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lu-sn · 1 year

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Hi Lu 👋 Do you have any thoughts or insights on why Porsche gave Vegas access to Pete during the club scene with Pete?

anon it is quite possible that i have too many thoughts. i need to have my last working braincell taken away from me so i can chill tf out

ok! so let's lay the scene. you're porsche, and you've watched your closest friend at your very intense job come back from being probably-kidnapped and probably-tortured, probably by a man who betrayed you and your boyfriend horribly and tried to kill you not more than two weeks ago, and your friend cannot talk about it at all, and your friend looks like he's been mauled and also like he'll never be happy again

you also kiiiiind-of-sort-of were a really bad friend back, because said friend walked into this situation to help you and then you forgot about him and oops you also told your boyfriend not to worry about him and now look, you've given PTSD to a perfectly good pete and he'll never be the same

so you, porsche, feel extremely guilty.

the interesting thing about all of this is that we know porsche is a compassionate person. he cares about his friends! it's clearly bothering him that pete is so down! he offers to go fight the people who hurt pete!

and then he puts pete right back into the hands of the lying, cheating man who probably tortured him.

you just... you can't explain this away. no matter how you look at it, it can't be beneficial to pete, given what porsche knows about the situation. arguably if he knew more, he would know even better how vitally important it is to keep pete away.

this is the first real hint we get that porsche is willing to make sacrifices out of the people around him to get what he wants. it's the biggest neon sign so far that the mafia is corrupting him.

but here's why i love it so much — it makes sense. it makes so much sense. porsche has finally understood that he is trapped in some sort of decades-old web woven by korn, and that he cannot trust anyone in the main family to help him figure it out. this is the murder of his parents we're talking about. this is the event that sent his life careening off its path and changed his and his brother's life forever. it is a HUGE deal. porsche deserves to know the truth, and he can tell that the window on that is closing.

is it stupid for him to go to vegas, after everything that happened in ep10? yes. but it's the least stupid option of all, because vegas is the one person who is never on the side of the main family.

so he calls vegas (somehow — don't think too hard about how porsche reached him) and he grits his teeth and he asks for help.

and vegas, mind you, is currently in a hell of his own making. these are quite literally the worst days of his entire life — not that porsche knows that. so of course vegas seizes on the opportunity to ask for the one thing he needs most, which is just to see pete. that's all.

do we think porsche said yes immediately? do we think he hesitated, even for a moment, to think about why vegas wanted to see pete, and what kind of damage that could do to pete? did porsche fear for pete's life at all, especially given that from what he knows of vegas, vegas could be trying to do anything from imprisoning pete again to outright killing him?

but do we think porsche maybe, possibly, connected the dots, though? that he heard vegas asking for pete and thought of pete refusing to talk about vegas and thought "they love each other and they're both hurting"? because that would be a decent reason.

i will be real with you, anon: i don't think he connected the dots. not before he actually sees vegas in person. and maybe there, in the alleyway, he clocks that vegas is emotionally compromised (the way vegas's voice cracks when he asks about pete??? JUST END ME AHHHH). but he still doesn't know anything for sure about pete's feelings. pete hasn't mentioned vegas by name even once.

i want to think he hesitates, when vegas asks over the phone. and then he decides to ignore his hesitation, despite vegas having the worst track record of all time, and tells himself that it'll be ok — that he'll just let vegas see pete once, just a short visit, and he'll stop vegas from doing anything too crazy, and pete will be ok. pete might even need it, he thinks. maybe pete will feel better afterwards.

i don't think he consciously makes the decision to prioritize his needs over pete. i think he's actively remaining in denial about how badly this could go! he's going to go through with it no matter what, and so why would he bother cataloguing all the consequences when they're just going to make him feel worse? instead, he'll make himself feel better by punching vegas, and then telling vegas that vegas better not hurt pete again, and then he'll feel absolved, just a little.

and again, to his credit, i think there's a very good chance he understands how much vegas cares for pete after the alleyway. and maybe that on its own makes it okay that he left vegas alone with pete UNSUPERVISED. but all of his actions up until that point? they're selfish.

pete walked through fire for porsche — and porsche looked pete in the eye, grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and sent him straight back in.

#ofc we are all very grateful to porsche because the vegaspete alleyway breakdown was so important for their relationship #but porsche has NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT #my beloved morally grey protagonist 🥰#it really shocked me on the first watch tbh #you want to think porsche would be better than this!#but he's not #and it fits #and it's delightfully distressing #sigh once again i cannot shut up. anon i hope u enioyed this ♥️#kinnporsche #porsche kittisawasd #pete saengtham #vegas theerapanyakul #mine: asks #long post

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violetren · 3 months

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Ok live action atla reaction for episode 2.

It was better than episode one. Where episode one was a dumpster fire actively trying to hurt me both as an avatar fan and as someone with a basic understanding of how multimodal media is used to craft stories, episode two is fine.

I hesitate to call it great or even good when my only other point of reference so far is one of the worst episodes of TV I have seen in the past decade. Or possibly just ever. But I can comfortably say it was fine.

Perhaps my biggest on going issue is still the dialogue. When they don't sound like they just walked out of a LA therapists office, they instead sound like they are either in a circa 2010 disney original tv show, or just straight up like the writer explaining directly to camera how they are justifying skipping events from the animation because they have made the characters so much more mature and self aware of what they need to do/become for the sake of saving the world.

In short, Sokka remains unfunny.

I can't believe the "I bet you taste like chicken" comment wasn't even in response to Momo doing anything in particular. Momo is just there chilling on Aang's shoulder and Sokka is glaring at him like Momo is his arch rival, talking about a singular non mishmash animal that he has probably never even seen before because where the fuck where the chicken coops in the south fucking pole!?

Katara's strives in bending probably look impressive to anyone who hasn't seen the first episode of the animation where she already outclassed her current progress. Girl was out there (accidentally) splitting icebergs out of anger, but I'm meant to be impressed she can make a water ball in 3 seconds? I hate how badly she has been nerfed.

I also hate how they made it that Gram Gram actively helped nerf her by denying Katara her inheritance until it was clear she was gonna hop on a flying bison and go on adventures with the Avatar. She didn't even give her the scroll directly and apologise to her face. Just shoved it in her bags with a sorry note and now we're deprived of Katara stealing from pirates! Which means Katara is gonna be carrying that "goody toe shoes always morally correct with no room for nuance mom friend" burden for who knows how much longer now.

We did FINALLY get some Iroh adjacent behaviour from Uncle Iroh. Him trying to cajole Zuko into eating some street food and getting distracted mid sentence because he noticed some sticky rice wasn't perfectly executed but it was better executed than any other Iroh moments we have seen so far. Mostly he still hits as gaslighty and condescending. And don't get me wrong. OG Iroh COULD be gaslighty but never so fucking blatantly. There's no finesse, no gentle distractions layered with concern. Where is the charisma? Instead we effectively get him going "you're wrong. you should consider giving up." at every other time he talks to Zuko (less so this episode than last but only because he "tries" to teach Zuko diplomacy. Yes there are quotes around tries for a reason. He basically says Do This, gives no real guidance on how and then steps in to do the thing the second Zuko is sucking because he's never had to do this shit before and doesn't want to do it now especially since he has no idea wtf Iroh means).

Anyways, didn't they say they were overhauling the Ba Sing Se arc to make it less gaslighty? Yet they let this vibe fly with Iroh of all people?

We did at least get Suki though. And she's mostly pretty recognisably Suki. Save for the instant and hardcore pining for Sokka because he immediately became a surrogate for her yearning for the outside world. I can appreciate that they wanted to nix Sokka's sexism and instead just made him insecure about his status as a warrior, and they almost made it work but they cut themselves off from such an interesting interplay of tension by having Suki just as, if not more, eager to show off her skills to Sokka as he was to act like he was a big tough southern water tribe warrior. They were on to something when they had her question how he could be the guardian of his village if he was here with the Avatar instead. They could of had her be dismissive of his claims at being a warrior when he was clearly acting like an undisciplined blow hard and the fanthrowing/chokehold scene could have been a "stop acting tough, I am the warrior you're claiming to be" moment which wouldn't have involved any sexism on either side and have made a basis for mutual respect when Sokka comes along to the training hall. They could have had him humbly ASK instead of awkwardly miming until Suki noticed. We could have still had Sokka in Kyoshi Warrior garb. It would have stuck closer to the original, it wouldn't have taken up more time, and it would have created a much more satisfying interplay of tension between the two characters which also would help ground their future relationship in mutual respect.

I will say though, although the writing fucking choked the cinematography, the lighting team, the actors and the editors all came through with creating a sense of attraction between the two characters. So that wasn't nothing.

Kyoshi was a high point. Still fell victim to the dialogue writing, but a very strong perfomance by Yvonne Chapman accented excellently by the sound design team during some of the more intense parts when they layered in all the other Avatar voices. She was a good choice for giving Aang a bunch of hard truths and I liked how she both told him he had to find his own path but when he kept pushing for a more concrete answer just started telling him to deal with shit her way, because that felt very Kyoshi.

Also the entire sequence of her manifesting through Aang to show him a bit of what he could do as the avatar and lowkey to protect HER island was fucking badass. Not a single fire nation soldier left that island with clean underwear after facing Avatar mother fucking Kyoshi.

Unfortunately I was very quickly brought down from this high by Aang closing out his part of the episode by saying that Kyoshi told him something terrible was going to happen to the Northern Water Tribe if he didn't get up there and do his duty as the avatar to stop it. A conversation beat that happened off screen btw.

This annoys me for several reasons, starting with since when can the Avatar's collective past lives tell the future? The big threat to the Northern Water Tribe was originally Zhao coming to kill the moon spirit, which is a culmination of his lust for dominance and power and his plans to capture the avatar for himself. So either that isn't happening (and they are unnecessarily trying to revamp a perfectly good finale to stroke their own egos) OR they have made the nonsensical decision to foretell this tragedy in the show instead of just letting the tension mount naturally because 80+% of their audience already know shit goes down in at the Northern Water Tribe. Which annoys the fuck out of me. Aang was always going to go North for water bending training anyways, and especially this borderline hyper responsible version of Aang who knows even if it will hurt emotionally he will need to learn the other elements. There was no good god damn reason to add a second layer of urgency by saying if he doesn't get there bad shit will happen!

My closing rant is really more of a question, but why the fuck is it every time we see a firelord, (Sozin and now Ozai) that they are just hanging out in the middle of the fucking chamber chatting with some fucking guys until a prisoner/messenger arrives while the fire throne looms menacingly in the background upstairs and 50 feet back. Where is the menace and pizazz of them sitting looking down on literally everyone and everything from up on high flanked by flames, committing atrocities with a wave of their hand and a few low spoken words that everyone grovels to hear? I believe in Daniel Dae Kim's ability to look scary and lordly on a fancy chair, especially if the fancy chair has FIRE, why doesn't the director?

#chirping wren #live action atla spoilers #live action atla critical

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officiallydriedkelp · 2 years

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I decided to watch Troy (2004) just to compare it to the Song of Achilles and my general knowledge of the trojan war and here are my notes:

Oh, yeah, ofc the first frame Achilles is in has to be with him next to a naked woman, to really show just how not-gay he is

IM SO CONFUSED ABOUT WHERE IN THE STORYLINE WE ARE how far along does the story start, what?

Why is Agamemnon the King of Sparta here? He's the King of Mycenae, not Sparta??? (Oh, is this one of those things, like, most people recognize the name Sparta but not Mycenae, but most recognize Agamemnon and not Tyndareus/Menelaus so they just put them together? Stupid)

Theyre cousins? Achilles and Patroclus are cousins, you know, to really sell in how not gay for each other they are

They just skipped over the whole part with the wind not existing. Rude.

Why does Briseis know Paris? She lives in a village outside of Troy, and gets brought into the plot by raiding? It doesnt even make a little sense that she would know the prince???

The casting for Patroclus annoys me. The vibe is just off

So they're already at Troy 40 minutes into the movie, what are they doing with the remaining 2 hours? Just fight? Bleh

So Agamemnon isnt King of Sparta here actually, but it was just framed really weirdly in the beginning

Everything here is so heterosexual. And the worst part is that i cant even tell if it's to remove all possible suspicions of gayness, or if these kinds of movies really just are that heterosexual. This scares me.

So, um, yeah, they're fighting. . . Do the filmmakers realize that im mostly not paying attention to these long stretches of fighting because theyre simply just not plot relevant at all. Im just sitting here waiting for something to actually happen

The helmets that the trojans wear look really stupid

Achilles just kills two unarmed priests like its nothing. In the song of achilles he says he doesnt fight/kill unarmed people. Hmm.

"Ive killed men in five countries" - Achilles. What countries? Im pretty sure youve never left greece, dude. (Or are we talking City States? That is far less impressive)

Either way, No, cause isnt he supposed to be unexperienced in real battle?

Overall it seems like this movie tries to make achilles seem more badass than he actually is

The Agamemnon vs Achilles rivalry thingy seems way more agressive here

The plot is moving forward so quickly

Like, we're not even halfway through the movie and we're already at the point where achilles refuses to fight. What is the other 1 h 40 minutes about then???

Giving Patroclus this little screen time should be a crime. He has been in like 3 scenes so far

"I thought you how to fight but I never thought you why to fight" - Achilles. "I fight for you" - Patroclus. Very heterosexual of you, mates

(Also, yes, Achilles taught Patroclus to fight here and Chiron doesnt seem to exist)

Why did they kill Menelaus? He actually survives to the end of the war, so why kill him so early on?

Ngl this movie does have some great one liners

Good for quotes and stuff

Bro why are they forcing a romance between Achilles and Briseis?

Oh great, now they're doing the deed and everything. . . Bruh. Everything to emphasisde the heterosexuality i suppose

It isnt believeable to us as an audience that Patroclus's death brings out this unbridled rage in achilles. We havent formed enough of a bond to this patroclus, because he has been in such few scenes

The only defense they have for this turn of events is that theyre quote unquote "cousins". But still, that is just a "fact", not something that makes us sympathise with achilles's feelings/actions

Also, the trojan war is supposed to last TEN YEARS! Here all events happen withing the span of like 3 days!!!

One scene with a random soldier carving a toy horse for his son back home was really cute tho

Wait, they're making the trojan horse, but achilles is still alive? THEY'RE MESSING WITH THE TIMELINE

(I get why they did it, for narrative purposed, but it still annoys me)

Ok, now Achilles is dead. That was dramatic.

Briseis was easily the character that was changed the most from the source material

But credit to them for writing "inspired by Homer's The Illiad" and not "based on" in the credits. At least they're aknowledging that the movie isnt exactly accurate

Yeah that was all I has to say. I think the movie in itself was fine (although far from perfect), but when we compare it to what it was based on some things come across as strange

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theringers · 3 years

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V-card anon: hi sorry about that first ask i kinda went into a fugue state (spelling?) altered state of reality maybe when i wrote that and damn near outlined a fic in your inbox

The way we played hot seat was either part of a larger drinking game when a certain card was pulled from a deck, or just on it's own. You sit in a circle, everyone has a drink, usually a beer or cider. In the card pull version, the one who pulls the card gets asked a question by every person playing and if they refuse to answer they drink from their drink. In the standalone, you do that but everyone gets a turn being asked until people get bored and leave. Fun way to find out shit about people. Usually the unwritten rule is that you can't lie. I imagine everyone sitting on shitty chouches and chairs in a semi circle around a table full of cups and bottles playing it

Questions i have been asked: are you a top or bottom? Do you like anal? Wheres the weirdest place you've fucked? Body count? Favorite position (sexual)? Fuck marry kill/ignore people in this room (EVERY TIME I PLAYED I GOT THIS QUESTION)? Tits or ass or other? Favorite non sexual body part ex. Thigh? Ideal fuck buddy? Sex regrets? Etc

Also more weird details i have head cannoned out for some drivers and most likely does not fit with irl personalities, do with this what you will, use it or don't i just have feelings. Also everyone is like compressed in age to like 20-27ish except for some of the grid who i will just think of as younger alumns who come back:

Danny R: social chair, owns a jeep he takes the doors off of in the summer, walks girls home at night to make sure they're ok, tries to DJ house events and is rebuffed by literally everyone, has like 30 pairs of vans you trip over in his room, stolen roadsigns everywhere, masters in something arigcultural or physiological, cutoff frat shirts for days, fuckboy but nice, a bit cringe, will drive around with you at night so you can scream, met reader bc she had a band tee on and wanted to talk to her about it (no gatekeeping)

Charles: some kind of engineering or math degree but no one has any idea how the fuck he's gotten so far, 4.0 never studies, games with other house members, will show up at events randomly you will have no idea how he gets on your couch but he is there, the best and worst taste in clothes, is the only one allowed to play the piano in the house, sweet, cannot help you with studies but is always down for helping you out after, has to be reminded to clean stuff, disaster bi, reader met his gf first and they probably met through that

Pierre: good fashion and music taste, shirt is gone halfway through the night, also fuckboy but wholesome, actually studies, plays a sport for sure probably soccer in some way either club or Division he's too good for rec, will hold your hair back so you can throw up, will tell you your outfit sucks, good at math, also part of the squad that games, econ major, workout buddies with reader anday have taken a math class together

Max: is part of the hockey team he will go pro, also actually studies, got into gaming because of Charles, has the nicest car, is serious until he gets a couple drinks in him, he and Daniel are close and roomed together at some point, owns like 30 sets of the same outfit a white tee and jeans, knows reader through Dan and they get dragged by him to some of the same stuff

Lando: is a pledge or new member his big is Carlos, undeclared major, just happy to be here, gaming squad, used to play lacrosse or something equally obscure, king of knowing where the good snacks are, weirdly good at beer pong, growing into a fuckboy wholesomeness level tbd, probably sweet with reader as she helped him through a blackout or something, met her because she's basically house mom for some of the new boys (the kind of mom who will teach you to do laundry or iron ONCE)

Carlos: hockey flow but does not play hockey, actually studies and is smarter than what people give him credit for, came from a private high school and uni really opened his horizons, also good study buddy, gets along with most people, goes to office hours the most out of the actually studies gang, fun at parties, owns the frat dogs, he and reader met at Office hours (they were the only students) and found they had mutual friends too

Lewis: is/was president of frat, great grades greater bod, did full evolution from fuckboy to good man, has the back tests and the moral support, up for late noght talks about life, definitely was a D1 athlete, best fashion game, implemented no hazing policy, fits into notable alum or PhD category

Mick: undergrad like Lando, also plays soccer or something, too sweet, also walks girls home/holds your hair back etc, cleans parts of the house that aren't his responsibility, higher alcohol tolerance than you expect, everyone is bizarrely protective of him, legacy member (his dad was a legend), drives a motorbike around campus and can't decide between law and psychology, actually studies, met reader through the frat and she would die for him, brings her to class on the bike sometimes because the bike is faster

George: business major, frat treasurer, three ring binder business casual in class kind of guy, nice enough, shirt comes off when drunk, runs marathons and a podcast about investments, best notes in the game and great study partner, actually studies, is drinking monster at 6AM but not because he stayed up late, he and reader met through the frat and sometimes drink wine and bitch together

Lance: hockey player, legacy member, studies sometimes, sarcasm on point, great at stack cup, very chill, knows every good nap spot on campus, also has high alcohol tolerance, is the kind of person who does well in the cold but does not like it, wears headphones so people don't talk to him, great one on one but not in crowds, business major and minor in computer science, probably also met thru Lance's gf but vibe as more introverted people and will cover for each other if one does not want to go out

Nicky: a good boy, part of the walks people home squad, sets up designated drivers for parties, good snack game, future in medical field, good listener, pretty good study buddy, midnight snack enabler, met reader through frat and his gf he and reader are on babysitting duty together sometimes when others get too drunk/high

Yuki: also a pledge or new, majoring in games or computer science as they gave me the same energy as him, games squad, bit of a mad lad, has several stolen street signs, good, met reader through frat and Yuki is the only one patient enough to explain some games to reader, they cuss people out on mic

Esteban: good man, has a full ride scholarship, actually studies, also good study buddy, Dan's little, plays soccer but maybe on a rec team because he prioritizes school, very sweet guy as well, probably chose a really practical major/dual major, met reader through Dan and are also dragged similar places by him

Antonio: manbun, philosophy or classics major possibly business dual, generally good natured but can be seen supplying his own wine at parties, used to be really into metal but kept the hair, does not know that people find him attractive, soccer boi, met reader through frat and she's the only one who will (pretend) to listen to him rant about philosophy

Alex Albon: another full scholarship guy, somehow gets along with everyone, switched majors due to an asshole professor, electrical engineering or computer engineering, actually studies, helps with frat pets,will show you pictures of his cats at home, sweetie, another contender for will hold your hair or walk you home, probably met reader through a class or club and found they had mutual friends and that reader is friends with his gf

Notable alums:

Checo - dad, successful in finance somehow (he looks like an really successful accountant of CFO to me idk why)

Kimi - dad but people forget he is, holds the record for most drinks in 24 hours that will never be come close to by anyone else, shows up on random alum weekends with 2 kegs, legally cannot tell you what he does or he would actually have to murder you

Valterri - was good at a sport when he was there, now a very effective lead engineer at an architectural firm

Seb - environmental or mechanical engineering, all around good guy with someone the best grades in frat history

Alonso - legendary for sexual exploits (consensual)

Anyone I put as actually studies is probably the type reader would hang around for more serious stuff/schoolwork and would probably be closer to, with the exception of Dan bc I feel like he'd be like we're friends now :)) we shall hang or Charles bc he will just show up. I also imagine she has a pretty good friendship with any existing gf, however if a driver does have a gf and he is the love interest sorry bb girl u gotta go for the purposes of this fic

Sorry this is so long hahaaaaaaa glad you liked my Charles thoughts ilu

i honestly wasn’t going to share this like the rest of the anon asks i’ve gotten that i keep close to my heart but this was just too good to keep to myself.

LOOK! AT! THIS!

f1 drivers as frat bros/college students headcannon

i’m writing a series - each “chapter” will be a smut with a different frat bro and i’m hoping to post a sneak peek this week some time but here’s something to hold you over and give you some ideas

to my vcard anon - i appreciate this so much. my inbox is always open for ur thoughts bc they are SO GOOD !! can’t wait for you to read the first part of the series bby

PS if some of this doesn’t make sense to u feel free to send in asks (i know a lot of this is focused on american college culture so if u don’t get it i’m happy to explain)

#f1 smut asks #headcanons #f1 imagines #vcard anon #f1 blurb #f1 headcanon #f1 as frat bros

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satoriberry · 3 years

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helloooo congrats on 75+!!! i'd like to enter your event if youre not too stocked up

- my name is danica, i dont label myself and rn im feelin he/him pronouns. if you wanna use pet names im not picky but my favorites are traditional shit like darling/dear/love. personality wise ive been described as very doting (physically & verbally), dependable, and smart

- i think my only major important detail is i am not small. im abt 5'10 and bordering plus size. but even tho i have a lot of fat on me i am BEEF underneath bro im relatively built and bridal carry my friends for fun bc i like feeling strong and important so i beg of u pls dont physically baby-ify me

for prompts can i get a 123 with any member of the big boy squad (ushijima, aone, asahi)? for everything else go wild w it i love creativity :]

[PROMPT NO. 123 WITH AZUMANE ASAHI! ♡]

Asahi was, as some would say, kind of a creature of habit. He doesn't follow routines but he prefers creating a simple pattern to go by daily, to avoid any inconveniences and not have to make decisions on the spot. But quite frankly, today wasn't his day, at all.

His alarm clock gave out, and he had to be woken up by his dad yelling from downstairs 30 minutes after his usual waking hour, consequently, he didn't get time to eat breakfast. And another consequence, he had to quickly feed on those sugary artificial protein bars to have energy for morning practice.

His performance was severely lacking, another problem. And as a result, he was worried about Coach Ukai chewing him out during after-school training, even going as far as to think that his highschool volleyball career is over for good. He wasn't able to enjoy lunch that day, deciding to eat by himself in his classroom and leaving his friends confused (that's another thing he was worried about). To top it all off, he didn't do his best on the history test he was preparing for two weeks in advance, all his efforts going down the drain.

So, Asahi always hated minor inconveniences because they snowball into bigger ones and he loses his cool. He just wishes that this day would be over already, but I guess you could say there's some things he looks forward even in his worst days. Things like, uhhh, you! <3

His lovely partner that he adores and cherishes so much, and the person who makes him wonder if he waved an entire bloodline in his past life to deserve. There were so many things he loved about you; your smile, your eyes, your laugh, but most of all, your personality. It's not to say that you're his polar opposite, but he can't help and idolise you for your affectionate and strong self. You let it be known that he should never hesitate to come up to you if there's anything wrong, and that's exactly what he plans on doing.

He was nervous about doing this at first but he did it anyways. Taking out his cellphone, he texted you...

- Hey love, I didn't see you all day, where were you? :(

- ahhh i forgot to tell you. 2 of my afternoon classes got cancelled so we were let out earlier, im at my home right now

- Oh ok, we're having a break right bow at practice so I wanted to ask you something.

- yeah? :>

- Well today has been really ass, to put it bluntly, and I wanted to know if I could come over so we can spend time together. No pressure :)

- wait fr? that doesn't sound good, and of course, you can come over. ill be here waiting for you

- Thank you Y/N, you're an angel honestly

- <3

Putting his phone away, Asahi felt his mood already getting better, so much so his spikes and receives were a ton better than what they were on the morning. Maybe this day won't so terrible after all.

Practice came to an end, perfect. He apologized to Sugawara and Daichi who were more than happy to see him look forward to seeing someone. He was so actually so excited that he took the wrong turn....twice, but in the end, he reached his desired destination.

You were gazing through your room's window to see if he's close, and the second you saw his broad silhouette in the corner streetlight, you rushed to go get the door before he could ring the bell. You definitely caught him off guard with the way you stepped out barefoot and threw yourself at him, causing him to stumble backwards. Not letting go of him, you turned your head to pepper kisses all over the left side of his face, a gest which he reacted to with a wide smile and a kiss to your temple.

You took hold of his hand to lightly drag him inside, and started fo ask him questions about his day so he can let it all out. You were really grateful he sees you as a person to talk about his feelings too, it filled you with an immense amount of pride.

Entering your room, you jumped on your bed and leaned on the headboard with open arms, inviting him to nuzzle up against you. You really liked doing this because the tiny nervous smile he gives before awkwardly crawling and laying on your chest is, to put it simply, worth two arms and a leg.

You caressed the top of his head, admiring just how beautiful he looked while peaceful. Does he know that? You should really remind him because he deserves it. But what caught your attention was the bun his hair was in. You took his hair out and gently loosened the tie to ruffle his locks, mesmerized by how soft they were. He let out a content sigh which you considered a sign to keep going.

He buried his head in the crook of your neck, letting him take in your sweet perfume and allowing you to kiss the top of his head and pat his hair. He felt like he was in heaven, his partner holding him in his arms and making him feel safe and sound.

Asahi was a creature of habit, yes, but he doesn't mind going off track if it means being cared for so gently.

#berry.events <3 #asahi x reader #azumane asahi x reader #azumane asahi #haikyuu!!#hq!!

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somersetmummy · 3 years

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(A/N) This is a TNA one shot, taking place immediately following book 1 chapter 12 (the gala balcony scene). Characters, some storyline and some dialogue property of Pixelberry.

Story told from point of view of MC Katie Hide. Internal character thoughts are written in italics.

I tried to think about how they would get through the rest of the gala after their little extra curricular activities on the balcony….so here it is!

Original characters: Katie Hide (MC), Sam Dalton, Vivienne Dalton, Mason Sr Dalton, Carter

New characters: Laney, Ryan

Content warning: Some light adult language

Summary: Nanny Katie Hide and her boss Sam Dalton finally take their relationship to the next step on the night of the gala, but just when they should be feeling elated, things spiral quickly. Can they get through the rest of the evening together now that things have changed for good?

Word count: 3462 (I’m out of control!)

- Bonus social edits at the end -

Alone on the balcony, looking out over the city's twinkling lights, she should've been basking in the afterglow of the best sex of her life but instead she feels empty. Her resolve held strong in front of Sam as he skulked off seemingly full of regret but now, her mind races through every minute detail of what had just happened.

Instead of taking the time to carefully ingrain every delicious detail of their time together into her memory, she painfully second guessed every move, every touch, every whispered promise. Once her exhausted mind began to fray she decided to sweep the whole thing under the carpet determined to save face, for now. Collecting herself, she absentmindedly ran her fingers up and down her arms, goose bumps standing proud, finally giving in to the cold night air.

On her way back towards the ballroom, while wondering how the hell she was going to get through the rest of the evening, she prolongs her return to reality by ducking into one of the lavish bathrooms to freshen up. The room is quiet, an older lady leaves as she enters, another younger girl, probably around her age, is refreshing her makeup by one of the opulent vanity's. She sits down on the plush velvet ottoman in the middle of the vanity area with a sigh, not really sure what to do next.

"Well you look like you've been through the ringer!"

Turning towards the kind voice, the girl who was doing her makeup, a warm glow pours out to her as the stranger looks her up and down with genuine concern. Her face is one of those which feels familiar, like someone she could’ve known her whole life. It is enough to encourage her to open up a little and feels like a relief to have someone to talk to after feeling so alone out on that balcony.

"I'm sort of having the best night of my life as well as the worst. And to top it all off I've left my purse in the main room..." She gestures towards her untidy hair and slightly smudged makeup by way of an explanation.

The stranger offers a knowing look in reply.

“So are you here with someone? Your dress is divine by the way."

Smoothing the front of her dress, Katie replies absentmindedly, "Oh no, I'm just here with my boss, filling in an empty seat at the last minute." Hesitant to share more with someone she'd just met, she kept the more intimate details to herself.

"Me too, well sort of. I'm a stylist, one of my clients insisted I join them to make sure they look perfect all night long, god forbid her dress creases when she sits down for dinner!" She waves Katie over to the vanity and the open make up case. "Here, use whatever you need." She continues watching as Katie gratefully grabs a brush and some powder. "I'm really just starting out but figure these sorts of events are great publicity if I can dress the right people. I mean they're all living on another planet of course but they love to be in the spotlight and gush about their outfits, which is great for me!"

The pair chat easily together for a while before Katie glances at the time on her phone screen realising she'd been gone much longer than anticipated. She’d enjoyed having an ally and getting her mind off the car crash of a moment with Sam, truth be told, she’d much rather stay here in the safety of her mirrored cave and the kindness of a stranger than plaster a smile on her face and return to the Dalton’s table. With a wistful smile she turns to the stranger.

"I suppose I should be getting back, although I can't say I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm Laney by the way." She holds her hand out to Katie and they share a gentle shake.

"I'm Katie. I've really enjoyed hiding out in here with you, thanks for everything." Leaving Laney to pack up the overly large purse full of beauty treasures, Katie heads back towards the bustling ballroom. Barely making it into the room, Laney breathlessly catches up to her holding out a business card.

"Hey, I thought maybe we could meet up for a coffee sometime, you know if you want to have someone in the real world to spend time with!" She points over to someone across the room and continues animatedly, "You said you went to NYIT right? I'm sure my friend Ryan would love to meet you too, he did his Grad course there and always loves a trip down memory lane!"

Taking the card, Katie’s eyes are drawn to Sam over Laney's shoulder. He looks just as he did before the balcony, the ever professional businessman, as if nothing had ever happened. He gives a slight tip of his head in Katie’s direction, motioning for her to join him back at the table.

The new friends share a quick hug promising to catch up soon and she makes her way over to Sam who won't quite meet her eye. Despite the frostiness between them, he's a gentleman at heart and doesn't think twice about pulling out her chair, tucking it in gently as she sits. As the bustle of dinner being served continues around them, the thorny silence between them grows thick with unspoken feelings.

After a whirlwind of Sam and his parents catching up over the exploits of various family friends and tales of the boys, Vivienne turns to smile at Katie.

"Now dear, we're being rude talking around you as though you're not here. Sam tells me you're quite the budding scientist yourself?"

She looks to Sam to see him offering a helpless smile and shrug of the shoulders and can’t help but wonder whether he’d shared anything about his previous employees with his mother, or if she was the first. As Katie pulls her eyes away from Sam’s, she pushes down all the feelings which bubbled up inside her and plasters on her most professional smile.

"Yes, Mrs Dalton, I have a Masters in Chemistry and up until recently was managing projects for Panacea Labs."

Being the expert that she is at reading people, Katie astutely notices how Mr Dalton’s ears prick, he clearly didn't know that there was more to her than being 'just a nanny', whatever that means.

"Please dear, you're practically family, call me Vivienne."

A warm glow fills her body at the thought of being accepted into the fold of the Dalton family. Smiling back at Vivienne, she continues to share stories of her experiences in the industry, her passion for science and her love for exploring through the twins eyes.

"Mickey and Mason are such a brilliant example of how a love of science can be developed at a young age. They're so curious and passionate about exploring, it's such a pleasure to be a part of."

Next to her, barely able to disguise the pride he feels for her, Sam tries his best to remain outwardly impassive while watching the rest of the table listen attentively, completely captivated by her storytelling. He'd meant it earlier on the balcony when he'd agreed that she was meant to be by his side, a partner not a secret he had to hide his feelings for. He just didn't know how to make it a reality, trapped within his own life. But in this moment, his feelings bubble to the surface and it takes everything he has not to take her in his arms in front of everyone and let them come flooding out for all to see.

After all, it wasn’t Katie’s fault that his true feelings for her hit him like a tonne of bricks earlier that evening while he watched her effortlessly talk Selene into keeping her shares. In front of his parents no less. Right there, everything he loves about her shone out for everyone to see and he realised he was deeply and helplessly in love. It just wasn’t with his fiancée. Hell that's the reason he took Katie out to the balcony in the first place, to steal a moment to share how he really feels but as always he was too much of a coward to do anything about it in fear or letting everyone else down and jeopardising his sons future.

He knows that the only way to try to push through it all is to detach himself from Katie as much as possible, even if it means becoming the bad guy. In his mind, she deserves better, she deserves the damn fairytale and that's just not something he's able to give.

As they move through the plentiful courses of dinner, Mason Sr continues to interrogate Katie on her knowledge and opinions of various scientific and business theories, although his directness falters as the meal goes on and they both seem to enjoy the lively debates. Vivienne occasionally interjects with questions of her own about Katie’s family, her life back in England and whether it's difficult to be far from home. To Katie, it almost feels like she’s on a 'meet the parents' date which in her mind could be going a lot worse.

When coffee is finally offered, Mason Sr stands abruptly, eyes focussed on Sam.

“Ladies, while this evening's discussions have been...interesting, I think it's time we get down to some business." He nods curtly at Sam before gesturing towards a quieter bar area off the back of the room.

Sam stands to follow him but not before turning to Katie and instinctively placing a hand on her shoulder. She involuntarily shudders at his touch as her mind races back to the last time they touched on the balcony.

"This shouldn't take too long, will you be ok here?"

"Of course she will darling, I'm not going to bite her!" Vivienne cuts in before she can reply. Sam nods in approval towards her and lingers for a moment before walking away to meet his father. Katie's shoulder still tingling at the memory of his touch.

Katie looks across the ballroom taking in the general splendour and jovial atmosphere while Vivienne takes the opportunity to really look at her, contemplating how much to share with her. After taking a few sips of coffee, she turns herself to fully face Katie and offers a warm smile.

"I can see why the boys are so taken with you...all of them."

The honesty of her comment takes Katie by surprise. Unsure how to respond, she slowly turns to meet Vivienne’s eye, raising her eyebrow slightly in question.

"You're all the things Sam said you were. He was right when he told me we'd get on well."

The intensity of Vivienne’s gaze is so strong Katie daren't look away.

"I want to thank you for everything you've done for them all. They've come alive again since having you in their life. Poor Sara was taken from him far too soon, from us all really...it was all so hard on Sam and the boys." She trails off clearly lost in memory. "I know he cares for you and wants you to feel part of the family."

“Shit” she thinks to herself. Feeling like a rabbit caught in headlights, Katie's mind races. Does she know? How can she, they've only met once before, surely that's not enough to make her suspicious?

"I think Sam's just taken pity on me because I'm so far from home and he knows I don't have any family around. He and the boys have been so gracious in making me feel welcome."

Hoping she sounds convincing she takes a sip of coffee, relishing the opportunity to hide her blushing cheeks behind the cup. Vivienne suddenly looks up with Katie follow her gaze over her shoulder. Behind her, Laney is standing with a cowboy-next-door handsome man in tow, a welcome interruption. His dirty blonde hair is slightly unkempt, his frame more lean than Sam's but he still carries an athletic look, he smiles charmingly at Katie.

“Excuse me" Laney directs to Vivienne before turning to speak to Katie. “This is my friend Ryan who I was telling you about earlier."

Katie reaches out to shake his hand which he is already holding out towards her.

"I hear you're a fellow NYIT grad? You look far too respectable to have hung out in the sort of dives I used to find myself in!"

"Try me..." she challenges with a twinkle in her eye.

Laney rolls her eyes with boredom and escapes, business card in hand, to fawn over an awkwardly dressed woman at another table.

"Would you like to dance? I promise not to break out the old NYIT match day chant moves!"

She can't help but laugh at his natural charm. After looking to Vivienne, who waves her hand in approval, she lets Ryan lead her out to the dance floor where they sway together at ease in each other's company reminiscing. It’s a far cry from the intimate dance with Sam earlier that evening, instead Katie could relax into it knowing that she wasn’t trying to hide anything, and it felt freeing.

As Sam's discussion, or more accurately argument, with his father comes to an end he heads back to the table where he notices his mother is sitting alone.

“Where's Katie?" He asks forgetting to hide the panic in his voice, worried for the second time that evening, after she had disappeared to the bathroom for half an hour, that Katie had thought better of compromising herself for him and fled the gala.

Vivienne nods towards the dance floor, Sam's eyes follow and a bolt of jealousy hits him right in the heart as he sees her in the arms of another man.

With a steely glare he starts towards her but is stopped by Vivienne's hand firmly holding him back by his arm.

“Leave her be, she's enjoying herself."

Letting out an almost inaudible sigh he sits down next to his mother but can't pull his eyes away, so enthralled that his mother's voice is almost a whisper in the background.

"She really is wonderful darling, I know even your father is impressed, of course he'll never say it." Her arm still resting on his, she studies Sam's face before continuing, "What a shame you’d not met her sooner.”

Allowing himself for a moment to hope that his mother's glowing reference suggests she is in approval of his relationship with Katie becoming something more, Sam smiles and leans forward ready to gush even more. He catches himself just in time as the ever repeating voices in his head remind him of his responsibility and everyone else's expectations of him, instead he brings it back to the boys.

"Yes she's brilliant with Mason and Mickey, they're lucky to have her."

Dancing and talking together with Ryan, Katie had almost forgotten about Sam and their earlier tryst on the balcony, grateful for the distraction and if she was being honest the attention. It's not every day that she goes to the effort of dressing up at the last minute and schmoozes the un-scmoozable to help her sort-of-boyfriend look good, it's nice to have someone sweep her off her feet and put her first for once.

"Your boyfriend doesn't seem too happy about us dancing together" Ryan nods towards Sam who is trying to get their attention, his parents behind him appear to be getting ready to leave.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Ryan's eyes widen sensing an opportunity. “Well I guess that's good news for me...can I call you sometime, take you out for dinner?"

She drops her gaze, shaking her head slightly.

“I'm sorry, I don't think it's a good idea..." trailing off, he gently lifts her chin to look up at him.

"But you're single...?"

"No, I...it's...it's complicated" she stutters while looking over his shoulder at Sam, who looks less than thrilled.

"Well, if you change your mind, Laney has my number." With that, he kisses her hand and watches the silk of her gown cling to her hips as she walks away.

Returning to the table, Mason Sr takes Katie’s hand and shakes it almost warmly.

“Pleasure to see you again Katie. Excellent damage control with Selene earlier...very impressive."

He moves to Sam, impassively shaking his hand as Vivienne envelopes her in a hug, kissing each cheek.

"Wonderful to see you again dear, give those grandsons of mine one of these from me!"

Katie smiles tenderly back at her, nodding in agreement.

After the Dalton's leave, Katie and Sam remain at the table, sipping their drinks in awkward silence, steadily interrupted by acquaintances of Sam's wanting to talk business. Finally, noticing Katie’s arm propping up her tired head, Sam stands.

“I think that's enough shop talk for one night, let's get you home."

Waiting for the limo to pull to the front of the building Sam notices her shiver in the cold night air. He takes off his jacket and wraps it around her shoulders, the most contact they’ve had all evening since being intertwined on the balcony together. His gaze lingers on hers, neither able to look away. She tries to read his thoughts as she looks deep into his eyes but all she sees is a muddle of pain, confusion and longing. It doesn't make her feel any better.

"Mr Dalton..." the driver says with a small cough as he stands by the open limo door.

Sam pulls away and walks her over to the limo with his hand hovering behind the small of her back, not daring to touch. Once settled in their seats it doesn't take long for the gentle motion of the car to send Katie to sleep, her head lulling and dropping onto Sam's shoulder.

It takes everything he has for him not to wrap his arms around her, his mind conflicted thinking of the nights events. The incredible connection they shared on the balcony, the fire within him burning hotter and brighter than ever before, his mother's glowing review, hell even his father had been impressed and suggested during their conversation in the bar that Katie’s role within the Dalton empire might be wasted as just a nanny. But none of these thoughts could quite suppress his feelings of guilt at falling for another woman, his responsibility to his sons, the business and their legacies. At least not in his mind.

Back in the penthouse, Sam makes his way into the open plan living area to find, thinking him for his help with the boys. Katie hangs back, not wanting to make small talk in front of Carter, who is incredibly astute and would no doubt piece together that things were not as they seemed.

"Miss Hide, you're a vision!"

Walking towards the elevator, Carter beams at her like a proud dad seeing his daughter on her wedding day.

“I didn't get the chance to see you before you left, my my..."

"Thank you Carter. And thank you for watching the boys, I hope they weren't too much trouble?!"

He taps his nose, keeping secret whatever mischief they got up to that evening. She smiles back at him knowingly as he steps into the elevator and the doors close.

As she turns back towards the living room she is halted by Sam standing right in front of her, so close, she almost crashes into him. Sheepishly she hands him his jacket as he offers a bottle of water in exchange.

‘You should never go to bed dehydrated" he blurts out, trying to fill the gaping silence.

“Sam...."

"Goodnight Katie, thank you for your help this evening, I appreciate you coming."

Unable to muster up enough energy to argue push any further, Katie drops her gaze to the floor as she shakes her head disappointedly. She walks away without a word, her heart aching more than she thought possible.

TAG List: @shewillreadyou @chemist-ana @txemrn @silma-words @thefrenchiemama @secretaryunpaid @sfb123

- Bonus - photo posted by Katie the morning after followed by a conversation with Jenny (before Sam drops the Italy bombshell and she was supposed to have the day off!)

#the nanny affair #tna #fanfic #sam dalton #sam dalton x mc #sam x mc #choices

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zalrb · 2 years

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Confessing UOs to you because you're always amusing about them but never judgmental: 1. Rachel Green is a worse person than Ross Geller and actually by far the worst person of all the Friends 2. I like The Office but kind of roll my eyes at all the gifsets making it seem like Dwight and Jim are actually brothers or close friends despite their rivalry, because aside from like seven or so scenes throughout all nine seasons, their dislike of each other was genuine and deep 3. It makes me laugh that Team Jess vs Team Logan battles are still waging because both guys are AWFUL and Rory is even worse 4. For the first season or two of TVD, I genuinely liked Elena a lot and (even more of a UO) liked her a lot more than I liked Caroline 5. Luke Danes was a good friend but lousy romantic partner in countless ways, and don't even get me started on him inexplicably going from "all in" to "out" over the events in Wedding Bell Blues that were very clearly Emily and Christopher's fault rather than Lorelai's and then lying by omission about the existence of his long lost daughter from his fiance until she happened to figure it out on her own. 6. Andie was my very favorite Dawson's Creek character---even slightly more than Pacey. Thank you for reading!!

lmao i feel like i've gotten this exact list before.

1. i honestly think pretty much everyone is the same on friends tbh, ross does shitty things, rachel does shitty things, joey does shitty things, chandler does shitty things. monica gets worse in the later seasons and phoebe is pretty much the least offensive even though everyone made it seem like ross was a horrible person for not playing along with her delusion that her mother was a cat and not a lost pet and i was like LOL this is fucking ridiculous. her being irritated that ross is trying to push his belief of evolution on her is valid but when she finally gets him to open his mind a little and then insults him for abandoning his beliefs had me like lol k. i'm not saying i wouldn't do that, i'm just saying that's pretty shitty.

2. i just stay away from fandom things relating to the office now because i see all of these things like, yeah no.

3. you seem like a blog regular and potentially a blog OG, i feel like you know how much i hate rory and logan and how much the romanticization of jess makes me roll my eyes. i only understand team jess vs team logan debates when it comes to who is the better boyfriend for rory i.e. not who is the better boyfriend period, not who is the better man period, but who makes the most trash sense for the trash character that is rory.

4. i never particularly liked elena but she is certainly less offensive as a character in the first three seasons even though she started off with major, major character holes. (season 1 caroline ftw though)

5. yes, i've heard this before, i can understand his reaction in wedding bell blues though. because let's face it, going to the wedding of your girlfriend's parents, your girlfriend who you waited like a decade for, whose parents you were already nervous being around because you know they don't approve of you, and then the ex showing up, saying that your girlfriend's mother told him it wasn't too late to be with her all the while reminiscing about history and throwing it in your face that he's the father of your informally adopted kid, then your girlfriend is like oh btw i saw him a while ago and didn't tell you about it, altogether that's pretty bummy. and he needed time to process that. he doesn't actually blame lorelai, he's just like, they're never going to accept me and things like this are just going to keep happening and he was working through his anger and embarrassment but lorelai just wouldn't leave it alone so he says what i'm thinking right now is i can't do this, this is too much and lorelai just took it as a ok well we're going to break up. she didn't give luke the time. but yeah, the whole april scenario was handled extremely poorly. and lorelai's best match was jason anyway. i forgot how much i really liked them together. still like luke and lorelai, though ;)

6. pacey was still my favourite but pandie ftw!

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af1899 · 3 years

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FEH - My free summons on 9/17/2021 + data mine thoughts

Hey, what's good?

So, the banner based on the [Cindered Shadows] DLC from Fire Emblem: Three Houses (with Múspell on it) + its respective data update is finally out.

First, my free summons in the banner mostly weren't anything of special, prioritized blue as planned but nothing. In the round with the fourth free summon though, was forced to pick the fallback category (colorless) and...

Heh... nice, that's my second Leila, I won't complain at all, it's always nice to get a 5★ with valuable fodder or an unexpected merge on a project. I'll try to max her [HM] then fodder to Legendary Lilina for [Life and Death 4] as well as [Rally Atk/Spd+], fortunately these will be easy to get.

Nothing else but that's OK. I'll just move on and at least I know I'll eventually run on the other skill I want on Legendary Lilina, which is [A/R Far Trace 3], since it's going to be in the regular pool after this banner is over.

Now, onto data mine stuff, you can find the thread by redditor u/MrGengar123 right here, but feel free to read my thoughts onto what we've gotten (there'll be no talk about story spoilers and the like).

So... the thing that probably interests players the most when a data mine rolls out would be stats on the Heroes that come with the update.

Múspell doesn't really play so differently from what we've possibly experienced on [Ice & Flame 3] with him as an enemy, he's more of a dual-phase unit that focus his strength on a single blow, is durable both physically and magically (but slow as hecc) and prevents the foe from healing. Noteworthy is that he brings [Dragon Wall 3] to the regular pool, which you should definitely prioritize from his fodder if that's your plan and got him.

Also, more or less expected the statlines on the other three banner units, nothing too special to stand out in those but Yuri is probably going to give us new worries in nowadays metagame in PvP.

But Balthus has a similar statline to Mustafa (45/38/25+/36/28-) but Balthus's statline is superior, as you could have imagined, just being one point slower than Mustafa, but the rest, Balthus has the upper hand. About him there's also the skill choice, I didn't realize before that his weapon indeed looked like an {Instant} one, and it is, it's a good one and we're getting it for free, so, be sure you got your 5★ Balthus (check in-game inbox with Feh)! But I.S. just ruined it up with the passive skill choice, why do we have [Close Guard 3] still as a 5★ skill? It's just stupid specially since [Brazen Atk/Def 3] is already on Ares at 4★ and there's like nothing that should justify it staying locked to that rarity nowadays.

And Aelfric just got the worst treatment out of this batch, while his class seems to make sense due to how he's designed as a unit in his home game, his kit just feels completely lacking in creativity and also, he's just one of the several free red tome users we've been getting this year, his statline is basically a slightly beefed up Arete but without a horse, it's also our second month in a row with a red tome infantry user, their statlines are different (comparing to Pelleas) but this doesn't change he's the fourth unit in the year with that class, with not much to make him stand out compared to the other ones except for maybe the post-[CYL 2021] statline boost benefit, but chances are Pelleas will do better for you and his starting weapon is better too, {Rabbit} weapons in general are mostly terrible Imo, they're okay for short battles but generally, there are better options, including good ol' {Blade} tomes. At least his rarer skill is at 4★, it's [Threat. Def/Res 2], which you can use to get [Def/Res Menace] and another skill from Zeke's fodder ([Atk/Def Catch 3] if you plan to fodder a Legendary Sigurd with the Lv.4 version + [Fatal Smoke 3] or [Lull Atk/Def 3]).

Anyway, my plans on them would be:

Aelfric: fodder of [Threat. Def/Res 2] to users of physical weapons (thought of Legendary Lucina and Ephraim) after maxing out [HM], will keep one copy at 5★ for rerun quests.

Balthus: fodder of [Instant Axe+] and [Close Guard 3] for Groom Zealot, also after maxing out Balthus' [HM], working on that as of writing date of this post.

Now, next [Hall of Forms] lineup consists of these units from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance:

Bridal Sanaki: green tome flier.

Ashnard: sword flier. ([GHB] unit)

Halloween Ilyana: blue tome armored. (!!!)

Soiree Nephenee: colorless bow infantry user with ability to refresh an ally. (And she's currently summonable and obtainable for a limited time as a [Combat Manual])

Now this is a really well balanced team, no healers but you get a refresher and one unit of each color, two that use physical weapons and two that use magical ones, which should make things more workable in the event as it goes on and you fill everyone with skills that suit them. It's a nice line-up indeed and Halloween Ilyana is great for [A/R Far Save 3], if you'll go for her, [Atk/Res Unity], [Pact Blooms+] (go for another seasonal weapon if you already have (or can get) Valentine's Veronica!) and an enemy-phase oriented {Fighter} B-skill such as [Slick Fighter 3] are also excellent to take along (if you take these, remember [Atk/Res Unity] and [Slick Fighter 3] are counterproductive, you'd like [Crafty Fighter 3] instead!).

Two of them happen to be my Tellius favs (Ilyana and Nephenee) but sadly can't purchase them and only got 1 [Celestial Stone] out of 3. Still, I'll build them as best as RNG allows it to, I specially adore Ilyana and I'll do what I can to make her great.

Bonuses in [Arena]... hmm... not much of interesting, at least I got Scion Julia but I'll use Scion Nanna so that I can balance the team color distribution in the team I'll use and have a healer (Idoun, Sonya and Ninian are the rest of the members).

In [Aether Raids] I got better luck with Mila and Naga, both of which are projects and characters I actually appreciate, so I'm set for two weeks there.

The End

That's all! I do apologize if the post was too long for you, I often need more words to express properly what I mean while also palcing some extra things for convenience.

If you've made it this far, I appreciate you took the time to read my thoughts, I hope you found something helpful in this post and good luck in your summons!

#feh #fe heroes #fire emblem heroes

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katedrakeohd · 4 years

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What Happens in Paris...(7)

Masterlist

Back at the train, the men and women separate to get ready for the tea party. Down in Max and Drake’s shared room, Drake is sitting on his bed watching Max do his primp and polish in front of the mirror. Impeccably dressed in his black Gucci dress shirt and trousers, Maxwell is running a comb through his neatly trimmed hair and whistling. If he wasn’t his friend, Drake could almost hate him for it. His clothing style rarely changed. His way of taking his day look into a night look usually involved the undoing of a button on his shirt, and the addition of a hair product to keep himself looking sharp when he broke out the moves on the dance floor. Drake knew though, even by day when Maxwell appeared to be calm and collected there was always a three ring circus, complete with peacocks, going on inside his head.

Drake looked down at Maxwell’s shiny black shoes, and then glanced at his own scuffed and worn looking brown ones. As much as Drake didn’t want to dress all fancy for a Royal tea party today, he knew that Kate was expected to be there. Plus he wanted to witness the look of envy on Maddy’s face when Kate walked in all dressed up and stole away attention from the future Queen. Although he usually wouldn’t give a damn how he looked when he skulked his way into events after everyone else important arrived. This time he knew Kate would be under Liam’s lustful eye, and it made his stomach ache at the thought. If he was going to escort Kate into this stupid party, even as her seemingly platonic friend, he had to make an effort to fit in for his own peace of mind. Drake cleared his throat to get Maxwell’s attention. I can’t believe I’m doing this again. Heaven help me.

“Uh, Max? About this party today… I can’t exactly show up looking like some bum off the street. Could you help me pick out something fit to wear?”

Maxwell gasped, dropping the lint roller he was using to remove fluff and hair from his trouser leg. “Really?! You’ll let me dress you up for two events in a row?”

Drake sighs, getting up from the bed and running his hands through his hair. “Well don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“It is a big deal. My grumpy best friend wants to impress a girl!”

Drake grimaced, “Tone it down will ya? Besides, you are not my best friend.”

Maxwell is unfazed by the brush off and just raises his eyebrows, nodding, “Oh right! We’re even better than that now. We’re family!”

Drake opens his mouth to protest and then closes it again. Technically Max was right, as painful as it was for him to admit. He raises his hands and gives Max an impatient head shake, “Alright! Alright! Whatever! Are you gonna help me or not?”

“Of course I will. Show me what you got.”

Drake holds his hands out to the sides to display his current denim disaster.

“No, no silly.” Maxwell drags over Drake’s suitcase and flops it onto the bed. Drake places a protective hand on top, shakes his head.

“No point in looking in there," Drake grumbles.

“Okay then, to the Royal Closet we go.”

Kate sits in front of Hana’s portable makeup mirror, while Hana runs a round brush through her hair, coaxing it into soft waves. “I love your hair Kate, it’s so soft and manageable. What shampoo do you use?”

With a shrug, Kate admires her freshly painted fingernails. “Some kind of fruity scented stuff that I bought at the drugstore. Drake forgot to grab the matching conditioner when we showered, so I hope my hair doesn't get all full of static and frizz.”

Hana meets Kate's gaze in the mirror and they both giggle. “Oh my goodness, Kate. No wonder you two were late for breakfast.”

Trying to hide her blush in the lighted mirror was impossible, “Yeah, well I did interrupt him while he was shaving this morning. And damn he looked sexy in that bathrobe.”

Hana sighed with envy as she parted Kate’s hair and swept it behind her shoulder. Kate hands her the golden, flower embellished comb from the counter. “What’s it like Kate?”

“What?”

“Having a King and his best friend both in love with you?”

"It's not as fun as you might think. They've both staked their claim on me in some way and I hate being the rope in their tug of war. The worst part is that Liam has already lost me and he doesn't know it yet."

“Poor guy, he’s going to be crushed. What does Drake have that Liam doesn't?”

“He doesn't have the weight of the kingdom sitting on his head and shoulders, nor does he have a bunch of noble ladies fighting over him. Plus he’s nobody important to the press or tabloids. I’m not as worried about being seen with him, because I know he’ll protect me.”

“He’s not worried about being pulled into the Tariq scandal with you?” Hana asks, a look of concern on her face.

Kate shrugs, “I know he doesn't regret coming to my rescue, except for maybe the punches Tariq landed on his ribs. He was very much a gentleman about the whole thing, which is a lot more than I can say for Tariq.”

“But speaking of having two guys interested at the same time, what about Neville and Rashad?”

Hana wrinkles up her nose with a frown of disgust, “They're so boring. And neither were very nice to Penelope when we first met them.”

Kate applies a pale pink lip gloss to the center of her bottom lip to enhance her lipstick, pressing her lips together and then checking the results in the mirror, “Well frankly, since finding out she participated in the smear campaign against me, Penelope isn't one of my favorite people either. But I get what you’re saying, especially with Neville. He creeps me out in the same way Tariq does. Rashad seems to be marginally better than his friend as far as character goes, having made his own way as a businessman. He’s not depending on his Father’s money like Neville.”

Hana tilts her head, considering Kate’s thoughts. “I suppose you make a good point. But still, neither are as important, charismatic, charming or handsome as the King.”

Kate smirks, “Liam's definitely a charmer. I wonder sometimes what he sees in an ordinary barmaid like me. Or what Drake does either.” Kate meets Hana's gaze in the mirror. "Am I really worth all this fuss? What's so special about me that loving one man must mean breaking the other's heart?"

"You mean besides your charisma, charm, intelligence and beauty? You're a genuinely nice person Kate, and everyone is drawn to you. The other women in the room envy you when the men all look your way."

Kate turns around to look up at Hana, seeing the admiration in her eyes. "You're all of these things and more, Hana."

Hana looks down at her shoes, shyly, "I wish. My parents have invested so much into my training, refinement and education. But they've rarely praised me for any of my achievements. Sometimes I feel like they'd throw me at any available bachelor if it would raise my status on the social ladder, especially if it got our names in the media back home."

Standing up from her seat, Kate places her hands on Hana's shoulders. "Hey now, don't beat up on yourself. You're more than just some guy's arm candy or potential wife. You need to stand up and grab the future you want for yourself. To Hell with your parents’ expectations. I bet you could excel at anything you put your mind to. You don't need a man to raise your status. Be the strong independent woman I know you can be.”

Hana smiles, “Thanks Kate. I wish I’d met you years ago. You're the type of friend I've been missing all my life.”

Kate smiles back, “You’ve been here for me too, so it's only right that I return the favor.”

Stepping back from Hana, Kate strikes a pose with one hand on her hip, raising the other in a provocative sweep of her hair to highlight her face and bare shoulders. “So what do you think of my finished look?”

Hana smiles broadly, with a clap of approval at her stylish handiwork. “You're going to be hotter than the tea, that’s for sure.”

Kate winks, “Damn straight. We are.”

Drake stands outside of Kate's train compartment, fidgeting. Dressed in a crisp white dress shirt and dark grey trousers, with his hair combed and set with some of Maxwell's styling compound; he felt like a teenager on Prom night. Drying his sweaty hand on his thigh, he's reminded of how thin the fabric feels compared to his usual denim. The way the slim fit of the pant legs hugged his thighs made him feel so exposed, almost naked, and he was starting to regret not opting for his usual jeans. But Maxwell had assured him that he looked good, and that he’d fit in just fine at the party.

He hoped he looked good enough to escort Kate. The sudden absurdity of wanting to dress up for a tea party makes him chuckle and he shakes his head. Damn it Kate, what have you done to me?

Sucking in a deep breath he knocks on Kate’s door and waits.

…

Crouching down to secure the gold strap of her shoe around her ankle, Kate hears the buzzing sound of a text message coming from inside her purse. She glances up, “I bet that’s Drake.”

Hana gets a pinging sound on her phone seconds later, “It's a group text from Liam. The cars arranged to take us to the tea party have arrived. We're to meet in the dining car to coordinate who is traveling with whom.”

Kate breathes a sigh, picking up her clutch. “Ok, off we go then.”

Drake is leaning against the wall looking at his phone when he hears the sound of voices to his right, causing him to look up. Kate and Hana are giggling as they approach hand in hand, and then they stop as Kate sees Drake and gasps. “Oh..my...God! Look at you.”

With a smirk, Drake straightens up blushing. “What..do I look that bad?”

Kate shakes her head, then appraises Drake all over again with a head tilt and a slow look from head to toe and then back up again. “Nah, ah. Hardly. You’re looking like a tasty snack.”

Drake clears his throat, raising his eyebrows. “Heh, look who's talking. If I’m a snack you're definitely dessert.”

Hana grins at them both, rolling her eyes, “Ok lovebirds, quit with the flirty food talk and making eyes at each other we’ve got a party to get to.”

Stepping aside, Drake nods. “But of course, after you Ladies.”

Taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes as Kate passes him in the hall, Drake falls into step a few paces behind them. Damn she smells nice, this party isn’t going to be torture at all.

:::

tagging: @jovialyouthmusic @sirbeepsalot @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @mskaneko @speedyoperarascalparty @dcbbw @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @drakexwillow @kingliam2019 @kimmiedoo5 @gardeningourmet @drakesensworld @mfackenthal @thequeenchoices @debramcg1106 @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @wickedgypsymoon @griselda1121 @indiacater @texaskitten30 @nikkis1983 @lynne1993 @bobasheebaby @drakesfiance @moonlightgem7 @princessleac1 @janezillow @jlpplays1 @walker7519 @drakesensworld @furiousherringoperatortoad @samihatuli @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @rainbowsinthestorm @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @jessiembruno @msjpuddleduck @princess-andromeda-nazario @princess-geek @mom2000aggie @batgirlassociationofgothamcity @masterofbluff

#drake walker #choices #what happens in paris #drake x kate #long post

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cozywine · 4 years

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Title: My Type pt. 1

Summary: A fluffy piece based on a dream I had. F!Reader feels self conscious about her body size and he makes her feel better.

Pairing: SpencerxF!Reader

CW/TW: mention of general challenges with dieting and body image. No description of eating disorder though.

................................................................................

The case the team was currently on had been twisty turny in the worst way. They had been brought to Chicago after human remains had been found within 3 churches that were recently demolished. The remains were posed the same way and had been hidden in the same manner- beneath the baptismal font. They had been there over a week and were still trying to figure out who was responsible for the crimes. They'd had a suspect but it had led to nothing... Starting over was always the worst.

"Ok, let's go back to the beginning... What do we know about the victims?" Rossi instructed paternally.

"All females between the ages of 21 and 35." Y/N stated quickly. "No ties to the churches they were found within."

"All of them were college educated and single," added Emily. "And they were attractive... physically fit, well dressed and likeable types. Popular on Tinder and their other social medias."

Y/N always felt uncomfortable when profiling someone based off their physical traits... Bluntly put, she wasn't slim. In a profile, that would make her considered less sexually appealing for the majority of UnSubs. Statistically, it was a fact. Yet it always felt like there could be some subjectivity when her colleagues brought up the stature of those they worked to avenge.

All of her female colleagues were slimmer than her. She often found herself donning bulky sweaters in dark colors, hoping they would disguise the softness of her belly and the rolls on her back, just below her bra line. In magazines she'd read that she should emphasize her face and cleavage, as if that would distract anyone from the parts of her body she disliked.

Of course she was physically fit and capable of passing her field tests... She just didn't have the same body type as her colleagues. Where they were lean, she was voluptuous. Over-full. Despite lifelong diets and general misery around food, her body size remained a pain point until finally after working with a therapist, she discovered intuitive eating. Y/N now felt more connected to her body, appreciated it's cues for the type of fuel it needed, and generally struggled less around her eating habits. But the body image challenges... Those continued. Some days worse than others... And today was one of those.

She knew it wasn't necessarily intentional, but Derek never made flirtatious comments toward her. She sometimes sensed that Rossi put all of the vegetables closer to her end of the table. Hotch usually signed her up for desk work if it was an option. And Spencer, pipe cleaner that he was... Never gave her a second glance. They were all great friends, especially Y/N and the younger Doctor... Both intellectual, sensitive and intuitive, they got along famously. But Y/N knew it would never be more than that... Someone as beautiful as Spencer Reid would never give her the time of day.

"With no ties to the churches, being buried beneath the baptismal font could indicate our UnSub as someone looking to cleanse them of their sins of life." Y/N added, snapping out of her negative thoughts to focus on the case. "What would make someone want to do that?"

"If I'm the UnSub, these churches mean a lot to me.. So I'm religious. I would be repulsed by their lack of virtue... Yet possibly attracted to them. What would that make me do?" Morgan added. "I might feel that this is the only way to feel holy again."

"So we need to go back to the church... We already figured that this UnSub would need access to the facility but there must be someone we missed." Rossi said.

Rossi and Morgan went back to the church while the rest of the team worked with Garcia to pinpoint any specifics of who might be the culprit. Limited social media use by the UnSub made it tricky, but you eventually tracked down Joseph Knight. He was a current seminary student placed at one of the many Catholic churches in Chicago. In his mission work, he organized events for young professionals to volunteer as tutors for lower income students. As it turned out, all three victims had been to at least one tutoring session, each in a different neighborhood.

"So there's our connection, my furry friends. And wouldn't you bet the next event is tomorrow night?" Garcia said.

"If we send someone in who fits his type, we could draw him out..." Emily added. "What do you guys think?"

Y/N took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think it could work. You or JJ rock paper scissors for it. I'm going for a coffee refill... Anyone need anything?"

Y/N pushed away from the table, pushing up the sleeves of her navy blazer and wrapping the strap of her wallet around her wrist. She adjusted her jeans quickly, making sure they still sat at the narrowest part of her waist and ensured that her striped tee wasn't clinging anywhere. She felt a little flustered, her outfit not doing as much as she'd hoped to make her feel confident. The local coffeeshop around the corner had friendly baristas and a little positive human interaction would definitely improve her mood.

"I'll join you," Spencer said quickly. "If that's all right. I could use some fresh air."

They walked in silence to the coffeeshop in the brisk September air, Spencer holding the door for Y/N with a small smile. He did this for everyone, so Y/N paid it no mind. The shop smelled delicious, roasty and warm. They hopped in the short line, and Y/N perused the drink list. In their week there, she'd tried a few specialties but mostly stuck to plain coffee.

"Okay genius... Which has more caffeine, black coffee or an Americano?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood.

His eyes shone, excited for the opportunity to talk about something other than work.

"Contrary to popular belief," he explained, his hands moving as he spoke, "One 2 oz double espresso shot has about 80 milligrams of caffeine. Whereas a 12 oz brewed coffee has about 120 milligrams. So actually there is more caffeine in an average cup of drip coffee than in espresso. If you really want to go crazy you could get a red-eye, but I wonder if the post-caffeine crash is really the best idea for you today."

"What do you mean? I'm fine." She said. "Frustrated that I had to board Millie for a second week, but I know we're getting closer to solving this." Thinking of her sweet lab mix made her smile.

"Fair. I just mean, you seemed a little touchy when Emily suggested sending in someone as bait."

"Yeah, I don't know. They'll figure out who's the most attractive. It will probably work. It's good, for sure."

"The most attractive to that UnSub, you mean?" He tried to clarify, not totally sure why she sounded so down talking about it.

"Oh yeah, yeah... Of course." She shrugged. The line had dwindled. She smiled at the barista, who was wearing a hand drawn name tag. "Hi Jenny, how are you?... Great thanks. Can I please have a medium plain latte with an extra shot? Thank you so much. Spence, what's your order?"

He flushed, clearly feeling a little awkward. "Oh, a large pour over... The Guatemalan single origin, if you have it."

The barista nodded, and Y/N chuckled lightly at his very specific order. She paid, tipping Jenny generously, and they went to stand near the pickup counter.

"Single origin, huh? Getting fancy, Dr. Reid." Y/N teased. Her brief conversation with Jenny had brightened her day.

"Yeah, they tend to be more interesting than a blend so I like to try them when I can... Thank you for buying by the way... next one on me, ok?" She nodded in response, and he continued.

"Did you know that Guatemala is one of the top ten coffee producers in the world, producing more than 204,000 metric tons of coffee beans a year?" He looked delighted, a far cry from his usual down turned look when they were on a case. He looked... Great.

Y/N tried not to focus too much on the happy crinkles around his eyes or the way his large yet delicate hands gestured as he spoke. She knew he would never consider her equally lovely.

Their coffees came up quickly and they returned to the station ready to plan for the next days effort.

A/N stay tuned for part 2... Just thought this was getting a little lengthy!

#spencer reid #criminal minds #spencer reid x reader #dr. spencer reid #criminal minds fic #spencer reid fluff

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stubert87 · 4 years

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I've spent some time wondering if coming back here to write something was too self indulgent at a time like this. But I'm going to start writing and if you're reading it then I got to the end, thought it was ok, and posted it.

I think it's fair to say that the nation's mental health, as a whole, is in somewhat of a state of flux at the minute. Our life as we have come to know it has been entirely disrupted, albeit temporarily. I've come back to this space to share some of my musings and offer support to anyone who's mental well-being has been affected since the threat of coronavirus has appeared. For many of us this may just be the most recent trigger in a series of major episodes of anxiety, low mood, etc. For others this may be the first experience of anxiety or any form of negative mental health. I hope this makes sense. Maybe even some of it may resonate.

I'm more than familiar with how isolated our thoughts can make us feel when we're in the midst of a low point. Add to that the very literal isolation that has been placed upon us through social distancing measures, and we have the recipe for a mental health crisis. But it isn't as bad as it sounds. In every new scenario and environment there is opportunity. We just have to be willing to see past the fear, and seize it.

There are some of us adept at change. There are some of us that aren't. I most certainly am not. I'm analytical and need order. I need time to digest my new environment, figure out how to exist within it, and then consciously marry up my strengths to this new situation, while guarding my vulnerabilities, until I establish a comfort zone. For those of us who aren't as fast paced as others when dealing with change, the entire situation is a wall of anxiety that seems insurmountable. We are paralysed by the overwhelming barrage of "what ifs" leading to "I can'ts" that lead to "I'm a failure" and there we have ourselves back on the edge of The Abyss, thinking that this is no way to live and pleading with the universe to make tomorrow better.

The insurmountable wall right now is made up of a combination of catastrophic thoughts that has the potential to cripple us. From worrying about the health of ourselves, our friends and families, to worrying how long this will last, and when we can see each other again, each question is a potential doorway to a 'corridor of catastrophising'. It's very easy to end up at very scary and upsetting conclusions, such as "I'm never going to see xyz again" or "I'm next". Very dark thoughts in an already dark time.

The process of breaking the cycle of worry is a lot greater than anything I can outline in this blog. There's a reason that forms of therapy last many sessions. But I'll try to pass on a few tips that have helped me over the years.

I like to think there's two places you can tackle your worry. If we use the analogy of the 'corridor of catastrophising', the door you walk through and into the corridor is the initial worry, the end of the corridor is the final conclusion you reach: a dead end is a total overwhelming negative thought, taking another door out of the corridor is us reaching a better conclusion.

The first way you can try to tackle your worry is at the start, by nipping it in the bud. When you open the door and see that "what if" worry, you can ask yourself is this normal worry, or excessive worry. If what you're thinking is something like "I'm worried about the wellbeing of my grandparents because they're vulnerable and isolating for 12 weeks" then this is a perfectly normal worry. Any human being would think this. You then need to make sure you follow up this thought with positive action and find one way to make the situation better. Using the grandparents example, can you set them up with video calling? Can you send them voice notes? Can you get them involved in distanced activities like a video chat quiz or look for events to take part in like the virtual grand national? Taking positive action will help remove the mental isolation and bring about a positive shift in mindset. And much like a negative mindset can spiral, a positive mindset can also gain momentum.

For some of us though this may be to little too late. We might have already walked down the dark corridor to it's gloomy and seemingly absolute end. And also for anyone who hasn't had to work at challenging their thought processes before, simply trying to nip it in the bud is a a lot to get to grips with straight away, and you could actually end up in a strange state of denial where you're pushing the thought away, only for it to come back with a vengeance. So we have to look at reframing our negative thoughts to help us back track and take another turn off the corridor.

The idea is to challenge the thought by asking yourself can I bring any evidence to back that thought up? Can I prove without any shadow of doubt that the thought I have is true? Using the example of grandparents again, it's easy to bring in evidence like "they're old and therefore high risk", "there's already been thousands of deaths". These are natural worries, but they're not concrete evidence to support a worst case scenario. If we try re-framing our thoughts more positively then the thoughts become less consuming and therefore allow us to think more rationally. "They're vulnerable" - correct, but they're shielding for 12 weeks in isolation to ensure the chances of infection are minimal. "There's already been thousands of deaths" - could be challenged by "yes but there's also plenty of cases of recovery and also so many that haven't been infected or shown symptoms. As long as we're all doing our part to stop the spread, we reduce the risk".

By challenging each negative thought we give ourselves chance to minimise their detrimental impact and make them more manageable and easy to digest. It takes a lot of practice but eventually you get quicker at managing these thoughts and you're quickly volleying them away before they can take hold.

Another problem many of us are now facing is the concept of managing our time in isolation so we're not climbing the walls. Not an easy task at all, but one the more analytical of us may find a bit easier. Iregardless it will take practice. It's easy to fall into bad habits when we have too much time to kill. For some of us we'll naturally fall into good habits because we're disciplined. For others amongst us structure and good routine maybe don't come so naturally. The best way to ensure we're getting the most out of our day is to spend up to a week documenting your activities and the mood you experienced while doing it, correlating what our mood was like to the activity and looking for patterns in the day to day, so that we can then start planning more activities that elevate our mood whilst balancing our necessary tasks that may not bring us so much comfort or joy. Sounds simple on paper but I can definitely attest to the fact that challenging your own behaviour and embedding change is never easy.

There are also so many of us who have anxious brains who've suddenly found that we're calmer than usual. That people around us seem more anxious than we are. It's an interesting phenomenon that I've recently found myself in and mused over this somewhat. Having pondered on it a while, I can only draw the conclusion that my mind is used to living in a state of abstract worry. By that I mean I'm worrying about what MIGHT happen, or rumenating on an incident that happened a week ago. None of this worry is in the present. And when you're suffering from a period of mental ill-health it feels almost possible to be present, grounded, and in the moment. But in this pandemic lies a very real, very present threat. One that means our lives are changing by the day. A threat that is very much making us exist in the present. Anyone who's ever been stuck in the rut if anxious thinking knows that when you snap out of it into the present moment, you're capable of thinking and rationalising and lightning speed. So if you're one of us who's found yourself much calmer than ever, make sure you're continuing to keep those positive actions going to build a positive resilience. Think about what you can do to help friends, family, colleagues and your community to keep us all afloat. Sometimes the people who've experienced the darkest of thoughts are the ones who can bring light to others dark times. If this is you, now's your time to shine.

The final key to it all is my age old advice. KEEP TALKING. The second you feel in a slump, pick up the phone and call someone. Video call them. Start a House Party. Never impose further isolation on yourself by withdrawing. On the opposite side, if you haven't heard from someone in a while then call them. Make whatever plans you can in this difficult time.

I think I've meandered on long enough. If you've made it this far, thank you. If you've found any of this thought provoking or even helpful please let me know. I've attached a link to some further reading on covid-19 and anxiety (if you have any reading left in you) I think it's pretty useful

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musicatheart12 · 6 years

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A Chat with a Bassist: Natalie Kim from Old Joy

Old Joy is an indie/alternative rock band that released their debut album on September 7th, 2018. They come from the underground New Brunswick scene and have played many basement shows around the area, with their most recent performance being for a student-run charity club at Rutgers University. This week, I got the chance to interview Old Joy's bassist, Natalie Kim, also a student at Rutgers University.

The interview:

What kind of music do you guys play? How do you, as a band, characterize it?

It's kind of under the umbrella of Alt Rock and Indie just because we're in the local New Brunswick scene. So it's kind of like Indie, DIY kind of music.

How did the band get together?

So my two bandmates who started the band started it before I got to Rutgers. When I came here as a freshman, I met one of them, Phil, and he told me they were looking for a bassist so they kind of adopted me. And then we had no drummer, so we had to go out looking for a drummer. So yeah it started with those two people. The other two of us kind of made our way in.

How long has the band been together?

I joined at the very end of summer before freshman year, and back then we had a like a different drummer like every month.

That's interesting.

Yeah, it was kind of weird since I play bass. Bass and drum really have to work with each other so I would change what I played for like every person. It was kind of rocky to start with, but we found someone about 3 months in, who ended up staying for the rest of the next summer. So when we all decided we were in it for the long run, that's when we recorded our first album.

Wow, that's very cool. Yeah, but he decided to go back to school, so literally the day of our release party, we got a new drummer.

Oh wow! Fun fact, drummers are like the hardest people to find because if you're going to be a drummer, you have to be good because everyone can hear you. There was a really big shortage of drummers, and this is a problem that every band has.

I didn't know that.

So in this current state, we've been together about 2 months.

So even though the current band is fairly new, are you guys still playing songs from the first album?

Our new drummer, he didn't make his parts, he had to learn it. But obviously, from now on, it's going to be him.

Are you guys going to make any new music?

We've started making some new stuff, but we're probably going to record, I don't know, not for a while.

That makes sense.

Maybe sometime next year. But it's also a lot different, because the two members that started the band found me after everything was already written so like, in this case, it's everyone. It's more democratic in the way we're making music. It's like everyone is developing it together, rather than it being the work of two people.

So, I know you're a full-time student. It must be difficult to find time to practice.

It's f***ing hard. The good thing with my band is, they're really good at planning ahead. We'll set up a date for a rehearsal a week or two weeks in advance, I'm so grateful. The worst is definitely when we're recording an album. It was so hard last winter. I'd have to go down to the recording studio like twice a week, and it's like an hour away, so like what I ended up doing is bringing my homework and doing it in a dark lit basement. It was hard work, but it definitely paid off because now it's just basement shows and events, which are just a weekend sort of thing. Sticking it through recording was definitely a good idea.

Were you taught music/playing or writing? Are you self-taught?

Kind of, so like, I think I developed an ear for music growing up from piano lessons as a kid. Even though that only went up until like fifth grade, that's what taught me how to read music. And then through middle school, I played French horn, I played flute. And when I got into high school, that’s when I picked up bass and I really should've taken lessons then. I regret not taking lessons when I had the time to when I was like 14. I kind of just learned bass by ear. And the internet's fantastic.

I have other questions, but I'm trying to think of a question based on what you just said.

I mean I can keep talking if you want.

Yeah, go for it if you want!

I mean, here's the thing about bass, so like I've had my friends ask me to teach them before. A lot of people have this conception that "oh I have to start the same way I learned piano" with all the scales and fundamentals, but I think for bass it's heavy on intuition. Of course, you'll be a better musician if you know all the techniques and fundamentals but like you cannot be a bassist if you do not have some kind of musical intuition. Like over the first year I picked it up, by the end of the year, I listened to music differently. I never noticed bass parts before I started playing. And then once it like really clicks you start to listen for it, and that eventually grows into the intuition. Especially playing in a band versus an orchestra. I play in an orchestra every year, and it's much more technical. Playing in the underground music scene, its more about what sounds good, what works versus what doesn’t work.

So it's more about understanding the vibe?

Yeah, kind of. It's like what people say about writing, how you can't be a good writer unless you read a lot, it's the same way. You have to listen to a lot of music to be able to play well.

Do you guys ever spend time experimenting with different kinds of music, or do you stick to the same kind of genre?

Right now, most of our rehearsals are geared toward preparing for shows. But in terms of being experimental, I'd say there are 2 parts to that. Number one, there's a lot of cover songs. We'll just like jam sometimes and go off of each other and play whatever. But also we're like trying to be different for our second album… now that we're trying to follow up to our first album, we're trying to be more advanced in terms of adding more atmospheric sounds and big picture stuff. We're going to add some synth, maybe some more keyboard stuff. I think like in terms of experimenting, I'd like to do it more, but we're not going in the wrong direction.

I know Old Joy plays a lot of basement shows. What other kinds of gigs do you guys play?

Just last Friday we performed at the student center for the Seeing Eye club, I forget exactly what the event was called. Yeah so we did that, it was a fundraiser. And in a month we're going to be doing Overnight Sensations which is like a program run by WRSU, which is a Rutgers radio station. So every week they have bands come late at night. We've also done a lot of other charity shows.

And as far as setlist goes, do you have a specific order you play in?

Our album is 7, 8 songs. There are some songs that we all love, and some that we all don't want to play. So we'll play 4 to 5 songs and we'll do like one cover.

So it's short.

Yeah, it's usually like a half hour set. Also a lot of these songs, we recorded them in the winter so almost a year ago. Now that we're more mature musicians it's kind of like, I wish we recorded this differently or played this differently.

Do you guys tease new music in your shows?

Yeah we played a new song at our last show, which was last Friday… but yeah definitely.

Do you need to think about the audience, or do you just do you (as a band)?

It depends. We don't have very many songs yet, so there's a skeleton that we have to follow. It's usually the cover that we'll very. And then the other thing we'll mix up is the order. Sometimes it’s the energetic songs first if everyone seems dead. The hardest part is definitely when everyone's like "one more song!" and we don't have any more song.

What's your response to that? Do you guys play a song from the album that you wouldn't normally play?

We'll play another cover song, we have stuff that we kind of keep in the back in case we need it. But I wish we had more stuff.

How does recording working?

So basically what happens is, first everyone plays, to get a scratch track for timing purposes. Then everyone will go in on their own and we'll put it into the computer and do it as many times as it takes to get it right. It can take forever sometimes. And so the way we did this album was each time we went down there, we'd record one song. It took a while, but it turned out ok. The recording was less than half. The rest of the time was just mixing and then sending it out to get it mastered. Honestly, I'm not a fan of recording because sometimes I can get really perfectionistic. That’s why I really like playing basement shows. I don’t think I've ever played the same song the same way twice. Like this kind of goes back to the experimental thing. Thank god we play live shows because that's where you get to be creative as a musician.

How did you guys come up with the order of the album?

It's weird, I don’t think we discussed the whys of it. We all kind of came to a consensus. It might be a little bit subconscious, and it kind of goes back to the intuition of it. There might be some legitimate reason to it, like songs being in the same key. From what I can observe, I think the biggest things are tempo and mood. As an Alt rock, indie almost emo band, there are energetic happy songs like typical Alt Rock songs, but there are also songs that are really emotional. Like we have this one song "Rover Shore". Watching Phil do the vocals for that was literally spiritual. Like I've never seen anyone put so much emotion into one song. So obviously you wouldn't put that first. We put that sort of in the middle near the end. We never discussed the explicit details, it just flows somehow.

Yeah, it just feels right.

Do you guys plan on making music videos?

We filmed a music video last year, but because we switched drummers, we had to scratch all of that. I really wanted to because one of the girls in the band is a film major. It's definitely possible, the only issue is we all have no time. 3 of us are students, and one graduated but he has a full-time job. Yeah, the biggest issue is definitely time. I understand why some bands buy a house and live together like it definitely makes sense.

Do you have any other interesting stories? Anything cool!

The most exciting moment of being in this band was this Friday. We were at a house for a show and me and my bandmate we were just walking from one side of the room to the other, and we heard a group of people talking and they said Old Joy. It was the coolest thing 'cause it was like people actually know us. That was so exciting even though it was such a small thing because people actually recognize us. Like last week someone was at work and they said some of our music was on the radio. It was really cool!

What's weird is that the style of music that we play is not my style.

So what is your style?

I've never really gotten into indie music, but I figured I'd try it out. When I play on my own, I play a lot of Jazz and Funk. So this is very very very different. And this type of music isn't what I listen to but it's so interesting because the number of things you can do on bass is infinite. I do appreciate it, it's definitely grown on me. Before, all indie music sounded the same. Like to the average person, all classical music sounded the same. It's cool that I've learned so much through this.

Does it make it hard, not having listened to indie music beforehand?

When I first started, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was sticking to the root notes, keeping time. Super simple. By the time recording rolled around, I got the hang of it enough to create my own tracks, but looking back on it now, I would do things 100% differently.

Natalie Kim is a talented young artist making her way through with her bandmates. With the first album already out, and another in the works, Old Joy is already paving their path into music. It's cool to see the beginning of a band that is transforming into something bigger, especially coming out of a local music scene.

Check out some of their songs:

#old joy #new brunswick #college #local music #indie #alternative rock #alt rock

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