#and that for almost 2 weeks I had been off of the cancellation list and no one had warned me

[belethlegwen]

The Stranding - Chp 73 - Hidden Duality

I was in emergency for 8 hours last night and never got seen by a Doctor, so have a chapter before I go get myself some more sleep to catch up <3

By the time 2am rolled around it had been over an hour and a half since the last person had been called in to be seen, and we had noticed that only the triage nurse and the registration nurse were still there. My province has a wildly concerning lack of Doctors and healthcare professionals right now, and I couldn't wait another 4-5 hours for the next shift change, so we left and went to bed out of it. Hoping I can stave off the worst of the discomfort with over-the-counter medicine until I see my family Doctor on Monday.

Meanwhile, the gang is experiencing some shifts in dynamics that none of them find particularly comfortable as they assess the wreckage of the Swift Landslide. I hope you all enjoy!

Much love and be kind to yourselves <3

~ Belle

[qkopi]

LINK UP (2)

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pairings: prowler! miles x fem! reader

cw: cheating, profanity, TOXIC milo, VERY suggestive (atp it’s light smut🤷🏻‍♀️)

summary: three weeks. you have been meeting up with milo behind miles’ back for three weeks. miles was bound to find out one way, right?

a/n: u guys r gonna hate me @ the end but i’m sorry i had to do it😭🙏🏽 dw i’m like halfway finished i stg and for the ppl who wants to be in my tag list, i’m sorry i js can’t ts takes way too long i can’t🙅🏻‍♀️

pt 1 <- pt 2 -> pt 3

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“miles but-“

“sorry mi vida, just give me a few minutes okay? i’ll be back before you know it!” miles cut you off as he rushed out of the apartment, leaving you disappointed that your date with him was canceled once again.

you wanted to spend the whole day with miles but it looks like you were now going to spend it with milo.

“well..” milo grinned as he walked over to you.

“looks like we’ve got the place to ourselves, huh?” he had a triumphant look in his eyes, and he couldn’t help but show a condescending smile as he spoke.

“milo, stop. im not in the mood.” you sighed, turning away to not face him as you rubbed your temples.

he raised an eyebrow, coming to a stop a few inches behind you, his right knee bumping one of your left’s. he set a hand on your shoulder, grinning at you.

“something goin on, ma?” milo asked in his signature drawl, a small smirk breaking through his facade of apathy.

the last few days, you had been thinking about ending the affair between you and milo. you felt bad for meeting up with him behind miles’ back, but you couldn’t help it, being with milo felt so good that you seemed to forget everything.

but then, the guilt started to eat you up, feeling horrible to miles as he didn’t know anything that has been happening. you were planning to confront milo tonight after spending the day with miles but looks like time had other plans for you.

“you know damn well what’s going on.” you spat out, still not sparing him a glance.

it went on for 3 weeks, almost a month, this affair with milo had to stop before it could lead to more trouble.

milo let his hand fall to his lap, his smile growing as he moved up to you side, his arms wrapping around your waist loosely and his chin resting on your shoulder.

“how did you come to this conclusion?” he teased, chuckling under his breath before kissing your cheek.

“stop.. stop..” you tried to push him off, knowing his affection were your weaknesses, but it only made his grip around you tighter.

he smirked, a few gentle nibbles to your ear earning a grunt out of you.

“nah, im comfortable.” he chuckled, gently nipping at a portion of your earlobe.

“but do tell me more about what’s up.” milo teased, his smirk broadening as your protests were cut off by his playful affection.

“y-you..” you tried to focus on what you were going to say to him but his kisses distracting you.

“me, and?” he whispered into your ear, a small chuckle escaping him as he kissed your cheek again. milo could feel your body shiver at the sensation, his free hand running up your spine.

“and…? speak up, mami.” you couldn’t speak, even if you wanted to, you melted onto his touch as your mind became hazy from his affection.

a chuckle left him as he could hear your breathing grow heavy. it made his smirk grow wider.

“still nothing? aw….” milo teased in your ear, his voice a low whisper as he landed a soft kiss on your cheek once more

he pulled back enough to look down on her, letting her take in a deep breath before speaking again.

“how about now…?”

“w-what? why did you stop?” you asked with confusion contorting up in your face.

“i never stop for long.” he said.

“now are you gonna talk to me, mami, or should I shut you up and keep going?” milo teased, his smirk growing wider.

“keep going..” you mumbled, lowering your head in embarrassment. damn it, this boy knew how to get to me and now, i couldn’t confront him anymore!

milo chuckled, his hands squeezing more at your waist, keeping you tight against him as he laid another kiss on your ear, cheek and, neck, letting you soak in the feeling of his kisses.

“now, tell me about why you’re upset.” he whispered into your ear, the smell of his cologne bringing a faint sense of security to you, his warm breathe heating the side of your head.

“because..” you couldn’t continue talking as you felt his lips on your neck, kissing the one spot that he knows that makes you go feral.

milo chuckled into your ear, his lips finding the soft flesh of your throat and nibbling at it gently as he ran a hand through your hair.

“you’re so cute when you’re flustered.” he teased, pulling back and giving you a gentle smile as his hand returned to your waist.

“go on..”

“you..” you tried to hold onto something as you felt his euphoric touching all over your body.

“me, what?” milo chuckled, nibbling at your earlobe again.

“you can’t keep me guessing forever, mami.” he said, his hands wrapping around your waist again as his mouth stayed near your ear. his hand cupped your chin and slowly pivoted you to face his gaze.

“come on, say it.” milo teased, pulling away with a smirk. his hand ran from your chin to the side of your face, tilting your head so you can see his smirk.

“what’s bugging you?” he gave you a chance to talk.

“we can’t keep doing this, milo.” you finally managed to let him know.

“i can’t keep doing this.” you said sternly, trying to seem serious.

milo froze for a moment, his eyes widening just a little before he broke into a smile.

“you’re still on about that?” he teased, his eyes twinkling playfully as he looked over your face.

“c’mon, mami. doesn’t my affection make it feel worth it?” he teased, his hand running over her cheek.

“yes but..” you began to melt in his touch again.

“no, no! stop.” you softly smacked his hand away, not wanting to fall for his tricks again. you look away from him, sensing that he may distract you to confront him again.

milo didn’t flinch when you smacked his hand away, a smirk gracing his face. a small chuckle left him as one of his hands wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer.

“that never works, mami.” he said, his breath leaving his mouth warm on your skin as he placed a soft kiss on your shoulder.

“you’ll talk eventually…”

“it’s been almost a month, milo.. i can’t keep doing this to miles..” you said, feeling his chest press against your back as he hugged you from behind.

a small chuckle left him as he kissed your neck again, the feeling of his lips against your skin, making you gasp. his free hand squeezed at your waist gently, caressing you while his other held your hip.

“come on, y/n.. what miles doesn’t know won’t hurt him..” he teased, leaning in near your ear and placing another soft kiss in the center of your ear before stepping back.

“milo.. he’s your brother, for gods sake..” milo only smirked, leaning further in.

“yeah, he’s my brother but..” *he chuckled, his hand on your hip squeezing a bit. he looked into your eyes playfully as he kissed your cheek.

“i liked you first.” he teased as he kissed at the other cheek.

“but i’m his girlfriend..” you mumbled under your breath, feeling disappointed at milo and you.

“dont worry, mami.” milo kissed her once more, pulling back.

“besides, if you didn’t like what we have, you would’ve stopped meeting up with me.” his smirk broadened.

“but you didn’t. you know why?” he teased, his voice dropping low, a teasing grin on his face.

“cause you like it..”

“i… i don’t.” you glared at him, trying to appear as if you hated this.

“you sure bout that, ma?” milo smirked as he moved closer towards you. he pressed up against you a little bit more with his hands trailing down your body, caressing you sensually.

“cause if you really didn’t like this shit, then you would’ve stopped from the very beginning.”

your breath hitched, knowing that milo was fully right about what he said, but before you could deny and protest, he had kissed you to shut you up.

milo’s lips were soft and passionate, his body pressing against yours tightly. he didn’t give you a chance to escape as he kissed you deeply and passionately. his hands were slowly trailing down your body as the feeling of his touch made you weak in the knees. you couldn’t resist him, and he knew it. with his touch, he would make you forget about everything else…

milo smirked in the kiss when he felt your arms snaked up to his neck, pulling him even closer. he continued to kiss you passionately, clearly taking advantage of your weakness, but you didn’t care, you were lost in the moment of the kiss. his lips were soft and tender against yours, and you couldn’t help but savor every bite of it. he took it to another level, deepening the kiss and making it more intense.

he was making sure that you forgot about everything else, and focused only on him…

milo then took your legs, wrapping them around his waist as he carried you to his bedroom as the both of you continued making out. he placed you on the bed, and he was already on top of you, kissing you passionately. his lips were gentle yet firm, as they pressed up against yours. he wasn’t going to stop until he had you completely under his control.

the two of you slowly pulled away to catch your breaths as both you and milo looked into each other’s eyes.

milo looked at you intently, as he brushed his fingers through your hair. his eyes had a knowing look in them, as if he could see right through you. he began to nibble on your neck. his hands were already on your blouse, unbuttoning it slowly.

before milo could even get to the 2nd button, milo’s door had suddenly opened, making both you and milo stop.

“milo, have you seen y/n-“ miles immediately stopped as he saw the scene unfold in front of him.

“what the hell..” miles was in disbelief.

™︎ qkopi | tumblr

[spamgyu]

BACKBURNER // PART 2

DESCRIPTION: She had grown tired of being on his back burner, the person that he had kept warm until he gotten the girl he has had his eyes set on for years... And with a little help from her friend, maybe... just maybe she'll finally be the first choice. PAIRING: Seungcheol x Reader | Mingyu x Reader GENRE: Angst & Fluff PART 1 | MASTERLIST

She wished she could go back and listened to her friend when he had warned her starting something with him was a bad idea.

Y/n could remember that day so clearly — even more now that she spent a lot of her free time alone with her thoughts.

It was going so well, three months into dating Seungcheol and not a single red flag in sight. Things were looking up.

Maybe he wasn't the toxic man she had come to know of when they were in school.

It was all going so well.

He had invited her over to his place, wanting to cook her dinner.

"Wanted to do something cute." He explained. Y/n happily made her way over to his place, thinking that he was finally going to ask her the big question.

To be his girlfriend.

They spent most of the time giggling like high school lovers as they worked around each other in the kitchen; Seungcheol stealing kisses each time he caught her looking over at him.

Which was more than she could count on one hand — but she wasn't complaining.

They were nearly done. Just needed to plate their meal when the rug under her was pulled, sending her right back down to earth.

His phone hadn't even completed ringing when he picked it up, his demeanor instantly changing.

"Sunhee's flight came in a few hours early. Rain check on dinner?" He flashed her his dimply smile.

What was she supposed to do? Say no? Not with that smile.

Y/n agreed, allowing him to usher her out of his place; not without a kiss of course.

With an empty stomach and a freed up Friday night, she made her way to her favorite duo's place — in hopes that the two were not out terrorizing local single women at the club.

"He called off date night? For Sunhee?" Mingyu snorted as she picked off of his plate. "Can't you go and make yourself a plate? There's literally enough food for both of us."

She shook her head, grabbing another piece of chicken only for her to drop it as his hand lightly smacked hers. "She didn't have a ride."

God, could she be any more oblivious.

"Uber? Lyft?" He listed in bewilderment.

Y/n shrugged. "You'd do it for me."

She didn't care if he had a girl best friend. To most, this was a nightmare. It would have been the first big red flag to any other girl.

But Y/n knew she couldn't complain. Not when she was the first person Mingyu would call to tell her about the latest girl he was dating, the person he asked for outfit approvals, the person she called when she had any car problems. They were each other's person. Even if they bickered like their lives depended on it.

No, she couldn't be a hypocrite.

"Pick you up at the airport? During rush hour? You wish. I'd only do that for someone I love.... even then I'd reconsider it." He chewed.

"They're best friends." She defended, tapping her finger on the table to make a point.

"Who's in love with each other." Mingyu replied matter of factly, copying her actions.

As if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No they don't."

"May I remind you that last week he didn't make it to your little breakfast date because she didn't feel well. She." He emphasized. "You would have to be dying for me to cancel on someone I was dating."

Y/n had almost forgotten about the incident. She and Seungcheol had made plans to try out a new cafe by his place only for him to cancel at the very last minute.

She paid no mind to this, knowing that he and Sunhee were close and she had no family in the city to be at her aid.

Little did she know at the time was that Sunhee simply had a hangover and Seungcheol had gone over to nurse her back to health.

"It's been three months and not a single title has been established. He's a red flag, Y/n. Back out now before you get even more attached." Mingyu stood from his seat, walking over to the stove where the rest of his meal was cooling — scooping extra servings for him and y/n. "You want more rice?"

"No, just chicken." She shook her head. "He's just being a good friend."

"I give it another month before he makes you cry." He sat back down, this time placing the plate in-front of her.

He was right.

Within a month, Seungcheol began giving Y/n mixed signals — one minute he was telling her how he couldn't believe he had managed to score a chance with her and the next he was leaving her on delivered for hours on end.

Only for her to find out he had been pre-occupied with Sunhee through their instagram stories.

But see, Seungcheol had done it so slowly and Y/n didn't realize that she had been put on the backburner until it was too late.

She was far in too deep when she had come to realize that she would never measure up to the girl.

She had been attached, falling deeper and deeper as each day passed.

・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．

"Are you done?" Mingyu whined from across the table.

She had taken and retaken the same picture of their meal for the past minute, unable to find the right angle.

"It doesn't look like a date!" Y/n groaned. "You know for someone who came up with this brilliant idea, you're shit at making it believable."

When he had told her he was going to be picking her up to get lunch, this was not what y/n had imagined. She thought he would have at least chosen a much cuter place that was worth pulling her phone out for.

But what would have expected from the Kim Mingyu.

She nearly strangled him as they pulled up to the usual spot they would gab a bite from. After much convincing, and the offer of a free meal on him, she exited the car and followed him into the establishment.

Picking up his chopsticks to pick at the meat that was beginning to brown on the grill, Mingyu let out a small chuckle. "He won't believe it if I took you to something fancy."

Y/n rolled her eyes, leaning back against her chair as she watched him stuff his face. "This is so romantic." She deadpanned.

"Fine, here." He sat up, placing an elbow on the table and a smirk on his face.

He was posing.

She had seen enough stories from girls he had dated to know it was his signature look.

"The fuck am I supposed to do with that."

"Just take the damn picture."

Picking up her phone with a sigh, she angled her phone just enough to capture their meal and him – cutting it off right where his neck began. It was discreet enough to get people wondering, but also obvious enough for him to know who she was with.

She didn't want to post his face just yet.

"Next date better be something good and not barbecue."

"Relax, we gotta do it slowly." He shoveled a spoonful of rice into his mouth, wincing at the sight of him talk while his cheeks were full of food. "Date here and there and then Hawaii– that's when we'll become so insufferable he'll want to kill me."

Hawaii.

In about two weeks, she and the whole gang were headed off to the tropics for one of their college friend's destination wedding.

Of course it would be a destination wedding. It was Jeonghan.

He couldn't just have picked a local venue.

It was going to be a week full festivities, the group wanting to take advantage of all the island had to offer before they watched their close friend walk down the aisle.

Might as well.

Everyone was going to be there. Including her.

"Speaking of," Mingyu continued. "Switch rooms with Minghao."

Looking up from her phone, she raised a brow at him.

"Do you even want to do this? Why are you so dumb?"

"Hey!"

Rubbing his face and groaning in frustration, he spoke slowly. "Minghao's rooming with me, meaning you will now room with me. Seungcheol will see. He will get jealous. Is your pea brain picking up on this?"

Jeonghan and his future wife had thankfully blocked off a floor at the hotel for those traveling for his big day, allowing all his friends to be within close proximity to each other.

She had initially booked a room all by herself after waiting weeks for Seungcheol to bring it up when they had all received their invites in the mail.

But he never did.

In fact, he had told her he was rooming with one of his high school friends who had not seen in a while.

She couldn't even bring herself to be disappointed, a part of her fully expecting he wasn't going to make the suggestion.

He had seen the disappointed look on her face that day, reassuring her that he may end up in her room every night anyways.

"Just want to hang out with Jihoon, haven't seen him in years." He reasoned, placing a kiss on her temple.

What a fucking liar.

"If we're going to do this, you have to be nicer to me.".

"Whatever you say, stink." He winked.

"Stink?" Y/n made a face.

"Short for stink bug."

It was a nickname he had given her in middle school, claiming that she looked a like a stink bug.... and smelled like one too. Y/n hated the nickname at the time, nearly crying each time he would call her this in front of the boys in their class.

It was better than baby.

"We'll work on pet names later." She laughed.

・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．

Their fake dates have gained attention from everyone but him.

The rest of their friend group had managed to fall for their act after the second cryptic instagram story that the two shared at his apartment.

Unbeknownst to them, they had spent nearly half an hour getting the perfect shot on his couch to make it seem as though they were cuddling – all with the help of Minghao, of course.

"This isn't gong to work. You guys look so stiff." He laughed as he watched the two make a face as they intertwined their legs, pretending as though they were cuddling as they watched a movie. "Scoot closer, Mingyu."

"If I scoot any closer, my skin will merge into hers." He snapped, following directions.

"Oh my god, just do it." She cried, her arms growing numb with the multiple attempts of snapping the picture.

Seungkwan was the first one to swipe up on the story, instantly noticing the familiar console in the picture; replying "??????".

Soon her inbox was flooded with the rest of the group's reactions; even more when Mingyu posted his version of the same pose.

All except him, who didn't even bother watching the stories.

"Switch seats with me." Y/n whispered loudly to Minghao as they waited to board their plane.

"I already switched rooms, you want me to–"

"I'm sitting next to him."

They had booked their flight together; at the time when she hadn't been able to foresee the future.

Y/n was originally going to go through with sitting through the flight next to Seungcheol, wanting to get under his skin after spending the past two weeks and a half posting of nothing but about her and Mingyu. But considering he had yet to even see a single one of these post that was directed to him, and not a single text, she didn't think she could sit a four hour flight in silence.

Not while Sunhee sat to his right.

Taking the boarding pass from her hand and handing her his, Minghao let out a defeated sigh. "I feel like I'm doing as much work in this stupid shit as you two."

They had disclosed their plans to him, and only him. They knew if it had to be believable, they need someone on their side who was able to corroberate their stories – just in case someone had doubts.

"Love you!" She smiled, reaching over to pinch his cheeks.

"You better." He grumbled.

It wasn't long before they were called to board.

Y/n palms were sweating at the thought of walking past him as she would make her way a few rows back to her newly assigned seat; but she had to keep her composure. Just as she had while they were all sat at the gate – pretending she didn't care that Sunhee wasn't giggling a little too loud at whatever Seungcheol was saying.

Or the fact that he had pushed her carry on all the way from TSA to their designated waiting area while she happily walked alongside him.

She had to keep her head up high.

He had already been sitting in his seat when he caught her eyes from the line of passengers who were all patiently waiting to put their belongings in their overhead compartments.

She was two steps away when he stood from his seat, motioning Sunhee to do the same, to make room for y/n to squeeze in to her spot by the window.

"Thanks." Minghao smiled, shimmying past the two; paying no mind to the confused look on his friend's face.

With furrowed brows, Seungcheol followed her movement – up until Mingyu grabbed the rolling bag from her hand.

"I got it." He lifted the bag with ease, sparing no glance to the eyes that burned a hole in the back of his head.

Once she was no longer in his eyeline, y/n let out a breath of relief – buckling herself in.

"High five." Mingyu held his hand up, proud of her.

"Gyu please, not now." She shook her head, attempting to slow down the beat of her heart.

His head tilted to the side as he watched the girl's emotion's spiral from nervousness to a near panic attack.

"Cheol?" He asked.

"I wish." Her legs bounced as the last few passengers took their seats and the flight attendants made their rounds; her lips growing pale as each second passed.

Mingyu watched as she shifted in her seat for the third time since sitting, adjusting her belt tighter as she felt the plane slowly taxi on to the runway. "Still?" He asked in disbelief, eyeing her knuckles that had turned white from gripping the arm rest.

Y/n simply nodded, closing her eyes.

She had always been a nervous flyer, despite the countless times people have explained the physics of a plane. To y/n it didn't seem logical, how was it that a flying bus could easily travel from point a to point b? All with nothing but a fan for an engine and wings that didn't flap.

It didn't make sense. And don't even get her started with turbulances.

The low hum of the plane had began to grow into a loud roaring sound; she could practically feel her heart sinking deep into the pit of her stomach as she waited for it to gain speed.

Y/n's mind was instantly distracted when she felt his pinky slowly interlock with hers. She opened her eyes to look over at him, but his eyes was closed and fully locked in to whatever music that was blaring on his headphones.

Grateful for his attempts to comfort her, she relaxed under his touch – feeling his hand slip under hers to interlock hands once the plane was at full speed, giving it a squeeze when the plane reached the end of the runway.

It was only a matter of minutes before they were in the air, nervously watching the buildings grow smaller and smaller as the ascended past the clouds.

All thoughts of free falling began to plague her mind again.

"Stop that." He reached over to shut her window with his free hand, pointing to her personal tv. "Watch. Don't look out."

Time passed quickly all thanks to Mingyu's annoying voice that had kept her distracted, talking over the movie he had suggested for her to watch – pausing almost every five minutes to listen to him either comment on the scene or babble on and on about a random picture from his camera roll.

She had given up halfway through the movie, opting to sleep instead. But Mingyu wasn't letting up; he had thought if she sat in silence, she would manage to come up with all the worst case scenarios possible.

He would have much rather waste his breathe talking her ear off than have to comfort her while she sobbed in her seat.

He had been traumatized the last time their family took a trip together to Japan; the first time he had seen a different side of her. She had always been the braver one between the two, an adrenaline junkie who seeked thrill rides and any activity that would have him cowering in an instant.

They were fifteen at the time and since then, he swore he would rather eat dirt before he relieved that same moment again.

Just as he had comforted her during take off, Mingyu took her hand in his as they made their descend down – still babbling on and on about god knows what.

"See not bad." He grinned as they felt their plane come to a complete stop.

The humid air instantly engulfed them as they stepped out of the automatic doors of the airport, each making a comment about how glad they were that they chose to dress lightly.

The boys were all like children let loose in a candy shop, gawking over the Jeep Wranglers at the rental lot – Seokmin and Mingyu instantly bickering over who would get the last black two door.

"Boys." A voice next to her giggled.

It was Sunhee.

While the guys loudly made arrangements on who would be getting which vehicle and who would be riding with who, Sunhee and Y/n stood back and watched.

"They're... something." Y/n forced out a laugh.

The thing was, she couldn't bring herself to hate the girl.

As much as she hated that she was the reason for the pain that Seungcheol had put her through, y/n knew that Sunhee wasn't the problem.

In fact, Sunhee had attempted to distance herself from Seungcheol at one point when she had found out he was dating her; but of course, he didn't have any of it. Y/n was in the other room when he had called Sunhee, saying that he and y/n were just casually dating and didn't care feel at all threatened by Sunhee.

It wasn't a lie. But it sure did hurt.

"Stink!" Mingyu called out from black Jeep, motioning for her to head over. "Come on!"

He had won the rock, paper, scissors against Seokmin.

Fighting back the urge to send him the middle finger, Y/n smiled at him and turned to Sunhee. "I'll see you at the hotel."

・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．

"When'd you get that?"

Y/n turned away from her suitcase, halting her search for her white oversize linen button down, she followed his finger to the red fine line tattoo that read "lucky" at her hip.

Once they had all arrived at the hotel, the group wasted no time making plans to bound for the beach; agreeing to head up to their respective rooms to quickly change out of their airport loungewear to a much more appropriate attire.

Mingyu and Y/n have seen each other countless of times in their swimsuits, not bothering to bat an eye as they gathered all their belongings half naked.

"About four months ago." Y/n went back to practically tossing all her belongings on her bed.

Thankfully the room that they shared was a double queen, having it originally been Minghao and Mingyu's sleeping arrangement. She was able to make her own mess on her side without Mingyu's complaint about making the whole place look like a teenager's room.

He had been the clean one between the two.

"Nice." He nodded slipping a plain white shirt on. "Ready?"

"I can't find my shirt." She exhasperated.

"We're going down to the beach. Just go like that." He said, addressing her current outfit.

Which was just her swimwear and light washed cut off shorts that she had folded down to rest right at her hips. Something she had seen from pinterest when she was taking inspiration for her outfits for the trip.

"But I want to look cute." She pouted.

Aside from having to pretend like she was dating him, she still wanted to take document the trip and all her outfits.

She had an instagram feed to keep up, after all.

Rolling his eyes, he dug into his own suitcase – tossing her his crocheted short sleeve button down. "Come on, we're missing prime acting time." He clapped. "Need to annoyingly apply sunscreen on you and pretend to drag you into the water."

"Oh my god." She groaned.

When he said they were going to be insufferable, she didn't think he would jump right into it – dreading the fake laughs and giggles she would have to muster up the minute they stepped foot out of their room.

Grabbing her tote off the bed, Y/n put on her best smile and walked over to him. "Ready, bug?"

"Let the games begin, stink." He winked, slinging his arms over her shoulder – the two cracking up in an instant.

This was going to be a long week.

・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．・゜゜・．

They're act was in full force.

Mingyu wasn't lying when he said he would apply suncreen on her once they reached the sand, annoyingly taking his time as he reached her lower back.

He was also not lying when he said he would pretend to drag her in the water, throwing her over his shoulder as he bounded for the shoreline, only to set her down once he was ankle deep.

"Is he looking?" He asked, keeping one arm around her waist.

Discreetly peering over his shoulder, thankful that he was nearly a foot taller than her, y/n nodded.

Seungcheol was sat on his towel, watching the two with the same look he had been giving when they were at Seokmin's.

"Okay, we'll I'm gonna go play." Mingyu satisfied with his short acting career, nodding over to Hansol and Chan who was calling out for him at the deep end. "You're good for a few minutes?"

"Yeah I'm going to nap." She nodded, heading back up to where the other half of the group was lounging – not before she felt him give her hip a squeeze.

"For plot." He winked.

"Gross."

"You and Mingyu, huh?" Jeonghan wiggled his brows as she took a seat next to him, pulling her sunglasses back down to cover her eyes.

Along with Seungcheol, Jeonghan had managed to catch a glimpse of the two shamelessly flirting by the water.

He had bought their oscar worthy performance.

"Yeah." She replied shyly. "It kind of just happened."

They had yet to come up with how it just happened.

"Surprised it didn't happen sooner. Glad you got over this guy over here." Using his thumb to point at Seungcheol who had been shamelessly listening in on their conversation. Just like everyone else in the group, Jeonghan had been filled in on y/n and Seungcheol's weird relationship – despite being cities away.

"He'll just play her." Seungcheol snorted. "It's Mingyu."

The first time she had heard him utter a word to her in weeks.

"Can't be as bad as what you put me through." Y/n replied without missing a beat, laying down to soak up the warm sun.

She fought back the smile that threatened to creep up on her lips, content that she had managed to get in his head.

The plan was working.

"Okay, kids, no fighting this week." Jeonghan laughed nervously.

taglist:

@thepoopdokyeomtouched/ @scuzmunkie / @yunjin0 / @morkswatermelonnnn / @anthropologymajorkpopmultistan / @naturelvrgfstealer

(taglist open - lmk if you want to be added!)

[cherrynwinesk]

HII HRU :33 I saw your little Quackity oneshot and LOVED how you narrated it, I wanted to ask if you could write one about a male!s/o (or fem, if you want) x Quackity, male!s/o It's a singer and sings "Once more to see you - Mitski", dedicating indirectly it to Quackity who is watching him among the people with VIP tickets and his fans notice :'3, thx very much!!

🍒: Hii! I'm fine, what about u? Your request has been very cute!

Lights off ~ Quackity

pt.2 here

Story g: sfw/soft

Language: English/Inglés

⚠️: None (?)

CC's: Quackity

Reader g: Male reader

📝: All the content is fictitious and an attempt is made to adapt the PUBLIC personality of the cc's, that is, the personality that is shown in front of cameras, I do not know the true personality and any resemblance to reality is mere coincidence.

🍒: Hello, writing requests are always open, if you want something in particular, ask without fear. I clarify that English is not my main language, I apologize for any error and accept corrections to improve the quality of the content

Master List

The VIP ticket had arrived at Quackity's email, his cell phone vibrated showing the email notification and he immediately opened it, it had taken a while to arrive by the way.

A few weeks ago you had released dates for a tour of the country through Twitter, being part of a small band but with loyal fans, the tickets were sold out.

"The tickets sold out very quickly, I did not get a ticket for your presentation in Los Angeles"

"I'll send you a ticket, leave it to me, I got you"

Quackity and you had been friends for a short time, almost less than two years maybe, you were introduced by Glaive, he being a mutual friend.

The concert in Los Angeles was the last of the tour, appearing in a small auditorium. The team arrived early to prepare the stage, connect cables here and there, countless sound checks and check that everything was in order. Your phone vibrated with a message, it was Quackity

"I will arrive a little bit late"

"A guard will be waiting for you outside'"

The show hadn't started yet and this guy was running late, typical of him, and it wasn't a bother, you knew he was a busy man and you were so grateful that he canceled some plans to come see you sing.

At 8 pm, the auditorium opened its doors giving way to the fans, half an hour later, the concert began. Playing some recent songs and some old ones, interacting with the public.

You felt nervous, but not exactly because of the show, the audience or the fact of making a mistake when singing and playing the guitar at the same time, you had already gone through all this in several cities, it was something normal for you. What made you uncomfortable was that the person who made your stomach tickle was not yet in the VIP area.

As your songs were being played, the nerves to see him again and the fear that he had something else to do combined, you didn't even know which of the two situations made you more nervous.

You had exchanged messages with Quackity many times, he always sent the first message, complimenting your music every time you updated Spotify with a new song, you even got to see him talk about your songs on some of his streams, recommending you.

At no time did you realize that you were feeling those typical butterflies in your stomach every time you saw a message from him, not constant, but the blood rose to your head when you looked at his notifications.

You never really realized it, until one day you caught yourself thinking about Quackity while writing a new song.

You stopped the show to drink some water and clear your throat when the audience started to scream again, you could see the security guard coming down the hall and behind him, a head with a black hat. Your heart started pounding and your stomach warmed.

"Guys, Quackity is here"

You spoke into the microphone, trying to hide your nerves and let him know that you were happy to see him arrive, he reached his place in the VIP area and from there he greeted you with his big smile and a wave of his hand.

You felt your cheeks burn, and the immense need to smile without control, but you had to continue with the concert. A couple more songs, cheering the crowd up with a few jokes, nearing the end of the show, the last song that would be played was the song you caught yourself thinking about Quackity on. A cover more than anything, and that you decided to add only for the presentation of Los Angeles

"For this song I need the lights off"

"Once more to see you" by Mitski had crossed your mind so many times when you knew that Quackity would be present, you had a long time without seeing him face to face.

"But with everyone watching us, our every move

We do have reputations

We keep it secret

Won't let them have it"

Present in front of so many people, feeling like you were naked in front of everyone cause of what you were doing, singing to him like there was something between you.

Did you even know what his current sexuality was, did Quackity like men? Would you have a chance? Wasn't this very selfish of you? Thinking only of your feelings, not knowing what Quackity thinks of you. Would Quackity be able to tarnish his reputation?

"Then I wouldn't have to scream your name

Atop of every roof in the city of my heart

If I could see you

Once more to see you"

Looking in his direction, Quackity was just looking at you, not moving from his place, attentive to you, as if he could sense that this is directed at him.

Quackity was only thinking about how beautiful you sang, admiring the tone of your voice, paying attention to the lyrics of the song and deciphering the reason why you only presented this cover today.

You finished the show, the audience was starting to leave, and you walked up to Quackity to say hello, hugging each other for the long time they hadn't seen each other.

"The concert was very nice"

Over the next few days, fan-taken videos circulated all over Twitter, especially the one of your performance of "Once more to see you."

'he sang it for Quackity' 'he was looking at Quackity while he sang' 'y/n is in love with Quackity' 'Quackity didn't take his nap to go see y/n'

Thousands of similar comments circulated along with the videos, initially scaring you for being so obvious and making someone uncomfortable with your impulses, but then you just thought Quackity would take this as a fan joke. You didn't talk about it, you just left it as a joke and that was it.

At night you got a text, it was Quackity again;

"I just want to know if everything that is circulating on the internet is true..."

[chellerbelles]

Rogue & Gambit Fanworks Week 2024

Day 7: Reunion & Power/Role Swap or No Powers AU

The race is on! Can I finished this story in time? Or will my daily posting streak be broken? Dun dun dunnnnn!

I only have one more chapter left to write, although it's possible that it might get split into 2. Only one way to find out!

The Reunion prompt is on my "One-shots" list. I had ideas, but nothing of substance, which was a tad frustrating. However, the scene between Elder Rogue & Elder Gambit in chapter 2 could work for a twisted version of a reunion.

Below the cut is the Power Swap prompt.

Swapped universe

Rogue sat in the garden of the Xavier estate, staring at nothing in particular, her mind a million miles away. She knew it was only a matter of time before Mystique came looking for her, and she just didn’t know what she was going to say to her. She only knew she didn’t want to go back. The things that the Brotherhood did were wearing her down, nagging at her conscience, and making her feel like she was just a store of C4 to her colleagues.

So caught up in her own thoughts, she almost didn’t notice the moment when Gambit sat down next to her. She didn’t turn her head, but her eyes did flicker to the customary black gloves he always wore. She bet he had the softest hands.

“How’d it go?��� she asked.

“I just got the most amazing news,” Gambit said, his voice matching his words. “The wedding has been cancelled.”

Rogue jerked her head up and caught his gaze. There was no mistaking the delight in them.

“Cancelled?” she asked. “Guild war?”

Gambit shook his head. “They’ve been working on a contingency plan, just in case I didn’t get control by the deadline. They’ve decided that the contingency plan is a better plan than the wedding, so they’re going to move forward with that.”

“That’s incredible. Why didn’t they do that in the first place?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t occur to them? At this point, I don’t care. I’m just relieved the pressure is finally off.” He gave a huge sigh.

“Yeah, I bet you are,” Rogue replied, and slid across the bench to close the gap. “Plus, it’s nice to know you’re officially back on the market, sugar.”

Gambit paused and looked down at the total lack of a gap between them. “Chere, haven’t I absorbed you enough already?”

“Oh, probably. But I think I wouldn’t mind finding some more creative ways to be absorbed. We don’t always have to be fighting, you know.”

“I don’t want to hurt you anymore,” he said, pulling away from her. “I didn’t even know when you’d wake up from that last coma.”

“I’m not saying we have to start on the first date. A lady wants to be wooed first.”

“Chere—”

“I expect the gentleman wanted to be wooed too.”

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 30: The Rogue BAU

[Story Masterlist] // [Aitana’s Masterlist]

Fandom: Criminal Minds // Pairing: Spencer Reid x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​ @averyhotchner​​​​​​ @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @midmourn​​​​​​

If you’d like to be a part of Aitana’s taglist, please let me know!

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

Aitana knew when she was being kept out of a loop. Being the youngest and with 2 brothers gave her a lot of experience. Growing up, Mateo and Angel always had little secret games that she wasn't included in for whatever stupid reason they had. But, she supposed that now it gave her an upper hand for these types of situations. She knew the signs perfectly.

Penelope was extra dodgy in the coming weeks. Lunches were cancelled suddenly and with a stammering ramble of an excuse. For Penelope's own sake, Aitana didn't push very much. Penelope didn't tend to keep secrets for fun. It was usually more out of need and because it wasn't her own.

Penelope Garcia was the worst at keeping secrets so whoever had trusted her with the secret in the first place had to know that no matter what, she wouldn't tell which meant that person had to be extremely close to her. They had to know her completely. That left Aitana with a very small list of suspects. She truly doubted Hotch and Rossi would entrust her with something big and personal knowing that she would eventually crack. That left Morgan, Spencer and JJ. Morgan was a little harder to be around with so she paid extra close attention to both Spencer and JJ whenever she came over to JJ's house for a study session. Neither really acted out of the ordinary.

"Hey, if you guys don't get a case, maybe we can do a little get together on Sunday?" She oh-so-casually suggested one evening after another successful tutoring session.

JJ was coming back to the table with a fresh round of coffee for the trio. "That sounds great. What are we thinking? Morning, evening?"

"How about lunch?" Aitana offered. That was right in the middle of the day. If they had Sunday off, they would be able to come unless they had some secret things to do. "We can have lunch at Angel's restaurant. Big discount for sure."

JJ agreed with a hum. "I like it! Spence?"

"Sounds good to me too," Spencer nodded. "A little reunion."

Aitana took notice of how easily the pair gave into the offer. She was very close to letting her suspicions go but she would need to wait until Sunday to be really sure. "Great, tell the others please. I would love to see them."

The plans were set that very night. Come Sunday, Aitana showed up at the restaurant near noon. Angel had already reserved them a large table to accommodate the entire team. Little by little, they started showing up.

Penelope was front and center, making herself known by complimenting practically every part of the restaurant. "It's just so lively and colorful!" she giggled.

Aitana chuckled. It was hard to believe that this was the woman who was holding a big secret. "I don't like to brag but I did help decorate."

"Right," Penelope said, her smile faltering slightly, "You and your—"

"Hey, hey," Morgan was the second to arrive, all smiles and full of hugs. "Been a while, Sprinkles."

"Yeah, I know," Aitana agreed. "You guys haven't fallen apart right?"

"Oh you know, not yet," Morgan said, pulling out seats for both her and Penelope. "But we are a little short-handed at the BAU. JJ still has to leave every once in a while for her classes."

"She's almost done though, that's what I heard," Aitana remarked. "I talk to her a little more."

Before Morgan could no doubt act dramatically offended, JJ herself and Spencer walked into the restaurant. They easily found the table and came to give hugs and greetings, including Spencer.

"I love this place," JJ said, still gazing about when she took a seat next to Morgan.

"Is that a mural?" Spencer noted the old style mural painted on the wall to their right. It had several people drawn in a ranch-like landscape, both men and women wearing traditional Mexican clothing.

Aitana nodded. "Yeah, Angel found professionals to do it. Thought it would give it a homey effect. I told him I would gladly draw a couple figures myself but apparently I wasn't talented enough with my stick figures."

"You know, Mexican muralism is a big predecessor of today's common art. The idea that anybody could create art on a simple wall of a public place helped liberate art from elitism and the art market's clutches. The murals were free to be seen by anyone!"

"Glad to have you around, Spencer," Aitana chuckled, patting his shoulder. She wanted to be funny and it went right over his head. At least she learned something new out of it. "It's good to have you guys all around again. Missed you all. It's hard staying in contact when you're all over the map."

"And because you're studying your little head off!" Penelope bopped the top of Aitana's head. "JJ's told me all the study sessions you've been having at her place."

"Yeah, and I will find a way to make up for that," Aitana promised JJ who merely waved a hand at it.

"Please, half the time it's Spencer doing all the talking," she said. "Actually, it's most of the time. Not surprising I'd be outdone by the genius."

Spencer smiled sheepishly, but a part of him wanted to wipe the curious glance off Morgan's face.

"So...you're doing the study sessions then, Pretty Boy?" He asked, gracing the group with what promised to be a wide teasing smirk.

"More like he's helping a hopeless case," Aitana stepped in without even knowing it. "I feel bad most of the time for wasting his time."

"Oh I'm sure he doesn't mind," Morgan remarked, barely holding it together when Spencer threw him a hard glare.

"Still," Aitana said, smiling lightly, "I'll feel better when I can manage on my own."

As much as Spencer didn't want to fuel more of Morgan's teasing, he couldn't let Aitana walk around with the idea that she was being a bother to him. He liked their study sessions, whether or not JJ was always present. The sole reason he was at JJ's in the first place was to cry his eyes out and Aitana, without even knowing it, had been helping him ease through his emotions of Emily's passing. He looked forward to meeting her sometimes, especially when it was unexpected.

"I'll always help if I can," he told Aitana, reassuring her with a friendly smile.

"Which means every time," JJ said, though whether it was to help solidify his intelligence or to simply aid Morgan in his teasing was unclear for Spencer.

"Oh, there's Rossi!" Aitana exclaimed when the older man walked in.

"Well hello," he greeted the group, "Fancy meeting you all here. Aitana." She received a special hug from him. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks for coming," she said, motioning him to the empty seats between JJ and Spencer. "Guessing Hotch is still out in Pakistan?"

"You would be right," Rossi pointed. "But of course he sends his hellos."

"So you guys really are shorthanded," Aitana said, truly realizing it at that moment. She was gone, Hotch was gone, Seaver was gone, Emily gone…

"Strauss is breathing down my neck thanks to Hotch's temporary leave," Rossi said, already perusing the menu in front of him. "What kind of wine do you guys have and which one is the strongest?"

Aitana snickered along with the others. "You know, Strauss kinda scares me. Last time we met she warned me my position was temporary. And she did get what she wanted in the end."

"She's kicking herself for it, I promise you," Rossi said, giving Aitana a meaningful look. "Don't think I won't talk you up if this keeps going."

Aitana flushed. "Well, nice to know I've been missed. So, what's been going on at the BAU then? When I say it's been hard to get in contact with some of you, I really mean it."

"We've just had some tough cases," Penelope was the first and by the far quickest to respond. Subtle was never her thing.

"Aren't they always tough?"

"Lately, every case...feels tough…" Morgan said, eyes focusing way too hard on the menu.

Aitana watched them as casually as possible. It was actually funny how hard they were trying to be casual. It was foolproof to anyone who wasn't a profiler and even though Aitana wasn't working as one, she still had the talent of one. "You guys are understaffed. Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's not your fault," Morgan flashed her a smile over the menu. "Just like Seaver, you felt like you had to do something important."

"Yeah, but, now you guys seem to be at your wits end with all the extra work. And if you say that the cases seem even worse than before than..."

"They're not," Spencer was quick to say. "We're just...taking some time to get used to our new dynamic."

Aitana silently looked between him and Morgan. The former was too casual and Morgan just seemed tensed the more the conversation progressed. "I mean...I can help," she started to say, "I'm not working so—"

"We're good, we're all good, sweets!" Penelope exclaimed. "You just focus on your schoolwork! We're all so proud of you for making the big decision!"

Aitana smiled at all the encouraging faces of her friends. "Thanks. It, um, hasn't been that easy, I'll be honest...though I guess some of you guys already know that. Sorry to JJ and Spencer."

"All good," JJ promised her. "I don't mind and I know Spencer doesn't mind helping either."

"I don't," agreed Spencer. "Besides, I spend a lot of time at JJ's place anyways. Might as well be more useful."

"You always are," chuckled Aitana. "Half the quizzes I've taken so far have been easy because of your help. I'm telling you that you need to have a service fee." She looked at the rest of the team with an incredulous face. "He does it all for free! He would make a fortune with a side hustle of tutoring."

Spencer couldn't help the flush on his face as she went on about him. It wasn't very often that someone complimented him without adding in a joke somewhere in-between. Sure most of the jokes weren't made with bad intentions but it was nice hearing one person be able to appreciate his talents without having to make fun of him for it.

He didn't mind at all helping Aitana out. She didn't realize it but she provided another means of distraction. He spent a lot of time at JJ's when they weren't working. He did whatever he could to help around and be as useful as possible. He wanted to feel happy again, not the kind of person who was in mourning all the time. JJ saw it and so she tended to treat him like a fragile thing. Aitana, bless her heart, wasn't anywhere near the BAU right now so she didn't know what was going on. She treated him like she normally would. She laughed with him, made him laugh too. Her schoolwork was the perfect distraction for him. He got the opportunity to teach and along the way spent time with someone really great.

~ 0 ~

It would be a couple more months until Aitana had concrete evidence that the team's secret actually existed. With the busy days between schoolwork and, surprisingly, dance classes she couldn't keep her eyes on the team as much as she would've wanted. After the dinner she had with them, she came to the conclusion that Penelope definitely knew something was going on and the only reason she hadn't told anyone was because the secret wasn't hers to tell. Morgan had to have told her at some point. It made absolute sense. Penelope would never tell a secret if it meant a lot to Morgan.

It was during one of her dance classes where Aitana discovered that she had a lot of missed calls from none other than Erin Strauss. She couldn't possibly answer or return any calls during class so that just made the remainder of the hour feel agonizingly long. She hadn't really spoken to Strauss since she quit the FBI and, truthfully, she was still wary of Strauss altogether.

"What's the matter, Aitana? You're usually focused." Her new partner, Diego, remarked after failing to make a synchronized turn. Aitana had come in too slowly.

"How would you know that?" she joked as they retook their positions. "You've only known me for 4 months."

Diego pushed his shaggy blonde hair from his forehead and smiled at Aitana. "I've heard loads of you from the others." They both glanced in their mutual friends' way. Layla, Franco, Valeria and Alex had gone through a lot of trouble setting them up for the class. "They swear you're the expert."

Aitana snorted. "I don't know about 'expert'..."

"Anything wrong?"

"I'm not sure, I have to wait for another twenty minutes," Aitana said after sparing a glance at the clock hanging on the wall.

She tried her best to focus on the dances and the teacher's advice but her mind kept wandering to Strauss and the BAU. What on earth could Strauss want her for? She was the one who gave her the ultimatum in the first place.

Maybe they're in trouble, Aitana thought for the next 20 minutes. She couldn't see the class ending any sooner. As soon as they were let go, she dashed to get changed and get the hell out of the studio.

She dialed Strauss back and to her surprise, the woman answered on the second ring. "Serrano?"

"Y-yes, this is her," Aitana made her way to her car parked outside the studio. "Is there something—"

"Report yourself to the BAU immediately if you still value the relationships you made with the team." Strauss gave no other clue as to what was happening before hanging up.

Aitana blinked at her phone, eyes wide in shock and possible fear. What the hell was that about?

She may have committed a few speeding violations after that, but she was in Quantico in record time. Dressed absolutely out of regulations, and with hair that couldn't possibly be more unruly, she entered the FBI building. She didn't even pay attention to the visitor's badge burning her chest, this time nothing mattered until she saw that everyone was okay.

Strauss was waiting in her office when Aitana arrived. "Close the door," she prompted the brunette.

Aitana did as told and walked further inside, albeit cautiously. "I don't understand why you would call me out of all people. Has something happened to the others?" Those left, anyways. "Are they alright?"

Strauss' face remained stoic, making it impossible for Aitana to deduce what the hell she could've been called for. Or maybe your profiling skills are out of practice right now, she chastised herself. No, it was the fact that it was about her friends that made it hard to keep focused. It was true what they said: never work a case that was too close to home.

"You could say they're in danger, alright," Strauss finally spoke but even then Aitana was holding her breath for fear of what was coming. "Not in physical danger, although that is part of the reason they are where they are now."

"I don't understand," Aitana said, "What...where are they now?"

"Hotchner and his entire team have been, until further notice, suspended."

Aitana's eyes widened slightly. "Hotch is back?" She was way behind on news. Then again, neither JJ nor Spencer mentioned anything of the sort.

Strauss, however, was studying the brunette, trying to decide whether or not Aitana was being honest. "Nobody mentioned anything?" she asked in the end, preferring to do it face to face.

"Mention what?"

"What they were doing for the past 6 months? Or what they did only a few days ago?"

"I...I don't understand, what did they do?" Aitana slowly slid into the open chair across Strauss.

Strauss' eyes looked Aitana over one more time, finally deciding. "You might not believe it, but you leaving the BAU was the best choice you could've made for yourself."

Aitana's eyebrows furrowed. That was a stark change in subjects. "Oh, well, kudos to me, I guess?"

Strauss smiled slightly. "Because I know for a fact that you are the only one out of the entire BAU team who wasn't an accomplice in the illegal manhunt for Ian Doyle, as well as his death."

Aitana's mouth could have hit the ground at that moment. "Excuse me?" Strauss gave a nod of her head, confirming that, yes, she really did just say that. "What do you...they...he's dead?"

"Very," Strauss said. "And your ex-team is responsible for it. They're currently facing possible expulsion from the FBI. I don't honestly know whether or not they'll make it out, clean free."

Aitana leaned against her chair, hand coming to rest over her chest. "I can't believe it. Nobody told me anything. I...I just saw them — well, I saw Spencer and JJ two days ago. They didn't tell me anything." For a moment, she felt a strike of anger. How could they not tell her something like this?

"Clearly," Strauss remarked. Aitana met the woman's eyes. "But, like I said, your timely departure from the BAU saved you. Because I have no doubt that you would've taken part in this fiasco."

Aitana chewed on the inside of her cheek. Yeah, she would've definitely helped to find Doyle. Which is why she was sure she was slightly angry with them for keeping it from her.

"Especially if Emily Prentiss was alive and practically helped lead the whole thing."

Aitana froze altogether. For a moment, she thought her ears had gone all weird on her. "Hold on — what!? Did you just say—?"

Strauss nodded. "Yes. Emily Prentiss is alive. She was put in an emergency specialized witness protection. She's alive and well, and also facing charges…"

Aitana had no idea what kind of noise she had let out but Strauss didn't make a comment about it. "She's...she's ali…" She couldn't string her words together. Even her mind was going too fast to think of anything coherently. All the tears, the funeral, the mourning —it wasn't real. "She's been alive this whole time..." she whispered. For some reason, her thoughts went to Spencer who seemed, in her opinion, to have taken Emily's death worse than everyone else. How had he felt when he learned the truth?

"Miss Serrano, given the circumstances, you can understand the BAU hasn't functioned in the past week. The cases are piling in what used to be your old office. For the time being, I myself am overseeing the team's upcoming hearing. I don't have the time, nor the skills as I learned in the past, to go through these cases."

Aitana nodded, so far she understood.

"Agent Rossi has spoken very highly of you these past months, and despite his terrible conduct in this manhunt, I do value his opinions on people. That, plus knowing that you are the only member who remained abstinent of the situation, makes it easier for me to offer you a position within the BAU."

Aitana's eyes widened to the brim. "You're wha—"

"This time, however, the position would be as a profiler. You will dabble in the liaison duties until the team is either reinstated and Hotchner can take over, or until I find new candidates to make up a new team."

"New team!?" Aitana exclaimed incredulously. "What do you mean 'new team'? You can't make a 'new' team! They're—"

"If the team is indeed fired, I will need to search for new employees," Strauss said sternly. "I would like to have at least one familiar face on board."

"I won't want to work with a whole new team," Aitana said too quickly for Strauss' patience.

"Serrano, you won't always expect to work with the same people, especially in the FBI. You know that!"

"Yes, but what I meant to say is this team, if they're disbanded, it wouldn't be fair. What they did, whatever they did, it was no doubt to help Emily. If they're fired, it would be unjust. How could I agree to work knowing that?"

"Because this is exactly what you were going back to school for, wasn't it?" Strauss remarked. "Given what I know of the team, they wouldn't be happy knowing you gave up a position you wanted so badly that you quit to go back to school for it."

Aitana scrunched her face. "Okay, maybe—"

"Serrano, like me, I know they would want somebody who knows the place working it until they get back."

"If they get back," Aitana reminded her.

"Either way, I need someone to work now," Strauss tapped a finger on her desk. "Profiler. Liaison. You'll have a mighty time getting through the files."

"And when the directors make their decision?"

"We can work it out, then," Strauss said, "Though the profiling position is permanent, if you're interested. We are severely short on staff."

Aitana drew in a breath to calm her nerves. She was sure her blood pressure was off the charts right now. There was way too much new information to process and she could feel her emotions getting in the way. She was astonished with the way the team kept this whole thing under wraps, even from her. But she was also over the moon to find out that Emily wasn't gone. She was still here — somewhere — breathing. And, she admitted only to herself, she was very happy to know that Ian Doyle wasn't breathing anymore. May God forgive her but that man deserved it.

"Serrano? I'm waiting," Strauss said.

"I'm going to school," Aitana said, sounding like she was just remembering that detail. It had only been the biggest thing going on in her life right now. Her eyes met Strauss. "I'm not quitting school," she warned.

"Yes, I kn—"

"I'm not stopping, which means that I am going to need, on occasion, time off to complete assignments and attend my hybrid classes." Strauss nodded but she failed to see that Aitana was not done. "It's a two year program, crash course, and when I graduate, because I will graduate, I want to officially put my papers for the original job I had here."

Strauss lifted an eyebrow at her, fairly bemused. "You want the split position? Permanently? That's double the tasks."

"I know, but I want it. Before coming to the BAU, I didn't know where I was going to fit. I had the profiling classes to back me up but I never really got to work it, you know? Now I know that I was born to do both. And that's what I want. That's my condition to work here again."

Strauss levelled Aitana's look with her own, evaluating the brunette until somebody was to crack. It was not Aitana.

"Alright," Strauss said in the end, never knowing that Aitana released her breath, "For now, I can only officially grant you the profiler's position and salary. You can work the liaison until the team's future is situated but afterwards, you will not be paid for it therefore you don't need to work it. Is that clear?"

Aitana gave an affirmative nod. Her lips curled into a big smile. "Yes."

"Very well. Welcome back to the BAU, Agent Serrano."

~ 0 ~

For a few days, Aitana kept to herself. She didn't even tell her family she was working in the FBI again and she certainly didn't tell the team either. She was angry. Once she allowed herself to admit it freely, she felt more capable of seeing them again. She had received a few texts from JJ asking if she was coming over like she usually did to have study sessions with Spencer. Ironically enough, Spencer had not messaged her at all. Once Aitana visited JJ, she found out why.

"He's angry at you for lying to us," Aitana let out a breath at the kitchen table. "Well, I can't say I blame him."

JJ lowered her head in shame. "I know," she sighed. "But I really couldn't say anything to anyone. It was for Emily's safety."

"We could have helped," Aitana said, unknowingly sounding like Morgan who had told JJ the same thing. "We would've done everything to keep her safe, even if it meant putting her on a plane to go a thousand miles from her."

"I know," JJ said again. "But we didn't do it. I can't change it and truthfully even if I wanted to, my bosses wouldn't have let it. They didn't even let Hotch do it and he's unit chief. Aitana, please, I'm sorry."

Aitana shook her head. "I'm still pissed," she muttered, "But I'm glad to know that Emily is alive. Strauss said that she's part of this whole manhunt thing too."

"She was, it's...it was complicated," JJ said. "We're all in the doghouse and I don't even technically work for the BAU again. Go figure."

"What'd you expect? A slap on the wrist?" Aitana raised an eyebrow at the woman. "This is serious. Strauss offered me a position again in the BAU because of how screwed you guys are. She's looking for replacements just in case you all do get fired."

JJ nodded. They had been warned about that on the day they were suspended. "We know."

"The cases are piling up," Aitana continued. "My office — your office — looks like an avalanche of files is about to come crashing down. You all need to make this right and come back. I told Strauss I wasn't going to stick around if the team didn't come back."

JJ half smiled at the gesture. She was sure it would make the others smile too. "You should work there if you want to, Aitana. Don't leave just because of our mistakes."

"But they weren't mistakes," Aitana sighed, "They weren't, no matter how screwed you guys are. Ian Doyle was a terrible man and if he was going to hurt others...then you guys did what you had to. I just don't appreciate having been kept out of it. I would have helped."

"I'm sorry," JJ reiterated.

Aitana thought the woman had suffered enough and assured her that it was going to be fine. "So," she looked back into the living room from her seat, "I take it Spencer hasn't been around anymore?"

"Mm..." JJ swayed her head, "He is currently not talking to me. In fact, he's currently hating my guts."

"He's angry," Aitana said with a light shrug of her shoulders, "He was having the worst time getting past it and now he finds out that—"

"His best friend was lying to his face," JJ let her head hang back. "I know. I'm horrible."

"You're not, JJ."

"He thinks that I am and that hurts. I've tried calling him, texting him, I even tried visiting him and he just shuts me out. I don't know what to do."

Aitana sympathized with JJ and for that reason she offered to try and talk to Spencer for her. At the end of the day, what JJ said was true. The choice had not been hers to keep Emily's secret. Her hands were tied.

"You don't have to do that, Aitana," JJ said, but Aitana was adamant to at least try.

So, the next day, Aitana did what she could and went over to Spencer's place. She knocked on the door several times but nobody answered.

"Spencer, it's me, open up!" she decided to call before knocking again. A few minutes passed by and she heard the shuffling of feet on the other side. She stepped back just as the door opened. "Hi!" She raised a pink box in her hand. "Breakfast?"

A short while later, she and Spencer were sitting on the couch together sharing a pink box of donuts.

"You did not have to come all the way over here, Aitana," Spencer said, barely side-glancing her. He couldn't really look at her at the moment and it was out of guilt and embarrassment.

"I had to," Aitana shrugged. "You canceled our study sessions."

"I'm so—"

"Chill, Spencer, it's a joke." Because Aitana knew that on a good day Spencer didn't understand sarcasm very well which meant that right now it was an even worse time to go for it. "I wanted to know how you were doing."

"You know," Spencer realized. He bowed his head.

"I got an interesting call from Strauss who, by the way, has offered me a position at the BAU again while the team is, um, suspended." Aitana flashed a him a smile. "Naturally, I had to find out from the source. I spoke to JJ."

At the mention of her name, Spencer took an even bigger bite of his donut. Aitana watched him try to chew his way through it.

"Spencer, you know it wasn't her fault, right?" she said gently. "Her hands were literally tied."

Spencer swallowed with a strain. "I'd rather not talk about her, if that's okay," he muttered. He wiped the corners of his mouth with one of the napkins from the box. "I think I owe you an apology instead."

"Me?" Aitana chuckled. "Thanks but I don't think I need one. I would rather you go see JJ—"

"No," Spencer said adamantly. "I don't want to see her."

"Spencer—"

"I would rather help you out with your work because I know that I just dropped it without even a warning—"

"No, Spencer, wait—" Aitana failed to sit him back down on the couch.

"I actually found a book that you might like..." He had gone to his bedroom. "It was published in 1936 but I think it's still pretty relevant in today's world..."

Aitana stood up from the couch and dusted off the donut crumbs from her blouse. "That's very nice of you but I believe we were talking about you and—"

But Spencer had come back with a book in his hand and a genuine smile that didn't let Aitana finish. "Here," he offered the book to her.

Aitana made sure her hands were clean by wiping them on her jeans. She didn't want to leave any kind of donut fingerprint on it. "Alright, let's see it..."

'How to Win Friends & Influence People' was written on the cover.

"Mm..." Aitana raised an eyebrow at Spencer, "Are you trying to tell me something here?"

For the first time in days, Spencer chuckled. "No, no, I swear...I...it's a good book for communication."

"If you say so," Aitana opened the book for a quick skim of the pages. "Well, thank you for this. I promise I'll take care of it and return it in tip-top condition."

"It's yours," Spencer told her, something that she didn't quite accept at first.

"You used your money on this, I can't just take—"

"Take it," Spencer reiterated. "Look at it as an apology for blowing you off these days."

"Spencer, I'm not mad at you," Aitana said, lowering the book to the coffee table. "I get it. I get it because I was angry too in the beginning. But trust me, you do not need to buy me books — or anything else for that matter — to get on my good side."

It seemed like Spencer was going to say something but someone knocked on the door. It didn't look like Spencer had any intention of opening, much less see who it was, until they heard Morgan's voice on the other side. Even then, Spencer was reluctant to answer right-away.

"I can do it," Aitana offered, inadvertently pushing him to go to the door.

When he opened up, Morgan walked right in. "It's about time you answered. What, you w—" He stopped at the sight of Aitana in the middle of the living room. "Well, hello there, Sprinkles. Been a while."

Aitana sheepishly smiled at him. "Guess so. How's suspension treating you?"

Morgan raised a brow at her. "Oh, so you're informed." His eyes shifted towards Spencer.

"It was Strauss," Aitana said. "I know everything which is why I'm here, checking up on you guys."

"Oh, so you were going to make house visits today?" Morgan eyed the pink box on the couch and recognized it immediately. "Ah, are we all getting donuts today, then?"

Aitana rolled her eyes playfully. "Take one, Morgan. But it's not a treat," she warned as he happily went for the box. "You and everyone else are in deep trouble for all this shit."

"Well, if I get donuts, I'll be just fine." Morgan took the time to flash a specific smirk at Spencer. The latter flushed and thanked God that Aitana had gone to grab the book off the coffee table.

"Lay low, will you?" she said to both. She came by the couch to grab her purse. "Meanwhile, I will read this book and get it back to you, Spencer, soon. Promise."

"Take your time," he said, "And thanks for stopping by. I'm happy to help you study again too."

"Uuh, you know what? Why don't we leave that for when you're feeling 110% again, hm?"

"I'm fine, I sw—"

"Nope," Aitana wagged a finger at him. "Can't have you running around if you're not working at full capacity. I mean, I know that even on your 60%, you're still gonna be working better than me at my 100% but that's beside the point." She smiled at him. "Laugh, Dr. Reid, that was another joke." She chuckled to herself and headed for the door, bidding goodbye.

Morgan simply waited to finish his donut before he started commenting on what he thought he saw. Spencer would have rather he stayed away like the rest of the team.

[verfound]

FIC: Coffee Shop Soundtrack: 8/11 (MLB; Luka)

Notes: Hey, uh…wasn’t Luka supposed to be off this Saturday…?

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7

Coffee Shop Soundtrack

Chapter Eight: That Saturday He (Almost) Blew It

Time can get weird when something upsets your routine, and Luka’s routine had been upset for a while now.  Injuring his hands and being told he needed to take a day or two off work didn’t help things.  Neither did not being able to hold his guitar and play during band practice (or play at all), though as their drummer had had a family emergency and the bassist had come down with the flu the lead had cancelled their weekly practice anyway.  With his hands messed up, he couldn’t even commit to his standing slot at open mic night, so even though he was allowed to work Friday (“Just the register, Couffaine, and I want you gloved at all times!”) he didn’t linger after to play or watch the other acts.

(Which was a shame, Elise would tell him later: Baby Bob Ross had returned, and he’d played two renditions of “Wonderwall” this time.

“Your hands better be better by next Friday,” Elise grumbled as he laughed.  “I’m going to kill that kid if he shows up three weeks in a row with the same song.  With that song.”

He couldn’t really blame her.  As much as he loved music, he’d kill anyone who’s entire set list was three different arrangements of “Wonderwall”, too.)

[davekat-sucks]

Something fascinating I realized is that it has been almost 3 weeks since the last Beyond Canon update! If I can recall, the previous mini-update was on August 23rd, a Friday. From where I am tomorrow will be September 13th, 3 weeks!

So I now speculate this large gap of time (longer than the 2 week waiting period) may be for various reasons, and because I don’t follow James Roach on Twitter.

In my speculation, I will order my ideas from most likely to least likely, with the first reason being most probable, and the last reason being more a fanstasy than reality.

So Beyond Canon’s update has been delayed probably because:

1. James Roach had to attend to personal business with family or his individual life, which you should prioritize over a webcomic.

2. The last Vriska VN updates will come out in a bundle, and the planned release date is the 1 year anniversary of the comic’s return, 10/8/24

3. The team is taking a break from work stress and is using their vacation days to do fall stuff like pick apples from an orchard.

4. Members of James’s team have been moved to the Hiveswap development team by request from Whatpumpkin to the HICU and James is hiring new members for writing and art.

5. The comic is going on a long Hiatus again, similar to when the old Beyond Canon team packed up their stuff and had the comic in stasis for 2 years and 9 months. It’s likely no one would try to pick up the comic where it left off a second time, considering even the fandom’s favorite music producer and competent guy James Roach could run the comic for an even shorter period of time than the much less beloved and much more volatile old team. Thus, Homestuck: Beyond Canon would be soft cancelled.

Remembering how there was a job listing for Act 3 as well, I wouldn't be surprised that James Roach was involved with that process as well to recruit new team members. I can definitely see the last Vriska VN update be on the anniversary BC/HS2 started. There are only two sections left for Vriska redemption arc. If they aren't ending it off with some epic flash video, then that means the final update will fall on October 8th. The polls on Patreon show though they won't update the story that quickly after finishing Act 1, they will still make illustrations/art pieces for the Patreon supporters. So the Patreon won't exactly be closed by the time they take their break. There is also the fact that the Karkat plushie on Makeship, the official campaign will be released on September 16th. So if things Patreon funds can't help for Beyond Canon or Hiveswap Act 3, then this is the safety net to rely on.

[elizabethplaid]

a fair number of notes - june 19th, 2024

-- Good counseling session today. Relayed some of the theories and conversations I've had with my dad and phone-friend. She noted that I expressed a lot less guilt than I used to, in previous years, regarding these "down swings".

-- Dad picked up Rx meds and a Dunkin drink for me. Came home right before counseling started, so I took comfort in my frozen drink.

-- Dad also installed the AC window unit in my bedroom. It was 93F today, so it's been very handy. The hottest it's been otherwise lately were a couple days of 84F.

-- After a post-counseling nap, we went to the grocery store. First time driving the "new" car, aside from just backing up in the driveway. It feels good, spacious; thin seat belt is unnerving.

-- --- Snagged some of my sparkling water and novelty sodas. Our main goal was our usual 2L sodas and a cucumber for pasta salad tonight. Ugh, just realized I forgot to get ice cream.

-- --- Dad messed with the AC controls, within 2 miles of driving home. I didn't say anything to stop him, because I thought we'd be home really quick. Nah, fuckin' distracting. Had to move the vents off me really really quick. I can't remember our exact words, but he apologized for being distracting. I said something to the effect of, "When I'm feeling this bad, pushing myself like this, everything is a distraction."

-- --- Really, I thought I felt okay until the air flow changed. When it did, I realized how thin a grip I had on things. But I had been confident and handled a lot of stimuli very well. And I'm still in good spirits!

-- For this excursion, I felt happy enough to throw on my jewelry, jeans, and one of my new bras. It fits well for the band, but the cups are small and squish me flat. Not bad for a lounging bra, especially for $10. It's comfy enough.

-- --- It's been almost 2 weeks, but I haven't cut off the tags from my new clothe yet. Need to do that and throw them in a load of cold laundry. Need to do laundry in general.

-- --- My goal is to do a bunch of little cleaning chores, bit by bit. Just clean the sink in one visit; clean something else in the next, etc. I'm tempted to make a list, to better organize my thoughts. But I'm already nibbling at things, so... I don't really -need- to make a list.

=========

-- Phone friend is fighting really bad allergies. They work outdoors, and the pollen provoked a really strong migraine. We've already discussed cautions of heat versus meds, staying hydrated, trying to stave off migraines. They've switched to new eye drops, and it seems to be helping.

-- --- Feeling sick and fatigued, we had to cut our last call short, and they skipped some of the morning/evening greetings. They worried about seeming too distant lately, and I'm like...

Really, I've been caught up in my own head, with all my sensory overload stuff. I'm chilling with my own vibes, feeling fine by myself. Never even occurred to me that things could be interpreted as us being a bit distant.

My reaction also reminded me of the apple juice story from Hannibal Buress. "... so caught up in the euphoria...," forgetting the practical reasoning.

I replied, explaining that we're good. I understand when life (and fatigue!) get in the way. I mean, I wanted to cancel this week's call, because my brain isn't good with speaking out loud. (I could hear myself talking in circles, repeating myself last week, because I space-out mid-sentence.)

=====

Anyway, thanks for sticking around reading all these notes. And if you didn't, if you just clicked "like" because you like me, that's fine too.

I started writing these notes for a few specific people, back when I was really depressed and withdrawn. Now, I write them to help me remember what I've been up to lately. As always, I really appreciate your support, friends.

[pbandjesse]

I can't believe this week is over already. It was so wildly busy and so incredibly full. I feel happy but also so tired. But also so so so excited that we get the day off tomorrow! They canceled camp kick off! Incredible. I am thrilled.

Especially with how busy I was today. I slept fine but not the best. I woke up when James was leaving and I just remember having the biggest smile seeing them. And then immediately fell back asleep until 740.

When I got up I felt a little crazy. I made the bed and got dressed and would decide to wash my hair tonight.

I gave Sweetp a kiss. Checked in the tanks. And was off.

I had a good drive to hunt valley. And it was another good conversation! This time about homes and living in Baltimore. How we came into money for the house. How lucky we have been and privileged to have the help. Plus James getting hit by a truck. We have been lucky in a lot of ways.

Once we got to camp I was overwhelmed. There was still so much to do. I went up to arts to go over all the other programs and made lists of what needed to be collected. I was getting more and more worried. After an hour I texted Heather to ask for help.

She would send me three girls and they were wonderful. I gave them the lists and sent them off to find things. Rocks and paint and identification cards. Pitri dishes and compasses and almost everything I needed. I was just so happy to have them doing that. Because then I could go to the office to work on printing all the examples and guides.

It was a lot of work though. I had to edit so many things so they didn't say "Indian". Just out of date terminology. But things were getting done.

I handed off the prints to get laminated. I appreciate the people who helped with that so much. They wouldn't get everything laminated but they did get everything in the sleeves and I would finish the laminating later on.

I went back to art and did some more organizing of supplies and materials. I can ot wait until our boxes are in so things can be actually organized. But it's something.

I would come back to the office and Callie said we could take the camp truck and go get the deck furniture her parents were giving to camp, and then go to a deli she likes. Excellent.

While we were waiting for the truck to be available I continued my printing tasks. But it didn't take long for us to be able to head off.

It was fun taking the truck. I used to drive a truck and it was fun. It took about a half hour to get out there and it was fun talking with Callie and being silly and the sky was beautiful. It was such a nice little drive.

When we got to her parents' I got to meet her mom a bit more formally. I've said hi before but this was a real introduction. I also got to meet their very sweet dog. Who is a very nervous baby but I liked her apple shaped head.

It would take us a bit to get all of the furniture into the back of the truck. First problem was that there was a second hitch in the middle of the bed that we didn't know about. But I'm very smart and I was able to figure out how to take it out and later on would be able to tell Laney over the phone how to put it back in and I was very proud of myself.

Then it was just a lot of figuring out how to Tetris all of the things into the back of the truck. There were eight chairs and two tables. And I think we did a great job. It was a lot of teamwork and effort. Callie was in the back of the truck while me and her mom were handing her things and trying to help figure out how things should go together. And it was just I think a really good time. We only had four bungee cords but we made it work and everything was pretty secure.

We would do a 2 minute drive down the road to the deli / grocery store. And that was like our test run to see if the things were all going to fall out and they seemed pretty good besides a little bit of rattling from one of the tables. So after I got out of the truck to help Callie park because the truck is very big. We went and got some food.

. It was nicer than growls and kind of reminded me of the grocery store I used to go to in Minneapolis that was really nice. And she would get I think she said chicken salad. And I got a grilled cheese. I also will pick up edamame for later and a cannoli flavored chocolate bar to share with James. We had to wait a pretty long time but honestly food was really good and I think it was worth it in the end.

We had about a half an hour drive back to camp. The new girl who's teaching EAC was at camp and she wanted to know if we can meet up and I told her I would be available in the office in one half hour. And then I just enjoyed my drive with Kelly. We shared Western fries and worried about the table sliding around and possibly breaking the back window. But we did a really good job and so it was not a problem in the end.

Right before we got back to camp I called Elizabeth to make sure that we were good to take the stuff directly to the pool. And we were so we pulled up and I walked to the office to grab the boys so they could help her bring them in and I could go eat my sandwich and wait for Corrina to come find me.

She would come about 10 minutes later which was totally fine. Gave me enough time to eat my sandwich. And then we sat down and went over and just kind of talked through things that might be a problem and figured out some solutions and some alternatives. And I think she's going to do a really good job. There are quite a few times that she's going to be gone this summer but she's not the first one that's done that so I'm not that worried about it. As long as we have someone to cover and whatever project she picks for that week not being too difficult for them to handle.

I would spend the rest of the afternoon finishing the lamination. Tony helped me punch holes in the corner so that we could binder ring them and then Alexis daughter Josephine helped me put the hand talk flashcards into alphabetical order. And that took a really long time. And I appreciate how hard she works because that was not a super fun task. But it got done and then we labeled them with numbers so that we cannot have them fall out of order again and it will not take as long to put back together. But that was like an hour long task.

A whole bunch of materials for the hands on History and some of the other program projects had come and some people had taken the boxes after arts and crafts so I was like sweet I'm going to go up there and unpack them. But some very thoughtful but misguided counselors had unpacked everything already. Each one of those boxes had been labeled for which program they were going to and now I didn't know what program they were for. So I was a little frazzled. So once I was able to get a couple people to come inside and help me we sorted everything out and then I had them carry it to the different locations. I would follow along to the Adirondacks so that I could put things in the correct piles for the boxes for when the boxes come. And it was a little stressful and it was a little sweaty but we handled it and it was all good.

I was ready to go though. I was hot and I was tired. And I went to the office to check in with Heather because she made a comment about next week with me being with the camp all in for the whole time. I thought I was only leading programs not acting as a counselor so I was very surprised. And she was like yeah you're probably right so I'm just going to be jumping in a few times to leave programs not be there from 9:00 to 2:00. So I'll actually have time to continue finishing setting up all the programs. And I hopefully will be able to pull away a couple other people to help me because I still feel slightly overwhelmed by all of it.

I headed out of there and I had a much shorter drive home than yesterday. I would arrive back here at 5:30 and I was thrilled to see James and our dear friend Brooks sitting at the kitchen island.

James and Brooks are going to a baseball game tonight and meeting up with some of our other friends. And it was just really nice to have people over. Brooke's let me braid his hair and he was very surprised that I was able to braid it with just one hair tie. He grew his hair out in the last year or so and he still learning how to do things with his hair so I think he was surprised I was able to make him a very pretty Elsa braid with only one hair tie and not a bunch of barrettes and clips and things. He's learning he's trying. I thought he looked really nice with the braid. And he would leave the house for the baseball game with James with the braids still in.

Once they left I would set myself up outside on the porch swing. Cost per use I'm going to make this swing so worth it in the end. I love the swing. It gives me the same nice feeling that my hammock does but it's more structured so I'm not as squeezed. And I laid out there with my book and my edamame and I had an excellent evening. I had brought crab cake out to soak in a bowl for a bit and then put him in his outdoor enclosure. And I have some plans for how I'm going to build out the bigger outdoor enclosure once we have a fence. And just kind of thought about that and enjoyed sweet peace company and I was out there for a really long time. Couple hours. Just hanging out and enjoying being in my backyard that I own. I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and that is something I'm going to have to figure out going forward. But I really love our little space and I'm just really happy that it's coming together so well.

As the sun started to set I brought crab cake inside and put him in his enclosure. I changed out the water in there and he started burying himself as he does. And I would sit outside and write the first half of this post until sweet pea walked himself in and then I came in to close the door. And now I'm running a bath and I'm going to soak and wash my hair and wait for my husband to come home.

It has been a really nice week but man was it a lot. I am so excited to not have to go anywhere tomorrow. My plan is to do nothing. I am going to hopefully have some projects left to do here and work on some art things. Pack my little bag for next week because I'm going to be sleeping over at camp all 5 days. And then on Sunday I'm going to go visit my parents and I'm really excited about that. And I just think that this is going to be a beautiful summer and I'm really excited. And I'm really excited to continue to share my stories with you. I hope you guys all have a great night and you sleep well. Until next time. Good night

[incarnateirony]

[rubs temples]

Yall, if the supposed source saying, "no, i didn't say that, i said some guy said it and it's uncorroborated" isn't enough for you...

You do realize that Feb/March, it was already announced most Phase 5 shows were being pushed out of 2023 unless they're like, key shows? (like, deadpool, maybe. Random mcspinoff, no.)

And that was BEFORE the strike.

Halle Barry may have been preparing her hair for Deadpool shortly before the strike, that's fine, it's Deadpool, Deadpool is a real release.

But right after the reveal tarp on wave 5 was ripped off to display, Iger ripped it back down and went, nope, we're done spending on infinite content, anything is getting pushed to next year that was gonna go to Disney+ like that. Which. Nova was.

AND THAT WAS!! BEFORE THE STRIKE!!!

This guy has -- ONE decade old credit in a brazillian show, ONE random thanks without being crew on a movie that almost got cancelled for a crew blowout 4 years ago, and his terribly typo filled and self-conflicting college application to learn english after self identifying as coming to the US in--marchpril. Probably april, because he ignored the US MM/DD/YY slots on the college app unless he's from the mystical 18th month. So his 03/04 date was probably 04/03.

Either way there had been talk of the strike for a few MONTHS before EITHER date, even if it dropped May 2, I was already posting about the strike pending on FEBRUARY 4TH.

So I'm not sure why anyone thinks someone would, IDK? Import? Some literal rando? That doesn't read english or write well? To be an assistant? With no real media history? To assist some lead in MARVEL? Some guy who can't shut his mouth in EITHER LANGUAGE? Like... do you understand ANYTHING about Marvel?

You don't think it's WEIRD that this comes up when in the last few years jarpad fans pumped some concept art of him by a random fan?????????????????????????????????????? GUYS. wtf.

So even if Marvel smoked an entire field of hallucinogens and threw their entire method of filming in the trash for Some Rando, why the FUCK would they pay to bring this guy here in April. Or do you think he wandered in, applied in April, and they, what, autohired him to be some lead dude's assistant like, a week or two before the strike happened? Or did they remote hire him and pay to bring him in right before the strike?

...ON A PROPERTY THAT WAS BEING DELAYED ANYWAY?

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

(protip: you can't.)

STOP TRYING TO MAKE JARED BEING PARALLEL TO JENSEN HAPPEN. ITS NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

anyone can edit imdb you fuckin numpties, someone edited it off of the list screenshot from a discord citing the "source" that SAID HE DID NOT SAY THAT.

[selfieignite]

I am almost done watching and I cannot tell you how much I loved every second of it. The dynamic is so perfect. It’s such a bummer this got cancelled ): truly a waste of potential. Im thankful to you showing up on my dash regardless. Would you happen to know why it got cut short? I have an inkling it might have to do with racism

Yay! It makes me happy that people are discovering Selfie and watching it for the first time :) Yes, it was really disappointing that the show couldn’t continue and the cast deserved better. I have a list why it was canceled. Sorry this is long lol. I also recommend checking out the Selfie Wikipedia about the cancellation!

Possible reasons why Selfie (2014) got canceled: 

1) The title: Selfie. Some people really hated the name even though it’s still used in everyday life. And it was around the same time when the song #Selfie by The Chainsmokers was released. I don’t think the general public liked being reminded of vanity, so they ended up judging the show pretty quickly. Even a news interviewer said when he heard the title, he wouldn’t watch a show called that. If it had a different name or alluded to My Fair Lady/Pygmalion, maybe it might have had a better chance? Also, “selfie” is hard to search for online, so having a more unique name would have been a plus. 

2) Weak pilot and trailer. There was a lot of criticism from critics and the audience for the first episode and trailer. Things like the vomit scene, how social media was portrayed, and Eliza's narcissistic behavior were considered off-putting. 

3) Bad time slot and no strong lead-in show. It was on the same time as big TV shows like The Voice and NCIS, which aired on different networks. Also, it didn’t have a strong lead-in show to retain the previous audience. Manhattan Love Story aired right before it, but that was also canceled a few weeks earlier. If something popular like Modern Family aired before Selfie, more people would have stuck around to watch the series. 

4) Not enough (good) marketing? Some people speculated that there wasn’t enough promotion. I’ve seen posters about it, but that didn’t really tell you what the show was about.

And the combination of the first four reasons led to the following: 

5) Low ratings. Unfortunately, not enough people were tuning in after the first episode and ratings kept dropping. It was canceled after the 7th episode and that was when the episodes became progressively better, but by then it was too late. It aired on the ABC network and the ABC President at the time, Paul Lee, said it was a "very good show,” but decisions had to be made due to losing money from advertisers. While money is an issue, I personally don't think he was a big fan. It's because he favored other shows by getting them another season like Galavant, Agent Carter, and American Crime even though their ratings were declining. Selfie didn’t even get to finish its first season. It was originally supposed to be around 26 episodes.

6) Other networks didn’t pick up the show and/or Warner Brothers didn’t bother to shop the show to other networks. A lot of fans at the time launched a fan campaign to reach out to Hulu (where the rest of the remaining episodes aired), Netflix, etc. to pick up the show, but no avail. Warner Brothers produced the show, but they probably didn’t push for the show as hard as they could have either. AND Selfie is still not officially streaming anymore either (except in Australia) because of the WB.

7) Racism. That might have been part of it, but it’s hard to tell how much especially with behind the scenes and the several reasons above would overshadow it. But racism definitely played a part during the casting process since the production wanted a white Englishman to play Henry in the first place and was reluctant to cast John Cho. Out of the main cast, he was also the last person to be announced. Times are slowly changing, but we could always have more romantic Asian male leads on American TV.

8) It wasn’t given enough time and was on the wrong network. This also ties in with 5) low ratings, but ABC didn’t give it a chance to grow a larger audience especially when the episodes were improving. I don’t think ABC was the right network for this show. If it came out now on streaming or maybe a few years after Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji (where Karen Gillan played Nebula and Ruby Roundhouse), it might have done better. The kicker is that some of the critics changed their minds about the show right when it was canceled. They definitely contributed to Selfie’s demise with the early bad reviews. 

That’s all I can think of for now. Overall, the show was poorly managed. Great cast and writing if people could see past the first episode. 

Thanks for reading this far! lol

[whereare-myglasses]

⚠️CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSION OF SUICIDE AND SEXUAL ASSUALT⚠️

I'm posting this on here because I'm honestly not to sure where else I can talk about it without someone I know irl seeing this.

I recently graduated from a trade program called Job Corps. Basically, you're provided food, clothes, housing, and basic medical care and in return you learn a trade of your choosing. It's made out to be a wonderful opportunity and experience should you choose to do the program. While in some cases it can be, many folks don't have that great experience we're told we'll have.

It's been a few weeks since I graduated amd returned home and I've noticed things that have changed about myself since starting at the program.

1. I can't eat as much as I used to. My center rarely served anything actually edible at meals and when they did, you weren't given quite enough because they needed enough food for everyone to have at least one serving. If they served something at lunch that people barely got, they served it again at dinner to get rid of it. So it wasn't uncommon for us to wait until we're completely done with trade for the day before eating an adequate meal (which we would have to buy ourselves when we visited the nearest Walmart once every 2 weeks. It was a 2 hour round trip and 80% of the center would go. So you had limited space for what you buy). I lost almost 20 pounds in my first 2 months there and I'm STILL not back at the weight I was before starting.

2. I can't trust anyone to do anything they're supposed to. We had COUNTLESS maintenance problems at my center that would go ignored for MONTHS at a time solely because the maintenance crew did not want to do their jobs. In late January of this year, we had a snow and ice storm that had trade canceled for almost 2 weeks. Before and during that time, none of the buildings on my center had ANY heating during the single digit weather. The first couple days, we didn't mind. We spent all day outside playing in the snow anyway. But the temperatures kept dropping both inside and outside and nothing was really being done. We had one or two space heaters per dorm (6 dorms averaging 20-30 people each) that we just had to huddle around during the day. Also in that time, my dorm had an industrial sink that we couldn't use (even though it was required for our daily chores) because a pipe had rusted off completely. We had been putting in maintenance request forms since SEPTEMBER about the leaking sink (keep in mind, this is late January still) and maintenance claimed they didn't even KNOW about it until I personally dragged one of them to look at it while they were working on our heat. At some point, we bypassed the staff request forms altogether and wrote out 2 lists (one staff copy and one student copy) of everything in our dorm that was broken that maintenance needed to fix and made the head of maintenance sign and date both lists so that we all knew they saw what was needed.

3. I no longer feel like I can speak to a person of authority with trust, or at all. There's a HUGE problem with communication across ALL job corps centers in the nation. At my center, we struggled daily to get any information from staff on just about everything. Staff could barely even communicate with each other, but expected us to constantly be on top of things when there we times we didn't even know what we were supposed to be on top of. Rules would change and half the time, you didn't know of a rule change until you or someone you knew got in trouble for breaking said rule. It wasn't uncommon for staff to ask students where a certain staff member was, only for the students to not even realize that staff member was supposed to be in the area. Even without the problem of staff not communicating, there was still the problem of staff not caring. There was a student that started in late November while I was there (I was his fucking mentor) who sexually assaulted about 4 or 5 other male students. There were COUNTLESS written statements (from students) about him bullying others and at least one of his SA victims tried to address it with staff directly, but nothing was done until it was almost too late. Saturday morning in late February, one of his SA victims expressed thoughts of suicide because of what he had gone through. Staff didn't reach out to the student to intervene until Sunday evening when the student tried to take is own life. The next day, staff held an optional meeting with students to express our concerns about the situation and every single time we tried to say something, we were shot down. The meeting ended abruptly when all of the students who attended stormed out and me saying, "All this situation and thus meeting has taught us is that we can't trust staff enough to come forward about anything." I was mentoring again that week and I remember taking some of my new kids in my arms and holding them while they cried because of the situation.

4. I don't really feel like an actual person anymore, just another number. As with all things government, the bottom line always comes first. Staff were overworked and underpaid, buildings were rundown, opportunities to go off center were dwindling down to just going to Walmart once every 2 weeks (my center was around 120ish students and located inside of a national park, it was at least an hour drive to go anywhere), but the center director still did everything possible to fill every single bed to get money that wouldn't even go toward the students. The center director was always saying how she cared about the students but always stonewalled attempts to make things better for us. Job Corps held a national essay contest for its 60th anniversary and I did it cause why not? No harm done if I don't win. Well, I did win. I got first place in my region and was one of the 6 winners across the 100+ centers in the country. I read my essay in an online National office meeting and felt like I was put on a pedestal by my center director. Which I found out I really was being put on a pedestal, as I was the very first person in the 40 something years my center has been open and active to win an award like this. My name and center was put on a flyers for every job corps center to see along with the other 5 winners. And while I am proud of myself for my achievement, I can't help but feel like it wasn't really worth it for me. It just seemed like my win was only to make my center look better.

There's other shit but I'm tired, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Since starting at jobcorps, I'm angrier, I'm sadder, I'm less trusting and more judgemental, and I'm scared to do what they've trained me for and enter the workforce because what if it's just like my experience there?

[lyonfreddie]

this is completely self-serving but behold, a chronological list of everything that’s gone wrong in my life in just the past 2.5 weeks:

5/24: almost missed my flight home from canada

5/25: goes back to work and finds out the moms for liberty transphobic bookbanning hate group booked my museum/workplace for an event at the end of june and staff are signing a petition to cancel the event. the contract for the event was signed in DECEMBER and we just found out about it NOW. LMAO

5/26: incompetent coworker made a huge mistake in gift entry over a month ago and i just uncover it now and have to fix it (because he sure as shit won’t)

5/28: succession series finale

5/30: emergency town hall meeting @ work where many lgbtq+/poc employees share emotional, tearful personal testimony with our ceo (who says he’s listening) to cancel the moms for liberty event

5/31: renewed a museum membership for war criminal karl rove

6/1: ceo announces in the allstaff meeting that we are NOT going to cancel the moms for liberty event. staff are openly weeping. one staff member quits on the spot. ceo twists our mission statement to serve his own batshit narrative and clearly doesn’t give two shits about lgbtq+ staff. full-body breakdown number 1.

6/2: goes to an ice cream shop for a nice milkshake to cheer myself up and a random dude wordlessly steals it from the counter right in front of my face on the hottest day of the year so far like are you fucking serious

6/3: has to work a midday event and pretend i’m proud of where i work. then i decide to drive home to pet my puppies only to find someone stole my headlights and side mirrors and broke one of my car’s windows???? i had to call the police and file my first police report. full-body breakdown number 2.

6/4: car gets towed. i go home with my parents.

6/5: i take the day off work and stay home to pet my dogs. news stories start to break about the event at the museum, people start calling wanting to cancel their memberships and sever ties with the museum. i get the voicemails on my phone.

6/6: we get talking points for phone calls/feedback and they are complete dogshit. i realize i am in a position where i’m perfectly capable of doxxing our entire board of directors. SPLC designates the moms for liberty as a certified extremist group, which would have helped immensely on june 1st, but fucking whatever. have to work ANOTHER event, this one in the evening, and pretend again like i’m happy to work at the museum.

6/7: horrendous wildfire smoke, but i go into the office because i have to print and mail 120 memberships and don’t want to do any amount of work for a ceo who fucking sucks and also i’m getting like 5 calls an hour from people telling us to cancel the event and i agree with them 100% but cannot say that!!!!

6/8: staff are openly sobbing in the office because all of our diversify living history partners are (rightfully) boycotting the museum for this decision. everyone’s jobs are 10x harder. support networks that staff have spent 6 YEARS building up with vulnerable communities in the region evaporate overnight. our crowning special exhibit on a free black man from philadelphia who fought in the rev war and used his war experience to inform his later fight for abolition & voting rights now looks completely hypocritical. because of ONE MAN’S DECISION.

6/9: work anxiety finally hits and i’m sick to my stomach all day. i get to wfh at least. there’s a board meeting, but it’s virtual, and they’re all rich people who live on another fucking planet, so they have no idea how absolutely abysmal morale is. a protest is held on the plaza outside at 6pm.

6/10: i have a daytrip planned with friends that i have been looking forward to all week. one might say it was all that was getting me through the week. i call an uber to take me to the train station with time to spare. the uber gets stuck behind a fucking trash truck and i have to cancel the uber and on my friends because i’ve missed the train completely. bawling on my bedroom floor before 9am. my dad calls and i try to explain to him why moms for liberty are filth and he doesn’t believe me. full-body breakdowns numbers 3 and 4 and 5!

the funniest thing is literally all of these things are outside of my control. so like.  why do i even try. lol

[hydrus]

Version 524

windows

zip

exe

macOS

app

linux

tar.gz

I had a good week working on bug fixes, quality of life, and more timestamps.

full changelog

timestamps

I've added timestamps to the sidecars system. You can import/export any timestamp the file has, so it is now possible to migrate various times (particularly archive and imported) from one client to another. I still need to add some more things to sidecars, e.g. inbox status and ratings, but we are almost at the point where we can do complete client-to-client transfers of all the major metadata. I have plans to make this ultimate goal simple with templated one-click jobs and no need to repeat the file import--just a raw JSON file metadata import/export.

Also, in the duplicate system, file modified dates can now be merged, and by default they will--for 'this file is better', then an earlier timestamp on the worse file will be applied to the better file, and for 'they are the same', both files will get the earlier of the two. If you don't want this to happen, check your duplicate merge options and set 'make no changes'.

Also in duplicates, if you have URLs set to merge, then any associated domain timestamps with those URLs will be earliest-merged too.

Lastly, the program can broadly support pre-1970 timestamps now. 1970-01-01 is a special date in computing, and supporting times before it can be tricky, but I've fudged some general support. It is a bit of a meme, but maybe it'll be neat to apply '1503' to old paintings. The code I was working with says it is good back to 1 AD, but it seems like it can actually go further, ha ha. Anyway, have fun, and let me know if it fails. I know that the '1,504 years 2 months ago' strings are a little inaccurate--it turns out I haven't been counting leap-year days in those calculations, and it shows on the longer durations.

other highlights

Export Folders now have popups while they work. You can turn them off for regular runs, but now Import and Export Folders force-show their working popups when you manually start them from the file menu. These popups have stop buttons, so you can cancel Export Folders mid-job now too. Also, I removed the stupid and confusing 'paused' vs 'run regularly?' duality. Export Folders now just have 'run regularly?'.

I added some special predicate labels, 'system:ratio is square/portrait/landscape', for =/taller/wider than 1:1. They are in the quick-select list for system:dimensions too.

next week

I pushed it too hard this week and exhausted myself. Thankfully, next week is due to be code cleanup, so I'll try and take it easy and just dive into some simple refactoring work and do some small jobs here and there.

[seeklovenet]

Eharmony Evaluate 2023 Price It Or A Waste Of Time?

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