#I don't particularly respect the Academy but at the same time I know people use their approval to measure quality

[russellsppttemplates]

It's like we won't even be there (Lewis Hamilton)

Mercedes has three power couples

Note: english is not my first language. After a long time, I'm finally posting this request.

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: mentions gender inequality, misogynistic ideals

Tag list: @myloverjk-blog

"Everyone on social media has an inkling that you're bringing someone to the race. Is it your belle, Mr. Hamilton?", you teased your boyfriend as he got ready for bed.

You had arrived in Abu Dhabi a few hours earlier, caught a cab to the hotel where your boyfriend had been resting before media day.

"Is that so?", he wondered, "I haven't told anyone outside the team. And even them, I told them you would be joining as my guest, only a few people actually know about us", he assured.

"I don't mind it, we'll have to be public at some time. Three years dating outside of the public eye, plus another year of what the kids call soft launching, whatever happens this weekend, happens", you tranquilized him.

This had been an ongoing conversation for you for as long as you've dated. His lifestyle came with many implications, particularly not always being home and public eye. You also spent a lot of time focused on your job, building the company now associated to your name to the people in the finance business, so the latter question was the biggest one. While you were successful, it hardly impacted your life when it came to the public eye or social media. You had your accounts, sure, but they were private and they never got in the way of your job.

"I just don't want people to lash out on you", he replied, sitting next to you on the bed, his fingers tracing shapes in your hand, "I've seen how brutal they can be, I've felt how brutal they can be, and I don't want that for you. They'll gossip because that's how things work, but I don't want them breaking the respect line.", Lewis stated.

"Lew, I understand and appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine. I have you, our families, our friends, I'm going to be just fine. I don't know how they'll react, so I'll work with whatever happens", you smiled, snuggling into him as he caressed your face.

.

"Good morning, Y/N! How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long!", Carmen said as she hugged you once you arrived in the hospitality, Lewis kissing your cheek briefly before he headed for his meeting.

"Hello, gorgeous girl! I've been good, and you?", you greeted her with a kiss on each cheek after saying goodbye to Lewis.

"Same old, busy but managed to come and support G this weekend. You, however, seem to finally let it out", she smirked, walking with you to the coffee station and serving yourselves, sitting in the balcony as you overlooked the track.

"There's no point in keeping it a secret, I guess. We did it for a while, and this past year we both realised that we want to be able to go out and not be worried someone will see us and whatever consequences it could bring. We're adults who hope other adults will behave like such", you smiled.

"A hard thing to do sometimes, for them at least", you heard a female voice coming closer to you, "I don't believe we've met before, but Toto said you were hanging out here", the blonde woman said.

Suzie Wolff had been someone you looked up to since you were little, so this was a proper fangirl moment, "sit, sit! This is Y/N!", Carmen introduced after giving her a brief introduction.

"I keep missing you whenever you join us for the races!", she said, "the pandemic didn't help, and lately I've been so busy with the F1 Academy that I've hardly been to races myself", she reasoned, beginning the start of a conversation that was only interrupted for lunchtime.

"Press usually have a field day with powerful women related to this sport. You should be able to get away with it because you don't work for racing, but they love going on and on about how we got to where we are because of who we date", Suzie shook her head.

"Absolutely, because George is very interested in Family Offices and he got me my job", Carmen rolled her eyes, "you try and give that guy math stuff and you see how it turns out! Besides, not many people actually knew who he was, they're not very into motorsport, only a couple of them!", she teased.

"Agreed! The only way I was able to have my own company was because I name dropped Lewis, who I didn't know at the time. He doesn't know his numbers all that well. It's so easy for them to point fingers, but it's really just because they hate to see a powerful woman get the job done", you offered, seeing your partners arrive to the table along Laura.

"Social media is going crazy about you, Y/N!", Laura, one of the team's social media managers said while you had lunch, "there's people who spent the whole morning trying to find out who you were and they were faling to find your accounts. Apparently, they were looking in model agencies and such until someone pointed out you studied at the same university as them, and it's pointed them in the right direction I'd say?", she shrugged her shoulders, showing you her phone as she scrolled through media, "they're still trying to find out more, but they only have a few articles from your company and a picture of you when you graduated that is on the university's Wall of Fame!", she made you giggle, fondly looking at the wall of pictures you saw everyday on your way to lectures.

"Are you on the Wall of Fame and didn't tell us, Y/N?", Carmen exclaimed at the new information, "it's barely anything, I'm still there probably because someone forgot to remove the picture", you blushed, suddenly feeling like the table's attention was on you.

"Why would they take out the picture of the most beautiful woman with the most achievements?", Lewis charmed, holding your hand in his as he smiled.

.

"Are you guys ready for the race? If all goes well, we can get back to the points!", Suzie cheered as she handed you and Carmen your bottles of water.

"Lew has been beating himself up a lot lately, hopefully everything works in their favour", you held your hands together after setting the water bottle on the counter.

It was very touch and go, but the boys ended up with good results given the position they started in.

"Congrats, my love!", you said in Lewis' ear as he squeezed your torso over the barrier, delighting the sight of everyone who was watching and seeing the happy couple, "couldn't have done it without you, gorgeous girl", he yelled back, stealing a kiss before running to the mechanics.

"I'm just going to check where Suzie is and then we can go for dinner, guys", Toto stated, squeezing George's and Lewis' shoulders before checking is phone to see if his wife had seen the text he sent about said dinner.

"The F1 Academy paddock is closed, you can see it from here that nobody is there", George pointed out as his boss frowned.

"I would help you, but I have to go and look for Carmen, too", George scratched his cheek as they walked along the corridor, seeing Lewis open his driver's room door and slumping his shoulders slightly, "Y/N is not here either".

"Where have the Mercedes missus gone...?", Toto muttered.

It didn't take then long to hear the mix of your three giggles coming from the lounging area, the three of you sat in the smaller sofas around a coffee table, hot drinks in your hands as you discussed something avidly but in a relaxing way still.

"Are the three of you willing to have dinner with the three of us? We'll still let you speak between yourselves, okay? It's like we won't even be there!", Toto joked.

#lewis hamilton imagine #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton fanfic #lewis hamilton fluff #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic

[generisydtoo]

Splitting up Team 7....Let's get into it

Disclaimer❗️: I'm not trying to dog on anyone who makes alternate team headcanons for fun. I have my own thoughts ofc, but as long as you're truly not hurting anyone, it's not that deep. I'm sharing my thoughts on this since I've seen this take a few times over the years, but do with it what you will!

As always, you're free to share your thoughts! Just be sure to keep it respectful :)

Tbh, it baffles me when ppl say that Sakura (bc that's usually who's removed from the team in these takes) or anyone else on Team 7 would've had better development if they were assigned to a different team. I think people fail to consider that Team 7’s close, consistent proximity and becoming teammates was one of the key reasons why they were able to get past their initial impressions of each other and form a deep bond.

This is only one example, but as far as we know, no other team went on any dangerous missions like Team 7 did to the Land of Waves. Granted, that was an outlier since that mission was supposed to be a C rank; however, it was vital to their individual growth. It shaped their perceptions of each other as teammates and of the shinobi world as a whole. If Sakura, Sasuke, and/or Naruto were placed on a different team (assuming little-to-nothing else was changed in the series), I'd deem it unlikely that they would've grown to be the shinobi they became, although not as quickly.

If you want, you can view this through the lense of recent media, particularly the YA genre. There are many reasons why they tend to be set in middle/high school (though I think that's starting to change and expand, thank goodness), one of them being the outcomes of forced, consistent proximity.

The characters are placed in an environment where they're (more often than not) forced to interact; it's not like college or other settings where you can simply leave if you don't want to be there, especially without it being fair to others in your group. While it’s ultimately up to them to choose whether or not they want to become more than acquaintances with their classmate(s), their relationship has a higher chance of forming due to being consistently around each other.

The same applies to Team 7 and honestly, the other Rookie 9 teams. They were all placed on their teams- a learning and training environment with forced, consistent proximity- for a reason. Ino-Shika-Cho being placed together since they're THEE Ino-Shika-Cho trio (if any sensei had messed that iconic trio up....bless their hearts fr), and Team 8 all being trackers.

For Team 7, it was also so they could all learn and benefit from each other in some way. Naruto could benefit from Sasuke’s proficiency in ninjutsu, Sakura's intelligence, and both of their calmer personalities(give or take with Sakura) seeing as he got the lowest marks at the academy and misbehaved a lot. Sasuke could benefit from Naruto and Sakura's social and outgoing personalities seeing as he got low scores in cooperation and teamwork.

While Sakura performed well in her academics, she slacked greatly in anything pertaining to using physical strength. She could benefit from Sasuke and Naruto's taijutsu and battle skills seeing as she got low marks in taijutsu.

I think it's also worth noting that Sakura is a balance of their personalities while having her own. While she's not always on 10 like Naruto was, she was able to be social and upbeat and like him. She wasn't emotionally cold or nonchalant like Sasuke, but she was able to match his calmer "think first, act later" demeanor. Ofc, they've all had their moments and didn't act the same way all the time. I love that Team 7 can share one brain cell at times, lol.

As I said in the preface, I'm not trying to down anyone making alternate team headcanons for fun. That being said, it's just odd to me that people claim that placing them on different teams would suddenly "fix" their characters. Becoming a team was an integral part of their characterization, with each of them serving a unique purpose in one another’s growth. (This includes Sai too, though that may be a convo for another day.)

Like the title says, this was a starting "Let's get into it" post. I have more specific thoughts on this take, but these are my initial thoughts for now :).

Sources: The academy report cards are only in the physical fanbook. You can find an online transcription of it here and photo scans here!

#just some thoughts #Naruto #sakura haruno #sasuke uchiha #Sasusaku #Analysis #Bc what other motives would Team 7 have had to challenge and move past their first impressions of each other once they graduated academy? #I'd also argue that Sakura and would feel out of place down to the color theory/dynamics of each team but that's a convo for another day

[hyenahunt]

Obbligato: The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 6

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring

Characters: Kaname, Tatsumi

Proofreading: Remi (JP) & honeyspades (ENG)

Translation: Peace

Tatsumi: Idols are those who bring smiles to others’ faces, after all.

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Kaname: ......

(Okay. Now that I've finished reporting to my brother, I've got to get onto my next job.)

(Hm? Wasn't I supposed to have lessons today? I thought I was doing something else...)

(I'll check my schedule — my brother's perfected it down to the second, so I'll know for sure then.)

(I have to follow it precisely. As long as I do exactly as he says, then I'll be fine.)

(I have to heed his instructions at all costs. I have to. No matter how hard it gets, I have to—)

... Hm?

(Huh? Who's that walking past the window... Wait, is that—)

Location: Reimei Practice Room

Kaname: —Tatsumi-senpai!

Tatsumi: ......

Kaname: I thought that maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it really is you!

But... W-What are you doing here? Weren't you hospitalized?

Tatsumi: ... Ah, HiMERU-san. Good afternoon.

It's been some time since we last spoke, hasn't it? Have you lost some weight? I've heard that you've been flourishing lately, but it's best to rest every now and then.

Kaname: That's my line! You look terrible, senpai.

Why would you come back to school when you're still sick? Are you an idiot?

Tatsumi: Hahaha. I might just be an idiot, truthfully.

I was merely staying in a hospital, you see, not some prison where I'd be isolated from the world. I was still able to have a connection with those outside.

Though there were restrictions on when and where one could visit, patients are still able to use the internet and write letters to the outside world.

Kaname: What are you going on about?

Tatsumi: How wonderful life is, of course.

I was truly blown away by just how many people were calling for me to return. Not only the staff I had worked with, but all of my fans...

As well as my companions, with whom I worked beside and ate with.

So many people wished to speak with me again. How could I ever ignore their countless requests?

I decided then that I'd do as they asked no matter what it took, even if I should die.

Kaname: You really will die though. I'm serious. You were hospitalized for physical and mental reasons, Tatsumi-senpai — you don't look recovered at all, you know?

I can tell just looking at you. You know people really do die like this, don't you?

Their luck runs out, they push themselves too far — and then they die.

If you died, then all those who wished for your return would mourn you instead.

Please get your priorities straightened out, Tatsumi-senpai.

Tatsumi: I can feel your worry through your chiding, and I'm grateful for it.

In the perspective of others, particularly here at Reimei Academy, you and I are whom Special and Non-Special Students look to respectively...

As such, there seems to be rumors of us having something of a conflict of interests, as their representatives of a kind.

Kaname: To those who haven't a clue of what's going on, that's exactly what it looks like. In truth, I have acted as if I was taking what is rightfully yours.

Everyone thinks you must resent me for it, too. Anyone would.

Tatsumi: But I don't.

In fact, I'm grateful that you've continued my work while I was gone.

Kaname: Is that so? How like you, Tatsumi-senpai.

I know from the bottom of my heart, without a shadow of a doubt, that you don't resent me whatsoever.

Just as Judas Iscariot betrayed a saint for nothing more than chump change, so have I. But you won't resent me for it— you'll only grant me love and affirmation, won't you?

You'd even forgive those who'd crucify and kill you, wouldn't you!

Tatsumi: I am no saint, but thank you for thinking of me as such, however ridiculous the claim.

It'd be embarrassing to put me on the same level as those genuine saints who lived long ago.

I simply want to live up to everyone's expectations. I wish I could have shown you my hospital room, filled with fanmail from those who missed me.

Each one was filled with love, from every person I’ve met...

I want to give back the love I've received. I want them to feel as warm as I did reading each one.

It sounds rather odd, doesn't it?

But I do love everyone.

And, like anyone else, I want those I love to be happy as well.

Kaname: Then listen to me. If you were to collapse and die, no one would be happy! They'd just cry their eyes out and mourn you instead!

Honestly, Tatsumi-senpai, you've really screwed up your priorities.

You're so stupid I could laugh, you idiot.

Tatsumi: If I've made you laugh, then I've done my job well...

Tatsumi: Idols are those who bring smiles to others’ faces, after all.

Kaname: ......

Tatsumi: You know, HiMERU-san, I do want to be an idol.

I don't want to be the reverend of a shady religious following; I want to be someone who can be loved by others.

♪~♪~♪

[ ☆ ]

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#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #hyenahunttl #kaname tojo #tatsumi kazehaya #s: obbligato

[bear-remn]

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ﾟ。bloody core

ﾟ･｡･

n/a: From now on, the chapters will be longer than this, so ty for waiting for the updates ^^

Synopsis: first day at the academy <3

TW: the hole fanfic is +18, explicit sex, gore content, suicide and addiction mention.

┉┅━━━━━✿ chapter one ✿━━━━━┅┉

That afternoon Mako was scared, not for herself, but she was worried for kirari, since they got in the limo she had been looking at the window without blinking, at least kirari ate with her a quick breakfast before leaving. Unfortunately, she could not be near her because of the boys who, according to mako, apparently had planned to separate them, ayato is on her right and subaru on her left, while kirari had reiji and laito by her sides.

"It's a bother to be with two humans at the same time, don't you think teddy? The heat is terrible" kanato did not stop talking to his stuffed animal. Mako was already confused with that boy but was afraid to approach him. He had a strange look, like a maniac.

She did not understand what he meant by heat, her skirts were long and the uniform did not allow any neckline, Kirari wore a black vest while Mako wore a school jacket.

"Did you do anything before you came? You have a strange and quite strong scent" reiji asked kirari. She smelled herself and then took a small perfume out of one of her pockets to apply to her clothes. The smell came to Mako revealing a citric scent, totally different from what she used.

"How about now?" she went to reiji a little but he didn't move. Instead, he just looked at her with no expression and returned his eyes to his book.

"Even though the scent doesn't come from your clothes, I guess it's effective enough" Mako didn't really understand what aroma he meant. She didn't smell anything particularly strange in kirari. Well, maybe she does, but it isn't something terrible.

Upon arriving at the academy, both noticed how some girls in the distance whispered as they looked in the direction of the group, but did not give it importance. They were very surprised by the huge school. It was majestic and had an air similar to that of the mansion, with a fountain and many trees with benches near the entrances. Through the windows you could see the slightly yellowish lights making the building more elegant.

"Well, listen to you both" the girls looked at Reiji "mako you are in the same class as Ayato, you can go with him to settle in your locker, Kanato is also in the same class" Reiji looked at kirari who had her hands in her pockets because of the cold night breeze "you come with me to my class, let's go quickly to settle in and make your schedule".

"I'll follow you," kirari began to walk after reiji and before entering the academy she looked back at where mako was with ayato and kanato. "See you later" she said, and left after receiving a yes in response.

Kirari was not much impressed as mako by the academy and the place, she knew that this academy must be full of arrogant rich people that maybe look at her badly if they get to know where she comes from, or maybe no one will come to talk to her, in spite of being the beginning of the year, at this point nobody would change the academy in their last years, abandon their friends, she supposed, it was important in the life of an ordinary student. The good thing is that as both of them walked, Reiji told her what the academy had to offer. The varied clubs that surprised her with the tremendous variety they had, an open air cafeteria, a rooftop open to students, green areas to rest in their free time. He gave her a short tour on the way to their class.

"You can sit by my side if you wish." Although Kirari was sure that Reiji was older than her, he treated her with a little much respect to be the same age as her, even though she thought it was also because of the education that the Sakamakis should have received in their growth.

"Thank you." Kirari sat next to him and left his bag on the floor outside the hallway, just in case some idiot stumbled. "You have a very elegant way of talking. Do you do it for respect or just because you like talking like that?"

"If you don't like how I talk to you with proper manners, would you rather prefer me to treat you without manners?"

"I never said I didn't like it"

Kirari's classes passed calmly and without interruption, everyone seemed to be very intelligent and very attentive to the teachers, while kirari kept looking out of the window but still listening to the teacher, taking notes or just listening, Reiji was writing at all times, perhaps taking notes or on something else, with an extra notebook open. He seemed very concentrated during all classes.

In the breaks Kirari tried to look for Mako but she didn't find her. In the third attempt to look for her, she gave up and went to explore a little the place, until she found some bathrooms a little far from the classrooms. She went into the bathroom and from his left shoe she took an old card and a small bag with a pill which had a star drawing on it. She took it out to split it in half, one half was put again in the bag and the other crushed it until it became powder. With the card, Kirari lined up every powder on the top of the toilet and inhaled them all until his head felt fuzzy, the anxiety of being in a completely new place and not knowing anyone was a little difficult, plus having to continue in her loneliness.

She hated being alone, but whenever she was with someone she became mean. In some way, her way of being was complicated, her mood swings, her addiction had turned her into another person. She stopped doing everything she liked and lost many friendships in the past. She learned her lesson, just living together and not making any close friends, it wouldn't end well for the other person.

*+:｡.｡　｡.｡:+*⋆ ˚｡

On the other hand, mako did not have her first day as a normal day. In fact, she could not even have a class. Apparently, that week they started in the gymnastic class but ayato dragged her to another remote place. According to him, it was a shortcut to the gym but ended up on the roof. Arriving first, Mako was amazed at the sight. It had only five floors of the academy but it seemed to her as if it were a tenth floor from how high they were. She went to the grid to see the sky and then went down. She could see the students where her classmates were having their first class of the day.

"Ayato, you brought me here saying it was a shortcut, but we are not even close" Mako turned to confront him but Ayato pushed her against the grid, the sudden closeness making her nervous.

"Quiet, you're really noisy".

"Don't tell me to be quiet, you scared me" Mako tried to push him but didn't move him a bit, instead she felt a change in Ayato's look, as those green eyes, so playful and charismatic became dangerous, she felt as if he was about to kill her making her feel chills "Ayato? Let me go, stop fooling around".

"Silence, Yours truly has waited more than enough, look at yourself, all excited already just for having me this close, can't imagine how you'll be when I devoure you".

Ayato came close enough to breathe against the skin of Mako's neck, who trembled and tried to escape, but her hands were held as her legs were separated by ayato, who came close enough, so Ayato's body was pressed against mako. She stopped breathing and closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

"good girl, stay still until I am satisfied, so it doesn't hurt too much"

Mako never even thinks of the possibility of being raped, in her whole life, not even in her worst nightmares and less with someone she thought was nice. His first sexual experience would be ruined and disturbed by someone she barely knew and worse still, at the academy, in full view of anyone coming to the roof during class time. She began to tremble at the thought of being raped right now, but after a few seconds, a strange pain took her out of her thoughts, and she realized, everything connected very quickly in her head, what she thought was just a fantasy for movies or classic books, was reality.

"How greedy is this blood of yours and that face you're making, you sure are enjoying this, don't ya?"

They were vampires.

That's why they were so strange, with their pale skin and appearances that stood out in the crowd. With so much money and a dialect that she didn't understand, but now everything makes sense.

"This blood... It's so intoxicating. It burns my insides, can't wait to have you all to myself"

It hurt a lot. Mako never could imagine how painful the bite of a vampire, a dog or some animal with big teeth. Now she knew it. It was horrible and even worse, she could feel how Ayato sucks every drop of blood, making her body shiver. Soon her legs lost strength and his head was spinning looking at Reiji peeking through the stairs of the roof looking with disapproval. She did not even have the strength to ask for help, she felt as if her life was taken out of her hands.

And finally she fainted, but ayato still did not stop sucking and sucking until Reiji stopped him.

"Enough is enough, we are not at home for you to be doing this in public." Ayato had not even noticed his brother's presence but stopped and looked at him with a bothersome expression.

"You fuck my moment as usual"

"Take her home, I can't believe you're behaving like an animal being a sakamaki"

"as if our last name was a source of pride"

Ayato took Mako's unconscious body in his arms, without problems.

"take her home safe, arrive in time for your next class"

"don't tell me what to do, i am not dumb"

Actually, Ayato took her home but he stayed with her. At the end of the day, one less day of class did not affect him at all.

✧༺♡༻✧

Mako's body feels so cold, she could feel how her knees shivers as she finally woke up, but soon she felt something warm covering her, Mako opened her eyes slowly because of the tiredness and found a light blue all over the place, now she wasn't cold anymore and for some reason she also felt the air change of temperature, she didn't know how, maybe everything was moving fast when in fact everything was slow.

"You're finally up, I was getting bored" her heart jumped for Ayato's voice, all the memories of perhaps hours ago came back like a slap at her face. Mako sat down suddenly and looked at the red-haired man who stood up with an air of arrogance.

"You!" Mako didn't really know what to say. What he did to her felt awful, but it was worse to lose consciousness. Mako thought she would die after that, but here she was, in a room with him, "What did you do to me? You didn't kill me..." Her voice sounded weak.

Ayato laughed at the last sentence of Mako.

"Why would I kill you so soon? Your blood is pretty good, it's not even as thick but it's also not very liquid and it's just as hot as I like" ayato became comfortable in its place, sitting on the floor with his legs open and leaning back and using his elbows to support.

"I don't get it, you are.. Really a-a..."

"stop babbling and start getting used to being my prey" Mako couldn't process it. She was scared. She didn't understand why she was suddenly sent home. She couldn't help but remember the convent, comparing the convent with this place and the people she was living with. Maybe she didn't know what hell was yet.

"I'm going to die here"

Ayato was curious that she specifically said that, as if she did not believe it but also as a warning to herself.

"it may be, of course, Yours truly has decided that he will keep you alive for a while until I get bored"

Mako looked at him in horror. She couldn't believe that he talked about killing her as if it were anything, banal to him. Something as simple for someone like him, a vampire who saw humans as they saw animals, simple food.

"I don't want to die, not so young" Soon the tears began to fall down Mako's cheeks, everything she had in her life would disappear because of living with vampires, they would suck all her blood and dump her as simple garbage.

"The face you're making right now is something for sure, not bad" Ayato doesn't feel sympathize with mere mortals, such creatures as ridiculous as humans, so weak both physically and emotionally. Even though he didn't think mako was ugly, seeing her cry was strange. She was crying silently, covering her mouth. Ayato remembers the previous sacrifices that when they cried they did it in scandal, crying and screaming in such an unpleasant way. At least Mako wasn't a pain in the ass.

"Please let me go" suddenly Mako knelt down and started rubbing her hands, pleading. Of course, Ayato thought it was funny. Maybe, just maybe he'll keep her alive not just for her blood. This bride seemed more and more interesting to him, never before had any sacrifice begged him in this way; Humbling herself on her knees while crying "don't kill me, I'll do a-anything..."

Despite her sobs, Mako spoke quite clearly between tears and hiccups. Ayato felt he would have lots of laughs with this girl, excited to start.

"Hey, come here" Ayato gave soft pats to his thighs, inviting mako to sit on his lap and her, of course, looked at him scared "Yours truly offer you to sit on his lap, be good and come here" Mako slowly approached and a meter away stopped to look at him.

She could feel the difference between the two, not only because of the fact that she was human and he a vampire, but because he seems to be one of those people who gets everything he wants and not really why he has a lot of money, not in this case at least, it's the power that radiates ayato's aura that make him look so imposing and powerful, his green eyes and his cocky smile that forced her to do what he says.

"Are you gonna bite me? "Her voice was not so shaky and the tears stopped falling. Mako could feel how her wet cheeks were beginning to dry.

"I will just mark what is mine" no longer patient, ayato took mako's wrist and pulled it so that she would be over him. Ayato forced on mako's shirt, blowing up two buttons on her school shirt in the process.

"ah!" Mako yelled scared when she felt her clothes tear.

"stay still, so it won't hurt so much"

Although it sounded like help, it didn't help much to mako, who felt ayato's breath crashing into the skin of his chest, felt his tongue wetting her skin.

Mako clung to ayato's shoulders without moving much and just resisting, but could not help but be surprised when she felt no fangs piercing his skin, but only kisses and licks on her shoulders, neck and part of her chest. She couldn't believe that he was taking advantage of her to do this kind of thing. Mako could not ignore the fact that even though the boy who threatened to kill her, was someone who enchanted her, so she felt at least, as if ayato with his eyes and words put a spell for her to do anything he said, without fighting, without complaining or demanding. Mako felt foolish because she always wanted to be someone dominant, but here she was, being a submissive being who would follow whatever order they ordered her.

"already enjoying yourself I see" Ayato's voice removed her from her thoughts and out of shame she did not answer or look at him, but instead looked at his left side, hiding her face. He heard ayato's playful laugh and then she felt it. Ayato wasn't biting her, but he was sucking her skin marking her. Mako felt like ayato was making more and more marks along her skin.

"That's good" Ayato looked at every reddish mark on Mako's pale skin, hearing the girl's unconscious moans pleased him more than he would like "What a greedy body you have, making me feel this excited with no blood yet"

┉┅━━━━━✿ ✂ ✿━━━━━┅┉

There was only one class left to finish her first horrific day. Kirari didn't talk to anyone and barely saw the Sakamakis brothers. She was walking down the hall to stretch her legs before the last class, but this girl stopped her. She just crossed Kirari's path and smiled at her excitedly.

"Hey, you're the new girl who arrived today, aren't you?" Kirari looked at her without much expression on her face and answered a simple yes "pleasure to meet you, I saw you when the Sakamaki brothers arrived. It must be so exciting taking a ride with them"

"exciting? It isn't a big deal"

"You have no idea? The sakamakis brothers are very popular. I even saw you walking with sakamaki reiji through the hallways. " For Kirari, it was so weird how this girl was making a big deal just for a ride to school. It's not like they gave her money. She's just spending her time there and hardly knows them. She thought that popular people were so overrated. What's the point in being popular?

"Are you Reiji's girlfriend or someone else's?"

"What?"

Kirari smiled at the joke. She already imagined the rumors that would be formed just by coming along with them and walking in a recess with Reiji, who was very polite with her showing her the places of the academy, but he didn't tell him anything about how invasive the students could become.

"No no, it's none of that, it's a misunderstanding, we don't know each other at all" Kirari smiled at her as she tried to explain. She didn't want to say she was adopted. In the municipal school it was terrible that everyone knew that and they would make fun of her because she was just an orphan.

"You don't have to lie to me, I'll keep your secret. See you!" the girl winked at him and left without letting Kirari answer. She didn't care either. She just couldn't imagine it happening so fast, in just a few hours things were already being said about her.

Kirari stayed near the garden club in a hidden place to smoke a little weed before the last class, she had luckily gotten some the day she left the orphanage for the sakamakis house, it turns out her dealer was nearby, in fact he was on his way to the mansion, so I didn't waste the opportunity and bought him a little, before coming to school Kirari smoked one and she had completely missed it, she needed to refresh herself with another one.

She turned it on and the relaxation invaded her. From her lungs to her heart rate, she didn't know why, but she always felt that the world was moving very fast and she was very slow. The weed relaxed her, so it was a relief to smoke it now and then. She was so deep in her thoughts that a brown-haired boy caught her. Kirari didn't rush to put down the joint and just looked at him not knowing what to do, for surprised she released the smoke through her nose and choked.

"Did I scared ya? Why do ya do that at school? How old are ya?" many questions and kirari was too relaxed to answer them all, even with a little laziness.

"And who are you to interrogate me?"

"What? You are the one who does strange things in the academy. If you were someone else, I would betray you without thinking about it"

"aren't you going to betray me then?" Kirari smiled at the mystery boy. But she didn't mind, she just wanted to finish smoking her joint and go to her last class.

"why would I do that? I don't care"

"How sweet of you" Kirari settled down more on the floor and signaled to sit next to her "Do you want some?" She offered her joint but the boy just shook his head saying no "I owe you one then."

"Just don't leave ashes on the ground, you'll be exposed"

"wow" Kirari got up and finally got the difference in height. In the case of the boy, he could clearly see her face and that she was someone with a distinguished face. She was attractive. "Are you flirting with me big boy? You are very kind to someone you don't know"

"Don't get confused, I just don't want to be blamed later. I'm from the garden club and it would be a pain in the ass if they find out that someone started smoking near the club"

"aw, and I thought you were being nice to me, but you just don't want to get in trouble" Kirari took a puff out of the joint and blew the smoke in the face of the brown-haired boy who coughed a little while removing the smoke from his face "Thank you big boy, I won't give you any problems"

Kirari turned off her joint crushing it against the wall and put it in back at her metal box, winked at the boy and headed for her last class. Although she didn't find him really attractive, she can say he had protruding hair and his height was showy. Of course, it's not her type. Kirari doesn't know him, but she thought it was funny that he was going to cover her just so they wouldn't give him any trouble. She was not surprised but found it pleasant anyway.

"What a strange toy these disgusting noble guys have. I didn't see any marks of fangs. I'm not surprised by such a strong smell even though their face wasn't all bad, not a big deal though"

#diabolik lovers smut #diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers shu #diabolik lovers laito #diabolik lovers ayato #diabolik lovers kanato #diabolik boys #diabolik lovers reiji #diabolik lovers subaru #diabolik lovers yuma #diabolik lovers angst #diabolik lovers fanfiction #reiji sakamaki #laito sakamaki #ayato sakamaki #subaru sakamaki #kanato sakamaki #shu sakamaki #shuu sakamaki

[raleighliving]

Interview with NCSU Staff Member

This was an interview I conducted April 22nd of 2021. I've tried to eliminate as much personal information as possible (including the initial "about yourself" question) since if any attitudes or opinions have changed I wanted to respect the individual while still showing I did in fact talk to people about this.

RL: How do you feel, personally, about the NCSU physics department and the work you do there?  Do you particularly enjoy it, have things been rough due to the Pandemic, etc.

Staff Member (SM): The department is very collegial and a great place to work.   Our faculty are performing research that will have direct impacts on the future.  We have faculty working to develop transparent plastics for greenhouses that can let appropriate light through for plant growth while using the light that is not needed to generate electricity to power the facilities, faculty using physics techniques to probe  how biological macromolecules self-organize to exert mechanical force and accomplish biological function, information needed to understand cancer, birth defects, and miscarriage, and faculty who initiate discussions with the general public about the end of the universe through popular science books.  On the teaching side, we have many faculty who have received teaching awards such as the Board of Governor's award, the Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, NC State's Academy of Outstanding Teachers, and even national awards such as the American Physical Society’s Award for Excellence in Physics Education.  We take both teaching, research, and service very seriously.

As with everyone else, we have pivoted with COVID as everything has moved online.  I'll comment more below on specifics.   

RL: on to the fun stuff here, I've talked to a number of your students from a plethora of graduating classes and they all echo this similar belief that "The NCSU physics department operates on a 'fail to pass' mindset where class averages sit at the low sixties until a curve is brought in". 

SM: The first thing needed is to understand what we teach.  You had comments in your thread from both physics majors and non-majors.  

We teach physics to a very large number of students each year; approximately one out of every 10 students at NC State is currently taking a physics class.  The vast majority of these students are not physics majors, with about 60% of them taking the calculus-based classes (205/208) and 40% the algebra-based ones (211/212).  Loosely speaking, PY205/8 are primarily filled with engineering students and PY211/2 are life-science majors.  The total numbers of students taught in 2020 are Fall 211/2/05/08 (2131), Dept. Total (2819), Spring 211/2/05/08 (2416), Dept. Total (3158).   Multiply this by 4 to get a rough number of credit hours.  Note physics majors take PY201/202 which is a similar class, but taught at a higher level than PY205/8.

To summarize more accurately from what I've gathered, many seem to think that the Physics department at NC State operates in a way that is purposefully obfuscated/overly complex and then saves itself by fiddling with homework weights or by curving every assignment.  How would you respond to these statements?

Although I don't know, I would guess that most of your comments arise from students taking PY205/208.  There are multiple sections of each course and they are taught with a common syllabus so that everyone has the same homework, tests, etc. regardless of the section they take.  Exams are common across all sections and are given in the evenings.  We have one one faculty member make the first draft of the test each time, but they are thoroughly vetted by all faculty teaching the course.  Very few of the initial problems remain exactly the same after each problem has been reviewed by multiple faculty members. 

We put out practice tests for the students based on tests from previous years.  We provide the students many ways to test their knowledge, including a set of representative problems with only answers available.  There are an ample number of worked out solutions provided throughout the chapters in the book and other resources and this tool provides a way to test their knowledge prior to the test.  If someone is struggling with the practice test, they will not be able to learn it from there, but need to step back to more structured problems with explanations before revisiting the practice test again.  We do not provide practice tests that completely mirror the actual tests because we are asking the students to learn the material as opposed to memorizing how to work a small subset of problems.

All courses are taught by faculty, with the graduate TAs overseeing the associated one-hour laboratory courses (PY206/9).  During the pandemic, we have had to introduce more technology into the course since everything had to rapidly switch to online, which has caused a few hick-ups, but overall it seems to be going well given the rollout to such large numbers of students with little time to vet the technology.

When it comes to tests, we do evaluate them and in many cases either apply a curve for each test or one for the class as a whole.  Student performance has changed during the pandemic as a result of not being able to discuss problems with their peers, not having group study sessions, no in-person tutoring, etc.  We have tried to account for this by reducing the difficulty of the tests, but that is not always sufficient.  I will note that many students are doing incredibly well and the averages have been running lower recently because the tail of the distribution is much longer now than before.  The median for the tests however is higher than the average.

While not part of your question, over the past few years, the numbers of students cheating has unfortunately significantly increased and we have been forced to put measures in place to help ensure the integrity of the course for the majority of students who are spending many hours preparing.  Pre-COVID, these measures included assigned seats during the tests and randomized numbers/answers across tests.  Post-COVID, early indicators showed significant increases in cheating (~15% of students).  This is a nationwide issue and I have seen multiple discussions by department heads across the country.   We thus needed to put structures in place in this new reality.   

These have evolved over the past two semesters based on both faculty and student feedback.  They include Respondus Monitor, which was chosen by the University/DELTA and they purchased a site license.  Due to the large number of students, other monitoring options are not really viable.  We are also using ~30-minute segments for the tests, which is aimed to allow one to take a short break between parts.  This also helps the student continue should they have temporary connectivity problems or technology failures.  The test uses randomized numbers and numeric questions, which is the same format as their homework.  There is only one chance per question and the questions are presented in a fixed ordering that is unique for each student. This minimizes opportunities for collaborative work during the test. In a test setting, we want students to work on problems individually, not in groups.  We understand that this presentation of questions is not ideal, but this has been implemented for integrity reasons.  Students may bring several pages of your individually prepared notes – on paper.  We would like them to be able to access resources, but we want it to be resources that they created and hope it will help alleviate some of their anxiety.  The test is not open book.  Electronic versions of the textbook are cumbersome during a testing situation, and provide a significant advantage to students fortunate enough to own a second device or a printed copy.   Students must submit their handwritten work for each problem. This is required, as it will help us verify that they did the work themselves.  

RL: Do you feel like the Physics and engineering courses use "weed out" courses? What are your thoughts on weed-out courses in general? 

SM: We teach the material at a level that is consistent with norms across the country and we do not consider our role to be a weed-out course.  We do cover a lot of material in class and it moves quickly.  It requires significant work outside of the classroom and for many, it is the first challenging course (of many) that they take at the University.  Our syllabus is consistent with almost all similar engineering-based courses and we are regularly reviewed as part of the College of Engineering's ABET accreditation process.  I meet regularly with administrators from the College of Engineering to make sure we are covering the appropriate material for their students.  We also have active collaborations with engineering faculty teaching higher-level mechanics and statics courses developing tools that can be used across the two colleges in multiple courses.  In addition to university resources, there are many local opportunities for students to get extra support - either from their professor during office hours or from our graduate students who work in our own tutorial center.  

RL:  Do you have any statistics for your department's graduation rates that you could share? Searching through public information it looks like the average failure rate for physics students teeters between ~22-25%, and according to College Factual [Data May have changed since 2021] NCSU only awarded 29 BA's in the last year, and the school has an overall on-time graduation rate of 44%.  Compared to notoriously difficult Physics and Engineering schools like MIT, which holds an 85% graduation rate comparatively, this is troubling data, to say the least.  If you could provide any statistics or data contrary, however, that'd be greatly appreciated. 

I'm not sure where the numbers they quote come from.  Per the University's Institutional Data Profiles, the current numbers for physics are: 

Retention and Graduation Rates

Data Element 2020-2021

Four Year Graduation Rate 60%

Five Year Graduation Rate 67%

Six Year Graduation Rate 78%

First Year Retention 91%

Note that these numbers only include freshmen who started at NC State.  This excludes all transfer students from the community college route.

We produce about 30 bachelor degrees per year which is par for a department of our size.  You can see national statistics here:  https://www.aps.org/careers/statistics/upload/bachdegree1115.pdf [Numbers may have changed since 2021]. This number is also consistent with the size of our incoming class which also runs about 30.  Note that about 1/2 of our graduates started in physics as a freshman.  The other half of the class (both incoming and outgoing) change their major in the process.  Much of this happens as students see a much broader set of options when entering the university and there are many that move between different areas in sciences and engineering.  Our program as a whole has about 140 physics majors across all years and about 120 graduate students en route generally to a PhD.

Again, a mix of data here in that our majors do not take the engineering sequence where you are quoting the ~22-25% failure rate.  For these classes, I looked at the pre-COVID PY205 DWF (#'s of D's, F's, and Withdrawals) rates and how they compared over eight spring semesters (averaged over all sections of PY205 taught not including honors).  Note that a D is not considered failing the course, however the College of Engineering requires a C or better to move forward with their curriculum so I have included it in this analysis.  Also during COVID, the University introduced additional S/U grading options and allowed withdrawals much later, so it has been almost impossible for me to get meaningful statistics on student success during this time.  Pre-COVID, the DWF rate across all sections over the previous eight years was 22.8% and with a median of 25.1%.   I looked in detail for the spring semester prior to the shutdown where the rate was 24% across all sections.  Here, almost half (11 of the 24%) were either W's or students who did not show up for the final exam.  Of course there will always be variations from year-to-year and also from instructor-to-instructor, but we try to keep these reasonably small.

RL: Overall, what message would you like to send to the students in your department?  What sort of takeaway do you want people who enter these courses and feel they were given a purposefully twisted challenge to have instead?

SM: The physics department takes our teaching responsibilities seriously and works hard to deliver classes aimed to set students up for future success.  We stress building critical thinking skills and understanding of why as opposed to just identifying what formula to use to solve the problem.  

RL: I thank you for your time, and apologize for taking so long to reach out to you.  It has been super hectic with my own personal life and I hope that you have a great afternoon.  

Additionally, if there's anything you'd like to say otherwise feel free to include it outside the interview guidelines.  Or if you have any questions for me, etc. etc.

SM: As a side note, with the very large numbers of students that we teach, there are quite a few that struggle.  Much of this is not the physics itself, but lack of math skills.  We have been creating resources for students to help fill holes in that knowledge, but this is taking time both to identify them and to put them in place.  For example, we found out a year or so ago that matrices were removed from the NC high school curriculum.  We have now shifted gears to include that foundational math knowledge into what we teach.  More and more students are not taking trigonometry in high school which makes solving problems with angles incredibly difficult.  The list goes on.  With the pandemic now, I worry about what additional deficiencies we will be seeing.  We are actively reaching out to high school physics teachers to assess where students will be and will be meeting to determine if we need to make additional adjustments in the course for the fall.  

I'm happy to talk more about any of this in detail if it would help.  We do care and are not out for the students as many would think.  It's generally their first "real" course at the university and it catches many by surprise.

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

If the staff member I spoke with is okay with me publishing his name and the first question, I'll be more than happy to. You know who you are, and if you reach out to my email again I'll respond to your wishes within my ability and make edits where needed.

More content™ to come, especially when I can complain about people complaining about the rezoning or whatever else is going on around town.

#Interview #NCSU #nc state #nc state university #nc #raleigh #northcarolina #north carolina #Carolina #school #education #weed out #weed out course #old interview #old news #returning post

[thirddoctor]

I really hate Susan's character. She is supposed to be "an unearthly child", someone just as intelligent and mysterious as Doctor himself... but, for an exeptions of the eponimous first episode and "The Sensorites", she is little more than annoying teen and a damsel in distress. I would say Vicki deserved to be Doctor's granddaughter way more than Susan - unlike Susan, Vicki had funny personality, was intelligent and useful in pretty much all of her episodes and NEVER was damsel in distress.

I'm not sure why Susan would be as intelligent or mature as the Doctor, though. She is a teen, or at least the Time Lord equivalent.

We don't know much about Susan's backstory (and the EU is very contradictory, so I'm going to ignore it here), but I imagine she grew up fairly sheltered, has probably always been closest to the Doctor and had to rely on him a lot, and never had a particularly stable/happy life. She's adventurous but also longs for belonging and identity of her own, and still gets treated as a little girl by her grandfather (which is bound to both exacerbate her immaturity and also provoke her to try to prove herself in his eyes). Plus, she has the responsibility of worrying about his weak health. With all this going on - while at the same time being cut off from her home and constantly caught in life or death situations - it makes sense that she frequently acts scared or irresponsible. However alien she may be (and I think The Edge of Destruction and The Sensorites both showcase her alienness quite well), she's still basically just a kid.

And in spite of that, she is intelligent (though she presumably never went to the Academy, so of course she won't be anywhere near as knowledgeable as the Doctor), she's a gifted telepath, and above all she's kind and selfless and fun-loving. She's a much nicer person than the Doctor initially is. I think one of the benefits of her leaving Gallifrey at a young age (and perhaps a factor in the Doctor choosing to take her away) was that she didn’t have her spirit stifled and her empathy/curiosity stamped out in favour of a superiority complex.

I can certainly understand criticisms of the way her character was handled - yeah, she’s a damsel in distress sometimes, and it’s annoying - but my issue there is with the sexism of the writing. If we’re looking at it from an in-universe perspective, it’s not unrealistic for her to react the way she does to the situations she’s in.

I love Vicki - more than Susan, in fact - but rather than pitting them against each other I think they make a very interesting contrast. It’s not that Vicki is a better person than Susan, she’s just better suited to life aboard the TARDIS (I talk about this more here). Vicki is a lot like the Doctor, whereas Susan, despite being his granddaughter, isn’t really. Vicki also has the benefit of coming aboard after the Doctor has gone through a certain level of growth, allowing for a smoother relationship.

The idea that Vicki “deserved” to be the Doctor’s granddaughter more doesn’t make sense to me, especially as many of the issues in his relationship with Susan were his own fault. You could just as easily say Susan deserved a better grandfather. But that’s not how life works. We don’t always have the luxury of choosing our family or the people around us, and in any case, the Doctor and Susan did still love each other deeply in spite of their differences. Their relationship is fascinating precisely because of how complicated it is.

So yeah, I respect your opinion - it’s a common criticism of Susan - and I get where you’re coming from, but I still think she’s a neat character.

#I think a key difference between Susan and Vicki is that Susan had family but was searching for identity #whereas Vicki was already confident in who she was and needed family #Replies #Anon #Ranger shut up about Doctor Who

[the-marx-brothers-will-live-on]

Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx (March 22, 1887 – October 11, 1961) was an American comedian, musician, actor and film star. He was a member of the Marx Brothers (with Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, and Zeppo Marx). His persona in the act was that of a charming, uneducated but crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. On screen, Chico is often in alliance with Harpo, usually as partners in crime, and is also frequently seen trying to con or outfox Groucho. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood (first-born Manfred Marx had died in infancy). In addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years.

Chico was born in Manhattan, New York City, on March 22, 1887. His parents were Sam Marx (called "Frenchie" throughout his life), and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx. Minnie's brother was Al Shean. The Marx family was Franco-German Jewish. His father was a native of Alsace who worked as a tailor and his mother was from East Frisia in Germany.

Billing himself as Chico, he used an Italian persona for his onstage character; stereotyped ethnic characters were common with vaudevillians. His non-Italian-ness was specifically referred to twice on film. In their second feature, Animal Crackers, he recognizes someone he knows to be a fish peddler impersonating a respected art collector:

Ravelli (Chico): "How is it you got to be Roscoe W. Chandler?"

Chandler: "Say, how did you get to be an Italian?"

Ravelli: "Never mind—whose confession is this?"

In A Night at the Opera, which begins in Italy, his character, Fiorello, claims not to be Italian, eliciting a surprised look from Groucho:

Driftwood (Groucho): "Well, things seem to be getting better around the country."

Fiorello (Chico): "I don't know, I'm a stranger here myself."

A scene in the film Go West, in which Chico attempts to placate an Indian chief of whom Groucho has run afoul, has a line that plays a bit on Chico's lack of Italian nationality, but is more or less proper Marxian wordplay:

S. Quentin Quayle (Groucho): "Can you talk Indian?"

Joe Panello (Chico): "I was born in Indianapolis!"

There are moments, however, where Chico's characters appear to be genuinely Italian; examples include the film The Big Store, in which his character Ravelli runs into an old friend he worked with in Naples (after a brief misunderstanding due to his accent), the film Monkey Business, in which Chico claims his grandfather sailed with Christopher Columbus, and their very first outing The Cocoanuts, where Mr. Hammer (Groucho) asks him if he knew what an auction was, in which he responds "I come from Italy on the Atlantic Auction!" Chico's character is often assumed to be dim-witted, as he frequently misunderstands words spoken by other characters (particularly Groucho). However, he often gets the better of the same characters by extorting money from them, either by con or blackmail; again, Groucho is his most frequent target.

Chico was a talented pianist. He originally started playing with only his right hand and fake playing with his left, as his teacher did so herself. Chico eventually acquired a better teacher and learned to play the piano correctly. As a young boy, he gained jobs playing piano to earn money for the Marx family. Sometimes Chico even worked playing in two places at the same time. He would acquire the first job with his piano-playing skills, work for a few nights, and then substitute Harpo on one of the jobs. (During their boyhood, Chico and Harpo looked so much alike that they were often mistaken for each other.)

In the brothers' last film, Love Happy, Chico plays a piano and violin duet with 'Mr. Lyons' (Leon Belasco). Lyons plays some ornate riffs on the violin; Chico comments, "Look-a, Mister Lyons, I know you wanna make a good impression, but please don't-a play better than me!"

In a record album about the Marx Brothers, narrator Gary Owens stated that "although Chico's technique was limited, his repertoire was not." The opposite was true of Harpo, who reportedly could play only two tunes on the piano, which typically thwarted Chico's scam and resulted in both brothers being fired.

Groucho Marx once said that Chico never practiced the pieces he played. Instead, before performances he soaked his fingers in hot water. He was known for 'shooting' the keys of the piano. He played passages with his thumb up and index finger straight, like a gun, as part of the act. Other examples of his keyboard flamboyance are found in A Night at the Opera (1935), where he plays the piano for a group of delighted children, and A Night in Casablanca (1946), where he performs a rendition of "The Beer Barrel Polka".

Chico became the unofficial manager of the Marx Brothers after their mother, Minnie, died in 1929. As manager, he cut a deal to get the brothers a percentage of a film's gross receipts—the first of its kind in Hollywood. Furthermore, it was Chico's connection with Irving Thalberg of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that led to Thalberg's signing the Brothers when they were in a career slump after Duck Soup (1933), the last of their films for Paramount.

For a while in the 1930s and 1940s, Chico led a big band. Singer Mel Tormé began his professional career singing with the Chico Marx Orchestra. Through the 1950s, Chico occasionally appeared on a variety of television anthology shows and some television commercials, most memorably with Harpo in "The Incredible Jewelry Robbery", a pantomime episode of General Electric Theater in 1959.

His nickname (acquired during a card game in Chicago in 1915) was originally spelled Chicko. It was changed to Chico but still pronounced "Chick-oh" although those who were unaware of its origin tended to pronounce it "Cheek-oh". Numerous radio recordings from the 1940s exist where announcers and fellow actors mispronounce the nickname, but Chico apparently felt it was unnecessary to correct them. As late as the 1950s, Groucho was happy to use the wrong pronunciation for comedic effect. A guest on You Bet Your Life told the quizmaster she grew up around Chico (California) and Groucho responded, "I grew up around Chico myself. You aren't Gummo, are you?" Groucho is heard in videos pronouncing it "Chicko", as in a Dick Cavett episode with Groucho talking to Dan Rowan.

During Groucho's live performance at Carnegie Hall in 1972, he states that his brother got the name Chico because he was a "chicken-chaser" (early 20th century slang for womanizer).

As well as being a compulsive womanizer, Chico had a lifelong gambling habit. His favorite gambling pursuits were card games, horse racing, dog racing, and various sports betting. His addiction cost him millions of dollars by his own account. When an interviewer in the late 1930s asked him how much money he had lost from gambling, he answered, "Find out how much money Harpo's got. That's how much I've lost." Gummo Marx, in an interview years after Chico's death, said: "Chico's favorite people were actors who gambled, producers who gambled, and women who screwed." Referring to Chico's love life, George Jessel quipped, "Chico didn't button his fly until he was seventy."

Chico's lifelong gambling addiction compelled him to continue in show business long after his brothers had retired in comfort from their Hollywood income, and in the early 1940s he found himself playing in the same small, cheap halls in which he had begun his career 30 years earlier. The Marx Brothers' penultimate film, A Night in Casablanca (1946), was made for Chico's benefit since he had filed for bankruptcy a few years prior. Because of his out-of-control gambling, the brothers finally took the money as he earned it and put him on an allowance, on which he stayed until his death.

Chico had a reputation as a world-class pinochle player, a game he and Harpo learned from their father. Groucho said Chico would throw away good cards (with the knowledge of spectators) to make the play "more interesting". Chico's last public appearance was in 1960, playing cards on the television show Championship Bridge. He and his partner lost the game.

Chico was married twice. His first marriage was to Betty Karp in 1917. Their union produced one daughter named Maxine (1918–2009). His first marriage was plagued by his infidelity, ending in divorce in 1940; he was very close to his daughter Maxine and gave her acting lessons.

Chico's second marriage was to Mary De Vithas. They married in 1958, three years before his death.

In the 1974 Academy Awards telecast, Jack Lemmon presented Groucho with an honorary Academy Award to a standing ovation. The award was also for Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo, whom Lemmon mentioned by name. It was one of Groucho's final major public appearances. "I wish that Harpo and Chico could be here to share with me this great honor," he said, naming the two deceased brothers (Zeppo was still alive at the time and in the audience). Groucho also praised the late Margaret Dumont as a great straight woman who never understood any of his jokes.

Chico died of arteriosclerosis at age 74 on October 11, 1961, at his Hollywood home. He was the eldest brother and the first to die.

Chico is entombed in the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Chico's younger brother Gummo is in a crypt across the hall from him.

#marx brothers #chico marx #classic hollywood #comedians

[biowarekiddies]

From the 'send me a character and number' headcanons list- hope I don't bombard you with numbers! How 'bout 10 for Aaron Shepard and 5 for Gertrude Shepard (I love the name!), 16 for Dimitri Ryder and 12 for Damaris Ryder, 3 for Dawn Trevelyan and 2 for Andraste Cousland (ALSO- WHAT A NAME), please?

Thank you SM for taking an interest in my OCs and asking!!!

Also, LMAO, nice choice with 16 for Dimitri. If you’ve ever seen him, you’ll know what I mean.

Warning: I’m the kind of person that likes writing long answers. Also, angst. And I’m so sorry, I didn’t exactly understand the weak spot ones. I just took a gander and wrote something that sounded about right. For Dawn’s I’m talking about anxiety, so you might want to skip that if it’s a bad time for you.

Mass Effect

Aaron for 10: Fears/Phobias

His greatest fear is losing. Losing a fight, losing loved ones, etc.

In the Tenth Street Reds, he owned next to nothing, so he had nothing to lose back then. And since he had to look out for himself, he learnt how to fight. It took a couple of beatings but eventually he understood how to properly fight back. 

However, as he grew up he met many people that became near and dear to his heart. There’s Gertrude, his sister, whom he offered shelter to when she ran away from home and was soon disowned. Mariko, his wife and the love of his life, whom he met when he bumped into her during his fresh meat days in the Alliance Academy on a fateful day at a corridor. Hoshiko, his daughter that he and Mariko had a few years later after they fell in love at first sight. 

You should’ve seen Aaron the day she was born, he was so hesitant to hold her in his arms, but when his wife urged him to and this tiny child that was his opened her eyes to reveal the exact same shade as his, he cried tears of joy before saying to his wife, “we did good.”

Also, consider Commander Shepard’s many triumphs. He was labeled the Hero of the Citadel, Butcher of Torfan and had destroyed the Collectors, and pushed the reapers off of Tuchanka. People gathered around him like acolytes to their god. He was The Shepard. He’s considered this indomitable figure, godly.

However, things did not last for Aaron. His fears became reality. He lost. He lost his family, beginning with Mariko from a lab explosion, then his sister, Gertrude, to a mission gone wrong, and finally, his daughter to slavers that invaded their home. And do not let us forget Thessia. His world crumbled all over again. He has lost more than he could even hold. 

He thought himself Atlas, but he was wrong. He could not uphold everything upon his shoulders. The heavens cracked and it took him with it.

He thought himself Achilles, and how right he was. An angry man they both were, with love that burned them, and both equally assured in their power, only to lose everything. Their bloodlust legendary. Their tragedy even more well-known.

Gertrude for 5: Guilty Pleasures

I think a guilty pleasure of her has to be 20th century music. She knows it’s the 22nd century, but blame her brother, alright? It’s his fault that she got into it.

Growing up with Aaron on the streets and a part of the Tenth Street Reds, they didn’t have a lot of things. Usually, anything they got was a reward for a finished job well done. Other times, they scavenge or steal, unsavoury as either of those options sound, that’s how you survive being a street rat. 

One day, Aaron had found a radio. A high-grade one by the looks of it. They poured any spare time and money onto fixing it, hoping for some entertainment in their dull place they call a “home”. By the time it was fixed, oddly enough, it could only play 20th century music, like Elvis Presley, Bon Jovi, David Bowie, etc. It was unexpected, but welcomed. From henceforth, they loved to jam to the tunes it played. 

In her universe as Commander Shepard, her crew-mates loved teasing her about her love for old music. Especially, Garrus and Joker to her chagrin. Whatever, though. It makes her happy and reminds her of her family, so let them joke all they want. 

Dimitri for 16: Dark Secrets/‘Skeletons’ in the Closet

Regarding secrets, it depends with who. His family? His lover? His best friends? His boss? Outsiders? Lackeys? His job is all about secrets and occasionally selling them for the right price. However, he’ll be nice and throw out some freebies since Demi (OC) seems to think you’re chill. 

(But, tbh, his sister knows every dark secret of his.)

A dark secret of him is that he’s a mama’s boy and a bit of a cry baby. Growing up, Alec grew up favouring Damaris, so Ellen took it upon herself to make sure that Dimitri felt equally loved - at least by her. Alec liked Damaris more because he thought that she was more mature, able to handle responsibility more, and he respected her for back-talking him. In comparison, Dimitri was naturally a sensitive, soft boy, and easy to cry. 

You should’ve seen him with his first love. So openly vulnerable and in love with her. He called her “Angel Eyes” and still does. He brought her flowers each day he saw her and almost always held her hand their entire childhood journey together. He was enamoured with her and he wanted the world to know.

However, as he growing up on Omega forced him to make himself more steeled and hard-hearted. But fortunately, when fate allowed his Angel Eyes to pay a visit to his district he melted back into his soft boy self (but privately). When he saw Demi he didn’t recognize her at first, but when she demanded to see Dimitri and Damaris Ryder it hit him like a krogan tackling him. It’s her, Angel Eyes. 

You should honestly see him whenever she does anything remotely cool. He just places a hand over his hand and softly whispers, “holy shit.” Also, sometimes, he’s so taken by her that he can’t help but cry (in private). He just loves her so much and infinitely. 

Damaris for 12: Grudges & Vendetta

Damaris has the biggest grudge fest against Alec, like you would NOT believe. She just hates him so much and irreparably. 

In her mind, this jackass “father” left her and Dimitri to rot and die on Omega. He was always so wrapped up in his inventions that they paid for it as children; neglecting them even when Ellen died and they needed a father the most. 

Almost as soon as Ellen died, he sold their house on the Citadel and moved them all to Omega before promptly ditching them. He visited here and there for the first year but soon after disappeared from their lives completely. However, at least he sent them money each month for food. Unfortunately, that money wasn’t enough though, which forced them to scavenge, steal, and eventually resort to crime, which lead them into the arms of Aria T’Loak (tbh, Damaris isn’t regretting that last part). 

They were Citadel children. They were used to a lifestyle that’s comfy, and border lining luxurious. They never had to fend for themselves before and Alec just dumped them on this shithole station. However, circumstances dictate that she eventually grows to love this corrupt but only because she and Dimitri ended up thriving there. Otherwise, they would’ve been another pile of corpses somewhere on Omega.

Another problem she has with Alec is that he played favourites. She hated that. She saw Dimitri cry himself to sleep some nights as kids because he thought he was unlovable. How dare that old bastard that claims to be their dad make Dimitri cry? She hated him the most for that. She hates Alec for causing any harm to Dimitri. Honestly, given the chance, she’d throat punch Alec.

Dragon Age:

Dawn for 3: Scars or Painful Spots

Dawn grew up as a particularly anxious child due to being told constantly how she’s going to be heir of her household. Her parents always harped her about what she should and should not do. “One wrong move and you could bring dishonour upon our family,” they always reminded her.

While she did grow up being something of a perfect little puppet for them it also left untold scars on her. Whenever she had to interact with people she didn’t want to, she’d feel this painful sensation in her chest. It constricted her lungs and made her heartbeat unbearable. 

This pain in her chest almost always bloomed. It put her mind out of focus but also on the fritz. It made her have to grasp for breaths. It made her do irrational things. 

Therefore, whenever in a compromising situation, the first thing that Dawn guards is her chest. She’s in pain enough, she doesn’t need somebody making it worse. Hugging herself made her feel somewhat secure and grounded again.

She lets few people get near her during these moments when her chest is its most vulnerable. The few she let near her are her closest friends from Ostwick, like Tal-Taashath, or Nellas (OCs), or her more recent companions like the Iron Bull. 

Nobody can truly make the pain go away, but they can help soothe it, like lulling a dragon to sleep. It’s difficult but plausible.

Andraste for 2: Emotional/Moral Weak Spots

A big moral weak spot for Andraste is her crumbling faith, which was caused by her emotional weak spot regarding what happened to her family.

For those that have played as a Cousland, you know what happens to the Warden’s family. They are ruthlessly slaughtered by the Howes. That night was beyond traumatic for her. 

How is it that the most faithful of the Maker’s children had been slaughtered that night? Is it true that the Maker has turned away from his creations and is refusing to ever come back to them and bathe them in his holy light? If so, she thought that night, what point is there to praying to a long-deaf god?

Everything she was had become ruin that night. She could no longer truly be called Andraste, whom the true one believed in the light and love of the Maker irrevocably. This mortal woman has lost her light but not her way, no thanks to the Maker. 

Her scorn against the Maker was fuelled when she saw the atrocities of the Circle. Innocents locked away, ready for slaughter as if they were livestock, while the Templars remained safe and cowered. This was what she aspired to be one day as a child? A rattling suit of armour that called itself a Templar? 

#aaron shepard #gertrude shepard #demi #dimitri ryder #damaris ryder #dawn trevelyan #andraste cousland #me #Mass Effect #mea #da #dao #dai #answered #anxiety #asks