#maybe that’s a long term job for me to do

[remyousa]

I have been in touch with a close friend of mine who works in rather high security data management, whose identity and specific job title they would prefer not to be disclosed, but this is their advice on best practices for a redundant archive system. Per their words: "External hard drives are good, easy to budget for, can be encrypted, and are effectively air-gapped w.r.t. security (they're only vulnerable when actually connected, which you don't necessarily need most of the time). They're not the most reliable medium though, and you run the risk of losing everything due to mechanical failure if they're in regular use or travel.

The completely other end of the spectrum is something like Amazon S3 - it can be encrypted, but is effectively always-connected, so you have to do all the security yourself (which can be a bit of a burden if you're not really technically savvy - honestly, I'm not savvy enough to understand all the ins-and-outs of that one). It's also a subscription service, so you run the risk of losing everything if you don't/can't pay your bill (though it's not expensive, per se, it's still an imperfectly predictable cost and will tend to be more than the cost of buying a hard drive of equivalent size after about a year).

What I've taken to doing, with my own data (which I don't expect to be raided or whatnot, but using my knowledge of archives to drive my own backup policy), is the following:

Keep one copy as the primary archive. For me, this is on my desktop, but could easily be a laptop, external drive (if that's your primary copy), or whatever.

Keep a second copy, that you replicate from the primary regularly, as a backup. For me, this is a linux server that I keep in my basement. It's basically good for "Ooops, I deleted that thing and want it back" or easy sharing from one computer to another. You can set this one up as your "share" space for others to access if you want, or it could be your "whenever the external drive comes back to me, I make a second copy" that you keep on-hand.

Keep a third copy, that you keep off-site. For me, this is an external drive that I keep in my office at work. I replicate from my backup copy to the external drive about 2-3 times a year. If the house burns down, I'll still have (a maybe older) copy of all my data. I wouldn't recommend burying this one in the woods or anything, but something where you've got a synched copy physically separated is key.

If you're doing this only with external drives, each of these would be separate drives:

1 for you to have on-hand as the "full" archive of what you're trying to save.

1 that gets shipped around, and may get dinged up, but is the primary "share" archive.

1 that your most trusted person has at their house, your studio/office, etc.

If you're doing this with servers, you might have something like:

Your laptop where you keep everything organized

A web site, server, AWS S3 bucket, or whatever for folks to access

An external drive where you back stuff up and keep wherever makes sense.

SSDs travel better, but degrade each time they're written to. HDDs are more reliable long-term, but tend to have mechanical failures if they get bounced around. If I were setting this up using only drives, I would make the "share" drive SSD and expect to replace it more often, but the 3rd copy I would make an HDD.

A good rule of thumb is: 3 copies 2 media types 1 copy off-site."

If you haven’t started already, start archiving/downloading everything. Save it to an external hard drive if you’re able. Collecting physical media is also a good idea, if you’re able.

Download your own/your favorite fanfics. Save as much as you can from online sources/digital libraries. Recipes, tutorials, history, LGBTQ media, etc. It has been claimed, though I can’t find the exact source if true, that some materials about the Revolutionary War were deleted from the Library of Congress.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry and save and preserve what you can. Remember that cloud storage also is not always reliable!

Library of Congress - millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps, manuscripts.

Internet Archive - millions of free texts, movies, software, music, websites, and more. Has been taken offline multiple times because of cyber attacks last month, it has recently started archiving again.

Anna's Archive - 'largest truly open library in human history.’

Queer Liberation Library - queer literature and resources. Does require applying for a library membership to browse and borrow from their collection.

List of art resources - list of art resources complied on tumblr back in 2019. Not sure if all links are still operational now, but the few I clicked on seemed to work.

Alexis Amber - TikToker who is an archivist who's whole page is about archiving. She has a database extensively recording the events of Hurricane Katrina.

I'll be adding more to this list, if anyone else wants to add anything feel free!

[loulovingho]

I 100% agree with you that that was lazy writing. What was the point of deliberately picking someone the audience (and the 118) were familiar with to be Buck's LI when they could have picked some random. What was the point in delving into Tommy's history and his feelings, what was the point of showing him head over heels for Buck in the last ep, of getting a gift for their 6 month anniversary only to say "oh well, I figured we wouldn't last, so I'm gonna get out now before you break my heart". Why let him get that involved if Tommy's ideology was to never allow himself to move forward in the relationship because ultimately he thought it wouldn't last? It's whiplash for the audience after you saw how INVESTED Tommy was in the last ep! And how exactly is this Buck getting off the hamster wheel? This relationship has ended pretty much exactly like all his others - he gets invested, they leave! They had so much potential as a couple - seeing what it's like for two fire-fighters to date knowing they're both in risky jobs, maybe Buck having to meet/deal with Tommy's homophobic father, getting to explore a "new" character's back story instead of rehashing the same story lines from the mains as well as seeing more of how Buck deals with being in a same sex relationship. All wasted.

And since they referenced Glee, if the plan is for it to echo the Kurt/Blaine relationship in that show where they broke up so they could "explore" before getting back together, by doing so they ruined that relationship so much that by the end it wasn't satisfying that they WERE endgame - they weren't the couple we fell in love with. (And also, way to reinforce the negative stereotype of "you can't ever be long term with your first". I should let my sister, my cousin and my aunt know even though they've all been married for years to their husbands - all their first.) Even if they do decide to bring Tommy back down the line, would it even be the same relationship we fell in love with? Would we even trust the writers to stick with it and treat it well? Or if they did a final episode reunion so Buck doesn't end the series alone, how is that satisfying for the audience?

I have been watching 911 since it started, and I have always been part of the general audience up until S7 where I joined the fandom because I thought Buck/Tommy were adorable. It's the first time in years I've become invested in a couple on a show. It's the first time in years that I've dipped my toes back into a fandom. Like you, this ship inspired me to write fic again. I have a bunch of wip's waiting to be posted on ao3 and I honestly don't know if I'll finish them now. And if they have broken them up for Buddie to get together I think I'll stop watching. And not just because I never saw them as a romantic couple (I only ever saw a deep friendship) but because logistically I don't see it working. Besides the fact that I think that while they work as friends, they probably wouldn't gel as a couple, two people on the same team in a relationship? That will screw up the 118 dynamic, especially as this show looooves relationship drama. If they get in a fight, or worse, break up, then what? How would that work within the 118, unless someone transfers out, but then it's bye bye the 118 we love. And not to mention, in the only 4 months I have been in this fandom I have seen some VILE crap from the buddies, and from what I understand it they've been like that for years. And the show runners know about it, so if they go with Buddie, congratulations, you've rewarded toxic behaviour and given them a license to be worse (look at them already, going in the bucktommy tags and gloating).

I told myself after Glee ended and they royally screwed everything up that I wouldn't watch another Ryan Murphy show because he has a history of doing that sort of thing. When 911 came along I was cautious, but it looked like it would be different - more grown up if you will, especially since Ryan Murphy hasn't really been involved since season 1. I should have just gone with my gut. I just hope that, knowing these last two eps were filmed weeks before they aired, the showrunners see how popular they were and realise crap, we've made a BIG mistake. (Everyone should flood instagram and especially Facebook, whoch is more GA than most social media platforms, with RESPECTFUL comments about how devastated they are, and who knows, it might make them consider bringing Tommy back sometime in 8b - I believe they're still writing the back half of the season.)

Side note, I feel really sorry for Lou. Yeah he's going back to SWAT, and I love him in that (even though his character can be a dick sometimes) but he's said in interviews how he's tired of always being cast as "the muscle" due to his size and he seemed genuinely happy to get this role, which was exactly what he was looking for - the sweet, caring, romantic love interest role where he could show some depth, and they screwed him over (sounds like he even thought Buck and Tommy were doing well and wasn't expecting the break up until the end).

(Apologies for the long rant. But what you've been saying really resonated with me and I needed to share your sentiments.)

.

[arnivold]

Having played Emmrich's romance from start to finish I can say it does a shockingly good job of realistically portraying a romance with a significant age gap, speaking from experience as someone who once dated a guy in his fifties while I was in my twenties

Spoilers under the cut

So when you first start flirting with Emmrich, he doesn't assume you're being serious or doesn't even register it as flirting. Then he realizes what's going on and plays along with it. Then he starts flirting back, and uh oh we both acknowledged there's chemistry and now we have to figure out what we're gonna do with it.

Then you start dating. Or at least you're sorta dating. And your friends notice what's going on and immediately they voice their concerns. Are you sure this is a good idea? Happy for you but do you think maybe you're going a little too fast? Does the older person have bad intentions here? These are all questions the companions and even Hezenkoss ask in banter when you start the romance with Emmrich

And yeah when you first start dating someone new these questions don't seem to matter cause you're in love. You're charmed by Emmrich's gentlemanly ways, Emmrich likes the feeling of having a young person show interest in him because it makes him feel younger so he doesn't have to grapple with his mortality

But then as shit gets more and more serious and you near the end of Act 2, Emmrich wants to have a genuine discussion with you about the relationship. He's concerned that maybe this isn't such a good idea after all, because even though you both have the best of intentions, eventually you will have to deal with losing him and it will be decades before you have to worry about your own death.

And you have to ask yourself, is this serious or not? How are we gonna introduce each other to our families? Are you prepared to care for a sick/elderly spouse in your 40s and 50s? If you want to have children, are you prepared to handle having a partner who is already a generation apart from you and old enough to be your children's grandparent? How will it look when an older person in a teaching position is dating someone the same age as their students?

And for a lot of people these are serious obstacles to having a serious long term relationship! And discussions like that often do end in a fight like it does in Emmrich's romance! It happened to me in my relationship with an older man, too! It didn't work for me in my specific case but some people are able to work that stuff out, and in the case of Rook and Emmrich, they eventually do. But those are important discussions to have when you enter that kind of relationship

Idk man, the whole time I was romancing him I kept hearing the same comments my friends and family made about my relationship, the same arguments and discussions we had about the logistics of that kind of relationship, etc. etc. I figured they were just gonna go the route of indulgent wish fulfilment, and I was left slack-jawed when the game actually delves into the realities of dating in age gaps that large

[kinardsevan]

even with the rhetoric being put out in the article, maybe i'm living in a pink cloud right now (not maybe, i definitely am), i am over here with the mindset that this is not the end. i have zero problem believing that these articles are fully intended to sew seeds of doubt for us because of course they are. the couple broke up. lou is not a main cast member at this point. we know this man does not want to give spoilers (as he's referenced for us before, specifically with how we were given the access hollywood interview). to that end, mentioning that he has other jobs on the docket also doesn't surprise me. given that he's not a main for 911, he needs more forms of income than just that, obviously. but also, SWAT is ending after this season, and they're also halfway through the season (roughly) for filming.

to that end, i think with the way things have been teed up with the show, this is far too easy to do the breakup AND have lou just be gone. we have far too many lines that lead in the direction of it, including:

"my boyfriend" being said ONE episode before "its beautiful having a crew like this" "ESPECIALLY when everything goes wrong" (i know i'm butchering the lines) "transformative until you" (again, i'm butchering this) -buck's continued determination to not just let this relationship fall by the wayside. I think if we all truly thought that there would be a long-term version of this relationship WITHOUT having to face this hurdle, we'd be fooling ourselves. oliver literally told us that buck would have a deeper understanding of his bisexuality. he doesn't want anyone else. i have zero issue believing that all of this is intentional angst put onto us as a fandom (alá Sheldon/Amy in TBBT) to bring around the point that Buck has always just "let" things happen in his relationships. if we're truly meant to understand that this relationship is different, this breakup tees that up in a prime way (even though i know a whole bunch of the squad wants Tommy chasing Buck).

again, with the teeing up of so much information (moving more toward Tommy lore, etc), storywise, this does make sense. (also, peep the relation to a romcom timeline by @sugdenlovesdingle here.

that all said...maybe i'm wrong. maybe i'm going to fall on my face with this hope and we're all truly fucked.

but i seriously hope not.

[somethinginthewayiam]

The girl behind the bar : Hangman's shift at the Hard Deck

pairing: Jake Hangman Seresin x plus-size reader

warnings: language, fun banter, physical altercation

words: 4,2k

Summary: Jake finally pays his bet debt and works a shift at the Hard Deck. But he also gets a surprising chance of redemption...

a/n: I couldn't end the story without seeing Jake struggling behind the bar. We're even having a full-circle moment that might come as a surprise to you guys but I felt like it was needed. Enjoy!

Link to my masterlist

“The liquor is in alphabetical order. Measure cups are over here. The beer goes in here. Oh, you’re gonna be responsible for re-stock tonight. Gotta take advantage of having a strong man in the house”, you explained to Jake the layout of everything behind the bar for his shift tonight. “I try not to take that personally”, Jimmy commented as he walked by the bar circle. “Sorry, Jimmy”, you called after him and pulled a face.

It was finally time for Jake to pay his bet debt. It was a Thursday night, nothing too crazy but also a demanding shift. You didn’t want to make it easy on him as he has been such an ass the first time you’ve met.

“It’s not rocket science. I got it”, Jake rolled his eyes at you with his hands on his hips, throwing you a condescending look. “Okay, Mr. Rocket Science. For every glass you drop, you get a Dollar out of your paycheck”, you told him. “I get a paycheck?”, his head shot over to you. “No. Which means that you owe Penny money. So, keep it together”, you said and patted his back.

“Ha-ha. Very funny”, he said in a dry tone. “What now?”, he asked as you had ended your little tour. “It’s 30 minutes till we open. So, how about you stack the cooler and cut some limes”, you told him. “Right at it”, he said and walked out of the bar circle. “And while we’re at it, how about you call me ‘boss’ tonight?”, you said and leaned on the counter. “After all, you’re my little bitch tonight, remember?”, you added with a smirk and wiggled your eyebrows.

Jake came back to the counter and leaned on it as well, your faces very close together. “I think, we need to talk about that bitch part again”, he said. “That bet was made a long time ago. Should have negotiated your terms back then. But you were too sure of yourself”, you lectured him and patted his hand that was placed between the two of you. In a quick motion, he grabbed your hand and pulled you even closer.

“And what do I get for playing along?”, he asked in a low tone and his eyes fell down to your lips for a moment before he looked at your eyes again. A smirk started forming on your lips while you contemplated.

“Maybe you should do a good job first before we talk reward”, you told him and as a tease, let your lips glide over his without giving him a real kiss. “Calling me boss would be a good start”, you added as you stood up straight again. “And now get that case of beer and get to work”, you told him.

“Yes, boss”, he said with a grin as he pushed himself off the counter to walk towards the storage room. “Oh, I like the sound of that”, you said and smiled to yourself. This will make for a very interesting shift.

As motivated as Jake was at the beginning, he quickly became overwhelmed with the influx of customers with every passing hour. He was rushing around the bar circle, trying to fulfill the orders. You always kept an eye on him, making him do the ground work. Opening bottles, collecting empty glasses and clearing the tables.

And just like you had predicted it, Jake had dropped some glasses within the first hour. It was impossible not to. You knew that even though he didn’t want to believe you at first.

Your favorite patrons, Ping-Pong and Bert, made an appearance again. “How are my favorite men tonight?”, you greeted them as they sat down in their usual spots. “I don’t know how they are, but we’re good”, Bert said and sat down with a huff. “The usual?”, you asked and they nodded at the same time.

You grabbed two beers from the cooler and opened them. “Jake, we need another case of beer”, you told him as you noticed the few bottles that were left in the cooler. “Right on it, boss”, Jake said and sounded a little out of breath as he had just arrived from another round through the bar, collecting the empty glasses and bottles. “Good boy”, you told him with a wink and placed the two beers in front of Bert and Ping-Pong.

“Got a new bartender?”, Ping-Pong noticed and watched Jake as he rushed out from behind the bar and weaved his way through the crowd towards the storage room. “I’d say more of an intern”, you commented and wiped down the counter close to them.

“He looks a bit…stressed?”, Bert noticed. “Yeah, well…I feel kinda bad for him as he’s clearly in over his head but he didn’t wanna listen, now he has to feel”, you told them with a smirk. “Couldn’t you have just made him sleep on the couch if he pissed you off?”, Ping-Pong asked after taking a sip of his beer.

It was no secret that the two of you were together. Ever since Jake’s big gesture of climbing onto the bar, asking you out in front of everyone and your date, the two of you were pretty open with your affections and pretty much inseparable when you were both here. Jake would sit at the counter a lot, watching you work and distracting you with lingering looks and some inappropriate comments.

When everybody was over by the pool table, you would linger a little longer than usual, stealing kisses from him before you got back to work.

“He’s not in the doghouse, he’s made a bet with me some time ago and that debt is now being paid”, you explained to them. “Don’t be too hard on him. He’s clearly head over heels for you”, Bert advised you. “That’s what I’m counting on”, you said with a wink, but felt your cheeks burning up. “He only has until midnight then he’s free again”, you told them. “Look at you navy guys looking out for each other”, you said and grabbed a fresh little bowl of peanuts to place in front of them. “What are we supposed to do? We made an oath”, Ping-Pong said and put a hand over his heart which made you chuckle.

A little while later, your favorite group came into the bar.

“What the hell happened to Hangman?”, Fanboy asked as he watched Jake hurrying from one side of the bar to the other, trying to fulfill the orders that were shouted at him. “Yeah, where’s the cocky asshole that makes our lives miserable?”, Payback added.

“Tonight, there is no Hangman. Tonight, he’s only Jake, the guy behind the bar”, you told them, looking over your shoulder at your colleague for the night. All of you watched him drop another glass, the sixth one of the night. “Yeah, he’s not really in his element back here”, you told them as you turned around.

“I hate to say it, but I love the sight of this”, Phoenix said and watched Hangman moving around hectically. “Bullshit, you hate nothing about this”, you told her and she shot you a devilish grin.

The others took a seat at the counter as well. They all wanted a first-row-seat to the show tonight. “We would like to place our order”, Fanboy said and had a grin on his face as well. “Sure, what can I get you?”, you asked him and then looked at the others to place their orders.

“No, no. Not you. Him”, he said and pointed at Jake, who was handing out beers at the other end of the circle. You felt a little sorry for Jake. But back when you made the bet, you told him that he would be your little bitch and you were a woman of your word.

“Hey, new customers on the other end. You’re specially requested”, you patted Jake’s back to get his attention. He turned his head towards the direction you nodded at and when he saw who the customers were, his whole face dropped. “Of course”, he mumbled. “I’ll take over here”, you told him and gently pushed him in the right direction.

You quickly took the orders of the people in front of you and started to hand out their drinks while you had one ear listening to what was going on across from you.

“So, what you guys want? 6 beers? Coming up”, Jake said as he was standing in front of his so-called friends. You had a feeling, they weren’t tonight.

“No, I’m not in the mood for beer tonight”, Rooster said and rested his elbows on the counter. “Yeah, I’m in the mood for something more sophisticated”, Phoenix chimed in. “How’s your old-fashioned?”, she added after a second of contemplation.

“And I would love nothing more than a Martini. Extra-dry”, Payback placed his order with a sly grin. “That sounds good, I’ll take that, too”, Fanboy said. “I’ll take a Manhattan”, Bob ordered his drink and looked proud of himself. “And I’ll have a Sex on the beach”, Rooster placed his order as well.

“You guys are absolute shitheads”, Jake commented. “Is that a way to talk to your customers?”, Rooster asked playfully offended. “Yeah, not looking good for a tip with that attitude”, Phoenix shook her head.

“I’ll take a beer”, Coyote chimed in from the end of the line. “Coyote, my only friend”, Jake said and immediately handed him an opened bottle. “Alright, Hangman, chop-chop”, Payback said and clapped his hands together two times to get him to move.

You were listening in from the other side and decided that it was time to save your intern. “Alright, two Martinis, extra dry. An old-fashioned, a Manhattan and a Sex on the beach for our favorite mustache. Coming right up”, you announced and started collecting all the ingredients you needed.

“Jake, give me that tall glass over there and a tumbler from above it and three with the stems…No, not that one, the one next to it…Yes, perfect”, you told him while you started mixing the different alcohols in a shaker and ordering Jake to bring you all the right glasses.

You prepared one drink after the other in a speed that had Jake drop his jaw. You handed them out from left to right. “Not as easy as it looks from the other side, huh?”, you told Jake as you pressed by him to place the drink in front of Phoenix.

“I know. I’ve learned my lesson. Can I go now?”, he asked in a whiney tone like a little kid. “Go? Dude, your shift ends at midnight”, you told him with a raised eyebrow. “At midnight? That’s another 3 hours!”, he exclaimed. “I know, I can tell time”, you countered and had to bite down on your bottom lip to keep you from laughing at his facial expression. “Oh, drinks and a show”, Phoenix commented and took a sip from her drink.

“And now go and collect some empty glasses and bottles”, you said and handed Jake a trey, nodding in the direction of the tables. He looked at you for a few moments with furrowed brows, but you didn’t break eye-contact until he gave up. “Ugh, fine”, he sighed, grabbed the trey and walked out from behind the bar circle.

“If you don’t wanna do this, be better at pool next time”, you called after him which made your group chuckle. “I love this”, Rooster said with a bright grin while he looked after Hangman. “Not as much as me”, you told him and wiggled your eyebrows.

About an hour later, you and Hangman were standing behind the counter, talking to your friends. The bar was well crowded, but everybody was served at the moment and you had a somewhat quiet minute.

“Don’t be so mean, he’s doing a good job”, you told off your friends, leaned against Jake and rubbed his arm. “No, I’m not, but thanks, babe”, Jake said, turned his head and pressed a kiss to your head which made you smile.

“Hangman's in love”, Fanboy mocked him with a bright grin. “We're not there yet” you waved it off with a shake of your head and stood up straight again.

“We're not?”, Jake asked surprised. “We are?”, you asked in return, even more surprised, looking up at him.

“Whoops”, Fanboy said, pulled a face and quickly took a sip of his drink.

“I don’t think this is the time or place for this kind of a conversation”, you told him and grabbed the dish towel to wipe down the counter. You needed something to do with your hands all of a sudden. Jake looked at you for a moment before he nodded his head. “Yeah, you’re right”, he agreed but you saw how he clenched his jaw. You really weren’t ready for this conversation, but you didn’t want him to get the wrong impression.

You reached out and grabbed his hand. “We’re good, baby. Don’t worry”, you told him, looking for eye contact to see if he believed you. “I know”, he said and shot you a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes.

You were annoyed at Fanboy that he kind of forced you to do this but you could not get through the rest of your shift with Hangman thinking that you weren’t heading in this direction.

You pushed him a step back, away from your friends and stood between him and the counter as you looked up.

“Jake, baby. When I tell you that I love you for the first time, it’s definitely not gonna be in the middle of a shift and just because Fanboy made a stupid comment, okay?”, you clarified. By the way his eyes lit up, you saw that he noticed that you said when and not if.

“And now, it’s time to get back to work”, you told him but couldn’t keep the grin from appearing on your face by watching him smiling at you brightly. “Yes, boss”, he nodded. “Mhm, I really like that. Maybe we should take that home”, you commented and his smile turned dirty real quick.

You hadn’t noticed it yet, but the guy that had insulted you and his friends showed up at the bar. When they saw Hangman behind the counter and how he was with you, they came up right next to your group. They didn't know that they were your friends.

"Good god, Hangman. How did you end up on this side? Did she wear you down in the end?", the guy said and laughed at him. His voice made you turn around and your whole body stiffened. Jake looked up as well and the smile immediately dropped from his face. Instead, he shot him a stern look.

"God, that guy sounds worse than Hangman", Phoenix mumbled towards Rooster, but you heard her, too.

"I need you to apologize to Y/N about what you said last time", Jake said and stepped around you and closer to the counter, putting his hands on it.

You couldn't move a muscle or say anything, you were frozen in your spot. "Y/N, are you alright?", Phoenix asked as she noticed the state you were in.

"I don't know what you're talking about", the guy laughed it off. "You know fucking well what I'm talking about", Jake spat at him and got out behind the bar circle, walking up to him.

"Last time, you were in here you talked shit about her and that wasn't okay. Even worse that she had heard you. So now, you're gonna apologize to her", he demanded.

"Oh shit, that's him", Fanboy was the first to make the connection. Coyote had told the group about the “incident” that caused you and Jake to fight back then.

"Or what, Seresin?", the guy took a step closer, squaring off with Jake. That was the moment Rooster got off his chair and took a stand behind Hangman. The guy's friends positioned themselves behind their friend. You noticed your other friends getting up as well.

"Or I'm gonna make you", Jake almost growled at him. “Look at you defending her all of a sudden. Last time, I didn’t hear a lot about that. Didn’t we, Coyote?”, the guy said and looked over at Coyote who clenched his jaw at his words. “And that was a big mistake. I know that now and I apologized to her and will, as often as she’ll listen”, Jake told him.

The life finally came back to your body, making you able to get out behind the bar circle as well and walking over to Jake.

"Jake, it's okay", you told him to stand down and put a hand on his chest to hold him back. He looked down at you for a moment and his features softened.

"Shit, Hangman. What the hell happened? Did she save your life or something? Or is this Make a Wish?", you heard behind you.

Jake's eyes shot up again, glaring at the guy. In a matter of a single second, a lot of things happened simultaneously.

Rooster took a step forward at what he had just heard, just like your other friends, opening their mouths to defend you. Jake was about to jump the guy. But most surprisingly, for everybody including yourself, your fist shot forward and hit the guy right on the chin, making him tumble backwards into his friends.

It took you a few moments because of the adrenaline but then you felt the pain in your hand. You had never in your life hit someone.

"FUCK! That hurts", you said and pulled a face. "Are you okay?", Jake asked you and took your hand in his to inspect it. His eyes were big, equally surprised as you were about what had just happened. He gently pushed you down on a bar stool, your hand in his.

“This bitch is crazy”, you heard behind Jake’s back and the guy stepping forward, seriously trying to come at you.

Jake turned around in a split second, his fist shooting forward. His punch to the guy’s cheek sent him flying to the floor. The guy’s friends wanted to get in on the fight but Rooster, Coyote and Payback held them back while Jake stepped over the guy.

“And now you’re gonna apologize to my girlfriend or I’ll punch you out of this bar”, Jake growled at him. A circle had formed around them.

“What the hell is going on here?”, Penny appeared out of the crowd, taking in the situation. Her eyes flew from the guy on the floor to Hangman standing above him to you sitting by the bar and holding your hand.

“Russ here was about to apologize to Y/N”, Jake said and took a step back. Penny also knew about what had happened at that night at the bar and she remembered the face of the guy that was now looking up at her from the floor. “So? Let’s hear it”, she said and nodded at you.

Russ looked irritated to say the least. His friend helped him up and he held his chin. A bright red bruise was forming on his cheek.

“I’m sorry for what I said about you”, Russ finally spoke. “You can do better than that”, Jake commented. “It’s okay. Thank you”, you said and nodded, accepting his apology.

“Okay, now that that’s settled, you guys get back to work”, Penny told Jake and you. “And you are not longer welcome in my bar. We respect each other in this place. Something you’re clearly not capable of”, Penny told Russ and showed him the door.

Instead of moving, Russ glared at you. “Are you guys gonna leave now or should we take you?”, Rooster stepped forward, Payback and Fanboy flanking his sides.

“We’re leaving. There are tons of other bars. We don’t need this shithole”, Russ spat into the round and finally left with his buddies.

“The show is over”, Penny announced and urged everyone in the bar to get back to their drinking and chatting.

“We need to put some ice on it”, Jake said when you both were back behind the bar. He grabbed a fresh dish towel, spread it out and put some ice from the big bucket on it. He wrapped it up and put it on your hand.

“Are you okay, Y/N?”, Phoenix asked. Your friends had taken their seats at the counter again. “I’ll be fine”, you waved off but hissed at the paint that shot through your hand as your tried to wiggle your fingers.

“That’s gonna swell up good”, Rooster commented. “I’ve never punched someone before”, you said as you realized again what had just happened. “For that, it wasn’t a bad swing”, Payback commented. “Thank you, guys, for standing up for me”, you told your friends.

“And you”, you turned to Jake. “I never had someone throwing a punch for me. And as much as I don’t condone violence in any form…that was kinda hot”, you confessed. “He had it coming”, Jake told you and grabbed your hips. “And I’m also sorry for what happened back then”, he said and apologized for the umpteenth time. “I think you’re done apologizing. You can never top that anyway”, you told him.

You put your good hand on his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

When the bar had closed and everybody was gone, you and Jake stayed back to clean up. Because of the ice, your hand was a little better but you knew that you will really feel it tomorrow, like Rooster had said.

After the altercation, you two had gotten back to your shift and Jake had gotten back to being overwhelmed by being behind the bar. And you had become limited in your ways of helping him with your bruised hand.

Right now, he was putting the dirty glasses in the basket for the dishwasher and you but the bottles in the recycling bin.

“I feel like I don’t need to ask you but I’ll do it anyway. How did I do tonight?”, Jake asked. You looked over at him for a second and bit down on your bottom lip to keep yourself from laughing before you continued with the recycling.

“Uhm, let’s just say if this flying thing doesn't work out, we at least know now that bartending isn't an option”, you assessed. When he stayed silent, you looked over and found him looking at you with a raised eyebrow, which made you chuckle.

“Flying thing? I'm a naval aviator. I fly million dollars fighter jets”, he explained in a stern tone, clearly upset that you had called his job the flying thing.

“I know, my little honeybee”, you playfully pouted while you walked over to him and patted his cheek like you didn’t believe him. He furrowed his brows and shooing your hand away like an annoying fly.

“I'm excellent at my job. And don't call me little honeybee”, he countered. “Look who doesn't like nicknames all of a sudden? It's not that fun when I pull the uno reverse card, huh?”, you said and loved how upset he got.

“I like nicknames, just not this one”, he shrugged his shoulders and looked away from you like an upset little puppy.

“You're so cute when you pout”, you told him and grabbed his face with your good hand, squishing his cheeks with your thumb and index finger on either side.

He shook off your hand and crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, biceps bulging. Your eyes darted down for a second.

“Does this bee want some honey?”, you offered, your fingers traveling up his arm. His eyes narrowed at you. “Really?”, he asked intrigued.

You shot him a flirty smile and a wink and walked out behind the bar circle.

“I think the last time we were here alone, I said something about a bar stool and getting bent over it”, you reminisced out loud and slowly wandered over to a bar stool, pulling it away from the counter.

Jake came out behind the bar circle as well, his eyes glued on you as he wandered over to you.

“Too bad it’s not raining”, he commented. You took a seat on the stool as you looked over at the big windows. As it was dark outside, you only saw your reflection in the glass with the bar circle as the only source of light around. That’s how you saw that Jake was just two steps away from you.

“I’ll think we manage”, you said as you turned back to him and pulled your shirt over your head, letting it fall to the ground. You leaned back a little and beckoned Jake over to you with your finger.

You didn’t need to tell him twice as he quickly closed the gap, grabbed your face and placed his lips on yours.

a/n: I still can't quite let go of these two, so there will be a a little epilogue for me to wrap things up.

[lumiilys]

Dyou think that when Stede is sad or having a bad day he just stays quiet? The average person can’t tell he’s not doing good but Ed just knows. His jokes are less enthusiastic, he makes fewer silly comments, and he’s got this faraway look in his eyes. And Ed knows he’s gonna have to ask multiple times before he actually gets Stede to tell him what’s up cause Stede will always just go “yes I’m fine don’t worry just tired ☺️” at first. But eventually when whatever is bothering him comes out he’ll get to spend the rest of the day wrapped up in Ed’s arms.

[mob-choir]

i’m having so many emotions about teru

that was such a fast-paced, high-stakes situation, and he was thrown so many curveballs he barely had any time to cope with, and he still managed to adjust at impressive speed and never lost his faith in mob.

specifically: that moment right before ???% grabs him by the throat, when he’s kneeling on the ground trying to catch his breath. in that split moment, that’s when the realisation dawns, that this version of mob has no qualms in hurting him even with his bare hands. mob being non-violent to the point of letting himself get choked to unconsciousness was literally how they met, it’s one of the foundations at his core, and teru was well aware of it. having that knowledge suddenly be proven wrong, and all that means for his own safety, must have been a lot to take in. i can’t quite tell if it’s fear that we see on his face for a second, but if it is, that really adds to the element of horror - that sudden realisation that you’re in so much more danger than you thought and your initial plan is not going to be enough.

and then of course: when ???% lets loose his power despite so many people still being around and unable to evacuate. the horror on teru’s face, man. i don’t think it’d really clicked for him what mob being in this state actually meant until then. sure, him attacking teru was unlike him, but teru’s still an esper. he’s in great danger but he can somewhat defend himself. but civilians are different, and you can really tell teru did NOT think mob would put them in danger like that. he’s completely shell-shocked. i think that was another huge moment where he had to very quickly reassess the situation and what to do about it, all while coping with the emotional side of it all, since this is one of his closest friends and someone he really admires. he has to very quickly reckon with the fact that despite the pedestal he put him on, mob is just as human as he is and is capable of making mistakes just like everybody else, mistakes that don't detract from his worth.

which brings me to the point of it all. that DESPITE ALL THAT, teru was still able to 1) understand that mob desperately wants someone to stop him and would never want to harm anyone like this (bc he remembered that mob cried after realising what he’d done to his school....... where he’d only really harmed one person, who had done much worse to him..... if he cried after that, how will he feel when he finds out what he’s causing now?), 2) save all the people caught up in the devastation and get them all out of harm’s way, while being in a lot of pain (his EYES were BLEEDING), and 3) never once lose faith in mob. he saw him go on a (unintentional and unwilling, but teru doesn’t know that) rampage, doing things he would never in a million years think mob would ever do, and still took all of that in in record time considering the situation, and came out on the other side still whole-heartedly believing in shigeo and his goodness, and almost dying trying to stop him. because he knew that being the reason hundreds of innocent people got injured (or worse) would completely and utterly break mob.

and while, knowing teru, he might think he failed since he couldn’t achieve his goal (stopping mob’s rampage), what he succeeded in doing was ultimately just as important. he saved all the people he could, and gave his best for the one person he couldn’t.

[dancedance-resolution]

well fellas it’s happening i think i am maybe developing a crush on the girl ive been fucking recently 🫥

[unknownarmageddon]

Hunger games simulator but it's just Kross aus

OH MY GOD you’re so right. hang on

[deus-ex-mona]

my five surviving braincells when something remotely good happens:

[moinsbienquekaworu]

I just spent like 20 minutes thinking about soup

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

.

[yo9urt]

mutuals and followers do u guys have any recommendations for:

headphones (must be wireless and noise canceling and comfortable and have a decent or better mic)

desk chairs

standing desks

[ilkkawhat]

Heya! Hope you’re doing okay ❤️

well, i didn't cry today (and more importantly didn't cry at work in front of everybody) so I'm taking that as a sign that things are getting better...I hope 😅

[z0mbride]

everyday my job at a nursing facility pushes me towards smoking

[deviousdiesel]

.