#formal performance reviews

[ultragamerz]

Cardano (ADA): Sell it for Solana? 

New Post has been published on https://www.ultragamerz.com/cardano-ada-sell-it-for-solana/

Cardano (ADA): Sell it for Solana? 

Cardano (ADA): Sell it for Solana?

Cardano (ADA), the brainchild of Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, has been a hot topic in the crypto space. However, with a recent barrage of bearish news and influencer skepticism, some are questioning whether ADA is all it’s cracked up to be. Let’s delve into the world of Cardano, separating hype from reality.

Influencer FOMO and the Solana Shadow:

Social media is flooded with “Cardano killers” like Solana (SOL) boasting lightning-fast transaction speeds and lower fees. Influencers, often swayed by short-term gains, are hyping SOL to the moon, leaving Cardano seemingly stuck in the dust.

Cardano’s Different Path:

However, Cardano takes a much different approach than the “move fast and break things” mentality of some competitors. Cardano prioritizes meticulous research and a peer-reviewed development process. This methodical approach, while slower, aims to deliver a more secure and scalable blockchain in the long run.

Cardano vs. The Hype Machine:

Recent bearish articles highlight Cardano’s slow development progress and missed deadlines. While these criticisms hold some weight, it’s important to remember Cardano is building a complex ecosystem.

The ADA Price:

Cardano’s Bullish Trajectory: A Technical Analysis Glimpse

Cardano (ADA) has been on a tear lately, and technical analysts are using charting tools to predict its potential price path. Here’s a breakdown of three possible targets based on different timeframes:

Short-Term (1-2 Months): Applying the Fibonacci retracement tool to ADA’s recent price surge suggests a first target of around $2.20. This level represents the 61.8% retracement of the current upswing, a common support zone after a price increase.

Mid-Term (3-6 Months): If the bullish momentum continues, a more ambitious target could be $14. This aligns with the 161.8% Fibonacci extension level, indicating a potential doubling of the current price within the next half year. However, reaching this target zone would require sustained buying pressure and positive news surrounding the Cardano ecosystem.

Long-Term (1+ Years): For the long-term hodlers (holders on for a dear life), some analysts are charting a much more aggressive target – a staggering $55. This aligns with the 261.8% Fibonacci extension, signifying a potential 25x return on investment from current levels. However, reaching this price point would require significant adoption of Cardano’s blockchain technology and widespread recognition of its functionalities.

Remember: This is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Technical analysis is just one tool, and market conditions can change rapidly. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.

Is ADA a Worthy Investment?

While some influencers are quick to dismiss ADA, it’s crucial to conduct your own research and understand Cardano’s unique value proposition. Here are some key aspects to consider:

Scalability: Cardano’s Ouroboros proof-of-stake consensus mechanism aims to achieve high transaction throughput without sacrificing decentralization, a challenge faced by many blockchains.

Smart Contracts: Cardano’s smart contract platform, Plutus, is built with security and formal verification in mind, aiming to minimize bugs and vulnerabilities.

Interoperability: Cardano’s vision includes interoperability with other blockchains, allowing seamless transfer of data and assets across different ecosystems.

Bearish News and Price Performance:

Despite the recent bearish sentiment, it’s worth noting that ADA started the current market cycle at around $0.20 and reached a peak of over $3.00, a significant increase. This demonstrates that long-term investors still see value in Cardano’s long-term vision.

Is ADA Right for You?

The decision to invest in ADA depends on your risk tolerance and investment horizon. If you’re looking for a quick pump based on influencer hype, Cardano might not be the best choice. However, if you believe in Cardano’s long-term vision of a secure and scalable blockchain platform, ADA could be a worthwhile investment for your portfolio.

Remember:

The cryptocurrency market is notoriously volatile and prone to hype cycles. Always conduct thorough research, understand the risks involved, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

something i noticed

A while back, I wrote this analysis reviewing how unfair the magic education system is in Twisted Wonderland. I would recommend reading that before this post, as it provides tons of context for what I’m about to talk about and add onto the discussion.

In 2-6 of the Tapis Rouge event, Vil has stylists from Luxe, a high end fashion brand, dress up Azul, Jamil, and Ace to be a part of his red carpet entourage. Once the boys come out in their new threads and makeup, Jamil and Azul, two individuals who are meticulous about details, provide some telling commentary.

According to those two, the team of stylists that helped them were mages. Azul further remarks that they were quite skilled mages and that having this kind of talent indicates a “first class brand store”. Their hair and makeup is also suggested to be done via magic, though this service is not normally performed for customers. Previously, we knew that skincare can be infused with magic (Vil does so with his own) and that magic can be used to style one’s hair (Jamil tells us in his Birthday Boy vignettes that he does his intricate hair with magic and used to take far longer with it when he lacked the precision). Idia states in book 6 that Jamil had no formal magic training before NRC, so that means Jamil was self-taught in his hair-handling magic.

… Okay but 😭 WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY ABOUT MAGIC AND CLASS??? Is it just a coincidence that the teams of stylists who staff a high class store are ALL mages? Surely not, given how uncommon mages are in the general population. The store (or maybe the brand itself?) must be going out of its way to hire them because I guess being dressed with magic is a more “luxurious” experience than the normal way. We can also guess from Azul and Jamil’s accounts that the degree of magic these staffers use requires significant skill and precision, which either means they need formal instruction or lots of practice on their own. Neither option is afforded to people with naturally low or no magic reserves at all 💀 meaning jobs like this are gated to mages only.

Now, this doesn’t inherently mean the rich and famous people who frequent these stores are also all mages (Kalim’s dad and Vil’s dad are two non-mages who are extremely wealthy and influential); the majority of them must still be regular people since humans seem to be the majority, and 90% of humans are non-mages. It also doesn’t guarantee that the Luxe stylists are paid more than a non-Luxe stylist (although I do think this is possible for a prestige brand, especially if we factor in commissions on sales).

What’s sticking out to me here is that there exists an association between magic and luxury. The reverse also appears to have some truth based on what little other lore we have; Ruggie states that there are not a lot of mages from his hometown, which could imply a history of non-mages being driven into poorer communities. It all fits together a little too well to seem coincidental… but obviously, Ruggie’s hometown is just one place and could be an outlier rather than the exemplar. We know that most non-mages must live an average lifestyle, not the extremes that Ruggie has experienced. Still, the claim that magic is typically associated with the upper class holds and it continues to be perpetuated in the lore.

Anyway, Fellow and Rollo were right—

[ao3cassandraic]

Kayfabe: A Good Omens meta

"Kayfabe," in wrestling, is the performance (including outside the wrestling ring) of whatever storyline is being woven around the wrestlers. Breaking kayfabe is Serious Business for a wrestler; the illusion is part of the event. If you ever wondered how John Cena could anchor an entire HBO miniseries brilliantly, kayfabe is a big part of the answer.

Because of their histories and how their respective Head Offices treat them, Crowley and Aziraphale approach their version of kayfabe -- their whole "I am an angel! You are a demon! We're hereditary enemies!" schtick, also their "we are good bad proper little footsoldiers, honest, Boss" schtick to their respective Head Offices -- very, very differently.

I promise there's a point to this. I PROMISE. But let me walk through it first.

Both of them know that one awkward question to Upstairs at the wrong moment and its Fallsville. Crowley, however, knows a couple of things that Aziraphale doesn't have to:

Punishment isn't just once; in some ways, the Fall is never over. Beelzebub or Hastur can throw you in the Dung Pits whenever, after all, or feed you to a Hellhound, or zap you like an Eric. Crowley's lot do not send rude notes. (s2: we do not know what happened to Crowley after Hell dragged him back at the end of the Resurrectionists 'sode, but I think it safe to say it was not great for Crowley. Litotes: your key to quality meta.)

Downstairs can and does check in -- or drag Crowley Downstairs for a chat and possibly a bit of idle torture -- whenever they feel like it. Downstairs seems pretty disorganized, especially its leadership, so I'd expect ad-hoc surprise inspections from them. Downstairs can invade Crowley's flat's TV, his Bentley's radio, and his very mind to perform those inspections. Crowley is never, ever safe from this. He can't relax. Ever.

Heaven, on the other hand, has 37 levels of scriveners and zero interest in Earth. Talk of "reprimands" and "miracle budgets" and Michael being a stickler and whatnot suggests a formal review process happening on a schedule, governed largely by the dreaded (but quite possibly fake-able or spinnable) "paperwork" rather than direct observation by Aziraphale's peers or superiors. Otherwise, Aziraphale is usually left to his own devices. Remember how startled he is when Gabriel shows up at the sushi restaurant in s1? This is unusual!

(We also know from Muriel that Heaven's records office doesn't seem to get consulted a whole lot. It's possible this just means that first-through-thirty-sixth-level scriveners handle everything, but in my experience of large bureaucracies, it's the folks at the bottom of the hierarchy who invariably get run off their feet first. Don't see why Heaven would be any different.)

Moreover, Heaven's punishments seem pretty light, on the whole? Our angel is so anxious and so sensitive to slights that I'm sure the reprimands aren't fun, and nobody likes a reduced miracle budget... but Heavenly "needs improvement" reviews don't seem to be a patch on the Dung Pits. The real threat is Falling, which is more than horrible enough to serve as deterrent; Heaven doesn't need to add torments.

Moreover moreover, Aziraphale is mostly aligned with his Head Office in a way that Crowley really, really isn't. I'm sure Aziraphale does a lot of his Heaven assignments with a song in his heart and a skip in his step -- it's mostly not smiting or the like. Crowley... probably spends a lot of his work time figuring out how to obey the letter of Hellish law while defying its spirit. Crowley's in far more danger of angering his bosses.

So Aziraphale doesn't have to keep up kayfabe a lot of the time, not even while interacting with Crowley. He can and does save it for the rare occasions Heaven takes a personal interest. Crowley, however, must keep up kayfabe always, whether Aziraphale's there or not. The courage it must have taken that snake to slither up the wall of Eden!

The way Crowley navigates his permanent need for kayfabe is twofold. First, his all but instinctive refusal to accept any positive word or compliment about himself or his actions from anyone ever -- "I'M NOT NICE!" If Hell were ever to hear someone characterizing Crowley that way... That's also why Crowley is a bit less exercised when Jimbriel calls him nice: "nobody'll ever believe you."

Second, a species of Orwellian doublethink: maintaining a running commentary in his head of how he's going to justify any unHellish actions to Hell, since he can never know exactly when he'll have to or what exactly they'll have a bug up their butt (sorry, Beez) about. Even high as a kite on laudanum in the Edinburgh cemetery, Crowley can explain his current justification (in a curiously sober voice -- is Crowley ever really high in that scene? or is it all kayfabe? I lean toward kayfabe) to Aziraphale, "Not kind! Off my head on laudanum, not responsible for my actions."

We can see the kayfabe mismatch play out a few times, and it does appear that Aziraphale gets more concerned for Crowley's safety and more aware of Crowley's need for kayfabe post-Arrangement. That doesn't mean he always remembers, of course -- he wouldn't, he just doesn't have that same desperate need. And, of course, the ineffable walnuts do not communicate, as s2 went to some lengths to point out. I do think kayfabe is part of that -- it's hard for Crowley to be sincere when he's constantly doublethinking, and Aziraphale's off-and-on involvement with kayfabe (and all his other tendencies toward lying) disincline him to achieve or even learn about honest communication.

One s1 scene I went back and rewatched while thinking about this was the Globe scene, which contains Aziraphale's Saint-Peter-esque three-time denial of Crowley. I find it easy now to read that as Aziraphale going "oh crap do I need to drop back into kayfabe now? I didn't break kayfabe, did I?" and Crowley grinning, at least partly as reassurance. (Partly, of course, because Aziraphale is cute and funny even when kayfabing -- and partly because Aziraphale's sudden drop into kayfabe is Aziraphale trying to protect Crowley, of course Crowley's pleased by that.)

The wall pin, now that I think about it, also gains a little nuance from this. Crowley's fear-laced ire is genuine, but how many times must Aziraphale have heard Crowley snarl at him not to break kayfabe in this way? No surprise he's a little unimpressed. (With Crowley's demand. He's clearly very impressed by Crowley.)

In the s2 Job minisode, Aziraphale hilariously drops kayfabe (and that epic whole-body halo, loved that, great job FX folks) almost immediately. Crowley allows it, because Crowley is on firm ground -- Hell will be just fine with Crowley wrapping the angel in a Chuck-Jones-cartoon amount of scroll parchment and flipping him off.

When angel and demon collude on the con later, of course, they observe kayfabe, improv-style -- Crowley helps Aziraphale deal with the Job's-children situation without giving either of them away to the watching angel posse. Interestingly, it's Aziraphale who de-gecko-izes the kids. That gives Crowley an out, sort of: "look, the mansion collapse missed them because they were in the cellar, I turned them into geckos, totally Hellish thing to do, they'd never survive in the wild, but then this bloody interfering angel went and changed them back!"

And how does Crowley console a distraught angel who thinks he's about to be dragged to Hell? Crowley explains kayfabe in the fewest and clearest words possible. "Well, yeah, you did, but... I'm not going to tell anybody. Are you?"

So yeah. That's kayfabe for the Ineffable Walnuts.

But I promised there was a point to this, didn't I? Yes, I have a point.

My point is...

my POINT is...

my point IS...

(not dolphins, not this time)

My point is, how much of s2's Final Fifteen Minutes is kayfabe?

That's my point.

[livwritesstuff]

i’ve been very quiet so srry - my week started with my annual performance review (which went well) and ended with an emergency surgery (also went well) so…a lot going on to say the least

this is a deleted scene from the first chapter of plant a seed

When Robin called, Steve and Eddie were in the phase of newborn parenthood where they froze every single time the phone rang (because said newborn was napping more often than not and when she was, there was a 50% chance minimum the phone would wake her up).

So when Robin called and the ringing of the phone broke the otherwise peaceful silence, Steve froze and he waited. When the baby didn't wake up, Steve exhaled a sigh of relief and answered the call.

"This is Steve."

"Hey Steve-o!"

Steve immediately recognized the voice as Robin's – of course he did, even if he hadn't heard it since she and Nancy left for a work trip in Japan a little over a month ago.

“Oh shit,” Steve said, because this means that Robin and Nancy are finally home, finally back in their Boston apartment fifteen minutes away from his and Eddie's in Cambridge instead of the opposite side of the entire world, “You’re home!”

“Yep,” Robin replied, popping the P, “That plane was a million degrees, I’m pretty sure. No more August flights if I have any say in it. Anyways – wanted to let you know we made it back unscathed. What’s new with you guys?”

“Uh…” Steve began, not totally sure where to start, because Robin didn't know about the baby he and Eddie had been placed with two weeks ago and she certainly didn't know that they're going to adopt her (because they'd landed on that decision that very day – about two hours ago, to be specific), “Well–”

“Hey, do you still have those placements?" Robin interrupted, "The kids who like to read the Goosebumps books?”

“Oh,” Steve blinked, “No. They went back with their mom a couple days after you left.”

“Damn. Been a while. Forgot this trip was longer than usual – wait, so are you between placements now, then? Hey, we should finally make that trip to P-Town!”

"Might need a raincheck on that," Steve said with a laugh, because at the moment a trip to the goddamn grocery store required at least a day's worth of planning, "We've got another placement right now – a newborn. We've had her for, uh, for just under two weeks, pretty sure."

“Shit, a newborn?" Robin repeated.

Steve faintly heard Nancy's voice, though he couldn't make out exactly what she was saying. He listened as Robin recounted to her what he'd just said, then started to laugh.

"Nancy just said that if she misses out on a chance to hold a new baby, she'll kill you," Robin told him, "Any idea when she might move on?”

Steve paused for a second. He and Eddie had decided earlier that they wouldn’t be telling anyone about the baby until the adoption was finalized, but…it’s Robin. 

He doesn’t think he’s ever kept a secret from Robin before, certainly not something this big and certainly not for very long.

He has to tell her.

“We’re, uh, we’re actually adopting her.”

Robin was silent.

Then –

“Holy shit – Steve.”

And then –

“I’m coming over right now. Immediately. Wait–” Robin stopped, “Damn, I can’t be a dick and come over unannounced anymore, can I? Because you guys have a baby. A baby. And she’s gonna be yours? What the fuck? Wait, let me start over.”

Robin paused long enough to take a deep breath.

“Steve Harrington – my best friend who’s finally fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a dad – when will you allow us to come and be formally introduced to our niece?”

Truth be told, Steve wouldn’t say no to a visit from Robin and Nancy that day (especially after the our niece comment), but their case worker had just started faxing over all the paperwork to get the ball rolling on the adoption process and Steve has a feeling that he might catch Eddie trying to fill that shit out as it came out of the machine so tonight they might be a little occupied.

"Tomorrow?" he suggested.

"Morning?" Robin added.

Steve laughed, "Sure. Tomorrow morning."

"Bright and early, dad. Holy fuck, I can't believe you're a dad."

"You can't?"

"No, I totally can."

[aardvaark]

only murders in the building s3e8 spoilers ahead!

this is the best photo i could get of the strips of paper that have been pieced together so far. all we can see is:

"02/16/2023

mmence on

sion, and

until and

(line gap)

society,

performing

composer

however,

right to

where it"

now that’s… fairly vague, lol. not too much to be gathered, except that it relates to the play itself - words like "performing" and "composer" seem to show that. in other words, it’s probably not the autopsy report or someone’s diary. the first unfinished word is probably "commence". this makes it sound formal. again, unlikely to be a diary or a letter to a close friend or something.

so what could it be? personally, my current standing theory is that it’s Maxine’s review. i have a few reasons for this:

we know that Maxine has written a review. yes, she was originally writing by hand and her pen ran out of ink, but she mentions in episode 2 that it was some of her best writing which sounds like she had finished it later, plus it’s her job to write these reviews, im sure she must have finished it. and so there exists a "vitriolic" absolute pan of the play somewhere. one that we’ve never seen and which Maxine didn’t show to Oliver. maybe we can’t see it because it’s been shredded.

the language, from the small bits we can see, would make sense for a review. first she states when the play "commences" for its opening night. then she reviews the various elements of the play, such as the "performing" and notes things like who the "composer" is and whether they did a good job. the word "however" makes me think that the writer is giving some sort of a negative opinion there. which, you know, is what the review is.

Maxine is a character we were introduced to in the second episode but really haven’t explored. i don’t necessarily think she is the murderer; in fact, i can’t even think of a motive she’d have. but, i think they introduced her for a reason.

a scathing review could absolutely generate anger or violence in someone. imagine you’ve put your heart and soul into your performance or crew role for months, only to get insulted and for the show to be an utter failure. it could mean the end of your career or the loss of a lot of money.

but even if it is Maxine’s review, and even if someone was upset by it, why would that lead to Ben’s death? i do have a theory for that. it might not be the correct one, but it’s my best shot at the moment:

Cliff and Donna (the mother and son producer people) have repeatedly expressed that this play is high stakes for them. it’s Cliff’s producing debut and they need it to be perfect. the problem is, the show was far from perfect - something that they may have already realised to an extent, but which that pan confirmed. plus, a terrible review by a famous reviewer would lose them money and reputation. if one or both of them got their hands on Maxine’s review, it makes sense that they’d destroy it and want to put an end to the show in a way that can’t be blamed on them. an accidental death on stage - with the autopsy report altered to day there wasn’t any poison, and we know it was altered cause it was negative for meth - would solve their problem, as well as draw them a lot of press attention (any publicity is good publicity), and finally, would prevent the review from ever being published because no one would publish a scathing review of a recently deceased young man’s performance. i can imagine that the producers would have access to and knowledge about the set and theatre, which would allow for the spooky ghost stuff that seemed like more than a coincidence in "Ghost Light". they’d also have access to Ben’s room to plant the poison cookies (because c’mon, he was clearly talking to a plate of cookies in the dressing room video).

additionally, Donna’s speech to Loretta in the bathroom makes me suspect her more. and Loretta’s song, while clearly more about sacrificing herself for her own son in that moment, could double as meaning that Donna would kill for Cliff’s sake to protect his reputation in the industry. and as Loretta says, poisoning as a murder method tends to point to a woman murderer - this is actually true according to data on homicides. Donna is a woman, she would do anything for her son, the review would ruin his reputation in her mind, she poisons Ben to end the play.

then there’s Ben’s apologies in episode 1. to Cliff… well, he forgets Cliff’s name for one thing, and then he basically just says he’s sorry for being so annoying to them and complaining about his dressing room. then he continues to complain about his dressing room before moving on.

while Donna may have done the first murder, i don’t think she did the second. perhaps it was Cliff, pissed at his non-apology and wishing the man was dead for real. perhaps it was someone else entirely (probably a man since they haven’t had a male murderer so far and have even pointed that out).

but again, this is still a very loose theory based solely on the possibility that that document is the review. what else do y’all think it could be? or what else could have happened if it is indeed the review?

[iconuk01]

“The National Portrait Gallery was authorized and founded by Congress in 1962 with the mission to acquire and display portraits of individuals who have made significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the people of the United States. Today, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery continues to narrate the multi-faceted and ever-changing story of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts, and new media, the Portrait Gallery presents poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives form our national identity.”

After a thorough review and discussion, the National Portrait Gallery made the formal decision to accept Steve Cook’s portraits of George Pérez into the National Archives, adding these photographs to their collection in December 2023, making Pérez the first comic book artist to be honored in such a manner, and an enduring tribute to an American icon. 

[ggidolsmuts]

Fromis App Part 13: (F)App Developer - Fromis_9 Nagyung

"Nagyung, you wanted me to come here? Where's Saerom?" She's sitting at the CEO's desk, typing away on her laptop.

"Oh, over here!" Nagyung waves lively at you, bouncing in the chair. "We have a job to do!"

"We do? Where's Saerom?"

"She's on a business trip, and yes, we have to work." You find yourself nodding before something strikes you.

"Nagyung, what exactly do you do here?"

"I'm Assistant CEO, or Assistant to the CEO, and I'm the app developer."

"How can you be an assistant and the app developer?"

"I help Saerom when she needs it, and when she doesn't need it, I develop the app."

"What do you help Saerom with?" Nagyung hems and haws, suddenly looking flustered.

"I perform various functions in a variety of situations," she manages to say formally.

"That told me nothing, what do you do?"

"A-a multitude of things, you know, many of them, a cornucopia of errands—" Nagyung waves her hands around vaguely.

"Sure, I'll take your word for it. And the rest of the app team does it when you're busy?"

"Team? What team?"

"The development team, for the app? Who do you discuss stuff with?"

"My rubber duck! There is no team, I am the app developer."

"Like, the only app developer? Is that why it's so slow, why there's so few people on the app? You need to scale!"

"Yah! It takes time you know? To come up with ideas to implement, and I have so many other ideas, so it takes time to get around to the Fromis App!"

"Fine, what do you need me to do then?"

"Oh, be my code peer and watch me as I code, that's what Saerom would do."

"Really? Saerom reviews your code?"

"Yeah, that's how I got the position in the first place!"

"How did you get the position in the first place?" you ask, incredulous.

"Oh, it was between me and Chaeng, wasn't really close though, Chaeng's code looked like she wrote it with her feet. She said my code looked like I just sat on the keyboard, but Saerom agreed with me in the end and made me the developer."

"That explains so much..." you mutter under your breath. "Never mind, sure, I'll watch, what are you doing today?"

"Just running some unit tests? I finished up a feature that lets one more person onto the platform, just needs to pass the tests and off to production it goes." Shiftily Nagyung looks around, peering outside the office to see if anyone's watching. She presses a button and the glass walls turn opaque. "And let's have some fun, I finally get you to myself."

"Work hard, play hard hmm?"

"Yup!" Nagyung beckons you over to Saerom's chair, and you sit down before she gets in your lap, spreading her legs as she pulls the two of you towards the desk. She's trapped between you and the desk, and your hands find their way around her midriff. "I can feel your python extending already!" She grinds herself on top of you, and you groan as she gives you an impromptu lapdance. Cheekily she kisses your jaw, "I can't wait to import your package into me."

"Nerdy dirty talk? That's a first." Your hands unbutton her tight pants and pull the zipper down.

"You like it? I can't wait for you to overflow my container, maybe we can init a baby together... Like my code, my body has no exception handling, it's so unsafe." You promptly button her pants again.

"Okay that is more worrying than sexy, your code has no exception handling?"

"That's what you got out of it?"

"When you still have work to do, yes."

"Let's just play first, then work later?" Nagyung pouts, pulling your hands back to her pants.

"How about a little bit of both, how many tests do you have?"

"Fifteen, I think."

"Okay, for every test you pass, I'll pleasure you for 4 seconds, for every test you fail, you have to pleasure me for 4 seconds, deal?"

"And if they all pass?"

"Then we can have fun."

"Okay!" You idly fondle Nagyung as she starts typing, but you don't play too hard with her, making sure she can still do her work. "And done!" The two of you watch with bated breath as the tests run—7 failed and 8 passed. "What now?"

You're back to unbuttoning her pants, sliding them down a little. "I'll pleasure you first, then you pleasure me." Nagyung tries to work on your jeans blind, and you help her out by pushing them down a little.

"Or we pleasure each other at the same time." Her hands slip under your boxers as yours slip under her panties, and the two of you play with each other, stroking and rubbing all over. You gently part her lips, running your fingers along her labia and collecting her wetness. Nagyung shudders and moans as you bring a thumb to her clit. She pays back in kind, a hand stroking your shaft before running a finger over your tip, gently teasing the underside of your head. You hiss and grab her arm, forcing her to stop.

"I owe you 4 more seconds." You make the 4 seconds of pleasure feel like 40 as you frig her intensely, and Nagyung cries out loud as she rushes towards her climax.

"Fuck, oh fuck! No!" she whimpers as you pull away at the last second, leaving her keeled over the laptop without satisfaction. Your fingers draw circles over her abdomen, leaving her wanting more.

"Keep working."

Nagyung whines, but her hands reach for the keyboard again. Her head is still fuzzy from the near-climax, and her fixes are sloppy, causing the program to error out and all the tests to be skipped. She owes you a minute of pleasure.

"What, no!"

"That counts, none of the tests passed."

"They never even ran!"

"Because of your fault! One minute of pleasure please." Nagyung pouts, but she starts rubbing you again, stroking you with a firm grip. You feel her all over for the minute, your hands snaking under her top, cupping her perky breasts, rubbing her tummy—you touch her everywhere but between her legs.

"Enough, back to coding." You briefly brush her slit, and Nagyung shudders before reluctantly going back to the keyboard. You're content to continue roaming her body with your hands as she taps on the laptop.

That is, until you see her commit a cardinal sin. You grab her arms and pull them away from the keyboard, and she's pinned between you and the desk as you lean forward to whisper in her ear.

"Nagyung, did you do what I think you just did?"

"N-No? What do you mean?"

"Did you just comment out some of the tests?" Nagyung tries to hit Ctrl-Z and undo her work, but you stop her, and her handiwork is clear as day. "That is very very bad Nagyung."

"B-But I can't figure out how to fix it right now!"

"You still shouldn't do that, on your knees." Nagyung slides off you, and as she turns to face you it is clear what her punishment is. She reaches for your shaft as your hands go to her head. Firmly you push your tip past her lips, and her tongue welcomes you with licks and flicks.

"Mmm!" Nagyung squeezes your thighs as you get deeper into her, and you slow down but keep pushing.

"You can take it, keep going." Your cock looks extra big in Nagyung's mouth, and she pants as you put more of yourself into her. She coats your shaft with saliva, and it starts leaking out the sides of her mouth. Your fingers tighten their grip on her hair. "Okay?"

Nagyung looks up at you and hums assent. "Hmm hmm!" You start moving her head back and forth while lightly thrusting yourself.

"Touch yourself!" Nagyung's hand disappear from your thighs, and her arm starts moving quickly, jilling herself while she looks up at you. You start pumping yourself faster, and Nagyung's moans are interrupted by your thrusts.

"Mmm, mmghk! Guhhlk! Haghkk..." The resulting sounds are obscene, gagging sounds mixed with pleasured moans as you go faster than she's used to. But she doesn't tap out, so you keep going, and you fingers twist in her hair and you hold her there. Your grunts are the only sound in Saerom's office as you manually put Nagyung on mute, dumping your load into her mouth and down her throat.

"Mmm fuck!" you groan with a relish as you pull out of Nagyung's mouth. Nagyung continues touching herself, her arms working overtime even as you pull her up to her feet. She whines, but you make her sit back in your lap.

"Can I cum?"

"Are you going to comment out unit tests in the future?"

"No I won't! Please?"

"Maybe you'll program properly with your head clear, fine." You brush Nagyung's hand aside and plunge your own fingers into her. Nagyung squeals at your larger fingers inside her, and all it takes is a few rapid schlicks before she twitching in your lap, coating your digits in her juices. She goes limp externally, but internally she is overclocked, spasming and contracting around you rapidly.

"Ah! Damn..." Nagyung sighs as she comes down, content. "That was good."

"Ready to get back to work?"

"Do I have to? Can't you just bend me over the desk?"

"I think Saerom would not be happy that work wasn't done, besides I need a bit of time."

"Fine." You take Nagyung's hand and suck her fingers clean.

"There, now you can use the keyboard again." You lower your voice to a whisper, "And once you're done I'm going to eat you up."

With the promise of more and post-orgasm clarity Nagyung is extra motivated to finish, and her head is clear as she quickly fixes her prior mistakes. Soon, more tests start to pass—4, then 3, then 2 failures. You spend more and more time bringing her close to her next orgasm, and she has enough time to get you hard again.

"Okay, hopefully this fixes everything." Nagyung takes a deep breath and runs the tests. She squeals when it comes out all green. "Yay, commit and push!" She types a random sequence of letters as the commit message and pushes it.

"Wait, what about a pull request? QA testing?"

"Don't care, I'm the only developer! We're done!" You close the laptop and shove it to the side.

"No, you're done." You push Nagyung off you and stand up. Like a computer program you do exactly as she says and bend her over the desk. With a hand on her back and one on her hips you pin her there and open up her port.

"Oh fuck, yes!" You plug yourself in Nagyung, and then you unplug, and then you plug in again. The two of you form a wet USB link, male and female connectors plugging and unplugging over and over. It is also a USB-C connection, and on every thrust you plug smoothly into her, causing Nagyung to power up and cry out in pleasure. To prove the point you flip Nagyung on to her back and plunge into her once more—no issues there, no need to flip her back, and she moans once more.

You power-cycle Nagyung's mind, making her body twitch and jerk as you fuck her through multiple orgasms. You're quickly rushing to your own end, intending to transfer your genetic data to her through the Fill Tight Pussy protocol.

"Nagyung I'm gonna—"

"Inside!" she shrieks. Her body feels you throb harder and faster inside her, and she cries and wraps her legs around you, making it a secure FTP transfer. You hump her against the desk, and soon you are forced to execute your biologicial programming. Nagyung's subjected to a pussy overflow attack, and you inject your payload straight into her with a groan. Nagyung pulls you into her chest, and you leave love bites all over her neck as you finish delivering your load.

The two of you power down as you lie quietly on Saerom's desk. You kiss the woman-in-the-middle, and she giggles as you brush her hair aside.

"Oh, now you're gentle."

"You're the one who wanted me to bend you over."

"True, that was great." You eventually disconnect from Nagyung, a river of cum spilling on to Saerom's desk.

"Think she'll notice?" you ask as you hurriedly wipe the surface clean and rearrange things to where they were.

"Nah, she's not back for another week, it will be cleaned and wiped down properly by then." Nagyung reassures you as the two of you fix your clothes. You notice something odd out of the corner of your eye.

"Nagyung, is that a camera?"

"What?!" The two of you stare at the black orb in her ceiling, unseen until now. "Oh my god it is, why did she install one here?"

"Probably because I fucked Jiwon in here..." you groan, ruffling your hair in frustration.

"Really? Her too?" Nagyung interrupts herself. "Never mind, let's hurry up and go talk to Hayoung, maybe she can delete it for us."

"Hayoung? Why?"

"She's head of security, she has access to the camera feeds."

"Oh, let me go talk to her then, you should go back to, umm, doing whatever it is you do."

"Sounds good, very important stuff." Nagyung taps her laptop authoritatively. "Thanks for a good time, Master."

You do a double-take. "Master?"

"Yeah, I was reading about that, you're the Scrum Master, what we did was a scrum right? Lots of bodies moving around, some work got done, your hips were agile. You were leading it, so you're the Master."

"Oh god, that is so wrong but I don't have time to explain it, don't call anyone else Master."

"Sure Master, bye!" You shake your head and follow the directions to security. It is deserted save for a panel of six monitors. To your horror each monitor has a clip playing, clips of Nagyung and you—Nagyung sitting in your lap, you facefucking Nagyung, you fingering Nagyung, you pounding Nagyung, Nagyung’s orgasmic expression as she cums, and finally, your cum leaking out of Nagyung and on to the desk. Taking your chance, you hurry to the computer, to see if you could delete or wipe the archives.

"So..." You jump at Hayoung's voice behind you. "Tell me, are these real or fake? Hmm? Are they fake or real? Are they not fake and therefore real, or are they not real and therefore fake? Well?"

"I umm, I, I..." you're struggling to process what she just said, something about real and fake. You tremble as she places a hand on your shoulder.

"Relax, tell you what, why don't we discuss this somewhere else, and then you can tell me whether this is real or fake." The grip on your shoulder tightens.

"Y-Yes Hayoung."

"Good, your place or mine?"

A/N: Slowly getting around to finishing this up, credit to Byakko who I shoot the shit with and came up with Nakko the app developer. Clearly the most unrealistic thing in this story is that she knows what a unit test is. Anyways thanks for reading, I just went ham with dumb metaphors and lots of random references lol

[ddejavvu]

oh mother of fuck u have no idea how out of place it feels sending u something about nsfw but ik that u do that here so im sending u this (my apologies😀) & running away 🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️

but i think a concept thats kinda funny kinda spicy is hotch & bau reader having a professional relationship surface level, but under that hotch having like.,,., a embarrassingly large crush on them and one night just,,, j🅰️ckin 0ff to the thought of them and then struggling to make eye contact with them the next day at work cause the night before is all he can thing abt lmfao 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

baby don't feel out of place i literally get the horniest shit in my inbox every single day

this post is 18+, minors dni.

"Come in." Aaron's brow furrowed as his fingers tightened slightly around the pen in his grasp. He hadn't remembered calling anyone in to see him.

The door to his office cracks open, creaking slightly on the hinges as you make yourself known, "Sorry to interrupt, sir. I was wondering if we could go over my performance review earlier than we'd planned?"

Right. Your performance review. It was scheduled for three in the afternoon, but here you were at 9AM.

"I suppose so." Aaron felt something stirring below his gut as you turned to shut the door behind you, your pants shifting around the globes of your ass. He'd imagined squeezing that same flesh just last night, imagined how each curve would feel while they were squeezing his cock.

He'd been so lost in thought that you'd settled into your chair in front of his desk without him noticing, and his stationary eyeline just happened to be right where your neckline landed when you sat. Your shirt was low-cut, still professional, but definitely not a turtleneck. It gave him the slightest hint of cleavage, and he felt his cock twitch in his pants, stirring to life.

"Are you sure this is okay?" You ask, as he clears his throat, shuffling through papers to find your files.

"It's fine, Y/L/N." He dismisses, sending you his version of a smile, "You saved me from having to do more paperwork."

You let out a sympathetic giggle at that, settling back into your chair as he shuffles through the papers.

"Well I'm sure you know we've had minimal issues with you," He glances teasingly over the stack of papers, "There's not many problems here to discuss."

"Sir, if you're going to bring up the time I sassed that detective," You start, bringing a thumb up between your lips as you gnaw on the nail there, "I sent a formal apology to their department and it was cleared, I promise it won't happen again."

Aaron's eyes trail your movements, the way that your soft, plump lips bend under the weight of your thumb. Your teeth show as they scrape against your nail, and your voice comes out muffled as it moves around the finger in your mouth.

You take his silence for sternness, and nervousness brews in the pit of your belly, "I'm very sorry, sir, I know it was unprofessional."

He blinks, snaps out of it, and realizes he's hard beneath the desk. He scoots forwards slightly, locking eyes with you again and shaking his head, "It's fine. I hate to fuel your fire but he deserved it. Just try not to do it again."

"What if I do it again and just don't get caught?" You raise an eyebrow cockily, leaning forward to joke with him. The sight makes his stomach bottom out, and he feels the urge to lean forwards, not back like he should.

"As long as I don't have to deal with it, that's fine." He lets himself laugh, delighting in the soft smile it spreads over your face, your eyes crinkling at the edges, "You're a good agent, Y/L/N, I'm glad you're with us."

"Me too." You beam at him warmly, "Thank you, Hotch."

He wants to correct you. Aaron, he thinks, you can call me Aaron, hell, he'd let you call him daddy if you really wanted to, but he stays silent, only nodding with a kind smile on his lips.

"Do you want me to send Prentiss in now?" You stand, taking the papers he hands towards you over the desk. He deliberates, he knows she's next in line for a review, but his pants are tight and he's gripping the arm of his chair so hard his knuckles are turning white, so he shakes his head, "Not quite yet. I'll get her in a little while, I just need to finish first."

He gestures towards the paperwork he'd been working on when you came in, but he knows damn well he needs to finish, not finish. You nod cheerily at him, bidding him a good day. It's a sentiment that he returns, and he watches with rapt attention as you shut the door to his office and race down the steps, a bounce in your step that makes your chest shake.

He keeps paperwork held conveniently by his side that just so happens to cover the bulge in his pants as he closes the blinds to his office. He's sure Rossi will understand the correlation between you leaving and Aaron shutting himself in, but right now he doesn't care, all he cares about is fucking his fist hard enough to pretend it's your cunt.

[accio-victuuri]

CCTV6 MTalk invited a guest (@张龙Daniel, a professor and doctoral supervisor at Communication University of China) on their show “Today's Film Review” and talked about the heated discussions online about Wang Yibo being nominated as best supporting actor in GRA.

👨: The controversy that Wang Yibo has brought about is largely due to the fact that he was an idol before. So we need to understand actors of different age groups. This is a process. Let’s go back to his performance in the film "Hidden Blade". I personally feel that at least under the influence and guidance of director Cheng Er and senior Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Wang Yibo’s completion of this role is still very high. Of course, I also saw some comments on the Internet about how Wang Yibo could be nominated with other people. The critical appraisal of the award does not necessarily require these people to be on par for the critical acclaim award itself. It should take into account diversity and encourage films of various themes. encourage actors of all ages to come to their creations to actively contribute to better performances.

They can hate all they want, but again, he said it correctly. Their problem is because he was an idol and did not have “formal training” at a drama school or whatever. But again, the award is about the performance in a film. 💯

In today’s ceremony, one of Yibo’s fellow nominee, Li Xuejian ( who was also part of the initial discussion cause he is an award winning actor ) said : “To stand on this stage with four young and promising colleagues, we are three generations of old, middle-aged and young people," 🫶🏼

He even gave the mic to Yibo so he could speak first. It’s hilarious how netizens think that these veteran actors are somehow salty with the new breed when they are obviously not. ☺️

Another example is Kara Wai! She’s so nice! Thanks to her we got that cute clip of Yibo going “jiayou”

I know i’m not the only who has a lot of feelings right now and are anxious/excited for tomorrow’s awards ceremony. But the overwhelming feeling I have right now is pride for Yibo. He is really inspirational and an example of reaping what you sow. The road to this moment right here was far from smooth and it makes the nomination more special. I really hope he wins this. Good luck Yibo, Fly high! 🦅

[lannasroleplaymemes]

Roleplay Tips: "Actionable Responses"

We have all experienced, or will at some point in the future, a thread that feels like it is going nowhere. It's that feeling of reluctance to pull up the draft, of realizing it's the third or so time of experiencing dread when you see that other person respond.

You're bored with the thread. That, or you want to continue and just can't seem to think of what to do next!

There are a number of reasons why this can happen, but one of the most common ones is a lack of an actionable response from your partner. In most cases, deciding to wrap up the thread is the best thing to suggest...but most of us are just too "polite" to do that, huh? 😉But that's a post for another time.

So, what is an actionable response? Simply put, it's a reply to a thread that manages to give direction to your partner. This has NOTHING to do with matching length of post! It's just a matter of being aware that this is a collaborative effort.

Here's an example:

Character A: "I think we should invite our friends out to a party." Character B: "That's a great idea!" Character A: "It'll be a formal party. I'm going to work on the invitations tonight. I'll really go all out and make it fancy!" Character B: "Oh, I can't wait to see what you come up with! I'll be sure to wear the red dress I got over the weekend." Character A: "I'm sure it looks stunning on you. I don't know what I'm going to wear yet. I think I need to figure out the venue and the details first." Character B: "You are going to knock it out of the park! You're always so good at organizing everything!"

So, what happened? The conversation above isn't bad! However, there was "burden" placed on the writer of Character A each time. The writer of B has responded each time in similar length, but gives A little to no idea how to continue the conversation. Each reply made it the responsibility of the writer of A to come up with the direction for the conversation. Here's the breakdown:

A: Starts with the opening prompt (the party)

B: Agrees with idea

A: Elaborates on prompt

B: Enthuses about prompt, brings up new subject (dress)

A: Compliments B, brings up new subject (uncertainty)

B: Reassures A

Sometimes your character requires noncommittal responses, and this is OK to do once in awhile! But think about this in real life: If you met someone who was only this reactive to your comments and never really asked about you or your actions... Wouldn't it get a bit exhausting to talk with them? At the very least, they would appear polite but uninterested, and interactions would tend to be short.

Here's a better example for the above, one with actionable responses from B.

Character A: "I think we should invite our friends out to a party." Character B: "That's a great idea! Which friends, though? The ones from work or school?" Character A: "Why not both? I think it'd be cool to combine our social groups. Unless you think they wouldn't get along…?" Character B: "Well, you know how wild I get around Stacy on the dance floor. I wouldn't want it to reflect bad on my performance review …" Character A: "That's true, you two can get pretty unhinged. But I was thinking of theming it up to be more of a formal party. Like, make fancy invitations and everything!" Character B: "Oh, that sounds amazing! And less likely I'll start twerking, although the possibility isn't zero. Do you need any help with the invitations? Or anything else?" Character A: "I should have the invitations under control, but I'd love it if you could brainstorm the decorations. I want to go for a vintage 1950's vibe." Character B: "I am already making a Pinterest. This is going to be great! Oh, and I just bought the cutest red dress that'll work perfectly for the theme! Do you know what you want to wear? We can go window shopping later if you want!" Character A: "That would be great! Do you have pics of the dress?"

The above interaction isn't just more equal in engagement, its flow and dialogue is far more natural and prompts more detailed responses! Here's the breakdown for this one:

A: Starts with the opening prompt (the party)

B: Responds asking for more details, prompting a new subject (guest list)

A: Answers, asks for B's opinion

B: Answers, brings up a third party that A can comment on

A: Makes a comment, but chooses not to pursue subject at length; brings up new point of discussion (formal party)

B: Gives opinion, offers help

A: Accepts help, provides further prompt details (party theme)

B: Gives opinion, offers up another subject of clothing, offers up potential next direction/goal of thread (shopping)

There is a lot more "work" involved on both sides in the above example. And this is just with dialogue alone -- using descriptors and physical actions (i.e B could pull up their phone and show A the photos of their dress, or A could have started to playfully mock imitate B's dancing) also gives the other character something to respond to. This works great for Muses who canonically don't say much or are generally quiet in certain scenarios!

The ultimate goal of writing Actionable Responses is to share the responsibility of the scene, so that one writer doesn't feel burdened with directing everything and eventually associate your threads with fatigue, even subconsciously. Communication also plays a big part, too! Your responses may be actionable, but if the other writer isn't picking up any of them, it's time to pause the thread and communicate ooc and see what's up!

"Oh no! I realized I don't write a lot of Actionable Responses! Does that mean I'm a bad writer/horrible person? Do all my partners secretly hate me? Is this why I don't get any responses?"

NO. Realizing the above only means you're learning something new right now, and it is up to you if you want to employ the above suggestions or not. This thread is not meant to shame people -- it is meant to educate, and maybe even put into words what other writers feel, so that they can share and point to it when they feel responsibility is unbalanced in a thread.

[turn-to-me]

I rewatched The Social Network for its 13th anniversary. One of my favorite films of all time, and one that convinced me of Armie's extraordinary acting skills. The film is a masterpiece on every level, one of the greatest biopics of the 21st century. In my opinion also David Fincher's magnum opus, together with Se7en, if one could have more than 1. With an inimitable performance of the KILLER soundtrack.

And Armie Hammer was in it!!!

A few review quotes about Armie's performance:

* Hammer and Garfield make the glue that hold it together.

* Although the stand out award I'd like to give to Mr. Armie Hammer. His role is just Tailor fit, literally as his jacket. From his statuesque as a rower all through out as a dapper at Harvard, he is just believable in that field. He is after after all the Winklevoss BrotherS.

* Armie hammer is a best combination of grace and conceit how he played wealthy twins.

* David Fincher's cool, stylish direction and great performances by Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer make The Social Network a worthwhile watch.

* Now that some of the dust has settled, there’s one name that keeps coming up as a comic scene-stealer and awards dark horse: Armie Hammer, who plays entitled twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. In the movie, a Winklevoss twin declares, “I’m six-foot-five, 220 pounds, and there’s two of me,” but since there’s only one of Hammer, that meant the actor was often acting opposite a body double whose face he’d be digitally grafted onto in postproduction (and when you consider the notorious amount of takes that an exacting director like David Fincher requires, Hammer’s nimble pair of performances is all the more impressive). 

* My favorite description of the twins in the film comes from Alison Willmore's review, in which she writes, "Hammer is infinitely amusing in his dual role, exuding privilege and looking like something grown in a vat of J. Crew catalogs and Aryan race propaganda."

* No one could have played Sean Parker like Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer playing the Winklevoss twins is fantastic too.

* The quasi-pair of performances generated Hammer Oscar buzz at the time, and he has been a marquee mainstay ever since, appearing in films like J. Edgar (2011), The Lone Ranger (2013), The Birth of a Nation (2016), Call Me By Your Name (2017), Cars 3 (2017), Sorry to Bother You (2018), and On the Basis of Sex (2018).

* What makes Armie Hammer’s  acting performance outstanding is his use of specific body language with each of the two characters.

The different  way he moves, his vocal cadences , and facial expressions makes it so easy to believe that these were two different people on the screen. 

When Armie played Cameron Winklevoss, he played him more uptight and more formal. The formality also came out  in his dialogue. His diction was more precise.

When he played Tyler  Winklevoss,  he leaned back and was more laid back. His speech pattern was more fluid and he even used curse words as Tyler’s character.

I think that Armie’s performance was so great that I would easily see him being a contender for best supporting actor at the next Academy Awards ceremony.

This scene is epic! Great visual metaphor emphasised by this music piece.

#'In The Hall of the Mountain King' #Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross #Henley rowing scene

[imagitory]

Review: Wish (2023) [SPOILERS]

Evening, everyone! Tonight my mother and I went to go see Disney's most recent film, Wish, which fortunately came to theaters in my area right before its formal American release date. I'd been very curious to see how this tribute to Disney's last 100 years of filmmaking would turn out, and now that I've seen it...well, I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I want to be very clear both that I was going into this with a rather sunny outlook and that there are things I really liked in this film...but overall, it felt like a lot of the good ideas it had were only half-baked, and I found myself -- forgive me -- "wishing for something more" than what we got.

For a more comprehensive deep-dive...a cut!

The Good!

+The single best element in this film for me was Chris Pine's performance as our villain, Magnifico. There are definitely some things I can critique about Magnifico's overall storyline and "character arc" further down, but Chris was clearly having a grand old time being an egotistical, sassy jerkwad, and it totally showed. Even in his villain song This is The Thanks I Get?, which just screamed "passive-aggressive abusive parent," you can hear how much fun Chris was having in the studio, recording it. I just about always enjoyed when Magnifico was on screen, and I actually did really like the idea that a lot of his villainy is rooted in him being obsessed with control over everyone and everything. In a weird way, Magnifico's turn to the Dark Side parallels Anakin Skywalker's in the sense that he lost so much in the past that he's determined to never lose anything important to him again -- especially the power he's accrued to make himself feel strong, after having felt so powerless. I find that very interesting, and I kind of wish that aspect was really highlighted more in the story, but we'll talk about that later.

+Asha was a likable enough heroine, even if I found her to be a lot like a two-way fusion of Mulan and Anna placed in a vaguely Snow-White-ish role in her clearly Seven-Dwarf-inspired friend group. Ariana DeBose portrayed her rather well, both acting and singing-wise. I also liked the "social justice" bent to Asha's character where she wants better things not just for herself and her family, but also Rosas overall -- in the French translation of her main song "This Wish," they even push this further by having Asha wish "to see the world happy again someday." We haven't seen a heroine really express this kind of desire for a positive change in the world since Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and that's cool! Plus representation in mainstream media for previously underrepresented groups is always nice. ^.^

+As much as I don't think they all got enough focus as individuals, I liked Asha's friend group! Especially the fact that it is a friend group made up of people that are around the same age as our protagonist, which -- let's be honest -- isn't that common for Disney heroines. Often with "sidekick groups," you're more likely to have situations like Cinderella with the mice (who are more like cutesy sidekicks than equals) or Snow White with the Dwarfs (who are all quite a bit older than our heroine)...so a friend group made up of peers with their own personalities and motivations was kind of fun.

+The setting of Rosas itself could be pretty. I liked a lot of the Mediterranean-inspired architecture, especially inside Magnifico's tower.

+The combination of 3D and 2D-esque animation was also interesting! It really served to give the film its own distinctive visual style that sets it apart from other Disney projects, which I always appreciate.

+Star was...cute. Obviously just designed to sell plushies and definitely reminded me way too much of Kirby, but cute enough. I do think it's kind of cool that they're never gendered at all in the entire movie, because it'd be silly to think of a sweet little androgynous ball of stardust as being specifically male or female.

+I liked the idea of Simon "betraying" Asha, only to be turned into a pawn by Magnifico in the process, but not being treated unsympathetically by the story for it. Didn't love the full execution of the idea, but hey, that's what the negative section is for.

+The idea of everyone finding the power inside of themselves to stand up against Magnifico (because they're "all stars," and presumably all have the magic needed to make their wishes come true) was a little predictable, but still sweet. I have problems with how the film wrote it (which we'll get to), but the idea itself was wholesome and fitting.

+I like several of the songs, just on their own -- I added This Wish and Knowing What I Know Now on my ITunes as soon as I first heard them prior to the film's release, and now I've added At All Costs too: it's a really pretty duet! (Gorgeous work, Chris and Ariana!) I'll leave my praise here, though, because sadly the soundtrack is going to get a lot of discussion in the less positive section.

The Not-So-Good...

+This film being "Disney's 100th anniversary film" really got in the way of this movie telling a compelling and unique story sometimes. The whole movie really twisted itself into a pretzel trying to check off all the usual Disney tropes, and there were points that certain choices made the story seem incredibly stilted. For instance, one common Disney trope is a dead parent, so of course Asha has lost her father -- but we learn so little about him and he ends up playing such a small role in Asha's arc and story that it seems like an unnecessary detail. Asha's grandfather honestly plays more of a role in Asha's motivation throughout most of the film, so it would've made just as much sense to have Asha's grandfather be the one who believed in stars having power, rather than her father. Another example is the concept of the cute animal sidekick who's just there to make jokes -- as much as Valentino the goat didn't annoy me personally, he added just about nothing of value to the story whatsoever aside from comic relief, in contrast to other funny sidekicks like Sebastian from The Little Mermaid or Olaf from Frozen, who also serve a plot purpose and have a developed relationship with the protagonists. Then there's Asha being cut from the same "naive, awkward, wide-eyed idealist" cloth as many of our Disney Revival heroines like Anna, Rapunzel, and up to a certain point even Mirabel are; Star being in a similar vein to cutesy, innocent sidekicks like Pua, Crikee, and Baymax while Valentino is more akin to sassier, comic ones like Mushu and Sisu; her friends literally being based on the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White; our heroine getting a pretty standard "I Want" song and the villain getting his own solo number that doesn't really take any risks...oh yes, and we mustn't forget the trope of the Storybook opening, which (I'm sorry) I know was supposed to be a reference to Snow White, Cinderella, and Enchanted, but just gave me Shrek vibes the entire time. I was waiting for Shrek to rip out the page and use it for toilet paper any minute. It just felt a lot of the time like the movie was very paint-by-numbers, rather than throwing in much that was surprising or different.

+This isn't even touching all of the pointless meta references to other Disney movies. Asha wearing the Fairy Godmother's cloak and getting a wand like hers at the end -- the mushrooms crowing "we love crazy!" the way Hans did in Love is an Open Door -- Asha riding the reindeer the way Kristoff did in Frozen 2 -- Magnifico using green smoke hands a la Ursula -- the ending with those obvious Wendy and Peter Pan look-alikes, come on, really??? That was just painful.

+As much as Magnifico was an awesome idea for a character and Chris Pine's performance was beyond entertaining, the movie did not always write him as well as they could've. From the very start, we see this guy is an egotistical control freak -- obsessed with his own image, incredibly hard-to-please, arrogant, vain, desperate for attention and unwavering praise and adoration from all of his subjects, and determined to keep an iron grip on everyone else's wishes because of the power it gives him. He's ALREADY a terrible person, from the start -- and yet the film tries to introduce this dark magic book that gets no explanation or backstory whatsoever and has no real characterization or presence, so it leaves no real impact on the audience corrupting him and making him a bad person, when it didn't need to! Magnifico was already the villain this film needed! Just let him fall head-first into madness without the book prompting anything! Even if Magnifico "lost everything" in the past, that doesn't make him a good person, if he takes everyone's wishes away from them and hoards them all to himself, only to grant a few now and again when it would make him look good.

+This above point actually leads nicely into one change I really, really wish the film had been ballsy enough to make -- have Asha already be Magnifico's apprentice, not trying to become it at the start of the story. Give our villain and hero a real relationship, with history that started before the events of this film! Asha lost her father at the age of 12...how interesting would it have been -- whether to make Magnifico more of an anti-villain or show how manipulative he really is -- if he'd tried to fill that fatherly role for our main character and twist her to serve his ends? What if At All Costs was rewritten to be about Magnifico not just being determined to hold onto all of the kingdom's wishes, but also this apprentice he sees as an extension of him and his legacy, while Asha is determined to protect this Star she's accidentally summoned and the suppressed wish of hers it represents? This change would've made Asha's break with Magnifico so much more powerful for both of them -- it would've both justified Magnifico's descent into madness and given Asha more reason to feel like it was her responsibility to stop Magnifico. You even could've then played more with Asha's relationship with Queen Amaya too, in this kind of a scenario.

+Oh yeah, and on that note, Queen Amaya. OOH, this really annoyed me -- okay. So this woman is supposed to be a good guy, in this story. But as I touched on earlier, Magnifico was already a pretty awful person, hoarding people's wishes away in order to make himself powerful. Was Amaya truly so blind to that? Did she truly never question anything, ever? But no, really, she only turns on Magnifico after he starts using the dark magic book and actively threatens her. Only that makes her turn from him, and it's pretty damn immediate. Now okay, I hear you saying, it's like Amaya sings in Knowing What I Know Now, right? "The good in him, I've watched it melt // I was blinded by the love I felt"? Excuse me, lady -- but Magnifico wasn't a good person, before. He was just playing a part so as to stay powerful and adored by the masses. And if the story wants to claim otherwise, and act like that dark magic book was responsible for Magnifico going bad, then why would our Queen decide to keep him locked up in his staff's crystal forever? If the book was responsible, then Magnifico would be the Frodo or Golum to the book's One Ring -- he'd be a victim, in such a scenario: one in need of help and pity, not punishment. So either Amaya is a selfish person who only cared about her husband's mistreatment of others when it affected her, or she's a needlessly cruel person who decides to punish her husband for a vice that anyone could fall prey to. Either way, I don't want this woman ruling anyone! Make this woman a straight-up villain, same as her husband, and have the whole monarchy come crashing down after she and Magnifico both go down in flames! VIVE LA RESISTANCE! (Playing into my idea with Asha being Magnifico's apprentice all along, maybe there could even be a twist on the Evil Stepmother trope with Amaya, where she's jealous of how much Magnifico has tried to groom Asha as his apprentice, rather than spending time and/or starting a family with her or something.)

+As I touched on earlier, there wasn't even close to enough time to develop all of these characters properly. Since our heroine and friends are most similar to Snow White and her friends the Seven Dwarfs, let's compare cast size. Snow White is 83 minutes long and has a cast of ten (Snow, the Prince, the Queen, and the Dwarfs) -- Wish is 95 minutes long and has a cast of fourteen (Asha, Magnifico, Star, Valentino, Amaya, Asha's mum and grandpa, and our seven Friends). This results in us getting the vague idea that "Grumpy" role Gabo is sweet on our "Bashful" role Bazeema, but no time to develop their relationship or give it any kind of conclusion; the others saying "Sneezy" role Safi apparently loves the castle chickens with no sympathetic explanation why, to the point that he gets super excited about a chicken growing to a giant size for no real reason; "Doc" role Dahlia having a crush on Magnifico that is then dropped immediately after Asha turns against him; oldest kid and "Sleepy" role Simon feeling incomplete without the dream he gave Magnifico and "betraying" Asha as a result in an attempt to get it back, only to get stabbed in the back by Magnifico, and then have no time for a proper redemption after he's unhypnotized; Asha's grandfather turning on a dime about whether or not he wants to know what his wish was if Magnifico thought it was dangerous; Magnifico getting some justification in his backstory for his bad behavior, but Amaya's backstory being a complete black hole before she married Magnifico when you'd think it'd explain all the more why she stuck with him so long; and Asha's mum having her wish crushed to dust by Magnifico and then given back without us EVER LEARNING WHAT IT EVEN WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE, even after we see just about everyone else's wishes as soon as somebody picks it up and Asha's mum's wish gets picked up multiple times!! Come on, if you're going to set up NOT showing it, you may as well have a pay-off for it!! At least give us some moment where Asha's mum hugs her in relief and acknowledges that her daughter was her wish! That would've been a nice "aww" moment for everyone!

+Okay, I said I was going to talk about my problem with the songs, so here goes. As I said before, I listened to the soundtrack before watching the movie, and even when I did, I could immediately sense a problem: these songs did not tell me much of anything about the movie, just on their own. Welcome to Rosas, which is pretty much just an exposition dump about the kingdom and how Magnifico founded it, didn't really paint a picture of our setting or characters much at all, the way opening songs like Belle or The Family Madrigal do. This Wish, although pretty, was something I could hear just as easily on the radio -- it didn't feel as tied or necessary to understanding our heroine the way something like Part of That World does. I'm a Star, quite frankly, felt like a lot of inspirational word salad, rather than anything particularly memorable or revelatory -- why else wouldn't it even be worthy of a musical salute in the reprise, where Asha remembers that she and everyone else are stars during the climax? Even after reading summaries of the plot and spoilers from the storybook for this film, I could not figure out for the life of me how At All Costs would fit organically into such a story, being sung by our villain and hero. It wasn't until I saw the film that I saw how the filmmakers decided to fit it in and honestly...the song didn't help tell that particular scene at all. It's a really pretty song and I like it a lot -- but it lacked any of the irony or contrast that kind of a scene that introduces the difference in focus between our hero and villain required. If the scene itself is needed to understand what's supposed to be going on while the song is playing, then the song is not effectively telling the story and is therefore unnecessary. There wasn't even a particularly Spanish or Mediterranean flair to the soundtrack to help set the stage, aside from the occasional flourish of castanets -- instead it sounded very contemporary, which I guess is appropriate, since it was largely written by pop composers rather than any musical theater talent.

+There were also points where the songs felt the urge to shove in a bunch of extra words just because, rather than have the words flow well and really mean something. I'm a Star is most guilty of this, of course, but even in This is the Thanks I Get?, we hear Magnifico gripe that "I let you live here for free and I don't even charge you rent" -- mate, THAT MEANS THE SAME THING! If you live somewhere for free, then you are NOT paying rent!

+Knowing What I Know Now is a bop and I like it (aside from Amaya's stupidity), but I'm sorry, all I can think when I hear it is "This is clearly trying to be Ready as I'll Ever Be from Tangled the Animated Series, but that song blows this out of the water." However fun the song can be, it would've been so much stronger if it actually addressed the contrast between the characters and revved us up for a big final battle, instead of it just being our eight underdeveloped characters psyching each other up.

+The idea of everyone being stars was a lovely idea, but the execution of Asha remembering this fact and using it to defeat Magnifico was terribly handled. First off, there was no revelatory phrase or action that prompted Asha to remember this fact, so her suddenly saying that "they're all stars" came out of nowhere. Second, even putting aside that there'd be no way any of her friends could hear Asha from all the way up on the tower if they're stuck in the courtyard below, there's no reason I can see for Asha's friends or family to know what the hell she was even TALKING about. They weren't there when the I'm a Star number happened! And the way that number made it seem, just based on the visuals, it looked like the "star" power came from a person's dream, since it's the same glow that returns to Asha's grandfather when he gets his dream back, but most of the town's dreams have been already yanked out by Magnifico at this point! I think the idea is that since everyone is a star, even with that big piece of them and the power accompanying it taken out, they still have enough stardust inside of them to be powerful enough to chase their heart's desires...but yeah, I'm sorry, for all the word salad I'm a Star threw around, this world-building aspect was really not made clear, and because of that and the lack of a proper callback to this plot turn, the climax didn't hit as strong as it should've.

Overall, this film felt a lot like a batch of unbaked chocolate chip cookies that someone decided to throw a bunch of brightly colored sprinkles on top of, just because they could. A lot of ideas just don't feel like they were fully developed, and there was a lot tossed in that didn't contribute to the overall taste or bring the disparate elements together in a cohesive whole, instead feeling more like a distraction than anything of actual substance. That doesn't mean I couldn't eat it -- I like eating cookie dough as much as the next person -- but that doesn't mean it felt like a complete, finished product worthy of great praise. Instead I'm left looking at the wasted potential and wishing the movie had carved out its own path more, one distinctive to itself, rather than just be a mashup of previous Disney concepts and tropes. I won't act like there's nothing to like here, nor that it's completely lacking in heart: I actually would love to see fandom for this movie re-imagine it in ways that could've improved the story and characters, because there were SO many good ideas here...but for me personally, this movie left me colder than it should've and -- like Asha after meeting Magnifico -- a bit disappointed.

So I make this wish...to have Disney make a film better than this.

Overall Grade: C-

[srbachchan]

DAY 5675

Jalsa , Mumbai Aug 31/Sept 1, 2023 Thu/Fri 12:48 AM

Catching up a little late but the intention is not to prove immediacy but consistency .. life endures consistency , may be not always intention .. intentions are good if they materialise .. what if they don't are they garbaged .. no .. they have a maintain that is valuable too .. and that deserves respect and value ..

Consistency garners results at some point of time .. hopefully .. or maybe the same results all the time .. so what is wrong with that .. nothing .. life vacillates , as is well know .. and intent and consistency vacillate too .. we decide which to step on ..

I have decided ..

And I am not going to tell you ..😜

What I am proud as anything to tell you of is a review sent by a formal film reviewer ..

Mr Amitabh Bachchan, for the 1st time in your career.,your supremacy of being the number one actor in the universe has been challenged.

And you have been challenged by non other but by your son Abhishek Bachchan who has proved to be the able heir to your acting lineage.

He is the only competitor you have and now with Ghoomer he has emerged ahead of all his colleagues. one of the best cinematic masterpiece in recent times is Ghoomer

Balki has outdone himself with a great nuanced script and direction. Sayami Kher & Shabana Azmi the 2 ladies are just effortless and a special mention for Vishal Sinha,the cinematographer for capturing the delicate nuances of Balki's script and Cinematic Vision with a Great panache…. Abhishek Bachchan what a performance, you have hit it out of the park. This one is for all those people who wrote off Abhishek, he is shining the brightest in the colossal of stars in the universe. Watch Ghoomer to see how the heir apparent usurps the mantle from his own father

it is the moment a Father waits to hear from the outside World .. for me internally I have believed this always , but to see it getting endorsed from the outside world is the pride of a Father ..

there is another voice message that needs to be heard .. I am tryong to put iot up .. till then just revel, as I am in the accolades for GHOOMER and its cast and making ..

but for today some pictures at KBC

need to rest now .. its past sleeping time for the work load tomorrow .. so we say time to be rested .. and 😴

Love and more for the Ef family .. and the gratefulness for all the rakhi greetings which I could not acknowledge .. 🙏

Amitabh Bachchan

[purefandomonium]

It's The Thought That Counts-Chapter II

***Thursday Afternoon, 3 weeks later***

What does this mean? 

As he sits in his office, a tray of freshly baked lemon squares atop his desk, Vincent Charbonneau ponders Rody’s recent devotion to bringing in baked goods. When the waiter had said he would keep bringing stuff in, Vince hadn’t fully expected him to mean it. The hug seemed more out of excitement than anything else and he really thought the cookies would be the end of it. There’d been a part of him that thought he was bluffing. Even now, three weeks after the fact and with each new dessert being better than the last, he still can’t quite believe Rody is the cause.

If his constant tiredness is anything to go by, Rody’s been spending a lot of sleepless nights trying to get the hang of baking. A part of him is annoyed at the waiter’s suffering performance, but—and perhaps it’s just an effect of his recently increased sugar intake—he simply can’t stay mad at the guy. For whatever reason, when he sees the messy-haired idiot whose eyes may as well have sleeping bags beneath them, the only emotion that arises is one he’d rather not acknowledge, let alone admit to feeling.

Dammit. Even thinking about him makes Vince’s stale heart stutter. Either that, or the cigarettes are finally catching up to him. He isn’t smoking as much now, the slew of lemony delights his new stress reliever. Absently, he picks one up and takes a bite, thoughtful.

He can’t deny the noticeable improvement in the waiter’s baking. It’s become something of a routine for them these past few weeks. Every Tuesday and Thursday Rody brings in a new tray of goodies. The first few are cookies, each better than their predecessors though still lacking refinement. The following week is muffins—a little underdone at first until he gets the hang of it. Then this week, with the lemon squares.

Unlike his past attempts, these are already perfect. Either Rody’s really got some hidden talent in the kitchen he’s just unlocked, or he’s pushing himself more and more to practice in his limited free time. Vince picks the latter because he’s pretty sure he knows Rody well enough to say the idiot would work himself to death on something so benign. And, well, the bags of bags under his eyes are a dead giveaway.

Vince nudges the tray aside and glances over some of the papers on his desk. Front and center is a review from a well-known critic whom he can’t stand. Fortunately, the asshole has nothing but good things to say about the restaurant and its food. Unfortunately, the man is still an asshole and takes extra time to mention Rody’s lackluster performance the day he visited, as well as his ‘disheveled appearance better suited to a local bum than a waiter.’

Vince clicks his tongue. As much as he enjoys Rody’s gifts of dessert he’ll never be able to taste, he’s going to have to do something about this. Glancing at the clock, he figures now is as good a time as any.

“Lamoree.” He observes the way the man in question loses balance for a moment upon turning and internally sighs. Why exactly did he not do something sooner?

“Yeah, Chef?” Rody holds back a yawn as he moves over to the kitchen door where Vince stands. He hasn’t forgotten to refer to him by his title while out on the floor after the tongue-lashing he got over it his first week there.

Vince knows he told the waiter to refer to him only as ‘Chef’ while in the presence of customers. He remembers the way he lit into him when he was still new for calling him by his nickname when he had to handle a disgruntled patron, the harshness of his tone that would ensure the warning would never be forgotten. Rody hasn’t forgotten, and Vince suddenly finds himself wishing he would’ve. While Chef normally would be fine, it somehow feels too formal given the events these past few weeks.

Does he… consider Rody to be a friend after all that’s happened?

At the lack of response Rody leans in, worry decorating his features. “Um… Vince?” He’s too late to correct himself.

The soft query snaps him out of his daze. He blinks, takes a look at how many customers are currently there and tries to guess how many will be there after before refocusing his attention on the waiter. “Sorry, I was just figuring some stuff out.” It isn’t anything to do with the restaurant, not that he plans to say that. “You should… head home for the day, Lamoree. You look exhausted.” He keeps his face neutral despite his concern for his employee.

Rody lets out a nervous laugh and internally freaks out at what this can mean. Is he in trouble or something?

Seeming to read his thoughts, Vince supplies, “You aren’t in any trouble. You just look like shit. I can see it, the cooks can see it, and the customers can see it.” He leaves out the fact that obnoxious food critics can see it too, and that they’ll write reviews about it. “Assuming you own a mirror, I’m sure you can see it as well.” A bit harsh perhaps, but he does still have a reputation to uphold. He can’t afford to show favoritism in front of the cooks and he certainly doesn’t want the public to notice.

Ah… Well, he supposes he can’t really argue with that. He feels like shit too, if he’s being honest. His back is stiff, his legs are tired, and his arm is sore from holding the damn wine tray. He’s yawned like a hundred times in a corner in the hopes no one would notice. Going home to crash on the couch sounds like a dream. Still, he feels like if he leaves now, he’ll be letting Vince down. “I can at least finish waiting on these tables…”

Vince is already shaking his head. Voice softer than before, he says, “Get some rest, Lamoree. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He takes the tray from him just in time for the party of four to grab his attention. “If you can, come in the same time you did today. I need to discuss something with you.” With that, he takes swifts strides to the table, leaving the other man alone.

Rody’s insides tighten as he clocks out and heads out back to get on his bike. Though nothing about his demeanor suggests it, he can’t help but think Vince is angry with him again. This feels just like the ‘discussion’ they had regarding his food theft. Only, as far as he knows, he hasn’t done anything wrong this time.

If he weren’t so damn exhausted, he’d be more upset at Vince for calling him out about it. Doesn’t he know how much time he’s spent practicing his baking? Can’t he see how difficult it is for him? Does he ever think about how many hours of the night he spends making attempt after attempt after attempt until he finally gets it right? Not to mention the money spent on ingredients that mostly go to waste on his screw ups…

What is he saying? Of course Vince doesn’t know. He only sees the successful batches of desserts, the ones that aren’t all burnt and gross. From Vince’s perspective, he’s just not taking good care of himself.

‘Well,’ he thinks as he pedals down the street, ‘I’ll just have to tell him. Vince is a pretty reasonable guy! Usually… If he hears why I’m so tired then maybe he won’t be so annoyed about it.’

***Early Friday Morning***

“Hey, Vince!” Rody calls as the door shuts behind him. Although he plans to argue about it, he’s still thankful he got sent home early yesterday. The extra shuteye was desperately needed.

Vince emerges from his office to find Rody standing ready near the back door. He looks much livelier today; his hair and clothes are neat and his eyes are bright. He nods in greeting. “You’re looking well-rested.”

“Yeah! I slept like a rock yesterday. I don’t even remember getting changed; one minute I’m walking through the front door and the next—bam! Out cold on the couch. I’m honestly surprised I woke up on time.”

Does he… not have a bed? Ah, no not the point. That can be a discussion for a different day. For now, “About this recent exhaustion of yours…”

“I know, I know! I can explain.” His hands subconsciously wave with his words.

He lifts a brow at the sudden burst of energy, wondering why he’s so worked up about it. “I’m sure you can, but that’s-”

“It’s not on purpose, I swear. I just haven’t been sleeping as much.”

“Yeah, I figured that-”

“It’s not because I don’t care about my job or anything, I just haven’t had a lot of time lately-”

“Lamoree!”

Rody shuts his mouth with a click of teeth. His eyes are wide and he wonders where he screwed up.

Vince lets out an exasperated sigh. “I can tell you haven’t been sleeping well. Or at all, as is the case. What I wanted to talk to you about was why.”

They stare at each other, surrounded by an uncomfortable silence.

“It wouldn’t happen to be because of all the baking you’ve been doing, would it?” The look he receives in response is the only answer he needs. Muttering a curse under his breath, he continues, “I… I appreciate all you’ve done. Truly.” No one has ever been so kind as to make him anything, let alone desserts so lemony it makes other people’s eyes water. Not to mention triggering their gag reflex, if the cook he allowed to try a lemon muffin is anything to go by.

Rody’s never been good at looking or thinking ahead, so the point Vince is trying to make is lost on him. “Glad you like them,” he says, although he feels anything but happy about the way this is all sounding.

The nervous look the waiter wears pulls on his heart. ‘What an oblivious fool,’ he thinks, fully aware Rody isn’t the only one present. “Lamoree, I’m not upset with you in any way so please stop looking like that.” He doesn’t think he can stand it anymore. “I just don’t want you ruining your health for me.” It isn’t like he’s particularly worth it; he’s simply Rody’s icy boss and the stuck up owner of the restaurant. He’s done nothing to deserve such kindness in the first place, much less from him.

Rody sputters at the statement. “I’m not… I wouldn’t say I’m ruining my health,” he argues, missing the true implication of the words.

Vince doesn’t let Rody’s ignorance get to him. Instead, “Not getting enough sleep is bad for you. That’s a fact. If it means you’re going to wear yourself out to such a degree, maybe you should quit baking for a while.” He moves around the waiter to begin getting the kitchen in order. It absolutely is not because he’s too afraid to see Rody’s sure-to-be-heartbroken expression.

“But I’ve made so much progress! I can’t quit now!” He turns to face Vince’s back, indignant. “Besides, who are you to talk about health? You smoke like a chimney all day.” Oops. Well, the words certainly aren’t going to come back into his mouth no matter how much he holds his breath.

Vince snorts out a half-assed chuckle before turning to glance at the offender. “I suppose that’s a fair point, Lamoree. Although these days I’d say my vice is sugar. I wonder whose fault that is.”

Rody finds himself grinning at the banter, relieved he’s not upset. If he were more self-aware, perhaps he’d stop and wonder why Vince lets him get away with things no one else can do. It’s not often one can steal from their job, show up looking like a zombie, and insult their boss without getting fired.

Despite all these glaring signs, Rody continues to tell himself it’s because Vince is secretly just a softie. It helps keep the awkward questions from bubbling up.

“Well, it seems to be keeping you in a good mood, so it must be working,” he laughs as he heads out front to get the dining area ready.

Rody’s smile is bright, pleasant, and good at hiding his true age. Vince often forgets that the waiter is older despite being his underling. He stares a moment too long as the older man takes easy strides to the dining area while he works in the kitchen, before he realizing he should just be working in the kitchen.

It doesn’t take him long to get the tables ready, so Rody heads back to see if his boss needs any help. He finds Vince staring at the pristine stove, frowning. “Everything alright?” he asks as he joins him in inspecting the appliance. It doesn’t seem to be broken, but then again it’s much nicer than the barely functioning one he has in his apartment, so what would he know?

Vince glances at the source of his troubling thoughts before humming an affirmative. “I’m fine. I’m just… thinking…”

“What about?”

It figures he’d be so inquisitive the one time he doesn’t want to talk. He needs to decide on what he wants to do in the next five seconds. Either he makes the offer or not, but he doesn’t have much time to decide. It’s risky and his cynical nature is telling him it’s stupid. Although it’s still just the two of them and it’s early; if things go wrong he’s got plenty of time to figure it out.

“Rody,” he begins, praying to whatever’s out there this isn’t a mistake, “I can tell you’ve come a long way with your baking.”

He blinks at the odd use of his first name, unsure where this is going. “Um, yeah. I’ve been practicing a lot.”

“At the cost of sleeping.”

“…Yeah, a bit.” He’s reluctant to admit just how much sleep he’s lost despite that being his original goal upon coming in.

Vince sighs, more at himself than anything else. “Since you seem so determined to get it right, I figure the least I can do is help you.” He suddenly finds the adjacent wall more interesting. “If you’d like, you can stick around after hours and I’ll teach you more complex recipes.”

He’s seriously offering his guidance on the matter? Vincent Charbonneau is actually willing to use his years of experience on someone like him? He can’t get too excited. He can’t let Vince see how thrilled he’d be to work alongside him. It would make things weird and he might even rescind the offer.

The disbelief soon overpowers him anyway. “But I’m just a lost cause,” Rody says, rubbing an arm. “I mean, yeah I guess I’ve learned a lot but I don’t think I’m good enough for you to waste your time on.” Because that’s surely what it would be: Vince wasting his time out of pity. He can’t seriously see any potential in the improperly cooked desserts he brings in. It takes him three to five tries to get a single recipe done right. They don’t look anything close to one of Vince’s desserts with the fancy toppings and stuff. Shouldn’t he be spending time working on his menus, or budgets, or something else more important?

“Trust me, Lamoree,” he says, hoping his face doesn’t betray him. “It’s no waste of time to me.”

“If… If you’re sure…?”

“I am,” he says, finding the strength to meet the waiter’s nervous gaze. “Just let me know which nights you’d like to stay and I’ll get things ready.” Needing something to do with himself lest he slip up from his nerves, Vince remembers the full ashtray in his office. He goes to empty it.

Rody’s isn’t sure he can contain his ecstatic joy. He tries his best anyway. “Well… Ok! If you really don’t mind I’d love to! Can we do something tonight?” He watches the chef’s movements, hopeful.

A startled cough escapes him at the fast agreement. He hadn’t fully expected Rody to say yes. Part of him figured the other man would laugh it off and decline before finding something else to do that didn’t involve speaking. He can’t help his smile as he taps the stubborn debris into the garbage. “Sure, why not?” he says as he straightens out his desk. The tray of lemon squares catches his eye. He takes one. “How about lemon pie?” He takes a healthy bite as he waits for Rody’s response.

His eyes widen and he loses what little hold he had on his excitement. “That’s the one thing I just can’t get right! I’d love to learn how!” He’s practically bouncing with glee.

“Then it’s settled,” he says as he finishes off the treat. “I’ll get some stuff prepped, and then after closing we can start.” He grins at Rody’s boyish excitement. Truth be told, he’s looking forward to it himself.

The two of them chat amicably about random topics as they continue the opening routine. Eventually, the cooks arrive and head to their stations. If they notice anything unusual about the chef’s and waiter’s demeanor, they keep it to themselves. One thing people are quick to learn working at La Gueule de Saturne is that gossip will get them the door. Despite the environment, they’re much too fond of their jobs to risk that.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A growing number of patients who request medical assistance in dying are asking to donate their organs for transplant, says an international review that found that Canada is performing the most organ transplants from MAID patients among the four countries studied that offer this practice.

The report is the first-ever review of the growing use of this new practice around the world. The review was conducted in 2021 and the results were formally published in December 2022.

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“We saw everyone is working in different directions. And then we said ‘OK, well, let's start an international (discussion) of all the countries involved,’” said Dr. Johannes Mulder, a physician and MAID provider in Zwolle, Netherlands, in an interview with CTV News.

Data collected for the paper shows that in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, combined, 286 assisted-death recipients provide lifesaving organs for transplant to 837 patients in the years up to and including 2021.

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Doctors in Canada, where medical assistance in dying (MAID) was decriminalized in 2016, performed almost half of the world’s organ transplants after MAID for that period (136), according to the publication.

Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information confirms this new source of transplant organs accounted accounts for six per cent of all transplants from deceased donors in Canada in 2021. Some transplants, like those for kidneys and livers, can be done with patients who are alive.

“I was rather proud that Canada has done so well in terms of organ donation by MAID patients,” said Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, in an interview with CTV News.

With more than 4,000 Canadians waiting for organ transplants, some of whom are dying, he says Canada’s numbers show a strong move to turn death into a win-win.

“So I say, 'Good on us.' It’s a wonderful opportunity for someone facing death to make something significant out of the end of their life,” said Schafer.

PATIENT-DRIVEN TREND

The international review on this new practice has been overwhelmingly driven by patients who are suffering from irreversible degenerative diseases, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s.

“If this body has deserted me, I could do something good,” is how Mulder says patients frame their decision.

Canadian ALS patient Sharron Demchuk donated her kidneys and lungs after her medically assisted death in September of 2021. Her family says she herself pushed her doctors to consider a way she could help people after she died, becoming the first in New Brunswick to do so.

“She kept doing follow-ups, kept pushing and even though she wasn’t able to speak, she would make notes for my dad. ‘Here’s what I want you to ask them. Here’s what I want you to say,’” her daughter, Darlene Demchuk, told CTV News last year.

One of the goals of the international report, says Mulder, was to share information openly on how countries are managing this controversial and evolving new practice, including the tricky ethical and logistical issues of consent from vulnerable patients.

“What should you do, or what should what shouldn't you do? And how to keep the whole project completely voluntary,” he said of some of the concerns, noting that patients should never be pressured to choose MAID to increase the availability of donor organs.

That is a worry shared by Trudo Lemmens, a professor in health law and policy at the University of Toronto.

He points to statistics showing more than 35 per cent of Canadians who died by MAID in 2021 felt they were "a burden on family, friends or caregivers” according to a Health Canada report.

“I am concerned that people who struggle with a lack of self-esteem and self-worth may be pushed to see this as an opportunity to mean something,” said Lemmens in an email comment to CTV News.

With other countries like Australia eyeing medical assistance in dying along with organ donations, Mulder says public trust in this new medical practice must be developed and maintained.

“That’s why guidelines are necessary and should also be strict,”’ the doctor said.

[sinpathyforthedevilish]

Magnolia & Pears

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x female reader

Genre: Fluff, Romance, suggestive

Warnings: Sexual tension, mutual pining, tooth-rotting Fluff, 18+mature. Dieter and the reader love each other so much.

Words: 847

Summary: You buy to yourself a new perfume and when Dieter comes home, he completely loses his mind.

A/N: So, the thing is I got this sweet and strong perfume for christmas and I love it so much that I got inspired to write this story with Dieter. Here you can find it if you want to know more about the scent!

Every night, you wait for Dieter like this. Laying on the sofa, eating some snacks or eating the dinner you prepared for yourself. Because that is how your relationship works. Waiting for his arrival everytime, opening your arms to him and helping him get into bed if he's drunk or high. He's been working to get better. For you. He is cleaner now , in terms of appearance too. His wild hair keeps his style but he is more formal with his clothes , never losing his style though. He has more refined clothes but he is always himself, no matter how his agent wants to change him, he is always the same Dieter. Your same Dieter who you love with all your heart.

Tonight is no different. You are laying on the couch, watching some blockbuster movie Dieter recommended you. You always take a shower when you wait for him. You don't tend to do skincare or put on perfume because Dieter always says how much he loves the taste and the scent of your skin so this time you chose to put on some perfume, a strong smell that embraces your whole body.

Anxiously waiting, the door opens and there he is, wearing a black and sparkly suit for his new movie premiere. He is wearing sunglasses even if it is past-midnight and his cheeks are a little bit flushed from some drink he probably had.

"Hi baby! There is my beautiful flower!" He smiles as he takes his shoes off and his coat.

"Hey yourself," You smirk, sitting down and putting aside the popcorn. "How was the premiere?" You ask, tilting your head in order for a kiss.

"Boring, because you weren't there," He pouted before kissing your cheek. Your body melts at his touch. You don't tell him but secretly you wish to keep him for yourself forever.

"Tell me, was the music great? Did you receive good reviews?" You ask innocently as you stare at his neck. He unbuttons his shirt and turns to you.

"Mhm, a reporter told me that my performance was astonishing," He replies, pulling your bare legs on his lap. "And she told me that I was very hot in the movie," He purrs, raising an eyebrow to you. You chuckle, brushing your knuckles to his jaw.

"Very hot she said?" provoking him, you smirk, tracing your index finger and your thumb on his lower lip.

"Yeah, a heartbreaker actually." He smirks back, slowly crawling up to you. "She told me I was going to haunt many hearts," He kisses your thighs, pulling your robe higher and exposing more of your legs. "How sad, because I want to haunt only one heart."

You can't help but moan at how his hands are slowly embracing your body, wrapping them around your ribs and stroking your belly, stopping where the knot of your robe is.

"I wonder which heart is..." You bit your lip, running your hands through his messy locks, which drives him completely crazy.

"Well it's from a beautiful woman," He starts "who is underneath me," He presses his lips on your robe, painfully slow untying your robe. “And who I love batshit crazy.”

You moan loader, your whole body starting to lose control. You just crave to have him like this, praising your boy and adoring you with all his being. 

“I love you too, Dieter.” 

He finally opens your robe, revealing your torso and chest to him. He groans at your beauty, feeling so overwhelmed because he is the only one who can see you this vulnerable. He peppers kisses on your skin, with his hands lovingly sliding from your belly to your sternum. His touch sends goosebumps all over your body. 

“How much?” He asks while kissing your left arm.

“A lot,” you sigh, running harder your fingertips through his hair. 

“Say it again,” he breathes, nuzzling his nose to your neck. 

“A lot, a lot,” You repeat, throwing your head backwards, but before you can emit another sound, you hear a deep growl. “Baby, are you okay?” you turn your head towards his direction. 

His eyebrows are frown, and his mouth is half open, almost drooling.

“Darling, you smell,” He presses his nose harder between your jaw and your shoulders and he inhales. “So good,” he moans. His body is now encapsulated on top of yours. “So sweet and delicious,” He kisses your skin almost desperately, as if he is hypnotized with your perfume. 

“It’s a new one I got, Magnolia and Pears. Do you like it?”

“Like it?” He pulls away from you, staring at you with his big and lovely eyes. “Baby, I fucking love it!” He cups your jaw and crushes his lips on you. “Fuck, I gotta have you,” He moans on your lips. “With your perfume and nothing else.” 

“You have me, Dieter. Always.” You wrap your arms and your legs around his body, feeling how his warmth and his heat embraces you. 

You take a mental note after you make love. Magnolia and Pears with no clothes on before bed.