#I spent like 20 minutes today talking to a guy about nets. It was great

[lexicals]

Honestly I wish I found my actual job as rewarding as these demo days, I really love being able to educate people about fibre arts and give them an introduction to spinning specifically and it actually feels like I'm making a difference with my time instead of.... well not doing that

[tarosin]

The great adventures of y/n tubbo jack niki and george

requested:yes/no

pairing: platonic y/n,tubbo,jack,niki and george

summary: minecraft cave in real life

content warning: cursing

an: the word love is used a couple times but this is all platonic <3 i still don’t know how to add read more on mobile i am sorry about that, part 3 to great adventures series

it was around 4 am when the heat became a problem, unable to sleep you grabbed your phone and decided to facetime ranboo just as he was ending stream

“hey boo...you look like you’ve seen a ghost what the fuck were you doing”

“fnaf vr”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad you’re being dramatic”

“okay we shall see how you like it when I make you play it when I’m in the UK”

“okay bet I’ll add it to our list of videos and stream ideas anyway I can't sleep it’s too hot and I’m so confused as to why Tommy keeps asking me if I like and I quote being high”

“tubbo was telling me about that he keeps teasing him about planes you never know maybe you’re all going on an international adventure... or being pushed out a plane”

“doubt it there’s no way Tommy would pull something as crazy as jumping out a plane it would be pretty cool, I was thinking about doing it for my birthday”

“with a parachute? I hope”

“eh with or without, either way, is fine for me”

an hour passed you and ranboo sat talking about what was happening tomorrow and how you wished he was going to be there with you, after all, you knew how it felt to be watching people you care about making plans and doing things without you.

“didn’t you say you were going to a cave tomorrow? Minecraft in real life, nice”

“I’m begging please touch grass”

“I’ve already done that it made me want to become an engineer now get some rest y/n you’ll be getting up in a few hours, I’ll call you tomorrow goodnight”

“see you tomorrow I love you”

*y/n has ended the call*

•••

when you woke up at 9 you couldn’t shake off the awful feeling you had, today just didn’t feel like a good day you needed some time to yourself to recharge however you knew you’d be okay later on

Niki: good morning y/n!! would you like us to pick you up now or do you need a bit longer

y/n: don’t worry about it I’ll make my own way!! :]

Niki: okay see you soon!!

George: we will pick you up in an hour and a bit

Tommy: wait what are you guys doing

tubbo: following jack and Niki around

y/n: what he said

Tommy: have fun then guys without me

y/n: don’t you have work to do big guy

Tommy: don’t you have to get ready

y/n: leave me alone

•••

soon enough you saw jacks car pull up outside so you grabbed your bag from the other day as it still had everything you needed except this time you decided to bring along a mini first aid kit as you knew your clumsiness and a cave wouldn’t mix well. now you were fully awake you couldn’t wait to go explore the caves, you sat next to Niki who decided to play with your hair and spent half of the journey on a call with an unhappy Tommy who was in college waiting to go to lesson the other half of the journey was spent singing along to the radio

•••

jack started recording and turned around to see you Niki and tubbo leaning over looking down at the floor

“oh hi jack” you waved at the camera “so what’s the plan of action”

“we’re going up there”

you loved heights so hearing that you were going to go on a cable car made you pretty excited once you all got into the car you and George tried opening all the windows whilst tubbo complained

“stop trying to open things”

“it’s a window”

“scared you’re going to get pushed over the edge hmm? scared you’ll have to free fall? it’s not that high you'd probably survive the fall, it’s not like I'm trying to open the door on a plane”

“y/n I mean this in the nicest way possible I’m never going on a plane with you”

tubbo laughed and joined the conversation “we shall see about that”

you tilted your head to the side and blinked a few times trying to process what he just said

“heh?”

“tubbo if we fell we would die right”

“you know jack I've done a lot in my life”

you took the phone from jack and began filming him and George

“why is it slowing down”

“we’re going to die”

“I didn’t bring enough food”

you sat laughing at your friends' reaction before explaining that it’s slowing down for a reason

“they’re slowing it down so you can jump out, what I didn’t tell you is there’s actually a parachute underneath where you’re sat, good luck gamers”

“We could probably climb out the window”

“NO, where do we go”

you just sat shaking your head laughing whilst your friends sat screaming about it stopping

“y/n we’re going to die”

“oh no.. let me just text ranboo to start planning our funerals”

eventually, the cable car began moving just very slow you then ended the recording after jack made jokes about it moving as fast as a George video comes out, you all then spent the rest of the time enjoying everyone’s company.

•••

tubbo noticed a park and ran to the ropes giving you time to update your community a stream will be happening later on

y/n has tweeted: I am outside, stream with ranboo when we get home :]

you laughed as you posted that as all the comments started rolling in questioning if ranboo had come to the UK. you walked back to your group and wrapped your arms around jack and Niki making them both jump out of shock

“Sorry about that ahah now if you don’t mind I want to play in the park”

they laughed as you ran to the rope trying to swing without falling that’s when you gave up and started climbing the net close to Niki.

“that’s not a swing George”

jack ran towards them “I’m getting on the swing with George”

Niki laughed as she recorded what was happening in front of her, she looked to her left expecting to see you stood next to her however she heard you laugh and run towards your friends

“I’m getting on the swing with tubbo”

a few moments later George pointed out a castle and tubbo mentioned the ‘wet rocks’ you just stood with your arm around Niki's shoulders enjoying the view of the castle that was until a dog caught your attention and you walked off to go ask if you could pet it

“Niki where’s y/n they were with you last”

“with the dog”

“tubbo when they come back just follow the path towards the castle, me and Niki are going to record”

“got it, boss man”

•••

after a few minutes, you walked back to tubbo and George realising jack and Niki weren’t there you tilted your head shrugged then sat next to tubbo on the swings as George began recording

“jack and Niki have left us but we’re having fun on the swings..”

“maybe we’ll lick some rocks”

“YEAH”

•••

“if we’re quiet we can sneak up on them”

the three of you ran down the path towards the start of the castle steps looking at the cameras that allowed you to see the top of the castle

“there they are”

“they’re vlogging”

“We can just see them through the castle cameras they have no idea we can see them”

you stood leaning against George until you all noticed they were about to make their way back down the steps so all ran off to hide

“there they go”

the three of you ran back down the path ignoring the stares from strangers and comments about how your hair was obnoxiously bright, the three of you scared the pair who were looking for you all

“I’ve never been less displeased to see George”

the five of you continued walking around after joking about the green water and questioning George on how he could tell what colour it was

“I’m a genius”

a few fans can over and took photos with you all and George began questioning them

“George you’re really self-promoting right now”

“George I am disappointed in you”

•••

“dude it’s boiling”

“ice cream?”

the five of you stood inline

“I’m dying to tubbo”

“I’m not going to ask questions, I love how you just accepted defeat”

“you’re next y/n” tubbo let go of George and began walking towards you

“FUCK OFF NO” you ran behind George and used him as a shield

“y/n George isn’t going to protect you”

“I will y/n don't worry tubbo fuck off” the three of you stood laughing not realising jack was walking towards you all with the ice cream

“thank you”

“you’re welcome how’s the ice cream”

“great thank you”

you laughed at jack who somehow managed to get ice cream on his nose

•••

you and tubbo noticed a wishing well and walked over to it

“wanna make a wish”

“yeah but we have no money”

you both looked at each other then at jack them looked back at each other and nodded

“what are you two doing”

“We wanna make a wish”

“come on give me your money”

everyone stood laughing at you and tubbo determined to make a wish whilst jack argued he had no money however tubbo noticed a £20 note and grabbed it

“y/n quick make a wish”

the pair of you held the note and then dropped it into the well

“yay!!”

“We made a wish”

the pair of you walked off whilst jack stood telling you both how he can’t believe you and the pair of you had stolen over £100 from him today making you both laugh

“tell me the wish”

“We can’t or it won’t come true”

•••

“right cave time”

“we’re going to die”

“well thanks for that George”

you stood next to tubbo trying to ignore your friends as they made comments about there being mobs like creepers in the cave

“you two really need to go outside more”

everything was going well for you until the worker said to everyone

“I think we do have some kids here who are doing a vlog”

you could feel your cheeks heating up from embarrassment although you loved your job you still weren’t used to people pointing it out

•••

“This cave has a door”

“naturally formed door”

“y/n tubbo were in the caves, where are the diamonds”

you pointed in a random direction then continued walking whilst tubbo kneeled examining the rock claiming there were diamonds, as you all kept walking you had to put up with tubbo jack and George making Minecraft jokes whilst Niki followed behind them staying rather quiet, everyone’s as focusing on the cave not saying much till George spoke up

“it’s turned into a horror movie”

“why’s the cave so low why can’t they just dig up”

“y/n did you really just ask that”

“yes I did my neck hurts from ducking under the rock”

“so sorry to hear that”

“thank you for your concern George”

“I’m not concerned”

“oh-“

the tour continued and you were genuinely having a good time, you found all the different rocks and information given to you by the worker fascinating and slowly stopped listening to what your friends were saying behind you

“so this little tunnel up here is where they would send the kids”

“off you go tubbo and y/n”

“please no”

you all continued for a while till you were told you were going in the dark despite the fact you were excited you were also very afraid of the dark so stood closer to tubbo who instantly noticed and pulled you into a side hug

“we’re going dark”

“oh wow that is the only source of light”

a minute or so later they turned on some softly coloured led lights so you could all look at the geode

“holy shit that’s beautiful”

“I thought a geode was a small animal”

“that’s a pokemon dude”

you were all given time to go for a wander however rather than walking with the others you decided to stay with the geode and started a group call with ranboo and Tommy

“hi guys can’t stay long break is almost over”

“that’s okay Tommy but look at this giant fucking rock”

you flipped the camera so they could see and went around showing them parts of the cave

“holy shit”

“looks great y/n”

“cool right I have to go the worker wants us to get ready to leave see you all soon”

“wait y/n one last question, how are you with heights”

“oooh I’m great I love them we went in a cable car earlier”

“awesome see you all later”

*Tommy left the call*

“I’ll call you when I get home boo I’ll see you soon!!”

“bye y/n stay safe”

*ranboo has left the call*

*y/n has left the call*

as you all left the cave you and tubbo noticed two rocks and went to pick them up

“hey look our wish came true”

“yeah we wished for a weird looking rock when we left the cave”

“you paid £20 for a rock”

“yes”

a few minutes later you and tubbo just started walking away only to be later followed by everyone else

“where are you going”

•••

you all got the cable car back at this point you were exhausted you used all your energy running around the cave determined to show Tommy and ranboo everything

“What did you all think of the cave”

“loved it”

“you lost your rock tubbo?”

tubbo pulled out the rock and smiled at jack

“no, I didn’t”

“but you chucked it”

“told you we wished for a magic rock”

jack finished the recording and you all just sat talking about your day and any future plans

•••

the journey back home was extremely quiet you and tubbo sat next to each other, you fell asleep with your head resting on his shoulder, Niki sat in the front with jack quietly singing along to the radio and George and tubbo quietly spoke to each other trying not to wake you up.

when you finally got home you woke up on your couch confused as to how you got there it was only when you checked your phone you got the answer

Niki: you looked exhausted we didn’t want to wake you, hope you don’t mind. your keys are on the table next to your bag!! see you soon it was lovely meeting you <3

you decided to reply thanking your friends for today.

•••

*incoming call: ranboo*

you accepted the call

“hey y/n tell me all about your day whilst you get ready to stream I'm already set up”

“oh they’re gonna be so annoyed I've joined in with making jokes about you being in the UK anyway so my day was pretty good but I did end up asleep on my couch and had no idea how I got there”

“heh?”

“let me explain”

[feistypaants-archived]

Between The Pipes [Chapter 20]

Rating: M Words: 2130 Pairing: Kristanna Summary: When a new owner takes over the Arendelle Ice Breakers, Kristoff isn’t sure about his future with the team. That is, until a PR nightmare throws the newest member of the media team, who also just so happens to be the daughter of the new owner, right into his arms. Kristoff and Anna can’t even stand the interviews they have to do together… how on earth are they going to fix this mess? Hockey!AU.

[Chapter Index]

Where To Read: [AO3]

Notes: In which Kristoff shows his fondness for children and Anna wants him to Nut With Purpose.

I know I had said there would be smut.... but this chapter was long enough........ So i’m going to add a chapter of their date after this night and there u will have the smut. I also literally just finished this so i hope it’s fine I cba to read it LMFAO.

OKAY. BYE. 

Enjoy!

Kristoff couldn’t lie, the last month had probably been the best of his life. He had bounced back in the game and was playing better than he had in a long time, he had an excuse to do all sort of touristy and cheesy things that he had denied himself in the past, and he had Anna, warm and generous and enthusiastic, burrowing under his skin most nights a week, filling in all the cracks he hadn’t realized were there.

She congratulated and comforted in a similar fashion, her mouth hot on his skin as she brought him to climax. Though sometimes he celebrated or mourned by taking her as rough as she was okay with, his teeth nipping at her creamy throat before his tongue soothed the ache. There was a fire between them that burned brighter with each encounter, raging wildly through their veins with no intention of cooling down.

He knew, each time he left her apartment and felt the small ache of loss in his chest, that this was quickly becoming something more than he was ready for, but he couldn’t risk losing her. Not now. Not when she kissed him with such ease, not when she looked so cute as she struggled to wrap her arms around him in all of his gear, and definitely not when she could fuck him within an inch of his life and still leave him begging for more.

He never stopped flirting with her. He couldn’t. Winks and smirks and kisses below the ear with something filthy whispered as he pulled away had become his norm. He wanted her all the time… and he got her, whenever he wanted her. 

And Anna got him, whenever she wanted him.

This new easiness that came from near-constant release gave him a sort of laser focus he didn’t even know he was capable of. Sven teased him that that’s what happens when you have sex after four years worth of dry spells. A newfound ability to not be distracted by how badly you want to fuck.

Kristoff punched him in the arm, but didn’t really disagree.

Today was the children’s event, where local children’s teams of mites, squirts, and pee-wees came out to play with the team and get some invaluable experience learning from professionals. It was undoubtedly Kristoff’s favorite event. He absolutely adored hanging out with the kids, letting them shoot pucks on him, and playing alongside the mini-goalies who all looked up at him with admiration in their eyes.

He wasn’t lying, about wanting a big family. 

Everytime he looked at them, he felt his heart clenching.

The media team was filming the event for their website, and Anna was running around doing some quick interviews with some of the players before the kids arrived. 

“Babe,” Kristoff hollered, quickly getting her attention. “C’mere.”

Her face lit up and she bit at her lip - he’d never get tired of it - before she came over, camera in tow, and grinned up at him, “Yes, honey?”

Kristoff moved swiftly, scooping her up into his arms as she protested, giggles making her seem way less serious, before skating backwards on the ice, his lovely girlfriend gripping his jersey, and the man with the camera jogging out onto the ice after them. “Let’s do some … on-ice interviews, hm?”

And then he set her down to sit on top of his net, skating just out of her reach, knowing she wouldn’t dare jump down in those heels. 

“You’ll regret this, Bjorgman.”

“I’m sure I won’t.”

After a few of the teammates humored them and interviewed with her sitting on the net - each and every one commenting on how nice it was that she was closer to their eye level now - Kristoff finally shooed them all away and kindly told the cameraman he didn’t need to film this next part, before wrapping his gloved hands around her back, pulling her closer to the edge of the net and pressing a firm kiss against her mouth. “I can not wait to take you home tonight and -“

Anna cut him off with a hand over his lips and laughed, a blush rising high on her cheeks. “I’m mic’d!” 

Then Kristoff heard the meek voice of the cameraman hollering across the ice. “Yeah, she’s definitely mic’d.”

And then he leaned closer to where the tiny microphone sat and said “and fuck your brains out” anyway, causing Anna to shove him away and apologize profusely to the man who had to listen. 

“You’re awful.”

“But truthful.”

“So sorry again, Ryder,” Anna called as she turned off the mic pack and waved to the boy whose cheeks were slightly flushed as he tried to focus on getting some b-roll for the video.

“Yeah,” Anna could hear the sarcasm dripping from Kristoff’s lips as he ducked down to bury his nose against her neck. “So, so sorry.”

Kristoff could hear her shortened breaths and feel her quickened pulse beneath his mouth before her hands pushed up against his shoulders. “We’re at work, Kris, you shouldn’t…” He sighed and pulled back, taking in her rosy cheeks and fond smile. “But… later…”

Yes, definitely later. It had been a few days, anyway. “My place? I’ll make you dinner.”

Anna ooohed as she lifted her hands up to touch his cheeks. “I haven’t been to your place…” and then she bit her lip and he felt his heart hammer against his ribcage. “But dinner? With no publicity? Sounds like a date.”

He hummed, bracing his hands on either side of her thighs. “Probably shouldn’t call it that.”

“Probably not…” She winked and ticked a finger under his chin. “Just fueling up for the … marathon.”

Kristoff couldn’t help the little snort that left his nose as she smiled wickedly. He moved quickly to scoop her up, one arm under her knees as he carried her back to the bench. “It’ll be a marathon, all right. 

Setting her down gently on the ice, Kristoff helped her hop up onto the platform of the floor outside the rink and felt the smile on his face widen as she pulled him forward by the collar and planted one more kiss against his cheek. 

“See you later,” she hummed before turning to head into the lobby, and Kristoff felt his knees weaken just a little beneath his weight.

—

-

—

The kids showed up a little early, so Anna spent some time learning all of their names and where they were from before they got to go out onto the ice. They ranged from six all the way to thirteen, and she could feel her uterus crying out as each of them shook her hand and bounced with excitement. 

Their coaches and parents took them to the locker room to get ready after the Ice Breakers had finished their meeting, and when they came back out, Anna couldn’t help but feel her eyes misting up at the sight of all these kids in full hockey gear. They were too cute. 

She leaned over to get closer to eye level, and held out two thumbs up. “Are you guys ready to meet the boys?” They all giggled at the idea of big professional hockey players being called boys, but all started clacking their sticks against the ground as substitution for applause. “Because I know they’re ready to meet you guys.”

Mattias and Sven came up from the ice, gave them all a pep talk, and had everyone organize themselves by position, preparing to partner them up as best as they could. There was almost a one-to-one ratio, but a few of the players would take on two kids at once. Anna gave them all a wave before she headed back out to the bench, sitting and waiting for her next job, watching as Ryder moved around the ice with ease before he settled down to get a good shot of all the tots coming down the runway and onto the ice.

Sven came out first, his voice lowered and booming, and announced them as if they were coming out for a game. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you’ve been waiting for…” The whole team started banging their sticks on the ice. “Your Miniiiii Iiiiiiice Breeeeakeeeers!!!!”

And they came running, all giggling and shaking their sticks in the air, a parade of excited children doing a lap around the ice as everyone applauded them. Then they lined up against the boards, and Sven skated down the line, telling them which player to go meet up with, grinning wickedly as he sent two towards Kristoff. 

Anna watched as one jumped up to hug him immediately, and she literally felt her stomach swoop in excitement. Oh Jesus she wished she could hear what he was saying as he swung the little girl around and smiled brightly up at her. Clearly there was a history there, and she could immediately see why Kristoff wanted so badly to be a father.

He was a natural at it.

He let her go with a smack of his glove over her mask, and got down on one knee to greet the much younger and clearly nervous boy who stood beside them. Kristoff’s smile was bright and inviting as he spoke softly and after a few minutes, he stuck out his mitt, cheering as the little boy gave him a fist bump. 

They skated around for a bit, shot some pucks on Kristoff, let Kristoff shoot some pucks on them, and overall were seeming to have a great time. 

Anna knew she should have been attempting to pay attention to other people as well, but she could not take her gaze away from Kristoff. And when he looked up and caught her staring, the soft smile that pulled at his cheeks stabbed her in the stomach.

There was no way in hell he’d ever be like that scumbag of a father he had.

Never.

Eventually they had some of the kids skate over to her, and Anna did little interviews with each of them, asking them if they were having fun, what their favorite part of the game was, and who their favorite player was. They were all clearly getting a kick out of the feeling of being interviewed like a professional, and Anna absolutely fed into it, talking to the camera like she did during games as she dismissed each kid.

Finally, god finally, Kristoff came up with his kids, bumping them with his hips and skates as they approached, making them giggles as they tripped and moved to right themselves.

“Well hello,” Anna grinned, working hard to tear her eyes away from Kristoff. “What are your names?”

The girl jumped up immediately, grabbing onto the boards and pushing her little purple mask up over her head. “I’m Lily, and that’s Connor!”

“Hi Lily, and hello, Connor.” Anna shook both of their hands and held up the microphone. “Would either of you like to do a little interview?”

Lily, with her lightly dyed pink hair bouncing on her shoulders, could not have said yes faster, making Anna laugh as she reached for her microphone.

“Connor? Would you?”

He shook his head no before ducking behind Kristoff’s legs, and Anna smiled softly. “Well that’s all right. Lily will do all the talking then, right?”

Kristoff leaned down to Connor and grinned. “It’s okay, buddy, I don’t really like interviews either. Anna usually does most of the talking.”

She snorted before leaning over to Lily, tucking her hair back behind her ear. “All right, Lily. When did you start playing hockey?”

Her smile was wide and she grabbed eagerly at the mic, pulling it close to her mouth. “Krissy came to a program I was in when I was like five and he volunteered with us and he taught us how to skate and then he started teaching us hockey things and I” deep breath, “thought it was really fun so I kept playing and he helped me a lot and now I got adopted and my mommy really loves that I have a passion so she let me keep playing and it’s” another deep breath, “been four years and I still really love it and I’m so happy to be playing and it’s all thanks to Krissy!”

“Ah, jeez, Lilypad,” he pushed against her face with his mitt, her giggles muffled by the sequipment. “Don’t embarrass me.”

“Oh, no, no,” Anna grinned, her eyes flicking up to meet Kristoff’s. “Please tell me more about Krissy.”

She watched with intrigue as his tongue ran against his bottom teeth under his lip, as if he was holding back from what he really wanted to say.

Yeah, she was going to wreck him later. She had no more doubts about that.

[billyhargroveinaponytail]

Good Ole Dacre Montgomery

Chapter 6: 'But my darling, I am still in love with you'

Songs for this chapter:

'Material Girl' By Madonna

'I hate you, I love you' By Nash & Olivia O' Brien

'Happier' By Ed Sheeran

*Warnings* -Smut,Language, Alcohol

@dreamin-of-dacre​

_____________________________________________________________________

Myra woke up early the next morning, checking her phone first thing. There were still no messages from Dacre and she was worried, but maybe he was still sleeping and hadn't gotten the chance to reply yet.

Myra: 'Can't wait to see you! Have a great morning!'

She laid her phone down, sighing. She glanced in the direction of her closet noticing her long dress hanging from the rod,she gave a faint smile trying to lighten her mood.

"You awake in there?" Paisley yelled from the living room, she sat at the dining table drinking her cup of coffee. "Yeah I'm awake." Myra stretched, flipping the blankets off her legs. Myra wore her usual red sleeved shirt and a pair of black shorts in to join her. "You excited for this evening?" Paisley was usually never up this early so you knew she was excited if she was up before Myra. "Yes, I've still got no reply from Dacre but maybe we will see him in the hair and makeup trailer today!"

The trailer door jiggled with someone on the other side speaking Myra's name in a sing song voice. "Myra James! Wakey wakey!" Myra flipped the lock opening the door wide. Mary stood there,a tray with 3 coffees inside. "Good morning ladies! You guys ready to get to work?" Paisley glanced at Myra in confusion. "What're we doing this morning?"

Myra takes the coffee Mary hands out to them. "We have got to help get everyone ready for the event tonight, hair and makeup!" Paisley was occupied with her phone, Myra waved her hand in front of her face handing over her coffee to her and repeating herself. "Sounds fun! We heading out now?" Mary nodded taking a sip from her steaming cup. "You going dressed like that?" Mary pointed to her 'Steve in the streets,Billy in the sheets' shirt. "No,god no. Give me just a minute and I will change!" She placed her cup down on the counter and rushed into her room changing her top and sliding on a pair of jeans.

"We are going to spend a couple hours getting everyone ready and then I will help you ladies get your hair done if you would like!" Paisley clapped with excitement, "Yes! I would love that! I was hoping maybe Joe would stop in too, we've been talking all night!" Paisley blushed fumbling her phone around in her hands. "I think I have him scheduled for this morning!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" Paisley pulled her hair up into a bun and shoved her phone into her back pocket, chugging down the rest of her coffee. Myra pulled on her shoes and the three of them left out her door,heading for the next trailer.

The smell of Aqua net hairspray filled the air, Millie and Sadie sat in their grooming chairs talking with Jane. Millie's hair was slicked back into low bun currently being sprayed down with spray while Sadie's hair was in a higher messier bun with a small piece of bangs hanging out. '"You ladies look great!" Myra smiled at them in the large mirror across the wall. They both thanked her, Mary then approached them with her makeup bag to start applying their foundations.

"Hope everyone is decent!" Joe spoke,swinging open the trailer door. Paisley's posture instantly changed and a large smile was plastered on her face. "We are all fine,sweetheart come on in!" Jane rang, applying the last fews touches to Sadie's makeup. "You're all done honey, head over to wardrobe and they'll get you ready there!" Sadie thanked the both of them and waved goodbye to Paisley,Myra and Joe.

"You ladies excited for tonight?" Joe took a seat in the spinning chair Sadie had just left. "Yes! This is the biggest event I have ever been too! I just hope my outfit will work!" She stood next to Mary's small desk leaning against it. "I'm sure whatever you are wearing will look great, you ready for all the questions Myra?"

Myra stopped fiddling with the comb in her hand and looked up at Joe. "Questions? I thought the questions were just for you guys.." Joe made an amused look before speaking, "No they ask all of us questions, the cast about how things are going so far and what other actors and actresses we are working with and the crew, they ask you guys about working with us and what's it like behind the scenes." Myra had no idea she would be answering questions, she just assumed she would be walking the carpet and then joining the crowd during the panel. "I am sure you will do great just give yourself a few seconds to think about the questions and then answer honestly!"

Jane dropped a large glob of hair gel into Joe's hair and began combing it back. "It's super easy honey, we will all be there and the crew will be together so if you get stuck just look to one of us!" Joe grunted as she tugged harder on his hair. "I would prefer to attend this event not bald, please and thanks!" He laughed along with them. Myra glanced on Mary's desk where a schedule sat with the cast's names on it. "Is Dacre not coming in today?" She searches down the page for his name. "No I guess he's going to do his own thing for hair and then get dressed! We will see him at the event don't worry!" Myra nodded, brushing off the uneasy feeling.

The next four hours went by and about another 20 people came in to get their hair and makeup done. Mary glanced at the watch on her wrist noticing the time, "We should be getting you ladies cleaned up and ready soon!" Paisley rushed to the empty chair flopping down inside, "I have always wanted to have my hair styled professionally! Can we do something curly and fancy? Please!" She presses her hands together in a dramatic plea. "We will try!" Jane plugged in her curling iron and waited for it to heat up. "What about you,M? Anything specific you'd like?" Myra shrugged unsure, she was use to the same thing everyday she wasn't sure how to change it up. "What about straightening it?" Paisley chimed.

It had been almost 5 years since Myra had straightened her hair, it always took her hours and only stayed that way for a few hours. "I'm not sure that will work out-" She was cut off by Mary. "I have got a heat serum that will keep it straight and if I work quickly it should only take me an hour!" Myra sat in the empty chair next to Paisley staring at her reflection. "Go for it!" She intertwined her fingers keeping her hands in her lap. Mary turned on the radio, making the two of them feeling like they were in their own little montage. Paisley sang along to the 'Material Girl' song playing over the speakers, while Jane twirled small curls through her hair.

Mary spun Myra around to face the mirror to see the finished product. Myra was stunned, her hair reached past her breast and was straighter then she had ever achieved it before. "It looks so great, thank you so much!" She ran her fingers threw the ends and smiled over to Paisley. "Pais, you look amazing!" She pulled on the curl hanging around her face watching it spring back up. "You ready to go get dressed?" Paisley stood up from her chair keeping her eyes on her reflection. "Yes! Thank you ladies so much! I can't wait to see you soon all dressed up!"

"The limo will be picking us up in about two hours near the front gate, we will all be riding together, be ready!" Paisley lead out the trailer door and Myra followed behind, glancing down at her phone again, sighing. "Still no reply from Dacre?" Myra shook her head no, quickly trying to change the subject. "He is probably just busy getting ready and hasn't had the chance to look at his phone!" Paisley nodded, agreeing. "Don't worry about it we will see him later, after we get all fancied up he will be drooling all over you!" Paisley nudged her, raising her brow.

It took Myra almost an hour to get her dress on and make up done so she spent the time waiting for Paisley. "You done yet?" She yelled into the bathroom. "Almost! My shoes aren't working with me!" She groaned, the sound of groaning came from the bathroom. A small knock came from the door, Myra made her way over cracking it open. "Hey I just wanted to stop by and see Paisley before we headed out!" Myra glanced to the bathroom door then back to Joe. "She's in the bathroom battling her shoes right now!"

"Who's here?" She shouted behind the bathroom door. "Joe, he wanted to stop by and see you before they left!" Myra shouted back. The bathroom door was swiftly swung open and Paisley came stomping out. "Joe, hey-hello..hi!" She stuttered around on her words,looking at his handsome appearance. Joe wore a multiple patterned shirt and a split colored blazer, both tan and black with a tan pair of pants to match it.  

"You look beautiful!" Joe smiled shoving his hands into his pockets. "Thank you, you look beautiful too. I-I uh mean handsome you look handsome!" Her face was covered in embarrassment. Joe's phone rang, he glanced down to read the contacts name. "I should get going they're waiting on me, you ladies look beautiful!" Paisley thanked him and raced to grab their bags so they could make it in time to the limo.

Paisley picked up her long dress racing across the pavement,Myra came trenching behind her to the long stretched out limo that stood waiting for them and the others. "I have never road in a limo before let alone something this amazing!" Myra stepped inside the brightly lit car, champaign and snacks waited for them at their seats and faint music played in the air.

"Oh alcohol!" Paisley snatched up a glass, relaxing back in her seat. The car door opened again Jane and Mary entered, both wearing black elegant dresses, Mary's was long and left a long trail behind her, Jane's was short and had small rhinestones covering the chest. "Look at you two!" Myra spoke in shock, she had never seen Mary in anything but shorts and old band t-shirts and Jane always wore holy jeans and tank tops. Both of their hair was always up and messy but now this wasn't the case they both had their hair down and fixed up, they looked like completely different people.

The wardrobe and camera crew joined them in the same limo, before the car took off to the venue. It was almost an hour away from them so the entire ride their everyone finished off the large champagne bottle and cleaned out the mini fridge of all it's snacks. Myra spent the entire ride checking her phone, hoping Dacre would have replied by now, only leaving herself disappointed.

The large venue was covered with bright lights and hundreds of people huddled around waiting for the cast. Fans held signs for the show and new reports stood waiting in front of their cameras. The first vehicle pulled up and Millie,Sadie,Gaten,Noah,Finn and Caleb. The crowd roared with joy cheering their names. Paparazzi yelled for them hoping to snap a photo of them for their magazines and new papers.

Myra stood in amazement, this was an absolute dream come true. The next limo arrived this time David, Winona,Cary,and Cara stepped out, the crowd continuing the waves of praise. Everyone slowly walked across the carpet, waving to people and stopping to pose for photos.

The final vehicle came now; Priah,Joe,Maya, Francesca and Dacre left the car, a tall blonde with a green printed dress stepped out behind Dacre holding onto his hand. Myra scrunched her brow in confusion. "Who's that?" Paisley asked looking out the car window at the girl. "I am not sure-" Myra did not have much time to think before they vehicle arrived at the entrance. Mary gave her a look of sorrow before taking her hand and helping her out of the car. "Put a smile on! This is going to be so much fun!" Myra snatched up Paisley's hand and pulled her along behind.

The carpet was soft and velvet red and the entire cast stood huddled at the end watching the crew walk across. The camera crew walked first, then followed but wardrobe, special effects and then hair and make up. All of their name's were announced, even Paisley's. Myra slowly strutted down the runway smiling at all the bright flashing lights, Paisley held tightly onto her hand smiling as well.

"This is so much fun!" She mumbled under her breath. Myra held back a laugh waving at a group of kids waving their way. "It is!" she giggled, stopping at the end of the carpet joining the other crew members as the Duffer brother's made their way across the carpet. Myra glanced to her side noticing the blonde girl clinging all over Dacre, running her finger's threw his hair and twirling his necklace around between her fingers.

"Where did she come from? Did Dacre ever mention having a girlfriend?"

"No.." Myra huffed, she wasn't going to let this ruin her evening, she was a place she had always dreamed of and it wasn't like her and Dacre were officially a thing so it didn't matter, at least she tried to convince herself it didn't.

The cast began filing inside the large convention center, finding their places on stage. Ten of the main cast members took their seats in the front preparing themselves for the questions of the reporters and fans.

"Millie," A report raised his mic towards the young girl on stage. "Are we going to see for Mileven in season 3?"

She nodded, smiling in Finn's direction. "You are, it's going to be a lot of young romance and I am excited for you guys to see it!"

"Maya!" A fan spoke up from her seat. "What's it like joining the Stranger Things cast?" Maya adjusted herself in the seat replying, "It has been an incredible experience, everyone is so nice and welcoming, this has truly become a second family for me!"

The questions went on for another hour when they announced they would be taking only a few more. A reporter quickly shot up his hand standing at attention. "Dacre! There has been a photo circulating online of you and a girl, Myra, who is rumored to be a new crew member on the show, are you two a thing?"

Dacre shook his head, letting out a snort. "No, no not at all she's just an employee. She's my assistant and I was showing her around that is all! I have a lovely girlfriend, Liv and we are very happy together!" He changed the subject by pointing to another reporter waiting his turn.

Dacre's words, shot Myra right in the chest. She knew she was just an employee but to hear it from Dacre's mouth made everything worse,she would have at least assumed they were friends. "He-he's not even going to acknowledge you.."

"It's ok..don't worry about it." Myra fought back every tear, Mary had spent so much time making sure she looked nice she didn't want to ruin any of it. Instead Myra would get even, Dacre would be nothing but a cast member to her; a cast member she at one point felt madly in love with. Paisley kept glancing over at Myra checking up on her, when they were called onto stage. "You're going to do great!" Myra tried to believe her words as she walked up sitting between Jane and Mary. The announcer went through the group introducing everyone, ending with Myra.

A hand shot up in the crowd, they had a question for Jane. "Are we going to see the iconic mullet on Billy again? Or will he have a surprising hair cut?" Jane pulled the microphone in and spoke, "We definitely stuck with the iconic mullet, but it has had some slight changes and I think everyone is going to love it, I know we do!" Multiple other questions were asked and Myra felt herself zoning out until her name was mention.

"Myra, referring back to the photo of you and Dacre, have you two become close on set since you're his assistant?" Myra felt anger come over her,being referred to as his assistant. She remembered what Joe had told her and took in a deep breath thinking of her next reply. "I have had such an incredible time helping everyone on set, I think I can agree with Maya I have become so close with everyone, they honestly are just like a second family!" She finished off with a warm smile and turned to face the others in the crowd. The report sat down with a dumbfounded look, scribbling something into his notepad.  

The rest of the evening went great,Myra avoided Dacre and his girlfriend, keeping herself surrounded by people and Paisley. She had the opportunity to meet more of the cast and some very powerful people in the film industry. Joe instantly made his way over to us after the cast had finished taking photos with everyone. "Myra..I'm so sorry.." He instantly spoke over the loud music. "Sorry? What did you do?" Myra finished her drink and looked between him and Paisley confused.

"I knew about Liv I knew he had a girlfriend, he has been saying they were going to break up and how terrible things were but I guess they changed their minds.. I'm so sorry!" He repeated again. "It's not your fault, it's mine. This is a job I am here to help people and get my school credits, I'm not here to mess around with some guy." Myra kept a strong front through the whole conversation and it even continued out for the rest of the night.

The event was slowly coming to an end and Myra had already finished 4 glasses of wine and 4 glasses of champagne prior. She wasn't drunk but she felt comfortable. "Are you still coming over to the house?" Mary appeared behind them in the crowd of people. Paisley shook her heading with excitement. "Yes! I brought my bathing suit and I am ready to swim!" Paisley tugged on Joe's arm smiling, "You're coming too right?" Myra knew by the amount of times Paisley had giggled she had way too much to drink too. "Yea I think Jane would kill me if I didn't!"

Mary's house was a huge white elegant home, which seemed to have been made of glass panels. The limo dropped them off at the front door, the front and backyard were already filled up with people. Mary smiled up at the home with a proud smile. "This is my place! The pool's in the back, there's a bathroom in the living room and upstairs you guys can change in! If you need anything help yourself!" She raced off to join Jane and a few others in the kitchen, where a large tub of alcohol sat occupying the table.

"I'm going to head upstairs and get changed, you coming along?" Paisley looked to Myra clutching her bathing suit. "Yeah let me grab a water and I will be right up!" Paisley strutted up the stairs walking down the long hall. Myra was pushing her way through the kitchen, repeating apologizes with every person she bumped into. She open the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water before being shoved forward hitting her shoulder against the door. She grunted,turning to come face to face with a beautiful blonde.

"I'm so sorry I was looking for a paper towel and everyone is just so crowded up in here!" The blonde reached down picking up the bottle of water she had knocked from Myra's hand. "That's ok, I am surprised I made it in here alive!" Myra joked, realizing the familiarities in the girl. She had changed clothes, she was now wearing a light pair of shorts and a purple shirt. "I'm Liv," She took a sip from her wine cooler, moving her eyes around the crowd of people. "It's nice to meet you, Liv!" Myra purposefully didn't tell Liv her name and Liv didn't even seem to notice. "I seem to have lost my boyfriend, that boy is always seeking off to hang out with the guys." She laughed at her own comment. "Oh there he is!" Dacre pushed between two guys bickering and stood behind Liv. "This is my boyfriend,Dacre" She moved a little so that Dacre now had a full view of Myra standing shocked in front of him.

Dacre's face fell flat-- not amused or embarrassed at all. "I know Myra," Dacre informed Liv, his arm wrapped around her lower waist. "She's my assistant on set." Liv nodded coming to realize. "Oh Myra I have heard so much about you!"

"y-you have?" Had Dacre really told Liv about her? And if he did what exactly did he tell her?

"Yes! he's told me how much help you are and how you helped come up with a great idea for a scene,he says you're very sweet!" Myra couldn't help but smile, it still felt nice to hear about the things he had said about her. Myra bit her tongue to tell Liv exactly what had happened, so she just continued to smile. "I should get upstairs and change for the pool! It was nice meeting you Liv, nice seeing you too Dacre!" Myra pushed back through the kitchen crowd and made her way up the stairs to join Paisley.

The long hallway was covered in awards Mary had won and photos of her in large groups of people, possibly the crew and cast she had worked with. The bathroom door was the first room on the right and the door was shut, maybe Paisley was still inside. She knocked on the door a few times, hearing giggling behind the door and the sound of two people scurrying around. "Hey, MJ!" Paisley cracked open the door,adjusting her bathing suit top. "Hey I was going to get changed so that we could go swim." Paisley glanced behind her and then opened the door the rest of the way, Joe stood tying his swim trunks up. Myra shook her head laughing, she wasn't hurt at all, she was happy for Paisley.

The bathroom had a blue nautical theme and smelt of cinnamon. Myra changed into her bathing suit and grabbed a large beach towel from the bathroom closet before heading out the door. She slid on her shoes no longer paying attention to where she was walking and ran directly into the person standing in front of her. "Oh-I'm so sorry!" She stepped back and looked up at Dacre now standing in front of her. "Myra.." He spoke in a soft voice. His gaze was fixated on the frown growing on her lips. "C-Could we maybe talk?"

Myra folded her arms across her chest as to barricade herself from him, Dacre stepped forward pulling them out of their crossed position. "Please talk to me.. let me explain!" Myra stepped away from him again. "There is nothing to talk about, I have to get downstairs they're waiting for me. It was nice seeing you, I will see you Monday!" Myra faked a smile, Dacre's shoulders dropped, he looked a bit wounded, but Myra felt no pity.

The music had been turned up and it felt as if the entire house was vibrating. The pool was nearly empty except for Paisley, Joe and two other people. Myra laid her towel down beside Paisley's things and joined them in the water. Paisley tugged her along through the water to the area where her and Joe had been standing. "So I heard about the great work you did with the sauna scene, you should talk them into letting you help with a scene for me!" Myra mood was sparked with slight enjoyment at this thought. "I would love that, maybe Monday I will ask!"

"I hate to bring it up but..what about Dacre?" Paisley mumbled into the red solo cup coming to meet her mouth. "What about Dacre? He has a girlfriend and I am just an assistant I have a job to do he isn't going to distract me from that!" Myra tried to not sobb through the line. Paisley kept Myra's back to the house,making sure she was distracted.  "Good I am proud of you!" Paisley offered her a cup of a mixture of random alcohols and Myra chugged it down, roughly coughing after almost inhaling it. She turned to throw the cup into the trash and noticed Dacre and Liv standing on the porch dancing with each other, Liv's hips pressed against Dacre's and them often sharing kisses.

"Can I have another one of those?" Myra pointed to the tray of drinks, the caterer's had been bringing around. "Please be careful!" Paisley spoke up in her nurturing voice. "I'm fine!" Myra waved off her comment and quickly chugged down another cup.

When the party started to come to an end Paisley and Myra were now sitting in two recliner chairs sitting near the fire. Joe stood on the porch and spoke with his friends. "What happened with you two in the bathroom?" Paisley instantly folded into an embarrassed look. "We uh we kissed and you know.." Paisley avoided the real explanation and Myra just laughed, happy for her friend. "Gotcha!" She slurred out. "You ready to head home? It's getting late and I think it's time we get you laid down." Myra nodded her head, her own vision going somewhat blurred. "I'm ready!"

Paisley readjusted her on the chair so she would not tumble off and went to inform Joe they were ready to leave. "You ready to get yourself home, James?" Joe laughed at her attempt at trying to sit up. Myra gave him a thumbs up and a slight giggle followed by a hiccup. Paisley hung up the phone after calling them an uber and told them it would be here in about 15 minutes. Paisley gathered all of their things into her bag and took Myra's dress and her own, throwing them over her arm. In the other hand she took hold of Myra and helped guide her to the front of the house. "You're my best friend I love you" Myra slurs,laying her head on Paisley's shoulder. "I love you too MJ" She pats her head and wraps the towel around her damp body.

Joe helped Paisley get Myra into their trailer and they laid her groaning body onto the bed, she instantly passed out. Paisley laid a large blanket across her body and quietly closed her down. "Thank you for the help!" Paisley turned to Joe with a sincere smile. "Anytime! You two get some sleep I will see you in the morning! We could even do breakfast if you'd!"

"Sounds great! See you tomorrow!" Paisley placed a kiss on Joe's cheek and opened the door for him. After he left she changed her clothes and instantly put herself to bed as well. The sound of vibrations caught her off guard and she checked her bag to see that Dacre was trying to call.

"Hello?" She spoke softly, not to wake Myra.

"Myra?"

"No, this is Paisley, Myra is sleeping!"

"oh-well- Paisley please understand that Myra means so much to me and I have so much going on in my life, it's just too hard to explain.."

"Well how about you get your life figured out first before you start ruining my friends, alright?"

Paisley hung up the phone after hearing a loud sigh from Dacre.

[marvel-lucy]

The Ultimate Weapon, chapter 19

This was supposed to be the last chapter, but I wrote a three chapter postscript. Look, it was my first fic, I was young and didn’t know what I was doing. Forgive me.

Weeks later, and a new routine, a new life, had been established. I still met with Sam sometimes to talk things through when I could feel my anxieties building, but I also had others to talk to now. I worked out, I’d started helping Bruce out a bit in the lab and even started studying, trying to catch up on all those years of missed education. Tony called me Professor Molesworth when he saw me sat in the library surrounded by books, but he also sat with me for hours and taught me maths and science. I spent a lot of time with Bucky. Not always talking, or doing anything. I’d sit and study, feet in his lap, he’d read, occasionally we’d look up at each other and smile. We trained together too, both enhanced and a match for each other and the physical tiredness was great. We were almost inseparable – Tony called up Supertwins – both liking the fact there was someone there who understood without explanation, when at times the anger or the fear returned. We started trying to catch up on movies we’d both missed and insisted on more movie nights. We drank a lot of beer and sometimes slept in each other’s arms when the bad dreams came. Things got easier, and I got happy, which is why it was hard when I felt that something was wrong.

I was aware that people were whispering in corners, or stopping talking when I walked into the room. I tried to pass it off as paranoia when silence fell if I came in but it wasn’t. I could feel the old anxieties resurfacing, about my place here, my place in the world, but Sam dismissed them when I tried to talk to him, just repeating that I was wanted here.

I turned to Nat in the end, knowing that she was usually straightforward and honest but I still didn’t get an answer I trusted. She told me that Tony was organising another one of his dinner parties and it was nothing to worry about, that it was just guest lists and menus. She must have seen the disbelief on my face, but reassured me again, saying that people just didn’t want to worry me after the last time, telling me that at least this time Loki wasn’t invited.

Nat said I needed a distraction and so the next day she and Wanda appeared at my door and told me they were taking me out for the day. My agoraphobia had stayed away since I’d got back in the tower, although I didn’t particularly like crowds and felt a bit vulnerable away from walls, but I could live with it. I tried going out at least a few times a week, to practice being out in the real world, and to join in with everything I’d missed, but other than a few trips to the zoo, I was still happier in the Tower.

I didn’t know what Wanda and Nat had planned but when they pulled me into a fancy looking dress store, I groaned. They knew I had zero interest in clothes, we’d been through this before, so I resigned myself to a morning where they tried things on and I nodded and pretended to be able to see a difference between this black dress and that black dress. No such luck.

“Stark likes fancy for his dinner parties, you know that from before.” Nat said, adding “and last time, I lent you a dress and you ended up sleeping in it then wearing it in the shower, if I recall correctly”. I blushed, remembering how hungover I’d been and how I’d felt about Bucky. Wanda was grabbing dresses off the rails and suddenly they were both pulling me into a changing room and started stripping off my clothes. I shrieked, batting their hands away but they insisted I try on dress after dress. While Wanda and Nat inspected me, I stood awkwardly, repeating ‘too tight, too revealing, too bright...’ about most of the dresses until Nat asked me if I was sure I wasn’t actually born in the 20s, because I was acting like an old woman.

After a while, they let me get dressed again and told me they’d choose for me. It was at that point that I realised I had no money. Embarrassed, I pulled them both aside and tried to explain.

“Guys, I don’t actually have money, I mean, I’ve got a few dollars but, I mean, I probably got an allowance when I was 14 but it’s not like I actually have a job or anything now”. They both looked at me and laughed, leaving me blushing heavily.

“You know you have a Stark Card, right?” I must have looked blank. “Nobody gave you one? Ah, we’ll get Jarvis on it when we’re back. You charge whatever you want to your Stark Card, Tony takes care of it. It’s ‘wages’ for being an Avenger. That, and for putting up with Tony. Look, don’t worry about it, it’s all sorted anyway, and Wanda’s already charged it. And no, before you start worrying, you don’t need to feel guilty about it or anything. Stark has enough money for ten times as many Avengers, and I can’t see you being the type to suddenly start buying islands.” I saw that Wanda was now carrying a big bag although I hadn’t had any input into what they’d bought, so I hoped to god it wasn’t the red one they’d been discussing.

Net they dragged me into shoe shops, where at least the fact I was physically well trained made walking in heels possible, if not something I saw any point in. They made me have another haircut, my hair now reaching my shoulders and all the bald patches long gone, then they finally let us go back to the Tower.

“Right, go have a shower Ruby, we’ll leave your stuff in your room for the dinner tonight” Wanda said, shooing me off as I tried to go and get some coffee from the kitchen. I complained, and she told me to go shower and that she’d bring me coffee. I was sticky from the heat so gave in.

When I came out of the shower, the parcels they’d bought were on the bed, and a cup of coffee was on the side. I breathed in the smell, holding the cup against me as I started to look through the bags. Oh hell no, the dress was red. It was the one that I’d rejected as tight, bright, low cut, too noticeable, not me, laughable. Was this some kind of joke? I unwrapped the other parcels, shoes, underwear, make up, but I was not in the mood. I’d wear something else, and take the dress back tomorrow.

Cross, I put my coffee down and went to the closet, flinging the doors open. It was empty. What the hell? I pulled open drawers, nothing. Through gritted teeth, I opened my door and stormed down to Nat’s room in my robe. She was in there with Wanda and they were obviously both expecting me.

“Hey, not dressed yet, you might want to hurry up a bit” Nat grinned.

“Where. Are. My. Clothes” I scowled at them both as they sniggered at me, and Wanda replied, wide eyed and innocent, that they’d left them on my bed. “Not those ones. Come on guys, you know I can’t wear that dress, I’ll look ridiculous and I’ll feel stupid. Just let me have some normal stuff OK?”

Nat got up and pushed me out of the room. “Not a chance. Go put that on or I will get Bucky to come down and knock you out, and dress you myself”. With Nat, you never could tell when she was serious.

I stomped back to my room and held the dress up, groaning. I put it on but I felt stupid. Like a kid trying to look like an adult. I knew I was sulking but I couldn’t stop myself. I just hoped this dinner of Tony’s wasn’t going to involve too many people.

A few minutes later Wanda and Nat both appeared and nodded approvingly to see I was dressed. They approached me threateningly with makeup brushes and did…. stuff…. to my face. Not much luckily, the serum at least meant I had good skin despite the fact I didn’t do anything with it. Nat handed me my shoes and when I put them on, whistled at me.

“Well damn it Ruby if you don’t look sexy as hell” she winked and I rolled my eyes, stomach churning with dread at the teasing I was going to get for trying to look like this.

Wanda called ‘I’ll see you up there’ and left, and Nat took hold of my hands.

“Hey, Ruby, I mean it. You look great, stop worrying. Remember the last dinner, it was fun right?” I nodded. I had been fun in the end. “Good. Come on then, I’m starving plus I look damn good and want to get some appreciation too” she grinned.

We got into the elevator and I expected Jarvis to drop us at the usual level, where the kitchen and communal spaces were. Instead, the doors opened onto the lobby of the function rooms, a beautiful space Tony used for presentations and his gala dinners.

“Wrong floor?” I questioned, but Nat nudged me forward and towards the door. I pulled it open and stepped in.

And ‘SURPRISE!’. My heart raced and if it wasn’t for Nat behind me with a steadying hand, I’d have either turned and run, or else gone straight into attack mode. ‘Happy birthday’ she whispered in my ear, grinning at the success of their plan.

The room was full, all faces I recognised and I was surprised by just how many people it seemed I knew, but it was pretty overwhelming. I hadn’t made it out of the doorway yet, so Nat propelled me forwards as I gaped. Tony was the first to come over, with Pepper. He hugged me and told me not to let Pepper see how beautiful I was or she might feel threatened. Pepper slapped him on the arm and hugged me, wishing me a happy birthday. More and more people drifted over – Steve, Bruce, Sam – all to hug me and grin at the success of their plan. Sam, like Nat, whistled.

“Damn but you look a hell of a lot better than when we fished you out of that Hydra cell” he grinned. “If I didn’t know you already had your eye on someone, I would be trying my very best here”. I knew he was joking – everyone was too polite to tell me how stupid I looked – but I blushed when he said I had my eye on someone. He didn’t know how I felt surely, about Bucky. I wasn’t even sure I knew how I felt.

“I didn’t even know it was my birthday” I said, changing the subject, and Bruce laughed, kissing my cheek.

“21 today!” he said, as Tony added “now we can get you drunk legally, and I’m still determined to get you to try karaoke”.

There were balloons everywhere, damn it, who knew how much I loved balloons? They'd gone to town with them, the floor was full and the kids who belonged to staff in the Tower were having a whale of a time diving into them. I'd have joined them, but apparently I was an adult now? God I loved balloons though. I grinned around the room as I took it all in. Flowers, tables groaning with food and drink, and faces smiling at me all over. Yes, it was overwhelming, but my heart felt full.

I was surrounded for a few more minutes, as people I’d met once or twice before came over, obviously having been kept up to speed with what was going on, Coulson, Lang, Hill, even Fury came over and wished me a happy birthday and an official welcome to the team. I was swamped for a while, then people gradually went back to their conversations and to the food and music. I tried not to show I was looking around but I hadn’t seen Bucky yet and I was disappointed he wasn’t here. As the crowd cleared, and Nat wandered off with Clint to find a drink, I felt a cold hand on the back of my dress. I turned, and Bucky was smiling down at me.

“Wanted to wait until everyone had left you alone” he said. I felt anchored now that he was here. Anchored and something else. Something I’d been trying to ignore for a while but was sure of now I saw him, cleaned up and suited and looking amazing. He leant down and kissed my cheek and I breathed in his smell, dizzying my overloaded senses.

“Happy birthday doll” he whispered against my cheek, his hand tightening on my waist and pulling me into him. I hugged him back and then he stepped back to arm’s length and eyed me up and down.

“Jeez…” he started, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, I’ve got to do this right.” He looked into my eyes. “You are by far the most beautiful woman in this room, and in fact the most beautiful woman I’ve seen. Always thought so but damn that dress just brings it home”. By now my face was as scarlet as my dress. Bucky moved his metal hand up to my cheek, blissfully cold against my flushed skin. “No need to blush, it’s all true, just own it” he grinned, switching to the other cheek. “It’d be an honour to have you on my arm tonight ma’am” he said with an old school charm, and I grinned, hooking my arm over his as we headed to get drinks and food.

It was a great party. People were kind and welcoming and I felt accepted. I drank quite a bit, giddy with a relieved happiness that my paranoia wasn’t justified; giddy with excitement every time Bucky put his arm around me while I was talking to someone, or stood close to my side so I could feel his warmth. Part way through the evening, going to the bathroom, I bumped into Natasha.

“Having a good time?” she asked and I nodded.

“Thanks Nat. For everything”. I’d been thanking people all evening for kindnesses, for presents, for support, it as becoming almost a running joke but I felt insanely grateful and underserving still.

“You’ve already done the thanks bit Ruby. No more! You’re knocking them out in that dress, knew you would” she smiled. “It’s not unnoticed whose eyes can’t leave you tonight, doesn’t take a spy to see something as obvious as the torch Bucky is carrying for you.”

“Bucky’s my best friend Nat. He’s looking out for me because he knows I find crowds difficult. That’s all.” I asserted, and she scoffed, taking a sip from her drink.

“Ruby, take it from someone who knows. Bucky has been into you since you got here. Now that he’s seen you in that dress, he’s got it even worse”. She smiled at me and said “it’s cute” as I rolled my eyes, then she was off, pulling Clint out to dance while he protested, until she pushed up agapist him and he stopped.

By around 2am, most people had gone off to the guest rooms Tony had provided. Clint and Nat were still wrapped around each other and dancing; Sam and Steve were stretched out on couches near the bar, beers in hand. Tony and Pepper were talking to a group of friends about to leave. I was sitting a little tipsily by the door, waiting for Bucky with some water for us both.

He brought it over and I drank it down, keen to avoid the hangover I’d had last time. Bucky took the glass from me and put it down, then held his hand out.

“Dance?” he asked and I laughed, shaking my head.

“Wouldn’t know how Bucky, and I’m probably a bit unsteady on my feet anyway”. Without speaking, he bent down and took my shoes off, leaving my feet against the cool floor.

“Come on doll. I wanna dance with you. You can’t fall off those shoes now, and I’ll hold you up.”

The music was slower and quieter now as he pulled me away from the edge of the room, but avoiding the centre, staying where the light was dimmer. He pulled me in close to him, one arm wrapped around my waist, fingers of the other hand entwined with mine. I put my head on his chest and sighed, and we slowly moved together to the music. Bucky’s head was resting on my hair; I was shorter now without the heels on.

“You had a good birthday doll?” he asked and I nodded against his chest.

“Best one in six years” I replied, able to joke about my past more often now I felt secure in the present. I felt a laugh rumbling through his chest. We continued dancing together, alone in our own corner, talking occasionally but mostly in silence. My senses felt heightened by being so close to him. My skin tingled wherever he touched me and I closed my eyes, the better to remember this feeling. The song finished and another started and we continued to sway together, when Bucky spoke again.

“Hey Ruby?” I looked up, loving the way he made my name sound. “Been wanting to ask you something for a while, now seems as good a time as any.” I waited, our dancing stopping. “Didn’t want to do anything without your permission, you’ve had enough of that, but I wanted to ask if I could kiss you.”

I froze trying to see if he was teasing me, but I could feel his heart beating near mine and risked everything, wanting this so much. I nodded, mouthing ‘yes’ on my breath.

The first kiss was gentle and feather light. He brushed his lips against mine and instantly my body was alive with heat. He rested his forehead on mine, looking down to meet my eyes, silently checking if this was OK. I nodded slightly, and looked at his lips, wanting to feel them on mine again. This time there was more pressure, still slow, as he pressed up against me and my mouth opened to his tongue. He tugged at my bottom lip with his teeth, then kissed the sting away as I smiled against his mouth. Our kisses become firmer, deeper, and I was lost and giddy with my eyes closed, feeling every inch of my body pressed against him and full of desire.

I was lost in the sensation when the peace was shattered by a loud cry of ‘at last’ and I looked over to see Tony standing, arms aloft, doing a little jig. He pointed at us both and shouted ‘at last’ again, and Bucky and I descended into giggles against each other, and then into kisses again.

We stayed there, in each other’s arms, until everyone else had slipped away, not wanting to break contact, then Bucky picked me up, holding me against him, and took me back to his room. I was home.

[lyz-fics]

Kageyama X FEM! Reader | CH1

CHAPTER 1

Hey Guys! Lyz Here!

Okay so no one asked for this but I’ve been writing this for a long time and I think I’ll post it now. 

Word Count:  3,143 Words

things to know:

(P/N) = Pet Name

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

—===✨🎇🎆💀🎆🎇✨===—

The ball came straight to him. Kageyama was standing at the front of the net when the ball was dug to him.

“Tobio!” you called out.

Kageyama took a deep breath, closed his eyes and set the ball behind him. When he opened his eyes he saw you, mid-air ready to slam the ball over the net right where he had planned. Your hand made a giant ‘slap’ as it hit the ball and it was sent flying to the other side of the court. The opposition’s libero dived for the ball but fell only a few centimeters short from stopping it from plummeting just inside the court line.

The referee blew his whistle and announced that the West State Warriors had won yet another preliminary final, thus sending them all to the semi-finals to enter what they hoped would be their third year at the Interstate Nationals. The team ran up to you for a hug and they all cheered as you hugged them back. The referee blew his whistle and signaled for the two teams to shake hands. Kageyama lined up at the front as he was the team’s captain and you next in line as the rest of the team insisted because you won the winning point.

“You did great today,” Kageyama complimented you as he walked past.

“We almost didn’t win,” you sighed “if I had missed that shot the point would have gone to the other team and we wouldn’t be going to Interstate.”

“It’s not about winning,” he started.

“It’s about having the most fun!” You finished. “You really are the same Kageyama from the first time I saw you.”

‘Say it! Say it, idiot!’ You thought to yourself.

“K-Kageyama I-“ you tried to say.

“Hey, (N/N),” Nishinoya interrupted “can you and Kageyama come over to the gym tomorrow morning to train for a bit? I want Kageyama to help me with my quick attacks and see if you can help me with my jump height.”

“Of course!” Kageyama said with his usual cheery smile. “Do you need a ride (N/N)?”

You started to turn red and stutter “Yeah, I- ummm I booked a hotel room but if you could give me a ride then-“

“Wait?” Kageyama stopped you “Did you book a hotel room all by yourself?”

“Yeah?” You were confused by why he was asking.

“Just come stay in my room. Daichi was meant to be here for support but bailed on me last minute so I didn’t have time to change the room bookings.” he exclaimed, “My room is right across from Nishinoya and Hinata’s because we booked at the same time so it’s going to be easier to train tomorrow.”

“Plus Yamaguchi and Tsukishima just booked their room in the same hotel so we all might be in the same flat,” Nishinoya said as he turned his attention back to you.

“Cool!” You said trying not to stutter “That means I’ll only need a lift to the hotel.”

“Awesome!” Nishinoya smiled as he ran off to join Hinata who was practicing with the others.

‘Phew,’ You thought ‘wait a minute!!! I’m staying in the same room as my little raven? Will we be in the same bed?’

“(Y/N)?” Kageyama asks looking concerned “Did you want to tell me something?”

“Ohh!” You exclaimed, ”Don’t worry, it was nothing important.”

“I’ll see you tonight then,” he said as he walked off.

‘Heh! So cute!’ Kageyama giggled to himself ‘My (P/N) stutters. God, what did I do to deserve this beautiful girl?’

The rest of the team were passing the ball around in a circle and you were about to join them when you heard your stomach rumble. You reached into the bag that you had with you and pulled out $20. You caught Yamaguchi’s eye as you were walking out and raised the money to ask if you wanted to come to have lunch. Yamaguchi shook his head politely so you took your phone as well so you had someone to talk to while you ate. You went into the reception where the diner was and ordered a salad and an energy drink and took it outside and sat against a wall as you ate.

As you ate you sets up a three-way call with (B/F/N1) and (B/F/N2). You caught them up on where they are on the ladder and who they’ll be versing tomorrow. As the chat continues it gets onto the topic of relationships.

“Any big news from either of you guys?” You asked eagerly.

“When are you guys coming back for a break?” (B/F/N2) whined, ”I miss my Nishinoya!”

(B/F/N2) and Nishinoya had been dating for the past 2 years and more often than not (B/F/N2) made it to every important game that Nishinoya played. Or even the games where Nishinoya just asked her to show up for emotional support. They both loved each other very much but this time (B/F/N2) wasn’t able to come. The Interstate Nationals were held by the schools at the end of the year and for (B/F/N2), this was during a hard time because she was trying to finish school with a good grade so she might make it into a better college. Nishinoya completely understood and was willing to put their relationship on hold for the time being so things don’t get so stressful but (B/F/N2) persisted that she would be fine as long as they came back for a visit whenever they had a free day.

“I think we have a free day tomorrow,” You said confused “they need to play the next two games of preliminary finals to see who we will verse in the semis.”

“Yay!” (B/F/N2) beamed.

“Anything happening with you, (B/F/N1)?” You asked.

“I do have some very exciting news that you might like.” (B/F/N1) teased.

“No way!” You gasped.

“Spill the tea!” (B/F/N2) screamed with excitement.

“Daichi and I are officially dating,” she said proudly.

“Yay!” (B/F/N2) cheered.

“Holy Shiz!! (B/F/N1) that’s amazing!” You encouraged “I’m so happy for you two!”

“That’s why he wasn’t able to come and be there for Kageyama.” she informed you “He chose to stay for me.”

“Awww” You cried.

“That’s so cute,” (B/F/N2) chimed in “shoot guys I have to go to dinner with my family tonight. I’ve got to go but fill me in over text when you’re done with the call.”

You hung up and now it was only (B/F/N1) and You talking. You were so interested in (B/F/N1) and Daichi now you asked all the questions you wanted answers to in one go and (B/F/N1) tried your best to answer every one of them.

“We actually started dating a few weeks back but only made it official now.” (B/F/N1) explained “He said that he likes me and of course you know that I liked him back so I said I liked him too. The next day he asked if I would like to ‘meet up’ after classes and maybe go do something. It started out a one-day thing but then we started seeing each other over the weekends. By the second week, it became Monday, Thursday and the weekends and we just made it official this week.” she told you.

“That is so amazing (B/F/N1).” You told her. “I wish Kageyama was like that”

“No way!” (B/F/N1) interrupted “Kageyama was made special for you! Whenever you play volleyball with him he brings out your confident side. He makes you the player that you want to be and you make him proud every single day. Daichi told me he talks a lot about how much he sees  Kageyama strive to be the person you want him to be.”

“(B/F/N1),” You sighed. Tears welled in your eyes as you realized that (B/F/N1) was right. Asking someone to change because you want them to be someone else is selfish. Especially if that person has already changed enough for you.

“You guys are meant for each other.” she said once again “some people find love instantly and others find it but they’re so afraid of ruining something they already have that they don’t say anything and lose everything that they have.”

“Thanks, (B/F/N1),” You said, “you’re completely right.”

“I have to go now hon but I expect to see you in person tomorrow.” You joked.

“Okay,” You giggled “baii!”

You spent the next few minutes leaning against the wall and chewing the food in your mouth. You closed your eyes and imaged Kageyama. You couldn’t help yourself, his natural body shape made him so tall and incredibly thin but he had toned muscles at the same time. He pictured his face and how his hair fell just over his eyes and his signature smile where he would face his head down and look up at the top of his eyes and give you a small grin. You heard the soft footsteps of someone walking past and thought it would just be another player from a different team or one of the referees. You opened your eyes and saw Kageyama leaning against the wall next to you. You swallowed your food and just stared down at your feet for a few minutes.

“Do you want to watch the next game with me?” Kageyama asked softly “just to see who we might be versing in the semis.”

“Sure,” You said with a smile “it would be nice to analyze the teams for strengths and weaknesses to get the advantage tomorrow.”

‘Why are you so strategical?’ Kageyama thought to himself. As much as he said just have fun he also enjoyed the times where he would just sit with You and strategize to get the upper hand. ‘You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now’

“That would be nice.” He sighed just imagining sitting next to you and just enjoying each other’s presence.

“Hey, (N/N)?” Kageyama said softly “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course,” You chirped back

‘I love you’ He screamed inside his mind ‘I have ever since we started playing volleyball together. I love how kind and encouraging you are and you don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to just pull you close to me. I want to keep you safe and I want you all to myself. I love you!’

“I...” as hard as he tried Kageyama just couldn’t get the words out of his mind. “I want to try and practice more often together.”

“Sure,” You said, “I mean we’ll be practicing with Nishinoya tomorrow so we can-“

“No!” He said a little louder. “I mean-“ he choked on his words.

‘Just say it!’ Kageyama screamed ‘it’s not that hard. You’re such an idiot!’

“Tobio?” You asked with concern “What’s wrong?”

You turned to face him and leaned in close to him. Kageyama wanted to close the distance between them so badly. He leaned forward but realized what he was doing and pulled back really fast. He pulled back so fast he knocked his head on the wall that was behind him. “Crap!” He yelled.

“Ahh! Kageyama!” you yelled. “Are you okay?”

Kageyama winced at the pain and he felt soft small hands wrap around the back of his head and face. He opened his eyes and saw you inches from his face with your arms wrapped around his head.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” He said flustered “just, hurting”

“Here put this on it,” you said as you grabbed your energy drink and gently placed it on the back of his head “it will help because it’s cold.”

Kageyama reached back and placed his hand over the can of soda and his other hand over yours. He pried the hand from his face and brought it close to his mouth. He almost kissed it but you pulled your hand out of his as you heard someone walking towards them.

“There you guys are,” Hinata exclaimed,  “Nishinoya, they’re over here!”

“Where were you guys?” Nishinoya asked “The next game has already started. (N/N), we need your help analyzing the players”

“Ohh,” You stuttered “yeah sure. I-I’m going now.”

You quickly grabbed your phone and what was left from the $20 and jumped up and quickly walked off. Kageyama just sat there stunned for a minute then he gave an angry glare at Nishinoya and Hinata.

“Did you guys kiss?”Nishinoya asked blatantly.

“Yes!” Kageyama said sarcastically

“Really?” Hinata and Nishinoya exclaimed at the same time.

“No!” He yelled at them.

Kageyama walked back into the complex giving Nishinoya a salty look as he passed him. He went into where the courts were located and went to stand next to you.

“Where are we at?” Kageyama asked with a serious tone.

“It’s the second set, Eagles won the first set and are up by a few points now.” You said as you started delving into all the strategical stuff. “Their frontcourt is strong and they play a lot of tips instead of spikes. They’ll run parallel to the net when they are going to tip it so that’s a dead giveaway. Their backcourt is a bit weaker as they tend to shuffle forwards but number 5 is really fast and she can get it most of the time. They tend to spike towards the middle of the court but numbers 4 and 6 are backcourt spikers.”

“Looks like they’re going to be tough,” Kageyama said worriedly.

“If we organize the team as usual with you and Tsukishima as the rotating setters them me and Nishinoya can play back and frontcourt spiking and Yamaguchi and Hinata can help with the receiving.” You said softly so the teams wouldn’t hear.

‘God, I love you!’ Kageyama sighed ‘why is my (P/N) always so adorable?’

“If you want to continue watching I’ll go tell the team what the plan is for the semis” Kageyama replied.

“No,” You said, “I already know who’s  going to win anyway.”

They walked past to the rest of the team and Kageyama explained how they would set everything up according to your analysis. After tossing the ball around a couple of times they heard the siren buzz to signal the end of the preliminary finals for the day. They all started gathering their stuff and heading outside so the managers could close the complex.

“I was looking at bus schedules and I found a bus that we can take to get to the hotel,” Hinata said. ”The stop is two blocks down from here and then it’s an hours ride to the hotels. Inclusive of stopping for passengers.”

The team all walked together to the bus stop and got on the bus like planned. They rode the bus all the way to the hotel and all checked in at the same time. As they all rode up the elevator they all beamed when they realized that they were on the same floor as each other. Nishinoya and Hinata ran halfway down the hall and stopped when they saw their door. Hinata practically shoved the key into the door and burst into his room. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi shared a room at the end of the hall and as Kageyama and You were walking to their room they stopped diagonally across from Nishinoya and Hinata.

“I guess this is us,” Kageyama said with a smile.

He pushed the keys to the lock and opened the door to reveal a medium-sized hotel room with a lounge room with a table surrounded by a circle of couches and an island of kitchen benches off in the background. You walked past the couches and into the next room. Inside there was a double bed and a bathroom connected to the bedroom off to the side.

You turn around and blushed as you looked at Kageyama. “Guess we'll just have to share a bed.” Kageyama blushed and turned his attention down towards his feet and just smiles.

‘Perfect’ he thought.

Kageyama looked at the clock next to the wall and saw that it was already 9:00 so he placed his backpack and small suitcase next to his side of the bed.

“It’s late,” he said “I’m going to get an early night,”

You nodded in agreement and placed your bag and suitcase on the other side of the bed and opened it to get out some clothes and go into the bathroom to change. You went into the bathroom and changed into a spaghetti strap top and some comfy short shorts. When you walked out of the bathroom you caught the last glimpses of Kageyama pulling his shirt over his head. He was wearing a white tank top and a pair of boxer-briefs. He looked up from his chest and met eyes with You. He blushed and he stared at your shorts and your thighs and hips as they come out and then dip back in to give your a slim thick figure. You blushed back as you stared at his chest and broad shoulders that give him fine, strong appearance.

Your mind screamed ‘Yes please!!’

Kageyama’s mind screamed back. ‘I want you and only you. I wish I could just play this moment on repeat forever!’

As if trying not to trip over, You walked from the bathroom to your side of the bed and climbed in. Kageyama was at a loss for words but simply just joined you in bed. Neither of them dared to turn around or even move because they knew that they wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back. As Kageyama heard your breath start to even out he gently turned himself around to face you. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the back of your shoulder and another one on the side of your neck. You let out a small moan his soft lips pressed against your smooth skin

“Goodnight Beautiful,” Kageyama whispered in your ear “I love you.”

You never ended up hearing what Kageyama said but he didn’t care. He moved closer to you and wrapped a hand around your waist to cuddle you. Letting out a little sigh You turned around in your sleep and nuzzled into Kageyama’s chest. Kageyama slipped a little bit of his hand up your shirt and held your back. You lifted your hands to hold the hem of his top and Kageyama heard you breathe in.

‘What the heck!! Is she smelling me??!’ Kageyama thought.

At that moment Kageyama got a whiff of your hair. The smell of boiling water and berries filled his nose and he couldn’t help but let out a muffled moan.

‘Oh shoot! You smell good too? I swear I’m going to marry this woman someday.’ He said within his mind.

He laid his head down above yours and all through the night he was dreaming of just walking through a field of flowers and berries with you. He loved every minute of it. 

<Previous Chapter  | Next Chapter>

[child-of-sunshine]

Just gotta rant for a minute so this is going under a cut

I can’t stand the way tumblr in general talks about “rich people” (which they can’t define to save their fucking lives) and particularly when they mention “millionaires” as though it actually means something significant in terms of wealth. 

First, no one seems to understand that by today’s inflated standards, a million dollars really isn’t that much. A quick google search will tell me that the average “middle-income” parent in America will spend over 250k to raise a child from birth to 18 years old. If a couple has 4 kids, they’re already spending over a million dollars on those kids. Yes, that’s over 18 years, but it’s still meaningful.

If a person makes 100k, which is supposedly the 85th percentile of income, it only takes them 10 years to make a million dollars. And yes, obviously they’re spending money too, and it’s not like their savings or their net worth are going to be a million in that time, but people don’t even seem to comprehend that their earnings over that time would literally be a million. Someone earning the average American income, let’s say 50k because I get conflicting information from various sources, would only take 20 years to earn a million dollars.

And calling “millionaires” (putting that in quotes because people (a) do NOT understand the difference between net worth and actual liquid assets or even income) rich, particularly in the context of the “eat the rich” rhetoric, is ridiculous. I know this site has a serious problem with black-and-white thinking, but for fuck’s sake.

Let’s take a look at my parents.

My dad grew up in a relatively low-income household. His mother’s grandparents came straight from Italy with a few dollars in their pockets and nothing else. Her family struggled to get food on the table at times. She worked very hard as a seamstress and married a man who had a good job at Ford back when that meant actual benefits including into retirement, and so they managed to raise two boys without having to worry too much about being able to afford food or housing. They saved like crazy and spent the minimum that they possibly could on themselves, so that when they reached retirement, they had a pretty decent amount of savings for the rest of their lives and could finally enjoy some luxury vacations and get a small but nice house in Florida.

My mom grew up in a truly low-income household. She was the youngest of five siblings living in a tiny, shitty town in Nowhere, Michigan, with two parents who smoked constantly, in a house that sat next to some kind of horrifying mystery waste pond (she and both of her sisters had cancer, my mom at just 36, and one of her brothers died from some kind of unknown neurological deterioration). Her father got TB and spent time in a sanitarium, after which he became a withdrawn alcoholic and then died relatively young. Her mother became depressed, stopped working, and died of cancer. My mom lost both of her parents in her early 20s, before she even met my father.

Both of my parents were gifted with the great privileges of great brains and being white. Even in their crappy hick town in the middle of nowhere, my mom managed to be in the top of her class (of 56 whole people) in high school and earned a scholarship to a state university, literally the only way she could have afforded to attend. My dad worked to pay for his college as far as I know (because back then you could actually do that). They both got bachelor’s degrees. My dad became an engineer, a good career, and quickly found a job with a relatively new, small local company. He worked extremely hard, long hours for years and moved up to being a manager, and the company has grown a lot over the 25+ years he’s now worked there, with the result that he now makes a low six-figure salary. My mom took a computer programming course after realizing her journalism degree wouldn’t get her much paid work, and has worked as a programmer for 25+ years now, switching jobs sometimes, usually making somewhere in the 60-70k range in the last decade or so.

My mother got pregnant with my sister around the time she and my dad got engaged. She was working a crappy programming job and he’d barely started as an engineer, making nowhere near six figures. They lived in a trailer park, in a trailer with a hole in the floor and steps that were a safety hazard. She’d spent some time living with her sister, who’s 13 years older than her and never had children (thus had a house and some savings). My dad’s mother, the seamstress, made my mom’s wedding dress for free as long as my mom bought the material for it, which was just about all they could afford. They had a nice, small wedding when my sister was about 2 (she was afraid of my mom’s dress lmao) and one of my cousins took the pictures.

Four years after my sister was born, my parents had saved up enough to put a down payment on our house, a moderate-sized family home in a suburban neighborhood that was just being built. The house was a little over 200k. She got pregnant with me and the house was finished just after I was born.

My mom got cancer when I was 2 years old. They haven’t talked to me much about it. Her sister spent a lot of money to buy her a really nice wig made of animal hair (which, unfortunately, she could rarely wear because it made her very itchy). She went through surgery, chemo, and radiation. She spent months sick as hell and miserable, while trying to raise two young daughters. Thankfully, they’d saved enough to be able to handle the medical bills, particularly with my dad’s good job that had good benefits and, by then, was paying him a pretty decent salary. My mom recovered, thankfully (over 20 years in remission now!).

In 2008, when the recession hit, my mom lost her job quickly. She tried finding new ones but couldn’t. No one was hiring programmers, they were getting rid of them. Her depression got a lot worse. I was in high school and depressed myself (in large part because of the situation at home, though my parents don’t know it, that became suicidal depression a while afterward), and they had to start paying for therapy for me. My sister was in college and had to try to pay for it herself because my parents’ college fund for her hadn’t gone as far as they’d hoped. My dad’s company supplies machines to auto manufacturers. They were worried. They laid off some people, thankfully not my dad, and others had to take pay cuts. My parents started sitting down and seriously going over finances. My mom and I had to completely quit figure skating, my only physical stress outlet (like I said, that contributed a LOT to the severe depression). We had to cut down the grocery bills and think about not buying gifts for family members’ birthdays and such. My grandparents, happily retired by then with good savings, paid off the rest of our mortgage and told my dad to pay them back without interest whenever he could, so that no matter what happened with the jobs, we at least wouldn’t have to worry about losing our house. I listened to my parents scream at each other over money and I cried myself to sleep a lot of nights.

Guess what? My dad is a millionaire. Definitely not in liquid assets, but in net worth he probably just barely hits 1 million. He now makes a low six-figure salary and when the economy is doing okay, he invests some of it in the stock market, mostly in low-risk stocks that are guaranteed to have payouts (I don’t know a lot about this, so that’s all I’ll say). He inherited/learned his dad’s extreme money-saving ways and saves as much as possible. He’s an engineer and very handy, so whenever possible he does home and car repairs himself to save a lot of money. I managed to get a scholarship that covered almost all of my undergrad tuition, I lived at home for half of undergrad and all of med school to save money, I worked in retail in undergrad and as an EMT in med school to pay for some of my own stuff, and they didn’t pay for any of my med school tuition, so that’s it for their educational expenses for me. My mom’s had a good, stable job for the last few years that pays in the low 80k range, I think. We live in a house worth ~250k that we now fully own thanks to my grandparents. 

A few years ago, my dad’s brother bought a crappy, tiny, nearly-condemned cabin in the woods up north for about 20k (seriously, it was shit). He and my dad put in a few hundred dollars and a TON of time and manual labor to fix it up, and now we pay half the bills on it and both of our families use it for vacations. We have a small (19ft) boat that my dad bought as a gift for my mom when she had cancer--he got it extremely cheap from a guy who’d bought it, barely used it, and just wanted rid of it. It’s a 1994 and full of problems now, but we’ve managed to keep it going (barely, at times) and my dad has taken really good care of it over the years. A friend of my dad’s got him into snowmobiling about a decade ago and once his brother bought the cabin and they fixed it up, my dad got a cheap, crappy used snowmobile, which he used for a few years before reselling it and upgrading to an actually nice, new one, because yeah, he could afford it. He’s upgraded a couple times, good for him. When I actually have the time off, I go up with him in the winter and ride one of his old ones that he kept and fixed after it had an engine problem. It doesn’t cost much to renew the trail permits each year and I borrow my uncle’s gear for riding, so other than the initial cost of the sleds, it really costs us nothing to go riding (gas is extremely negligible in snowmobiles, they can go 120+ miles on a single 8 gallon tank, and we store them ourselves at the cabin so we don’t pay for that). We store the boat in our garage at home (like I said, it’s small) so other than the permit and gas for that when we take it out, again, really no continuous expense.

My parents pay all of their taxes without trying to do any bullshit work-arounds. They don’t have a lawyer or a tax accountant or a financial advisor, my dad does it all himself. He keeps track of all of our finances himself. We don’t pay a landscaping service or a cleaning service or any of that crap, we do it all ourselves like any other middle-class family. My mom donates regularly to charities for cancer, animal rescues, and injured veterans. 

But to tumblr, incapable of seeing nuance, we’re “one-percenters (absolutely nowhere near true) who own a house and have a ‘vacation home’ and a boat and recreational vehicles” so we’re pretty much just as bad as Bezos, because anyone who isn’t actively struggling to put food on the table or in horrible medical debt because of our disaster of a system is apparently “rich” and there’s no such thing as shades of gray.

[weekendsabo]

Journal - Saturday, December 1st, 2018

Bob sent me the band Bonny Doon. Now I’m listening to Ricewine which is equally as chill as the Bonny Doon band. Big News! I found the missing piece to that stupid puzzle. I don’t know exactly where is came from, but it just appeared and I’m happy that puzzle doesn’t have a missing piece now. Pretty excited. but got in clean mode so I swept the entire house and cleaned that fan and mopped a little. Nice to have a clean house. If I just do a little everyday it won’t get bad.

Cont. on 11/22

I have to get a washer and dryer. Maybe that’s what I’ll get with my hopeful bonus. Mild orange was next on youtube and they are solid as well. I have plans to meet up at Dillinger with Tsvet and James and possibly more. I’ll definitely throw on a different shirt and.

I saw you in that chair a look and gaze

Lunch was fun with James and Tsvet as well as Dee and Dennis, and the lady in the corner. I like the Dillinger. I go the Ruben and it was solid and some patron. Man, tequila is so good. I’m going to get a bottle for home. I kind of hope Luna doesn’t come over, but with my luck, she probably will. So just got downtown. She’s going to be a little late so I’ll go get a drink at the bar and pee all . I hope it goes well!

Cont. on 11/21

I can’t believe Luna still won’t text me back. I feel bad for her situation. Like, she has the worst luck. I can’t believe he would just hit, Dalton, and while living together. ridiculous. I may- well if she ever texts me back, then maybe I would consider having her come live here. We could car pool and jam and I think it would be fun. Make some vegan food together and just chill all the time. I don’t think I would mind having her around all the time. I’ve tried and whenever I see her shes always super excited to see me. So maybe I just have to but upfront about it and just be like “Hey, I like you, and u was wandering if you wanted to go on a date some time if you’re interested. If not, no biggy. I’m stoked to just be your friend and I’d be 100% okay with keeping it that way. no hard feelings or anything like that. So yeah, I mean we already know each other. but this would be a way for use to get to know each other ore and on a more deeper level. we can talk about sex and stuff like that and see what we both like. Do drugs together and just have a lot of fun. Could be cool if she ever texted back...

Cont. on 11/20

What do I like about Luna?

She has this like nervous laugh that I find adorable. She’ just comfortable. The right height to fit under my arm. That might have been the highlight of my night. Cuddling right up to her. Only way it could have been better is if she put her arm around me. But the head nuzzle worked just as well. I feel she just seem me as a friend and that’s okay. There’s only one way to find out and it just to ask her. Tomorrow night. I’ll go chill at my folks or maybe find something free to do downtown or I can hit up Evan and see what he’s doing. Or maybe I’ll just go chill and walk around DT a little. Possibilities are almost endless. Definitely maybe won’t hit her up. Are you interested in dating at all. I know you might not be be interested and getting out of your relationship. So I completely understand if you’re not down, and this will be the last we talk about it. I just have developed feeling and I wanted to se if you felt to same way. Nothing to lose really. One of the reasons I went to the show last night was to see her. Mission accomplished. Well see, I probably won’t cause I don’t want to make things awkward. So, that's probably the better option.

Cont. on 11/19

Also, she doesn’t smoke cigs, shes open to drugs, she doesn’t drink much which I would be adamant that I won’t drink when she doesn’t drink. She’d fit right on the back of my bike. One that I’m getting with my bonus. I feel we would have a good relationship and would be happy together. I understand depression, and would want to have an open policy on communication cause that is very very important.

Cont. on 11/16

I don’t know if I’m going to  continue using this pen. It’s a little too much bleed through. It’s not to bad once you write. I thought maybe I would have a hard time reading but it looks okay. I’ll keep using the pen for now. Attempted to make pretzels with the pizza dough. I left and I turned out eggy. I think my water wasn’t hot enough or it was just not that great dough. Oh well. It’ll build a turd. I’ll probably make a BLT later for dinner. but really. I’ve eat plenty for today. Well see. I’ll get a wire brush and get the rest of that just out of there. Get a propane tank and itll be cool. I’ll boil those eggs tonight for sure and that’ll be my b-fast and lunch. Cook all that bacon. I’ll bake it so I don’t have to deal with is in a pan. and I’ll be able to get it nice and crispy! It’ll be delicious. AND she listened to music and likes to go to shows! I wold be the absolute best! So how do you think she sees me? Someone who drinks a ton. She knows all about my touring. I would also be 100% okay with her on tour. no problem with that at all.

Cont. on 11/15

I know I want someone that will help me learn or better me. Okay. Bonus equals home gym stuff and guitar. After this trip I’ll get a desk and get that stuff all set up. I’ll see if she has . I can drop her off in the morning and get her a coffee, then go to the gym to kill time. That does sound like a good plan. Then she can chill there or do something. I’d definitely let her take my car. I can get a ride gone from someone. If she wanted to go out. That might actually be good. Just to get that time alone. I’m down. If it gets. It’s not going to get awkward. It’s not like I’m asking her to be with me forever, I just feel like it could be fun. and if that happens, I will definitely get rid of FB. I feel once I do get a girl, I will just get rid of it and set up - I’ll wait till I get the band page going. Goal - Release 2 albums next year or EP’s whatever. I just want some music out there. I’ll make it happen. 2019 is going to be a good and productive year. No drink December starts now. I can do it. Yesterday I already knew that was happening before to deal to no drink to NYE!

Cont. on 11/14

Still not surprised that I spent $5600 on alcohol this year. I probably bumped it up to $5700 yesterday for sure. That ends now! That’s easily a trip to anywhere for a couple weeks. So bad. Cut down on food and booze and I will be doing great! I’ll find an easy recipe for something I can eat all week. Some chicken something. Make some perogies. It’ll be delicious. Invite James and Tsvet over. Find a good Perogie sauce. Keep it vegan hopefully. Id also be down to seriously cut down on my meat eating. I had a nice lunch with my sister today. I hope she quits that job and finds something else. And Zeb just sucks. I know why she doesn’t want to be with him and why she feels she can’t get a divorce. It’s scary. Especially for her. Be so hard to get Makayla over there unless all her rules just goes away. Cut his house, then she would just hate being over at Mel s. I think she will do it soon cause I wouldn’t deal with that for that long. Especially with his separate account. Not that having a separate account is bad, but it was kept secret. So crazy. That guy sucks.

Cont. on 11/13

Date with Gabby.

She was very nice and I did have a lot of fun. From Baltimore. Graduating next May from ASU. Lives with her folks. Has Type 1 diabetes which sucks. Net a natural red head but likes it. We started out at Artiface, we talked about her brothers show and how it went. she said it went really well. Told her about my tour life and stuff like that and stuff. She was super into horoscopes which is worrying. But really I’m not down. I’m pretty sure that I wont see her again. There was just no physical attraction. I don’t want to have to fake a whole aspect of a relationship just to save her feelings. Just it’s not happening. So, I’ll just have to break it of gently. Something like I had a lot of fun and you’re a cool person, but I don’t think we should continue to hang out anymore. I just didn’t feel anything and it’s not going to progress any more that it has so just do not waste your time or should just keep it like this and if we see each other by chance well say high and stuff. and keep if from getting awkward. Something like that should work! Next tie she ask about it I’ll bring in up and hope it goes good.

Cont. on 11/12

I think they are going to be alright. The eggs that is. I’m hard boiling 12 of them so that's 2 a day plus two days where I’ll get three. We can do Tuesday and Thursday. I’ll find a good recipe tomorrow. gotta take a break from pizza. I be I can lose 10 lbs by the christmas party. Especially if I’m not drinking. It’ll be easy. Work out stuff. Eggs are done. Bacon gets like 15 minutes. I may take a bath here shortly or tonight I should say. I’ll get all my shopping done on Sunday. Not drinking will cut the cost of this trip by a ton. I will have one with lunch but other than that no more. just tell them  I’m on a hiatus. They won’t care. It really is no big deal. Tomorrow I’ll take some week and call it good! Save my a ton on money and I won’t feel like garbage on Tuesday. Well, I guess I won’t be cooking tomorrow unless I just come home and leave for the show. I wonder how may extra miles that would be, but it doesn’t matter. Its’ only a couple bucks to not have to kill like 5 hours. So yeah, I’ll come home after work. Make some good and chill, then I’ll head out.

Cont. on 11/10-11/12

I’m more that likely going to roll after Beemaster. Probably watch a song or two of the touring guy to see how they are. Cool, I’ll stay. Not cool, I’m going to rolling after Beemaster. Sorry dude but I have to be up early and I don’t want to be out till the wee hours of the morning for some band. I’ve never heard of. I will ask Luna out and see how that goes before I figure out if I should ask Vivian. I still think I’m not “cool” enough to date her. I would definitely need to step up my wardrobe, or she does like who I am but I could be fun to get dressed up and stuff like that. Lint roller tomorrow so I can wear my blue sweater but tomorrow. Wake up at 5. No snooze go for a run. Shave and shower. Work a little early. Wrap up that stupid 945 west 8th. That job can suck it! Hopefully we’ll be slow this week. I’ll take this with me and get it filled up. I could have filled up so much if I had this at work. Oh well. Either way, I’m jamming music tomorrow and no one can stop me! Friday I will do perogies. Have Ty and Melka and Tsvet and James and I’ll see if Luna is down. Be Like a triple date! Tell the to bring a game!

Cont. on 11/9

BLT was good. I used ricotta instead of mayo since I didn’t have any. I was even at the store too. I could be having some good food, but I was lazy! I need to stop doing that. Tsvet last night just I mean. It’s awesome that they do enjoy it as well. I’ll see if Luna want to come and I’ll do the vegan pirogies. If not, I’ll do the regular ones. Make the. I’ll make the dough and filling the day before, or all of it before, then just boil and fry and they will be golden. Do Like a salad or get some hummus. Borrow their food processor and make some hummus. Slice up some veggies or find a polish side dish and see. What I can fins. Maybe there's some good stuff if not. Hummus it is. I can do two different kinds. Do traditional and tn maybe find a jalapeno hummus. Then cucumbers cherry tomato's, something. I’ll do a onion mushroom top for the perogies. If they're at the show tomorrow I’ll ask the. I’ll shoot them all a message tomorrow. Should be a good time. I know Ty will be down. Still want to have a variety of people over instead of same people all the time.

Cont. on 11/8

I wonder if I can convert the kitchen to gas if I bought this house. I would tear down this wall. Lift the ceiling and just open this house up! but I  do like the setup the way it is. It’s a pretty cute house but who knows. I may bot stay out here and go live in the bus and rent a warehouse or try and by a place with an apartment. I wander how much it'll cost? Maybe just being single is the way to go for a little while later. Maybe not try so hard. I’ll still talk to Luna though. but its just so easy to be myself. and, I took them for granite for sure. I’lI don’t know she wasn't’ right for me, but we had a lot of fun. Disney all the time, living together and working. I got over KC and Rainy. They were just way too much unfortunately. Their family is just way too much. I just wanted to stay home and play video games. I’m happy that is not a hobby anymore. Spent so much time playing games. They are really fond memories, but just doesn’t do it for me like it used too. Crazy how that have changed. I’ve changed a bunch these past couple years.

Cont. on 11/7

My blood pressure was like 14 over 92 with a heart rate of 102. I was just all high and probably because of how much I drank last night. 3 shots and 5 beers in 3.5hours on an empty stomach. I was pretty drunk unfortunately. At least I don’t have to worry about it. I’m so better at life sober so I don’t know why. I just want to feel something. Binging everything to take my mind off things. but I feel if I keep up with the writing I think I will be alright. I don’t need it, I just want it. Lately I’ve been not super happy with myself when I get super drunk. It’s just not fun anymore. I make bad decisions and just don’t do good. So I think I may just have to cut it out completely. It would be like changing my whole life. Bit I think I’m okay with it. I’ll be able to get a lot of things done and I can work more on music and other hobbies. I do want to get into wood working just because it seems fulfilling. We’ll see. I do have time to do these things I’m only 32 and I have a lot of years left to live!

Cont. on 11/6

I wonder if I can just get by with smoking weed and not drinking. I’m going to get some acid for sure. and just have some good trips. Doing it at NYE during the D could be really fun. I would be down to quit everything but psychedelics. They are by far the best. I will have acid parties. Find a girl that's down and just have fun with each other, explore each others body. I want to do that sober. Someone I’m actually attracted to. I still had fun, but it was what I needed at the time. I would sacrifice that physical attraction for being with someone. I went for what was there and easy. I have been good at not just being with someone. I’m so worried about not getting hard. I know when the time comes I will be upfront about it and let them know the deal. I also really need to lay off the porn so much and get some lube. dick is just getting beat up. Lets do a No Porn December with the no drinking and see how it goes. You can still jerk off, but without porn. I have to rewire my brain to stop thinking about porn, and it’s such a bad habit that it would definitely happen when I’m in a relationship.

[allenmendezsr]

8 Ball Winning Strategies. Billiards Instruction. Pool Lessons.

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8 Ball Winning Strategies. Billiards Instruction. Pool Lessons.

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    Hi, it’s Ted Mauro, back with more billiards tips for you today to help you learn about 8 Ball Winning Strategies.

I get it: moving toward your pool playing goals is important, it’s important to all of my clients. And since you’re a pool player, you also want to learn the fundamentals, I’ll bet.

Great! I’m here to help. And if you listen to my advice, you can acquire the knowledge necessary to become a contender in your local pool playing scene and do it faster than you may imagine.

Sound good?

Let me introduce myself. I’m Ted Mauro, and I’m an instructor.

After playing pool for fun and competition, for over 30 years, I went to pool school and became a certified billiards instructor.

My clients often say, “You know, he really loves his work!” (And that’s true.)

Not to brag, but after 44 Years in the billiards industry, I’ve learned a thing or two…

…and I have a few things to share with you today that may help YOU succeed.

Many pool players like you ask me, “Ted, did you ever miss shots too?”

The answer is yes… so I get it.

And if you’re like I was, you choke your important shots too, right?

So yes, I can relate. And let me be straight:

You have to get this under control or you lose games. Not to sound dire, but considering when playing an experienced player, you may lose a game every time you miss a shot, and for sure it will be quite often, you should listen to what I have to say.

Before we go any further, have you tried hitting the cue ball hard? It seemed to be the thing to do when I was younger. Or do you believe when you hear people say, “playing good pool is all luck”?

I bought into that as well. I think it’s because our friends and co-workers spread a bunch of myths and lies about pool being all luck.

Now that you understand more about what’s behind your billiards woes, let’s talk about the only solution I’ve found to work for just about any pool player:

Let me first share how I discovered and the breakthrough that led to the guide for pool players worldwide:

Introducing 8 Ball Winning Strategies…

…the premiere guide for people who want to obtain a winning advantage in 8 ball that rapidly gives you a time-tested way to take control of your cue ball and actually learn how to really play pool…all without breaking the bank or dealing with a strange coach in person!

8 Ball Winning Strategies is a coaching program delivered to you within minutes and it’s the only solution that promises you can easily change the way you think about 8 ball and improve the way you play the game …all without spending countless hours and dollars on improper practice and bad fundamentals!

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…but acting today you’ll save $162 and pay only 1 payment of only $37. However, this offer expires soon.

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To Your Run Out Success! Coach, Instructor Ted Pool Billiards Game

Plan Your Run Out Pattern Immediately After the Break Shot.

Master the Art of Defense and Keep Control of the Game.

Do You Ever Run all Your Balls and then Miss the 8 Ball?

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Eight Ball Winning Strategies is an ebook in pdf format. You will need Adobe reader on your computer to read it and access the web pages and videos which it links to. Most Computers have this software already. If you do not, there is a link on the download page where you can get it Free.)

1.Introduction

2.Start with the Mind

3.Fundamentals of Pool / Billiards

4.Breaking the Rack

5.Racking the Rack

6.Find Your Pattern

7.Plan Your Out

8.Be Smart from the Start

9.If you do the Chores, Finish the Job

10.Sometimes you should miss

11.Leave some balls on the Table

12.Only go for the Out when You Have the Out

13.You missed the Break Out Shot, Now What?

14.Break it out and or Play a tough Safety.

15.Get the Break Out and Complete the Run Out.

16.Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

17.Keep an Eye on Your Opponent and surroundings

18.Know which Version of the Rules You’re Playing.

19.The Various differences in 8 Ball Rules.

20.Ball in Hand or Bar Rules?

21.Safeties, When to Lay Down, When To Run Out.

22.Get Safe or Get Out

23.The Money Ball (Game Ball) Eliminate the Choke

Get all the details on the subjects above with Video Examples to make it Crystal Clear. Click on the Box to Get Your Copy Now.

My name is Ted Mauro and yes even though I’m only 43 years old, I have been playing pool for over 30 years.

My dad had a table in the basement and I have been addicted to the game ever since I could see over the rails.

Well, I’m still addicted to the game.

Recently I spent a week in New Hampshire studying with a Master Billiards Instructor by the name of Ken Tewksbury.

This was a great experience and I learned some new ways to look at familiar material which has elevated my level of play and my ability to help others with their game.

I walked away from the class as a Certified Advanced Billiards Instructor with the Universal Billiards Instructor Association and A level 2 Instructor with the ACS (American Cue Sports)

You can scroll down and check out the certificates.

I started writing this book and shooting video for the book back in February 2009.

When I came home from the class in New Hampshire back in September 2009, I took a break from things and spent several hours per day practicing and working on my pool game.

My game is based on the fundamentals. The fundamentals were taught to me 22 years back and I have since read more books and watched more instructional videos and spent more money educating myself than I can count.

There is a link to the free fundamentals in the book “8 Ball Winning Strategies”. You will find several testimonials on that page from people happy with the Free Training. You must know the fundamentals to get the most out of this book.

With This Electronic book, You can learn to play 8 Ball Pool Online.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not about playing video pool. It’s a course about playing real pool on a pool table. It is in the form of an E Book. You read and study the book online.

This book is loaded with straight forward facts about winning when playing the great game of 8 Ball.

You will find text and diagrams on every subject regarding the game. There are links to videos which leave nothing to chance and eliminates the guess work for you.

Take advantage of my 30 plus years of playing pool and the no holes barred straight forward Information which will flat Elevate Your Eight Ball Game.

Watch in detail as I break several racks and explain my thought process and pre shot routine.

There is nothing left to chance as all of the content and diagrams in the book are backed with live video where I show you how to execute the shots in 8 Ball Winning Strategies.

I know you are probably wondering, What is the price of this book?

I have put much thought into this question.

Back in the mid 1990’s I bought some training videos that were $69.00 each. I have seen and purchased books and courses that were $100 and up to a couple hundred dollars.

I paid $800 plus all travel expenses for the 3 day class when I became certified. A 3 day class with any certified billiards instructor runs about that much.

Some of my friends have suggested $199 for “8 Ball Winning Strategies” I would be happy to get $69 for the book, but I know that in this economy that can be tough for many people.

I decided to let the book go for $47.00.

This is a pretty small investment in a game that can make you some nice spare change when you know what you are doing. My best night playing pool for the cash netted me $3,400.00 and I was spotting the guy a few balls playing 9 ball on the big table.

You know that $47 won’t even fill my vehicle with gas if its close to empty. So yes, I think $47 is a more than fair price versus the value you will get from the book.

Find an 8 Ball game where you can race someone to 7 games for $50 and you are in profit with one set. (I am not telling you to gamble. Just a possibility)

You could play in a small $5 or $10 tournament and get your investment back with profits. These small tournaments go on every week all over the country.

Well any way, after serious debate, I decided to let the book go for a Very Limited Time For $37.00

That’s right. For A limited time, the book, “8 Ball Winning Strategies” can be yours instantly for $37.00

Lets look again at what you get for your $37.00

First off it’s a huge discount off of the $199 which was the consensus of my friends.

Second, I am going to offer email support for any part of the game that you are having challenges with. (This one is Definitely for A Limited Time).

Third You get a full 60 day satisfaction Guarantee. If Your not Happy, I don’t want your money. Just shoot me an email and You will be refunded on the double.

I know, there are people out there who will read the book and study the info and then ask for a refund. (Some People Are like that.)

I also know that most people are cool and will see the time, effort and value in the book. Most people will want to study and take advantage of the email support.

Let’s Not Forget the Free Email Support!

This is a bonus that would be hard to even put a monetary value on. You get to have your questions answered free of charge by a certified instructor. This is a pretty cool bonus for a $37.00 purchase. Don’t you think?

I will also throw in a pdf document of the 7 Part Billiards Fundamental Training. There is a great deal of effort in that course as well. It consists of text, pictures and videos and it does explain the fundamentals of Pool.

You will also receive life time updates to the 7 part Fundamentals and the “8 Ball Winning Strategies Books”.

I just did a pretty major update to the Fundamentals course and the response from the people who have taken the course was Fantastic.

Read What Lawerence Had to Say

Ted.. I just went through your “course”, and for a low end player like me, I picked up a lot of good pointers. It goes without saying, but I sure need to improve my shot making and pattern play shooting….I know that goes with a lot of continued practice. I’m in my late 70’s and have only played for about 5 years, but I keep trying. The best part of your lesson for me was the breakout section, the comments on safeties, and to NEVER clear all one’s balls except for one or two….try a safety instead. Your course was well worth it, and I shall view it many times. Perhaps a minor point…..In Part 16, page 29, you left out the link…!!! I also got a lot out of your pointers after you had been with Ken Tewksbury….. Thanks for all of your efforts….they all are a great help… LAWRENCE SCHARBACH

The above statement is the personal opinion of the writer and not a claim that everyone will benefit the same. Billiards is a game of skill and 8 Ball Winning Strategies is simply a guide for focused practice.

The typical reader will get value based on ability to comprehend and execute ideas in “8 Ball Winning Strategies”.

(8 Ball Winning Strategies and the 7 Part Billiards Fundamentals are ebooks in pdf format. You will need Adobe reader on your computer to read them and access the web pages and videos which they links to. Most Computers have this software already. If you do not, there is a link on the download page where you can get it Free.)

“8 Ball Winning Strategies Comes with an Unconditional Money Back Guarantee.

“8 Ball Winning Strategies” Comes with Some Totally Cool Bonuses.

“8 Ball Winning Strategies Will Take Your 8 Ball Game To The Next Level.

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[cosmosogler]

hi guys. STILL DOING BAD!!!

today i woke up at 8:30. which is not as bad as 9, but not very good. that’s how most of my day went. could have been worse, but that doesn’t mean it was good.

i worked for 5 work sessions and finished one quantum assignment. that’s about 20% of the work i wanted (needed) to get done this weekend. i was working very, very slow even with the self-imposed work session alarms to let me know when to take breaks and stuff. usually i can focus for a few of those before i get tired... i was wiped after one.

i also had trouble getting moving in the morning so i didn’t even get to the department until 12-ish. i got working at 1:30 and then jennica and luis wanted some dinner at 4:30 so we got some chinese takeout. it was decent. 

i can’t handle the workload and the tests coming up and the new secret tax plan passing and we don’t know the implications AND net neutrality is being attacked YET AGAIN and whatever the hell else is going on that i forgot because i can’t think of more than three things at once.

my certified organic non gmo dumbass mom put off rescheduling my plane trip for so long that she didn’t get to reschedule it. so i am here doing absolutely nothing an extra day after finals. nice good great fantastic wonderful excellent. i’ll have to reschedule snoopy’s board and i will get to see eve and the other dogs and my grandparents and siblings for one day less while going crazy alone in my apartment for one day more.

also she took a thousand dollars out of my savings account two weeks ago and never put it back. feelin real good about that. that’s a huge chunk of my entire money collection.

i tried to talk to suzanne about how i was feeling, i scheduled a time and everything... then when it came time to talk she just sat in a room with a whole bunch of people. i asked if she was busy and she said she was going home real soon. so i didn’t really... bother. 

early in the afternoon she did say i should talk to someone and i let her know that i see five hundred thousand therapists every week. maybe she felt like i had it under control even though i specifically asked her if she had time well after that and she specifically said yes.

how can i possibly be assertive in that situation? “yeah, sorry, i’m gonna need you to put down your work which is due tomorrow, leave this room full of your friends, and pay attention to just me, who doesn’t even know what i want to talk about now that i’m on the spot. just because you said you would earlier.”

she didn’t even bring it up. did she forget...? i brought it up when i asked if she had time before i left that evening.

how am i supposed to open up to these people. they don’t want to hear the details of my life any more. i was talking to jennica and harrison a bit and i mentioned some high school trips around the world i went on and at the end i said “i am specifically leaving out all the details to make it sound like these were positive experiences” and they both said “yeah keep doing that.”

well that was an abridged version of the conversation. it was more like i was getting impatient with jennica interrupting me and harrison not sounding interested at all even though we were talking about travelling i guess and i basically said “i am doing what you wanted me to do” when i wasn’t getting enough of a response.

i feel like i’m going to explode. i thought it might be for the best, it might be healthier if i stopped venting at all times to every single person i interacted with. but now i just feel... hurt and isolated. and when i do what people want, which is either stay positive or ask for time to talk when they have the energy, i don’t get a response at all. or i get the beginning of a response but not a follow-through, which is somehow even more frustrating.

man, i don’t know what to do... i’m absolutely miserable. i can’t seem to pull myself out of this latest drop in mood no matter what i try. i wish i’d gotten to play and relax on friday. i feel like this wouldn’t have happened if that chance hadn’t been taken away from me at the very last second.

but who even knows.

while i was out shopping with mom last week i made the mistake of picking out a new brand of pasta salad since they didn’t have the kind i wanted at target. i made the incorrect assumption that the “pasta salad” section would have pasta salad that you store and eat over a few days and not “hot pasta that you serve immediately with no salad trappings that we are calling pasta salad. because we hate you.”

i’m gonna try cooling it and taking it to school with me tomorrow but i’m glad that i picked up a whole bunch of other lunch supplies this weekend on a hunch it might be a good idea.

trying to scrape up the will to continue but i can’t seem to find any. i know that the more i hesitate the less likely i am to succeed and that makes me feel like i’ve already failed, i don’t even need to take the test to know that. every day i lose to doing absolutely nothing and not moving at all is a day i could have spent catching up, but i am just getting further and further behind because i think i’ll have it sorted out and then some other bs will happen and throw me right back to the bottom of the pit.

it’s SO FRUSTRATING!! AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

AND I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO ABOUT IT! NOT EVEN A SINGLE ONE OF MY PEERS! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO HANDLE THIS IN A PHYSICS ENVIRONMENT AND COUNSELORS DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENT IS LIKE!

THEY SAY I CAN TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT AND THEN DON’T LET ME TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT.

my head hurts. my eyes hurt. my teeth hurt. my jaw hurts. my throat hurts. my shoulders and back hurt even more. i’m getting a cramp between my neck and shoulder again. i can’t get my feet to sit comfortably on the ground. i can’t talk coherently.

i’m so uncomfortable and restless and i have no energy. so it’s not even a useful kind of restless. if i stay up late between now and finals i am going to get sick and not get better before my tests start. i feel like a beetle pinned against the ground on its back under a sadistic middle schooler’s thumb.

that brought back a really unpleasant memory. i mostly associate that brand of sociopathy with christian private schools but it’s not a stretch to apply it to kids in general. 

i can’t think of anything positive to say today. i haven’t been able to for a while. i just feel Really Bad in a way that’s very hard to describe. sick but not with a cold. it can feel like a cold but it’s not that.

i want my friends to give me advice but i know that they won’t have much. the people i want to talk to do not have the context and life experience that would help them better understand how i feel and it’s so hard to describe. 

the best i can come up with is that you are writing a paper. every few sentences invisible hands will pound on the keyboard and even sometimes write “kill yourself.” but the hands are invisible. where is this coming from? did you write it? do you actually want to kill yourself? if you didn’t want it, why are you writing about it so much? sometimes the invisible hands grab your wrists and you can’t type at all. do you really want to write the paper so bad that you’ll fight these mysterious invisible hands that might just be your own indecision? will you do that every minute of every day? what happens when you sprain a finger? are you willing to fight the invisible nonsense hands to type with a finger that’s not working anyway?

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 80 - NSH - Didn’t Suck

John Vogl of the Athletic wrote an article last week called “How a Tuesday Night in December set a fateful tone for the rest of the Sabres’ Season”. It’s another excellent work by one of the better elder statesman of Buffalo Hockey media but more importantly it helps one in having an honest conversation about what this season is, was, and will be remembered as. One might look back on February 20th as some kind of turning point this season as well when Jason Botterill said he supported Coach Housley and a coaching change was not imminent. The post-vote of confidence part of the season, roughly Game 60 on (Buffalo has been 3-14-3 in that time), has been so bad it’s forced even optimists like me to swim in the deep ocean of miserable Sabres takes. I hate doing that if that hasn’t been clear and I was the kind of guy who didn’t think their playoff chances were really dead until that four-game losing streak earlier in February. I’m rehashing all these turning points for a couple reasons. For one, I’ve already spent one of these blogs covering an Amerks game and another entirely on coaching. I’m running out of shticks and there are still two games left. The other reason is that facing Nashville tonight got me thinking about turning points. The only other time the Sabres faced the Preds this season was an early December loss three games removed from the end of the winning streak. At that point we all knew nothing except for joy and happiness; I was strung like a loaded coil to go to the first Leafs game in Buffalo. I recall the other Nashville game clearly: it was a neutral zone battle that made me proud to be a Sabres fan, but it ended 2-1 in favor of Nashville. I was still so pompous at the time I was prepared to make a sign for the Leafs game to follow that referenced there almost being a team in Hamilton, Ontario! What a different time that was. This whole trip down memory lane I just took would’ve been a little monotonous and stupid, kind of like the Sabres season at this point, if I didn’t lead off with a bump for John Vogl. He is worth your time and money so go subscribe to the Athletic Buffalo. I guess I have to talk about the game we had tonight now… ugh, okay: The Sabres lost again. This time they didn’t seem completely lost.

The Nashville Predators have been the subject of some discussions of playoff readiness. The defensive juggernaut that isn’t too bad on offense either has been just ok lately. The 2017 Stanley Cup Finalists have been outmaneuvered or outright smashed in several games in March resulting in some upset fears going into spring. The Buffalo Sabres playing with Nashville as close as they did, particularly for the first two periods of this game, is in some degree attributable to this sagging Preds team. Nashville’s Craig Smith opened up the scoring in the first frame at a little under 9 minutes into the game. As the game continued the play of both teams opened up a bit; chances became more plentiful for both as each team kind of tripped over their own defensive schemes. It was the Preds defense struggling to get into to position that allowed for a tic tac toe pass play in the offensive zone for the Sabres. Kyle Okposo ended up getting the puck behind Pekka Rinne and tapped it in. It was 1-1 through the first intermission but that changed awfully quickly in the second period. P.K. Subban got out all alone against Carter Hutton and shot it past the former Predator in net. It was practically off the faceoff. It was 2-1 for a very brief time again before Conor Sheary thought he evened it up about three minutes into the middle period. The ref said it did not count. Before we go on it’s worth mentioning this was probably the best effort the Sabres have completed in several weeks. Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt, really all the guys, even the ones who aren’t big names did good tonight. The key follow-up there is they didn’t win. You guys got to figure out how to do that more consistently. Nonetheless, it felt nice to not watch another skating clinic.

Jeff Skinner evened up the game at 2 after gathering a nice rebound off the back boards with mere seconds left in the second period. I tuned into the third period full of hope Buffalo would make a real game out of it. They did but Ryan Johansen snuck a puck high on Hutton: it was one of those bounce in bounce out goals that gives Philadelphia Flyers flashbacks to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. I built that up like it was a momentous play, but it was just a goal and it put Nashville up 3-2 where the game would end. The boys in blue and gold put up a good late effort to tie it, but the third equalizer never came and this one will look like just another regulation loss in the history of this season. This game didn’t suck and that maybe the summation of the only things that make this game watchable. It was so refreshing to see Jeff Skinner scored again that I wear a smile thinking about this game; maybe that’s a sign of just how far we’ve fallen. The Skin Man Skinner is now being treated as a departing hero by some and free agency seems like an inevitability with him at this point but silly optimists like me will continue to concoct ways he stays. The rumor mill has been so silent on him lately it feels like no one will even tolerate us being hopeful about the situation. On the other hand, I heard a theory Skinner is waiting for Phil Housley to be fired to sign. That’s probably some smelly bullshit but if that were true how quickly would Jason Botterill drop Housley? Immediately? That leads me to the considerations of everyone’s favorite weekly hockey column: 31 Thoughts by Elliotte Friedman.

This time we look at Friedman’s writings with a little skepticism. He states in thought number 8 that Jason Botterill doesn’t want to do a coaching change because there have been five coaches of the Sabres since Lindy Ruff left back in 2013. That doesn’t meet the smell test by way of the simple fact Botterill has only been here for one coach. If he has been indoctrinated with the concerns of ownership that’s another story but I don’t see him worrying about past bench bosses. The other half of the thought is that if the Sabres can’t get one of the big names this offseason following firing Housley (cough Joel Quenneville cough) than it makes since given Jason Botterill’s history in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization that he’ll promote Chris Taylor. Firstly, I want to point out I called it and have now been vindicated by Elliotte Friedman and second, why not? There is a glut of good AHL coaches and NHL assistants soon to be finding new jobs. Imagine this: The Rochester Americans win the Calder Cup after a hard-fought season and as reward Chris Taylor is announced as the replacement for the vacancy in Buffalo (because we know they’re firing Housley, right?). This allows you to hire one of half a dozen great AHL coaches to fill that void instead of taking another risk with an unproven guy for the NHL job. I will continue building this case until it comes to fruition. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

You know what to do: like, comment and share this blog around with friends and family. There is a certain dark-side of Sabres fandom that has reared its head in recent days that I have relegated to the P.S. of today’s blog. Instead of talking about that stupidity with any degree of credence we’re going to have a little talk about women’s hockey. I am an asshole, or at least I feel like one. I have only really mentioned the Buffalo Beauts or women’s hockey in passing this season and that’s not great considering the real titan of a team we had in Harbor Center this year. Now with the sudden folding of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) the whole professional outfit of women’s hockey in North America has suddenly gone into crisis mode. NWHL looks to be expanding to Toronto and Montreal to help the cause but this is really an issue all hockey fans should be screaming from the rooftops about. I waited far too long to do so myself. So that’s all for tonight folks, we only got two more of these Sabres games left! Let’s Go Buffalo!

Thanks for reading.

P.S. He is everything and definitively not the problem. Stop. If you bring up the Eichel-hater discussion going on right now in the Sabres Noise-o-sphere I am going to block you immediately. Just an fyi.

[andrewdburton]

Six simple money habits that changed my life

Habits play such an important role in every aspect of your life. And those habits, good or bad, are reflected in your finances.

Some of our habits are small, almost insignificant. Over time, though, they have a large effect. There are little things that I've done over many years that have had outsized results. Individually, they don't move the needle. But they're like little course corrections on the cruise ship of life. A little change early on, repeated and compounded over many years, can have a significant impact.

When you add them together, they can help you achieve things you never thought possible.

Small Habits Lead to Big Results

A prime example for me was gaining strength. I made a decision to build muscle but I didn't want to be one of those guys who spent hours in the gym. I learned that there are workout regimens that don't require a ton of time, but which still improve strength with just 20-30 minutes a session. These routines target several muscle groups at once. (The deadlift is a good example.)

Because these sessions only took 20-30 minutes, it was easy to make time for them. As a result, I started going to the gym more regularly. And once I was there, something funny happened. On some days, I did the workout and left. On others, I felt like I could do more. So, I incorporated other exercises that targeted smaller muscle groups. The promise of a short session got me in the habit of going to the gym. That was the hard part. Once I was there, I often did more than I had planned.

At first, I saw my strength increase until I hit a plateau. I talked with some folks and realized I had two non-obvious weaknesses: insufficient protein intake and grip strength.

For the protein, I added a bit of unflavored protein into my coffee each morning.

For grip strength, I started doing more dumbbell exercises in lieu of barbell exercises. The simple act of carrying the heavy weights to a bench helped increase my grip strength.

Both were small changes that became daily habits, which eventually had a big impact on my exercise regimen. Neither was difficult, I just had to discover them. And today, I'm stronger than I've ever been thanks to these seemingly minor changes.

But you're not here for fitness tips from me. You're here for money tips, right? Here are some simple habits I've developed that might not seem like much at first, but which have had a huge impact on my finances. Maybe they'll help you too.

Keep a Budget

When I started working, I kept a budget. This was before the days of You Need a Budget or Personal Capital, so I used a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. It was cumbersome but it showed me where my money went. Every day after I got home, I'd enter in any spending during the day into my spreadsheet.

Budgeting is valuable because without it you don't know where your money is going. That's something you always need to have a good handle on because it's what you have the greatest control over. Most people can't turn a knob and earn more money. But you can put away the credit card and reduce your spending, which means you keep more of what you spend.

According to The Millionaire Next Door, most wealthy people keep budgets.

With tools like YNAB, Personal Capital, and Mint, you can do it pretty easily now (almost too easy!) and that visibility can teach you a lot. Eventually, as you understand your spending, you look at it less and less. But to get there, you need to start.

The point of budgeting isn't about restricting yourself and not having fun. It's about knowing where your money goes so you can spend responsibly and without guilt. If you know you've saved enough for retirement and for other savings goals, then you can buy whatever you want!

Simplify Your Finances

Whether you know it or not, you have a financial system.

You may not have mapped it out ahead of time (seriously, who does?) but you have something in place right now. And like the stuff on the shelves in your house, sometimes it's an accumulation of your life's experiences.

Before I simplified my finances, I had a dozen bank accounts. Some I opened to snatch up some free money from banks. Some I had just from where I lived, like an account at PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, a credit union account from my childhood in New York, and several others.

It was more like a junk drawer and less like a curated set of tchotchkes.

But it's hard to make decisions when there are a lot of things to remember. It's time-consuming to do your taxes if you have a stack of 1099-INTs from all these accounts.

So, I worked towards simplifying my financial network map. A financial network map is a drawing that shows you all of your accounts and their relationships. It's a simple visual representation of your bank accounts, credit cards, insurances, and more. I drew one so I could get the map out of my head and onto paper. Once you do that, you can move towards simplifying it.

A map of Jim's financial network (circa 2008)

Keeping things simple is not easy. You have to train yourself, so don't feel bad if you haven't yet worked this muscle.

Automate Everything

It's been said that the best performing investment portfolios are the ones that are forgotten. (This is supposedly based on an internal Fidelity report that was never published.)

They do well because people stop messing with them. And when they stop messing with it, they get out of their own way.

I take this principle to its logical conclusion and automate as much as possible. Everything from saving to spending to investing, it's automated because that allows me to get out of my own way. You can't forget something if a computer will remember it for you. I haven't manually paid a regularly scheduled bill in over a decade.

The best guide I know about automating your finances is by my friend Ramit Sethi at I Will Teach You To Be Rich. It will change the way you manage your money, in a good way.

Keep contributing to your investment accounts, then let the money grow.

Use Credit Cards — Wisely

If you use cash, you're paying for my credit card.

The credit card company charges the merchant a fee to process the transaction. As a user of cashback and rewards cards, I get some of that in points and rewards.

You could argue that merchants bake this fee into their prices, and you'd be right, but by using a credit card I am able to get some of it back. Cash users don't get anything back.

There are plenty of reasons why you might not want to use a credit card. I'm not here to tell you those reasons are dumb or bad or anything like that. If you have a good reason to avoid credit cards, I salute you. I have many friends who have gotten themselves out of credit card debt and their punitive interest rates and want nothing to do with credit cards ever again. I think that's smart.

If you have no reason to avoid credit cards, though, you should be using them. They have so many benefits and perks over cash. There's cash back, there are extended warranties and price protections, and many cards also offer types of travel insurance. If you don't have a strong reason to avoid them, you must have a credit card in your wallet.

If you're looking for a new card, check out the Get Rich Slowly travel card finder. It's a handy tool.

Track Your Net Worth

I've been tracking my net worth since 2003. It's been with me through the Great Recession and the more recent pullback in the fourth quarter of 2018.

During the Great Recession, I had several months where our net worth fell five figures. During the fourth quarter of 2018, there was a month where our net worth fell six figures.

Tracking my net worth helps me avoid panicking during periods of extreme market volatility. I can see these periodic pullbacks, as well as the periodic increases, but everything rights itself over time. It helps me maintain a long-term view.

When you're invested in the market, it's not always going to be going up every single month. It's volatile. It's lumpy. But over the long term, U.S. stock market returns have always been positive.

A history of our net worth just helps me avoid falling for the hype and the despair that is investing.

One of the best habits you can build is talking with your partner about money.

Check with Your Spouse

Periodically, my wife and I check in with one another. We have three kids, two busy professional lives, and it's very easy to fall into the natural cycles of everyday life.

In the past, our conversations were scheduled close to when I would update our net worth spreadsheet. When I updated the sheet, I'd want to talk to her about things shortly thereafter.

Nowadays, we check in more often but in less formal situations and without much of a set agenda. Much like budgeting, this check-in has evolved.

If it helps, think of it like a board meeting where you talk about how and why of what you're doing rather than the what and when. It's like a business talking mission, direction, and strategy and not necessarily logistics or marketing.

It's also nice to have these chats over a glass of wine. And without kids. :)

The post Six simple money habits that changed my life appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/simple-money-habits/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[torentialtribute]

How Sir Alex Ferguson inspired Man United’s Champions League win

Sitting on the balcony of his room at the Arts Hotel in Sitges, Alex Ferguson looked out over the Mediterranean and counted his biggest game career.

& # 39; All of my working life was a preparation for the challenge that awaited Manchester United a few miles away at the Nou Camp, & # 39; remembered on May 26, 1999. & # 39; But the European Cup had turned out to be so cruelly elusive that I had to steal myself against the possibility of another disappointment.

Elsewhere on United & # 39; s luxury hotel base that day, Captain Roy Keane – suspended for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich – walked to the bar and left his roommate Denis Irwin to get some rest.

<img id = "i-2d2458b50ee5e088" src = "https://dailym.ai/2VNLa0t. jpg "height =" 490 "width =" 634 "alt =" Alex Ferguson looks out from the cockpit of a Concorde aircraft, his team flies to Barcelona "class =" blkBorder img-share "from the cockpit of a Concorde aircraft , his team flies to Barcelona "

Alex Ferguson looks out from the cockpit of the Concorde aircraft, as his team flies to Barcelona

Jaap Stam was back to after lunch went to bed and snored so hard that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could not sleep I called his best friend, a nurse in Norway, to make sure he would watch the match on television.

& # 39; He said that he had to leave 15 minutes before the end because he was working nights, but I told someone to fill in, & # 39; said Solskjaer. & # 39; something big would happen to me. & # 39;

The United striker had felt quite ill in the short aboard Concorde flight BA9044 to Barcelona from Heathrow after United had completed the second part of Treble by. beat Newcastle in the FA Cup final at Wembley

United barely dropped a drop of alcohol afterwards, and celebrated in style at winning the Premier League title (Keane spent a night in jail after a barroom in Manchester weak)

& # 39; Put your medals away, there is more to do & # 39 ;, said Ferguson. On Sunday, I moved his players from the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London to Bisham Abbey in Buckinghamshire where they practiced punishments.

Everything went well until a grinning Dwight Yorke made Peter Schmeichel furious by defeating the great Dane with brutal panenka

Ferguson and the Manchester United bank are watching their way behind in Barcelona "

Ferguson and the bank of Manchester United are watching their side lag behind in Barcelona

& # 39; You can't do that Schmeichel, & # 39; says Ferguson & # 39; s No. 2 Steve McClaren. & # 39; Peter grabbed the ball from the net and tried to fire it at Yorke, but missed it.

United & # 39; s preparations stretch as team leader Jesper Jesperson and nutritionist Trevor Lea in Barcelona.

Physio Dave Fevre recalls that Ferguson gave a member of his team a & # 39; deadly look & # 39; if they came up with a wrong answer , while McClaren describes how & # 39; the gaffer threw a knife or fork & # 39 to Nicky Butt because he thought the midfielder was cheating on a question about art.

United trained on Tuesday evening at the hollow location where kitman Albert Morgan was horrified to discover that Schmeichel's gloves had been stolen.

& # 39; It was a nightmare for me & he said. & # 39; I had left his gloves and spare parts at the hotel and Big Pete would not wear any others. The man from Barcelona lent me a few and I begged Pete to put them on, but he told me to leave! "

While the competition day arrived, Morgan remembered that he was going to a nudist beach with some of the staff and with a little laugh and joke," the United tried to kill time.

Alex Ferguson instructs substitute Teddy Sheringham during the Champions League final

Alex Ferguson instructs substitute Teddy Sheringham during the Champions League final 19489011]

Typically, Bayern opted for a more conservative basis. "

Alex Ferguson instructs substitute Teddy Sheringham during the Champions League final

in Sants at Barcelona central station. The Treble chasing Germans had packed the Bundesliga title two weeks earlier and spent that time with the official match ball.

& # 39; I don't know how we managed to save it & # 39 ;, said coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. & # 39; I said it would be nice if we did and (general manager) Uli Hoeness solved it for us.

Hitzfeld dispels the notion that Bayern had reduced the width of the Nou Camp field to match their Olympia stadium and the threat of United from the wings.

& He said that if we deal with Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, we have won this game, & Kuffour recalls. Matthaus could not have been wrong anymore.

The final fell on what would have been Sir Matt Busby's 90th birthday. United fans flooded to Catalonia and Barcelona airport reported the busiest day ever.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, now manager of Manchester United, scored the winner in the 93rd minute "

<img id =" i-bfdf63d8c016d4aa "src =" https: // i .dailymail.co.uk / 1s / 2019/05/24/19 / 13924366-7068275-image-a-2_1558723432691.jpg "height =" 478 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-bfdf63d8c016d4aa "src =" https://dailym.ai/30F90zj "height =" 478 "width =" 634 "alt = "<img id =" i-bfdf63d8c016d4aa "src =" https://dailym.ai/30F90zj "height =" 478 "width =" 634 "alt =" Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, now Manchester United manager, The Manchester United manager scored the winner in the 93rd minute "

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, now Manchester manager United, scored the winner in the 93rd minute

It was the 63rd game in their team of a marathon time and avoided the defeat for 32 since December matches. Keane remembers that the usual joke on the way to the stadium was muffled and that Ferguson felt noticeably tense & # 39;

Morgan was on the floor early as usual to prepare the dressing room. & # 39; Then the boys were inside and within 30 seconds your artwork that you had created was like a boy's room & # 39 ;, he says. Ferguson seized his chance to inspire his players during his pre-match team talk.

& # 39; He said they can fly to the moon tonight & # 39 ;, McClaren recalls. & # 39; Were the players ready afterwards? Damn, they were done. The hairs on my neck also stood upright

Hitzfeld opted for a more simple message before his players had passed their normal routine of playing keepy-uppie with a ball in the showers.

After a few minutes, Johnsen Carsten brought Jancker to the edge of the box. Bayern had done a free kick exercise in which Markus Babbel shot off the wall to create an opening for Mario Basler to score and he treated.

<img id = "i-93eb4c78dfd4ebc7" src = "https://dailym.ai/2VTExtK -7068275-Bayern_Munich_s_Carsten_Jancker_is_consoled_by_non_playing_teamm-a-14_1558725223692.jpg "height =" 512 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-93eb4c78dfd4ebc7" src = "http://bit.ly/30B3oWy 2019/05/24/20 / 13924362-7068275-Bayern_Munich_s_Carsten_Jancker_is_consoled_by_non_playing_teamm-a-14_1558725223692.jpg "height =" 512 "width =" 634 "alt =" Carsten Jancker from Bayern Munich is comforted by non-playing team mate B10101010 Lizazazazu [10]

Cole, however, is a member of the Bixente Lizarazu team

was not impressed by Schmeichel & # 39; s failure to keep it out. & # 39; The accusing looks were on Big Pete who looked back and said, "I just couldn't see it," the former England striker says. & # 39; I think that is the case with many guys.

A crooked United – with David Beckham in the middle, Ryan Giggs on the right and Jesper Blomqvist on the left – followed halfway through when Ferguson gave

Ferguson's words initially had little effect as Bayern continued to dominate. Schmeichel saved from Stefan Effenberg before Mehmet Scholl and Jancker hit the woodwork.

Still, Bayern was convinced that they had it in the bag.

[WhenIsawit(thekickfromJancker)touchedthegesturesitwasrightthatIknewthatweweregoingtowinandmakeangryUnnitedmethunarroganceBaslerwasmostlybusymethunshowboating

Stam remembered: & # 39; I was furious. I wanted to run to the side of the field and hit him in the head. I told Ronny Johnsen: "I'm going to hit the arrogant when he goes on," as we prepared to defend a corner. & # 39; Red Devil's boss Ferguson celebrates after his party has won the Champions League in Barcelona

United still had a few aces in the cupboard . The first was Teddy Sheringham.

& # 39; We had to make sparks & # 39 ;, Gary Neville acknowledges. & # 39; He came when Teddy replaced Jesper so that Giggs could return to his best position on the left and Becks to the right.

& # 39; Yorkie fell into the hole and we started to flow as a team. We could never have started with that line-up. It would have been brave to commit suicide.

Equally important was the departure of 38-year-old Matthaus who died of a calf problem. & # 39; If I were Matthaus, I would have played that game until the last drop of my blood & # 39 ;, Kuffour said.

Yet United had hardly threatened. George Best gave up and left his seat in the stadium with 10 minutes to go, and Ferguson's doubts returned.

& # 39; I was just starting to adjust to lose the game & he said. & # 39; I had reminded myself to preserve my dignity and accepted that this would not be our year. & # 39;

Referee Pierluigi Collina added three minutes of injury time, a decision made by Marcel Reif, commentator for German channel RTL

& # 39; Italian referees seem to be adding more time when it is a good game & # 39 ;, Reif said at the time. & # 39; Only Collina knows where the extra time came from. & # 39;

The Italian referee is now startled by the suggestion. & # 39; Do you think even a joke can complain about three minutes of added time? & # 39; Collina said, pointing out that I would have added more under today's rules.

<img id = "i-ff9a61b55cade600" src = "https://dailym.ai/2VNkyg7 image-a-1_1558723424056.jpg "height =" 461 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-ff9a61b55cade600" src = "https://dailym.ai/2J2OwKp /24/19/13924358-7068275-image-a-1_1558723424056.jpg "height =" 461 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-ff9a61b55cade600" src = "https: //i.dailymail. co.uk/1s/2019/05/24/19/13924358-7068275-image-a-1_1558723424056.jpg "height =" 461 "width =" 634 "alt =" United players celebrate the completion of the treble in 1999 after beating Bayern Munich "beating Bayern Munich"

Schmeichel, captain for the night

I was a little disappointed about [. ..] I was a little disappointed with Ferguson because he always gave me the impression that I would consider it a lack of instinct if I didn't go up at the end of a game that slips away from us , & # 39; Schmeichel remembered.

In the confusion, Matthaus & substitute Thorsten Fink slapped Rance to Giggs and his wayward shot was surrendered by Sheringham.

& # 39; I swear I wanted to have & # 39 ;, Beckham said. I was broken. I turned around and saw Gary (Neville) celebrating alone.

Clive Tyldesley had called in his first season with ITV commentator Ferguson at the team hotel for lunch to get the team news. He could feel what would come next.

& # 39; You won't find "name on the trophy" or "reaching the promised land" on my notes, but it was all a bit biblical, Game of Thrones almost, Tyldesley said. & # 39; An unstoppable act of nature had picked up the football game. & # 39;

<img id = "i-8360166eda88407a" src = "https://dailym.ai/30GEqFl -9_1558723904298.jpg "height =" 450 "width =" 634 "alt =" Ferguson and goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel raise the Champions League trophy "class =" blkBorder img-share "

Ferguson and goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel raise the Champions League trophy aloft competition trophy

Ferguson had sent Solskjaer as a replacement for Cole and his pre-match feeling was on it point come true.

Another Beckham corner, Sheringham & # 39; s flick-on and Solskjaer stuck out of a boat to score one of the most famous goals of all time. Bayern players dropped to the floor. One of the most moving moments of the night was Collina who tried to physically pull them up.

& # 39; It was definitely a human response & # 39 ;, said the referee. & # 39; I didn't know I did that.

UEFA President Lennart Johansson had left the VIP box and took a ride to the field to present Bayern with the cup, missing the 101 seconds that United needed to change the color of the change ribbons on the trophy.

& # 39; Johansson came to our bank to offer his congratulations before we realized that we were losing & # 39 ;, Bayern deputy Thomas Helmer.

At the end, the whistle, the enduring image of a distraught Kuffour who beats the turf in frustration. He is a preacher in Ghana and has always said that he would never see the end again and that he was good at his word.

Thomas Helmer (top) describes a creepy silent dressing room for half an hour after the match "

top] describes a creepy silent dressing room for half an hour after the match"

Thomas Helmer (top) describes a creepy silent dressing room for half an hour after the game

& # 39; Even now I get angry when I see the photos of that game see & # 39 ;, admits his teammate Babbel. Matthaus calls it his worst feeling in football. For Effenberg, the defeat & # 39; stripped of our dignity & # 39 ;.

Helmer describes a creepy silent dressing room for half an hour after the game.

Bayern still struggled to hold an official banquet before they could drown their sorrows in a private position in the team hotel where celebrity chef Alfons Schuhbeck set up weisswurst and beer.

Meanwhile, United & # 39; s party was in full swing.

Ferguson thanked the players for the best night of his life while drinking champagne in the dressing room.

Indeed, it was the early morning before they reached an aftermatch function, where President Martin Edwards had celebrated it by dancing on a table with a Cuban cigar in his mouth. Giggs suffered a broken nose in a hard-mouthed punter that the Mancunian drag queen Frank & # 39; Foo Foo & # 39; Lammar had it, it turned out that Edwards & James is James.

While Neville chose to spend the night on the streets of Barcelona, ​​desperate not to end the day, Yorke drew on the local knowledge of Jordi Cruijff and ended up in a strip club.

The last word is from Ferguson. & # 39; As we prepared for the Champions League final nine years later in 2008, I played the DVD of the last three minutes of the 1999 game to emphasize to players that it is important never to surrender & # 39; , he wrote later. & # 39; For me, the only time to give up is when you're dead. & # 39;

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[dnowit41]

Letting Go of Dirk Nowitzki and Remembering Greatness

By Andy Tobo

The most important shot of Dirk Nowitzki’s life before 2011 was, of all things, a driving, baseline layup, Manu Ginobili’s hand on his wrist like someone trying to hold back history.

At the time it meant everything, and it should have meant more. It didn’t because of what happened in the Finals, and history swung away. After 2011, though, there were so many shots, and I almost feel like I remember them all. That game against OKC where a visibly frustrated Scott Brooks spread out a cornucopia of bigs for Dirk to roast, on his way to 48 points on only fifteen attempts. That three-pointer that arced so high it talked to god before coming down to barely bother the net on its way through. In the Finals, it happened almost every game. When it was all over, when the dust had settled, Dirk had secured his place in the basketball cosmos at the tender age of 32.

It should have happened earlier, a statement that has nothing whatsoever to do with Bennett Salvatore and whether Dwyane Wade deserved what he got. Had the rest of the NBA simply been watching Dirk between 2006 and 2011, which they would have had things gone better, they would have seen him average roughly 25 points a game while shooting .489/.391/.897, despite being so much the focus of other team’s defensive schemes, I’d be surprised if their coaches spent five minutes on anyone else.

And he did it with less: himself. A modern marvel of German engineering, Dirk is now sixth all-time in scoring despite shooting, on average, less than sixteen times a game (15.9). Jordan shot 22.9, LeBron is at 19.6, Kobe was at 19.5, and even Kareem, who also played forever, is at 18. He is one of the three or four deadliest offensive weapons in the game’s history, while taking about as many shots per season as Khris Middleton had last year.

He did so much with less, but the less counted against him, for so long, because he didn’t have the ring. He didn’t have a Kobe for his Shaq or vice versa, he didn’t have a David Robinson, or a Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. If the guys he did have look comparable, today, for most of that time, it is almost exclusively because they were on his team, which gave them shots they hadn’t had since high school. You can’t find a guy who was important on the Mavs of the 2000s who is known for what he did after Dallas, and there’s a reason for that. Only nobody believed us.

The reality of Dirk

There’s nothing I believe in more than the fact that some day, some one will develop a stat that shows the reality of Dirk, how much more he did than the eye could see. It will explain how one great player took a team that, for example, started the first game of the 2006 Finals alongside Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Adrian Griffin, and DeSagana Diop to 145 playoff games and eleven straight seasons with 50+ wins.

I sometimes think he’d have been appreciated more if his teams were worse, like Kevin Garnett’s were, and like KG was. As if by making his teams better than Garnett’s wolf pups, he made it look too much like it couldn’t be mostly him. As if it’s somehow inexplicable how a titanic offensive force like Dirk would seem to be playing with better offensive players than a merely (sorry) really good offensive player like Garnett, by virtue of the shots that came their way. But then, in 2011, for no reason other than that his luck finally shifted, all that changed, and it has stayed changed. Nobody in the NBA is more universally beloved and appreciated than Dirk Nowitzki, now that his career is almost done. But 32 is too old for a basketball player to become famous and – unlike the rest of us, of course – he has since become older still.

Still, it might not have happened at all. It certainly didn’t look like it could when the series started – this was Mavs-Heat II, of course, but this was the mutant, Monstars version of what they had once been. It certainly didn’t look like it as the waning minutes of Game 2 ticked down, under the tense gaze of a scoreboard that showed a 15-point deficit, with a Game 1 loss already in the books. It certainly hadn’t looked possible before Game 2, when the Mavericks announced that, in addition to the loss of the game, Dirk would thereafter be suffering through a torn ligament in his left hand and a hundred degree fever. But it happened, starting with Game 2. The lead vanished. And with four seconds left, Dirk bounced right, rolled left, ducked between Chris Bosh and LeBron James, and hit a layup over Udonis Haslem with his broken left hand.

That night I said to myself the first time something I’ve told myself a hundred times since: sometimes, you have to hope even though there’s no reason to hope. And even when it isn’t safe to hope. And even though it hurts to hope. For the last three years I was caught in the waves of a brutal job market, never knowing where shore was. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of giving up many times during that period, or that I think it ultimately worked out simply because I didn’t. But I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the worst times if I hadn’t been able to say to myself sometimes you have to be able to hope even when there is no reason to hope.

Reflecting on twenty plus years

I wanted to say something about a career that’s almost over. I don’t really know how. I want to say that if you just tuned in, in 2011, you were already too late. It’s not that Dirk in his early thirties wasn’t in some ways the best version of himself. The absolute best offensive players – and in my memory, only Dirk and LeBron have really gotten here – don’t beat you just by hitting impossible shots, they beat you with their complete mastery of the game. It’s a very hard thing to do, putting an entire team’s defense just where you want it, but that’s what they do, and did – they are planetary masses, shaping the gravity of the court, a higher basketball power. Nothing they do looks hard because they are where they want to be and you are where they want you to be.

That was certainly the Dirk who won the championship. Other than three-point percentage, nothing stands out about his 2011 numbers. Over his 145 playoff games, he averaged 25.3 and 10 while shooting .479/.892/.365, and in 2011 for the season it was 27.7 and 8.1 while shooting .488/.941/.460. But 32-year-old Dirk put the game in a cauldron and boiled all the fat off of it. Before you knew it, he’d have his back on you. If you jumped when he turned, he’d brush past you for a layup, and if you didn’t — and even most of the time when he did — he’d hit a jumpshot over you. And if you fouled him, he’d still make it, and hit the free throw. Simple as that.

But you can’t even imagine what Dirk used to be able to do. Even people who followed his entire career, as I did, can’t, anymore. I have this theory that we literally can’t help understanding a player’s entire career in terms of their current level of play. Kobe, who was at his worst an inefficient chucker hid how unbelievably deadly he had been by becoming more so over time — but resembling himself so much in the process that it was too hard to tell the difference. Dirk, too, is hiding behind himself. For one thing, people remember him, as they do all European players, as an outside shooting, light rebounding kind of big, but it’s just not true.

From 2003 until 2013, he took fewer than 23 percent of his shots from three every single year and all but three of those years, under 20 percent. He never averaged double-digit rebounds, but he grabbed 9.9 two years in a row, and believe me when I say that when it mattered, he was getting that board. In his one and only playoff matchup with Kevin Garnett, in 2002, he averaged over fifteen boards a game. When the Mavs beat Sacramento to make their first Western Conference Finals the next year, he grabbed 11, 12, 20, 11, 15, 12, and 19, then 15 in the first game against the Spurs — to go with 38 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Over his career, in playoff elimination games, he averaged 27.6 and 10.9.

Go watch a YouTube video some time — even those of us who remember, forget.

But I also want to say — as strongly as I can — that it doesn’t really matter. One half of a player’s career faces outwards, to the world. Do what you want with that part, I can’t stop you. But the other half faces in, towards those of us who were part of it. When a player matters to you, you own a little part of their career, and it becomes a part of your own story. For Dirk and Dallas, for those of us of a certain age, that’s more true than it’s been for almost anybody in the history of sports.

Every other character in the Dallas sports scene over the last 20 years has a bit part, compared to Dirk, and certainly nobody has 20 years. Tony Romo was the main QB of the Cowboys for about eight seasons, which is how long Adrian Beltre has manned third base for the Rangers. And it’s how long the JET was our shooting guard, before moving on. Twenty years. I was 13 when he showed up, all legs and elbows, and I am 33 now. Forgetting Dirk Nowitzki, after this season, after ten more seasons, after as many as I breathe air on this earth, would be like forgetting my own life. Do what you want, with the part you have. For me, I can see it all at once, like that long, dim corridor the players come out of, stretching backwards into shadows we cannot see. I see him coming out of that tunnel, at 20, 25, 30, 35, with different haircuts, a slowly dissolving gait. Maybe he will come out of it 80 more times.

Knowing how to live

It’s not enough, and it is. What I want you to know is that there will come a time, believe me, when you will wish everything had lasted longer. There will even come a time, not long now, when you begin to feel it while it’s happening. You will lose your youth, and some of those you love, and many more of those you love will be very far away. You will never have enough conversations with your parents, or your spouse, or your siblings. Some days, every minute I spend with my wife I think that I could never get enough of this, but time won’t stop passing. My heart could burst with it. It won’t stop being true. If “growing up” means anything at all it means finding the courage to go on, knowing how much will end, how soon. It’s a skill no one gains gladly.

But when that time comes you will know how to live, most days, with what has happened, as if it were enough. I could wish that I were in the middle of Dirk’s career, with ten productive years to go, and I also can’t live with the thought that they’d go any other way. I wish he had more rings, which easily could have happened, and he could easily have gone without having any at all.

I wish more people knew him, faster, but they know him now. He meant things to me no other player ever will — if I am less involved in basketball than I was seven years ago, and I am, it is at least 90 percent because I know that no sporting event could ever again make me as happy as Dirk Nowitzki getting the ring he deserved, in the most improbable fashion, against the most improbable team.

All I can wish, then, is that you will have, from sports, at least the bright days I have already had. Life is cruel, some stories will not end well, or will be too short — perhaps even yours, and certainly many around you. Some people are born at the end of an age, expecting the stability their parents enjoyed. I have already lost many friends, and relatives, and loved ones. I will lose many more. And all of us, if we live, outlive our strength. But maybe you don’t need a second chance when the first one was so beautiful.

This is the long goodbye. So is every day of your entire life, and this matters a lot less. But it mattered to me, and it’s a part of me, and that’s enough. I am lucky I grew up with Dirk Nowitzki, and it won’t ever have been any other way. It never won’t feel cruel, in some ways at least, to wake up where you are, and not where you were, whole landscapes of time suddenly stretching out beyond you. Because we want to hold on to some things forever. Because what we lose in time is truly lost, but we always feel like we just had it in our hands. Because we always think it will stay where we put it, that we will find it again if we just look where we remember it was.

In the end, the two things we can’t change are the past and what the past has done to us. What we have, we have paid for, one way or another. In this case, for Dirk, it was the hours and days in the gyms, for me the days and decades of hoping against hope and mostly losing. We are all sadder than we used to be, but maybe tougher, too. We are hopefully wiser, and everything leaves its marks on our skin. We are heavy with time, or we are growing heavier, and there is no other way it could be. What we own that no one can see — that’s what no one can take.

I am ready to watch Dirk play what is likely the last season of his career, as I never thought I would be. He is safe, his story already has a happy ending, and that part of my life, therefore, does too. We have held on to each other as long as we can, and it has been enough. Other things, I will never let go, until time pries the fingers from my hand. Some things you should never lose gracefully. And sometimes you have to hope, when there is no reason to hope. Either way, there is nothing we can do but keep jogging out of the tunnel until our time is up. We can live with that, and I can live with this. Ready or not, here it comes.

[stephmolliex]

August 6, 1997 -- The day Apple and Microsoft made peace

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs came together 21 years ago, when Microsoft agreed to invest $150 million in Apple stock. The deal shocked Apple purists, but it helped put Apple on a firm footing for a few reasons -- and made its historic run possible in the second Steve Jobs era. In August of 1997, Steve Jobs had just become Apple's de facto interim CEO, following the ouster of previous CEO Gil Amelio. Jobs acted quickly with a series of moves, including cancelling the Newton, Cyberdog, and other product lines developed during his exile from the company. But Jobs' next move was even more bold and shocking. In an effort to bring the company into financial solvency, Jobs did the unthinkable: He made a deal with Bill Gates and Microsoft. The history of Apple vs. Microsoft Apple and Microsoft are both pioneering technology companies, founded around the same time. And, both were long associated with charismatic co-founders -- Steve Jobs and Bill Gates -- who redefined what it meant to serve as the face of a technology company. In their early years, Apple and Microsoft's missions were somewhat different, with Apple making computers and Microsoft more focused on software. But there was enough overlap between them that it set off something of a culture war in computer culture that lasted for most of the 1980s and 1990s. There were, as there continue to be today, "Mac people" and "PC people," who had diametrically opposed notions of what computing and user experiences were supposed to be. They fought with advertising, and they fought in court. Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation was a copyright infringement suit, first filed by Apple in 1988. Apple argued that Microsoft had used elements of the Mac GUI in its Windows operating system, beyond the parts licensed by Microsoft from Apple at the time of Windows 1.0 in 1985. Both a district court and appeals court decided in Microsoft's favor, although the case remained alive on appeal until 1998. How the deal happened In 1997, Steve Jobs was back on top at Apple, but the company was in major financial trouble. It was a moment that required a bold move. The talks between the companies for Microsoft to invest in Apple had actually begun before Gil Amelio's ouster, as Gates and Jobs discussed in their famous D5 conference interview in May of 2007. Jobs called Gates following Amelio's departure and told him "don't worry about that negotiation with Gil Amelio. You can just talk to me now." "Well, a lot of people's heads were in that place at Apple and even in the customer base because, you know, Apple had invented a lot of this stuff and Microsoft was being successful and Apple wasn't and there was jealousy and this and that," Jobs said in the D5 interview. "There was just a lot of reasons for it that don't matter but the net result of it was, was there were too many people at Apple and in the Apple ecosystem playing the game of, for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose. And it was clear that you didn't have to play that game because Apple wasn't going to beat Microsoft. Apple didn't have to beat Microsoft. Apple had to remember who Apple was because they'd forgotten who Apple was." So the deal was struck. Microsoft agreed to invest $150 million in Apple stock. The companies agreed to settle all outstanding litigation and cross-license patents, while making Microsoft Office available for the Macintosh, and making the Internet Explorer the default browser -- but not the only one -- on the Mac. As Time magazine famously put on its cover, Jobs said to Gates, "thank you, Bill. The world is a better place." 20 years ago this week, Steve Jobs was on the cover of @TIME, thanking @BillGates for "saving Apple." pic.twitter.com/AhUnLnOZ8t-- Codecademy (@Codecademy) August 24, 2017 Macworld 1997 The deal was announced at Macworld 1997, which marked Jobs' first major event as interim CEO, where he would lay out his plan to rescue the company from the brink of bankruptcy. "Apple lives in an ecosystem and it needs help from other partners, it needs to help other partners," said Jobs on stage. "And, relationships that are destructive don't help anybody, in this industry as it is today. "In the last several weeks we've been looking at some of the relationships, and one has stood out as a relationship that hasn't been going so well, but has the potential, I think, to be great for both companies," Jobs added. "And I'd like to announce one of our first partnerships today, a very meaningful one, and that is one with Microsoft." The immediate response was mixed, as you might expect. Minutes later, an auditorium full of Apple partisans were shocked to see a message via satellite from none other than Bill Gates. And on this, the crowd reaction wasn't so mixed: "Some of the most exciting work that I've done in my career is work I've done with Steve on the Macintosh," said Gates. "Whether it's the first introduction or doing products like Mac Excel, these have been major milestones, and it's very exciting to renew our commitment to the Macintosh." The media reaction was significant. There was that famous Time cover, of course. Meanwhile, the New York Times editorial page weighed in as well. "Some Apple zealots in the audience hooted. Others sighed in relief," the unsigned editorial said regarding the Macworld announcement. "Virtually all were surprised and confused. Even in cyberspace it is odd for one company to bail out its only rival in a key area of business. Between them, Microsoft and Apple sell the operating systems, which dictate how computers analyze and display information, that run virtually every personal computer. Odd or not, the bailout is good for both." After the deal The agreement with Microsoft may have come at a time of great desperation for Apple, but it worked out quite well for the company. The investment was a stock purchase, and didn't directly put money into the hands of Apple. But, it did act to stablilize Apple's stock. The company's stock was trading at 85 cents a share before the deal was announced. While it took until the following June for the stock to again reach over $1, but it truly took off in 1999, once it became clear that Apple was truly back. More importantly, perhaps, was Gates' promise to continue delivering Microsoft Office products for the Mac going forward. Along with the stock, Apple's financial position soon stabilized, with the original iMac arriving the following year as Apple's most successful new product in years. And, any betrayal that Apple partisans felt about the embrace of Bill Gates failed to have any lingering effects. And then came the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, and Apple's emergence as the most valuable brand in the world. As for Microsoft, it helped their standing as it assisted a competitor, at a time when the company was being sued by the government for its supposedly monopolistic practices. Sure, Apple and Microsoft maintained separate cultures that often opposed each other, and the two companies continued to do battle over the airwaves, most notably with Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign that ran from 2006 to 2009. As for that $150 million investment, Microsoft had sold that stock back to Apple by 2003. As of May 2014, according to Engadget, Microsoft's Apple stake would have been valued at $21.86 billion, had they held it. Apple's stock underwent a 7-for-1 split the following year, and since skyrocketed to $207.99 a share as of closing on August 3. That means Microsoft's $150 million Apple investment, had they kept it, would now be worth about $52.6 billion. Jobs and Gates When the two men sat for that D5 conference interview in 2007, the first question from interviewer Kara Swisher was to ask each of them to say what the other had contributed to the computer industry. "Bill built the first software company in the industry and I think he built the first software company before anybody really in our industry knew what a software company was, except for these guys," Jobs said. "And that was huge. That was really huge. And the business model that they ended up pursuing turned out to be the one that worked really well, you know, for the industry." "What Steve's done is quite phenomenal, and if you look back to 1977, that Apple II computer, the idea that it would be a mass-market machine, you know, the bet that was made there by Apple uniquely," Gates said. "There were other people with products, but the idea that this could be an incredible empowering phenomenon, Apple pursued that dream." In the years following the deal, the relationship between Jobs and Gates took on the air of former rivals who would occasionally appear together to talk about the good old days, the way Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain might have about basketball. Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000. In 2006 he began stepping away from the company in order to devote more of his energies to his philanthropic efforts. Jobs, of course, remained CEO of Apple until he resigned for health reasons in August of 2011. He passed away two months later. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2012, Gates talked about his relationship with Jobs, revealing that he had paid a lengthy visit to Jobs not long before his death. "We spent literally hours reminiscing and talking about the future," Gates said. He later wrote Jobs a letter, in which "I told Steve about how he should feel great about what he had done and the company he had built. I wrote about his kids, whom I had got to know. "There was no peace to make," added Gates. "We were not at war. We made great products, and competition was always a positive thing. There was no [cause for] forgiveness." Legacy of the deal In the 21 years since that August day, Apple has skyrocketed, in terms of shareholder value, cultural cachet, technological importance, and brand equity. The reasons for that are complex and due to a wide variety of factors. But had that deal with Microsoft not been struck in 2007 and Apple had gone bankrupt, there's a good chance none of that may have come to pass. https://goo.gl/fEkCpw

[yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog]

Mark Rypien's Super Bowl legacy goes from triumph, to tragedy, to triumph again

MINNEAPOLIS – Mark Rypien was a special quarterback for one season, and only one season.

The only other time the Super Bowl was played in Minnesota, Rypien finished a season that is unlike any other in NFL history. In 1992, Rypien’s Washington Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills, 37-24. Rypien was the MVP of Super Bowl XXVI.

It’s not exactly fair to call Rypien a one-year wonder. He made a Pro Bowl in 1989, as an injury replacement when Joe Montana and Don Majkowski were hurt. He had a solid run of success from 1988-90. But nothing else in his career approached what he did that 1991 season.

Other players have had exactly one great season in the NFL. Washington had one later on named Robert Griffin III, for example. We’ve seen Super Bowl heroes come and go quickly. Timmy Smith, anyone? But nobody through the history of Super Bowl MVPs has put together a full, great season like Rypien had, and never again reached that level of success before or after. Rypien was one of the best players in football in 1991, and won a title. By 1994 he wasn’t even a starter in the league anymore.

Mark Rypien won Super Bowl XXVI MVP after Washington beat the Buffalo Bills. (AP)

That Super Bowl changed his life in ways we all could guess.

“You can’t write your name, sign an autograph, without writing ‘Super Bowl XXVI MVP,’” Rypien said.

It also changed his life in ways he never could have predicted. He is now consumed with the Rypien Foundation, which helps children with cancer and their families. He’s the group’s chairman, and has helped it grow to fantastic success. It had a net revenue of more than $921,000 in 2015, according to tax returns. It became his life’s mission after losing his 3-year-old son Andrew to cancer in 1998.

Rypien understands that the one great day he had at the Metrodome so many years ago isn’t simply one reason his foundation has been able to help thousands of kids battling cancer.

“It’s the only reason,” Rypien said.

*****

Rypien’s 1991 season didn’t come out of nowhere, but close. His first three seasons as a starter, he had 37 interceptions in 33 games. He was considered too mistake-prone for the Redskins to win big. Late in training camp in 1991 there was still a lingering question about whether Rypien would hold off Stan Humphries for the starting job.

“We thought he was good,” said NFL Network analyst Charley Casserly, who was in Washington’s front office from 1977-99 and was general manager of the 1991 team. “Did we think he was elite? In all honestly, he hadn’t done it enough to think that.”

The 1991 season was a perfect convergence, for Rypien and the team. The Redskins had great players �� Jim Lachey, Charles Mann, Art Monk, Darrell Green. Gary Clark, Mark Schlereth and Joe Jacoby among them – but it was a team defined by depth. There were no real weaknesses.

“I think Joe Gibbs said it’s the easiest season he had,” Casserly said. “The players were prepared to work every day.”

Washington started the season beating Detroit 45-0, which was the largest win in team history. The Redskins began the regular season 11-0, and finished 14-2. Their two losses were by five combined points. The Redskins won their playoff games by 17, 31 and 13 points. They had 12 wins by double digits and nine wins by at least 20 points. You don’t often see that level of domination in the NFL.

Football Outsiders’ advanced stats rank the 1991 Redskins as the greatest team of the past 30 years by a landslide. In 2016 USA Today ranked the 1991 Redskins as the greatest Super Bowl champion.

“The science and the numbers and the stats say we were the best team and it wasn’t close,” Rypien said. “So we have that to hang our hats on.”

Rypien threw for 3,564 yards and 28 touchdowns, both of which led the NFC. Rypien’s strength was throwing the deep ball, and he did so with amazing accuracy that season. His 8.19 net yards per attempt is seventh-best in a single season all time, and the top six spots are occupied by some of the most iconic quarterback seasons in NFL history. Rypien got eight MVP votes. He finished fourth behind Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly and Barry Sanders, three cinch Pro Football Hall of Famers.

“He couldn’t do anything wrong,” Casserly said.

A dream season culminated in Minneapolis. The Redskins crushed a Bills team that was great in its own right. Washington was just better. Rypien had 292 yards and two touchdowns. His deep passes were deadly, as usual. Rypien was named Super Bowl MVP, and it was well deserved. When the game was over he was picked for a then-famous commercial and yelled into the camera, “We’re going to Disneyland!” It was a most fitting end to his fairy-tale season.

Perhaps Rypien was in the right place at the right time. He had a world-class offensive line that allowed nine sacks in 19 games, a great running game, three fine receivers in Monk, Clark and Ricky Sanders, and a Hall-of-Fame coach in Gibbs. But don’t call his 1991 season a fluke. Rypien had a great season, from the blowout of Detroit in the opener through the Super Bowl.

“We all played the best when it mattered most,” Rypien said. “I do also say, I played at a high level when it mattered most. That’s when I get some self-satisfaction.”

And then, perhaps just as improbably as he emerged as a star, Rypien’s reign as a top quarterback vanished almost overnight.

After nearly winning MVP in 1991, Mark Rypien threw 17 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in his final two Redskins seasons. (AP)

*****

Rypien was just 29 years old when he reached the top of the NFL world. And after that season, he never came close to that level again. Rypien had a 97.9 rating in 1991, and a 67.7 rating after. He spent just two more poor seasons as a starter before settling in as a backup with four different teams. It’s a unique football tale.

In 1992 Rypien got a then-team record three-year, $9 million deal after holding out, but his season itself was frustrating with 13 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a 9-7 record. Then Gibbs retired. In 1993 the Redskins went to the West Coast offense, a scheme that accentuated short passes. That was all the rage in the NFL, but it did not fit Rypien’s strengths.

The Redskins dominated the eventual Super Bowl champion Cowboys to start the 1993 season, but Rypien tore his meniscus in his knee the following week. He was supposed to be out 8-10 weeks. But with his team 1-3, Rypien came back after missing just two games. When he’s asked if he looks back on his career with any regret, that’s what he mentions.

“I felt for my guys. I wanted to come back so I came back early,” Rypien said. “I wasn’t 100 percent. I saw my guys struggling and there was a loyalty to them.”

On one good leg, Rypien was awful after he returned. He threw one touchdown to 10 interceptions in his final 10 games before hurting his knee again. Washington went 4-12. Less than two full years after leading an incredible team to a dominant Super Bowl win, Rypien was done as the Redskins’ starter – the team cut Rypien after he refused a pay cut and drafted Heath Shuler third overall a few months later – and he would never be a regular starter in the NFL again. He was just 31 years old, and labeled as a backup.

“It could have been the holdout, it could have been the injuries, and our team was not as good,” Casserly said in explaining Rypien’s fade. “Maybe defenses caught up to what he did with the deep balls. It was probably a combination of everything.”

Mostly, Rypien focuses on the positives. He had one unbelievable season. Most players don’t get that.

“I don’t know he has any regrets, because he’s humble enough to say, ‘I had an opportunity and I won a Super Bowl MVP,’” said Steve Rector, his childhood friend and the president of the Rypien Foundation. “Certainly he’s not disappointed about anything. He knows he had a unique opportunity and he took full advantage of it.”

Perhaps the way Rypien’s football career went after 1991 doesn’t bother him because he dealt with something far more devastating off the field.

*****

Rypien’s career log has a strange gap. He settled in as a backup with the Browns, Rams, Eagles and then back to the Rams from 1994-97. Then he was out of football for three years before a final hurrah as Peyton Manning’s backup with the Colts in 2001.

That gap is because he left the game in 1998. His 3-year-old son Andrew died after a battle with brain cancer that August.

“After that, I didn’t know exactly the fog I was in, and not having a compass in life and not giving a [expletive] about life,” Rypien said. “I didn’t know if I cared about life at all anymore.”

It wasn’t until he was brought the idea of starting a foundation to help children with cancer and their families that he found a way to refocus.

After a while talking about 1991 and the Redskins, he’s asked about his foundation. His voice finds a new energy. He excitedly explains how it got started in 2004, all the help from various businesses and leaders in the Spokane, Washington, community and the foundation’s various program. He goes on for 10 or 15 minutes without pausing for another question. He mentions that the foundation is the best way he can honor his son.

In 2006 the NFL honored former Super Bowl MVPs, going clockwise starting from left: Mark Rypien, Desmond Howard, John Elway, Ray Lewis, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Terrell Davis, Larry Brown and Emmitt Smith. (AP)

The Rypien Foundation Children’s Emergency Center at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital is at the core of it all. The foundation wants to provide care, sometimes with forgotten things like dental care. It wants to help families however it can during a hard time. There’s a focus on kids being kids even when they’re sick, which is why there’s a movie theater and an outdoor terrace with games for them. The most recent addition is a hospital-based school with two full-time teachers. Kids who battle cancer often fall behind in their education, and the school helps them keep up. The school is named after Andrew Rypien.

“As tragic as Andrew’s passing was, in his mind it was a vehicle to take his success and channel it into making a difference,” Rector said.

Rypien spends a lot of his free time at the center, or doing fund-raising events. Rypien “breathes the foundation, 24/7/365,” according to Rector. Those fundraisers, like his many golf outings or an annual winemakers’ dinner, wouldn’t be as successful had it not been for Rypien’s magical 1991 season. People will always remember Rypien from that Super Bowl. There are weekends set up with Diamond Resorts International where members can tailgate and take in a Redskins game with Rypien,  the old Super Bowl hero.

When the NFL honored all of the Super Bowl MVPs at Super Bowl 50, Rypien was alongside some of the game’s all-time greats. He was introduced before the game right after Jerry Rice and Ottis Anderson, just before Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Steve Young. He says he has to pinch himself when he’s included in that group. But what endures for him isn’t being in the same group with Rice and Montana or seeing himself pumping his fists in slow-mo when they show Super Bowl highlights or the ring he has. It’s that what he did on Jan. 26, 1992 against the Bills allows him to help kids dealing with cancer, and also help their families whose pain he knows too well.

“It has opened up so many doors,” Rypien said. “They want to be part of hanging out with a Super Bowl MVP. They don’t want to be with a runner-up. But a Super Bowl MVP? You want to rub shoulders. That’s solely the reason we’ve been successful.”

In 2006 the NFL honored former Super Bowl MVPs, from left to right: Mark Rypien, Desmond Howard, John Elway, Ray Lewis, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Terrell Davis, Larry Brown and Emmitt Smith.

Rypien knew on that day in Minneapolis many years ago that his life had changed. But he couldn’t have predicted how.

“Not in this way,” Rypien said. “The excitement was fun, to be a part of that team, and it was an incredible thrill. But to see what impact it has had so many years later, and it’s because of the win. It’s because of the win.”

Winning a Super Bowl, even as a bit of a flash in the pan, lives forever. Sometimes when Rypien goes back for a Redskins game (he says he usually does five games a year), hobnobbing with fans to raise money for his foundation, he’ll walk around the parking lot and stop at random tailgates.

“For a second they’re like, ‘Who are you … oh my God it’s Mark Rypien!” The reactions are great,” Rypien said. “It’s great to go back there and relive those days. The people remember that. They don’t forget.”

Mark Rypien has been running his foundation to help kids with cancer since 2004. (Photo courtesy of the Rypien Foundation).

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  Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab