#this is about the movie arrival which one of our profs showed us and I loved it

[meezer]

he is so lame

[elle-thinks]

NOPE Commentary - Primary Themes

I’ve had the pleasure of viewing NOPE twice, once on the big screen and once from the comfort of my own laptop, and I must say that the film showcases Jordan Peele’s versatility. While his first work, Get Out was very much centered on race relations, (he mentions realizing it was about race when he tried to create a story focused on othering, or feeling separated from the group) NOPE acknowledged race but used it to uplift a demographic in the story. Doing so prevents that idea that art produced by a Black creator has to be about how “Blackity-Black [they are],” as stated by New York Times columnist, Jamelle Bouie on his Tik Tok account.

As seen in the trailer, Peele utilizes the first piece of recorded film (which features an anonymous Black jockey riding a horse) to reinforce the narrative that Black people have always been involved in cinema despite being pushed to the sidelines. UCLA Prof. Tananarive Due mentioned, “the West was 20% Black,” after commentary about how many Western films depicted an unrealistic White world. Furthermore, there was a significant Asian population in California for example, that arrived during the Gold Rush. The point is, race is key to relating to our characters and cementing them in Peele’s story, however, the movie is not about systemic racism, racial violence, etc. Being Black influences dialogue and actions, alluding to the Black survival mindset and illustrating Black familial relationships. Race is central to the film, but again, it is not about race.

Instead, the film critiques Hollywood and the dangerous allure of spectacle. Outright, the film states a quote detesting spectacle. In creating such spectacles, there can be a lot of traumas incurred. NOPE exemplifies metaphors about how Hollywood can chew you up and spit you out, the sacrifices one must make for fame, the incentive of virality, and the use of tokenized people of color (Jupe) and animals in cinematic productions. For example, I think Jupe lived past his childhood trauma because there was a sense of kinship between him and the aggressor. He also avoided direct eye contact.

To clarify one additional thing, many do not understand the secondary plotline concerning a character named Jupe. I believe it is complementary to the main story, showing what our main protagonists should not do if you will. Jupe internalizes his trauma as a quality that makes him special and makes him capable of controlling the sublime (the beauty and horror of nature). His presumptuousness leads to his downfall.

Jordan Peele’s reputation has grown significantly, allowing him a 60-million-dollar budget for NOPE. While a significant portion of Get Out’s success was derived from tumultuous racial times within the United States, Peele released NOPE in the wake of a pandemic, the slowing of interest in Black artistry, and with an advertising campaign that left critics and the public with confusion. Yet, Peele triumphs again with over 100 million dollars in box office sales. Though the two are unrelated, NOPE has many people, me included, excited for Peele’s next film, Wendell and Wild, an animated experience.

Finally, I just loved the soundtrack in NOPE. Y'all should give it a listen on Spotify.

[funkymbtifiction]

Hi, I have questions about T types.

1)If all thinker (T) types and Ti/Te are objective and logical, then why do they arrive at different conclusions or have different opinions [and often call their own view logical and others as emotional, even if they are thinkers as well]? Shouldn’t they arrive at the same objective conclusions?

((For example, why is one T type religious and the other one atheist? Why is one thinker pro-life and the other one pro-choice? Why is One T type conservative and the other one liberal? Or one pro LGBT and one against them? Or one into one theory and one against it?))

Because we are not robots programmed to think the same, and every TiFe user uses subjective logic (what seems rational to them) and every TeFi user uses individual values (what they care about the most and prioritize). So they won’t agree on everything, see everything the same way, etc. But most of them would agree on a baseline logical framework (Ti) or proven facts (Te).

2) Who defines what is logical (and how)? I mean most of the times, when two people argue and have different opinions, viewers view the arguments/points of charismatic people, older people, more famous/influential people or more confident people to be valid, rightful and logical. (Or they might view the viewpoints of the person already on their side and with similar views to be logical).

Logic is determined either by the facts and evidence to prove it (Te) or the internal logical soundness of the argument itself (Ti). Believing older people over younger people shows a Si preference (the old ways work the best, because they are proven by time); believing people who are convincing and charismatic is often Fe (everyone is agreeing with this, so it must be right!).

Even in movies, one character does one thing, and some people (viewers) call it logical and some others call it emotional. 

*For example, in Harry Potter, Prof. Dumbledore used Harry in order to sacrifice him and kill Voldemort. Some people defined this as logical, because the end justifies the means and sacrificing one person, to reach something big is justifiable. Others believed what he did was not logical and he could have thought about other ways to kill Voldemort instead of using another person.

It’s not ‘logical’ so much as it is a Fe value judgment: one person SHOULD sacrifice himself for the greater good of humanity, because we are all a cog in the wheels of the world and owe each other our lives. Putting aside the point that Harry was a Horcrux and Dumbledore knew it, there was literally no other way to defeat Voldemort in a permanent manner, so it was the only solution. Harry had to die. (Snape also makes a Fi value judgment against Dumbledore -- that it’s sick that he would keep the boy alive ‘to die at the PROPER moment.’)

People are judging Dumbledore based on their own value judgments (what they think is rational or not) rather than being objective about the situation and Dumbledore’s role in it. The point is the value judgments they are making and why, and the system Dumbledore is using to process information -- his Fe bias.

*Or, two people work for a company and their boss is unfair to them or is about to do something wrong. One coworker confronts the boss and fights for themselves because they need to stand their ground and earn respect, the other one stays quiet because their boss might take it personally, hold a grudge and do something bad to or against them in the future. Some people might say the former is logical and some others may say the latter is logical.

It is either logical or irrational depending on the person involved and their boss, the likelihood of push-back and consequences. The former person shows a gut-driven boundary assertive style (1 or 8) and the latter shows a 6ish fearful style. A thinker or a feeler might reach that reaction, based on whether they challenge authority or bow to it.

*Things/people/bosses are unfair to two workers (e.g., they face favoritism at work). One stays because they have to work anyways and it shouldn’t affect them. The other one quits and goes to work for another company because working for people who are unfair to them ruins their chances for improvement, promotions or their mental state.

In this case, look at their motives. What makes them stay? Is it because they have a bill to pay at the end of the month? Their family is relying on them? People’s reasons for their actions often tell you who they are.

*A parent raises kids by (physically and verbally) punishing them. He thinks he is being logical because raising kids could be difficult otherwise and the kids have to learn to be obedient and submissive. Then another person says that there are better and more logical ways for raising kids too, and their method is not logical.

Again, that’s likely an Enneagram distinction. Anyway, by now you get my point.

So, what I mean and my question is, when trying to type ourselves, or other people, how do we define what’s logical and what’s not? Who is a thinker type and who is a feeler type?

How can we not mistake T “stereotypes” such as strictness, rudeness, ruthlessness, aggressiveness, confidence, charisma, directness, etc. with real T charactristics?

How can we not mistake kindness, tolerance, shyness, factfulness, caution, depression, anxiety, etc. as F?

Thank You

Feelers prioritize their own feelings or other people’s feelings into their decisions and the only time this doesn’t happen is when they are unhealthy and behaving abnormally. Thinkers put objective decisions first and devalue people’s emotions in the process, which means they are clumsy with handling their own and other people’s feelings.

You need to learn to see Feeler as “ethical judgments” and Thinker as “rational judgments” instead of focusing purely on behaviors. What is the judgment? Where is it coming from? What does it lean toward? Inclusiveness in a Fe way or the facts in a Te way? How does each type feel about something? Te types believe enough hard work and elbow grease will get you places, especially strong Te types. Fe types believe one should contribute to the greater whole, because one is an extension of a human race that have things in common even despite their differences.

It’s not easy to learn to think this way. I’ve been doing it for over a decade and I’m still tempted to type by behaviors rather than motivations, but you have to look at what is being said, what the thought process is behind it, and what the person/character is ‘telling you’ about how they think/feel in order to type properly. You need to see Te and Fe as JUDGMENTS based on criteria, not as being logical or irrational.

Being strict, rude, ruthless, aggressive, confident, charismatic, direct, isn’t T.

Being kind, tolerant, shy, fanciful, cautious, depressed, or anxious is not F.

T: rational judgments based on objective evidence or logic.

F: ethical judgments based on people and their needs.

[miss-mishka]

The Old Guard (Image, 2017) vs Youth (comiXology, 2020): A Completely Biased Comparison

I don’t really know what this is, kind of a crack review, because I had more to say about these two recent reads than I could fit in my Goodreads reviews. So it will be a long read if you opt to proceed. Be warned: ADULT LANGUAGE BEYOND THE CUT, I make no promises that my words will be coherent throughout & sarcasm will abound as I discuss two mini/limited issue comic series’ that I’ve recently bought into.

They are: 

1)The Old Guard, 2017 Image Comics 5 issue miniseries release, written by Greg Rucka, illustrated by Leandro Fernandez

Main cast, above, left to right: Sebastien le Livre aka Booker; Nile Freeman (no alias, currently); Andromache the Scythian aka Andy; Nicolo di Genova aka Nicky; Yusuf al-Kaysani aka Joe. Noriko is also a related, but not pictured, character.

2) Youth, 2020 comiXology Original 4 issue miniseries, written by Curt Pires, art by Alex Diotto

Main cast, above, from left to right: River, Jan, Kurt, Frank. Trixy is also a main character, but not featured on this group cover. (That wasn’t deliberate on my part.  Since it’s a new series, I wanted a cover shot to help you if you want to shop for the series & this was the only one with most of the group clearly visible.)

So now let’s get to some plot.

The Old Guard is a group of warriors that are much harder to keep dead that your average person.  Their ages range from Andy, estimated over 6,000 years old, to Nile, 27 per issue #4. The hows & whys of their ability to recover from injuries up to & including death, are completely unknown, but the ability can end with the same lack of understanding as it began. Andy has found 6 others like her in her time on Earth. 1 has died.

Youth is the teenaged couple Frank & River running away from their home town, meeting up with the older teenaged, possibly early 20s,trio that comprises rest of their group. While fleeing cops, drunk & high after a party, the group’s van is struck by what appears to be a meteor. It does, but doesn’t kill them. They each get a special power from it & all can suddenly fly.

Their enemy/obstacle/villain:

For The Old Guard, it’s big pharma bro Steve Merrick; his security chief, former CIA agent & the one who led Merrick to Andy’s team, James Copley; and the ‘mad’ scientist Dr. Ivan.

For Youth, this is it.  Bootleg Nick Fury and the government resources at his disposal.  (Take note, this is the one clear win that Youth has over ToG.  I love & want more Don.)

Relationships:

Joe & Nicky

Andy & Noriko

Frank & River

Frank & Trixy (just hooking up to help ruin the actual relationship above)

While both comics have their group dynamics, they also have a clear gay couple at the center of their storylines.  For The Old Guard, it’s Joe & Nicky.  For Youth, it’s Frank & River.  But Frank seems to be questioning, as he’s drawn to his new female acquaintance, Trixy. Kurt & Jan also seem attracted to Trixy, but the relationships between those three are not explored in these issues.  River is most definitely immune to Trixy. So, Frank & River fall into the dysfunctional relationship category while Joe & Nicky, together over 900 years, are #RelationshipGoals.

So what’s the 411?:

For The Old Guard, Andy, Booker, Joe & Nicky sign on for a job from Copley to rescue some kidnapped schoolkids. Izza traaaaaaaaaaap! While the team decides to go on the offensive & track Copley down after he’s learnt their secret, Nile is killed in action only to find that she’s one of the ones that don’t stay dead easily. Andy goes to retrieve the new ‘recruit,’ the first since Booker in 1812, while the guys go to a safehouse to search for Copley.  When Andy & Nile finally arrive at that location, they find Booker recovering from severe injuries while Joe & Nicky have been taken. It becomes a rescue mission for their captured brothers in addition to the seek & destroy goals for Copley.  Along the way, Booker & Nile bond.  Andy’s a tougher nut to crack. While Booker tries to locate their targets, Joe & Nicky are being tortured by the mad Doctor “for science” in hopes of discovering a profitable immortality drug for Merrick’s biz. Booker conveniently finds the whole Merrick operation taking place in Dubai, so off they go for their rescue mission & revenge.  But...well, IZ ZA TRAP! Booker’s done with this undying thing & has sold the team out to see if Dr. Ivan can cure him of life while using the others to defeat death.  Andy & Nile, though, aren’t helpless lil ladies.  Neither are Joe & Nicky.  With rescue under way, Joe & Nicky convince the doctor to let them go, then kill him, then find the others, meet Nile for the first time, kill Merrick as one happy new family, take off for Malta(yeah, in the comics, they’re THERE again), vote Booker off their island for 100 years & then leave him alone to be found by one very salty Noriko - she’s well-brined after 500 years in the ocean & batshit insane, to boot. That’s the first of three arcs planned for this group.  About 160 pages over the 5 issues & not a panel wasted, in my opinion.

For Youth, River’s got a lousy step-dad, Frank has a lousy job; together they hate their town & lives, but maybe kind of love each other.  So River says let’s steal my stepdad’s cherished old Mustang & run off for California.  The car gets a flat, but there’s no spare to replace it & they ran away with no money because they’re teenagers.  While broken down in a Walmart parking lot, the car draws the attention of Kurt, who grew up learning some mechanical stuff, appreciating the classics & is willing to offer help. Upon hearing that it’s a flat tire & the couple has no means to replace it, the decision is made to torch the car (it’s a Mustang, HOW DARE YOU?!) & get into the van with Kurt & his two female travelling companions. The five barely exchange names before they’re off to a party where alcohol & drugs mix to make Frank & Trixy horny for one another. River sees them making out & starts to leave when the cops show up to raid the party with all it’s underage & illegal happenings.  River, such a sweetheart, is ready to leave Frank & Trixy to be arrested, but Kurt makes sure they all get away together in the van.  A high (emphasis on high cause Kurt did some cocaine at the party) speed chase ensues with just a little awkwardness among the group as they realize that Frank & River were together & Trixy only kind of cares that she was pulled into their mess. Before there can be arguments, hairpulling slapfights or other drama over the man, the speeding vehicle is demolished by a meteor slamming to Earth.  Except it may have been aliens? In issue #2 we see this:

After this faceoff, these celestial beings go at it, destroy what appears to be their home planet & create the space debris that hits the van & gives the youths powers.  It totally killed Jan for a little bit, but that’s ok because Jan has the best powers.  She came back from death & can track other powered people without Prof X’s massive Cerebro setup, which is handy when you’ve got Bootleg Nick Fury tracking you down because of the ‘anomaly’ that hit you. Trixy?  She’s got a temper.  When Don Thunder descends upon them with a small army of soldiers, Trixy turns them into twisted piles of gore and metal.  I’m not sure what she did, but it was messy.  I imagine in a movie the squish, crack, snap, pop, burst & splat sound effects would reign in that moment.  With that dealt with, the group makes plans for what they should do next.  Which is apparently, rob an armored truck (can anyone guess whose idea it was?) because they have no money for food or lodging.  The heist does not go to plan because the guard driving the armored truck is distracted so he doesn’t see River standing in the road trying to stop the vehicle until the newly powered kid STOPS the vehicle.  I’m pretty sure the guards, especially the driver whom they made sure we knew had a pregnant wife, are dead.  Frank’s upset about this, blames River, who honestly could have flown off as soon as he realized that the truck wasn’t stopping as planned & the now very strong River smacks Frank into a wall.  This pairing is not destined for 900 years together, I imagine Yusuf would continuously chop off his hand rather than strike Nicolo in a non-fun & consensual way.  But the Youth gang still grabs some money bags and flies off.  While multiple people capture it on their cell phones.  Modern technology is an enemy to both the Youth & Old Guard. The kids take their money & go party.  Alcohol & drugs again.  Frank & Trixy making out again.  This time when River sees his man with the girl, he declares the relationship over & storms out of the club.  Killing a few people & knocking a sizable hole in the building to fly off while Frank freaks out & Trixy realizes this guy might be too much drama for her edgy self. We’re at the end of issue #3 which closes with this gem:

The more you know, right? Issue #4 has Don recovering from his injuries after Trixy’s finishing move failed to eliminate him (Dictionary: fore*shad*ow, verb: be a warning or indication of (a future event)).  He sees video of the armored truck robbery on the news (O! these pesky kids with their cell phone cameras & viral videos) & he’s back on the hunt for the gang.  River’s gone back home to the place he always went to to be alone when his stepdad was too much to deal with at home.  Frank finds him there, because he had been shown that spot.  It was their spot. It’s a sweet reunion where Frank still loves River despite the carnage so long as River still loves Frank with the cheating.  A win-win lost-lost. And our Bootleg Nick Fury has his remaining eye on the lovebirds & is ready to attack!  Jan, Kurt & Trixy see breaking news of the fight Frank & River put up against the government goons & Trixy is outvoted by the other two that they’ll go help their acquaintances of like 48 hours.  The time they take deciding & getting there, though, puts them unfashionably late.  Frank is seriously injured causing River to go Dark Phoenix so that the others can get Frank to safety.  It fades to black, skips forward 3 months & implies that Frank’s going it alone in California where he was meant to be with River, but River is gone. (So obviously not dead, but captured by Thunder who clearly has his own powers because River’s Phoenix fire definitely didn’t kill this Superspy.)  But Trixy’s all consoling and explains how Jan is locating other kids with powers - posthumans, they’re called -  all around the world & they’ve decided to start searching for them to create a bigger group.  Frank says it’s like the X-Men, but Jan isn’t quite Xavier level leader, so I say more New Mutants. Frank declines to be part of it. Trixy leaves him on a nice, sunny beach & goes to find Jan who portals them here, the most obviously “Not X like” structure in the world for their not a Bootleg X-Men/New Mutants series to take place in in the future: 

(JFC, the colors alone are classic Wolverine! Originality. Did you maybe want to try that with this series?)

For the end of “Season 1″ of Youth, which implies there will be more.  The single issues of the 4 part mini account for 125 pages & I consider several of those pages wasted. 

Final Verdict:

With powerhouse publishers like DC & Marvel having decades worth of this content, Youth was entering a very crowded arena.  The only thing it focused on as a lure to draw attention from the big leagues was the relationship between Frank & River, but representation has come a long way & Youth needed more. More story development, more group dynamics, more SOMETHING. Because I read the series in a world where I now know that The Old Guard exists & what Greg Rucka did with that series in simple & overt representation is a master class that Curt Pires needs to attend before any 2nd season talk for Youth. The world, my world, is ready for immortal gays. We’ve seen it, we need more.  If River’s still alive, as I suspect, then there’s potential, but it shouldn’t magically erase all the issues that Frank & River had as a couple.  They are not anywhere near the level of Joe & Nicky.  And if/when Youth returns it needs to focus on the characters that we’re supposed to engage with & keep the focus on ALL OF THEM.  Comics take art, with or without words, to tell some incredibly entertaining & complex stories. Don’t waste the space on blackness & block quotes, no matter what Marlon Brando is doing with mailboxes. Create the visuals & worlds in your head & tell the story with your heart so it comes to life for all of us.  That’s what Rucka did with The Old Guard & I want to see more writers, artists & publishers striving to attain that level for us.  I’m spoiled to it now & you can expect this kind of insanity from me if you fail to reach for this bar.

If you cannot tell by the end of all this, I am completely biased in favor of The Old Guard & if you can afford it, but haven’t done so yet, BUY THE BOOKS! Youth gets points for effort & dragged for everything else.

[purplesurveys]

792

Who was the last person you had an intelligent debate with?: I don’t really have debates with anyone other than Gab or Angela. I’ll have deep discussions with my other friends, but they never turn into a debate.

Who was the last person who cooked something for you?:  My dad. Technically he just reheated stuff tonight, but he was still also the one who cooked for us this morning for breakfast.

Who was the last person who you heard singing?:  My mom. She does karaoke by herself one or two times a week for funsies and will sing songs from her day for an hour or so, and she did it tonight.

Who was the last person you kissed and it meant something?: Gabie, but it’s been a whilllllle. 

Who was the last person you were upset with?:  This girl that I’m classmates with for a layout class, Mikee. Horrible work ethic. So just for context, I currently have a grade of INC (Incomplete) for the layout class I took last semester because my prof wasn’t satisfied with our final output, which are a class magazine and a class newspaper; and when you have an INC, you typically have a year to fulfill the missing requirement/s (except in our case, we only have half a year because we have graduating students in the class, including me). Now that we’re inching closer to graduation and the college is supposed to release the official list of graduating students soon, I have to make sure ALL my grades are in. Mikee volunteered to be the one to contact our prof for submitting our work, and even though we’ve finished up and polished our revised outputs, she is taking FOREVER to email the prof for whatever fucking reason. I’m getting antsy by the hour and am desperate for a bit of urgency on her end because if my name doesn’t end up on the list of graduates I definitely wouldn’t hesitate to lash out on her.

Who was the last person you danced with?: Angela, Gabie, and Hans. And some other ADMU dudes I’ve never hung out with other than at that party.

Who was the last person you felt awkward around?: My dad. He made pancakes from scratch earlier and I think his measurements weren’t 100% spot on, because they came out incredibly dense and bland. I was already cranky enough this morning – and I still hadn’t known he made them himself – so I scowled when I took my first few bites because I thought it tasted off and even asked if it was some kind of vegetarian pancake. Once he said he made it from scratch, I felt awkward, shut up, and wolfed my plate down to show him that I enjoyed it and to make up for my horrid behavior just seconds before.

Who was the last person who borrowed something from you?: My mom borrowed my car (which is technically my parents’ anyway because they bought it lmao) to go to work today.

Who was the last person who showed you how to do something?: My dad. I wanted to get reacquainted with making stuff in the kitchen so he showed me how to cook hotdogs properly. I was already making them before, but after one time that one of our stove burners emitted a huge flame when I turned it on, I stopped making any food altogether for a while.

Who was the last person you went shopping with?: My mom.

Who was the last person you had a crush on?: Song Joong Ki hahaaaaaaah.

Who was the last person who made you cry?: The amazing actor from Descendants of the Sun playing the troubled rookie doctor. I looked him up and apparently he’s also one of the lead vocalists of SHINee, so he must be talented as all hell.

Who was the last person you shared a bed with?: Kimi, 45 seconds before he jumped off.

Who was the last person you got drunk with?: Angela, Hans, Gabie, Aids...I don’t remember the others anymore but they were cool and funny people. Idk, we were a big group so yeah.

Who was the last person who touched your hair?: Just me.

What was the last pair of shoes you wore?: A pair of Nikes to walk my dog.

What was the last birthday party you attended?: My cousin’s, aunt’s, and grandma’s. Their birthdays all fall on the same week in December, so it’s tradition for us to go over to my aunt’s to celebrate.

What was the last thing you said to your mother?: Something about thesis. I was telling her that I included her and dad and my four grandparents in my acknowledgments.

What was the last song you listened to?: I was listening to Beyoncé’s Homecoming a few hours ago but I’m too lazy to check what song was it I paused.

What was the last thing you thought about before going to sleep last night?: I wasn’t thinking of anything, I was just focused on falling asleep.

What was the last fun thing you did with your family?: Video-calling other relatives.

What was the last thing you borrowed from someone?: My dad’s earphones...and I’ve kept them for the meantime too lol thanks dad.

What was the last vegetable you ate?: String beans.

What was the last thing you bought online?: A Hydro Flask and several necklaces.

What was the last thing you had to drink?: I don’t *have* to drink it but I did make myself a cup of coffee tonight.

What was the last reason you went to see a doctor?: Had to get my eye checked. Sucks that I couldn’t and can’t have a follow-up appointment especially since my left eye still acts up from time to time.

What was the last non-food item you purchased?: Soju lmaaaaaooo.

What was the last type of yogurt you ate?: I hate yogurt.

What was the last fast food place you ate at?: Jollibee. We didn’t eat inside though, we just got the food delivered to our home. I think the last fast food place I was actually inside of was McDonald’s.

What was the last thing that bothered you and kept you awake?: I haven’t been bothered by anything in a while. Caffeine is the only thing keeping me up these days.

When was the last time you embarrassed yourself? I had sort of a Eureka moment earlier tonight when I suddenly recalled my paternal grandparents’ whole names. I had opted to use their nicknames in my acknowledgments and didn’t think anything of it, but then I remembered what their actual full first names were and then felt embarrassed within myself that I submitted a final draft with their nicknames. HAHAHA it’s a good things are less chill with the lockdown in place so I was able to explain and resubmit with the necessary revisions.

When was the last time you watched a movie with someone?: January-ish. I watched Hello Love Goodbye with Gabie.

When was the last time you charged your phone?: A few hours ago.

When was the last time you were sick with a cold?: It’s been...a while. I rarely get sick with anything so I don’t get to keep track of whenever I do.

When was the last time you spoke to a family member on the phone?: My birthday when my lola called.

When was the last time it rained where you live?: A couple of days ago, I think.

When was the last time you laid awake, unable to sleep?: This afternoon. I wanted to sleep the heat off, but it was just so uncomfortable I just ended up twisting and turning and sweating more. MAAAAAAN I can’t wait for June.

When was the last time you met someone new?: A week or so ago when I went on a following spree on this blog and started talking to a couple of them. Lol following spree in the survey community means following 3 or 4 blogs, but still.

When was the last time you filled up your car with petrol/gas?:  Gotta be the first week of March as that was the last time I was able to drive a lot.

When was the last time you ate popcorn?: Some months ago, I’m guessing? There was a brief time that my mom bought popcorn kernels to make bowls of popcorn for us, but we got tired of it pretty easily so there was no reason for her to keep buying more packs.

When was the last time you went to a school event?  I went to the Lantern Parade last December, as is tradition for my school’s community. I was mostly alone because my friends had to leave early and Gabie was stuck in traffic all evening and didn’t arrive til like, 9:30 PM, which sounds sad for me lol but it was still a fun experience.

When was the last time you took the trash out?: My parents don’t give me that task.

When was the last time you did anything to change your appearance?: Fucking March, a week before the lockdown. Okodlkjfffjsj don’t remind me I’m still pressed about it. No one got to see my short hair and bangs grrrrrrrr

When was the last time you cooked at home?: A week ago. I reconciled with the kitchen and cooked a couple of hotdogs hahaha. They’re frozen and literally a child could make them, but egh, I wanna have my moment too.

When was the last time you had a sleepover?: Honestly can’t remember. Start of the year maybe?

Where did you last go shopping for clothing?: Feliz. It’s my favorite place to find new clothes so yeah, you’ll always be hearing about Feliz. Where did you last go on a date to?: A study date at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and dinner at Yabu afterwards.

Where was the last wedding you went to?: 2007, my uncle and aunt’s. I had plans to go to my cousin Joelle’s wedding in Texas this year, but I think they postponed it which highkey ended up working well for them because it wouldn’t have happened under current circumstances anyway.

Where did you last park your car, other than home?: Gabie’s place.

Where did you last leave your keys?: On top of the dining room TV.

Where did your last kiss take place? By Gabie’s front door, I think.

Where did you last go for a walk to?: In front of the house and just a little farther, with my dog. He’s getting older so he gets tired easily and can’t go on the same walks we used to have, but I still make sure he gets his exercise.

Where did you last take a vacation to?: We had a weekend trip to Tagaytay and Cavite but honestly it felt like a quick getaway more than anything else. The last trip that felt like a vacation was when we went to Bicol.

Where did you last go to celebrate your own birthday?: I celebrated it at home.

Where was the last place you had dinner at?: Just at home, again.

Where did you last go to exercise?: I don’t exercise. < Ha, samesies.

Where did you last take public transport to?: Jum and I were going to the Senate building for a journalism class. That was the first and last time I took legit public transport.

Where does the last person you hung out with live?: Upper part of the city.

Where did you last visit for the first time?: Uhhhh I think it was the salon I went to to get my hair done.

Where did you last take a photo?: On the floor of the dining area, to take selfies with my dog.

[dammn-dean]

Fingerprints

Request by @purplpeanut - You said you’re taking requests could you do a stucky fanfic, where it’s preserum Steve and Bucky and they have soulmarks of little pictures that match on themselves? You can expand upon that it’s cool and I know it might not be original but I thought it was kinda cute ☺️

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes (Soulmate AU)

Words: 1.7k+

Warnings: fluff, soulmarks, coping with death, slight panic attack

Thank you so much for this request! I hope it’s everything you wanted it to be. This is my first Soulmate AU fic, first full Stucky fic and first preserum fic (Wow), hope it’s okay.  Everyone please let me know what you think, feedback is much appreciated! As usual it’s unbeta’d, so all mistakes are on me. My tags/requests are open!  (I hope I got the right age Bucky was when Steve was born if not, the internet failed me.. Probably not 100% canon, oh well it’s an AU. Also.. couldn’t help myself from using a line from the movie)

(*GIF isn’t mine)

Bucky was always self conscious about the small mark on his body, it had appeared a couple months or so after his fifth birthday, or so his ma says. Back then she said it looked more like a smudge than anything. It’s on his upper right arm, and honestly he did everything in his power to not look at it or even think about it. He knew what it had to have been, a soulmark, something he shared with another human, proving they were soulmates. His only appearing then because that meant his ‘other half’ had been born. The fact that he had no choice in the matter drove him absolutely insane, Bucky didn’t like that idea of anyone or some silly little smudge on his arm dictate who he was suppose to spend his life with.

Steve on the other hand loved his soul mark, he loved the fact that he had a perfect match out there somewhere. He didn’t get to spend much time out and meeting people, his only worry was that he could go his entire like and never meet his soulmate. His ma told him he was born with it, which meant that his soulmate was already alive, the thought always made Steve’s heart race increase and breath fasten, he’d have to calm himself down so he didn’t end up having a coughing fit. He kept it covered though, his shirts always hung on him a little bit anyways, so it wasn’t hard to keep the small black mark to himself.

Back when they were younger, Bucky wasn’t sure why he decided to put himself in between the small frail boy and the bigger ones, trying to steal his lunch money or something. He had just done it, without thinking, assuming he couldn’t stand someone being defenseless. Soon after that their friendship just blossomed, being best friends almost instantly. Bucky was always there for Steve, even though Steve didn’t think he needed anyone to fight his battles, it was one of the reason Bucky fell for Steve so quickly. He would never say anything to Steve, how could he even begin to explain his feelings for his best friend?

When Steve’s ma started getting sick, Bucky was there beside him the entire time. Steve wasn’t sure if he would have been able to make it with out him. His own illnesses on top of dealing with his mother and trying to take care of her, it was becoming a lot for him, but Bucky was always right there by his side. Steve thought he could actually feel himself being a stronger, better person when he was around Bucky, almost like he was the solution to all of his problems. After a particularly tough night with his ma Steve just kind of collapsed into Bucky’s chest. He wasn’t thinking about the reaction his friend would have, or if it wasn’t okay to be held while you cry by another boy but Steve didn’t care. Bucky held on to Steve all night that night, never leaving his side while Steve slept on his chest when exhaustion took over. Bucky had pressed a small kiss to Steve’s hairline, unsure if this meant as much to Steve as it did to him.

When Steve’s mother passed Bucky had been at his own house, his ma broke the news to him. Without a second thought he went right to Steve’s house, after arriving he didn’t even bother to knock on the door. When he walked in he found Steve kind of crumpled on the ground, his small frame appearing even smaller in that moment. Bucky watched as Steve’s eyes were glossed over, rapidly trying to draw in more air, he was in the midst of a panic attack. He bolted into action, snatching Steve up from the ground, sitting him on a chair while kneeling in front of him.

“It’s okay Stevie, I’m here now. Everything is going to be okay, I’m here for you.” Bucky whispered into Steve’s ear, hands brushing down his sides hoping to soothe him some.

Steve’s breathing started to even out, and Bucky relaxed a bit at that. He wasn’t ready to lose Steve, but he knew that if he didn’t get his breathing under control quickly it could have very likey been his fate.

Steve blinked a couple times, clearing his vision, that’s when he finally noticed Bucky. “Bucky?” Steve’s weak voice asked.

Bucky grabbed Steve’s arm with his left hand while Steve reached for Bucky in a similar manner. Almost as soon as the two touched each other Bucky pulled back from Steve with a gasp, almost like he had been burned. Steve’s eyes grew wide, he had felt something too, a soothing warmth had fallen over his entire body, stemming from his right arm.

Bucky reacted first, sliding his coat off and pulling the sleeve of his shirt up, revealing the mark to them both. He heard Steve’s breath hitch as they watched the smudge transform a little, looking more and more like a fingerprint left behind by black ink. Without a word Steve lifted the sleeve of his too-big shirt and showed Bucky his matching smudge, watching as it too transformed. A perfect thumb print.

“Stevie?” Bucky whispered.

“It’s you.. It’s been you the entire time.” Steve proffed, small smile working his way to his lips.

“I’m your.. you’re my..” Bucky started but he just couldn’t get the words out.

“Soulmate,” Steve’s smile got a little bigger, he couldn’t believe it. “I should have guessed it.”

Bucky’s eyebrows drew up in question. “What do you mean?” Bucky knew he always had more than just friendly feelings towards Steve, but he never in a million years the feeling was returned.

“You’ve been there for me, through everything. No matter how tough stuff was, you always made me feel better. Something about your presence, it’s more than just friendship and you being there for me physically.. It was our souls Buck, yours trying to mend mine, to help heal me and to get rid of my pain.” Steve’s eyes were full of tears, voice thick with emotion.

Bucky had never spent to much time thinking about soulmates or the technicality of it all. He had honestly spent most of his life avoiding the topic. But here Steve was, right in front of him, and all this time they had been meant, no.. made, for each other and Bucky had been clueless.

Their eyes searched the others, realization falling over them both. Bucky brought his thumbs to brush the tears that had fallen from Steve’s pale cheeks. Softly he placed a hand on each side of his head, eyes flicking down to his best friend’s lips in question. Steve sat watching Bucky, heart so full he thought it could burst.

“Please, Buck..” The words coming out like a prayer. Hoping to get him to know that he needed him just as much as he wanted it.

Bucky hesitated a moment before he leaned in to place a chaste kiss on Steve’s lips, testing the waters. Steve’s body buzzed all the way down to his toes and back up to his lips. Without another thought Steve wrapped his arms around Bucky and fell into him, lips crashing on the way. They ended up on the ground, Bucky on his back with Steve on top of him, controlling the kiss. Bucky gladly took what Steve was giving him, all while trying to convey his own emotions back.

“Buck-” Steve softly spoke as he pulled back from the kiss, eyes still half closed.

“I love you Stevie, always have.” Bucky said with convection, hand brushing Steve’s arm where his own thumb print lay, permanently on his love’s skin.

“I love you..” Steve whispered, eyes full of tears again.

“Shh.. it’s okay. I’m here.” Bucky reassured Steve.

“I know Buck, you make everything better. I can’t imagine my life without you.” Steve buried his head into Bucky’s neck, allowing Bucky to hold him.

“You never have to Steve, I’ll never leave your side unless you make me, got it?” Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve, embracing him fully. This was the first real time he was holding his one true love, he wanted to remember this moment forever.

“You promise?” Steve’s voice sounded so small, so weak.

“I promise. I’m with you ‘til the end of the line, remember?” Bucky tugged Steve out from his neck, so he could look at him.

Steve’s cloudy blue eyes met Bucky’s steel ones, and he knew that no matter how dark things got, how bad life seemed, they would always be there for each other. Through thick and thin, better or for worse.

“Soulmates, huh?” Steve joked, lip turning up a bit at the corner. ”Never could have imagined I’d be so lucky.” Bucky boasted, big grin on his face.

Steve’s cheeks grew pink with a blush, “I’m the lucky one Buck.” He responded softly.

“Agree to disagree?” Bucky leaned into kiss Steve once more, lips barely brushing, soft and exploratory.

Steve broke off the kiss. “I love you Buck,” Lips brushing as he spoke.

“I love you too, Stevie.. Now shut up and kiss me.” Bucky begged, and Steve complied.

@waywardbaby @mannls @msruchita @wishingforahome @josiejosie0 @technolilly @gabby913 @sonotalice @bexboo616 @caplansteverogers @veganfangirl5 

(Let me know if you wanna be tagged, and if so, what you want to be tagged in!)

[ialreadyreadthatfanfic]

Charles Xavier Is A Huge Dick: The Movie

or,

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Hey, if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to be spoiled, you probably should stop reading!

*

I watched the new X-Men movie. Not only I’m that annoying cinema-goer that sits behind you and mocks the movie audibly during the seance, oh no, I’m also that annoying cinema-goer that comes back home and makes a bitchy tumblr post about the movie.

But, guys, that was so bad.

First off: I’m convinced that upon reading the script, James MacAvoy and Sophie Turner instantly lost the will to act, because we’ve all certainly seen far better performances from both of them.

My other theory is that the director simply told them not to bother, because this was, as far as I can tell, a deliberate franchise-killer.

The scene-by-scene description of the train-wreck under the cut for the curious.

PROLOGUE

We open the movie with the scene where young Jean Grey and her parents are in car crash, because Jean Cannot Control Her Powers. The kid survives; the parents aren’t so lucky. This scene is generally inoffensive, if predictable.

From now on, young Jean Grey behaves like a kid-shaped robot. Someone please write her better dialogue.

Charles Xavier arrives at the hospital, confirms her parents are dead, somewhat unenthusiastically delivers some well-worn platitudes and whisks her away to his school.

Hey, mutant powers are like pens. Especially the ones you can’t control, because sometimes pens go on a rampage and stab people in the eyes, you know, unintentionally.

(No, seriously, they went with that metaphor.)

TITLES - BACK TO THE FUTURE - or 1992, I guess, one cheer for 90s nostalgia

In effort to remind us humans that as a species we did some cool things on our way to ruining the planet, we watch the launch of a space shuttle.

Suddenly Houston, we have a problem. A sentient solar flare or something is attacking the brave astronauts! Oh no! Who’re we gonna call?!

Charles Xavier!

Like literally, the Mr. President of US of A calls Charles Xavier, like Chuck, are you watching the TV rn?, and Xavier’s like, already giddy with anticipation, Why yes, Mr. President, I see you are in a spot of trouble, and Mr. President’s like, Sooo, Chuck, I literally HATE TO ASK, BUT... and Xavier’s like, practically bouncing with glee, BUT OF COURSE, X-MEN TO THE RESCUE!!!

So Chuck sends off his chicks. Nominally, the team is under Mystique’s command. There also Hank, and baby-faced Storm, and even more baby-faced Kurt Wagner, oh yeah JEAN, she’s there too bc PLOT, and Scott was along too. Did I forget anyone?

I forgot someone, didnt I?

OH YEAH, the Quicksilver was there too. Considering how cool he was in earlier movie(s?), it’s kinda sad that he’s largely inconsequential here and I forgot about his existence about halfway through.

Charles calls Houston on the Cerebro like a huge showoff he is, and the X-Men proceed to rescue the astronauts from weird-looking space cloud (which is of course the Phoenix Force, or whatever comics call it). There’s some cool looking scenes here where X-Men use their powers, but they’re just window dressing for the main plot:

Charles Xavier is being a huge dick, backseat driving this mission through Cerebro and not trusting Mystique’s judgement.

BTW, Mystique might be the only character in the movie who behaves like a sensible person, which is why she’s not there for very long.

Anyway the scene goes like this:

Mystique: we saved ALL BUT ONE astronaut! Coming back for that one guy is super risky and probably will only lead to more deaths! I’m cutting my loses like sensible field leader!

Prof X: OH NO YOU WON’T get back for that one guy or the whole mission is a failure!!!

Mystique: WTF??!! That’s crazy, we will get killed!

Prof X: But it’s better to throw away our lives than have less than 100% record on rescue mission, because if we give humans even slightest pretext, they will instantly revert back to hating us, see? The President will stop taking my calls, people will want to arrest us for property damage, and neutralize our powers and stick us in prison for mutants.

Mystique: ...seriously, why am I on your side again?!

Prof X: Just have Kurt take Jean to the shuttle and she’ll hold it intact while he looks for the guy! Raven, I want to remind you I can bitch at you telepathically anytime, anywhere, for the rest of your life!

Mystique: DAMN YOU FINE

So they do it. Kurt manages to rescue the guy, but not Jean. The shuttle blows to bits around her. We are supposed to be sad for 2 seconds there, but then the Phoenix Flare swallows her, she survives, X-Men return to Earth with the astronauts and are showered with praise from adoring masses who stand there with cutesy sings to welcome them upon landing. Whatever.

Jean has a conversation with Scott where they mack on each other and she reassures him She’s Never Been Better, Really, I Feel Great After That Traumatic Experience, and Scott is like, IDK but okay?? I guess??

And Hank checks her out too, and her power is OVER NINE THOUSAAAAND, but Jean’s like, chill, I feel greeeeeat, so Hank’s like, the only problem with this situation is that I need to design a better power-meter!! Ha ha!

Meanwhile, back to plot A, where Charles Xavier continues to be a huge dick. Mystique calls him out about his control freak thing, Charles responds by being a sanctimonious asshole because it’s not like he ever learns or grows as a person in these movies, you know, and Mystique basically throws her arms up and storms out, which is a good representation for audience reaction at that point. Her parting shot is one of like two good lines in the whole movie:

Mystique: And anyway, as far as I can see, the women saved the day again! Maybe you should think about renaming us X-Women!

The movie will shortly repay her for that, don’t worry.

Some other things happen. Creepy aliens looking for Phoenix Booster covertly invade Earth. Mystique goes to Hank and says, hey so Charles is being a huge dick and a total control freak. I’m kinda fed up with him, maybe it’s time to move out and start living our own life? To which Hank is like, IDK Raven do even have a life outside X-Men, and I don’t want to move out of my lab, and Mystique is like, ugh okay I’ll stay.

Jean gets upset at the party and pushes some people over in midst of Phoenix breakdown, which makes everyone panic. Charles notices that her power is now OVER 9000 and he can’t just go and fuck around in her mind anymore, so the logical solution is to use Cerebro to do that anyway.

It turns out that Phoenix thing not only amplified Jean’s power, it also dissolved mental blocks Charles put in her mind to hide a terrible truth from her: her father survived the car crash. In fact, with her powers, she can find her father right now! Jean, in midst of her generic emotional crisis, blows out of the school to do exactly that, because she feels alone and misunderstood and betrayed, man.

It turns out he willingly gave her up and I guess hates her because she caused the accident by putting her mother to sleep while driving. Jean is pretty upset and about to smite the whole neighbourhood, when the X-Men arrive.

This is how X-Men discreetly take care of their business: They suit up in their official uniforms and take their official super-advanced jet and land it on the street, so everyone around will know what’s up. The only thing they were missing while confronting Jean was the transparent with the word INTERVENTION.

Jean freaks out, X-Men try to fight her, they all cause maximum collateral damage possible, there’s police, Mystique tries to talk Jean down, Jean semi-accidentally kills Mystique by pushing her over and impaling her on some wooden debris.

It’s all very badly written and feels utterly cheap and is a total waste of character. Frankly, the scene made me angry and not much else. But since the whole movie revolves on the fact that everyone is an idiot, Mystique didn’t go there anyway, I guess.

Anyway, it furthers three things:

Plot A, Charles is reaching new heights of being a huge dick wherein he goes to sprout platitudes at Hank, who predictably doesn’t want to listen to him and lashes out, to which Charles reacts very maturely by being OFFENDED, because Raven was HIS sister, OBVIOUSLY he’s the MOST injured party here! (No, seriously, he pretty much says that).

Plot B, Hank needs to be a bigger idiot, to which we will come back in a moment.

Plot C, Jean Grey is now Public Enemy Number One and all people are back to hating humans! The President literally stopped taking Xavier’s calls, people want to arrest X-Men for property damage, neutralize their powers and stick them in prison for mutants.

Oh, and aliens are tracking Jean to get the Phoenix Power or whatever.

Jeans next move is to go visit Erik Lehnsherr, who is living like a hobo in Genosha with a handful of like-minded mutants. She wants to ask him for life advice, I guess, because when Charles Xavier is being a huge dick and hiding your memories of your childhood trauma from you without your consent, Magneto is the only alternative.

Too bad she wants advice on Not Killing People With My Powers When I’m Kinda Upset With Them. It’s unsurprising that Erik Lehnsherr, who spend his whole life Deliberately Killing People With His Powers Because He Was Very Upset With Them, can’t really relate.

This upsets Jean further, and she demonstrates that by attacking US soldiers who came to Genosha to arrest them and doing her best to kill them. Then she flies off to drink in a bar, where an alien picks her up, because it wants to show her the whole wide world or something.

Let’s come back to plot B for a moment, which is Hank being an idiot. Hank is very distraught and wants to kill Jean. So Hank goes to Magneto.

Hank: I want to kill Jean and I need your help with that.

Erik: Wait, what? Why?

Hank: She killed Mystique!

Erik, already frothing at the mouth: ...let me grab my I’m Being A Huge Idiot Helmet, Hank, and we can commence the business of killing.

So the aliens are pitching their “Let’s Re-Create The Earth In Your Image” campaign to Jean, which can be done only in a New York townhouse, specifically in a very special bedroom (...oh hey, I didn’t pick up on that creepy vibe until now!).

Jean is largely convinced, because in this movie characters just go back and forth as the plot demans.

So both Charles and Erik with their lackeys track down Jean, and have a huge fight in front of the above-mentioned townhouse, with lots and lots of collateral damage while they debate who is right. Before that, Erik has the second good line in the movie, which is used to rightfully call out Charles:

Erik: You’re always sorry and there’s always a speech. But no one wants to listen anymore.

Anyway, X-Men and the mutants beat up each other, Erik gets into the house and fails to kill Jean, then Charles gets in the house and tries to talk down Jean, which is followed by perhaps the most genuinely disquieting scene in the movie, in which Jean uses her telekinesis to destroy the wheelchair and force Charles to walk up the stairs.

They have an exchange that is supposed to be hopeful and heartwarming and so on, but by this point I’m fed up with this world movie.

Jean rejects the aliens’ campaign, so the alien head honcho attempts to suck out the Phoenix Dust out of her, and partially succeeds, but is interrupted midway and knocked out. All the mutants are arrested, put into special shackles restricting their powers and put on a train which is going straight to special prison for mutants.

Don’t worry, we’re in the last stretch.

Aliens need the rest of Phoenix Macguffin, so they ambush the train. There’s a big action scene, everyone is fighting the aliens, there are a few cool shots but beyond that I’m blanking. In the end Jean awakens, wipes the floor with the aliens, and when the alien head honcho tries to emotionally blackmail her into not eviscerating its hide, she grabs it, flies up into the sky and explodes them both.

Much sad. Very sacrifice. Such tears etc etc etc.

AN EPILOGUE, FINALLY

The situation returns to the status quo, except some people are dead.

The humans were about to lock up mutants in a prison like five minutes earlier, but nobody mentions that. Guess everyone forgot about that.

As far as I can tell, nobody except X-Men noticed that Earth was about to be invaded by aliens.

The school is renamed after Jean Grey.

Hank is the new headmaster. On his desk, a cheesy nostalgic photo of Mystique.

Charles, despite seemingly getting a pass on his dickishness on every turn in this narrative, is Worn Down By His Losses and retires. He occupies his time by brooding morosely at a cafe in unspecified European-looking country.

Erik finds him there. He is disproportionately cheery, like a man who after decades of pining finally is in a place where he can bully his longtime crush into a reluctant chess date, which he proceeds to do.

Camera pans up, to the sky. The sky gives us Phoenix Force-shaped wink.

THE END

[kurtty-drabbles]

Evil movie au (the final)

N/A: Do I want to end this au? Yes, but this will be an opening end.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @sailorstar9 @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336

Stryker knows his project is not complete, there are many flaws and problems with the design, yet, the war is coming and he needs his weapon to end the pest once and for all, the mutantkind can´t continue to breathe.

“I can´t breath either knowing people like you are still alive” Psylocke shows up as Nightcrawler and the others such as Mystique are present in his lab along with dozen of dead guards.

Nightcrawler has his blades ready, and Stryker knows he won´t live longer, yet, despite that, all he can do is smile. “You may kill me, mutie, but I´m the hero here and my Sentinel is ready and set in motion…I´ll save the world” and to conclude the man adds “the first target? The X-men´s school” and laugh maniacally, a cliché he has the mind to understand, but, deep down, he can enjoy the irony, it was a combined work with Prof X, Moira and himself that lead to the creation of sentinel and now the sentinel will end the X-men.

Kurt cuts the man´s head, no one is complaining for real and Betsy is trying to contact the X-men, but, what do you know Jean Grey has a huge grudge against Betsy(trying to sleep with her boyfriend and now fiancé was not a savvy moment in her life and she is not sorry)

Emma Frost shows up with the others kids that were locked in this facility, the most horrible aspect of it, is that the kidnap means nothing for the project, Stryker was so lost in hate that he couldn´t distinguish human to mutant and half of those kids are humans and are equally afraid.

“So, I take the X-men will have problems again?” the White Queen asked as Raven notice 3 brunettes girls that are too similar to Raven. “Kurt, before teleporting and going mad, relax, I´m the White Queen for a reason” and smiles as she gives the conclusion “The Sentinel has many, many flaws and the biggest one of it…”

_____________________________________________________________________- Jean Grey was drinking coffee with milk as she enjoys the calm moment, until, she let the cup drop and frowns deeply, muttering the words “Danger” she send a message to all the X-men seniors and to her surprise she send a message to Kitty to join her in battle, they are going to be attacked by a sentinel.

Kitty is not thrilled by this, getting a chance is not the same as wanting to be attacked by the Sentinel, however, the sentinel was unfinished, a rough draft that still can cause harm. Scott uses his laser to prevent the Sentinel to come any closer.

Storm´s power wasn´t enough to destroy the sentinel in one go and Jean Grey is making shields, Scarlet Witch is not in the school as she is spending more and more time with the magical group. Pietro is with her this time and Jubilee is in a mission to track Laura Kinney.

Logan arrives and asked Jean to throw him at the Sentinel as his claws can talk with the machine, sadly, the Canadian was wrong as while the Sentinel is a rough draft the skin, so to speak, of the sentinel is not fragile and is made of adamantium turning his claws useless.

Nightcrawler arrives in one brimstone smoke and says he knows how to defeat the sentinel. “Katzchen, do you still know how to mess with computers? Because the sentinel can be deactivated internally, I know, sounds silly but Stryker is a stupid man” Kurt explained as Jean is still protecting them.

“I´ll teleport you to the top of the sentinel´s head and you´ll unplug the line that connects the sentinel” Kurt speaks more serious this time “I need someone to make the sentinel be still for 5 minutes” Kurt adds as his teleportation have limitations.

Kitty nods “I can do this in five minutes” and if she can smile as she´s thinking on dirty jokes then she´s still alive. Jean using her powers communicate to Storm, Scott and Logan about the new plan and they vow to make the sentinel not move an inch and in all honesty, Ororo is doing a better job.

Once Kurt teleport Kitty inside of the robot, she can see the myriad of lines and unplugged, slowly the sentinel manages to fall apart, as the Sentinel is about to fall to the ground, Kurt takes her out in a nick of time.

Kitty is fine and the robot is not, that´s what matters.

Magneto somehow caught the word of the failed attempted of taking the X-men´s lives was enough to make Magneto see red, much to the Enchantress´s delight as he killed Tony Stark in one go. A man using an iron suit is nothing against the master of magnetism.

Thor was not an easy target, but, Magento manages to beat him, sadly, Hulk is a force of nature and Magneto lost to the green monster, and the green monster wants to avenge his fellow friend, Enchantress is not counting with the fury of Hulk.

Yet, Quicksilver saves Magneto and Scarlet Witch is using her spell to calm Hulk and Dr Strange is now facing Enchantress that is much more than a pretty blonde. “Too late, Strange, Magneto already killed Tony Stark and the president of the US, and Thor is out of my way…I can do whatever I want now”

“You went all this trouble to do what you normally do in your free time? Also, the president of the US is still alive” Dr Strange reveals as the should be the corpse of the president turns out to be an illusion. “Scarlet Witch is really good with those spells, and is a bit ironic as you made your whole life an illusion didn´t notice the most basic one”

Thor rose from the ground, a bit hurt, but still ready to fight and is not pleased with Enchantress. “How?”

Dr Strange just shurgs “ Magic?” and cast a portal to send Enchantress to her prison, much to Thor´s dismay as he wanted to make the vile woman pay, but, now Odin will decide her destiny.

Meanwhile, Magneto is looking at his children in shame. Lorna is there as well, looking grateful at her new siblings(Magneto did talk about Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) and is worried for Magneto´s sake.

“Do you still want to kill to prove your point?” Wanda asked as Quicksilver is gazing at his father as if expecting him to go insane at any moment and tries to murder anything and, that didn´t go unnoticed by him.

My kids really think I´m a monster.

“No, Wanda, no, I just want to go home, killing won´t help…I know this now, too many mistakes were made and now I want to do something for mutants, not bring a war, I want to give them a home. I want to create Genosha. A home for all mutants” Magneto confessed and 2 of his 3 kids aren´t completely convinced by this plan and Magneto understands.

Jubilee is in Mexico, Professor X receives a cry for help from a young mutant named Laura Kinney who is being held captive in this small facility, Jubilee is an X-men and very competent in combat and manages to infiltrate and locate the young girl, who, by the way, is not defenceless as she has killed 2 guards and is looking for the way out.

“Hey, I´m an X-men!” Jubilee speaks and Laura just growls and Jubilee is having a flashback to Logan. “I´m here to help you” Laura is not believing until Jubilee pouting show some tricks with her powers and the guard number 3 is not going to bother anyone.

Now, Laura is listening.

“I´ve come from the X-men, there´s a place where you can be safe, where people like us can be happy and learn how to use our powers” Jubilee speaks and the young girl is liking the idea “there´s also a mutant very similar to you”

“Really?” now she´s on board on this idea. And gives her hand to Jubilee as both girls are walking away from this place. She´s mentally talking with Professor X that everything is alright and is calling to Jean to said the mission was a success.

Laura giggles at the image of a tired red hair and the image of a defeated robot. “I missed my coffee”

Much later, the reveal of Rogue did make Bobby be relief they are over, which by the way, prompts Kurt´s fist to accidentally meet his face, by sheer accident. Scarlet Witch arrives with her twin brother as Jubilee is carrying a small girl who has claws and is ready to fight anyone.

In the admits of all this confusion, Jean Grey admits she made a mistake and if Kitty Pryde still wants she can now be an X-men. In Kitty´s opinion, the way this was handled was poorly, it is was she wants someone to fill Rogue´s role.

“I´ll think about, thanks Jean” Kitty replied and goes to her room, after a long talk about the sentinels and how the Avengers are with one less member and how the president of the US was saved by two mutants prompts a shift in many things and,for the first time, is a positive for the mutants.

Kurt is still around and asked one question. “How are you?”

Kitty only replies. “scared and confused”

Kurt then asked once again. “If you wanted to leave the X-men, do you know that my doors will be always open?” Kitty only smiles and thanks to him as right now she does not want to think about X-men or Hellfire. She just wants to relax as Kurt lays down next to her and makes all the other problems go away. They are just watching TV and there´s a domestic feeling in this that is sacred for them.

[yurionice-secretsanta]

To @feshnie From @awesome-cookies-and-cream

Merry Christmas! i didn’t really know what you liked so I just did this…accept my 8,000 words worth of love for you!!!

Phichit was just a day before the second semester. College wasn’t that bad. In fact the classmates he’s with were pretty friendly (some of them are kinda useless at group presentations though.) The rooms were very nice. He managed to make his dorm feel more like home just about two weeks ago. His roommate wasn’t as bad as he thought he might be. (He’s almost never there. In fact Phichit might have seen him a grand total of six times. Other than that, he had no problem.) He could have gotten worse, he often reasoned with himself. Over all, he might think his decision to study in America was going in smoothly. The only things that’s been an issue so far was the godforsaken weather and the Russian Roulette game between landing on a fun, caring teacher, versus a devil incarnate teacher that thrives on the suffering of their students.

Phichit did not enjoy dealing with his previous professors. (Phichit learned that the devil is not, in fact a he, but was actually a she. And she goes by the name Lilia Baronovskaya.) Anyway long story short, Phichit was not exactly lucky with his professors last semester. This semester though, he’s hoping he could get a really awesome and caring one at best, to mildly indifferent at worse.

Basically, from what Phichit had heard, the one he had to worry the most for this semester was organic chemistry.

There were only two people worth noting, anybody other than that would mean tranquil waters.

His safest bet was professor Cialdini. He was a lax teacher. In fact, he’s often out if town and classes under him were often cancelled. Though gives out good grades easily, you’ll hardly learn anything this semester. If all you wanted was to pass, then this was the right place for you.

Then there’s professor Katsuki.

He was the newly accepted professor from the previous semester and there’s little to no information about him. There wasn’t enough data to make a definite opinion of how he really is. Some people say he’s too strict, too serious. He was often seen glaring at everything he ever looks at. His dark eyes were things of nightmares and nobody had ever endured his glare. You do not want him as a panelist for your thesis presentation. Also, do not upset him in your first day.

Phichit had to admit the new professor was pretty intimidating, but so long as it was not Baronovskaya, Phichit would take it anytime. Phichit was not actually ready to go through the ninth circle of hell right after he crawled out of it. He barely passed last semester and he’d fought tooth and nail for that barely passing grade but he’s perfectly convinced that nobody can get any worse than her.

Now here he was sitting in organic chemistry, waiting for what could be his salvation or damnation.

Ten minutes passed. People were slowly packing up their stuff, ready to go home after the fifteen minute mark.

Twelve minutes.

Their professor was still nowhere to be seen. The only guy who arrived was the latecomer in a hoodie and a black backpack who entered the room with long purposeful strides. He was sweaty, obviously trying not to get late on his first day. Lucky for him the professor wasn’t around yet.

“Hey nerd! Maybe you wanna chill a bit? The prof isn’t even here yet.” Some guy at the back teased. He looked brash and loud, the regular asshole stereotype. His lackeys laughed even though there wasn’t anything really funny. Yes, the man was starting to play the role of the arrogant bastard in those cliché Hollywood movies.

The hoodie dude stared at the guy, his eyes were dark and cutting, just a little bit annoyed. Somehow Phichit had a bad feeling about it.

The hoodie guy ignored the remark and instead placed his bag down, uncapped a whiteboard marker he apparently had been keeping in his pocket, and wrote on the board in a neat script.

Professor Yuuri Katsuki, Organic Chemistry I

Phichit could see the arrogant bastard’s face slowly pale at every letter added on the board.

Professor Katsuki turned back and looked the man in the eye, in which the man ended up standing rigid in place.

“Now that you all know my name I believe we can start by looking over what we will be discussing over the semester. We shall also discuss my criteria in grading. That way you will know if you will fail by the end of the semester.” Professor Katsuki never left his gaze from the man, making sure to look at him especially at the word fail.

Phichit then understood what the rest meant when they said professor Katsuki was someone you didn’t want to piss off.

-

“I think I’m going to flunk organic chemistry.” Phichit mumbled as they met up with his friends for lunch.

“Who did you get?” Guang-Hong piped up from beside Leo.

“Katsuki.” Phichit burrowed his face in his face in his arms.

Leo patted his head in consolation. “There there. I’m sure he’s not that bad.”

Phichit responded with a groan. “He gave us a test in our first day. I failed gloriously.”

Guang-Hong and Leo smiled at him with sympathy. “Maybe he’s not actually that scary. He’s just mysterious and people fear things they don’t understand, see?” Ah that’s Guang-Hong’s wise words for you.

“I like Katsuki.” Was the first thing Seung-gil said the entire lunch break.

“Of course you do. You’re almost alike.” Phichit moaned his miseries. “Plus you’re pretty smart. There’s no way he could fail you.”

Seung-gil shrugged and continued to eat his lunch. It wasn’t quite helping Phichit’s case. Maybe it was time to accept that he was just unlucky with his professors.

“Anyway, any of you want to hang out in my place later? We could binge FMA.” Phichit’s pretty sure his roommate won’t mind. He hadn’t seen the man in weeks now. Their schedules just never seemed to match. 

“Yeah, I’m down for some alchemy action. I’ll bring drinks.” Guang-Hong grinned.

“Hey! I’ll bring popcorn. Seung-gil wanna come?” Leo asked.

When the Korean nodded without much protest, they let out a big whoop of excitement.

“Great! Let me set it up.” Phichit decided to forget about organic chem for now. That’s a problem for his future self.

-

No matter how much Phichit wanted to dislike professor Katsuki, he really couldn’t find it in him. He taught his material well. In fact, Phichit had learned more about organic chemistry under the man than any other professor. He actually understood what he was doing…most of the time.

The only problem was that he’s very particular with their lab experiments. That, and it didn’t change the fact that he was scary and intimidating as fuck. Nobody knew anything about him and his life outside class, not even the other teachers.(Some guys tried to ask professor Cialdini about him. Even he was unable to answer anything remotely interesting.)

There a few things one would know from Professor Katsuki and Phichit had made a list:

1.) He’s often mistaken as a kid despite being on his mid-twenties or something.

2.) He loves worn down hoodies and is not exactly helping the case above.

3.) He’s hella freakin smart

Phichit thinks number three was already obvious. The way he talked about his subject sounded so professional and yet it’s understandable, stripped to the basics unlike pretentious people who cannot explain things in layman terms. Phichit appreciates that he’s open to questions and would answer them in the easiest possible way. Although, asking him kinda does need some courage. The glare also seem to soften when he’s discussing. It’s subtle but there.

They just discovered about a fourth on the list though. That was when they managed to cram two and a half lesson in less than two meetings.

4.) He hates wasting time.

Everything was on the rush under professor Katsuki, but it was a calculated rush. You can miss any other subject, all but organic chemistry with professor Katsuki. On one hand, they actually made good use of their textbook and it was not bought for nothing. In fact, they were nearly half way. On the other hand, the stress of one session was killing them all. Phichit’s brain was on fire. His mind says doctor but his heart screams rice farmer in the rural areas of Thailand.

Phichit wanted to think he cared about his students despite the outer persona he shows, the strict teacher. Someone did fall asleep in front of him while he was discussing about acid-base chemistry. Everybody sucked in their breath when they saw him approach the unknowing student. Nobody dared move. The sound of Mizuno rubber shoes (yes Mizuno, everything he owns are slapped with Mizuno labels.) on tiled floors felt so loud as he walked towards the unsuspecting Emil Nekola.

“Mr. Nekola.” He nudged his shoulder gently. He was responded with a groan. He tried again. “Mr. Nekola.” Still a groan. He turned to the person beside him with a sigh. “Please take him to the nurse’s office,” He said. “I’d rather you take absence than to get sick.”

The person next to him nodded and immediately helped to bring Nekola to the clinic.

“I know I asked you to limit your absences from this class at the first day, but do not compromise your health for this. It’s pointless when you can’t even absorb what I’m discussing about. It’s a waste of time. Rest is being productive too. I am more than willing to give you extra time to catch up when you’re sick.” He said. Phichit then thought, maybe he wasn’t really that bad. Maybe he just needed a little warming up.

“Now,” The professor continued. “We still have to answer three worksheets before the period ends and I will let you bring home two more to be checked next meeting.”

The class groaned. One glare from Katsuki and they immediately shut up.

-

“The man is a taskmaster.” Phichit threw his bag haphazardly on the floor as he opened the door. “I give up. I’m going to be a rice farmer in the outskirts of Thailand. Maybe a goatherd in the Swiss Alps. That way nobody will bother me.”

Seung-gil, Guang-Hong, and Leo were waiting for him in his dorm room. Surprisingly it was left open. Maybe his roommate forgot to lock it? Nothing seemed to be missing though, thankfully. But Phichit would’ve wanted to talk to his roommate about safety.

Phichit glanced at the TV screen and yelped when he realized the opening sequence was already playing. Haikyuu was on the screen.

“Hey! Don’t start without me you little shits.” Phichit kicked off his shoes and shoved Leo to scoot over the bed. Guang-Hong giggled and Seung-gil just groaned.

“Weebs.” Phichit rolled his eyes, squeezing between Guang-Hong and Seung-gil.

“You’re a weeb too. Shut up.” Leo snorted. Phichit smacked him in the face with his pillow. Leo retaliated.

They all paused when the door opened and a tall pale man with long braided blond hair entered the room.

“Oh.” Was what he said. It was Phichit’s roommate.

“Hey. You don’t mind me having people over…right?” Phichit asked with hesitation. The guy was wearing this deep scowl that somehow reminds Phichit of someone.

The guy looked over where the four of them were sitting. Then to the TV screen. 

“Is that Haikyuu?” He asked, eyes never leaving the screen.

“Yeah.” Phichit shuffled uncomfortably. What was it with the people around him and their intensity? It didn’t help that he was wearing a leopard print leather jacket and had the heaviest Russian-like accent as if he was a bond villain. The man slid his gaze back to Phichit in a disenchanted way with grace that only he could possibly do. Tension. There was this invisible tension in the room.

“Whatever. Do whatever you want.” The guy said after picking up his bag and leaving the room as quickly as he came.

When they were sure he already left, the four let out a deep exhale. Seriously, talk about intense people.

“Hey, have you heard? There’s going to be a fire drill tomorrow.” Leo said in an attempt to bring back the fun atmosphere from a while ago.

“Uh…really?” Phichit mumbled, distracted.

Fire drills mean cancelled classes. So long as it doesn’t fall on organic chemistry, it’s all going to fine.

-

“Midterms is fast approaching,” Professor Katsuki started. “We’ll try doing this as fast as we can. The exam is a collaboration between the other professors and you might miss some items because we haven’t discussed it.”

Just as he started writing on the board, the fire alarm went off.

“Fuck.” Katsuki hissed. His eyes narrowed into slits as he ran a hand through his hair. He stared at the class, which everyone averted.

“Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that.” He decided and continued writing on the board. The class continued taking down notes that was, until the door opened and professor Cialdini entered.

“Dr. Katsuki, we-”

He paused, staring at professor Katsuki who only stared back. A quiet conversation was exchanged between the two until professor Cialdini merely nodded and left the room without any other word.

There were two things that registered to Phichit and so he added to the list of things he knew about professor Katsuki:

4.) Professor Katsuki had finished his PhD. Otherwise he wouldn’t be called doctor.

5.) His deadly stare could bring down even professor Cialdini.

There were distinct noises outside. A familiar sharp female voice was giving a rather long lecture. Phichit knew that berating voice all too well.

It was professor Baronovskaya. She was not pleased.

Professor Cialdini reentered the room, stared at Katsuki with remorse. This time Professor Katsuki sighed.

“Okay. Since we won’t be able to discuss this, I will hold a tutorial this Saturday. Anybody can sit in. We can discuss the things you didn’t understand too. For now please form two lines and proceed to safety.”

Phichit added another one to the list and somehow this added some sort of comfort inside him.

6.) Even Katsuki isn’t exempted from Baronovskaya’s wrath.

-

Phichit started searching professor Katsuki’s social media once more. (A lot had tried and a lot had failed. Phichit is one of them too.) Either he lived his life as a hermit and didn’t own any SNS or it was in Japanese because there really was nothing.

On the other hand, searching for Yuuri Katsuki on Google can produce a lot of different articles, mostly thesis dissertations and research proposals. His name appears on different news articles too, albeit it was all in Japanese so there was no way to understand it.

Either way, Phichit added a couple more to his list:

7.) The man was currently twenty seven years old and he received his doctorate just last year.

8.) Dr. Katsuki was a famous name in the world of academia.

9.) The man was hecking smart.

The man published books. He was highly acclaimed. Phichit really shouldn’t be dumbstruck, but he was. He shut his laptop with a resolute sigh just as the door suddenly burst open and the same blond man entered, except his hair was in a bun now and he was wearing a comfortable sweater instead of the tacky leopard print jacket he wore last time. He didn’t really bother with any greetings, he just took off his shoes and dived face first onto the mattress, probably to pass out.

“I don’t really get why you’re here after being missing for the entire semester.” Phichit stared at the figure laying on the bed. The sudden presence of his roommate had thrown him off balance.

“The Old Man’s probably fucking the pig as we speak.” He said as if that answered everything. It only left Phichit with more questions. He kept fidling with his phone. All his stuff were cat themed. Even the sweatshirt he was wearing and the leather jacket he had last time was cheetah printed.

“…right.” Phichit tried to continue with his essay. Keyword: tried. He ended up glancing back to the man.

“Spit it out.” He snapped. He put down his phone and glared at him, irritated.

“What do you mean?” Phichit averted his gaze.

“You have questions. Ask away. I can hear you thinking from here and it’s fucking annoying.“  He rolled his eyes.

"Uhm…I don’t really know your name.”

“Huh?!” His scowl deepened. “It’s Yuri Plisetsky. And you are?”

“Phichit Chulanont. Why are you always out anyway?”

“I don’t like the shitty dorm. The pig’s apartment is better plus there’s free food. Even if he and the Old Man are gross all the time.” He crossed his arm across his chest. “The stupid rules needed foreign students to have dorms at least in their first year. Well at least I can get away when I don’t want to hear those two being all nasty.”

Phichit nodded with sympathy. He could remember when his sister would bring her boyfriend back in Thailand. He never got to sleep at night.

Yuri’s phone rang. A scowl returned to his face when he picked up the call. “Hey Old Man. Da.”

Phichit did not understand the next conversation. It was spoken in rapid fire Russian. Or at least it sounded Russian. Plisetsky sounded Russian. Yuri looked like he was cursing whoever was on the other end.

Somehow the call ended and Yuri tossed his phone on the bed with frustration. “Guess like I’m sleeping here.”

“Well…wanna watch something?” Phichit asked. “I could set up Netflix and watch. Or whatever you wanna watch anyway. Your pick.”

Yuri peeked at Phichit. “…do you watch My Hero Academia?”

Phichit felt his lips immediately stretch into a grin. “You came to the right place buddy.”

“Awesome,” Yuri sat up. “Put that shit on.”

Phichit had a good feeling about a new friendship that’s about to bloom.

-

It had been raining hard that day. Phichit was trying to find shelter from the rain when he noticed a figure crouching on the sidewalk.

Upon closer inspection it was actually Dr. Katsuki and he seemed to be coaxing something out of the corner of the dumpster.

Phichit tried not to think about it until it was time for organic chemistry and Dr. Katsuki arrived seven minutes late and drenched with the rain. He was splattered with mud and he was dripping from head to toe, except he didn’t really seemed to notice.

He carefully set his backpack on the floor instead of his table, his eyed narrowed at the class.

“Sorry I was late. Got caught on…something… Yeah.” Which totally sounded the least bit suspicious. He started writing on the whiteboard when..

Yip.

He paused and stood rigidly. Then he seemed to pay it no mind, continued writing with hard determination.

Yip yip.

There it was again.

Then the sound of shuffling and whimpering were heard, followed by scratching. The class didn’t dare breath or move as Dr. Katsuki turned to them and narrowed his eyes into slits as if suspicious.

Yip yip yip.

More scratching.

A bated breath.

Dr. Katsuki sighed. He picked up his black backpack with an expression almost akin to that of a kid caught eating cookies he was strictly told not to.

What came out of the bag elicited a surprised gasp.

It was a white fluffy dog that poked its head out of the bag, tongue lolling out, and he had the most adorable dark eyes ever.

The class lost their shit. There were students who whipped out their phones and started to take pictures, others were cooing from its cuteness. Some were just whispering among themselves.

Phichit then realized what the man was crouching on the pavement for. Plus the dog looked newly groomed and treated. He must have spent his break period cleaning it.

“Everybody settle down.” Katsuki commanded.

The commotion died down in an instant. His power over crowds was still a bit overwhelming.

“Don’t mind the dog. Just..just… Let it do its thing.” He said softly.

It was admittedly hard to focus when there’s a ball of fluff walking around the room, demanding pets. Nobody’s complaining though. It was quite adorable to see it climb over Dr. Katsuki’s desk and the former patiently taking him down to the floor, only for it to do it all over again.

Somehow, Dr. Katsuki got tired of this and decide to just carry the dog while he continued his lecture. He brought up the dog in level to his face. The dog happily licked his cheek, which apparently was a shock to him because he turned bright pink as he mumbled. “Yamette-kodasai.” The dog yipped once more as if in agreement. It was more than willing to be carried and tucked in the front pocket of Dr. Katsuki’s hoodie.

10.) Dogs like him

So there’s an intimidating man perpetually glaring while holding a white fluffy puppy as he went on to talk about carboxylic acids and derivatives.

It was a funny sight. Phichit made sure to take a pic. It made him less… Scary. Because if dogs trusted him, people can too, right?

Dr. Katsuki didn’t look bothered though. In fact, there’s a telltale upturn on his lips, just a small twinkle in his eyes.

11.) He likes dogs too.

-

“I swear though, they don’t give class B enough screentime." 

This had been a ritual of some sorts. Every Friday night, they try to catch up on their shows in Phichit’s dorm. It’s the only one with a TV see. Sometimes they play Mario Kart when they have extra time.

On screen, Bakugou was held hostage by the villains.

"I’d let Dabi kick me in the face and I’d still thank him for it.” Phichit commented. The others nodded in agreement.

“That guy…” Yuri gestured at the screen. It was Shigaraki, a man with a hand for a mask. Why his mask was shaped like a hand, no one knew. He creepily calls it ‘father’ an all that jazz. “I don’t like that guy. He’s a fucking brat.”

They were surprised when the Russian opted to stay and watch with them. He was often out, but quite recently, he’d been around the dorm.

The two lovebirds probably want to do it at every inch of the apartment now that they’ve officially managed to settle down. Yuri once said with a shudder. I can’t look at the kitchen, the dining table and the couch the same way again.

Apparently he’s walked in on them a couple of times and they still got no shame. So now he’s trying to avoid any of those awkward encounters by staying more in the dorms.

“Reminds you of someone?” Phichit snickered.

Guang-Hong smiled. “He does sound like Yuri, doesn’t he?”

Yuri snarled. “He doesn’t sound like me! And I don’t scratch my neck like a creep when I’m angry. Everything about him screams creepy!”

“True. Personally, Yuri is more similar with Bakogou, personality wise.” Leo shrugged.

Yuri responded with a hiss. Strangely, Yuri fitted right in the group easily. At first there was some awkwardness between them, but in the end he was just a big of a weeb as they were.

This time the screen played Aizawa on a bun and clean shaven, bespoke in a suit.

“Daddy.” Phichit sighed. The others grunted in response.

“That Aizawa dude reminds me of the Old Man," Yuri squinted at the screen. "I can’t explain it. He acts nothing like him. He looks nothing like him too. But…he just does.” Yuri gesticulated in frustration. “It’s like that Tokoyami guy. He reminds me of Beka you know? I don’t even know why.”

This Beka, apparently was Yuri’s best friend from Kazakhstan. How that friendship managed to work, they didn’t know and frankly they were too afraid to ask.

“I totally get you my dude,” Leo started. “Eiji from Banana Fish reminds me of Seung-gil and they’re nothing alike. Seung-gil’s too dead inside to be Eiji.”

“We don’t talk about Banana Fish.” Guang-Hong wailed.

“Why? The first few episodes were great!” Phichit wondered.

“Anime only don’t get to say anything.” Guang-Hong hissed.

“Speaking of anime only. The next season of MHA is going to hurt like a bitch.” Seung-gil talked for the first time in the entire time they were there.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Yuri growled. “The pig’s already all smug for reading the manga! I don’t need another one!”

They laughed. This was normal now, Yuri complaining about those two parental figures. (Yuri threw a fit when Phichit suggested that they sounded much like his parents as if the very idea insulted him. That just convinced him otherwise.) Phichit never really asked for names, he respected Yuri’s privacy. Although there were times where he did wonder who they were. Whoever they were, Phichit hoped they staryed obliviously married as Yuri said.

-

It was an accident. He was on his way back to the dorm because he forgot his scientific calculator, and god forbid he forgets his calculator on a calculus exam.

On his way back he heard two voices arguing on the hallway.

“-don’t tell me you already bought it.” One of the voices groaned. Phichit recognized it as Dr. Katsuki’s.

“…I won’t tell you that then?” The second voice sounded sheepish but not exactly sorry. It had an accent, Phichit couldn’t pinpoint where.

“Oh my god Vitya.” Dr. Katsuki exclaimed. He then launched into a smattering of Japanese and…Russian? His companion answered in kind. His companion must be Russian then. Or somewhere Slavic. He never really could tell the difference.

Phichit couldn’t understand whatever they were talking about, but he could see that Dr. Katsuki was pretty upset with this Vitya guy.

He couldn’t see who he was talking to though. He did catch a glimpse of silver hair.

He hurried off before he became late for calculus and before he could find out how that encounter ended in. It was also pretty rude to eavesdrop in a conversation where he was obviously not invited in. Phichit did, somehow manage to add another fact in his list:

12.) He can speak fluent Russian.

-

When Saturday rolled around, Dr. Katsuki seemed just a tad bit pissed. Well…more pissed than usual. But he did explain the material better and he actually paid attention on every single student who needed help.

Phichit was just a tad bit confident that he could pass this thing. Just a tiny bit confident.

It didn’t really change the fact that he was scarier than usual. Just as they thought he wasn’t as bad as they first thought. But Dr. Katsuki looked so out of it. He looked sad. Or angry. Or maybe both. In the end though, he just seemed resigned. More often you would find him stealing a glance at his phone and then looking away as if reprimanding himself.

Phichit didn’t know why this bothered him so much, but it just did. He thought back to what he overheard the other day and wondered if this was related to that.

-

“Stupid pig. Stupid Old Man.” Yuri stormed the dorm irritated and slammed the door. 

“What happened?” Phichit woke up with a start. His organic chem notes still scattered over his desk. He noticed Yuri’s usual braided hair was left loose like a waterfall to his back. He still look good, maybe just a bit off, a little unkempt. 

“They’re fighting. The Old Man won’t stop moping and the pig won’t give him a chance. He kicked the Old Man to the couch. He’s probably sleeping in my bed right now.” Yuri grumbled and flopped on his bed. He kicked off his shoes without any care about where they fell on. "I cooked dinner for them! And what? The only thing the pig uttered was to pass the salt. That’s it. Nothing.“

"That’s rough.” Phichit kept his notes. He was startled when he realized how late it was. He should be studying for his midterms tomorrow, but that could wait. He shook the sleepiness away.

“It’s been days and they still aren’t talking to each other! Damn it why are they so bad at communication?! This is worse than when they were fucking each other senseless.” Yuri groaned. 

“You sound like you really care about…whoever you are talking about.” Phichit said in jest. His filter wasn’t exactly the best when he just woke up.

Yuri was silent. Phichit had expected him to deny it or lash out for even having the guts to insinuate he cared for those…whoever those two oblivious idiots with the communication problem were. But instead, Yuri, very quietly, said: “Yeah…I do." 

Phichit had never seen so much sincerity shown in three words as he had seen reflected from those green eyes. Phichit couldn’t help but smile.

"A-anyway. Yeah…you didn’t hear that from me.” Yuri remembered himself and pink started to dust his cheeks. He looked adorable, like a little kitten. He cleared his throat to recompose himself. “We’re gonna binge watch some Cell’s at Work because fuck Biology." 

"Mood. Organic chem sucks.”

-

It was finally midterms. Phichit entered the testing room with all information crammed in his head, caffeine running in his bloodstream and hysteria on his nerves.

Dr. Katsuki looked just as dead as the rest of the students. It was painful to watch. The usual sharpness of his eyes were nonexistent. It was replaced with dullness, as if he hardly slept in days.

He looked so tired. His hair was uncombed and he was pale as death.

“Everybody take your seats.” His voice was very very quiet. Phichit slid into his seat.

“You have an hour to finish the exam. Questions about the exam will not be entertained unless it is a technical problem. Timer begins now.”

Phichit took that out of his system for now and focused on taking the test.

He took one look at Dr. Katsuki before writing.

-

Phichit passed his answer sheet with a spark of confidence that he will pass.

Just as he left the room though, he noticed a man leaning outside the testing room with a serious face. He had silver hair and blue eyes. He was subjectively handsome, Phichit figured he had this charisma on a regular day.

But today, he looked grim. Perhaps he looked remorseful. Phichit can’t help but be intrigued.

When the last student left the room, the man entered the testing room with determination.

Curiosity got the better of him and Phichit peeked just a little bit.

“Vitya.”

He heard Dr. Katsuki’s sharp inhale, the man was looking at him face to face. He couldn’t see Dr. Katsuki’s expression, but this Vitya guy looked ready to break.

“Yuuri. I’m-”

Unexpectedly, Dr. Katsuki hugged Vitya and didn’t look like he was ready to let go anytime soon. Vitya gasped and then he was sobbing on his shoulder. Phichit knew then he was watching something too personal. He slowly backed away, but the image will always replay in his mind for the rest of the day.

-

Yuri was blushing when he entered the dorm that evening and stormed directly for a shower. He said he needed to bleach his eyes after what he saw.

Phichit raised a glass of red bull for Yuri’s disgusting lovebirds. He would assume that a.) They finally made up, and b.) Yuri walked in on them once more.

-

Dr. Katsuki entered the room with this fresh look. It was almost as if he was blooming, as if the past gloomy days never happened. He looked like…like…

…Like he just got laid.

None of them commented on his sexed up bed head nor the obvious hickey on his neck. There’s this subtle awestruck look in his eyes, a certain dazed shine in his face, a dopey contentment in his posture. Of course these were subtle things you’ll only find when you really look for it. It did

Dr. Katsuki cleared his throat. “Class. Well done on your midterms. I’ve graded them this weekend and I’m happy to tell you that this class has the highest passing rate among the other classes. Congratulations.”

There was a burst of excited chatter among the room. You can hear relieved sighs at the receiving their test papers. That fell short when someone knocked on the door.

“Delivery for Dr. Katsuki-N.” The man said, holding a giant bouquet of blue roses. Blue roses. Someone actually paid enough to have them dyed blue. 

The professor’s expression shifted from shock, to absolute horror, to sheer embarrassment in a matter of seconds.  

“Are you Dr. Katsuki-N?” The delivery man asked. Dr. Katsuki rubbed his face, exasperated and annoyed but also resigned as if he knew one day he would be faced by a gigantic bouquet of roses in his class.  

“Just mister Katsuki would do.” He signed the slip and received the roses for him. After the whole ordeal, Dr. Katsuki set the bouquet on his desk.

“So uhh…” He cleared his throat once more. “Don’t mind that. Please open your textbooks to page two hundred fifty two, and if you’ll excuse me I have to make a call.”

He exited the room with haste that everyone else was left in confusion. If you listen carefully though, you can hear exasperated Japanese from the outside.

Everybody was having a field day.

-

“I swear man. That was so weird.” Phichit explained as they ate lunch at a cafe near the campus. It was raining hard so they weren’t able to eat by the quad like they usually do so they rode Leo’s car and drove here. “I think Dr. Katsuki is just misunderstood.” He paused, deliberating. “Or all he needed was to get laid.”

“Phichit!” Guang-Hong blushed. It was pretty entertaining to see the Chinese become so flustered despite being old enough to actually talk about these things.

“I take it that organic chem is going well.” Leo sipped from his cola.

“Seung-gil was right. Dr. Katsuki isn’t that bad.”

Seung-gil looked smug. The slight upturn on his lips being the only giveaway.

“Still though, before that happened, I managed to overhear Dr. Katsuki arguing with this silver haired man he apparently calls "Vitya”. Then at midtems, they kinda…made up? Then awhile ago Dr. Katsuki got a bouquet of roses.“ Phichit mused out loud. "Could it be that this silver haired guy is Dr. Katsuki’s boyfriend?”

“You don’t even know if he’s into men.” Seung-gil finished his lunch.

“Tsk. Don’t assume everyone is straight Seung-gil.” Phichit snickered. “Besides he doesn’t feel straight to me and boi is my gaydar almost always correct. This is why we’re friends after all.”

“Actually you collected all the weebs and and decided ‘they’re mine now’ and that’s that.” Leo deadpanned.

“Hey, isn’t that Dr. Katsuki?” Guang-Hong pointed at the man across the street, taking refuge from the downpour while scrolling through his phone. He seemed to be waiting for the rain to stop. He had his signature hoodie cover his hair. . “Maybe he needs a ride, should we offer him to join us?”

Turned out he didn’t need a ride though, because someone just tackled him from behind. Dr. Katsuki yelped in surprise, or it seemed like it. They couldn’t hear what was happening from the downpour and from the glass window separating them.

“That’s him! That’s the man!” Phichit gasped. Dr. Katsuki was now berating the man for causing them both to get soaked. The man didn’t look the slightest bit remorseful, he just sported a rather wide and bright grin to an annoyed Dr. Katsuki.  Dr. Katsuki flicked the man’s forehead in response.

“Isn’t that professor Nikiforov though?” Guang-Hong squinted at them.

“Professor Nikiforov?”

“Yeah he teaches literature I think? Like he caused a commotion last semester when he first entered? Because a lot of students would sit in his classes without actually being enrolled and the poor guy just couldn’t ask them to leave. And we all know they weren’t actually there to learn about history.” Leo explained. “Where were you last semester?”

“Probably dying from the she-devil.” Phichit groaned. Professor Baronovskaya basically took one look at the class and decided she wanted to consume the souls out of them all.

“Anyway. I think it makes sense that they’re friends. They seem to have entered the university the same time.” Leo said as they watch Dr. Katsuki pick up the umbrella Professor Nikiforov dropped after tackling him from behind. Katsuki huffed, professor Nikiforov took the umbrella and wrapped an arm around Katsuki’s shoulder before walking away.

“Yes, just two bros sharing an umbrella, under the rain, no space apart cause they’re not gay.” Phichit snorted. His phone pinged with a notification which drew him away from the scene.

“It’s a text from Yuri.” Phichit said. “He says he can’t come later because he’s spending it with the idiots.”

“No Yuri today?” Guang-Hong mused. “I kinda miss his swears. Especially when we play Mario Kart.”

“It be like that sometimes.” Phichit said. “Anyway, who wants to re watch One Punch Man?”

-

Since their grades actually got better after the whole tutroial thing before midterms, Dr. Katsuki decided to keep it going until finals.

“Let’s meet in this cafe next Saturday. Just tell them you’re under my class. They’ll know.”

Apparently all the other lecture rooms were taken for the week so they had no choice but to relocate.

The first thing Phichit noticed was the blue framed glassed perched on Dr. Katsuki’s nose when he arrived next Saturday as he sat on the second floor of the cafe, the smell of green tea wafting from the cup Dr. Katsuki ordered. Phichit made sure to be at least a thirty minutes earlier than the agreed time because his friends were busy with their own studies and he had nothing better to do yet. However the Japanese apparently got here even earlier. He was reading a V.K.N novel, this year’s bestselling novel from an author whose face was never revealed. He was deeply concentrated, brows knitted together, but also he looked content, tranquil. Colored highlighters were on the table and the book was filled with sticky notes.

Phichit didn’t know what to do. His other classmates weren’t around yet. (Fashionably late they say) so he was alone with him for probably an hour or so.

Dr. Katsuki probably noticed his presence hovering around and looked up from his book.

“Mr. Chulanont.” He said. It wasn’t the first time he as addressed by the doctor, but it was the first time without his classmates around. Phichit was a little out of his element.

“Dr. Katsuki.”

“Just mister Katsuki is fine,” He replied, closing the book as he did so. “Dr. Katsuki sounds so formal.” It was so casual. Too casual.

For someone claimed to be a very outgoing extrovert, he’s having a hard time talking now. Well, that was until he saw his bookmark.

“You watch My Hero Academia too?” It was of Midoriya Izuku holding a bowl of Katsudon.

Dr. Katsuki’s lips turned to that akin to a smile. “Yes, and I read the manga too.”

“Nooo! No spoilers! Everyone’s saying season four will hurt!’ Phichit wailed. Katsuki nodded solemnly. 

"Trust me it will.” Katsuki took a long sip from his green tea. “Plus there’s not enough Tododeku moments.”

Phichit gasped. “You ship them too?" 

"Obviously. Intellectuals don’t watch season two and not ship them.” Katsuki rolled his eyes. Actually rolled his eyes. 

“Wow. Where were you all my life?” Phichit breathed because wow, this man was nothing at all like what he first expected. 

“Dying somewhere else probably.” He quipped back. Somehow some professor are just about your age in college and it’s jarring like that. Phichit can’t seem to fathom this. If he told his classmates, they probably wouldn’t believe him. 

13.) He likes anime

“Yuuri!” Someone called. “Solnyshko, have you seen my-oh.”

It was professor Nikiforov in all his gilded splendor. Seeing him up close kinda explained why he caused so much trouble in his first semester.

“Hi! Are you one of Yuuri’s student’s?” He asked, beaming with charm. His mouth is shaped like a heart when he smiles. He reached out a hand. “I’m Victor Nikiforov, it’s nice to meet one of Yuuri’s students. He talks about all of you often.”

Dazed, Phichit can only nod and shake the man’s hand. “Phichit Chulanont. It’s nice to meet you too professor Nikiforov.”

“Wow! Does Yuuri talk about me too?” He look absolutely delighted. His eyes sparkled.

“They probably knew you as that guy who was followed around a lot last sem.” Dr. Katsuki snickered. “Creepy stalkers still keeps me awake at times.”

“They weren't stalkers Yuuri. They were just students.” Professor Nikiforov insisted.

“Whatever you say Vitya." 

"I spy someone jealous.”

“Mhm, sure you do." 

Phichit realized how different he acted outside of the classroom with less people and a more comfortable setting. Especially with Professor Nikiforov. He seemed most comfortable with him. He wasn’t glaring anymore, his eyes were full of life. Phichit thought it suited him.

"Aren’t you supposed to be doing something else right now Mr. Nikiforov?” Dr. Katsuki told the professor.

“Oh right right. Anyway I think those are some of your students downstairs. I’ll tell them to go up.” He left them and hurried downstairs. “I’ll also ask for the do not disturb sign so nobody goes upstairs.” Professor Nikiforov yelled from the stairs.

“Spasibo!” Dr. Katsuki yelled back.

Phichit’s classmate started filling in the second floor, Dr. Katsuki became busy accommodating them and they weren’t able to talk further. He can see though that Dr. Katsuki was way different with the Russian than when with his students. He didn’t know where their relationship stands, and in all honesty Phichit never knew he was about to consider this but.

He ships them.

-

“Oi, you have plans this weekend?”

Yuri suddenly asked in the middle of studying. His notes on Biology was so cute. It had little Cell’s at Work doodles. Yuri turned bright pink when Phichit teased him about it.

“No not really.” Phichit stopped highlighting stuff. (He was randomly highlighting words. It’s almost twelve and he hasn’t crammed everything he needed to for his exam on history.) “Why what’s up?”

Yuri’s brows turned into a scowl. Not the pissed scowl, the one where he’s too embarrassed to say something.

“Do you want to have dinner with me?”

Phichit stared at Yuri.

“Are you asking me on a date Yuri Plisetsky?” Phichit cackled. Yuri flushed red and threw his biology book at him.  It him right in the face but damn was it worth it.

“No!” He screeched. “The Old Man and the Pig wants me to bring friends for dinner because it’s my birthday because I thought you assholes weren’t so bad! But apparently I was wrong so if that’s how you wanna go then you’re fucking uninvited you mother fucker! Blyad!”

“Yuri No,” Phichit wheezed out. “I’d love to meet your parents.”

“They’re not my parents! Why are we even friends?!” He groaned, throwing another thick hardbound book. Thankfully, Phichit managed to dodge it this time.

“Seriously! Chill! You’re like a sibling slash kitten to me. Dating you would be so weird.” Phichit was still laughing even when Yuri attempted to strangle him. “Did you tell Guang-Hong, Leo and Seung-gil?” He managed to choke out after his laughter dying.

“I did. Seung-gil’s busy with a project, Leo needs to study for an exam and Guang-Hong has part time. I understand if you’re busy though.” Yuri said softly. He refused to look at Phichit as he said it.

“Aww Yuri. Don’t worry about it. I’m free this weekend.” Phichit reassured.

“Really?” His eyes widen in anticipation.

“Yeah. Let’s go meet mom and dad!” Tears rolled down Phichit’s cheeks as Yuri’s face morphed into absolute anger.

Phichit might have deserved getting smacked in the face with a seven hundred pages worth hard bound chemistry book.

Totally worth it though.

-

Phichit was sure he saw Dr. Katsuki by a corridor with professor Nikiforov. He was also sure he didn’t just imagine Dr. Katsuki slowly reaching up to press a quick kiss on professor Nikiforov’s lips before retreating away.

Poor professor Nikiforov was left, absolutely stunned and was blushing hard. It took him a good couple of minutes before he realized what actually transpired and his shocked face morphed into a dopey grin.

Phichit sung praises to the heavens.

-

“So this is where you go when you’re not in the dorm. It’s pretty near the campus.”

It was Friday afternoon and the pair had arrived to Yuri’s apartment. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but Phichit can tell it was slightly more expensive than what was the average man’s salary.

“Yeah. I didn’t really want a dorm. But I guess I’m glad I did.” Yuri opened the door. They were immediately greeted by a massive ball of brown fluff.

“Makkachin! Down!” Yuri commanded. The poodle obeyed his command, but not before licking his face. There was another dog. It was Whits and fluffy and…familiar. He felt a shiver down his spine.

Phichit knew that dog!

“Yurio! Okaeri.”

Phichit whipped his head to the source of the voice so fast, he could’ve gotten a whiplash.

Standing in front of him was none other than professor Nikiforov himself, wearing a sweater an apron just like any regular person. It felt so…wrong.

“Y-you!” Phichit gasped.

“Oh? Mr. Chulanont? What a surprise!” Professor Nikiforov flashed his million megawatt smile.

“Wait, you fucking know each other?” Yuri exclaimed.

“Vitya, is that Yura? I-…oh.”

Of course Dr. Katsuki had to follow.

This was a bit awkward. Seeing your organic chemistry teacher in sweat pants and a Fullmetal Alchemist fandom shirt was not part of Phichit’s weekend plan.

He was quite sure being seen in sweat pants and a Fullmetal Alchemist fandom shirt by his student was not part of Dr. Katsuki’s weekend plan.

“Don’t tell me you know who he is too Katsudon.” Yuri scowled.

Phichit was too stunned to wonder why Yuri was calling his professor a pork cutlet bowl, after all that wasn’t the most pressing matter here.

“Dr. Katsuki’s my organic chemistry professor actually.” Phichit managed to say when he finally found his voice. Talk about having a small world.

“He’s the intimidating professor you were talking about before?” Yuri burst out laughing. “Oh yes, how intimidating! It’s almost like he didn’t spend half an hour crying about snakes.”

“They don’t have arms!” Dr. Katsuki blushed. “In my defense I was plastered as fuck by then and I blame Victor for that.”

“What?” The silver haired man gasped in mock indignation, too dramatic too be real. “How could you suspect me of such? Oh my Yuuri so cruel.”

Dr. Katsuki giggled. Phichit was having an out of body experience. He must be dreaming.

“I never would have guessed that the friend little Yura here mentioned was you Mr. Chulanont.” Dr. Katsuki said after they recovered from their laughing fit.

“Please call me Phichit if you don’t mind. And yeah I never would have guessed that you were who Yuri talked about so often.”

That caught professor Nikiforov’s ear. “Yurio talks about us? Do spill.”

“Oh my god! This was a mistake!” Yuri just tossed his hands in the air. “Why does this have to happen on my birthday of all days!” Phichit was quite familiar of this tone. It was often used on complaining about his two idiots love birds…which apparently was his professor.

It kind of struck Phichit that he knew a lot about his professor’s sex life than what was absolutely necessary and he didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. He most especially doesn’t need to know about how he has a thing for bondage and exhibitionism. Or that he could pole dance.

Phichit started to understand Yuri in a more spiritual level.

“Phichit then, please call me Yuuri outside of class. Any friend of Yura’s is a friend of ours.” Dr– Yuuri bowed his head curtly. “Come on dinner is ready.”

Phichit followed them towards the dining table. He tried not think about Yuri’s complaints on seeing them fuck on every single piece of furniture in this house.

He’ll possibly never enter organic chem the same way ever again.

“Please feel at home Phichit. And also call me Victor, that professor nonsense makes me feel old.” Victor started setting up the dining table.

“That’s because you’re old, Old Man. Your hair is thinning.” Yuri stuck out his tongue.

“That’s fine. I’d still love you anyway.” Yuuri kissed the crown of Victor’s head.

Everything was so domestic. In the end it all just kind of fits. Although there was one more thing that bothered him.

“Hold up. So this also mean that both of you are married married?” Phichit burst out. Wow, here he was thinking they simply looked good together. Dr. Katsuki, a weeb and happily gay and married.

Victor and Yuuri looked at him, mildly confused.

“Yes?” Yuuri showed his ring, that for some reasons Phichit wasn’t able to notice. “I wasn’t actually trying to hide it.”

“In Russia, we wear the ring on our right hand. Maybe that’s why people don’t think it’s a wedding ring.” Victor grinned. “Been happily Victor Katsuki-Nikiforov for two years now!”

“Okay then how is it you didn’t add Victor’s last name when you introduced yourself to us?”

“Oh, my Yuuri earned his doctorate, did he not? Seems wrong to have my name slapped with it.” VIctor’s smile widened considerably. “Besides, Dr. Katsuki sounds so much sexier!”

Yuuri sighed. “And yet he insisted to have my initials part in his pen name.”

“Oh but Yuuri! You’re my muse! The reason why those books were written in the first place!”

“Books?”

Yuri blanched at the lovey-dovey display before him. “The old ma may not look like it, but he’s a bestselling author. I think you’ve heard of VKN?”

Phichit didn’t think he could take all the plot twists unraveling before him. What a power couple. The talented bastards.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” Phichit rubbed his head.

“I don’t know about you, but I think Yurio does.”

The doorbell rang, Yuuri got up to open it.

“Beka!” Yuri stood up in shock and immediately hugged the man.

Phichit wanted to sit down from all that was happening. The rest of the evening flew by like a blur. He did add a lot more in his list.

14.) He was gay and happily married.

15.) He was married to Victor Nikiforov, five times consecutive bestselling author.

16.) Yuri Plisetsky is their 'son’. They themselves agreed.

17.) Victor and Yuuri are a power couple and together they can rule the world.

-

“How the hell did we miss all that?” Guang-Hong mused.

“Seriously the man’s like half blind. He wasn’t glaring, the contacts were irritating his eyes. Stubborn pig didn’t want to buy glasses yet.” Yuri munched on his fries. They started clearing out all of what happened that weekend.

The others were also dumbfounded when they found out. It was good to know Phichit wasn’t the only one.

“You saw the man enter the room with a puppy in his bag and you all still thought he was a murderous criminal?” Yuri was having fun with all this.

“There we’re rumours that he nearly made one of the resident jocks cry. He must be that intense if he actually did.” Leo shrugged.

“Oh yeah he did. The guy was talking shit about being gay.” Yuri explained. “I still find it funny that you found the most anxious ball of nerves, the literal personification of anxiety, as threatening. What a concept.”

“I think I find it funnier that my professor once enrolled in a pole dancing class by mistake and was too shy to back out.” Phichit snorted.

-

So maybe Phichit was slightly lucky with his professors this sem. Finals came and go and regretfully Phichit had to say goodbye to Dr. Katsuki. But only in class.

They still meet up sometimes when Yuri invites Phichit to their apartment. He also spend most of the holidays there.

And whenever he could hear anybody saying organic Chen with Dr. Katsuki is hell, he’ll give them notes compiled properly, and the list he did over the semester.

[canaryatlaw]

okay. another long and mostly good day. The vast majority of it was good but I got slightly peeved at my family and of course particularly at my asshole (older) brother, but whatever. Jess’ alarm went off at 8, and we started getting dressed. I was doing my Ramona Flowers cosplay today, and I was pretty sure I was going to melt because the outfit was legit a hoodie and then another jacket over that, but I did my best to find ones that were described as lightweight. I was doing normal make up today so I ddi that and then we headed out. My house perpetually never has breakfast food, so we stopped at McDonalds for food and coffee, and then we were on our way. The ride there and back went pretty smoothly both days, nothing really crazy that would be an issue. We got there right around 10 when it opened, and there was quite a line to get past security and inside, so we had to wait outside and I was doing my best not to totally overheat lol. I set the metal detector off at the juvenile courthouse so many times that now whenever I walk through one and don’t set it off, it feels like an accomplishment honestly 😂 but we got in, Brandon wasn’t out yet so we browsed for a while mostly looking at funko pops, Jess wanted the ATOM of course and I was casually looking for Ramona since I know they have one and that would be cool to have. I’m also going to buy the Elektra from Daredevil pop at some point, just haven’t gotten around to it yet (and my stack of dark haired women that can kick your ass funko pops is getting quite tall lately). We also went back to the t-shirt place from yesterday and browsed for a bit, I resisted the temptation to buy more wonder woman shirts, partially because they were just in unisex sizes that I don’t like how they fit me. But I did get the “Nelson and Murdock: attorneys at law” shirt I wanted so that made me happy. It reminds me of my first year legal writing class which is all graded anonymously through your student ID number so our prof said we could make up a name to actually sign it with, and I ended up putting “Sara Lance, Assassins at Law” as opposed to attorneys at law and I felt very clever lol. I’m pretty sure I put the address as like 123 Comingforyou drive too. Good times. So then we made our way back to Brandon’s table as he had arrived, so we were good and waited in line, then talked to him of course, he noticed and complimented my cosplay immediately, a lot of people actually told me they liked it which I was pleased to hear because she has a lot of different outfits in the movie and it’s not like you’re gonna memorize every one, but I’m sure the wig with the rather distinctive larger pieces in the front helped. So we chatted with him and took some selfies, which thankfully look better than the ones from yesterday that were god awful. I told him I wanted to do a fighting photo op pose, so we were prepared for that. The photo op wasn’t till 1:30 though and we didn't have much else to be, and Brandon was kinda swamped so we couldn’t really just chill with him. So we walked around a bit more then ended up sitting in front of their main panel stage, and happened to watch the kids costume contest, which was sooooooo adorable, so many precious children. the one who takes the kid though was definitely this little boy who dressed as a transformer, with like, incredible detail and care, but the kicker is when he lays down HE CAN ACTUALLY TRANSFORM INTO A TRUCK and if that’s not the coolest idea ever I don’t know what is. So, unsurprisingly, he won, got some sort of star wars land speeder things, idk. That started at 12 and we wanted to be at the photo op at like 1 because they tended to start early. Brandon wasn’t at his table, so we talked to his handlers for a bit, who are both super nice and like, actual friends with Jess now lol, so we did that before going to the photo op, and unsurprisingly they started like 20 minutes before the scheduled time. We were sent to wait behind the photo set up and I’m standing there waiting and this guy in a fucking spider-man costume just like, walks past me and places himself on line and I really, really wanted to be like “hey asswipe, do you actually know how not to be a fucking moron??” but the small amount of common sense I do have decided that it wasn’t worth it so I just glared at him periodically. When I got into the photo op we kind of figured out our pose and then took the photo, and it came out super good, I’ll grab it and post it on here in a minute (well, when I’m done here). Once we had the photo we went back over to the table and shamelessly cut the line (wow I’m a hypocrite but like we have street cred here we can do that) to show Brandon the photo op, and he of course signed it without me even asking, and wrote a very funny message about the two characters, so that made me happy. Having done the rounds a lot and not really having much else to do we decided to say goodbye and head out, Brandon was leaving at 3 anyway so he could get back to Courtney and their son for Father’s Day (awwwwww). Saying goodbye is always hard and like, it’s hard to say when we might see him again since not a whole lot of stuff has been announced so far. I definitely did miss Courtney being there too. But anyway, we headed out and decided we needed some lunch, so I decided Jess needed to try authentic New York pizza (on the hierarchy of NY foods non-Yankees need to try while here is like 1) bagels 2) pizza 3) either carvel or friendly’s, 4) kosher delis 5) diners, and 6) normal delis). so I just googled mapped the nearest pizzeria and went there, because I know we can get fab pizza at any place there, and it was very fab! I love getting pizza whenever I’m here, so it was really a must. Jess very much enjoyed hers, even if she continues to talk about how Chicago deep dish is better, but I’m quite aware that’s more to antagonize me than an actual opinion at this point 😂 when we were walking out she was yelling like “DEEP DISH IS BETTER!!!” and I was like “careful, you can get shot for saying stuff like that here” and this random guy who was walking away from his car was like “I’ll get the gun” and we both basically died laughing. Drive home was fine, hit a bit of traffic but nothing bad. When we were right about to pass a Carvel I had the bright idea to ask if Jess wanted ice cream (because I always want ice cream, of course) and she said heck yeah so we pulled into the place. I got my favorite vanilla soft serve with chocolate crunches on the outside and in a waffle cone, Jess ended up order a combination of their three different types of sherbet that they made especially for her 😂 it was also funny because we were chatting a little with this lady standing next to us, whom we discovered was also from Chicago and was here visiting, lol. so that was good. Carvel doesn’t have a seating area or anything, so we just went back to the car to eat them, and damn, they tasted so good, but it took sooo long to finish them (and that was the “small” version), When we did finish I drove the rest of the way home, things were a bit busy with everyone prepping for father’s day dinner, one of our family friends was over and in charge of the steaks, so there was all that. We basically just chilled in my room until we got called for dinner, which was being held outside at the table on the patio, which is always nice. Dinner was pretty good, things were pretty solid, We broke before dessert and then rejoined a bit later, and while dessert was very lovely my asshole older brother started making asshole comments and like....objectively it was nothing, I know it was nothing, but it just makes me so damn mad when he says does things like laughing at me and then saying “oh please, Rachel would be a terrible lawyer for (specific area of law” and I really just wanted to get up and punch him and like.....I hate this so much because I so want to be at a point where stupid little things like that don’t get under my skin, but honestly the stupidest little jerk comments just trigger all these emotions in me because this, and much, much worse, happened for so many years, and when he does it now it’s like I’m right back there, living a life I desperately wanted to get out of any way possible- any way at all. Of course it only got worse from there, because we were talking about job shit and my parents were pulling more of this “well you’re just going to come to New York even though you’ve told us like 12 times on this trip that you want to stay in Illinois” and just like the fact that they really don’t seem to give a damn about how I feel about major decisions in my life and that’s really infuriating. And then of course the friend of my father’s came up in conversation and it was the guy who posted the creepy comment about “smiling” on my facebook photo and I said so, and then of course nobody took me serious at all, they’re all laughing and making fun of me for even being creeped out about this and it was surely not what he intended, and I mean, of course I held back that like 10 years ago when I was 16 he messaged me late at night a few times and asked me creepy invasive questions, so one damn comment of “smile” (which is bad enough tbh) meant a whole lot more than that. So I was kinda pissed over them still refusing to take anything I feel into account, they just laugh every time I get upset and mad and I really just want to fucking punch them and be told my feelings are valid for once in my fucking life, for fucking ONCE for one of them to be sorry for something they did to me, fucking tortured me, and the word “sorry” never came to their lips about it, and they think they never did anything wrong, and if I tried to bring it up I would only be mocked and shit on more, and I’m just like I’m done with this. However, within and in between all of this happening, my dad decided the best way to get me to stay in New York would be for them to basically adopt Jess (and I mean, he ain’t wrong) and move us both out here, like he's legit getting in contact with people who might know of teaching jobs because my dad is fucking wild okay. And there is currently at least one semi-viable lawyer position open on LI right now so I mean I’ll see what happens there. My parents seem to be of the opinion that I should stay in NY even if I don't have a job lined up because I’ll get one eventually but like, that’s the exact same situation as Chicago, except I have way more contacts there and dad’s contacts have been totally unsuccessful up to this point, Sigh. This is long, Guess I had a lot to say. After dessert we pretty much retreated to my room and spent the rest of the night in here, with my dad coming in two times setting up information about jobs for both of us, and like, I told Jess before we got here my parents were probably pay her rent if I asked them too, and they definitely proved that this weekend. We didn’t really do anything else before getting ready for bed, so that’s about it. I am super super tired and we fly out early tomorrow morning (not like 6 am thankfully, but 8:30 flight still means I have to get up at six, so I am officially ending this post here so I can actually shut my eyes before the do some involuntarily. Goodnight babes. Stay gorgeous,

[iim-bangalore-blog]

Seoul Story

A gushing rapid on the trail of the Bukhansan trek

During animmersion experience at KAIST in South Korea, IIMB’s one-year Global MBA students get insights into the country via field visits, projects and some adventures. Karthik Ramanathan shares his experience.

21 September, 2017, Bengaluru: It was eight o’clock in the evening on 13thAugust 2017: we, the students of the full-time Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) at IIM Bangalore, were lugging our bags, getting ready to load them in the buses waiting to ferry us to the airport. Yes, the day that we had all been yearning for has arrived! Term 2 – the most dreaded of all terms – done and dusted, we were on our way to South Korea, Seoul in particular. The atmosphere in the bus during the nearly 90-minute ride to the airport was heady. Portable speakers were out; there was song and dance and unrestrained merriment. The mood had been set for the forthcoming fortnight.

No sooner did the flight take off, 30 minutes past midnight, that all the pent up exhaustion and fatigue of the last three days kicked in and knocked us out. We woke up to a wonderful view of the blue sea and small islands with green-topped hillocks – we were about to land in Hong Kong. Some of us had a fairly long layover in Hong Kong that allowed us to visit the city for a few hours. On landing we immediately made for the immigration counter to secure a clearance to enter the city, after which we took the airport express train to the city. The weather, though not hot, was quite humid. Our destination was the promenade from where the famous skyline of Hong Kong, across the sea, can be seen in all its glory. The route took us through some of the most upmarket localities of the city. The skyline itself was quite impressive, and it would have been a sight to behold at night. After spending about an hour on the promenade we headed back to the airport.

The flight from Hong Kong to Seoul was all about friendly chatter, snacks and movies. We landed in Seoul quite late but were warmly welcomed by students from KAIST, our host school. What struck us about the South Koreans immediately was their humility and hospitable nature — two traits that we came face to face with, over and over again, during our two weeks in the city. We reached Gangnam Family Hotel well past midnight and I, at least, had no energy left except to, fix myself a quick ready-to-eat meal and snore what-was-left-of-the-night away. A 9:00 a.m. departure sound positively punishing. But after four months of hard work back home at IIMB, we were well trained for tough times!

Prior to the bus ride we were served a wonderful breakfast that had plenty on offer for vegetarians, including fresh fruits, steamed vegetables, potato fries, assorted breads, hot chocolate, yogurt, and coffee. We spent the thirty-minute bus ride to KAIST taking in the sights of the city, which looked like an infrastructure marvel, which we later learnt was called the ‘miracle on the Han river’, Han being the river that flows through Seoul and divides the city into northern and southern halves.

Lectures, fields visits and more

We were welcomed to KAIST by Prof. Betty Chung with a little gift for each one of us. The day consisted of three lectures, the first one from Prof. Chung herself. She talked about the important characteristics of Korean culture and also about South Korea’s meteoric rise from being one of the poorest nations in the world in the ’50s to one of the most developed societies in the world today. I was particularly amazed by the choice of words such as jung and noonchi to communicate important cultural aspects that are integral to South Korea.

The second lecture was by Dilip Sundaram, who was the CFO and Chief Transformation Officer of Mahindra’s acquisition of SsangYong. His session was peppered with incisive questions aimed at us that put us in his shoes to think like a C-level executive in charge of transforming a company. As aspiring business leaders, this session taught us lessons that will remain with us throughout our careers. His emphasis on perfection on execution in a transformation context, and his highlighting of Korea as an execution specialist country really left an impression on us.

The third lecture was by the Indian ambassador to South Korea, Vikram Doraiswamy. We consider ourselves honoured and extremely lucky to be able to listen to, in person, to a person who is not only a distinguished civil servant but also a knowledgeable industry expert. His understanding of how the capabilities of Korean companies can be matched with the needs of the Indian market was impressive to say the least. His central message of creatively managing India’s unique traits to make it attractive for Korean companies to invest in, was the key takeaway.

The following days had lectures by James Rooney, who provided us an outsider’s perspective of not only South Korea but the other two Northeast Asian economies of China and Japan.

The lecture by Prof. Leighanne Yuh, a historian, provided us the backstory for South Korea’s stratospheric economic rise. Her detailing of President Park Chung-hee’s era during the ’60s and the ’70s was particularly insightful.

We went on field visits to the Samsung Innovation Museum, and to the Korea Exchange (KRX) in Busan. We also had two visits that helped us explore the culture of South Korea, and these were Nanta and Kicks. The former is a cooking-based mime show that amazed and stupefied us with its speed, coordination, and skill, while the latter is a taekwondo show by the national team that combines martial arts, storytelling, and technology. After our visit to KRX in Busan, we also found time to visit the beach.

Flights of fantasy

The best was saved for the last. Prior to our departure to South Korea, my class had been divided into groups of seven each, and each group was to work with a Korean company on a project. Two groups were drawn to work with the Indian Embassy of South Korea, and I was in one of those two groups. On the penultimate day of our stay in South Korea, quite unexpectedly and surprisingly, we were granted permission to visit the headquarters of Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) in relation to our project, thanks to the efforts of Parth Sharma – Vice Chairman, Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea. KAI’s headquarters is situated in Sacheon, which was a four-hour bus ride from Seoul. We were staring at the prospect of travelling eight hours for a two-hour meeting with a 9:00 a.m. departure for the airport next day! But the KAI visit was worth every bit of our time and energy. We interacted with Dr. Choi – Senior Manager & Chief, International Marketing Division, KAI, who was kind enough to explain in detail KAI’s business and the general landscape of South Korea’s dealings with other countries in the defence aviation sector. We were also shown around the assembly line of KAI’s fighter and trainer jets, and helicopters, and we were also given a glimpse of the cockpit of T-50, KAI’s advanced jet trainer.

Memories are made of this

Besides the formal lectures and field visits, our personal adventures and outings contributed a lot to the entire Korean experience. One of my first destinations in Seoul was the Cheonggyecheon stream, which in the aftermath of the Korean War was nothing more than raw sewage, but has now been restored with a walkway along the stream, making it an excellent public space. We also frequented various shopping hubs of the city such as the popular Gangnam Street, the sprawling Lotte Department Store, the crowded bylanes of Myengdong (the street food on offer, especially the deep fried ice-cream, is a foodie’s delight), the underground markets, and the buzzing night market at Dongdaemun (I like the name a lot. Seems worthy of a boss villain in an epic Oriental RPG video game.)

The Changgyeonggung Palace was a pleasant surprise. With its modest furnishings and simple architecture it was unlike any other palace that I have ever seen. The striking feature of this palace, and I suspect the other four palaces in Seoul, is the abundance of open spaces in comparison with courtrooms, royal residences, etc.

Another instance that made my trip memorable was the rain playing spoilsport twice – once during the hike in Bukhansan National Park, and the second time during a trip to Nami Island. In the former instance, we still managed a decent hike that afforded us breathtaking views of gushing streams and tranquil Buddhist temples, and in the latter instance we managed to see Gapyeong, a picturesque little town close to Nami Island. The twenty-minute walk, tumbling up and down Gapyeong’s rolling terrain flanked by tall mountains and under the fading light of the evening sun, was an experience of a lifetime.

I have experienced the sun and rain of the Korean summer and hope to visit this beautiful country in all its glorious colours and meet its wonderful people sometime later during a Korean autumn. Gamsahamnida Korea!

Photo Gallery : Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP)

A seat of serenity nestled in wooded hills, beneath a grey sky.

Sprightly green grass, reflective glassy river, and wise brooding hills – presided over by a portentous sky.

Enjoying the kick of Kicks.

In front of Gangnam Family Hotel.

At Samsung Innovation Museum.

A view of Busan from KRX

About the author:

Karthik Ramanathan is an IT Professional with considerable experience in the BFSI domain. He is an enthusiastic writer at heart with a passion to capture memories in words. He is currently pursuing his one-year full-time MBA at IIM Bangalore.

[benevolenterrancy]

@bitchycollectionfury-78be5e8b here ya go, thanks, this was fun to write ^-^ nice to write about people being dumber than you are to make yourself feel better

-

McCree was...

He was...

Well, he was definitely not panicking, that was what he was not doing, because Jesse McCree was one cool customer that could take things as they came and laugh it off.  He'd survived the foster care system and his weird adopted father and his overly intense adopted sister.  He'd survived losing his damn arm, alright, and everything that went down that made it necessary to bundle a young Jesse up and whisk him away to the houses of strangers rather than leave him at home.  And by the end, he'd survived everyone that had thought they could make judgment calls about him without even trying to get to know him, every teacher that had shaken their head and decided some idiots couldn't be helped, every classmate that had turned their nose up at his accent – a vestigial limb left over from a childhood in the south – or his manner of dress or his sense of humour.  After all, it hadn't been as bad as all that.  He'd wound up with a great family (he'd die for Gabe and Sombra), and plenty of friends.  He'd learnt to let people go.  Some people just would never see past his shaggy hair or his loud mouth or the cowboy hat he refused to “grow out of”.  Fuck 'em, that's what Jesse had learnt.  Shrug your shoulders, turn your back, and go find people that matter.  There had been a time when he couldn't do that.  There was a time when he'd been living back with his birth family that every disappointed look the teacher had sent him when he'd acted out in class had been like a slap and every report card returned home had been... well, not just like a slap.  There'd been a time when he'd hated everything about Gabriel Reyes, but mostly the fact that he was forcing him to confront a brand new school with people that stared and laughed and huddled among themselves in the cliques they'd formed years back, no space for a new, pushy, desperately loud kid.

Then things had changed.  Then he'd made friends, real friends, and found out what people could be like – what he could be like.  And suddenly the people turning their nose up didn't matter any more.

...R-ight.

And so that was why, as Jesse McCree sat in school library across from Hanzo Shimada, he definitely was not panicking at all.

Even if Hanzo Shimada was hot as sin, with long, dark hair cascading down his back, the most intense eyes Jesse has ever seen, and holy fuck those biceps.

The guy did archery apparently.  Archery. Who the fuck did archery unless they were preparing to run off in some goddamn fantasy movie?  Jesse had never even really given archery much thought as a thing people did – it only really existed in historical documentaries and the Olympics – but now when it was nearly thirty degrees outside and Hanzo Shimada was sitting two feet away from him in a tank top, Jesse was really, really thinking about archery.  And how it must take a lot of strength to constantly be drawing and holding a tense bowstring if you wanted to aim with any degree of accuracy.  And how that sort of strength made it look like your arms and shoulders had been carved from fucking marble.  Especially when one of said statuesque arms had a sleeve of vibrant, blue tattoos running all the way down it.  Jesse could get lost in a bicep like that, with or without blue dragons staring back at him, but the dragons definitely didn’t hurt.

The thing was though, it wasn't just that.  Jesse had met hot kids before that were out of his league and it generally didn't really trouble him.  Whatever, laugh it off, move on.  No, of course it had to be more complicated than that.  When Jesse had first entered this class he'd wound his way through the filling seats until he'd found himself sitting next to a boy whose name he would learn was Hanzo.  Jesse had then immediately had his smile met by a flat stare, and he'd figured, oh well, here was an uninteresting asshole.  A hot one, maybe, but an asshole all the same.  It hadn't seemed important at the time because he'd already turned to the person on his other side – a girl named Angela who apparently wanted to be a doctor (or a researcher...? Something like that, which involved more of the human body than Jesse wanted to think aobut).  She was friendly and laughed easily.

Everything would have been so much easier if Hanzo had just stayed an asshole. The guy was quiet, sure, but Jesse sat elbow-to-elbow with him three times a week and he slowly began to realize that underneath the prickly, don't-look-at-me-don't-speak-to-me aura the guy projected, there was something far sweeter down there.  The guy chuckled at every single one of the prof's bad jokes and Dr Winston had a lot of them, and they were always nonchalantly that most of the class didn't realize they'd happened... heck, Jesse usually didn't realize they'd happened until he heard a soft snort next to him.

(And yes, it was a snort. Absolutely and completely undignified and it made Jesse stare at Hanzo until he'd been glared back into submission by the man, who'd seemed flustered that someone had heard him.  How do you tell a guy that may or may not hate your guts just for existed that you thought his silly snort-laugh was cute?  The answer was you did not do that and focused back on your own notes if you value your life.)

As for Hanzo's notes, well, they were painfully neat and precise.  But amid the sharp ballpoint and careful diagrams, Hanzo Shimada apparently had a habit of making snide details about the lessons in the margins (Jesse knew this because it was a two hour long lecture and sometimes watching your neighbour writes notes out of the corner of your eye was better than trying to listen to a prof drone on at the front of the class for another hour and a half).  It made Jesse start fantasizing about taking out his own pen and writing a little comment in the corner of Hanzo's page.  Made him think about getting into some sort of stupid note-passing conversation with him like they were eight year olds rather than college kids.  Made him think about getting to have all those weird, witty little comments directed at him, and then seeing where the conversation took them.  (And, occasionally, it made him think about continuing that conversation out of class, possibly down towards a pub he knew for a chat and maybe, oh just maybe, a date.)

Jesse, however, did not dare try – to write the note, that is, entertaining anything else would have been madness.  Hanzo looked like the sort of person that might try to tear your head off if you messed up his notebooks.

Then, just to top it all off, during their lecture breaks, Hanzo often got calls from what Jesse could only assume was a brother.  And, against every expectation, Hanzo Shimada was sweet. Well, still a bit of a deadpan asshole, but no one who's a hundred percent bad uses his ten minutes of free time to talk with his brother every single day.

“Don't look at me, I am not playing wing-man for you in a class I need to ace if I wanna keep my GPA up,” Angela had said.  Jesse had pouted at that – he hadn't even gotten a chance to ask her, had just glanced at her with maybe a slightly-too-hopeful gleam in his eye during one of the breaks Hanzo had left the room to talk with his brother.

And then the fateful day of the class project had arrived.  Winston had told them just to group up with someone sitting beside them rather than running piecemeal through the class.  Jesse had, of course, turned to Angela only to find she had turned around in her seat and was quickly making plans to team up with a girl sitting behind them named Mei.

Frantically Jesse had spun around, but everyone else was making groups with the people to their left or right who they had been getting to know since day one.  With Angela breaking the system, that meant he had only one person left sitting next to him.

Hanzo Shimada was watching him with an unimpressed face and an eye brow raised.

Traitor, he mouthed at Angela.

You're welcome, mouthed Angela, the Stealth Wing-man.

And so here Jesse was, sitting in the library with someone who presumably hated his guts and thought he was – what, loud? Obnoxious? Lame? – but who Jesse still pathetically, wistfully wanted to impress.  Life, sometimes, was enormous unfair.  At this point Hanzo hadn't even given Jesse the time of day, he'd been sitting at one of the study tables since before Jesse had arrived, nose an inch from his phone as he texted someone.  Presumably someone cooler than Jesse McCree.

Jesse wanted to groan.  Or shove his pencil in his eye just so he could get out of this project.  Instead he mechanically started pulling out his books and waited for Hanzo to be ready to start on the project with him.

-

Hanzo Shimada: ... WELL??

Obnoxious Little Brother: oy give me a sec some of us are still in class and don't want our phone to be taken away again besides i'm trying to tell zen about how i, the lowly highschooler, am helping my university-bound brother pick up boys

Hanzo Shimada: Don't you DARE

Obnoxious Little Brother: too late he wishes you luck by the way and says he has complete faith in you goes to show which one of us  knows you better eh? not him!

Hanzo scowled down at his phone before he gaze flickered briefly up to the person who had sat across from him.  He'd been painfully aware of Jesse McCree since McCree had arrived in the library and pulled back the chair with a scrape that had made the hairs on the back of Hanzo's neck stand on end.  So far McCree had made no acknowledgment that there was another person at this table, another person he was going to be forced to work along side for the next two weeks.

Hanzo didn't know whether Zenyatta had faith in him or if Genji had just been trying to wind him up, but Hanzo certainly did not have faith in himself, not about this.  He had never been good at... people. He made, in Genji's words, “seriously just the worst first impressions.  Like wow.  So bad,” which just wasn't fair because when it came to a professional setting, when it was about work or networking, he was fine.  He could move effortlessly through the crowds, introduce himself, chat, plan, negotiate.  He'd been dogging his father's footsteps since it had been decided he would one day take over the family business and he was a devoted student.  But as soon as it was real people in real life Hanzo may as well be carved out of wood; somehow he always managed to put his foot in his mouth.  Which was why he had fallen so low as to turn to his baby brother for advice, because at least Genji, if nothing else could be said about him, was good with people.

Too good with people, if you asked their father.  Genji was a social butterfly who wasn't so much a butterfly as a housefly, flitting about around everywhere and getting where at lot of people would probably wish he wasn't and really not caring who he chatted with or what they thought about him.

Obnoxious Little Brother: look, just don't do the Hanzo Special and you should be fine

Hanzo Shimada: Excuse me??

Obnoxious Little Brother: u kno, your patented Grunt & Growl ™ technique don't do that and assume other people can actually understand you bc they can't

Hanzo wanted to snap back that he did not grunt or growl, thank you, he was a mature adult unlike Genji, but he found his fingers hesitating on the keys.  Frantically he scanned his memory to figure out if he had grunted or growled at Jesse McCree.

God help him he probably had.  He had almost certainly stared stupidly at him.

McCree... glowed, though, and Hanzo wasn't sure what to do with that.  He spoke so easily.  All it had taken was one glance from McCree on the first day of class for him to apparently decide that Hanzo was a lost cause.  Before Hanzo had managed to scrounge up a single coherent, reasonable thing to say to the sunshine bright, smiling boy who'd sat down next to him, said boy had turned his attentions to the much more receptive form of Angela Ziegler, the girl sitting to his right.

McCree was loud and raucous and ridiculous and he wore the stupidest hat Hanzo had ever seen but god help him he wanted to see McCree smile at him, rather than catch glimpse of it from the corner of his eye while he laughed with someone else.  He wanted to have McCree attention at some point other than when he'd made a fool of himself with his ugly laugh or by seeing McCree stare judgmentally at his notes.

Obnoxious Little Brother: at the risk of sounding too much like a disney movie have you tried just.... being yourself??? (this was zen's suggestion btw i'm personally pretty sure being someone other than yourself would be a step in the right direction but you never know maybe disney knows whats up)

Hanzo thought about what McCree had looked like when they had been forced to choose partners.  He had wanted to be anywhere than with Hanzo. The look he had shot Ziegler when she had found a different partner... the helpless, defeated look when he had accepted that the only person nearby not taken was Hanzo.

No, being himself was definitely not going to help him here.

Hanzo Shimada: Never mind I'll figure it out

What he was going to do was pretend that Jesse McCree was just some other random student, keep his head down, get this project done with the least amount of fuss, and move on to his next set of class next semester and hopefully forget that McCree existed.

“Shall we get started?” he asked briskly, pocketing his phone and pulling out his own book.

McCree's face was despondent and it sat like a stone in Hanzo's gut.  He would rather be anywhere than here.

“Might as well,” said McCree.

[alienvirals]

Arrival review: heartfelt alien-contact movie communicates spectacular ideas

Amy Adams stars as a linguist reaching out to extraterrestrial visitors in Denis Villeneuves high-concept highwire act of a film

Denis Villeneuves sci-fi contact drama is dreamy, freaky, audacious. It skirts the edge of absurdity, as anything like this must, but manages to keep clear, and it includes a big flourish in the manner of early films by M Night Shyamalan, which adroitly finesses the narrative issue of what exactly to do with a movie about aliens showing up on Earth.

I have been agnostic about this kind of movie recently, after the overwrought disappointments of Christopher Nolans Interstellar and Jeff Nicholss Midnight Special. But Villeneuves Arrival is both heartfelt and very entertaining.

As is now expected with this kind of film, the protagonist is a flustered, bewildered civilian with special expertise, brusquely pressed into service by the military, which has got the spacecraft surrounded in the short term.

Amy Adams is Dr Louise Banks, a professor of comparative linguistics with nothing and no one in her life but her work. But as it happens, Dr Banks was once seconded as a military adviser to translate a video of insurgents speaking Farsi. So when a dozen giant spaceships land in 12 different locations on Earth (including Devon sadly there no scenes there), each looking like a bisected rugby ball standing on end, a bunch of army guys led by Col Weber (Forest Whitaker) show up on Louises doorstep, demanding she come with them to help translate what the aliens are saying. Why, you ask, did they not approach Noam Chomsky, with his understanding of deep structure in language? Perhaps Prof Chomsky did not care to help Americas military-intelligence complex.

At any rate, Louises liaison is the flirtatious Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), a military scientist who, in a stereotypical and fallacious way, equates his masculinity with science and affects to despise what he sees as the softer discipline of linguistics. Michael Stuhlbarg plays Halpern, the glowering CIA chief. But unbeknown to them, there is a secret tragedy in Louises life: a lost child, dead of cancer in her late teens. Her attempts to communicate with the aliens cause painful but illuminating echoes in her mind.

If a lion could speak, said Wittgenstein, we would not understand him. Does the same go for aliens? Spielberg solved this issue elegantly in Close Encounters of the Third Kind by making the form of communication a five-note musical phrase, ending questioningly on the dominant. Villeneuves solution is more literal. The aliens have a code which a little preposterously Louise finds herself more or less able to crack, with the crowdsourced expertise of the other 11 human-contact teams around the globe. But it is her human intuition, vulnerability and spontaneity that finally enable her to reach out to the visitors.

Arrival trailer: Amy Adams makes first contact with aliens

Inevitably, these contact moments are where the films real impact and atmosphere have to be. And Villeneuve doesnt disappoint in sequences of eerie and claustrophobic strangeness though I concede the film is most effective before the physical form of the aliens is revealed. There are also touches of comedy: Ian and Louise decide, for conveniences sake, to nickname two aliens Abbott and Costello maybe in homage to the linguistic misunderstanding in the duos famous routine about a baseball batting order.

By coolly switching focus to political intrigue and betrayal within the human ranks, Villeneuve keeps a grip on his story and creates ballast for its departure into the realms of the visionary and supernatural. And he also prepares us for the films sense that language itself, freed of our usual sense of its linear form, might be more important than anyone thought. (I wonder if Villeneuve has seen the 2010 documentary Into Eternity, by Danish film-maker Michael Madsen, about attempts to devise a new universal language to label underground repositories of nuclear waste labels whose warnings have to be understood by future humans whose language has evolved away from what we know now.)

Arrival is a big, risky, showy movie which jumps up on its high-concept highwire and disdains a net. And yes, there are moments of silliness when it wobbles a little, but it provides you with spectacle and fervent romance.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

The post Arrival review: heartfelt alien-contact movie communicates spectacular ideas appeared first on AlienVirals.com - Latest Alien & UFO News.

from AlienVirals.com – Latest Alien & UFO News http://www.alienvirals.com/arrival-review-heartfelt-alien-contact-movie-communicates-spectacular-ideas-4/

[learningpundits]

Tips on Punctuation & Spelling

Grammar Rules and Tips for using Punctuation & Spelling

What is Punctuation?

Punctuation is a set of rules to place certain marks in a sentence to indicate division or pauses in that sentence, particularly in written communication.

Types of Punctuation Marks:

(1)  Comma ,

(2)  Full Stop or Period.

(3)  Semicolon ;

(4)  Colon:

(5)  Question Mark?

(6)  Exclamation Mark!

(7)  Dash and Parentheses (-)

(8)  Hyphen -

(9)  Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks “ ”

Tips on using Punctuation:

Tip 1: Use of Comma 1. To separate words in a list:

He lost lands, money, reputation and friends.

2. To write a Noun or a Phrase in Apposition:

Pandit Nehru, the first prime Minister of India, died in 1964.

3. To separate an Adverb clause when it is followed by a main clause:

When the bus arrives, we will board it.

4. for co-ordinate clauses:

His story was, in several ways, improbable.

Sportsmen, who are generally superstitious, prefer to wear same jersey.

5. To indicate the omission of a word, especially a verb:

Rama received a fountain pen; Hari, a watch.

6. To separate Nominative Absolutes:

The wind being favorable, the squadron sailed.

7. To address people:

How are you, Mohan?

8. To separate initials and titles:

Please call on Mr. Sethi, B.A, LLB.

9. To write dates:

He arrived on July 10, 2008 (but no comma required when we write 10th July 2008).

NO USE of COMMA:

a)    When the reported speech is interrogative

“Are you coming today?” she asked.

b)    When the Adjective clause is restrictive in meaning

This is the house that Jack built.

c)    Before the word preceded by ‘and’

It was a long, dull and wearisome journey.

Tip 2: Full Stop 1. To mark the end of a declarative or an imperative sentence

We are leaving for Delhi Tomorrow.

2. After abbreviation and initials of names

He lives in the U.S.A

Mr. A.K. Sharma is our new English teacher.

3. after fractions, amounts, time and date

He leaves at 8.30 a.m

He was born on 4.09.2013

4. after end of address

10, Karol Bagh, New Delhi.

Tip 3: Semicolon & Colon Semicolon:

1. To separate the clauses of Compound sentence, when they contain a comma

He was a brave, large-hearted man; and we all honored him.

2. In place of ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘because’ to mark end of one thought and continuation to another.

Man proposes; God disposes.

Colon:

1. before enumeration, examples, etc; as,

The principal parts of a verb in English are: the present tense, the past tense, and the past participle.

2. before a long list, quotation or speech

Wordsworth wrote: Child is father of man.

Tip 4: Questions & Exclamation Marks Question Mark

1. after a direct question:

Have you written your exercise?

2. after question tag:

They can do it, can’t they?

NO QUESTION MARK after an indirect question

He asked me whether I had written my essay.

Exclamation Mark

1. After Interjections and after Phrases and Sentences expressing joy, sorrow, pride etc

Alas! -- Oh dear!

What a terrible fire this is!

Tip 5: Hyphen 1. To make a compound adjective qualifying a noun

She is a well-known actor.

2. after prefixes to separate two vowels

Co-ordinate the meeting for me.

3. To write prefixes

He is the ex-principal of the college

4. To make compound numbers between 21 and 99

He is gone for twenty-four days

5. To separate or connect the parts of a compound word

They conducted a door-to-door campaign.

Tip 6: Quotes & Dash Quotes

1. To enclose the exact words of a speaker, or a quotation

The king said “Free the prisoners”.

2. To enclose names of books, poems, essays etc.

I have bought “The Mahabharata” series.

3. If quotation occurs within a quotation, it is marked by single inverted commas

"You might as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like’.”

Dash

1. To indicate an abrupt stop or change of thought

They are – I am sure – genuine people.

2. To resume a scattered subject

Friends, companions, relatives - all deserted him.

Tip 7: Apostrophe 1. To show possession (used with s)

Give me Rohan’s bag.

2. After plural nouns of proper Nouns apostrophe is used without ‘s’

She lives in a Girls’ hostel.

3. To show the omission of a letter or letters

I don’t need water.

4. To form the plural of letters and figures.

You must learn the P’s and Q’s of a language

NO APOSTROPHE

1. In case of non-living things

The table’s wood wood of the table is shining

2. With pronouns, only ‘s’ is used.

Our’s Ours is a big house

Tip 8: Capitals 1. To begin a sentence.

We are going to watch a movie tonight.

2. for all nouns and pronouns which indicate the Deity or even man in broader sense

He is the God. We worship Him.

3. To begin all Proper Nouns and Adjectives derived from them

He went to Chennai to learn more about Deccan literature.

4. To write interjections

Oh! We are lost.

5. To write a reported speech

She said, “I am not going.”

6. To write first person of the pronoun

She hates me but I don’t hate her.

Tip 9: Numerals 1. If sentence contains one series of numbers, all numbers should be written in figures

She has bought 4 tables and 2 chairs.

2. If sentence contains two series of numbers, one series should be written in figures and another in words

Five students have secured 90%marks and two have secured 60%

3. When one number follows another immediately, the first one should be written in words and the second in figures

The plumber asked for five 4-feet long pipes

4. When a sentence begins with a number, it should be written in words

Fifty people are missing following landslide in Uttarakhand.

5. Compound numbers between 21 and 99 are written in words

There are fifty-three pages in this book.

Spot the Errors:

Each of the following sentences will contain a/some Punctuation mistake/s. See if you can spot that mistake.

#1: Maldives is a beautiful country, the beaches are warm sandy and clean. (Incorrect)

Maldives is a beautiful country; the beaches are warm, sandy and clean. (Correct)

#2: Prof RK Mishra will be meeting the local MLA tomorrow at 10-30 am (Incorrect)

Prof. R.K. Mishra will be meeting the local M.L.A tomorrow at 10.30 a.m. (Correct)

#3: Its cloudy-it may rain. (Incorrect)

It is/it’s cloudy; it may rain. (Correct)

#4: Please send us the following food items; Biscuits Cakes Chips, and Wafers (Incorrect)

Please send us the following food items: Biscuits, Cakes, Chips and Wafers. (Correct)

#5: He will succeed: you never. (Incorrect)

He will succeed; you, never. (Correct)

#6: “Can you help me”, he asked? (Incorrect)

“Can you help me?” he asked. (Correct)

#7: This house is her’s and she has chosen the wall’s colours. (Incorrect)

This house is hers and she has chosen the colours of the walls. (Correct)

#8: "O! God," he screamed, I have left the keys inside the car. (Incorrect)

"O God!," he screamed, “I have left the keys inside the car." (Correct)

#9: He is going to mumbai for 31 days. (Incorrect)

He is going to Mumbai for thirty-one days. (Correct)

#10: The shopkeeper asked me whether I needed 3 2-feet long rulers? (Incorrect)

The shopkeeper asked me whether I needed three 2-feet long rulers. (Correct)

Tips on Spelling:

Tips on Spelling-Double Consonant:

1.    When words end with single vowel + single consonant, double the consonant. beg + ed = begged---run + ing = running

2.    When words of two or three syllables end with single vowel + single consonant, double the final consonant if the last syllable is stressed.

begin + ing = beginning -- occur + ed = occurred

3.    Double the consonant, while adding ‘er’ or ‘est’ to make comparatives and superlatives. thin-thinner-thinnest--- fat—fatter—fattest

4.    Double the consonant, when making noun from a verb. cut-cutter--run-runner

5.    Double the consonant, when adding ‘Y’ to make an adjective of a noun.

mud-muddy---fun-funny

6.    Double the consonant when the stress is on the first syllable of words ending with ‘at, el, ip, op, il’. Travel-travelled-travelling---worship-worshipped-worshipping.

NO Double Consonant:

1.    If the second syllable is stressed and not the last syllable. listen-listened-listening---benefit + ed = benefited -- suffer + ing = suffering

2.    When there is a suffix with a consonant. Sinful, Sadness, Childhood

Tips on Spelling-Ending with ‘Y’:

1.    Verbs ending with ‘y’ with a consonant before it, change from ‘y’ to ‘i’ before a suffix (ed, er) except ‘-ing’. marry-married- marrying—try-tried-trying

2.    Words ending with ‘y’ with a vowel before it, do not change. Obey-obeyed-obeying—pray-prayed-praying

Exception-: words like Say, Pay, Lay, etc. change only when ‘id’ ‘ly’ are added. Say-said—lay-laid—day-daily.

3.    Nouns and Adjectives ending with ‘y’ with a consonant before them, change from ‘y’ to ‘i’ before a suffix (est, er, full, ly, ness, etc). sunny-sunnier-sunniest—tidy-tidier-tidiest

4.    On reverse, verbs ending with ‘ie’, change to ‘y’ when suffix ‘ing’ is added. lie-lying—die-dying

Tips on Spelling-Ending with ‘e’:

1.    Words ending in silent ‘e’ drop the ‘e’ before a suffix beginning with a vowel. live + ing = living -- move + ed = moved

2.    Words ending in silent ‘e’ drop the ‘e’ when suffix like ‘ing’, ‘able’, ‘ary’ and ‘ous’ are added. fame + ous = famous, stare + ing = staring

3.    Silent ‘e’ is dropped when ‘y’ is added after a noun. taste-tasty—noise-noisy

4.    Silent ‘e’ after the consonant‘t’ is dropped when the suffix ‘tion’ is added at the end. deplete + tion =depletion—pollute + tion + pollution

5.    Adjectives ending with ‘le’, drop the ‘e’ when added with suffix ‘y’. subtle-subtly—sensible-sensibly

6.    Silent ‘e’ is changed to ‘i’ if the word ends with ‘ce’ and the suffix ‘ous’ is added to it. malice + ous + malicious – space + ous = spacious

7.    Words ending in ‘ce’ and ‘ge’ keep the ‘e’ when adding ‘able’ and ‘ous’. notice + able = noticeable--- courage + ous = courageous

8.    Words ending in ‘ee’ do not drop an ‘e’ before a suffix. see + ing = seeing---agree + ment = agreement

Tips on Spelling-Ending with ‘ll’, ‘n’, ‘c’:

1.    When words ending with ‘ll’ are compounded with suffix ‘full’, the second ‘l’ is dropped both from the word and the suffix . skill + full = skilful -- will + full = wilful

2.    When words ending with ‘ll’ are compounded with ‘un’, ‘dis’, ‘in’ or other words, ‘l’ is dropped . all + together= altogether—un + till= until

3.    Adjectives ending with ‘l’ are written with ‘ll’ when suffix ‘y’ is added at end. final-finally—real-really

4.    In words ending with ‘n’, the ‘n’ is retained when suffix ‘ness’ is added at the end. Keen-keenness, mean-meanness

5.    When ie or ei is pronounced like ‘ee’ in ‘keep', ‘i’ comes before ‘e’. But after the letter ‘c’, we always write ‘ei’. believe – receive—relieve—conceit

6.    Words ending with letter ‘c’ are changed to ‘ck’ when adding ‘ed’, ‘er’, ‘ing’. panic-panicked—picnic-picnicker

Tips on Spelling-Making Plurals:

1.    The Plural of nouns is generally formed by adding -s to the singular. Boy-boys---pen- pens.

2.    Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch (soft), -o or -x form the plural by adding -es to the singular. class—classes—box-boxes– buffalo-buffaloes

3.    Few nouns ending in -o merely add –s. dynamo-dynamos—ratio - ratios;

4.    Nouns ending in -y, preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing -y into –I and adding –es. Baby—babies---lady—ladies.

5.    Words ending in -f or -fe form their plural by changing ‘v’ and adding –es. Thief—thieves—wife—wives.

Exception: cliff--cliffs—handkerchief—handkerchiefs– chief—chiefs

6.    Few nouns form their plural by changing the inside vowel of the singular. man—men---foot—feet

7.    Some nouns form their plural by adding -en to the singular. Ox—oxen—child--children.

8.    Words ending with ‘y’ with a consonant before it, change from ‘y’ to ‘ies’ for plural but retain the ‘y’ if it is preceded by a vowel. country—countries—play—plays

Spot the Errors:

Each of the following sentences will contain a/some Spelling mistake/s. See if you can spot that mistake.

#1: It was the sadest day of my life when I recieved tragic news. (Incorrect) It was the saddest day of my life when I received tragic news. (Correct)

#2: It occured to him last week that he was sufferring from jaundice. (Incorrect) It occurred to him last week that he was suffering from jaundice. (Correct)

#3: The elder sister had an arranged marryage and the younger one is marriing by her own choice. (Incorrect) The elder sister had an arranged marriage and the younger one is marrying by her own choice. (Correct)

#4: He sayed that they praid every day for his speeddy recovery. (Incorrect) He said that they prayed every day for his speedy recovery. (Correct)

#5: They will be tieing the knot in a beautyful destination wedding next month. (Incorrect) They will be tying the knot in a beautiful destination wedding next month. (Correct)

#6: Finaly he could fullfill his mother’s wish. (Incorrect) Finally he could fulfil his mother’s wish. (Correct)

#7: He has loveing personality with some noteable qualities. (Incorrect) He has a loving personality with some notable qualities. (Correct)

#8: Please give me three boxs of handkerchieves. (Incorrect) Please give me three boxes of handkerchiefs. (Correct)

#9: Theater groups from various countrys are coming to present their playes in the festival. (Incorrect) Theater groups from various countries are coming to present their plays in the festival. (Correct)

#10: She paniced after seing the video of the car accident. (Incorrect) She panicked after seeing the video of the car accident. (Correct)

(contd..) Tips on Spelling & Punctuation - https://learningpundits.com/module-view/26-spelling-and-punctuation/1-tips-on-spelling-&-punctuation/

LEARNING PUNDITS (https://learningpundits.com/) Learning Pundits help Job Seekers make great CVs, master English Grammar & Vocabulary, ace Aptitude Tests, speak fluently in a Group Discussion, apply for jobs, participate in online contests.

[gabriellalarry4-blog]

Any sort of Film That Makes use of Blackberry Phones Instantly Looks Dated.

15 Advices That You Must Listen closely Before Examining gel.

Project supervisor John Carr shares Catholic Social Notion and also its treatments along with students as an adjunct lecturer in the Division of Faith. In addition to Pure Media Pioneers, we are advocating a fund for younger business owners on comparable terms as student financings. Comic books & Mental Wellness: zine-making shop with Una// Live Activity// 1800. Fast ahead to 2007, simply 10 years later on, and also HFFT ended up being a combined, enrolled, charity with its own Panel of Supervisors and 63 systems. Sunlight 15 Nov, Cinema of War, Royal Armouries, 15:00 - 16:30, free of charge admittance with Saturday/Weekend event pass, Minimal space accessible, therefore feel free to arrive early, simply note: Thought Blister performs not handle movie content, this assessment is actually encouraged for ages 12A. In case you have any queries about where and the best way to utilize http://consulbick.info/, you can email us in the page. At Big Notion, our objective is actually to bridge the option gap by delivering quality, imagination-based shows to 150,000 under-resourced pupils all over 433 sites in Dallas. Determine just what's in retail store for the future, and also assist commemorate this first wedding anniversary in style at this informal panel conversation in between the witties' designers, editor, as well as Young Creature's curator Gerard Method. As adults, this self-confidence gap can halt many hopeful girls business owners in their keep tracks of just before they have actually also acquired their idea off the ground, which is why building skill-sets as well as self-assurance is an important strand hiddening each one of my Groundwork's work.

5 Resourceful Ways You Can Do With gel.

Cherie Blair While strides are being actually made, females's entrepreneurship still drags guys's in every however seven nations on the planet. But definitely being entailed with assembling one thing new or helping social entrepreneurs who possess definitely appealing ideas obtain something off the ground or even around scale with exactly what I would certainly contact mezzanine lending" ... that can be truly trendy also. In 2009, she began dealing with Michelle Obama and also the social as well as cultural switches roused by the very first African United States household in the White Home. Signing up with Significant Notion and also Dallas ISD in this particular campaign is actually Dallas Afterschool. That is illegible this fairly dry purchase as just about anything other than in the wheelhouse of the American President, effectively within his authority to bring about, and also steady with just what Pres Trump stated throughout the campaign.

Wytches # 2 variant through Jeff Lemire - Sunday 15th November, Picture Comics stand, 1330 - 1430, Sunday 16th November, Image Comics stand, 1500 - 1600, ₤ 5 each copy. Herman stores an office chair as Centennial Professor of Rule at Brooklyn Regulation University, where she currently instructs programs in Constitutional Regulation and also Offender Operation, and workshops on Law as well as Literary works, and also Violence and also Civil Liberties.

Five Common Myths About gel.

Rested 15th November, Bury Theater, Royal Armouries, 1530 - 1620, cost-free entry along with Saturday/Weekend event elapsed, any ages, yet please notice: Thought Bubble performs certainly not console material. Tony Elumelu This must be actually every federal government's part to develop the permitting setting for entrepreneurs to flourish. While still at Harvard, he had actually examined jurisprudence with Teacher Roscoe Extra pound, among the best learned jurists on the planet. I don't indicate for this to seem like a 'brave new globe' exactly, I am actually assuming more regarding the type of social interactions that lead folks to prefer to function in particular ways ... whether that be political or even another thing. Background and found condition from specialist psychological science in Zambia. Hosted due to the Firoz Lalji Center for Africa, Africa Speaks and LSE Literary Celebration. To put Christian values right into method through programs that create well-balanced spirit, mind, and also body for all. Exploring and dental defence of results in the visibility from professors as well as other students. As aspect of this obstacle that is vital to recognize the enormous equity concerns related to the failing to satisfy essential necessities for water (or food items, or even a secure environment, or even any amount of other traits). The Institute is actually functioning to turn its interrelated courses into a nationwide version for interdisciplinary analysis, training, and publication on behalf of United States's mental heritage. Akotia as well as Olowu's (2000) newspaper was actually based on a previous paper offered at the 14th International Congress from International Linkage of Cross-Cultural Psychology along with Naidoo and Gilbert in 1998 (see Naidoo, Olowu, Gilbert, & Akotia, 1998 ). What requirements emphasizing is the fact that Prof. Entrepreneurship suggests a continual readiness to always keep knowing. For all the excellent entrepreneurs that I recognize, wide range is actually an enabler to continuously perform even more wonderful factors. Growing Minds Summer seasons Camping ground computer programming was offered to 8,500 trainees at 60 companion internet sites in 2014 and also 2015. Both are actually entrepreneurship, but of various kinds, causing different end results.

[raceandspeculation]

The Other Inside

Kayla Wilson ENG 3690 Prof. Smalls 2/22/17

           In a movie about aliens and extraterrestrial life form, it would seem obvious to one what the ‘other’ would be. The Other is a literary trope that dates back to long before man envisioned themselves with aliens bursting forth from their chest. The Other was at first the ‘noble savage’ who was not European and therefore pure from the decadent downfall that Europe considered itself suffering from. The Other was Frankenstein’s monster, different in appearance from its creator and therefore subjected to fear and disdain. Dating back to the 1800’s and beyond, the Other has always been something to fear and attempt to eradicate. Because the Other was not the same as the protagonist, they were looked down upon. When first considering the Alien film series, the role of the Other seems easy to point out. The role of the Other is that of the aliens,  the Xenomorphs, and they are blasted and killed at every turn. The aliens, however, are not the only Others in the film. Within the universe created for the Alien franchise we see a few characters that are revealed to be androids and therefore are not human even though they look to be in appearance. The treatment of the Other from the first Alien movie to the treatment of the Other in Alien: Resurrection shows how the bias one might have against the Other affects interactions and stretches to more than just the aliens that Ellen Ripley is so determined to kill. Through examining the role of the Other in these two films, nuances of the human behavior and perception then become more apparent.

     The main Other in Alien does, indeed, appear to be the Xenomorphs. Right off the bat they are bursting out of the chests and killing the crew which cements their place as the evil Other. The human’s disgust for them seems well rooted in the fact that they are a danger to their way of life. The Other in this instance is a threat and therefore must be eradicated. Because the Other is considered unnatural by the human protagonist, it should not be allowed to exist. In “Ripley as Interstitial Character: White Woman as Monster and Hero in Alien Resurrection”, Caroline J. Picart describes the Other as “the scapegoat, whose sacrifice is necessary in order for a conventional closure to occur” (pg.2). The alien is not seen as a mother figure trying to reproduce but instead as a monster. Humans often place their own survival so highly that they do not stop to consider how their actions are harmful to other species. If a human kills a cow to survive that is considered fine, but a Xenomorph who attempts to use a human for survival is something out of a horror movie. In addition to the Xenomorphs, the android Ash is also introduced in this film. Even in 1979 when technology was not as advanced, robots were something to fear and mistrust. Throughout the course of the film, Ash is revealed not only to be a science officer but an android who has an ulterior motive. He considers the crew of the Nostromo to be expendable means to an end and is dispatched just as gruesemly as the aliens were. Ellen Ripley, the female Warrant Officer turned hero, is just as distrustful of Ash as she is of the aliens and he receives just as little mercy in the end. His end goal did not need the survival of Ripley, and his motives are easy to brush aside as evil and corrupt. Both examples of Otherness in this film are shown in an antagonistic light. Their goals do not align with that of the heroes and because of that they meet untimely ends, their deaths being something to celebrate.

      By the time we get to Alien: Resurrection in 1997, some crucial things have changed. For one, Ripley herself is now a part of the Other. After Ripley’s death in Alien3 we now find her a clone who has not only been born but also hosted an alien parasite in her. Her DNA has been altered with that of the aliens and she is no longer pure and removed from the Other. That aside, we still see Ripley push the Newborn into space even if the act makes her tearful. Ripley’s final words in the film that she is now a stranger on Earth are true. She is the Other, and yet, she is not. Joss Whedon, who penned the script, did not create a hero that was purely Other. Although Ripley was altered she retained some of her memories. Her new outfit was a strong contrast to that of the first three films and signaled change without rendering the character unrecognizable. “What is new and disturbing is the symbiotic relationship with sexual connotations,” Pamela Church Gibson wrote, “established and developed in this series between the central protagonist and this unsettling Other. Despite- or perhaps because of- its liberal persuasion” (You’ve been in my Life So Long, 37). Ripley and the Other are tied together throughout the course of the film series and by the time Resurrection has come, the Other has impacted more than just Ripley’s perception. We also see this new Ripley, the eighth clone of Ellen Ripley, interact with one who is revealed to be an android. Annalee Call is an Auton who is at one point going to kill Ripley in cold blood but later is saved by Ripley. Like Ash in the first film, she has a goal and seems determined to make it to it no matter what the cost. That changes, however, and Call and Ripley are seen to be the last two and even share an intimate moment. Call’s treatment as an Auton shows that Ripley has changed her view of androids some, which could be related to the fact that Ripley herself has changed.

     From Alien in 1979 to Alien: Resurrection, we see a sort of shift. At first, the Other is described only as evil. Ash is an android and he is conniving. The aliens are trying to kill the human. The space between them and us are quite wide and obvious to see. By the time we reach the fourth movie in the franchise, however, the lines have been cleared. Both Ripley and Call, the two main characters, contain Other like qualities. The viewer, however, accepts them, as the protagonists. I believe that this relates back to the fact that humans are scared of what is not like them. The Xenomorphs are drastically different from us in appearance, and their physical form does play into the perception of them and makes people focus on them as monsters instead of creatures also trying to stay alive. Even though Ripley and Call have drifted into the Other as well, the viewer accepts both as they are white women. They do not look like the Other and there is some way to suspend the disbelief that the beautiful Winona Ryder is something that was actively disliked in the first film. Ripley’s accumulation of Otherness is part of her character growth and development, not something that signals that she should be killed because she has alien modifications.

        Tess Williams discussed the Creature from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in her piece “Arrival of the Fittest”. The Creature itself is a very clear depiction of Otherness, as he is hated for his appearance and form even though he possesses a functioning mind and emotions. Even before he opens his mouth the villagers flee in fear. If the Xenomorphs had not been monstrous in form, would they have received the same initial fear from the humans? It is likely that they would have since they were trying to kill the people, but their form alone is enough to distinguish them as the Other that we are supposed to despise and hate in contrast to the Other like Call and Ripley that we can understand. Williams wrote “the monster created by the scientist is a patched and seamed entity or body holding the paradox of life in death and death in life. The creature is simultaneously powerful and vulnerable” (135). The lines between life and death have been blurred with Call and Ripley. The idea of having a Ripley clone was derived from the fact that Ellen Ripley had sacrificed herself in the previous films. To see her character once more even though she had clearly died was like seeing Victor Frankenstein bring his creation to life. Call, as an Auton, had a belief in God but also knew that she could not move on to the afterlife. They appear to be living and breathing humans, but the innate Otherness about both of them set them apart exponentially.

       Through looking at the reception to the Other in both Aliens and Alien: Resurrection we see how the Other is considered vile and unwanted but becomes more acceptable when it is in a form that is more relational to that of the human being. The human mind fears what it does not understand and Ripley’s slow slide into Otherness allowed the audience to travel with her. She possessed acidic abilities by the time the fourth film came out, but her new leather appearance was only part of the development of a woman who we had seen grow throughout the course of her adventures. Even in cases where the Other is not so different from us except for in form, they are not treated the same. People have long held prejudices against those not like him, and when considering the treatment of the Other from the first Alien film to Resurrection we see how perception shapes interactions. At the end of the day, we ourselves are the Other in some scenarios. There are always others around us who are different than we are, and to judge them based on a purely physical level or because of their differences is isolating. Instead, the film franchise gives us a chance to know the Other on a deeper level and consider the Xenomorph Queen as a mother trying to protect her children, a story that runs parallel to Ripley’s journey to protect her people. We see through the films not how we can become the Other, but how we always were the Other. We work to promote our own survival no matter what the cost, even though that may make us seem monstrous in actions at times. Hopefully, one does not have to die and get cloned to reach a deeper understanding of the Other, but instead only has to look outside of their own self for a moment and consider that which the Other goes through.

WORD COUNT: 1781

                                                                           WORKS CITED

Picart, Caroline J. “Ripley as Interstitial Character: White Woman as Monster and Hero in Alien Resurrection." Dropbox, Inc., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

Gibson, Pamela. “You’ve Been in My Life so Long I Can’t Remember Anything Else.” Ed. Matthew Tinkcom and Amy Villarejo. Keyframes: Popular Cinema and Cultural Studies (2001): n. pag. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Alien. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Sigourney Weaver. 20th Century Fox. 1979. Film

Alien: Resurrection. Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Perf. Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. 20th Century Fox, 1997. Film.

Williams, T. (2016). Arrival of the fittest. Cultural Studies Review, 22(2), 132-148. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/csr.v22i2.4580