blackout happened on Monday all ten of the pumps at the Hampton pumping station went down. From left, Director of Engineering Charles Leslie, Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams and BWA General Manager Keithroy Halliday. Six variable frequency drives (the brains of the pumps) and two pumps were eventually repaired by basically carrying out patchwork, taking parts from one piece of equipment to fix another. And while this has made the pumping station operational, producing the usual six million gallons of water, it is now doing so without the redundancy (extra capacity). Director of Engineering Charles Leslie said further repair work would have to be done in the coming days, starting Saturday. “We still have some damages to repair at the Hampton pumping station. We have a cable to replace, we have a spare pump to install at the facility and we have two additional drives that we have to repair as well,” Leslie told reporters. “I have not done a calculation of the cost, but my estimation is that is between $200,000 and $300,000 in equipment and parts that we have to replace at that facility,” he added. He explained that contact was made with the Brazil manufacturers of the equipment and they have agreed to make engineers from Panama available to help since the instructions for the equipment are all in Spanish. That technical team should be in Barbados by Saturday and would immediately start to work. “So it will be over the course of the next week we will be doing periodic shut offs to do the repairs to the station and try to get it back up to full capacity,” said Leslie. He explained: “We anticipate that on Monday we will do a shut down to do a replacement of the (160 ft) cable that we have not been able to replace, as well as to replace a pump in that well so that we have some sort of redundancy.” That station pumps about 50 per cent of the island’s water supply, and supplies water to Christ Church and most of St Philip. It will “take some time” before the Hampton facility is operating at full capacity, officials have pointed out. Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams said the situation, which was compounded by a collapsed floor at the Hampton station last Thursday and ongoing drought conditions, caused “a world of problems” for the utility. Apologizing for the “hurt” that people were experiencing, Abrahams said the BWA was doing all it could now to address the problem. He said ten new variable frequency drives were ordered because “we don’t intend for this to happen to us again”. Abrahams said the BWA has not yet estimated the impact the electricity outage had on its operations, and a decision on whether it would be seeking any compensation from the electricity company was not yet made. “Right now our main focus is to restore normalcy to the situation. We have not discussed the issue of liability at this point . . . My principal focus at this point is to get the Hampton back up to capacity,” he said. “As a result of outages all ten of the pumps and variable frequency drives at Hampton went down. Even when the electricity came back up they had some issues with tripping at the pole, so not related directly to the outages, and that cost some violent surges which knocked out the equipment again, causing major damage,” said Abrahams. (BT)

UNION WANTS ANSWERS ON FIRED SSA WORKER – The National Union of Public Workers is demanding urgent action from management of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) to reverse what union leaders believe is the unfair dismissal of an employee who was on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Dodds. And, amid ongoing tension over the terms and conditions under which SSA employees are being asked to work, the NUPW’s Acting General Secretary Delcia Burke has cautioned Government against using deceitful tactics to restructure the company. On Thursday, Burke told Barbados TODAY a man employed as a lorry loader at the SSA was placed on remand by the court, after being charged with a criminal offence. As such, his lawyer notified the employee’s direct supervisor at the SSA. But when he reported for work after being granted bail some months later the employee was verbally informed that his services were no longer required because he was not at work. The union leader told Barbados TODAY the NUPW has since challenged the decision based on previous court decisions, which determined that if an employer is informed that an employee has been incarcerated and could not attend work, they could not be dismissed. “He was just terminated by word of mouth. They told him to collect the green paper to take to the NIS [National Insurance Scheme] and he did not take it and so they posted it. It did not have any reason for dismissal. That part of the form remained blank. It did not say why he was dismissed,” Burke explained. Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod told Barbados TODAY he was not in a position to address the matter. However, after a month of continuous attempts to secure a meeting to hear the man’s case, Burke said it appeared the NUPW was receiving the run around from Government. “We received a letter from Sanitation informing us that our correspondence is with their lawyer. Nobody has been following any steps and it has been so long since this man has been dismissed without any charges and without a hearing,” she said. When asked to disclose the nature of the criminal offence that the ex-employee is accused of committing, Burke would only describe it as a private matter, which “could not interfere with his ability to perform his duties at the SSA”. Burke said Government may be attempting to prove a point regarding the extended deadlock with workers over proposed changes to their workweek. “I don’t think this is only about this one man. There is a grievance procedure and a disciplinary procedure at the SSA and it has not been followed,” she added, while saying that Government would be given another week to address the matter before the union engages its membership. “We are giving them enough time; the letter is with their lawyer for their lawyer to tell them what the position is. This has been about three weeks the letter was with their lawyer and they are supposed to get back to us. By the end of next week, if we don’t have a meeting then we will meet with our members and engage them on it,” she said. (BT)

LAWRENCE T GAY CLOSES AGAIN – Mystery still surrounds the source of the environmental problem that caused the Lawrence T. Gay Memorial Primary School to be closed for the third time this week. Yesterday, the Spooner’s Hill St Michael school was closed within an hour of the bell ringing to start classes. It also ended early on Monday and Wednesday. In a statement, the Ministry of Education said the school was shut down due to a low turnout of teaching staff. It remains closed today to allow a strong odour affecting students and staff to dissipate over the next three days. The ministry explained that the odour, emanating from outside the compound, had been a discomfort to several people in one section of the school on Wednesday and classes were halted early. Officials from the Ministry of Labour, the Environmental Health Department and the Warrens Polyclinic visited and engaged staff and students who complained of itchy skin and burning eyes. (WN)

TEACHER, STUDENTS FIND FREDERICK SMITH RESUMPTION ROUGH – The return to classes at the Frederick Smith Secondary School has been difficult for management, teachers and students at the institution. And, since the stabbing death of student, Temario Holder in early November, some teachers are reportedly still on sick leave, says Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union President Mary Redman. Redman indicated she met with teachers earlier this week and they are still trying to restore a sense of normalcy to the institution. “It’s not easy at all but this is all a process. Everybody is trying to find a way to deal with it at all different levels. It is new and very difficult at the same time,” said Redman. She added: “Some teachers are still on leave. I can’t say definitively how many…but the ministry has been cooperative with those who are not ready to return. The Minister made it clear that those who need extra time will be accommodated.” And, as life at the school returns to normal, the BSTU President said the union is not resting on its laurels. Earlier this week, the president delivered a list of short and medium term recommendations, which she hopes education officials will use immediately in the fight against school violence. The 34 recommendations from the BSTU, include 22 suggestions, which were submitted to former Minister of Education, Ronald Jones. The other 12 were agreed on during a union meeting on November 12th and submitted in a letter to the ministry dated 22nd November. “Both the short and medium term recommendations need to be thought through and things put in place because we don’t have any long term. There are all things that a process can start to address. Some of them have already been addressed to some extent, because some were submitted almost two years ago,” Redman told Barbados TODAY. Some of the more revolutionary changes include demands that students who commit offences under the Offences Against the Person Act be taken to court immediately. It also calls for serious penalties for gambling on school premises, assaulting teachers and requires mandatory reporting of incidences of violence to the Ministry of Education. (BT)

MURDER #44 - Thirty-nine-year-old Ken McDonald Yearwood of River Bay, St Lucy died after being shot in the head police said. Police public relations officer Inspector (ag) Rodney Inniss confirmed that the man was shot around 12:55 p.m. He was pronounced dead by medical personnel at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This incident brings the tally of murders for the year to 44. (WN)

ST. JOSEPH MAN WARNED TO STAY AWAY – A 38-year-old man was granted $5,000 bail in the Bridgetown Magistrates’ Court today. There was no objection to bail when Pedro Lamar Caddle, of Bissex Housing Area, St Joseph appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant. Caddle pleaded not guilty to threatening Michael Hinds on November 22 allegedly with the words “If I had my gun I would blow off you head and I waiting for the right place and time to shoot you.” The accused, who is represented by attorneys-at-law Angella Mitchell-Gittens and Martie Garnes, secured his bail with one surety. He returns before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on April 8, 2020. In the meantime he must stay away from Hinds and report to the District ‘A’ Police Station every Monday before noon with valid identification. (BT)

GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER – Ryan Omar Samuel has been found guilty of killing Charley Dume. While the 12-member jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on murder after over four hours of deliberations, ten jurors agreed that Samuel, of Grape Hall, St Lucy was guilty of manslaughter, in the shooting death of 25-year-old Charley Dume on April 26, 2014. “We the jury find the defendant guilty of manslaughter,” the foreman informed the No. 2 Supreme Court moments after lengthy deliberations. The 10-2 majority verdict which was delivered around 7:44 p.m. brought to a close the month-long trial. Justice Randall Worrell then summed up the evidence over two days and handed over the case to the jury for its deliberations around 3:46 this afternoon. The three men and nine women returned around 6:02 p.m. and informed the judge that they had yet to reach consensus on the murder charge. Justice Worrell gave them directions on the majority verdict for manslaughter and again explained that all 12 jurors had to agree or disagree on the charge of murder. The jurors retired to their room for a second time around 6:09 p.m. Thirty-five minutes later – 6:44 p.m. – the court marshal approached the judge with a note prompting the call for the jury to return, which they did at 6:53 p.m. It was then that the foreman informed Justice Worrell that they needed more time to deliberate and wanted a read over of the evidence in chief given by lead investigator Sergeant Michael Ifill, especially the parts from when Samuel was picked up from the Bathsheba beach house and before he was questioned at the District ‘A’ Police Station. However, before doing so the judge informed the jury that they had reached the three hours of deliberations mandated by law. He explained that to go forward the majority of the jurors had to consent. The foreman responded saying all the members of the panel wanted to continue. Following that process it took the judge around seven minutes to read over the requested part of Ifill’s evidence before again instructing them on their duty and requirements for a unanimous or majority verdict. Samuel who was dressed in a checkered blue and white long sleeved shirt, folded to his elbow, and khaki trousers was escorted to the holding cells once again as the jury retired for a third time around 7:09 p.m. On their return, around 7:41 p.m., the foreman informed the sitting which included Samuel’s defence attorney Mohia Ma’at and the prosecutor, Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale that he and his members had failed to reach a unanimous verdict on murder but had reached a majority on manslaughter. A report on Samuel was then ordered in preparation for sentencing as a records officer revealed that the convicted man had one conviction for possession of cannabis. Dume was killed at Coyote’s Den Bar located at the corner of Nelson Street and Wellington Street. During the trial the pathologist who conducted the postmortem revealed that Dume’s body had seven “entry” wounds and five “exit” wounds which were consistent with gunshot injuries. Death was due to multiple organ failures and hemorrhagic shock due to multiple gunshot wounds. The sentencing phase of Samuel’s case continues on February 7, 2020 before Justice Worrell. (BT)

PAYNE WANTS CHANGE IN BCA FORMET – Long-standing coach of relegated Elite Division side, Crane Resort St Catherine, Thelston Payne, is calling on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) to restructure its domestic season. The former Barbados and West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman urged the BCA to end the promotion-relegation system, play the Elite Division competition earlier in the year during the drier months and abandon the bonus batting and bowling points. Payne made the suggestions after St Catherine lost their fifth match of the season, but insisted his remarks were not sour grapes following the demotion of the Bayfield, St Philip side for the first time since they were promoted to the then Division 1 competition in 1978. “I want to say that this promotion and demotion needs to stop because at the end of the day, some clubs are going to cheat in terms of preparing poor pitches, making declarations to prevent you from gaining bonus points or not cutting the outfield if you are batting in order to gain an unfair advantage and to get through all the time,” he told Weekend Sport. (WN)

CHAMPS BAYLEY’S IN FINALS AGAIN - Champions A-Class Battery Services Bayley’s survived a scare before reaching their fifth straight final with a close 10-run victory over last year’s losing finalists, Jordan’s Supermarket Good Shepherd, yesterday. Batting first in their semi-final at the Maurice King Sports Complex, Briar Hall, Bayley’s were dismissed for 101 in 23.4 overs with only captain Damarko Wiggins, who made 21, getting into double figures. In reply, Good Shepherd, after seemingly well placed at 50 for one in 12 overs at the water break, were eventually restricted to 91 for five in their allotted 25 overs by Bayley’s, whose last defeat in the tournament was in the 2015 final against Wesley Hall. Captain Rashad Allman tried valiantly to get his team past Bayley’s score but they were stifled by Bayley’s spinners, especially Wiggins, who came from behind the stumps, to deliver two maiden overs and take one for 11 off five overs. (WN)

BELGRAVE MAKES HISTORY WINNING ROAD TENNIS TITLE – Grantley Prescod Memorial Primary’s seven-year-old road tennis sensation Kenoja Belgrave became the youngest boy to capture the Cave Shepherd, KFC, A1 Supermarkets National Primary Schools Road Tennis Championship today. Playing at the Rubis Hardcourt located on the Mighty Grynner Highway, the talented right-handed Belgrave, son of Kent Brathwaite who also plays road tennis, emerged victorious 21-16, 21-17 over St. Stephen’s Primary Class Four student Dakari Smith in the two best of three sets encounter. Only in Class One, Belgrave exhibited lots of patience in his approach to Smith and showed aggression when it was time to attack. He played several masterful strokes that had one of Barbados’ top female players Kim Holder cheering from the sidelines. Kenoja Belgrave of Grantley Prescod Memorial Primary is the new king of the 2019 Cave Shepherd, KFC, Carlton A1 Supermarkets National Primary Schools’ Road Tennis Champion. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay). In the girls’ championship match defending champion Solange Holford of West Terrace Primary had an early scare but stayed calm to weather the storm 2-1 against Kezia Blunt of St. Martin’s Mangrove Primary. Blunt won the first set 21-14 against Holford, who was way too passive in her approach and tried numerous backhands that did not work in her favour. However, a more settled Holford showed up in the second set and showed more fighting spirit. She won the second set 21-5 to tie the game 1-1 and force a third and decisive set as she had a psychological effect on Blunt who made several unforced errors. Solange Holford of West Terrace Primary came from behind to defend her crown at the the 2019 Cave Shepherd, KFC, Carlton A1 Supermarkets National Primary Schools’ Road Tennis Competition. The third set was much closer, and at 17-17 Holford took the lead and served her way to a hard-fought 21-17 victory in her final year at West Terrace Primary. In the girls’ bronze medal match, Shaziya Scantlebury of Grazettes Primary played like a professional and showed she is one for the future comfortably winning 21-13, 21-15 against Taja Carrington of Deacons Primary. It was an all St. Cyprian’s affair in the boys’ third-place match as Aidan Moore, a promising young track and field athlete, defeated fellow schoolmate Javier Norville 21-9, 21-12 to finish in the top three. Grazettes Primary had a reason to smile when Shaziya Scantlebury won bronze in the girls against Tara Carrington of Deacons Primary. The boys of St. Cyprian’s then went on to claim the gold medal match in the team event 2-0 over Deacons Primary. Played in a shotgun format, Kymani Jones trounced Jashawn Bovell 21-10 in the opening game. Aidan Moore then came out on top 21-11 against Javon Gill to ensure his team came out as team champions. Westbury Primary secured third place when they emerged 2-1 winners over Eagle Hall Primary, which actually won the first game 21-15 thanks to Jahmali Scott’s victory over Asa Skinner. That early momentum by Eagle Hall Primary was in vain though, as they lost the next two games. Westbury’s Kazeon King defeated Kezaria Agard 21-6 to tie the match and teammate Reishanne Griffith finished it off with a 21-10 demolition of Shaunico Jordan. (BT)

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Femme birds, butch owls, and lesbian frogs: Meet the queer animals of Instagram

In 2008, a gay penguin couple went viral for the best of reasons: They stole an egg from a straight couple in order to become parents, then replaced the missing egg with a rock. Genius.

It's rare to see queerness represented in the animal world — if you can even call it queerness, given that these are, in fact, animals who don't have human sexualities. Still, that hasn't stopped the LGBTQ community from anthropomorphizing them wherever they can.

To anthropomorphize is to be human. Who doesn't want to see a lesbian earth mother frog dispensing self-care advice? Or a high femme owl warding off a heteronormative holiday with her deadly, femme fatale stare? Tell me the last time you saw a masculine-of-center bird represented in media. How many serial monogamist flamingos do you know in your personal life?

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▼ 2019 people! We need to take it easy!!!! As in just let it come. Take it with the utmost gentleness. Take my pose and repeat after me: “I am ready for any challenge and I will keep my peace and relax my body when needed. I ROCK even when I sit still! 🙏🏾 “ And then you can say HELL YEAH or Namaste or amen or whatever but SAY IT!!!! Ps don’t forget that it is EXTREMELY important to scream once in a while. LET IT OUT!!! But ALWAYS go back to this relaxed pose I am showing you here. You can even print it out and hang me on your wall! Try it! You will not regret it. Yours truly. Lesbian Frog forever. ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #lesbienne #lesbiana #dyke #frog #2019 photo by @yan_hidayat_567 special thnxz to @heavenandhella @amysedaris 🙏🏾💘

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Jan 7, 2019 at 3:02pm PST

These moments are few. But thanks to Instagram, "queer" and queer-adjacent animal representation is starting to spike.

SEE ALSO: Zodiac shaming is a real thing. Don't do it.

Welcome to 2019, where "queer" animals are able to build large Instagram followings. To be clear: None of the queer-animal-centered Instagram accounts claim to fully know the sexuality of the animals they depict. The "lesbian warthog" from Instagram account @lesbian_animals could very well be a pansexual warthog. Or maybe she just experimented with female warthogs in college after seeing a particularly dapper drag king warthog at the local warthog cabaret.

Or maybe she's just a warthog and therefore has no idea what any of these humans posting about her are talking about.

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▼ Tiny Lesbian warthog cooling down in a tiny mud puddle ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #lesbienne #lesbiana #dyke #warthog

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Jun 12, 2017 at 4:41pm PDT

So while queer Instagram animals might not have a sexuality in the same way humans have a sexuality, there's something about them visually that feels so deeply, constitutionally queer. Queer people can see themselves in them.

As strange as that is, it matters.

The inherent queerness of birds

Take a look at @femmebirds, an Instagram account dedicated to the bird femme community. Created by Meaghan O'Malley of Butches and Babies and Katie Horowitz, the account celebrates the femmeness at the heart of bird identity:

"Birds just don't give a fuck, which I think is inherently femme," O'Malley told Mashable in a phone interview. "They're also very sensitive and hollow-boned."

O'Malley started the account after discovering @butchbirds on Instagram, an account dedicated to the severely underrepresented butch bird community. Both accounts share photos of birds that are aesthetically queer.

Worship the raw masc power of Bryce, a newly appointed young butch owl. Bryce is the Shane of the queer owl community. He fucks.

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A submission from @thepaylestqweeyah, for your viewing pleasure we bring you Bryce, a newly minted baby butch. Very eager to sweep you off your feet. #woulddate #alsotherewillprobablybemessypoly #babybirdbutch

A post shared by Butch (@butchbirds) on Dec 30, 2018 at 12:52pm PST

Next, open your heart to these queer pastel parrotlets processing critical attachment theory:

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A good wingfemme knows when to pull you into her fluffy, feathery bosom to tell you how magical and important you are when things are feeling rough. A good wingfemme also probably takes advantage of the convenient proximity of your ear to her beak and whispers a reminder to read that book about attachment she mentioned to you a year ago. AHEM.⁣ ⁣ #wingfemmewednesday [femme birds: pastel parrotlets] #femmebirds | photo credit: @freyaeverafter_ |

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Feb 6, 2019 at 5:19am PST

But these accounts do more than just share photos of animals. Both @femmebirds and @butchbirds draw from queer tropes to generate meaningful conversation.

For O'Malley, @femmebirds allows her to discuss queerness in a way that feels lighthearted and slightly removed. It can be challenging and painful to discuss LGBTQ issues in more traditional contexts. Who really wants to explore the nuances of gender performance in a Twitter thread?

When queer identity is re-imagined in bird form, the conversation feels lighter, more manageable. It's easier to discuss femme visibility among parrots (who are inherently absurd) than among humans:

"I am not really an animal person, but I love birds and their anthropomorphic personalities ... and I think it's a little bit easier with animals to connect with what you're feeling and experiencing," O'Malley said. "Femme birds are specifically adaptable in that way. The vast majority of birds we post are assigned male at birth. Male birds tend to be the most femme in nature. Some people have been curious about why we use male birds. But that has everything to do with our perception of femme identity."

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A good ol’ fashioned #wingfemmewednesday intervention is in order when your bestie suggests getting back together with her toxic ex for the fourth time. ⁣ ⁣ We can acknowledge our fear of scarcity and then do everything we can to believe in abundance. Toxicity isn’t love, boobirds! ⁣ ⁣ [femme birds: eastern bluebirds] #femmebirds

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Feb 20, 2019 at 8:45am PST

O'Malley is able to facilitate a conversation about the meaning of femme identity — who it belongs to, and why we associate it with just one sex — without it becoming a contentious internet forum.

These are birds, for God's sake.

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Femmes: there is no such thing as more femme or less femme, better femme or worse femme, good femme or bad femme, real femme or imposter femme.⁣ ⁣ Femme is femme is femme. ⁣ ⁣ You are pure, real, and beautiful in your femmeness, however it manifests, no matter your gender. Identity policing is *NOT* for the femmebirds. [femme bird: dwarf kingfisher from SE Asia] #femmebirds

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Feb 9, 2019 at 10:57am PST

Language is key to understanding these accounts. @Femmebirds routinely repurposes vocabulary from queer culture, such as bottoming or lesbian processing, to discuss bird behavior. In doing so, O'Malley is able to have a conversation about femme visibility and even poke fun at some of the more rigid conventions through a careful curation of words.

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WE STAN FOR THE POWER BOTTOM ⁣ [femme birds: common kestrel] #femmebird4femmebird #femmebirds

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Feb 15, 2019 at 8:37am PST

Look at this queer femmebird trying to process her emotions with her cis boyfriend:

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Queer femmebird trying to do some deep lesbian processing with her boyfriend, who has very clearly never been a lesbian. #panbirdproblems [femme bird: red-legged honeycreeper] #femmebirds

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Jan 26, 2019 at 1:33pm PST

This femmebird walks her runway like a goddamn professional: She's "steadfastly true to herself, her values, and her fabulous shoulder-padded/glittery pantsuited/silky bowtied aesthetic."⁣

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This week's Femmebird Icon is none other than Dorothy Zbornack, the tallest, fiercest, sharpest-tongued Golden Girl. Dorothy was known for her [...occasionally problematic...] ability to quickly read the room, and you, for filth. When forced to explain or justify her gender and/or sexuality, she remained steadfastly true to herself, her values, and her fabulous shoulder-padded/glittery pantsuited/silky bowtied aesthetic. ⁣ ⁣ While not the tallest bird of prey, the secretarybird reminds us so much of Dorothy that we felt this comparison needed to happen. Like Dorothy and her suffer no fools approach to Stan's hijinks/Blanche’s delusions/Rose’s non sequiturs/Sophia’s trickery, secretarybirds quietly and carefully stalk their prey and then skillfully and aggressively, well, uh, stomp them to death. Thank you for being a friendbird, Dorothy.⁣ ⁣ NB: These pairings are our best bird testaments to these icons and their energy/aesthetics. These femmebird icons are people who have contributed to the expression and identity of femme, in many cases to our intersecting movements, and generally to our conceptions and expressions of justice and/or style. Finally, these Femmebird Icons include folx who are real and fictional AND folx of all gender identities and expressions who may or may not identify as femme, but who have inspired us nonetheless.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ [femme bird: secretarybird] #femmebirds #femmebirdicons

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Jan 28, 2019 at 4:17pm PST

Human lesbians may struggle with scissoring. Great crested grebes sure do:

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Giving you hot scissoring technique this #femmebird4femmebird Friday. #✂️🐥🐥✂️⁣ ⁣ [femme bird: great crested grebe]⁣ #femmebirds

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Jan 25, 2019 at 7:42am PST

These femmebirds are absolutely crushing the cis-heteropatriarchy:

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Femmebirds, 1. Cisheteropatriarchy, 0. [femme bird: house sparrow] #femmebirds

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Jan 17, 2019 at 6:55am PST

Let's be clear: @femmebirds and @butchbirds are, at their hearts, extremely funny accounts. Yes, they inspire thoughtful comment threads about gender performance and identity. They're also weird as hell, in wonderful, tender ways that remind me of the pre-bad internet era.

Forget everything you learned about Judith Butler and Michel Foucault and just soak up the comedy of this sex talk between parakeet lesbians.

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Explaining to your newly-out wingfemme the finer points of good ol’ fashioned lez luvin’. [femme bird: Indian ringneck parakeet] #femmebirds #wingfemmewednesday

A post shared by Femme Birds (@femmebirds) on Jan 23, 2019 at 6:08pm PST

I will always hate birds. But I am deeply thankful for Instagram's queer bird community for giving this highly marginalized group some representation in media.

Lesbian guinea pigs, gay lions, and closeted cats

There are plenty of animals in the kingdom who possess big dyke energy.

Instagram account @lesbian_animals, which has been around since 2016, identifies the non-avian queer members of the animal kingdom. They're less visible than out and proud pigeons. But that doesn't mean they're not worth paying attention to.

Consider, for example, the queer guinea pig community. Without this account, we wouldn't even know they existed.

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▼ Lesbian parenting ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #guineapig

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Oct 8, 2016 at 4:00pm PDT

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▼ Lesbian Guinea Pig (by EmmasBears on Etsy)▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #lesbienne #lesbiana #dyke #happypride

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Aug 1, 2017 at 11:36pm PDT

Possums really broke into the viral spotlight last year. But — with all those memes and all those tweets — did you ever once hear about the vibrant LGBTQ possum scene?

Probably not. Shout out to @lesbian_animals for bringing this marginalized demographic to the forefront.

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▼ Lesbian parenting ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #lesbienne #lesbiana #dyke #mammapossum

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Jun 6, 2017 at 2:24pm PDT

When was the last time you learned about queer chosen families in the animal world? Look at how these queer koalas have forged community in spite of oppression:

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▼ Lesbian Koala's Love to cuddle in groups. "Our favorite movie is Trolls!! We watch it together at least twice a month and then we cuddle and dance and eat rainbow popcorn!!!" ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #lesbienne #lesbiana #dyke #koala

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Mar 30, 2017 at 6:57am PDT

Accounts like @lesbian_animals are more than just collections of queer koala friends. They meet a psychological need, highlighting "queerness" in the world around us, even if that queerness is absurdist projection.

Just like everyone else, queer people want to see themselves on television, in movies, in government, and sometimes even boning in the wild.

So forgive me if I take deep satisfaction in this lesbian otter tape dispenser. As a queer person, I am sick and tired of seeing only cis heteronormative seal tape dispensers.

Finally, I feel seen: by animals, and by the people creating these accounts.

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▼ Lesbian Tape Dispenser ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #queer #animallover #animales #lesbians #tape

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Dec 16, 2016 at 4:55pm PST

It's more than just queer animal tape dispenser representation

For all the joy it brings me to see a genderqueer rockabilly owl, queer animal representation isn't ultimately about the animals. It's more than that. As O'Malley describes it, it's about the people behind the accounts and the people engaging with these accounts connecting with each other.

When you like a photo of two lesbian dogs in matching knit hats, you're not identifying with the dogs. You're sharing a moment with the account's creator, who knows what knit hats signify in the lesbian community and can laugh about it with you.

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▼ Lesbian couple ▼ #lesbian #animal #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqi #lesbianculture #lesbianfun #animals #animalsco #animalsofinstagram #animallover #animales #lesbians #deers

A post shared by Lesbian ▼ Animals (@lesbian_animals) on Jun 18, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT

As much as you think you're connecting with animals, you're actually connecting with people.

Here's how O'Malley describes the human affect behind her femme bird account:

"Femme identity has always been something I tentatively danced around. I didn’t fully embrace it until about a decade ago. It's been challenging because there's so much gatekeeping around it. I was really unsure if I would be able to create femme-centric content ... [but] posts that tend to resonate the most are dramatized versions of my own experience. Posts that say: 'I am femme but I don't feel like I'm good at it' tend to get the most affirming feedback. It makes me feel like less of an outsider femme. I have not been able to connect to other femmes as a human but I have through my bird language."

Let me use my bird language to connect to the kind readers who've made it to the end of this story.

We see you all: the masc owls, the drag queen parrots, and even the heteroflexible parakeets. These Instagram skies are open. There's a home for you all, my fellow queer birds, even if it's just on a platform.

WATCH: New study says honeybees can do basic math

#_author:Heather Dockray #_category:yct:001000002 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_uuid:5476854b-9b1f-3b3a-9152-b562b376cb45 #_revsp:news.mashable

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press-a-repeatedly · 5 years

Text

Justin's Top 10 Games of 2018

by Justin Tomasello | @Oaf7724

2018 was a year of change for me. In January I moved back to South Jersey after spending six years living in Staten Island. I worked three (actually four) different jobs this year, trying to find the right fit. I spent a lot of time in my own head, trying to figure out a direction to take and force myself to stay on it. On top of all my mental deliberation, the state of the world continued its transition into a pretty depressing and embarrassing place. I'm not thrilled to admit that to save my sanity, my response to it all was to just bury my head in the sand, much like the noble ostrich.

Obviously, everyone's goal in life is to achieve total happiness in all aspects of it. That is not an easy task by a long shot, as new obstacles and challenges appear quite often to thwart us in our quest. Part of the game of life is not just overcoming these challenges, but acknowledging them and embracing them when they arrive.

Things like family, friends, and of course video games were great avenues this year for me to relax, have some fun, and forget about stuff that was bothering me. I am so thankful to have such a great support group close by to have a beer with and play games to get away from overthinking and worrying about things too damn much.

2018 was a great year for games! Unfortunately, it was quite a busy one for me and I wasn't able to play as much as I would have liked. Nonetheless, the experiences I've had were all quite memorable, including a few games that had me thinking about them constantly while working or away from home. Please enjoy my personal top ten below, along with some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions

Steamworld Dig 2 - I started playing Steamworld Dig 2 moments after the curtain closed on 2017, and the more I played, the angrier I got that I had waited so long. This gorgeous 2D exploration platformer had such an excellent element of progression to it. Every item you received provided you the ability to get to a new area and get a little bit further down into the depths of the earth. The characters were unique and creative, the story was a surprise, and the music was kick ass (that main town theme is one of the smoothest tracks I've heard in quite a while.) Had I played this in 2017 it may have been in my top three games of the year.

Harvest Moon 64 - The summertime always gets me in the mood to play Harvest Moon, and this year was no different. I picked up HM64 on the Wii U's virtual console just to mess around in for a bit one muggy July day and wound up putting probably more than 40 hours into it. It had always been my favorite game of the series, and I was worried that it would feel too dated. But after an hour of playing I just got used to everything and enjoyed a hearty mix of good ol' farm-sim fun and nostalgia.

Tales of Berseria - Another game that came out in 2017 that I didn't get around to playing until this year, but I'm so glad I finally did. I've been known to enjoy a good Tales game from time to time and this entry did not disappoint. Yeah the battles are a bit repetitive and lack any real sense of strategy, but the characters are awesome and the bloodthirsty-for-vengeance themed story had me quite entertained. I got about 15 hours in until RDR2 came out and understandably fell off. But I'm hoping to go and finish it up in 2019!

And Now, The Top 10

10.) Starlink: Battle for Atlas - When this was first shown off in E3 2017 I recall being quite excited. The idea of a space-adventure shooter coming to the Switch was unexpected but welcomed. The toys to life angle may have scared a bunch of players off, but when StarFox was announced as a playable character in E3 2018, interest returned.

The gameplay is fun and the wealth of weapons is a cool feature (even if it is a bit annoying to keep navigating through menus to switch them - this is made easier if you bought the toy portion of the game, but they are not necessary to play). The game is pretty open too, letting you visit multiple planets at your leisure, or just absentmindedly drift through the cosmos. There is definitely a large No Man's Sky vibe in Starlink, with the ability to travel through space at different speeds and the vibrant colors and textures of the alien worlds. I've barely scratched the surface of Ubisoft's sci-fi adventure but am certainly interested in playing more.

9.) The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit - If you're a loyal listener of the pod, there's no secret that the Life is Strange series is quite beloved by some of our team. To get players excited for the sequel, DONTNOD released a playable intro/demo to Life is Strange 2 earlier this year. As expected the game provided us with deep and interesting characters, great dialogue, and threw our emotions in a tizzy. It's impressive how accurately the team was able to present the story through the imagination and mystic-eyed wonder of a young boy. This game also included the most bullshit, no-way-you'd-figure-this-out-without-looking-it-up puzzle of all time.

8.) Monster Hunter World - Capcom certainly made a splash at the beginning of the year when Monster Hunter World hit the store shelves. Releasing the game on all the big consoles (and PC) and changing some of the mechanics around to be a little bit friendlier to new players helped the series finally breakthrough with the core US audience (this game sold a TON of copies both here and in the East). The game looks the best it ever has and is packed with plenty of badass monsters to take down. While I did enjoy my time with it around launch, I quickly fell off as I always tend to do with Monster Hunter games. The required repetitive gameplay and the chunky online matchmaking were frustrating, and since I didn't have as much time to play as my pals, I was pretty quickly left in the dust.

7.) A Way Out - Chris and I played through the first half of this cooperative video game / team-building exercise earlier in the year. It's cliché as all hell, the characters are pretty one-dimensional, and the writing was terrible (the characters were basically saying the same things over and over again, just presented differently). Beyond those flaws, though, hides a pretty unique and creative local-multiplayer gameplay experience. I cannot properly describe how hard we laughed when Chris drove our getaway vehicle directly into an oncoming 18-wheeler. Or at my failed attempt at sneaking into an old man's house, where he opened the door, saw me, and blasted me off his porch point-blank with his trusty shotgun. We need to finish this game, preferably with some friends watching alongside us.

6.) Subnautica - Something you may not know about me: I am fascinated with the sea, and what lies beneath. I've gone snorkeling a few times on vacations and watching the aquatic world operate right beneath you is a serene, calming, beautiful experience. So I am of course impressed when video games are able to recreate that world in their own artistic vision (Abzu, anyone?). Subnautica at its core is a survival game, which I tend to pompously turn my nose at. However, when fellow PAR teamie Butch showed me some videos wayyyy back in January, I immediately became interested. The art direction is gorgeous. The world of the sea is vast, menacing, beautiful, and unknown. The contraptions you can build (underwater base, a sub-like motorcycle thing) are pretty damn cool. I put this on hold when MHW came out and shamefully never returned. I'd really like to "dive" back in! Oh jeeze, I think I hear the Pun Police knocking on my door.

5.) Octopath Traveler - I regrettably did not purchase Octopath Traveler in 2018 (this has since been rectified). However, I did play to completion the two demos that were released prior to the game's launch. The second of which is basically the first three hours of the game, and I'll be able to forward my progress once I officially start the main game. Octopath Traveler has everything a classic turn-based JRPG fan like myself wants: beautifully detailed sprite graphics, awesome music, interesting characters and writing, and a fun, strategic battle system. The art direction is a standout, offering a unique, pop-up storybook/diorama style of environment. Plus the game is helmed by the Bravely Default team, who already had a great pedigree with RPG fans.

4.) No Man's Sky - NEXT - No Man's Sky - NEXT, the content-packed free DLC that came out this past summer, is an inspiration. After NMS's absolute nightmare of an initial launch, no one would have blamed Hello Games if they packed up shop and moved to Morocco to hide under false identities as coconut farmers. Instead, they faced the brunt of millions of disappointed and angry fans. They endured Sony turning their backs on them and throwing them under the bus. They owned their mistakes, worked effortlessly, and silently, and managed to take a game we all thought was dead and buried and convert it into one of the most talked about experiences in 2018. NEXT added features such as online multiplayer, character customization, 3rd-person view, base building, better graphics and textures, and a better credit system that made buying ships and other more expensive items much easier. NEXT was only one of a few free expansions that came out this year. ABYSS followed, which provided swimming and a complete remap of aquatic life. VISIONS came out shortly after that, boasting a more diverse universe with new biomes, flora, fauna and architecture. While I would not argue those who say NMS's core gameplay is still weak, these new updates provided me personally with a relaxing and enjoyable starship-exploring experience for a good chunk of the year.

3.) Donut County - It's rare when a game meets your expectations 100%, but Donut County absolutely did for me. I fell in love with the game's art style and quirkiness when I first caught wind of it at PSX 2017. The game is simply relaxing, fun, and bursting with charm. The wonky characters are a joy, the music is plucky and catchy, and the dialogue is modern and funny without being annoying (a lot of it is conveyed via text message, and I was never once rolling my eyes). The game is brief but I would equate it to a game like Octodad: it ends just before the mechanics would start to wear thin. Donut County was exactly what I wanted it to be.

2.) God of War - My prior knowledge of the God of War series up to this year was pretty weak. Being a strict Nintendo fanboy growing up, I never played anything from the franchise. I was pretty green going in on Sony Santa Monica's latest offering. The fact that I could enjoy this game as much as I did without having played any of the previous games is just one of the many reasons this game ranks so highly on my list.

The direction of this game is spectacular. Spinning the game's lore to mesh with the massive scope of Norse Mythology was so interesting and impressive (heck, we even did a whole podcast about it). Shifting Kratos from a one-dimensional revenge-driven character to a hardened widow noticeably troubled about having to raise a son on his own and prevent him from making the same mistakes he has was unexpected. Watching Atreus grow, and watching Kratos allow him to grow was a touching experience. I still think the scene of the two of them sharing a bottle of wine was my favorite gaming moment of the year.

Oh yeah, then there's the actual gameplay. The combat is fast, fun and intuitive. The progression system is well-designed and the variety of different moves you can perform is so vast I found myself losing track. The way that Atreus' arrows are incorporated is creative; they are also incredibly handy with some of the tougher fights. It should also be noted that in an era of every single player game feeling the need to be a grandiose open-world experience, I found a lot of pleasure rolling through a more linear-based type of gameplay. Sure, the world opens up eventually and there are multiple new areas to explore, but they are pretty paltry in comparison to the main game. Extra content and side quests are the weakest part of the package. Minor flaws aside, God of War was a must-have experience in 2018.

1.) Red Dead Redemption 2 - Give me a good story, give me deep characters, and give me exceptional writing, and I am one happy camper. With the added bonus that I am quite partial to a western/cowboy setting, RDR2 was my personal game of the year. I had only played through the original a couple years ago and I loved every moment of it. When Rockstar dropped the bomb on RDR2, my hype train was blasting through the station, even if I was a tad concerned with how the story would work as a prequel. To my surprise: remarkably well.

Arthur Morgan's character is well-developed and interesting, and as you progress through the game and witness him begin to question, doubt, and worry about his future, your bond with him only swells. The supporting cast of nomadic outlaws are also varied, detailed and bursting with life. Every single one of them is unique and has personality. They all have reasons they joined Dutch's crew and doing quests for each member became an absolute joy for me. None ever felt like a chore.

The environments are beautiful and serene. The NPCs are quite animated and often busy. They will interact with you constantly, even when you don't want them to. The soundtrack is breathtaking, and the animation and graphics on everything (yes, even those horse privates) are the best I have ever seen.

There of course were some minor nags for me. The clunky jog-wheel menus could often be frustrating to navigate. The shooting never felt great. There were some serious pacing issues in moments of the story, and a couple parts that kinda didn't make much sense that often disrupted the experience for me. Some of the gameplay I thought was a bit too similar to the original Red Dead Redemption. Ultimately, these were just bumps in the road that my caravan's wheels were able to roll over without causing any destruction. The game from start to finish (and the fun and lengthy epilogue at the end) was an engrossing, wholesome, and moving experience that anyone who appreciates good narrative and good characters absolutely must play.

#goty gameoftheyear toptengames games 2018

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whifferdills · 7 years

Note

"I serve at the pleasure of the human race." Something kinky involving sub!12 needs to be written about this line. Please?

12&OFC, background implied Twelvedole, nonsexual bondage, not explicit but maybe don’t read at work, ~1.4k words

Experiencing an extended period of time linearly tells you something about yourself, the Doctor has discovered. What you’re made of, your mettle, your strength and perseverance, your ‘when the going gets tough the tough get going’. And your weaknesses, as well: the anxieties and resentments and what might be analogous to withdrawal from a fairly serious addiction.

(That line sounds familiar, but they’re not sure why - could be from anywhere, really.)

So they’ve discovered, or re-discovered, some truths about themself. And they say, out loud, in the vague hope that Nardole’s around somewhere to listen, “I’ve learned a lot in our time here.”

No answer.

“Really - really quite a bit.” Louder this time, with an unfortunate underlying whine.

Nardole pops his head out of the cupboard, fiddles his glasses back on, and says “That’s a question designed to lead into a conversation I do not wish to have.”

“Fair enough.” The Doctor slumps down in their chair, eyeline at the top of the desk, wheels skidding out slightly. “It’s just that - ”

The cupboard door slams shot. The Doctor should know better than to interrupt one of Nardole’s naps, and they’re not bothered. Just - they’ve been very good, for a very very long time, and they are very, very, very bored.

So go do something, a voice in his head says. Could be anyone’s. You don’t need to travel in time and blow up planets to get off your arse and have fun.

“It does help, though.”

Again, no answer. They’re used to being ignored, it’s fine. The point does stand, though: after so many hours (in a row) spent moping, and/or stomping around in a snit, the moment of ‘stop complaining and make the most of it’ has probably arrived. So they go.

This first time they go, it’s to the local, filled with fellow professors, a handful of brave post-grads and a few scattered pensioners who have not received the memo about this being a university bar. It’s pub quiz night, and no one will let them play alone, even if a handicap is only fair. The Doctor is handed a pint of some appallingly bitter microbrew and a partner, whose name is - they forget, but it’s something to do with flowers. The questions assume false narratives and no one appreciates the Doctor’s explanations of why the questions are bad, least of all Ms Flowers.

“I’m not sure what you’re on,” she says, sotto-voce. “But cool it, maybe. I want the free t-shirt and bragging rights. Stop throwing the match.”

The Doctor rolls their eyes and slumps down and downs the rest of their truly awful beer, breaking their moody silence only to whisper hints.

The quiz ends in a draw, free t-shirts for everyone. They put the t-shirt on over their other two t-shirts and then the hoodie/jacket back on over that. Ms Flowers buys them a glass of decent scotch and slaps them on the back, and this is called ‘bonding’ or ‘making friends’ or something.

“If you can’t go adventuring, might as well go slumming, eh?” Nardole, apparently having waited up.

“I was having - ” They pause, digging for the rest of the sentence. “The thing. Uh. Fun.”

“You smell like a distillery.”

“And you smell like a cupboard - ”

“That doesn’t even make any sense - ”

“So there you go,” they say, swaying on their feet. “Both wearing our vices on our sleeves. So go, I dunno, go tighten your screws, or whatever it is you do in there.”

Nardole stiffens, and glares in that way where he can’t quite handle glaring directly at the Doctor so glares at the mantle or such as instead, and does his best to storm off in a huff. I.e, walk slowly away in hesitant disapproval.

The Doctor lies carefully down on the floor and listens to the alcohol leaving their system, til it’s sun-up and a new day. Another day. All these days, one after another.

The second time they go it’s to catch their local chippy in flagrant non-adherence to local health code laws. Sure, they’re down one late-night snack source, but it’s the principle of the thing. Nardole’s pained sigh at having to walk two extra blocks at tea-time is an added bonus.

The third time: they run. To nowhere in particular, just over there, and then past that. Half a kilometer and the body around them is protesting, one kilometer and it’s giving up. And the what-they-are isn’t sated at all. It’s different, they posit, leaning over a railing and breathing hard, their clumsy lungs more obviously pointless than usual, the muscles in their legs shaking in an all-too-convincing performance. Different when there’s something chasing you, versus not. Different when you’re running away from a threat rather than just apathy.

It’s late, and it’s dark, and they stumble back to what home is now, to the handle on their leash. Nardole’s waiting up.

“What is it that you want from me?” The Doctor peels their coat off, and then the other coat, and so on. Leaving a trail of discarded clothing along the way to the back office.

“To fulfill your promise. So I can fulfill mine. And we can all, you know, not die horribly. Sir.”

The Doctor pauses at the doorway, abstractly aware that they are at - for them - an unusual level of undress. “And that’s all?”

“That’s all.” Nardole swallows hard, then nods firmly, and flees back to his cupboard.

The Doctor sleeps on the floor again.

The fourth time, it’s to a dark, crowded club. It’s too much, a mistake potentially but there is an energy here that almost makes sense. On stage, a complicated knot-tying routine is being demonstrated on a very flexible young man. The Doctor purchases an appletini with a handful of coin and approaches the display.

Ropes pulling tight against skin, the crowd reacting, the young man closing his eyes. The Doctor takes a sip of their drink and immediately abandons it on a nearby table.

“Fancy meeting you here,” someone says. Someone sidles up. Ms Flowers, decidedly more in the way of leather and butch than she was during the extremely normal pub quiz.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” they say.

“Oh, I’m already out. Within tasteful reason, of course, but life’s too short to hide. And you? Is this your dirty secret, or are you just here as a tourist?”

Both. Neither. “To be here, very much here. And held to it, kept to it, by - ” They want to say ‘by humans’, but that’d be an obvious flag. “ - By someone who doesn’t care. Or, not that, but - ”

“I know what you mean,” Ms Flowers says. “For that-” She gestures to the stage. “To be its own world. Not about sex or relationships, just a mutually-beneficial process. You’re gay, right? You and your assistant…”

The Doctor blinks, staring at the sweat pouring off the brow of the man trussed up under the lights. “None of that, actually.”

“Close enough. I’m up next, I’ll be asking for a volunteer from the audience and obviously it’s staged, I have someone ready to jump in, but if you’d like…?” She raises her eyebrows, and sets her half-finished drink on the table, and wanders off.

To be here and nowhere else. To be for them, their pleasure and need. Explicitly, like, and acknowledged. Which is something very powerful for a very, very, very old Time Lord set adrift and beholden on this planet. The lights flicker and the Doctor raises their hand.

And they go.

Time slows, but not in a bad way, as they make their way up to the stage. They’re not the ideal expected subject, they know - they did a Google - but press on through the ambivalent noises of the crowd.

“Are you alright?” she asks, in what might as well be a whisper, considering the ambient volume here.

“If you are. I’m here for you. All of you. Just - give the order.”

It’s like finally slotting into place, letting Ms Flowers strap them into the St Andrew’s Cross. No more temptations, no urges, the wanderlust kicked back. They’re here, they are very much here. And they, somehow, relax. Finally.

Nardole’s still waiting up when they get home, loose-limbed and bruised. They can feel it, under their clothes, the marks left. The reminders.

“I’m going to go lie down on the floor,” they say, heading towards the back office.

“I’m just curious - where is it that you go? When you’re not going anywhere?”

“Here,” the Doctor says, paused at the doorway, swaying slightly. “Just here. G'night.”

“G'night,” Nardole responds, after a slight delay. “Sleep tight, don’t fuck off out into all of space and time.”

“I’ll try not to,” the Doctor says, slamming the door shut behind them.

#promptapalooza #not a real one just housekeeping #Anonymous

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