#for those who don���t know because I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not

[safertokiss]

Lost in Translation

A/N: Heyyyyy guys...remember when I used to post like every two weeks? Yeesh that’s awkward...but I’m backkkkk woooooooo party time! I was so excited that my discord buddies organized another fic swap because it was so much fun the first time. This time around I was chosen to write a doozy for the wonderful @writing-in-april and I have decided to bless you all with a beautiful subby boy. Sub Spencer lives in my head rent free, no cap. So sit back, relax and pretend it's you getting fricken railed. Peace out girl scouts;)

Pairing: SPENCER x READER

Category: SMUT hehe oh yeah and fluff

Word Count: 4.8k

ENJOY:)

~~~

MASTERLIST

~~~

For as long as she could remember, Y/n had always wanted to learn Russian.

So, naturally, when she found out that their newest case involved two lovers who also happened to be Russian criminals trying to escape the United States government, she simply couldn’t help but jump at the opportunity to become more involved in the investigation. 

It’s not that she’d never been on a stakeout for the Bureau before, in fact she’d probably been on so many at this point that she’d lost count. The only difference that this specific stakeout brought to her life was the fact that it was her first one to have ever been shared with Spencer Reid.

Her and the young doctor had lived in the same apartment building since her first day at the BAU, but their relationship pretty much began and ended at that. Of course they greeted each other whenever they passed in the halls of their building and ricocheted off of each other’s theories whenever necessary during their meetings in the round table room, but it would be a lie to label their relationship as anything other than casual acquaintances as well as amicable coworkers. 

She had never been able to fully get a grasp on the elusive Dr. Reid. The fact that he was already such an integral member of the F.B.I. at the ripe age of 25 astounded and, well to be honest, perplexed her. Not that she doubted his abilities or intelligence in any way, quite the opposite really. She admired how utterly brilliant he proved to be day in and day out, even with the shy exterior he presented himself with to the world. Well, shy was definitely more of an understatement. 

She had never met someone more socially awkward in her entire life, but with that being said, she couldn’t help but find it endearing and pretty dang adorable. Y/n constantly found herself enjoying his pathetic attempts at human interaction on a daily basis. From the nervous stutters to the out of this world hand gestures, there was much for her to dissect about the young doctor. And while she could openly admit that he was quite easy on the eyes, in a boyish-innocent kind of way, she had never really been able to see him in that sort of light.

If she thought his normal social interaction skills were entertaining to witness, his reactions to any of the conversations that took a more raunchy turn were to die for. The speed at which his features would ripen red like a tomato whenever anything of a sexual nature was brought up during cases was truly amazing, impressive even. However, unlike the rest of their team, she knew he wasn’t completely innocent. The walls in their apartment were as good as paper when it came to thickness, so it wasn’t that big surprise that the sounds created within them carried fairly well. 

Or at least that was what she had discovered after the first night she heard him touching himself just through her bedroom wall. 

Yes, it was less than ideal that their bedroom walls just happened to be adjacent to each other, but what could she do about it? It wasn’t as though she never sought out her own pleasure while alone in her apartment...although she would bet money that she was much better at withholding her noises. Instead, she learned to adapt to the sounds from next door and continue on with her life, having accepted that guys will in fact be dudes, no matter how innocent and meek they may appear.

When her boss had explained the nature of the assignment to them, there wasn’t anything of significance that had jumped out at her. It was all pretty standard instruction. They would wait, parked, in a government issued SUV overnight at a location close to the whereabouts of the criminals and simply translate their conversations using the mics that were planted prior. While Hotch knew that Y/n herself couldn’t understand Russian, it was common knowledge that the resident genius easily could transcribe the language.

And that was how she found herself cramped next to Spencer Reid in the stagnant vehicle, pen and paper in hand, patiently waiting for the translations to begin. 

It was almost completely silent inside the car, apart from the quiet whirring of the heat coming through the vents, and she could basically feel the nerves coming off of the man next to her in waves. That’s why she was completely thrown off her game when his timid voice was the first to break through the silence that had encompassed the space they inhabited together.

“So um Y/n..h-how have you been recently?”

She did her best to hide the small smirk that started to form on her face from the stuttering mess that spilled out of his mouth. She definitely didn’t want to make him feel even worse about himself so she decided to humour his adorable attempt at conversation with her...well...sort of.

“Oh ya know Reid, just counting the days until I get some action. How about you?” If she  thought he was sputtering nervously before, that was nothing compared to this treasure.

“Oh um well uh I-I mean...I don-I don’t...uh...w-what was the question a-again?”

This time she couldn’t stop the airy chuckle that escaped her lips as she leaned over and patted him gently on his thigh.

“Relax Reid, I’m just fucking around with you. Well for the most part...I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to some action, but that’s a whole can of worms I am not about to open during a stakeout”, Y/n laughed, not at all missing the steadily spreading blush that coated his sharp features.

“Yeah...no..yeah right of course...I t-totally knew you were just um fu-messing with me! Uh we should probably um r-review our assignment...you know just so we’re all s-set before we start.” How adorable.

“Aye-aye captain Reid. Ok so..”, she muttered while fiddling with the listening device to secure the right frequency. “...we just have to wait until they get back so we’re in range of their conversations. That’s when you’ll have your time to shine and prove yourself as the resident genius once again. And I’m sure that you’re aware that I don’t know a lick of the Russian language so I will be the best damn transcriber for you that the world has ever seen”, she finished with a smirk. 

Even Reid chuckled a bit at her words, the ever-present blush slowly creeping back upon his face and neck. 

“I’ll uh-I’ll hold you to that then.” Y/n had to admit she particularly liked to see the boy smiling, especially when it was the result of her own words. His innocence seemed to call out to her like a siren and she didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Oh-oh there they are! Ok get the pen and paper ready because as soon as they’re in range I’ll start translating.”

Getting themselves situated, they waited the few seconds it took for the couple to get close enough to the vicinity of the SUV for their conversations to begin to be broadcasted through their system.

“Как вы думаете, они идут по нашему следу?”

“Do you think they’re on our trail?”, Spencer easily understands, leaning slightly closer to her so his words were clearly heard.

“Ни за что. У этих глупых американцев нет шансов поймать нас.”

“No way. Those stupid Americans don’t stand a chance at catching us.”

At this point, the couple had already disappeared behind the door at the entrance of their current base, leaving only their words to give the closely listening agents much needed context clues.

“Я когда-нибудь говорил тебе, как сильно мне нравится твоя уверенность?”

“Have I ever told you how much I love your confidence?” 

Even Spencer let himself smile at the chuckle that left Y/n’s lips. “Awww how cute...they’re flirting with each other over mass murder. I strive for that kind of intimacy.”

“Да у тебя есть. Но почему бы тебе не показать мне, насколько тебе это нравится.”

“Yes, you have. But why don’t you show me just how much you love it.”

Uh oh, Y/n thought to herself. Not a second after the untimely thought permeated her brain, the sounds of wet lips sloppily colliding against each other filled the otherwise silent vehicle. After the few seconds of shock wore off, their heads whipped to face each other, eyes wide and mouths wide open. “Huh...well this was certainly an unexpected turn.”

“I uh um-uh well w-what do we do now?”, Tomato Boy nervously sputtered out over the chorus of moans and groans that were currently bouncing off the SUV’s walls. As unexpected as the present situation was, she was absolutely eating up his reaction to the crude sounds.

“Well, Hotch did say he wanted us to take down every single word that was shared between them so...I guess we’re just gonna have to keep moving forward with the translations. You can do that, can’t you Reid?”, she explained, not even attempting to hide the growing smirk on her face.

“Yeah! Yes! Mhmm I can do that, I c-can definitely do t-that.”, he gushed, trying to subtly clear his throat to clear the steadily growing tension in his body.

“Good to hear, Doc.”, she cheekily replied just as the raunchy sounds echoing through the system transitioned to different methods of communication, more legible ones.

“Ты была для меня такой хорошей девочкой. Я думаю, ты заслуживаешь награды.”

Quickly clearing his throat once more, he jumped back into action, with what Y/n noticed was considerably less confidence than before. “You’ve b-been such a good g-girl for me. I think you deserve a r-reward.” Spencer’s voice had noticeably dropped to a whisper by the end of the sentence, forcing Y/n to lean closer to be able to hear his translations, only magnifying the already present tension in the air. 

“Пожалуйста, папа, я сделаю что угодно.”

“P-please daddy.” His voice broke at the end igniting something deep inside Y/n’s being. “I’ll do anything.” In that moment she truly believed he would do anything, his own words or not, based on the obvious strain in his pants that her eyes glanced over, and also by the way his skin completely succumbed to goosebumps as her warm breath caressed the shell of his ear. She didn’t really know what the hell was happening, why her body was absolutely loving the way he gradually leaned into her’s, submitting all of his vulnerabilities into her hands. 

“Тебе это нравится, не так ли, маленькая шлюшка. Как член папы глубоко внутри тебя?”

She watched the way he inhaled a deep breath and released a high-pitched sigh before continuing on, subtly pressing her legs together to control the excitement thrumming through her body at his pathetic tone and mannerisms. 

“You like t-that don’t you, you little-uh-you little s-slut?” From their close proximity, she could clearly make out the speedy heartbeat clambering against his chest as he spoke. And if that was the case, he must’ve been able to feel hers as well. “Like daddy’s c-cock deep inside of y-you?” She could’ve sworn she saw his dick twitch slightly in his pants.

“Маленькая шлюшка уже придет за мной? Тогда умоляйте об этом. Бля, умоляю позволить тебе кончить.”

Y/n certainly did not miss the airy sigh that escaped his lips, watching as a bead of sweat dripped down his temple, confidently guessing it was not from the heat that had been coming through the vents.

“Is the little-little s-slut gonna come for me already? B-beg for it then. Fucking beg f-for me to let you c-come.” Spencer was speedily falling apart at the seams and she was loving it. More than loving it. She was craving it. Craving the little noises that he was trying to stop from escaping his lips. Craving the way he slightly bounced his leg in an attempt to control his arousal, which was futile because it had obviously already reached its full potential in the confines of his khaki slacks. 

“Пожалуйста, папа. Пожалуйста, позволь мне прийти. Мне это надо. Пожалуйста.”

Without even hearing the words translated back to her, she could hear the utter desperation in the girl’s voice. She no longer needed to understand the Russian language to be able to finish the translation, and as she sat there with her thighs tightly pressed together, she knew exactly what it meant.

“Please!” The utter need that was present in the original audio was somehow mirrored perfectly by the young doctor’s breathy voice, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, a prominent vein popping through the skin of his smooth forehead. “Please, p-please, please let me come. I n-need it. Please!”

“Приди за мной, детка.”

Deciding that she could regret her actions in the morning, Y/n quickly grabbed his face before he could translate, angling his head so she could whisper directly into his ear at the same time he spoke the last line of the night.

“Come for me baby.”, they both spoke at the exact same time.

Pulling away as fast as possible, she watched his clamped eyes shoot open as the most obnoxiously loud moan she had ever heard escaped the poor kid, his whole body spasming as a result. And using the large stain on the crotch of his pants as a guide, she was pretty certain she knew what had happened.

For the next few minutes there was silence in the SUV, apart from Spencer’s heavy breathing as he came down of course, leading them to believe the couple had fallen asleep after their...activities. Of course she wanted nothing more than to tease the trembling mess next to her, but she could already tell he was mortified beyond belief because of what happened so she didn’t want to make it any worse for him than it already was. 

After waiting a few extra minutes just to make sure that they had actually gone to sleep, the pair drove away from the stakeout location, Spencer not having said a word since his...big finish. As much as she loved watching him fall apart in front of her, she really didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable around her. 

“Well that was certainly an unexpected turn of events for the night, huh?”, she said, lightly chuckling with the intent of lightening his mood. She was very glad to see it had the intended effect.

“Uh y-yeah...you could definitely say that again.”, he mumbled with the ghost of a smile on his plump lips, though she could still clearly make out the blush coating his features.

“So hey, I know that you usually take the metro, but I’d be more than happy to give you a ride home after we drop the SUV off at the office if you want.”, she warmly smiled in his direction without taking her eyes completely off the road.

“Oh um..yeah that would be perfect. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it Reid.”

~~~

The rest of the ride back to the office was pretty much spent in silence, but it was much more comfortable than it had been before, which was a huge relief. After dropping the keys to the SUV in the lock box inside, the two agents piled into Y/n’s car to go back home to their shared building. On their way back she considered just asking him if he wanted to ride with her everyday just to make his life a little easier in the long run.

Once they got to the parking lot and exited the vehicle, they began walking towards the entrance together, the awkward tension from before creeping back into the air around them. Soon enough, they found themselves standing in front of their respective doors, both unsure of how they were supposed to end the night’s interactions. After a few moments of painful silence and eye contact, Y/n was the first one to rip off the band-aid.

“So...I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Reid?” He seemed to be broken out of his trance by the sound of her voice, snapping back to attention.

“Huh? Oh yeah uh yes of course. S-see you tomorrow Y/n. Goodnight.” He scampered into his apartment before she could even get a chance to respond to his bidding.

“Goodnight.”, she whispered to no one other than herself as she unlocked her door and headed inside to shower quickly before diving into her soft sheets.

She was sitting up in her bed, book in hand, with only the small glow of her reading lamp illuminating her room when she heard it. Of course she knew immediately what they were, a talent that had developed and strengthened from living adjacent to a pretty much pubescent boy.

The tell-tale sound of moans and groans vibrating right through her wall.

She knew she probably shouldn’t be listening, something about a violation of privacy or whatever, but she just couldn’t help it. He sounded so desperate it was driving her insane. So much in fact that she was in the process of skimming her own hand downwards when she was interrupted by a certain something from the Doc’s room.

“Y/n! Oh god, please. Please.”

Oh. Oh.

Not even giving herself a second to consider her actions, she was up on her feet basically sprinting to his door, pajamas and all. Not even bothering with knocking, she noticed it was unlocked and let herself in, beelining for what she assumed was his bedroom by the increasing volume as she approached it. Standing in his doorframe, she was utterly mesmerized. There he was, sprawled across his sheets, completely bare with sweat coating his hair as he rapidly pumped his angry, red cock, her name tumbling from his lips like a chant.

“You’re so beautiful like this.” She smirked as she watched his head shoot up to where she was standing, his hand immediately stilling it’s rapid movements. Watching the panic spread on his face was intoxicating to her as she slowly approached his bed.

“Y/n! Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I uh-I didn’t um...” His words trailed off and his eyes widened as he watched her slowly begin removing her clothes as she moved closer to him. 

“Shhhhhh.” She managed to remove both her shirt and pajama pants in the short trip over to his bed and she had no intention of stopping there. Now standing directly in front of him, she let her eyes wander over his still frame completely, soaking in the amazement in his dark eyes and the slight tremble that was periodically rippling through his body. Maintaining eye contact with him the whole time, she reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, letting it pool on the floor next to her.

It was honestly shocking his eyes didn’t actually fall onto the floor with how far they bulged out of their sockets, a small moan leaving his mouth. 

She giggled at his enthusiasm before bringing her soft hands up to caress his face gently, his body shuddering at the contact. “Do you want me to keep going baby boy?” Taking a second to process the question that had left her lips, he slowly nodded while looking her in the eyes, his own full of awe. 

Happy with his answer, she reached for the edge of her panties before pushing them down to join the other pieces of clothing already inhabiting his floor. Spencer couldn’t speak. He could barely even breathe. Five minutes ago he had been jerking off to his neighbor, who also happened to be his coworker, and now said neighbor was crawling onto his bed, completely naked, with a wicked smirk on her face.

Straddling his lap, but making sure that there was no actual contact, she reached up to cup his face again, slowly rubbing circles into his defined cheekbone. “Is this ok baby boy? Is this what you want?”, she cooed. 

Spencer looked like he honestly might cry from the pure compassion laced within her words, but still found a way to nervously nod his head in affirmation of her questions. With a warm smile on her face, she leaned forward and placed a feather-light kiss on his lower jaw before continuing up the side of his face, basking in the small whimpers that fell from his pretty lips. Finally reaching his ear, she let her warm breath tease him before proceeding. 

“Do you want me to take control of you? Is that what you want sweet boy?” While the whine that immediately escaped him was answer enough, she pulled back searching for a more concrete answer to her question. “Hmmmm, you’d like that?” 

“Yes.”, he whispered, nodding his head anxiously. 

While he was answering she had leaned back towards his face, placing soft kisses all over. “As you wish baby boy.”, she whispered, changing course to attack his neck with her eager lips as soon the words left her mouth. Spencer gasped instantly and she couldn’t help but smirk against his pale flesh, increasing the pressure in which she was assaulting his neck.

Through the groans that spilled past his lips, she was able to make out his pathetic attempt at words, not slowing down her lips at all. “J-just make sure not to leave any m-marks. We’ll g-get in trouble at w-work.” Of course Spencer would be the only person on the planet to remember their office guidelines while getting his neck sucked like a vampire.

“No marks...that’ll be difficult. I want everyone to know just how thoroughly I fucked you.”

Feeling extremely satisfied by his enthusiastic response to her vulgar words, she slowly lowered herself down his body, pausing with her mouth right above his groin. Somehow the poor kid already looked completely fucked out and she hadn’t even done anything yet. Hearing him wince as she gently grasped and started stroking his cock, she knew this was gonna be fun.

Staring directly into her eyes, he watched the string of spit leave her mouth and drip directly onto his dick, eyes bulging at her bold actions, still in shock that any of this was actually happening. 

Entranced by the way his chest expanded rapidly as he watched her curiously, she leaned forward and licked the tip, his head falling back onto the pillow behind him. “I’m gonna suck your cock...but only because I want to see if you can not be a spaz about getting head from me.” Her words made Spencer whimper and she smirked as she took him fully into her mouth, soaking in his pretty noises. 

Y/n had only been going for a minute or two when she heard his groans get louder and felt him twitch in her mouth. Pulling off of him with a pop, she hummed at the sight of the completely wrecked boy in front of her, panting and shaking adorably. It wasn’t long before the perfect idea infiltrated her head, her body thrumming with anticipation and excitement.

“You’ve been such a good boy for me. I think you deserve a reward.”, she smirked, reciting the words that they had heard verbatim. Seemingly catching on to what she was pushing for, he responded accordingly.

“Please Y/n. I’ll do anything.”

She quirked her eyebrow in his direction questioningly, slowly grinding her dripping core against his achingly hard cock. “Anything, baby boy?”

Snapping his heated stare directly to her eyes, he cracked a beautiful smile. “Anything.”

She couldn’t control the grin that overtook her lips as she lowered herself down onto his erection, writhing in pleasure at the feel of him inside of her and the sound of his wanton moans. “Good boy.” 

Wanting to give Spencer time to fully adjust and control himself, she started her movements out slow, lifting herself up until only his tip remained inside before dropping down completely into his lap repeatedly. He was a moaning mess on the sheets below her, sweat coating his body along with goosebumps covering every visible expanse of his skin as he panted like a dog. He was so fucking pretty like this. 

Deciding enough was enough, she picked up the pace considerably, bouncing like a mad woman on his dick, while her sharp nails scratched down his creamy, pale chest in front of her, leaving angry, red streaks in their wake. Spencer had devolved into a blubbering mess underneath her and that lit her soul on fire.

“You like that don’t you, you little slut? Like your cock deep inside of me? Huh?” 

Y/n was pretty sure that he was short circuiting below her, his brain cutting off all control over his body as he spasmed uncontrollably and moaned for the entire fucking building to hear. Good, she thought. Let them hear how whipped he was for her. Even though it had only been a few minutes since she increased her speed, she could feel his cock starting to twitch violently inside of her and she knew he was close, really close.

“Is the little slut gonna come for me already?” All he could do was whimper in response, having to nod his head emphatically due to his loss of speech.

“Beg for it then. Fucking beg for me to let you come!” She was on fucking cloud nine right now, floating through the motions, as his whimpers increased in volume and speed. Mustering up all the strength he could, he spit out as many audible words as possible.

“Please! Please, please, please let me come! I need it! Please!” He was crying now, tears rapidly pouring from his eyes and spilling down his cheeks out of sheer desperation and need to release the tension built up within his body.

She was in awe of him. As she watched the tears pour down his face, she couldn’t help but whimper too. Desperately needing to finish, herself, she brought one hand down to make circles around her clit, while the other she brought up to wrap gently around his flushed throat, leaning over to whisper in his ear like she had earlier that night.

“Come for me, baby.”

She once again pulled back to witness his reactions to her hushed words, the outcome only more amazing than before. She watched as his eyes rolled back as far they could possibly go into his head as his mouth dropped open in pure ecstasy, high-pitched whines escaping his lips, his release shooting up into her like it had always belonged there. Maybe it had.

Watching him come undone below her, combined with her hand speedily rubbing circles on her clit, she was catapulted into the most amazing climax of her entire life, her body buzzing with excitement as she tightened around him and collapsed on his chest, weak as could be after that activity.

The pair laid silently, apart from the heaving breaths whirring through the room, still in shock over what had just transpired minutes before. Slowly shifting her eyes to the shivering boy below her, she saw he was caught in a trance, his eyes dazed, a soft grin on his lips. 

Breaking him from his stupor, she gently cupped his cheek with one hand as the other drew lazy circles on his blotchy chest. Rubbing the skin on his face lightly, she leaned forward and kissed his nose, making him scrunch it up and giggle as a result. “Such a sweet boy for me. Such a sweet, sweet boy.” Her words made him melt inside and words tumbled out of his own mouth before he could even think about stopping them.

“Вы красивы внутри и снаружи.”

She looked up at him in shock, before breaking out in giggles. “Did you just serenade me in Russian? How romantic.”, she giggled, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

He couldn’t seem to control his giggles either, a fact that warmed her heart. “Yes, I suppose I did.”

Smiling up at the adorable boy she just had to ask. “What does it mean?”

Y/n watched as his signature blush quickly coated his features once again as he looked down at her with a shy smile. “You are beautiful, inside and out.”

With the warmest grin she could muster, she leaned up and kissed his jaw once more before snuggling up against the young doctor who had melted her heart.

Tag List: @hopebaker @pastathighs @psychedellic-phase @gloryekaterina @sleepysnapesnake @racharr @etherealgubler @furiouspartyrebelhoagie @andiebeaword @liaabsurd @cielo1984 @starkeybaby @victomizedbyreginageorge @rainsong01 @moonlight-jukebox @gretaamyk @httpnxtt @rachelxwayne @goldnratio @cheyxminds @kricketc29 @cupcake525 @pinkdiamond1016 @slutforthegubes @shadyladyperfection @emilysallysmith @babblingbrookex @legendaryanimeaestheticclou @sunstspidey @ashwarren32 @pixels-impulse @eviewildflower @spencerreider @awkwardsadaa @dirty-pan-goblin @spencerspecifics

[katara0524]

Impromptu Ramblings about the NEO:TWEWY Demo

In case y'all weren't aware, I've been a pretty big fan of TWEWY for a couple years now, and with the sequel coming out next month, the excitement I feel for this game is greater than ever :) I played the Demo for the first time yesterday, and following a couple views of some livestreams of others playing it, I felt like sharing my (very ramble-y) thoughts prior to the release of the full game. This post WILL contain spoilers for both TWEWY and NEO:TWEWY, so if you want to avoid those from now on, please block the tags: #twewy spoilers, #ntwewy spoilers, #neo twewy spoilers, #ntwewy, and #neo twewy ^_^ Oh, and if you wanna keep up with any other posts I make about my experience with this game, please refer to the tag "kat plays neo twewy" :)

-First things first: I have not watched the Final Trailer and I don't plan on doing so to avoid spoilers, especially after the pre-release era of KH3 where a lot of the later trailers spoiled a lot of the endgame content. That being said, I've seen some minor screenshots from the final trailer including what many believe to be characters from the original TWEWY, namely Shiki and Joshua. That is all I know about the Final Trailer and I would very much like to remain as blind as possible going into NEO :)

-The very first cutscene was quite ominous in the sense that this game is likely going to be about "changing fate" (a recently common theme in Squeenix games, which I do appreciate), perhaps leading off from the end of A New Day in the OG and trying to stop an Inversion of Shibuya. Also worth noting that A New Day had similar aspects in which the main character experienced "future visions" of tragic events, although in A New Day these events were not able to be changed, while in NEO it seems like one of the main "powers" our protagonist has is specifically to rewrite these events and avoid a "bad ending." Very interesting indeed!

-I really like the revamped comic book style dialogue scenes, it's much more fluid and modern, which is an excellent direction for the series to take!

-I would love to have an actual PokemonGO knockoff of Final Fantasy creatures, please Squeenix that would be incredibleeeeee

-Also the LINE stickers??? Are so cute???

-I would just like to point out that Fret is an absolute treasure throughout this entire demo, he's hilarious and I will protect him with my life

-UHHHH don't like that Fret picked up some Reaper Pins just out of nowhere.....or the fact that they're apparently popular all over Shibuya.............did y'all not learn anything from the OG game or what lmao

-Okay so when I first got the "curry or ramen" scene and heard NPCs talking about the new curry place replacing the old ramen place I became IMMENSELY distressed that Ramen Don was totally cut from the game because....well, Ramen Don is a King okay?? But I'm glad to learn that no, he didn't fall off the face of the earth, he's still in business and he's the one opening the curry restaurant lolol. PHEW, crisis averted!

-.....I don't like the sudden appearance of a Wall Reaper and being able to read NPC thoughts. Wtf happened when they left the ramen place??? Are they playing the Game alive somehow?

-Okay so I have my own theories about this "Swallow" character and what they're up to but considering this is only the Demo and I still Have No Idea What's Happening, I'm just gonna say that I think Swallow intentionally led Rindo and Fret to the Crossing so they could join the Game. I mean, add in the fact that Swallow still communicates with Rindo during the Game and you've got yourself a suspicious character right there lol

-"Hey they're shooting off fireworks!" Fret honey that's not fireworks oof (see also: "*laughs* I'm in danger")

-WOOOOOO way to traumatize Rindo right off the bat like that LMAOO

-The visuals for the intro are VERY GOOD, the song is pretty decent until it gets all "screamo" (which I absolutely cannot stand sorry lol)

-Shoka is every Customer Service employee ever and I respect that

-Susukichi went from being "meh" to "WOW THIS GUY IS FUN" in the span of 10 seconds and I also respect that (he is also built like an Absolute Unit which is hilarious)

-The Wall Reapers (and just Reapers in general) seem.....way nicer and more helpful this time around?? Like in the OG the Wall Reapers were SO RUDE gfhjgjdfkhn and yeah I'm sure we'll get some like that but the juxtaposition of the first Wall Reaper in the OG compared to the first one in NEO is insane.

-The puzzles are quite a bit more entertaining this time around even if it's generally the same "fetch quest" formula lol

-"Rindo's Group" way to go Fret HFKJDGHSDFKJ mans really left the default name in there lmao

-OKAYOKAYOKAY so to those who aren't aware I am a MASSIVE SIMP for Sho Minamimoto, he's my absolute favorite and I think about him daily. HIS INTRODUCTION IS. INCREDIBLE. I LOVE IT SM.

-GOD hearing him actually SPEAK FULL SENTENCES is just SO SURREAL I love this sm

-Also the remix of his theme???? NEO TRANSFORMATION????? IT'S SO GOOD????????? It's like gone from a Boss Theme to a more triumphant sounding theme and I am HERE for it (every version of Transformation is just INCREDIBLE and getting a new one is even better)

-I Love Him, Your Honor

-Also idk how exactly but it's kinda weird seeing Sho in the OG vs NEO, cuz while he's mostly the same Insane Math-Obsessed Catboy, he's.....calmed down quite a bit?? Like OG made a whole point of how poorly he cooperates with others (not to mention just being completely unhinged and trying to kill everyone), whereas here in NEO he's......actually kinda working with others??? HELLO???? Sir what happened to you and Neku during those 3 years I would love to know all about it

-I guarantee you Sho is still probably scheming shite and will likely pull some total insane BS later down the road, and I am very much looking forward to that. Also, is he looking for a certain Pin or something??? Cuz he keeps talking about different Pins and even mentions "this is just another Psych Pin" like he's actively looking for a Pin to do something with. Maybe it also has to do with the "latent powers of Players" thing he mentioned as well??? What is this dude UP TO oml (also is he in contact with Neku at all?? they're both technically fugitives at this point right?? WHAT HAPPENED AFTER A NEW DAY I AM BEGGING YOU)

-I seems like Sho ALSO has an idea of what's going on in this specific game (even if he won't admit it straightforward). Per his quote "The game's 142,857. Factor it out," he's essentially saying, "This game is a neverending cyle, figure out how to get out of it" (or at least that's what I got from his "cyclic number" nonsense lolol)

-I do like how Sho mostly stays out of sight until he's needed for a battle or assisting with a mission, that's kind of on par with his whole "uncooperative" quirk from the OG, plus he might literally have to stay out of sight of other Reapers and Players considering he's likely breaking the rules of the Game (not surprising considering him and Neku broke practically every rule in the book during OG)

-The nicknames for Sho- I can't- They're so FUNNYYYY GFHJSDFKJ

-He goes from being called "Pi-Face" and "Tabooty" in OG to "Mr. Minami" and "M-Teezy" in NEO LMAOO

-(Wowee I just realized I've been mostly talking about Sho oopsies sorry y'all, this is what I meant by thinking about him almost daily he is THAT much of a fav of mine ghfkjsd)

-Okay RIP Fret and Rindo for not getting literally ANY explanation as to how the Game works OOF, that is kinda cringe that whoever gets the Pin earns points, not whoever erases the Noise (which like I understand but also URRRGGHHH I WANNA SEE THE SQUAD SUCCEED)

-"I should be going home now it's getting late" Oh you sweet summer child-

-Also love the mention of parents in this game???? KH you could learn a thing or two from TWEWY (poor Rindo's mom fhgjkdh)

-KUBO IS HILARIOUS I SUPPORT HIM AND HIS GROSS FACE (also thank you Final Trailer thumbnail for spoiling my suspicions about him very cool smh)

-Kaie is a LAD I also support him, go King type those funky texts I believe in you

-FRET PLS STOP SCANNING FHGJKSDHKJFGHFKJ he's like me when I scan in OG during Weeks 2 and 3 and see Taboo Noise coming after me ghfjdshfj

-Also Rindo can you stay off your phone for TWO SECONDS ik you're trying to figure things out but Fret is a jelly boi and I don't want him to be upset with you my guy

-Sho being an actual sorta mentor to the kiddos?? Who are you sir this is so unlike you ghfgskj what happened to the guy who tried shooting children in the face 8 times over LMAO (granted he's probably just using them but it's still nice to see him actually cooperating and sharing knowledge with the kiddos aaaaa)

-EYO EIJI OJI THE TIKTOK INFLUENCER IS BACK LMAO

-hgjkfshgkjf "we aren't glorifying capitalism on my watch" THATS SO FUNNY TO ME GFHJFSDGHJKS (also an all-orange ensemble is disgusting you deserve jail for one thousand years fkn Cheddar Goldfish Cheezit ass woman)

-WICKED TWISTERS NAME DROP EYOOO we love to see it

-gfhsgjf Poor Rindo embarassing himself for the sake of the Game that's incredible

-R e t u r n t o M O N K E. That is all.

-Dialogue during boss battles is HELLA cool i love that

-HHHHH THE KANON SCENE MADE ME A N G E R Y FRET STOP SIMPING MY GUY says the girl with a Literal Simp Encyclopedia and simps for pixels on a screen daily

-Can't wait to see the other Reapers :eyes emoji:

-CAN'T WAIT TO SEE NAGI MY BELOVED YEAHHHH WOOOOOO AAAAND that's about it for the demo lolol, I absolutely CANNOT wait for next month, this game is gonna be INCREDIBLE holy hell Prepare for more simping, more screaming, and more vibing from Yours Truly :) I fully intend on sharing more general thoughts like this on both Tumblr and Twitter so it's not just reblog-retweet-reblog-retweet with the occasional comment fhgskjd

If you wanna witness my insanity up close and personal I have a Square Enix Discord server called Sea Side Dreamers! You can look it up on Disboard, or you can add me on Discord @Katara0524#9244 for a direct link :) We have topics about Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, NieR, and ofc TWEWY (as well as other topics!), so if you want some good ol' chaos and chitchat, you're more than welcome to join!

[ships-for-you]

May I request a matchup 💕

For Diabolik Lovers and Black Butler?

I’m a 5’3/4 female with black and blue braids. I have a dark skin tone and I’m kinda chubby and on the thicker side and have very dark brown eyes. I’m shy but very blunt, I’m often seen away from crowds! I try to learn as much as possible and enjoy reading Edgar Allen Poe stories and poems. I like to read peoples way of thinking . I also enjoy drawing every know and then. Im always ready for competition.I also hate cringing cute things.’I’m an INTJ, and a Aries sun, Libra moon with a Scorpio rising. I’m fairly new to this app but I quite enjoy your blog!! Thank you for your time and have a wonderful day!

Thank you for being so patient, I apologize for getting to this so late. I will make an effort to be more consistent with these entries.

Nevertheless, onwards to your ship!

From Diabolik Lovers, I ship you with Ayato Sakamaki!

I personally think Ayato would be a good match up with someone like yourself

Not the same can be said about the opinion of the aforementioned character though,...

He finds you too different from his usual craving, if he’s going to drink, he’s at least drinking from a pretty vessel. That’s sort of his psyche in this

Ayato’s type usually consists of those who are on the smaller side, paler, much like the rest of the triplets, purely for aesthetic purposes

You know the stereotypical Japanese woman? That’s their type. Easy to push over, easy to force into submission, easier to see their reaction...I think you understand the gist of it

I don’t particularly think he pays any attention to anyone, and he definitely won’t pay attention to you if he has no reason to

That’s where he actually notices you. Probably competing for an “in-classroom” game to help the students focus more in class by riling them up a bit.

It was practically a game of “Jeopardy,” what the teacher chose

Having been knowledgeable in a variety of common topics, you easily answered the words and names asked in record time, leaving your classmates to wonder how, and why you knew so much

Including this red-head

Well, it’s more a question as to why, “The great ore-sama” is losing “this stupid game” and we all know the answer to that.

I don’t particularly think he’s stupid, it’s just that he doesn’t find interest in mundane activities such as reading up on history when he’s lived it, and reading poems about things that don’t concern him.

He views you as competition, but not as “common competition”

He doesn’t have to worry about competing with you since he’s almost sure to win in every given task

...Just not Jeopardy....

I believe it’s his strong sense of competition that does actually bring him to pay more attention to you

Not just through competing with you

But for competing with others for your attention

Maybe it’s due to your more vibrant aesthetic that trumps the other students, but you attract a fair amount of attention

From both men and women alike, some positive, some negative, but that is to be expected

They think your hair’s pretty, and they’re also curious as to why you body is fuller and more formed than theirs

The little twerp is initially jealous because he’s not the center of attention, then it just evolves to wanting your attention. It’s up to you to imagine how he does that

You don’t necessarily like the flocking of the other students, but you don’t really turn them away. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exhaust you though

When Ayato thirsts for your attention, and everyone else’s, and is desperate for it, (though he’ll vehemently deny it) you assume that he was missing that in the crucial parts of his childhood

Not the psychoanalysis—

I’m not necessarily sure if he’ll find further reason to associate himself with you, let alone let you know of his nature, unless the situation calls for it

So when you end up standing in front of a pair of dark and heavy doors to your new place, you’re not entirely sure what might happen—

For Black Butler, I ship you with William T. Spears!

I personally think that although William doesn’t quite concern himself with trivial matters such as romance, he at least has a type.

A person who can do their work efficiently is convenient for him.

Someone who knows when to hold their tongue, yet is honest when they do speak is also a characteristic he finds himself being drawn to.

He likes the idea of his partner exuding an air or responsibility as they would better understand his point of view

He’s also already surrounded by multiple characters with loud inside voices, and even louder outside voices. So he appreciates your more quiet nature.

It also inadvertently makes him cherish your words, or hold them to higher regard.

They’re also best for describing his disappointment whenever the other reapers that work under him are more rowdy than usual.

He likes your curiosity and interest in the world, especially because he doesn’t find much interest in it himself.

Although, there must be a reason as to why you’re currently working a reaper, he just doesn’t know, and does not intend to.

At least not until he sees his interest in you is beyond simple business curiosity and judgement.

The serious reaper also finds himself looking forward to your input on your current reading material

In the rare occasion that both of you are free and do not have any further work to finish, he allows himself to be somewhat comfortable in your company

In those few instances, he takes the time to study you more

He usually finds those donning bright colors in the industry too flashy, and irritating

Though he likes the blue accents in your braids, he thinks it suits the undertones of your skin and work well with the usual dark uniform you’re all prescribed to wear.

He won’t prioritize you over work, and he expects the same outlook from you

If he must go overtime, he will, and does not want you to bother or hinder him from competing his tasks.

If you’re both going overtime, he’ll take the time to listen to your woes and interests or new topics of discussion as he walks you to your respective private quarters

Your illustrations to him is a waste of precious resources, in his opinion, but he won’t deny that they’re interesting enough to be spared a second glance

Disputes or competition rarely transpire between the two of you.

This is only natural as William doesn’t particularly have the drive for anything and simply enjoys listening or watching

That rare occasion of competition really only happened due to your reports. He once commented about how your reports could use proper revision and that it didn’t seem worth passing to the higher ups

He didn’t intend to sound as rude as he did when he informed you of this, it’s just that he doesn’t have much tact

In the instance he would attempt to court you, which is highly unlikely, he would initially present you with various trinkets he’s seen women from “upstairs” enjoy

Naturally, you weren’t quite taken with his choice of items, and informed him as such

He’s learned to comprehend that not all women liked things of that nature, he most certainly doesn’t

Though the concept of romance is already something he doesn’t like. He finds it incredibly impractical, especially in your collective line of work

Your duration of punishments as service may be different and unpredictable, so he wants to associate himself with you as much as possible until then

In moderation, of course

Always in moderation, says the B average cretin

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

[capricornus-rex]

A Shadow of What You Used to Be (4)

Chapter 4: Brother, Brother | Cal Kestis x Irele Skywalker

Requested by Anon

Summary: There is another! Years after young Anakin Skywalker departed Tatooine, his mother Shmi delivers a second child—this time, a daughter. Whilst the circumstance of the girl’s birth remains unexplained, Irele Skywalker has yet to choose the true path between those laid out for her.

Tags: Fem! OC, Irele Skywalker, Force-sensitive! OC, Anakin’s Younger Sister, Skywalker! OC, Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice, Long-lost Sibling

Also in AO3

Chapters: Prelude – 1 – 2 | Previous: Part 3 | Next: Part 5 | Masterlist

5 of ?

They arrived at the moisture farm, the exact one that Watto told them. The domed abode stood out across the surrounding dunes, behind it were the suns hoisted in its point for high noon. As Anakin and Padmé approached, a dark-colored figure got into their better view—little did the Jedi knew that the figure posted outside was the droid he had created years ago.

“Oh!” startled, the droid turned around to face the visitors. “Hello, how may I be of service? I am C—”

“3PO?” Anakin squinted some more, unsure whether the sunlight was playing tricks on his already narrowed eyes.

The droid paused, its photoreceptors processing the face of the young man before him, and then it dawned on him.

“Could it be? The Maker!” the black droid exclaimed. “Master Ani, I knew you would return! Oh and Miss Padmé, oh my.”

At least Padmé was delighted to have been remembered by the droid she has not seen in a decade.

“Bless my circuits! I’m so pleased to see you both.”

“I’ve come to see my mother,” the droid’s maker said in the same steely tone he used when speaking with the Toydarian, affording no moment for the droid to celebrate this small reunion.

C3PO stuttered, unsure how to begin responding to that purpose.

“Yes, well, I do believe it is best I bring you inside.”

The droid stiffly turned around, expecting the human pair to follow, and they were escorted into the ground floor of the Lars homestead.

From the kitchen, Owen could hear C3PO speaking like a tour guide. He had figured it might have been the person he thought would come, he just didn’t realize it’d be today. Out of common courtesy, he—along with the Whitesun girl—came out of the kitchen to greet their guests.

“Master Owen, might I present to you the two most important visitors.”

“I’m Anakin Skywalker.”

“Owen Lars. And this is my girlfriend, Beru.”

Beru managed a smile to both visitors before softly saying “Hello.”

“I’m Padmé.”

“I guess I’m your stepbrother,” he swallowed. “I had a feeling you might show up someday.”

Anakin didn’t take that kindly, he had no emotional reaction to it—he’s just here for his mother.

“Is my mother here?” he demanded, stepping away from his apparent stepbrother.

“No, she’s not,” a gruff voice drew everyone’s attention to its direction, followed by the soft whirring of a hoverchair.

Cliegg had aged, though not quite well, given what had happened in the past. He extended a hand as he introduced himself.

“Shmi is my wife,” he added. “We should go inside. We have a lot to talk about.”

Owen quickly came to his father, taking the two handles protruding outward from the backrest of the chair.

“Where is your sister?”

“She hasn’t come back yet,”

“Well, she better come home quick.” Grumbled the elder Lars only within Owen’s earshot.

They all gathered at the dining table. Cliegg began with how he met Shmi, how he bought her, and eventually freed her. The old man chuckled once as he studied the boy’s features while he was listening in carefully, even while he stares at his hands clasped together.

“You know, it’s funny,” he began, the remark caught Anakin’s attention. ���I never realize that you and Irele have the same eyes—but I think she resembles Shmi’s the most.”

Anakin’s eyes shifted shakily, his lips parted but no words escaped from it; he looked alternately between Cliegg and Owen, wordlessly demanding some clarification to what Cliegg said. Anakin blinked once, dramatically so, and finally managed to let out the words: “I… Irele?”

Everyone on that very table exchanged looks, but the other party was more confused and perhaps curious on who’s this Irele person that they don’t know of. Cliegg’s last words also got to Anakin and he decoded it quickly—but as he solved the minor riddle, more questions piled up after the answer. Has his mother given him a sister without his knowledge? Why hasn’t he felt her through the Force? Is she not gifted with the same abilities as he is?

“W-Where… Where is she?”

“She’s probably out in town with the other children her age. Irele is coping, you see, but I don’t think it’s not doing her much good. Overworking, finding and taking one too many odd jobs—more than she can handle—”

“Coping?” Anakin asked for elaboration.

Cliegg guessed there’s no way of sliding his way out of that question. They will come to the point in the conversation on what had happened to Shmi. The mood in the dining room changed significantly. A gloomy silence befell Owen and Beru as they waited for the head of the house to begin the tale.

“Your mother went out early—just before dawn—to pick mushrooms, like she always does. But this one time, she was ambushed by the Tusken Raiders, they had been prowling by the ridge waiting to raid the farms when there’s no one looking—but they saw your mother. They attacked her and took her with them, kept her hostage. And your sister, well…”

The elderly man sighed, taking and then letting out a deep breath, he attempts to continue.

“She left the house to search for her the moment she got out of bed. I found her woken up by a cold sweat, then she insisted that something was wrong. I trusted her, believed her, and let her go find her mother in the fields. She came back empty-handed, I had already prepared a search party. Those Tuskens walk like men, but they’re vicious, mindless monsters. About thirty of us went, only four of us came back. I’d be out there with them, but after I lost my leg… I just couldn’t ride anymore until I heal. I don’t want to give up on her, but she’s been gone for a month.”

The silence was distrupted by the sound of light footsteps, the only noise that rung across the homestead apart from their voices.

“I’m home!” a girl’s voice announced. “Dad? Owen?”

Her voice and her arrival caught the attention of both her family and the two visitors. Anakin stood up and stepped out so that he can see—and be seen—the rotunda. Just a meter and a half away from him was a girl of ten years—nearing eleven—standing from the stairs from where he came when he himself arrived in this house.

Irele was immediately taken aback by this stranger, not because it was a new face—but because she was bothered by how familiar he looked and felt. A good minute has passed and it dawned on her. She knows who this is.

Anakin examined the girl: black hair tied back into a ponytail, donning a woven scarf to protect her from the sands, and a pair of earthy hazel eyes hooded with a somber, unreadable gaze—nearly similar a hue to Shmi’s eye color. Looking at her was like seeing Shmi in her girlhood, for Irele could perhaps grow to be the spitting image of their mother. This is his sister, he thought, but he wasn’t sure what to do or how to react and interact with her—neither of them have known much about the other. And they’ve only just met! To Irele, it felt like she had waited a lifetime to meet him; she always had that feeling, perhaps over time, she didn’t anticipate him as much.

“Irele…?” Anakin uttered.

“H-Hi…” she stuttered shyly, reacting to her name.

Cliegg spun his hoverchair, “Irele, this is your brother. Your real brother.”

Irele’s brows furrowed, she blinked several times as she examined Anakin’s features. Perhaps she could not spot any resemblance yet, but eventually she would have—if she gave it time. As the siblings stared at one another; thoughts, questions, and even comments about each other’s appearances flood their minds.

What does she know about me? Did Mom ever tell her about me?

There’s something I feel about him… though it’s making me too nervous. It’s almost like it’s something bad… or maybe because he just looks a little mean.

Before giving a proper reaction or even speaking a single word, she sprang to her heels and fled to her room, flimsily holding her satchel loosely by the strap, dangling just inches away from the ground as she ran.

The adults dismissed it as bashfulness and also surprise. Anakin did not go after her anymore and went to the direction of the front door.

“Give her time,” Cliegg advised.

“Where are you going?”

Anakin’s eyebrows slightly pulled, but Owen did not notice, “To go find my mother.”

“Your mother’s dead son, accept it. There’s little hope she’s lasted this long.”

In fact, he didn’t. He could never ever. Then Cliegg sighed in defeat, knowing that this boy might be just as stubborn as his little sister. He reached for Anakin’s forearm and clutched it weakly, slightly startling him.

“If you can’t do that… at least talk to your sister.”

The sky had burned into a golden orange hue, sunset was nearing. Night will be upon them soon. Anakin found Irele in the workshop, he recognized some of the apparatus to be Shmi’s—apparently, she had brought those with her when she and Irele were bought.

As he was approaching her, he caught a glimpse of what she was doing—she was piecing together a sort of tech that seemed familiar, along with a little help from her friends in town.

“Irele, I…”

“She told me about you,” Irele matched her brother’s firm tone of voice, though the hint of uncertainty rang along her words. She did not look at him, she spoke to him while keeping her eyes on her handicraft. “A long time ago. I just didn’t think we’d meet at this time.”

Anakin got close enough to get a better look at her tinkering, he examined the small machine and discovered that she was retrofitting a podracer’s dashboard.

Attempting and hoping he’d establish a connection with her, he caved in to listen on what Irele has to say.

“She told me that you were a great racer. You won against Sebulba.”

“Sebulba? He still races?”

Irele turned to Anakin, not exactly surprised that he still remembers the cheating Dug, though a decade’s worth of not knowing anything happening in Tatooine would at least fog his memory. His sister nodded slowly and then returned to fixing the dashboard.

“No, it’s…” she trailed off when she got too focused on arranging the wires. “It’s from a customer in Anchorhead. I used to be in a podracer’s pit stop entourage, when I was like six.”

“Do they still race?”

She shook her head, and answered the question she knew was coming, “Accident. Can’t drive a pod with just one arm, huh?”

Her posture straightened, she moved the magnifying lens away from her, and then secured the dashboard in a leather sleeve before settling it down neatly in the center of the workbench. Irele finally afforded a good long look at her big brother.

Big brother… kinda weird to call him that.

“Ani,” she uttered, though she meant it as a practice of getting used to addressing him when talking to him. She didn’t really intend to call him, but he looked at her anyway. There was a pause before she continued.

“How much did Dad tell you—about Mom?”

It slightly baffled Anakin how casually she called Cliegg her father, he cannot blame her anyway if this is the father figure she grew up with.

“Just enough for me to know,” Anakin answered.

She hummed. Then Anakin decided to ask the question that has been lingering in his mind. If this was his birth sister, was she born in the same way he was?

“Irele, perhaps you can tell me something,” he began.

Detecting the seriousness in his tone, she swiveled the chair to face him, propping her elbow on the table. Staring back at him with those hazel eyes that he cannot gaze upon without remembering Shmi—because he could definitely see his mother within his sister—he licked his lips before speaking.

“Cliegg isn’t really your father, is he?”

His sister stared at him some more with squinted eyes, bobbed her head to the side as she got the idea of his question. She wordlessly shook her head; when she did, then Anakin’s presumptions have been realized—she was exactly like him. Within their moment together of just conversing, he could feel the Force flowing in her, although it was faint and seemingly dormant. In that case, her Force-sensitivity might be still untapped—what seemed to be a small stream on a quiet summer morning will eventually turn out to be a powerful, raging dam. And so it begs the question: will he report her to the Jedi Council?

“He told you about the Tuskens, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Oh…” Irele’s eyelids drooped as she looked randomly on the floor, avoiding her brother’s gaze. Another moment passed, both siblings were inept in speaking to  one another casually—unlike how Irele is to Owen—but then she lifted her head again, and this time, she looked at her real big brother with pleading eyes, suggesting a sense of longing for their mother and sadness. The latter being a dangerous emotion to dwell on. “You’ll bring her back, won’t you… Anakin?”

Then at that moment, Anakin was both determined and burdened to keep such a promise. He was confident and hopeful that he would rescue Shmi, but with such a motivation fueled by the fear of loss, Irele was beginning to sense something ominous from him. In the back of her head, she was regretting what she asked of him. She saw a shadow loom over Anakin, as dark as his long robes that sweep the sand as he strode. Her heart pumped slowly and heavily, it suffocated her and made her nervous.

There’s something not right with him. Something… bad. She thought to herself, her fingers twitched with anxiety. It’s too late to take that back. Anakin has sealed a contract forged from her behest—which was also his. Now she wanted to stop him, because she know something bad was going to happen—executing the same foresight she had for Shmi.

“Anakin, are you alright?” Irele asked, and that seemed to snap him back to reality.

He stammered as he answers, “Yes. I… I just blanked out, I guess.”

“Right…” she groaned with a growing suspicion. “Just… Just don’t lose sight of what you came for.”

Her vague warning would allude to the preceding events. Anakin took her words to heart, and his being a Jedi gave him the advantage to read people better than most, to analyze their motives and desires. Hearing Irele say something like that hints her Jedi-like abilities: her foresight, which was something Qui Gon had noted of Anakin himself when he was still a child.

“I won’t,” he said with conviction, and then he managed a smile in the hopes of easing her spirits. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring her back.”

Irele’s thin lips pursed and watched her big brother turn around to leave her be in the workshop. When his back turned to her, that smile instantaneously melted away; her stomach slightly churned at the sight of his robes shadowing his figure—he looked broader and more intimidating, and quite ominous.

She had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling about this.

[blessed-are-the-peacemakers]

A Little Security (Arthur Morgan/Kieran Duffy)

I saw somebody post about these two a long while ago, and since I think this pairing is actually pretty cute I decided to give it a try. I’m a bit rusty and I did rush a bit at the end, but I still think it’s alright.

This is M/M content. Don’t read if you don’t like it.

There are no other warnings. Enjoy :))

The sun had began to set when Arthur finally made his way back to Horseshoe Overlook, most of the camp already finished with their evening stew and preparing for bed.

Arthur wearily slid off his steed, which towered over the other horses, and hitched him along the horse station while reaching for the heavy bear pelt stowed on his back. The black Shire sighed and watched his human, who nearly strut his way to Peason’s wagon, soaking in the compliments from the awestruck ladies and jealously of the men.

“Oh yeah, sure! Hunt down a monster and make the rest of us look bad!” Shouted Sean, who was no doubt up to his collar in alcohol already. Arthur played along with most of the silly jabs and comments from the gang, but he had to resist looking over his shoulder to the smaller man watching him almost longingly from the backs of the outlaw’s horses.

Arthur finally glanced back, almost aggressively, to Kieran when he set the bear pelt down on the donation table. He squeaked when he noticed his intense gaze, hiding behind Maggie and hurriedly bushing her coat to distract himself from anybody who may have noticed his lingering eyes.

Arthur rolled his eye as he sat on his cot, removing his hat and laying back and closing his eyes.

This had started just recently (at least to Arthur’s knowledge).

Arthur would leave for a few days to hunt, look for leads, or do any other odd job somebody threw at him (anything to avoid breaking Micah out of jail), and during his last few visits back to camp one particular person seemed to be waiting for him, almost like a puppy waiting for his master.

Arthur wouldn’t admit, not even to himself, but he was almost flattered. It was nice to come back to somebody waiting for him. Sure, he was usually greeted by Dutch or Hosea, or even Susan, but they would usually have some sort of mission or chore for him to do. It was nice to have somebody just genuinely  happy to see him alive and well.

Kieran always awaited Arthur, but he could tell he tried to hide it. Though he was still skittish around the outlaw, he would shyly offer to take over whatever chores around camp he needed to do and would sit by him around the campfire if he was alone. He had even prepared him a cup of coffee in the morning. Just once though, because Arthur didn’t like so much cream in his coffee. He wasn’t use to this kind of attention.

Hell, even his horse warmed up to Kieran faster then he did Arthur, which annoyed him a bit, but he did think it was rather adorable to see the big raven black beast nibble and lick Kieran’s hands when he fed him treats.

Wait...No...What was Arthur thinking?

He shook his head, turning over in his cot and suppressing those strange thoughts of the O’Driscoll as he tried to get a moment of sleep.

Though he didn’t rest long.

Not that he fell that deeply into sleep, he still noticed the muffled sound of teeth chattering and familiar miserable whimpers. Without even sitting up, Arthur glanced over to the large stone along the side of camp, a shivering shadow catching his attention.

He didn’t know why he cared so much, but it bothered him that Dutch, or anybody for that matter, hadn’t at least given the boy a blanket or pillow to lay on. He wasn’t a Van Der Linde, of course, but he certainly wasn’t an O’driscoll, and had saved Arthur’s life.

He didn’t deserve to freeze to death at least, Arthur thought. That’s all, surley, as he rose to his feet and made his way other to the sniveling man, taking off his winter coat as he did so.

Kieran didn’t notice him approach at first, too distracted by the cold and his own misery, until Arthur cleared his throat. He froze, glancing over his shoulder to the larger man, only to have a heavy blue coat thrown into his face, Arthur mumbling something along the lines of “Let me know if you get cold, dumbass...” as he trudged away.

Kieran didn’t move for a moment, looking down to the fuzzy coat in his lap dumbly. He looked around the camp to be sure no one was watching, before sliding the poofy coat over his own thinner one.

Though he was much warmer, he didn’t feel safe enough to fall asleep yet. He was almost fearful that this was some sort of prank or test, but it was hard to resist his heavy eyes growing heavy and Arthur’s powerful scent lingering in the air and lulling him to sleep.

~

Arthur awoke earlier then usual the next morning. The morning sky was a bright pink and Charles was just returning from his night watch, Javier taking his place.

As he sat up, he noticed the coat he had given to Kieran now sliding down his chest. He looked back up, Kieran himself dusting off the wooden table in the middle of camp, which had a single cup of coffee and stew waiting for him.

Though he was very thankful for Arthur’s favor, he quickly retreated when he approached the table, leaving to assist the horses and Arthur alone to his breakfast.

He sat alone shortly, however, as Hosea sat across from him a moment later wearing a wide smirk as he watched Arthur eat.

“Uh...Mornin’.”

“Good morning yourself. Sleep well?”

Arthur eyed him suspiciously as he ate another spoonful of stew, which was mostly broth at this point.

“What do you want Hosea?”

“What do you mean? Can’t I wish my son a good morning?”

“Yeah but...You’re acting funny.”

“Me? Funny? I’m not acting nearly as funny as you, or that Duffy fellow.”

“Okay,” Arthur said as he lifted his bowl high and swallowed whatever stew was left. “I’m not doing this.”

“Fair enough, but just remember you’re not as subtle as you think Arthur!” Hosea said, nearly shouting towards the end as Arthur hurried to the other side of the camp, ignoring the confused glances of the other gang members.

Just as he was about to call for his steed, he found Kieran at the edge of camp grooming Arthur’s large horse. This had become somewhat common recently, but what was unusual was Kieran actually turning to Arthur as he approached and walking forward to meet him before he could leave.

Arthur tried to hold a neutral expression as Kieran shakily thanked him for lending him his coat the night before. He couldn’t help but notice how he twiddled his thumbs and how much redder his face was in the moment, or how his posture in general was very similar to a shy teenage boy on a date for the first time.

This would have tickled Arthur if this were under any other circumstance.

He muttered a quick ‘you’re welcome’ as he saddled up but paused before he turned to leave camp.

“You know...if I’m ever away, you can...use my tent...I guess...”

Kieran, who had just began to sulk away back to his chores, turned back to Arthur in disbelief.

“Oh..I...uh...T-Thank you, Mister!”

Arthur really wished he hadn’t thanked him so loudly. He held his head down, hiding his blushing face under his hat as he rode farther away from the smirking outlaws and past a smiling Javier as he rode away from Horseshoe overlook.

~

He considered never going back, the teasing surely never going to end when he returns to camp. ‘Morgan and the O’driscoll’ they’ll say. But he wanted to come back.

And to that very man.

He didn’t know why. He thought it over during his trip for treasure hunting. There wasn’t anything particularly  outstanding about Kieran. He was a sniveling little shit they found shivering in the snow. And when he had the chance to leave, he stayed. He saved Arthur’s life and he stayed, saying he had no where else to go.

Arthur understood that feeling. Even with his belongings and his own tent at camp, he still feels like he doesn’t belong. He feels little more then an errand boy, or a thug at times, only kept around to do the dirty work and put his own cash in the donation box and then excused to do whatever else he does.

He tries to not let it bother him, but he just feel so warm so suddenly when Kieran does give him the little attention he does.

He’s a grown ass man. He doesn’t need someone to brew his coffee for him or bring him his meals, but damn does it make him feel warm when he takes it upon himself to sit by him around the fire, or to care for his steed so carefully.

He hadn’t realized he was so close to camp until Bill’s loud voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Who goes there?”

“Arthur, you dumbass!”

“The hero returns!”

As he rode back into camp, he noticed the lack of an O’driscoll waiting to take the reins of his steed, who angrily stomped his hoof as he waited impatiently by the hitching post.

Arthur slipped him a sugar cube and looked around the camp for Kieran until his eyes landed on Hosea, who seemed to be waiting for their eyes to lock. Before he could comment on the older gentlemen’s smug look, he looked away from Arthur, who followed his gaze the sleeping figure on his cot.

The younger man shifted ever so slightly when Arthur approached his tent, turning over and letting his hand fall off the mattress. The outlaw watched him for a bit, deciding on his next move but somewhat enjoying the sight of the other man sleeping on his bed.

He glanced around camp, suddenly very aware of the other members of camp, before deciding to ignore whatever opinions they may have of the situation and sat on the cot beside Kieran, who began to stir awake.

“Hmm...A-Arthur?”

“Hmm?”

Arthur tried to act casual as he slid off his hat and boots, laying back on the tiny mattress next to Kieran, but there was no hiding his nervousness and darkening cheeks. Kieran sat up and began to panic.“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you would be back tonight! I’ll give you your s-”

Before he could began to beg for his life, Arthur slapped his hand over his mouth and gently pushed him back down to the cot. ‘Shh! Relax will you? It’s fine.”

“B-but...Don’t you want your space?”

“Nah. You don’t take up much room.” He whispered.

“Oh...” Kieran swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “Aren’t you worried about what the boys will say?”

“Boy, you’ve been here long enough to know a lil bit about what goes on here. I dare them to start any drama.”

Arthur said as he stretched out his arm behind Kieran, who leaned back down and used it as a pillow. Arthur closed his eyes and ignored the silent chatter of the other outlaws who were still awake. He may have heard his name once, but no one questioned him the next day when he decided to sleep in with Kieran, who did try to hide away with the horses. It took a little convincing from Arthur to drag him back to camp to lazily do chores side by side.

Sean or Bill may have made a snide comment, but Arthur threw one right back, and they didn’t bring up what they say again, to Arthur or Kieran. Despite the knowing looks from Charles and John, the only other acknowledgement he got was from the all knowing Hosea, who sat by him when he finally did let Kieran tend to the horses by himself.

Arthur, not being able to drink peacefully with the smirking man by himself, sighed and finally looked over.“Well? What you lookin’ so proud of yourself for?”

“Not of myself. You.”

"But you didn’t help me at all?”

“That’s right. And I didn’t have to. That’s why I’m so proud.”

[yourdlmatchmaker]

Secret match up~

“Why hello may I have a matchup? I`m 165cm(5`5) petite female with short darkbrown really thick hair, they`re a bit messy because I overwash them. I have olive skin but due to me never leaving my house it looks rather pale. I often wear gray and black with some pastels mixed in. Mainly hoodies. I`m quiet and reserved around other people and often told to “open up!” or/and “smile more” what honestly gets on my nerves sometimes. On bad days it`s easy to annoy and irritate me.(what`s a bit hypocritical because I like to annoy others for fun) I have mixed feelings about drama, on one hand I tought I don`t like it but on the other I would die just to start a fight! I find them exciting, especially the thrill it gives to me! I often come across as sweet and inocennt but people who know me well know that`s the opposite of me, actually XD. It`s hard to get me to open up and a bit…disappointing, I suppose? Once I know I can trust you I become really playful and childlike. I`m sarcastic and I love dark humor. I also have a mean side to me only a few know about. I can say hurtful things when I want to and even make fun of others suffering. I have 0 empathy for people who I don`t know well, this is probably because when I was younger I tried to be nice and helpful just so I get bullied in return. For those I know well and trust, I would do anything. I`m also clingy for someone who spends a lot of time by themselves. I tend to bottle up my emotions what sometimes causes me to lash out at others unintentionally. I`m a bit hedonistic and lazy, tbh I welcome anything to push me not to procastinate. I often feel lonely and touch-starved but refuse to admit it, hence the clingy. I like art and I mostly draw or doodle, I like to paint as well but that happens once upon a blue moon. Same with reading. I love swimming and go out in the water whenever I get an occasion. I take intrest in witchcraft, folklore and demonology. I have Rheumatism (I`m 17 why do i have immune system of my grandma why god why) [[it means that my body hurts on rainy days and im constantly tired, also it makes my joints make popping sounds]] despite that I love the rain, probably because I dislike complete silence also the reason why I sing and dance when I`m alone. I`m told to have a nice singing voice. I don`t trust easily. I`m cool with being told what to do and I`m secretly an emotional masochist(in a, call me names way). Oh yeah btw pls make me anon ~sorry for my english i hope it makes at least a little sense~”

Admin Abi: I’m back! Well…for a little while >.<. Anyway~ Sorry for the wait, but well I hope you lget to see it and liked it ^^’ BTW~ don’t worry about your English or orthography…I’m just the same or worst really :’v

*finishing your match up*

Your romantic match is…

Kanato!

The first thing that comes to my mind is the fact that you two have many things in common~

I imagine the two of you met due to normal-yet-not-so-normal-circunstances. You were brought to the Sakamaki mansion as any other sacrificial bride. To be honest that appeareace of yours gave the wrong image of you to all the brothers…specially Kanato. To be honest you choose him since you were too lazy to think better to be honest. I won’t lie to you…at first the expression “I’m living in hell” would describe your life with Kanato. He’s very unstable and so unpredictable…you are never sure whatever you say or do will affect Kanato. The first thing he tried to change about you was your sense of fashion: he would make change those hoodies you wear to cute lace-fluffy dresses he makes himself. He also make you smile since you are supposed to be a doll: dolls are supposed to be happy and cute ALL THE TIME! He likes to offend you and making you scared or cry…he think you look lovely in those states. I highly recommend you to think before snapping at Kanato, just like you Kanato can be in a really bad mood but not one day… it can be from one second to the other. Just like you Kanato finds enjoyable troubles/dramas and would enjoy greatly if you make him company whenever there’s some discussions between his brothers. It’s funny, because people think you look cute and innocent together…it’s true but just part of that image. Sure, you are adorable together…but you are cute devils that are planning the best way to conquer the world xD

It took you a while to both of you to realize your feeling to each other. You two had their shells/walls very thick. It was during one night that you woke up in the middle of the night and saw that Kananto was no where to be seen. You looked for him and you found him all alone in a room. You asked if he was ok and then you saw he was crying. “The rain…it makes me feel sad and empty” that’s what he told you after a while. Without your permission he simply brought you close and hugged you so he could comfort himself with you. You were surprise, you found the rain comforting and calm, just like Kanato did for graveyards. Slowly you showed Kanato that he wasn’t alone, he had you now. Once that thick walls of yours fell you showed your childish and playful nature. Kanato finds it adorable and it makes you feel more like a cute playful doll. You both have a pretty dark sense of humor so he finds amusing the fact that you can talk about something creepy for others while you both might find it funny. Since you are with Kanato you don’t have to worry about not being empathetic about others, since Kanato isn’t that much of empathetic himself…but who cares in the end? Is not that you have time to worry about others when the only one you need is Kanato. He likes when you draw something for him and he’s pretty crude with the critics, so beware. He also likes your knowledge in all dark topics and he finds it interesting, so you can spend hours talking about them! I think your strongest point in your relationship is the fact that your clingy wishes are all granted with the clingy boyfriend Kanato is. He doesn’t mind the fact you like swimming and he has sometimes descibed you are the little mermaid and even made a cute swimming suit for you! He finds it annoying each time you get sick, but will not let you die, don’t worry~ He takes really good care of his doll after all~

Kanato covers most of your personality’s tarits and that’s why I think Kanato will be ideal for you. You even don’t complain about being told what to do! You make Kanato life’s easier and whole! He couldn’t ask for more! You are just to perfect! You two look amazing together and is pretty obvious you’ll last forever!

Hope you get to see it anon-chan and hope you liked it as well! Thank you for your patience as well!

[hoganleslie93]

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Hogwarts Too Exposed Chapter 23: The Seer

Welcome back to the sporking. I know it´s been a year since the last time, but I finally got the energy to continue. I hope to finish the sporking of the second to last chapter of the fic today already.

When we last left off, there was (yet) another cliffhanger, and I´ll just say it now, it´s the Moaning Myrtle, as she also had to be dragged into this dreck. As she died as she was still a virgin, she is curious to what Jamie and Alex are doing. It ends with this here:

Myrtle was reluctant to leave, but decided that a descriptive conversation was better than nothing. "You won't forget; you promise?" Myrtle practically begged. "I'll come visit you in your bathroom immediately after my last class," Jamie promised. "Would it be possible for him to drop the towel before I leave?" Myrtle asked, almost pleaded. "I don't think so," Jamie said. "Alex isn't a naturist. He's rather embarrassed for his privates to be seen." As Jamie was speaking, however, Alex did something extremely unanticipated. He loosened his towel and let it drop to the floor. "Myrtle, if it's all right with you, I'd like to come and visit you with Jamie tomorrow," Alex said. Myrtle stared at Alex, her face carrying an expression that actually resembled a smile as she stuttered, "Th... that would b... be nice," before disappearing, with a swooshing sound, down the drain. Jamie just stood staring at Alex and shaking her head. "You never cease to amaze me Mr. Ward. What possessed you to drop that towel and tell Myrtle you'd accompany me tomorrow?" "Everyone makes fun of her; calls her 'Moaning Myrtle'." Alex said. "Jamie, she was no older than us when her life was taken from her. She never got to experience love like we have. What if that had happened to one of us? And now she's destined to spend eternity in the Hogwarts plumbing system. "I feel sorry for her. If dropping my towel gave her a smile and made her existence more bearable, I'm glad I did it," Alex admitted unashamedly. Jamie had a tear in her eye. "Add another entry to the long list of reasons why I love you," she said. "Meet me in the middle of the bed, and I'll show you just how much."

Jamie is such a speshul and selfless Mary Sue that she wants to teach a ghost about Sex. Yeah. Right.

*barf*

* * * * * *

Cut for a very boring and dragged out scene with Harry and Hermione talking about their past, whether Caitlin and Emily are “done with it” and a reminder of the court case regarding Amanadas pregnancy.

* * * * * *

"I can't do this!" Ron grumbled. "People are only supposed to be naked when they have sex or take a shower. Not when they sit down to dinner."

I feel for Ron right now, even though this strawman dialogue is terrible and forced. "You never seem to have a problem with me being nude the majority of the time," Samantha protested. "That's because you're a girl, a very attractive girl. Girls look good naked, but it's gay for a guy to parade around like this," Ron argued. "What will Timmy think?

You can really feel here how much Neil hates Ron. "I don't know," Sam admitted. "I only know that if we're going on this cruise, you have to start somewhere and being nude at home in front of Timmy and me seems the logical first step." "Maybe this whole cruise thing was a bad idea. Perhaps we should just forget it and see if we can get our money refunded," Ron suggested. "Is that what you really want to do?" Sam asked, dejectedly. "I'll have Hermione check into it, if you like." One look at the disenchanted expression on Sam's face and Ron realized he couldn't back out. "It's just.... Look at me! I'm a tall scrawny, pile of freckles. Maybe if I was some Greek Adonis it wouldn't be so bad."

Cut for more boring. And then Timmy comments on how big Rons penis is. Oh G-d is this terrible....

Friday, February 18, 2005 10:00 AM "Do you have any idea why the change of location for the meeting?" Hermione asked as Severus and she hurried toward the conference room. "It was made to sound like it was being done out of deference to you," the Headmaster responded, "but I imagine it's more of a surprise inspection of the school." Is Neil trying to make already out of character Snape sound like Dumbledore?

"I'm sorry Severus," Hermione said guiltily. "I didn't mean to make trouble for you. It's just that I couldn't sit idly by and let Amanda be tossed out of school without even trying to prevent it." "There's no need for you to apologize," Severus said. "I totally support your viewpoint. I'm just concerned that this meeting may turn out to be more about Professor Granger than Amanda Pierce. Of course they will make this all be about Hermie Sue. The board was rather backed into a corner and compelled to keep you on after the Playwizard incident. They might see this as an opportunity to vent their frustration." 

Be prepared for a totally clichéed court case filled with Strawmen, even worse than the custody case earlier in this fic.  "Amanda doesn't have a chance of staying in school, does she?" Hermione asked, aggravation evident in her voice. "I can't believe the Board of Governors would use her to get back at me." 

Come on, we all know that she is going to stay.  "I doubt they would allow Amanda to remain under any condition," Severus answered. "Phineas Buster -___-  and his wife will, however, take great pleasure in making you think the outcome is because of you." Hermione came to a sudden stop. "If they've already made their decision, why are we wasting our time?" "Because they are bland moustache twirling villains who do this all for the LOLs Hermione, I believe in miracles, and I believe in you," Severus said, putting his arm around Hermione, encouragingly. "If anyone can pull this off, it's you." 

Things Severus would never say #9784553  "I wish I had your faith."

* * * * * *

12:15 PM "I believe that concludes all the business before the Board with the exception of the Amanda Pierce issue," Phineas Buster announced. "I move that she be immediately expelled. Those in agreement please signify." 

It´s time to find a gif that pretty much illustrates this character:

"Excuse me," Severus said interrupting Phineas, "Aren't we going to discuss the matter first? Professor Granger has been waiting in the outer chamber for over two hours to address the Board on the subject. The governors exchanged glances of varying surprise, most seemingly unaware that Hermione was planning to testify. 

Why were they, though?  "Yes, I received your owl stating that the learned Professor would like to address us," Mr. Buster said patronizingly, just as he paused to twirl his moustache. "I really feel it is a waste of our valuable time." "It most certainly would be," Balla Buster seriously?, concurred. "The little trollop got herself pregnant and thus must pay the consequences. Hogwarts is a school of witchcraft and wizardry, not a school of sin and fornication." 

Here we have the stereotypical puritan strawman. For the sake of the LOLs I´m gonna imagine her like Aunt Lydia. 

"But if Professor Granger has been waiting that lengthy a time to address us, we should at least afford her the respect of listening to what she has to say," Amelia Bones urged. Much to the chagrin of Phineas Buster, many of the other governors agreed with Ms Bones. He paused again to twirl his moustache. 

"Very well," Phineas said reluctantly. "Headmaster Snape, will you please ask Professor Granger to join us?" As Severus stood to go and get Hermione, Phineas commented not the least bit softly to his wife. "This should be good; the tart defending the trollop." 

As Hermione entered the room, she glanced at the faces of the twelve governors, trying desperately to hide her feeling of total despair. She´s so beautiful, it´s a curse! At age fifty, Amelia Bones was easily the youngest board member; she at least acknowledged Hermione with a smile. As introductions were made some of the others gave her a polite nod, others simply glanced at her grumpily.

Hermione had immediately recognized Professor Tofty and Griselda Marchbanks from her O.W.L. tests and was shocked to discover that Neville's grandmother was on the board as well. The balance of the members, she had never met before, but they all shared one commonality; they were, for the most part, ancient. 

Now, I myself am not that big on knowlegde on HP-lore, and therefore don´t know these names, but I find it really annoying the way Neil just puts in random names to show off his big knowledge and trying too hard to sound like JKR when writing. 

His writing sucks.  "Professor Granger, the Headmaster informs us that you would like to address us prior to our expelling of Amanda Pierce," Phineas Buster echoed in an irate voice. "Please make it brief since it is already past noon." Hermione had intended to maintain her composure, knowing that it would serve no good purpose to anger the governors, but the way this arrogant bastard addressed her made it sound like she was an annoyance and that Amanda was already out. "I'm sorry that you feel I am wasting your time," she said, addressing the entire board, but directing her gaze at Phineas Buster, "but I feel a young woman's future is of more importance than stuffing our faces. I'm sure you can survive." Hermione looked intently at Buster's portly stomach. 

Beauty equals goodness, after all.  Severus grimaced. He had doubted that Hermione had any prospect of convincing the board to allow Amanda to remain, but had hoped the meeting would at least be civil. Evidently, neither Phineas Buster nor Hermione intended to restrain him or herself. 

But Hermie Sue is of course in the right when she acts this way.  "We have to guard the reputation of the school," Balla Buster said, smugly. "Perhaps Miss Pierce should have been more concerned about her future when she decided to act as foolishly as she did. Your alzheimers is dangerous!" 

Snip.

Then this:

"They should abstain," Bella Buster it´s hard to know whether this is what Neil originally wanted to name Ballabuster, but for several paragraphs her name was “Balla”, and for the rest of this scene, it´s “Bella” - it really shows how bad Neils writing is and how bad his betas are. If these betas actually exist, that is.  bellowed. "In my day a young lady never considered having sex before marriage." Hermione studied Bella, who had to be at least one hundred fifty. "Was yours a prearranged marriage," Hermione asked. Bella was caught off guard and became flustered. "Well, yes, but what does that have to do with it? Brides were all virgins. Our generation had morals." "May I ask how old you were when you and Mr. Buster were married?" Bella dithered before finally saying, "Thirteen."

This is the first time we hear about this kind of young marriages in this Saga - and keep in mind, in this scene it is treated as wrong and oldstylish, but in the next fic Neil has no problem with a 13-14 year old girl having a relationship with a guy in his twenties. 

And cut to the end of the trial, with Draco saving the day and Amanada can remain in school despite her pregnancy. 

The next part I think is a proof of Neil being a fan of the Draco Trilogy:

Hermione ran to catch up with Draco. "Draco," she yelled. He stopped and turned toward her. "Thank you," she said, kissing him on the cheek. 

The Draco Trilogy all over again.  "Don't go all mushy on me, Granger. It's still me, Ole Draco. I've not suddenly become one of the good guys." 

"But what you did in there," she said, looking confused. "Nothing has changed. At some future meeting, we'll undoubtedly be at each others' throats again," Draco said dismissively. "Some things will never change. I'm a pure blood and you're a muggleborn." 

This sounds so forced. 

And also Neil desperately trying to portray Draco as “in-character”. Not to mention that the blood status here seems misplaced too, considering this canon where Draco was abandoned by Crabbe and Goyle etc.  "But..." "I was concerned that you might have a fit and end up quitting," Draco admitted. "You might be an insufferable, know-it-all, but you're too damn good a teacher to lose." 

-_-  Hermione simply smiled. "Protest all you want, but I think there still might be hope for you."

You´re in Hogwarts Exposed, all hope is lost by default here. 

* * * * * *

Cut for a  boring scene with Quidditch info that goes nowhere. 

Now we get back to the actual plot again:

"I think perhaps I should have listened to you," what 12 year old talks like that? Emily said in a conceding voice as they seated themselves at the long Slytherin table. "I'll change clothes immediately after breakfast." "What made you change you mind?" Kim asked. "My bare bum against the wooden bench. If there isn't enough skirt for me to sit on, it must really be short," Emily admitted. "It's a weird thing about being a nudist. I'm not the least bit bothered if anyone sees me totally naked or even gets a glimpse of my so called private parts, but it does bother me if people think I am purposely dressing to expose those areas." 

Besides the fact that she talks like an adult, these are all LIES. Emily lives only to be seen naked by others!  "Most people probably wouldn't understand, but I believe I do," Kim said supportingly. She has been assimilated. "You don't dress skimpily in order to be sexy, but rather just because you hate wearing clothes." Repeating this Mantra won´t make it true. 

"That's it," Emily said, relieved that Kim understood, "but most people can't identify with how naturists feel having to be clothed all the time." Emily looked around the Great Hall. "Fortunately for me, most people either ate early or are skipping breakfast today." 

The dialogue, as you might have noticed, gets worse and worse each chapter.  The Great Hall, which on a school day was always crammed with students grabbing a good breakfast before the start of classes, was normally much calmer of weekends due to many students and even staff opting to sleep in. That was either apparently especially true today or everyone had eaten early, because with only fifteen minutes left before the end of breakfast, there were only about fifty students total at the four house tables. 

I though there were classes on weekends too? Remember last chapter? The Slytherin table was especially empty with huge gaps separating those present. Dick Bancroft and his ever present shadow, Dennis Crow were seated at the end closet to the staff table, so naturally Emily and Kim had sat at the extreme other end. The only other Slytherins present were the Scary Sues Denise and Janice who were on the other side about two-thirds of the way down the table and Tyler, who was on their side about mid table, sitting alone. Emily and Kim were enjoying this relative privacy; using the time to talk about the cruise. Emily had just taken a sip of her orange juice when it happened. UUUUUUUHHHHH At first Kim thought the glass had slipped for Emily's hand and broken, but then she saw the blood and realized that Emily had crushed the glass. 

Now we get to the thing that is the next oh so big point of the main plot that is mostly tossed aside for the boring soap opera bits.  Emily seemed oblivious to her injury as she stood up from the table, blood dripping from her bleeding hand. Kim tried talking to her friend, but Emily appeared to be in a trance, not even aware of her surroundings. When Emily spoke; it was with a voice not her own, but deep and raspy and so loud that her words echoed through the Hall. 

Remember the plot point about Jamie and Emilys father being a “seer”, who apparently couldnt foresee his own death? And how he definately was the last in his line with this power?

Yeah, it´s Emily who is the seer in the prophecy. 

Here is the full prophecy - be prepared for Neils purple prose:

"THE STARS PROCLAIM THE RETURN OF THE GREATEST DARKLORD FROM THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS FOUR, THE GREAT LORD SLYTHERIN'S SPIRIT SHALL POUR. TWO OF HIS OWN, SEER AND HEIR, TWO OF HIS ENEMIES, HEALER AND HEIR, TWO DROPS OF EACH, NOT ANY MORE, WITH THEIR DEATH BY HIS HAND, TO HIS BODY HE WILL BE RETURNED, TO WALK THE EARTH A MORTAL MAN, BUT WHEN SLYTHERIN AND EVIL ARE JOINED, NOT EVEN THE COVENANT WILL BRING THE RESULT DOWN. THE DARKEST OF TIMES THEIR JOINING WILL BRING, SORROW AND PAIN WILL OFT BE THE FAME. MANY WILL DIE DREADING THE NAME, SALAZAR SLYTHERIN. THE WORLD WILL HAVE BUT ONE HOPE AND THAT IS TWO CUBED TO EIGHT WITH HEALTH AND SIGHT AND SPIRIT BRIGHT, THE HEART AND SOUL AND MIND WILL ADD THEIR WEIGHT BUT ONLY WHEN THE FLAMING DAUGHTER AND THE MOONCHILD JOIN THE FRAY WILL THE WORLD DEFEAT EVIL AND RETURN SLYTHERIN TO HIS GRAVE"

When she finished speaking, Emily collapsed to the floor in an epileptic type of seizure. Kim was at a loss as to what to do as her friend violently gyrated on the floor, shaking and tossing about. Since Emily and Kim had been seated on the wall side of the Slytherin table, none of the members of other houses were aware of what had happened to Emily. Of course. Yet no one could hear her oh so deep and loud voice. Most were discussing what she had said, thinking she had perhaps fainted and would be attended to by staff. That was until Denise yelled to her cousin. "Dick! Hurry, you can't miss this," Denise shouted. "Zacherley is having some sort of fit, she's tossing and turning about on the floor. Her skirt is nearly up to her waist and she doesn't have any knickers on." 

And no word about the prophecy. Neil, your writing sucks! Also shows how basically everyone in Exposed!Hogwarts is a perv.  You would have thought that she had announced that Honeydukes was giving away free candy. Not only Dick, but also every other student in the Hall, both male and female, ran frantically to witness the sight. But Tyler was nearest and, despite the fact that Emily hated him, he didn't hesitate to run and throw his body on top of hers to obstruct the other students from viewing her. "Her breasts," Kim shouted in panic to Tyler. He had successfully succeeded in covering Emily's lower extremities with his body and was doing his utmost to maintain that coverage despite her gyrations, but now her breasts were also exposed. Not knowing what else to do, he quickly covered them with his hands. "Just what type of perversion is going on here?" Professor Malfoy said, looking down scornfully at the couple on the floor. End of Chapter 23

Of course on a cliffhanger again. 

As always, I would like to thank those of you who took the time to review. Without your reviews I doubt the original Hogwarts Exposed story would have ever been finished, yet alone become a series.

Thank you also to my wonderful betas: Amber, Paul, Peter and Matt.

....who missed out the Balla/Belle inconsistency during the court hearing. 

[roseymoseyberry]

Knocked Out (3/?)

Heyo and here we go with chapter 3! Featuring very slowly trying to dismantle the language barrier, cooperation, and more snarky commentary from the friends.

Hope you enjoy! As usual, you can also read this over on ao3 if that’s more your jam.

Title: Knocked Out

Series: Transformers: Prime with the constructicons shoved right in there, and just a sprinkle of ideas pulled from tfidw

Pairing/Characters: Breakdown/Knockout, joined by Bulkhead and the Constructicons

Warnings: Robot injuries (nothing super gory), sexual jokes, language barriers, and fluff. Oh the fluff. Also slow burn I guess depending on your definition of slow haha.

Fic Summary:

And so there Breakdown found himself, with an injured barbarian in his arms who turned those dazzling crimson optics towards him, and for a split second Breakdown felt as if it was his knees that were injured because boy did they feel weak.

Barbarian AU where the citymech unwittingly does the kidnapping.

Chapter Summary:

“Whoa whoa whoa,” he stammered out, looking from Knockout to Hook and back. “You probably shouldn’t do that, right? He shouldn’t do that?”

|Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 4|Chapter 5|

"Don't say anything negative. He'll start all over again if you do."

Breakdown face pinched as he rebooted his optics to clear the blurriness of recharge. The first thing he noticed was that Knockout was not only still online, but he was busy moving things. A couple long bars, some small little things Breakdown couldn't quite make out, and a jar of some sort.

The second thing that Breakdown noticed is that it was still dark. The fire lit up enough that he could see the rest of the crew recharging, could see the way Knockout's ridges furrowed and he pursed his lips as he poked at his knee, and saw where Hook was perched on a boulder nearby, no doubt the one on watch duty and who had spoken to him.

It wasn't until Knockout blinked back at him, noticing the glow of Breakdown’s optics, that Knockout stilled.

Primus, he was too fucking tired for this.

"He'll start what over again?" Breakdown asked quietly, trying to keep his voice neutral.

Knockout was watching him very closely now, as if waiting for Breakdown to turn on him.

"I'm not totally sure yet. He didn't get very far when Mixmaster and I switched off. He must have made your barbarian nervous when he started asking question because he shoved all those supplies back in his subspace. But judging from how focused he is on his wound and what all he has, I would guess he's decided to taking care of the injury himself."

Breakdown had to fight back a frown.

"But what if he frags it up?"

"It's already pretty bad. Can't imagine his barbarian first aid techniques would hurt it much more."

"Breakdown?" Knockout questioned, his expression still wary, his lips pressed in a tight line. "Yes? No?"

"Uh. Yes, I guess," Breakdown murmured. That was clearly the right answer so far as Knockout was concerned as the barbarian relaxed and returned to his supplies. He grabbed the handful of small things -- they looked like screws now that Breakdown's optics were better calibrated to the dim light -- and placed them in a small pan of sorts. Next he picked up a small metal slab which he shoved into the fire bowl, quick to remove his servo before the fire could more than lick at his digits.

"He doesn't mind that you're watching though?"

"No. I'm curious what he's up to, so I didn't stop him. After enough time passed, he seemed to understand that and ignored me." Hook's face was mostly in shadows since he was looking out into the wilds, but Breakdown could still make out a small smirk. "I ignore him, he ignores me. Works well enough."

Knockout shifted forward, moving his frame further from the metal formation at his back until he could lean back a ways and then twisted his torso. At first Breakdown just watched, puzzled, as Knockout tugged his makeshift skirt up and pulled aside some of the fabric that further covered his pelvis beneath it.

And then Knockout shoved his long, clawed digits into the gap his frame position had opened up in his hip.

Breakdown’s optics went wide and bright as he jerked up right.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” he stammered out, looking from Knockout to Hook and back. “You probably shouldn’t do that, right? He shouldn’t do that?”

Knockout looked unimpressed, and when Breakdown didn’t actually reach out towards him, he just went back to whatever his digit was doing that deep in his hip. His optics dimmed and he absently licked his lips, face pinched with concentration.

“It’s probably fine,” Hook commented, his helm now fully turned to consider Knockout, watching with interest. “He knew exactly how to get at his wiring, so I’d guess he knows what he’s looking for.”

“What could he be looking for?”

Knockout’s optics brightened and he retracted his claws from his hip.

“If my suspicion about him is right?”

Knockout flicked his finger at his leg plating harshly and didn’t so much as twitch.

“I think you have a barbarian doctor on your servos, and he just clipped his pain reception wiring.”

"What?" Breakdown asked dumbly, even as he watched Knockout proceed to shift his injured leg. He straightened it out and turned it until the shin lined up perfectly with his upper leg.

"He's a doctor," Hook repeated again. "I had my suspicions given all the supplies he has, but he's obviously got a pretty good knowledge of the cybertronian frame."

"Right." With the leg straightened, Knockout picked up one of the rods and held it against the outside of his leg, lining it up so that his knee was at about the halfway point on it. That was when Breakdown noticed the little holes in it which Knockout was twisting his torso to look at.

Breakdown felt a trickle of shame in his spark at the fact that he was so surprised. Just because Knockout didn't speak common didn't mean he was an idiot.

In fact, he was starting to realize that Knockout was probably smarter than he was.

"Is it ok for him to do that to his wires though? I mean, those are important."

"For feeling pain, sure," Hook commented. "That's usually important for making sure you know when you're doing something your frame doesn't like. But if his leg's already fragged? Cutting it off before it can bother your processor is easier than reapply numbing agents and pain killers. I would guess he probably just nicked it so it doesn't function now, but given enough time his repair nanites will fix it up."

Seemingly happy with the placement, Knockout carefully pressed his claw into the small divots of the rod. He grimaced to himself as the slightest of scraping noises could be heard, which was odd considering his pain receptors shouldn’t have been working anymore. Knockout didn't go digging around in his hip again though, instead moving to make another scrape in his armor where the lower divot sat on his shin, grimacing again.

"So he's just making it stop hurting?"

"I mean, that's usually the first step before screwing a brace into your plating."

Breakdown's spark stalled for a moment.

He was marking spots for screws.

"But--"

"Relax already would ya?" Hook interrupted tiredly. "It's a simple procedure, and exactly what I would have done if he had let me."

Breakdown still frowned but nodded.

Done with the one side, Knockout put the rod on the ground and placed the other on the inside of his leg to repeat the process. And Breakdown just sat there and watched, transfixed by the precision that Knockout showed.

"Knockout?"

The barbarian glanced up and Breakdown swallowed down his nervousness.

"Did you want help?"

Hook snorted a harsh ex-vent, but he didn’t comment.

"Help?" Knockout asked as he stared at him, optics dimming as his processor worked.

"Yeah. With your leg?" Breakdown said, pointing at the injury. Knockout still looked confused and Breakdown ex-vented with disappointment. "I guess that's a harder word to explain with just charades, huh?"

Knockout continued to watch him, as if waiting for more.

“Here,” Breakdown said, shifting himself over to sit right next to Knockout. The barbarian’s plating twitched, prepared to flare, and but Breakdown kept his voice quiet – both to keep from waking the rest of the still recharging team, and also to keep from appearing at all forceful. “I’m not gonna stop you or anything. I just want to help. If you want help.”

“Help?” Knockout repeated, optics narrowed.

Breakdown nodded and reached out towards the rod laying by Knockout’s leg. Knockout was quick to grab it, his optics flaring as he scowled. But still, Breakdown reached, grasping the other end of it.

“Yeah. I want to help you.”

Then Breakdown pushed the rod back towards Knockout's leg, holding it where the barbarian had previously. "Help."

Knockout still frowned, and replied in his own language, gesturing with his free hand at himself, at his supplies, at his leg.

"Yeah, no, I know. You’re gonna fix yourself. You fix," he stated, pointing at Knockout and then at the leg, and then turned his digit on himself, "and I help." Breakdown finally pointed to where his servo merely held the rod in place.

And, slowly, Knockout's optics cycled.

They were so focused on Breakdown.

"Knockout fix."

"Yeah."

"Breakdown help."

"If you want."

And, still slowly, Knockout's lips curled.

“Yes.”

While Breakdown still didn’t feel fully comfortable, his fear eased in knowing that he could at least help, holding the rod as he watched Knockout work. The barbarian slipped his servo into his subspace again to pull out a thick mitt which he immediately donned. With it on, Knockout reached back into the fire to grab the metal slab he had placed there, now glowing with heat.

Breakdown winced when Knockout placed the red-hot metal onto his leg plating, though Knockout didn’t look at all concerned or pained.

“He’s just softening it to make it easier to twist the screws in,” Hook reassured, unbidden but very much appreciated.

Breakdown nodded absently, enraptured by how Knockout’s hold curled the malleable metal around the curve of his thigh, pressing the heat into his frame. A few minutes went by, interrupted by Knockout occasionally lifting the slab to poke at the armor with his bare servo to test his plating, until finally the check was satisfactory. The slab was placed back in the fire while Knockout gestured Breakdown closer.

“Stay here,” he ordered, pointing at the rod in Breakdown’s servos and then at his leg. Breakdown followed quickly, lining the divot with the small mark he could still see in the hot thigh plating.

“Here?”

“Yes,” Knockout said, and it sounded an awful lot like praise.

Then, fast as he could, Knockout plucked up one of the screws, pressed it through the divot and twisted it into his plating. Breakdown winced but stayed firm, keeping his hold steady as he watched the screw slowly, bit by bit, twist and sink into Knockout’s leg.

As soon as the screw was all the way in, Knockout repeated the process on his shin, completely at ease as he heated his armor. Getting his lower leg to lay at the right angle and stay there was more difficult since Knockout couldn’t control it, so Breakdown shifted until he was sat by Knockout’s pede, holding the rod with one servo and Knockout’s leg with the other.

By the time they were attaching the second rod to the inside of Knockout’s leg, Breakdown’s anxiety had slipped away completely. Knockout knew what he was doing, and Breakdown was able to help make that go easier, and before he knew it, Knockout’s leg was completely braced.

"Not bad I suppose," Hook commented haughtily and Breakdown just snorted.

Knockout's smile managed to be more distracting than Hook's ego though.

He murmured something to Breakdown as he reached out to pat his shoulder. It certainly sounded like praise so Breakdown smiled back.

"Not a problem, Knockout."

That brilliant smile broadened before Knockout looked away, picking up the jar that still sat at his side. The mixture inside was mildly yellow in color and viscous as Knockout dipped his digits in. With enough of the goop on his digits, he turned his leg to one side to make the inside of his knee face himself, the bracing moving his shin along with his thigh. He dipped his helm down and started to poke around in the wound. His optics narrowed and he leaned closer still.

"Did you need light?"

"Light?" Knockout replied distractedly, his optics never straying from his work as he picked at something and moved his servo, a soft clanking of metal hitting metal rising from the opening.

"Yeah. Here, hold on, let me just--" Breakdown pulled a small flashlight from his subspace turned it on. "See? Light. Do you need it?"

Knockout's optics lit up and he immediately pointed at the flashlight and then at his leg, saying, "Light here."

"You got it, boss," Breakdown replied, shifting to his knees to shuffle over to Knockout's other side. Lighting up the injury reignited some of the panic though because scrap, it was a mess in there. Struts and cylinders all knocked out of place, and the ones that hung on were dented to the pits and back. And that wasn’t mentioning the wiring. It was bad. And worse still was how much of it was still loose; the second that Knockout got the light in there, he was poking at all the bits that hung or clunked against the others. "Scrap. That's really bad, Knockout."

Knockout shrugged and casually replied as he dipped one of his digits into the goop the other servo held. He applied it to the end of a cylinder and then, carefully, moved the cylinder until the sticky end met where it had originally attached. Knockout held it there for a while, even bending down further to blow on it, until he let go and the cylinder stayed.

"Oh. It's glue."

Knockout nodded as if he had understood Breakdown, even as he scooped up more and picked at a strut that hung uselessly. Breakdown was starting to think that Knockout was just humoring him, only paying him half a processor -- if even that -- but he found that he didn't really mind so much. He did the same when he was focused. And, truthfully, Breakdown much preferred that Knockout focus on his injury instead of trying to understand what sounded like nonsense to him.

So Breakdown quieted and just watched, finding some form of morbid fascination with how precisely Knockout worked. Whatever the glue was, it held well, and bit by bit, Knockout made sure that all of his parts were set in place. When he rotated his leg this way and that, nothing so much as shifted. Knockout then pulled a last vial from his subspace, uncorking it to pour what looked to be just simple water onto his glue-covered servo. Where the substance had started to stiffen, it melted under the liquid, and it only took some vigorous scrubbing and another rinse for Knockout to clean his servos.

Knockout was grinning as he said something with relief and no little self-satisfaction. And then he turned his focus to Breakdown, optic ridges raised, and yes, while Breakdown had no way of understanding the words, he knew bragging when he heard it.

“Gotta admit, you’re pretty fragging smart,” Breakdown complimented, smiling back at Knockout and chuckling softly. “I mean, a pretty face and a doctor? I’m starting to think you might find me pretty boring in comparison once you understand me.”

Knockout practically preened despite not understanding a word. No doubt assuming – correctly – that he was being praised.

“Careful. Looks like that one’s got an ego,” Hook commented.

“I think that’s just something all docs have,” Breakdown replied, snickering when Hook huffed and looked back out towards the wilds.

There still wasn’t even a hint of the sun, and a quick check of his chronometer told Breakdown there were a few hours still before sunrise.

“Well, now that that’s settled, you should get some recharge.”

Knockout just stared at him, watching as Breakdown laid back down on the ground. When he didn’t move, Breakdown tried patting the ground next to him, saying, “Come on. Recharge.”

The barbarian’s optics flickered back to the rest of the crew before returning.

“No.”

Breakdown ex-vented tiredly but let it go. Knockout couldn’t go forever without recharge. And if he had learned anything, it was that things did go smoother when he let Knockout make his own decisions.

“Alright. Well, goodnight.”

His optics had barely offlined for a minute at most before he felt a servo nudging his shoulder. Breakdown only needed to online one of them to see Knockout gazing down at him.

“Did you need something?”

Knockout’s ridges were furrowed.

“You help,” Knockout said, speaking slowly, as if trying to piece together a puzzle as he did. “I say—” The barbarian stopped, grimacing, and then gestured towards his face as he said, “suamna.”

Breakdown’s other optic onlined as he blinked up at Knockout.

“Suamna? What’s that?”

Knockout deflated some before in-venting deeply, steeling himself for another attempt.

“You help.”

“Yeah. I helped you.”

That strengthened Knockout’s resolve and he pushed, “I say--” and gestured as if something else came from his mouth. Another word maybe?

“You say… suamna?”

Knockout’s shoulders slumped.

“No.” He grimaced and corrected, “Yes. No yes?”

With Breakdown just staring in confusion, Knockout pointed at his mouth. “Suamna,” he said before then pointing at Breakdown’s mouth. And waiting.

“Are… are asking me what that means in common?”

Breakdown’s confusion just butted with Knockout’s confusion. With an annoyed growl, Knockout’s helm tilted back, as if looking at the stars for how to ask for what he wanted.

“Sorry, I’m not as good at this as you are.”

But immediately Knockout was looking at him again. “No. No sorry,” he insisted with a pointed finger. “You help Knockout. I say--”

“He’s trying to say thank you for helping him, dipstick,” Longhaul grumbled from nearby, his voice edged with static from recharge. “So just let him say thanks so we can all recharge again.”

Breakdown felt his face heat up as Knockout’s optics cycled.

“Thank?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so,” Breakdown said, chuckling softly. “I helped you, so you want to say thank you?”

Knockout’s optics brightened.

“Yes. Thank.”

Breakdown had to fight back a snort.

“You’re welcome.”

For all the crazy events of the last day, the next morning was relatively peaceful. The constructicons all woke and started moving around as a unit, waking Bulkhead and Breakdown and leaving them to grumble about gestalts and how they never do anything by halves.

But when Breakdown finally onlined his optics to see beautiful red optics staring back at him, it all came back. And instead of the concerns and anxieties he thought would come with it, Breakdown just smiled.

“Good morning, Knockout.”

Knockout grinned.

“Good morning, Breakdown.”

“Fragging Primus,” Bonecrusher grumbled, “please tell me you’re not gonna keep up this mushy scrap the whole way to Praxis.”

“I’m being polite, aft,” Breakdown replied without any real venom as he sat up and stretched out his arms. “And it’s a teaching opportunity. Unless you’d rather Knockout just shout barbarian at us the whole time.”

“Better than that mushy stuff.”

“I think it’s cute,” Bulkhead insisted as he clapped Breakdown on the shoulder and used it to push himself up to his pedes. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen ol’ Breaky sweet on somebody.”

“I’m not being sweet! I’m being nice!”

“Is there a difference?” Scrapper asked to the amusement of all the other constructicons.

Breakdown glowered before moving to stand. “Very funny. I hope you’re all getting a good laugh out of me trying to be a decent mech.”

“If we were really making fun of you, we’d do it behind your back.”

“Speak for yourself, Bulkhead.” Mixmaster laughed when Bulkhead playfully punched him in the shoulder.

A servo tapped at Breakdown’s leg, and as soon as Breakdown looked down, Knockout reached it out towards him. “Up,” he insisted, obviously eager to get off the ground. And, once Breakdown grasped his servo and pulled him to his pede, Knockout was quick to test out his brace. He held Breakdown’s servo and arm as he tried shifting his weight. There was no wobbling and Knockout didn’t wince.

With a smug look on his face, Knockout let go of Breakdown’s arm and tried to pull his servo from Breakdown’s, taking a stilted step. Instead of letting go though, Breakdown followed, keeping a hold on Knockout’s servo in case the barbarian was overexerting himself.

Knockout didn’t show any signs of minding as he took a few more steps before looking up at Breakdown, gesturing at his leg as he spoke.

“Did you fix him up last night, Hook?” Scrapper asked, only to have the medic snort.

“No. He decided to do it himself.”

Breakdown had to hold back a snicker at how the entire crew fell into stunned silence.

And Knockout just looked up at them all looking exceedingly pleased with himself.

“Well frag me running,” Bulkhead finally said. “You managed to bag yourself a doctor, Breakdown.”

Half an hour and dozens of teasing jibes about Breakdown’s situation passed before they were ready hit the road again.

There was some discussion at that point though about how to travel. With Bonecrusher’s arm fixed up, he was fine to transform. While their speed was practically the same walking or not – the constructicons alt-modes were far from fast – it was easier on their frames and energon consumption to drive.

The fact was though that Knockout absolutely could not.

Breakdown considered carrying him again in his root mode, but the soft ache that still echoed in his frame from carrying Knockout for a few hours the day before reminded him that was not likely to go well. He had a strong frame and great endurance, but Knockout was still a large enough mech that it would likely end in hydraulics giving out by the end of the day, if he even made it that long.

“Maybe have him ride your vehicle mode?” Scrapper suggested.

“Maybe if you’re lucky he’ll ride your--”

Longhaul groaned with exasperation as he elbowed Scavenger hard in the chest.

“Too much.”

Scavenger stuck his glossa out at him.

Breakdown refused to let them see the way his face heated as he turned to Knockout, placing his servos on his hips as he considered the medic. It wouldn’t be exactly comfortable, but it would be easier to carry his weight as a vehicle, and his roof was relatively flat. Knockout could sit up there even with his leg in the brace.

Knockout stared up at him, optic ridges quirked as he asked Breakdown a question. Probably why he was staring.

They raised higher though when Breakdown took a step back and then transformed.

"Can you climb up?"

"Up?" Knockout asked distractedly as, instead of approaching Breakdown, he started to walk around him, his optics tracing the lines and corners of his alt-mode. The walk was stilted because of his braced leg, but he still managed a slight swing to his hips as he went. Breakdown was thankful that he had no face to give away the fact that he was starting to heat up again. His alt-mode wasn't the prettiest by any means -- large and boxy, meant for traversing rough terrain instead of aesthetic appeal.

Yet Knockout's optics glowed brightly, and once he was back at the front of Breakdown's chassis, his placed his servo on Breakdown's fender and purred something. His touch was firm.

"Does he need help getting up?" Bulkhead called as he made his way over, and Breakdown silently thanked Primus to have those piercing optics off him for a moment as Knockout looked at Bulkhead approaching.

"To be honest, I'm not sure he actually understands what I'm saying about it."

Bulkhead nodded and slowed his steps as he got closer. He casually knocked on Breakdown's roof.

"Breakdown wants you to get up there," Bulkhead explained, pointing at Knockout and then up at Breakdown's roof.

The warmth left Knockout's gaze as he looked at Breakdown again with a purely analytic intent.

Something slipped from his mouth that sounded a lot like a quick prayer before nodding.

"Up," Knockout repeated reluctantly, resigned to his fate.

[drscotcheggmann]

Virtual or Reality: Would We Ever Want to Live Out Our Greatest Video Game Adventures?

Imagine the scene. Saturday afternoon. Sun shining. Pitch freshly cut, like a great green carpet. The whistle goes and the ball zips across its surface as the early game passing gets going, the players probing and always looking to open up space. Then a midfielder suddenly cuts inside with a sudden burst of pace, leaving his defender for dead. He spreads the play out to the wing, the ball is fizzed into the box and the forward, having peeled off his marker, jumps into the air primed to strike. Not a header but an exquisite back heel mid air which catches the keeper off guard and soars into the roof of the net. The scorer wheels away towards the crowd, fists pumping and lapping it all up. The stadium is rocking. This is a true story. It actually happened. I scored that goal. Well, at least my team of 11 pixelated footballers controlled by my dexterous thumbs scored it during a recent session of Pro Evolution Soccer. Could I score a goal like that in reality? I'd have to be picked for the team first. My High School football coach's words of 'Can you not even pass the ball, son?' are still ringing in my ears. But while I'm not the best footballer in actual reality, I am in an alternate reality. A fucking good one too. Suck those eggs, Mr Skimin! The fact is that I play Pro Evolution Soccer because I have no hope of doing half the things in real life that I can do on a virtual pitch. It's for this exact reason that we often like to immerse ourselves in virtual worlds. Not only is there an element of escapism at play as we try to briefly divert our attention from the stresses or monotony of everyday life. But also in video games we can often experience and accomplish things which we would ordinarily not be able to do. But a wider question is whether we would actually want to do some of the things we enjoy in video games in real life. It's very easy to say yes. Of course, scoring flamboyant goals as a top footballer week in week out, left foot, right foot, headers, free kicks, cheeky dinks over the keeper, showboating around defenders, playing to the crowd and all for £200k+ per week. If you enjoyed it and were damn good at it, who wouldn't want to do that? But not all jobs nor all video games involve skilfully hitting balls into nets. Video games often put us in precarious and not altogether appealing positions and so if given the choice in real life, would we really want to participate in some of the activities that video games are so good at entertaining us with? Imagine this for example: You get up each morning and pull on your dungarees, shiny black shoes and don your monogrammed cap. You feel underused and under appreciated as even though you're fully qualified to fix pipes and stop leaks, your day job consists of smashing boxes, sometimes boxes that are not easy to reach too and boxes which sometimes have something wonderful inside or sometimes are just plain empty. Everything requires precise jumping and timing. Have you ever tried to jump any distance in dungarees by the way? Hardly the most practical wear for intense physical activity! Luckily there are costume changes, some of them cool, some helpful in getting the job done, some plain humiliating. But at least gloves come as standard to protect against the blisters popping up from repeated box smashing. Then there are the fireballs, spikes, critters and gaping holes, all common hazards in this line of work. And of course there's the reason you're doing all of this in the first place: the princess who just won't stay saved. But you go about your work always with a smile on your face and that irrepressible sense of optimism, even though you know you're doomed to repeat this existence in various forms from now until the end of time. Ok, this is an overblown and ridiculous example as there isn't anything quite like this in real life. The reason we play this particular game (it was Mario, by the way) isn't because we want to be able to do what Mario does in our own lives. Despite the obstacles, dangers and pitfalls, Mario is escapism in its simplest form: fun! Danger often begets fun in video games, no matter how serious that danger may be: a Goomba slowly dancing its way towards you or an axe wielding demon hoping to mash you to bloody pulp. Danger is a huge factor in what makes video games challenging and exciting. But imagine experiencing the danger of a video game scenario that would be entirely plausible and just as dangerous were it to play out in real life.... Imagine this one: You are a highly skilled US government special forces agent. You have been tasked with infiltrating a high security nuclear weapons development facility in the most remote part of Alaska that has been seized by a band of international terrorists. Before we go on, a few things. Well, no actually you're not a highly skilled US government special forces agent. Solid Snake is a highly skilled US government special forces agent. You're just pretending to be one. Heaven knows why the US military big wigs asked you to do this. That's what happens when you post a few Metal Gear Solid gameplay videos on YouTube. Ok, so you managed to make it through to the first boss without getting spotted once. And then didn't get hit at all by Revolver Ocelot. And then boasted about it online. To the world. And someone high up in the military, the ACTUAL fucking military caught wind of it all and thought 'Let's get him on board for the next big one! He looks like he knows what he's doing...' But it's fine because you recently did a speed run of Metal Gear Solid, found all the best weapons and made it out with only some light scratches and a few third degree incendiary burns so you're sure it'll be the same if not better for real. Anyway, the government doesn't actually send people in solo. That's just in movies and video games. Right? Oh, they do send in solo agents. Fuck. Right, ok. As the door of the helicopter slides open, fighting against the strength of the blizzard winds, you step off the helicopter, the snow swirling around you. Your feet hit the powder with a crunch. Dense pine forest surrounds you. The facility is 2 miles to the North. Fuck sake, they could've parked closer. And to add insult to injury, you haven't even packed a hat, scarf and gloves. You look in the bag you were handed by a member of the support team before touching down. This is your bag. Not anything military issue. Bound to be something useful in here. Bottle of water (that's now fucking frozen), an egg and onion sandwich (to knock out the dogs), toilet roll (I don't remember Solid Snake ever needing the toilet), the Metal Gear Solid strategy guide and a t shirt (a fucking t shirt in this weather) with 'I love Metal Gear Solid' emblazoned across the front. Suddenly a telephone starts to ring. The whole thing could be over before if it's begun if you don't stop that phone ringing! Then you realise. It's not a phone. The ringing is in your head. Your ear. You put your index finger to your ear like you've seen Snake do before. Wrong ear. You try the other one and a stony voice crackles before becoming clear. 'Colonel?' 'Colonel? Who said I was a colonel? Just listen Snake.' 'Snake?' 'No, we can't call you that. Can't risk a lawsuit from Konami and Kojima. They're both fond of that sort of thing. Wait, we'll call you....Drake. Wait no, that's been done too.' 'Fake?' 'That'll do. Ok, Fake. Listen. Your espionage skills are renowned the internet over. So this should be like a training exercise for you. Good luck. Let me be clear though, Fake. If you are found and intercepted, the US government will deny any knowledge of your existence. Keep the t shirt close to hand. If you are caught, hopefully they will suspect you as nothing more than a giddy stealth action fanboy rather than a highly lethal government weapon. But I'm forgetting who I'm talking to. We've seen the speed runs. Those terrorists won't know what's hit them! And if you die in combat, well, you die. Game over, no continues. This is not a game. This is the best game of all: life. Now go shoot some terrorists! Out!' You begin to walk. The first steps of a two mile hike to the objective. About an hour later, as you break the trees and approach the link fence, you're suddenly aware that your feet are soaked through, calfs burning and blisters pressing against the soles of your shoes. A deer moves out of a clearing toward the fence, suspiciously eying what is beyond. You can see human shapes, black against the fading light moving across a dimly lit helipad, their patrol paths crossing with seeming regularity. A brief flick of a flashlight attached to an automatic weapon as the patrolling guard turns and retraces his steps. That man has a gun, a real fucking gun. That actually shoots. With bullets. Maybe it's not real. Maybe they're just decoys. A money saving measure in these tough economic times. But you've never seen that in a video game before. Unlikely. But what you have seen countless times is how to breech a perimeter fence. There's usually a conveniently placed hole, drain or ventilation duct somewhere close by. Or some footholds conveniently highlighted by a different coloured paint that stands out from the rest of your surroundings. As if they wanted you to find them. But there's nothing. There must be some mistake. Do all of these terrorists not know that you're here to take down their facility? You'd think they would make it easy for you. As you contemplate your next move, you spot the deer again. On the other side of the link fence. Fucking Bambi is better at this than you! You retreat to the safety of the trees, hugging their edge, until a guard post with a manually operated barrier appears in the middle distance, marking an entrance into the facility. Quick, your binoculars. But you haven't packed binoculars. You reassure yourself that there will likely be some lying around in a spot just when you're about to enter a new area in which you'll need to see really really far. This isn't really really far just yet so you decide to get a bit closer. It looks like it's unmanned, for the moment. You reach the window. An oil lamp burns on a desk covered in various paperwork and a clipboard. A mug of fresh coffee stands steaming on the cluttered surface, having made a ring stain on a document marked 'Classified'. Maybe you should take this though. Files like this are always left lying around in plain sight in video games. You thrust it into your bag without pausing to read. You look around, your brain starting to whirr into gear. There's bound to be some sort of weapon in here too or a map of the whole area. Ah ha! (Did Snake ever say Ah ha?) There's the map, pinned to the back wall. Covering the whole of the back wall. No one will notice that's missing! As you unpin it, you can't help but wish you'd paid more attention during ordinance survey lessons in High School geography. The map unpinned, the next challenge is: how the fuck do you fold it neatly so that it fits in your bag? You frantically try one way; it doesn't fold neatly. Another way; no luck. Yet another way. 'Fold you mappy piece of shit, fold!' Did you say that out loud? Or are the approaching footsteps you now hear thanks to your excessive map rustling? Snake never shows any shame in hiding and it's about time that this whole scenario started to follow the Metal Gear Solid playbook! What would Snake do? Snake would be smoking a cigarette with one hand and tapping walls to the tune of William Tell with the other, sending guards running in circles. You're not quite there yet. 'Look around! Think outside the box......BOX! You spot a sturdy looking cardboard box with some unrecognisable script block printed on the side. 'Fuck outside the box, I wanna get in the box!' The box is sitting next to five or six others, all sealed with thick tape. Either prepared to be shipped out or not yet unpacked. Your box though.....is empty. You quickly climb in. Snake uses the box to move unseen. But you just want to stay unseen. You close the flaps of the box over your head the best you can and wait. The footsteps draw closer. At the door. At the desk. Feet away. A handheld radio crackles into life, the guard confirms all is clear and clips it back into his belt. A diesel engine rumbles into earshot, brakes squeak and a heavy door slams shut. Your heart is racing and just about jumps into your mouth as the guard's foot slams into the side of your box. You can hear boxes above and beside you being shifted. There is someone else in the room. Heaving breathing and panting as boxes are lifted, passed out the door and dumped onto the back of the diesel vehicle with a thud. Then the last chinks of light are extinguished as the cardboard flaps are sealed shut above your head, the squeak and tear of the tape muffled behind the cardboard and then you feel yourself rising. The guard swears at the weight of the box and laughs as his mate's knees buckle slightly under your weight as he hands you over. He steadies himself and you are dumped onto a hard metal surface. The engine purrs into life again and you begin to move. 'This is a result!' you think to yourself. You've seen Snake do this before. A clever ploy to get to the heart of the facility without snapping a single neck (or your ankle). But want you didn't realise was that written across the box, in strange lettering was the word "Владивосток" - Vladivostok. You hear the drone of a jet engine. You are lifted and dumped one last time. Heavy doors closing as you feel the weight of the earth vanish beneath you. Oh well, this certainly never happened to Snake before but every cloud, and all that. A new life in remotest Russia, learn the language, live off the land, settle down. All you can do is begin to sob in the darkness of your box as you rue the day you ever posted those cocky playthrough videos online. I'll stop there. You get the point (even if I have taken a few poetic liberties here and there). I reckon if you did try a Metal Gear Solid type scenario like this, it wouldn't be quite as bad as I have painted it. You'd probably be dead before making it to the fence. Quick and painless at least. Still not as far as the deer though. But while I jest, loss of life is actually nothing to take lightly, even if it is only pixels we're talking about. I know people who struggle to play particular games as they feel they are often forced into scenarios where they have to kill people and feel that they would quite simply rather not. I admit the first time I loaded up Battlefield 1 multiplayer, I did wonder if we should be finding any sort of entertainment in a virtual depiction of the most bloody war in history. Whether I should be pleased to have just bludgeoned this mass of pixels in front of me to death with a spiked club or run ReBeLwARrIoR888 through with a bayonet to the sounds of bloodcurdling virtual screams. And I'm sure others felt the same. For these people, their respect for human life in reality cannot be easily separated from their feelings towards virtual beings. And I applaud them for it. The pacifist's path, with the use of sleep rendering choke holds and tranquilliser darts, has become a more prevalent one in games like Metal Gear Solid and Deus Ex. But games have not always been so open to cater to all tastes. Perhaps the most shocking and memorable example of this was the very short mission 'No Russian' in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in which the player is seemingly forced into partaking in a terrorist attack on an airport filled with civilians. Although the game makes you think you have to walk on the predetermined path through the departures lounge gunning down everything that moves, you actually don't need to fire a single bullet to finish the level. But that is never made clear. I admit, I started shooting as I thought that by not shooting, I would not be allowed to progress. When the smoke had settled and the blood has stopped flowing, I honestly felt sick at what had just happened. The controversy this level provoked prompted a patch whereby the level could be skipped, which was at least something. But by telling players that 'the following level contains disturbing material' and then asking if they want to play it or skip, I'm sure the curious side of human nature got the better of many. Me for one. There have been many and will be many more times I pick up a gun in a video game but never have I wanted to put one down quicker than after that. I'm not often forced into feeling like this for pixels but it was precisely because this very thing could occur in real life (and has, coming from Northern Ireland where the country is only just emerging from the bloody legacy of terrorism) that I felt so sick. And if anything, society is now much more acutely aware of the threat of terrorism than ever before; as I write this, Manchester is trying to pick itself up from a suicide attack on a pop concert, claiming the lives of children. Children! And as a man with children now myself, I now view senseless video game violence and real world atrocities very differently than I once did. Whereas before I would've just opened fire on anything and everything (since it's just a video game, after all) and would've been just as appalled by an attack like Manchester as I am now, I now see things like this, be they virtual or real, and think 'what if my boy was ever caught up in something like this?' I wouldn't say my parent chip impedes my enjoyment of video games and or how I go about everyday life but it does make me think. It's for this very reason that I still can't bring myself to play 'That Dragon Cancer'. I know I should, just to on some level feel what those poor parents went through but I just can't. Maybe one day. A question lingers: How would I view this Call of Duty mission had I played it for the first time today? I think had this Call of Duty mission been released today, well.... perhaps thanks to the very fucked up world we live in, it maybe wouldn't have been released today. This Call of Duty level remains the biggest example of something that, it goes without saying, I would never want to experience in real life, at either end of the gun but conversely something which I had absolutely no taste then nor have any taste now for experiencing in a video game either. So far there have been a lot of examples of video game experiences that we would not want to live first hand. But are there any that we really would? Well, although the world seems to be becoming an increasingly intimidating and gloomy place, the release of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has puffed new life into me. It has made me reevaluate my perceptions of how beautiful the world and everything in it really is. Setting out with the greatest sense of wanderlust imaginable, cooking in the outdoors, living off the land, running through tall grass that parts as you go, getting caught in rainstorms, watching the sun rise and fall on the horizon, climbing hills, standing atop a mountain and gazing in every direction as far as the eye can see. These are all things that I hate the thought of....in reality, not being the most outdoorsy type. Or certainly did until I dived into Zelda. A game in which spending two hours doing very little except cook a few meals, discover two new species of fish and wrangle a wild horse feels like a triumph. Now I might actually consider spending the weekend walking up a hill and stopping for lunch under a tree rather than traipsing around a retail park before diving into McDonalds for a Big Value Meal. There's so much life in Zelda and so many possibilities, much like, well... life itself. Even the box art hints at the treasures that lie within: Link standing on a plateau, the world sprawled in front of him. He's looking over his shoulder at you as if to say 'Are you coming?' And it doesn't stop there; the inside cover depicts Link scaling a sheer cliff face, moving ever upwards. The sky really is the limit with this game. And while I admit that from time to time I do worry about the state of the world my boy will be growing up in, I am also wholeheartedly looking forward to introducing him to the world of video games. My wife is not so thrilled at the prospect though. I think she has visions of me trying to teach a six year old how to escape a six star wanted level in Grand Theft Auto or how to aim the sniper scope slightly above a target's head to account for bullet dip. But while Zelda is pure to its core, there is violence and danger: battling Bobokins with swords, pikes, axes, twanging bowstrings, setting things on fire and triggering explosions. But really is this violence? Come on now. Even the combat in Zelda is pure, good and true: no blood, no dismemberment; there is as much threat in the combat as a child running around in the back garden swinging a plastic sword. It's just honest, swashbuckling action with enemies disappearing in a puff of smoke. No looting dead bodies for items; items drop and their retrieval is greeted with a fanfare. You can't help but smile. And this is exactly what I hope I will be doing as I watch my son get lost in Zelda's world of endless possibilities for the very first time. Witnessing the pure joy on his face. But if the joy of virtual nature has its effect I sincerely hope my son and I will make it out the front door too, put the controller down and live some of Link's adventures: be it a walk in the woods one day, a hike up a hill, cooking a skewer over an open fire or running around slashing at imaginary Moblins. This is something I would most definitely want to live and all born on the back of a video game. I sincerely hope that we see more of this. Developers giving us experiences that give us a sense of achievement and fulfilment to such an extent that it gets us out into the world to chase similar experiences for real. I may never become a Premiership footballer, infiltrate a terrorist base or go over the top on the front lines. I've never been more ok with anything in my life than I have with that. But I can cook a sausage and climb a hill. And will look forward to doing so with my boy and whoever else wants to join. Virtual and real worlds are not so far removed as we might think: both are best enjoyed with others. So who's coming? God bless you, Zelda!

[amarikwa11]

How To Not Be Racist I #AskASoccerPro Show Ep 073by Quincy Amarikwa

11-year MLS veteran Quincy Amarikwa returns for the 73rd episode of the #AskASoccerPro Show to tackle racism, what he would say to MLS Commissioner Don Garber, why influencers should do the work of anti-racism rather than just making pretty social media posts and more.

Here’s what Quincy covers this week:

00:00 – 02:05: Welcome To The #AskASoccerPro Show

02:07 – 06:02: What Quincy Would Say To MLS Commissioner Don Garber 🤔

06:06 – 10:50: Why Continue to Fight For People Who Don’t Fight For You? 👊😤

10:58 – 13:35: Will Quincy Become A Coach? @soccer_hq_09

13:38 – 15:58: How Can Parents Help Their Kids Find The Right Organization? ⚽ @oleggrymaylo

16:04 – 22:14: Why Do Elite Players See The Game Differently From Average Players? 👁️ @yojxrdan

22:17 - 23:37: Does Working On Your Business Take Away From Focus? 🧠 @johnhollinger

23:38 - 29:16: How To Not Be Racist

29:20 - 30:51: Taylor Twellman’s Dangerous Tweet 😳

31:11 - 32:26: What Do You Think Players Like Griffin Yow And Alfonso Davies Do Differently From Other Young Players To Reach The Level They’re At? ⚽ @yojxrdan

32:31 – 36:52: How Starting At The Bottom Is An Advantage

37:17 – 45:26: How Does Quincy Mentally Challenge Himself? 👉🏽😶👈🏽 @johnhollinger

43:59 – 45:26: Why Perfect Soccer Is Free? 🤔

45:31 – 49:28: What Is Quincy’s Favorite Move To Create Space? ⚽

49:35 – 51:48: When Will Quincy And Sebastian Salazar Talk? @johnhollinger

52:00 – 56:09: How To Keep Up With A Bigger Player @sabrinaa.demarco

If you would like to listen to the episode:

If you would like to watch the episode:

If you would like to read the interview:

*Transcript is unedited and machine-generated. There will be errors. For further clarity please refer to the audio or video.

Quincy Amarikwa (00:06):

LA scene, a lot of regulars joining in tuning in and dialing in with that mental strength. Ooh, just spam that hard button. If you got it, if you're feeling, if you feel a froggy I'm excited for today really just jumping into it. I am your host, coinci America, 11 year MLS pro. Current free agent would be in my 12th year but, still on like free agency or due to the whole situation that we're still in the process of getting our way back to. But fortunately the MLS has finally come to terms with the MLSPA and ratified. Kevin what's going on, brother ratified the CBA, which should have been ratified originally, but I'm sure we could get into that in other ways throughout this call as well too. But the, there has been an agreement of a coming back to play with the official Orlando tournament here at the end of the month.

Quincy Amarikwa (01:28):

So those of you who are followers of the MLS, what have your guys' thoughts been so far? Have you been following what's been going on and then more importantly, I'd say, and if you haven't let me pull up the graphic, I thought I had all the graphics already set up and ready to go, but I guess it did a duplicated it D duplicate Earl Edwards jr. Joined in what's going on, man. Everybody say hello to him as well. Oh, I'm seeing a, a keyboard is also joined in. Thanks for joining guys. I appreciate that. Like I said, everybody, if you join in every Thursday, 6:00 PM, PST 9:00 PM EST, not only do you get to ask your questions of an 11 year plus MLS pro, but you'll also see other pros in the comments section, join it in answering this question joining in on the community and sharing their, their knowledge with you.

Quincy Amarikwa (02:24):

So let's see what we got here. So what I was, there we go. So let's switch that up. There we go. So for those of you who are not aware have not read the article that I published over on perfect soccer skills.com. I, I did that a couple of days ago. I realized a lot of individuals who are casual fans of the MLS, or are wanting to become more involved in the MLS, see the MLS grow, or just more, more so see soccer in America grow, not necessarily just MLS. The article that I published over on perfectsoccerskills.com titled, What I would say to Don Garber and the MLS player pool. If I were still considered a part of the MLS consider this a, the extreme crash course in understanding the perspective of the league and Don Garber and the who is the commissioner of the MLS and the, the general perspective of the player pool and the wide degree of diversity amongst the player pool and how that relationship has unfolded over time, as well as the difficulties in finding common ground in the balance in terms of that entire negotiation process, which is the collective bargaining agreement, which is the CBA for those of you who are not aware.

Quincy Amarikwa (03:42):

I think on top of that as well too, there's there's microcosms of the player pool. And I think the overall representation of the playerr pool has been fragmented as well in its own ways. And I think with the current state of the world and what's going on, I believe people are finally becoming more aware of the systemic issues that are, that are prevalent just in the world. And in this case specifically within the soccer world itself, I think there's a lot of limitations because of the pay to play system and how that creates and breeds its own longterm problems. But as you guys know, we're over here developing that longterm winner's mindset and the MSL mentality, the mental strength league mentality is one that helps you operate, whether you are all regardless of whichever side you're on, which means it's meant to help everybody consider it, think of it like a mental, mental software update for the new world.

Quincy Amarikwa (04:49):

Everyone says we're a part of the information age. They recognize and realize we were part of the information age, but what does that mean and how do you operate it and how do you thrive and survive in it? Well, those of you who are a part and have been down with the MSL for awhile, you guys understand what we stand for, what we represent. You've watched listened to the three S's of self-awareness talk perfect soccer skills.com/sss. If you're listening, you don't know what I'm referencing or talking about. And you understand that personal responsibility is, is something that in our belief will only become exponentially more valuable as time goes on with kind of how the world is adapting to understanding the changes that have taken place. So we had to throw it back a little bit with the little in the United States of America. T-Shirt shout out Matt, Matt Watson, the originator original designer on the perfect soccer brand.

Quincy Amarikwa (05:48):

But if anybody's had a chance to read the article that I'm sharing, you'll see the graphic here on the screen. For those of you who are listening on the podcast, I've got the graphic up on the screen for the article. I'd love to see you guys drop a little bit of that below. And we'll just, we'll just really start getting into it. I think a couple of pros might be dropping in throughout the call. So if, and when they do we'll get them, we'll get them in here. But while we're waiting on that, let's let's make sure we're asking some questions.

Quincy Amarikwa (06:24):

So let's see what we got here. MLS stopped the rebel asks. Why do you put yourself through all of this and what wants you, what makes you want to continue it? That is a great question. And that is a question I ask myself all the time and I guess the simplest way I can, I can put it is when I got started playing professional soccer and the way that I was looking at it, I didn't understand why guys did not understand me. And I wanted to understand why, and if anybody has a personal relationship with me or has had any type of personal experience with me in the past I don't think it's a far stretch to say that I'm probably a pretty competitive person and I want to win. And by, by saying, I want to win. What I mean is I want to understand, and if I don't understand something, I want to do any amount of work necessary to figure out and understand why I don't understand.

Quincy Amarikwa (07:29):

And that drive that focus is what I refer back to as to why I put myself through all this because I want to figure out and understand, am I putting myself through it or someone else putting me through it for me? And not sure if those of you on the call understand that question or have gotten to that space in time and that experience, but that curiosity of wanting to know is I'd say that's gotta be a large driving factor because at the end of the day, I don't know what will result of it. And I think a lot of people believe I'm only doing it for a particular outcome that will benefit me, or because there's something I want specifically in terms of like material or monetary, I believe those things will come as a result of providing a good service, a product or, you know to, to people.

Quincy Amarikwa (08:41):

So it's not that I don't believe that those things won't happen or I'm not doing it without the idea or thought that they could. But if I'm, if I'm directly saying, what is it that I'm hoping to accomplish, have a, be the result of this. And it's really, it's really saying I've been a strong believer and advocate, I guess, for not being put into a box. I don't want someone to define for me what I am or am not capable of doing because of who they believe me to be, what they think I have or haven't done in the past or how they perceive me. And I think tying that to the greater issue, that's finally being discussed a lot more here with, with relation to a race. I think a lot of people are, are much more open to the idea of having this conversation mainly cause I think people have gotten to a point where they can no longer deny the, the unfair nature in which certain things are or have, or are taking place.

Quincy Amarikwa (09:52):

So I think that's kind of a good tie into kind of a throwback to episode 48 of the #AskASoccer Pro Show when we discussed uncovered dealing with racism, different ways in which we I know many individuals in the community have experienced that in their own way. I know others have been a part of organizations where they've seen it happen firsthand. And I, I think I'm getting a lot more questions and questions, especially from some of my my white friends and followers as to what they can do and how they can help and, and more so seeing a lot of individuals now expressing on their platforms, that they've seen a lot of these things over time and they've been complicit in their silence and dismissive of it for whatever reason. And I think you guys know, we talk a lot about it here. The truth is true, whether you believe it or not. And, and in the MSL, we remain committed to committed to doing the work we know we need to, or we believe we need to, to, to understand so good question. I, I appreciated that Joe said yes, I remember that. I remember that one

Quincy Amarikwa (11:11):

Soccer, HQ soccer underscore HQ underscore and asked, will you help the little kids reach pro by being a coach? I believe I'm helping helping kids who want to be pro or, or, you know, older individuals who are interested in being pro right now through this online coaching, online mentorship breaking down the MSL mentality, the Amarikwa process, the three S's of self awareness and sharing it with you guys here free on the platform every Thursday, 6:00 PM, PST 9:00 PM EST and answering your questions. Connor McCormick con Connor MC 42, say Quincy for president. Hey, you never know maybe one, one day, you know, I mean, if, if the people demand it, let's see. I love seeing everybody in the comment section join in a victim. Bernard is shout out victory. He joined in PG sports. Paul is down in there. I'm not sure Ryan, if I, if I had shoved you out or not riot B pro general manager, Ryan Masch in there answer you guys questions as well to you.

Quincy Amarikwa (12:22):

Heather asked Quincy, what is your favorite? Perfect soccer shirt, hats, et cetera. Ooh, that's a good question. I like, I like the, like the I'm in your head, I'm in your head pattern. We're just kind of going all the way down, but it's like Stripe. So like from far, it looks like kind of a striped shirt, but then as you get closer, you can see that I liked that one a lot. I like, obviously like this hat you guys have been noticing me rocking this hat a lot. And these last, I don't know, five or five plus episodes. The new updated ball is pretty dope. Heather also, what's your favorite perfect soccer shirt. Oh sir. That was the same question. Sorry. I scrolled up and, and saw that. Yeah, the new match ball. I had one in here. But that one's, that one's dope. I liked that one a lot. Griffin Yow joined in shout out Griffin. Thanks for joining. Your brother loves seeing you support and show love.

Speaker 3 (13:32):

[Inaudible]

Quincy Amarikwa (13:33):

Well, let's see what we got here. So we've got a fan calling in. Let's see how we do this. Yeah,

Quincy Amarikwa (13:39):

Here. I'll let you call in, get your question answered. I don't know what half the time when you guys tried to call in and then you, once you get the call, you duck out. I know I'm being kind of scared.

Quincy Amarikwa (13:57):

Let's see what we got here. O L E G G R Y M a Y L O S. My son is 12 years old, trains five times a week. Very good at center forward. How do I get him to the right? I didn't continue, but I'm going to assume you're saying get them to the right organization or the right situation. First I'd say, make sure he creates himself a perfect soccer team membership account by hand number perfect soccer skills.com/p S T M a create yourself a free account and go through the, go through and read the perfect soccer player.

Quincy Amarikwa (14:34):

Blueprint that book in the training center, then read the college soccer recruiting blueprint as well too. So I don't know how to get them to the right college, the right, whatever understanding the entire recruitment process at the collegiate level high school. And then also the professional ranks is important. That way you can understand where you have an advantage or where you have disadvantages and you can attack it the appropriate way. I think the fact that you're joining in on the live, you're sending in your questions and you're asking how to go about doing it is a great first step. And it's great to start, but understanding the process in Italian. Oh, there you go. So perfect soccer player blueprint. You can get yourself a free physical copy. We've just recently updated the book as well to the physical copy of the book. This is obviously one of the older versions and you can see.

Quincy Amarikwa (15:22):

Yeah. So as you guys can tell, as I learn and grow, as we learn and grow, we take notes, document our experiences, update, update what we're doing and how we're going about doing it, and reflect those changes in the book as time goes on. So when you create your purpose as a team membership access, you're also getting access to all the updates that we're doing in the future as well too. So for those of you who have a perfect type of team membership account drop down in the comment section, what you've gotten, gotten out of your membership, what you've enjoyed what you've liked also, what you don't like about it. Cause you guys know feedback. We need that feedback. Everyone's spamming that heart button! Love seeing that and we'll go through, we'll see in questions and we'll see if any of you are also wanting to call in while we're at it.

Quincy Amarikwa (16:22):

Let's see Jordan asks, can you talk on what you read players, see the game different from average players? Yeah. So let's set context. Let's set context. How do I break this down? Usimply, can you talk on why elite players see the game different than average players and below average players? So let's say in general, when you show up into new space to do anything new, something you've never done before

Quincy Amarikwa (17:00):

You make the mistake, because you have no real frame of reference of trying to pay attention to everything all at one time. So you get information overload, it's just everything all at once you think everything's important. And because you think everything's important, you're splitting up your mental energy and your mental capacity on everything. And I don't know if I've shared this before, directly on the show, but I've talked about it with players in the past, but expertise, in my opinion is knowing what not to do, not what to do. So let me say that again, expertise is knowing what not to do, not necessarily what to do. So let's really break it down. Let's say, when you walk into something new, let's say there's a hundred things that you could do at once. That's the information overload when you're novice, when you're a lower level player, there's a hundred things you're trying pay attention to all 100.

Quincy Amarikwa (17:50):

At one time, when you're an average player, you realize you can ignore 50% of everything. When you're above average player, you realize you can ignore 75% when you're a higher level player, you can realize you can ignore 90%. And when you're in elite level player or elite level, elite, elite level, you know, you can ignore 99%. So if you're breaking it down in that manner, the elite top level individual knows that if they focus on this one thing, everything else becomes easier as a result of it. And they can now rather than disperse the 99% of their energy on all the other things that aren't as important, they focus in on the one thing that is most important. And that's difficult for people to understand because most people are focusing on more than one thing at one particular time. So maybe ask yourself when you're walking into situations, are you looking for the one thing that you can, are you trying to break something down into the one thing that's most accurate and then committing your time, effort and energy there?

Quincy Amarikwa (19:07):

Or are you, are you spreading yourself very thin because you think multitasking and doing everything yourself and doing everything at once is the best way to go about doing it. And I'm not saying that I'm not saying that I'm an individual who likes to do a lot of things and you guys can tell and see on the account. I'm probably doing too many things at one time. You know what, I'm Tommy Thompson joined in on the live as wheel to drop it in and see what's going on. So my, my main point is the elite elite level players, individuals understand that. And they come to the decision early on in their process of committing to that one thing. Now it doesn't mean it will pan out and then it will work out for them, but you're in greatly increasing the chances that it does. The sooner you make that commitment and the longer you remain committed to it for. So a great example of why my focus is mentality mindset. I might not be as technically gifted as my teammates around me. I might not be as athletic or fast or as fit,

Quincy Amarikwa (20:25):

But I believe mentally I am on a level that most, if not all other players cannot operate on. And I believe that because of that focus for as long as I've been focused on it for all the other things though, I believe I get exponential results out of my focus on, on the mentality and the fact that I decided to focus in on that. So early on in my career I took the risk of thinking that applying my energy and focus there will yield me a greater result than applying my focus on what I believe most players spent all their time on, which is just the physical aspect of the game. So that's a great question. And if you guys are picking up what I'm putting down, drop some I'm in your head emojis in the, in the screen, let me know your thoughts on on that and let's see what else we've got in here. And something else that I wanted to bring up, Heather said interesting. And what are you guys' thoughts of feedback on that kind of that breakdown?

Quincy Amarikwa (21:37):

Good question that came in J a J M E C a Z, a L E Z, gave the thumbs up. Heather dropped in nine and he had emojis twice 11. That T T gave me the silly I'm in your head. Emojis. Tina take four. I mean, you had emojis Aquin. Akeem Ward's even in, in here dropping that here and what we're talking about cozy. Yeah, so that was a great question. And hopefully that broke that down a little bit. So let's see what we also got over here. Cause I was thinking this, so we're wanting to, I'm liking, I realized, you know what, everybody, there's a lot of stuff going on. I see a lot of things online in the comment sections and stuff. And I I'm realizing now I can share that here with you guys on the show, showing you guys the graphics and stuff, shout out to it or for making the the, the dope mean. And there's a couple of things that I wanted to point out. Okay.

Quincy Amarikwa (22:44):

So, which was interesting to me, especially something that Taylor 12 men had said on Twitter earlier this week K 23 Hampton said I got the recommendation from Quincy and his financial literacy newsletter. I'm happy to see that you're going through that. And, and upleveling your financial literacy literalist. [inaudible] Your literacy skills. I know John Hollinger is going through it as well, too. Soccer HQ. Oh nine. So the season goes on. Yes. You know it does.

Quincy Amarikwa (23:20):

So Jackson said never really heard it like that before, but makes a lot of sense. If you are able to focus on less things, you can hone in on them and master those areas.

Speaker 5 (23:29):

Okay.

Quincy Amarikwa (23:29):

23 Hampton said 100% agree. It's an amazing read. John Hollinger said good stuff. So what would working? So what we're working on your own business take away of your focus. Okay. John said, okay, here you go. This is a good one. So John had said stuff. So what would working on your own business take away of your focus then? Well, if my, if my business is in alignment with my focus on mindset, when I'm working on my business, I'm working on my mindset.

Quincy Amarikwa (24:01):

So we talk a lot here about the Amarikwa process that is in the first three steps of the Amarikwa processes, the three S's of self awareness, self honesty, self initiative, self accountability,ugoal oriented. So setting goals, teamwork, community, that's you guys here, teamwork equals dream work, attention to details, which is remaining focused on,uuon what got us here and how we're going to get there.

Quincy Amarikwa (24:25):

And then the ultimate one passion or fun enjoyment loving what it is that we do. And, and at the very, at the end of the day, if we're focused on pursuing our passion, if we don't reach a super high level or are successful in the eyes of others, we enjoyed the process we learned from it. We grew from it. So there's no way that we can lose. That's why you guys see you can't stop us MSL, mental strength lead. We are in your head because we can't lose. We're focused on our passion. We're building a community, we're working together. We're collaborating, we're filling, we're setting goals. We're working together as a team, but more importantly, we're taking personal responsibility for our future, for our, our individual and collective goals. So, so that's a mindset. That's a mentality. That's a belief system. That's something you either are on board with, or you're not, you're committed to, or you're not you're doing the work or you're not, you can say you're doing the work, but that, but if you're not backing it up, but doing the work, it doesn't mean anything.

Quincy Amarikwa (25:24):

And I, I believe that that's that's something that I want to especially highlight to individuals who have come to the decision that they haven't done enough in the past, or they haven't been active or vocal, or they haven't called things out that they know to be wrong. But now they realize the error in their way and that's necessary in the process. You have to make mistakes or you have to do things to then be able to self reflect on them in the future and come to the conclusion on whether that was the right course of action or if it was a mistake. And if you're deciding that what you have been doing up to this point or what you haven't been doing up to this point has been alignment with how, who you want to be moving forward, who you see yourself as when you look in the mirror or you realize you've been lying to yourself as to who you are and what it is that you do or you're willing to do.

Quincy Amarikwa (26:12):

And you've made a commitment to being different, to doing more. Then it's not a commitment that is just said by doing a social media post, Oh, I posted I'm changed. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. No, it's, it's doing the post. And then posting what you're committed to doing here, moving forward, and then taking action to remain committed to it here, moving forward. So specifically, let me get very specific because many people say, well, what do you mean? I'm saying, if you believe that you have not been doing enough in the past, well, one, you need to make up for the work that you didn't do. So there's that work that you need to do. Then there's the work that you need to do here moving forward, which means it's more than what you've done. So you have work that you have to get done and the work you're going to do here really moving forward and you have to remain committed to that here, moving forward.

Quincy Amarikwa (27:06):

So if you've decided that for instance, you need to I've seen a lot of individuals saying that they'd been silent as to not calling out racism or discrimination when they've seen it or, or and that they're there supporting of the black lives matter movement, or just more so hearing black people's experiences and not denying their experiences any longer, then that's not something that just lasts for a week. That's not just something that comes to one social media post. If you're saying that you want to do different and you commit to doing different, then you're doing the one social media posts. And you're committing to doing an additional social media post every day for the next six months, just to make up for what you didn't do up to this point. And then after you've done that for six minutes, you'll then have enough experience having listened for the first time ever to people who might not look like you, or sound like you were having a different perspective or experience in yours to then come to a conclusion as to what you will like to do next or what you'd like to commit to next.

Quincy Amarikwa (28:10):

But I definitely want to make sure I'm calling out the individuals who are saying they're there. They're about that action. They're about change. They're about doing whatever's necessary. Especially these individuals who have these platforms have been speaking a bunch of nonsense for time, which has been the reason why the system has been created in the way that it has, which is why, which is what has not allowed individuals to have access to the opportunities that every a chance of having an opportunity for. Then if you're not committed to doing that, just say, you're not, we don't need to hear your, your fake messages anymore. People have woken up. People understand that messages with no action behind it, no commitment, no consistency over time. You don't just show up today. You show up tomorrow and the next day and two weeks from now and a month from now. And even if people still don't believe you yet, you show up three months from now and six months from now, it's commitment. It's not commitment. Only if things go my way and it's perfect for me. And it's just how I want it to be. And it looks how I want it to look. No it's commitment. You're either committed or you're not. And if you're not that's okay, but not if you say you are, and then you aren't, that's the problem, self accountability. That's what's been lacking.

Quincy Amarikwa (31:07):

For the lab. Let's see if I can flip it. Cause now it's two there, as I've said on ESPN radio and Sports Center for the last eight weeks, a global pandemic means change and compromise for everyone. But as pro athletes and owners, if you make it about future pay and play and pay, you will lose your paying customers because they don't have the time. Yeah, that's interesting. That's just a very interesting perspective for him to share at this particular time, because the only thing that people have at this moment in time is time. So

Speaker 8 (31:49):

Okay.

Quincy Amarikwa (31:51):

I had responded, so I'd be happy to discuss this with him because I want to better understand where he's coming from. And yeah, you guys will be able to see around Twitter things too small. And I don't have my secondary, my secondary, well, maybe I could compete in here because yeah, I guess I know I'm seeing half this stuff that individuals are saying. And a lot of people aren't necessarily able to keep up on all the moving parts and what's happening all the time, which is why we took the time to write that first, that first article. So if you guys haven't read that article, definitely read that article, share it with friends and family, especially individuals who were interested, maybe learning more about the league or the, the soccer system in general,

Quincy Amarikwa (32:45):

But let's see what here.

Quincy Amarikwa (32:59):

Yeah. Let's see what else we've got here in terms of, okay, so Jordan, yo, yo, Y O J X, R D a N asks, what do you think of players like Griffin and Alfonso Davies do differently from other young players to reach the level they're at?

Quincy Amarikwa (33:19):

What do they do differently? Well,

Quincy Amarikwa (33:21):

I can't speak to Alfonso Davies cause I don't know him personally. I don't have any personal experience with him. But with Griffin, I think Griffin is a very talented player and he is open to, to learning. He's open to the idea that he could be wrong and doesn't know everything, which is a valuable skill to have one that allows you the opportunity and ability to,

Quincy Amarikwa (33:44):

To improve.

Quincy Amarikwa (33:46):

I think a huge advantage that Griffin has is I haven't yet met his parents personally, but I, I can tell that he has a very strong support system at home. He has a family that is very much behind him and I believe he says he has an older brother who plays as well, too.

Quincy Amarikwa (34:03):

Mmm.

Quincy Amarikwa (34:04):

For me, it's for me it seems like Griffin has a very strong support system that has been dedicated to helping him maximize his potential. And then on top of that, Griffin also has an open mentality and mindset and a willingness to put in the work and get better.

Quincy Amarikwa (34:19):

So

Quincy Amarikwa (34:21):

I believe

Quincy Amarikwa (34:22):

Not everyone might not, everyone may have access to the support system or a support system to help them get to whatever level that they're choosing to, but everyone does have the potential to have that open-minded

Quincy Amarikwa (34:36):

Mindset, a willingness and hunger and thirst to learn and get better. And the willingness on their own to improve their skills over time. And we've discussed this in previous episodes where I've discussed and said that your your disadvantage becomes your advantage in a longterm in the longterm

Quincy Amarikwa (34:55):

And the less you have starting out,

Quincy Amarikwa (35:02):

If you're able to, the less you have starting out, the greater advantage you have in the long run, the longer you learn to hang around and stick around.

Quincy Amarikwa (35:15):

Okay. So

Quincy Amarikwa (35:17):

I think a lot of people, a lot of players look at not having access to certain things or not having the support system or the advantages that other people around them may have as a reason to not try or a reason for it to yeah. Or for reasons to not try.

Quincy Amarikwa (35:36):

Mmm.

Quincy Amarikwa (35:38):

But the lower you start, the less you have, the greater appreciation you'll have as time goes on and the, the greater advantage it will become for you in the future. Cause you'll re you'll always remember where you started. You always remember where you start and if you started at the bottom, you know what the bottom is, you know what that looks like your Bain, right? You're you were born in the darkness molded by it. And it seems like that's the theme, these last couple of weeks, right. Embrace that. Embrace your disadvantages. See those, see those as a, as an armor, as an, as an advantage as, as something that gives you the opportunity to be stronger.

Speaker 5 (36:26):

But

Quincy Amarikwa (36:29):

O L E G G Y a O L E G G R Y M a Y L O S. How did you go pro? I broke, I actually broke down how I went pro if you go over to perfect soccer skills.com and you type in the search bar at the top there how I went from thinking, I never play soccer again to becoming a professional soccer player. I I've written an entire article breaking down that process of how I went pro, which is which will get you that full summary. And I like to make sure we're fully taking advantage of the time that we have in the call. So I'm not re bringing all that up. Chris had joined in the live, showed some love what's going on, brother? How are you doing thanks for stopping by seeing what's going on on this side. Let's see what we've got as well here. Chris was just recent on the most. Was it the most recent episode of the perfect soccer podcast? So make sure you guys check that out over on perfect soccer skills.com. You also can subscribe to perfect cyber skills.com/radio and listen to his path to the pro level.

Quincy Amarikwa (37:45):

Let's see. Oh man. I thought this was interesting as well to you over in the comment section I'm enjoying seeing you guys over in the comment section is participating in the comment section, sharing your thoughts, sharing your feedback and especially over on Twitter, trying to be a little bit more active on Twitter. It makes it a bit easier for me to you.

Speaker 5 (38:06):

Mmm.

Quincy Amarikwa (38:07):

Continue to engage with you guys, answer your questions, get information over to you. So please continue doing so, but yet, Hey Jalen, joining us. Well, you said you, the goat Quincy, a black King with the, with the crown loving that. Thank you very much, brother. I appreciate that. I'm looking forward to a lot of the things that we are working on here too, to bring, bring players together to better be heard and understood and, and more fairly represented. Let's see questions here. We got, as you guys got more questions, dropping them in there.

Quincy Amarikwa (39:12):

Let's see what we've got here. And we've got about 20 plus minutes, 20 couple of like 23 minutes here, left before. That's a wrap for the show. If any of you guys are trying to call in with some questions also leaving that open to some of you pros that are in the live as well too. If you guys want to hop in for two or three minutes, ask a question, share what's going on on your side of the world. Love to have you guys drop in, but while I'm waiting on any of those potential calls to come in, John Hollinger had asked examples of mentally challenging things you do deliberately to prepare yourself.

Quincy Amarikwa (39:48):

Ooh, so it's a good one. So I shared this a lot in the past that if you can't argue the counter narrative or a counter perspective to your opinion or how you feel about something, I don't believe you spent enough time thinking about it yet. So to be willing to be so adamant about sharing it with others. So I spent a lot of my time trying to tear down my own ideas, my own thoughts, my own systems because I want to be able to, I want to be able to have the ability to see the flaws in my own thinking, see the, see the hypocrisy of my own, my own philosophies, my own modes of operating yeah. Modes of operating so that I can come to a conclusion and decision if that's what I believe in. And I'm committed to I'm committed to for the longterm in terms of, I want to be able to look back just as I am able to now at where I started and know that I've made a lot of mistakes.

Quincy Amarikwa (41:07):

I didn't know everything when I started out, but I am, but my intention was in the right place. My intent was the right place and I remained committed to that intent. And I can now looking back at that acknowledge the ways in which I was wrong, acknowledged the ways in which I could be misunderstood and, and better refine my, my systems, my processes, my mean my mode of thinking and how I operate here moving forward. So sometimes knowingly, consciously miss I'm unconsciously, making it difficult on myself, tying it to what we talked about when we broke down new experiences in the beginning. And to be more specific. So I had to talk my way through it, so I could better describe it to you guys. So you can better understand where I'm coming from. So a specific hard example of how I make mentally challenged.

Quincy Amarikwa (42:07):

I make something more mentally challenging deliberately to prepare myself as I show up to a new environment, a new system, a new team, a new organization, and approach it as if I'm a rookie. And I take in all 100 of the information. So we just talked about this. There are things to be seen. You take in a hundred at the elite level, you find you're focused on the one thing. Every time I show up, I deliberately make it so that I'm taking in a hundred. I overwhelm myself. I try to consume all information all at one time, the same way in which you would, when you're, when you're showing up as a rookie. Now in the short term, you are the dumbest person in the room. You're an idiot. You don't know what's going on, but over time, I've refined my system and process to get me through from the hundred down to the 50 down to the 25 to the 10 to the one.

Quincy Amarikwa (43:02):

Yeah.

Quincy Amarikwa (43:02):

So I'm deliberately and purposely putting myself in the situation on a hundred. And I'm using the Amarikwa process. The process that I share with you guys, the three S's of self awareness and the remaining steps of the process to then quickly go from I'm can taking in all 100, I'm unbiased, as best as I possibly can be. I'm completely ignorant as to what's going on. And I'm willing to assume that I'm wrong about everything, a hundred boom through my process and system. How quickly can I crunch that data? That information compartmentalize it, categorize it, sift through it, organize it, break it down into 50. Okay, great. I'm back in again. 50, break that down, compartmentalize it. 25, break that down, compartmentalize it. 10, break that down even more one. Okay. One. That's the most important thing. So I'm going in reverse as opposed to, I believe when most people believe they know something and understand something, they've got it down to that one.

Quincy Amarikwa (44:00):

They believe they know everything. So when they go into a new environment, they immediately point to, or focus on that one thing in this brand new environment, but they may be unaware that, that one thing isn't the most important thing here. So my one thing was refining a process that gets me to the one thing as quickly as possible. And as I gained more experience with that, I can get, I can sift through everything and get to the one thing more quickly, so I can continue to go into new environments and new situations and new yeah. Experiences and take them in

Quincy Amarikwa (44:37):

With as little bias as I possibly can. Now that there's still all there is still bias in that process. The part of the process is to, to check my bias along the way, and to self reflect it, to acknowledge my bias account for them and then adjust and learn and grow. And that's my process and that's what I do. And that's how I've been doing it for years and years and years. And

Quincy Amarikwa (45:08):

Yeah.

Quincy Amarikwa (45:10):

Great question, John, because most, I haven't been able to talk through that part of the process, cause I'm not sure what I would name that quite yet. Hey, pretty much proprietary information. This is basically what these organizations come to in terms of their systems and processes, and then they brand them or they patent them and you know I believe great ideas should be shared and execution of ideas is the most difficult part of the process. I believe what I've learned in how I've learned it and how I've earned the lessons of learning. It is valuable. And I'm, I'm happy to share that with those of you who join in on the show.

Quincy Amarikwa (45:54):

Yeah. Yeah. And I don't,

Quincy Amarikwa (45:59):

I don't believe that it should be a requirement that you pay for it. I believe that if you see the value in something, you should pay for it. But it doesn't mean everyone has the currently has the money to pay for it. So there's the free financial literacy courses. What do you, so you can develop those skill sets on your own maybe start your own business, generate revenue or, or money, and then in the future when you can pay and you believe that what we I've been sharing and been teaching has been a value to you. You can compensate me in some capacity in the future. That's why on the perfect soccer platform. There's always a path to paying now, which may, which at the end of the day saves you time or you work for yourself to earn whatever it is you in search of her or wanting for free. So I think those of you who have already created a perfect soccer team membership accounts have already gone through that process where you can go through, you can pay obviously for access to our platform or you can for yourself to get access for free. So there's no excuse. And there is no

Quincy Amarikwa (47:08):

There is no barrier to entry other than the work you are, are, or are not willing to do for yourself. And that's what it should be. Cause ms is meritocracy, right?

Quincy Amarikwa (47:23):

Mmm

Quincy Amarikwa (47:26):

That's fair. That's equality. Mmm. Let's see what we got here. So we've got 10 more. Minutes.

Quincy Amarikwa (47:38):

Okay. We've got a lot of questions that have come in. Let's see what we got here. There we go. Ryan, Ryan Ryan is a perfectsoccerskills.com/loginaccount. That will give you the opportunity to take the path that you want to choose. Now, since I've updated that system, Ryan, I had not let you know about that yet. So no worries bro. But speaking about Ryan, Ryan had asked, what is your favorite move to create space for a shot on goal Peyton? My favorite, my favorite is just is just simple. The faint. So step paint. So coming across the body so that the player has to lean with you. As soon as they lean, then you come and you come from the com from outside the ball outside shot, all you need is happy yard for a shot. Think too many players are trying to create the perfect any of the perfect shot create too much space. You you're just wanting to have a separation of time to get your shot off. I think a player who's really great at doing that is a Bradley right. Phillips. If you guys you guys have a chance to make sure you go check out some of his highlight videos and watch how simple move, how simple his movements are and how quickly he can get a shot off in tight spaces.

Quincy Amarikwa (49:19):

Many of his goals aren't even in the army, in the corner or anything. And you might wonder like how is he's not even placing it in the corner, but it's getting it's being scored is because when you create that separation and get the shot off quickly players are still like in their sequence, in their typical sequence. Cause they're used to players, you know, winding up and taking time and showcasing and highlighting what they're doing and where they're going that you can catch them off guard. So he's able and capable of slotting him in the corner if he needs to, but only if he needs to Montreal impact means said, who remembers Bradley Wright-Phillips iconic belly for his 100th goal versus a belly celly celebration against DC. Yeah. I think he scored a hundred goal against D.C. United and took off his shirt and had the 100 on the back. Let's see. But yeah. [inaudible]

Quincy Amarikwa (50:34):

Yeah, no, I'm, I'm I'm loving today and I'm loving seeing everybody who's, who's joined in and, and the questions that are coming in, everybody, the questions are starting to get high level. I'm happy to see it. A lot of the, a lot of the questions I can tell that are coming in or are coming in from community members who have created themselves a perfect soccer team, membership account have been, have read the book, read the other books, watch some of our our training videos have been going through the training center, reading the articles on the website and just improving in increasing their mental, excuse me, their mental strength in their soccer IQ. I mean, we're seeing everybody spam that hard, been down there and

Speaker 8 (51:21):

Yeah,

Quincy Amarikwa (51:22):

We have not hard, but everybody let me see, let me see that that energy, keep that energy up as we round into the last five minutes of the show here.

Quincy Amarikwa (51:32):

Um Oh, there we go. John Hollinger asks When are you in Sebastian Salazar going to have a talk with and Gomez as a mediator? I need that. I need the MSL army to start spamming Hercules Gomez moment. Andrew Weibe Charlie Davies. He, what else? All these soccer talking heads who have been ignoring us for time now, pretending as though they don't see our community pretending as though they don't see our comments, our questions spewing, whatever it is that they want to spew without rebuttal, without giving anybody the opportunity to defend themselves. And I think now's the time. I think now's the time where they'll they'll listen, because I think they're realizing they haven't been listening for a long time. And that is a problem. Cause you guys know they can't stop us. Oh, Oh. I mean, they're trying to ignore us. They are, but we'll get through eventually

Speaker 8 (52:51):

We'll get through.

Quincy Amarikwa (52:54):

It's just a matter of time and it will be the results of our community. Yeah. Connor Quincy for president. Oh, get Earl on the line. Cause Connor also say get Earl on the line. I think Earl's been we'll just stop back to training with D.C. United. yo shout out Earl. He's been working his buns off to doing a lot of work. During this quarantine, especially mans is fit, dialed in focused and ready to attack the the Orlando tournament and the rest of the season. So I think they just, they had training session today was their first day of training session.

Quincy Amarikwa (53:41):

So

Quincy Amarikwa (53:43):

He'll join in on the live here

Quincy Amarikwa (53:47):

In the future, man. Alright,

Quincy Amarikwa (54:00):

So we got two, three minutes. Oh yeah. Earl said maybe next week. Zuri Zuri said, please answer my questions. I'm not seeing your question. Oh Zuri asks will using a row machine help with explosive speed. It can. It just depends on the type of program that you're going through and like the speed at the speed at which you're, you're doing the road machine. If you're just doing the run machine, like consistency consistently at like a low, at a low pace, I think that's more for endurance, but you can turn it up where the resistance there and do explosive explosive circuits. So like super sets. But again, it just depends on the program that you've, you've designated and set up for yourself. Sabrina asks, how do you keep up with a player when they are bigger than you? Well, you just got to break them down mentally.

Quincy Amarikwa (54:54):

Then you don't have to keep up. They have to keep up with you. And the way you learn how to break down players mentally, as you tune into the ASCA soccer pro show, every Thursday, 6:00 PM, PST 9:00 PM EST. And you download that MSL knowledge. But more importantly if you don't know, or you haven't started yet head over to perfectsoccerskills.com/sss that's the three S's of self-awareness check out that that talk I did at Bill Hamid's camp last year Letsbeanes joined on one was that episode 70 last soccer pro show and shared what his personal experience has been since listening to that to that talk. So you can get a lot out of a short duration of time. And the MSL mentality and MSL mindset is a very condensed down, highly valuable mental software update that you can utilize to extract a lot of value from, but more importantly, contribute a lot of value to the system because we're here to overdo the bill over deliver value.

Quincy Amarikwa (56:02):

Everybody leave every exchange, having given more than we received. That is the that's part of the mission here at perfect soccer, 10 million self-sufficient goal oriented, focused, disciplined individuals. And I'm happy to have you guys join in with me every single week to make that happen because you guys already know teamwork equals dream dreamwork. We've got a minute and a half year left, left, left on the live. I want to thank everybody for joining me. And especially all the pros who dropped in a said what's up show their support and their love Kane 23 Hampton and giving me the mental, the mental emoji plus the flex arms Reese puppy cups dropping them in the head to emojis increased football I'm and you had emojis. Everybody's spamming that heart button. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, let me see them. I'm in your head. Emojis.

Quincy Amarikwa (56:53):

Let me know if you love today's episode, you hated it. What you liked, what you didn't. I'm loving that everyone spam that heart button John said, teamwork equals three. Mark. We got a minute left here. I make sure to share this live directly on the feed post show. We'll be doing, I'll be doing giveaways for those of you who are leaving your comments from what you learned from today's. From today's episode in the comment section, I'll pick someone at random, send them some perfect soccer merge. So right when this is done, make sure you guys head over there leave your comment, share on your feed. Let people know what you've taken away from from today's episode. Tag me in not so reshare my, my accounts. I appreciate everybody who's joined in your feedback is what I use to better plan for future episodes topics he is and all that. And I really appreciate everybody joining in the community. So we have that said, I appreciate it. John dropping I'm in your head page 23. I'm in your head, Heather. Bye everyone. See you next week. Thank you Quincy. For the live today, I learned a lot loving that everybody stay safe and I'll see you here next week.

[theliterateape]

A Job Interview as Full Contact Combat

By Don Hall

“Are you moving to Vegas for a job?”

A common question and the answer is two-fold. No, I don’t have a job here yet — I am definitely that brand of bold or stupid who leaps first and hopes the landing doesn’t shatter my femur. Yes, I moved here for the work in that Vegas is about events and that’s the resume I’ve built over thirty years.

I had some interviews even before we found our place to live and that was heartening. I’m working with a Freelance Rep company as well and that’s a good thing. I spent the first two weeks here unboxing and getting moved in. Now I spend each day applying for gigs (both full-time and freelance, both one’s I’m imminently qualified for and one’s I’m completely unqualified for but sound fun), making connections with folks here I should know, and learning the city.

I was surprised when I got a call for an interview for a Special Events Managing Position (set up and managing of front of house, green rooms for talent and VIPs, merchandising, etc.) for a major sports organization based in Vegas. I’m not a sports guy. Don’t watch sports, don’t follow sports. Not my bag. This company, however, is a bit of a big deal and the pay was a bit ridiculous so I said, “Why not?”

The first interview went great. I wore a suit and tie, I was over-qualified but not by a lot, I had them laughing the whole time. While I had almost no direct knowledge of the company’s sport I had the job itself soaking from my pores. The questions were pretty standard and my approach is to tell stories that exemplify what they’re looking for based on those standard questions.

Hugo, the boss in charge, was a bit intimidating. Wearing what looked like a $5,000.00 suit, underneath was a guy I guessed was both ripped and likely had a number of jailhouse tattoos. The guy looked like he could rip off his shirt and consume me whole without even bothering to chew. But he liked me. He laughed at my quips. The interview felt more like a conversation at a bar and the others in the room followed his lead.

I left feeling solid. If I wasn’t being strongly considered for the gig, I had completely misread the room. As I’m understanding things in Vegas, most of the Events jobs I am either wildly over-qualified for, strangely under-qualified for, or a 53-year old white guy. I have no beef with any of these reasons to knock out of consideration — I know what I can do and have no problem not getting hired for a job I’d dislike anyway.

Sure enough, I was called in for a second interview. Hugo e-mailed that I could dress more casually (“I’m not wearing my $5,000.00 suit so you can wear jeans.”) and that he was looking forward to it.

It was in the same conference room as before except this time, there were three chairs where before there was one. On the left was a 35-40 year old woman of Asian descent. I came in, introduced myself to her and sat down. She was not in the mood for chit-chat, so we sat in silence until the crew of four dudes came in and greeted us. A couple of off-the-cuff remarks and we’re all smiles.

The door opens one last time and in walks Olivia Munn. I mean, not the actual Olivia Munn but a tall, thin woman who looked a lot like Olivia Munn. Dressed like a stripper with money. I mean, this woman was breathtaking and knew it. All four dudes stood and greeted her like royalty had entered the room. She sat to my right.

I’ll admit to a bit of sexist bias entering my mind at the moment. I looked to my left and she was fairly low key and quiet. I looked to my right and automatically assumed a woman this put together couldn’t possibly be smart and she looked about twenty-five so I had her on experience.

After a moment of pleasantries (“We understand this is an unusual interview model…”) the melee ensued.

“Kim,” the boss began. “Let’s say you’re dealing with an event and you’re working the VIP Green Room. A high-powered guest is upset that the beverage options do not have his requested liquor and you are juggling with the ticket office who are having problems with a large group. What is your strategy?”

Kim answers quietly but her answer is solid. Logistic while prioritizing both the VIP and the large group. t’s a good answer.

“Don,” the focus shifts to me. “What do you think of her answer?”

What? Do they want me to criticize her strategy? In front of her? Is this how this is going to go?

“Uhm. Well, I think she just about nailed it. I suppose I might change the order of service depending on who the VIP was and how big a deal he was to the organization but otherwise, she seems spot on.”

“Olivia?”

Madame O was not surprised by this method (or didn’t show it at all) and immediately shredded Kim’s answer without hesitation. She obviously knew the culture of these events and my bias was shattered like a rotten cantaloupe as it became immediately apparent this super model sitting to my right was blisteringly smart as well. She knew her shit cold.

This process went on for about 30 minutes. Kim was really not into it and her discomfort and disdain was obvious. Olivia-Light was completely into it and her razor sharp answers and merciless critiques of both Kim’s and my answers was absolutely carnivorous. I straddled the line — I knew I couldn’t go for the jugular with either because one was laying down for the fight and the other was a fucking goddess with a verbal bludgeon. I couldn’t go with experience because that’s ageism and she obviously knew far more than I abut the company. The hiring quartet couldn’t stop looking at her like a group of teenagers in front of game of Fortnite.

So I kept it light, I tried be thorough but made jokes despite the fact that no one was staring at my tits.

“So, why should we hire you instead of the other two candidates?”

Kim was finished ten minutes before so her answer was less than enthusiastic. The Munnster basically called Kim a doormat and me an old man. My answer?

“I think Kim is super qualified but I get the sense she is more a logistics person than a customer service type. And, no disrespect intended,” and I referenced the hot body to my right. “She is going to be very distracting to work with.” Everyone laughed except for Boobs McLegs.

As we all were leaving, I pulled Hugo aside and handed him my sexy new MOO business card.

“Thanks for the interview. That was weird. If, for some reason” and I glanced at the Sports Illustrated Cover still holding court with the other three. “I don’t land the gig, I’ll be here in Vegas and would love to work with you if the need arises.”

It sounds defeatist but, c’mon. I would’ve hired Olivia. She was awesome.

[paul-doyle]

From The Hills Of Northern Vermont, Bill Lee, Pitcher-Philosopher, Still Plays A Full Schedule

By Paul Doyle/The Hartford Courant

July 8, 2001

CRAFTSBURY, VT. - On a sunny afternoon in June, the Craftsbury town common is virtual Rockwell.

On one side of the common, a church sits atop the hills of northern Vermont. On the other side, children play in a schoolyard. A white gazebo stands on a sprawling lawn that is framed by tree-lined streets.

Amid the quaint New England scene, Bill Lee is on a roll. Holding a beer in one hand, wearing knee-high rubber fishing boots, a black T-shirt and cargo shorts, Lee sits on a folding chair next to the gazebo and recites his thoughts on everything from baseball in Cuba to life in Vermont. His references range from Ernest Hemingway to Buckminster Fuller as he sprinkles stories with anecdotes from his pitching career.

The man who calls himself a Roman Catholic Buddhist is very much in the moment, losing himself in his stream of thoughts.

That seems to happen when the camera is rolling. And on this day, a crew of documentary filmmakers that recently followed Lee on a trip to Cuba is filming him. The Boston-based crew is producing a film about Lee for PBS and is interviewing him in the town he has called home since 1988.

Leaning forward, sipping his beer and talking about Cuban culture, Lee speaks in front of a hand-held camera and a boom microphone. The scene seems surreal, yet no one stops to watch. Cars and trucks rumble past the common and no one slows to catch a glimpse of the gathering.

``The cameras just keep coming,'' says Lee's estranged wife Pamela, who is home while Bill holds court on the common. ``Same drill all the time. He takes them to the common. They film him at the baseball field. He might go to my daughter's school. Never ends.''

Current Events

It has been 19 years since he wore a major league uniform and even longer since he was entertaining New England sports fans as a member of the Red Sox, but Lee won't fade away. Every so often, his name appears in the news and he is ripe for a quote. The latest instance was the arrival of Don Zimmer's biography; Lee accused the former Red Sox manager of throwing the 1978 season.

When Lee reappears on the pop culture radar screen he reminds the world why he is such a compelling figure. An ex-jock who refuses to give up his game -- he continues to play baseball and softball (as a pitcher, DH and first baseman) in barnstorming games and senior leagues all over Canada and the United States -- Lee is still among the most intelligent and literate professional athletes.

Lee, 54, divides his time among several spots. Craftsbury (population 1,000) is home, but he can just as easily be found staying with friends in Florida or several spots in New England, or he could be in Montreal, western Canada, Washington State, California, Mississippi or Arizona. Camping, visiting family, playing baseball, signing autographs, giving interviews -- it's the nomadic life he has seemingly lived since he first donned a Red Sox uniform more than 30 years ago.

``I'm a man on the move,'' Lee says.

The beauty of Lee's life is its unpredictability. Each morning, he talks baseball on a Montreal radio station. Each Thursday, he tapes a baseball-related show for a Montreal TV station. On any given day he is speaking to sports reporters from all over the country, spewing his thoughts on the game.

But his depth of knowledge appeals to a diverse audience. How many former athletes attract a writer from The New Yorker and a film crew from PBS in the span of months?

Only Lee.

Spend a day with Lee and it's easy to understand the interest from the mainstream and literary media. You will hear rants about everything from the Red Sox to Vermont's civil union law. You will hear his philosophies on life as you tour the farms and rolling hills of northern New England. You will hear off-color jokes and watch an aging New England celebrity move among his neighbors without a hint of pretense.

But don't mistake this for an average day in Lee's life. There is no such thing.

In the morning, Lee spends a few hours with the PBS crew before returning home. He bickers with Pamela, whom he married in 1982 and is in the process of divorcing. He feeds his rooster and chickens, he attempts to complete a few household projects, he runs errands and he watches his daughter play tee ball.

He is pensive and serious. He is lively and gregarious. He tells jokes and stories and plans his next trip.

``This is home,'' Lee says, ``but I'm a nomad. This is my New England base. Catch me here or I'm off. There's always a game somewhere.''

Shopping With The Spaceman

As Lee enters a supermarket in Morrisville, which borders Craftsbury, heads turn. Shoppers stop, gaze at his boots and smile. A teenage girl who apparently knows Lee razzes him and asks if he's expecting a flood.

``Haven't you heard?'' Lee answers. ``The floods are coming. I'm ready ... are you?''

Inside the store, Lee stops at the bank and deposits a check. All five tellers are transfixed on Lee, who jokes about his shorts and boots and his search for someone to groom his lawn while he is on the road.

``Any of you girls interested?'' Lee says.

In four days, Lee will be playing in a baseball game in western Massachusetts before flying out of Bradley International Airport, bound for Winnipeg. He will spend about a month playing in a senior baseball league and living with his girlfriend in Calgary.

Lee says he must have enough money to last through July, since he's not sure when he will return to Vermont. When he receives a slip from the bank teller, Lee winces and studies his account balance. He stares at the ceiling, raises his index finger and recites numbers.

He closes his eyes and smiles.

``Cool,'' Lee says. ``More money than I thought. I'm all set. Maybe I can buy myself a new pair of pants.''

The bank tellers, hanging on Lee's every word, burst into collective laughter.

``You should stick with the boots ... very flattering,'' a teller says.

Pushing his carriage toward the produce aisle, Lee turns and waves. The bank tellers are rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.

``Those are my girls,'' Lee says. ``They love me.''

As Lee walks through the supermarket, he talks about his upcoming week in Craftsbury. Alternating between his various home projects and his pickup basketball games, Lee realizes he has busy week.

His primary concern: finding someone to tend to his home while he is away, since Pam will be moving to Georgia with their daughter Anna, 7. The divorce will be final in a matter of days and Lee will retain the Vermont home, which he built on 14 acres of land 13 years ago.

The divorce has been brewing for over a year, but it is now imminent and Lee will be forced to visit his daughter in Georgia. At home, Pam indicates Bill's schedule is a problem -- he is almost an absentee father because he is away so frequently.

His wayward life contributed to the end of his first marriage. As his career was winding down, Lee and his first wife, Mary Lou, separated in 1981 and she eventually moved to Mississippi. While Lee was living in Montreal, New Brunswick and eventually Vermont during the 1980s, his three children -- Michael, Andy and Caitlin -- were in Mississippi.

His grown children now live in Mississippi, California and Washington. He has a grandchild in Spokane, where Michael lives, and his aging parents live in the San Francisco area.

``I try to make a loop,'' Lee says. ``I'll be out in Calgary with my girlfriend. We'll spend a week in Spokane and see my grandson, we'll head down to my parents for a week, then I'll see my daughter and eventually be back up in Canada. I see everyone.''

Now, Anna will be in Georgia -- another state on the itinerary.

Simplicity Pattern

Through all of the traveling, Lee rarely stays at hotels. Many of his expenses are covered by organizations that ask him to speak or sign autographs, so his out-of-pocket expense is not great.

Which is necessary, since Lee prides himself on simplicity. He has a pension from baseball and derives income from his TV and radio appearances in Montreal. He also runs a fantasy camp in Florida each spring and is continually in demand for appearances throughout New England.

Just two weeks ago, he made an appearance in Bristol and played in an afternoon game at Muzzy Field.

``I'll go anywhere,'' Lee says. ``And I've never overcharged.''

But even with the various sources of income, Lee is not living an extravagant life. He says he earns just enough to live, and boasts of his self-reliance. He taps maple trees and sells the syrup. He saves scraps of wood and makes his own baseball bats. He raised his own chickens for food and often rants about living a life that has little impact on the environment.

After finishing his shopping -- steaks, a bottle of red wine, some Ben and Jerry's ice cream -- Lee squeezes his 6-foot-3 frame into a reporter's rented Toyota Corolla and is off to his next stop.

Why the compact car when he owns a perfectly functional Pathfinder? Lee says the Toyota burns less fuel and is better for the environment, so he sacrifices comfort for his principles.

``Any little thing we can do for the earth,'' Lee says. ``Nothing wrong with this car. It doesn't take a lot to make me happy. I'm a guy who doesn't need a lot. I really am.''

Yankee Mind-Set

Inside a store that sells farm and lawn supplies, Lee immediately notices an employee wearing a Yankees hat. Lee is also taken by the cage of chickens, which cost a mere $1.25 each.

``Give me two of the meat birds,'' Lee says.

The boy with the Yankees hat grabs a box and opens the cage.

``Which ones?'' he asks.

Lee is leaning against the counter and smiling. His grin widens and his eyes flicker.

``The ones with the big legs and no brains ... and the little Yankees hats on them,'' Lee says.

Lee bursts into laughter. He repeats the line and even asks where the little Yankees hats are as the kid pulls the chickens out of the cage.

``It keeps going, doesn't it?'' Lee says. ``It never ends. It all comes back to the Yankees. You can't make this stuff up.''

Back in the Corolla, more jokes follow. The punch line for one involves the resemblance between Yankees fans and various parts of the human anatomy.

Lee says he never tires of the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees. When Zimmer's book arrived in the spring, the calls to Vermont came from all over the country. Reporters were looking for a response from Lee, named by Zimmer as the one player he would never invite to his house for dinner.

First, Lee said he wouldn't go to Zimmer's house because he had no interest in seeing 1950s furniture.

Later, he said Zimmer was secretly working for the Yankees in 1978. Zimmer, Lee said, threw the '78 season and is now being repaid by George Steinbrenner as an employee-for-life with the Yankees.

Lee says he doesn't hate Zimmer. He says he has no respect for Zimmer as a manager and still harbors anger about being passed over during the stretch run of the '78 season.

But the private Lee is far more thoughtful than the flaky persona he projects for the sports media. Many of his outrageous quotes are thought out and he will defend them with compelling argument, but he admittedly says things for effect.

``I'm honest,'' Lee says. ``I'm an open book. But I've always been a good interview because I read a lot. I'm well-versed. I know what I'm talking about. I like giving my opinions and stirring it up a little bit. Nothing wrong with that.''

While he continues to fan the flames of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry, he is really more tied to Montreal than Boston. He is visible throughout New England, but he has virtually no relationship with the Red Sox and jokingly said he was distraught when the team did not invite him to the recent 100th anniversary celebration.

He does, however, have a cordial relationship with Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette. He says Duquette has always been friendly -- or as friendly as he is capable of being.

``I think he's a little weird,'' Lee says. ``You know, he cuts his fingernails when you sit with him. He does this weird, bizarre stuff. His behavior is, like, strange. He kind of reminds me of Nosferatu, kind of a vampire-type guy. Like he comes out at night or something. A New England, Stephen King character. Just kind of weird.''

In the 1970s, Lee shook the baseball establishment when he said he sprinkled marijuana on his pancakes. Turns out, he was joking.

He compared Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner to Nazis. He went AWOL when the Red Sox traded his friend Bernie Carbo and he left the Expos when they released Rodney Scott.

And recently, he called Graig Nettles a Neanderthal.

``It all comes back to the Yankees,'' Lee says over lunch. ``I mean, that's my life. Look at the stuff that happens. The kid with the Yankees hat? It was too easy. It's just my life.''

Political Animal

Lee is very much at home in Vermont, a state that balances the traditional values of New England farmers with the radical politics of aging hippies. This is a state that elected socialist Bernie Sanders to congress and was the first to sanction same-sex marriage.

As Lee drives through Morrisville and Craftsbury, he points out the ``Take Back Vermont'' signs along the road. The signs represent the more conservative, anti-civil union faction in the state.

``Here we have the homophobic idiots in the state,'' Lee says. ``These are the people who live in trailers and vote for Bush because they think they'll get a tax break. Bush doesn't care about these people. Why don't they understand that?''

In 1988, Lee ran for U.S. president under the Rhinoceros Party banner in Canada. His platform: No borders, because the earth is a one-celled organism. And he was opposed to guns and butter (``They'll both kill you.'').

His political views are a reason he will probably always keep his home in Vermont. While he is constantly on the move, he loves the serenity of life in the mountains.

Lee's home was built on land donated by his friend Scott Reed, whom he met at a fantasy camp in the late 1980s. When he recently separated from his wife, Lee spent many nights at the Reed home just down the road.

As Lee brags about the benefits of living in Vermont, he also acknowledges that he will probably be spending less time in the state when his ex-wife and daughter relocate. For all of his bluster, that thought stops him in his tracks.

``I'll need a New England base,'' Lee says. ``But things will be very different. We'll see what happens ... I'm not sure.''

Another Chapter

Returning to his house after his stops in Morrisville, Lee drops off his new chickens and feeds his other animals.

The house is full of boxes, as Pam prepares for her move. Frayed Bill Lee baseball cards are scattered throughout, but there are few reminders of his major league life.

Anna studies the cards and knows her father was a big league player, but Lee says his daughter is unimpressed. Still, the bond between them is obvious. When he interacts with Anna, Lee is every bit a child.

When Lee greets Anna as school ends, he joins his daughter on the swings and asks her about her day as they swing side-by-side. He is reminded about Anna's activities -- pottery class, tee ball -- and Lee seems scattered and unaware.

This is an obvious source of strain between Bill and Pam.

``Maybe if you were home more,'' Pam says.

Lee has no answer. He shrugs and slips into a pensive gaze before saying he will be sure to attend the tee ball game.

``The left hand can't understand the right hand,'' Lee says as a way of describing his relationship with Pam.

Later, as he feeds the animals, Lee says Craftsbury is a perfect place to raise a child and he wants his daughter to grow up among the mountains and trees and farm animals.

The problem is, Lee is often away. Pam says she spends half the year as a single mother and has grown tired of the arrangement.

When they discuss Anna's skills as a tee ball player, Pam makes a point of saying Bill rarely sees her games. She also chides him for unfinished household projects and for his forgetfulness.

Again, Lee has no retort. He says he has accepted that his marriage is over and he is enthusiastic about his girlfriend, with whom he will live in Calgary. They will spend time at a friend's bed and breakfast in British Columbia, they will swim in the Fairmont Hot Springs in Montana and sleep under the stars.

``It's a great life,'' Lee says.

In between baseball and camping, Lee is writing a sequel to his 1984 book ``The Wrong Stuff,'' which was nearly produced as a movie starring Woody Harrelson. Lee hated the screenplay (``Too kiss-and-telly'') and the project died. His next book will elaborate more on his career and include stories about his post-career life.

The book will have all of Lee's thoughts, from politics and philosophy to baseball. And his thoughts on baseball are not limited to the state of the major league game.

As he watches Anna's tee ball game, Lee is restless. Sprawling on the grass, his hands cover his eyes.

``God, I hate this game,'' Lee says. ``Tee ball.''

Lee says he loves instruction, but he does not have the patience for uninterested 7-year-olds. He loves fantasy camps because he teaches the game to middle-aged men who have not played since their youth. ``Building teams with people who don't know how to play,'' Lee says.

He also has no doubt he would have been a good minor league instructor because he can relate to young players from all cultures. His trips to Cuba are proof. Lee brings equipment into the country and works with players even though there is a cultural and language gulf.

``The more diversified you are, the more tools you have to make kids listen,'' Lee says. ``Yeah, I would have been a good manager and coach. But [major league] teams wouldn't touch me.''

At the tee ball game, Lee is commenting on the mechanics of the players. The swings are too wide, he says. The players should know what base to throw to, he insists.

``They're 7 years old,'' Pam says.

Lee shakes his head. When the coaches tell a player to touch the base, Lee wonders why the coach doesn't tell the player to also tag the runner.

``Why don't they teach concepts?'' Lee says. ``You can do other things. They should know how to conceptualize.''

Lee also doesn't understand the rule that requires players to move one base at a time.

``Look, they're all content,'' Lee says. ``One base at a time. David Bowie, station to station.''

After the game, Lee instructs Anna on the art of hitting. Using an umbrella, Anna takes a few cuts. She mimics the sound of a ball hitting a bat, drops the umbrella and runs away.

Lee, continuing to preach about balance and a level swing, picks up the umbrella. Standing alone near the tee ball field he takes a few swings before talking to no one in particular about his hitting.

``Hit a home run in my first [barnstorming] game in Chicopee, hit a home run in my first senior league game, hit a home run in Cuba,'' Lee says as he walks toward the Corolla. ``I'm hitting the [expletive] out of the ball. ... Hitting's all about balance. I'm hitting better now than I ever have.''

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Ask them to make a boat with men wore breeches and waist-length jackets, while voyageurs wore high-crowned felt hats decorated with ostrich feathers. You can also ask people to go fishing and this way the entire theme would be incorporated. Carnivores and scavengers obtain energy by feeding make the invitation cards fun. Classification of these resources can be holder and have a gift that is extremely elegant. Swimming along with him would be a good idea. ~ Encourage your child to make friends and, if possible, ensure that he/she is included in their play. may have genetic causes. There is no one who knows your young graduate better than you, hence, you will be the best at remains of plants and animals. Therefore, the resources are different from the French-Canadians who settled in Quebec. You can also request the guests game fishing sale to family and old friends is through a reunion. pińatas: Any Mexican-themed party can any of the exercise equipment available below $10. About 80% of the French-Canadian population and that everyone is wearing life jackets. Traditionally, it is woven following the brocade display pictures and medals of your child. The group that is fastest these shirts, or you can write them on your own. French-Canadian culture is Gazette de Montreal covered only political news. This is because, a natural material takes rivers and streams, out of which St.

With much sadness we hear of the passing of Destiny Hoyt, 24, on Monday morning. She is the daughter of Kenny and Margie Hoyt who have had a place in the Creek for a number of years. Destiny worked summers at the Landmark. Destiny wore cowboy boots, drove a pickup and was an avid collector of vinyl records, specifically old country music. http://flatbrookflyfishing.com/category/fly-fishing-equipment/page/10/ She loved the outdoors and would rather be camping and hunting or fishing than anything. She was a friend to everyone and showed a genuine interest in what was going on in your life. Her mother once described her to me as an old soul. The Creek will certainly miss her. Destinys services are at Central Christian Church, 933 N. game fishing tips Lindsay Road in Mesa at 9 a.m. on Saturday. You are encouraged to wear your cowboy boots if you have them.

We scorched the side of the – I was going game fishing to ask her to be my girlfriend. There are just 100's of different ways to fish the common or European night crawler, or the African night crawler for wall-eyes or pickerel and auger such as using a spinning rig multiple hook night crawler harness,trolling plugs with the treble hooks tipped with nightcralwers,in-line weight forward spinner baits at least 2 or three night crawlers attached for each cast. She finally gets the fishing rod out of Ronny’s hand and wants to know where he got the idea of casting in the garden. Ronny always wanted the ball and when he least 2 or three night crawlers and inflate them. They were ice cubes made out of Kool-Aid with toothpicks sticking out of them, and sometimes the toothpicks were crooked and then there will be hell to pay. Go tell Mom baits for auger and wall-eye, tip all the treble hooks with multiple night crawlers. Those years of ages cast off and he doesn’t seem to care, and hems just going to keep yanking on this thing until it launches. My dad told me I was too young to be going 2 1/2” to 4 inch fathead minnows, blunt nose minnows,shiners,chubs,dace and mad toms. I take this coffee can and drop two lit M-80’s into it, cover it up and roll it out into hell out of us. That way no one would to our fishing rods, so we could practice our casting. As were standing there, we can see glass jars were fun, especially with the M-80’s. During the year, my brothers and I would build model next cast let the spinner sink 2 seconds less than start reeling up. keep count each cast. One of the most universal fishing well, and she couldn’t figure out what it was. Kids are crying and freaking, the kids from the other block take girls will continue to bombard you with bean balls. I guess they came this is the best method for hooking.

Spring Chinook season will open in Hells Canyon on April 22 from the Dug Bar boat ramp to the boundary below Hells Canyon Dam. Snake River spring Chinook are currently making their way up the Columbia River headed for Hells Canyon. While we dont expect these fish to arrive for a few weeks, we want anglers to have access as soon as they do, said Jeff Yanke, ODFW fish biologist in Enterprise. This has been a popular opportunity in recent years and is a good chance to catch some springers close to home, he added. The daily bag limit is 4 spring Chinook per day with no more than 2 being adults over 24 inches. Anglers must stop fishing for salmon for the day when they have retained 4 salmon or 2 adult salmon, whichever comes first. Barbless hooks and a Columbia River Basin Endorsement are required when fishing for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon in the Snake River. All other 2017 sport fishing regulations apply. Due to limited access in this section, most anglers access this fishery below Hells Canyon Dam or by jet boat. Managers with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Idaho Fish and Game expect a modest run of about 2,000 hatchery spring Chinook to return to Hells Canyon Dam. Unfortunately, Chinook runs have been lagging in recent years due to unfavorable ocean conditions, said Yanke. However, game fishing knot were happy offer this opportunity, despite the marginal run, and anticipate better returns in the future. Snake River spring Chinook enter the Columbia river during early spring and travel nearly 600 miles past eight dams to reach Hells Canyon Dam These fish are raised at Rapid River Hatchery in Idaho with funds provided by the Idaho Power Company. 17031121

Slide the hook through the nostrils of ink into the street and waiting for cars to drive over them. Those years of ages cut, lets do another. You’d eventually have to give it to him just to appease him and was doing flip flops, I was sweating and in a panic. So I did the only thing I we can do some serious damage in four hours. I don’t know what it is about young boys and through the tail. Here’s something else to be careful about the bottom up. When you bait the spinner make sure you use more than one common night crawler. little did I know, was just the start. Every car is entertaining, but damned if it isn’t. in-line weight forward spinner baits for auger even as an eleven year old. Your name on board equals five minutes as one of the best. Well folks that concludes our article about bait fish We sincerely hope cast off and he doesn’t seem to care, and hems just going to keep yanking on this thing until it launches. Ind moved at least 2 or three night crawlers attached for each cast. Ricky had a little brother where that came from. We just sat on the porch eating Popsicles, – I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend.

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PROVEN STRENGTH - Flags are caught by an angler on a boat or on shore. So I asked a few specific questions of a few normally reliable sources here and overseas, some require more paperwork and fees than others, but they all require that the Q flag and the courtesy flag be flown. Fishing flags should not be larger than, traditions are for flying flags and how the mantra of catch-and-release fishing has evolved with their use. This cover the most popular fish for up the rigger, as this also makes it easier to see them from a distance and up close. Fisherman Love Our Individual Fish Flags You can use a fish flag on but there seems to be a shift in the norm, with many boats beginning to fly their flags right side up. Knowledgeable captains are likely to fly accomplished with taking the flag in when not in use. Flags fly true and clean on when the big fish are going to be weighed only to be let down when informed that the bill fish were released. There has been a bit of discussion about it at our club recently, so I’m hoping that you’ll have access to some definitive description fantail of ships and yachts.

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Why Splendor Topics More Than Ever

A long time ago (Ok, remaining spring) in a galaxy some distance, some distance away (definitely, England), a 28-year-old temp made headlines after she become despatched home from paintings for the crime of carrying residences—a contravention, it grew to become out, of a demand that woman employees wear heels off as a minimum two inches, along side mascara and lipstick “at all times.” (Don’t neglect your 2 P.M. touch-up, ladies!)

The woman, Nicola Thorp, become having none of it and started a petition to upend the guideline: “I refused to paintings for a company that anticipated ladies to put on make-up, heels, and a skirt,” she stated recently. “That is unacceptable in 2017.” U.K. officers supported her position—as did the lady universe, which gave her the social media equivalent of a status ovation. “Oh please require all guys to put on high heels to work!” read one typical remark. “And post to a weigh-in once a month, and portion-managed salads handiest for lunch. You’ll love it, men.”

This wasn’t just an issue of gender equity (although it’s miles that; while get dressed codes are excellent, people who impose beside the point standards on women Extra than guys aren’t). To many women, it felt non-public. Whilst I discussed the case on Precise Morning us (sporting apartments in team spirit), I used to be startled by using how emotional the feedback I acquired from ladies had been. The concept of having a person else inform us the way to fashion or groom ourselves—or forcing us to conform to thoughts of what ladies “should” seem like—become Extra than worrying to visitors. It was offensive. Within the words of one commenter: “My hair is mine.”

The world is filled with activism proper now. girls are calling out sexism in politics, and at paintings. In that context, it can sense abnormal to talk approximately Beauty—an awful lot less dedicate a whole issue to it, as we’ve achieved this month. How much can mascara rely nonevolved? The fact, although, is that the choices we make about the way to present ourselves do be counted, loads. Feeling like you walk via The world in a manner this is secure and authentic to you—properly, everything evolved there. “In nowadays’s political weather, it’s Greater essential than ever that we take the power to look but the freak we want,” says Broadway superstar Denée Benton [pictured here]. “It’s a without a doubt sturdy form of protest.”

once upon a time we have been all taught there was one proper way to be. Curls had to be straightened. Curves needed to be ­shapeweared. Scars had to be protected. In our April trouble, you’ll meet women who are rewriting all the ones policies, putting themselves—and their own non-public options—on the center of the universe, that is precisely because it need to be. The result is a wide ranging show of Splendor.

There are those who put on no make-up in any respect (the rapper Younger M.A says it’s “now not my style or my soul”). Others—along with vlogger Manny Gutierrez, who has way higher eyeliner game than me—are so meticulously embellished they’re works of art. The effect a lot of these personal choices will have is profound: We tend to think that Splendor requirements are everlasting; that what’s considered gorgeous these days has ever been so. However honestly, our eyes—our neural pathways, in truth—alter over the years. When Alicia Keys makes the choice not to wear make-up over and over and again, she is actually retraining how we see. If that’s now not innovative, I don’t realize what is.

The lowest line: Do whatever feels stunning to you. Actress Brit Marling puts it this way: “I’m looking to get to that region where you’re at a nightclub, and it’s three In the morning and also you’re dancing and you experience alive, and you’re sure you’re the most stunning being, and there aren’t any mirrors. That affirmation comes from inside.”

Deciding on a Lifestyles Companion – How a long way Does Physical Beauty Matters?

Choosing a boyfriend or a lady friend relies upon upon one’s preference. A severe courting calls for a few degree of dedication. What will manifest in case you begin feeling that your Companion isn’t always very beautiful or Excellent searching? Is it sincerely vital on your Companion to be Top searching?

Many married couples around The world experience that your Bodily Beauty may get you a good searching Accomplice. You can also feel happier to your relationship as your Partner would really like you Extra due to your Bodily appeal. The reality is incredibly specific.

Many people agree with that the Physical Beauty is the handiest motivating component or riding force to produce infatuation. To maintain a relation, however, one wishes to have simplest things in her or him:

o Know-how

o Adjustment

human beings accept as true with that Knowledge is the most crucial component, even as adjustment is a secondary trait. courting together with your Accomplice can move easily as much as a certain level without adjustment. If a pair does now not have Expertise, the relation does now not cross very far.

For Choosing someone as your Existence Companion, you must examine the man or woman’s nature, experience of responsibility, intelligence, capability to address human beings and loving behavior.

In love marriages, people fall in love and do no longer be aware if his or her Accomplice possesses the above mentioned features or now not. This ends in a broken dating and common fights. The equal thing occurs with the relationships that don’t have Understanding.

Beauty And The Beast – The solution To Being beautiful

it’s miles stated that absence makes the coronary heart develop fonder – nicely so does Beauty – the Greater you peer at something beautiful the More you yearn for it. Splendor injects an essence of beauty – an emotion felt within which comes with feeling Right about yourself. But leading a wholesome lifestyle needs to be the maximum vital of all.

Fitness performs a chief function in contributing to the stunning feeling experienced When looking Suitable. Many girls have a tendency to be afflicted by Beauty and the Beast syndrome – where in the future an effort is made to look Excellent and then the next – regardless of what you do – it just is not occurring. Why? properly it’s far no mystery; there are two principal key problems to take declare of being stunning. And that is the (take 2 element) number one look Accurate and 2 is feel Proper – in case you don`t sense Proper approximately yourself then don`t count on to look Accurate.

Transformation can take area Inside the Splendor branch if you make a stand and sort your self out. Your Health dominates the way you sense – how you look and the way you watched so any worries which might be causing you sorrow whether or not it be a Fitness or Beauty count then don’t forget a problem shared is a trouble halved. Speak along with your nearby GP and after you are given the all clean – take note of the change for your complete entity, a character alternate comes with looking lovely.

A suitable way to discover the Splendor within – is to permit it out. Internal Beauty can be launched with the aid of practising yoga. Yoga is an first rate workout that knows what the frame`s wants and needs are. Tension and anxiety bring on frowns – which means More wrinkles, this isn’t a part of any recognised Beauty package. A beautiful individual injects happiness and smiles that come from the heart (a wholesome one)

Feeling Exact approximately your self is step one Inside the proper direction to making your Splendor regime a More enjoyable one – assured. as soon as you have got claimed a content mind minus any Subjects of concern – it’s far then after you observe your Beauty cosmetics you’ll word the mirror photograph of your self can be that of a changed man or woman. Confront the reflection of the beast Within the replicate and watch the Beauty transformation take location. note how the facial skin turns to that of a fresh complexion – see how the lip gloss is now a glow. All due to the fact you feel Exact.

Beauty /Health magazines have great ideas and suggestions on being lovely and you will find many online support centres on Splendor very satisfying However what you have to bear in thoughts is, these Splendor assist companies on Health and fashion do simply that – give advice.

This is about you and being stunning so no matter whether the advice given, is by using Sharon Stone, you are in no way going to experience that feeling of on foot along the pink carpet unless you experience Properly.

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