#I still check it on desktop sometimes but it's still so frustrating that I can only stay for a few minutes
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flimsy-roost · 3 months ago
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any explanation of boosting video over image content on sites that allow both that isn't "flagrant play to increase seconds of engagement to look better for advertisers" is wrong. of course most people linger on videos longer, you're making us wait to receive all the information, dipshit
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couches · 2 years ago
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plz don’t talk to me about this post
damn when was the last time i made a post. LMAO this shit looks bad on desktop holy fuck
just checking in. i’m doing bad.
i have a place i do my journaling but i don’t know why i wanted this post to go out to more than just the void. i feel like i’ve needed a win for like the past few months and i just have not gotten one. not to say nothing good is going on in my life because the same things that have always been going well (my relationship, my friends, my parents’ health, my job, my dog) are doing really well. my mental health has just been doing really terribly and it’s been so difficult to focus on the good. you may remember bpd as the adhd or autism of the 2010′s and ya girl is still eating shit daily. 
the holidays are always tough for me, and things somehow went worse than i expected this year. i’ve been really missing camille even though i see her more frequently than ever, it’s just been hard being this far into our relationship and comparing it to my friends who get to spend the holidays together or who have normal families who are accepting and excited about their child’s s/o. i always feel lonely during christmas but i felt even lonelier still feeling so far away from being able to spend holidays or any happy days with the person i love and who i’m spending the rest of my life with. it just really, really hurts sometimes. (all the time) 
i don’t even really want to talk about my brother being annoying because that’s just the status quo. he cussed at me when we were in the car and i actually had to breathe deeply because my anger was actually about to get out of control LOL. i just had to stay quiet and breathe. and then when i got home i just stayed in my room and cried. and then i was thinking about camille’s sisters and how horrible they are to her and it made me cry more. [putting this vaguely cuz i don’t wanna divulge her family info in my own post] i’m glad things are resolved for the sake of her peace but i still have so much anger in my heart about it and i think hearing about it on the same day where i already was feeling so angry and hurt and alone just made me even more upset. i just can’t believe it’s been a month of them (especially the younger one) ignoring her and acting like she’s a ghost in their house. she didn’t even look up to acknowledge me when i visited and that was enough to make me pissed off and i don’t even give a fuck because she’s not my sister so imagine how much it would hurt if she was. i just feel really disturbed by the whole thing and i don’t ever want to be in the same space as them again, still. 
i just couldn’t stop crying last night because i felt really frustrated about feeling anger and hatred LOL. believe it or not... i hate feeling that way! and i just feel really consumed by my anger these days. i feel like i used to be such a happy and forgiving and kind person and now i look in the mirror and i don’t even see that. i see someone who is bitter and angry all the time. i know it’s because i’ve become more passionate about injustice, personally and globally, but sometimes i just feel so tired. i feel like no one else shares my pain and i’m wrong. i feel crazy. even though my therapist always tells me i’m not and always tells me that how i feel makes sense. i just feel like i’m crazy and i’m screaming at the top of my lungs and no one can hear me. but then when people do hear me i feel like i have to minimize myself and what i’m feeling because i don’t want to share this burden. the burden of not knowing what the fuck is wrong with me!!!!! 
i saw this quote that was saying like, is the real you the one who did that horrible thing, or the one who feels awful about the horrible thing you did? and i know that i am forever a compassionate person who can accept my mistakes and flaws and who knows that radical love and empathy is the key to growth and joy. but i just can’t stop being consumed by my feelings these days. i know i can’t help how i feel but i can help how i react. but god it’s so hard... 
i don’t mean this in a derogatory way toward myself, but it’s crazy that i’m 25 still making posts the same way i did when i was 15. just depressed, confused, hating myself, and on tumblr.
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9jaboizgistworld-blog · 5 months ago
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How To Fix A Computer Screen That Is Upside Down Windows 7?
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Hey there, fellow Windows 7 users! Have you ever experienced the sudden shock of your computer screen flipping upside down? It's like your digital world has turned topsy-turvy! If you're scratching your head wondering, "Why is my computer screen upside down?" and "How on earth do I fix this?", you've landed in the right spot. I'm here to guide you through the simple steps to get your screen back to its normal orientation. This frustrating issue can happen due to accidental key presses, display settings mishaps, or even outdated graphics drivers. But fear not, as there are several easy fixes that can save the day. So, let's dive in and get your screen back on track!
Why Is My Computer Screen Upside Down?
The most common reason is accidentally pressing a combination of hotkeys – typically CTRL + ALT + an arrow key. This hotkey combo is designed to let you quickly change your screen orientation, but it can be triggered unintentionally. Other possible culprits include outdated or faulty graphics drivers, issues with your display settings, or even malware. But before we get into the more complex scenarios, let's try the easiest fix first: keyboard shortcuts.
How Do I Rotate My Screen Back to Normal Using Keyboard Shortcuts?
This is the simplest and often the quickest fix. - Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys on your keyboard. - While holding them down, press the Up Arrow key. This should immediately rotate your screen back to its normal upright position. If the Up Arrow key doesn't work, try the other arrow keys: - Down Arrow: Flips the screen upside down. - Left Arrow: Rotates the screen 90 degrees to the left. - Right Arrow: Rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right. Keep trying the different arrow keys until your screen is back to normal. If none of the keyboard shortcuts work, don't worry! We've got other methods to try.
How Do I Change the Screen Orientation Through Display Settings?
If the keyboard shortcuts don't do the trick, you can manually adjust the screen orientation through your display settings. - Right-click on any empty area of your desktop. - From the context menu, select "Screen Resolution". - In the Screen Resolution window, look for the "Orientation" dropdown menu. - Select "Landscape" from the dropdown menu. - Click "Apply" to save the changes. - You might see a confirmation message asking if you want to keep the changes. Click "Keep changes" to confirm. Your screen should now be back to its normal orientation. If not, let's explore a few more troubleshooting steps.
What Should I Do If Display Settings Do Not Fix the Issue?
Check Your Graphics Properties: Sometimes, you might need to access your graphics card's properties to fix the orientation. You can usually do this by right-clicking on your desktop and looking for an option like "Graphics Properties" or "Graphics Options". Once you're in the graphics properties, look for a setting related to rotation or orientation and make sure it's set to "Landscape" or "0 degrees". Check Your Graphics Driver: An outdated or faulty graphics driver can also cause screen orientation problems. To check your graphics driver: - Right-click on the "Start" button. - Select "Device Manager" from the menu. - Expand the "Display adapters" category. - Right-click on your graphics card and select "Properties". - In the Properties window, go to the "Driver" tab. - If the driver is outdated, click the "Update Driver" button. Restart Your Computer: Sometimes, a simple restart can fix minor glitches. Try restarting your computer and see if the screen orientation returns to normal. If you've tried all of these steps and your screen is still upside down, it might be a good idea to reach out to a tech-savvy friend or a computer technician for further assistance.
How to Update Graphics Drivers to Fix Screen Orientation Issues?
Keeping your graphics drivers up to date is crucial for the smooth functioning of your computer and can often resolve display issues like an upside-down screen. Here are two methods you can use to update your graphics drivers: Using Windows Update: - Click the "Start" button and select "Control Panel". - In the Control Panel, go to "System and Security" and then "Windows Update". - Click "Check for updates" and let Windows search for available updates. - If any graphics driver updates are found, install them. Manually Downloading from the Manufacturer's Website: - Identify your graphics card manufacturer (e.g., NVIDIA, AMD, Intel). - Visit the manufacturer's website and go to the "Drivers" or "Support" section. - Search for your specific graphics card model. - Download the latest driver for your operating system (Windows 7). - Run the downloaded installer to update your graphics driver.
How Can I Prevent My Screen from Flipping in the Future?
Here are a few tips to avoid accidental screen rotation: - Disable Hotkeys: If you don't use the screen rotation hotkeys, you can disable them. This will prevent them from being triggered accidentally. If you rarely use screen rotation, disable the hotkeys to prevent accidental activation: - Right-click on the desktop. - Select "Graphics Options" and then "Hot Keys". - Click "Disable"​. - Check Your Keyboard: Make sure your keyboard is working properly. Sometimes, a faulty keyboard can send incorrect signals, leading to unexpected screen rotations. - Set Up User Permissions: If you share your computer with others, consider setting up user permissions to restrict access to display settings. This will prevent unauthorized changes to the screen orientation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Screen upside down Windows 7 CTRL + ALT not workingIf the CTRL + ALT + Arrow keys combination isn't fixing your upside-down screen in Windows 7, it's possible that hotkeys are disabled or not supported by your graphics driver. To resolve this, enable hotkeys through your graphics properties: Right-click on the desktop. Select "Graphics Options" and navigate to "Hot Keys." Ensure hotkeys are enabled. If not, enable them and try the shortcut again​.How to fix upside down screen on laptopTo fix an upside-down screen on a laptop, try using the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow. If this doesn't work, you can manually adjust the orientation through the display settings: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution." Use the "Orientation" drop-down menu to select "Landscape." Click "Apply" and "Keep changes"​​.How to fix upside down screen Windows 10In Windows 10, the process is similar to Windows 7: Press CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow to reset the screen. If the shortcut doesn’t work, right-click on the desktop and select "Display settings." Scroll down to the "Orientation" section and choose "Landscape." Click "Apply" and "Keep changes" ​​.How to fix upside down screen Windows 11For Windows 11, follow these steps: Press CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow to reset the orientation. If the shortcut is ineffective, right-click on the desktop and select "Display settings." Under "Scale and layout," find "Display orientation" and select "Landscape." Click "Apply" and confirm the change​​.How to fix your computer screen when it goes sidewaysWhen your screen is sideways, use CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow to reset it. If that doesn't work, adjust the settings manually: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution" or "Display settings." Change the orientation to "Landscape." Click "Apply" and "Keep changes"​ ​.How to turn computer screen upside down with keyboardTo intentionally turn your screen upside down, press CTRL + ALT + Down Arrow. This flips the screen 180 degrees. To revert it, use CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow​.How to fix sideways screen on laptopTo fix a sideways screen on your laptop: Use CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow to reset the orientation. Alternatively, right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution" or "Display settings." Change the orientation to "Landscape" and apply the changes​How do I get my full screen back to normal?To get your full screen back to normal: Press F11 to exit full-screen mode. If F11 doesn't work, right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution" or "Display settings." Ensure the resolution is set to the recommended level and the orientation is "Landscape"​​.How do I get my display screen back to normal?To restore your display screen to normal: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution" or "Display settings." Choose "Landscape" under the orientation menu and click "Apply." Confirm the changes to reset the screen orientation​.How to restore display settings in Windows 7?To restore display settings in Windows 7: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution." Choose the recommended resolution and set the orientation to "Landscape." Click "Apply" and "Keep changes"​.How do I get my desktop back to normal mode?To return your desktop to normal mode: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution." Set the orientation to "Landscape" and resolution to the recommended setting. Click "Apply" and confirm the changes.How do I get my screen out of full screen?To exit full-screen mode, press F11. If that doesn’t work, move your mouse to the top of the screen to reveal the toolbar and click the exit full-screen button.How to get screen size back to normal?To get your screen size back to normal: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution" or "Display settings." Set the resolution to the recommended level. Click "Apply" and confirm the changes​.How do I reverse full screen mode?Press F11 to reverse full-screen mode. Alternatively, hover your mouse at the top of the screen and click the restore down button in the toolbar.How to get computer screen back to normal size in Windows 7?To restore the normal screen size in Windows 7: Right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution." Choose the recommended resolution and set the orientation to "Landscape." Click "Apply" and confirm the changes​.How do I fix my laptop screen back to normal?To fix your laptop screen back to normal: Use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow. If that doesn’t work, right-click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution" or "Display settings." Set the orientation to "Landscape" and resolution to the recommended level​.How do I get full screen without F11?In some applications, you can use the Alt + Enter keyboard shortcut to toggle full-screen mode.
Conclusion
I hope this guide has helped you fix your upside-down computer screen in Windows 7. Remember, a simple keyboard shortcut, adjusting display settings, or updating your graphics driver can usually resolve this issue. If you're still facing problems, don't hesitate to seek help from a tech-savvy friend or a computer technician. Keep in mind that 9jaboizgist.com.ng is your go-to resource for tech tips and tutorials. We're always here to help you navigate the digital world with ease. If you found this guide helpful, be sure to check out our other articles for more tech solutions and troubleshooting tips! Read the full article
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andypantsx3 · 4 years ago
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subtle | shouto todoroki/reader
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pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader
status: complete
length: 2,171 words
summary: Someone leaves chocolates on your desk. You're determined to track down the sender, certain it's a mistake, and Shouto Todoroki makes himself as unhelpful as possible.
tags: romance, reader-insert, fluff, valentine’s day
warnings: aged up characters (no smut though!!)
There was a box on your desk.
There was a box on your desk, and the sight of it was enough to instantly set you on edge.
The box looked normal enough, if a little fancy, maybe. Its lacquered top glinted brightly under the fluorescent office lighting, its smooth, polished sides waterfalling into the soft matte of your desktop underneath. You weren’t close enough to read the inscription, but you could just make out some elegant, curling script inlaid into the top of the box, possibly the name of whichever company had produced it.
The box looked very normal, in fact. Only, you knew it wasn’t. Boxes didn’t just show up in the middle of the Todoroki Hero Agency, a campus swimming with pros and armed with layers of security so deep it took even you--Shouto Todoroki’s manager--fifteen full minutes to get through screening every morning. It was something very much like being a prison guard at Tartarus.
So either this box meant the agency was dealing with a security breach the likes of which had scarcely been seen before, or someone had mistaken your desk for somebody else’s.
Which, considering it was Valentine’s Day, made a lot more sense.
Buoyed by the realization it wasn't a security risk, you crept closer, peering at the box, and the script resolved itself into the name of the extremely fancy chocolatier in Hiroo district that you made a point of drooling over every time you had to make a house call on Shouto. Their prices were literally insane, so you had never let yourself wander inside, unwilling to shell out an entire week’s pay for a tiny set of chocolates. Even if they did look absolutely fucking unbelievable from the window.
Your mouth watered.
That confirmed it--this was a Valentine's gift, and it was definitely a mistake. For the briefest of seconds, you’d wondered if maybe you had gotten obligatory office friendship chocolates, but this was too much. Some poor, love-sodden flop had gone out, spent their week’s pay on someone they were clearly very serious about, and then proceeded to fuck the entire thing up by plonking their gift straight onto your desk instead of their intended’s.
You frowned, quickly checking the box over for some kind of clue as to who had left it. There was no note included, nothing even mildly helpful that would give you the slightest hint of the person who'd left it here. Which left you with the question of how to return the box to the sender without knowing who they were, or how to pass it on to whoever they’d really meant it for.
You drew your bottom lip between your teeth, staring hard at the surface of the box like you could crack its code if only you glared hard enough. The box stared back at you, unhelpfully silent.
You were still skewering the box with your gaze some minutes later, determined to unravel its secrets, when a deep voice murmured from your doorway.
“You look puzzled."
You startled, whipping around to find Shouto propping up the wall, looking as unfairly handsome as usual. He was watching you intently, those heterochromatic eyes fastened to your face in that careful way he had, the one that always made you feel too warm and slightly unfocused. As usual, it was all you could do to remind yourself that you were a professional and he was something solidly between a friend and a coworker, and no matter how cute and attentive he was, you shouldn't get any ideas.
This morning, he was dressed in his hero uniform, tall and broad-shouldered, his distinctive hair only a little ruffled from his early patrol. It wasn’t often someone tried something in the districts he watched over anymore, probably too nervous to find themselves on the wrong end of the number four hero’s temper. You knew from the reports you received to your phone that the only trouble he’d encountered this morning was a pack of amorous school girls purposely misusing their quirks to draw his attention.
Thirty minutes ago, in fact, you’d almost spit out your coffee laughing at a photo of him looking wildly uncomfortable as he attempted to ice down some girl’s lava quirk with his right hand while fighting off her unfathomably enormous bouquet with his left. It was only right that he should suffer once a year, when every other day he got to stalk about as handsome as you please, oblivious to the effects his appearance had on every breathing person within a five mile radius.
You gave him an absent nod, gaze drawn back to the box on your desk.
“Somebody accidentally left something in here,” you told him, gesturing to it. “I’m trying to figure out how to track down who it was, or who it was meant for.”
Shouto made a small noise in the back of his throat, almost like a cough, and it was enough to startle you into looking up at him again.
“What?” you asked, peering at him. Was he coming down with something? It wasn't often he got sick, but when he did, he usually attempted to hide it and needed to be steamrolled into taking time off. You looked him over, trying to assess whether or not you needed to start badgering him now.
Shouto gazed back at you evenly, his expression deceptively bland. “...You think it’s not for you.”
You felt yourself blink at him, surprised by the comment and struggling to discern his meaning. What did he mean, you think it’s not for you? “Of course it’s not for me, Shouto, it’s from Grégoire Chardin.”
You knew he’d know the place, considering he lived in the same fancy rich people neighborhood as the chocolatier, but Shouto looked unimpressed.
“Why should that mean it’s not for you?” he asked, his tone dry.
The remark caught you off guard, as his comments sometimes did, and you bit down something like a smile. Bless his sweet, oblivious, rich boy heart. Either he overestimated your appeal to his agency staff, or he really did not understand the concepts of cost and return on investment.
“It’s expensive, it’s not something you would give someone as obligatory chocolates,” you explained, watching as a white eyebrow went up. His expression sharpened into something you couldn’t read well.
“It could be a secret admirer,” he said.
You stared blankly back at him, absolutely floored by the idea.
He thought you had a secret admirer? The idea sent an excited thrill all the way down to your toes, but you quickly squashed the feeling. So far, you'd never been on the receiving end of any furtive but romantic gestures, and you really didn't get any interested vibes from anyone in the office, no lingering glances or excuses to spend more time with you. The person who paid you the most amount of attention was Shouto, which was to be expected, considering how closely you worked together. And obviously he wasn't interested, he was just happy to stand in your doorway spouting wild conspiracies about his agency staffers like they were completely reasonable things to say.
“I don’t have a secret admirer,” you told him.
Shouto’s mouth pressed into a thin line and he took an intent step forward into your office. “Is the point of a secret admirer not to be exactly that--secret? How can you be sure?”
You couldn’t help it--you gaped at him, your face going weirdly warm. Okay, was he--was he serious? You obviously weren’t the most unfortunate creature on earth, and you even had your good days, but nobody in their right mind was going to attempt anything with you when there were girls like Nejire Hado and Ibara Shiozaki roaming the hallways of his agency. Even several of the analysts and most of the support crew had you beat out in terms of appeal--literally bless this man for his obvious indifference to your appearance.
“I, uh--thanks for your confidence in me,” you said, fighting down a laugh. “But I assure you, it definitely wasn’t meant for me. I just have to figure out who left it and who they meant it for.”
Shouto shifted impatiently, like he was waiting for something.
“You’re so certain,” he said, sounding frustrated.
“Of course I am,” you waved at him vaguely. It was actually super cute that he thought you could net yourself a dude who was willing to shell out Grégoire Chardin dollars, but you were just wasting time now, lingering over the least important part of this entire affair. “Listen, Shouto. I know sometimes men talk in the locker rooms. If you--if you hear anything, will you let me know? I just want to return it, it looks way too good sitting here.”
It was actually taking all your willpower not to open it and avail yourself of Japan’s finest chocolate, considering you would never have another opportunity like this again. Maybe you should just pretend it was for you....Really, no one could fault you for opening something left in your own office. But...no. No, you knew better.
Shouto appeared indifferent to your internal struggle. He watched you for a long moment, his features impassive. “Under one condition,” he finally allowed.
You cocked an ear to show you were listening, rifling around with the paperwork on your desk to distract yourself from the chocolate. You were strong, a good person. You had willpower like steel. You did not need to eat it, no no no.
“If no one comes looking for it by the end of the day, you will open it,” he said, moving closer.
You glanced up at him, shocked. “Shouto, this is someone else’s gift,” you hissed. “I can’t just open it.”
He placed a large palm down on your desk, leaning over you slightly. “That is my bargain.”
“You want me to steal somebody’s shit in your own agency,” you accused him. You tried not to pay attention to how close he had gotten, how straight his nose was up close, the way his eyes seemed brighter and his mouth pulled into a pout almost too pretty for a man.
The rest of his expression slipped into something like annoyance, matching his pout. “If no one comes for it, then it must be evident that it was meant for you.”
You suppressed a derisive laugh. Now was not the time to get shirty with your own boss, especially when his delusions were kind of sweet. It was honestly just short of a miracle that a man who looked like Shouto did could possibly think anyone on earth would have a thing for you, regardless of his own tastes.
“What if they’re just too shy to ask for it back?” you asked, watching those heterochromatic eyes flick over you curiously.
“If it’s as expensive as you say, someone will come looking,” he said. Which was actually kind of annoyingly reasonable.
A smirk flitted across his maddeningly perfect face when you failed to come up with another argument. He had a point, and he knew it.
You let out a gusty sigh. “Fine, but only because I’m certain someone will come looking for it. Please be subtle when you’re gathering info, okay? I'm sure this is embarrassing for whoever made this mistake.”
Shouto looked almost offended. “I am perfectly capable of being subtle,” he intoned in his deep voice.
This time, you did laugh. He was quiet, maybe, very perceptive, and unobtrusive when he wanted to be, but no one had ever accused the man of possessing tact. “Yeah, okay. Just, try to channel more subtlety than you think you need, okay? No one else but the sender needs to know about the mix up.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Shouto was leaning over you more fully, eyes glittering strangely as his clean, fresh scent met your nose. You froze in your chair, brain going horrifyingly vacant as he leaned impossibly nearer. What the fuck was he doing?
“It will be like I’m not even asking,” Shouto promised, his voice light. “Not asking anyone at all.”
You tried to scrape your thoughts back into something resembling order, but the effort was all but futile. You needed to get him out of your space stat before you embarrassed yourself.
”Okay, then it’s a deal,” you said quickly. “Now go...flambé a villain or something.”
Shouto lingered for a long moment, his mouth curling a little at the corner, like he was being let in on a secret you couldn’t hear. His eyes brushed over you, almost like a physical touch. And then he was gone, pulling open the door to your office, looking annoyingly pleased with himself.
“You will see,” he said by way of farewell. “You will find out how subtle I can be.”
You stared at him in confusion, but he didn’t explain himself. He just smirked, and closed the door behind himself.
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thefanficmonster · 4 years ago
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You Never Notice
Sykkuno x Reader (Female)
Warnings: None
Genre: Fluff
Summary: The center of someone’s world is never aware of their importance even when everyone else is in the know. People are hard to understand, no denying, but if we all spilled our truth like how Y/N admitted her feelings to Sykkuno, mutual understanding would be achieved a lot more easily. JK, she needed an eternity and maybe a thousand pushes. What’s important is the result though, right?
Requested by Anon. You are my first Sykkuno request and I wish I could thank you with a tag. Instead, I’m gonna thank you with a fic in which I put my all. Thank you for the request, hope the final product doesn’t let you down. 🥰
Here we go again. Sykkuno’s love life is brought up. This time it’s more frustrating cause I can’t shout how wrong he is about himself and the effect he has on the people around him. He has no room to speak, he hasn’t experienced what I have - one of your best friends living in your head rent-free because you’re just that whipped by them. That’s right kids, some of us never grow past the middle school crushes - they are a constant for some. That can be a good or a bad thing, it completely depends on how you view it.
Currently, him and Rae are addressing some dating rumors that started spreading about them earlier this week while Felix, Sean and I are kicking each other’s butts in Party Animals. We’re not all playing together, actually, we were all playing different games when we hopped into the call and just grouped together after playing solo got boring. Rae and Sykkuno are playing Among Us on a random server, her being the only person who’s streaming right now. She said she just wanted to clear up the dating rumors cause they were annoying to see popping up on her feed on every social media platform she’s active on.
“It’s ridiculous, really. People just look for online personalities to put in imaginary relationships. Are they that bored? I know quarantine is getting to everyone, but damn“ Rae says, laughing a bit to take the edge off her words but I know she’s bothered by this ordeal more than she’s letting on. I know how much it bothers her when people ship random youtubers and streamers together, even when she’s not involved. 
And I agree. Ever since I started streaming I’ve been shipped with my friends left and right. First Corpse, then Dave, Joel...you name them. It gets kinda gross cause these people are legit like siblings to me. Unlike Rae, though, I don’t waste my breath trying to clear those ‘talks of the net’ up. I don’t know if it’s for better of for worse that I remain silent on the issue when I’m involved but am willing to stand up for my friends when they find themselves in a similar situation. Some people think the reason I don’t share my thoughts is because the rumors are true, but the hint is most often taken, resulting in the ship ending. Well, that ship ending, there’s always a new one popping up. As Rae said, it’s ridiculous.
“Why does everyone think I am ever dating anyone? I’ve already commented on this: no one would date me.“ Sykkuno says through a sigh-like laugh.
“Why are you so sure?“ I blurt out without as much as a second thought
My eyes widen just a bit, just a bit. I’m not too surprised with myself. I am slowly losing control of my raging emotions and I’m afraid of what I’ll turn into when all my restraints snap. A mess, that’s the most likely answer.
“Well....“ Sykkuno trails off, clearly more than a little nervous, “I don’t have a girlfriend right now, and I haven’t had one in a while...Nor has a girl shown any interest to be more than friends with me in what feels like forever.“
“I’m sure you just don’t notice the hints girls drop. We can be pretty subtle.“ I try to sound as nonchalant as possible while I’m still in my panicked animal mode. And by animal I mean a cub. A scared cub that is now showing confidence but will run and hide right afterwards. I silently thank the universe that I’m not streaming right now. I can feel the heat on my neck and cheeks which is pure embarrassment and would have been more than evident on-camera.
“Yeah Y/N’s right, Sykkuno. Girls can be very subtle, but they will always let you know if they like you, even through the smallest of gestures. You gotta keep your eyes open.“ Rae backs me up reassuringly.
“Guys never notice anything.“ I say, rolling my eyes. I feel the pressure lessen thanks to Rae’s involvement in the conversation.
“That’s not true.“ Sean protests, “We pay close attention, especially to girls we are attracted to.“
“Yeah!“ Sykkuno pipes in again, “I’m pretty sure I would notice if a girl was dropping signals that she likes me.“
Now that stings. That legit makes me wince and cringe as though his voice delivered an actual physical hit to my chest and stomach. It’s really unpleasant, painful even.
“You never notice.“ There’s something about this triple opportunity - proving him wrong that he’d catch onto a girl’s signals; proving him wrong that girls aren’t attracted to him; coming clean about the biggest emotional struggle I’ve experienced in recent years; - that snaps my last emotional restraints. I will totally regret this later, but after the regret comes the relief which is 100% worth it. 
“What?“ He sounds very puzzled. I can just about imagine him frowning as he tries to wrap his brain around something even I can’t wrap mine around.
“You say you’d notice a girl’s hints of attraction. OK.“ I nonchalantly throw Felix off the submarine in Party Animals while I keep talking, “Would you notice if a girl purposely doesn’t kill you in Among Us when she’s impostor? Or would you notice that a girl always sends you links to videos she finds funny? Or that she always shares music and movie recommendations with you and you only?“ 
Dead silence ensues. I feel like they have all glitched, considering Sean didn’t even try to put up a fight when I lifted him and threw him in the ocean as I previously did with Felix’s avatar.
Maybe I was a tad too specific and made the whole situation hit a little too close to home for me. 
Sykkuno and I have become really close friends and we chat and play games regularly. As I mentioned, I give him movie and music recommendations and I only recently started acknowledging the fact that I’ve never killed him in Among Us. Natural instinct I guess. In fact, I feel the need for vengeance when he’s killed. I refuse to even vote for him unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Now that I think about it, it’s not his fault he has no clue. I just don’t know how to properly drop hints.  
“Um...I mean, I guess I would notice but I’d never think they are that type of hints.“ He finally replies.
On point there, dear. On damn point.
“What does it take for you to be convinced that a girl is into you?“ Who cares that a bunch of people are about to witness this outpour? It’ll make it more real, yes, but it will also help me believe that it happened so I don’t try to crawl back to the point where return is an option. No return now. You’ve already passed two thirds of the way. The last one will set you and your mind free. 
“The only way I can be sure is if she tells me, really.“ He sounds so nervous and shy, like he’s trying to draw as little attention as possible.
He doesn’t have to worry. I’m about to pull all the attention on me.
“Well in that case....you leave me no other choice.“ My screen displays me as the winner of this round of Party Animals - an easy one considering my friends are glitched in real life. “I like you, Sykkuno. I like you a lot. And I know you will see it from every context except the one its meant to be in so I’ll be even more head-on - I’ve liked you, as more than a friend for quite some time now, but buddy, you can be sooo oblivious sometimes. Anyway...“ Here’s that regret I was talking about, it’s already creeping in. “Don’t feel the need to say it back. I don’t wanna hear it if you don’t mean it. And Rae,“ I can’t help but laugh at the thought, “Sorry for making your chat go crazy. Peace!“
And I disconnect from the Discord call.
“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?“ I say out loud, staring at my desktop. “The cat’s out of the bag and you can move on now.“
I push myself to get some work done in order to get my mind off the mess I’ve created. I’m afraid of thinking about it, I know I’ll get too upset to do anything with the rest of my day if I do.
Suddenly, just as I’m about to open my email, my phone chimes. My brain doesn’t bother to stop my arm from automatically reaching out and checking the notification. A message.
From Sykkuno.
~ I knew you didn’t suggest me ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ for no reason
Me ~ So...?
~ So, I’m not the only oblivious one here, Y/N
Me ~ Wait WHAT?
~ ‘Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist’?
Me ~ Oooohhhh...I see
It takes him a few seconds to reply, the bubble with the three bouncing dots popping up and disappearing a few times now. I just now feel my heart banging against the inside of my ribcage, my pulse echoing in my ears.
He did seem a little too eager for me to watch that movie...
~ So, movie date?
I laugh, wholeheartedly and honestly. Genuine joy running through my veins.
Me ~ So it is.
The grin that is now decorating my features promises to stay there for the rest of the day. I bite my bottom lip at the thought that pops into my head.
Me ~ Phew, I can stop sparing you in Among Us from now on
He sends me three cry-laughing emojis in return, but I don’t need those. I can just imagine him laughing as he usually does with one hand covering his mouth. And here I thought my grin couldn’t grow wider.
 Imagining him happy makes me smile. His happiness makes me happy. He makes me happy.
Even better...
I think the feeling’s mutual.
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galindathrop · 4 years ago
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Warning: Image heavy
By popular demand, aka 2 people, here is a gif tutorial. This will include how I do screenshots and actually make the gif. 
You will need: 
Photoshop. I use the Photoshop CC 2021 version but that’s only because I’m paying for it. There are sites you can download Photoshop on but I prefer the legal way. 
MPV player or any screencapping program that takes continuous screencaps. 
IMPORTANT: As I have learned, the video file you use must be 1080p or else they will look like absolute crap. Always try to get a 1080p copy no matter how long it takes. 
THE PROGRAM
As stated before, I use MVP player. That can be downloaded here. If you have a mac, I would move the app off of your desktop after downloading and to the applications folder. That way it is out of your iCloud and saves so much pain and frustration. 
Try to download the 0.29.0 version because later versions on macs have a glitch where there are duplicate screenshots (according to @/kylos). I had to download the 0.29.1 version because the other version won’t open at all for me after the last apple update (fuck bug sur). Anyway, I’ll probably mess up explaining this part so you can find out how to get it working here and here. 
To actually screencap, press option + s. The left and right arrow keys will help you move through the video. For more shortcuts, click here. 
Once that is all downloaded, now you can begin the giffing process.
THE PROCESS
Load the film you want to gif into the program, which is just a simple drag and drop. Then go through and find the scene you want to screencap. 
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Once I find the scene, I pause and then press option + s as mentioned above and screencap the scene. Press  option + s again to stop capturing.
Now you go open photoshop and go to File --> script --> load files into stack
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Then this will pop up. Hit browse... 
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Then open your folder with the screenshots, select the screenshots by dragging down, and then click open.
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This is what it should look like. Now go through and delete the extra images you don’t need. 
Now we need to crop the future gif. Click the cropping tool and at the top left there is a way to set the crop dimensions. 
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The ones I have saved are Tumblr’s dimension sizes. The height doesn’t matter as much as the width does. For Tumblr; 540px is for one post across, 268px is 2 posts across, and 178px is 3 across. When doing 3 across make the last one 177px or else the last one will be blurry. Click here for more info on sizing. 
Today I’m going to make this 540:280. When you’re satisfied with the crop, click enter. 
Here is where the fun begins! I downloaded @kylos​ gif action here. To activate it double click on it. To view your actions go to window --> actions. A window should pop up with your action. 
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There will be a folder in there called GIF ACTION. Open the folder and select the SELECT HERE!. With that selected click on the play button to activate the action. 
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Just like magic, you now have a gif! Your layers panel should now look like this. Next we just need to resize the gif. 
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Go to Image --> Image size and this box will pop up. 
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Resize the image to your crop size and hit ok. Your image will now be a lot smaller. 
Next I go to Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur. Set the blur to 1.0. 
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Now this will take away the sharpness when I just want it to be a bit softer. To fix this double-click on the lines next to the smart filter. 
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This will bring up another box to change the opacity of the blur. I change it to 20% or less. This one I’ll make 15%. Hit ok when done. 
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One last thing is I fix the radius of the sharpening. Click on the bottom sharpening layer. A box should open.
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Change the radius to 0.4 and hit ok. 
Before closing, open the timeline window by window --> timeline. If you want to cut down on the frames, grab either one of the grey bars on the beginning and end of the gif and drag to where you want it to start and end. 
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It’s now time to save. Go to File --> Export --> Save for Web (Legacy)...
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This will pop up. Here you can see how many frames you have and how big the file is. I usually start off as close to 10mb as I can get. There are multiple ways you can save it but here are my settings. 
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Then save your gif to wherever you want it. But we aren’t done yet. 
Close the gif. You don’t have to save the psd but you can if you want to. Then reopen the gif in Photoshop. Everything you used before should still be open, aka the windows for actions and timeline. 
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Your screen will look like this. As you may notice, the gif speed is all over the place. The best speed for gifs is 0.5. This guide is very helpful. 
To get the gif to that speed, I dowloaded another action here. Add it to your actions as instructed above. 
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Open the Change to .05 folder and select the SELECT HERE!. With that selected click on the play button to activate the action, same as above. 
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And viola it is now the correct speed! But our gif doesn't look too great. It’s time to fix that up with some coloring. 
COLORING
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These are my coloring layers.  Make sure they are on top of all of the layers. 
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Here is what it looks like now after the coloring. You may notice the effect has only been added to one layer of the X amount of frames you have.
To fix this select the coloring layers and then go to the 3 lines at the top right of the box. 
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Click on this to open a dropdown box and click match layer across frames. 
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Make sure all the checks are marked and hit ok. 
Now all the layers have the coloring layers applied. 
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Remember when we were saving the gif and it was over 10mb. Well now it’s time to fix that. 
I like to go in and check the size after coloring because sometimes that can lower the gif size. 
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It did in this case so that creates less work. Close out of that and go back to your timeline. It’s time to delete some frames. 
You can select multiple frames at once by holding down shift as you select. I typically click around 5 to 10 at a time and make sure you don’t miss a single frame. I’m going to select more towards to the end. 
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Then click delete (the trashcan icon). 
Go back to export. If it is still too big delete some frames. In my case it was still too big so I have to delete more frames. 
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I now have it to around where I want it. It is less than 10 mb and sometimes that is better. So save your gif. I usually save it as [filename]final. 
QUALITY
To check the quality of the gif I go to Tumblr and go to make a photo post. 
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DO NOT post. Instead save it as a draft. Go to your drafts and see how it looks from your dash. If it looks pixelated then go back into photoshop and delete fames. Repeat the following steps until it is to your liking. 
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And then you have your final product! 
I hope this was helpful to you and I can’t wait to see what you create with this. 
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o-wyrmlight · 2 years ago
Note
What do you use to draw? I'm pretty sure you use a drawing tablet, but what brand? Any reccomendations?
I have two Gaomon tablets! One which I use for my laptop and one that I use for my desktop.
The one I use for my desktop is a Gaomon PD2200. It's a rather large tablet that comes with a stand. It's really neat, and the screen itself is this sort of matte cover that makes it feel a little more like paper. The main downside is that the 'buttons' aren't 'buttons' so much as they are 'touch buttons'. As a result, you can't really feel when you're pressing on the buttons, so if you try to use them without looking at them, you could press the wrong thing. I ended up not using them and keeping them on, and eventually had to turn that whole function off because it kept picking up inputs that I wasn't giving it and making me think that my computer was messing up.
The one I use for my laptop is a much smaller one that plugs directly into it. It's a PD1161. It has a much smaller screen, but the upside is that it's a display tablet (like the PD2200) and it acts as a second monitor, so I can look at what I'm drawing while I'm watching a YouTube channel and being online. This one has unmarked buttons (that I could mark with a silver sharpie or something), but they're actual buttons, so I already consider that to be a plus.
I like Gaomon! It's a rather fair brand for the price, I feel. The only things I don't really like about them that I've consistently noticed in between both of the products that I have is that:
The colors look different from how they are on the other screen and it's difficult to try to figure out how to adjust them to the same values
The biggest issue I have is that there's often a drift from where the pen is and where the tablet detects it as being. It varies all around the board, and calibrating the screen doesn't seem to do much to fix it. Checking on my drawing tablet right now, it looks to be less accurate towards the center and more accurate around the edges of the screen for some reason. You can work around it, but it's a little frustrating at times that you have to focus on the actual cursor on the screen.
The PD2200 and its touch buttons are difficult to use, and even when I wasn't using them, they still eventually ended up detecting false inputs that made me dread trying to draw on it and frustrated me to no end. I eventually figured out what the issue was, but it took a good couple of months before it finally clicked in my brain after getting a whole other keyboard and noticing that the issues were still continuing.
Aside from drawing tablets, my traditional mediums tend to vary! I like to experiment from time to time with different mediums, and this includes ballpoint pens, sketching pencils, India inks, calligraphy ink, watercolors, alcohol markers, colored pencils... it helps me feel less like I'm sitting in the same rut all the time, being able to swap in between different mediums and experiment. Sometimes what you need to get out of art block is a bit of rest. Sometimes what you need is trying something different!
Traditional-wise, what I really want to do is get a bundle of colored calligraphy inks so I can do some colored lineart, but all that Amazon's really showing me is India inks and glass pen inks. Which are all water-based and not made for calligraphy pens.
As an aside, as a touch of experimentation, I figured out that India inks and glass pen inks work very well on watercolor paper, and it doesn't blot or bleed as much as it does on sketch paper! Sort of makes me wish I did that Pure Vanilla drawing on watercolor paper instead of a sketchbook, but then again I also wish I used a different color for the lineart anyway, so. You win some, you lose some.
Experimenting is,, fun. I think people deserve to experiment.
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winterscaptain · 4 years ago
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faith.
Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader
a/n: we start to heal, kids! if there’s interest, i’ll write up the outtakes (wink wink) from this and post it sometime soon. your feedback keeps me going - please tell me what you think! also, if you haven’t already check out the inspo blog for ajf! (here’s the nsfw one, too - but it's definitely 18+ only!)
reality check (part one) | unimaginable (part two)
words: 3.5k warnings: implied sex, language, miscarriage/pregnancy mention
summary: healing is bittersweet.
masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | requests closed!
“Everything looks fine down here. Since it’s been about four days, your preliminary recovery is finished. The key now is to let your body rest and reset.” Brienne removes her gloves and tosses them in the trash. “You can try again in six weeks, if you want, but no penetrative sex for two full weeks.” She washes her hands and points at you, then Aaron, with wet hands. “I mean it.” 
You share a look with Aaron while Brienne turns around for paper towels. His lips quirk into a wry, almost sheepish, smile.
Turning back to her, you ask, “Is there anything I should look out for or do differently or anything?”
Please tell me there’s something I can control. 
She shakes her head. “You’re doing everything perfectly. Keep an eye out for any heavy bleeding or anything that doesn't feel quite right in the next couple of weeks.” A warm hand lands on your shoulder and another reaches across you for Aaron, who stands and meets her in the middle, capturing her fingers in his palm. “I have faith in you both. I know this one was a little unexpected on all fronts, but if you want to do this for real, I will make sure I’m doing everything in my power to give you all the support and resources I can.” 
Aaron’s brown eyes are soft and grateful under his knit brow. “Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate it.” 
She snorts and squeezes his hand before letting him go. “Oh, Aaron. I have a feeling you and I will know each other for a long time - Brienne is just fine.”
+++
Aaron slides into bed beside you and wraps you up in his arms. “Hey.” 
“Hi.” You lace your fingers between his where his hand rests across your abdomen. “How’re you doin’?”
“I should ask you the same thing.” 
You turn in his arms, and he gathers you to his chest while you throw one leg over his hip and wiggle the other between his thighs. You just want to be as close as possible to soothe the ache in your chest - it’s working. “I’m okay. My bits have stopped screaming at me, so that’s an improvement.” For now, you ignore the fact that he’s avoided your question. Sometimes it's easier to let Aaron think he’s won - for a while, at least. 
“Indeed, it is,” he says through a laugh. “I more so meant the other thing.” 
“What, like my emotional state?”
He shrugs around you. “Yeah, I guess.” 
“I feel like there should be...something to look forward to. There’s still a part of me that’s really excited, but there’s nothing to be excited about.” You shake your head, burrowing further into his chest. “It’s hard to explain.” 
His hand rubs up and down your spine, firm and slow. “Makes perfect sense. I think I’m right there with you.” 
It’s quiet for a moment. 
“I’m so sorry, Aaron.” 
You can feel him shake his head and he scoots impossibly closer to you. There can’t be a single inch of skin he isn't touching, or at least that’s what it feels like. “There’s nothing you need to apologize for. Nothing to be sorry for. Sometimes, things just happen.” 
Your eyes close, exhausted, and you push back the thoughts that have been swirling around in your head for the last three days. 
Yeah, sometimes things just happen. Getting stabbed nine times in your home by a career serial killer? Just happens. Your wife getting murdered by that same serial killer, perhaps? Yeah, that just happens. Or maybe your best friend ‘dying’ and then coming back to life? Sure. 
Maybe a couple massive losses in a couple horrible years just aren’t enough. 
What’s next? 
I’ll take ‘Losing a Kid for 1600, Alex.’
“Hey.” He taps the middle of your back with his hand to get your attention. “I can hear you thinking.” 
You grumble, “Sorry,” and turn over, your back pressed firmly to his chest. 
“We’re okay, sweetheart. We’re fine. Jack is healthy, you’re healthy, I’m healthy. We’re getting married.” You snort, and he laughs. “Alright. We’re getting married...eventually.” That gets a giggle out of you, and he continues. “We’re looking for a house we can actually afford because of our fulfilling and important jobs. We have one fantastic son already.” He kisses your shoulder. “We’re in good shape.”
Well, when he puts it that way…
He pulls you close, nuzzling into your neck and running fingers up your ticklish sides. You squirm and a little peal of laughter leaves you. “I’ve got you on all of those, don’t I?”
You roll your eyes, and you know he saw it in the mirrored closet doors on the wall across from you. “If you think I’m going to argue with the youngest AUSA in District history, you’re nuts.” 
A satisfied hum leaves him, and he slips his hand under your shirt, tracing over your skin. “That’s probably a good idea.” Kisses find their way across your shoulders as his hands hike your shirt farther up your body. 
“Aaron,” you whine. “Brienne said no sex.” 
You watch him deliberate in the mirror, making play at deep thought. “...No. She said no penetrative sex, if my memory serves.” His hands wander down to the edge of your underwear and you squirm against him despite yourself. He drops his lips to the sensitive skin behind your ear, making you shiver when he whispers, “And my memory always serves.”
“Damn you.” 
He grins and ducks under the covers, throwing your leg over his shoulder as he settles between your thighs.
+++
The following Monday is your first day back at work, and it’s more than a little difficult to be normal. Aaron had only taken the day after to make sure he was available to drive you to and from Brienne’s office for your procedure, but you’d taken the rest of the week. You’re not sure what Aaron told them - maybe a flu or a stomach bug or maybe you “just needed some personal time” - but you imagined everyone would ask you about it anyways. 
Aaron presses a kiss to your cheek before the elevator opens. You make sure you’re watching when he falls into Hotch Mode as the doors part before you. It’s difficult to hold back your fond smile, but you manage. 
You set your things down at your desk, noting the small purple orchid and note sitting by your desktop. JJ turns in her chair to face you. “Hey! How was your visit with Dean?” 
Oh. That works. Good one, Aaron.
Dean had moved to New York to start with a new brokerage house at the beginning of last summer, and you’d been meaning to get up there to see him. It’s a highly plausible lie. It also helps that Aaron could sell water to a fish. 
Well, he is a lawyer. 
“It was great. Nice to take some time, you know?” You smile at her and you’re sure it doesn’t look quite right when her eyes narrow just a touch. Settling at your desk, you pick up the note addressed to you and open it. 
A flower for my flower :) I know. I’m gross. Sue me. 
(Or don’t...I’ll use my J.D. if you do.)
I love you. - AH
p.s. Don’t worry - I’ll water it when you're away. 
“Conference room in five minutes - Garcia’s got something for us.” Emily strides past you all on the bridge and you grab your tablet. 
Derek offers you a hand and you take it, tucking yourself under his arm as you walk. “What’s the orchid for?”
You shrug, covering how touched you really are by the gesture. “I dunno. I guess we just have a very thoughtful section chief.” 
+++
Inspired by Aaron’s cover story, you give Dean a call when you make it back to the hotel that night after an exhausting day scouting crime scenes that have every indication of a serial killer running rampant through the tiny Maine township.
“Hey babes! How are ya?” His chirp comes singing through the phone, and you find yourself smiling. 
“I’m alright.” 
You can almost hear his eyebrows raise. “Nope. Bullshit. What’s wrong with you?”
“Well, if anyone asks, I just got home from visiting with you for the week.” You start to unpack your go bag, hanging up a couple of your nicer work sets and setting up the bathroom the way you like it. 
“What’s Aaron lying about this time?” 
You laugh, but it tapers off quickly. “Well, as it happens, we had a really shit week last week and I had to take some time off.” 
He’s far more solemn when he speaks again, “That sounds like a little more than a ‘I got a flat tire on my way to work and my coffee was cold’ kind of shit week if you actually took time off.” He pauses. “Oh please don’t tell me you broke off the engagement.” 
“Not at all, not at all. Aaron and I are fine, but…” Going back and forth for a moment, you ultimately decide to tell him. Maybe it will get easier if you say it out loud. “I, um. I miscarried last week.” You’re proud of yourself for spitting it out with only a little stumbling, and Dean’s immediate concern brings tears to your eyes. 
“Oh God, honey. I’m so sorry. Do you want to talk about it at all?”
“I mean -” you take a deep breath. “No? I don’t know. I feel really shitty about it and we talked to Aaron’s mom and I know it isn’t my fault, but -” You huff, getting a little frustrated. “It was a girl, Dean. Aaron was so excited.” 
Something creaks in the background, and you know he’s just settled into the ancient armchair in the corner of his studio. “Don’t forget babe, you were excited, too. This isn’t just disappointing for Aaron, as much as you’d like to make everything about him.” 
You chew on the inside of your cheek. He’s right. “I know, but -”
“No! No buts. This is a loss for both of you, and it's huge. Like, I dunno why people don’t talk about it more. Your kid is your kid is your kid if you wanted them and they didn’t make it. It doesn’t matter if you met her or not - you knew her and she was yours.” 
So, maybe the tears weren’t finished. Dean stops talking for a minute, and you know he can hear you sniffling. 
“Are you going to try again?”
And isn’t that the question of the hour?
“Well, we didn’t really try for this one, but I think we’ve caught the bug. I was planning on talking to Aaron about it a little more when I get home -”
“What’s the case?”
“Maine, probably a serial killer,” you answer promptly, getting right back on track. You’re used to Dean’s quick interruptions. Context is important to him and you’re always happy to provide it. “I don’t think we’re going to try, per se, but I don’t think we’ll be too concerned about being careful either. That way it’s a pleasant surprise instead of something stressful or disappointing, you know?”
“Ah,” he says. “A ‘fuck it and forget it’ approach. I dig it. And we all know Aaron can ‘fuck it’ with the best of them - you’ll have to tell me how the ‘forgetting it’ part goes.”
You laugh despite yourself, wiping at your cheeks. “How do you always manage to make me laugh?”
His laugh sounds from the other side of the phone, and it warms you from your fingers to your toes. You can almost forget its nearly five below zero outside. “What can I say? Laughter is the virtue of the gays.”
Your phone beeps at you, and it’s Aaron. “Hey Beanie, I gotta let you go. Aaron’s beeping in on me.” 
“Go get your tub’a humbus, babe. I’ll talk to you later.”
You switch calls, and raise the phone back to your ear. “Hey, love. What’s goin’ on?”
“I just missed you.” You can hear the sink in the background and you check the clock. 
Ah yes, dishes before bed because someone can’t sleep if there are dishes in the sink. 
“Hi!” Jack shouts from across the kitchen, and it makes you smile. “I miss you!”
“I miss you too, my loves! Though, Aaron, I must say -” you stop yourself. “Am I on speaker?” 
There’s a shuffle, and his voice sounds a lot closer when he replies. “Not anymore.” You know he’s smiling. 
You laugh. “I was going to say, it’s a lot easier to abide by our no-contact order when I’m five states away.”
“Don’t remind me.” You can’t see him, but he sounds at least a little pained. “We’ll be almost done with that by the time you get home, which is nice.” 
“Very nice, indeed.” Settling into bed, you pull the covers up to your chin. “I wish you were here with me.” 
You can hear him walk through the house, getting some distance from Jack. “Yeah?”
“Mhmm. As nice as your new digs are, Chief Hotchner, sleeping without you when I’m on cases is really rough.” A light laugh leaves you. “I still haven’t gotten used to it.” 
He hums. “Well, I’ll make it worth your while when you get home, how’s that?”
“I’ll hold you to it,” you say with a smile. “Goodnight. I love you.” 
“Get some rest. I love you more.” 
+++
Your first hunch was right - serial killer with a preference for blonde women in their forties. Luckily, those factors alone made for a nice, neat, narrow profile, and you were down to a small pool of suspects within days. 
It’s safe to say your heart isn’t in it. You’re almost relieved when JJ calls you out on the way to the medical examiner’s office.
“What’s going on with you and Aaron?” Her bright blue eyes stay on the road as she speaks, but you know she’s completely tuned into you. “You guys seem...off.” 
“We’re fine - the two of us, I mean.” You’re not sure how much to want to tell her. She isn’t Dean. You have to work with her every day, and as much as she’s your friend, it’s hard to talk about this when she already has a son of her own and another on the way. “There’s just, um, some stuff going on at home.”
She reaches across the console and takes your hand. “Whatever it is,” and she sounds like she knows. “You’re not alone.” 
You look over at her and squeeze her hand. There’s something mournful and heartbreaking about the set of her mouth, and something cold and sympathetic washes over you. “Really?”
She nods. “Ours was a girl.” Her confession is quiet and her eyes never once flicker from the road. 
Your voice is just as quiet, almost a secret. “Ours, too.” 
+++
Aaron’s waiting for you in the bullpen when you land in the afternoon two days later. Without shame, you sail through the glass doors and into his arms. It’s a treat - you never feel like you’re truly home until he’s holding you, and you usually have to wait until you get home. 
Derek teases you both on his way back to his desk, and you flip him off. Everyone’s in high spirits and you’re surprised their good moods have rubbed off on you, as well. 
Emily releases you all early with the promise you’ll have your after action reports into her by tomorrow afternoon. On the way home, you tell Aaron about your conversation with JJ, and he’s so moved by it, you’re almost brought to tears again. 
+++
The next morning, Aaron leaves early for a meeting at headquarters in DC. He kisses you goodbye, and in your half-asleep state you grab his tie and make an attempt to keep him right where he is. 
It doesn’t work, but you’re rewarded with a couple extra seconds of adoration, even with your morning breath. He chuckles against your mouth. 
“I gotta go, baby.” 
You whine incoherently at him, but he dodges your reaching hands and  whispers close to your ear as he brings the covers up over your shoulder. “You have another hour before you need to be up. Sleep. I love you.” Another kiss presses into your temple, and you hear the bedroom door close softly behind him. 
When another hour lapses (during which you dozed, quite thankful he told you to get some more sleep), you rise and get ready to head into the office. Jack’s up and getting dressed in his room while you get started in the kitchen. 
But, of course, there’s no need. Aaron has a breakfast spread ready and covered on the counter, with coffee just finished in the percolator. 
A god among men…
You pull your favorites from the pile, and set aside a few things for Jack. This cut your prep time in half at least, so you’ll have a little more time to eat and get settled before you have to be out the door. 
Assembling breakfast is easy, and you and Jack share space in relative silence. He looks up at you over his eggs and grins. Oh, how you love that boy. 
+++
When you get into the office, JJ’s reading a note, a little white envelope tucked behind it. You’re the first two in the office - a shocker, considering the two children between you, both under the age of ten. 
“What have you got there?”
She looks up and you can tell her eyes are a little misty. “Just a really sweet note someone left on my desk.” Waving it in the air, she asks, “Want to read it?”
You smile, setting your things down. “Only if you want me to.” 
She hands it over, and you take it, immediately recognizing Aaron’s handwriting. 
JJ- 
I wish we didn’t know the same loss, but I’m selfishly glad it’s you. Thank you for taking care of us so well. 
As always, anything for you. Just say the word. 
  AH
 “You know,” JJ says as you hand the note back to her. “He wasn’t like this before you.” 
You snort. “Don’t I know it.” 
“No, I’m serious. Even before you guys got together, you made him better. This -” she holds the note up and flicks it, “never would have happened eight years ago.” 
+++
By the time the next case is solved and everyone comes home, Brienne’s orders have expired. Jack is long asleep and you find Aaron in his office. His head is propped up on his hand, elbow on his desk, as he reads over some esoteric legal decision he’s decided to research as a hobby. 
Like he’s not busy enough. 
In fairness, he did defend his newest activity over dinner a few weeks ago. 
“What else am I supposed to do after Jack’s asleep and you’re out on a case? Watch TV? Go to bed early? No, I’m going to review legal decisions and take notes so I don’t bore you to death when you get home.”
“Aaron, you could never bore me to death.” 
“I wouldn’t take that bet.” 
He looks over his reading glasses, and his eyes light up. “Welcome home.” 
You offer him a warm smile as you cross his office and round his desk. “Hi.” 
Aaron drops his pen and pulls you close by your hips, and you lean on the side of his chair. “How was the case?”
“I would hate to spoil Emily’s report that will inevitably be about three hours late getting to your desk on Tuesday.” 
He raises his eyebrows. “I see.” His hand drops down to the outside of your thigh, and you swing a leg over his chair to straddle him, getting situated on his lap. “You know, I still have work to do.” 
“What? Is this Supreme Court decision more interesting than me?”
He shrugs, leaning forward again and picking up his file. His chin hooks over your shoulder, and you settle against his chest as he continues to read. With a sigh, he says, “You’re wearing an awful lot of clothes for someone who wants something specific.” 
You huff. “Oh, c’mon. It’s not like I’m getting any in here.” 
“You don’t know that.” His voice is even, almost distracted, but when you shift over him you can tell he’s affected. “Something might surprise you.” 
“Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”
He takes another breath and, just like he’s done so many times before, says, “Sweetheart, I’m not suggesting anything.” 
+++
tagging: @arganfics @quillvine @stxrryspencer @agenthotchner @wandaswitxh @hurricanejjareau @fics-ilike @ange-must-die @ughitsbaby @rousethemouse @criminalsmarts @shrimpyblog @genevievedarcygranger @ssaic-jareau @good-heavens-chris-evans @angelsbabey @gublergirls @writefasttalkevenfaster @venusbarnes @hotchsflower @micaiahmoonheart @ogmilkis @marvels-agents100 @hotchslatte @risenfox @mrs-dr-reid @captain-christopher-pike @joemazzello-imagines @pinkdiamond1016 @pan-pride-12 @hotchlinebling @lee-rin-ah @sunshine-em @word-scribbless @jdougl-love @sageellsworth05 @nohalohoseok @giveusbackourbucky @bauslut @dreila03 @forgottenword @aaronhotchnerr @ssa-morgan @hotchnersgoddess @buckybau @phoenixfyre374 @sana-li @tegggeeee @abschaffer2 @ssacandice-ray @dontkissthewriter @ellyhotchner @a-dorky-book-keeper @lotties-journey-abroad @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @laneygthememequeen @ahopelessromantic @violentvulgarvolatile @andreasworlsboring101 @mooneylupinblack @ssareidbby @violet-amxthyst @zizzlekwum @lcvischmitt @emmasjulixn @qvid-pro-qvo @mandylove1000 @simsiddy @slickdickwitchbitch @jeor @synonymforlame @roses-and-grasses @bwbatta @capricorngf  @missdowntonabbey @averyhotchner @garcia-reid-lovechild @cevanswhre @colbyskoalas @joanofarkansass @infinity1321 @katiejuliana @popped-weasels @evee87 @nuvoleincielo @spencerelds
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how-to-verify-cash-apps · 2 years ago
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How long does Cash App bitcoin verification take? (Guide 2022)
You can start the Cash App bitcoin verification by entering a pin code. Input personal details and your reason for buying bitcoin to complete the process. Scan your ID or photograph yourself in a well-lit environment to prove your identity. You will also need to verify your employment and email address. If you are not employed, you will have to provide proof of your identity, such as a copy of a recent pay stub.
How do I enable Bitcoin verification on Cash App?
Cash App now offers a mobile verification option to make it easier for you. When you want to use the Bitcoin payment service on your phone, you must first verify your identity. You must know how long does Cash App bitcoin verification take?
This process can take anywhere from minutes to a few days, depending on the amount of Bitcoin and the complexity of the transaction. However, most transactions are verified within 24 hours. You should not be in an emergency or in the middle of a transaction to verify your account.
The first step is to register for an account on Cash App. You will need a valid email address and a debit card or bank account. 
You will also need to provide a valid social security number and birth date to ensure that the Bitcoin address and the account are linked. 
After verifying your identity, you must confirm your details, including your home address and social security number. 
Once bitcoin verified on Cash App, you can start buying bitcoin. Then, you can use the app to sell your Bitcoin when its value increases.
Why is Cash App Bitcoin verification taking so long?
If you've had trouble with your Cash App Bitcoin verification, it might signal that something is wrong. Sometimes, a few minutes can mean the difference between a successful transaction and a failure. To make sure that you're getting the best service from Cash App, here are a few steps to help you get through the process. 
How to verify bitcoin on Cash App: First, you must verify your identity through your email address. Make sure to take a photo of your face in a well-lit area and be sure that it's clear.
You can also use the Cash App to deposit small amounts of Bitcoin. Make sure you have a valid bank account. 
Make sure to enter an amount lower than the minimum, and then use the voucher to withdraw your bitcoin. 
Be sure that your address is valid as well. If this fails, you can backtrack your transaction and try again later. However, it can be very frustrating if your transaction takes a while to complete.
Why is Cash App bitcoin verification pending?
If you've tried to buy Bitcoin with Cash App but still haven't received confirmation, your verification process may be stalled. This is caused by several reasons, including invalid personal details, incorrect email addresses, and invalid debit card numbers. To avoid this situation, follow the right steps and check your email address often. Moreover, you can contact Cash App customer support for assistance if your Cash App bitcoin verification is pending.
You must verify your email address and social security number during registration. Make sure to use a brightly lit room with a clear background. You must also scan and input your Bitcoin address. If you still haven't received any confirmations, repeat the verification process. This should take less than a minute. If you've tried logging in to Cash App on a desktop or laptop, you can try another browser and log in from there. If you can't log in with your mobile device, you can sign up with your email address and touch ID, but you'll have to go through the verification process repeatedly.
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insfiringyou · 3 years ago
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BTS - Going Solo (Part One) - Jimin x Ara
Contains: Angst. *Potential trigger warning for descriptions of panic attacks*
Set a few months following their scene in ‘Private Moments’, Ara is faced with a decision which will change the course of her future. 
(Part Two will be uploaded soon, after a few fics focusing on some of the other members.)
You can find out more about our headcanon universe and ongoing storyline here and more about our headcanon girlfriends here.
To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin /   Suga /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook & our full masterlist of fanart and fanfictions can be found here
If you wish to follow all member’s storylines in chronological order from the beginning, you can find them listed here.
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Content below the cut
‘Jimin,
We just spoke, and you asked if I was happy. I think I am. At least most days.’
Ara typed slowly. Her nails had just been manicured and were longer than she was used to. The sound of acrylics against the keyboard rang through the small hotel room. 
‘When I’m with you I can feel really happy. You can be so sweet and loving and I appreciate you always check up on me - to make sure I’m okay. Touring is hard. You know it better than anybody else, and you tried to prepare me for it.’
She gave a soft sigh, knowing no one else would hear. The words were spilling out of her fingers before her brain had time to catch up, though she knew based on experience she would eventually work out what she was trying to say. The room was dark and the white glow from the word document was starting to make her eyes water. The contact lenses had been in all day and were getting on her nerves. Still, she persevered. She could remove them once she had finished. 
‘I’ve been asked to renew my contract.’
She stopped typing, heart thudding, and realised she felt scared. Her hand moved automatically to her stomach and she exhaled slowly before taking a deep, drawn out breath. She had been practicing and it had gotten easier. At first she would panic, and find her chest rising and falling like crazy, on the verge of hyperventilation, but soon she learned the trick; it was her stomach which was supposed to be moving, not her chest. Her cheeks were a little warm and she knew it was shame she was feeling, not embarrassment. She hadn’t told him yet, despite having known for over a week. Tentatively, she continued, fingers picking up speed as she became used to the sensation of the new nails. 
‘You remember me telling you the first was on a trial basis, based on sales. Well - whatever target they set for us, we must have hit it. Even you have noticed the increase in publicity lately...the T.V appearances. They’ve asked me to film a reality show. I don’t know what they’re expecting.’
Her brow furrowed, wondering...
‘I guess they might have asked you too?’
The laptop stayed silent for a long time and she rested her hands against the small, cheap desk as she gazed at the screen. Her mind suddenly seemed blank and she felt stupid. She would never send the document to Jimin, just as she hadn’t sent the ones she had written before; three month’s worth of unopened, worthless ramblings saved in some obscure folder on her desktop, trapped in the harddrive somewhere between her acoustic recordings and photographs of hairstyles she had saved from Pinterest. She often wondered why she even bothered to save them. Her counsellor had told her, time and time again, that keeping a diary would be helpful. She could record her mood swings and track her periods, along with keeping count of what she ate; wholegrains made her bloated, red food colourings brought out a rash. She sometimes worried she might be lactose intolerant, though could handle it in coffee. That type of thing. She kept it up at first; bashfully bringing the sparkly diary into the small office she visited once a month and reciting what she had written to the man opposite. He would nod sympathetically as she spoke, making a comment from time to time; asking how she felt about what she had put. But the company was paying him to do this; all the girls went, and she sometimes wondered if it was the food diary he was really interested in. If her manager was keeping track, making sure she and the other members were not overdoing it on the full-fat salad dressing and milky lattes. 
The diary entries began to dwindle and, not long after her last week-long visit back to Seoul, the meaningless letters on her laptop started. They were usually addressed to Jimin, though she had written several to her father and one to her brother. She wasn’t good with words; she had been told that often enough at school when she would have to read out loud from the book of the week in Literature, or come up with an argument in Business Studies. Her mouth would stumble and she’d turn red, both ashamed and humiliated, until the teacher inevitably took pity on her and told her to sit back down. Writing in private was much easier, especially when she knew no one but her would see.
‘I don’t know how to feel.’
The cursor hovered, blinking at the end of the last line. There was a heavy knock at the door and Ara jumped, hands automatically reaching for the laptop lid, before a familiar female voice called out.
“Ara? Are you coming?”
She quickly gathered herself, clicking the save icon at the top of the screen. The company had arranged a group meal in the restaurant downstairs, though she had forgotten, her mind distracted by more pressing thoughts.
“In a minute…I just need to change my lenses.” She called back, moving her finger against the touchpad as a pop-up appeared. She selected the save button once more, mouth twisting as she read the title in the little window: ‘Untitled #12.’ She wondered if she would ever get around to renaming them properly.
***
“Your hair has so much texture. I wish mine were thicker.”
Ara murmured in reply before catching the young stylist’s reflection in the mirror and realising how rude she must have sounded. Da-eun had come to the company some months before and was undeniably sweet. Too sweet, Ara sometimes thought, for the business she was in. The other makeup artists and hairdressers loved to keep one ear to the wall, in case there was a chance of promotion or, she rather cynically suspected, a way to increase their pay by selling gossip, but Da-eun didn’t seem like that. At least not yet.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ara smiled into the glass at the figure behind her. “I’m glad I have you to do it for me. The roots are a nightmare!”
Da-eun returned the smile and seemed to relax, but a curious expression still played on her features as she ran the straightener gently across the dyed tips of hair. “Are you tired?”
“I didn’t get much sleep.” Ara confirmed, briefly closing her eyes. Da-eun knew not to press her, but she couldn’t help but worry the younger woman might know more than she was letting on. They had shared hotel rooms in the past and, perhaps it was the stylist's instinct, used to paying close attention to detail, but she always seemed to tell when something was amiss. It was frustrating sometimes. 
“I looked at the schedule. You’re not going on set until last so you’ll have time to rest before you go out.” Da-eun murmured helpfully. Ara nodded, relieved. It occurred to her, not for the first time, that Da-eun should quit while she could; while she was still young and hopeful and kind. 
“I just don’t have the energy right now…” Ara sighed as she felt her hair being released. The younger woman finished working the ends and unplugged the device from the dressing room table. 
“Did you sign the contract yet?” 
Her voice was inquisitive and a little optimistic. Ara had never asked, but there was always the chance that Da-eun’s contract was somehow tied to her own; that if the group were to disband, she might lose her job. Ara shook her head lightly.
“No.”
Da-eun raised an eyebrow. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“I just haven’t had time to read it properly.” She said, truthfully. “It’s come around sooner than I thought…”
The stylist moved forward, reaching for the set of hairbrushes on the counter, before selecting the biggest. She teased through the ends of hair with her short fingers before brushing lightly along the bleached roots, smoothing the locks. 
“There’s been rumours.” The younger woman said, voice suddenly low as though she were worried about being overheard. A thick curtain set apart the dressing room from the photography studio, but it was always possible someone was listening. 
Ara blinked, tensing a little. “What?”
Da-eun smiled gently. “That you’re making a solo album.”
“Oh…” The older woman wasn’t sure what she had expected, but this news took her by surprise. “I wasn’t planning on it.” She shrugged.
“That’s a relief.” Da-eun beamed with a small laugh. “I’m looking forward to going home soon. Aren’t you?”
Ara opened her mouth to speak, not sure what she was going to say, but the curtain beside them drew apart suddenly; startling them both. 
“Oh! Costume change…” Da-eun exclaimed, setting down the brush and turning to accommodate the older woman who had just entered. Mimi was a year older than Ara and usually less prone to accidents, but the leather strap on her camisole suggested a wardrobe malfunction which needed attending to at once.
“Sorry to interrupt…” The other woman murmured apologetically, gesturing to Da-eun. “Could you fix this for me?”
“Sure.” She nodded, stepping away.
Ara’s phone had vibrated against her thigh twenty minutes before but she hadn’t wanted to risk opening the text, especially with someone standing over her shoulder. As Da-eun seated Mimi in the rotating chair on the opposite side of the room to take a look at her costume, Ara took the moment to slip the device from her pocket and flick through the recent notifications. Unsurprisingly, it had been Jimin who had texted and she read the sentence a couple of times before returning it to her pocket.
‘Two more weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing you. It’s been too long.’ 
***
Ara sipped from the glass, the cool water clearing her throat and offering a much needed refreshment from the events of the day. Her voice had become raspy from singing, but luckily she didn’t need it to type. 
‘Jimin,
I was cleaning my closet before we went on tour and found the dress I was wearing on the night we met.’
She found herself smiling, a little longingly, at the memory, a strange anecdote coming to mind.
‘It still has a Daiquiri stain on the hem and it’s too big for me now. I don’t know why I’m saving it.’
The thought made her sad, somehow. 
‘I wonder if you remember that night as clearly as I do. I didn’t want to leave. I knew you were with someone else, but I didn’t care.’
A deep frown played on her otherwise gentle features.
‘Does that make me a bad person?’
It wasn’t until she read the line back, she realised the thought had never occurred to her before. Not once in five years. She wondered why it suddenly seemed to matter. With a sigh, she continued, committing her trail of thoughts to the page.
‘You told me it was over the next time we met, and I believed you, but part of me wondered if you’d go back to her, once you knew how inexperienced I was. I guess I know how you feel sometimes. The whole thing has taken me by surprise as well. I never felt like anyone would want me.’
Her chest ached as she typed the final sentence; overwhelmed by emotion. It was true that the compliments and flirty glances she often received were met with an automatic but fleeting sense of glee. It felt novel, after so long of feeling like she didn’t deserve it. It sometimes still felt that way; back in the hotel room, after the cheers of the crowd had faded. She had brought the subject up with her company counsellor who had laughed it off, explaining that everyone suffered with imposter syndrome from time to time; she wasn’t the first and wouldn’t be the last. On the matter of flirting, she had kept that one to herself. It felt too personal and she was sure it would come across as vain. Occasionally it was unwarranted; the older mens’ eyes moving down her legs when she took to the stage in a short skirt back in Seoul, or the way she jumped in alarm when someone once slipped their hand down the back of her jeans while she stood tightly packed in an elevator in Osaka. But other times she found her heart racing and stomach churning; not thinking of Jimin until she tucked herself in bed at night. A pretty, tall waitress brushing her hand as she handed over the bill in a Thai restaurant, or the hotel doorman who had helped her move her luggage earlier in the week and smiled kindly at her in the lobby. She knew Jimin, of all people, would understand. She had seen the way he played the audience, like he had a secret to share with them all. Early in their relationship it had made her crazy; the way he seemed to flirt with anyone he came into contact with, often without even realising. But now the tables had turned. He would understand; but she wasn’t sure he would accept it. 
She glanced a warily at the shadowy corner of the room where an oversized bouquet of red roses sat on the dresser. They had arrived earlier to the hotel room, along with a postcard sized letter from her manager. He had been unable to make the trip to Taiwan but was waiting for her in Tokyo; the contract was ready, whenever she was ready to sign. The flowers seemed like a bribe; the gesture leaving a sour taste in her mouth. She wondered if the other two girls had received any, or if the privilege was all hers. 
The sound of her ringtone, a chirpy, summer tune, alerted her to the fact that an hour had already passed and it was getting late. She quickly swiped the screen and raised it to her ear, not wanting to wake up the neighbours.
“Hello?”
There was a pause before Jimin spoke. “How are you?” 
“Good.” She squinted at her watch with a frown. “What time is it there?”
“2am.”
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” She asked, a little baffled. He hadn’t called her this late in a while.
“I only just got in. There was a company dinner.” He explained. “What are you up to?”
She hesitated. “Just thinking.”
He laughed, softly mocking her. “Just thinking?”
She shook her head, dismissing it. “Oh, it’s nothing…I was drying my hair.” She lied, fingering the ends of the bone-dry locks in an automatic response. “Da-eun dyed the tips purple for the photoshoot.”
“I liked the pink.” He groaned, a little sulkily.
“They thought purple would fit better with the concept photos.” She mumbled deflatedly. “It’s not really my choice.”
“You could change it when you come home.” He said hopefully. She heard the flirtatious grin in his voice and could picture his smile on the other end. “They can’t do anything about it once your contract has ended.” 
“Maybe.” 
She sounded distant and he noticed the change at once.
“Are you okay?” 
She closed her eyes tightly, temporarily blocking out the glare from the laptop screen. “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day.”
“Did you take a look at the brochures I emailed you?”
“I haven’t had time. I’m sure whatever you pick will be fine.” She knew she sounded a little irritated but was unable to mask it. The weight of the day suddenly seemed to dawn on her and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed. The last thing she wanted to talk about was moving house. 
“I’d really like you to help.” He argued lightly. “There’s a three bedroom going for sale on the Han River. Yoongi says it’s a good deal.”
Ara sighed. “I’m sure he’s right.”
A pause. 
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I wish you’d stop asking.” She pleaded, feeling on the verge of tears. Jimin seemed to hear the tremor in her voice and thought for a long moment before he spoke, tentatively.
“Maybe you should ask the doctor to change your medication again.”
Ara clutched the phone tightly. “It’s fine.” She tried to smile, hoping it would show in her voice. “I’m feeling much better, just tired.”
“Is that a side effect?” 
He sounded concerned and she nodded to herself, though she knew full well she hadn’t taken the time to read the little leaflet properly. “Probably. Maybe I just need some sleep.”
“Okay.” He agreed, though she sensed his trepidation. “I’d better go then.”
He sounded disappointed and Ara felt guilty once more. “I’m sorry Jimin.” She apologised softly. “It really was nice that you called. It’s just these time zones…”
“I understand.” 
She wondered if he did. Her eyes felt damp beneath her heavy, false eyelashes, making them itch. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
***
She had forgotten her contact lenses and had to rummage through her Birkin to retrieve her reading glasses. They felt strange on her nose and she wondered how she had ever made it through high school wearing them. At least she had been given a moment’s peace to read through the contract. The office overlooked Ueno Station and the rush of traffic below would be too distracting had someone also been watching her. 
‘As a permanent member of the label you should not bring the company into disrepute…’
She read carefully, though the paperwork seemed much larger than the last one she had signed. Some of the phrases looked familiar, such as the declaration of her dedication to being a ‘brand ambassador’, but others were definitely new. Her gaze hovered over one line:
‘...should not jeopardize future success…not limited to personal relationships, controversial thought or opinion including strong ties to political associations, ideologies or groups.’
She expected no less, particularly after Mimi was caught on camera reading a Betty Friedan book. The first part was more complicated and she wondered if Jimin’s management had asked something similar of him. 
With a sigh, she continued down the page, skimming the text now but picking up on key words which seemed important, ‘Maintain a visible and transparent social media presence….Agree to the screening and management of said accounts with the view of protecting our artists and their wellbeing.’
By the time she reached the end, it did not seem to matter and there was a strange comfort in realising this. The past three years had been carefully planned, organised, operated; her future written for her from the moment she stepped foot on stage for the first time. The moments of quiet between shows, or during her increasingly short stays back in Seoul, only seemed to complicate things further. Her thoughts were a mess whenever she stopped to breathe for a moment, and maybe it was easier to shut them off altogether; to give over all control and decision-making to someone else than to try and deal with them all herself. 
The fountain pen was heavier than she expected as she picked it off the table. It had the company brand embossed on the side in gold-leaf which seemed to reflect the fading light outside as the sun set below the concrete structure of the art museum to the West. Slowly, she signed her name on the final page; the ink blotting a little as she moved aside the bound file and repeated the motion on the second copy. The second attempt was neater as she grew used to the feel of the pen in her hand. There was a knack to it; just like many of the things she had grown to learn in her adult life; underwear should be washed on the delicate cycle, t-shirts should be turned inside out before they are ironed, glasses should not be left in the sink too long, should they smash. She had an assistant to do those things now, and her clothes were mostly dry cleaned these days. 
She neatened the piles of paper and put the lid back on the pen, so the ink wouldn’t dry. The first contract had been signed in black Biro, which hadn’t come with such demands. Reaching down, she picked up her black handbag and carefully folded her personal copy, slipping it between her lipstick and glasses case before adding the pen. She had probably paid for it anyway; in her own way. The green light on her phone was blinking and she slid it from the pouch in the lining. The text had arrived while she was in the meeting, which is why she hadn’t heard her phone go off. Her thumb paused over the messenger button for a moment, before she tapped the screen lightly; Jimin’s name and picture coming into view in the little window above the text. 
‘One more week! :)’
***
Thank you for reading. To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin /   Suga  /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook
& Our full masterlist of fics and original art can be found here
& Our masterlist of preferences/most likely to/quizzes and fun stuff is here
You can support us by buying admins a coffee here (if you wish). :)
26 notes · View notes
onyourzeus · 4 years ago
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11:48 am | pjh
title: 11:48am pairing: park jaehyung (of day6) & you genre: fluff, bullet style words: 2.1k
author’s note: mmm i’m kind of meh about this but i jus really needed to write so i don’t lose motivation, but this is just a short fic requested by this anon asking for a lazy day scenario with jae. hope it’s still an okay read.
any requests? check my pinned post if i’m accepting any at the moment, thanks!
once you receive a specific text from jae on a regular day
“whatchu doinnnn” 
you know he’s wondering if you’re not busy, and if you come hang out at his place
which, for the majority of the time, you always tell him “not much. y?”
even though you’re 99% sure of what he wants out of you
you have already made your way to a coffee shop before he had replied 
“same. wanna do nothing together? :)”
so u get two coffees: one americano and one vanilla latte (as much as you want to cut down calories here, there is no way you can drink just water and espresso by itself
you decide on getting two sandwiches as well, it’s close to noon and there’s a high probability that jae just woke up and he hasn’t even moved from the bed
you’re lowkey happy that jae texts you first (assumingly) during days like this because, honestly you miss the 6 foot lanky nerdy soft boy a lot
jae has a habit of keeping to himself during his downtime, especially now 
but with him streaming and having new friends through the platform has helped him socialize and feel a sense of normalcy from the world, which you are really glad for 
he’s mentioned how much he misses doing band activities but doesn’t really elaborate on them
he think he talks about it too much and that you wouldn’t want to hear his repetitive whining
you don’t have the needed bravery in your heart (yet) to tell him you will never get bored or feel burdened by his thoughts, no matter what they entail
so for now, when he asks of your presence in his lovely abode— you make time for him. always. 
even if it’s just a lazy day of doing nothing
you knock on his door and text him at the same time. you look around his neighborhood and enjoy the peace and quiet outside. you wonder if jae’s soundproof walls work well enough for his next door neighbors this time. you had told him multiple times that sungjin wouldn’t appreciate the noise too much, and he if he wanted to play he can do so at your place 
however you never suggested that last thought. it swam in the sea of your thoughts one too many times but it never came to shore. you thought too much about the implications of that idea
besides, what good came out of reminding him of his streamer noises is that he finally has an apartment of his own
and you don’t feel as shy or out of place whenever you came over to the one he shared with the boys 
“oh hey, wasn’t expecting you,” jae had opened the door and you snap out of your wondering
he greets you with drowsy eyes, a full yawn and long strands of hair sticking out everywhere 
you huff out a breath and show the goods in your hands. “you’re definitely gonna need this.”
his eyes light up as he recognizes the contents of the paper bag
“whaaaat you shouldn’t have, i was about to order for delivery,” he tries for an innocent tone but the goofy smile on his face makes that extra trip to the cafe worth it
“you’re welcome, jae.”
lazy days with jae come in two ways
number one: absolutely the title. you crash on the bed, he scolds you for it but then you feel his crushing weight on top of you for revenge or
you hog the couch, splay your legs until jae does the same thing and entangles all your limbs together it becomes a semi wrestling match
number two: he’d end up wanting to do something all this time, either jam on his guitar or play WoW with you in the background, just watching
commenting on things you have 0 knowledge about, and him dismissing every words you say with a random scream from his end
“you’re so bad at this lmao”
“NONONO STOPSTOPSTOP NONONO”
“is the riff supposed to sound like that? ew” 
“you want your face to meet my guitar? :)” 
yeah, banter between you can be brutal like this which is why it gets a little embarrassing to be your true self with him when the others are involved 
today, jae seems to just enjoy sipping on his iced coffee while tippy tapping on the floor to sit next to you on the couch
??? how can a grown man do something puppies so effortlessly pull out… just as cute if not even better??? 
usually, silence isn’t how the two of you spend lazy days together. once he’s thought of a topic to talk about, however out of this world or mundane it could be— the conversations you share are what you cherish the most bonding with jae
“you ever think about the first piece of a roll of sliced bread?”
“you mean the weird looking pieces no one ever chooses first and leaves it there until there’s none of the good slices left?”
“the very one” “what about it?”
“you’re that slice of bread”
“well yeah? jokes on you, you’re the OTHER piece. there’s two in a pack dumbass” 
one would mistake this as insulting, but this is how jae shows his affection to you, and you wouldn’t want it any other way
there’s a certain comfort in just.. not deliberating whether you’d overstep a line or say something that would be misconstrued. with jae, you appreciate the candid friendship you mutually benefit from
his sarcastic personality can be a pain at times when not needed, of course, but when you’ve missed him so much it just feels right
“jae your legs are too long for the couch get a new one.” he had taken over the other end of the couch with his legs over yours, and you’re trying your best to make the position comfortable
but being inches close to his socks and noticing that he’s intentionally moving his feet about just to annoy you
“you get me a new couch so we both fit here”
“bro do you know how empty my wallet is rn” 
“as empty as your love life?”
“oh we’re talking about ourselves right now? ok cool”
he scoffs at your comeback, but he remains speechless and gives you room to breathe. you panic for a second thinking maybe, this is the unexplained boundary he has to draw a line on? love? 
but he puts down his already finished americano, and looks back at you a deadpan expression
you sit up as well, nerves creeping up on your arm. you didn’t want to take it too far and in your defense, this isn’t the first time you teased each other about your, well, non-existent romantic endeavors
“jae, i—”
“oh my god did you see your face?? i was kidding chilllll” he starts to burst into a fit of laughter, the kind where he loses air and lolls his head back 
this time you pout, reaching over to flick him on the forehead. his 6th sense had improved a lot overtime being with you as he blocks your hand away from his face, and sticks a tongue out
“you think i wasn’t prepared for that anymore?” he taunt, locking his grip around your wrist
“now you’re just making fun of me” >:(
“you get really puffy cheeks and look adorable when you’re mad” 
“THAT IS NOT A VALID REASON!!”
eventually he lets you go, pats your head then proceeds to just ruffle it as messy as his, and in an instant your mood changes again
you shouldn’t lie to yourself anymore, you love jae’s company and it would kill you if he’d one day decide he’s too old or too “mature” for moments like this
you get winded up with denial of having a crush on your best friend, and you’re so sure he knows at this point
because he reels you back into the present and challenges you to a game os super smash bros
and when he loses, he does it again. and you win again, and this time he says it was just a warm-up and he shouldn’t go easy on you anymore
and then you win again, and you’re the one cackling in the air at his look of defeat as well as the 6 losses he had endured during the matches
“man you’re getting rusty”
“am not! i’ve just been playing WoW too much i’m not used to switch controls anymore…”
“sure buddy”
“HEY, 1v1 me in league right now, i dare you”
“no”
“WHY?”
“you only have one desktop, stupid. i didn’t bring my laptop”
“oh so by default I win :D”
nothing can ever get away with jae, he always needs to have the last laugh with you and at times it’s frustrating, but his carefree charisma has grown on you so much that you anticipate what else he has in store to give you a hard time 
jokes on him, you fall for jae just an inch deeper the more he treats you comfortably this way 
it’s only been an hour or two, but jae had decided that he’s done enough productive stuff for the day (read: losing too many times) and invited you over to chill on his bed
it’s not an uncommon sight for the both of you to lie next to each other, taking turns with queueing up music on spotify. songs you and jae love together, and those that are new to your ears 
sometimes, you’d talk over the playlist— it becomes more of background noise as jae asks you about your day, the days before that, and what you’re planning on doing in the future
he doesn’t ask for specific answers, he likes to hear how you’ve been feeling, emotionally so
jae has always been intrigued by other people’s perception of themselves, of the things around them, and of what they think of the universe in the back of their minds
it was a little too much to handle, those questions of his, when you first were just getting to know each other
but he eased into it naturally, confessing about his love for the moon— its beauty in appearance, and the beauty of its purpose
which made you think… you’re in love with the moon too, not just what you see in the sky
but what you see right next to you right now
jae had given you enough time before to open up about your own thoughts, struggles, and share secrets with him. it didn’t take long until you found the trust between you and held onto it for dear life
lazy days with jae can be just that— lazy, loafing around the house, stealing a chip or two from each other’s bag, falling asleep to the sound of lofi music on the speaker
but it can go this way too: with jae explaining how good this one song can be, the metaphors every verse carries with the melody. “you’ve always heard of chocolate eyes or whatever, but blueberry? and to describe the setting sun as strawberry skies? amazing, GENIUS” 
and you laugh, and listen to the same song over and over as per jae’s request until he overpowers the original vocals— and you don’t complain, there’s not a sound you love to hear on a lazy afternoon than his low register, the kind of singing he does just for the heck of it. he’s not exerting too much range, too much work on the words he sings— he’s just doing so to comfort him, to bring life to the room, to dwell on each poetic verse’s meaning
i’m so lost in your blueberry eyes
he finishes singing, and the playlist shuffles to an instrumental lofi track with an upbeat, charming rhythm to it
jae keeps his eyes closed, smiling to himself probably proud for his faux performance
“you done gloating in your head yet, jae?”
“shut up i’m feeling the moment”
you poke his shoulder with yours, and you’re suddenly hyper aware at how close the two of you are.. physically, right now
he turns his head towards you, eyes fluttering, lips slightly open. he catches you staring, and it’s too sudden for you to look away and pretend it’s not awkward at all
“what are you doing?” he asks, a lilt of teasing on his voice but his eyes never leave yours 
“sh..shut up,” you quip in a small voice, looking down on your laying bodies before turning away, cheeks warm
“wait what? what i was asking a genuine question—”
“i was.. feeling the moment, okay? god jae you’re annoying” you mutter under your breath, a lousy response to cover up the pounding in your chest
“this moment feels really nice, doesn’t it?” he says next to you, quiet but gentle
you pause for a second, taking in his words and letting go of the smile you’re trying to hold off on
your heart is still racing, but there wasn’t a need to worry about stumbling with your feelings
if jae himself is enjoying your own company right now 
“it is. if it’s with you, it really is.”
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floodnetworks · 4 years ago
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hey i hope this isn't rude to ask but are you still on t? im non binary and was planning to do it temporarily but im not so sure now. would u mind talking about your experiences as an nb person on t?
yeah i am! i take a lower dose now, and i do gel now instead of injections. i started in september 2019. if you have specific questions feel free to ask, or check out my art blog on desktop and go to /tagged/t (searching on mobile/viewing blogs within the dashboard to search sucks) ive talked a lot about various parts of hrt. i could fill a literal book with my experiences as a nb person on t so its kind of a hard question. kinda long reply so ill put it under the cut
my experience has been super positive, i was extremely hesitant and unsure when i started hrt but i can’t imagine my life without it now, i’m very thankful i took the leap. a lot of my concerns were based around passing as male, since i like to have control over which gender i’m perceived as, which has made this much more possible. it is still weird being read as male by strangers and has definitely changed how i fit into the world, enduring 19 years of misogyny for being perceived as female and then suddenly flipping that specific social standing was really strange. but im more androgynous than i could ever be pre-T, i just usually get read by the cisgender public as a gnc man instead of a gnc woman. which i prefer.
transitioning, hrt specifically, also made me start being attracted to men, which was very confusing and insane at first but now its chill i like being a bisexy king. it doesn’t happen for everyone, but hrt does affect your relationship to yourself, your social standing and interactions bc of how people perceive you, and your biology, which sometimes leads to changes in your sexual/romantic preferences.
so those are the two big social things, other than that all of the changes from T have just been my body, which i’m very happy with. the only think i dislike is the extra body hair on my shins bc i was already hairy enough pre-T, but the rest of the body hair is cool (i don’t care for facial hair but i don’t mind shaving). i really love my voice now, that was the most influential change in my life for sure bc it super affects how you get read by people and it was a big source of discomfort and dysphoria for me. i also like the way my moods are on T a lot better, i have more energy and get less frustrated and cry a lot less. i also am stronger n i love that. i really love being able to exist in an androgynous body, i feel much more at home with myself, especially especially ESPECIALLY after top surgery. since hrt i feel so much better just existing and also being in public.
it is a bit odd being nonbinary and taking T and getting top surgery while not being male, but honestly every nb persons experience is unique and different and we can all transition however we want to. im super happy i decided to take hrt it really has improved my life so so much! i was so scared and unsure at first cuz i thought i might regret it and just changing ur body permanently is v scary. but it was so good! i love it!
again pls feel free to ask a specific question cuz i really can’t go over every aspect of my experience in one ask.
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andmaybegayer · 4 years ago
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Last Monday of the Week: 2021-03-01
First Monday of the Month. My boss just quit at work which means I'm now the only formally trained engineer left who has any particular specialization in embedded systems. This week is going to be a doozy.
I also wrote a Very Long set of media updates because I’ve been consuming some stuff that makes me think a lot. Never a good sign.
Listening: I spent all of Saturday playing Minecraft after talking with some friends about it during the week on IRC. Practicing what I preach with regards to my Large Biome Supermacy policy, which does involve a lot of walking. Hence, I started catching up on The Adventure Zone: Graduation again, I'm like ten episodes behind.
https://maximumfun.org/episodes/adventure-zone/the-adventure-zone-graduation-ep-32-by-a-haircut/
I don't really enjoy Travis' DM'ing style. It's very loose and he has a tendency to let players run wild without much structure which is a tricky thing to handle. He does a lot of worldbuilding and character design but doesn't seem to plan much in the way of arcs. That pays off sometimes (returning to the school to realize they broke a promise they made a few sessions earlier and had to deal with consequences, for example) and when it does, it’s really good, but it's finnicky. I know DM's who can do that, but, well, actually I know One Single DM who can do that well and she's absurdly smart.
Reading: Still on Worm, I just got past chapter 8 or so now. It lives in my phone browser so I've mostly been reading it whenever I get some spare time, which is a good sign. If a book doesn't grab me I need to really settle down in a quiet space to avoid getting distracted, but I can read Worm while someone else is on the phone in the same room.
It is a story with a lot of very well-conveyed feelings and events. It's very easy to imagine yourself in it. Characters actually act like they care about what they're doing, I feel like writing this took a lot of care to keep everyone on model.
There's also a certain care given to the superpowers that you'd usually only see in forum posts arguing about an actual superhero story. Everyone always likes to argue about how far you can push a superpower: can you use teleporting to fly? What prevents a speedster from catching fire in the air? Where does the energy for a  pyrokinetic ability come from? Worm takes these and runs with them as a way to make absolutely any fight become a series of gambits relying on whether a power can or cannot be used to perform some high-stakes trick.
The world certainly has some underpinning contrivances to explain why no one gets killed very often but I've always considered nitpicking the base contrivances of a setting silly, because that's precisely what they are: contrived, in order to allow the rest of the story to flow from there. Like arguing about Omega’s abilities in the famous thought experi-*I am dragged off stage by the ratblr police for making a by now extremely stale joke*
Watching: I came and edited this section in like an hour before this posts because I keep on forgetting to put it in. I don’t really like watching TV and with my parents stuck at home in Pandemic Times it’s how they pass the time.
I did finish S3 of the Good Place. It’s very funny. I’m glad I’m watching it and I’m going to have to go find S4 because ZA Netflix doesn’t have it for whatever reason. It feels a little like it was written by Phillip Pullman if Phillip Pullman was a comedy TV writer.
I also really enjoyed the PBS Spacetime video about how time causes gravity. Love when an explanation of concepts is good enough that you drawn the conclusion on your own.
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Playing: Visual Novel Hell plus Minecraft.
I spent approximately seven hours in Minecraft over two days. I tend to hop in and out of games for 1-2 hours at a time but there's a handful that can suck me in for an entire day. Minecraft, Warframe, Horizon Zero Dawn, Night in the Woods. Bastion, to a lesser extent. I end up avoiding them because I don't like loosing entire days, but I wasn't really planning on doing anything this weekend anyways.
Minecraft was mostly a long-ass trek to find a saddle, because as previously mentioned, I enjoy playing it with Large Biomes for the sense of scale.
I also completed Act 3 of Psycholonials and Eliza.
Psycholonials is odd. It is doing the thing that Hussie does where it dances around what's ostensibly the story to carry out the actual story. You get used to the trope after your first encounter but it still makes you wonder when the other shoe will drop, and of course, there's no reason it ever has to. The story may remain in suspended animation behind the every growing mess of narrative red tape tying the B-plot together.
Stories about Social Media have no well established norms. I think I might pick up Feed by M. T. Anderson and also perhaps Hank Green's books sometime. See what context they set that in.
Eliza is frustrating to me. It's a game for programmers, by programmers, about programmers. I'm friends with a lot of Capital P Programmers, the types who go to university and get sniped for developer positions at Seattle or Silicon Valley tech companies and who make great and terrible things and then warn you about the deep problems that underpin the slowly rolling ball of venture capital and bloated technology that is the tech industry. But at the same time, it makes me feel like I've burnt out on that conceptually before I even went in. It’s a whole other world that I’m familiar with but very distant from. In fact, that’s kinda how I feel about Psycholonials too. I’m familiar with the social media rat race but I also don’t go there. Parallels!
My cousins (who are halfway to Capital P Programmers, only so much you can do halfway around the world from silicon valley) warned me not to go into CS, because it would bore me, and that's a non-trivial part of why I'm in Engineering. They gave the same advice about Biology and Physics, without that I may have ended up in Microbiology. it’s not my domain, but because of how Engineering is going, you end up a lot closer to programmers than you think. I found out the other day that most of the software developers on my team have no formal tertiary qualifications, which is accepted in CS but of course, right out when it comes to engineering. It’s a whole other world that I kinda expected to skip around. I might go into this another time, since this post is already getting long.
Making: I haven’t done any engineering scicomm posts on here in a while so I started a few blank drafts and finally got one off the ground. With some luck I’ll have that ready this week. What’s it about? Not saying! It might change!
I’ve been doing layout for a custom keyboard, I need to call a laser cutting place and find out what their kerf requirements are so I can adjust the path accordingly. Wouldn’t do to burn a couple hundred rand on an oversized part, I’m paying for this, not my employer like the other times I’ve done laser cutting, so I’m probably not going to spring for getting one of their designers to check my design. At some point I should CAD up a chassis, but at the same time I might just buy some wood and go ham with a router once I get the plates cut.
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Computers Slot: I got WeeChat set up properly on my desktop, which technically was just a matter of getting my SSH keys moved over. It’s taking me forever to move in to Cinnabar, in part because Stibnite lost her boot partition and I haven’t bothered to fix it.
So here’s a pitch for WeeChat as a good quality Terminal UI IRC Client. Many of my closest friends live there and it has a good set of tools to help me keep in touch.
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WeeChat is very configurable but with perfectly sane defaults, I didn’t configure it for years. The UI is smarter and less arcane than something like irssi, and if you enable mouse support it can be downright modern. Running it remotely like this limits some features but as long as you don’t mind jumping through a few hoops to do filesharing, IRC is really great like this.
One of the big ones is the ability to do that double-pane thing, I can keep an eye on two channels at once (really as many as I can cram on my screen, but usually two) which is great when you want to browse channels while talking in your home channel.
It also has a good array of remote access tools, from what I’m running up there, just weechat running on my server inside tmux connected over mosh for low-latency SSH, to weechat-relay, a relay protocol built in to weechat. At the moment relay only supports android phones and the glowingbear web client, but I’ve never really looked around since both of those cover all my needs. Easily one of the best ways to get IRC on a modern mobile device, barring maybe IRCCloud.
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kumeko · 3 years ago
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A/N: for the @quarantinefanzine! I wanted to do a little compare and contrast for Tanjirou and Yushiro in a modern au
Tanjirou loved his home. A two-bedroom apartment, it was a small, cozy place, barely big enough for three people let alone his family of eight. Books, clothes, and knick-knacks claimed every inch of space, cluttering the modest place. Things were precariously stacked on one another, one loud sound away from crashing to the ground.
His classmates found it claustrophobic. He found their bedrooms lonely in comparison. Tanjirou woke up surrounded by a mess of limbs, ate to the sound of a dozen conversations, and laughed every minute of his life. His home was a messy, disorganized place, but it was home and it was his and he’d never needed anything more than that.
However, he had greatly underestimated just how much he relied on his school as a buffer zone to get things done. Thanks to covid, Tanjirou was stuck inside his apartment with all five of his siblings twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week. Hopefully not 365 days a year.
It was like babysitting, except it never stopped. Tanjirou had managed all of his siblings before; as the oldest two, he and Nezuko had spent most of their weekday evenings juggling school and siblings. A few hours at most, until his parents dragged themselves home, tired and worn.
Now the hours rolled into days rolled into months. Spring had turned into fall and he wasn’t sure what happened to summer. School had started again. His table was cluttered with textbooks and lined papers and increasingly tiny pencils. Tanjirou had never been a good student on the best of days. Now? Impossible. The numbers swam as he stared at the desktop computer, trying to make sense of it all.
“Tanjirou.” A little hand tugged his sleeve and Tanjirou glanced down to find Rokuta staring up at him, his eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned. He ducked down slightly so they were on the same eye level. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Rokuta nodded. He fiddled with his thumbs nervously, looking down at his feet as he asked, “Could you play with me?”
“Play?” Tanjirou resisted the urge to wince. At just five, Rokuta didn’t really have ‘school’ to attend. His teachers held his attention for maybe an hour or two before releasing him. The only other solution was the TV.
Unfortunately, their walls were paper thin. If it was hard to study now, it would be impossible with Baby Shark running through his head. Rubbing his neck, Tanjirou ran through the checklist Nezuko came up with, “Did you read your book?”
Rokuta nodded. “Two times.”
“Your dolls?”
“They had a fight.”
“Your puppets?”
“They’re under the couch.”
“Oh.” Tanjirou bit his cheek. Just what did they have left for him to do? “What about the paper cup castle?”
Once more, his brother nodded, though this time he rocked back and forth on his feet excitedly. “It’s so big!” He spread his arms to indicate just how big his castle was. “Can we smash it?”
He peeked at his computer’s time. Ten thirty. Tanjirou had barely scratched his homework. After a long play before they’d started school, he’d hoped Rokuta would have been fine till lunch, but clearly that wasn’t the case today. Ruffling his brother’s hair, Tanjirou asked, “Can we play in thirty minutes?”
“Huh?” Rokuta trembled, his eyes watery.
“You can get things set up,” he hastily suggested. As the youngest, Tanjirou was never certain if Rokuta’s tears were real or if he’d realized all too quickly how powerful they were, but he didn’t want to find out. “We need your cars.”
Considering how quickly Rokuta beamed at him after, it was probably the latter. “Okay!”
With a sigh, Tanjirou watched as his brother scampered off to their shared bedroom, no doubt having to unearth his cars from under the multiple piles of laundry. Which was yet another to-do item he had to finish later. Running a hand through his hair, he glanced around the living room to see what the rest of his siblings were doing.
Shigeru was nowhere in sight; he was probably in the bathroom or taking a nap somewhere. Seated around a low table, Hanako hesitantly answered her homework while a frustrated Takeo glared at his. Nezuko sat between the two, checking from page to the other as she corrected them.
Catching his stare, she smiled apologetically and mouthed, Sorry.
Tanjirou shook his head sympathetically, mouthing back, It’s fine.
It wasn’t like it was her fault that their mother had to work two jobs, leaving them to take care of the house. It wasn’t like it was her fault their father was in the hospital, battling for his life. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really, that they had four siblings and one computer and had to somehow balance school and babysitting between the two of them.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault, and somehow that made it harder. There was no one to blame, to direct this helpless anger at. Instead, it simmered within him, trapped. It was hard to stay positive, to act strong, when fear and rage boiled within.
“You want the blue car?” Rokuta shouted, his voice piercing through Tanjirou’s gloomy thoughts.
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Tanjirou replied, “Yeah!”
“Awesome!”
They’d done this everyday now, and somehow Rokuta still managed to sound enthusiastic about it all. He had to be bored of it by now, yet he always found a new way to play the same game. In the face of that, how could Tanjirou do any less? He squashed down his feelings, pushing them aside. It wasn’t like everything was bad, after all.
He still had his mother. His siblings. A place to live and food to eat. Despite it all, he had almost everything that was important to him. Tanjirou could handle anything else life threw his way.
Even this confusing homework.
“Alright.” Tanjirou slapped his cheeks, pumping himself up. He could do this. It was just a bunch of numbers that had to follow some silly rules. Stretching his arms above him, he cracked his knuckles before hunching over the computer once more.
-x-
Yushiro loved his home. Or rather, he loved Tamayo and since they lived together, he loved her home too. It was a big house, maybe too big for just the two of them; there were studies and guestrooms that had a fine layer of dust after being forgotten for a week. Still, it was her house, with every room soaked in her essence, and he never wanted to move. Even on the days when she had to go to the hospital, he never felt too alone. All it took was a glance at the living room to picture her elegant pose as she ate, or the kitchen to see her confused frown as she tried to cook. A single memory and the house felt full as he waited impatiently for her shift to finish.
Well, not that he was alone in the first place; there was Chachamaru, their cat. Sometimes, he was certain Chachamaru knew more than she let on, but that was a silly thought. She was just a cat. Cats didn’t know anything. Like right now, the fact that she was sitting on his laptop was because she found it warm, and not because she was getting revenge for this morning.
“I’m sorry I forgot your breakfast,” he apologized, just in case. “Now get off, my class is starting.”
Chachamaru gave him a blank look and yawned, revealing all of her sharp teeth. Was that a threat? He wasn’t certain. While she always got along with Tamayo, she seemed to only barely tolerate him.
“There’s other rooms,” he pointed out, feeling a little ridiculous as he argued with her. Yushiro gestured behind him at the hallway. “We live in a big house. You can pick literally any other room. Do you need me to list them to you? Take you to them? I’ll do it.”
She still looked utterly unimpressed, before laying her head flat on his laptop.
Time to bring out the big guns. Yushiro glared at her one last time. Chachamaru didn’t so much as stir. His killing intent just wasn’t strong enough. With a sigh, he left the room and padded down the hallway toward the kitchen. There was only one way to ensure he’d get his laptop back, and that was his secret stash of catnip.
The house was quiet as he walked through it. One time, he’d brought his classmates over for a project, and Tanjirou couldn’t get over how silent it was. Apparently his home was a zoo, filled with shouts and crying. Hoards of ugly children ran through it, taking over the tiny apartment. Anywhere without Tamayo was a desolate, dark place, but Tanjirou’s home especially so. Yushiro wouldn’t be able to handle it.
He preferred the quiet—it was warm and comfortable. There was nothing better than the evenings he and Tamayo spent together, reading a book or filling out forms. The only sounds were the rustling of paper, the scraping of a pencil, the soft purring of Chachamaru. Even without words, they understood each other, and sometimes he and Tamayo would exchange smiles, like they were sharing a private joke.
Yushiro flipped the lights on as he stepped into the kitchen. Tamayo’s hastily discarded apron lay messily on the table and he chuckled as he hung it back on its proper hook.
“You overslept this morning,” he murmured, staring at the flower patterns. He’d bought it as a gift years ago, and the fabric was now covered in soya sauce and oil stains.
Tamayo didn’t reply. She couldn’t, not until her shift finished, not until she was forced to take a break from the hospital.
He preferred the quiet, but not the emptiness. Stuck inside the house, he was alone more often than not, with Tamayo taking longer and longer hours as she tried to save just one more person. It was frightening. It was terrifying. The scars on her face only deepened as each day passed and he wondered how long it would be before they were permanent.
How long it would be before she stopped coming home.
A shiver ran through his spine at that last thought, and he hugged himself. Rubbing his arms, he tried to warm up, but the chill persisted. Yushiro wasn’t naïve; he’d watched the news. He’d heard the stories. Tamayo doused herself in sanitizers and soap and even then she made sure to stay a safe distance from him whenever they ate.
Even the memory of her hugs were fading now.
Something warm circled his feet and he looked down to find Chachamaru brushing her head against his ankles with a soft meow. “Finally bored of my laptop?” he asked, his voice cracking.
She meowed again, rubbing against him insistently. When he crouched, she jumped into his arms and nuzzled his neck. Her whiskers tickled his throat.
“I thought you didn’t like me,” he mumbled, pressing his face into her warm fur as he sat on the cold kitchen tiles. She purred in response. “Is that a yes?”
Chachamaru was a pain in the ass and would sit on his laptop tomorrow. She’d scratch him when he didn’t wake up in time for breakfast or nip at his ankles when she was annoyed at him.
But she was also a part of his family, however reluctant he was to admit that, and maybe it wasn’t all that bad to have someone other than Tamayo in his life. To have someone he could cry to and share his fears and not have to worry about adding to Tamayo’s already heavy shoulders.
“Can we stay like this? For a little while?” he asked.
Chachamaru licked his tears in response.
When he finally sat down for class, she stayed on his lap like a portable heater. It was hard to feel scared with her constant purring. Hard to feel alone with her weight on his thighs.
“Hey, Yushiro,” Tanjirou asked on Zoom, his hands clasped in front of him. “Could you help me?”
“Sure,” he replied charitably.
He didn’t mind the company for once.
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joon-ipersgirl · 4 years ago
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O5 - “the coveted client”
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genre: mafia!au, angst, fluff, slow burn, mystery-thriller
pairing: namjoon x reader (f)
word count: 4.6k
warnings: cursing
summary: charismatic. beautiful. fearless without question. the ambitious team of seven young men in charge of spiral, downtown district's hottest new club, go above and beyond to provide 100% satisfaction to their clients.
after an eventful night out, you have no choice but to join the team for property damages greater than your intern salary. challenging a series of events that can no longer be left to coincidence, secrets threaten to burst at the seams as your professional and private life collide, and another - more sinister - debt is added to your total.
how far are you willing to go to pay back your pound of flesh? remember nothing is ever as it seems...
a/n: hello friends. here is part 5. leave a comment on how you're feeling about this story. i'm debating on discontinuing it from tumblr. thank you vi for reading as always. enjoy everyone :)
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full masterlist // series masterlist // previous // next
Training tonight @ 6pm. Don’t be late. You read the incoming text with a grin. Even in text, Suga is straight to the point. Shoving your phone back into your pants pocket, you leave the small kitchenette and head back to your small desk with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. You can still remember the looks of horror on the boys’ faces after Suga announced your immediate hire and it’s been two weeks since then. Was it wrong to take pleasure in their discomfort? Probably. Would you stop? Never.
“Is that a smile I spy on Miss Y/N Y/L/N’s face? The Devil must be here to collect his wife,” Paul exclaims as you sit back down. You laugh and prop your chin on your hand as you stare at him over your desktop screen.
“Can a woman not just be happy, Paul? Why does it have to come at the expense of a man?” you ask, a fake feign of hurt in your voice.
“Of course women can. Just not you,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. You shake your head, your smile still present on your face. Paul would not ruin your good mood.
“Ouch. That one might have hurt if I actually gave a fuck about your opinion of me,” you say while reorganizing the folders Manager Kim had dropped onto your desk from the day before.
“Y/N! Language!” Laura chides as she walks into your cramped office space. You roll your eyes and flip through the countless papers on your desk to order them in order of priority.
It’s honestly a miracle that none of you manage to murder each other while you work though it’s crossed your mind several times. JM Events and Affairs is a lucrative event planning company, but apparently could not afford to at least place its clerks in a room larger than 500 sq ft. Being entry level is a struggle most days, but eventually it would all pay off and you would become a successful event planning guru. For now though, you’re stuck here with the imbeciles you had to call co-workers.
“Manager Kim wants to see us in her office,” James says as he pokes his head around the wall of the cubicle, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. “Now,” he emphasised. He doesn’t wait for you to follow.
Paul shoots you and Laura a raised brow of confusion as you grab your notepads and file down the long corridor to Manager Kim’s well decorated office. She’s an older woman who’s been in the business longer than you’ve been alive. She credits her success to always staying ahead of the trend even if she didn’t create it, though most times she did. Her style is impeccable and she is meticulous as she is jovial. She’s, quite simply, a genius.
James has already taken a seat in one of the two plush grey chairs in front of her large, industrial sized desk. Rows of colorful binders are organized on her desk - no doubt detailing the new events the company is planning on hosting. Manager Kim enjoys the arts and it’s evident from the variety of paintings that hang on the wall. Today, she’s dressed in a powder blue knit sweater that matches whatever shade of nail polish she wears tucked into a pair of belted, high waisted wide leg pants. Her matching steel toe boots peek from underneath.
“Ah, good. You’re all here,” she begins as she sits behind her desk. You gesture for Laura to take the other available seat as you stand behind James and Paul stands next to you.
“We have a new client considering the company for an event. He’s very important for future networking opportunities so I expect the very best work from you.” Manger Kim usually wasted no time getting straight to the point and today is no different. “In fact, I’ve been monitoring your work very closely because I knew a client like this would be coming very soon,” she stands from her desk, navy blue binder in hand.
“What kind of event is he planning on having?” James inquires, his pen ready to take notes.
“He didn’t give specific details, but I’m sure if we can book him for this minor event, he’ll give us the main one. I’m quite sure of it.” Manager Kim snaps the binder shut and smiles at you all. Her white blonde bob is immaculate, not a single strand out of place.
“Should we start drafting ideas now?” Laura asks.
“Yes, I need several drafts from each of you by 4pm this afternoon. Please have them -”
“Are we just supposed to forget about the other events we have coming up? This guy didn’t even give us any major details for effective planning!” Paul interrupts. Manager Kim turns to look at him.
“Well Paul, if this client is of no importance to you -” Paul tries to backtrack, but to no avail as Manager Kim continues on “- I will not need your drafts or your portfolio.” She beams at him and Paul blanches. You grimace.
“As I was saying. Please have your portfolios and 4 drafts submitted to me by 4pm today. They should be in priority order and include everything from food to colors, entertainment and venues. Remember, the customers knows best -”
“- but finesse, finesse, finesse,” you, Paul, James, and Laura finish. Manager Kim should have that framed and put on her wall.
“Lovely. Goodbye,” she waves no longer looking at you, already lost in her grueling event editing process. You knew better than to loiter and the four of you head back to your small workspace.
“You really fucked up there Paul,” you say as you sit down at your desk.
“Thanks, Y/N,” Paul deadpans. He drops his head quite heavily on his desk. Laura winces.
“It’s okay, Paul. Maybe you can still show her something and -” she starts.
“You know Manager Kim isn’t the forgiving kind,” James interrupts. “There’s nothing more he can do,” he finishes nonchalantly.
“I hate to agree -” you begin.
“No you don’t,” Paul cuts in.
“- but James is right. Manager Kim is all about quick thinking and Paul failed that test. He’ll have another time to redeem himself, but he has to sit this one out. You should be happy, Laura. Less competition,” you say with a shrug and flip open your notepad to start drafting.
“Do you even have an empathetic bone in your body, Y/N?!” Laura hisses as she walks over to rest a hand on Paul’s shoulder.
“Sometimes,” you reply. “But everyone has to eat and I refuse to go to sleep on an empty stomach.”
Laura looks disgusted at your answer and she goes back to consoling Paul. James had left the conversation a long time ago and you admired his ability to ignore almost everyone around him. His coldness and detachment made him ruthless in an unsuspecting way and you’d learned the hard way not to underestimate him. Laura would learn eventually that while people thought it was the strong who survived, it was really those who were able to adapt to any environment that really thrived.
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It’s after lunch that you receive an email from Manager Kim requesting for you to meet her in the lobby in fifteen minutes without any further explanation. You ask no questions and sit in the lobby, counting the people that come out of the elevator that were not Manager Kim. It’s already 1:24 pm and you’ve just started your third draft. Creating on a time crunch with no real guidance is no walk in the park and you try to keep your frustrations under control as you run through possible color combinations for the event.
“Y/N! There you are! Let’s go,” Manager Kim calls as she exits the building without checking to see if you follow.
You scramble to grab your purse and notepad, scurrying across the lobby in the high heels she insists you wear. Manager Kim is already seated in a company car as you yank the passenger side door open and fall into the seat.
“Very good,” she says and wastes no time pulling into traffic. You awkwardly try to secure your seatbelt as she zips through the small spaces between cars. Gods protect you from this woman and her hazardous driving.
“Where are we going?” you ask after you manage to situate your purse, coat, and notepad in your lap comfortably.
“Downtown. We’re meeting with the client.”
“We?!” you repeat, surprised.
“That’s what I said isn’t it? We’re also late,” she says as she makes a sharp right turn onto Matthews St. You barely miss hitting a cyclist and you send up another small prayer for you to make it to your destination safely.
“What about the drafts and portfolios? Aren’t you going to review -”
“Did I say I wasn’t?” She glances over at you from the corner of her eye and you close your mouth. You would not fail this test.
Manager Kim pulls over into an impossibly tight space in front of a large corporate building that reads Hastings and Lewis. A well established law firm if you remember correctly. It has to be at least 14 stories high and exudes the architect’s vision of simple modern design with large windows and exposed steel structural support. You both exit the car and you align your steps with hers, your heels clicking in time against the marble flooring as you enter the building. You say good afternoon to the doorman who simply nods at you in greeting.
“Hello. How can I help you?” the receptionist asks behind the raised desk, her head barely visible.
“Yes, hello. My name is Madeline Kim. I have an appointment to speak with Mr. Cavallero at 2:15pm.” You glance at the clock behind the receptionist. 1:53pm. You bite your lip to hold your outburst. To be early is to be on time, you could hear her say.
The receptionist smiles and nods as she searches her computer for the appointment. “Yes, here it is. Please have a seat. Someone will come and get you shortly.”
Manager Kim nods and perches in one of the available seats. You shake your head as you take a seat next to her, ignoring the itching in your palm to pull out your notepad and finish your drafts. You can tell by the way Manager Kim is sitting, not scrolling through her various binders or the calendar on her phone, this is a formal interview and you would not be the one to fuck it up. There would be time to finish the drafts. You would make sure of it.
“Ms. Kim?” A young man in a sharp, black suit stands in the center of the room smiling at you. 2:05pm. Right on time. “If you could follow me this way, please.” He turns towards the golden elevators and you follow behind him. “My name is Lewis Carlisle and I am the assistant to Mr. Cavallero,” he tells you as he pushes the button for the 10th floor. He sticks his hand out for each of you to shake.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Carlisle. Thank you for having us. This is my assistant, Ms. Amani Jung.” A lie, but you go with it.
“A pleasure to meet you,” you say with a bright smile and a firm handshake. He returns a smile of his own.
The elevator doors open and you follow Mr. Carlisle through the open workspace plan. This is the kind of place that promoted collaboration and teamwork. How could it not when the light airy feeling made you want to turn to your neighbor and ask them what they thought about a particular problem? JM Events and Affairs should have hired their interior designer. Maybe some of their employees wouldn’t struggle as much to meet their deadlines.
“Mr. Cavellero unfortunately will not be able to meet with you in person today -” Manager Kim’s smile tightens at his words “- but he did relay all of his expectations for the company brunch,” Lewis says as he holds open the door to a small meeting room. It’s in the center of the floor and the walls are made of pure plexiglass. It screamed expensive.
“How wonderful,” Manager Kim comments as she sits down and sets her purse down on the ground.
“Would either of you like something to drink? Water? A Coke?”
“ A water with light ice will do, thank you,” she says.
“I’ll take a bottle of water, please,” you reply and sit down beside Madeline. You discreetly pull out your design notepad along with your actual note-taking pad. Lewis nods and promises to return quickly with your drinks as well as the file containing the event details.
“You seem upset,” you comment while scribbling down the words brunch and law firm onto a new blank sheet for your fourth and final draft, your brain already conjuring up ideas.
“What makes you think that?” she asks, turning to you slightly as she too sets up her own note-taking station.
“Your smile failed to meet your eyes,” you say nonchalantly. From the corner of your eye, you see her break into a grin as Lewis enters the room, a cup of water in one hand, a bottle in the other, and a slim manilla folder tucked underneath his arm.
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“Thank you again, Mr. Carlisle,” Manager Kim says with another bright smile, her hand in his as they shake hands again.
“You’re very welcome. I’m sure Mr. Cavallero will love what you put together for brunch,” he replies.
The meeting seems to be a success and you’d gained some much needed insight for your fourth draft while being Madeline’s “assistant”. You’re no longer paying attention as you exit the meeting room and head back towards the main elevator, Madeline and Lewis making polite conversation. You run over all of your drafts as you check the time discreetly. It’s 3:20pm. You would still have enough time to review your plans and work on the others files Manager Kim had assigned. You grin in victory.
“Mr. Cavallero!” Lewis exclaims as the elevator doors open.
The man is an older gentleman with neatly groomed hair and warm brown eyes. His coal grey suit is neatly pressed, a sharp crease present in the center of his pant leg. Definitely high quality and only dry-cleaned. His smile displays a set of perfect of white teeth. As he steps out of the elevator, holding it open so it wouldn’t close, the Armani Exchange watch glitters under the artificial lights.
“Mr. Carlisle. I assume this must be our event coordinators. I’m sorry I couldn’t meet with you. An emergency meeting was called for a major case,” he apologizes.
“I understand, Mr. Cavallero. Things are sometimes out of our control. No need to explain,” Madeline says with a smile as she enters the elevator. You follow behind her. “Mr. Carlisle was quite capable. I will have Miss Y/L/N send over the final details for the event by Friday for your approval.”
Mr. Cavallero’s eyes shift over to you and he smiles. “I look forward to it. Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies.” He let the doors go as Lewis tells you goodbye, the doors closing off the last of his words.
Manager Kim’s shoulders visibly relax as you descend to the lobby, but you make no comment. Though their conversation was brief, something had clearly transpired between them. Madeline seems to have noticed you watching her as she inhales and fixes her posture. She was back to business.
“I assume I don’t have to tell you not to say anything about this meeting?” she asks as she nods her thanks to the doorman, your steps once more in sync as you exit the high rise building.
“What meeting?” You say with a grin as you wait for her to unlock the company car.
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The heat of the staircase in Spiral welcomes you again like a familiar friend after not seeing them for a long time. There is still the hustle and bustle of vendors dropping off boxes as the final details of the new designs are being put into place. People couldn’t wait to see how Spiral had fared after the robbery - which you still didn’t believe was actually what happened - and it seems like Friday’s opening night couldn’t come soon enough. Even Paul and Laura were considering stopping by after all of the shit they talked before.
You enter the main space and glance around, looking for one of the boys. Your purse bag is heavy from the event files and you head over to set it on top of the bar while resting your aching feet. Paul, Laura, and James could not believe you’d managed to turn in your drafts and portfolio at exactly 3:57pm after being gone so long; they would eventually learn to not underestimate you. You glance around again and notice a group of people sitting in one of the newly upholstered booths quietly chatting to one another across the way. Were these the new employees?
“Already lounging on the first day of the job, Y/L/N?”
You look to your left as you shrug off your heavy overcoat and see Honcho coming around the bar, a pile of clothes in his hands.
“Of course not. I just wasn’t sure who to report to,” you say with a shrug.
“Well, you’re looking at him,” he replies with a grin. You have to stop your mouth from falling open. Of all people, it had to be him? “What? Are you disappointed?” he asks as he continues across the room to the small group. You grab your stuff and walk over after him.
“No, I just thought -”
“Thought it would be Suga? As much as you like to charge in and demand shit sweetheart, Suga is a very busy man and doesn’t have the time to appease you all the time. Sit,” he commands with a jerk of his head. You narrow your eyes at him, but obey. It’s only then that you notice the other five persons staring at you in confusion as you bickered. You swallow the urge to huff in annoyance as Honcho begins speaking.
“Thank you all for being on time. Congratulations on being hired. I’m Honcho and I’ll be your manager at Spiral. You’ll meet the rest of the guys later. These are your uniforms. We have a strict adherence uniform policy, so please do your best to be dressed in your proper attire. If you have long hair, it will be tied up or back in a bun or ponytail. Ladies, we ask that you wear red lipstick to match our colors. We’ve also given you options for bottoms: a skirt or pants.” Honcho holds up a pair of each for demonstration. “Whatever you decide to wear is up to you. We only ask that all your shoes are closed toed and we would prefer no sneakers; we’re trying to sell a vibe here. Any questions?” He doesn’t wait for anyone to speak up. “No? Great. If you could introduce yourselves to each other, that’d be fantastic.” He looks over to the boy on the other side of the booth.
“Uh, hi. My name is Micah. I’m 21 and recently graduated from college.” He tosses up a small wave before pushing his glasses further up his nose. He’s narrow shouldered and naturally blonde. Cute, if you will. They would chew him up and eat him alive if he continued to be so timid.
“Hey, I’m Luca. I’m 23 and a graduate student at Oberman.” Luca definitely fit the vibe Spiral os going for with his dark hair and dark eyes. He would have no problem wooing the numerous women who would walk through the door. A great business move in your opinion.
“Hey y’all, Savannah here. I’m 22 and working part time while in school.” Another blonde hair, blue-eyed coworker. How fun. The bubbles in champagne had nothing on her as she beams at the rest of you around the table.
“I’m Jack. I’m 24 and I guess I’m here to save up for a new car? Need some extra cash,” he finishes with a bashful grin. The girl next to you snorts. Jack is a big man with broad shoulders and you would assume he was hired as additional security based on his size. Imagine a man as big as him bringing over your strawberry mojito? Exactly.
“Giselle. 21. Law student. Loans have to pay themself off somehow right?” Luca laughs and Giselle smiles. Yuck. If you weren’t already sick of the office romance - if you could call it that - between Laura and Paul at JM, you were going to have to endure another one here? Gods be with you.
“Y/N Y/L/N. I’m 22 and an event planner,” you say nonchalantly and turn to Honcho, waiting for his next instructions.
“Not going to tell us the reason you’re here?” he smirks and you roll your eyes.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
“I’d like a lot of things, Y/L/N. In fact, I can think of a few -”
“Gross,” you say, interrupting him, your face turned down in disgust. He laughs.
“Always think someone wants something from you, huh?” He shakes his head, still chuckling. “Everyone, go get changed and I’ll explain your duties to you once you get back.”
The six of you ease out of the booth, grabbing your uniforms as you head to the restrooms to get changed. As you follow Savannah and Giselle, you can’t help but scan the hallway for anything you could have missed as the memory of your second night here flashed across your mind. There had to be something that you were missing.
“I hope these uniforms are cute,” Giselle grumbles as she steps into an empty stall.
“I’m sure it’ll look great,” Savannah chirps.
You step into your own individual stall and drop your stuff on the floor. Slipping out of your heels, you step out of your slacks and tug off your blouse. You hold up the uniform shirt. It’s a plain black t-shirt with the letters in red spelling out Spiral in a spiral formation. The pants are made of a faux leather shiny material. They look tight and the sides have cut outs with strings laced in them from hip to ankle. The skirt is exactly the same. You sigh. This was really the vibe?
You dress quickly and tug on your Doc Martens. Honcho would have to wait for the lipstick. Exiting the stall, you see Savannah trying to adjust the strings on her pants while chewing her lip.
“Is it supposed to be this exposed?” she asks, checking herself out in the mirror.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Giselle says exiting the stall and tugging down the hem of her skirt.
“So much for equality in the workplace huh?” you say. The two of them laugh.
The three of you return to the main space, Micah, Luca, and Jack already back at the booth with Honcho. Their eyes widen when they see you.
“Looking good ladies,” Honcho calls with his traditional large grin. Of course he would comment.
“Yeah, yeah. What’s next?” Giselle asks as she wiggles her way back into the booth, trying to cover her modesty.
“We’re going to take a tour of the facilities, get you acquainted with the space, and fill out the last pieces of paperwork. We’ll also have you help with some of the decorations; don’t worry, you’re going to get paid for this session. Then, we’ll see you on Friday for your shifts,” he replies. “Alright, let’s go.”
Again, he doesn’t wait for you to follow. As you’re setting your belongings down to catch up with the rest of the group, you spot Jin heading towards the bar. Just the man who you needed to see.
“Are you coming Y/N?” Savannah calls to you as the group heads up to the second level.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there!” you lie, knowing damn well you’re going to ambush Jin. You pretend to search for something in your purse as you double-check the group is far enough on the second level to not notice you not following before you head over to Jin.
“Well hello Jin,” you say as you wiggle your way onto a bar stool.
“Y/N,” he says with a chuckle. “What can I do for you?”
“Just answer a few simple questions.” you smile as you rest your chin on your palm.
“Alright,” he replied skeptically.
“Where’d you move the body?” The bottle of Aperol nearly slips out of his grip as he turns to look at you.
“Excuse me?” There’s no laughter in his voice.
“The body of the man in the bathroom,” you clarify. “How’d you get it to disappear like that?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replies, busying himself with stocking up the bottles of alcohol under the shelf. He won’t meet your eyes. You know he’s lying; his body language says it all.
“Oh come on, Jin. You can tell me. It’s not like I’m going to go to the cops or anything,” you say nonchalantly. “Clearly they didn’t seem to care since they weren’t that thorough with their questions.”
“Y/N, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. You were concussed remember? Maybe you imagined whoever you’re talking about.” He glances up at you. You roll your eyes.
“Really Jin? You’re going to use the concussion line on me? You knew that I shot him; I told you that. I just want to know where you put him and why there were no reports of a missing man from the incident on the news at all,” you say with a shrug. He finally turns to face you.
“Maybe nobody reported him missing. Maybe he slipped out after you ducked behind the bar. What does it matter? Look, it was a traumatic night. For all of us. I don’t know anything about whatever or whoever you’re talking about. Hell, you probably don’t know either. Please, don’t make this working relationship anymore difficult for yourself than it already is. Just come in, keep your head down, and head out.” His hands are splayed out on the bar and the distance between you has closed significantly from when he’d started talking as he stares you down. “Worry about the things that concern you, like repaying your debt.” His tone is sharp and final. There’s no friendliness in his face either.
“Y/L/N! You’re not getting paid to sit on that pretty little ass of yours. Get up here now!” Honcho yelles down to you over the railing of the second floor balcony.
Ignoring Honcho, you cock your head and look at Jin again, thinking. “Okay Jin. Heard you loud and clear.”
You hop off the bar stool and adjust your skirt. You say nothing further as you head upstairs. It seems as though Jin would be of no help to you, but honestly, it didn’t matter. If it didn’t concern you, why was Jin lying about knowing what man you were talking about? Why had Suga tried to discreetly cover up that paper in his office the other day? What was really going on at Spiral? You’re determined to figure it, even if you have to work extra hours to do it. What happens in the dark must eventually come to light.
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joon-ipersgirl, 2020
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jarienn972 · 4 years ago
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Weathering the Storm - Part Three
When I started writing this story months ago, I had the events all plotted out and honestly planned to finish writing it over the course of a few weeks. Unfortunately, the stresses of real life got in the way and I all but abandoned writing for a while. I'm finally getting back to a place where I can form complete, coherent sentences again so I'm getting a few new chapters out for my WIP stories. In this chapter, we're picking up from Emma's POV again as she tries to figure out why Killian has yet to return or contact her amidst the severe thunderstorms pounding Storybrooke.
Since it’s been quite a while since the last chapter was posted, you can catch up here on Tumblr - Part 1  Part 2  All 3 parts are also available on AO3 and FF.net
Was this storm ever going to end? Emma found herself wondering as she silently cursed the rain that continued to pelt Main Street. The typically bustling street itself was already looking more akin to a swollen creek than a roadway as the storm drains overflowed. Mini rivers of rainwater gushed along the curbs in search of an outlet while they flowed towards the harbor.
The power had flickered a few times but still wasn't coming back on. She figured there were likely some lines down around town due to the strong wind gusts or maybe even a blown transformer somewhere that overloaded the grid. Anything was possible with the severely outdated infrastructure around here. They really needed to conjure some upgraded utility systems in Storybrooke but no one ever seemed to get around to it.
A thought crossed her mind about the possibility of controlling the weather with her magic before she sighed somberly and closed the blinds covering the station's front window. No use sitting out here watching the rain falling, she thought as she made the short stroll back to her office determined to try reaching Killian, either by phone or over the radio. Maybe it wasn't raining as bad on the other side of town…?
Her backside had barely settled onto her chair when the vibration of her cell phone on the desktop startled her. She spun about and snatched it up in hopes that she'd see her husband's name on the screen. Her excitement immediately diminished when she noticed that it was her father calling instead.
"Hi, Dad," she answered, trying to disguise the disappointment in her voice. "What's up? Are you staying dry out there on the farm?"
"Very funny…," he groaned over the crackling connection. "We've got more than an inch of water in the barn and a lake where the garden should be, but that's not why I'm calling. Were either of you out patrolling on County Highway 2?"
"Killian was headed out to Zelena's place earlier. Somebody threw a brick through her living room window so he went out to get her statement and see if it might have been related to the recent string of vandalism around town. He left here about two hours or so ago, maybe a little longer… Why do you ask?"
"Because our favorite melodramatic dwarf just stopped by here to say that he drove by the cruiser out there while on his way into town. He said it was parked on the side of the highway and appeared to be running, but he didn't see anyone in it. Of course, we are talking about Leroy so he could have been exaggerating... But since this seemed to have bothered him enough to stop here and tell me about it - although not enough to get out and take an actual look at the cruiser - it got me a little concerned, so I figured I should check with you…" David knew he was rambling but he also noticed Emma's hesitation before replying.
"I've been trying to reach Killian but he hasn't answered. I was actually hoping it was him when you called…"
"You've tried the radio?"
"Of course, I have," she snapped back in frustration, but she tempered her ire before continuing. "I figured he got stuck out at Zelena's. With the power out all over town and the already crappy cell phone service out there, he might not have been able to call…" But then why would the cruiser be out on the side of the highway running? "Did Leroy happen to say how long ago he saw the car?"
"Just a few minutes ago. Maybe ten? Fifteen?" David replied. "Look, I can drive out there and see what's going on if you'd like…"
"No, Dad. I'll go check it out."
"Emma, my truck will handle these flooded roads better than that little Bug of yours."
"I wasn't planning on driving," she informed him as she hurried to collect her still-damp leather jacket. "I'll poof out there and take a look. Hopefully I'll be able to see what's going on but I could still use your help. Could you come here to the station? Henry's here with me waiting out the storm since the station generator at least gives us some lights. He might need a ride home…"
"Why don't I just stay there at the station? I could help field any calls that might come in…"
"Dad…"
"No arguments. I'm volunteering," he insisted.
"Okay, okay… I'll let Henry know you're coming. Thanks for the help."
"That's what family is for. Now get out there and see what's going on with the cruiser and that husband of yours."
David disconnected the call as Emma tugged on her jacket. She pocketed her phone, not particularly keen on going back out into this lousy storm but she had to find out why Leroy saw the cruiser parked on the side of the road but no Killian inside it. First though, she needed to tell Henry she was leaving and before she could even take a step towards the break room, she spied her son rounding the corner.
Sometimes this kid really did have a sixth sense she didn't fully understand.
"Who was that you were talking to? Was it Killian?" he asked as he approached.
"No, it was David. I have to head out to investigate something that just came up. He's coming here to help man the office until either Killian or I get back."
"Must be something pretty serious for you to go out again in this weather…"
"I honestly don't know yet," she answered, trying to be as vague as possible so the boy wouldn't worry. "That's why I'm going to go check it out. Just stay here and stay inside, even if the rain lets up."
"The only place I'd even think about going right now would be Granny's. I'm getting pretty hungry and at least she could throw together a sandwich…"
"You can raid my snack drawer," she chuckled. "I'm not going to worry about you spoiling your dinner tonight."
"Okay! Good luck with your investigation."
"Thanks, kid. I've got a feeling I'm going to need it…" she lamented as she gave a slight flick of her wrist and vanished in a puff of grey smoke.
**********
Brow knitted in a blend of confusion and apprehension, she approached the vehicle with caution. It might be the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a thunderstorm, but this was still Storybrooke. She'd learned the hard way that anything could happen here at any time so a Savior-Sheriff had to be prepared. While she didn't see anything out of the ordinary through the rear window, aside from the fact there were no visible heads above the seats, she wasn't going to rush.
"Killian?" she called out as she inched towards the car, sloshing through puddles that were soaking through her boots. If she'd come all the way out here to find him curled up sleeping in the back seat of the cruiser…
Only she found the back seat empty once she finally had a view through the side window and the front seat was unoccupied as well. A quick glance through the driver's side window revealed the keys in the ignition as expected but it also appeared that the dash camera had been turned on. So, this was a traffic stop? Then where in the hell was her husband?
Her first instinct was to yank open the driver's side door and climb inside but her instincts led her to take a moment and do a precursory inspection of the scene first. While the rain would have washed away any tire tracks or footprints, her gut told her that there might be other clues and it didn't take long for her to locate the first one when the toe of her boot kicked something out of a puddle next to the front tire.
Something that looked strangely like a cell phone.
She discarded the currently useless umbrella as she stooped to retrieve the phone and winced as she sliced open the pad of her thumb on a sliver of shattered glass. She wasn't surprised to find that the device was dead, which could have resulted from it hitting the ground, but the damage was definitely hastened by the rain. Killian must have dropped it. That's why he wasn't answering the calls. It just didn't explain his disappearance.
Placing the useless phone onto the hood of the cruiser, she continued her survey of the area and walked around to the front of the car. She noted that the passenger side tire was flat which provided another small clue. Trying to change a flat tire during a thunderstorm with one hand and a hook wouldn't have been a safe thing to do, but this small fact raised as many questions as it answered. She lifted her head and stared out at the expanse of dense forest that extended for miles on either side of the highway although she couldn't imagine that Killian would have been crazy enough to venture out there in this weather, even if it was in pursuit of a suspect.
No, there had to be some other explanation. Some important piece of this puzzle was missing, she thought as she tugged open the passenger side door of the car and flopped onto the seat, thankful to be out of the rain for even just a little while. Her eyes immediately went to the dashcam that, from outside of the car, had appeared to be recording. Up close, she could see that the Recording light was indeed illuminated although the LED display screen had turned off. She'd only had these things installed in the cruiser and in the Bug a few months ago so she wasn't entirely sure if the screen was in standby mode or if it was malfunctioning, but she was thankful that at least Killian had remembered to turn the thing on.
She fumbled with different buttons surrounding the screen for a few tense moments trying to figure out how to make it stop recording and switch to playback. She really should have read the whole manual when she put these in... There wasn't time to hunt through it right now but somehow, she managed to get it working. As the screen lit up, the grainy, black and white display showed that there was two hours and sixteen minutes of footage, a lot more elapsed time than a traffic stop should have taken. It was also right about the time that the storm front would have reached Storybrooke.
An eerie sense of dread washed over her as she pressed the Play button and the digital replay opened to a view of a parked, dark-colored sedan. She'd have to see the footage on a bigger screen to make out more of the detail but it appeared to be a Toyota. She was just happy that she could make out the digits in the license plate even if she'd have to take a guess on the state. It definitely wasn't a Maine or Massachusetts tag. She'd be able to recognize either of those but hazarding a guess, she thought it was probably New Hampshire.
There was no sound to accompany the video so there was no way for her to know exactly what was being said as she watched the image of Killian walking casually up to the driver's window of the stopped sedan. She could see that there was a short conversation before Killian took a step backward and then suddenly staggered out of the camera's view. Emma's breath hitched in her throat as a man appeared at the passenger side of the dark sedan, climbing into the vehicle just before its engine started up, the driver leaned out of the window, brandishing what looked like a gun for a few seconds, and then the car peeled away and disappeared down the lonely highway.
What the hell did I just watch? The feed was too blurry for her to get a good view of the driver and she had only a few fleeting glimpses of the other suspect's profile. Had they shot out the front tire? It seemed pretty likely but what had caused Killian to fall out of the frame? Why hadn't he called this in?
Had they shot him?
She fast-forwarded the footage a few minutes ahead to see an image of Killian stumbling awkwardly back toward the cruiser and then slumping against the front end. His dark clothing may have obscured any overt signs of injury but the distressed expression on his face revealed all she needed to know. He was hurt and she had no way of knowing how severely based on the video.
He slid out of the camera's range again and she continued to press the fast-forward button until she saw his hook catch onto the void between the hood and the frame and his face appeared in front of the camera. He looked unsteady on his feet, his features scrunched in agony. At one point, he looked directly into the camera, eyes pleading for help that wasn't coming. And then he pushed himself away from the car and staggered out of the camera's line of sight again. She forwarded all the way to the end of the feed and he didn't reappear.
"Oh, god, Killian… Where are you?" she asked aloud, not that she expected anyone to hear her.
He had to have been shot. It was the only thing that made any sense, but everything had happened so fast... Why hadn't he called for help? Had he broken his phone during the altercation or had he dropped it later because his hand was too shaky? Why didn't he get in the car and use the radio? Even if he hadn't reached her at the station, he could have contacted the State Police over the emergency channel. Had he not remembered how to do it or which channel he was supposed to use? She couldn't even imagine what must have been going through his mind but if it was anything like the panic she was experiencing just watching this on replay, she wasn't even sure if she could recall which channel was the emergency one.
She grabbed the radio's microphone from its cradle and depressed the button on the side, hoping that her dad had arrived at the Sheriff station by now. She was going to need his assistance.
"David, are you there? Over." She released the button and waited impatiently for his response.
"Emma - I'm here," he replied after a few short seconds. "Did you find anything out there? Over."
"The cruiser, yes. Killian - no." Her response was blunt and she allowed enough of a pause for David to know she was done with the formal radio etiquette.
"Damn…" was the first response she heard before David realized he'd pushed down on the button too soon. "Any indication of what happened?"
"Thankfully, Killian remembered to turn on the dashcam. He made a traffic stop and apparently, there was an altercation. I'm going to need you to call the State Police and see if they can run a plate for us while our systems are down."
"Sure. Just give me the tag number. And just what do you mean by altercation?"
She dodged his question and provided just the necessary facts. "Vehicle is a dark sedan, likely a recent-model Toyota. Plate is New Hampshire, I think. J73 422."
David knew instinctively that something must be wrong for her to avoid his question but he didn't press her for it. "Got it. Should we have them put out an All Points for the car? If so, what reason are we giving them?"
"Possible officer-involved shooting," she replied as matter-of-factly as her current state of mind would allow. She could picture the look on her father's face right now though as he processed her statement.
"Can you repeat that?" his voice begged over the tinny radio speaker.
"It looks like the driver may have shot Killian but I can't verify that until I find him, and that's what I need to do… Have them put out an APB for the vehicle which was occupied by two men. Unfortunately, I don't have a better description. The dashcam video screen is just too small and too fuzzy."
"Will do, Emma. Where do you think he went? There's a lot of forest out there…"
"But there's only one farmhouse. I think he would have headed towards Zelena's place."
"It's not very far but why would he leave the cruiser behind and go on foot if he'd been shot?"
"The suspects shot out the front tire. His phone's shattered and I have no idea why he didn't try to radio for help. I just know that he'd try his damnedest to reach the closest place he thought he could get help."
"I'll put the call in to the State Police. You go find your husband and Henry and I will man the fort here. Your mother sent a three course meal and a thermos of hot cocoa with cinnamon with me so we're well provisioned until we know what's going on."
"Thanks," she replied, managing a weak smile as she replaced the microphone into the cradle on the side of the radio and reached over to turn off the cruiser's engine. She slipped the keys into her pocket figuring she'd worry about retrieving the vehicle later. She didn't need a car to reach the former Wicked Witch's farmhouse.
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