#zero sty

[the-karma-cafe]

Oh, Arthur | Arthur Morgan

(also posted on ao3 under same username)

in which arthur is desperate for an excuse for you to touch him ;(

“Oh, Arthur,” a voice called exasperatedly from the campfire.

Arthur blinked blearily, still in the early stages of waking up. Already?  He grumbled a little under his breath, not expecting to be bothered the second he exited his tent. Usually he had at least a minute to himself; perhaps he had not quite earned that this week. He rubbed an eye and glanced around.

Approaching him from his left, one hand holding a steaming cup of coffee and the other on her hip, was (Y/N). She rolled her eyes, and once she reached him, thrust out the cup towards him, its piping contents jostling about dangerously. He made a noise of surprise and took it from her, immediately balancing it in his grip. He looked down into the cup, its rich scent wafting up to meet his nose. “’S this for me?” he mumbled, voice still roughened from sleep. He coughed, clearing his throat self-consciously. The coffee swayed in the cup. 

"No." came her clipped response, like it was obvious. He scrunched up his nose, his gaze moving from the cup to her face. What crawled up her-?

Her hands were reaching up towards him, and he felt himself hold his breath. They stopped just under his face, grabbing at his collar. "What..." he breathed, his eyes tracking her movement, tucking his chin into his chest to watch. Her fingers tugged at the wrinkled fabric, unfolding it from the poor state it was in, and pulling down at it to straighten it.

She moved closer, huffing something under her breath he couldn't make out. His eyes moved back up to her, catching on that strand of hair that always fell out of her updo. His hand twitched.

"There." And suddenly she was gone, along with the warmth from the cup in his hand. He dumbly looked down at his now-empty hand, feeling ten times slower than everything around him this morning. 

"...Thanks?" 

Her laugh rang out. "You're welcome, Mr. Morgan." He looked back up at her, watching her twist and walk away from him. "Can't have you out robbin' in such a sorry state—stains the Van der Linde name!" she called out from over her shoulder.

"I suppose." he responded, more to himself, and long after she had left.

He spent a beat longer in that spot, feeling rooted to the ground. A cuff on the shoulder broke him from his trance, and he sheepishly stalked off to his horse.

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─

The next day, it happened again. Then again. Then again. There was always something off about how he looked, and she would tirelessly trot over to fix it. His collar was wrinkled, his suspenders uneven, his hair messed up, his clothes dirty... it wasn’t always first thing in the morning, sometimes it was after he had returned from town or from hunting. He had barely had time to dismount his horse before she was on him, smacking dirt off his front.

“Take a quick roll in the pig sty before you came back?” she prompted, sounding a bit irritated by his state of disarray. She seemed to get more and more annoyed with him the more this went on.

He shrugged, hiding a grin as she rounded his form to brush off his back. “Gotta get low to hunt, sweetheart.” he drawled, turning towards her before she could finish brushing him off.

She scowled. “So why is it Charles always manages to come back looking fine?”

Charles huffed a laugh from the other side of his horse. She sighed, her eyes zeroing in on another spot above his chest. She reached out and brushed it off. “You’re hopeless.”

Apparently deeming him clean enough, she wandered off to speak with Hosea.

“You’ve always been unkempt, Arthur." Charles prompted, rounding Taima. "What’s with her sudden interest?”

Arthur shrugged again, hearing his smile more than feeling it. “Must’ve got sick of me.”

Charles hummed, watching Arthur stare after her.

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─

Oh, he was a fool.

Arthur's reflection stared back at him: collar rumpled, one suspender off his shoulder, hair mussed. He almost scooped up dirt from the ground, but the slightest twinge of shame stopped him before he could. He shook his head, looking away. It was midday, she'd likely be busy with something else and not even notice. He forced himself to leave his tent.

He didn’t make it two steps out before being pushed right back in.

“Arthur have y’lost yer mind??” her hands were on him in an instant, righting his suspender and checking the other for good measure, fixing his collar, running her hands through his hair... he felt giddy, unable to fight the guilty smile on his face. It felt nice, to be doted on like this. The messier he was, the longer she’d have her hands on him.

“What’ve you got to smile about?!” she huffed, turning him around to face the small mirror on his table. He easily let himself be manhandled, glimpsing her contorted expression in the mirror. “It’s there for a reason!”

She moved to leave, but he caught her wrist, lightly tugging her back. He kept his hold soft. Her brow furrowed, but she allowed herself to be stopped, making his heart skip hopefully in his chest.

“I..." he smiled nervously, "I think you missed a spot.” he teased, dragging his other hand through his hair to mess it up again.

Her eyes followed this movement before snapping to his. He widened his smile, attempting to tamp down the anxious energy thrumming beneath its surface. Her gaze softened. She gently removed her wrist from his hold, watching his shoulders sag the slightest amount. It was stupid, he knew. He knew he was making a fool of himself.

“Oh, Arthur,” she sighed, a smile twisting her lips. He felt her hands in his hair, and his eyelids fluttered closed, eager to feel the scrape of her nails against his scalp. “You could’ve just asked.”

[avatar-anna]

Assistant! Reader x Harry Styles Masterlist

April 2016

“Thank you for meeting me.”

Y/n settled into the seat across from Harry. Her hands curled tightly around her mug, apprehension seeping into her bones. “Of course.”

She had been surprised when Harry called her, asking to meet at the Beachwood Cafe. She hadn’t heard from him in months, not one call or text, not even an email. Not that Y/n really expected much when One Direction finally went on hiatus, but after zero communication, she wasn’t quite sure why he’d called her all these months later. 

“How are you? I haven’t seen you in ages,” Harry asked.

Y/n’s eyebrows raised a bit, but she answered him anyway after taking a sip of her coffee. “Fine, I guess. You?”

“Good!” Harry said excitedly. “Taking a break the last few months has been…I don’t know. Peaceful, but odd, you know? I’ve never had so much time to myself before.”

“Must be nice,” Y/n said, trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

“Yeah, but I realized that I kind of miss it,” he said. “I knew once we decided on the hiatus that I wanted to do my own thing, but I thought I would take a longer break, but I feel like I’m…itching to get back to work.”

That definitely seemed like Harry. Y/n had worked for him for years, and even when there were breaks between tours, he was hard at work—writing, going to Fashion Week, collaborating with other artists, vocal training, even trying new recipes in his state-of-the-art kitchen, which led to a phone call at one in the morning where Harry asked Y/n to come over and see if his macrons tasted "fluffy enough." It seemed only right that he rested for mere months before starting a new project. She could practically picture him at either of his homes in LA or London, scribbling in his leatherbound journal or playing new melodies on his guitar or piano (and the occasional late-night pastry party). As long as she’d known him, Harry had been a hard worker through and through. A little on the wild side when he had some tequila in him, but when it came down to his career, he was focused, determined. 

“Good for you,” Y/n said, meaning it. She always thought he was capable of more. “So what comes next for you? Have you recorded songs already?”

“Not quite. I’m planning a trip to Jamaica to write and record there. It’s remote, serene, a good place to get away. So we’ll have to start booking flights and places to stay and—”

“I’m sorry, ‘We?’” Y/n asked, her brow furrowing with confusion. 

Harry matched her look of confusion with one of his own. “Yeah, I mean—I need you. I can’t do this without you.”

The sentiment warmed Y/n’s heart for a moment, but his immediate assumption that she would drop everything just because he asked her to brought the irritation swarming back. “Mr. Sty—Harry, you know I don’t work for you anymore, right?”

“What do you mean? Are you talking about the hiatus? I just thought we could all use some time off, but…I guess I just thought—”

Harry didn’t finish his thought, but his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Y/n would’ve found it cute if he hadn’t been so dense. Resentment still circled around her like a fog, and she wouldn’t let it go so easily, she couldn’t. 

“I was employed by your management, Harry. To be an assistant to a member of One Direction,” Y/n explained. “I was let go. I had to quickly find another job doing something else.”

“Oh.”

Y/n supposed she should’ve anticipated being fired, but she didn’t. There was a lot of information that she was privy to that most people weren’t, secrets that were tightly bound by an NDA when she was first hired, but talks of the hiatus was very hushed. She knew to suspect that somewhere down the line the boys would finally take a break, but it came a lot sooner than she was prepared for, and she was left jobless before she had the chance to line something else up. Y/n thought that Harry would give her the courtesy of a warning, but he said nothing about it to her, didn’t offer much except a side hug after One Direction’s last performance.

So yeah, she was a little bitter.

“I’m—I’m really sorry, Y/n. I know it doesn’t make up for…all of this and everything you went through, but I am truly sorry.”

“Thank you.” 

Y/n believed him, believed that he was sorry for everything that went down, but it still hurt to know she wasn’t someone he was close enough to talk to about all of this at the time. She was Harry’s assistant, she knew that, but they’d been through a lot together. But he was ever the professional it seemed, and it was her job to remember that, not his.

When she realized her coffee was finished, Y/n stood up. “Well, it was good seeing you, Harry. Good luck on your next project. I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“Wait, but—you’re not—you‘re leaving?”

“I have to run a couple errands before work," Y/n explained. She rested her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “But really, no hard feelings. I wish you all the best.”

She left Harry at the table, heading for the front of the cafe and toward the busy street beyond. Her heart felt heavy as she walked away, but she tried to shake the feeling that she was walking away from more than just her boss. Former boss. Like her mother always reminded her, she couldn’t be a personal assistant forever.

“Wait!”

Y/n turned on instinct, eyes widening as Harry jogged after her, his little bun bouncing with each step. He skidded to a stop in front of her, green eyes wide and searching. For what, she wasn’t sure, but the heat of his gaze was enough to make butterflies stir in her stomach.

Putting on her best front, she raised her eyebrows, waiting for Harry to say whatever he needed to.

“I wasn’t kidding earlier. I need you, Y/n,” he said. “I—You’re the only one who really knows me, who I know will have my back no matter what. I need a familiar face in my corner.”

I need you, Y/n. Those words were her kryptonite. Year after year, Y/n heard Harry's voice over the phone as he roused her from sleep, read the text messages while she was getting her nails done or watched TV in her hotel room, or on the rare occasion she went on a date. But she had to hold strong. Y/n had been devastated by her sudden layoff, but now she had a life, and she didn't want to get sucked back into Harry's very alluring web of charming smiles, cheesy jokes, and endless adventure. That was his life, not hers.

“I have a job, Harry. I can’t just drop everything and quit because you suddenly want me to—”

“What are they paying you?”

Y/n’s brows furrowed. “Excuse me?”

Harry pushed on. “What are they paying you? I’ll double it.”

Scoffing in disbelief, she said, “It’s not about the money—”

“Triple,” he countered. Harry took her hand in his and squeezed it. He looks desperate, Y/n thought.

“I can’t just quit my job because you remembered I existed,” Y/n said quietly, pulling her hand out of his. She clung to her resolve, hoping Harry would make this easy and just let it go, let her go. “I—I deserve more.”

More of what, she wasn’t sure, but Y/n knew it was true. Harry only reached out because he needed something from her, and that hurt more than she cared to admit. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Harry said, looking down at his shoes. A pair of scuffed Chelsea boots he wore practically everywhere. Y/n had bought him a pair of Vans one year, an attempt to switch up his wardrobe, but he still chose the boots nine times out of ten. “Just—At least think about coming to Jamaica. Please?”

“Harry—”

“Not as my assistant. As a guest. A friend,” Harry amended. “We’re planning on staying at a huge villa, and I want to make up for being an idiot. Just—Just think about it. Please.”

Despite everything, Y/n found herself wanting to say yes. It was that magnetic pull she felt toward Harry that had kept her working for him for so long. He was an important person in her life, and up until he’d all but ghosted her after the hiatus, she thought she was important to him too. In spite of his misgivings, Y/n still wanted to believe that she was. 

It was so stupid, but it felt good to be wanted by him. She was an idiot, she knew that. But her friendship with Harry was legitimate, he'd just acted like a complete idiot. She'd known him long enough to know he was very capable of acting like an idiot. So even though she shouldn’t, even though she had carefully lined up her reasons not to in a little line, she started to cave. 

But she couldn’t make the decision now. Not when Harry was looking at her with pleading green eyes and his sad little puppy dog face, his cologne dizzyingly lovely. No, she owed it to herself to really think about what she wanted. If getting sucked back into that whirlwind was worth it. Worth getting her heart properly broken when she knew he would never feel the same about her.

"I'll show up at work, you know," Harry said. "I'm not above it. You might think I am, but I'm not."

Y/n had no doubt in her mind that he would. Along with being an idiot, Harry was very stubborn, and very persistent. She had years with him to know that. Did she really need Harry Styles showing up at her place of work?

“Fine, I’ll think about it,” she finally said, trying to pretend like her heart was screaming to just agree. But her heart was an impulsive little shit that was bound to get her in trouble.

Harry’s face broke out into a wide grin, one that displayed those famous dimples and lit up his entire face. It was hard to feel like he didn't think she was the only person on earth to exist when he looked like that, like he was convinced she’d already said yes. “I’ll take it.”

[thestobingirlie]

steve harrington has powers

and they will be revealed in s5

steve’s power reveal has been hinted at from the very beginning, and now we’re in the final season, all our waiting will have paid off, and his status as an escaped child from the lab will play a key role in defeating the upside down and vecna for good.

first things first, let’s think about two factors that define steve as a character. ask any fan, no matter how casual, about steve, and they’ll know these two things; he gets into fights every single season and his hair is a key part of his character.

steve’s hair plays a role in his character arc.

as steve grows fully into himself as a character, his hair changes with him, becoming longer, wilder, less neat and styled. his hair represents his growth within his current arc.

who else is a character with an arc that can be well represented by their current hairstyle? eleven.

as el’s hair grows, we watch her figure out who she is as a person, learn to style it, grow and even lose it. this is no coincidence.

steve’s hair growth is directly tied to his status as a lab child. his rejection of the abuse he faced growing up can be seen in the care and attention he directs towards his hair. as he becomes a more fully developed character, who is learning and changing as he interacts with more environments, his hair changes with him.

not to mention that steve using women’s hairspray and stying products for his hair clearly show that he was raised outside of the bounds of normal gender roles. he has no issue with using woman’s shampoo and condition because he wasn’t taught to. his ideas of masculinity don’t revolve around social expectations, much like el.

steve’s fights are the biggest indicator of steve’s abilities.

or rather, should i say the aftermath of those fights.

we watch steve get obliterated in a fight scene every single season, and yet not five minutes later, he’s walking it off! he has zero repercussions of these fights. no headaches. no scars. no lingering wounds.

he routinely throws himself back into the fray. no matter how badly wounded.

this is NOT an accident, nor was it a choice made so that the duffers could beat up their favourite punching bag and still use him as a key player in fights. it’s obviously there as a hint to the audience as to the true nature of steve’s ability.

now, it’s fairly obvious where i’m going with this: steve has accelerated healing as a result of the experiments performed on him by hawkins lab.

now, you might just say, “so what? he healed from battling humans.”

but it’s so much more than that.

steve fought and was eaten by upside down creatures.

no other character has survived that. no other character carries wounds and scars from surviving a run in with a demo-creature.

bar one.

eleven.

coincidence? of course not.

steve is the only character that wears a wristwatch in near every single scene he’s in.

not only is his watch constantly on, it’s takes a prominent place in key scenes. the duffers want you to look at it.

why else would they refuse to show his wrist in every single scene? they don’t want us to see what’s underneath. so what could the duffers be hiding under there? his number.

and the number, god it’s so obvious. STEVEN. SEVEN.

i mean, it’s staring us right in the face!!!

steve’s past

now, this point is so obvious, everyone can see it: we’ve never even met steve’s parents.

the only teenage character from prior to s3 whose parents we haven’t met. we don’t even know their names.

in fact, tommy and carol even seem used to the fact that steve’s parents aren’t home. implying that they’re never there. because they don’t exist.

we’ve seen his house! and yet… empty. the room is blank. there’s nothing in there to even suggest it is steve’s house. he has no personal effects.

every single other character has identifying objects in their room. but not steve. why would the duffers do this? because they’re hinting to the audience that steve doesn’t belong there.

there’s not even any reference of steve prior to the beginning of s1. jonathan? we see flashbacks. nancy? we get mention of her playing dnd years before. all the party have pictures. we watch max’s childhood memories play out.

and yet. the closest we get to characters remembering steve in their own past, is steve from the year 1983. naturally, that isn’t the year that steve escaped the lab, but it does bring up interesting questions about steve living on the edge of hawkins population. he may have been the most popular boy around, but it seems no one truly knew him.

steve didn’t go the college.

and it’s not because he didn’t get in.

steve was getting c’s in classes nancy found difficult.

steve was in at least two different sports (basketball and swimming), he was a lifeguard and co-captain of the swimming team. that takes work and dedication, and it looks good when applying to college.

to be in all these sports, steve had to have been getting above a certain grade level. certainly high enough to get into college.

the duffers know that steve could’ve gotten into college, so why would they make it so obvious that steve is lying?

because steve didn’t apply in the first place. because as an escapee from the lab, he doesn’t even exist in the real world. he has no birth certificate, no records from being a child. attending some high school in the middle of nowhere would’ve been easy, but attending college? drawing attention to himself? steve couldn’t risk it. he knew he’d be found.

TL;DR

el and steve are purposefully paralleled to hint towards steve’s past and secret abilities. there’s a reason the duffers have never allowed prolonged interactions between el and steve, because they want to drag out the reveal as long as they can. there is so much more, but god, it would take forever.

we still don’t even know the full extent of steve’s abilities (i personally believe that steve has some variation of a charisma ability. i mean. every single character that’s disliked him has spent a very short amount of one on one time with him and immediately come around.) and we likely won’t until s5 finally comes out. and then the world will know…

[anna-edward]

Btw, nw czy też tak macie , ale w przeszłości jak próbowałam robić f@sty to kupowałam sobie colę zero bo i tak ma 1 kcal ale ostatnio piłam tylko wodę i mi się w ogóle jeść nie chciało. Teraz też mi sie nie chce a mam 40 godzin f@sta. Więc na przyszłość, u mnie tylko woda i kawa 🫶

[freshservdcvnt]

TRIGGER WARNING: ABUSE

she made a post saying she's relieved but she doesn't deserve relief, this is @cuntmunism threatening to harm herself over me leaving. because she was obsessed with someone who wasn't even an ex, they only hooked up. they also made it clear to her that they didn't like her because I found out that they grinded on our other friends boyfriend at the times laps and told eve that they didn't like her. she also screamed at me at the top of her lungs because I broke up with her. she also tried to prevent me from leaving and told me to hit her. we spent nearly 7 months together and the entire time I had to beg for attention, I had to beg and plead for her to respect my boundaries. she refused to compromise, we were poly and we hooked up with others before and it wasn't an issue. she was obsessed with them and couldn't spare much for me, I feel petty for doing this. but she is an abuser, she's a cheater, my friend talked to their therapist and only told them the little bit that I had communicated to them and their therapist is the one who said that she was cheating on me. she was hiding talking to them, and hiding in the bathroom to talk to them. i did everything I could to try and not be controlling, I didn't want to control her. I just wanted her to give me the same energy she was giving them, she would barely help me around the house, she did laundry once our entire relationship and I even had to switch it. if it wasn't for me our place would have been a pig sty. I did everything for her. and she refused to give me the bare minimum. all of my friends even noticed how badly she was treating me, she spent more time on her phone than she spent showing me any form of attention. I'm not usually a petty person, but I've been away from her for two days and I'm really starting to realize how badly she treated me. I would have panic attacks where I'm bawling and sobbing where all I need is to be held reassured, she would say "am I really this terrible?" she is extremely manipulative. yall deserve to know who you're giving money to when she's asking for help on here. I know I don't ever post here I promise this is all true, and I have other receipts to back up everything. if you want to help someone, you can help me since I had to leave her after she drained me because she's extremely financially irresponsible. I know you don't know me that well, but trust me I have other receipts and I have friends that can attest to the treatment and abuse I've been receiving. she may not want to admit that she abused me but she absolutely did. Neglect is abuse, eve. after what I just found out that I'm not disclosing yet I have zero remorse in dragging her right now. thanks for coming to my Ted talk!

[the-firebird69]

Georgia governor Brian Kemp snaps back at Trump after string of vicious attacks: 'Leave my family out of it' | Daily Mail Online

he keeps on doing this and annoying people and he wants them out an the electionos are onnow. and for senate and congressional seats but only 30% but he calls it out by yelling at the enemy. is a child. and a moron who wants to have fun. his technique has cost him and he loses support daily hourly and tons of it. and out the window. are after him and the stuff he took, most freidns and confidants see it any who did busines with him find he sucks it alll out. and they wnt it back. now take it they say.

-last night he lost, and in the west. and tons. about ten medium. and three large the security bunkers were destroyed no emptied. three to be desroyed tonight are medium. keep filling no are defunct will sty that way they sy. all are in mx yes. southern mx and the cloud will comme here. and hits his and they die. tons see it the

your head is not afected but is eaten away.gross. and watch them die slow ainful agonixing deaths. several zombie flicks are upcoming here. and true too are.

-he lost nuclear bunkers. tons of them. are out. and huge ones. they fell. about thirty medium and are out of reach breachd ovrun or empty. four of the fortresses to be blown tonight fully. re in russia and out of fifty. yes all medium. ten more medium in the sahara. and out too they will be gone. fifty more tonight will be out and mediums. two large went last night are defunct and will be blown tonight. and ten more large yes. all of the ohters are stopped up. as are the caches and stashes adn he security forces dwindle to zero faster now.

---=the several large opened in teh east about 7 are showng wht the very large hold. and it is tonns of good stuff. and they want at it soon will build utp to massive proportions and take it all out. true too and flatten trump

nee to they say

Thor Freya

Olympus

good. fun day ahead yeh ok you jerk Zues ahahha ok ok i do work then ok i hel make it better

Hera

[positivementalaxolotl]

Why... Is this bad tho? Like just because you're interested in kids shows and discuss the shows you're interested in... Doesn't mean you're not interested in them? I talk about shows like Miraculous Ladybug, Steven Universe, and Bee and Puppycat, and actively talk about talk about the morals and characterization of the shows and making headcanons, but I also enjoy adult themes like The Last Of Us, Murder Mysteries, and so on and so forth. People getting into respectful discourse online and making headcanons about kids shows doesn't mean that their interests are narrow ended.

And quite frankly even *if* their interests are primarily kids stuff, that's not really a bad thing? Like watching TV and playing video games and reading a book and comics and any other kind of sty telling media... Is suppose to be fun. It's not suppose to be a job, it's not suppose to be an exercise. It's not suppose to be stressful, and leaving a take like this online is quite frankly just going to make people shy away from trying different themes even more. If you had someone telling you that you need to try something that you might not be interested in, you're going to also not want to try it, especially someone you don't know online. But when you see someone online, complaining about the media that other people they don't even know are consuming, making the assumption that people are holding themselves back because they aren't partaking in a certain area of specific media... Like, if non-kids shows turn me into someone who thinks they know what's best for other people and imply that people who mostly interested in kids shows are lesser or aren't educating themselves in other ways, then I definitely don't want to be consuming the media that they are. Represent the community you want others to join in a respectful and welcoming way, not by saying people *need* to broaden their horizons or else they're lesser.

And this is from someone who's main media consumption is video games that are adult themed and have been since I was younger. Left 4 Dead, Barotrauma, Portal, Skyrim, Resident Evil, Zero Escape, and again, The Last of Us. And this also is going to be a really damaging message for people who hold non harmful hyper fixations due to mental health or disability. Are you really going to tell and Autistic person that they *need* to broaden their horizons? Because that just sounds pretty infantilizing to me, but you're using the same wording towards everyone within this niche and... Infantilizing everyone who primarily enjoy kids content. They just enjoy the content, that doesn't mean they are literally kids at the age of 34.

i beg you.. stop only consuming kids media.. your life will be so much better

[gyumibear]

sunny my pookie bear! congrats on the news smau can i be added to the taglist <3 (im ready to be DYN♡STYs biggest stan🤞) 🫂

thank you zero!! 🫶🏽 and ofc you can!! <33

[melancholyymusings]

It's still September, but it's never too early for spooky season. Truth be told, I was already in a spooky mood during the middle of August when it was still 95 degrees out lol. But here is my first read of the spooky season! Craven Manor by Darcy Coates.

Review:

I've been hearing a lot about Darcy Coates as a horror author and heard that she is a good entry point into horror if you are not really a horror reader. I am not a horror reader although I do love a gothic story with lots of atmosphere and a mystery. And well...atmosphere is all this story really had, in my humble opinion. I mean, there was a mystery there, but I don't think it was really that hard to figure out. The author tried to divert your assumptions based off of all the mental gymnastics the main character was doing, but the diversion was not really done well (again, in my humble opinion).

I am a bit disappointed that this was my introduction to Darcy Coates as I can't say I really liked this book. The main character, Daniel, was the most frustrating simpleton I've ever read about. In this story, he has fallen on hard times and was even homeless for a while, but we meet him after he has been living with his cousin, Kyle, for 6 months after finding him on the street one random day.

Daniel ends up getting a job offer of being a groundskeeper at Craven Manor, and from the beginning, the whole thing is just odd. But he's desperate for a steady job so he accepts. I do not hold this against him, however, for someone who's been homeless, Daniel had absolutely ZERO street smarts! And he made stupid decision after stupid decision after stupid freakin decision. I ended up rolling my eyes so much, I would often put the book down and just leave it for days at a time because Daniel was just so...irritating; to the point of exasperation, for me personally.

I am all about reading about a man that goes against typical masculinity. Daniel was not some macho alpha male that was demanding and an all-around disagreeable or unlikeable person. Some might even describe him as being "soft "and "innocent." But he was written in a way that was completely frustrating to read about. He was insecure, weak, easily swayed, and allowed himself to be a complete doormat. I would hate this for any character. He also lacked critical thinking skills and everything he did or said was super predictable.

His cousin Kyle was a stereotypical, condescending bully and he got what he deserved in the end. He was written to be so terrible that I couldn't feel any human emotions towards him besides disgust and anger.

As the reader, I never learned anything about Daniel or Kyle. It was all very surface level. Why was Daniel homeless? I don't know. Does he have any other family besides Kyle, and where are they? I don't know. Kyle and Daniel are cousins by marriage. Who were the family members that got married that now connects them as family? I don't know. Why can't Daniel keep a job? I don't know. What's his educational level? I don't know. We know literally nothing about these guys and we never find out either.

The paranormal/supernatural monster in this story was not scary. I did not know what to expect in terms of the paranormal aspect, but it definitely wasn't whatever this was. The ghosts weren't scary either or even remotely spooky, but this didn't really bother me because not all ghosts are malevolent.

The plot/story itself was also really predictable. I would know almost exactly what was going to happen and then two pages later, it would happen. This did not make for an entertaining experience.

A couple positives for this book would be that the story was definitely atmospheric. I enjoyed the creepy, dilapidated manor with an overgrown garden, surrounded by a forest with trees populated by crows. When it comes to the gothic and spooky, I absolutely love crows, ravens, and gargoyles. When I write my own book, there will definitely be ravens in it!

This book is also really easy to read. The writing style is simplistic and accessible. One would not need above a middle school education in order to read this book and understand everything. I don't mean that to be disrespectful. I am stating that because I have met people that choose not to read because of the stigma that most books are dense and pretentious. This is not a dense or pretentious book. It's very accessible to wide age range.

Overall, this book was very 'meh' for me. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it either. It honestly just felt like a PG-13 Halloween movie that might air on ABC during October for the countdown to Halloween. Again, this is not a bad thing. I just had different expectations due to all the raving positive reviews and how often Darcy Coates' name would pop up when I'm searching for gothic and horror stories. This was not a horror. And while there were definitely some gothic elements, please do not go into this book expecting thrills and frights and the macabre. Go in just expecting lighthearted Halloween vibes and you might enjoy this book better than I did.

I'm still interested in reading some of Darcy's other books though. I have two more on loan from my library and I unknowingly purchased one of her books last year before I ever even knew who she was in the horror/thriller/gothic online book space. I'll give those a try sometime in the future.

However, on that note, I'm off to find my next read! ~

[brandonwayneb]

rehearsal

read heal

read her zeal

rehursts a death car

red bee sty

red deer sty

sty eyes

style lifeforms zéro

"cut skin"

"that creates cultures to short respond"

keep eyes at Style Free.

Zero agents who speak farm of eye balls

red bee

zip war SPY ANAL FLUID

zip war SPINAL FLUID

zip war backward ASS CODE

zip war BYE BYE PENIS POT LUCK

Anyone Hungry?

European what?

Red Bee.

zero agents at "sty" and "style"

no relations with agents engaged in full genocide

[phantomtutor]

SOLUTION AT Academic Writers Bay Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY • The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated folder. • Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted. • Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page. • Students must mention question number clearly in their answer. • Late submission will NOT be accepted. • Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions. • All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism). • Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted. Logistics Management Learning Outcome: 1. Ability to explain and distinguish between the concepts of logistic system operations using logistic systems, time based management and lean thinking. 2. Analyze and identify challenges and issues pertaining to logistical processes. Critical Thinking The global marketplace has witnessed an increased pressure from customers and competitors in manufacturing as well as service sector (Basu, 2001; George, 2002). Due to the rapidly changing global marketplace only those companies will be able to survive that will deliver products of good quality at cheaper rate and to achieve their goal companies try to improve performance by focusing on cost cutting, increasing productivity levels, quality and guaranteeing deliveries in order to satisfy customers (Raouf, 1994). Increased global competition leads the industry to increasing efficiency by means of economies of scale and internal specialization to meet market conditions in terms of flexibility, delivery performance and quality (Yamashina, 1995). The changes in the present competitive business environment characterized by profound competition on the supply side and keen indecisive in customer requirements on the demand side. These changes have left their distinctive marks on the different aspect of the manufacturing organizations (Gomes et al., 2006). With this increasing global economy, cost effective manufacturing has become a requirement to remain competitive. To meet all the challenges organizations try to introduce different manufacturing and supply techniques. Management of organizations devotes its efforts to reduce the manufacturing costs and to improve the quality of product. To achieve this goal, different manufacturing and supply techniques employed. The last quarter of the 20th century witnessed the adoption of excellent, lean and integrated manufacturing strategies that have drastically changed the way manufacturing firm’s leads to improvement of manufacturing performance (Fullerton and McWatters, 2002). Consult chapter 7 of your textbook or secondary available data through internet and answer the following questions. Question: 1. Why Companies adopted Lean Thinking and JIT model? (1.5 Mark) 2. Discuss major types of Waste, companies has to keep in mind during production. (1.5 Mark) 3. Due to pandemic COVID 19 emergency, do you think agile supply chain is the right concept in this kind of situation? Give reason with example. (1.5 Mark) 4. Reference (0.5 Mark) The Answer must follow the outline points below: • Each answer should be 300 to 500 range of word counts. • Lean Thinking and JIT Concept • Agile Supply chain • Their Main functions • Reasons with suitable Examples • Reference use APA style of referencing CHAPTER 7 Just-in-time and the agile supply chain Objectives The intended objectives of this chapter are to: ● explain how just-in-time can be used to avoid the build-up of waste within and between supply chain processes; ● introduce the concept of the agile supply chain as a broad-based approach to developing responsiveness advantages; ● explore the

challenges of coping with volatile demand situations; ● explain how capabilities can be developed and specifically targeted at thriving in conditions of market turbulence. By the end of this chapter you should be able to: ● understand how lean thinking can be used to improve performance of the supply chain in meeting end-customer demand by cutting out waste; ● recognise enemies of flow in the supply chain; ● understand the distinctions between lean and agile strategies, and how the two can work together; ● identify the type of market conditions under which agile strategies are appropriate, and how they can be operationalised. In Chapter 9 we consider another key aspect of the agile supply chain – the virtual organisation. Introduction In Chapter 5, we reviewed the importance of time in supply chain thinking. Time is one of the ‘hard objectives’ (section 1.3.1), and some supply chains compete on time by delivering products to the end-customer faster than competition. Here, the focus is on reducing the time taken for each process. But time can also be used to alter the trade-offs between competitive priorities – for example, costs do not have to rise proportionately as lead times are reduced (section 5.1.1). This can be achieved by squeezing non-value-adding activities (delays, transport, storage and inspection) from the supply chain by time-based process mapping (section 5.3). Such activities are referred to generically as waste, the Japanese word for which is 222 Chapter 7 • Just-in-time and the agile supply chain muda (the concept of waste was introduced in Chapter 5 and is explored further in section 7.1.2). Such thinking has been developed into a philosophy and accompanying tools and techniques under the banner of ‘just-in-time’ (JIT). The aim of JIT (Harrison, 1992) is: To meet demand instantaneously with perfect quality and no waste. All three targets (demand – quality – waste) are ideals which can never be fully achieved. But we can get closer to them over time through continuous improvement. The elimination of waste has been promoted under the banner of ‘lean thinking’ (Womack and Jones, 2003), who advise: To hell with your competitors; compete against perfection by identifying all activities that are muda and eliminating them. This is an absolute rather than a relative standard which can provide the essential North Star for any organization. JIT and lean thinking share the same roots, and originate from competitive strategies developed by the Japanese. Toyota Motor Company is held up as the role model and, although the Toyota brand has been severely damaged in recent years by widespread quality problems (section 1.3.1), this focal firm’s operational excellence has had a major influence on logistics thinking today. A common view is that lean thinking works best where demand is relatively stable – and hence predictable – and where variety is low. But in situations where demand is volatile and customer requirement for variety is high, the elimination of waste in itself becomes a lower priority than the need to respond rapidly to a turbulent marketplace. So the second part of this chapter reviews developments under the banner of the ‘agile supply chain’. In Chapter 6, we reviewed quick response and other time-based approaches to developing the capabilities needed to support the speed advantage. While such logistics capabilities are important enablers to lean and responsive supply chains, the ‘agile supply chain’ takes the argument a significant step further. Marketplaces of the 21st century are often characterised by proliferation of products and services, shorter product lifecycles and increased rates of product innovation. Simply responding quickly and at the right time are not enough to meet the needs of such marketplaces. The mission of modern logistics is to ensure that it is the right product – to meet exact end customer needs – that gets delivered in the right place at the right time. Such a mission means that the end-customer comes first.

This chapter proposes the agile supply chain as an approach that elevates speed capabilities in a given supply chain to much higher levels than would be possible using the tools and techniques discussed so far. Key issues This chapter addresses two key issues: 1 Just-in-time and lean thinking: the impact of just-in-time on supply chain thinking. Cutting out waste in business processes. Simple, paperless systems v central control. Use and misuse in planning and control. 2 The agile supply chain: the dimensions of the agile supply chain, and the environments that favour agility. Agile practices: addressing the challenges of market turbulence, rapid response logistics and managing low volume products. Just-in-time and lean thinking 223 7.1 Just-in-time and lean thinking Key issue: What are the implications of just-in-time and lean thinking for logistics? How can just-in-time principles be applied to other forms of material control such as material requirements planning? Just-in-time is actually a broad philosophy of management that seeks to eliminate waste and improve quality in all business processes. JIT is put into practice by means of a set of tools and techniques that provide the cutting edge in the ‘war on waste’. In this chapter, we focus on the application of JIT to logistics. This partial view of JIT has been called little JIT (Chase et al., 2005): there is far more to this wide-ranging approach to management than we present here (see, for example, Harrison, 1992). Nevertheless, little JIT has enormous implications for logistics, and has spawned several logistics versions of JIT concepts. The partial view of JIT is an approach to material control based on the view that a process should operate only when a customer signals a need for more parts from that process. When a process is operated in the JIT way, goods are produced and delivered just-in-time to be sold. This principle cascades upstream through the supply network, with subassemblies produced and delivered just-in-time to be assembled, parts fabricated and delivered just-in-time to be built into subassemblies, and materials bought and delivered just-in-time to be made into fabricated parts. Throughout the supply network, the trigger to start work is governed by demand from the customer – the next process (Schonberger, 1991). A supply network can be conceived of as a chain of customers, with each link coordinated with its neighbours by JIT signals. The whole network is triggered by demand from the end-customer. Only the end-customer is free to place demand whenever he or she wants; after that the system takes over. The above description of the flow of goods in a supply chain is characteristic of a pull system. Parts are pulled through the chain in response to demand from the end-customer. This contrasts with a push system, in which products are made whenever resources (people, material and machines) become available in response to a central plan or schedule. The two systems of controlling materials can be distinguished as follows: ● Pull scheduling: a system of controlling materials whereby the user signals to the maker or provider that more material is needed. Material is sent only in response to such a signal. ● Push scheduling: a system of controlling materials whereby makers and providers make or send material in response to a pre-set schedule, regardless of whether the next process needs them at the time. The push approach is a common way for processes to be managed, and often seems a sensible option. If some of the people in a factory or an office are idle, it seems a good idea to give them work to do. The assumption is that those products can be sold at some point in the future. A similar assumption is that building up a stock of finished goods will quickly help to satisfy the customer. This argument seems particularly attractive where manufacturing lead times are long, if quality is a problem or if machines often break down. It is better and safer to 224 Chapter

7 • Just-in-time and the agile supply chain make product, just in case there’s a problem in the future. Unfortunately, this argument has severe limitations. Push scheduling and its associated inventories do not always help companies to be more responsive. All too often, the very products the organisation wants to sell are unavailable, while there is too much stock of products that are not selling. And building up stock certainly does not help to make more productive use of spare capacity. Instead it can easily lead to excess costs, and hide opportunities to improve processes. 7.1.1 The just-in-time system Companies achieve the ability to produce and deliver just-in-time to satisfy actual demand because they develop a production system that is capable of working in this way. Such a system can be envisaged as a number of ‘factors’ that interact with each other, as shown in Figure 7.1. This shows JIT capability as founded on layers of factors that interact together to form a system that is designed for flow. Excellence in each of the six factors determines the effectiveness with which JIT capability can be achieved: that is, how easy it is to get to the top of the pyramid. Level 1 Just-in-time 1 Level 2 Minimum delay 2 4 3 Level 3 Minimum inventory Minimum defects Minimum down time 6 5 Simplicity and visibility Figure 7.1 The pyramid of key factors that underpin JIT Factor 1 The top of the pyramid is full capability for just-in-time supply. This is the level at which a focal firm can produce and deliver according to the demand that is placed on it. The relationships operating within and between levels 2 and 3 form the system that ultimately underpins the achievement of JIT. They are complex, and in some cases there is a long time delay between taking actions and seeing the effects. Factor 2 The two factors delay and inventory interact with each other in a system of positive amplification; that is, they go up together and they go down together. This Just-in-time and lean thinking 225 interrelationship results in either a virtuous cycle, where things keep getting better, or a vicious cycle, where they keep getting worse. For example, extra delay in a process will result in extra inventory being held to compensate for the delay. Adding more inventory causes further delays as products take longer to flow through the process, which leads to the need for more inventory. Conversely if delays are reduced then less inventory is needed, which results in fewer delays, meaning that inventory can be further reduced. Making sure this relationship operates as a virtuous cycle of reducing delay and inventory instead of a vicious one where they increase depends on the underpinning factors in level 3. Factor 3 Defects lead to delays, either through requiring rework or necessitating increased production to compensate for scrap. The likelihood of defects leads to safety stocks being held as a buffer against potential problems. This thinking amplifies quality problems by increasing the time between a defect occurring and its discovery. Not only is the cause harder to identify, but more production will be affected. The attitude that holding inventory can mitigate the effect of quality problems is fundamentally flawed. It stands in opposition to the only successful approach to defect minimisation, where problems are quickly identified, their causes are traced, and permanent solutions are devised and applied. Factor 4 Machine downtime relates to a number of issues: ● unplanned downtime – that is, breakdowns; ● planned maintenance; ● changeover times. Downtime, and particularly the risk of unplanned downtime, is a key cause of the need for safety stocks in a process. Other JIT tools and techniques can help to minimise the problems here. For example, total productive maintenance (TPM; Nakajima, 1989) seeks to answer the question ‘What can everyone do to help prevent breakdowns?’ Regular planned preventive maintenance, closer cooperation between production

and maintenance personnel, and equipment sourcing for ease of maintenance are some of the actions that can be taken in response. In other words, increasing planned maintenance costs often results in reduced overall costs of machine downtime. Minimising changeover time is a JIT tool that can be used not only to reduce lost production time but also improve production flexibility. Inflexible facilities delay the rapid production of customer orders. Factor 5 Where the flow through a process is easily seen, people in the process will have a better understanding of their colleagues’ work and how they themselves affect others. A simple process results from having first focused operations around a family of compatible products. Layout is then organised to bring together all the 226 Chapter 7 • Just-in-time and the agile supply chain people and equipment needed to undertake the process. These are arranged so that there is a logical flow between the process steps. Arranging the process so that the stations for undertaking the steps are close together not only helps to reduce inventory but also will itself be made easier when inventory is low. A simple process will be more visible, allowing it to be better maintained. Not only should there be fewer things to go wrong, they will be more obvious when they do, and will be easier to fix. This attribute helps to minimise both machine downtime and product defects. Maintenance of the process is underpinned by housekeeping and cleanliness. This starts with designing processes and facilities to create order. There is a place for everything, and everything has its place. Orderliness depends on a thinking workforce that has accepted ownership and responsibility for organising the work place. Attention to detail in terms of ‘respect for human’ issues is an essential part of JIT philosophy (Harrison and Storey, 2000). Factor 6 The levels of work in progress and other types of inventory have a significant impact upon the visibility of a process. It becomes increasingly difficult to see the flow of a process as inventory increases. This may be literally true on a shop floor or in a warehouse, where piles and stacks of goods can isolate workers. The same is true in offices when the process flow becomes lost in assorted piles of work on people’s desks. In order to highlight the limitations of push production we next consider the case of how a focal firm took a rather traditional approach to responding to new demands being placed on the production process. CASE STUDY 7.1 Smog Co. The Smog Co. production system This is the case of Smog Co., a small supplier of well-engineered components. Smog produces a range of products grouped into families. Production of one of the highervolume product families has been organised into a flow process made up of four steps, which follow one after the other in sequence. Changeover from one product to another is relatively simple, but takes around ten minutes per machine. To minimise delays caused by changeovers, products tend to be made in batches. These batches move from one step to the next, where they queue on a first in, first out basis to be worked on, after which they move to the next step. This process is shown in Figure 7.2. Step 1 Step 2 Figure 7.2 The Smog production process Step 3 Step 4 Just-in-time and lean thinking 227 Key measures of the performance of this process are the utilisation of people and of machines. The objective is to keep utilisation of both as high as possible. In this situation, if people or machines are idle – and material is available – they are used to make something. Naturally it wouldn’t make sense to make anything. Instead the production manager has a feel for what is needed, and uses a forecast from the sales depart… CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS CLICK THE BUTTON TO MAKE YOUR ORDER

[ohdeersthings]

Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Warnings: none, some flirting, little bit of cocky Katsuki

Summary: You remind Katsuki that not everyone falls in awe of a Pro Hero.

*Inspired by Disney's Hercules. We love Meg 👀❤*

It's safe to say that Bakugou has grown since his days at U.A. Well, more or less.

Some days he gets lost in thought of saving people, hypnotized by the way men and women alike cheer and praise him. Chanting out his hero name, Ground Zero, and fawning over him when he's close by.

Children staring in awe at the tall, proud standing male. Some begging for a picture or autograph, which he does more from his Brand Team reminding him to grin and bear it for the polls and such.

Which he did with no problem, his smirks and boastful personality made him a magnet for egotistical labels but he ignored them, cause to him they were wrong.

He knows there's more to being a Hero than just photos and such, yet he can get swept away in the frenzie and lose the sight of that.

Until he met you, that is.

It was another day of simple patrols. Acknowledging a few fans and even stopping to take a picture with a young boy who tried to wear his hair spiked just like his "Favorite Hero". The gel in the child's hair making Bakugou smirk and mutter a "nice try brat,"

Yes it was a simple day.

He thought it'd be an easy shift ending, except for when a loud rumbling from down the street started to set off car alarms, citizens yelling out in alarm and fear.

A large villan stepped out from behind a building, the guys build like that of a giant Minatour.

It stood at atleast a good fifteen feet tall, large muscles covered in dark colored hair or fur, hard to tell from afar. Two large bull horns protruded from his cow shaped head, a long snout ending in a classic septum bull ring.

Of course in its hands, he held you.

Now most people would be screaming or pleading for their life but you simply sat in his hands, a bored look graced your features.

Bakugou instantly launched into an attack, explosions trying to blind the Minatour dude but he got smacked away like a fly. This caused him to fly into a fruit stand, teeth gritting as he stood back up, a strawberry stuck to his face before he pulled it off, a snarl present on his lips.

"Alright you sack of meat, now I'm pissed," Bakugou called out, him and the Minatour glaring at eachother when you spoke up,

"Uh hi, you maybe wanna leave Blast Boy?"

It was like a scene straight from a movie. Everyone, including the Villian, gaped at you like you were speaking in tongues.

"EH!? What the hell are you talking about?! You're the one currently suck in the Heifers grip but you're telling ME to leave?!"

Bakugou couldn't believe his ears, maybe he finally did blast his ear drums out.

"Yeah, no offense but do you see Damsel In Distress or Distressed Dude taped to my forehead? I'm perfectly fine getting my self out of here,"

Bakugou looked like a fish out of water with the way his mouth opened and closed, eyes white in anger and annoyance.

You leaned on the Bulls hand, an arm crossed under your chest as your left hands palm held your cheek up, flashing Ground Zero a sensual smile, "Have a nice day~"

Ears flushing from the sound of your voice and gleam in your eye. He went to retort, only you turned toward the Villian who was dumb enough to stop his rampage and watch the scene unfold.

"I'll give you three seconds to put me down before I make you,"

The Villian let out a booming laugh, a few citizens also murmuring in questioning tones.

You were a regular citizen like them, what exactly could you do if you had allowed yourself to get captured in the first place.

"Three...two....on-"

Before you could finish Bakugou had let a giant blast against the Minatours face making him yell in pain, his grip loosening for a second but that's all Bakugou needed to grab you and move out of the way.

This had angered the Minatour who shook his head free of ash and smoke. His red eyes locking on Bakugous who held you bridal style.

"You're welcome shitty person, next time don't try acting like a Pro and let the real Heros handle it,"

You scoffed, throwing yourself to your feet as you smoothed out your outfit, "Please, you're more of a Pro Jackass than a Pro Hero,"

The Minatour began his charge, large hoof feet sprinting at you and Bakugou.

"Get back!" Bakugou ordered, going to throw his hands out to produce his quirk but found you walking toward the Minatour instead.

He could only see your backside, but from the front your eyes turned a bright mix of red, pink and purple swirls.

"Excuse me~" your sultry voice filled the air causing many to freeze, almost as if you had taken control of them. The tone was like honey, thick but sweet. It made many develop a set of shivers, some letting their minds wander.

Your voice and loving eyes with you had caused the Minatour to cease his running, he ended up tripping on the road and skidded close you, his eyes now matching yours as your lips pulled into a seductive smile, your cupids bow lips plump and luscious.

"Thank you, are you ready to listen~?" The Minatour could only nod before you suddenly raised your leg up, dropping your heel on his head, knocking him out efficiently.

You turned back to Bakugou who just stared.

Wide, red eyes just staring. You couldn't tell if he was pissed or what, but the Villan was delt with and that's all that matters.

"Thanks for letting me play, it's been a real treat," you winked, walking off past Bakugou who turned and caught your arm, stopping you from moving.

The press and media, who appeared out of the shadows, took this opportunity and began to captures photos, videos, quotes, anything their greedy hands could get.

"Excuse us! What's your quirk?!"

"Are you a new Pro Hero!?"

"Do you have a Working Quirk License!?"

"How do you feel about getting up close and personal with Ground Zero himself!?"

You rolled your eyes at the last question, pulling your arm away from Bakugou as you shot him a sideways look, "Yeah cause a model who role plays as a Pro Hero for pictures and is a jerk about saving people, is someone I wanna get personal with,"

"Oi! You could be a little more grateful I got you out of his grip there Hippie Eyes!" Bakugou growled, his face showing aggravation but his mind was racing with questions about you.

'Who are you?'

'What is your quirk?'

'Are you a Pro?'

'You wanna go out sometime'

He shook that last thought from his head, eyes locking with yours as you just smirked,

"Yeah, next time I wanna be man handled for telling a guy no I'll call you,"

With that you turned and walked off, waving a hand without looking back, "See ya Blast Boy,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoohoo, here you go my lovelies 😘 let me know what you think

[justnerdthings]

Frigid Heart Ch. 1

F!Reader x Bi-Han

The first chapter. I'm not sure how good it is. I'll admit that I don't know much about Bi-Han.

I'm planning this fic to start off in the 1600's and then skip to modern day. But who knows if it'll happen that way.

Title by the lovely @khadrimxart

You were tossed from the cage at the Grandmaster's feet. You were such a beauty, even if you were from a rival clan. A servant girl, but one who had impressed the Lin Kuei, who had attacked your clan. You had such fury and loyalty for your dead masters that you had managed to hold your own against several Lin Kuei assassins. That was, until Sub-Zero had shown up. The Grandmaster looked from you, then to Sub-Zero.

"Are we taking prisoners now, Sub-Zero?" He asked with a raised brow.

"This one managed to fend off a few of our assassins," Tundra answered, bringing up the rear of the group.

"Oh?" The Grandmaster looked over the group, then back to you on the ground. Lifting a foot, he wouldn't even grace you with his hand as he raised your chin to get a look at your face. He grinned at your beauty, even with your face bruised and sliced, he could see it. The Lin Kuei had use for beauties like you.

You spat at him. Bloodied saliva splattered his leg.

He sneered. "Insolence!" He hissed and kicked you in the side of the head with an armored foot. You hit the ground like dead weight, knocked out from the sharp blow. The Grandmaster looked to his group of assassins with that scowl still on his face. "Who did she defeat?" He demanded, looking to each of their faces accusingly.

"No one who is here," Smoke answered, earning him an inquisitive look. "They were weak. We dealt with them."

The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes, but didn't question it. If they couldn't cut down a simple servant woman, then they deserved to be disposed of. "And who finally captured her?"

"Sub-Zero," Cyrax answered.

"Sub-Zero." The Grandmaster turned his attention to Bi-Han. "Well done. Though, I doubt she was much of a threat to you."

Bi-Han wouldn't have admitted it even if you were. "Not at all," he confirmed. "Smoke is right. Those other assassins were weak. They're not a problem anymore."

The Grandmaster smiled with a pleased nod. He could always count on this little group to do what was necessary. But there was still the matter of this wretched thing on the ground. He looked back to your limp body. "Well, she is your prisoner, Sub-Zero. Do what you will with her…" he trailed off, curious to what Bi-Han had planned.

Bi-Han bowed his head in gratitude, but said nothing else. The Grandmaster almost frowned at being denied Bi-Han's plans, but it wasn't of importance. He brushed it off. He turned to the rest of the group. "You've all earned your rest," he said with a dismissive wave. The mission had been completed. There was nothing more to do for the moment.

You woke as cold water splashed over you. You gasped and shrieked as your body tensed in chilled shock. Your hands were chained to a stone wall, and you had been stripped naked. Unable to hide yourself, you shivered on the cold stone floor. Two older women were standing only feet away. They gave you sympathetic looks. One held a bundle of clean clothes. The other lifted a bucket as she stepped forward.

The chilled water was splashed over you again. You gave another shout as it stung your naked skin. "Stop!" You demanded.

"You will be cleansed," the bucket wielding woman told you with an air of authority. She was obviously the one in charge. The other only bowed her head.

"Let me go, you old bat!"

"Bah!" She stepped over and smacked you hard across the face. It stung worse than the Arctika water. "You are in no position to give me orders! You are a prisoner of the Lin Kuei!"

"Fuck the Lin Kuei!" You hissed. But it only got you smacked again.

"You will respect the Lin Kuei! It is because of the Lin Kuei that you have been allowed to continue breathing."

"I'd rather die than be your prisoner."

"If you keep speaking, you may get your wish," The elder woman spat. She turned and gestured to the other woman to come forward. "You will change into these clothes."

"I will run."

"Where to?" She looked back to you. "Look around. You are in the dungeon. The door to this cell is locked from the outside where two guards stand. You can not run."

"Then I will fight."

"Then you will die," the woman said. She took the clothes from the other woman, who then hurried to unlock the chains from the your wrists. Being freed, you shifted your gaze between the two. They didn't look like fighters. You might have been able to take them… but what of the guards on the other side of that door?

The clothes were thrusted into your chest. Instinctively you held them. "Change. Now," the older woman ordered impatiently.

You stood there, staring at the two. The quiet one gave you a pleading look. You unfolded the clothes, finding them to be a simple blue hanfu. You quickly slipped into it, thankful once you had. Your shivering nearly stopped as the hanfu held in some body heat. You were handed a sash and quickly secured it around your waist, keeping the clothing closed around you. A simple pair of slippers were dropped at your feet. You stepped into them, surprised that they had fit correctly.

Seeing as they were cleaning and clothing you, it seemed unlikely that they were planning to kill you. And the hanfu, while simple, was good quality… much nicer than the rags your old masters had given you. You felt out of place already.

“You will not speak unless asked to,” The older woman told you. Your brows knotted to her, but her soul piercing glare cut through you. You looked away, to the stone floor, and nodded silently. You may have been able to fend off some of the Lin Kuei, but you were no match for that stronger one that had shown up back in your village. “Good.” She sighed in some relief that you had quickly learned your place. “Did your old masters give you a name?” She asked.

You shook your head. “My parents named me. Y/N.”

The woman hesitated. “A shame.” You looked up with confusion. “It is a pretty name, but it is no longer yours,” she explained. “Your new master may wish to give you a new name.”

You jaw hardened.

“Your old life is dead. Do you hear me, girl?”

You nodded, feeling a knot grow in the pit of your stomach.

“Whatever attachment you had to your old life, has been severed.”

You nodded again.

“Now, come here,” The woman said. You turned and she gripped your arms tight. She caught your eyes with hers and frowned. “I know this is difficult, but it will be easier if you just do what you are told. The Lin Kuei are not as cruel as your old masters have led you to believe. However, the Lin Kuei are harsh in their expectations.” She gave you a small shake and straightened your posture up. “Which clan are you from?”

“The Snow Ninjas,” you answered, letting your eyes drift back down to the floor.

She caught your chin firmly and tilted your head up to make you look back to her. “Are women treated well in The Snow Ninjas clan?”

Your jaw hardened and you shook your head.

She sighed. “And yet, you have such a mouth… Be wise and watch your words. We are not treated well here either. We are servants and comfort women. Some are prized for their beauty. Those with desirable traits and abilities are often used to continue bloodlines.

Your jaw hurt as you further clenched it.

“I can see beyond those bruises and scars on your face… You have been blessed with beauty. Do everything in your power to retain it for as long as possible. Your life will be easier here if you do.” She sighed heavily and brushed a stray clinging hair behind your ear. “Do you understand?”

You nodded.

“Good. Now, let’s get you upstairs and tend to these cuts.”

As much as you hated being in the Lin Kuei’s little village, you would admit that it was rather… cozy. As the two women led you along the courtyard that you had been so unceremoniously dumped on earlier, you noticed eyes on you. Servants and Assassins alike were curious of Sub-Zero’s new slave. Apparently, he’d never agreed to have one before--not his own anyway. He was a very private man. Of course everyone was wondering why he’d decided to keep you.

You were led to a small cottage just outside the courtyard. Lily, you’d since learned the name of the older woman, opened the door which you were surprised to see was unlocked. “He is not here at the moment, but you are expected. Come,” She waved you over. You stepped into the house and froze at the sight. Apparently Sub-Zero had never learned to use a broom… How could the man live like this? Everything was strewn about. Walking through with Lily, even the small kitchen was piled with objects that did not belong. He obviously did little cooking, if at all. Lily sighed at the sight, as if this wasn’t the first time she’d seen this mess.

“This man, I swear,” she mumbled and shook her head, casting shame to the chaos. You couldn’t help but grin at her reaction. “Well, I suppose you ought to clean up a bit.” Your grin faded. You turned your head to look at her nervously. She placed a hand on your shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “Good luck, dear. And remember what I’ve told you. And don’t be getting any ideas about running off. There is nothing around here for hundreds of miles. You’ll freeze to death before making it anywhere.”

You frowned at the idea of not being able to get to safety. “Thank you…” You watched her step away and out the door. She closed it behind her, leaving you in the strange pig-sty of a home. This would take hours to sort through.

Stars shimmered in the sky by the time Sub-Zero came home. Stepping in, he pulled his mask from his face and tossed it onto the side table—

The side table that used to be right there…

Now his mask was on the floor. He stared at it in confusion before looking up. His mess--his things… They were gone! His jaw hardened. Had he been robbed? Who would dare to rob him?!

A strange, but enticing scent wafted to his nose. It filled his house. Meat? Spices? Food? His brows knotted as he stepped further into his home. He stepped around a corner to see a woman in the kitchen. That’s when he remembered you--his new servant. His shoulders relaxed, mentally kicking himself for having forgotten about you. He watched you silently until you caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of your eye.

You froze, not sure what to say… or do. You recognized his eyes. That was the man who easily overwhelmed you back home. Of course he would be your new master... What did the Lin Kuei expect of their servants? Lily hadn’t told you many details. Were you even supposed to be cooking? You supposed you were about to find out.

He stepped towards you, eyeing you up and down for only a moment before he followed his nose to the pot in the hearth. You couldn’t read his face as he peeked inside, but he hadn’t shouted. That was good, right?

Bi-Han hadn’t ever come home to a hot meal. Of course he’d eaten hot food, usually in the palace’s dining hall where some other Lin Kuei got their meals. But never in his own home--from his own kitchen. A surprise, but an interesting one. And his home… it was spotless!

“Where are my things?” He asked slowly, almost accusingly as he straightened from the pot to look at you.

You were all kinds of tense looking into his eyes. You opened your mouth to answer, but hesitated for a second. “I… cleaned,” you said pathetically. Of course you’d cleaned. That wasn’t what he’d asked at all. “I organized…” You’d corrected yourself. “What are you looking for, Master?”

His eyes flinched hearing that last word. That would take some getting used to. “Show me,” he told you.

Your brows knotted. Show him… what? Where everything was? “Oh… Yes, Master.” You bowed your head and cautiously stepped towards the cabinets. Opening them, you showed him where all the eatery was. Another cabinet held herbs and spices. Pots and pans hung over the hearth. In the small hallway, a narrow table had an oil lamp placed on it, in its drawer were small odds and ends. The sitting room, the furniture had all been cleared off and cleaned. Bi-Han silently wondered when he had acquired a hardwood sofa. You showed him the closet, which had the broom he also hadn’t realized he’d had. Wooden boxes lined the walls, full of various things, trinkets he’d gotten on missions--treasures. Led to the bedroom, he was surprised to see his bed had been made. His dresser had been straightened out, his clean clothes folded neatly, each type having its own drawer. And his closet… The weapons and armor he’d collected over the years were neatly displayed, ready to grab at a moment’s notice. You were certainly earning your keep already.

“I apologize that I have not had time yet to tend to your laundry,” you spoke cautiously, flinching in anticipation of some sort of punishment… But it didn’t come. You relaxed as he stepped away. Your brows rose curiously. “Master?”

“You will have plenty of time tomorrow,” he said, walking out of his room and heading for the kitchen. You followed him quickly as relief washed over you. You had already planned to do his laundry tonight, but tomorrow was a welcomed idea. “What is this?” He asked, pointing to the hearth as he sat at the table.

“Nothing impressive. Again, my apologies. I only had time for a quick stew.”

Bi-Han hid his amusement. You had said it wasn’t impressive, but to him, it was. In the time since you’d been brought to his home, you had done more than he had expected. Much more. Obviously you were a skilled servant. “Is it done?” He asked.

A panic surged through you. You hurried forward. Of course. He must have been hungry. You hadn’t seen him since you were brought to the Lin Kuei. You weren’t sure if he had eaten all day. You quickly grabbed a bowl and spoon. You filled the bowl and brought it to him, bowing your head as you placed it on the table in front of him.

That may have been the best stew Bi-Han had ever tasted.

[rainyfestivalsweets]

9/29/22

Traveling day.

Made pretty good choices. Cleaned and ate before I left, watching Gotham. So hopefully I won't be going home to a pig sty.

I have continued to think about possible hangup and how to move past this plateau. 🤔

When I was in the 230's and 240's before, the [sic] love of my life started cheating on me with an 18 year old gastric bypass patient. It was hella traumatic. I lost everything. My heart was beyond broken. I ended up selling my house to her and leaving, basically losing the family I had fought so hard for.

I have felt untethered since then.

I did eventually remarry, so someone who basically loved me more than anything ever ( & got me fatter than ever) until they didn't--and some 21 year old puppy wannabe came along.

Got divorced. It was all chronicled on a blog that tumblr deleted. So again, thanks for that. I should have written it somewhere safe, because this wasn't and there was so so so much shit you guys.

So what was my takeaway from that? That my person will leave me if I become successful at weight loss??

How is that stopping me? My gf and I are not super serious. We don't have sex. We live separately. We actually seem better over the phone than in person. I struggle with their affection signals. [Sigh]

So why am I hung up here? How is that previous experience applicable to this situation?

It doesn't matter if she breaks up with me. Granted, I will be sad and lonely.... but it won't be fucking tragic.

So I am working on doing some mind reconditioning to change my inner language. Trying to redirect myself whenever I think bad thoughts. Honestly, I am just touch starved and body lonely. I can barely have an orgasm anymore, because I often start crying during, which probably doesn't fucking help.

It is safe for me to continue losing weight. I still have a large amount of fat. I will reconsider after dropping under 200 to see where I am with muscle mass. But I still have a rather large spare tire right now. So I know it isn't because I am in a physical danger zone. Mid 240s is still high for a female almost regardless of muscle mass.

So other wins: I am trying to concentrate on foods with lots of veggies, low calorie noodles, and protein.

So back to today- mostly good choices with the exception of breakfast. Which was a snickers and an apple while I cleaned my car. I had lunch before I left- which was veggies & gravy leftover from the other night, and a vegan harvest bowl. I gave the steak to mom to lower the cals for me. The bowl thing I bought a bunch of while they were on clearance and I wanted to try it. Small bowl of chickpeas and lentils in like a curry seasoning. 360 cals. So perfect to have with a veggie.

Road snacks. Drinks-- A pink Starburst crystal light thing, dt coke, cherry coke zero, and a pumpkin apple chai with fiber. Snacks-- Sweet c jelly, snow peas, carrot chips. Hard boiled eggs.

When I got to the hotel, I just got ready right away. Played in my phone a bit. Decided to wait to eat.

Went to an awesome show! It was great. No drinking, had a bottle of water.

Walked to the grocery store after. Bought 2 bananas, a pack of pickled green beans, and a cauli pizza bowl.

Ate a banana 🍌 right out of the store. Ate the pickled beans on the way back to the hotel.

Got back to the hotel, ate a salad first- but without most of the dressing.

Then ate my pizza bowl.

Took a bath and had 3 "moments."

Out of all the ways I could have undercut my healthy diet today, I think I won. No fast food. No drinking. Healthy food. Good choices all around except for the snickers. My workout was cleaning. I was sweating during but I wanted to be able to come home to a semi clean house.

[businessbois]

As someone who has raised several generations of pigs, yes they eat anything. If you drop anything that isn’t a fucking brick into the sty, say goodbye because those fuckers will eat it, zero hesitation. They don’t even stop to think, it just goes in.

oh yeah thinking about "throwing a corpse into a pigs pen is a great way to dispose of the body because they'll just eat it" again. pigs r bloodthirsty mfs huh

ah

[academiaandarson]

I am just so annoyed and frustrated.

The amount of pressure to score well is getting to me. I have been under performing in so many consecutive tests that I feel like i might actually flunk my finals.

And there are talks of my boards getting preponed... So that's fucked.

And then there are more rumours of my boards getting postponed which means I won't be able to prepare that well for clat either.

This feels like The whole universe is telling me that there are zero chances of me ever having things my way. Besides, I have put in weight due to this stress and so I am dealing with constant fat shaming from my nosy teachers.

My parents are equally stressed, so I have to hear them vent and spill out all their negative thoughts of my failing, never amounting to anything, stying home and becoming one of those aunties who blame others for their own shortcomings.

I just want to get out of here. I feel like I'm suffocating and I hate this.

I can't breathe or even smile anymore, I am constantly on the edge of tears and I hate this.

I hate this. I hate this.

Just Thirty five days to go. (I hope)