#I’m doing an unpaid training thing that I have to PAY FOR and I also have to pay for my exam and my own background check

[strohller27]

.

[beatrice-otter]

Tweet thread about creative and/or academic careers and disability, by Siobhan Fedelm.

Something I really hate about the dialogue around "fancy" financially unstable careers, like early stage academia, writing etc, is the idea that its our own fault because we could always do something else - lots of us can't.

Some of us, due to neurodivergance and other disabilities, can only do this one thing we've made a career from. We can't do the "basic" jobs "anyone" can do. I write because its the only thing people have been willing to pay me to do. I tried to get a coffee shop job for 10 years

I couldn't get a job doing literally anything else. I tried. I tried so hard. I applied for every job in commuting range I wasn't expressly disqualified from for almost a decade. We're talking five plus applications a day. Sometimes I got interviews. I got a 6 month contract once 

I did so much unpaid volunteer work in career relevant fields for the vocational job I trained for. I kept doing more and more qualifications. I applied for so. many. jobs. And I got nothing. I picked up a bit of freelance work here and there. That was it. It was terrifying.

And all I heard was that I wasn't trying. That I needed to apply for "basic jobs" even though I was. That if I "really tried" I'd get one. But I was trying. I was trying so hard. Eventually I broke into writing largely by chance, the thing I'd always wanted to do but didn't try

because I was being "sensible", I was trying to get a "sensible job". Writing is unstable but its the most financial stability I've ever had because its something people are willing to pay me to do. And I'm not alone. There's a lot of us out there. We're usually disabled.

Stop acting like we could always get a "sensible" job, a "starter job", the kind of jobs that are also unstable and lower paid but somehow more valid to you, that you think grant people the right to complain about instability and poor conditions.

I’m actually writing an article about how many people with disabilities turn to entrepreneurship out of necessity.  People see it as a privilege but it’s often a last resort.

I write magazine and news articles and it takes a long time to get stable work out of it. It took me about two years to get there and that first six months I only got about three articles published. If you can stick to it and have the time/energy to do that its a way in. Big if.

7:01 AM · Mar 19, 2022·

Tweet thread about creative and/or academic careers and disability, by Siobhan Fedelm.

[yuncheoligans-archive]

~Beautiful Stranger~

Pairing: Yunho x Reader. (The guys are involved at some point too but not romantically.) NonIdol! AU

Description: A lonely perpetually single grad student working at a museum is approached by a handsome man, he looks expensive. Maybe this is your chance to get swept off your feet. Maybe he wants something else.

Warnings: I don't censor myself so I don't censor the characters, so Language warning. Let me know if I missed anything.

taglist: @legohwa, @hwaightme

~Masterlist~

~Series Masterlist~

a/n: Okay! I was originally going to make this a one-shot but I think I have too much storyline in my head to make it that way so Surprise! Series time! I'm really excited about this one so please let me know what you guys think, I'm having so much fun writing it already.

Also yes the Teaser is included at the beginning of the chapter, I added some stuff to it so I just put it in.

w/c: 4258

Chapter One: Handsome Stranger

The blaring sound of my morning alarm disturbs the dreams of a man sweeping me off my feet, his voice no longer sweet as honey but now Kick It by NCT 127. I guess I’m getting introduced to some New Thangs today  So it was going to be that kind of day, no school but long hours at work as a gallery attendant but also archivist in training, the latter being an unpaid internship…of course. Yeah, long day. I got up, finally silencing my alarm and pulling myself out of my full sized bed, the only luxury I could afford on my own, to drag myself down the hallway to our shared bathroom and brush my teeth. Let’s hope I’m awake enough to remember not to drink Orange Juice again as I look for breakfast. Now how long until I have to catch my train? And if I miss it how long until the bus? It’s not a terrible walk but I need to eat. Maybe I can get to Uni from here. Why does London have to be so confusing!

I’m not originally from the UK but my parents moved back and forth for a variety of things while I was growing up so it’s like a second home. I came here for my graduate program in Art History and made a few friends…moved in with them and now there’s 5 people in an apartment made for 3. We all go to University College London and live off campus in the cheapest place we could find. I was fortunate enough to get a job and internship at The National Gallery here. I’m lucky and I can pay rent but that’s about it, I’m by no means well off and trust me I could use a few extra of any sort of money. 

“You’re up early y/n” William, my flatmate’s boyfriend said passing by the open door.

“Work.” was all I mumbled as I head back to my room to pick out my outfit for the day. I stayed up writing this stupid research paper all night and what do I have to show for it…the not so designer bags under my eyes. Most days are filled with a plethora of alarms going off around the same time, lucky for my flatmates, I’m the only one with work today I guess. Alright, which combination of suit pants, blouse, and jacket am I going to wear today…All Black? All Black. I finished setting everything out before heading downstairs to eat just in case I got something on my shirt again. Last time I decided to make this beautiful breakfast sandwich with a runny egg and it broke onto the bright pink blouse I had picked for the day on the tube going to work, my boss was not happy about the spill. Did I cry, yeah…hey the saying is crying over spilt milk not spilt eggs.

“Oh hi y/n!” my other flatmate's girlfriend Emma cheerily said. “I’m just making Becks some breakfast do you want any?”

“Sure Ems…thanks.” I nodded. If I didn’t have to cook I wasn’t going to complain. Oh that’s the other thing you should know, I’m the only one single in this apartment anymore…or flat. Whatever you want to call it. 

The two sleeping while their partners roam around are my best friends for 2 years, Becka (Rebecca) and Liz (Elizabeth), I only use their full names when I’m angry at them, there have been plenty of arguments in the small confinement of our apartment. There’s 2 bedrooms upstairs, one above the living room, one above the downstairs bedroom, the bathroom is in between the two and just up the set of stairs. Downstairs is the living room, and subsequent dining area. Kitchen is just through to the back and off to the right is bedroom number 3. Yes we all share one bathroom, no it’s not as fun as it sounds. I live in the room at the front of the place above the living room. I was going to take the downstairs room because I came home late and didn’t want to wake anyone until Liz and Will got together, when they started dating they went at it like rabbits. Becka offered to switch with me since she was barely home to begin with, she and Emma had just started dating so she was with her a lot, at school doing lengthy research papers, or at her internship at the hospital. Her internship slowed down so she had a lot of time to be home and spend time with the love of her life. They’re cute don’t get me wrong…just unfortunate to be the only one single here. 

“Thanks again Ems.” I said cleaning the plate I used as I got up to finally get dressed. “It was really good, Becka is lucky to have you.”

“I certainly am.” said woman came into the room perking up at her partner. “Thank you again love.”

“I’ll be going before that breakfast makes a fast journey back up.” I laughed receiving a towel to the face. I put on the outfit I had picked out, touched up my hair so I didn’t look like I was coming out of bed, and set off for the day. Thankfully I didn’t miss my train so it was only 45 minutes to get to work. I know that sounds like a lot but it’s not so bad when you’re used to it. I get to listen to music and relax a little more before starting a long long day.

The opening of a museum is never exciting, there’s probably 10 maybe 15 guests in the first 3 hours of opening, not much to do, luckily the museum lets me work on my internship first on these long days so I’m not bored out of my mind by the time I’m done. I usually clock in around lunch time finally and sit or stand around for the rest of the day depending on what they want me to do that day. 

“Y/n” you’re going to be in Room 43 today.” my boss Henry looked at me.

“Well at least I get to look at some of my favorites today.” I sighed, knowing I was going to be on my feet for the rest of the day was not something to invoke joy. Room 43 on Level 2 had our Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Seurat paintings, most notably Sunflowers by Van Gogh, Van Gogh’s Chair, and Motherhood by Picasso. One of my favorites was-

“A Vase of Flowers, Paul Gauguin,” said the smoothest voice I’ve ever heard. Like butter melting on bread.

“Yes, one of my favorites in the room.” I smiled before turning towards the man. My breath hitched, there before me stood a man about 6 foot 1, dressed in a suit that looks like I don’t know how to pronounce the designers name, oxford shoes, no tie,his nose had a slight point to it, a jawline that looked like it was sculpted by Michelangelo, full eyebrows, his eyes soft and warm, finally his black hair. He was perfect, absolutely stunning, I wanted to look at him more than the art around me.

“Can you tell me about it?” he smiled.

“Oh, yes absolutely.” Anything to talk to him. “Painted by Gauguin in 1896, painted with Oil Paints-”

“Ah so it needs something breathable to not ruin the paints?” he smiled. “When transported for cleaning?”

“Yes, since oils are very hard to fix if damaged and excess moisture can ruin them like the whole water and oil thing... So um anyways, Paul Gauguin painted 'A Vase of Flowers' when he arrived in Tahiti for his second stay in 1895. The vase is bursting with exotic flowers including hibiscus, white and yellow frangipani and white tiare. The flowers look as though they are past their best as some blossoms have fallen onto the table. This suggests that Gauguin was not interested in the horticultural detail but instead the decorative shapes and interweaving of colors of the display.”

“Very interesting.” his smile grew. “Sorry one of my friends is very interested in this piece but I never knew what it was painted with.”

“Excuse me ma’am.” an older woman called my attention. “I had a question about this piece.”

“Oh, well I’m glad I could help sir. I’m y/n.” I shook his hand. “Please let me know if you have more questions.I’ll um..be over there” I nodded, giving him time to look at the painting. A handsome stranger interested in learning about one of my favorite pieces…he’s probably married. I’m going to be alone forever.

“Thank you beautiful.” he flashed a smile my way. 

The beautiful stranger hung around for quite some time staring at the piece, he even had a notebook where he wrote some notes and made a sketch of the painting. No I wasn’t staring at him…okay maybe I totally was but it’s not everyday you see someone that attractive in here, he was practically an art piece himself. No I wasn’t fantasizing about him taking me away in some fancy car with the engine revving going way to fast down the street to a fancy restaurant where the prices aren’t even on the menu and he tells me not to worry about it and to order what I like, he’d probably call me something cheesy like baby, honey, sweetheart, dear, starlight, honey bun….darling…his. NO! Oh my god you can’t fantasize about that stuff he asked you a question. You really are deprived. 

Work was the same as ever after the man left, I was stuck making sure no one touched the art until the museum closed and then I got to go home after clocking out. Back to the happy couples…I put on my earbuds and walked to the station, after staring at someone all day I wasn’t really ready to be reminded I was single forever. Oh well, no choice…maybe I’ll stop and get food and just head up to my room so they won’t notice.

“Hey y/n!” a voice yelled in the tunnel. “Aww hey do you have your earbuds in?” he tapped my shoulder.

“I have mace!” I whipped around feeling someone tap me. Oh. “Wooyoung! Don’t scare me that way!” I hit him gently and took my earbuds out.

“Heading home?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just got off work.”

“I was hoping you were going to say a date,” he sighed.

“Can’t find one. I stare at paintings from the 1800s all day.” I chuckled and nudged him. “Let me know if you find Degas or Van Gogh walking around, I’m pretty sure I know more about them than myself at this point.”

“I’ll be sure to point them your way.” he smiled. “Not even one of your coworkers huh?”

“I went out for drinks a while ago with David but he was so boring, no spice you know. Plus he’s one of those water is too spicy guys.”

“Oh yeah, ew.”

“I don’t know, maybe I’m just always going to be single. I just want someone…who’s a little interesting you know?”

His eyes lit up, he had heard that sentence a few days ago from someone else, he knew what to do.

“Well maybe I have this friend?” he started.

“Oh god not matchmaker Woo again.” I rolled my eyes as we got on the train.

“Hey look I really thought you two would hit it off.”

“Woo he just wanted to make his ex jealous…and I ended up with a ruined dress and a large bill.”

“I apologized and paid you back for his meal. I’m sorry!”

“I know you did.”

“Okay but seriously, this guy is one of my best friends, he’s got some money, he’s actually single single, like hasn’t had a partner in years single, he likes art, he’s tall, he’s not a scumbag, and he’s interesting. I promise you’ll like him.” he pleaded.

“Woo I just-”

“Pleaseeee just one date and then if you don’t like him you can tell me to fuck off whenever you want, please please please!”

“Okay okay fine…one date. Just…one ok?” I sighed. I trust Wooyoung. I do. He's a good friend, great even…his matchmaking skills are just…hit or miss.

“You won’t regret it, and be sure to thank me at the wedding!” he got up at his stop.

“Woo there won’t-!” the doors closed… “be a wedding.” I groaned. Just what have I gotten myself into.

“Hey sour puss what’s with the face?” Liz asked as I came in.

“Ran into Wooyoung on the train.”

“Oh how’s he doing? Also what did he do, you’re not in a bad mood every time you see him” she smiled. “Will is in the bathroom.” I motioned to head up and stopped at her words

“He begged me to go on a blind date with someone he knows.”

“Oh god because that worked out so well last time.” she smiled.

“What did?” Becka came into the room.

“Woo set y/n up on a blind date…again.” Liz smiled.

“Oh god, you have my number I will come get you.” Becka chuckled.

“He promised it wouldn’t be as bad this time but I don’t know I’m still worried.” I rubbed my arm. “He did apologize for last time but still…that was so bad.”

“Do you know anything about this one?” Liz asked.

“Apparently he’s tall, very single, likes art, and has money?” I said remembering what Wooyoung told me on the train.

“Ooo tall handsome rich single man?” They both chuckled. “How does Wooyoung know someone like that?”

“Beats me honestly, but I said I would try…even though I regret it already.”

“And when is said date?” Becka asked.

“Dunno….he’ll probably text me about it later.” I sighed. “I mean I guess it couldn’t be too bad to try.”

“It’s probably worse to trust Woo than to go on the date.” Liz smiled and Will came down.

“Who’s got a date?” he asked.

“y/n�� Liz said and made room on the couch for her boyfriend.

“Oh y/n has a date?” Emma sat next to Becka.

“I’m off to bed, it looks like a date night.” I waved. 

No need to be reminded I’m still…very much single.

~~~~~~~~~

“Hyung Hyung Hyungie Hyung-ah Hyunghyunghyung” Wooyoung began annoying the older man at his desk.

“Yes Wooyoung?” Yunho looked up from his computer, blueprints and notes scattered around the desk. “Do you need another reference photo or something?”

“No no that’s fine, it’s all coming together.” Wooyoung brushed the man off. “I found you the perfect date!”

“Woo we’ve talked about this, I don’t date.” he sighed.

“No no listen really, she's perfect for you, she’s single and lives with two other couples so she’s practically begging to get out, she doesn’t ask a lot of questions, she knows a bunch about art and everything.”

“Wouldn’t that make it easier for us to get caught Wooyoung? She could tell fakes from the real ones?”

“Nah her eyesight is too bad for that unless she’s up close and personal. She could help us out with transporting them properly, you know, how to keep them undamaged. Plus she’s really pretty, you’d like her…oh and she’s funny, sarcastic, looks good on your arm at a party.”

“Why don’t you date her then?”

“Oh hyung don’t be silly, you’re the one getting old, you need to settle down, don’t you want to spend time with someone, you know spend some of that money on them, have someone besides us…help relieve some stress?”

“We’re the same age Wooyoung.” he closed his laptop.

“Oh no, my birthday is in November, yours just passed.”

The room got quiet.

“You’re not letting this go until I say yes are you?”

“Oh come on just one date! You’ll like her, I bet you’ll even get married come on! Please please please please please please please please please please please please pleasepleasepleaseplease-”

“Okay!!...Okay fine, just one date, and we’re not-” Wooyoung left. “Getting married…”

Yunho couldn’t help but think of the beautiful stranger he met at the museum earlier, he caught her staring a few times but couldn’t bring himself to say more in case she got suspicious, but man did he want to, her smile was infectious, her clothing choices mimicked his own, she knew about the art he wanted…but he’s a criminal, no one would ever want to be with a criminal, it’s not that he can’t do the time he just wouldn’t want to drag someone else into it, although he certainly wouldn’t mind coming out to that beautiful face…if he ever got caught that is, he has no plans on making that a reality. 

“One date.” he sighed to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

I smoothed over the dress I chose for tonight, Wooyoung couldn’t wait to text me and tell me his friend said yes. Why did I bother saying yes this is…no let’s..let’s be hopeful, maybe he’ll be nice, and funny, and hopefully a little good-looking….please Wooyoung…don’t do this to me.

“You look gorgeous y/n!” Emma and Liz squealed, their partners on the couch. 

“We definitely won’t be seeing you tonight.” Becka chuckled.

“Oh please I’m definitely not going to sleep with this guy, it’s the first date and it’s a Wooyoung blind date.” I rolled my eyes.

“I mean if he’s lucky we won’t see you tonight.” Liz laughed. “He’ll certainly only have his eyes on you this time.”

“One can hope” I groaned. “I better go, I don't want to show up late.” I grabbed my purse and a long black coat to keep warm. Of course there’s a hole in the pocket…I really need to get this fixed. 

“It’s going to be warm out, just forget the coat and get it fixed later.” Liz called out. “Go go! You’ll be late.”

It feels weird to walk around the city in just a dress and heels, I feel a little exposed but it’s not any different from the other people I’ve seen I guess…I made my way to the station to go to the restaurant Wooyoung had picked out, he told me to dress fancy so I got the fanciest dress I could. Black and white, a little lace, elegant but not over the top, stops at the knee, a cute little black heel and my hair pulled up into one of those fancy buns. Hopefully I remembered my glasses this time in my bag.

When Jung Wooyoung says fancy restaurant he wasn’t kidding, I’m pretty sure an appetizer here costs my entire rent, there’s not even prices on the menu how am I supposed to afford-

“Miss y/n?” A voice called. Sounds….familiar?

“Yes?” I turned around and it was the guy from the museum. “Oh hello.” I blushed

“It’s nice to see you again, are you waiting for someone?”

“My um..my friend set me up on this..silly blind date.” I chuckled lightly.

“How funny me too.” he smiled. “I wouldn’t be rude to assume you know a Jung, Wooyoung?”

“That would be the one.” I nodded gently.

“Well how funny would it be if I told you the very person sent me here on a silly blind date as well?”

“Well I suppose that would be…quite nice actually.” I sighed. “Last time I let him talk me into this…it didn’t go well.”

“Ah I know the feeling. She went after her ex after spending 30 minutes with me.” he chuckled.

“Ironic, mine used me to get back with his ex.”

“Now isn’t that just something.” he offered his hand to me. “Shall we go in?”

“How gentlemanly.” I let out a chuckle.

“Oh I’m Yunho by the way, Jeong Yunho.” 

“Oh a James Bond type I see. Last name first.” I chuckled. “Y/n L/n. Sorry I went the other way.”

“Oh god!” they both thought. “It’s you from the museum! What should I do?...stay calm, it’s just a date.”

I never thought I’d thank Wooyoung for setting me up on a date but, I might after this one…he’s so…he’s almost too perfect to be true, he’s interested in what I do, he’s charming, funny, he’s handsome…I..I almost feel like I’m dreaming. I’m pinching myself and not waking up so this has to be real, please be real. If this is a prank Wooyoung I’m never speaking to you again. 

“I should warn you beautiful, I’m quite dangerous.” he chuckled

“Oh are you now? Maybe I should’ve brought a bat.”

Time felt forgotten, it passed by so fast but so slow. Before we knew it the restaurant was closing and asking us to leave.

“Oh don’t worry about the bill.” he waved his hand at me reaching for my wallet. “It’s on me tonight.”

“I couldn’t possibly let you-”

“I insist beautiful.” he smiled and handed the waiter his card….A Black Credit Card!??!?! Oh my god.

“Next time is on me.” I said my cheeks were heating up. “A-As long as it’s pizza.” I joked…not really.

“Pizza sounds perfect if you’re there.” he winked. Oh man he is dangerous. “Can I walk you home? Or perhaps drive you?” he beeped his car…his very expensive silver car. A Rolls Royce?

“Oh my god.” I whispered. “What do you do?” I laughed.

“Oh I just inherited a lot of money from my uncle.”

“Oh sure, do you sell organs on the black market?” I nudged him gently.

“Oh no way, blood freaks me out.” he laughed. “I invest.”

“Sure.” I smiled and got in the car.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Oh right.” I gave him my address and we were off. It was bittersweet driving with him, I really didn’t want it to end yet. If this was going to be my only date with Yunho then…I just wanted to feel special for a little while longer. “Um, would you mind if we made a short stop first? It’s just…a really nice night out and I don’t want to…with my roommates and all.”

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind staying out myself.” he smiled.

“There’s a park just up ahead.” I said bashfully. “We could just…walk around?”

“I like that idea.” he pulled over to the park and before I could even think about opening my door he had sprinted around the car to open it.

“Ever the gentleman.” I stepped out and he offered his arm.

We walked around the park for a little just continuing our conversations from earlier, he shared about his childhood days, some of the stuff he and his brother used to do, his friends and how he met Wooyoung. It was all great until a breeze swept through.

“Here.” he shrugged off his coat and pulled it around me. “Better?” he smiled and his touch on me lingered slightly.

“Better.” I whispered and looked at him. “Thank you.”

“Sure.” he cleared his throat and pulled back slightly. 

It was close to 11pm when we finally decided we had been out long enough, I would hopefully not get hazed about the date and he would hopefully be able to go back to whatever he wanted. Even if it was just one date, it felt like a million and it just felt wonderful.

“Oh your coat.” I started taking it off as we pulled up to my little flat.

“Just give it to me next time Beautiful.” he smiled and put his hand up to stop me.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded.

I leaned over the center console and kissed his cheek leaving a slight pink imprint there.

“Goodnight Yunho, thank you for the…probably most perfect night of my life listening to me talk about work.” I smiled and got out of the car. I’ll miss him.

“Goodnight Beautiful.” he smiled more to himself as he drove off when she walked in her front door.

Did I receive the interrogation of a lifetime? Yes absolutely.

Could I stop smiling? No..Not at all. He listened to me ramble about work and school and how overwhelming it is, he listened to me talk about different paints and how to preserve them and take care of them like it was the most interesting thing he ever heard. I almost hate him for how perfect he is.

“Jung Wooyoung, I'm going to kill you.” I said as he picked up the phone.

“What?! Why!? What happened!?” he sat up on the other line.

“How could you literally give me that after all the shit dates you’ve set me up on!”

“Was it bad? You guys have been out for hours!”

“No! It was amazing! I can’t believe you!” I groaned and flopped onto my bed. “He was…kind and sweet and charming and caring and…everything and I hate you for it.”

“...BECAUSE I WAS RIGHT???”

“BECAUSE YOU WERE RIGHT!” I sat up. “Why did you have to be right!?”

“Because I’m amazing, excuse you. You liked him.”

“Yes.”

“You liked him a lot?”

“Wooyoung I literally would drop everything right now to just listen to his laugh.” I sighed. “It's pathetic.”

“I’ll let you know what he says, I just heard the front door.”

“No Wooyoung please, it's fine. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” I sighed. “I’ll have to give you his coat too.”

“He gave you his coat? Oh my god. See marriage.”

“Goodnight Woo.”

“I’m the matchmaker god after all.”

“Goodnight! Woo.” I hung up. I hate this.

I hate men.

`Next

[kinsey3furry300]

So how the heck do the Avengers pay for stuff, and how rich are they?

So, in the wake of “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” There’s a lot of debate about why Sam didn’t seem to get paid well for his work in the Avengers (at least in the MCU continuity), and this has got me thinking: we’ve got no evidence that the Avengers are, financially, anything but a hot mess. So lets break it down, Avenger by Avenger, using real-world pay scales for the ones who have jobs.

Tony: a billionaire, so clearly he’s a financial genius, right? Well….. his actions say otherwise. He’s shown to be wildly irresponsible with his money. He inherited a lot of wealth form his parents which was managed by the first Jarvis, Obadiah, and Pepper for him, he buys and then gives away not just woks of art, but entire collections by major 20th century artists on a whim, destroyed his own cars and home without concern, he tanks the value of his own company in the first Iron Man with a bad press interview, gets kicked of his own bord of directors, and ultimately, in Iron Man 2, gives control of his company to Pepper. He’s insanely rich, and insanely smart, but man, he’s not smart with his money. So all the cool stuff, his suits, the Avengers tower, the facility up-state: that’s all paid for by him, but Pepper is holding the purse-stings.  So, does he pay the others? We have no evidence for most of them… but we do with Spidey. Peter Parker is in the Stark Internship Program a euphemism to hide the fact he’s training and mentoring him as a super-hero, but I find the wording interesting: he refers to Spidey, his surrogate son and chosen heir, as an intern. I.E., Unpaid.  I’m guessing this is Howard’s influence over him, some sort of ‘make you own way in the world, son’ attitude, but  if he’s not paying Spidey, is he paying anyone else? He certainly pays for stuff super heroes suits and things, equipment, fuel, the base, but does he pay anyone a wage? No one ever mentions it. You think it would come up.

So, if he’s not paying them a wage, where do Avengers  (and thier allies) get their day-to-day money from, and are they rich? Using google and https://www.federalpay.org, lets find out.

Cap: Well, before Civil war, he’s a shield operative, and he presumably still holds his military rank: he’s a US Army captain, with (well) over 40 years service, so USD$88,142.40 per year, with $237.71  drill pay (pay per drill you have to do on weekends, on leave or outside of normal service) and $175.00 per month hazard pay (which I bet is interesting) on top of that. As a WW2 veteran, he’d be eligible for a war pension if he:

Was not discharged for dishonorable reasons; and,

Served 90 days of active military duty; and,

Served at least one day during wartime ("wartime" as determined by the VA); and,

Had  countable family income below a certain yearly limit; and,

Is  age 65 years or older; or

Regardless of age is permanently disabled, not due to wilful misconduct.

As he’s still receiving 90k per year, he’s ineligible for a pension as his countable yearly income is above the limit.  So if shield pays him in accordance with his rank and years of service, about $90, 600 per year incuding hazard pay.

After civil war, he’s a fugitive on the run, so presumably flat broke. I’d asume he gets his pension returened to him after the snap.

He’s also just gone from the 40’s to the present day, so 70 years of inflation probably makes buying things very confusing for him: everything would seem insanely expensive at first. He’d also not know what the correct prices are for anything invented after 45. You might get used to how much more expensive food and coffee is, but how much is a smart-phone worth? $200? $2000 $20000? Who knows? I bet the others have to facepalm a lot when he either refuses to pay for what he sees as clear price-gouging, and at the same time regularly pays insane amounts of money for goods and services because he doesn’t know better. He also has no known assets other than his pay: he rents an apartment making him one of the few American males in his age-group who isn’t a home-owner

Thor: Does Asgard even have currency? It’s depicted like a “Crystal spires and toga” type utopia with no poverty: even working class Asgardian’s like Scourge seem to be pretty well-off and want for nothing, so he’s from a post-scarcity society where actual magic is a thing. His “Another” coffee cup smashing and the fact he doesn’t have a computer of phone in Ragnarök might indicate that, no, he just doesn’t have, need or understand money. Splitting a bar tab with him must be a nightmare. His breakdown post snap indicates he’s got some cash, but not a huge amount, and is probably skiving of Valkyrie and the other Asgardians.

Banner: Okay, so a PhD could make you a lot of money from patents… in pharmacology or engineering. Theoretical physics? Not so good. And if Banner did have any patents, they’ve probably been seized under eminent domain by the US military.  At the start of The Hulk film, he’s working a entry-level factory job at a botteling plant in Brazil. The minimum wage in Brazil is 1069.62 Real per month, that’s 12,835.44 Real per year, or around $2437.79 US per year, before everything goes wrong for him! He then runs off to India, works for Tony for a bit and then gets shot into space. Spidey may actually make more in allowance than Banner does, and Banner is a gown ass man with bills to pay: I’d imagine he loses a lot in ripped clothing.

Natasha and Barton: Pre Civil-war, both are government spooks, so how well does that pay? The salaries of CIA Intelligence Analysts based in the US range from $25,838 to $685,701 , with a median salary of $125,340, so let’s assume that Shield pays in a similar range: $685,701 per year for Director Fury, around 125,000 for Natasha and Cliff, which explains Cliff’s nice, middle-class mid-western home. Post civil war, presumably not great: we know that Natasha spends a lot of her savings running and hiding all across the world, and Cliff takes a deal and presumably lives of his savings, pension and his wife’s income.

Rhodes: Full USAF colonel with over 10 years service? $105,562.80 per year, plus $293.23 drill pay per drill and $175 per month hazard pay, and because he’s team Stark and not Team Cap in Civil War, he’d not lose any of that. He presumably also gets an injury pay-out after his accident. After T’challa and Stark, he might be the best paid avenger.

Dr Strange: spends all his money he made as a surgeon on trying to cure his hands: spends literally his last dollars heading to Nepal to train. Wong even jokes with him about their lack of worldly money when asking for a tuna-melt. But, can use illusion to make people think he has money, and his home and clothes etc. come with the job, so in the same boat as Thor in that he has no money, but needs none AKA, he’s a bastard to try and split a restaurant bill with.

Wanda and Vision: No know source of income, just sort of live in Tony’s hose and eat his food, and on top of that Wanda goes on the run after civil war… yet they can stay in fancy hotels in Edinburgh, a relatively expensive city, and Vison apparently bought them a house to retire in, so one of them has some source of money. Maybe Tony gave Vision years of back-pay form when he was still Jarvis, or maybe the vison has a day job, which is, frankly, hilarious. Could you imagine him as a barista? I can, and it makes me very happy.

Scott Lang: I’d assumed he’d be super, super broke, but apparently the average pay for a private security consultant in the Bay area is $85,430 per year. Not bad. Pity he gets sucked into the quantum realm just as his business is taking off, so presumably, flat broke again.

Bucky: no known income, and I doubt Hydra paid him for being the Winter Soldier so he probably has no savings, but he should, technically, qualify for a military pension. As a single veteran, he’d be  eligible for federal tax-free pension of up to $1732 per month, or $20,784 tax free per year. Not much for someone who lives in NYC. He may also be eligible for medical benefits over the loss of his arm. Whether or not he got to see any of that money given how confused his life has been over the past 10 years is unclear, but on paper he’s eligible.

T’challa: He is, quite possibly, richer than Stark, and as an absolute monarch pays no tax and has access to his Nation’s vast wealth in vibanium. It’s good to be the king!

Captain Marvel: USAF captain, and a test pilot; the test pilot school only accepts applicants with a service length of less than 9 years 6 months (10 years six moths of helicopters) as they don’t want older applicants. With 8 years service, $79,538.40, plus drill pay and hazard.  However, no know (human) pay since 1990. Flat broke.

Guardians of the Galaxy: no data, but I’m assuming “Cowboy Bebop” levels of perpetual never-ending poverty given the way they choose to live. I’d also assume Rocket has taken all their cash into some sort of Ponzi scheme of his own creation, because just look at him, of course he has.

Spidey: he’s got about $10 of his aunts’ money at any given time, so he can buy lunch… which may in fact be more than Banner or Lang, and we know it’s more that Strange or Thor.

 So, here the big one: how rich or how broke is Sam?

Sam Wilson: annoyingly, we’re not directly told what rank Sam held in any MCU film. USAF pararescue “Maroon berets” are generally NCO’s (but there’ are officer-ranked pararescue) , and he’s seen working on his wings at one point, where as officers don’t generally work on or maintain airframes. He’s shown wearing a Nation Air guard grey while jogging at one point to confuse the matter further. The general consensus on redit is he’s a former USAF tech sergeant (E-6). But how long was he in the air force? With six years service (the minimum sensible time he could have served to work in pararescue based on his age), that would be $41,464.80 per year, plus drill pay and hazard. As Anthony Mackie, the actor that plays him, was 36 as of Civil War, and assuming the character is the same age, and assuming he retired from the air force that year, and he joined the USAF at 17, the youngest you can join, he’d have served 19 years, giving him a pay of $51,566.40, the maximum pay you can get at this rank before promotion to Master Sergent,  but meaning he left just before he’d qualify for the 50% final salary pension you’d qualify for after 20 years. Which seems weird. So let’s assume the character is one year older than the actor that plays him and served 20 years (ages 17-37), that means Sam has a military pension of $25,783.20 per year (20,784 of it tax-free), plus any injury benefits. He councils other veterans, but doesn’t get paid for that. He also chooses Team Cap in Civil War, so would become a wanted criminal, and so lose his income between 2016 and 2018, and then gets snapped and has no income for 5 years, which would destroy his credit rating. Like the rest of Team Cap, he presumably gets his post snap pardon, and goes to work for the US government at his former pay and rank. However, given how Captain John Walker treats him as an equal, it’s possible he’s been promoted to a captain when the  hired back, giving him a pay of between $54,176.40 to $88,142.40 (with 20 years experience, depending on if they take into account his prior service or not, and how much prior service he has), but either way, he’s just starting this as a new job after being legally dead for 5 years: no savings, and no credit.

Commercial fishing vessels cost about 10% of their total value per year in maintenance alone. I can’t identify what sort of boat the Wilson’s have, but some quick googling indicates that the cheapest  15m long wooden in-shore shrimp trawler costs around $140,000, so that’s $14,000 per year in maintenance costs alone, minimum. And that’s a lower estimate, assuming the rest of the business is sound, which we know it isn’t.

So, in concussion, yes, Sam is in some serious financial trouble until he can re-build his savings and credit, but the scary bit is he’s not alone in that: he’s probably better off than Lang, Banner, Danvers, Strange, Thor, Bucky, Wanda and Parker. Only Clint (if he gets a full pardon and gets his full pension), Rhodes, Stark and T’challa aren’t in some sort of potential financial problems. That asshole bank teller was right: despite the fact it seems to pay well on paper, with a few exceptions, the Avengers financials are probibaly a mess. EDIT: Rocket is running the Ponzi scheme, if that’s not clear from context. The others know they have money somewhere, but not where it’s gone. And It’s been pointed out to me that as he’s technically a POW while he’s the Winter Soldier, Bucky is owed over 70 years back-pay, equal to over 3 million dollars, details in the notes.

[kilodalton]

How I went from writing semi-decent X-rated fanfic to writing for $$$

I was thinking about making this post for a while, but held off bc 1) I didn't want to get hate, and 2) procrastination ftw.

Also 3) I couldn't think of a good title for this post (I can never think of good fanfic titles either so hey at least I'm consistent lol), and while the one I chose does sound like a crappy ad, lol please bear with me.

First the obligatory About Me: I started writing fanfic about 10 years ago when I was a new mom and had just started my pharmacy degree (in the US, it's a doctorate and a lot of work). I was pretty miserable at that point in my life and fanfic was a wonderful outlet for me. After I graduated, I unfortunately let a lot of fanfic things slide (sorry about the half-finished-years-old fics, I *will* get to them I promise lol) as I completed postgrad training, had another kid, and started my career.

It was around that point that I realized that yes, I did have a well-paying career but 1) HELLO STUDENT LOANS and 2) kids are $$$$ and 3) wtf I just wanted more money OK is that a crime.

So I started reading a bit about income/money/stuff and they recommended a few things. The main points were that to increase your cash, you can either decrease your expenses or increase your income. I mean DUH, but it actually helped seeing such an obvious statement in black and white.

I had already reduced my expenses and felt like reducing them more would compromise my standard of living. So making more money it was! I knew my job wouldn't provide it, so I was looking for other opportunities.

I had heard about a couple of different freelancing websites, and the one that stuck with me was UpWork. I decided to test it out, maybe I would be qualified for something there.

I found A LOT of writing jobs listed. Like A LOT. In so many different niches it boggled the mind. I settled on medical writing for obvious reasons, but they all wanted "real" writing experience which I didn't have (lol somehow I don't think fanfic pr0n counts).

Anyway, so here's the meat of this post. I made my OWN writing experience. Mainly by writing a few articles on Medium (which is free to post on), and one unpaid oped for a medical website that had been advertising for unpaid writers. I knew I wanted PAID writing gigs at this point, so my unpaid articles on Medium etc were on similar topics to the ones I knew I wanted to get paid to do.

I also took a little time to learn about SEO - search engine oriented - writing. Basically it helps your writing be found in a google search, which a lot of websites obviously want.

At that point, when I applied for writing jobs, I could tick a few different boxes: YES I had writing experience (I could attach links to my Medium articles in my applications) and YES I was familiar with SEO writing.

The main stumbling block was how much to charge. That one is tricky and highly variable. The nice thing on Upwork is that the client often has a budget, so you can look at it and decide "yes that is OK" or "OH HELL NO LMAO." It's up to you. I certainly charge some clients much more than others (like 3x as much) simply bc I know they are willing to pay it. And I certainly undercharge others I have a soft spot for (one of my clients is a Navy veteran, and I support the military, so I gave him a steep discount).

Anyway. Fast forward almost 2 years. I have had about ~30 different clients, and regularly still work with about 10 of them. I have weekly contracts with 6 different clients, and write/review/edit around 20 articles a week. I do it in my spare time, after work or on weekends, but it has increased my income by about 30%.

I have even shut off my Upwork visibility at this time, because I have gotten to the amazing point where I keep getting requests and have no time to handle more articles lol.

My clients are all in the medical field because that's my specialty, but they range from personal blogs, to vitamin companies, to an addiction rehab center, to a chiropractor's office, to support websites for various chronic diseases.

Anyway. I started off writing fanfic, and eventually managed to turn my writing into something quite profitable. I know a lot of people are budding writers here so wanted to share my story for inspiration/in case anyone wants a similar path. That is all.

Feel free to send an ask if you have questions!

[dancedance-resolution]

job update? went over the employee handbook they sent me

this is just me 🤨ing and complaining about their policies lol . also i might end up deleting this and all other posts that mention anything about jobs/labor in general? bc i might have to download an app for them (unsure if it’s required of my position since i’m not an appt only clinician type thing) and i’m nervous that like facebook it’ll mine all my data and shit and i don’t want my employer knowing how i feel about them

i’m not getting paid at all for a total of 40hrs of training (that’s $600 before taxes) . feels slightly illegal to me??? but knowing the state of usa labor laws probably not

they make me show up 35 mins early for every shift for a “daily huddle” and will discipline you if you don’t attend the daily huddle. but you don’t clock in to get paid until the start of your shift. so thats 3 hours of unpaid being at work every week (assuming i get 5 days a week) (which is $45 pre tax. which again feels illegal? but probably isn’t)

they’re allowed to adjust my shift by 1hr before or after at will with only 30min notice?? and it doesn’t count as overtime pay. so like i might find out at 6:30 that i have to come in at 7 instead of 8 for example.

bc my shift will never formally be longer than 6 hours, i will get zero (0) breaks or meals. (you claim you are a disability friendly workplace but i get zero breaks on a 6 hour shift, all of that time being spent in a room which you yourself admit is hot and humid as hell even in the winter.)

no paid leave, personal or medical. if i have to miss 2 days in a row, i have to have a dr’s note. (which i know is very custom for employers but again, bestie! you are as bad as archdiocese of baltimore catholic schools! and also it costs fucking MONEY to go to a dr and get a note so!!!)

this is less a complaint and more so something funny but. they spell out in the employee handbook that you have a wear a bra and be clean shaven if you’re a man 😭 which doesn’t really apply to me since i assume i’ll be wearing a bathing suit under my clothes which is like a quasi bra, but still this is a lame policy lol . ALSO! “care should be taken to ensure breath is fresh.” well i will be wearing a mask 24/7 (i hope you let me do that jesus i just now realized no employees were wearing a mask there so what if it’s not allowed…) so that doesn’t apply to me, but if it did, bestie i have severe chronic dry mouth. the only way my breath stays fresh for more than an hour or so is if you give me frequent breaks to use my anti dry mouth products. andyou already said no breaks so :))

they have a “don’t post shitty stuff bc it reflects poorly on the company” social media rule which makes me ever more grateful that i have no social media other than the hellsite which is not affiliated with my real name

they specify that you can’t bring meds to work?? even in a proper prescription bottle or whatever……bestie i have news for you. some of us take medication during the day. you cannot claim to be a disability friendly employer if you literally ban meds. (i think i’ll be able to get approval bc my manager seems nice but like :/ i was not planning on disclosing any health information to them bc i don’t want them to know i have to take meds at all, let alone day meds! sigh this also is a bit funky due to the no breaks policy). also the no meds rule is allegedly enforced by random locker checks so 🤔. also they call it a locker but we are not allowed to use a lock on it so 😂

i have to inform my manager first if my family will be attending the gym at any time……hey bestie my mom is a member of this gym and comes at irregular times and i’m not allowed to have my phone while on my shift so how am i supposed to know if she’s coming so i can (unnecessarily imo) alert you

they ban any socializing outside of the break room (which i will have no opportunity to use) ofc <3

they will not give you your tips unless they first verify that you have successfully completed your “side work” (which is extra work they give you in addition to the responsibilities associated with your job. you get side work every day btw). again this Feels Illegal bc isn’t withholding tips illegal? this doesn’t apply to me since i won’t receive tips but. Yeah

“distribution of literature is prohibited at all times and in all locations on the premises” nice job being subtle about not wanting us to unionize

they say i’m not allowed to be on the premises unless i am actively working but bestie?? you literally require me to be on the premises 35 mins before i can actively work and get paid for that work???

i have to give 6 hours notice before being late or absent to a shift or else disciplinary action is taken. once again: bestie you claim to be a disability friendly workplace, but you require 6 hours notice? that is not always possible bc my disabilities don’t always fuck me up the perfect 6 convenient hours before i have to work.

if i call out i have to find someone to replace me. which i know is common practice but like. oh my god literally you are the management isn’t this your job?

being late three (3) times a year is considered disciplinary action-worthy even if all 3 were excused lateness . LOLLL bestie if you saw my school attendance records you would have a heart attack. senior year i was late more days than i was on time . it’s called Having Serious And Barely Treated Disabilities.

if i need to be absent for 3+ days i need to take fmla. hello?? only 3 days???

“Frequent call out’s due to illness may require an employee to attend a mandatory health and wellness workshop to help the employee regain their understanding about the importance of taking care of themselves.” LOLOLOL bestie even one of the most well respected and accomplished specialist drs in the state cannot figure wtf is wrong with me regarding my physical disability so 😂 i’m sure your workshop will help though xoxo <3 (in all seriousness though, i’m glad they have an actually policy for this other than being fired. that’s kinda cool.)

anyways those are just some things that stood out to me while going over the handbook. maybe my 🤨 at them is just bc i haven’t had any work experience before, so maybe some of these policies are super common or even more lenient than most. but yeah. i’m excited for the job bc money and structure, but also deathly terrified that i am too disabled to be the type of employee they need me to be. and then there’s one less good reference when i apply to be a mailman 😔 so yeah. feeling funky

[pherryt]

A Curse Upon All Bards...

So first off - my daughter is evil. She got “There’s Always a Reason” stuck in my head, about a bothersome bard and the warrior and sorceress duo who are frustrated with him beyond all reason. Sadly, I can only remember just the one section:

“A curse upon all bards, another on their tongues, A double curse upon their songs, I swear. A triple curse upon this fool who chose to sing of us! If I could catch that Leslac, I would skin him then and there!”

But it was more than enough to apparently inspire a bit of something.

This is also after the realization some months back that “The Leslac Version” (which is hilarious and I love) is quite literally Jaskier singing his version of events while Geralt keeps trying to correct him.

So anyway, here’s the bit of something I came up with, 783 words total.

         ***

When Geralt had finally asked Jaskier to come home with him to Kaer Morhen -to which the bard had very enthusiastically said yes - the last thing he’d expected was to walk into Eskel and Lambert having an argument.

No, that wasn’t quite true. Lambert was always an argumentative fuck, and a bit of prankster. He loved to stir shit up, and throughout the winter the three younger witchers – and occasionally their guests – would wind up rolling around on the floor, throwing punches, pulling hair and even biting. Vesemir would grumble, but he’d step over the squabbling pile of witchers and go about his day as if nothing untoward were happening.

So no, Geralt wasn’t exactly expecting the others to be on their best behavior just because he was bringing the bard home, finally. Not that they had known he intended to do that this year. Still. He just… hadn’t expected the cause of their argument to be about the bard.

Lambert was fully worked up by the time Geralt and Jaskier arrived, cursing all bards, their songs, and - specifically – Jaskier. Because while there were others that sang Jaskier’s songs, none other had dared to write about witchers to begin with.

Eskel, Geralt was glad to note, was trying to be the reasonable one, trying to talk Lambert down from his rant.

“You can’t deny it’s a catchy tune,” Eskel pointed out.

Lambert glared. “I’m so sick of that song…” he mumbled. “If I have to hear it one more time, I’m going to find that bard myself and flay him alive.”

“But, think about all the good these songs have been for our reputation!” Eskel said. Beside Geralt, Jaskier preened. “Not being chased out of towns, cheated as often by the alderman, or turned away from the whor –“

Lambert’s snort interrupted Eskel.

“Our reputation? Oh sure, sure, sure, our reputation. Well, what about all the folks who approach us, expecting us to be their knights in shining armor, and us walking away unpaid because of course we’ll rid them of the monsters for free! We’re the fucking friends to humanity!” Lambert growled. “I can’t replace my armor when no one’s willing to pay, and then I’ll just be a dead witcher. And what good will that do to anyone?”

Eskel blinked, nodding slowly as if agreeing to Lambert’s side. If Eskel was coming around to Lambert’s way of thinking, he and Jaskier were fucked. Geralt was just thinking that this might be the best time to beat a hasty retreat and get Jaskier to safety when a hand came down on his and Jaskier’s shoulders and Vesemir’s voice rumbled out.

“Ah, you’re home,” Vesemir said. The hand on Geralt’s shoulder squeezed almost painfully. Beside him Jaskier was wincing from a similar grip. “And with a guest, no less. You made it just in time. Storm coming down the mountain tonight. Gonna be a big one.”

Meaning, Geralt realized as Vesemir propelled them both out of the doorway and into the main hall, that there was no turning back now. They were stuck here. Here, where everyone was glaring at him and his bard.

Well.

Fuck.

 Bonus – Dramatic Jaskier

“But the song literally says ‘Toss a coin’!!” Jaskier shouted over Geralt’s shoulder as Geralt spirited him away deeper into the keep. “Why are you blaming me for the tight wallets of the continent? Really? Me?! When I have been encouraging them to send money your way!”

The other witchers were still glaring after them and Jaskier wasn’t too sure they wouldn’t up and follow anyways. He bounced on Geralt’s shoulder with every step, but with the excellent training at Oxenfurt, Jaskier still had the breath to continue, and he did. Loudly.

“It’s not my fault the general populace is stupid! I mean, we already knew it, treating you all they way they were in the first place! Excuse ME for trying to make it better! But yeah, good, yeah, go after the poor bard doing a good deed instead of the villagers who try to take advantage of you! You don’t like my songs? Well, let’s see if you change your tune when I write ones about-”

Geralt’s hand landed on his ass with a sharp, calculated smack. “Don’t antagonize them, Jaskier. Besides, any defaming songs about a pair of witchers will just come back to haunt all the rest of us.”

“Oh, you ruin all my fun,” Jaskier pouted, leaning his head on his hand and digging his elbow just a little bit into Geralt’s back. He stuck his tongue out at the witchers one last time before they were whisked out of sight by Geralt turning a corner.

[btschooseafic]

Hey you, what’s your dream?

Pairing: platonic!oc x ot7

Details: manager!oc, predebut/idolverse, partial BTS World!verse

Summary: Aviva gets pissed off at an executive.

Warnings: This is a fictional story based on real events. The characters presented here are not the same as their real life counterparts. (TW: discussion of body shaming/ body image issues) [Masterlist]

Track 19: Valentine’s Day

Sour Candy- Lady Gaga & BLACKPINK

“I'm sour candy

So sweet then I get a little angry”

February 14th, 2013

Soonyoung woke Aviva with a big wet kiss to her forehead.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” She held out a box of chocolates to the younger girl, beaming. Aviva rubbed her eyes and squinted up at Soonyoung, looming over her in bed. She was wearing a pretty red dress.

Aviva glanced at her phone. “Why are you up and dressed so early? Why are you waking me up so early?”

“I’ve got a pity breakfast hook-up date thing with a friend of a friend,” Soonyoung told her all in one breath. “But he only had time in the early morning, so, like, I wanted to say goodbye to you first.”

Aviva yawned. “Too bad, I was gonna make us a nice breakfast.”

Soonyoung pouted. “I could skip the pity breakfast hook-up date thing and stay with you. You’re more important, and your food tastes just as good as whatever café it is we’re going to, I’m sure.”

Aviva laughed. “Thanks for the flattery, but you should go. You’ve been complaining about how horny you’ve been lately.”

“True.” Soonyoung nodded. “Okay, I’ll go, but you do something fun for yourself today too, okay, girl?” Aviva shrugged. “Do it! I’m gonna call Hobi and make him bully you until you do!”

“Well, that’s no fun…” Aviva muttered.

Later that morning, Aviva went to the dorm as usual, to pick everyone up for their day of work. Jimin sat in the passenger’s seat next to her, unusually quiet and wearing his scarf covering his face.

“He got a cold cause he didn’t dress warmly enough when we went home for the holidays,” Jungkook told her, noticing her glancing at him every so often.

“Agh, Kookie, you didn’t have to tell her that!” Jimin protested hoarsely.

“It’s okay, manager, we still have plenty of that throat care stuff you gave us a while ago, so we’ve been testing everything that was left out on Jiminie,” Jin told her.

“Testing…?” Aviva wondered. Jimin grimaced.

“Nothing’s working,” he told her quietly.

“Hmmm. I’ve also got some special tea Soonie’s grandmother gave us over the holidays,” Aviva told him. “If you wanted to try that.” He shrugged.

“I’ll try anything at this point.” He stared at his feet. “I’m supposed to be an idol, how can I do that if I can’t sing?”

“Yah,” Namjoon said lightly.

“You can sing, Namjoon-ah,” Aviva said. He smiled at her. “...sort of.”

“Yah,” Namjoon said, again, now looking more offended.

“You could just be the hot dancer, Jiminie,” Tae suggested.

“Hmm, but Hobi-hyung,” Jimin pointed out. “And you and Kookie aren’t that bad either, Tae. Hmm, and Yoongi-hyung, sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Yoongi wondered. Jungkook grinned as Namjoon frowned.

“Yah!” Jin said, his face squeezing up as he swung his arms around. “Joon-ah and I can be hot dancers too!” Namjoon snickered.

“You’d still be the cutest one, Jiminie,” Hoseok told him. Jimin frowned.

At the office, Jimin, Hoseok, and Jungkook went to dance practice, while Tae, Jin, and JK went to vocal practice, and Yoongi and Namjoon went to work on writing more songs. Aviva had a meeting with marketing, and then went to check on Jimin.

She found two girls waiting outside the dance studio, whispering and giggling. Aviva recognized them as some of the newer trainees, who were already fans of BTS, the maknae line in particular. They jumped when they saw her, trying to hide something behind their backs. They were holding boxes of chocolate.

Aviva smiled. “It’s alright, girls. I won’t tell the higher ups if you want to give the boys chocolates. Just don’t let their heads get too big.”

They giggled. “Thanks, manager-nim!”

“Do you mind if I wait around with you? I wanted a word with my clients.”

They shook their heads. The girls waited together in silence for a few minutes, before Aviva started up conversation again, asking what kind of chocolates they got, and how their training was going.

By the time the boys finally came out of the studio, she had given the girls her number and told them to call her if they ever had any trouble.

Jungkook and Jimin blushed as the girls handed over the chocolate boxes and then rushed off. Hoseok sighed.

“None for me?”

“You’re too old,” Jungkook told him ruthlessly. Hoseok winced.

“Aish, Avi, you’ll get me chocolate, right?”

Aviva made a noncommittal noise. Hoseok whined as the younger boys laughed.

“What’s on our schedule next?” Jimin wondered, his voice still raw.

“I’ve got vocal practice,” Jungkook told him apologetically. Jimin winced.

“I was gonna join Yoongi-hyung and Namjoon-ah if you want to come, Jiminie,” Hoseok offered. He hesitated.

“Or you can come rest in my office,” Aviva offered. “I’m just going to be working on my computer for a while, so it’ll be quiet.”

“…Okay,” Jimin said. “I could use a nap.”

As they neared her office, Aviva spotted a higher-up the boys had been having trouble with recently. She automatically shifted her body in front of Jimin, trying to hide him, but the employee saw him anyway.

“Ah, Jimin-ssi…” He sneered down at the box of chocolates. “Are you sure that’s wise?” Jimin stiffened. “You’re supposed to be having a debut soon, and they say that the camera adds twenty—”

“You have no right to speak to my client that way!” Aviva snapped. The official stared at her.

“Excuse me?”

“No. I have excused your behavior long enough,” she thought.

“Avi…” Jimin whispered worriedly behind her, gripping her arm.

“I understand that this is a competitive industry, but you have no right to say purposefully harmful things to a growing teenage boy!” She drew herself up to her full height, which was several inches shorter than the man. “How would you feel if someone had spoken to you like that when you were his age? Or is that exactly what happened? Are you stuck in a vengeful cycle because you were hurt as a child and never able to grow past it?”

“You have gone too far!” The man said, pointing his finger in her face. “I will have you fired for this! Or at the very least, suspended without pay!”

He stomped off down the hall.

“…You shouldn’t have said that,” Jimin said, looking a little tearful. “What if he really gets you fired? I mean, he’s not wrong about the chocolate, even if he could’ve said it more nicely—”

“No!” She said sharply. Jimin flinched. Aviva took a deep breath. “Jiminie, I’m sorry, I’m…” She rubbed her temples. “It’s not just you, he’s been saying comments like that to all of the boys, and to trainees even younger than you… I know people say things like that all the time, but he is definitely the worst I’ve ever personally met.”

Jimin studied her for a moment.

“Walk with me,” he said, taking her arm again.

“Where are we going?” She wondered, glancing around the hall.

“Hey, noona, I know you were standing up for us, and others, and I’m grateful for that… but it sounded a little personal too. Is there…” He massaged his throat. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

She frowned. “I’m here to help you, not talk about myself.”

“You don’t have to,” he said. “But if you want to... talking to you helps me, a lot. I just want to return the favor. You don’t always have to shoulder everything, you know, just because you’re the manager. You’re my friend too, and I care about you.”

“Jiminie...” She groaned as he stared wide-eyed at her. “Oh, not the puppy dog eyes!” He grinned. “Fine, but keep it quiet, okay? I don’t like to talk about it much.”

“I don’t want to force you—“

“It’s not that.” She waved her hand.

“I just don’t want certain people to know, so...” She put her finger on her lips. “Okay?” He nodded, sliding his hand down to hers and squeezing. “No one ever said anything, well, not to my face… but sometimes in the changing room people would whisper, and laugh… everywhere in the media, and most of the women surrounding me at work, on the train, at the store… They’re just a lot… smaller.” She frowned down at herself. “I get that there are different challenges facing body image as a Korean man in an idol group, and especially a dancer,” she said, looking at him grimly. “But for me, my main issue is feeling too big, like I take up too much space. Especially when I moved here...”

“Idols are pushed to be skinny,” Jimin agreed. “Just as much as contemporary dancers in general, though for some different reasons, it mostly boils down to not fitting an image someone decided was the ideal long ago.” He reached out, pushing her hair back from her face. “I think we’re both gorgeous, so fuck them.” She laughed. “I’m serious.” He pouted.

“I know, thanks, Jiminie.” She looked up, realizing he’d led her to the studio. “Why are we here?”

“Cause we’re gonna ask the hyungs to help you keep your job,” Jimin said. Her eyes widened. She shook her head.

“Jimin-ah, no, I don’t want to drag them down with me.”

“Too bad.” He pulled the door open, dragging her with him. “We’re with you all the way, whether you like it or not.”

Hoseok and Yoongi had been so angry when they heard what happened that Namjoon had Jin take them home early. Jin had to basically drag them out of the room. Jungkook, Jimin, and Tae practically had to sit on Aviva to get her to stay in the studio while Namjoon left to talk to the higher-ups.

“I talked them down to three days unpaid suspension, and no mention of it on your permanent record,” he told them when he got back to the studio. He snorted when he saw Aviva’s hair, mussed from her running her fingers through it so much. He combed it down absentmindedly with his fingers.

“Thanks,” she said quietly. “I mean, I still kind of wish you hadn’t, but… thanks.” She looked at Jimin. “You too.”

“And we get to walk back, since Jin-hyung took the van!” Jungkook said happily.

Taehyung groaned. “No… I’m tired…”

“We still have several hours left, guys,” Namjoon told them. He looked at Aviva. “Ah, they want you out of here ASAP though, just in case he sees you and tries to complain again.”

“Got it.” She nodded. “I’ll go to the dorm and grab my car.”

“You don’t have to,” Namjoon said. “You can go home and rest. Jin-hyung can drop it off tomorrow.” She waved her hand.

“You know I won’t be able to sit around and rest while everyone else is working hard.”

“Well, you deserve some rest, but… yeah, I know you’re not the type.” He shook his head, smiling fondly at her back as she left.

Aviva was surprised when she walked into the dorm and Yoongi greeted her with a hug.

“They shouldn’t have done that to you,” he growled in her ear.

“Now, now, all’s well that ends well,” Jin said pleasantly. “Do you want a snack to cheer you up, Avi-yah? Maybe something sweet.”

Yoongi pulled away from her, his lips twitching slightly.

“You do deserve a treat.”

“For getting in trouble with my sunbaenims?” She wondered.

“Well, for that—” Yoongi agreed.

“Fuck the man!” Hoseok cried out from behind them, punching the air.

Aviva laughed.

“And also… for standing up for us,” Yoongi continued, more quietly. “Come on.” He took her hand. “I’ll take you out for one of those ridiculously expensive coffees you secretly like.”

“No, it’s waste of money,” she argued.

“Not for you,” he argued back.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I appreciate the thought, but I don’t want you wasting your money on me… especially when I’ve just been suspended without pay for a couple of days… just… I’m sure I can find something in the kitchen, let’s make something together.”

Yoongi’s eyes widened.

“You want to…cook with me?”

“Eh, I’m so jealous,” Jin said. “Sounds fun.”

“Baking, more likely,” she said. “But yeah, if that sounds okay with you, it would probably help me take my mind off things.”

“Okay.” He nodded, his face flushed slightly. “Let’s do it.”

Yoongi seemed a little disappointed to be making a chocolate cake for the boys, but once they started he got really into it.

Aviva offered him the bowl to lick, but he shook his head, staring at the cake in the oven in interest.

“It’s not going to bake any faster if you watch it,” she told him, her lips twitching in amusement. He shrugged. “Okay, well, don’t burn yourself. I’m going to clean up—”

“Wait!” Jin ran in, closely followed by Hoseok.

“We heard something about cake batter!”

“You can have it if you help me clean up,” Aviva bargained.

“Fine,” Hobi said, making grabby hands at her. “Just hand it over.”

“Dishes first,” she told him.

“Namjoon…” Aviva said over the phone that night. She heard him gulp.

“Aviva?”

“About that song you just posted to Soundcloud…”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“You do know there are rules against explicit content, right? And that the new Head of Marketing is aiming you specifically towards a younger audience?”

“Ah, so here’s the thing. I may have lost a bet with Hope-ah and the punishment was to record and post a song with lyrics that were, um…”

Aviva sighed, massaging her temples. “Okay, so both you and Hoseokie are in trouble, got it.”

“Is it really that bad?” He wondered.

“Honestly, I think it’s hilarious,” she told him. “But I don’t think Chief Ho Kyungso will agree. I miss Sanghoon-sunbae, at least he could take a joke…”

“Hilarious?” Namjoon repeated. “It’s supposed to be sexy!”

Aviva laughed.

[rwbyconversations]

Rooster Teeth Glassdoor Crunch/Overtime Accusations #AnimatorsFirst

EDIT: Georden Whitman, former creator of Nomad of Nowhere, has come out and publicly confirmed the Glassdoor reviews are true.

Original story:

Rooster Teeth’s Glassdoor reviews have recently made serious allegations against the company, with people who work for the company claiming that the company engages in practices involving heavy crunch periods, a resistance to providing benefits, eighty hour work weeks, a management team trying to justify crunch and unpaid overtime that, according to some, led to as much as a third of RWBY and gen;LOCK’s recent seasons being made effectively for free. 

Below are screencaps and exact quotes from the pages. Any emphasis made is done by me.

From May 23rd this year, as written by an employee with three years experience at RT:

Cons

Program scheduling department has no idea how to time budget for animation, has resulted in unnecessary, preventable crunch Company takes on projects that are too big for it to manage effectively Not the highest pay compared to Anim Guild standards Open office space, gets noisy

Advice to Management

Management has been using a weird method to try and deescalate hard feelings about crunch. They’re acting like counselors who are “there to talk” and to try and find “coping mechanisms” to deal with crunch. This is a terrible idea considering that none of them are trained counselors as far as I’m aware, but more-so, they’re obviously going to be biased in favor of what they want from us. It makes me want to communicate with them even less. This past review, my manager criticized me for having “negative energy” during a terrible crunch period where we were working over 80 hrs s week, and told me I should “look for the silver lining” which is just bad advice. Advice to management is to stop pretending you know anything about mental health and also be less passive - fight harder for your team.

From May 13th, an employee with a year’s experience at Rooster Teeth:

Cons

The management is terrible. Artists are lead on with the promises of "full time employment and benefits" dangled in front of them without ever being addressed and ultimately are never given, there is no paid overtime, artists had to fight for their right to time off between productions, and good luck getting any form of benefits despite them being plastered on the wall.

Advice to Management

You're not a group of guys playing halo in your apartment anymore. Please run your business and look at what's happened to it.

From June 11th this year, from an employee who has been working at the company for five years:

Cons

- Extremely poor management (Some of it is negligence, some of it is just accidental from the sheer amount of work. Upper management is also extreme bro/friends club.) - Insanely high expectations (animate a 10-14 min episode in 2 weeks) - Very low compensation (I've worked here for years and make entry pay. Some people have gone MULTIPLE years with no raise) - No overtime pay (Every season of RWBY and GL gets about 1/3 or less made for 'free' because no one gets paid over time and it's not uncommon to work hundreds of hours of overtime) - Toxic work environment (there are a lot of cliques, complaining and even making fun of other people and depts here. It never gets punished so it always happens. Not professional)  - You know something is going right when after many complaints HR reminds everyone you have "unlimited" mental health doctor appointments... I could honestly go on and on like an emo on Myspace in 2007 but I'll reign it in. I'll leave it at this since I've seen many fans read these and be skeptical. It's not great. You can deny it but there is a lot of evidence if you just accept it. And the reason you work here is cus you get stuck and are promised "It'll get better". The work is low quality (hard to get jobs elsewhere), pay is low (can't save money) and life/work balance is a joke. We have a bit of balance now but it's only for a couple months out of the year when production isn't in full swing. Then it's back in the meat grinder.

Advice to Management

You NEED to listen to the workers and make hard decisions and actually fight for better conditions. It's been far far too long of "it'll get better" or "we know what to do next year". This isn't sustainable and I think we all know it. But someone has to be the guy to say "no" when things aren't good enough. If you don’t say no, hundreds of people suffer. Please.

From May 18th:

Cons

Crunch has gotten to an unacceptable level. Productions have been completed with over half of total hours unpaid overtime, especially impacting the comp and editing department. Management cares more about their ego than the quality of the work they put out— letting the crunch caused by their irresponsible decisions fall solely on the shoulders of the artists while they enjoy a forty hour work week. Pay is laughable compared with the amount of mandated, unpaid hours of labor. No career advancement, and contract workers are given empty promises of full time employment before being shown the door once production is done.

Advice to Management

Stop saying the crunch issue is “getting better” or that you’re “working on it”, and start actually owning up to your mistakes.

From May 19th:

Cons

-A lot of employees brought on, if not all, before the last development cycle were promised permanent positions after a 90 day trial period. As those dates approached those artists saw no change, asking their leads what was going on. The guidance from higher ups was vague at best, and some felt like they had been forced to lie to employees during the interview process. - A lot of processes went over-scope due to poor planning. -Lack of actual production experience in the management side of things is no longer something that can be glossed over as the company tries to take on more industry vetted employees. -Crunch is extreme and overtime is not compensated for, nor is that time given back in any fair amount.

Advice to Management

-Clear and concise communication -Re-structure your upper level management

From May 12th:

Cons

Crunch here is out of control. No Paid OT. Expect to work A LOT for free. 70-80 hour work weeks. Mandatory 10-12 hour work days sometimes with no days off. Management is more interested in telling you what you want the hear as opposed to the truth.

Advice to Management

Fix the crunch issue and stop saying 'we're working on it'.... because you're not. Layoffs are certain. Will layoff bad employees and good employees in the same breath, completely eliminating any reason to work as hard as you're required to do. Fix your transparency issue and stop overworking your employees otherwise your reputation will severely suffer.

From April 5th:

Cons

-No paid overtime. -Crunch is a major problem in the animation department due to unrealistic deadlines, poor planning, and indecisiveness. (Mandatory 10 to 12 hour days for multiple months are common.) -Stress levels are often very high due to harsh deadlines -Some of the producers tend to lie. -Promotions are used as a morale booster, not actual career advancement. -Hardly any time for Professional Development -Professionalism can be a bit scarce (for example people would draw penises on the boards throughout the studio)

Advice to Management

-Management needs to seriously figure out how to deal with the crunch issue. A question was asked at an all hands meeting: "How are you going to handle crunch this year?" Instead of giving a clear answer, the head of the RT animation department completely dodged the question. If you don't know how you are going to tackle a problem, try saying, "I don't know. I will get back with you ASAP." Then actually pursue a solution to the problem. Dodging questions makes you look shady and untrustworthy. -Improve production plans and make sure you have enough resources to complete your projects. If you are going to work on two shows at the same time, then you need to double ALL of your teams along the pipeline, not just one. If you can barely get one project done with your current resources, you certainly cannot finish two. If you can't get the resources needed to complete the projects, then it's probably best to keep them small or to simply not do them at all. Pushing your teams beyond the breaking point is not the wisest decision. If you continue with your overambitious ways, it will backfire in the long run. Telltale Games' closure and Bioware's Anthem debacle are examples of what's to come if you do not improve your production practices and get crunch under control. -Get more training on how to manage people. There are plenty of programs out there that can help management understand how to work with various types of personalities. There were some situations where I noticed that some leads and producers simply did not know how to talk to a person when there was a problem. Despite all of the criticism I just wrote, I feel the majority of who work at Rooster Teeth Productions are decent people. However, the management is just terrible. Put some of that ambition you have into fixing your problems internally instead of putting it into meeting those unrealistic deadlines.

From March 25th:

Cons

- Massive amounts of unpaid overtime. All while touting the importance to the company of a life/work balance. They promise to give you the time back, but it will be impossible to take. - Management is just a joke. They can’t schedule or stay on track to save their lives. Total amateur hour. - Zero followthrough on promises made. How about a pizza party? - Pay much lower than standard. Don’t expect real raises. Promotions with increased responsibilities don’t come with comparable pay bumps. - Most promises of advancement and opportunities are hollow wishful thinking. - Almost zero followthrough with meaningful investment in employee education. You can access a Udemy account and that’s about it. - Management will blame the artists instead of taking responsibility and will even through people under the bus to cover themselves. - Internet celebs are more valuable than artists.  - Their awards are called “cockbite of the month/year” and it’s what they call their employees. You may not want to be called that but that’s too bad. It’s their culture. A few guys draw penises everywhere to be funny. - Not very much diversity in management. Feels like you need to be a straight white male to be appreciated.

Advice to Management

Hire some actual seasoned industry professionals to upper management in Animation. And demonstrate there are some consequences for them, instead of taking it out on employees.

From April 11th: 

Cons

-Overtime, and hours will cause any person to slowly become something they don't like. -Management is typically made up of "talent" and treats other employees poorly, not to mention 0 years of previous managerial experience. -Management also blames other employees for the problems they create, and don't show actual leadership. -Echo chambers within management. -Stress levels incredibly high -Lack of professionalism

Advice to Management

-Get rid of "talent" in managerial roles, it's clear they're costing the company serious problems and money. The ones who end up being hurt are the employees who knew and constantly warned about problems ahead of time that were ignored. If the company stays the same a huge incident is bound to follow. -Try to respect creatives that aren't "talent" within the company as well. It's clear management doesn't and goes against the entirety of the company's "core values." those who have had previous industry experience should be listened to and considered instead of being shrugged off and given responses like "Well that's just how we do things." -Collaboration doesnt seem to exist for a majority of managment here. If this one massive change happens the company could really grow far and do much more than create crude content with a lack of care/heart for the final product. -If people are able to sleep and have a normal schedule more thoughtful input will also happen, and your content can only get better. -A multitude of people and lives have been hurt from management at this company, from in house employees being mentally abused to freelancers that are ghosted. So many immature and poor practices have taken place within the animation department I'm amazed a lawsuit has yet to happen. -Management should be leaders not bosses.

It’s almost darkly funny that most of the positives are just “They give you free food on Mondays and the people are nice.” 

But these are all from just the last year alone. Most reviews from before the start of 2019 don’t speak of crunch barring one from April 2018, one from March 2018 and one from June. This is a problem that has been affecting Rooster Teeth for at least an entire year, and since the start of the new year, the problem has magnified tenfold. Most reviews mention that the heads of departments are aware of the crunch and unpaid overtime but refuse to do anything about it beyond offering platitudes or dodging the question on what the company is going to actually do to fix the crunch problem.

Crunch is a problem plaguing many companies, especially in the western hemisphere. In gaming development there’s a story nearly every month about what apathetic upper management think they can get away with by forcing employees to spend dozens of hours every week slaving away on their product. I hoped that Rooster Teeth would not be one of these companies, but I am saddened to see that they were not. 

Crunch’s negative effects on mental and physical health have been well documented, alongside the basic fact that crunch isn’t worth it and doesn’t work. Employees forced to crunch are unable to work as well as employees who are well rested and have time to go home to their families. 

To anyone working these impossible crunch hours at Rooster Teeth right now, I hope your suffering ends soon, that eventually basic human empathy wins out and hours are lessened while you receive your just rewards for your work.

For @roosterteeth? This is appalling and a slap in the face to the fanbase you conned into thinking that you were a company that cared for everyone within as a huge family. Your entire management team should be ashamed of the environment you signed off on. No profit margin is worth the suffering you have subjected your crew to. Shame on you. 

As a fan of RWBY, it disgusts me that a product I enjoy was made through blood, sweat and tears. And as a fan of RWBY, I wish to make a public call to the fanbase, be it on Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter or Youtube. I want to make a public statement to Rooster Teeth that we are willing to wait longer for new shows if it means that they are made ethically. I can’t in good conscience support a product if it was made by putting the workers through hell. Maybe I can’t change anything on my own, maybe ultimately we’ll just be ignored, but I refuse to stand by and stay silent on the matter, maybe even get Rooster Teeth to make changes in their workflow (I won’t say “I hope they respond” because they seem to respond in-house to complaints about crunch without ever actually changing anything) 

I encourage you to share this around as much as you can. Share the accounts of the Glassdoor reviews as far and as wide as you can. We love and enjoy media, we love the people who make it- the animators, editors, writers and voice actors, and we as a community want them to not have to resort to RT’s seemingly unlimited mental health coverage or “find a coping mechanism to deal with crunch.” As much as it pains me to admit, I’d rather see RWBY die instead of seeing continue to be made on the back of crunch.

Thank you for reading. Again, I encourage you to share this around as much as you can. Let your voice be heard if you stand against this. 

[yuncheoligans-archive]

~Beautiful Stranger~ TEASER

Hi Guys! This is just a teaser for something I'm working on! I'm really excited about this one but I don't know if I want to make it a series or not, either way, I'm nowhere near done writing it but feedback is always appreciated and needed I promise haha. This is thanks to my ramblings to my friends late at night while being distracted from the terrible weekend I had.

tags: @hwaightme @layzfeelit

Enjoy!!

Pairing: Yunho x Reader. (The guys are involved at some point too but not romantically.) NonIdol! AU

Description: A lonely perpetually single grad student working at a museum is approached by a handsome man, he looks expensive. Maybe this is your chance to get swept off your feet. Maybe he wants something else.

I’m not originally from the UK but my parents moved back and forth for a variety of things while I was growing up so it’s like a second home. I came here for my graduate program in Art History and made a few friends…moved in with them and now there’s 5 people in an apartment made for 3. We all go to University College London and live off campus in the cheapest place we could find, I was fortunate enough to get a job and internship at The National Gallery here. I’m lucky and I can pay rent but that’s about it, I’m by no means well off and trust me I could use a few extra any sort of money. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The blaring sound of my morning alarm disturbs the dreams of a man sweeping me off my feet, his voice no longer sweet as honey but now Kick It by NCT 127. I guess I’m getting introduced to some New Thangs today  So it was going to be that kind of day, no school but long hours at work as a gallery attendant but also archivist in training, the latter being an unpaid internship…of course. Yeah, long day. I got up, finally silencing my alarm and pulling myself out of my full sized bed, the only luxury I could afford on my own, to drag myself down the hallway to our shared bathroom and brush my teeth. Let’s hope I’m awake enough to remember not to drink Orange Juice again as I look for breakfast. Now how long until I have to catch my train? And if I miss it how long until the bus? It’s not a terrible walk but I need to eat. Maybe I can get to Uni from here. Why does London have to be so confusing!

“You’re up early y/n” William, my flatmate’s boyfriend said passing by the open door.

“Work.” was all I mumbled as I head back to my room to pick out my outfit for the day. I stayed up writing this stupid research paper all night and what do I have to show for it…the not so designer bags under my eyes. Most days are filled with a plethora of alarms going off around the same time, lucky for my flatmates, I’m the only one with work today I guess. Alright which combination of suit pants, blouse, and jacket am I going to wear today…All Black? All Black. I finished setting everything out before heading downstairs to eat just in case I got something on my shirt again. Last time I decided to make this beautiful breakfast sandwich with a runny egg and it broke onto the bright pink blouse I had picked for the day on the tube going to work, my boss was not happy about the spill. Did I cry, yeah…hey the saying is crying over spilt milk not spilt eggs.

“Oh hi y/n!” my other flatmates girlfriend Emma cheerily said. “I’m just making Becks some breakfast do you want any?”

“Sure Ems…thanks.” I nodded. If I didn’t have to cook I wasn’t going to complain. Oh that’s the other thing you should know, I’m the only one single in this apartment anymore…or flat. Whatever you want to call it. 

The two sleeping while their partners roam around are my best friends for 2 years, Becka (Rebecca) and Liz (Elizabeth), I only use their full names when I’m angry at them, there have been plenty an argument in the small confinement of our apartment. There’s 2 bedrooms upstairs, one above the living room, one above the downstairs bedroom, the bathroom is in between the two and just up the set of stairs. Downstairs is the living room, and subsequent dining area. Kitchen is just through to the back and off to the right is bedroom number 3. Yes we all share one bathroom, no it’s not as fun as it sounds. I live in the room at the front of the place above the living room, I was going to take the downstairs room because I came home late and didn’t want to wake anyone until Liz and Will got together, when they started dating they went at it like rabbits. Becka offered to switch with me since she was barely home to begin with, she and Emma had just started dating so she was with her a lot, at school doing lengthy research papers, or at her internship at the hospital. Her internship slowed down so she had a lot of time to be home and spend time with the love of her life. They’re cute don’t get me wrong…just unfortunate to be the only one single here. 

“Thanks again Ems.” I said cleaning the plate I used as I got up to finally get dressed. “It was really good, Becka is lucky to have you.”

“I certainly am.” said woman came into the room perking up at her partner. “Thank you again love.”

“I’ll be going before that breakfast makes a fast journey back up.” I laughed receiving a towel to the face. I put on the outfit I had picked out, touched up my hair so I didn’t look like I was coming in out of bed, and set off for the day. Thankfully I didn’t miss my train so it was only 45 minutes to get to work. I know that sounds like a lot but it’s not so bad when you’re used to it. I get to listen to music and relax a little more before starting a long long day.

The opening of a museum is never exciting, there’s probably 10 maybe 15 guests in the first 3 hours of open, not much to do, luckily the museum lets me work on my internship first on these long days so I’m not bored out of my mind by the time I’m done. I usually clock in around lunch time finally and sit or stand around for the rest of the day depending on what they want me to do that day. 

“Y/n” you’re going to be in Room 43 today.” my boss Henry looked at me.

“Well at least I get to look at some of my favorites today.” I sighed, knowing I was going to be on my feet for the rest of the day was not something to invoke joy. Room 43 on Level 2 had our Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Seurat paintings, most notably Sunflowers by Van Gogh, Van Gogh’s Chair, and Motherhood by Picasso. One of my favorites was-

“A Vase of Flowers, Paul Gauguin,” said the smoothest voice I’ve ever heard. Like butter melting on bread.

“Yes, one of my favorites in the room.” I smiled before turning towards the man. My breath hitched, there before me stood a man about 6 foot 1, dressed in a suit that looks like I don’t know how to pronounce the designers name, oxford shoes, no tie,his nose had a slight point to it, a jawline that looked like it was sculpted by Michelangelo, full eyebrows, his eyes soft and warm, finally his black hair. He was perfect, absolutely stunning, I wanted to look at him more than the art around me.

“Can you tell me about it?” he smiled.

“Oh, yes absolutely.” Anything to talk to him. “Painted by Gauguin in 1896, painted with Oil Paints-”

“Ah so it needs something breathable to not ruin the paints?” he smiled. “When transported for cleaning?”

“Yes, since oils are very hard to fix if damaged. So um anyways, Paul Gauguin painted 'A Vase of Flowers' when he arrived in Tahiti for his second stay in 1895. The vase is bursting with exotic flowers including hibiscus, white and yellow frangipani and white tiare. The flowers look as though they are past their best as some blossoms have fallen onto the table. This suggests that Gauguin was not interested in the horticultural detail but instead the decorative shapes and interweaving of colours of the display.”

“Very interesting.” his smile grew.

[3pirouette]

Was hoping to get back to Honey Trap this week, but things are just not ok. I don’t know the future of the fic- if I’ll set the angst aside for a while and try to work on something happier, or just take a break all together. 

(frustrating personal stuff)

My niece is doing better, and thankfully myself and my parents are all symptom free and tested negative after seeing her last weekend, but my brother and sister in law are now showing symptoms (though I suppose if they managed to dodge it while caring for the baby that would be a miracle, right?) 

Job stuff is also super stressful. At the clinic we’re still overwhelmed and there’s no help to be had. Also, if I have to tell one more patient to please pull their mask up I’m going to lose my shit. You KNOW when it’s not on your face or under your nose. Stop acting like you’re getting away with something. I see you, and I’m fucking judging you. 

As for the studio, we now have a parent accusing my boss of improper accounting because she’s claiming she gave us cash to pay part of her unpaid tuition and that’s not accounted for on her account summary. As in hundreds of dollars in cash none of us ever received. My boss has her moments of frustration and idiocy, but she is NOT someone that would do this and in 20 years of working for her we’ve never had an issue with thousands of dollars changing hands every year. This woman is behind a significant amount in payments and we let her daughter continue to dance last year because it wasn’t fair to the kid, especially during a pandemic, to take that away from her, but now this woman is acting like it’s our fault? My boss was willing to let the kid KEEP DANCING this coming year and let the mom figure out a payment plan because we’re trying to keep these kids in our studio and having something positive to do while all this is going on, and the mom accuses us of this and pulls her kid. WHAT??? Nothing like fucking over one of the sweetest kids I’ve ever met. Sometimes I really fucking hate adults. 

Like- didn’t sleep at all last night after these two things. 

I tried to just surf social media- but Facebook is full of intolerant idiots, instagram is just highlight reels, posed pictures, and ads now that are somehow all designed to make me feel bad about myself, and I swear to god everything I tried to look at on Tik Tok or here on Tumblr was just angsty “hot takes” on characters or shows I like that left a bad taste in my mouth. 

I feel like I can’t escape anymore, and that’s really harsh and frustrating. 

I feel like every time I take a positive step forward for my work life or my mental health, I just get punched in the face again with ONE MORE THING that just requires me to give more of myself to it than I get back from it.

I’m having a really hard time being positive about myself for myself. Writing has helped, but there’s a limit. I’ve added taking personal training sessions to my routine to get healthier, but the only times available right now between me and my trainer are after work, which means less “me” time? (because, seriously, I’m BARELY TOLERATING going to the gym, I do not enjoy working out. Never have). 

It’s been almost 18 months, I think I’m out of coping mechanisms. 

I’m mentally and emotionally (and sometimes physically) exhausted from trying to be positive for everyone else all the time and trying to do the “right” thing. 

I don’t know what comes next. 

I’m not sure how to make it better. 

I guess I’ll figure it out. Like I always fucking do. 

[britguyrupert]

Indian Entrepreneur makes it the key goal to recruit and train Youth – Great opportunity for Freshers

- My internship journey with IFORTIS CORPORATE , INDIA

I had only given my semester exams and for a 1st year student , I pretty much didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing . Repercussion of the pandemic means my internship would make most sense if it were to be online . To be honest , everything seemed easy with the premium sites ,except for spam recruiters and social media exploiters. Social media exploiters are firms that take partial control of your social media handles ; where you would be forced ( under a contract) to post the content that they give you . You basically advertise them for free! Now unpaid internships aren’t bad but be sure about what you are getting yourself into. Beware of such recruiters.

Landing eyes on my employer was easy , given IFORTIS CORPORATE was actively recruiting and was hiring interns for various departments like Corporate Ambassador , Marketing intern , HR intern , etc., The recruiting process was very professional and smooth, I’m thankful to the interviewer. Working with IFORTIS CORPORATE as an intern , is easy . For a fresher you’d be given a couple of tasks , in every process of which I had the HR for help . The SOPs’ or tasks assigned for me were of a great learning experience and they were also detailed . IFORTIS CORPORATE takes their CSR very meticulously , that throughout the one-month training experience , they never failed to inspire me. At the time of my training , their on-going project was AARAMBH 2.0 , which they collaborated with another youth-driven startup - STEPAHEAD, the first and largest ever virtual youth festival and I had my targets to complete . YES, the firm offers you the complete corporate experience.

My experience from the internship is that now I know a little about how a corporate works . From now , dealing with customers should be no myth to me . If you ask me about my pros-to-cons analysis , I have more for myself in this !

- ONE , that I’ve made an efficient use of my summer vacation . For an Economics major , this is definitely a hand on experience

- TWO, this is a great addition to my resume that now I have something more than others , more than you , for a fresher.

- THREE, contacts ! I needn’t really opinionate on why its important.

IFORTIS CORPORATE does not end as an IT industry or an Event Management Company. They would soon be making their mark in the Textile & Manufacturing industry . I’m happy to be a part of a growing industry that really pays deed to social responsibilities of a corporate.

The corporate has made it a goal to hire more youth and women . This is a beautiful and I think they’re the first ever to actually do this . It is mostly youth and women that run the company , and it has come out beautifully so far . To preach of female and youth empowerment is one thing , but to practice it is a whole other concept. Kudos to the team. My mentor Ms. Soundarya Visvanathan lent her hand of help at all times. In fact, I’ve had this opportunity to learn so much , most importantly this balance in getting work done from the employees while she’s still a good friend to us . It is an A-pointer. She made herself available all the time for official calls which was of a great help to me for I was only beginning .

For clarifications , write to them . If there’s one thing that they’re known for , it has to be for their prompt responses to mails.

For contact : hr@ifortiscorporate.com

[satyrcon]

just had my first day of work! heres a super long entry about the day lol 

so my first day of work was yesterday. 

i woke up at around 6:45 from a very light and anxiety ridden sleep. as my past posts suggest, i’ve been anxious about starting this job since the day i got hired, roughly 3 weeks ago. i’ve been out of work for a year now, and i knew that my surprise sabbatical from adult life was coming to an end, as so many pillars of this era began to fall down around me. my boyfriend broke up with me, i got vaccinated, and social events are beginning to open up again etc. 

i was so anxious that I had already packed my lunch and snacks, had my outfit laid out on the bed, and three alarms set just in case i fell back asleep. 

when i woke up, i was taken back to summers past where i would wake up at this time on a daily basis to jump on a bus and go across town to work at a restaurant for 12ish hours. that was so terrifying, how did i ever get the courage to get out of bed? why is it now that two years later, this seems almost impossible? this new job is better in terms of pay, benefits, and location, yet I’m already wringing my towel. i thought about my most triumphant summer were i worked at an art gallery with no boss, no catty coworkers, and decent pay. 

i rolled over in bed and fed my inner demons. welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. droned in my head. i eventually rushed up without any thought and got ready. sometimes u just have to stop psyching yourself up and just do the damn thing. 

i got dressed in my planned outfit. a pair of black palazzo pants, a black t-shirt bodysuit, and a pair of ballet flats. this is my first time actually putting an effort into my appearance in over a year. it felt alien and the idea of having to do this for the unforseeable future made me feel uneasy. i liked how i looked but for how long? my stomach sunk while i reminisced about jobs past where i would come home melting and irritated by the fabric clinging onto my body. i hate summer. i put my heavy blazer on top, just to play it safe. 

the pandemic has been terrible. it has socially isolated me, deterred my future plans, made me gain a shit ton of weight, and ruined any good habit i have ever barely developed in my 23 years of life. however, the concept of wearing a mask has done wonders for my mental health. i am incredibly self conscious but the mask works as a buffer. i dont feel like no one sees me when i wear it, and im glad. 

i forced myself to drink some coffee with milk, and ate about half of a banana before feeling too nauseous to continue. this has been the earliest i’ve woke up in over a year. i sat and idled about for another 45 minutes or so while i waited for my dad to get ready. 

because i was starting so early, i was able to catch a ride from my dad. this place is so close to home its pretty much on his way to work. i was scared of being early so upon arrival i stood awkwardly behind another shop. i craved a cigarette but it was so hot and muggy it was almost suffocating to even stand still. i regretted my outfit choice. my pants were loose but they were also heavy and ill fitting on my waist. my shirt clung onto my back and the bodysuit contorted itself in with my underwear. my shoes began to give me blisters. after a few minutes of standing idly i decided to just say fuck it and walked into the building. 

to my surprise, i was the last person to walk in. i was greeted warmly and given a health check and then shown where my locker would be. the building was an opulent labyrinth filled with show rooms of expensive furniture and textiles. i walked around in awe before being led to a room where three other girls sat.

would these be my new friends? most likely not. but i was excited nonetheless. there was some idle talk before we officially started training. 

the training was typical and dragged on. the best part about the day was finding out lunch was a full hour. sure it was unpaid, but it beat the agony of trying to pile food in your mouth, grab a coffee, and smoke a cigarette in 30 minutes or less. 

the day ended and i managed to grab a ride home. i was so exhausted i was in bed by 9:30. 

i worked again today, and will work for the rest of the week, except saturday. 

i;m enjoying it but its so hard to be optimistic. my past experiences have always let me down how different can this place be? its been hard to make friends but im trying to be easy on myself. i havent been forced to talk to so many people since you guessed it, over a year. 

i hope the job proves to be useful and leads me down an exciting path. with the pay im making, im probably gonna pocket everything and keep saving up to hopefully travel.  

[astoldbygingersnaps]

On Petco and COVID-19:

I’ve seen a lot of stories and reports about various companies and how they are treating their employees poorly in the wake of COVID-19, but to my surprise I haven’t seen anything about my company, Petco. I suppose it makes sense, given that Petco isn’t as large a company as Target, Starbucks, or Walmart, but I believe people should know what we as partners have been dealing with since the outbreak really picked up steam in the US. 

Before I detail exact what my personal struggle with the company has been, I’d like to make one thing clear: I am a hard worker. I have spent five years of my life--half a decade--dedicating myself to this company. I am both a dog trainer and a keyholder, and I take both of those duties very seriously. Nothing means more to me than taking care of pets and their people, and I pride myself on providing the best care and service to our guests as possible. So when I say that this entire situation is forcing me to abandon my job out of disgust for the way I and my fellow workers have been treated, I want you to understand how much that means. 

I love the work that I do, but that does not change the fact that I, along with many other Petco partners, have been exploited, dismissed, and outright lied to during this crisis. While I understand that we are living in a dangerous and chaotic time that is difficult to navigate, such a fact makes it all the more necessary to treat people with dignity, compassion, and respect. I do not enjoy putting an organization that I have given so much of my heart and soul to on blast, but the events of the previous month have made it clear that Petco as a company does not care whether or not its employees or even its customers are harmed or killed because of their negligence.

For almost a month our concerns have been ignored, belittled, and redirected, and the little action that has been taken has been incredibly delayed and led to even more confusion. Furthermore, we’ve had little clear guidance on what we, as partners who work in retail stores, should be doing to take care of ourselves and our guests. 

It is also worth noting that our CEO, Ron Coughlin, was sending out emails to Petco Pals Rewards members in the beginning of March claiming that stores would be instructed to disinfect and clean regularly, but no such instructions were ever given. We never received any emails or forms of internal communication telling partners on how they should be cleaning, and because of this my own store took time out of our day to develop a cleaning schedule and shared our template throughout the district. Again, this is something we did OURSELVES, NOT something we were explicitly told to do. So, if you don’t care about how retail workers have been treated, at least care that you, as a customer, have been lied to. 

From the beginning, there has been a very clear divide in how store partners have been treated compared to corporate/office workers. While corporate/office workers have the luxury of working from home with full benefits and are allowed to perform social distancing to the CDC’s guidelines, we are not so lucky. Again, I understand this, to a point: because of their positions they are able to perform their jobs from home while we are not. But such a decision was consistently framed as “difficult” and “emotional,” which, frankly, is bogus. What’s so hard about giving your employees access to work from their personal computer? And what’s so difficult for them anyway considering they’re not the ones who have to come in contact with the public day after day?

Through the second week in March, numerous communications were spread throughout the company on our internal Workplace service, each one more inadequate and inefficient than the last. The worst was a ten minute long video where our CEO repeatedly stated that “pets are our main priority” and described over and over again how we simply MUST stay open for our customers. It wasn’t until the very end of the video that any mention was given to partners at all. The entire post was incredibly off-putting and made me, as a partner, feel incredibly undervalued. 

What made things worse, however, were the comments under the video. Floods of partners shared their concerns and disappointments. Many of them cited having young children or older relatives at home, or were immunocompromised themselves, and worried about the danger that working in a retail environment put themselves and their loved ones in. And what was the company’s response? To tell these people over and over to simply “partner with their district manager if they were worried.” That’s it. No direction, no guidance, no words of comfort. Nothing. One person was even accused of simply not having a desire to work rather than, I dunno, A FEAR OF CONTRACTING AND SPREADING A DEADLY ILLNESS. 

The post in question (all names have been blacked out to respect privacy): 

It was some of the most vile behavior I have ever witnessed, both from upper management and lower-level employees like myself who were displaying an almost slavish devotion to a company that was so ready and willing to dispose of them. Multiple people stated they were proud to work for our company in this moment, which was utterly baffling to me, as I had never felt more worthless to Petco than I did seeing those messages.

So! Let’s talk about partnering with your local leader! (Spoiler alert: it’s fucking useless)

On March 15th, my direct supervisor and I made a call to our district leader to “discuss our concerns.” What followed was thirty minutes of our life wasted where we were told the exact same thing as we had been told via the Workplace post: no partner would lose their job for taking time off if they displayed symptoms or came into contact with a person who had COVID-19 (the absolute bare minimum, in my opinion), but they would be required to either take a fourteen day unpaid medical leave or use their personal PTO and sick time to cover the cost. Around this time I was both showing symptoms (dry cough, fatigue, shortness of breath) and learned that my fiancee, whom I live with, came into direct contact with someone with the illness via her work. The possibility of contracting COVID-19 was especially worrying for us, as my fiancee has severe asthma and I have scarring on my lungs from chronic bronchitis; were we to get sick, the consequences could be severe. It’s even more concerning given that the state we live in, Massachusetts, has one of the highest rates of infection in the US and hospitals are in danger of becoming overwhelmed. Therefore, I decided to make what I believed was the most responsible and ethical decision, and went on leave. 

Fortunately, I am lucky; as a full-time worker who has been with the company for many years, I have accrued enough PTO and sick time to cover the weeks that I would be gone for. But many people who work for this company are not so lucky. Many are part-time workers who are not entitled to benefits, and some are full-timers who may have already burned through their paid time off as it resets on the anniversary of your hire date. So now these workers, like many other workers across the country, are being asked to choose between taking care of themselves and their community or putting food on the table. It is absolutely inhumane, especially given that last time I checked our CEO is worth more than two million dollars--yet the rest of us are forced to worry about paying our rent and feeding our families while we do the dirty work on the front lines. 

Since I initially took leave, this has been amended, and employees who have been affected by COVID-19 have been given access to 40 hours of sick time, regardless of their status as full or part-time. But that only covers one week of the mandatory self-isolation period, meaning partners are still at risk of losing money. 

Time and time again we have been told how much our overlords value us. We have been thanked, we have been praised, and we have had so many meaningless words and tiny gestures thrown at us. Sure, our store hours have been cut and we’re offering curbside pick-up to reduce foot traffic in certain stores (my store, a smaller Unleashed location, doesn’t qualify for curbside pick-up, because of our size). Sure, changes have been made to the dog training program to freeze classes and puppy playtime for the time being. And sure, there has been a partner assistance fund opened to support partners in these ~trying times. I applaud the company for making these necessary changes and for putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to donating directly to us.

But in a lot of ways, it’s too little, too late, and so many of these services remain inaccessible to all partners. Hell, partners have even been policed about when they can actually utilize their own personal sick time even though we are in the middle of a global health crisis. 

Even for those of us who have done everything exactly as we were supposed to, we are still getting screwed. Currently, I’m battling with Petco HR to get paid for the first week of my self-isolation as, even though I submitted all my time off requests accurately, none of it was reflected in my paycheck; because we get paid by-weekly, I have yet to see whether my second week will be covered, but I suspect I will have to battle for that as well. As a person who lives paycheck to paycheck in one of the most expensive cities in the country, I quite literally can’t afford this right now. But, of course, the HR team is off work right now because of COVID-19, because unlike us they have that luxury. 

In addition to this, I’ve also been prevented from coming back to work because our Leaves Coordinator now claims I need a doctor’s note to return to work even though I have it in writing, from paperwork directly from the Leaves Department, that I do not, as evidenced here:

I would also like to note that I confirmed that I would be returning to work on the afternoon of March 27th and received an automatic reply that I would hear from a representative in 24 to 48 hours. I did not, in fact, hear back from a representative until March 30st at 11:59pm EST, ten hours before I was scheduled to return to work, as you can see here (again, I am hiding my personal information as much as possible to try and avoid retaliation from my employer): 

While I understand delays given that our HR and Leaves Departments are no doubt bogged down given how many employees are currently in the same boat as me, it does not change the fact that I am suffering because of their lack of action. 

It would be one thing if the facts had been clearly communicated from the very beginning, but as you can see that’s very much not the case. Instead, I’ve been jerked around, lied to, and, again, had my pay withheld. Every day I spend at home fighting with these people is another day of pay I lose and cannot get back. Words cannot express how terrible this whole experience has been. I’ve cried nearly every day and been so anxious and depressed I’ve literally vomited from the stress. All the years I’ve spent building my career and taking care of clients while earning money for this company and this is the thanks I get in return. It is quite literally sickening. 

Throughout this entire process I and many of the Petco employees in my area have been treated like absolute garbage. The stores in our district are running on fumes because so many partners are sick and/or on leave. Employees are running entire stores on their own and not getting breaks because we’re so short-staffed. One store in our district even closed down because a groomer tested positive for COVID-19 leading to the entire store shutting down and being professionally cleaned... and then re-opened almost immediately, causing even more of a burden on the remaining employees scrambling to cover all these near-empty locations. Our technology is over-loaded and crashing because it can’t bear the weight of our increased Buy Online, Pick Up In Stores (BOPUS) and curbside pick-up orders. It’s absolute insanity and it needs to stop. 

I am not the first person to say this, nor will I be the last, but the crisis we are currently experiencing has starkly exposed how broken our economic and social structures truly are. Along with doctors, nurses, and medical care professionals working in hideous conditions to keep the rest of us healthy and safe, the people who contribute the most to our communities are those that have traditionally been looked upon as unskilled and overall less-than: janitors, housekeepers, garbagemen, cashiers, shelf-stockers, etc. Very quickly public perception has turned, and now society as a whole knows what those of us who work these types of jobs have always known: we are essential. We have the power in society. And we should use that power to defend ourselves and each other, which is why I’m writing to you now. By shining a light on the flaws and failings of this company, I believe we can hold them and others like them accountable and demand better, because we absolutely deserve it. 

The bottom line is this: if you care about workers’ rights, if you value the safety and lives of your fellow humans, and if want to slow the spread of this disease that has upended everything we hold dear, don’t go to Petco. Don’t reward this company’s bad behavior with your money because they have proven they do not deserve it. 

[loonathevelvet]

Everything I Wanted O2: Sleepless nights

O1

You’ve been away for twelve years, but the sudden death of your mother brings you back to the house you grew up in. In a place metaphorically — and perhaps literally — filled with ghosts, you find yourself caught up between who you are, who you used to be, and the darkness that consumes you.

Pairing: Reader x Jungkook/Jimin (I haven’t decided)

Genre/TWs: Horror, it will absolutely contain some form of violence later on. It might contain smut but don’t hold me to that promise. There’s fluff and there’s angst, but I guess a lot of angst.

Notes: Here I am again, after 3 months.

Word count: 3.5k

You spent the entire first day of your stay at the house trying to make preparations for your mother’s funeral. She was a powerful woman, and handling everything correctly laid on your shoulders with more weight than you could have imagined. Taehyung helped with the legal part, Mr. Kim coordinated the staff perfectly, and Jimin kept close watch on everything work-related that could possibly distract you. Still, a lot was left for you to personally handle, and the stress cracked you faster than you thought it would.

So by the second night, you already looked like a broken version of yourself.

Everyone had gone to bed, but again your soundless steps filled the mansion as you walked to the staircase, sitting in the first step and looking down into the darkness. So dark. Like a black hole. You hugged your knees and started humming a song, trying to keep the secrets that pestered you off your mind.

Like the night before, you heard steps behind you, and from the corner of your vision you saw him sit down beside you. Dark hair, pale skin. A sad and solemn aura emanating from him. You turned to look at him, taking in the features you thought once belonged to Taehyung, and he looked back at you.

— Who are you? — You asked, finally, your voice no more than a whisper. He looked away from you, into the darkness. Did he know what laid at the end of it?

— I’m Jungkook. — You sighed.

— What are you doing here, Jungkook? Who are you?

— I’m the gardener. 

You furrowed your brows. What would a gardener be doing at the house at this time? Why would Mr. Kim not have told you beforehand about it? He made such a point to ask if it was okay for his son to stay over, you were sure he would make an even bigger deal about this man.

You would be more worried, but if he was going to hurt you, he would have done so the night before.

Jungkook must have sensed the direction your thoughts were going, because he decided to explain himself before you even asked. 

— Your mom gave me a couple of assignments to do at night. I’m not paid to do them, exactly, but it’s important for the garden’s health.

— My mother is dead. Why are you still doing unpaid favours for her? — Jungkook shrugged. 

— I worked hard on the garden for the last couple of months. It would be a shame if I let it die now. 

You knew better than to believe him. There was a side to your mother’s business you hadn’t really confronted in the time you spent away, and it loomed over your head each second now that you had to take care of things. You wanted to set everything in motion, take your stuff and leave; but again, you knew better. It would never, ever work out the way you wanted it to.

— Are you still uncomfortable here? — Jungkook asked, taking you out of your thoughts.

— Hm?

— Does your mom’s mansion still make you feel empty?

You chuckled. That was one way to put it. Looking down at the second floor, you could almost feel a hand made of darkness reaching for you. It wanted you. It wanted you to stay. It resented you for even leaving. And now that your mother was finally gone, it was time to reach for you again.

— Your mom told me that you didn’t really like it here. — You could tell, by the fondness in his voice, that he also felt grateful to her. Much like Taehyung and Mr. Kim, and much like any other person she had “saved”. 

— I’m sure she told you why. 

— She said there was an incident, but never what it was. 

You wondered, right then and there, how much he knew. Jungkook didn’t seem to know much more than you, but something about him gave off that he definitely knew more than Taehyung, and maybe more than Mr. Kim. How tangled into this was he?

— You don’t have to tell me either. But I hope you feel better here.

You chuckled again, humourless. You would never feel good as long as you were in that house. You just wanted to get it over with and go home, away from the claws this house had on you. 

— I’m gonna go. — Jungkook said. — I’m sure you don’t need my help, but if you do, I spend most of the day in the garden.

As he left, your thoughts lingered on your mother. If Jungkook was hired by her, you were sure it wasn’t only for gardening purposes. Were you curious to know the truth, or did you prefer to just disappear from that house as soon as possible?

***

At 7AM, you were down in the kitchen. The bags under your eyes had become darker and deeper and your face looked pale. Another night you’d barely slept through. As soon as you stepped in, Jimin’s worried eyes got your attention. Mr. Kim was surprisingly absent, and although he had set the table for breakfast before he left, you were left alone with only your assistant and Taehyung. You sat down, forcing a smile.

— Hey. — Your voice sounded off, even to yourself. 

— Hey. — Taehyung had concerned eyes. You didn’t like that. — How did you sleep?

— I slept fine. Still not used to the big house, though. — You chuckled. 

Taehyung dropped it, mostly because he was already about to leave for work. He hugged you tightly before he left, making sure to assure you that he would stop by for lunch (which he hadn’t done the day before. You suspected it was solely out of worry), which left you alone with Jimin’s concern. Now, that one would be a little harder to dodge.

— Are you okay? Did you not sleep again?

— I did. — He didn’t seem to really buy it. — Just not a lot. 

— Maybe I should book you a hotel. It’s probably not good for you to deal with this much from your past all at once.

He sounded… Panicked, almost. Like he cared for you for real. Jimin had been your assistant for long enough that you grew to consider him a friend more than a coworker in many ways. You never really thought he felt the same, though. The workload you put on him could be unfair at times, and he’d always taken it graciously, but a small part of you always figured he resented you in some way or another. His voice gave you hope that you might have a genuine friend in that house, and you didn’t like how quickly you held on to it. 

— It’s fine. — You tried your best to sound calm, reaching for the hot cocoa Mr. Kim prepared for you. — I’m fine. 

— Y/N, you don’t look fine. 

— Jimin… 

— Look, maybe I’m overstepping here, but we haven’t been here long enough for you to be already looking this tired. And I know you’ve barely eaten yesterday. Maybe you could stay in a hotel and I’ll take care of everything here. You don’t have to worry. — You put your hand over his to calm him down, overwhelmed by his unending train of thoughts. His eyes widened almost immediately and you saw his body tense up just the slightest bit, but at least he stopped talking. You forced a smile.

— I’ll be okay. I promise. — He held the hand you had left over his, sighing deeply. You didn’t really know how to react to that, all things considered, so you didn’t. You let it go to the back of your mind.

— Are you sure?

— Yes. I am. I promise. — You repeated, and after a long pause, he let go of your hand, focusing his eyes on his breakfast. — Where’s Mr. Kim? — You asked, mostly to fill the silence that was just about to begin. 

— Oh, he had to run some errands. He said he was coordinating the staff for your mother’s funeral this afternoon, and he had to make sure everyone knew what to do. — Of course. The funeral. If you could avoid it forever, you would. Unfortunately, it had to be dealt with eventually, and you couldn’t put it off any longer. — You don’t have to worry about anything, though. Mr. Kim and I made most of the preparations yesterday. And Mr. Kim’s son did most of the legal work already. It’s all going to go smoothly.

— Thank you. — You said softly, smiling at Jimin. His eyes widened once again as he turned his face back towards you. — I really do appreciate everything you’re doing for me. — He smiled back.

— Don’t worry, I’m always here for you. — As you looked at each other, he blushed a little and looked away from you again. — It’s- It’s my job.

Even if Jimin was doing everything only because he worked for you, you were still so grateful for all his help. Although Mr. Kim and Taehyung were also doing a lot, Jimin was doing so much more than his job description entailed. He was going above and beyond to make sure this whole ordeal wouldn’t break you. You wished you could thank him in any way that wasn’t a raise (although you would most likely give him a raise). Maybe you’d buy him drinks or something.

***

After breakfast, you decided to visit your mother’s garden. You needed to prove to yourself that Jungkook was real, that you weren’t seeing things again. You needed to know. Sure enough, as soon as you stepped out, you saw a dark haired man cutting off the weeds around the red roses your mother had always loved so much. He was there, made of flesh and blood just like you. 

Was that a good thing?

Jungkook was too focused on his work to really pay attention to you, which gave you time to really take in his features. He looked very different when the sun was kissing his pale skin. His eyes had a different glow to them when he was looking at something he loved so much, and his cheeks were a bit more flushed from work. He somehow still looked very pale, though.

— Hey. — Your voice finally distracted Jungkook, and he looked at you wide-eyed before smiling at you.

— Hey, Y/N. Did you sleep well? — You didn’t feel like lying, so you just shrugged. — I figured you wouldn’t have.

Jungkook reached for his backpack, which was forgotten on the ground, and started to look for something inside of it. After just a few seconds, he got up, holding a can of coffee, which he handed to you.

— Mr. Kim doesn’t like coffee, but I thought you’d need it. — You laughed a bit, even though it wasn’t funny. It was hard to express the correct emotion when you were tired.

— Well, you are right. I do need it. — You opened it and took a sip very slowly. You needed time to figure out what to ask him.  — So, how much did my mother tell you? Before she, you know…

— Before she died? — You nodded. — Well, about what?

You tried to stop any annoyance showing through, but he knew exactly what you were asking, and he wasn’t answering it on purpose. He sounded just a little bit smug, and very different than when you met him the night before. At night, he was compassionate towards you, gentle, and he seemed to understand that being here was taking its toll on you. He seemed to understand that after everything this house, your mom and her business, and the incident had done to you, you just wanted to get this over with and get away from your past as soon as possible. Right now, though, you just absolutely hated him for not just talking to you.

And you also absolutely understood that you were overreacting because you hadn’t slept two nights in a row. You needed to calm the fuck down.

— About everything. About the house. About her job. — Jungkook smiled a weird smile, and you knew what his answer would before he even said it.

— I don’t know what you’re talking about. The house is… Well, old, I guess, but she didn’t need to tell me that. All the reforms she made, and it’s still falling to pieces. — You sighed, drinking another long sip of coffee. — And her job, well, I guess she does something in the fashion industry, no? Isn’t that how she “made her fortune” or whatever?

So he really wasn’t going to give up information.

— Cut the shit, you know exactly what I mean. — He laughed.

— I actually have no idea what you’re talking about, but your mom did tell you to give you a key and a letter, so maybe you’ll find the answer there. 

He stopped what he was doing, reached into his backpack again and walked towards you to hand you a wax-sealed letter (because of course your mother had to be dramatic) and a key on a leather necklace. Sure. She loved cryptic shit like this. She could never just give things to you, she had to make the gardener do it and instruct him not to talk to you about things she knew you knew. As you turned to go away without saying goodbye, you couldn’t stop thinking about how she managed to annoy and hinder you from beyond the grave.

And, as it hit you, you turned back to Jungkook very quickly.

— How did my mom tell you to give me these things? — He paused.

— Excuse me? What do you mean?

— My mother’s dead. How did she tell you to give me shit from her grave? — For a split second, he panicked, right before he came with an excuse. If there were any doubt that he knew before, at that moment, you were sure he did. He was being inconspicuous on purpose.

— Well, you know her. She told me to give you these a few months ago, and told me to give it to you if something happened to her. — He shrugged. — I guess it’s pretty weird that she knew she was about to die. It’s probably just a coincidence.

Smug son of a bitch. You were so tired of your mother’s loyal employees keeping things from you for no reason. You’d already had enough of that twelve years ago.

Still not content, you turned on your heels to leave him alone for good.

***

As soon as you got back into the house, still sipping on your coffee, you were faced by Jimin, who was sitting at the dining room table with a bunch of papers and books, probably for the work you had given him. He didn’t have that much to do in the mansion — there were so many people doing stuff all the time that no one was ever really that busy. Your mother had more money than she knew what to do with, and she spent a good portion of that overstaffing. Even in just planning the funeral, Mr. Kim had hired a good amount of people, so not one single person could potentially ruin everything. Still, Jimin looked overworked. 

— Hey. — You said, softly, and he looked up. His eyes lingered on you for a moment, before he blinked profusely, and started organizing his papers.

— Hey. Are you okay?

— You don’t have to look tidy. I know it’s weird for you to work here, don’t worry. — He stopped moving papers and looked back at you.

— Sorry. — He breathed in deeply. — Are you feeling any better? You looked so tired in the morning.

— I’m fine. Don’t worry. — He sighed.

— You don’t have to lie. I’m here to help you. — He looked down to his papers again, writing something down. — You really shouldn’t drink coffee if you’re having trouble sleeping.

— It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I just need to survive through the day. — You decided to change the subject, so maybe he could leave it alone. — What are you doing?

— Oh. — He looked caught off guard by the question, and even more so by your walking towards him and sitting at the chair beside him. He blushed slightly. — I’m putting together a list of important people to have on the funeral list for the good of the company. Which I know you were supposed to do, — He started, as you were just opening your mouth to interject. — but I thought you could use a little help since you haven’t been involved for over a decade.

— That’s very smart and very helpful of you. Thank you. How are you doing it, though? You don’t work for her company either.

— Well, I just got some notebooks that Mr. Kim gave me, and I’m going through it. Most of them are phone books. Some of them I think are accounting books with company names, and I’m trying to see which ones she had a close relation with. And also, some of them are just books of names. I don’t have an explanation for them, but I guess they’re useful.

He didn’t really know what those names were. To whom they belonged. The scary faces and scary personalities, the way some of them were ready to kill you off if you got in their way or gave the wrong idea — and that made you even more thankful that he was helping you with it. And you hadn’t even asked.

— Thank you. — Your voice sounded soft, and he blushed again.

— I’m here to help you. — His voice didn’t sound much different, and he looked at you weird again. Then he cleaned his throat, and everything was back to normal. — It’s my job.

Yes. It was his job. He was not a friend, just an employee. You needed to get it through your head.

— Mr. Kim also gave me some of your old notebooks and a phone book. You had a lot of friends from boarding school in them, I thought maybe you could call some of them. If you want. — You thought back to “boarding school”. Not that you wanted to remember all that, however maybe you could use some help from a couple of friends who knew as much as you did, and wouldn’t fucking lie about it.

— Sure. There’s a guy called Yoongi and a girl called Haseul. I’m sure they’d like to come.

— Anyone else? — You thought back to everyone you’d met back then.

— No.

He worked in silence for a while, and you stared at him. Jimin was the type to get embarrassed easily, and it was very rare having him actually work instead of look busy whenever you were in the room. He understood, though, how seriously tired and beaten down you were, and was more than eager to finish everything, wrap up and go home. He probably wanted to see his friends and family, also. You never asked if he had a girlfriend, or a pet, or if he lived with a roommate. There was a girl who used to visit him in the office often, yet he didn’t seem to want her there most of the time and eventually she stopped showing.

Jimin knew a lot more about you than you knew about him, now that you thought about it.

— What are you thinking? — He asked, very confident now that he was very focused on something other than your attention. It almost didn’t sound like him.

— That you look uncomfortable working here, in this dark old room. 

— Ah, it’s really fine. It’s a big table and there’s a lot of light coming from the windows. — His mind wasn’t in the conversation at all. It was very selfish of you to want his attention while he was doing your work for you. You blamed it on the lack of sleep.

— I don’t know about you, but I don’t like this house at all. Maybe you’d like to hit a coffee shop with me, and then I’ll help you burn through these easier. I actually know a lot of these people, and I can tell you who I already know.

Now, that was the shy mess you knew. 

Jimin blushed and looked up from the table. What was going through his head right now? Why did he always blush so hard? He looked like a deer in the headlights. You laughed to yourself.

— You know what, sure. We’ll get this done faster if we do it that way. — He tried to sound as confident and nonchalant as when he was focused. And failed completely.

[miraculouscataclyyysm]

Seating plan au part 4

On the train so enjoy an update for my seating plan au, but warning I’m dyslexic and sins I’m on the train I’m posting this from my phone so if there are any miss spellings are wrong place punctuation ignore that please

Link to Part 3

Alix, Kim and max are a LOT less convinced by Lila in this au, they would probably slap their canon selfs for being so easily manipulated by her, especially Alix who is completely done with her bullshit, sins Alix, max and Kim are so close with Mari and Felix they can see how ridiculous her lies are about them which means Lila has 3 more people on her shit list (list of people she Doesn't like for no other reason than there honest and see her true colours)

After the advents I’d Buzz-kill (check out part 3 for full deeps but basically Felix was akumatised into Buzz-kill) Chloe starts referring to him ass Buzz-kill, this goes on for about a week, Felix didn’t pay her any attention, he says she’s not worth it but Marinette and Alix get more and more frustrated until one Friday afternoon in class Chloe says it again, there discussing ideas for the class dance when Chloe piped up “well we all know Felix won’t have any ideas, Mr Buzz-Kill would happily see us all sat in a dull grey room forced to watch paint dry” Mari reaches her boiling point and says “well if that’s true then you’d have us all paralyzed and at your mercy? Sins you always have to be the centre of attention, is t that right queen wasp?” The. Alix adds “or she’d blow up the school just so she could ‘save us’...I’d rather take my chances with lie-la” cue fake hurt Lila “well that was rude” “I’ll have you all expelled for this Sabrina call my father right now tell him to get my helicopter ready I’m going to see mother in New York” Chloe then storms out of class

After his disaster of a birthday party Felix starts avoiding Adrian a lot more than usual witch means chat drops in for a lot more late-night visits to Marinette who’s basically his unpaid therapist now, on one occasion he was there so late Mari fell asleep as he was talking so chat/Adrian moved her into bed and tucked her in and whispered “thanks princess” before leaving to wander the street of Paris trying to think of a way to apologise to Felix

By the start of season 3, Felix has his suspicions that Mari is LB, he Doesn't actively try to find out though, he knows how important the secret identities are so he plays ignorant, but he can’t deny the similarities

Prime queen is a clusterfuck too say the least, all of Paris knows Chat Noir is deeply in love with LB but the internet has been going mad lately with rumour’s about LB and Renard arctique being I love, so when the chat show happens Chat is less joking and more bitter because Nadja in team Chat and demands the truth from LB “are you aware of the increasing number rum are around your relationship with your fox teammate?” *Chat eyes roll so hard they almost fall out of his head* “do we really have to talk about him?” *LB hits Chats shoulder* “Renard is amazing but he’s just a friend” *cue Nadja getting yelled at via her ear pice* “just admit chat is your soul mate ladybug, Admit you love him, I no your not seeing Renard Arctique, that’s obvious, I know you wouldn’t betray chat like that” “I’m not betraying anyone” “then tell us the truth, Paris deserves the truth ladybug” “deserve....why do I have to be attached to a man...seriously is my relationship status the only important thing about me? if I’m dating Somone, if my partner is more than that? hello, I save Paris on a daily basis isn’t that interesting? I’m more than the men in my life, I don’t have to tell you anything” *mic drop from LB*

After Nadja is akumatised the fight goes down the same but the aftermath is something else, Felix wasn’t aware of the LB RA dating rumours so in class the next day he brings it up with Mari....who’s still irritated by the whole thing, Felix notices and asks her what up so Mari goes on this massive rant about how media focuses so much on woman’s dating life, how lb gets asked so much about chat etc but never how she juggles her civilian life with hero work *heart eyes +soft smile from Felix* Mari notices Felix face and blushes “why did you bring it up anyway?” Once Felix remembers the point of the conversation he says “I only just heard about the rumours and thought I’d ask, you pay more attention to the hero’s than I do...but I thought the whole thing seemed stupid” “stupid?” “Yeah I doubt LB would date a fellow hero anyway, they probably have a code of conduct or something to keep them all safe... Secret identities and all that, plus ladybugs too much of a badass for those idiots” Mari soft smile act cats and Felix forgets how to breathe*

In Desperada Marinette instantly recommends Luka to Jagged Stone, sins she’s not head over heels for Adrian in this au, this also means Luka gets the snake miraculous right away, enter Viperion who will eventually join carapace, bunnix and Renard as a part-time hero (instead of a call on when needed hero) with a once a week patrol with LB or Chat

Felix askes Marinette out on a date completely by accident, the gang is in the park like normal, Luka is strumming his guitar, Alix and Kim are arguing over something dumb and Mari and max are playing a game on Max’s phone when Felix gets a text from Nathalie reminding him of the fashion show that night so without thinking he asks “I have a fashion show tonight would you accompany me Marinette” Mari looks up quickly but before she can reply Alix says “of course she’ll be your date” (the rest of the gang has been silently shipping these idiots for months) “you want me to be your date?” *Felix makes a mental note to either kill or thank Alix depending on what happens next* “yes” “then I’d love to accompany you” Felix later orders a thank you fruit basket to Alix home

Part 5

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