#but for others i must develop a good rapport first

[derbophobia]

my version of bringing a partner home to meet the parent is figuring out when its the right time to show my favorite clown doll to a new friend

[dotthings]

The latest episode of the SPN Then and Now podcast gave us some insight into process during the early days of the Dean and Cas era. I transcribed a few bits to share.

First I really appreciate Rich's appreciation of Dean and Cas: "I love the origin of the Dean and Castiel relationship, I thought it was so engaging to have those two start building that rapport, that yes, maybe you said Misha had said maybe it was a bridge too far, I didn’t see that as a viewer, I just thoroughly enjoyed it, and I felt their connection sort of solidifying in a fun way that felt real and not hyper-dramatic." (This is extra neat considering Rich "I am the prophet of Destiel" Speight Jr directed ep 15.18).

Then there's the commentary from SPN director J. Miller Tobin, which gives us insights into the early development of the Dean and Cas relationship, Jensen and Misha's friendship, and their growing rapport and development as screen partners.

Rich: …to me, this was the first episode where I saw what the Dean Castiel relationship then looked like for the rest of the year.

J. Miller Tobin: It’s funny, then I watched it again this morning, and I kind of had the same feeling. This is sort of old Castiel, and he’s sort of starts to move into where he is for the rest of the series. There’s that shift into sort of the comedic tone in his relationship with Dean, it’s the Dean and Castiel show.

Rich: It really is. This didn’t exist before. It was a tonal shift.

J. Miller Tobin: Right.

Rich: Now I obviously know that some of that some of that must have been in the script. Was any of that something…like the personal space bit, was that scripted? Or was that you guys on the day?

J. Miller Tobin: I don’t remember. I don’t remember.

Rich: It felt like an improv because of the way it was blocked and he turns and there’s that scene…

J. Miller Tobin: That long beat, and again, Jensen is just a master at it, he barely moves a muscle and you’re laughing your ass off already…the truth is you just let those two guys start riffing. They’d known each other long enough now that they were very well aware this was kind of a shift in tone and they had a chance to start to play with it a little bit, and as good actors do it was subtle, and it was easy.

Rich: I just think it’s cool that you got to be the guy to sort of set that framework. Obviously the actors are doing a ton of that work too. But again, bless your hands…

J. Miller Tobin: I just like to get out of the way and let them do what they do best.

-Supernatural Then and Now podcast, April 8, 2024

[warcorrespondence]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37854331

anthropocene, interrupted - brad/ray

Great zombie AU

Anon. I'm late so late, but you would love to know that actually this fic was in our original line up to be review.

Let's dive into it shall we?

A zombie AU where our favorite bff Brad and Ray and a very cute doggie who goes by the name of Toni (after the great Toni Morrison, which you know the authors have amazing taste) try to survive a zombie apocalypse and keep their sanity in check. Written by two amazing writers @queerapostate and @nextraordinaire. Together, they made a masterpiece.

fandom: Generation Kill

pairing: BradRay

Explicit, 43859 words

This fic is one for the decade. And now, I shall try to dissect all the way that it's so awesome.

First, the attention to detail. What makes one AU fic stands out from the many of its own genre (you know, coffee shop AU, fantasy AU) is always in the details. This fic has that in spades. The turning of season, the changes from rural to urban landscapes, from one state to another, you can see the scenery our characters are seeing with all five senses.

I love how the world is so alive -- dead, since zombies and all, but alive. We see how life has stopped, how things have rotted, how the world had broken down. The contrast between the deads (the smell, the bodies) versus the undeads (which Ray and Brad have to fight against so many of them) and the alives (nature, all the survivors, Toni the little lovable critter that she is) is constant.

The authors put so much thoughts into how every little part of this dead world would affect Ray, our POV. And he feels and he observes and paints up a world that is both savage and so beautiful. I love the scene of the overrun garden, it's strangely romantic -- a little respite from the never-ending struggle to survive.

Two, surviving isn't easy. And this fic goes in depth as to all the things that must be maintain to survive. You need to protect yourself from the weather that is relentless in its quest to kill you. Then you have to go against the zombies that eat your brain without mercy. And then the survivors out there our in this world are just as ruthless. When Ray tries to help the two little kids and got his supplies stolen? It was such a gut-punch moment. It tells us a lot about what kind of person Ray is, and also tells us how hard being kind in this settings can be. Furthermore, we know how smart and resourceful Ray and Brad have to be to stay alive.

Third. The character voices. Holy shit.

You named your dog Tony?” Brad stares at him with a carefully calculated expression, but he lowers his rifle, clearly convinced that Ray is harmless. Sort of. 

“Yeah, Toni, isn’t she great.” He bends down to scratch at her ear, getting a click of teeth for his efforts. 

“Since when does Tony Soprano have a pussy?”

“What—No, the fuck, Toni with an I, you dipshit.” 

“Like Toni Colette?”

“No, Toni Morrison.” 

You need to understand that I am always in awe of all the writers in GK fandom who manage to capture this specific brand of early 2000s humor and dialogue. Here, every single sentence and inner monologue from Ray I can hear. I can hear him say it all: curse words and non-PC apocalypse-coping jokes and a specific Ray™️brand of introspection. Not just him, but Brad's voice and manners™️are also very on point. He's complement Ray perfectly, even if he doesn't see it (at first).

Even Toni, our little dog, has so much personality 🥰

Fourth (yes I'm still yapping, i love this fic, gimme a break). The slow burn between Brad and Ray is so good, I wanna eat it.

Ray and Brad get closer and develop a healthy amount of respect to each other. We immediately get their chemistry even if Brad is ever the cagey and emotionally stunted fucker that we know and love. Their rapport is both easy and hard, and it fits perfectly to this settings where trust isn't so readily available. From friendship comes the romance, THE ROMANCE. Ray and his big heart and how he sees through Brad makes me all gooey inside.

AND the scene where Ray comes down with the blister infection and Brad has to leave him to find some anti-biotic so Ray, in his ferish delirium, keep calling out to him fruitlessly? Ahjfkdshjdfshjkfds

That scene got me good. I'm not alrigh; that imagery is so heart-wrenching oh my god.

Fifth, the many twists and turns their journey take. There is so much ups and downs and quiet moment and tense action scenes. I love how this story ends with bittersweetness, so fitting to the theme and the vibe of it.

All in all, a masterpiece. If you read this review all the way to this part, you should probably run to read this fic, or reread it once more ;)

[gascon-en-exil]

More Unicorn Overlord demo stuff, which I've since learned is timed rather than gated to end at a certain point. Seven hours is quite generous for a demo; the developers must be really confident that they've got a lot more hours of content than that not that it'll stop speedrunners I'm sure.

The quasi-open world elements aren't as bothersome as I thought they might be. Part of that is just that there's not all that much to do when wandering around the overworld, but the game also uses high level or specialized enemies to block you from certain parts of the map until you're ready to take them on. It does seem rather frustrating that the first major story mission on the mainland all but requires you to have a mage, when you can only recruit one after doing 4-5 side battles in a linear order. I assume there's some other strategy for cheesing the enemies involved, but it looks like sequence breaking will be a challenge at least in the beginning.

I consider that mostly a good thing, by the way, since telling a story like this would get very messy otherwise. It still feels very much like a standard FE plot thus far, with a cast of characters with the pre-Awakening games' gender ratios: lots of men, relatively few women - and they're filling the familiar roles (kidnapped damsel, horny waifu bait, pious cleric). Who knows if that'll change later.

From what little I've seen of it, the rapport system is clearly angling for FE but leaves something to be desired. Conversations take place on the map, which means both no animations and no voice acting. They also occur in fixed locations, so if you haven't unlocked a particular area yet you won't be able to view a conversation that's set there. Annoying in the earlygame, but I suppose it's meant to help the conversations follow along with the story. Also, no permadeath means other characters can show up in rapport conversations, so that's nice.

[starseneyes]

Chenford REWIND - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 3 Eps 4, 5, & 6

This chunking out is very intentional on my part, much as I was with Eps 1, 2, & 3. Look, 4 and 5 show Tim and Lucy partnering up (as in a "partnership") more than I feel like they had previous to this. They had a shared mission. And with that shared mission, they developed a rapport that was shaken and tested in episode 6.

In short: This is gonna be quite the ride.

SPOILER ALERT: Standard warning that there are spoilers afoot. Yes, I know that's not what that word means. As I am the Meta writer, I reserve the right to be a bit weird at times. It's my way. But, know that I do try to write these without foreknowledge. Spoiling the eps and everything that came before is fair game, though.

If you're ready (and I'm more than ready), let's dive in.

"Sabotage" AKA Beastie Boys is Stuck in My Head

"Only Bradford and Chen are in the know about this. I'm gonna assign you all to the same sector. So every time you and Stanton take a call, they will be automatically filled in."

Lucy and Tim are teaming up to help Jackson, and I low-key love it. Think about it, Jackson must have told Lucy about Tim backing him up with Grey. That's huge. If Lucy was proud of her TO future husband already, she's about to be bursting with pride.

This also signifies the first real team-up of Tim and Lucy. As much as Tim protests their partnership, this episode and the next really highlight how naturally they fall into that rhythm.

Jackson and Lucy have very little time left as Rookies, sure, but Tim said previously that the last month of her training was going to be even more intense. Jackson's issues with Stanton derail that a bit, and allows us to glimpse Tim and Lucy at a more equal footing than we've ever seen them.

Yes, Lucy has stood up to him. She doesn't let him walk all over her. She's always stood her ground when it mattered. But this episode is the start of a string of give-and-take between them that we haven't seen before.

"Seward and Waring. Let's go." "Relax, we can't be too obvious."

We. Did you say WE. We!!! We!! We have a WE!!

Yes, I'm being ridiculous, but it's Season 3, and I can only imagine how all y'all Day 1 shippers were able to hold out so long.

But this also backs up my assertion that there's a "partnership" to this episode and the next that stands out from the past. "We" are on this assignment together.

And, yes, I know that every time they go out together there's an implied "we", but Tim is very quick to separate their roles so often that it's refreshing to see the inclusive language.

"This is so unfair to Jackson." "I know. Having to ride next to a guy hoping he doesn't cross the line. I can't imagine what that's like." "I can."

That look says "What do you mean?" Because she hasn't ridden next to a lot of other people, so Tim's wondering how she could possibly mean him.

"Look, my first day as a Rookie, I thought you were gonna be my Doug." "Excuse me? How am I anything like that guy?"

This is our proxy. For the human being who isn't spouting off racial slurs and being overtly discriminatory, it can be difficult to turn the mirror on ourselves and see the blind-spots in our own understanding of racism.

I'm not going to get on my soap box (because, I have a lot to say), but I want to highlight the roles, here. Tim is the one representing many of us who may be blind to the way racism is ingrained in ourselves and our society.

Tim is a good man who doesn't realize there are some not-great things in his choices. We'll get into that later, but the point is that Tim has some learning to do. He needs some blind spots illuminated. And, like in so many other cases, Lucy is the light-bringer.

"Do you remember our first day out?" ... "So, what. I'm a bad cop now?"

Too often Tim sees things in black and white when the reality is that life is more grey, most of the time. He thinks you're a good cop or a bad cop. But, he's a good cop who has made some bad calls, and that's more complex, and harder for Tim to grapple with.

This is not to say that Tim is stupid. Not at all. But we've seen how he shuts out the world entirely. He's an all-or-nothing personality, and he's lived a long time believing the worst in everything and everyone.

Think about how he blames himself for everything that goes wrong around him. It's part of that "all-or-nothing" personality trait, because he sees himself too often as nothing. He struggles to see his own worth because he's operated for so long with the assumption that he lacks it.

Lucy is trying to help him investigate himself and draw out the good and address the bad. Classic psychology stuff, but very difficult for Tim. It's hard for him to admit mistakes when he thinks he's in the right in his job because his job has been the only place where he has felt he held value.

And now he has to consider that he hasn't always done right in the one place where he felt good about himself. This is tough stuff. But we need him to go through it. Because he needs to grow.

"Not at all. But that was a bad stop. How do you think those men felt about that interaction with you? You think it was a positive experience?" "I'm not looking for 5 star Yelp reviews. I've got a job to do." "Well, so did they."

Lucy's being the calm, rational one. It's easy to be calm and rational when you're not the one who screwed up. It's never fun owing up to a mistake, right? But it's even worse when seen through the lens of racism.

Tim has to evaluate this moment, and that can cascade to so many other moments... moments where he made the wrong call. Moments he didn't realize he was in the wrong.

"They were just trying to get to work. And then... they met you." "Excessive and unnecessary use of the horn is against the law. Plus they had several vehicle violations."

He's rationalizing. He's trying to remind himself that he's a good cop, that he wasn't doing anything against the law. But "wrong" and "law" don't always overlap. Like, folks hiding Jews during World War II were breaking the law, but absolutely in the right.

Similarly, you can be following the letter of the law, but still be outside of what is right. Tim's finding himself in that murky place for the first time.

"I could have impounded their truck." "And that justifies you terrorizing them?" "Terrorizing?" "Yeah."

It's the same word she used for Stanton and the Black family he terrorized. Tim doesn't see himself as the same at all, but it's striking a nerve.

"Really? That's it. You know, don't say another word to me. We're done with this conversation."

Tim isn't shutting this down because he's angry. It's easy to think that, I know, but if you look at Season 2 Tim shutting down Lucy talking about his learning disability, you see it for what it really is—Tim's uncomfortable.

This is making him uncomfortable, and discussing it further isn't productive. He knows himself well enough to know that. But the wheels don't stop turning after the discussion.

"Are you still mad at me?" "I'm not mad." "Really? Because you look mad. At least, madder than usual."

He's not mad, Lucy. He's grumpy. But, I'll admit, the first time I saw this, I thought he was mad, too.

"Okay, I'm not mad. But I am upset."

Here we go...

"I knew it." "At myself."

Lucy was not expecting that and I wasn't, either, the first time through! But I think both me and my on-screen bestie are pleasantly surprised by her future husband, here.

"You're right. I used the situation with the gardeners without thinking about the impact I had on them. I can't undo it, but I can make sure I never do it, again."

Remember, Tim is the Proxy, and this is the blueprint. He's showing us how to acknowledge the past, stop making excuses for it because we were in the wrong and we're no longer ignoring it, and how to move forward with integrity.

For Lucy Chen, she's getting to see her man's growth in real time. Look, Season 3 has them on a more equal footing socially, even if not professionally. They are friends who respect one another's opinions and thoughts.

Lucy isn't guiding Tim through this. All she had to do was hold up the mirror, and he took care of the rest. Not everyone is like that, of course, but it's refreshing for her to see. She's used to Tim being "old school" and "set in his ways". So, seeing him choose to grow is a beautiful thing.

"That's progress. I'm proud of you." "I'm thrilled."

Tim's trying to play it off like it doesn't mean anything, but we know the truth... he cares about how Lucy sees him. Throughout their year together as TO and Rookie, she has gotten into his heart in a very real way. No, it's not romantic, yet. But it's meaningful.

Lucy's is one of the few opinions that matters to Tim.

And Lucy in this scene is tremendous. We're already a far cry from her frustrations with Tim's excuses. Because he's done making excuses—for himself and other people.

I love the physical contact she uses to affirm her affection (again, not romantic... an open-palmed arm-touch is rarely an invitation to a carnal knowledge seminar for two. But, look at the way she looks at him when he turns away.

Tell me Lucy Chen will never feel anything for this man after she looked at him like that. You can't. There's no way.

Because as she looks upon him, seeing the growth in real-time, admiring the commitment he's made, finding more common ground with him... it's deepening the connection.

"The porch pirate is a doggy?"

This. Read. KILLS. Me. Every time I'm laughing so hard I'm about to wake one of the kids. Melissa O'Neil's timing is choice, we know, but her read on this one is above and beyond. Oh, it slays me!

"Who is under arrest?"

Yes, this whole seen is a laugh, but I love the little "Can you believe this guy?" look Tim gives Lucy as the suspect tries to change his tune. It's Tim looking to Lucy hoping she'll see the expression on this face.

He's giving more in Season 3. He's initiating more with her that's friendly and borderline flirty. And I love it.

"Hey, what's the deal with Jackson? Kid's questioning all my stops." "Sound like the marks of a good student." "I don't see you letting Chen question your every move."

Lemme stop you right there because you missed this entire day where Lucy was questioning Tim's moves by calling him on his shit. But, yeah, of course you don't see it because you're not on their calls. Numbnuts.

Look, I'm not going to waste creative names on this toolbag. He gets bare minimum effort from me.

PAUSE: But Brandon Routh gets lots of love from me. Long story short, last year, my Autistic/ADHD son got to meet him at a convention. His rendition of Superman is the only one that has gotten my boy through countless dental episodes.

My Middle is Superman-obsessed and when BR asked him, "What was your favorite part?" he breathlessly exclaimed, "Everything" and meant it with every ounce of his being.

Brandon Routh treated my boy with such dignity, care, and kindness. I spent so much of that day at the convention trying to help my Middle navigate everything, but with BR it was effortless because of the space he created for my son. So, all the love to the actor.

But his character can fuck right off.

"Maybe the issue isn't the student, it's the teacher."

Tim's pissed and barely contained. He's seeing things in a different light, with Lucy's help, and now that he's seeing clearly, he's locked in. It's not that he never noticed, but that he let them slide by before they could stick out. He's done with that.

But the introspection Tim was able to achieve with Lucy is because he was willing to learn. Willing to see that he'd screwed up. That's not Stanton. Stanton's immediate thought is of Lopez and he spends zero on self-introspection.

Change isn't possible if you aren't willing to self-examine.

Lucy At Tim's Desk

Have we ever seen her sit so casually with him? I love it. It's giving me Castle vibes, oddly enough, even though that's where the comparisons end. But, I do love having them together at his desk, because it's showing even more that these two are a unit in this string of episodes.

Yes, I know they ride together all the time. But not like this. There are no Tim Tests in these episodes. There's no lecturing (at least in episodes 4 & 5).

Lucy and Tim are united on a mission to protect Jackson, and in these last few weeks of her Probationary period, that's taken precedence.

Which should show all of us just how seriously Tim Bradford is taking this whole thing. It's growth.

And Tim and Lucy's conversation gives us more exposition. We now know why this has to be done so delicately, so carefully.

When I worked in news way back in the day, I was sent to a two-day seminar with the local police department, including an intimate look at their Internal Affairs procedures and why they were put into place. I won't go into details, but it was grim.

The layers and layers of red tape may be protection, but they can also be an unearned shield. Stanton is using it as the latter.

The Former Rookie

I'm not going to recap every bit of this scene, but I have to say that I love that Tim is taking this so seriously that he's trying to find different angles for his approach. It's completely in-character, and I love how it adds to the story, here.

Does this end up hurting things? Yes. That's part of story-telling and, frankly, part of life. Sometimes the best intentions end up making things worse.

Tim Has Jackson's Back

And Jackson knows it. Look, Lucy is still Tim's Rookie, and Jackson is still a Rookie, but Tim's no longer playing the power lines like he did in first season. And this is all because of Lucy.

Lucy is the one who connects people. She bridges people. She brings them together. I can think of so many Future Instances where folks are in the same room all because of Lucy.

Tim and Jackson had a casual relationship that primarily consisted of Tim threatening Jackson if he let anything happen to Lopez, and Jackson asking for the odd bits of advice. But now Tim has Jackson's back. That's huge.

Before in Grey's office, Tim stepped in because he knew his voice held weight. He knew it would help. He made the call to try to be a part of the solution instead of looking the other way one more time.

And even though Jackson (and Lucy) can't wait to be TO-free, it's good to have an officer like Tim on your side. Someone with a spotless record. Someone who is so often senior officer in a situation. Someone who is finally working on themselves with a gentler touch.

FAST FORWARD: There's so much I can say about 4x01 and how a lot of that was set up in these episodes, drawing Tim more in with the Rookies, solidifying a connection between Jackson and Tim, and Lucy being the bridge to the two. I don't want to divert too much attention, but I will say the impact of all that is greater because of how it was earned.

"Lockdown" AKA Game over, bitch

"He gave Jackson a blue page?" "It's not your fault." "Of course it is."

Lucy knows Tim. Remember, Tim tried to say that we couldn't truly know other people, but she knows him. Before he even said anything, she knows he's carrying the guilt. Like he did with her, with Mitch. He blames himself because of the trauma he carries.

And, sure, it's easy to say, "I made Choice A, and that caused Choice B to happen". But, it's far more complex than that. Because, had Asswipe been a man of integrity, Choice B would never have happened.

Because Choice B would have happened at some point, even without Choice A, in this scenario. Even if Tim had never contacted the former Rookie, Jackson would have gotten a blue page someday. It was only a matter of time.

Tim is missing that key component—he's not responsible for the choices of others.

"Oh, uh, de-escalate. We do not want to make things worse for Jackson." "Hey, Stanton, you ever want to brush up on arrest-control techniques, I'm available."

Did Lucy straight up leave the suspect to follow Tim!? I was rolling the first time I watched Lucy chasing after Tim.

Wifey's trying to keep her husband from losing his cool on the neighbor who likes to leave his dog's shit in everyone else's yard then point the fingers at them as though it's their fault.

"We are on duty, so, come on."

Lucy even touches his arm to try to get through to him, to de-escalate this whole situation.

"Aw, that's sweet. Your hot little Boot's trying to rescue you."

"The fuck did you say?" Lucy's look is twofold. First off, yes, she's hot and short, but that's not who she is, you objectifying Walking Feces Coil.

Second, don't imply Tim needs Lucy to save her. She has full confidence in her man to handle himself if it came to it. She wasn't here because she was worried about Tim. She was worried about Jackson who is defenseless against this monster.

But she can't say that. And the more she stands next to this Sentient Turd, the more she feeds off of his asshole energy—matching it in intensity.

"You're the one that's gonna need rescuing." "Are you threatening me?" "Oh, I'm just saying I I have a great hair-pull take-down that I have been dying to try."

Stanton doesn't even know what to say to that. He's not used to having his authority questioned by a Boot. And Tim does nothing to stop it, from Stanton's point of view.

But, we know Tim putting a hand on Lucy, and guiding her away is a big deal. Like, she'll touch his arm every so often in this era, but Tim's fairly hands-off with Lucy. But right here? He mimics her techniques to try to calm her down.

"Alright, Boot. Come on. We got a suspect to book."

In a strange way, I think Lucy being the one to lose her cool was what got Tim back on track. It's his job to train her, reel her in, and give her guidance. And the second she was the one with the pent-up rage, he was able to switch gears.

And. How. Fucking. Perfect. Are. They?!

Because we all need someone in our lives who can balance us out when we're spiraling. There are times when the weight of everything I'm carrying gets too much, and Matthew will wordlessly hold me. And there are times I see the stress bottling up too much within him, and I'll give him the space he needs to reset.

The best relationships are all about give-and-take. As far as foundations go, I'd say Tim and Lucy are on their way.

"What happened to 'de-escalate, we don't want to make things harder for Jackson'?" "I don't know. That was super weird. I feel like I had a testosterone contact high."

I fully believe people have energy within and around them, and Lucy was responding to Stanton's. Like, it would be fun to say, "She was defending her man!" But, really, Lucy is more likely to hold Tim back from beating the crap out of someone than to shield him from them.

One of my best friends has a brother. Let's call him "Joe". Now, Joe and I apparently both have reps for being the sweetest people who love to bring others together and help them have fun. We. Can't. Stand. Each. Other. And we don't know why.

Like, we're Facebook friends. We line up a lot in terms of politics, ideologies, raising our kids. We respect one another and each think the other is a good person. But something about our energies in the same room is toxic and it sets us both off. We have no idea why!

So, Lucy feeding off Stanton's energy (and some of Tim's, too) and being set off by it it completely relatable to me.

"Alright, keep in close contact with Jackson today. If they call for backup of any kind, we're there." "Agreed."

Agreed!? Agreed!? This is slaying me, and only folks who've made it to 5x10 will know why. But it's always a good thing when one of these two says, "Agreed".

I love the synchronized look back and they way Tim keeps leaning into the inclusive language. This is partnership stuff.

"Damn it. We got to get out there. Guys like Doug don't like being backed into a corner."

Lucy thought pulling the Dad card was a good move, but Tim's been around these guys a lot longer. He's been making excuses for them his entire career, military and police, right? That's roughly 20 years or so, so he realizes this is bad.

And Lucy doesn't question it. She recognizes this isn't a time when she needs to wonder about Tim's motives. There are no tests involved. Because there's nothing but sincerity in his actions.

When Tim stepped into that office to stand alongside Jackson, he crossed a threshold into a part of himself that will always be there from now on. He was always seen as a man of integrity, but he had this horrible blind spot. No more.

"I lost Jackson. We got separated."

Bitch, you're not fooling anyone. Tim goes around Stanton and Lucy doesn't even acknowledge him. No one's believing this fool's mouth.

Body Cam Bitch

Jackson plays quite possibly the most ingenious play considering the circumstances. He's been badly beaten. He's got his TO over him pulling the "partner" card when that ass is the one who allowed this to happen.

Lucy is trying to take care of her roommate and best friend while Tim gets on the radio, immediately calling for help, giving details so the paramedics are ready to leap into action as soon as they arrive.

Stanton's faking concern. If he really cared, this wouldn't have happened. If they really had been separated and he was just coming upon Jackson... he still wouldn't be the one on the radio. We know that.

He hovers above Jackson and only one word slips through Jackson's lips, because he wants Stanton to know what's coming. "Camera."

And Jackson Turns. The. Camera. Back. On. BOOM! Two minutes of inaction caught on tape and available for Grey (and everyone else) to witness.

It never. should. have. come. to. this. Our system is so badly broken, and it's hard to know where to begin. We're doing our best to correct our own blind spots, to help the children avoid forming them in the first place, and to live lives that aren't just "not racist" but are anti-racist.

But I wish there was more I could do to rework this entire broken system.

"I've seen enough. On me."

And Tim gets to be backup for the take-down. Tim, who turned a blind eye too many times has rerouted himself, and now gets to be a part of stripping this asshole of his power.

"Back off." "Give me a reason."

Because Tim is in the right. And Ass-wipe is in the wrong.

Told you I wasn't going creative on his names. He doesn't deserve them.

"Revelations" AKA 90's Fashion, UC-Style

"Listen, I have to write a paper for school about gender roles int he workplace, and I'm supposed to interview someone who's working a job that was traditionally considered male." "And you want to interview... me?"

Lucy's daughter is hanging at her place for the first time! Right? And Lucy is making her daughter food and talking. Oh! This makes my heart so happy.

Because Lucy's family has been so un-supportive of her, I love watching her build her Found Family.

"If you're not busy." "I would be honored."

Tamara's taking after Tim here, again, just a little. I mentioned before that when she asked if there were any other dumb questions (when she met her future adoptive mom and dad) that she took after Tim, there.

I think she also takes after Tim with her absolute lack of trust. She likes Lucy. She's been warming up to Lucy. But, she still doesn't trust her fully. So, she plays it off as if it's not a big deal, but we know it's a huge deal.

"Only 10 more days until no TOs."

Lucy is so ready to be done being Tim's Rookie. To get to make her own decisions. But I do think this year has been important for her. We've seen her grow a lot, and those of us from the future know that'll be addressed when she crosses the finish line.

"What kind of classes do they teach?" "No idea. Patrol isn't allowed to know UC trade secrets. So I just ordered Room Service, worked on my tan."

Tim. Tanning. I don't know why, but the thought of Tim feeling comfortable lying around, doing nothing is so jarring. It really speaks to how much more relaxed he must have been during the "good years" of his marriage.

Also, I'm betting Tim was sunning next to a pool and not going in. If the dude's cautious about the ocean's muck, I don't blame him for not going in a pool, either. Children pee in them. Like, all the time.

"You bastard, you get prettier with age." ... "Lucy Chen, Mack Daniels."

Tim is beaming to see Mack, and from the way they greet one another, it looks like they've known one another a while, and that smiley Tim was normal back then.

Tim casually introduces Mack to Lucy, too. No identifying her as a Rookie or even as an officer. Mack is a friend, and Lucy is, too. And I love that we get to see him introducing her as such. It really shows the growth.

"What are you on?" "It's just a little oxy."

Tim knows what this looks like. He knows all too well... and he doesn't want to see another person in his life crash and burn.

Lucy can see how tense Tim is, how worried. She's very in tune to Tim at this point, and she knows more about Isabel than most.

"He seems... nice." "Yeah, believe it or not, he used to be the most clean-cut guy I ever met."

Tim's mind is reeling, because he's not just looking at Mack. He's looking at Isabel, at his memories, at all the things he should've done and didn't. At all the ways he believes he failed her.

He's hoping he's wrong. But Tim's not the best at "hope".

"Chen, though you were running to the bathroom."

As if he didn't have enough reminders of Isabel at this thing, now he sees his Rookie sneaking a peek at the seminar that he told her had trade secrets.

Notice, too, how he defaulted to "Chen" when he called her out. He's not approaching her as a friend, but trying to guide her as a TO away from a path that he thinks is wrong for her.

And, let's be clear, no one is in charge of Lucy's ultimate path but her. But Tim thinks he is helping. He thinks he is protecting her. This isn't done out of malice, but from a genuine place.

But genuine, seemingly kind things can still be the wrong things.

"So, you were spying on one of the seminars." "No." *look* "Maybe a little bit."

Lucy, honey, no. He was standing right behind you. Did you think you were wearing an invisibility cloak?

That you distorted the Matrix long enough for him to miss you standing right there with the door open looking like me and my little brother during one of mom's "Adult Parties" where we had to hang out in the hallway? Come on!

Plus, that knowing look from Tim is giving me 5x10 "No you're not" vibes because he knows her (and he freakin' saw her).

"Seriously? You're not going to give her a heads-up?" "No way I'm getting in the middle of that."

Tim! You don't want to get involved because you think that'll make it easier? Better? For who? I get it, it's "none of your business". But Beth was your friend. As was Mack. Sure, you can let them have it out, but sometimes getting involved is what moves the needle. Sometimes getting involved is how change happens.

Think of all the times Lucy got involved with Tim's issues when she didn't need to.

You can argue she was sticking her nose in where it wasn't welcome... but recording books for him helped him pass the Sergeant's exam. Telling him off when he was considering helping Isabel helped remind him who he was. Yes, Lucy oversteps a lot where Tim is concerned... but he's better for it.

So I can see why she thinks he should get involved. But I also get his perspective and why he wants to hang back. He hates people getting into his business (looking at you, Lucy Chen), so he doesn't want to do it to someone else.

Lucy Spots the VIN Photographer

I love that Lucy was the one to spy it, they put it together as a team, and then got to work as a team. It really feels like a continuation of the more "partnership" vibe of the last two episodes.

"Tim. Narcan."

Lucy Chen, super hero just waltzes in with what he needs. They are so in sync right now. She tosses and he grabs it and gets back to work on Mack.

These two both have really good aim with tossing and catching things. Someone should talk to them about joining the NYPD baseball league, if they have one. *wink*

"You downed opioid with whiskey. Alright? That is not pain management. That is a problem.

Exactly. Tim's calling Mack out. Yes, he did it before, but he took the lie hoping it was truth. Damnit,Tim hoped. And look how it turned out.

"... I know addicts lie so much they don't know what's true anymore." "Hey, I'm not your ex-wife." "Really? 'Cause from where I'm standing you look exactly like Isabel. Look, I'm not going to make the same mistake I did with her."

Tim's still blaming himself for what happened with Isabel. He blamed himself for Mitch. He blamed himself for Lucy. It's a pattern of his.

But this. This is new. Tim is taking a step outside of his comfort zone and addressing this issue head on.

He's had practice, the last few weeks, addressing an issue head-on that he used to let slide. We're seeing the long-term effects of that starting to play out. Tim's done letting things slide.

As Tim is watching another UC in his circle burn out, Lucy is in the parking garage taking her first steps toward that profession... and Tim will fear... that path.

"So, you know we're going to have to talk about it, right?" "Look, it was a momentary lapse in judgment, and Tim has already scolded me for listening in, but I gotta say, um, what I heard at your seminar was amazing."

This isn't a passing fancy for Lucy. This isn't Emmett-level interest. When it comes to UC, this is Tim-level (someday) interest. Lucy is committed to this idea more and more. It's what she wants, and as soon as she sinks her teeth into it, she won't let go.

And, yes, you're not the only one picturing her sinking her teeth into Tim right now, but we're nowhere near that with these two... yet.

"I actually, I have time for drinks right now, if you want."

This is a vote of confidence, and a far cry from the Speed Dating incident. Nyla is sincere on both points, and Lucy knows it.

"I have a homework thing with Tamara. She won't mind if we do it a little bit later."

Lucy thinks she's still going to make it after drinks. So, I applaud her for calling Tamara and rescheduling.

The problem is that Lucy still doesn't have the ability to multi-task her life. As we can see later in this same scene, she doesn't take into account how long a side mission is going to take compared to a few drinks in town. It doesn't even cross her mind.

Look, I love Lucy, but we all have places to grow as humans. And each character on this show has an arc. Tim's is more apparent, sometimes, because he had the furthest to go. We met him when he was at the bottom of himself.

Lucy is in better shape in a lot of ways, but she still has a lot of growth to do. She has a lot of developing to do in solidifying herself as an individual who stands without the approval of others, she needs to learn how to balance work and home life, and she needs to believe in herself.

We get a small reminder of that through her failing Tamara tonight.

Because, look, before the baddie showed up, she was still talking to June and it was still going to be a bit. I don't think they added time in dealing with the baddies. Lucy simply dropped the ball.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself...

"I was about to go out for drinks with a colleague of mine, Lucy Chen."

First Tim introduced her at a "friend" level, and now Nyla's calling Lucy a "colleague." Just a few episodes at the range, Nyla was quick to call Lucy "Rookie". But the barriers are starting to fall. Season 3 has shown the lines separating TO and Rookie are blurring.

And. I. Love. That. Because it creates that sense of community before they cross the Finish Line. We all know that Nolan will be left behind when Lucy and Jackson get there.

But he won't be left out of the community because they've built it separate from a graduation celebration. These are more than just TOs and Rookies. They are more than cops. They are people who care about one another, on and off the job.

"... we're gonna have to take a rain-check on our drinks, but-" "Totally." "Unless you wanna come with."

Fuck, yeah! I mean, "Yeah, sure." Right? Because Lucy's not going to turn down the change to jump right into the action! We already saw that she's not afraid of rabbit holes after everything she's survived, so bring. it. on.

Also, fans of the final scene of 5x08 might see a little similarity in Lucy's "surprise" face. Right!? I can't be the only one seeing it!

I hereby dub this Lucy's, "My dreams are coming true!?!" face.

"You're the chemist. She's the chemist."

That's. My. WOMAN! Look at my girl coming out here in the blink of an eye, unflinching, jumping into character without a second thought because she knows it's what's needed. BOOM!

"I can't believe we just did that."

Lucy's nerves are shaking out because, damn, that was terrifying. Like, she didn't get to go into that situation with the armor of being a cop. She had to be a quick-thinker to stay alive.

And. She. Did. It. Nyla and June got to see it up-close. Lucy's a badass.

"Look, give me another chance. Tonight. I promise I'll be there." "Okay. Sure."

Look, Tamara has been burned. A lot. Like Tim, she doesn't trust people, and it takes a lot to get through. She put herself out there to Lucy, and Lucy. didn't. show. That hurts.

So, while Tamara wants to trust Lucy, last night is a reminder of why she doesn't trust people, as a rule. They only disappoint you.

But, like her someday-adoptive-father, Tamara will come to trust Lucy. And come to open up a bit more to the idea that there is some good in this world.

"I just wanted to make sure you saw the repercussions. He's going to lose his pension." "Yeah, I-I struggled with that. But it's what I should have done with Isabel."

It's heartbreaking, the effects of addiction. The unintended consequences.

I know this all too well. Last December we lost my husband's 5-year-old great-nephew after they believe he got into his mother's fentanyl. This was not even two years after my husband's nephew overdosed on the same drug.

But, let me say, while we're on the subject—addicts need help. They need people like Tim who are willing to do the right thing, who wants Mack to go to rehab and get clean. Get sober.

I'm not taking a position as judge, here. Not at all.

But, Tim's right. You can't have a guy with a gun running around blitzed out of his mind. It's not right. Mack needs to get help and get clean.

This is not an easy decision. But after everything he went through with Jackson and Stanton... after everything he's been through with Isabel... Tim is prepared to make this decision. And Grey stands in agreement.

"Chen's going on a special assignment today. She'll be joining Harper on an undercover operation."

Ooooh, he's mad. He's pissed.

It's been One Day. ONE. Tim just caught her looky-loo'ing, and now he finds out she's already on an op!? What the hell, Grey!?

The Op

Tim slips up to the open door (guess it's not-so-secret inside the building) and crosses his arms, defensive, as he leans against the door frame.

I find it fascinating that Lucy's actually out-of-focus on this. Tim's in sharp focus. And he's pissed.

"But last night all our hard work almost fell apart, until the quick thinking of Officer Chen saved my ass."

We're establishing for everyone in that room that she's a badass. They need to know that she's got what it takes, and that it's their job to make sure she does her job without getting killed.

"Chen, stand up so they can see what you're wearing."

Ah, the uniform of my people. Babies of the 80's and 90's had a thing for Jean Jackets. I've had a few in my time. When I was a kid, you had to put buttons on them, too.

Tim turns around so everyone can see her, so they know what their UC is wearing, and that she's not one of the baddies.

When she turns, she spies Tim leaning in the doorway. Asserting his attitude with those arms crossed, scowling at her the whole time.

The smile she was wearing falls away. She knows the cut of that look.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Tim waited. He was polite. But as soon as the briefing is over, he's in Harper's face. Post-DOD he stayed out of the way. But, he's even more protective of Lucy, now.

And it's not romantic. It's not territorial. Tim once failed her, and he's silently vowed to himself to never do it, again. He looks at this situation, and he feels like Lucy's being manipulated that she doesn't fully understand what she's gotten into.

And, frankly, he's not giving her enough credit. If the two of them talked this out, he might see it from her point of view. But, he's too clouded by what happened yesterday with Mack that's sent him right back to everything he went through with Isabel.

"You can't pit an untrained probationary officer against one of the most dangerous crime syndicates in California."

June is listening in with interest. Yeah, you're new here, but I bet you mighta noticed Tim's kinda protective of Lucy.

"I don't want to hear it, Tim. She volunteered."

Tim looks over to Lucy and she can't even look him in the eye. Of all people she knows how he feels about UC, and he can't believe she's serious about this. But she wants what she wants for her life. She's not going to live hers because of what happened to someone else.

That's part of the gift Tim gave her through his (sometimes unorthodox) training year with her. She's learning not to second-guess herself. And she wants this. Indirectly, her going after what she wants here is Tim's fault. So, good job, Tim. You're mad at yourself.

"Grey authorized it, and we have some of the best operational expertise she could ask for." "They know the gladiator care you're walking into. You don't. That's not volunteering. That's being used."

He really is worried about her. He really does have her best interests in mind. He knows he can't pull her from this op. But he had to say it. He had to try to protect her the only way he could.

And, yeah, there's points to what Tim has to say and points to what Nyla has to say. Lucy is untrained. But they all know she can do this. Even Tim—much as he hates this—believes she can do it.

"Hey, don't let Bradford kill your confidence, okay? His... hangups about UC work are his to deal with, not yours." "I kinda hoped that he would be proud of me. Wow, that sounds stupid when I say it out loud."

She's a grown woman. But Tim is an authority figure in her life, and she's struggled with not having support, with not having people believe in her.

Her parents believed in her so long as she stayed on their chosen path. She doesn't need a repeat with Tim. This is what she wants.

"No. It's doesn't. He's your Training Officer. He's gotten you this far. There's nothing wrong with wanting his approval."

Ohh, Nyla. I have a feeling this conversation would've gone slightly different if it was Angela, simply because she knows Chenford's history best. But, yeah, we'll go with what you said.

"You handled yourself like a pro last night. Those instincts can't be taught."

True. But instincts won't be enough forever. Progress takes work. Training. Effort. Tim's not wrong when he talks about Lucy's lack of preparation, here. He's not wrong to say she doesn't have the full picture.

Yeah, I'm conflicted. I'm proud of Lucy. I know she can do this. But, I get where Tim's coming from, too. Lucy is going a bit into the lion's den without being fully armed.

"I know you're worried about Lucy." "Who said I was worried?"

Dude. You may be closed off, but when it comes to worrying about Lucy, you're very easy to read. You forget all these people went through DOD with you. Lucy didn't see you then, but they all did. Your Lucy Worry is showing, man.

"I'm just saying, she can handle herself." "I know she can. I trained her."

But his bravado can't hide the fact that he immediately looks through his view finder. He lost her once. And, no, this isn't romantic. But it's personal. That word Tim hates so much. Lucy is personal to him, now.

"It's go time."

This is how he can protect her. He wants to be the first one to see what's going on, the first one to see the bad guy coming, the first once to call for help, if needed.

"Relax. It's just my boss. And he wants to talk... to you." "Me?"

Lucy. Meet Lion's Den... in the form of a limo.

"Why aren't we going in and arresting everybody?" "We need to see the money first."

This is for us. The audience. We need to know why they aren't rushing in to save Tim's girl.

Lucy Speaking Tagalog

That's. My. GIRL! I was fist-pumping in the air when she opened her mouth and busted that out.

Like, Mr. Baddie thinks he's going to intimidate Lucy and keep her in the dark, but she's a fucking ball of light. You can't cast a shadow dark enough to block her out.

"You speak Tagalog." "My best friend in elementary school grew up in Quezon City."

Who knows if this is true, but Lucy's quickly leaning into it. No need to give him anything more than the bare minimum to stay alive.

And Lucy. Does. Her. Homework. I'm still in shock that Nolan had a better mid-year score than her, but nerves must've been at play because she's a quick study and she is killing it.

The Arrest

Tim bee-lines for Lucy. Anyone who knows them knows he's gotta be the one. He's all about tangibles, right? And being the one to touch her, to guide her, to walk with her... that'll help assure him she's alright.

"You okay?" *nods*

He wants to hear it from her, that nothing bad happened to her in that limo when she was out of sight, that she hasn't been re-traumatized.

And, golly, he doesn't think she's fragile. He doesn't think she's a porcelain doll. He knows she's one of the strongest, toughest people he's ever known. But, he does worry. He does care.

"You did good."

Because she can do this. And look at her soak it in. Look at the little aw-shucks kick she does.

The last two episodes before this, they were operating more like Partners than TO/Rookie. But as soon as she drifted toward undercover, all of those walls came flying back up between them. It was a jarring shift, and Lucy's been worried that she would lose some of his respect.

But Nyla's right... Tim's hangups are his. And he pushed through them enough to tell Lucy that she did a good job.

Lucy's been listening to her own voice, more. She didn't whither when Tim told her off. She didn't change direction. She stayed on the course she wanted. So, she's done second-guessing herself where he's concerned. But, she still wanted his approval.

And... at the end... she got it. And I don't think she even knows why it matters so much. Again, this isn't romantic. But Tim and Lucy have a special place for one another.

Just as Lucy's opinion of Tim matters, Tim's opinion of Lucy matters. They care about how one sees the other. They care about what the other thinks of them.

In life, there should be very few opinions that matter besides your own, if any. Lucy and Tim are each other's exceptions—and they don't even realize it, yet.

"I'm sorry this happened, but I didn't do it to you. Mack did."

Look. At. That. Growth. For once Tim is realizing it's not his fault. He didn't make the bad decisions. He's simply the guy who didn't look the other way. Instead, he did the right thing, even if it's the difficult one.

"You are a cop. You are supposed to look out for your own."

And here we come back to the last three episodes. Doing the right thing sometimes sucks. Tim made the decision to help Jackson and stop ignoring racism in the force. He stopped hiding behind the "good cop" label and started looking at what was really right and wrong.

Not reporting Mack would have been an issue. It would have been Tim letting something slide, again. But a high officer on the job with a weapon is not right. It can't happen. And the only way to stop it was to report it, since Mack wasn't stopping it himself.

And it sucks and it hurts. But "looking out for your own" shouldn't involve ignoring the laws that are there to protect people in the first place. Mack needs help. Tim told him that, and Mack promised to get help... but in the meantime, something had to be done.

Doing the right thing sometimes sucks.

Bad. Ass. Women.

Nyla has literally let her hair down. And I love Lucy finally being actually in with Nyla and getting to have drinks with one of the other badass women from the station.

"I think fitting in is a trap. I'm sitting between two of the best cops in the state who had to navigate an avalanche of obstacles just to get to the mountaintop. They didn't do it by trying to fit in. They did it by, you know, um, being stronger, smarter, more agile. They had to navigate a system that still believes being a girl is inherently soft or weak, as though empathy is somehow a liability. There isn't a guy in the force who can do what these guys can do. And there sure as hell isn't anyone tougher."

Yes, I transcribed all that. Because Lucy Chen is coming into her own. She's got less than 10 days until she's without a TO, and I don't think we've ever heard her so confident and determined.

Also, I love Tamara getting to see this. Getting to be a part of it. Glass of water, and all.

These three episodes were tough, and wonderful. Lucy and Tim have a very solid friendship in Season 3, and I love how the walls are coming down between the Rookies and the TOs, even before they cross the line out of probation. We're building the blocks to a beautiful relationship... someday.

As ever, thanks for reading. See you on the next!

[lemonhemlock]

Thoughts on helaegond

helaegon has so much potential, yet gets so ignored. aegon & helaena just make sense from a political perspective - here's a v good analysis on this topic (i included my own comments)

in the books they have a more fleshed out relationship, aegon gets mad at jace for dancing with her, they are known to share a bed and after her death aegon insists that people only refer to her as "Queen Helaena", alongside "Queen Alicent" since "they are the only true queens" of Westeros !! so there is love there. aegon loves all of his family i will die on this hill if i must.

the show just gave us some crumbs, as in aegon is obviously not into helaena & forced to marry her. he rejects her as he rejects all of his duties, but it's hard to say if she is just a symbol of everything he is supposed to be (The Perfect Heir TM) or if he's just not attracted to her at all (maybe both). hard to say if this is an outright rejection of the practice of targcest or if these two individuals just don't happen to mesh. if aegon had another sister, would he still refuse to marry her? we don't know at this point, since they've barely developed their relationship.

that being said. it seems to me aegon acknowledges this is not an ideal relationship for him, but he doesn't go out of his way to antagonise helaena either. this is not an aegon iv/naerys situation. on the contrary, he mostly lets her be and tries to be kinda nice to her sometimes?

he is presented as a sexual harrasser, but is obviously not sexually violent with her (complimentary medal for doing the bare minimum, i know). at dinner, there is dialogue that suggests aemond is cajoling aegon into apologising to helaena for something and aegon mentions getting her some swanky gift. he's not angry about it, he just complies. when helaena inadvertently mocks him at dinner, he does not lash out at her in any way, he's just sort of humbled at being called out (this feeds into my theory that aegon accepts violence & insults from his own family but not from other sources). he doesn't get "angry" like in the books when jace dances with her, but his face totally falls and he is mortified, like he's resigned himself to jace's insult. he turns to aemond like "can you believe this kind of shit?" idk. there's something there.

their personalities may not gel well together, but he is such a loser craving validation that i can't imagine that he wouldn't get an ego boost if he got acceptance & encouragement from his sister (he has to deserve it first ofc but he's too busy being genre-aware). god knows where they will take this dynamic in the show, but i hope they choose to build up some rapport and empathy between them, bc it's a much more interesting story than another deadbeat targ king being mean to his sister-wife

[ladyodaskonpeito]

Day 3: Missed Chances

Fandom: Free!

Pairing: Yamazaki Sousuke x Tachibana Makoto

Wordcount: 716

Day 1 | Day 2

Even as years passed, Makoto couldn’t help but think of how he met Sousuke on that rainy morning whenever September would roll around again. He’d also always thought about what could have been and wondered what happened to Sousuke—a lot of changes must have taken place with the time that went by. Maybe his injury healed. Maybe he completed his residency. Maybe he left the country. Maybe he forgot about the nursing student he met at Yowa Hospital.

Makoto, on the other hand, never forgot about him. He never could; Sousuke was one of the first people he had built rapport with as a nurse. As a result, he never thought of him as only a patient he’d helped. He wondered if he was just a nurse to Sousuke, though. He honestly wished he remembered him as something more and thought about him sometimes. Maybe even wondered about his current circumstances and whereabouts like Makoto would with him. But that was where Makoto was conflicted: he would hate for Sousuke to learn the reality of what had been going on in his life.

In reality, there was a lot of not much going on. Makoto had missed out on a lot since he dedicated himself to his job and committed to gaining recognition for his services in Tottori University Hospital’s nursing team. He had remained single all this while, and it was only partly due to his career ambitions to rise up the ranks to become a nursing manager. Maybe, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had held onto the hope of seeing Sousuke again—a man who happened to have everything he wanted in a partner.

Maturity. Dependability. Consideration. He sometimes wished he had never known more about Sousuke than what meets the eye; the height, the voice and those eyes would have been enough. Now he was stuck on the idea of having someone that just seemed too good to be true.

Too good for him, at least.

So when Sousuke finally appeared in his life again, Makoto was too stunned to properly react.

Why would Sousuke remember him, right? Makoto was only a student nurse back then, helping out in a couple of his many weeks of therapy sessions. Makoto didn’t even dare to probe about his injury at the time, for fear of being seen as a busybody. Strictly speaking, they were never friends.

So when Sousuke introduced himself in TUH as Dr Yamazaki, the new gastroenterology fellow, Makoto greeted him like it was their first time seeing each other. That would be the first of many missed chances he had to acknowledge his recognition of Sousuke from his time in nursing college.

It only became increasingly difficult to breach the topic from then on.

After all, what would he say?

Do you remember that student who was briefly there for your PT almost seven years ago? Hi, I’m that guy. Fancy seeing you here at TUH!

Yeah, no. He’d cringe just imagining that. While he was glad—over the moon, actually—to meet Sousuke again, he struggled to bring up their history, seeing as any attempts he had made to reach out were simply… not taken any notice of.

Katsumi-san had very kindly given him the phone number, saying that Sousuke had authorised him to do so. At that moment he had hope fired up in him: Sousuke had wanted to be friends! With time, could they develop into something… more?

At first, it was a courteous but casual text, saying hello and notifying Sousuke that he was stationed at the psychiatric ward now. No reply came.

Then, Makoto had let him know that he ended his time as a student nurse at the hospital and would be proceeding with his prep for the National Nursing Examination. That received no response either.

Finally, Makoto informed Sousuke that he had successfully gotten his nursing license. That was when his hope truly died, because he’d thought a congratulatory message would be anyone’s reply. Instead, all he got was radio silence.

Yeah, they were never friends. That thought would cause Makoto to have this constricting feeling in his chest, so he never liked to think about it for long.

It was a shame, but the past was supposed to be left in the past, anyway.

To be continued on Day 4

[yourqueenb]

omg the bath scene in guinevere!!! i'm doing a slow burn, so i don't choose many romance choices. but even without them, there's such a nice rapport between guinevere and arthur. them getting a know each other and building trust with slight flirtation... ugh. i didn't want my guinevere being too forward by removing the bathing screen, and i love how it was written bc she still couldn't help but glance at his shadow and ik arthur must have been doing the same. it's been so long since i was able to enjoy a romance like this. really hoping the rest of the books continues like this

No really, it was so good! I had my MC go over to Arthur’s side because I love him already. And he was still so respectful (as expected of course) even though he’s clearly attracted to MC. Like I think the narration said something about him refusing to look lower than MC’s shoulders and staring at her with reverence or something like that 😭😍 It was really great writing. And I definitely agree with you about being able to enjoy everything that much more because these characters are actually trying to build trust instead of just diving in head first despite being betrothed. They have a lot of chemistry, so I hope the rest of the book continues to develop like this as well

[egenvs3000f23]

Week 2 My role as an environmental interpreter

Describe your ideal role of environmental interpreter. What might it entail? Where might it be? What skills might you need? (Keep these all-in mind as you begin to work on your assignments – tailor these to that ideal job!)

Blog Response:

When I call it a day and am off to sleep, I think about the events, choices and attitudes of the day just passed. The most fulfilling days always involve time spent in the outdoors, having used my mind, my body, learned something new, and having had the opportunity to get to know or spend time with the people around me. I love speaking with others, learning their world views, and the differences and similarities between myself and the given person, or group of people. 

This being said, my ideal job, or role in an environmental interpretation position is one where I am outside, working as a discovery facilitator, and one where I am active throughout the day. It is a dream job of mine to work as a hiking guide or a bikepacking tour guide in a national park! I’m graduating this year and am applying to jobs with these roles involved in them! I am so nervous but cannot wait to see how things go! 

Based on my previous experience, as mentioned in the last post, I had the chance to work in a nature interpretation role with BC parks! It gave me a lot of insight into how differently people learn, and how what works really well for some people, makes no sense to others. Age is also a big factor, I was better at working with the adults at the interpretation events than kids. However I must say, that the enthusiasm of kids discovering and learning in the outdoors cannot be beat! It was really helpful, as noted in the readings, to build a sense of rapport between you and those being communicated with, it really makes people listen to what you say because they know where your credibility lies, and how it fits within theirs. It develops a sense of trust and friendship which can make learning what otherwise could be dry information, interesting, digestible and meaningful.

I need to do some more research on how to appeal to different learning styles, but I think it is hard to make plans without having a good understanding of the audience first. How one actually intends to play to different learning styles is very context specific. I suppose the solution, to this, and the best quality, most accessible nature interpretation is to always play to different learning styles and just be adaptable as the audience makes their ways known. There could be visual learners so always having maps, diagrams images, paper and pencils on hand could be good ideas. For those who tend towards kinesthetic learning, making sure there is a physical component to the information, a game, a hike, or bike while learning about different species for example. Understanding that there are active and reflexive listeners, sensing and intuitive listeners, sequential and global learners, and then just playing to the needs of individuals in the given group is I think the best way to go. This is something I’ve learned that I need to make sure to focus on when doing nature interpretation in the future.

I think that its worth mentioning that even if someone is a specific type of learner they still have much to gain from learning in other ways as well. There are simply some things that cannot be learned through one type of learning. One cannot learn how to ride a bike by drawing it out, the drawing could help demonstrate the information, but learning to ride a bike will always be a kinesthetic task.  I would expect that everyone has a different balance of the types of learning, but that everyone makes some use of them all at some point. This is a viewpoint I plan to take with me into any nature interpreting career. Always include all the learning styles, but don’t focus too hard to cater to one specific type while neglecting the others. Catering to the individuals, and crowd but still being realistic!

A fun aside (an app I really enjoy using myself):

An app that could be relevant to readers! i-naturalist is a great app for learning about species in the outdoors. You can upload a photo, make a guess as to what you think it is, and you then find out if you are correct on the app. It is also super fascinating because it catalogs and records all the sightings of species and keeps the data for science and the public to use!

Another gif! Go adventure in the outdoors!

[intercal]

Gripes about Baldur's Gate

I've been playing Baldur's Gate (the first one) recently. I really like it! But I also have Complaints about it:

I love how useless mages are, even at level 4 or 5. I'm sure they're useful eventually, but wow. They're basically crappy rangers before they get caster level 2 and 3 spells. (I know this is D&D design, but still...)

Too many companion choices throughout the entire game. I feel like building up rapport with the rest of your party is being discouraged. And if you go with new companions midway through the game, their XP isn't scaled very well so they're going to be about a level behind the rest of the party.

Also, you will find encounters where characters just decide to leave your party without much warning, sometimes forever, taking all of your good items in their inventory with them. I can't even open up the inventory when I'm reforming the party to get my good items back.

This is something they could have fixed with the enhanced edition and didn't. If it's an explicit design choice, I absolutely hate it.

Pathfinding is astonishingly bad. Characters will just walk into dead ends. Characters can't walk through one another, but their pathfinding doesn't account for that, so they'll get locked trying to walk past each other in opposite directions.

This is something else that could have been fixed in the enhanced edition, and I have no idea why they didn't.

The iron shortage and swords randomly breaking is a neat idea, but it really should go away after you finish the iron shortage storyline. It's a question of story versus gameplay and they went with story.

Also, weapons will break and give you no notice that it's happened. If you have one in your inventory it will get swapped out, but I need some kind of obvious signal stating "Hey, your sword broke" so I know I should buy another one. I shouldn't have to check my inventory after every encounter.

other than these gripes it's a fun game. I understand that some of these complaints are about D&D and decisions made in 1999 or whatever, and I try to give them some leeway. However, some of these poor design choices must have come up a second time during the development of the enhanced edition, and it boggles the mind why they didn't fix the more obvious problems.

I dunno. play it, the story is good. the sidequests are good. the character interactions are good. The combat is mediocre, but passable.

[notallwonder]

...here we go... Criminal Minds 16x07 "What Doesn't Kill Us", directed by the lovely Aisha Tyler. I've been looking forward to this (at my own peril)!

Spoilers + nonsense under the cut...

oh I love this stupid show

I also love PB's voice in the previouslies (and in anything)

lol "SOMEWHERE IN WEST VIRGINIA"

oh nightmare. these types of buried alive plots always give me the heebie jeebies

dafuq? is she like in the air ducts? dafuq? screaming? eeep

WTAF IS GOING ON - so this crimey part has me hooked

HELLO HOTTIE!!! *waves*

oh..."a development"...

Attorney General time! pls be CCH Pounder pls pls

"after being assaulted, drugged, and killed in the line of duty, what's the worst that could happen?" LOOOLLLLL

okay, not CCH Pounder but still an authoritative Black woman as Attorney General

Aw, Dave. capisce?

Okay. First of all. AG calls our resident hottie by her first name. I am inclined to believe this means maybe they have some prior acquaintance, or the AG makes a point of knowing her people well (plus Emily is Bigfoot LegendaryTM). Secondly...Prentiss, really putting yourself on the line here offering your resignation! And Dougie boy backs her up, for the first time ever.

AG is right they have been getting tunnel vision. But also - they just had 2 agents blown up on the Sicarius case. Seems...appropriate to focus on it. ANyway

omg Emily's face - hilARIOUS expression. must rewatch 5 times.

(this feels like the episode that PB tweeted about shooting a while back, where she had to run around with a gun in a hospital in high heels)

return of awful expositional dialogue. my fav

WE'RE NOT SHORTHANDED EMILY??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? IS SOMEONE ELSE HEEEEEREEE?

(I paused it here to cross my fingers for Agent Jordan Todd)

oh boohoo that was a waste of pausing. so we've conscripted Mr. Noodle. But like...does he have any investigative skills? I thought we agreed he was a hedge fund manager with a badge...I mean I know that was just a put down but...

Powerpoint Presentation Ken Doll Director Bailey is not the humor I wanted or needed. (Prentiss' sidelong glance at Rossi is a teeny bit funny)

Hmmmmm. Emily throws Noodle a bone, asking him to keep tabs on missing persons reports. A little thaw between them, since he's shown himself to be more on her side. I approve. BUT it makes me a teensy bit nervous that they might eventually smush these two characters together in a non-platonic sorta way. Hoping not.

Aw, the family that jokes about murder together...ruh roh.

"real reason" - did Elias kill his parents?

Aw, the family that fantasizes about murder together...ruh roh.

Luke is lookin' FOIN in that leather jacket this ep

"double boss" lol yes

Ok, may I just say, thank you to wardrobe for putting Prentiss in something other than those super wide-leg slacks once again? The wide-leg slacks looked great, don't get me wrong. But they're a different vibe (and I guess not as good for field work as jeans/skinny whatevers) (although we all know CARGO PANTS would be better for field work!! PLEASE UNIVERSE GIVE ME BACK THE CARGO PANTS)

And here we have a perfectly serviceable conversation among the BAU ladies (minus Tara) (plus a noodle). Yes, it's case-related. I still hope for an actual conversation between JJ and Emily that has something to do with not murder. But the vibes of this convo are great - upbeat, well-oiled machine and all that. Doesn't feel weird to me at all.

OKAYYYYYYY AHAHAHAA this scene!! I love it! *heart eyes emoji* Angry Emily! Emily & Garcia rapport! Garcia is funny but also came to her senses (SORT OF)!! Consequences! But yeah, that could be majorly problematic in a prosecution.

It feels like Noodle is working on his investigative Boy Scout badge. ...what, was he inspired by watching Emily's performance?

WAIT A SECOND. There was a jemily GLANCE!!! hallelujah, my lowest bar dreams have come TRUE!!! *dancing in the streets*

I still don't know quite what to make of Dougie Noodle's transformation into a sympathetic (?) ally... but I'm not alone in that, as evidenced by that glance between JJ and Emily. (y'all they did it! they did it! they glanced!)

the crimey wimey part is CREEPIN ME OUT BIG TIME

sigh of relief, Moose's owner is NOT dead! lucky girl.

this is an episode in which our heroes talk to each other, and I am here for it! Penelope supporting Tara. And then promptly fucking up her own life choices. Oh, babygirl. :)

Ugh Doug NOodle, that was SO CHEESY. "An FBI agent once told me..." I was ALMOST starting to like you.

Funny how they write the university admin guy objecting to sending personnel records to the FBI as a "liability issue" and not on the grounds that it's essentially a huge fishing expedition by the FBI from which the university might be inclined to protect its employees and students (lol, in a world different from the one in which we live).

ruh roh...Sicarius seems to be hurtling toward a break, a... devolution if you will

creepy fairy lights in the air duct, awesome, hate it. aw man this is fucked up. oh jesus that is way more than a lil cat-o-nine tails my god

this scene with Tara and Moose Girl is like...awkward. And sweet. Reminds me of my religious days lmao.

C'mon Penelope! Do the mature thing! OR, do the not mature thing! Pen's character development post-BAU strikes me as kind of a delayed adolescence. She's leaning into being more assertive and impulsive (and prioritizing her own pleasure). So it's perfectly understandable that she doesn't *want* to end things with Tyler. But girl, the investigation is on the line and that's a pretty big deal. What are you gonna do? (She does the right thing)

Yeah, Voit is LOSING IT. He obviously cares about his family but like... push comes to shove he's gonna kill them.

this girl Grace is METAL. it's nice to see the victims fighting back more effectively

Doug Noodle in a polo shirt? Now Kevlar??

(side note: Hogan's Alley reminiscing makes me think of Derek Morgan, of course. "out there, in the field, sorry doesn't bring people back!")

cringey feeling: WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH PRENTISS AND BAILEY. are they becoming friends. okay that's a little cute. I just...I have trust issues, lol.

hohoHO "Come and get it, motherfucker." I felt that

actually I think it says a lot that Prentiss would go into a dangerous situation with Noodle on her six. She trusts him more than she did (or she'd rather he be her liability and no one else's?). And...where's JJ? Rossi and Luke went to other location, is JJ part of the backup? Oh JJ was sent to find the guy's ex. (that noodle better not friendly fire my love Emily Prentiss!!)

oh SHIT Emily you're going in ALONE??? baby nooo. I mean, you're super capable and a complete badass. but....be safe

Dougie Noodle's FBI coming of age is I'm sorry just a touch too melodramatic for me.

I naively thought this might be a Will free episode, completely forgot Josh Stewart's name in the credits up top LOL

How come everyone is getting haircuts all the time? Even Tyler Green looked freshly shorn or combed or whatever. I am so confused about the timeline of these episodes. Maybe men's hair styles just confound me?

An "adult supper" LOL

not Tara looking pensively at Willifer from afar as if they are #couple goals !

Unfortunately Tyler looks goofy with his hair combed.

Oh, Come On. "You made me want to live again" layin' it on thick there buddy. Unfortunately it seems to be Working. aaaagh

I can't tell if this is illicit yet sweet or if this is Jason Clark Battle coffee shop setup #2. I think it's supposed to be read as romantic? I was praying Derek Morgan would burst through the front door like the Kool-Aid Man to put a stop to this.

I think I don't like how this was intercut/edited - Rossi zeroing in on Sicarius with Voit digging up a kill kit. It's novel at least - I don't remember seeing this style in any other CM ep. But it feels weirdly extra?

Okay, overall, I liked the episode. It wasn't all that great frankly, but the crime was creepy as hell if underdeveloped. The worst sins are the criminal lack of screen time for Luke Alvez (he has been far and away the most underutilized of the whole cast), and the progression of the Tyler/Penelope situation. At least that will lead to more dramatics down the road. I'm not wild about how that storyline requires PG to have rather cavalierly tucked away her professionalism (such as it is), but to me it is not a wild departure from her prior characterization. We've seen her make big mistakes before when blinded by romance, mistakes which have also impacted her work (remember the RPG knight she was gettin' romanced by that hacked the BAU? granted...that was a million years ago in season 1). And sometimes people jangle our chemicals and we do crazy shit. It's kind of interesting, from a Penelope character perspective.

This episode had plenty of Prentiss, for which I am always glad, and it was kind of nice to see her dynamic with Bailey continue to shift. I don't really think that will tip into messed up heterosexual shenanigans territory but I admit to being paranoid about the possibility. Emily is way too familiar with the realities (headaches!) of intra-Bureau "liaising" not to mention I think she looks at Bailey as a young man in need of guidance/training. I was disappointed that Tara didn't have any conversations with Rebecca (not even a voicemail!), but I can wait. JJ and Emily felt more normal with each other, which was welcome. This episode was juggling too much, but that's the price of admission it seems with how they are trying to tell the unsub's story plus team lives etc. I'm glad they got renewed because I've basically given up hope on seeing Prentiss' personal life this season. *maybe* in the next season. And last - Derek Morgan was top of mind for me. It was nice to have his imaginary cameos, both in Emily's memories of Hogan's Alley and in his capacity as Penelope Garcia sense-talker.

WOW I DID NOT EVEN NOTICE THERE WAS A "POST"-CREDITS SCENE WTF. What is this, an MCU movie?

Um....... I'm just going to have to reserve judgment until I've seen the last 3 episodes. It will continue to be batshit I'm sure.

I did find it gross how he was laid out like a corpse on PG's kitchen counter covered in... cookbooks? Ok. 😂

[incarnateirony]

Hi, it's the "why do you think Bobo is on the Winchesters" anon again. I've gone back through your blog to try to figure out what your response meant but I hope you'll forgive me for needing a bit of clarification?

It seems like you're saying that Robbie drew Jensen a chart at some point, which is based on the chart that you linked me to in my last ask--I tried to look back on your blog to see where this info is from but I couldn't find anything. Where did you see/hear about Robbie drawing Jensen this chart?

And you're also saying that you gave this chart originally to Bobo (in public?) and that he must have given it to Robbie, and that's how it got to Robbie?

I promise I am actually trying to follow you but, I mean this in the nicest way, you are really hard to follow sometimes.

Robbie literally mentioned it in an interview.

The chart was given to Bobo, in public, new years eve, as I had older drafts (not the net 4 draft, I found that in public early February, as I've said many times) and saw what they were struggling over. Because, while bnfs like jus and charcubed refuse to peep about it now, or why they're doubling down so hard on the Chuck Won take complete with graphics right now, we'd had the same arguments in development for a month or two early 2021.

So I shoveled it to him, hell somewhere it's in my blog I just don't remember what I tagged it. I'd screenshot the convo again but you know, some uneducated buffoon sent william shatner and the trekkies at me to report bomb my account before Mark Pellegrino disappeared in a mist, cancelled 3 cons, and now has a gap until JULY on attendance. But that's totally unrelated. Nothing ever connects in these people's universes if the dots are inconvenient to connect. Either way, I can't pull my shit to source it to you. Sorry. If you wanna dig my blog to find the receipt that's fine.

Regardless, in an article, it was discussed that Jensen and Robbie were sitting in the car watching the filming of the prequel, and it was said, "we can't do it like this." (summarily, the linear post-15.18 bubble would leave us to either undo the finale entirely, which they didn't want to do, or make us watch dean die on a tack again literally.)

Robbie then, per the article, drew Jensen a chart on pathwork, which declared reshoots. Some were done on the spot since they were just kinda. There already, which is also why the pilot filming ran like 3+ weeks. Then, authors were brought in to craft out the rest of the series, at which point Bobo continued to be engaged, hence talking about Better Call Saul early May, when writing shit really starts moving. That's *why* Better Call Saul ended up evoked in later articles. Then, other reshoots were saved for fall when everybody was able to be back together again, hence visiting the graveyard again and stuff (because the angulature of Roxy was also nudged.)

This is *when* "Follow the Path of 1 Towards Heaven" integrated, as well as moving dean to the axis mundi liminally and going into the deeper perspective game imagination of it.

People *refusing to follow and onboard information does not remove the reality of it.* And frankly I don't feel compelled to dig through dozens of dozens of dozens of articles to find something I posted and pointed at half a year ago while nobody paid attention. I'm well past doing that level of emotional labor for people that are only asking a year late into the news cycle to deal with their own disillusionments. I'm a person, not a pez dispenser.

Congrats. THAT is the Truth. And fandom better start processing shit REAL fuckin quick.

I repeat. Jensen isn't the only one that can pull a long con.

amazing what you can accomplish if you listen first, understand second, and argue last if ever. Almost like I spent years building rapport with and trying to reinstate fandom's good faith in the authors for a reason, and always magically had insight about their intentions that was correct no matter how many Big Headed Idiot Consumers That Think They're ITK From M&Gs And Coffeerunners screamed at me for years. I listened. I saw. I understood the struggle. I updated the package. It changed the result. Berens openly talked about it but nobody listened.

Now everyone's plugging their ears in denial like it's gonna stop the train running them over. Or acting like how close Robbie and Bobo have been for years is an element you can hide, or their plot sharing, whether while they both worked in Carver era or Bobo carrying on Robbie's story elements as far as season 15, and people making confused monkey sounds that maybe Robbie and Bobo talk sometimes and share ideas, as normal human beings do. Because you forget they're human beings.

Robbie is, per their own words, the rose to bobo's jack. catch a FUCKING clue, numpties. Like Oh My God They Were Roommates besties. And you're just scratching your FUCKING heads because you can't compute the authors being real people might influence the stories they tell together.

like seriously dude. You're basically asking "HEY, BEYOND ALL THE STUFF IN PUBLIC OR IN ARTICLES, CAN YOU *PROVE* TO ME THAT THESE TWO BEST FRIENDS ACTUALLY TALK TO EACH OTHER?" who the FUCK are YOU. You want the answer? PAY THE FUCK ATTENTION.

Yes, I know you were being polite in this ask TECHNICALLY, but polite doesn't mean genuine. I'm fucking tired. I'm tired of people deleting the authenticity of the authors as people from the conversation, like they're some fucking primal force that exists only in the internet generating TV for you. A lot of this shit was perfectly public access information and I still need to apparently explain it over and over and over and over and over again, and the same dumb motherfuckers that screamed over me about these issues for 5 years while being proven wrong again and again have escalated to continuous doxxing attempts, but sure. Nothing's happening. Whatever.

Literally. You guys are fucking exhausting. There's a reason Robbie calls this shit revenge. Fucking pop off and rip this whole fandom a new asshole, king. Every fucking lane. I want this place to look like swiss cheese by the time you're done. Gaping dry-fucked ostiums for all.

[futureotstudent]

The Therapeutic Use Of Self.

Imagine that you’re beginning your health journey (for the 3rd time this year) and you decide to start using an air fryer, you already have a functioning air fryer somewhere high up in your kitchen cupboard but you did not attempt to get it, instead you just ordered and newer and bigger one that would fulfil the same purpose. Why would you invest in something that you already have? Doesn’t make sense, does it ? As a future occupational therapist, I can draw a comparison between this. All 5 of my scrub pockets overflow with pens, pieces of paper, a deck of cards, and other random therapeutic items…not to mention my thick assessment file. Out of all these tools the most important and valuable tool of all is MYSELF. Whilst the rest is important, I need to make therapeutic use of myself. This means that as a therapist I can influence the outcome of therapy with the use of my own “personality, perceptions, opinions, and judgments” (MOTR/L, 2023).

According to Wong et al. (2020), there are six therapeutic modes that characterize client–therapist interactions in occupational therapy: advocating, collaborating, empathizing, encouraging, instructing, and problem solving.

OT is beautiful because we aren’t healthcare workers that are restrained to the medical model…we have meaningful, personal relationships with our clients. We collaborate with our clients.

A good way to begin using yourself as a tool in therapy is to begin building rapport and trust with your clients. This will ensure that client’s understand that you’re on the same team, it provides a safe place for them to open up, share personal information that may have therapeutic implications and they would be more likely to fully engage in therapy with a therapist they can trust. Research found that in order “to develop a good rapport, your therapist must, among other things, demonstrate empathy and understanding.  (Successful Mental Health Treatment Depends on Good Therapeutic Rapport, n.d.). During my initial contact with my clients, rapport building is the first step I utilize. I ensure they are aware of the confidentiality of our sessions and I show empathy by trying to understand from the client’s perspective with the hope of trust in return. My clients we able to trust me and therefore engage in therapy with me.

Another part of the therapeutic use of self is advocacy- this involves advocating for our patients and providing them with additional resources to ensure therapy is therapeutic (MOTR/L, 2023) . I utilized this in therapy by advocating for my client’s participation in groups that are more inclusive to his visual impairment. I did this by exploring games that he is able to complete using his other senses/ strengths.

It is important to be present with the client (attunement), to provide unconditional positive regard (accept that they are trying their best), self-disclosure (good for building rapport), and the ability to balance the power differential between the client and you as a therapist. (Abson, 2019)

As a future therapist my thoughts when approaching a new client has changed…it is no longer based on What notes apply? …to now thinking more about what would it feel like to be in their place? If I were them, what would I want from my therapist? This frame of thinking allows me to show empathy and therefore prioritize my client’s needs.

I still have not mastered the skill of using myself as a therapeutic tool but I can say that I have developed quite a bit since the beginning of the year. I used to thinking that it was “wrong” to spend time talking about an unexpected topic during a session and I used to be concerned with impressing my supervisor. But now, when I see a client, I no longer see a case that I need to solve. I see a human being in need of help and most importantly, a friend. Be it praise, encouragement or just a simple act of kindness. Every client I have seen were all in need of something common…a friend. As an OT I am the best and most valuable multipurpose therapeutic tool there could be!

References

Abson, D. (2019, March 3). Therapeutic Use of Self. The OT Hub. https://www.theothub.com/article/therapeutic-use-of-self

MOTR/L, M. C. (2023, April 27). How To Use Therapeutic Use Of Self In Occupational Therapy | OT Flourish. Otflourish.com. https://otflourish.com/therapeutic-use-of-self-occupational-therapy/#:~:text=What%20is%20therapeutic%20use%20of

Successful Mental Health Treatment Depends on Good Therapeutic Rapport. (n.d.). Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/therapeutic-rapport-2671659#:~:text=Importance%20of%20Developing%20Therapeutic%20Rapport

Wong, S. R., Fan, C.-W., & Polatajko, H. (2020). Exploring Culture and Therapeutic Communication: Therapeutic Mode Use by Occupational Therapists in the United States and Singapore. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(3), 7403205120p1. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.033936

[chenford4ever]

It's good to see the person she's been able to develop into all because she found a home and family with Lucy and everyone Lucy brought into her life.

Although, her most annoying moment was how she confronted the husband when Lucy told her specifically not to do so. But I suppose that's how she's similar to Lucy.

That case was a great way to incorporate Metro and get an idea of how that unit could work alongside the cops frequently within this series.

Metro is so badass, and it's the perfect fit for Tim. Seriously, no lie, I would 100% watch a Metro spin-off if that were ever a possibility.

It took Tim a bit to adjust to things, but he found his footing quickly, and by the end of the hour, you could tell he had found his people.

Tim: Detective Lopez, she'll be our spotter. She'll provide overwatch.

Metro Cop: Why not let Metro provide overwatch?

Tim: Because we need all our boots on the ground, and there's no one I'd rather have on my six than my adelita.

Metro: Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am, I had no idea. You're a legend at the range.

Tim could easily run a Metro squad of his own without an issue. He was at his absolute hottest running point to save Sonia. And sniper Tim in his perfectly-fit Metro t-shirt was a sight to behold.

The sequence of Metro breaching that warehouse was wonderfully shot enough to have you hyped and on the edge of your seat. It was the type of thrilling action that makes The Rookie so good.

It also reunited Tim and Angela, and they will ever be the top duo of this series.

Understandably, Tim is still trying to get used to this new group of people he doesn't know and has yet to build a rapport with, so he relied on someone he loves and trusts implicitly to have his back and always has.

And the Metro squad could've taken that as a slight because they all must work together, and Tim has become part of the team.

But Angela's badass reputation precedes her. I love any moment where anyone puts some respect on Angela Lopez's name, and Tim ensured that happened with his best friend.

Working with Metro -tall - The Rookie Season 5 Episode 13

The takedown of the kidnappers was the strongest and most exciting scene of the hour.

If Metro leads to that type of action and team-ups, we've unlocked another aspect of this series that will be engaging to witness.

It's felt like the season of Tim Bradford, and we're winning because of it.

On the home front, things are going well with him and Lucy, too, but it's nice that she and Tamara got to explore what that means for her.

It's interesting that Tamara never once considered that there would be no place for her when Lucy was dating Chris. But she can envision longevity, a long relationship, and a happy life for Lucy and Tim.

She's already talking about them living together and having kids with each other. And Lucy doesn't deny that either.

It made sense that the two women would have these discussions, prompting Tamara to consider her place in Lucy's world and home.

The thing is, Tim naturally accepts Tamara, not just as a part of Lucy's life but his as well. He didn't even think about Tamara being in the way. He came there for a movie night, thinking that Tamara would be watching with them

Nevertheless, you can understand why someone with Tamara's background would feel like a third wheel. She's not used to having a family and probably envisioned herself as some placeholder until Lucy created one of her own.

But that's not the case at all. She and Lucy are family, period, and nothing, not even Lucy's relationship with Tim, will change that.

Since they've talked, thankfully, Tamara can stop working herself to the bone, trying to make more money to afford a place of her own.

I get it. Your whole life you've been displaced from one home to another, but that's over now. Girl, we're family. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried.

It's slim pickings out there, after all. But can you imagine the comedy ensuing if Tamara and Thorsen had to slum it in an apartment together because she wanted to move out to give Lucy and Tim space, and Aaron couldn't afford to live alone?

[vorphyxredtech]

WHY NOT TO AVOID PTM AT SCHOOLS?

Is the parent-teacher meeting for your child quickly approaching? It could sound very exhausting given your busy schedule. But in order to support the child's growth both personally and academically, a parent-teacher meeting is a crucial step that both a parent and teacher must take. It also provides parents with priceless information about the successes and failures of their children.

Here is why you should attend  PT meetings:

Review your kid’s environment

You are unable to assess much about your child's environment during the admissions process and the first few chats. The PTA meetings provide you the chance to experience first-hand the environment where your child is shaped. It's comforting to be aware of the level of cleanliness and safety and to browse the titles that are available in the library and inspect the infrastructure.

Gather information about the people around your kid

Your child meets a number of people in school with whom you can get along and ask for help whenever you need it. Only by physically visiting the school can you get a sense of the vibe of everyone there, including the teachers and support personnel. Knowing the instructor of your child will make it easier for you to ask for advice at any moment. Additionally, seeing their parents treat their teachers with respect inspires children to follow suit.

Help a teacher understand the student

A teacher needs to be completely familiar with a pupil in order to draw out the greatest performance from them. It could be an illness, a recurrent family problem, a significant event, a trouble area, one of their greatest friends, or a teaching method that works well for your child. Share with the teacher your child's natural gifts, limitations, and strengths.

Get to know about reports of your child’s progress

It might be challenging to gauge your child's level of participation in school from home. However, you can obtain first-hand knowledge at the PTM. such as, "Is my child interested in extracurricular activities?" Can I work with my child? - can assist you in working with your child.

Know your child’s company

The PTA allows you the chance to interact with your child's peers and evaluate the kinds of relationships they form at school in addition to the teachers and support personnel. It helps provide a forum where you can talk with other parents about the typical issues kids encounter in school and figure out solutions.

Share feedback and comments

The PTA is a fantastic venue for sharing feedback if you have any urgent issues with the infrastructure or the caliber of instruction. The school administration makes certain promises about amenities at the time of admission; you can check to see if they are being kept by visiting the school. You can speak up during this session if you think there is room for improvement.

Being there for this meeting helps the teacher and you work towards your child's holistic development since it makes it easier to spot and remove roadblocks to your child's development. Make that step, build a good rapport with the teacher, and encourage your child to achieve more in life.

[bigskydreaming]

Okay but imagine a Freaky Friday scenario back when Bruce and Dick were originally on the outs and Dick was with the Titans full time.

Something incredibly plot contrived happens and whammo, eighteen year old Dick wakes up in Bruce’s body with Jason just down the hall....still new to the Manor, filled to the brim with trust issues and other shit Dick can relate to and brings back memories of his early days in the Manor and how hard Bruce worked to make Dick feel comfortable there, thus priming Dick with Nostalgia thoughts and like, I miss THAT guy, where did that version of my dad go and is he still in there....

And additionally, when further contrived plot contrivances conspire with dastardly deeds that force Bruce and Dick to stay in each other’s bodies for like a week or two until they can change back, and like, cosplay as each other because they both have responsibilities that can’t be avoided....like, Dick is forced to temporarily act as Jason’s guardian and like.....there’s character development and personal realizations and building a connection based on common ground and shared experiences even if they aren’t perfectly parallel, much like Bruce built his connection with Dick based on the common ground that was the murder of their parents, and like.....opportunities for all the above are just ripe for the picking.

And meanwhile, Bruce wakes up in Dick’s body and is like.....wut. But being Bruce and having developed eighty million contingency plans even for off the wall hypothetical scenarios, he like, has a plan in case something like this ever happened.....and then he’s smacked in the face with the realization that coming up with an idea on how to deal with a situation you have no actual knowledge of or experience with is not like....a sturdy basis for assuming your approach will be any kind of effective at all. And so Bruce is forced to consult ACTUAL experts with this kind of shit, like Zatanna and Constantine and Dick’s own teammates Raven and Lilith, and grumpily acknowledges that the safest thing for them both is to wait this out and go about each other’s lives as much as possible, like Alfred and Jason and the Titans and the JLA are all in the know, its just....weird. 

And Bruce is uncomfortably aware that he’s surrounded by people who know Dick even better than him at this point, and who are not his biggest fans as a result....and then blow-ups have him trying to defend certain choices....only to realize that when faced with people who are not emotionally invested in a connection with him which they’re afraid to lose by pushing too hard....that like heeeeey, maybe certain choices were not as good as he made himself believe at the time. With this budding epiphany then nurtured by his growing awareness that he’s been treating this whole thing as an inconvenience, like its a waste of his time to be with the Titans when there’s REAL work he could be doing - only he just can’t convince himself of that anymore after being shoved into battle alongside them and seeing them in action from WITHIN their group....rather than looking down on them from a self-assumed pedestal of experience and greater wisdom.

Like, they know what they’re doing, they’re not the kids they started out as and hell, they knew what they were doing even THEN, that’s how they GOT to this point in the first place! They were never actively guided or trained as a TEAM by the older generation of heroes, and they’ve always had an entirely different dynamic with each other than they’ve had with their own individual mentors. And by watching them in action close up, seeing how well they gel and recognizing how much of their strategy and approach to things likely came from Dick sharing his own training with them just as they shared theirs with him and gave him insights and skills that even Bruce doesn’t have because it wasn’t Bruce who taught them to him...

Like, seeing how often they instinctively glance towards Dick for direction and the implicit trust in those gazes, as well as being forced to acknowledge how competently they roll with the reminder that it isn’t Dick and they have to coordinate for themselves because Bruce is the odd man out here no matter what face he’s wearing...

It’s like. Hmm. Epiphanies. They are happening.

And then you’ve got Bruce noticing how much they look out for each other - and him/Dick in particular because of how off balance he is at this time- so he additionally gains an understanding and appreciation of how Dick’s just as safe, if not more, with the Titans as he’s ever been at Batman’s side....

And then he gets a firsthand experience with The Chafing that comes from being smothered and overprotected by people who no matter how well-meaning or concerned they are for his - or well, just his body’s maybe, lol - safety, like, they seem to have no regard for him trying to remind them of his own competency and skills and how he can look out for himself. And since refusing to see or acknowledge that is half the basis for the conflicts that get between him building at least some kind of rapport with the Titans while stuck in this situation...well...

Again. There are. Hmm. Parallels perhaps. To his own relationship with his eldest son and their frequent conflicts.

And so opportunities abound for Bruce to be reminded just how skilled and capable - and needed and appreciated - his son is....as well as how Bruce being on the receiving end of various attitudes or views he’s expressed to Dick, like, might help make him abundantly aware of just how badly that’s probably been going over with Dick, like what all that must FEEL like to Dick and how it appears when viewed from his POV, and how all of that has contributed to the growing divide between them....and thus like, this might hopefully inspire him to like...not do that anymore. Ideally.

And then the plot contrivances wear off and they get shazamed back into their normal bodies and any attempt they might have made to pretend that never happened and just get back to normal is promptly slapped down by the others in their lives, who are just like, lol, no. We’re not doing that. This was weird, it happened, it was a whole thing, deal with it.

Forcing them to, y’know, deal with it. Helped along by some of Bruce’s Intimidation Quotient, such as it ever was, having worn off the Titans during his stay among them, so he starts getting bombarded with texts, calls, and speedster drop-ins like hey, didja adopt your son yet, Bats? How about talk to him. Did you do that at least? Did the word sorry come up at all? C’mon, we PRACTICED this.

Whereas Dick’s walk down Memory Lane via his time spent strolling through the halls he grew up in but from the POV of retracing Bruce’s decade old footsteps rather than his own - well, that did a lot to lower the drawbridge on the emotional barriers he’s built up to protect himself from further let-downs when it comes to his relationship with Bruce....helping to make him more amenable and receptive and optimistic about it being worth getting his hopes up one more time that the space between them can still be bridged.

Anyway. Just a random scenario I guess. Barely thought about it at all.