#civilian life

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: I used to be in British Army (I did two tours in Afghanistan) and then I joined ‘civvie street’. I found it hard because I couldn’t keep my anger in check at how shallow and self-centred some of the guys I worked with really were. They really felt sorry for themselves. I’m in a better place and a different job with great positive people. I know you’re an Afghan vet and you now work in the corporate world full of pyscho shit bags so how have you handled anger at work?

Thanks for sharing and I have to say I totally understand where you’re coming from. Yours is a common theme amongst many returning veterans from war or indeed anyone who’s served in the armed forces and then makes the jump over to the civilian world. There’s always going to be an initial disconnect between how we did things in the army - or at least how we were trained to - and how things are done in the civilian professions (corporate other otherwise).

I don’t think we should be glamourising army life too much as we all know the crap that goes on within our regiments and the senior army brass in general. I don’t think we should be saying one is superior to another, it’s just different. Where they are the same is human nature which can bring out the worst or the best in people. As one vet friend, now a corporate lawyer, told me once, It’s a matter of sussing out what the ‘rules of engagement’ are. I’m glad though that you landed on your feet and you have found a second wind.

I can empathise with you about the anger part. But I’m not quite the type to get overly angry. I can have a cold fury but rarely does my anger boil over. I’m just not built that way. Of course it doesn’t mean I don’t get frustrated or super annoyed at people.

I remember very well after leaving the army world behind and never setting foot in a combat helicopter again, it was painful because of the camaraderie forged through shared adversity ( courage and cock ups, mostly). After going back to grad school I remember well the interviews I had lined up with corporates in the City I was interested working for. Nearly all of them would ask me questions like “have you had any life enhancing experiences?” Or “can you give an example where you handled a project under pressure?” Or “How do you handle stress?” I would look at them and think ‘are you kidding me? Have you properly read my CV/resumé?”

As annoying as I found such questions, I bit my tongue and smiled, ‘Yes, flying missions over a battlefield dodging a missile attack aimed at my arse whilst also avoiding lethal Taliban ground fire attack. One could say that was fucking life enhancing.” But I didn’t. I would point to something else from outside army life that they could relate to. I must have said something right because I got hired. But yes, I was a little annoyed by the disconnect.

But the anger still there isn’t it? I can empathise with that too.

Homer warned us that xόλος νόον οιδάνει. (anger inflates the mind). But the rage can be real, especially in the pressure world of work. Working in highly competitive corporate environment with people who are super smart and over-credentialised - and therefore prone to neurotic mood swings and power trips - can be a stressful place to work.

From time to time all of us will experience great rage. The question is how can we deal with it effectively?

Anger at work typically surfaces when we feel vulnerable or exposed. It shows up when we feel under attack, or when something we valued or hoped for is at stake. It is sometimes posited as a protective emotion, arising when we feel threatened. According to neuroscience, this triggers the amygdala which overrides rational thought and causes strident action and reaction. The “amygdala hijack”, as it has come to be known, is evident when you see a colleague “acting out”. Slamming down a phone or shouting at a direct report is nature’s way of externalising anger by venting aggression.

A common alternative is suppressing anger. This has a pressure cooker effect and can lead to explosive results later on. Thus, both venting and suppressing anger has negative consequences and can be injurious to our relationships, career and health.

But where does it all come from? The best I can suggest is to look at at the origins of anger. Our relationship to this most primal emotion is formed early in life.

Our parents are the first “leaders” we encounter, in the sense that they give us protection, provide for our needs and model the way to behave. Their reactions to anger when we were children shape our own anger responses.

A good hypothetical example might be if a father becomes incandescent when a child is late for dinner for the umpteenth time, the child probably reacts in one of three ways: returning the anger (acting out), taking a neutral response (sulking or passive aggression), or moving away from the source fearfully (especially if Dad is a big fellow). If returning the anger was permissible in your household, then storming around the workplace later in life may seem quite natural. If you were neutral, you may have been suppressing your irritation.

If you were scared, as many children are, then you probably built coping mechanisms to avoid making people angry, or if the anger was unavoidable, capitulating and backing down. If this was the case, you probably make an easy victim for a workplace bully today.

I’ve read stuff by leadership development scholars at INSEAD business school who’ve done some research on this. They started by figuring out which of the primary negative emotions - anger, sadness or fear - each of us is most subject to, by asking what happens when things don’t materialise the way we want. They found that more than 60 percent of male respondents in their studies chose anger over fear or sadness. For women it was more evenly split.

Problems are exacerbated when anger is combined with authority. Both men and women resent angry bosses. They often feel helpless and unable to exercise their own authentic emotions as a response; the result of this “bottling” is a kind of anger turned inwards, which shows up as a loss of self-esteem. Sometimes this can lead to the person kicking down the frustration to his or her own direct reports or trying to buffer it. I often discover that suppressed emotions are leaking out somewhere else, either at home, or worse still through self-destructive behaviour like alcohol abuse (I was never an alcoholic but I did lean into it heavily but thankfully got yanked out by those close to me).

Interestingly enough these same researchers found another unexpected corollary in that conflict avoidance is value destruction. Business is business: Tough conversations or disagreements need having. Being passive, or even worse passive aggressive, leads to wrong decisions being made by overbearing bosses. In most cases, we have a responsibility to confront. This is easier said than done of course given how power works inside modern corporate structures.

In this context I would go further and say not all anger is destructive but can actually be productive. I’ve seen research evidence to back up this claim for the professional benefits of anger which are mostly in relation to negotiation and leadership situations.

In studies of negotiation, people who expressed anger had better outcomes. However this is usually only when the angry party has the greater power, or when the recipient of the rage has poor alternatives to negotiating.

A 2016 INSEAD business school study found anger in leaders can make them appear more powerful, yet less effective. Intense anger in leaders motivates their subordinates to increase their effort but also means they will be more deviant. Another study found that anger enhances performance, but only when followers have conscientious and agreeable personalities. More generally, research finds anger has positive consequences at work when it’s expressed verbally, is of low intensity and when it’s a ‘mad man’ rather than a woman (yeah, it’s that time of the month seems to be the dismissive and condescending excuse given by men). But I think that’s changing now as more women enter business leadership positions than ever before. Certainly I use anger in a very low key way and I use it strategically to motivate those under me of the high standards I expect - of course your greatest anger is reserved for yourself by holding yourself to a higher standard of performance and example.

Still, I have always wondered if some people just have a low boiling point? It’s not my temperamental nature to get over-heated, quite the opposite in fact. But I look around and I see colleagues, brilliant and hard working but seem to be constantly on edge. Although most people will occasionally experience anger at work, some people seem to have a low tipping point for anger. For example, people who usually blow their top as opposed to getting only a little angry will be more likely to experience ongoing anger at work. These people are easily provoked. People who are neurotic at work are also likely to be more angry because they have poor emotional regulation. People who show traits of psychopathy and low agreeableness are also more likely to express their anger at work, than others.

However these people tend to be more successful at work. But I think anger is probably not the cause of their success. It is more likely that anger is a side-effect of adaptive characteristics. For example competitive people are likely to be both successful and express anger more often.

But there is reason to suppose to use anger as a strategy, selectively and carefully. I have it in my tool box. Since anger is beneficial in some instances, it raises the question: should we strategically act out anger to bring about positive outcomes? Although some research supports this, other studies suggest caution. For example one Harvard study demonstrated that faking anger in negotiations is detrimental to resolving the conflict. A better strategy than faking anger is actually to communicate it when it is real, but do so in a controlled manner (for example not being abusive but telling someone you’re mad).

There’s only one type of person who seems to be an exception to this advice: those high in the personality trait “machiavellianism”. Machiavellian staff are those who operate strategically and manipulatively at work in order to achieve their goals. They can be highly angry and are likely to use it, and aggression, strategically to enhance their success. Machiavelli gets a bad rap that even his very name is a byword for amoral behaviour. I think he’s much misunderstood because he never condoned being a weasel.

But what to do?

I can only share what works for me at work. You don’t have to be a zen master to learn to regulate your emotions through mindfulness and emotional intelligence training. One simple strategy involves reducing arousal through deep, slow breathing. Take a moment and re-centre yourself.

You can also go straight to the source of your rage and see if that can be changed instead. This is not easily done, depending on the power differentials at work, however it can be best in the long run.

I think both strategies are in keeping what research seems to be saying. In other words, there is merit to both expressing and controlling anger.

Many people I know try and take their anger out of the work place. In other words, do outside activities to blow off steam. Some go all in doing a punishing gym work out. Others find it at the bottom of a Vodka bottle (not to be recommended). I’ve even known some work colleagues who train and go a few rounds in mixed martial arts (MMA) to really blow off their anger issues.

I always go for a 5 km run in the morning to clear my ahead. It helps me to see the lay of the land and plan my day like it was a mission operation and so I can see where the stress tests would be.

I also regularly fence after work - at my club in Paris - with others who can give me a good work out. It’s a great sport and I can deflate any unresolved anger with a few puncture hits to someone else. I even teach a class to children on the basics of fencing and it’s incredibly therapeutic because you need patience and empathy and there is no room for anger.The best way to melt away personal anger is to serve others and see the difference you make in their lives.

Music is another way to detox. I listen to it a lot to and from my commute to work or when I travel a lot to other countries. Trust me when you listen to opera you quickly find others are having a worse day than you.

Take Lucia from Donizetti’s comic opera,  Lucia di Lammermoor. Lucia is having just about the worst week ever. Lucia’s mother has just passed away. She is in love with Edgardo, the political rival of Lucia’s brother Enrico, but Enrico has arranged for her to marry Lord Arturo in an effort to save their family from financial ruin. Lucia and Edgardo resolve to keep their love a secret in an effort to avoid confrontation with Lucia’s brother. Suspecting that Lucia still loves Edgardo, Enrico and Normanno procure a forged letter from “Edgardo” purporting that he loves another woman. Enrico shows the forged letter to Lucia on the day on which she is to marry Arturo. Distraught and betrayed, Lucia agrees to marry Arturo in order to do her duty to her family and to her late mother.

The wedding ceremony commences. Lucia is signing the wedding contract when suddenly Edgardo bursts in and declares that he and Lucia are to be married. Upon seeing the signed contract however, he flees, utterly distraught. Overcome by her misfortune, Lucia kills Arturo, leading up to an iconic mad scene, which Lucia sings while covered in her late husband’s blood.

After an exchange with her brother, Lucia collapses and dies. And you thought you were having a bad day.

Or take poor old Leporello from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni is pretty much the worst - and he reminds me of a wealthy corporate client of mine. He’s a serial seducer who prides himself on the thousands of romantic “conquests” he’s made and then lies and weasels his way out of trouble. And poor Leporello is the unfortunate servant to the reprehensible Don Giovanni. Leporello is a pretty good humoured chap and tries to make light of the Don’s deeds.

However, all the good humour in the world can’t save him from being dragged down by Don Giovanni. When Giovanni tries to pull the recently married Zerlina aside during a party that he has thrown in his home, Zerlina cries out for help. And who does Don Giovanni blame? Poor, unfortunate Leporello. When the Don decides he wants to go off to seduce an unsuspecting maid, he forces Leporello to dress in his clothing and go for a walk with Donna Elvira so that he does not have to deal with her.

And what happens to our friend Leporello? Donna Anna, Don Octavio, Zerlina, and Masetto (all previously affected by Giovanni’s misdeeds) find him disguised as Don Giovanni and threaten his life. When Don Giovanni and Leporello are confronted by the haunted statue of the deceased Commendatore (father of Donna Anna, killed by Don Giovanni), who is forced to invite the terrifying statue to dinner? Yes, you guessed it. Good old Leporello. But in the end, at least it’s Don Giovanni who is dragged into the fiery flames of hell and not good old Leporello!

There are plenty of poor Leporellos cleaning up the messes of the rapacious Don Giovannis in the corporate world. At least, you can take a hot shower to wipe away the stains and comfort yourself in the knowledge hell fire damnation await the Don Giovannis of this world.

Anyway, I digress.

My concluding thought would be to say everyone has their own speed. You have to find yours.

One helpful article I recently came across was in the Harvard Business Review. It’s worth a read.

https://hbr.org/2022/04/how-to-manage-your-anger-at-work

Thanks for your question.

#ask #question #anger #therapy #work #corporate #army #military #civilian life #army life #british army #stress #culture #society #personal #opera #fencing

[diaryofasupergroupie]

How do you separate scene life and real/civilian life? And how do you sort of keep your identity separate? I find this hard especially in the world of social media…

I love this question! And as someone who is completely happy out of the groupie scene, in the best civilian relationship now it’s so important. You have to get out of the ‘I want everyone to know’ mindset which I get is hard, you’re doing amazing things and want to share it. But you just don’t tell anyone, you don’t use your real name, you don’t stand too close to stage, your identity becomes need to know. The band are walking somewhere with fans? You walk a few feet behind. Above all you do not make a social media for this alias or share things on your personal account. You absolutely have to? Then you’ve gone on holiday. How did you afford tickets to a festival? You worked some extra shifts. In theory not doing this sounds great, in reality it could ruin your life. And if you feel like they are bleeding into each other take a break from the groupie world until you’re ready! I might actually make a post about this but also staying safe doing this because I get so much hate for doing this, if anyone wants that let me know and like this! - K

#answered #diary of a super groupie #groupie #groupie life #civilian life

[tenth-sentence]

He was a short, stocky bloke with twelve years' service in the reserve, a gingery moustache with waxed ends, and in civilian life he was a postman.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" - Erich Maria Remarque

#book quote #all quiet on the western front #erich maria remarque #himmelstoss #short #stocky #army reserve #ginger moustache #waxed moustache #civilian life #postman #postie

[gaylenephilogene1993blog]

#art #civilian life #aiart #war #digitalart #ai #family #struggle #children

[irzayn-heron]

Civilian Life 1

—

He is always really silent and keeps to himself. His day to day is full of mainly being beaten by someone random on the street because he looked at them wrong or just seemed annoying. He would always keep a blank face and not react or say anything to them. In fact, when they hit him he doesn't even hardly feel it. He'll drop to the ground and curl up, pretending it hurts when they aren't dealing any damage whatsoever. He's just laying there, waiting for them to get bored and staring at the ground or other people tgat simply walk by, turn away with guilt, and find some form of enjoyment in this scene. It only drives home his opinion on this world—everyone and everything, is cruel. Nothing is free, not even your life.

If only he could have even one of those people actually step in and help, or have the decency to at least stop gawking or talking a video of the scene. Maybe if someone would reach out a hand to this half dragon, who could clearly remember when these harsh impacts would break his bones and leave him half dead. If only there was someone who not only hated the abuse on others, but acted on it bravely and openly. If only. But he was instead stuck here, on the ground, with a boot slamming into his face every few seconds and forcing his eyes shut. This is why he hated this world.

—

#original character #oc #civilian life #my writing #character analysis #own character #my character #dragon #villain

[aalghul]

once again thinking about jason as duke’s robin. he’s ~4 years younger than jason, and that’s puts him at 8-12 during Jason’s time as robin. that’s prime time to get attached to your local kid vigilante before your own life goes downhill.

and if we try to keep duke’s meeting with bruce in zero year + duke’s age (so he can remember the meeting and hold that conversation with bruce), he has to be around 8. if he starts following batman through the news at that time because of the mess that just happened, the robin he sees is probably jason. I’ve literally connected the dots

#we are not of course keeping zero year itself. what a mess. #maybe smth very similar so it’s still the riddler causing mass chaos! #the titans so we actually keep the no robin physically present in the story part the same #look. if we want zero year convo we need to give bruce a robin at the time. it could be 17-18yr old who’s not even in gotham bc he’s with #by time tim shows up he’s already attached to jason #and then steph’s robin suddenly for a bit but only for a bit. and then tim comes back but he’s in bludhaven for a while #i do think duke would think steph is really cool tho. and they reasonably couldve met as civilians #and then duke’s busy bouncing around foster homes the streets and looking for his parents #i wanted to talk about how much i love it and the tags are just be working out a timeline for post crisis events & post flashpoint ones (an #some of duke’s important events are related to things which are no longer canon. such is life. let’s do our best based on ages) #duke thomas #jason todd

[ryan-sometimes]

To me it feels wild that it’s normal and accepted that civilians should fight and die in wars. How is a government beef their fault. The politicians should fight each other UFC style. Send the soldiers home, put the bombs down, and send the politicians into the octagon

#why is civilian life so disposable

[ladyloveandjustice]

I'm all for Barbie and her trophy boyfriend Ken (obviously considering my most viral post) and everything, but people out here saying "the best relationship is a woman who can do anything and man who can't do shit", like y'all realize that's most sitcom couples, where the women is the hot babysitter to an average loser schlub, right? That's also the classic 'loser guy is the protagonist while the more competent female character is his babysitter and love interest" in action movies and other movies.

I agree this dynamic can be fun in the right flavor. The reason Barbie and Ken work in Life in the Dreamhouse is he's NOT a total loser who doesn't do anything for Barbie, he's a robotics whiz who built a house for Barbie, he was able to get a ton of jobs!... he just immediately dropped them to be with Barbie. He just loves his gf and is content with letting her be his priority at all times. I don't think Ken in the upcoming movie is going to have absolutely nothing going for him either or be a drain on Barbie's life (hopefully). He'll probably find something that allows him to be somewhat self-posessed.

So like, it can work, if the guy is always bragging about his gf, if she's not demoted to his babysitter, if she likes him because he's sweet or if he's actually good at nontraditionally "male' things like being a caretaker- but 'woman has to be on a pedestal, guy gets to be a loser' is just another way woman are pigeonholed in media. Girls don't often get to be the losers because they have to be great to be respected and 'loser girl' doesn't fit into the ideal straight male sexual fantasy. Hypercompetent guy with loser girlfriend is usually derogatory, in a way the opposite isn't, if there's a female character like that, she'll be arm candy everyone shits on and sexualizes and nothing else- it's very rare for the ditzy loser gf to have any focus much less be the protagonist- it shows up pretty rarely, and if it does, it's notably in works aimed at women like Sailor Moon.

#yes mamoru is hypercompetent compared to usagi in civilian life dude is loaded and got into Harvard #barbie

[carrotkicks]

Dazai's Donut Shop

be on the side that saves people

#this idea came to me very suddenly but YEAH coffee shop au. but only if it's set in the canon universe #doodles #comic #dazai's donut shop #skk #soukoku #brief lore exposition: #instead of joining the port mafia. mori makes dazai find purpose in life through food service #in a mafia owned bakery obviously but the sentiment is there #and dazai is ESSENTIALLY a civilian #anyways since dazai's not around for fifteen chuuya gets pulled in an arguably.... less peaceful way. #mori personally takes to mentoring him tho. soften the blow soften the blow. #chuuya's feeling really depressed lately. he might have made some friends. he may have mori. but we know that chuuya's not built to be happ #and then: a chance encounter at the local bakery.

[mystsee]

DRIFTED ✦ SIMON GHOST RILEY

PART 1 ✦ NEXT

✦ about: you and simon were lovers, but simon´s duty drifted apart your relationship. 2 years later simon comes back after a long mission and reunites with his friends again, what he didn´t expect was seeing you again.

✦ content: afab reader, anxiety, blood mentions, graphic descriptions of violence, stalker ex, protective simon, pining, reunited love, civilian life, no mask, panick attack, eventual smut, psycho, no mentions of y/n

✦ a.n: an idea of the outfit i had in mind :]

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

STANDING before your mirror, cold winter air strokes your hair, you keep trying your best to conceal your puffy eyes with all the possible makeup you have. you couldn’t keep your thoughts in control, spiraling to the worst case scenario.

ever since you broke up with the crazy man, paranoia is all over you, triple checking your locks, telling your best friend where you’re going, until today.

-

lily bursts inside your flat “what the actual fuck is wrong with him?” you thought the same, not believing what you heard on the call “i don’t know if i should call the police, will they believe me? i have no actual proof of him calling me, the number was blocked” you said frowning, surprised how the situation escalated so quickly.

when you broke up with him it was crazy to say the least, he was becoming this crazy jealous boyfriend every time you travelled because of work. working for the government as a translator caused you to travel a lot. but every time you came back, he started making arguments out of nowhere, making you confused as into why he was so mad everytime you came back, slowly realizing he didn’t trust you.

he was following you everywhere on his phone, always texting you, practically exploding with anger if you didn’t answer in less than 5 minutes. god forbid if you were at a meeting with your phone on silence, hell would come when you came back to your flat.

when the breakup came, he started throwing all these false accusations of you, cheater, you don’t care about me, blah blah blah and threats, it took you a call to the police to get the bastard out of your flat. but that didn’t calm your nerves. his words on the phone call today resonating on your head:

“don’t think i forgot about you, ill get you back again” his sick voice making you feel ill, but you won’t let a man control you.

-

you agreed coming to the pub because if he dares to come close to you and do something, you would be in public, and there would be proof. what you never expected was seeing him again.

as soon as you walked inside, the cozy ambient put you at ease, it was a small pub, lightly decorated of christmas. it was saturday, so of course it would be full today. you saw lily approaching you, with a big mischevious smile on his face, finding it odd

"hey you!" you said to lily hugging her close "you won’t believe it! chris brought someone new today! said he’s an old friend from the military” said lily raising her eyebrows at you, making you laugh, you weren’t really interested to seeing someone new right now.

simon saw the interaction at far, wondering who was behind lily, she was covering her entire frame “got eyes on someone?” chris asked suddenly “what? no, just curious who’s behind her” the moment he said that, lily moved, making simon’s heart freeze.

he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. you. all dolled up, beautiful as ever, a long black coat not hiding your curves under the skin tight black dress at all, the all black outfit complementing your absolutely beautiful face, those black tights making your legs look lovely in those high knee boots, to say he was in a trance was the least, he didn’t even realize you were in front on him, a very deep blush covering your cheeks, your scarf not helping you at all.

“simon?” he missed your voice, your soft angelic voice that brought him comfort after the hell he endured in a long mission, your voice that assured him everyday that he was loved.

you heard him say your name, making your heart stop for a second, it’s been a while 2 years since you heard his deep voice. you just kept staring at him, a bit wide eyed.

he felt his voice thick with emotion, aching to touch you again and feel your soft hands on him “so you are the old friend huh” you said after simon didn’t moved at all he was shocked

what a small world you thought “you know him?” asked lily to you in a small voice “uhm, yeah! long time ago though”

-

you just parted ways and never contacted each other again you were scared you would bother him if you called to see how he was simon went to a long mission, kept small contact with you, but he could see the distance that was growing between you both. he understood the breakup, quite healthy actually, but that didn’t mean you didn’t love each other anymore, it was hard dealing with the distance.

2 years passed, simon thinking of you practically 24/7, wondering where you were, thinking if he should call you to see how you were, and 2 years of you trying to move on, never forgetting him, matter of fact, you kept thinking of the breakup over and over again, thinking maybe you made a wrong choice.

after a while you thought maybe dating again would help, but you accidentally picked a very wrong guy a psycho to catch feelings for.

-

you could feel his stare on you as you moved to sit next to him, the only seat left, even though the table was big, simon chose to sit on the side where he had no chairs beside him on both sides, so he could spread comfortably.

but now he had your knees on his left side, you bumped into them a little, muttering a small sorry, simon feeling warm inside after finally feeling you again

he was checking you out, similar to what you were doing, you noticed his arms got bigger, bulging from his hoodie, making your mind go to another complete direction, you hoped your scarf covered your cheeks.

as the night passed, simon saw the way you slowly passed from tipsy, to funny drunk, your scarf long forgotten, making simon eyes wander to your chest, he remembered that of you, everytime you drank, you literally became the embodiment of a comedian.

right now you were way too deep in a debate about cats, the wine making your head go back to what you usually debate when your drunk, cats plotting against humanity.

“i swear everytime those fur balls purr they get inside our minds” you slurred, confidently laying back on the chair nodding your head, “as soon as suzy makes that cute as hell sound, i’m on my knees for her, which is weird you guys! they are contrlling us!" grabbing your glass of vodka again, until you felt a hand on top of you

"okay okay! you know what?" chris's laugh was way too contagious, making you laugh with him as well "i think its enough for today, why don't we move this to your flat?"

after many failed attempts of trying to open your door, and laughing manically, you finally made it, inviting all in, you knew this was a good idea, chris and lily helped you plan all this, the closer they are with you, the less he could come close to you.

as simon passed in front of you, you made eye contact with him, all the memories came flooding back to you. you felt simon touch briefly your hand, making you feel warm inside.

everyone accommodated to your 2 big sofas in your living room, you had your small desk behind the sofas where you worked, and the kitchen on the right side, it was an open kitchen.

you, not wanting the party over, went directly to the kitchen to grab some wine “anyone wants a glass of wine?” they all said yes. the only ones missing were 2 of chris’ friends, they went to buy some beer.

after serving the glasses of wine, you remembered a talk you had with simon a while ago

-

“doll, you really need to make this posters, i bet people would buy them, they are way too original” said simon looking to you, locking his arms around you, you were on his lap finishing a design, and simon kept distracting you with his small kisses here and there, on your neck mostly

“maybe in the future i will print them” you said with a small smile, nervous to show your works.

-

you nudged simon on his arms with a small smile and moved your head to your left side, where your room was “i want to show you something” simon was up in an instant.

as you opened the door to your room, you heard simon inhale deeply behind you, the alcohol making you forget what you two did inside this room simon literally rearranging your guts every night, you grabbed his big hand and moved him to sit on the bed, simon was very confused, because why on earth is he in your room.

you went behind your bookcase, and grabbed a big poster on your hand “look, i finally did it” simon was at loss of words, it was a design you both made one night, it had a special meaning for you both.

you went to sit next to him “i print it to remember us” you said slurring a little, the alcohol was sure as hell making you very open to him. as you slowly put your head on his shoulder, simon freezed to the spot.

“i remember when we made it” his gruff voice said, giving you shivers down your spine, you were so close to him, feeling his heartbeat on you, wondering if he felt how fast was yours beating.

you moved your head up to look at him, and he could feel your eyes on him, not daring to move his eyes because he would definitely kiss you right there. you just looked so beautiful tonight. “i still do them on my free time, but this is the one i love the most”

your hand moved to his thigh unconsciously, you used to put your hand on his thigh anytime, you liked it. but you forgot you are in the present right now, and simon with his thigh tense “oh! sorry sorry! i think i drank a bit too much” you said laughing, standing up with the poster on his hand. “i-i need to go to the bath-bathroom, wanna join?” you said laughing and slurring way too much. when you moved to the door, your eyes widened, slapping your hand on your forehead “wait n-no, that’s when i shower, hah, for-forget my invitashion” you said nervously speed walking to your bathroom, leaving simon alone in your room, he laughed, he really missed you.

you grabbed your glass of wine after going to the bathroom, sitting next to simon on the sofa, he was really close to you, you could move just an inch and be on his lap, you really miss sitting there, your favorite spot, but your mind still has a bit of self control, so you just kept nudging him with your knee laughing, making simon feel warm inside for the 500th time tonight.

chris was telling a joke when you heard the doorbell ring, remembering the friends of chris went to buy beer, so, you stood up to go to the door alone, big mistake, you opened the door with a big smile on your face, until you saw him, on your door, with a deathly smile to you. any trace of alcohol in your body vanished, as well as your smile. you felt your heart stop for a second, fear coming all the way up to your throat.

your door had a small hallway, so your friends couldn’t see who was on your door, you just closed the door with any force you could “go away!” you muttered with a small voice, anxiety was making you not breathe well constricting your voice. simon heard that, making his breath stop for a moment.

you tried closing the door on him but he opened with a lot of force, almost breaking it. he started walking towards you.

“go away!” you screamed, trying to push him out of your apartment, but he had way too much strength. simon heard the scream and immediately stood up. in less than a second he saw your small frame pushed to the plant behind you making you hit your head. he saw this psycho push you even harder to the wall, making you whimper, and he went mad.

chris got there faster than simon, the sofa he was in was closer to the hallway, and tried pushing him out of you, but the psycho had more force than him, he just pushed him away to the floor.

you were on the floor, your nose bleeding, making you worried, even though your eyes were spiraling all over the room. you had your back to him making it hard to see his next move, a big punch on your left hip, making you scream.

the bastard stomped on your hip, a small crack was heard. your screams made simon see red. the man almost got on top on you, until simon grabbed him with all his force and moved him away from you, chris grabbed him and punched him in the face repeatedly, dragging him out of the apartment.

by then, you were crying hard, you couldn’t feel your leg anymore, there was blood on the floor, when did this happen? you felt the panick attack creeping up on you “simon?” you said in between breaths, lily was calling 911 near you. “i’m here doll, hey look at me, i’m right here” you tried finding him but you were seeing small spots on your eyes making you dizzy “fucking hell, lily we need to take her to the hospital” simon was panicked, you were about to go unconscious. who the hell was that guy?

“hey, doll, come on, look at me, yes just like that” you tried your hardest looking at him, but your leg hurted too much “my leg hurts! i can’t move it” you said between whimpers. simon tried to stand you up, but you just couldn’t “baby, you’ll be okay, try not to think of your leg okay?” you felt simon arms slowly carry you to the door, you were staining his shirt with your nose bleed, but he didn’t care, he just needed to get you to the hospital.

he managed to get you out of the door, until you started to see black all around you, the last thing you heard was your name from simon’s panicked voice.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

hiiii, so! how was part 1? i just finished writing this, but i’ll start tomorrow writing part 2, there’ll be little to no angst in this story i get way too anxious with that xd im a sucker for fluff so there will be quite a lot of fluff in here hehe

as you can see, i like adding a pic of the outfit jiji, but! feel free to imagine it as your own! :P

i had this story in my mind for like 3 months i kept daydreaming about it and thought huh 🤔 why don’t i make it a story , i finally wrote it down! yay #proud! anyways idk how many parts this will be, i’ll write the plot as it goes, but it will be most likely centered between reader x simon so! hope you liked it!!!

#simon ghost riley #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost x you #simon ghost riley fic #simon riley fluff #simon riley #simon riley x oc #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x female #simon ghost x reader #simon riley x you #simon ghost riley civilian life #protective simon ghost riley #simon still loves you #reunited love #angst

[undertheredhood]

technically jason’s vigilante name follows the bird theme…

#batman #batfamily #batfam #jason todd #jason peter todd #jason todd wayne #jason peter todd wayne #jason wayne #jason peter wayne #red hood #this wasn’t intended when jason was choosing alter-ego names but he’s not mad about it #if he didn’t die and actually stayed in the hero scene he probably would’ve picked a bird themed name #imo if jason lived he would probably retire from heroism and have a normal and stable civilian life #but if he did decide to stay he most likely would’ve been a huge nerd about it and gone by some variation of a bird

[ghouljams]

can you please take us back to the beginning? from where it all started?

what did ghost do that made price decide ‘yep, imma ship you out with the horses’ and how did price mention goose before ghost met her.

I have been dying to write some Price and Ghost fic. I wanna do some fae au stuff for them too, but for now we focus on the cowboys. So here it is. Ghost tells Price he'd follow him into hell, and Price asks if he'd follow him to safety too.

"You're not renewing your contract," Ghost has never been keen on beating around the bush. Price is used to that, used to the sharp look in his lieutenant's eye that asks 'what are you keeping off the record and should I do the same?' There have been enough times that they've had to scramble in the dark without the cushion of military contracts, everything less than official in order to achieve the impossible, that he should have expected the look.

"I'm retiring," Price tells him, tugs open the corner drawer of his desk to fish for a cigar. The scrape of wood echoes through his office. Simon fidgets, a short flick of his nails against the pads of his fingers that is quickly stopped by Ghost's clenching fists.

"Retiring," Ghost repeats, feels the word out like he's never heard it before, "didn't know men like us retired." Price hums, clicking his lighter with a growing frustration, fucking military grade bullshit. Ghost flicks his lighter on, and holds it out for his captain. Price takes a moment with his cigar, letting the flame burn just a little long before Ghost flips the lid shut.

"When's the last time you slept?" He asks instead of rising to the obvious, if self deprecating, bait.

"Last night." The answer comes just a second too quick. Practiced. It's a standard question from the psych eval Price knows good and god damn well Ghost's been lying on for years. The kind of scars he's got...

"Really?" Price isn't asking, he lowers his cigar and exhales heavily, feels some of the tension melt off his shoulders, "I didn't." Ghost doesn't blink.

"Don't see how, they just keep makin' the barrack beds more comfortable." He jokes, the deadpan tone a distraction from his underlying agreement. Price would bet Ghost hasn't had a decent night's sleep in years. It won't be any better with him gone.

"Your contract is up about this time isn't it?" Price slides a folder to the side, flips up the edge of Ghost's papers. Same date stamped at the top as his own. It's been like that as long as he can remember. There's never been any question of what was going to happen on that date, except this time around. "What're your plans for that?"

"Renew." Ghost says without an ounce of hesitation.

"Without me?"

Ghost freezes. Price can almost see the gears turning in his head. A new captain, one he can't trust, one who doesn't know who he is or how he works. A new captain that might bring in new people, who might decide he's too much work and have him transferred out of counter terrorism. Who might not let his psych slip pass, who might discharge him for any number of things Price has let go over the years.

Ghost is a good soldier because he trusts him. Someone new? After what happened chasing down Hassan and Makarov, it's anyone's bet how he'll play. Those betrayals still hangs fresh over all of their heads.

"You like animals lieutenant?"

"Animals, sir?" Ghost's head tips forward ever so slightly, the smallest breech in his rigid posture betraying his confusion.

"My wife's family owns a ranch stateside. Would save me the trouble of lookin' for an extra hand if you wanted to change careers." Price leans back in his chair, "Good place to spend your retirement if you like animals."

"When'd you get married?" It's not the most elegant topic change, but it's also not a "no."

"Soon as I saw how shit the barracks were," It's the truth, but it sounds close enough to a joke that anyone else might think it was, "Got a kid too, Goose, you'd like 'er." Ghost grunts, breezing past that one, though Price knows he's carefully filing the information away. Mind like a bear trap that one. There's nothing Price has ever known Ghost to forget.

The two men regard each other across Price's desk. There's a level of trust between them that's carried them to this point, past every roadblock. It's not something that can be built up over night, nor is it one the affords requests lightly. Price has asked a lot of Ghost over the years, both of them understanding that the only way out was through. Now they stand at an impasse. One of them leaving, the other hoping they'll stay.

Ghost doesn't know what he'll be if Price leaves. He doesn't know what he is when he isn't this.

"Simon," Price appeals, leaning forward, "Let me do this for you. Let me get you out before this job kills you. The ranch is nice, it's quiet, you'll have your own place, work. You can sleep there."

Ghost is silent for a long moment, his eyes dark, clouded, as they stare Price down. It's anyone's guess what he's thinking. The conversations they've had- Price knows as well --no better-- than anyone that Ghost lives his life waiting for this work to kill him. He can't bury him again. Can't mourn Simon a second time when he knows he could have saved him. Price couldn't be there last time, but now? Today? He can try.

"I'm not babysitting," Ghost says finally. Price smiles, feels the tight anxiety in his chest loosen a little.

"Who? Goose?" He chuckles, shakes his head, "Doubt you'll get the chance to meet 'er, but I'll make sure she knows not to bother you."

#simon ghost riley #ghost mw2 #simon riley #ghost call of duty #ghost cod #ghost #simon riley cod #john price mw2 #captain john price #john price #captain price cod #captain price #oc: goose #but only mentioned #cowboy!Ghost #Cowboy!Price #Cowboy!141 #Price snores through the whole trip back to the states #Ghost has multiple panic attacks about integrating back into civilian life #Ghost reads a whole book on horses on the plane #Duck picks them up from the airport #sort of

[tenth-sentence]

After seeing a friend blown up, a soldier may return to civilian life and try to put the experience out of his mind.

"The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma" - Bessel van der Kolk

#book quote #the body keeps the score #bessel van der kolk #nonfiction #trauma #ptsd #war #soldier #veteran #civilian life #death

[anoonimthepoorchad]

There are many ways Ukrainians monitor the air raids led by russia in our country. There are social media channels, updating the info in real time as soon as they learn the changes in courses and other info from their closed sources or locals reporting the explosion sounds. The radio and the tv also announces which regions (oblasts) are in active danger. There are other official sources, among which are official air raid apps from the government, which not only announce the danger with loud noises, waking you up from the deepest of sleep, but also notify when the missiles, drones, or other weaponry is moving in the direction of your location, your town or city. Usually the loud sound it produces is the mimicry of the sirens, or the whooping alarm bell to indicate urgent danger.

This is very useful when you're alone or asleep, as these apps are usually quite loud. But when you're among other people, hiding in a shelter from the air raid, the moment new info about urgent danger is released, there's a wave of alarm bells from almost each phone in sight. I turned mine off some time ago because I can't stand noises from my phone and am a light sleeper. But lately we've been going to the subway to stay the night when an air raid is announced, and I sleepily "monitor" the situation based on these waves of notifications

#ukraine #war in ukraine #stand with ukraine #russia #russia is a terrorist state #important #proud to be ukrainian #fuck russia #russian war crimes #air raid #current events #civilian life during war

[milimeters-morales]

Ganke when Miles is out as Spider-Man and stopping crime, saving burning orphanages, eradicating poverty, doing insane stunts off of skyscrapers, and solving solving world hunger (in several other universes as well): 😐😐😑😐

Ganke when Miles gets paint on his skin and clothes because he tripped on his shoelace and spilled his bottles and palettes:

#based off of an idea of Ganke being extremely unimpressed with the spider-man side of Miles’s life but being enamored completely with the+ #normal civilian side lol #okay nap time #miles morales #spiderman #spider man #ganke lee #milesganke #arachnitech #m&m posts

[spectral-snippets-and-drabbles]

YOU GUYS STINK!

(Danny 0.3 seconds away before smelling the Heroes he just met.)

So I've been pondering about how ghost have the ability to sense one another out when close enough, but now I've been thinking of something for the living. Fanon has something like this in a few fics, making it how Danny can tell who the Leaguers are in/out of costume by calling it Death Touched.

I offer: The Stench of Death.

When a person comes close to a deadly encounter, the event becomes a smell is akin to the near experience. Say if someone survived a fire? The smell would be close to burning the materials being burnt and the smoke for example.

Think like food and how you can smell all the things that go into the dish.

The more you get into deadly situations, the more smells you can pick up on as well as getting stronger. Ghosts can sense the Touch of Death on the living, but not the Stench. Danny, who is a Half alive, can. If he focuses hard enough, he can pick up the scent and sniff people out like a bloodhound.

Now take the Justice League and all their branches/allies, organizations who fight to stop bag guys and world-ending events every couple of months...their smell is prominent enough for Danny to easily pick it up.

Now enter one Daniel Nightingale who has left Amity for [reason] and in [Hero's City], trying to keep a low profile because heroes exist now, he's retired now after sorting out the business between the ghostly and living worlds, and wants to have as close to a normal life as he possibly can before taking the throne.

But one day, he stops a known rouge that would've caused some serious harm to the populace if someone didn't stop them, gaining their attention. They try to get information on Danny, but there's nothing out of the ordinary on his file, so they decided to do the next best thing; watch him.

The young man is very guarded and observing his surroundings often, so the idea of him being a new meta struggling to handle his newly awakened powers or a new alien on Earth are possible theories.

The only problem is that, when they get they close, he tends to leave the area and head home. It's like this for a while until they realize they haven't seen him in some time now and find out he packed up his things and moved to another town...a different city a Leaguer call their hometurf, so they notify that hero of Danny's presence and the cycle repeats itself a few times before Danny is getting tracked by multiple Leauge members.

The latest Leaguer is trying to keep an eye on Danny without spooking him until Danny gets the jump on them and calls them by their civilian name while peltong them with hygiene products.

#danny phantom #dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc prompt #dp x dc crossover #Death Stench!au #Imagine going to a perfume department that specializes in ways you can die #And get hit with every sample at once #Wonder Woman is the biggest offender because of the warrior way of life #One of the bigger offenders but she won't say anything #Batman is in second place be he's constantly going out and getting into deadly situations #Superman is surprisingly lower in the placements because actually died so his scent is more focused on that rather than it be marinated #Imagine the guy you were stalking for weeks tellkng you that you smell like nearly murdered ass in front of a bunch of civilians #While people like Plastic Man make Danny gag like a cat because of the chemicals #Hawk Woman/Man make him physically wretch with all their reincarnations #Jason and Damian make him vomit with their exposure to sewer water quality ectoplasm #Jason and Damian are far offended than the other Leaguers and get things thrown at them by Danny #Jason/Damian: *Are in his proximity* #Danny: Stand BaCK I THINK i'M GONNA VoMiT