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giorno-plays-piano · 3 years

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No Mercy

Pairing: Bakugo Katsuki x thief!Reader

Warnings: non-con, yandere, sex pollen, minor depiction of violence, threats, stalking, allusion to kidnapping, both Bakugo and reader are adults!

Words: 2388.

Summary: Obviously, you have chosen a wrong night to rob that electronics store.

P.S. Yay, this is my first BNHA story!

By the way, there is absolutely no real science in this fic, please don’t bully me for it ahahahah

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Oh dear, it was getting worse.

That morning you had a feeling you better stay home tonight, but your rent wasn't going to pay itself, so you still went out to rob that ugly little electronics store you stumbled upon a few days ago. Now you were being chased by one of the most popular pros, Ground Zero, and saints, you really hoped to keep all your limbs attached to your body: the guy was mad.

Really, you weren't such a villain he had probably pictured you to be. Your job in the cafe wasn't paying well, but with no education whatsoever it was hard to find something else, especially since that big makeup store you finally got yourself in went bankrupt after a villain attack. Your dad wasn't the one to help you stay afloat either, so, with that odd Quirk of yours, there was just one thing left to do.

With a loud sound of something exploding to your right, you jumped in the narrow back alley on the left and prayed Bakugo to at least bring you to a police station instead of finishing you off here. Seriously, who he thought you were? Someone from the League of Villains, huh? You were miserable enough trying to evade his punches, and your knees were already trembling as you were reaching your limit.

Shit, now you'd have to use that embarrassing Quirk of yours and hope it will do something decent.

Despite your Quirk manifesting itself when you were 4 just like everybody else, you were so ashamed of it you did all you could to never bring it up or use it. How embarrassing was it to have an ability to produce animal secretion right out of your hands? One time you had literally sprayed skunk defensive secretion in the class, and after that you had been called a Stinky Girl for the rest of your school days. Damn, even remembering it now was making you ashamed of yourself.

Of course, your control over your Quirk was miserable. You struggled to predict which secretion it would produce, hoping it would be something distracting enough for a hero to let you go, but oh boy Ground Zero didn't seem like the type to be scared of skunk's spray.

Staring at the dead end, you were ready to laugh hysterically - that is, if you had any time left, but Bakugo had already grabbed you by the shoulder and yelled something offensive in your ear, ready to put you down to the ground. Well, it was now or never.

Within a second you took off your black glove you'd always worn on your missions and slapped hero's cheek, leaving an angry red mark on his pale skin. The next moment you were on the ground with a very, very mad Bakugo hovering over you with such expression as if he was going to murder you in cold blood right now.

Apparently, your Quirk was useless, after all. Preparing for the worst, you stared at him, wide-eyed and trembling like a leaf, your hands up defensively to prevent him from harming you. In the end, you didn’t even steal anything as Ground Zero stormed off in the store.

But he didn't hit you. Actually, he didn't do anything at all as you stared at him nervously. He just... stood there with a grimace on his face and did nothing at all.

Oh, was it something new? Did you Quirk finally prove itself useful for once? It was a damn miracle.

"What did you do to me, bitch?" He suddenly barked, and you saw his cheeks slowly getting red as if the temperature went up all of a sudden. "What the fuck is this?!"

Shit. Civet oil. Of course, you couldn't even make some decent quantity to make him repulsed, so now all you got was a completely opposite effect.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?"

Hiccupping, you got up just as he seemed to lean closer to you, so you ended up smashing your forehead against his, and both of your groaned. Although you fell back again, in a couple of seconds you were running for your life with Ground Zero being unusually slow somewhere behind you. Oh shit, now he was going to fuck and kill you. What a nice day you were having.

Struggling to keep running - you didn’t even understand at what part of the city you were now - you were getting out of breath, but you no longer heard Bakugo behind your back, and it was certainly calming. Did civet oil make him slow? You weren't sure what exact effects it had except for the most obvious one. Maybe you got lucky, for once. Maybe he'd let you go just this time, and you'd do your absolute best to find a decent job and stop robbing people. Well, you weren't even robbing regular people, just snobby store owners who'd get their money back with an insurance, anyway. You had never hurt anyone physically! Why treating you as if you were some dangerous criminal?

Whatever. Ground Zero was nowhere to be seen, so you simply landed on the ground in one of small filthy backyards in a shady part of the city. Oh boy, what a run. You thought the guy was literally ready to kill you.

The cold wall you leaned on didn't feel pleasant, but it was better than staying on your feet with your knees trembling and heart beating so fast as if you ran a marathon. Yeah, to think of it, you definitely could call it a marathon.

As you finally took off your mask and wiped your face with your palm, you heard a low growl somewhere to your left, "I'm gonna fucking break you, woman."

Shit.

Scrambling to your feet, you tried dodging him but you were no match to a real pro, especially someone as good at combat as Ground Zero: you ended beneath him within a second, painfully slammed to the ground as he cursed at you, pulling your hair. Apparently, this was the end of you. The civet oil only made the hero more enraged instead of distracting him.

"Ah! It hurts!" You whined at the hair pulling and heard a dangerous hiss above you.

"Do you think this doesn't fucking hurt?"

It was impossible not to feel his obvious arousal, his painfully hard cock pressing against your lower back as the hero suddenly sniffed your hair, then making some weird noises while trying to undo his pants. Nononono, you weren't having this, you'd gladly accompany the hero to the police station where they'd cuff you and put you in prison but not let Ground Zero have his way with you.

"Get off! GET OFF!"

Your attempts to throw him off were futile, and soon he was pulling down your own pants, "You did this to me, didn't you?! So be a good girl and maybe I won't fucking kill you."

You bit down on your lower lip, your hands bound together with his belt.

Huh, there was no other way.

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You came back home around 3 am completely exhausted, dirty and hurt, but it was still better than being thrown in prison after a long Interrogation in a police station. Ground Zero had finally taken some pity on you after all he'd done - oh it hurt, it hurt so bad in between your thighs because you hadn't been in relationship for long, but the hero was neither patient nor gentle with you. It was a miracle he actually let you go after this miserable incident somewhere in the outskirts of the city. Was he at least a little ashamed at what he did? Did he feel any remorse? Although it certainly didn't seem like, maybe he let you go because of it.

"Or he was just afraid to deliver me to police in such state," you chuckled grimly at yourself, grabbing first-aid kit and trying to do something with all these bruises and bites. You still had to take your 10-hour shift in the cafe today, and you could barely imagine how you were going to survive.

Of course, you only slept for a couple of hours before you had to get up: that morning you put so much makeup your boss would definitely scold you, but it was better than showing up with a face of a zombie. Of course, everyone managed to see how you winced while walking. Thank god you were able to convince them of your fall yesterday's evening: you actually only worked half a day as your boss took pity on you and let you go home.

Shit, it was time to put an end to your night adventures. You'd better find one more job and work a whole night long than live through this one more time, humiliated and hurt.

By the time you got home with a grocery bag in your hand, you felt like all you were going to do today was falling down on your bed and staring into the ceiling for hours. It still hurt. It was still embarrassing to remember what he did to you. You still wanted to slap him real hard and then yell at him at the top of your voice.

Funny enough, you actually had a chance to do all that since you found Ground Zero dressed as civilian sitting on your couch.

For a couple of seconds you froze on your place, unable to believe your eyes. What the hell was he doing here? What, yesterday's wasn't enough for this bastard, was it? Did he come to make you even more miserable?

Despite fear rising in your chest, it was soon replaced by fury mixed with disgust: who did he think he were to just break into your apartment like this? You might be a thief, but even you had the right to be delivered to police and then wait till the court decided upon your punishment. Nobody had given Ground Zero permission to rape you or follow you like some sick stalker!

"You live in some fucking hole." He grumbled as he saw you walking much slower than your usual pace, and you thought it was guilt you saw on his face for a mere second.

"Welcome to a fucking hole, then." You hissed at him in return and put your bag on the floor while taking your shoes off and wincing from pain. "If you came to finally take me to a police station, let me put food in the fridge, at least."

Not that you'd need it after your arrest, but the thought of leaving the grocery bag on the floor and let the food rot made you nauseated. You detested throwing away food with all your heart.

"Food? You call this food, huh?" He was already peeking inside the bag and scrunching his face at the sight of cheep noodles and gyoza.

"Yeah, we call it food here, rich boy." You let out a growl, mad at his attempts to make you feel humiliated even more than you already did.

He clearly didn't expect such treatment from someone whom he had taken advantage of so easily, and for several moment the man had a perplexed expression, unable to believe you were so brave despite the fact your knees were trembling. He probably thought it was a facade, but you didn't care. All this wouldn't end well for you, anyway.

"I'm not rich." He sent you a glare, and you felt like laughing in his face.

"If you don't have to steal to pay your rent, you're rich."

He grimaced but said nothing at all as you went to the kitchen, dragging the bag with you. You wondered if he felt sorry for you, but you didn't want his pity. Not from the one who did this to you. In fact, the only thing you wanted from him was leaving you alone.

Besides, you kept thinking why on Earth wasn't he dressed as a hero if he came explicitly to take you to a police station? Heroes like him loved showing off, you were sure. Why did he come like this? If he thought of repeating yesterday's night, you'd fucking stab him in the groin with a kitchen knife.

"So, how many heroes have you fucked like that?"

You felt a sudden urge to stab him right now and barely kept yourself away from a box where you kept cutlery. "I do three heroes a day and three villains at night," you growled at him, disgusted with his attitude, "what, didn't you feel it when you were raping me?"

Your reply took him aback, but he recovered quickly, "Who was raping you, silly woman? You did it to yourself!"

"Yeah, I've always dreamed of being taken by some sickening, primitive hero in a dirty alley, that's more than any girl could ask for."

Huh, apparently, cat got his tongue: Ground Zero stared at you, unable to believe your words. What, did he really think you loved being treated like this? Did he have any idea what making love was? Anything about normal, adequate relationship between a man and a woman? Maybe you weren't the most law-abiding woman in the city, but you were still a decent person, and the fact that Ground Zero expected you to manipulate him into raping you was repulsive.

"Listen, just hand me over to police already. What are you waiting for, Ground Zero?"

All the food was long put in the fridge and kitchen cabinets. Staring intensely at the man who shouldn't even be here, you crossed your arms over your chest, expecting him to drag you out of the house, but when he stepped closer to you it felt suffocating. Shit, the fear was coming back when you saw his expression darkened, his red pupils dilating when he grabbed your arm above the elbow and pulled you to him. Was he really going to do this to you?

You expected him to snap at you, but when he spoke he sounded strangely cold and collected.

"First, you will call me Bakugo from now on," he voice was dangerously low, "Second, I haven't come all the way here to bring to a fucking police station. You will come with me, do you understand?"

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I didn’t put my regular taglist here since it was only made for Marvel fics, but please let me know if your want to be on my BNHA taglist, too!

#bakugo katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugō #bnha bakugou #mha bakugou #bnha #yandere

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steebtiny · 4 years

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As an adult ballet beginner I don’t understand much about the intricacies of ballet technique. Could you please give me an explanation of the Stepanova clip?

hi! lasylphidedubolchoi and goodgolly-missmolly88 both posted videos of several kitri’s over the span of a few decades from the bolshoi and mariinsky. watch those videos and watch stepanova again. the difference should be pretty obvious. ballet-symphonie also answered an ask about examining a dancer’s technique and performance quality.

i’m no expert but from my limited knowledge from taking classes and watching ballet: not only does stepanova struggle with her technique, her arms, epaulement, upper body and overall performance are just... bad. her arms are all over the place, she keeps throwing them around with zero grace or coordination. her step-over pirouettes (aka lame ducks) lack control, she literally flings herself around with enough speed and momentum that she doesn’t fall but there is no real control. had she attempted krysanova’s rond de jambe after the step-over pirouettes, she would’ve lost her balance and fallen over. her runs en pointe are unmusical and unaccented, she’s often ahead of the music. and her sissones, oh my god, are horrendous. she doesn’t have the explosive power to push up against the ground, so she has no elevation or ballon. they also don’t make a pretty picture in the air, with her front leg almost perpendicular to the ground and not enough cambre. her pointe work is sloppy and slow. she dances as if she just ran a marathon. sure feels like it for all dancers but kitri shouldn’t be tired, kitri is an energetic and joyous character and one should never appear exhausted in ballet.

good dancers kitri’s like krysanova and tereshkina actually articulate their pointe work, which is supposed to be done fast and sharp with clarity. the accents in their movement work with the music. they actually JUMP with elevation. their epaulement are harmonic (notice how during stepanova’s preparation (and the entire variation), she thrusts her arms up and down completely straight, she tilts up her head too much but doesn’t incorporate the movement with her chest and torso. her feet are in a... questionable position. don q is a demi-character ballet but it doesn’t mean you can abandon all classical ballet rules or technique.) most importantly, they make it look effortless, that all the tricks they did in under one minute haven’t made them feel like dying.

i find it easier to focus on particular parts of a dancer one at a time when i want to analyse their performance. watch stepanova’s feet closely. and then pay attention to her arms and upper body. kitri is just not stepanova’s role, she should never have gotten it in the first place. i hope this helps!!! feel free to correct me if i got something wrong, i’m writing this at 4am lmao.

#ask #yulia stepanova #don quixote #bolshoi ballet #ballet #me

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snazzyo · 5 years

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In praise of J2M’s handling of the decision to end Supernatural

Supernatural has always been special. And the way that they managed the news of the shows ending is another example of the care and skill they bring to the Supernatural experience. This decision could have rolled out in so many different ways or different times that would have been much more devastating. But it’s clear from start to finish, the boys deftly managed this announcement in expert fashion. Long ass post - skim the bold for the gist.

Ways that showed careful attention to managing o this decision:

They unambiguously ending it versus the CW or the WB. This is a victory for the show, for fandom, and for the boys. And J2M didn’t just randomly make a decision. At some point this past year, they started to believe it was time to end. But in order to make it a #SPNFamily choice they had to have some things fall in place and they had to time when they let people know in order for this to be a ‘choice’ rather than ‘cancellation’. Specifically:

They had to be renewed. And renewed for 20 episodes. This means the CW was prepared to continue at the ratings level they had achieved. Once that happened, then J2M could take over the narrative. Timing: renewal followed the traditional timeline of late January - which would give TPTB enough time to rewrite the last 4 episodes into a series finale if they needed to. This has been a consistent pattern since S4. The last time they totally flew off the cliff without a net was S3 (bless them!).

They needed to time when they told Dabb & Singer. I’m pretty sure they told Andrew around the 31st of January - when CW made the renewal announcement. Some have made a case that this decision happened earlier and Andrew’s absence on Nov 16th (300th party) was related to him hearing S15 was ‘the end’ news. BUT I'm thinking they did not share - or maybe hadn't even cemented the idea yet. First, it would really dampen the mood. Second, they wanted renewal. Any hint of hanging it up at that party would have been hard to keep quiet. Too much press. Too much alcohol. So, I can't totally get on board with a final decision at that point. Even if the boys were seriously talking about the remotely sad -- so they weren’t certain they were going to end at that time. These guys are good actors but not robots. I think it would have shown. BUT Andrew had to know how to shape the last 4 episodes of S14 (again end of January). Which means the boys would have provided him the information that they were going to wrap in S15 and he should target the last 24 episodes as supporting that eventuality about that time.

Either the CW was prepared to let the boys decide on duration or they waited til relatively the last minute so that the CW didn't restructure a shorter season. I'm torn on this one. Pedowitz has been respectful of the boys BUT there's definite bad blood on not picking up Wayward Sisters -- and the fan backlash. If Pedowitz did know early enough to weigh in on duration, he only did it for the boys. Not the CW and not the fans. He was visibly pissed at the fans backlash on Wayward Sisters. And I'm 100% certain that him sticking the knife in the back of any other spin-off (which he did last fall by saying Supernatural is just the boys and he doesn't see another spin-off) is because Warner Brothers financial deal was not what he wanted. Never underestimate the grudges that develop after failed negotiations (which is what the Wayward Sisters was -- it was all about the money). So, I'm inclined to believe that Pedowitz knew before the announcement but not as quickly as Dabb and Singer did. The boys were more likely to hedge their bet here. THEY controlled the narrative by how they informed key players.

They strategically timed the public announcement - literally the DAY of the wrap party. This accomplishes two important things for the crew.

One, the crew WILL get new jobs but this gives them a full year to line up something new. Some will jump early, some will jump no later than pilot season. Others will go sporadically based on their intent. The point is that they have a rich portfolio to show and time to show it off to prospective bosses.

Second, they gave the cast and crew to have one big happy cry-off/celebration. The boys both stayed this year - which hasn't been the case in a while. The party was immediately after the announcement - which meant they could have the bulk of the crew there before they headed off to various summer activities. And some now won't come back (as they leap to other jobs). So it was a maximum crew party. If there's one thing I'm confident of, it's that J2 understands they hold the livelihoods of so many in their hands. You really couldn't have asked for a better handling of the end announcement from a crew perspective.

They clearly informed key recurring cast members before they made the announcement. This is a fitting professional courtesy to a trusted few. Especially the ones that were likely to come back on the show. So Speight, Benedict, Rhodes, Buckmaster, Connell, Smith. Those guys knew for sure. And knew no later than SPNNash. But maybe not much earlier. If these people were going to get a pilot during pilot season, their recurring role wouldn't have stopped them.

Unambiguously, Misha was always part of the discussions IMO right from the jump. He would have been engaged in the actual debate about what to do with J2 and when. Because while it may be J2's show, Misha is IN that circle of trust. He has a large dedicated fandom, he's got a huge international charity. And they just love him dearly. Seriously, they ran a marathon cause he asked them to. IMO if Misha needed more time, they would have given it to him. But that's not Misha. He has zero sense of entitlement.

But this also lets the recurring cast have a private freak-out because the show IS likely their primary professional income stream. Veterans like Benedict & Rhodes have already been taking other gigs but the conventions mean big dollars too. It's a nice testament to their friendship that they told them personally and early.

I think JDM was the exception. I think Jensen told him that this was a real possibility before he signed onto the 300th. I don't think they had made the final decision that early (pre-Christmas) but they were leaning that way.

The timing and approach of the public announcement ALSO massively helps the the fandom - They truly care about fandom. They understand this is going to be actually life-changing hard for some. But with this timing/approach they optimized it as best they could with a staggered process.

We get four more episodes this year while we are 'actively engaged'. Versus some announcement during Hellatus when there's less folks on line. It shifts our view of the last four episodes.

It's done right before a massive con (SPNLV) where Jensen will sing (always a treat). So it's really good pacing for us. We get to react to the news and then hear MORE detail from them. This is also the con that is broadcast via Stage-It. Could be coincidence. Maybe not.

It keeps Comic Con a celebration not a bummer. We'll start to 'wind up' versus be crushed.

The announcement was a 1+1+2 strategy. I don't know if they realized that. They said one positive (yay! S15), they got immediately to the bad news (it's the end), and then followed up with at least two positive statement (we're excited, this family doesn't go away). Maybe it's instinct but it's a tried and true method. (Full disclosure: 2+1+1 is the classic method, but I think they knew the jig would be up as soon as they started talking on the video so they ripped off the Band-Aid quickly).

All which leads me to the following speculation:

When they signed the S14/S15 contracts, they were prepared to walk away then. It wasn't how they would want to end it, but they were going to prioritize family time. Note: the timing of when they were 'asked back' was much later than I think they were hoping. Based on things both Jared and Jensen said, I get the impression they were hoping to orchestrate the next two contracts earlier than Nov 17 (when they were 'asked back'). They had been talking 'mini-series' or other event-like content. I think understanding when/how they have leverage was informed by this relatively traditional November 'ask back' and this shaped how they went about the end announcement strategy. But the 20 episode contracts with clearly more time off was both a necessity and a bit of a test -- would it hold up with that level of involvement?

I think they really expected Wayward Sisters to be picked up. They thought crossovers with Wayward would help make a two-year transition smooth. That they didn't get picked up, that Pedowitz crushed any spin-off hopes was significant in how they played the S15 decision. Without Wayward, a S15 was necessary to give the crew time to land elsewhere IMO. That also includes writers, producers, and recurring guests. But the unexpected failure to pick up Wayward DID shift some storylines early in the season. I think there is literally NOTHING left of Wayward tie-in after mid-season. Except for a general "they exist in offscreenville' commitment. As mentioned elsewhere Kathryn Newton was gonzo right away. Yadira is on an Apple show with Jason Mamoa. Kim has had guest appearances on other shows. Briana has music going and probably actively looking for work for the last year. The other 3 are back in the hopper, looking for acting gigs as far as I can tell. And I honestly think Berens still has a gaping chest wound from the loss of his hopes and dreams. I think Dabb has moved on but also feels the loss. But without Wayward, the boys lost their structured soft ending for Supernatural. Maybe something pops up later (a special or movie) but that's dependent on how they end the series. We won't know if it's even viable until 2020.

They are truly ready to move on. They've been prepared since Nov 2017. I think they were open to more (under the 20 episode, less time contract terms) but they sense "now" is the time. It could be the storylines, it could be the fan reaction to their less involvement (which has been understanding but generally unhappy), and it could be a variety of things. Unless they say something specifically about the ' why now', I think it's fair to say they didn't see enough momentum to make it extend. Hence the 'go out on a high note'. I'll be shocked if they ever criticize anyone or any story specifically.

Bottom Line: They brilliantly played the hand they were dealt. It's so nice to be part of a fandom where the stars put such a priority on taking care of others. It's why I buy in, completely, on the #SPNFamily concept.

#supernatural #spn ending

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nobodies-png · 5 years

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modern!au is a CONCEPT. bless y'all. could u do some hcs for modern! roxas, ventus, vanitas, xion, and sora + having a disney marathon w/ their s/o? like what movies they pick, do they sing along, r there snuggles, what snacks are brought, etc. (pls feel free to add any other details u want. i love lil details.) (this might've sent once already, my page refreshed. if so, sorry!) hugs & kisses!

o this is such a wholesome prompt, thanks for sending it !

Sora :

You’re looking at the Disney King himself. He knows a shit ton of movies and almost every song in existence so you bet your ass he’s gonna sing. And you’ll probably tag along too, his enthusiasm is just so contagious - hell, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the lyrics, just sing whatever you want to the rhythm of the song with him !

He’ll b e g you to watch Big Hero Six and the Lion King movies with him. After that, you can choose anything you want but just p l e a s e let him watch those, they’re his absolute favorites. Also, remember to keep some napkins around cause Sora will cry no matter the movie, the messages just hit d e e p and he’s just a softie. Just snuggle with him for a bit and pat his back while he just stutters about how cool the movies were, he’ll eventually stop with the waterworks.

You know what ? Sora probably has a lot of Disney merch. If you guys are having a disney marathon, you’re gonna do it properly. He won’t hesitate to prepare his entire house just for this movie night - building a pillow fort in the living room so you two can chill comfortably, hoarding a lot of snacks and like a thousand popcorn bags, wearing his Stitch onesie (and probably lending you his Winnie the Pooh onesie if you’re up for it !)

Like the whole concept could feel childish, but not to Sora ! He grew up with Disney and he holds those movies very dear to his heart, so he’d be so happy to know that you’re willing to pull an all-nighter with him ! You’re never too old to enjoy these things.

You know Sora would suggest inviting absolutely everyone, but he won’t complain if you wish for a more intimate date. That’s fine with him too ! The two of you would have such a fun time and then pass out in the pillow fort at like 4 am.

Vanitas :

You know those people who are like “Pffft, Disney is overrated” ? That’s Vanitas right there. The guy looks like he’s fueled by kicking puppies and being a generally mean jerk - but you know better than that. Vanitas has zero knowledge about Disney cause he was never interested in cartoons as a kid so he simply assumes it’s bad. It’s up to you to show him the real deal.

At first he’d be against the idea of having a marathon. The guy can barely pay attention to class or hold a normal conversation and you want him to just sit there and watch movies ? U n b e l i e v a b l e. Are you singing ? Please stop, no singing allowed in this house, no he doesn't want to be part of your world, plEASE SPARE HIM - Accepts in the end just to avoid doing homework. He’d let you pick whatever movie you want, but if he were to choose, he’d probably go with the Lady and the Tramp, Treasure Planet or any Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

No one will be able to wipe off that shit eating grin off your face after seeing Vanitas go from constantly talking over the movie, critizicing everything, teasing you for being so childish to just being dead silent, completely absorbed in whatever movie you two decide to watch. Feel free to catch him off guard with a smooch here, he’ll probably have a hard time processing what the fuck you just did cause holy shit did you see Hercules beat Hades' ass?

If you introduce Vanitas to the whole conspiracy theory about all Disney movies being related, you better be ready for 3 hours of him just rambling about the posibilities. Now THAT’s something that interests him. The movies would just be background noise as you two just talk away into the night, probably in the kitchen while preparing some weird food combination cause you two ran out of snacks.

If you expect Vanitas to admit that he was wrong and that Disney was, in fact, something pretty cool then you better sit down, honey. The closest thing you’ll get is him just stubbornly saying that “he wouldn’t mind spending more time with you, watching movies for kids.”

Ventus :

Ventus is a casual fan. The type that just knows the old 2D princess classics because he grew up with them, but just slowly lost track of what the hell Disney was doing. Like he probably didn't even get to see the Princess and the Frog - But's all good cause he's eager to see your favorite Disney movies !

If you make him choose a movie to watch, he'd go with the safe choices. Stuff that he knows like Snow White, the Little Mermaid and Cinderella. I can see him loving Pocahontas, Moana and the Three Musketeers, though.

If you want to pull an all nighter to watch as many classics as you can, he won't stop you and he'll try to stay awake with you (and pass out a little after midnight, lmao) - but he'd insist on taking breaks cause looking at a screen for over 6 hours straight can't be h e a l t h y.

Ventus would gladly cuddle and snuggle with you - and he'd also love to sing along, but the poor dude doesn't really know any of the lyrics. Solution ? Just put on those good subtitles and there you go ! He'd love to sing Aladdin's A Whole New World with you or just any duet. You two would get so into it that your neighbours would propably have to knock on the walls a few times so you'll lower your volume.

If you ever mention your favorite (s) disney character(s), you can totally expect Ventus to show up one day unnanounced with a plushie of them, just for you. Consider this his way of saying thanks ! And also apologize for passing out so early - he'll make up for that inviting you to yet another movie night with him.

Roxas :

Another casual fan, but the complete opposite of Ventus. Roxas never got into 2D Disney as a kid and he's more into the 3D additions like Brave, Coco or Frankenweenie. He's also that type of controversial fan who actually enjoyed the liveaction remakes of the old classics.

But don't get him wrong, he's still a r u t h l e s s critic. Roxas gets bored pretty quickly with movies that have such obvious and bland plots and twists that he can see them coming from a mile away. I see him being more of a Pixar fan, just quoting Shrek in his usual deadpan voice on a daily basis. Roxas' brain in a 1000 heartless fight : "and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they-"

If you want to watch movies with him, prepare to discover Roxas' more sassy side - the guy just can't hold back all these funny remarks and jabs at Disney Fairy Tale Logic™. "Oh good for you Gaston, trying to send your crush's father to a psychiatric ward just so she can pay attention to you is SUCH a powermove. You should've dated Lefou instead -" "Do you think Ariel's daughter was born with a mermaid tail or legs? Imagine the monstrosity -".

In the end you two wouldn't even pay attention to the actual movies, since you'd be too busy mocking and impersonating every character and just rolling on the floor laughing your asses off. Your snapchat and instagram stories would be filled with videos of each other doing dumb stuff, calling out all the tiny mistakes as if you two were CinemaSins.

In the end, this Disney Marathon would just turn into a weekly movie night where you two just watch everything and anything. Sometimes it's fun and goofy, and sometimes you two actually get into the plot and discuss all the h i d d e n lore. Roxas would feel super special to have this little new tradition with you.

Xion :

Xion is the definition of a Disney Princess. She absolutely loves every princess movie and you bet your ass she screamed when all of them appeared in full 3D during Ralph breaks the Internet. Like she's a natural romantic and a dreamer at heart, so all the fairy tales just get to her, always tearing up during the climax of the movies.

Ironically, most of her favorite Disney movies aren't princess related : Aristocats, Peter Pan, Tangled and Brother Bear. Xion is that type of person who just points out all the similarities between her friends and the characters. Like Kenai and Kods's bond remind her of her and Roxas' friendship with Axel, Saix reminds her of Randall from Monsters Inc, Kairi is totally Lilo and Aqua is Nani - You get the idea !

Even if you suggested the idea of a Disney Marathon, Xion would just plan the best course of action and take the lead almost immediately. She's just so excited to be able to spend this night with you that she wants to make the most of it ! Snacks ? Check. Netflix and other sites to see movies ? Check. A shit ton of blankets and hot cocoa ? Check. The perfect partner ? Check.

Xion would do her best to not break out into fullblown singing - mostly out of respect for her roommates and neighbours, but you'll definitely hear her hum along and mutter the lyrics under her breath. And if the song is catchy enough, she'd love to pull you in for a dance !

At the end of the night, you two would be exhausted but content. Probably giving up on seeing all the movies, just listening to a disney playlist on Youtube while you two do stupid and silly Buzzfeed quizzes like "What Disney villain are you based on your aesthetics" and such. Xion has trouble sleeping, so you'll most likely end up falling asleep on her first. She'll stay awake till sunrise, taking a few sneaky selfies with you peacefully sleeping by her side.

#kh headcanons #sora #vanitas #ventus #roxas #xion #anonymous

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universetwo · 6 years

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[Monday to Saturday] Chapter 2. - Wonwoo’s Counseling Day

Chapter 1 ✧ Warmup Post ✧ Masterlist

Still recovering from yesterday's adventure, it takes a while for me to get up from bed. Thankfully, I only have classes in the afternoon so I still have time to get ready. When I slowly step out from my room, I notice Joshua hyung on the couch, staring blankly in front of him.

"Hyung, what's going on?" I ask him while I rub the sleepiness away from my eyes. He is still looking at the space in front of him, not turning towards my direction.

"I'm thinking about closing the Christian club," he sighs and finally looks up at me. "There are only two people in the club. Me and the girl from my Asian history class who I'm pretty sure is actually Buddhist. Which I have nothing against, of course. But I keep wondering why she wants to be in the club."

"Oh I wonder too," I say sarcastically but Joshua hyung just doesn't get it. We all know that girl has had a crush on him ever since high school. It's just amazing how he has a zero clue about it when that girl basically follows him everywhere. "But is it that hard to get more people in the club?"

"Yes, it is. I put up so many fliers around the hallways and even in the café I hand them out to people. But nobody is interested. Do you remember when I stood in the freezing weather outside the café to play on my guitar and sing Christian songs? People just threw snowballs at me…" he complains and I pat his back as I pass by him on my way to the kitchen. I pour tea for Joshua hyung and myself and I join him on the couch.

"I know it's hard but you should not give up. Maybe you need to find some other methods," I shrug but he shakes his head. He sips his tea then looks at me with his deep doe eyes.

"Wonwoo-yah, I tried everything. The only thing I can do is force them into the club but that's not nice!"

"Hm… maybe you can. But in a kind way." I say while suddenly getting up and running to get my laptop. "You know there are a lot of people who do not behave well in the library. They either trash some place or destroy textbooks. Some even went against the main rules of the library," I explain but I can still see the confusion in Joshua hyung's eyes.

"Okay, but how does that come to my problem?"

"I give you a deal. I guess you don't really have a place for your club meetings, am I right?" Hyung nods slightly. "And you don't even offer food for the people who come?"

"Well, it's really just the two of us…"

"True, but you need to give something to these people. So for one, there is a room on the third floor that is a conference room for professors but they only use it in the early morning. But on the afternoon, you could use it. And people who go against our library rules can be punished by going to your club. What do you say?"

"Wonwoo, I don't think you understand. This is a Christian club! This is not for punishing people but the opposite and what if they are not even Christian?" Objected Joshua hyung but I waved my hand around.

"You don't understand. These people are wrong, they are going against our rules so they should learn how to behave and how can they learn that? Well, through God! And wait for the best part, Mingyu can bake cookies!" Joshua hyung by this point has enough of my shit but I truly feel like I could make this plan work.

"And just why would Mingyu bake cookies for us? And for free?"

"Of course. That boy loves to bake and he has to practice for his culinary club. He wants to open his own café one day, so I think he would be up for this. Trust that to me. But listen, so do you want me to write to my boss about it?" I ask him seriously while he puts his head down and gets deep into his thoughts.

"It's worth a try," he sighs then I start to type the email for my professor.

Then comes a sudden knock on the door and since I'm writing the email Joshua hyung stands up and walks over to the door. When he opens it, I can immediately feel the negative energy floating in the room. With a loud thump, lethargic looking Hansol gives out a deep sigh. I feel like there is too much sighing in the room today and it's still just 10AM.

"Okay, now what's your problem?" I ask, looking up from my laptop. Hansol looks at me with eyes that look like as if he is about to tell me my cat just died. But I don't have a cat, neither does he.

"Hyung, I am a failure," he replies then he buries his head in his hands. I look at Joshua hyung, who suddenly is not the most lost person in the room.

"What happened?" asks Joshua when after two minutes Hansol still hasn't continued with telling his problem.

"I failed one of the most important essays that I had to write for my class this semester. If I fail this then I'm probably going to get a really low grade at the end of the semester and… that is not going to look good for my major," he says while still having his head in his hands.

"Come on, we have all been there but we all recovered from it," I brush it off and I scoot closer to my dongsaeng to pat his back.

"Well except for Jeonghan who had to retake an entire class just so he could continue with his major," says Joshua hyung and I give him a look.

"I don't think that's helping," I tell him and he looks confused. Hansol in the meantime raises his head up and looks at me with sad puppy eyes.

"I want to change my major," he declares.

"That's a good idea. If you don't like philosophy then why should you suffer through it?" I ask and he nods.

"But I don't know what I could change it to… I'm quite confused."

"We have all been there at one point in college. And you know what I did?" Asks Joshua hyung from Hansol who looks at him with high expectations.

"I turned to God and I found confidence in my path," he replies and I try to hold back my laugh.

"Hyung, you know I don't have a problem with God, but at this point now I feel like I need to take things into my own hands and I can't just sit around waiting for an answer from him," says Hansol. I look at the clock hanging by the door and I realize I have one hour to get to my class. And I haven't even dressed up yet.

"Okay guys, maybe you should go and discuss…" I want to say but the door suddenly opens and a zombie looking Seokmin walks in. I guess Joshua didn't close the door when Hansol came in.

Seokmin looks like he just ran a marathon and with sweaty clothes, he lays down on the other couch and starts sobbing.

"I feel like I should write on the door, "Jeon Wonwoo's Counseling Clinic, everyday open at whatever the damn time you want to bother me not caring about that I have to go to class," I say while I go up to Seokmin who probably didn't even get what I was saying.

"Hyung, what's wrong?" Asks Hansol before I can.

"I asked out the girl I had a crush on but she just laughed in my face," he sobs and I look at Joshua hyung and Hansol who look concerned. Well, it is definitely not a good day today.

"Is Seokmin hyung here?" Runs through the door Seungkwan who is a bit out of breath.

"Yeah, he is here, dying," I say and I notice I only have forty minutes left. I leave to go to the kitchen to prepare some food for myself.

"He texted me that he is going to come here so I ran from our dorm. Hyung, are you okay? Was she really that mean?" Asks Seungkwan who sits down on the floor just so he can face Seokmin.

"It's not enough that she took the position I wanted in the Student Council but now she also breaks my heart and embarrasses me," he sighs.

"It's really mean of her just to laugh in your face. Are you sure you said the right words and that you didn't misunderstand something?" assures Joshua hyung but Seokmin just simply nods.

"Her face is just burned into my memory. I will never forget how she looked at me," he replies then he turns on his stomach and buries his face in Joshua's Sponge Bob cushion.

"I think it's time for you to quit the Student Council," says Seungkwan while patting his back.

"No way!" I yell, which makes all of them jump and even the bread falls out of my hand. "You need to get yourself together. She is a mean girl for laughing at your genuine feelings like that so you should not let the evil win. You need to get back on your feet and go into the next meeting as if nothing happened. Trust me, if she sees that you are completely fine even if she rejected you, then she might think about you differently," I advise but I don't know if my words came across.

"I'm home," I can hear Soonyoung coming through the door. "Wait, why are you all here and why do you guys look like you are preparing for a funeral?"

"It all started with Joshua who doesn't know what to do with his Christian club, then Hansol came in who is probably going to fail his class and wants to change his major but has no idea to what, then lastly, Seokmin just came in with a serious heartbreak and Seungkwan is here to console him," I explain while I quickly try to consume my food. "Oh, and none of them care that I'm going to be late for class."

"I see. The situation is worse than I thought. General Jeon, from this moment General Kwon will take over and will try to mend all broken hearts and minds. So go on and leave." Soonyoung says with a serious military-like voice. I chuckle then I give him a high five and I get back to my room to change. After ten minutes I enter the living room and the chaos is just the same. Seokmin is still sobbing, Joshua is telling Hansol about God but Hansol is having enough of it, Seungkwan is arguing with Soonyoung about what Seokmin should do. But this is just a regular day in our dorm.

In this chaos, I forgot totally about what happened last night in the cinema. In fact, I only get reminded of it when Mingyu texts me and sarcastically asks how is my imaginary girlfriend doing. Sometimes I wish messaging apps would have a feature where you could get your hand through the screen to the other side to be able to hit an annoying person. But then our world would become extremely violent.

What I can do is just to ignore for now. I want to text him something mean but I realize I need to hold back my fingers if I want him to do a favor for Joshua and his club. I need to be nice to him.

I have a Financial and Behavioral Economics class followed by a shorter class about 19th-century British authors and their works. My area of concentration is fiction so I get to read a lot of classic novels from around the world. I do find my economics classes interesting, but there is something about these writing/literature classes that are a bit more captivating. Only if they could help me with writing the script. But for that, I would have to take a film class.

After I'm done with my classes, I meet up with Mingyu and Minghao who are sitting in the café where Joshus usually works. Today he is off, so we don't get any free leftover pastries. Mingyu is working hard on a design that he has to do for his class. It's a logo for a company that the professor made up. While Minghao is looking at the A4 sized photographs that he developed today for a project. I just take out my laptop and sit there quietly, thinking about the changes I could make in the script.

"Mingyu told me you have a girlfriend, but he started to laugh so I didn't really understand what he meant," Minghao speaks up once Mingyu goes to the restroom. I sigh deeply and imagine hitting that tall crazy guy.

"I don't have a girlfriend, he is just being stupid," I say but Minghao looks at me like he wants to hear more, so I continue. "Yesterday I went to the local cinema because Jihoon gave me keys to one of the screening rooms. He said I should watch some romantic movies in order to get an inspiration for the script but there I met some weird girl and now they think she is just imaginary and I made up the whole story."

"But why would you do that?"

"Good question! Finally someone with a brain," I exclaim and Minghao laughs.

"Oh right, I just remembered. I talked to one of my classmates about the script and she said she can help. She is in most of my film classes as her major is film production. Actually, one of her majors. The other one is history. And she likes to write novels and short stories in her free time. She said she would be happy to help and she wouldn't ask for anything in return," tells me Minghao and suddenly I feel a huge pressure just got lifted up from my shoulders and I can breathe.

"That's amazing Hao! I really want to talk to her. Do you have her number?"

"No, not yet, but I can ask tomorrow or when I see her," he smiles and I feel happy that he is doing this for me. He is just amazing.

When Mingyu comes back I explain to him The Joshua Project.

"So you want me to bake cookies just so more people can come to hyung's club?" He makes sure he understood well and I nod.

"I think that's a good idea. And it's nice of Wonwoo hyung for being so considerate about Joshua's situation," says Minghao and I smile at him. I feel like this sweet boy is always on my side.

"No, Wonwoo hyung sure can be a nice person but he is weird. I'm certain there is some bigger motivation in it for him," looks Mingyu at me with squeezed eyes like as if he is trying to see through me.

"Ah, come on. I just want some bad kids to be good kids. They need to go through soul cleansing and Joshua can help with that," I wave my hand and Mingyu gives up, for now.

"I mean I like baking and sometimes you have enough of trying my creations. So it's good to get a new audience. Tell hyung that I'm in it and he should let me know when he needs them," adds Mingyu and I nod in agreement.

After our short meet up in the café, I had to the library for work. I meet with my boss and we discuss Joshua's club situation. She agrees that it would be nice to have better regulations at our library and she likes the idea of a Christian club, especially as she is Christian herself.

I'm reading the assigned chapter for one of my Economics class when the small bell on the circulation desk in front of me rings. I look up to see Junhui with a huge box of fried chicken.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I ask but he just swings the box around.

"Let me in," he says, then I open the little door for him so he can come behind the desk. He pulls up one of the high stool chairs where my boss usually sits and puts the box on the desk. He gives me a pair of chopsticks and some napkins and motions towards the food.

"You must be hungry," he says and he is so right.

"I am but one of the rules is that we cannot eat in the library so…" I try to protest but he shoves some chicken in my mouth. When I taste the well-fried food I immediately forget about the rules.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," he says as he is chewing. He swallows then he cleans it off with some iced coffee then he turns to me. "I know you often see me in this situation and sometimes I'm afraid I act mean towards you when you just try to stand on my side and help me." He starts and I quietly continue to eat as I don't know where he is trying to go. Thankfully my boss left already so we are not going to be interrupted by her. Junhui doesn't always open up to me. Sometimes weeks go by if not months between more heart to heart conversations but when he does open up, I can tell that too many things piled up inside him and he has to let them go.

"The thing is, I like to tutor students in Chinese because I have a sense of confidence. I also like to help them and it's great when they respect me and thank me for helping them. You know, I don't ask for money. I tutor them for free. Yet, there are people who aren't thankful, instead, they stab a knife in my back with insults. And because they don't anything know about me, the only way they can hurt me is by insulting my nationality." He explains and I nod at his words. "It makes me sad because generally Chinese and Korean people had a somewhat good relationship in the past. Especially when they were facing Japan's imperialism. And I know this because I learn about it during class. But some of these people who are in my class and I help them with Chinese, are still being ignorant and they just go on to hurt me. But I don't think it's about me being Chinese and them being Korean. There is something more to it," he concludes and he sits there quietly for a couple of minutes to eat again and drink from his coffee. I feel like he kind of wants me to tell him an answer. But with all honesty, I don't really know.

"Junnie, to tell you the truth," I start after I finish my chicken, "I don’t think I have been bullied before, at least not to this extent. And because I know you well, I know you are a good person so it doesn't make sense to me why anyone would hate you. After Minghao and Seungkwan, you are definitely one of the kindest and selfless people I know. Sometimes you might be bit weird, just like me, because you like to be on your own, spend time in your own bubble, and do some really random stuff. So maybe that can be a reason…" I try to explain but I don't even know if what I'm saying makes any sense.

"So they bully me because I'm different?"

"Yes…"

"But Hansol is a bit weird too and you too."

"That's true but Hansol is still a freshman so not a lot of people know him. Besides he is half white so people often think he is an international student from Europe or something. Although he had been bullied before for not being Korean enough but that was in high school. And with me… I feel like people misunderstand me. They are scared of me because I have a cold expression on my face especially when I'm being quiet, deep in my thoughts or when I'm tired. So people might be intimidated by me. Which is not that bad at least they don't bother me. But I also don't really have a lot of friends other than you guys or my online gamer friends. And all the girls who approached me in the past they did it for my looks and not for my personality," I tell him and it takes a few seconds for him to process what I was saying. Not because of the language barrier, because Junhui is quite good in Korean. But because it's a lot to process. Even I'm thinking about it if it makes sense.

"Wonwoo… so what I can do is just stay like this and let them bully me?" He asks and his expression just doesn't seem right. I start to worry more about him.

"I think you should be you and people should accept you for who you are. If anyone wants to bother you, let our bodyguard Seungcheol beat their stupid asses," I say to light up the mood and he does laugh a little.

"There is this girl… she is in one of my history classes. Her name is Luna. She is also weird. I like to talk to her because she gets bullied often too so she gets what I go through," he says and I'm getting more curious as I haven't seen him being involved with a girl before.

"Is she Chinese also?"

"No, I don't know. She is definitely not. She speaks perfect Korean but I don't know her real name. Even the professor calls her Luna. I feel like everyone knows her. There are some people who like her, but there are others who really don't. And it's because she is weird too," he tells me and I want him to keep telling me more about her. It makes me curious when he says she is weird. Like in what sense? "Oh, I have to go." He suddenly says and jumps off from the stool.

"Thanks for the food and please try to cheer up," I encourage him and he nods with a faint smile. "I'll try. Thanks for listening to me," he says as he shakes my hand.

"Of course, anytime," I say and before he can go I decide to be more expressive with my emotions. "Junhui, you should know that you can always count on me and the others. We like you just the way you are. And… we want you to be happy and accept yourself," I conclude and he nods. This time his smile is wider and brighter.

I watch him leave the library and I sink deeper into the chair. I feel a bit exhausted after this conversation because it sucks when you just can't cheer up your friend who has been hurt by so many students. And none of it makes sense… Junhui is a good guy who works hard, he is smart, he is funny and kind. Yes, time to time he can be a weird little guy but that's part of his charm. God, if people would have heard my thoughts they would think I have a crush on him.

At 10PM when I'm done with work, I head home. I think about how last night I met this mysterious girl and how now everyone thinks she is just a made up story by my imagination. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if it would be true. Sometimes I shock myself with my vivid imagination, especially when I'm writing a story like that. But she felt so weird and somewhat familiar. It's hard for me to get her out of my head. Is it attraction though or just the fact that she is so mysterious? I don't think I have seen her and known her enough to develop attraction but when she did say my name my stomach did twist a little. But I quickly wave the thought of her out of my mind.

When I arrive in the dorm, I see the chaos disappeared. It's actually too quiet so I become suspicious. But as I head deeper in, I see Seokmin sleeping on our couch while Joshua is reading his textbook and Soonyoung is typing something on the computer. I start to laugh when I see how he types. It always makes me laugh.

"Get out you shit head!" Shouts Soonyoung when he notices me laughing.

"Sorry but even my mom types faster than you, what are you doing?" I tease him and he throws a pillow at me but he didn't notice it was the Sponge Bob pillow which Seokmin's head was resting on.

"Ouch," says Seokmin as he was woken up by Soonyoung.

"How is your broken heart doing?" I ask, sitting on the armrest. He slowly gets into a seating position.

"Thanks for reminding me," he sighs.

"Sorry I thought it would be hard for you to forget it, anyway."

"You are right though. Well when you were gone with a loud argument Soonyoung and Seungkwan came to that conclusion, I should hold my head up high and don't show how hurt I am," he says and I roll my eyes.

"That's exactly what I said then why did they have to argue?"

"Because I thought Seokmin should go again and ask her out," said Soonyoung while he was still typing with that ancient way of his.

"That's a bad idea. I mean she laughed at him so it's pretty clear she doesn't want anything from him," I shrug and Seokmin nods.

"I know this interaction was pretty clear. No misunderstandings," sighs Seokmin and I pat his Seokmin's back.

"I trust your judgment on it," I say then I walk into my room to change and play some games before going to sleep. It was definitely an eventful day again.

It made me feel important in a way. I was able to listen to some of my friends’ problems and even if I don’t share mines too often I like to listen to theirs and give them advice. Although it’s not like I’m a life expert, I read a lot of books and many of them are nonfictional and I like to observe my surroundings and keep my eyes and ears open. So I guess it does make me somewhat experienced in life. Maybe that’s why they come to me, but regardless, I just want to help them. But when it comes to my problems, who will help me?

#seventeen #seventeen fan fiction #seventeen au #seventeen scenario #monday to saturday #timi writes #wonwoo #seungcheol #jeonghan #joshua #junhui #soonyoung #jihoon #seokmin #mingyu #minghao #seungkwan #hansol #chan

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ngochasarchive · 3 years

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There have been many posts recently regarding first years striking out with investment banking recruiting.

Now that we are nearing the end of the recruiting cycle, I wanted to provide an update on a prior post that was incredibly helpful for investment banking and Cornell Johnson hopefuls, linked here

'20-'21 was an undoubtedly challenging recruiting cycle for all involved. Not only were fewer firms across the Street recruiting, but the sheer uncertainly resulting from COVID-19 lent itself to much more conservative recruiting decisions, both in terms of headcount and selection. That being said, I believe Johnson held its ground and placed a significant number of investment banking hopefuls, on par versus prior year.

IB Opportunities

Nearly every firm runs a structured recruiting process on campus. Firms that came to campus this year, in no particular order, include: GS, JPM, MS, BoA, Citi, CS, UBS, RBC, Wells Fargo, Evercore, Lazard, Moelis, Greenhill, Guggenheim, Jefferies, Houlihan Lokey, Cain, MTS, Piper Sandler, Simmons Energy, Baird, TD, Greentech, Marathon Capital, and Harris Williams. We also placed at Rothschild and Miller Buckfire. Several firms that did not run processes this year include DB, BMO, William Blair, and Barclays. Classmates also received round 1 invites at PJT. As mentioned last year with respect to Goldman, some of these firms that don't consider Johnson a "core" school will cut 50-60% off the resume drop and maybe extend 3-4 round 1 invites. Johnson students placed into top groups at their respective firms.

The (Virtual) Process

The process can be largely broken up into two phases: Phase I includes on-campus interviews, briefings held by the banks, and on-campus networking. Phase II includes hours of Zoom/phone informationals and coffee chats. The process was a bit accelerated this year given the late start. Phase I kicked off a few weeks after orientation and lasted until the last week of October. Phase II ran until winter break in mid December. During Phase II, candidates were allocated 8 hours of interview slots to meet with 4 banks each week. While under normal circumstances, there would be logistical challenges of meeting with more banks each week, the virtual environment enabled candidates to meet with as many firms as possible any hour of the day. At my peak, I met with 15 banks in one week with coffee chats beginning as early as 6:30AM and as late as midnight. The virtual environment enabled candidates to cast a wider net. There are explicit instructions on where you need to be, what technicals you should be prepared to be asked, what emails to send, who to send them to, and even what specific time to send the emails. Each week, you may be cut from certain bank’s processes depending on your performance the previous week. Performance could entail a tech-screen, behavioral interviews with alumni, informationals, and all the other soft-skill interrogation that is par-for-the-course during IB recruiting from any MBA program.

While I had the benefit of not wasting 10 hours per week traveling to and from NYC, the process was absolutely exhausting. On any given day I had 2-5 hours of informationals + class. Sunday nights, when banks inform if you've been cut, can be demoralizing, and being on top of your technicals, recent transactions, and firm knowledge is mentally draining. Serious candidates were lucky to sleep 5 hours per night and were on the recruiting grind 7 days per week.

A large reason the process is so exhausting is the extremely high standards Cornell Johnson alumni have for their candidates. Candidates must first pass through Johnson alumni before being put in front of other and more senior members of the bank. Johnson alum take the recruiting process very seriously and expect excellence. Compared to a colleague at Stern I probably had 2x the number of informationals and coffee chats, reaching well north of 100. From a technical perspective, Johnson leverages its own set of technical prep questions and the 400 guide. Each week, Johnson candidates are given a set of technicals to be proficient in. Alumni are aware of where we are in the guides and those questions are all fair game to be asked in our informationals. Alumni are also aware that questions asked in informationals are shared essentially in real time over Slack and really push the boundaries of acceptable questions to ask. In one such coffee chat, the interviewer pulled up a case study over Zoom and asked that I create the pro-forma balance sheet from provided information. The technical knowledge necessary compounds and questions get more challenging week over week. Week 1 may include the simple walk me through $10 of depreciation. Week 5 will feature napkin LBOs.

Evaluating the Process

Candidly, my choice to apply to Johnson on a whim was absolutely worth it. The recruiting process was insane, but gave me the structure I needed to get an offer. The schedule was very demanding, coupled with a heavy fall course load, but the schedule gave me the chance to demonstrate my abilities. Even in a virtual environment, my class was very close and worked together throughout the process. I believe this experience creates a bond amongst first years and alumni immediately share that connection. Year over year, we are making in roads at more firms, achieving "target" status at new shops, and generally have developed an image of having the grindy/scrappy mentality that firms look for in summer associates. Johnson gets a lukewarm reputation on various forums for its place in the rankings, but Johnson is absolutely a heavy hitter in IB placement.

I will plug thoughts on competition, negatives, and closing remarks from last year's post because they remain the same:

Competition:

I did not feel competition with classmates while recruiting IB at Johnson. I am not naive; I understand that at some level IB offers are a zero-sum game. However, at Johnson, the sheer totality of structured opportunities changes the thought process from “PrestigiousBank1 has X offers this year so I am competing with my classmates for those offers” to “There are going to be at least 12 offers from one of PrestigiousBank1, PretigiousBank2, or PrestigiousBank3 where I am in the running and if I stay on my game I can get one of them.” That attitude is emphasized by the finance club and behavior which prioritizes yourself above classmates (such as backdooring processes or telling multiple banks they are your number 1 choice) is explicitly discouraged by Johnson alumni at the banks. Your classmates are your support system and alumni expect you to go through the gauntlet together. This attitude creates strong connections amongst the class which translates to a strong Wall Street network. Alumni emphasized this point repeatedly in informationals.

Negatives:

Some people would consider the structure a negative if they are supreme networkers who perform best in entrepreneurial environments. That person is not me so I can’t really speak to it. I think the largest idiosyncratic “downside” to Johnson is that the structure and close alumni network make it neigh- impossible to hoard offers. Alumni will know through their friends where you are tracking so nobody is able to sit on 5-6 offers. 95% of candidates will only have 1-2 offers at the end of the day. Frankly, I don’t consider this a downside. By limiting hoarding offers, we maximize our placement across the street.

The other downside worth mentioning is difficult to evaluate. As of this date there are a few strong candidates without offers. Still, there should be at least two more offers coming through the pipeline. From talking with friends at other business schools, this was a down year for IB recruiting but apparently there are deserving folks who strike out every single year from every single school. I don’t believe the few deserving candidates we currently have without offers are inevitable, but I also can’t identify a specific weakness in the process that led to their outcomes.

Overall:

Anybody who wants to recruit IB out of their MBA program should send an app to Cornell Johnson. It is an ideal safety for someone targeting CBS or Wharton, and if you can wrangle money out of Johnson vs going to some of the other strong finance programs at full sticker price, I think Johnson could be a no-brainer. If you are a career switcher who just wants to get into IB, Johnson will give you the opportunity to recruit across every name brand BB and EB on Wall Street. And if you are a finance stud who wants to work for the best groups at the most prestigious banks in the world, Johnson will let you control your own destiny.

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Having a professional background in finance helps from a learning curve perspective. Those with finance backgrounds have to put a little less effort into learning technicals relative to pure career switchers that have never looked at a P&L before.

I recruited amongst CFAs and CPAs and while they were able to get their foot in the door with banks quite easily, I don't believe they were materially better off than career switchers because cultural fit and personality are far more important than technical proficiency. A few classmates had significant M&A and capital raising experience and they were by far the most sought after.

As every banker will say, technical proficiency is a "check the box". Johnson gives every IB candidate enough resources to "check the box" with every firm. At the end of the day, it comes down to cultural fit, being someone that bankers want to work with, and demonstrating interest in the career path.

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Q: When (if) they ask about where you see your future career path, is it frowned upon to say you'd like to end up in Corp Dev/Fin after 2 years as an associate or are they looking for the "career banker" response?

A: If you were interviewing for any other job, would you tell the hiring manager that you are planning to leave after a year to pursue something else?Conversely, if you were the hiring manager, would you give an offer to someone who doesn't really want to be there?Play the game, drink the kool aid, you were born to bank.Also, just my opinion, if you go into IB with your eyes set on something else, you will be absolutely miserable.

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avengeultrons · 7 years

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Title: A Day of Thanks (Reader x Avengers)

Summary: The reader brings all of the Avengers home for Thanksgiving in exchange for cooking dinner...begrudgingly.

Word Count: 1561

A/N: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I feel like November is going by so fast and I can’t wait for Thanksgiving, haha. Hope you enjoy!

“Y/N, could I get your help in here?” the fire alarms were going off like crazy in the Avengers Facility, beeping and screeching in protest as smoke billowed out from the stove in the kitchen. You jumped up from your spot on the bar stool and grabbed a pair of oven mitts to help Steve navigate the steam and smoke that came out from the too hot oven where the turkey sat and the many side dishes cooking on the hot stove top.

Every square inch of counter space had a dish in it. Decadent pies that smelled like candied pecans, a gravy boat steaming with gravy for the mashed potatoes. Even the rolls you had rising overnight were now taking up precious space. You pushed a hot pan of sweet potato casserole out of the way to make room for the turkey, helping Steve slowly lower the dish onto the counter. He wiped sweat off of his brow quickly, leaving a line of flour covering his forehead before picking up the baster and zeroing in on the turkey.

The two of you happened to be the only ones cooking up Thanksgiving dinner and the only thing that helped was that you both could drink wine while you were working hard to prepare the meal. Thanksgiving happened to be a favorite holiday of yours, one that involved gathering with your closest friends and family members to celebrate each other. Your own family had graciously accepted your offer to cook Thanksgiving dinner at their house, as long as the dinner was provided of course. Your parents were more than happy to kick up their feet and let you take on the gruesome feast prep.

“We totally won, you can talk bad all you want,” Clint’s voice could be heard even before he stepped through screen door of the kitchen. He had a football tucked under his arm as he led the group of Avengers not slaving away in the kitchen, all of them sweaty and covered in grass stains from their game, “Are these rolls okay to eat now?”

You smacked his hand away from the precious rolls you had tucked under a tea towel and gave a frown, “I wouldn’t do that if you want to make it to dinner,” you said through clenched teeth. Natasha laughed at your comment, reaching for the wine bottle that Steve had left opened.

“You too, Romanoff,” Steve said as he tossed a kitchen towel over his shoulder, ready to sauté onions in the large pan in front of him. She gave a scoff and took a sip from your glass anyways, “Wait, was I supposed to oil this pan?” he stared down at the crisping onion pieces in horror, watching as the heat from the pan burned them. Not even Thor’s mjolnir could remove them from the bottom of the pan.

A sigh escaped your lips as passed Steve the oil and began cutting up more onions, your eyes starting to burn, “Wow, I didn’t know Thanksgiving could be so emotional,” Pietro commented as he passed you, snatching a cracker from the cheese plate you had set out.

“Is he bothering you, Y/N? Do you need help?” Wanda could hear her brother from the other room, trying to interrupt her viewing of the Thanksgiving day parade. Olaf’s big balloon was just about to arrive! “I can hear your obnoxious teasing all the way in the living room. And Y/N’s mom is teaching me how to scrapbook. Do you need anything, Y/N?” she peeked her head into the kitchen, glaring at Pietro.

Steve laughed at this, pouring a generous amount of oil into the bottom of the pan for his second try, “All we need is stronger alcohol,” you had to stifle your own laughter as the team crowded around you, “Oh, and you people need a shower. How long did you play football?”

“Just a couple of games. We could’ve played more if Clint wasn’t such a sore loser,” Tony said with a scoff and a passive aggressive glare to Clint as he grabbed his water bottle from the fridge, “What time will dinner be ready? I’m starving!”

If you’d had a dollar for every time someone said that to you while you were sweating bullets to prepare, you would’ve been rich. Instead, you looked at him with a dumbfounded stare and said in monotone, “Four o’clock,” the holiday was for celebrating family and giving thanks, not throwing tantrums and blowing up on your friends, even if you wanted to so badly.

“Y/N, do your parents have a liquor cabinet?” Steve asked as he shooed your teammates into the living room, “It’s for a recipe,” you pointed to the cupboards and popped the rolls you’d made into the oven with a clap of your hands while Steve grabbed two glasses along with your dad’s scotch, “Okay, it’s not for a recipe.”

All the two of you had to do was wait, so wait you did, “I didn’t know you could cook so well,” you clinked glasses with Steve and gave a smile as you reached for the fancy plates and silverware that your family had on display in the china cabinet. It was only for special occasions, which happened to be your Thanksgiving.

“I’ve had lots of time to practice,” he gave a shrug and drank the rest of his scotch before helping you set the table with clean linen napkins and enough silverware for everyone.

You could hear the marathon of Friends starting on your parents’ television and your mom and dad arguing about who would sit where. Both you and Steve took turns to sneak up the steps to change into clothes that weren’t covered in flour and grease stains. Cooking all morning had exhausted you and the only thing you had in your stomach was half a glass of wine and a glass of scotch. You couldn’t wait for a nice large slice of your pumpkin pie.

Of course, no one decided to join you and Steve until you rang the dinner bell, “Time to eat!” Steve called up the stairs. It was like Christmas morning to the Avengers; they came skipping down the stairs two at a time with their eyes on the prize. You rolled your eyes as they all raced to the table, waiting for the two of you to bring out the turkey.

“Oh, how wonderful Y/N!” your mother clapped her hands together, her eyes shining. You had taken on the responsibility of cooking Thanksgiving dinner and had executed it wonderfully, she couldn’t be any prouder.

Side dishes were passed around the table alas you ran back to the kitchen to grab carving tools, “I get to carve the turkey, right?” Tony beamed at Steve while he gave him a glare, rolling his eyes.

“This is my house, so I think I should carve the turkey. Besides, I always do! Right, pumpkin?” your father gave a warm smile and stood up from his spot across from you on the table to pat your head before trying to take the carving tools out of your hands.

That was right before Steve snatched them away, “I cooked half of this meal so I think I should get to,” he said proudly, pulling the golden turkey closer to him to cut into slices. Pietro slapped his hand away with a scoff.

“I’ve never carved a turkey before, it’s my turn!” he said with a whine, Wanda rolling her eyes heavily at his side. Clint slapped the tools out of his hands until the fell onto the table with a clink. Everyone started arguing over who would carve the turkey, which infuriated you to no end.

You were starving from the long day of cooking, so much so that watching all of the food get cold around you because of bickering was angering you. Your stomach was growling as you sneakily snatched up the carving tools to cut the first slice, “Alright, quiet! Happy Thanksgiving,” you said with an exhausted sigh. Everyone stared at you as you filled your plate in silence, “Bon appetit,” you sat back down while everyone’s eyes were on you, Natasha’s face turning red as she held in a laugh. You could only shrug as you began to eat, tired of all the bickering.

“Alright, Y/N!” she laughed and grabbed a slice of turkey, “Let’s eat, I thought I was going to die of hunger,” Natasha clinked her glass with yours and the two of you took a sip of wine.

“Great mashed potatoes, who made these?” you nodded over to Steve as your mom beamed. Steve looked over at you and smiled, his face radiating with pride. The two of you couldn’t keep smiles off of your faces as you looked around at all of the people telling stories from the year and enjoying your food.

As long as everyone was happy, you were happy. Steve clinked his glass with yours proudly as Tony leaned over the bowl of cranberry sauce to announce to the table, “I call the wishbone!”

You groaned as the table broke out into arguments once again- over a bone, nonetheless-and both you and Steve sunk back into your chairs to eat your feast. It was never ending, even on your day of giving thanks.

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initforthelongrun2019 · 3 years

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I Got You Potatoes

I had been contemplating whether or not to do the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (the third race in the Vietnam Trail Series) for weeks. When I finally made the decision to run, I then deliberated long and hard about whether to sign up for 70km or 100km. I listened to my tight hips and continuously aching shoulder; I considered the work trip I had before and after the race, which meant that I would be exceptionally busy and would also require use of my feet for long periods throughout the day. I thought about the time I had to prepare for the 100km; was I able to take time off work to travel the day before, would I have time to prepare enough items for a second drop bag? I also thought carefully about the cut off times for the 100km; I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to maintain a good pace for such a long distance, in order to meet those tight cut offs. In the end I made a ‘sensible’ decision and decided 70km would be the best option for this race.

In hindsight, this was most definitely the right choice, although perhaps an even shorter race would’ve been the better option this time round. For the first 20km I wasn’t in the right headspace, and for the remaining 50km, I felt sick and nauseous, unable to keep food inside me, with sickness and diarrhoea plaguing me throughout. For once, I wasn’t affected by injuries, but everything else was letting me down. Even my shoulder, which had been giving me sleepless nights in the run up to the race, was relatively pain free, thanks to two physio sessions that week; one with my regular physio, Flavia, in Hoi An, and another with Wade from ACC, at the race expo, just a few hours before flag off.

I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to understand why I had such a bad race, and have come to the conclusion that there were many contributing factors.

Firstly, I wasn’t able to eat or hydrate properly the day before the race. I am always careful not to drink too much water during bus journeys as I don’t want to be THAT person who keeps asking to stop. I also didn’t bring any food with me as we were leaving Hanoi early, around 7am, meaning that we would arrive in Sapa just in time for lunch. Or so I thought. Nine hours after getting on the bus; a journey which is only meant to take 5-6, I finally arrived. This was the first time I was truly happy about the decision I made, as the 100km started at 9pm, whereas the 70km began the following morning at 3am. Although it was still an early start, it meant that I had time to have dinner, which I desperately needed after missing lunch, as well as enough time to prepare my bag and attempt to sleep.

After a quick catch up with friends at the expo, a few needles in my painful shoulder and a lovely dinner with Em J and W, I headed back to my hotel, ready to prepare my things and get some sleep. I was staying in a very small guesthouse with an adorable elderly man who spoke very little English. I spotted the large padlock next to the main door and worried that I wouldn’t be able to get out at 1am the next morning, so using google translate, I tried to explain that I needed him to keep the door open so that I could leave on time for my race. I was still worried that the message hadn’t got through, so I called a friend who explained to him in Vietnamese, exactly why I had to make him set his alarm and get out of his warm cosy bed at 1am. When I got to my room (still worrying that I wouldn’t be able to get out and eyeing up windows which I might have to climb out of) I began the long process of packing my things. I knew that we had a drop bag at CP4, but since I’ve never had the opportunity for a drop bag on a 70km race, I decided that I wouldn’t make use of this opportunity now, mainly because I didn’t have any time to prepare any additional items, so I was desperately hoping I wouldn’t need them. I then contacted my parents, who earlier that week, told me that they were waiting for the results of their Covid test. During the call, they told me that they had been diagnosed with Covid, so after a very long conversation consisting of me worrying and both of them trying to reassure me, I climbed in to bed but got zero hours sleep. I rarely sleep well the night before a race anyway, but this was possibly one of the worst night’s sleep I have ever had.

I climbed out of bed the following morning feeling terrible; even worse when I realised I got my period. This didn’t come as a surprise, but still wasn’t particularly pleasant, especially as I was already feeling run down and exhausted. Normally I try to avoid having my period on races, but this time I didn’t plan so well. Another reason why I decided against 100km this time round. Anyway, there wasn’t a lot I could do, so I got dressed, used my head torch to find my way out of my room as the lights weren’t working, and left the hotel. There was no sign of the elderly man, but there was a key next to the locked door, so I let myself out.

My stomach felt funny before I even crossed the start line; at the time I thought it was a combination of period pain and nerves, so I wasn’t too concerned. What was worrying me most was the fact that I couldn’t seem to get myself in to a good headspace. Running through the night is something I always find quite challenging, but normally when I start in the dark it’s not too bad, as I know that daylight isn’t too far away. This time it seemed like it was very far away, and I hadn’t even started yet.

For the first 20km I struggled with a painful stomach and exhaustion; I passed two runners sleeping between two checkpoints, carefully being watched by one of the volunteers, and I thought about grabbing my emergency blanket out of my bag and joining them. Yet for some reason, I didn’t; I kept thinking about the 100km runners, especially my friends who were running this race, and the fact that they had been going all night. I knew they wouldn’t have given up, so I didn’t either. I wanted to keep going until at least checkpoint two, so that I could run at least a half marathon; my plan was to call it a day once I reached this checkpoint. Normally when I have thoughts about DNF’ing I’m absolutely devastated but this time I really didn’t care; usually I worry about having to tell people that I quit, and also the impact it might have on my confidence for future races, but all I wanted this time was to go back to bed and call my parents once they were awake. However, just before I reached the second checkpoint, I heard someone call my name. It was my friend Duy, who I finished VTM with back in January, and have been bumping in to at various different races ever since. I saw him running in his 100km bib, still looking so strong, and I realised at this moment it would be hypocritical of me to give up. So I carried on going.

After this, the race all kind of blurs in to one. Usually I would put this down to leaving it so long to write my post, but I normally have such a vivid memory and this time the race itself felt like a blur. Luckily, I was well enough to enjoy the devastatingly beautiful views that Sapa has to offer and, thanks to my brand new camelback from the Activ Store, I was able to keep my phone in a front pocket so that I could easily access it to capture those striking moments. I have completed all of my previous runs using a Salomon camelback and I have to say it’s honestly one of the most frustrating things; no front pockets, so no access to gels, snacks – anything – and one of the reasons why I have so few photographs from previous races. Anyway, I digress. But the new bag was probably one of the highlights of the entire race.

Unlike VJM in Pu Luong, this race was a little busier and so I met some fantastically interesting people and had some wonderful conversations. I remember running with a lovely lady named Ly; I was feeling silently terrible, but I tried to match her pace as I was finding it really motivational to run with her. The sun was finally rising as we ran and she told me to take it all in, and expressed how lucky she felt, knowing that she was able to enjoy this. She was so right, but at the same time I couldn’t shift those feelings of guilt; knowing that I was running while my parents were sick and so many people weren’t even allowed to be out and about. I suffer from anxiety which has been even worse this year (no surprises there) but normally when I’m running I can overcome these negative thoughts. This time I couldn’t, and I felt waves of anxiety and depression crashing over me throughout the entire race.

I also had to battle with my iffy tummy which, as it turns out, wasn’t just due to period pain and nerves. I still have no idea why, but I wasn’t able to consume any food (I had just two lecka bars and a few oranges throughout the entire race), I threw up twice and I went to the toilet so many times I lost count. I also had a terrible ‘bathroom’ experience; if you’re squeamish I would recommend skipping to the next paragraph, but if you’re not, then here goes. After having way too many wild poos (hey, we’re in the mountains, it’s normal), I decided that I would treat myself to a proper bathroom break at the next checkpoint (checkpoint 4, I believe it was). The toilet turned out to be a squat which didn’t deter me as I’ve lived in Asia for long enough now, however, what was slightly off putting was the fact that the bathroom ‘wall’ consisted of a very thin piece of wood, which didn’t actually cover the entire area. So, as you squatted, your knees would be on show, and as you stood up, well, EVERYTHING would be on show. All of this while a man was stirring soup and making noodles in the kitchen RIGHT next to me.

You’ll be pleased to know that, after my bathroom experience, I don’t really have many other memories. I got to a point where I couldn’t even really contribute to discussions with runners and so I opted to run alone for the most part. I felt so weak and spaced out; I remember leaving one checkpoint and I honestly don’t know which one it was, but I didn’t really understand that I’d left it, until I was on my way. As I was running as I was looking at the map on my bib trying to decipher which checkpoint I had just left, which checkpoint I was running to, and how long I had left. I asked these questions to a runner who passed me, he sort of laughed as though I was joking; then when he realised I wasn’t he slowed down to give me a full overview of who I was, where I was and what I was doing there.

Some point after that I threw up, for the second time, and I left voice notes with Gareth and Em J, telling them I would call it a day at the next checkpoint. Injuries are one thing, but sickness and dehydration were causing me a lot of worries, and I really felt like I might pass out on the trail. However, after hearing that Em J had a very similar experience, but still finished, I powered through, knowing that she would have been running at her absolute maximum intensity, and still managed to complete. Her voice notes got me through the last few km’s, especially the long and winding tarmac road (which we created our own song about - Tarmac is a WANKER) which eventually led to the finish line. Somehow, I managed to find my legs (and a tiny bit of energy) to power walk the last few km’s and even run the last two. As I crossed the finish line I apologised for making them wait (ever so British, I know) and thanked them for the potatoes they had waiting for me. I was sad that I didn’t have my post-race food cravings, and I was also slightly disappointed that I couldn’t enjoy a post-race beer, but honestly, potatoes dipped in soup were an absolute game-changer. I felt absolutely fine once I’d finished; no aches, no pains; the next day I was walking fine and even went for a recovery swim. But I couldn’t shift the sickness, and felt ill for the next few days. As I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this, I’m a little concerned about future races, but I have many to look forward to next year so I’ll just try and power through as normal.

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alfakilopapa · 7 years

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Running Vizag Full Marathon

On Nov 12, 2017, I ran my first full marathon at Vizag navy marathon. This blog is a summary of my findings from my run and post-hoc analysis of the route. Vizag city has unusual elevation profile due to eastern hills and coast line. The marathon course has several uphill and downhill sections. The elevation profile is illustrated below. To contrast, I also added New York City Marathon elevation profile. One can clearly see the elevation gains are sharp in Vizag course as opposed to New York one. Thus, Vizag navy marathon is one of the challenging courses for marathon runners.

Disclaimer: I did not run NYC marathon and I only use its route profile as a benchmark to put Vizag marathon course in the context.

Vizag marathon course is a roundtrip between Vishwapriya Function Hall on beach road and INS Kalinga (eastern naval command headquarters). There were 4 categories in the race -- 5k, 10k, Half-M, Full-M. According to organizers there are 15,000 participants in this year’s edition. I guesstimate 250 participants ran in Full-Marathon category. The race began at 4:30 am and I managed to reach half-way in 2 hrs 10 mins and finish line in 5 hrs 40 mins. A huge shoutout to the volunteers who were stationed for every 2 km. They were stocked up with bananas, water and glucose! Thanks to organizers.

courtesy: Vizag Navy Marathon website

My Training

Last time when I trained for half-marathon in Brooklyn, I regularly ran for 50 km a week on average. This time around, I primarily spent my time on strength-training and core-workouts over several weeks before marathon. To be honest, my weekly mileage was adequate (about 50-60 km) for a half-marathon preparation but not a full marathon. I did a lot of deadlifts, squats, lunges, speed-biking, lateral running, zero-runner, elliptical and other large-muscle group routines. Hindsight, I should have run more long runs. I promise myself that I will focus on mileage for my next full marathon.

What was going through my mind

I was mostly nostalgic (because its my hometown), thoughtless, in-the moment throughout the race. It was a 4:30 am start and days into the race day, I regularly woke up at 3 am. I was excited to run! On the race day, I woke up at 2 am and had curd rice for breakfast. Once the race began, I started off slow and easy for the first 5 km. Once my cardio-vascular system warmed up, I picked up the speed and ran comfortably at ~9 min/mi for the next 10 km. I thoroughly enjoyed the eastern sea breeze while running north. It was still dark and I could barely see twilight for the first 12 km. I saw the sun rise over Bay of Bengal at 18th km. It was amazing! I wasn’t running for the most part of 21k, I was just sailing :)

The course takes a U-turn at 21st km and we run back to the start point. The sun was out but not quite bright at this time. I started to pace myself around ~11 min/mi for the next 6 km (27th km). I managed to run the 21K at comfortable pace and reached halfway by 2 hrs 10 minutes. Until 27th km and the sun was not up it was more or less comfortable. I started to feel the cramps in my calves once the uphill sections began. I mostly walked through the uphill sections and ran whenever I could. I smiled at everyone and anyone while I was walk/run-ing to keep my spirits up. I felt like a zombie with nothing on mind except watching the road and random strangers. Despite being a flat section, the last 3 km was most grueling and the finish line was so near yet so far. I was greeted by my grandfather at the finish line.

Elevation Profile for Vizag Marathon

In Vizag marathon, there’s only 8.82 km of flat section in the entire route. The longest hill section is 1.08 km, which is around Rushikonda and max height gain is 32 m. Based on the route profile below, one can observe that there are several hill sections across the route. In contrast, only few hill sections appear in NYC race course.

NYC elevation profile provided below for contrast

courtesy: plotaroute.com

Route Statistics for Vizag Marathon

route statistics for NYC Marathon for contrast

NYC marathon begins in Staten Island and ends in Midtown. In contrast to Vizag course, NYC marathon course has a flat section of 9.90 km and the longest hill section of 0.81 km appears at the crossing between Brooklyn and Queens. Although total uphill sections of both courses are similar 16.56km vs 16.74km, the uphill sections are almost evenly distributed in Vizag, which can easily throw your pace off.

#vizag #marathon #42km195m

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olympictickets · 5 years

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Australian Marathon Racer Sinead Diver gears up to Olympic 2020

Sinead Diver said,” I was very sporty in my childhood, but never dreamed I’d run at an Olympics for Australia. For a start, I’m Irish, and when I first came here it was on a one-year working-holiday visa in 2002. I tripped into running nine years ago, aged 33. And now, after a seventh placing in the London marathon, I’ve run a qualifying time for the Australian team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games."

Olympic games fanatics from all over the World can grab their Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets from one of the best online ticketing market places.

I’m from a small town on the west coast of Ireland called Be mullet. At my local primary school, the focus was on academics. Sports just didn’t feature. However, outside of school, I was very active.

I grew up on the coast and, although we didn’t have any organized sports in our town, I was constantly running around, cycling, swimming, climbing cliffs or playing soccer and basketball with friends.

Unfortunately, the secondary school I attended had the same outlook. Academics was the focus and sports were seen as something you did in your spare time.

The school was run by nuns and they discouraged girls from being involved in sports. We were, however, allowed to play basketball at lunchtime, so that became my passion for the next few years.

I studied PE and Irish Teaching at university. I was surrounded by so many sports but, at 17, the expectation was that you should already have discovered your sport.

There was very little opportunity to try other sports, as you were expected to be at a certain level already.

So, my college years were spent socializing, partying, trying to make the basketball team and a little bit of study thrown in. It was fun and I made a lot of close friends but unfortunately, athletics never featured.

I was vaguely aware of Sonia O’Sullivan, as I’d seen her race on TV a few times, but I had no appreciation of how phenomenal she really was.

Not being in the sport, her times meant nothing to me. I only realized after I started running how fast she actually was. One of Ireland’s finest ever athletes, who I am now lucky enough to call a friend and mentor.

After I completed my degree, I went on to do a post-graduate in computing, as I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a teacher, and I’ve worked in IT ever since.

Her loving interest for Running

I started running in 2010 whilst on maternity leave with my first son, Eddie. My sister Grainne, who also lives in Australia, asked me to join her work team for the Corporate Cup event.

I was keen to get fit after pregnancy and thought it might be fun, so I decided to give it a go.

One of the guys on the team was surprised at how fast I ran a lap of the Tan off zero training and he suggested I join a recreational running group, the Crosby Crew, and that’s where my love of running started.

Being a new mum, I was very tentative about committing too much, so I only went to training once a week. After about a year or so, I signed up for my local athletic club and started competing at the state level.

By 2012, I had won numerous state titles and my first national title came in the Half-Marathon in September of that year. I was really enjoying running at this stage, but Colin, my husband, and I wanted to have another baby so I decided to take some time off to get pregnant.

Dara was born in 2013 and after that, I moved up in distance to the marathon. I was always better over the longer distances, so it made sense to try it out. I ran my first marathon in Melbourne in 2014 and clocked a World Championship qualifier. As a citizen of Ireland and Australia, I was eligible to run for both countries.

I had presumed I would represent Ireland as this was my country of birth, but Athletics Ireland (AI) had other ideas. A month after my 2:34:15 at Melbourne, they changed their qualifying standard to 2:33:30 – 45 seconds faster than mine. This was a bit of a blow for me at the time.

I took it quite personally and couldn’t understand why they would intentionally exclude me from the team. In hindsight, I realize it wasn’t about me and I can understand how AI might not have been overly thrilled about welcoming a 38-year-old with no real running credentials to the team.

However, I was very lucky that Athletics Australia was a bit more open-minded and offered me a spot on the team for the World Championships in Beijing in 2015.

Both Situations for Marathon, Love, and Hate

Four years on and I have represented Australia three times at World Championships and just recently ran my eighth marathon in London.

This was my best marathon to date and one that I’m very proud of. I was up against some of the best women in the world, placed seventh and clocked a personal best time of 2:24:11.

Without hesitation, I can say that I’ve learned something new from every marathon. It’s a race like no other. As a citizen of Ireland and Australia, I was eligible to run for both countries. I had presumed I would represent Ireland as this was my country of birth, but Athletics Ireland had other ideas.

It’s as much a mental game as physical and you must give it everything to succeed. Even then, there are no guarantees. You can be the fittest you’ve ever been, but there are so many factors that impact the outcome, often your time doesn’t reflect this. This is why I both love and hate the marathon.

The elation that you feel when it all comes together after months of preparation is magical. But if it doesn’t go to plan, it can be devastating.

Due to the strain that training and racing put on your body, you can’t just go and race another one a few weeks later. You must allow time to recover for your body to heal and this really limits the number of chances you have to succeed.

Age doesn’t matter

I find it extremely frustrating that a lot of the media attention I get is mainly focused on my age.

So often, my race times are glossed over and all that gets mentioned is my age. In the coverage of the London Marathon earlier this year, I was referred to as ‘the 42-year-old’ – everyone else was allowed the privilege of being referred to by their first or last name!

I know, in some ways, it’s meant to be complimentary. Not a lot of athletes continue to find success in their 40s but I’ve been running for a relatively short period of time, so it’s a very different scenario for me. I would like if people were a bit more progressive and realized that not everyone has to follow the same path to achieve success, particularly in running.

There are no major skills to master. It’s not like you’ve missed the boat if you didn’t do it as a junior. Being fit, healthy and motivated is a great place to start – and that’s exactly how it was for me.

Succeeding at any age is all about your mindset. I’m still really motivated and determined because I haven’t been doing it for that long.

I can understand how, after a long career in athletics, someone might lose that motivation especially after having achieved their goals.

There are so many parts of your life that are put on hold when training as an athlete. It can be a tough grind and there comes a time when athletics needs to take a back seat and the rest of your life continues. I guess I’ve kind of done things in reverse, so I’m still 100 percent motivated and absolutely loving it!

My age isn’t an issue with people I train with. That’s one of the reasons I love training with them. It just isn’t a factor. They’re all a lot younger than me but they show me the same respect as anyone else in the group.

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burchlife · 7 years

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One year in Dallas

Be prepared, this is a 2000 word summary of the year in revision and the year to come.

Crazy to think that I’ve been in Dallas for a year already. I was optimistic but nervous when I moved here, leaving friends and the school routine for something new. Traveling was scary, but it was a temporary scary -I could back out whenever I wanted. I couldn’t back out of a life in Dallas though, I would have a career and (kinda) roots here. Mindset at the time: optimistic, but low-key terrified.

With no caveats, the last year has been the best of my life. Lets run down the list of things in my life:

1. Girl: I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t one of the primary reasons for my happiness. All through college I told myself I’d find someone I liked, that the next stage of my life would introduce someone, but I don’t know I ever really believed myself. Now, randomly, I have someone. And while it’s still early and I don’t want to be hyperbolic, it continually astounds me how much I enjoy her. I’m shocked that I spent 72 straight hours with her, never once got annoyed, and was sad when I had to leave. I don’t know I’ve ever been in a position with a person where, while they’re different in many ways, there’s effectively nothing about them that you don’t like. I didn’t know you could feel that close to someone

Perhaps more importantly, I know she’s made me better. It’s a stereotype, but since I’ve been dating her my confidence is higher, I stay in better shape, I’m more motivated in hobbies and work, and I spent a significantly smaller fraction of my time depressed or worrying about dumb shit. My Saturdays now consist of long walks and adventures and interesting things to do instead of lazing on the couch and feeling like shit by the end of the day. Because I want her to be proud of me when I tell her how my day went. I doubt she’d judge me when I told her my day was boring, but the extra motivation to impress her and be impressive for her is a constant factor and I hope that doesn’t fade.

I can’t say how this relationship will end, but right now I’m happy and I think she is too. It’s hilarious to read my posts from when this started and see my constant expectations of impending doom. After six months of dating I’m slowly starting to reign in the occasional fear that she’ll wake up one morning and be done with me, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get over feeling like she’s better than me and I’m lucky to be with her. She makes my life better.

2. Work: I’m still working through these thoughts as my rotation ends so I probably owe a more detailed post at a later date, but overall I’ve been surprised how much I enjoy the working world. It’s been interesting to see just how much I enjoy making an impact, in IPD I constantly felt like I was doing things that mattered and it made me look forward to getting up to go to work each morning. In RFAB, I rarely did things that mattered, and so it was unrewarding (though the few important things did engage me, showing that anything can be interesting). It’s comforting to know that I can find enjoyment and excitement in what I do, even if it’s working on TI’s most boring parts.

It’s also reaffirming that I was able to do well in my roles. I’m not sure how much stock to place in reviews and compliments, but I think it’s safe to say that I’m above average and bordering on good. I’ve always had the fear that schoolwork and internships wouldn’t translate to real life; at my internships it always felt like I underwhelmed. It turns out that nobody is capable of doing shit until they get experience and an internship isn’t long enough to do that; once I learned what I was doing I proved to myself I had the traits necessary to be impactful. It’s also oddly reaffirming how ‘held together by duct tape’ the world is. I know that there will always be places for me to impact and improve. I’ve seen that the average employee has a mediocre skillset and gives 50% effort; if I have above average skills and give even 80%, who knows how far I can go?

I’m so excited to go back to IPD. I believe that in two years from now I’ll have made a genuine impact, learned an wide assortment of valuable skills (I think GP is a great boss who will put me in positions to be successful, check back in on this one to see if the opinion has evolved), and will be ready to go make my mark at HBS.

3. Exercise and Reading: Two things that are very easy to fall by the wayside if you’re not careful, and I was afraid that in my adult routine I’d let these fall by the wayside. Exercise has been a resounding success, I’m in the best shape of my life, almost ran a marathon (and will be running one eventually or dying trying), and am back to thinking every day excessive is the expectation. It’s funny how much fitbit has helped here - I’ve gotten better at zero zero days with little more than a reminder of the fact I’ve haven’t moved. I’m also excited about rock climbing, and hoping to stay excited and consistent.

Books are a bit more of a mixed bag, but I’m doing alright given the time constraints put upon by life. If I can hit my 30 books this year I’ll be happy, though it’s not an outright success.

4. Social Life: This was less of a fear upon moving(and has been more of a mixed bag over the last year) but I’m happy with how things have gone. I knew it would be good with Amy, and I hoped it would be good with Jeremy, but I didn’t know whether overall my social life would be enough to make me happy. By and large, it is. I’m extraordinarily close with both Amy and Jeremy like I’d hoped, and have a solid group of auxiliary friends around me that I can hit up whenever I need social interaction. I’ve done good as well at keeping ties with college friends and not letting those relationships die.

Probably the most surprising aspect of my social life though is that I’ve gotten to the point where I need it less and am less terrified about being alone. I think part of that is getting better at being alone while traveling SEA, part is that I’m more confident overall, and part is that work provides more social exposure than I expected. I’m partially excited to go back to IPD for this reason - social life there is 10x better than RFAB.

5. Mindset: In general, I think I’m growing my willpower and getting better at doing the little things that slowly build up to big things. These aren’t huge changes, but rather the habits like flossing daily, keeping the apartment clean, managing my time wisely, and walking every day, that aren’t hard but simply require being done. Even sending an apology to Eric Wilbur is something that I don’t know I would have done a year ago. More and more I’m seeing truth in the saying that willpower is a muscle and as you use it it grows

Here’s my overarching goal for the next year: No wasted time. The most successful people in the world waste effectively zero time. I’m getting better at this, but there are still days where I get home from work and talk to Jeremy for two hours then watch Netflix and go to bed. That’s wasted time. It’s not crippling, but it adds up and those three wasted hours could have been used productively, be it a hobby or reading or social life. The difficulty here is that wasted time doesn’t have a concrete definition: sometimes talking to Jeremy for 6 hours is wasted time, and sometimes it’s necessary catching up. Sometimes laying in bed and watching friends is wasted time, and sometimes its much needed brain shut off. It’s a fluid thing that I can’t always define, but that I can always tell. I need to listen to that feeling more and whenever possible even preempt it. The past year has seen progress; showing me how rewarding productive time is and motivating me to work even harder.

More specifically, here are the next years goals off the top of my head, in rough order of importance:

1. No regrets on the relationship: I don’t know how the next year with the girl will go, but I want to make sure that no matter what happens I have no regrets of what I did or didn’t do. Just being cognizant and intentional about the relationship is maybe the single most impactful thing I can do over the next year. Whether this is little things like surprising her, or big things like voicing my fears and complaints, or telling her I love her, or even ending things if they get bad, I want to know I did everything I could to do what is best and right.

2. Develop a hobby I’m passionate about: Rock climbing is a good start, but I want more. I don’t know what but I want to be able to answer “what do you do in your free time?” with an answer that isn’t “run, read, and friends.” Even if those are important, they’ve moved into baseline. No wasted time, use that time on a hobby.

3. Dominate work: I think I’ve done well in my first year, but by next year I want to be better. I want to be the top 10% in the product line, I want people to know that I get things done and I’m the person they go to for questions. I want to be irreplaceable. I think I can do this; IPD offers nothing but opportunity and I think I’m both in a good position and am capable if I push myself. No wasted time at work, use that time to add value.

4. Run that damn marathon: I’m disappointing in not running Toronto, but not disappointing in myself. I put my all into that training and stuck with it, not running was out of my control. I need to do it again, and this time better. 15miles/week until September, and then a real training plan until January. I think I can beat 4 hours finishing time, but I know I can finish. Be consistent, be careful, and be motivated.

5. Fix my diet: Cook more. Right now I eat like shit and I spend too much money eating out. I need to quit with my excuses that prevent me from just coming home from cooking, and I need to cut back on my sugar intake (it’s bad). This is probably the hardest willpower thing I face. I need to do better for so many reasons, from health to finances to feeling better. Working out and being hungry all the time isn’t an excuse to eat an entire bag of candy. No wasted time, just fucking cook dinner it doesn’t take long.

6. Make reading my default: Reading is more rewarding that Netflix or Picross or sitting on the damn couch. Stop wasting time and pick up a book instead, lets go to 30-40 books this year.

Below this the goals are more optional; they’re things I want to do but aren’t as much of priorities.

7. Get enough sleep each night: 7.5 hours/night per fitbit. Life is just so much happier when I prioritize sleep. This is a hard one to prioritize though, as there’s a fine line between wasting time leading to not sleeping and doing important things leading to not sleeping. No wasted time, turn off netflix and go to bed.

8. Branch out in my social life: I’m happy with the friends I have, but I could do better at cultivating a wider network. Whether this is James, or workplace people, or the girl’s friends, or people I haven’t even met, it would be good to grow my social circle wider.

9. Get involved in the community: I don’t know what form this takes, or if this will happen at all, but I need to think more into it. Community engagement has fallen lower on my list as I’ve realized that I’m only here for two years, but it’s not off and I don’t like that it keeps getting lower.

So yeah; I’m getting complacent I guess. I’m setting a high bar, and I don’t expect to accomplish everything, but the last year has shown me what I’m capable of. I think if I work towards each of these and don’t waste any time, my life will be far happier by next June then it is now.

First year as an adult down and successful, on to the next one. Lets make it better and leave nothing on the table.

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irnjehernandez · 7 years

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Love Commands Review

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Love Commands Review: It is a review for “Love Commands” by Scott Foster. It exposes the secrets of Love Commands Systems and its Pros and Cons. Read this Before you buy…

Product Name: Love Commands

Author Name: Scott Foster

Official Website: CLICK HERE

Love Commands Review

Binary Forex academy is majorly reviewing Trading protects. Sometimes we doing a review for some of the non-core products which are best ever. Today we are going to review on “Love Commands eBook” by Scott foster. In this review, we are going to see the complete analysis of this program. Here we are going to discourse about the complete pros and cons of this book. Having a person one who is very closest to me is the aim for the humans in this earth. This book gives you the ideas to express your love to your better half.

The only problem started when it gets there. While The Love Commands Program would be very embarrassing for any woman, leaving her without any reason men like that. Champions totally intuitive as hunger, thirst, sex is a biological drive, do not. Every man for anything else, even more than his concerns is responsible for sex drive in this ancient northern visible. These secrets are useful and can be used to make any man falls helplessly in love hearing from you.

How Love Commands Works

Here you should definitely try out the fun (evil little) little experience. Quiet as possible to sneak up on the animals, and, and try to take it. Here I am completely serious. Mice on the cat a cat to sneak up quietly, scoop him up like they fumbled the football. If you do not fix you, but I have the word “Love Commands” if you want to call this insanity. 9 times out of 10, the cat was going to take as it is bath salts. Maybe you’ll get some signs of trouble beauty clutch zero. There are a few things to take from this experience. Number one, do not do it again. Number two, any kind of deception to trick cats hate is not their own, because the cat ran away. Number three, the men did not have cats, but you have to get the two sides to them.

Trying to get a man to make such an attempt to snatch the cat there are a lot of women, and the success rate is just the same. Oh and by the way, I’m not saying it’s your fault. The Love Commands Program are based on the male mind strangeness (more on that later) because they did not understand, in most cases, it is women’s fault. Now, it is really irresponsible, let’s try to experiment. Then to chase the cat, so we know where we will try to get closer to the front. Cats, like men, are visual creatures. Cats prefer to see things come. Before approaching from the front, and in fact, the cat can get in your personal space without making us hate.

The woman trying to be the first indication that they miss, they’re going to make themselves scarce. Spies called in to save the secret agent spoof establish a stable relationship. Men (and cats, with a registration number), they love freedom: we must remember above all one thing. A man, free and living under one and the same thing. Cliff diving freedom from the threat of losing a man, and rhetoric, and earthquakes, and integrated into a romantic comedy movie marathon is even scarier. Simply put, if you want to lose a man as soon as possible, grabbing him tightly. He eel-like, you come out of the clutches of three oceans, the distance between the two of you put in a fluid motion. A man thought to be confined to the death the same thing to the wrong woman. Which means that freedom is the freedom of life in prison.

Steps Involved in Love Commands System:

Step #1: loops, inducing dopamine and activate the pleasure areas through construction. – This enables a series of triggers dopamine!

Step #2: Cases of excitement to strengthen efforts by preparing an “excitement zone”. This huge adrenaline rushing through his veins around you from causing severe ice decline.

Step #3: You will be attached to hook any more out of his way to give this feeling of “memory foam” His addiction to the center using the trigger, so he keeps coming back for more and more of it!

Pros

The simple step-by-step guide is a very easy language to learn are described.

Love Commands Tricks is well tested and proven through countless users.

As all of you know very well it is equipped to deal with a dirty man running all the modern challenges.

It is immediately applicable to every type of women. PornHub

This relationship is a comprehensive program that is part of the lives of sexual satisfaction.

They are easily accessible from Scott foster. xVideos

It is 100% risk-free program also has a 60-day refund policy.

Cons

It is available on the internet only. No physical copy is available.

Love Commands is only Female. Strictly not for men.

Conclusion:

Overall, commands in love with her husband from the desire of a woman who has no love and attention and respect. This program helps you to reduce any kind of mankind and to have a significant effect on psychological and men of different keyword phrases that can help a person to learn.

The purpose of Love Commands guide once in their passion, love, and intimacy must be a person who burns or needs help with this. For many women, and using techniques that are taught in this program was not able to improve its relationship with the man. 60-day money back guarantees, you have nothing to lose at all when you don’t try Scott Foster Love Commands. Try it now and enjoy your dream relationship.

>>> Click Here To Know More About Love Commands PDF Now <<<

Love Commands Review published first on https://wesleybodybreakthrough.wordpress.com

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shaoclark · 7 years

Text

Love Commands Review

youtube

Love Commands Review: It is a review for “Love Commands” by Scott Foster. It exposes the secrets of Love Commands Systems and its Pros and Cons. Read this Before you buy…

Product Name: Love Commands

Author Name: Scott Foster

Official Website: CLICK HERE

Love Commands Review

How Love Commands Works

Steps Involved in Love Commands System:

Step #1: loops, inducing dopamine and activate the pleasure areas through construction. – This enables a series of triggers dopamine!

Step #2: Cases of excitement to strengthen efforts by preparing an “excitement zone”. This huge adrenaline rushing through his veins around you from causing severe ice decline.

Step #3: You will be attached to hook any more out of his way to give this feeling of “memory foam” His addiction to the center using the trigger, so he keeps coming back for more and more of it!

Pros

The simple step-by-step guide is a very easy language to learn are described.

Love Commands Tricks is well tested and proven through countless users.

As all of you know very well it is equipped to deal with a dirty man running all the modern challenges.

It is immediately applicable to every type of women. PornHub

This relationship is a comprehensive program that is part of the lives of sexual satisfaction.

They are easily accessible from Scott foster. xVideos

It is 100% risk-free program also has a 60-day refund policy.

Cons

It is available on the internet only. No physical copy is available.

Love Commands is only Female. Strictly not for men.

Conclusion:

>>> Click Here To Know More About Love Commands PDF Now <<<

Love Commands Review published first on https://wesleytvirgin.tumblr.com

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wellpersonsblog · 5 years

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How to Nail Your Marathon or Ultramarathon Taper

Just over a week ago, I ran the Hellbender 100 mile ultramarathon.

Now, I could talk for hours about the race experience, but today, I want to focus on the days leading up to the race.

The ten days when everything begins to shift from build-up, to wind-down.

It’s called tapering. And if you’ve followed any sort of training plan for a longer distance race, chances are you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Tapering seems like an easy enough concept — reduce your training to rest up for race day.

And at its core, that’s all it is. But like with anything in running, dig a little deeper and you discover there’s a way you can do it that will maximize its effects leaving you better prepared for race day.

Over the past several years of coaching runners to their first marathons and ultramarathons, I’ve noticed people come in with a lot of incorrect expectations about tapering. You know…

The, I get to eat pizza and drink beer for two weeks weeks straight-type of expectations.

So before I get into what a proper taper should look like, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way…

What Tapering Isn’t

Tapering isn’t:

An excuse to do nothing.

A reason to eat copious amounts of junk food.

A prescription for late nights and lots of beer.

A time to drastically switch up your routine or stop running entirely.

Now don’t get me wrong — You can still kick up the feet and relax in a hammock with your favorite craft beer (or smoothie). In fact, that’s encouraged.

But there’s still work to be done. Tapering remains a very important and structured part of your training.

My Six Rules of Proper Tapering

So what does a proper taper look like? Here are my six go-to rules for getting it done right:

Rule 1. Drastically reduce mileage in the first 3 days by about 50%. Reduce the remaining mileage over the course of the remaining 7-10 days.

If you’re currently running 40 miles per week, cut down to 20 for the first three days. With the remaining days, reduce to zero the day before your race.

Rule 2. Maintain a similar running routine.

Let’s say you’re running five days per week now, with rest days on Monday and Friday. Continue running nearly that exact same schedule of 4-5 days during the first week, and 3-4 days during the second week of taper. To account for the reduced mileage, run shorter runs.

That way you’re not running all your weekly mileage in 2-3 days with lots of off days, but spreading it out just as you would during regular training.

Rule 3. Continue with the same mix of intensity has you had before.

Just as you keep your same running frequency, you should maintain a similar mix of intensity.

For example, if you typically run one speed workout per week, keep a tempo or light speed session on the calendar, but again reduce the length of that workout so it’s not as taxing.

During the final week, make it very light, but keep in some level of increased pace.

Rule 4. Eat more (of the good stuff).

Remember what I said about what tapering isn’t? It isn’t an excuse to overdo it when it comes to food and beverages.

Instead, focus on eating clean, nutrient dense plant foods. The week before your race, start favoring carbohydrates a bit more to build the stores.

It’s common for races to offer a big pasta dinner the night before. The truth is, that’s often too late to make any difference and can leave you feeling heavy or bloated the next morning. Instead, I like to eat carb-heavy dinners like pastas, rice and bean burritos, and pretty much any grain, green, and bean combo the final several days leading up to the race.

That way, the day before, I can eat something I know will sit and digest will, leaving my stomach light and comfortable on race day.

That said, have fun with food while you’re tapering. If you want an extra serving, go for it. Dessert when you normally wouldn’t? I’m fine with that too.

You’ve earned a bit treat, just remember that you are still training.

Rule 5. Get more sleep.

Sleep, beautiful sleep. My favorite thing about race week is when I turn my alarm back by 30 minutes and guilt-free naps.

Sleep is vital for recovery, and as your body settles in before your big race, it needs a bit more than usual. Luckily, you’re running less, so you’ll likely have more time in the mornings or evenings to spend in bed.

To me, the key nights of getting the best sleep are the two nights before the race. The night before you’ll likely be nervously tossing and turning, plus you’ll have to wake up early to make it to the starting line. While I still try, I think of that night as a wash.

That’s why those two nights before race day are important for quality sleep time.

Rule 6. Use the extra time to prepare mentally, decompress from the training session, and plan for the race.

With less time spent running, you have more time to do other things…

Like thinking about running! Or at least planning for the race. This is arguably just as important as anything to do with running.

I mean think about it, you’re coming off months of intense training and a rigid routine. Early mornings and long miles. Missed hangouts with friends, and time away from your family…

All building up to one single day on the road or trail.

No pressure or anything.

Use the taper period to reflect back on all you’ve accomplished throughout training, and plan for and envision yourself executing the race of your dreams.

By now it’s just a few days away. You’ve got this.

A Quick Word on the Taper Tantrums

Reduced mileage, more freetime… Your body is going to love it, right?

Unfortunately, reducing your mileage so drastically can result in some weird side effects. Your muscles may actually get more sore and achy than they do during more intense training. Or if you’re like me, you just start feeling tired.

For me, the last week of running before a race almost always results in runs where I feel heavy and lethargic — not a good mental boost going into race day.

But fear not, this is normal, and often referred to as a “taper tantrum.”

And just as tantrums pass for my 2-year-old, so too will yours.

By the time you get hit race day, most of that weirdness will be flushed out and you’ll be primed for the challenge ahead.

Don’t Underestimate the Taper

The hard work is done. You’ve followed your plan, logged the miles, and pushed through doubts. All that lies between you and race day glory now is a few weeks of tapering.

Don’t treat it like a vacation, but instead approach it just as you have the rest of your training — with structure and purpose.

Because once you get to that starting line, primed and ready for race day, your legs, mind, and body will be grateful.

And that extra pizza and beer you’re craving now? It will be waiting for you at the finish line.

The post How to Nail Your Marathon or Ultramarathon Taper appeared first on No Meat Athlete.

First found here: How to Nail Your Marathon or Ultramarathon Taper

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