#i did not recognize my boss the other day so i had to bs my way through a 10 min conversation

[llilychen]

the amount of awkward conversations i’ve had because of my inability to recognize people once they do something to their hair :(

[jicklet]

I keep thinking about my last day at my job before the pandemic lately. It was a very very small company, I did customer support for our product and most of our userbase if I didn't know personally I at least recognized their names. A good chunk of them were sweet old people who were just the only one in their organization that knew how to use a computer. But I was the most recent hire, when the old boss retired, everyone basically shifted up one role and I got brought in; that's how small a place it was. Best team I've ever been on, when someone started maxing out their vacation time everyone would start (affectionately) bullying them to take it, get outta here. Because fuck corporate, they don't get to keep your money.

Because yeah, we were owned by a larger company, the purpose of which as far as I can tell was just to buy small companies and manage all the HR and etc. And the Monday morning a week after lockdown started, my boss asked me into a call and I just knew. We both ended up crying as she told me that they had wanted her to make me work the whole day before telling me, but she ignored that because fuck them.

When we brought the others in, they were so angry they almost quit too. They all ended up lasting about a year before one of them couldn't take the bs anymore (Before, the company had mostly left us alone, After they started micromanaging and did Not know what they were doing) and they all quit together. For whatever inane reason, corporate didn't want them to warn their customers beforehand, just leave them all to twist when this product some of them had depended on for years or even decades vanished. But again, fuck that.

It's bittersweet to remember. I know there are likely a million stories just like this, but. That group, that moment in time that I got to be part of, it felt special. We still all text, have gotten together a couple times. My current job requires no brainpower and our supervisors try to throw us under the bus on a weekly basis. It's hard not to mourn. But it makes me smile to remember too.

[pettyrevenge-base]

The story of how I got out of a bad car loan.

This is the story of how I bought my car a little over a year ago. I had recently returned from working overseas and had been shopping around for  about a month. I found myself at yet another used car dealership, and  on a whim, I test drove a vehicle that cost more than I was hoping to  spend. Being young and dumb I also let slip that I was looking to  finance. I didn't really NEED to get a car loan - I just didn't have any credit at the time and was hoping to build some. This becomes important  later.

Well wouldn't you know it,  I was in luck! They could work out the details of the loan for me right  there at the dealership! And they would even include an extended  warranty bundled in! (I know, I know: I'm an idiot) Being inexperienced as I was, not to mention sleep deprived - I was working nights at the  time - I skipped along and signed on the dotted line. I just wanted to get out of there and get home to bed.

After  a good day's rest, I picked through the paperwork more carefully. The more I read, the more embarrassed I felt at what a sucker I was. Severe interest rates, bogus fees, overpriced warranty and GAP insurance  nonsense - I had fallen for all of it hook, line, and sinker.

The  next day I stormed back into the dealership brimming with youthful bluster born of my embarrassment. Now I'm not a big guy, but I can have a big mouth if the situation calls for it. I also had a full Mohawk at   the time which probably added to the effect. I went straight to the   manager and called him out on his shady business practices and general lack of moral fiber. Naturally he was very offended that I would DARE make such accusations. He was, of course, a most honest business man who had been clear and straightforward all along. I had the paperwork from the beginning and chose to sign of my own accord. This last part, at least, was true. Still, he didn't like it when I pointed out that me being stupid enough to fall into his trap didn't negate the fact that he was offering a predatory loan in the first place. I wasn't arguing the terms of the loan, I was coming straight for his personal character.

Manager Man was starting to get emotionally worked up too now. He was gonna prove this whiny louse wrong! Not only was he not crooked, he was SO magnanimous that he would even let me out of the loan - all I had to do was write him a check then and there for the full value of the car. Now here comes the revenge: I said "OK."

His eyes got big. It was clear he wasn't expecting this answer - wasn't expecting some punk kid who had already signed up for extortionary financing to be able to pony up that kind of cash on demand. But thank god, the one NOT stupid thing I had done was make sure I stuck to getting a car I could pay for in full just in case. It was too late for him now, though. I had called his bluff! Once the words left his lips, he couldn't renege without fully admitting I was right about his being deceitful. Without another word to me, Manager Man called somebody over to take me elsewhere and work out the details.

Somehow, despite having already signed my soul away, I managed to further talk my way into getting a bunch of other nonsense fees waived. They definitely didn't have to do this which leads me to believe that:

A) They were sick of the yelling Mohawk guy and were just ready to be rid of me

B)  There was even shadier stuff than predatory lending going on, and they knew I would call them out and could put my money where my mouth was.

Or (in a very distant third place)

C) This other guy I was talking to recognized the fees were BS and was trying to do right by me.

I  came in a little later that day to drop off the cashier's check. Manager Man was still fuming. When I put the check on his desk and asked if everything was in order (perhaps a little too gleefully), he   wouldn't even look at me. Just pursed his lips, nodded and stared blankly at his monitor. I picked up the title from the front desk lady (whom I had always been very polite to). She seemed to be sharing the schadenfreude of my getting one over on her boss and shot me a knowing   smile. I know I was naive and careless getting into such a quagmire and that I am lucky things went the way they did. But when I get behind the wheel of my very own car, I still find her smirk creeping across my face.

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

[woeismyhoe]

Spill the tea, what's the deal with you and the BSG group (avatar-chang and her squad in particular)?

Ok anon, sorry for taking so long! I wanted to get everything right and honestly collecting the posts took a longass time xD

Anyways, the only ones I have a problem there are avatar-chang, hexful/dykesia/bizukos, catrademption, cardboardseagulls (never seen interacted b4) and bizulas (also never interacted b4).

I’m going to be really transparent about this whole thing so it’s gonna be long as there’s gonna be several links and I’ve included the dates so it’ll be easier to understand. Since I’ll be fully transparent about this, i’ll probably get hate or whatever. Honestly, I just want to put everything out there without being biased or hiding anything. I’m going to disclose everything here.

So, the whole thing between me and avatar-chang started off with this post I made last year on 10 March 2019. Afterwards, she PMed me on the same day and this was the conversation:

After that, I thought the argument was over because she blocked me lmao. The only ones I spoke to about this was nbw and my real life friends (who had nothing to do with ATLA lmao I just ranted to them).

And then the next incident I think was on 16 March 2019 when I made this post about Azula’s abuse of her friends. I was new and 16. I genuinely wanted to know why people labeled Azula as an abuser. It was dykesia who responded to me at the time.

Now, unlike avatar-chang, I had a few conversations with dykesia (who was bizukos then) that was generally civil. I first interacted with her when she made a post calling out Zucest shippers or something?? I was very new. Like fresh newbie baby ATLA tumblr fan new lmao so I thought what she said was too aggressive. I didn’t realize that there were actual Zucest shippers until after some time. And then she PMed me on 13 March 2019, saying that she doesn’t always agree on characters with me but I do write some interesting pieces on Azula— that she’s a huge fan of Azula but she just tends to stay away from her fandom. I apologized about the previous incident of the Zucest thing and it was fine after then. We talked about zuko, the fandom, the comics, Mai etc etc. I thought we were on fine terms.

And then I made a post about the cliff scene in the comics on 16 March 2019. Avatar-Chang made a post that was pretty directed at the post but it seems like she’s deleted it.

On 17 March 2019, I received an anon mail telling me that avatar-chang was talking shit about me behind my back. I censored her name then because I didn’t want to believe without any evidence. No one sent me any screenshots about it so I just dismissed it.

On the same day, avatar-chang answered an anon and talked about the 13 child post theory I made on 9 March.

On 23 April 2019, I received another anon mail about avatar-chang, asking if I’d seen the post she made about Azula. I censored her name again cuz I didn’t want to start any shit over having differing opinions. I’m assuming this is the post the anon was referring to.

On 28 April 2019, dykesia/hexful/bizukos PMed me to ask if I was talking shit about other people behind their backs, and her. I denied this because I hadn’t. This was how the conversation went:

Yes, I didn’t censor any name because as I said, full transparency. I have afp blocked because we’ve clashed several times and he’d still come for my posts last year despite already being blocked. If you’ve followed me long enough, you probably would’ve rmbered that time lmao

Anyways during then, I don’t think I realized that dykesia was actually being passive aggressive. It’d been barely a year since I started the blog and I just didn’t want to full out make enemies. Reading the messages now tho lmao she really was passive aggressive. But yeah then she said this in bsg so I don’t even know why she bothered to ask me if she wasn’t even going to consider believing me.

The 9th of June 2019 was the last time she messaged and it was to ask if I mind her discoursing this Zuko post while ‘hard and drunk’. It was the first time she could apparently agree with me so it was I quote a ‘Yay??’. Afterwards I don’t know when she did it but she blocked me lmao

On 17 July 2019, I received another anon mail telling me that avatar-chang publicly called me a bitch when she was answering an anon about me posting the scans of the EK Chronicles. She mentioned this in bsg again on 19 April 2020 lmao (she’s that petty) it seems:

On November 8 2019, an anon (one of avatar-chang’s friends actually) asked about my thoughts towards the allegations against Aaron Ehasz. I still believe in the system of ‘Innocent before proven guilty’, so I didn’t side with anyone. I tried to be as objective as possible. When I said that I hoped men would also come forward, I said that because I don’t want men to just sit on the sidelines and let the women get the heat if they were telling the truth. At the end of this whole thing, I concluded that Ehasz was a dick of a boss to the girls. Being called an abuser carries more weight than just being a dick. Everyone has been a dick at one point, but being an abuser is something else. Just because Ehasz was a dick doesn’t mean I’m going to stop watching TDP or dismiss his involvement in ATLA.

The next day, BSG brought the issue up despite both avatar-chang having already blocked me by then lmao

On 5 February 2020, after Legacy of the Fire Nation came out, I made a post calling out Iroh’s bs to Azula (guy literally blames Azula for everything that happened to Zuko (something which avatar-chang agrees with apparently, and Iroh even sees Ozai in a better light).

That’s so far what I’ve remembered that involved avatar-chang and dykesia.

Moving on to the next three attackers: catrademption, cardboardseagulls and bizulas.

I’ve seen catrademption around, but I don’t remember if we’ve clashed before. We must have though cuz she’s got me blocked lmao and I mostly only debate back to people when they reply to my posts. For cardboardseagulls and bizulas, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them them before but obviously they’ve seen my blog and misinterpreted everything I’ve written.

But according to them, I’m apparently a Azula apologist, extremist, irrational, toxic, coddles and woobifies Azula, justifies everything she does and invalidates abuse victims.

You can see the posts I’ve made to judge whether I actually am an irrational Azula apologist who blames everything on Zuko. One of the most recent posts I made about Azula’s character is this, and there’s still several more posts like that. Just search #meta or #analysis in my blog search and all of them will just pop up. I can assure you, I have never acted as if Azula has done nothing wrong or did everything right or whatever lies these people are spewing.

If anyone has proof that I’ve talked shit about people in the fandom to other people before, please, present your evidence. I highly think this is impossible because I actually don’t have many friends on Tumblr, nor do I usually initiate conversation because I’m awkward af.

I’ve also tried approaching those I recognized in bsg to find out more about the situation (and at least give my side of the story). Most of them have chosen not to speak to me LMAO but one of them who’s chosen to remain anonymous for their privacy, admitted that dykesia (hexful) forced them to block a blog before (after realizing they were interacting with said blog) and if not, they would be blocked themselves. I can’t post the conversation publicly because they’re afraid their speech mannerism will give away their identity. @space-sword has also shared his experience with avatar-chang on his blog and was pressured to cut off ties with ppb21 just to join the oh so magnificent Ba Sing Gay.

There’s absolutely no reason to judge someone based on their sexual orientation, race, color or age either. They rant about being discriminated against or being generalized or stereotypes but they’re the ones hypocritically committing these actions, and then justify their actions by saying ‘we’re oppressed, they’re not, so it’s not racism or discrimination’. And yet people still wonder why discrimination is still rampant LMAO

I can’t speak for the blogs they victimized in bsg, but I personally don’t agree with talking shit about them on a public server and then criminalizing them as if they’re actually predators. I also don’t agree with involving the blogs’ friends simply because of their association. I also don’t agree with demanding people to block blogs they don’t like because that’s just pure manipulation. That’s wrong and marginalizing people. Unless someone has actually been harassing or literally preying on people, then there’s no reason to actually go around warning blogs about them unless they’re asked about it.

If they feel uncomfortable about something? Then avoid that blog, filter their tags or even block that blog if they’re that uncomfortable—BUT they shouldn’t demand others to do the same just for their own benefit. It’s not up to them to decide what a person can or cannot see or who they can or cannot interact with. They’re not their parents, and they obviously have no right to pressure people into doing things they don’t want to. If they think it tactless that I shared the conversations? Oh honestly, a line was crossed when they spread shit about me so idc. If they actually feel terrible for being called out? GOOD. That’s what they should feel, because in no way was any of what they were doing right or justified. If they’re going to shit on me then expect to be burned because I’m not someone who’ll just shrivel in fear because they have a bigger following.

[pettrichore]

dunno if i’ll be able to finish this. but so like dabihawks au where like. dabi does his research aka when he was touya he was with his dad once during the whole takami thief thing and met keigo. flash forward he doesnt believe a thing about this hero hawks. sees him for the fabricated person he has become. and eventually hawks sees dabi for who he really is and was and like vigilante-ish dabihawks. bits about the au and the snippet i wrote under the cut.

cause this shit gets LONG af

hawks feels fake. doesnt rlly know who he has even become

the commission kinda forced a lotta habits out of him and completely molded him into who they want him to be

he barely even finds his name to be anything more than a stranger’s name at this point. 

anyway so dabi p much knows who he is. does his own digging. and kinda puts some pieces together and sees how fake hawks is

hawks barely even knows if he shows any genuine emotions at this point. he’s kinda at a breaking point where he cant recognize himself and separate keigo from hawks. feeling like hawks has just swallowed him whole

he does show genuine things though. sometimes says or does shit out of line but he tends to have obedience beat into him even if he sometimes has a bit of a mouth on him. it’s mild tho

at the start of dabi working w hawks, hawks was very careful

it kinda progressed into keigo coming out more around dabi even though it was in bits and pieces

anyway dabi puts two and two together and realizes him and hawks are pretty similar and instead of seeing him as a traitor (though he’s sure that he’s not 100% on their side) he sees him as someone who can fit in with the misfits and he can p much fully convince hawks to ditch the bs

so the confrontation happens (see ending snippet) and hawks is like wtf just happened

and p much eventually there’s some tender moments between dabi and hawks and hawks ends up explaining how used he’s felt

he has been molded into the perfect obedient soldier; maybe sorta kinda explains that the commission is having him do double agent duties and instead of reacting badly dabi is p receptive and doesnt just try to kill him. instead he can see how badly hawks wants to break out of his cage and fly free and he deeply feels for that and knows how that can feel and is like aight well fuck them

so hawks kinda double agents on the commission?? 

and he does end up meeting the LoV and like sees how human they are

but also he’s like damn son but okay i dont agree w everything

and dabi is like yeahhh same ??? idk they are a means to an ends for me but also not lmao 

and then there’s some dabi spilling his guts as they get closer and get more intimate and very much boyfriends

and hawks is so livid and he cant help but fuck around with endeavor the next time he sees him. and like he’s just so much more distant to him. he can’t begin to wrap his head around it. and he’s so broken that like.. the one person that he saw as his true hero. that “saved him” is a horrible person behind closed doors

the one person who he was inspired by and agreed to join the commission’s forces for is just horrible

there’s just a lotta solidarity between hawks and dabi and a lotta shared anger and hurt

and they’re boyfriends and it’s great but also like hawks isn’t a horrible person

neither is dabi ??? i mean listen they’ve both killed ppl. they probs will continue to kinda do it. but it’s always just horrible ppl

like listen killing ?? not great folks??? but also like idk man.. 

they also def leave kids outta this 10000% 

anyway p much they end up ditching the LoV too. try to get some of them outta that shit. like toga who has become like a sorta lil sister for dabi in a way

they both just feel so horrible and gross seeing kids get into that shit

also like the girl needs some HELP. some therapy and rehabilitation idk

idk i love the morality shit with the LoV but might not play with it too much here

anyway they end up doing their own thing and the commission is quick to denounce him and just ruin his image

and try to kill him lmao they made him a perfect hero which could be a perfect villain and if he isn’t working for them he’s working against them (i mean he is) and needs to be Stopped Permanently

anyway here’s the snippet. my single brain cell that helped write this has left my body:

At this point, Hawks wasn’t so sure he was even real. His existence felt fabricated. Each smile or joke carefully placed. Each movement was calculated. He didn’t act out of line. His interviews were carefully thought out months in advance if not lies that he himself began to believe after years of telling them. His penthouse had just enough “personal” touches that when he had a spare moment to invite someone over it actually seemed like it could be a home. Hawks’ original motivations were squashed and were pushed aside unless they created an interesting story. His natural mannerisms that came with his mutation quirk were learned to be suppressed. Hell his own name sounded like a stranger’s to his ears. That is if anyone even knew it. 

“Is there anything real about you, hero,” Dabi spoke. His back wasn’t fully to Hawks, left side presented to him as he set a framed graduation photo down and fully faced the winged hero. Dabi stuffed his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to the side some, waiting for an answer. Hawks snorted and gave him an unamused look.

“I’m as real as they get, hot stuff.” He kept a casual air about his words, hands spreading out in surrender. “Not sure what else you expect.”

Hawks was on edge, but he wouldn’t let the villain know it. They were supposed to be meeting soon, but once again the villain pulled something unexpected and had been waiting for Hawks in his own apartment. Hawks’ feathers twitched slightly, sharpened edges ready for the command if it came. Dabi leveled him with an unimpressed stare. There was a moment where their gazes met in an intense battle, though Dabi’s look softened as he broke out in a lazy grin.

“Y’know... You might be just as much of a mystery as I am, Pretty Bird.”

“I think I’m a pretty open book myself.”

“I think you like to let people think that.”

“And I think you’re just trying to fuck with me. Can we just get to what you came here for? I had a looong day and kinda wanna get some food and some sleep.” Hawks punctuated his words by stretching his arms up high before shedding off his coat, goggles, and headphones. He tossed the coat over the back of his couch and dropped the gear onto the end table. He hoped Dabi would just drop this whole line of thought, take this as some sort of submission, and be satisfied enough to leave. 

Wrong.

“Oh, we can get to that later… You, on the other hand, are much more interesting.” He moved closer, hands coming out of his pockets as he crossed the room to stand a few feet from Hawks. 

“I’d love to be a great host and entertain you, but unfortunately I wasn’t expecting any guests today.” Hawks crossed his arms and watched Dabi carefully, eyes narrowing some in challenge. 

“That’s too bad. You know, I’ve been doing some research on you. I don’t quite think you are who you say you are, Hawks.” The winged-hero tensed just ever so slightly before forcing his muscles to relax some. He didn’t like the way things were going. While Dabi’s fire was his ultimate weakness, he’s sure that he’s fast enough to put a sharpened feather to his throat and end this all here and now than Dabi would be if he wanted to put the spy to an end.

“And who do you think I am then, Dabi?” He raised an unruly eyebrow. His primaries ached to shoot out and end this, poised at the ready.

Dabi blinked slowly, bright turquoise eyes disappearing for a moment before shining under heavily lidded eyes. His grin stretched a bit wider, tugging on where healthy skin met the grafts. 

“I think you aren’t the hero you put out there… Or the person you say you are. You like to say a lotta nothin’ don’t you?” Dabi stepped closer and Hawks’ fingers twitched but his arms remained crossed.

“I think you like to pretend to be this airhead bird. Like to use that name. Like to look like you’re the perfect little hero... You’re good at it, too. You aren’t though, are you… Takami Keigo.” 

Hawks had a primary feather in each hand, on pressed to Dabi’s throat. It pressed in just enough to draw some blood from the marred skin grafts. He could feel the heat radiating from Dabi’s skin and particularly from the small flames in each of his palms, but the villain made no move to use it against him. He just continued to grin. 

“What’s the look of surprise there, Birdie?” Dabi purred. 

“How do you know that name?” He demanded, crowding further into Dabi’s space. 

“Like I said, I did my research. Now unless you want to end up on the crispy side of cooked, I’d ease the fuck up,” Dabi’s voice took on a slight bite towards the end and his grin lessened. “And here I was going to tell you that you can meet the boss finally. Thought you might be real League material.”

Hawks instincts and mind screamed to press the sharp feather further or at least hold his position, demand answers. His judgment told him to ease off and soften the feathers once more. Hawks didn’t move too far from Dabi, though the primary feathers in his hands softened and returned to his wings. The heat radiating off Dabi died down along with the flames in his hands. Steam left his skin as he killed the flames. 

“Much better… We don’t want any incidents like that when you get to meet the boss, right? You’re lucky I’m a lot more patient.” Hawks wasn’t sure what this was all about but didn’t argue with him on that point.

“Glad to see your fake little hero persona is starting to crack.”

[chrissyutimagines]

Oh! These are neat! How about number 17 (one tattooed name is the soulmate and the other name is the greatest enemy) with UF Papyrus/Edge and a takes-no-bs female soulmate? Good luck figuring out which of them he is first time meeting :D

Ok! Some smol background info here. This is from Boss's POV. The setting is on the surface. He is called Papyrus, but is more often called Boss instead. Y'all is can choose the POV ya want, but if not specified, it's in 2nd person's POV from the Reader's angle.

It's another ordinary Sunday. The refrigerator is empty again. Boss sighs, his lazy brother wouldn't be bothered to go to get groceries, so that means he's gotta go.

He changes his house clothes to a casual outfit, it's been a while since they got out from the hell hole he once called home, and life was... Still terrible. Though most humans accepted them, some don't, and unfortunately, he has seen quite a couple of them.

Sighing again, he ponders what would happen this time he went to get groceries... But his thoughts were cut short when he saw the names tattooed on his wrists.

'(Y/N)' 'Maria'

It was said that the names tattooed on your wrists are either the name of your soulmate, or the name of your greatest enemy. He hasn't met anyone with those names yet, but he's confident that he will be able to tell when he meets them. Whichever he meets.

He grabs his bag and wallet, and leaves his house, locking the door behind him. Walking on the streets, he can't seem to focus on the road, his mind filled with questions about the names on his wrists.

Not looking at where he's going made him bump right into someone.

"Watch It!"

"You're the one who should 'Watch it'!" A voice, not coming from the person who he bumped into, scolded.

"Who Do You Think You Are?!" He said as he looked towards the girl who scolded him.

"Someone who you need to listen to! Take my advice and focus on the road, not your head, and say sorry if you run into someone!" She scolds him then left, leaving him standing.

Another hater, he thinks. Whoever he bumped into didn't 'focus on the road' as well. Why did he get scolded? Whatever, he has stuff to do.

The day went pretty well afterward, and he didn't think much of the girl who scolded him.

That is, until he meets them again.

This time, he's going to Chillby's bar to fetch Sans, since he's drunk, again.

He arrived at the bar and saw him at the bar table, a girl was there as well, she seems to be helping his drunkass brother. He approached the two.

"Oh, hey there. Are you his brother?"

"Yes. Is He Drunk Again?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I told him to stop drinking, but he wouldn't listen."

"Typical Sans."

"Oh, his name is Sans? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Maria. What's yours?"

One of the names on his wrists, he thought. Seeing as she seems like a good person, he thinks that she might be his soulmate, while the other is his greatest enemy.

"Papyrus, but everyone calls me Boss."

"Well, it was nice meeting you Boss."

"Likewise."

"Paaaap? Iiiisss thaaat yoooou?"

"Yes, Sans, You Lazy Bones. Excuse Me, Maria. I Must Leave."

"No worries. Do you want any help?"

Before he can even open his mouth, a voice cuts him off.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Get out of here!"

It's the girl who scolded him on the streets. Maria gave her a glare and left.

"She Just Wanted To Help! What Is Wrong With You?!"

"You don't know anything about that girl. I saved you from her. You should be thankful."

"Who The Hell Are You Anyway?! Why Do You Think That I Should Listen To You?!"

To his surprise, the girl wasn't intimidated by him. And spoke calmly.

"My name is (Y/N), Chillby's new bartender. And you should if you don't want trouble. But if you do, be my guest."

The other name, just his luck. Boss grumbles and hauls his brother back home.

Days passed, and he keeps bumping into both of the girls. Often pleasantly talking to Maria, but then being broken apart by (Y/N). Sometimes he gets scolded at by (Y/N) as well. The words 'Be nicer' 'Don't do that' was often spoken by the girl. He grows to believe that Maria is his soulmate, while (Y/N) is his enemy.

But that all changed on one faithful day when he saw the news.

"Breaking news, a woman was arrested for robbing his boyfriend.

Multiple men have been robbed by this same woman before, saying that she has lied to them, misleading them into thinking she is a nice person and that she loves them. Then taking all of their money and expensive items and leaving.

Hearing the news about the woman's arrest, many of her victims said that they could finally rest easy, knowing that the woman won't be able to fool another man.

Police have also found out that the woman, named Maria, was a monster racist, and often tries to seduce monsters and kill them. She has succeeded multiple times and was now sued for murder and robbery."

Boss was shocked. He never thought that Maria is actually a criminal.

He suddenly recalled what (Y/N) has told him. "You don't know anything about that girl. I saved you from her. You should be thankful." She was telling the truth, he realized. Maria was not what she seems to be. How could did he not see that?

Something clicked in his mind. That means that Maria must be his greatest enemy, and (Y/N) must be... Oh Asgore, he has to apologize to her!

He rushed to Chillby's bar and slammed the door open.

"Whoa! Hey! Don't slam the door!"

Chillby is nowhere to be seen. As the surprised girl watched Boss angrily stomp towards her.

"Hey! Calm down! What is going on?"

"I'm Sorry."

"What...?"

"I'm Sorry, I Was Wrong To Yell At You When You Were Just Trying To Help."

He thought you would scold him again, but to his utter surprise, you just gave him a soft smile.

"You finally found out. I'm glad you didn't become a victim of hers like one of my friends."

"You're Not Going To Scold Me?"

"Why would I? You admitted your mistakes, and I believe you finally realized we're soulmates, judging by the blush you have right now."

"Wait. You Knew?"

"I've known the second I learned your name." She pulled up both her sleeves and showed him the names tattooed on them 'Peter' 'Papyrus'.

"I've already met Peter before, he had made my high school life hell, so I knew that you're my soulmate"

"Then Why Do You Scold Me So Much?"

"Someone needs to tell you what you did wrong. I thought I should do it so that you could change. Your ego is already large enough."

"What About The First Time? You Haven't Learned My Name Then." (Y/N) giggles.

"You really need to check your eyes. The person you bumped into was blind! They have a guide dog and a stick as well!"

Boss feels his face heat up, and awkwardly scratches the back of his skull.

"Whoops."

"Hehe, no worries. But anyway, do you want to y'know, hang out?"

"YES! Um, I Mean, Of Course." (Y/N) giggles cutely. Wait, cutely? He's getting attached to her... Not that he minded though...

"Well, here's my number. We can hang out sometime, hopefully not under the circumstances of me needing to scold you."

"Yes. I Hope So Too."

Silence fell between the two as they stare at each other.

"For the love of Asgore, go to the parlor in the back. It's vacant." A voice, who he recognized as Chillby's, said.

"O-oh! U-um, sure. Thanks, Chill'."

Boss awkwardly follows the red-faced girl to the parlor.

Closing the door behind him, he awkwardly stared at her.

"I'm sorry, but I-"

Her words were cut off as Boss got a sudden boost of confidence and pressed a kiss against her lips. He quickly realized his mistake and was about to pull away before she grabs his cheekbones and kissed back.

The kiss lasted a while before they finally pulled away.

"W-well, that was, something..."

"Indeed. Shall I Take You Out Sometime?"

"Sure."

"Is This Weekend Alright For You?"

"Mhm."

"Alright Then. I'll Pick You Up At Seven."

"Ok."

They stared at each other for a while, then pulled back in for another long kiss. When they finally pulled back, they both said their farewells and left.

When Boss arrived home, Red, seeing his brother's red face, smirked and spoke.

"Good day?"

"Shut Up Sans."

Though in his mind, he knew that this is the start of something truly special.

Ok! Done! Long ass one shot. Hope you like it!

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X19

I loved this episode! I was really excited for it based on the promo information I saw and I was not disappointed! This episode is a partial standalone that focuses on a small handful of characters while also showing us what the other characters are doing and providing more background and insight on a select few. Standalone episodes are not my favourite, but I really liked this one. Let me set the scene. Richard, Maggie, Teddy, and Cormac are in Los Angeles for the LA Surgical Innovation Conference. Richard is excited because he’s there to present his PATH Pen to the world. Maggie is there to support him and loves these things so she’s pumped. Teddy is excited to have some kid free time to herself and Cormac does not want to be there at all.

We see Richard arrive at the Conference and meet up with Maggie. He calls her Meredith by mistake which is the first sign of trouble. He blames it on the long flight and tells her he’s rewritten his speech at least 20 times. Maggie tells him that she’s happy to be there and support him and that Meredith says she’s sorry she couldn’t be there as planned because her sitter got the flu last minute. I liked that they addressed why Meredith couldn’t be there. That really bothered me about the dinner party episode. The premise was that both Maggie and Jackson thought the dinner was for Catherine and Richard’s anniversary when in reality it was to tell them they were getting a divorce yet the fact that Meredith wasn’t invited or present was never addressed. Which to Maggie should have been the first clue that something was up, but it wasn’t addressed at all which made no sense because Meredith is the main character.

This episode went from zero to sixty real fast! Following this exchange we see Catherine appear at Richard’s hotel room and they make up. He spends most of the episode in his hotel room with Catherine writing and rewriting his speech and have a jolly good time doing it. I knew right away from how quickly they made up that something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The reveal about Richard was the most shocking to me by far. My best friend, who I watch with, picked up on it way faster than I did. Next we see Teddy and Maggie meet up at something called Heart Valve Happy Hour. They’re talking about why they like these kinds of things when Maggie notices a guy named Winston from across the room. It turns out Winston was one of her residents at Tufts University when she lived in Boston. He’s very handsome and it turns out he had a crush on her but never did anything about it because she was his boss and he was resident.

He planned to ask her out when he became an Attending, but then Maggie moved to Seattle right before that happened so he never got the chance. It turns out the attraction is mutual and major sexy times ensue! Get it girl! After all of the BS that Jackson put Maggie through these last couple of seasons I am here for it! Get yours girl! Maggie deserves a hot hookup with a hot guy who’s into her and doesn’t try to change her and boy does she get it. They sleep together and then spend the remainder of the Conference having one long date where they talk by the pool and bond over having both lost their mothers in the last 2 - 3 years as they share their favourite movies and ideas of a perfect day. It’s super adorable and totally cute.

Everything is going great until Winston suggests that one of them move to either Seattle or Boston to be with the other. That was sudden! Maggie thinks so too. She tells Winston she likes him, but she needs time to weigh and measure and think. Winston says that’s fine and to take all the time she needs, but he doesn’t think he’ll feel any differently in the future. He’s into her and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. My first thought when Winston said that was, “Well they definitely haven’t talked about the sister house! ‘Cause there’s no way Maggie is leaving her sisters, nieces, or nephew for a former resident of hers she reconnected with at a Conference. Maggie’s not leaving her crew for that. Uh ah.”

I like that Winston within one episode is already 100 times better for Maggie than Jackson ever was. Jackson was always trying to change her and make her into something she’s not. Maggie deserves someone who loves her for who she is and doesn’t want or expect her to change. Winston is one of those characters that I think could go either way. Either this is a one time thing and this will be the last we see of him or he’ll pop up again later on as a recurring character after he moves to Seattle. Honestly, Winston really grew on me this episode and I’d love to see him again. Maggie deserves to have some fun with a hot guy that’s into her and likes her for who she is!

And Maggie’s not the only one who bumps into someone from her past. While sitting at the hotel bar Teddy bumps into Claire who it turns out is an old friend and former roommate of hers who also knew Teddy’s best friend Allison. And plot twist it’s surprise bisexuality that you never saw coming! Yes it turns out after six non-consecutive seasons of being on this show and never once showing the slightest bit of interest in women Teddy Altman is bisexual. I was shocked. This show never ceases to amaze me. We find out that Allison, Teddy, and Claire were roommates back in New York and that Claire and Teddy worked together. Claire and Allison were a couple, but we find out through a flashback that at the time of Allison’s death she and Teddy were having an affair behind Claire’s back. Claire tells Teddy that she suspected something was going on at the time but didn’t know for sure until she requested Allison's phone records. It turns out Teddy was the last person she tried to call as the Twin Towers collapsed around her. Not her parents, not Claire, but Teddy. This news leaves Teddy gutted and utterly devastated.

Here’s something interesting that I caught on re-watch. In the flashback to 2001 after Claire leaves for work Allison says she’s disappointed to hear Teddy has to work tomorrow because she wanted to invite her to breakfast at Windows on the World. I didn’t recognize the name so I looked it up. Windows on the World was a fancy restaurant that was part of the North Tower of the original World Trade Center complex. It’s a small detail but I thought it was a nice touch. I also thought there was something heartbreaking about Allison inviting Teddy to have breakfast with her at a restaurant that was part of the complex she worked at that would eventually become the site of her death.

Towards the end of the episode Teddy sees Claire sitting by herself in a quiet corner of one of the halls and decides to try and make amends. They both apologize and Teddy tells her about meeting Owen and how he saved her from a grief so big that it almost killed her and that for years she felt guilty for loving him half as much as she loved Allison and because he was with someone else and because she wasn't capable of letting someone love her fully. She realizes now that Allison loved both of them: Teddy and Claire. At the time, Teddy didn't believe it because she thought you couldn’t love more than one person at a time, but she does now. She tells Claire how very sorry she is for the betrayal. Claire says she could never stay mad at anybody for loving Allison and they hug it out.

Kudos to Claire for being such a good sport and being so amazing! I don't know if I would take what Teddy had to say that well. While the fact that there was more to Allison’s story and Teddy’s relationship to her was always implied I never saw this coming. I think if maybe they had dropped some hints now and again it might have been less shocking. They’ve dropped hints and made comments over the years about Amelia being bisexual, but never Teddy so I thought that was odd. I got the impression that they might have been trying to imply that what happened with Allison was so traumatic that Teddy stop dating women after that point, but it felt like they could have explained or explored that a little better.

Also they never established if Allison was the first woman Teddy dated. If that’s the case it’s possible that Teddy fell in love with Allison only and apart from that has only ever dated men which does happen. I hope we get some clarification on this in future episodes and they explore this more. There’s something else I want to point out about this storyline which is the stereotype of bisexuality and being unfaithful. As a straight person I didn’t pick up on this at all, but my best friend whose queer did. We watched the show together and afterwards she pointed out that more than one of the queer characters on Grey’s Anatomy seem to fall under the stereotype or misconception that bisexual people are more prone to cheating which in reality simply isn’t true.

She pointed out that we’ve seen other examples of this with Arizona and Callie. Arizona was a lesbian who cheated on her partner and was blatantly bi-phobic and had a real problem with Callie being bisexual. Callie was a bisexual woman who got cheated on by all of her partners gay and straight. As Grey’s is known for being progressive about a lot of stuff, including LGBTQ representation, I don’t think this is intentional, but I do think they could be more sensitive to it. Especially because there are still so many myths and misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ community out there and not everyone has someone in their life who is a part of that community.

I was surprised that Maggie and Teddy were so happy to see each at this Conference and were hugging it out like old friends. Last time we saw them together Maggie made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with Teddy’s drama and could she please stop confiding in her? Maggie and Teddy aren’t the only ones who receive a blast from the past this week! My new favourite character Dr. Cormac Hayes does as well. Cormac hasn’t been to a medical conference in a while and being there brings back memories for him of when he met his late wife Abigail. Lucky for us the audience gets to experience these moments as flashbacks which are by turns both hilarious and heartbreaking.

Hayes arrives at the Conference with his two teenage sons in tow. He flashes back to when he was younger and first saw his wife across a crowded room. He was a young doctor attending the same medical conference at the same hotel and she was handing out pens in the hotel lobby. Later on we see Teddy and Cormac having a drink at that Heart Valve Happy Hour event which apparently has free booze. Teddy comments that he doesn’t seem happy to be there. Cormac says he’s not and doesn’t really want to be, but Bailey asked him to come and represent Peds and he’s the new guy and it felt more like an instruction than a request so he came.

He tells her he brought his boys with him so that they could see their aunt who lives in LA. A sales rep comes over to talk to them. Cormac dislikes him instantly and we soon see why. We then see a flashback of Abigail approaching Cormac at a hotel bar. She’s handing out pens. He asks if she knows how they work and if she’s aware that the company she’s working for makes erectile dysfunction medication. It’s a great comedic moment and you get to see why they fell for each other. Abigail tells him she didn’t know that and that it’s no wonder none of the guys there will take the pens. She admits that she knows nothing about the company and she’s only there because her friend told her they would pay them $500 each to go hand out some pens at a Conference. She says that while that might not mean much to a big fancy doctor like him to a starving artist like her that’s rent money which is why she took the job.

She tells Cormac about her work and says that she’s a mixed-media artist. She tries explaining it to him but it’s clear that he doesn’t get it which she comments on. He says that all of the words make sense just not in that order. She says she has to get back to handing out pens. Cormac doesn’t want her to go so he takes all of them saying he uses a lot of pens. He offers to buy her a drink which she accepts. Years later we see Cormac, Abigail, and their boys in a hospital room. She’s sick with cancer and is anxious because she’s about to have a hysterectomy. Cormac sits next to her and does his best to calm her down. He reminds her that it’s a routine procedure and that the surgeon he found for her is great. Abigail is afraid that she’ll die. Cormac laughs because it seems impossible. To try and cheer up he makes a joke about how if she dies he and the boys will move on. He says it’ll be a tough couple of days, but then everything will be fine because as a surgeon and a sexy widowed father of two women will be lining up to go out with him and bringing him casseroles. He won’t have to work for it at all. They both laugh.

Time moves forward. We see that Abigail’s condition has worsened and things aren’t looking good. They’re on their second clinical trial and she’s now wearing a head wrap because she’s lost all of her hair to chemotherapy. The boys do their best to try and cheer her up. She asks them to go find her a ginger ale. They leave and it soon becomes clear why she wanted to speak to Cormac alone. She knows she’s dying and there’s a good chance that this trial won’t work which means he’ll be on his own soon. Cormac doesn’t want to believe that and tells her to stop talking like that because he can’t bear the thought of losing her.

He cries and tries to get her to stop, but she persists so he listens. She gives this gut wrenching speech about how he has to make sure the boys know it's okay to cry and feel everything and fall apart and be a mess. She doesn’t want them to bottle it all up and have their grief eat away at them. That it’s okay for him to fall apart too and that he needs to let the boys see that. She makes him promise to let the boys see her sister. She says she’s crazy, but she’s not a bad person and she loves them. This line cracked me up! She tells him that if he has trouble with the boys he should call his mother because Cormac is proof that the woman knows what she’s doing. Cormac cries at this and does his best to hold it together. She tells him it’s okay if Austin quits piano. She told him he’ll get better if he keeps practicing, but she’s pretty sure it’s hopeless. She also tells him to keep an eye on Liam's temper because he gets that from her and they’ve both seen the trouble that can cause. And one last thing, Cormac has her permission to fall in love again. She says he deserves to be happy. He says he doesn’t want that at all.

Abigail says she knows that which is why he needs to hear her say it. She doesn’t want him to feel guilty or beat himself up about it. She repeats his own words back to him from before she had her hysterectomy and reminds him that since women will be lining up he won't have to work for it. In the scene that follows we find out that Abigail has died and we see Cormac and the boys in the process of cleaning out her hospital room. Austin sits down on the bed crying. He doesn’t want to leave. Cormac goes and sits with him and says they can stay as long as he likes. Liam says the whole thing is stupid and you can tell he’s trying to be strong and hold it in. But in honouring Abigail’s wishes Cormac motions for Liam to come and sit beside him. He does and begins crying in Cormac’s arms. He comforts them and holds them while they grieve the loss of their mother and fall apart.

As soon as Cormac said that line about being a sexy widower I knew they were going to bring it back. It was too good not to. It also gives me hope for Meredith and Cormac’s budding romance. To me it’s the only thing that makes sense. Cristina sent Cormac as a gift to Meredith, multiple people in Mer’s life have commented on the sparks between them and how great they’d be together, and she’s the only one we’ve seen Cormac spend quality time with or show a romantic interest in. To me there was no point in including that line if they’re not meant to end up together. We saw across multiple seasons how Derek felt about Meredith and he was adamant that if something ever happened to him that she should move on and find love again.

He brought it up multiple times while he was alive and it’s a big part of why he encouraged her to connect with her sisters and his and why he pushed her to open up to the possibility of having kids. And once those kids were there he wanted them and Meredith to be surrounded by as much love as possible. He was adamant that if something ever happened to him he didn’t want Meredith to be alone and she’s not. These flashbacks with Cormac and Abigail and the boys provide us with similar information. We get to see how they fell in love and how he supported when she was sick. We get to see the love they had for each other and how much they love their sons.

We also get to see that both Abigail and Derek wanted similar things for the loves of their lives and their children in the event of their passing. They wanted them to find love and be happy because they deserve it. There are so many parallels here between Meredith and Cormac’s stories it’s mindboggling. To me this is the perfect set up for Cormac to finally pluck up the courage and ask Meredith out. He’s obviously wanted to for a while now, but I think he’s been reluctant up till now because he’s been grieving and wasn’t sure if he was ready or if she was. Then with the whole DeLuca situation he’s likely been wondering if it’s the right time or if it’s too soon. I think going to the Conference and reflecting on the time he spent with his wife will make him realize that it’s time to move on. Because at this point he’s done everything else that Abigail asked of him before she died. He let his boys know it’s okay to cry and fall apart and feel everything. He let them see him be weak and miss her and be a mess. He’s taken the boys to see their Aunt like he promised.

Although we don’t get confirmation on this he presumably keeps in touch with his mother. No word yet on whether Austin quit piano but it’s safe to assume that he did. He’s doing his best to keep an eye on Liam’s temper and make sure that he looks after Austin. But the one thing Cormac hasn’t done is let himself fall in love again until now. As Abigail said Cormac deserves to be happy and he shouldn’t feel guilty or beat himself up for moving on. I think spending time reflecting on that will help him see that it’s time to move on and move forward and that Meredith is a wonderful person who has the potential to be an amazing partner if he’s willing to take the risk and go for it.

When they first introduced Cormac as a character I had hoped that we’d get to see Meredith ask him out as we’ve never really seen that before. She’s usually the one who gets asked and we’ve never really seen her take an interest in someone of her own volition. All of her past romantic partners have all been people who either pursued her relentlessly even when she told them repeatedly to stop (which still bugs me) or people her friends pushed her into dating that she wasn’t really into. While I’d love to see her ask Cormac out on a date I think with everything that’s been going on with DeLuca she’d be reluctant to. DeLuca has had several very public meltdowns at this point. Most of which Cormac was present for. On top of that her best friend, Cormac’s co-chief, just up and left and the man whose been like a father to her since she was three is gravely ill.

Cormac knows all of that because he was either there at the time or heard about it after the fact. Meredith asking Cormac out with everything that’s going on could be seen by some as insensitive or too soon or inappropriate and I think Meredith is sensitive to that. People have been talking crap about her since Addison showed up in Season 1. She knows that which is why I think Cormac is going to have to be the one to ask her out. I have a feeling he’s been waiting for the right time, but as we all know with Meredith’s life there’s never a right time. Her life is always chaotic and there’s always something going wrong. I hope that with what he’s witnessed recently and the memories the Conference brought back Cormac can see that now and decides to go for it.

Back in the present, we find out why Cormac hates the sales rep so much. Cormac knows all about the firm's devices because their most popular model is used for minimally invasive hysterectomies. It turns out the device has little spinning claws that chop up fibroids, but the problem is that what looks like fibroids can in fact be cancer in which case the device spreads countless cancer cells to metastasize everywhere. Was anyone else horrified listening to Cormac describe that thing? It sounds terrifying and according to Cormac it’s just as deadly and awful as it sounds.

Yes it turns out the device this clueless sales rep is peddling is the device that killed Cormac’s wife Abigail. While explaining this Cormac takes the ice out the drink the rep gave him in order to illustrate his point. At that point I knew something was wrong and I think the rep should have too. Cormac was clearly agitated and the rep failed to pick up on that big time. That man should have read the room, apologized, and left. Instead he kept prattling on to Cormac and put his foot directly in his mouth by telling him that less than 1% of benign fibroids turn into uterine sarcomas.

Cormac says his wife Abigail was one of those 1%. That device took the mother of his boys and the firm is paying to suppress the proof that it kills people. He passes on the drink. The sales rep finally gets the memo and hightails it out of there. Cormac apologizes to Teddy for his outburst and leaves. And that’s what I like about Cormac. He gets loud and takes a stand when it matters, but he’s also quick to apologize for this behaviour. Not because he’s out of line but because he knows that behaving like that can be upsetting to other people and he knows that’s no fun to be around.

The big reveal about Richard comes towards the end of the episode shortly before Richard goes on stage to give his presentation. We see Richard in his hotel room, but as he looks back at Catherine she disappears. It turns out that she was never there to begin with. Richard’s been hallucinating all day and judging by his comment at the beginning his memory’s going as well. Which means it’s not just his hand and the problem is worse than we thought. Right at the end of the episode is when all of these worlds collide. We see Maggie wish Richard luck before his talk. Before heading into the lecture room herself she talks to Winston who talks about moving to Seattle or Boston to be together. Maggie, Cormac, and Teddy sit in the audience together and wait for the talk to begin. Back in Seattle we see Catherine pacing as Jackson sets up the live feed so they can see Richard’s presentation. It begins and Catherine says he looks handsome. Bailey joins them.

We see Meredith at her house sitting down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. Zola gets the livestream going and Meredith asks how she knows how to do that. To which she replies, “Mom, Everyone knows how to do this.” Haha she cracks me up! Richard takes the stage and his talk begins and that’s when everything goes awry. He says he’s not going to talk about his PATH Pen anymore because this morning, with his brilliant wife's help, he has found a way to cure cancer. It quickly becomes clear that something is wrong as Richard starts talking about curing cancer and flipping through slides with hand drawn pictures of hearts and lungs and an atomic explosion. Maggie turns to Cormac and tells him that something is wrong and to help her get a gurney and get him off the stage.

Back in Seattle, Catherine tells Jackson she thinks he’s drunk. Zola is confused too and asks her Mom what Uncle Richard is talking about. Meredith says she doesn’t know and realizing that something is wrong asks her to get her phone for her. Back at the Conference Maggie tries desperately to get Richard to leave the stage with her. He says he’s fine and tries to continue. And that’s when things go from bad to worse because he looks at Maggie, his own daughter, and asks who she is. Cormac tries to help guide him off the stage and in response Richard becomes uncharacteristically aggressive and pushes him telling him to get his hands off him. Maggie and Cormac forcibly remove him from the stage against his protests. Maggie tells them to cut the feed which they do and yells for someone to call 911.

As the episode ends, we see Maggie walking with the paramedics who are wheeling Richard out of the hotel on a gurney. Richard is confused and asks what's going on. As they leave they walk past Winston on their way out. This scene absolutely gutted me! It was so hard to watch! Also where does Catherine get off saying he’s drunk? That man has been sober for years. He’s not cheating on her and all of their problems are in her head goddamnit. My heart broke for Maggie as she realized something was terribly wrong. My heart broke again for Meredith as she sat at home and realized the same thing but was unable to help from so far away.

Until next time!

[prorevenge]

Bully me for four years, I'll make sure you go nowhere in life.

I apologize for the unusually long back story TL; DR at the bottom.

So to understand all of what I'm going to write its important to understand that I was bullied heavily in school. I have talked now and again about it here in the past and understanding this is important to understand why this person effected me so much. After leaving school things started to get better, it took me a while to recover with the help of some great friends. At one point I needed to start looking for work. At this point, it was 2005 - 06. Things weren't going so well in the job market around my area and being broke I couldn't just leave for better pastures so I ended up joining the army instead. It didn't last (that's another story), what's important happened after. While I was away my friend's group picked up a couple more nerds for the crew. Among these was useless bully (or UB for short). Thing is that this guy was a gamer like everyone else for the exception of one large quark. He was very egotistical and really liked talking shit. It didn't take long for him to single me out, it really does seem like bullies can sniff out what they call a good target. He really likes to talk shit, often crossing the line between common bullcrappery and real insults. It was obvious he didn't seem to like me but for some reason liked having me around. Some of my other friends even noticed and tried getting him to stop but he took it like a badge of honor, even told me so himself once. I'm not going to get any deeper about what he did as its not the point of this story.

So now you ask why did I stick around and why did my friends put up with such a douchebag. Well, for one thing, I knew my friends far longer then he was around and they were fine. They themselves weren't good at conflict and UB was very smart. He knew exactly what to say to skirt around things if needed. So part of the time they would enable him and the rest he knew how to manipulate them so they would give a pass. It was an abuse cycle, he would act like an asshat one moment and the next to be all nice, in the end, they got too used to this and became a little blind to what he was doing.

But let's continue. I'll start with one particular event that started it all. As anyone who knows me knows, I'm a computer geek. I like to work on them, build them and so on, and it's important to know that so does UB. Like a typical bully, he labeled me as incompetent in all things and treated me accordingly. So to him, I am not even a novice, even though by the time I met him I already started building. Enter that key moment. One night after a night of LOL (League of Legends) I decided to ask the guys something. I asked him and the rest what the L cache was for a CPU. Something I didn't know yet at the time. He, of course, blew me off. Later that night I googled it and while doing so I had an epiphany. Just because UB refused to be helpful shouldn't mean I can't be. So I started offering help at work, beginning with word of mouth then over time I went freelance and time marched on. I eventually moved away met my now wife and broke ties with UB. I kept up with some of my friends though, if they wanted to be friends with him I didn't care as long as they respected the fact that we won't be going near each other.

Time still passed, I got better as a freelancer and eventually earned my way into a legit IT job in my home town. Things are great, one of my dream jobs. Eventually, the shit hit the fan when not long ago my co-worker got fired for doing something he shouldn't have done. (Don't ask, I'm not going to post any info about it.) This of course left a spot open. In the search for a replacement, I offered the spot to one of my friends who declined, but through him, as I found later, UB found out. Low and behold a couple of applicants later he showed up for an interview. My boss sets these up and would take my exco-worker to the interviews, but now I fill that role. So when UB showed up I was surprised, I kept my cool though and so did he. It was obvious he recognized me but shown no fear. Remember this guy is really egotistical and probably thinks things are in the bag already. The interview was normal, I'll skip to the nitty-gritty here so I'll skip to the later part of the interview. Please note that any extra info trickled to me over the years was from the friends that still hang out with him.

B =Boss UB= Useless bully Me=Me and only me.

B: Do you have any experience in an independent team environment?

UB: I'm a manager at Wall-Mart and I know the ins and outs of teamwork. I can handle myself. (Note he managed the electronics and wasn't very respected)

Me: Do you have any experience with a ticket system or ordering system.

UB: No, but I think I can handle it.

Boss: On your resume, you turned in says you went to college for a degree in computer repair but you forgot to put in when. When did you get your degree?

UB: I forgot to finish that I actually finished a year ago.

I knew this was bs, he actually graduated a year before I met him so it's been over a decade by this point. At this point, I started to lay down some pressure and sow the roots of this mans demise.

Me: In your resume, it only shows you working at two different places and there is a time gap in between both of several years, can you explain that?

UB: Oh that was a typo I worked at xx place for a while, I ended up quitting and a month later I started as a manager at Wall-Mart.

Note that made that whole thing suspicious because I knew for a long time he job hopped a lot, even while we hung out he lost three jobs. He did actually get hired straight into his role at Wall-Mart but he didn't mention the job where earned his way up to that position and got fired for being an asshole to his co-workers.

Me: If a computer went down on the shop floor, how would you handle the situation?

UB: I would go down and fix it duh.

Me: What if it was completely unserviceable.

UB: No, there is nothing I can't fix.

His ego was showing through, just as I wanted. Time to start cutting this interview down to size.

Me: So if the memory were to say go bad, your telling me you could fix that?

UB: Well I'm sure I could handle it.

My boss looked at me a bit wondering about why I kept going with it but he let me continue.

UB: Don't you have replacements for memory and things?

Me: Some times.

UB: Well that's bull.

I was surprised he said that but I knew he was starting to slip. He gets mouthy when he feels his ego is being stroked even if it's just him doing the stroking.

Me: So out of your experience, would you say you are a hardware specialist or a program specialist.

UB: I can do both but I can lean towards hardware. I can fix anything you toss my way.

Me: So lets test that a bit. Boss do you have any hardware questions you want answering?

Boss: Sure, how long does a coax cable have to be before any signal degradation starts?

UB: uhhu.

He struggled, I could tell he slipped, that question is my bosses go to question because most people don't know it and he really just wants to see how they respond.

UB: I don't remember at the moment, I did some work hooking up cable for people in the past when the cable company needed some help so I'll remember it sooner or later.

MORE BS.

My boss was seeing through it to, he knows this business like the back of his hand so he knows what's up.

Boss: "Me" do you have any questions?

The sign my boss was done with the interview.Me: Sure just one last question.

I turn to UB and I grin. I look him dead in the eye and ask.

Me: So what's the purpose of the L cache of a standard CPU?

He went white, he knew the jig was up. I don't think he fully knew what I meant but he knew enough to know when to give up.

UB: I don't know that one, it was never brought up in class.

I accepted his last statement, and we ended the interview. My boss told him he would be contacted within 24 to 48 hours with any results. He left and my boss looked at me a little annoyed. He asked me what was going on and I explained it all. That I knew UB, what kind of person he was and about the lies on his resume and in the interview. I told him I just wanted to give him a chance to either mess it up or prove he could handle it. My boss is pretty understanding so he let it go. Needless to say, UB was not chosen to fill the vacant spot.

Two days later UB showed up at my door unexpected. It was Saturday and I figured he found my place through one of the others. My wife answered the door not knowing who he was. Dude fricken walked in like he owned the place. I stopped him at the front mudroom, there was no way I was going to let him in any further. Note that there was more yelling than this but I cut it down for simplification.

UB: So what the hell happened?

Me: What not even a hello how are you?

UB: I never got a callback so I called to ask and they said I didn't get the job.

Dude had a bad tone in his voice, I knew he was here just to rage. A person that egocentric always blames others and I was target numero uno.

Me: What the hell are you here for!?

UB: What the hell did you tell him about me?

Me: Nothing that wasn't true, now get the fuck out!

UB: Bullshit, I know you can't really handle that kind of work, what did you do, suck some one-off? You just didn't want around because you know I would upstage you!

Me: What the hell would you know, you wouldn't even let me talk about computers when we hung out, you just labeled me and treated me like shit. Dude, I told my boss exactly what happened, how it happened, I didn't have to lie or exaggerate. You choose to act terribly, you choose to bully someone, you choose to create a bad representation of your self, as far I see it, its just karma. If you really cared instead of barging into my house you would be trying to fix where you fucked up.

UB: I don't need to do anything, go back and fix it!

Me: Screw you get the hell out before I call the cops.

UB: I'm not afraid of them.

Me: Fine!

I yelled to my wife to call the cops, after this UB new I wasn't screwing around and left in a huff.

The aftermath so far from this is him calling everyone he could to tell them how bad of a person I am like some 14-year-old kid bitching to his classmates at school. Figures because of how immature he really is, or at least, in my opinion anyway. So far no one has taken him seriously enough and some of my friends said he is still fuming but pretty demoralized. As for the position, it has yet to filled.

TL;DR Friends introduce a bully to the group, he shits on me for four years so years later I screw him out of his dream job and a better life.

(source) story by (/u/Atlusfox)

[erintoknow]

this is nothing new

Spiraling - A Fallen Hero: Rebirth Fan-fiction

[Read here on AO3!]

Chapter: this is nothing new tw: death

[Same Old Blues]

You wake with a scream, tumbling off the couch, cracking your head against the edge of the coffee table with a ‘Thump!’ on your way down. Flashes of green before your eyes. Distantly aware of your heart pounding in your chest.

“Alex? Lord , Alex, are you okay?” The light flickers on as woman steps out of the bedroom, one hand shading her eyes as she winces against the light. Brushing back dirty blond hair, Chelsea tsks as she navigates the pile of clothes and library books that mark the corner of the apartment you’ve taken over.

Clutching your head, you pull yourself in. Try to make yourself as small as you can. Something… remembered something but what? It’s already gone. Doesn’t feel real, none of this does – already slipping out of your grasp, faster as you try to take hold. Why is Chelsea in Ortega’s apartment? Red and silver threads, something at your throat.

Hands find you and you strike out. Someone yells, “Ow!” the noise unheeded as panic renews; why did you do that? What are you thinking? You’re really in for it now – should know better. How many times do the same lessons need to be learned?

“Alex, Alex, it’s okay.” You tense, can feel the intention to touch incoming but it doesn’t – no hands come near you. “You’re safe. I promise you.” Notes of worry, directed towards – not you, can’t be you, has to be something else.

It’s a lie. One they love to tell. You’ll never be safe.

Have to… have to get out of here. Have to do something. Have to move. Get out. Escape. But there are hands, holding you down under white fluorescent lights, burning spots into your vision that cast of the crowd of onlookers in silhouette. Something is strapped over your head, while she looks down at you. Disappointment naked on her face, speaking with another woman’s voice. “Next time, I expect results forty-two.”

It’s the strobing flashes of red and blue that pull you out of it – a shot of adrenaline sets your hands shaking as you pull yourself out of the position you’d fallen into, laying half out of your bed.

You’re not back there , and you aren’t anywhere but here. Not Ortega’s, not Chelsea’s, not – not there. You’re in your own place. You have one of those now. An apartment. Remember?

Maybe not for long. Police lights? You clutch a hand to your aching head as you stretch out your awareness, take stock of the local minds, pick up the interlopers. Police. And… EMTs? Why? Dig deeper and your hands twist the bed sheet. Death. Someone’s dead. Footsteps in the hallway and nausea washes over you. It takes the sheer desperation of not wanting to spend a day cleaning out bedsheets, yet again , to tamper it down. Clothes stick to your skin in a cold sweat.

The apartment next door. On the left. Young man, lived with his girlfriend – her thoughts stand out, a barbed wire coil of grief. Was paying child support. Managed a convenience store. Didn’t smoke. Didn’t drink. Now he’s dead.

How? Why?

Try to press harder for the details only to immediately snap back. Shouldn’t have asked. Shouldn’t have wondered. You’ve never been good at learning that lesson, no matter how many times, you come to regret it.

Holding into the bedside table for balance, you push yourself up, vision briefly blacking out before filling back in as you stand. Give yourself a moment to adjust. To think.

The door. Check the door.

Navigating the gloom you step around the traps and check the door lock, the chain, bolt, and bar. Everything is in place. You’re still safe. Moving to the window you check that next. Shatter-resistant glass, threaded with a steel wire reinforcement. Not much for looking, but no one’s getting through it any time soon. Not without making a lot of noise.

You brush your mind against the police again. No thoughts to you. Or your apartment.

You’re not in any immediate danger.

Stomach prods you with pangs of pain. What time is it? Too early to be awake. It’s – it’s absurd, right? To think it’s your fault. His death. You weren’t even awake to do anything .

Wait–

Shit!

Jane! You were Jane and you were doing something – what? What were you doing?

“Are you sure you are alright to be out today, mon amie?” Dr. Mortum eyes Jane worriedly from the other end of the booth, fiddling with the glass of sherry in her hands. New glasses? The gold of her frames stands out against the dark tone of her skin.

“Doc, please.” Jane sighs, slumping back in her chair. No fancy looks today. Whatever is going on between Jane and Dr. Mortum now, that particular game is over. Your puppet, your mirror image, is wearing slacks and a cardigan. Plain and unfashionable. But you don’t need her to perform today. Not like that. Faded bruises still peeking out from under her shirt collar. Memory of stiffness. “It’s been weeks, I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” The good doctor takes a sip of her drink, one hand on the table between them. Her expression grows darker, and Jane leans in too. Nerves on edge. “So it looks like your employer made quite the splash.”

“All thanks to your hard work.”

Mortum’s expression only darkens. Her eyes darting towards the side, down at Jane’s wrist. Eyes tracing something. Jane shifts her hand away, under the table. “I suppose there is a truth to that.” She sighs, looks up again to catch Jane’s eyes. “Have you… thought any more, about what I said?”

Oh. This again. Dr. Mortum’s always been happy to just take the money without questions before. Where is this sudden attack of conscience coming from?

“I can handle myself.” Jane’s smile gains an edge. “As I’m sure you remember.”

Mortum’s smile is polite, but her eyes betray amusement. “In vivid technicolor, mon amie.”

“Hah.” Jane snickers, “Don’t be such a nerd.”

Mortum keeps smiling. “Ah, but you recognized the reference. So who is the bigger nerd here?”

“Smart-ass.”

Can’t remember past that. But you just woke up so… you fell asleep, clearly. Did you fall asleep as Jane? Biting your lip you force yourself to lay down in bed, sheets still hanging half off. Close your eyes. Have to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.

Finding Jane is getting easier and easier these days. Like there’s a cord strung between you – follow the thread and you’ll find her at the end of it.

Sink in, and it’s always touch that comes first, after that everything else fills from the outside in. As if you’re water pouring into an empty vessel. Jane sits up, blinking with bleary eyes. Only the briefest sense of vertigo before her stomach settles.

The dull soreness of healing bruises floats into awareness. It’s dark, with warm fabric drawn over her lower body… She’s home at her apartment. Safe. Everything’s fine. You worried for nothing. Jane glances at the alarm clock. 4 AM. Now that the possibility of danger is brushed aside, you’re free to be frustrated at this whole situation.

Nothing for it now. You’re not going back to sleep if you can help it. Jane’s hand finds her cellphone, checking for any messages. Nothing new; just her last exchange with Ortega, asking about when they can meet up again.

Just thinking about it is enough to make Jane smile, a lightness in her chest, even as it leaves a bitter sting in your heart. Jane is dating Ortega. Not you. That’s the way things have to be. It’s for the best. For everyone.

Ortega…

She hasn’t even been released from the hospital yet and already she’s raring to get back into the thick of things. The fool idiot never knows when to slow down. Or when to quit. She’s taking the Ranger’s defeat at your debut more personally than you had anticipated.

Honestly, you went into that night fully expecting Ortega to kill you, instead she just… slowed you down at best. A wave breaking itself against a boulder, shattering to pieces. She’s losing her touch in her middle age. She’s only to get herself hurt even worse next time. Maybe you can get Jane to talk some sense into her? Just… at least slow down for a little bit? Take better care of herself.

Somehow has to do it.

It sure isn’t going to be you.

Can still see it in your head… standing in the floodlights, a bruised and bleeding Ortega laying prone below you…

Fuck.

fucking hell

piss

Jane staggers, fighting down the wave of revulsion, swallows the bile in the back of her throat. Shit. She’s usually better insulated from your attacks then that.

Well… don’t think you’re getting back to bed any time soon. If you’re going to be up this early you might as well do something productive with all that time.

“So now, I’m the one stuck sorting out this mess.” Spinning stories about how terrible your villain alter ego is as a boss has fast become your favorite way to bond with people as Jane. There’s something liberating in being able to just go to town on her and have people actually nod in agreement.

Jane sighs, staring down at the water bottle in her hand, sloshing the contents in a slow circle. “Honestly, it’s not my fault the last deal fell through like that.” She tugs at her jacket. Should enjoy the chill while you can. Once the sun’s up, the summer heat will be back in full force.

Jane’s companion, a latina woman who has clearly never skipped leg or arm day, takes a long drag from her cigarette, her back to Jane, against the tree. The two of them have stepped off the park path for privacy.

Honestly didn’t expect Rosie to answer Jane’s call. There’s been less and less time to be able to shoot the shit with her lately. A trend you expect to continue.

Even now Jane is technically doing business. Managing your villain career, building loyalty. But Rosie has been Jane’s oldest friend – or as close to it as she can have, and you’re finding it harder for Jane to let go of her than you’d expected.

“Sounds like a capital-class serving of BS to me, yeah.” Rosie stares off into the open field, chewing on thoughts your puppet isn’t privy to. “You tried looking into some of those old buildings up in the industrial park?”

Jane blinks, staring up at the tree branches above them both. “The… industrial park, huh. Hrm.”

“Yeah, like, I know you’re hoping to get somewhere more, like, central and shit, but there’s a lot of places that cleared out when the smog started getting bad. Bet you two-to-one you can find somewhere real cheap up that way.” She goes quiet then suddenly breaks into laughter. “And hey! That boss of yours is so paranoid anyway, right? Should be happy he gets somewhere no one in their right mind is going to go.”

Jane doesn’t respond right away. It could work. A cheaper asking price means more money free to invest back into gadgets, supplies, bribes. “Yeah, okay.” Jane “I’ll give it a look around. Thanks for the tip.”

Rosie winks, thumbs up. “Hey Janey, what are friends for?”

Jane finds herself returning the thumbs up. “Nothing legal, apparently.” That gets the barking laugh you were hoping for. Rosie slaps her leg. Jane clears her throat, gives Rosie a chance to compose herself. “Speaking of friends… You ready for another job yet?”

“You know me, I can always use more sin money.” She shuffles out another cigarette from her pack, eyes shifting between Jane and the lighter. “So… suppose I am. What'd ya got?”

Jane smiles. “I think you’ll find this one interesting.”

[solitaria-fantasma]

((Session #7 shenanigans, GO!))

We’re skipping the filler stuff this week and jumping straight into the Plot bc our DM has figured out how to connect us to her main campaign and really wants to get to the good parts.

It’s been a while so we had to do a little discussing to remember where we’d left off: Destroying a dog-fighting ring, making friends with the dogs, and kidnapping the pit boss.

We dragged the pit boss halfway back to town bc we’d left our horses at the inn, and then dragged him into the woods to interrogate.

I woke him up with a slammin’ lute chord (and I was absolutely thinking “SECRET TUNNEEEEELLLLL!” in my head as I did).

Udaji rolled another ‘4’ on her Perception check and someone else in the voice chat said “yeah that’s on-brand for her”.

ZONE OF TRUTH! ZONE OF TRUTH! ZONE OF TRUTH!

(the pit boss calls the dogs ‘stupid animals’) “Someone needs to hold Udaji back, please.”

“Lord Hassan? Yeah, he’s the boss-.....I shouldn’t have said that.”

This poor man didn’t have a high enough intelligence to recognize the spell ‘Zone of Truth’ and is confused af right now.

The second piece of the map to the Crescent Gang’s Hideout was rolled up in a little bottle on a string around the pit boss’ neck - now we have two!

We asked where the third piece was, but the pit boss didn’t know - he gave us a few towns that he thought it might be in, though (such as Caister, in Everton).

Apparently, you need to layer all three map pieces over top of each other to see the full picture - like animation cells!

We asked about the marriage-murder scam, too, but the pit boss didn’t know anything important.

“If these bitches were cute enough then maybe-” *angry Dragonborn noises*

“Maybe we could feed him to the dogs?” “No way! Burnt Toast and Matthias Jr. need a well-balanced diet, not junk food.”

The only thing holding Udaji back from killing this man rn is Claus’ hand on her shin.

We leave the pit boss tied up in the wilderness, and he’s probably going to die. It’s a good thing none of us are Lawful Neutral.

The fastest way to Caister is by boat, which will take about one week, rather than two weeks if by land.

We have to pay to board the horses on the boat, but as long as the sailors were allowed to pet our new dogs, we didn’t have to pay for their boarding.

“What would you like to do on your two week boat ride?”/”I would like to train Matthias Jr. to play dead when shot with a pretend bow and arrow.”

Level Four! Yay!

We had barely landed in Everton when we heard an NPC shouting about a thief.

Mountain was too distracted trying to keep Señor Guapo from eating poison ivy to notice the commotion.

I have only just now realized that I did not include in my last session’s notes that the other two dogs are named “Señor Guapo” and “Joel”.

“Because Claus is a good boy and he is the conscience of this party.”

“We could also surround her. We number quite many.”

*insert Benny Hill theme here as the party & our dogs attempt to surround the suspected thief while our horses graze serenely a few meters away from the chaos*

The thief is a hungry young woman I don’t care what her role in the story is I have already mentally adopted her.

Mountain paid the farmer the five copper the carrots were worth, and the man stormed off, threatening to call the guard if we let her near his farm again.

“You offer her your rations, and she looks at you like you are God.”

The child is absolutely bewildered by the size of Ganondorf the Horse, but then she looked back at me (the Dragonborn) and whispered “Oooh, that makes sense…”

Soothing lute music is good for panic attacks and that’s about all Udaji’s good for right now.

Her name is Colette De Mir, and she claims to have fallen on hard times after receiving a letter pROPOSING MARRIAGE TO A LORD IN EVERTON OH NO-

She survived an attack on her traveling group, and was the only survivor. Lord Hassan tried to kill her, and threw her off of a bridge into a ravine, where she once again managed to cheat death. No-one else in her party survived, and everything in their carriage that could be stolen was.

Burnt Toast and Joel are therapy dogs: Confirmed.

Colette was horrified when we told her that she was not the only one who had been targeted by this scam, and demanded to know what we knew.

Matthias doesn’t trust her, for some reason, but the high Insight roll checks out.

“Yeeting princesses is not a very Lordly activity.”

Colette says she woke up underwater after the fall, and found herself breathing rather normally. What a way to find out you’re a sorcerer.

I lent her one of the costumes from my Entertainer’s pack, to replace her dirty and mismatched clothing as we go into town, and it’s WAY too big for her, considering it was sized for a Dragonborn.

Once we get to town, Astrid and I take Colette on a spa/shopping trip so that she can get cleaned up, and have some proper clothes.

At the inn, Colette tells us that she didn’t know that this town was Caister - she had been told that it was Kenkilly by the ship that had carried her and her entourage.

She was lied to about which town was which, basically, and - being from a completely different country - she had no idea.

Our money from Swadlin is still good in Everton, but almost all of the shopkeepers and merchants could pin us as tourists from our foreign currency.

Colette asks us to take her to Kenkilly, where Lord Hassan is supposedly supposed to be. Safety and strength in numbers, right?

Udaji - having been raised by an overprotective party of retired adventurers in a quiet, but populous, town - has no survival skills of her own.

For all intents and purposes, Colette is a Waterbender. 

Colette has a blue cloak that she tried to hide from the party, and took great care to dry and keep when changing clothes. It was a gift from her mother, meant to protect her.

When we set out the next morning, Colette rode with Astrid and got the tea (whether she wanted it or not) on the rest of the party.

“She has all the embarrassing stories on you, like what you do when you sleep.”/”Oh, no! She’s seen me cuddle my lute??”

Kenkilly is actually a small, rural village on the coast, rather than the larger city it had been made out to be in the letter to her family.

We track down some shady locals to try and get information, and we….are not subtle about it.

Between the Dragonborn, the Tiefling, two half-elves, a princess, and four dogs, we stand out quite a bit.

Matthias joined the shady people for a game of chance with dice, and won a bit of money, but no information.

Mountain joined in the betting, and Astrid is shit-talking both of them while Colette, Claus, and Udaji stand off to the side and watch.

Claus lasts about five minutes before he gives up trying to pretend we aren’t doing some shady BS and goes back to the inn to drink.

Mountain asks about the Crescent gang, but one guy asks for a bribe for his answer. Mountain tries to intimidate him, and fails miserably

Matthias also tried (and failed) to intimidate, but with Astrid’s help, the criminal was successfully intimidated.

Lord Hassan does indeed live in this town (or at least the castle nearby it), and he does not seem to be entirely well-liked by the people.

None of the complaints are super-bad, though….”trash day changes too much”, “the cost of living is too high”, “there’s too many damned foreigners-” Okay. Okay. We get the point.

“Udaji’s gonna look herself up and down from her boots to her flower crown and ask: “Do I look like a cop??’.”

“If we’re gonna ‘case this castle’, may I recommend not sending the Tiefling or the Dragonborn?”

Matthias goes out to scout, and finds out that Lord Hassan has ‘appointment times’ where he is available to the public - the next time being 2pm the next day.

He signs up the party for the 2pm meeting and comes back to the inn where the rest of us are waiting.

“I have been giving you guys tons and tons and TONS of money! You know you can spend it, right??”

The local armorer can upgrade our weapons with silver, but it would take two days, and we don’t expect to be in town that long...bummer.

I bought some new Studded Leather Armor for Udaji, sold her original Leather Armor, AND got it refined - my bby now has an AC of 16 now!

“Why do you still have all these rotten apples in your inventory?!”/”She’s fermenting them!”

Matthias’ player had him eat twenty rotten apples in one sitting just to spite the DM (their sister).

He then had to go throw up in the harbor.

So earlier, Matthias horribly embarrassed Astrid back in the alley, and now she’s refusing to talk to him.

Colette is confirmed for 19 and Udaji is still the baby of the party at 17.

The rest of the party is hanging out in the tavern, completely unawares, as Astrid yeets herself out a second story window to avoid talking to her father.

The innkeeper gave Udaji some alcohol, and Mountain casually stole it, drank it, and said “Underaged drinking is bad.”

Everyone goes around placing dinner orders at the inn and Udaji orders an entire chicken.

Astrid came back after brooding out in the wilderness for a few hours and we settled down to sleep.

Astrid steals a crown that Matthias had ‘found’ in an earlier session for Colette, arguing that “she’s actual royalty, and we’re going to talk to a Lord tomorrow, so we need to make the best impression”.

We also get a ‘glow-up’ montage as Astrid uses Matthias’ disguise kit to alter Colette’s appearance (bc if Lord Hassan really DID try to murder her, then walking straight back into his castle with no disguise would be a death sentence).

Still refusing to talk to her father, Astrid paid a very confused and slightly offended Colette to bring her breakfast in her room, just so she didn’t have to look at Matthias’ smug elven face.

Astrid also does not join us at the castle.

The Lord that we meet in the castle…..is NOT the same Lord that tried to kill Colette.

“It is kind of rude to show up for your scheduled appointment and just stand at the door, not saying anything.”

Colette storms past the party to demand an explanation of Lord Hassan, who is very unimpressed with this strange woman’s attitude.

“She’s a little upsetti spaghetti.”

Udaji’s soothing lute music saves the day again.

We tell the Lord that we are from the land of Swadlin, and were sent to investigate a series of deaths.

This Lord Hassan is a widower who is deeply faithful to his late wife and has no intentions of marrying again, and is VERY confused to hear that someone is using his name.

An advisor steps forward to take over the situation, and Matthias’ successful Insight roll gives him TERRIBLE vibes.

“He’s the kind of person whose teeth are too straight; too white.”

This advisor offered to pay us to investigate who was impersonating his Lord, and despite the bad vibes, Matthias agrees.

“Maybe DON’T intimidate the advisor while surrounded by guards.”

“He’s essentially offering you $7,000 EACH.”

We got sent off to investigate this impersonation of a Lord, and went back to the inn to try and shake off the Bad Vibes and calm Colette down.

Colette draws us a (rough) sketch of a frowning man with a pointed hairline and stiff moustache as the man who threw her off the bridge.

*two minutes of the DM (lovingly) insulting her cat in the background*

Colette says he was incredibly handsome, but Udaji just doesn’t see it.

We decide to try following the river upstream until we find a bridge that matches the one Colette was thrown off of.

Colette uses some of Matthias’ paper to write a letter to her parents, and asks Udaji to come with her to find a sailor to deliver it to her parents (for a modest fee).

The DM brought up the map and showed us the island of Mir, where Colette was from. It is a tiny dot out in the ocean, down in the far right bottom corner of the map. No wonder she needed to sail for two months!

“Matthias drinks one drink and then is blackout drunk.”/”Why do you think I have a kid?”

When we leveled up I took “Suggestion” as my next 2nd level spell, and I absolutely cannot wait to use it.

I CAN TAKE THE “DRAGON WINGS” RACIAL FEATURE AND GIVE UDAJI A 20FT WINGSPAN! Oooooooh boy the sTORYTELLING I can do with this!!!

[lordgeebsdom]

2019, a year in review: Superlative Edition

-Gareth Bill

Athlete of the year:  Lamar Jackson - QB Baltimore Ravens.  HM: Kawhi Leonard - SF Toronto/LA

Lamar Jackson came out of nowhere to light the league on fire in 2019 breaking Michael Vick’s all-time record for rushing yards by a Quarterback and redefining the position in the process.  From his five touchdown performance in Miami to being the assumed MVP, there wasn’t a week where Lamar Jackson didn’t dominate headlines and he continues to show superiority as Baltimore has secured the Number 1 seed in the AFC.  Honorable mention goes to Kawhi Leonard for producing the first ever buzzer beater in a game 7 in NBA history and for also bringing Canada their first NBA title.  Even against a Kevin Durant-less Golden State Warriors team, Leonard stepped up and delivered when it counted most.

Song of the year: Lost Lately- San Holo.  HM: Daemon Veil - EPROM & G Jones

Sander van Dijck, better known by his stage name “San Holo” surprised us with “Lost Lately” in June of this year.  A melancholic and melodic ballad of discovery and feeling “lost in aftermath of a breakup” spoke to feelings of insecurity and extends a friendly hand to those in need.  From an endearing marketing campaign featuring “lost” posters where fans could call a “helpline” to hear an exclusive sample of the song, to a music video taken straight from EDC: Bitbird executed an almost perfect build and drop for “Lost Lately.”  Great followup work to last years “Album1” and I definitely am excited about his future projects for 2020.  Honorable mention goes to the IDM monster “Daemon Veil” by EPROM and G Jones.  Plain and simple, I loved this ear worm.  There’s so much going on from the initial baseline drop to the stuttering minefield of drops and turns that follows before a calming conclusion.  Every time I hear this track, I see it too: the flying snares, the zips, zooms and wubs, the story it tells me….its captivating and satisfying.  While it isn’t as friendly for casual listening like my 2018 song of the year “Time” (also by G Jones), Daemon Veil is an IDM banger that I’ll continue to blast well into 2020 and beyond.

Album of the year: Good Faith- Madeon.  HM: Hollywood’s Bleeding - Post Malone

This was a tough call for me, there was a lot of great albums that came to us in 2019 but Madeon’s “Good Faith” stands tall above the rest.  From the initial singles of “All My Friends,” and “Dream, Dream, Dream,” to the unexpected bangers of “Miracle,” and “No Fear, No More,”: “Good Faith” makes a solid argument not just for album of the year but possibly even for the decade and I simply cannot recommend it enough.  Honorable Mention goes to “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone.  Like many, I have thoroughly enjoyed the evolution of Post Malone from SoundCloud sensation to certified super-star, and “Hollywood’s Bleeding” continues to show us that this artist is just getting started.  I loved “Goodbyes,” “Circles,” “Sunflower,” and many other tracks on that album, and I’m confident many others did as well. Rapper, Rockstar, Soul-singer and bro: best of luck in 2020 and beyond Post, we’re all eagerly watching.

Movie of the year: Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.  HM: Avengers: Endgame

Easily the most contested category of the year and the hardest decision made in these superlatives.  2019 produced some awesome films but Tom Hanks’s take on Fred Rogers gave me chills that I hadn’t felt since seeing Christopher Reeve’s Superman as a child.  Like Superman, his presence among adults and children alike would universally cause awe and calm, almost god-like tranquility through security. In a year that was defined by division, unrest, cruelty, and anger: Fred Rogers reminds us that there’s still a great deal of hope for humanity, and it all starts with being a good neighbor.  Young, old and everyone in between can learn something from this deeply affecting story about humanity and connection.  Honorable mention goes to Avengers: Endgame for managing to be the only major franchise ending this year (Game of Thrones, Avengers, Star Wars) that managed to do it with a consensus BANG!  It was a 3 hour film that somehow felt like an hour and half, and when Captain America held Mjornir with every Avenger ever at his back and said “Avengers, Assemble!”, I couldn’t help but fist pump with a grin from ear to ear.  Tony Stark’s dying words of “I am Iron-Man,” gave me goosebumps and Black Widow’s death made me feel genuine loss: The Marvel Cinematic Universe managed to execute a singular plan and vision over 23 films and that is truly exceptional. 

Actor/Actress of the year: Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur/Joker.  HM: Florence Pugh - Midsommar

Joaquin Phoenix’s long anticipated and controversial performance as Joker was the best singular work I saw this year.  Authentic, gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, and anything but boring: Joker gave us the next step in comic book cinema and a new cultural icon in the process.  Arthur Fleck is a poster child for mental illness, something that currently is at the forefront of our society and gave the general public a poster child for such conditions.  Phoenix’s Joker will one day be recognized in the same light as we currently see Che: an underdog figure of resistance and revolution standing against a seemingly unstoppable status quo and inspiring the unseen masses in the process.  Honorable mention has to go to one of my new favorites in Florence Pugh and her performance as Dani in “Midsommar”.  Her pain, confusion, and ultimate triumph that unravels throughout a trip to a small village in Europe during their mid-summer festival is the stuff of “slow-burn horror” wet-dreams.  There’s a scene early on where her character has to convey immense grief after suffering a personal tragedy and I can still hear that crying in the most haunting way.  Pugh’s performance stuck with me in a year full of great ones, and I’m very excited to see her future work including “Black Widow” in May.  

Television show of the year: Watchmen- HBO.   HM: Good Omens - Amazon Prime

Watchmen blew my mind, and I the less I say about it, the better.  A continuation of the story told in my favorite book of all-time, “Watchmen” managed to tie together many loose plot threads from that story while also moving the universe forward in new and exciting ways that matched the tone of the graphic novel.  Regina King’s “Sister Night” was a complex, likable, and tragic protagonist uniquely qualified to walk us through this new chapter, and without spoiling things anymore than I already may have: YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS.  Honorable Mention goes to Good Omens on Amazon Prime.  To any familiar with the story or Neil Gaiman’s work in general, you know what to expect: deep stories, complex and likable characters, and witty dialogue that will make you pause and think or laugh feverishly in equal measure.  Its only 5 episodes, so there’s really no excuse to not dive into this one and see how the world ends…..or rather was supposed to…

Game of the year: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4/XboxOne/PC. HM: Apex Legends - PS4/PC/XboxOne

From Softwares’ “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” stands tall in a year that finally saw long awaited projects like Obsidian’s “Outer Worlds” and Kojima’s “Death Stranding” get long-awaited releases.  An exciting and more stealthy evolution of the Dark Souls combat system made me feel like a real Ninja for the first time since Ninja Gaiden Black on my original Xbox.  The demanding, but fair gameplay combined with a variation of environments including haunted Japanese forests, Sengoku Temples, Palaces and gory battlefields came together to give the most complete package I played in 2019. Just don’t be too surprised if the final boss gives you problems because that f***er can almost made me break a controller.  Honorable mention goes to the game that managed to dethrone “Fortnite” as the most popular game for like a whole two months.  Respawn entertainment developed the awesome Titanfall series that I personally enjoyed and rumors had been circulating for quite awhile that they were looking to expand Titanfall into the booming genre of BR or Battle Royale.  Apex Legends is the answer to those prayers and still continues to push out new skins, content and weapons at a regular rate.  Did I mention it is also completely free to play? 

Story of the year: President Trump becomes the third President to ever be impeached 12/19

HM: Henry Nobrega wins the fucking BVN Football Fantasy Football title. 11/19

To be perfectly honest, this is the first category that really could have gone either way for me.  President Trump becoming the third President in US history to be impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of congress was massive; regardless of how you feel about President Orangutan.  His tenure as President has produced a number of newsworthy moments but this story stood out among the others for sheer importance and international embarrassment.  Speaking of embarrassment, that’s essentially what my good friend Henry’s fantasy football team has managed to be every year that I’ve played with him.  A perennial basement dweller that typically auto drafts due to some BS excuse, and a resident near the bottom of our power rankings but this year he flipped that script on its head.  He managed to draft my Athlete of the year, Lamar Jackson, and the last great white running back in Christian McCaffrey.  Not only did Henry surpass his preseason ranking of bottom, he managed to win both regular season and postseason titles and beat a solid team by Graham Heck in the process.  I got love for you bro, but I’m still perplexed on how your season managed to be as dominant as it was.  Sorry Greta Thunberg, but these stories had my jaw on the floor, maybe next year lil’ Queen.

Meme of the year: Baby Yoda of the Disney+ show “The Mandolorian” 

Was there every really a doubt here?  Baby Yoda or “The Child” as he’s known on the show is the biggest pop culture icon born on the internet in 2019.  The gap between Baby Yoda and what I considered to be an honorable mention was so wide that he will officially stand alone in this category.  Baby Yoda’s cuteness managed to melt even my stone cold heart this year and that is absolutely an achievement.  What made this creature so endearing was the universal applicability though music, sports, culture, and food: Baby Yoda was everywhere and the internet found common ground and shared meaning through sharing little graphics everywhere prominently featuring him as the centerpiece.  Well played Jon Favreau, we love this little guy and everyone thanks you for creating him.  

[secondhand-sheep-shack]

Leaders vs supervisors

We have had our new 2nd shift supervisor being in charge for the last 2 weeks. This last week was his first week flying solo.

Our department head wandered onto the production floor for a change and decided to bother me...I mean inquire about a few things with me. I'm one of the few operators who doesn't run away when he's near. I'm also not a millennial.

So it went as follows. (I only sort of apologize for the length.)

G (East T Department Production Manager)

M (me, level II operator)

I'm at the end of my line checking finished parts.

G: So I've observed something...

M: (thinking to myself - please go away so I can do my job, of course you observed something, you have a crow's nest view of the whole department... Duh) Hi, sir. And what have you observed?

G: Well, you can stop checking parts while we talk. (So I stopped) I've noticed that 2nd shift's production is up, even above weekly targets which have nearly quadrupled in the last 8 months. Would you happen to have any idea why or how this is occurring?

M: Well, sir, we have been working 6 and 7 days to make what we've been told is target. Now you're saying that in 5 days we've hit a 7 day target? Am I correct in understanding what you said? (Mentally yes I know why this is, let's test the manager)

G: Yes, that's accurate. 2nd shift scrap is down, totals are up, fewer parts are being held for quality rechecks. So do you have any clue why?

M: (why did you pick me to bother, why not go ask P?) Well, sir, do you know about when this change occurred? (Yeah, probably 2 weeks ago)

G: Well it started with increased production goals just after plant shutdown. But really the numbers have changed greatest in the last 21 days.

M: Sir, I'm pretty sure you could ask anyone in this department this question and get a similar answer. But it's having a good leader.

G: What do you mean?

M: (mother of God either this is a test or you're a fucking idiot, it's probably both) Well, I'm not trying to speak I'll of anyone, but you saw the biggest change starting the day P took over as our supervisor. The change boils down to the difference between a good leader and a good supervisor.

G: But all supervisors are good leaders.

M: (how deeply do I want to dig this hole for myself) Sir, I kindly disagree. Yes, there are supervisors who are good leaders, but not all good supervisors can be good leaders. Please let me finish (as he goes to interrupt me). P taking over changed the outcome of each day because P is a good leader and right now, most of us would jump at the chance to make him proud to be our supervisor. P was 3 years a line operator, 7 years a set up tech, and now he's our leader. Most of us probably don't see him just as a supervisor because he's not just that. He's not just supervising us, he's leading us. He's leading by example. He's a good leader who is also a supervisor.

G: But nothing has changed. Just the person at the desk.

M: That's my point. It's the change in 'command' structure. P has been one of us as operators. He knows how frustrating these machines can be. He's fixed them for 7 years. Again, I'm not trying to come off as mean, but there's a difference. And it shows. J was an outside hire and never ran lines, never did setup. He knew next to nothing about half of the equipment. He'd rather goof around than listen to someone having a problem. He'd never be available to help his team do better.

I'll give you two examples from my perspective.

You don't want me running these two lines. Because I'm not speedy like B or C. But you know we're shorthanded so you're tolerating me being in these 2 lines. I've had 45 minutes of training on 6 by 3 different people in 3 different occasions and 3 different parts. I'm still nowhere near comfortable with that line. And it needs a constant observer, we don't have one. Which is why you get what I can eek out in 8 hours. As I self teach. If I have an issue, I can go to P who leaves the desk to come help me and then teaches me what he did to fix the problem. I've learned more in 3-5 minute fixes from him than I did from all 45 from 3 other people.

G: OK, go on.

M: Second. Earlier this week I had a bad night on 6 I lost track of time and I had both of these tables full to check, mark, and basket. I had a full out table on 6 that needed to be carefully checked before carting. I had all that and 10 minutes to get numbers and turn in paperwork. J was still doing the end of day supervisor sign offs. P heard my issue. He asked a coworker to empty 6 and check the parts. I was finishing paperwork and went to go dump this line and I found both tables cleared. I asked E if she did it. She said she didn't know how. She told me P, my supervisor did it. P saw an operator having a problem and he solved it. He didn't need to do all of it, he didn't need to do any of it. But he chose to, leading by example.

Now at the end of the night, whoever is done first walks lines and offers to help others who need a hand. Yes, the person changed, but so did the job. If we need help P gets us help or comes to try to fix it himself and it shows.

Good leaders lead. Lead by example. Lead the way. Lead their team. Good supervisors observe, oversee and supervise. P is a good leader. K is a good leader even before he got TL promotion. J is a good superving TL, he's not a leader. Not like P & K are.

G: That's a very astute and detailed observation.

M: You asked. I answered the way I felt best answered your question.

G: Apparently I need to spend more time on the floor.

M: It would let you see things as your staff sees them. You hounding J about my line being redlit doesn't seem like you read the hourly sheets. Do you know that this line has been breaking drills, inserts in Op1 and 3 every 75 cuts? It's in my hourlies. Just because you see a redlit line doesn't mean that the operator isn't trying to keep the line running. You see from your office lines idle, you aren't seeing why.

G: Thank you for speaking with me, get back to work. Oh and make sure you go talk to P at the end of shift.

M: Uh. OK sir. (Oh great you stepped in it...) I waited all shift and went to talk to P at the end of shift.

P: I need to talk to you after everyone else clocks out...

M: Uh. um. OK. I guess.

P: It's nothing bad.

M: OK

Everyone else bee lines for the clock.

M: You needed to see me boss?

P: Whatever you said to G earlier had him on the phone to me as soon as he got back upstairs. No. That's not a bad thing. (He hands me and envelope with my name on it.)

Me: I'm confused.

P: Go clock out and open it before you leave.

M: (cloak and dagger bs is not good for my anxiety) OK, see you tomorrow P.

P: grinning, you too.

I go to clock out, get in the hallway to the exit and open the envelope. Out falls a gift card and a 2 sheet folded paper.

The letter bore my name and said that I was being recognized for my honesty, my diligence and for the education I gave my department head.

The second sheet was a certificate bearing my name and the title Level III operator. Along with the words $0.50/hr pay raise. Signed by both G and P.

Apparently G was confused because I'd never gotten moved to lvl III even though I had been with the company more than a year and had mastered the hardest line in our department. J never submitted the request. It was filled out sitting in the drafts of the department supervisor email since thanksgiving.

G called P to ask why I hadn't gotten a level promotion since august. P inquired and fixed the oversight. G also gave P a gift card too. For leading his team well.

My gift card was because I taught an old dog a new trick.

G was in on Saturday mid shift and was walking the lines watching his operators and his equipment. 1st shift wasn't happy he was there, but apparently some minor issues got fixed quickly because it was stupid to ignore the problems.

Lead. By. Example.

Don't push from behind. Pull your team up. Make them better by choice.

[wellesleyunderground]

Chatting union organizing with Hailey Huget ‘10, Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE)

Hailey Huget ’10 is a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Georgetown University who, for the past several years, has been working to organize a labor union of her peers. In November 2018, 84% of graduate employees at Georgetown voted in favor of unionizing (with 555 voting ‘yes’ and 108 ‘no’). Now their union, Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE), is bargaining their first contract with Georgetown. 

Photo: the day we won our election. This is the group that delivered our letter declaring our 'intent to bargain' a first contract to the President of Georgetown.

Interview questions by Hoi-Fei Mok ‘10 (@alifeofgreen), WU Managing Editor

WU: Thanks for joining us, Hailey! Congratulations on winning the recognition for your union at Georgetown University. Let’s start at the beginning, why is it important for people to unionize?

HH: There are so many reasons it is important to unionize, but the most important boils down to principle: you deserve a voice in your working conditions. Bosses wield an enormous and disproportionate amount of power over their employees, so forming a union is one way to tip the balance of power back toward workers. Doing so can have all kinds of great benefits for employees, like higher pay, better benefits, access to neutral grievance and reporting procedures to address harassment and discrimination, among many others.  

WU: You mentioned that when the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE) first started a few years ago that you never imagined winning union election a in this political climate against unions. How were you able to build pressure for a win? What conditions at Georgetown were you looking to change?

HH: The close to 1,000 graduate student-employees that GAGE now represents have a huge range of conditions that they are looking to change, but some of the highest-priority issues (based on a recent survey of GAGE members) include higher pay; more comprehensive healthcare, including dental, mental health, and vision care; and better protections against harassment and discrimination. These priorities weren’t really a surprise to me, insofar as they align with issues that grads brought up in the many conversations we had with them about unionizing. For example, I would have guessed that pay improvements would be among the top issues to emerge from the survey that we did, as by some estimates, we don’t get paid a living wage for the cost of living in DC. I also wasn’t surprised about mental healthcare being a priority either, as graduate students are disproportionately likely to struggle with mental-health issues and the resources we have to address this at Georgetown are inadequate.  

We built pressure for a win by, primarily, building our base of support among graduate employees and by putting their needs first in our messaging. One tactic that was really effective was the ‘one-on-one conversation,’ which is just as it sounds—just sitting down with another grad to ask them questions and figure out what they’d like to change, if anything, about their experience at Georgetown. In doing this, it’s crucial not to assume that you already know what they care about or ‘fish’ for specific issues; you have to listen, letting them do most of the talking. Once you’ve listened to someone and figured out what their authentic issues and concerns are—maybe they struggle to pay their rent, maybe they were sexually harassed, maybe they were unable to take disability or medical leave without losing their health insurance, etc.—you as the organizer can help them connect the dots to show how forming a union would help them address their specific issues. This tactic helped us build a strong base of support going into our election, where 84% of grads who cast votes voted in favor of unionization.

WU: What role does the National Labor Relations Board play in union creation? Did they pose a challenge to your organizing and if so, what was your strategy for circumventing them?

HH: The NLRB is the federal agency that is supposed to enforce your rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA); they typically oversee union elections, for example. They also issue interpretations of the NLRA where there are contested issues or where the law is underdetermined. This is important for understanding our campaign at Georgetown because in 2016, the NLRB issued a ruling that held that graduate & undergraduate employees at private universities are workers and thus have rights to unionize. (More specifically, the ruling held that you can be a student of a private university and an employee of a private university at the same time; that having a ‘student’ role doesn’t preclude you also having an ‘employee’ role.)

Unfortunately, the NLRB is staffed by political appointees, so the 2016 ruling that declared us ‘workers’ with rights to unionize happened because Obama’s appointees sat on the board. Now, Trump’s appointees sit on the board. Because they are anti-labor, there is a strong possibility that they would, if given the opportunity, reverse the 2016 ruling that gave grad workers the right to form unions at private universities.

This is why we were so keen on circumventing the NLRB in forming our union. We did that by pressuring Georgetown to agree to a private election agreement, where our election would occur outside of the auspices of the NLRB. The reason we advocated for a private election is that if we went the NLRB route, Georgetown could legally challenge the outcome of the election on the grounds that they don't think we are workers. This could result in not only the results of our election being overturned, but in Georgetown being the school that challenged the 2016 NRLB decision and took away union rights for grads all over the country. Our private election blocked that possibility and guaranteed that Georgetown would not only respect the outcome of the election but that the 2016 ruling would be protected.

WU: When GAGE first approached the Georgetown president with the request to unionize graduate students, there was pushback from the university. What was that experience like to negotiate with them?

HH: Georgetown’s first reaction in response to learning of our union campaign was pretty extreme: they declared that graduate employees didn’t count as employees at all, because the work we perform for Georgetown is primarily for our educational benefit. All graduate employees knew this was total BS, as did many other members of the Georgetown community who signed our petitions, attended our rallies, wrote letters of support, etc. After all, many grads at Georgetown—like me—teach undergraduate courses as the sole instructor of record. In other words, I perform the same job that tenured faculty do. Undergrads also pay the same amount in tuition for a class taught by a graduate instructor as they do for a class taught by a tenured faculty member. So it’s bizarre to claim that graduate employees’ work isn’t ‘work’ solely on the grounds that we are also students working toward graduate degrees.

One reason there was sustained pressure on the Georgetown administration from the broader community was because Georgetown prides itself on being a pro-labor university. Their pro-labor stance is rooted in Georgetown’s Jesuit affiliation and specific Catholic teachings emphasizing the dignity of labor. Grads, and many other members of our community, felt the administration’s response to our campaign was hypocritical. We were able to use that sentiment to put pressure on the university. Eventually enough important people and constituencies within the university came around to supporting us that the Georgetown administration caved and agreed to let us vote on whether or not we wanted to unionize—and, even better, to respect the outcome of that vote. This meant that, if we won the election, they agreed to recognize our union and sit down to bargain a contract for graduate employees. (And now that we have won, they are making good on that commitment and have been meeting with our Bargaining Team to negotiate a contract.)

WU: Was there a catalyst moment that caused a change in the university to allow the union vote after the initial refusal of support?

HH: I’d say rather than one moment that caused them to shift their opinion, it was more of a sustained pressure campaign that spanned several months. After Georgetown initially came out strongly against even our right to vote for or against union representation, we began a pressure campaign that sought to shame Georgetown for hypocritically abandoning its Jesuit values. Once it became clear to higher-ups at Georgetown that we had community support on our side, that we were prepared to drag their pro-labor ‘brand’ through the mud in the media, and that we were planning to picket outside of venues where they were hoping to raise money from alumni, they started gradually backing down and softening their position.

WU: Union membership in the US finally saw an increase in 2017, after a long decline (as illustrated in a comic by the Nib). Young people under 35 are particularly joining unions more than other age groups. What do you think has contributed to that? Do you see other academic institutions following suit after Georgetown?

HH: The question of why young people are joining unions more than other groups is a great question—and I’m sure it has a long historical and sociological answer that I’m not equipped to give. My vague sense, however, is that it is related to the reasons why ever-increasing numbers of young people are adopting more and more left-wing political views, including critiques of capitalism. The economic system that saddles many of us with enormous student loan debt and then requires us to compete with huge numbers of other candidates for low-paying, precarious, or unfulfilling jobs is clearly making us miserable and also making us feel like we have no control over how our lives go. There is also a sense, I think, in which young people feel alienated and isolated from one another, as economic pressure forces us more and more to see our peers as competitors for scarce jobs. One way to fight this lack of control is to reclaim power in your workplace and ensure that you have a voice in your working conditions. Unions are also a great way to break out of feeling alienated from your peers and help you start to conceptualize your well-being as fundamentally bound up with the welfare of others.  

I hope that other graduate employees follow us in organizing unions at their institutions, just as we followed in the footsteps of some pioneering campaigns that came before us (such as Yale, Columbia, NYU, University of Michigan, etc). I hope that, in particular, graduate employees at Catholic and Jesuit universities will be able to point to our campaign to pressure their own institutions to honor religious commitments to the dignity of labor.

WU: Do you have any advice for workers out there looking to unionize?

HH: There are differences in job sectors, employment contexts, etc. that make it the case that the strategies and tactics that we employed to win at Georgetown won’t necessarily succeed everywhere. But there is one general thing that I can say. It is a good default position to expect your bosses—no matter how friendly or beneficent they are or have been in the past---to react badly to your unionizing efforts. If they don’t resort to breaking the law, they will almost certainly do other things to disingenuously smear your efforts. They may say manipulative things like, ‘we are a family,’ ‘my door is always open for addressing concerns,’ or even, ‘you’re too privileged for a union.’ All of these are well-worn talking points that bosses use to try to make you lose confidence in your conviction that you need a union. It’s important to be able to recognize these as boilerplate anti-union propaganda and also to prepare prospective union members for hearing this kind of pushback.

[darkmoonslayer]

Little Stark Part 3

Part 4

Tony wakes up to screaming. He immediately recognizes it as Avery, Tony jumps out of bed forgetting about him being shirtless he runs quickly into Averys room. Avery is tossing on the bed screaming, tears running down her cheeks

“I’m sorry it wont happen again.” Avery pleaded in her dream. Tony Runs to her bed and sits down to grab her softly.

“Hey Avery, wake up. It’s just a dream” Tony says to her. Averys eyes open her body sitting up as she gasps.

“Hey its okay it was just a dream your safe” Tony says, Avery falls into tony sobbing into Tonys chest.

By now the screaming and cries had woken the Steve and Bucky who happened to be the only others who had this floor. Steve come running to the open door, Bucky right behind him. They both stopped when they saw Avery was safe and it was nightmares. Tony looked over to them and nodded and waved them saying he got it. They left shortly after that.

Tony rocked Avery back and forth humming to a random tune that popped into his head. Most likely a rock song but he made it work.

“It’s okay sweetheart. Your safe now” Tony says as he rubs bs her back

“Y-You wont s-send me b-b-back to mom-my?” Avery hiccups as her tears slow down.

“No, i will never send you back to her. You are stuck with me” Tonys smiles down to her. Avery cuddles up to tony.

“How about we get something to drink?” Tony asks. Avery nods not saying anything as she clings to Tonys chest.

Tony gets up and caries her to the kitchen. With Avery in his arms he makes two small glasses of warm milk and he sits down with her cuddling up to him. They both sit in silence as they drink there milk, once they are done tony puts away the glasses and walks back to his room.

“Wanna sleep with me tonight?” Tony asks Avery nods in response and tony gets into his bed. Avery clings onto him as he pulls the blanket up. And soon the two of them are asleep.

The next day Tony wakes up to Avery gone. He quickly puts a shirt on, so he was in sweats and a shirt. He grabs his phone and checks the bathroom.

“Friday where is Avery” Tony says as he panics from not being able to find her.

“She is in the kitchen” Friday says

“How did she get there?” Tony asks sighing in relief.

“She walked” Friday said

“By herself?” Tony asks as he starts walking to the elevator.

“Yes boss” Friday says. Tony smirks. Already smart like her father, tony thinks to himself as he gets into the elevator.

Tony makes it to the floor with the kitchen on it. He walks in to see Steve making pancakes with Avery on a stool besides him. Her nose has some flower on it as she mixes the bowl of pancake mix. Tonys shoulders relax seeing her smile and laugh at Steve doing silly stuff. Tony walks up to the two.

“Hey guys” Tony says walking to the coffee pot to make a pot of coffee.

“Daddy” Avery squeals pointing to Tony.

“Look what Steve and i are making!” Avery points to the bowl of pancake mix and the few pancakes that were still on the stove.

“Thats amazing sweetheart.” Tony says ruffling her hair. She giggles as she goes back to helping Steve.

After Tony makes his coffee he sits at the island watching the two. About half an hour later the others all start to trickle in one by one. Once breakfast was made everyone sat down and chatted. Telling everyone’s day plans.

“Boss, Cho would like to see You, Avery, and Bruce in the Medical wing once you all are done with breakfast” Friday states to Tony

“Okay thanks Friday” Tony says Avery looks over to Tony confused

“There is a person in the ceiling?” Avery asks tony

“Oh no sweetheart. Thats the IA, Its a computer that i built. I call it Friday. She helps runs the house” Tony explains. Avery nods understanding, she says a hello to Friday before going back to eat. After 20 minutes of eating everyone finishes up and goes there separate ways. Bruce Tony and Avery walks together to the medical wing. Avery skips down the hallway as the two walk a few feet behind.

“You know what this is about? Why do you think she needs me?” Bruce asks Tony

“I don’t know” Tony says. They make it down to the room and Avery hops up on the table. Dr Cho takes Tony and Bruce a side and has everyone sit down.

“Whats wrong doc?” Tony asks a nervousness settles into his chest.

“So while looking at some of the scans done i noticed something. I looked over her case in more detail, it looks like she is enhanced.” Dr Cho says pulling some screens up with some scans.

“En-Enhanced?” Tony asks puzzled. He glances at Avery to see her glances at the wall art smiling

“Thats intresting, we will have to take some better scans but it does look different.” Bruce says studying the scans.

“I don’t think she knows, we can’t be sure what they are until we do more research. We don’t know when they will start showing.” Dr Cho says.

“do we know how?” Tony asks

“We have to do more tests” Dr. Cho says. Tony nods and bruce and Dr Cho start on the test. Taking blood, MRI, CAT Scan, and X-Rays. They also have Friday scan Avery as well.

After the tests Dr Cho and bruce start going over the tests as Tony and Avery leave to the living-room. By then there are multiple boxes laying around. Tony looks at the label on the boxes to see Averys name on them.

“Hey look Avery i got you some more clothes and toys. You can choose what you want” Tony says

“Really?” Avery gasps. Tony nods and immediately she squeals in excitement and runs up to the boxes. Tony opens the boxes and starts pulling some of the toys out. Avery starts picking a variety of toys. A few stuffed animals, baby dolls, barbies, toy cars, a bunch of coloring books with markers and crayons, and a bunch of legos.

After Avery was done picking out toys Tony opens the boxes of clothes. Tony helps her pick her clothes, He makes sure she has everything she needed. Some underwear, shirts, pants, shorts, pjs, jackets, socks,bathing suit, dresses, leggings, and multiple shoes. Once they have everything picked out Tony helps carry the stuff to Averys room.

Tony and Avery then put everything away.

“Okay, you need to take a bath, did you want to do that now or later tonight?” Tony asks Avery. She takes a minute to think before answering.

“Now please” Avery says. Tony nods before walking into the bathroom. He starts filling the bath with warm water, making sure its not to hot.He puts in some bubble bath before he grabs a towel, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Tony turns to Avery and helps her out of her clothes before helping her into the bath. He helps her bathe making sure to be careful of the still healing cuts.

Tony worries he’s doing something wrong. He has never had to do something like this so he is winging it. After she was clean he helps her dry and dress. She wears a shirt saying ‘inventor in the making’ shirt, leggings and socks.

“Can you braid my hair?” Avery asks

“You know i don’t know how but let me see if someone will help me learn” Tony says

“Friday will you ask Nat to help me learn how to do Averys hair. If she will have her come to Averys room with some hair elastics please?” Tony asks Friday.

“Yes boss” Friday says a second later Friday responds

“She will be here in a few minutes.” Friday says. Tony grabs a hair brush and has Avery sit on her bed in-front of Tony’s legs. Tony starts brushing her hair trying not to hurt her.

Just as Tony finishes brushing the knots out of her hair Nat knocks then comes in. Nat smiles as she holds a small zip up baggie that has a bunch of small elastics. After Nat talks with Avery about what she wants Nat sits behind Avery, Tony to the side of her watching her every move.

Nat makes one braid as she talks through it to instruct tony. Then she has tony do the second one. After a little while Tony braid doesn’t look that bad. Tony thanks Nat before she leaves.

By now its about lunch so Tony takes Avery to make both of them ham sandwiches and some fruit.

“What do you want to do the rest of today?” Tony asks Avery.

“Watch movies” Avery says excitedly.

“Okay, but i do have to work a little bit but we can do that” Tony says Avery nods then helps Tony put her dish into the sink. She grabs the Stuffed bear she had been holding onto since she left her room. Tony grabs his laptop and goes to the couch. Avery picks Cinderella and starts watching it. Avery cuddles up to Tonys side, and about half way through the movie she is sleeping.

[newsieofnj]

Prompt 46 davey x reader??

Hi! (this is the first like fic I've written in forever so if it’s poorly written I’m sorry)

enjoy!

“…and so…ah welcome gentlemen!”greeted your history teacher enthusiastically.

               Youlooked up to see David Jacobs and a kid you recognized as Albert walk into yourclass. Your history teacher Mr. Mehg walked over to them and shook their hands.Your face was as red as a tomato and you subconsciously began to sink furtherdown in your seat.

               “Y/N?Are you okay?” asked Albert when he noticed you staring at them. You knew thetwo newsies from the summer prior.  Youworked as a shoe shiner in New York City, sharing the beat with the other newsboys.During the strike over the summer, shoe shiners, florists, bakers and other Newsiesrallied against the bosses for an equal shot at jobs. Because of this, you hadto interact with the newsies more than you anticipated. You became close withBlink and Tommy Boy in particular, but Albert was always around. And so wasDavid. Growing up with Davey Jacobs living across the street, you were surethat you knew almost all you could know about him but watching him trying tojuggle his family, school, and his job…You weren’t sure when the feelingsdeveloped, but you certainly knew they were there each time he glanced at you. Italso broke your heart. Despite him being in such close proximity your wholelife, you thought that he would never think to look at you. This year, you madejust enough money to go to school and Davey helped boys like Albert get toschool as well. All of a sudden the laughter from the two seniors and teachersubsided and Mr. Mehg noticed your lack of breathing.

               Then heconnected the dots.

               “Y/N?”he asked as he walked over to you. Davey and Albert followed suit. “Y/N, areyou making eyes at Mr. David here?” All the color left your face.

               “I amdoing nothing of the sort!” you replied indignantly.

               “Verywell then…” responded Mr. Mehg. He led the two boys out of the room and wishedthem a good day. You still wanted one last glance of Davey, so as he left youstole a glance. Coincidentally he did the same to you, and winked as he shutthe door.  Soon you were dismissed, butyou were asked to stay behind.

               Laterthat day you were sitting on the steps of the lodging house. Blink and TommyBoy were roughhousing in front of you, when Davey appeared.

               “Oh…”he said upon seeing you. “I wasn’t counting on you to show up…” you rolled youreyes and got up to leave, but he gently touched your arm, persuading you tostay. “So listen, Y/N, I overheard Mr. Mehg, and I figured now would be as gooda time as ever-”   his thoughts were interrupted by the kiss youplaced on his cheek.

               “I’msorry Davey…well..” the tables had turned when your thoughts were cut off, byhis lips on yours.

               “Y/N?What if I told you, I’ve been in love with you since we were just kids?” heasked once he pulled away.

               “Well,I’d call BS.” You laughed. “I didn’t think you’d be into me or even notice me,with all you’re doing!” you explained.

               “Waitseriously? I always felt that way too! I always thought you were you know outof my league and you’re just always so busy and active.” He explained. You bothstood there blushing and looking anywhere but each other. Blink got on Tommy Boy’sback and yelled at you two.

               “Justdate already!” they teased.

               And that’show your relationship began.

[stop-klancing-around]

Study Time

Well, its been awhile since I have Klanced Around (get it since I'm... nvm) We are back with a new installment of the Daily Shifts series with a full fic about their actual meeting (without the bickering). Thank you @raythenerdyfangirl  for betaing this for me.

You can also read it here on AO3 

Enjoy😇

Lance’s plans for the day has been blown to bits. First, Hunk had to call in for work for Janet because of a family emergency. Lance had asked Hunk if he wanted him to call in to keep Hunk company but, Hunk texted saying that he was alright and that there was no need to do that. That left Lance to his own devices. Lance could go to the city and spend some time there but he currently doesn’t have the funds to splurge on useless knick-knacks and overly priced foods. He could also stay in his dorm until it was time to go work his shift. Lance knows that he’s going to laze around and nap the entire day without getting much done. So he decides that today is the day that he would study on anatomy and physiology because he has a test on Monday.

That is mostly the reason why he is in front of the Smythe’s Library with a bookbag full of studying supplies. Part of Lance wants to actually study and not fail this test in a few days from now. Another part of him wants to bother the absolute hell out of one of the librarians that Lance knows that he is working at the moment. As soon as he walks into the library, he was greeted with the smell of old paper and coffee. Lance goes straight to the stairs and jogs up to the fourth floor. The fourth floor was void of actual people so it was easier for him to start and stay studying for ample amounts of time. After looking around, Lance takes a seat near a window and places his bag on the table to take out his notes and textbooks.

Lance starts to tackle the notes from his anatomy class with highlighters and worksheets. With the silence and occasional light taps of the keyboard from the other students on the floor, he easily finishes the first two thick packets that he printed out two days ago. Lance's phone gives out a tiny ping and he quickly reaches to put the device on silent, after checking what was the notification. With a quick unlock, Lance checks to see that it was one of his professors sending him more work for him to do before class. Lance begins to swear quietly. Normally, he wouldn't have minded the extra work being sent to his email but this particular professor for (koff) anatomy (koff) loves to send work very late. This email was no exception. He is down to 473 pages out of the 600 free pages the university issued to him and most of it is because of this class.

He sighs and gets up to semi pack up while grabbing a folder of printer paper from his bag. The library doesn't have the paper in the printer and buying from the library is too much for him. He hasn't been paid yet and the last thing he needs is to buy overly price paper when he can bring his own. He could go to the computer lab in the Balmerian Center but he is too lazy to make the walk.

Lance begins to walk around in search of an empty computer with a printer. A few minutes into the search, Lance notices a tall stack of books with a tiny figure next to it and decides to check it out. On further inspection, he recognizes the heavily freckled boy as Keith, the one who calls in to be walked over to his car every time, was just sitting in the corner brooding with a rack of books on one side and a tall, unstable stack of books on the other side reading of all things. Lance just looks at him with confusion. Understanding that yes, Keith works in the library as both a clerk and shelver, but this is ridiculous. Why spend your break on reading when you can actually leave for lunch? Keith could be studying for something for all he knows, but Lance starts to walk up to Keith with the full intent of telling him to leave for L-U-N-C-H.

“Hey, Keith” He gives Lance a quick look up from one of the books that he was reading and goes back to reading, paying Lance no mind. Lance was mildly offended and begins to pester him. "Muuuullleeeet. Keeeeefff. Freeeeckles." Lance loudly whispers to get his attention. Keith closes his book and looks up at Lance in annoyance.

“What do you want Lance? Can’t you tell I was working?” Lance rolls his eyes at the ‘work’ that Keith manages to pile up.

"Hardly, Freckles." Keith gunts before opening another book.

"Can you stop calling me that? It's annoying."

"But its a cute nickname though.”

“To you yeah but not to me.” Keith thinks that maybe if he ignores Lance hard enough he will leave quicker. He picks up from a bookmark he left from one of Shakespeare's plays with full intent on finishing the last act. Lance, on the other hand, didn’t take the hint to leave.

“Hey Keith, I looked at your blood test and I found out that you are 100% back on your bullshit.” The moment Lance's lips come to a complete stop, Keith looks Lance in his eyes and delivers a look of displeasure. He closes his book and clasps his hands together and looks up like he was pleading with God himself to give him the patience for today. He takes a deep breath and looks back at Lance.

“Lance, if I wasn’t working in a library at this very moment, I would of kick the ever-loving shit out of you. I’m not in the mood to deal and keep up with your antics”

“Are you sure because you have been talking with me for the past ten minutes. Apparently, you have the patience to keep up.” Lance walks up to Keith while the said boy gets up. They meet half-way into the tall shelves until they were at an elbow's length. Lance looks down at Keith, he isn’t that short but, MAN does Lance thrive off the height difference.

“My patience has been wearing real thin today, Lance. If you like to keep going I suggest you don’t.” There was a warning in Keith's voice.

“Are you threatening me?” Lance mocked a shocked face with a hand over his chest.

“It’s not a threat, it's a promise. Keep testing me.”

“Ooo, but freckles, I already gave you the pop quiz.” Keith knows that Lance is playing around, but it was starting to get to him. In the morning he had with a few of the students and actually kicking them out with a few verbal insults thrown at him, he is not having the greatest time at the moment. He holed himself in furthest corner study so that he could calm down. It just so happens that Lance found him before he could actually calm himself. He could feel himself getting pissed off. He was hoping that Lance was taking the hint to back off with this.

Lance, on the other hand, was enjoying this. He lives on riling up Keith. It's not that he had nothing to do like actually studying because he had intentions of looking for a computer to print out his assignments. Lance was just bored and didn’t really have anyone to study and talk with. He saw Keith and began to annoy him because he thought that just needed something to kickstart his day. Lance thought wrong this time when he notices that they got louder and Keith looks like he was about to use one of his burgundy high-top Vans on Lance’s jaw with the way he was bouncing on his left foot.

Allura just so happens to walk in on the silent fight between the both of them or just Keith fuming in the corner with Lance standing idly.

“What seems to be the problem, gentlemen? I have been getting a few volume complaints of bickering here” Lance turns around to see Allura cross her arms and glare at them. She was a manager in the library and Keith’s boss. She can literally kick the both of them out and/or fire Keith.

“Nothing, there is no problem. My buddy Keith and I were arguing about-” Lance quickly picks up a Hamlet copy behind Keith. “Whether or not Hamlet was really acting crazy or not. It got really heated.” The great thing about Lance was that he can lie his ass off if it was needed.

“I can see.” Allura takes a quick look at Keith to see him calm down just a bit. “Just keep your argument and volume to a minimum. I don’t want to hear a complaint again about the both of you.” Her voice was warning them to not to try any funny business.

“Yes, Allura.” They said unison.

“And Keith, I understand your need to read, but those books need to be placed back. Got it?”

“Yeah. I got it.” Allura leaves the both of them to their devices. Keith slides his hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. Lance faces Keith again to apologize.

“Look, I’m sorry for being extra irritating to you, I thought you needed a little boost” Keith waves his hand and walks back to the stacks of books.

“It’s fine. I was already ticked off before you came over with your BS and I didn’t have the patience for the usual banter. If she didn’t come over, you would have gotten a foot to your jaw, causing me to lose my second job.”

“Second job? What happened to the first one.” Lance walks over to Keith to help him out. It was the least he could do right now.

“I kicked my boss in the face for disrespecting a coworker of mine.” Lance whistles. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was reminded of how Hunk was telling him about how some dude in his job got fired for drop-kicking his boss. That was a week before Hunk quit that job to become a security guard with Lance.

“How did you manage to do that? Aren’t you like 5’3”

“Rude, I'm not that short. Let’s just say that you don’t want to catch me in a fight anytime soon.”

“I’ll keep that in mind?”

“Good.” They fell into an awkward silence. The both of them place all of the books on the rack. Keith speaks up after the silence begins to become uncomfortable. “You didn’t need to help me. I got it from here.”

“And, so? I probably got you in trouble with your boss.”

“With Allura? Probably, to be honest.”

“Okay, then consider me helping you.”

“Seriously there is really no need. Plus, don’t you have other things to do?” Lance takes the rack starts to roll to the left. He still had to print out his assignment. He could print it out later before he leaves.

“Too late, I’m helping.” Keith sighs and walks to the end of the shelf to see Lance at the end of the Art section.

“You are going the wrong way, dumbass...” Keith can see Lance making a K-turn with the rack and running in towards and pass him.

“I knew that.” Keith shakes his head and follows Lance.

Throughout the time that they put the books back in their respective places, Lance discovers that Keith is actually a sophomore here at the university because of skipping a grade at the Garrison; the same High school that didn’t leave a career untouched with all of its programs. He also learns that Keith was homeschooled for a few years before becoming a senior at the Garrison. When Lance asked why Keith mentions something about jobs and switches the conversation to talk about majors. Lance rolled along with it while dismissing the odd switch. By the time they were done shelving all 83 books in their rightful places, the both of them beat. They settle at Lance’s table, where all of his stuff was still in its place. Thankfully, nothing was taken.

“Hey, what time is it?” Keith asks.

“It is 12:30, why?”

“It's now my break. Do you want to come with me to the Cafe or you going to stay here?”

“I’ll follow you. Let me get my wallet and my phone” Keith waits while Lance takes his wallet and phone. They walk towards and down the stairs.

“Hold up, if that wasn’t your lunch break, then what were you doing in the corner earlier?”

“I already told you that I was pissed off and I needed a place to cool off. Plus, I was hiding from Coran because he always gets me to find the rarest books and I just wasn’t in the mood on finding Alex Bitter ‘Awakening of Scars’ or some shit like that. I won’t lie the book was okay. What bothered me was the protagonist’s name was Chrome and nobody was taking the opportunity to call her google chrome.”

“Hummus?” Lance questions as he looks Keith in his eyes. Keith looks at Lance and starts laughing.

“Are you always saying some type of sauce in confusion? This is the fourth or fifth time now.” Keith asks while he catches his breath.

“No, it really depends on the response, like that one. I was not expecting that Google Chrome thing.” They continue their chat from leaving the library to the mess hall, where the both of them decides to grab a small lunch and quickly walk back to where Lance left his studying supplies.

“Freckles?”

“What and stop calling me that.”

“Are you sure that’s enough for you to get through the day because that looks like it's enough for at least an hour or less.” Lance points to the granola bar, a small bowl of salad, and a bottle of water in Keith’s hand.

“I’ll be alright”

“I can buy you lunch.” Lance was hoping that Keith turns him down because he can’t afford to pay for Keith’s lunch if he goes off campus. Let alone himself on campus.

“Lance. I’m serious, I’m fine. Trust me on this.” In Lance’s mind, he was fist pumping. He should really stop offering to take people places when he hasn’t been paid for work.

“Alright. The next time you're on break, we’re going to Subway”

“Sure Lance” The both of them got to the library and went to the fourth floor to Lance’s table. They sit down and ate their respective lunches.

“Sup, nerds” Pidge manages to find them and joins their table.

“Wait, how do you know Freckles?” Lance asks Pidge.

“Freckles?” Pidge looks to Keith and shakes their head. “Do I have to ask why?”

“I don’t know why myself Pidge. It probably has something to do with my face and my hands.” Keith pushes his hair back and shows the back of his hands to reveal more freckles. Pidge lightly shoves Keith while mumbling ‘asshole’ towards him. Keith smirks at Pidge. Lance, on the other hand, looks at Keith exposed forehead and starts choking on his lemonade. The both of them gives Lance a questioning look while Lance dismissing it as the drink going down the wrong pipe. Pidge gives Lance a sly look before patting his back.

“Before I forget, Keith was a childhood friend of mine and we manage to meet up last semester,” Pidge speaks up once again to confirm Lance’s question.

“Oh, that’s cool.”There was a tiny ding from Lance’s phone. He checks up on the device and a single eyebrow rose up. “My mom just hit me up.”

“Why and what for?” Pidge asks.

“I don’t know” Lance checks the message and both of his eyebrows hit the roof while his mouth hangs open. “She said if I liked both boys and girls then why was I still single.” His hand begins to cover his mouth. Keith takes Lance’s phone to read what Lance said was true. Pidge takes the phone from Keith and begins to snort. With a beat, Keith returns with his answer.

“I guess you’re by yourself on that one” If Lance’s jaw wasn’t open before, it's now hitting the floor. Keith made an actual joke. A pun, with a straight face.

“The level of disrespect in that sentence was too much for me. What the hell Keith.” Lance can hear the snorts that were coming from Pidge. He looks at Keith and he looked so confused. Poor Keith, He didn’t realize that he made a pun and Pidge had to tell him directly before he was red in the face. Keith was trying to contain his laughs but failed completely with the small giggles coming out in small gaps of air.

“Hold on” He chokes out as he walks out of his chair and jogs around on the shelves before coming back with silent laughter. He sits down in front of Lance to laugh right in his face. The good thing was the fourth floor was somewhat empty with a scatter of students. They could laugh as much as they could as long as they keep it down.

“Keith, I hate you so much for that” Lance wants to get mad about this situation but he can't find anything to get mad at. It was an unexpected pun from Keith of all people and damn he was starting to tear up from all of the laughing he was doing himself.

“Lance... your... face...” Pidge was wheezing from the other side of the table. Keith calming himself down before looking at Pidge and starting round two of their silent laughter. Lance was on the floor trying to control his breathing. All that Pidge was saying in between breathing and laughing was bi-yourself while looking at Lance.

By the time all of them was calm enough to look at each other and not combust with snorting, they have gotten a few shushes and ‘quiet over there’ from a few of the students that were on the fourth floor. Keith was wiping his eyes and Lance started to pack up. Pidge had already packed up and mumbled to Keith that they were going to stay a bit more in the library staff lounge before walking off.

“I still need to print some things off,” Lance mumbles out. It wasn’t intended for Keith to hear it but he heard it anyway.

“The computers are still here when you need it. Why did you wait so long to print?”

“I don’t know, to be honest.” Lance started to leave with Keith walking.

“Let me tell you something about this place, you do realize that you can go to the Balmera and print without paying 50 cents for paper.” Lance stops and looks at Keith, while Keith kept walking on another foot before turning to see that Lance wasn’t following. “You didn’t know about that?”

“Do you know how much money I wasted here because of that stupid fee.”

“I can see.”

“Freckles you don’t know how annoyed I am right now” Lance groans into his hands.

“Don’t tell Allura I said that.”

“About how the library is robbing students of their money for paper? Suuuure” Lance raises a thumbs up before groaning again. He takes out his phone and gives it to Keith.

“Hey, Keith let me get your number” Keith looks at Lance’s phone for a bit before making up his mind. He pulls out his phone as well.

“Why?”

“Because I want to make fun of you when I’m not here. Why else would I ask for your number.”

“Oh joy, now I can block your number now that you are giving it to me.”

“Wow, you’re rude you know that?” Keith plugs in his number on Lance’s phone while Lance was doing the same. They give back their phone to their respective persons and continued to walk. Keith’s phone started to ring and when he checked it, it was Lance.

“Lance, what the hell? I just gave you my number!”

“I was just checking” Keith raises an eyebrow while showing Lance his ringing phone. Lance caves in. “It's a habit because of a long and funny story”

“Figures”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Find out on the next-”

“Keith, don’t finish that sentence.” Lance snorts out while Keith begins to giggle. They get to the first floor towards the entrance and Lance says his goodbyes to Keith as he walks out the door. Originally, wanted to bother Keith but, he got to know Keith a bit more and there was less bickering today then the times he would walk Keith to his car. Today was fun, instead of actually studying for his test, Lance hangs out with Keith and goofs off with him.

He realizes that he didn’t get any studying done and curses. Lance could always study in the dorms anyway. He checks the time to see that is was 2 o'clock. He can still go and print the pages out at the Balmera with time to spare so he starts his walk there.

Keith, on the other hand, was back on the fourth floor and was about to start his rounds of misplaced books when he looks over to see some books on Lance’s table. He walks over to see that it was his book and that his neat handwriting was on the top of the first page.

‘It looks like Lance forgot his books. I’ll just hold them until his next visit’ Keith thought as he places the books on the rack for later.

“Keith! There you are I was looking all over for you. I need you to look for this book for a reader.” Keith’s head looks up at the owner of the voice and sees Coran quickly his way.

“Shit” Keith curses.