#it’s mainly a backup for me if anything were to happen to this account or my ssd

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

hey, just wanted to thank you for creating this, i just spent the last two hours or so downloading these voicelines for future use and i'm so glad this blog exists lmao, thank you again

now off the ruin gabriel's reputation some more yipee

I do actually have a copy of all the audio files I post that is accessible to anyone but I have never linked it

when I queue posts they get saved in there and it would “spoil” the next few posts if anyone actually bothered to check it lol

Also I have to rename some files to be a little more descriptive

If I get the time to clean it up a bit I’ll post the link

[reddeadrevolutionn]

The Red Wedding • Robb Stark

PLOT: you can see into the future and you warn Robb about the events of the red wedding.

WARNINGS: MAJOR SPOILERS!!! This is also quite long Ahahah

Requested: yes.

You shot up in bed, panting, and with sweat dripping down your face. You grasped at the sheets and hurriedly looked to your husband who was peacefully sleeping beside you.

“Robb,” you shook him gently “Robb, wake up,”

His eyes fluttered open and he ran a hand through his auburn curls “what is it, y/n? Are you alright?” His voice was gravelly, and laced with sleepiness.

You grabbed his shoulders urgently “I saw something. It was the same dream that I’ve been having, but there was more. Robb, we mustn’t go to the Twins, promise me we won’t go!”

His eyes widened and he sat up straighter “what did you see? Tell me it all, Y/n. It’s alright,” he placed a hand on your flushed cheek.

You wiped away your tears and explained the dream to him “it was horrible. I-I can’t even bear to think about it,”

Robb was shocked at the information he had been given. He stood up, hastily getting dressed and rushed over to help you stand “here,” he pulled a cloak around you, “we must tell them.” He then went quickly to the door and ordered a guard to call his advisors and his mother to an emergency meeting in his tent.

Robb cleared the small desk he had and placed a map on it, setting out the wolves, fish and lions.

Soon the lords came rushing in, followed by lady catelyn.

“Robb, is everything alright?” Catelyn asked. Her hair was loosely pulled over her shoulder and her eyes were tired.

He shook his head “Y/n, tell them everything. Leave out no detail,”

You nodded slightly and took a breath “I saw Walder Frey, Roose Bolton, and their blades. There was blood. So much blood. They attacked us. The doors were locked, we were unprotected, and they killed every last one of us. He was angry -Lord Frey- angry that you didn’t wed his daughter, so he murdered us. Me first, then Robb, then Lady Catelyn,”

Their eyes were wide, and their mouths were either hanging open, or pulled together tightly.

“My queen, forgive me, but are you sure it wasn’t just a dream?” Lord Umber asked tentatively

You nodded “I’m certain. It’s been recurring, and this time I was able to see properly,”

Robb focused on the map and pointed “if we have Umber men here, and Mormont men there, the Frey’s nor the Bolton’s would know. We’d have backup to help us,”

The lords nodded in agreement. “And no doubt they’ll want us unarmed -just like her majesty said- so we’ll have to hide our weapons, and wear armour below the clothes. It’ll be thin, but it’s better than nothing.” One Lord said

Robb nodded “you’re right, but we need to organise how to keep Y/n and my mother out of danger,”

It was obvious that you couldn’t fight, neither could your mother in law. So the rest of the night the lords and the King orchestrated a plan to attack, and keep the women out of danger. The door would be unlocked the minute the men outside started fighting and you would both run and hide, in the stables more than likely.

Even after everyone left and it was just you and your husband in the tent, you couldn’t settle. You were biting your nails and shifting every few minutes.

“What is it, my love?” Robb took your hands “there’s something else troubling you,”

You sighed “I have to tell you something. I left out a detail of the dream...I’m pregnant...and that’s why they kill me,”

“Y/n, that’s amazing,” he smiled and touched your stomach “you’re amazing,”

“But I’m worried for the babe. I don’t know how they’ll find out but they’ll know. What if I don’t escape?”

He kissed you gently “I promise you nothing will happen to you, or our baby. I’ll never let anyone harm you,”

You kissed him gratefully “I love you, so much,”

He smiled “I love you. And I love them,” he gestured to the baby

“Him,” you corrected “it’s a strong little boy,”

His smile grew wider “him. Our little boy. I’ll protect him with my life, I swear it.”

You hugged him “I hope you won’t have to, I hope everything happens smoothly.” You buried your face in his neck

He nodded and stroked the back of your hair, gently laying you down beside him, his arms wrapped around you the whole time.

Eventually you drifted off to sleep, inhaling the comforting smell of your husband, and held in his arms.

-

The morning that you were to go to the Twins, you couldn’t eat. Even when you were brought wine, and grapes and cheese, you knew you couldn’t keep any of it down. Your dress was a simple one. A deep blue with an elegant silver pattern up the sleeves. Your hair was in a northern style, mainly to please Catelyn.

When Robb came into the tent he smiled softly “you’re beautiful,” he paused “but you also look ill,”

You looked down “thank you, I’m just nervous,”

He nodded “I am too, but no harm will come to you. We just need to act normal, like we know nothing of the plans,”

“Yes. You’re right,” you smiled slightly “are we leaving now?”

He nodded again “yes, the horses are ready, are you?”

“I am. Let’s go, I just want to get this over with,” you smiled and took his hand, thanking him when he helped you onto your horse.

The journey to the twins was a tedious one. The Kingsroad seemed never ending. It was a straight, continuous road that ran from The Wall, right the way down to Old Town. The only thing that kept you from sighing every minute and asking ‘how long until we get there?’ Was Robb’s constant reassurance that everything would be fine.

By time you reached the towers your legs were numb and your bottom was probably red. The only break that you took was when you would break your water. Once you had dismounted, you were greeted by one of Walder Frey’s sons who welcomed you with a smile. When he reached his hand out to shake Robb’s hand, Greywind snarled and jumped on him, snapping at his hand.

“Greywind, no,” Robb urgently grabbed the wolf, crouching down to his level “stay here. Ser Raynald, stay with him,”

Ser Raynald nodded stifly, not pleased with the command, but stayed nonetheless.

Walder’s son warily took a step away from the wolf, glancing at the blood running down his fingers. “Is this how you greet people, Your majesty? Sending your dog onto them?”

Robb shook his head “my apologies, my lord, he’s afraid of the river,”

“A dry kennel and a Mutton leg will do him some good, shall I summon the kennel master?”

“He’s a wolf, not a dog. He’s dangerous. It’s quite alright, Ser Raynald will stay with him,” Robb said, not taking any chances of having his wolf killed.

“Alright,” he said “my father is waiting. He’s very eager to meet you, Your grace,” he said to you

You smiled slightly “likewise, my Lord,”

He led you all inside, after Robb commanded his men to set up camp.

Inside was dull, grey, and dusty, yet was obviously cleaned. Lord Frey sat on his chair, surrounded by his daughters and holding his wife by her hip.

“Lord Walder,” Robb began “I am thrilled to finally be here. And even more thrilled that we were able to organise this wedding,”

The old man scowled “not the wedding I had hoped for,”

Robb nodded stifly “you’re right. And for that I can only apologise. My Lord, I am sincerely so-“

He was cut off by Walder holding up a hand “not to me, boy. To my daughters,”

Robb nodded again “right, of course,” he smiled at the girls “my ladies, I will start off by giving you my most sincere apology. I made a rash decision -and although it is not one I would take back- I should have taken into account you all. But you see, I fell in love, and I would hope that one day that also gives you the opportunity to do the same as I have,”

Lord Frey scoffed “yes yes, that’ll do. Now, I expect you’re weary from the long journey, the maids will see to it you are shown to your rooms,”

You smiled “We thank you, My Lord, but before we rest, might it be fitting if we have some bread and salt?” You quickly asked before your husband forgot.

He sneered “fine. Bring us salt and a loaf!” He commanded a maid who scurried off.

You smiled gratefully at him to which he glared.

“Step forward, girl. I want to see the woman who was apparently better than my daughters,” he motioned for you to come closer.

You looked to Lady Catelyn who nodded at you. You took a hesitant step forward and clasped your hands infront of you.

He looked you up and down “yes I see it, any boy would be swayed. What’s better than a pair of full breasts and good hips? Eh?”

You automatically crossed your arms over yourself in an attempt to hide yourself.

Just as your outraged husband stepped forward to say something, you quickly gestured to his daughters “well you have lovely daughters so I doubt it had anything to do with appearance,”

He scoffed again “don’t lie to me, girl. I knew them lot would be ugly the minute their mother squeezed them out,” his eyes moved down to your stomach “let’s hope that one won’t be,”

Your eyes widened and you stepped back beside your husband who cleared his throat “I think we’ll have the bread now,” The maid nodded and handed it out to everyone. You quickly ate it, not wanting to waste a second and instantly felt better.

“My Lord, we’re all extremely tired from our journey, we would thank you if we could be shown to our rooms, please.” Catelyn said

He nodded and commanded another maid to take you to your rooms.

He could have easily been spiteful and have given you cramped, filthy rooms like you had expected, but when you went in you were shocked. Your bed was large and had plenty of pillows. The window was huge and allowed plenty of light to come in and gave you a view of the lake.

You could have laid down on the bed and slept instantly, but the question of how he knew you were pregnant was nagging you.

“How did he know, Robb?” You sighed

“I’m not sure. Maybe he just guessed?”

You shook your head “no. He can’t have seen either. I’m not showing yet, am I?” You studied yourself in the mirror

“No, you’re not. But I mean he has plenty of daughters, that means he’s seen plenty of pregnancies, so that could be how,”

“Someone told him. I guarantee it. It had to have been the maester. Only him and you know. Unless someone overheard us talking,”

“Well, it shouldn’t matter, things will pan out the same way either way,” he rested a hand on your waist “don’t fret over it. Nothing will touch you or him,”

You let out a shaky breath “I’m sorry, I’m just on edge every moment we spend here,”

“I understand, it’s frightening. But try and sleep, you look exhausted, and there’s a celebration tomorrow that we have to act normal at,”

You nodded “okay, I’ll try.” You laid down in the bed and closed your eyes, and eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

-

The next morning you woke before your husband. You drew yourself a bath, not wanting any maids to wake him, and climbed in. You sighed and closed your eyes, welcoming the hot water.

“Good morning,” you heard Robb say

“Good morning,” you smiled over at him “I woke early so I decided to just make my own bath,”

He smiled “I’m tempted to climb in there with you, but I have to make sure everyone is prepared,”

You nodded “I understand. And once this is over we can have all the baths we’d like,” you smiled

He chuckled lightly “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay.” You nodded.

Once he had gone you took a breath and left the tub. You put on your best dress and had the maids do your hair in an elegant style. The celebrations would be starting later. So once you were dressed, you picked up a book and started to read.

-

The day went in painfully slow. Probably because you were anxiously waiting for this moment. The wedding feast. The ceremony had already happened and now you were all in the great hall in the twins. You were seated beside Robb and his mother. You had your hand on Robb’s the whole time. People would smile fondly at your joined hands, thinking you couldn’t stand to be apart but really it was to comfort your stomach which you were surprised managed to keep down the food that was served.

Hours went by and soon people were beginning to chant “bed them.” Your uncle-in-law had a drunken grin on his face but his bride had tears down her cheeks. You sent her a comforting smile. The poor thing was terrified, she’d probably heard whispers of the pain, and Edmure Tully didn’t seem like the type of man to take care with a maiden.

The pair of them were carried off, which emptied the hall significantly. You stood, excusing yourself, giving the excuse of needing the bathroom. Just as you were about to leave, one of Lord Frey’s sons offered you his hand “it would be an honour to dance with you, my queen,”

You took a shaky breath and gave Robb a nervous glance before accepting his hand “alright, but just one song,” you smiled tightly.

He glanced over at his father as he danced with you, almost seeking an approval. You took a quick peek to the door to see a Bolton soldier locking the door swiftly. You take a shaky breath and immediately take a step away from the man when the song is over.

“One more dance?” He asked

“No, thank you, my Lord. I had better get back to my husband,” you smiled nervously.

He nodded understandably and wished you well.

You sat beside Robb, taking his hand, relieved when you heard the tiny jingle of his armour. Shortly after, a familiar song started to play. The reigns of Castamere. You gave a stiff nod to the curly headed man and stood, taking lady Catelyn’s arm in your own. You both headed to a secluded area of the room, armed with small knives that were hidden up your sleeves. You both gripped each other tightly when the fighting started.

Men were falling all around you. Arrows pierced some, and others had blood dripping down their faces.

You heard the large clang of the door being opened and you rushed towards it. But just as you were about to leave, a man stepped infront of you.

“It’ll be a great tale to say I had the Stark princess,” he grinned and took a step forward. Just as he was about to grab you, you plunged the knife into his exposed neck and watched as he collapsed to the ground.

“The Stark Queen, actually,” you spat and rushed out, wiping the blood off your hands. You and lady Catelyn ran to the stables and hid in the most secluded one. You heard Grey-Wind howl and you knew they’d kill him too. You whistled for him and the next thing you knew he was cowering beside you too.

“Easy boy, Robb will be out soon,” you stroked his head.

-

The fighting went on for a while but eventually the Starks prospered. They came out of the hall, triumphant, and tired.

When you spotted Robb you instantly got up and ran to him. His face was caked in blood and cuts, but he was alive and that’s what mattered.

“Y/n, are you alright?” He asked breathlessly, examining your body for wounds.

You nodded “I’m fine, and so is your mother,” you added when he opened his mouth to ask.

Speaking of his mother, Lady Catelyn also rushed to her son and embraced him. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she stroked his cheek “you look like your father. And acted like him too. That was true bravery, my son,”

He kissed her cheek “thank you mother,” he smiled softly.

Robb turned to his men “Men, today we’ve won. It was a good fight, and there’ll be many more to come...so tonight, we celebrate!”

The men cheered and ran off towards the camp, eager to drink their weight in beer.

-

“Are you relieved, my queen?” Robb asked you later that night

You nodded “I am. I’m glad it’s over and that we’re safe. All of us.”

He nodded and kissed your forehead “I’ll always protect you,”

You smiled up at him and closed your eyes, falling asleep “I know you will,”

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Day 236-238

November 2-4  Well, it's been a hell of a few days but I have to write the journal entry sometime, I suppose. Monday night I went to bed super early and last night I was exhausted and heartsore, and today I've got a nervous stomachache that just won't quit, but if I'm journaling this year, this is going to be a pretty important inflection point.  Monday was a day where not a lot happened, or not a lot I can remember at this point anyway. I made my butternut squash soup in the evening so I could take it to the precinct in the morning and put myself to bed at 10pm, several hours earlier than normal because I had to wake up at four. I didn't sleep great, but I used the Boring Books for Bedtime podcast to get me to sleep and I was able to get some rest. I also laid out my clothes ahead of time so I wouldn't have to wake my husband up at that hour just so I could get dressed.  Tuesday morning I woke up, showered, dressed and packed up my bag for the precinct, all in less than an hour. I wound up cutting it a little close at the end, so when I got to the car and realized I'd forgotten my piping hot travel mug of pumpkin spice coffee with pumpkin spice creamer, I reluctantly went on without it. There was coffee from a machine at the precinct, but it definitely was not as good. But I did arrive on time, so that was good. There is a lot to do in the hour between 5am and 6am when the polls open. 

My position this election was procedural specialist, which basically meant that whenever a situation cropped up that required a procedure, I was the one who went and did it. This was things like "voter with absentee ballot wants to trade it in for a regular ballot," "voter with absentee ballot does not have their ballot and will have to vote provisionally," "voter is not on the pollbook and is not 100% sure whether they are registered, but wants to vote provisionally just in case they are," "something about voter has changed, usually married name or address, and they need to fill out a new voter registration form while they are voting" and "voter has no ID/ voter wants to give us a hard time about ID and needs to fill out the confirmation of identity form before voting." There's a lot of stuff to remember, and I crammed pretty hard in the days before the election, as well as stuffing my manual with post-it flags for important topics. 

During a busy election, being a procedural specialist could be pretty daunting, even overwhelming. Every unusual voter has to be handled carefully, to give their vote the best possible chance of being counted. Lucky for me, our precinct had very heavy early-voting representation. Out of 2200 registered voters, more than 1300 had voted early in person or gotten absentee ballots in the mail. We only had 398 voters all day long, which is primary-light turnout. It was a little funny because we'd staffed for a contentious and complex presidential election and had nearly double the usual staff load for an election, and all of us sat around almost all day. I wound up with only six provisional votes all day, plus four ID forms, four or five voter registration updates, and three absentee-for-regular ballot switches. Unfortunately situations seemed to crop up everytime I went to the bathroom for awhile in the morning, but I had a lot of downtime.  We did have some extra staff positions that needed filled, so it was good we had some extra people. There was an outside team of four people, keeping an eye out for any trouble, handling curbside voting, and directing people to the correct door for voting or vote dropoff. We had one position for "drop box guard" because every precinct in Virginia was also an authorized drop-off location for absentee ballots on Election Day. The election board was quite concerned about the possibility that somebody might abscond with a whole damn ballot box, even though it's the size of a school-age child, so somebody had to sit next to it all day long despite the fact that we only got three dropoff ballots. And of course there were the sanitizers, people whose job was to follow every voter leaving a station and sanitize that station with disinfectant before the next voter arrived. Other than that, though, we had a lot of extra people and mainly used the day as an opportunity to train the newbies. I spent four hours in the afternoon not even working the pollbook, but watching other people work the pollbook to make sure nobody made any mistakes. It was incredibly boring.  The last hour of the night, after the polls close, is even busier than the first hour of the morning. Everybody really wants to go home, and of course the registrar is chomping at the bit to get the vote totals, but everything has to be done exactly right or we all get in trouble. In Virginia, there are a dozen boxes and envelopes that need to be filled, accounted for, sealed and returned to the office at the end of the night. Each envelope needs specific paperwork, and each paper requires the right signatures. The actual used paper ballots go in their own box, marked on the top, sealed with tape, and then further sealed with three security labels signed by every officer of election. Normally with 12 officials this is not a big deal, but getting 22 names onto those labels this time was an exercise in writing very small. We were in good shape at the end of the night because we'd had no discrepancies and only one incident all day (Laptop 3 crapped out around 3pm, leaving us with two pollbooks for the rest of the day but it didn't matter because turnout was so light that we never had any lines), but it was still a lot of work.  My particular job was to shepherd the provisional ballots and the provisional ballot log and make sure they got where they needed to go. I had to have a second officer of the opposing political party ("Hey, I need a Republican who isn't doing anything!") count the six ballots with me, affirm that there were six ballots on the voting log, and then sign and seal them into their envelope. After that I helped get documents into the correct envelopes and make sure that everything got sealed according to the extremely arcane rules. It was honestly the most exciting and fast paced part of the entire day, and we broke down and packed up the entire precinct in only ninety minutes.  I went home exhausted to watch results, and of course it wasn't what we'd been hoping for. I can't believe so very many people are still totally ready for more of Trump's bullshit and incompetence. It honestly boggles my mind how such a hateful man gets so many otherwise reasonable people to vote for him. Even though I understood in principle the idea of a red mirage with early ballots being counted late, I was heartsick when I went to sleep and despite being exhausted, I slept very poorly.  This morning the news was better, though not great. A close race means litigation, and of course Trump claimed victory overnight despite huge numbers of uncounted ballots. He is human garbage. Our Democratic congresswoman held her seat, and her opponent made a gracious concession speech that was actually eloquent and nice. It's bizarre how quickly something like that becomes an oddity. But most of the mail-in ballots were for Democrats, as predicted, and the outcome is better, though still far from certain. After all these failures of prediction, I'm afraid to believe in anything at this point. But maybe tonight I will at least get some sleep.  Despite everything, life went on today. The kiddo had a day off for teacher workday because it's the end of the first quarter already. Jesus. I cleaned up the kitten room enough that my husband can now use it as the office it actually is supposed to be, so he worked in there today and I got my bedroom back. That was a high point of the day, definitely. I got my period, so that sucked, but at least I could lay in bed for awhile and not be on camera for a bunch of college students. In the morning I drove down and transported a cat to the recovery room for spaying tomorrow, which closed up another TNR site. We're picking away at our list, slow but sure, but it just keeps getting longer. There are  so many cats!  Later in the day, I noted that the kiddo had been using a lot of screen time and we had a discussion about whether he'd done the chores to actually earn those points. He cleaned out the dishwasher and went to clean his bathroom, and I was just about to start dinner when I heard the terrifying dual noises of running water and "MOM! THE TOILET IS FLOODING!" And it sure was, with gusto! I ripped the tank lid off and grabbed the float to stop the water running, and made the guys grab every towel in the house to get water off the floor before we gave the downstairs neighbors a bath. The flood lasted only about 30 seconds, but it put quite a bit of water on the floor. I was able to get the flapper back in place and determine nothing in the tank was actually broken, the flapper had just gotten stuck when the overflow began and it had cascaded from there.   But what had caused the backup? There was no waste in the water, one small blessing, just lots and lots of disintegrating toilet paper bits. The kiddo admitted that he'd had an inspiration while cleaning the toilet. There was a lot of gunk under the rim, he had explained, and he thought that if he could get the water high enough in the bowl, it would wash away the gunk with no need to scrub. So he'd taken a bunch of toilet paper and shoved it in the toilet to block it up, gotten the bowl nice and full, and then immediately realized he'd created a situation he couldn't stop. (He seemed to have been planning to use the plunger to remove the blockage, not realizing quite how much toilet paper he was using.) He was extremely contrite about the whole thing and promised to run future brilliant cleaning ideas past a parent for review. The clog proved highly resistant to plunging, and after an hour I was almost ready to throw in the towel and call maintenance to snake the damn thing. As a last ditch effort, I completely emptied the bowl, then filled it with a bucket of the hottest water I could coax from the bathtub, and used that to plunge. It worked, and the toilet finally flushed. Whew.  And then I had to make supper! I put together a nice meatloaf and preheated the oven, only for smoke to come pouring out of the damn thing. See, yesterday while I was working the polls, my husband cooked something, chili I think, in the oven, and realized that the pot he was using was much too full. He put a pan under it, but apparently the pot was much-much too full, because it overran that and the pan and got all over the oven and set off the smoke alarm. He'd wiped out the oven, but I think he missed the broiler and that's why it smoked right up again. At this point I just sighed and started looking for microwave meatloaf recipes. I did find one, and though it was not as good as oven meatloaf, it was edible, and I was really very done with household tasks for the day.  Now it is getting late and I'm beat, but the nerves won't go away. It is so hard to be in the same position as four years ago, disappointed in your country, terrified to hope for anything, but clinging to the possibility that things will be okay. It hurt so badly before, even worse than now I think, because it was so shocking. I guess it's like the first time your home gets ruined by a flood versus the second time, both times your house is ruined, but the second time at least you weren't surprised that something like this could happen. I wish I knew how to get off this flood plain. On the other hand, my Tumblr post of kittens has really taken off and has over a thousand notes. Apparently I was not the only one in need of high-octane cuteness to give my brain a few seconds of peace and happiness. I'm going to try and get some sleep now, here's hoping for better dreams and better tomorrow. Please, please, please. 

[magicofthepen]

Gallifrey Relisten: The Inquiry

So this time I’m posting my reaction thoughts before listening to the corresponding @podofrassilon episode, so I’m curious to see if there’s anything that’s a) the same as someone’s thoughts on the podcast or b) in wild disagreement with someone thoughts on the podcast, because both are fun. And I might do a followup post if there are new things I want to talk about after listening to the podcast? Although mostly I’m just excited to hear other people talk about this episode because there are a few key things that fall under the category of “this is probably an interesting thing to theorize/speculate about but I haven’t really done that and it would be cool to hear other people do that.”

Spoilers for/mentions of: A Blind Eye, Lies, Enemy Lines, plus vague references to overall character arcs. 

“I am Lady Romanadvoratrelundar, President of the Supreme Council of Gallifrey and All Her Dominions, Holder of the Wisdom of Rassilon, Preserver of the Matrix, Guardian of the Legacy of Omega.” Romana, please.

“What is Narvin after? Why does he take part?” “Because he has no choice.” No, Narvin definitely was the one who called the inquiry, Leela has a valid point here. The motivations are a bit...weird, idk, in Weapon of Choice Narvin wants to hold Romana accountable, but this not-impartial inquiry with Brax in charge is definitely....not that. Was he hoping there would be a more genuine investigation into the Gryben incident but it didn’t work out? Did he care less about the inquiry after Romana didn’t actually end up starting a war or something in Weapon of Choice? Did he just want to make a point that when she crosses a line, he’ll make sure it isn’t forgotten? 

“He’s CIA, of course he’s up to something.” The venom directed towards the CIA here...it’s a bit hilarious. Listen, I know, I know that Romana has solid personal reasons to distrust the CIA at this point, but I’m still like...bold words from a future CIA Coordinator. 

“Whatever happened, the CIA recruited Narvin and he never looked back.” This is flagged purely to note that I’m excited to hear people’s Narvin backstory headcanons. And also, I’m not sure if I just never pay attention to this, but who was running Project Alpha, if not the CIA? That kind of weapon feels like it would already fall under the CIA’s supervision. 

There’s definitely a messy dynamic there with Narvin and "Torvald” and trust — Narvin lets “Torvald” hang around, but doesn’t actually want to tell him everything about Project Alpha. Obviously Narvin doesn’t know "Torvald’s” real identity, but at what point does he realize that Real Torvald was in league with Free Time? Is there a time when he shifts from some semblance of trust to strictly pretending to trust him? Does Narvin really trust anyone ever at this point? 

Romana figures out a way to track the device, but like. Has no one been looking for it this whole time? 

Darkel agrees to let Leela go as an impartial observer, and is generally pretty chill with Leela? Also pretty chill in general? Another big “I want to hear Thoughts about this” thing is Darkel’s shift in attitude towards Romana and Leela between The Inquiry and Lies — I think I’ve seen some ideas about it, but it isn’t set up in the same way that you can hear Narvin getting increasingly pissed at Romana the longer series one goes on. 

There are these recurring discussion of trust in this episode — Romana: Don’t trust Narvin. Or Torvald. Leela: I do not. They have let me down before. / Narvin: Do you trust the President? Leela: Why do you ask? / Leela to Brax: I trust you. And actually, it’s all about who Leela trusts (or is being told to trust, or doesn’t trust), which is super interesting considering the end of the next episode is going to leave Leela with some major trust issues. 

“Trust is something that is earned. Perhaps one day [Braxiatel] and Romana will earn your trust.” “I doubt it.” Well, Leela and Narvin are both half right. 

I wrote down “Andred you asshole” and now I genuinely can’t remember what I was referring to, but it sounds right. 

Narvin has moments where he’s almost being respectful towards Leela, but ruins it — i.e. “That Savage knows more about the art of war than you do.” 

Romana’s insistence that “Andred is probably dead and really you should move on” is uhhhhhh not the most supportive behavior but also dear god she really wants to be Leela’s favorite doesn’t she. 

The iconic: “One thing our President cannot be accused of is incompetence.” speech. :)

“I can make mistakes. And my mistakes have consequences.” A flickering moment of self-awareness from our favorite disaster president. 

Romana: “I’m going, Narvin, and you can’t stop me.” Me: yeah that’s the show isn’t it.

When exactly does the “metaphorical bridge at midnight” scene take place for Brax? He doesn’t seem to know about the threat of the data bomb yet, and he’s already dealt with the sculpture by the end of the episode in Present Times, and the meeting is clearly meant to be close to the present, but I’ve never really thought about when exactly it falls.

Kind of related: I am in general really interested in hearing other people talk about Brax because I don’t have many Brax thoughts myself? Mainly because I’ve only listened to Gallifrey (haven’t listened to Benny, haven’t read any of the books), so I feel like I can’t really form strong opinions or headcanons or theories about Brax’s character because there’s so much I don’t know about him. 

This is something I’ve seen other people talk about, but Narvin is actually being considerate of Leela’s feelings in this episode? “With all due respect to your late husband” — it backfires, but he is trying to acknowledge her loss even while he’s criticizing the Chancellery Guard. And then the whole bit where he hesitates to tell her exactly what Andred said to him, and quickly reassures her that Andred was lying when he was saying terrible things about Leela. I think Narvin’s behavior in that latter scene is partially motivated by trying to keep her calm and drag out telling her about Andred until Torvald can get there for backup (she was threatening him), but there’s another part of it that does seem quite genuine.   

Yet another episode this season where the solution is to let the bomb go off, to let events run their course. 

So if Brax and Narvin were the only people who knew about Project Alpha, how did Arkadian know to steal the device to try to provoke a war? Certain Theories About Arkadian aside...the question of how the heck he knew it existed and how to go after it is an interesting one. All questions about Arkadian are interesting ones tbh, considering there are no answers about Arkadian. 

It genuinely took me several times listening through Gallifrey before I realized that they did actually destroy a planet at the end of the episode because they’re very chill about it? Oh, this device is So Terrible, but yeah, it’s cool if it kills everybody on that planet because that’s how Time Goes. It’s not even really made into a moral dilemma? Idk it always felt a bit tonally inconsistent with the other episodes this series, which I think is why I genuinely did not follow this bit of plot for so long.

Okay, so when the timonic fusion device was stolen, it was snatched right before detonation? And wasn’t there a whole thing in episode one about how the detonation sequence couldn’t be stopped? (I mean, it wasn’t a real detonation sequence in episode one, but still). The point is: they stole it like a second before it blew up and really quickly turned it off...how? (This is mostly just me being nitpicky for fun, I don’t actually care that much about the details, this is Doctor Who.)

Kind of alluded to this above, but yet another episode that ends with Narvin being pissed at Romana (here for disregarding Brax breaking the rules). 

Next Episode Reaction: A Blind Eye

Previous Episode Reaction: Square One

[gluupor]

Andreil. A Knight and Day AU, please!

So, uh, I have no idea what this is. I’ve never seen Knight and Day and only have the vaguest idea what it’s about (spies, maybe???). Instead of doing the logical thing, and admitting that and turning down the request or looking into the movie, instead I wrote this: which is definitely not what you wanted or asked for. Oh, but @annawrites it has a fake relationship! But again, probably not what you wanted. Sorry anon! Enjoy anyway, I guess?

Whenever anyone asked Neil what he did for a living, he responded by saying he was a spy. This always was met with impressed faces and probing questions about his job. Was it like being James Bond? everyone always wanted to know. Was he out there, taking names and kicking ass? Neil always tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially and said that he couldn’t talk about it, that it was classified.

He wasn’t lying. He was a spy. What he didn’t mention was that he didn’t work for the CIA or the FBI or the NSA. No, he worked for the IRS. He was an accountant spy.

His job consisted of going undercover at suspect companies and looking for evidence that they were committing tax fraud or other white collar crime. He suspected that all the people who were so impressed with his profession would be less so if they knew the particulars.

Luckily, there weren’t all that many people who asked. He socialized mainly with his coworkers at the IRS (who, obviously, were aware of what he did for a living) or with his coworkers when he was undercover (and it’s not like he could tell them that he was spying on them).

In general, he liked his work. It brought together his two biggest talents: math and lying about his identity. He knew that some of his coworkers, like Dan and Matt, had lofty goals and ideals about making the world a better place by punishing the rich, but Neil was in it for the money.

As good as he was (and he was very good) every so often he made mistakes. Like today.

“Come on, pick up,” he muttered into his phone. “Pick up, pick up, pick up.”

“Foxes’ Dry Cleaning,” answered Dan’s cheerful voice. “We clean up your messes.”

“Hey, babe,” said Neil.

“‘Babe’?” repeated Dan. “Our relationship seems to have gotten a lot more serious without my knowledge.”

“How are you? Still free tonight?”

“I’m pretty sure that your current identity doesn’t have a significant other,” sighed Dan. “What happened?”

“Well, you know how I wasn’t planning on being out at work?” asked Neil.

“Neil,” groaned Dan.

“I know, but I was caught off guard, Chad,” said Neil, testily. “So I need to know if you’re free to come to the office party tonight?”

“Everyone’s busy.”

“Mmm-hmmm,” said Neil. “I know that, but I would really appreciate—”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Everyone wants to meet my husband.”

“You’re usually better at obfuscating,” grumbled Dan. “Someone will be there by five.”

“Great,” said Neil in relief. “It means a lot to me. Love you.”

“I’m going to tell Andrew you said that.”

“Okay, bye.” Neil hung up and rubbed a hand through his hair. Goddamn Barbara. This was all her fault.

She was one of those well-meaning busybody types with her nose in everyone’s business, telling them how to live their lives. Neil did not feel guilty at all that he was probably going to be arresting her for tax evasion in the near future.

He’d been doing pretty well at brushing her off when she asked about his personal life, sharing only little bits about his fake background. He’d also been successful so far at shutting down her attempts to set him up. All it had taken was one momentary lapse when he hadn’t had his guard up.

“I invited someone to the office party tonight that I really think you should meet,” Barbara had said.

“Mmm,” said Neil, completely noncommittally, focused on his calculations. He was missing something, somewhere. It wasn’t adding up properly.

“I really think you’ll like her, she’s super great.”

“No.”

“Oh, come on. You need someone to take care of you.”

“I’m married,” Neil had muttered, his mouth saying the words without permission from his brain. “Uh,” he said, catching himself and looking up. “I mean…”

Her eyes had narrowed at his left ring finger which was completely bare. She raised one eyebrow skeptically. “Really? How come you never mentioned it before?”

“Look,” said Neil, checking around to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. “I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure how people here would react to… him.”

“Oh!” said Barbara, suddenly flustered. “I didn’t know you were— not that there’s anything wrong with that,” she hastily tacked on.

“If you could keep it to yourself?” he asked. “I’m not ready to be, you know, out here.”

“Of course,” she said, nodding a lot and watching him with newfound interest. “Of course I won’t tell anybody.”

Neil had not had high hopes and his lack of trust in her discretion had been proven correct less than an hour later when Evelyn, a very professional HR rep, had stiffly stood next to his desk.

“I am sorry,” she’d said, “Mr. Jacobs, that you have felt the need to hide your sexuality.”

“Oh, please don’t—” started Neil.

“This company is very accepting of a variety of different lifestyles and I want to ensure you that we will swiftly deal with any person that is making you feel uncomfortable.”

“Uh,” said Neil, stupidly.

“As such, we request that you invite your… partner to the office party tonight. He will be welcomed with open arms.”

“I don’t—”

“Oh, Neil, you have to,” said Barbara, popping up from god-knew-where. “We feel simply horrible that you’ve felt the need to keep this from us!”

Neil opened his mouth and closed it, feeling like a fish. He turned back to Evelyn. “This whole conversation is making me feel uncomfortable,” he tried.

“We look forward to meeting your partner tonight,” Evelyn replied.

“Husband,” Neil said grumpily. He hated the term ‘partner’.

“I can’t wait!” said Barbara.

Which was when Neil had given up arguing and decided to call Dan for help. There was only one thing that could solve this problem: a fake husband.

He’d teamed up with several of his co-workers before, pretending to be married. It was easier to work with a supporting partner and having a spouse that came to visit him at work was a good cover. But he didn’t need a normal husband for this. He needed Chad.

It was originally Erik who had made up the persona. He’d been working with Dan at the time and she needed him to pretend to be her boyfriend at a party at the company she was investigating. She told him to be as distracting as possible but to remain above suspicion.

Erik had taken these directions and created Chad: a golden retriever of a human being. He was a personal trainer/masseur/underwear model, who had a smile like sunshine and absolutely nothing going on below the surface. He was so pretty and dumb that everyone instantly understood that he was arm candy. He’d smiled beguilingly and let Dan’s middle aged female coworkers pinch his biceps. He’d been so distracting that Dan had successfully planted several bugs in executives’ offices while everyone was looking at her perfect boyfriend. After that, Chad had been a tool that all of them used from time to time.

Nicky, Jeremy, and Matt were all very good at being Chad (Erik was still the master), Kevin and Neil were passable, and no one asked the twins to do it after Andrew had tried once and made everyone incredibly uncomfortable with his wide grin.

There was also a female version of Chad, called Candi (with an i) that Allison always had too much fun pretending to be, although she was better at being a bored, bitter trophy wife.

Neil knew that they were swamped right now; there was a reason that he didn’t already have a backup fake significant other. He felt bad for his slip up, but having a Chad at the party tonight would be useful. He’d found quite a few irregularities in his accounting and he wanted to bug his boss’ office to get an idea of how widespread and intentional the tax fraud was. He hoped that Matt was available to come, although Kevin would be fine, too. Those were the two he worked with most often.

He spent the rest of the afternoon half-focused on his work and half-worrying about the party that evening.

It wasn’t until Barbara was standing by his desk, rocking excitedly on the balls of her feet that Neil was made aware of the time.

“Jameson,” she said, addressing him by his undercover name. He was pretending to be a trust fund douchebag and he had a name to match. “Is he on his way?” Her excitement was palpable, although Neil had no idea why.

“I’m sure he is,” answered Neil. He actually had no clue who was coming or how to contact them, but he trusted Dan not to let him down.

“What’s he like?”

“Uh,” stuttered Neil, desperately trying to come up with the most generic description ever that didn’t include any hints to Chad’s physical appearance. “Nice.”

Barbara gave him an unimpressed look, but he was saved by his office phone ringing. He pointed at it and she sighed happily.

“Mr. Jacobs?” said the gruff voice of the building’s security guard. “I have a Chad Jacobs here to see you.”

“I’ll be right down,” said Neil, heading to the elevators. Barbara was still watching him with heart eyes as the elevator doors closed between them.

He spent the trip down wordlessly thanking Dan for sending someone to save him. Once he arrived, he smiled in relief at the familiar blond head. He always felt best with Andrew at his back, even though Andrew made a poor Chad. It wasn’t until he’d taken a couple steps out of the elevator that he realized his mistake.

Aaron looked like he was on the way to the executioner’s block as opposed to an office party where he’d have to pretend to be his real-life brother-in-law’s fake husband for the evening. Although, Neil was in agreement that there wasn’t a lot of difference between the two.

“Babe,” he made himself say, reaching out a hand. “Come upstairs.”

Aaron pushed past him into the elevator without acknowledging him.

“Ground rules,” he said as soon as they were alone. “I’ve decided that Chad is uncomfortable with PDA.”

“Remember that Chad is gay and shouldn’t be caught staring at women’s breasts,” Neil said snippily in return.

“Maybe Chad is bisexual and is considering leaving you.”

“You’re here to back me up, not to make this harder,” grumbled Neil. “Could you try to pretend to like me?”

“It’s not like you like me.”

“You are not even in the top three people who I hate most in the world right now.”

“Really?” said Aaron with interest. “I thought I was usually number one. Who’s beating me?”

“Well, Dan, obviously, for sending you.” Aaron nodded in agreement. “Andrew, for not being available to come himself. And Kevin.”

“Kevin? Kevin didn’t do anything.”

“Everything is at least partially Kevin’s fault.”

“Fair,” Aaron paused. “What do they know about me?”

“That your name is Chad, that we are married, and that you’re nice.”

Aaron glared. “Fine,” he muttered, and took Neil’s hand. His palm with warm and clammy and Neil resisted the urge to snatch his hand away and wipe it on his pants.

“I’m going to murder Dan,” he muttered, as the elevator arrived at his floor. “Smile!” he added. “We’re in love.”

“Great,” sighed Aaron, pasting an unconvincing smile on his face.

As soon as they got back to headquarters, a raucous cheer greeted them. Matt popped the cork out of a bottle of champagne.

“Mazel tov to the happy couple!” he shouted.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re hilarious,” muttered Aaron. “Give me some of that so I can forget this ever happened.”

“Aw, did your husband not treat you well?” chortled Nicky.

Aaron set his jaw and didn’t answer.

“Did you get the bugs placed?” Dan asked.

“Yes,” said Neil, giving a full-body shudder.

“What?” said Dan, noting his reaction. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” replied Neil. Dan was not impressed, her expression demanding. “I almost got caught. It’s okay, it worked out.”

“How did it work out?” asked Allison, sounding completely delighted.

“Give me the alcohol,” said Aaron sharply.

“Come on, tell us!” cajoled Erik.

“I hate all of you,” said Aaron.

“It’s all in good fun,” said Renee.

“Yes,” said Neil dryly. “Hopefully one day we’ll find it just as funny as the rest of you already do.”

“Tell us! Tell us what you’re hiding!” said Katelyn.

Aaron sighed heavily. “He dragged me into a closet and got on his knees. Then I had to make fake sex noises until one of his coworkers caught us. It was the worst moment of my life. I would appreciate the oblivion of alcohol now.”

Everybody laughed heartily and looked to Andrew for his reaction.

He shook his head at Neil. “I don’t answer your call once and you elope with my brother?”

“Serves you right,” replied Neil.

Andrew stepped closer to him, lips twitching.

Neil glared at him. “Not you, too.”

“I always wanted the two of you to get along better, but this is not what I meant.”

“You’re going to regret making jokes when I leave you for him.”

“You’re not going to do that,” said Andrew seriously, although his hazel eyes were still amused.

“You know how petty I can be.”

“You won’t,” reiterated Andrew with confidence. “You only swing for me.” He pulled Neil into a kiss and he immediately melted. He didn’t know how Andrew could affect him like this, after seven years of marriage and over a decade together.

Still. He wasn’t going to let this go that easily. “Mmm,” he moaned. “Aaron.”

Andrew pinched his waist in retaliation.

Nearby, Aaron whimpered unhappily into his champagne.

[tattooednursewrites]

Falling is Like This - Ch 9

Masterlist

Ch 1

Ch 8

Summary:    The mission to rescue Jemma doesn't go as planned.

Warnings:   Language

Steve x Bucky x OFC

Soulmates AU – Not Civil War compliant. Not Agents of Shield Compliant.

AN:   I feel the need to apologize for being MIA for so long. My husband leaving has thrown my life into a bit of a tailspin... and I'm learning to be alone after 17 years. It's hard to focus long enough to make words happen. On top of that, work has been stressful. But thank you all for sticking with this story. I have in no way given up on it, it's just slow going. Love you guys, and hope you all are safe and well.

Ch 9

          The building definitely didn’t scream ‘scary murderous organization’ to you. There were definitely things that raised a few red flags if you were a suspicious sort, though. Firstly, it was isolated. That alone might not be worrisome. Add in the top of the line security? Well… definitely odd, but not necessarily unusual with research and development. The armed guards, however, should make even the most naïve person hesitate. You, however, had no doubt the evil that lay within, so your smile didn’t falter as you strutted to the door, ignoring the guard’s eyes on you.

              The identity you had created would at least get you in the door, a rich socialite looking to invest in a company that may or may not develop some very interesting recreational pharmaceuticals. What these people wanted with Jemma you had no idea. Nor did you care, you just wanted to make sure they didn’t get it, and that Jemma was safe. You checked in at the desk and sat down to wait. You were supposed to meet some bitchy figurehead that would no doubt try and con you out of as much money as she could, but you would let her feel like she was getting whatever she wanted if it got you closer to Jemma. She just needed to get you into the more secure areas. Then you could knock her out and stash her somewhere.

              You scanned the area again as you waited, fidgeting with the earrings Fitz had given you. They allowed the team to see and hear what was going on, and if you pressed three times, that was the abort code, and they’d come in to get you and Jemma out the hard way. You were hoping to avoid that, though. You sighed, your thoughts wandering to Steve and Bucky. You hoped they wouldn’t be too mad at you. When they met Jemma, they would understand. You remembered Bucky and Natasha catching your reunion and had to redirect your thoughts before the blush overtook you.

           You heard your alias called, and you stood, taking the woman’s hand. She was younger than you expected. She led you quickly through the guarded door, and then two more locked doors. You were so focused on memorizing your path you didn’t realize you had entered a room until you heard a gasp. You turned, your eyes finding Jemma, then you felt the pinch of a needle, and everything went black.

***

              Bucky paced as Steve and Natasha sat at the table watching the feed. You had just walked into the building and Bucky couldn’t keep still. He was thankful Nat had convinced Coulson to agree to the three of them joining the group at the extraction point. He didn’t like that the mission, one that put you in danger, was already underway, but at least he was here if anything went wrong.

              Steve had been surprised, but happy, to see Coulson alive and well. Bucky figured there was a story there, but didn’t ask. Fitz, a friend of Hazel’s and the soulmate of the missing Jemma, was stationed in front of a computer, watching the same feed, his eyes not leaving the screen. Bucky paced as Steve sat next to Coulson, going over the plan and safeties in place. Bucky knew he should be paying attention, but he was having trouble focusing. This was more Steve’s thing, anyway. Bucky got bored with planning fairly quickly.

       “No, no, no!” Fitz shot up and Bucky was the first at his side.

              “Fuck.”

              The picture had tilted, meaning you weren’t upright anymore. Jemma could be seen crying in the background as you were approached by guards. Bucky felt Steve grab his arm as the feed cut out.

              “What happened? Why did the feed cut out?” Steve looked to Fitz, then Coulson.

              “I… I… It, they shouldn’t…” Fitz was staring at the feed as he muttered.

              “Contact May and Daisy, see if they still have eyes,” Coulson said, resting a calming hand on Fitz’s shoulder. “We’ll get them out.”

 ***

              Fuuuuuccckkkk. Getting drugged never got any easier. The headache was insane. Getting hit over the head almost hurt less. You kept your breathing measured and cracked your eyes a bit. No one else that you could see so far. Listening as much as you could, all you heard was a slight whimpering. Shit. Opening your eyes fully you turned. Jemma was curled up on a bench against the wall. You looked around the room, confirming it was just the two of you, before turning back to her.

              “Jemma, it’s okay, breath sweetheart,” you murmured, bringing her attention to you.

              “Hazel! I’m so sorry! I tried to warn you, they were just…”

              “No, sweetie, no,” you swallowed, nausea overwhelming you as you moved to sit up more. “You couldn’t have done anything. I’m just glad to see you. Are you alright? Do I have to kill anyone?”

              “I… I’m okay, I think. A bit bruised. Mainly worried about you. It… it was a trap and…” she broke off when there was a noise from outside.

              You both listened for a few moments before you scooted yourself toward her a bit. It was awkward with your wrist and ankles tied – fucking zip-ties – but you managed. “Any idea what their evil plan is?” You mumbled, keeping your voice low.

              “They were trying to make me work on a formula. When I wasn’t doing what they wanted, they were hoping to get some… leverage. I think they expected Fitz,” she paused, taking a shaky breath. “Thank you, for keeping him out of this.”

              “Of course. Well, you know I can take a lot of damage, so don’t give in on my account. I can handle it, if it comes to that.” You spoke quickly, trying to instill your voice with a confidence you didn’t feel. Torture was definitely high on the list of your least favorite things. “I’m hoping I can get us out of this before it’s a problem, though.”

              Jemma winced. “I don’t know if I could…”

              “You can and you will,” you cut her off, your voice forceful, prompting her to look at you. “It won’t be easy, but we do what we have to do, yeah?”

              She swallowed, but gave you a shaky nod. “I’ll do my very best.”

              “I know, sweetie. And I can’t ask for more than that. So, how much do we think they know?”

              “They don’t seem to know much about you, they called you my lab rat friend, I don’t think…”

              She was interrupted by the door opening.

 ***

              “I understand your urgency, but we can’t rush this,” Coulson insisted, looking between Steve and Bucky. Steve took a breath and turned to Bucky.

              “I want nothing more than to go in there right now, but what if we get her hurt, Buck? I’d never forgive myself. You know I’m never one to wait for a safe plan, but for her can we at least try to make an exception?”

              Bucky stopped glaring at Coulson and turned to Steve. “If something happens to her…”

              “I know. I promise I know. Nothing but ash. In the mean time I could use your help. Nat says there are a couple places that we could place a sniper, and since you’re the best…”

              Bucky grumbled, but moved to look over the aerial map Steve had gestured to, nodding. At least he could do something.

 ***

              Sometimes it really fucking sucked to be right. You tried not to react as the punch landed on your cheek, but a small grunt of pain escaped. Another punch quickly landed on the other side, and you slumped over, hoping they’d decide to hit somewhere that wasn’t your face for a bit. You listened as the bitchy chic you had met with originally told Jemma they’d give her a few minutes to make the right decision. Oh goody! A break! You tried not to chuckle as they left you alone with Jemma. Idiots.

              “Hazel? You okay?”

              “Eh, been better, but not as bad as they think I am,” you muttered, not sitting up as you worked at your boot. Your wrist and ankles were still tied, but they weren’t secured to anything. Jemma was right, they must think you were like her and Fitz… a lab geek. Well, only a lab geek. They had pulled the knife from your boot, but you had an almost garrote-like piece of metal looped into the leather. You quickly used it to cut through the zip-ties holding your hands, then your feet, before turning to Jemma.

            You removed the ties from her wrists, they hadn’t bothered with her ankles. She brought her hands to your face. “Oh, Hazel!”

              “I’m fine, looks worse than it is,” you reassured her. You knew you looked a mess. You could feel your eye swelling and the split lip. You definitely tasted the blood. “Let’s get the fuck out of here, yeah?”

              Jemma nodded, and took your hand as you pulled her behind you. The door lock didn’t take you long to disable, and you moved quickly, making sure Jemma stayed with you.

              “The fuck?!”

              Shit!! You pushed Jemma backwards into the wall and jumped into the guard, pushing his gun up and praying he wouldn’t hit anything vital if he fired. You kneed him in the groin twice before pulling the taser off of his belt and using it on him. He dropped to the ground. You didn’t like the idea of having him at your backs, but you didn’t want to… fuck. You went through his gear quickly, taking what you thought you might need. Tranq darts? Hmm. You stabbed one into his ass before you could think too much about it, and pocketed the clip with the rest.

              “Hazel,” you heard Jemma whisper.

              Right. You nodded at her, handing her his backup gun. Now that you were both armed you started moving again. When you started to see windows and daylight, your hands went to your necklace. It was another gift from Fitz… and it was just a normal necklace, until it was activated. You twisted the gem, activating it. He said it was short range, so you weren’t sure they would be able to pick you up yet, but daylight was good enough for you. You couldn’t help but wonder how many hours had passed. Fitz must be freaking out.

              The necklace was only one way… but hopefully they could hear you. “It’s Hazel,” you tried to keep your voice low, but loud enough to be heard. “I have Jemma, and we’re making our way out of the facility.”

 ***

              They had a plan. It took a couple of hours longer than Bucky would’ve liked, but it was a fairly solid plan. And he definitely appreciated having powered people on his side. Daisy could literally demolish walls… easily. And she obviously loved his girl and Jemma. A lot. She was almost as impatient as he was. Steve was nervous, but Bucky figured that was more due to having both of his soulmates in harms way, than the plan itself. As they were gearing up and going over the plan again, Fitz rushed in.

              “It’s Hazel! The necklace! She made contact!” And with that he turned and ran back out of the room, everyone following him.

              “What do you mean it’s Hazel?” Steve asked as they approached Fitz, who was back in front of his monitor. He hit a few keys on the keyboard and your voice, barely more than a whisper, came from the speakers. “It’s Hazel. I have Jemma, and we’re making our way out of the facility.”

              “Holy fuck.” Bucky looked to Steve, who was frozen, staring at the speakers.

              “Told you not to underestimate her,” Natasha sighed, looking between Steve and Bucky. “She’s not a damsel.”

              Daisy laughed. “No, she’s more likely to do the rescuing than the other way around – usually with little regard to her own safety.”

              Bucky grunted and narrowed his eyes at Steve. “Just what I fucking need. Two of you.”

              Daisy nudged him. “Don’t worry, she avoids field work when she can. Prefers the lab. This is… a special circumstance.”

          “We’re sure this isn’t a trap?” Coulson asked, squinting at the speaker.

           Bucky turned, about to give Coulson a piece of his mind, but May interrupted him.

              “Hazel remembers the protocols… hell, she came up with some of them. You hear any of the warning words?

              Coulson sighed, shaking his head. “I just don’t want any more of my people in danger in there.”

                     “We know, boss,” Daisy grinned. “So, what are we waiting for? Can’t let them have all the fun.”

              “Fun?” Fitz stuttered, looking at Daisy with wide eyes.

              “We’ll have them back here in no time, Fitz, don’t worry,” Daisy said, giving his should a pat.

              Steve nodded, looking to Bucky, who nodded back. “Let’s go.”

Ch 10

[cupidhaos]

(2nd attempt lol) So I went through Newsflash! and Move! with a fine-toothed comb...

This is structured into 4 parts to make it a bit easier to read. The first part is interesting information I 'found' again after reading through everything with watchful eyes again. The second part is a listing of everyone who could've done it, and what reasons they may have. The third part is not necessarily informative, but still interesting stuff I 'found' while reading through it again. And last are questions I had or things which didn't add up for me. This is extremely long (the Word document I have is 6 pages long RIP), so grab a drink and get comfy. Also, this is mostly just based on what is in Newsflash! and Move! itself. Hope you'll enjoy!

Interesting information:

“It’s crucial to the plot that you know” (DK in Newsflash! 5) implies there’s a hidden plot, one we don’t see

“You’re going to make plenty of friends soon enough y/n” (DK in Newsflash! 5) Did DK orchestrate Y/N becoming friends with SVT? Why? Does he want to tear SVT down? But why through Y/N?

Oh, remember that girl who told the schoolboard about Jeonghan and Chaeyoung, angry Jeonghan planned on resigning from SVT for Chaeyoung? The one who essentially was the cause for Jeonghan & SVT ghosting Chaeyoung in the beginning of Newsflash! because she got word to Chaeyoung’s father and he threatened to take away their scholarships? Maybe it has something to do with her… (Newsflash! 10)

Joshua said himself that the others give up easily (Newsflash! 10) as soon as the situation becomes a bit dire

Newsflash! 11 “I know what it feels like to just have someone slip away from you when you could’ve done more” (Y/N texting w/ Mingyu) Who?? Is she talking about?? COULD IT BE A REASON FOR SOMEONE TO BE A BITCH TO Y/N???? Adding to that the next text: “You have the chance to fix things before it’s too late” WHEN WAS Y/N TOO LATE?? FOR WHOM??

The Barista from Newsflash! 13 (I FORGOT HER NAME I’M NOT IN THE LOOP WITH GIRLGROUPS) could’ve heard everything SVT+Chaeyoung talked about when they were locked in that back room… maybe that started something? (Edit: okay in Newsflash! 22 several girls comment on Y/N’s tweet and one has the same profile picture as the Barista… so her name is something along the lines of Hyunie?)

Newsflash! 17 DK texting “He’s not the one for you trust me Y/N” makes DK all the more suspicious. How do you know that? Who are you trying to set us up with?

Newsflash! 21 DK knew before Y/N said anything at all that Y/N was out with Jeonghan and that Jeonghan had kissed her. How did he know?

Newsflash! 23 DK texting “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see” makes me think he didn’t actually plan all this… but the use of the emoji makes him still suspicious. But if he didn’t plan this – why does he know so much?! Is he stalking Y/N? Why? For what reason?

Newsflash! 29 Name of one of Jeonghan’s clients was dropped – Eunha. Was she the one who bitched to the schoolboard? Wonwoo calls her ‘VIP client ;)’, which Jeonghan doesn’t really appreciate (“how about u shut the fuck up :)” Has all the passive aggressive energy in the world)

Newsflash! 31 Okay, so Yuta: ex-bf from Japan; Y/N’s first love (what was Joshua then? Didn’t Y/N leave Korea because Joshua didn’t return her feelings in Senior year Highschool?); cheated on her (did he really?); showed her pictures/nudes to his friends;

Newsflash! 31 Am I… the only one who is kind of suspicious of Wonwoo? Like, why was he there? I don’t believe he was there by chance. And even if he was, why would he help Y/N? What does he gain from this? Yeah, SVT’s motto is ‘respect women and make them feel happy’, but… it still seems suspicious to me.

Newsflash! 33 DK texting “that?? wasn’t??? supposed to happen????” “where did he even COME FROM” confirms a suspicion of mine – it wasn’t an accident that Wonwoo was there. Or maybe it was? Ugh, I don’t know. All I know is that Wonwoo and DK are both suspicious as hell.

Newsflash! 34 HOLD ON A MF SECOND JEON WONWOO HAS A CLIENT WHO IS CALLED SOHYE. A CLINGY CLIENT. SOHYE AND SOHEE AREN’T TOO FAR APART. MAYBE SISTERS…? A SISTER WHO IS MAD THAT HER SISTER WASN’T TREATED ALL THAT NICELY BY WONWOO. THAT’S WHY SHE’S AFTER Y/N – BECAUSE SHE THINKS Y/N AND WONWOO ARE ACTUALLY DATING. IT WOULD MAKE SO MUCH SENSE THO BECAUSE CUPIDHAOS ALSO SAID ‘Sohee is connected to SVT but not in a way you think’ THAT WAY SHE’S CONNECTED TO SVT (HER SISTER IS WONWOO’S CLIENT) AND WE DEFINITELY WOULD’VE NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT. YOOOOO

Newsflash! 37 Jeonghan chewing Y/N out… and showing a possible motive.

Also Y/N is a dumbass for believing you can’t get phones in Thailand. HOW DUMB DO YOU HAVE TO BE??? Honestly. I mean, I get it if they were like, in a really rural part of Thailand, but somehow I doubt that

Move! 3 DK not be cryptic for 1 minute challenge: failed. BOI- “oh y/n this is where the story starts my dear friend” ???? Dear friend sounds so threatening. Like, what did Y/N do to you?

Move! 4 Why does Seungkwan want to keep Y/N away from SVT so desperately? Like, if Y/N can prove to them that the whole thread is a lie, she has 6 more people on her side. That would give her a lot more credibility, to be honest. Does Seungkwan have a reason for keeping Y/N away from SVT?

Move! 4 Chaeyoung is… surprisingly good… and QUICK… at getting Jimin’s and Seokjin’s number… even after they changed it… That’s suspicious. How good is Chaeyoung with tech?

Move! 4 Someone wanted Y/N info. And they were willing to pay for it. (This is before Y/N left, right after Jihoon posted the picture of being on the train to Busan with Y/N. So someone planned all this before Y/N even left.)

Move! 4 Jimin’s and Seokjin’s education and jobs have been threatened. (By whom exactly? Schoolboard? Or just a ‘random’ person? An anonymous person? They don’t know either – anonymous.) They were forbidden from talking to SVT (someone wants to prevent SVT from finding out the truth…) or explaining themselves.

Move! 5 Y/N mentions deleting all the photos she had of Yuta from her phone. But maybe Yuta still had some? Also (that happened to me) if you have a Google account and don’t adjust your setting, pictures taken on your phone will be saved on your Google Drive. As a backup. (I once deadass couldn’t get rid of 3 GB WORTH OF PICTURES BECAUSE OF THIS). Maybe that’s how someone got the pictures? Hacked Y/N’s email?

Move! 5 Soonyoung is very quick to point to Yuta. Then again, Yuta looks very suspicious. So… a ruse, probably.

Move! 5 DK “I trust no one and you shouldnt either” just… why should we trust YOU telling us not to trust anyone? Hm?

Move! 5 Vernon still hanging out with SVT (when did he even become friends with them? Nothing of that was mentioned during Newsflash! ? How did that happen??) is very suspicious. Like, isn’t there a conflict of interest? Or is he just stringing along either side? Making SVT believe he is on their side, or making Y/N believe he is on her side. Also, has Vernon met Sohee?? Or did he only hang out with SVT before the thread was posted? (But if that were the case… Minghao wouldn’t retweet it and Wonwoo wouldn’t say ‘we should do that again’.) Vernon, you’re very suspicious now.

Move! 5 Also interesting to note: Vernon practically pushes Y/N into Wonwoo’s direction. First saying that Mingaho isn’t a fan of Y/N anymore (true, I guess), but then leading her to Wonwoo? Did he know Wonwoo was the weakest link/the one who had doubts? Does he know Wonwoo still has feelings for Y/N, and is trying to push them together? Is Vernon playing something???

Move! 6 “You just disappearing out of nowhere was a bit weird” HOE YOU SAW EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED??? SEUNGCHEOL, MINGYU, JEONGHAN AND Y/N WERE IN YOUR APARTMENT ON THAT EVENING??? YOU WITNESSED HOW JEONGHAN YELLED AT Y/N WHEN SHE WAS ALREADY A MESS?? AND YOU THINK IT’S WEIRD SHE RAN AWAY AND NEEDED SOME TIME? BOI-

Move! 6 One of Wonwoo’s answers indicated that he didn’t text Seungkwan or Chaeyoung and never asked for clarification, but just believed Sohee. He also never asked Vernon or Chan (again, why Vernon? And why is DK and Hoshi missing here??)

Move! 7 Jihoon mentions Y/N being pulled into things she didn’t do since Sohee appeared – is he talking about the thread saying Y/N manipulated Wonwoo (a whole lie, and SVT KNOWS THAT), or is there something more? Wasn’t there once the talk of rumors? What kind of rumors? More than what is written in the thread??? Ouf…

Move! 7 Mingyu outright says "Wonwoo I thought you liked Sohee…" Makes me suspicious. Did Sohee specifically target Wonwoo? Or is Wonwoo just pretending to be on Y/N's side? Hm...

Move! 8 DK clearly hinting towards Yuta being behind it all… but can we trust DK.

Suspects and why they would do it:

Chaeyoung:

Might still hold a massive grudge against SVT, and doesn’t want Y/N associate with them (Not logical – why would Jihoon and Wonwoo be okay? Why would she keep them around? They’re SVT too, and they ghosted her too, unlike Joshua.)

Might still hold a massive grudge against SVT and wants to get revenge (Once again – why are Jihoon and Wonwoo fine? They are/were SVT too.) (Thread/Rumors mainly hurt Y/N, not SVT.)

Holds a massive grudge against a specific member (don’t know who – maybe Jeonghan? Maybe one of the guys who overran Y/N?) and wants to ruin them. Orchestrated this whole thing and ‘leads’ the ‘investigation’ so it’ll lead to (a) certain member(s), in order to ruin them or keep them away from Y/N.

Got extremely jealous with how popular Y/N became with SVT. SVT is neglecting her once again, and Y/N is neglecting her as well, hanging out with her new friends instead. So, she wants to keep Y/N away from them, and hopes that this break of trust will cause Y/N to not be friends with SVT anymore, even if the situation gets cleared. She can be friends with Y/N again, Y/N will spend a lot of time with her again, and Chaeyoung’s happy again. (Might be psycho, but who knows…? Some people are crazy. And Chaeyoung seems very bossy with Y/N. (Granted Y/N needs it because DEAR LORD but still…))

General Reason for SVT members:

They feel betrayed and used by Y/N. She just left them, without even saying goodbye to them (she only texted Joshua before she left, as far as we know). They feel manipulated by her, and want to get revenge on her.

Or stereotypical ‘If I cannot have her, no one can have her’ or ‘If he cannot have her, no one can have her’. Y/N doesn’t want to be her girlfriend? (Or the girlfriend of one of their friends – JH and SC, for example.) Then you’ll be no one’s girlfriend. And I’ll drag you down.

Seungcheol:

Angry and hurt that Y/N immediately ran away after he got injured (for her, might I add), so he might feel like he was manipulated 

Jeonghan:

Angered at how Y/N treated Seungcheol and the rest of SVT, unknowingly strumming everyone along. Literally blamed Y/N for ‘everything going to shit’ into her face. Could be prone to enlisting the help of someone to tear Y/N down.

Joshua:

Extremely frustrated with Y/N. Feels betrayed by her and wants revenge. Finally snapped.

(Feels like he doesn’t know his friend anymore, which is why he believes so easily.)

Jun:

Deeply hurt that Y/N just went away without even saying anything. Wants to get revenge on her. Feels like she didn’t give him a chance, and now wants her to pay for it.

Soonyoung:

Frustrated that Y/N is only spending time with SVT now, wants to bring her back to her old circle of friends

Wonwoo:

Fell in love with Y/N, realized there’s too much competition and decided to get rid of them. (But why would he be hesitant when Y/N contacts him? Wouldn’t he want to be immediately on her side, to get into her good graces? But that could make him suspicious again… Hm…)

Fell in love with Y/N before the others did, before Jeonghan ever saw her in Communications class. Knows the others are competition, and wants to separate Y/N from them, hoping the break of trust will prevent Y/N from getting close to them.

Jihoon:

Knows all of the members. Knows they’re not good for Y/N. Wants to keep them away from Y/N. Hopes the massive break of trust will prevent Y/N from becoming friends with them again, even after the situation is cleared up. ’Leads’ the ‘investigation’ with Chaeyoung to lead it away from himself.

DK:

Homeboy knows too much. He said ‘and this is where the plot begins’ when Jeonghan sat next to Y/N at the beginning of Newsflash!. Always knew what was going on, even if it were unlikely for him to know. Could there be a reason for him orchestrating everything? Did Y/N wrong him at some point?

I feel like we all forget that in the first profile post, it’s stated that Mingyu and DK are close friends. Maybe he got über salty at Y/N not getting together with Mingyu, like he wanted to (?)?

Mingyu:

Feels abandoned by Y/N. Wants her to feel the same abandonment.

Minghao:

In the same class as Y/N – maybe a petty ass reason but she could’ve been too much competition? So he wanted to get rid of her? Essentially make her so disliked she’s forced to leave for her own sake.

Seungkwan:

Frustrated that Y/N spent so much time with her new friends, barely finding time for her old friends.

Vernon:

Maybe wanted to get into SVT, but got rejected. Tries to shake them up (Wonwoo and Jihoon left SVT already) so he maybe gets a chance to join SVT.

Seems to know an awful lot; pointed Y/N into Wonwoo’s direction. If not the culprit, then someone who helped? But why would he betray his friend? Well… has Y/N been a good friend?

Chan:

Same as Vernon possibly.

Mad that Y/N doesn’t hang out with him and the others as much anymore, and wants to bring her away from SVT.

Yuta:

Angry that Y/N won’t take him back, and that she humiliated him in public (she hit him and called him a dick)

First plan (just outright ask Y/N to come back to him) didn’t work. Now, next plan is set in motion.

(Most likely to be a red herring. He’s a bit too obvious.)

Yiren:

Y/N ‘stole’ Jun from her for a moment. He’s back with her now (both of them are Clownsssss), but still – hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. It could be a reason why she would want to harm Y/N, and make her stay away from Jun.

Sohye:

Clingy client of Wonwoo. Is not happy AT ALL that her favorite SVT member is spending so much time with another girl, someone who is not a client. Maybe wants to get rid of Y/N and keep Wonwoo to herself?

Sohee: Popular Theories:

Ex of Yuta who’s angry at Y/N because Yuta dumped her to get Y/N back. Wants to ruin her to get back at her.

Related to Seungcheol/Chaeyoung/Seungkwan/Anyone and either isn’t happy with how Y/N treated her (relative is not a dick in this route) or is the henchman of her relative, who holds a serious grudge against Y/N and wants to see her go down.

Ex-friend of Y/N who is angry that Y/N abandoned and forgot about her. (Maybe she was mentioned in Newsflash! 11?)

My theory:

Sister/Cousin/Very close friend of Sohye (clingy client of Wonwoo). Angered to see her sister/cousin/close friend being ignored by Wonwoo and not have his full attention anymore. Also think Wonwoo might be falling for Y/N, and doesn’t want her sister/cousin/close friend to experience heartbreak.

Chaeyoung’s Father:

Already has a history of being controlling over who interacts with his daughter

(Is he still part of the Schoolboard? And does the School still restrict SVT, or is that no more?)

What does he see: His daughter in distress, talking to SVT again, leaving for an entire summer… all because of who? Y/N.

Knows he can’t separate Chaeyoung from Y/N – childhood friends after all – but he can separate Y/N and Chaeyoung from SVT. Then he can start working on separating them.

‘Bitchy’ Client of Jeonghan (Eunha?):

Could be the one who bitched to the schoolboard when Jeonghan wanted to resign from SVT for Chaeyoung – or not.

Could be jealous of Y/N taking Jeonghan away from her, and wants to keep him away from Y/N

Jaehyun:

That one dude Chaeyoung dated for a hot second (were they really together??), best friends with Yuta (makes him suspicious!)

Could be in on the whole plot, planned to get to Y/N through Chaeyoung, but after that failed, they’re now doing Plan B

Unknown:

In Newsflash! 11 Y/N mentioned she once was too late in mending her relationship with someone. (She let someone slip away, as she said it.) Who was it? And could it be that the person is back, angry at Y/N for letting her slip away and wanting to get revenge?

Funny-informative things:

Seungcheol considered Joshua still a brother, even after Joshua left SVT and basically told them to get lost. So it’s extra ironic that he told Jihoon to leave because of a girl he just met ~2 months ago (Newsflash! 4)

You know, it’s really ironic – in Newsflash! 10 Joshua cites the fact that SVT just left Chaeyoung behind as his reason as to why he doesn’t tell Chaeyoung the truth. It’s very obvious he’s angry about them just leaving her. But look at what he’s doing now, leaving his friend of YEARS for… well, poor reasons. At least poorer reasons than SVT had to avoid Chaeyoung. Their education was at stake, while for him… what is at stake?

I like Jun calling Mingaho out on his bullshit in Newsflash! 22. First telling Jun that Y/N doesn’t like him that way and that he should go on a date with Yiren but then later on turn around and tell him ‘omg it was obvious she had feelings for you why did you play with her!!!’ Hao you just sank.

Newsflash! 26 Joshua’s whole tirade about “You should come to me when you need something, I should walk you home at night, it should be me, not Jun or Mingyu or Jeonghan” just rubs me in the wrong way. Like, dude – you weren’t there for her, but others were. So Y/N learned ‘oh, ok, can’t go to Joshua, I’ll go to someone else’. You can’t blame her for that. She went and found a different support system because you weren’t there for her. Stop being so controlling and demanding – even if you’re her friend since childhood, she doesn’t owe you shit. She doesn’t have to rely just on you, and doesn’t owe you a relationship. (Gosh, sorry went off on a tangent.)

Newsflash! 28 Jeonghan saying he’ll wait for Y/N until she’s ready (a whOLE LIE)

Newsflash! 36 Y/N doing the right thing and PUNCHING YUTA LIKE HE DESERVES GOODBYE HOE

THE MF IRONY OF JUN TEXTING “you don’t have any rights rn ur a dick” TO JEONGHAN IN Newsflash! 38 I’M DIEING XD HONEY, YOU ARE DICK YOURSELF. AND YOU’LL CONTINUE TO BE A DICK. GOSH YOU’RE MY BIAS WRECKER BUT HONESTLY SCREW Newsflash!/Move!Jun (Can we please get a moment where Jeonghan is convinced of Y/N's innocence but Jun doesn't believe her stubbornly, making Y/N cry, and then later when he sees he was wrong and tries to apologize Jeonghan pulls a "you don't have any right rn ur a dick" PLEASE???)

Also thank you Lee Jihoon for telling the guys they need to freaking CHILL. “throwing yourselves at her like DOGS” is exactly the phrase I would’ve used. 10/10 (Newsflash! 38)

Newsflash! 40 Joshua being a whole clown and texting “ill wait an eternity for you even if I get heartbroken in the end” like yeah, look at where you are now

Okay so to get this right: Y/N, Chaeyoung and Seungkwan have left for 1 week; Y/N drops her phone into a river in Thailand; that same week the thread was posted (but not on the exact same day?); very soon after that Sohee shows up and lies. That's… quick. How did no one of SVT think "wait, how come she showed up so soon after the thread was posted??" They really have -5 braincells, huh.

Questions I have/Things which don't add up for me:

Why was Chae’s Dad okay with Joshua still being friends with Chaeyoung? Is it because they didn��t have a thing for each other? Also, Chaeyoung's father still could've threatened Joshua. Either by threatening to take away his scholarship (if he has one) or by threatening to kick him out of university. Why was Joshua fine?

Why was it only Joshua who held to Chaeyoung when shit went down back then? I can understand Jeonghan, since his education was threatened, and Seungcheol, since he seems to be close with Jeonghan. But all the others? Did none of them, of all 12 (10) of them, care enough for Chaeyoung to say ‘I am resigning from SVT, I want to keep being friends with you’? My point is: it seems that SVT has a history of dropping people quite easily. Especially girls. Which is ironic, since SVT’s motto/theme is about respecting women and making them feel happy.

Then again - for how long have Joshua and Chaeyoung been friends? For how long have Chaeyoung and Y/N been friends? We know Joshua and Y/N are childhood friends (as far as I remember), but since Joshua said he met Chaeyoung during his time in SVT and only got close to her at that point, I don't think Y/N and Chaeyoung were childhood friends. But we also know Chaeyoung and Y/N were friends in Highschool, or else Chaeyoung wouldn't know about the reason why Y/N left for Japan. So... was Joshua just not aware of Chaeyoung, the best friend of his childhood friend? (How would that work??)

How did Y/N not know of SVT at the beginning of Newsflash! ? Like, she has to ask Chaeyoung who they are, even though Y/N has already been there for 2 Quarters. I get being a reclusive, I am too, but even I know about the very popular stuff going on around me. And SVT has to be popular. A host club/frat like theirs, not popular? They wouldn't bring in money if they weren't. And they do, as far as we know. So... is Y/N so unaware of her surroundings?

What also confuses me – we know Chaeyoung and Y/N have history. We know Y/N and Joshua have history. But Seungkwan and Y/N? We don’t know about them. We’re told he’s close friends with Y/N (Mingyu asking Seungkwan for help for getting Y/N and Seungcheol together, Seungkwan being the one to travel along Chaeyoung and Y/N), but we don’t see it. We see as much of their friendship – even less – than of Y/N’s friendship with Vernon, Dino, Hoshi and DK. I’m just- what’s their history? Why was he the one to travel alongside Chaeyoung and Y/N? Yeah, Chaeyoung said it’s because he’s not trying to get into Y/N’s pants, but… neither is Vernon or Dino. Or Seokmin. Hoshi is on shaky grounds, but I don’t think he wants to either. So, why Seungkwan?

Did DK and Y/N ever actually meet? Either during Newsflash! or Move! ? Because we know Y/N spent time with Vernon, Chan, Seungkwan, Soonyoung, Joshua and Chaeyoung on different occasions, but never was there any talk of DK. Speaking of which - how did DK and Y/N become friends? Was DK just an 'add-on' when Y/N started tutoring Chan and became friends with him? Does that really make them friends?

And... that's all I have. Sorry if I lost some things when I re-submitted them! And let's hope it'll work now!!

I really love what you do. Keep up the amazing work!!! 💕💕

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 199: One Whole Bird

Previously on BnHA: Aizawa’s winning class A team reflected on what they could have done better. Tsuyu and Kirishima were unexpected bummers due to their recent internships still weighing heavily on their minds. Shinsou was also frustrated with his performance, despite everyone telling him how good he did. Aizawa and Vlad told All Might and Midnight that today’s exercise is also a test for Shinsou to see if he should be admitted into the hero course. It’s not clear whether or not Shinsou is aware of this, but we’re all rooting for him! The second round of battles got underway, with Team KendouKuroMangaToadette facing off against MomoYamaTokoKure. Class B’s Kuroiro was revealed to have a quirk that allows him to move freely within anything black. This applies even to quirks like Dark Shadow, and once the match began, he basically dove into DS and rode him back to Team A’s location. Now he’s getting ready to throw down with Tokoyami, who has dramatically thrown his cape aside and is preparing to unleash the new technique he developed during his internship with Hawks.

Today on BnHA: Hawks is back! In flashback form. But he’s back, you guys! So apparently Tokoyami first interned with him after the sports festival, only to learn that Hawks mainly selected him to get the good gossip on the whole USJ attack. This frustrated Toko enough that he redoubled his training efforts, and when he went back to intern at Hawks’s agency for real after getting his provisional license, he impressed the #2 hero by being able to keep up with him. So Hawks took him on a cute lil nighttime flight above the city while A Whole New World from Aladdin played, and then they landed on a tower somewhere and Hawks was all, “hey dude you should learn to fly for reals,” and then the flashback ended. Back in the present, Kuroiro sneaks up behind Aoyama and grabs him and hauls ass. Tokoyami then reveals his new technique: Flying For Reals. He retrieves Aoyama, who fires his laser to break up the shadows around them, making it impossible for Kuro to hide. Things are looking good for Team A, but then a mushroom suddenly sprouts from Momo’s nose, reminding everyone that there are still three other Team B members to take care of, and things are only just getting started.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 222, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

ooh, and we’re opening with what I assume is an internship flashback!

well yeah, Mighty Wings is the type of quirk that allows you to do that. when you can individually control hundreds of little godmode wings that are strong enough to even carry people to safety, you don’t really need much in the way of backup

ah, so it’s confirmed this is Tokoyami’s narration

apparently the U.A. sports festival earlier in the year was the first time Hawks had ever taken place in the whole drafting process

hold up, so did Toko intern with him for both the jr. internship and the real internship? like, he did the weeklong thing following the sports festival, and then went back and interned there for real later? or was it only the first and not the latter?

lol Hawks is flying off to go save some other hapless soul. some out of control drunk dude at a bar in Cantina

I assume Cantina is a specifically a reference to the very famous Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars, even though it’s also a common enough word in its own right

lmao his sidekicks are all “yeah so Hawks is just generally better than us in every conceivable way and we just have to live with it”

these guys crack me up

so during his workplace experience Tokoyami just spent the whole time chasing after Hawks with these guys and handling the cleanup with them. so naturally it wasn’t long before he started having doubts about the whole thing

I was literally just about to say “because you’re both birds” and then Hawks was like “yeah, duh”

Tokoyami is asking if he’s joking, because Tokoyami doesn’t have a sense of humor so he probably genuinely needs to know

Hawks says he’s 20% serious. holy shit. that honest to god is what he said lmao

he says he wanted to talk to someone from class 1-A about the League of Villains, and he figured if he had to do so then he should pick someone he thought could keep up with him and who showed promise. and since Tokoyami finished in the top three he went with him

and of course we know from chapter 186 that he had selected Todoroki as well, but Endeavor got him instead

interesting that both he and Bakugou picked the highest ranking agencies on their list and ended up being disappointed. it seems like the people who had the most fulfilling internships were the ones who went with agencies that hadn’t necessarily made huge names for themselves, but were perhaps a little better at this whole teaching thing than some of the big shots

ah, and then Hawks did agree to take him on for a For Reals Internship later on, though

that means Tokoyami actually reached out to him despite his lackluster previous experience. makes me wonder if Bakugou would actually decide to go back to Jeanist’s agency once he gets his provisional and once the kids are allowed to do internships again

(ETA: so I’m honestly not sure if we’re even going to get back to internships again, at least not for a while, but one theory I’ve seen floating around is that Bakugou will intern with Miruko instead of Jeanist, and I gotta say, I really like the idea of that. for so many reasons. but basically it makes a lot of sense; Jeanist is still laid up, Miruko is a top 5 hero, and her personality aligns with Bakugou’s a whole lot more than Jeanist’s did. all this plus Fuck Yeah Girl Power, so hell yeah I’m all for it.)

-- YOOOOOOOOOOO

he can -- you can fly, dude? since when lmao what the fuck

(ETA: what is he doing here, though?? I thought he was flying but then a couple pages later Hawks is like “you should learn how to fly” and then a few pages after that everyone is shocked by his new “bitch I can fly now” special move. so it seems like that’s something he came up with after this scene. is he just jumping with style here or what)

Hawks likey! kid’s got some potential

now it’s later that night and Hawks is telling Tokoyami he did good

OH MY GOD

THIS IS THE CUTEST AND BEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED. OH MY GOD. YOU GUYS. I CAN’T IT’S TOO FUCKING PRECIOUS OH SWEET JESUS

(ETA: so as you can see I was enchanted by this scene even before I learned about its significance as a beloved fandom meme. anyways so we all agree that this internship was destiny.)

TOKOYAMI IS SO OVERWHELMED. HIS POETIC SOUL IS SOARING LIKE AN EAGLE

OH MY GOD!!

HOW DOES HE REMEMBER THE CORRECT PERCENTAGE BREAKDOWN FROM A JOKE CONVERSATION THEY HAD LIKE SIX MONTHS AGO

SERIOUS QUESTION WHY IS HAWKS THE BEST CHARACTER IN BNHA. ANSWER ME. SOMEONE

AND LOOK AT TOKO’S FACE OMG

AHHHH

it’s so personal, though. like I honestly feel like he’s baring a bit of his soul to this kid, and for someone with a personality like Hawks’s that is huge

he says he’s not especially interested in nurturing the next generation, “but...”

well that’s fine dude. you’re practically still a kid yourself and you’ve got more than enough on your plate

but the fact that he does have so much on his plate makes me wonder what’s going through his head right now. because the whole workplace experience was before he started his undercover mission, but this scene is taking place afterward. and he always plays it cool, but that shit is dangerous, like one-wrong-move-and-you’re-dead-or-worse types of danger. and that’s not even taking into account the bad-for-your-soul parts that come with having to turn a blind eye to certain things for the sake of maintaining your cover for the greater good

so basically, despite what he says, he may just be feeling a bit more sentimental or brooding or whatever than usual, and maybe that’s what brought this on. he never particularly wanted to be a mentor, but hey, might as well give it a shot. life is short

so Toko’s asking what he meant when he said Tokoyami was wasting his potential

and Hawks says that while Tokoyami is doing a lot to cover his weak points, he shouldn’t neglect improving his strong points

one moment please while we process these Hawks feels ladies and gents

aaaaaaand done

my boy just wants to be free. okay. that’s fine. I’m fine it’s all good

nothing to see here, just some solid mentor advice pulling some double duty as a deeper look into Hawks’s psyche at the same time. just Horikoshi things

and we’re back in the present!

that was a much lengthier flashback than I anticipated, and thoroughly enjoyable! very nice!

so Kuro is blending back into the shadows and for some reason everyone is surprised

what else would he do. I mean. if it ain’t broke

so now he’s mocking them from somewhere in the piping, bragging about how they can’t tell where he is

oh shit!

so he’s planning on targeting one of the others? tbh that probably would have worked just as well even without the red herring, since they can’t see him coming

like, this would have worked no matter what though. but I guess it did get Aoyama to lower his guard

LOL MY POOR GLITTER BOY

FIRE YOUR DAMN LASER KID

ooooh

it’s so gross that he refers to it as an umbilical cord and now I’m never not gonna be able to think of it as that

so anyway, I’m guessing that this special move works by having Dark Shadow fly somewhere and then instead of retracting the shadow back to him, he pulls himself toward Dark Shadow

LOL

what, y’all didn’t see those flashbacks with Hawks just a few pages ago. pay attention to other characters’ life stories

ah, here are the mechanics explained to us in a cute little comic

“Dark Shadow can fly so one day I was like, ‘ohh... pick me up so I can fly too. fucking duh’”

also has the bonus advantage of distracting opponents with how shockingly adorable it is

so now he’s plucking Aoyama out of Kuro’s clutches

I bet Aoyama’s pissed that his cape broke in the process though

LISTEN HERE BITCHES, Y’ALL ARE GONNA NEED PLAN B, C, D, ETC. BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN COME CLOSE TO TAKING OUT MY GIRL MOMO HERE. YOU’RE GONNA RUN OUT OF LETTERS OF THE FUCKING ALPHABET YOU AMATEURS

she said, but also I’m still pretty sure they’re gonna lose fffff

since Aoyama and Tokoyami are now perfectly positioned, Momo’s telling Aoyama to use his navel buffet

ah I see, eliminate Kuro’s potential hiding places by blinding him with Aoyama’s splendor

so Dark Shadow is covering himself in Kuro’s cape and Aoyama is letting ‘er rip

this is such an odd and perfect sound effect and I’m really impressed with Horikoshi for coming up with it in English

aha!

GOTCHA MOTHERFUCKER

now Momo’s calling Hagakure to action, and for a moment I was like ‘why’ but then I remembered her special move

but before we get to that, please enjoy this Yaoyorozu Momo “just as planned” panel

yessssss now get ready for --

...

okay what is plan B

...

and the chapter ends. of course

chapter 200 is gonna be some wild times isn’t it. lol

[orokinarchives]

Solaris Civilian Dialogue

(Fortuna hype banner)

The message that greets outworlders who arrive in Fortuna is as follows:

Howzit, Outworlder! Welcome to Fortuna, nerve centre of Nef Anyo's attempts to terraform Venus, and home to the Solaris rig jockeys who make it all happen. Talk to the local reprobates for all your quasi-legal needs! If you're looking to hit the Orb Vallis, talk to Eudico. Fortuna: it ain't much, but it's home… provided you can handle all the noise comin' from the vents.

We All Lift Together

The Solaris anthem is "We All Lift Together", a song that encourages them to keep working even in adverse conditions. Its rhythmic beat helps them keep time while working, and its message is a core part of the Solaris identity. Various Solaris can be heard humming it as they go about their work, and when the Tenno arrives in Fortuna for the first time, they are able to hear the entire song being sung by the Solaris community.

Cold, the air and water flowing Hard, the land we call our home Push to keep the dark from coming Feel the weight of what we owe

This, the song of sons and daughters Hide the heart of who we are Making peace to build our future Strong, united, working til we fall

[first two stanzas repeat]

And we all lift And we're all adrift together, together Through the cold mist Til we're lifeless, together, together

Solaris Female 1

"What do you reckon it's like being… being brain-shelved? Just… dark, I reckon."

"Seals failed around his chest-plate. Off-gassed coolant got into his eyes. Down three days, he was. He's blind. Gonna be a long, hard road coming back from the interest on that eye."

"I pay me seed each and every five cycles, straight outta me account. I make me good intentions, and know the Order of Profit safeguards me prosperity!"

"The firestorms, the freezing temperatures, the toxic coolant, the wildlife… what do the Taxmen get outta this? Why are we doing this? Everything here wants us dead!"

"Word is we're shipping in some animals now. Some kinda safari park for Nef Anyo. I guess the resurrected native specimens weren't cutting it."

"That visitor, wot talks in riddles, she stopped me the other day. Thanked me, she did, for that which I am yet to do. I asked her wot? She said, rewritin' future history, by pausing a stranger! I suppose that's what I'm doing this moment, innit? [laughs] Oh. Oh, I don't like this. I best get back to work."

"If you want me to work faster… it'd help me if I knew what I was looking for."

"Got done bundling a fatboy bound for some pleasure dome. Mainly fabrics, lots of sealed containers. A few of them, well… a few of them were sobbing."

Solaris Female 2

"I don't give a fig they're Corpus-endorsed, one more witness for the Order of Profit comes around my hab early in the cycle, they're gonna find me waiting with a shotgun, ready to void some muckin' warranties!"

"I'd scrub me wetware before they shelve me and no mistake. Scrub a few of them, too, right out."

"Solaris United, uppity sorts who think they know how things should be. That's why they can't see things how they are. Things are as they should be!"

"Look, you can breathe coolant for twenty years, or, come with me! Merc-mercs need backup! Six-month run popping zits near Mercury. Come back flush! Easy money, old mate, easy!"

"Me boyfriend broke up with me yesterday. [chuckling] He's smart, he's handsome, his optical receptors have been malfunctioning for months. He told me: 'I'm seeing someone else.' I said: '[scoffs] I'm over HERE!' [laughing]"

"Look, he's really there for you on a good day, sure. But he's always there for you on a bad one."

"You wanna wish for heaven? Go right ahead. But any history book will tell ya, what waits at the end of that dream… every time… is straight-up genocide."

"Wanna know how you die, kid? One day at a time, that's how."

Solaris Female 3

"Timbrake failed. Canal 4 near went gaseous. Imagine that windin' through the alleyways. Not everyone's a full conversion. What airborne Orokin coolant does to meat-lungs? Oof."

"Me and an old mate traded shifts. I did his, he piked on mine. Repo? Hah! That dip-faced mucker won't have any parts left to repo, I find him."

"The Order said I could consolidate me debt by refinancin' me rig, use it as… equity? I think? But now they say I owe more 'n ever, so I got myself extra shifts. Gonna dig meself out the old-fashioned way, like me Ma almost did."

"Some legless repo mucker comes crawling up to me. 'Credits, miss? Credits to me debt?'. Told him, 'Take a shift like the rest of us. I work for meself, not the likes of you.'"

"Me old man got brain-shelved when I were a lad. Didn't make the payments. His brain-case is still there, locked up by the Taxmen, waiting for us to pay off his old rig. Never happenin' in me lifetime of course, but me sprogs might get to meet their granddad someday. When they's grandfolk themselves."

"Want work, gonna need a rebuild. Rebuild costs credits, go into debt, debt means they own ya. So you wanna be free, gotta earn that now, means you gotta work more, more work needs more upgrades, more rebuilds. Means more debt, always more debt. Working me whole life to buy freedom from the debt I bought to buy the freedom to work, to buy me freedom! And we're so proud to be working for it. So stupid proud."

"Solaris United? I don't know what that is. I'm gonna head back to work. Don't talk to me. Leave me alone."

"The only difference between a friend and an ambidexter is opportunity. There's not a person alive wouldn't sell you out for the right price."

"Quills, you see 'em everywhere these days, you know where to look. Corner of your eye, pullin' strings."

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Slight the brakes there, champ. You telling me there's something under Venus?"

Solaris Female 4 "Pumps will need some parts low on go-go juice. Tractor's inbound, need a snappy refill. Come back."

"You know him? He's an overly-polite man with a gun tattooed on his neck. Someone that cluey may be able to integrate. We can't afford to pass on able hands. Not at the rate we breed."

"Me father went missing in the Grineer invasion of Mars! P'raps you were there, Tenno? P'raps you saw him?"

"Duviri? Holier than thou. And enough scratch to treat barons like concubines. That's who we're really working for, mark me words."

"Little Duck says she found something! A Void gate! That mean anything to you?"

"Hah, keep telling yourself you're free, and you'll never escape. Workin' as intended, am I right? [scoffs]"

Solaris Female 5

"Welcome to the habs, kid. Nothing works, but anything can be arranged."

"There's an agent down by the Spillway 19, get ya what ya want. Gib-faced mucker is a side-mouth ambidexter though ever there was one. Don't tell her nothing you don't mind getting back to the Taxmen."

"This cove's wooing me, he is. Unexpected visits, gifts of sealant, parts for that extra manipulator I wants installed. A romantic he is, a real fancy-monger."

"Hey, he's not too smart, but he can lift things."

"What role this site played in Orokin history is uncertain, but the ties are clear."

"Oh, my family don't worry 'bout me. I was never gonna make it."

Solaris Female 6

"I've been a rig jockey, tractor jockey, Rail agent, worked Abigail for a slum executive more than once. Worked all kinds of jobs in all kinds of places. Never met a good person, or a bad one. It's just folks, friend, everyone's just folks."

"Hey! Smoke the brakes. I've avoided being picked up for repo for a fortnight now. I've learned the rules."

"Transported this Duviri once, got talkin'. Told me about the… this… what-whatsit? 'Nominative determinism'. What you get named steers how you turn out. Maybe that's why the Corpus name some of us, not our kin. Is that loopy?"

"Piece of advice? Don't make no waves, don't beg no losers, and get off this backwater planet as soon as you can!"

"Hey! Friend! Spare a few credits?"

"There is another way! What they don't know is the only thing keeping me alive! Something's gonna fall like rain, and it won't be flowers."

"Dictators, profiteers, sadists. These are souls that do not survive death."

Solaris Male 1

"I'm Solaris n' proud, as are all me clan. The repos, the wasters, those adrift in the byways – digustin'. No pride to any of 'em. I work 'ard. Me old man worked 'ard, an' his old man afore 'im. No time for those'd rather muck in the streets. Me? None."

"Checked into the machine shop to get me mic serviced. Can't bloody sleep, cause I can't turn the bloody things off."

"Ach, we work hard now, and for sure we suffer, but all will be forgotten in the coming prosperity. Nef Anyo watches over us. The Order of the Prophet, too. Life is profit, ain't it what they say?"

"Self-employed, me rear end. Only thing I own is second-stage toxic shock, the water I'm treadin', and a head full of bad dreams."

"Bunch of kids makin' a clubhouse in the ducts. Gotta call security. That racket they call music is a needle in my receptors."

"Gonna find me a recess and close me shutters for five. I'd mainline caff to get through this shift, but they upgraded the canisters and me gastro-compatibility upgrade ain't due til next week."

"So, the Corpus get here, right? Place is a firestorm. They turn the old Orokin terraforming back on, and presto. Within a week we got plants and animals ain't nobody ever seen. I'm tellin' ya, either the tech is hiding something, or the planet is."

Solaris Male 2

"I could join the Order of Profit, sure. Donate half of what I earn and trust it'd come back to me ten-fold. Or, I could just grab a gun. Right?"

"I got hazmat upgrades to take the risky work, sleep upgrades so I can work more to pay off the upgrades – I make a payment, they say I ain't even covered the principal!"

"Oh, we've got plans, see? Our youngest – we're not gettin' him modded. No rig, see? Gonna use the money to get him educated, get him placed in the establishment. Twenty, maybe thirty years from now, we'll have family on the inside, doin' us favours! That's how we're gettin' debt-clear!"

"Yeah, Rail agents. They're tractor jockeys. Solo contractors specialising in speed runs, rapid deliveries, smuggling, stiletto jobs. They've cut more deals with more bureaucrats than you've had hot dinners. You'll know a Rail agent tractor when you see it: overclocked reactors, wide-bore engines, zero acceleration governors – every design choice screams 'death wish'."

"Oh, I know the Rails, better than any of these muckers! Routes only I know, contacts only I have. I'm outta here. I've got me old man's tractor. I'll make me own way, as a Rail agent!"

"Warframes? We saw one once. Cost me a leg and me friends their lives. Fear… it is a sad life that is lived with its invisible curriculum."

"Me optics are gone, but I can't let on. I needs the work, can't take the time off and I sure as hell can't afford replacements. I'll just muddle through. Traffic control's easy enough work."

"Worked seventy years to get this far, and proud to say my body debt's half paid. Praise the Order! Life is profit."

Solaris Male 3

"Granddad's been dead for years. But we're still working to pay off his rebreathers, the kind with three-stage hexo-filtration. Pricey, but not much on resale. Some day we'll get clear. Not in me lifetime, but maybe me kids'. That's why I got me parts cheap, keep the overhead low, give 'em a shot at getting clear."

"For sure I upgraded me new toxin seals. Only got paid off the old ones, mind. As me old man used to say, 'In a good cause, there are no failures, only todays.' Me lucky day's just around the corner."

"Guts! Ain't ever gonna pay off me refit like this. The rates just keep going up!"

"That there rig jockey's abigail for Fastboy, runs Hab 12. Fastboy gives the say-so, the abigail… he might not kill you, but you'll spend a cycle or two wishin' he had. Know how to use those upgrades in ways the manufacturer never intended."

"Some of them Ostrons around? Why they'd leave a place like Cetus to come to the System's armpit I gots no idea. Must like the smell of coolant. Nice enough folk though."

"I don't care about about a badge. It's not right and they're not getting away with it. Listen to your enemies, for the Void is beckonin'."

"You don't mess with that group. It'd be like going up against your nightmares, and their lawyer. Can't wait to meet 'em. Check the guns."

"Tenno? They here because of that oxium scam we pulled on Eris?"

"Here's how you land where I'm at: get to two bad days, drop off all your hope, and keep on driving."

"Ah no, she rejected him like a bad kidney! Ahh, there's nothing I wouldn't do for that woman."

Solaris Male 4

"No, I'm not muckin' local. Tractor jockey, mate. Silver-plated Corpus contract. I'm up there. Hear this: I've got stars mate, I've got stars."

"Chek-chek. I've got a long-haul tractor. Bundled out, needs a gimbal for a rotating gunnery hatch. Anyone got their ears on?"

"Ran a load of organics out to Cetus. They got a heavyweight Grineer problem. Copycats got the city pinned, and you don't even want to know what comes out of the lakes at night."

"You live as a Rail agent long enough, you see things that change you. I know a place. A hidden place. Home to creatures that never were. Species prevented from evolving by the rise of our own."

"Made a delivery to a Duviri pleasure lake, once upon a time. Airships positioned to blow spore from fragrant forests towards the Magnate's dining barge at suppertime. Me? I got a boot in the left quarter actuator for staring at his wife too long."

"Affirmative. Triple-digit Rail agent needs action dock on a backstroke. Inbound with acceleration trauma. Come back."

"Tool cart to Bay 12. Jockey blew out posterior hydraulics. Yeah… hero tried lifting above his grade."

Solaris Male 5

"Repos. Work hard, or that's how you'll wind up. Arms repossessed, legs repossessed, eyes… repossessed. Work hard, earn your rig, and… you'll be fine."

"You hail from Acheron? I have a brother there! Here, a gift for you! [pause] I'm not selling it, it is a gift! Thank you friend. You are most welcome. Say, might you loan me a couple of hundred credits? [pause] But, I have given you a gift! You would take that from me, and offer nothing in return? Criminal! Brigand! Thief!"

"I'm adrift, outta work, washed up. They can't take me coin, so they coming for me parts."

"Hahaha! Not to worry, plenty more vertebrae where that came from!"

"Help a cove out, guv'ner. Buy bonds? I was a thrower, best in the biz. And I've been adrift for cycles. Buy bonds? 0.13% goes toward paying off what little is left of me decrepit rig. Buy bonds? I don't clear the interest, I don't buy back me organs, it's brain-shelving for me for sure. Buy bonds, eh? Buy bonds?"

"Seen that character floating around, talking in riddles, or not at all? They say she's one of them Quills. Where they go, things change, so they say. And when the things change, me mucker, it's folk like you and I get caught in the cogs."

"Me contact says they found a stash of Orokin-era nav charts. He tells me they mark sites that do not exist on current maps. Most intriguing. I'll pay you well, but you must submit to a memory wipe."

Solaris Male 6

"Signed me tractor to a triple-digit convoy gone wide-bore for one of the Mercury asteroids. Emergency resupply. Got there way too late. Whole installation had gone crater-faced, zits everywhere. Never seen so many heat sigs. Flagged it as a no-go and left it to the mercs. Infested. Damn, give you nightmares."

"I piloted a fatboy outta Mars bundled up with some off-planet fauna. Something about a safari park."

"I made quite a mistake with that captain. Not the kinda thing you can easily undo. When you've made peace with the world, then everything becomes a game, friend. Cetus taught me that."

"Deadheaded me tractor two hours ago, empty. Sold the full manifest. Now it's just me and a bottle for the next cycle and a half. Cheers!"

"Get on the winning team! This place? It's isolated. The other Corpus? They want Nef Anyo to fail. That means ain't nobody gonna stop Solaris United takin' this whole place from him. Savvy?

"Rail agent? Ha! Jockeying meat wagons is where the money's at. Drop in, grab the breathers, and leg it. Easy."

"Merc-mercs. Mercantile mercenaries. Corpus! Slick and shiny and a pain in me rear."

"I can get ya half price on a full tank of go-go juice. Interested?"

Ostron Female

"If you want to change, accept who you are. Now will you reconsider what you are about to do?"

"I hear your words, but I see you in your silences."

"The quieter I am, the more I hear. The more I hear, the wiser I become. The wiser I become, the quieter I am."

"Offworlders commonly think of themselves as one person. This is an error in thinking, surah. You are many people! This is why it is important to remain simple – so as not to confuse the many people you consist of."

"Social pressure drives modification, modification drives profit, profit drives debt, debt drives control! These Solaris, they are all working to pay off their bodies, which they sold to the Corpus, to work for the Corpus, to pay off their bodies, which they have never owned! Oh, I weep for them."

Female Corpus Broadcaster

"Charity encourages laziness. Do not donate to charity. Direct your financial compassion to the Order of Profit."

"It's cold outside. Warm yourself with the teaching of the Order of Profit. Rates apply."

"A few days off? Interest accrued? Now you're in a fight you cannot win. Who can you turn to? The Corpus Solaris Order of Profit. Plant a seed today! Life is profit, profit is life."

"Each cycle, ask yourself: 'Can I work just one percent harder?' The answer is always: yes!"

"Success: it's not for losers."

"Life is profit, profit is life."

"Corpus: looking out for you, as we have always done."

"Use downtime effectively. Rest, and put in a solid shift's work tomorrow."

"Had some bad luck? Need a financial boost to cover the interest? With over 300 repayment models, we're sure to assign one that's right for you."

"The street corner wretch, lacking sensors, limbs, dignity. Weeks away from brain-shelving. The wages of indolence. Fight proudly for your body, Solaris, and work."

"Be on the lookout for non-conformists. Accurate reports earn substantial rewards!"

"Increase your usual donation to Corpus Solaris Order of Profit. A larger seed makes for a larger harvest. It just makes sense!"

"You work hard, and deserve better. Our instalment plan options provide peace of mind while keeping you happy and housed in the rig of your dreams."

Male Corpus Broadcaster

"A friendly reminder that consorting with anti-Temple dissidents carries a non-negotiable penalty of full-body repossession and mandatory brain-shelving. Report any suspicious personnel for a 0.63% remuneration bonus! Keep Fortuna clean."

"You may qualify for pay-cycle advances at newly reduced rates. Inquire today!"

"Good news! You still have jobs. Carry on."

"Tired hands are honest hands."

"There is no failure, only indolence. There is no futility, only parasitism. There is no defeat, only sloth."

"Fortuna, a message from the teachings of the Temple of Profit. With an open heart: give. With a tranquil mind: give. With conscience clear and unburdened: give. Give, that Nef Anyo might smile upon you, and all the work you put your manipulators to. Give. Give. Give."

"Nef Anyo would like to congratulate those who accepted mandatory cleanup duty in the toxin zones. Enjoy your 2% rebate on lung replacement."

"Need to down-cycle and feel good? Reward yourself with a donation to the Temple of Profit. Feel the prosperity."

"What is interest, if not a measure of Nef's trust in you? What is bodily repossession, if not the mark of one who cannot be trusted? What is it to betray the trust of he who has made a place for you by his side? It is to be unworthy of the name 'Solaris'. Heads high, workers of Fortuna, and be worthy."

"Nef's table is set, and your chair awaits high above. How long will you keep him waiting?"

"Limb and organ repossession happens. Safeguard your most valuable asset: you! Purchase repo insurance today."

[Navigation: Hub → Dialogue → Solaris Civilians]

[devintrinidad]

Unfinished Business

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13015189/1/Unfinished-Business

"Hey, White Blood Cell." AE-3803 began in a cautious manner. While she followed her friend on his patrols around the body, she carried a basket filled with nutrients. At his nod of confirmation to affirm that he was listening, the erythrocyte continued. "I have come to the conclusion that your friends are weirdos."

"Oh." He peered down at her, his left eye looking down at her in what most would think was the creepiest stare that they had ever seen. However, since she was used to his taciturn disposition, she more or less brushed off his creepy aura. "Are we that strange compared to the red blood cells?"

AE-3803 shook her head.

"I don't mean it in a negative sense. However, while red blood cells and white blood cells grow up in the bone marrow and arise from the same progenitor cells, you can't deny that we're...very different." The red blood cell took a bite of her sandwich, smiled at the flavor, and gestured for the white blood cell to take a bite. "But, I actually admire you guys a lot, especially since all you do is ensure that the rest of us cells live a happy and healthy life."

"And I already told you," the neutrophil chided playfully, "you don't have to thank us. We are, after all, doing only our jobs."

The red blood cell swatted at his arm, but immediately sobered as she tried to press the topic that had been bugging her for quite some time.

"Well...I think it's mainly your friends that are the biggest weirdos in the bunch. Remember how one of them carried me to the lungs? Or how all four kidnapped me because they were bored?"

The first part of her statement rankled U-1146 a little, but the second part of what she said was new.

"Wait. What?"

"Yeah," AE-3803 continued, oblivious to how U-1146 froze at her admission. "They literally blindfolded and knocked me out after I traveled to the alveoli. Don't worry, though, 2001—I think?—led me back to the lungs. Do you know why your…"

The redhead's words froze in her throat as she saw that her friend looked paler than most neutrophils. His hat hung low over his face, his lone eye looked like he had seen the worst things imaginable, and he seemed lost in thought. Heavens above, did she break him?

"Ah, White Blood Cell!" She called out to her close companion. Perturbed at his lack of reaction, the red blood cell tried shaking his left arm a little. "Are you all right? Nothing bad happened to me!"

Laughing to alleviate the neutrophil's apprehension did nothing but raise AE-3803's stress levels.

"They kidnapped you?"

"Umm...did they not tell you that?"

U-2146 steadily held her gaze as he shook his head in what seemed like an omen for disaster.

"Er, that look of murder on your face doesn't look too good on you when you aren't chasing bacteria."

U-1146 looked down at her, his expression softening just a fraction.

"Noted."

And before the erythrocyte could say anything more, the neutrophil waved goodbye, migrated into the narrow crevices of a building, and vanished.

"Hey! White Blood Cell, please don't do something ridiculous!"

U-2001 moved through a narrow passageway that was mostly reserved for white blood cells. Although he was unhurried, there was still a sense of urgency. On one of his patrols, he had spotted one of his colleagues, U-1146, stalking off in a direction opposite to his. Because they were friends, 2001 made as if to wave 1147 over, but he had to stop. There was some kind of dangerous aura that emanated from his fellow white blood cell. Frightened, but still curious, he began to shadow 1146.

For some odd reason, the white blood cell that he was tailing didn't seem like he was doing anything out of the ordinary—not that 2001 expected him to do something illicit. Given the dangerous vibes that 1146 was emitting, any other blood cell would think that he was out for fresh blood—bacteria perhaps. However, given that both their receptors remained near the base oftheir necks, that probably wasn't the case.

So why was 1146 looking like he was about to blow up?

"Hello, Mr. Neutrophil!"

Startled, 2001 literally jumped from the shadows of the building that he had been spying his colleague from and onto the pavement. As he adjusted himself to his surroundings, he found himself staring up at an apologetic erythrocyte and an outstretched white glove. Recognizing that the erythrocyte in question was the red blood cell that 1146 had taken a shine to, he readily took her gloved hand and heaved himself off the ground.

Would it be presumptuous of him to assume that maybe she would know what was eating at his colleague?

"Ah, hello Miss Red Blood Cell," he greeted. "Did you happen to talk to U-1146 recently? I just saw him a few minutes ago and he looked...murderous."

"Really? I don't think I—" Suddenly, the questioning look that was on her face was replaced by one that was filled with fear. Her face paled, almost as if the hemoglobin had completely drained from her cytoplasm. "Oh gosh...I think I may have something to do with it!"

2001 grabbed her by the shoulders, fully concerned about his friend's wellbeing. What did she do? What happened?

"Tell me! Is it something dangerous?"

"Haha, yeah...remember how you guys kidnapped me that one time?" She mumbled, "And how one of you carried and launched me point blank at him?"

Abruptly, 2001 let go of the red blood cell as if she were some virus ridden cell.

Oh, no.

All of them, himself included, didn't inform their colleague of what happened. It wasn't a conscious decision; his friends certainly didn't meet up with each other and vote to keep the situation under wraps. It's just that...the whole kidnapping fiasco was so ridiculous and completely out of character for them, it just never came up in conversation. Their conflicting schedules and lack of imposing threats also led to the overall conclusion that maybe they wouldn't have to own up to having acted out of their duties.

Unfortunately, they never took into account that the red blood cell that they had targeted was the wild card.

"Umm, Mr. Neutrophil, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize…"

2001 immediately turned to her and immediately felt the cytosol drain out of his already pale face. Her lips were trembling and she looked so small under his towering frame. Her eyes met his and he was shocked to note that her eyes—hazel and all too innocent—glimmered under a haze of tears.

Back when he was a mere myelocyte, he never experienced the tears of a young girl. Most myelocytes were males, but those who were female mostly ended up as eosinophils. Even so, they were designed to be tough and showing weakness so willingly wasn't encouraged. (Training myelocytes to become the main defense patrolling the blood vessels wasn't as rigid as it was in the thymus, but it could be just as harsh in some regards to their training). So when 2001 found the guilt radiating in the young erythrocyte's eyes, he couldn't help but fidget with his hands and wrack his nucleus for the right thing to say.

Was there anything that he could say?

"H-hey! It's not your fault! Like I said, it was my colleagues and their weird meddling ways...d-don't worry too much about it, Miss Red Blood Cell!"

She seemed to stop her little spiel of crying—much to 2001's relief.

"A-are you sure? Because—"

He waved away her concerns before he awkwardly patted the strange divot that was on her hat in order to further calm her down.

"It's okay, Miss Red Blood Cell. At least, now we know that 2626's hypothesis wasn't all too far off…" That last part was mumbled, but the young erythrocyte happened to hear that last part.

"Er—"

"Ah...we should probably rectify the problem before something terrible happens, yes?"

"So scary!"

"Why does he look so murderous?"

"Let him be. Who knows what goes on in an immune cell's nucleus."

4989, a little perturbed by what numerous cells were commenting, asked, "Hey, are they talking about us?"

2626 shook his head.

"I don't think so. We've been at this cafe for a little while now. Must be a newcomer." As 2626 took a sip of his favorite brand of green tea with a side dish of some bacteria, he peered outside the cafe's windows. "Although, I wonder which one of us was so frightening. Some of the platelets are cowering in the corners!"

4989 toyed with the spoon that lay within his teacup, a bit bored with the explanation.

"Maybe it was a T-Cell. Those guys are always causing trouble for the normal cells whenever they're free."

"In the blood vessels? Remember your schooling, 4989," 2626 chastised as he chewed through a particularly fleshy bit of bacteria. "T-Cells usually congregate in the lymphatics unless called out by the Helper T-Cells for backup in the blood vessels."

"Yeah, yeah! I remember...but how can you explain the complaints from outside? It's been ten minutes and some of the red blood cells look like they're about to lyse themselves." Despite the annoyed front, 4989 looked anxious as he drained the rest of his green tea. "I think we should get back to patrolling instead of causing the locals stress."

2626 nodded distractedly—he was still stuffing his mouth filled with bacteria and washing it all down with green tea.

Within seconds, both of them were out the door and—

"Men, we have a problem."

"Geeze, 2001! Give a neutrophil a head start on PCD, why don't you?"

2048 lay in one of the marginating pools of a deep in a vein of the upper arm. For the time being, he allowed himself to rest and mentally prepare himself for his next round of patrols. He had been resting for quite some time when he felt his transceiver vibrate in one of his pockets. As he fished it out, he could hear 2001's voice urging him to answer right away.

"I'm in the upper arm. What's happening?"

"I'm trying to fix a problem that has arisen within our ranks."

Immediately concerned, he asked, "Should I be worried?"

"Very. Meet us at the lungs. Over."

"Uh, sure. Roger that."

As 2048 stretched his legs and hopped back onto the main roads of the blood vessel, he felt a great sense of dread. Kids what made 2001, a usually laid back white blood cell, act so...unsettled?

When 2048 met up with the rest of his squad, he took notice of 2001's grim face and the twin grimaces upon the other two neutrophils, he immediately felt like backtracking. However, he was still a white blood cell with a task to protect the body. Bravery and determination were only but a few of the traits that were needed to be part of the immune system. Therefore, against his instincts to turn tail and leave them to resolve their own issues—whatever they may be—2048 stepped forward and announced his presence.

"Yo."

"2048, good of you to come here. As you can probably tell, we've got ourselves a problem."

"And—"

"Just so you know, it's all 2626's fault!" 4989 interjected as he pushed his favorite colleague in front of him. "I was just supervising and 2626 took it too far!"

2626 rounded on his partner in crime, a wounded look on his face.

"Last I recall, you were the one who had the idea all along. You just needed my help to actually see—"

Before 2626 could continue on his hurt tirade, 2048 spotted the red blood cell looking at them with a look of utter confusion on her face. Unlike last time, she didn't look too uncomfortable in their presence. Understandably, though, she stood off to the side and watched them curiously.

"Miss Red Blood Cell! What brings you here?"

"Hello, Mr. Neutrophil!" Her face colored a little—presumably because she was surrounded by neutrophils. Still she pressed on with her greeting, completely ignoring 2626's look of utter bewilderment and abandonment. "I actually came with your colleagues. It was kind of my fault that U-1146 found out that you kidnapped me. I'm sorry!"

She bowed her head and seemingly held her breath.

Oh gosh.

She was so cute!

2048 already knew that the red blood cell was quite cute—he did carry her that one time, but he was distracted by thoughts of teasing 1146–but her display completely destroyed him.

She was almost cuter than the platelets.

Nervously, he laughed as he waved away her apologies.

"That's what this is all about? I was expecting something more devastating."

"But it is."

At 4989's somber tone, 2048 found himself looking away from the erythrocyte and into his fellow white blood cell's direction. 4989 looked tired; his face was ashen. It was very rare for the youngest nuetrophil in the group to be so serious unless there was a bacteria present.

"We think that 1146 might be plotting against us."

"Erm...he's too kind for that sort of thing."

"You should have seen him, though! He looked like he was about to phagocytize the platelets when he last saw him!" 2626 cried aloud. "The platelets!"

Oh.

That was bad.

It was decided that the erythrocyte would first approach their colleague. After all, she was still one of 1146's closet friends and well...it's not like he was mad at her. That still begged one question that had yet to be answered.

Just where was he right now?

They could contact him via transceiver, but…

"You never know, he could have learned how to phagocytize cell's via transceiver," 4989 helpfully supplied.

Not that it was possible, but one could never know for sure.

So, they took the next best option.

Following AE-3803 around.

"Hey," AA-5100 whispered conspicuously. "Is there a good reason why there are four white blood cells stalking you?"

"Yeah...best not to question it."

AE-3803 was on one of her scheduled deliveries, but she was deliberately taking her time. It had been decided by the neutrophils that she try her best to attract attention from as much bacteria, viruses, what-have-you in order to gain the attention of U-1146. So far, she had been attacked almost five times, got lost eight times, and had run into her mentor at least two times. Both times, her mentor had merely eyed her curiously before stopping at a tissue for her scheduled delivery, but now, the brunette erythrocyte wanted answers.

Her mentor took hold of AE-3803's shoulders, her eyes flickering between her mentee and the four intimidating males who were busy plugging up one of the crevasses between cell complexes.

"Are you sure you're not in trouble"

"Actually, they're more in trouble than I am."

"And they're not bothering you?"

"I feel like I'm bothering them by not doing my job."

Taking the hint AA-5100 moved away from her friend and hoisted her package against her hip. With a small murmur of goodbye and a promise that AE-3803 would tell her the entire story when they had coinciding breaks, AA-5100 left.

Once her mentor left, AE-3803 ventured towards the currently plugged up crevasse and tapped her shoe against the wall, looking like one of those stern hematopoietic stem cells whenever they were feeling irritated.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be more subtle than this? I thought you were all military trained so that you could ambush bacteria."

"Impressive. However, your knowledge is a little lacking," 2001 noted as he popped out of the thin space. "That's more of a Natural Killer Cell tactic. We just happen to get lucky whenever ambushes happen. Other than that, we're just as subtle as a cancer cell."

"I see," the young erythrocyte mutters more to herself than to her white blood cell companion. "Still, isn't it a bit weird that we haven't seen from him in ages? I think you guys should resort to just calling him."

"And risk him killing us all!" 4989 popped out this time—without help this time—and resisted the urge to shake the redhead's shoulders. "Trust me, Red, it's better to attract him via bacterial invasion with you as an intermediary."

"Careful, little white blood cell, you might just get what you were wish for."

AE-3803, if she wasn't so used to it, would have fainted at the sight of parasite looming over the lot of them.

In the end, a kind hearted eosinophil with pigtails came to save the day. With one strike from her weapon, the parasite exploded into scattered pieces that had to be carried away by several troops of neutrophils and macrophages. The excitement of that encounter was far from over. Within one of the backup crews that came shortly after the incident, U-1146 had arrived.

Stoic and impassive, he barely noticed his favorite red blood cell approaching him until he was knee deep into the parasite's undulating membrane. Well versed in how neutrophils would phagocytize their enemies—she had been hanging around the white blood cells for so long, she practically felt like them already—she merely sat back on her haunches and appraised her friend.

Focused.

Impassive.

And not as mad as what his colleagues made him out to be.

"Red Blood Cell," the neutrophil murmured softly. He wiped the back of his glove against the smeared cytosol that was on his face and offered her a small smile. "What brings you here? Shouldn't you be out on one of your deliveries?"

"Well...about that…"

Curiously, the white blood cell looked down at his companion as she stuttered out a hushed reply. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't make out a single word that she had just uttered.

"Do you mind repeating that?"

"Well, since you did mention that I was on delivery, I actually have to deliver something to you."

"I don't need oxygen."

"No, it's actually a message from some of your colleagues."

Carefully, the neutrophil kept his face as aloof as possible. After all, he didn't want to scare his friend.

"And what did they have to say?" He added a moment later, "And how come they aren't the ones confronting me?"

"They just wanted to make sure that you didn't phagocytize them first before explaining themselves."

"Phago—?"

"Please don't do it! If you do—" 4989 shoved 2626 and 2048 in front of him "—eat these guys first!"

"Oy, 4989—"

"Who gave you the right—"

2001, once again in charge of his companions' shenanigans, pushed himself to the forefront of the group and offered a sympathetic smile. Much to all the neutrophils' collective relief, 1146 nodded in return.

"We just wanted to let you know that kidnapping and overstepping our boundaries with your friend was completely all in good fun. However, we do realize that what we did was completely uncalled for and we all humbly ask for your forgiveness."

U-1146 continued to stare impassively at his fellow neutrophils before he took a step forward.

And another.

And another.

Until he was standing directly in front of them.

Even though neutrophils were usually the same height, for some odd reason, 1146 seemed to tower over all of them.

A beat.

"Oh, I already forgave you guys."

"WAIT WHAT?"

"WE'VE BEEN TAILING A RED BLOOD CELL FOR NO GOOD REASON!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?"

2001, clearly relieved, but still wary, regarded the eldest neutrophil. Something wasn't quite right…

"I just took a walk to clear my head."

"A walk?"

"Yes, I happened to visit Dendritic Cell on the way."

Oh.

No.

And with that, 1146 guided AE-3803 back to her scheduled route to the lungs.

"Oh, we are so screwed," 2626 breathed.

2001 couldn't have said it any better.

"Hey, White Blood Cell, what did you mean? What's wrong with going to the Dendritic Cell?"

"Oh...we just made a deal of sorts."

In one of U-1146's many pockets, a small sachet of photos lay innocently within.

[bereahci]

Inspiration From The Weekly Readings

As usual, we have readings each week that we read and discuss. One of the readings we read, titled Technology of Memory Key issues and critical perspectives, was fascinating. The part that fascinated me was where it spoke about how people store information and media on online services or hard drives. I often assume my pictures and files are safe from harm once I keep them on cloud memory services such as google drive or google photos. Having my files and pictures online gives me a sense of security that I do not have when my files or images are physical or stored on physical hard drives. After reading the article, my opinion changed. The article discussed how our files are not 100% protected even with online storage services. The article states, "We think we can leave our digital data around and it will be there when we come to look. But even if we know how to find it, it may in fact not be there, or it may be there but unreadable." This quote mainly talked about physical memory devices such as hard drives but can also apply to cloud memory. In this case, you could lose everything if you lose access to your account, if your account gets hacked, and if anything happens to the company servicing your cloud drive. This got me thinking, how about if there was a program that automatically saved all of your cloud data to an external hard drive. As long as your data is kept on a hard drive and a cloud drive, you can sit with a piece of mind knowing that if anything were to happen to your cloud files or photos, there is a copy on a physical hard drive and vice versa. I was curious to see if there is already a way to save cloud files to an external drive automatically, and I found that Google has a somewhat form that does this. Google has a service called google takeout, which can export your data every two months as a downloadable file. I was not satisfied with that method as you could gather a lot of data within two months, and if anything happens before it is downloaded, you could easily lose essential data. Now I want to do personal research to see if there is a service that can automatically save your files to a hard drive as soon as the data is uploaded to the cloud. If there is no such thing, then I feel like this is something I could try to work on and see if it is possible. Such a concept would make people comfortable knowing their data is backed up locally and in the cloud, the same way a programmer feels safe having backup files on Github and their local storage. 

[joonbird]

Wings Tour Final in Seoul ♡

An extremely long, detailed account of my experience attending the Wings Tour Final in Seoul Day 1!

PRE-CONCERT: I got to the venue at around midday mainly to suss out the merch situation, (quickly realized merch wasn’t going to happen because there were queues wrapping the block, it was mind-boggling how many people were in line!) but it was a blessing in disguise, because I ended up with a tonne of super cute fansite merchandise, and I ended up meeting a lot of really great people! 

CONCERT: I was seated in Section B at the front section of the floor, near the centre stage and the left wing. I was very close to the front stage, even closer to the left wing stage, and a fairly unobstructed (but not close at all) view of the extended stage. They were very, very strict on photography during the concert (until the end). The concert kicked off with a VCR, playing some BTS highlights and also their BBMAs acceptance speech. Mic Drop: When the speech finished playing, the lights came onto the stage to reveal the guys in their Mic Drop costumes. I just about screamed my head off because I was expecting Not Today, and instead I was greeted with the beautiful sight of my Seven Guys in their Mic Drop outfits (and no bucket hats!) They were on fire, Mic Drop choreography is insane live. I was blown away by the energy, and the attitude, and then they did the dance break from Mama and their body rolls were rude and wonderful all at once.

Medley: This medley was the peak of my non-stop screaming because quite honestly, it was sensory overload. They started with We Are Bulletproof Pt. 1 & 2 and that in itself was a shock to my system, because I never, ever thought I would get to see those songs being performed live. They were having so much fun with the medley, and then they started taking turns going down the left and right wings. When the members were on the left side, they were SO CLOSE and it was a shock. I don’t really remember much about the music, or the stage, or anything (sigh) because my attention was solely on the member standing right there in front of me. (I’ll go into more detail at the end of this post re: My Reactions to their visuals bc... i need a separate paragraph for that lmao.) They then did Cypher pt. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and I swear to you my soul left my body. The Cypher series, ESPECIALLY part 3, has always been a dream and tonight that dream was realized. The best part was that Namjoon was standing right in front of me in the left wing while rapping his verse of Cypher Pt 3. He is an unbelievable rapper, charismatic and fierce and intense all at once. Also Yoongi’s verse in Cypher pt. 3 (the crazy fast one) was iNSANE live and I feel highly blessed to have witnessed that irl. He is ridiculously talented. Cypher pt. 4 (on the extended stage) they got us to stand up, and Hoseok owned it - he became Jay Dope and the energy in the crowd was great, we were all cheering and Yoongi threw water into the crowd!

Begin & Lie: Jungkook blew me away with Begin. His vocals were so stable, that if you were listening to him with your eyes closed, you would not have been able to guess just how hard he was dancing. Also, he is an unbelievable performer - he was surrounded by backup dancers and my eyes were drawn to him. He has a really intense way to staring at the audience, and he connects with the music and the crowd so well. Jimin performed Lie on the extended stage so I didn’t get the full effect, but even so, watching it mainly from the screen was incredible. His face when he dances to Lie is so beautiful, and he dances with his entire soul, seriously. The stadium was spectacular too, the Army bombs are synced to the beat of the song/specific colours, and the entire dome was slowly pulsing a dark crimson red and it was like something out of a film. 

First Love: First Love gets it’s own paragraph because out of all the performances tonight, the most memorable one for me personally, was First Love. I can’t even explain Yoongi... he just rapped with so much intensity, and passion, and he just has It. It’s everything- the delivery, the way he stares into the audience, the nuances of his face expressions... he is a performer who makes you feel things. I could not keep my eyes off of him, I cried, and at the end he got really emotional too (which just made me cry harder). 

So Far Away, Lost, Save Me, I Need U: So after First Love, was Seokjin singing ‘So far away’, and it felt like the entire dome was shaking from how loud everyone was screaming. They arranged it so well, the four vocal line members were standing on the extended stage, no choreo, just singing- and it never felt like one was overpowering the other, instead, they all blended together so beautifully? It was really moving. I felt so lucky to be able to watch them perform that song live. After that, was Lost, Save Me, I Need U which are all classic, so enjoyable, and they were dressed in these blue grey silk shirts... some of which were low V neck cuts and I seriously nutted off the face of the earth, they looked so good.

Reflection: I loved every second of Reflection. When I’ve watched fancams of Reflection from other concerts, I’ve gotten emotional because I (personally) sensed Namjoon performing it with a melancholic tone. Tonight though, I don’t know, he just seemed happy? He was smiling a lot, and during the instrumental bit he said, “I believe.” And he looked up and smiled, and said, (something along the lines of) “I believe we are all whales. We are alone, but we are swimming together,” in English. And he was smiling and swaying and then he asked a question, I can’t remember what, but it was a question he wanted us to say ‘yes’ to. Buuuut, because he spoke in English, the audience just chanted back “Kim Namjoon” and Namjoon laughed. It was really cute. He looked really happy, and he was wearing a sparkly black blazer and looked like a Visual Masterpiece.

Stigma: Stigma was another performance that blew my socks off. Taehyung hit every single note, and the tone of his voice in real life is so soulful. He was in his element, he was staring into the audience with this piercing gaze... he was basically eyefucking us and it was incredible. His facial expressions are NO JOKE. He kept smirking, and then staring, and then licking his lips and the entire dome was hooked. Every time he did a certain face expression you could hear people going “ohhhhh”. He absolutely knows how to perform, he’s mesmerizing. And at the end, he ad-libbed a few high notes in Stigma and his voice sounded amazing.

Mama & Awake: Mama was the one song I was the most excited to see prior to the concert! It exceeded all my expectations. Hoseok was in the best mood, he was beaming from ear to ear and being really playful - making love hearts and dancing with a huge grin. It was so heartwarming. He was born to perform, when he’s up there doing his thing EVERYONE is in love, seriously. He is such a good dancer, he engages with the crowd so well... and the end of Mama with the gospel-esque choir and Hoseok singing had my body shivering! He is an INCREDIBLE singer (a true Vocalist) and at the end he gave us the world’s biggest smile and my heart melted in to the floor. Awake was immediately after, and hello, I love Seokjin. I will fight everyone who doubts his vocal ability because his voice was so strong and stable tonight, and those high notes had my soul ascending. He sang with so much emotion, and his voice just filled the arena so beautifully and it never felt strained, it was effortless. I teared up, and the entire dome went quiet and after her finished, they clapped. It was a really beautiful moment.

DNA & Go Go: Before DNA, they played a VCR they recorded (speaking of? how do they have the TIME i can’t deal with them) and the crowd started to go nuts. When we heard Jungkook’s whistle, and the beat kicked in, the roar from Army was deafening. The fanchants were insane, the loudest fanchants of the night, and the guys were loving it. It felt like they were vibing off of us, and they were smiling and enjoying DNA so much. Go Go was so much fun! They were having a good time, and being so so so cute with the aegyo. 

Medley 2: The medley started off with N.O., No More Dream, Boy in Love and Danger. They did the same thing as before, all taking turns to go to the two wings of the stage. I feel like I have no clear memories of the medleys, because I wasn’t paying attention to the screen at all when the members were right there ahhhh. I remember Jimin was in front of us and he did the body rolls from No More Dream (I was yodeling), and Jungkook was with us during either Danger or Boy In Luv and he stayed for ages, interacting with us and dancing around. The second half of the medley they returned to the extended stage, for Fire. They started from the 3:33 dance break and it was fucking crazy. These fireworks popped out of nowhere and they just BROKE into that dance and my eyes fell out of my head. Their dancing was so sharp and so strong (especially Jimin holy mole). After Fire they told us all to stand up, and they started to sing Run. It was an orchestra version, so kind of upbeat, and they were running around and EVERYONE was dancing/jumping up and down. It was the most energetic the crowd was all night, the boys seemed so happy, and then at the climax of the song these gold streamers popped over us on ground floor and it was so beautiful I can’t.

BST, You Never Walk Alone & Best of Me: Blood Sweat & Tears was one of my favourite performances of the night. The dance was AMAZING, they gave it their all and seeing them do that choreography irl was so memorable. Afterwards they said it was their last song, and Army were chanting for about 5 minutes straight refusing to accept that reality... and of course, they came out in these truck things. On my side, I had Taehyung, Hoseok and Seokjin. (from memory). We were waving at them, and they were SO BEAUTIFUL, because they all came out wearing Wings tour merch. When I saw Tae in the beret my jaw dropped and I whipped my head around to look at the screen to see NAMJOON IN THE BERET and I distinctly remember screaming out “THANK YOU” lmfao. YNWA was so cute, and then they did Best of Me which was SO ADORABLE. They were so happy, bouncing around in their trucks with their selfie sticks waving to us and singing. 

Ment 1: (I can’t remember in between the ments because there were so many, but this is a vague memory of ment 1) Jimin said he missed us a lot, Seokjin did his heart event (punching through a sheet of white paper to reveal a red love heart), and Jimin said he really loves performing Best of Me :) Seokjin wanted to mess around with the army bombs and do a wave of colour, and then Yoongi made us all clap ‘once’. Jimin asked us to sing the melody of Best of Me and we couldn’t (it sounded so bad) and they kind of went “oh..” and everyone laughed. It was really nice, and intimate almost, they were mucking around and having fun and I was the softest bitch in the room. They also all went around talking about this year, and thanking us for the success of LY:Her. Then they said that this was going to be their last song for the night.

Road/Path & Born Singer: I can’t explain to you my reaction when I realized they were singing Road/Path. I was facing the extended stage, and I turned to see on the screen, their faces next to different clips of their debut/early era selves. It was so, so emotional. People around me (and me) were crying, seeing for example, Jungkook now singing next to debut Jungkook. (Also, unrelated, but because I was at the front of the section right by the massive screen, I could see every detail of the member’s faces it was kinda intense... e.g. I could see the texture of their skin and the fact that Yoongi had a tiny lil pimple). After Road/Path, they stood in a circle and Jungkook sang “I’m a born singer” and the entire stadium exploded. I was in shock, and I started to cry because WHAT THE HECKIN HELL! It was the same as in the original performance, them in a circle on a rotating platform. I can’t even explain the feeling. They sang/rapped with so much emotion, and behind them was a sea of glittering army bombs. It was really beautiful. The lyrics of Born Singer are so intense and you could hear it in their voices. I was an emotional wreck and it was at that moment I told myself that I will support these guys til my old age, they deserve the world. They’re so talented and humble and they put their 100% into their music, you could feel it in that performance and I think everyone was crying.

Ment 2 & Spring Day: Namjoon was crying, and they all went in turns to say their final words. This time, it was really emotional (as opposed to all the others during the night were they were joking around, teasing us, etc). most of them were crying/teary, and so grateful. They kept thanking us. The most emotional one for me (aside from Namjoon) was Jungkook. He was speaking in this really thick, quiet voice, like he was on the verge of tears, and he told us that he wants to perform well for us, and that tonight he felt like he hadn’t done that. He said his condition wasn’t good and Army all cheered, “it’s okay” (idk how to translate the korean word exactly? but kind of yeah, ‘you did okay/it’s okay’), and Jungkook teared up and said, “Thank you, I love you”. They then performed Spring Day, which was so beautiful live, and they disappeared. A video played on the screen of them writing letters, and a lot of Army left because they thought it was over (fools!!! hehe), because after the video we looked up to see them in those hot air balloons!

ENDING: OKAY SO!!!! Because of where I was sitting, the Hot Air Balloon above me would dip inwards like close to the ground and then back up, if that makes sense (basically I was really close to the balloons). Everyone stood up and was taking photos, and I spotted Namjoon in his beret and I kid you not I dropped my army bomb, my phone, everything, and grabbed my slogan. I had this huge slogan, white fabric with black Korean letters that said “WE LOVE KIM NAMJOON” and I held it up. I didn’t mention this earlier but my section seemed to be full of Yoongi/Jimin/JK stans and every time Namjoon was around there weren’t THAT many cheers for him, also everyone had their phones out, but i was like WAVING my giant slogan from side to side. Namjoon spotted it and I let go of it with one hand and pointed at him like saying “you, you, you” and he smiled and pointed BACK and did the ‘you you you’ and I did a thumbs up (lmfao I didn’t know what else to do) and he laUGHED (and then turned around) but i seriously think my ass was trembling the entire time. They got off the balloons and spent time going to both wings again to say individual goodbyes. Hobi came around and I did a big heart on my head with my arms and wiggled from side to side and he did a head heart back and wiggled I FUCKING SCREAMED, it was a fleeting moment but iconic nonetheless. Namjoon came to the left wing second to last, and I held up the slogan again and yelled “NAMJOON THANK YOU” (in Korean) and no one else was yelling and he saw me and HE POINTED AT ME and I pOINTED BACK AND HE SMILED AGAIN AND THE GIRL NEXT TO ME GRABBED MY ARM AND WENT “AHHHH”....... anyway after this, they all went back to the centre stage. As the big screens were closing they were being cute, Jin asked us to give him flying hand kisses, etc etc, and doing individual dances (Yoongi did a break dance thing) and saying “Bye” until the very last moment.

MEMBERS VISUALS/MY IMPRESSIONS Jungkook: He is so, so handsome. SO HANDSOME. His face is so chiselled irl ugh he’s grown up so much I can’t deal. He has a really nice body and the thighs are NO JOKE. He’s such a good dancer and he exudes so much confidence on stage, he’s so attractive it hurts me Taehyung: I am convinced that he is one of the most devastatingly beautiful people in the entire world. He’s very sharp and intense and beautiful, honestly. His features are unreal - his eyes!!! And at the end he was wearing the beret and his eyebrows and smile had me so weak. Jimin: Also so, so handsome. He has a really nice facial structure, a really nice jaw. And he’s beautiful in a soft, almost delicate way. On stage (after Namjoon because im biased af) I found him the most captivating to watch. Also I know everyone rags on him about his height but he really didn’t seem that way to me! Hoseok: Okay Hoseok is a visual masterpiece? Photos do not do him justice, he was the nicest facial structure and such a handsome face. He’s softer in real life too, and so, so charming. His smile is ridiculous, and when he has that intense stare........ no one is safe Yoongi: Also a visual masterpiece? He has a smaller frame but the way he moves his body is so attractive. He has a really pretty face too. he just has this charisma about him, he’s undoubtedly the sexiest person alive. Seokjin: My jaw dropped when I saw him. He is IT. The best looking man alive, no joke. Like fucking hell, I honestly gasped. His body is f*cked, his shoulders, his torso, his legs, and his FACE. HIS FUCKING FACE. his hair was styled so well and they put him in a lot of plunging shirts, fuck. He wasn’t as fanservicey at the start of tonight as the others and I found it so attractive, he was just STARING at the audience ahhhhh. And during one of the medleys while he was on my side of the stage in the wings, he picked up a bottle of water, drank it, and tossed it over his shoulder with an idgaf expression on his face. It was the hottest thing I’ve seen lmfao Namjoon: I have No Words to describe him.... other than.... truly........ the Visual to end all Visuals. He’s SO ATTRACTIVE. SO. SO. ATTRACTIVE. He has SO MUCH stage presence and he smiles and has these lil face expressions all the time that you don’t usually see in videos, but holy mole. Whenever he was on stage I was staring straight at him. He’s tall, and he has a really nice body, and his FACE!!!! He has a really dainty face and he’s honestly 128293898210x better looking in person which i didn’t even know was possible. HIS SMILE, THE DIMPLES, EVERYTHING, wowowowow

OK SO (wtf this is so long I commend you if you are still reading this), in conclusion, this was an emotional, amazing concert and I am at a loss still! They are all INCREDIBLE performers, and you can really tell that they love what they do. I will never get over this! i feel blessed and lucky. and i love these guys so much. 

[aklsupporter]

The Evolving Future of the Office

The Evolving Future of the Office

A growing number of companies have either announced plans to move out of California to a more “friendly” state or have already done so.

However, in this environment where people don’t need to go physically into the office, it is unclear if any California-based workforce must or will move with these companies that are fleeing the Golden State.

I participated in a group analyst event several weeks ago about companies converting their offices into collections of meeting rooms. We couldn’t picture people who have been meeting remotely for so many months suddenly concluding that the long commute to and from the office was worth meeting in person; given they are now okay with using solutions like Webex or Microsoft Teams.

Let’s talk about what the future of the office should be, and we’ll conclude with my product of the week, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7.

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The Pandemic

We can’t start this discussion without talking about where we are with the pandemic, which significantly changes where and how we work.

Right now, many of us are anticipating a post-Superbowl pandemic surge here in the United States; and the inability to reach crowd immunity before year’s end, due to a combination of vaccine supply and logistics issues, and some folks refusing to take the immunization. Eighty percent of us must either be vaccinated or have had the virus to get to a level of immunity that would allow us to go back to the old normal.

Also, the virus is mutating at a high rate and may metamorphose around the antiviral products we currently have; potentially lengthening further the need to mitigate the problem. This set of circumstances makes it unlikely that those of us over age 60 will ever be able to go back to the old normal.

More and more companies are altering policy so that increasing numbers of employees never have to come back to the office. Firms that have done work from home well are reporting increases in productivity and an improved ability to attract top talent by getting around the need to relocate (people don’t like to move).

These trends all suggest that most of us will continue to work from home and that company offices will need to be redesigned; not with huddle rooms that still put folks in close physical proximity, but with systems that can better protect employees from viruses.

What we need to prevent most aggressively is the chance that even one infected person can innocently get into the office and, once in, infect a vast number of employees all at once.

The Home Office

Home offices then rise from being a “nice to have” to a critical feature. Where more than one person works from home, the configuration must conform to how the family works.

If the family has kids, there needs to be a provision for oversight to ensure the kids are studying and not screwing around when they are supposed to be doing schoolwork.

Parents with different types of jobs will probably drive each other crazy if forced to work too close together in the home office. Ensuring the home can accommodate the work needs of both parents without driving each other nuts will help with marriage longevity.

The home office solution needs to be presentable, so the room doesn’t detract from the employee’s image. The green screen stuff may eventually evolve so it doesn’t look so artificial. But until it does, having an office space that is neither too flashy (so you never get a raise again) or too ratty (so people lower their impression of you) is critical. You want folks focused on what you are saying, not how you spend money.

You’ll need a strong Internet connection and adequate power. If you’re in an area that is prone to power outages, a backup system so an outage doesn’t put you out of work.

There are tax advantages to fully separating the home-office space that should also be considered. Since we’re entering tax season, consult with your tax adviser.

The Company Office

Office buildings need to be rethought entirely.

Cafeterias need to be redesigned to deliver packaged meals that can be delivered to employees to minimize unnecessary interaction. Sensors at all office entry points should be enhanced with scanners that will alert if a staff member is running a fever. Cubicle farms should be eliminated in favor of rooms that separate people completely or into working groups. Air conditioning systems need to be modified to mitigate contagion, and mask policies need to be implemented.

Open-plan offices also need to be reconsidered but could still work as long as social distancing between workers and mask policies are enforced. Space planners need to take into account the changing OSHA rules concerning the pandemic and advances in technology that can mitigate the transfer of pathogens, such as built-in sneeze guards. But the place still needs to be attractive and welcoming; otherwise, productivity will take a hit and there will likely be issues getting people to come into the place consistently.

Ingress and egress routes need to be thought through to minimize contact and spread. Should someone become symptomatic while at work, there must be a path for their safe and rapid removal from the environment without forcing an evacuation.

In short, rather than focusing on the old goals of employee density and productivity, the new objective is to limit or eliminate pathogen transfer without destroying the collaborative reasons people are likely coming into the office in the first place. Creating the right balance will be anything but easy.

Wrapping Up: Employee Care

I’ve focused on the physical design of offices both at home and at work that will need to change to embrace what is likely to be an extended pandemic response in the office. But HR will also need to step up to the increased need for employee care, as those working from home or in the company’s office will be under a great deal of additional stress.

Those working at home already have work-life balance issues, and those issues could cause adverse job performance and/or behavioral problems. HR will need to instrument employees so that these emerging problems can be mitigated in a timely manner before they escalate to become major issues.

In the end, there is little likelihood we’ll ever go back to the world as it was before the pandemic. So, anticipating and building for a sustaining new standard will have a great deal to do with the long-term performance and viability of your organization. This virus has already killed so many companies. Don’t let it kill yours.

The Surface Pro 7

The Surface Pro, like the Xbox, was created for a problem that never really emerged. For the Xbox, the problem that Microsoft was anticipating was Sony turning the PlayStation into a PC replacement. Microsoft wanted a hedge, but Sony never really made that pivot, and that could have been because it was forced to instead focus on a pure gaming play to better compete with the Xbox.

The initial Surface and Surface Pro were created to prevent the replacement of the PC by the iPad. That never really happened either, but that failure could have arguably been because with the Surface and Surface Pro in the market, the opportunity for a business-oriented iPad was significantly reduced.

These results remind me a bit of Y2K, where we argued that a disaster was coming, worked our butts off to prevent it, and then rather than surmising that we did a good job, instead concluded that the threat wasn’t real. That seems stupid to me, but that’s what happened.

I’m not a huge fan of the Surface Pro 7 design, primarily because although I use tablets for reading and browsing the Web, for me, a 12" screen is just too big for this use. The 15" Surface laptop is my favorite design with a decent-sized screen, the coolest product in the Surface Book line, and makes no attempt even to pretend it is a tablet.

However, what frankly annoyed me about the Surface Pro design was its tendency to fall off airplane tables in coach, causing iPad users to laugh at me. It happened on almost every trip, but I’m not flying anymore and generally work off a table friendly monitor like the Dell U4021QW.

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I’ve also found I can fold the screen up, put the kickstand down, and use it like a little desktop computer that takes up less space than a non-tented laptop (and tented laptops, where you invert the product while partially open look stupid).

The Surface Pro 7 is a surprisingly elegant alternative to a small form factor desktop PC that you can grab and go. In a year or so, when/if I start traveling again, I may change my mind. But for now, for how I work, this design is an excellent alternative to a small desktop computer because I can take it with me and work outside.

It comes in platinum or black (I favor black), and it has the 10th generation Intel Core processor (i3, i5, or i7) in it. The i5 provides a nice balance of price and performance. It also has Wi-Fi 6, which requires a Wi-Fi 6 router if you want the extra performance, but it should work fine on older Wi-Fi 5 routers.

You shouldn’t have battery issues with 10 hours of expected battery life, mainly when working from home. It should outperform a similarly configured Surface Pro 6 by about 40 percent, which is significant.

With the keyboard and the i5 processor, the resulting price is around $1,330 before sales tax (which the state in which I live doesn’t have).

In the end, the Surface Pro 7 may be a better design for many than a traditional laptop, and it is looking better to me all the time, so it is my product of the week. 

[writing-royza]

Two Hundred and Sixty-two - A Reason to Quarrel, 3.0

A/N: Happy Sunday, everyone! Just a quick reminder for you guys to check in on Christmas Day for a new holiday-themed fic! Until then, enjoy this one!

I do not own FMA.

Two Hundred and Sixty-two - A Reason to Quarrel, 3.0

As he entered the room, his eyes slid toward the group of four desks to the right-hand side of the office. Even though it was nearly five p.m., all of them were occupied, and Roy looked away before even the slight twist of his lip could give any inkling of his plan going awry. Not irreparably, though….

“Hawkeye….” He approached her desk as she looked up, his hands sliding casually into his pockets. “I’ve scheduled a meet-up with one of our informants for later this evening, around eight o’clock. Would you be able to come with me, as backup?”

Something like light guilt crossed her face briefly. “...I’m sorry, sir. I have other commitments tonight.”

“Oh?” Knowing her schedule as he did - or, as he thought he did - he could have sworn she had tonight open. “What came up?”

She smiled, her polite, professional ‘don’t worry about it’ smile. “Just paperwork, sir. Grumman asked me for help in completing some that he’d gotten behind on.” The smile faded as she tilted her head curiously to one side. “The informant you’re meeting; maybe one if the men would be able to help?”

He fought back the urge to grin. As if the men would ever be privy to a secret meet-up with ‘Elizabeth.’ “No, I’m afraid this is one of the more secretive ones. They only trust you and I, and I don’t want to throw them off by bringing someone new into the picture.” He turned toward his desk. “Don’t worry about it; I’m sure I can reschedule.”

“Of course, sir.” There was a rustle as she gathered together the papers she had been working on. “If you don’t mind, sir, I should go and get started on that other project I mentioned.”

“Sure.” Dropping into his chair, he flashed a quick smile before reaching for the first of several folders that hadn’t been on his desk when he had left earlier. “Tell the old man I said hello.” Riza disappeared through the door with a smile, and the office dropped into silence… for about two minutes.

“Hey, Chief?”

“Hm?”

Havoc stopped beside Roy’s desk, casting a furtive glance at the door before he spoke again. “I uh… I don’t want to stir any kind of pot, but… have you happened to actually see Hawkeye leave work at the end of the day this week?”

That drew Roy’s attention away from the folder in his hand. “…I can’t say I have, but that’s not unusual,” he said slowly. “Why do you ask?”

The blond man’s lips tightened briefly, before he leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Well, late on Tuesday night, I realized I’d left my wallet here, so I came back to get it. As I was leaving, I bumped into Hawkeye at the front door. And that was at ten p.m..”

Roy shrugged with one shoulder, unconcerned. “To be honest, it’s not unheard of for Hawkeye to head home that late. I wouldn’t be too –”

“Sir, at ten, she wasn’t showing any sign of being ready to leave.”

Something like a rock dropped into the pit of Roy’s stomach at the thought that, by this account, Riza had been keeping something from him. But what that something was a mystery to be solved.

---------------

There had been a brief moment of fear – she was honestly surprised he hadn’t picked up on it – when Roy had asked her what she was doing tonight. For a brief second, she had almost told him about the project, just as a reflexive answer, but had stopped herself at the last minute.

Now, sitting a quiet table in the Archives with her stack of files and far too much time to think, she began to feel the guilt trickling in. Guilt that she hadn’t told Roy what was going on, that she had more or less lied to his face, and that sooner or later, she was going to have to tell him.

“Lieutenant?”

Broken out of her thoughts, Riza looked up across the table, to where Sheska sat, watching her with concern. “Are you all right? You stopped writing about three minutes ago, and you’ve just been staring at the report.”

Smiling briefly in reassurance, Riza went back to work. “Yes, sorry. I was just lost in thought over something.”

Sheska smiled back, returning to her own work. “Okay, I wasn’t sure. I guess it’s pretty easy to start thinking about other stuff when this kind of work is so monotonous.” She took a moment to scribble down a line of information. “Have you heard anything on how long they expect the research to continue? At least at these hours?”

“From what I was told, it should only be another few days before the overtime is done,” Riza answered, speaking as she wrote. “The overseers think that by then, there should be enough of an information framework to devote normal hours toward it, instead of having volunteers work overtime every night.”

“That’s good. I had to explain to my mother why I wasn't able to visit, but I think she underst– oh!”

Riza looked up in time to see Sheska watching something behind her, but didn’t turn to look before the brunette suddenly blushed crimson and got to her feet. “I, um – I have to… go….”

For a brief second, there was only puzzlement as she watched the younger woman hurry away… and then she heard the step behind her. The oh-so-familiar step that stopped behind her chair before a deep voice spoke quietly, directly beside her ear. “Seems Grumman has a lot of extra paperwork to go around.”

Riza didn’t turn to face him, her eyes roving over the dozen or so other people at work in the room, all behind stacks of files just like hers. “I suppose this means the game is up,” she murmured.

“Hmm. You think?” Moving to crouch beside her chair, Roy didn’t look her way, continuing to watch the other tables. “What is this, exactly?”

“An Administration research project. Mainly to gather statistics – recruitment versus discharge, retirement, or death, rates of promotion in different sectors, resource expenditure….” She smiled faintly. “Everything boring about paperwork that I know you hate.”

“Almost as much as I don’t like being lied to.”

She winced slightly at the comment, looking down to find him watching her. “If it’s any consolation… before this started, I was going to tell you. But I know how you feel about me having to work long hours, and when it’s like that for over a week, I….” She hesitated. “I’ll be honest, sir, I didn’t want to deal with your imminent disapproval, or have you try to talk me out of it.”

His smile was small, but at least it was there. “I do do that, don’t I.”

“With your reasons, though.” Riza paused, then continued. “I’m sorry, sir; I should have let you know. Especially after Havoc realized there must have been something the other night.”

“I would have preferred to find out from you, rather than have him tell me and worry that something was wrong,” he admitted. “Though I have to wonder how you got roped into this, and why?”

“I heard Administration was looking for help with the project, and I volunteered,” she said, looking at her stacks of files. “As for why… like many others, the idea of pay and a half for overtime speaks very persuasively to me.”

His expression grew concerned in the space of an instant. “You’re not… you’re not in a situation like when you first moved to East City, are you?”

She shook her head. “No, sir. But it never hurts to have a little extra cash stored away.” She indicated the stack of files in front of her. “And if it’s any consolation, I should be done with this in the next few days. Once Administration has a good base of information built up, their usual staff can handle things from there.”

“All right, fair enough.” Getting to his feet, he slipped his hands into his pockets. “Though tomorrow, your hours for my office are going to be covered by some of the dozens of banked hours you have hoarded, to devote some more time to this and get through it more quickly.” He gave her a firm look. “ And then you can go home at a normal time, while still having technical overtime hours between my office and Administration. I’m not going to allow this burn you out.”

“Duly noted, sir.” She smiled slightly. “Did you reschedule that meeting with Elizabeth?”

A smirk tugged at his mouth before he hid it. “I left a message to see if I can meet up with her tomorrow night, but we’ll see if it works out.” He reached out to touch her shoulder. “Give me a call when you get home tonight, so I know you made it there safely, all right?”

“Of course, sir. Have a good night.” She watched him leave over her shoulder, before turning back to her work and trying to keep her smile under wraps. A request to call him was cover up; it meant he would be waiting for her when she got home tonight.

Suddenly, she had much more incentive to finish quickly.

[jokessho]

[Update]: Fallen Angel Chapter 3

At long last, here it is: an update to Fallen Angel. I’ve had this written for a few days, but was afraid to post it because this is kind of a filler chapter. There are some important points, but also just some not-so-important stuff. And what am I blabbing about? Just read the chapter and see for yourselves ;)

FFN

AO3

Yamato’s eyes were drawn to the shops that were appearing on either side of the street as the pair neared the city centre. Taichi walked beside him, quiet for the time being, allowing Yamato’s eyes and mind to wander.

Sleek, mahogany wood in the window of a small, squeezed-in store caught Yamato’s attention and he slowed his pace. Taichi had started speaking again, but Yamato ignored him, mumbling a quick: “Let’s go in here.” Before dashing into the music store.

As its outside appearance had indicated, the store was indeed quite small. Various instruments were crammed in wherever they fit, whilst still leaving plenty of room to walk around. A large, black piano stood in a back corner, surrounded by a few music stands and assorted stringed instruments on stools.

Yamato’s head turned to look over his shoulder at the large cello that had caught his attention in the first place.

“Can I help you?” Asked a gentle, though ragged, voice from the other end of the shop, near the electric guitars and basses.

Yamato’s eyes turned to the man; he was tall and quite broad at the shoulders, with short chestnut hair. He wore a faded-from-age-blue button up and brown trousers. He looked kind.

The man raised his eyebrows and Yamato started, blushing upon realising that he had been asked a question—one he had yet to answer. “Ah, no, I just saw the store and was curious. I like music, so I thought I’d come in for a look. I’m not really looking to buy anything, though. At least not quite yet.”

The man smiled, walking over to the blond. “What kind of music are you into? Mind you, I only sell instruments and classic rock vinyls—mostly from years you weren’t even born in yet.” His laugh was hearty and brought a broad smile to Yamato’s face.

“I’m not really sure about music form this wor—I mean, from here.” Yamato’s blush returned at the near-slip. “I lived abroad—in France—for most of my life, so I don’t know Japanese music that well. I mainly like to play instruments, anyway, so…”

The store owner’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, well that’s good; as you can tell, I specialise in instruments, rather than vinyls. Are you in a band? You look like you would be popular if you were. I used to have a band back in high school—I played the guitar and sang some backup vocals.” The man let out a sigh as his dark eyes travelled up. “Those were the days…”

“I’m actually not currently in one.”

“Oh, right, of course not; you just moved here!” The man laughed again, then regarded Yamato. “Did you bring any of your instruments back from France?”

“Well… I have a harmonica. That I brought with me. But I’ve never owned other instruments; I just played them after school.” Yamato rubbed at his arm, looking at the floor. He jerked his head towards the display window. “I really like the cello, though; it has a nice sound.”

A wide smile graced the elder man’s features. “Come on, then; I’ll let you play. I’m no good on a cello, so it’ll be nice to hear someone play it properly.”

Yamato’s eyes snapped to the man and followed his movements, as he stepped up to the window’s platform, lifting the cello off its stand. “Here.” He held the instrument by the neck, hand extended towards Yamato.

With a small smile, Yamato pulled up a stool and took the offered cello. He positioned the instrument between his legs, poising the fingers and the bow over the strings.

“I. Have. Been. Looking. Everywhere! For you.”

Yamato and the owner both looked to the entrance of the shop. There stood Taichi; huffing, face slightly red, eyes narrowed. He stormed in, walking up to the sitting Yamato. He stopped in front of the blond, hands on his hips.

“What’s with the disappearing act? Do you have any idea how long it took to find you?”

Yamato’s eyes narrowed. “I told you I was popping in here.”

“No you didn’t; you just disappeared.”

“I did tell you!” Yamato stood, making sure not to grip the cello’s neck too tightly. “I said I’d be coming in here.”

Taichi hesitated, but didn’t back down: “Well, I didn’t hear you.”

“If you’d just listen to me, then maybe you’d hear me.”

“Maybe you should speak up.”

“I am speaking up!”

The argument was interrupted by booming laughter. The young men blushed, looking at the owner of the store, who was clutching his stomach with one hand and wiping at the corner of his eye with the other.

“Oh, don’t let me stop you; you were just getting started.” The eldest gave another a bark of laughter.

“Sorry.” The other two mumbled, staring at the floor.

Awkwardly, and whilst waiting for the owner to calm down, Yamato sat back down and started drawing the bow over the strings. He winced as an off-tune sound came out. A quick turn of the pegs had the cello producing a mellow tune that filled the small shop.

After a few minutes, Yamato stilled the bow. Clapping made him look up from the instsrument in alarm; he had forgotten he had an audience.

“That was nice.” Taichi commented.

“It sure was.” The owner affirmed. Though, after a pause, a slight frown marred his face. “I didn’t recognise the piece.”

“It’s probably one of his own compositions.” Taichi noted, eyes still on Yamato and the cello. “Yamato writes his own music.”

“Really?” The owner looked intrigued. “You said you’re not in a band, but do you write music for other bands or orchestras?”

“Ah, no.” Yamato replied awkwardly, moving to put the cello back on its stand.

“Are you studying music?”

“No, I’ve actually only just graduated.”

“But from music studies?”

“No, I did some business as my first degree, then another degree in social sciences—cultural relations.” Yamato and Taichi exchanged smirks at the last part.

“Oh.” The owner seemed disappointed.

“Um,” Taichi said, glancing from Yamato to the owner. “Sorry, but we actually have some stuff to take care of…”

“Right, right.” The owner waved off Taichi’s apology. “Sorry to have kept you.”

“Would you mind if I came back some day, when I have more time?” Yamato asked, following Taichi to the exit.

The owner smiled, clapping a large hand onto the Angel’s slight shoulder. “I’d be disappointed if I didn’t hear you play more of your pieces with my instruments.”

“Thank you.” Yamato smiled as he stepped out of the door with Taichi.

“So now that that detour’s out of the way.” Taichi said after they’d made it a few steps down the street.

Yamato rolled his eyes. “I did tell you.”

“Regardless.” Taichi stated, glancing at Yamato. “And don’t roll your eyes; they’ll get stuck that way.”

“Really? That can happen to you? Like, Humans’ eyes get stuck in their heads if you roll them?” Yamato’s face matched his tone: somewhere between incredulity and disgust.

Taichi let out a long breath, grabbing Yamato’s wrist and pulling him down a street on their left. “Not literally, but that’s what my mother would always say to make me stop rolling my eyes.”

“Did it work?”

“…no.”

Yamato quirked an eyebrow.

“Fine, bad example, but you still shouldn’t roll your eyes at me.”

Yamato chuckled, with Taichi joining in after a second’s delay.

“Here.” Taichi yanked on Yamato’s wrist—still in his hold—stopping the blond in front of a tall building. “Mizuho Bank. Get your account sorted here on Monday.”

Yamato looked around at the other tall buildings. “Um, okay, if I can find it again.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Taichi pulled Yamato along the road for a bit before letting his wrist go. “I’ll bring you here, so you won’t get lost. But you’ll have to find your way back home—which I’ll show you when we’re ready to leave. Speaking of, I should get you a copy of my key, so you can let yourself in. The locksmith’s over this way.” With that, Taichi was again grabbing the paler wrist and pulling the Angel down a street.

Yamato decided not to worry about trying to orientate himself in this city just yet. For today, he’d let Taichi drag him around. Maybe he’d spend some time on Monday exploring and learning the layout of the city.

The locksmith’s was just opening and the locksmith himself held the door open for the customers, inviting them in with a smile. Taichi exchanged a few words with the man, handing over his apartment key. With a nod, the locksmith disappeared into the back of the store. He returned not five minutes later, two identical keys in hand.

“Your metal is malleable to this extent?” Yamato was whispering in an excited manner as the pair left the store. “Don’t your keys get bent out of shape or something during the day? I mean, if you can cut it into shape so quickly, then wouldn’t someone be able to cut it out of shape just as quickly?”

Taichi continued leading the way into town, biting at his lips to keep his smile from splitting his entire face. “Well,” he started, “you do need special equipment to be able to work with the metal. And the equipment isn’t something people have normally. I’m not entirely sure how locksmiths do it, but I can look it up for you when we get home, if you want.”

“Would you?” Yamato’s blue eyes were wide open as he asked. “That would be really interesting; our metals are really sturdy and need days, if not weeks, to mould into something.”

Taichi shook his head in amusement, making a mental note to look it up once they got back home. Having the Angel around was really forcing Taichi to learn more about the world he lived in and about things he took for granted. He turned them down the main street.

“Did you really study business?” Taichi asked, recalling the conversation they’d had with the music store’s owner.

“Of course.” Yamato replied, distracted by yet another store window, though this time selling miscellaneous trinkets. Taichi grabbed his hand to make sure he wouldn’t disappear again and Yamato’s attention returned to the brunet. “Do you think I’m 29 with only one degree?”

“….I’m 30 with only one degree.” Taichi noted awkwardly.

“Well you’re Human.”

Taichi wasn’t sure whether he should be offended and it must have shown on his face as Yamato let out a laugh. They entered an electronics store.

“I only mean that you didn’t have to do a second degree in how to integrate into another culture. I took business so that I could get a job here without arousing suspicions.” Then, as more of an afterthought, he added: “Numbers work the same in both worlds.”

Taichi didn’t really know what else to say, so he went with: “We didn’t really discuss what kind of phone to get you, so how about the same one I have? It’s a Sony Xperia Z3 compact. It’s quite popular around Japan. A techno-wise friend I have recommended it and I haven’t had problems.”

Having no idea what Taichi was talking about, Yamato agreed. “That sounds good. What’s that?” Yamato pointed to a small, thin rectangular device.

Taichi gave him a funny look. “That’s a phone. We’re getting you one of those.”

“That’s a phone?!” Blue eyes stared at the small device in amazement.

“Uh, yeah?”

Yamato suddenly relaxed, looking nonchalant. “Oh. Okay.”

Taichi eyed Yamato warily for a few seconds before scanning his surroundings for a salesperson. “Excuse me!” He called upon spotting one.

“Yes, sir? What can I help you with?”

“Could we get one of these phones, please?” Taichi pointed to the Sony on display. Yamato studied the description, letting Taichi handle the exchange.

“Certainly.” With a nod, the salesman kneeled and opened a cupboard under the display phones. He reached in, but paused. “Which colour, sir?”

“Bla—”

“The bright green-ish one.” Yamato jumped in, interrupting Taichi.

Bewildered, the salesman looked from one male to the other. Taichi shrugged. “What he said.”

Soon the Angel and Human were leaving the electronics store and heading towards a nearby department store for other miscellaneous items.

“Why not black?” Taichi questioned as he watched Yamato cradle the box housing his new phone.

Yamato shrugged. “I don’t really know. Normally, black would be better, but the turquoise one just caught my attention.” He shrugged again, then grinned at Taichi. “It’s different.”

Taichi had no choice but to laugh; it was different. He sobered up quickly, though, turning to Yamato with a frown. “What are phones like in Heaven?”

“They’re just earpieces.” Yamato’s reply was quick, his attention caught by a toothpaste commercial rolling on a big screen.

“But how do you call someone or text them?” Taichi tugged on Yamato’s arm to get the Angel to keep moving. They had to get done before rush hour.

The blond allowed himself to be pulled away from the screen—the toothpaste ad had ended anyway. “You just think it and that works as a command to the phone to make the call.”

“’You just think it’?”

“Yeah, like you think: ‘okay Phone, call Taichi’ and it will.”

“Advanced.”

Now it was Yamato’s turn to give Taichi an odd look. “Is it?”

“By our standards; we can’t control technology with our minds.”

“But you can mould metal in a matter of minutes. Now that’s advanced.”

Taichi grinned awkwardly; he wasn’t sure Yamato’s argument was valid. Moulding metal wasn’t nearly as cool as commanding technology with your mind. Then again, the Angel had proven to be amazed at the smallest, simplest things, so maybe the argument wasn’t that farfetched… coming from Yamato. As if to prove Taichi’s point, the blond was taking a great interest in a flock of pigeons walking around. Smiling, Taichi continued leading the way, making a mental note to take Yamato to the zoo at some point.

A few hours later, Taichi was hoisting his backpack onto his shoulders. The two males had gotten Yamato the necessities that he’d need over the weekend; namely toiletries and an apron. Yamato had insisted that he didn’t need anything right now, so Taichi had just shown him the stores he’d need to visit later on.

“Ready to go home?” Taichi grinned, starting to walk to the department store’s main doors. “There are a few things I should probably teach you about Japanese culture and how to behave and stuff. Just so you don’t do anything really rude when you’re here alone.”

To be fair, Yamato had learned fast not to comment on items he found strange. Still, there were a few etiquette pointers Taichi could give. Yamato could get away with quite a lot, thanks to his foreign looks, but, since he would be staying in Japan, he should learn the unwritten rules of the society.

“Taichi!”

The Human and Angel looked at each other in confusion.

“Taichi!” A short rusty haired man came through the crowd.

“Taichi, I did think that was you.” The newcomer said, walking up to the brunet. “I recognised you through the crowd and came over to say ‘hello.’”

Taichi smiled warmly. “Hey, Koushiro. What brings you into town?”

“Oh, a hard-to-find part I need for the assembly of my processor can be found in here. I called earlier and asked. I was promised it would be put aside for me, but one can never really trust these game store employees.” Dark eyes observed Yamato, then returned to Taichi. “Is he an acquaintance of yours?”

“Ah, yeah.” Taichi suddenly turned slightly nervous. “This is Yamato, he’s…” Taichi trailed off, casting Yamato a desperate, panicked look.

For a split second, Yamato mimicked the look, then relaxed his features and turned to the shortest male with a smile. “Yeah, hi, I’m Yamato Ishida. Uh, Taichi and my parents are old school friends, but I’ve lived abroad for quite a while. I’ve just moved back to Japan, so now Taichi’s showing me around and getting me settled here.”

“Showing you around sounds like something Taichi would do. My name’s Koushiro Izumi. Taichi and I are old childhood friends and he has failed to mention you at any point in time.”

“Ahaha,” Taichi butted in, rubbing his neck. “Yamato didn’t live in Odaiba and we didn’t really get along back then.” The brunet turned to Yamato with a warm smile. “But we became friends as we grew up.”

Yamato returned the smile.

“Well.” Koushiro interrupted and the other two turned their attention to him. “That certainly sounds like a good story. Taichi, are you still showing him around or would you, maybe, have time to grab a bit with me or something? You know, we could catch up? We haven’t really run into each other that much recently…”

Taichi waved a hand through the air. “Nope, Yamato’s staying at mine, so I’m going back with him. Rain check?” With that, Taichi grabbed Yamato’s upper arm and moved towards the exit.

“Bye, Koushiro. It was nice to meet you.” Yamato called back. There was no reply.

“Me and Koushiro were classmates back in junior and high school. We both ended up coming to Shinjuku after graduating from university. Of course, he did his Master’s, so he came two years after me.” Taichi explained, leading the way down the street.

“We’re where? Shinku?” Yamato asked.

Taichi almost missed a step upon his realisation. “Right. You don’t know anything about Japan’s geography… Should probably add that to the list of things I need to teach you this weekend. And you should learn my—our—home address.” Taichi grinned mischievously. “You know, in case you get lost and need to ask for directions.”

Yamato stuck his tongue out at Taichi, but relented about a second later. “That might actually happen, you know.” Yamato grinned, but then he lowered his eyes to the ground. “Sorry, by the way, for causing you so many problems.”

Taichi threw an arm around Yamato’s shoulders; half as reassurance, half as a way of steering the Angel through the crowd safely. The ward of Shinjuku was starting to wake up and it wouldn’t do to lose sight of the Angel a second time.

“I keep telling you that it’s not a problem; I like having you around.”

Yamato replied with a half-smile. Taichi released his shoulders and the duo continued their way back to Taichi’s—via Mizuho Bank, as promised, so Yamato could learn the way home.

[roomformovement]

Written Rationale Draft

Written Rationale

This project was about creating a satirical magazine posing as a manifesto for an abhorrent populist party of the type that is currently enjoying a resurgence. The far right went too far decades ago when Timothy Mcveigh detonated his car bomb in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.  It went too far when Dylann Roof killed 9 African Americans in their home church while they held bible study. Too far in New Zealand, too far in Charlottesville and too far in Norway. It went too far when Thomas Mair murdered MP Jo Cox as she held her constituency surgery.  

Aside from the 2008 crash, I trace this turn to radicalism to a particular set of people – Alex Jones of Info Wars, Steve Bannon, ‘Tommy Robinson’, Richard Spencer, Rebel Media, Lauren Southern and Milo Yiannopoulos (to name a few).  Then there are the ‘reasonable’ people who enable them: Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, Fox News, Nigel Farage & Ukip etc.  My publication attempts to mock these people.

It seeks to send a strong message by highlighting common racist dog-whistles, hidden agendas and prejudices via the use of fashion and humour.  I have tried to address these issues using collaging, styling and photography.  

Each model plays a character – Roy Swett as party leader, Chastity Hollers for health, Ambrose Brown for industry, Webb Foote for immigration, Monty Blackshirt for housing, and Dirk Paul for education.  

My publication captures each character looking shifty, or otherwise creepy. Getting the balance between a comedic picture and a satirical-but-still-stylised was very important to every shoot.  I think this line could have perhaps been better tread in the headshot shoot – where even though lots of effort was put into styling selections – it could have been perhaps elevated to the level of fashion more effectively. Having said this, as images I do think they are very effective and have the satirical effect that I really wanted.

The collages (which are my favourite method of illustration and feature throughout my body of work) were produced from the mindset of some of my politicians.  They attempt to complement their imagery and polices, and visually make manifest their words.

I think the world is getting scarier, with ‘men of the people’ either being scripted to the absolute hilt, informed by the latest (illegally?) attained public data or saying abhorrent things that have poisoned the discourse.  ‘Telling it like it is’ mostly now seems to mean identifying scapegoats, attacking them and standing up for the ‘traditional working class’ (a dogwhistle for *white* working class), all with either a pint or a golf club in hand. Because this ‘honesty’ is poisonous and negative rather than constructive, I think it is important to not meet this with further negativity.  This is often the reaction of well meaning people, but it creates tribes. Further, compassion is so important and I think in some respects necessary here.  But validation of this movement is incredibly dangerous.  This is why I have, therefore, decided to meet it with humour.  To make these powerful figures look less powerful.    I focused on distinct tropes, and each shoot was a response to these: ‘conservative women are the most beautiful’, climate change denial, a strong popular leader, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and paranoid health concerns.

This is a publication for people who despair at our current political climate – people like me.  Although this could be seen as ‘preaching to the choir’, I think it is important for people who want to fight the far right to feel empowered – less alone.  This, in turn empowers the movement.  And a movement, to be truly pervasive, should ideally come from all spheres. Maybe fashion is not the first thing you would think of, but fashion should be motivated by contemporary issues.  And for me, this is the greatest, along with climate change. I feel like if you feel a gap for something, if you feel like the way you feel is not being represented, then there are at least a few people who feel the same, and as this is a global movement, and the zine does not focus heavily on one particular nation, it could appeal throughout the western world.  The words from this publication are a new idea for me – normally I would include poetry and interviews – but in this circumstance, they come directly from the politicians themselves. To get a real feel for how these people think, I pored over Infowars.com, Alex Jones clips on YouTube, Dave Rubin gaffes (he genuinely wants to scrap building codes because he believes the market would ensure safe builds – NOT SURE THAT WORKS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD…), Katie Hopkins, Sargon of Akkad, Stephen Yaxley Lennon, Breitbart and Dennis Prager etc.   Among other things, I begun to realise just how depressing this worldview is. I lost a lot of hope and humour while submerging myself into this world, and can only imagine what it would be like to believe every word.  I think it would make you very, very angry at the world.

I can see this publication on the shelves flanked perhaps by Adbusters and Eye on Design’s latest issue. The are both motivated by external political stimuli, which they respond to in an urgent, but lighthearted way. With more of a focus on fashion, rather than art (although I produced a lot of collages), I think this justifies the gap being left between them on the shelf for The Sovereign Advancement League.  The target audience is the same – creative, liberal individuals who are politically motivated – from around 17-40.  My unique selling point is the concept  as it pairs with fashion.  As hard as I looked, I couldn’t find anything similar, but really feel there is a need for it.

This zine will be sold over the internet (find at ellieedis.com/sovereign-advancement-league) at £20 (each costs £10 to print).  I would like to make this a series of issues – either continuing with the same group of fake politicians, or with a different group each time focusing on the most pertinent issue of the day – perhaps a whole issue of climate-change-denial.  It will be in print each time because, while I think online is a great space to promote, I think it is more likely that people will come across the issue by chance, and feel more of a connection with it in person.

I took all images myself apart from the headshot shoot and the picture that I feature in.  The first was shot by Declan Creffield, an amazing professional portrait photo who I was able to collaborate with because I offered to model for him for free.  He was great to work with and he really understood the kind of awkward feel I wanted. The second mentioned was a collaboration shoot between me, Lauren Davey (an illustration student) and Simi Kanda (a photography student).  We got together to take some fairly simple shots (alternating photography/creative direction ideas) and then went on to edit them however we wanted.  Lauren did all of the makeup, and I did the styling. As with most of my work, each shoot was very different from the other, but with a common thread. I like to do this because it keeps it interesting as you go through the zine.  I kept the colour scheme (deep red, blue and cream/gold) throughout, to maintain cohesiveness.  A lot of these shoots are innovative mainly through post-production, editing faces slightly to carry a sense of evil/awkwardness, changing colours or adding a sense of retro kitsch fantasy by changing the background altogether, as in the final collaboration shoot.

The stylisation of the shoots references a lot of 70s/80s, but the zine is hopefully self-aware enough to modernise these concepts.  Further to that, these eras are back in a big way, evidenced by the famous Balenciaga A/W18 campaign shot by Robbie Ausberger. I mainly used lightroom and photoshop to achieve the effects I did.  

When it comes to evaluation, as always happens with projects, there were a lot of hurdles to overcome, particularly the headshot shoot, where it was vital that I had at least 7 models showed up on the same day, at the same time.  Three models I had planned all messaged last minute to say they couldn’t make it, so sourcing three people who were right for the shoot on the same day it was happening was stressful.  Despite this, I actually think that it turned out for the best, and that the models who were able to do it in the end were actually even better for the party. This is the kind of thing you expect when you are asking people for favours, and you have to account for it.  I do normally have shoots with two models and shoot them both, so that if one pulls out I can definitely shoot that day, but having backups for 7 people was a lot!  I also got my publication printed too early, and noticed certain issues and so had to rejig it and print again. This was tough on finances, but was important to the final outcome. I have learned to be more persuasive and to double and triple check things before I send them off for print.

I am happy and proud of what I produced.  I think if I were to do the project again, I might perhaps somehow focus more on the fashion element. I styled everything down to small details, but I think the images could look slightly more editorial (in a fashion communication context). I also produced a short promotional film (also viewable at ellieedis.com/sovereign-advancement-league).  I am proud that I managed to turn a political issue I care about deeply into a fully realised, stylised project.  The photographer I collaborated with is the most professional I have thus far, and I believe the models are also more relevant to my project than they have been in the past.  I pushed myself in this module despite a few hurdles, and I hope it shows.