#trying to remember his Night Market quote

[stardewremixed]

Awww why so flustered, Seb?

Are you worried the Farmer is bored?

Night Market is the best! 🌙 🛍

Flustered Sebastian during the Night Market.

[withallthingslove]

Nick & June Thoughts Episode 6 Part 2

Basically welcome back Jess Mariano

This episode had Nick shutting down (like when Jess found out he wasn't graduating etc) and then impulsively professing his love and asking to run away (like when Jess asked Rory to come live with him because "he's ready now")

Very different situations from Nick and June but the point being I think I've seen this film before. Obviously Jess and Rory aren't endgame but they were good old fashioned teen drama and the handmaid's tale has become a soap drama

I was wondering why Nick's behavior seemed so familiar and it's literally Jess at the house party shutting down and Rory asking what's wrong.

But obviously Nick is stressed and having trauma flashbacks of killing the guard, and I think wants comfort from June. But part of me wonders if he feared getting caught so he wanted one last night with her

I've seen a lot of people wondering why Elisabeth Moss' words are so different to what it seems even people who don't love Nick see on screen and I think we are seeing a difference in writing vs acting and directing vs marketing

When Nick throws the SIM card away and when Nick tells Wharton the Mayday plan, those both happen after Wharton brings up Nick's future son. I think it is written that those things are what trigger Nick to act. Which is why you have the quotes about him choosing Gilead and his Gilead family and why the marketing leans that way.

But then what we see is Nick scared and panicked and falling apart. We see him immediately tear up when Wharton yells at him, which calls back to the fact his dad was probably abusive. The acting and directing (and editing) adds more than the page and the marketing. But it also leaves a discrepancy in how the scenes are interpreted and talked about by the actors.

When he goes to June that morning.... I thought back to when Nick called things off in season 1 and June asks "is this enough for you this bs life" and then he tells her his name and that's he's from Michigan. I distinctly remember Max saying that was a "masculine mistake" that Nick thinks just telling her that is enough to earn her forgiveness.

This feels like another masculine mistake, and it's one of being a coward. I don't fault nick for telling Wharton what he did at all, but springing Paris on June as a way to try and keep her from finding out to me is the bigger betrayal. And I think that kind of anxious and avoidant behavior is common with men.

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Saw this incorrect quote and thought it fit tsundere Jeff;

BEN: Oh, I see what's going on.

Jeff: Yeah?

BEN: This is about y/n. You met someone, you liked them, but then you missed your shot. And now you're trying to act like you don't care.

Jeff: BEN, you could not be more- What do you mean I missed my shot?

BEN: Y/n met a guy.

Jeff: What?! What?

BEN: Yep. Off the market. He's taking them to Cafe L'Amour this Friday night.

Jeff: But "L'Amour" means love! They're going to the cafe of love! I'm fine. It's fine. Point is, BEN, I don't even like y/n. [smiles at the mention of their name.] Damn it!

Friday night--

Jeff: [storms into BEN's room] You lying little dick. I happened to be at Cafe L'Amour tonight from 5:00 p.m. until closing, reading a newspaper with two holes cut out of it, and I never saw y/n or this Italian race car driver they're dating.

BEN: Sorry. Who said anything about an...?

Jeff: Come on, you just know he's an Italian race car driver.

BEN: No, he's not. He doesn't exist. I made the whole thing up to see if you like y/n. And you do. So you should just call them. [Writes on a piece of paper and hands it to Jeff.] Here is their number.

[Jeff rips up the piece of paper BEN just gave him]

BEN: And I also programmed it into your phone while you were in the bathroom.

[Jeff smashes his phone]

BEN: Wow. That was a joke. You just got here, remember?

That’s so incredibly accurate to Jeff. And afterward he begs for their number again

[moonspirit]

Moon, hello-hello 💚🌿

Hope you're doing well, and sending you some (⁠*⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠)⁠/⁠～❄️❄️ for the Christmas mood~

So, about the Christmas mood... What are your thoughts on Ambassadors Christmas "party" (in quotes because I don't think they would do as "party-party", you know, but I have no idea how to make it otherwise...) ?

What do you think they would gift each other, how would they spend their time? Knowing this chaotic team, some hilarious stuff would totally happen :D

Anyway, I hope you'll have fun with this, and have wonderful *timezone*, Moon (⁠っ⁠˘⁠з🌖 ⁠)

Hello Anna chan :3 Thank you so much for asking me this because HAHAA I had a complete laughter fit thinking of how fucking WRONG the Ambassador's first Christmas is going to go xD

For starters I'm just going to assume the Paradis boys are new to the concept of Christmas and that they celebrated something different back in Paradis during the winter. So, Santa Claus? Never heard of him but omg, seems like a great guy! How do we sign up for presents?!!!!

(Pieck tells them they have to become members of the Elven Association first and sends them on a wild-goose chase around town to find the Elven Lord for the sole benefit of her entertainment)

Reiner meanwhile, makes the mistake of taking up the role of Local Santa Claus for the kids in the neighbourhoods, and honestly? fair? The dude is LORGE and can do a great HO HO HO. Giving him a pillow-belly and an itchy beard turns out to be the best idea the local government has ever come up with in its 300 year history of failure.

However... it is a mistake. Dude is LORGE, remember? His first delivery and he gets stuck in a chimney.

In the middle of the Christmas market, Annie, hoping to be left alone in undisturbed peace and a chance to try out the sweets in the stalls, accidentally ends up following a cat to an abandoned street where a group of very misunderstood angry kids lurk in conspiratorial conversation, and sensing a sort of sisterhood in her similarly arranged resting bitch face, they convince her into dressing up as Krampus.

Basically this thing, the opposite of Santa Claus. For funsies and to kidnap children.

They have high hopes that Anniepus will be able to terrorize the town on their behalf because Christmas is for the happy and weak.

Unfortunately... Anniepus ends up being a very small Krampus and nobody's frightened of her as she skulks around town searching to put children in her bucket. Not like she really cares tho. She just wants those goddamn sweets 🥲

Update (very late into the night): Reiner is still stuck in the chimney and his itchy beard is starting to give him a rash. Not that anyone can see tho, the chimney is dark!

Update (from somewhere very far away, on a snowy cliff overlooking a big chasm, great snowstorm blowing): three boys, dressed in worn out clothes, holding staffs, squint wistfully into the swirling wind. "Is that him? The Elven Lord's abode?"

(it's a bush)

Update (sometime later and somewhere else): Anniepus is stealing collecting cats from children and putting them in her bucket.

Update (even later into the night): Reiner's sleigh driver is getting tired of waiting for his Santa and incurring heavy parking fees.

Update (from the next continent): Three boys, scruffy and homeless, chase after an ostrich. "Elven Lord, please let us join your association!"

Update: Anniepus starts a cat cafe.

Update: The local government deploys a crane to get Reiner out of the chimney. It is a failure. The crane cannot lift Santa's booba.

Update: The boys are in the South pole. They come across penguins and believe they've arrived at the Elf Factory!

Update: Pieck gets bored of everything and opens a sexy santa-girl strip club <3

[mysticstarlightduck]

Personality Through Quotes

Thanks for the tag @kaylinalexanderbooks!!! (here)

MY QUOTE IS: A quote about a weird habit they/someone else has.

YOUR QUOTE IS: A quote about your character's feelings about their world's government

Corah - "Hmm. Sometimes I tend to wake up in the middle of the night to stare at the stars. I don't know why, but it's very calming. I like to count out all the constellation Dad has taught me about and the tales about each one, and then I try to make up new ones until the stories get more and more chaotic and outlandish with each new one and then I go back to sleep."

Arammys - "I would say my weird habit is that, from time to time, I try making up stories in my mind, to replace the memories I don't have, and its come to the point that that habit's more like an intrusive thought rather than anything else and it concerns me. Like, I'll see someone on the street and immediatelly start imagining a whole backstory for how we might've met before and how they're my former best friend turned rival turned acquaintance - and the next thing I know I forgot what I was doing - But I'm normal, right? That's totally normal, right?"

Eidan - "I collect stuff! Genuinely. There's no real pattern to it and I don't really remember why I started. It's not an obsession or anything, just a hobby to distract me from stuff that might upset me. I'll just be walking down the riverbed and be like 'ooh that's a neat shell' and pick it up and add it to The Collection. I'll walk through the market and see a silk ribbon necklace on sale and I'll buy it and guess what, add it to The Collection. Anything that really stands out to me in some way makes it to my collection - but I have to really, really like the thing in order for it to be chosen. My collection of assorted knick knacks is as random as it is carefully curated. (smiles, actually proud of his collection)"

Nimwen - "Oh, neat! Not my weird habit, but my brother's - when he is upset he starts counting in Syllen, which is a local dialect from the city where we were born which nobody - except scholars and really really specific groups of people - really uses anymore. He also worries a lot and used to talk in his sleep - not anything concerning, just gibberish, but enough to wake me up every five minutes until I got used to it."

Rin - "People say I'm weird because I eat bugs and rodents. I don't think that's weird - they don't think it's weird for birds to eat those things, and my species is basically just a humanoid bird (okay, I'm an avian fey to be precise). Insects and rodents are a natural part of my diet, and people are the ones who need to stop being so sensitive to everything I do. Hey, is that a cricket?"

Tomasa - "Oh, my turn, my turn! I like to sing at the top of my lungs while bathing, even if I am admiteddly a bit off key I am having fun. I also like to go to taverns where no one knows anything about me and try to challenge the biggest dude in the place to a drinking contest! The look on their faces when I win is always priceless."

Masen - "Does using the bardic talents I hoped to one day be famous for to steal from my audience because I've had to become a thief instead count as a weird habit? That's not a rhetoric question, does it? I really wanna know, dude!"

Kyran - "I'm not really the kind of person who has 'weird habits', but if you really want to know... some of my inventions aren't exactly that legal, and they do have a tendency to... explode? But only on occasion, and sometimes to my favor, but you didn't hear it from me and you don't have any proof to tell anyone you heard this."

Maryon - "I like climbing to the roof of the towers of the castles - it's a beautiful and breathtaking view. I can see my whole city from there, covered in beautiful snow and blue ice, and the mountains of Tirawen are a small dot on the horizon. Occasionally, I'll see the outline of a dragon flying in the distance! I don't think it's a 'weird' habit, but it is certainly a risky one. I sometimes do this for fun, other times to escape from my duties when I want some peace and quite, haha"

Florynce - "I talk to the trees - and they whisper back at me! So do the flowers and the rocks and the rivers and the birds, and all of the forest! It says my blood runs through it."

Leora - "Don't tell anyone, or my reputation as the fearless underground leader might be at risk. But I still have my childhood plush toy and I can only sleep if I have it on my bed. It brings me comfort in a way little else does."

Elias - "Ooh, I have one hell of a list of weird quirks curated and stored straight from my brothers' childhood - Masen used to sleepwalk, until he one day he hit a wall and woke everyone in the house but not himself, Kyran one time got into an argument with an old lady at the market because they couldn't decide whether or not the scarf a vendor was selling was lilac or purple and turns out it was neither because it was pink, Masen used to cry whenever he heard a sad story involving dogs, Kyran said he hated the sea but turns out he didn't want to admit he was scared of sea monsters - want me to keep going? Because I can."

Tagging (gently, no pressure):@steh-lar-uh-nuhs @inky-duchess @late-to-the-fandom, @eccaiia @willtheweaver @littleladymab @cabbojage @lassiesandiego @little-peril-stories @oh-no-another-idea @thepeculiarbird @rickie-the-storyteller @crowandmoonwriting @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @gummybugg @forthesanityofstorytellers @doublegoblin @aalinaaaaaa @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @elshells @clairelsonao3 @anyablackwood @tabswrites @illarian-rambling and OPEN TAG

[neyswxrld]

fulfilling clichés

Echo x reader (gn)

summary: Date night with Echo!

warnings: some kisses at the end, fluff

word count: ~700

advent calendar masterlist

a/n: this is the eighteenth fic for my advent calendar for my special boy echo!

Echo and you walk through the streets, laughing and smiling. He had his cybernetic arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to his side and spending you some of his warmth.

You decided to make another date evening today.

First, you had dinner in a fancy but luckily relative cheap restaurant, and now you're making your way to the local movie theater. They have a special offer today. It's close to Christmas, so they're showing some fitting movies.

"We haven't decided yet, which one we want to see," Echo says after some time, looking over at you.

"Hmmm, I read that there are a few good ones on today. Have you seen some of them?" you ask and start to list the ones you remember.

Echo just shakes his head, already knowing there wasn't any Christmas film he'd ever seen. "It's actually the first time for me to celebrate Christmas at all."

Immediately, a sour feeling spreads in your gut. You already knew that. A few weeks ago, Echo was a little bit confused about all the new sweet things in the store. When he asked you about it, you realized that he didn't even know what Christmas really was at this point.

You tried to explain it, and even though he was confused about all of it at first, too, he happily decided to (quote:) "try the Christmas" this year.

So you've decided that it'll be the best Christmas ever. For him, and for you. You started to show him everything. Christmas cookies, markets, trees, decorations and a bunch of other stuff. Today was the turn for the movies. Or, at least one movie.

"Oh? I've seen some. If you want, I can sum up some of the plot," you suggest and as he nods with a sweet smile on his face, you start to explain the different movies to him, without spoiling too much.

Echo nods along. Sometimes, he crinkles his eyebrows in a cute way, unsure of what you're telling him isn't rather a fever dream than an actual movie, but in the end, he all in all looks very neutral.

"So?" you ask, "If you didn't like one of those, we also can look at the descriptions of the other movies I don't know."

"Hm... Well, I sure wanna know what the others are about, but there are some you already watched that sound good, too," he says, and you agree.

You do as you said and in the end, you decide to watch a film you already know, and you're more than satisfied with that.

You buy the tickets and stop at the small snack counter. Today is also a snack-spacial. Next to the usual stuff, you can also buy hot chocolate, punch and cookies.

For a short moment, you think you're in heaven.

Both of you decide on the punch and the cookies, relatively fast.

Together, you make your way to the small movie hall, looking for your row and sitting down together on your pair seat.

Fulfilling the cliché, Echo lays an arm around you. You lean onto him and place your hand on his stomach. The cookies stand on a small table that was attached to the seat in front of you, and you reach for them now and then.

When the advertisements start, you two are making fun of them and laugh quietly. As soon as the movie starts, you try to be quiet and watch it.

Occasionally, Echo asks some small questions about it, or you two comment some of the things in a whispering tone. You don't want to disturb anyone of the others.

Sometimes, you also share some small kisses or light touches, like your thumb drawing circles on his tummy or his hand slightly moving up and down your shoulder. Everything is sweet and cozy and with every minute you are close to Echo, the evening is getting better and better.

You don't mind if you're the cringy couple, as long as you feel so loved and warm with him and as long as your heart beats in your chest and the butterflies fly in your stomach in that special way.

TAGLIST:

@isthereanechoinhere96 @trixie2023 @freesia-writes

[j-august]

'On my way to work I remember seeing Godfrey Pilkington on all fours trying to get into his gallery. Robert Fraser [the neighbouring dealer] came up to me rather sheepishly to explain that he had been a bit miffed with the Cork Street giant, Leslie Waddington, the night before, and rather worse for wear, he decided to fix Leslie's door with superglue. Unfortunately, he got the wrong gallery.'

James Mayor, quoted in Rogues and Scholars: Boom and Bust in the London Art Market, 1945-2000 by James Stourton.

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

How to Become a Mob Boss: Quote episode 1 to 4

"- Mob boss is basically the CEO of an organization. And some of these organizations are very big, and some of them make an awful lot of money." (George Anastasia - Organized Crime Writer - Episode 1)

"- You have to be smart and know how to motivate and, at times, frighten people to keep them in line." (George Anastasia - Episode 1)

"- To be a successful mob boss, first of all, you have to be driven." (Ellie Honig - Former Federal Prosecutor, Southern District of NY - Episode 1)

"- From Torrio, young Capone learned these rules. Dress for success. Keep your mouth shut. And when it comes to staying on top, remember, money is power." (Narrator - Episode 1)

"- Frankie Yale taught Capone an alternate set of skills. Always show you mean business. Never get outgunned. And make sure your reputation precedes you." (Narrator - Episode 1)

"- Start with this mantra any wise businessman must follow, never pay retail." (Narrator - Episode 2)

"- Frank wanted to try to figure out, "How do I cut out the middleman to maximize my profits?" And also reduce the opportunity for a law enforcement to penetrate his organization." (Episode 2)

"- Anytime your sales volume isn't up to your full market potential, whatever the reason, you've got a problem." (Episode 2)

"- The playbook solution to this common dilemma? Become the only game in town." (Narrator - Episode 2)

"- If you corner the market, you have control over the market. You can charge whatever the hell you want." (Emily Sweeney - Reporter, Boston Globe - Episode 2)

"- But how do you make sure customers come to you to get their fix? It starts with marketing. Like most organizations, you have a product, you give it a brand name. So you want people to look for your brand. You have to make sure your brand is good. But clever branding only goes so far. It's what's in the package that counts." (Narrator - Episode 2) "- Frank stamped his "Blue Magic," and it was the best drop you could buy. Frank made sure his production line was in the hands of a true expert. The manufacturing genius he called Red Top." (Episode 2)

"- But to truly corner the market, Frank needed something else. A solid retail strategy. Studying police behavior, Frank notices a key pattern. At 4:00 p.m. daily, cops on the early shift leave their posts. But the night shift doesn't take over until 5:00. Frank instructs his lieutenants to hit the streets hard during this golden hour. While Frank monitors his crew's customer service by cruising through Harlem undercover." (Narrator - Episode 2)

"- If anybody slips up, there's hell to pay. But when your product sells this well, sometimes all you have to do is sit back and enjoy. This is why the crime gods invented money laundering. Ready to turn dirty money into clean cash? While techniques vary, they mostly follow the same basic steps. Step one. Placement. Create a legitimate business with a bank account where you can park your illicit profits, like a car wash or a strip club. Step two. Layering. Use complex transactions to separate the money from its illegal source. For example, buy gold. Cash it in. Then send that money from one international bank account to another to make it even harder to trace. Or sink the proceeds into assets like luxury cars, jewelry, or real estate. Then sell them again. Bringing us to step three. Integration. Invest your freshly-laundered dough into the legitimate financial system to keep the taxman off your trail. Voilà! Your dirty drug money is now clean as a whistle." (Narrator - Episode 2)

"- Everything's money. This is America." (Episode 2)

"- But when your core product is high-grade heroin, the happy days probably won't last forever. If you want to build your business to last, you need a strategy that can adapt to all market conditions. Frank used a multipronged approach to address this problem. Starting with a PR campaign. He thought doing things for the community would be an effective way of protecting himself and his entreprise. Loaning money to people. Not worrying about if you got it paid back. Taking care of people. So he kept a community on his side. He also made sure to take care of an even more important demographic. Cops. Frank spent a lot of money paying off police. Having the police on the take means being able to walk down the street and not worry about being locked up. It means knowing that you're gonna have a supply of drugs coming in safely without being interdicted by the police. But as many mob bosses discover, acts of generosity can leave some men in blue wanting more. But the early '70s, Frank Lucas has moved his family to a quiet house in the suburbs. But when you inhabit the criminal life, business has a way of following you home. Today, Frank is met by a unwanted visitor, a corrupt NYPD detective he comes to call Babyface. He orders Frank to pay him 10'000 cash a month. Or he'll shut down Frank's operation for good. Frank doesn't see any real options. But then Harlem's top drug boss makes one last transaction. Frank joined America's team and made a business decision to cooperate to reduce that jail time. As a businessperson, looking out for himself, he made the right decision for himself. Even if it meant turning on his own brother. That type of betrayal is it's hard to deal with sometimes. What can I say? It's just business." (Narrator - Episode 2)

"- But when you're a mob boss looking to consolidate your power, you look at human emotions differently. Mob bosses rule by fear. It's the best weapon. Ant there's one tested method for putting this spine-tingling tool to work. To make people understand fear, you have to perform violence." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- If you are able to say, "I can kill you, I can kill your wife, I can kill your daughter, don't fuck with me"... you become a very powerful person." (Episode 3)

"- Nobody demonstrated this lesson as effectively as Sicily's boss of bosses, Salvatore "Toto" Riina. But he was mainly known for this astonishing figure. He is thought to have authorized between 800 and 1'000 killings. Secrecy was one of his weapons, and it built up his mystique within the Mafia. This kind of ghost figure that could be anywhere and might be listening to you as you spoke. He didn't need a luxurious lifestyle. He didn't care about that stuff, but what he did care about was power. One of the things that Riina is supposed to have said is, "Comandare é meglio che fottere," which mean, if I can use plain English "Being boss is better than fucking." (Alexander Stille- Author, Excellent cadavers - Episode 3)

"- That's why as a mob boss, you'll sometimes have to kill more than the story." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- By the early '80s, Riina was dead set on increasing his power within the Sicilian Mafia. But he faced a stubborn obstacle. Something called the Commission. The Mafia Commission, also called the Cupola, is a governing body of sorts of the Mafia. It was made up of the head boss of the different families. It was a way of collaborating to make sure that business stayed on track. Riina begins to sit in the Commission in about 1969 but begins to have ambitions of domination. Riina's modest goal, force the Commission to name him Capo dei Capi, the Boss of Bosses. But there was one small problem. That position didn't exist. He believed that he should have absolute power. He did not want to share. So Riina decided to turn the job he had into the job he wanted. The Beast's plan, destroy his top rivals' organizations from within. It starts by making secret side deals. In return, they do Riina's dirty work for him... taking out their bosses and filling the ranks with mafiosi loyal to Riina." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- It's very important for a mob boss to be the guy holding the strings over lawmakers because it allows them to expand their control and their rule." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- Killing Dalla Chiesa showed, "We can take out anyone, and we will kill you if you get into our business." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- If you're gonna harm your enemies, make sure you do it complete, so they can never come after you." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- There's a word for when you've got nothing left to lose, freedom." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- The message is, "If you mess with us, we don't care how high we have to go, we don't care how protected you are, we will kill you." (Narrator - Episode 3)

"- Aniello Dellacroce, who was the underboss of the Gambino family, became a mentor for Gotti." (Michael Franzese - Former Capo, Colombo Crime Family - Episode 4)

"- This is not about diplomacy. This is about an iron fist." (Episode 4)

"- No matter what organization you're looking to lead, you have to respect its structure. That's especially true with the Italian Mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra. In Cosa Nostra, There's a pecking order. At the top, you have your boss. Under the boss, you have your underboss. Then you have your consigliere, which is basically the advisor or the counselor. Then you have your captains. That's sort of your mid-level managers. And then you have your soldiers. Those are the made guys. Beyond that, you have associated. They're not made members of the group, but they're people who work with and contribute to the mob. In the American Mafia, you can't kill a fully initiated or made guy in your family, without getting permission from your boss. You can't whack a made guy in another family without getting permission from your boss and the boss of the other family. And if you want to clip your own boss, good luck. You need approval from the Commission. Basically, the Mafia board of directors. The rules were clear." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- John Gotti needed to make his case through the proper channels, but he decided otherwise. He said, "Do it. Fuck it." We knew we couldn't get permission from this thing. Bosses want to protect each other in the Commission, so we formed this alliance which we called The Fist. So, there was five of us, and there was nobody saying no. It was just a time and a place." (Episode 4)

"- Smart mobsters don't want attention on themselves from law enforcement, from the media, from the public. They know that what they're doing is illegal, and attention can only hurt their bottom-line goal, which is to make money." (Ellie - Episode 4)

"- If you're gonna be out there and be flashy, you're going to embarrass law enforcement. So now we're gonna double down." (Lou - Episode 4)

"- When somebody develops this hubris is they make mistakes. Because they are operating under this false belief that nothing can touch me." (Joni Johnson - Forensic Psychologist and Private Investigator - Episode 4)

"- John Gotti was an egotistical narcissist who appeared to revel in the attention that he was getting from the press and from the public. And the more he got, the more he wanted." (Ed - Episode 4)

"- He's called the Dapper Don. Whoever named him the Dapper Don should have came down and talked to him. The reporter. He would've paid that guy $ 100'000 for that label. He loved those labels. I mean, you couldn't make that stuff up." (Sammy - Episode 4)

"- He operated in front of the cameras. He made himself into a celebrity, into a "front page of the tabloid" figure." (Ellie - Episode 4)

"- The Commission hired Sicilian mobsters to have Gotti killed. They put a bomb in the wrong car. Were it not for a little operator error, Gotti's ego would have cost him his life." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- To be in this life, you have to be willing to go to prison, because at some point, you're gonna get caught. So make sure your time in government custody is productive." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- RICO is the worst law they ever put on the books. It's Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and it's an all-encompassing law. It's very hard to defend." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- You'd have to be a complete imbecile to be talking about a boss behind his back. He's got the ultimate power over your life, whether you live or die." (Sammy - Episode 4)

"- You know, that's a treacherous life. Dissension is created, and mistrust is created when something like that happens. Now, your own men are questioning that and worried about themselves. You know? What, am I next? That's what happens when you take your eye off the ball. You get a crew full of killers doubting your leadership." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- The code in the American Mafia is silence. Don't talk about a murder that's committed. Don't talk on your phones. Don't talk indoors. Don't talk in your car. Everything's about keeping your mouth shut. The Mafia calls this code Omerta." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- When you take the oath of Omerta, you're taking an oath to never admit that the life ever exists and to never betray the life. That's the oath. For a mafioso to break Omerta is tantamount to betraying your family, everything you know, everything you love." (Micheal - Episode 4)

"- It brings more notoriety to him. It legitimizes him. And it's getting turned around on the government that John Gotti is an innocent guy what works for a plumbing company. And they don't like him because he's in the public's eye." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- The government was jealous of him because he was winning." (Renee)

"- In the end, Gotti did achieve the attention he always wanted. I think John Gotti represented people's frustrations with the government. How the government's always nickel-and-diming you, and John Gotti's fighting the government." (Lou)

"- Basically, Gotti was an example of how not to be a mob boss." (Narrator - Episode 4)

"- If you want fame, go become a fucking actor, or whatever you want to be, but don't be a mob boss." (Sammy - Episode 4)

"- Nobody tackled this challenge as creatively as Boston's most legendary mob boss, Whitey Bulger, whose ruthless attention to detail charted his path to infamy and then pulled a disappearing act for the ages." (Narrator - Episode 4)

[atmilliways]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

Tagged by @anzelsilver

1. Are you named after anyone?

My first name is my mom’s middle name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

No idea. In lieu of an answer to that question, here’s this: my go-to “I need to cry about something and this will do” movie is Interstellar.

3. Do you have kids?

I have 5 cats.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Why would I need to be sarcastic when just swearing says plenty. /sarcasm

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

Soccer, but I was afraid of being hit in the face with the ball. (Actually happened at least once, and not from trying to do headers.) Softball, also afraid of the ball. Cross country for like, one semester in 7th grade.

Does marching band count? Some of those field shows were intense.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

What they’re talking about.

7. What’s your eye color?

Blue.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both. During the pandemic lockdowns I ran out of actually good ones to watch while working from home and watched many movies with varying levels of quality. Some really great foreign horror films, though. The Eighth Night is fascinating.

9. Any special talents?

I remember song lyrics and quotes from tv shows and movies really well. 75% of my communication with other human beings is references.

10. Where were you born?

West coast, best coast.

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading, herding cats, knitting (square or rectangular things only, the fanciest thing I can make is a dishrag with decorative holes).

12. Do you have pets?

Yep, five shelter cats. I’ve got Frankie (cranky tortico girl), Louie (blue-eyed Siamese mix girl), Noodle (black girl cat, possibly some Bombay in the woodpile), Chandler (black boy cat, with some white markings that kind of look like an itsy bitsy bikini), and Ozzy (black and white boy with a kinked tail, either some amount of deaf or really doesn’t care about his name).

13. How tall are you?

5'5"

14. Favorite subjects in school?

Creative Writing, Literature, and some Art in college

15. Dream job?

I’m in marketing, and I kind of have my dream job right now with a behavioral health non-profit. I have benefits and shit. Good ones, even. It’s amazing.

Tag 15 people (no pressure!)

Nah. ❤️ Tag yourself if you wanna.

[charlenasaxen]

Ghosts of the Shadow Market Quotes

“Alec Lightwood was napping because he and his parabatai had been out fighting Croucher demons all last night, and Jace Herondale, famed among the Nephilim as a master strategist, apparently thought “about a dozen demons” was a fair estimate for “definitely thirty-seven demons.” Alec had gone around counting them out of spite.”

“Meow,” Chairman Meow protested”

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m promising you dark demonic delights”

“Uncle Jace says we will kill all the demins,” he reported with joy”

“have you considered that your uncle Jace is a hurtful person?” said the demon. “Always rudely stabbing everyone, and sarcastic.”

“Max scowled. “Love Uncle Jace. Hate demins.”

“Alec always got the same enthusiastic greeting, whether he was back from a trip, back from patrolling, or had simply been in the other room for five minutes”

“Alec used to marvel at how neatly his little body fit into the crook of Alec’s arm. He’d scarcely been able to imagine Max getting bigger.”

“chipped in Elyaas the tentacle demon. “I don’t have much luck with romance. Everyone I meet is treacherous and heartless.”

“Unfortunately, Alec wasn’t great at languages. He was able to read them, but when he was talking he found words difficult”

“Magnus had forestalled the question by yelling, “Not getting a baby, going to Sephora. There are no babies at Sephora!”

“the mundane mother thought it was a rogue gust of wind rather than Alec’s little rogue”

“Alec blamed Max’s attitude on his aunt Isabelle, who kept telling him his bedtime was never.

They were saved by Jace’s signal”

“Max proposed. “I be a Shadowhunter.”

Max said that a lot too, for which Alec blamed Max’s uncle Jace.”

“he tried to say them whenever he was going on a mission. Just in case they were the last words.

Jace was waiting for him on the sidewalk”

“Alec assumed Max wanted to get a glimpse of his magnificent uncle Jace”

“He wanted to come patrolling.”

Jace’s face softened. “My good boy! He should—”

“nobody will let you have your own kid until you stop putting other people’s kids in bags meant for axes and trying to smuggle them out on patrol.”

“Jace reluctantly. “I guess three other fighters are an acceptable substitute for me.”

“the Clave would look at her with those disappointed blue eyes. Your eyes are very blue.”

“Alec averted his eyes and headed for the parlor, Jace falling in behind him.”

“Alec subjected him to a judgmental stare. “So this disaster could have happened to anyone with a regular selkie booty call.”

“One of them found the other’s sealskin in my wardrobe. There was a scene. You know how it is with selkies.”

“When someone dies, it takes us a while to process. You think to yourself: I wonder when I’ll see him again. Then you remember”

“You have to keep reminding yourself, until you believe it: I’ll never see him again.”

“Hey, Mr. Head of the Institute, you’re a leader! How about it? I make you a vampire, you help lead the clan, you stay gorgeous forever.”

“That would be a gift to future generations,” Jace remarked thoughtfully. “But no.”

“they were delighted to be told off. Raphael Santiago had really left a mark on these people.”

“rushing to the aid of gorgeous damsel-in-distress Jem I’d-love-to-climb-’em Carstairs?”

“This was the only room in the Hotel Dumort Lily hadn’t redecorated. She was sleeping in Raphael’s room again.”

“Elliott wailed. “Please be a vampire and lead us, Jace! Please!”

“I used to walk in here and have to fight for my life as the place fell down around me,” Jace mused. “Now it’s all velvet cushions and insistent offers of immortal beauty.”

“Lily brightened. “I’m very curious to see how the hottest Shadowhunter in the world is doing.”

“I’m great,” said Jace.”

“Jace didn’t just pull the pigtails of people he had crushes on. He pulled the pigtails of everyone in the world he liked.”

“There are a lot of hot Shadowhunters,” said Elliott. “That’s the point of them, isn’t it?”

“No,” said Alec.”

“I don’t mean to brag. I’m just saying that if they made a book of hot Shadowhunters, my illustration would be on every page,” Jace said serenely”

“Sometimes I write postscripts to Clary’s letters and tell Emma handy knife tricks. Emma’s very good.”

“Bless the Come-and-Stare family. They never fail me.”

“I’m off to admire the views in Buenos Aires.”

“Jem is married, you know,” said Alec.”

“Every day, he felt the same urge he’d felt on his first mission, when he saw Jace and Isabelle charge into a fight. Protect them”

“Finally, there might be rest. He might see his parabatai again.”

“Her voice, no longer soft, made the walls ring with his name”

“he was squinting at them suspiciously.

“Um,” said Alec. “Bonjour? Wait, that’s French.”

“I can speak English,” the guard told Alec hastily”

“I won’t stay here. To hell with this place. I’m going with you.”

“You fought demons on the Orient Express?” Lily asked with interest.

“I fight demons in lots of places,” said Alec. “It was all very normal.”

“Then Alec took out every demon he saw. He was soaking wet, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt.”

Alec didn’t see how that was relevant.”

“My Rosey and I have been together ever since.”

“Rose flushed green.

“Maman. Do not embarrass me in front of Alec Lightwood!”

“She’d been about the same age as his baby brother, whom Max was named for. Unlike his brother, she had lived to be older.”

“the constant worry of the oldest in the family, the knowledge that you were responsible for the younger ones”

“Will you help me? One more time?”

“As many times as you need me”

“I heard the man was handsome.”

“Boy, did you hear right,” said Lily.

Juliette’s smile spread. “There really are some very handsome Nephilim around.”

“We can’t be all business all the time,” said Lily, who was seldom all business for five minutes”

“So no other crushes besides Jace? Even a teeny tiny one?”

“Every cell in his body sparked with shock. “Is this boy a Shadowhunter?”

“Rafael bolted backward with the speed of a wild animal. He gave Alec a filthy look, as if he might bite if Alec tried that again.”

“children were paying the price”

“that child hates everybody,” said the faerie cobbler. “Watch out. He bites.”

“You’re telling him not to worry in German,” Lily reported gleefully”

“he lifted both his arms in a commanding gesture. Alec was so used to that gesture from Max that he moved without even thinking and scooped Rafael up”

“Rafael was much too thin. Alec could feel the knobbly bones of his back. Rafael held himself very stiffly”

“It was like holding a small statue, if you felt desperately sorry for the statue and unsure what to do”

“that’s all right. I’m glad you’re coming with us. You’re safe now. I have you.”

“Against barbed wire and starlight they saw a tall man, his black head bowed and his tender blue eyes fixed on the child in his arms. Will, thought Jem, and grasped Tessa’s hand tight.”

“If it isn’t the former Brother Snackariah.”

“Raphael’s Lily,” she said. “How nice to see you. Forgive me, I feel like I know you better than I do. He talked about you often.”

“elbow propped on Alec’s knee, to be near the child”

“It’s good that you’re helping us, but it’s very bad to steal wallets generally. Don’t do it again.”

“his tone suggested that he wasn’t planning to understand Alec on this topic anytime soon”

“Whoever their enemies are, they are mine, too.”

Because the Carstairs owe the Herondales.”

“Rafael turned his face into Alec’s bicep and screamed. Alec automatically put his arm around the child.”

“I appreciate this,” said Jem. “I truly do. Please don’t tell Jace yet.”

Jem still thought about Jace, that fierce helpless child he’d met on a dark sea”

“the young man burning with heavenly fire. He’d imagined a hundred scenarios where he did better by Jace.”

“Jace was happy in New York, though Jem had not helped him be so. He had his love and his parabatai and his Institute.”

“Jem had seen how Jace looked at Maryse Lightwood. Maryse was Jace’s mother.”

“Entreat me not to leave thee, idiot,” Jem had said, and Will had put his head down on Jem’s shoulder”

“You have a parabatai. Once, so did I. Can you imagine fighting without him?”

“felt her grin against his mouth. “Brother Snackariah,” she murmured. “Come here.”

“The smile, slow and warm and sweet, altered his whole face.

Alec’s hand dropped. Rafael turned a suddenly bright countenance up”

“only knew that he knew because he was sweet to me for a few nights. In his way.”

“They all died, except one. He always did what he set out to do. He killed the monster. He was my Raphael.”

“as he went he said, ‘Sleep, Lily. I’ll watch the doors.’ I never slept peacefully before then.”

“He never wavered, no matter what anyone else did. I thought he’d be there forever. Then he was taken.”

“Just until Raphael came back. Only Raphael never came back.”

“The night we knew he was gone, and every night since, I watch my vampires in the home he guarded. I watch the mundanes in the streets he loved.”

“Sleep, Lily,” Alec said gently. “I’ll watch the doors.”

“He’d had all sorts of plans to teach his little brother, when he got older, but his baby brother hadn’t lived to be older”

“Magnus, Jace, and Isabelle went to dance, the brightest points in the crowd”

“This is fine,” Clary told him, nodding bravely.

“This is terrible,” said Alec. “Let’s go for tacos.”

“His eyes traveled from Clary’s guilty face to Alec’s.

“You went for tacos again?” Simon lamented.

Alec grinned. “They were great.”

“Alec’s friends were gathered all around him, and his family, and it was one of those moments when he remembered the desperate loneliness of when he was younger”

“felt a small incredulous starburst of happiness in his chest: that he could have all this.”

“Tacos again next time?” Alec had whispered as they left, and Clary nodded”

“That was how Alec had come to love her, after resenting her so much at first”

“She hadn’t failed him now. She’d sent a picture saying WE HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED BY THE DREAD PIRATE MAX!”

“corrected, in his small stern voice: “Rafe.”

“cautiously forward, snatched the candy, and retreated behind Alec’s legs”

“We have to trust people, right? Like you were saying. Not just people we love. We have to believe in people”

“there are times I think about—a place that could be home. My parabatai. A child.”

“Magnus might see something good that reminded him of Alec, some way that the world was changed because Alec had lived”

“he could imagine, in some faraway future, the face he loved best”

“What are you looking at, you delicious peanut-butter-and-Jem sandwich?”

Tessa snorted behind Jem.

“I’ve got more names,” Lily told her, encouraged.”

“Rafe clung to Alec’s shirt and glared jealously around”

“Your voice is the music I love best in all the world.”

“You see,” Alec muttered darkly to Lily.

“We do love an eloquent babe”

“They found a solitary campfire, with no children to hear a dark tale save Rafael, solemn faced and silent in the protective curve of Alec’s arm.”

“from that day to this day, the light of her eyes was the only light I wished for”

“The King was murderously angry, and the Queen was terrified, and all the shades and shadows and rushing waters in my land seemed to threaten the girl that I loved”

“He had all the worst eyes of Faerie looking for her. I kept watch for her myself, and love made my eyes the sharpest.”

“Matthew Fairchild had been parabatai to Tessa’s son, James Herondale”

“A faerie can choose the season of their own death. I knew how it would be, when I first beheld them together. I saw her death in his laughing eyes.”

“When Roland Herondale died, she laid down her golden head on the pillow next to her mortal love and never rose again. Their child wept for them both and threw flowers on their grave.”

“I hated Roland from the day he took her from me. I hate all Nephilim for her sake, and the Herondales most of their kind.”

“Of course Tessa’s fine,” said Lily. “You do realize she gets to go to the Jem-nasium anytime she wants?”

“with Jace it was different. Jace, his parabatai, the first person who’d ever chosen him.”

“Alec took a deep breath and tapped out MISS U into his phone.

He immediately received back MISS U TOO”

“Jace was there, waiting for him in New York with the rest of his family”

“R U IN SOME KIND OF TROUBLE?

DID U GET HIT IN UR HEAD!

Then he got a text from Clary.

WHY DID JACE GET A TEXT FROM YOU AND LOOK VERY PLEASED BUT THEN SUDDENLY VERY WORRIED?”

“Rafe certainly understood the gesture of Alec offering his phone. He held out his hands eagerly.

“You’re a good kid, Rafe,” said Alec. “Take that phone away.”

“Alec blinked at her. “No, we’re not. What laundry carts? I’m a straightforward person. I’m going to knock on the door.”

“I see! I’ve heard of you.” He winked. “Fond of warlocks, aren’t you?”

“Too late, he saw the blade in Clive Breakspear’s free hand, aimed for his heart.

Rafael barreled out of the shadows and sank his teeth deep into Breakspear’s wrist.”

“Alec stepped over the flames and seized him by the throat, then lifted him like a doll and smashed the warlock’s skull against Breakspear’s forehead”

“Alec pulled Rafe into his arms, feeling his throat close up”

“Alec took an axe with an electrum head from his belt and struck open the lock”

“Tessa was doing her best to clear a way for them, but Rafael needed Tessa’s help too”

“The man who’d shouted for his leader hit Joaquín across the mouth”

“The doors of the burning house burst open. The Queen of the Shadow Market stood outlined against the smoke.

“Get to Alec!” Juliette shouted”

“Maybe take them alive!” said Alec. “Not that guy, obviously.”

“Bien,” said Juliette. “Show me who to kill. I mean . . . take alive if possible.”

“Lily stumbled for the door under her heavy burden, sobbing”

“The smoke had turned the whole world into a gray hell. He couldn’t see or breathe.”

“you—you have a lot to go back to.”

“he could see them with absolute clarity. But he knew he had to be worthy of going back to them.”

“you can still call yourself a Shadowhunter. But will you be one?”

“It poisoned an unborn child. Does that amuse you?”

The faerie’s mouth went slack.

“That child died, because of you”

“merciless. “It’s too late to save the ones we lost. But this child is not lost yet.”

“asked, in clipped Spanish, “Where is he?”

“He’s in there”

“some different, deeply nervous-looking Shadowhunters tentatively assisting or trying to put out the flames”

“She stared at the house with her arms crossed and her eyes dark with tears”

“Then he dropped to his knees in front of Rafe.

“Hey, my baby,” said Alec. “Are you all right?”

“anyone could have understood the message of Alec on his knees in the rubble, the love and concern”

“Rafael nodded, dust drifting from his curly hair, and walked into Alec’s open arms. Alec folded the little boy against his chest.”

“Alec rose and patted her awkwardly on the back, Rafe held in the circle of his other arm”

“I can’t understand you, fool,” he said sweetly in Spanish, and tucked his head down under Alec’s chin, his arms going around Alec’s neck.”

“a change in his demeanor, his shoulders going back, his face stern. If it weren’t for the child in his arms, he might have been fearsome.

Alec Lightwood, leader of the Alliance, said, “First, I want a word.”

“I mean, your speech is good too, very stern, it makes me want to do everything you say”

“People were always trying to make him head of Institutes, and it made Alec tired”

“I’ll see what is happening. I want to believe in my fellow Shadowhunters. Don’t let me down.”

“he seemed to notice the lack of anyone else with the kids. “Has it been very difficult, ruling the Shadow Market as a single mother?” he asked with sudden transparent hope.”

“Joaquín was already heading toward the kids, on an obvious mission to endear himself to them. Alec hoped he had a lot of candies.”

“endearing of himself seemed to be going very well”

“I think you’ll find all the words you need, Alec,” said Jem.

“Thanks, that’s very helpful.”

“If there was a Herondale in danger, they could not ask for better protection than Jem and Tessa”

“Bye, Jem,” said Lily.

“Oh, no nickname?” Jem sounded pleased. “Bye, Lily”

“Do you like me?” he asked.

Rafe beamed and shook his head, then secured his arms more tightly around Alec’s neck.”

“that you understand,” Alec grumbled. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

“that he might feel better if he could live among the glass towers of Alicante. He hadn’t known home was across the city, waiting for him.”

“He wasn’t scared. He knew that voice.

“Alec,” said Robert Lightwood. “We need to talk.”

“Lily,” said Robert. “I know you know me.”

“Never gonna, don’t wanna.”

“All your other vampires like me,” muttered Robert.

Alec blinked. “My other vampires?”

“He says he feels in need of Lightwood guidance. I visited the Hotel Dumort while you were away, and the vampires had a little dinner just for me”

“I don’t think Jace wants to be Inquisitor, Dad.”

“Alec,” said Robert. “I’m not talking to Jace. I’m talking to you.”

“Do you want it for yourself?”

Alec thought of the power to change the Law from a sword that hurt people into a shield to defend them.”

“Robert blinked. “Your what?”

“Oh, by the Angel,” said Alec. “Please don’t ask me any questions! I have to go!”

“When I had dinner with you three a few weeks ago? I don’t remember the last time I had such a happy day.”

“Sorry if I caused you a lot of paperwork tonight.”

“You saved lives tonight, Alec,” said Robert.

He took an awkward step toward Alec, and his hand lifted”

“He looked into Alec’s face, and his eyes were so sad.

“You’re a good man, Alec,” he said at last. “You’re a better man than I am.”

“he reached out and pulled his father into an awkward hug”

“there’s that smile,” said Lily. “It’s been two days, and I missed it.”

“Alec opened the door and stepped inside his apartment at last. His coffee machine was on the counter; his cat was sleeping on the sofa.”

“Rafe was nodding and nodding, his face wreathed in eager smiles”

“Do you have a last name?”

Rafe shook his head.

“That’s all right. We have two.”

“Don’t cry. Yes, of course we will, my darling.”

“sobbed his heart out. Magnus patted his shaking back until he was quiet.”

“He’s very determined,” Alec explained.

“So, completely unlike any other Shadowhunters of my acquaintance, then”

“around Rafe’s shoulders, wrapping him up so he was a red silk cocoon with a startled face on top”

“the instant instinctive love as Alec had with Max, as Alec learned with Rafael the slow, sweet, and conscious way of love”

“Opening a new door in their familiar beloved home, as if it had always been there.”

“Yes,” Alec said, breathless with laughter and love. “Yes, I want to.”

“The land of lost dreams reclaimed, his first kiss and his last”

“Alec, I know you don’t really care about your clothes, but you don’t usually come home covered in soot.”

“Max, in his triceratops footie pajamas and dragging his fuzzy blankie, regarding Rafe with wide eyes”

“Max, who had never felt threatened by anything in his life, smiled guilelessly up at him. Rafe’s scowl faltered.”

“He padded swiftly over to Alec, and Alec knelt down to embrace him.

“Daddy, Daddy!” Max caroled. “This the brother orra sister?”

“He patted Alec’s shoulder as if to say: great job, Dad, finally”

“He shook his head firmly and attempted to explain the situation.

“He says you’re a warlock,” Magnus translated faithfully.”

“Stay up. Be with Rafe.” He sidled up to a stunned-looking Rafael and gave him a big hug. “I’m love him.”

Rafe hesitated, then hugged Max shyly back.”

“How extremely interesting.”

“What are you saying?” Alec asked Rafe anxiously.”

“Alec was certain at least some of it was Rafe promising to be a spy anytime Magnus wanted”

“Alec recalled a story about a magician with Shadowhunter blood, known as Roland the Astonishing, who had lived a long, happy life”

“showing his sons they could be anything they wanted, including happy.“

“Boys? Follow the moves I make,” said Alec. “Stand with me, now. All together.”

[cleverhottubmiracle]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you��ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[norajworld]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[chilimili212]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[cementcornfield]

i will say, in the calmness of the morning after lol, i DO still think we are more likely to get tee, ja'marr, and trey done than not, like i said in the tags last night. though, the nature of this FO being the FO it is and the family behind it, they will make it unnecessarily hard and frankly just say dickish things like this in the interest of "negotiations".

if you look at more of what duke said yesterday:

On Tee: It's going to be hard. We feel like we have the resources to do it, but it all depends on how the negotiation goes and whether they're willing to accept wanting to come back at a number that makes sense for everybody. And you know what we do with Tee going forward, I've always been very upfront in my desire to have Tee Higgins on our team. I've never not been upfront about that, and that desire continues, but we have to be able to come together with his representation on what that means and what the right number is for his experience, for his play time, for his production."

Let's find something that works for everybody, because he is a guy that we want to have here, and hopefully that can come together, but we have other guys who are trying to take big bites of the apple in other areas, and we're going to have to balance those as we go forward.

Basically corresponding to the viral tweet of, we can't pay everyone top dollar, which while shitty, is something i think tee realized when he fired David M. it has ALWAYS been the case that in order for this to work, tee will be getting less money than he would from a WR-desperate team in free agency. (i believe right now his projected worth in FA is 28 million a year, i could easily see a team like the patriots going up to 30 tbh). we've taken the agent switch however to mean that he's okay with getting a few less million. how much less is he willing to settle for? and would it be fair in the team's POV regarding his play time and production (because you really can't have a discussion about tee's worth if you aren't factoring in the unfortunate reality of his injury history and consistent lack of availability). and all that is where the uncertainty comes in. and that will be the bengals' argument against him getting paid at the top of his position, despite what he is likely worth on the free market. i believe that's what duke is alluding to here, but you know, said in the most dickish way possible. because we CAN and we SHOULD pay tee what he's worth, but the FO's strategy has always been to low ball and, again, make negotiations so so much harder than necessary.

On Trey: Has he earned a pay raise and a bump in an extension … he has,” Tobin said. “We’re cognizant of that, and we will give that to him. But whether we agree on what that looks like, is what is to be determined.” "We'll do what we can. We'll do what we feel is right, and we will try to get Trey re-signed. It's not giving anybody an extension. It's agreeing with somebody on an extension.”

Again, instead of just outright saying, yeah we want trey, he's our ONLY player on defense basically worth paying and we want to make him happy, duke goes through all this nonsense on how we won't GIVE him an extension (implying in some ways that it has yet to be earned, despite....everything!). again, a negotiation tactic that feels so gross when paired with the viral "we can't pay everyone" quote. but i do still feel like they will try here, going back to the first part of the quote, it just depends on how much of a bump trey wants. i don't think trey necessarily wants to be the HIGHEST paid DE in the league, he just wants to be playing for a more reasonable paycheck than his current shitty contract (which, i will say, no one forced him to sign that extension. i remember it being talked about last year, how he had a particularly green agent who gave him bad advice about both the original extension and the ability to adjust it last year).

On Ja'Marr: “It's a priority for us. It's something we feel like there's a framework to work off of. Should be a pretty easy framework to work off of. Guys in his position have recently re-done contracts. We believe in Ja’Marr, he's very important to us. The other guys that have done contracts are very important to their teams. So, we believe there's a real framework to work off of. I would expect that we could come together on something that makes sense for both sides.”

This is the one that actually does give me the most comfort, and i think even duke realizes that ja'marr HAS to get done this offseason. like god, they came so close last offseason it's so ridiculous. but they've got the "easy framework" based on the recent top WR contracts (aka justin's, which i've talked about already following the same time frame for ja'marr so far). they just have to use that contract structure, something close to what they structured last year, and make some adjustments. they know this is their last chance to get it done without blowing everything up and burning some bridges. they know how important ja'marr is. it's going to get done. let's just pray they don't drag this shit out again and ja'marr misses another training camp!!

Zero excuse not to pay our best players. Btw.

[neotis]

Having some Nesta Thoughts (tm) so here are a bunch of Nesta quotes (for my own future reference) beneath the cut:

From beside my father, Nesta snorted. Not surprising. Any bit of praise for anyone--me, Elain, other villiagers--usually resulted in her dismissal. And any word from our father resulted in her ridicule as well. (14)

Of us, Nesta had taken the loss of our fortune the hardest. She had quietly resented my father from the moment we'd fled our manor [...]. (15)

But at least Nesta didn't fill our heads with useless talk of regaining our wealth, like our father. No, she just spent whatever money I didn't hide from her, and rarely bothered to acknowledge my father's limping presence at all. (15)

Nesta was prone to leaving [his cane] far out of his reach.

He could find work if he wasn't so ashamed, Nesta always said when I hissed about it. She hated him for the injury, too--for not fighting back [...]. (15)

Nesta rose and declared: "I need a new pair of boots."

[...] I glanced at Nesta's still-shiny pair by the door. Beside hers, my too-small boots were falling apart at the seams [...].

"But I'm freezing with my raggedy old cloak," Elain pleaded. (16)

I noticed the woodpile. There were only five logs left. "I thought you were going to chop wood today."

Nesta picked at her long, neat nails. "I hate chopping wood. I always get splinters." [...] Of all of us, Nesta looked the most like our mother--especially when she wanted something. "Besides, Feyre," she said with a pout, "you're so much better at it! It takes you half the time it takes me. Your hands are suited for it--they're already so rough." (17)

As usual, Nesta was complaining about the villiagers--they had no manners, they had no social graces, they had no idea just how shoddy the fabric of their clothes was [...]. Since we had lost our fortune, their former friends dutifully ignored them, so my sisters paraded about as though the young peasants of the town made up a second-rate social circle. (18)

I sometimes wondered if her unrelenting steel would have helped us better survive--thrive, even--if she hadn't been so preoccupied with our lost status. (19)

Nesta squared her shoulders. "I thought all you wanted was for us to get out of the house--to marry off me and Elain so you can have enough time to paint your glorious masterpieces." She sneered at the pillar of foxglove I'd painted along the edge of the table [...].

I drowned the urge to cover up the painting with my hand. Maybe tomorrow I'd just scrape it off the table altogether. (19)

"Tomas's family is barely better off than ours," I said, trying to keep from growling. "You'd be just another mouth to feed. [...]"

But Tomas knew [...]. I'd seen the gleam of desperate hunger in his eyes [...]. (20)

But we had nothing--absolutely nothing--to entice any suitor to take my sisters off my hands.

"We're in love," Nesta declared, and Elaine nodded her agreement. I almost laughed--when had they gone from mooning over aristos to making doe-eyes at peasants? (20)

"What do you know?" Nesta breathed. "You're just a half-wild beast with the nerve to bark orders at all hours of the day and night. Keep it up and someday--someday, Feyre, you'll have no one left to remember you, or to care that you ever existed." [...]

I'd heard the words before--and knew she only repreated them because I'd flinched that first time she spat them. They still burned anyway. (20)

[...] they hadn't deigned to speak to me after last night, though Nesta had awoken at dawn to chop wood. Probably because she knew I'd be selling the hides at the market today and would go home with money in my pocket. (22)

It was impressive [...] to see Nesta go ramrod straight, to square her shoulders and look down her nose at the young acolyte, a queen without a throne. "Go spew your fanatic nonsense to some ninny. You'll find no converts here." (23)

"We didn't kill anything!" Elain wept. "Please... plase, spare us!" Nesta hushed her sharply through her own sobbing, but pushed Elain farther behind her. (33)

[taeescript]

29+1 (Part One)

𝔰𝔶𝔫𝔬𝔭𝔰𝔦𝔰: In which Seokjin is the Devil from The Devil Wears Prada, Taehyung is your work Jesus and Jimin is your handsome successful brother. 

𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: seokjin x reader (taehyung x reader if you squint real hard) 

𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢: slice of life; ceo!seokjin (diva!seokjin)

𝔴𝔠: 3.6k

𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: heavy use of alcohol as a coping mechanism, a plethora of sarcasm (please don’t be offended) and a sprinkle of softness (is that a warning?). 

𝔞/𝔫: this sat in my unwritten folder since 2017 no lie. I wrote the premise and a singular paragraph at that time, then just gave up. I opened it a few days ago, got inspired again and this word vomit came out (heavily influenced by a midnight Zoom call with my friends). Ngl this was so much fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. This will probably be in three parts.  𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔯: I did not know that DailyHive is an actual online news source when writing. This work is purely fictional and has absolutely nothing to do with the real DailyHive. 

part two

Your friends have a saying: After 29, nobody shares their age until they’ve accomplished something. 

In the past, you didn’t understand it. What’s so bad about saying you’re 30 or you’re 32? That’s still a young age! Sure, you’re not exactly in your prime anymore but you’re not old, right?

So, you continue in your own wondrous world of naïveté until that fateful day at your class reunion. You had simply been walking around, minding your own business when you had been stopped by an old colleague.

“Hey, Y/N, right?” she waves you down. 

You smile kindly, not even bothering to try and remember her name (you sucked at names, what could you say). 

“Hey…you!” you chuckle lightly, “How have you been doing?” 

An everyday question leading to catastrophic effects. 

“Oh you know,” she says and rolls her eyes as if you truly did know, “I’ve just been out and about. Did I tell you though? I got married last year!” She holds out her hand in which a giant diamond adorns her finger. “Wow!” you gasp, feigning interest. It’s not that you aren’t happy for her, but you are reminded of just how single you are currently. When was the last time you felt another human’s touch? Does kissing come back as easily as riding a bicycle? “Hey!” she says suddenly, “I’m actually meeting with a couple of friends from our class. You should come join! I’m sure they’d be happy to see you again!” You want to wave her off, but against your better judgment, you find yourself following in her footsteps and listening to her speak about wedding venues and honeymoon destinations.

“Oh my god!” another female voice filters in.

The “couple of friends” this old classmate had mentioned is in fact a fairly impressive size of twenty. This is also the third time the wedding announcement has been made. 

“Last year?” the female continues, “Weren’t you young?”

Yes, you want to respond. Yes she was young. A full 365 days younger than she is now.

Your classmate, Sooyoung (or Kiko as she insists going by now) titters in front of you. “I mean, you can sort of say I’m a late bloomer. I got married when I was 31.”

Her words unintentionally cut into you. Here you are at 29 without a beau in sight. You take a fast swig of your beer and end up hitting the empty glass with a clink to your teeth. Nobody notices.

“Enough about me, however, how about you?”

“I started my own business actually. It’s been doing really well and it’s been a crazy mind. Imagine me, my own boss at only 33!”

You nervously join them when they suddenly laugh together.  

“Hi, can I get another pint please? Actually add a tequila shot to that,” you whisper the last part to the waitress you had just stopped.

And that was how the rest of the night went. People asking one another what they had accomplished. Any moment in time after 30 would not be mentioned until somebody travelled to Uganda to build houses at 31 or another gave birth at the same age. Below 30, anything would be attributed to luck or in your case…

“What are you doing currently?” somebody asks you, “The little baby of our class.”

Swallowing your third tequila shot of the night, you wonder for the umpteenth time how you had become a part of this giant sharing circle. You wonder if it’s a blessing or a curse that you had graduated a little early and thus was younger than most of your peers.

“Well,” you start, “I’m currently working at DailyHive.”

“Ohh!” a man gushes. You recognize him as the once-upon-a-time science partner you used to cheat notes off of. “I use DailyHive nearly as much as Instagram these days. You guys cover everything from news to sports to fashion.”

You shrug. “Yeah. It’s, uh… it’s a pretty big company!”

“What are you doing there?”

Kiko-ex-Sooyoung hits the man teasingly on the shoulder. “Y/N is probably the Director of Marketing or something. Remember how she used to spend all class doodling in her notebook?”

“Or sleeping!” someone quips.

You don’t join in when they all laugh.

“I’m…an intern,” you say with as much pride as you can in a group of established professionals ranging from dermatologists to that one guy who had flown around the world as a TedTalk guest speaker.

A hushed silence befalls everyone.

“That’s…cool!” the same man encourages you, “Interns are totally rad! Everyone wants an intern spot these days.”

His girlfriend pats your arm, almost empathetically. “Yeah. I know a bunch of people who first start off as interns and then they shoot up the ladder quick enough. As long as you’re no longer an intern at 30, you’re golden!”

Once again, the entire group laughs as if she has said the most hilarious of jokes.

She composes herself and says to you, “Because after that, you should have accomplished something.”

Her words still ring in your ears as you sit at your desk this morning.

Yeah…something. All you need to do is accomplish something in the next three months before you are officially, 29 + 1.

Your fingers tap against your thighs silently while you observe the current debate that is occurring in the conference room. You barely have time to sweep the falling hair back behind your ear as your fingers ferociously fly across the keyboard to keep in track with the meeting.

Fei is arguing that the implement of a new search word system would boost users while Daniel says that it is a waste of resources. Instead, everything should be put into updating the entire system as a whole. You have long since lost track of their words as neither pertain to what you do as an intern.

“Enough,” the CEO of DailyHive holds up a hand. His one word causes the entire room to hush over – truly, the words of a god.

And that might as well be what he is. With his hair swept back and a lone tendril curling perfectly above his brow, Kim Seokjin is legitimately a walking god. Off his broad shoulders hang an expensive white linen suit bought with his pocket change and your yearly salary. A pair of sunglasses hangs in the V of the collared shirt dipping low enough to blur the lines between being fashionably professional and just downright sexy.

The snap of his fingers brings you back to the present.

He dramatically rolls his eyes and accepts that you are an incompetent minute-taker.  

“I have to remember that the world just doesn’t move as fast as I do.”  

                                                            - Quote: Rolling Stones 2019 Kim Seokjin.

Now if only he’d remember he had once said that.

He points at each of them with one finger, then swipes to the left. “Both of you, solve this outside. I don’t want to hear your voices any longer. You two from the marketing team, Ungroomed Stache and Acne Chin, create me a report if we are to implement Ms. Song’s idea. The two of you from…” he takes a pause here clearly having forgotten who his employees are, “The two of you do the same thing but for Mr. Hwang.”

The pair from accounting open their mouth to protest that they are in charge of only numbers, but they are ignored.

“All of you out now. Except you,” he points his finger directly at you, “Stay.”

Nobody utters a single word until they have all left and you are left alone with him. Standing before him with your hands folded nicely in front of you, you blink and wait.

He stares right back at you, picks up his coffee mug and drops it. The clatter of ceramic smashing against the ground causes a pause in the loud buzz outside the room. You know everybody’s focus has been shifted into the room.

“Do you want to kill me?” he drawls.

You take a long inhale. “No,” you say.

“No?” he repeats the word, “Well I think you do. Did you check this coffee before you brought it to me? I tasted cinnamon in it. You know how I’m allergic to cinnamon. Get me a new cup. And this mess, get somebody to clean it. I don’t want the smell of coffee in this room when I have my next meeting here in twenty. I’m taking a smoke a break.”

He stands up and brushes past you without saying anything else.

Nobody can be allergic to cinnamon. Besides if he had actually tasted cinnamon and was that sensitive, he would be dead. And good riddance to that.

Of course, you say none of this and wordlessly begin to pick up the broken ceramic pieces of the dead mug. The bustling outside the meeting room has returned back to its normal state of chaos. Seeing the ugly stain of coffee on the once pristine carpet causes you to swear beneath your breath.

“Who the fuck is allergic to cinnamon?” a new voice says, sliding up beside you.  

The second god in DailyHive; the much nicer and evidently preferred Kim; Taehyung takes the mug pieces from you and drops it into the garbage bin.

Blessed with not only intelligence but devilishly model-like features, he is your desk buddy in the small space allotted for interns and your sole friend in the company.

“Tae,” you sigh with exasperation upon seeing your lifesaver, “What am I going to do about this stain? He’s going to return in fifteen and there’s no way I can get a coffee stain out of this expensive-ass carpet.”

Taehyung taps a long finger to his lips, leaves the room briefly, and returns with a roll of Bounty sheets and a can of Febreze. He promptly blots as much of the coffee off from the carpet then proceeds to pull the meeting table.

“C’mon, Y/N, don’t just stand there. Help me! Time is of the essence!”

You laugh and join him in moving the table so that one of the legs cover the stain 80% of the way. Once he is satisfied, he takes the Febreze and sprays until the whole room smells like “Hawaiian Aloha”.

“You’re welcome.” He gives an extravagant bow, the motion popping open the top button of his shirt to expose a surprisingly chiseled chest.

Fei returns back into the room holding a phone to her ear and a clipboard in her left hand. “What the hell? It smells like a Bath & Body Works in here. Intern, aren’t you supposed to be filing or something? Stop standing around and be useful.” She grips Taehyung’s arm and drags him out of the room. “Button up. This is a professional workplace.”

You give him a tiny wave as Taehyung is steered away by his girlfriend and back to the cubicles.

Taehyung may be your saviour at work, but outside, it cannot be denied that your brother is the true Fountain of Life.

A week has passed since the coffee incident (you suspect a cleaning personnel had found the stain and cleaned up after your improv as aforementioned stain can no longer be found), but Jimin still brings it up.

“I still can’t believe that he said he was allergic to cinnamon. I’ve never heard of such bullshit before,” your brother says over the phone. You can practically hear his eyeroll from across the world.

As a renowned ophthalmologist, you have not seen Jimin for close to a year as he has been initiating his new clinic, a flying eye hospital.

“You should hear his Starbucks order. I always feel like I’m ready to launch my next EP whenever I’m at the counter,” you say.

Jimin laughs. There is the muffled sounds of voices as his never-ending flow of patients have arrived for the day.

“I shouldn’t keep you,” you say upon hearing that, “You’re probably really busy.”

“No,” he says, “I’ve got a few minutes if you’ve got a few. I miss talking to my baby sister.”

“I’m not a baby anymore, Jiminie,” you say using the nickname he hated.

“Oh that’s right. Your birthday’s in a little under three months, right? My baby sister is turning the big three-oh.”

“God, don’t remind me.”

“Want me to come visit you?”

You contemplate the idea once, having not seen Jimin in quite a while.

“Only if you have time. But I feel like Mom and Dad would probably want to see you more. Speaking of which, um… How are Mom and Dad?”

“They’re good. I hear Dad is finally going to retire this year. He’s giving his practice to Kibum, you remember him? Mom will probably start pestering us about what to do for his retirement party.”

There is a pause.

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to say hi to them once in a while.”

You sigh. “And say what? Hey, it’s me. The child that ran away from home at 18? Yeah, I’m not a doctor like everybody else in the family but a 29 year old intern at a popular app company. Whassuuup?”

“Y/N, that’s not what I – ”

“It’s okay, Jimin. I’ve come to accept that not everybody is cut out to be a doctor. I just wish Mom and Dad could realize that.”

Jimin sighs on your behalf. There is the sound of a crying child coming through the earphone. “Well, your contract expires a few weeks after your birthday, right? Who knows, you might be the next Mark Zuckerberg.”

He has never explicitly inquired about your life plan and you know this is as much as he is willing to push without asking, “What’s next after this intern hiccup?” At least he had the decency to compare you to a controversial Internet entrepreneur.

The child is crying much louder now.

“Again with my birthday. But I’ll let you know,” is the only reply you can come up with at the moment. “Okay, brother, go forth and heal the blind. I bless thee in the name of the Holy Spirit, Son and Ghost.”

There is true laughter that rings from Jimin as he ends the call. “It’s Father, Son and Holy Ghost you dweeb. I love you sis.”

“You too.” You hang up first before he can add anything else.

With that, you enter into the 7am Starbucks queue and prepare yourself in running the first single of your long overdue EP.

Seokjin leans back in his chair, watching you from inside his office. Today he has chosen a black turtleneck and a brazen maroon-nearly purple suit jacket to complete the outfit. For once, there is an empty mug of coffee beside him and his morning headache has been appeased.

He knew he had given you an impossible task.

“Compile all the troubleshooting errors we have received since the launch of DailyHive. Organize it in a manner that allows me to identify the most prominent problem. Run it through whomever you please before giving it to me. I don’t need to waste my time correcting your mistakes.”

There is an amused smile that bubbles beneath his otherwise stoic features. He cannot deny that there is, might he dare say, a cute quality about you as you manually scan through the received concerns on your laptop dating back to the initial beta tests – the ones that were lost in a data crash and only backed up with unintelligible scribblings of previous interns.

The moment you had been introduced as the new intern, you had caught his eye. You are exquisitely mundane, and perhaps the reason you had even caught him the first time was due to solely to the fact that you were older than most interns – himself even. Nevertheless, you continue to present him small surprises in your tenacity and capability to tackle challenges.

“Mr. Kim.”

His intercom comes alive with the voice of his secretary.

Seokjin’s eyes do not leave you as he answers.

“Mr. Hwang is on line two. Would you like me to defer him to a later time if you are currently busy?”

Seokjin cannot help but sigh. Hwang Junho, his co-founder, while a genius in international business is also a notorious chatterbox and gossip. There is seldom a reason for Junho to call him except to relay the cover titles of E!Magazine.

“Did he mention a reason for calling?” Seokjin inquires.

His secretary seems to be reading from a note. “He says it’s to do with the company. Something he read from Cosmopolitan this morning.”

So not E! but another sister celebrity gossip blog. He checks his watch and duly notes that he certainly has no meetings scheduled until later in the afternoon where your report would be needed to run a preliminary analysis.

“Sir?”

“Yes, put him through. But tell him I’ve got only five minutes, so he’s better give me the Cliffnotes version,” Seokjin sighs again.

Before he can be connected, Seokjin quickly says, “What’s the name of that intern again?”

“Who?” his secretary asks, “We’ve hired four since the beginning of the year.”

“The one who keeps wanting to poison me.”

“I’m sorry, Sir?” she sounds concerned.

“The one who keeps forgetting that I despise cinnamon.”

There is no response.

“The older one. Spilled coffee a while ago but still has enough coordination to pull together a decent report.”

“Ah,” she says.

He waits patiently as she searches through the database, eventually giving him your name. He gives a slight pause and then says, “Good. Now patch me with Junho.”

There is a momentary buzz as the call becomes connected in which Seokjin turns over the syllables of your name wordlessly.

“Mr. Kim. The man of the hour. How are you, my brother?” Junho’s baritone fills the office in a manner of seconds.

Despite the little annoying quirks, Seokjin cannot help but smile when hearing the voice of his best friend.

“You’ve got three minutes, Junho.”

Junho grumbles. “That’s not my fault. You were the one still on the line with your secretary. Is it still Yerin? ‘Cuz I won’t blame you if that’s the case. Did I catch you doing some naughty phone sex during office hours?”

“Two.”

“Holy hell. Fine. It’s always business with you. That’s why the tabloids are always writing you as an uptight asshole.”

This shifts Seokjin’s attention to the phone. His name is seldomly mentioned except for the features in business columns. He prefers to stay out of the limelight.

“What?”

“Put your name on Google.”

Seokjin does as he is told.

There are millions of results, but the first few pages share the same headline. He clicks on the first one with a grimace.

“Kim Seokjin. Mr. Worldwide Handsome as noted by his fans, has recently sparked Internet outrage.”

A quick skim of the otherwise trashy article brought to the surface a summary: his last dating scandal had ended badly and the repercussions of blowing off a famous celebrity’s daughter had finally caught up with him. The Internet was calling him arrogant, narrow-minded, and even greedy. “The young Chief Executive Officer of booming social media app DailyHive has been accused of using his relationship with actress XYZ to further his own business. Once he gained recognition from aforementioned relationship, he has cold-heartedly cast her away to pursue his next.” “You’re calling me for this bullshit?” Seokjin scoffs. Junho tuts his tongue loudly. “This is not bullshit. It’s affecting the image of your company. Do you think people want to download and support an app that is run by somebody who is being called cruel and dishonest? You’ve got to address this soon before it gets out of control. You’re lucky I have alerts set for these type of things. I caught it for you just in the nick of time.” Seokjin inhales deeply. “You’re also lucky that I’ve got the perfect solution in mind.” “That is?” “The Silver Gala,” Junho references the prestigious event. The Silver Gala is hosted annually and attended by the largest celebrities as well as other wealthy investors and guests. Those in the social circle shared between Seokjin and Junho often yearned for tickets to attend events such as this, as they serve as excellent networking opportunities. Besides the above, such events are circled by reporters and writers of gossip columns to get the exclusive scoop on any eyebrow-raising rumours. “The solution lies in such an event,” Junho continues, “You know how many people will be there. All you’ve got to do is show up with your average girl-next-door type and it’ll show how you’re actually really humble and down to earth. Kim Seokjin is perfectly capable of dating like any regular human being. He doesn’t use “love” or whatever to further his business. Love is the connection between two souls; two individuals who – ” “Beep. Your time has run out Junho. I’ve got another meeting scheduled right this moment,” Seokjin interrupts. “Dude, seriously. Think about it. You could bring Yerin. Everbody loves a good CEO and his secretary affair. And if that’s too juicy for you, I can introduce you to some girls. Or maybe we could go back to our university days and hit a bar, y’know?” Junho tries his best to persuade. “Fuck!” you swear beneath your breath right as you walk into Kim Seokjin’s office. His door had been open and, in your excitement to show your completed report, you had dropped all the loose papers on the ground. Four hours of organization gone, just like that. You hope that at least Seokjin hasn’t heard or noticed you as he had been engrossed in his phone call. Seokjin had in fact noticed you. He can’t help himself but follow the curvature of your bare shoulder as your bangs escape the hold of your scrunchie and sweep across your skin. “Don’t worry, Junho, I’ve just thought about it,” he says with a smile.