#organic chemistry won this time

[zzoguri]

[part one] the perfect pair ➵ “ew, is that sunwoo over there? 저리 꺼져.”

esports player!kim sunwoo x esports player!reader

being a woman in the esports league is hard, but dealing with cocky kim sunwoo is unmatched. with the valorant champions tour about to commence, you two are forced to team up to retrieve the trophy. what will be tested—team morale or your patience around sunwoo?

chapter genre/warnings ➵ enemies to lovers, afab reader (they/them pronouns), slow burn, slight angst, crack, sexual tension, misogynistic & sexist remarks and behaviors, sunwoo is such an annoying teammate... retired ow player now val player…, rush gets introduced YIPPEE, sunwoo gets jealous...?, bets are made, a lot of gamer lingo (check the guide & visual aids!)

word count ➵ 10.5k words

parts ➵ check out the series masterlist

a/n ➵ it's out! felt a lil pressured by the number of notes i wont lie! i hope u guys enjoy this along with the visual aid <3 special shoutout to @shegotthewoobies @vernyangel @heemingyu @deobienthusiast for beta reading <3 much love to you all <3 esp to ki who made the usernames <3 if you enjoyed reading, do reblog and leave feedback!

want to be part of my taglist? send me an ask! masterlist

HYST wins VCT’s Game Changers By Bae Sumin

HYST takes the title as the winner of the Valorant Championship Tour (VCT) Game Changers in Los Angeles, USA against defending champion 88RR. The team took over the playing field, showcasing their astounding teamwork and tactful gameplays, and won 3-1 in a best-of-five series.

Since the first match on Bind, players Ailurus (Y/N) and bokku (Miyawaki Sakura) demonstrated their chemistry through their formidable performance as Omen and Yoru respectively. Their alliance was enough for their opponents to avoid one-on-one battles.

Rising player Ppiya (Hong Eunchae) secures her position as one of the most impressive duelists to come from this year’s VCT. In all of the matches played, Ppiya secures at least one kill per round, placing her 3rd in the leaderboards out of all players in the event.

In their second match on Ascent, remarkable sentinel players CHUU (Kim Jiwoo) and subakhye (Son Hyeju) built solid defense systems and dealt with flanks with ease. They can adjust their setups accordingly as they observe their opponents’ playstyle.

Although their exceptional performance in Game Changers makes its mark in VCT history, Ailurus only hopes that they are given more opportunities to engage in such tournaments. “I am happy [about our win], but I hope that the [VALORANT] esports scene sees us more than just winners [of Game Changers]. I want to be seen as a remarkable player regardless of gender,” they share.

Despite HYST participating in VCT for the past two years, this is their first championship win. In last year’s VCT, the organization met its defeat in VALORANT Challengers through their other roster consisting of players bae (Jacob Bae), nuguri (Kim Sunwoo), Darong (Lee Jaehyun), gyulz (Ju Haknyeon), and Maize (Lee Juyeon).

Both teams are under the guidance of Coach bori (Kim Younghoon), a retired VALORANT and League of Legends pro player.

These turn of events displayed HYST’s dedication to improvement and VALORANT. Many followers hope to see more of the reigning champions of Game Changers.

ROUND 1: “WELCOME TO MY WORLD!”

The moon radiates tonight, its white gleam accompanied by speckles amidst the sea of black. Now would be the perfect moment to take some time to yourself; get in more hours of sleep, or pick up a book you’ve been putting off. Instead…

“Hi, everyone! It’s been a while,” you greet your viewers through the webcam.

The monitor shines on you, colors of blue and violet painting your skin. On the wall behind you is a shelf filled with memorabilia; medals from small competitions along with trophies from bigger tournaments. 

“I know it’s a little late here, but I was itching to play some matches.” Your eyes glide through your stream’s chat. Many viewers are ecstatic to have you back on Twitch while others question your late hours of streaming.

jseollie: even after game changers?? CRAZY! bboppull: GRIND NEVER STOPS 💪💪💪 bookeucutie: tell us abt vct!!!

A chuckle leaves you as you open up Valorant. “I really enjoyed my time in VCT! I met some of my favorite players like Lorri from Evil Genius, sonder from Shopify, even Version1’s MeL.”

You lean back on your chair as you recall the event. “I won’t lie, I was very nervous about going against 88RR, which, by the way, is a lovely team. We met up for drinks after.” You scratch the back of your neck as you try to go through what your chat says.

��I remember talking to Kura about it since the semifinals, and she had to give me a constant pep talk.” The memory of Sakura knocking sense into you after every match makes you laugh.

As you dish to your viewers about your experience throughout Game Changers, you read their comments. Many of your viewers were happy with your revelation of the teams' bonds with each other. “Yeah, we’re competitive but we’re here with the same dreams, so I think it did help us form some kind of connection. I was able to exchange contacts with Sunmi and Taeyeon as well. I told them that whenever they decide to come back to Korea, they should give me a call.”

ajiajibee: is the trophy with you? ghanadara: i think it’s beside the picture frame

“Oh, I don’t get to keep it. It’s back in the headquarters,” you say as you slightly swivel your chair to the side. “That picture frame, however,” you point at your shelf, “is my certificate. That way, we all have something to bring home.”

You adjust your chair before smiling at the camera. “Anyway, I’m really happy that our practice paid off. It was an honor to even participate and meet other players.”

Most of the reactions were positive ones; congratulations and desires to see your team play together for more events. Yet, regardless of your achievements, there’s constantly a handful of negative ones.

hwithefool: Cant believe you won game changers. Ur not even that good. hwithefool: didn’t even get to champs L honeycube: boosted ass universefactory deleted hwithefool’s message. universefactory deleted hwithefool’s message. universefactory deleted honeycube’s message. hwithefool is now banned from this chat. Reason: Being rude honeycube is now banned from this chat. Reason: Being rude

Thankfully, your moderators were there to take control of such—but you’ll always know what people think of you.

“Anyway, for today’s stream, I’ll be playing with Juhak and Hyeju!” You exclaim as you switch scenes, now showing the Valorant lobby. “We’re going to play on our alt accounts for today, so it should be fun.”

real_juhaknyeon: LFGGGGG goated team rubyvobo: we get nom, jeorge porkwell, AND hyejuseyo?? We win today sunwooluver: what about nuguri?? he’s solo queuing right now rubyvobo: OFHEJSHSJJSKS I LOVE YOU GUYS sunwooluver: WILL NUGURI JOIN??

One of the few perks that comes with being an established streamer is that you could ignore comments, pretending you never saw them, and you’d get away with it; people just didn’t need to talk about it all together and you’d be fine.

So when you invite Haknyeon and Hyeju to your party, you continue talking to your chat about today’s stream. “We’re not going to play ranked today, I think?” You hum for a moment, going through the agenda in your head. “Well, we might, but I have no clue. It depends on what they want.”

Before you can continue with your rambles, your phone vibrates on your desk. Once you grab it, you notice that text messages from Kim Younghoon, the coach of the organization, have come your way.

coach bbang 🍞: hi y/n! don’t forget to remind your teammates about tomorrow’s meeting for vct ☺️ coach bbang 🍞: and gl with your stream tonight! y/n: teewai coach :DD see u tomo

“Sorry about that!” You put your phone away and give your full attention to your monitor. Hyeju and Haknyeon already joined your party, and you spot that they’re in a voice channel on the HYST’s Discord server. “Before I go join VC with the others, I just wanted to say thank you for supporting me and the others in Game Changers. It was a fun but tough competition, and I wouldn’t be here without you guys.”

Although your job did start as a hobby, you continued to persevere through such hardships thanks to your support systems; your teammates and viewers alike. You only ever considered going pro thanks to two friends. Unfortunately, time has its way of making you drift apart from them; you hope you can go face-to-face against them one day if the universe willed for it.

“Anyway, let’s have some good games!”

“I tuned in to your stream last night, Y/N,” Eunchae starts. “That losing streak is insane.”

You sigh, shoulders down as you walk dejectedly. “Don’t even get me started. Our randos were ass and wouldn’t stop talking shit.” You look at your younger friend who only pouts as you recap the events of last night. “I know you would always enter and clear sites for us, my Manchae.”

With your arm wrapped around her shoulder, her expression shifts into a smile. “I mean, that’s the least I can do as your duelist.”

“Well, not everyone seems to know that.”

The HYST headquarters is a three-story infrastructure whose interior resembles corporate buildings; the furniture is mostly of sleek leather and dark-stained wood. Monotone linoleum tiles and off-white walls stretch throughout the building.

As soon as you both arrive in front of the meeting room, you swing the doors open, revealing Sakura, Hyeju, and Jiwoo who sit together on one side of the conference table. You and Eunchae rush to them, exchanging greetings and embraces.

“Do you always play Valorant?” Jiwoo directs the question to you, referencing your stream last night with Hyeju and Haknyeon, to which you roll your eyes.

“No, I just had the itch to play!” You take a seat in between Sakura and Jiwoo. “Plus, I’ll take any opportunity to make some money.”

The doors swing open. “Hi, everyone. It’s nice to see you all,” Younghoon greets your team before walking to the whiteboard situated in the corner of the room.

The organization’s general manager, Lee Sangyeon, trails behind him, a smile painting his face as he takes a seat at the end of the table. “I’ll say this again, but good work in Game Changers.”

“Thanks, Sangyeon,” Sakura expresses her gratitude on behalf of the team. “We wouldn’t have been able to win without your help along with Younghoon’s.”

He shakes his head, trying to play it off. “No, I’m just here to make sure you guys get to participate, you know? Just want to make sure that you guys get recognized.”

Silence settles. The squeaking from Younghoon's marker is faint but loud enough to capture your attention. Although his figure covers most of what’s written on the whiteboard, you catch sight of a few gamer tags—Ailurus and bae.

Before you can decipher the other words, the doors open. “Hi, guys!” Haknyeon enters the room with all smiles. “Hello Game Changers winners,” he bows his head, making you chuckle.

His teammates, Jacob and Juyeon, trail behind him, relaxed expressions resting on their faces. “Congrats on the win,” Jacob shakes hands with everyone on your team. “That one play on Ascent went crazy, by the way.” His praise is directed towards you, and you try to play it cool.

“Ah, it was nothing. Just got lucky.”

“If I was in your situation, I probably wouldn’t have secured that round,” Juyeon chimes in as he takes a seat beside his teammates. The three boys sit across from your team.

Haknyeon smacks Juyeon’s arm, laughing at his words. “Yeah! Remember that one round in Breeze?” Juyeon only rolls his eyes while his teammates recap the events for your team.

You don’t really interact with Haknyeon’s team (or Jacob’s team if you were going to follow formalities), just the occasional greetings and small talk if you were going to be honest. It’s not like you didn’t want to be friends with them; there aren't enough opportunities to bond when you all have different schedules, let alone priorities. But you did enjoy their team's presence, and every interaction with them is one you hope may bring your team closer to theirs.

Except for one player.

“Sorry, we’re late!” Hyunjae enters the room with an apologetic smile. “Someone decided to sleep in.”

“Not true! Hyunjae’s lying.”

The room starts to grow dimmer, almost as if life were sucked out of it. Only you seemed to see it, never the others. There he is—the only exception. 

He’s dressed in an oversized graphic tee layered on top of a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black baggy jeans. His hair shows its soft curls, clearly indicating that he’s the one lying.

A playful pout rests on his lips as he tries to continue his defense. Yet, when he locks eyes with you, he holds back. A scowl now paints his face.

If you follow esports, then you would know who Kim Sunwoo is—an established pro player who switched from Overwatch to Valorant. At first, many people were confused by his choice, throwing away years invested into a different game. Yet, it seemed that he didn’t care about what others had to say as he signed with HYST a few months after he started playing Valorant.

Within that time frame, he was able to impress Younghoon and Sangyeon with his gameplay. After all, Valorant and Overwatch required different playstyles. It was easy for him to become big in the Valorant pro scene, as you would like to say, for he made use of his existing fame.

He’s adored by many people who follow the pro scene; audience and players alike. You, however, seemed to think differently.

You shift your gaze to Younghoon, silently hoping that the meeting will commence. As if he heard your thoughts, he says, “No worries. Go, take your seats.”

Unfortunately, Hyunjae opts to sit across from Eunchae, leaving one vacant seat across from you. 

Sunwoo sits on the chair as a dejected sigh leaves him, causing you to roll your eyes while you keep your gaze away from him. All you need to do is get through the meeting and you won’t have to face him for a while.

“Thank you everyone for coming here today,” Younghoon starts as he faces all of you. The whiteboard behind him has now been flipped, and the gamer tags are now hidden. “Uh, before we get into the agenda for today’s meeting, let’s congratulate the winners of Game Changers!”

Applause erupts from everyone who didn’t participate in that competition, but your eyes don’t miss how slow the boy across you claps, almost as if he wasn’t impressed.

“Now, we can get to the point of today’s meeting.” Younghoon steps to the side, revealing the text written—VCT GAMEPLAN with irregular shapes surrounding it. “We all know that VCT is around the corner, a few months from now, which means we’ve got to start our preparations.”

“Normally, we would’ve gone straight to strategizing and having you guys,” your coach looks at the team across you, “practice, but Sangyeon and I have agreed on doing things differently this year.” He flips the board, revealing everyone’s gamer tags. “We’re changing the roster.”

Many players are caught off-guard by Younghoon’s announcement. It’s not usual for a roster change to take place, especially with only a few months left before qualifiers commence.

“We know that not everyone may want to participate in the upcoming VCT, and I’ve spent weeks trying to configure what’s the best roster to represent HYST.” Younghoon then pulls out a blue marker and starts to circle some names; CHUU, Darong, bae, nuguri, and… Ailurus? “These are my picks for VCT.”

A frown appears on your face, but before you can comment, Haknyeon beats you to it. “I don’t know if having Hyunjae and Sunwoo play together is smart.” All eyes are now on him. “I mean, no offense,” his eyes flicker to the two subjects, “I don’t know if Jiwoo and Y/N would be able to keep up, and that’s not a diss to them.”

“I agree,” Jacob chimes in. “Haknyeonie, Juyeon, and I can play with Sunwoo and Hyunjae as duelists because we know their playstyles well. We’ve played together for years. Y/N and Jiwoo would be playing with them for the first time.”

Younghoon bites the inside of his cheek, deep in thought as he considers what’s been said. “Thoughts?” He directs his question to the two people in question. The two players exchange glances, almost as if they were communicating.

“Yeah, I know Sunwoo and I can adjust our playstyle but it took more than half a year for Juyeon and Haknyeon to get used to our playstyle,” Hyunjae says as he scratches the back of his neck. “And if it helps, I’d prefer to sit this one out. You know, I have a lot of sponsorships lined up that I need to stream for also.”

Your coach sighs. “No worries. What about you, Sunwoo?”

“Wait, can I say something?” Jiwoo gathers the attention of everyone in the room. “I also want to opt out of VCT. I mean, I just played in Game Changers.” A guilty smile takes over her features.

Thankfully, Younghoon acknowledges where Jiwoo comes from. “Of course, I understand. After all, that’s why we're having this meeting.”

Before your coach can try to reconfigure the roster, Sangyeon stands up from his seat.

“Can I suggest another rotation?” Younghoon nods before handing him a red marker. Sangyeon starts to circle another list of gamer tags, ones he believes should be in the final line-up of players for VCT; it consists of bokku, bae, gyulz, Ppiya, and… Ailurus, again? Your coach frowns as he looks at the selection.

“I think Sunwoo should be benched.” Your eyebrows shoot up at Sangyeon’s words, not expecting those words considering the player’s reputation.“He’s made some rash plays recently, and you know that.” You glance at the boy who sits across from you only to see that his gaze is affixed to the ground. 

Younghoon shakes his head, clearly in disbelief at the manager’s words. “Yes, but that’s only for a few matches. Trust me when I say that Sunwoo is strong as a duelist and an initiator.” His attempt to defend his mentee is weak against Sangyeon’s opinion.

“He plays for himself!”

Clearly, the two higher-ups have opposing views.

“Think about it; Eunchae and Sakura are great duelists, and anyone else on that team plays initiator.”

Although Sangyeon seems to believe his proposed line-up is the best one yet, your coach shakes his head. “Eunchae isn’t playing.” He glances at her before saying, “She told me beforehand.” All eyes are now on the teen who only shows an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, I wanted to take a break from this year’s VCT to focus on my studies.”

Sangyeon scratches the back of his neck. “Well—”

“Hey,” Sakura cuts into the conversation. “Haven’t we considered that Y/N and Sunwoo might not want to play together?” She looks at you two with scrunched eyebrows, clearly confused by your coach’s proposal. “I mean, we all know their relationship, no?”

Your feud isn’t under the table. All of the players know about your distaste towards each other but they don’t know where it stems from.

“Yes, but their playstyles complement each other.” Everyone’s confused as to why Younghoon is persistent. “Out of all my mentees, I’ve worked with them the most, and I know exactly how they can work together.”

“Well, I want Y/N on that team.” As your manager says that, all the attention is now on you. You’re not sure why Sangyeon would say that. Uncomfortable with how you’ve become the topic of the conversation, you cannot help but sink into your seat.

“And I agree with you. But if we’re going to have Y/N play, I need Sunwoo on that team.” You lock eyes with Sunwoo briefly as your coach says that. “He’s my one-pick, and I know he’ll help the team out the most.” Sangyeon sighs, rethinking the roster once more. You shift your gaze to the ground, clearly unhappy being paired with the player across from you.

You weren’t happy that the two continued to discuss the final roster without asking you, but before you could speak up, someone beat you to it.

“Shouldn’t Y/N take a break?” Your gaze lands on the boy across from you, eyebrows now furrowed over his suggestion. “I mean, they did just come from winning Game Changers. We can have Juyeon take over.” When you spot a small smirk resting on his lips, you ball your fists.

Whatever game Sunwoo is playing, you don’t want any part of it. If anything, whatever he’s trying to insinuate has you clenching your teeth. And you’re about to retort—

“No,” Sangyeon says, speaking on your behalf. “Y/N’s a good leader and a team player. I trust Y/N the most out of all the people on the roster.”

Sunwoo raises his hands in defense. “It was only a suggestion.” But when he glances at you, you don’t miss the sinister smile on his face.

Not only was Sunwoo trying to bench you out of the competition but Sangyeon and Younghoon were too invested in their conversation, speaking on your behalf as if you were nothing but a tool for the organization. Without a second thought, you stand up from your seat. Everyone’s eyes are on you as you storm out of the room.

That’s the thing about being a pro player in the esports scene; no one seems to listen to you if you aren’t a man.

For once, silence settles amongst everyone. Your departure is a message, one that everyone failed to see earlier on.

A sigh leaves Sakura. “I know we’re all worried about VCT but let’s not forget to hear everyone out, okay?” She glances at the doors that are now shut closed, wondering where you may have gone. “You know Y/N. Just avoid speaking on their behalf and let them talk for themselves.”

“Yeah,” Eunchae huffs, “let’s give them time to cool down. We only wrapped up Game Changers a few weeks ago.”

As Younghoon crosses his arms, a sigh leaves him as he looks down to the floor. “Sorry, Sangyeon and I were too caught up with what we wanted.” He glances at his watch before shifting his gaze to the players who sit idly. “Let’s talk about this again once they come back.”

In the eye of a hurricane stands you, a witness to the chaos, wondering what course of action nature shall take upon you. Somehow, your screams are soundless—not a single soul minds the hurricane for as long as it doesn’t hit them.

You stand in front of the washroom mirror, taking your time to recollect your thoughts. The stress that comes from the upcoming VCT, the pressure to represent HYST once more, the likelihood of working with Kim Sunwoo for the first time—there’s nothing you can control.

The stars point you towards acceptance, perseverance.

It’s not that you were against representing HYST for the upcoming VCT events. If anything, you were grateful that Sangyeon and Younghoon trusted you to undertake such an important role.

Although you’ve competed in Game Changers, the audience it attracts is smaller in comparison to the ones your manager and coach want to see you in. All eyes will be on you as you compete to reach to Champions.

The weight that comes with playing in a worldwide esports event, one that most of the community is tuned into, rests on your shoulders—a coalition of anxiety from every round that plays out, migraines from reconfiguring your strategies, the comments of you playing just because you aren’t a man. Those reasons should be enough for you to decline the offer, to protect your peace, and to make more out of your streams.

But nothing can compare to bringing back home the fruit of your labor—the Champions Cup—the recognition that comes from competing, and the bond built amongst teammates. If you got to experience all that from Game Changers, you’re almost certain that VCT will bring experiences to be marked in your books.

But what do you know, right?

With a mind clearer after today’s event, you exit the washroom, still deciding whether you should compete or not. Yet, it’s as if the universe has plans to provoke you as you come face-to-face with the last person you want to see.

His eyes lock with yours and a snarl appears on his face. “What? I had to use the washroom.” Defensive, like always.

Before you can make your way back to the conference room, he grabs your arm, holding you back. You glare at Sunwoo, your eyes glancing at his hand on your arm, and he lets go.

He bites the inside of his cheek. “I know we don’t like each other.” Tell me about it. “But,” he sucks in a breath as he stares back at you. “I know we want to prove ourselves, so why don’t we just suck it up and work together?”

Anyone could believe that Sunwoo’s trying to play nice with you—he’s willing to make amends in hopes that there’s no bad blood between you two—but you could care less about what this man has to say.

“It’s not that easy,” you start. “You don’t understand what I want.” Unlike him, you know that proving yourself does nothing.

His frowns over your words. “What do you mean—”

“Sunwoo, you can easily say you want to play to prove yourself,” you cut him off. “I can’t say the same for me. It’s a privilege enough that I can even play in these events.” You jab your index finger against his chest, making him stagger backward.

That’s what makes you and Sunwoo different; while he chases praises from a few lucky plays, you’re left to deal with the backlash from just breathing.

If Sunwoo wants to retort, you don’t give him the chance to do so as you walk away from him. As you reach the doors, you take a deep breath in before swinging them open. The chatter is interrupted by your presence as you make your way back to your seat.

Sunwoo follows shortly, keeping his gaze on you as he takes his seat. You would’ve ignored the way he looks at you but the eye contact you two exchange amplifies what you told him then in the halls. So when an ominous grin appears on your face, the lousy bridge he tried to build towards you crumbles. After all, it was constructed on a poor attempt to save his career.

“Count me in.”

ROUND 2: “YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE WAS THAT YOU PISSED ME OFF.”

With every day that passes, the weight of VCT rests heavier on your shoulders. Playing with a team you don’t compete with is not easy. Yet, you’re hopeful today—it’s all you have, after all.

As you enter the practice room, you are greeted by the chilly air that emits from the air conditioners. The practice room resembles an internet cafe; desks are lined up with monitors and keyboards while CPUs are placed under the tables.

You catch sight of Sakura and Haknyeon chatting away as they sit in front of their assigned computers. Jacob, however, is busy talking to Younghoon; you can only assume they’re talking about possible strategies.

Before you take a seat beside Haknyeon, you make sure to greet everyone. “And I couldn’t believe Juyeon just fell to the floor!” He exclaims which has Sakura laughing.

“What’d I miss?”

Haknyeon looks at you on the brink of tears before he retells the story. “Okay, because you know how Juyeon and I share a room?” You nod. “So, I told Juyeon to shut the lights off on his way to bed because I was ready to go to sleep. But somehow, he got lazy while walking so he had this genius idea to just jump to the bed.” At this point, your friend is laughing in between words, and the story has gone incomprehensible.

“And the next thing you know it, Haknyeon hears a sudden thump.”

You burst into laughter over the story. “You’re telling me he missed?!” The only answers you get are chortles from the two.

Preparations for VCT have fueled your anxiety for many reasons, possible losses and backlash to name a few, but Haknyeon and Sakura bring pockets of sunshine amidst the storm. If they weren’t here, you wouldn’t know how to deal with your worries.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Your mood shifts as your last teammate enters the room with an iced americano in his hand. You both lock eyes for a brief moment before you shift your gaze back to your friends, chewing on the inside of your cheek.

“Okay, hurry! Everyone, start fixing your setups,” Younghoon orders as he claps his hands, grabbing everyone’s attention.

You chose your seat in hopes that Jacob would sit beside you, making it easier for you both to discuss possible team strategies. Yet, the other in-game leader sits somewhere else, leaving Sunwoo to take the spot next to you. Your bubbly mood has turned sour.

“Anyway, today we will be having a practice match! So, what to expect is that…”

Younghoon’s words fall flat on your ears as your heartbeat fills your ears. As you try to fix your monitor and audio settings to fit your preferences, you hope that the anxiety will die down. Yet, you feel a pair of eyes stare a hole right into you—annoyance now accompanies your anxiety.

“Can you mind your own business and listen to Coach?” You raise the question, only loud enough for your annoying teammate to hear.

“I am paying attention.”

You scoff, “Oh, so you’ll listen now?” You rip your gaze away from the computer to glare at Sunwoo. “You didn’t listen to me last time.”

A few days ago, your team decided to scrimmage against the other members of the organization. It was a good way to practice before signing up for scrimmages against other teams participating.

Unfortunately for you, it was a match that solidified your dislike of the player. With every round, he found ways to get on your nerves, ignoring your comms and playing for himself to name a few. If you were going to be honest, you expected a bit more from Sunwoo—Sangyeon is right about his stance on the player.

Sunwoo shrugs, glancing at your coach who continues to explain today’s practice match. “I don’t know, your strats weren’t making sense last time. I trust Jacob more.”

You clench your fists as you close your eyes briefly in disbelief. “So, if it’s a man speaking, you’ll listen?” You shake your head in disbelief as you return your attention to the computer. “Jacob and I had the same plan, asshole.”

If Sunwoo wanted to defend himself, he’s not allowed to do so as Younghoon calls on both of your names. “Hey, are you listening?” The two of you nod profusely in a poor attempt to hide your conversation. “Okay then. For today’s scrimmage, you’ll be going against RUSH.”

There’s no way, right? “Sorry, did you say RUSH?” You earn a nod from him, and your world tilts on its axis. After how many years, it only took one scrimmage for you to reunite with your reasons behind why you stand in the pro scene today—Jeon Jungkook and Eric Sohn.

The three of you first met each other in university in a club full of people who liked to play video games. At first, you weren’t sure why you joined in the first place, dreading the possibility of dealing with men who would throw misogynistic comments towards you. Yet, the universe found a way to make sure you would enjoy your stay, gifting you two boys who became your best friends from university. 

“Today is the perfect time to get to know your opponents, get a feel of what they do. I know that you guys have started playing together, trying to get a feel of what it’s like to play together, but I hope this scrimmage will build on it,” Younghoon says as your team quickly logs into their accounts on Discord.

Once you’ve logged in, you notice that Younghoon has sent you an invite to a Discord server. You accept it, greeted by the huge selection of teams participating, and you catch sight of RUSH in a voice channel. All of their gamer tags are recognizable, but two of them have stuck with you since your university days.

“You can all jump on the voice channel with them. Don’t forget to introduce yourselves.”

You’re the first to hop on a call and your teammates follow you shortly. Usually, you were the type to have someone lead the conversation, but to say you were excited to talk to your old friends would be an understatement. “Hi, everyone.”

“Oh my god, is that Y/N?” Jungkook asks, surprised by the sound of a familiar voice.

“Y/N?!” Eric’s microphone crackles over how loud he exclaims your name, and a grin rests on your lips over the reactions.

There they are. “I know, it’s been forever. I haven’t talked to you both since we graduated.”

The next thing you know, their faces appear on the screen; they don’t look too different from when you last saw them, but they’ve grown up. “Is it actually you?!” Jungkook asks. “I won’t believe it until I see you.”

A chuckle leaves your lips over your old friend’s words. “God, I’ll turn my cam on.” You click on the video icon, revealing your poor attempt to hold back your grin. “Happy now?” 

“It’s been so long, what the fuck? I miss you! Congrats on your win!” Eric says. “Everyone, why don’t we turn on our cams?” Both his teammates and yours have turned their cameras on. “Let’s introduce ourselves.”

The introductions are quick. You learned the real names of Jungkook and Eric’s teammates; Choi Soobin, Jeon Wonwoo, and Lee Jeno. RUSH’s roster is a good selection of players. Your palms get sweaty as you hear your heartbeat in your ears—nothing could’ve prepared you for today’s scrimmage. 

Before you can all agree to start the match, Sunwoo pops a question. “Sorry, how do you guys know each other?” You watch his expression through Discord, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

Jungkook chuckles before saying, “We went to uni together, met in this club which we all left after our first year.” All he gets is a hum from your teammate, but you don’t miss the way Sunwoo looks off into nowhere, almost as if he’s irritated—you wonder why his mood shifted. “Anyway, are we ready to have our match?” You all hum in agreement before turning your cameras off.

“Alright, good luck and have fun!”

The worst Valorant matches are the ones that reach overtime. It’s 12 to 13 on Icebox in RUSH’s favor, and your team is on the brink of losing—only one win is needed and your opponent will leave victorious.

“I think we should go through mid and then make our way through A-site.”

You shake your head in disapproval. “No, Jacob, I think we should enter a site together instead. It’s risky to pass through mid since,” you glance at the leaderboard to check how many credits Jungkook has, “I have a strong feeling someone will use an operator.”

Although Jacob seems to consider your suggestion, a groan leaves Sunwoo. “Wouldn’t it be better to split up?”

“No, we’re not strong enough to fight our own battles. We need to play together, fight together.” You would like to think that your team can handle isolated battles, but you guys were weak against RUSH. Perhaps they had good reflexes or better game sense.

As the timer starts to count down, Jacob orders, “Okay, we’ll go with Y/N’s plan. The most important thing is that we don’t pick fights on our own and plant the spike.”

The round commences, and you all make your way into your positions; Sakura and Jacob slowly make their way through A-main while you go up to the belt. Haknyeon carefully sets up his trip wires and camera before joining you.

“I’m going to dart first.” Once you get your recon bolt out, you shoot it far enough to land on the wall; it catches the presence of Soobin and Wonwoo. The toxic screen goes up, perfectly concealing the site.

“Go!”

It happens all too quickly, shots fired and damage dealt and received. Before you know it, your team is dead—except for one who didn’t seem to listen to your plans.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” you say as you spectate Sunwoo, watching that he’s making his way back to where you guys died, leaving mid. There are only two players that he needs to fight, Jungkook on Jett and Eric on Deadlock. You know the round is tense, and the last thing you want to do is aggravate him.

Thankfully, Sunwoo plants the spike, but he situates himself in a spot that wouldn’t allow him to reposition quickly. A pair of footsteps go up the stairs, signaling that someone is making their way to heaven.

For a moment, he keeps his gaze affixed to screens, but he looks back to A-main, expecting a flank, and he’s right; Eric comes into his vision.

You expect Sunwoo to win the fight, but when his body falls to the ground, a sigh leaves you. The mood has plummeted, sinking into murky waters of frustration, disappointment. “Fuck, sorry,” Sunwoo apologizes as he covers his mouth in frustration.

“It’s okay, you tried,” Jacob attempts to console his teammate. “Good work, everyone.”

The spike gets defused; HYST has lost against RUSH.

“Come on, let’s go hop on a call with them again.”

With that, your team follows Jacob’s orders. “Tight match everyone, but a fun one!” Wonwoo says.

“Yeah, thanks for the game,” Sakura responds, trying to stay in high spirits.

“Well, we have to get going. We have another scrimmage,” Eric starts. “Y/N, send me your number through DMs. Let’s hang with Jungkook.”

You hum, a small smile resting on your lips. “Sure, see you guys in Challengers.” With that, everyone leaves the voice channel.

While RUSH is probably celebrating their win, HYST is in low spirits. It’s a practice match, sure, but still a match nevertheless.

“Good work, everyone,” Younghoon says in an attempt to cheer everyone up. “I really liked the energy I saw from you guys. You all put up a good fight and fought together.”

Although everyone seems to hum in agreement with your coach, you don’t join in. “Why did you stray off?” You redirect your gaze to the boy beside you, only earning a frown. “Didn’t we agree to play together?”

He rolls his eyes at you. “Yeah, but—”

“But what, Sunwoo? What could’ve been the reason for you to not enter with us and not follow the game plan?” You’re frustrated over everything; the stress of VCT, your loss against RUSH, your teammate who never listens to you.

“Hey, knock it off!” Younghoon gets in between you two. “Now is not the time to be fighting.” You and Sunwoo only glare at each other. “Cannot believe I’m dealing with a bunch of 5-year-olds,” he mutters under his breath.

“Jacob and Sakura, nice work in holding B-site, by the way. Haknyeon, you also did well holding A-site.” Then, your coach glances between you two. “Now, we still need to work on your coordination and teamwork.” It’s a statement for your whole team, but it feels as if it were directed at you and Sunwoo. You wish you sat out of VCT.

“You can go now.”

With that, everyone gets ready to exit the practice room. Your coach is the first one out. You think you’re at fault for causing stress on him but if only Sunwoo would work with you—listen, for the matter—then maybe you two wouldn’t be in this mishap.

“Hey, you two.” You look at Jacob who calls on you and Sunwoo. “Can you stay behind for a bit?” You glance at Haknyeon and Sakura who observe the interaction briefly. As you both nod, your other teammates have taken their leave.

Now, you stand in front of him with your teammate beside you. A sigh leaves him as he rubs his jaw while a frown rests on his face. You only see Jacob like this when he’s focused on his games, but never when it comes to dealing with issues like what your team (or you and Sunwoo, really) has.

“I know you two don’t like each other, and I still don’t know why.” You and Sunwoo exchange glances before ignoring each other once more. “But you understand that you both signed up for VCT, right? That means you will be playing many matches together.”

You’re aware that agreeing to represent HYST means having to work with Sunwoo. Your reasons for participating are enough to convince you that you handle all the upcoming matches with Sunwoo—all adversities will be dealt with. Yet, you couldn’t speak for your teammate. 

“So, I’m asking that you guys focus on working together. I’m not asking you to make up or anything but to still be professional around each other. We still have to win the qualifiers, so no funny business, okay?”

Jacob was right. Your dispute is getting in the way of team dynamics, holding HYST back, and you didn’t want to inconvenience your team any further. With that, you nod, begrudgingly accepting Jacob’s request. You can spot Sunwoo nodding along with you in the corner of your eye.

“Okay, thanks. You can both go now.”

When you and Sunwoo leave the practice room, not a single word is exchanged. 

ROUND 3: “DON’T LOOK SO SMUG, SUNWOO!”

Over the last months, you and your team have spent every waking hour on Valorant—practice, practice, practice, until you all felt satisfied.

To say you were sick of the game is an understatement, but some of your teammates try to make every minute enjoyable; Haknyeon would goof off some rounds and knife opponents from behind, Jacob would make comments that you never would’ve imagined leaving his mouth, and Sakura would ask questions about everyone before every round. You take your part in lifting the spirits and making these matches less monotonous by reading stories from the r/AmITheAsshole subreddit.

As for your relationship with Sunwoo, you’ve tried to keep it professional. During matches and strategizing phases, you would communicate with each other, exchanging ideas of how to win these games. Outside of those periods, however, were spent ignoring each other’s existence.

Thankfully, all those months of practicing didn’t go to waste—your team went against multiple organizations during Qualifiers, and now you’re on the last leg of the event. Only one more win is needed and your team makes it to Challengers.

Now, your team is in the practice room, head-to-head against another team. It’s 11 to 12 in your team’s favor on Ascent. It’s absurd that your opponents made a comeback from 3-9, but you’ll blame it on the superstition.

“Let’s play default. Their team tends to push out anyway,” Jacob orders before he takes a sip of water. “I’ll play by tiles while Sakura and Haknyeonie can go to A-site. Sunwoo and Y/N, play near B-site. Just make sure to not get caught by their Sova’s recon dart.” Everyone on your team agrees with Jacob’s plan.

The round commences. Just like what Jacob called out, a recon dart is thrown, but it doesn’t catch sight of you and Sunwoo. “Sova’s by B-site,” Sunwoo tells the team. 

“I hear footsteps by tree,” Sakura starts, and Jacob takes it as his sign to smoke the cubby off. Before you know it, he takes a peek at mid and kills off the enemy team’s Gekko. Sakura flashes A-site before double-swinging with Haknyeon. “There are three players by A-site! Go to B-site!”

You and Sunwoo start to make your way through B-site. You walk in front of him, trying to smoke off  hall and market. It should’ve occurred to you how weird it is that Sunwoo trails behind you, but it doesn’t, and you choose to enter the site.

The next thing you know, your body flops to the ground, and you let out a groan. As you spectate Sunwoo, he successfully trades you. “Spike down B,” the announcer voices out. Now, it’s a three versus one battle.

“Astra’s with me! Go plant,” Haknyeon calls out, and Sunwoo listens. He plants the spike like a breeze and situates himself in the boathouse.

Jacob tucks himself by mid, waiting for Astra to pass through spawn. “I can catch Astra off-guard while you try to pinch them,” he tells Haknyeon. Within a few seconds, he successfully lands his shots and kills Astra, securing HYST a win—your team will be participating in Challengers.

Everyone cheers, getting off their seats and huddling into a group hug. “Holy shit, Jacob! That was such a good 3K!” Haknyeon cheers as he’s overfilled with joy.

Your teammate tries to shrug off the compliments. “We all did good.”

A pair of arms wrap around you and Jacob. “That was an amazing play!” Younghoon is thrilled by today’s matches. “WE’RE GOING TO CHALLENGERS!”

It’s a dream come true; you’ll be competing on stage in front of a wider audience against teams who are more capable than you—who have more experience than you—but the journey has only started. You wonder what the upcoming months will have in store for you and your team—what will time do for you and Sunwoo?

You’re the first to break up from the hug, everyone else following along. “I’m going to call Sangyeon over,” your coach announces before making his way out of the practice room.

Then, Haknyeon pulls out his phone. “Wait, the guys are blowing up our group chat. I’ll just call them.”

Sunwoo is about to follow his teammates, but you grab hold of his forearm as you hold him back, and he frowns at you. “I need to talk to Sunwoo,” you smile at the other guys who only glance at each other, confused by your actions. Yet, they let the matter go, letting you deal with your business with him.

Sakura grabs your shoulder. “I’m going to call the team. Anything you want me to tell them?”

“I’ll tell them myself, it’s okay. You can go.”

With that, it was only you and your teammate.

You let go of his arm and a frown replaces the grin you once showed. “What was that during the last round?” As Sunwoo scrunches his eyebrows further, you groan. “You literally baited me.”

An exasperated sigh leaves him. “God, it’s not that serious.”

“Sunwoo, you’re playing duelist. You’re supposed to be entering sites for the team.”

“And I do!” He glares at you, annoyed by your complaints. “We still won. Can’t you just be happy that we made it to Challengers?”

That’s the thing you hate about playing with Sunwoo; if the outcome is good, he’ll turn a blind eye to his mistakes. How does he improve as a player if he doesn’t acknowledge his faults?

He’s about to turn away from you—make his way to his teammates and celebrate today’s win—but you grab his hand and pull him close to you. The sudden action almost has him toppling over you, and thankfully, his reflexes are quick enough to make sure you both don’t fall.

But the distance between you two is smaller, his eyes wide while yours remain stern. He holds his breath while yours grazes his skin.

You’ve never seen him this way—compliant, obedient—and it’s a sight to behold, one you’d like to keep for yourself. If only he were like this to you, then maybe you wouldn’t—no, snap out of it.

“Sunwoo.” He gulps at the way you call his name. “I’m your controller, I’m supposed to stay alive longer to support you.” You hold his gaze. “Try to keep this behavior up during the rest of VCT, I dare you.”

There’s malice laced in your tone, an attempt to make him cower—obey—over your threat, and you know your job is successful when Sunwoo doesn’t try to retort. He has every opportunity to retort—rile you up like all other times—and yet, he remains silent.

With that, you let go of his hand, stepping away to give you both room to breathe. Patches of warmth litter all over your skin, from your neck to your chest. To have Sunwoo look at you like that has—

“Guys!” Younghoon comes back rushing into the room with Sangyeon trailing behind him. You catch sight of the smile that rests on your manager’s face, clearly proud of your team. “Let’s look at the list of the teams who made it to Challengers.”

Your coach fiddles with the television remote and opens up the stream. Just in time, you’re able to look through the teams who made it to the next event. As you spot HYST in a sea of esteemed teams, fulfillment bubbles within you.

Yet, you know the battle doesn’t end here. RUSH makes the cut—will your team remain victorious or will it meet its demise?

ROUND 4: “YOU’RE HERE TO TAKE MY KILLS, SUNWOO? LET’S MAKE IT A COMPETITION.”

You were lying when you said you were sick of Valorant. There were other games you could be playing, Minecraft, Overwatch, and Stardew Valley to name a few. Yet, here you are, playing your favorite (read: most hated) game for today’s stream.

“I won’t lie, I’m not sure why I’m playing this game on stream,” you chuckle. “Like, I could be playing something else to save my mental health.” The comments keep coming as you ramble, trying to kill time.

keybladetwo: CONGRATS IN PLAYOFFS!!! GOODLUCK IN CHALLENGERS orangecheeko: HYST TAKEOVER 🔥🔥🔥 hungrydinosaur: the 3k bae did last round was INSANE

A flood of compliments comes your way, making you smile. “Awe. Thanks, everyone! I still can’t believe I’ll be playing for Challengers, and then there’ll be Masters and Champions.”

reingoaway: how was it like playing with the others :O noxturnal: U and Jacob on the same team must be crazy! Aren’t u both IGLs

A hum leaves you as you think over your answers. “It’s fun for the most part,” you admit. “I mean, it took us a while to get used to each other’s playstyles, but I’d like to think that the practice paid off.”

You fiddle around with your Valorant collection, changing skins on some firearms. “I’d like to think Jacob and I do pretty well in strategizing in the middle of matches. Sure, we have our fair share of contrasting opinions but we always consider each other’s ideas.”

Although the time you spend practicing with your team can be tiresome, your teammates try to make every round enjoyable. It’s thanks to them that you’re able to deal with the weight of VCT for the most part. There is burnout that comes from playing the same game at a pro level—at least you have most of your teammates to thank for the most part.

tagmeup: Will you play with nuguri? ailguriluver: YEAA u guys go crazy together ashfallen: nuguri & ailurus stream 🙏

You would’ve ignored it as you used to with all other streams, but your chat seems to flood the same question; there’s no escape even in the safety of your own channel. “Uh,” you scratch the back of your neck, “I didn’t really plan to stream with nuguri.” 

nugunuguwho: He’s on stream right now!

“He is?” You bite the inside of your cheek as you type out his username on Twitch. His profile shows up, showing that he’s live, and you adjust your stream so that it shows your browser. Now, your audience can see that you’ve searched him up.

Once you click his stream, you are greeted with the words “DEFEAT” flashing on the screen. “Aish, fuck this game!” On the top left corner of the screen is your teammate, all dressed in a gray hoodie with hair messier than usual, and frames resting on the bridge of his nose. He leans back on his chair, tonguing the inside of his cheek out of frustration from losing a match.

The screen shifts to the match summary, showing that he’s currently 00RR in Ascendant 3. “Man, you would think that people in these ranks would at least understand to comm!” He then showcases his match history and—holy shit, it’s a red carpet. “Guys, it’s not looking good.”

You hide your smile behind the back of your hand. Although you make comments about how terrible of a player Sunwoo is, you would’ve never imagined him to be on such a horrendous losing streak.

(At the same time, it could be the fault of his teammates, but you weren’t going to give him that satisfaction. He’s an awful player, point blank.)

“Ailurus is on my stream?” You are snapped out of your thoughts as he mentions your gamer tag. “How do you know?” He scrunches his eyebrows as he reads the chat. “They’re streaming?”

You rush to close the window and frown at the camera. “I can’t believe you guys sold me out!” As you shake your head, you shift your stream back to the game. “I was trying to spy on him! Anyway, I’m going to queue up because I cannot have Sunwoo ruining my win streak.”

You’re about to queue into a game, hoping to end the discussion, but your eyes catch sight of a familiar name and you halt your movements. 

nuguri: r u down to play?

It’s an internal battle—should you pretend you didn’t see Sunwoo’s message or should you fake your relationship with him?

Time ticks. The more you contemplate, the more you realize that you can’t play off that you saw his message in a sea of unfamiliar usernames. You’ve dug up your hole—there’s no turning back now.

“Okay, add my alt account.” Not a single mention of his name, and yet, your audience knows exactly who you’re talking to. The chat is filled with messages of excitement.

A friend request has been sent to you. “Is “sawako’s bf” your fucking alt?” Your gaze shifts to the chat, waiting for a message from Sunwoo.

nuguri: check discord

You roll your eyes before accepting his request on Valorant before opening up Discord. Another friend request has come in, and—is that a Smiski as his display picture? Your mouth parts open as you accept his request. Before you can shoot him a message, he calls you, and you don’t think twice before picking it up.

“I didn’t know you liked Smiskis,” you admit, surprised by the sight of the figurine. The sight of your profile picture, a Smiski from a different series, beside his photo is humorous—who would’ve thought that you two would match? “I didn’t even know you had another Discord account.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You shrug. “I mean, you just don’t look like the type you know? You reek of “loser e-boy that can’t do shit” energy.” As you hear him gasp, you chuckle.

Perhaps it helped to interact with Sunwoo in front of an audience. You can say diss him if you wanted, boiling it down to banter, and no one would question it.

“First off, I have a Discord account for work and another one for just personal use. And second, I am not a fuckass e-boy.” His defensive energy has you rolling your eyes. “Hey, I see you rolling your eyes!”

“The fuck? Get out of my stream,” you say as you glance at the camera. As you go back to Valorant, you see that you’re invited to Sunwoo’s party. Once you accept the invite, Sunwoo queues you both up for a Ranked match. “If we lose, I’m blaming it on you.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault that I lost all my matches today.”

You bite on the inside of your cheek, holding back your laughter just in case he’s still watching your stream. “Okay, whatever you say. I know you only peaked Immortal 1.”

“Immortal 1 is a good rank! What are you trying to say?” A chuckle leaves him as he says those words, clearly knowing that he’s unfortunately not like you who is currently ranked at Immortal 2.

“I think you just want me to boost you.”

“Match found,” the announcer voices out. You are greeted by the opening screen of Sunset.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m down on my luck that I need someone to boost me.” Sarcasm is evident in his tone, and you can’t help but laugh. The screen then shifts to agent select. “What’s good, everyone?” A bad attempt at deep voice leaves Sunwoo as he talks to a team full of strangers.

You’re thrown back by the sudden tone shift, causing a giggle to leave you. “What the fuck was that?!”

“Go! Talk to the team.” You shake your head as if he can see you. (Maybe he’s still watching you, after all.) He hovers over Reyna before telling you, “It won’t hurt.”

The thing about you is that you would never talk to a team full of strangers, but you don’t think twice when you say, “I’m good,” before hovering over Omen.

“There we go!” He exclaims in your call. You try to hold back your grin.

Unfortunately, the moment doesn’t last long. “Didn’t you mean to hover over Sage?” A stranger on your team asks.

You frown. “What do you mean?”

“Because you’re a woman.”

You should’ve seen this coming—there’s a reason why you don’t like to speak in this game.

“Just because I’m born a woman doesn’t mean I need to play that agent. I can play Skye if we need a healer,” you suggest, trying to keep your cool over what the stranger says.

“Nah, Skye might be too complex for you.”

You’re thinking if you should just lock in on Omen or retort, but both choices lead to an outcome where they’ll constantly be on your ass. Before you can make a decision, however, someone speaks.

“Hey, let them play whoever they want to play. You can play Sage if you really want,” Sunwoo cuts into the conversation, hoping to diffuse the situation. But when a chuckle leaves the stranger, you know it’s far from reaching that.

“Ah, I see how it is. How’s the head?”

You’ve officially reached your limit, and it seems Sunwoo has reached his as well. “This shit isn’t worth it,” Sunwoo ends the conversation with that. Before you know it, you’re back in the lobby, alone. “Sorry, I quit the game. Just give me a second to boot it up.”

As you hear those words, warmth surges within you. You don’t like your teammate at all and he’s never given you any reason to treat him with kindness, but just this one action is enough to make you see him in a different light—is he rotten to the core or have you been blinded this whole time?

Before you know it, he requests to join your party, and you accept the invite. When your eyes catch sight that he’s deranked to Ascendant 2, it hits you that he lost some RR just to avoid playing with the player who was giving you a hard time.

(Would it be bad to hope he did it for you?)

You hop in the queue to find another match.

It’s quiet for a moment; the mood has been ruined by some stranger on Valorant. Yet, Sunwoo seems to have something under his sleeve, a way to lift your spirit. “What if we pick each other’s agents?”

“This is a ranked match. You know that, right?”

Sunwoo lets out a groan. “I know that! But think about how fun it would be! We can play each other’s mains!”

“Do you really want to play Omen or Sova?” The screen then shows you’ll be playing on Pearl. “I thought you wanted to win some games.”

“Hey, I can definitely play those agents!” You roll your eyes over his words, clearly not believing him. “Let’s make it a competition. Whoever gets placed on top of the leaderboard wins, but you play Raze while I play Omen.”

A hum leaves you as you contemplate his proposal. “What’s the prize?”

“Well,” Sunwoo pauses, thinking over what can be done. “What if the winner gets their wish granted by the loser?”

“A wish? What type of wish?”

“Well, that’s for us to determine in our own time.”

You should’ve said no—why would you agree to such a bet with the one guy you can’t stand being in a room with? But the problem is that your pride is on the line, and you wanted to prove to Sunwoo that you could do his job better as a duelist.

So, you don’t think twice when you say, “Ah, fuck it. Let’s do it.”

You should’ve played Raze earlier on in your esports career. The match passes you like a breeze, entering and clearing sites and shots landing on your opponents every round. You don’t remember having this much fun playing Raze for the first time.

But somehow, the universe didn’t listen to your wishes—Sunwoo sits on the top of the leaderboard while you’re under him.

“Fuck! I only needed one assist and I would’ve beaten you.” As you complain, your teammate laughs.

“Ah, I wonder what I should have you do for me.”

You roll your eyes before looking at the time. “God, it’s that late already? I think I’m gonna end the stream already.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ll be back.” Before you know it, he deafens himself on Discord.

A sigh leaves you before you briefly look through the chat. “Sorry guys, I’m gonna end it early. I still need to pack my suitcase for Challengers next week.” There’s a mix of comments, ones that beg you to stay while others that thank you for today’s stream. “I’ll try to stream again before I leave but no promises. Bye, everyone! Hope you enjoy the rest of your days!”

With that, you end the stream. Another good stream out of you despite how short it was.

The most surprising thing to come out of this stream is that you were enjoying your time with Sunwoo. Whether it may be from the later hours of the day or just a front that he was putting up for the audience, you didn’t want to think too much of it. You’ll accept it for what it is now.

As you quit out of some of your applications, you look back at Discord to see that he’s back.

For a moment, it’s quiet. There’s an internal struggle within you—should you thank him for what he said earlier or not?

You didn’t want to call attention to the issue anymore. Unfortunately, you’ve had your fair share of experiences with misogyny throughout your life, and it pained you to say that this wasn’t the worst thing you’ve heard. 

But he beats you to it, almost as if he was bothered by the silence, and says, “I’ll think about the wish for a bit, just want to think of my options.”

A groan rips out of you. “Don’t make me do anything stupid, please.”

He hums for a moment, almost as if he was considering your request, but you know who he is. “No guarantee! I’ll see you soon.”

Before you can retort, he ends the call. You stare blankly at your screen. If you thought Sunwoo was okay, you were absolutely wrong. He’s still a shithead.

But when you get in bed, you stare at the ceiling for a moment, and you can’t wipe off the grin that rests on your lips.

God, you need to sleep. 

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🎀🍨STUDY ICONS🍨🎀

In this post I will mention some study icons, I hope they inspire you to study well.

1) Hermione Granger

" When in doubt, go to library " . THE BRIGHTEST WITCH OF HER AGE .She was dedicated to her studies, she had love for reading & learning. She was always ahead of her class. She was not only intelligent but brave and clever too . She participated in class discussions , was organized & read alot . Also, the actress who played Hermione , Emma Watson , she handled both acting and studies together. She was a straight A student. She is exactly like Hermione in real life too . I made affirmations inspired by Hermione too !

2) Elle Woods

I rewatched legally blonde , I will make a detailed guide on studying like her . Elle broke stereotypes and always believed in herself. She was hardworking and ambitious. Elle shows us the importance of self belief . Also , A girl can be both feminine and smart . @magic-irl has made affirmations for Elle !

3) Blair Waldorf

Blair was confident & ambitious. She knew what she wanted . She never relied on destiny, she never stopped for anything until she got what she wanted . She always gave importance to her education and goals . She used flashcards method, this method is so efficient. You must try it !!

4) Rory Gilmore

I'm referring to Rory from S1 when she was smart and made good decisions . She was dedicated towards studying. She always prioritized studying. She had a schedule and was committed to it.

5) Jang Wonyoung

Wonyoung is not just a pretty face, she is so much more than that. She is smart & hardworking. She got 100/100 in English , Korean and Maths. She won awards for three times at her Math contest when she was in elementary school. She is fluent in English and her pronunciation is expensive.

6) Park Jimin

Jimin was an impressive student , he excelled at both dancing & studying . He was the class president for 9 years ! He was an all rounder - he excelled in both his studies and extra-curricular activities. He was termed as " God of math " & he was also a genius at Chemistry . He was THAT STUDENT .

🎀🍨I hope my post gave you motivation to get off your phone & study well for your future self 🎀🍨

#affirmations #law of assumption #self concept #neville goddard #loa #master manifestor #it girl #affirm and persist #self concept affirmations #assume and persist #studyblr #studying tips #study role models #study blog #wonyoungism #neville blog #loa blog #dream life #self love #productivity #self confidence #self improvement #how to manifest #manifestation #girl blogger #girlblogging #girlblog #studyspo #study motivation #it girl mindset

[virtchandmoir]

Considered one of the greatest skating pairs of all time, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir spent nearly a decade at the top of their sport to become the most decorated ice dancers in the world. Over more than two decades of extraordinary athletic partnership, Tessa and Scott became the first and only ice dance team to win every major international junior and senior skating competition. At the height of their success between 2008 and 2019 they took home a record-setting five Olympic medals, three World Championships, eight Canadian National Championships and won the Four Continents Championship three times. The pair first skated into the hearts of Canadians at the Olympic Winter Games in 2010, thrilling crowds in Vancouver as they became the youngest athletes and first North Americans to win Olympic Gold in ice dancing. Nearly a decade later Tessa and Scott secured their iconic status with a beguiling Gold medal performance that smashed the world record for overall score in free dance at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

Growing up in London, Ontario, Tessa took to the ice at the age of six after deciding she didn’t want to be the only student in her class who couldn’t skate during a school field trip. Raised in a figure skating family in nearby Ilderton, Ontario, Scott had been skating since he was three years old, coached by his mother Alma and his aunt Carol. First collaborating in 1997 when Tessa was seven years old and Scott was nine, the pair were initially so shy they could barely talk to each other. Building confidence while developing undeniable on-ice chemistry, Tessa and Scott shared a commitment to excellence that continually helped them overcome adversity. The two made enormous sacrifices to hone their craft, embracing success and failure as equal opportunities for growth and turning vulnerability into compelling artistry. Training rigorously to perfect innovative choreography, they pushed boundaries by approaching ice dancing as both creative expression and high performance sport, skating with an emotional sincerity that captivated audiences around the world.

After raising the profile of ice dancing to breathtaking new heights, Tessa and Scott retired from competitive skating in 2019. Since then, Scott has served as head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s satellite program in London, Ontario. He has also been a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusivity in skating. Tessa completed both an MBA from the Smith School of Business, and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Tessa is an executive advisor at Deloitte, where she helps to unlock the potential of the Canadian workforce in the realm of high performance and wellbeing. She also serves on the board for Her Mark, a charity that empowers young girls through the power of sport, and Motionball, an organization that fundraises for Special Olympics athletes.  

Considérés comme l’un des plus grands couples de patinage artistique de tous les temps, Tessa Virtue et Scott Moir ont passé près d’une décennie au sommet de leur sport pour devenir les danseurs sur glace les plus primés du monde. Au cours de leur partenariat sportif extraordinaire qui a duré plus de deux décennies, Tessa et Scott sont devenus la première et la seule équipe de danse sur glace à remporter toutes les compétitions majeures internationales de patinage artistique junior et senior. À l’apogée de leur succès, soit entre 2008 et 2019, ils remportent un nombre record de cinq médailles olympiques, trois Championnats du monde, huit Championnats nationaux canadiens et ils remportent également le Four Continents Championship à trois reprises. Le couple a conquis les cœurs des Canadiens lors des Jeux olympiques d’hiver de 2010, enthousiasmant les foules à Vancouver en devenant les plus jeunes athlètes et les premiers Nord-Américains à remporter l’or olympique en danse sur glace. Près d’une décennie plus tard, aux Jeux olympiques de 2018 à Pyeongchang, Tessa et Scott consolident leur statut emblématique en donnant une performance enlevante qui leur vaudra la médaille d’or et qui pulvérise alors le record du monde pour la note globale obtenue en danse libre.

Tessa a grandi à London, en Ontario et a commencé à patiner à l’âge de six ans après avoir décidé lors d’une sortie scolaire qu’elle ne serait pas la seule élève de sa classe incapable de patiner. Élevé dans une famille de patineurs artistiques, non loin de là, à Ilderton, en Ontario, Scott a commencé à patiner dès l’âge de trois ans. Sa mère Alma et sa tante Carol ont été ses premières entraîneures. La première collaboration du couple survient en 1997 alors que Tessa a sept ans et Scott neuf ans. Ils sont alors si timides qu’ils arrivent à peine à se parler. Gagnant en confiance au fur et à mesure qu’ils développent leur complicité indéniable sur la glace, Tessa et Scott partagent un engagement envers l’excellence qui les a constamment aidés à surmonter l’adversité. Ils ont tous deux fait d’énormes sacrifices pour perfectionner leur art, en embrassant les succès et les échecs comme des opportunités égales de croissance et en transformant la vulnérabilité en un style artistique saisissant. S’entraînant rigoureusement pour perfectionner des chorégraphies innovantes, ils ont repoussé les limites en abordant la danse sur glace à la fois comme une expression créative et un sport de haute performance, patinant avec une sincérité émotionnelle qui a captivé les publics du monde entier.

Après avoir élevé le profil de la danse sur glace à de nouveaux sommets époustouflants, Tessa et Scott ont pris leur retraite de la compétition en 2019. Depuis lors, Scott occupe le poste d’entraîneur en chef et de directeur général du programme satellite de l’Académie de glace de Montréal à London, en Ontario. Il a également été un ardent défenseur de la diversité et de l’inclusivité dans le patinage. Tessa a obtenu un MBA de la Smith School of Business ainsi qu’une maîtrise en psychologie positive appliquée de l’Université de Pennsylvanie. Tessa est conseillère exécutive chez Deloitte, où elle contribue à libérer le potentiel de la main-d’œuvre canadienne dans le domaine de la haute performance et du bien-être. Elle siège également au conseil d’administration de Her Mark, une association caritative qui autonomise les jeunes filles par le biais du sport, et de Motionball, un organisme qui recueille des fonds pour les athlètes d’Olympiques spéciaux.

Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is honoured to be presenting Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir with the prestigious Order of Sport award on Thursday, October 19, 2023 as a member of the incredible Class of 2023.

—Order of Sport

#tessa and scott #off ice #honor #order of sport 2023 #another one

[fadinglandtragedy]

POTO Korea Review

August 9, 2023 Seoul

Cast : Jeon dong-seok, Sohn ji-soo, Song won-geun

[first review]

This one was my favorite.

JDS is insane. His voice is in the best shape these days, and his performance is very engaging. He seems to be gradually stepping out of the shadow of the Y&K Phantom and steadily building his own phantom. He still can't quite touch Christine and doesn't know how to treat her, but his attitude and mood captures the sassiness of the ALW phantom.

It's been a few days since I saw his previous performance, but I was surprised to see that his movements were more organized. This time I was able to see him more closely from a different angle, he really organized his hair nicely and walked like this :

Now I know why Christine actresses said he was so cool in that moment. Really seductive.

And he kept trying to whisper in Christine's ear at MOTN. It was like... it was the one scene that summed up why Christine couldn't resist the Phantom.

At the Red death scene, I was told it’s an recording, but he broke through the recording and sang it really loudly live. (I think the people in the front row could hear it.) His voice and the recording resonated, which seemed like another Phantom’s trick. and reminded me of the LEROUX Phantom playing with his voice... It was quite fascinating.

PONR… I like that he matches his movements with her in the Christine part.

My favorite scene was the one in Final lair where he was arguing with Raoul behind the bars. The original line, ‘I love her, does that mean nothing?’ was changed to ‘I love her, Why don't you believe in love?’ in the Korean. JDS, who had been bit relaxed, was momentarily unable to hold back his tears. I realized that his Phantom was the one who believed in the miracle of love more than anyone else in this musical…

With that, he started crying a lot... again, and I think it was more than the last performance. He kept showing signs of pulling himself together to hit his lines (especially when he heard ‘I gave my mind blindly’), and I could keep hear him sobbing in the silences. really don't know how he sings steadily in the middle of that… When Christine came to return the ring, he looked like wanted to tell her not to, but all I could hear was a sob.

He's crying like the world is ending, and behind him, Raoul kisses Christine's hand… yes it’s sad but also too beautiful. Can’t deny it.

I know it’s weird, but I like the moment right before he lassoed Raoul the best. His impressive use of elongated limbs reminds me of Leroux's Phantom. Sexy

I'd love to see his phantom on west end stage, if that's possible.. he'd look better in west end makeup

The chemistry between JDS & SJS is really 🤌 They're both settling into their acting, and when JDS shows his charms, SJS responds well to it.

I think Sohn ji-soo is going to be my new favorite Christine… Her dialog is a little awkward, but she's a former opera singer, so she's very good at conveying emotion through song, and also (of course) a good singer.

Overall, she is more passive, serene, and calm than SEH Christine. This time I saw in her a Christine from the 90s and 00s. A very early, almost archetypal Christine. She plays Christine as fragile and vulnerable, but that's what makes her shine in the graveyard scene. While SEH showed us a beautifully radiant prima donna making her debut in TOM, SJS brings a lush sadness to the Wishing.

She seems overwhelmed with how to get through this, but in the end, she moves forward unbroken. So her first step, Wishing, is even more impressive.

Her feelings toward the Phantom are similar to those of a mortal facing the Absolute. In The mirror scene, she fearfully soothes the Phantom, but when his anger is unabated and he tries to reveal himself, she willingly tries to open the dressing room door, despite her fears.(She must have thought he would be at the door. Love this detail!)

She was afraid to face the Phantom in STYDI (on the other hand, SEH didn't avoid his gaze.), but when he turned away in pain, she reached out her hand as if she wanted to hug him.

In the Final lair, she's upset to see herself in a wedding dress, but when the Phantom starts singing (this face, which earned~), she turns toward him as if mesmerized. (This reminds me of Claire Lyon in PONR)

She was clearly afraid of him, but also attracted to him. It's such a natural and obvious Christine’s trait, but it was great to see it again with the chemistry between JDS and SJS. I still remember her reaching for him as he painfully yelled at her to leave…

I saw her respond to being told that she had the biggest role in Don Juan by saying, "me…?". Funnily enough, JDS once interviewed that when phantom said, 'I've written you an opera,' the 'you' was referring to Christine.

I thought that Christine would have instinctively sensed the Phantom's obsession and affection and already known that she would be the one to play Aminta, but her Christine seems to think that his anger is simply a hate of her.

She was a relatively innocent and naive Christine, which seemed to work well with JDS's romantic side.

She and SEH Christine both sing along Carlotta's TOM in small voice, which is a detail I love because it's so cute and shows their desire to sing🥹

Oh and Korean fans call her a hamster… i can understand. She’s so lovely Christine!

I’m not sure about SWG Raoul… his presence was barely felt. I'm not sure if it was tiredness or what, but his performance had very little impact, and I felt like I was watching a character from another musical he was in.

But he was definitely milder than HGH, and I love the detail of him hugging Christine in the final lair, even though he's in a lasso.

I really like LJY Carlotta! Her performance was appropriate and impressive as a prideful prima donna. At the same time, her mean and demanding personality was well portrayed, making her an appealing character. Like the scene in Il Muto where she throws Christine into bed (Andre's panicked reaction is hilarious) or in Don Juan rehearsal where she gently teaches Piangi and gets annoyed with Monsieur Reyer in an instant are good examples.

When she says "she’s crazy," it's no longer sarcastic, but more like she's looking at a mentally ill person with disdain, which, coupled with PHR Piangi's reaction afterward, further emphasizes the relationship between the Phantom and Christine. (It shows how strange their relationship is and that it can't be shared with anyone.)

There were a lot of little funny scenes. The most interesting was the conductor's panicked performance with Andre in the Il Muto ballet scene. It was quite funny to see her panicking, searching for the score, and ruffling her hair.

why do the ballet girls' screams seem to get louder and louder...? 😂

The supporting cast is also working well together, and the performance is gradually becoming more complete. I was actually thinking that this production might not be for me, but um now I just wish I could follow this show and witness every moment..

If you sit in the first row, your neck can get sore, and you can barely see the Phantom on the angel. On this day, JDS was very emotional and the angel was swaying SO much that I wondered what was going on overhead.

There are no tickets left for me right now, but I hope this isn't the last time I see his phantom. I'd love to see it again as a JDS/SJS/HGH/LJY pair if I get the chance🙏

#phantom of the opera #poto korea #poto review

[abybweisse]

2023 costume contest

I'm not going to show all 27 entries in this post, but here were the winners.

People really do seem to like the cute, simple costumes, so Susan "La Shay" won 🥇 with her cactus. My mind immediately goes "but it's just a green sweater, some cut up pipe cleaners, a few fake flowers, and some brown fabric". However, I have to admit it's cute and clever. (Sorry, these images are from my computer screen.)

I got 2nd 🥈 with my Undertaker cosplay. It's extensive and expensive, and I freaking shaved 🪒 my eyebrows off, wore contacts all day, wore long coffin nails 💅 all morning, and kept a dog biscuit in my mouth much of my time out of my workspace to commit to the bit. I'm also wearing not just the cassock and mute robe but the cassock and two layers of mute robes! It was a cold day, but later (in the afternoon, after the parade), I removed some layers, as well as the wig and some accessories, like the nails 💅, lockets (hard to see in the photos here), and hat.

The person taking our photos was none other than Becky T., who lost to me that morning, when the pumpkin contest results were announced. She's not a professional photographer, but sheesh I feel like she used these photos as payback. 😆 Because she took that full-body pic standing on a chair, which makes me look shorter than I already am, and that's the pic she chooses out of the few full-body pics she took... and I actually growled at her 😂 through my dog biscuit when she flipped the rim of my hat up to get a closeup of my face w/ the contacts. My mouth was too occupied for me to explain she shouldn't flip his hat up like that....

3rd 🥉 went to Chris and Virginia, a married couple. Chris is on my Rad Chem team, and Virginia is our boss's boss's secretary. I never saw the movie The Warriors, but looking into it, I can tell they did a good job portraying rival gangsters.

The voting was online, just like with the pumpkins, but for whatever reason, you could vote for up to three costume entries. Some of the people voting for me said they also voted for Chris and Virginia.

The contest took place entirely on the 31st, and we got the results the following day.

We also had a chili cook off that day, and I didn't enter, but I was one of the official judges. We had two votes, as usual, for the chili contest: judges' choice and peer voting. First place 🥇 on both chili ballots went to Anna M., who is a team lead in Organic Chemistry. She also entered the costume contest, wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume, like this one I found online:

There was also an inflatable Pillsbury Dough Boy in the contest. Many of the people who dressed up participated in a parade through several floors of our laboratory, after I fulfilled my duties as a chili judge. I'll have to ask around for footage of the parade.... 🤔 😊

I might later download all the pics from the costume contest to post here... eventually. Oh, yeah! I forgot we got a group pic after the parade! Becky T. is the pickle/cucumber on the far right.

And here's a selfie 🤳 while I was working, wearing my PPE (lab coat🥼, gloves 🧤, and safety glasses 🥽).

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #undertaker #cosplay #halloween #halloween 2023 #costume contest #costume competition #my stuff #stuff at work #nov 9 2023

[wigglebox]

Queer? In my John Winchester?

It’s more likely than you think! 

Sorry — but not really. 

So, it’s 2022, there’s a Supernatural show on, and I am sitting at my desk wondering how to actually start talking about a queer reading for a character that many don’t like the idea of being queer.

No I’m not talking about Dean Winchester — I’m talking about John. 

I remember waaaay back when in Ye Olden Times of June 2021 when the show’s script commitment was leaked, myself and a few others on Tumblr tossed around the idea of “Omg what if they make John queer, he’s in a relationship with another guy, and then heaven forces them apart because he has to be with Mary.”

And that wasn’t out of a desire to just have a slash ship. Those happen regardless, all the time, with little to no warning and little to no reason sometimes. Shipping happens. Shipping doesn’t have to be canon, doesn’t really have to make sense, and is a personal thing between you and your AO3 account. 

From my perspective, I had been wondering if they’d do it simply because the meta symbolism comparison — whatever — would be so great for Destiel and that ship’s journey. 

And, I still stand by that, and if anything, even more so now that I’ve had more time to think about it and see the characters on my screen. 

While watching 1x04 of The Winchesters, Masters of War, even mid-episode, Twitter and Tumblr and likely your Discord servers were all ablaze with “What was that look that John just gave Carlos in that uniform? Millie? What?” and especially after this tweet:

Just gonna do one of these while I’m at it: 

Anyway —

But for me, that wasn’t the only moment my brain starting firing when it came to the possibility of John and Carlos. 

First of all, since we know where John and Mary are eventually going to end up, this show can’t hurt me. I’m already expecting to be hurt. It’s not queerbaiting, it’s not anything like that. Also, especially now, very much not queerbaiting. Coding is not baiting. But regardless, I had gone into this show fully expecting to just start shipping everyone for everyone just because why not?

But after 1x04 I legitimately will be paying more attention to John/Carlos. 

For me, the most interesting thing about Destiel was that it kinda was born organically. Cas wasn’t meant to be a character that stuck around but the chemistry was too good to get rid of him, and the story just made sense with him there tbh. It was over the years and years that these two were on screen together in which it went from “Yay, a slash ship that’s not with his brother!” to “Oh my God are they going to make this canon? It makes the most sense!” 

The thing with Destiel is that since it was organic, it was born outside of the narrative. Cas was the first one to “make it up as we go,” he exists outside the narrative. 

The whole thing when it comes to Chuck Won theory for me is that Cas is a threat to Chuck because he exists outside of the narrative and kept trying to get Dean to go along with him — subconciously of course lol. [Side note, this is why I don’t believe Cas is in heaven, because if indeed Chuck won, Cas wouldn’t be there. Cas is ‘real’, he’s ‘truth’]. 

Destiel is a pairing, a love story, outside of the actual story while directly influencing the narrative that Chuck is trying to dole out to us. 

It was a brat, the suits/Chuck couldn’t control it, and once it started rolling down the hill, no one could stop it. 

Destiel was the character pairing that broke the narrative. 

Now, when it comes to The Winchesters, we have a bit of a thing going on here don’t we? We have four characers: Two young women, two young men. This is actually prime fodder for a shipping free for all. 

Carlos already expressed his once crush on Mary, Latika [to me at least] is kind of crushing on John, and John and Mary, we know, wind up together regardless. 

However — John and Mary are the narrative. That’s The Plan TM. That’s heaven’s outcome, that’s Chuck’s outcome, that’s the thing that needs to happen for the story to play out how they want it to. John and Mary don’t have a choice in this. 

But, they both still need a relationship outside of the narrative for contrast. 

The thing with Supernatural is that we never had Sam or Dean have ‘narrative compliant’ relationships. There was no need to have them hook up with someone to make children who are destined to bring about the apocalypse or whatever. That was all on them. That was supposed to end with Sam and Dean. 

But The Winchesters has a narrative couple, even if they don’t know it yet. For me, John and Mary still seem like just friends, they all do really, and while sometimes they’ll have talks in the van or heartfelt speeches to each other already with piano music softly playing overhead — it still doesn’t feel like romance. If anything, in 1x03 with John’s words about Mary and having to save her, it felt more like we’re inching more towards brother co-dependency than not. 

Since we have a narrative couple, and we already know what that is, we need a non-narrative couple. We need John and Mary to seek relationships with others, and probably get a little farther with it than just one date. We need something outside of the narrative that’s threatening to also take John and Mary along as well. John and Mary need their Cas, because they certainnly aren’t Dean and Cas to each other. 

“But Jen, why not just have John with Latika?” 

Because I said so! No, just kidding, because Carlos makes more sense to me in this case. 

It’s been clear to a lot of us watching that Carlos really captures the attitude and spirit of early seasons Dean. A little over confident, likely compensating for something. Withholding emotional stuff, maybe a little cavelier in his love life, and hell we even got a “why does paper even beat a rock” reference in 1x04. 

But in 1x04, it feels like Carlos was also set up with Cas parallels. 

Carlos was in the Navy, he was in the service, just like John. Dean and Cas were also ordered basically to “fight” by their fathers, and were essentially soldiers of their own corners of the narrative. 

But, Carlos isn’t a soldier. He’s a medic. He’s a healer. First thing I thought of was “Oh, Cas healed people and Dean all the time.” That’s one of the things I associate with Cas a lot is just healing, both physical wounds and emotional ones. 

I find it interestingly fasincating that Carlos was put in contrast to John like this. Dean and Cas to me were on the same level whereas Carlos felt like almost the polar opposite to John. He didn’t illegally sign up for the war while underaged, he wasn’t really looking for a fight, and he did none of the fighting but instead helped those who were wounded in the fighting. Whereas John entered the war underaged, was a Marine, and likely saw so many atrocities unfold before him including the death of his friend Murphy. 

The Destiel parallels didn’t end there for me. 

It seems like we’re test driving John with the different characters. He’s with Mary, alone. Then he’s with Latika, alone. And now he’s with Carlos for most of the episode, alone. So it feels like it’s almost like I’m watching The Bachelor lol. You have the winner who was engineered by producers to be the pick at the end of the competition [Mary], the one who actually was in it to find love with the Bachelor [Latika] and the one that the Bachelor actually fell in love with [Carlos]. 

[I’ve never seen this show lmao I’m actually modeling this off of Flavor Of Love but shh don’t tell anyone]

Obviously, my saying John is in love with Carlos is literally just me saying that. Literally no proof of that right now. I’m just saying if we’re going to throw some tropes in there, that’s where I’d slot him in. 

So getting back to Destiel parallels — I found the jungle space that John and Carlos wound up in so interesting. It really reminded me of Purgaytory. Yes I’m spelling it that way. 

When Carlos stepped on the mine and said John’s name like that, like Murphy did but also just like that, idk. Struck something in me. But I also found it interesting that he was in there at all. All the other people that this god killed were on their own. But now it’s both Carlos and John, and the god is using Carlos to try and like, convince John to do what it wants John to do. 

Obviously, we know that despite his claims otherwise, John did wind up doing what the god wanted him to do and did in fact kinda give into his inner demons, which we saw play out the entire episode as John struggled hard. 

For me, John needs someone who’s going to tempt him away from the narrative, away from going down this bad path of running instead of confronting his inner demons, and away from the narrative pairing that will eventually be with Mary. He needs someone who will help steer him away from all of this, because the narrative has to have something to rip away from him. And progress would be that thing that the narrative strips away. 

And to me, yes I wouldn’t mind it being Latika either but I’m aligning her more with Mary at the moment. So for me, it’d be Carlos. Another ‘brother in arms’ [see what I did there], someone who does understand the trauma of seeing what he saw, and experienced more or less what he experienced. Someone who is that beacon of hope and light [even though I’m sure Carlos has his own issues obviously] that would make John want to confront his issues intead of run from them. 

So, when I see fun Destiel parallels to John and Carlos I like them, but I’m also thinking about the meta narrative implications of this. A queer ship, for outside of the narrative, that will wind up getting the axe in order to serve the narrative. Because isn’t that what happened with Destiel, and Dean’s right to reciprocate being taken away from him [literally. the final monsters ripped people’s tongues out and he never said Cas’ name after that phone call in 15x19]. 

To mark a full tragedy and degradation of John Winchester, it’d be great to me anyway if they do the same with him. 

Now —

I know post-episode there were some loud dissenters and those who aren’t happy about this concept that John could be queer, especially if it’s more upfront about it than Dean ever truly got a chance to do. 

And for that, I understand, however I’m choosing to view this as a good thing because if they can slap on as many callbacks to Destiel as they can with these two, but knowing that with these two it’s going to fail while with Destiel more or less succeeded*, I’m choosing to call a win a win. I also don’t believe symbolism, meta, and story for The Winchesters should be sacrificed because of decisions made for a separate show that began in 2005 and tried its hardest to deliver undeniably queer Dean in its 15 year long run. 

*Dean never go to say I Love You back, however I’m a continuation believer, and I also think the metaphorical silence was pretty loud.

A lot of folks choose to see adult John as homophobic, a headcanon/fanon trait that I can 100% understand where folks come from. However it’s not canon that he is, and it’s never been implied in the show either. Therefore, I feel like that point of debate is one I don’t really take all that seriously, because it’s someone’s personal reading of a character, and not tangible canon. 

A queer John Winchester would I think give us the chance to add more fuel to the Destiel fire, while also giving us the chance to grieve a love story that could have been, and grieve a person that John could have been instead of the one that he became. Queer people aren’t always good, kind, reasonable, and understanding. Sometimes they can, indeed, grow into being terrible people. 

The Winchesters is ultimately a tragedy. No one is going to win at the end of the day. It’s like watching a run away train and being unable to stop the characters from making the choices that we know will lead them not to safety but to mortal danger. 

But if they can give us peeks into what could have been, that’ll make it so much more tragic in a way that really resonates with us. 

#long post #spnwin #spnwin meta #john winchester #jarlos #1x04 #0104 #I'M SORRY GOD THIS IS SO FUCKING LONG #I HOPE I MADE SENSE #I WROTE THIS ON MY BREAK #i'm not going to let jarlos go #now that i have it in my hands you're never going to pry it from me

[weezmancer3]

Shobio Studying Hcs!!

Kageyama's decent at school work and studying; he just refuses to do most of it. He's the epitome of "I'm never gonna use this so why should I do it". When he's not sleeping he's arguing with the teacher about why he needs to learn about parabolas if he's just gonna play volleyball professionally.

Hinata struggles with paying attention and keeping organized. Like, this boy has one folder he's had since elementary, his notes are crushed (and probably tear-stained), and every essay he turns in has used volleyball as a metaphor for absolutely no reason.

Before Yachi, the two of them would study together, when Tsukishima refused to help them, and Yamaguchi was too busy with his own schoolwork. They'd take turns quizzing each other with their notes and, like they do with most things, got way too competitive with one another. After every study session they'd count the number of questions they answered correctly and whoever had the higher number won.

Years later one of them finds the old sheet with their scores and it leads to utter chaos.

Hinata: "I had two more points than you, you're buying dinner"

Kageyama: "There's no way I lost to you, count it again"

Hinata: "I've counted it six times now, 'yama. You lost, and you're buying dinner tonight.

Kageyama: When we took chemistry together you thought Pb stood for peanut butter for three months. Count. It. Again.

#haikyuu #shobio #kageyama tobio #hinata shouyou #kagehina #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu hcs #kghn #I love when they argue about paying for dinner like they aren't professional athletes making more money than they know what to do with #kageyama pretending like he didn't sleep through chemistry

[ramayayi]

Date: 27/2/23

“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”

No idea how did I manage to revise 4 and a half chapters yesterday in 3 hours

Anyway gave a test and I hope this time I get a better score

Had to make a new schedule for physics and to include rest time plus mentally prepare to study and give tests from 3pm because we odias love sleeping during afternoons and especially in this summer season after having pakhala aloo chatta

So i basically study from 6-12 with some breaks in between and then take a nap from 1-2pm or 2.30 because I sleep for 4 hours at night.

I need to make time for organic chemistry because they are volatile for the brain

Ended up doing some bolly choreos instead of classical but I am prepared for saraswati vandana so no issues and I still have time for desh pallavi in odissi

#ramaya vidya #stemblr #studyblr #neet ug #biology #study aesthetic #cbse #chemistry #desi academia #indian studyblr #premed study

[saharaadesertt]

Genshin University Headcanons

included: albedo, childe, hu tao, kazuha, xiao, yoimiya tags: modern au, university au, headcanon

note: as a senior in uni now spending the summer doing research sometimes i wish i was a business major HHAHAHA i am also slightly drunk right now so i hope i don't make grammar errors :///

Albedo

chemistry major with an emphasis in organic chemistry, philosophy minor

studies EXTRA hard, makes straight A's consistently

president of the chemistry club

probably tutors as well

likes to post on his studying based instagram

because of his studies lives on coffee, more specifically cold brew with a splash of cream or just plain black

you can find him in the uni library, his hair caught up in a ponytail, looking through formulas and equations for the upcoming exam

basically lives in the library

tends to be more introverted and reserved, but occasionally has study buddies

dresses very preppy, always dons a pair of round silver wire frames with a long coat

barely sleeps bc his coffee addiction

Childe

marketing major, polisci minor

the type of person who never shuts up in class

the leader of debates, always answers questions

fulfills any participation point requirement in a matter of days

exteremely extroverted, has a friend group he always is with

plays sports (probably something with water like swimming or water polo)

not the most studious person but gets his work done and gets decent grades

Bs and Cs get degrees!

his dorm room is a mess.

also probably dresses like a frat boy.

he probably is a frat boy.

Hu Tao

biology major with a concentration of mortuary science, chem minor

probably a ta in bio or chem, probably with aldedo

also tutors with him

for someone who in in STEM, she dresses really well

loves to wear plaid and dark browns and reds

it's giving dark academia

probably popular on instagram for her outfit inspos and day in the lifes

the type to do well in classes sometimes and struggle in others

but always tries her hardest, especially when it's a class she isn't the best at but truly enjoys

probably scares her bestie Zhongli when he comes over because she's talking to spirits at night but he can't see them

so he thinks she looks crazy

it's ok she learned it in class :)

Kazuha

creative writing major, english minor

aspires to teach in poetry

incorporates his past experiences and friends into his works, gaining a solid reputation among the poetry community

has won a few awards for his haikus

only cares about his major classes, GE's can cease to exist

he did discover a love for music through his fine arts GE though

he began to play guitar because of it

he occasionally thinks of songwriting as it is in a way another form of poetry

drinks milk tea to concentrate on his studies which he does in private

he spends most of his time alone as its where he can focus the most

Xiao

psychology major, sociology minor

now hear me out

xiao is interested in human behaviors and customs

what better time to educate yourself in university?

probably on a sports team, i can see volleyball despite his shortness

very introverted but also attracts many people due to his mysterious energy

dresses very grunge

probably wears eyeliner here and there

doesn't care much for class

shows up late or prays there's a recording instead so he can sleep and procrastinate

but does enjoy learning from time to time

people are interesting, he'll think

and their food can be ok too... sometimes

Yoimiya

marketing major, communications minor

because she loves to talk to people and expand her firework business

has a tiktok for her business

will appear on shark tank and WILL get a deal

she's a smooth talker like that

super popular,everyone loves her positive and bubbly personality in a place where many people are stressed and always on edge

often shows up late to class but everyone forgives her because she makes the class lively

is in cheer and tumbles

volunteers often to serve the people around the university

especially enjoys visiting the nearby elementary school to read books to them

she loves children and considers taking up a teaching career to spread her happiness to future generations :))

thank you for reading! feel free to comment suggestions!

#genshin #genshin hcs #genshin impact #mihoyo #hoyoverse #genshin headcanons #genshin imagines #college au #au #university au #albedo #childe #tartaglia #hu tao #kazuha #kaedehara kazuha #kokomi #kokomi sangonomiya #xiao #yoimiya #hc #headcanons

[lunarriviera]

i have finished reboot & i am sad

it's bittersweet—i mean, it was time to be finished with it; i've been watching it literally over the course of the pandemic. but enough! all things must end, even the arduously dragged-out conclusion of a whacked-out chinese tomb raiding drama featuring poisonous gas, hordes of insects, zombies, hand crabs, flying carnivorous clams, and "coffin dew," which like all the rest of those things does not exist. ruminations and pictures and spoilers behind the cut!

1. so why is this xie yuchen the most boring xie yuchen out of all of them? i don't even know this actor's name because i never bothered learning it. also when the hell did he become a doctor and do sketchy operations on people without anaesthesia? he's wearing pink, he's rich, he has the same name; but there the resemblance ends. this is not the xiao hua we know and love. where is my bitchy swishy opera-singing organized crime boss? no wonder there's no chemistry between him and xiazi; this guy barely has a pulse. sorry to this man. nice sweater, tho.

2. i was trying to prove that pangzi says "that's not your xiaoge" (which he doesn't, those are bad subtitles; he just says "that's not xiaoge") and instead captured this adorable picture of drunk bai haotian. xiao bai gets a bad rap—mao xiaotong is adorable and sweet and honestly kinda hot when she's not trapped in a bowl haircut and overalls. i appreciate that wu xie, busily dying of lungs, doesn't have time or patience to explain to her why he's not available, but zhu yilong plays it wisely straight down the middle, face impassive. ship it or don't, he seems to be saying; i don't care, it's not up to me anyway—the viewer can read it however they want. (but wu xie does manhandle her on more than one occasion and that's also kinda hot.)

3. admittedly liu sang is very very pretty but i still don't want him in my pingxie, like mint in my chocolate chip ice cream. no thank you please. i have always considered myself a multishipper, a live-and-let-live fan; but this fandom has taught me i'm monogamous and i guess there's nothing i can do about that. still. look at liu chang's beautiful features. he made me care about jinx beyond just his function as a whump magnet, and that's an achievement. someday maybe his ouxiang will give him the hug he deserves.

4. speaking of beautiful just look at these total idiots. i'm going to miss their stupid faces. xiaoge drinking water, so he can be sober enough to take his drunk husband home and put him to bed. wu xie so plastered that i have inadvertently captured the one (1) image of the most beautiful man in the world making a derp face.

BONUS: whatever this beautiful cranky bitchy "doctor" has going on. which definitely involves feelings he still has for wu xie, after what happened in germany. (you know what happened in germany.)

and that's it, that's a wrap. in the meantime zhu yilong has been in cannes being absolutely heart-stoppingly fucking divine, and i will bet you a hundred flying carnivorous clams that the next time he's there, his film will be in competition. the condé nast cover story didn't hurt. with each entrée he cements his reputation and, more importantly, protects himself from the increasingly nasty sweeps of china "cleaning up" c-ent. i honestly don't know what there is to clean up anymore; there's almost nothing left. immortality and the live-action of tgcf not being released; justice in the dark just abandoned not even halfway through. this doesn't end well.

at least as far as lost tomb goes, though, i've decided i'm proceeding backwards—so next i'm watching sand sea/sha hai, because i want to spend time with mob widow wu xie (qin hao has won me over via gifset) and ji chen's xiazi. until then, pouring one out for li jiale and chuchu. and wu erjing i guess. 干杯!

#reunion: the sound of the providence #tltr #dmbj #xie yuchen #bai haotian #liu chang #liu sang #mao xiaotong #z1l #don't get me wrong i adore c-ent #i just feel protective of it #maternal if you will #i want to cradle it close to me and glare at anyone who would hurt it #huo daofu

[olderthannetfic]

There are two canonized romances on GO, and both are so profoundly hetero that they give me the willies. In both cases, you have zero chemistry and a classic sitcomy attractiveness gap. It feels like you're supposed to cheer when the couples get together and think "aw, love won" or "opposites attract" or whatever (in fact, one thing that annoys me about GO is that it's always signposting the cheer-worthy moments rather than letting them unfold organically). When it comes to the main bromance, we also get some mildly homophobic jokes. You see the same kind of humour on the Trailer Park Boys, but that show is a lot more openly queer and has a CANONIZED same-gender bi m/gay m relationship that isn't always played for laughs and is pretty darn cute. Time to pour a lil' drinkypoo for Lahey/Randy.

--

[cyberneutral]

Gush about your OC

Ahm, I got tagged by my dear @shynrel-vp , thank you for this opportunity to talk a little bit more of my character. Even tho I have five of them I choosed the one I'm enjoying the most right now.

RULES:

Post 5 Facts about your OC.

Open the latest section of #cyberpunk 2077 tag and reblog 5 posts of people you don’t follow, giving them nice tags.  

Tag 5 People to spread the game.

So... I'll be talking about my nuthead assassin: Kayn.

Delivered to Arasaka when he was just a kid, he didn't have the tradicional childhood. Unfamiliar with simple plays like hide and seek, he spent most of that time studying what the corporation let him have acess like science chemistry and physics. His sense of humor is very dried and awkward, he doesn't understand jokes very much and his jokes aren't understandable either what makes him a lonely dude. (humor reference: sheldon cooper from the big bang theory)

At first Kayn was a project Arasaka wanted to start that was the implatantion of the personalities constructs on youngers to make their body a "second home" for the members of the council. The project was shout down but the constructs were never removed or used, it was an cyber empty space in their heads that the corporation could use for whatever reason they want in the future. The project name can be found in the source code of the construct and it is: MMLXXX (2088), the year they wanted to present this to the world.

One day he was sent to eliminate a man but it was an ambush to test him. So when Kayn got there it wasn't just the target, even tho Kayn gave them a hard time in the end they won by number, beaten up to almost death. He woke up one week later in the hospital. Kayn developed a second personality in that time, his name is Rakin. A curious thing is that he was responsable for making him wake up since the main persona was too weak that time. Rakin is irrelevant, vengeful, violent and stronger. When he left the hospital the second persona made Kayn blind for revenge and week by week he spent killing everyone that was on that day. His brain got affected by his other persona like a poison corrupting it, he was tested in Arakasa and they saw this persona was affecting the construct either what was an unique ocasion. Arasaka took advantage of that, turning Kayn into an assassin for them, all his files got classified and he suddenly turned into a shadow, what was the perfect deal.

One day in a test at Arasaka lost his mind in a crisis while was connected in the cyberspace to see how was the construct that made Rakin suddenly starts to took over it, filling in the empty space of the engram and actually putting an organic personality there. This event made a black mark in his face that was caused by a corruption that accidentally happened when it was taken, this also made Kayn develop heterochromia since his yellow eye is his natural one and the red one is actually from his alter ego. Arasaka once again didn't know what to do with that so they tried to turn Rakin into an personality construct but it would kill Kayn but with the several attempts he turned into a hybrid: now they have the human personality: Kayn & there's also Rakin the persona living in the cyberspace even tho he isn't an AI and can influence in Kayn's mind as an organic one.

In the recent days he still works for Arasaka and have what he call friends from work - they are not his friends and he doesn't like them. In a birthday party of one of his fella workers he was drag to a karaoke which he hated a lot, he met Lazuli (@wingdeer oc), little did he know he was talking to an AI. But since he doesn't have any sense of humor he didn't notice she wasn't human and found her very pleasent, that made something very rare happen: Kayn and Rakin now had an interest in commun. Fun fact: He will not care that she's an AI, he finds her more interesting than everyone that has been around him in his whole life. (I might write something for them soon).

Well, tagging time. Of course no pressure/obligation but I would like to know about your OC's and want people to know about them too. @mentorun @mhbcaps @neverfadesaway @fonfan121 @rebelcroftvp

#cyberpunk 2077 #tag game #oc: kayn #oc stuff #cp 2077

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson, Catching Up

The Gloria Scott part 2:  the fun bits

- Trevor is going out of his way to spend time with his teenage son and his son’s only friend. He’s an involved dad, and that’s both sweet and tragic given that he does not survive this tale. - Holmes is not staying with family during the rest of vacation... or at least, he says he’s staying in “my rooms in london” where he was previously staying on or near campus during the school year, probably. The victorian equivalent of a just-off-campus apartment could fit both living situations, but having to sign a year’s lease, prove months of income, and include a deposit was not really a thing then. He could have moved. It’s possible that he was staying with Mycroft, who is both older than him and likely already starting his london career, but I have no data on that. - Based on his organic chemistry experiments and the fact that Watson’s list of his “limits” in study in scarlet probably includes his courses of study in college and university, I think Holmes intended to become a chemist (NOT a pharmacist, brits, a person who studies chemistry for a living), possibly specifically an organic chemist, before he decided to become a detective.  - Organic chemistry was a fairly new and exciting field at the time: The synthetic dye industry had kicked off in the late 1850′s, when Holmes would have been a child, medicines were being synthesized, and plastics were about to become actually useful. (Holmes would have been exposed to them in his course of study, ACD probably knew a little bit about the first few attempts from his own studies or popular science media because the first plastic, Parkesine, was exhibited at the 1962 International Exhibition in London, where it won the bronze medal.) - He could also have intended to become a pharmacist (chemist, to speakers of UK english) but again. No data to suggest it’s likely. - Back to poor Victor, whose father is dying of apoplexy (stroke) or nervous shock (more vague but probably referring to sudden changes in behavior... read stress, trauma, probably also hypertension given the stroke.) Remember that Victor is still legally a child, with no adult relatives other than his father, and no friends besides Holmes, also a child (even by Baring-Gould’s timeline, though then as now the late teens are socially and legally a transition period into adulthood,) but one living more independently than Victor. He probably seemed very worldly, living on his own in London for the summer! - Hudson follows the pattern of many of the villains of Holmes’ adventures by making the maids at Trevor’s estate feel unsafe via crude language and public drunkenness. If you learn one thing from these stories, it’s that you should sack anyone who makes female servants feel uneasy, no questions asked. Victor doesn’t have any recourse if his father lets Hudson stay, other than physical violence. 

- That “grotesque” letter sure looks less silly now. Especially since it’s a very trivial cypher, which also a feature in these stories, almost always employed by somewhat-organized criminals, almost always ludicrously simple for the severity of the crimes alluded to. Still, the Victorians had SO MUCH correspondence, and the easiest way to hide a cypher is for nobody to think the cyphertext is important. Given the rest of the context, the postmark probably gave Trevor as much information as the message itself.

#Letters from Watson #The Gloria Scott #ask me about cyphers #because I'm such a nerd I studied most of the subjects that the characters would know #not on purpose #and not always for very long #do you know how long it takes to crack a moderately complex cypher by hand though? #I don't blame Holmes for avoiding it or Watson for not portraying it

[twogyuu]

okay 'youth of may' honestly left me at a loss for words, so im not going to bombard y'all with some 5-page word vomit so just gonna talk about the new and true OTP of all time.

the main couple was so healthy and good for each other :') sans their communication struggles in the beginning bc the female lead had trauma that she found hard to share, they were so perfectly imperfect 😭🥺 no relationship is happy all the time and arguments are inevitable, but rather than being immature about it, no matter how hard the conversation, they communicated (I'M TALKING ABOUT LIKE TALKING AND LISTENING) and worked through it, which is just everything to me 😭😭💘

it seems so basic and bare minimum but honestly is so important and hard to do?

the chemistry wasn't romantic or steamy, but you could just SEE how much they really liked and cared for each other 😭 THE TEASING WAS TOP TIER FUCKING CUTE. the way their feelings developed felt really organic. it was easy when they were together and it was comfortable. safe. warm. funny. despite each other's shortcomings and the shit thrown their way, they still chose each other until the very end :')

you can't help but root for a happy ending for them 😭💔

the story itselfwas beautiful and i think that stems from how subtlety seeped into the plot and all the character relationships :') like it was all so well-developed. though cheesy at times, it was nothing overdramatic for the most part. overall, this wasn't something jaw-dropping or gave me some mind boggling revelation. however, it was a nice reminder that life and the ppl in it aren't perfect. humans SUCK and some things are unforgivable, but cherish the ppl who are good to you. life becomes a series of choices that you make and how you face the consequences. sometimes those decisions won't be "right", but you still have the power to turn it around rather than wallowing in your misfortune. what counts is that you tried - not that you won :')

this one's gonna stick with me for a long time . . .

p.s. i have a fat crush on hwang hae tee now 😭😂 bye vernon jk jk jk

#youth of may #still not over grandpa myeonghee 😭😭😭 #but also why did the little brother suddenly become a [redacted] in the end LMAO 😭 #that was so random #the end

[scotianostra]

William Fraser Tolmie was born in Inverness on February 3rd 1812, I have the same surname but he isn’t an ancestor, as far as I am aware.

William’s mother died when he was three and he spent some years under the “irksome and capricious authority” of an aunt. He was educated at Inverness Academy and Perth Grammar School. An uncle encouraged his interest in medicine and is said to have financed his studies at the medical school of the University of Glasgow for two years, 1829–31. Although almost invariably referred to as Dr Tolmie, he was not an md: during these two years he worked for credits toward a diploma as licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, a body independent of the university. Tolmie did well in his studies, won prizes in chemistry and French, and received his diploma in the spring of 1831. He had hoped to study in Paris, but a near-fatal illness prevented him. When he recovered, he served from February to May 1832 as clerk in an emergency cholera hospital organized in Glasgow to cope with the epidemic then raging.

In the summer of 1832 the Hudson Bay Company was looking for two medical officer, William and another, Dr Meredith Gairdner signed that September a five-year contract to serve in the dual capacity of clerk and surgeon. As a clerk he would receive an annual salary rising from £20 to £50, and as a surgeon £100 per annum.

The ship arrived at Fort Vancouver in the spring of 1833. In his journal, he wrote about his accommodations at the fort, recording that the doctor's office had "a very excellent supply of surgical instruments." Just days after his arrival, Chief Factor Dr. John McLoughlin was stricken by the so-called "intermittent fever" (malaria). Tolmie treated him by him, a common practice in 19th century medicine. Like most doctors at the time, Tolmie was also a dedicated naturalist, and many plant and animal specimens as he travelled through the Pacific Northwest. He sent at least two collections of Northwest bird and animal specimens to Scotland - one to a museum in his hometown, Inverness, and one to fellow naturalist John Scouler. After Fort Vancouver, Tolmie went on to serve at several other Hudson's Bay Company posts in the Pacific Northwest. 

William Tolmie enjoyed a good relationship with Native Americans, and in one case supported Chief Leschi  of the Nisqually Tribe who was was charged with murder during the Puget Sound War, oor William measured distances, and determined it was impossible for Leschi to have made the trip to the murder site in the time required. The local Military refused to carry out the sentence as Leschi would not have been guilty as the tribe and the government were at war at the time.

Tolmie petitioned the Governor for Clemency, but the sentence was upheld. .  Leschi was executed in 1858. Later, the trial was judged to have been unlawfully conducted, the execution wrong, and Leschi innocent.

He died at age 74 in Victoria, Canada and Tolmie State Park Washington, is named after him.  Tolmie was the first European to explore the Puyallup River valley and Mount Rainier in what is now Washington Tolmie Peak is named in his honour, as is Tolmie Street in Vancouver. Plants bearing his name include Tolmie's star-tulip (Calochortus tolmiei) and Tolmie's onion (Allium tolmiei). The scientific name of MacGillivray's warbler is also named for him: Oporornis tolmiei.

#Scotland #scottish #surgeon #botanist #physician #canada #history

[female-buckets]

Issues at WBB Las Vegas Invitational (thread):

Teams were told it would be the “Athletes Unlimited setup.” It ended up being the “Athletes Unlimited” court.

No towels were provided and teams were advised to bring down hand towels from their rooms.

No signage of a tournament going on.

Because of only one court at Mirage, teams had shootaround at a middle school gym. (This happens at MTE’s sometimes, but not even a high school gym?!)

The clock had to be reset multiple times/the shot clock constantly became unlplugged.

Folding chairs were set up for fans.

@LVAces just won a WNBA title and had sell outs during playoff run. There are WBB fans in Vegas who likely would’ve shown up had 1. They known about it and 2. Conditions were better suited for a fan experience.

There have been multiple articles released about how it took more than 40 minutes for paramedics to arrive after an Auburn player hit the ground hard. Thankfully Coach Johnnie Harris says the player is alert and responsive.

At the end of the day, it all comes back to the notion that women should be “grateful” to have crumbs.

These MTE’s are huge at beginning of the season to build chemistry/get a great experience at a cool location. It’s a shame teams in the Las Vegas Invitational didn’t get that.

My friend said it best: “this sounds like the Fyre Festival of women’s basketball.”

Also, 6th ranked @IndianaWBB was a part of this tournament. Can you imagine a tournament organizer telling Trayce Jackson-Davis to bring down a hand towel from his room!?

Remember the shameful Las Vegas Invitational tournament a few days back? I did some research on the organizer. And it gets even worse.

Multiple sources (@MAVoepel, @MVanTryon, @MattPress23 ) list Bryce McKey as the organizer.

Who is Bryce McKey?

McKey currently coaches an AAU basketball team in Ohio, per @GoodmanHoops.

McKey has been a prominent name in women's basketball for a while, especially in Ohio, where he was previously an assistant coach with @XavierWBB. He then moved on to @TerpsWBB.

His stint at Maryland was short-lived, as he resigned after he was accused of sexually abusing a player he coached at Xavier.

Later a second player he coached made similar accusations.

In the bench trial, the second player was not allowed to testify, and the judge claimed that while the player objected to being touched by McKey, she didn't object enough. Didn't object enough...

McKey was found not guilty.

Bad playing conditions aside, why would universities, responsible for the well-being of student-athletes, schedule tournaments through an organizer with a history that calls into question the safety of collegiate women athletes? Do ADs research these people and events at all?

Indiana coach @TeriMoren spoke of the importance of growing the game, and that the tournament pushed it a few steps back.

I'm sure that Moren and other coaches were never informed that the tournament organizer had been credibly accused of abusing players just like their own.

Tldr; organizer of awful Las Vegas Invitational has been accused of sexual abuse by two former college basketball players he coached.

#HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO FUCKED UP #dude should be in jail!!! he should not be coaching AAU youth basketball!!! and he should not be promoted by the fucking NCAA!!! #ncaa wbb