#not doing enough and my gm is pissed all the time

[siinlight]

I'm so tired of my job I wish I could kill myself in front of everyone and come back... I just want them to know how close to the end of my fucking rope I am I hate it there so much.

[outeremissary]

You know I spent a lot of time reading Nuzlocke comics and fics as a teen and I think that really shaped my understanding of approaches to canon in fandom. Like there's fandom you're doing straight and trying to be faithful to the material on, and then there's fandom like a lot of the Good Stuff on Nuzlockes and wacked out chess AUs where you're somewhere on the sliding scale of remixes from "playing fast and loose with the base material" to "reality is whatever makes the story fun. heart." And they're both valid. God I fucking love how insane Nuzlocke comics could get.

[ragnarokhound]

hiii im working through all your jaytim week stuff bc i had to be in a wedding that week and i missed it 😭 i WILL leave an annoying amount of comments on ao3 but for now i just wanna say that i love the baseball au fic so bad. i don’t know a single thing about sports but i worked a summer job at the ballpark for a couple years and now whenever the weather gets hot i miss the vibes so bad and i CANNOT stop thinking about Them. do you have any more thoughts or rants or really just any crumbs from this au bc it’s delicious ty

AAHHH OMG I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE WEDDING and you have said the magic words because BOY DO I

I love baseball au!! I am actually very pleased with and proud of baseball au!! In my heart, baseball au has a massive rivals-to-lovers slow burn plot that I simply did not have the time to write OTL so instead for jaytim week, we got the scene that I would have reread over and over again if it had been a book I read in high school lmao

My notes this is a fucking outline how did that happen on baseball au:

Jason was the ace pitcher for the Gotham Knights for a few years running, taking over that mantle from Dick Grayson after he traded to the Bludhaven team. Jason was much more aggressive compared to Dick, and he was a two-way player - he could hit well enough to not need a designated hitter when it was his turn to go to bat, and that versatility made him unpredictable and a threat.

Unfortunately, after a big argument with Bruce about the game, he was hit with a hard injury during the playoffs one year. Everyone said it would be career ending. Bruce said to prepare himself for the worst. Jason takes a year off to recover and doesn't speak to Bruce the whole fucking time.

Enter Tim Drake.

Drake is a rookie, a nobody no one's ever heard of, but he's an excellent pitcher. He's got a million tricks and keeps a cool head. He can read the other team to filth and is ready to change tactics at the drop of a hat.

Word is that he bullied his way into the GM's office and demanded a tryout; Bruce was gonna throw him out. But then he saw him pitch. He was hired on the spot.

They started Drake as a relief pitcher, but it quickly became apparent that he was wasted there. He's switched to starter. They don't make it all the way to the Series that year, but it was pretty fucking close and in large part due to Drake. Not bad for a rookie.

Jason hates him on principle.

Apparently, Jason still has a spot on the team. But they've bumped him down from starter to relief. He knows it's necessary, that his injury still needs babying, but he's still not happy with Bruce. He hates it-- and the games he's relieving for Drake? He hates them most of all. He can't stand the guy.

(He's better than Jason.)

(And he won't quit staring.)

Drake doesn't actively antagonize Jason when training starts. Actually, for the most part, he tries to stay out of Jason's way, watching him quietly from the sidelines while Jason tests his frustrating new limits. But Jason's not about to let Bruce's new golden boy off that easy.

(He's almost surprised by the bite hiding behind those bangs. How fast those watching eyes can narrow in acidic consideration before he tears Jason a new one. He takes vicious satisfaction in seeing Drake sink down to Jason's level. And Drake needs a fucking haircut, but far be it from Jason to give this asshole tips.)

Their synergy is garbage in the first half of the season. Jason prides himself in his game, but when they're sharing the pitch, it throws everything out of whack. They butt heads over everything, and they get hyper competitive; half the time, they're not playing against the other team, they're playing against each other.

By the third game its plain they can't be paired together. Either Drake or Jason fuck up on the mound because one of them was doing something (For Jason, Drake's creepy, unblinking stare is enough to piss Jason off; for Drake, Jason's discovered he can get a rise out of him just by raising an eyebrow at the right time, as if to say really? That's what you're going with?) and the coaches (Babs) have just about had it with them.

They're switched to play on different days when possible, and given stern looks and reminders not to fuck up on the days they have to play together. It grinds Jason's gears, but he sucks it up because he's a fucking adult and his career is on the line. Maybe Drake can do the same.

Things start to change, though Jason can never quite remember when. Maybe they needed the space or whatever, maybe Jason needed to go drinking with Roy and just dump about Drake and Bruce and all of it and hear Roy's drunken two cents, maybe the game against Bludhaven meant seeing Dick and being forced to hear his two cents; maybe he needed to run into Drake at the coffeeshop a block away from the stadium one morning and see him bleary-eyed and clearly hungover. Maybe seeing him outside of the job, his gaze wandering out the window and not fixed on Jason for once, willing to shit-talk Bruce (and to a lesser degree, Dick), shifted something in Jason's brain a little to the left. Maybe it made Drake into a different person, and maybe Tim is someone Jason doesn't actually know that much about. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

They start to improve. They have to play more games together when one of their alts wrecks his ankle, but Jason is still pretty fresh compared to everyone else after being babied all season, and his injury hardly bothers him these days. Tim still flusters Jason at the mound sometimes, but it's not for the same reason. He doesn't know what the reason is yet, but he knows it's not the same. The prickle on the back of his neck that says Tim is watching isn't a precursor to anger, or spite. It's something else.

(And so what if Jason finds himself sticking around after practice days? So what if Tim catches him once, working on his swing, and he offers to pitch for him? So what if Jason suddenly knows he wants to find out how that crooked smile tastes, and threatens to break his bat on it instead? So what if Tim laughs at him like he was joking, because they joke now, and it makes Jason's stomach churn, makes him sick with wanting? So fucking what?)

Bruce even talks to him after a game, all fatherly concern and judgment, wanting to know if it's going to be a problem for him and Tim to be playing together. If he can trust Jason not to jeopardize the game over personal disagreements. Jason doesn't know how to explain it to him and he also doesn't fucking want to. He tells him no, it won't be a fucking problem.

It freaks him out. He backslides, hard. Tim had been warming up to him, but he's obviously surprised about getting the cold shoulder. Surprised and pissed.

He corners Jason in the locker room after a game Jason nearly lost them, a loss that would have shut them out of the Series this year for good. Jason's been closing every game he plays, but Tim had to be sent back in to clean up after his piss-poor showing. He lays into Jason. He reads him to filth. He correctly diagnoses the source of Jason's insecurities and his beef with Bruce that's older than basically any of his other problems, and basically tells him to quit yanking the team-- and Tim-- around. He storms out with the last word, and Jason fumes with his head in his hands.

(Apparently, Tim looked up to Jason, once upon a time. Apparently, Tim was a fan before he was a colleague, a rival; a friend. Apparently he'd been nervous but excited at first to meet Jason in person, to get to talk to one of his heroes. Jason feels like a heel.)

They don't talk after that except to play the game. Tim is professionally distant, doesn't stare at Jason the way he used to, the way he was starting to. The roles reverse-- one week later, he's the one who stares at Tim, watches him take the mound during the game that will decide their fate, decide if they'll go to the Series this year or not, with an awful, burning need bubbling in his chest for Tim to look back at him just once.

When Jason takes the mound for him, Tim glances at him. It's brief, but he nods at Jason, a dare in his eyes that Jason wants to take. It loosens his lungs and lets him breathe for the rest of the game. He plays the best he has all season. And Jason knows the reason.

They win the Series. Bruce offers to put Jason back as a starter next year, but Jason declines and does one more year as a relief pitcher. He's done taking stupid risks with his body, with his career, and he knows if he goes back now he risks a flare up. If he's gonna show Tim up, he's gotta give himself his best chance.

Cue the fic. (They absolutely fuck in the dugout btw. Tim asks with his hands already on Jason's skin-- "Can I touch you?" Tim asks with his mouth already on Jason-- "Can I--")

So i hit the character limit but TAH DAH thats bb au <3

[puckpocketed]

What do you think of the Goodrow trade? How does this factor into the Sharks' future plans, and who do you think he'll play with next season?

yay for the fans who liked him and are glad to see him back here. I'm happy that they're happy! I didn't know him whilst he was a Shark, I hope he grows on me like a barnacle <3

I don't think about lines enough to speculate confidently on what this means for the Sharks in the future, so I can't really answer that part of your ask, sorry!

my unserious answer is i hope one of our prospects gets stapled to him goonwag-style - maybe the plan here was to give kunin to macklin and goodrow to smith? giggling. our beautiful leg weights <3

okay okay time to break character <3 sorry i DO have a Serious take on this one. Per this article (and serveral others) there are reports that Goodrow isn't happy because the Sharks were on his no-trade list. We are not a contender, we aren’t even looking to be one for a hot minute, he wants to keep playing and winning cups, so that makes sense! I don’t know if you made a mistake using the phrase ‘trade’ but… it might not be far from the truth. The going sentiment, per the same linked article, is that there was a quid pro quo situation between Mike Grier and Chris Drury that the Sharks would pick Goodrow up off waivers. This is unconfirmed by official sources. All we have here is looking to the future for any transactions between the two in the wake of this trade. If there was some under the table handshake situation going on... I don't like it at all.

The rest of this answer is going off the assumption that what is being said in that article is true.

The spirit of a no-trade list, of signing any contract, is the reasonable expectation that your wishes will be respected. Players have waived their clauses in the past, but that's on them. To have two GMs collude to basically trade a player to a team they did not want to go to is scummy as HELL, and to me it is a worker's rights issue. If my boss and I agreed to terms on a contract, I would be pissed off if they found some legal loophole around it, and I would feel screwed over. If I found out my new employer was a part of that? I wouldn't feel too good about those guys either.

I have and will make jokes about Goodrow trying to escape. they're funny! but in the end I don't think it's good for the culture to have someone here who possibly doesn't want to be here and isn't committed to the team due to resentment. someone who isn't committed because there are no playoffs aspirations. I'm not saying he would actually behave this way, I don't know him! I'm sure he's a good fella in the end. but I think leaving that up to chance by circumventing the terms of his contract is a stupid move. and skeevy. did I mention skeevy?

More broadly, contracts need to mean something. If two GMs can just shake hands in some backroom deal and ignore the player's explicit wishes about where they want to play, what's the fucking point in signing ANY ntc/nmc? where's the certainty then, if this loophole is open? whats the vibe here? has this happened in the past? will it happen again? I hope the CBA addresses this whenever it's time to negotiate again. and I super don't care about the whole "life isn't fair, players get exploited all the time, shady dealings happen all the time" angle, I don't want devil's advocates answers - my point is that it shouldn't happen, it's wrong, and I hope the player's union they got going on fights to make sure it doesn't happen again.

in a less structured conclusion..,,, the narratives are funny BUT i do be living in the real world lmao!! fuck all bosses forever fuck all gms forever yes even the 'good' ones!! all bosses are bastards and their interests will often run counter to the interests of the worker !!!! players are people with families and long-term plans of their own and presumably when they sign contracts they plan around those contracts accordingly assuming the terms will be honoured!!!!!!!!! their kids and spouses are also people whose education/careers/relationships will all be affected by trades !!!! players are NOT simply assets !!! nor are they simply characters in stories!! i do lean in to the narratives but again this is the REAL WORLD and a worker is being screwed by a boss and thats bullshit .

thank you for listening and im sorry if this wasn't the type of answer you were looking for </3

[lamarckianenterprises]

Sucks to be Me But I'm built Different Now

My work got accepted in a Litmag (technically a Zine, CoinOperated Press to be precise) for the first time today, and outside of being thoroughly excited to announce that my humble flier will be included in their next Zine, Dungeons and Dragons Part 2. (Learn more about it on the following link)

I just want to say that looking back, I think a lot of my opinions about my own creative work is based off of like, no one really praising me for my writing. Like I didn't keep writing because people said that I was doing great or good or was talented or whatever, I kept writing because I wanted to get to that point, in spite of the lack of praise not because of it.

Hell, my mother was basically radio silent on my writing after noting that my very first work, the weird fugue state nanowrimo novel that's lost to the sands of time was, and I'm quoting here, "At least he has good grammar." Admittedly I kinda avoided showing her stuff after that, but still.

Outside of her and my even less present father there was my brother who was barely present in my teenage years, and so I basically had jack all for validation outside of an RPing community I immediately antagonized by being an attention seeking edgy teenager who fired out a self insert the GM immediately recognized somehow.

So while it gave me an easy way to keep writing and a sense of community which genuinely helped me practice and learn the craft among other things, it also meant that I didn't really get praise? Or when I did it was from someone close enough to me personally that my brain could immediately dismiss them and their opinions as being invalid as they are tainted by other people's impressions of me as a person.

I think the one bit of praise I registered as genuine was when people said they had fun in the complete mess of a Shadowrun world plot I ran in that RP which is really just a high I've been chasing ever since with every tabletop game I have ever run.

And I couldn't rely on internal validation either because I spent literal years thinking that I was somehow getting worse over time because for some fucking reason I measured that shit based off of output as in the amount of words and paragraphs written down on (virtual) paper as opposed to like, actual quality.

And how hard it was to write, which uhhh, honestly writing has never really gotten easier for me, like I am far more aware of what constitutes 'good' writing now, but it's not like the actual process has gotten much easier, and honestly as the years went on I ended up constraining my own creativity more in vague pursuit of 'better, more respectable and praiseworthy writing'.

Which meant that on top of the tyranny of time eating away at my ability to remember how difficult it was to write in the first place, I had a growing list of hangups and fears that meant that I could always refer back to some past paragraphs I think are real zingers and go, "Damn, where did I go wrong? How am I worse than I use to be?" while ignoring the veritable sea of word vomit, every little thing I did to piss other people off, and the fact that I unironically just naturally obtained more responsibilities as I grew up and obtained a job that slowly crushed my will to live that just made it harder to sit down and write LMAO.

Now I'd love to say that I've thrown of all of my chains, learned to write the proper way, and focused my life entirely towards mastering the craft without interruptions, or that this one acceptance has fulfilled my lifelong desire for validation from a complete stranger once and for all.

Really all I have to say about all this is what you read at the top, "man it sucks to be me but I'm built different," I am in more ways than one no longer the same man who started writing just to have something to do in November, nor am I the man who sat down and chose to make himself when told to make absolutely anything he could want to be.

But then again I am the woman who started whooping and whollering and going, "OLE OLE OLE" and praising God after reading this so like, maybe I'm not that different after all.

[incarnateirony]

I do find it funny how few, very very few, people ever truly understood Zenthus. Maybe players back in the original campaigns circa early 2000s until about 2007, that watched him as he became who he was, but the following 15 years was a mix of people just not finding the right answers, or making the right builds, or looking for the right things, or just goddamn not listening.

I ironically ran into it with of all things another GM, because he plays "god" but got ultimately fucking rickrolled without even trying, no spells ever fired, nothing. And then I got "uwuwuuwuwuw Zento was such a manipulator"

I mean, dude, he already turned down one object you offered him you shouldn't. Whether that was pure goodness of intent or paranoia of getting bound by another ring is up to interpretation, but he didn't have to sit there playing shinto priest giving God some fucking therapy on how not to be a shitty person while clarifying the exact nature of his entrapment. You knew he has internal issues of being compelled, you know what he deals with. You brought him in even when he directly disadvised it to your face, and then quite literally handed your supposed "friend's" entire blueprint to the orphic egg they're surviving in, in chaos, with a casual question just because you felt the most moderate pressure from his kid attacking you. That, or you were a lot more put out and scared than letting on of those attacks, cuz, "The blueprints, do you have them?" HERE YOU GO, AND YOUR GIFTED WORLDS WORST DAD MUG

Continued conversation. He is LITERALLY advising god, entirely truthfully, on how to fight his son. Like yes, we raised Kion, this is how he thinks, because this is what we would do, stop impulse reacting, he is doing everything he can to make you react. We literally thrive on making you impulse react and start slipping up. Stop being so confident he's acting from incompetence either, three times in the last two minutes you declared something only to get hit remotely in the godly face to the point of verbal surprise or impress. Stop it. He's targeting your creation because you're hiding, not because he thinks you're there. And he will continue to target your creation until you do something about it.

But the further he got advised on the situation the more freaked god* got and deadass like killed himself to remove himself from the cycle to stop perpetuating this bullshit that set Kion off to begin with and Zento just walks out with everything.

Like. that wasn't even manipulation dude, he was entirely honest with you top to bottom, and even stopped you from the suicide route earlier but when you decided to do it again it's like, fine whatever, okay, genuinely makes my life easier, do you, and he did.

Zento is *dangerous* but he is not, actually, actively manipulative. *Zenthus* is even extremely honest, though that personality IS manipulative. But Zenthus can jack Zento, and you said you understood when the change happened so like. no dude that's just loose lips sink cosmic ships. Zenthus crawling out to yoink the map should be none surprise, Zento even warned you three times three different ways.

That doesn't mean Shea had the right idea either to like, love him better. That also doesn't work, Zenthus still has too much unadulterated control when he wants. Or trying to force my hand into some easy slay arrangement of the bad half for reasons like, no. No we aint doin this.

God's player often talked about God's Cry For Help but would rather be uwu Zento is manipulator because i did a bad than realize, Zenthus' entire existence is Zento's 20+ RL year cry for help nobody's ever card enough about to figure out how to answer, and everyone gets too pissed at Zenthus to address, and everyone loses their shit and doesn't know how to fix it. These folks now aren't even pulling punches, fuck breaking his phyllactery, they're facing his full true self and all his parts and memories and forms and sublords like Zom and Ex head on and tactically, flushing out the pain and insanity driving not just him but compelling men beneath the surface for ages.

And damn has Noiz observed a lot. Like. Khyla actually sat and talked with Zento while everyone talked of him as the irredeemable asshat, which isn't true unto itself. Just like morning tea with a quiet sage with a strange sense of humor before realizing, "oh my god, this guy is playing cat and mouse with his own knowledge and himself".

Len has sat in the serpent's lair more than once now, and even gotten Zento's attention in strange ways, even if mostly through Zenthus masque. Sesh has absolutely broken down what's screwing his kid up so bad to keep everyone straight.

like noiz even learned the speech patterns for them with a QUICKNESS. Like. Nono Zento is the weeb part because he's an eastern dragon, but also has strange leaks of genuine habits, like "Ehhhh" in thought, and other drawls. Zenthus does not allow that staggering, and retains VERY little of Zento's far east influence beyond sort of kidnapping a reflection of him for figure. A few of the speech ticks like "ne/yes?" remain, mostly because elvish mimics that and was recent history. And sometimes they really are in concert together, and that itself has an identifiable tone, as does the Void compelling him at times, or at least the behaviors that rise from him. Noiz broke that shit DOWN. But does not understand how RARE that is.

The GM had even missed it and he knew me for almost the whole damn time. "Oh Zenthus hides Zento well" no the fuck he doesn't, he changes between voice, dialect, tone, has even told you "I have a gnat of my own (in my head)", has switched between addressing his own takes like "It's funny you would say mortals would think that. He DID." about--himself? Bro he aint hiding shit. He tells you again and again and nobody listens to how he communicates even when he literally sits down and has a 2 hour talk advising god, god just. ok i'm die now. He is literally walking around holding a stick with his two halves in front of everyone all the goddamn time what the fuck are you talking about hides Zento well. Noiz had a character talk to him for like 5 minutes and fucking picked it up, why do normal people suck at this

No. he needs to be let go, but he needs to be replaced first. But people need to make sure when he's replaced, Zenthus doesn't hitch a ride on the new vessel. Mythology reasons make it Real Fuckin Bad to delete Zento without a backup plan so it's time to think. and damn noiz been thinking

bro, mads buddy, I love you, but I don't want to hear about God's Unheard Cry For Help While He Openly Insults The People Reaching To Him Or Even Makes Their Lives Worse The Three Times Anyone Tried, in a new plot thread, when this guy has been wearing his shit on his sleeve for ages and nobody listens. He told YOU and you did jack schitt, and even failed to inform your supposed friend you sold out the blueprints of about the fact that you know, you need to have something to replace Zenthus' function if you want reality to be able to observe itself. Do they have one? Yes. It would have been nice for god to tell them that before seppuku, but whatever. Zento's been begging to be heard for almost a quarter century in real life and finally one motherfucker got set on fixing it hell or high water because the player fell in love with Zenthus' son as their favorite blorbo and He Must Be Saved. But not like my ex wife's hackass romance, no. I'm talking busting ass, complex character sheets, math, large scale tactics on orders of operations to neuter him and so on. Your super great god had every chance to listen to someone ELSE'S cry for help and save his own friend but you deuced out under moderate pressure and embarrassment. So yeah I don't wanna hear about babygod's cry for help of his own self entrapment lmaoooo

[dojae-huh]

Doyoung must be the most difficult person to be friends with, he's a one trick pony. There are times I feel like he must be the most difficult person in the group to get along with coz for him work comes first and he makes his relationship all abt the work and what others can do in the group.

He's the member who has had cold and standoffish periods with most of the 127 members (other than his 3 supporters taejaehyuck). He's even made his lovely mark stay away from him,and has had his brother asking him to get a hobby outside his work on camera.

Doyoung kept working on his career even during the pandemic and in GMs show he asked him to get another hobby outside his work related things, the boy learned Japanese and I think tried to improve dancing.

A while back taemin told the media he has fought with every single member of shinee and seulgi said the same abt fights within the band. fighting is normal but I've always felt doyoung forces the other person to see the side they might not want to see. He has habit of telling everyone their shortcomings and in work environment when ure giving Ur all u don't want to be told that u could do more. I've a feeling that makes him a tough person to love and be friends with.

Doyoung is lucky that he is so Ernst and honest that his bitchiness doesn't hurt his relationships in the long term. I seriously think mark was too tired to keep up with doyoung and this is why pulled himself out of the circle, jeno and Hyuck are too bratty to ever get irritated with his demands (they both do what they want to do but also look up to him enough to sometimes follow his advice).

Taeyong gets away with the judgemental attitude by pissing doyoung off and making him feel like do has won. Taeyong always gets what he wants but he makes doyoung give up on doyoungs terms. Jaehyun on the other hand lets him rant and does what he wants to and doyoung also just goes soft if Jaehyun shows his stubbornness (they both are two of the most stubborn ppl in 127)

Johndo is my favourite otp, not coz they look very good together (coz they do) but also there was a time when doyoung gave Johnny the time of the day. I've a feeling his work obsession made their relationship very strained, Johnny still wanted doyoung as a friend while do pushed him to the work colleague position. The same with yuta and doyoung, unlike Johnny yuta is not invested in anyone in the group as much so doyoung only being focused on work isn't an issue for him now.

Yuta being pushed to improve vocals helped yuta so he doesn't care if doyoung is just work focused,While Johnny wants to build a relationship out of work.

The last two years doyoung has been very vocal abt 127 not making it. I agree with him that 127 isn't as popular as exo in sk but how many bands are. He has forgotten that most K-pop fandom is international based now. Koreans want to be hip and not listen to their own music.

Sm groups never hit the general masses as it is as the music is usually too sm and not really targeting the General masses. Doyoung I think forgot this and him being in an experimental group doesn't help, this put a toll on him the most. Everyone talked abt personal achievements while doyoung discussed 127 even in the concert ments. The boy is more invested in his work then it's healthy and he makes the ppl around him hate him for his focus.

Him hugging every member wasn't an emotional hug but more a thankful hug, he really feels like they made it.

The crash after the concert I think was caused coZ of his stress over everything and his obsession with the concerts in Korea (ppl didn't like me saying this but he was so focused on his Korean concerts that he didn't even put any effort for his ifans in America, he was too idol in America and gave nothing of himself. Even his bubbles were for Koreans and insta was all for Koreans) made him have an emotional dip.

I'm really thankful doyoung has ppl like haechan, Jaehyunnie and Taeyong with him. They don't let him sink into the despair, they all push him to get up and be more human then just a machine.

That's an interesting topic you touched on.

People Doyoung works with (actors, staff, writers, stylists) not only subscribe to his IG, but even visit his concerts and write him letters. He is loved whenever he goes. However, a nicest person at the workplace can be a super hard person to live with in his home. Exactly because it's the only place where he can unwind, recharge, show negative emotions. The same traits (like diligence at work, perfectionism, input of ideas) that earn praise and respect in a working environment can be bothersome and irritating outside of working hours (stop talking about work! stop looking at your phone, pay attention to me!).

I said before that the closer you get to Doyoung the colder and harsher he becomes. He wouldn't be struggling with worries and bad moods, dissatisfaction if he were an optimistic, positive and shiny person in his core. He is cynical, he has ambitions, he hates to lose, he is very judgemental. Yes, he is very kind and righteous (fights for the right things, opposes the bad in the system), but it doesn't negate his other traits.

Talented and multifaceted people are difficult, they are not everyone's cup of tea, they are not "comfortable" or easygoing.

I should specify for readers that you mean "to be close friends". Doyoung is friendly and works towards supporting good working relationships. But it is hard to make him care not for the tribe, but for you only specifically. Jinyong wanted to stay friends with Doyoung after Inkigayo, to develop their relationship. Do declined. They are evidently still on good terms, support and greet each other, but they are not friends who meet once a month to drink soju or rant about life in chats.

Yuta and Jaehyun are friends, but it's been more than a year and they have never found time to go to Gojaedo(?) island. Meanwhile Haechan said "let's go, hyung" and in a few hours 2Dongs are in Jeju.

Doyoung critiques, he micromanages, he wants things his way, he makes you do extra work even at night (his messages about songs at 3 a.m.). I think he learnt not to demand from other members ("I'm just a working ant"). You can see it in the way he manages the voting and how members slacked with dancing/synchronisation and got away with it in the previous years. Doyoung isn't the leader, he isn't the boss, he isn't at his best all the time himself to have a higher ground, he can only work through coersion with everyone being as enthusiastic, on the same page as him. But it is a sacrifice to him. A control freak like him can't feel OK seeing how something isn't moving forward, thinking that the result isn't as good because there was "not enough effort". It ought to make him more irritable and less pleasing.

Sidenote. When neos discussed the voting for the songs in the groupchat, someone said that Taeil didn't send his opinion (as he usually switches off his phone and doesn't send pictures when asked). However, Doyoung instantly defended him, said Taeil was one of the few who responded to him. Positive reinforcement (you did good) with reprimand to others (you think others didn't work too, so you are excused, nope).

I get a feeling Doyoung likes others to be independant from him. He helps for a time, but then let you be. If Taeyong weren't as hardworking, didn't do everything for the team, Do wouldn't tolerate his clingy ass and baby him so much. Taeyong has the seal of approval, he can have his rest and cakes because he is so reliable and same-minded. He is Do's champion. But even Taeyong is pushed to go and rely on other friends. Doyoung is married to his job, a friend won't be more important (in normal circumstances, I'm not saying Doyoung won't drop everything in an emergency).

In short, if you aren't too close to Doyoung and don't depend on him emotionally, depend on his attention and focus, then he is great to be around (unless you get quickly irritated with micromanaging). But if you do want the attention, be special, you have to deal with stuff like him using the friendship rings to cover up his romantic relationship (Taeyong) or him declining a dinner with you because he is on a diet (Haechan). You also shouldn't argue with him on important things and tolerate him turning your own show into 127 ad show (Gongmyung). And give him attention when he wants it (long calls with Jeno).

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without Context

Revenge of CHAOTICA! - Episode 9

"I recall Nivasi likes using crocodile-men as hencthings.” "I heard he has a whole menagerie of evil creatures at his beck and call. Krakens, stone golems, doppelgangers, the works. A real monster society of evil.” GM OOC: He does no such thing. This is an original character (do not steal). Thunderchild: “So yes, too quiet. Something is bound to leap out and try to kill us. Watch your step. Did I miss anything?” Fiver: "You forgot 'I have a bad feeling about this’.” "Awkward pause so he can start monologuing at us over the public address?” "That is a lot of WorkForged.” Fiver: ”Sooo.....awkward question time but fuck it someone has to ask this. Is this like the Warforged equivalent of an orgy?” Amber: "No, no it is not.” Fiver: "Okay good, I was worried I'd have to ask Robbins to stay in the car. He's not ready for such debauchery.” Robbins: “We-had-a-car?" “Ah! You’ve arrived! Just in time to feel the wrath of my GEY, system! What does it stand for, cretins? That is it Great at Extermination? YES!!!” "Also, you named your super computer Gay?” "It's stupifying how often people think that, just because they created intelligence, that intelligence will want to do what they say.” “Grraaagh! Why do artificial intelligences disobey me as much as the non-artificial ones! You are Bad! Bad GEY!” "Well I'm suitably intimidated. How a bout everyone else.” “Look why don't we all sit down and talk through these family issues you two clearly are having.” "KILL IT WITH FIRE.” "I don't get that option until next level! Laser's'll have to do.” "That doesn't work much against metal.” "THAT'S QUITTER TALK.” Four-Paw Stomping Foot Technique! GM OOC: What are you targeting? OOC: Donkey-Borg. “Geek-the-mage.” "Wait, if monkey hate technology, and robot hate the monkey, shouldn't this thing hate itself?” Fiver: "See? What did I say? Kill it with fire. Glad someone here knows how to take direction. Thunderchild? You're getting employee of the month for this. I'm sorry Robbins, but leaving little carrot cakes on my bed isn't enough anymore. You need to step up your game man.” Thunderchild: “Oh great, so where's my paycheck then?” Fiver: "...You had it and you lost it. Robbins you're back on top.” "HEY GEY! YOUR MOTHER RUNS WINDOWS 8.” "The rabbit devil has dug out a special warren just for you Gey, so don't keep him waiting.” [insert gif of Loona answering phone] "No I don't know why Rabbit Satan is so hot. Stop asking.” GM OOC: Three hits. So… how do you want to do this? OOC: Bite off his head? "So who wants to piss on the body?”

"Good plan: makes running harder.” “If I make a full confession can you not do that?” "Robbins, no exploiting what are practically newborns!” OOC: Can't we just upload "communistManifesto.exe" onto the main server? Fiver: “So, it's fine we're leaving an army of burgeoning artificial intelligences with their own self replicating factory alone in space, right?” Thunderchild: “It's probably fine…”

“I will gladly tell you everything as long as my legs are unbroken and I get right of first refusal on the tell all book.” Thunderchild whispers: “Can I shoot him in a kneecap? Please?” Fiver: "Only if he runs." "Hey, the best way to learn how to do it right is to do it wrong first.” "Full disclosure I may have left a copy of the Brible back there.” "FIVER! Now they are going to make their own robot Devil and God.” OOC: So blowing up everything might be counter productive, until after we find evidence. GM OOC: Or killing everyone. Jonni: “Right. Arms and legs are fine, long as they don’t bleed to death. Jedi philosophy.” GM OOC: I hope you like aluminum diapers. OOC: And Robbins is comfortable enough with a larger steamer trunk as his quarters. OOC2: Moonpaw, as a cat, will sleep in a shoebox. OOC3: All Fiver wants is a tiny alcove he can make a shrine to El Ariaiah in. OOC2: With a secret smuggling compartment behind? OOC3: Naturally.

[pumaloafing]

One of my pet peeves for Pathfinder (and 3.5) is when people assume high level arcane casters just spam Wish all day.

I went to a pathfinder 1e forum asking for advice on spell selection for dealing with constructs, more specifically golems. For those not in the know, golems are functionally immune to most magic.

More than one of the responses was "just use wish" and it pissed me off.

First off, golems are immune to being directly affected by Wish, so even with my main complaint aside it's not a very good answer to my question.

Second off, Wish can very easily backfire if you're trying to use it to its full potential.

My main complaint, though, is that Wish costs 25,000 gold each and every time you cast it, so unless your GM is extremely generous you will not be able to cast it very many times, and if you do try and use it often... well that's a lot of gold you could be using to get powerful magic items, so it hurts you in the long run.

I'm not saying Wish can't be useful, I did use it twice during that campaign to good effect, but it's not something you can rely on too often, and it should never be your "go to" spell.

Thankfully someone did tell me about a very powerful spell to deal with constructs and golems (I forget what it's called, but it allowed me to control them with no save as long as my spellcraft rolls were high enough).

[puckgoss]

About the ducks, I’m an east coast girl (by living and by my fav sports) so I don’t stay up regularly to see west coast teams - let alone the ducks of all teams. But imo they don’t seem committed to any plan which if I was player I’d be super annoyed by.

Like let’s compare them to their state neighbors. The sharks seem pretty committed to their tanking era post all those playoff runs (that never ended in a cup :/). Yeah they aren’t good but they aren’t trying to be imo. Then you look at LA, who post their cups, dipped off to acquire assets but are now firmly back into the let’s push for playoffs and wins mode. The ducks are in this weird flux. It seems like they got young guys then didn’t help them. LA not only got young guys but their core from the 2010s is still there and playing well. The ducks need to decide if they are in or out.

As for Trevor, I’m sure he likes it there. I’d like being a rich in a beautiful place. He is also almost guaranteed ice time bc of how poor the ducks roster is. I do think development wise though, if I were him I’d be looking to move on if not this off season, at least the trade deadline of next year. I think he’d probably do well in a situation like Jamie has with the flyers. A team that isn’t great nor expected to be but one that can push for the playoffs

Sorry if this is long… trust my two cents ❤️❤️

no not long at all! love this, thank you for sending your thoughts in 🥰

this is essentially the 6th season of the ducks' rebuild... they've been stuck for so long bc their management group and coaching staff were a mess, which is why verbeek was hired to be gm halfway through the 21-22 season, and then he brought cronin in this season.

it's not that they were bad at drafting & developing players - successful former ducks are all over the NHL playing important roles on cup contenders/playoff teams. they just didn't build a good enough supporting cast around them & didn't have effective coaching.

i read that he (verbeek) said to season ticket holders that he wants the team to make a push for the playoffs next year - this makes sense to me. even if they don't end up making it, they need to at least try to be competitive and be in the mix for a wild card spot. this is the 6th szn in a row that they will be picking in the top 10. you cannot keep all of these top 10 picks, it just doesn't work money-wise. if most of them hit at the NHL level you cannot realistically pay them all, and you cannot have a bunch of players playing the same role (e.g. top six centre, top four defenseman)

the only other team that has had this many top 10 picks recently is the sabres - they had ten top 10 picks in a row!! half of them don't even play on the sabres anymore bc they keep on needing to restart the rebuild and they haven't made the playoffs since 2011! it's a mess. pisses off the fans, breeds a losing culture, and is just toxic.

as for trevor, i do think he likes it in anaheim in terms of living there etc but both verbeek + cronin have made it pretty clear that they... don't really respect him all that much, in my opinion. the other very glaring problems for me with z in anaheim is that he is not well suited to man-on-man defense (the defensive system the ducks want to play), and he does not play his best on the wing.

z is a very creative and cerebral player. he thinks the game well and isn't necessarily a burner. it's tough for him to play his game to the best of his abilities playing man-on-man d.

the ducks already have carlsson and mctavish ahead of him on their centre depth chart. i do believe they will play gauthier on wing, he's played there successfully before. z struggles on wing and would be completely wasted in a 3C role (he wouldn't be happy with that either).

i just really don't see how anaheim is a match for him at all anymore.

i can see him potentially being a match for the caps, habs, flyers, kraken, or yotes...

[golbrocklovely]

i'm so exhausted having to deal with the coworkers/managers i have at work being transphobic and/or homophobic.

like, i just don't get why i keep having this issue at work. i swear it's like they specifically hire ppl that are gonna say some off handed shit at work just to piss me off.

i had this issue two years ago, and i'm having it again. and what annoys me is i'm the outlier !! it's fucking insane to me. maybe it's bc i've been surrounded by gay ppl since hs (all my friends back in the day were gay and then i literally went on to major in theater) that i'm just not used to ppl being so blatantly hateful. i understand not "getting" ppl that are different than you. or maybe not understanding what goes on with someone so different. sure. i guess. but at what point do you stop and think "just bc i don't understand them doesn't mean i have the right to hate them or treat them lesser than????"

so the manager i deal with the most is literally 19 years old. i would like to believe that she has time to change her mind and all and especially grow up, bc she has some very weird thoughts that make me go like "oh… you know absolutely nothing about the real world but okay lol" so sometimes i just nod my head to whatever she says bc i'm not about to argue with a literal child. but today she randomly brought up trans ppl, and it just made me so fucking angry. we were breaking down palettes and she's going on about trans women aren't real women, and then she started talking about periods (but what she was saying didn't quite make sense so i just kinda zoned out), then she said "i'm fine with gay and bi and other ppl like that, but keep that to yourself" which like….. give me a fucking break, bitch. then she started talking about nonbinary ppl and saying that they need to "keep that shit to the bedroom" and they need to tell their partners stuff like that bc that's how ppl get diseases but at the same time they gotta stop making that aspect of their life their entire personality. and i'm just like……… what are you talking about? nonbinary is not sexuality. and what i find top tier comedy in the worse fucking way is she said something about pronouns that i don't remember now, but i KNOW FOR A FACT if someone called her a he/him she would be fucking pissed, but others can't feel that??? interesting.

AND THEN while all of this happening, my other coworker is agreeing with her. then my coworker brings up someone they knew that was friends with someone that was nonbinary, and she said that someone tried to out them at work and weirdly they (my coworker and manager) were both in agreement that ppl shouldn't try to out others bc those ppl could get hurt (ie gaybashed) and i'm just so confused how you can be smart enough to know that this group of ppl is hated on for existing, to the point of being assault/killed, but aren't kind enough to not judge them… you know, the thing that leads ppl into assaulting them???????????????

what's the most upsetting about all of this is that i don't feel safe enough to even report this. idk who the fuck to even report this to. my fear is i go to gm and find out she's equally as much of an asshole as my other coworkers. this isn't the first time at my place of work i've dealt with homophobic colleagues. and what makes it worse is i'm bi, but no one knows it. so if i came out and said "hey, don't shit on my brothers, sisters, and siblings alike bc i'm basically one degree removed from them" wtf is gonna happen to me? i'm not scared of my manager, again she's a child. but i'm more worried about what could happen later down the line. will they give me less hours and blame it on something else? will there be hostility towards me bc of my sexual orientation? i work with mostly women - are they gonna be grossed out by me and think i'm into them just bc i like women too?

not to mention i'm not out to anyone in my real life, aka my family. the thing is, i don't feel like i'll be disowned or anything. my brother literally has a bi best friend and truly is very neutral when it comes to shit like this and my mom….. is a bit more complicated. i don't think she'll hate me or anything. but my issue with possibly ever coming out to her is that i don't want to argue or explain myself. like, when you tell someone your favorite color, they don't interrogate you as to why you like it. that's how i feel about my sexuality. i just want it to be a fact about me, not a debate topic. so that's kinda why i've held off on telling my mom. bc i know her, and while she won't kick me out of the house, she will be annoying and go into "but are you really into women? oh cmon angelica, you've always liked men. you're not really bi." ect ect. and imma be honest, i'm 27 years old i'm not about to argue with my mom who i do or don't want to fuck.

i have literally no one to talk to about this and it's driving me up the wall.

so if yall could send some positivity my way in helping me find a better job, that would be appreciated. i seriously do not make enough money to deal with transphobic/homophobic coworkers :)))))

[hayleykiyopioids]

oh my good lord i hate my job so much dudes

hello to the 4 real people that follow me, and all the bots i haven't had the energy to block yet! i need like 5 minutes to talk shit about my job, so if that's not your vibe tonight please feel free to just not read this shit because this is the last corner of the internet that's blessed with anonymity and i would like to scream into the ether without consequence <3

so i'm the entire IT department for a shitty little car dealership in Almost The Middle Of Nowhere, USA and like maybe 6 out of the 50 people that work there have more than one single brain cell. there is so much crap in that building that only i know about, and i'm at the end of my Got Damn rope guys.

the GM of this dealership is the dumbest and laziest man in this building, and every 3 months or so he decides to go on some kind of fucking crusade to try and convince everyone else he does something around there. probably every other crusade, i end up a fucking target because he can't comprehend a single thing i do on any given day.

i very seriously need you to understand that i have never received an email from this man that wasn't a paragraph of a run on sentence. i had to teach this man how to upload photos to the vehicle auction site that i don't even have access to. this man does not know a single policy in the building, he has never filled out a single form correctly, and is constantly losing Important Documents with enough sensitive information that someone's whole identity could get stolen! almost every single decision he makes on a given day costs the dealership money and somehow still screws the customers over! but for some fucking reason the owner trusts his word like fucking gospel. this man is going to run the dealership into the ground, and he does not give one single shit

that's all just kind of background info so the actual thing i want to complain about makes some kind of sense. today was the day the GM decided to open up another crusade, and i got caught up in it for pretty much no damn reason.

we have this storage area we call the loft. it's a fairly small second floor type thing, that once upon a time someone built out of plywood and 2x4s. it's ugly, it's dusty, it's probably not even all that safe, and it's a dumping ground for all the crap we don't have space for anywhere else. this space has been a disorganized shit show for the last two and a half years.

well, the parts department is packed at the seams, and the only real solution to this is to put more shelves up in the loft. the GM was up in there, and decided to get pissed at me and the accounting department, and the "marketing" department for not keeping our shit up there organized.

THING IS: THE MESS UP THERE IS NOT OUR FAULT!

half the crap up there belongs to detail and service, and another quarter of it is paperwork that our state requires us to keep paper records of for a number of years before it can be sent to be shredded for customer privacy

half of the IT stuff that the GM found up there can't possibly be pinned on me. a lot of it was up there in unmarked boxes, and has been there since well before I started working here. how are you going to be mad at me for not going through UNMARKED BOXES in a space that is famously everyone's dumping ground?

everything that was in an unmarked box was also special shit from other departments! even if i knew it was there, it would not have been my call to get rid of old credit card readers and check scanners. that shit has never been on me, it's been on the departments who use those things.

the other half of the IT stuff was crap i've been wanting to get rid of for so long! but every time i bring it up, it's "well someone might need that printer so let's hang onto it" "those monitors still work, so let's hang onto them" "lets save that monitor wall mount in case we need it" EVERYTHING i was told to save when it should have gotten tossed has been collecting dust up there for well over 6 months at least.

everything else that the GM was mad about: it was the GM who said to store it in the loft in the first place. AND almost everything that gets put up there gets moved around by anyone and everyone! when shit goes missing or gets put in stupid places, it's never because of the person who's actually supposed to be keeping track of it

so anyway, since the loft is an obvious problem, the GM now has an excuse to nitpick literally every other aspect of the departments he's pissed about now. me, my friend who's the cashier, and the "marketing" department now all of a sudden have to send an email at the end of every fucking day detailing everything that we've done that day. this isn't the first time the GM has made up this stupid little rule, and every other time i've had to do it i get told to stop after about a week or two. that, or i just kind of stop sending them because i know full well that he doesn't read them. i don't think the GM has literally ever read a single email i've sent him.

the worst part about this crap is that i know he doesn't understand a single thing i do in that building, let alone how long any of it takes. one of the time i had to send these stupid emails i was told to include an estimate of how long it took me to do each thing on the list! LIKE WHAT THE FUCK?? and it also doesn't help that 99% of my job is just waiting for something to break so i can go fix it.

the only upside is that i'm a little less than a month out from switching jobs. the dealership hires this other guy to manage the network in the building, just about the only thing i don't have my hands on since i don't have the knowledge yet. he used to be the one they called to fix all their stupid little problems too until they hired me. i'm kind of being handed off to go work for him, and they'll just call me like they used to call him before. i'm also going to be essentially working to build up his company, since up until now he's been a one man operation. me and him work incredibly well together, and i've been doing work for him part time in my off hours for the last 6 months or so.

that god forsaken dealership is going to go under in the next few years if the owner doesn't fire that GM. there's a million and one issues with the way that place gets ran, and the owner doesn't seem to give a single shit. she punishes the small handful of people who actually do their jobs right for all the others' mistakes, and people are already starting to jump ship. i don't think there's a single employee there that doesn't have some kind of issue with either her or the GM or both. and the saddest part of it all is the the owner of that dealership is so fucking smart when she takes her head out of her own ass! she doesn't realize how much she leans on a small handful of people there and how close they all are to quitting.

[hyunnows]

stuck with you | kth

PAIRING: Taehyung x reader

WORD COUNT: 5.7k+

RATING: pg13

CONTENT/WARNING(S): fluff, slight angst, kinda unrealistic, farmer!Tae,mentions of death

SUMMARY: Maybe getting stuck with a stranger in a convenience store isn't so bad. // “If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?" Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

FIC SONG: Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol

TAGLIST: @imbonibi @fangirl125reader @geniejunn @sunshinelixie-lee @akshreads @6-ucci @tazishereforu

A/N: this is a bit late... HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY @aurorajm!! i worked through writer's block for you so you better love this 😤have a great day/night manny (gm or gn to the rest of you ig) and i really hope you enjoy this! also this is my last entry for the @houseofincantations​ seasonal blues event! this lyric isn’t super related to the fic but it was my inspiration of two strangers watching time pass together.

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“... I’ll pay you back, I promise,” Mina’s voice says through the phone sheepishly, but you shush her.

“Don’t worry about it, that’s what best friends are for, right? I just wish the closest store wasn’t so far into the ghost part of town,” muttering your second sentence as you drop a bag of Ruffles into your basket. "Anyway, my phone is going to die, so let me finish shopping and I'll see you in a bit.”

Hanging up, you feel your stomach twist unpleasantly, and rush to the restroom for a vomiting fit. Maybe you shouldn't have eaten from that sketchy, unclean restaurant for dinner…

Caught up in your nausea, you don't hear the intercom’s announcement. "The store will be closing in two minutes. Please exit quickly.”

It's only when you emerge from the bathroom that you notice the shut-off lights and locked doors, and you realize you've been trapped inside the shop, panic filling your senses.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Fear evident in your voice as you hear something bump into a shelf, whipping around to face them. "Hello?”

“What's going on?” A deep, thick voice responds. It's from a tall, broad figure with large, unruly curls, and you can just make out his face from the dim moonlight. “Are we locked in?”

You nod, then realize it's probably too dark for him to see you. "I think so… Damn it, she's going to be so pissed at me…” and you instinctively reach for your phone, biting your lip when it refuses to turn on. "No no no… do you have a phone?”

He nods. "The reception's too weak, and my phone is dying…”

You find the nearest shelf and slide down to your knees against it, your hands threading through your hair gently in worry. You were trapped in a variety store, which was placed very inconveniently far from everything--with no phone, and a stranger. Great.

“It's fine [Y/N], it's about eleven pm, and the store opens at six, that's not too long,” you convince yourself, though it's not very believable and you can only lie to yourself for so long.

The man trots over quietly, sliding down beside you. "So… Wanna just wait it out?” A slight drawl in his voice that makes you think he's a local to the area, the pronunciation all too similar to Mina's--which you find comforting enough for now.

You nod, the moonlight at the perfect angle for him to see your features. You can see him too, his soft cheeks and unique eyes, and his boxy smile when he begins again. "I'm Kim Taehyung, what about you?”

You outstretched your hand, deciding this is better than not having any company. "[L/N] [Y/N],” your voice monotone, still upset at your situation.

“That's a pretty name,” he compliments, shifting a bit to get comfortable. "What're you doing here? You don't sound like you're from Daegu, so what're you doing this far into the countryside?”

You shrug. "My best friend lives out here, I'm supposed to be visiting,” a frown on your lips.

He nods. "I see. Sorry, you're spending it stuck in here. I promise this isn't something that happens normally around here, though,” His joke makes you laugh half-heartedly. “I live nearby here, on a strawberry farm.”

You nod, not paying too much attention to his words because honestly, you'll probably never talk to him again after tonight. “That's cool…”

He nods, tight-lipped and awkward. “It's kind of late, we should probably try and sleep through this so it doesn't feel as long of a time,” and you agree. You both spend the next couple of minutes finding cheap, warm jackets, blankets, and barely comfortable throw pillows, stacking them into two makeshift beds.

Tucking yourself in, you mumble quietly. "You'll wake up tomorrow and somebody will let you out,” your voice filled with hope as you close your eyes, falling asleep before you can hear Taehyung wish you. "Goodnight. “

You weren't going to lie, waking up in the cold on the floor of some random store at one in the morning was not something you ever needed to experience. A snowstorm had swept through the area while the two of you slept, which meant the power was out and the many glass windows had caused the temperature to drop tenfold.

It was still thickly blanketed with white outside, far too dangerous for anyone to drive, so you assumed you'd be stuck for the rest of the day until the weather calmed down.

“Taehyung, wake up!” You whisper-yell into his blanket-jacket mountain of warmth, unwrapping him to see his arms tightly wound around a teddy bear, sound asleep. “Taehyung! The power went out and we're snowed in!”

He groans tiredly, rubbing his eyes and mumbling. "Just a bit longer Hyung…” Blissfully oblivious to the offended look on your face. You yank the bear away, startling him. "What--what's wrong?”

Rolling your eyes, you drop the bear and point outside, trying not to shiver too hard from the cold. "We have no electricity and we're snowed in,” he didn't need every one of these jackets for himself.

Right on cue, a breeze sweeps in through a vent, causing him to wiggle uncomfortably from the chill. “So… Did you want my bed or something…?”

You facepalm at his suggestion, shaking your head no violently. "I want you to help me get the power back.” He nods, stretching as he stands and lazily dragging his feet around the store, searching for a power box.

Eventually, you find it--he wasn't trying that hard in all honesty--and manage to get the lights back, but the thermostat still isn't functioning.

Shivering, you fail to warm yourself, despite the dozens of sweaters and jackets on you. You glance at Taehyung curiously, and you're almost upset at how comfortable he seems in his mountain of materials.

He catches your gaze after a few minutes, waving slowly, then returning to the book he'd found in the office. You would think he'd pick up on your discomfort and offer you some of his plentiful warmth, but he doesn't. Instead, he reads lowly to himself, your determined footsteps his music for now.

Growling, you wrap one of the blankets tighter around your figure, shivering violently. Taehyung hears your teeth chatter, and finally takes notice of your paling, freezing figure. Without hesitation, he waddles over to you, carrying as many warm blankets on his shoulders as possible and plopping them down around you. You jump at the sudden weight on your shoulders but thank him genuinely.

“Thanks.”

He waves at you dismissively. "Don’t mention it,” and then he starts towards the shelves, a committed look in his chocolate eyes as he searches them swiftly. You watch him stop and grin, before childishly grabbing a box and pulling it out. “Ah, I should’ve thought of this before.”

You cock your head to the side, wondering what he “should’ve thought of before”. Then suddenly, a warm gust of air passes over you, causing you to shiver in delight. "Oh my gosh, you’re a genius! Why didn’t I think of heaters before…?”

“Is that warm enough?”

You nod, expressing friendliness. "Yeah, thank you,” and he grins back at you before pulling out the second heater and plugging it in beside yours. You both sigh in content at the warmth, finally relaxing.

Then the heaters clank, make three loud clicks, and the heat is gone. Your five seconds of relief were over as the two of you shiver violently from the cold. Maybe we're cursed, you both think, until the heaters suddenly start up again, confusing the both of you. Oh well, better than nothing.

The two of you sit in silence, awkwardly shifting beside each other to try and get as warm as possible. Only the heaters’ whirring quietly fill the air, acting as white noise… Until a growl sounds between the two of you.

You feel your cheeks redden under Taehyung's questioning gaze. He opens his mouth to speak, but you beat him to it. “I think we should look for something to eat…”

Your tone elicits a chuckle from the brunet. “I think I saw a microwave in the break room, so there's probably reheatable food in there.”

You nod, following the friendly stranger--knowing his name and spending one night trapped in a store still meant you were strangers--a blanket tightly wrapped around your form.

“So, are you a spicy ramen or hot pocket kind of girl?” Taehyung grins at you, holding two hot pockets and a ramen cup.

“Spicy ramen, it'll make me warmer.” Taehyung rolls his eyes at you, scoffing in mock offense.

“I wanted hot pockets anyway.”

You shake your head, cracking a smile at him. He grins back at you, his eyes squishing up from his bread cheeks. “You’re smiling, are we becoming friends?”

“Maybe.”

“We have to make better beds than this.”

You nod in agreement at Taehyung’s statement. Your piled jackets and blankets were only so effective in the messy state they were in. Tapping his chin, his eyes light up. “Grab the other end of this blanket and help me move it over here.”

You do as he asks, albeit with a bit of confusion on your face. Then he gestures to another blanket, and then another, until the both of you have created a queen-sized blanket mattress.

“I could’ve sworn I saw a fitted sheet somewhere around here…”

You check around you, eyes landing on a scrunched ball of fabric in the corner. Lifting it, you open it up. “Found it.”

Taehyung grins at you, taking one end from your hands and stretching it over the thick pile of blankets. Clapping his hands, he smiles at you proudly. “Now we have a bed!”

You’re about to smile in triumph when you realize, there’s only one bed now. “But there’s two of us.”

Taehyung falters a bit, before shrugging. “I’ll stay on my side if you stay on yours. Plus, we’ll have more body heat.”

Although you really don’t know this guy too well, you can’t argue with his reasoning. The two of you drag the space heaters toward the bed, both of you sporting blankets over your shoulders.

Licking your lips in boredom, you sigh aloud. “Well, what do we do now?”

The brunet chews his lip, looking nowhere in particular as he thinks of something. Snapping his fingers at you, his face lights up. “We can tell stories.”

Your brows furrow at him. “Storytime? Like, scary stories or personal anecdotes?”

“I’d prefer personal anecdotes, so I can get to know who I’m stuck with, but scary stories could work too.”

You shrug. There’s nothing better to do, so why not? “Fine. You go first, tell me your most embarrassing story.”

He looks up, thinking hard to give the best possible answer. “I was running late for college once, and I was in such a rush that I tripped on the staircase. Naturally, I reached out for the closest thing. Unfortunately, that was a guy’s leg. Not only did I fall down the stairs, but I brought his pants down with me too. On the bright side, he’s my best friend now. On the not-so-bright side, all my friends saw me fall down the stairs.”

You try to stifle your laughter, but he just shrugs, encouraging you to let it all out. “Wow, that--that is pretty embarrassing. I don’t think I have anything to top that.”

“Well, let’s find out. C’mon, Stranger, tell me your most embarrassing memory.” His eyes teasing, even in the dim light from the moon reflecting off the snow. “I won’t judge.”

“I pretended to be sick for the first time in second grade and I didn't know what I was supposed to do, so I said my head hurt. When they asked how I felt, I kept saying my head was tight and voices were telling me to push kids… Now that I’m older, I realize she was already calling my mom after I said my head was hurting…” You cringe, sighing.

Taehyung’s laughing so hard beside you, there’s no sound escaping his shaking figure. His hand is gripping his thigh, while the other covers his body grin as he attempts to control himself. His attempt fails miserably, until he’s wheezing out. "The voices told me to.” His voice teasing enough to make you beet red.

“Shut up, at least nobody got pantsed in my story!”

“The voices!”

“It’s your turn to tell a story again.” You groan, flustered. You can’t help the giggles that escape you as you recall the memory once more. Second grade [Y/N] was out for blood.

His laughter dies down—for the most part—and he nods. “This time the category is… dumb ideas.” He makes jazz hands motions whilst saying the last two words, and then moves onto the anecdote. He has to contain himself for a moment, thinking about the far too many dumb ideas he’s had over twenty-five years. “One time I was babysitting my younger cousins. They were both, like, seven or eight, and I was around fifteen. I took them out to this fountain at a nearby park and had them fish out the coins from the fountain. Park security ended up chasing us out of the park afterward, but we had a heavy load of change.”

“Wow, you pull down people’s pants and stick your cousins in water fountains? I’m beginning to think you're a villain.” He throws his head back in laughter and urges you to tell your story. “I didn’t know the answer to a question in high school, so I used whiteout. My teacher gave me a half-point for creativity but told me I can’t avoid my problems by using whiteout.”

He titters, not as hardily as he had last time, but still obviously amused. “Man, I wish I could’ve passed after I did something like that. My teachers were always out to get me. ‘Taehyung, you talk too loud’ and ‘Taehyung you’re too noisy’ or ‘Taehyung this is history, not math’.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve behaved more.”

“Fair enough.”

You two swap countless memories between the two of you for a good hour or so, aunty sign of drowsiness the two of you had before gone. Eventually, after laughing your lungs out, the two of you calm down a bit, like hyper teens at a sleepover.

Shivering slightly, Taehyung nods to you. “So, what do you do for a living?”

“I work in retail,” he cringes. "yep, that’s usually the reaction.”

“Well, I hope that you have better customers in the future… or transfer to a different field of work.” You chuckle, wrapping your blanket tighter around your frame. Straightening his shoulders, he puffs out his chest. “I, as I told you, live on a strawberry farm, which is where I work too. Usually, I tend to the animals though, the strawberries are more my mom’s thing.”

You nod, sighing. Taking a glance out the doors, you feel your stomach churn in uncomfortably. What if nobody came for you in the morning? What if you were stuck in here for days? As panic sets in, you feel like crying. Maybe you were more tired than you thought.

Taehyung takes notice of your more rigid stature, concern filling him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

You wave at him, trying not to let yourself fall apart. It wasn’t anything big, someone would have to come to get you… at some point. The thought only dampens your mood further, a frown taking over your features. “I’m just stressed out because of our situation… what if nobody comes in the morning? What if we’re stuck here?”

Taehyung slumps a bit but brings his hand to your shoulder. “Hey, they’re going to come… and if they don’t, I’ll be here to keep you company until the snow melts. The store has power, we have food, we have heat, and luckily, there’s a bathroom here. We’re going to be fine.”

His words calm you a bit, and you nod. “Thanks.”

“No problem. We may be strangers, but I’m here if you need anything.”

As time passes, the heaters aren’t enough, and you two find yourselves shivering more and more. You think of grabbing more heaters, only to find that you and Taehyung are occupying the only two. This store really needed to improve their stock.

“You cold too?”

“Yeah… these heaters are small.”

“So… want to cuddle for body heat?”

You stare at him, shocked. “What?”

“Y’know, we’re both adults, and body heat is better than freezing, right? We can just lean against each other and share blankets to stay warm.” His face blanks as he stares at you as if it’s the most obvious solution in the world. He keeps his innocent gaze on you for a good few moments, before shrugging. “I mean, we’re already going to share a bed, I’m sure some elbows and limbs are going to get tangled up at some point. We’re just trying to stay warm…”

He trails off, wiggling his brows at you mischievously. You stare at him, shaking your head in confusion. “What?”

Cracking his rectangular smile, he teases. “Unless you like me already. I wouldn’t blame you, I’m very popular with the ladies.”

You snort, facepalming. Of course, you got stuck with one of the most childish and jovial stranger possible. Still, you suppose it’s better than a creep or total nutcase. Waving your hands in an ‘x’ motion, you oppose his ridiculous theory. “We’ve known each other for a total of not even five hours, don’t get ahead of yourself.”

He mumbles something along the lines of. "I’ve had people ask me out in a twentieth of that,” but lets it go, scooting beside you and leaning against you lightly. You didn’t seem like the love-at-first-sight type anyway. Quickly losing interest in everything around him, he sparks up another topic of conversation. “What’s your type?”

“In men? Wow, and you thought I liked you.” He rolls his eyes, nudging your shoulder softly. “Fine… I guess I just like nice guys. Anyone who can make me laugh and smile, that’s it. I don’t really care much for money or looks. As long as they make me feel loved, that’s all I want in a guy.”

He nods, thinking about your answer. “Hm, that’s sweet. For me, I just want a girl who likes me for me, not my looks or anything, especially since I probably wouldn’t match their expectations financially or career-wise.”

“I see. I guess we’re both kinda similar in taste--we just want someone who loves us.” You pause, thinking about your words. “Wow, I sound sad.” Leaning against him a bit more, you laugh at yourself. Hey, it’s for warmth! “So, what are you planning on doing once we get out of here?”

Taehyung looks into his lap. “I don’t know. It may seem unbelievable, but I don’t have many friends out here. They all live in Seoul and Busan now. I don’t like going out alone, so I don’t go out often.”

“Oh,” that sounded rude. "I mean, I’m sorry, that sucks.”

He shrugs. “It’s not that bad most of the time. I like hanging out with the animals on my farm.”

“Hm.” You hum, staring at his dimly lit handsome features. Who would’ve known someone so beautiful and funny could be so lonely? “Well, when we get out of here, maybe we can hang out sometime.”

He perks up at your offer, beaming at you. Cute. “Really? I’d love to!”

You flush a bit but smile back. “It’s settled then. What should we do, an escape room?” A playful tinge to your voice. He shoots a look that says, ‘Don’t tempt me’.

“I was thinking maybe we could go to an amusement park or ice skating. Those are always more fun with partners, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds better than getting trapped somewhere else.” You laugh at your comment, a light chortle leaving his lips beside you.

Maybe you’re just tired, but you’re almost glad you two got stuck here in the first place. You could’ve been locked up with some weirdo, creep, or someone who would leave you to keep yourself warm, someone who wouldn’t give two shits whether you slept warm or ate.

Almost as if reading your thoughts, Taehyung breaks the comfortable silence between you two. “This might sound weird, but I’m happy I got stuck here with you. Like I said before, I don’t have a lot of friends and I’m alone most of the time, so getting to spend a few hours with a pretty and cool stranger like you is the highlight of my year.” He thanks the darkness for masking the tomato red on his face.

“Pretty and cool? Are we smooth talking me now?” Giving him a playfully flirty look, you can’t help but think the same.

He raises his hands in the air, surrendering. “I’m just being honest.”

“Keep talking like that and I might have to ask you out.”

“Promise?”

“Taehyung!” It’s been so long since you’ve laughed so freely with someone. Mina was great and all, but the two of you led very different lives and could rarely meet up and be free--not to mention how you had both changed over time, your senses of humor and hobbies differing so much it was hard to plan hangouts mutually enjoyable for the both of you. You almost feel bad for enjoying your time with Taehyung right now more than you usually enjoyed your time with your best friend. “I’m glad I got stuck with you too, I’m having a lot of fun.”

“I bet we could have more fun.”

You feel a smile tug on your lips since so far Taehyung has had pretty good ideas for entertainment. “What’re you thinking?”

“I saw a small TV in the break room, I bet they’ve got some DVDs in there too. Up for a mini-marathon?” How could you possibly say no? Not to mention the fact that you were supposed to have a movie marathon with Mina but obviously, fate had other plans.

“One thing you’ll come to know about me, is that I am always up for a movie marathon.”

The two of you migrate over to the tiny, worn couch in the break room, after much work. Walking in the frozen air was not something you were up for. Luckily, Taehyung didn’t mind carrying you bridal-style all the way to the couch, plopping you gently on the right cushion and wrapping a blanket around you before taking a spot beside you, the two of you huddling for warmth. Usually, you would never be this close to a stranger, but something about Taehyung made you feel like you’ve known him forever.

“What did you pick?”

Taehyung shrugs. “Some ninety’s horror movie. But don’t worry, if you get scared, you can always hold onto me.”

“I’m beginning to think you want to be more than just my friend,” you tease, a small smirk on your features as you get comfy beside him.

He whispers, “Perhaps,” peering down at you affectionately.

Taehyung almost wants to scold himself for the way his heart beats in his chest from you being so close. You two were strangers, after all. Yet, why does he feel as if he’s known you for eternity?

Soon enough, as he predicted, you’re clutching his arm in anticipation, the movie much more thrilling and intense than you originally expected from a small, thirty-year-old film. He’s chuckling at your nail-biting, rolling his eyes. “And here I thought you had thicker skin than this.”

“W-what gave you that idea?” You barely manage to hold in your shrill of terror as the killer hops out of nowhere, knife in hand as he swings it dangerously close to the protagonist’s face. Why aren’t the characters running?

Shrugging, the brunet leans closer, wrapping his arms around you tightly. “Is it just me, or is it getting colder? I’m not sure cuddling like this is gonna keep us warm much longer.”

Your grip on his arm loosens as he shifts you two around, and you realize he’s right. It is colder than before, and noticeably so. Glancing at the heaters, you groan, catching sight of the no longer blinking green light. “Taehyung, the heater is broken.”

“What?”

You point, cringing when the cold reaches your fingers. “That heater, the light isn’t blinking, and it’s plugged in. It’s broken.”

Taehyung quickly untangles his arms from around you, rushing to check the heater. Unfortunately, you’re right, the heater is broken, and the other is barely hanging on. “No, no, no no no--” “It’s not that bad, right? It’s not that cold and we made the first few hours without heat.”

He shakes his head in disagreement. “Yeah, but it wasn’t that cold yet. We woke up when the snow was fresh. Right now, the building is covered in snow, and if we fall asleep, we could die of hypothermia.”

“We could die?” You panic, the anxiety you felt earlier coming back tenfold to settle in your chest. What if you never get to say goodbye to your friends and family? What if it’s too late when they find you? What if--

Taehyung holds your shoulders in his large hands, his face eye-level with yours. He stares at you, eyes jumping to look at both of yours attentively, something comforting yet fearful shining in his eyes. “We’ll be fine.”

When you said you were glad to be stuck with Taehyung, you didn’t think that meant you could possibly die locked in a convenience store. Now, you wish nothing more than for you to have never stepped foot in the cheap shop.

The fear engulfing you only intensifies when the TV and dim lighting shuts off suddenly, the glass windows rattling harshly. The blizzard is starting up again, and you just want to wake up from this nightmare.

You can’t help the waterworks that begin to spill either. The possibility of being trapped until you give out too overwhelming. This was supposed to be a nice getaway weekend with your old friend, not some terrifying adaptation of The Room with some random person. Your figure shakes with every quiet sob.

“Hey, don’t cry, I’m right here. As long as we stay warm and awake, nothing will happen. The owner will come in a few hours, and we’ll be home free.” Taehyung comforts, slowly rubbing your back as you cry into your knees, shivering from the low temperature. “Let’s move to the beds and we’ll figure everything out from there.

After tucking you both in as close to each other as possible, protecting you from the warmth as Taehyung tucks you both in. “In the meantime, we can play rock, paper, scissors...?” You nod, trying not to cry--you’re failing miserably, but you manage to stop sobbing eventually. The two of you sit in front of each other, playing over and over, until you break down again in less than five minutes.

Taehyung doesn’t know how to comfort someone, much less someone he still barely knows. “[Y/N], don’t cry, please.”

Wiping your face aggressively, you sob. “We could die in here, Taehyung, without ever getting to see our families again or say goodbye. I-I think crying is pretty appropriate right now.” Why did you have to use the store’s bathroom?

“That’s not gonna happen, we’re going to be fine--”

“You don’t know that! We’re freezing to death in here and you’re trying to make it seem like everything is fine!” You shouldn’t be so mean, you know that, but the cold is starting to reach your hands, and you’re not sure how long you can go before you pass out from the cold. “I’m sorry--i just don’t want to die alone.”

The brunet scoots closer to you, taking your shivering fists in his palms and warming them. “I won’t let you die, and besides, you’re not alone. I’m here too.”

“Taehyung…”

“Tell me about yourself while we wait the night out, vent to me, or tell me something dumb. Just focus on me, okay?” His big, chocolate eyes boring into your own. “Let’s get to know each other better. How old are you? Where do you live?”

Through your tears, you mumble out, “Stalker much,” drawing a quiet, breathy laugh. Regardless, you tell him the answers he’s looking for. Your birthday, the apartment you lived in, where you wanted to travel. You grow curious of him, too, asking him about his family and his animals. You learn about how to tell if a strawberry is sweet, and how difficult it is to be both stylish and a farmer, with how often he has to sacrifice fashion for function.

The conversation feels quick, because it’s so easy to talk to him, but you two have been conversing for over two hours, eventually ending up laying down and facing each other under your many blankets. Why did this convenience store have more blankets than anything else?

Your eyelids begin to grow heavy, the drowsiness of being up all night eating away at you and lulling you into a nap slowly. In your sleepy state, you sigh. “I’m scared.”

“Then you can hold my hand. What are you afraid of?” The kind stranger you’ve come to be very fond of inquires, his already low voice even deeper--he’s tired, too. With how quiet the two of you have grown, he can almost hear the wind howling outside, and each snowflake that taps against the store’s roof and walls.

“I’m starting to fall asleep, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay awake.” You admit, forcing your eyes open to gaze into his own. You take his advice however, gripping his hand.

He sits up slightly, frowning, “No, you’re just cold. Here, I know it’s odd, but if I spoon you, you’ll be warmer.” You nod, turning so your back faces him, and his thick, strong arms engulf your freezing body. Yet, even so, his warmth isn’t enough, and you find your consciousness slipping further.

“I’m still sleepy…” You mumble.

He holds you tighter, frown deepening. “C’mon, you can’t fall asleep.” But it’s too late. You’ve already passed out in his arms, snoring lightly in his ear. “[Y/N]? [Y/N], wake up. Wake up,” he shakes you frantically, holding your face as his eyes sting, watering slightly. He doesn’t want you to die, you’ve become too important to him in one night. You accepted him for being too playful in your serious situation, indulged in his games and long conversations, and made him feel like someone wanted to hang out with him despite his antics and flaws.

He can’t let you go without trying to save you.

The white walls illuminated by fluorescent lights aren’t what you remember falling asleep in when your eyes flutter open. You're warm, and albeit a bit tired, mostly rejuvenated. But, how did you get here? One second you were huddling with Taehyung for warmth and now you’re in a hospital bed--wait.

Where’s Taehyung?

You quickly start to scramble out the bed, ready to pull out your IV, when a nurse passes your door and spots you. “Hey, what’re you doing? Get back in bed, your body is still in shock!”

“How did I get here? Who brought me? Did they bring anyone else?” Your questions rapid fire at them, barely giving her any time to speak.

Laying you back down and checking your vitals, she slowly calms your nerves, mumbling for you to let her talk. “A boy brought you a few hours ago. He must’ve been really worried about you to carry you over here in that blizzard at five am. Honestly, that was both responsible and irresponsible of him--he was like ice when we got him.”

Your eyes widen, “He what?”

“Carried you through the cold. I wish someone cared about me that much,” she pouts. With a sigh and a clap, she perks up, “He’s cute too, you’re a lucky one. Do you want me to get you a wheelchair and you can go see him?”

You nod immediately, “Please.”

She does as you ask, rolling you down the hall, not before draping a thin blanket over you. His room isn’t too far from yours, and you’re thankful because at the pace your nurse was pushing you at, what should take five minutes would take five hours.

Soon enough (not) you reach Taehyung’s room, and she wheels you in. He’s sitting up in his bed, playing a game on his phone. You’re almost jealous of how good he looks after almost freezing to death. The universe definitely had favorites.

“Taehyung!” You call, disregarding the nurse’s warnings and jumping out of the wheelchair, dragging the blanket behind you as you rush to hug him. He drops his phone, grinning at you when he processes your presence, and squeezing you tight in his arms. Then, after getting your fill of the hug, you smack his chest. “Are you crazy? Why would you walk through the freezing cold? You could have died!”

“Ow! Ow!” He whines, rubbing his chest where you had whacked him. With a pout, he stares at you, eyes big and round. “At least I saved you! Otherwise, you would have died!”

The nurse butts in, an apologetic smile on her face. “Can we please stop yelling about death, it’s a little sensitive in here.”

You facepalm, apologizing. “I’m so sorry, please excuse us.” She waves you off, telling you not to worry, and you turn back to Taehyung with a sigh. “Thank you, and I’m happy we’re both safe.”

“Speaking of how we’re both safe and sound now, what do you think about going out sometime?” Taehyung grins, slight nervousness in his tone.

Your pinks redden slightly as you nod. If a guy who carried you thorough a snow storm and stayed up all night with you wasn’t worth it, then who was? “Here, give me your number--where’s my phone?”

Taehyung’s eyes snap open,and he coughs. “Uh…”

You sigh, “You’re lucky I’ve grown fond of you overnight, or you’d be dead.”

“I’m sure I would be, Ms. “The-voices-told-me-to”,” he teases, and you can’t help but feel lucky to have gotten stuck with him too.

“Hey!”

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[fuck-customers]

Tw for some talk about abuse.

So I'm back at WacDonalds. The last time I was here I ended up having a psychiatrist tell me that I needed to quit after the place gave me a mental breakdown. But I lost my job during covid and this was the only place hiring.

The place is under new ownership and I guess all the gms had to go to a meeting to talk about how to handle angry customers. I just heard my gm tell one of the managers that it was important to make sure customers went home happy because if they leave angry, they could take that anger home with them and maybe take it out on their kids.

Like... I get the idea that we shouldnt make a customers day bad by visiting, but also fuck that idea. If a customer is emotionally fucked enough that they go home and ABUSE A CHILD then absolutely DO NOT imply that is our fault or could have been presented with timely service and fresh fries. Like nobody is to blame for domestic abuse but the abuser. Wtf is this idea even??? I thought maybe I had heard wrong but the guy standing next to me also heard it and was also pissed off. We both grew up in abusive households, so we very naturally became fixers and mediators of problems which is why we are both put in service all the time, so that whole idea is doubley fucked up.

[365days365movies]

March 7, 2021: Onward (2020) (Part One)

Finding Nemo.

That’s my favorite Pixar film. Real talk, no arguments, and today’s movie? NOT dethroning it. This movie is so hard-wired into my brain, that the second I typed the words of the title, the theme song ran through my head, where it lives rent-free. It will be a cold day when I don’t find an excuse to shout “NEMOOOO!!!! I HAVE TO FIND MY SON!!” at any opportune moment. I will never stop swimming. Whenever I catch a Chinchou or Lanturn in a Pokémon game, I name it “Goodfeeling’sgone”.

SHARK BAIT OOH HA HA

YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE DEPTHS OF MY LOVE FOR THIS MOVIE.

...Ahem. So, yeah, I love FInding Nemo. For the record, the sequel ain’t bad. And also for the record, there’s only one Pixar movie that I consider to be bad, and it’s the one you’d think. You know, the one about ageism. The one where somebody dies by torture? The bad spy movie?

...the second one about cars?

Which means, YES. I DON’T THINK The Good Dinosaur IS THAT BAD! Not exactly good, but its gorgeous, and just kinda boring, not outright terrible. That Styracosaurus, though...that dude is great.

Anyway, off of Pixar for a sec, huh? What about fantasy? I’m a big tabletop RPG nerd, and I’m currently the GM for a Pathfinder campaign, a Pokémon RPG, and a Mutants and Masterminds game, while also playing in a Pathfinder game as well. Yeah, I’m a busy dewd. But what I’m saying is, this movie should be preaching to the choir for me. I’m a Pixar lover who plays RPGs. I’m ready for this. I’m ready for CGI Bright. Which is another way of saying, I’m ready for a version of Bright that doesn’t suck.

So, why haven’t I seen it until now? I mean...COVID-19. This film got FUCKED. But, no matter! It’s on Disney Plus, I’ve got Disney Plus, so let’s get this baby STARTED! Let’s get updated on some Pixar! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

OK, immediately digging the soundtrack over the Disney logo as we jump in here! Very ethereal, very fantasy, very LotR, I LIKE it, I LIKE it! And then...long ago, the world was full of wonder!

We get a view of the world of olde, with magic and many mystical, mythical creatures living together and adventuring. However, as magic wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to use, it eventually gave way to technology, fading away in a world now very similar to ours.

Basically, it’s about the same as our world, except for a few different races, and the fact that dragons are basically dogs, and unicorns are basically raccoons, which is fuckin’ fantastic.

We enter the home of teenage elf Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) and introverted now-16-year-old who lives with his mother, Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt). Barley’s a tabletop RPG nerd who’s also a fan of the magical past. Said obsessions cause a strain on his relationship with Ian, and with that of his mother’s boyfriend, centaur policeman Colt Bronco (Mel Rodriguez).

After a discussion about Barley’s recent attempt to protect an old magical monument from destruction, he accidentally damages the sweatshirt that Ian is wearing, which was owned by their late father, Wilder. Ian rushes out, flustered, despite Barley’s attempts to bond with him. Well, looks like we have a sense of the plot for this one.

On his way to school, Barley stops to get some food when he meets Gaxton (Wilmer Valderrama), an old college friend of his father’s. From Gaxton, he learns things about his father that he never knew, like that he was bold and standout. From there, Barely pledges to try and be more self-confident, like his father.

Whiiiiiiich, doesn’t exactly work once he gets to school. He fails to stand-up to a jerky guy at school, he fails in his driving class, and he fails to ask other high school kids to his birthday party. But to be fair, Barley helps a bit with that last one when he shows up with Guinevere, his busted-ass van with a unicorn painted on the side. Which is supposed to be uncool...but I kinda dig it, not gonna lie.

After that, Ian completely flubs the invitation bit, confusing the people he was talking to, and disappointing himself in the process. He gets a ride home with Barley, and goes home to talk to a tape recording of his dad. Which is...beautifully sad, and somehow very easy to identify with. So, yeah, it’s gonna be that kind of Pixar movie.

Ian talks to his mom about his father at his age, asking if he was ever unsure. She says yes, but couples this with a surprise: a gift from his late father, who died of a terminal illness shortly after Ian’s birth. The gift is for both Ian and Barley, and was meant to be opened when they were both over 16.

She gets it from the attic, and they unwrap it, where it’s revealed to be a wizard’s staff. Which is weird, because Wilder was an accountant. In a pocket of the wrapping cloth, there’s a letter written by Wilder with the narration from the beginning of the film (that “Long ago” bit).

Also included is a spell, written by Wilder so that he could see who his sons grew up to be. This “Visitation Spell” would appear to be a way to bring Wilder back for 24 hours. Barley, being the magic-lover that he is, tries multiple times to cast the spell with the staff, but fails to do so, much to his and Ian’s great disappointment.

However, when Ian tries to read the spell out of curiosity later, the staff begins to react, and the spell begins to work. Barley comes in as this is happening, and the spell works...halfway. It starts to fail, and Barley offers to help, but Ian pulls the staff away, and the spell stops as the Phoenix crystal inside it shatters.

Looks like another bust, but it’s not a complete failure. And if you’ve seen literally any trailer for this movie, you know what happens.

Although it’s just his legs and feet, it’s still Wilden Lightfoot (Kyle Bornheimer...technically). The boys decide to try and complete the spell, but need another Phoenix Gem to do so. According to Barley’s “historically accurate” TTRPG, Quests of Lore, they will be able to find one by accepting a quest from the place where all quests start: the Manticore’s Tavern. And so, the quest begins!

The brothers and their half-dad board Guinevere and drive to the Manticore’s Tavern. On the way, Barley convinces Ian to practice some spells from the games rulebook, but they don’t work because Ian’s not invoking his passion (or his “heart’s fire”, as Barley calls it). Meanwhile, Laurel figures out where they’re headed, but doesn’t know exactly why...yet.

After the journey, they make it to the Manticore’s Tavern, which is now essentially a themed Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant, owned and managed by Corey (Octavia Spencer), a very overworked manticore. Which is pretty great, not gonna lie.

They try to get the actual map to the Phoenix’s Gem from her in order to conjure their Dad, but she no longer sends adventurers on dangerous quests, mostly because she doesn’t want to get sued by any injured adventurers. When Ian argues with her about this, she IMMEDIATELY DIVES INTO AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS/MID LIFE CRISIS!

It’s, uh...it’s kind of amazing. Having completely lost it at this point, she basically tears down the entire building with her bare hands and fire-breath. Unfortunately, the map to the Phoenix Gem is burnt in the process of Corey’s literal meltdown. However, as Wilden’s about to be crushed by a couple of falling beams, Ian taps into his heart’s fire.

Nice. They get out of there, and head out for the Gem, using a child’s placemat replica of the real map to make their way to a place called Raven’s Point. However, rather than just follow the goddamn map, Barley decides to go on much more dangerous road known as the “Path of Peril”, once again following the “call of adventure” and his gut.

Which...yeah, Barley’s not really considering the reality of this whole situation, which fits his personality. He’s a dreamer, despite the rational and reasonable solution in front of him. And, in case you weren’t sure, I’m pretty sure that isn’t a good thing.

Ian points out the correct point that what actually matters is that they send enough time with their father, and they do indeed take the straightforward path. Good! Barley listened to Ian’s suggestion after all. However, they hit another snag when the car breaks down, completely out of gas. Problem.

Meanwhile, Laurel makes her way to the Manticore’s place, only to find it on fire! She meets Corey, who tells her that she’s met her boys, and told them about everything...except the curse. Also, there’s a curse. Laurel, who is the best movie Mom ever, tricks a policeman interviewing Corey to diverting his attention away from her, and smuggles her into her car to help find (and maybe rescue) her sons. 

Stuck off the freeway without gas, a desperate Ian asks Barley if there are any spells that can get them more gas. They concoct a plan involving a shrinking and growing spell, but that immediately goes wrong as Barley tries to instruct Ian, only frustrating him further, and causing him to fumble the spell and hit Barley with it, making him tiny. 

They decide to head to a gas station, where a group of pixie bikers has just arrived. This backfires when Barley, lacking basically any common sense, ends up insulting the biker leader, Dewdrop (Grey Griffin) and her ancestors. Nice one, Barley. As they escape from the pissed off pixies, the tiny Barley is unable to drive, forcing the driver’s anxiety-riddled Ian to drive, overcoming his fears from earlier by force, being chased by the pixies all the way. It’s a pretty good sequence, to be honest.

Well, they escape the Pixies...but not the cops. And I think that’ll be a good place to pick up in the next part! See you there!

[mylifeasaserver]

It was too easy.

In the restaurant’s ever-present quest to make me suffer, sometimes shitty guests or incompetent management won’t inflict quite enough pain for their liking.

It’s times like these that call for real agony to be applied.

Coworker Karen decided she wants to work nights. Not because the schedule works better for her or because she thinks she’ll like it better. No, it’s because she knows that we help one another out - like it should be.

So her expectations were that she could do the stupid-bordering-insane things she does and the rest of us will just handle her shit for her. Now, many of you probably expect that I tried to make her life hell from the moment she walked in, but I was asked by the night manager to give her a fair chance. To treat this as kind of a fresh start kind of thing for her. 

Given that I respect the night manager, I agreed - on the condition that she was sat down and had it explained to her the way things are done on this shift.

She agreed. And the night manager fulfilled her part of the bargain. Only took a few minutes since we’re not doing anything particularly complicated or special here. 

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I have a lot of younger servers on shift with me. Some as young as 16. They all do a damn fine job too - sometimes I have to put them back on track but for the overwhelming majority of the time they’re excellent coworkers.

Unfortunately I may have trained them too well as they’re eager to help even the undeserving.

And by this point you know exactly what went on and even though I will tell you I probably don’t have to.

I find out that two of my 16 year olds have been watching her section for her for about 20 minutes. Why? So she could make a phone call of course. She comes back from her call, then goes out to her car. Meanwhile, we’re all watching her section for her, taking care of existing tables and greeting new ones. Wasn’t busy really so it wasn’t hard. I help the girls out since that’s what I do.

She comes back in, transfers the tickets to herself to ensure she gets the tips, then proceeds to tell them to keep watching her shit so she can make another call.

I closed her section at that point, and told the girls not to transfer any more tickets to her. If they’re taking care of the tables then they get the tips. I then let them know that yes, she would get bitchy about it and to just refer her to me.

Then I let the night manager know what I’d done and said I was sending Karen home. She went with it.

The hostess was on board. The other servers were on board.

Karen was not on board. It was almost an hour before she came back from her call, only to discover her empty (albeit clean) section. She went after the kids - which is a bad choice. They sent her to me, then came and found me before she did. Fast way to piss me off: go after somebody I like.

Basically I told her she was cut, don’t bother with side work or your section, just go. Naturally she tore ass to the office to get the night manager to side with her which didn’t happen, then she left after swearing she was gonna talk to the GM to get me in trouble.

Go ahead, dumbass. 

This is MY shift. Not even the night manager can stop my bullshit now. -J