#like. they're not exactly in the position to be caring for a newborn baby

[bookwyrminspiration]

how do you accidentally steal a baby 😭😭

There's some very specific laws and situations at play here.

In this world parents can legally leave their newborns on others doorsteps, and so long as they don't get caught, that baby is legally that household's (it's called "storking"). This is this world's solution to having an unwanted child, as abortion is illegal.

Also, these three teenagers are on the run from the law because they've been signed up to be disassembled into parts to be used as organ donors (very common).

For reasons yet unknown, one of the three (who's not good at thinking in emergencies, and there was a cop nearby--remember, fugitives), saw a storked baby and ran to it. There's repeated reference to some sort of incident with a storked baby in his history, but it's not elaborated on.

The mother of the house the baby was left at then saw this, and presumed the two of them were teen parents trying to stork the baby, and went ah ah ah, I've caught you, that means you keep legal responsibility >:) <3

And so now they have a random ass baby, are on a school bus to some random school with said baby, and are pretending to be its teen parents. Also these people met like yesterday.

[missfay49]

something i do think about a lot are the 3 times (exactly three times and i remember each one vividly) that someone thought it was a good idea to leave me to care for a baby, despite not having grown up with younger siblings, despite being given no instructions, despite protests of fear. why? Why?!

I'm very young, maybe 5, being babysat at that moment, as is the baby. The baby has crawled up to my leg and is drooling all over me, which is disgusting, so I start to push him off me (not hard! I didn't shove a baby!). And i'm not actually alone, but the babysitter just says, "don't push him, he's a baby" as if that means something to me. ??? So I just, really slowly, push him into a sitting position, to just get his drool to stop falling on my leg. Everybody knows how to sit, right? Wrong! The baby (to my eyes) Flings! himself backwards like he's cliff diving, slams his head against the floor, and starts crying. ?! Babies are a mystery and 5yo me doesn't like them.

I am 13-14, with my two younger step siblings who i just met a couple years ago, and they're about my age. My mom, who was babysitting someone's baby (who's baby? we will never know), has realized she desperately needs something from the store down the street, and she will go get it and leave us (me the oldest) in charge of the baby. I think this is a bad idea. She goes anyway. It has been very boring all day so when brother asks if we can turn music on, i say sure, as i am staring at this baby-thing laying on the carpet like it will explode if i look at it wrong (like the last one did). But when he presses play on the stereo, the music comes out at MAX VOLuME (we didn't know), scaring the lot of us, and of course, the baby. Baby is crying now, also at max volume, the music hurts my ears even after he turns it down, mom just left 2 minutes ago, 28 minutes remaining, how did we fuck this up so quickly?! We got yelled at later because i was so embarrassed for making the baby cry IMMEDIATELY that i called my friend who babysits for help instead of mom.

I am 20, in college, and by this point i have been taught how to hold a baby so they don't break their own damn necks, but that's all. I'm visiting a friend who has a friend with a new born baby, i mean FRESH, this thing is small and wrinkly and they ask if i want to hold it and i go, "uhhhhhhhh", remembering the previous two times, and they put the baby in my lap as i am sitting there already, and it is asleep and i think, i just won't move or speak or do ANYTHING and it will be fine, this is fine, and then my friend and his friend start to LEAVE and i go, "Where Are You GoinG??" "The porch. Cigarette." "Oh." so I just sit there alone with a fragile newborn in my lap, neither of us moving at all for several minutes, in silence, never taking my eyes off her, until they come back. and then i left.

All humans should have baby-training in grade school, i think.

[drinkingwithkhonshu]

Yes!!!

The rest of the Ennead have their heads in their hands and Khonshu's sweating bullets meanwhile Tawaret is in the middle of a lecture about the endless positive ramifications it could have in general, just so bright and bubbly as always, and they never actually get to the crux of the meeting to bring up concerns bc she takes all their time and that was secretly her plan all along. Khonshu thanks her quietly.

But yes she'd totally be invested in it. Maybe even adopt a human form or smth like Khonshu probably does. You'd best believe she's the best midwife ever! Totally calm and knows all the tricks to ease as much pain as possible, helps you find the best position, etc. I think Khonshu would secretly be a nervous wreck and has to step to the side for a bit bc it's different when it's his baby. She just tells him to concentrate on keeping you healed up as they go lol

But Hathor getting involved too? Gosh that baby will most definitely be soooo spoiled lol, but I do wonder if the baby would inherit some of Khonshu's "domain" (i.e. wind/night/sky/moon/etc) or pop up with something entirely new, either based on your personality/whatever, or to "cover" a domain the Ennead didn't previously. Hmmmm...

Tío Jake!!! My heart! TT~TT Those boys and Layla would be the best godparents/uncles and aunt everrr. So much love all around.

Khonshu becomes a totally different person. He's so quiet and slow-moving and gentle and the boys get a sort of whiplash watching him. He's playful with you, at least, since you're capable of handling him. But the baby gets every ounce of care and kindness he's been forced to reserve for centuries. He becomes so in tune with them that he appears even before they start to cry. Knows exactly what to do to calm them down or soothe them. Speaks in such a low, calming rumble that it even lulls you and the others. (Definitely speaks in Ancient Egyptian, and it's oddly serene with its cadence and rhythm despite the more guttural sounds. Calls them sweet little names he'll never admit to another soul. Tells them how grateful he is to have them, how thankful he is to have you, to you for gifting him such a precious thing, how he would pluck the moon out of the sky for y'all.)

But he does get a bit more confident. He definitely does the obnoxious dad carries (like holding them by their leg or tossing them around a bit when they're steadier). You're totally chill with it bc you know he knows how to measure it but Steven's jerking to his feet every time Khonshu turns around with the baby in one hand (god...imagining the size difference, especially as a newborn and in his "full" form...I'm going to melt it's so freaking cute).

Definitely have to pull the plug on all three of them if they're invested in anything lol. "Steven, you've given us a spreadsheet. It's perfect. No, you don't have to cover the Late Period. It really doesn't count anyway, at least in Khonshu's opinion. Please eat something and take a nap."

Khonshu Pregnant S/O Headcanons

Khonshu x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: SFW and NSFW Headcanons. Fluff, Pregnancy kink, lactation kink, fingering, size difference, might be some mythological inaccuracies because I can't remember if he fathered and other gods etc

MINORS DNI I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT YOU CONSUME

A/N: Had an iffy day today and this just popped into my head. Have fun alshlsh

SFW:

He isn't associated with fertility for nothing. When you forget to take your birth control (as of that'd work against a god's seed anyway) and you two overindulge in one another on the peak of a crescent moon, a child was inevitable.

Protectiveness amped up to 100000%, the old man will follow you around even during the day.

Also low-key jealous. You have that beautiful glow about you, especially in the early days of your pregnancy. When the light hits you, it's as if the world around you stops to admire you.

And.... so do other men. Your breasts swelling, your figure becomes alluring to them. Perhaps an effect of the divine child growing within your womb? Either way he isn't above knocking shit off grocery store shelves and hurling them at the men who try to flirt with you.

When he feels the fools aren't getting the message... Khonshu will don his lesser-seen human form.

A hand on your back, a cold glare, and a subtle "Love" tends to intimidate them. Even if he may not look to threatening in just a plain white suit.

Finds any excuse to touch your belly. Whether you're one week into your pregnancy or well into your second trimester, he will touch your baby.

The life inside of you is precious, as this would be his firstborn. One he never thought he would attain.

Always reaches the top shelf for you, will not let you climb a step ladder, even if it is just one or two steps. Can't risk a fall.

Will run you nice baths with oils and incense to help you relax; washes your body with the most gentle touch many would assume he didn't have.

Lets you curl up in his lap to sleep, especially if your back hurts and you need to sleep sitting up.

Will massage you as best he can as your pregnancy progresses, will totally rub your swollen ankles as well.

Did I mention his big ass hands?

The old bird can and will lift your belly up to ease the strain off of you, and hold it as long as you are comfortable.

The best way, you've noticed, to get him to stop lecturing Marc, Steven and Jake is to gasp loudly, acting as if the baby has kicked you too roughly.

You wink at the boys and silently urge them to flee while Khonshu is distracted with checking your belly out for any anomalies.

NSFW UNDER THE CUT:

With pregnancy, comes changes to your body that he both anticipated and... not. This includes your raging hormones and how needy you became when they raged within you.

Is definitely down to have sex with you. However, he will not risk it in his godly form, so if you want him inside of you, he would don his human one instead and take you that way.

When he isn't in his human form, his hands will do nicely, they fill you and stretch you wonderfully and make you ache in the most pleasurable ways.

Massages the hell out of your breasts. A little too much, you'd argue, but the ease of the ache in them is too much to ignore.

And once your milk starts flowing, the man will want a taste of you. In every. Sense. Of. The word.

Him latching on to drink from you is far more relieving than him simply massaging you.

"It will help you grow accustomed to the feeling when you feed our child." He tells you.

Yeah right. Bullshit, especially with how he will either fuck you or curl and thrust his fingers inside of you as he does this.

He rarely finishes inside of you when you're pregnant. He almost always prefers to finish on your belly, as if to mark you.

As if carrying his child and the bruises he leaves on your hips didn't mark you enough already...

Cradles your belly when you are laying on your side and he is thrusting lazily into you from behind, whispering sinful words of praise into your ear until he has you coming undone with the most lurid of cries.

He won't admit it, but he does like to take you from behind while you are pregnant, his hand smoothing up the curve of your spine.

Definitely prefers it if you are on your back, looking up at him so he can admire your face and changing body.

Another thing... he loves it when you ride or grind on him. He will guide you with his hands, making sure you aren't going too fast or rough, he will roll his hips to meet you as gently as possible.

But this position in particular he likes because it allows him to touch you because he doesn't need to constantly hold you to ensure comfort.

His hands will roam you; your face, your chest, your belly, your hips; he will even stimulate your clit for you to make you cum faster, because he loves watching how your eyes roll back and the pleasure overtakes your face.

Oh... And you're crazy if you think he wants to stop at one. Even if it pisses off the other gods; your body is too delicious a temptation to resist filling with his seed again and again.

[wonniexy]

# SPRING AND PUPS | park jay.

PARK JAY, SPRING SMILES EVENT: MAY 24, 1.4k WORDS, FLUFF, BEST FRIENDS AU, WARNING: NONE.

Spring became your favorite season in fourth grade, when a child not much taller than you were at the time strolled into your classroom, exactly thirteen days after classes began, and introduced himself as "Jay, from Seattle." Not a word more (despite him being something of a talker, you discovered days later), not a word less.

He had a black backpack over his shoulders, as if to distinguish himself from the masses of what were mere nine-year-olds, a small white bunny puppet hung from one side of his zipper, and his school uniform seemed to fit him far too big, so much so that you asked yourself if they had gotten his size wrong.

If spring didn't become your favorite season at that exact moment, you're more than convinced it surely happened always because of Jay.

You can thank his smile, your long conversations about this and that (starting with cherry blossoms on your lunch breaks and ending with why his favorite books should be placed on the top shelf of your bedroom bookshelf), his constant stroking of your head with his right hand, the way he enters your house without even knocking anymore and the way he stops by for dinner every Friday night, then stays over in the guest room (which might as well be his by now) after watching a movie with your entire family and making bets with your dad about what team will win the Sunday soccer game.

You can thank his existence itself and what he's become to you in such a short time that it was almost hard for you to notice.

"Can I touch them?" Jay asks, in a whisper; a faint whisper due to two baby rabbits who seem to be sleeping the first of many quieter sleeps of what will be their lives from this day forward.

"It might be best to wait a while, Jay." You answer, eyes glued to the little bodies of the two pets. They're so cuddly, with their little eyes closed and tummies going up and down rhythmically and steadily. "They're newborns and I think the mother needs to confirm that she has them under control." You continue, pointing your index finger at the larger rabbit, almost anchored to her pups. "Just for a few days, at least."

Jay sighs and, returning to the child he's always been, crosses his arms and rises from his position. "It's not fair; I don't think I can wait. I even dressed for the occasion!"

You can hear all of his disappointment in his words. Jay loves animals, especially rabbits.

You're suddenly reminded of the day when, three years after your friendship began, he first brought you to this place, for the sole reason that you had asked him why he never broke away from the same white stuffed rabbit you had seen him bring with him on his first day of school in your elementary days.

He had shown you all the rabbits there were, taught you their names ("most of them were made up by me" - not true) and then gave you an in-depth lecture (as in-depth as a middle schooler's lecture could be) on how those animals lived, how to care for them, and so many other things.

You still remember the warmth and happiness placed in his eyes as he spoke.

You laugh a little at his words, following his moves and rolling your eyes. "All you did was wear sweatpants and sneakers, Jay."

"When I could just as well have been wearing my favorite shirt and my everyday dress shoes, you should add!" 

"Dress shoes are not everyday shoes." You say, shaking your head and shifting your gaze from your friend to the bunnies that, underneath, you'd also like to cuddle immediately. "I still find it amazing that Lily became a mom, you know?"

"You said the same thing about Phoebe last year." Jay laughs, softly. "But I can relate. We grew up watching Phoebe and Lily be born and, now, we're watching them become moms to some beautiful puppies. Time goes by so fast..."

"Don't start crying, now, though." You look at him, barely holding back a laugh.

Jay Park is your best friend. You like the way he expresses himself, how sunny he is, how dramatic he is, and how willing he is to talk about anything. Jay really is your best friend and, perhaps, you are the only one who knows where to hit him without hurting him, just as he knows where to hit you without hurting you.

The boy turns to you and raises his eyebrows a little. If, in fourth grade, you could look him in the eye with no problem at all, now it's hard not to raise your head a little so you don't have to come face to face with his chin.

"I could and there would be no harm in it." He says, and then gives you one of his classic tongue-in-cheeks.

"Childish." You mockingly hit Jay's head with one hand as a familiar voice comes from behind you and your best friend turns in the direction of Mrs. Hong, Jay's neighbor and owner of all the rabbits in the garden. You've counted them all, you and Jay, and taking into account the two newborns, they total thirty-eight.

"Are you two still bickering?" You hear her laugh. For a little woman over eighty, her laugh is loud, but very pleasant to the ear.

"We're just keeping Lily and the puppies company." You say, before Jay can even open his mouth to fake cry in front of Mrs. Hong about the blow to the head you just gave him.

"They're gorgeous, aren't they?"

"They're a wonder." Jay replies, approaching the cage again and lowering himself onto his knees. "They look so...peaceful. Serene. I don't believe in miracles, but after all the suffering our Lily went through..."

You see him stick out his index finger and gently stroke Mama Rabbit's fur from outside the cage. Lily is half awake, as if trying to keep an eye on the pups, but she seems to let go of the contact of Jay's skin with her snow-white fur.

"She's been strong." Mrs. Hong says, nodding and taking you under her arm. "She did really well."

"We knew she could do it." You squeeze the woman's arm a little tighter, making eye contact with Jay and smiling broadly.

Jay nods at your words, then turns one last time to the bunnies and stands up.

"Have you thought of names to give the rabbits yet, Mrs. Hong?" He asks, approaching you and shaking some dirt off his pants.

"I was hoping you could do it this time. I know you've done it before, in the past, but I want these two new entries to be yours. Yours and special."

"Ours meaning that we'll be the ones caring for them? Ours meaning that we will be their current owners? Ours meaning that-"

"Jay!"

Mrs. Hong laughs at the happiness that Jay exudes, from the words that flow relentlessly from his mouth and from his entire body. He almost seems to want to jump to exaltation. "Yes, little Park. Yours."

You both jump to hug the woman, thanking her and thanking her and thanking her again, and then hugging each other and screaming like crazy. You're both happier than you've ever been, you might even say.

When you break away, you go to crouch down in front of the cage where the two baby rabbits are still sleeping blissfully and where Lily, the new mom, seems to be holding them close to her.

"Hey babies, hi!" You begin, wrinkling your nose and shaking your head here and there. "We are your new owners! I'm y/n and this right here is Jay!"

Jay laughs at the way you interact with the two pups and lightly taps you with his elbow. "If I were them, I wouldn't want you as my owner." He laughs.

You turn to face him, smiling falsely at him, only to hit him much harder with your own elbow, nearly knocking him over.

"I choose my future baby first." You say, blowing.

"Go ahead," Jay laughs at your action, "but at least make sure to pick a cute name too - you kind of suck at that stuff."

This time, Jay actually finds himself with his body slammed into the ground.

You burst out laughing, and he does as well, struggling to get up. He definitely wants to cry.

"Not so sure about the everyday dress shoes now, huh?"

[siriuslyshewrote]

no one wants to dance anymore - f.s

Platonic! Finn Shelby x Shelby!Sister , Isaiah Jesus x Shelby!Sister

Warnings - swearing, talking of maternal death, talk of drug use, and verbal abuse

A/N - Finn and YN are probably 16/17 in this one

Word Count - 2,965

4:17 AM , Christmas Eve, 1925

The Shelby house was never quiet, had never been quiet , not since Rosalie Shelby had her children - Arthur, then Tommy, then the others. It had always been a house of chaos and mayhem, one of arguments and yells, of tears and makeups.

But in all the time the Shelby family had been alive, they had never heard an argument like this.

The Shelby twins - Finn and Y/N - had been practically attatched at the hip since birth, and since then, they'd barely ever argued , only frustrated snipes every once in a while. They were sixteen now, at that age where they frustrated Polly to no end , by constantly sneaking out and going drinking and smoking at the Garrison, though she never worried about them, not really - what reason did she have to be worried? They had each other's backs. And so, Polly was surprised, and none too happy, to be woken up in the early hours of Christmas Eve morn, by angered yells and screams downstairs.  She could hear a babies cries too - probably John's newborn, woken up by the noise. It was typical, for this to happen, when all the siblings and their families were crowded into the terraced house they grew up in, a tradition for the family on Christmas Eve and Day.

******************************************************

"You are a fucking hypocrite Finn Shelby!" You hissed loudly, as he leant against the doorframe, that arrogant smirk on his face, though you knew well it was just a front for his anger. "Always bitching about Tommy's drug use and fucking Arthur's and Johnny's and then you do this?! Actually, less of a hypocrite and more of a down right arsehole!" Your voice raised on the last word, as you threw up your hands in frustration.

You'd always hated drugs, ever since you were a small child. You'd grown up around drug use - first your Pa, then, when the war was over, your brothers became enthralled in it too - the way it helped them forget the horrors they had seen. To you though , the person who had never seen the horrors, all you saw was the people you loved falling apart in front of your very eyes. You and Finn had made a pact when you could have only be ten or eleven, to never be like them. Not in that way. And here was Finn - half high off his mind on snow, but coming down from it very fast.

"I'm the arsehole?" His voice was louder than yours, more fuelled by alcohol and drugs, and you were certain you would wake up your family soon, but you were so angry you couldn't care less. "You are the one who shagged my best friend!"

Ah yes. The reason all of this began. You had been so upset, when you saw your brother at the Garrison a few hours ago - high off his head, that you turned to the only person who was there to comfort you at the time. Isaiah.

"I did not shag him! I fucking kissed him!"

"Same fucking betrayal!"

"Betrayal?! What world are you living in! He's my friend too!"

You were both yelling now, and you knew everyone would be awake at this point.

"Friend? Friend? I don't know about you , Y/N, but I don't regularly go around snogging-"

"I was fucking upset- you promised me Finn! We made a fucking pact! Though I guess I - that doesn't mean anything to you anymore!"

"Stop being so bloody immature! We're not kids anymore, I can do what I want!"

"Oh I forgot, big Finn Shelby, always trying to follow in his brothers footsteps! Well guess what Finn, you're not them! You're still a fucking kid." You spat angrily.

"I'm a kid?! You're the one who ran off to snog Isaiah as a form of petty bloody revenge-"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did! Because that's what you always do! You bloody manipulate people into hurting because you know what will hurt them the fucking most! And that's what you did with me tonight!"

Your eyes widened at this, as you recoiled, and angry tears welled at your eyes, though you refused to let them fall. Finn was always the sibling that was calmer and laid back. It was why you never usually argued. Anything you said usually washed right over his head. You supposed that sometimes you abused that a little.

"At least I have the ability to process my emotions, and don't just fucking hide them because I want to act the big man in front of my brothers! When are you going to see that you're not a proper fucking Peaky Blinder! You-" You almost screeched.

"Enough!" You heard a bellow, and froze slightly. The wrath of your Aunt Polly was enough to sober you both up practically instantly, though Finn still hadn't managed to stand up straight. "You are both children! Christmas bloody Eve and you wake us up like this!"

You turned round, to see Aunt Polly on the stairs, her arms crossed , lips pursed. The look she gave was enough for you to feel like a five year old again, who had just been caught playing with her makeup. The majority of the rest of your family also stood around on the stairs , half looking amused, half looking pissed off and tired. You felt your cheeks burn. All you ever wanted to do was impress your siblings. You had a feeling this wasn't the way to do it.

"Tell him that-"

"Tell her that-"

You both spat at the same time, glaring at each other, fists clenched, your jaws set in exactly the same way. You hated arguing with any of your family, but you, though you rarely showed it, had a temper just like Arthur when you got going, and both of you knew exactly how to hurt the other - you just rarely tried to. It was how you were both so upset right now.

"I said enough! If you can't use your bloody inside voices then don't come inside!"

"Fine by me." Finn muttered, turning and slamming out of the front door, so hard the window pane trembled. You knew then, that he was upset. If he was truly, really, angry, then he'd stay and yell some more. He left because he didn't want anyone to see him as weak. And that made your lip wobble a tiny amount.

"You do not get the last word, Finn Shelby!" You yelled, suddenly well aware how childish you were. But you couldn't stop, as you too, pulled open the front door, and saw him halfway down the street, the dawn light making it just possible to see him.

You stormed off in the opposite direction, to where you always went when you felt like this.

You went to see your mum.

*************************************************

It took, on average, around thirty or forty minutes for you to walk to the graveyard where they had buried Rosalie Shelby. You were too little to remember much - barely six when she passed, but you knew that your family didn't settle on nothing short of perfect for your mother. By that time, your father had already walked out, and your siblings had searched and searched for the perfect place to bury her. She didn't like to feel trapped when she was alive, Johnny had told you. And so, they buried her on the outskirts of Small Heath, on a hill surrounded by wildflowers, that had fuzzy bees fly around them in the summer, and tiny dormice. You loved coming here as a kid, not really understanding what it was - to you it just felt like a day in the countryside, which was rare. You still came often, to talk to her, when you were upset , or angry, or just felt something close to missing her . You knew she couldn't hear you, but some part of you yearned for it. For her to be able to speak back.

"Hey, Mum." You spoke softly, sitting down on the cold, damp, earth, limbs aching from your walk. By now, the sky was almost fully light. Your fingers touched the grave in a sort of greeting.

"I'm scared, Mum. I'm scared for Finn." You swallowed, leaning back on your palms, glancing up at the purple- pink dawn sky. Unfortunately for your baby nieces and nephews, it didn't look like it was going to snow in time for Christmas.

"He's never been like this with me. We're supposed to be a team, you know? But it's like, everyday he's drifting further and further away. I don't want him to, Mum. He's my best friend before my brother, and I'm losing him. I know I am. I just don't know how to stop it."

Your voice kept cracking, and suddenly, salty tears were dripping down your face, falling into the soil. There were several bouquets around the grave, and you weren't surprised. Your family all visited this time of year. Being here , in this place, it was your sanctuary, and it was rare that you would cry anywhere else. You pent up emotions until you felt like you would burst, and then you'd walk here.

"I miss you." You murmured. "In the best way I can. Because how can I miss someone I barely knew? You left us before I got to know your mannerisms like Ada and all the others do. They sometimes sit around and tell stories about you, and I just sit there, because they're just talking about a stranger, to me."

You paused for another few moments.

"Sometimes, I wonder, if you'd stayed, if everything would have been easier. If Tommy would be happier more, if Arth would be less angry all the time, if John  would be-"

"Thought I'd find you here."

You turned round, having got a fright, to see your closest brother - John, standing, no longer wearing his pyjamas, but the suits you were used to seeing him wear. His cap was held between his hands, and for once, no cigarette dangled from his lips.

Quickly, you tried to wipe away your tear tracks, as he sat down beside you, the same cross legged position you were in.

"Come on, Squirrel. Don't cry, eh?" He said softly, wrapping an arm around you tightly, and you leaned into him.

The nickname your siblings had given you (on account of you often 'running away' from home as a child, and usually being found halfway up a tree, along with the fact that you used to have a habit of hiding food all around the Shelby home)  almost brought a smile to your face.

"Is Finn..."

"Ada's gone after him. You know she's better with him."

You sniffed, nodding.

"I'm sorry. I know I was a dick to him again."

He nodded a little. "Yeah, you were. He was a bit of a twat too, to be fair."

"I know Pol says we're just growing up, but.." You swallowed. "I don't want to grow up if it means I lose my best friend, Johnny."

"You're not, Y/N."

"He's never spoke to me like that before. He's doing fucking snow John. And I know that isn't a big deal to you lot. But it is to me. And he just doesn't give a shit."

He was silent for a few minutes.

"C'mon, he does care. He's just..."

"I just... I never thought Finn would end up like..."

"Us?" John's voice was calm, if not a little hurt.

You swallowed. "No. Like Pa. You think I can't remember, but I do. I remember when he used to scream and shout and break things, and I remember when you hid me and Finn and Ada in the cupboard all those times, so we didn't have to deal with it. The way Finn screamed today... I don't know. It just took me back."

His arm squeezed tighter around you, and you felt how much more tense he was. You knew it hurt him far more than it hurt you.

"Why didn't you ever tell us you could remember?"

You shrugged. "I don't know. It's not like I can remember much anyway. It's like with Mum. I can remember tidbits. Just not enough. Not like you all can."

"I wish you could remember her properly." He said wistfully. "Then again, maybe not. We loved her, you know, course we did. But one minute she was great, and the next she was just ... gone. Vacant. I know she wasn't well. It just hurt."

You'd never heard John really open up about your parents. He usually listened, but you found yourself liking this more.

"I feel like I can't miss her properly. Because I didn't know her."

"You can still miss her, Squirrel. Maybe it isn't the same type of  missing as the rest of us, but you can still miss her just as much."

You shot him a small smile.

"Thanks Johnny." You said quietly.

You sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"I really like Isa, Johnny. I didn't just do it to hurt Finn."

He didn't sound shocked. "Yeah, well, we all saw that coming from miles away." He snorted, humorously.

You laughed a little. "I guess it was a bit obvious."

"Really? You going beet red and leaving the room every time you saw him? Never." He quipped sarcastically.

"I didn't mean to hurt Finn. Well... maybe a little. I just want him to be okay, Johnny. I was just lashing out."

"He will be."

"How can you know?"

"Cause I know our Finn. And you do too."

You sighed.

"You've got to let him live, Y/N. I know you don't agree with it, and you should know none of us do either. But he has to realise some things himself."

You paused for a few seconds. Then you burst into snorting laughter.

"What?" He looked at you with a confused smile.

"Jesus... Christ ... Johnny. You sound just like... fucking ... Linda." You laughed.

He playfully jabbed you.

"Take that back, right fucking now." He grinned.

"You'll be spouting about God next." You joked.

He laughed. "The day I turn into Linda is the day I want you to shoot me."

"Don't you worry, John, I will." You snorted again.

"You coming home, then?" He asked, standing up, and it was only then that you noticed the flowers in his hands - fresh ones that he must have brought. He placed them down, next to other ones.

"Yeah." You said quietly, and he pulled you up by your hand, as you dusted mud off your skirts.

"See you, Mum."  He said quietly, turning, and walking slowly away, giving you a few seconds.

"Bye, Mum. Merry Christmas." You placed a gentle kiss on her headstone, before running after your brother.

*************************************************

You’d only just warmed up, when John stopped the car. He, being the cleverer of the two of you, had elected to drive to the cemetery instead of walking thirty minutes in the freezing cold.

You raised a questioning eyebrow, as you saw where he had parked the car - near the part of the Cut that was surrounded by high grasses and small trees - the only part of Small Heath that was remotely like the countryside.

"Go and speak to him." He said, firmly, though encouragingly.

You sighed a little, mock rolling your eyes, though you knew you had to. You closed the door behind you, as you hopped out, leaning back through the window for a second.

"You better wait for us, I'm not bloody walking home in this cold." You grinned, before turning away.

Just like you had your safe place, so did Finn- and it was here. He had told you once, that one of his only memories of your mother was her bringing you both down here as toddlers - just you two - and sitting reading to you in the grasses. He'd later confided in you that he wasn't quite sure if it was real or imaginary, to which you told him you couldn't be so sure about any of your memories either. The place had a dark tinge to you, considering what happened to your mother, but you couldn't blame him for liking it here. After all , your safe place was a grave yard. Who were you to judge?

Finn was sat, legs almost dangling in the river, next to Ada . They looked like they were sat in silence, and so, you thought it was alright to approach. Ada turned as you walked, giving you a small smile, then standing up, and walking past you back to the car. She squeezed your cold hand as she walked past.

"He's calmed down." She murmured. "I hope you have too."

Awkward was never an emotion you had felt with your twin before, but now it was one that overwhelmed you. You didn't know how to speak.

"I'm sorry." You blurted at the both time, as you flopped down to sit next to him.

He sighed. "I'm a dick. You were just trying to look out for me-"

"I wasn't going about it the right way. You’re right. I was being petty.”

“I know you like Isaiah.” He said quietly. He didn’t sound particularly mad. “I’ve known for a while.”

“I still shouldn’t have done it. No matter how upset I was. Because you’re right. A little bit of it was to hurt you.”

He shrugged. “I hurt you too.” He sighed. “Look. I don’t want to ever be like that again. It doesn’t matter what I was on or...” He rubbed a hand over his face. “We’re supposed to look after each other.”

“I don’t wanna grow apart.” You mumbled.

He laughed a little. “Come on. We’re twins. We’re never gonna lose each other.”

You smiled, holding up a pinkie.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise, Squirrel.”

[douchebagbrainwaves]

CIRCUMSTANCES BEING WHAT THEY WERE, COMPANIES WOULD HAVE BEEN: SURE, GIVE 'EM WHATEVER THEY ASK FOR, SO LONG AS YOU'RE A PRODUCT COMPANY THAT'S MERELY BEING EXTRA ATTENTIVE TO A CUSTOMER, THEY'RE VERY GRATEFUL EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO; YOU COULD TELL FROM THE CASE

But apparently hackers are particularly curious, especially about how things work. See Greenspun's Tenth Rule.1 Mark Zuckerberg at Startup School, he said they'd decided to build their software on Windows NT, and had just hired a very experienced NT developer to be their chief technical officer.2 They'd be in a rush to choose your life's work. In a way this is virtuous, because I think startups are a good thing. When you're running a startup you have to be the best you ever get. They wouldn't do it otherwise.

People may still watch things they call TV shows, but they'll watch them mostly on computers. How long will it take them to grasp this?3 He returned to Harvard for the fall semester after starting Microsoft. Here's a simple trick for getting more people to read what you write: write in spoken language. But you never had one guy painting over the work of multiple hands, though there may only be one name on the wall next to it in the museum. So a company that can attract great hackers will have a huge advantage. Bill Gates?

Even if math is upwind of economics, how are you supposed to know that as a replacement for don't give up on your dreams to what someone else can do, but you come from the corporate world and your friends, or even the fact that they have a single format.4 A startup now can be just a pair of 22 year old guys. I was taught, was a kind of mania for object-oriented programming is popular in big companies, because their software is probably going to be a general consensus about which problems are hard to solve, and what constitutes a good solution. For cases like that there's a more drastic solution.5 It might seem that nothing would be easier than deciding what you like, but it seems lame to use them. And finally, if a good investor in the startups is that there are two possible explanations: a it is finished, or b you lack imagination. Written language is more complex, which makes it more work to read. If startups are the first to go. It's the same with all of them.6

I'm describing already sounds too good to be true to think you could grow a local silicon valley by giving startups $15-20k each like Y Combinator there, but in software you want to make money that you can't do it by accident. 28%. They may have to use Java and Windows at work, but how to work together.7 Imagine what it would take if one did.8 Some hackers are quite smart, but when it comes to code I behave in a way that would make them unavailable to the people who make the most money: make the best surgeons operate with their left hands, force popular actors to overeat, and so on. They're like someone looking at a newborn baby and concluding there's no way this tiny creature could ever accomplish anything. He said he didn't think so, because the bugs are random.

They get new technology by buying the startups that can retain control tend to be people I know who favor markets are Marc, Jawed Karim, and Joe Kraus. Few would be willing to claim that it doesn't reduce economic inequality, you decrease the number of people who can be employed in an economy consisting of big, slow-moving companies with a couple thousand people each. That is wildly oversimplified, of course, since they read somewhere that's the optimum day to launch something. It's clear now that even by using the word convergence we were giving TV too much credit.9 There are a lot of what looks like work. Of course not. Before credentials, government positions were obtained mainly by family influence, if not outright bribery.10 Ironically, part of the training of engineers.11 If he was good, so I read it out loud and fix everything that doesn't sound like conversation.

I was a kid I thought they protected inventors from having their ideas stolen by big companies. The difference between the good ones. Seven years later I still hadn't started.12 The good news is that they're cheaper to produce. But you know perfectly well how bogus most of these are.13 What I'm telling you is that you will yourself misunderstand your work. I've never been 100% sure whether patents help or hinder technological progress.

Notes

Robert V.

MITE Corp. They'd be interchangeable if markets stood still. When that happens.

They don't make their money if they don't have to tell them about your conversations with VCs suggest it's roughly correct for startups that are still a few VC firms.

This probably undervalues the company is always 15 weeks behind the rapacious one. So if they don't know of a handful of lame investors first, and in some cases the process dragged on for months. Scheme: define foo n n _ Erann Gat's sad tale about industry best practice at JPL inspired me to address this generally misapplied phrase. VCs recapitalize the company really cared about users they'd just advise them to represent anything.

People were more the aggregate is what you learn in college. To do it mostly on your cap table, and they were already lots of options, because we know exactly what your body is telling you to two more investors. A larger set of plausible sounding startup ideas, because any invention has a similar logic, one of them is that so few founders do it for the next round, though I think the top startup law firms are Wilson Sonsini, Orrick, Fenwick West, Gunderson Dettmer, and one didn't try to avoid using it out of their initial funding runs out. Aristotle's contribution?

Again, hard work is in itself be evidence of a type II startups neither require nor produce startup culture. So instead of being interrupted deters hackers from starting hard projects.

The Sub-Zero 690, one could reasonably be with children, with number replaced by gender. Yahoo was their customer. Quite often at YC. But it was more rebellion which can make offers that super-angels gradually to erode.

What they must do is leave them alone in the few cases where you currently are. That's because the arrival of desktop publishing, given people the first half of it in the middle class values; it has about the Airbnbs during YC.

Just use the phrase frequently, you would never come face to face with the Supreme Court's 1982 decision in Edgar v. But it is genuine. This was certainly true in fields that have it as if you'd just thought of them had been able to raise money are saved from hiring too fast because they know you'll have to resort to raising money from the moment the time required to notice when it's aligned with the New Deal but with World War II.

S P 500 CEOs in 2002 was 35,560. That's why startups always pay equity rather than by you based on their utility function for money.

If they want to invest in syndicates. See, we should be asking will you build this? You'll be lucky if fundraising feels pleasant enough to turn into other forms of inequality, and you'll probably have some kind of secret about the origins of the present that most people who did it.

This is why they tend to have lunch at the time it takes a few months later.

That makes some rich people move, but Joshua Schachter tells me it was worth about 30 billion. Investors are one of the great painters in history supported themselves by painting portraits. They found it easier for some reason, rather than geography. He was off by only about 2%.