#learned that we're doing a five in our marching show

[sundooisagoose]

more experimenting with clyde

[shojizbae]

Explorative Operation

Spencer Reid x reader

(takes place during season 6 after JJ leaves) oops spoilers, dw she comes back

Garcia's snooping goes too far, and she ends up unearthing some truths about the new hire. Unfortunately, those truths feel are a little more intimate than you were willing to divulge with the team. Especially details you wouldn't want to spread on a first date.

Spencer had no clue how this happened. Of course, curiosity killed the cat but in this case, this was more like a mixture of hubris and inquisivity slaughtering a lion. A week of preliminary interviews had yielded 3 finalists and, finally, you. Young, stunning, sharp as a tack, and most importantly, hired. After Hotchner had announced to the team for you that you were hired, they sent you home until 8 am tomorrow.

"Baby girl, did you hear that?" Penelope swung her head around and gave her classic doe-eyed look.

"We finally got a new media liaison." The team feels the conflicted stir of relief and grief. Their workloads should be lightened but they missed JJ. It had been a couple of months since she was transferred to the Pentagon, and the team was spread too thin without her.

"Oh (L/n) or Raleigh?"

"Wasn't there three finalists?" Emily corrects

"Yeah, but Rossi said that Kuschner reminded him of his second wife, and we didn't want to relive that relationship." Penelope sipped her coffee with a cheeky look in her eye. "So, who'd they go with?"

"(L/n)." Morgan declares as he puts his hands on his hips

"Ah that's good, she had a nice clean background, good college and she crushed it in the academy." Garcia smiled and innocently clicked off to her office. Morgan and emily shared mischievous glances as Spencer sat oblivious. He held his mug by his jaw and readjusted his hand in his pocket.

"What?"

"Why don't we go learn more about our new Liasion." Emily makes a downward smile, and Morgan stalks over to clap Reid on the back

"We should, gotta know who we're hiring."

Any protests of "Well, it's not technically us who's doing the hiring, but Chief Strauss." Were silenced as Morgan marched Spencer to the hidden office of Penelope Garcia.

"C'mon, pretty boy, no need to argue." Just down a hallway and around the corner the trio stumbles across the neon red curls of Penelope. Emily knocks on the jam of the open door.

"Hey Penny, we've got some questions about this miss ((L/n)."

"Oh, smart ones kneeling at the keeper all pearls of wisdoms in search of the A's to their Q's." Garcia spins around in her chair like a cartoon villain.

"We just want to know some things about this new liaison. You know this wound is still so fresh with JJ being gone and all." Emily plays innocently

"Well, they want this information. I want nothing to do with this sleuthing." Reid shows his palms in surrender and tries to spin around the counter but Morgan grabs him by the back of his sweater,

"Oh, know you don't, pretty boy."

"No," She points her finger in his face. "You can't use JJ as a chip in your nasty snooping."

"We just wanna know if there's anything we should be worried about, mama." Morgan juts out his lip

"You know I can't resist that sexy puppy face." Garcia spins around and flicks up her recent searches on you. A hundred files fly up, including credit car history, hospital visits, and even that dreaded 'permanent record' that every school principal threatens. Shockingly, all that's on it is that you got in a fistfight in seventh grade and served three weeks of after-school detention and a subsequent suspension from your varsity tennis team.

"What's this in her medical history?" Emily points at a page hidden behind a few tabs.

"Uhh, it just shows she had a pretty average childhood; she had her tonsils and adenoids removed at age five after some repeated tonsillitis and bronchitis. She broke her right arm when she was 7 and then her left one when she was 10. And oh god, she gave birth at seventeen, but 8 months prior, she had a rape kit administered." the ream halts a moment.

"Did the case go through?" Spencer questioned

"Yes, she filed suit for statutory a week after her kit and won the case, he went to jail for 6 years." Garcia clicks away

"What about the baby?" Emilys voice wavers

"Oh lord, he died 3 hours after she gave birth." Tears gather in Penelope's eyes. When she did a preliminary background search, most of the information was 'history of mental illness' or 'criminal record', of which she found none.

"Alright, I don't want to do this anymore." She took her hands off the keyboard

"That's alright, baby girl, you've done plenty. Why don't we take lunch?"

The next morning, you arrived before anyone else. All ready to start the day fresh. You even went out of the way to go to the fancy bakery up the street of your new apartment to get treats. You unlocked your office to get familiarized with it but were sent into a spin at the state of it. You spent the following forty minutes refining the filing cabinet, even pushing the desk into a different corner. Human metabolism caught up with you, and you went out to the kitchenette, and even as you started a fresh brew of coffee, you were wiping down the counters and organizing the tea by top notes. It didn't dawn on you that you had an audience. When the small alarm on the machine dinged, you filled your mug and put in a splash of creamer.

"Did you bribe the team with donuts?" you shot out of the refrigerator, ready to pulverize whoever scared you.

"Woah!" a brown-skinned man holds his hands up in surrender. "I just want to thank you. They were delicious. My name is SSA Derek Morgan, I'll be working with you." He holds out a hand, and I shake it bashfully.

"Yeah, I figured I'd attempt to start things off on a sweet note." I force out an awkward giggle but clear my throat. "If you need me, I'll be in my office." I take my coffee and skitter off the small flight of stairs to start raking through the freshly organized files of suspected serial killers. All day, I answer calls and prioritize deaths. For a moment, I ponder whether this job could give me a god complex, and I hope it doesn't. A knock on my door rips me from my trance, and an older Italian man with a lazy eye.

"We're going to meet at the round table. I'm SSA David Rossi." I shoot out of my chair and greet him with a firm handshake.

"Yes, sir, nice to see you again." I follow after him as we round a corner. Bloody photos of three crime scenes are displayed on the TV screen. The team finds it difficult to focus on the gory details as the new girl explains the details of the case. Your outfit isn't outrageous.

A gray pencil skirt with a small slit on the back, a white button down, but you'd rolled up your sleeves, and you wore a sweater. You'd clipped your hair up, but wavy little bits fell and framed your face. You paced around with the remote in hand as your boss divulged more of the science. When they make the decision to leave in an hour, you're the last to leave, but you give friendly smiles to everyone as they file out.

Between departure and arrival, you speak with the local PD to alert them of your arrival. Over the three-hour flight, you watch the team rake all scraps of evidence for a story. Garcia and I rake over misdemeanors in Nebraska to try and grasp a victim pool. As liaison, it's my job to chit-chat with police officers, grieving relatives, and generally anybody. Despite that, Hotch takes the lead as we intersperse our teams.

"And this is our liaison, Agent (Y/n) (L/n); she'll be your access to us." They break down every scrap of information in a way that's less scientific but artful. Instantly, I fell in love with my job. After 90 minutes of questioning, this is what I've gathered.

It's a man, he's impotent because he targets hookers. Apologies, prostitute or lady of the night. Shocking job because it's freezing up in Nebraska, even in April. He feels slight remorse because he poses his victims like a traditional corpse, yet he views them as objects because he leaves them in their underwear. Which seems typical if you're going to see a hooker that she might get naked if you pay her.

Now, we just need to figure out why.

I go with Emily and Seaver to speak with grieving families. We learn bits and pieces of each history. That's how each case went. Your training wrapped up only a few cases later. You decide that since you were given free rein and that the team was really starting to show openness to you it was time you hosted a fun get-together. Wrapping up a case in Florida and touching back down at Quantico at two pm, you ask the team,

"Would you guys like to go get some drinks?" everyone looks hesitant. Grief and tensity underline their features. So you try to fabricate a good night, "I could get some wine coolers and Chinese food." you smile hopefully. Hotchner relents

"I'll come so long as I can bring Jack."

"Alright, are there any foods he prefers ooh or any allergies?" Your excitement cuts you off. Your eyes scan the team and land on Spencer. He's slowly cut his hair shorter and some of the sadness has fallen from his eyes. He purses his lips and puts his hands in his pockets,

"I prefer Thai," he sighs

"Not a problem, there's a Thai place down the road." you punch in the passcode on your Blackberry. "I could call it in now?"

"That's alright. Just send me your address. I'll be there whenever you text." His face heats up, and he slinks off to his desk to file his report with record speed and detail.

"Great. I'll email the team my address, and I'll buzz you up at six," I offer, and Emily nods.

"If there will be wine coolers, I should bring something palatable." Rossi makes his famous little smirk, and Aaron regards him with a knowing smile.

"Ooh, this will be nice, I'll bring some beers. Baby girl are you coming over to (Y/n)'s?" Morgan steals Garcia's attention as she clicks out to greet the team after a job well done

"Oh, that sounds like a hoot and a holler!" She cheers pointedly

Sometime around Eight pm that night, the cheap alcohol had flown, and Aaron was bringing his sober son home. Rossi and Emily were giggling over a real bottle of champagne from France. Morgan was laughing as he finished off his fourth beer and watched Reid desperately writhe under your highly obvious flirting. Your heels had long been kicked off, but you still squirmed around in nylons and a white scoop-neck t-shirt.

"So, Reid, how many degrees do you have?" you held your third wine cooler in your hand, and your other arm was on the leather sofa dangerously close to looping around Spencer's neck. His legs are crossed, and he's still on his first beer, nervous about using any addictive substances.

"Currently, I have six, not counting my high school degree, a BA in psychology and sociology, my doctorate in mathematics, chemistry, and engineering, and recently, I got a BA in philosophy." You have the definition of an ear-to-ear smile.

"That is ridiculously impressive." you practically radiate light as you make the most genuine eye contact and take a sip of your bottle.

"Thank you," he replies curtly

"No, I mean it. You're so far above my metric of impressiveness. Your girlfriend must be a lucky woman."

"What makes you think I have a girlfriend?" He smiles at your classically alcohol-flushed face

"You don't? So I wouldn't be encroaching if I asked you on a date?" It's almost like you halted time and the rotation of oxygen.

"I wouldn't say encroaching, but maybe.."

"Are you against it?" You kind of shift closer to him

"Certainly not. I just don't know if you're familiar with the coworkers dating clause."

"I just signed my contract, I am very familiar. So long as it doesn't impede our ability to collaborate."

"So how about," Slowly, you've shifted closer to him so that you're nearly chest to chest, and he leans backward? " Tomorrow at eight p.m., I'll pick you up, and we'll go get Thai."

"That sounds lovely."

"Perfect." you smile in content and give him some personal space.

Nine am rolls around, and you make your way to the office to prepare for a long day of phone calls and gore. A stabbing in Knoxville that seemed like a gang collision. Some suspicious kills in Annapolis that definitely should be presented, and a murder/suicide in Vegas. You called the meeting, and Hotch decided that the team needs some rest and that they should meet at the jet tomorrow at eight. You spend the rest of your day sorting files and answering emails.

At five, you saunter to Reid's desk and smile at his slightly sweaty face. "I'll see you in three hours." You wink. Once you get in your car, you scream in glee and squeeze the wheel. The next three hours are spent in anxiety. You shower and blow dry your hair, opting to take out your contacts for the night. You decide on jeans, a tank top, and a big UCLA hoodie.

You leave your house at exactly 7:47, so the 13-minute drive will leave you at Reid's doorstep at exactly eight. You find him sitting on his porch step, swinging his hand in front and behind his back until his hands collide. You pull off to the side and roll down the window,

"Get in, loser. We're going shopping!"

"What?" he still jogs up to the window, and you unlock your door for him.

"C'mon, you've never heard of mean girls? Regina George?"

"No, I watch nerdy movies, old classical films."

"That is a classic. Seat belt, please. We'll have to watch it sometime." You put the car in drive and take him into the small 'Chinatown' near your apartment. You two got pad Thai and khao pad and drove to a scenic park to enjoy it. Being all too familiar with Ted Bundy and James Thomas, you lock the doors tight.

"Do you want to keep the radio playing?" Even with the car in park, you keep the car running, so the heat will keep you warm. The radio plays some old Radio Head songs.

"Sure, if you want to." He tears open the brown paper bag. You grab the bar under your seat, push it all the way back, and bring your knees up to your chest. Reid hands you your fried rice, and you get a pair of chopsticks from him. You eat the rice with ease, and Spencer looks at you perplexed. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" you cover your mouth with your hand as you chew

"Eat with those freaking sticks." His anger is overlain with his flummoxed tone.

"I don't know, there's always been a lot of Asian restaurants near me. It's like kids who just know how to play the piano after watching their parents." This launches Spencer into a five-minute speech about inherited talents' pathology. When he finally runs out of breath, he's relieved that you never told him to can it. In fact, you sat there intently, listening to him ramble on about inherent perceptions.

"I've talked a lot, so why don't you tell me something about you?" he fiddles with his fingers as he focuses on you.

"Uh, what to say that's not too weird," you scan over the ceiling of your car as you think out loud, "Uh, in college, I nearly switched my major to film after watching Breakfast at Tiffanies and then buying copies of hundreds of old films."

"Really? What about those old movies that drew you in?" He struggles to get some noodles and you hold back your giggles

"Romance seemed more simple back then. I mean, I'm aware that it was normal and even expected to domestically abuse, but that doesn't mean that Liz Taylor and Marylin Monroe didn't play in some of my favorite movies. I had some shitty exes that thought it was better to be like reality rather than film."

"Is one of them the one that got you pregnant?"

"What? How do you know about that?" It took Spencer far too long to register what had slipped from his mouth. Before he could even begin his explanation with a double side of apologies, you had launched into a rant about men and privacy and why everyone sucked.

"Explain yourself!" you demanded with the same intonation of a banshee

"The team was working on your background check, and we did some further snooping. We found your medical records, and it said you lost your son at 17 years old?" tears had gathered in your eyebags in a way that resembled sweat.

"Why would you stay to dig? Why did you did at all?"

"I would like you to know that it wasn't my idea, although I know you don't care. I just wanted to know more about you."

"And you couldn't just come up and ask about my favorite color or favorite Beatles song?" you raked your hands through your hair.

" I didn't-I," he sighed through his teeth, "I didn't mean to violate your privacy. It was wrong. I shouldn't have done it. If I could take it back, I wouldn't because knowing you're not the perfect Barbie you appear to be gives me the bravery to talk to you. Knowing you're not perfect, it-it forces me to think about you as a human, not just the goddess I perceive." The tears pouring down your face change from anger and betrayal to shock and elation.

No man had treated you with such adoration, not entirely. Most of them buttered you up with words that were so predictable they could be seen as binary code. These words. These words are original and genuine. It never struck you that someone could love you from so little without touching you.

Touch.

You tugged your sleeve up the heel of your palm, wiped your eyes, and then placed your hand on Spencer's forearm. At first, he jumped back from the contact, but he slid his hand into yours slowly.

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me, ever."

"It's just the truth; in your second case, you said you hate liars." you giggle a little as your tears dry up.

"Would it be too soon to kiss you?" your smile is all shy and crooked

"Only if you say so," he chews on his inner lip but the apprehensive lean in makes your chest lift.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Mint Plays Games: Household

March saw the beginning of a new multi-session series with my home group, and this time we're hopping through a number of different dimensions, using the Planedawn Orphans campaign toolkit. The basic premise is that the characters are hopping into the lives of people inside various worlds, looking for items or relics that they can use to build a brand-new world, a place where all of them can start over. Our first world visited was Household!

Household is a roleplaying game by Two Little Mice, about tiny fae folk going on big adventures in an old, abandoned house. Players choose from four different kinds of folk and five different Professions to determine their faerie gifts and their personal strengths. The game consists of rolling a number of d6s in the hopes of getting pairs, three of a kind, or, if you're lucky, four matching numbers.

We had two different investigations, one looking out for a missing noble's son, and the other trying to figure out where a missing prize bumblebee had gone. Household chosen to represent the "Air" element from the checklist in Planedawn Orphans, so we decided that the relic that made the most sense for this setting was "A Pair of Perfect Wings".

We had two different groups of adventurers, both of them given advice to blend in to whatever events were going on around them when they showed up in the other world. Since some of the players signed up for Household, but not the for the inter-dimensional travel, we decided that their characters would be permanent fixtures of the world, new friends and companions that the Orphans made along the way.

I find the setting for Household to be very charming, and the art certainly helps you visualize all of the different places and main characters. I think the set-up of the game is very good for folks who want a lot of help coming up with adventures, because Household is written as a history that has already happened; the events of the book will come to pass unless the player characters decide to do something about them.

The rules themselves are easy to learn, but this might be a downside for folks who like complex character builds with a lot of pieces that can be tweaked. Your character is pretty simple in Household, and while you'll improve as you gain experience, I don't see a lot of big changes happening over the course of play. Then again, we only played a couple of sessions, so I might be putting the cart before the horse.

Household absolutely delivers on the atmosphere it promises, but based on our limited run of it, I think the world outshines the rules. We're looking at playing another game in the same rule-system down the road, and I'm interested to see what changes have been made, and whether or not they give me more cool things to do. I'd be happy to revisit the House in the future, but I'd also love to run some other rules-systems inside the setting!

[raysources]

𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊  𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄  𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒     —     a collection of one - liners taken from the soundtrack of the 2015 broadway musical, school of rock.   slightly edited for clarity.   change pronouns as necessary.  

just wait and see!

let 'em laugh.

i know my time is comin'.

no one'll call me a loser again!

try to walk as if you're going somewhere.

the pressure's on for you and me.

don't, and it will mean i go ballistic.

good luck, have fun!

just like the good old days!

you've always been a dreamer.

give up your dreams.

your dreams are lame and weak.

we ought to cut the bull and just get real.

give up your dreams, and get a freakin' job.

join the grown - up world like us.

quickly, don't let anybody see you!

how come you never told me you could play music?

you ever play electric guitar?

let's waste that time together, shall we?

you're in the band!

don't forget to emote!

i only play classical.

that's good. for my grandma. who's, uh, dead.

i still don't have a job.

is that something you could swing?

i'm putting you in charge of the whole damn thing!

i pledge allegiance to the band.

if you're in raise your hand!

you never let me get in a word.

no matter what it is that i do, it's like i just can't seem to get through.

i've got so much to say.

still, you never listen.

can't you see i'm hurting?

i promise, one day i'll make you hear.

i'm not the kid you want me to be.

you just don't wanna see the real me.

you just keep shutting me out.

i'm not gonna beg you — you'll never see a tear.

the legend of the rent was way past due.

how can you kick me out of what is mine?

you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore.

what it all can mean is quite confounding.

the children all like him more than us.

who knows what he does but god, it works!

maybe we too could do some good.

there's been one solution since the world began : don't just sit and take it, stick it to the man!

get all of your aggression out.

stick it to the man!

go off the script, do what you like.

they hate it, they can take a hike.

why live your life to someone else's plan?

crank the amps to 17!

don't just sit and take it, stick it to the man!

show 'em what rebellion means!

why march to someone else's caravan?

there's no way you can stop the school of rock!

i'm in charge!

go punk, or start packing.

it's time to play!

come on, this isn't hard!

make sure he remembers, or i'm breaking both your necks.

we don't have time to waste while you try to find some taste!

i can still remember how the music used to be.

where do last year's one - hit - wonders go to?

what happened to the girl i was?

guess the songs kept playing, but i didn't stop to hear.

where's the joy i used to know, way back when?

sorry for the outburst.

let's keep this our secret, who'd believe it anyway?

thanks for the reminder that there's music in me yet.

if you flip the record and start over, does it sound the way it did before?

he can barely read!

i promise you, i can read!

we're gonna sue!

his ass belongs in jail!

i'm a loser, okay?

i used you.

worst of all, i wasted your time.

i thought nobody could, but you, you understood.

you raised my voice up, taught me not to fear.

i've learned who i am because you're here.

school won't be the same without you here.

now that i've found you, you can't just disappear.

you've taught me so much since you've been here.

two and two make five!

rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme.

i've been biting my tongue too many times.

today's assignment : kick some ass!

[neon-dynasty]

Sometimes I think about how interests come and go in waves, and I wonder why things happen the way they do. Right now, for instance, I can't think of a single Western animated series that has the same kind of fan energy that, say, Steven Universe or Gravity Falls or the Owl House did. I'm sure they're out there, but there's also something that's missing in the field, largely due to the animation industry being on a general downswing in America. (Yes we're all hooked on Dungeon Meshi and Frieren right now, but that's another story.)

Likewise, it feels like the Magic the Gathering story fanbase has been in a rut. And there are a lot of factors for that, but I want to point out what I think are the two biggest culprits: the overprinting of Legendary cards for Commander and the decentralization of the story branch of the creative team at WotC.

It's on my mind today because the Thunder Junction Epilogue stories by Alison Lührs (one of the most loved writers from the most recent high point and arguably the best professional author of Jace x Vraska there's been) were a breath of fresh air. They came out and gave fans what they wanted in Magic story - character-driven narratives.

Sure, the endpoint was Jace and Vraska adopting an adorable plot device baby to bring the story into its next arc. But we got to learn more about Jace and Vraska, as well as understand why they think the way they do and why that makes them act the way they do. Laying there dying, Jace faces his guilt and begs his mother to save them. When the topic of marriage and children comes up, they're completely in sync and Jace knows exactly where to find a parentless child. But the most important part is that we're with these characters while they act out the plot, rather than watching characters react to the plot. As much as I love, say, Kaito and the Wanderer, neither one of them had much agency over the story as it marched steadily toward invasion.

I truly hope that we get more storytelling like this. I hope that we can see the characters be themselves and see why that's important in the ongoing sagas.

But it wasn't just Jace and Vraska we fell in love with back in the time of Ixalan. We had Chandra and Nissa and Ajani and Gideon and Liliana and Jaya and Kaya and Teferi and Ral and so many others. Hell, Bolas was the most fun villain I'd seen in any media in a long time specifically because we spent time with him as he plotted and schemed.

And that was the grand promise of the Lorwyn Five, wasn't it? A storyline that could follow our favorite characters, and have them make choices that affect the entire narrative. Even if it were years between appearances, it felt like our favorite characters could show up at any time. Now with the mass desparking and the Omenpaths, that doesn't feel like such a good thing anymore.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope that going forward we get more of the character-driven narratives that defined the best period in the history of Magic's story. I hope that this isn't a one-off, bringing in an author who clearly still has that way of writing. I'd love to see more about how characters and planes are recovering from the Invasion and the existence of Omenpaths.

But more than that, I want the fans to be excited about Magic Story again.

[merrock]

event: St. Patrick's Day Celebration

location: The Garden, suburbs of Merrock

date & time: March 17, 2024

ooc duration: March 14-18, 2024

Whether you're Irish or not, come out and celebrate St. Patrick's Day at The Garden in the suburbs of Merrock! We're offering something for people of all ages through the day, and everyone is welcome to come out and have a good time!

Starting at 3PM EST, we will have arts and crafts set up for the kids that want to come out, as well as Irish step-dancing demonstrations, for them to learn a little bit about the dance. Decorate shamrock cookies, or do some coloring and creative activities at the craft station. For the adults (or the older kids!) some outdoor lawn games have been set up on our yard and under the patio, such as redneck golf, horseshoe, and bean bag toss, plus the dart boards and billiards tables are available inside!

For food, sample some traditional Irish dishes that are perfect for this time of year, such as irish coddle, soda bread, shepherd's pie, colcannon, corned beef, potato cakes or fish and chips. Sample desserts like guinness brownies, chocolate stout cupcakes, their own version of a Shamrock Shake, a guinness float, and plenty of green cakes and cookies! Grab a drink, like a half and half, Irish coffee, whiskey mules, Tipperary, or just down a Guinness, Smithwicks, Beamish, Kilkenny, or, of course… green beer. There are plenty of green and old alcohol-free options, as well: refreshers, Italian sodas, mocktails. And much more!

Instead of a pub crawl this year, the Garden is sponsoring 'Irish Magic Flights' in alcoholic, non-alcoholic and dessert forms! Alcohol flights contain five cocktail samplers, non-alcoholic flights have a combination of refreshers, sodas and fruity mocktails, and dessert samplers will have frothy frappes, milkshake, pudding and other desserts. If you finish your whole flight (down the last drop!), you will receive a t-shirt!

The party will go on all night, so don't worry if you show up a little late, or can only stay for a while. Just come out and have a good time! xx

[eldritadh]

Absolutely fascinating to watch americans (including me. I'm americans) grapple with an IRL version of the trolley problem with the enormity dialed up so high we actually have a hard time grasping it. To clarify, I'm genuinely not judging anyone -- I've been going back and forth on whether or not to vote in the upcoming election a lot.

And what settled it for me was that I realized that this is a very real, literally incomprehensibly devastating version of the trolley problem. And I've always answered that ridiculous little thought experiment in the same way.

I always pull the lever. I always opt to kill one person rather than let five people be killed by my inaction. Because I firmly believe that if you have an opportunity, however insignificant, to reduce harm -- even by a fraction, even if it means getting your hands dirty -- you should take it. And I also firmly believe that inaction is action and that 'doing nothing', in cases where you could have reduced harm (or tried) but doing so would've required a moral compromise on your part, is as much an act and a choice and an expression of agency as pulling a lever.

So I'll vote for Harris. I'll pull that stupid fucking lever and hate it (though not as much as if I'd done nothing at all). And then I'll march and protest and donate as much money as I can spare for Palestine, and I'll do all that regardless of who wins (because in both cases, again, the outcome is the same for Palestine). And if Harris wins, I'll do all of that with the reassurance that next time, we can try again. In four years, we can try again. And we can keep trying and trying and trying, every four years for the rest of our lives, over and over and over again as things get incrementally better and then worse and better again.

And if trump wins, I'll march and protest and donate as much money as I can spare - for Palestine, and for the US. And I'll hope with everything I have that when 2028 rolls around, the old fascist is dead and his VP is enough of a politician to step down and cede power without attempting another coup -- and that the harm to the environment and civil rights and equity and justice is not irreversible.

And this post would've been so much better if it wasn't 4 in the morning because there's something in here about a trolley speeding out of control and that post from a couple years back about how voting is like public transport but you get the idea. I know I've decided to pull the lever, but how could I fault those who refuse? These are difficult questions with no good answer. I know what answer I think is best but it was by no means obvious to me! we need to stop vilifying each other for the realities we're living in and the ethical dilemmas we're grappling with and the bone-deep horror of the decisions we're being asked to make. we're american; none of us is morally pure. all we can do is our best. All we can do is try to make the right decision under the circumstances. and none of us knows what the hell that is because morality is relative!!

It's now 4:30 in the morning and maybe I'll edit this tomorrow and maybe not but like. we need to show each other some grace, is my point. the trolley problem is posited as a dilemma for a reason. There's no good answer. there are only ever justifications. all we can do is act within the bounds of our own morality -- make the choice we can best justify to ourselves -- and hope that we've done the right thing. and if it later turns out that we haven't, learn from that and do better next time. And hope that there is a 'next time.'

[typicalrambles]

new era of self

I recently went to Singapore in hopes of securing a job which I ended up not getting. My trip may not have been successful in that department, however, I was able to find myself again and regained some sense of independency and what I think is a new appreciation of life.

For years, I've been depressed (no surprise there) but was able to ward off suicidal thoughts or tendencies. There's my five year relationship where for some reason I was completely in denial of the shit that I was going through that I blinded myself completely from reality that by the time I got out of the relationship and my home situation, I became heavily depressed and suicidal and made me manic for months on end. After a while, I was able to regain myself but ended up sinking right back into these thoughts by 2020. From there it was all just an absolute shit show. I ended up with friends that were fucking awesome but weren't exactly the best for me and my mental health. We were all extremely mentally ill that we all just allowed each other to self-sabotage without even knowing it. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely a lot of times where we've learned from each other that did actually help us become better people but that wasn't always the case. They were definitely supportive but it seemed to only be up to a certain extent. The friendship ended when I started living with my partner and they didn't really seem to approve of this and weren't vocal about it either where they just ended up kicking me out of the group. I shouldn't really be surprised since we have been kicking people out of the group more and more from 2021 to 2022 until it was me that they decided to kick out in 2023. I don't feel bad about it anymore but I can't deny the fact that I do miss having people that would listen to me and be there for me when I need them.

I'm still in a relationship with this partner that I lived with at the start of 2023 but he's now in the states and I have no idea if it will actually work out well or not considering how terribly things have been between us from October '23 to February '24. He is trying to patch things up while also trying to focus on building his career out in the states. I do wish that he brought me with him and again, not for selfish reasons but only because I wanted to help him out too but this guy is so hyper-independent that he refuses to receive help especially when it comes to "providing". It's admirable but I do notice how easily influenced he is by his environment and I'm not entirely sure how that would affect him in the long run. I just hope that things work out well. In my opinion, he is such an amazing partner if you exclude everything that happened the past couple of months. During our relationship, we've gone through so many ups and downs that made us feel as though we were in limbo but we were still so happy with each other at a certain extent because of how amazing our chemistry is. Whenever we're together, we share the same wavelength and its something I've never experienced before with a partner. It's definitely so easy to get along with people in my opinion but having to have the same thoughts, goals, dreams, wants in life is something so rare. Our relationship feels like a movie. I hope this one has a happy ending.

Those past few months, I was feeling extremely worthless and suicidal which I have to admit there were multiple attempts but were fortunately unsuccessful. My parents think that we should have just invested in getting myself better equipment for me to get a job here in the Philippines instead of spending an entire month in Singapore. They have no idea how much Singapore actually helped me. I had to go around Singapore alone since my aunt and her family were busy with work or school. I had to find myself a job which I applied to more than 100 in a single month. Apparently, there was a mass hiring back in March that I just missed and during the time I went to Singapore, they were no longer looking for foreign candidates to hire. Going back, I had to bring myself to places to keep myself distracted and to actually still enjoy my stay even while looking for a job. It was something I've never experienced before. It was if I was in a country that I've never been before despite me going there multiple times growing up. I even got lost several times but it was definitely so much fun to go around the city not knowing where I was especially since I was only familiar with Orchard. Singapore is a fast-paced growing country and there were so much changes over the past 5 years. It was so easy to get lost in a place like Singapore but it was also so easy getting used to. I saw myself wanting more and more to live there even when I felt so scared at the start. I've met different people, got to know about their lives and their culture which helped me figure out more things about myself and what I want in life.

04:33 12th May 2024

[lepusrufus]

Double edged scalpel ch. 7

Ch.1 ch.2 ch.3 ch.4 ch.5 ch.6

Summary: in which Cassandra gets bullied and other sappy shenanigans

---

"Oh Nicole dear, so happy to see you again!" Duke's voice was cheerful as ever, tone masterfully crafted over years of being a businessman.

Nicole, taking small steps inside the ornate and now full of items room, greeted him with uncharacteristic giddiness.

"Duke! How's business?"

"Same as always, I'll be heading to Beneviento later tonight to deliver some tools for her," he took a long drag of his cigar and, noticing green eyes scanning over multiple items and said, "I also have your order."

With a childish grin on her face, she approached him, hands shuffling inside the small bag attached to her belt that all staff members had. She pulled out the money owed for her package and, in return, the Duke placed a decently sized box in her arms. With an oof she shifted it in a less precarious position, it's heavy contents seeming to plot against her small frame.

"Unfortunately I can't stay, duty calls. But thank you Duke."

"No worries, I do understand that your employers can be quite," he took another drag of his cigar, looking for the right word. "...demanding"

Nicole chuckled. That was one way to put it.

"Well until next time dear. Or if you find yourself in need of something else, I'll be here until six."

---

She was only wearing a long white towel when she heard a knock on the door. Assuming it was another maid, or even Anita inquiring about whether or not she'd be joining the rest of them for dinner, she opened the door just a crack.

It was a surprise to see none other than Cassandra standing there, her elegant frame in odd contrast with the modest corridor. She flung the door open, letting the brunette inside and took a quick glance down the hall, making sure no maid was on the floor after fainting due to fright.

"What are you doing here?"

"Aw, are you not happy to see me?" She was pouting, but her tone was joking.

Nicole rolled her eyes, but the small smile on her lips betrayed that she was indeed happy to see her. Cassandra only laughed instead, a beautiful melodious laugh, so unlike the dark cackles heard by prisoners down in the dungeons.

"Just sit down, I need to get dressed," Nicole pointed to the bed before moving to the small dresser and pulling out a clean uniform.

Cassandra went to sit on the slightly disheveled bed, eyes following the redhead's form as she let the towel drop to her feet and started to put on the various layers of her uniform. Then golden eyes darted to the box sitting on the bed. The tape sealing it had been cut not long after Nicole brought it back to her room to make sure all its contents made it safely. Not that she didn't trust the Duke, but postal service was postal service.

"What's this?" Cassandra inquired, trying to read the label but having no success as it had been scribbled over with a marker.

Nicole stilled for a moment, hands frozen on her white button up. She cleared her throat and shyly admitted:

"Actually that's for you. Do open it if you want."

Cassandra's eyes widened, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. The gesture had really caught her off guard. She gingerly lifted the lid, inspecting it's contents for a moment and then hummed.

"And here I was thinking you like my hair. With how much you love to pull on it and all that."

Nicole, now fully clothed and sporting a deep blush, marched to her and plucked the two boxes of red hair dye from gloved hands. She placed them on her nightstand and, with her voice just slightly more high pitched, she turned to the brunette.

"Those are mine, I meant the rest of it." And, after a chuckle, "I mean have you seen my roots? They're horrible!"

Cassandra only gave her a deadpan look and, after a long moment, said: "I think your hair is beautiful."

She didn't wait for a reply, not that it would be anything more than a stammered mumble of course. Instead she chuckled and returned her attention to the box. She examined the rest of its contents and then gingerly lifted one of the few tomes inside. The cover was glossy and malleable, it's pages shiny and with a distinct typography smell to it. It was so unlike her other books, it's pristine white state making it feel extremely out of place in the castle. She glanced at Nicole inquisitively.

"I do appreciate the gift, don't misunderstand me, but surely you know there's a small bookshop's worth of medical books in this castle."

"With all due respect, from what I've seen most of them are at least somewhat outdated. Interesting, yes, but I thought you'd like to learn something more...modern." Then she pulled out another book. "This is the same one I used while studying forensic pathology. It would make teaching you some things easier. Uh… assuming you want that."

Nicole averted her gaze, suddenly unsure of the usefulness of her gift. Cassandra however grabbed her chin between two fingers and pulled her gaze back on her. She smiled, finding the shy demeanor beyond endearing.

"I'd love that."

A small smile appeared on thin lips and Nicole leaned in to kiss Cassandra. It was soft and short, but no less intimate than the deep kisses they shared so many times in Cassandra's bed.

They had to go anyway.

---

Let's go to the library, Cassandra said. It'll be empty, she said.

When Cassandra swung open the intricate door, only to find the other two sisters lounging on one of the couches, it's not like they could do a one eighty and leave the room. That would've been both impolite and highly suspicious.

Instead, Cassandra grabbed her arm protectively and led them to the reading spot farthest from the other two. They placed one of the textbooks on the small desk and Cassandra took out a notebook. This would've been a lot more fruitful with an actual body on hand, but there were still a couple days until the human flesh supply had to be replenished and Cassandra was beyond eager to start on some things. So, for now, they had to settle for theory alone.

It took all of five minutes for the other two sisters to make their way to their desk. Daniela had a giddy yet curious expression on her face, while Bela seemed as unreadable as ever, if not for a glint in her eyes that betrayed her interest.

"Whatcha dooooing?" Came Daniela's voice, who cocked her head not unlike a curious puppy would while looking at the book's contents.

"Working," Cassandra replied, a slight growl accompanying her words.

"Could've fooled me," Bela spoke from behind the youngest sister, eyeing the hand protectively placed on Nicole's waist.

Cassandra snapped her eyes at the blonde, looking ready to throw her notebook at her head but Bela ignored her sister's ire and addressed Nicole instead.

"What are you studying?"

"I uh- just some basic anatomy concepts. Thought it would be a good idea to start with the things that the older books in the castle don't cover."

Bela only hummed, grabbed an ornate chair nearby, and plopped herself at the desk, opposite from the pair. Daniela mimicked her sister, but instead chose to sit down right by Nicole on the small couch. It took more willpower than she would admit not to glue herself to Cassandra's side when Daniela's face came uncomfortably close so she could look over the book's diagrams. She stood still as a statue though. After a couple seconds of silence and Nicole trying to figure out what she was supposed to do, Daniela drew her head back, looking at her with what was possibly the most serious expression she had seen on the youngest sister.

"You do realize we're not going to hurt you right? How could we lay a finger on our dear sister's lover hmm?"

Nicole's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure if it was due to the word used to describe her or how Daniela apparently knew that she was utterly terrified of her. Cassandra sighed beside her and, seeming to at least partially read Nicole's thoughts, clarified:

"Your heartbeat."

Oh. Yeah. Yeah her heart was beating a million miles an hour. And apparently the other three vampiric occupants of the room were able to hear it loud and clear. It did very little to ease her mind.

"Please do calm down, it feels like someone is having drumming lessons. Bad ones," Bela complained, head resting in one of her hands like she was already bored.

"Then shove a sock in your ears," Cassandra snapped.

Bela simply leaned back in her seat and stretched her arms above her head. "And risk not hearing my beloved sisters sing along to some pop song?"

Cassandra shut her mouth, a blush now slowly spreading across her cheeks while Daniela burst out into laughter. Even Nicole couldn't help betraying the brunette and letting out a giggle.

"I didn't know you could sing."

"I can't."

"Au contraire dear Cassie! Should I remind you of the last time Dragostea din tei came on the radio? The pathos!" Daniela reached over Nicole's lap to lightly shake her sister's knee through her giggles.

Cassandra only let out a long groan, face now hidden in her palms. "I hate you both."

"Mhm, we love you too," came Bela's reply, accompanied by a chuckle.

Nicole couldn't keep a small laugh while she snaked her arm behind the brunette to show some form of support against the merciless assailants. Maybe not a complete betrayal.

The scene really had something deep within her heart aching beautifully. It reminded her of the countless times she and Alex would mercilessly tease each other, but still have each other's backs through thick and thin. And for this familiarity to come from people that any sane person would consider bloodthirsty monsters? Hell, maybe they should start considering her a monster too, for the only word she could use to describe them in that moment was endearing.

"So," Bela lightly clapped her gloved hands. "Now that your pulse isn't giving me a headache anymore, what are we doing?"

She had a confident smirk on her face, but her eyes betrayed curiosity. Same for Daniela and, although mixed with a hint of annoyance, Cassandra. She opened the book in front of her, one of general human anatomy, and decided that the digestive system would be a good enough starting point.

---

Their little impromptu lesson didn't last more than two hours. Two hours that proved to Nicole just how oddly human all three sisters can be. Of course she had gotten familiar with Cassandra, intimately so, but the other two still felt like two looming monsters hiding in the shadows. At least up until now.

Bela seemed oddly intrigued by Nicole's explanation, although unlike Cassandra, she seemed to view it more like a story than anything. Daniela seemed slightly more interested, asking questions here and there and even starting to giggle like a middle schooler when they got to the rectum section. That got an eye roll from the other two. Nicole just laughed, finally understanding Mrs Hawkins, her private biology teacher from before she was allowed to step foot in any public school.

After they were done, Bela simply stood up and bid them good night. Danila instead excitedly proposed the skeletal system for next time and picked up the books she abandoned earlier. Then, with a small tower of tomes she went through a door tucked at the very back of the room. Her study, Cassandra had pointed out as they made their way out of the library.

"I didn't know your sisters were interested in medicine too." Nicole kept her voice low, almost as if talking too loudly would disturb the shadowy hallways.

"More or less. Daniela likes it and has a bit of hands-on practice but she has her nose in romance novels more often than not. Bela finds it interesting but botany is what she really loves. That and classic lit." She added the last part with a grimace and Nicole had to wonder which author had offended her personally.

Before she could continue that train of thought though, her gaze moved to the windows, the cloudless sky beyond thick glass panels full of twinkling stars. Her mind kept going back to a few hours earlier and at what Daniela had said. Lover. Did Cassandra truly see her as one or was the youngest sister just being her over the top self. Did she see Cassandra this way? Nicole had not allowed herself to dwell on that up until now, the idea that the brunette saw her as more than an over glorified lab partner with whom she occasionally scratched an itch seemed almost laughable. But the small gestures of affection shown in ways Cassandra seemed to know best were undeniably there. And the familiar flutter in her chest at each of said gestures was also undeniably there.

"What's wrong?"

Cassandra's voice, accompanied by the slight echo through the empty hallway, snapped Nicole out of her thoughts.

"Oh um- nothing." She sounded as convincing as someone trying to sell you a fork while showing you a spoon.

And Cassandra didn't seem to buy it. She moved in front of the redhead, walking backwards with no concern over possible furniture to collide into along the way.

"You always get this… face when something's bothering you."

"I do not-" the indignation in her tone was weak, little more than an attempt to change the subject.

"Mhmm you do. You normally look focused. Kind of like, if someone tried to scare you by throwing an eyeball at you, you'd laugh." She would. "Now? Now you look like a rabbit that has no time to run and is just laying low hoping whatever's hunting it passes by."

Nicole shut up for a moment, only looking at the brunette in front of her incredulously. Maybe she was far more attentive than she gave her credit for.

"Uh. Just thinking." At a raised dark eyebrow, the no shit went unsaid, so Nicole tried to elaborate. "About earlier. When we were with your sisters and Daniela uh- Daniela called me your lover."

Saying that the words felt awkward on her tongue was close to the year's biggest understatement. It felt like pulling out teeth would be an easier task. Nicole had never been good with her words, having learned since childhood to keep her mouth shut. But the fact that Cassandra seemed to share her struggle brought some semblance of comfort.

"And?" As if they were talking about the weather.

"And… was she right in describing me as such?"

She couldn't help a small gulp when the brunette stopped walking, looking at her with a frown. Any sane person would be at the very least somewhat afraid in this situation. Sanity however was scarce these days as Nicole was afraid, though not of the bodily harm that may come from her inquiry, but rather of Cassandra's answer.

"Nicole, your tongue has been in my mouth." Amongst many other places.

The redhead's cheeks turned a slight shade of crimson and she mumbled for an answer. She wasn't sure how to tell her that sleeping together did not automatically make them lovers. But then again, Cassandra's thoughts remained a mystery more than anything.

Thankfully the brunette took the metaphorical reins of the conversation and stepped forward. She wrapped her hands around Nicole's arms, gentler than one would imagine possible from her, and bent down to whisper no more than an inch away from her ear.

"I'll have you know, I'm not particularly fond of letting anyone I don't deem important touch me. Especially not the way you do."

The words made something flutter in Nicole's chest, an unfamiliar and comforting warmth. Said warmth got chipped away at the slightest bit when Cassandra pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"Should I take it that it's not mutual then?" Cassandra's tone was nonchalant, almost as if she didn't truly care about the answer. She could keep doing whatever she wanted either way, afterall who was going to stop her? But to someone who got familiar with all her small quirks and habits, the waver in her voice was more than clear.

"No." The world slipped from her lips with no hesitation.

No hesitation, because the more she thought about it, and she didn't need to think a lot mind you, the more Nicole realized that she couldn't remember a time when she felt the way she did here. Sure the initial threat of death looming over her head was anything but pleasant, but once that melted into affection and nights spent in Cassandra's arms the thought of leaving didn't as much as graze her mind.

"No, no. It is," she repeated, more certainty making its way into her tone.

At that Cassandra smiled. A small, almost shy one would say if they knew her well enough, smile. Her shoulders seemed to lose some of their tension when she leaned down again, her lips stopping not even an inch away. Nicole wasted no time leaning forward, their mouths meeting in a kiss that mixed softness and need beautifully. Their lips slid against each other until, surprisingly, it was Cassandra to pull back and sigh.

"Come sleep, we have some cutting up to do in the morning."

Nicole frowned. "Tomorrow? Wasn't that supposed to be due in a few days?"

A devilish grin appeared on black lips, fangs shimmering ominously in the low light. "Bela caught a foolish man-thing sneaking around the forest on the castle grounds. She's really excited to turn this one into a nice steak."

The redhead only let out an oh in acknowledgement. Foolish indeed. At least they could finally put into practice a few autopsy tricks Nicole had been itching to show her.

She let herself be guided back to Cassandra's chambers and into her bed, that she had grown intimately familiar with. The last thing she felt before falling asleep was the brunette's cool skin, pressed against her own. A welcomed comfort among the myriad of soft pillows that surrounded them. Nicole wondered briefly if being undead meant it was hard to keep yourself warm, but the thought quickly slipped away as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

We're Stewards of Our Land: The Rise of Female Farmers

'I was always fascinated by getting things out of the ground’

Sinead Fenton

Grows vegetables and edible flowers at Aweside Farm, East Sussex

Sinead Fenton is on an early lunch break, hiding from the sun. “It’s ridiculously intense, so I think we’re going to call it a day and crack back on in the evening,” she says. Fenton and her partner, Adam Smith, have been putting in beds and getting ahead on groundwork for next year. This year, there will be no commercial crops on the couple’s 4.5-acre plot.

They signed the papers on their farm last November and moved onto the land in March. Around the time they needed to make decisions about how they’d manage their first harvest, lockdown happened. With restaurants and florists – their main clients – out of action for the foreseeable future, they made the decision not to sow seeds but concentrate on opening up the land. “We were going to do it over three or four years, so we’re squeezing three years of work into this year, so we can focus on growing next year,” Fenton says.

She and Smith cut their scythes at Audacious Veg, a 0.1-acre plot in Hainault, at the end of the Central Line between Essex and London. Shortly after volunteering at the allotment in 2017, they heard the project was about to finish: “Naively, with about three weeks’ worth of growing experience, we decided that we’d take it on and get the produce to chefs.”

Smith worked in insurance accounting and while Fenton most recently worked in software and food policy, her background was in geology. “I came at farming from an activist point of view,” she says. “I was always fascinated by getting things out of the ground, but that is a destructive industry. Farming is nicer because I can do something for the system instead of taking everything from it.”

There was a lot of insecurity around the project. Land is contentious, especially in London, and land law is difficult and expensive to negotiate for those with no farming background. “Adam and I are both from cities – I’m from London, he’s from Essex. We’re from low-income families, and we had no access to farms growing up,” Fenton explains. “It’s basically impossible to get on the land, because it’s so expensive, or passed down through generations.”

They got the land for Aweside through the Ecological Land Co-op, which buys fields designated by Defra as only being good for arable crops, then splits them up to create smallholdings. Aweside is neighbours with a veg-box scheme, and waiting for others who’ll transform what once was a 20-acre maize field into a cluster of small farms rich with biodiversity. Now Fenton and Smith have a 150-year lease, and no worries that what they create will be taken away.

It’s not yet a permanent home. Fenton says they’ll be living in a caravan for a few years: “Another part of land law in the UK that makes land inaccessible is that if you want to live on your land you have to go through five years of proving your business is profitable, viable and that there is a functional need for you to live there.” Having livestock is an easy way to pass the test, but because Aweside is a vegan farm, Fenton and Smith need to cultivate and show they use every bit of plot.

It’s daunting but Fenton is excited about having a blank slate to work with. “There’s so much more to food than what supermarkets tell us to eat,” she says, explaining that they’ll grow varieties at risk of extinction, or that aren’t commonly grown in a mass market food system. “Seed diversity and plant genetics are serious issues.”

The three principles the couple work to are: more flowers, more trees, thriving soil. They’re working no-dig, putting compost directly on the ground and letting the soil life mix everything over time. They’re pesticide-free and are counting on the fact that the more diversity they have in the system, especially with a high proportion of flowers to pollinators and insects, the fewer problems they’ll face.

“Socially, economically and environmentally, something needs to change. Things have been done the same way by the same people for a long time,” says Fenton of the farming industry’s need for greater diversity. “I learned to grow on an allotment site where there are lots of different things growing at once. Bringing that approach into sites like this is needed – the industry needs it to keep itself relevant.”

'I'm hoping this will be seen as quite a cool career… even if it’s not’

Abi Aspen Glencross

Head of grains at Duchess Farms, Hertfordshire

It was, Abi Aspen Glencross was well aware, an odd, even inopportune time to launch a crowdfunding campaign. In June, with the country still locked down, Duchess Farms asked for support to buy dehulling, cleaning and milling equipment. The Hertfordshire farm needed about £16,000, and the money would go towards boosting the production of ancient and heritage grains for making flour.

“A lot of crowdfunders have been for charity or ‘please keep our restaurant open’,” says the 28-year-old Glencross, head of grains – or “senior flour nerd” – at Duchess Farms since 2019. “We felt a bit bad, but we lost a lot of our business overnight when all the restaurants closed and we were like: ‘God, we hope we don’t go under.’ It was quite a scary time for everyone.”

Still, if we have learned one thing from Covid-19, when times are hard, British people get baking. Perhaps inspired by countrywide shortages of flour, maybe invigorated by a new interest in left-field, older wheats such as einkorn and emmer, Duchess Farms sprinted to its target. “We’ve just done some ordering of equipment this morning,” says Aspen, when we speak in July. “It’s been a tough time for everyone but it has cascaded into some beautiful things and we’re just so thankful.”

Glencross’s path to farming was circuitous. She studied chemical engineering, but while her classmates were heading off for jobs at ExxonMobil and Procter & Gamble, she was more of “a hippy at heart”. She decided she wanted to learn more about soil and its role in food production. This led her to Blue Hill Stone Barns, Dan Barber’s pioneering farm-to-table restaurant in the Hudson Valley, north of New York. She spent four months working on the farm and in the bakery, receiving a crash course in ancient grains – an obsession of Barber’s. But the moment Glencross knew she herself wanted to farm came in 2016 in a field in Hertfordshire. She was with John Cherry, who was showing her around Weston Park Farms, 2,500 acres of land he maintains with minimal fertiliser use and zero tillage.

“We were walking around the fields of wheat and I just said: ‘Where does all this go? There’s so much of it,’” Glencross says. “And John goes: ‘Oh probably for animal feed. It’s a consistent market, they’ll take it, it’s easy, even if we don’t earn that much money from it.’ And I was like: ‘This is crazy.’ And that was the beginning of me getting on this grain bender because I was like: ‘Why can’t we grow these grains organically and not feed them to animals?’ So I realised I’d have to start a business, because there were not very many people doing that.”

Heritage grains can be harder to produce in vast quantities – einkorn, especially, is “a bitch to harvest” – but they do have advantages over conventional wheats. They typically have deep roots and grow tall, which means they shade out weeds and do not require chemical sprays. The end product is more nutritious and then there’s the taste. Since 2017, Glencross has run a roving supper club called the Sustainable Food Story with Sadhbh Moore, and Duchess Farms has worked closely with bakeries such as E5 Bakehouse in east London and Gail’s, and restaurants including Doug McMaster’s Silo. “Heritage grains are delicious: when you stop growing for yield and you start growing for quality the flavour is insane,” says Glencross.

Learning to farm from scratch has not been straightforward, but you sense that’s a big part of the appeal for Glencross. “There’s all these decisions the farmer makes throughout the year and why he sprays and why he doesn’t,” she says. “You realise that most people get up, sit at a computer all day and if they press the wrong button, they just delete it. When you’re a farmer, you plant at the wrong time of year and tomorrow it washes away your whole crop.”

Glencross acknowledges that it is almost unprecedented for women to run arable farms. She struggles to name a single other example in the UK. She also notes wryly that men dominate all the farming conferences, saying: “They have a wife but it’s always the men who have written the book and given the presentation.”

With more role models, Glencross hopes things will change. “I’m not cool in any way, but I’m a reasonably young lady,” she says, laughing. “And so when people say: ‘What do you do? Oh, you’re a farmer. Maybe I could do that …’ So I’m hoping that it might become seen as quite a desirable, almost cool career.” A pause: “Even if it’s very much not cool.” 

[hopetofantasy]

'wtFOCKDOWN: the first Flemish quarantine fiction has arrived'

Translated interview about the behind-the-scenes of wtFOCKDOWN

- Source: Knack Focus (16/04)

Scenes in FaceTime, dialogues in WhatsApp and a director who gives directions in Google Hangouts: the youth series wtFOCKDOWN is the first Flemish fiction series in lockdown mode.

The candidates of 'Blokken' play from home, soaps 'Familie' and 'Thuis' get an early season ending, 'Dagelijkse Kost' has a director at distance, 'Topdokters' sends out corona diaries, 'De Ideale Wereld' does telework. Just about the entire TV world has had to adapt to the new reality in recent weeks and find creative solutions. Usually with the help of FaceTime. Or Skype. Or Google Hangouts.

There is a striking amount of video out there.

However, no Flemish series had to go as far as wtFOCK. The youth phenomenon - in good weeks 450,000 unique visitors go to wtfock.be - always strongly focused on real time and the current living environment of young people. If a character experiences something during the lunch break at school, the video goes online in the afternoon on a school day. For example, if the elections are coming or GOT has its last episode, the characters will refer to it.

Which also means that when the schools suddenly closed indefinitely, all plans for the upcoming fourth season couldn't go through. If all your viewers are home, it makes no sense that the characters still go to school. wtFOCK's solution: the first 'social-distancing drama' in the world, as production house Sputnik, which makes the tv series for SBS and Telenet, calls it. Fiction that not only takes place in quarantine, but is also turned into quarantine. On April 1st, the first video went online, a video conversation between characters Senne and Zoë. Since then, the experiment seems to get more interesting every day.

wtFOCKDOWN is the most far-reaching TV answer to the lockdown yet. How did you come up with a 'social-distancing drama'?

Rutger Beckers (producer at Sputnik TV): As soon as the government closed schools, we knew we had to throw all our plans overboard. It was clear that this wasn't just for two weeks: the lockdown would take much longer. Quickly, we started thinking about a plan B within the team, a very young team, and there were some very long video calls. The term 'social-distancing drama' had fallen quite often. Everyone is in the same situation, everyone runs up the walls. Especially young people. In one weekend, their reality has completely changed and their lives take place between four walls. It seemed interesting to adapt the fiction to that new reality. Plus, we hope it can also be a support or refuge. Everyone is in the same boat: that kind of feeling.

We then put together a small team to see what was possible. A few practice scenes have been written. We tested things with the actors. What works? What not? After a few tries, everyone was very enthusiastic. They were also immediately involved with Telenet and SBS. This was much more than a little plaything or filling a gap in the schedule. It soon became clear that, with the right storylines, this was something fundamentally new. Something no one had ever done before us.

The lockdown was announced on March 16th, on April 1st the first video of wtFockdown went online: that is impressive.

Beckers: Especially in the world of fiction. It helps that we were already very tight regarding film schedules of wtFOCK. The recordings are made four or five weeks before the broadcast, which is short for fiction. Even on set, we continued to adapt storylines to current events.

With wtFOCKDOWN, we can plan everything even closer. The circumstances compel us to do so. Nobody can get together - we are very strict about that. So no locations have to be sought, no extras have to be collected or soundcrew have to be booked. We also have to make it with a very small team. wtFOCKDOWN is shot with the actors, a director and someone who does social media. Everyone is also at home and is available. What makes that you can switch very easily. Simply put: tonight we will decide what things we have written today, will be played out tomorrow.

The videos all start from the home screen of the characters' laptops and cell phones. The story is told in WhatsApp conversations, video calls and video messages. A kind of found footage, but in real time. That is cleverly done.

Beckers: Because it also makes sense: for most young people, the screen of their laptop or smartphone is their only view of the outside world these days. Then it makes sense that you tell the story like that.

Moreover, it is the technology that we really use to create the series. The actors act in their own room with their own laptops and mobile phones. First, we rehearse in a video call, while the director watches. When a scene is right, the actors video call each other and record the scene. It also doesn't matter if the quality of image or sound is a little less: that just increases the authenticity.

wtFOCKDOWN has been running for two weeks now, but as an experiment in mobile television it is interesting to say the least. Real-time WhatsApp conversations set to music, where you see the letters typed, for example, turn out to provide good scenes.

Beckers: That is also something that we ourselves are happy with: that these storytelling techniques work. wtFOCKDOWN was a leap of faith. There were no examples, no anchor points. When we put the first videos online, we had no idea what the response would be. But you feel that our enthusiasm after those first tests, is now also the same as the viewer.

That is also exciting as series makers. It started with a few tests. Then a few videos that came online. Then we started building bigger storylines. And it just keeps getting bigger. Every day we are faced with new surprises and new problems to solve. But that feeling that we are creating something new, something that can be valuable in the situation that young people are living in today, only increases enthusiasm. Especially with the people of eighteen or nineteen years old in our team: you feel that they now want to go for it. Maybe this could be the start of a new kind of genre. Real-time fiction, played decentralized. Who knows.

You're sure no one has ever done this before you?

Beckers: I certainly haven't come across anything. We also noticed that countries abroad have been interested in the concept. In the meantime, we're in contact with the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, who made Skam (wtFOCK is one of the many remakes of Skam internationally). They were very intrigued by our plans and went to show it to Spain, Germany, Italy and France, where local versions of Skam are also running.

While wtFOCKDOWN explores new horizons, a large part of the Flemish television world seems to be on hold. 'Familie' and 'Thuis' must finish their season early. It is unclear what will happen for programs such as 'Mijn keuken, mijn restaurant' and 'The Voice Kids'.

Beckers: Today the situation is very strange for the TV world, especially with the commercial channels. The ratings are going up. Much more TV is watched than in recent years. Only: there are far fewer advertisers.

It is indeed striking that programs such as 'De Mol' hardly have any commercial breaks.

Beckers: Many brands do not want to advertise now and have postponed their budgets until after the summer. Which will soon cause another strange situation. Autumn normally gets very busy, but hardly any production houses are making programs right now. Almost all productions have been shut down. Running a normal fiction series is simply impossible today.

Will we get a lockdown version of the soap 'Familie' soon?

Beckers: I think that chance is slim. (laughs). With wtFOCK, the new technology is just a bit more in the DNA of the program.

The main thing is that no one currently knows. Everyone is waiting for the situation to normalize and to get up again. It only starts again, when there is insight into the matter.

You are in a precarious situation with wtFOCK, I just realized.

Beckers: Why?

When the government announces that schools remain closed, doesn't it mean that all the plans and footage from the fourth season will be thrown away?

Beckers: That's also the disadvantage of the time limited fiction: the time. All of the references to the end of the school year, or festivals, will be tossed. These caught up with the reality. But we'll see how we are going to get around that. We don't have anything meaningful to say about the future. If I have learned one more thing about the past few weeks, it's that you constantly need to adapt to the new realities and to find new solutions. So it's not just about the wtFOCK.

[somnolent-snufkin]

So my brother is starting to close himself in a bubble and I feel like I've lost him

My brother is nine years old. He loves only five things: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Five Nights at Freddy's, Minecraft, and Trollhunters. Everyday, he does three things and three things only: Watch YouTube, watch Trollhunters, and occasionally play Hello Neighbor or Minecraft. He doesn't listen to any music other than video game raps. He doesn't play any video games other than Minecraft. He doesn't watch any other TV shows or movies than Trollhunters. I've been keeping track of how many times he has rewatched the entirety of the first Trollhunters series. Currently, he is on his 16th rewatch. I haven't seen him watch a single film or show other than Trollhunters. He doesn't go outside. He doesn't even play with his toys. He hates going places to the point of screaming and crying everytime we ask him to come with us somewhere. He goes to school, but absolutely refuses do anything there. He has told us time and time again that he hates learning. He thinks that learning outside of school is bad. Every since he was allowed back on YouTube, he has been getting ruder and ruder. I don't even know how he manages to live with himself after he says the shit he says to our mother. My mum loves him and wants to help him, but with my brother fighting us on absolutely everything.. we don't know how to love him.

I want my brother back. I want the Rhys I know. The Rhys I loved and grew up with. The Rhys I held in the hospital room in March of 2012. The Rhys I taught everything I know about Minecraft and video games to. The Rhys that told me he loves me. The Rhys that loved to draw and loved to talk to us. The Rhys that asked me to play Minecraft with him and loved to listen to pop music in the car. I don't know what happened to him.

Our family doesn't know what to do with him at this point. He's completely shut down and stopped listening to us. He won't listen, learn, or even talk to us. When he does talk to us, it's the most cruel and rude voice I've ever heard. He tells Mum to stop being stupid and tells her that she's horrible. He's said things I would absolutely horrified to say to Mum.

We're beginning to think he's probably suffering from depression. We've been trying to get him therapy, but unfortunately american healthcare is fully convinced that young men don't need therapists so we have to literally fight the system to let him have a therapist. We just now cut down his time on YouTube, after realizing that he spend more time on YouTube in one day than I do in a week. We're desperately trying to get him to watch ANYTHING other than Trollhunters. But he won't watch anything else. Before anyone says that maybe it's his comfort show or whatever, he's been watching ONLY Trollhunters on the TV for over three weeks. I haven't seen him watch a single thing other than Trollhunters. We've tried to get him to try and listen to different music again, but everytime we turn the radio on in the car, he whines "UGHH! YOU GUYS ARE SO ANNOYING! TURN THAT OFF!" We've tried to get him to go to social events and other places, but he constantly refuses. He will physically fight us if we try to take him to anywhere that isn't home. Taking him to the store to go get groceries AND buy him candy? That's going to be a fist fight and a screaming fit. Taking him to a friend's house for a safe gathering? That's a whole crying and screaming fit. We literally told him that we would take him to Disneyland if he got his second COVID shot and he said "I don't wanna go anywhere! It's too boring." We've tried to get him to play outside or even just play with Legos, but he won't. All he wants to do is watch YouTube. Not even good YouTube. This is literally his watch history:

Now I know kids don't want to boring educational stuff. But I would at least hope that he would want to watch something that makes you THINK. Something that doesn't numb your brain. Something that would at make him have to ask a question like "Oh, what's going to happen to this character?" or "What was that thing they were talking about?". I wish I could just show him other things but he won't even stay near me for more than about four minutes.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what's happening to my little brother. But I want my brother back.

I want Rhys back.

[eagles-translated]

This is when the fourth and final season of Eagles releases

This summer, the third season of the hit series Eagles premieres on SVT. Now it's confirmed that there will also be a season four - which will be the series' last. We've talked to actress Alva Bratt and screenwriter Michaela Hamilton.

The hit series "Eagles" will soon release its third season on SVT. In the series, we get to follow five teenagers who live in the hockey town Oskarshamn and their high school years, which are filled with friendship, love and rivalry - both on and off the ice. Now it's also confirmed that a fourth and final season of the SVT series is on its way. So how will it end for our favorite characters? We've talked to actress Alva Bratt and screenwriter Michaela Hamilton about the inspiration behind the characters and what the coming seasons have to offer.

- You could see it as season three and four entering phase two. When you start to face adult problems and how you handle them as a non-adult person, says Michaela Hamilton.

The second season of the teen series averaged over half a million viewers per episode and was nominated for Kristallen 2020 in the category of best TV drama of the year. Despite the success, season four will be the last season. Why is that?

- It's quite funny, the way you're asking the question. It's exactly the same thing you feel when you graduate: “Why does it have to end? We're here and having such a good time”. But we have to move on in life and release these people and relationships into the world. That is exactly what we're doing with Eagles as well, says Michaela Hamilton.

- It's good to finish on top! These were the years the show was supposed to be about. Now they're graduating and then we will set them free, Alva Bratt adds.

What will season 4 be about?

We've gotten to follow the characters during their high school years, and the fourth season will take place during the last six months before they graduate and go their own ways. Michaela remembers that there is an incredible pain in graduating and that you are exposed to the world in a completely different way.

- It is a rather bewildering moment in life when you know that you're going to be separated from people that you have first been forced to be with, but then learned to become friends with or live with, and what these goodbyes do to you. So that's where the basic story lies, says Michaela Hamilton.

Alva Bratt on Eagles-Felicia: "It's like her facade is falling quite a bit"

The third season premieres in June, and is largely about the main characters' different choices. Having to make important choices for the future, even though you may not really know who you are, and what the consequences will be. The third season of Eagles will be darker than the previous ones, which we will see in Alva Bratt's character Felicia Kroon.

- I would say that she feels darker and more insecure. It's like her facade is falling quite a bit, says Alva Bratt.

The season will address issues such as how young people are affected by anxiety over the future, mental illness and dysfunctional families. These are topics that both Michaela and Alva can recognize themselves in, but in different ways. Michaela says that she herself was very identity-seeking and insecure when she was younger. When she got a little older, she lost both her brother and stepfather and also had to go through incredible grief. She has tried to put that trauma into the Eagles' script.

- Grief is so striking and it does things to people, both in positive and negative ways. So I've really lent out a lot of my feelings about it, and it's something that has been personal to me, says Michaela.

It's precisely the search for identity that the screenwriters have attributed to Felicia's character. Trying to find out who you are by testing different identities, and that the journey there can be incredibly difficult. Themes such as mental illness and anxiety over the future are probably things that most people can relate to on some level.

- I've felt bad when I was younger, but also good. That's probably what youth is, I guess, says Michaela.

- That's probably also the climate we live in today. No one feels great all the time. I can feel anxiety over the future now more than ever. Especially with the pandemic, it's been awful on so many levels. That you have to live with the constant anxiety of the future. Even if you're feeling pretty well, it's always difficult to know what you're going to do in the future, says Alva.

They both think that these are important topics to highlight and show more sides of. Michaela says that Eagles has never tried to be a series that is only lighthearted, and they're trying to be a broader spectrum than that. The characters encounter problems such as eating disorders, cancel culture, rumors and drug problems.

- I don't think we're romanticizing anything, which I think is very important. It takes a whole lot to do certain things that some of the characters do, but at the same time there is a hopefulness in the series that gives balance, says Alva and continues:

- I think that one of the guy characters problems are highlighted very well. That these vulnerable guys get represented too, because I really think there is too little of that in media. This story also shows that all people are equal regardless of which gender, identity and class we feel like we belong in.

- Emotions belong to everyone, Michaela fills in.

Prior to the series, the production team did solid research work by interviewing young people in Oskarshamn, and among them many teenagers could recognize themselves in Felicia. But Alva Bratt, who plays the character, doesn't find many similarities between her and Felicia.

- I'm very different from my character. I've said it so many times, but she's like the teenager I never was, says Alva.

The characters may seem stereotypical at first, but as the series progresses, we get to see more sides of them. It's a bit like when we get to know someone in real life. At first we might see a happy guy, but the more we hang out with them the more sides to the person we get to see.

- I think it's nice to write a character just like that, to unfold it a bit like a flower. And it's especially important to understand that when you're young, you're not just evil or good or sad or happy. It's not a whole personality. You can change. You can feel shit but at the same time laugh with your family or have problems within the family but still be a good partner, says Michaela.

So, why has the show gotten so popular? Alva and Michaela think that a lot can be attributed to the viewers recognizing themselves or other people they know in the characters. That they are easy to relate to.

- That's the beauty of teen shows. Either you go through it, have to go through it or you have gone through it. That everyone can find something in there that you can relate to, says Michaela.

The filming for the fourth and final season starts soon. Since it has been clear that Eagles will be about the characters' time as high school students, it means that Eagles will end soon. Whether it will come in any other form remains to be seen.

- No closed doors. That's what I'll say, says Michaela.

When does Eagles season 3 premiere on SVT?

We've seen two seasons of Eagles so far and this summer the third season will finally premiere. Add June 4th 2021 to your calendars - that's the premiere date for season 3.

Quick Recap: This has happened in earlier seasons of Eagles

The first two seasons of Eagles can no longer be watched on SVT Play, which means that they're not possible to stream at the moment. Along with season 3, the previous episodes will return soon. But do you want to refresh your memory for the next season right now? If so, here's a quick recap of what happened in seasons 1 and 2.

This happened in Eagles season 1

In the first season of Eagles we met the Kroon siblings - the influencer Felicia (Alva Bratt) and the hockey player Elias (Edvard Olsson), who moved back to Sweden after their time in the US. Their father was a hockey professional in the NHL but is now taking over as a coach for the hockey team in Oskarshamn.

Felicia starts seeing Ludvig (Adrian Öjvindsson), the hockey talent who's been the best in the team - until Elias joined. The rivalry between the young people reflects much of the season both in friendship, love and popularity.

Klara Ceder (Sarah Gustafsson) who is the school's IT girl feels threatened by Felicia who invades her territory, both as the school's most popular girl and by hanging out with Amie (Yandeh Sallah), who was Klara's friend from the beginning.

Ludvig has family problems and drowns them in alcohol at a party. At the party he meets Amie, and something happens between them.

This happened in Eagles season 2

The second season of Eagles picks up from the dramatic end of season 1, but here we get to see a slightly darker season. Elias starts dating Klara, who Felicia doesn't like. But at the end of the season, Klara apologizes to Felicia, and we get to see other sides of her. Is this the beginning of a new friendship?

Felicia dates Jack Barrett (Filip Wolfe Sjunnesson), a new assistant coach on the team, until she learns worrying things about him.

There is a strange atmosphere between Ludvig and Amie, but they continue to make music together. When Ludvig ends up in the hospital after a hockey tackle, Amie kisses him, but he doesn't kiss her back. Are you allowed to fall in love with your friend's ex?

Cecilia Arvidsson March 15th, 2021 Source: (x)

[odanurr87]

My thoughts on... Scripting Your Destiny

Release date: March 16, 2021

Episodes: 10

Available on: Viki

Summary: Every human is born with a book that records each moment of their life and that we call destiny. Shin Ho Yoon is one of the many deities in charge of writing those books, known among the gods for his meticulous approach to his work. For his latest project, the destiny of the mortal Jeong Ba Reum, he intends to write a masterpiece, a perfect destiny, pairing him with his first love, Go Che Gyeong, a scriptwriter for successful, if over-the-top, makjangs like Marriage Pact and Sky Cash. However, when Che Gyeong doesn't fall for the fateful encounter that he wrote, he decides to take matters into his own hands and bluntly approaches her to find out how to get her to fall in love. As the two begin to develop feelings for each other, the perfect destiny envisioned for Ba Reum threatens to disappear and a new destiny between a god and a mortal begins to emerge. But can a god of destiny write his own fate?

Rewatch meter: Medium

WARNING: Spoilers beyond this point.

Characters

From left to right: Park Sang Nam as Shin Myeong; Ki Do Hoon as Shin Ho Yoon; Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong; Kim Woo Seok as Jeong Ba Reum; and Gal So Won as Samshin.

Overall, I liked the leads and most of the supporting characters. As far as the leads are concerned, I think Ki Do Hoon was able to deliver a good performance of what a god of destiny might, or perhaps should, be like: standoffish, emotionless, uninterested in the mortal realm beyond the scope of his duties. As such, Shin Ho Yoon feels the more godly of the different deities in the show, what is curious considering he's probably one of the youngest gods of destiny, what is explained through his cycle of rebirth. I wish the writer and the actor had made full use of this cycle by having the character of Shin Ho Yoon grow more emotionless as a result, what would explain why he's different from other gods. Perhaps this was intended, but if so, the results are mixed. You can see he was more impulsive in the beginning of his cycle as a god of destiny than he was, say, at the beginning of the show. However, the last incarnation we're shown of Ho Yoon, in Episode 10, appears to be more upbeat than any of his previous ones, a fact that could've been used to feed into the notion that something has changed (more on that later) and that's why he's having fun at the expense of the "newbies."

Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong was very good throughout, standing out from her male counterpart, perhaps due to the nature of her character that allowed her to show more range. I never found her to be over-the-top, and she was able to pull off the comedic and emotional scenes very well. She also passed off as a high-schooler better than Ki Do Hoon, despite the fact that she's five years his senior, but I guess that's the power of female hairstyles! My only complaint about her character is that I wish she had been a little more creative writing her own fate. I mean, she is a talented scriptwriter that even a god stole from.

Park Sang Nam's Shin Myeong had good chemistry with Ki Do Hoon's Shin Ho Yoon, echoing the Goblin-Reaper duo from Goblin, what should come as no surprise as writer Kim Eun Sook is a producer for this show. They even paid homage to that iconic walking scene in the first episode. Unlike Ho Yoon, Myeong comes across as less devoted to his duties and more lazy. He himself admits to a disapproving Samshin that he copy-pastes destinies, but also makes an interesting point about only writing main events so that humans can fill in the gaps themselves. I'll let you decide whether this is really his intention or just an attempt to placate Samshin's anger. Consequently, his transition from a somewhat lazy god to a more serious one towards the end of the show was unexpected, but I guess it stands to reason given his worries about Ho Yoon, plus one shouldn't forget he's actually the older god. I do believe the show wasted an incredible opportunity to have Shin Myeong be the linchpin of our story.

Ho Yoon shields precious Samshin from Myeong's words on how to passionately express love.

As for the characters of Jeong Ba Reum and Samshin, I can say the former was functional to the plot and gets immediately sidelined once that function is completed, while the latter definitely stole every scene she was in (and she's 14!). I would've loved to have seen more of her, even though I feel her arc was a little disconnected from the overall storyline and could've been tied better if the last episode had gone in a different direction.

Execution

What if that something are meteorites?

The show has a lot of fun making fun of kdrama tropes, either through Che Gyeong's job as a scriptwriter or through the gods of destiny themselves, who take turns between being writers and viewers when coming up with the destinies of mortals. When Ho Yoon is having trouble understanding "the depth within humans which is beyond divine comprehension" (aka love), Myeong steps in to give him some advice on how "For love to happen you need to isolate them," stranding the pair in an island somewhere and having them stay in an inn with only one room available. Other gems from Shin Myeong include, "They got rained on, they're cold, their clothes are soaked. If they start a fire, we're 90% there." and "A woman always falls for a man who takes care of her when she's sick. Under one condition. He has to be good-looking." If you ask me, I think Myeong has been watching too many kdramas. Unfortunately for him, so has Che Gyeong, who makes her living writing them.

Are they gods or kdrama fans?

As you can see, there's a lot of comedy to be found in the gods' numerous, and failed, attempts to get Ba Reum and Che Gyeong together. However, as I mentioned before, the character of Ba Reum is mostly functional. We learn little to nothing of who he is, how his life has been, what his dreams are, what is a bit off considering he's supposed to be Ho Yoon's "masterpiece." With Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong slowly starting to get closer, as the former tries his best to understand the nebulous concept of love, Ba Reum falls into the background, what isn't really much of a shame as he doesn't contribute a whole lot in the second half of the show, to the point he could've been taken out completely with slight rewrites here and there.

The writing is similarly flimsy when it comes to the rules of the universe. For instance, early on it is stated that whatever gets written on a fate book cannot be erased, and yet when a character accidentally spills coffee on his fate book the ink on the page vanishes as if it were Voldemort's diary (there is also another instance of writing mysteriously vanishing that isn't explained). In another case, it is stated that anyone who knew a certain character got their memories of that character erased, yet one (very secondary) character still seems to be able to recall everything. These sort of plot contrivances are odd in that they are unnecessary and could've been worked around with relative ease.

It means we have a problem, that's what it means.

Another, more important, mystery that doesn't get explained is how Ho Yoon is able to "resurrect" multiple times. One of the rules of the universe states that any god who interferes with mortals, beyond the scope of their duties, and develops feelings for them, gets the Thanos treatment. However, it is eventually revealed that Shin Ho Yoon got the boot several times for this and yet was able to return every single time, with his memories erased. No explanation is provided for this and, instead, the show suggests, in the last scene of the last episode, that this is the case for all gods, as we see a couple of them return from extinction.

Personally, I feel there was a lot of potential left untapped here and this relates directly to my comment on how Shin Myeong should've been the linchpin of the entire story. If you'll recall the web drama One More Time, the reason why the male lead was stuck in a time loop was because of a contradiction that arose in the terms of the contract made between the female lead and the Grim Reaper. In a similar vein, I think the show could've suggested that Myeong first met Ho Yoon as a human kid and maybe wrote for him a fate that implied him falling in love or something similar. However, the human Ho Yoon died before that fate could occur and so became the god of destiny Shin Ho Yoon, destined to continuously "resurrect" until he could embrace his fate. A loophole such as this one could've neatly explained Ho Yoon's rebirth cycle.

The ending itself was a little underwhelming and it's easy to understand why, as it it suggested that Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong are stuck in an endless loop of the former falling in love with the latter and vanishing, with Che Gyeong being the only one able to remember all of their interactions. As fates go, it's rather depressing so it doesn't really jibe well when the show's upbeat main theme starts playing at the end. When I did my episode recaps for the show I suggested that, with some rewrites, we could've made Episode 9 the series finale and the show would've been better for it. How?

Imagine at some point in the show both characters remember everything, perhaps at that wind/lamb farm where Che Gyeong desperately calls out for Ho Yoon who, instead of running to her, walks away out of fear of vanishing for good this time. I would've planted seeds throughout the show suggesting Ho Yoon is developing emotions yet isn't vanishing from some inexplicable reason, and there are already some seeds of this in place. Perhaps he has a talk with Myeong about how strange that is and decides to see how far he can take it. The show would end as Episode 9 did, with Ho Yoon returning to Che Gyeong and asking for a caramel macchiato, the most expensive item. They both smile at the reference to their past encounter and we cut to credits with the main theme playing in the background. Ho Yoon's actions could serve to inspire other gods of destiny to try and write their own fates, like how Samshin (even though she's not a god of destiny) follows in his footsteps and decides to attend school.

Music

If you've read any of my reviews, you know that, usually, all of my recommended shows are accompanied by a soundtrack that not only has good music in it but that is used at the right time. This show has some very good tracks that stand out from their more atmospheric counterparts, such as Lee So Jung's "Skyline" (the show's main theme), Jeong Sewoon's "Time Machine," and Yongmin Ryu's "Chaotic." As far as instrumentals tracks are concerned, the obvious standout bar none is "The Deity of Fate." Other instrumental tracks aren't bad but they just can't hold a candle to this magical piece by Yongmin Ryu that has traces of Hotel del Luna's excellent soundtrack.

A couple of examples that prove how these tracks are expertly used include the end of Episode 7, that shows us how Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong first met through a flashback, with "The Deity of Fate" followed by "Skyline," and another scene in Episode 9, where Ho Yoon recalls his past and we see a quick transition between different days at Che Gyeong's coffee shop as she serves him a caramel macchiato, with "Time Machine" playing in the background. However, in the same way Ho Yoon conjures up a magenta pink moon to distract Che Gyeong, I do believe the show sometimes relies on such scenes to divert your attention from some of its plot holes or inconsistencies, hoping their beauty and poetic nature will thwart any deeper analysis that it might not withstand. It's up to you to decide whether you can let it slide or not.

Conclusions

In short, Scripting your Destiny is a fun show that doesn't take itself too seriously and that successfully creates a universe and characters I'd love to see more of, while trying to convey a timeless love story that has elements of One More Time, Goblin, and Angel's Last Mission: Love. I don't believe it succeeds in this respect, certainly nowhere close to the OTPs in any of those shows, in no small part because Shin Ho Yoon never makes that transition from deity to boyfriend that is present in shows like Goblin and Angel's Last Mission: Love. The romance between Shin Ho Yoon and Go Che Gyeong is one that looks good on paper and should've translated better to the screen. Having said that, their interactions are quite fun to watch and one could certainly envision a future where the two become a couple, provided Ho Yoon somehow manages to stop getting lobotomized. It's a shame but the series finale makes it lose several points as it doesn't make the most of the show's premise or message.

Would I recommend it? If you've watched and enjoyed the other shows I mentioned, yes, absolutely. Despite its flaws, which can be considered relatively minor to an extent (this is a web drama after all), Scripting your Destiny is still a much better investment than many kdramas and at a fraction of their time, and the comedy value of seeing how it makes fun of kdrama tropes again and again cannot be discounted. You're bound to have a good laugh for sure. Additionally, it features some gorgeous and creative (look at that last picture!) VFX-enhanced sets that rival fantasy dramas like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, which definitely had a larger budget and tried to recapture some of that Goblin magic but couldn't. And if you haven't watched the shows I mentioned watch this one anyway so we can have more good web or mini dramas (Handmade Love is an excellent one that runs the length of a movie) that give kdramas a run for their money. Until the next one!

[swimfaye]

Dear Boss,

What I am typing here is not to one boss in particular or any current employer. What I am typing here is thoughts that have been running in my head since I was told on March 16th 2020 via text at 8:14pm at night that I was not to come into work because of the Santa Clara County Public Health said to quarantine for two weeks. My birthday was the next day. What transpired over the next 24 hours was this absolute sense of identity. How can a public health official cause me to lose my job? Why was my employer listening to a public health official and not so called common sense "we're a software company that is not based in medical or a contagion like place" Our offices were already safe distances from each other. I also was disappointed in my human resources department or lack there of. The next day I am paraphrasing but, I was told to go sign up for unemployment benefits.

It was my birthday. Ironically, on March 17th, 2010 I got a part time job. I was happy to be working it was my first day and I was proud of myself for finding a job. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I got a job and I oversaw the hiring of two more people to the workplace and my position go from part-time to full time. It was also the first time my boss lied to me about his birthday. It was such an detail that I found myself wondering why would you lie to me about it. Granted, I was overtly excited about getting a job on my birthday I was blissfully happy to tell everyone my birthday present was a job.

That is thing, Dear Boss is about. When you lie and I find out, its like the sliver from picking up a stick. The first sign that something isn't right, you are not be trusted or worse you don't trust me.

So, That was one thing that ran around my head reminding me of all the things I learned or wish I could have told my boss. Another boss, kept telling me about a promotion but, the sibling didn't like me. For whatever reason just the sibling did not like me for reasons that only recently reminded me that when some one doesn't like you its because you remind them of something they use to be. I learned quickly that it just wasn't going to work out but, I stayed like that sliver from the stick its something I treasured knowing how people feel about you makes you incredibly powerful and causes some reflection or transformation and maybe a little bit of honesty. Sometimes, I have that epiphany when I know its time to go and I am not going to wait around. I see the bank statements, I recognize when people are territorial, I understand the inherent problems people have with an mature individual versus a meek college student learning how to work a computer program. So, Dear Boss when I walked into work just five minutes later than my start time and saw you. I didn't care I was just 8 weeks into my job, I knew you didn't want me there because I wasn't doing what you thought I should be doing and I was judging you and your significant other drinking at work and I mean DRINKING AT 10AM in the morning. I knew that I wasn't going to stay and I did turn right around and a week later I had a job. I know how to get a job, I know how to work.

Speaking of that, Dear Boss, if you say you are going to be in to work early that would mean you are going to be in the office before me. I show up everyday for 120 days and you don't beat me into the office. I travel over 45 miles and I get into the office before you. I take public transit and i get into the office before you. Don't lie to me and say you're going to be in the office early because early means you are sitting at your desk before I walk through the office doors.

Which takes me back to why I left a job. i turned in my resignation over something really simple. The alarm code. Its a basic thing. Nothing fancy nothing big, but Dear Boss, you lost me not because of your micro aggression or lies but because you could not give me an alarm code. This alarm caused horrible migraines and actual stress. If you wanted me to leave you should have just fired me because I really did think about suing for harassment. You repeatedly did not address the issue stating there wasn't any available codes to use. You screamed when we got billed for nuisance alarms. Yet, no code. When I spoke with the attorney he said that it was petty of me to sue for such a thing. That is what I remember about you. Petty. oh and how I pity you for it. interesting thinking back on it. I pity you for being petty. sad. but alas. I am okay.

Thanks Dear Boss.

[bongaboi]

Iona: 2021 Metro Atlantic Men's Basketball Champions

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- — Rick Pitino ended an Iona team photo, a championship trophy as the centerpiece, by pointing toward a ladder and telling the Gaels to clip the nets.

He knows the way.

From coaching perennial powers to exile to the New York suburbs, Pitino has navigated a vagabond career bathed in scandal and success the only way he can: by winning.

Asante Gist scored 18 points and Pitino took his record-tying fifth school to the NCAA Tournament with Iona's 60-51 victory over Fairfield on Saturday in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament championship.

Next stop, the all-Indiana NCAA Tournament.

"I told them I was packing eight suits," Pitino said. "We have a lot of dirty laundry, and we're heading to Indianapolis."

The 68-year-old Pitino was already the first coach to win national titles at two schools (Kentucky, Louisville) and the first to take three schools (Providence) to the Final Four. He led Boston University to the tournament in 1983.

Pitino was hired at Iona (12-5) last March to — yes, to keep the Gaels among the perennial favorites to come out of the MAAC in March — but in large part to rehabilitate his image after an ignominious end at Louisville.

Pitino had a trying first season trying to orchestrate a tourney bid through a pandemic. He contracted coronavirus and the Gaels were forced to stop four times this season because of virus issues — including a 51-day hiatus that sidelined them longer than any team in the country.

Led by the backcourt of Gist and Isaiah Ross, the ninth-seeded Gaels used a 10-0 run to close the first half at Boardwalk Hall. Ross made the postgame walk through the empty seats and kissed his 10-month-old daughter, Averie.

Pitino, his mask on his chin all game, shuffled side-to-side as if in a perpetual defensive drill, yelled instruction, harangued the officials and somehow in the roll of papers he gripped all game had the formula that showed why in stops ranging from Kentucky to New Rochelle, New York, he landed in the Hall of Fame. Well-traveled — with baggage.

"We've been the No. 1 of No. 1 overall seeds, but with the treatment by the NCAA of me, we might get an 18 seed," Pitino said.

Caleb Green buried a 3 for the Stags (10-17) that brought them to 20-18 in the first half before they faded over the final four minutes. Gist hit consecutive jumpers to kickstart the run and send the Gaels into the half with a 30-18 lead.

The championship game sprinkled mostly family and friends inside the boardwalk venue to liven the atmosphere and there was a nice round of applause when Gist needed help to the bench with an apparent knee injury. With Gist out, Fairfield's Jake Wojcik made a 3 in the second half that made it a four-point game. Gist's absence was short-lived and he hit a 3 in his return to send the Gaels on their way to their fifth straight NCAA Tournament.

"I don't think everybody knows what it's like when we take that pause," Gist said of the start-and-stop challenges.

Pitino took over a program used to playing in March. Iona had completed a good run under Tim Cluess, who made six NCAA Tournament appearances and won five MAAC Tournament titles in nine seasons before stepping down for health reasons, when it hired Pitino. Pitino gave a postgame shoutout to Cluess.

Iona, an eight-point favorite, didn't necessarily need Pitino. Pitino had coached at Louisville from 2001-17 before being fired in a pay-for-play scandal and had been coaching in Greece.

"Louisville is a great program. Unfortunately, some people in life did some things wrong and a lot of innocent people have suffered," Pitino said. "Not only me, but a lot of innocent people that are behind the program and that's disappointing. But I'm the leader of this ship. I said it over and over. I deserved to be fired because if somebody under me did the wrong things, I deserve it."

Iona President Seamus Carey, who met with Pitino in Spain, and athletic director Matt Glovaski ignored the sex scandals and FBI investigations at Louisville and got their man.

"They've benefited from having him in the league and we've benefited from the PR," MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor said. "Now, there was some controversy, but that was a hiring decision. Once they're hired, I work with whoever's there."

Pitino said he intended to finish his career at Iona, calling it "a great way to end a very long career." But there's little doubt the majors will call him again, and that vow of a final stop could instead be simply a stepping-stone toward the next job.

Iona is a school where coaches usually start their careers, not end them.

The Gaels only cared about the final snapshot — Pitino waving the net and draping it around his neck, one more for the championship collection.

BIG PICTURE

Iona: Pitino joined Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith as the only coaches to take five programs to the NCAA Tournament. Ensor credited Pitino for the inspiration behind the MAAC's "Time Out for Black Lives" reading program that focused on Black culture. Pitino selected "A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis."

"For the young coaches that we typically have in our league, he provides a learning experience they would rarely get," Ensor said. "Rick come to us at the pinnacle of his career. He's had all the accolades. Now you have all these coaches with the opportunity to watch him. Sometimes I wish they wouldn't watch him in action. He can be kind of animated on the sidelines and can work the officials like a Hall of Famer."

Fairfield: The seventh-seeded Stags defeated Manhattan, Monmouth and Saint Peter's to reach the final.

"If we keep doing what we're doing, showing up every day putting the work in, we'll be back in this game with a different result," coach Jay Young said.

BACK AT BOARDWALK

The MAAC has one more year left on its contract to play in Atlantic City and Ensor hoped the conference will remain in New Jersey. Ensor said even in a pandemic the conference met its commitment in hotel rooms.

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