#excited for the 4th dispenser

[genhenna]

This felt like getting married and then spiraling down the relationship into a divorce

[virgosvoid]

Fireworks

summary: it’s the 4th of July, and the Spiders are having a party at HQ, though Miguel would rather be cooped up with his Spiderman duties. You try to convince him to join...

pairing: Miguel x YN!reader

notes: Was 4th of July yesterday? Yes. Am I deciding to post the fic the day after? Yes. Do I care? Not really.

Also this fic contains only fluff

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

It was the Fourth of July. The entire day was filled with celebration. HQ was splattered in shades of red, white and blue. The Society had planned this celebration for quite some now. You offered to help. You sent out proper invitations and were in charge of the catering. You weren’t the only one with a job for the party. Jessica and Gwen were in charge of the decorations. Peter B was given the task of getting an inflatable pool. No one planned on bringing one to the party but Peter begged to bring one, so the task was given to him. He offered to help out with other things, but with his track record of forgetfulness and laziness, it was better for him to stick with one task.

Jessica asked Hobie to pitch in, though he wanted nothing to do with the party. “You are all just falling victims to capitalism,” is what he had responded with. Though his mind changed quite quickly when Miles announced that he would be in charge of the music. “Look bruv, I respect ya and everything, but ain’t no way in bloody hell am I gon’ let ya be in charge of the music.”

Miles had responded with a frown. “Are you saying I have bad taste?”

Hobie responded, “You got decent music taste, but you listen to the same bloody songs. With all do respect bruv, but if I have to hear Sunflower one more time, I think I’ma go mad.” You had laughed at Hobie’s comment. Poor Miles really did listen to the same music all the time. Is Sunflower the only thing he listens to? But after a minute of quick banter, the boys decided to work together and both be in charge of the music.

The party was in less than an hour, and everything was perfect. Jessica and Gwen went above and beyond with the decorations and you definitely gave it your all when it came to the catering. Ten tables filled with many foods. Most were finger foods such as platters of cheese, salami, pigs in a blanket, wings, chips and about six different dippings. One would think that ten tables is excessive for catering, but you were dealing with dozens of spider-people. You also had arranged five separate beverage dispensers all filled with different beverages. Alcoholic and nonalcoholic.

Though, you made sure to keep the alcoholic beverages far from the kids and told one of the other Peter Parkers to be in charge of guarding the alcoholic drinks, just in case Gwen, Hobie or Miles try to snag some alcohol at the party when you weren’t looking.

Though your favorite thing was the dessert. The cookies and donut holes. And the chocolate fountain. When the catering guys came into HQ to set it up, Miles' eyes practically lit up. It was no ordinary fountain, it was a large fountain. Large as in the size of a real fountain. You truly gave it your all. And you were satisfied with everything. Though you felt satisfaction, a wave of disappointment overtook you. Your head turned to look at the tower that led to your Miguel O’ Hara’s office.

A day after the planning started, you had been rambling to him about the party and how ecstatic you were about being a part of the planning. He smiled at the way you moved your hands while explaining all your ideas and objectives. He enjoyed seeing you get all passionate. “I’m very excited for you,” he said very calmly and sweetly. “I think it will turn out great.” You gave him a cheeky smile. “You think?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You and all the Spiders will have a great time for sure, I know it.” Those choice of words had caused you to tilt your head in confusion. “What do you mean by that? Are you not going to go?” Miguel leaned his head back as he sighed, “Baby you know I don’t like parties or any sort of celebration.”

You crossed your arms. “I know but this is technically a work event and since you are a work-obsessed freak, I was confident you would go.”

Miguel squinted his eyes while also crossing his arms in return. “First of all, I’m not a work-obsessed freak. You make it seem like all I do with my life is work.”

You purse your lips and tilted your head as you gave him a are-you-sure-about-that look. Immediately understanding what you were trying to say, his face sank into a frown. “Fuck off,” Miguel said while rolling his eyes. You pout your lips as you look at him again. “Stop that,” he said in an annoyed tone. You continued with the face, “Why?”

He rolled his eyes again. “Those puppy dog eyes are not gonna work on me. I said no. Someone has to be Spiderman babe. Even on the holidays or other special occasions”. You rolled your eyes. You walked over to Miguel, who was sitting on the side of the bed that you both slept on. You held his gorgeous face in your hands. “Can you not be Spiderman for one day and just be Miguel. Is that too much to ask?” you asked him softly.

Though Miguel told you no, you kept subtly bringing the topic as the days went on, hoping that he would have a change of heart. Unfortunately, for every time you brought it up, he gave the same repetitive answer. No.

An hour had passed and some of the Spiders had started to enter. The party was being held at the main hall and it was quickly getting packed, which was expected though you weren’t expecting it to be packed so quickly. It made you glad that a lot of the Spiders took the time toeven be here for the party. Everyone wore bathing suits including yourself. You wore a red bikini top with some denim shorts. Though it felt a bit awkward that everyone came in swim attire when...

“Where’s Peter B!” Jessica rushed to you in anger. You press your lips down firmly as you let her rant. “The party started an hour ago! Everyone is here in swimsuits and trunks and we don’t even have the inflatable pool!” You shrugged. “He didn’t answer any of the texts from the group chat.” Jessica let out a frustrated groan. “He was supposed to show up hours ago,” Jessica pointed at her watch. “I swear I am giving this idiot ten more minutes and if he doesn’t show up, I will web my way to find him and it won’t be pretty for him.”

Almost as if Jessica had blurted out some sort of spell, Peter B came swinging into the main hall and landed in front of you and Jessica. He had some blue swimming trunks while having a duck floatie wrapped around his waist. He was holding on to a box that appeared to be the inflatable pool. “Who’s ready for some fun!” he said with a cheerful smile. Jessica turned to him, her eyes squinting in irritation.

“You are late!” she shouted abruptly. “Am I late or are y’all just early?” he said to Jessica while giving a quirky finger gun and giving a cheerful wink. Jessica certainly was not enjoying this. “It’s 7:46, the party started at 6:30. Says it on the invitation.” Peter B shrugged, “It said it started at 6:30, didn’t say anything about being there exactly at 6:30.”

Now Jessica was fuming. “Everyone that was in charge of bringing something had to be here two hours earlier. It was said in the fucking group chat!”

Peter B raised a brow. “Group chat? I don’t remember receiving anything from a group chat. Hold on let me-” his hand reached every pocket and crevice of his shorts and did not feel his phone anywhere. His eyes widened. “Seems that I lost my phone,” he chuckled weakly.

You looked over at Jessica who was rubbing her temples while whispering things you couldn’t quite make out. “This is why we never ask you for any help,” she shot a web at the box with the inflatable pool inside, dragging it to her. She tightened her grip on the box. “I will set this up,” she said in a monotone voice as she walked off. Peter B shrugged it up and shouted, “Let’s have some fun!”

The streets of Nueva York were surrounded by loads of people celebrating the Fourth of July. Music was blasting in every corner. Cheerful shouts are all of what could be heard. Today appeared to be a day of peace and unity. That is what people would want you to think. This is a villain’s dream. A day where everyone’s guards are down and completely vulnerable. The perfect time to strike. Which was why Miguel couldn’t allow himself to relax. All of the other Spiders could take the day off if they wanted, but not him. That was something that was not available for his comfort. Or more like something he wouldn’t allow to be available for himself. He swung through every alley and every corner. Waiting for something to happen. He landed into an alleyway. His body slowly lurked in the shadows as he observed the sight before him.

Kids were running. Their faces filled with laughter and joy. Miguel could smell the barbecue scent from across the street. The music was so loud and booming. People were dancing and singing loudly to the lyrics. It was a wondrous sight, even to Miguel. This is probably what’s going in HQ right now, he thought to himself. He could imagine all the fun you must be having. The music, the food, all the Spiders all together. Can you not be Spiderman for one day? Your words stuck to him like glue. Constantly replaying in his mind.

Miguel turned around from the joyous sight and was preparing to continue his lookout. Until he heard someone. “Is that Spiderman?!”

Miguel turned around to see a few people running up to him. He walked out of the shadows and now was visible for everyone to see. A guy in an open shirt ran up to him. “Yo Spiderman! Can I take a picture?” Miguel didn’t argue and let the guy take a selfie with him. He shouted happily. He was certainly drunk. Some kids ran up to him. “Spiderman!” a little girl shouted. A boy shouted, “Do a trick Spiderman!” A young dad suddenly came in too. “Can you pose with my kids?” Miguel nodded and grabbed the girl and boy and put them on each shoulder.

The dad put his phone down. “Thank you so much Spiderman!”

Miguel gave the guy a nod as he gently put both kids back on the ground. “No problem.” A mom was walking with her phone and kid, most likely wanting Miguel to take a photo with her kid. He was going to take another photo until he heard a large noise. Suddenly, his spider senses tingled. All the people talking to him faded out as he tried to see where the noise could be coming from. He started to walk away, though people still kept trying to speak to him. “Sorry guys, but I must go,” he said as he shot his webs and flung himself far from everyone.

He swung from rooftop to rooftops with urgency. The closer he was, the louder the noises seemed. He landed on a rooftop and hid himself to avoid anyone from seeing him. He was hearing voices. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said until he heard someone shout, “Fireworks!” Suddenly the noise he heard before was clear to him. It wasn’t some villain preparing to strike but some people putting fireworks for today. He rubbed his temple, “Dios mio.” He felt really stupid. He peered his head slowly to get a good view. He saw a small group on the rooftop next to him. They all were cheering as the fireworks were in the air. They all seemed...happy. Just a group of people spending the day together and enjoying each other’s company. Your words lingered in his brain again. Just be Miguel. Is that too much to ask?

The party started at 6:30 and in a blink of an eye it was 9:00. The party had been going on for almost three hours and still felt as if the party just started. Peter B was dancing horribly. Jessica was talking with the other Spiders while also cringing at his moves.

You were near the pool with Hobie, Gwen and Miles accompanying you. You were recanting a story to them. You took a sip of your third drink. You were certainly a bit tispy, but so was almost everyone else here. Youcontinued to tell your story until your focus shifted as the DJ started playing Sunflower. Miles gave a shout. “Finally! My song!”

He ran over to the crowd where the DJ was while shouting the lyrics. “Look at him go,” Hobie pointed at him. You let out a laugh. Miles had been waiting the entire party for the song to come up. “We need to give him a new song to obsess about. It’s getting concerning,” you laughed. Gwen dipped a chip into the chicken dip she put on her plate. “I swear, I send him playlists all the time. Yet, he always sticks to the same song.”

You took a bite of a wing. “From now on, we need to establish a legit rule. No more Sunflower in HQ.” Gwen and Hobie both laughed. “I’m being serious,” you giggled.

“I’m pretty sure you can convince Miguel,” Gwen said, trying to prevent herself from letting out another laugh. “Oh sweetheart, I don’t think it would need much convincing. Miguel would make a thing without hesitation.” Everytime Miguel heard Miles even hum the tune, she could see his annoyance grow.

Gwen groaned as she took a bite of a chocolate fudge cookie. “Y/n I swear. This food is so good,” she said with her mouth full to the point where you couldn’t quite hear what she was saying entirely.. You appreciated the praise though cringed at her mouth full of food.

Hobie shook his head. “You Americans truly lack manners,” he joked. Gwen gulped her food and was about to retaliate until she saw something that caused her face to freeze in shock. Hobie whispered, “Oh shit.” All of a sudden, the music stopped. You turned your head and also stood in shock as you saw Miguel walk into the party. He wasn’t in his Spiderman suit, but had a red open shirt with a white tank top. He had some sandals and brown shorts. His eyes scanned the room as he noticed the sudden tension that appeared.

“Why is everybody so tense? Put the music back on and continue the party,” he said in a bit of a commanding tone. Just as he commanded, the Dj resumed his music and so did the party.

You walked over to him with a mix of happiness and surprise on your face. “You came.”

“I did,” he said to you softly. “I knew you would come,” you teased with a laugh. He raised his brow. “Are you tispy?” he asked. You squint your nose in response. “Just a little.”

He smirked at you, “Are you sure?” You giggled, “Yes.”

Miguel walked closer to you slowly, but the mood was completely ruined when Peter B came to Miguel sprinting and pushed him into the pool. You couldn’t hold it in. You bursted out in laughter to the point where you could feel your knees losing balance. Gwen and Hobie were also laughing. Miguel was soaked and did not seem too happy. He noticed your laughter.

“You think that’s funny,” he asked in a serious tone.

You laughed and nodded. “Yes I do.”

He swam closer to you and grabbed on to you to throw in the pool with him. You let out a laugh as you collided into the water. Then you could hear Peter B shout as he jumped into the pool. Then Hobie and Gwen joined in. Suddenly everyone was laughing and other Spiders joined in the water. You smiled as you took in all of this. Then you heard a subtle laugh. A laugh you haven’t heard in a while.

You quickly turned your head to Miguel. “Miguel O’ Hara, did you just laugh?” you teased. Miguel moved his face closer to you. “Did I? I don’t think I did,” he teased back with a smirk.

“Guys! The Fireworks!” you heard Miles shout. You averted your attention to the sky as fireworks shot up into the guy. It was a beautiful sight.

You could feel Miguel’s stare, so you slowly turned to him. For a moment everything went silent as you both just took each other in. “I’m glad you came,” you said with a loving smile. He took a moment to respond. He just couldn’t help himself but admire you. You could feel your face get a bit flushed. He finally responded, “So am I.” He smiled at you. Miguel O’ Hara smiling in front of everyone. Now that was a sight. You both moved closer to. Your lips brushed against each other into a sweet kiss.

[shuttershocky]

wow some people are extremely salty about AK releasing more dudes, sheesh. "Hope the chapter 11 banner does so badly that lowlight stops pandering to husbando stans just because they complain 24/7 online".

RIP to them getting mad about a banner with more than one boy in it for once but I am excited to see what Animal Boy TF2 Engineer does. If he straight up has a Dispenser AND a Sentry Gun he is going to be a more important roll for me than Mlynar.

Besides, I don't know what they're all mad about, we are absolutely getting Siege Alter for the 4th anniversary half a year from now. Demand for Siege relevance has only ever been on the increase since Myrtle and Bagpipe pushed her off the position of strongest vanguard and Saga pushed her off the podium completely (even if Siege S3 scales better with buffs than anyone else), Siege is on the cover of Chapter 11, the Glasgow Gang finally has new members after 3 fucking years of just being Siege and Indra, HG have yet to introduce Pioneer modules, the character is literally inspired by one of the most famous faces in all of anime, hell they fucking ended the first story Arc by going "It'll be Siege time soon".

The next 3.5 anniversary is probably going to be Skadi's captain Ulpian, and then 4th anniv or Chapter 12 will be Siege the Crownless King or something like that, and probably Pioneer modules somewhere in between. Be patient, it will happen, and we won't be waiting for years either for it to come to Global.

[justmanic03]

Amethyst - Chapter Thirty-Two (Seraphina's story)

As the doors to the next hall opened, I was once again struck by the difference in colour. The walls of this room were maroon, and smooth white pillars stemmed from the pale, grey tiles of the floor all the way up to the high ceiling. Seraphina stood in the centre of the room, directly on the Pokeball tile that was paved in the floor. She was wearing a long beige gown, with a golden necklace that had small mineral rocks attached to it. "Welcome," she smiled warmly. "I must offer my congratulations. It sure is nice to see you again, Y/N."

"Yeah, it's been a while since we met back in Ridgeburn," I retorted.

"And I must offer my heartfelt thanks for solving the mystery behind Team Moon that's been disquieting the region for decades, even though the outcome is far from what we predicted."

"Yeah, well, it's not over yet. We're up against someone far more dangerous than Team Moon." I nodded my head. Seraphina also nodded.

"I never thought it would be Flossi. I don't think any of us did," Her head lowered sadly, in the same way as Louis had when the subject was brought up. "She and I used to be so close. I'll tell you all about it. But first, I do believe a Pokemon battle is in order." She reached down onto her golden belt, and detached one of her luxury balls, holding it up whilst gesturing me to join her on the battlefield. I did so immediately, I was confident enough that the Pokemon in my party were powerful enough to dispense with the Rock Pokemon that Seraphina was about to present to me.

You are challenged by Seraphina of the Elite Four!

Seraphina sent out Aggron!

Go! Medicham!

Medicham used Calm Mind!

Medicham's Sp. Atk rose sharply!

Medicham's Sp. Defense rose sharply!

Aggron used Iron Tail!

It's not very effective...

"Aha, I see you listened to that annoying guy in Galar rambling on about type matchups!" Seraphina chuckled.

Despite this fact, Aggron proved to be rather tedious to take down, as it had an extremely high defence. Although, Medicham was ultimately successful due to its supreme strength and versatility.

"You're doing brilliant! Keep it up!" The Rock-Type leader called across to me.

Seraphina sent out Sudowoodo!

"Sudowoodo is so adorable, don't you think?" Seraphina asked, earning a little roar from the Pokemon in appreciation.

Despite my Medicham's moves being super effective against the tree-like Pokemon, they hardly did any damage at all. Seraphina was using her high defence in an attempt to stall me, whilst throwing in a brutal attack occasionally when I least expected it. Medicham ultimately proved unsuccessful, and fainted.

Go! Zelda!

Zelda was easily able to make work of Sudowoodo, as well as Seraphina's third Pokemon, Glimmora. However, she was left with poisoned just as Seraphina readied her 4th Luxury Ball. "That Glimmora was a gift to me from Chairwoman Geeta from Paldea, by the way."

Zelda was badly poisoned!

Three turns in, I was able to heal up Zelda, who was later taken down by Seraphina's Rhyhorn. I decided to send out Gladimax (aka Lily), with her ionisation chip, to pack several devastating blows to the remainder of her team.

You defeated Seraphina of the Elite Four!!

"Wow.... just... wow..." she whispered. "Have you ever thought about becoming a Professor at Naranja Academy?!" With a close-eyed smile, she began clapping her hands. "Congratulations, Y/N!"

****

"I can't tell you how happy I am for you! This whole thing is just... thrilling!!!" She was trying to suppress her excited squealing at my victory, even though neither of us could barely contain ourselves.

"Ahaha we still need to try and keep a level head about this," I giggled, completely contradicting my excitement.

"You're so close now! So close to being Champion! You just have to beat Clyde and Crystal."

"...But then there's the issue of the crowns." I sighed.

The bright smile completely vanished, and all of the colour in Seraphina's face was abruptly drained away. "I forgot she still has them both."

"When was the last time you saw Flossi?" I asked.

"On that day, when we revoked her Champion title." Seraphina explained. "Nobody in the whole of Taldourse has ever seen her since."

"But Kossi said she was still here," I responded.

"Kossi was always an honest man. The most honest you could possibly find. But can you really trust a ghost?" Seraphina was unsure. She lifted her hand up to her face, gnawing at her nails. I recognised this immediately as something Lisa would always do when she felt stressed.

"I don't know, honestly. But he also said she's the one who's been corrupting Pokemon." I explained.

"Corrupting, you say?" Seraphina raised one of her brows.

I nodded. "Didn't you see that Aron back in Krodania? It had been converted into psychic."

"That's something Team Moon used to do. But Flossi was terrified of Team Moon... why would she start adopting their methods?"

"Maybe because she was desperate to hold on to some semblance of power?" I suggested.

"I remember her from my very young years, before she ran away from Team Moon." Seraphina said. "She didn't go by Flossi back then. She only changed her name after she married Kossi, so that Team Moon couldn't trace her."

"Oh wow, how come the history books didn't talk about that?" I wondered. "Also.... what name did she go by back in Team Moon?"

Seraphina shook her head sadly. "I just don't remember at all. But she's clearly an expert in covering her tracks. Still, I suppose that sort of thing comes naturally when you grow up in a cult full of criminals."

"All of the Elite Four were born into Team Moon, yes?" I asked.

Seraphina nodded. "I was born into the Interstellar Division, one of the middle ranks. My family were specifically instructed to convert rock types into grass types."

~ Flashback : Seraphina's POV ~

"What's so wrong with rock-type Pokemon that you want to change what they fundamentally are?" I queried, as my mother prepared the Moon Machine for the batch of Pokemon my father was about to bring in.

My mother continued what she was doing, answering my question with her back to me. "Because rock-type Pokemon are useless the way they are now. They're not going to help us with our goal. Too many weaknesses."

"They've got a lot of good points too though," I responded, reaching down to pet the head of the larvitar that sat in my lap. "They know how to pack a punch."

"Don't let Don hear you say that, Seraphina. He wants all of these Pokemon put through the Moon Machine and finished up by midnight sharp. Do the honours, would you?"

I did a double take. Although I had watched many Pokemon be put through the Moon Machine during my young life, this was the first time I was being told to do it myself. "Come again, mother?"

Our conversation was interrupted by the door of the house swinging open, and my father pushing a wheelbarrow full of Pokeballs through it.

"Sera is going to do this batch so we can go out." My mother explained. My breath hitched in my throat as I became terrified of what I was being asked to do.

This prompted my father to look over at me, causing the Larvitar to scramble behind me out of his sight. "It's about time she started making herself useful." He said, with a smirk on his face. "She's far too lazy when it comes to battling with grass-types."

I didnt have the energy to argue with my parents, I knew it would just turn into a screaming match, so I decided to bide my time instead. I nodded, rising up from my chair. I proceeded to make my way over to the Moon Machine, which my mother had finished preparing at this point. "Very well father, I will complete Don's request by midnight. Enjoy your night out."

After my parents left the house, I took a peek out of the small window to ensure that they were gone, and would not return home for hours. Taking a deep breath, I rubbed my hands together before bending down to the wheelbarrow and speaking to all the Pokemon locked away inside their Pokeballs. "Right then, you guys, it's time to get you all out of here." I grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow, opened the door, and proceeded to run as fast as I could out of the entire camp, praying to Arceus that nobody spotted me. I figured I'd have less chance of being caught if I took the fastest route into the forest. I continued running as fast as I could, my knees banging against the wheelbarrow as I heard confused shrieks come from inside the Pokeballs. "Don't worry guys, you'll be safe here... I think."

I slowed as I approached a pond surrounded by rocks, fairly confident that the grunts wouldn't spot them down here. I proceeded to open each Pokeball, one by one, shuddering as I anticipated the punishment I'd be in for later on once my parents discovered I had mysteriously "lost" the Pokemon.

As I got to my feet, I decided to whisper one last sentence to the creatures I had just rescued. "I don't understand why they want to turn you guys into grass types. You're perfect the way you are."

~ End of Flashback, your POV~

"It was worth it," Seraphina said. "When I told Flossi about it, she said I was a hero."

"You are," I smiled. "You, Crystal, Clyde and Louis, you really are the heroes of this nation. You saved thousands of Pokemon from corruption by Team Moon."

Seraphina didn't appear to acknowledge this remark. Her eyes had wandered, and she appeared to be deep in thought as she continued to nibble on her nails anxiously. Eventually, however, her eyes widened and she held a finger upwards. "Wait... Y/N.... I think I just remembered Flossi's original name back when she was in Team Moon."

"Really?! What was it?!" I eyed her curiously.

"If memory serves me right, I think her name was Freya."

[unexpected-character]

Sisters and Surprises

(gif not mine) I’m obsessed. My wifeeeys🥺💗

In celebration of my two wives' birthdays, Kate Walsh (October 13) and Caterina Scorsone (October 16), here's a drabble.

Amelia Shepherd x Reader

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You and Amelia started dating a few weeks after you arrived in Grey Sloan looking for a fresh start and a job as a Cardiothoracic Surgeon. That was about 6 months ago and even until now you were both happy and contented with what you both have. Sure you knew about how complicated her recent drama that had happened before you arrived which is her having a kid and an ex that asked her to marry him however she declined and hell broke lose. So things were a bit awkward but you didn't wanna get into it because you really really like Amelia and you're not going to judge her for what happened in the past and whatever reason. You'd rather support her and be there for her instead. You both chose each other, that for the both of you is enough.

You knew the basic things about her, like her being an ex-addict and her brain tumour and the likes. She also told you briefly of her sisters and said how they all don't see eye to eye. You were both still getting to know each other and you are okay and looking forward to all the discovery. You both started to know the little things first then gradually the big ones and the ones you both like to do. For example, what both of you want to eat early in the morning or even the way you both would like to cuddle 5 minutes more after the alarm rang so you both put it 5 minutes earlier so you guys try to not be late for your shifts, keyword try.

So when she paged you, as she was looking for you. You paged her back to the OR because her page said 911 however you were still finishing up your surgery so you can't just runout there for her. You were almost done anyway just a little bit of stitch and you let the resident to close up. So when you just unscrub out of a double bypass surgery when you notice Amelia doing a beeline towards you. She said she wanted you to meet someone she really cares about. She wanted you to meet her chosen sister, with that in mind you asked if you can prepare yourself first to look more well put. You want to be presentable to someone she consider as a sister knowing that she didn't have good biological ones. You were tired and a bit thirsty too due to having back to back surgeries since early this morning so you asked her if you both can go to the attendings' lounge first. She agreed but told you to hurry up because she really is excited for it. So you entered the lounge first while Amelia is following you close.

As you both enter, your eyes locked towards the water dispenser while Amelia saw the person she wanted you to meet. Amelia being too excited she wasn't able to control her tone and said, "Y/n, I want you to —" you raised your head up due to her loudness and thats when you notice the other person inside the lounge, "Woah! If it isn't the infamous Forbes." You teasingly told the older woman. Addison seeing you simply smirked and approached you. She launch herself to you for a full body embrace. She seems so relax with you. "How are you here? It's been years, Y/n/n." She said while she buries her head on the crook of your neck. You hugged her tightly. You never thought that you'll be seeing her since forever. She was on her 1st year as an attending and you were on your 4th year of residency when you were given an offer you can't refuse to another country to study your chosen specialty as it was going to make or break your career, so you left. It was emotional but both of you agreed it was for the best. You had few good years and for you guys it was enough. Your friends to lovers to friends again was good 'til you both were busy with your careers, communications were cut. You haven't forgotten her though, both of you didn't. "Almost 22 years to be exact, Forbes. I haven't heard from you a few months after I left for Zurich." "Yeah. We were both so busy, weren't we?" She looked at you fondly. The relationship didn't work out but you both hold each other dearly in each other's heart.

"Uhmm okay. This is weird. How do you both know each other?" For a minute you both forgot that there was someone in the room with you. Most especially your girlfriend. So when her initial surprise of her lover and sister knowing each other she spoke. You and Addison, both detangled yourselves from each other. You smiled at your girlfriend and approach her, taking her hand with your own. "Amelia, Addie and I were really close back when we were both residents. She's a really good friend however due to both our success in our own fields we weren't able to catch up until now." You looked at your girlfriend lovingly, happy that you have your friend back again after so much time has passed.

"Oh, okay. I feel like there's a lot of history there but it's good both of you are now in each others life, I guess." she replied, and you looked at her and can feel her jealousy about what had happened a while ago. You wanna smirk and teased her but you'd rather not because she was right that there is history but you know that whatever you and Addie had back then can't compare to what you have with Amelia now. You really hope she knows that though.

"Yes, Amy but we're good. I'm just happy that I have my friend back in my life after so many years. I didn't even know I'd see her again because last time I heard she was a hotshot bachelorette taking Europe by storm after her miracles in Zurich." Addie trying to lighten the mood and tension that you three feel inside the room. "Yeah, I did but then I thought why not visit the states and start a storm here too. However, I'm not the hotshot bachelorette though. I mean still hot, but not a bachelorette. Very much taken by this wonderful human being, a world-class neurosurgeon at that." You said and kissed Amelia's cheek. She tried really hard but she can't help the blush creeping up. You wrapped your arms around her waist and she leaned on you.

"You guys look so cute together. I am so happy that you both finally found someone that will always be there for each other. You guys are perfect." She gushed and genuinely happy at both her friend. One a little sister, and one that she can actually even admit to be her person back then maybe still is. You smiled at your friend. Happy about everything. "Okay. Let's go to the serious part now." She said and it made you a bit confused but still listened to what she'll have to say. "Y/n, you better take good care of my sister. I will kick your ass and destroy you if you ever break her heart. Amy, I love you, you know that but Y/n here was once my person back when I was just starting my career so take good care of her too. Just take care of each other or you both will feel the wrath of Satan." She said jokingly but the sincerity and truth shine through on what she said to you both. "Addie... don't worry, I really like her. I'm madly in love with her, very much so. I promise I won't intentionally hurt her. If I do, I'm gonna give myself the boot so I really understand. I will take good care of her and her heart too." You look down at Amelia. Conveying everything in your eyes that you really mean it.

"You love me?" Amelia asked. You both haven't said it yet even if you both know how you both love each other, shown through actions and care but you admitting it openly not just to her but to her sister too, it brought tears to her eyes. "I do, Amy. I really love you." You replied. Amelia can't help herself and kissed you with everything in her. She adores you so much. You can feel it through the kiss. "I love you too, Y/n. So much." She gave you another peck. "Okay. You, guys. I'm still here. Please don't fuck in front of me go to an on-call room or something." "Oh shut up, Forbes. I hope you get stalked by a lot of pregnant mothers." She gave you a strong punch and left you both for privacy. You just laugh it off. Nothing can beat how happy and in love you feel right now.

"So... Amy, baby. Don't get jealous, okay? I only love you." You said smirking and teasing her of her behaviour a while ago. You can't help but laugh your ass off because of it. "Oh shut up! I take it back, you're just annoying." She replied back. You can't help yourself and gave her a grin she knows so well. She knows that look and before she can get away, you carried her in a fireman's carry, her on your shoulder and run towards the nearest on-call room.

You both passed by Webber, him with a look of surprise and confusion but he learned to never question anything he sees with his doctors. He already got himself too much information and scarred in all the years he have been in this hospital.

[galactibabe]

Can I request a fluffy Joe Mazzello x fem. reader oneshot where Joe surprises reader and proposes in a very sweet and romantic way?

Star Light, Star Bright

Joe Mazzello x fem!reader

Word Count: 1,117

A/N: I am SO SORRY this took so long lmao. I kept forgetting and then remembering at the worst times. But it’s finally done! This is the first time I’ve written anything in literal years, since like pre-covid. I’m happy I got to venture back into writing for our favorite man! These are bleak times in the world, it was nice to shut out everything for a bit and live in this little moment. Thank you if you choose to read and share! 💕

“What do I even do? How the hell do I go about this?”

Joe has spent the last half hour on the phone with Sebastian trying to figure out a way to maybe think about asking you to marry him. He had no idea it would be this difficult to plan what should be a huge moment for the two of you.

“I hate to say it like this, but get your shit together! You love her, right?”

“Yeah. Like, so much.”

“Then don’t even think about it. Stop searching for the perfect place, the perfect moment, the perfect lighting. I guarantee you’ll feel when it’s right. Everything will happen when it needs to, man. You’ve got this.”

Joe hears your keys turning the lock in the front door.

“She’s home, I gotta go. Thanks for listening to me ramble, Seb.”

“No problem. Hey, congrats, dude.”

“We’re not there yet, I’ll see you later.”

He hangs up just as you push into the house with a few shopping bags in hand and a body pillow slung over your shoulder. He wastes no time in getting up from his seat at the kitchen island to help take some of the bags from you.

“I hope you realize we don’t need any of this and you should never leave me unsupervised in a home goods store.” you say as you drop the bags you had on the floor.

He laughs and starts unpacking some of the different things you brought home; some new hand towels, a fancy-looking toothbrush holder, a matching soap dispenser, among other things. He pulls out a larger item and looks at you incredulously.

“What and why?”

“It’s a light up shower head! You can program it to different light patterns from your phone. It changes color, too!”

He watches the excitement on your face as you turn to pick up the body pillow with running cats embroidered along the bottom and he doesn’t know how it’s possible, but he falls deeper in love with you.

“I figured we could put this on the futon in the spare room, since we don’t have any pillows for when it gets used as a bed.”

“It’s adorable, just like you, Snow Cap.”

He’s been calling you that since your 4th date when he invited you over for a movie night and you brought your own candy but refused to share the Snow Caps with him.

You smiled and brought some of the things upstairs into their specific rooms. He watches you disappear and he feels the ring box in his jacket pocket, pressing his fingertips onto the corners. He catches his nail on the front seam and picks at it nervously as he stands in the middle of the room.

You come back down the stairs with the bag in your hand now filled with the now replaced bathroom counter furnishings and old hand towels, and he pulls his hand out of his pocket.

“I was thinking of giving these to my friend Dolly since she’s moving out of her sister’s place.”

“That’s alright with me. Do we have anything else to do today?” Joe asks.

You shake your head, “I’m all yours!”

Gosh, you have no idea how deeply he wants to make that statement a permanent one..

You spend the next couple hours on the couch playing video games. Joe always finds a way to squeak out a win in Mario Kart. He brings up taking you outside when it starts to get dark. The weather is at that nice stage where it’s warm enough outside to go for a walk, but there’s still a slight breeze so it’s not too warm. You end up sitting out on your patio swing in the back yard, curled into his side as you swing gently.

The sky is clear and you can see the stars. The crickets are chirping. You can hear people a couple houses down having a get together, laughing and talking. Somewhere a child plays with their dog.

Before he knows it, he’s getting up from the swing, pulling you with him out from under the overhang, into the yard so you’re completely under the night sky. He’s not thinking about it, he’s not nervous, he’s not pushing for things to be perfect, he’s just letting it all fall into place.

“I love you so god damn much, you know that, right?”

The statement kinda freaks you out a bit, you’re beginning to think that he bought something really expensive without discussing it first, or he’s taking a long acting job across the world, who knows.

But then he reaches into his pocket and he starts to get down on one knee.

“Joey… what the fuck are you doing…?”

“I can’t even begin to imagine my life anymore without you in it. I love waking up next to you every day. I love taking stupid pictures with you. I love when we judge bad movies together. I love getting to be there for you while you work on your dissertation. I love that you bring home more Lactaid pills for me when I don’t even notice I’m out of them. You are everything I’ll ever need. I could get blacklisted in Hollywood tomorrow, and as long as I have you, I’m set for life. I can do anything when I have you. Will you marry me?”

You’ve been smiling like an idiot through his whole speech, and you’ve forgotten to respond. Joe pokes you in the thigh with his finger a couple times.

“Hey, goofball, did you hear me?”

You’re shaken from your daze and you run your fingers through his hair.

“Can you say it again?”

He smiles wide and pulls your left hand in.

“Will you marry me?”

You tackle him onto the grass while yelling ‘of course I will, you dork!’

He rolls you onto your back and slips the ring on your finger, it fits perfectly. You’re so happy that you don’t even care about the dampness in the grass seeping into your clothes as you lay there with him under the stars.

“When did you even buy this? How did you manage get my size right?”

“Bought it a couple weeks ago, stole one of your rings you wear all the time to get it sized correctly. It was worth a shot that your right hand and left hand were the same size.”

The stone glitters in the moonlight, a round cut with a halo on a simple band, nothing too flashy or large. Joe turns your hand to press a kiss to your palm.

“Love you Snow Cap…”

“Gonna have to add Mazzello to that soon.”

“I can’t wait.”

[cinebration]

Turmoil (Qui-Gon Jinn x gender neutral!Reader) [One-shot]

Happy Revenge of the Fifth! (And belated May the 4th!)

This is garbage, but whatever.

Premise: You are Qui-Gon Jinn’s first padawan, but unbeknownst to him, inner turmoil and dark forces plague you.

Warnings: none

Gif Source: padawanlost

“I think you’re ready for the Trials.”

Instead of exulting, your heart faltered. Nodding, you kept your face carefully neutral. “I’m glad you think me worthy, Master.”

Qui-Gon Jinn glanced aside at you, a frown tugging on his thin lips. It wasn’t that he sensed your lack of excitement but more that he had expected some reaction in your face.

“You’re allowed a little excitement,” he said, a hint of humor in his voice.

Smiling thinly, you answered, “I am pleased…but I have had great experiences by your side Qui-Gon. If I’m granted Knighthood…I wouldn’t be your padawan anymore.”

Qui-Gon’s frown deepened, a slight furrow appearing in his stately brow. “You would rather remain a padawan?”

Dangerous waters, you thought. Turning away, you began walking down the long corridor in the Jedi Temple. Qui-Gon matched your stride easy, catching up to you with a few long steps.

“Talk to me,” he said in that soft voice of his.

Once I get Knighted, I have a job to do, you wanted to say. Instead, you deflected, “Have we been given an assignment from the Council?”

“Yes. I think you’ll be pleased. It’s on Corellia.”

Home. Your step faltered a fraction. Qui-Gon didn’t fail to notice.

Reaching out for your elbow, he drew you aside into a shadowy corner. “Talk to me,” he pleaded.

He has such a lovely face.

You batted the thought away, quelling the emotion that rose with it. “Corellia is full of memories I hadn’t planned on revisiting.”

“What memories could you have? You were brought before the Council so young.”

“Memories enough.” The tone of your voice prevented further questioning. “When do we leave?”

“Immediately.”

Giving him a curt nod, you strode away. He stared after you, unease tickling the back of his mind.

~~

The ship was manned by a pilot and had no other passengers but you and Qui-Gon. The cockpit, segmented from the rest of the ship by a closed hull-grade door, cut off the pilot from the inner workings of the ship, leaving you and Qui-Gon alone.

Qui-Gon took the opportunity to uncover the source of your reticence. He hadn’t let on how much your sudden silence and lack of excitement was bothering him. He had come to rely on talking to you, sounding out his own thoughts and your reactions to them. You were something of a perfect complement to his teaching style and his personality—something he had sensed only slightly when he met you, along with a streak of defiance very much like his own. It wasn’t until he took you on that he realized just how much you were a match.

To see you withdrawn made him hurt.

“You weren’t so apprehensive the last time we went to Corellia,” he said, sitting beside you.

That’s where the bad memories started. You shrugged and stared down at the floor. “Master, I’m trying to meditate.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s really important that I—”

“Stop.” Qui-Gon placed his hand overs yours, his palm dry but warm, comforting as much as it was inflaming. You tried to withdraw it, but he tightened his grip, unwilling to relinquish you just yet. “Lying doesn’t become you.”

You exhaled heavily through your nose. “Okay, so I wasn’t meditating. I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m too…distracted.”

“By what?”

You could barely remember the last time you weren’t distracted by the Jedi Knight. Shortly after you became his padawan, you had found yourself slipping down the slippery slope that were feelings, the kind the Jedi Code forbade. It was your fault, really. Nothing had been easy for you. No one had ever been kind to you without wanting something in return.

Except for Qui-Gon, who made you laugh and lifted you up.

Because you’re his padawan, you reminded yourself sharply.

“I’m just as new at this as you are,” he said quietly, drawing your attention, “but I know it’s not good to have secrets between a master and his padawan.”

Your hand curled into a fist beneath his massive palm. There were two secrets, one of them vastly more dangerous than the other. He would, you knew, draw at least one of them out of you.

It just couldn’t be the insidious one.

A thought suddenly struck you. “Will I fail the Trials if I can’t control a certain emotion?”

“It depends on the emotion and the strength of it.”

Perhaps there was hope. If you failed the Trials, your other obligation would be forfeit. Would it mean death? Perhaps. But maybe that was your fate all along.

“The Jedi Code,” Qui-Gon continued, suddenly pensive, “weighs thought over instinct. At least, that’s how the Jedi now interpret it. But the Force guides us through all if we listen to it. Another word for the Force is instinct.”

He smiled in the way he did whenever he dispensed wisdom he had just plucked from the deep well that was his inner world.

Don’t think. Feel.

You leaned forward and pressed your lips to his. His mustache scraped your upper lip not unpleasantly, his lips almost as soft as your own. Blood rushed through your head, blocking out all other sound.

He didn’t react.

Pulling back, you avoided his gaze. If that didn’t get you a failing score for the Trials, you didn’t know what else would. Scrambling to your feet, you fled to one of the berths in the ship.

~~

“I did not select you only to have you fall into useless turmoil,” Darth Malas snapped. She flung back her cloak’s hood, revealing dark eyes in a too-pale face, a network of blue veins threading up the side of her cheek. “Tell me your progress is where it needs to be, at least.”

Upon landing on Corellia, you had, eyes averted, checked in with Qui-Gon to the diplomatic summons hall. After a brief introduction and an assurance that the talks would proceed shortly, you stole away before Qui-Gon could pull you aside.

Meeting the Sith Lord was more of an excuse to put distance between yourself and your master and less of a mandatory check-in, though that was what it was.

“I may be starting the Trials,” you said, hiding the misgiving in your voice. Around the Sith Lord, it wasn’t a requirement to keep one’s emotions in check. In fact, she tended to encourage emotional expression, but you weren’t going to give her more reason to doubt you. Now that you and your master were on Corellia, the Sith Lord could retaliate in any way she saw fit in response to insubordination—including attacking your master.

“Good,” the older woman crowed. “Once you pass, you must get yourself sent to Serenno.”

Anxiety constricting your chest, you asked, “What if I fail?”

Darth Malas fixed you with a piercing stare of her pale-green eyes. “Then you will have been a waste. I don’t like waste.”

“No, of course not,” you mumbled.

“Get back to your master,” the woman sneered, “before he questions your absence.”

“Yes, my lord.”

You ducked out of the woman’s office, appearing to be an ambassador meeting the local dignitary. If the government knew—if Coruscant knew—that a Sith Lord held quite the position of power over a relevant planet, they would lose their minds.

You had half a mind to tell them.

But that would indict me, too, you thought bitterly.

~~

You expected to be escorted to the meeting room for negotiations.

You were steered instead to the ambassadorial quarters, where Qui-Gon Jinn lay in wait.

Stepping into the suite, you crept around the corner, hoping to hide yourself away.

Qui-Gon called your name.

Cringing, you froze and glanced over your shoulder. He stood by the window overlooking the city, leaning casually against the sill. His arms weren’t crossed, but his brow bore deep lines in it.

“Come here,” he ordered.

You dragged your feet, heart pounding with each step. Stopping a bit away, just out of reach, you stared at a spot beside his head, unable to meet his eyes.

“You’re avoiding me.”

You laughed explosively despite yourself. “Clearly.”

“We need to discuss this.”

“Are you going to tell the Council?”

The question caught him by surprise. “No. This isn’t their concern.”

You frowned, your turn to be caught off-guard. “It isn’t?”

“This is between us.”

Your throat tightened at the sound of the collective pronoun falling from his lips, so softly spoken that the weight of it dropped into your belly.

“I’ve broken the Code,” you blurted, trying to salvage the situation. “I can’t pass the Trials.”

Qui-Gon pushed himself away from the window, slowly wandered over to you, pensive. “The Council and I disagree on a lot of things. I believe that for a Jedi to be compassionate, they must know love, in whatever form it takes.”

Your frown deepened. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” he answered slowly, “that we are both young, and the young can be foolish, but they can be wise, too, on matters the mature have forced themselves to forget.”

His fingertips brushed your face, sending sparks through your skin. You blinked helplessly at him. You still couldn’t understand.

“Pass the Trials,” he murmured, cupping your face in his hands, “so that when we are no longer master and apprentice, we can revisit this issue.”

He pulled you into a warm embrace, dwarfing you with his huge frame. Joy and confusion warred within you as you clutched him back.

When I’m a Knight, we can be together, you thought.

Your stomach fell.

When I’m a Knight, I have work to do.

The pallid face of Darth Malas haunted you.

[somuchtostudysolittletime]

hi i think tumblr might have eaten my previous ask but i'm a yr 12 in england considering pharmacy. unfortunately i don't know anyone i could ask about it so could you tell me a bit about the good the bad and the dirty of being a pharmacy student in the uk please? i'm trying to convince my parents that this is what i want but they feel that i'm not well informed enough so just something from a former student's pov would be great

(if not and you just didn't want to answer i'm really sorry about this and you don't have to answer)

Hi! I am so so so sorry for not responding - I thought I had but my post seems to have vanished :/ Also, a pre-warning, this’ll be SUPER long if you really want the good, the bad, and the dirty. Also I wrote thoughts as I had them so this is not in a coherent order sorry haha. If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll do my best to help, my final exam to become a pharmacist is a week away so I might not respond super fast because I am Dying but I’ll do my best!

TLDR- pharmacy is fab.

Okay first, in case you don’t know, pharmacy is 4 years. Then you do a pre-reg year when you work full time, then you sit your final exam, then you’re a pharmacist. They’re reviewing this after covid broke the system completely and left my year in a mess, but for now that’s what you can expect to get yourself into.

The good!!!

Pharmacy is super interesting!! Learning about how medicines affect the body and how the body affects the medicines is so interesting, and you’ll become an expert in medicines - what to use when, what shouldn’t be used together, and how to get the most benefit out of them. 

You’re with all the other pharmacy students SO much that you end up with a really close-knit group of friends because you’re all together all the time in lectures/labs/etc

It has great job prospects - you have a masters degree. Be a community pharmacist, a hospital pharmacist, an industry pharmacist, teach pharmacy, quit pharmacy and do science, there are SO many options that you can do with a pharmacy degree! And, at the end of uni you’re basically guaranteed a job.

Because pharmacy is SO intense, you have a lot of contact time, so you’re getting your £9,250 worth! You can expect to be in classes pretty much 9-5 for the first year or so, it’s super busy so you learn time management pretty fast!

By the time you graduate they’ll have changed the system so much that I’m p sure you’ll be a prescriber on graduation, or the year after which is SUPER cool and means you have even more job opportunities open to you. 

Pharmacy labs have so much variety - you have chemistry labs (the classic - make paracetamol, extract aspirin, use chemicals), biology labs (microbiology and physiology too so monitoring heart rate etc), and then pharmaceutics labs - my one true love. Making creams, making tablets, making all sorts of medicines which is so much fun

You also have dispensing classes where you’re essentially learning how to be a pharmacist, how to dispense, how to check medicines, how to make sure they’re safe, how to advise patients on how to use them which is super fun! 

As well as labs and dispensing classes, you’ll also have normal lectures, seminars, workshops etc so it’s super varied with lots of learning methods. Also you get to go on placements to put your learning into practice which really really helps!

It’s great to actually be a pharmacist - I LOVE helping people and being able to make a difference to patients

In uni most modules are mandatory, so as well as knowing your friends well, you’ll know your lecturers well. By 4th year I got on so well with most of my lecturers, it’s like a pharmacy family

You get to use a mixture of science and clinical skills - you use the science from A levels and the start of your degree and build upon it to find out why drugs work and why they have x side effect and why you can’t use them in y people. 

4 year course = extra year at uni = one more freshers week and one more year of not paying council tax and one more year of fun with your friends before real life

I couldn’t not mention the BPSA - it’s the British Pharmaceutical Students Association and they do events and a week long conference every year over Easter which is lit- you meet other pharmacy students from other schools of pharmacy and debate pharmacy, have guests talk to you, do workshops, get evening entertainment, it really is the best PLUS then you learn about the European version of the BPSA and can go abroad if you’re lucky!

Graduating with a masters with your best friends and the lecturers that supported you through 4 years of hard work is one of the best things to ever happen!!!!!! Fab achievement

The bad!

Pharmacy is really hard. It’s 4 years of hard work, then more hard work after you graduate. You need to be committed to pharmacy because it is LONG and HARD and you will undoubtedly have times that you want to quit. I did pharmacy whilst on a range of antidepressants (don’t worry, the depression came first - pharmacy isn’t THAT bad) and it was brutal at times. The workload is intense.

It’s really tiring - I remember a time in first year where I was in lectures all day, went home to eat, then went to the library all evening to revise for exams. Now I’m old I’m just tired and I don’t have the stamina for that but there are times where pharmacy will wear you out - but the successes are worth it. 

Because it’s 4 years long, your non pharmacy friends will graduate before you. My campus was impossible to walk across without seeing someone you know, and then at 4th year that just ends because everyone leaves at 3rd year. And you feel really old because the freshers are 18 and excited about uni and you’re 22 and tired.

People don’t like pharmacists. That isn’t strictly true, but don’t read anything on facebook about pharmacists. The general public don’t know what we do and therefore they don’t like us and see us as the barrier between them and their medicines. Also if a medicine has been discontinued that is YOUR fault personally and the patient will tell you ‘if I die it’s your fault’ - usually over something stupid like heartburn meds. Don’t let it get to you though - the patients who appreciate us and say kind things really do make up for all the abuse. 

You need a life outside pharmacy or it’ll get too much pharmacy- especially if you live with pharmacists too. You’re together 24/7 and that’s too much so make sure you join a sport or a society so you can talk to people about something other than medicines. 

The dirty

People think you’re a wannabe medic. Medical students also don’t like pharmacy students - or maybe that was just my uni. We try and say pharmacy is hard that they will ALWAYS one-up us. Whatever, when they’re qualified and we save their ass catching a prescribing error, they’ll love us then

Everyone knows everyone in pharmacy. The other day I got really excited when I attended a webinar and one of the hosts was a guy who wrote one of my fave textbooks. It is a VERY small world, so make sure you’re hardworking and kind so people have the right impression!

[the-canary]

Kitchen Royalty - B.B (Intro)

Summary: Falling in love wasn’t on the menu, but neither was finding prince charming looking like a trash raccoon and living in your industrial freezer. (Pastry AU! Reader/Bucky Barnes)

Prompt: Sleeping Beauty

Masterlist

A/N: This is for @ciarawritesmarvel​ ‘s 1k challenge. i am excited for this series, even though i don’t know where it will go! there is some cursing. 

Please enjoy and feedback is always appreciated. 

“Hey, Hey!” the blue-eyed boy looks at the wet girl, as her small body shakes, “It’s okay to cry, girls do it all the time.”

She frowns and shakes in that camisole dress and sweater that are soaked to the bone, “Mama said good girls don’t cry. I’m not gonna.”

The boy panics because he can see she’s trying her hardest, as she keeps rubbing her small fists on her face to stop herself from crying, though it just makes her face blotchier and the boy has no idea what do even with all the experience he has with having younger sisters. Rebecca would have yelled and walked away by now, but this one girl is trying her hardest to be strong and he’s a little at awed with that.  He pulls out a small cup from his pocket and places it into her shivering hand.

“That’s awesome!” he gives her a toothy grin and close his hand over hers, “Since you’re doing such a great job, I’ll give you my pudding.”

“Really?” she asks in a shaky voice as he nods.

“Really really,” he smiles, as tears start to gather in the corners of her eyes.

“I’ll make you--”

The heavy breathing of a boy and adults yelling cut the little girl off.

BEEEPP! BEEEP!

“Motherfucking cupcakes!” you swore sleepily to yourself, hoping to some unknown force that the 4th batch of ordered cupcakes was still okay. It wasn’t everyday that you got such a big order and with you as the only working right now, you had spent most of the night making the freshest and best cupcakes for this high end business meeting.

“Oh, thank god,” you murmur to yourself, seeing that your quick nap had only lasted 10 minutes and not an hour like the last time. You sigh and wearily take out the batch before placing them on the center counter where the completed 200 were already placed in small, personalized boxes. You sag a bit against the counter and take a look around the empty kitchen and a little into the the small section that made up the central shop.

SB Pastry had been your dream as long as you could remember, making sweets and seeing people smile was what you enjoyed, even if your mother disapproved of such outlandish notions. Food and the culinary arts were a battlefield for said woman and she had instilled that into you and your siblings. Your older brother was a highly sought after chef that was opening his third restaurant in Tokyo soon, while your younger brother was finishing is core training in London, already being sought after some highly respected individuals both there and abroad. And here you were, making cupcakes at 5 in the morning in some hole-in-wall shop in Queens. It was obvious who was the disappointment of the family, but you hadn’t cared in years, hadn’t talked to her even longer than that.

“Ok, no more life crisis while working,” you huff to yourself and chug the last bit of your cold coffee, knowing that you still had another set of 200 cupcakes to make and decorate before 8am. Yes, it would have been easy to have some help, but you knew that Maria’s kid was sick and Pietro...well he did almost burn the pastry shop last time due to that pretty girl, and to be honest you hardly got any work done with the goofball around. This had to be a solo mission.

“Ok, okay. Next batter is ready to be placed in the oven,” you murmur to yourself as a cool jazz from your favorite radio station plays in the background. You look to the end of the counter and notice that icing dispensers are nearly empty, which meant you had to make more frosting.  

You let out a groan before heading to the back of the building where most of the supplies where stored in the industrial freezer. It was been a pain to buy and keep maintenance of, but it helped in situations like this. It was just in a super dark place, but you weren’t afraid of the dark -- no way.

“No more scary movies with Wanda,” you whisper to yourself at the antics that your best friend dragged you into due to her deep love of the horror genre, though you often didn’t sleep for weeks afterwards. But, taking a deep breathe you steel yourself to enter the large metal room, making sure this time that something is holding the door open, as you head a little ways in to find the ingredients that  you needed. And that’s when you hear it.

RAP! RAP!

The sound of metal against metal has you freezing in place, as you let out a small whimper. You grab the frosting box and a metal rack that you have never used. You make the stupid decision of heading towards the back, where there is a door that leads to the alleyway behind the building and take a cautious glance in its general direction. You curse at the open door, looking around and seeing a body --male with a heavy jacket and baseball cap covering their face-- not that far away from it and that’s when you let out a loud scream.

Part 2

[ybohadi]

Marine Mammals of Maine Internship Opportunity

Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME) is a non-profit organization federally authorized to respond to live and dead marine mammals and sea turtles between Kittery and Rockland, Maine. MMoME covers some of the busiest seal stranding coastline, averaging 300 live and dead animals annually. MMoME also operates a triage and rehabilitation center which provides critical care to sick and injured pinnipeds. Additionally, our mission heavily encompasses research, education and outreach, and is dedicated to promoting environmental conservation. MMoME is offering 2 different internships for the 2019 summer harbor seal pup season.

Core Internship: seeking 6 motivated, flexible and independent interns for the months of May through August, or May through October. Interns are critical in fulfilling our mission and are given the unique opportunity to participate in a variety of activities. The internship is based out of Midcoast Maine (Harpswell), though travel throughout our response region and the Northeast will be necessary. Interns will be required to dedicate a minimum of 40-50 hours per week to the internship (minimum of 4 days/week), and will include holidays, weekends and night feeds. This internship is unpaid, though seasonal job opportunities are available in the area. Housing is not provided but staff may be able to assist with sourcing options.

KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

· ANIMAL RESPONSE: respond to live and dead cetacean, pinniped and sea turtle strandings to collect Level A data, perform health assessments, and monitor, relocate, collect for humane euthanasia, or rescue. Carcass collection for disposal or necropsy will also be required;

· IN-HOUSE PATIENT CARE: assist with all aspects relating to the care of sick, injured and abandoned pinnipeds undergoing short, or long-term care at the center. Tasks include meal prep, tube-feeding, assisting with medical procedures, animal restraint for exams, running lab samples, medical record maintenance, cleaning, and transport to long-term care facilities;

· NECROPSY: transport carcasses to necropsy and compost sites, assist with necropsy of fresh dead pinnipeds and cetaceans, and archive necropsy samples;

· EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: give presentations to the public about the organization, attend outreach events, and help create educational materials;

· OTHER TASKS: additional time during this internship will be spent on data entry, fundraising, cleaning, and other tasks as needed.

REQUIREMENTS:

· The internship is open to undergraduate students currently enrolled in, or recently graduated (within 2 years) from an accredited college or university (this internship is not yet designed for those pursuing DVM degrees);

· The ideal candidate is working towards a career in marine mammal science, veterinary medicine, marine biology, environmental education, or related fields;

· Must commit to at least three months, and be available from May 13– August 15, or October 15. MUST be able to start no later than May 20th, 2019;

· Must have a valid driver’s license, a reliable vehicle, and comfortable driving a full-size truck in urban and rural areas;

· Must be able to work independently and as part of a team, and be adaptable to a changing and unpredictable schedule;

· Individuals that are passionate, responsible, hardworking, eager to learn, flexible, able to work under little supervision, and detail oriented are encouraged to apply;

· Preference given to individuals with a demonstrated interest in marine mammals, and are specifically interested in marine mammal response, rescue, and care. Previous marine mammal experience or animal husbandry a plus;

Advanced Marine Mammal Internship: MMoME is seeking Advanced Response and Care interns to start May 1st through September 30th (end date can be flexible). Advanced interns will also work 40-50 hours/week (4 days/week) including holidays, weekends, and night feeds. This internship is unpaid though seasonal jobs are available in the area, and housing is not provided but MMoME may be able to assist with sourcing options. The Advanced interns will carry out the same duties outlined for Core Interns, and additionally will assist staff with:

· Obtaining and processing diagnostic samples from stranded marine mammals, as well as triage and rehabilitation pinnipeds in MMoME’s care;

· Clinical procedures, injections, and fluid therapy;

· Dispensing oral medications as directed by MMoME staff and veterinarian;

· After-hours medical care of triage or rehab patients in need of extended critical care as directed by staff and veterinarian;

· Lead volunteer and intern shifts.

Requirements listed above for Core Internship apply for Advanced Interns, in addition to:

· Must be either a 4th year (or more) undergraduate student, a recent graduate within the last 4 years, or actively enrolled in a graduate program;

· Must have prior experience working directly with marine mammals, or experience working in a clinical setting with other wildlife;

· Must have demonstrated experience handling marine mammals or other large wildlife.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please send a letter of interest, resume and contact information for two references to info@mmome.org by February 8th, 2019. Your application should additionally include which internship you are applying for, and the start and end dates you can commit to for that internship. We look forward to your application for this exciting experience!

[genebelcher]

a fairly informal breakdown of the bob’s burgers movie trailer someone found on snapchat

so a few weeks ago i wrote breakdowns/analysis of the first and second trailers for the movie but last night on reddit i saw someone found a trailer on snapchat that contains some footage i hadn’t seen before!!! so i took screencaps from the bits that were new to me and i’m gonna talk about my observations, theories, and (possible) connections to the other trailers!!

don’t look under the read more if you don’t want to see any pics from the trailer (ik some people like to avoid spoilers entirely), or if you don’t want to load a bunch of images right now (i have way less than i did for the first two since it’s shorter but there’s still a good number of screencaps in this post). also at the bottom of the video there’s a little popup that occludes the lower 20% or so of the picture; i do not control the UI of snapchat.

(also pls dont rb this bc there’s a lot of people on this hellsite that i do not want interacting with me, there’s a reason i didn’t put this post in the main tags, just wanted to get my thoughts out somewhere)

because it’s a snapchat trailer the images are all in portrait instead of landscape, which is a blessing for me not wanting to turn my phone to take caps and a curse because it’s hard to make out what’s happening in a lot of these.

(note: the text in colored bubbles is the dialogue in the trailer)

so as many people would guess (particularly because of the sinkhole) there’s a grand re-re-re-re-opening at some point, likely the end of the movie. also if it’s the end, note that louise is still wearing her bunny ears; her character arc apparently revolves around her thinking about maturity and possibly not wearing them anymore, so i’m assuming she keeps em (which makes sense in both a watsonian and doylist context: louise’s ears are CLEARLY very important to her, they’re her #1 comfort object; they’re also the most iconic part of her design and make her silhouette very unique and also make her look taller which helps visually group her with her siblings around the same height: despite being younger than gene and tina, she hangs out with them all the time and often has a strong grasp on social situations they’re involved in and is generally kind of “wise beyond her years” sometimes which is represented by her having an accessory that makes her look taller

here we see gene in his pajamas, then he jumps up and turns around and is instantly in his rockstar outfit. i’m guessing this is from (an earlier part of) the scene where they’re onstage and then a ufo with robots inside shows up, which i suspect is gene’s imagination b/c gene loves robots and aliens and both are a little too fanciful to appear in the actual setting of bob’s burgers. him instantly changing clothes is also a hint that it’s a dream/fantasy sequence. also note he’s holding his napkin dispenser/spoon contraption, but it’s decorated with stars and lightning bolts which is adorable and also connects to that line in “video killed the gene-io star” when he says he signs his name with 4 lightning bolts, a peace sign, and a yin-yang

here we see linda putting louise’s iconic bunny ears on her head, POSSIBLY for the first time? someone in the comments of the reddit post said it looks like toddler louise. looking at the christmas cards from the credits sequence of “die card or card trying”, that tracks; she’s around this same size in the 4th picture, which is the oldest one where we see her with the hat. i am SO EXCITED to see the story of the ears and why she’s so attached to them

half the reason i took this screencap is because louise’s face is HILARIOUS but also in the background we see a whole bunch of (i believe) small plush toys that are PROBABLY wonder wharf prizes. in the second trailer we see a rack of similar plushies drawn in the same style; they don’t quite resemble the style used for characters and props that are actually animated but now i think that can be chalked up to them being in backgrounds.

bob and linda high-fiving in the bank. hopefully because they’re able to pay off those debts! this is one of the moments i was talking about that’s hard to capture in a screenshot due to being in portrait and not landscape 😔

tina and gene dancing, in what i’m pretty sure is the trailer park musical number. i actually think the trailer park is where a lot of the wonder wharf employees live since its surroundings seem to be in close proximity to wonder wharf and because some of the residents we see dancing in this sequence are also in some of the scenes at wonder wharf proper

near the end of the trailer there’s this very badass sequence of the belcher family in a little seashell car (the same one calvin and felix are driving the kids around in in the first trailer; the lights and hinges on the back are the same and you can see it’s scalloped like a shell in the first trailer) busting through a wall under the dock (it looks like it might be below where the bathrooms are?). this pretty much confirms that they were driving around in under-dock storage at wonder wharf. another interesting detail (that could be completely coincidental) is that the kids are sitting in the same order when bob and linda are driving as they were when calvin and felix were driving: louise is in the middle, with tina on her left hand side and gene on her right hand side. this could mean absolutely nothing but it could also mean these are the same/consecutive scenes and felix and calvin got out of the car, then linda and bob got in the car. (i double-checked to see if the kids ALWAYS sat in that order in the car and it’s not the case: in “bed bob and beyond” they’re sitting in reverse order, while gene is in the middle at the beginning of “it snakes a village”.)

this makes me wonder whether the statue calvin twists the nipples on in the first trailer (what a phrase...and it is entirely accurate to the trailer) is at wonder wharf (i assumed it was at his house because it looks WAY too nice to be at wonder wharf, but it’s a merman which fits the nautical theme) and whether it or the storage has anything to do with the kids falling through a trapdoor in the second trailer 

the last bit of new footage in the trailer is a scene of gene and louise surrounded by other kids (probably at school) with a tape, which i SUSPECT is the footage they captured in the scene seen in both trailers where they’re exploring the sinkhole in their pajamas and louise falls in. (in that scene gene wants his gasp to be dramatic which solidifies that it’s the same scene for me.)

note: these caps only cover the new content; there are other bits in this trailer that we’ve seen previously.

[northcountryschool]

October 30, 2020

Photo: Wyatt, Duncan, River, and Will in their cereal and milk group costumes.

Halloween is a much-loved and highly-anticipated event at North Country School—one that takes a great deal of planning and the work of many hands. Like so many NCS events and traditions, our Halloween celebration looked a bit different this year, but still brought with it plenty of fun and excitement. After weeks spent working on scary decorations, designing socially-distant candy dispensers, putting together homemade costumes, and creating a COVID-friendly haunted house, our students were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor in an evening filled with seasonal celebration. We were, as always, thrilled to see our community adapt to new circumstances and creatively take on challenges, while never losing the collaborative spirit or playful silliness that makes North Country School so special. 

To get on our NCS mailing list, email communications@northcountryschool.org.

ACADEMICS

Top: Bryan teaches about lacrosse. Middle 1: 4th-graders learn about lacrosse. Middle 2: Alea helps build a longhouse. Bottom: 4th-grade builds a longhouse.

Our 4th-grade social studies class has spent the past several weeks exploring the history and culture of the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois), who are the Indigenous people of the Adirondacks. During this unit, students have focused on the development of the Haudenosaunee civilization, which celebrates connection to and preservation of the natural world, as well as learning about the mythology, village life, family structure, and rituals embedded in the Haudenosaunee culture. 

Last week, the class was excited to welcome two sets of visitors. Karonhianonha and Maie, cultural educators from the Native North American Traveling College, joined in via Zoom and taught the class some of the traditional song and dance rituals still practiced by members of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. The class was also visited in person by Dean of Students Bryan Johansmeyer and his son Sam, who showed a video on the origins of lacrosse within the Haudenosaunee. The students headed outside to learn some lacrosse skills for themselves. The class has also continued working on their hands-on project of constructing a Haudenasaunee longhouse using materials from around campus.  

Top: Larry explains the carbon cycle. Middle 1: 8th grade plays a game of carbon cycle playground ball. Middle 2: Zachary represents the atmosphere in the carbon cycle. Middle 3: Steven presents his cell diagram. Middle 4: Steven’s wallpaper art cell diagram. Bottom: Completing a cell lab in costume. 

In Earth science class, students are beginning a unit examining the effects of carbon on climate change. This Halloween week, our costumed 8th-graders learned about the carbon cycle, playing a game to demonstrate how carbon moves around the Earth through fossil fuels, plants, and animals. Using a playground ball to represent carbon, each student selected a different part of the carbon cycle and sent the ball through different carbon cycle scenarios. The class observed that by changing the amount of plants in the world, carbon can either become sequestered in a safe way or increased to dangerous levels in the atmosphere.

 To kick off their unit on cells, our 9th-grade biology students were tasked with making a creative and accurate representation of either a plant or animal cell. The goal of the cell project is to familiarize students with the organelles found in the cells of eukaryotes, or organisms with complex cells containing organelles and a membrane-bound nucleus. Once they completed their projects, each student presented their creation and what they’d learned to their peers. Some students chose to construct their cells from fired clay,  wallpaper, or thread, while one student presented their cell information in musical form. The class (fully decked out in their Halloween costumes) then looked at magnified plant and animal cells through a microscope, drawing what they observed. 

ARTS

Top: Clark House poses for a Halloween photo. Middle 1: Halloween murals in the dining room. Middle 2: Arden as Katniss Everdeen and Melissa as Rey Skywalker. Middle 3: Algonquin House as Despicable Me characters. Middle 4: Langlang gets candy from a tube dispenser. Middle 5: Decorated lights in the Dining Room. Middle 6: Ella, Grace, and Teagan as the Powerpuff Girls. Bottom: Haunted house woods scene.

At North Country School, we celebrate Halloween as a community on the Wednesday homenight of Halloween week. It is one of our most anticipated days of the year, with many beloved traditions including a costume parade, a scary themed dinner, games and contests, a dance, and a haunted house. 

As with so many events and traditions this year, this week’s Halloween festivities were celebrated in smaller groups and relocated to different areas of campus, but none of the scary fun was lost. Our annual costume parade moved outdoors to Bramwell Run, where everyone marveled at all of the creative homemade costumes including Katniss Everdeen (complete with homemade wings), characters from Despicable Me, and a breakfast complete with cereal, milk, a spoon, and a bowl. In lieu of our usual indoor carnival, this year students went trick-or-treating with their advisory groups, visiting different on-campus stations to collect candy from socially-distant candy stations designed by our 8th-graders. After eating a gory (and delicious) dinner of worms, green slime, and mummies in our festive dining room, small groups visited a scary haunted house in the woods conceived and acted out by the 9th-grade class. Though it may have looked a bit different than past events, this year’s NCS Halloween proved once again that by being flexible, thinking creatively, and working together, our spirit of collaboration and community will continue to shine through. 

OUTDOORS

Top: Jess teaches Inyene CPR. Middle 1: Olivia performs CPR. Middle 2: Jess teaches the Outdoor Leadership class CPR. Bottom: Olivia and Grace D. act out an emergency first aid scenario. 

Over the course of the past week, students in our Outdoor Leadership Program have been working toward their certification in First-Aid and CPR. During their weekly class, each student practiced their CPR skills and watched videos showing them how to approach emergency situations safely. On Saturday, they were able to practice responding to emergency situations, with the help of other students playing the role of victims. The students in the class applied their emergency First-Aid knowledge to each while their peers (wearing gory makeup for extra authenticity) acted out the parts of patients needing different types of medical care. Once the students successfully complete their training, they will receive a certification in First-Aid and CPR for adults, infants, and children through the American Red Cross.

Top: Adyan and his swing. Middle 1: Homemade swings in the woods. Middle 2: Raia celebrates the first snowfall. Bottom: First snowball of the season. 

This past Saturday saw a group of our younger students finishing up their homemade swings in the woodshop, before installing their completed projects on our campus trails. The five swings, made from pine cut from our forest, were hung from trees near Hubbard Lean-to, and will surely be enjoyed on weekend camping trips and during out-times for years to come. 

This week, in addition to celebrating our Halloween festivities, we also celebrated the first real snowfall of the year. Everyone rushed outside to play in the fresh dusting of fluffy powder, creating snow angels and making the first snowballs of the season. The first snowfall means that our mountain winter is truly on the horizon, and we are all excited to begin a fun season of skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating in the upcoming months.

FARM AND GARDEN

Top: Tess explains garlic planting. Middle1: 7th-graders separate garlic cloves. Middle 2: Garlic cloves ready for planting. Middle 3: Langlang plants garlic. Middle 4: Planting rows of garlic. Middle 5: Brian spreads straw on garlic beds. Bottom: Ani finishes covering garlic beds in straw. 

This past week our 7th- and 8th-grade Edible Schoolyard (ESY) classes planted this season’s garlic crop. Garlic, like many bulbs, must go in the ground in the fall, and then spends the darkest, coldest months of winter buried under the soil. At North Country School we save some of our own garlic harvest each year for planting, and this week our students, alongside Garden Manager Tess, Farm Intern Hania, and ESY teacher Elie, met in our gardens to go through the planting process together. 

Heads of garlic were first broken into cloves, and then those cloves were spaced apart and planted in the freshly turned soil. The beds were then covered in straw that will insulate the crop as it overwinters, before appearing as one of the first vibrant green shoots in the spring—an early harbinger of the harvest bounty to come in the warmer months. Each garlic clove will grow into its own plant, sending up grassy leaves and an edible flowerstalk (or scape) in early summer, and will be ready to harvest as a garlic head in late summer. The garlic grown on our campus will be stored in our root cellar and cooked into delicious meals by our kitchen staff throughout the school and camp season. 

Check back next week to see what we’re up to on our mountain campus.

For more information about the #ThisWeekAtNCS blog, contact Becca Miller at bmiller@northcountryschool.org.

For general school information, call 518-523-9329 or visit our website:

www.northcountryschool.org

[bestdjkit]

TheFatRat On YouTube Copyright, Forthcoming Album, and Collaborating with K-Pop Star AleXa [Interview]

YouTube legend TheFatRat and K-Pop star AleXa are ready to "Rule The World" with their genre-bending smash.

After initially writing and producing his latest single "Rule The World," TheFatRat was actively searching for a vocalist for half a year. He wanted to recruit a person who could not only sing the song he envisioned in his mind, but also fit artistically. During his search, he found AleXa, the winner of the "Next Artist Award" at the Soridaba Best K-Music Awards, one of the biggest musical award shows in Korea.

AleXa is considered to be one of K-Pop’s most exciting breakout artists. When TheFatRat discovered her, he noticed their similar creative visions with how they immerse fans into futuristic, sci-fi worlds. He reached out to her to collaborate, and the rest was history.

While this collaboration is a fresh pairing, TheFatRat is no stranger to K-Pop. Although he currently listens to Blackpink and admires their style and production, he’s been immersed in the K-Pop realm for years and produced his first song in the genre forWonder Girls in 2011.

"Rule The World" was officially released on September 4th and premiered on TheFatRat's YouTube channel.

"Rule The World" consists of three key musical styles: the explosive melodic glitch hop TheFatRat pioneered, the global grandeur of K-Pop, and the powerful musical presence influenced by ABBA. When writing “Rule The World,” TheFatRat was particularly captivated by ABBA’s songwriting techniques. Noting his favorite ABBA song as “Does Your Mother Know,” he acknowledges the group's signature fusion of melodic, Swedish flavor with more edgy sounds as an inspiration to his music.

TheFatRat notes that the start of "Does Your Mother Know" introduces an edgy presence, when the guitars come in and the singing offers a melodic feel. "This mixing of more edgy flavors with very melodic elements, that’s what I absolutely love about music in general and what I’ve been doing a little bit with ‘Rule The World,'" said TheFatRat, who spoke with EDM.com about the single. "When I played it to a couple of people, they were like, ‘This is a little bit of ABBA flavoring,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, you caught me!’”

AleXa’s fearless vocals carry empowering lyrics that explore the ability to overcome the impossible with an encouraging partner. For TheFatRat, his wife gives him the feeling of ruling the world. While he was producing for 10 years before he became an artist, his wife always encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Whenever he felt insecure, she gave him the strength to conquer anything. For the past one-and-a-half years, his wife assumed the role of his manager. “We just had a meeting for two hours where we discussed what we’re going to do within the next couple of years,” he added. “She’s grown into that position so fast.”

“Rule The World” is free to use on YouTube, true to TheFatRat’s ongoing tradition of freely dispensing his songs and their stems to inspire dedicated content creators. TheFatRat made a decision early in his career to make all of his music free to use.

“The idea to make songs available for everybody was when I made a remix in 2012 for Chris Brown's ‘Don’t Wake Me Up,’” he shared. “I don’t know why they did that, but it wasn’t released in a couple of countries, and I didn’t even know about it. Then, blogs started writing about it and people hit me up saying, ‘Hey, this blog has been writing about this song and I want to buy it, but I can’t find it anywhere.’ That was the peak for me, where it was the record industry being so limiting."

On the flip side, when he began to put out his music for free, he didn't experience similar restrictions. He noticed how fast his music spread and how many people used it.

However, a new change is that TheFatRat’s music will not only be free to use on YouTube, but also will be lifted from copyright restrictions.

“Over time, we ran into a couple of issues. As long as I only had a few songs out there, and not that many people were using my music, everything was fine,” he explained. “But what started happening was that people accidentally or intentionally claimed my music. My team is always doing their best to get the claims released. However, with more songs released and more people using them, unintended claims have gotten to a point where it's not bearable for us anymore.”

TheFatRat has dealt with similar issues with his own music being claimed against him. To ensure that channels would be able to use his music without receiving illegitimate claims from random people or companies, TheFatRat’s team decided to go a safer route. Instead, they decided to put his music into YouTube’s Content ID system. The method allows his team to release all claims manually to allow creators to monetize videos without fear of receiving a copyright claim from anyone else.

TheFatRat will continue this policy for his forthcoming album, which is still in the works. While nothing is entirely set, listeners can expect some previously released singles to grace the tracklist. "I feel you have certain constraints when you want to put out a single because you want the single to stand on its own. While you have an album, you need some pillars to put it on, and then you can put a lot of crazy stuff on top," he said.

"The cool thing about an album is that you can get way more creative and crazy about some songs,” TheFatRat continued. “That’s the fun part to do some longer songs, shorter songs, different structures, and some instrumentals. I’m sure that some of my fans will totally fall in love.”

FOLLOW THEFATRAT:

Facebook: facebook.com/thisisthefatrat  Twitter: twitter.com/ThisIsTheFatRat Instagram: instagram.com Spotify: spoti.fi/2RdlTgd

from Best DJ Kit https://edm.com/interviews/thefatrat-interview

[tsgmobilebayalabama]

OCTOBER

The first full month of autumn is here, and along with it comes a variety of exciting events we’re looking forward to in the Mobile Bay area. From a culinary collaboration in the streets of downtown Mobile to a fundraiser at the Point Clear Polo Fields to the anticipated launch of The Scout Guide’s 3rd Volume, here is our list of can’t-miss October happenings.

SPECIALS

Haley Dermatology / October Specials 

Fillers buy 2 get 1 free 

Chemical peels 20% off

Skinceuticals 15%off 

Coolsculpting walk in Consults October 13th 10am-2:30pm 

Walk in Toxin clinic with dr. Haley October 17th 12-1

Harvest Jewels Trunk Shows

October 25th | Sophiella Gallery | 6:30-9:00 pm 

November 21st | East Bay Clothiers | 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

November 22nd | East Bay Clothiers | 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

EVENTS

Bluepass 

October 1st- 15th | Junior League of Mobile

Shop. Save. Support. BluePass is a 15 day shopping event that offers pass holders special discounts at participating area merchants.  Learn More

Flight of the Oysters 

October 3rd | Thursday | 6pm-8pm | Fairhope Brewing Company 

The Wandering Oyster and Fairhope Brewing Company have teamed up again for our second oyster and beer pairing event! Join them for a guided tasting of nine world-class oysters paired with three hand-crafted brews, including an oyster stout created just for the event. All for just $30, a portion of which will be going directly to Daphne's Boy Scout Troop 82. Learn More

Focus Women’s Conference 

October 4th | Friday | 8am-5pm | Mobile Convention Center

Focus Women’s Conference is a full day of speakers, workshops, panel discussions, networking, and vendor/career expo to encourage, educate, and empower women. They are committed to offering quality content that enables women to economically empower themselves, live their best lives, and impact their community in positive ways. This years key note speaker is Elizabeth Smart. Learn More

JAES presents: The Black Party

October 4th | Friday | 6pm-10pm | Fairhope Brewing Company 

A night of Food, Drinks, Live Music, Live Art, Draw-Down Raffle and Silent Auction benefiting the children of the Eastern Shore! Learn More

New Yoga For Every Body

October 4th | Friday | 8am | Soul Shine Yoga 

Experience movement to open the body. This class is for all levels, all ages, all body types. Beginners and experienced yogis...everyone is welcome! Mondays and Fridays at 8am Learn More

Meditation: Journey to the Center

October 4th | Friday | 11am | Soul Shine Yoga

Join Betsey Grady for guided meditation every Friday to take your yoga practice even deeper. Consider this time to be a 'Journey to the Center of Your Self '. Enjoy resting your body and mind in a slightly warmed space that inspires detoxification and releasing physical and mental impurities. Allow yourself time to simply BE in the warmth and practice letting your thoughts go. Let yourself be guided to move into a place of openness and feel what it's like to let go of resistance. Free yourself from expectations, judgments, thoughts of past or future and truly let the power of the heat and power of the mind bring you to a new state of clarity, both physically and mentally. Learn More

Haunted Duck Tours 

October 1st-30th | Fort of Colonial Mobile

For centuries Mobile has been home to pirates, vagabonds, miscreants, soldiers, and ladies of the night. While their bodies may be gone, their souls remain. Embark on this all new spine-tingling tour of Mobile and the Mobile River as we search along our haunted city streets for these forgotten souls who linger somewhere between today and the afterlife. Learn More

Polo at the Point 

October 5th | Saturday | 10am | Point Clear Polo Fields 

Polo at the Point has become one of Alabama’s top one-day fundraiser events. Organized by all volunteers with proceeds going back to our community. Event highlights include world-class polo, gourmet cuisine, champagne, divot stomping, tailgating fun, reserved seating, garden party attire in the luncheon tent and much more. Tickets range from $10 (tailgate) to $250. (Polo Brunch & Players Party ) 6-10 pm, Grand Hotel Golf & Spa. Learn More

Pumpkin Palooza 

October 5th | Saturday | 11am | Fort of Colonial Mobile 

Bring the family and join in the fun at The Fort for Pumpkin Palooza! Featuring games & prizes, treats, crafts, activities, bouncy castle and more!! Admission includes a pumpkin for decorating! Smac's Shack Food Truck will will also be there serving up some amazing BBQ! (not included in admission) Learn More

Rubber Ducky Regatta 

October 5th | Saturday | 10am | Cooper Riverside Park 

Mobile’s annual Rubber Ducky Regatta will make a splash by dropping 10,000 rubber duckies into the Mobile River at Cooper Riverside Park. The “adopted” duckies will race to the finish line and the fastest ducky’s adopter will win a Carnival Cruise for two out of Mobile!  All proceeds will benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mobile, which houses families with seriously ill and injured children being treated at area hospitals. By adopting a rubber ducky not only will you have a chance to win prizes, but you will be providing funds for a safe haven to all the families who stay at the Ronald McDonald House while their child is receiving treatment. The event kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, and the race will begin at 11 a.m. The Rubber Ducky Regatta invites all families in the surrounding areas to enjoy a morning of family-friendly fun at Cooper Riverside Park in downtown Mobile. Admission for the Rubber Ducky Regatta is free to attend and any remaining rubber duckies will be available for adoption prior to the race. Learn More

Prenatal Yoga + 4 Week Series

October 6th-27th | Sundays | 4:30pm | Soul Shine Yoga

Prenatal yoga gives a woman energy to enjoy her pregnancy, serenity to build a deeper intimacy with her own body and baby, and the presence of mind to expect the unexpected and be present. The benefits are numerous: release stress, enhance the ability to relax, boost physical strength, increase flexibility, improve balance, ease discomforts of pregnancy, open hips and pelvis, strengthen pelvic floor, build confidence, and expand a woman’s circle of community support. Take this time to foster a deeper connection to your self, to your body, to your baby. Learn More

Mindfulness Meditation for Peace

October 7th | Monday | 7:30pm | Soul Shine Yoga

Are you looking for an inner vacation to relax and let go? Come out and de-stress! Join Soul Shine Yoga for a relaxing and peaceful guided meditation appropriate for beginners and experienced students. There will be a brief introduction, guided meditation with loving kindness meditation and brief wisdom talk. 1st Mondays of the month, 7:30-8:45pm Learn More

Nonprofit night featuring FEEF

October 8th | Tuesday | 5pm-7pm | Fairhope Brewing Company 

FBC’s monthly Nonprofit Night at the brewery for October spotlights the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation. For over 20 years, this wonderful organization has raised and dispensed funds dedicated to making Fairhope's public schools the best they can be. Please join them for the evening, with $1 of every pour will go to FEEF's cause. Learn More

Magic Moments Magic Show 

October 13th | Sunday | 2:30pm | St. Luke’s Episcopal School Theatre

Join them for a magic show for the whole family! Start in the lobby where you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy up close magic, face painting, balloon art, and more before you head into the theater where magician David Garrard will wow you with a show you’ll never forget! Benefiting Magic Moments, the only wish granting organization dedicated solely to providing happiness to children in the state of Alabama. Learn More

*Mention SCOUT SENT YOU and receive a free child’s ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket.* 

An Afternoon of Jazz 

October 13th | 4pm-7pm | Fairhope Brewing Company

The Jazz Studio will begin at 2 followed by EMCO.  The open jam will start at around 3:30pm.  Bring your instrument and join in the fun.  THIS FREE EVENT IS OPEN TO ALL AGES. Learn More

Crystal Singing Bowls Sound Bath  

October 13th | Sunday | 5:45pm | Soul Shine Yoga

Enjoy an hour of relaxation and rejuvenation with the healing sounds of crystal singing bowls. They'll start with a gentle guided meditation to help ease you into a meditative state of mind. You will be lying on your back listening to the sounds and your body will be taking in the vibration of the sound bath. This experience will purify and quiet the mind as the sounds soothe the nervous system Singing bowls emit powerful vibrations that penetrate deeply into every cell of the body. Come to a Sound Bath class and experience relaxation and rejuvenation for the mind, body and spirit! Learn More

3rd Annual Grilled Cheese Meltdown

October 17th | Thursday | 5:30pm-7:30pm | Cathedral Square

The third annual Grilled Cheese Meltdown features 20 teams grilling up the tastiest comfort food on the planet! They'll be competing to see who will be named the Big Cheese and take home the Golden Spatula. Tickets are $8 in advance/$10 at the gate. Children under the age of 6 are free. Libations available for purchase. Proceeds benefit the Urban Emporium, Mobile's retail incubator.  Learn More

Beverage Academy: The World of Liqueur and Cordials

October 18th | Friday |  5:30pm | Grand Hotel Goes Resort & Spa 

Each month, their Beverage Team at the Grand Hotel will be teaching classes at the resorts’ Beverage Academy. The classes are aimed at expanding the participants’ knowledge of beverage basics while also incorporating more advanced techniques. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, the classes are fun, hands-on experiences that will have people raving about your beverage skills. In each Grand Beverage Academy, you will receive a one- hour beverage demonstration, recipes and beverage sampling. Learn about aperitifs and digestifs and peek into the world of liqueur and cordials, as a vital ingredient in many cocktails. Learn More

Cooking Essentials VII: Classic French Desserts 

October 19th | Saturday | 10am | Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa

Each month, a Chef at the Grand Hotel will be teaching classes at the Resort’s Culinary Academy. These classes focus on expanding the participants’ knowledge of the culinary basics while also incorporating techniques that are more advanced. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, the Chef’s classes are fun, hands-on experiences that will have people raving about your culinary skills. In each Grand Culinary Academy, you will receive an in depth cooking demonstration, recipes, food sampling and a diploma.  A Grand Chef will share the secrets of preparing decadent desserts: Pate a choux, Dark Chocolate Mousse and Macarons. These rich gourmet desserts will be an instant success when served to your guests. Learn More

48th Annual Little Sisters of the Poor Lawn Party

October 20th | Sunday | 10am | Little Sisters of the Poor 

Fun for the whole family including train rides, petting zoo, pony rides, games, raffles, inflatable slides, live music, food and more all. The proceeds go to the care of our elderly Residents.  Learn More

Magic Moments Day

October 21st | Monday | All Day 

Governor Kay Ivey has declared Monday, October 21, 2019 “Magic Moments Day” across the state of Alabama. In October, Magic Moments, the only wish granting organization dedicated exclusively to children in Alabama with chronic, life threatening illnesses, celebrates its 35th anniversary. Since its founding in 1984, Magic Moments has given over 4,800 children in all 67 counties of the state their very own magic moment. 

In celebration of this milestone, Magic Moments is partnering with restaurants, stores, and other organizations across the state. A portion of proceeds from a set of new tires, a percentage of purchase at a clothing store, lunches and dinner that benefit Magic Moments in each corner of the state - there are a myriad of ways organizations from all over Alabama are partnering with Magic Moments on October 21st, during that week, and even throughout the whole month of October. Learn More

People participating in Mobile and Baldwin County:

Noble South & The Wash House each donated a “Dinner for 2” that we are raffling off at the Magic Show as a kick off to Magic Moments Day.  Pollman’s - Mobile Old Shell location - They are making a Magic Moments cookie or cupcake to sell the whole week and proceeds will go towards MM. Sterling Hot Yoga - Mobile - Oct 21st - Karma Class will benefit MM Dew Drop - Mobile - Oct 21st portion of proceeds toward MM Butch Cassidy’s -Mobile - Oct 21st portion of proceeds toward MM Taziki’s - Daphne & Mobile locations - Oct 21st Lulu’s - Gulf Shores - Oct 21st portion of proceeds toward MM Cobalt - Orange Beach - Oct 21st portion of proceeds toward MM Cosmo’s - Orange Beach - Oct 21st portion of proceeds toward MM

The Scout Guide Mobile Bay Volume 3 Launch

October 23rd | Wednesday | Atchison Home 

Scouted Members will celebrate the launch in a a private gathering and are the first to see the new guides. Thursday October 24th the guides will be distributed to participating members and given out to the public. Learn More

Dining on Dauphin

October 24th | Thursday | 6:30pm | Downtown Mobile

Showcasing globally inspired, locally sourced, inventive cuisine from three of Mobile’s premier restaurants in an intimate setting along Dauphin Street in downtown Mobile’s historic arts and entertainment district.  This event will feature a four-course dinner from Noja, The Noble South, and Southern National. The meal will be accompanied with wines. Learn More

Wild Things Ball

October 24th | Thursday | 7pm | Alabama Contemporary Art Center 

In celebration of All Hallow’s Eve and the closing of a decade, they are hosting the biggest and wildest party we can muster. The evening’s events will include: COSTUMES, DANCING, LIBATIONS, RAFFLES, FRIENDS. Learn more. 

Sophiella Gallery’s One Year Anniversary Party

October 25th | Friday | 6:30pm | Sophiella Gallery 

Come celebrate one year with Sophiella Gallery and see featured local artists in a collaborative show called Faces and Places. Their will be a trunk show happening with the fabulous local jewelry line, Harvest Jewels and food by the Noble South. Learn More

Food Truck Friday

October 25th | Friday | 4pm-9pm | Fairhope Brewing Company

This month’s Food Truck Friday will include great local Brews, and live music by Little Raine Band. 

68th Annual Greater Gulf State Fair

October 25th-November 3rd |  Greater Gulf State Fair Grounds

The 2019 Greater Gulf State Fair will be better than ever with all your favorite attractions and more. Exciting rides, fun games, great food, rodeo competitions, and live music performances including The Marshall Tucker Band. Learn More. 

Downtown Fairhope’s Tirck or Treat

October 26th | Saturday | 10am | Fairhope Welcome Center /Downtown Fairhope 

Downtown Trick or Treat is a fabulous family tradition, and a safe way for kids of all ages to enjoy a little pre-Halloween fun! Children are invited to wear their Halloween costume and trick or treat in downtown Fairhope. Just look for the orange pumpkins in the windows of stores downtown to see who is participating. Participants are also invited to drop by the Welcome Center, with their camera, where a Halloween photo stop will be set-up.  Learn More

Mobile Witches Ride

October 27th | Sunday | 3:30pm | The Blind Mule

The Mobile Witches Ride is a major fundraiser for Delta Dogs, a community supported, volunteer run non-profit that provides free spay and neuter and veterinary care to the pets of Mobile's community in need. Learn More

Fairhope Witches Ride

October 29th | Tuesday | 5:30pm | Downtown Fairhope

2019 Fairhope Witches ride Fly for the Fur! Charity bike ride to benefit local animal charities. Learn More

[lakwatserangpharmacist]

Re-Centering

"The mastery mindset involves shifting your focus from achieving anyone goal itself to executing on the process that gives you the best chance of more general improvement over time"

When I was ask by sir Biboy to have this talk, I thought of nothing but to accept the opportunity. I am greatful because I am giving back what I learned to my alma mater after 2 years of working to the community. But in my process of collecting my knowledge for this talk, parang wala ata akong masabi? Pero binalikan ko ulit yung chat ni sir na Recentering daw yung title ng activity.

I have the opportunity to share some of my experience and go back to question myself?

By achieving my goal of producing good customer service, training my pa and continue my passion, where did i improve that can be applied over time?

September 4,2017, i started the real world in Mercury Drug Delfino, some of you nakita na ako doon? But before that, I experienced first all the struggles of a typical student like you during my 4 years in college and 1 year in board exam review which was really uncomparable.Tulad niyo, there were times that i cried, i wanted to give up . Feeling ko 2nd year palang ako maalis na ako, because i also experienced line of 7s during anaphy. Basta alam ko nun binigay ko naman lahat. From 95 students who enrolled BS Pharmacy as pioneer were cut down to 35 students who only passed the 2nd sem. That was our first year palang. Ako noon simple lang motivation ko. Si REMINGTON, first sem palang binili ko na siya. 5000 yun kaya during our time, mas mahal pa yun kesa sa cellphone ko kaya dapat mapasa ko. I even solicited from my titos and titas in order to buy that. Sabi ko sa sarili ko hindi pwedeng isang sem palang maalis na ako kasi ang mahal ng libro ko. Our teacher that time was a UP gradute so UP standard ang exams. Tipong aralin mo lahat word by word kasi subjective ang exam hindi siya typical identifications and multiple choices. We even memorized the longest names of scientists kasi baka lumabas sa exam tapos 5 points agad. That teacher is amazing,kasi even though kulang kami sa gamit, she thought us to be resourceful. Syempre pioneer kami. Experiment kung baga. I even experienced

Gapanging lahat ng major subjects kasi the so called katakot teacher from SPUP Ms Balangue is in the house from first year to 4th year. But she's one of the nicest teacher whom we enjoyed the most kasi after final exams niya sa amin we will have sleep over sa bahay niya. We are thankful kasi napadali narin ang computations sa board exam kasi complicated lahat ng naituro niya samin. Feeling naman namin matalino na kami. We even have other profs like ma'am Cha, Ma'am Con and Sir Biboy who thought us to enjoy learning. Todo rin naman lalo na sa research. Babaguhin ang buong thesis after first defense back to zero. Na mapapagdaanan niyo rin dont worry. Luckily, I graduated on time and passed the boards. That is because when you imagine Recentering, we are speaking on our focus and those people who will guide us all the way.

Recentering also means to the 3 stage process. First POWER.

Small steps taken consistently over a long period of time lead to big Gains.Walking your path with others-community support helps you navigate the ups and downs and keeps you moving forward. Expand your resources.Magaral. You cannot control your people kung hindi sila naniniwalang ikaw ay marunong. Kasi sa work hindi lahat mas bata sayo. Some of your PAs are 10 years working na sa drugstore. You cannot also stand on your own. Admit it na kailangan mo rin sila. It will always be made with encouragement and support from others.

Second is Responsibility, When interacting with people be sensitive. Hindi lahat mapapabilib mo. Operating the drugstore, you must be the boss. The Pharmacist have the last say in any drug that will be dispensed. Maybe nabalitaan niyo naman yung issue sa terramycin plus and benzac which are both antibiotics but dont have any Rx Symbol in their packaging. Na ang point ni ate is over the counter daw yun. That is also a problem in our country. Hindi na cacall yung attention kung walang lumalabas na issue like this. Yes those are over the counter drugs but for me as a pharmacist, we should know if that will the the right thing to do. We must broaden our knowledge like reading news articles in our law so that we can educate the consumers properly. The new rulling of FDA is breakable pa as of the moment kasi nga marami pa tayong dapat ayusin sa bansa natin. We are not perfect but in the process of improving. On the bright side of the story. This platform is also an advantage kasi mas maeeducate pa natin lalo ang mga Pilipino how is the proper using of those drugs and when will that be used only.

Finally Decision Making. Are you going to push through this profession? Because being a Pharmacist, we need to speack to understand. We are not just presciption readers? Hindi tayo tindera lang? We studied alot of chemistry in order to get the licensed.

sometimes are ask why do we choose this career?

Some practical reasons i can share are:

-to help people

-have good income and benefits

-exciting

-making a difference in the community

-job security

Those are the reasons that i am not regretting. I travel where ever i want with all my expense. I pay my bills, I buy my own food, I serve my community, I train people, I enjoy being co writers of research from other schools and continue my passion at the same time. Kahit san mo bansa gusto magwork merong lugar ang Pharmacist.

As i end my long speech. Let me give you a Motivational answer sheet. Answer then keep it. Or post it sa room niyo. That will keep you motivated to wakeup every morning. Kasi balang araw magisa niyo haharapin ang mga tao and adulthood is totally different sa pagiging estudyante.

Let it be habit na sabihin mo sa sirili mo na kaya ko pa! Kahit pasuko ka na!

Let all your dreams abandoned to God, he will surprise you with the result! Just trust his process.

Thank you and God Bless you all.

[jasonmcgathey]

This has already been a fun, if sprawling and chaotic, section to tackle. Expect frequent changes as I continue to add to and revise the sections. It’s probably going to take a while to get a handle on this page – so just maybe, if you can, try and avoid these orange construction cones and blinking arrows straight out of the Spring-Sandusky interchange mess. If it looks a little skeletal, know that I am working on this as my current main project, and continue hoping some brilliant idea will help me organize it a little better. Until that lightning flash of inspiration arrives, maybe a series of alphabetized districts (with a couple I’m making up just now) and/or major roads is the best way to go:

Arena District (north of Spring, west of High)

Brewery District (south of the interstates, west of High)

E. Broad Street

W. Broad Street

Downtown Proper (area with most of the government buildings, etc, between Broad, the Scioto River, the interstates, and S. 4th Street)

German Village

N. High Street

S. High Street

Uptown District (everything north of Broad that isn’t covered elsewhere)

    -Arena District-

Nationwide Arena

North Market

  -Brewery District-

Though downtown as a whole has been plagued by this to some extent, the Brewery District is unique in that I feel like for 20 plus years now, there’s been this trend of bars blowing into here with a ton of hype, and being packed to the gills in what has always been a happening district – in other words, a theoretically sustainable business – but then the masses stop showing up overnight, a few months down the road, and the place is toast before you know it.

Banana Joe’s – an early lesson in how the night of the week is everything. We came here on a Friday and it was one of the most insane crowds I’ve ever witnessed; a Thursday journey maybe two weeks later had more in common with a funeral home.

Brewmasters Gate (485 S. Front St.) – this would be an excellent example of what I’m talking about. This opened as a positively cavernous club in the early 2000s, and had to be just about the most popular place in town for a good six months. A bunch of us drove down here often during the summer of its heyday, during which time it was unfailingly jam packed with young people throwing down, spilling out to the spacious patio and even the sidewalks. By the following summer, nobody came here, and you were looked at kind of strangely if mentioning it. I’m not sure exactly when it closed, but it didn’t seem to stick around very long after this. Strangely enough, the place survives and has maintained the same name, though it appears this is now just a hall people rent out for events.

Tommy Keegan’s – stumbling across this entry in my journal, from early 1998, is an especially striking example of why I’m glad to have taken so many notes. I actually forgot all about this enterprise and haven’t heard mention of it since.

Tommy Keegan’s looks vaguely like one of those modern faux Irish pubs or something, with its painted cement floor, its dark and generally unfussy atmosphere. Being located underground doesn’t hurt, either. The front, larger room holds most of the bar’s occupants, including some annoying, talent-challenged goober playing acoustic guitar and singing near the door. It’s hard to imagine he would receive much encouragement or tip money even if warbling at the campus BW3. But apparently, they pay him to come here.

The back room is a bit more subdued and we make a bee line for it. They’ve got one of those giant hoppers dispensing free popcorn back here, and even while knowing in the back of your mind it’s only going to make your thirstier, desiring ever more beer, which is why they manipulate you such, in the moment you just don’t care and grab some anyway. Or at least this is what I do.

It’s Keisha’s birthday and we started out with a much larger posse, but the war of attrition has whittled us down to these seven survivors: the birthday girl and Pam, and then Damon, Paul, John H, this Mike guy who’s kind of cool, and me. But somehow there’s this random kid just hanging out by these pool tables, of which the bar has a couple back here, and by some convoluted turn of events he winds up being partners against Paul and me in a few games of standard billiards. Damon is absolutely on fire for some reason, and they totally smoke us from start to finish. But we’ve already exhausted what limited kicks are to be found at Keegan’s, and have agreed to strike off for Victory’s next.

“Stay and play a few games with me!” the kid begs Damon, “we’ll make some money!”

“Ah, we gotta go,” Damon returns with a laugh.

Victory’s – I’ve only actually set foot inside of Victory’s once prior to this, nearly a year ago, that night of Maria’s birthday bus. And while it feels impossible to have memories down here from a year ago, which were pretty crazy yet not really referenced at all since then – neither in my thoughts nor discussions with these guys – I guess it’s another example of how the proverbial moss is growing beneath us, and we’d best keep moving if wishing to avoid entrapment by it.

So the layout here is much different that I remember, but then again, I’d been pretty blasted that night, a singular experience thus far in my Columbus residency. There are two front rooms with one long, connected bar that runs in the middle of each. One side is basically a chill out zone, while the other is encumbered with a dance floor to boogie upon, and a stage for the band. In the back, which is kept much darker, there’s an elevated second dance floor, this time under the purview of a nearby DJ booth, while beyond here the pattern repeats with that exact same scenario out on an exterior patio. The patio is not presently open, however.

Damon and Paul sit off to one side which allows them the perfect vantage point for drinking, smoking, watching and critiquing the band all at once. They call themselves Jonesy, though I’m not exactly sure of the spelling, and these guys do a fantastic job mixing 80’s covers with a few more recent selections, from the likes of Nine Inch Nails. So good, in fact, that these two are debating whether this band isn’t just miming to a tape. Featuring keyboards and electric drums, both elements you don’t see a whole lot of in this city’s live scene, they also boast an impressive live show, although it might actually belong to the bar.

The rest of us are out on the dance floor, hopping around to the music, hoping for a cheap brush of fate with one of these ladies. John breaks away from us to scout the perimeter for any fresh prospects. During this interim I do enjoy the inevitable wayward interactions with Keisha.

“I thought that was so hilarious earlier when my friend got kicked out of the bar, and you were like, gee, that’s terrible!” she’s shouting into my ear at one point, laughing hysterically.

John returns with even better information than this. “There’s a couple outrageously hot chicks on the other dance floor,” he tells me. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

We stroll off to the back room and step up to the elevated floor, casually work our way toward these two honeys. And yes, they are quite exceptional in appearance. Just as we’re about to zero in on them, however, these two dudes swoop in and throw their arms around the girls, clearly some sort of flag panting move. Damn. So the ladies are claimed, but whatever. As more ammunition mounting in this war chest of whatever you want to call it, Keisha and Pam have actually followed us back here, with Mike in tow right behind them. So they climb onto this platform with us, and we continue dancing in this dingy corridor.

-E. Broad Street-

Columbus Dispatch

Columbus Dispatch (62 E. Broad) – Home of the city’s major daily newspaper. I don’t feel like Cleveland bests Columbus in very many categories at all, but this is one exception – The Plain Dealer has always been a better paper. A lot of people, including some of my friends and I, were vaguely horrified when the Dispatch bought up treasured weekly independents, The Other Paper and Alive! True to form, they soon axed The Other Paper, citing overkill. In fairness, however, I will say they didn’t really seem to tinker with Alive! much, far less than expected.

-W. Broad Street-

COSI

Center of Science and Industry. It’s an okay spot, though much less exciting than one might imagine. A trip to the zoo or the Ohio Historical Society easily offers you much more bang for your buck. Only recommended if you’ve never been and are burned out on all the other similar options in town.

Emma digging into chocolate cake at Spaghetti Warehouse

  Spaghetti Warehouse – Treasured destination over the years, mostly because my daughter Emma is somewhat of a spaghetti maniac. Our most notable visit here was probably her 4th birthday party, which featured a memorably random cast of family members. Up above are some photos of her attacking chocolate birthday cake at that party. Maddie appears to be enjoying herself considerably just watching her sister in action. As the name would imply, it’s a great old building with a warehouse vibe, the highlight being this train car with highly in-demand seating.

  -German Village-

The original Max & Erma’s was opened down here in 1958 (739 S. 3rd Street), before becoming a franchise in 1972. Sadly this spot went belly up in 2017 and an operation known as Wunderbar currently calls this address home. But as a consolation prize, there’s no shortage of great restaurants and taverns both, mostly within walking distance of one another, down in this district.

  -Uptown District-

Mitchell’s Steakhouse

    Downtown Columbus This has already been a fun, if sprawling and chaotic, section to tackle. Expect frequent changes as I continue to add to and revise the sections.