#if there was one thing that hrs could be more realistic about it's the women's designs

[sorrinslays]

About the headcanons--

Do you have any specific ones for like how he may be in a normal au? Like if he was in our world?

If not then please elaborate on any headcanons you want!:>

Okay, so, dealing with a normal AU is. Tricky, for a lack of a better word. It really depends on what's the story is about.

If I were to try a 'realistic' take on Sampo then I would have to reimagine a lot of things. From Masked Fool lore to how Belobog could be isolated and how the fragmentum could exist realistically.

If I were to give a concrete answer, I would probably start by saying that the Aeons exist, but instead of alive concepts, they are either powerful humans, a group of likeminded individuals or crazy single minded people because I don't think we can take the 'oh they are this world's religion' route since in the game they make decision that have consequences.

The Masked Fools, realistically, would be a crazy cult. Unlike a lot of people who headcannon, I don't think the Masked Fools collect orphans. I just don't think they would 'force' elation onto children, they should find it themselves. They don't force it because then it isn't fun, the antithesis of their belief.

I think Sampo in this AU would be an orphan, one that literally has no name. Parents dead since he was an infant, home village burned down, no background, no relatives. He was taken in by some government officials or whatever and lived his whole life in an orphanage (not Natasha's). No childhood memories due to trauma.

He probably found the Masked Fools when he left (ran away from) the orphanage. I can imagine a fifteen-seventeen year old Sampo who just ran away with a fresh new name stumbling across the World's End tavern, looking for shelter from the rain after being borderline homeless for a week or two (he has an apartment, he didn't leave completely unprepared! Okay?! It's just a bit... run down...).

Just imagine, young Sampo with no penny to his name listening to the stories of other Fools, deciding to join and making a lot of stupid decisions. After living life and maturing, he decides to takes some time off. Leave the Masked Fools and truly find himself. Find what the name 'Sampo Koski' means to him.

By chance he learns about Belobog, a city that is supposed to be dead due to heavy snow storms and a lost connection with no way of communicating with the outside world. He also learns that, contrary to popular belief, the city is not dead. There's people living, a whole civilization.

So he goes there, and the rest is history. I think the Belobog storyline can be played out basically the same (without the violence). The Stellaron can be some research gone wrong by lunatics (the antimatter legion or the followers of Destruction) and, out of despair Cocolia convinces herself that this thing will save them.

The Astral Express crew can be a respected 'vigilante' group that travels around and looks out for Stellarons. But I'm just spitballing here.

Like I said, it depends on what the story is about. Sampo is a very versatile character and it's very easy to take advantage of that. If you want to write a cheesy comedy about a boyfailure thief, you can!, if you want to write a complicated noir movie about people in power and hidden motives, you can! you just have to find a way for it to be cohesive and to understand how much lore from the story you want to use.

What I described is what I would do if someone told me to make a 'realistic hsr universe'. If I had to pick a genre, it would probably a comedy with a lot of social commentary, I think the premise fits the genre

[fabricdragondesigns]

"If you’re an aspiring actor, and as my advice was good enough for a young Mcavoy I pray you’ll listen now. "When we were filming Pitch Black a producer came to give me a choice. They had a problem and needed to do a reshoot with me and a stuntie. The shoot thus far had been rough. The crew was exhausted. 6 day weeks are unsustainable. Mistakes happen when crews are tired and often on the 6th day. The crew couldn’t say “no” to another Saturday but I could. I asked when they needed a decision & went to speak with some crew. I made sure that they themselves were choosing —rest vs an overtime paycheck— I would not presume to know their needs and priorities. They chose safety and rest. “Safety First,” is after all, an oft heard refrain on any decent set with its priorities in check. I returned to the producer and told him I was too tired and didn’t want to work the Saturday. He looked at me for a few seconds. I was a good actor and a bad liar. He went to say something, nodded instead and rescheduled. We do a lot of things on sets that would otherwise be illegal. It can be thrilling. It’s a privilege. It should never cost a life. I was in my early 20’s when I was asked to make that decision ostensibly for me though realistically on behalf of many. Thankfully I live without regret. For 30 years I’ve been working with firearms consistently and never once referred to a firearm as a prop; it’s a deadly weapon. If you’re on a set that doesn’t provide weapons training & an armorer, I’d leave. If you see an actor put their finger on a trigger before action is called I’d step away, bring it to their attention and tell the AD & armorer a review is necessary. If an armorer is using live ammo on a set, leave, yet treat every “prop” as if it’s fully loaded & never point it at anyone. If anyone but the armorer tries to hand you a firearm, it’s a major red flag. There should be no middle man. Just you and your armorer make the exchange. Actors get infantilized on sets then criticized for childish behavior. I don’t care what number you are on the call sheet. Lead. From the back of the pack if you have to. No job nor career is worth a life. I have pulled stunts early in my career when I could tell they were dodgy. Your stunt double is there to make you look cool but they often do not feel empowered to speak up. Check in with them and use your voice. It’s not about heroism it’s about humanity and navigating frustrating and fateful hierarchies. Whenever I have weapons training and they ask if I’ve had experience with firearms, after 30 years I still say, “Yes, but assume I know nothing and teach me everything.” (I am repeatedly told by armorers and stunt departments that women are easier to train bc they do not think they know everything.) Beginners Mind will keep you humble and others safe. Film culture is unique. Our days are more 5-9 than 9-5. We work on a 24 hr clock and in TV and indie filmmaking, time is the enemy. We hurry up & wait right before we rush to complete the call sheet & before we lose light. We are carnie folk; the kids who didn’t fit in; rebels, outliers, misfits, neurodiverse arty farties. We are a circus that packs up & leaves once the film or series is “in the can” never to reassemble with the same people in the same way again. We experience little deaths in our hearts every time we wrap. Processing that grief & post shoot anticlimax is part of the gig after bonding closely with fellow wild ones hired to recreate some aspect of humanity,only to disperse and move on. We should never be grieving an actual crew member’s preventable death when playing make believe. Play requires the safety of a responsible container. The producers are in charge of that. They need to set up that container, nourish and maintain it with crystal clear communication.  They need to listen and actually care and follow through. They need to identify toxic behavior and address it head on. For too long people who consider themselves to be “non creatives,” have indulged toxic and unsafe behaviors because they think it goes with the territory of being arty and are terrified that if confronted, the artist will walk off and filming will stop. So in this tipping point moment and on this two-way street; actors, please, prioritize being good people before being a great artist. Put the crew first. Speak up. Cultivate an environment of verbal consent. I offer consent to male artists now and they are confused at first by the offer. Persist. You can always find something that a male actor does not like having done to his body. And once you establish that baseline, all the off-air scripts change; vulnerability is better understood.  Safety first. Because from safety, comes great play and beautiful art; delicious co-creation. If you create great art in spite of toxicity it’s a tenuous, unrepeatable, unsustainable and lonely phenomenon. So listen. Observe. Ask questions. Check in with the crew and make *them* cups of tea. Ask them how you make their jobs hard even though movie stars aren’t supposed to. I am devastated about Halyna.  Walking onto a set on Friday morning right after reading the news, I had to work yet again with firearms and a wobbly yet fiercely professional stunt department. We had a top armorer quite literally in the trenches with us. As I stepped onto the muddy set I turned to the armorer and said, “I’m so grateful you’re here.” I turned to the courageous and dutiful stunties, asked if they were ok and said, “If you see or feel something today that worries you, anything, and you speak up and are not heard, find me and I shall speak. *Loudly*” Relative safety and art should be mutually inclusive.  It’s where the secret sauce resides. It’s where true cinema magic is cultivated. The set is my home. If it’s yours too, treat it as you would, the safe haven it deserves to be— especially for those of us who never found a home anywhere else."— Claudia Black (@TheClaudiaBlack), Twitter

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Sick Days

Obviously before Mon el admits his feelings.

So how do you feel?" Mon-el asked when he entered Kara's room.

"Sick, so so very sick. I want to die" Kara sniffled.

Mon-el patted her shoulder, and pulled the blanket over her curled up body again.

"I hope Snapper undersdands. Ugh! I forgod to dell her!" Kara cried, she struggled to get up and rush to the phone but Mon el forced her to lie down again.

"It's okay. James already made an excuse as to why you're not going." Mon el assured her

"An excuse! Bud... I'm just sick, Dan excuse wilb ondly make id worsde." Kara whined as she tried to reach for the phone again.

"No it won't. We just told him that you have wild food poisoning and are throwing up as we speak. It sounds a lot better than just a cold."

"Jusb a cold. This a Krypdoniand cold, dose are mega worsde. It's den million colds at once." Kara groaned, swiveling her head dramatically. Then she sat up.

"Whab about you! Your fake job," She cried.

Mon-el brushed a stray hair out of her face, a smile creeping on his face as he looked at her. Even though her skin was ashen, her usually bouncy blonde curls were limp and stringy and her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was as stuffed up as a Build a Bear, she was cute.

She cared about his job, she cared what her boss would think. That was true determination and loyalty. Just generally niceness. That was Kara. She may be an alien, but she could fit as the girl next door any day of the week. She was just so optimistic and cheerful, it was one of the best things he liked about her.

In fact that was why he volunteered to help stay with her today. He didn't really know how to take care of a sick person but he googled it so it seemed easy.

Now Kara was a grown woman, but she was practically useless when she was sick, physically not able to get out of bed useless, and that usually put a damper on getting lunch herself or getting dress or getting tissues when she ran out.

Alex was going to do it, but once Mon-el heard he volunteered. And insisted that Alex go do her job and he would take care of her.

Lately Mon-el had been thinking a lot about Kara. A lot. She would creep up into his mind and random parts of the day even if she wasn't in the room.

He would stare at daffodils and think "Kara would love those. The first sign of spring. What did she call them? Oh right, cups of sunshine in bloom."

To a regular person that would be cheesy but that was just Kara.

He would watch tv shows and suddenly a particular line would pop up and he would be tempted to write it down so he could tell her later.

Yeah, he had to admit it. He got it bad for the Kryptonian.

But he couldn't admit it TO her.

She was just so strong and caring and yes, that might be her point of weakness. She would care too much. And when people fell in love, those feelings only amplify and then she would be protective of him this way and that and then there would be the whole "it's not you, it's my enemies." He was aware of the danger. It still didn't mean he could get over his feelings just like that.

Especially when she sounded like that.

"I'm gonna make you some food. You stay here and start getting better." Mon-el told her. Kara did what she was told and buried her head under the pillow without a second thought.

When Mon-el came back from the kitchen, Kara had fallen off the bed, and was staring dazedly at the wall.

"Mon-el. Fuddy ting. I can'd ged up." Kara said. He could swear the stuffiness was getting worse.

He placed the bowl of piping chicken soap on the dresser and swept her up in an army lift. He gently placed her into bed, rearranged the pillows, and pulled the blanket over her again, and made sure the tissue box was close by.

"Here some soup." He handed the bowl to her and she grinned happily.

"Danks" She took a slurp of it and spewed it across the bed, coughing violently.

"Sorry! I didn'd mean do!" Kara cried, she got off the bed and was about to start wiping the blanket when she dizzily fell again.

"Kara, you rest, I got it." Mon-el said, he lifted her again and walked her to the couch in the living room.

"Sorry," she muttered again.

"No it's not your fault. Your sick. Just relax, watch some tv"

He went back to the room, stripped the sheets and managed to wrangle up some new blankets in the back of her closet.

"Danks for all dis. Really. You could be doing domthing more udful or fun than be with me." Kara blew her nose in a tissue when he handed her the box

"It's my pleasure. You do so much for everyone, and for me. It's not a big deal to care for you" Mon el replied

"Dupergirl does do a lot of duff for everyone," Kara said.

"And Kara Danvers does too." Mon-el said as he sat next to her "She makes me happy, she brightens the workroom everyday and tries to see the best in things. I really like her."

Kara blushed, and hid her face behind her blanket. James froze, did he just admit his crush? More importantly, one of the most dreaded scenarios of this whole conversation was that she was just being Kara. She was nice to everyone including him. He was no different than Winn or Cat to her. Okay maybe he was step up from being Cat in her eyes but still.

"I really like you doo," Kara mumbled shyly. Mon el' heart skipped a beat.

Mon-el put his arm around her to adjust the blanket, and she leaned his head on his shoulder.

Soon she fell asleep but he just sat there contently and grinned like an idiot.

"She likes me. "Mon-el thought "She said she REALLY likes me. She'll probably be sick tomorrow so I should probably bring her daffodils just to cheer up. Oh and I could rent a movie. Has she seen that ER show yet? Oh and some super hot fudge. Yeah, tomorrow's sick is gonna be great!"

————————————————————————————————-

No way had Mon-el thought that in his days of taking care of a sick Kara that he would get sick himself.

But here he was, in bed, freezing, his throat burning me nose so clogged up that everything he said was filled with ds and his hearing felt like he was underwater the whole time.

In Daxam the closest thing to this was the daily headache of a hangover from the late night parties. In all honesty he was pretty sure his parents wouldn't allow him to be sick on account of being ruler and all that.

He wished he could just have those hangovers now. Actually he wished for some water because his threat was not only burning but felt like a little porcupine was scratching it as well.

Then he heard the door bell ring.

"Mon-el can I come in?" A sweet voice that reminded Mon el of a angel in his sick state.

"Yeuhh" Mon-el managed to cough out.

Kara walked in. Pristine and near as usual in her cardigan and glasses. Her hair perfectly curl and seemed so soft. Mon el really liked the smell of her hair. Well, if he could smell. He remembered what it smelled like though. Like fresh apples. Wholesome and good like Kara.

"Jew divil women. Jour are dill tryin' do kill me" Mon-el mock glared when he was seized by another harsh sneeze making his threat burn more.

Kara simply shook her head as she started to take out a soup container from her bag.

"We don't know how colds affects Dazims" Mon-el groaned "Dis could kill me."

"I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen." Kara said as she opened the container, "So I made this for you."

Mon-el gave hr an genuine smile. This was the Kara he admired. Someone so willing to do things for others from saving the world to giving soup to him.

Mon-el eagerly grabbed the container, but another sneeze took him and he spill some of the hot soup on his sweat pants.

Mon-el barely concealed how much he wanted to scream with what he hoped was a manly grunt.

"Oh oh I'll take care of that" Kara quickly grabbed the tissues and dabbed at the spill. "I'll just give it you."

Mon-el cocked his head questioningly until he realized that she meant to spoon feed him.

He didn't understand why he felt so nervous about it. Maybe it was the way Kara looked at him as she put the warm soup in his mouth. Caring, focused only on him wth those piercing, kind grey eyes.

"Tank you" he croaked

Kara put a finger to his lips and Mon-el noticed even though most of his senses were dulled he could feel how smooth her skin was.

"Rest your voice."

"Bud I like talkging with jew. Jour indersing,” He smiled.

Kara turned away but Mon-el could see her bite her lips as the end of her lip curled into a half-smile.

Mon-el smiled to himself. He still had his charm. Plus he had meant what he said. She was interesting. She was bubbly, and entertaining. But she also wasn't afraid to tell him he was wrong. While that was infuriating and annoying, it also intrigued him. Years of being with complimentary bimbos made him forget that some girls were headstrong.

And Kara was plenty headstrong. She had personality. That personality made her seem full of life and vigor. And he wanted to have her next to him and feel that vigor. She was so..so complex. As Supergirl she seemed industrictable, almost unattainable but here right now. She was pure and genuine. He wanted all of it.

"You're interesting too," Kara replied.

With those words, Mon-el felt like he had been given the greatest compliment. She thought he was interesting! No one at home ever thought he was interesting. Pretty, hot, fun usually came up. But interesting never.

Mon-el finished his soup so Kara started arranging his blankets, and started a movie. "Hope you don't mind, but I thought you need to see the greatest movie of all time."

"Stard Ward" Mon-el guessed. Winn kept going on and on about how awesome Star Wars was. And it was. It had so much action and drama and even some of the planets were realistic for a human movie.

"No." Kara chirped, “The Princess Bride. I think you'll really like Ingio."

Mon-el shrugged and settled closer to the blonde. He felt hotter with her body heat next to him. It was tempting to move away but he didn't want to. She may be hot as hell but her prescnce was also comforting and warm and soft.

Mon-el dazedly opened his eyes to see moon light streaming through his windows and that the night sky was alight with the flashing lights of buildings.

"Whad happened?"

Kara leaned over him, her blonde hair brushing against his cheek. "You conked out during the commercials and it's eleven."

"Oh sstorry?" Mon-el murmeered

"It's fine." Kara smiled at him, "We can see it another time. You looked cute asleep." Then she paused and blushed as if she hadn't meant to say that last part.

Mon-el was too happy about that to tease her. "Jou lookd cute lasd week doo."

Kara put her hand to his forehead and smiled at him once more. "You're less hot. So you're probably be better soon. And not going to die." Kara added

"Good." Mon-el said "But I'm glad jou were here with me if I did."

"Me too." Kara whispered softly, "I better go now. But I'll stop by tomorrow."

"Okday" Mon-el waved as Kara left his room.

He settled himself to sleeping position once more, utterly beaming with happiness at spending an afternoon with Kara and being called cute by Kara. Kara, Kara, Kara. That was all he could think of. He never felt this way about a women before. Then again, he never met a women like her before.

The door cracked open and Kara scutler back in adorably. "Sorry just wanted to make sure you had all the blankets on you. Okay, good. Sorry. Go back to sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

Mon-el managed to wave goodbye as the mild manner reporter went away, "I'll be waiting."

[drivingsideways]

Misaeng review

Ok, it's been almost a week, so I feel like I can get my thoughts (somewhat) in order. As usual, I'm late to the party, given that Misaeng aired 6 years ago, and is already considered a kdrama classic. Still: thoughts!

(under the cut)

I came to this drama with quite a lot of expectations, both because I'd seen it on a lot of rec lists, and also because I'd watched director Kim Won-seok's Signal and My Mister, which are justifiably as beloved as Misaeng. I'm happy to report that Misaeng mostly lived up to those expectations!

The writing & direction work together to make Misaeng a very immersive experience, which is good, considering the entire run time is over 20 hrs. The level of seemingly mundane detail of the operational aspects of running a trading firm that they delve into (and other dramas might have avoided for sake of pacing) seemed odd to me at first, but eventually result in a world building that's incredibly well fleshed out. The (formerly unlikely!) high stakes of a misplaced piece of paper or octopuses in a shipment of squid end up being parts of an emotionally wrenching narrative whole fairly seamlessly. Still, at 20+ hours, Misaeng also does get into the kind of pacing issues that most of the slice of life kdramas I've watched so far have. And it didn't need to! I think it had a wonderful ensemble of characters, and if they'd maybe given a little more time and space to characters other than Jang Geu-Rae (Im Si wan) and Oh Sang-sik (Lee Sung-min), the mid portions may not have felt quite so, well, stuck.

But more than the strong writing and direction, it was really the actors who delivered. They made what could have easily been a dull-ish office drama into a heart warming story about human connection and the joys and troubles of leading an "incomplete life". I'd never watched Lee Sung-min in anything before, and about half way through the series I was like, HOW IS HE MAKING A SHORT TEMPERED, ALCHOHOLIC MIDDLE MANAGER SO SEXY? Like, serious props, dude. Lee Sung-min is by turns annoying and brash and too shout-y and stubborn and funny and so incredibly vulnerable as a man trying his best to live by his principles in a world that thinks they are an impediment to "success", that you forget that he's playing a fictional character-- he's someone you know, he's someone you've seen in the mirror.

His performance as Oh Sang-sik is very ably matched by Im Si Wan's Jang Geu-Rae. This series would not have worked if these two actors didn't have the chemistry they do, and play off each other in every scene. I had watched Im Si Wan recently- in JTBC's "Run On", in which I liked his performance quite a lot, but I absolutely loved him as the naive and endearing Jang Geu-rae. Misaeng, is in part, a bildungsroman narrative centered around Jang Geu Rae. Im Si wan brought a kind of vulnerability to the role that might have felt cloying and emotionally manipulative in the hands of other actors, but Im Si-wan manages to do it with a light touch. I feel he's one of those actors that uses his whole body in a scene, not just relying on facial or verbal expression, and it's a joy to watch.

Each of the other actors in the ensemble also bring that dedication and talent to their roles, even if it's in a single scene. There are lots of one-off characters that we meet during the course of the series, and every single one of them leaves an impact.

But! I'm going to pick a fave from the supporting cast and that's Byun Yo-han, whom I'd last watched as the broody, troubled (and very sexy) swordsman Lee Bang-ji in Six Flying Dragons. I can't imagine a character more in opposition to that one than Han Seok-yul in Misaeng, but Byun Yo-han just knocks it out of the park as the scheming, cheerful and mostly inappropriate clown with a heart of gold; Han Seok-yul is the definition of Chaotic Good, and you're equal parts horrified by his antics- which include sexual harassment dont @ me -- and yet charmed by him. I wish they'd given him a few more scenes and a larger plotline to work with, but I also suspect that he might have just walked away with the entire series if they did that. (Am I plotting that series in my head as I write this? MAYBE.)

Alright, this is getting a bit too long, so I'm going to get to the bits that disappointed me. That's really one major thing: the gender politics. I don't know how different the show is from the web toon it's based on, so I can't tell whether they made significant changes to the basic plot and characters. As in- I have no idea if the webtoon was as male dominated in every way as the show is, so I'm not sure how much of the show's treatment of women as a class, and its female characters in particular, I should lay at the door of the original writer vs the screenwriter and director. I'm also lacking the Korean context in which this was written and made and aired, so you may take my criticism with a pinch of salt, if you please!

That the show features mainly male characters is perhaps unsurprising and realistic, since we know that the kind of corporate life it depicts is very male dominated, top to bottom. The show also portrays the very real and horrific overt and subtle misogyny that women face in the workplace and out of it; mainly in the character of Ahn Young-yi, played with steely determination and quiet suffering by the lovely Kang so-ra. There are only 3 other female characters that have any sort of real speaking role- Sun Ji Young (played by Shin Eun jung), a senior manager at the company, Jang Geu-rae's unnamed(!) mother (played by the amazing Sung Byoung-Sook) and Oh Sang-sik's unnamed (!) wife (played by Oh Yoon-Hong, who's a delight in every tiny scene she has). There are other women who appear but in very minor roles, and often in "comedy" moments that often rely on sexist tropes to start with.

Anyway, right there you can see one of the problems- 4 women characters that have any kind of real screen time, and only 2 of them are named. Aigoo! Screenwriter Jung Yoon-jung is a woman, and like, I don't like putting the burden on any one woman to y'know fix structural misogyny, but I can't also help feeling disappointed that she overlooked even this "small" thing among the larger things.

But that apart, the main issue for me was that while the show doesn't shy away from depicting egregious sexism in the form of sexual harrassment, verbal and physical and certainly emotional abuse, in a manner that's clear that we are meant to be horrified by it--it falls short of depicting how women deal and work with it. It just doesn't give enough space to women or their worldview.

It's very comfortable depicting victimhood, but doesn't put work into depicting the ways in which women survive by finding solidarity with other women. We have a scene or two where Ahn Young-yi who is this show's poster child for female victimhood interacts with the older women who offer sympathy and understanding, but no real strategy or support. And yes, we see men also being targeted by their seniors for the grossest verbal and physical abuse; and it's men who help Ahn Young-yi strategise on how to deal with her situation. Real life experience tells me that it's the women who do this work for other women. I have certainly been on both sides of this equation, for one, and so has every woman that I know in corporate life. And yes, one of the show's core philosophies is that those who endure, survive--but it is none the less extremely painful to watch Ahn Young yi "endure" the kind of abuse she does as a coping strategy and a survival strategy.

At the end of it, when she slowly manages to gain the support of her sexist team, it's shown as a victory-- though naturally imperfect, because this show takes its Realism very seriously (right until the end where it makes a tonal shift into quirky that I was a little ?? about)-- and y'know, sure, it is a victory. And I absolutely understand the choices she makes and why she does it-- I guess I just got annoyed by the fact that other antagonistic figures in the narrative get a more straightforward comeuppance for their egregious behavior, but Ahn Young-yi doesn't even get a goddamned apology from her abusers. Instead, we have a half humourous, half serious moment where she comments on how she's working at turning herself into "someone cute"- because she understands now that sometimes the right strategy is to "go with the flow". Be the water that slowly wears away at the rock. It's an interesting moment- the men she tells this to are taken aback by her bluntness, but also a little clueless about what she means. It's the kind of nuance that I would and do enjoy. Unfortunately, it also closely follows one of the show's most annoying scenes at the tail end of the series- where it tries to play off workplace sexism and misogyny as comedy- boys being boys-Reader, when I tell you that I had to WORK to unclench my jaw--!

I'm not saying we should have a single and obvious narrative of female emancipation. I'm not against realism in fiction, but god, sometimes, please do remember that when we look for escapism, we are actually imagining a better world. The first step toward liberation is allowing yourself to imagine it.

And the show does allow other characters its moments of unfettered fantasy- Im Si Wan parkour-ing all over the rooftops of Amman- and having a semi mystical + Indiana Jones moment in the deserts of Jordan--so why, I ask, are the women not given that gift?

*looks into the camera *

Tl;dr: I enjoyed it, it made me cry every episode, and I cared about all the characters, and if you haven't watched it yet, treat yourselves.

PS. Yes, Han Seok-yul is a disaster bi, sorry, I don't make the rules. Yes, hotties Oh Min Seok and Kang Ha-neul are canonically naked in a hot tub six feet apart because they are bros. Yes, I will be writing the fix it in which they fuck like angry bunnies. Yes, I am going to put my shipper cooties all over this gen slice of life show, deal with it.

[windbournefree]

AARON SORKIN'S "WOMAN PROBLEM" AND THE NEWSROOM

After binging on The Newsroom (and loving it) created by Aaron Sorkin I got to thinking about his reputed "woman problem" when some YouTube commenter described all the female characters on the show as "twits." That's a characterization I strongly disagree with, and will show why, but also can't shake the intuitive sense that his portrayal is rightly controversial. By that I mean it is right that it should be a matter of discussion, not that it is necessarily wrong. The people holding the discussion need to decide that for themselves.

First the bald facts. Women in this drama hold power: Leona founded and still owns the company, Mackenzie is the Executive Producer of the network's flagship news program with a male second-in-command and many male staff, Sloan is the acknowledged smartest person in the company with far more lucrative prospects awaiting her should she choose them, Maggie is promoted instantly from a personal aide to an associate producer by a woman despite her youth and inexperience. Women are in leadership roles with real power that they do exercise.

In their relationships to men, the women in The Newsroom engage in give and take.

Mackenzie may look at Will like a doe-eyed schoolgirl at times but she's in love with him and is self-recriminating about previous behaviors. She isn't like that with any other male characters. Even with Will she frequently takes charge and makes him follow her direction, which he does. Mac exercises real power in her relationship with Will from episode one on. When Will doles out his "punishments" she only takes them to the degree that she believes she should. She holds the power at any time to say, "That's enough!" which she does in regards to the engagement ring. When she does that he realizes he's gone too far and changes his behavior.

Maggie coddles Don in most of the scenes we see of them and breaks up with him mostly in scenes we don't see. I'd venture to guess that the early breakups happen because the relationship has no room for her passion and she gets tired of soothing his ego to make things work. In contrast, Maggie's drawn to Jim because he awakens and allows room for her passion. Most employees who confront and yell at their bosses as much as she does with Jim would be suspended and/or fired. He lets her get away with it to a degree because he recognizes that that same passion drives her to become an excellent journalist. And because he likes her. Both are true. Every once in awhile he has to reprimand her in public to assert authority over his team or it gives permission to his other staff to behave the same way. Maggie is no shrinking violet. She is strong and self-directed and refuses to allow a man to control her. Most of her errors come from inexperience and human frailty. None of them occur because she's a woman.

Sloan clearly wears the pants in her relationship to Don which, to his surprise, he doesn't mind. Ever once in awhile, though, they switch roles or just relate as equals. Don goes from dating the young intern who part of him wants to dominate to dating the highly intelligent, self-directed professional who no man can dominate and becomes a better version of himself as a result. Sloan's errors in her first broadcast about Fukushima occur not because she is scared by Will as a man but because she's scared by him as respected professional. His gender doesn't matter to her. When Charlie yells at her about it she tells him strongly, "Do not call me 'girl,' sir!" And that's to the head of the News Division.

Leona clearly rules the roost and fights with Charlie as an equal or as a subordinate, never as a superior. They fight the way old friends do.

In no respect are women as a class portrayed as inferior or subordinate to the power of men. So why do I get that intuitive itch that there's something old-fashioned about Sorkin's writing on gender relations?

I think it's that some of the male characters in The Newsroom tend to be the carriers of logic and reasoning while the female characters tend to be the carriers of emotional expression. This isn't always true: Sloan is highly logical (while also passionate) and Charlie is highly emotional (while also reasonable) and Neal carries both in balance. It's certainly true, however, of the Jim & Maggie relationship which is intended as a reflection of the older Will & Mackenzie one. Remember how, in episode one, Mackenzie points out Maggie to Jim and tells him that she's a younger version of her before she grew into herself and got hotter with age? And why has Jim long been Mackenzie's choice for supervising producer? Could it be because he reminds her of Will? I think so. I also think it's fair to assume that Sorkin does not intend for that rational/emotional dichotomy to typify all gender relations since he gives us alternate examples. More likely it's because Sorkin is a brainy guy who prefers an emotionally expressive woman to bring balance into his life. When he writes romance it comes out of who he is, what he likes. That's how he connects to the material at a feeling level. Some viewers may prefer a flip on those traditional associations and the Don & Sloan relationship may have been his attempt to provide that. It's not where Sorkin feels at his strongest or most natural, though, so he writes what he knows.

There ARE problems with The Newsroom, though, that I think if addressed would have reduced criticism. In no way should bosses be allowed to date subordinates over whose careers they have an influence. The producers decide what stories are aired. The career of a journalist rises and falls with the number and quality of stories they get aired. Dating a subordinate in this environment is a breach of ethics and most professional workplace standards. To be fair, Maggie was first an intern then a personal aide and only became an associate producer (journalist) as Don was on his way out so it wasn't a total breach; definitely in the gray area, though. The sexual tension between Jim and Maggie, obvious to everyone (as Sloan pointed out in the finale), often broke out into open conflict. Mackenzie should have addressed this conflict as their supervisor but instead encouraged it. As Jim points out it was Mac's idea for him to get together with Maggie in the first place. Again, it was Mac's advice to Jim to "gather ye rosebuds while ye may" that led to his and Maggie's first kiss and then Jim deciding this was wrong. Mackenzie's regrets about her relationship with Will colored her judgment and led her to offer advice that may have been okay coming from a friend but was inappropriate coming from a supervisor. She could have been rightly disciplined or even fired by HR if found out. Jim does decide that he can't date a subordinate however he feels but Mac should have intervened and threatened to move one of them out if they couldn't handle the tension in a professional manner. In the series finale Jim offers the Supervising Producer position to the woman he's in love with. How is that not an HR violation? How would Maggie's career not be dogged by rumors of "sleeping her way to the top" if she accepts it?

The other thing is the way emotional conflicts between several of the characters break out into office wide battles. Talk about an unsafe working environment! I can't see how the entire management staff wasn't fired on an almost weekly basis. And when Mackenzie commends Maggie for her loyalty by saying she wouldn't complain to HR if her hair was on fire I cringed. Is that the message you want to send out in a #MeToo world?

Aaron Sorkin says he likes to write "very romantically, very idealistically." The chaos in the newsroom is intended for laughs, not to be taken as a serious reflection of a workplace. The characters are flawed and frequently do not do what they should. The lack of HR supervision is even mentioned by a character in season one so there's awareness that liberties are being taken. I don't think there's an inherent woman problem here, just a production not as sensitive as it might be to the struggles women face in the workplace. There are good reasons why "no dating" policies are in place, why it's unprofessional to carry your personal life into the workplace. Workplace comedies routinely feature HR nightmares for the sake of laughs: Brooklyn 99 is a good example. We don't take them seriously. It's the sheer intelligence of The Newsroom and the realistic setting that may make the comedy part seem more serious than it is. Personally I see the show as a kind of joyful fantasy; Sports Night without the canned laughter. If you can separate the fantastic from the realistic I think you'll find that The Newsroom is actually very empowering for women.

[theshatnerian]

A Quick Education on Training Confirmation

It can be generally assumed by those in our trade that although work applicants may embellish their career jobs and roles, they may downright rest with regards to their education and learning.

Of course, that person interviewing together with your Human Resource Manger along with other relevant managers, the main one hunting presentable and operating so brilliant and articulate could be creating his training. Generally your candidate’s state they a better schooling is just not necessarily an absolute invention. He could have in reality actually signed up for the college listed on the resume. He just didn’t graduate from that school. Or some other college, as an example.

But then there are these, a notable volume of employment prospects who may have engaged in whatever we expression a ghost attendance. That may be to state they not just did not finish the college, nevertheless they never signed up at all. Why they selected that exact college since their fictional host to graduating is anyone’s guess. But enough applicants rest about graduating from universities they could have never seen, save for images on the net and Cafelavista . The HR particular person must always look at the ghost attendance an extremely actual chance.

As to which educational institutions the task applicants may claim to have graduated, the selection is assorted and quite often darkly entertaining. Some may select the smaller sized and more out of the way schools as his or her imaginary alma maters. They may choose one thing arty and prestigious, some of those educational institutions you might learn about although not know significantly about.. Or even your candidate will take obscurity in another route by listing on their own resume some grievously remote control or sub-par institute of higher understanding that couple of ever even heard about..

There exists particular common sense to creating such boasts. By listing say, an obscure Middle of the-American school or esoteric New England college, as his place of graduating, your choice may believe that he helps substantiate his credibility. Even more astute HR individual could very well figure out no one would actually rest about graduating coming from a Reed University, in Oregon, Amherst, in Massachusetts, or Lake Woodland, in Illinois? Or for that matter as being a protection against reduced self-esteem, would you dare present of graduating from one of the legions of North European Eastern Slippery Eel Teacher’s School inside the far area of the center of thin air? So, the pondering will go, you might accept their assert at encounter value and never bother to take a look.

Other candidates is going to take the different option. Most in reality, will select the larger sized educational institutions, assuming their brands and alleged graduating times might go missing in the bureaucratic mix up. Of course, once they do participate in for some time, they believe their listed registration may mistakenly be construed as evidence of graduating. The things they lack in schooling, they compensate for in audacity. Properly, sort of.

Eventually, there are actually the no level qualifications. These are the basic fraudulent diplomas given for life experience and are not representative of attendance or graduating from your legit or approved school. They may be totally fake. But they are preferred. The more resourceful among the duplicitous can get these qualifications on-line for between fifty money to several hundred dollars. The scholar diplomas really are a little more expensive compared to sheer Bachelors however are available from numerous phony educational institutions. A few of them even appearance outstanding presented you don’t seem try to find the school’s actual street address online.

Before you decide to turn out to be too upset or overly dubious, keep in mind that individuals who lie regarding their diplomas comprise a minority of employment applicants. More often than not your candidate really is who he claims he is and performed attend and finish the college listed in his cv. Having said that the operative period is more frequently than not. Knowing that, think of the ways you could possibly lead to distress and also litigation should you mistakenly retain the services of somebody who has attained simply a imaginary level.

It may be factual that deficient a Bachelor’s education in particular disciplines may be inconsequential. There is a stating, by way of example, which a very good sales person is born and never created, or something that is to that particular impact. Even though which might be true in a few disciplines, in more than a handful of someone greater possess the credentials provided with the appropriate training. It could be your brand-new retain the services of along with his imaginary diploma may genuinely do not have the expertise units necessary to do the job. This fact could cause a variety of difficulties as well as result in disaster in their myriad types.

You may have designated money and time to his retain the services of. You might have sidetracked work power, no less than people who have carried out the different interview. In selecting he or she, maybe you have rejected an applicant who has been truly competent but is not readily available. You need to now allocate further sources to get other people. This sort of blunders can detract from employee morale along with your profits.

Furthermore, by employing someone not skilled by virtue of deficient his level, you might be jeopardizing your connection with clients. You may have given this person into a buyer, and from now on your employee has screw stuff up through is lack of credentials. This can make the consumer extremely dissatisfied. The buyer may demand settlement. They may even endanger a legal action. This is not only pricey, but humiliating as well.

If you believe this doesn’t occur, you needed greater reconsider that thought. These are generally not the tales managers prefer to brag about over lunch time. These are the basic stories that are whispered, and also the whispering is way more ominous and harmful to your enterprise. Let’s be realistic, should your breakdown to execute research brings about shows damaging for your client, then you will be held liable. You will appearance foolish and cheap. You might also be looking for one more customer to replace the individual that left you.

The moral to this particular scenario is that your Human being Resources Management must have a look at everyone, irrespective of how honest they sound. It is important to have got a pre-employment screening software in position and to incorporate training confirmation as an element of that program. The number of money you may spend at the start to make sure that your candidate’s graduation can help you save lots in money and time in addition to and possible lawsuit and distress. Those that earn deals with main corporations, especially modern technology or defense and security connected industries will see these firms mandate background record checks for everyone which will be working in the task. This consists of education and learning confirmation. Often they will likely insist upon verification of most levels and not just the best.

When carrying out education and learning verifications here are several what you should stay in mind

Universites and colleges normally offer verification either in-home or with the National University student Clearing Residence or another 3rd party support. When the College is listed with a third party services, the degree can often be confirmed that day. Third party solutions will cost a set level for accessibility confirmation. Some backdrop checking organizations will add through to this level while some will move it on at cost.

Normally, levels are approved by background checking out solutions within a pair, day or two. The procedure usually takes longer if your applicant has either graduated some many years back or maybe not indexed in the database.

Confirmation can also be more difficult over the vacations, semester split or the summer. Be prepared to provide for much more time for verification.

Affirmation from overseas colleges inevitably will require beyond residential affirmation. Typically, the costs for foreign verifications are significantly more than expenses for any home-based university or college. Be ready to pay more and wait longer for the overseas confirmation.

Some universities asks for your candidate’s disclosure and discharge kind prior to issuing the verification.

When offering your candidate’s information for the University or alternative party support, it is advisable to include the years came to, the year finished, the actual diploma and significant, and also for large educational institutions the college campus where your candidate went to.

In case your choice is really a women, be sure the data you submit displays the particular label that your choice finished. Sometimes your candidate is true for the position under her committed label and falters to provide her maiden label, the name she applied while attending university.

It can possibly sign up for foreign pupils. Sometimes foreign applicants changes their names after graduation, to make them a lot more available in the American workplace. But they may have went to institution, employing their conventional title. Your applicant may you as Ben, but in institution he was still Bao.This can complicate the verification process.

In the event the university or even the third party service is developing a difficult time confirming y our candidate’s education, they can demand a facsimile of his degree or diploma or closing transcripts.

Make sure you keep your confirmation process standard. You could choose to authenticate all degrees or only the highest diploma attained. Anything you do for starters choice, you should do for all of the rest.

Ensure your track record checking support remains in front of any difficulties which may develop in the verification process. Establish and sustain substance conversation routes in order that the support will keep you knowledgeable and request further information as needed.

Recall if for some reason and in the end homework you are not able to authenticate your candidate’s level, it probably means he never acquired one particular. They can try to speak their way out of it, but maintain organization and demand they offer any details that has been asked for. There is certainly practically nothing exceptional concerning this details for anyone who has truly finished from a certified university or college. If they can’t provide that details, you really should look for another choice. Recall the axiom that when they lay with regards to their degree then they’ll rest when on-the-job didn’t grow to be approved information for no reason at all. Have a look before you retain the services of.

[yooniegalaxy]

Okay, so this is going to be fun. So the preface behind this is that V got a few asks about this and then I went and straight up threw in my two cents... and in return got these asks. Instead of fuming about it and just keyboard warrior-ing back at the person ( using person as a very loose term at this point ) I decided to take a step back and deal with this rationally.

Trigger Warnings // Abuse, Assault, R*pe and Predatory Men Mentions. Public Masturbation. I will tag appropriately.

I apologize, in advance, for the length. I also haven’t proofread this because at some point I just didn’t care enough to re-read. Yes, I did cite things. Don’t @ me about it.

Alright, so this is very bold of you to assume that you know anything about my culture as it is. There are more than just that one reason as to why Korean women/girls aren’t dating ( which is also very bold of you to assume ). There is a great divide in everything. South Korea is a very patriarchal society, so of course there are privileges to being a man. But that can literally be said any where in the world. The world is intrinsically male oriented, despite having various matriarchal societies.

If we are talking about Korean women in general, there are a lot of reasons why they don’t date aside from the inherent fear. It is literally the fact that everyone pays attention to their careers first. School is a very large part of Korean Society, as well as a lot of other Asian Countries. Education is the first and foremost for a lot people, which often pushes the bounds of women when do decide to date, if at all.

“It says so in an article“, is not a great defense, especially since the only article I could find about this was a CNN article ( feel free to read it here ). While well researched, it is under the lens of a University study for a “Gender and Culture“ class taught at Sejong University. They do go into statistics about economic strain and what percentage of age groups are single and may not be dating.

I pulled this from the article, “[a] growing number of South Koreans are shunning romantic relationships amid economic hardships and societal problems.“ This, in and of itself, counteracts your broad strokes claim. The fact of the matter is that you clearly don’t understand how expensive it is to date anyone or live in Korean society. Even going out with friends is awful, I find, because we are always drinking and heading to the next bar or the next and you’re no fun unless you go to all of the bars. If you ditch, you are literally called no fun and you can kiss your social life goodbye.

South Korean Culture is very much about group dynamics and it is social suicide not to hang out when asked unless you have a VERY good reason. This brings me to, “[t]he country's overall unemployment rate last year rose to its highest level in 17 years, at 3.8%. The youth unemployment rate was far higher, at 10.8% for those aged 15 to 29.” This is basically the fact of the matter, dating and socializing unless you are getting funded by your parents, is EXPENSIVE. Even when you are out of University and starting your first job, if you are even hired. If you aren’t, you will be working any form of shop job, construction, retail or food and service. 

Side note: minimum wage in South Korea is 7530 won/hr, or like 6-ish USD, but not a lot of places even pay that. They pay under that.

Yes, in the light of a lot of Korean scandals and lot of word of mouth about x boyfriend or y abuse incident, many people are put off by the idea of dating. But I feel like this is the case everywhere and not just South Korea. You could even say that it is taken less lightly elsewhere in the world than it is in South Korea.

You also have to realize that this article is literally just talking about Korean Women dating Korean Men. There are a plenty of other races that live in South Korea that are ex-pats, are studying abroad or are teaching abroad ( as they don’t really like hiring people of Asian Heritage to teach English, especially ). A lot of South Koreans hire a lot of foreign specialists for jobs due to the high specializations in some fields. So Korean Women might not be dating Korean Men, but they are still dating.

This is not a “not all men” statement because I will never make that statement. “Not all men” is such a stupid statement because it is inherently bias. 

Korean dating culture isn’t dead. People still date. People still count their relationships in days and have cute anniversaries. People are allowed not to feel safe. I don’t feel safe and I live in a country where I am allotted freedom and yet I still look over my shoulder because off the gender that I was born as. 

CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE AT THE DOOR. 

Please don’t ignore the fact that you are generalizing a whole population to suit your own arguments and needs. You are literally doing yourself, and everyone you are generalizing, a disservice.

Honestly, no. Claiming you are right is actually a rather sad way to try and win an argument when someone hasn’t responded. My country isn’t “full of predators”. If anything all of my experiences in the United States ( and other countries though I will only give one example ) sort of tells me otherwise. I, personally, have a lot of stories of where I have felt unsafe in countries outside of Asia.

NEW YORK CITY ( tw: male public masturbation, aggression )

I was about nineteen at the time of this incident. I am, by no means, a person who is uneducated or idealistic in anyway. I was raised a realist, someone who wasn’t exactly sheltered from the storm, despite growing up in a traditional family. I made a lot of mistakes as a kid but I learned from.

In New York, I was with one other person. She was around my age and we were exploring the city together and I believe we were going to a conference at the time? I was studying Film at the time and she was a good friend of mine going to New York Film Academy. We hopped on the subway because literally the only way to get around the city unless you want to be stuck in traffic. What I experienced on the train was varying degrees of traumatic but I laugh about it now?

We were chased off the subway four or five stops before we actually wanted to get by a guy literally masturbating directly in view of us. There weren’t that many people on the subway car and he was making DIRECT eye contact with us while were talking about the film we were shooting for class. He was literally dirty talking at us and his advances became more bold until he literally chased us off the subway when we tried to leave.

He couldn’t have been more than I want to say thirty or forty and he was white male privilege. He was wearing a decently fitted suit with shined loafers so, clearly not just a homeless man on the street.

He chased us up to street leave with his dick out, ejaculating at our shoes as we tried to climb the stairs and told us we were ungrateful and deserved it. This happened on three separate occasions in a span of a week, different men.

I was much younger than most people that this happens to on a regular basis in the US. Tell me how “my country” as you call it is full of predators when this is what I was subjected to as a person that, at the time, is older than a solid chunk of the frequenters of this site.

Not only that but I have never felt the need to check my drink as much as I do in a western country as I do in an Asian one. I have been to frat parties and have been witness to college r*pe culture, to where I have been made witness to various friends being roofied because they don’t check their drinks. I was taught as a kid not to leave your drink lying around and if you did, you didn’t drink from it ( I should point out that I grew up both in Seoul and in Canada ).

I don’t feel safe in any country for the fact that I AM A WOMAN and not because of any racial bias that I might have. I don’t have the privilege of walking wherever I like without being cat called fully clothed, not showing any skin or figure. I constantly look over my shoulder when I see a shadow, this is not one country’s problem, it is every country.

Like I said, I was at work and would rather not get fired for interacting with someone that doesn’t take my priority because they wish to remain anonymous and not have educated argument. Rather you would like to anonymously bash a whole nation in which you are NOT apart of. Not that I particularly like my job, it kind of just pays the bills.

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

What Men Want

So first off, I thought this movie was going to be so cringey. I expected nothing less from director Adam Shankman, who you may know as the director and choreographer of Hairspray and who I may know as my favorite guest judge on the best seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. What Men Want is the gender-flipped version of the 2000 Mel Gibson movie, What Women Want. The answer to that movie’s question was 1) for men to just like, listen, and also not be assholes? and 2) stop letting Mel Gibson be in movies. Well it’s 19 years later, and at least we got half of one of those things still going strong. So what’s the answer to the 2019 version, which sees Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) suddenly privy to all the innermost thoughts of every man she’s near? Well...

Treat them like people? Like, with respect and dignity? I think that’s what the film was getting at, but it’s sort of obscured by all the bro-y dick jokes, racism, and misogyny. 

Some thoughts: 

I’ll be honest with you - I thought this was going to be SO stupid but honestly, this giant conference room full of men in which Ali is one of maybe 2 or 3 women in it? Yeah, that’s WAYYY too many men and this vibe is so real. So there are at least some glimmers of an actual point to this movie’s whole existence.

Also Taraji P. Henson’s wardrobe is incredible. She’s like a beacon of awesome style in the midst of all these boring suits. She’s magnetic, she’s vivacious, and I have no idea how anyone would possibly pick one of these boring dudebros over her, given the option.

Ok but wait, I mean, it sucks that she didn’t get the promotion but you can’t just call all your coworkers backstabbing bitches. That’s an HR violation, not cool, girl.

Damn Aldis Hodge is so charming and hot as Ali’s love interest, Will. I’ve loved him since season 1 of Supernatural and he just keeps getting better with age. He’s smooth, disarming, and the kind of hot that feels accessible, you know? This first sex scene is truly terrifying though - and I know you’re an A-list star now, but no one keeps their bra on, Taraji. Nothing feels less realistic in a sex scene than that.

Honestly the entire condom-on-the-back sequence is so horrifyingly unprofessional, it’s no wonder Ali didn’t get this promotion.

The main reason this film is rated R is because men are gross, and I just feel like everyone in the room deserves better than this. 

As far as performances go, though, everyone feels a little bit uneven or off their game with the exception of Hodge and Erykah Badhu, who is clearly having the time of her motherfucking life here as the psychic who helps guide Ali through her newly acquired men-hearing powers. But Taraji is pinballing between manic and brooding in almost every scene, and she doesn’t quite have the physical comedy chops of say, Aisha Tyler, or even Gabrielle Union to help sell this implausible premise when the script is lacking. I think I might enjoy her more as unintentionally funny rather than purposefully funny. Pete Davidson and Max Greenfield are basically just phoning in their supporting roles. And while watching athletes play exaggerated versions of themselves is delightful, no one is giving Reggie Miller or Shaq an Oscar for their performances here.

This soundtrack is very basic, very obvious song choices but damn, there are some good cuts here - like “Bills, Bills, Bills” during the poker scene, hell YES.

I know this is nitpicky, but it feels weird that the punchline to Kellan Lutz’s big “ooh let’s have a spontaneous hookup” scene is 1) he’s into BDSM and 2) he’s so serious about it that he has a whole room devoted to it. Like, it does not take an expert in the field to clearly see that there ain’t NO WAY that man buckled himself into all that gear in the 2 minutes it took her in the bathroom. So not only is your punchline lame, obvious, and totally off the mark when it comes to actual BDSM practices (because none of that was safe, sane, OR consensual), but it also doesn’t logically make any sense. I will admit that it made me laugh in the credits when his character’s actual credited name was “Captain Fucktastic” though. 

Turns out, even after all these years, I still hate hearing anything that comes out of Tracy Morgan’s mouth.

This promo video is so embarrassing, it looks like it was made on racist iMovie. Big booty hos and gold chains are the only way to get a young black basketball player to sign with you, right? God, it would be embarrassing for them if it wasn’t so damn appalling. 

Is the only narrative for sports agents pulling a Jerry Maguire and going free agent? That’s the plot of actual Jerry Maguire, Ballers, and now this. Are there any sports agents that just...stay where they are? How do they even get anything done if everyone’s just waiting for everyone else to Jerry Maguire?

Also, anything and everything having to do with queer issues in this film is pretty fucked up. Ali’s assistant Brandon (Josh Brener) is gay, and when he starts to date a fellow employee, per Ali’s mind-reading suggestion, they share one spinning hug, and that’s it. There’s no other expressions of desire or affection, not even one kiss, as there would be for any straight couple that Ali played matchmaker for. There’s also a revelation during a big wedding scene at the end where Ali gets drunk, decides THEN is the best time to stop the wedding (not in the weeks leading up to it when she definitely could have) and reveals a whole host of secret affairs, including one woman’s husband sleeping with another man. It’s played as THE most shocking revelation - a spectator literally faints - and the woman angrily accuses her husband of kissing her after he was sucking dick. It’s meant to be hilariously *shocking* but the pattern of jokes throughout the movie just feels gross and homophobic and woefully outdated.

I will say I’m glad there’s at least some acknowledgement of the intersection of race and gender and how it has affected Ali’s career in the film. I had hoped that this movie would use Ali’s powers to better undermine and exploit all the bullshit she has to put up with as a black woman working in a white male-dominated field, but I suppose even acknowledging intersectionality directly is a big get for a major studio movie.

The main message of the story is that black women literally have to have supernatural powers granted to them to have the chance to advance to the same level as a mediocre white man.

Also the ending is super abrupt because they clearly didn’t know how to end it besides just “aaaaaand everything is resolved!” 

What Men Want is uneven, but at least engages with some deeper issues than its Mel Gibson predecessor. It has its moments of humor (Shaq thinking about himself in the third person just GETS ME) but overall I don’t know that this movie is what men OR women really want.

[seokkgenie]

More Than Anything Else (one) [M]

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Genre: CEO!au, smut, fluff, angst

Words: 13.2 k

one 

In hindsight, sleeping with a stranger that you met in a bar one night before you started a new job was probably not the best of ideas.

Your hands were gripping his toned biceps as he pounded into you. The room was filled with your moans and his low grunts. His sculpted face was shimmering under the cheap orange hue of the motel room light with the beads of his sweat. You could almost imagine the state that you were probably in, with your pink lips swollen, pupils dilated and your hair a tangled mess.

“You know,” he said, gripping your waist and increasing his pace, “I don’t usually do this.” The sudden change in momentum elicited a moan from your mouth.

“What?” you managed to breathe out, “Sex?”

“Sex with strangers.” He said, correcting you. Your nails dug into his skin as you reached up to suck on the soft flesh just above his collar bone.

“Right now, I can’t seem to remember why.” He completed.

You smirked at his comment. You could feel pressure building in your abdomen and you knew that it wouldn’t be long until you’d reach your climax. He seemed to be struggling to keep himself from coming undone as well, his eyes now closed in pleasure. His hands moved down between your legs and began to play with your clit, the gentle pressure from his fingers was enough to push you off the edge and you felt pleasure overtaking your body in waves underneath him.

You clenched around his penis and he moaned loudly before he was coming undone too, his body trembling from the orgasm. He slammed into you a few more times, which helped both of you to ride out your high. When you came down from your climax, he moved just in time to avoid falling on top of you and he lay on his stomach, panting. You looked up at the corny designs on the ceiling as you tried to compose yourself.

You turned your head slightly to look at the man and you saw him pulling off the soiled condom and throwing it into the bin next to the bed. He went into the bathroom directly and you heaved a sigh of relief as he left you alone for a few minutes. You quickly put on your clothes again, picking them up from their place on the floor. You sat down at the edge of the bed, thinking about what the best thing to do next would be.

You weren’t used to one night stands. You had no idea what the appropriate code of conduct was after the meaningless sex. Were you supposed to just leave without saying anything or were you supposed to say something nice or clever? You scoffed at the thought, what would you say anyway? ‘That was some good fucking, sexy stranger?’

You sighed in frustration. You couldn’t believe that the stress of your transfer and the stories you heard about your to-be boss made you want to find a release via sex with someone you didn’t even know. You reasoned with yourself that it was okay, that it was good sex and you always had been one to take risks.

You decided to let him react first. Just in case you had to leave in a hurry, though, you put your phone in your purse and fixed yourself up the best that you could, pulling out a hair tie from the bag and tying your hair into a ponytail.

The door to the bathroom creaked open, startling you and you gave out a small yelp without meaning to.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He muttered as he picked up his clothes that were lying askew on the ground.

You didn’t respond to him and just observed him closely, your lips placing themselves between your teeth due to the nervousness.

After he pulled on his pants and buttoned up his shirt, he held his coat in his hand and looked at you. His large, dark eyes pierced into your own, but you didn’t feel the need to look away. He ran his hand through his light brown hair.

He cleared his throat, and said, “I should get going now.” He waited for your reaction, probably hoping that you weren’t some sort of clingy person who would demand to keep seeing him.

“Okay.” You said and his mouth opened slightly in surprise, as though he wasn’t expecting you to agree to it that easily

You shrugged, “That was fun.”

“Y-yeah.” He said, unsure, and gave a brisk nod and a small wave before heading out the door. You waited for ten minutes to make sure you didn’t run into him outside and made your way out, hailing a cab.

You checked the time. 3:23 am. You had to report to your first day of work in the new branch in less than five hours. Sometimes, you wanted to punch yourself for constantly making impulsive and stupid decisions.

The building stood tall and mighty just like a typical workplace of any other giant conglomerate such as your employer. It was easy to get sucked into the glitz and glamour of the glass offices with their promise of job security and stable income. But, you were no stranger to the real struggle that went on behind the doors.

You had worked for the top shareholder of the company, the President himself. You were the youngest person to ever be appointed as the assistant of the President of Bangtan Corporation. You didn’t know why, but you had impressed him so much during your interview that he had personally demanded that you be assigned as his new assistant. Shadowing him throughout the work day, sitting in on all his meetings and making notes diligently kept your place at the office secure. You were so efficient that you demanded respect from the employees, even the sexist ones who looked down upon secretaries and thought them to be useless women who wouldn’t be capable of doing much if they did not have the looks to support them.

You knew the company inside out, and you were proud of how far you had come from being a doe eyed rookie with big dreams to a hard headed realist who was ambitious.

A few months ago, the President had announced during an elaborate press conference that his eldest son would be taking over the company after him. Nobody had seen the young heir to the conglomerate throne. Everyone had heard rumors, though, that he was somewhat of a genius, an all-rounder who was a perfectionist in school. He had apparently finished his undergraduate degree from the London School of Economics followed by an impressive degree from Harvard Business School.

You had remembered thinking that no matter how smart this man was, he would not be able to take over easily. It was a well-known fact that most employees detested the fact that their new boss would be someone who rose to the position only as a birth right rather than due to his own capabilities.

To your complete surprise, he had proved everyone wrong. He had single handedly planned and executed a project that had saved Bangtan Mills from complete bankruptcy. He had done all this in just a few months’ time and even though he stayed away from the public’s eye during this time, he had become somewhat of a legend-a mysterious one, whose face everyone was dying to see.

That stint at the Mills seemed to have proved to everyone that he was more than capable of leading the multinational conglomerate and he had been appointed as the CEO of Bangtan Corporation a week ago. He still needed someone to help him ease into the process, though. Someone that knew the way the company worked and could work beside him. The President had chosen you as worthy of that.

That’s the reason you stood outside the company headquarters in Seoul, already missing the salty sea air of Busan where had you previously worked.

You would be the new Assistant of the CEO, effective from that day. The only problem was that you were still a little sore from your activities from the previous night, sleep deprived with swollen eyes that took a lot of makeup to cover up and hair still partially wet from the late shower you had to take due to over sleeping.

You let out a few deep breaths and walked into the building. The security had been instructed to let you in and direct you towards HR which was on the fifth floor. You got into the elevator quickly and as it moved up, you closed your eyes and held your breath. You hated elevators, having had numerous panic attacks there as a child due to your claustrophobia. The sound of the doors opening had brought you back to your senses and you leaped out happily. You straightened your work clothes and pulled your purse closer and you strut into the collection of cubicles. You walked towards the cabin that belonged to the HR Manager. You were a special employee and the Manager had been assigned to help you settle in on your first day.

You knocked on the door and a woman said, “Come in.”

You walked in, smiling and gave a slight bow, following which you introduced yourself, “I’m Y/n. I’ll be working as the CEO’s assistant. Please take care of me.”

She smiled and got up from her seat, returning your bow. She extended her hand and you placed your own in hers’ shaking it, “I’m Park Jihyo. Nice to meet you, y/n. I’ve heard very good things about you.”

“That’s very kind of you.” You said as she gestured for you to take a seat. She began opening a drawer near her and pulled out a file.  She read through it briefly and pulled out an envelope and handed it to you.

“This has your employee ID card and a few other things. Please let me know if there’s any problem with it.” She said.

You nodded, standing up. “Thank you, Ms Park.” You said.

She stood up along with you and smiled, “I’ll drop you to the CEO’s cabin.”

You were really flustered. “There’s really no need for that.” You said quickly. “I couldn’t trouble the HR Manager with such a thing.”

“Please, I insist.” She said and you stood speechlessly as she walked towards the door, her black heels clinking on the floor. She adjusted her pencil skirt before opening the door and gestured you to walk out first. You were unable to understand why she was doing all this for a assistant when she probably had more important matters to tend to. But, you followed her silent instructions anyway and soon enough you were both standing outside the elevators.

“Ms Park,” you called out to her, “Are you sure this is okay?”

“Don’t worry, Ms Y/n.” she gave you a reassuring smile and you nodded. As the elevator opened, you breathed in, holding your breath and walking in. There was a frown on your face as you waited for the dreaded ride to end.

“You okay?” she asked, looking at your obvious discomfort.

“Yes, sorry, I just hate elevators.” You explained and she nodded understandingly, looking over at you with concern in her eyes.

When the door finally opened at the top most floor-the 12th floor, you jumped out again, almost bumping into the employees waiting outside. You apologized quickly and tried to regain your composure.

Jihyo watched and gave you some time, after which she said, “Can I ask you something, Ms y/n?”

“Yes, ma’am, of course!” you quickly replied, facing her.

“Why are you wearing pants?” she asked, her eyes looking into your own.

You tilted your head in confusion. You had not been expecting that question. “Sorry?” you questioned her.

She laughed, “That didn’t come out how I intended it to. I meant, why are you wearing slacks instead of a skirt? I’ve never met a assistant who wears pants to work, especially on her first day.”

You shrugged, “It’s just more comfortable. I think all secretaries should do it, what with all the running around that we have to do. Also, I don’t like how it aids the objectification of women in this line of work.” You concluded by saying, “Besides, I don’t remember there being any company policy about a dress code.”

Maybe going on a rant about not wanting to wear a skirt was probably not the best thing to do infront of the HR Manager who was wearing said item of clothing. But, you were nothing if not unnecessarily adamant about your beliefs.

To your relief, Jihyo smiled, her big eyes wide with amusement. “I think we’re going to get along really well, y/n” she said.

“I…’ you trailed off, unsure of how to respond.

“Let me give you some advice to mark the beginning of our new friendship.” She said and you listened intently, curious as to what she had to say. “The CEO is kind of an asshole. So, try to not talk back to him. It makes everyone’s lives easier.” She added, as an afterthought, “Although, with your personality, I don’t think it’s going to be possible.”

You were unsure if she was complimenting you or insulting you, but you decided to just thank her and get to work. You had heard from a lot of people that the new CEO was kind of a jerk, but you figured that it wouldn’t be anything that you couldn’t handle.

“Thank you, Ms Park.” You said, smiling.

She replied, pointing to the room at the center of the floor, past the cubicles, “That’s the devil’s den. Good luck, y/n.” As you bowed and began to walk away, she called you, “And, y/n, please, it’s Jihyo to you.”

You nodded in response, grateful for her kindness.

The employees sitting at the cubicles looked at you as you walked past and you bowed to them politely. Most of them bowed back, and you could swear that you saw pity in their eyes. You shrugged it off and knocked on the door of the CEO, your heart was beating loudly with anticipation. You were finally going to see the face behind the mysterious Kim Namjoon.

“Yes?” a deep voice sounded from inside and you opened the door, walking in whilst looking down at the floor politely. You were too used to the forms of respect in this country. You approached him and said, “Good morning, Sir. I’m y/n, I’ll be your assistant from today. Please take care of me.”

You waited for him to answer, still looking down. But he didn’t respond and a silent pause filled the large room. You took that as your cue to look up and the first thing that you felt was as though someone had punched you in your gut. You let out an involuntary gasp. You suppressed the urge to scream, your previously fast paced heartbeat was beating more erratically and you felt like your heart would jump out of your chest at any given moment.

There, sitting in front of you as your new boss was the sexy stranger from last night.

“Fuck,” you whispered, unable to hold back your tongue. He seemed to be shocked too. His eyes were wide with recognition and he looked paler than you remember him being. He was obviously very baffled as well.

He cleared his throat after what felt like an eternity and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Ms y/n. I’ve heard a lot about you from my father.”

You looked at him, as though he were crazy. One minute he had been astonished and speechless and the next minute he went on like nothing had happened.

“T-Thank you, sir.” You stuttered.

“Get settled into your desk outside and someone will give you a memo about what your job here will entail.” He said, His voice was stable and sure, a complete contrast from how he sounded the night before.

You nodded, still in shock. Your luck always edged on being rotten, but this was a new one, even for you. The one time that you decided to have some fun and go ahead to sleep with a stranger, he turns out to be your boss. Wonderful.

He raised an eyebrow at you, but you couldn’t reply.

“Anything else, Ms y/n?” he asked. He snapped his fingers in order to gain your attention and the action pulled you out of your trance.

“N-no, sir.” You replied, eyes shaking.

“Then, you can leave.” He said with a slight brush of his hand, the wave motioning you out.

It almost seemed demeaning, like he thought you were a lowly creature that he could boss around with gestures. You didn’t say anything, but a bitter taste was left in your mouth as you managed to bow and walk out.

Instead of sitting at your desk, you walked briskly towards the washroom, following the sign on the wall. You knew that you needed to be alone to collect your thoughts and you couldn’t do that in your seat where everyone was bound to come up to you to socialize.

As soon as you entered the washroom, you sighed in relief that it was empty. You stood in front of the mirror, breathing loudly. Your nerves had taken a hit, seeing that man sitting there on that chair.

Breathe, you told yourself. It is going to be okay.

He seemed to find it easy to complete forget what had happened between the pair of you. All you had to do was pretend like nothing happened. It wasn’t like you dated him or anything, it was just casual, meaningless sex. How difficult could it be to ignore? You looked into the mirror and nodded. You put your fists in front of you, cheering yourself on. It was time to be professional-something you were confident that you could do perfectly.

You walked out with a new found determination and sat down in your seat. To your chagrin, your cubicle was the closest one to the CEO’s cabin and although it faced away from his door, you were certain that, from the inside, anyone would have a clear view of your space. Not that it mattered because why would the CEO and son of the President of such a big conglomerate care about what an easily replaceable assistant is doing?

An older woman walked upto your desk with a smile and introduced herself as Mrs Oh. She handed you a file, sticky notes of various colours sticking out from different pages of it.

“It’s the boss’s schedule and the details on our current projects,” she explained. You thanked her for her hard work and she left after saying, “Good luck, love. We’re all rooting for you.”

Another voice said, “yeah!” from behind you and you almost jumped up from your seat, startled. You looked around to find the source of the voice and you find a man, similar in age, smiling back at you. His hair was light pink and fell onto his forehead effortlessly. His bright hair seemed to be completely out of place in the uneventful office, as did his smile that turned his eyes into half-moons.

“Hey!” he said, cheerfully. “I’m Jimin!” His voice was soft and melodious and you found yourself smiling and greeting him back.

“Hello. I’m y/n. Nice to meet you.”

He shook your outstretched hand vigorously and said, “I work right there,” he pointed down the hallway, “If you need anything, just come over and ask.”

“That’s really nice of you.” You replied, flipping through the pages of the file. You hesitated, frowning at the mess of a document, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure!” he replied, still smiling.

“Why is everyone being extra nice to me?” you asked.

He laughed and looked at you, amused. “You didn’t hear this from me,” he said and you tilted your head in confusion. He leaned down and whispered into your ear, taking you aback, “Our boss is kind of a jerk.”

You still looked at him, speechless and he winked at you before saying, “You’ll see! Good luck, y/n.” He walked away and you couldn’t help but stare at his retreating figure wondering how bad Kim Namjoon could be that everyone in the office seemed to want to warn you away.

You found out how bad the man in question was sooner than you had anticipated. It was bad enough that you had to pretend to have never met him before when in fact you had slept with the man less than twenty four hours ago, but on top of that you had to start your job on the day when there was a big inter departmental meeting in the office.

You sat next to the CEO, trying to take down notes and understand what each department head was presenting, but it was hopeless. You couldn’t make head or tail about anything, having had no time to prepare or no prior knowledge about marketing strategies-the topic of discussion that day. You tried to scribble down everything, unable to discern what is important from what is not. You even caught Jihyo smiling at you encouragingly, but you knew you were screwed.

So, of course at the end of the day, you couldn’t help but submit a half-assed report of the meeting to Mr Kim, readying yourself to get yelled at for the low quality work that you knew you had done. To your surprise, he didn’t yell at you, he glanced over the report and then at your face. He sighed and handed the papers back to you. “I assume you know that this is a horrible report, Ms y/n.”

“S-sorry, Mr Kim.” You stuttered. You hated this entire situation. The one thing you could always pride yourself about was how good you were at your job. You felt horrible that you couldn’t show your best work on the first day at your new job.

He sighed, “Were you aware that I had a meeting with Mr Conrad at 4 pm today?”

“I….” you trailed off, trying to remember what his schedule was for the day.

“Why wasn’t I made aware of this?” he questioned, without waiting for a response.

“I’m sorry, sir.” That was all you could manage to say.

He looked at you as you hung your head down in shame. He said, “This is the first and last time, Ms y/n.” he said and you looked up at him, biting your lip. “I’m going to let it go this time since it’s your first day. But, keep in mind that I won’t be tolerating such shoddy work in the future.”

“I apologize for today, sir.” You said, making a mental note to never mess up again.

“You’re now the CEO’s assistant. This means that you have to be better than the best. I don’t care what my father has to say about you, I have to see for myself how capable you are before I trust you.”

“Of course, sir.” You grit your teeth. He was slowly crossing the line. It was your first day. Was it so difficult to give you a day to adjust to a new job?

“You may leave.” He said, looking into his laptop. You turn around ready to leave, anger bubbling inside you when he says, “Also…”

“Yes, sir?” you ask, looking towards him again.

“Last night never happened.” He stated, his voice was lower this time.

You didn’t reply, so he prodded for an answer. “Are we on the same page?”

You took a second to answer and replied, “Yes, sir. Absolutely.”

He gave a brief nod and you left, closing the door to his cabin and sitting down at your cubicle. Your palms were white now due to how hard you had clenched them. You scoffed and wondered how you did not figure out that he was such a fucking jerk when you had had sex with him. You were usually pretty perceptive, owing to the nature of your job.

You made a vow to yourself that day. You would give your two hundred percent to this job. More than anything, you wanted to prove to Kim Namjoon that you weren’t some pushover that he could bully just because he was your boss. You would be the best assistant that anyone has ever had, so fucking great that he won’t be able to do any work without you.

You used to love monsoon as a child. It still reminded you of fond memories of staring outside the school bus while it rained, breathing in the scent of the wet ground and being filled with hope for your future and dreams of great life experiences that were yet to happen.

Clearly, standing at the counter of a coffee shop, ordering a double shot Americano at seven in the fucking morning while it rained outside had never been a part of those dreams. You had barely slept in the past week, reaching home at midnight and being up and about before the sun even came up.

You thanked the barista and moved towards the door, unfurling your umbrella and running as fast as you could towards the office building holding onto the cup filled with the hot liquid.

Even though you had been taking the elevator for well over a month, you couldn’t get used to it. It still felt suffocating and you spent the ride closing your eyes and counting down until the doors would open at the top floor.

You got out, breathing a sigh of relief and walked towards your boss’s cabin. You knocked on the door twice and you went in.

Kim Namjoon was a good looking man, no one could argue about that. But, in his current state, he looked less like the CEO and more like a vagabond. His clothes were crumpled and dirty, his hair was greasy and completely untamed while his complexion had become pale which brought out the dark circles under his sharp eyes.

“I brought you coffee.” You stated, smiling at him.

He put his hand forward, grabbing it from your hand and taking a sip of it. “That feels nice.” He murmured and you almost felt like waking up at the ass crack of dawn for this was worth it.

He continued, “What are you doing here at this time, y/n?”

You shrugged, “You’ve been here all night working for this meeting, sir. I thought you would like some coffee.”

He seemed surprised, but didn’t say anything. “I do like the coffee. Thank you.”

Being by his side throughout the day for over a month, you had realized that there were times when the arrogant CEO would suddenly take a back seat and a nice, gentlemanly person would take the wheel. It was almost as if he had two personalities and he always managed to startle you. You were good at observing people and discerning their personalities, but Kim Namjoon was still an enigma that you couldn’t fully understand no matter how much you tried.

After realizing that you hadn’t replied within an appropriate amount of time, you said. “It’s the least I could do.” After a pause, you added, “Sir, do you want to hear your schedule for the day?”

“Go ahead.” he replied, taking in the coffee.

You pulled out your iPad from your bag and cleared your throat. But before you could begin to read out the details that you had stored in it, you were cut off by Namjoon’s coughing. You looked at him, a little taken aback. But, you steadied yourself by reminding yourself that he was also human, even though he barely acted like it and that he too could fall ill.

You began reading, “You have a meeting with the marketing department at noon and a conference call with the Busan office at 3. I took the liberty of cancelling other, less pressing meetings this week since you’ll be busy preparing for the presentation in front of the board. I hope that’s okay.”

He nodded, “Yes, that’s alright. This merger is more important than anything else at the moment.”

You understood what weightage this presentation held for him. It was the first time he would be addressing the board of directors as the CEO and he probably felt an immense amount of pressure to make the merger of a smaller company called Kim Electricals with Bangtan Corporations a success.

You had to give him credit for all the hard work that he was putting into the project. He had been working late every day for the last week, reading, re-reading and reviewing every little detail. The man had worked himself sick, for crying out loud. Of course, being his assistant meant that your life would become difficult whenever his did. To keep true to your resolution, you did everything possible to be the perfect assistant. You even did things that he didn’t ask of you, but required nonetheless. You didn’t give him a single chance to complain or to doubt your ability.

“Is there anything that I can help with, Mr Kim?” you asked, ready to get started on the work day.

He looked at you for a moment and said, “Your day doesn’t start until 9.”

“My day starts when yours does.” You stated and he gave a hint of a smile at the remark, although it was so brief that you thought you had imagined it.

“Alright, then.” He said. “Why don’t you take these files from sales and compile the reports based on month and year?” You had to pause and look at him as he was overcome with another coughing fit, sniffing his nose after his body had calmed down.

“Alright, sir. I’ll get on it right away.” You said, not pointing out his current state, but picking up a few of the files and carrying them to your desk. It was one of the days when you had decided to wear a pencil skirt and heels and you regretted your choice as soon as you realized how much you would have to walk back and forth during the busy day.

Namjoon seemed to have put his attention back to the papers that he had been occupied with when you had come in. You wished he could have been kind enough to let you sort out the reports in his office, thereby allowing you to avoid carrying them in batches to your desk, but Namjoon was anything but kind when it came to privacy and you felt stupid for expecting anything from him.

When you were picking up the last of the files after several trips back and forth, you gave a quick glance towards him and your eyes were suddenly looking into his dark ones. He seemed to be thinking deeply, his eyes trained on you. As soon as he noticed your gaze, he looked away, clearing his throat and pretending like he had not looked up from his file at all. You didn’t confront him about it, either, because god knows you’ve looked at him a lot more than he ever has. Sometimes memories from the first night that you had met him would pop into your head and you couldn’t help but stare at his beautiful face and his long limbs or the veins on his hands that showed every time he would roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Most of all, you often found it hard to not stop and stare at his deep dimples that appeared on his cheeks when he smiled.

You had to hold back the unintentional satisfaction that surged in your body when you realized that maybe you were not the only one who was sexually frustrated. It couldn’t amount to anything, of course. He was your boss and this was an important job for you. But, little victories were all that made you happy in the past few days and you walked with a smirk on your face as you moved towards your now cluttered desk. You began reading the dates etched on the files, sighing as you arranged them in the order of their creation.

Before you knew it, the first of the early arriving employees had begun to filter into the office, some of them looking towards you with a smile, and others eyeing you with pity. The mundane task that you were occupied with was wearing you out just by how boring it really was, the numbers now swirling in front of your eyes, the names a muddled pool of letters. You decided that it was time for a coffee break and decided to go to the employee break room of the floor.

You got up, stretching slightly and fighting the urge to rub your eyes. You began sauntering towards the break room, heels clicking on the wooden floor. When you entered the room, you were greeted by familiar heads turning to look at you. Jimin was smiling as he sat in a chair with a bagel in his hand while Lisa was scrolling through her phone, standing next to him.

“Early day?” Jimin asked and you nodded as you made your way to the coffee machine.

Lisa flashed her bright smile at you, “Hey! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

You scoffed, smelling your strong coffee, stirring a spoon of sugar into it, “I haven’t been out and about in forever, all thanks to my extra hard-working, stuck up, boss.”

“It can’t be that bad!” she chirped. Her constant positivity baffled you on the daily.

Jimin piped up in your defense, “Spending all day with Kim Namjoon doesn’t exactly translate to an easy and dandy time.”

“At least he’s hot.” She mused and you almost spit out your coffee.

Jimin’s face had formed a frown at her remark and he said, “If you’re into the whole demanding, serious, broody kind.”

“Jimin,” Lisa said, suddenly serious, “who isn’t into the tall, rich, and young CEO of a big conglomerate?”

He shook his head in disdain and you watched their exchange in silence. From the corner of the room, a woman’s voice suddenly boomed, “I don’t know about that, Lisa. He’s quite a handful.”

You traced the source of the voice to find Ms Lee, the head of accounting standing near the mini refrigerator accompanied by Mina, an accountant from her team. They were known in the office as quite the loud mouths, famous as the resident office gossips. You had even heard from Jimin that when Namjoon first started as the CEO, Mina had flirted with him relentlessly and made moves on him in the welcome party, but he had rejected her completely. Since then, she was open to hear any sort of information about him, ready to find something humiliating enough to get her vengeance.

Mina gave her two cents that no one had asked for, “He’s so uptight, it’s like he’s 70.”

You weren’t a very big fan of Kim Namjoon either, but you couldn’t stand hearing her insulting him for some reason. Maybe it was a sense of loyalty that had developed as you worked with him seeing how dedicated and hard-working he was. You believed in giving people credit when it was due. You said, interrupting the backbiting session that a simple coffee run had turned into. “He’s just serious about the work. I think it’s necessary, don’t you?”

Mina’s eyes widened in surprise, as did Jimin’s. He was privy to your constant ranting about your boss and you defending him was clearly peculiar. Ms Lee said, “I’m sure you know better than us, y/n, but he’s the most bossy executive that I’ve worked under. Besides, he’s always so serious. I mean, lighten up a little, am I right?”

You shrugged, “I think it’s what keeps the company working.”

“What do you mean?” Lisa asked, her smile returning, curiosity edged in her voice.

“I mean, he’s young and new. There are so many employees here who are older and more experienced. I think he’s just trying his best to make them see that he’s not some silly youngster with bright ideas who can be humored. You know how strict this country is with the whole age thing. If he isn’t a hardass, no one would listen to him.” You realized that the room had become so silent that if you dropped a pin, it could have been heard. You had surprised yourself with what you had said, but you didn’t regret it one bit. It was the truth, after all.

“Besides, I think he’s quite fair and only gets all domineering when things are done wrong. So, we just have to do our jobs well and I’m sure he only asks for reasonable things.” You realized that you had been rambling on, all attention diverted towards you and your cheeks turned a shade of pink in embarrassment. You shrugged, and awkwardly end your speech by saying, “So, yeah.”

You expected to be bombarded with opinions and questions, but instead, the tension in the room grew tenfold when the door to the lounge opened and Kim Namjoon walked in. You were frozen in place, and everyone else seemed to be too. You noticed that Mina’s eyes were wide with surprise. Jimin was the first one to break the silence, “Good morning, Mr Kim” he greeted the CEO. Namjoon gave a courteous nod towards the shorter male.

Lisa gave a small bow from her position that Namjoon returned with another brief nod.

Ms Lee, seemingly out of her state of shock, said, “Good morning, sir. Have a good day.” She bowed lightly and left the room, Mina following her out.

Namjoon began to open the cabinets, looking for something.

“Can I help you, sir?” you asked. Your cheeks were feeling hot and you were sure that they must have turned into a shade of red. You were hoping with all your might that he hadn’t been privy to the conversation that had just happened in the room before he had walked in.

He stopped his actions abruptly, looking at you directly. You had to make a conscious effort to look away from his eyes, the look he was giving you rendering you immobile.

“Just here for some coffee.” He replied, still looking at you.

“C-coffee?” you snapped out of your daze. “You don’t like the coffee here.” You stated. Namjoon hated the coffee that was available at the office. This was the reason you had spent so much time at the café down the street, ordering his takeaway caffeine two, sometimes three times a day.

He gave a small smile, his dimples appearing slightly, “y/n…” he started, “I’ve spent over 48 hours working, I’ve hardly slept for four hours, and I’m pretty sure that I’m catching a cold. Yet, I have no time to spare to eat or drink anything.  I think I can make an exception and drink the coffee that is closely available to me instead of waiting on you to get me some after fifteen minutes.”

You heard Lisa exhale loudly, as though she were holding her laughter. You spared a moment to glare at her before looking back at your boss and saying, “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll make sure to make the coffee runs faster next time.”

Namjoon opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again, as though hesitating. “That…not what I meant.” He said and sighed.

You raised your eyebrows in confusion, but he didn’t explain. Instead he said, “Nevermind,” and resumed his search in the cabinets.

“Sir,” you said, moving closer and pulling out a cup from the open cabinet. “I’ll bring you some coffee. You can go back to your cabin.”

“There’s no need.” He said, grabbing onto the cup with his hand.

“Please, sir,” you insisted, “Let me.” You’d be damned if you let him have the satisfaction of criticizing your coffee bringing speed. Your grip on the cup tightened and you pulled it towards yourself.

He looked at you, and realizing that you wouldn’t back down, he let go of the cup and nodded. Not sparing Jimin and Lisa a glance, he walked towards the door, coughing a little before opening the door and going out.

Jimin let out a low whistle. “Wow. Intense.” He said, grinning. Lisa laughed at his comment.

“What?” you ask, looking at your friends.

“I can’t believe you defended him.” Jimin said, “After all the bitching I’ve had to sit through, I didn’t expect you to have such a soft spot for him.”

You groaned, “Shut up. I was just trying to be a good assistant.” Then, your eyes widened in panic, “You don’t think he heard us, do you? Oh my fucking god, I hope he didn’t. That is so embarrassing!”

Lisa shook her head, smiling, “I’m sure he would have said something if he had heard.”

You nodded, choosing to believe her. “Yeah, you’re right! Holy shit, thank you.”

“Now, bring him his coffee before he loses his mind.” Jimin stated, standing up to walk out. He gave your shoulder a small squeeze before leaving. Lisa followed him out after throwing you another bright smile.

You sighed, looking at the cup in your hand. Why did these things only happen to you? You’ve always had the worst luck, but the past few weeks have set a new record for succeeding to make your life a mess.

You poured the coffee into the cup, still hoping that he hadn’t heard a single thing that you’d said. Right before walking out, you stopped in your tracks and looked back at the mini kitchen counter. You bit your lip wondering if you should take the liberty to do what you were about to do. You stood there, convincing yourself that you had to do this, if not for the sake of his health, for the sake of all the sleepless nights that you’d had to bear with for the sake of this presentation.

You moved back to the counter, threw the contents on the cup into the sink and kept it down before pulling out a new one and pouring some hot water into it before searching for the packet of green tea bags.

When you reached Namjoon’s cabin with the cup of tea, you heard voices from inside. You knocked on the door and the voices halted before you heard him asking you to enter. You opened his door to find Jihyo sitting infront of him with a frown on her face. When she saw you, she gave a small smile, before looking back at him with a scowl.

You placed the cup infront of him, and he looked at its contents. You took a deep breath and said, “I brought you some tea. I hope that’s okay. I just thought that coffee wouldn’t help with your cold and you should be healthy for this presentation.”

You expected him to scoff and say something sarcastic, but to your surprise, he said, “That’s nice of you. Thank you.”

Your eyes widened briefly before you said, “Just doing my job.”

“Making him beverages?” Jihyo scoffed, looking at him, “Is this what you think assistants are for?” You were a little taken aback by her rash words towards the CEO.

You decided to reply on his behalf, “I insisted, Ms Park. It’s my job to make sure that he gets all the help to do his job well.”

She smiled at you. “You’re a good assistant, Ms y/n. I hate that you’re wasting away beside him.” She shook her head slowly.

Namjoon sighed. “Can we get back to work now, Jihyo? I don’t have time for this right now.” He said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

You took that as your cue to leave, but Namjoon stopped you. “Before you leave, y/n, could you please find the Accounts reports from this pile?” he pointed at the pile on his desk and you reached for it immediately, sifting through them to find the ones he was looking for.

“Okay.” Jihyo said, crossing her arms, “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

“All the reports of HR from the past two years are completely wrong. How am I supposed to submit this to the board?” he asked, picking up the file in front of him.

“Like I said before, there was major mishap with the system and we didn’t find the error until yesterday. We’ll need time to make the corrections to the configurations.” She explained.

“There is no time!” Namjoon replied, his tone exasperated.  “You have to hand the new reports over to me by tomorrow. I need them on my desk.”

She took a deep breath in, “You want me work overtime again? I told you that you can have the reports in 2days. The board meeting isn’t until then, anyway.”

“I can’t give you two days. I need to review it and that’ll take time.” He deadpanned earning another scowl from Jihyo.

“You know,” she started after a pause, “You don’t seem like the Kim Namjoon that I grew up with. You’re just this major dickhead of a boss now.” She stated, before standing up. “You can have the reports tomorrow, but just know that I hate you now.”

She walked out without waiting for a reply. You had found the file that he had asked for, but you were still processing the new information that Jihyo and Namjoon were childhood friends. That explained a lot about her informal behavior with him and the fact that he didn’t reprimand her for it.

“y/n?” he called out, seeing you spaced out. “Is that the file in your hand?”

You nodded handing it over to him, your fingers brushing his slightly and a jolt of electricity sparked at the sudden contact making your both recoil your hands. He looked at you, picking up the cup of tea and taking a sip. “Thanks.” He said again and you felt like you were in an alternate universe where Kim Namjoon was actually capable of expressing his gratitude twice in one day.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, sighing to himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this stressed.

Actually, he did. It had been only a month ago when he had to close the deal with Min Engineering—his first ever deal as CEO. That was the first time that he had given in to the stress and had decided to let go completely when he met a woman in a bar, she was smart and her responses to his comments had been witty. That was also the first time that he had taken a woman to a hotel, solely with the purpose of having sex with her with no strings attached. It had been a fun night, the sex was great and she hadn’t tried to get his phone number afterwards.

But, the last thing he had expected was for her to be appointed as his new personal assistant.

It had been hard enough being thrust into this position of power by his family. He felt like he had been thrown into a sea of sharks, completely unarmed to fight them. The last thing he needed was to be branded as the kind of man who slept with his employees. He had a lot to prove to his family, to his company and to the world and he would be damned if he let a meaningless one night stand ruin everything for him.

Only, as time went by, it didn’t remain completely meaningless.

You were good at your job. He would never say it out loud, but you made his life easier at every step and he had become so used to your help in the past month that he couldn’t understand how he got anything done before you came into his life.

You never did anything to indicate that you had lingering thoughts about the night that you had slept together. You were professional and somehow he found himself at the disadvantaged end—the only one of the two who would get caught staring, the only one unable to stop himself from checking you out. You had wriggled your way into his life, gained his trust without him knowing it and worst of all, you took care of him.

That’s what troubled him the most. You were the only person in his life who genuinely gave a fuck about his wellness, his health and his mood. Even though you didn’t have to, you would stay up helping him, work overtime whenever he did, and gave up on your weekends even when he didn’t ask you to. You did more than what he expected from an assistant and sometimes he wondered if your mind was occupied with thoughts of him like his was with thoughts of you, but he shook those delusions away. You were just being a good personal assistant, the best one possible, which is why his father hired you for this position in the first place.

He had been occupied with these thoughts ever since he had overheard the conversation that had happened in the employee lounge early on in the during the day. He was pleasantly surprised to hear what you actually thought of him. He still felt a strange warmth in his heart when he replayed your words in his head. His inhibitions seemed to have lowered out of the blue and he found himself wanting to befriend you, to talk to you and to understand you like you had understood him.

He looked at the cup of tea in front of him. It was embarrassing that a simple gesture of worrying about his health could make his heart beat so rapidly. Even Jihyo’s tantrums couldn’t bring his mood down and that almost never happened.

He sighed again thinking of all the extra work he’d have to do because of the mess that Jihyo’s department had made. He didn’t have time to have dreamy fantasies about his assistant. He needed to look at the accounts from Kim Electricals and make sure that there were no discrepancies. He had insisted that he would do it after seeing how busy the Accounts department had been with everything that was going on.

He buried his head in the files again, making notes on his laptop whilst looking out for any emails that may require his attention.

The day went by quickly and once the conference call with the Busan office was over, he felt relieved that everything there was in perfect order. He just had to concentrate on the merger now and then he would be able to calm down for a few days.

He pouted slightly when he saw the pile of documents on his table. He would have to pull another all-nighter to go through everything.

He muttered to himself, “I knew I should have just run away when I had the chance.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, desperate to just get a good night’s sleep in his own bed. He continued talking to himself, a habit he had picked up as a child that would manifest at times of stress. The sound of the soft knock at the door was drowned by his voice. “Fuck this. Let them fire me. Let them say I’m useless.” He groaned, missing the soft rush of wind that was caused by the opening of the door. “I can’t take this shit anymore!”

You cleared you throat, making his eyes shoot open, “Sir?”

He looked at you wide eyed.

“Are you alright, Mr. Kim?” you asked.

He nodded quickly, “Yes! I was just thinking about something!” His words came out more rushed than he intended them to.

You bit your lip in contemplation. You looked at the state that he was in, feeling awful for him.

I’m would do this for anyone. I’m just being a good human being, you convinced yourself.

“Mr. Kim? Do you want me to look over some of these files?” you offered.

He stammered, his face a little pink, “T-there’s no need, y/n. It’s past work hours anyway.”

You eyed him knowing that he was stubborn. But you were stubborn too. You weren’t going to let him blatantly reject your humanitarian efforts….not when he was clearly on the verge of a meltdown.

You looked at him, feeling braver than you should have, “I told you already, sir, my work hours start and end when your’s do. Besides, I mean no offense whatsoever, but you look like you could clearly use some help.”

He didn’t say anything.

You continued, “If this is because you think I’m not qualified enough to look over some details, or that I’m just an assistant who isn’t capable of-“

He cut you off, handing you a file, “Sit down, y/n.”

You smiled in triumph seating yourself on one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do a good job, I promise.” You smiled at him.

He stood up, circling around his desk. He startled you by sitting on the chair next to yours, his thigh almost touching your own. He points at the page and explains, “These are the shipments from last month. But, the numbers don’t add up. There’s a surplus somewhere and we need to find it.”

You nodded, trying not to let the proximity get to you. “I’ll get to it.” You mumbled.

After about an hour of reviewing and making noted on what you’d found, you desperately needed to take a break.

You could see that the lights outside were dimmer which meant that the other employees had already left the building. You could also see from the corner of your eye that Namjoon was still engrossed in his file. The watch on your wrist showed that it was 7pm and the grumbling in your stomach showed that you were soon going to die of hunger.

Namjoon looked up at the sound that your stomach made, raising his eyebrows, “Hungry?”

“I’m okay.” You said, but the loud sounds from your stomach gave you away.

He smiled, his dimples rendering you speechless for a moment. “You know, y/n, I’m not a total ruthless asshole. Although I do act like it a lot of the times. We can get some dinner now. My treat as a token of appreciation for all the good work that you’re doing.”

To say that you were taken aback was an understatement. He seemed like a real person now, like he did on that night that you were trying hard to forget but failing. “Sir, I-“

“What do you feel like eating? I think the Italian place two blocks away has good food.” He said, getting up.

You hold onto his wrist instinctively, stopping him from getting up. “How about we order some pizza?” you suggest.

He froze when your skin made contact with his, but managed to say, “Pizza?”

“You don’t like pizza, Mr Kim?” you asked, then with a smile, you teased, “Rich people don’t like pizza, is that it?”

He scoffed playfully, “That’s right, Ms y/n,” he said, “But, I would be a total dumbass if I were to be one of those people.”

You let out a small laugh. “Double cheese, with extra pepperoni?” you asked, pulling out your phone from your pocket. He nodded, smiling at you softly.

The pizza arrived in less than fifteen minutes and nothing had made you happier in all the time that you had worked here. You were not the kind of person who could suppress your hunger and it showed in the way you opened the box and grabbed a slice of pizza, mumbling how good it tasted.

Namjoon looked at you with amusement. He had never seen you this happy before. He had to bite into a slice of pizza in order to stifle his laughter.

The pair of you ate in silence, until he decided to break it, “It’s 7.30.” he stated.

You looked at him, confusion written on your face, “I guess so.”

He continued, “That technically means this isn’t working hours.”

You frowned, “Well, we are working and we are still in the office building, so I think that’s not very accurate.” You added as an afterthought, realizing your mistake, “Sir.”

He paused, then said, “You don’t have to call me sir when we aren’t working.”

“But we are working, sir.”

He sighed in resignation.

You asked, with curiosity, “What was your point, Mr Kim?”

He looked at you, placing his slice of pizza down on the box. “I…I just wanted to say thank you. And not as your boss, just as me. Kim Namjoon.”

You humored him, “What would Kim Namjoon be thanking me for?”

“For standing up for him in front of his employees.” He paused and added before you could say anything, “And for not bringing up how we met and making it awkward.”

You almost spit out the food in your mouth, not having expected him to talk about it. He had overheard everything that you’d said to Mina. Just perfect.

He handed you water as your coughed, the food going down the wrong pipe.

You drank the water, then ate in silence again, unable to think of what to say. You heart was beating rapidly due to the awkwardness in the air.

Namjoon said, “Can I ask you something, y/n?”

“Sure.” You said. He smiled at the fact that you hadn’t called him sir.

“Am I really as intolerable as everyone in the office makes it seem?” You looked at his almond shaped eyes, they were sincere and he looked at you expectantly almost like a child waiting for an answer.

“I think you can be difficult. But, never out of line.” You said, and seeing his expression turn sour, you added, “So, no, you aren’t completely intolerable. Just a little difficult sometimes.”

He nodded. His mouth formed a straight line. “You can be honest with me. Lately, it seems like nobody else is.” He said.

“I don’t lie.” You said. You really didn’t want to say anything that might have crossed a line. It seemed like he was asking you a question like a friend would, and for some unknown reason, you felt like you’d gotten a little closer to him in the span of a few hours. Having seen him be more than just the CEO for a few minutes got you thinking that maybe all he wanted right now was someone he could talk to, someone who could understand.

You hesitated to be that person, though and you kept quiet.

“Shall we get back to work, sir?” you asked, putting the boxes aside.

At your attempt to change the subject, he didn’t say anything, although he frowned a bit harder. He nodded briefly and looked into a file placed in front of him. You decided to do the same, but you couldn’t concentrate.

You could see Namjoon pouting like a little child. You heard him sigh a few times and you rolled your eyes. You were wondering why you were ever intimidated by this man who was acting more and more like a 10 year old.

You sighed, knowing fully well that if you didn’t say what was on your mind, you wouldn’t get any work done.

“You are kind of an asshole, but I sort of understand why you need to be one.” You said.

He looked at you, turning his neck with such vigor that you were worried he would get whiplash. He looked at your face, his eyes scanning them. Then he broke out into a smile. “So, you don’t hate me?”

You weren’t expecting that question at all. “N-no.” you said, and your eyes unknowing travelled to look at his lips.

He seemed to notice that too, and the two of you just stared at each other in silence. The sexual tension was killing you, you stomach a mess from all the butterflies. You cleared your throat and looked down, blushing.

Trying to get back into work, you said, “I think the surplus is because of the accident that happened in one of their factories.”

“Hmm.” He hummed in response. Then said, “I think you’re right. We should see how they spent the insurance money to figure this out.”

You nodded, looking for the file. When you did find it, you sat down, exhausted from not having slept for what seemed like days now. You eyelids were heavy and you had to bite your inner cheek to keep yourself from falling asleep as you looked at the boring numbers.

You didn’t realize when you fell asleep, your head tilted painfully on the chair. You also didn’t realize when your body decided to get more comfortable and lean your head down to fall onto strong, broad shoulders.

Namjoon couldn’t help the fond smile that creeped onto his face and the fact that he liked how the weight of your head felt nuzzled on his shoulder.

The day of the meeting arrived faster that you had expected. You had personally made sure that the board room was ready to host the presentation. It seemed like the entire office was buzzing with the anticipation for the merger, the employees hoping that all their slogging would be fruitful.

You had found out that the owner of Kim Electricals would be arriving for the meeting too. A little birdie aka Lisa had told you that the owner was as hot as hot could get. You had rolled your eyes at her immaturity, but when you saw him seated in Namjoon’s cabin, legs crossed and a dazzling smile on his face, you couldn’t help but agree with her. He was attractive, and he knew it too, which probably aided to his good looks.

Namjoon stood up, greeting the man and he threw a sideway glance at you, introducing you.

“y/n, this is Kim Seokjin, and Jin Hyung, this is y/n, my assistant.”

The honorifics meant that Seokjin was older and that they probably knew each other outside work.

“Nice to meet you.” You said, with a soft smile.

Seokjin grabbed your hand shaking it, startling you, “Namjoon, you didn’t tell me that your assistant was so beautiful.”

You felt a blush creeping onto your face out of pure embarrassment at how brazen he was being. You looked at Namjoon unwittingly, gaging his expression. You didn’t know what you expected, but he didn’t look jealous or annoyed. You had to shake yourself mentally, shocked at your own train of thought. Why did you expect him to care about someone flirting with you?

“Can we please get to work?” Namjoon said, rolling his eyes at Seokjin. “y/n, please escort him to the board room.”

You nodded and pointed to the door politely, following him out.

The smile was plastered on his face throughout the elevator ride while you had to close your eyes like you always did.

When you opened the door to the board room, it was empty. You asked him to take a seat and to ask for anything that he might need while he waited.

“Ms y/n, can I ask you something?” he asked, and you nodded.

“Yes, sir?”

“Please. Call me Jin.” He said. When you didn’t reply, he joked, “Or oppa. That will do too.”

He winked and you laughed at how ridiculous he was being. “What’s your question, sir?” you enunciated the last word to make a point.

He pouted slightly, before asking, “Do you think Namjoon is a good man?”

You hesitated to answer, frankly taken aback by the serious tone of his voice. He added, “I’ve known him since high school. It gets difficult to make real friends when you come from families such as ours.”

You nodded, knowing what he meant. Rich heirs like them probably didn’t settle too well away from their protected, socialite lives.

He continued, “But, we’ve relied on each other a lot as we became older. Well, us and Jihyo.”

You remembered the conversation that Namjoon had had with Jihyo a few days back and it all made sense to you now.

“That’s nice.” You said, glad that Namjoon seemed to have genuine friends, even though you knew it wasn’t something you should care enough to be happy about.

“I just want to make sure that he’s surrounded by good people at a stressful time like this.” He concluded.

“Don’t worry about it. He’s doing a great job so far and I try to make sure that he doesn’t get carried away.” You replied. He seemed satisfied with that answer and you left him to go back to meet Namjoon.

Your boss was a mess. Usually he was confident and well spoken, but you could see that how nervous he was by the way he frowned, looking around as his eyes were unable to focus on one particular thing.  He was fidgeting, restless from the anxiety. You hated seeing him like this. You hated it when he did things that made him seem more human. You felt an indistinguishable feeling in your body and the need to comfort him somehow grew tenfold. That was new to you because you’d had bosses before, and none of them made you feel like this.

He checked the time and got up. He made his way to the door and said, “I should probably go wait downstairs.”

You looked at him, wondering what to do to help. “Mr Kim,” you called out and he stopped in his tracks right in front of the door.

“You’ve got this.” You said, with a smile.

He nodded, still looking unsure, “Yeah.”

“Seriously.”  You start, “I’ve seen the whole process of this presentation from scratch and I can bet my life on the fact that you’ll do great.”

He looked at you with a slight smile, “Thanks, y/n. I wish I could be as confident right now.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

You moved forward instinctively, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. “Come on, where is the Kim Namjoon we all know and hate?” you joked.

You didn’t let go of his hand as he said sarcastically, putting on a front of offence, “Funny.”

You let go of his hand were about to take a step back when he grabbed your wrist instead, pulling you closer. You could smell his cologne on him, “W-What are you doing?” you stammered. He didn’t reply, but turned you around so that your back was to the door and pushed you back slightly. You felt the cold surface of the door tickle the skin of your back.

“Testing something.” He replied, his gaze on your lips.

“Testing? What?” you breathed out.

“If you remember how we actually met.” He replied. “And if you want that again.”

You stared at his face, dumbfounded. Of course you wanted it. The throbbing in your core was evidence of the fact that you were completely enamored by the man. You didn’t respond to him, mainly because you didn’t how to articulate everything you were thinking of into words. He was your boss. He was irresistible. He was an asshole. He was a clumsy, secretly sweet brat. All the contradictions had rendered you speechless.

When he didn’t get a reply from you, his gaze softened, as though he was suddenly aware of what he’d said, He let go of you, fidgeting with his fingers in embarrassment. “I…..” he struggled to say, “I was out of line. Sorry.”

You were unable to stop looking at his moving lips, your heart beating out of your chest due to the desire to just kiss him and worry about your job later.

He continued to ramble, “That probably bordered on sexual harassment. Oh my fucking god, I’m so sorry!” He was back to being the real him now, the clumsy idiot who got flustered so easily. “I just..” he sighed, “I just couldn’t stop thinking about that night and you’ve been so kind to me, it just made—“

Without hesitating for another moment, you cut his words off with a chaste kiss on his lips. You looked at his eyes, searching for a reaction and his hands snaked around your waist, pulling you closer as though he had been waiting for you to do that. His mouth crashed onto yours, your back hitting the door behind you as you tangled your arms in his lush locks.

You breathed in when his tone swiped your lower lip and he took the opportunity to push his tongue inside, your own meeting his with a desperation that you didn’t know you possessed. You moaned into the passionate kiss and his hands tightened around you at the sound. He began rubbing them at your sides and you slightly tugged at his hair. You had to pull away for a brief second to regain your breathe before kissing him again.

You were startled when there was a knock at the door, making you both come out of the daze, panting and staring at each other.

“Namjoon?” Jihyo’s voice sounded from outside.

You moved away from the door, nudging him to open the door and answer as you tried to fix yourself up.

He said, “Come in.”

Jihyo entered with a smile, and her bright round eyes moved between the two of you, “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” She stated, making your eyes go wide.

“We were just about to leave for the meeting.” He said. You wondered how he suddenly seemed so calm and composed again.

“I came to wish you luck.” She said and patted him on the shoulder, “Good luck!” she said. He thanked her and after throwing a smile in your direction, she left.

You followed Namjoon out in silence. When you were in the elevator, he turned to talk to you and said something but you couldn’t comprehend due to your own anxiety inside the closed box. Seeing your expression, he moved closer, taking your hand in his. As soon as you felt his warmth beside you, you felt a little safer, albeit the panic wouldn’t completely go away. You nodded, assuming that he was asking you if everything was okay.

When the elevator opened, you moved away quickly, scared that someone would see how close you two had been.

“Are you okay?” he asked when you jumped out of the elevator.

“Yes.” You replied, “I just can’t be in elevators.” You explained.

He looked concerned, his eyes soft with worry. “Don’t worry, sir.” You said, “I can handle it.”

“Sir?” he repeated.

You gulped, aware that it probably didn’t settle well with him to have just made out with him and immediately acted like nothing had changed.

You tried to change the subject, “We should get to the meeting now if you don’t want to be late.” You waited for him to walk, but he watched your expression carefully instead. His mouth formed a straight line as he began to make his way towards the board room.

You sat on the sidelines, watching as he gave the presentation to the skeptical board. He didn’t fumble with his words even once. He looked determined, he looked like the front that he liked to put up. The cold, calculating CEO. He made eye contact with you once or twice, lingering for a few seconds too long. But, he didn’t look at you like he did usually. There was something else in his gaze, something that reminded you of your first day at this job.

He looked at you with eyes filled with anger.

When the presentation and the bombardment of questions that followed afterwards was over, the board members left one by one, some of them praising him and some still skeptical. He walked out with Seokjin engaged in a serious conversation that looked too private for you to intrude upon.

You decided to greet your former employer instead—the President of the company and Namjoon’s father.

“Good afternoon, Mr Kim. I hope you’ve been well.” You greeted him with a deep bow.

He smiled and replied, “I have, y/n.” He added after a pause, “How’s my son treating you?”

Your cheeks flushed at his question but you managed to answer, “Great, sir.”

He nodded with a smile and excused himself.

You sat in the conference room, happy to be alone with your thoughts.

What were you going to do about the mess that you had made? The scariest thing was probably the fact that in spite of understanding what the consequences could be if things went sour, you didn’t regret kissing him. You wanted to do it again, and you wanted to do more than just that.

You weren’t left alone for long as Namjoon entered, his eyes meeting yours coldly. He closed the door behind him and you heard the lock click.

“You were perfect today!” you exclaimed, standing up.

He rushed towards you, not waiting for you to say anything as he kissed you again. His hands were around you in not time and his mouth moved hurriedly against yours. You froze for a second before reciprocating. Your hands were on his biceps, letting go of all inhibitions and meeting his tongue with your own.

He pulled away from you and said, “Don’t ever do that again. Don’t pretend like this didn’t happen.”

You nodded before pulling him in for another rushed kiss. You could feel his hardness pressing into your crotch, and you rubbed your hips against him, making him moan at the friction. His hands caressed your clothed breasts, and you could feel how wet you were under your skirt.

His hands began to travel down, and you whimpered when his cold hands made contact with your thigh. His fingers moved under your skirt, rubbing your clothed core. He could probably feel how wet you were and he wasted no time in moving the material of your underwear aside and rubbing your clit, then spreading your arousal over you in a gentle motion.

He looked at you briefly before asking, “Do you want this?”

You nodded profusely, “More than anything else.”

He inserted a finger inside your slit, making you gasp. He added another finger and moved them slowly. Your hips began to move upwards to meet his fingers with a new kind of desperation for more. He increased his speed, kissing down your jaw simultaneously. You could feel the familiar heat in your abdomen and you were embarrassed at how quickly he was able to bring you to your breaking point.

He seemed to notice it too, curling his fingers to meet your g-spot with every push of his finger, he whispered to you, “You’re so beautiful.”

His words only furthered the arrival of your high and you felt your legs trembling as you held onto his shoulders for support. The waves of pleasure hit you, leaving you moaning and closing your eyes as your head tilted backwards. You felt your arousal dripping down your thigh as you rode out your high with his fingers still inside of you.

When you came down from your orgasm, he pulled his digits out, making you gasp at the feeling. You were a panting, exhausted mess still glowing from the post-orgasmic high and he kissed your lips gently. You stared at him when he pulled away, wondering how you were unable to control yourself around him.

He said, “We should have done this sooner.”

A fear gripped you when he uttered those words. You were overthinking everything, starting from where this out your position as his assistant at to wondering if he genuinely liked you or was referring to fucking a dispensable employee.

You moved away from him, the what-ifs taking over, “We shouldn’t have done this.” You stated, fixing your skirt.

There was flash of hurt in his features. “Why not?” he asked, cleaning your arousal off his fingers with a tissue.

“I’m not the kind of person who just sleeps around. I know that’s probably what you think because of that one night stand, but you should know that I take this job seriously and I don’t want to just another assistant that some rich ceo can sleep with and then fire when he’s done with her.” You paused your rant when he moved closer to you, close enough that you could feel the warmth of his body again.

“Do I really seem like that kind of person to you?” He sounded stern again, you could feel the anger radiating off of him.

“I just—“ you started.

He cut you off by saying, “If that’s what you think, then okay. Let’s just fucking forget everything. You can go back to being the perfect assistant and I’ll be your rich, snobby, fuckboy of a boss.” He began storming out and didn’t stop when you tried to stop him.

“No, Mr. Kim, that’s not what I meant!” you said, your voice louder than before.

He ignored your distress and said in a bland tone. “There’s a fundraiser at Seokjin’s house tonight. He invited me to it a few minutes back.”

You tried again to talk to him, “But, sir-“

He didn’t care about what you were going to say, “He asked me to bring you along with me. But, since it’s such short notice, you can decline if you want to.”

You sighed, knowing that the stubborn man wouldn’t let you have your way.

“I can come, sir. No problem,” you said, hoping to talk to him during the event.

He gave the briefest of nods, walking away.

You followed him out, but he was making a deliberate effort to walk away from you and as his pace increased, you were unable to follow his long legs with your high heels. You shook your head, deciding to make him have a proper conversation with you later that night.

You met Jihyo near the elevator and he stopped you, asking you how the presentation was.

You made every effort to smile at her and said, “It went well.”

“What happened to you?” she looked at Namjoon’s receding figure pointedly. “Did you fight with him?”

“No, of course not.”

“Well, he looks mad” she said.

You tried to shrug it off with a joke, “Doesn’t he always?”

“Never around you.” She replied, making you stare at her with wide eyes.

She laughed briefly and moved closer to whisper into your ear, “Might have something to do with the fact that he likes you.”

You felt like a deer caught in headlights and stuttered, ‘W-what you talking about?”

“Or maybe because you slept together?” she asked, making you inhale sharply.

“W-we didn’t…” you trailed off, realizing that she probably knew everything, and there was no use lying to her.

She sensed your panic and said, “It’s okay, y/n.”

You ran your fingers through your hair, frustrated.

“Just be careful.” She said and you looked at her with confusion etched on your face. She explained, “Let’s just say that you really shouldn’t want to deal with his family.”

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Resource Management, pt18

Word Count: 2524 Tags: @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso @feelmyroarrrr @anyakinamidala @dirajunara @anotherotter @little-study-bug @rampant-salamander @goodnightwife @samaxraph99 @anotherotter  @outside-the-government @kingarthurscat @coyote-in-space @originalpottervengerlock @dolamrothianlady @curiositywillbethedeathofme @superheroesofbothuniverses @mtriestowrite @wanderingkat77

The events in Philadelphia had shaken me enough that I was careful to lock my desk, log off my computer and lock my office door before I left for the gym to meet Natasha. I slung my gym bag over my shoulder and headed out into the warm afternoon sun, stopping for a coffee along the way. When I left the coffee shop, I noticed a creepy black surveillance van outside the shop. I made a mental note to let Fury know I didn’t need to be followed.

I walked through the gym doors and in to pandemonium. Natasha was screaming in Russian at Clint. She had him completely backed into a corner, and while he looked pretty calm on the surface, the muscle in his jaw was ticking and there was a bead of sweat forming at his temple. I did not envy his position at all. I looked around for Phil, and couldn’t see him anywhere. I stepped away from the door, but kept my distance from the two senior agents. I didn’t want to get in between whatever was going to happen there. I bumped into someone coming out of a changeroom and when I glanced over to apologize, I had to bite my cheek to prevent myself from laughing. Phil was holding an ice pack to his jaw, and looked kind of dazed.

“So it went well?” I couldn’t help it. I grinned.

“I was anticipating this one being bad,” he admitted. I pulled the ice pack off and cringed. It was already bruising.

“Do you want some ibuprofen?” I offered. He shook his head.

“I took some before I got here,” he flinched instead of smiling. “I knew it was going to be bad.”

“And you!” Natasha was suddenly in my face. “You knew all along that he hadn’t died?”

“I wasn’t aware that he had actually died until he told me,” I admitted.

“But all this time, you knew?”

“Of course,” I nodded. She was so angry that she didn’t realize that she was being sloppy, but as soon as she threw the punch, I was able to block it, and toss her to the ground. I bit back the feeling of triumph. She was going to come back at me. My last clear thought was that I wished I’d changed on the way to the gym, but I was grateful that women’s jeans had lycra in them. After that, everything I did was instinctive.

Natasha was determined to put me on the ground, and I was blocking a furious attack, losing ground quickly. If nothing else, it was a more realistic training atmosphere. The reality was, I wasn’t ever going to be attacked in a gym, in comfortable clothing. I slipped on the edge of a mat and turned my ankle, letting out a curse. I was done. Natasha took me to the ground and pressed my face into the floor. Clint and Phil pulled her off me before she could actually hurt me. I rolled onto my back, panting. She was glaring at me from a few feet away, Clint standing just to one side of her with his hand on her arm.

“Tasha, she has higher clearance than you do. You can be mad at me, and mad at Phil. Be mad at Tony, he’s known for a while too. Hell, if you want to knee Fury in the balls, I’ll hold him for you. But you can’t be angry with her for doing her fucking job.” Clint’s voice was stern. She pulled away from him and stalked back toward me. I took a defensive stance, waiting for a renewed attack.

“That was easily a level 7 defense, Ellis. You respond better under pressure.” She clapped me on the shoulder and stepped toward Phil. She stared at him, wordlessly, arms crossed.

“I didn’t want to keep it from you, Tasha. Not after what had happened with Clint,” he offered.

“Does Steve know?” She asked. Phil shook his head. “Thor?”

“Unless Sif told him, no. But I asked her not to say anything,” he explained.

“Who is Sif?”

“Another Asgardian. Long story.”

In a heartbeat, Natasha’s demeanour softened, and I saw her eyes fill with tears. She reached out and ran her hand along Phil’s jaw, down his shoulder. And then she stepped closer and drew him into a hug that mirrored the one Clint had given him. It wasn’t nearly as awkward. She stepped away, and the softness was gone from her features as quickly as it had come. She turned back to me.

“There’s nothing I can teach you in a gym, Anna,” she acknowledged, “but we should still be sparring regularly.”

“Whatever you think will help,” I agreed.

“Right now, I think drinks will help.” She managed a laugh, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Another time, Tasha. Annie and I have a meeting to get to,” Phil excused. Natasha raised an eyebrow and huffed out a deep sigh. She took a few steps toward Clint and began muttering in Russian. His eyes narrowed in question, and then he smiled and responded quietly. She spun to face us, and there was a knowing gleam to her eyes.

“Phil, vstrechi ili nagrablennogo vyzov?” She asked. Phil flushed and refused to respond. I decided it was probably a good thing I didn’t speak Russian.

Stark had us meet him at his office near the Pentagon. It was ostentatious, and harkened back to when Stark Industries was the premier arms dealer in the nation. My understanding was that Pepper Potts used the office mostly for green energy lobbying nowadays. At any rate, it was the most secure location we could think of. There was no way Tony Stark was going to allow his company to be infiltrated a second time. He was still burning with embarrassment from when Romanoff had been slipped in as his PA.

There was surprisingly little art on the walls of the office, which emphasized to me exactly how curious Stark had been about the attack on SHIELD. My guess was that every painting in the HR office that he’d ‘loaned’ us had some sort of listening or tracking device embedded in it. I hope he hadn’t ruined that beautiful Van Gogh in my office to do it.

Stark met us in the reception area and ushered us back to a huge office overlooking the city. It was one hell of a view. In the immediate foreground was the Pentagon, and the Potomac River, which was impressive enough, but it was a clear afternoon and dark cerulean sky accented the brilliant white of the Monument on the far side of the river. Mid-river and to the west, the Triskelion rose from Roosevelt Island. From Stark’s office, the damage was unnoticeable. I lingered at the window, staring at tower. It felt menacing and not for the first time in the past weeks, I was uneasy with my position.

“So what have you discovered?” Stark got right to the heart of things.

“A little old lady died to warn us about flying pests,” I snapped. I immediately regretted my tone.

“What Anna is trying to say is that we were investigating and our main lead was murdered,” Phil elaborated on my behalf. I turned away from the window and stalked across the room.

“And we have nothing. Except an empty wasp killer can, and some paperwork from when she was an agent.” I could feel the frustration beginning to build. Phil placed a small canvas bag on Stark’s desk and pulled out the items we’d confiscated from Cecelia Banks’ house. Stark immediately grabbed the aerosol can and shook it. It rattled, just as it had when we were in the kitchen at Mrs. Banks’ house. He fiddled with the can the same way Phil had and had no luck. He flipped it over and looked it over again and put it back on the table. I picked it up and looked at the spray top. It was one of those large cone style spray tops. I think it was supposed to allow for a larger spraying area. I looked at the nozzle and saw a bunch of little hash marks on it. Curious, I ran my fingernail across them, and the nozzle spun and clicked. Like a combination lock. I flipped open Mrs. Banks’ badge and looked for the ID number, and feeling completely like I belonged in some Cold War espionage novel, clicked the nozzle around to each of the numbers on her badge. Nothing happened. I shoved both items away, dejected. Phil picked the can back up and inspected the nozzle. He started twisting the sprayer, like I had, but in a different way than I had. The bottom dropped out of the can, and a thumb drive and small notebook fell onto Stark’s desk.

“Hornet. It was an alphanumeric cypher.” Phil picked up the thumb drive. I reached for the notebook and flipped it open to the first page. It was filled with numbers and letter, but none of it made sense. And even though Phil had figured out the cypher for the lock on the can, he wasn’t a codes guy. I flipped a few more pages, and there was a list of names.

“Do these mean anything to either of you?” I held the book out. Phil glanced at the list and then rubbed his temples.

“Those are the people she exposed. From the HYDRA cell she discovered,” he explained. I flipped a couple pages further, past more random numbers and letters and came to the end of the notes.

“Without a codebreaker, we’re screwed,” I complained. Phil took the book and looked at it.

“Cecelia Banks wasn’t an expert in encryption. This will be an easy cypher. We can probably figure it out,” he wasn’t talking to Tony or me, really. He was thinking aloud. He tucked the notebook into his jacket and then thought better of that, and handed it to me.

“Why –“

“I have the thumb drive. We should keep those things separate,” he dropped the stick into the pocket instead. Stark flipped through the hodge-podge of detritus we’d taken from the drawer. I think we all knew each item had meaning of some sort, but it was hard to understand the relevance of partial grocery list and stick of gum. Particularly because I wasn’t sure whether the dementia diagnosis in her file was real, or a ploy to get her enemies to drop their guard. Stark’s phone buzzed and he checked his messages. He threw himself into his chair and responded to whatever the message was. The phone buzzed again and he made a strangled sound of disgust.

“Let me assure you, I’d rather be here playing super sleuths with you. However, I am needed back in California. Let me know if anything is going on. I can be back here in a matter of hours,” Tony announced. There was concern in his eyes.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. He nodded, squaring his jaw.

“Nothing I can’t resolve after five minutes in person,” he admitted.

The black van was outside Stark’s building when we left, and I mentioned it to Phil. He glanced across the street and took in the details before nodding at me to get into Lola. It was going to be hard to be unobtrusive in the car, but I was going try to accept that if Fury had a SHIELD detail watching me, it was for a good enough reason that I didn’t want to blend in anyhow. But the van was creepy. It hung back about six or seven car lengths and pulled in to a conspicuously vacant parking spot at the end of my block that had a clear view of my front door. I wondered if they had someone on the back door of the building too. Phil pulled into the underground parking and maneuvered Lola into my spot. It was the nicest vehicle that had ever parked there, and I couldn’t help but think about my poor squished car.

“You look exhausted Annie,” he observed. I closed my eyes. I was exhausted. I could easily fall asleep standing, I felt so tired.

“I slept so much last night,” I protested.

“The adrenaline of the last few days is draining. Particularly if you aren’t used to it.” He held out a hand to assist me from the car.

“You seem fine,” I complained. He directed me to the stairs and herded me toward my apartment.

“I’ve been doing this for close to thirty years.”

My apartment was just as I left it, dirty dishes in the sink and all. It was instant comfort. I flopped onto the couch and propped my feet on the coffee table. I could hear Phil rummaging in the kitchen, and the water turned on. He let it run for a while, and then there was splashing.

“You don’t need to wash my dishes, babe,” I called from the couch. He peered around the corner at me.

“I’m not. I’m setting your clothes to soak so the blood comes out,” he explained. I rose and walked into the kitchen to observe. He had tracked down a bottle of peroxide from the bathroom and was dripping it onto the bloodstains in my blouse, letting it foam a little and then dunking it under the water. Then he would repeat the whole process until the stain was mostly lifted and move on to another one. He added a capful of peroxide to the water and swished everything around. I slid a hand along his arm as it came out of the water, and stepped closer. He turned away from the sink and brought his free arm around me. I traced my fingers along his jaw, and saying nothing, leaned into him.

“Not sure what I did to deserve someone as unreservedly good as you are, Phil,” I murmured. He squeezed me and kissed the side of my head.

“Maybe like attracts like.” His voice was softer and rougher than usual. There was a tightness in my chest that felt foreign. Not wrong, just very different. Again, I found myself wanting to tell him I loved him. But it was too soon, I thought, uncertainly. I leaned back in his arms to look at him. He always looked on me with a softness that made his strong features somehow warmer.

“I really like you,” I blurted awkwardly. He smiled and shook his head.

“You’ve said that before,” he reminded me.

“I like you more now,” I clarified. He tipped his head and kissed me.

“I have to check in with my team. It might be a couple days before I can see you,” he ran a hand through my hair. I nodded.

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured him.

“Just promise you’ll let me know if you aren’t,” he pressed. I nodded. He let go of me reluctantly, and headed toward the door. As he pulled the door open he turned back to face me again.

“Annie?” He paused, “I like you more now too.”

[midnightvoss]

Ep 1.10 Carry the Weight

It should be illegal that this show only gets ten episodes and hasn’t been renewed, yet certain shows get 22 eps per season and run for a hundred seasons until the actors start getting pregnant and leaving and dying off literally.

Anyway. Here’s the finale.

“It’s one thing to write about yourself. And it’s another thing entirely to be able to capture someone else’s trauma.”

Last week I was 100% on board with Jane moving on to Incite, since their brand is closer to the kind of thing she wants to work on and it would be a good opportunity for growth for her.

This week, with this new layer of entitlement surfacing around her work, it doesn’t seem like she’s ready to tackle the stories she really wants to. The attitude, “How many times do I have to prove myself to her?” when it comes to Jacqueline is a step back. She’s shifted from rising to Jacqueline’s challenges to looking for a pat on the head.

Realistically, Jane has proven that she WILL struggle telling someone else’s story. This is something she desperately wants to do and will need to work on throughout her career. As a straight, white, able woman, it is going to take some effort to get into the position where she can appropriately empathize with and represent those she writes about. 

It was incredibly important for her to have that moment in which Jacqueline steps up and takes the weights. It was important for her to have to listen to Jacqueline’s answers to her questions as an interviewee, knowing that if her questions are too harsh, they are hurting someone she knows and respects.

It was important for her to realize that this story wasn’t about HER. Not her abilities, or how she felt about writing it. It was always about the women who had experienced that, and while talking about her O and her fears about breast cancer worked for her, for those topics, she was speaking from experience, and that EXACTLY

And btw, if you weren’t bawling when Jacqueline stepped up with those weights, I don’t know what to tell you.

Bonus tearing up when Jane and Jacqueline walk past each other as Jane leaves the building and Jacqueline enters it.

“Red, keep bringing your passion. It’s how you’re gonna make your mark.”

It’s everything that Oliver keeps calling Sutton “Red” because he thinks that she would look good with red hair. 

The good parts of her plot this episode were frankly to do with her rushing around for Fashion Week. There could’ve been more with that. What’s really interesting about her is how she makes it her own, with creating the notes for offering 

Last we saw Salex

Now, she’s unsure, and the pressure of HR splits them apart like a hammer to a walnut. Damn. 

Granted, Alex deserves to be more than the rebound guy, but Sutton works much, much better than him. I’m not on board with her thinking about getting back together with Richard. Their breakup was reasonable and mature, and they weren’t working that well together toward the end. Here’s hoping that Sutton gets more career focus than Richard focus next season (crosses fingers), so I can go back to ignoring him.

“It doesn’t feel how I thought it would.”

Kat’s energy has been pretty low this episode. Unsurprisingly. She had this big romantic high getting to spend time with Adena, and though it’s COMPLETELY reasonable, is feeling let down because she ended up not going with her.

She could also be feeling let down because while she’s been working very hard to be amazing at her job, no one is really listening about it. They don’t get how important it is to have that kind of social media presence. And I really do think that normally, this would be something that Kat might be jazzed about.

But it’s not enough. Professional success is not enough. She’s still texting back and forth with Adena. She’s not out of her life. But Adena texts “Climbing a mountain” and Kat is texting “Climbing the escalator.” Which is interesting since you don’t actually climb the escalator. you just stand there and let it take you somewhere. 

Metaphor for Kat’s career? Hmm.

It’s just sad to see her so lost. But as we saw in the promos, Kat makes a “big decision,” and ends up on a plane to somewhere! But the episode ends before we see her reuniting with ADENA!

Just Jane walking towards her future! And Sutton falling back into a huge mistake...!

But not a Kadena reunion. THE SUSPENSE.

So that’s it. The end.

I dunno how I feel about this episode as a finale. There are three clear cliffhangers, though I don’t think there are big surprises on other end of those. I guess the big draw for Suttard and Kadena are for the fans who really want to see that. For Jane, the question of how well she’ll do at Incite. 

Still, this episode didn’t have the intensity that I would expect from a finale. You might have had it at any point in the season. It was a strong episode regardless, even if the disparate plots don’t dovetail. The development of Jacqueline’s plot (couldn’t say it was Mia’s) matched the show’s other Issue plots for importance and intensity. I wish they’d been able to do more for Mia, but this is on par with the point: People’s interest fades. Can they really get people to be involved in a sustained way?

There is no justice for Mia. There will be none for Jacqueline.  :/

Here’s hoping for a second season. And in that season, my hopes:

Sutton caves to Oliver and dyes her hair red. She and Richard break up again and we get a lot more fashion department shenanigans.

Jane shenanigans at Incite, but she still meets up with Jacqueline because how can she not?

Kat rediscovers her joy after traveling with Adena, who will get a new work Visa in the US and she is able to art all over the place and be awesome.

[claytononhealth-blog]

Exclusive ideas to keep relocating when life hinders

Can you carry on exercising when your inspiration slides, the weather becomes worse or your timetable comes to be overwhelming?

When it concerns exercise, we consider just how to obtain" fit. Yet frequently, beginning is not the trouble. The big issue is preserving it," claims Falko Sniehotta, a teacher of behavioral medication and also health and wellness psychology at Newcastle University. The official UK standards claim grownups need to do toughness workouts, along with 150 minutes of modest activity, or 75 mins of energetic task, weekly. According to the Health Survey for England in 2016, 34% of males and 42% of women are not hitting the cardiovascular exercise targets, and also a lot more - 69% and also 77% specifically - are not doing enough strengthening task. A report from the World Health Organi zation recently found that individuals in the UK were amongst the least energetic in the world, with 32% of males and also 40% of ladies reporting lack of exercise. At the same time, obesity is contributing to the chronic long-term conditions pointed out in Public Health England's evaluation, which shows females in the UK are passing away earlier than in many EU nations.

We all know we should be doing much more, but how do we maintain relocating when our motivation slides, the weather takes a turn for the even worse or life gets in the way? Try these 25 items of advice from experts and Guardian visitors to maintain you going.

1 Work out why, do not simply work out

Our reasons for beginning to workout are basic to whether we will maintain it up, says Michelle Segar, the supervisor of the University of Michigan's Sport, Health as well as Activity Research as well as Policy Center. Too often society advertises exercise and health and fitness by hooking right into temporary motivation, shame and shame". There is some evidence, she claims, that more youthful people will certainly most likely to the fitness center more if their factors are appearance-based, but past our very early 20s that does not fuel inspiration much. Neither do unclear or future objectives aid (I want to get fit, I want to drop weight"). Segar, the writer of No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness, claims we will certainly be more effective if we concentrate on immediate positive sensations such as stress reduction, raised power and making friends. The only method we are going to prioritise time to exercise is if it is mosting likely to deliver some kind of advantage that is absolutely compelling as well as important to our daily life," she says.

2 Get off to a slow start

The danger of the regular New Year resolutions approach to fitness, claims individual fitness instructor Matt Roberts, is that individuals enter and also do whatever - change their diet regimen, start working out, stop alcohol consumption as well as cigarette smoking - as well as within a couple of weeks they have shed inspiration or got as well exhausted. If you haven't remained in form, it's going to take some time." He likes the trend towards high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and advises individuals include some, however to do that everyday will certainly be as well intense for lots of people". Do it when (or twice, at the majority of) a week, incorporated with sluggish runs, swimming as well as quick walks - plus 2 or three day of rest, at the very least for the very first month. That will give someone an opportunity of having recuperation sessions alongside the high-intensity workouts."

3 You do not need to enjoy it

It is handy not to try to make on your own do things you proactively do not like, states Segar, who suggests considering the sorts of activities - roller-skating? Bike riding? - you liked as a child. Yet don't feel you have to really take pleasure in exercise. A great deal of individuals who stick to exercise say: 'I feel better when I do it.'" There are elements that possibly will be delightful, however, such as the physical feedback of your body and also the sensation of getting stronger, and the pleasure that features grasping a sport.

For many people, the obvious options aren't always the ones they would enjoy," says Sniehotta, who is likewise the director of the National Institute for Health Research's policy research study unit in behavioural scientific research, so they need to look outside them. It might be various sporting activities or simple points, like sharing activities with other individuals."

4 Be kind to on your own

Specific motivation - or the lack of it - is only component of the bigger picture. Cash, parenting needs and even where you live can all be stumbling blocks, states Sniehotta. Fatigue, depression, work stress and anxiety or unwell family members can all have an impact on exercise. If there is a lot of assistance around you, you will discover it much easier to preserve physical activity," he mentions. If you live in specific parts of the country, you may be a lot more comfortable doing exterior exercise than in others. In conclusion that individuals who don't get enough physical activity are simply doing not have inspiration is troublesome."

Segar suggests being realistic. Miss the ideal of mosting likely to the health club five days a week. Be actually analytical regarding job and also family-related requirements when starting, due to the fact that if you set on your own up with goals that are also large, you will certainly stop working and you'll feel like a failing. At the end of a week, I constantly ask my clients to reflect on what functioned and also what really did not. Possibly suitable in a stroll at lunch functioned, yet you didn't have the power after work to do it."

5 Don't rely upon self-discipline

If you need self-discipline to do something, you don't really intend to do it," claims Segar. Instead, consider workout in regards to why we're doing it as well as what we want to obtain from exercise. Just how can I profit today? Just how do I feel when I move? Exactly how do I feel after I move?"

6 Find a function

Anything that permits you to exercise while checking off various other objectives will certainly help, claims Sniehotta. It gives you with even more gratification, as well as the prices of not doing it are higher." As an example, walking or cycling to work, or making pals by signing up with a sports club, or running with a pal. Or the goal is to invest even more time in the countryside, and running assists you do that."

Attempt to integrate physical activity with something else. For example, in my office I don't make use of the lift and also I attempt to minimize e-mail, so when it's feasible I stroll over to individuals," says Sniehotta. Over the course of the day, I walk to function, I relocate a whole lot in the building and I really get about 15,000 steps. Attempt to make exercise struck as several purposeful targets as you can."

7 Make it a behavior

When you use up running, it can be tiring just leaving the door - where are your footwear? Your water bottle? What path are you going to take? After a while, points out Sniehottta, there are no longer costs connected with the task". Doing physical activity frequently as well as planning for it aids make it a lasting practices". Missing sessions does not.

8 Plan and prioritise

Suppose you do not have time to work out? For many individuals, functioning two tasks or with extensive caring duties, this can definitely hold true, but is it really true for you? It may be a question of top priorities, claims Sniehotta. He suggests preparation: The first is 'activity preparation', where you prepare where, when and also just how you are mosting likely to do it and you attempt to stick with it." The second type is 'dealing planning': anticipating things that can get in the way as well as placing a strategy right into place for exactly how to obtain motivated again". Segar adds: Most people don't offer themselves permission to prioritise self-care practices like workout."

9 Keep it brief and also sharp

An exercise does not have to take a hr, claims Roberts. A well-structured 15-minute exercise can be really effective if you actually are pressed for time." As for routine, longer sessions, he claims: You tell yourself you're going to make time and transform your timetable accordingly."

10 If it doesn't work, alter it

It rainfalls for a week, you do not go running when and then you really feel guilty. It's a combination of emotion and also uncertainty that brings us to the point where, if individuals fail a couple of times, they believe it's a failing of the entire job," claims Sniehotta. Remember it's feasible to return on the right track.

If previous workout regimes haven't functioned, do not defeat on your own up or attempt them again - simply try another thing, he claims. We tend to be in the frame of mind that if you can't lose weight, you blame it on yourself. Nevertheless, if you could transform that to: 'This technique does not work for me, let's try something various,' there is a possibility it will certainly be better for you and it stops you needing to condemn yourself, which is not valuable."

11 Add resistance and balance training as you get older

We start to shed muscular tissue mass over the age of around 30," claims Hollie Grant, an individual training as well as pilates trainer, and also the owner of PilatesPT Resistance training (utilizing body weight, such as press-ups, or tools, such as resistance bands) is essential, she claims: It is going to help maintain muscle mass or a minimum of slow down the loss. There needs to be some type of aerobic exercise, as well, as well as we would certainly likewise recommend people begin including balance obstacles because our balance is impacted as we get older."

12 Up the stake

If you do 5k runs and also you do not recognize if you must push faster or go additionally, rate your effort from one to 10," claims Grant. As you see those numbers go down, that's when to begin pushing yourself a bit faster." Roberts claims that, with normal exercise, you ought to be seeing progress over a two-week period and pushing on your own if you feel it is obtaining much easier. You're trying to find a modification in your rate or endurance or stamina."

13 Work out from house

If you have caring duties, Roberts says you can do a great deal within a little location in the house. In a living-room, it is simple a regular where you may alternate in between doing a leg workout and an arm workout," he states. It's called Peripheral Heart Action training. Doing six or 8 exercises, this impact of going between the top as well as reduced body creates a quite solid metabolic rate lift as well as cardio workout." Attempt squats, half press-ups, lunges, tricep dips and also glute elevates. You're elevating your heart price, functioning your muscle mass and also having a good basic workout." These take no greater than 15-20 minutes as well as only need a chair for the tricep dips - although dumbbells can be useful, as well.

14 Get out of breath

We are often told that housework as well as gardening can add to our once a week workout targets, yet is it that simple? The measure really is you're getting usually warm, out of breath, as well as you're working at a level where, if you have a discussion with someone while you're doing it, you're blowing a bit," states Roberts. With gardening, you would certainly have to be doing the much heavier gardening - excavating - not just weeding. If you're walking the pet dog, you can make it into an authentic exercise session - kept up the dog, or find a course that includes some hillsides."

15 Be reasonable regarding health problem

Joslyn Thompson Rule, an individual trainer, claims: The basic rule is if it's over the neck - a headache or a cold - while being mindful of exactly how you're really feeling, you are usually ALRIGHT to do some type of workout. If it's listed below the neck - if you're having trouble breathing - rest. The vital point is to be reasonable. If you were planning on doing a high-intensity workout, you would take the speed down, however often simply moving can make you really feel much better." After recouping from a health problem, she claims, count on your impulses. You do not wish to go directly back right into training four times a week. You could wish to do the very same variety of sessions however make them much shorter, or do fewer."

16 Seek guidance after injury

Plainly, just how swiftly you begin exercising once more depends upon the type of injury, as well as you must consult from your physician. Psychologically, however, states Thompson Rule: Even when we're doing every little thing as we should, there are still dips in the road. It's not going to be a straight progression of getting better."

17 Take it slowly after maternity

Again, says Thompson Rule, listen to your body - and also your medical professional's guidance at your six-week postnatal appointment. After a caesarean area, returning to exercise will be slower, while pregnancy-related back injuries as well as troubles with abdominal muscles all influence exactly how quickly you can return to training, and may require physical rehabilitation. When you're walking and have a little bit extra energy, depending on where you were in the past (some women never educated before pregnancy), beginning a routine after a baby is rather something to take on," claims Thompson Rule. Hold your horses. I obtain more e-mails from women asking when they're going to obtain their tummies flat once more than anything. Loosen up, look after yourself and deal with your baby. When you're really feeling a bit a lot more energised, slowly return into your regimen." She advises starting with extremely basic things like strolling and lugging your child in a sling".

18 Tech can help

For ambitious people, Grant states, it can be valuable to keep track of progress very closely, but enable some flexibility in your goals. You could have had a difficult day at the workplace, go out for a run as well as not do it as quickly and then think: 'I'm just not going to trouble anymore.'" However, It can start to get a bit habit forming, and afterwards you don't listen to your body and also you're more in danger of injury."

19 Winter is not a justification

Winter is not necessarily a time to hibernate," states Thompson Rule. Be decisive, place your trainers by the door and also try not to think of the cold/drizzle/greyness. It's the very same with mosting likely to the fitness center - it's that voice in our head that make us seem like it's an inconvenience, once you're there, you assume: 'Why was I putting things off regarding that for as long?'".

[zarroufatiah]

The Ideal PSP Multiplayer Gamings - Pick the very best Video Game for yor Children

Review our complete evaluation of Extreme Journey 2 below. Severe Trip 2 is an endless 2D automobile racing video game in which you need to race against time by implementing stunts. Playing the current installation in a significant gaming franchise like Madden, Grand Burglary Automobile or Last Dream makes it very easy to obtain hooked on the story, design as well as basic concept behind the video game. For those of you that do not yet understand the art of driving a race car the NASCAR racing game comes full with a tutorial by Kenny Wallace himself that gets you all set to go behind the wheel. You ought to note that this game is only playable on non touch devices/ with a connected keyboard. What makes it stands out from the group is that it even works on reduced end Windows 10 gadgets without any external graphics card under the hood with piece de resistance. How to Choose Video Games for Kids The graphics of the game are superb, and the controls are basic - all you have to do is to pull the equipment change lever up or down depending on your rate to move the prepare or down. The game is lightweight also, and also is surely worth your download if you are seeking a game which supplies automobile racing with a highly customizable experience. The game is goal oriented as well as is pretty light-weight and also well brightened around. It collaborates with Windows 8 as well as 8.1 too. Well I'm sure if you have games you probably defeated them quickly with the help of rip off sheets, but with on-line video game shops you can defeat even more and also pay much less! Nearly whatever can be fine-tuned, from placing or getting rid of anything on the HUD to specifically where you favor it to an absurdly scalable AI that let's you move the difficulty from 0-100 till you've dialed in the ideal digital challenger. While other racers have a tendency to have the exact same attributes, Project CARS let's you change a selection of UI and also race setups before every race. The puzzle-focused games in the Portal collection may lack the clue-collecting and also variety of puzzles that Myst offers, however still is entitled to inclusion on this list just for its impressive physics-based problems and also dark humour. An Excellent Match For: Followers of fast-moving action games like Evil one Might Cry as well as, well, the very first Bayonetta. The video game has separate controls for carrying out various stunts, and hence makes for a good way to kill time when you have nothing on your hands. These benefit your lady. Certainly some of these are a provided like that of Lara Croft as well as others? The video game takes you through numerous terrains like desert, turf and so on. The vehicles can be unlocked as well as brand-new cars can be made use of for better efficiency. If you've got a PS4 with a PlayStation Virtual Reality headset, practically all of the video game can be played in online truth, which needs to be one of the most immersive racing experiences on console today. This video game is a fairly new kid in town, however trust me, it's rather amazing. Control has actually been taken over by an otherworldly threat and it depends on you and also your newly found powers to solve the issue. It's based on drag racing idea where you require to shift the equipments at the right time to accomplish a best gear shift, which will certainly aid you in crossing the finish line quicker. The game is designed around a plan where you need to shift gears at the right time to go across the goal initially (which is the idea of drag auto racing). Yes, this is the most unique video game in vehicle parking globe. This is an action role-playing computer game that happens in a post-apocalyptic world that is swamped with vampires. There is, of course great deals of research study that go into whether video games create hostile habits. Ladies aren't as foolish as they look, and also here I will certainly clarify the way to properly play video games with women, aiding you conserve hrs of pleading, as well as from doing the terrible things they such as to waste their life doing. A few that are advised to play are Drift Racer, Drift Change as well as Super Wander 3D. All games are quickly located using your favorite online search engine! You see, this is what I'm speaking about when I ramble on about uniformity, as Namco is STILL pumping out hits, with Tekken, Soulcalibur and Time Situation simply being a few of their newest offerings. Among minority video games that does not make me upset. You could bring in extra lights to make it extra bright and also enjoyable. Tracking timelines could be made complex, but the characters' motivations never ever were. The game has extreme graphics which look very realistic and lots of tracks to be picked from. Tracks are at first secured and also get unlocked when you complete the previous tracks. The more you put into Super Mario Run, the a lot more you'll get out of it. I certainly recommend that you have a look at this video game! Multiplayer setting matches you with arbitrary players online, whereas solitary player setting has unlockable 60 degrees, out of which initially only the first level is opened, yet succeeding ones get opened as and when the previous ones are finished.

[fadiesaieyed]

The Finest PSP Multiplayer Games - Select the Finest Video Game for yor Children

Read our complete review of Extreme Road Trip 2 right here. Extreme Trip 2 is an unlimited 2D car racing video game in which you have to race against time by executing feats. Playing the most up to date installment in a significant gaming franchise business like Madden, Grand Burglary Vehicle or Final Fantasy makes it very easy to obtain connected on the story, style and general principle behind the game. For those of you who do not yet grasp the art of driving a race auto the NASCAR racing game comes total with a tutorial by Kenny Wallace himself that gets you ready to go behind the wheel. You should note that this game is just usable on non touch gadgets/ with a connected keyboard. What makes it sticks out from the group is that it also works on reduced end Windows 10 devices with no exterior graphics card under the hood with great performance. How to Choose Video Games for Kids The graphics of the game are excellent, as well as the controls are easy - all you need to do is to pull the equipment shift lever up or down depending on your speed to move the prepare or down. The game is lightweight too, and also is surely worth your download if you are searching for a video game which provides automobile racing with a highly customizable experience. The video game is objective oriented and is rather lightweight and well brightened all over. It deals with Windows 8 and 8.1 too. Well I make sure if you have games you possibly defeated them fast with the aid of cheat sheets, however with on the internet video game stores you can defeat more and pay less! Nearly every little thing can be tweaked, from positioning or eliminating anything on the HUD to precisely where you favor it to a ridiculously scalable AI that allowed's you glide the trouble from 0-100 till you have actually called in the perfect electronic challenger. While various other racers often tend to have the exact same features, Task CARS let's you change a variety of UI and race setups prior to every race. The puzzle-focused games in the Portal series might do not have the clue-collecting and range of challenges that Myst deals, yet still is entitled to incorporation on this listing merely for its outstanding physics-based problems and dark humour. An Excellent Suit For: Fans of fast-moving action video games like Devil May Cry and also, well, the very first Bayonetta. The game has different controls for carrying out various stunts, as well as hence produces a good way to eliminate some time when you have nothing on your hands. These benefit your girl. Obviously a few of these are a given like that of Lara Croft and others? The video game takes you via various surfaces like desert, lawn etc. The autos can be opened and also new cars can be utilized for much better performance. If you have actually got a PS4 with a PlayStation Virtual Reality headset, practically all of the video game can be played in virtual truth, which needs to be among one of the most immersive auto racing experiences on console today. This game is a reasonably new kid in town, but trust me, it's quite incredible. Control has actually been taken over by a transcendent hazard as well as it's up to you and also your newfound powers to solve the trouble. It's based upon drag auto racing principle where you need to change the gears at the appropriate time to achieve an excellent equipment shift, which will certainly assist you in going across the finish line quicker. The video game is devised around a plan where you require to move equipments at the right time to cross the goal first (which is the idea of drag auto racing). Yes, this is the most distinct video game in auto parking globe. This is an activity role-playing video game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic globe that is swamped with vampires. There is, certainly great deals of research that enter into whether computer game cause hostile behavior. Ladies aren't as dumb as they look, and right here I will certainly discuss the means to successfully play computer game with women, helping you save hrs of begging, as well as from doing the terrible points they such as to lose their life doing. A few that are suggested to play are Drift Racer, Drift Revolution as well as Super Wander 3D. All games are quickly discovered utilizing your favorite internet search engine! You see, this is what I'm speaking about when I babble on regarding consistency, as Namco is STILL draining hits, with Tekken, Soulcalibur and Time Crisis just being a few of their most recent offerings. One of the few video games that does not make me upset. You could bring in additional lamps to make it extra intense and enjoyable. Monitoring timelines could be complicated, but the characters' inspirations never were. The video game has intense graphics which look really realistic as well as lots of tracks to be picked from. Tracks are initially locked as well as get opened when you complete the previous tracks. The even more you put into Super Mario Run, the much more you'll leave it. I most definitely recommend that you take a look at this game! Multiplayer setting matches you with random gamers online, whereas single gamer setting has unlockable 60 degrees, out of which originally just the first level is opened, but succeeding ones get unlocked as and also when the previous ones are completed.

[themirrorofink]

21 Questions

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

I was tagged in by @pinehutch and don't have 21 followers :) So, if you see it and want to share: go for it!

Nickname: Not really, though my given name lends itself to being shortened various ways

Zodiac: I made it into Aries by 30 minutes, was almost a Pisces. I think my moon sign is Sagittarius (don't really think it means anything, though)

Height: 5'4" (about 163cm)

Last Movie I Saw: Incredibles 2 (honestly, I couldn't remember what movie I last saw. So, I went and found something on Netflix that I hadn't seen yet. Glad I did)

Last thing googled: How many centimeters equals 5'4"

Favourite musician: I could maybe pick a favorite in each genre, but just one overall isn't going to happen. Depends too much on my mood. I'm always happy to listen to Bach, Radiohead, Sarah Vaughn, and so many more.

Song stuck in my head: I'm earworm free at the moment

Other blogs: I used to have a Live Journal, but deleted a year or two ago after yet another change to user agreement

Do I get asks: nope

How many followers: account info says there are 19 of you

Amount of sleep: ideally: 9hrs/night  realistically: 7ish hrs/night

Lucky number: Don't have one.  I prefer odd numbers to even, though.

What I’m wearing: Women of NPR tshirt, sweat pants, flannel shirt

Dream job: I like what I do now, but something a little more active would good, too. I think I'd enjoy something like wild animal rescue.  I'm a little bummed 'garden hermit' isn't an option anymore. It probably wasn't ever a great option, but I like the idea of it.

Dream trip: Cruise to Antarctica.  I'm hoping to make it to all seven continents and saving Antarctica for last mostly so that I can save up for it. (current status: 3 of 7 continents and 47 of 50 US States, but only 2 CA Provinces so far)

Favourite food: This is sort of like the musician question. When I was a kid it was those grocery store gyro packs that had the meat, pita, and tzatziki all in a frozen kit. Now it's maybe a really good garlic bread?

Play an instrument: guitar, but poorly.

Languages: nothing at the conversational level other than English.  I learned some German in high school and picked up a little Spanish working in a kitchen (mostly food words and swear words)

Random Fact: Isaac Newton predicted that the world will end(sort of) in 2060 based on his own study of biblical texts undertaken because he thought everyone else predicting the end times was doing it wrong. (Also, I majored in History of Science in college)

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: tea, arts and crafts style things, Mold-A-Rama figurines from the zoo, tsundoku, cabinet of curiosities, pocket knife