#wong would also be here but I feel like he’s too above their level

[strxngemxgick]

@shieldagentnatasharomanoff asked: "There you are!" Natasha had finally found him. The clock in the library had told her that it was already past midnight and she had fallen asleep. Her day had been long enough and she hadn't really felt like talking, just grabbed a few library books and curled up on one of the sofas. "Do I want to know what you're doing there?" She looked at several jars... One containing a still moving eyeball, the other held a wriggling, gelatinous mass, details Natasha probably didn't want to inquire this late at night. He looked exhausted, slumped in his chair and the Cloak securely wrapped around his shoulders.

"You've been cooped up here all day, haven't you?" Her voice grew softer as she put a wrapped bagel onto his table. "I'm not sure about you, but I could use a late night pick me up. Want to share?" 

Natasha had brought two bagels with her one with sesame, ham and cheddar and the other one a cinnamon bagel with strawberry jam. "I don't think I can finish both." She didn't look at him, just sitting down with a heavy sigh. 

Meme Random Asks /// Always Accepting

There had been warnings about the excessive use of magic - particularly, the volatile, unruly spells and incantations that coveted Stephen’s favorite brand of recklessness  - but as with most things that might make Stephen’s life easier, he chose not to listen. Calling upon such powerful beings, performing spells and rituals at such an advanced level so early into his career as a sorcerer would be taxing on his body in ways he couldn’t even begin to expect. He was not, as usual, prepared for the consequences. 

There were a lot of things that Stephen felt he was prepared for. A dwindling mental state was to be expected, and after his confrontation with Dormammu, he was already acquainted with that consequence. The increased exhaustion and poor sleep schedule, he also expected. Stress was a constant companion, but it always had been. He was convinced that there was nothing that could be thrown at his body that he couldn’t handle.

But the hunger...

He wasn’t exactly sure when food stopped becoming satisfying, but he could, perhaps, say that traditional sustenance had begun to react with his system in a toxic manner within the past couple of months. Bouts of awful sickness with nearly every meal, and an utterly insatiable appetite had been infuriating afflictions for weeks. It had taken all of Stephen’s energy to swallow his pride and ask Wong for help.

Not that it had done much; surely the half-living, grody specimens his friend had brought him in jars and Tupperware couldn’t be the answer. Call him spoiled, but Stephen wasn’t sure he could manage to eat something that was still actively blinking at him, regarding with a certain level of disquieting intelligence. But oh, how he was tired of the hollow feeling in his stomach, and the incessant rumbling from his insides, and the faintness that he just couldn’t shake. 

Carbs had been his only solace as he fought off the inevitable, funny enough. Plain toast and some crackers, the occasional unseasoned potato that had quickly become too much for him to handle. Bagels had become a comfort he hadn’t expected, a step above bland white bread for fill and flavor, he would indulge when he could for the sake of doing what he did best - avoiding his problems. 

It made Natasha’s gesture significantly more meaningful than she could realize, as Stephen sat there in solitude, moping over the future of his otherworldly diet. A bagel certainly wouldn’t give him the judgmental stare that the... thing... in the jar was.

He smiled at her as she approached, giving a dismissive shrug as she inquired about his day. She hadn’t been wrong, but he doubted that was what she wanted to hear. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, waving a hand nearby to conjure a matching one for Natasha to sit in. He chose not to immediately reach for the bagel, though he did use a spell to cut them in half, one of each for the both of them. “And you? Couldn’t sleep?”

#shieldagentnatasharomanoff #across the multiverse /// rp #summoned /// answered

[thatwhobumblesabout]

my dream Jimmy Woo’s Agents of Atlas (coming to Disney+ on September 2022) lineup:

with special guests:

and

and also

Make it happen Jimmy!

#jimmy woo #agents of atlas #marvel #colleen wing #xu shangqi #daisy johnson #helen cho #melinda may #nico minoru #darcy lewis #luis #katy chen #okay but this is literally just west coast avengers right #also this would be the best way for Amadeus Cho to be totally brought into the MCU right #Amadeus Cho brought in by his mom and working alongside heroes and eventually becoming a hero himself and joining the Young Avengers #man I hope this happens #wong would also be here but I feel like he’s too above their level #also I know I listed her as a special guest but Katy and Shangqi are basically a package deal #you can’t have one without the other #and also Katy would have a bisexual meltdown with all of these really badass women around

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Here’s a pet tax!! This times he’s nuzzling against my arm!

Btw here’s your excuse to talk more about Dice. Or,,,any of Fling Posse! Have fun!

Oh, you enabler, you. Thank you for this opportunity and for the bunny picture.

A collection of thoughts on Dice and why he may very well be the most important character to Ramuda. Put under a cut for some slight TDD spoilers.

Dice’s Personality Traits

Compared to the other two nosy Nancies that make up Fling Posse, Dice himself is the king of minding his own business. While he does display definite interest in his friend’s lives - see asking Riou about his favorite food in the ARB event “Riou’s Kitchen” or discussing Gentarou’s latest story in FP/M chapter 7 - he tends to avoid discussing topics that make others feel uncomfortable.

This can make Dice appear oblivious, but Dice is much more emotionally observant than most characters give him credit for. Let’s take chapter 14 of FP/M for a great example of this. I’ll link it here, and I encourage you to read through it again paying careful attention to his facial expressions.

Dice begins the chapter deep in thought and adopts a solemn facial expression for the next few pages. Something is clearly preoccupying him.

However, the moment Ramuda appears, Dice begins acting much more animated and begins playing along with Ramuda in an attempt to cheer him up. Note that Dice observed Ramuda acting out of sorts for the entire battle in the previous chapters and hasn’t seen Ramuda awake since (according to chapter 15). He’s likely greatly concerned. It is arguable that his reactions are entirely food motivated...

... except for the fact that he returns to his previously somber state the moment Ramuda is no longer looking at him. Dice also doesn’t immediately accept Gentarou’s suggestion that Ramuda is trying to keep up appearances for their sake.

At the restaurant, Dice begins to play up the cheerful glutton again and attempts to directly cheer up Ramuda by operating under the assumption that Ramuda is disappointed by their loss.

When Ramuda goes to leave, the art emphasizes Gentarou’s concern, but the silhouette of Dice (and the lack of any bulging cheeks or cups carried up to his mouth) in the final panel indicates that he has once again returned to his more serious state. In this scene, Dice recognizes that something has gone terribly wrong.

Each member of Fling Posse is a performer putting on an act, and as noted by Ramuda’s reaction to Gentarou invading his privacy, Ramuda feels most comfortable when each actor plays his part. Dice is aware of this and thus acts the cheerful idiot for Ramuda in these scenes because he recognizes that Ramuda needs that stability.

If I may demonstrate another quick example, take a look at the scene from FP/M chapter 12 and compare how Dice acts without (first image) and with a visibly distressed Ramuda (other images) in the room.

The FP/M mangaka also says (in the afterword of volume 3), “I think [Dice] might have a good poker face and be able to control his facial expressions even when he’s flat out broke. But his posse doesn’t seem to understand that.“ Dice’s poker face is a boon here when he can use it to help the ones he cares about.

For Dice does care very greatly. Dice minds his own business and doesn’t make any overt actions as long as his friends are capable of handling situations on their own. However, the moment he recognizes that they are in over their heads, he takes swift and decisive action (which, in turn, can be harmful to others).

Take this scene in FP/M chapter 10 as a great example. Prior to Gentarou grabbing Hifumi, Dice was firmly a bystander, but he immediately leaps in when the situation escalates. Notice that he removes Hifumi from harm’s way but also serves a shield for Gentarou and focuses his attention on Gentarou’s wellbeing.

He then offers Gentarou physical reassurance with a hand on the shoulder and an out to the situation, which would have allowed Gentarou to move on as if his mask had never slipped if it were not for Hifumi’s next comment. Dice also shuts down Hifumi before it can escalate any further.

Although Hifumi is attempting to justify himself because he doesn’t understand Gentarou’s reaction and doesn’t see what he did wong, Dice recognizes that this statement also denies Gentarou the right to express his feelings on something which is clearly an enormous deal to him.

By labeling Hifumi’s comments as “disrespect” and “hurting people” while simultaneously stressing that this topic is “important”, he allows Gentarou the right to feel upset at Hifumi’s comments. He also continues to use defensive posture in order to keep Gentarou physically safe (which must be an intentional choice on the artist’s part, as Hifumi mirrors this pose a few pages later as he begins to defend Doppo). Even though Dice’s reaction crosses the line when he, in turn, begins to hurt someone else, removing Gentarou from the situation, validating his feelings, and making Hifumi stop is exactly what Gentarou needed but was unable to provide for himself.

Dice is a damn good friend and an exceptional person. If you ever find a friend like Dice, don’t let them get away from you.

Saving Ramuda’s Life

Let’s switch gears for a moment to take a look at what goes on in Ramuda’s mind. As a disposable pawn for the Party of Words, Ramuda has an atypical view of the world. He genuinely enjoys the company of others and can form real bonds, but his primary motivation in life is fully self-centered: keep himself alive. Every order he receives comes with the caveat of, “Failure brings death.” The fear of death is enough to drive him to betray his closest friends in TDD, even Jakurai, who clearly means a lot to him.

^ TDD chapter 13. Ramuda receives an order from Ichijiku to handle the Jakurai side of things in the TDD breakup and reflects on the time that Jakurai saw who his true personality and not only accepted it but welcomed it.

Bear with me if you’ve seen me talk about this before, but Ramuda’s ability to feel emotions is considered a fluke. Ichijiku describes it as a “malfunction” and a “nuisance” for his job. She also describes Ramuda himself as a “failure” and “worthless”, sometimes to Ramuda’s face.

Ramuda internalizes this. Notice’s Ramuda’s reactions to slipping up and having an emotional outburst in TDD chapter 9 and FP/M chapter 8.

The former of these features Ramuda looking frightened (either due to concern of losing his life for revealing more than he should have done or fear that Jakurai will consider him as “worthless” as everyone else does), insulting himself, and self-harming. While the insults and self-harm are as stereotypically cute as the rest of Ramuda’s facade, the core idea remains that he believes showing his true personality is as idiotic and worth of punishment as everyone else believes. The lack of self-worth is ingrained in him.

The slightly more grown-up Ramuda in FP/M does not react as dramatically, but I really want to draw your attention to the question, “Was I spooky?” It’s worded in a deliberately silly manner because of Ramuda’s speech style, but he is asking his supposed friends if the real version of himself is frightening. Tell me, Dice. Does seeing me scare you? Do you want to run away now before it’s too late? It’s an innocent question on the surface level, but considering the about face his last friend turned after learning more about Ramuda’s real life and job, this question demonstrates that Ramuda’s view of himself has hardly changed for the positive since then.

(Also please observe Dice’s reaction. The pause is him getting into character in order to cheer up Ramuda after a clear emotional upset.)

Therefore Ramuda is a person running entirely on self-preservation but with no sense of self-worth. He sees himself largely the same way Chuuouku does and expects everyone else to do the same. This greatly limits his worldview and prevents him from considering possible other options besides, “Do or die”.

If most of the other cast members found themselves in Ramuda’s shoes, they would have the knowledge and ability to consider other options such as running away, asking for help, or fighting back. Yet Ramuda never considers any of these. He does not have the life experiences the other cast members have to consider making any of these options. He has never observed them or had an outside source present them as options to him. Once the order comes down the pipeline from Ichijiku, it is set in stone. He can hate the order - take a look at another illustration from TDD chapter 13 - but he considers its execution inevitable.

This is why the order to hypnotize Jakurai in FP/M chapter 11 hits him so hard. Now “do or die” has become “die or die”, and his only decision comes down to the nature of his death.

Yes, this situation could have been avoided by talking to Jakurai. Jakurai gives him multiple opportunities to speak up before and during the battle, but Ramuda doesn’t have the ability to recognize those as options for help. In Ramuda’s book, people don’t help him. “Help” doesn’t exist.

In fact, the entire TDD situation could have been avoided as well if Ramuda had trusted his friends, spoken up, and explained the situation. Jakurai (not to mention Ichirou and Samatoki after a fashion) would almost certainly have helped, and that seems to be what Jakurai was waiting for. Once he pushed Ramuda too hard by accident and caused an outburst, he stepped back and waited for Ramuda to come forward on his own terms. But that’s utterly foolish, because Ramuda doesn’t operate on his own terms either. Ramuda doesn’t have his own terms. He lives and thinks the way the Party of Words wants him to think, and if the Party of Words does not want him to speak up and ask for help, then he will never, ever be able to.

The beauty is that Dice is not Jakurai. As mentioned above, Dice minds his own business up until the point a friend of his is over their head, and it’s when Ramuda starts to pull out the True Hypnosis Mic in order to kill himself for Chuuouku that Dice finally acts.

As is the case with Gentarou up above, Dice acknowledges that he doesn’t fully understand the situation but offers physical reassurance, advice, and the implicit argument that Ramuda’s real strength is something of value. Dice writes the word “help” into Ramuda’s dictionary with genuine love and affection.

While Ramuda still can’t consider any option other than “do or die”, it is Dice and Gentarou’s intervention that imbues him with enough self-worth to even consider placing his own wants and needs above Chuuouku’s.

It is this that lays the groundwork for The Loneliness, Tears, and Hope of a Puppet and gives Ramuda the basic agency to even consider acting for himself and, contrarily, acting in line with consideration for other people. It’s this that allows him to avoid ruining Jakurai’s life a second time and this that allows him to accept Gentarou and Dice’s promise of friendship. In the drama track itself, once again it is Dice and Gentarou intervening and challenging Ramuda’s preconceived notions in order to save his life.

Gentarou absolutely plays a vital role in this as well, but it is Dice that chooses to make the first move. Had he not said anything, Ramuda would have used the True Hypnosis Mic and died onstage in front of the audience.

It is sometimes the tiniest of actions and the smallest pieces of support that make all the difference. Sometimes all it takes is someone being unafraid to reach out and flip a die over so it lands on a different number.

#not a translation #asks #dice arisugawa

[salvejoon]

Life is Beautifully Ugly (At Times) - pjm | 04

⇒ Warnings for this chapter: Cursing and Jimin almost getting his ass kicked.

⇒ A/N: oaisfjasio this chapter is chaotic, I’m sorry

Your phone rang and when you looked at the clock, you groaned but picked it up, “Why the fuck are you calling at ass o’clock?” 

A tiny hand smacked your shoulder, “No bad words, Imo.” 

“Ah shit, sorry Hyejin.” 

The girl shook her head and rolled over to her side as you got out of bed, “Good morning to you too.” Jimin said. 

“Fuck off.” You whispered into the phone and exited the bedroom, “Seriously, it’s like 6.30 AM, Jimin.” 

“And?” 

“And it’s Saturday. You know… Weekend. A day off. Something that you are in desperate need of.” 

“Hm.” With a hum, he brushed you off, “Do you have plans this Monday?” 

You raised a brow, “No, why?”

“Good, then I won’t have to ask you to cancel them.” 

“Planning to ask me out?” You teased and you could almost hear how hard he rolled his eyes through the phone. 

“Not in a million years.”

“Hey, I’m a catch.” You protested. 

“Yes, a catch of STDs.” 

“No, that’s you.” 

Jimin sighed and cleared his throat, “I’ve just spoken to my father-”

“Ugh.”

“I’ve heard from Han and Charlotte’s lawyer and he requested a meeting. A meeting my father will attend. He wants to know if they have a testament.” 

“They do and they sure as hell didn’t include him in anything.” You huffed as you entered the kitchen, looking for a mug, “He’s going to be disappointed. It only concerns us and Hyejin.” 

“I don’t want to argue with you. Just be there at 10 AM and don’t be late. You know the address for our office building, yes?” 

“Of course I do, it’s that tall fugly building.” 

He sighed heavily before speaking, “Bye Y/N.”  

Monday rolled around and you got up early and got dressed. You opted to go for a simple pair of dark jeans and a white tee. Nothing special. You wanted to be as comfortable as possible while you were in the lion's den. You were already nervous as hell, not need to add to that concerning yourself with how you look.

Namjoon came over half an hour before you were about to head out and Hyejin immediately latched herself onto his leg, “Do you want to watch One Punch man with me, Boon?”

He smiled down at her and picked her up, “I wish I could but Imo and I have to go to a very important meeting soon but when we get back, I’ll watch it with you.” 

“You promise?” 

He picked her up and kissed her forehead, “I promise. If your Imo lets me, I’ll even sleepover tonight.” 

You chuckled as you walked over to them, fingers poking Hyejin’s ribs gently, causing her to giggle, “Boon can stay over if you promise to go to bed when I tell you to.” 

Some whining and a pout later, she was in your arms as you invited Mrs. Shin inside the apartment and kissed Hyejin goodbye, telling her to be nice to the older woman. 

The drive to the office building had your nervousness rising. Namjoon noticed instantly, of course, “Don’t be nervous, Y/N.” 

You swallowed, “But this is it, Joon. I have to sit in a room with lawyers and Jimin and his father and I have to be an adult and I have to think about Hyejin’s future not to forget I’m scared shitless if Han and Charlotte have included that wretched family in the testament.” 

“That’s why I’m here. I’m your lawyer and have Hyejin’s best interests in mind.” 

You turned your head and smiled at him, “I still need to know what I have to pay you.” 

He shook his head, “Absolutely nothing, Y/N.” 

“But-”

“Concentrate on driving, sprout and I’ll concentrate on the big decisions.” 

Namjoon leaned in and you felt his breath against your ear, “And please try to keep your temper in check.” 

You huffed, “I have no idea what you mean.” 

“Y/N.” 

“Fine, I’ll let you do the talking.” 

He nodded satisfied and put his hand on the small of your back, leading you into the meeting room. All eyes fell upon the pair of you, several men dressed in suits looking at you enter the room. You noticed Namjoon inclining his head to some of the others, no doubt some of his acquaintances. You let him lead you to the table but you paused, “Jimin isn’t here.” 

“He’s probably a little late.”

You snorted, “And he told me not to be late.” 

Your best friend checked his watch, “It’s only 9.55 AM. Calm down.” 

You crossed your arms, “Fine.” 

Namjoon smiled at you before one of the other men tapped his shoulder and he excused himself for a moment. You stood by the chair, debating with yourself if you should sit down or if it would seem rude. Not wanting to risk anything, you kept standing. You could still feel some eyes on you and you cursed softly under your breath. It was making you anxious. You wanted to leave the room. 

A commotion made you turn your head towards the entrance to the room and you saw Jimin enter, his eyes landing on you as the first and he nodded towards you. You nodded back and watched as he greeted the other men in the room. Then his father entered the room and you felt shivers run down your back. That man had a commanding presence, you had to give him that.

Jimin’s attention was on his father the moment he grabbed his shoulder and you could see how they whispered to each other, his father bitching about you being there, no doubt. 

The man you guessed was a mediator of sorts greeted all the people in the room and asked them politely to please sit down. Namjoon was at your side in a flash, pulling out the chair for you before sitting down himself. You kept your hands in your lap as you listened to the guy explain the purpose of the meeting. 

“As Mr. and Mrs. Park’s lawyer, I believe I should go first.” 

“That’s their lawyer, Harris Wong.” Namjoon whispered to you and you nodded. Harris pulled out his briefcase, opened it and pulled out a small stack of papers. 

“I have their testament right here.” He said and put on his glasses as he began to read out loud. Some legal stuff that didn’t really concern you at first, it was only at the possessions section that your ears perked and listened. 

All of their savings were to be transferred to a bank account in Hyejin’s name, as well as the money from the apartment and cars after they’ve been sold. Other personal belongings with emotional value were to be given amongst family members if they wanted something. 

So far you were relieved that Hyejin at least had her adult life settled with money. She would have the account unlocked once she turned 18 and it was approved by her guardians. 

“Speaking of guardians, there’s the matter of their daughter, Hyejin Park. Han and Charlotte have written their wishes down to ensure that their daughter would continue to stay with family.”

You fisted your shirt in your lap as you listened, “They wished for Han’s brother, Park Jimin-” 

Your heart fell. Namjoon put his hand above one of yours in comfort. You had hoped that you would become the guardian of your niece but if it was what they wished then you’d have no say in it. 

“And Charlotte’s sister, Miss Y/N Y/L/N, to become the child’s guardians. Equal parental rights.” 

At this, Jimin’s father stood up from his chair and glared at Harris, “This woman is to become the guardian of my grandchild?” 

Harris took off his glasses, “It’s what they wanted and has taken legal action to make it happen.”

“She doesn’t even have citizenship!” 

“I’ll make sure she gets a permanent resident visa, Mr. Park.” Namjoon said, his voice stern and professional as he leveled the older man with a hard stare. 

“She doesn’t have a steady income! How will she afford schooling, tutoring-”

“Your son is also guardian to your granddaughter, Mr. Park, as thus it is also his responsibility.” Harris countered.

“I believe it would be in the child’s best interests if I should become her sole guardian. I can provide her with the best tutoring and-” 

“Absolutely fucking not!” You stood up with a slam on the table, “I will not let my niece become just another asset to earn some money on. Sure, you can probably provide her with the best of the best but what about love? Care? Will you come into her room at night when she’s crying for her parents and console her? When she gets older and asks about her mother, what will you say? ‘Oh, I didn’t bother to get to know your mother because I hated her.’”

“You will watch your tone.” Mr. Park warned but you didn’t care. He could try to use his intimidation shit on you as much as he wanted to. 

You were a little scared of him under normal circumstances but certainly not when it was your niece’s future that was at stake. 

“I will do no such thing. You don’t scare me, old man. You are really out of your damn mind if you think you could do a better job. I’ve been there every step of the way with Hyejin. I was there at her birth and every single birthday. I watched Han’s heart break every time Hyejin asked about her grandfather. I was there when he cried because you had called him a failure and a disgrace to the family simply because he fell in love with my sister. I saw the mental damage you gave him over the years. I’ll be damned if I let her go with you and be raised by a fucking nanny! The audacity you elitist fucks have-” 

“Y/N, that’s enough.” Namjoon said, pulling you down to your chair, “My client has nothing else to say.” And he kicked your shin under the table as you opened your mouth. 

Jimin sighed quietly. He didn’t know if he should be appalled by your behavior, his father’s idea of thinking he would be a better guardian or by the fact that you left the room in anger, Namjoon tailing after you, excusing the both of you. What an absolute circus.

His father turned to him as soon as the door closed, “Who does that woman think she is?” 

“Hyejin’s guardian, sir.” 

“There has to be some way to get her to relinquish the guardianship. The child would best be off in my care. Perhaps we should offer her money. That sort of woman wants money above all else.” His father continued and Jimin had the feeling that his day was about to get worse.

“I told you to keep your temper in check!” Namjoon, ever calm and calculated, a patient man, your constant rock the last decade, was currently yelling at you. 

He had never raised his voice towards you before. 

You must’ve really fucked up.

“J-Joon, I’m sorry but that old fucker just-”

“I don’t want to hear it. God-fucking-dammit!” He kicked the wheel of the car and you winced when he yelped in pain. 

“Please don’t hurt yourself.” You said but he shot you a glare so intense, you lowered your head like a child being scolded.

“You, no, we will be lucky if he doesn’t drag this to court to try and prove you unfit to be her guardian, Y/N. You do realize that he can hire the best of the best in the field without batting an eye.” 

“But you’re the best of the best, Joonie.” 

“Flattery will get you nowhere right now, woman.” 

You huffed and crossed your arms, leaning against the car, “Fine! I’m sorry, okay?! Just please don’t be mad. I know I fucked up royally and-” 

“Royally would be an understatement.”

“I never thought I’d see the day where you two would be having a fight.” Came Jimin’s voice as he approached the two of you. You glared at him, stomping up to him and with a finger, poked his chest hard. 

“You were of absolutely no help in there, you ass! Why didn’t you say anything?” You chided, growing angrier at his passive face. 

“I didn’t want to get involved more than necessary in this mess. I don’t control my father.” He said cooly. 

“Well, you’re in deep seeing as we are now the guardians of Hyejin!” 

“Unless you say yes.” 

“Say yes to what?” 

“Say yes to money and give my father what he wants.” 

The silence stretched for more than a minute and you simply stared at him until you saw red and grabbed the front of his suit with one hand and formed a fist with your other hand, “YOU ASSHOLE!” 

Namjoon had to move quickly before your fist connected with Jimin’s jaw. He grabbed you tightly and moved you backward away from Jimin, who looked a little surprised at your sudden aggression. 

“Let me go right now!” You trashed against him, “I’m going to beat him into a bloody pulp!” 

“You’re out of your mind.” Jimin spat.

“The second I get free, I’ll make sure to show you just how much!”

“Calm down!” 

“Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down, Namjoon! This motherfucker really thinks that he can bribe me with money to give up Hyejin to his sick fuck of a father!” 

“I don’t believe any of the sort, woman! I simply passed on what my father planned.” Jimin said and you stopped moving in Namjoon’s arms, “I know no amount of money will get you to give up Hyejin but my father thinks so.” 

You looked like you thought about it for a second but then, “Or it’s just so you can get out of it!” 

“I will respect my brother’s wish of taking care of Hyejin.” Jimin countered as he stepped closer to you, ignoring Namjoon’s warning gaze, “Don’t you dare insinuate otherwise.” 

“You were certainly quick to suggest otherwise and now I’m supposed to believe you meant something else? Fuck off!” 

“My father is in no way shape or form able to take care of a child. He doesn’t realize how big of a burden-”

“Oh! So now she’s a burden?!” You began thrashing again and Namjoon groaned loudly, “Let me go! I’ll rearrange your fucking face, Park Jimin!” 

“I think the pair of you will make excellent guardians for Hyejin.” Namjoon said quietly to himself, while still struggling to keep you caged in his arms, “What a fucking mess.”

#jimin x fem!reader

[stxphxn-strange]

i want to start posting from my ironstrange college au (remember the makeup fic i posted in like november? i’ll link it below but it’s from that verse) so! let me explain it:

reminder that this is an au and it’s my au, so i decide how this all goes!

Ships:

IronStrange (duh)

ThorBruce

Valcarol

Sambucky

Christine x Hope Van Dyne* (this gets complicated)

Eventual Pristine

Past Stony, Past Stucky

(Lowkey I’m also figuring out if Rhodey x T’challa could be a ship? they both seem too independent but i also might add it in)

Character Notes:

Tony deliberately never specifies if he prefers to go by Anthony or Tony. People call him both, or also his friends call him Ant. Stephen does not/has never called him Tony, he’s always known him as Anthony.

Happy just tends to go by H or Harry (anyone who calls him Harold receives a death glare, but as a joke Rhodey got him a T-shirt and the pattern is just name tags that say “hello my name is Harold.”)

Rhodey just goes by Rhodey bc Tony *insisted* that all their friends call him that and plus he doesn’t hate the nickname.

Natasha is part of this but she doesn’t go to school with the rest of the group. She’s Tony’s half sister and is the biological daughter of Maria Stark and her best friend. She lives in Italy with some of Tony’s extended family and her bio dad. Few people know of her existence, or they know her as Maria’s niece (for her own protection). It doesn’t rly matter that Howard has no idea who she rly is, he wasn’t with her the entire time Maria was pregnant w Natasha bc she was in Italy (and brought Tony with her)

Roommates:

- Tony and Rhodey are roommates, and they live two floors above the four suitemates. The four suitemates are: Christine and Pepper (who share a room) and Stephen and Wong (who share the other room) despite that, the six of them tend to move fluidly in between both spaces.

- Hela and Carol

- Val and Hope

- Thor and T’challa (Bruce spends a lot of time w them)

- Bruce, Sam, and Loki (as chaotic as it sounds btw)

- Bucky and Happy, who I’ve decided are very close. (btw nobody particularly enjoys the fact that Sam and Bucky live next door to each other, when they’re Busy their roommates can be found w Stephen and Co. or one of the other Odinson siblings).

Friend Groups (note: people overlap/belong to multiple groups, this is also not the full list bc that could go on for a long time):

- The Main Six: Tony, Rhodey, Stephen, Wong, Christine, and Pepper.

- Team Big Brain: Tony, Bruce, Stephen, Hope, Carol, Christine, and Bucky.

- Doctors: Stephen, Tony, Christine, and Bruce.

- Dumbass Protection Squad: Hela, T’Challa, Carol, Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper (usually).

- Psych Majors: Pepper, Wong, T’Challa and Loki.

- Stark Industries: Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy.

- People who Like Astrology: Loki, Bucky, Val, sometimes Christine.

Storylines (There’s no established time frame for this really, but it doesn’t follow mcu canon or any canon):

- Stephen and Tony are lifelong friends. They met on the first day of kindergarten and went to school together in NY (where both their families lived at the time) until middle school. For unspecified reasons, Stephen’s parents opted to move the Strange family to Nebraska before the start of 6th grade. Stephen and Tony were Devastated but were already inseparable at that point and stayed in touch. A business opportunity moved the Starks from NY to California. Stephen stayed in Nebraska for high school but Tony’s parents sent him to boarding school (read: Howard sent him away to avoid having to actually parent, and he thought he was lifting a burden from Maria. This was Not The Case, as she loved her son dearly and would call him everyday. Tony appreciated this more than he ever thought possible.)

- Howard and Stane viewed boarding school as a chance to groom Tony into something malleable and submissive enough to take orders from anyone. His obvious feelings for Stephen (with whom he was still incredibly close) were a Great Concern, so the executive decision was made to set Tony up with Steve Rogers, a blond athlete from his school. It was a way to keep Tony’s sexuality controlled, and Howard didn’t think Stephen was anywhere close to the level he wanted Tony to be (of course, Howard didn’t think his son lived up to his expectations anyway. It was more about control). On the surface, Steve was sweet and everything you could want in a partner, and he even charmed Maria into liking him. She genuinely believed he’d be a good match for her son, so it hurt when she found out what he was really like. Rhodey was Tony’s boarding school roommate for all four (4) years. They met and hit it off overnight, Rhodey instantly feeling brotherly love and the need to protect Tony (or “Tones” as he called him. Rhodey is usually the only one to call him that). Rhodey and Steve did Not see eye to eye on anything, least of all how Tony should be treated. Steve was terrible to him, and Rhodey’s heart broke when Tony admitted he was too scared to break up with him.

- Reenter Stephen. After a particularly bad day, Tony called Maria and Stephen sobbing, missing the two (2) people he talked to more than anyone except maybe Rhodey. It was then he confessed what kind of boyfriend Steve was, and Maria gasped before saying, “Dump him. Let me handle the rest.” That very day, Stephen left school early and traveled to see Tony. It was 2am when he finally arrived, throwing rocks at the window and then scaling the side of the building once he had Tony’s attention. Stephen and Rhodey met the next morning, when Rhodey came back from classes and found his roommate asleep him.

- “So you’re the one who climbed in through my window,” Rhodey said. “For a good reason, I assume.” Stephen confessed it was because he loved Tony and wanted to be there for him, didn’t want him to hurt. (It’s fair to say, though, that Stephen visited before/Tony went to visit him, and they’d spent secret time together over the summers). Tony, believing himself incapable of love, didn’t reject Stephen’s confession but assumed it was only love between friends. The summer before they all left for college (Rhodey, originally from Texas, was also going to school in NY with Tony and Stephen. NY was a big part of who they both were, and they both dreamed of studying there together), they finally started dating at Maria Stark’s motherly demand.

- This demand came a short time before Howard and Maria died, and it also came with admissions of guilt and lots of tears. “I was wrong about Rogers,” she said. “You don’t have to accept what I say or forgive me, but I know Stephen is the right one for you. I think I’ve always known.” (No shit, everyone knew) Knowong she was genuinely sorry, Tony forgave her not knowing that she would die a few months later.

- Most of this canon I’ve created takes place starting in their junior year of college, so everyone has gotten to know each other quite well. I’m sure the more I write from this the more I’ll flesh out relationships between certain characters, but one I want to mention is that Tony and Bucky are very close and co-presidents of the “I Dumped Steve Rogers for Peace of Mind” club. Steve goes to college in the next state/a little further north (that’s as specific as it’ll get for now) and dated Bucky the group’s freshman year. Tony didn’t know any of this until Bucky brought him over one day, and after they (Tony and Bucky) had a talk about the way Steve is as a partner, Bucky realized some things and dumped Steve. He remains angry at them both, especially Tony, from a short distance away which terrifies Tony.

- Sam and Bucky kissed for the first time at a truth or dare night Thor and T’Challa hosted in the group’s sophomore year. After they kissed (Sam initiated) they both shyly admitted feelings for each other.

*Now here’s where things get a little dicey. I started this au with Christine and Hope together for no particular reason, maybe they were on a club sports team together and started dating from there? But Pepper fell in love w Christine at first sight, and it got worse and worse the more they got to know each other. Much like Stephen and Tony, they’re the kind of people who meet each other and just click, even if the eventual path to Pristine involves lots of tears and jealousy for Pepper that Stephen never really experienced. He didn’t feel jealous of Tony and Steve’s relationship, because he wasn’t at boarding school with Tony and there wasn’t much he could do. But as a supportive and concerned (and honest but kind) friend, he was always encouraging and there to listen to Tony. Is Pepper going to be as good of a friend to Christine as Stephen was to Tony while Christine gets ready to marry Hope after undergrad??? that’s the question my forthcoming college au fic will answer.

Also mentioned in my forthcoming fic (which I’m still writing rn)

- post undergrad Wong works as a museum director/curator (havent decided yet, maybe he works his way up the ranks) and double majored in psych and history.

- Stephen, Tony, Happy, Rhodey, and Wong all live together and the rest of the group lives around NYC.

- Stephen, Christine, and Bruce (The Doctor friend group) are all pursuing medical degrees while the SI friend group is transforming the company completely.

++++

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk! Congrats on reading all the way to the end lmao. I second guessed posting this a lot but then i remembered that it’s mine and I’m just sharing pre-fic thoughts lol. Thanks for reading/for your support of my work y’all!

Read the makeup fic (it doesn’t have a title) here.

💜💜💜💜

#ironstrange #sambucky #thorbruce #pristine #valcarol #rhodey x t’challa #christine x hope van dyne #tony stark #stephen strange #sam wilson #james bucky barnes #thor #bruce banner #pepper potts #christine palmer #valkyrie #carol danvers #james rhodey rhodes #t’challa udaku #maria stark #anti howard stark #anti obadiah stane #natasha romanoff #ironstrange college au #mcu college au #anti stony #anti steve rogers #anti stucky #hope van dyne #my ironstrange college au

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2020

We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list. 

01 Little Women (19)

02 The Post (17) 

03 Molly’s Game (17)

04 * Doctor No (62)

05 Groundhog Day (93)

06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)

07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)

08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)

09 Les Miserables (98)

10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain

11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)

12 Marriage Story (19)

13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)

14 Jojo Rabbit (19)

15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!

16 1917 (19)

17 Married to the Mob (88)

18 Klaus (19)

19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak

20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)

21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)

22 Gone With the Wind (39)

23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)

24 Dredd (12)

25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it

26 The Long Shot (19)

27 Out of Africa (85)

28 King Kong (46)

29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)

30 Knocked Up (07)

31 Collateral (04)

32 Bird on a Wire (90)

33 The Black Dahlia (05)

34 Long Time Running (17)

35 *Magic Mike (12)

36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)

37 Cold War (18)

38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.

39 *Burn After Reading (08)

40 Last Holiday (50)

41 Fly Away Home (96)

42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??

43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending

44 *Safe (95)

45 Gimme Shelter (70)

46 The Daytrippers (96)

47 Experiment in Terror (62)

48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)

49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on. 

50 Divorce Italian Style (61)

51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park

52 Hopscotch (80)

53 Brief Encounter (45)

54 Hud (63)

55 Ocean’s 8 (18)

56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)

57 Blow the Man Down (19)

58 Constantine (05)

59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!

60 Everyday People (04)

61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)

62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)

63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.

64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)

65 *The Truman Show (98)

66 Mona Lisa (86)

67 The Blob (58)

68 The Guard (11)

69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard

70 Rocketman (19)

71 Outside In (18)

72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade

73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)

74 The Reader (08)

75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE

76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith

77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at

78 The Rainmaker (97)

79 *Batman & Robin (97)

80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!

81 *Mystic Pizza (88)

82 Funny Girl (68)

83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)

84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??

85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch

86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020

87 *Blood Simple (85)

88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)

89 The Accidental Tourist (88)

90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!

91 Appaloosa (08)

92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020

93 *Almost Famous (00)

94 Whisper of the Heart (95)

95 Da 5 Bloods (20)

96 Rain Man (88)

97 True Stories (86)

98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!

99 *The Big Chill (83)

100 The Way We Were (73)

101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...

102 Phantasm (79)

103 The Burrowers (08)

104 New Jack City (91)

105 The Vanishing (88)

106 Sisters (72)

107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here

108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)

109 Les Diaboliques (55)

110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T

111 Death Line (72)

112 Cranes are Flying (57)

113 Holes (03)

114 *Lady Vengeance (05)

115 Long Weekend (78)

116 Body Double (84)

117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.

118 Waterlilies (07)

119 *You’re Next (11)

120 Event Horizon (97)

121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!

122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call

123 *Blade Runner (82)

124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from

125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic

126 Life is Sweet (90)

127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)

128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)

129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!

130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)

131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)

132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married 

133 Better Watch Out (16)

134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there

135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)

136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled. 

137 Blackkklansman (18)

138 Being Frank (19)

139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)

140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS

141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!

142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!

143 We’re the Millers (13)

144 All is Bright (13)

145 Defending Your Life (91)

146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year. 

147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)

148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY

149 Palm Springs (20)

150 Happiest Season (20)

151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie

152 Black Christmas (74)

THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)

I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough. 

TV Series

01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).

02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?

03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock. 

04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives. 

05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end. 

06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!

07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting. 

08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**

09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!

10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening. 

11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux. 

12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed. 

13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be! 

14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

Yes, once.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Nine (25.71% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Twenty-six.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Film Quality:

For a movie which is pretty much wall-to-wall fight scenes...I love it. I always start out going ‘maybe I overrate this movie, maybe it’s not as good as I remember’, but by the end, I’m right back in there.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Wanda apologises to Natasha for lying. It’s a close call.

Female characters:

Pepper Potts.

F.R.I.D.A.Y

Gamora.

Mantis.

Wanda Maximoff.

Natasha Romanoff.

Okoye.

Nebula.

Shuri.

Male characters:

Ebony Maw.

Thanos.

Thor.

Loki.

Heimdall.

Bruce Banner.

Stephen Strange.

Wong.

Tony Stark.

Peter Parker.

Ned.

Peter Quill.

Rocket.

Drax.

Groot.

Vision.

Steve Rogers.

Sam Wilson.

The Collector.

Thaddeus Ross.

James Rhodes.

T’Challa.

Bucky Barnes.

Eitri.

Red Skull.

M’Baku.

OTHER NOTES:

Heimdall had proven himself too much of an MVP in previous films to be allowed to live in this one. Bastards.

Heimdall and Loki, both dead before the opening titles. That’s how you know this movie means business, it’s not faking at high stakes.

I also am from space and have come here to steal a necklace from a wizard.

“Mr Stark, it smells like a new car in here!”

“All words are made up.”

Not gonna lie, when I saw this at the cinema and I realised that Captain America had arrived? My heart LEAPT. It was intense.

Depressed Thor is a great touch - after all previous films with Thor had him so bland, and then Ragnarok made him funny but essentially glossed over any of the difficult emotions it was dredging up, I’m glad to finally get something real and meaty from the character. If characters go through all manner of Hell and don’t show any signs of labouring under that weight, you’re doing character development wrong.

Nice callback with Red Skull.

The sacrifice of Gamora on Vormir is a really well-balanced piece; it was asking a lot, to make the emotion of it land despite how little of Thanos we’ve seen before, and without genuine emotion at it’s core it’s just the killing off of a female character for shock value. I feel like they got the pitch just right (most thanks to the music).

As much as I enjoy Thor and Rocket’s bantering, the side-quest for Stormbreaker feels like an unnecessary and over-the-top distraction in an already stuffed-full film. Easily the weakest part of the plot.

The fact that Quill fucks everything up with defeating Thanos on Titan because he can’t keep himself under control for two seconds certainly does not endear him to me in the slightest. Like ok, you’re upset, but if you can’t stop yourself from getting violent that’s on you, that makes you a dangerous person with serious issues, that’s not normal and it’s not ok. Also, literally half of all life in the universe was at stake. So there’s that.

Listen, I’m very susceptible to heroism (and that’s why superhero movies work for me), so every time someone comes to someone else’s rescue, I have feelings. 

I had convinced myself that somehow, Thanos wouldn’t succeed with his whole plan in this movie, that he would get all the stones but that he would like, go to a special place or something before enacting his plan, so that the good guys would have a chance to regroup and race to stop him before it was too late, all that jazz. So (even though Thanos had already snapped at that point), when Bucky Barnes disintegrated before our very eyes, I was SHOCKED. That got me like a smack in the face.

Considering I’ve never really been a fan of Tom Holland’s Spider-man, it’s a credit to his work that Peter’s death scene is so effective. That’s acting.

So, what makes this movie work despite being so heavy with bombastic action? The short answer is: it’s because the good guys lose. I’ve made no secret of being a fan of the ‘hour darkest before the dawn’ in storytelling, so this is playing to the sweet spot for me there, but it’s not as simple as just making everything miserable and hopeless. In this case, specifically, the lead-up to that ultimate failure is key; it’s gotta still feel like a superhero extravaganza, even as it takes an increasingly dark turn. The action works because it’s part of what we signed up for (the best camouflage for subversions of the traditional model), and it works because it’s all carrying the story forward - the Infinity War is comprised of multiple battles, and because of the way the pieces of the narrative are separated, the characters don’t know how any of the other battles are turning out; everyone is just trying to fight what’s in front of them and defend the stone in their midst, they don’t have the option to sit around doom-and-glooming and restrategising as news of each defeat comes in. Rather than dragging us wholesale from Point A to B to C in ever-escalating stakes and complications, the writers have had the good sense to spread things out and let things fall apart for our heroes (and the universe) in multiple smaller pieces until they reach a cumulative critical mass. Consequently, instead of feeling as though we’re sitting there watching things go from bad to worse, the audience forms this false sense of security in the action; it’s a superhero movie, after all. We expect them to work it all out in the end, to build toward a moment of apparent hopelessness (a darkest hour before the dawn), and then to rally triumphantly for the big win. As such, we perceive small victories (i.e. the defeat of Thanos’ various ‘children’, the creation of Stormbreaker, the way things draw out in the battle on Titan) as if they are more significant, as if they are signs leading us to that big win; without those small, expected victories, the ultimate failure would not hit as hard, because after two and a half hours of watching the good guys get wrecked without a chance, what surprise would there be in the snap?

Of course, plenty of viewers knew about the snap already or expected an ultimate failure of some sort based on the fact that we pretty much all knew that this was the first half of our grand Avengers finale (my mother, who is not a superhero movie fan, did not know what she was getting into and was...very shocked), so it’s important that the film still works to engage us on a character level so that the good guys losing in the end can hit like a ton of bricks even if you knew it was coming (and even though you no doubt expected to get the big win eventually, once Endgame came out). After all the fighting and the bantering, all the usual stuff we expect to see our heroes go through in the course of an average adventure, having them then watch their beloved friends/allies/whatever literally disintegrate before their eyes in a quiet, drawn out scene of devastation is a magnificent piece of cinema, communicating the shock not only of the event itself, but of the complete disruption to the superhero status quo. It’s not just that good guys don’t lose like this, it’s that they don’t lose with a whimper instead of a a bang. It’s not only that the cost of failure has never been this high; it’s also that they have never been forced to watch it play out with such inevitability; they have never before been rendered so powerless. If the entire film had the tone of the last ten minutes, it wouldn’t work so well, it’d just be a drudge and the audience would be desensitised by the end. By the same token, if the rest of the film had not planted the seeds of the finale so thoroughly in all its smaller losses and smokescreen victories, the ending would not be so horrifically fitting.

Neither, of course, would the ending be so affecting, if we were not as attached to the characters as we are. We have many, many films worth of history with most of them, or at least one solid encounter in which to become attached, and even in a movie chock-full of more characters than any other before, everyone gets a chance to show their personality and remind us why we care if they live or die. I’m not going to argue for this being an incredible character piece (nor is it pretending to be one), but it plays its very large hand very well, putting emphasis where it needs to be without overloading or unbalancing the story. As I noted above, I was particularly impressed with the way Thanos was handled, considering our exposure to him previously was very minimal and it was left up the this film to build his ethos as well as his relationships with his ‘children’ almost from scratch, creating complexity and simplicity without falling into the trap of trying to make the villain sympathetic; Thanos isn’t necessarily relatable (nor does he need to be), but he is understandable in that we’ve all probably encountered at least one person who holds the same limited worldview and is somehow convinced that they could ‘fix’ everything, given the power. Thanos isn’t actually aiming for universal domination in the traditional sense, and it makes him more disturbing and more realistic as a villain, because his evil is not nebulous or purely self-serving; he is a true believer, and his delusions have an all-too-familiar ring about them, so as we watch him lumber and pontificate around the story, we get a clearly-drawn image of someone possessed of such basic and humble flaws that he is - again, without being treated as sympathetic - quite significantly humanised, despite all of the non-human elements that make up both his character, and his situation. Even as it planet-hops and draws upon cosmic magic, the narrative is grounded by a centrepiece of plain, ungodly fallibility. 

Now, I recognise that in all of this praise for the way this film was executed, there isn't really anything to be said for it regarding the purpose of this blog; on the female representation front, it's not really doing anything (the fact that it juuust manages to pass the Bechdel and juuust over a quarter of its cast is female does not win it brownie points; its better than not having either of those things, but that's not a genuine achievement). The two female characters who were more prominently positioned in this movie are Gamora and Wanda; Gamora largely in context of her relationship with Thanos, and Wanda as Vision’s significant other and the means of his destruction. Notably, both women’s arcs are accessories to the arcs of male characters, which is not what we’re aiming for in good representation, though it does not exclude the possibility of quality content; Gamora’s role may have a lot to do with Thanos (not least, after he kills her), but it is still distinctly her own story, rich with emotion and coming to a surprising and depressing end which I felt struck the right chords to be compelling rather than an enraging disposal of one of the few female characters around (more on this after Endgame). Wanda’s presence leaves less of an impression, in terms of screen time, plot complication, and audience engagement, but all things considered I don’t think that was a terrible choice; Wanda and Vision’s relationship had been a somewhat sparse subplot in previous films and the chemistry was not strong, so I don’t think it would have been to the film’s benefit to try and expand on that relationship further than they did. As it was, there was enough there to sell the emotion, and nothing extraneous, and as much as I enjoy this movie, I wish I could say better things for its female representation than that. It is stuffed-full, and definitely not perfect, and space could have been made to pump up some of the other female characters’ roles more (the Earthbound characters get the least attention in the movie, and since basically all my faves are there it is a testament to how well this movie works for me that I enjoy it so much anyway, but a little more attention there would not have gone astray, especially since that’s where most of the female cast is). That said...I still really enjoy it, man. As far as popcorn action goes, this is top shelf.

#Marvel Cinematic Universe #Avengers: Infinity War #female representation #Bechdel Test #MCU

[leonkennedystuff]

not alone (leon kennedy x reader)

[RE4!Leon]

Summary: wherein reader finally confronts leon about ada wong 

Warnings: angst

Part 1 of ?

hi guys! so this is my first ever original Leon content! I’ve been obsessing over him since RE4 but the RE2 remake just breathed new life into my already unhealthy obsession. hopefully you guys enjoy this little piece and please, please do feel free to send me some writing requests ! I’d love to generate more Leon content on here! 

The tears you were trying to suppress felt intolerably difficult to keep from spilling, the stinging in your eyes threatening to cascade down your flushed cheeks and show Leon just how much sadness and anger was erupting in your heart.

The argument you both had snowballed into a full-fledged match; your voices were raspy and strained from how long they’ve been raised at each other, filling the apartment you shared. At no point, though, do you think this will stop soon. Not with how stubborn he was being. 

It was crazy - how only he can make you feel this loved but also this worthless. You wish he could stop hurting you - this thing, this same issue, over and over again. All you wanted was to break the cycle, having felt suffocated even by the mere mention of her name. 

Ada Wong. 

God, how your blood boiled - she just couldn’t stay away. But the fact that Leon seemed unable to do so either absolutely made you see red.

When their paths cross, it’s as if he forgets he has you - his girlfriend of almost six years. It made you feel insufficient, like you weren’t good enough to keep his attention from swaying. It broke your heart in ways words cannot even begin to describe; all you ever did was love him, as truly, deeply and selflessly a person can love another person. 

What were you lacking? What did she have?

“You’re being so unfair, (Y/N)! If you can only hear yourself!” He berates, running an exasperated hand through his already disheveled blonde hair. He was clearly worked up with the whole situation - pissed off at how largely the argument escalated and how he was unable to see where you were coming from. 

For the most part - truth be told - he thought you were overreacting, your jealousy clouding your better judgement. It was ridiculous that you felt disposable whenever Ada came up on your pages. 

Can you really be blamed though? Especially when the reason for this mess was when you found out Leon had been secretly conversing with her after coming home from his latest mission? 

It was like the world tilted on its axis when you answered the call and that damned woman’s seductive voice rang through your ears. His betrayal created a rift that was just continuing to grow; you couldn’t look at him without feeling a terrible stab in your heart and this overgrown fight was only making it worse.

If you hadn’t picked the phone up, would he have told you? How long was he going to go without telling you? 

Your head throbbed trying to think of the answer to your questions - of convincing yourself that it would be the answers you wanted even though the worst came to mind. 

Despite all this, he still didn’t want to disclose to you what they’ve been talking about.

“Unfair?” You grit your teeth, incredulous at what he had just said. “I’m being unfair, Leon?! How would you feel if I went behind your back!? If I was hiding secrets from you with another man?!”

He shuts his eyes harshly, distress prominent in his strong features. He lets out a frustrated grunt. “Why can’t you just believe me when I tell you that the information is classified!” He snaps, moving forward. 

Leon was always very level-headed and calm, but he couldn’t help his small outburst. This fight, far by the worst you’ve both had in the entirety of your friendship and relationship, was taking it’s toll. 

He brings his hands down on the white counter top, the kitchen filling with the sound of his palms connecting with the marble. You flinch at the noise before glaring at him, the dam behind your eyes finally breaking.

Before you could try to stop it, tears leak in streams down your face as your chest started to tremble. “Was it also classified not to tell me you were talking to her? Or did you just want no one stopping you?” You retort, your voice being its lowest and softest in nearly an hour but just as harsh. 

You swallow the huge lump lodged in your throat, your hands unconsciously clenching as you look away from the bewildered man. You breathe out, not wanting to look at him as you asked your million-dollar question. “If I hadn’t answered, would I ever have known?”

Heavy silence shrouds the room as Leon remains mute. You peel your gaze away from the polished floor and up at him. You blink to clear your teary vision but seeing your boyfriend’s angry demeanor change into a softer, more remorseful one - a fresh wave tides in. 

You knew him way too well to know just by his body and expression that the answer was no. He didn’t have to say anything, nothing at all. Your heart was already twisting.

With his anger reduced to non-existence, his face drops at the sight of you crestfallen, his guilt biting at him. He watches helplessly as a fresh round of tears run down your cheeks, he aches to wipe them away and just hold you - to forget about this stupid night. 

There are a lot of things in your fucked up reality that he hated and seeing you hurt would be at the top of the long list. He breathes out, disconsolate and defeated, “(Y/N), she saved my life countless of times,” He tries to explain, feeling pathetic. The fire in his voice as cold as snow now. “I owe her mine,” He says, barely above a whisper. 

Although you were still trying to let everything process, you knew that he was right there - she did save his life more than once and that’s something you’ll forever be grateful for regardless of how you feel about her, but that wasn’t the real problem here. 

There was something deeper, and you knew for a fact that it wasn’t a green-eyed monster of jealousy. It was another nasty beast lurking in the shadows and you just want to know what you’re facing already.

Your voice gives in from exhaustion and heartache, cracking at the start of your sentence, wanting to end this - no matter how it goes. “Leon - just be honest with me, please.” You urge weakly, your eyes beginning to throb from crying so much. You steady yourself, wiping gingerly at your face and holding it in your palms for a few seconds.

Lowering your hands, you felt ill just getting your sentence out. “Do you have feelings for her?”

It felt like another eternity that he was silent. When you hear him sigh slowly though, the kind before a bad news was going to be delivered, your blood runs ice-cold. You shake a bit.

“S-she’s like a part of me I can’t let go,” He finally confesses, finally tearing your heart apart. “But it’s you I love, (Y/N). You’d have to be crazy not to believe that.”

You barely heard the last part of his talking. Your face scrunches, like an invisible hand just slapped all the feeling off your skin. Your breath was painful in your throat and you felt like you were going to choke. You were light-headed, nauseated with the betrayal.

‘She’s like a part of me I can’t let go.’

Who would’ve thought?

You quickly gather up the last of your wits to will yourself to move, to walk upstairs and grab some clothes and leave the place with some shred of dignity- maybe for a few days, maybe never honestly. Where were you going to go though? You didn’t know either. You couldn’t think or function normal, not when you felt stripped of anything and everything. 

He loves you? If he loves you so much, he wouldn’t have caught feelings for another woman. A woman he met in a day while you, years before.

Once your body obeys your commandment to move, you swiftly turn for the stairs, not caring that you’ll have to pass him. Leon takes a frantic dash towards you, hooking his grip gently but firmly on your arm. “Wait, where are you going?”

Without looking at him, you pull your limb back from his hold. You try to ignore the wounded look in his beautiful blue eyes from how harshly you recoiled from his touch. “I can’t do this,” You croak, shaking your head. “I have to leave, this isn’t good for me or for you.”

“Leave?” Leon’s face blanches, his thoughts going haywire at the thought of you gone. You were leaving him? No, it can’t be. You can’t. He was a fool - yes - but he knew that the sun rose and set with you and you only. Ada - she was manipulative, but she saved his life more than once and they’ve witnessed hell together - their experience in Raccoon City set some kind of attachment between them. 

It was his fault, though, for letting that attachment cloud his vision at times of what was really important. You.

“(Y/N) -“ He starts but you cut him off.

“Save your breath, Leon.” You dismiss the conversation, approaching the staircase a second time. He follows behind you, alarmed.

“Let’s talk about this. Just calm down, please,” He stammers slightly, trying to keep his calm despite his racing heartbeat. “I’ll tell you what you want to know. Please, just stop.”

A momentary feeling of solace washes over Leon as you turn back to look at him. His chest, though, feels like a thousand pounds when he sees your purely heartbroken state.

“What is there left to talk about? I’ve heard your piece and I don’t need to be reminded that she’s some part of you you can’t seem to let go. You don’t know how helpless I feel, Leon, that another woman is living in your heart with me.”

“She doesn’t -”

You shut your exhausted eyes, repined and extremely tired of hearing his empty reassurances. “I understand that you’ve been through hell and back with her, but it’s been years since Raccoon and you still can’t give her up. That says more than enough.”

#leon kennedy #leon scott #leon scott kennedy #leon kennedy writing #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x you #ada wong #resident evil #resident evil 2 #resident evil 2 remake #leon kennedy one shot #leon kennedy imagine #leon kennedy preference #leon kennedy blurb #original #original content #claire redfield #mr x #chris redfield #sherry birkin #anette birkin #william birkin #umbrellacorporation #umbrella #resident evil imagine #resident evil writing #resident evil 4 #ashley graham #re2 #re4 leon

[stark-raving-strange]

This is a response to a post by @doctorstrangeaskblog

A prompt looking for :

Okay, seriously, I NEED a scene in which Stephen is fighting a bad guy and the bad guy avoids his spells and gets really close and scratches Stephen, ripping half of his top robes, so Stephen, since the villain is so close, simply punches their face really strong, making them faint, and all the other heroes who were fighting just stop and admire how strong and fit Stephen is regardless of magic

So here it goes,  not beta  but think mostly ok  hope it fills a need!

Read on AO3

Who Knew what was under the blue?

“Strange you good?”  Tony’s voice sounded through the com device in the sorcerer’s ear.

Stephen presently  hovered 50 feet from the street and  face to ‘face’  with one of the current representatives of an inter-dimensional threat.  Said representative was roughly the size of a small apartment building but  with a dozen more flailing tentacles each  tipped with razor sharp claws waving from its blob like body.  Just another day on the job.

Several of the Avengers team  were spread out in a wide circle around  the creature as the sorcerer attempted to keep its attention focused on himself.    

“I’m fine, thank you”,   he responded calmly.  All business.  “Just concentrate on your jobs everyone  and we can wrap this up and go home.”

“ Got it,”  Tony answered  “alright team, get ready to do the deed on  my signal.”   A chorus of aye ayes’ came over the shared com line and Stephen readied himself to do his part.    

The creature, identified as a Markkuah, was now surrounded by a dozen relic wielding Avengers.    When the being had first appeared they had initially met it with a brute force approach which  was quickly found to be extremely counter productive.  Thor’s initial enthusiastic attack on the being only served to enrage it and empower it further.   Any damage done by traditional or magical means only resulted in almost instant healing and a noted increases in size and power.  

Stephen and Wong were able to identify the creature and also it’s space of origin. Destroying it was impossible and  returning it to its home was the best and really, only option.  It could be portaled back now that they knew its place but it was surprisingly quick and could phase in and out making portaling very difficult.   The solution was a mystical containment field to prevent phasing and allow a successful portal to send it home.

Each member of the team now  possessed an enchanted sistrum which when shaken in unison would produce a resonance that would contain and neutralize the creature’s ability to phase allowing Stephen to portal it home. He also needed to be within the containment field to form the portal.  He hovered there keeping the beast occupied allowing the Avengers to do their part.

Stephen dodged a pair of flailing tentacles throwing up a shield and thn purposely presenting himself as a target.  He needed to keep the attention off the others for this to work.

He ducked another attack and swooped in close to basically poke the Markkuah’s huge single eye.   The creature wailed in anger and continued to try to swat Stephen from the sky.  

Strange steeled himself and muttered time to  get ready folks.   He  focused on  the Markkuah and called loudly “ NOW Tony!”

Tony quickly relayed to the team,  “GET SHAKING NOW!!!”  The metallic sound of the sistrums being rattled began  at first a cacophony but as the team synchronized their shaking the rhythm emerged.  The sound began to grow in decibels and energy. A glowing golden  power arced from sistrum to sistrum  surrounding Stephen and the creature.

Stephen heard Tony  on the com encouraging the team, “ Good job everyone, keep it going!  Stay on the beat and DO NOT STOP until the  wizard says to. I repeat DO NOT STOP FOR ANY REASON!!  We only have one shot at this!”

Now  came  the tricky bit.  Stephen needed to drop his shields to create the portal  timing was everything and he would be vulnerable.      He waited and watched for his opportunity and acted.

Strange took a breath dropped his shields and began forming the portal.

Of course it couldn’t be easy….the creature’s  head suddenly swung back and forth, its  oblong skull the size of tanker truck with protruding teeth and one large bulbous eye at one end. Seeming to sense the moment of vulnerability in its foe, the creature hissed and spewed forth a gushing stream of viscous slime directly at the hovering man.  

The sorcerer dodged but not in time to avoid a good portion of the projectile vomit and the fluid splashed across his chest.  Thankfully  the cloak had reacted and covered Stephen’s face before snapping back out of the way.    The burning sensation began immediately as the  acid like substance began eating  through his robes  a quick spell disposed of his affected clothing leaving him with a bare torso and a deep sense of indignation.  The Cloak agitatedly fluttered in sympathetic pique.

Stephen  heard Tony cry out his name over the com in warning but too late.

The momentary distraction had brought Stephen literally face to face with the alien and its gaping maw.  In a split second he found himself inside the foul smelling mouth turning and staring back through a cage of teeth.    Magic was not an option but pure rage had some advantages.  He could still hear Tony calling him as well as the unabated hum of the sistrums. Good still rattling,  there was still a chance!

With the Cloak at his back, Stephen concentrated, and focused on his own physical form energies and training.  With precise and powerful movements he began kicking at the teeth before him.  

Tony stared wide  eyed and  full of horror  up at the creature above him as Stephen disappeared into its mouth. .  Tony yelled for his lover even as he  continued to carry out the shaking of  his sistrum unfalteringly.   He hated this part intensely.

Despite the loud sound around them,  there was a moment of stillness that shattered as the creature roared in pain as its sword like teeth burst out of its mouth and rained down  onto the pavement around it.  A burst of red erupted from the Markkuah’s mouth as the sorcerer escaped and turned to deliver a series of powerful kicks to the alien’s face. The creature roared again and reeled back away from the physical assault,  The damage was already being repaired but the moment was all Strange needed.  The humming of the rattles was deafening  the energy intensifying.            

“NOW  ! “   Stephen’s voice boomed as he created a huge  glowing portal and threw it at the Markkuah.  The creature screamed as it struggled but was unable to phase to escape the fence of mystic sound.  

With a crashing sound the portal closed  and the sistrums vanished from the hands that held them.   

The silence was oddly very loud.   After a moment of held breaths and caution, a victory cheer went up and the team converged to meet in the center of the now creature free circle they had  formed.  

Strange took a deep breath and let it out in pure relief.  Success!  He looked down and waved at Tony who was safe and motioning him to come join them on terra firma..   The sense of relief was indeed strong and was responsible undoubtedly for Stephen forgetting his state of partial undress.   

He of course was also  not aware of the dramatic picture  he was making.  

Bare chested to the waist,  lean muscles taught and covered in a sheen of sweat, his head held erect  and  proud, his  hair a chaotic mess.   His broad shoulders straight as he gracefully descended.  His lithe powerful form framed by the majestic scarlet billows of the Cloak.

A series of whistles and catcalls loudly going up, truly confused him at first.   He stepped foot back on the ground and the whistles intensified and   as his team mates surrounded him he began to get it.  

“Wizard that was impressive!  You have obviously trained well in hand to hand combat!”   Thor clapped him on the shoulder.   “I see now that you work out as well.”  he actually winked and smiled appreciatively.

Stephen could feel a mortifying blush start to creep from his chest to his face. Shit.

“Yes, well done”  Natasha agreed and  gave Stephen a very thorough look up and down. “Yes,  very nice Doctor,” she met his eyes pointedly.   “Who would have ever guessed?”  she smirked starting again at his bare chest .   Stephen got the clear sense that it was not his fighting style she was commenting on.

Stephen sighed. Rolled his eyes  and good naturedly took the compliments and ribbing.   The Cloak was obviously either enjoying the teasing or was genuinely proud of the recognition Strange was getting for his skills and form.  Hard to tell, but it was not making any attempt at all  to shield Stephen’s modesty. Choosing instead to continue billowing majestically around him.

It was Tony who came to his rescue.  Sort of.  Suit retracted now, Tony came and stood next to him placing a possessive arm around Stephen’s waist.  “Ok all of you looky loos ,  eyes off, he’s mine.”   Oh gods Stephen mentally groaned as  his already cataclysmic  blush intensified.

 Tony continued, “What ‘d you think he was just all sparkly magic and brains?”  

Stephen hung his head and grunted.  

“Nope! This here is all hero, babies!  He is 100% hot  fighting man martial arts and muscles!    Yup! .  Eat. Your. Hearts. Out !”  he said triumphantly and patted stephen’s lean stomach.  

Chuckling and outright exaggerated AWWWWs of ‘disappointment ‘   rang out all around them.  Stephen knew his blush level was now volcanic and no doubt he was going to perish of embarrassment any moment now.  

Tony took pity at last .”OK gang.  well done!! Good days work.  Head out. Hit the showers.  Have a good night and we meet to debrief in the morning.”   As the group departed in different directions  Tony  tightened his hold on his sorcerer’s waist.  “ Let's go home babe, get you a bath.  I’m so proud of you but ….’

Stephen looked up questioningly  “But?

“As Hot and as absolutely capable in all ways as I find you at this very moment, and believe me you are the fucking definition of hot right now,” Tony’s face was serious but sympathetic, “ You reek of alien upchuck, sweetheart.”

Stephen barked out a laugh, “ I really do.”  he agreed as he formed a portal to the Sanctum.

Tony kissed his cheek as he  ushered them both through the sparking ring.  

.

#@doctorstrangeaskblog #doctor strange #tony stark/stephen strange #prompt fill #Ironstrange #a little #stephen strange #tony stark

[perfectirishgifts]

Perfecting Our Virtual Onboarding Process Has Helped Us Grow

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/perfecting-our-virtual-onboarding-process-has-helped-us-grow/

Perfecting Our Virtual Onboarding Process Has Helped Us Grow

Many leaders who were once skeptical about remote work have been happy to discover that the teams they have built are more than up to our present day’s challenges. The success of these teams to adapt and excel underscores the importance of hiring carefully and onboarding strategically. A thoughtful onboarding program sets your business up for success in the face of an uncertain future.

For small and medium-sized businesses like Ivy Exec, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to closely examine, experiment with, and perfect our virtual onboarding process. We have created hiring and onboarding processes through this unique time that we will build off of for years to come. Here are a few tips, pulled from our experience, that you can use to build a strong hiring and onboarding program that will set your business up for success in any circumstance.

Create a Goal-Oriented Onboarding Experience

Before we all went remote, a normal onboarding experience began with a general checklist of things to do, people to meet, and resources to explore each day. The checklist allowed a new hire to get the basic handle on the duties and expectations they would have and to get to know people. Virtual onboarding has meant that we’ve needed to reconceptualize this checklist to set up a new hire for success in a much more concrete and goal-oriented way. As our Chief People Officer Sara Farkas noted, “With virtual onboarding, you’re essentially talking about a person sitting at home, alone, possibly wondering what to do next and how to do it. They can’t turn to their neighbor or manager to check in and ask for guidance, so we need to give them the tools to tackle their day independently.”

The first step in optimizing our process was hyper-detailing the original checklist, breaking it down into an hour-by-hour schedule rather than a general set of items for the day. The idea here isn’t to micromanage the person’s time. We encourage them to accomplish what they can and rollover whatever they need to. The schedule does create a structure for a person who is in an isolated situation and may feel intimidated or embarrassed to “ping” their brand new manager repeatedly. It offers clear-cut instructions so that they can work as independently as possible while in such an independent setting.

Not only does the schedule clarify expectations, but our new hires have told us that it actually provided a sense of relief, making it easy for them to understand exactly who to talk to, what to do, and when to do it in a time when they’re overwhelmed with new information and isolated from others. For our managers, it also allows them to take ownership of improving onboarding for their teams. Are the schedules too much work? Too little? Are we covering all the training that a new person needs, or is something missing? Are the goals that the new hire is setting daily actually serving their development? Are they too easy or too difficult? Accountability helps us continue to iterate and perfect our processes.  

Empower Your Team Leaders to Play an Active Role

The schedule is just the foundation of a goal-oriented onboarding system. The second part of creating clear expectations and setting up the new hire to succeed involves ensuring that managers and team leaders constantly communicate with the new person, above and beyond what they would have been in the office. Team leaders are charged with communicating at a much higher level than they may have ever before in an office setting. For example, they set daily bookend meetings at the beginning and end of every day to assess progress. They are also responsible for introducing their new hire to other team members virtually, creating social connection opportunities such as virtual team lunches, and ensuring that other team members are proactively reaching out to welcome and assist the new person. Once again, this is a constant process of implementation and improvement, so we hold a monthly leadership meeting to assess how things are working and to adjust them as needed. Even before the 

For our VP of Business Development, Sam Lippin, whose team has grown rapidly during the pandemic, virtual onboarding calls for a renewed commitment from the team lead to the new hire’s onboarding. He explained, “I believe the core principles of onboarding are the same – you want to set up a new person to succeed in their role and develop in their career, but that the level of intentionality on the part of managers is different. I like to have as many video meetings as possible to encourage the new person to ask questions and so that I can be available to them. It’s tough, but you have to do everything you can to build a rapport virtually.” For him, losing those spontaneous office moments where you can welcome, assess, and encourage a new hire means that he makes sure to take the extra time and put in the extra effort to have as many video calls with the new person as possible. Sam emphasized the importance of actually having your camera on to build those personal connections.

Keep Culture as A Cornerstone

You can teach a person how to complete tasks, manage their time, and even excel in their work remotely. Still, the biggest challenge of virtual onboarding is making sure that new hires integrate into the company culture’s fabric. This kind of cultural onboarding usually happens pretty dynamically in person, and it was surprising to discover how challenging and yet vital it is for remote work. In many ways, the pandemic has actually been an opportunity for us to take a closer look at our culture and values and recommit to maintaining a vibrant organization that our teams feel proud to be part of. Creating pathways for new hires to virtually connect to this culture has been one of the most rewarding and productive ways to re-focus on what we want our company to be like. Part of this adjustment has come from the top. Our leadership team now invests more time and effort into connecting person-to-person with new hires and veterans alike. We now make sure to join in social events to have that facetime and be active participants in shaping the culture we are aiming for. For Jessica Wong, our accountant, who joined our team just as we went fully remote, facetime has been critical to helping her feel a part of the team. For her, “Ivy Exec made sure to encourage my curiosity, have the facetime on Zoom, and really set me up for success in my role. There was a learning curve all around, but the understanding and support from management have pushed me to be the best and most efficient employee I can be.” Mutual understanding, support, and connection helped to set her up for success.

Always Remember The Human Aspect 

Reflecting on more than 8 months of virtual onboarding, with its ups and downs, its challenges and successes, we all have come to agree that it’s human connection that serves as the keystone of successfully integrating a new hire. For Sam Lippin, in some ways, remote onboarding can be an advantage for adding a human aspect to onboarding, “People are different at home, they just are! You can take advantage of the privacy that this situation creates and get to know people as individuals more and even better support them.” While relationship-building has always been a core part of onboarding for Ivy Exec and a core priority for Sam, in this time of isolation and even loneliness, Sam has noticed that the effort to create a more personal connection is more appreciated and meaningful than before. For our Business Development Manager Christian Ortez, who joined the Ivy Exec this fall, that feeling that the team has “opened its virtual doors to their homes” has made all the difference. It’s created an environment where he feels not just safe but excited to share his ideas and work with his new team to develop and grow. He explained, “Meeting colleagues through Zoom and getting to know the faces behind the emails and pings helped establish a real sense of camaraderie. Shadowing was in the form of screen sharing, and it felt hands-on.” He has never met any of us in person, but because we made human connection a core value for onboarding, he feels that sense of belonging and buy-in, which is so critical to employee success.

Conclusion: Virtual Onboarding is a Growth Opportunity 

As a business currently crossing the small to medium-sized threshold, we’ve found there are actually growth opportunities that remote onboarding has created. For Sara Farkas, our Chief People Officer, it’s created a chance for onboarding to become a collaborative process – where the new hire and our managers offer regular feedback on what is working and what they need. After all, remote work and onboarding are new to all of us, and so the openness to improvement is openly expressed by both sides. She stresses that clarity of purpose and a commitment to mutual buy-in are critical to any virtual onboarding program, “Make sure to explain to everyone, from the team lead, to the team members, to the new hire from day one why you have created the onboarding process in the way you have.  Lay out to each person at each level what part of the onboarding process is critical for each of them to own.  When everyone has really clear expectations and understands the purpose, there is much more buy in and commitment to the process.” Over the months, this feedback and collaboration have helped us create a more documented and more scalable onboarding process than we have ever had before. 

For our senior managers and executives like Sam Lippin, this experience has reinforced the importance of ensuring we hire agile and resilient people. He summed up how virtual onboarding has helped him make stronger hiring decisions as well, “What I want is someone who is asking questions, who’s not afraid of reaching out, someone who comes to work every day and gives it their all and tries to maintain a positive attitude throughout. Things are not perfect right now, and they’re different than they were, so the person has to be agile and resilient while onboarding. The process is different, and it’s continuously changing, but what it comes down to is whether the person is flexible and able to work with what’s thrown at them.” These kinds of team members will help us to grow now and in the future.

For myself, as the CEO, perfecting our virtual onboarding process has offered the chance to re-evaluate and re-center our company culture as a living, breathing, and vital ingredient for success. Being outside the office has allowed me to take a higher-level view of our strategy and culture’s role within our growth goals. It has also been a reminder that my own investment in our culture is crucial. I would advise leaders in companies of all sizes to take the time to ensure that they are personally cultivating the type of culture that will support their team and their business. The time and effort you put into this now will carry over when COVID-19 ends and translate into strengthened operations and a hardier company overall. Most of all, I encourage companies struggling with their virtual onboarding strategy to prioritize serving their team and their new hires as people first as a foundation for success.

From Careers in Perfectirishgifts

[phooll123]

Ulan Bator? A ship at sea? The logistical nightmare of picking a venue for Trump to meet with Kim Jong Un

In less than three months, President Trump is supposed to reset history by becoming the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a North Korean leader. But there’s still one key omission in this momentous undertaking: where they will meet.

Mongolia and Sweden have offered to host the president and Kim Jong Un, the 34-year-old ruler Trump calls “Little Rocket Man.” Seoul advocates the “Peace House” between North and South Korea. Beijing could get its chance as a global mediator. There’s always neutral Switzerland, where Kim attended public school. How about a ship in international waters? Why not Guam?

Let’s face it: This isn’t a typical situation. Kim hasn’t stepped foot outside North Korea since taking power in 2011. And yet a Trump visit to isolated Pyongyang portends logistical chaos. It’s difficult enough when he’s in New York.

The two leaders spent recent months vowing to destroy each other; these are not men for quiet, understated events.

“Both have a flair for melodrama and grand statements and big stages,” said Euan Graham, director of the international security program at Sydney, Australia’s Lowy Institute. “The whole point of this is to gain attention.”

Here’s a look at potential sites:

WASHINGTON

A view of the White House in Washington on Oct. 9, 2015. Susan Walsh / AP

Optics matter when it comes to planning historic events. North and South Vietnam argued about the shape of the negotiating table during the 1968 Paris Peace talks. (They settled for two square tables separated by a round one.)

Kim aspires for the world to see his country as a peer to the United States, and he may view a trip to Washington as proof.

“Every North Korean leader has wanted to meet the U.S. on equal footing, and being recognized in the U.S. is the highest level of recognition,” said Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, who studies North Korea.

Trump, as a presidential candidate, did say he would consider inviting Kim to the U.S. to discuss nuclear weapons over hamburgers. But even if Kim feels safe to travel, North Korean airplanes don’t cover long-haul distances. He would need to take a foreign aircraft.

“I don’t think Kim would want to travel too far and leave his home without its sole leader for too long,” said Duyeon Kim, visiting senior research fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum, a nonpartisan think tank in Seoul. “But, who knows, they’re both such unconventional leaders, they might shock us all. The location is everything for optics and optics is everything for politics.”

PYONGYANG

Soldiers in tanks take part in a military parade on April 15, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Wong Maye-E / AP

Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter both visited the North Korean capital to sooth relations, although not while in office.

A presidential visit to Pyongyang might give Kim greater legitimacy, an aspect the Trump administration aims to avoid. And presidents don’t travel lightly. His security detail would need to do advance work and figure out how to secure a city few diplomats can even visit.

“Can you imagine Secret Service running security in Pyongyang?” said Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. “Can you even do that in 10 weeks?”

A NEUTRAL COUNTRY IN ASIA OR EUROPE

A Swiss flag floats above the Rhone's valley in the Swiss canton of Valais on March 4. Fabrice Coffrini / AFP/Getty Images

China, North Korea’s only ally, has hosted negotiations involving the reclusive country before. A meeting in Beijing would allow officials to keep tabs on decisions.

North Korea’s former leader and Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, visited the country on several occasions. Trump also likes President Xi Jinping, whom he calls “a good man.”

But China irked Kim by agreeing to United Nations sanctions and denouncing the country’s development of nuclear weapons. Xi on Monday met with South Korea’s top national security advisor, not a North Korean official.

“I don't believe China is eager to insert itself into a high-stakes, high-risk event that so far involves a lot of impulse decision-making and little strategic planning,” said Yanmei Xie, a China policy analyst for Gavekal Dragonomics, a research firm in Beijing.

Former Mongolian President Ts Elbegdorj tweeted an offer to meet in his country, “the most suitable neutral territory.” Mongolia shares friendly relations with both countries, but may lack the grandeur the leaders seek for the occasion. Does anyone know where Ulan Bator is?

Some analysts are pulling for orderly Singapore, which coordinated a 2015 summit between Xi and Taiwan’s president at the time, Ma Ying-jeou. “It’s a neutral venue where both could be happy with the security, and it would be organized and run very reliably,” said Graham, the Lowy expert.

Europe, a traditional meeting place for never-forget summits, offers further options. Sweden communicates with Pyongyang but also stands in as a consular office for Americans in North Korea. Neutral Switzerland is where Kim spent part of his youth.

But Kim, a man who hasn’t left his country in seven years, would need to travel nearly a day to reach these locations. The southeast Russia town of Vladivostok is closer. His father, after all, was born in a Russian fishing village — one of the few other countries where the elder Kim traveled.

Expect advisors to Trump -- who is caught up in an investigation over Russian meddling in the U.S. election -- to scratch that one off the list.

NO MAN’S LAND

In this 2011 file photo, North Korean soldiers stand guard inside the building shared by North and South Korea at the truce village of Panmunjom. David Guttenfelder / AP

That leaves the most likely choice: the “truce village” of Panmunjom. Top officials from North and South Korea plan to hold their own historic talks there in April.

The Peace House, where Trump and Kim would likely meet, sits in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas and rings with symbolism. This region, now a line of division, was the site of the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War.

The DMZ challenge “is whether the setting is grand enough for the president and Kim Jong Un,” said James Kim, a research fellow for the Asan Institute for Political Studies in Seoul. “It’s very Spartan.”

South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju is another possibility.

The dilemma over location underscores the precariousness of the summit, Kim added. “People don’t know the answers about how, and if they don’t know, then how is it really going to happen?”

Meyers is a special correspondent. Twitter: @jessicameyers ALSO Whatever comes next, North Korea's Kim Jong Un can claim a win against Trump North Korea offers to freeze nuclear, missile tests for talks with U.S., South Korea says Can negotiations create a nuclear-free North Korea? Don't bet on it

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[michael-fuller]

Top 20ish Songs of 2017

My favorite time of year — end of year favorites lists! Let’s do this thang:

20. Thundercat - Show You the Way - Thundercat is super weird. Guy played bass for a thrash/punk band, then worked with almost everyone in modern hip hop, and now has released his own album of jazzy R&B? I can’t explain it. This is a smooth soul jam featuring Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. Great place to start off the list. 19. Robert Randolph & the Family Band - I Thank You - I got the chance to see Mr. Randolph and co. at Prospect Park in Brooklyn this summer with my buddy, Ross. The show was part of their tour promoting their latest album, with this as the lead single. Cory Henry teamed up with them on this tune and it’s a doozy. Hold onto your hats, kids. 18. Good Old War - The River - We were fortunate enough to be graced with new stuff from Good Old War this year, and although not a full album, it still packed that Good Old War punch. Tight harmonies, positive feel: this is a quintessential GOW song. The guys were also nice enough to come through Brooklyn in August and put on, as always, a fantastic (sing-along) show.  17. Pokey LaFarge - Riot in the Streets - No, this song was not released in the 50s. I caught Pokey by chance at Bonnaroo a couple years ago and he was great. This is a fun one. 16. Son Little - Bread and Butter - I’ve been #TeamSonLittle for a few years now, and was really excited to get a new album towards the end of summer. I hate comparing, but this album didn’t quite do it for me the same way Son Little did in 2015. That said, this song is up there in terms of my favorites of his altogether. The chorus is just too much fun to bop around to. I’m sure that’s what he was going for when he wrote the song (is there a way to type in sarcasm? Asking for a friend). 15. The Regrettes - Juicebox Baby - in-yo-face rock and roll. This is one of only a couple bands on this list I’ve yet to see live, but it sounds like they’d be a lot of fun. Maybe they’d even provide juice boxes. 14. The Teskey Brothers - Pain and Misery - I’ve always been a sucker for heart-wrenching soul ballads. This one fits that mold and then some. Apparently white boys from Australia have soul. Now you know. Here’s a live take to further prove: 1) white, 2) Australian, and 3) soul. 13. Brad Goodall - Casa De Mel - I believe I came across this one on a Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify. I hesitate to say it’s a goofy song, but it’s fun each listen and feels good. 12. Cory Wong - Work It Out - For the last couple year end lists, I’ve included something from Vulfpeck, or a project from one of the Vulf members, or both. This year’s first Vulf crew project to reach the list is from Cory Wong, the guitar player that’s been touring with the band since 2015. Cory put out a great funk record this year, and this one is a favorite of mine. Vocals provided by another Vulf crew member — Antwaun Stanley. Vulf waters run deep. 11. Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White - Look at What The Light Did Now - A fun, indie, sorta-poppy song. Warning: this will get stuck in your head. Quickly. 10. The Lone Bellow - Is It Ever Gonna Be Easy - The Lone Bellow released their third studio album this year, and they always find a way to reach out and grab me with at least a few songs. This is one of those. 9. Strand of Oaks - Rest of It - Another loud, in-your-face rock and roll song, straight outta Philly. Now go eat a cheesesteak. 8. The Dawn Brothers - Get Down the Road - These guys were another Discover Weekly list find and I’m so happy for whomever created that algorithm on Spotify. This whole album is a home run and a half. 7. Theo Katzman - Hard Work - Another Vulfpeck member making the list on a solo project! Theo’s was the first new album I listened to in 2017, so it had an advantage over all others in that I could spend more time with it. This was the lead single and I needed to look no further to find a song to hit my year end list. His album is absolutely beautiful, and I highly encourage you to check it out. He runs the gamut of genres and incorporates some absolutely gut-wrenching lyrics. Do yourself a favor and check it out. 6. Gabriel Garzon-Montano - Sour Mango - Grooooooooovy R&B. I can’t put my finger on who/what this guy reminds me of; his stuff is so unique. 5. John Moreland - Love is Not an Answer - Another gut-wrenching ballad, but this time it’s a folk song. I got the chance to see him in Brooklyn in November and it was one of my favorite shows of the year. The video above is a live take since YouTube doesn’t seem to have the studio version. And no, your ears are not deceiving you: this is not Bruce Springsteen. 4. Jonny P - Good to You - Silky. Smooth. Soul. If you like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, etc., this is the song for you. Dig this. 3. Dan Auerbach - Waiting on a Song - Basically any time Dan releases music, it will be included in my year end list. He just gets me. Past inclusions were with The Black Keys and The Arcs, but this year he teamed up with some Nashville folk legends and released an outstanding Americana record (my favorite album of the year). It was tough to pick a favorite, but the title track is more than deserving. I caught Dan this summer in Brooklyn with my buddy, Charlie, and it was easily one of my favorite shows of the year. 2. John Mayer - Moving On and Getting Over - we FINALLY got new John Mayer this year, and it did not disappoint! John did this thing where he released songs from the album in “waves” (groups of 4), rather than a single at a time and the whole album in one shot. This was the first song from the first wave, and I was actually afraid after hearing it because the bar was set so high. The rest of the album is pretty close to this level for me, but this song just grooves from start to finish. From the first time I heard it in January, I knew it would be in the conversation for song of the year for me, but then this happened....... 1. Hiss Golden Messenger - Domino - I caught Hiss at Boston Calling in May, and he hinted at a new album later in the year. This song jumped out and grabbed me from the first listen and I haven’t turned it off since. I want to take a road trip and listen to this song on repeat, but so far I’ve had to settle for listening mostly on the subway. I was so enamored by this song that I went to see him again in December in the city, and liked the show so much that I went again the next night. This was a great year for Americana, and Hiss Golden Messenger led the way for me with this jam. In the spirit of sharing, here’s a few other songs I was thinking about including but couldn’t because there are only.....20 spots.....in a top......20.....countdown.....

Bay Ledges - Safe — indie pop Beck - Up All Night — indie pop Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - Freakin' Out — rock & roll Chris McClenney - Pearl — soul/r&b Gabriel Garzon-Montano - Crawl — r&b John Moreland - Sallisaw Blue — Americana/blues Theo Katzman - Plain Jane Heroin — just beautiful