#Another one for the queue because all the previous ones I queued are coming through dkkdkd | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

svtshine · 4 years

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Meeting Vernon for the first time

title: A meeting by chance

pairing: Hansol x reader

genre: oneshot, scenario

about: fluff, fansign!au

summary: you weren’t actually a fan of seventeen however your roommate was a big fan of their band. She was supposed to attend their fansign but she unfortunately fell sick that day and begged you to go in her place, to get their signatures.

“please Y/n, please you have to go in my place. i’m BEGGING you.” your roommate pleaded you, sniffing, while hugging your arm. You rolled your eyes and continued playing your game. “F/n, you need to stay away from me. i don’t need your flu germs as much as i love you” your roommate sighed, adjusting the surgical mask she was wearing and wrapped the fluffy blankets closer to her.

“Y/n, this is a chance of a lifetime. if i can’t go YOU have to go FOR me. please” she begged you again and showing you her puppy eyes. “I’ll uh do your laundry for one and a half month” you hummed and shrugged your shoulders, showing that you weren’t interested in her deal.

“Fine, i’ll fix you your meals and always restock the snack basket for you” you blinked at her and gave her a look saying, you know better than that. “FINE a new skateb-“

“deal.” you said, eyes still focused on your game

your roommate jumped and hugged you while squealing. “thank you sooo much, okay i definitely owe you”

“yes F/n, you do”

“i can’t believe i got sick....this is horrible. But at least i have you, now get off your game. i need to teach you some stuff you have to do for me at the fansign”

“i’m finishing, go eat your meds and then we’ll talk”

your roommate nodded, couldn’t fight with you anyways.

After finishing up your match, you stretched your arms and neck finding them a little stiff after playing too long. You walked out of your little apartment to where you found your roommate finishing up her soup that you made earlier in the morning. you pulled out a chair and joining her at the dining table. you placed your chin on your hand and looked to the right, looking at the bag of stuff on the couch

“ok Y/n, there’s 13 members. And i have a newer album for them to sign on. i’ve packed goodies and specific items to give each member. so just try to listen out for their name and you’d be able to give it to them” you nodded. 13 members, that’s a lot, you thought.

“Anyways you gotta reach there early and start queuing. Thank you so much again, try not to get lost babe” You sighed, and watched her finish eating and then helped her wash the dishes and made sure she went to bed.

you looked through the bag of goodies and you also found pictures next to each members name. Vernon, you found. You carefully picked up his item and brushed your fingertips at his picture so as to not crumple anything. He’s gorgeous i should also probably learn abit more about them for tomorrow

you just wanted to learn about vernon.

American-South Korean rapper. real name is Hansol, 1.78 metres, 22 years old. He’s older than you. positioned as main rapper and in the Hip-hop unit

hmm not bad, pretty muscular too. you thought to yourself, looking at his form and couldn’t help but stare into his mesmerising eyes, even if it was a photograph.

you even watched their HOME;RUN MV since you were curious as to the music they produce. You couldn’t help it when your eyes continued following vernon dancing and rapping the whole times

for some reason you just couldn’t look away.

Anyways you shook your head and checked the time before deciding it was better for you to turn in for tomorrow’s event.

When the next morning came, you woke up early, washed up, and had breakfast before checking your roommate if she needed anything. F/n was still asleep so you took abit longer in choosing your outfit, a simple cropped sweater set and jeans. Clipping your hand in a claw clip before carrying the bag filled with seventeen items and your ticket and heading out.

You were definitely slightly shocked at the amount of people who were already waiting patiently for the even to start, but your roommate did warn you about being early beforehand. You read the signs and went to queue for your turn. You waited almost an hour or two, waiting for the time your name would finally be called to lineup front

Now you could see the boys lined up in a row. Your roommate was right when she said that these boys, they literally sparkled. You turned to look at every one of them, your gaze lingering on one specific member. you got ready your things as you started off with the first member in the row, Seungcheol. The boys were actually very friendly and warm towards their fans, and although you had explained why sometimes you needed to ask for their name because you were only helping out a friend, they still treated you with respect and asked about you.

it was nice to see how the boys kindly treat their supporters. You finally got to Joshua, your palms were getting a bit sweaty since the next member was vernon.

Joshua flashed you a warm smile, which reminded you of sunshine and teddy bears.

“What’s your name.” joshua said getting ready to sign on the album. “oh uh, i’m Y/n, but could you help me sign off with F/n.” you replied.

Joshua looked at you kind of curious as to how you were abit more calm as compared to previous fans when meeting him and the rest.

“i’m here for a friend, she was supposed to come but she fell sick yesterday and didn’t want to risk spreading her awful germs to anyone. i didn’t really know you guys, but my friend really complimented all of you” you smiled awkwardly.

joshua gave you a nod and a look saying he understood what you were saying. “Wow your roommate must be lucky to have a friend who would do so much for her, even when she doesn’t know the band. tell her to get well soon for me.” he smiled and signed on the album while initiating a conversation with you. Joshua was very welcoming, and he made the conversation very comfortable so you were pretty immersed in it.

Vernon finished signing the album of the fan infront of him when he looked up and his eyes landed on you. his heart unconsciously skipped a beat and he didn’t understand why he felt a pull towards you. Of course you were one of the prettiest girls he has ever met, but he just felt attracted to you. when Joshua raised his hand to give you a high five and the both of you locked hands for a while. Vernon felt a need to pull you away from him. the sight of you smiling towards Joshua and not him, slightly bummed him.

it was so weird how fast he felt a connection with you. it was like he couldn’t take his eyes off you. But he had to, focusing on the fan infront of him and waving her off, knowing you were next.

you bid goodbye to Joshua as the staff requested that you moved to the next member. Your heart started beating faster as you placed the album infront of vernon and picked up his item from the bag to pass it to him. He smiled and thanked you for the gift. Vernon’s smile left you mesmerised and for a while you stared at him

“What’s your name” Vernon said in a voice that left you nervous

“Y/n, ah but this album is for a friend so if you don’t mind, could you use F/n. i watched an MV of your song for the first time yesterday and you were probably the most amazing i felt. but don’t tell the rest, they were awesome too.” the last part you sort of whispered

but vernon heard every word you and his cheeks started blushing slightly.

“Thank you Y/n, you know i don’t say this a lot but i think, in this hall, you shine the brightest.” Vernon gave you a bigger smile and reached for your hand, interlocking them with his. you were amazed and shocked by how much your smaller hand fit inside his way bigger hand. he swayed your hands side to side as he continued writing on the album while engaging a conversation with you.

Vernon made you feel like the only two people in this room were the two of you. you felt an attraction for him that you’ve never felt for anyone before.

however, soon it was time to move on to the next member. Vernon gave you a slight pout and wrote something swiftly on a piece of paper and sliding in into the album. He winked at you and you knew that message was for you.

He was the third last member thus you soon reached the end of the line and you bid goodbye to DK, the last member.

You stayed a little while afterwards for one performance. It was definitely dazzling, watching them dance in tune to each other, smiling to the audience and engaging with their fans. You wanted to learn more about them.

Unknowingly, Vernon was always looking at you. The whole time. Even when he was rapping or just standing and waiting for another member to give a speech, his eyes never moved away from you. He rapped his heart out for you. Maybe it was because he loved how excited you looked whenever his part came on, or the smile that grew wider when they danced to the song.

You breathed out a sigh and stretched out your arms when you left the building, sadly you had to check on your roommate and leave for your part time job.

your hand touched your chest where your heart laid. It was a wonderful time, meeting the boys and watching them perform in real life.

oh! you remembered the note that vernon left you. you quickly dugged out the album from your bag and flipped to the pages. The small piece of paper fell and it looked like a napkin.

written in scribbled handwriting,

Y/n

This is the first time i’m doing this for a girl i just met. but something about you, just made me want to know you better. Please call or text me!

+82 XX XXXX XXXX

Yours,

Hansol

your eyes widened at the sight of his message, you fumbled slightly and quickly found your found and typed in his number.

You stared at his contact, and a big smile grew on your face.

You were definitely going to thank your friend for this meeting by chance

Masterlist

#vernon #seventeen #svt #scenario #hansol #Vernon x reader #vernon fluff

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dream-journalism · 4 years

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journal entry | 3-10-20 | regarding shifting

I feel like i’ve been close to shifting these past two days (like really close), especially the day before yesterday. I think that if I’d been persistent and resisted scratching my side (it was too much I was dying) maybe I would’ve been able to do it.

Unfortunately last night was a bit of a mess and didn’t go as well as it had before; I tried some new methods involving songs, but youtube ads had this really funny idea of wanting to completely take me out of the experience and then Spotify also did me dirty by automatically playing more songs than I had queued (and no, the queue wasn’t looped, so it wasn't that either). The setbacks made me feel super frustrated, which obviously didn’t help, so I decided to keep giving those methods a try some other day and went back to using the raven and sunni method combination, which (as I mentioned in a previous post) has so far worked the best for me and shown me the most progress.

Now, there’s two aspects of this that I want to explore, firstly it’s why I think I’m getting close, what have I noticed that changed? What’s different? What am I doing right? And the second one is why I feel like I haven't shifted yet, what am I missing? What am I doing wrong?

As for what I’m doing right, I feel like the Raven/Sunni method combination is working the best and most efficiently, and think I should stick to that one until I manage to learn how to shift with ease before trying something else and risking setting back or stalling my progress the way I did last night.

Now, there are a couple of reasons why I think I’m getting close: the symptoms have been coming way easier and more persistently than they did the first few days. The first few days that I started trying to shift I only seemed to get to a point of meditation and stopped there, which is great, it helped me concentrate and focus on visualizing, so that felt like a good first step, but recently, I’ve gotten past that and actually felt a bit different.

I’m going to talk a little bit about the symptoms that I’ve felt in more detail, mostly because I feel like most people who talk about them just say “dizziness, feeling like you’re floating” which, yes, that is what it feels like but personally for me, sometimes its hard to just base everything off of one word, because to me, there are different kinds of “dizzy”, for example.

Now, because I know these symptoms aren’t necessarily something that everyone experiences, but they seem to be the most common and generally accepted ones, as well as the ones that I have personally experienced so far and I will list them. They are in no particular order, since they all happen but don’t seem to have particular pattern in which I experience them.

Floating

This one is a bit confusing for me, not in the literal sense of the word, but it sort of overlaps with Detachment. The closest thing I can compare it to is when you’re swimming and you just completely relax your arm in the surface of the water and it’s, well floating.

I like to think of it as air fairies holding my arm up so it doesn’t fall through the mattress, I sort of stop feeling the sheets of my bed and the cold air of my AC, it’s this sort of just neutral feeling. In general, it’s just very relaxing. However it is with this symptom that I personally have the most trouble dealing with because as I start feeling it, at first its just calm and comforting, but after a few minutes, I start to get itchy spots (mostly in my legs and torso, which are the worst for me personally) and I have to concentrate really hard not to scratch them or think about them.

Dizziness

I felt dizzy, but it was a strange sort of dizzy. I’m anemic so, I’m pretty familiar with bed-dizziness, and for a second, I thought it was just that, but, it felt different. Instead of it being like everything around me was moving, it felt like I was the one moving. My back was still to the bed but it felt as if I was standing and the mattress was behind me. And yes, the world around me does move a little bit, though its not painfully disorienting, it just feels sort of like when you get off of a trampoline, or done a lot of exercise a lot and your legs make the ground feel wobbly, but in my head.

Detachment

I don’t know if this is what people call but the best way I can describe it is feeling detached from my body, something similar to disassociating (if you know what that feels like). To me, it feels the way a 3D movie without glasses looks, off kilter, like my body is the red and I am the blue. When I say I, I mean my brain, my soul, my essence, whatever you’d like to call it, but thats what it feels like. They’re not quite separated from one another yet, like in a 3D movie, they’re still touching, but they’re definitely out of phase.

The most noticeable parts for me are the arms, sometimes they feel a bit shorter for my actual, physical arms (which makes sense, since I did script that I start at a younger age in my DR) and they want to move forwards and reach for what I’m visualizing in front of me. The only thing that has stopped me from actually doing this (re: reaching out) is that a lot of different elements are still the same (i can still feel my sheets, i can still hear my AC running, etc.) and I don’t want to break concentration until I’m sure 100% I’ve shifted.

Other Symptoms

Some other symptoms that I’ve been feeling (but honestly I don’t think too much of them for a couple of reasons) are seeing Angel Numbers and Migraines /Headaches. Now why am I talking about these separately? Because they don’t particularly mean anything to me, but they are listed as some of the most common symptoms you experience during the day when you’re close to shifting (but not necessarily attempting).

Migranes/Headaches are something I experience quite often, it’s just something that runs in my family and my caffeine addiction doesn't help at all, so even though I had one throughout the entire day yesterday (the day after I have felt the closest ever to shifting), I don’t want to get my hopes up about it, since it’s not an uncommon thing to happen to me, however, it is still worth noting (if this is something you experience though, and it doesn’t happen to you often, then I’d probably take it as a sign that you’re close! Hooray!)

And as for Angel Numbers, they’re something that I’ve been seeing a lot of in these past two-three days (of course, when I say “a lot” I mean once a day or so.) I don’t count the Angel Numbers I see on my fyp on Tik Tok for example, because it makes sense to me that I’d see them on posts regarding Shifting Realities because those feel a bit like cheating, of course I’d see them under that particular topic. Though not gonna lie, I’m a little bit of a skeptic when it comes to Angel Numbers (I know i shouldn’t be but i just can’t help it), but it doesn't take away the fact that I HAVE been seeing them

Now that I have the positives down and the changes I’ve felt identified, I want to focus on why I think I haven’t shifted yet. Other than the fact that yesterday all the shifting setbacks really threw me off from the progress I thought I had made, it made me feel really frustrated and I feel like that negative thinking and feeling carried on with me until I fell asleep, which is never good, so I need to stay positive, and I think I will, now that I’ve mulled it over, so that should be good.

I’ve also had a really busy week so I’ve been super distracted in general and haven't been able to prepare as well as I would’ve liked for the Sunni method, but I’m going to try to get some preparation in before I go to bed, and since I can sleep in tomorrow, I won't feel as much pressure. I hope that’ll give me the last little push that I need to shift.

As of writing this, its 11pm and I’m going to prepare as best I can for the Sunni method before I wash off and then go to sleep. Hopefully today will be the day, and if not, I hope it’ll be soon.

#dr- journal #reality shifting #symptoms

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gstqaobc · 5 years

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💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻PG:THE CRACKED POT🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜

💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻THE CRACKED POT🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜

EACH DAY, I TAKE MY OWN PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD 🙏🏻🙏🏻THROUGH DEVOTIONALS. I HAVE SEVERAL LOVELY DEVOTIONAL BOOKS, AND MORE RECENTLY ONLINE AS WELL. TODAY, MY MIND TOOK ME TO A DEVOTIONAL FROM MANY, MANY YEARS AGO. I CANNOT RECALL FROM WHERE, OR WHO IT IS CREDITED TO. I THINK IT WAS SO LONG AGO THAT THINGS WERE NOT AS COPYRIGHTED AND CREDITED AS THEY ARE NOW. IF IT IS FAMILIAR TO YOU, AND YOU KNOW IT’S ORIGIN, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT FOR ME.😊 OK LET ME BEGIN, IN MY OWN WORDS SO FORGIVE TYPOS ETC OK.

SOUNDS OF SCREECHING BIRDS AND VARIOUS OTHER ANIMALS CAUSED HER TO STIR, SLOWLY OPENING HER EYES. THOUGH IT WAS STILL DARK, SHE COULD FEEL THE INTENSE HEAT OF THE PREVIOUS DAY STILL HUNG IN THE ARID, DRY AND HEAVILY. EVERYONE ELSE WAS ASLEEP IN THEIR HUT. DIRT FLOOR, THATCHED ROOF AND WALLS, NO DOORS 🚪, ONLY A FLIMSY PIECE OF FABRIC AT THE ENTRANCE/EXIT. LITTLE PROTECTION WAS OFFERED, BE IT NATURE OR THE VARIETY OF DANGEROUS WILDLIFE IN ALL ITS FORMS.

QUICKLY SHE AROSE, NO OPTION OR TIME FOR BREAKFAST, SHE HAD A LIFE AND DEATH RISK DAY AHEAD OF HER TO COMPLETE A LITERAL LIFE AND DEATH TASK. THIS WAS HER CROSS TO BEAR, SO TO SPEAK. DUE TO THE ONGOING DROUGHT AND LACK OF LOCAL POTABLE WATER SOURCES, EACH DAY SHE WALKED THE EIGHT MILES ONE WAY, JOURNEY TO THE NEAREST SAFE WATER SOURCE, A TAP THAT HAD BEEN PUT IN, BUT SHE KNEW NOT BY WHOM. ALL SHE KNEW WAS THAT THIS WAS HER JOB.

HER FATHER HAD FASHIONED A LONG THICK WOODEN BRANCH , INTO A CARRYING DEVICE, IT WENT OVER HER SHOULDERS STUCK OUT FAR ON EITHER SIDE OF HER. THERE WAS A NOTCH ON EACH SIDE WHERE A ROPE WAS AND HUNG FROM EACH WAS A LARGE CLAY POT. SHE KNEW NOT HOW OLD THEY WERE BUT THEY WERE THE ONLY POTS SHE REMEMBERED HER FAMILY HAVING AND THEY LOOKED CERTAINLY FAR FROM NEW. MOST IMPORTANTLY THEY WERE INTACT TO CARRY THEIR PRECIOUS CARGO, FRESH POTABLE WATER!!!

SO SHE HOISTED IT OVER HER SHOULDERS AFTER PUTTING A BIT OF FOOD WRAPPED IN CLOTH INTO HER POCKET, FOR ALONG THE WAY. EIGHT MILES ONE WAY, IN VERY OLD THIN SANDALS. EVERY NOW AND THEN SHE MET A PASSERBY SOME WERE KIND AND TOLD HER HOW BIG THE CROWD FOR WATER WAS, SOME IGNORED HER AND SOME WERE RUDE, INTIMIDATING OR WORSE. HAVING MADE THE EIGHT MILES, SHE QUEUED UP, AND NIBBLED ON THE SMALL BIT SHE HAD BROUGHT WITH HER. AFTER A FEW HOURS IT WAS HER TURN AT THE WATER TAP. CAREFULLY SHE FILLED BOTH JUGS AS FULL AS SHE THOUGHT SHE WOULD BE ABLE TO CARRY THEM, SLOWLY HOISTING THEM OVER HER SHOULDERS.

SHE BALANCED HERSELF AND BEGAN THE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TASK OF WALKING THE EIGHT MILES HOME AGAIN.

WHEN SHE REACHED HOME, THERE WAS NO, HOW WAS IT TODAY OR EVEN HELLOS. IT WAS, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG ETC, YOU CAN IMAGINE. SHE WAS SO EXHAUSTED, HAD CHORES TO DO, HAD A BITE TO EAT AND FELL INTO ANOTHER NIGHT OF FITFUL RESTLESS SLEEP.

SHE AWOKE, CLOSED HER EYES AGAIN AND PLEADED TO THE HEAVENS THAT HER LIFE WOULD BE MORE THAN THIS. SHE LONGED TO BE MORE THAN JUST A HUMAN CAMEL! NO ONE ASKING HOW SHE WAS, A LIFE OF FEAR, EMPTINESS, SURELY THERE WAS SOME MEANING OR BEAUTY IN LIFE, THERE MUST BE.

THE NEXT DAY BEGAN AS EVERY OTHER DAY. AS SHE STARTED HER LONG ARDUOUS JOURNEY, NOTHING WAS UNUSUAL. ABOUT HALFWAY THERE, SHE NOTICED A LARGE FLOCK OF BIG BLACK SCAVENGERS BIRDS CIRCLING AROUND IN THE AIR. THIS MEANT ONLY ONE THING, DEATH! AS SHE DREW CLOSER, IN THE DISTANCE SHE HEARD LIONS ROAR, AND SAW THE MASSIVE CARCASS OF PERHAPS A BUFFALO 🐃?WHATEVER IT HAD BEEN, IT WAS NOW LEFT TO THE SCAVENGERS OF THE AIR AND GROUND, TO DO MOTHER NATURE’S JOB OF CLEANING. ASHES TO ASHES ETC YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.

SHE SUDDENLY WAS FILLED WITH FEAR AT THE NEARNESS OF DEATH. IN THIS DISTRACTED MOMENT, SHE LOST HER FOOTING AND NEARLY FELL. THE BEAM OVER HER SHOULDERS TILTED AND ONE OF THE WATER JUGS LANDED HARD AGAINST THE PATH. SHE WAS TERRIFIED TO LOOK. SHE WAS SURE IT WAS SHATTERED😫. HER FATHER WOULD BE FURIOUS WITH HER AND THERE CERTAINLY WAS NO MONEY TO BUY EVEN AN OLD JUG!

SHE LOOKED, MIRACULOUSLY, IT LOOKED INTACT. A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF CAME OVER HER! SHE WAS SO GREATFULL! SHE PUT THE BEAM BACK OVER HER SHOULDERS AND CONTINUED ON HER JOURNEY.

SHE REACHED THE TAP SITE. SHE JOINED THE QUEUE AS USUAL, AND NIBBLED ON HER BITE OF FOOD. SOON IT WAS HER TURN. SHE FILLED THE FIRST JUG AS FULL AS SHE DARED. THEN THE SECOND JUG, SHE FILLED IT AS FULL AS SHE COULD. SHE PUT THEM BACK UP ON THE BEAM , HOISTED THEM OVER SHOULDERS AND BEGAN HER LONG JOURNEY HOME. SHE WAS SO GREATFULL, SHE THOUGHT HER FATHER WOULD BE MAD IF SHE TOLD HIM ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, SO, SINCE ALL WAS OK, SHE THOUGHT SHE WOULD NOT SAY ANYTHING.

AFTER AWHILE, SHE BEGAN TO NOTICE SHE FELT OFF BALANCE. IT WAS ONLY THEN, TO HER HORROR, SHE REALIZED WHY. THOUGH THE POT LOOKED UNBROKEN AND UNDAMAGED, A SMALL FISSURE/CRACK WAS PRESENT AT ABOUT THE MIDWAY LEVEL OF ONE JUG, AS SHE TURNED AROUND LOOKING BACK SHE SAW A SMALL WATER TRAIL ON THE ONE SIDE OF WHERE SHE HAD TRAVERSED MOMENTS EARLIER.

SHE ABSOLUTELY PANICKED. AT THIS RATE, THE ONE JUG WOULD BE NEARLY EMPTY BY THE TIME SHE MADE IT HOME AND CARRYING WITHOUT A COUNTERWEIGHT TO BALANCE WOULD BE EXCRUCIATING. SHE CRIED OUT TO GOD, THE GOD THAT SHE HAD HEARD OTHERS TALKING ABOUT. SHE HAD NO CHOICE, BUT CONTINUE HOME. JUST AS SHE THOUGHT THE ONE POT WAS ONLY 1/4 FULL, ONCE SHE ARRIVED AT HOME. ALSO AS SHE EXPECTED HER FATHER WAS FURIOUS. HE BLAMED HER ABSENT MINDEDNESS, ALWAYS DREAMING HE SAID, DREAMING AND WISHING FOR BEAUTY IN LIFE , WHEN THEIR LOT IN LIFE CONTAINED NONE NOW NOR WOULD IT EVER.

HER JOB CONTINUED, WATER DUTY, HER SHARE OF THE WATER THOUGH WAS SEVERELY LIMITED. THUSLY, WHEN SHE WAS AT THE TAP SHE DRANK AS MUCH AS SHE COULD.

EACH DAY WAS THE SAME, NO MORE DAY DREAMS, NO MORE ATTEMPTING CONVERSATION WITH OTHERS, NO MORE WATCHING NATURE, NOTHING. HHER FATHER WAS RIGHT, THIS WAS HER LOT IN LIFE, ONE AND ONLY ONE THING TO DO, LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD, GET WATER, COME HOME, SLEEP, DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. DAYS TURNED INTO WEEKS.

THEN SHE REALIZED THAT SHE REGULARLY HAD PEOPLE GREETING HER, BEING SO KIND TO HER AND ASKING HOW SHE WAS. SOME EVEN GAVE HER FLOWERS! WHERE ON EARTH WERE PEOPLE GETTING FLOWERS?? SHE WAS BEYOND MYSTIFIED, BUT SHE JUST KEPT AT HER DUTY.

ONE DAY, A LADY SHE ONLY KNEW AS ‘THE MISSIONARY LADY’, WHO TAUGHT OTHERS ABOUT HER GOD, MET HER ALONG THE PATH. THE LADY ASKED IF SHE HAD TIME TO TALK BUT SHE SAID NO. THE LADY SAID, HOW ABOUT I WALK WITH YOU? SO SHE SAID, WELL, YOU CAN IF YOU WANT TO.

THE LADY BEGAN TALKING ABOUT HOW IT WAS SO LOVELY THAT THINGS HAD CHANGED, HOW EVERYONE WAS SO HAPPY ABOUT IT AND THAT THEY WERE ALL TALKING ABOUT THE WONDERFUL THING SHE HAD DONE FOR EVERYONE TO CHEER THEM UP.

SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS, SHE HAD NO UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE LADY WAS TALKING ABOUT.

THE LADY SAID, OPEN UP YOUR EYES, DO NOT JUST LOOK STRAIGHT , LOOK ALL AROUND AND SEE THE MIRACLE GOD HAS BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH YOU. SHE TURNED HER GAZE, ALL ALONG ONE SIDE OF THE PATH, SUCH AS IT WAS, WERE VARIOUS WILDFLOWERS BLOOMING, BEAUTIFUL COLOURS AND GREENS, THE ONLY BEAUTY IN THE DRY HOT ARID LANDSCAPE. THE LADY SAID, YOU THINK THE WEE CRACK IN YOUR POT WAS A DISASTER? LOOK AT THE MIRACLE YOU HAVE BEEN A PART OF!! FLOWERS, COLOUR, JOY, HAPPY PEOPLE ENJOYING THE BEAUTY OF NATURE.

THE LADY SAID TO HER, THIS CLAY POT STILL CARRIES SOME WATER BUT IT SERVES A GREATER FUNCTION NOW. IT HAS CAUSED HAPPINESS TO BLOOM , SOME JOY IN VERY DIFFICULT TIMES. TEARS BEGAN TO STREAM DOWN HER FACE AS SHE TOOK IN WHAT THE LADY WAS SAYING TO HER AND HOW RIGHT SHE WAS. MANY OFFERS OF NEW JUGS CAME IN BUT ONLY AS LONG AS SHE KEPT WATERING THE FLOWERS THAT NOW GROW ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PATHWAY.💐💐🌷🌷🌸🌸🌼🌼🌺🌺🌹🌹

SO MY FRIENDS, LIFE IS ABOUT BEING MINDFUL, FINDING JOY AND BEAUTY EVEN IN WHAT, ON THE SURFACE ARE SEEMINGLY DARK, FEARFUL, HOPELESS TIMES IN OUR LIVES.

THIS WAS AND IS ESPECIALLY POIGNANT FOR ME BECAUSE MY IDENTITY WAS WRAPPED UP IN MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER. WHEN MY SPINE ISSUE DEVELOPED AND MY WHIRLY BUSY HIGH STRESSED FAST PACED LIFE, IT STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS, LITERALLY!!! IT WAS A CRACK IN MY POT, IF YOU WILL. MANY MANY BLESSINGS HAVE HAPPENED IN MY LIFE THAT NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I KEPT WORKING THE EXTENDED HOURS AND EXTREMELY HIGH STRESS JOB I HAD. DONT GET ME WRONG, I WOULD LOVE TO BE WORKING OR TAKEN AN EARLY RETIREMENT VERSUS THE DRASTIC ALTERATIONS IN MY ABILITIES. I WOULD LOVE TO STILL TRAVEL, DRIVE, GO OUT WITH THE GIRLS BUT I AM BEYOND BLESSED IS INNUMERABLE WAYS😊😊😊!

I AM NO LONGER ABLE TO BE FILLED WITH WATER BUT I CAN STILL SPREAD WATER VIA LOVE, CARING , PRAYER, FRIENDSHIP, LAUGHTER, AND ON AND ON!

SO DEAR ONES, NO MATTER WHAT OUR CRACKS ARE, HOW MANY OR HOW FEEL WE ALL ARE SPECIAL, WORTHY OF BEAUTY AND MEANING IN LIFE, DESERVING TO LlVE, LOVE LAUGH.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR PRECIOUS TIME TO READ MY WORDS. I FELT SO COMPELLED TO SHARE THIS. GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES, FUR BABIES AND FRIENDS.

💜💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻PG🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜💜

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leejeongz · 5 years

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Jealous Stray Kids

🤫oof thanks for requesting this honey!!! I hope you like it bc I really enjoyed writing it (weird comsidering it isn’t that good, Ik)🤫

Bang Chan:

Your name had left his mouth one too many times for Chan to compose himself anymore. He was having a conversation with one of the staff, yet all they wanted to talk about was you.

“You do know they have a boyfriend, right?” Chan asked passive aggressively. “And he probably wouldn’t like you saying these things about them”

“No, but whoever it is doesn’t deserve them” the guy replied. You and Chan were yet to out your relationship, everyone else thinking you were just close friends. “I was actually hoping you’d set me up with them, but I guess that’s off the table”

“Yeah” Chris replied, now more angry from the his previous statement. “You aren’t their type anyway” he spoke “they don’t like rude guys” just as he said it, you walked through the waiting room door. Chan came over to you and planted a kiss on your cheek. Who were you to argue with the sudden PDA?

“They’re mine, thank you. Please find someone else” Chan said to the guy he was talking to before. As the words left his mouth, the guy went red in the face but Chan had already turned around, all his attention now on you.

Woojin:

Woojin is a big jealous boy okay. When he saw you walking home from your evening class with “some guy” he’d grow angrier with every step you took closer to his house. And when he finally heard you knock at his door, you still accompanied by the guy, he’d take a deep breath, slap on a fake smile and welcome you both in warmly, secretly wanting to kill the other boy.

“Who’s this?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Oh I’m Thomas, we go to class together. It was getting dark outside so I walked them home. Sorry, and you are?” Thomas asked politely.

Woojin look at you, waiting for you to proudly announce he was your boyfriend, which you did so immediately.

“Well, they are home now. Better get going, hadn’t you?” Woojin asked, wanting some alone time. He put his hand on the guys back and practically pushed him out the door.

“What the hell y/n? Why didn’t you tell him that you had a boyfriend before? Why did you say you wanted picking up, I would have come and picked you up you know?” He began to get angry. “Seems to me like you wanted this guy to fall in love with you” he added dramatically at the end, causing you to giggle and him to join in after a while, realising how petty he had just been.

Lee Know:

He rolled over in bed, finally awake enough to do so. His arm found its way over your middle and he pulled your back closer towards him. He peeped over your shoulder, seeing you were on your phone.

“Who are you talking to, babes?” He asked innocently.

You showed him the name on your phone.

“Ughhh, what does he want?” He rolled onto his back, removing his arm as soon as you showed him your phone.

“Does it matter?” You asked. He was a great friend and Minho had no need to be jealous anyway.

“Yes it does, I don’t want him to steal you from me, do I? Stop talking to him, I’m all you need, you know that.” He went back to his previous position, sprawled all over you, kissing you none stop.

“Stop it, Minho, he’s just a friend.” You said, pushing him away.

“Alright, for goodness sake I was only joking” he rolled his eyes and threw his back against the bed, knowing he’d fucked up but not wanting to admit it. “What were you talking about?”

”Perhaps... about your birthday. I thought you were asleep,” you turned to face Minho, who just wanted to apologise, but couldn’t find the right words.

Changbin:

“Y/n, you hold hands with Changbin and Chan” Felix said, sitting you all a circle ready to play a new game he created.

Changbin tried not to look at yours and Chan’s interlocked hands, knowing it would hurt him, yet he couldn’t stop himself. Every time he looked, he’d squeeze your hand harder. He wanted to be the only person to hold your hand, but he didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere. When no one was looking, during and after the game, he’d give you little kisses. Your cheek, your neck, your lips, your forehead, nowhere was safe from this jealous boy.

As the night of fun and games came to a end and you were just about to leave, Changbin asked if you wanted walking home. He wouldn’t let you say no.

On your walk home, your hands were comfortably in each other’s and this made you both so happy, but Changbin couldn’t help but think Chan has also been holding your hand earlier this evening.

“I hold hands better than Channie, right y/n?” He asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“For sure, my jealous baby boy” he thought he hid his jealousy well, evidently not.

Hyunjin:

An hour had passed since you and Hyunjin went public as a couple. You were really worried that they wouldn’t like you so you decided to stay offline for a bit. But Hyunjin didn’t.

“Y/n I think they all want to marry you, they keep calling you good looking and saying all this nice stuff and” you stopped his by putting a finger to his lips.

“Shh I think that just means they like me... or they’re being sarcastic...” you contemplated, taking your finger off his lips slowly and grabbing his phone.

“No they are being like... extra nice. Only I get to compliment you like this.” He added. You began to blush while looking at the comments. “And only I get to make you blush like that” he whined.

“Stop being a baby” you kissed him on the cheek. “You’re complaining because your fans like me?” You questioned while laughing.

“I’m jealous of stays?” It then started clicking in what had been coming out of his mouth. “Damn I really am a baby” he said “but I’m your baby” he grinned showing his gums straight in your direction while nestling his head into your neck and to say you fell in love with him even more was an understatement.

Han:

“They are really lovely girls Jisung, and it’s only 2 nights” you pleaded.

“I’m sure they are y/n, but you see them everyday, how often do you see me?” He complained back. He knew it was wrong to stop you from seeing your friends, but he was going to miss you so much, especially since you never really saw each other.

“True, but we can still call” you made a valid point.

“Without WiFi, yeah good one babe” you could tell it was now turning into an argument. An argument that you didn’t want to have. His tears started to well up.

“You do know that you can call without WiFi, Jisung. My dad reminds me of that everyday” he was dumbfounded. You’d won, but you were always going to win.

“Promise when I come back we can spend the whole week together?” You asked, his eyes began to dry. He couldn’t say no to you, not that he wanted to of course.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you” he put his hand on your shoulder. “Damn, shit just got deep” he joked, knowing that everything was going to be alright now you’d made your promise.

Felix:

“Felix, are you coming?” Hyunjin shouted, already in the the queue for the rollercoaster along with the others. You, Felix and Jisung were stood at the side, it was common knowledge that neither Jisung or you liked rollercoaster but Felix didn’t want to leave you alone. After all he’d be queuing for like 3 hours and then the actual time you spent together would be limited.

He wasn’t worried that Jisung might take you off him, just that he was going to be able to spend time with you.

“Come on!! You’ve wanted to go on this since it opened” Jeongin added.

He thought for a while. “Felix, it’s okay. Jisung’s not going to bite me... I don’t think. Go and have fun, I’ll still be here when you get back” you reassured him. He finally decided to leave you two, joining the line with the boys while you and Jisung went to another, less... vicious ride.

When you found the others, Felix wouldn’t leave your side. He’d be holding your hand and only talking to you, making sure that you were only talking to him too.

Seungmin:

With a huge smile on your face, you returned to your table at McDonald’s where seungmin had already made himself comfortable.

“Someone’s excited for a greasy burger” he said, a little suspicious of your behaviour.

“The guy behind the counter complimented me and now I’m happy, what a crime!” You said sarcastically.

He looked over to the guy behind the counter, even in the uniform he looked good, seungmin couldn’t deny.

“Do you think he’s cute?” He asked you.

“Pft no...” you turned around to look at him one more time, he wasn’t really that cute to you, but teasing seungmin was always fun.

“How about I go get you his number then? Set you up on a date with him. That would be cute. Not like you’re already taken” he sat back on his chair, folding his arms.

“Seungmin, I was only joking” you said, grabbing a handful of fries and throwing them at him jokingly.

“Cool” he responded, he’d been tricked, but lord knows he didn’t want to admit it.

I.N:

“Are you ready Jeongin? I don’t want to be late, she’s my best friend!” You shouted. Your best friends birthday party was coincidentally in the same week as Jeongin had off, so agreed to come with you. You didn’t want to be alone since you only knew your best friend otherwise.

You finally arrived and you immediately went over to give her a hug, Jeongin standing awkwardly beside you both.

“Happy birthday” he handed her the present to which she thanked him politely and continued to talk to you.

Jeongin, by this point, felt like the third wheel and he hated it. He just wanted you to talk to him but he knew you two had a lot catch up on so he stayed quiet. About 2 hours had passed and he’d mingled with all the strangers in her house. He finally found you, still with your best friend. It killed him to not be with you, especially when he felt so lonely.

“I think I’m gonna go home y/n, you clearly don’t need me here” he spoke, interrupting your conversation. “I hope you have a good birthday” and with that, he left without hearing your response.

(I’m soft for one (1) man and one (1) gif set)

Gifs aren’t mine

#stray kids #stray kids reaction #stray kids imagines #bang chan #woojin #lee know #changbin #hyunjin #han jisung #felix #seungmin #i.n

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the-quiet-winds · 5 years

Text

You Clicked Your Heels and Wished for Me (part one)

i woke up in a cold sweat during the night and realized i didn’t queue up anything so here is me queuing today’s post 14 minutes before it goes live! woo!

this is another cowritten fic between me and @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts, because... reasons i guess?

trigger warning for blood, accidental harm

[Part 1: In Case I Lost My Train of Thought]

it’s not often that jane or katherine go away without the other, but on this particular occasion it happened. a historian got into contact with jane and asked for an interview, hoping it would help her in her new book all about edward vi, learning about the preparation for his birth. jane accepted, but the only problem was the historian lived in america. it was soon worked out with the theatre; jane would take a five-day trip to ohio, where the historian was based, and grace would cover her shows for the week. jane asks katherine if she wants to come with her but katherine, worried about the fan reaction to two queens being away for the whole week, decides she’ll be okay. after all, the regularity of her nightmares had reduced rapidly over the past few months, and jane promises to call every evening.

the first night after jane leaves, she is sure to call to check in, taking katherine she landed safe in ohio and is in a lovely hotel, and the first round of interviews was the following day.

katherine is delighted at the news, thankful to hear her mother’s voice. she’s okay, just in ohio, katherine tells herself.

that night, however, just before she goes to bed, she sees a news story about a terrorist in the united states being sentenced to execution, and the thought of execution in any sense brought a nightmare raging through her mind, seeing thomas and henry and a world where she didn’t have jane and she wakes up in a cold sweat.

it takes several moments for her to realise where she is; at home, in bed, hundreds of years away from those men. she takes a few deep breaths to try and stop herself from shaking, but her efforts prove in vain. after the fear and vulnerability, the emotion she’s most feeling is annoyance. everything had been going so well, and she was sure she’d be okay without jane, but her mum had been away for one night and katherine had already messed up.

as katherine becomes more lucid she notices a sharp, stinging pain on her neck. she grabs her phone and looks in the camera; she must have accidentally scratched herself in her sleep, because there was a single raised red line against her skin. it didn’t look too bad and would probably fade by the morning, but katherine grumbles at herself under her breath anyway. she lies back down and closes her eyes, trying her best to get some sleep. she has two shows tomorrow, after all.

she doesn’t get much more sleep that night, unfortunately. she slogs through the morning and the pre-show, then calls jane, who had promised that she’d have those times carved out for when katherine would call.

“kitty-kat?” she hums upon answering. katherine gives a tiny sigh of relief.

“hey mum,” she says, trying to sound as awake as she could. the crappy phone connection must have helped, because jane didn’t notice a thing.

the shows goes on without a hitch, including grace’s performance as jane.

katherine gets to her song and the final chorus sends her head racing, as always. her mind flashes back to the previous night, and one hand subconsciously reaches for her neck, where her choker begins to feel just a bit tight, and she claws at it, almost trying to break it.

her nails rake against her skin, much harder than they’d done in her sleep, but katherine doesn’t even notice, nor does she notice the stinging pain from the red lines drawn. it’s only when a hand grabs her wrist in part of the choreography that she lets go of her choker, but the emotions of the song are still charging through her, keeping her head in the slight haze it was always in at the end of her song. jane would normally be around to give her a reassuring look from off-stage when she finishes her song but jane wasn’t here, and katherine was alone.

there’s something weird about katherine’s headspace for the rest of the show, something not quite right. she catches the strange looks of concern the other girls give her and she’s not entirely sure why, until she gets backstage to the dressing room and glances in the mirror.

her neck is bright red. redder than the mark from her dream. redder than all of the warning signs she begins to see about where this could lead.

she doesn’t choose to ignore them, per say, but she doesn’t change her actions.

during that evening’s show, adrenaline courses through her blood during her number, coupled with jane’s absence until she’s reaching for the neck that was once separated from her shoulders and she’s clawing her way through another breakdown.

she knows jane wouldn’t want her doing this.

but jane isn’t here.

and katherine is very much alone.

the marks are even worse when katherine looks in the mirror this time, some of them even drawing tiny droplets of blood. she changes hurriedly and wraps a scarf around her neck, almost bumping into parr as she enters. parr gives her a concerned look.

“are you alright, kid?”

“i’m fine,” katherine nods quickly. parr regards her for a few seconds.

“how’s your neck?”

“fine,” katherine says again, eager for the conversation to be over. “it was an accident, that’s all.”

“once is an accident, kid, twice is a habit,” parr says gently. katherine feels a strange petulant annoyance rush through her. this was none of parr’s business, she thinks, even though she knows rationally parr is only worried about her and wants to help.

she bites back the retort on her tongue and tells a half-truth. “just had a bad dream last night, that’s all. i’ll be fine tomorrow.”

parr looks at her skeptically but relents, instead asking if katherine wants to check in with jane.

to her surprise and mystification, katherine says no.

“she’s probably busy,” katherine lies, “i’ll call her later.”

she does, though, shoot a text to jane. “shows went well. i’m dead tired and i’ll talk to you more tomorrow 💖,” read the text.

katherine tries her best to get an early night, after cleaning the scratches on her neck with a wince and some antiseptic. she manages it for a few hours, but then she’s thrown into another nightmare, this time of her last days locked in a tiny room. all the fear and pain comes rushing back, the terror that they’re going to mess up her beheading the way they did margaret pole’s, that instead of one quick swoop they’ll hack away at her. she wakes up with her sheets soaked in cold sweat and she desperately tries to catch her breath.

her neck stings, which isn’t surprising.

what does surprise her is parr’s light voice coming through the door.

“katherine? kid, can i come in?”

katherine, with a hint of annoyance, agrees.

parr comes in, dresses in her pajamas, looking concerned.

“i heard you thrashing around.”

katherine shrugs. “just another bad dream, that’s all.”

parr sits down on the edge of the bed. “these have been getting more frequent,” she observes. “what’s going on?”

“nothing,” katherine says, a bit too forcefully and a bit too quickly. “i’m fine.”

parr looks at her for a few moments, expression inscrutable. “you know, if you’d prefer to talk to jane about it then i’m sure she’d still be awake-”

“god, i’m fine!” katherine snaps. “i don’t need jane for everything, i’m not a child!”

there’s a few moments of silence and katherine flushes slightly, ashamed of her outburst. “sorry,” she mutters. “i’m just- a bit stressed, that’s all.”

“if you need a show off, i can talk to vicki, get her to cover for you,” parr starts, but katherine shakes her head.

“i’m okay. or, i will be, i promise.”

parr narrows her eyes slightly in disbelief, but doesn’t push her. instead she reaches out and puts a gentle and caring hand on her shoulder, patting once, then pulling back. “if you ever need to talk,” she says softly. “you know where i am.”

katherine gives a half-grateful smile. “thanks, parr.”

parr returns the smile. “of course, kid.” she stands up, gives her one last meaningful look, and exits the room, leaving katherine alone.

katherine doesn’t get much sleep for the rest of the night again. just as she thinks she might be about to doze off, her hand comes up to absentmindedly scratch at her neck, aggravating the sharp red lines already there. by the time morning comes, her neck is a mess of irritated raised skin and katherine physically winces as she looks at herself in the mirror. she couldn’t go down to breakfast looking like that, and so she grabs some concealer and tries her best to cover the marks on her neck.

each press of the makeup sponge makes her flinch, the concealer probably not mixing well with the angry skin.

she blends it the best she can without crying out in pain, until her neck looks fairly evenly toned.

she leaves her room and makes her way to the stairs, but freezes with her hand on the banister as she hears parr from downstairs.

“she hasn’t been sleeping,” katherine hears her say, presumably through the phone. “i don’t know what to do.”

there’s a pause.

“i understand, jane,” she says, “but she doesn’t want to talk.”

embarrassment and a touch of shame rushes through katherine. jane was meant to be enjoying herself, not worrying about katherine, especially over something as stupid as a couple of nightmares. she fixes a smile on her face and heads down the stairs as loudly as possible so parr could at least pretend she hadn’t been snitching on katherine. okay, that wasn’t fair of her, she chastises herself. parr wasn’t snitching, she was just worried. what katherine needed to do, then, was to remove the worry. she needed to seem like everything was fine.

she holds her head up to show her makeup-covered neck and looks as awake as possible by smiling at parr, then furrowing her brows and pointing at the phone in her hand.

‘jane,’ parr mouths, completely unaware katherine had been listening in. the younger girl nods. “can i speak to her?”

parr looks somewhat surprised, then hands over the phone.

“mum?” she asks. “how’s ohio?”

“kat,” jane says, sounding almost relieved. “it’s lovely, kat. dr harrison has been so nice. how’s everything at home?” she asks the last part slightly cautiously, and katherine knows what she’s getting at, but she decides to play it off.

“everything’s fine. i had a nightmare last night, but then parr came in and spoke to me, and i slept like a baby for the rest of the night.” she figures a half lie would be better; parr had no doubt told jane about the nightmare, so it was better to include it in her story.

“really?” jane asks, sounding slightly taken aback.

“yeah, i think i must have been tired,” katherine tries her best to sound nonchalant.”

jane gives a hum, one that doesn’t sound completely convinced but she doesn’t press on.

“well at least it’s only an evening show tonight, right?” jane asks.

they only talk for a few more minutes before jane has to hang up, saying something about needing to talk to doctor harrison. she says they’ll talk later and the line goes silent.

katherine sets the phone down, gives parr what could barely be called a glare, and retreats back upstairs.

#six the musical #six musical #jane seymour #katherine howard #catherine parr #julie and jess write #you clicked your heels and wished for me

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stevecoleridge-posts · 5 years

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Day 6 ..Friday Struggling .. which is why i did nt see the news or spend time on Social Media yesterday.. I thought it would be a breeze and after a little concentration id have it down .. but no , even the first part…known as lumpedy lump was proving tough , because of the triplet walk up from the V to the 1.. and i think thats the part Jimmy Reed himself is playing… If you ve read previous episodes you will know i refer to Honest I Do….the song. Im learning it on a You Tube lesson , now a lot of people who think of themselves as pros , seem to think there s some sort of stigma ro learning stuff on You Tube, but i know a French guy , of Spanish descent , who is a really hot Flamenco guitarist who has mastered nearly all the Palos , and all on You Tube They are right, if you dedicate yourself to different songs at the same time, but it s like working form home…you need time and discipline ..and take the lessons very slowly and don’t move on till you can play it 20 times with your eyes shut..preferably standing up .. then move on up. Yesterday was the first time i managed to do this. There is a different tone on Social media today .. angrier , more prone to blame others, more censorious…and on one group forum i saw they were going to ban Humour..well , i don’t personally know the Group leader.. but it does nt take much imagination to know she s not someone you d want to be quarantined with. The only thing to fear is fear itself.. well i certainly don’t think that applies in this situation, quite the reverse, the more frightened we are the less we will venture forth on errands that are not strictly necessary..i was on my way out the door , literally, when my mobile rang…it was the charming woman from the bank.. she d got my message .. id gone way over my limit.. which was why i could nt withdraw funds…She , and i won’t name her, is working from Home and sorted it all out on her laptop..no need for me to go to town.. Is nt that great?..well , I thought it was..and a good thing too,as she has not been provided with any masks..and we are talking about a Bank..if they cant get basic stuff like that no wonder the Government are nt testing people .. they don’t have the wherewithal…it is nt as though this has nt been on the News everyday since December the something. .I remember listening to Radio Four as i was driving through Slough, in December,… don’t ask … the M4 was closed..and i was listening to a woman in Wuhan describing how her parents were dying in the Street.. that really got my attention. It did nt seem to get the attention of the people in charge here however, as when the inevitable arrived nearly three months later , they had done nothing to prepare for it. The Spanish Disease is politics, it creeps into every corner of life and spreads its poison , a bit like you know what,..and in the past when people got fed up with their venal politicians there was a Military Coup , and then they realised maybe life was better before with democracy … and the cycle starts again. This model has been exported successfully to Latin America.. with the possible exception of Mexico. and Costa Rica Its all very well for us stodgy Northerners with our bad weather , to criticise, but Sun affects people,and when things are good they seem so much better in the Sunshine..but something about Sunny weather produces Volatility, and an @ i won’t fix the roof as its not raining @ World View… and Italys colossal death rate is the price to be paid .. not that it is nt sunny in China..or South Korea..but they do a lot more than just fix the roof..and to put it down to Confucianism .. well maybe best not to start on that. Australia will be interesting, they have lots of sun , but its a pretty organised place ..and i don’t see them making this sort of Balls up.. also they have the experience of natural disasters,,and pulling together, and will not let Politics interfere…any country that had leaders with names like Abbott and Costello doesn’t waste too energy on petty politics. The Current Classic example of petty minded, spiteful, pointless, negative ,oppurtunism , is the attempt on social media and what sup groups to denigrate the Royal Family organising people to rattle saucepans at a given time, because apparently the current King s father had a rather large amount of money in a Swiss Account..well, it was Saudi Money , not money stolen from the Spanish taxpayer, unlike the billions stolen by the previous administration , the PP .The idea for this stupidity was inspired by the Custom of applauding the Medical profession every night at eight o clock.. an excellent morale boosting , bringing everyone together kind of gesture..well everything has its opposite and this is an excellent way to breed more discontent and fracture an all ready pretty fractured society.. it beggars belief and you really have to have lived here to see these Barca Madrid idiocies at first hand. Barca Madrid is a term used to describe the divide and conquer ,us and them , attitudes that have stopped Spains progress since the collapse of their Empire, culminating in the most vicious Civil War in recent European History, and one would have hoped that after 40 plus years of Democracy it would have disappeared , but sadly, like in the USA and a lot of other democracies , it seems to be on the increase.The anger on Social Media which results from the claustrophobic frustration of a lockdown will hopefully not boil over into something with unpleasant political consequences, which would be very sad , as after Francos death and the adoption of constitution that is the envy of many countries, Spain was a beacon of hope in the last quarter of the 20 th century… how the mighty are fallen .. one hopes not.. SPANISH LOCKDOWN DAY 7 Slept really well , but then I remember reading that people on Death row sleep 16 hours a day so possibly not a good sign. Last Night i watched the Spanish news ,on the main channel and things are looking up , relatively speaking, in the sense that testing has arrived ..someone, or some country, has sent several thousand, or may be half a million test kits.. which is obviously excellent news , and testing in Galicia is going full steam ahead. There was the obligatory item about a vaccine..which I think one can take with a pinch of salt. .Military erecting field hospitals next to various main hospitals…the eight o clock applause of medical staff…all in all well put together not too desperately pessimistic, and generally not as disheartening as Facebook.. afterwards i felt like some light relief so we watched eleven episodes of 2 and half men, in Spanish ,to cheer ourselves up before going to bed. .. Today i decided to live a normal day .. if such a thing were possible , so , after taking Tina for a walk i got the Old TV and DVD working and put on Marty Schwarz s Intermediate Blues Guitar Course part one…and it started raining .. so that was encouraging as it took away any temptation to venture outside.. except for firewood that is. I worked through the course without rushing , but also without too much pausing , as i d done those lessons before, and all that repetition of Honest I do is paying off.. On going outside for firewood i could not ignore the noise of the generator that kicked in yesterday evening, as we ve had not Sun for several days, so i decided to fill it up with diesel, and see how much 15 hours constant running had used,only half the 20 litre can to fill up the tank…but was it full to begin with?..anyway it s very rare to have 4 days without sun , so even if it did use 13 euros of diesel Im not going to freak out as that was expensive diesel.. and I’m entitled to use the cheaper stuff .Of cause i spilled Diesel over my hands , and shoes , and when i spent a good 5 minutes trying to wash the smell out i realised this was the ultimate anti virus test.. so i will leave a bowl of Diesel outside every time i go to town and use that as first part of the disinfection process , yet another excuse not to go to town. My neighbour M. rang and suggested i look at his scheme on Facebook to institute Food Deliveries , so one does nt have to go to the Supermarket in person and infect and be infected… a good idea of course , but like so many , i don’t see it happening…I pointed out several objections , lack of drivers, expense, one would need a sort of Uber program which will probably not be ready for a year .. etc..and the Supermarkets are making so much money i doubt they need this sort of input.I promised to look at it later , which I will , as Lunch was ready. We ve run out of Bread ,Oranges and Chocolate, Aurora has broken a nail and the nail bars are closed till further notice…but otherwise we can probably get through till Monday without suffering too much ..on the other hand Monday is probably the worst day to go shopping..Im toying with the idea of going to the small Supermarket, at 8 am Sunday morning, and hopefully having it to myself , as i cant face the idea of a queue. I know English people are supposed to love queueing but i must be an exception, and queuing nowadays is a High Risk Activity. The Sun is out and i did one of the jobs from a month old to do list… pumping the water out the flooded pump room , it all went very well , and i felt very worthy , and now , with the Sunshine it s time for a walk , with Tina , of course. I return , feeling optimistic .. and the phone rings, i assume it s my neighbour asking if I’ve read his article.it isn’t , it s C another near neighbour, with some very bad news . The police are in Quarantine…and the Army will soon be here. No Tobacco..as they will close the Tobacconist. A completely different ball game I rang M, and gave him the news…I f he d had a kalashnikov he d have been checking the magazine I rang another neighbour F, whose office is next to the Police Station , to warn him. .When the Rumour , comes to your Town , It Grows and Grows, Where it Started No-one Knows…*Robbie Robertson I rang my source in the Town Hall G…no , it s only one cop , and he has nt got the results yet.. I rang M again…he had spoken to his friend who is a Guardia Civil .no , it was nt a Cop it was a Guardia Civil..he also told me the Cuban woman who cleans houses had been stopped, by the Police and they checked the receipt for her shopping I rang the first neighbour and corrected the original story I opened Facebook .. and there was the original story , which had started a firestorm of comments along the likes of whats your source? etc as though we were in the Watergate hearings, not only that, the people reading the story imagined it referred to Mojacar , not Carboneras , and were all frantically ringing the Police Staion , The Town Hall and each other to see if it were true. The tones of the respective comments went from shrill outrage that anyone should suggest such a story without due documentation , to fear , to I knew this would happen, all these irresponsible idiots .. blah blah It began to increasingly resemble an episode of Dads Army with a false alarm about a German Landing.., which Facebook does anyway There is the Captain Mainwaring..@While i was out today making sure everyone was behaving themselves i saw these irresponsible panic shoppers, and these people walking around without a good reason @ The Fraser .. We Re Doomed The Air raid Warden…Its all the fault of the Ruling Class, and rules are rules etc Jones ..Dont Panic... in a tone of complete hysteria Pikes mother…Be sure to wear your gloves , motorcycle helmet , hazchem suit, mask..galoshes, .Do you have your hand sanitiser , all clothes must be burnt on reentry etc By this time Auroras original alarm had been replaced by hilarity, as she was sitting by the fire hearing one side of these conversations.. I went out for some more wood and we relaxed by watching a Documentary about the Boeing 737 MAX..complete with simulation in the Pilots cockpit The best part was the CEO of Boeing trying to justify his 30 million Dollar salary at a Congressional hearing..…i wondered what the Shareholders thought about that , i know what the victims families thought , as they were being interviewed and did nt sound too impressed

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sablelab · 5 years

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Covert Operations - Chapter 62

DISCLAIMER: This is a modern AU crossover story with Outlander and La Femme Nikita. LFN and its characters do not belong to me nor do those from Outlander.

SYNOPSIS: Karen and Claire spend the evening at The Triangle nightclub and she meets Andrew Ma, her boyfriend. Although he is a musician, the name of his band has Claire thinking that there may be more to him than meets the eye.

THANK YOU to all who are supporting my story. I am so very thankful that you are reading, liking or reblogging Covert Operations and I hope you are enjoying this new scenario for Jamie and Claire. Previous chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

CHAPTER 62

“Hey Claire! We’re here,” Karen exclaimed enthusiastically as the two girls’ taxicab pulled up outside the hottest nightspot in town, The Triangle nightclub.

Getting out of the cab, Claire took in her surroundings, and the club appeared to be a refurbished warehouse in a trendy area of Hong Kong. It was a sleek modern three storey building with a triangular shaped roof with steel beams intersected in the same shape jutting out under the roof line. A large neon sign graced the front of the building again in a triangular shape advertising the nightclub’s name which blinked on and off at intervals alluding to what the premises was used for. It was very impressive and the glows from the muted ground lighting led the way to where two burley bouncers were standing vetoing those who wanted entrance to the establishment.

The two women excitedly made their way toward the club and joined the line of patient patrons cordoned off beside a succession of velvet ropes that stretched along the footpath. The vibe was already lively for those waiting to gain entry and Claire could only imagine that inside would be similar. Several couples started hugging each other in excitement as the queue began to move forward happy that they were getting closer to the entrance. There were beautiful young girls dressed in provocative mini dresses eager to enter and see what conquests the night would bring and then there were the male patrons who could be seen eyeing off the girls in line. Karen turned to Claire, rolled her eyes and smiled as they studied the dynamics of the people queued up. Whenever a patron was let in through the double doors, they could hear the powerful beat of the dance music blaring from inside the nightclub. Laser lights were seen rapidly changing colours in the windows as well showing that there was one heck of a party going on inside.

As Karen and Claire edged closer to the front of the queue, it was obvious that The Triangle enforced a dress code to ensure that a certain type of clientele was in attendance at the venue. All the hip young Hong Kong clubbers were dressed to impress as too were the two friends. The Triangle certainly was the place to be seen as was evidenced by people being turned away. They noticed the crestfallen looks of one couple banned for wearing sneakers and jeans who were denied entry to the club by the door bouncers.

“Are you excited?” Karen asked enthusiastically glancing at Claire.

“I am. Thanks for asking me.”

“This is the trendiest new nightclub in town and although it’s only been opened a little while it’s busy every night.”

“How do you know all that Karen?”

She leaned in and smiled spiritedly, “Because my boyfriend is in the band playing tonight.”

“Ah. So that’s why where here? To hear your boyfriend’s band? And here I thought this was just going to be a girls’ night out,” Claire laughed in response.

“Of course, that’s why Claire, but not the only reason,” she answered with a bemused grin on her face, “And it’s because … I really, really want you to meet him.”

“Well then, I hope they let us inside so that I can meet ...?”

“Andrew ... Andy Ma.”

“What does he do in the band?”

Karen gave Claire an enigmatic smile. “He plays the guitar and other things.”

“Sounds intriguing. Is he any good at these other things?”

“What?” Karen replied a little taken aback by her questions.

“Is he a good guitar player?” Claire clarified looking at her friend.

“I think he is, but I’ll let you be the judge of that once we are inside.”

Since they had been standing in line, the queue had grown longer and stretched as far as the eye could see, nonetheless they gradually moved closer to the front of the line as they waited to enter. Finally, it came to their turn. When they approached the two muscular security bouncers at the main door who were screening those who they would let enter into the nightclub, the two women smiled broadly.

“Hello ... Jimmy.”

The very large, stoic man showed little emotion. “Hey Karen ... You here to see Andy again?”

“Yeah ... but this time it’s a surprise for my friend.”

The bouncer gave Claire the once over as he ran a handheld metal detector over her body, then did the same to Karen.

“Sorry ladies but I need to see some I.D. Not you Karen but your friend here ... I will need to see your identification lady. Legal reasons you know.”

“Sure.”

“I need to see your phone too.”

“Why?” Claire requested for explanation.

“We have a strict no photo policy in order to protect the clubbing experience of our patrons.”

Rummaging in her purse she drew out her driver’s licence and her phone. The bouncer gave the licence a perfunctory glance but he placed some tape over the smart phone camera lens before giving it back to her.

“Is that all?”

‘Yes, you are free to enter now. Enjoy yourselves and Andy’s performance.”

“Thanks Jimmy:

“Come on Claire. Let's go in and have some fun."

“Yes let’s.” Claire replied as the two friends made their way inside The Triangle nightclub for an evening of revelry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Claire’s eyes had to adjust to the darkness after first entering the club and when they did, she slowly glanced around inside. The two girls stood on a platform overlooking the main area with a curved stairwell leading down to the main dance floor. The interior of The Triangle was grand, opulent and so massive. It was very impressive and certainly was a trendy and upscale establishment with luxurious furnishings and expensive décor.

It featured a sunken dance floor and upstairs there was a balcony with large banquette style booths to sit and chill in. There was another grand double staircase leading up to the balcony plus the one down to where people were dancing, awesome lights and mirror balls hung from a high ceiling, there was a photo booth, a DJ section and a large stage where a live band was playing. Claire wondered if that was Karen’s boyfriend’s band, if so then they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. There was also a long lit up bar that took up one whole wall and a smaller, more intimate bar on the balcony level.

Obviously, it was the place for celebrities, movie stars and the well-heeled to hang out. What stood out too were the neon signs aligned on the walls and the large signage with The Triangle name emblazed in lights. There were multiple levels for action and interaction, and Claire noticed that patrons were jiving to the music in the dimly lit interior. It appeared that Jonathon Randall had done his homework and The Triangle was a very lucrative nightclub for it was obvious that business was booming. It was very crowded tonight and clearly, he had a great investment that would more than likely bring in a considerable amount of revenue.

It was evident too, that The Triangle had a fast-paced, loud, and raucous atmosphere. The music was even louder than what they had heard whilst waiting outside and seemed to reverberate through Claire’s whole body. The pulsing beat of the bass frequencies coming through the huge sound system almost felt like her spine was turned into a vibrator that shook her entire body. Making a quick summation of her surroundings, she noted several things that stood out. The blaring bass, amplified through the speakers from the guitarist on stage seemed to make the room shake as dancing bodies tangled together. She also noticed that people had crowded the bar area as well where guys were buying a few drinks to muster up the courage to speak to a hot girl. If some of the patrons were taking drugs it was difficult to say given the emotional high and happy atmosphere that was evident as soon as they had walked in the door.

Karen too, looked around at those gathered, then she glanced at Claire exclaiming happily, “Electrifying isn’t?”

The music was loud, very loud and the two girls could hardly hear themselves speak. “What?”

Laughing, she repeated her words a little louder this time, “I said it’s exciting.”

“It is,” Claire replied leaning in and nearly shouting her answer at Karen’s ear.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Making their way down the staircase into the hub of the action, they were surrounded by bodies everywhere on the dance floor and the pounding rhythm of the music from the live band had the crowd pumping with excitement. The revellers seemed to be having the time of their lives as they either danced on the different levels of The Triangle to the pulsating live music, or stood listening to the band play on the stage and moshing with arms thrusting in the air and head-banging to their favourite songs of the five-man group.

You couldn’t really see the dance floor as it was wall to wall people bopping to the rhythm. The whole scene seemed so exciting and couples on the dance floor were engaged in all types of dancing rituals from the sexual mating of attraction to the uninhibited dance movements like no one was watching them. Beautiful women and handsome men were checking out each other no doubt canvassing for a sexual partner for later in the night, while others were trying to engage in conversation in some of the quiet areas set apart around the dance floor.

The atmosphere was electric. Laser lights illuminated the dance floor, and light reflected off the large mirror covered disco balls hanging from the ceiling, danced across the walls. Multicoloured strobe lighting, rigged to follow the music, blinked on and off while changing colours to the beat of the music. The light shows only intensified the experience of the revellers, for those dancing looked like they were moving in slow motion. Moving light beams flashed from the stage and the smoke billowing from the smoke machine only complicated visibility. However, there was just enough light for Claire to make out faces in the crowd and she adjusted her glasses to activate her surveillance of the patrons for Fergus’ benefit back at Section One. But as yet, she could not make out anyone of significance.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Karen and Claire cautiously made their way through the crowd and across the dance floor as best they could. They were jostled from time to time from those dancing but they managed to make headway through the crowd if they stayed on the periphery. Karen lead the way, however, in the loud atmosphere it was nearly impossible to hear anything but the music and a few random snippets of shouted conversation from each other. Tapping Claire on the shoulder Karen pointed to some seating across the room. “See that empty booth over there,” she practically shouted as her voice was drowned out in the noise.

“Yeah.”

“If we get separated … I’ll meet you there. Okay?”

Claire nodded that she had understood her instructions as she unobtrusively cast her eyes around the venue ever vigilant. She also activated a camera hidden in her necklace, to provide Section One with a broader view of the interior of the club. She surveyed the crowd for anyone that stood out as well as noting where the security guards were posted around the venue. Glancing up to the balcony she noticed members of the security team watching inconspicuously over the clubbers below. However, the two women unfortunately did get separated from each other in the crowd and Claire got swept up in the revelry taking place on the dance floor. She felt a hand reach out of nowhere from between the gyrating bodies, cop a feel of her derriere, and then vanish as quickly as it appeared. If the move was intentional or accidental it still caused her to glance around to see if anyone looked suspicious.

Casing the crowd for any anomalies, Claire’s nose was assaulted by the familiar smell of alcohol, tobacco smoke, perfume and sweat from the dancers packed tightly together. She continued to make her way through the crowded throng to the other side of the room, but another douche bag materialized out of thin air. Grabbing her hands, the man twirled her around the dance floor then held her flush to his chest while pressing Claire’s arms against the sides of her body. Holding her tight, he started rubbing his crotch against her backside. Unfazed, Claire merely dropped her weight down swiftly by mimicking a fast squat. Then she shifted her hips to the side and using her open palm struck hard and fast to his groin area until he released his grip. Lunging forward slightly, she quickly threw her elbow back to the man’s belly and he doubled over in pain.

He let go and grabbing his stomach cowered away, muttering under his breath, “Bitch!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Making it to the other side of the dance floor, Claire saw Karen waving to her and made her way over to where she was waiting. As she sat down, Karen nodded towards where the band was playing on stage.

Leaning her head close to Claire’s so that she could hear her every word, she asked, “Do you see that tall, good looking guy singing and playing the guitar?”

“Which one? ... There are five of them Karen.”

The handsome one obviously. The one with the long, dark hair and moustache. He’s the lead vocalist. Well? What do you think?” She asked inquisitively.

“Not my type but whatever floats your boat,” Claire replied laughing.

“Well I think he’s adorable.”

“That’s all that matters then.”

“I’m sure you’ll like him too, when you meet him.” While they waited for the band to finish their bracket, they watched the patrons having a great time until the band took a well-earned break. However, the music didn’t stop, neither did the partying and dancing. There was a DJ booth located at the opposite end of the dance floor. Some of the crowd took this chance to have a rest and get a drink while others filed over to where the nightclub’s resident Disc Jockey began to play a mix of songs of the most broadcasted tunes from the Top 40 as well as recorded dance and pop music through the powerful PA system. The replacement band began setting up their instruments while Andy Ma’s band packed theirs away.

While the crowd was engaged with the DJ, the other guys in the band left the stage to meet up with several eager groupies hanging around trying to catch their attention, or girlfriends who were waiting for them. When Karen’s guy had finished placing his guitar on its stand, he came down the stairs to where she was waiting for him. Smiling she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Claire watched their intimate interaction as they kissed each other again. Then with their arms around one another they headed in her direction.

“Claire ... this is my guy,” Karen gushed smiling up at her man then back at Claire. “Hi ... I’m Karen’s neighbour Claire.” She smiled at the tall man thinking that they made a lovely couple. “I’m Andy. I’m the bass guitarist and lead singer.”

“So, it’s you who is responsible for that pulsating beat that had me thrumming to my bones.”

“Yep ... Guilty.” Andy replied placing his hands in the air then grinning at her.

“What’s the name of you band?”

“Dragon.”

The name made Claire do a double take, but she remained calm and said, “You’re bloody good by the way.”

“Thank you, Claire.”

She thought he was a little reticent with his answers and didn’t really look her in the eye as if he was quite shy and reserved, which was a little strange given that he was the bass guitarist and lead singer. Usually they were more extroverted but perhaps that was just for show. However, the name of his band gave her cause to reflect. Was there some connection there to the Rising Dragons or was it just symbolic of Chinese culture that the dragon was revered? Either way, it was food for thought and made her look at Andy Ma in a whole new light. Did Karen know that he may be someone that was not really who he said he was? She seemed to be besotted with him. She would hate to think that her friend had been duped by this guy, just because he was a rock star and good looking.

When he sat down Andy possessively placed his arm on the back of Karen’s chair and the looks that they were giving each other made Claire feel like a third wheel. The two had eyes only for each other and so Claire made an excuse to give them some alone time.

“I’m going over to the bar to get a drink; can I get you guys anything?

Without taking their eyes off each other Andy said, “Thanks Claire. I’ll have a beer.”

“Me too,” Karen replied enamoured with her guy.

The message was received loud and clear that they wanted to be alone, so Claire got up to leave the booth. “Okay you two ... I’ll be back in a jiff.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once more she had to navigate her way through the gyrating bodies on the dance floor as she made her way to the bar. It was the fastest way across the room to the bar and this time she twirled around from time to time giving Fergus a clear view of the patrons at the nightclub. Her body moved to the rhythm of the music as more sweaty bodies brushed up against her. Luckily, she didn’t come across the guy who had called her a bitch and she hoped that Fergus had a facial of him just in case he was a triad member.

“You getting this Claudel?” Claire whispered as she strolled over closer to the bar to order some drinks. “Yeah.” “Anything?” “No nothing yet. None of the faces that you’ve captured so far are recognizable in our system.” “Maybe Jonathon Randall’s not here tonight.” “Maybe.”

“Anything on the guy I decked?”

“Nothing showed up in our data files. He’s an innocent.”

“Pity.”

When Claire finally arrived on the other side of the room, there were people four deep at the bar trying to hold out cash hoping that one of the bartenders noticed them and that they could order their drinks or cocktails. There were mostly men at the bar and a few attractive women were flirting with the single guys obviously enticing them to purchase more drinks and drive drink sales up. No wonder Jonathon Randall had good business acumen. He certainly had the formula for making money. Alcohol reduced inhibitions and it was the natural choice to boost a guy’s courage towards interactions with the fairer sex and judging by the four deep queues then this was a possibility. They jostled each other to make their way back out from the throng of people at the bar without spilling the drinks they had paid for but sometimes with little success.

Claire, however, succeeded in returning to Karen and Andy without spilling a drop. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The DJ had finished his session and the dancers were now milling around on the dance floor or chatting at the tables on each level. Karen, Andy and Claire engaged in polite conversation in their booth as they waited for the backup band to begin their repertoire. When the group finally belted out a rock tune, the throbbing beat of the music was so ear-splitting and pounding that they could barely hear themselves speak.

Leaning towards her friend, Claire shouted trying to be heard above the din. “This rock music sure is deafening isn't it?” But she still wasn’t heard.

“What? What did you say?” Karen asked. “Never mind. It’s not important,” Claire replied giving her a wry smile.

However, Karen wasn’t paying much attention to her or the band, as all of her attention was focused on her boyfriend. Andy Ma and her friend sat huddled together oblivious to everything and everyone but each other as he whispered sweet nothings in Karen’s ear.

Sitting back in the booth, Claire unobtrusively scanned the room this way and that, to give Fergus another 180-degree view of the setting. Many couples were still dancing while others were sitting with friends relaxing and having drinks. Out of the corner of her eye Claire noticed several young Chinese men acting a little suspiciously who may be a possible lead to Jonathon Randall but it seemed that nothing was forthcoming.

Taking a little sip of her drink of whisky, she immediately thought of Jamie. This was his favourite drink and she could recall the way she loved to watch as he savoured the taste on his lips. That thought then turned to the taste of his lips on hers and Claire suddenly had a feeling of melancholy wash over her. She missed him terribly and wished he was here now doing the things that Andy was doing to Karen. The sound of his voice as his warm breath caressed her ear was just a memory that she desperately wanted to repeat. The lilt of his beautiful Scottish brogue when he’d contacted her on his return to Section yesterday was better than nothing, but she wanted him here with her. She wanted him so very much that she hurt and she was a little jealous of the intimacy between her friend and her beau. “Oh Jamie … I wish you were here,” the voice in her head repeated again and again until she had to forcibly give herself a little shake to bring her back to reality.

She needed an opportunity to nonchalantly broach the subject of the owner of The Triangle, Jonathon Randall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Claire’s patience was rewarded when she finally found an opening when Andy Ma eventually turned away from his girlfriend and reached for his drink. He took a mouthful of his beer and looked over at Claire as she took another sip of her whisky. Fortunately, there was a little lull in the music, so she took the chance to ask him a few innocuous questions and to find out a little more about him.

“Karen is always talking about what a great guy you are Andy and I can see why.”

“Thanks Claire. I think she is wonderful too.”

“You’re a terrific musician too. So, is this your first gig at the nightclub?”

“No, the band is the resident one now. Jonathon Randall liked us so much that he offered us a permanent booking if we wanted it. We can still do a tour from time to time so it is a win-win for all the boys.”

“Is he the owner?”

“Yeah.”

“I was told at the bar, that the man who owns the nightclub is cute and … very good looking.”

“Who? Jonathon Randall? I don’t think I’d call him cute … good looking maybe … but girls might think that.” He answered with a chuckle.

“Does he ever come here?” He took another swallow of his drink. “Sometimes.” “Oh … Is he here tonight?” Claire inquired enthusiastically.

“No, he’s not ... He’s having a party next Saturday night, so, I guess he is off planning it tonight instead.” Claire leaned towards him as if she was to tell him something that shouldn’t be eavesdropped. She lowered her voice. “I’ve also heard that he’s rich ... very rich. Is that true?”

Andy smiled smugly as he sat back, “What do you think?”

“I think that he probably makes a packet from this nightclub. Karen said it is full every night.”

“Yeah ... you could say that! I guess he’s just a savvy business man.”

“I’d love to meet him. I’m unemployed at the moment. Perhaps he might give me a job.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Unfortunately, Andy Ma didn’t have a chance to reply as that little lull disappeared as the band once again began to crank up the volume of their latest rendition of an AC/DC rock and roll classic. The infectious beat of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap soon had the crowd jumping again and even Claire pumped her hands in the air along to the music. Andy and Karen joined in the merriment too as the crowd went wild for the song and screamed along with the chorus with the lead singer. Then when the lead guitarist did a solo riff the crowd went nuts.

The pulsating rock music continued for several more songs until the band finished their set and also took a well-earned break to make way for the return of Andy Ma’s band, Dragon. Once the music stopped, there was excited chatter from those on the dance floor who had been listening to the previous band playing. Flushed patrons made their way to the bar for a much-needed drink, while others returned to where they were sitting for a breather before they would be back on the dance floor once more when Andy’s band returned to the stage to play.

Once the replacement musicians had finished their session, Andy got up ready to make his way back to the stage for his band’s next bracket.

“Sorry girls ... gotta go. We’re up next.”

Karen was reluctant to let him go and grabbed hold of his arm. She raised her face to his and Andy bent down and gave her a quick kiss and a hug. Sadly, she released her hand but trailed her fingers down his arm until she clasped his hand. Andy pulled away and Karen slowly let go little by little until she had no choice but to let him walk away, although she tried to savour each touch until the very last moment.

He was about to move away when Claire asked eagerly, “Do you think Karen and I could get an invite to his party next Saturday?” “It’s a private function ... but I’ll see what I can do.” Claire flashed him a megawatt grin. “Wow! Thanks ... that would be great.” “Enjoy the rest of the night girls ... See ya babe!” Then turning towards Claire said, “‘Bye Claire. Nice meeting you.”

“Same Andy, ... See ya on Saturday,” she added hopefully knowing that if he could pull off an invite then she would finally meet Jonathon Randall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued

#jamie and claire #jamieandclairefanfiction #Jamie Fraser #claire beauchamp #jamieandclaireau #covert operations

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guylty · 6 years

Text

It’s been so bloody long, I really need to put this baby to bed. The last few things that need to be said about Red Dragon Con 5 – and I’ll make it relatively short because, yes, I am already bored with myself, too. [Added pre-publication but after finishing the post: Yeah, right, “short”… ] Sorry sorry sorry.

The brutalist charm of an airport hotel. The RDC venue, the Renaissance Hotel. Lovely.

When I rocked up in the venue at about 10.30am on Sunday morning, my first order of business was – queuing. You might remember that I had been blinded by the gorgeousness blinked in my precious photo with Richard, so I had to come in early for a re-shoot while Kate had a little more time to make her way to the hotel. I joined my queue… As I was finally getting into the room where the photo sessions were being held, observing Richard and his various co-sitters in the set-up, something amazing immediately occurred to me: Richard was putting his arm around everybody!!!! *gasp* Apparently someone had had a change of heart over night. Or someone else had taken him aside and given him a few pointers. Or maybe he just sneaked a peek at Twitter and saw that there had been some complaining. In any case, Richard seemed quite different on Sunday morning – and his new willingness to appear a little less reserved had a massive influence on his fans: The buzz in the room was undeniable; people literally appeared to be happier, more relaxed, very much in love even. Despite the human rights violation of a pair of loosely cut trousers, flapping from the supposedly delectable derriere of the OOA.

So once again the conveyor belt pushed me inevitably closer and closer to the epi centre: Leave your bag on the table. Show your photo badge to the helper. Five steps. Get the same warning as the day before. “No touching, no flower crowns.” Four steps. The flashes are really bright. Three steps. I must remember to really keep my eyes open. Two steps. Shit, I forgot Pop!Thorin. One step. I am next. Lift-off: I move into the frame. I say a polite hello to some tall bloke in a dark leather jacket. I look at the camera. Last second I decide to make the picture silly by pointing at that bloke. I feel a hand and an arm ghost across my back. I plaster a stupid grin on my face. As the flash goes off, I blink. I hurry out of the frame as quickly. What a horror show!

It remains a mystery to me how something as pedestrian as queueing and getting your photo taken, is so immensely draining on body and soul. When I came out of that session, I was basically ready for a lie-down. And it wasn’t even as if there had been any exciting exchange between me and Mr A. Quite the opposite, actually. We both very much kept to ‘our side of the bed’, so to speak. Luckily the next event was the 1pm Q&A with Richard. I readjusted my flower crown and went to look for Kate and Armidreamer.

Not *my* long face, but Claus with C – the rocking horse – modelling the exclusive Red Dragon FC, made by a sub division of RAPS Inc.

After another heart-breakingly good Q&A session with interview pro Richard Armitage, it was time for another stewarding stint again. And now the story got really interesting.

American Gothic all the way

Like the previous day, I had been put on photo collection duty for my volunteering on Sunday. When I got to the collection room, most pictures from the morning’s photo sessions had already been picked up and not much work was left to do. I spent a little while counting the photo “badges” (little receipts that had been used to make sure only paying con attendants got into the photo studio). It occurred to me to look for my own photo from the re-shoot. When I picked it up, I could not help but snort loudly. Once again I had closed my eyes when the flash went off – another photo op ruined. You really had to laugh. I was kind of muttering more to myself than anyone else “Ah no, I blinked again, my eyes are closed in my photo… too bad.” But a couple of women who actually worked properly for Starfury, apparently heard my mumbling, and I explained to them that I had ruined even the *second* of my photo ops. Ah well, no need to be sad. I had never really wanted to have a photo anyway. So I just accepted the fact that I am oversensitive to photographic flashes, and that was it.

And then, after a minute, the woman in charge of photo collection dropped a bombshell. “Do you want a re-shoot?” I could hardly understand what I was hearing. “Eh, yes…” I stammered, a thousand question marks in my tone. “Then you need to go now with this girl here. It’s the last picture of the day. Go go go.” Before I had time to understand what was happening, one of the Starfury assistants from the photo room was already looking for me in the photo collection room, and next thing I was already running with the girl through the hotel lobby to the backrooms where the photo sessions were held. The photo sessions were officially over, so the photo equipment was being packed up, the room rearranged. Instead of con attendants, the room was filled with volunteers and Starfury staff who were tidying up. The girl took me to the photographer, explaining that I was the last person that day to have a quick re-shoot. I apologised profusely for prolonging the photographer’s work, but he was calm and nice. He just told me to position myself in front of the backdrop, ready to have the picture taken as quickly as possible. Richard, I noticed, together with Mads Mikkelsen was still in the middle of signing one of the big banners that were going to be raffled off to the con attendants. Having to wait while standing under the bright illumination of the photo lights, is pure torture for someone who doesn’t like to be photographed in the first place. And I didn’t even have a prop with me to hide behind. Instead the thoughts were reeling in my head, telling myself I would have to concentrate on keeping my eyes open. And how the hell was I supposed to smile when I was actually struggling to keep myself from blushing with embarrassment?

And then things happen very quickly: At last, while I am still apologising/chatting with the photographer, Mads and Richard suddenly step into the photo area . I vaguely hear somebody explaining to them that there is to be one last re-shoot. I don’t know where to look, I am mortified, babbling apologies. Mads turns up on my left, and I sense Richard passing behind my back. It is actually Mads who addresses me with a grin and a chuckle: “Are you the blinker?” I have to laugh. “Yes. I am.” And I feel really bad when I actually turn him down – “but not with you but with Richard.” Mortally wounded (haha, or rather: not) Mads leaves the scene while somehow RA cops on that he is the one I want the picture with. I kind of sense that there is no point in saying much to RA – he is possibly less than impressed to have been roped in for a re-shoot and just wants this to be over. And so do I. I stand awkwardly beside him while trying to appear nonchalant, last-minute repeating my fun little finger-pointing gesture from the morning. *flash* I can feel I had my eyes closed. And the photographer says “hold on, let’s take another” while I feel my facial muscles spasm from the awkward artificial smiling. Yeah, American Gothic all the way now.

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Alright, alright. Richard isn’t American Gothic, only I am. He smiled and his eyes sparkle. So there:

But boy, was that a struggle! I think the picture shows the strain, and so my advice to anyone similarly suffering from acute embarrassment in face of the OOA is to actually bring some kind of prop to the photo op. I definitely felt much less exposed when I had Pop!Thorin with me the day before. In the unlikely event of having to talk to Richard, Pop!Thorin at least would have provided a topic. Moreover, Pop!Thorin gave my hands an occupation, therefore avoiding both mirroring RA with hands in pockets, or looking like a family photo from a small town photo studio ca. 1984. Believe me, I know what I am talking about. I have been there. Both in 1984 and 35 years later. – I ran back to my stewarding job to finish my shift. And to thank the photo ladies for giving me the opportunity to re-shoot that picture. I knew that they had made an exception for me – it’s usually not possible to re-shoot photos (as is actually explained when you buy a token for the photo sessions). I, however, was lucky because I was volunteering with the right people. They simply were nice women. Which they not only proved with the whole re-shoot thing but something else.

The Heart in the Right Place

I always like to leave the best for last, and the following last incident from Sunday at RDC5 definitely ranks high among the many memories. The photo collection was pretty quiet by the time I came back from the photo re-shoot, and the ladies told me that there was no need for me to continue waiting there; they would look after the photo collections themselves. I packed up my stuff and was about to leave when I remembered one thing. Even though Hariclea couldn’t attend the con because of her mother’s death, she had obviously paid for her ticket. And while her included autograph allocation basically expired, the guys at the registration had promised me I could pick up Hariclea’s badge at the end of the con. After all there was a picture of Dolarhyde on the badge! The registration guy was sitting in the same room as the photo people, so I popped over to his desk and retrieved that badge. And by way of conversation I mentioned to the lovely photo ladies, that “my friend could not attend the con because her mother died the day before the con, and I am at least bringing this back for her as a souvenir”. The two of them looked at each other. Then one of them said: “Who’s her favourite star?” I said, “Richard.” She reached out her hand and said, “Just give me that for a moment.” I handed over the badge and she vanished with it. After 5 minutes she was back.

Just to spell it out: Without any prompting or suggesting from me, she had run over to the backrooms where Richard and Mads were still doing their autograph duties, and had obtained a signature from Richard on the ticket. I don’t know what she told him and how she did it, but she got the ticket signed by the man who Hariclea would’ve wanted to see. And for free. I was gobsmacked. And I don’t think there are words enough to say thank you to the photo ladies at Starfury’s Red Dragon Con 5. This was simply two decent people being touched by the kind of sad story that life writes – and reacting in a generous, kind and thoughtful way. And that counts for so much more than any kind of petty criticism for commercialised fandom events. I am annoyed with myself that I never asked for the two kind photo ladies’ names. But even without naming them, I am sure that the universe will reward them for their kindness. They so deserve it!

(Second but) Last Words

Right, I actually wanted to wrap up the whole con thing in this post, but again, I have been too elaborate. Apologies. I could leave it at this but that would be a bit unfair. I do want to give their dues to the other people whose appearances at the con I enjoyed. And I also want to say a last word about the fannibals and the various encounters I had. I promise, just one more post.

But to tie this one up, here’s a last reflection on the whole photo malarkey. I realise I am a lucky fan. I got my photograph with my favourite actor, and I was really lucky in that I came away with a version in which I *don’t* have my eyes closed. No complaints there. If there’s anything to complain about, it is me. The fangirl mind overanalyses all the time. Too busy are we, constantly monitoring what we say, what we think, and how we feel, in face of the OOA. Sometimes, I feel, that actually overshadows our enjoyment of the moment. That’s certainly what happened to me. There I was, standing beside this bloke whose talent and skills as a performer I so admire. It’s not every day that happens. And regardless of the vibes of reluctance and/or shyness that he was exuding all weekend, I *should have* loved every second I could stand beside the guy. I loved photographing him at the panels, I certainly loved listening to him speak, and if I had been a little less dim I would have loved the one-to-one moment at the signing, too. But the photo sessions? Boy, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough! This is just me and does not apply to everyone, but here is what I felt: The fact that I had two re-shoots kind of intensified or exacerbated the whole scenario for me. A rather luxurious complaint, I know. Taking three separate efforts to get a photo with my favourite star, I felt so embarrassed and awkward, put on the spot and as if my cover had been blown. No, I don’t believe that RA recognised me – I doubt he knows who I am. There is no reason why he should know me – I am one of thousands of people who turn up at events, waving a book or a programme at him, asking him to sign. Most of the time I hide behind my camera, anyway. But as much as I appreciated the exceptional circumstance that allowed me to have my picture taken (and *again*), for me it was definitely also a situation way beyond my comfort zone.

Even though the commercial aspect of the photo sessions legitimises our desire to be close (in proximity) to our favourite actor, there is one thing that money can’t buy: genuine interest. And that is what makes these photo ops and selfies by the stage door so difficult for me: I am there because I *want to* be there. I am genuinely interested in my favourite actor, and it is a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to see him live. But that is a pleasure that is not reciprocated. I understand that it can’t be, of course. There is only *one* of him – and *thousands* of fans. It is impossible for every fan encounter to be as meaningful to him as it is to the individual fan. But it is precisely this imbalance that I dislike. And I’d rather admire from afar and without acknowledgment, than from close up and only with polite tolerance. It also has got something to do with how *I* see myself, I guess. And while I know my shortcomings very well, I do believe that there is more to me than the fact that I like Richard Armitage. I don’t like to be defined predominantly by my status as a fan – especially by the guy who I am a fan of. Is that a contradiction or a logical conclusion?

I really don’t know. But I know one thing – with all my niggling about imbalance of interest: He was very fair about not singling anyone out – although he certainly had a bit of a Dibley revival weekend. But RA is not to blame for my difficulties with RL interactions. My overriding impression after observing those photo sessions and seeing Richard at the autograph signing, was one of gratefulness. I don’t know how he manages to so but he made every attempt at giving every fan their own special moment. Whether it is chatting with those Kiwi girls about NZ, expressing his admiration for Flat Richie’s international itinerary to armidreamer, laughing with Kate about Jill’s Gymkhana, or playing ‘Spot the Location’ with my photos, RA did try to be personable. You just have to be cool enough to take it. Which I am not.

High Emotions – Sunday at #RDC5 [part 9] It's been so bloody long, I really need to put this baby to bed. The last few things that need to be said about Red Dragon Con 5 - and I'll make it…

#Francis Dolarhyde #rdc5 #Red Dragon #Richard Armitage

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guktwt · 6 years

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love yourself tour experience! ♡ japan and singapore

hi! so i’ve been wanting to make a post like this for a while on twitter but i hate twitter rn so here i am. this january i was blessed with the opportunity to attend love yourself in nagoya (japan) and singapore and honestly? it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. i wanted to share my experience because really, concerts in japan and everywhere are else are so different, right from ticketing and the show itself. i thought you guys would find it interesting? and also i need to let this out ahhh keeping to myself is not going to do me any good :( anyways, i hope you find this post somewhat entertaining 💞

under the cut because this got really long sorry

♡ love yourself in nagoya ♡

first of all, tickets. getting concert tickets (and any ticket, really) in japan is tricky. most kpop groups in japan have a fanclub and if you’re a member, you get the benefit of applying for tickets first (like a presale!). did i say apply? yes i did. in japan, ticketing for concerts adopts a lottery system for presale and general sales usually a month later.

for presale through fc, you’d have to apply for a lottery on a website and wait to find out if you win or not. you need a fc membership (paid), which also needs you to have a japanese phone number and address in order to apply. and you HAVE to pay your presale tickets in japan because you need to pay them in a convenient store. complicated, i know. FC presale tickets usually give the best seats. there’s no gurantee, but that’s usually the case. fortunately for me, i have a cousin residing in japan to help me with the address (you really need it, they’re going to ship you your membership card) and i found someone on twitter to help me make the payment. if you a apply for lottery, there’s no guarantee you’ll win. so you can apply as many times as you want with a maximum of 2 tickets for each shows. i think i used up all of my luck with this one [sobs]. FC presales usually have more than one round lotteries.

general sales is much simpler. i dont have enough experience to know the details but it’s usually up on japanese ticketing websites and can use credit cards? dont know if foreign ccs are accepted though.

oh and all tickets for all sections cost the same!!! so doesn’t matter if you get the best view or worst it’s all equal

/if you have more questions about this don’t hesitate to send me an ask i don’t know much but i’ve read a lot about it/

you can’t know your seat until a week (or a month? idk) before the concert, when it’s time for you to print your tickets at the same convenient store (yes you have to print them and you can only do it once so don’t lose the damn thing!!). my seat was really good!!! i didn’t get floor sadly but my section was right in front of the extended stage so i got a great view.

i arrived in nagoya a day before the concert (i spent a week in tokyo beforehand) and queued for merch!!! it was winter so it wasn’t hot at all and the japanese really know how to line up. everything is so organized like??? i was so amazed. i spent a good 4 hours queueing before getting my items and even then a lot of the things i wanted were sold out quickly :(

and then comes the concert day!!!! basically since it was all seating tickets i didn’t have to worry about queueing for entry but i did queue for merch again,,,, from 4 am. let me tell you how devoted people are there when it comes to queueing. some actually stayed from the afternoon? and it was winter. crazy.

i entered the dome an hour before the show started and the staff were so kind and helpful whenever i asked for help (i couldn’t find my seat). and everyone around is so kind and warm :( i didn’t really interact with a lot of people due to the language barrier but they’re so . polite.

and moving on to the show!!!!!! japan has strict rules about recording so i couldn’t do any of that [:(] but honestly it just made me enjoy everything better. of course they were amazing on stage and their japanese were so cute :( i still can’t get over nagoya, nekkoya my pure babies!!!

and uh . taehyung. so damn fine. can’t believe i was part of the first people to see him reveal his blue hair. and i can’t stress this enough but his gaze when he looks at the audience... i felt the love and fondness in his eyes i wanted to CRY.

and jimin!!! was so clingy towards joon the whole night ugh we love a baby koala. and jungkook :( he introduced himself as kookoo im so fucking sad. the second he said kookoo desu i was ready to give up my firstborn for him.

hoseok was a fucking machine. he’s so charismatic on stage i can’t handle him. and seokjin was full on crackhead mode :( we stan a whole legend i love love him so much. my mans yoongi was so?? small yet not??? i wanna put him in my pocket. my mans joon was looking like a whole snacc. all legs and dimples.

honestly what struck me the most was how everyone gave seokjin a standing ovation and applause after epiphany???? that was my first time seeing something like that and i just started tearing up because it was so beautiful. people were so respectful they didn’t scream or shout when bangtan were doing their ending ments. the fanchants were absolutely on point!!! whenever bangtan bowed i actually spotted some people in my section bowing in return and i was !!!! oh my god

but on another note you’d think that japanese fans are quiet during shows but theyre really not. they’re loud as hell too they just know when to shut up and listen and i think that’s beautiful.

the whole thing passed by really quickly. i felt hollow and empty by the time it ended but i have to say that it was the most relaxing and chill concert experience i’ve ever had. it just feels so different than my previous concerts. the only downside about it is the no recording part (i could’ve been sneaky but staff was right in front of my section) i guess. but without worrying about my phone i got to watch them perform. like actually watch them. it felt euphoric.

♡ love yourself in singapore ♡

ah.

so for singapore, i got cat 1 purple 2 tickets at first. but because me and my friend wanted yellow initially, we managed to find someone who wanted to trade with us.

i arrived at the venue at 6 am because i had to distribute banners and fans for my fan support. here’s a pic of them!!!!

basically for standing ticket holders we were required to queue by 12:30 pm and fortunately my qn got the indoor holding area so i didn’t stay under the heat for long. we started moving to the venue at around 3 or 4 pm even thought they said it would be 2:30 pm. because my qn was large by the time i got inside all the good spots were already taken :( i ended up at the very back sigh and we had to wait for another 2-3 hours before the show starts. it was hot and everyone was thirsty. some people in the pit wanted to sit down but some also stood up so it was rlly cramped :/

everyone was hyped tho even when mvs were played. and then when the lights dimmed and the show finally started was where things got really,,, rowdy. when the first beat of idol played everyone pushed forward??? the amount of times i got squished and elbowed and pushed aside... man it was hectic. if you’re claustrophobic please do NOT go for standing in concerts.

but that aside of course it was amazing loud and crazy. there were accidents here and there. at one point several people actually fell down but everyone helped everyone up. some people got mad and started yelling and others but that’s understandable. it was hot and cramped of course you’d get cranky.

funny story i got my period two hours before the show and basically bled through my vagina for 3 hours as i watched 7 fine men go off on stage.

but anyways.

me and my friend managed to finesse our way from the back row to the third row because we’re amazing. no we did not push if you were there the pit was always moving so we just. squeezed through i guess. i was so fucking tired but when so what came on i forgot that my pants were like fucking soaked and just jammed the fuck out with everyone. they got really close to my section during this and i cant believe i got to see taejin dance together like clubbing buddies. jin is so goofy!!!!!!

oh but fuck you guys jimin up close is ethereal. he looks so fucking unreal i couldn’t keep my eyes off of him throughout the whole thing. none of the pictures can ever do his beauty justice. he’s so fucking beautiful and i was starstruck. and he sang promise!!! i fucking couldn’t believe he did it. one word to describe him is definitely godly.

namjoon was so hyped and loud too :( gosh he’s so adorable. hoseok looked crazy beautiful up close too. his aura.... fucking amazing. YOONGI ALSO MADE THE CUTEST EXPRESSION AFTER JIMIN SANG PROMISE I SQEUALED. gosh i was actually really close despite not getting barricade i feel like crying thinking about it now.

jungkook went so close to my section during so what i got a good fancam of him that i can’t stop watching :( jimin slipped during dna my poor baby but he just laughed it off :((((

they all looked prettier irl tbh. they have such nice skin??? and all that shit about jimin being short... well guess what fuckers he’s all LEGS. man. i think i left that stadium as a jimin stan.

taehyung’s so hot i wanna die n i want the whole of rapline to spit on me thx.

fun times aside the pit is hell. luckily the staff were responsible and gave us drinks after each set of performances. and everyone kind of just understood each other. whenever someone looked like they were about to faint people asked if they were okay. we helped each other and gave each other drinks. at one point during the show i crouched down because i was exhausted and someone asked if i was okay or if i wanted some candy.

hellish experiences aside, there’s a mutual understanding between everyone in the pit. like, we’re in this together. i’m sweaty and thirsty and tired but i’m here for one thing and so is everyone else. it’s a good feeling. i mean, yeah, i was drenched in sweat and water but. it’s a good feeling. here are some pics!!!! (i have more videos bu t i cba to tak e screenshots ajsjs sorry)

also met some of my twitter mutuals <3 love u guys

perhaps this is it for my experience post? yeah you can see how different nagoya and singapore were. it was exciting to be able to experience them both. now back to my post concert depression and withdrawal :(

#bts #love yourself tour #bts concert #love yourself in singapore #love yourself in nagoya #mine #m: text

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montydollcrew · 6 years

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The Experience - Getting my Luka

As I said before, I will soon be the proud owner of DD Luka - tomorrow evening is when she should reach me. Before she arrives I thought I would write about how the actual experience went down as something separate from the event reports I like to do. After all, while I initially wasn’t going to get her for a while due to recently buying a new laptop, one of the main reasons I wanted to get Luka at Dolpa was because there’s a good chance that it will be my last Dolpa I can attend for a long time, and I thought it’d be a nice memory. There have been numerous different methods of doing the limited dolls at Dolpa over the years, and recently its changed slightly again. If the process interests you, read on.

First, we arrived at Tokyo Big Sight bright and early. There are two lines - the general line and the Sumika line. The people in the general line have immediate access to the event itself and the Dealer space, but the line for the Sumika store - the store for licensed Dollfie/Dollfie Dream items - is for people who wish to try for the limited dolls - like me. The Sumika store doesn’t open for everyone else until after everyone in the Sumika line has already gone through it, so you have to decide if you want to try for (but possibly fail) the limited dolls, or try for (and possibly miss out on) dealer items of limited quantity.

The Sumika line had us standing about five or six abreast. An amazing coincidence - the person I was standing next to turned out to be one of my twitter mutuals who has a custom Kaito! She was there with her friend who was super hyped for Luka, and she let me take a pic of her itabag.

I wasnt too far from the head of the line, but at this point, the position doesn’t actually matter as it’s not first-come first-serve.

Around 9:30am, the staff distributed numbered tickets to all of us - but vertically, rather than in the horiziontal snaking order we were queued in. (Meaning, my number was 217, the person in front of me had 216 and behind me 218, but the my twitter mutual next to me, who was technically the person in front of me in terms of the order we lined up in, had 139. So yes, the numbers were in some kind of order and not randomly distributed which is where I believe this method differs from one of the old methods I read about on the DD forums in the lottery guide, where the queue order was determined by the random number you received alone(correct me if I’m wrong on this as that info is gone now).

After everyone had their number, some Volks staff addressed us with a megaphone and told us that there were over 900 people in the Sumika line. (I cant remember the exact number, but it was a lot). Obviously, not all these people can get Luka - not even half of them I would guess (although many people in the line were aiming for the other limited dolls - the two new SDs Lucia and Mia, and the rerelease of DDs Sheryl and Ranka). The staff member then drew three numbers from a box - ping pong balls with numbers from 0-9 on them. The person with that number would be the head of the queue. I remember it very clearly - it was ticket number 885!

This meant that the queue order would be first 885, then all the people behind them, and then the rest of the queue from the very beginning. (885-->900andwhatever, then 1--->884. A moment of silence for the person who got 884.) At this point I wasn’t sure if that was good news for me or not, and I started looking around to see other peoples reactions. Some were pretty pokerfaced and others had started smiling. I calculated in my head that, since I would be the number 217, with 216 people in front of me and the people from 285-900andwhatever, that put my position roughly in the early 300s. I had read from SakuraSylph on the DD forum that any line position under 400 was a sure thing, but I was too anxious to believe it, and didn’t want to get my hopes up just in case.

That wasn’t the only reason I was feeling a bit nervous - it was also because i was in line to get a doll I hadn’t seen in person before, which i’ve never done for any of my other DDs. (I had been hoping thered be a display Luka in Akihabara before the event but there wasnt). Even though I knew that almost every single DD ever released looks better in person than the official photos, and I already liked Luka’s official photos, I still had a nagging feeling that I might not like her when I saw her. And then finally the line was moving into the venue through a back door near where the Sumika store was (a different point of entry to the people in the regular line), and the first thing we saw was the dolls in cases, letting us get a really good look at them as we went past, and I saw her.

And that was the moment I decided I definitely wanted her, but I still had no idea if I was even getting her today at this point. The Sumika store was still up ahead - first we approached a counter with one Volks Staff member at it. On the counter were pictures of the limited dolls with numbers. There was no sold out sticker on any of them yet. When the guy asked me what doll I wanted, I was so nervous and so elated that I pretty much blurted MEGURINELUKA like a dumbass. When he asked for my numbered ticket, I accidentally thrust the ticket from Doll Show the previous day at him instead. I really hope I wasnt the only one that got like that, but I didn’t really care, because the next thing I knew I had this in my hand:

and then went back to stand in the queue still waiting to get into the Sumika store, and all I could do was stare at it. And then I thought ‘oh...I did get her’, and immediately messaged everybody who wanted to know. I didn’t know this at the time, but I found out later looking through tweets and time stamps exactly how close I was to missing out. According to those time stamps there were no more Lukas available not that long after I’d gotten my purchase ticket. I also found out just today that two people from the Fukuoka doll group I am in had also tried their luck and failed. So it was definitely a close call, and I feel even luckier about it.

The wait for the store was pretty long, but I didn’t care - I was holding that ticket so tightly because I was scared that I would drop it or something. I didn’t even want to put it in my pocket in case it fell out. But even though I didnt even have her yet, it felt very special. The Sumika store was even playing my favourite Luka song (Dreamin’ ChuChu by emon) so it felt extra special (and was also a relief, because although the song was only audible around the Sumika store area, the rest of the event space has the...extremely questionable playlist thats at every Dolpa, and needless to say I still have Dancing Queen stuck in my head)

Once I finally was able to go into the Sumika store I went right through it - I didnt even want to look at the other new items because I can get them from the Fukuoka store later anyway, and I’d rather save my money for the dealer stuff. At the cash register I paid for Luka, was instructed to come to the designated area to pick her up after 12, and then went off into the event hall to enjoy the event.

Some time after 12 I went to that designated area with my receipt. The staff member went out the back and came back with a huge box, and I’m thinking ‘oh shit! That’s my one!’ As I took the box another staff member took a photo, explaining that they were taking photos of ‘the moment the owner receives the new doll’. I have no idea what they do with these but he did at least tell me they dont put them online without permission.

Just like the other vocaloids, Luka’s box is huge...honestly annoyingly so. I don’t really know how I’d get her on my flight home without either paying extra or unboxing her now/throwing the box away (or maybe folding it up). Since I wanted to unbox her at home I decide I wouldn’t open her and would mail her back to my apartment. Luckily Dollpa has a booth just for this with various boxes of all sizes (including one big enough to fit four doll boxes in...) As I was going to be busy with a few things and didnt want distractions, I made the delivery request field be the night of Thursday 10th.... tomorrow after work, now.

It was pretty hard to resist the urge to just have a quick peek at her but quickly boxed her up and sent her off.

Many other people at the event were not so patient, and so after 12 there were quite a few Lukas around the event space. Some people had even already put her in different outfits and wigs. I might show some of those when I do a report post.

Anyway, that was my experience - I dont know if it was interesting to anyone other than me, but it was my first time experiencing getting a DD in this way. Among other things such as getting to hang out with some friends from the forum, it certainly made it a Dollpa to remember.

#event report #dollfie dream #DD luka

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imagineclaireandjamie · 7 years

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Flood my Mornings: Allegro con fuoco

@caitbalfes said: I still have a need for some drunk Frasers, so if anyone wants to write that for me, it doesn’t have to be long or anything, that’d be very appreciated. It’s not Christmas yet, nor is it my birthday, nor have I really done anything at all to deserve it … but … *swallows pride* *gets down on knees* … please?

This story takes place in an AU in which Jamie travels through the stones two years after Culloden and finds Claire and his child in 1950 Boston.

See all past installments via Bonnie’s Master List

Previous installment: Fight

Bostonian friends, plz forgive me for taking liberties. I do know that factually, Symphony Hall doesn’t have boxes, damn them *per se,* but.... well...

ALL THE THANKS to @drunklander for the venue idea!!! (A Fenway Frolic will follow someday, I promise)

NSFW

September, 1951

“GOD, it’s good to be drunk again.”

I’d said that FAR too loudly, given that we were in a great bloody swell of finely-dressed folk queuing to enter the auditorium, but funnily enough, I was too drunk to be bothered about it.

It was our first real night out alone since Ian was born, and we were enjoying it for all it was worth. We’d shared a sumptuous meal and a large bottle of wine and ordered a whisky or two apiece while waiting for the house doors to open for the Dvořák suite that was being performed. Standing now in line waiting to get our handbills, I was positively plastered and couldn’t have been happier about it, to be honest.

“D’you like it?” I demanded of my tuxedoed husband, somehow feeling it necessary that he be on my same plane of looniness. “Th’drunk?”

“Oh, aye,” he grinned. “Tis always great fun to see ye in drink, Sassenach.”

“Wot??” I rounded on him, indignant. “You’re not drunk?”

“I’m a Scot, remember? I’m never drunk.”

This utter lie was reinforced at once as he ran into an umbrella stand. We both fizzed with giggles as he struggled not to fall, drawing the eyes of many a more decorous symphony-goer ahead of us in line. I made faces at them when they’d turned their backs (well, almost-turned, as it turned out) causing Jamie to hastily usher me—though shaking with laughter himself—into another queue and up toward our seats.

“These can’t be ours??” I said, flabbergasted, for he’d brought me to a private mezzanine box angled toward the stage, decked out with comfortable armchairs.

“Course they can! Only the best for my lady,” he said, kissing my cheek exuberantly. “That and Tom’s brother has tickets for the whole season and happened to offer these up.”

“But it’s so—so—” I wobbled around the box in my high-heeled shoes, trailing my fingers across the luxurious curtains. “shwanky...no....swhank.... bloodyhell. POSH.”

“Well, and so are you, a nighean,” he said, gesturing to my getup. “Like a million bucks.” This last was delivered with such a spot-on American accent, I burst out laughing, making him say it again and again.

I did look fairly smashing, I admitted, especially for being only five-or-so weeks post-delivery. I hadn’t worn anything so elegant since our wedding, but when Jamie had announced grandly a few days before that we were going ‘to the symphony,’ I’d been shocked enough that I’d taken myself to the shops and risen to the occasion. It was a tea-length gown, black lace over a cream lining, belted at the waist and baring my shoulders daringly, accentuated still more by elbow-length black gloves. I humbly estimated a cool million-and-a-half for good measure.

Jamie pulled me down into the seat beside his. “Come on, lass,” he said, slurring only a bit. “S’starting.”

So it was. The lights were dimming and the people below scurrying to their seats.

I plopped down and twined my fingers with Jamie’s, leaning my head on his shoulder and letting things be a delicious, swimmy blur for an indeterminate period of time as the opening movement progressed.

“Remind me ‘gain why it is YOU wanted to come to see music?” I asked in his ear over the sleepy oboe interlude, having to concentrate hard on each syllable.

“Mm?” He jerked, popping his eyes open. “Wha’s that?”

“You are drunk, too!” I crowed in whispered delight, poking him in the chest.

“Only a BIT,” he muttered with dignity, straightening. “And we’re here because a night out was just the thing, and I thought ye might like it. And if it sounds like little more than a verra large beehive to my own ear, so be it.”

“I do like it,” I whispered back, beaming, the whisky making me very emotional about it, in fact. “New World Symphony is one of my favorites. I get chills whenever the brass start up with the—oh—um—oh, you know, the bit where they go duhhh-dut-dut-DUHH-dt-dahhh! DUHHH-duhhh-da-dt-DUHHH!! Y’know?”

He snorted and fondly shushed me. “No, I dinna ken, but I’ll keep my ears tuned for the dut-duhs, all the same.”

The piece was dreamy and epic, utterly sweet, then shifting to great terrifying roars and back again, just like I remembered. About twenty more minutes in, though, my alcohol haze lifted just enough for my mind to begin to wander pleasantly.

Along with my hands.

Jamie’s groan was loud enough that I had to fling the hand upward to cover his mouth. “ShhhhhhhhHHHHHHHh!” I hissed. “You’ll disturb—THE MUSIC.”

“Suzznuck,” came the protest from my gloved hand before I consented to remove it. “What in God’s name do ye—oh—C H R I S T!”

I hadn’t removed said hand without purpose, now, had I?

He was hard in my hand—very, though he was doing quite a masterful job of acting casual from the navel upward, training his eyes intently on the stage, but his breathing was another matter entirely. “Oh... God....” he gasped, legs trembling as I rubbed and teased and pulled through his trousers. “Sassenach,” he whispered urgently, “ye must st—Jesus—stop that...else—" He hissed as he felt me move away. “Where in the name of—?”

I’d stood up, quite suddenly, and moved to the side of the box furthest from the stage, sheltered from any onlookers by the obliging angle of the curtains. I put my back against the wall .... and beckoned.

Lost your mind? he mouthed, looking absolutely dumbstruck. He motioned emphatically about. All these people??

No one can see, I mouthed back. Come here.

A glare. Sit. down.

I shook my head definitively, languidly pulling off my gloves, the whisky making me reckless. I slowly—oh so deliciously slowly—moved my hand downward, inching toward the hem of my gown. His eyes went wide, and I thought he was going to scold some more, but he only watched.

We’d done our best not to submit to complete celibacy as I’d healed from the birth, enjoying ourselves as best we could in stolen moments with hands and mouths. Even those non-penetrative forms of enjoyment had come with painful twinges and jarrings for me, though, and so we’d erred on the side of caution. Setting aside those attempts, it had been nearly six weeks since we’d last made love properly—and we both were more than hungry for it.

Though his posture was still proper, I could see the furtive movements of his hand as he watched mine pulling up the hem of my dress, inch by inch, and sliding between my thighs. A groan passed through his barely-parted lips as I found my mark and mouthed, COME. HERE.

Blazing need in his eyes, smoldering and growing under the whisky’s power. A flicker of doubt and concern as he asked, *....Can* we?

We bloody well could, finally, and not a day too soon. I didn’t say this aloud, only gave him a look and—with a raising of one knee— a view that answered the question in no uncertain terms.

He stood suddenly, keeping his eyes on the stage as he buttoned his tux coat casually. He turned and headed for the box door as though in need of the loo. Just as he reached the handle, getting out of the sightlines of the audience, he turned on a dime. An instant later, he was pressing me against the wall, hard, his mouth on mine.

GOD. YES. THIS.

Jamie was a man of great control, when called for. He delighted in tenderness and gentle service, and yet, in times like this, when he could unleash, not least of all after such a long deprivation—Jesus H. Roosevelt CHRIST.

His hand pushed mine away, and my knee came up again in reflex around his hip as I moaned—quietly, quietly— for what I wanted, and then he had two fingers inside of me and—

“Ye feel so good, mo nighean donn,” he growled with soft violence, his fingers stroking points inside and out at the same time making me gasp and moan see stars. I bucked against his touch, seeking more, demanding more, and he gave it. “Christ, to feel ye again—” His free hand moved hungrily over me, lips, shoulders, back, buttocks, arms, hair. The thrill of necessary silence—not to mention the sheer insanity of what we were doing in this revered landmark—had me moving like a wild thing, silently keening, panting like I’d been running for miles. But oh, God—YES—

I gasped as I felt the tremors start, and I sunk my lips into his neck to keep from crying out as the glorious sensations ripped through me. His fingers were still stroking me within and without, his arm around my back tightening, hand gripping the back of my bared thigh, hard enough to bruise.

As the stars cleared and normal breath returned, I blinked, looked over Jamie’s shoulder.... then started giggling into his lapel. “Not ‘no one.’”

“What?” he demanded in an annoyed hiss, breathing heavily.

“The oboist—has a mag—nificent—view.”

He swore under his breath and jumped back, clearly about to beat a hasty retreat toward propriety, but I would have none of that, and was already dragging him downward into the greater fray.

He opened his mouth to protest but I was faster. “On your back,” I said, low and commanding. “Right now.”

That growl of lust—

I was in no mood to tease, in no mood for anything except to have him, and as soon as he was bared, I did, that first rush of contact making us both gasp and groan. SIX. BLOODY. WEEKS.

My chest bent low over his so as not to be seen, I ground against him, using that extra contact to my advantage, taking twice for myself everything I gave, though I suspect I was giving him quite a lot. It hadn’t been mere banter, earlier—he did love to see me drunk, to watch my inhibition fall away, leaving only the pleasure-hungry beast within. He was watching me now, intently, his own drunken beast out in force, too. Without a single bloody sound, we were ravaging one another. Though I loved him with all my being, would cradle and gentle him forever, this wasn’t making love; this was fucking, hedonistic and violent, and I gloried in it.

In this drunken state of blazing euphoria, the pounding music seemed to come from within me, driving me to greater speeds—con fuoco, indeed—giving me that feeling of unbridled victory as I chased that wave, higher, higher, my toes curling and my skin igniting as—

GOD.

And so drunk was I on myself and the spasms ripping through me that I opened my eyes, met Jamie’s with fiendish delight, and finished him, nearly coming again myself to feel his release and his ecstatic groan vibrating through me with such intensity—

It truly was too bad that said groan coincided with the very final chord of the symphony. I had to fling myself forward and clamp hands over his mouth as the world’s tiniest pianissimo fermata—incidentally held by only two or three players— faded slooooooowly out into silence.

I could feel the thump of Jamie’s heartbeat in my body.

Thump.

And then, AT LAST, blessed applause.

“Well,” I sighed heavily at normal volume above the raucous ovation, leaning down and nipping Jamie’s slack lip mercilessly. “Sounds like they enjoyed the show too, mm?”

#;mod Bonnie #Flood my mornings

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valiumvallley · 3 years

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How to Avoid League of Legends Tilt

Guides

How to Avoid League of Legends Tilt

Tilt impacts all of us – even the professionals – and it can do serious damage to your ELO if you play League of Legends under tilt. That’s why it’s important to avoid League of Legends tilt at all costs.

This blog post aims to answer three key questions regarding League of Legends tilt hopefully helping you avoid becoming tilted in the future. We’ll start with explaining what tilt is, then we’ll move onto the symptoms of tilt before finally looking at what you can to do avoid becoming the next toxic Riven main.

So, unlike Team Siren, let’s get started.

What is League of Legends Tilt?

We can’t learn how to avoid tilt if we don’t know what it is.

Tilt is a term which originally comes from gambling (specifically poker) where a player is playing badly because of unlucky draws and minor mistakes leading to frustration.

This mixture of frustration with a feeling of unjust leads to more poor decisions and larger mistakes which causes the player to go into tilt further.

When we want to apply this to League of Legends tilt it’s very similar. Imagine you are playing League of Legends and you feel it’s unfair because a mistake cost you the game which you had no control over. Maybe a team mate decided to AFK or someone unskilled on the enemy team is fed.

This leads to you getting angry and then you lose focus so you start to make your own game changing mistakes. We’ve summed up League of Legends tilt in an easy to read diagram. Each time you go around this circle the tilt will only get worse leading to more losses and a cycle that is hard to break.

Sounds Terrible – But am I on Tilt?

You can’t avoid League of Legends tilt if you don’t know what tilt is.

Don’t worry though – there are some easy to tell signs when you are going onto tilt. Here are some of the major warning signs you are about to enter into a League of Legends tilt.

You Could be on Tilt if you’re making Irrational Decisions

When you play against a troll pick, like Blitzcrank mid, you’ll probably go into the game expecting to win. Unfortunately something happens and you’ll end up losing your lane, your sanity and end up on tilt.

You went into this match up expecting to win, I mean he is a Blitzcrank mid after all, and you can’t accept the crushing defeat he’s handed to you with his big robotic hands. Unfortunately after some nice grabs and a couple of jungle ganks later you’re currently 0/10 against this guy and your ready to run into the enemy tower constantly.

After a frustating game and a quick stop at the keyboard store you queue back up and all of a sudden you get a great idea.

What if I play Blitzcrank mid

If this situation feels familiar to you then you’re probably on a tilt (or some other substance like alcohol). Playing Blitzcrank mid is not a good idea and it won’t help you win – you just had a bad game. Accept this and move on. This situation isn’t just unique to champion picks either. The same can be said for poor dragon decisions or silly warding mistakes. If you played against a team that seriously focused the dragons and you lost hard it doesn’t mean you should only focus on the dragons in the next game. Keep your focus on the game, use tactics that work for your team and don’t make any irrational decisions based on previous experiences.

You’re Tilting if you’re Trolling or Flaming

The cornerstone of a League of Legends tilt is flaming. You’re trying to play your lane but you start to feel the rage build up inside. Before you know it your hands move to your keyboard and you’ve insulted your teammates mother. It spirals out of control and after the innevitable all chat begging for reports the games over and you’re left staring at a defeat screen.

No rational or happy person is going to start telling their teammates how much they suck. If you start to flame your team after every mistake they make then you’re going to be adding to the problem, not solving it. Just focus on improving your own game and encourage your teammates.

The ‘feeder’ in the top lane doesn’t need any more hate (even if he’s playing Riven) – he probably feels bad enough already. By flaming the guy you’re only going to cause him to go into a League of Legends tilt too. He’ll then carry his negative attitude into his next game and probably flame again. Eventually the whole community ends up flaming faster than a fire in 1666 London.

Do everyone a favour and follow these two simple tips. If you feel yourself getting angry then:

1) Mute everyone in the game and focus on your own gameplay.

2) Make sure you don’t queue up again until you’re calm.

You’re on a League of Legends Tilt if you’re Expecting to Lose

How can you expect to win if you go into each game expecting to lose?

It’s never my fault, always rubbish teams.

This is the classic sign of a League of Legends tilt. If you feel like you’re going to lose and what’s the point then why bother queueing? Just stop playing until you feel more positive. You could go outside, Read a book, play another game or just log into a League of Legends smurf account and have a relaxing normal game.

By going into a game expecting to lose you’re going to make stupid mistakes and have a short temper. As soon as something bad happens in this game you’ll simply sigh and say: “Here we go again” and continue to play without a care in the world. While playing without caring can make the experience less stressful it’s not going to help you climb the ladder.

It’s not Skype… Typing more than Playing

League of Legends requires you to only use your left side of your keyboard.

At no point should you feel the need to put your right hand onto your keyboard and start talking.

People on a League of Legends tilt tend to spend more time flaming and typing in chat then actually playing the game. If you can’t help yourself then you could mute all the other players and focus on yourself only. This way you can improve your own game. The fact is you’re not going to change someone elses playstyle so don’t bother trying.

If you’re really struggling you could remove all the keys from the right hand side of your keyboard – although we don’t actually reccomend you do this.

Focusing on others in Champion Select

Have you ever just come out of a bad game where your jungle picked an out of flavour (or even meta) champion and did nothing only to go into the next game and have a different guy pick the same champion?

While we admit it’s uncommon to see two Heimerdinger Jungles in a row, it can happen. The problem is you’re going to attribute your previous loss to the Heimerdinger and instantly assume that, since there’s another Heimerdinger, the end result will be the same.

You can either say; “Omfg We just had a Heimerdinger and he sucked. GG we lost.” or you could just think; “Hey this guy is playing the same champion as the other guy – maybe he can use him correctly”. Here’s a tip (and a spear behind it): The second one is a much better way of thinking.

If you are comparing your teammate’s champions to previous games then you are probably on League of Legends tilt and you should start to focus on your own game. Oh and in the unfortunate situation of having two Heimerdinger Jungles in a row: just dodge.

You’re going to lose less LP, not effect your MMR and save yourself 30 minutes. You can even use the 5 minute time out to exercise.

I’m on League of Legends tilt – What do I do?

If you find yourself in the situation above then firstly: don’t worry. League of Legends has a tendancy to tilt most people and League of Legends tilt doesn’t mean you have anger issues.

Tilt affects everyone and you can only have a limited patience before competitive video games will eventually start to annoy you. Once you’ve accepted your tilt it’s time to take action. The quicker you take action the less damage the tilt will do to your MMR, mental state and keyboard.

If you are in a game and you start to experience tilt then you should put on your favourite song, mute your entire team, and focus on making improvements. Set yourself little goals like aiming to get 30 CS without dying or pushing a lane to get a tower.

If you find yourself on tilt after the game then you should not queue up for any more games. This will only cause you to go into a worse League of Legends tilt.

Ways to Beat League of Legends Tilt

If you want to stop tilting then here’s some of our top tips.

Play Another Game – Try a different game for a bit. League of Legends is a fast paced and stressful competitive game which leads to a harsh atmosphere and blood-thirsty community. Relax with a simple game like Minecraft or Bejeweled before queuing again.

Play with Friends – Everything is better with friends. Avoid arguments and the luck of the draw in the team raffle by playing with friends that won’t feed or troll. You’ll also be aware that tilting in front of your friends is going to damage your friendship and embarrass you.

Exercise – It’s a proven fact that physical exhaustion will increase your mental fitness. The release of endorphin also make you feel better and make you play better when you come back. Just let your heart rate settle first.

Watch YouTube or Twitch – You can relax on the internet by watching your favourite tuber or streamer. Just make sure that if they are playing League of Legends you focus on their own game and not their team.

Clean your Area – Cleaning can make you feel great (through exercise) and give you something to do to help you calm down. Coming back to a clean desk will make you feel ready to play and give you a fresh start.

Talk to a Friend – Whatever voice program you use (We personally love Discord) talking to a friend can calm you down. Tell them your terrible experiences and laugh together at the misfortune you’ve had. After a quick rofl you can return to the game with a smile on your face.

Sleep – Sleeping can help you de stress and avoid League of Legends tilt. Throughout education its recommended that you get a good nights sleep after a revision session to help solidify what you’ve previously learnt. When you’re trying to climb the League of Legends ladder a nap will help refresh you as well as cement your new knowledge.

Act on your Triggers – You should by now already know what triggers you. If it’s abuse or flaming then simply mute them without replying. If troll picks are more your tilt then simply dodge. Whatever triggers you – there’s always a sensible solution without going into a League of Legends tilt.

If you want any extra advice on how to stop tilting then here is a fantastic post by UnrankedSmurfs on what to do to stop League of Legends tilt.

Did you tilt too hard and find yourself banned?

Get to Level 30 Instantly with a LoL Smurf

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mbaljeetsingh · 3 years

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Node.js Async Await Tutorial – With Asynchronous JavaScript Examples

One of the hardest concepts to wrap your head around when you're first learning JavaScript is the asynchronous processing model of the language. For the majority of us, learning asynchronous programming looks pretty much like this

If your first time working with async wasn't like this, please consider yourself a genius

As hard as it is to pick up, async programming is critical to learn if you want to use JavaScript and Node.js to build web applications and servers – because JS code is asynchronous by default.

Asynchronous Programming Fundamentals

So what exactly is the asynchronous processing model, or the non-blocking I/O model (which you've likely heard of if you're a Node.js user)?

Here's a TL;DR description: in an async processing model, when your application engine interacts with external parties (like a file system or network), it doesn't wait until getting a result from those parties. Instead, it continues on to subsequent tasks and only comes back to those previous external parties once it's gotten a signal of a result.

To understand the default async processing model of Node.js, let's have a look at a hypothetical Santa's workshop. Before any work can begin, Santa will have to read each of the lovely letters from kids around the world.

He will then figure out the requested gift, translate the item name into the Elvish language, and then pass the instruction to each of our hard working elves who have different specialisations: wooden toys for Red, stuffed toys for Blue, and robotic toys for Green.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only half Santa's elves can come to his workshop to help. Still, because he's wise, Santa decides that instead of waiting for each elf to finish preparing a gift (that is, working synchronously), he will continue translating and passing out instructions from his pile of letters.

So on and so forth...

As he is just about to read another letter, Red informs Santa that he has completed preparing the first gift. Santa then receives the present from Red, and puts it to one side.

And then he continues translating and passing instructions from the next letter.

As he only needs to wrap a pre-made flying robot, Green can quickly finish preparation and pass the present to Santa.

After a whole day of hard and asynchronous work, Santa and the elves manage to complete all present preparation. With his improved asynchronous model of working, Santa's workshop is finished in record time despite being hard-hit by the pandemic.

So that's the basic idea of an asynchronous or non-blocking I/O processing model. Now let's see how it's done in Node.js specifically.

The Node.js Event Loop

You might have heard that Node.js is single-threaded. However, to be exact, only the event loop in Node.js, which interacts with a pool of background C++ worker threads, is single-threaded. There are four important components to the Node.js processing model:

Event Queue: Tasks that are declared in a program, or returned from the processing thread pool via callbacks. (The equivalent of this in our Santa's workshop is the pile of letters for Santa.)

Event Loop: The main Node.js thread that facilitates event queues and worker thread pools to carry out operations – both async and synchronous. (This is Santa. 🎅)

Background thread pool: These threads do the actual processing of tasks, which might be I/O blocking (for example calling and waiting for a response from an external API). (These are the hardworking elves 🧝🧝‍♀️🧝‍♂️ from our workshop.)

You can visualize this processing model as below:

Diagram courtesy of c-sharpcorner.com

Let's look at an actual snippet of code to see these in action:

console.log("Hello"); https.get("https://httpstat.us/200", (res) => { console.log(`API returned status: ${res.statusCode}`); }); console.log("from the other side");

If we execute the above piece of code, we would get this in our standard output:

Hello from the other side API returned status: 200

So how does the Node.js engine carry out the above snippet of code? It starts with three functions in the call stack:

"Hello" is then printed to the console with the corresponding function call removed from the stack.

The function call to https.get (that is, making a get request to the corresponding URL) is then executed and delegated to the worker thread pool with a callback attached.

The next function call to console.log gets executed, and "from the other side" is printed to the console.

Now that the network call has returned a response, the callback function call will then get queued inside the callback queue. Note that this step could happen before the immediate previous step (that is, "from the other side" getting printed), though normally that's not the case.

The callback then gets put inside our call stack:

and then we will see "API returned status: 200" in our console, like this:

By facilitating the callback queue and call stack, the event loop in Node.js efficiently executes our JavaScript code in an asynchronous way.

A synchronous history of JavaScript & Node.js async/await

Now that you have good understanding of asynchronous execution and the inner-workings of the Node.js event loop, let's dive into async/await in JavaScript. We'll look at how it's worked through time, from the original callback-driven implementation to the latest shiny async/await keywords.

Callbacks in JavaScript

The OG way of handling the asynchronous nature of JavaScript engines was through callbacks. Callbacks are basically functions which will be executed, usually, at the end of synchronous or I/O blocking operations.

A straightforward example of this pattern is the built-in setTimeout function that will wait for a certain number of milliseconds before executing the callback.

setTimeout(2000, () => { console.log("Hello"); });

While it's convenient to just attach callbacks to blocking operations, this pattern also introduces a couple of problems:

Callback hell

Inversion of control (not the good kind!)

What is callback hell?

Let's look at an example with Santa and his elves again. To prepare a present, Santa's workshop would have to carry out a few different steps (with each taking different amounts of time simulated using setTimeout):

These steps need to be carried out in a specific order:

translateLetter("wooden truck", (instruction) => { assembleToy(instruction, (toy) => { wrapPresent(toy, console.log); }); }); // This will produced a "wrapped polished wooden truck" as the final result

As we do things this way, adding more steps to the process would mean pushing the inner callbacks to the right and ending up in callback hell like this:

Callbacks look sequential, but at times the execution order doesn't follow what is shown on your screen. With multiple layers of nested callbacks, you can easily lose track of the big picture of the whole program flow and produce more bugs or just become slower when writing your code.

So how do you solve this problem? Simply modularise the nested callbacks into named functions and you will have a nicely left-aligned program that's easy to read.

function assembleCb(toy) { wrapPresent(toy, console.log); } function translateCb(instruction) { assembleToy(instruction, assembleCb); } translateLetter("wooden truck", translateCb);

Inversion of Control

Another problem with the callback pattern is that you don't decide how the higher-order functions will execute your callbacks. They might execute it at the end of the function, which is conventional, but they could also execute it at the start of the function or execute it multiple times.

Basically, you are at the mercy of your dependency owners, and you might never know when they will break your code.

To solve this problem, as a dependency user, there's not much you can do about it. However, if you're ever a dependency owner yourself, please always:

Stick to the conventional callback signature with error as the first argument

Execute a callback only once at the end of your higher-order function

Document anything out-of-convention that is absolutely required and always aim for backward compatibility

Promises in JavaScript

Promises were created to solve these above mentioned problems with callbacks. Promises make sure that JavaScript users:

Stick to a specific convention with their signature resolve and reject functions.

Chain the callback functions to a well-aligned and top-down flow.

Our previous example with Santa's workshop preparing presents can be rewritten with promises like so:

with the steps being carried out nicely in a chain:

translateLetter("wooden truck") .then((instruction) => { return assembleToy(instruction); }) .then((toy) => { return wrapPresent(toy); }) .then(console.log); // This would produce the exact same present: wrapped polished wooden truck

However, promises are not without problems either. Data in each eye of our chain have a different scope and only have access data passed from the immediate previous step or parent scope.

For example, our gift-wrapping step might want to use data from the translation step:

function wrapPresent(toy, instruction) { return Promise((resolve, reject) => { setTimeout(1000, () => { resolve(`wrapped ${toy} with instruction: "${instruction}`); }); }); }

This is rather a classic "memory sharing" problem with threading. To solve this, instead of using variables in the parent's scope, we should use Promise.all and "share data by communicating, rather than communicate by sharing data".

translateLetter("wooden truck") .then((instruction) => { return Promise.all([assembleToy(instruction), instruction]); }) .then((toy, instruction) => { return wrapPresent(toy, instruction); }) .then(console.log); // This would produce the present: wrapped polished wooden truck with instruction: "kcurt nedoow"

Async/Await in JavaScript

Last but definitely not least, the shiniest kid around the block is async/await. It is very easy to use but it also has some risks.

Async/await solves the memory sharing problems of promises by having everything under the same scope. Our previous example can be rewritten easily like so:

(async function main() { const instruction = await translateLetter("wooden truck"); const toy = await assembleToy(instruction); const present = await wrapPresent(toy, instruction); console.log(present); })(); // This would produce the present: wrapped polished wooden truck with instruction: "kcurt nedoow"

However, as much as it's easy to write asynchronous code with async/await, it's also easy to make mistakes that create performance loopholes.

Let's now localise our example Santa's workshop scenario to wrapping presents and loading them on the sleigh.

A common mistake you might make is carrying out the steps this way:

(async function main() { const presents = []; presents.push(await wrapPresent("wooden truck")); presents.push(await wrapPresent("flying robot")); presents.push(await wrapPresent("stuffed elephant")); const itemList = await loadPresents(presents); console.log(itemList); })();

But does Santa need to await for each of the presents to be wrapped one by one before loading? Definitely not! The presents should be wrapped concurrently. You might make this mistake often as it's so easy to write await without thinking about the blocking nature of the keyword.

To solve this problem, we should bundle the gift wrapping steps together and execute them all at once:

(async function main() { const presents = await Promise.all([ wrapPresent("wooden truck"), wrapPresent("flying robot"), wrapPresent("stuffed elephant"), ]); const itemList = await loadPresents(presents); console.log(itemList); })();

Here are some recommended steps to tackle concurrency performance issue in your Node.js code:

Identify hotspots with multiple consecutive awaits in your code

Check if they are dependent on each other (that is one function uses data returned from another)

Make independent function calls concurrent with Promise.all

Wrapping up (the article, not Christmas presents 😂)

Congratulations on reaching the end of this article, I tried my best to make this post shorter, but the async topic in JavaScript is just so broad.

Here are some key takeaways:

Modularise your JavaScript callbacks to avoid callback hell

Stick to the convention for JS callbacks

Share data by communicating through Promise.all when using promises

Be careful about the performance implication of async/await code

We ❤️ JavaScript :)

Thank you for reading!

Last but not least, if you like my writings, please head over to my blog for similar commentaries and follow me on Twitter. 🎉

If you read this far, tweet to the author to show them you care.

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