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tarttheart · 5 months

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PRECIOUS LOVE CHAPTER 10: JAMIE TARTT x YOU

summary: you finally make some progress.

word count: 960 words

warnings: language

chapter 10: to be a better man

It took three days for you to think that maybe you deserved better. It started with Michael pulling you into a big hug when you told him you did not think it was going to work out. He went on to reassure you that there was a long line of fit footballers you could choose from because you were, in his words, “fit as fuck”. Then, the multiple messages from Rebecca and Keeley reminding you that you were brave and amazing. Finally, there were the flowers from the De Bryunes as a little cherry on top with a strongly worded reminder about what a wonderful person you were after you messaged Kevin and Michele a sincere and heartfelt apology for being so unavailable.

So, you decided it was time to properly invest in getting better. You had had enough of a go on your own without professional help and it had gotten you nowhere. Sure, you had travelled heaps around the various regions you had been assigned to while away and done some self-care as you had initially grieved. That had been great but then, hyperfocusing on work thereafter had definitely been counterproductive. While it was great that you finally had some semblance of a social life now, calling it progress was a bit of a stretch given you had been processing for four years albeit somewhat half-heartedly.

Seeing Dr Sharon was hard. There was a lot she had needed to set right in the initial sessions. There were a lot of tears and days spent holed up at home trying to grapple with all that had come to pass. But, as the sessions wore on, you could feel some light coming back into your life and the light at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel.

Slowly, you allowed yourself to be around more things football-related. First, it was Nelson Road for an actual in-person appointment with Dr Sharon. Dr Sharon suggested it and you were not about to shy away from the challenge after making as much progress as you had. Although you had spent the better part of 15 minutes hyperventilating outside before stepping foot into the facility, what mattered was you did. Sessions expanded to having lunch and drinks with Keeley and Rebecca in Rebecca’s office. Sure, part of the reason you had had lunch with Rebecca the first time was because you had heard ruckus in the locker room and seen players streaming out as you had started down the stairs so you had retreated to Rebecca’s office for safety. Yes, it might have been rooted in fear initially but being able to be at Nelson Road was progress in itself.

Then, you started attending games with Rebecca and Keeley. The first time, Richmond were playing Aston Villa away and you happened to be in Birmingham to visit a client. Given the meeting was scheduled for a Friday, you had decided to extend your trip to Sunday to give yourself a little bit of breathing room between train journeys. But, that was where the breathing room ended. The other director had taken to you and decided to make a weekend out of it with you as their unwilling partner (something about a bad breakup and ideal girls’ trip).

You: HELP PLEASE. She was chatting to me from outside the cubicle.

Rebecca: Oh god.

Keeley: don’t hate me babes but

Keeley: what about coming to the game?

You: can I sit in the back and scroll through IG the entire time?

You: you know what, doesn’t matter. She is trying to book us in for costume karaoke. I’m in.

You had originally said you would sit in the back and ignore everything going on but were quickly sucked into the spirit of it all. How could you not? It was an exciting one with Richmond kicking a goal to win it all in the last two minutes of the match. Being in and amongst it all had brought back memories, fond memories of attending Man City matches with the De Bryunes as an extra set of hands for the children. You realised in that moment that football was not as painful a memory as you had thought it would be now. So, when the next opportunity arose to join Rebecca and Keeley in the box, you took it and you remembered that look of pride the two had as they pulled you in for a hug when you had agreed.

Taking the step to actually joining in the team celebrations and being around the team took a little more. You had started making regular appearances around Nelson Road and at matches, enough to spark speculations amongst players about your identity. Did Keeley have a new investor? Maybe Rebecca’s personal lawyer?

Jamie sat in the locker room, overcome by a weird feeling of almost deja vu after catching glimpses of you in the hallways. He always managed to dodge you before you caught sight of him, thanks to the recent agility training he had been keeping up but seeing you stirred something within him nonetheless. He remembered the way you laughed and squealed whenever they won. He remembered the way you always hugged him when he needed it. He remembered how you would give him a thumbs up whenever he looked mad about something and how it made his frustrations disappear if only for a second.

“Oh, that’s who you’re talking about. Guess she must know Keeley and Rebecca too but she’s neither an investor nor a lawyer. She works with Michael,” Colin explained one day.

“Whatever her name is, she seems like a good bottle of Nebbiolo. Elegant, understated, well-liked and very, very good.”

Fuck Richard and his perfect fucking analogy, Jamie thought to himself.

< chapter 9 | master list | chapter 11 >

#jamie tartt #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt x ofc #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt x y/n #jamie tartt x you #jamie tartt fic #jamie tartt imagine

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woozi · 3 years

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i agree how you described twt, sometimes everyone's just ready to fight it seems, i've genuinely had fun on both platforms at different times but now it's just too much on stan twt (no space for difference of opinion djsjdjj) it's good to know you're having fun as well :3 & omg i've seen few of my moots starting to give svt their attention after fallin flower dropped, everything abt it is <3333 the song, mv, choreo i love it.

hdjdjddkdjdj " virgos 😐 " also me in next breath "happy birthday mark :D i love you so much 🥺💕💗" any virgos reading this i really hope you enjoy your month to the fullest djjdjd <3. righttt?? you're correct abt mark's temper being very virgo djdjdkd.

your line screams hard-working people <3 jihoon, jaebeom, jeonghan the 3Js <3. isn't jaebeom also an infj? (i don't take mbtis seriously but at the same time it also makes me happy if it ends up matching someone i like djdjjd) chan & yugs 🥺 these two imo have the sweetest personality, like the one which makes you feel welcomed & they also have the cutest laugh 🥺.

i love jus2 <3 focus on me is one of my favorite kpop mvs of all time & also drunk on you??? i love this song so much, very sexy of them. the vibes, style and everything w/ their album, i want more songs like that. and for when i am feeling melancholy i need more songs like jjp's verse 2 😭💔 but i am also okay if they don't want to go back to these units bcoz everything so far they've been giving is just as great <33 ( maybe in future we'll get blessed w/ features 🥺)

honestly g7 as grp and individually have won me over with their music style, even if i don't like full album ik there will be 3-4 songs which will be exactly what i like to listen to, all of the music they've released individually i've liked it so much. there is this song of youngjae's, titled "i'm all ears" i had no idea of its existence until it popped up in my spotify i'm so glad it did, it's been in my playlist ever since. there was also a time when i was obsessed with jackson's 'on the rocks' djdjdk.

aww <3 the live performance video of 1° has mark as thumbnail so for long time i used to associate this song with him jdjddk. i think the only j*pe thing i'd miss is got7 studio live sessions 🥺. RIGHTJDKSKS aju nice's mv is very cute djjddk I love it, in reality its reverse tho, i see them and boom! 💖💛💗🤍💕💙

it was the year they won first bb*as award so that gave them the exposure, and no i don't follow them anymore. mixed feelings abt them, very negative feelings abt f*ndom fjdjdjd. i do miss what it used to feel like liking them sometimes. at that time i never thought i'll willingly drop them from my interest (i've stanned zayn since 2012 first him as grp member then solo. sometimes thinking abt it gives me a whiplash hddjks it's been 9 years, really thought it would be same with them too but it didn't happen)

i've had falling in love by yugs and in to you by jaebs on loop for days djdkdk i really love these two songs and also air by bammie <3 (i'm slow jams kinda person djdjdk :3)

(bam released the most fun album & title this year idc abt others, ribbon is one of the soty) also special mention of look so fine & running through the rain. yes! you do make sense they feel organic & very them.

exactly 😭 it's more believable when they drop stuff out of nowhere like encore 😭😭. the way youngjae posted his letter on twt too ddjjdkssk the announcement & release of encore is such a 'you just had to be there' situation the excitement, nervousness, confusion and everything 😭 sometimes i can't with them. also is the bibi with mark on ost, the same one you mentioned in last ask? the ost is really good <3, it must've been fun to see it happen (if its same bibi).

making a whole ass playlist just for me???? 😭😭😭🥺💗 yza you're so sweet nooooo 💖

and don't worry abt replying late jdjdkdjd i mean it, sometimes my friends text me after weeks and i'm am the same. it's really okay <3. i hope this week is treating you kindly, take care yza - 🪂

p.s ( just saw last post djjej) - it was me who manifested more bunny dino <3 manifesting even more <33

i was on stan twt during my younger years too and it was v fun and memorable to me ngl <3 idk what happened though.. it's evolved to be.. Something Else.. i still see a lot of good people there though 😭 and now that i'm in my Hag Era... idk it's just too fast for me now 😭 it's still my go-to place for updates though nothing can top twitter on that dept

and ms fallin flower.... i feel like everyone was blown away by it (based off of what i see carats when talk about it) and rightly so!! she SERVED. the looks too oh my god. it's another factor i look forward to and enjoy so much when i watch their performances!!

u know what? virgos 😐 indeed KJJKDFJKFDJKFDKJ i want to slander virgos today because it's their season and no one slanders them that often so <3 ABOUT MARK'S VIRGO TEMPER THOUGH... i know i've said i enjoy seeing it sm but whenever i think abt it i cant help but say that.. I Love His Temper <3 he doesn't get pissed off in a scary and douchebag-y way it seems so... contained?? IDK HOW TO DESCRIBE IT he punched an a/c though so that might not be the perfect word to describe him lmaoo <3

THE J TRINITY HFDJFJDJHDF BESTIE UR MIND IS SO!!!!!!!!!!! honestly... maybe it's the acts of service for me <3 JKDFKJFDKJFJKD i think this is just my eldest sister and savior syndrome speaking though kfjkdkjf ALSO OH MY GOD THE WAY U NOTICE THESE THINGS <3 THAT'S SO SEXIE OF U!!! and yes he used to be an infj!! there was an interview that's more recent wherein he mentioned that he's now an enfj though but i cant rmb which interview it's from :/ ALSO MOOD FKJJKGJGKF i dont believe in mbtis too but im just... a little obsessed w it for the fun of it all <3 and the way u described them </3 what if i tear up a little </3 I LOVE CHAN'S LAUGH SO MUCH BUT IM SO SOS O GLAD U BROUGHT UP YUGYEOM'S LAUGH??????????? IT'S NOT TALKED ABT ENOUGH LIKE...... HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! one of my bird moots said he sounded like a schoolboy in choir 😭😭😭😭😭😭

GOD UR TASTE!!!!!!! what if i start falling in l*ve a little :/ what then :/ focus on me was ahead of it's time and people fucking slept on THEM i cannot fucking believe this. this has to be some kind of sick joke 😭 ALSO HAVE U SEEN THE CHOREO FOR SENSES!!!!!!1 INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!! holy fuck!!!!!! sorry for the expletives but like.... holy SHIT they did THAT!!!!!!!! ALSO UR SO RIGHT </3 jjp verse 3 when... ALSO did u know i let go of the jjprojects url... thats the worst mistake of my life KDKJDSKJDSJK also agree wholeheartedly <3 i think they're all trying to find their footing this time around as soloists and im so proud of them for that!! i'll stand by my jus2 agenda though bc they're almost in the same company so maybe.. i might have hope left 😭

SO TRUE BESTIE!!! the same principle goes w svt for me as well <3 got7's such a flavorful group musically like... all of them have the capacity to go solo and they're still considered flops.. waht the fuck <3 ALSO OMG FJDKJFKFJD YOU'VE HEARD The Song!!!!!!!! maybe he'll be releasing something along those lines <3 esp now that he's supposedly coming w an album KJSJKDJSK on a similar note.. do u also listen to jamie (the other artist on the song) <3 NOO SHUT UP THIS CANNOT BE FOR REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 i was obsessed w on the rocks too 😭😭😭😭😭😭 IT WAS MY FAVORITE ON THE MIRRORS ALBUM HELLO??????????????????????????? im proposing to u rn

ok now i have to watch all the live vids again JKDSJKSJDKDSKJ ik keep saying 'ur so right', 'i agree', and 'so true bestie' but im gonna have to say this again bc i LOVE LOVE LOVE live sessions sm no matter the artist. i also just am a little partial to live bands in performances like that in general so JDJKKDSJDS

the way you're saying these cute things abt the svteenies.. </3 giving me heartache!!! i'd bully them though i can't coddle them anymore <3

not the fandom JKFDKJFDKJFDKJFKJF ok but i think it's mostly their younger fans tbh. it wasn't this bad before.. i also really liked bts during their debut days. their songs were really good!! i kind of lost interest though and couldn't really get into them although their songs slapped lol. my irls are still into them though so i still hear about them. 9 YEARS............................... wait oh my god it HAS BEEN a little over a decade since 1d was The Thing huh 😭 now i feel kinda old lmao. and i totally get that feeling </3 it really do be like that sometimes JKFDJKJKFD

you really ARE keeping up w the sevens oh my god how are you doing it!!!!!!!!!!! it's like getting svt content now at this point but more complicated bc u need to get the updates from different sources JDKJSDKJJSKD love ur song choices too <3

ALSO FULLY RELATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when i saw bam's teasers... the aes was my cup of tea and THE HIGHLIGHT MEDLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i can't fucking get it out of my mind it's objectively one of the best things i've seen from kpop in 2021. i'm super impressed <3 love how abyss really supported bambam on this. they really went all in for him!!

I KNOW GKJDFJDK I GOT SUPER ???????/// DURING THE TIME EVERYONE THOUGHT THEY WERE DISBANDING LMAOOOO they pulled a move that's so unheard of though no one really expected That. i respect jaebeom so much for handling all the paperwork and shit behind the scenes it must've been HELL!! ALSO IT MEANT I CRIED FOR NOTHING THEN 😭😭😭 AND YES OH MY GOD IT'S THE SAME BIBI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SHOCK I HAD WHEN I SAW THE LIST????????????????????????? thought i was gonna black out like,,, mark,,, AND BIBI??????????????? she's fucking phenomenal how is she just a YEAR older than me.. INSANE!!! ... and i also thought jackson was gonna have an ost for this movie.. idk why it wasn't released though i didnt look into it :/

i had a rough few days so i'm not yet finished with the playlist (my laptop's Dead i am still trying to revive her and uni's starting soon 😭) but for the mean time, here's another one that some people from caratblr previously asked for JDSJKSDJ these are mostly english songs though its not my k-playlist KJDSKJSDJK

i do hope this week gets better!!! and i hope that you'll have a fun one too <3 thank u for being so patient w me 🥺 i just get so many messages and find the need to recharge FDKJDFJK

ALSO I FELT LIKE IT WAS U!!!!!! OH MY GOD, i even searched my blog for the word manifest but for some reason your ask didn't come up in the search so i didnt mention u in the tags so i wont misattribute if it ends up not being u 😭 thank u for manifesting this chan for me he's my little... hop hop now ig... 😭

#lov u u genuinely make my days better!! <#*<3 #also the way u called me by name... passing out rn </3 #🪂 anon #anon #y.ask #long post

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maxiekat · 5 years

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In a world full of rom-coms, when was the last time you cried over an onscreen breakup that actually stuck? No grand gestures to save the day, just pure, raw, lust and heartbreak. If you want to get so deep in your feels you forget if you’re actually heartbroken or just bleary-eyed over someone else’s love story, then you may need to subscribe to the church of Drake Doremus.

The director is known for his mostly improvised, chill-inducing romantic dramas (Like Crazy, Newness, Equals) and his latest is a tender-to-the-touch look at a modern love triangle in Endings, Beginnings, which premieres Sunday at Toronto Film Festival. Much like his previous work, Endings, Beginnings is clever and cutting, but also soft and quiet. Shailene Woodley is at the heart of the film playing Daphne, a thirty-something artist (her specialty is hand-painted tea pots, which she sells on Etsy) who recently and abruptly quit her job and ended her long-term relationship with her boyfriend (Matthew Gray Gubler, in his third Doremus film).

Looking for a hard reset on life, Daphne moves into the pool house of her much more together older half-sister. She also stops drinking, focuses on looking for a new job, and cuts men out of her life. Until, of course, she meets two men at a New Year’s Party. One’s brooding, asking her for a light of a cigarette in the most drunken and charming of ways. He’s wearing a shearling jacket, worn-in with adventures. The other’s in LA’s version of a suit — he’s put together, and looks at her with the steady intentness. Daphne should be avoiding both, but she quickly becomes enamored with bad boy Frank (Sebastian Stan), a nomad who drinks absinthe, and good boy Jack (Jamie Dornan), an academic who has a dog and dreams of moving to Europe. What starts as innocent text-flirting evolves into two full-blown relationships. Oh, and the guys are best friends.

When Stan first read for the film, he read for both Frank and Jack’s role, but what really attracted him to the heady rom-dram was Dormeus himself, of whom he’s been a huge fan. “I met him and I said, ‘I gotta tell you, I don’t know which one of these people you are seeing me as, but I really relate to both of them. I love both,’” he says over the phone to Refinery29. Stan’s in London where he’s filming the spy-thriller 355, a movie he says is “stylistically and tonally very different,” than Endings, Beginnings, but with “a couple of similarities here and there.”

“And we just got very deep. We got into relationships and being in our 30s and the world we are in right now, and all our experiences.” The vulnerability seen on-screen between Woodley, Stan, and Dornan is something special, and almost entirely improvised, based on just 30 pages of notes. Endings, Beginnings is a far cry from the big budget Marvel movies you’re used to seeing Stan in (he plays Captain America’s pal Bucky Barnes in seven Marvel movies and one upcoming spin-off series.) I was reading your Instagram post earlier gushing about working on this film with Drake. When did you become a fan of his, and why did you two think Frank was the role for you?

“I was aware of [Drake] for awhile. Like everyone else, I loved Like, Crazy, and then I also like his recent movie with Nicholas Hoult, Equals. I was also just really interested in doing a movie and improvising — because the entire movie is practically improvised. I never worked in that medium before. I got a call saying, Hey do you want to meet with Drake and talk about this movie [and] read the draft?, which was basically like 30 pages. There were two guy [parts] at the time. I met him and I said, ‘I gotta tell you, I don’t know which one of these people you are seeing me as, but I really relate to both of them. I love both.’ And we just got very deep. We got into relationships and being in our 30s and the world we are in right now, and all our experiences. Again, I didn’t really know that is where we were gonna go, but he was very honest with me and I was honest with him. We parted ways, and the next thing I knew he called me to have a session with somebody at the time that he was thinking of for the role as Daphne, and I went in and had a 3-hour improv session with him, then he called me and told me that he wants me to do the Frank role and I was fine with that.”

Only 30 pages. Everything else is improv? All the film’s dialogue?

“Yes, that is all literally on the day, in the moment, happening real-time. Basically, the script that he had was just the outline: Daphne comes out a recent relationship and moves in with her best friends. They’re having a New Years Party, and she runs into Frank who asks her for a cigarette. It was all outlines, but in terms of the dialogue and how we would get there, that was all improvised. That was an interesting experience because I had never worked that way and no take is ever the same. I walked away from that experience feeling very vulnerable. You’re not hiding behind any lines.”

The improvisation really added to the film. I left it feeling more emotional than I expected.

“We’ve all had relationships, and we know how tricky they are. They’re complex and there’s many layers. I don’t know — I have always loved romantic comedies. I grew up on When Harry Met Sally and all that, but I sometimes feel that relationships aren’t entirely depicted as messy and as raw and as painful as they are. That’s why I loved working with him because I feel like he gets to the core of situations. I’m happy to hear you related to it because that is what he wants. He wants you to go, 'I’ve had that conversation...been in that situation.’”

There’s been a resurgence in romantic comedies, but not so much romantic dramas like this. Do you think there’s a reason why?

“I love romantic comedies and there is a space for them, but [rom coms] are hopeful. Sometimes when I go to the movies, I don’t want to necessarily see what my life is. I want to be like, Hey! It’s nice to think that maybe that could be that way. If you want to be inspired, or laugh a little bit — there’s that element of it. And sometimes you want to see a movie that makes you feel less alone in your experience. A lot of European films are much closer to this, and I think Drake loves a lot of European films and is influenced by them and the personal quality. Structurally in romantic comedies, you have bigger things happening, right? Whereas [in this movie], there are big things happening, but there’s a much more subtle transition through everything.”

Frank is the “player” of the film, while Jack is the “good guy,” for lack of a better phrase. You’ve said before that you didn’t really know why you were often cast as the “bad boy.” Do you still not know why?

“I don’t know! [Groans] I don’t know. The truth is, the reason I was saying [I could play] Jack was that I talk a lot in my life. I philosophize a lot. I try to read things. Then I think about it, and then I wanna talk about it. I relate to that [aspect of Jack]. And actually, there was a lot to Frank and Daphne that we shot that was funny. They had a lot of their own back and forth, but what ended up being in the movie — I think Drake never forgot the vision that he had for Frank — [was him] being much darker than we shot. I am happy it ended up that way because there needed to be a contrast.

But I don’t know! I am glad they think I can do this. I am one of the most over-thinking, neurotic people I know. So I don’t know how it happens, but it keeps happening.”

I thought a big part of Frank also was his big shearling jacket. Since most of the movie was improvised, did you have anything to do with his outfits?

“Oh yeah, I kept that jacket, first of all. It’s a great jacket. What’s great about Drake is that he was like, ‘Hey, listen, people wear the same stuff all the time. If something works, let’s just it.’ I was like yeah, the guy probably kind of flies by the seat of his pants anyways so he just has a few things. I think I wore some of my own jeans. The boots I wore were mine. Drake definitely wanted us to wear our own stuff so we could feel comfortable in it.”

This was originally called No, No, No, Yes and ended as Endings, Beginnings. How did the title change shape the movie?

“It was always a working title. I saw that it was paired up with her experience — every no and every yes was paired to one of the relationships that she was going through. Endings, Beginnings is a little more specific. I know for awhile he was even contemplating a title that was even just made up of emojis which I thought would have been really fun.”

Oh yeah. I loved the texting aspect in this movie.

“There is an element of texting in the time period we are in, and there is this new language to it. They got it in the sense that both Jack and Frank have their very specific ways of texting. Jack probably uses punctuation, and Frank does not. [Laughs]”

You’ve worked with a few of the Big Little Lies women now. Do you have plans to work with the others like Zoe Kravitz, Reese Witherspoon, or Laura Dern?

“That has not hit me — that’s kinda funny. I don’t think I have ever met Reese Witherspoon and I’ve met Laura Dern. If the opportunity presents itself then great. I certainly wouldn’t have had a problem if there had been a role in the second season. I would have done it in a second. I loved the first season.”

I have one more that I have to ask about — obviously Gossip Girl is getting rebooted, and Chace [Crawford] said it made him feel “old,” but he’d be down. Have you thought about it at all?

“[Laughs] I don’t even… it’s so weird. Somehow a lot of people talk to me about Gossip Girl, and I always thought I was just a guest star. It was a very special show. It certainly defined those years, and we all got our start there in a way. It would be hilarious and weird and crazy. He’s right — we are old! I don’t know what business they’d have with me, but, Jesus. If there was some funny little witty thing and they called and we’re like, ‘We’re doing this thing and we have everybody….’ I’m not gonna be the asshole that says no. Maybe I’ll be in the background scooping some ice cream.”

#sebastian stan #endings beginnings #drake doremus #gossip girl #shailene woodley

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shapeshiftersandfire · 4 years

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bottle up lightning

prompt: shock collar fandom: scary stories to tell in the dark characters: ephraim bellows cw: shock collar, creepy whumper, electrocution mention notes: takes place post-movie, in which stella has accidentally revived the bellows in addition to reviving her friends au/related project: project verna

Sarah would like this, Ephraim thinks. The fabric sits heavy around his neck, weighed down on one side by the electric box. The metal prongs dig uncomfortably into his skin, raw and sore and irritated. Even inactive, Ephraim can still feel the electricity racing through his skin. He opens and closes his fist, rolls his head to relieve that perpetual dull tingling in his arm, which he figures is either real and indicative of a serious health issue, or all in his head, which is also an issue in and of itself.

She would be reveling in this. He slips two fingers under the collar, lifting the box away from his skin. After all he’d done to her, one electroshock session every three days, sending one hundred-twenty volts running through her tiny body, he knows how much it would please her to see him like this. He imagines her standing over him with a sneer, that infernal remote in hand, waiting for him to make some excuse for why he’d done what he had. Sometimes, she doesn’t wait. She pushes the button and lets it go, go for what feels like hours, when in reality it’s only a few seconds.

Tell the truth, Ephraim, she sneers. Tell me what I want to hear. It wasn’t you, wasn’t it, who poisoned the water?

She kneels down, her eyes dark and burning and filled with more rage than Ephraim had ever seen in her in life. Go on, she says. Say it.

And when Ephraim refuses, she pushes it, again and again and again. There was no black magic involved, Ephraim. We’ve gone over this. That’s why you’re here. And she raises the the remote, waving it in his face, taunting him.

You rat, Ephraim snarls, and is met with a rush of electricity.

That’s not the truth, is it, Ephraim? Sarah asks.

Sarah, what kind of sick game is— And he’s cut off by another stream of electricity. When it’s over, he lays on the ground, muscles twitching with the last remaining rush. Stop it, he wants to tell her. Stop it, I’m not your plaything. Stop it and leave me alone. But he knows she won’t. She’s having too much fun, if he could even call it that, and maybe he can. Sarah isn’t going to stop until she’s had her fill of him, and that may be never.

(That’s the one thing about Sarah: like the rest of the Bellows, she has that stubborn streak. She’s not going to back down once she has her target set.)

Not a game, Ephraim, she says, standing. A lesson. It’s not fun being on the receiving end of this, it is?

He doesn’t tell her no. He doesn’t tell her anything. Instead, he stares up at her with every ounce of hatred he can muster. First she kills him (and rightfully so, he won’t deny that); then, she tortures him. Perhaps she was more a Bellows than he gave her credit for.

No, she says, of course it isn’t. But then I’m sure it wasn’t fun either, was it? Unless there’s some inner depraved part of you that thrives on the pain and misery of others.

Ephraim grinds his teeth. Never, he’s never taken pleasure in harming others, he’s only ever tried to help them, save Sarah. But it was a job, nothing more. It was nothing personal, he says. Only business.

Sarah snorts. Then consider this nothing personal. Only business. And she presses the button until Ephraim sees black.

But instead of Sarah (and part of him thinks he would greatly prefer Sarah), he gets this weasel of a man who claims himself the grandson of Oliver Waldon, a quiet old gentleman who rarely did anything more than sit at his usual place in the local tavern and say nothing. A harmless fellow. His grandson, not so much.

The bastard saunters into the room, the remote in hand that so many times Ephraim has imagined Sarah holding, and grins at him. “Good morning, Ram.”

“Ephraim,” he corrects, and gets a shock for his troubles. This one doesn’t last as long as most, but it still leaves a dull ache in his teeth and a soreness in his muscles.

“I’ll call you what I’d like. You’re in my house, remember?”

“Not by choice,” Ephraim spits, and earns himself another shock. It leaves him with his face buried in the floor, spit his mouth, and ringing in his ears. “Shit.” And swearing—well he can’t deny now that Verna hadn’t rubbed off on him.

“Swearing, that’s new for you.”

“Yes, well,” Ephraim says with a cough, “you have my aunt to thank for that.”

“Oh, yes,” his captor says. “That aunt of yours that everyone says was so foul-mouthed and horrid, the one that disappeared, right? That one? I’m not shocked.”

Ephraim grinds his teeth, he knows what’s coming next.

“But you are.” And he loses track of all his senses after that, caught in a torrent of pain and lightning. When it’s finally over, Ephraim twitches painfully, coughing into the floor. His tormentor doesn’t come closer, instead waiting for when Ephraim is able to roll over.

Jamie—no, James, Ephraim refuses to call him anything but—sneers down at him, that wretched remote in his hand. And how badly Ephraim wants to knock it out of his grip. But every attempt Ephraim makes to get off the floor is met with a push of the button; he screams, writhing, gripping the collar, trying in vain to rip it from is neck as electricity races through his system.

“You just don’t learn, do you?” James asks. He kicks Ephraim in the ribs. “See that’s the problem with you old-timey people, you don’t fucking learn. Every one of you has your head shoved so far up your ass, it’s back on your shoulders. And you don’t listen.” He kicks Ephraim again. “When are you going to finally learn, Ephraim? I don’t want to do lasting damage, but with the way you’re going you might be a vegetable by Monday.”

“That,” Ephraim says with another cough, “may be preferable to this.”

Another kick, this one hard enough that Ephraim feels something crack. “Ungrateful bastard,” James spits. “I gave you a place to stay—”

“You kidnapped me and subjected me to this savagery!” Ephraim counters, pointing at the shock collar. “You keep me locked in your basement, I could hardly call that passable hospitality.” And he’s on the ground and twitching again before he can say anymore.

“And where did you plan on staying?” James asks. “The Bellows house is an abandoned dump. It’s uninhabitable.” He puts emphasis on the word, as though Ephraim, a seasoned doctor, graduating third in his class, doesn’t know what it means.

(He does, doesn’t he? He knows what uninhabitable means. Or was it inhospitable he was thinking of? Oh dear.)

It’s a moment before Ephraim can respond. His head feels fuzzier than he’d like. He can only just make out what James is saying to him, and it takes him far too long to process once he can finally hear enough. “Well,” he says, slowly, “at least my old ramshackle abode doesn’t come with a shock collar.” A quick buzz rushes through his neck. Ephraim grips the shock box and pulls it away, trying to get some respite from the electricity and the metal prongs digging into his neck. He grinds his teeth at the residual shock running through his body.

He wonders, dimly, how Sarah would have fared in a shock collar. That bulky black box clipped around her pale neck, the prongs digging into her skin. She’d never really feared the electroshock mechanism, but a shock collar… Ephraim can only imagine the fear in her eyes every time he so much as twitched a finger.

How long would it have taken you to give in then?

He’s shaken out of his distant considerations as a hand clasps his shoulder and rolls him onto his back. James stares down at him with a mix of irritation and curiosity. Ephraim doesn’t have the energy yet to sit up. Instead he lays on the floor and stares up at James, waiting for his head to clear and debating how much more he wanted to fight before he lost the rest of his mind.

“You should be grateful to me, really,” James says, not without a note of smugness. “If it weren’t for me, you’d still be wandering aimlessly. You’d have nowhere to go. You’d be homeless.” Ah, yes, the homeless point that he loved bringing up so much, as though Ephraim is glad to be trapped in a basement with a shock collar on his neck instead of out exposed to the elements where at least he could keep his mind clear and he wasn’t at someone else’s mercy.

“I should be,” he says, and he means it more as a derogatory remark, but without his wits about him it sounds like it comes out as something very much the opposite.

“That’s right,” James croons. He runs his fingers through Ephraim’s hair, discomfort flares in Ephraim’s chest— “No—” and then James’ hand comes to rest on his cheek. “You should be.”

And it stays there. It’s enough for Ephraim to snap out of his daze, momentarily, with a flash of anger.

“Don’t touch me!” Ephraim shoves James away. He sits up and backs away. “Shock me all you’d like but I won’t be the object of your depraved sense of affection.”

“That’s incredibly rude of you, Ephraim. Insulting and foul. I should shock you into oblivion.”

“Then so be it. I’d rather that than have your filthy hands on me.”

James’ jaw tenses, his thumb lingers on the button, but Ephraim knows he won’t do it. He’d rather have Ephraim alive and conscious and spitting protests than a brain-dead meat sack.

In an unprecedented move, the remote is tucked away into James’ pocket. He crosses his arms, surveying Ephraim with hard eyes and a shifting jaw. “You’re a psychologist,” he says, thoughtfully. “I’m sure you know all about conditioning. Don’t you?”

Now it’s Ephraim’s turn to clench his jaw. He tries to swallow away the nausea at the back of his throat. “Yes.” It was one of the first things he’d learned in school, one of the most basic things. Pavlov and his dogs—the association between the bell and food. Classical conditioning.

James takes a step toward Ephraim. He crouches down to Ephraim’s level, takes the remote from his pocket and holds it in plain view. “Then you know,” he says slowly, “that I can make you like having my ‘filthy hands’ on you. It won’t take much.”

Ephraim inhales heavily. “You wouldn’t—”

“Wouldn’t I?” James asks. “Why don’t we find out?” His finger hovers over the remote—

“No,” Ephraim protests. “No, I don’t want—” A shock sends him to the floor. When the electricity fades, when his muscles have stopped contracting against his will, Ephraim fights to keep his eyes from tearing.

“If it means anything to you, Ephraim, I’m not really interested in what you want.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

Another shock.

Damn it.

“Keep this up, Ephraim, I can do this all day, as long as it takes.”

I’m sure you can, Ephraim thinks, and feels another little piece of him lost in a surge of lightning.

[***]

“Ram! Ram!”

The voice is far off, somewhere in blurry distance. It sounds familiar, a voice he hasn’t heard in years. He doesn’t recognize it.

“Ram! Ephraim!”

Someone knows him. Should he know them? Does he? He can’t remember.

He can’t remember much of anything. Those shocks must have addled his brain more than he realized.

Side of effects of electroshock therapy include amnesia, he remembers, from some fuzzy, yet intact bit of his mind. What does he know about electroshock therapy? He must have worked with it. When? What did he do for a living?

What’s he doing now?

“Ram!”

The voice jogs something in his head. A name comes back to him, not a face, no, just a fuzzy white space and a mess of neat black hair. Verna?

Who was Verna to him? How did he know her? How did she know him?

“Ver…na?”

“Ram! Ram?” The voice grows closer now. He raises his head, something shrieks in the distance, a sound harsh enough that he cringes and flinches. “Ram!”

And then hands—hands on his shoulders—No, no! Get away from me!—he lashes out—the prongs scrape his neck—

“No, Ram, Ram, it’s me, it’s Aunt Verna—”

Aunt Verna?

“Oh, God, Ram—” her hands move to his neck—

Get off!

“Easy, Ram, easy, easy, it’s just me.” A pair of small hands close around his wrists, not pinning them, just holding them. “Look at me, Ram. Look at me.”

Inhale. Exhale. He’s been breathing heavily. His vision clears, he comes to his addled senses. He might not remember his name—among other things—what is his name? Ram? Ram? Ram—Ephraim—Ram—Ephraim? It’s Ephraim, isn’t it? And that’s Verna, Aunt Verna, with her hands on his wrists, urging him to look at her—

Ephraim does, he looks at her. It’s Aunt Verna.

And that’s when things come crashing down.

He starts crying—he never cries, he doesn’t cry, Ephraim Bellows doesn’t cry—

But he can’t stop, he can’t stop—

Aunt Verna, Aunt Verna—and he grips her arm

he needs her how the hell long has he needed her how long ago did he get attached to her when did he realize he needed his Aunt Verna where’s his mother where’s Delanie he wants Delanie where is she where is she he needs her he wants his mother where is she

“Aunt Verna—”

“Easy, Ram, I’ve got you—”

Her hands go from his wrists to his face he wishes they would go to his neck get that damn collar off

he tries to focus on her voice “I’m right here Ram I’m right here I’m gonna take the collar off okay” he nods he wants the collar off he wants his mother where’s Delanie

“Delanie”

“She’s okay Ram she’s at home waiting for you”

I need her I need Delanie I need my mother why didn’t she come with Verna why did she leave him alone why isn’t she here he wants her here why isn’t she here why isn’t she HERE

A click and the collar comes off something pulls at Ephraim’s skin—

The collar falls to the ground with a clatter Aunt Verna pulls him into her arms

And everything slows down.

It’s like waking up. His brain processes everything one realization at a time, in slow succession. First, that his head is tucked against Verna’s shoulder, and she’s holding him, not unlike the way she held Sarah, close and protected. Second, that his neck stings something awful, between the chaffing and the electrocution. Third, that his tears have dried on his face, but he doesn’t have the energy to wipe them away. He has a handful of Verna’s dress and he’s not about to relinquish his hold on that any time soon.

Fourth, that the hand Verna runs over his head in slow, repetitive strokes is the best thing he’s felt in a long time.

He sees now what Sarah saw in Aunt Verna: a wildfire that burned hot and furious when it burned at all, and a low simmering warmth, safe and controlled. Aunt Verna is safe. Ephraim doesn’t remember when he last knew safe.

“I’ve got you, Ram,” she whispers, breathless and relieved. Ephraim thinks she should want to kill him, after what he did to Sarah—not that he can fully remember what he did to Sarah, but he knows, faintly, that he did something and by all means Verna should be furious. “I’ve got you.”

Ephraim closes his eyes. His neck burns. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. He doesn’t tell Verna he can’t remember what for exactly.

“Yeah,” Verna sighs, her voice tired and worn, too tired to be angry anymore, “I think you are.” She holds him a little tighter. Her chin rests in his hair.

(He wonders, dimly, if she knows what he did. He thinks it’s better not to ask.)

(He’s probably right.)

“Delanie,” he croaks.

“”Yeah,” Verna says again. “She’s at home.”

At home?

No, no, that can’t be right. The last time I saw Delanie—

Something bad happened, something during the night. Ephraim remembers blood and broken glass and screaming—

“Delanie,” he says again, pulling away from Verna, “Delanie, she’s—”

“She’s okay, Ram, everyone’s okay.” She wipes his eyes. This time, Ephraim finds he doesn’t mind her hands on his face. James on the other hand… He tucks his head back into her shoulder. He doesn’t want to think about that right now.

“I want to see her.”

Verna holds him a little closer. “You will,” she promises. “I’ll take you to see her…”

Ephraim tunes out everything Verna says after that (something about his neck and a hospital, he thinks), but he can worry about that later. All he wants now is to see his mother.

#good even scary stories fandom i'm really three hell hounds in a trenchcoat #ephraim bellows #scary stories to tell in the dark #badthingshappenbingo #shock collar tw #electrocution cw #creepy whumper #project verna #bad timeline

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imagineclaireandjamie · 5 years

Note

I’m struggling with anorexia. Would you be comfortable writing one about how Jamie would react if Claire were anorexic?

The Meeting - Part 1

In the pale light of the fake Christmas tree,Claire sat with her hands joined in her lap. It hadn’t been her idea to jointhe group, but her friend (and colleague) Joe had convinced her it was the bestthing. Looking deep into her eyes he had used his least offensive doctor voiceto tell her it was this -- or hospitalisation.

“So,” the overly cheery host began as everyoneelse settled into their seats.

It was cold and uncomfortable in the backroom ofthe town hall which they gathered, but at least everyone seemed friendly.

The scent of the coffee she held between herfingers drifted upwards, covering her face in a comforting warmth as she triedto refocus in on what was being said in the circle surrounding her but she washaving difficulty adapting.

“Claire, you’re new, would you care to share?”

His badge, she finally noticed, read ‘John’ inlarge bold font. And now, not only his, but all of the eyes in the circle werefocused on her. She felt her cheeks pink, the attention causing her heart rateto pick up pace as she gripped her cup tighter. Suddenly her mouth was too dryto speak, the idea of unleashing all of her demons onto the strangers in frontof her sending cold shivers down her spine.

“You don’t have to.” He continued, his browsdrawn together as he watched her shudder minutely. “This is a safe space, youcan open up any time you feel.”

“N-no,” she shuttered, the words eventuallyleaving her mouth as she smiled shyly, “might as well rip the plaster off andget started.” She whispered, to herself more than to anyone else.

Standing, she let the legs of the chair scrapeacross the hardwood floor as she imagined the vast array of people around herto be patients in her care rather than a jury of her peers. “Hello, as Johnsaid, I’m Claire.” Speaking with confidence now, she stood still with her legstogether as if she were addressing family waiting in a relations room. “I firststarted trying to control my relationship with food when my husband left me. Itwas a slow build, really. One I didn’t pay much attention to until I fainted atwork just before a major surgery but gradually, over the period of about ayear, I stopped eating breakfast and lunch and barely ate tea.”

There were a couple of sympathetic nods frommembers of the group (populated by a range of old and young, male and female)all of whom seemed to understand how the beast of this illness grew withinuntil you no longer recognised the person you’d started off as.

She took a breath then, happy that a sort ofsubtle stillness had fallen on the semi-silent room. A mumble of ‘hello,Claire’’s echoed around the room as she took a sip of her drink and satback down again, tucking her skirt under her legs so that the cold plasticchair didn’t touch her bare skin.

The rest of the meeting passed by in a blur asJohn re-introduced himself and a range of others stood to inform the oldermembers of the group of their progress but Claire had stopped listening.Instead she allowed her vision to glaze, the sound of the dripping pipe behindher captivating her as the hour ticked on. At least her name had been tickedoff the register. Joe would know she’d attended - and participated.

Of everyone in her life, Joe Abernathy was theonly one who held any sway over her. He’d kept her fainting a mystery at work,withholding the information from the board so that she had enough time to seekhelp on her own rather than be questioned at length and forced down a differentpath by her employers.

“You’re a doctor, Lady Jane,” Joe had saidcautiously, using his pet name for her to soften the blow, “you cannot treatpatients if you’re not well yourself.”

She had tried to argue with him, to debate theissue and deny that anything was wrong - but it was too late for that. The deepbags around her eyes (that had little to do with the amount of hours she workedand the lack of sleep) showed the extent of her malnutrition, as did the deepcurve of her collarbones. She was gaunt, too skinny to be healthy but she’dtaken all of the mirrors down in her own home and avoided the glare of themirror every time she used the bathrooms at work and so hadn’t taken stock ofherself in a good six months.

Before she knew it, Claire was collecting hercoat, pulling the hood up and heading off into the night -escaping the tepidair of the hall as fast as she could. She didn’t think about where her feetwere taking her, but she was soon sat in the corner of the closest bar with anaged whisky between her fingers.

“Is anyone sat here?” A deep baritone asked, hislow voice making her turn abruptly as she looked up into the eyes of the guywho’d interrupted her thoughts.

“No, help yourself.” She said arching her freehand towards the empty seat as if to invite him to sit.

“Ye seemed kind of distant tonight.” Hecontinued after he’d sat down, his head cocked to the side and a small smileplaying on his lips as he took a swig of his own beverage.

“I’m sorry,” she asked, confused, “do I knowyou?”

“Yer Claire, aye? Ye were at the meeting thisevening. For eating disorders, aye?”

An embarrassed laugh bubbled in her throat andClaire struggled to contain it as she held her crystal tumbler in front of herface. “Oh, sorry. I guess you were right, I was distracted...distant even.”

“Dinna apologise. We all were on a first fewsessions. It’s that crucial moment when yer figuring out whether it’s the rightthing for you, whether it’ll actually help and if yer ready to even open yermouth. But, and ye can trust me on this, it is right. John is brilliant, thoughI’ve never seen him be so direct as to ask a newbie whether they want to sharebefore. He’s usually much more subtle.”

Snorting Claire recalled the moment Joe hadmentioned the group and it suddenly became clear why John had been so forward.

“It’s because he knows about me.”

“Och, knows about ye but doesna ken ye?”

“That’s right. He knows my friend, Joe. He’s themain reason I’m there really. What about you?”

She could see the moment the memory sparkedbehind his eyes and immediately she wanted to take back her question - thoughshe assumed he’d shared his reasons many times before. Sitting in the dankcorner of an unknown bar, out of the safe space designated to them in the weehall, it felt different, less simple maybe.

“You don’t have to tell me, I didn’t mean to--”

“No, dinna apologise. Turnabout is fair play,aye? I ken about ye it’s only right that ye want to know about me”

“It’s just more difficult, isn’t it?”

“Aye. It is. More complex, maybe.”

A silence fell over them, the sweet tang of theair sending an intoxicating ripple through them both. It allowed Claire tofocus on the music playing in the background - White Christmas, she realisedbelatedly. Christmas seemed like an abstract season at the moment, when herlife was so up in the air, but December had begun and so Glasgow hadtransformed into something altogether too festive in an instant.

“You could start by re-telling me your namethen.” She asked, her shoulders relaxing as he leaned forwards, his armsresting on the table between them.

He paused for a moment, just long enough forClaire to realise that his mere presence had relaxed her almost instantly. Hereyes caught his, the seedy lighting making his pale complexion seem almostradiant and she smiled - an involuntary lifting of her lips that he mirroredimmediately.

“It’s James Fraser, Jamie to my friends.”

“Lovely to meet you, Jamie...or should I stickto the more formal -James- until we’re better acquainted?”

“I dinna think we need to stand on ceremony. Iwas in the army for long enough to know that isna necessary.”

“Military man, eh?” She asked, quirking a browas she clinked her glass with his. She could see, though, the storm buildingbehind the blue of his eyes. It was then she saw the turmoil cross his face,the almost unconscious scrunch of his features that revealed the tumult within.She couldn’t, of course, understand the finite details of the thing whichhaunted him but she saw the toxic darkness of it swishing around beneath hisskin as he pursed his lips, blinked rapidly and recovered suddenly as if it hadnever been there in the first place.

“Aye, I was. That’s how John and I ken oneanother. We served at the same time. Were released at a similar time.” Hisvoice was raspy now, as if all of the moisture had vanished from his mouthbefore he spoke.

“Shall we get out of here?” The noise suddenlyburst around them, piercing the bubble that had surrounded them and allowing arowdiness to sever the silence. “Go somewhere more private?” Claire didn’t giveherself time to think about what she was asking, but something about him calledto her and before she could stop she’d spoken.

“I ken a place. Ye have a warm coat, I hope?” Hereplied, a real smile lighting his face.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

#;mod mbd #the meeting au #anorexia au

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tzds-gt · 5 years

Text

Shutterbug

(Takes place, kinda, in the TLA universe. Not related to the Shark stuff going on over on @askthelittleassistant, I just figured that I should post it since it’s been in my drafts for... forever!)

“The Host suggests that Jameson Jackson comes back sometime- he believes it would be a treat next time to introduce his assistant King and Jameson.”

Jamie, sitting across from him in the Host’s library, nodded. The Host wasn’t really expecting to spend time with Jamie today, but the newest Septic ego was a curious little man, and the Host was too shy to refuse him. They had actually had a pleasant chat, despite their disabilities. They had considered that the Host could speak for the both of them, but the Host felt awkward to do all of the talking. Instead, they ended up relying on one of Jamie’s tricks.

The Host suddenly got a flash of an old caption from a silent movie in his mind: ‘Say, that’d be fun! Where might King be right now?’

“King had a meeting with Doctor Iplier, the Host explains. After King’s... accident, last month, she has been having trouble with her neck and shoulders. She’s been having checkups with Doctor Iplier to track her recovery.”

‘What’s she like, then?’ Jamie asked.

“The Host smiles, explaining that King is very considerate, and incredibly creative- Jameson might like to come to one of their brainstorming sessions sometime, as he remembers Jameson is a bit of a storyteller himself.”

Jameson agreed happily.

As the two were about to part ways, they went to shake hands. Then there was a flash of light, and everything went black for the two Egos.

He wakes up unsure of who he is or what he’s doing. All sorts of words swirl through his already dazed mind. The side of his face is warm and wet, and he can taste blood in his mouth.

He’s unsure if it’s comforting to know that it’s his own blood.

He starts to push himself to his feet, but something feels wrong. He feels bigger than he was, and it’s as if his arms are all over the place. He tries to say something, anything, but suddenly his throat burns and he can taste blood in his mouth.

He also discovers that he has four arms.

After a moment of clumsy flailing, he’s on his feet. Thoughts of ‘where am I going?’ and ‘I know exactly where I’m going’ collide in his head as he strides through the bookshelves, numerous arms crossed to keep from having to deal with them just yet.

The desk is somehow both his and not his at the same time. He’ll need to sort those parts of his mind out later, but for now he turns to the cardboard box beside the desk. The box belongs to neither.

Whose is it? It’s King’s.

He removes the lid, revealing the interior. It’s clean black, with a story mapped out on a white board leaning on one wall. On the other wall is his target: a handheld mirror. One of the narrow ends of the box contains a gaming setup that Mark and Jack would kill for, and the corner of the other end has an old shirt bundled up in the corner and a tiny desk. The lid has a hole with a small ladder attached to it, as well as a string of white Christmas lights taped to the inside.

He wastes no time picking up the mirror and looking at his reflection. His hair is an odd bluish-green, fading into black at the back. He’s got a handlebar mustache, which looks surprisingly normal aside from the blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes are what shock him the most- the whites of his eyes are black, but they seem to swirl with galaxies. One of his irises is golden, and the other is a bright blue.

His golden eye is bleeding as well.

He’s unsure of how to take this, but he’s completely sure he’s not supposed to look like this. Part of him is unsure he should be able to see at all. He stares into the mirror for a long while, trying hard to process everything.

“Hoooooost?” A voice calls out behind him. “I’m not mad that you’re late. I just hitched a ride back with Bim- I think I came close to agreeing to get cannibalized once or twice, though...”

He turns, but doesn’t see anyone. He tries to respond, but he only coughs up more blood.

“....that didn’t sound good. Host, are you okay over there?” The voice sounds closer.

A human- only barely the size of his hand, and skinnier than likely healthy, peers from around a bookcase up at him. He simultaneously recognizes her yet doesn’t recognize her- this is King. “Woah, who are you?”

He kneels down, tries to speak again, and hacks up more blood. This time he feels it drip down his chin- it’s disgusting.

“Stop doing- Whatever it is that made that happen.” King commands. “Who are you, though?”

All four of his hands start explaining in sign language instead, but it’s clear she has no idea as to what he’s saying.

“Can you write?” She asks.

He finds a pad of paper on the desk his size and scrawls out his statement. “The man woke up like this. He has no memory of how he got here and he cannot speak.”

He reaches down and lifts her up to read it.

She skims over the page quickly. “And you don’t have a name?”

He pauses, then nods to her.

She falls silent for a moment. Then, she looks up at him and speaks. “Shutterbug. You need bandages.”

He raises an eyebrow as best as he can.

“I think it can be your name. And you need to do something about that eye.” She states. “Here, Host’s are in this cabinet. I’ll hold the mirror. You get that eye covered, and we’ll chat. Well, as best as we can.”

The two set about doing their tasks, but Shutterbug is curious. He sees mannerisms in King that he recognizes, but it’s as if he’s seeing them for the first time.

When he’s all patched up, he lifts her in a shaky hand. The sensation is familiar, at least; she climbs up into his hand, then up his sleeve to his shoulder, and clings to his fresh bandages as a grip. She pulls forward, toward a soft couch in the living area away from the desk. He follows her lead automatically, as if they’ve done this before.

“Make yourself at home, Shutter. Write your questions and I’ll answer them as best I can.”

He sits, holding her in one of his left hands. His handwriting is quite nice, from his top right hand. His bottom hands hold the notepad. This feels manageable. “What are you?”

“I’m a human. I came to this house to seek out the Host to live with him.”

“Your name is King.” He writes. “Shutterbug knows you, but at the same time doesn’t.”

“Maybe- oh. Do you know what happened?” King stops herself to ask.

“No.”

“If I had to guess, I’d say you’re the Host and... the new guy at Jack’s place. Jameson. Somehow you got fused together, and now your memories are all confused.”

“Shutterbug supposes he will agree. How?”

“Not sure.” She answers. “Your gold eye gives your Host side away. I’ve seen those eyes more times than I can count, even if they can’t see me back. The scruff looks like a combination.” She pauses. “The hair and ‘stache are very Jameson. And your blue eye.” She inspects his face carefully. “You’re very handsome.”

He finds a blush rising in his cheeks. King nudges his hand with her toes, and he brings her closer. She stands on her toes to press a kiss to his lips- no, she’s just pressing her face so he can feel. He decides it feels strange with the mustache, but it calms him nonetheless. A trail of thought begins to solidify, and Shutterbug has an epiphany about how to communicate with King. A gasp escapes his lips.

King scrambled back. “Host did that when he was nervous, to ground himself.” She explains, leaning away. “I thought it would work on you, and you seem stressed, so-“

He wiggles his mustache, dropping the notes. His lower hands come together, forming two corners with the thumbs and index fingers. A gray square flickers in front of them- an old timey dialogue card. “Shutterbug believes that King has helped a great deal.”

King gasps. “Did you just figure that out? Because of-“

The card flickers, changing. “Yes.”

King smiles. “I’m glad.”

#gtjsefanclub #gt #gtmarkfanclub #gt youtubers #gt writing #gthostfanclub #tla the host #tla au #shutterbug #fan fusion

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kohakuneko · 6 years

Text

12 Days of Anime 2017 ~ Day 1: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Thinking back, I honestly don’t remember what got me to start watching this show in the first place. The most likely answer is probably that I’m a sucker for nearly anything gay, so there was no way I was gonna avoid this show for long, but I also recall finding some clips on YouTube and liking them enough to watch it. Funimation also picked this one up for SimulDub and I’ve got a subscription with them and follow them on social media, so I did see a number of promos for it as well.

But the thing that I really think got me hooked on this show was that it aired at the exact right time for me. I won’t go into details, but basically at the beginning of this year I just really needed something that would lift my spirits. And that’s what this show did for me. Okay, I can’t remember roaring with laughter while watching it, but it really made me smile. Every time I rewatch part of it I just start smiling like an idiot. I love the opening theme, too, it cheers me up any time I hear it. Maid Dragon isn’t what I’d call an amazing show, but it’s definitely a very heartwarming, feel-good one that makes you get all tingly inside. And it still makes me very happy.

Also, the SimulDub for this show was very well done. I like this show equally in both Japanese and English. And a big part of that has to do with the cast and crew. All of them very clearly loved and cared a lot about the show they worked on and I really like seeing that. (Sarah Wiedenheft, Tohru’s VA, even bought a Tohru tail pillow and wore it to recording sessions like how’s that for dedication lolol)

(Not featured from the main cast: Garret Storms as Fafnir, Jeff Johnson as Takiya, Alison Viktorin as Shouta, Sara Ragsdale as Saikawa, Jamie Marchi as Lucoa (she also adapted the script, I think), and Rachel Glass as Elma)

seriously tho i love all of these people and they did a phenomenal job on this show send them all some love and check out all their other work

Moving on, when trying to select a moment for this year’s 12DOA feature, I initially went for their first meeting in episode 12, where we see how Kobayashi got completely wasted and accidentally invited Tohru to live with her. It’s easily one of my favorite moments in the show since it’s simultaneously hilarious and full of feels.

But as much as I loved that scene, in the end I’m really gonna have to go with the final episode instead. Within the first ten minutes or so, Tohru gets forcibly taken home by her disapproving father, leaving Kobayashi and Kanna to deal with her absence for most of the episode.

To be perfectly honest, the first time I watched this episode when it aired, I actually found this portion to be underwhelming. I don’t know, it just felt too slow and quiet and I guess I expected something more from the series finale. Besides, I feel like I and a lot of people have seen this set-up before, with the girlfriend leaving and everyone else moping.

But the more I rewatched this, the more I realized that this was actually a whole lot more tragic than I first gave it credit for. And to understand why, we have to look back on the series as a whole.

I’ve been trying to think about what really separates Maid Dragon from other similar slice-of-life shows. Because after all, there’s been plenty of these “magical girlfriend from another world comes and falls in love with someone while bringing in more wacky people and shenanigans with her” anime in the past (that was very specific but I’m sure you know what I mean). These days, it’s kind of a tired set-up and come to think of it, you don’t really see too too many of those anymore; there’s still a couple every year, but I think this genre really peaked in the 2000s and maybe the early 2010s (don’t quote me on that; I’m a weeb not an expert). So yeah, we all know this story by now.

But something about Maid Dragon always felt different to me; something always set this one apart from all other shows like it. Of course, there’s the fact that Kobayashi is a woman and our main pairing is a same-sex couple, but ultimately that doesn’t really change anything since Kobayashi’s still the jaded protagonist who’s missing something in her life and Tohru’s still the wacky magical girlfriend who comes and shows her the way. The rest of the cast is typical for this sort of show, too, and throughout the whole thing we kind of go through all the motions of a fantasy slice-of-life: beach episode, hot spring episode, shrine/festival visit, boob fanservice, y’all know the drill by now. So then what is it that Maid Dragon does different? I think I’ve found out what it is: the relationships between the characters and the actions they all take feel very real and genuine.

The moment where I first started to realize this aspect of the show was episode 4, when Kobayashi and Tohru are talking about Kanna getting all excited for her first day of school. Specifically look at this part here, where they’re watching her through the bedroom door.

The way they’re talking about her while she sleeps, the way they smile at her like that from the door, it all makes them look like two parents watching over their child, no? There’s no real prompting for them to be acting like this; there’s no scene where they go “whoop we parents now gotta start acting like it”. They don’t even comment on the fact that that’s what they’re acting like until a bit later, but I’ll get to that. This is something they just settled into naturally. And I’m not speaking from personal experience, but I feel like that’s how it is in real life, right?

This really put the rest of the series into perspective for me because it made me realize quite a lot. Maid Dragon spends a lot of time in the background building up Tohru, Kobayashi, and Kanna’s relationship together. Nothing about them changes incredibly drastically - all of them are still very much the same people/dragons they were at the start - but there’s subtle changes in how they start talking to and treating each other. Kobayashi, whether she realizes it or not, is very quick to start talking to Kanna like a parent would their child when she starts encouraging her and giving her advice. Same for Tohru: Kobayashi is quick to pick up on how to deal with her antics and through that comes to learn what she likes about her, just like a real couple might. So when Kanna tells Kobayashi and Tohru that Kobayashi’s like a mom to her, it may be played for laughs, but it honestly doesn’t seem all that surprising. I think all of us viewing think the same way by now, too, whether we realize it or not.

A lot of their daily behavior is also something they gradually start to settle into throughout the show. We never get a scene where they lay out their morning routine together, but then one day we see Tohru make everyone breakfast, send Kobayashi and Kanna off to work and school, then get her chores done in time for everyone to have dinner. There’s no real attention drawn to these moments even the first time they happen, so it all feels just as natural to the viewers as it does to them. We still have Tohru being her usual silly self about it, of course, but that’s become natural to us, too, at this point.

What I’m trying to get at is that the way they so seamlessly fall into these roles without much fanfare really solidifies their connection and their growing dynamic as a little family. I feel like most other shows I watch like this tend to have a lot of cheesy scenes or dialogue to call attention to how the characters are acting, but it’s so much stronger in Maid Dragon because of how natural everything is played.

And that’s why episode 13 hits so hard.

Just look at this first bit where Kobayashi and Kanna are just silently trying to figure out what they’re going to do now that Tohru’s not there anymore. There’s not a whole lot of dialogue exchanged between them and then they’re just silent; neither of them know what to say or what’s going to happen next, which is just such a genuine reaction.

Speaking of genuine reactions, that’s exactly what they have for the rest of the sequence without Tohru. Their numb acceptance of everything is just so real and I think maybe even relatable. Both of them know there’s nothing they can do about their new situation, so they just figure out what they think they have to do now and try their best to resume their normal daily life without Tohru.

First and foremost is Kobayashi, who’s running around doing the best she can to take care of herself and Kanna. One of the big moments in this sequence for me is when Kobayashi’s not only picking up some of Tohru’s jobs, but also when she making sure Kanna can take care of herself in case she works late. It legit feels like she’s learning and doing her best to be a good single parent.

Then there’s Kanna, who’s always wearing her usual expression and not complaining at all to Kobayashi so as not to worry her, but she’s clearly affected by Tohru’s absence; the shot of her erasing a doodle of Tohru gets me every time. And if you thought that was sad, we then get the little scene of her at Saikawa’s house where she finally just breaks in front of her and starts crying.

There’s even Takiya, who in any other show might be doing the “GO AFTER HER YOU DUMMY” thing that best friends are supposed to do. But instead he’s super considerate and supportive, doing his best to give Kobayashi the space she needs while also looking out for her to make sure both she and Kanna are doing alright in the wake of this loss, like maybe a real co-worker/best friend might.

Honestly this doesn’t feel like the season finale of a slice-of-life anime. It feels more like the opening to a movie about a widowed parent trying to cope with the loss of their wife while raising their kid. I mean yeah, we all know Tohru’s not gone for good, the show wouldn’t do that. But the way this part of the episode is done, she might as well be dead.

Sometimes family is two wives and their tiny dragon child. (yeah, Kanna says it’s like having a big sister and a mom, but come on, we all know what’s up) From start to finish, everything about these characters is very real and human (barring the fact that everyone’s over-the-top anime and most of the cast consists of dragons), which is a big part of why every moment, happy or sad, hits home for us. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid isn’t as much a story about romance as it is about the bonds between members of a family, whether that family is even blood-related or all belongs to the same species. And it’s beautifully executed the whole way.

damn remember when i said this show made me happy

#this gets more serious after the break I promise #ok i rambled way too much about the dub cast lolol #but it's always so exciting when the cast of a show loves it as much as you do #and this show's got a pretty good dub seriously #this is the only one im writing ahead of time #i have a bit of a free moment rn and i know i wont on the day this goes up #plus ive been itching to write this for like months #miss kobayashi's dragon maid #kobayashi-san chi no maid dragon #maid dragon #i really hope i articulated everything well and everything gets across good #12 days of anime #12 days of anime 2017

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waveridden · 6 years

Text

FIC: now i’m a stranger

Cib doesn’t need mandatory grief counseling. He doesn’t. And he’s not going to get anything out of this support group, either. A Go On AU. 3.5k. Cib/Parker, Cib&Autumn.

content warning: discussion of grief/death, pre-fic character death

AUcember || title lyric || Ao3

On what’s supposed to be Cib’s first day back at work, Sami Jo sits him down and says, “You can’t come back to work.”

“What?” Cib scoffs. “Uh, I’m here, can’t get rid of me now, it’s my new home.”

“That’s what we’re trying to avoid,” Sami Jo says patiently. “We’ve got people filling in for the show while you’re gone, so you don’t need to worry about us.”

“I wasn’t worried about the show,” Cib says, because he definitely has bigger things to worry about than the show. He loves his job, sure, but not as much as he loves - well. “I’m telling you, I’m ready to go, lemme play some funky fresh music.”

“Cib,” Sami Jo says, and then nothing, like that’s supposed to prove her point.

“I’m fine,” Cib insists. “Back at work, lemme on the air, ready to get back flying-”

“Cib,” she says, and he knows what’s coming next just from the horrible, gentle way she says it, “your husband died.”

“I am well aware of that,” Cib says, sharply enough that he hopes it hides the stab in his chest at the reminder. “I’m just saying, the best way to deal with this is for me to cruise on through.”

“You can cruise.” Sami Jo slaps a paper down on her desk. “Cruise right on down to this support group.”

“To what?”

“Support group,” Sami Jo repeats. “You’re gonna talk about your feelings.”

Cib snorts. “Uh, I don’t even talk about my feelings with you.”

“I know,” Sami Jo says, and Cib feels… bad, for a second. Sami Jo might manage the radio station, so she’s his boss, but she’s also his friend, and this is the kind of thing he should be relying on his friends for. But he doesn’t need that. Because he’s fine. “But it’s going to be better if you talk to strangers.”

“I would never.”

“You’re a radio DJ, your job is talking to strangers.”

“No,” Cib says, “my job is making strangers listen to me. Totally inverted.”

“Yeah, invert this.” Sami Jo turns the paper around on her desk. “Ten sessions. Get this signed. I found the numbers of a few local groups, you can pick whatever ones you want, go to however many you feel like. But you have to talk to someone about this.”

Cib snatches up the paper and looks it over. It looks pretty solid, like it’s the kind of thing he can’t fake or get out of doing. “But-”

Sami Jo sighs. “Listen, I didn’t want to do this, but I’ve gotta pull out the big one here.”

“Ooooh.” Cib leans back in his chair. “C’mon, big one.”

“You gotta promise not to kill me.”

“Sure, sure.”

Sami Jo drums her fingers on the desk and then looks Cib square in the eye. He barely has the time to think oh, shit before she says, “Parker wouldn’t want you dealing with this alone.”

“Fuck you,” Cib says on autopilot, because he is completely over hearing the words “Parker wouldn’t want,” before his brain catches up. “You don’t get to-”

“Tell me I’m wrong.” Sami Jo leans back in her chair. She at least looks contrite, but her jaw is stony and set. “Come on, Cib, tell me I’m wrong.”

He can’t. He can’t, and she fucking knows it, because Parker is- fuck, Parker was the one person who made Cib want to feel shit, and talk about the shit he was feeling, and made it all feel okay. And Sami Jo is the closest he has to that, now.

“Ten sessions?”

“I won’t even call bullshit if you get them magically all done in a week,” she says. “This is partly management shit, partly because I’m worried. I just need to know that you tried.”

He looks back down at the sheet. “Can I quit?”

“Sure,” Sami Jo says. “Bye.”

“Do I still get paid?”

“Cib-”

“I’ll go,” Cib says. Before he can regret it. “I’ll go.”

Sami Jo sighs in relief. “Thank you.”

“Now, can I work today, or-”

“Go home.”

“Nope.” Cib loops a foot around one leg of Sami Jo’s desk. “I live here now, and you’re working on my new bed.”

“You’re not sleeping on my desk.”

“I’m sleeping on my new bed.”

“Get out,” Sami Jo says, but at least she’s smiling when she says it.

Cib… hasn’t been doing so great lately.

Which is fine by outside standards. His husband died twenty-nine days ago and most of the time that weight isn’t too heavy to carry around. He can cook his own food and show up at work, and act like he’s supposed to. In fact, if you look at him without knowing him he probably looks like he’s in damn good shape. Like he’s functioning.

Maybe that’s the red flag, to the people who know him well.

But the thing is, Parker’s fucking dead. And all Cib can see are the places that he isn’t anymore. He hasn’t thrown out the groceries that Parker bought the weekend before, even though they’re turning brown and probably literally rotting. He hasn’t cleaned up the pile of Parker’s laundry in their closet. He hasn’t really gone in their bedroom in the last month, honestly, because all that’s left is empty space and he’s so tired of empty spaces.

(There’s a voice in the back of his head that sounds like Parker. It’s the voice that tells Cib that it’s okay to slow down and grieve, that he doesn’t have to pretend he’s fine if it means sleeping on the couch and getting that permanent kink in his neck that he always complained about. It’s the voice that tells Cib to take goddamn care of himself.

Cib ignores that voice. Because it’s not Parker, so there’s no point in listening.)

The leader of the life transition support group is a tall, skinny guy named Steven who looks like he thoroughly doesn’t want to be where he is. Cib can relate.

“We’re gonna get started in a couple minutes, so take a seat,” Steven says, gesturing at the the circle of seats that are set up. “And-”

Cib holds the paper out. “Sign this?”

Steven skims it and then raises his eyebrows at Cib. “So you’re being forced into this?”

“My job thinks I’m handling grief poorly,” Cib says, trying to convey how completely laughable that is. “I’m fine! I’m back at work after a month, baby, I’m golder than a goose.”

“Wow,” Steven says. “You really, really need external help processing your emotions.”

Cib laughs. “Good one, Stevie.”

“Don’t-”

“Sign the paper?”

“I’ll sign it at the end of the session,” Steven says, in a brooks-no-argument sort of voice. “If you stick around. You gotta actually show up.”

“Wow,” Cib says. “That’s bullshit.”

“Thanks.” Steven motions at the chairs again. “Go.”

Cib goes. There’s an empty chair next to a woman with long hair, gazing into mid-distance wistfully. Cib decides he likes her immediately and plops down. “So what’s up with-”

“Wasting your time, dude,” says the guy on the woman’s other side. Cib leans forward, and he shakes his head. “Autumn doesn’t talk.”

“Why not?”

“That’s for her to tell you.”

“Uh, I don’t know sign language, and I can’t read, so that’s not going to work.”

“Tough,” other guy says. “She’s nice, it’s too bad you can’t understand her.”

Lightning-fast, Autumn raises a hand and smacks on the other guy’s leg, hard. He lets out a yelp and rubs his leg, glaring at her. Autumn doesn’t say anything, or even look at him, but Cib can still somehow tell that she’s laughing at the guy. She’s definitely, definitely his favorite person here.

“So what’re you in for?” Cib asks. He tries to make eye contact with Autumn, but she’s busy with her whole not-looking thing, so he skates his eyes across to the other guy.

Other guy blinks at him. “Well, see, I used to be a Water Warrior, back in the day, back in ‘nam-”

“James,” Steven says warningly, sitting down in a chair across the circle.

James deflates. “Okay,” he mumbles.

“Tell Cib why you’re here.”

“Because I’m a pathological liar,” James says, in the tones of someone who has had this conversation countless times. “And apparently it’s disrespectful to the actual Water Warriors to say you used to be one of them, even though-”

“We’re still working on it,” Steven says, mostly to Cib.

Cib nods wisely. “Sounds like you’re, uh, still in the shallows of this problem.”

“Treading water, as it were.” Steven sighs. “Goddammit, isn’t one of our rules no puns?”

“No puns!” repeats a blond guy, glasses askew. He blinks once or twice and focuses on Cib. “You’re new.”

“Maybe you’re the new one,” Cib says.

“No,” blond guy says forcefully. “I’ve been here before.”

“One of the rules is no confusing Jamie,” James stage-whispers. “It doesn’t take much to do, so you gotta avoid doing it on purpose.”

“What if Jamie’s confusing me?”

Jamie’s entire face contorts. Steven’s shoulders sag. “Wow, you are… not gonna make this easy for me, huh?”

“I have never made anything easy,” Cib says, because he’s pretty sure it’s true. Might be the only completely true thing he says for this whole meeting.

“Fine,” Steven says. “Cib, you’re the new guy here, introduce yourself. What do you do, and why are you here?”

“Easy.” Cib leans forward. “I’m Cib, I’m a radio DJ, and no, I will not play your bar mitzvah, although I do own two and a half guitars.”

James raises his hand. “Half a guitar, is that a ukulele?”

“Excellent question!” Cib points at him. “It’s literally half a guitar.”

“Which half?”

“Not the half that works, I can tell you that.”

“Cib,” Steven says tiredly. “Why are you here?”

“Because my job’s not letting me work till I go to ten of these.”

“Life transition, asshole, what is your life transitioning?”

Cib opens his mouth, meaning to say something else glib and deflecting and win these people’s hearts over a little more. And instead, his traitorous mouth says all in a rush, “My husband died last month.”

Everyone - well, everyone except Autumn - does that… thing that they do when someone says something horrible and grief-stricken. That thing where it’s almost like they’re sighing “oh” even if they don’t say anything. James’s face melts into something worried. “Man, I’m sorry, dude.”

Cib considers saying “s’okay” for a second, but honestly, it’s not okay, and he doesn’t want these fucking strangers to know that. He’s going to have to tell Sami Jo what a disaster this is so she doesn’t make him come back.

“Okay, that’s a start,” Steven says, completely unhelpfully. “We’re not gonna push it, clearly everyone in this room is repressing something-”

“What about you?” Cib asks.

“My life transition is leading you assholes instead of being in the film industry.” Steven shrugs. “But people have graduated from this group before, so I must be doing something right. Let’s talk about our week in review, guys, we’ll see what actual progress we can make.”

Autumn’s fingers flutter against where they’re resting on her thigh. Somehow, Cib gets the impression that that means she doesn’t want to be here. “Me too,” he mumbles, and the corners of her mouth tick up into a smile.

The session is awful, but Cib gets his paper signed, and he’s known how to forge signatures since he was in middle school, so he can get the rest of that shit taken care of real quick. He’s almost gone - actually driving away - when he sees Autumn standing on the curb, not looking like she’s going towards anyone’s car. And it’s not like he has anywhere to be, so he pulls over to the curb and rolls his window down. “Hey!”

Autumn doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t look away, so Cib takes that as an opening. “You need a ride?” He unlocks the door and waits a few seconds, and sure enough, Autumn slowly opens the door and climbs in.

Cib hands her his phone. “Put in your address, I’ll get you where you’re going.”

It takes a few seconds, but Cib’s GPS chimes out, and he starts driving. It’s not a part of town that he visits often, but it’s not like he goes out driving in Los Angeles often. Especially not lately.

“So if you mind me asking,” he starts, about five minutes into the drive, “you can… hear, right?”

When he glances over, Autumn nods and brushes her hair back. There’s a hearing aid in her ear, and Cib doesn’t know anything about hearing aids, but it looks nice.

“Sleek,” he says appreciatively. “And you can understand words?”

Another nod. Cib nods with her. “That’s cool, that’s cool. You know, I’m a radio DJ, I play music for people, so I’m really fucking bad at listening, but if you don’t talk, I think we get along fine. Or can you talk?”

Autumn doesn’t react for a minute. Cib’s about to shrug it off and start critiquing whatever radio station he can find (because whatever it is, he can definitely critique it) when she says, softly, “Not much.”

“That’s fine,” Cib says, because it’s fine. “I’m used to being the talker, you know? Talking has more wisdom than listening, which in turn has more wisdom than fishing, not that I have anything against fishing, it’s a relaxing time, but-” Autumn laughs, quietly, and Cib can’t help but laugh with her. “Yeah, I know, fishing is bullshit.”

She shrugs at him. Cib grins. “I don’t go fishing much,” he says, because if they’re on this, they might as well stay on this. “You know, teach a man to fish and he never works a day in his life, but I work too much to go fishing. It’s the ultimate ironing. And my husband-” and there’s the way his lungs seize up, the way his brain screams to abort mission, the normal shit he has to push through as part of moving on- “fucking hated fishing. Said it was too much waiting. Which was crazy, because he was-” he hates past tense, more than anything- “the most patient person I ever knew.”

“It’s boring,” Autumn says. Her voice is still soft, a little rough, and she’s not quite looking at Cib, but there’s a smile at the edge of her mouth.

Cib glances at her sidelong. “You go fishing a lot?”

She shakes her head.

“Ever?”

Autumn shrugs.

“I kind of miss fishing,” Cib says, more to himself than to Autumn. “Should go sometime.”

“You don’t think the group will help,” Autumn says suddenly.

Cib, in the process of braking for a red light, has to stop himself from slamming the brakes. “Uh, that’s because it… didn’t.”

“But you’re talking.”

“Well, yeah, I’m making conversation, giving you a ride home, that’s polite, isn’t it?”

Autumn shrugs. “You said more now than there.” And then, like that’s too much for her, she moves her hair back over her ears and tucks her feet up onto the passenger seat.

Cib glances at her. “What’re you in for, anyways? Loss? Life change?”

“Nervous breakdown,” she says, muffled by her knees. “I go because I need to practice being in a room with people again.”

“You doing okay in here with me?”

She nods. “Keep talking?”

Cib glances back at the road and tries to breathe through it. It’s the kind of thing Parker would say when he was tired, or when they were on road trips, or when he just wanted to hear Cib… talk. He loved listening to Cib talk.

“About anything?” he asks, and barely sees her nod again. The light turns green, and Cib takes the deepest breath he can manage. “I don’t actually like fishing that much. I don’t think anyone does, not when you have supermarkets with fish you don’t have to catch yourself. Not that I ever eat anything I catch - it’s California, I’m pretty sure anything I catch would be toxic to my liver and my dick.”

Autumn laughs again, face still tucked up against her knees. She’s smaller than Parker, way smaller. The seat is still moved as back as far as it could go. He used to complain about how long his legs were and how there wasn’t enough room in it. Autumn is tiny, compared to the space Parker used to take up. She’s not the same as him. But she still fills up some of that empty space.

He thinks, in passing, that she might be the first person he’s had in this car since Parker.

“I’m serious!” Cib protests, and he feels like laughing, something swelling up in his chest even though he wants nothing more than to sob. “I’m not gonna put anything in my mouth that doesn’t have steroids and antibiotics in it. It’s not healthy.”

“Anti-vegan,” she mumbles.

“Anti-vegans unite!” Cib throws a fist in the air, and it’s a shitty, stupid joke, but she smiles at it. “Gonna go to meat-packing plants and counter-protest the protesters!”

Autumn contributes maybe half a dozen more words for the next fifteen minutes it takes to get her home, but she looks… better, once they get there. Cib pulls to a stop in front of her apartment and she looks at him - not quite at him, maybe a little bit over his shoulder, but still towards him - and says, “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Cib drums his fingers. “How do you get to the group normally?”

“Uber, if I’m feeling okay.” She looks away and tugs her hair down over her face. “Steve, sometimes.”

Cib doesn’t want to go to this shitty support group again. He doesn’t need it. He knows that. But for some reason, he says anyways, “You want me to pick you up next week?”

Autumn blinks at him a few times. Cib shifts in his seat. “You know, just- listen, I’m a successful, rich dude, I have the time to spare and drive you around a little bit. Would it help?”

She blinks again and then slowly nods. Cib hands her his phone. “Send yourself a text or something so I can figure out when to come and pick you up.”

“Thank you,” Autumn says, voice small.

Cib looks away. He doesn’t know how to deal with this. “Yeah,” he says, and tries to ignore how rough his own voice is.

It’s not even a conscious choice. He doesn’t do it on purpose or anything. But as soon as he’s in the house he makes a beeline for the garbage bags, and then the fridge, and he dumps all the shit in there. The rotting bag of salad and the cucumber that’s basically liquid and everything else. Parker had been talking about - fuck, he should probably remember, a stir-fry or a primavera or something. Made jokes about how neither of them knew what a vegetable was anymore.

Cib dumps it all in the garbage and then takes the garbage out to the curb and then gets inside and locks the door and drops to the floor immediately. Autumn’s number is still in his phone, waiting for him, and he should probably text Sami Jo and tell her about how shitty most of the group was so she knows he went. He should probably make some progress on that.

“I’m proud of you,” says the ghost voice of Parker, in the back of his head. If Cib closes his eyes he can almost imagine him there, sitting next to him, one hand resting on Cib’s arm, a knee pressed up against his, fuck. “You’re doing good, you know that?”

“I miss you,” Cib says, hoarse and too damn honest. “So much.”

Ghost Parker squeezes Cib’s wrist and he wishes more than anything it were real. “Yeah, you too.”

It’s a couple hours before Cib can pick himself up off the floor. But he gets up anyways.

Steven doesn’t say anything when Cib and Autumn walk into the group together the next week, only raises his eyebrows. (Autumn said maybe a sentence during the whole car ride, but he gets the feeling he’s still going to be the one who heard her talk the most today.)

“Listen,” Cib says, voice low. “I don’t- I still don’t think this is right for me.”

“But you came back,” Steven says.

After a second, Cib nods. “This bullshit might work.”

“That’s my approach to my whole life.” Steven reaches out and squeezes Cib’s shoulder. “You’re gonna get through this, dude. This group is good people, even though we all kind of suck.”

“Including you?”

“Oh, absolutely including me, haven’t you met me?”

Cib grins. “Steve-o, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine.”

“Gross,” Steven says, and he’s not smiling, but Cib can feel him smiling anyways. “Go sit down.”

“Aye-aye, cap’n.” And Cib goes over to where Autumn is, where she has a hand on a chair next to her. Like she’s saving space for him.

#ship pine 7 #shipping pine 7 #parcib #cib x parker #ragehappy #waveridden.fic #aucember17 #rpf for ts #i've been looking at this fic too long to know if it makes sense anymore sorry

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cod-rum · 6 years

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ok aside from the shit i just posted this is the only thing i’m gonna say on the discourse. i don’t feel. idk. qualified to like Properly weigh in on all of it but i feel like i should say something. but either way its under a cut in case u don’t wanna read it

firstable might as well say like. while the pictures going round weren’t in the art book, there is a goddamn character called fransvestite in there who’s literally a transmisogynist frankenstein, so like. it’s not like he’s ashamed of it. and also all the racist stuff that is... very blatantly there in earlier rillaz art. and i gotta admit it hurts bc like. one of the workers at my youth club had tank girl as their twitter icon bc of how much that became a thing in lgbt culture, hell even the art book mentions that there were a lot of tank girl themed lesbian nights at bars. and the rillaz band are genuinely so important to me, like genuinely finding the band and these characters who i could relate to helped drag me out of a very dark place. and it hurts knowing that the guy who made them doesn’t actually give much of a shit about the communities his characters mean so much to

and I can understand if people cannot divorce gorillaz as a whole from jamie. like that is a fair call to make, he’s a co-creator and does a huge chunk of the story. but idk for me it’s like... he doesn’t write them. cass wrote them for a good 10 years, and while i have a lot of problems with the new writers, it’s still not him writing it. and as much as i still adore the art and the videos, if i’m totally honest the things that made me truly love the characters was cass’ writing of them and their voiced sessions, which i think was a mix of scripted and just up to the voice actors. at the end of the day while jamie still owns them and does a lot for them, for me it doesn’t feel like they’re fully his characters

and maybe its just bein a h*mestuck fan but i’ve learned a lot abt like. being able to find meaningful characters from shitty creators and taking them, reworking them to make the jarring problems less apparent, finding the tiniest scraps of canon and making that into something that’s important to you. taking death of the author to the extreme. and as much as i have problems w the rillaz fandom i have to admit those who take the time to rework the characters and do interesting stuff w them are on par with the official lore imo

though thats not to say the people who are leaving over this are in the wrong. there are people who this affects way more directly than me and if they cannot enjoy the band after this, then i don’t blame them. i've abandoned bands i loved over similar things before and it is incredibly hard and i have nothing but respect for the people who are making that call rn

wow this got rambly but i guess this is just. me trying to put this into words. i love the characters, and i’d be lying if i said jamie’s art didn’t inspire me in some ways... but at the end of the day gorillaz is a band, and i wouldn’t have stuck around for so long if i didn’t love the music. damon is arguably as important to me as the characters. i’d stay into the band for him if nothing else, and maybe that’s wrong of me, esp considering he’s worked w jamie for so long, but i do genuinely think he’s trying to do something good and he actually believes in the message gorillaz promotes

and maybe jamie’s changed since he drew all the shit (tho if he’s still putting aforementioned character in his art book i doubt it). maybe he’ll apologize for it at some point, or give some other solid indication that he has actually changed the way he thinks. maybe not. but if my way of enjoying the band is by following damon and his music, and taking, reworking and completely divorcing the characters from the p4 writing and jamie, then like. that’s how i’ll enjoy the band.

#holy shit this is long my bad #rum.txt #discourse tag #i might as well make one of these #transphobia ment /

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bouncingtigger10 · 4 years

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New Post has been published on The Bouncing Tigger Reads

New Post has been published on http://www.tiggerreviews.com/threatened-the-author-explains-about-pirates/

Threatened? The author explains about Pirates

Sophia tells us:

Can you tell your readers something about why you chose this particular topic to write about? What appealed to you about it? Why do you think it is different and your approach is unique?

I came up with the idea for Shea Lara in a DnD session. I’d never played before, I was there kind of by chance, and they handed me a character sheet and I just started writing about who I’d want to be in a fantasy world. I always loved pirates growing up, Pirates of the Caribbean was one of my favorites. The girl was a king, the guy was the damsel, and Jack was amazing. So I thought if I could be anyone I’d be a pirate. And Shea was born. I worked on the concept, evolved her into a story and Nereid was created soon after. I don’t know if my approach is unique, I tend to have a concept about a character and then I create a world around them.

Did you need to self-publish on e-books before a publisher took you up?

I self-published. I’ve never worked with a publishing firm, I’ve never really wanted to. I knew that I wanted to get my story out there and I didn’t want to go the traditional route, waiting on someone else to do the work for me. I thought I’m capable, I’m passionate about this. I’m going to do this. So I did.

Would you recommend self-publishing and building an audience before approaching a publisher? If so, what benefits do you see that it might have for the aspiring novelist?

Personally, I’ve never thought about it, if traditional publishing was to become an option for me in the future I don’t know if I would take it. I’ve done a lot as a self-publisher and it’s a lot of work but at the end of the day the reward is mine and the story is mine. I think if traditional publishing works for you, you should do it, but people should know it’s not the only route and it doesn’t validate your work. You validate your work by working hard and persevering.

What do you read when you are ill in bed?

When I’m at home, sick, and I need something comforting I pull out my old Percy Jackson books. I loved the first series growing up and it’s just sentimental. The stories are familiar, the epics, the characters and I love anything to do with mythology.

What is your favorite genre?

I’m a fantasy nerd. I write fantasy and I read it. I love historical fiction and high fantasy are my absolute favorites. I don’t tend to branch beyond that, I’ve tried but I’m not an everyday Brooklyn girl. I get too much reality in my own life. So any kind of book that features a mystical land or dystopian universe that expands imagination, it’s on my shelf.

If you could recommend a living author – who would it be? A dead author?

The living author would have to be Aimee Carter. I’m such a fan of her Goddess Test series, she’s a fantastic writer. And dead, J.R.R. Tolkien. Huge fan of the hobbit growing up and I am a very detailed oriented writing so LOTR was a huge inspiration to me.

In your opinion who is the funniest author now writing?

Rick Riordan cracks me up in any of his series, he has got humor down pact. And all of his characters are so wonderfully relatable and Percy’s inner dialogues are my own half the time.

Have you ever tried to imitate another author’s style? And if so, why?

I took a lot of pointers from Tolkien, and other writers in the fantasy interwoven with mythologies. Tolkien’s descriptions were something I really loved and I wanted to create a cinematic feel to my story as if you could see it happening in your mind’s eye. Rick Riordan, Aimee Carter, L.J. Smith are all masters at creating a kind of mythology of their own incorporating the original aspects and making incredible folklore. I definitely drew inspiration from their models for the world of Nereid.

What have you done with the things you wrote when in school?

I have all of them! I have all my childhood journals, my old fanfictions, my scripts for television shows, my “book” I wrote when I was 12 and they’re completely cringe-worthy but I love them and will keep them forever. I never know if maybe I’ll try and revive them again.

Do you have any pets? I do!

If so, what are they? Two Chihuahuas and a Cat.

And what are they called? Ziggy, Zeppelin, and Bowie.

Do they help you write? No, they’re complete distractions. But I usually make one of them sit on my lap at my desk anyway.

What is the funniest thing they have done while you are writing? I remember one time Ziggy and Zeppelin my two Chihuahuas were begging for attention but I had to get this chapter done so I made them wait. But Bowie strolls into my office and sees his brothers trying to get my attention and how it’s not working and so he does what they cannot. He jumps onto my desk and lays himself across my keyboard much to his brother’s dissatisfaction. And I’m ashamed to say, he got the cuddles first.

What, in your life, are you most proud of doing?

This book. It’s been a real reward. I worked so hard to get it out there. I am a college student, newly married, I don’t have the money to spend 2 grand on a professional editor and to keep sending out printed manuscripts to publishers. So I found an illustrator at my college for my book map and she did an amazing job, I had a good friend who’s an incredible English major and wants to be an editor, edit my book for free. And I do all the social media, marketing, I built my own website. I do it all. And occasionally there’s a review about a typo or spacing problem. And as soon as I get it, I fix it and republish. And I do this again and again because it’s worth it and because of my hard work I now can afford a professional editor who’s reviewing The Veiled Threat and my sequel right now. And those reviews about the stray typo are never about the story itself and that’s what matters. My story is out there, and being told, and loved and I am extremely proud.

If you could be any fictional character, which would you be? And why?

Claire Fraser from the Outlander series. I am so sorry my dear husband, maybe I can take him with me. It would be really cool to travel through time, I’m a history major and Scotland in the eighteenth century is of particular interest to me. Plus Jamie Fraser, need I say more?

If you could choose to live in another country/town – which would you choose? And why?

Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s my favorite place in the world, I’ve been four times and I’d love to live there permanently someday or even in the Scottish highlands. I think Scotland is the most beautiful place on earth. It’s rich with history and magic and lore. It’s an inspiration in itself.

What would you take on a desert island to read if you could only take 3 books?

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

Author Bio

Goodreads Amazon

Sophia Menesini lives in Martinez, CA with her husband, and their two small Chihuahuas, Ziggy and Zeppelin. The Veiled Threat is her first novel and the first book in The Veiled Duchess Series. Sophia is an avid tea connoisseur and lover of Scotland with an unconventional memory for obscure Disney and Broadway song lyrics.

You can find my blog, updates, and other entertainment at my website: www.sophiamenesini.com. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19257386.Sophia_Menesini

#authorinterview #Fantasy #LGBTQ+#newadult #pirates #romancecontemporary #SophiaMenesini #TheVeiledDuchess

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jesicajparksuk · 6 years

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25 BlogPaws Conference Blog Post Ideas

BlogPaws is a 3-day conference jam-packed with educational sessions led by top professionals, networking with influencers, a busy exhibit hall, exciting brand events, more influencers, and lots of pets. Pets remain at the heart of everything BlogPaws does. Our pet-friendly conferences invite all pets, everywhere in the event space.

If you are coming to the conference in April, and we hope you are because its our 10th anniversary celebration, here are 25 BlogPaws Conference post ideas before and after the big event:

25. Vlog: Plan now to build a video post around the brands you will meet at the conference. Keep track of the brands by following them on the official BlogPaws Sponsors 2018 Twitter list.

24. Plan Sessions: What sessions do you plan on attending? Check out the BlogPaws Sched, plan ahead, and then decide on a topic or two or more that your followers might appreciate knowing more about. Perhaps you are attending a session at BlogPaws on podcasting. So many pet parents would love to learn how to podcast: So live blog! Or blog later. The choice is yours.

23. Social Media Jam: Get your jam on with a bevvy of social media topics. In fact, why not do an Instagram Stories live from the power panel of 4 speakers on the Instagram session?

22. Health and Wellness: In checking out the brands in attendance, find out which ones have health and wellness related angles. Those types of stories are evergreen and if you can infuse the sponsors and get on their radar, it’s a win-win!

21. Pet Friendly Travel: This is one topic on which all pet bloggers and pet influencers can agree. Since BlogPaws is a pet-friendly conference for well-behaved pets, take the angle of things you can do with your pets, show your readers the Kansas City, Missouri, area, and take the advice of BlogPaws’ 2018 Conference ambassador, Alison Reder, with her Pet Friendly Kansas City blog post.

20. Do a Swag Bag Unveiling: You will get a swag bag full of goodies at the conference and different things throughout the conference. Show your readers, even give some away and have a fun contest around the swag. Here are some more ideas from Maggie Loves Orbit, who is speaking at the conference.

19. Cover the Fun Elements of the Conference: Of course, any pet friendly conference means there is fun involved. Since this is our 10th Anniversary Conference, why not show your followers all the fun you had. In 2017, Beagles and Bargains wrote about her experience, with plenty of fab photos.

18. Red Carpet: On Friday evening, April 20th, the red carpet experience hits BlogPaws for the Nose-to-Nose Pet Blogging and Social Media Awards. You have to see it and experience it to believe it. Lots of pomp and circumstance, surprise, photographers, videographers, and pets! Add an entertainment angle to your blog post.

17. Cover the Cat Lounge: Meowza! You know we always want to give you something special for the feline fanatics at our annual BlogPaws conference and we usually turn to cat style expert Kate Benjamin of Hauspanther for her coordination skills with the Cat Lounge, but this year Kate is taking a bit of a hiatus to deal with some health issues (more details on her new personal blog FelineSoFine.com, because of course she created a blog about it!) Kate is going to work behind the scenes to orchestrate a really cool cat lounge experience for you this year and we’ve got a great team of volunteers to make it happen, so you definitely have something special to look forward.

16. Report About Your Live Cat Psychic Reading: Coryelle Kramer, Seer and Communicator, will be joining us in the Cat Lounge this year. Be sure to stop by to let her do a reading for you!! Then blog about it!

15. Interview Attendees: I love an interview style post and I am not alone. If you do a Facebook Live during the conference and set up some interviews, you can later embed the video into a blog post like we did here.

14. Share Pet Photo Taking Skills: Kornell Samuels shares all of his behind-the-lens tips and tricks during his BlogPaws session. Learn the basics of your mobile device, as well as how to light and style your shoot. At the end, you’ll see a notable difference in your photography! Impressive photography has the power to take your blog or website to the next level. In this class, Kornell Samuels will show you how to take photos that will make your content stand out. At the end of this class, you will know the essentials of mobile photography, lighting, and composition. Plus, your readers will notice your new photography skills!

13. What’s New on the Brand Radar: Ask brands at their booths what they have out that is new or what they have on their radar. Take notes, take pictures, and take video. Share the hottest trends, products, and pet industry insights with your readers.

12. How to Become a Pet Care Professional: There are endless opportunities in the ever-changing $70B pet industry. Are you thinking about tomorrow? Your current role as pet industry influencer can lead to any number of new entrepreneurial opportunities such as in-home pet care, animal training, behavioral counseling, animal facility management, or animal welfare, just to name a few. Jamie Migdal, Fetch Find founder, will teach you how in her session. Fill your readers in!

11. Good Pet Behavior: Since BlogPaws is welcoming to well-behaved pets, write a blog post about how to socialize your pet. Include interviews with experts, some of whom might be in attendance at the conference. Jamie Migdal is a pro, so look her up in April.

10. Teach Your Readers to Plan: Jodi Chick will lead a table topic aimed at helping planner neophytes and those who have tried using a planner, but never made it stick, attendees will be introduced to a variety of planner styles and help build the foundation on which to develop their blog planner as a time management, branding, and organizational tool, instead of a to-do list. Attendees will also be given access to a downloadable workbook to complete after the conference helping the further develop their planner and how to best use it to improve their blog.

9. Interviews with Winners: Talk to some of the winners of the Nose to Nose awards and let your readers in on their blogs, their insights, and gain some fresh material for a fun blog post.

8. A Day in the Life of a Pet Influencer: Prep this one in advance and then fill in the details post con, or for more fun and hands-on engagement with your followers, do a day in the life at BlogPaws on social media, hype it in advance, and then write a blog post about it afterwards. Re-purpose those IG videos, too!

7. How to Be a Twitter Influencer: Twitter is not dead; in fact, some experts believe its find its second win. Show your readers the magic of Twitter, share tips and insights and hashtags with them, follow the #BlogPaws hashtag throughout the conference, and use our Twitter Influencer tips.

6. How to Make Grow a Pet’s Social Media Account: You will get a ton of tips on this during the BlogPaws Conference, so condense them into a blog post and tell your readers how to do it from the pros!

5. The Pets Behind the People: I love getting to know the pets of the bloggers and influencers. How many times does someone meet you and they know your pet before they remember your name? That happens to me quite often, I am happy to report. Interview the people about their pets and share images and stories on your blog. This would even make for a perfect series of blog posts.

4. Show Your Readers: Do a video and photo post interspersed with just enough text to make the Google Gods happy. The topic? To celebrate our 10th Anniversary there will be special Experiential Areas set up in the Exhibit Hall this year! There will be a patio area, a kitchen, a living room, and an office. Each of these areas will have fun things to check out, Brands to get to know, and maybe even some educational tools for you to take home. Stay tuned as we get closer to the Conference for updates.

3. Honor Flags: Dedicated a day on your blog on ways to honor a pet who has passed on. At the conference, honor flags are back: It is time to bow our heads, show love and remember, and this year’s BlogPaws Conference will play host to the time-honored tradition that is Honor Flags. Honor Flags remember our dear pet companions who are no longer with us and honor all who are dedicated to rescuing animals. Supplies will be available at the BlogPaws Conference and each flag will represent a pet you wish to honor. Whether you are an artist or not, honor flags are designed to remember those we love and have lost. Express yourself, share the love and the bond with your pets, and take some quiet time to create a keepsake that will grace the honor flag and for you to take home as a remembrance.

2. Misconceptions about Pet Bloggers and Pet Influencers: Myth buster posts and those that dispel misconceptions are always a hit if done right. Think of some misconceptions, get quotes at the conference from attendees, and infuse them into a blog post.

1. Experience Review: From start to finish, show and tell your readers what you just did for 3+ days with hundreds of others in attendance.

Learn from the Pros

Go face to face with social media experts this year at the BlogPaws 10th Anniversary Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, April 18-20. We’re a 3-day conference jam-packed with educational sessions led by top professionals, networking with influencers, a busy exhibit hall, exciting brand events, more influencers, and lots of pets. Get your tickets for BlogPaws 2018.

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

Images: Carl Kerridge Photography for BlogPaws

The post 25 BlogPaws Conference Blog Post Ideas appeared first on BlogPaws.

from News And Updates About Pets http://blogpaws.com/executive-blog/authors-team/posts-by-carol-bryant/25-blogpaws-conference-blog-post-ideas/

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talabib · 7 years

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How To Motivate And Inspire People Through The Art Of Storytelling.

The art of storytelling predates nearly every other human invention. It’s no surprise either, considering the amazing power that stories have to totally capture our attention and excite our emotions, transporting us into strange and captivating worlds.

But stories aren’t just pleasant ways to pass the time or get a thrill; they’re also valuable tools. In fact, storytelling was among the first and best ways to impart valuable information and motivate behavior. And that’s no less true today than it was during human prehistory.

This post is about the power of the story as well as the components that make them compelling. Here you’ll learn why and how so many businesses are already using the power of storytelling to motivate your behavior, as well as what you can do to incorporate storytelling into your own life and career.

Storytelling is an important aspect of any successful business.

Why is it that some of the longest-running shows on televisions are soap operas? People just love a good story. Whether it’s the drama in a soap or a riveting page-turner, we become completely captured by good stories.

But it’s not only authors and screenwriters who have profited from the art of storytelling. In fact, a great deal of businesses have as well: Nike, Microsoft, FedEx and Costco each have their own corporate storyteller.

Stories are critical components of corporate messaging towards customers and employees alike. For most of human history, storytelling has been the primary method for imparting knowledge. Before the printing press made possible the mass distribution of written materials, most information was shared via oral tradition in the form of stories.

Indeed, storytelling offers some unique advantages over other types of communication: First, anyone can tell and learn from a story. A good story can transfix anyone, regardless of age or education.

In addition, stories are memorable. It’s quite difficult to remember an isolated fact or a statistic. However, according to psychologist Jerome Bruner, if these facts are put into a story, we’re 20 times more likely to remember them.

Finally, stories can appeal to every type of learner. There are three types of learners: 40 percent of us are visual learners, 40 percent are auditory learners and the remaining 20 percent are kinetic learners. Stories attract all three – a story’s imagery influences visual learners, the vocabulary appeals to auditory learners and the emotions and feelings connect with kinetic learners.

As you can see, stories are a great way to impart knowledge, so much so that businesses have incorporated them into their strategies.

Capturing customer stories can greatly improve your customer service.

When was the last time that you had a remarkable – or horrible – customer service experience? Did it motivate you to leave kudos for the customer service representative in the “how are we doing” box? Or maybe leave a scathing review on Yelp?

If you’ve ever left a review, then you’ve done that company a favor. In fact, these stories are a great way for consumers to share insights on how to get customer service right. Consider the story of Ray Brook, who was visiting Portland, Oregon for two busy days filled with meetings:

Not living in Portland, he needed a car and decided to hire one from National Car Rental. Once he got to the counter he was shocked to discover that his driver’s license had expired a mere few days prior, meaning the company couldn’t legally lend him a vehicle. He was in trouble: how on earth was he going to make it to his meetings?

The next day, as he waited on his new license, National Car Rental employees agreed to drive him around – from his meeting to his hotel and then to another meeting. And they even drove him to the DMV to renew his license!

Naturally, Brook was astounded by the quality of service they had provided him and so he wrote a letter to the CEO of National, commending their actions. Impressed, the CEO began using this story during speeches to his staff all across America. Brook’s story of staff going the extra mile became the new standard expected of National employees.

Indeed, a good customer-service story is useless if no one knows about it. As a leader, you can capture a great opportunity to learn, simply by ensuring that customers have a place to record their experiences.

For example, you could create a “story box” on your website, give customers self-addressed envelopes to encourage them to share their stories or even just scour customer review sites to gleam stories about your company.

Often the best way to spread a company’s values and culture is through stories.

How many businesses promise to “put the customer first” or declare that its employees are “the most important part of the business?” These hollow messages are a dime-a-dozen, and customers and employees alike are well within their minds to consider them utterly meaningless.

A company's values and culture are best spread through compelling stories, not vague slogans or hollow promises.

We can see a prime example of this from 2011, when the revolution in Egypt took a violent turn and foreigners living in the country began fleeing to the airports. However, due to the instability there, most flights from the country were being cancelled. Amongst those attempting to flee was Rasoul Madadi, an employee of Procter & Gamble (P&G), and his family.

Struggling to get out, Madidi called P&G. The company promised to do whatever they could, buying him and his family tickets for five flights in order to ensure that flight cancellations wouldn’t prevent him from leaving.

When one of the flights finally took off, the company ensured that Madadi would receive accommodation and supplies upon landing. They really did put him first. Stories like these are worth a million slogans like, “We value our employees.” It shows people a company's true values with actions, not just words.

Stories also help employees to understand what is really expected of them. This is crucial, since these expectations sometimes differ from the actual rules. For example, companies may say that they offer flexibility for employees who are expecting children, but people nonetheless often worry that they will end up on the losing side of the deal.

Stories are a great way to close the gap and increase employees’ confidence in their company. For instance, P&G shares stories on their websites about new mothers who’ve used and benefitted from the company’s flexible working policies as a way to clearly demonstrate to others that they have nothing to fear from taking advantage of this flexibility.

Use stories to forge strong relationships between diverse team members.

Most of us who work for large companies don’t know our colleagues very well. We might become true friends with one or two coworkers, but we likely won’t get past such shallow topics as “Nasty weather today, huh?” or “Did you see the game last night?” with most of the team.

However, as a leader, you want your employees to build relationships. So how can you overcome this obstacle? One way is through stories.

Motivating people to share stories with one another can be the best way to build up strong relationships within a team. Take the story of Jamie, for example, who, despite being the head of his team, couldn’t seem to make real friends with anyone at work.

Then one day the team had a bonding session, in which they each had to share a story. Jamie used the opportunity to open up about his life, speaking about how his brother who had suffered from bipolar disorder and killed himself.

The story left most of his group in tears, and it brought them closer to him. They realized that he was more than just a co-worker: he is a human being, with depth and complexity.

His personal story helped transform him from a stranger with whom everyone shared an office into a relatable person. It created a strong bond between him and his team, meaning that he was happier at work and that his team was more willing to work hard for him.

Furthermore, stories can also help you build a diverse team. There’s no debate in the business world that diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones, so it’s important to diversify your team’s skills and experiences.

Yet, building such a team can be difficult, as some people behave negatively towards others without realizing it. Stories, however, offer members of the team a means to share their discomfort in a way that can help others understand and change their behavior accordingly.

Rulebooks are no substitute for a good story when it comes to making and spreading company policy.

Be honest: have you ever read through all the documents that outline the rules and regulations of your company? Chances are, even if you are in C-level management, that you haven’t. So, how do you learn all the rules?

Perhaps the most obvious way is trial and error, simply doing what you feel is appropriate and then correcting your behavior after being reprimanded. However, while this may help a few people learn a few things, this method can only provide limited knowledge. After all, how many rules does the average employee actually break?

In order to bridge this gap between personal experience and company policy, leaders can use stories as a way to inform employees of what they should and shouldn’t do.

For instance, when new P&G employees begin their employment, they are told the story of two workers who abused the company’s free cafeteria service for trainees. Even after having worked for the company for a while, they continued sneaking in for a free lunch.

They got away with it for some time; security in the canteen wasn’t very strict and no one had to show identification or prove that they were in training in order to enter. The company simply trusts that only those who are entitled to the service would use it.

Yet, in the end their desire to get something for nothing got the better of them. They visited the cafeteria so often that staff eventually became suspicious and called management, who caught the cheaters and had them fired.

So what lessons does this story teach? Employees learn, whether they've read the rulebook or not, that they won’t get away with taking advantage of the company’s generosity. All it takes is a simple, compelling story to make policy become clear and understandable.

Stories can be used to inspire employees, even when times are tough.

Imagine that you are bringing a long, exhausting project to a close, and you want to start slowing down your efforts and moving on to a new, exciting project. Your boss, however, disagrees. What can she do to motivate you to continue and keep giving it your all?

She could spout nonsensical motivational phrases about “giving it 110 percent” – or she could tell you an inspiring story. We can draw some inspiration from history by looking at the famous story of the Tanzanian runner John Stephen Akhwari:

As Akhwari was running in an Olympic marathon in 1968, he suffered a fall and dislocated his knee. He could have easily given up right then, accepted medical treatment and left for home. But he didn’t. He got back on his feet and, in agony, kept going.

An entire hour after the winner had crossed the finish line, Akhwari finally entered the stadium to the cheers of those who had stayed to the end.

After finishing, he was asked why he’d kept going. He replied: “My country didn’t send me 5,000 miles to start this race, they sent me 5,000 miles to finish it.”

Leaders can use his story, or similar stories, to inspire people to keep going until the work is finished, knowing that people will respect them and admire them for it.

Such stories can also help prevent people from jumping ship at the first sign of trouble. Managers can inspire staff to continue onward with stories of companies that faced misfortune, but that persevered and reached success.

For example, when P&G launched Pringles, sales were initially good but soon started to slip. While they could have scrapped the project in search of easier profits, they instead kept going. They made some improvements to their recipe based on customer feedback and relaunched the product, making Pringles one of the best-selling chip brands today.

A successful story is comprised of only three ingredients: context, action and a result.

At school, we learn that a story needs a beginning, middle and end. In more scientific jargon, you need context, action and the result (CAR). And what’s true for schoolchildren is true for business as well.

Let’s start with context: The context stage of a story is crucial – without it, the audience doesn’t know what’s going on. But what do you need to provide context for? A good place to start is where and when your story takes place. This helps the audience discern whether the story is true or hypothetical.

You also need to establish who your protagonist is as well as what she wants, and who or what the antagonist is.

When you’re establishing context, it’s important that you try your best to ensure that your audience can relate to your story as much as possible. The more the audience members can relate, the more they’ll take notice, which means that you should probably leave out fanciful worlds with superheroes and kings.

With everything set up, you can then move on to the action. This is where your hero battles against her enemies who stand in the way of her goals. In your story, this might be an employee battling his boss in order to try out his revolutionary business strategy.

Here, you don’t have to overburden your audience with details. You just need to grip them with a good mixture of success and failure for your hero.

Finally you’re left with the result of your hero’s actions: the conclusion to your story. Who triumphs in the battle between hero and villain? This is where the audience members will learn the moral of your story: should they follow the hero’s path to victory, or use his story as a precautionary tale?

The most effective stories play on people’s emotions.

No matter what the content of the story actually is, a good story hinges on its ability to evoke the emotions of the audience.

However, you don’t want to evoke just any emotions. If you want your audience to become motivated by your story, you’ll have to appeal to the right emotions. For instance, it’s easy to get people teary-eyed when you tell them a heartwarming story about puppies, but this won’t be that useful to you unless you own a pet store.

We can take an example from Texas, which in the 1980s was ridden with so-called “litterbugs.” The government tried its best to combat littering by appealing to emotions, publishing advertisements that showcased a Native American weeping at the sight of environmental destruction due to litter.

While touching, these ads had no effect. The worst litterers were people with little concern for the environment or minority groups such as Native Americans.

So, the government changed directions, this time producing an ad featuring Texas’s greatest sports stars and musicians and connecting littering with damaging Texas itself. This time, they evoked the right emotions from their audience: the litterers were very proud of their state and their heritage, and hearing the anti-littering message from their heroes hit home. Littering in Texas dropped 72 percent in the time immediately after running these ads.

But how do you know which emotional connections to make for your stories. Most stories will come from customer feedback, and the easiest place to find this feedback is in customer surveys.

P&G used this tactic in 2008 when they asked customers how the economic downturn affected them. They received many replies detailing people’s fears about not being able to pay the bills or maintain their standard of living.

So, if they wanted to launch a product that would save people money, for instance, then these stories would have been very effective at evoking the right emotions.

Fill your story with surprises to pique your audience's interest and memory.

You’re at a conference and you feel your eyelids growing heavier and heavier as you listen to a speaker drone for hours. When he finally finishes, how much of the story do you expect to remember? Probably next to nothing.

For more memorable storytelling, inject your stories with a bit of surprise. If there is any sort of shocking action in your story, do your best to squeeze it into the beginning. For example, if your story takes place in a turbulent environment – perhaps during a revolution or on Wall Street during a stock-market crash – then use this information when you establish the context. This way, your audience will be transfixed from the very beginning.

You can also help your audience remember your story by adding surprise to the end. Surprise at the end sticks because of a brain phenomenon called memory consolidation: whenever we experience something, our memories aren’t formed immediately, but in the moments following.

During memory consolidation, it’s possible to influence a memory’s stickiness by attaching memories to certain stimuli. One such stimuli is adrenaline, which is released when the body experiences a rush, often brought on by shock or surprise.Thus, ending your story with a surprise will help your audience members retain their memory of the story.

Sometimes putting surprises in the right places requires a little creativity regarding how you structure the story. Take this story about never giving up, for example:

At 22 he lost his job. At 25 he ran for state parliament, only to be defeated. Then, at 34 he aimed for a seat in congress, and failed again. At 45 he ran for the senate, was defeated and then he tried again at 49 but lost again. But two years later all this failures were forgotten when he became immortalized as our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln.

In this case, by withholding the name, we can create a straightforward story with a memorable surprise twist.

Storytelling is one of the best ways to impart knowledge and motivate behavior, and as such is a key instrument to successful leadership. From more efficient customer service to defining your company’s culture and setting strong values, storytelling is a versatile tool that can improve every aspect of your business.

#storytelling

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outrageousloveinc · 7 years

Text

Self Care?

People often ask me what I do to take care of myself. How do I rest? How do I find ways to sustain the energy it takes to do the work that I do? First, I have to say that I am not very good at it. I am a workaholic. I was raised with a work ethic that taught me that the number of items I mark off my to-do list each day determines my worth. I have to fight this natural inclination, and the voice in my head that always says, “There’s more to do.”

With that said, I have become better at resting and taking time for myself. Ugh. Even writing those words stirs up that inner critic. “See that. You wrote “myself.” Selfish.” Sigh. Guilt is another thing I am still overcoming! But this I will do. We can do hard things. :-)

Here are some ways I take care of myself:

1. More than ten years ago, a good friend and pastoral person in my life encouraged me to learn contemplative methods of prayer. He talked about his own burn out and shared how contemplation had literally saved his life. He taught ancient Christian forms of prayer, including The Examen, The Jesus Prayer, Centering Prayer, and Walking Prayer. I listened to everything he said, and I believed him . . . but I didn’t put any of it into practice. I was still running on adrenaline and an attitude that said, “I’m fine. I don’t need that.” Besides, ain’t nobody got time for that!

It wasn’t until some painful experiences in my life brought me to a place where my adrenaline was gone. I could not deal. Pain swirled and overruled everything. It was in this condition that I happened upon a retreat being held by Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism in Omaha, NE. The weekend was to be spent learning these methods of prayer and gaining some inspiration to incorporate them into daily practice.

I respected Phileena and Chris Heuertz, the Founders of Gravity. I had watched their ministry from a distance for more than twenty years. They had lived in some of the roughest, emotionally taxing places and situations, building community among AIDS orphans, human trafficking and genocide survivors. Plus, they had spent time in India with Mother Teresa! They had seen ministers come and go, not able to sustain such difficult work, and many completely burned out of ministry and some even faith entirely. They founded Gravity to help activists like me. I decided to go to the retreat.

We spent the weekend practicing these methods of prayer, which are different from any other form of prayer I had seen in my own Christian experience. Rather than petitioning God for the things we want, or even the things we think/hope God wants, and different from prayer that actively listens for God’s voice (the subject of my first book), each of these methods is designed to quiet the soul, to simply sit in the presence of God, and to allow the great Physician to heal and transform the parts of my soul that God knows (even better than I) need to be healed. Phileena says: “Through activism we confront toxicity in our world, but through contemplation we confront it in ourselves.”

So, practically, how this works for me is that I try to spend at least twenty minutes every day in Centering Prayer/Meditation. I am a perfectionist, and so even as I write that, I am aware that the recommended ideal is to spend two twenty minute sessions per day, and my inner critic shouts, “You’re falling short! God won’t really be able to help you until you do it right!” But I am learning to be gentler to myself. I am learning to dismiss that inner critic and to treat myself as I would a friend. I remind myself that I am doing better, and where I used to insist that I don’t need this kind of time alone with God, I am now very aware of my need and often find myself craving my next twenty-minute prayer sit.

The result? I am less reactionary than I was before. Triggers that used to initiate instinctual responses of anger in me happen less often, and when they do, I am much more able to breathe and get back to my “center”—which for me is about remembering who I am. Who I am to God. Who I am to my family. Who I am to the few people who matter most in my life. And who I want to be as a human being. Living from this centered placed makes me a kinder, gentler person—to others and to myself. Being still saves me.

2. I have been trying to regularly schedule time to get away. Actually physically away. I schedule a few a days to go somewhere where I have no responsibilities. No expectations upon me. I let my people know that I am not available to handle things back home, so they will just have to figure it out. On these personal retreats, sometimes I write, sometimes I sleep, sometimes I look at nature. The point is to only do things that I enjoy doing! No work.

Usually, I take these retreats alone, which means both solitude and silence. I am an introvert, so for me, this is heaven. My life is crowded and loud. All the time. My nerves are constantly being stimulated, and my energy drained. These personal, quiet retreats refresh my soul. Usually by the end of the third day, I am missing people. I don’t want to eat alone any more. I have things I want to say. That is how I know I am ready to go home—refreshed.

3. As a family, we take an annual vacation. After having been in full-time ministry for more than fifteen years and never having taken a vacation, some of our mentors and friends required us to go. The one condition of the vacation was that there could be no work involved. We were not allowed to tack on a speaking event, or even a visit to a financial supporter. The purpose of the trip was to spend time together as a family, resting and having fun together.

Vacation for me is defined by having no schedule. No place I have to go to be there at any specific time. We do visit sites and give the kids opportunity to see and experience new places. But most importantly, we sleep in, we take naps, we play lots of cards and those silly board games where people shout and laugh til the tears pour. And if at all possible we look at the ocean.

4. Finally, I have incorporated some indulgences into my life. I have a terrible time receiving. Receiving gifts. Receiving help. Receiving acts of service. I grew up in a home where there wasn’t much help available to me, as my mother was in a painful world of her own, and I learned to be self-sufficient. Yet, at the same time, I get frustrated that “nobody” is helping me. I’m doing everything here people! All the while, I don’t ask, and I put off an air that says, “I don’t need your help.” How dumb is that?!

So I decided to pay some professionals for their help. This felt more comfortable to me than asking for help. This is what they do. They get paid to do it. I started with a massage. I’d never had a massage. How do you find a place to go? I opened my web browser, and I actually prayed before I searched, “God, please lead me to the right person.” (I have trust issues too!) A place caught my eye, so I made the call.

The woman who answered the phone asked me a few questions about what I was looking for. Then she said, “We have other massage therapists here, and I usually don’t answer the phone, but I think I am the one who is supposed to give you your massage.” She went on to tell me about her methods, which include aromatherapy, using essential oils to treat physical, emotional and even spiritual maladies. I was sold!

I now go to visit my friend, Tina, about once a quarter. I should go more often, but have I mentioned I have guilt issues? Tina is more than just a massage therapist. She is a healer. I usually end up on her table when I am an emotional wreck, crying, “Fix me!,” to which she responds, “What took you so long to come see me?”

Next, I decided to get a pedicure. It’s something I don’t need at all. There is nothing necessary or responsible about me getting a pedicure—in any way. And that is the point. Let me tell you about my nail salon.

I went one afternoon—alone, of course. The thirty-something, Vietnamese man met me as I entered the store. There were no other customers there, and only a couple of other workers. I suddenly felt concerned. Maybe there was a reason they didn’t have much business. I told him I was looking for a pedicure. He pointed to a wall of shelves and said, “You pick color.” I chose purple, because I like purple. It matches nothing that I wear, because I’m not that brave. But I like purple.

The man then led me to a big, maroon colored chair with a washtub at it’s base, where I took off my shoes and climbed into the seat. He turned a knob and warm water rushed into the basin, covering my feet in peace. Then he pressed a button, and massage rollers began climbing my back. He said, “You sit back an’ rest.” Perfect. This was just what I needed.

I set the book I had brought to read on the chair next to me. It was by Phileena Heuertz, Pilgrimage of the Soul. I had been reading about her calling to missions, about her marriage to Chris and her desire to go to India. I related to her story and wanted to learn more. Maybe there was something in this book to help me be a better person—a better minister. I’d read it after I settled in.

He sat down on a little stool, and before he began, he aimed a remote control at the stereo. The smooth voice of Lionel Richie sang out, “Hello, is it me you're looking for?” I smiled. He asked, “You like?” I nodded that I did. I hadn’t heard that song in years, and it was like coming home. Weird, I know, but I went to high school in the 80’s.

Again he said, “You sit back an’ rest.” I closed my eyes, and I wish I could say I did just that. But as he began clipping and filing my toe nails, I started thinking about how ridiculous this was. I minister with the poor. I spend most of my days with people who could never afford a pedicure. What a ridiculous waste of money. I could even pay for a hotel room for one of my homeless friends with this money. Have I mentioned I have guilt issues? Breathe, Jamie. Why does this feel like I’m receiving a spinal tap, instead of a gift?

Then I heard something. It was quiet at first. I wasn’t even sure I had heard it. I listened closer. Stevie Wonder was now singing, “I just called to say I love you. I just called to say how much I care.” But there was another voice, a sweet, nasal voice, with a distinct Vietnamese accent. “I jus call to say I ruh you. An' I mean it from da bottom uh my har.” I opened my eyes. He noticed. “You like my singing?” he asked. I told him he had a beautiful voice and closed my eyes again.

Next came George Michael’s, Careless Whisper, “I don’t ever wanna dance again. Guilty feet have got no rhythm.” My pedicurists’ stilted, Vietnamese accented version brought a smile to my face. I wanted to laugh out loud at the irony, at the sweetness, at the ridiculousness of the whole scene. His confidence grew with each song, which means so did his volume. I peaked through my eyelids to see his eyes closed, head tilted back, my foot in his massaging hand. He didn’t miss a beat as he sang along with Whitney Houston, even hitting the high note of the key change, “Ahyeeahhyeeahh will alway ruh you.”

When Endless Love began, I opened my eyes wide. You’ve got to be kidding me. He sang both parts. The man and the woman. Loud and strong. I was getting it. We listened to Mariah Carey, the Commodores, Celine Dion, and Michael Jackson. All love songs. All the while he massaged my tired feet and legs. I laughed and said out loud, “Okay, God. I hear you.” I believe in love. I aim to be and give love. But have I mentioned I have a hard time receiving?

When he had painted my toe nails bright purple, he looked up at me and asked, “You like?” I told him I did. He stood up from the stool and aimed the remote at the stereo. He scrolled through some songs and pushed a button. Then he climbed into the massage chair next to mine and waited. Strange. I guessed he was on a break. No other customers here for him to serve. He just had to wait for my polish to dry. Then the music started to play:

"There comes a time When we heed a certain call When the world must come together as one There are people dying And it's time to lend a hand to life The greatest gift of all We can't go on pretending day by day That someone, somewhere will soon make a change We're all a part of God's great big family And the truth, you know, love is all we need We are the world We are the children We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving There is a choice we're making Were saving our own lives It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me Send them your heart So they'll know that someone cares And their lives will be stronger and free As God has shown us by turning stones to bread And so we all must lend a helping hand We are the world We are the children We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving There is a choice we're making Were saving our own lives It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all But if you just believe there's no way we can fall Well, well, well, well let us realize oh! That a change can only come When we stand together as one We are the world We are the children We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving There is a choice we're making Were saving our own lives It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me"

Tears streamed down my face, as Tony, my new friend, sang the words at the top of his lungs. When I got home, I showed my toes to John and he asked, “How was it?” I said, “God was at the nail salon,” which elicited the appropriate eye rolls and “whatever, moms” from the kids.

I go for a pedicure about once a quarter. Every time I go is not as special as that first time, but I rest and pay someone to serve me for an hour or so. Because not only did God tell me it was okay for me to do so, but God taught me that as I do, together we will make the world a better place.

To learn more about Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism and Phileena and Chris' work, check out their web page. If you can get to a retreat, it might just change your life! https://gravitycenter.com

Songwriters MICHAEL JACKSON, LIONEL RICHIE Published by Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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bouncingtigger10 · 4 years

Text

New Post has been published on The Bouncing Tigger Reads

New Post has been published on http://www.tiggerreviews.com/and-we-learn-about-the-threat/

And we learn about The Threat

Can you tell your readers something about why you chose this particular topic to write about? What appealed to you about it? Why do you think it is different and your approach is unique?

Did you need to self-publish on e-books before a publisher took you up?

Would you recommend self-publishing and building an audience before approaching a publisher? If so, what benefits do you see that it might have for the aspiring novelist?

What do you read when you are ill in bed?

What is your favorite genre?

If you could recommend a living author – who would it be? A dead author?

In your opinion who is the funniest author now writing?

Rick Riordan cracks me up in any of his series, he has got humor down pact. And all of his characters are so wonderfully relatable and Percy’s inner dialogues are my own half the time.

Have you ever tried to imitate another author’s style? And if so, why?

What have you done with the things you wrote when in school?

Do you have any pets?I do!

If so, what are they? Two Chihuahuas and a Cat.

And what are they called? Ziggy, Zeppelin, and Bowie.

Do they help you write? No, they’re complete distractions. But I usually make one of them sit on my lap at my desk anyway.

What, in your life, are you most proud of doing?

If you could be any fictional character, which would you be? And why?

If you could choose to live in another country/town – which would you choose? And why?

What would you take on a desert island to read if you could only take 3 books?

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

Author Bio

You can find my blog, updates, and other entertainment at my website: www.sophiamenesini.com

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#authorinterview #blogtours #Fantasy #kickassfemales #LGBTQ+#newadult #pirates #romancecontemporary #SophiaMenesini #TheVeiledDuchess #xpressotours

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