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collecting-stories · 4 years ago

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Yours - pt. 03 - Rafe Cameron

Summary: A chapter of firsts.

A/N: This chapter is like 5.5k words so I apologize in advance for that.

One Thing Right Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

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-First Thanksgiving-

“You know what would be even better than seeing my family for Thanksgiving?” Rafe attempted, sitting at the wrap around counter on his laptop, trying to finish the last of his work before the inevitable holiday dinner you were hosting happened. 

“Is the answer, not seeing your family?” You asked, looking over at him. 

When Rafe’s dad had extended the invitation for Thanksgiving, for the first time since Rafe started paying his own bills, he knew exactly what the intention was. Despite the show at Christmas of a gift arriving to his apartment the only people he kept in touch with besides friends from back home were his sisters. Sarah less than Wheezie but they’d come a long way from when they were teens. And with Wheezie back home during her year off from school, he knew that Rose had no doubt seen his Instagram. Notably, the pictures of you that had begun to literal his once scarce feed. 

And just like that, out of nowhere, Ward called with the great idea that everyone get together for the holidays. 

“Thanksgiving.” Rafe has offered, “you can come up to Boston, we’ll host.” It was an olive branch. A tiny one, barren too, more like a twig but it was something and Ward took it because he was curious. 

Rafe had gotten a job with an economist firm right out of college and two years later he had completely cut his father out of his life. The firm was the reason he was in Boston, they offered him three locations, Los Angeles, which felt too far away from his sisters, Chicago, too windy, and Boston. He’d taken the job and bought an apartment that looked like something out of an ad for Restoration Hardware, sleek and modern. Cut the toxic parts of his family off and now it’d all seemingly paid off. 

When you placed the last dish on the table, thirty minutes from his family’s arrival, Rafe spun his barstool around so he could grab your waist and pull you back into him. 

“I could use the nap right now, honestly.” You admitted, leaning back against him. Rafe kissed the side of your head, hands brushing up the sides of your yoga pants, trying to find skin without looking. You’d started your pursuit of the perfect Martha Stewart approved Thanksgiving with a sweatshirt on, but that and the shirt beneath it had eventually been shed and tossed over the back of Rafe’s couch in favor of just your yoga pants and sports bra. Your anxiety had a habit of making you warm. 

“My dad and Rose won’t be here for like, thirty minutes, go relax.” He offered, loosening his hold on you when you twisted around in his arms so that you could face him. 

“I don’t have time, I still have to get dressed.” You mumbled, face pressed into his shirt. 

In all honesty, you weren’t sure you could’ve relaxed anyway. Ever since Rafe had told you his dad and step-mom were coming up for Thanksgiving with his sisters you had been internally freaking out. A meeting the family holiday wasn’t something you had never done before. You’d met Ian’s family at a Christmas dinner the first year that you’d dated. But that had been a dinner you simply showed up to, not one you put on yourself. 

This was your dinner, that you made from scratch, in Rafe’s apartment. It was your first real holiday together aside from the Halloween party you’d forced him to attend at Nina’s and now you were entertaining his family too.

“Things are moving really fast huh?” Nina had teased, standing over the bar cart in her small apartment, trying to remember how to mix a vodka martini. 

“Not...really fast.” You replied. Nina had been bugging you about the pace of your relationship for a while now, acting like it was so out of the ordinary that you had swapped structured date nights for take out at his apartment or yours. 

“You guys have already hit pre-moving-in-together stage.” Nina supplied, “trying to beat Anya out for a wedding this year?” 

“I’m not trying to beat anyone out?” You knew you sounded defensive but you couldn’t help it. “Can we please talk about something else?” 

“Too late,” she laughed, taking a sip of her finished concoction before grimacing. She looked over your shoulder, “do you know how to make a martini?”

“Afraid not.” Rafe replied, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and guiding you a little closer to him. He had agreed to Halloween at Nina’s because he wanted to spend the night with you and this party was a stipulation of that. He was dressed as Tom Cruise in Top Gun, something you had teased him about relentlessly from the moment he put on the costume but you’d be lying if you said he didn’t look insanely hot in the get up. Especially now that the small apartment had gotten so crowded and overheated that he’d slipped off the top of the coveralls and had them tied at his waist with just a white tank on. 

“What’re you good for then?” You joked, laughing when he pulled you even closer, pressing his lips to your neck. “Stop!” 

“Do you want one of whatever this is?” Nina asked, holding her drink out to Rafe. 

“I would but I actually came over here to steal my girlfriend.” He replied, attention moving from Nina to you, “I’ve got a meeting in the morning, I should head out.” 

“Okay,” you moved out of his hold to say goodbye to Nina, giving her a hug and trying not to let her slosh any of her martini on you. 

“No, stay!” Nina insisted, a bit whiny from tipsiness. 

“I‘ll text you tomorrow,” you promised, pulling away from her, already reaching your hand out for Rafe’s. You felt him take your hand, glancing back and smiling at him before giving Nina a kiss on the cheek, “love you, bye.” 

“Love you!” She called as Rafe pulled you away to the door. 

Once in the elevator you let out a breath, squeezing Rafe’s hand gently to get his attention. “Sorry, you could’ve stayed.” He finally said. 

“It’s okay, besides,” you replied, leaning against him and wrapping your arms around his waist, “I have off tomorrow and I know for a fact that your meeting is a zoom conference that’s like, an hour.” 

“That’s true,” Rafe said, nodding and grinning.

“So, I can bother you the rest of the day.” 

Wheezie and Sarah had been on zoom plenty of times while you were around and Sarah had even come up to Boston for her birthday a few weeks into you dating Rafe so it wasn’t his sisters that you were sweating. Ward and Rose were both pretty imposing. You weren’t impressed with their wealth or intimidated by it. You had grown up in a similar environment to Rafe but your parents had never felt quite as cold as his. 

“At least there’s alcohol,” Sarah teased, coming up beside you to pour herself a glass of wine. Her own boyfriend had opted out of Thanksgiving with her family to stay down in the Outer Banks and you were a little jealous he didn’t have endure this. 

“Thank god,” you replied, taking a sip of the only red wine you didn’t absolutely hate. A sweeter red from a subscription box that one of Rafe’s friends had gotten him for Christmas once and that he kept up with. 

Dates to fancy restaurants hadn’t been scraped altogether but they were usually reserved for dinners that included more that you and Rafe. You didn’t need over priced food and dry wine to be impressed by him and he certainly enjoyed just hanging out without all the pressure. But apparently fancy restaurants and the wine they served in them was exactly what Rose was looking for. 

“My god, you can taste the sugar in this. It’s like grape juice.” She complained, lips pursing at the unwelcomed flavor. 

“Drink something else then.” Rafe replied, annoyed that he was even putting himself through this. And that he was putting you through this too. He knew you were stressing about Thanksgiving. You’d been back from the wedding for a week, and things between the two of you had been better than before (though before they’d been pretty fantastic too), and now he was subjecting you to his family.

“Well if there was anything here that was drinkable,” Rose snapped, glaring at her stepson, “I would.”

“How’s business been?” Ward asked, drawing Rafe’s attention away from Rose and her scrutiny.

You tuned out their chatter in favor of listening to Wheezie talk about her current endeavors, which sounded a lot more pot driven then anything else. Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with a group of friends to “discover her inner self” was not quite the Wheezie you had heard stories about but Rafe had told you plenty of times that his youngest sister’s new girlfriend was a bit of an irresistible influence. Whether that was good or bad was still to be determined.

“What about you?” Rose asked, interrupting her daughter’s novel-length plans.

“What about me?” You repeated. You knew what the question meant and you certainly expected it. Rafe had an incredibly good job for a guy his age. He was smarter than his family gave him credit for, more responsible than anyone expected, and then here you were, and sure, you made a delicious apple pie but that didn’t qualify you to be party of them.

“What do you do?”

“I teach first grade.” You replied, not as impressive as being an economic analyst for a firm that had offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Beijing, and Boston but it was yours and you loved it.

Rose, clearly, did not, as evidenced by the way she grimaced at you. As if you were worse than the wine she had finally abandoned on the counter. “What age is that?”

“Usually 6 or 7 year olds.” You replied. “There’s two first grade classes in my school and then two in the other three schools in our sort of, district. I teach my class but I’m also in charge of helping to finalize curriculum for all the other first grades.”

“Sounds like a lot of stress and not a lot of money.” Rose replied. “You must be grateful to have found someone so financially secure.”

The implication was there, and loud enough that the end of Rafe’s sentence teetered off as he turned away from the conversation with his father to look over at his stepmom. She had, in so many words, called you a gold digger, right there at Thanksgiving dinner and you hadn’t even sat down to eat the meal yet. If you knew Rafe, and at this point you certainly did, he was itching to say something. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, he wasn’t living under his dad’s roof or dependent on their money, he finally could say something and he looked ready to.

But you wanted to at least have some sort of dinner so you attempted to speak up before he could, “actually, I make a fairly comfortable salary and-”

“You don’t have to justify anything to her.” Rafe said, “she’s just never met anyone who actually works for a living.”

“I am one of the top real estate agents in the Outer Banks, do you know how many houses I closed on last year?” Rose snapped, looking toward her step-son and her husband.

“Rose, please, let’s just sit and eat.” Ward commented. His attempts at keeping the peace were all for show. Everything he said seemed to have some sort of edge behind it. As if he’d worded it just right to compliment and insult at the same time.

You sat beside Rafe once you’d served the dinner, staying between him and Sarah so you didn’t wind up anywhere near his parents. Wheezie dominated most of the dinner conversation talking about some guy who was doing podcasts from salvation mountain because he believed that he could commune with the “ancestors of America”.

“Please tell me your sister is high right now.” You whispered, leaning close to Rafe.

“Oh yeah, high as a kite.” He replied, “think she’ll give us some?”

“That’s just what we need.”

Rafe leaned closer, lips practically brushing your ear as he whispered, “It’ll be fun, kick everyone out, get high, have sex.”

“No.” You bit your lip to stop from laughing when he kissed just behind your ear, “now eat your food.”

“Is Fivel here?” Wheezie asked suddenly, interrupting her own story when she remembered your dog. She’d seen him on facetime enough that she had been dying to meet the black lab.

“What is a Fivel?” Ward asked, looking at you and Rafe.

“He’s my dog. He’s in Rafe’s bedroom, I didn’t want him messing up the table or anything before anyone arrived.” You explained, turning back to Wheezie, “I have to walk him after dinner if you want to come?”

“Yes.”

Rafe had told you, the first time he met your dog, that his father never allowed pets of any kind when they were kids. Not even a goldfish was permitted in the Cameron Household. He said that, according to Ward, the children were irresponsible and would never be able to care for an animal.

“One time I brought a stray cat that I found home.” Rafe said, sitting in your bed, petting Fivel. The dog was beside himself, rolled to expose his stomach with his head in Rafe’s lap.

“He didn’t like kill it, did he?”

“Honestly, wouldn’t have been surprised.” He admitted, “When he got mad he was scary. But no, he just made me drive with him to the SPCA to drop it off. I cried the whole way there over having to give up this kitten and then my dad made me walk all the way home.”

“Why?”

“Cause I cried.”

The bed dipped as you climbed back onto it, sitting beside Rafe and pressing a kiss against his bare shoulder, “you dad sounds like a dick.”

“Oh yeah, no argument there.”

Ward piped up again, seemingly in the mood for conversation and always happy to paint his son in a bad light. “Rafe wanted a cat once when he was younger but I didn’t allow it. The poor thing would’ve died in our house, Rafe’s never been good at taking care of anything, let alone himself.”

“Dad,” Rafe snapped.

“I’m just putting it out there. I mean, you work with kids,” he said, looking at you, “you must’ve thought about having them.”

“Uh, yeah.” You nodded. It was a conversation that you and Rafe had for the first time when you stayed up north a ways for Anya and Ian’s wedding. Kids were not going to happen next month, certainly, but they were something you both agreed you wouldn’t mind.

“Well, usually, you know, they say if you can take care of an animal then you can take care of a kid. And I’m just tell you, Rafe couldn’t take care of either.”

“Dad!” Sarah interrupted this time, glaring at her dad. “Can we just have a nice family meal?”

“We are.” Ward insisted. Under the table, you reached for Rafe’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly as his father continued talking, seemingly unaffected. “Did Rafe tell you he used to do drugs? You don’t do that anymore right? He snorted coke, wasted thousands of dollars on the stuff.”

The flatware and serving dishes on the table banged together as Rafe stood up suddenly, letting go of your hand. You thought for a moment that he was going to lose it and flip out on Ward and honestly, you wanted to yourself. But he said nothing, walking down the hall to the spare room that he used as an office, all of you watching in silence. Was he so upset he was locking himself in, you could imagine the absolute joy Ward would take in knowing he knocked his son down so far that he was sequestering in his bedroom.

Finally he came back, piece of paper in hand, and he stopped at Ward’s chair. “Here, get out of my house.”

“What’s this?”

“A check. For 25 thousand. Now take your wife and get out of my house.” Rafe repeated, “dinner is over.”

You sat there in silence, too shocked to look at Sarah and Wheezie, who mirrored your expression, watching as Ward and Rose stood and left. Rafe walked them to the door, slamming it after them and, finally letting out the anger that had been boiling over all night, punched the wall, hand going right through the plaster.

“Wheezie and I can walk Fivel for you,” Sarah whispered, standing up and ushering Wheezie to the bedroom to get the dog and give you and Rafe some privacy.

You got up at the same time though you headed for your boyfriend, who had his bloody hand pressed against a white button up, face red. “Hey,” you spoke soft, in what you hoped was not your ‘talking to kids voice’, “come on. I know you have a first aid kit cause I bought it.”

He followed you into the bathroom, sitting on the closed toilet while you pulled the first aid kit out from below the sink. The front door opened and closed as Sarah and Wheezie left with Fivel. Just the two of you in the apartment now.

“Hey,” you brushed his hair out of his face and he tilted his head back to look up at you. “You did the right thing. He shouldn’t talk to you like that, or about you like that.”

“He’s right. I was a fucking screw up.”

“In the vain of sounding like I’m going into teacher mode,” you said and Rafe laughed, leaning forward to press his forehead to your stomach, “Everyone messes up sometimes. You’re not that person anymore, and no one should ever talk to their kid like that.”

“I’m just glad he’s gone.” Rafe replied. “I don’t care if I never see him again.”

“Won’t argue with you on that.”

-First Christmas-

With the way that Thanksgiving had gone for the two of you, Rafe had proposed a Christmas without family. You might’ve agreed except he hadn’t met yours and you were more than determined to prove that not everyone was like his family. Christmas brought a lot of things. The four-month mark on your relationship, though Nina claimed it felt more like you had been dating a year, and your first major fight.

Which began as a spat at his place and evolved into a whole verbal sparring match once you were at yours.

“I’m not going.” He kept repeating the same phrase over and over.

“Christmas is so important to my family, I already told you-”

“And I already told you that the last thing I want to do is subject myself to a house full of people on Christmas when I could be home.” He was adamant about his ‘no family holidays’ decision.

“You haven’t met my family yet.” You argued. You’d been subjected to his and you talked with his sisters frequently but he had never bothered to meet any of your family.

“Schedule a dinner.”

“Rafe! I did Thanksgiving, it’s not fair that you won’t come up for Christmas with me.” What wasn’t fair was bringing up Thanksgiving in the first place. The only physical memory of evening, besides the 25k that Ward did end up withdrawing from Rafe’s savings, was the hole in the wall that one of his friends had jokingly bought a frame for when they were up visiting from North Carolina the week after.

“No.” He said the word with enough finality to end the argument.

“Fine, I’ll go without you.”

Dinner that night was tense and he didn’t stay over like he usually did. You didn’t text him in the morning and when he finally asked about getting dinner together two days later you lied and told him you were busy. Maybe you were being petty, probably you were, but you didn’t care. You were pissed, and rightly so. You had endured Rose’s scrutiny and had been there afterward for Rafe after he confronted his dad and he couldn’t even make the drive to western Mass. to see your family.

So, you went alone. Packed your bags, packed up Fivel, and drove out yourself, arriving the day before Christmas Eve to your parent’s house. Christmas was a big deal in your family. The day of was always spent at home, together, with a brunch spread that could’ve fed far more people and the Hallmark channel on a constant loop of ridiculous movies that you loved way more than you should’ve. But Christmas Eve was a whole other story. Since you were a kid your mom had been hosting Christmas Eve at her house, family, friends, anyone who wanted to was welcome to come over. There was chili and meatball sandwiches and appetizers and none of the food the people usually ate for dinner. This was no Martha Stewart Holiday.

The drive to western Mass wasn’t long, thankfully, because it took Rafe about an hour after you left to realize that there was absolutely no way he wanted to spend Christmas the same way he had the last few years. Alone in his apartment re-watching Die Hard or some other pseudo Christmas movie.

He got there on Christmas Eve, pulling his car in next to yours in the crowded driveway. It was already snowing pretty heavily but his main concern was you. Would you be happy he changed his mind or pissed that he put you through all that fighting just to decide in the end that he was going to come?

There were people on the porch and the front door was open so Rafe took that as hint enough to go inside. Your house was smaller than Tanney Hill but probably just as old, the woodwork inside that you’d told him about was as daunting as you said, though he still thought the house looked more welcoming than his.

He weaved through people who said hello without knowing who he was until he managed to find the kitchen, and you, standing at the island talking to your mom. “I just think it would’ve been nice if she told you ahead of time that she wasn’t gonna show up. No one else wants to eat vegan spinach artichoke dip.”

“She said she was going to try to make it.” Your mom replied, looking up from the oven and realizing that the two of you weren’t alone in the kitchen anymore. She had seen enough pictures of Rafe from your instagram and from what you’d sent her that she recognized him immediately. “Anyway, I’m taking this out to the living room.” She announced, grabbing the charcuterie board and passing Rafe on her way out.

You turned, to finish your thought on your cousin, and caught sight of Rafe for the first time. “I thought you wanted to-”

“I know I said I wanted to stay home and not do family stuff but...I’d rather be here with you than stay in my apartment by myself.” He admitted. Rafe wasn’t one to fall on his own sword, he’d always been too stubborn to acknowledge when he was wrong but he couldn’t keep doing that. Not if he wanted this to last and he really did.

You crossed the small space between the two of you, wrapping your arms around him, “it means a lot to me that you’re here.” You replied, “Christmas Eve is my favorite.”

“I think this is more people than house parties I’ve thrown.”

“Crowds are the best.” You stepped away enough to kiss him, the peach flavor of your lip balm making him lick his lips when you pulled away.

“Why’s that?”

“Cause you can sneak off in crowds.” You replied, smiling enough that he knew exactly what you were insinuating as you pulled away from him, hooking your arm with his instead, “can I give you a tour of the house Mr. Cameron?”

“Absolutely.”

You walked him up the stairs, trying not to be suspicious as you ducked out of the party.

“I watched this documentary about Nancy Reagan once,” you began to say, laying with your head against Rafe’s chest. It was Christmas morning, as your mom had reminded the two of you when she knocked on the door a few minutes ago.

“Interesting post-sex commentary,” he teased, cutting you off.

“Shut up.” You laughed, “I was trying to tell you something nice.” You sat up, angling yourself so that you were facing him, holding the sheet up in front of you. He looked at you skeptically, reaching for the sheet and giving it a tug but you held on. “No, cause you’ll distract me and then I won’t remember what I was gonna say and if we take too long my mom will come back upstairs.”

Rafe pouted, “no early Christmas presents?”

“Trust me, you’ve had enough early Christmas presents to last until the new year.” You laughed, leaning over to kiss him. The moment you did, of course, he pulled the sheet away and grabbed your hips, guiding you back onto his lap. “Family Christmas.” You reiterated, determined to make it downstairs.

And you did, though not before Rafe insisted he needed a shower and you needed to join him. The nice clothes you’d both worn for the party the night before were exchanged this morning for pajamas, yours a onesie that Nina had bought you from pink a few years ago.

Rose had always done Christmas for show, a gaudy tree and enough blinding lights and white on sliver to make someone feel like they were in a Kardashian’s house and not the Outer Banks. She never did yard ornaments or sentimental anything and someone else always baked whatever desserts they had for dinner at the holidays. Yours was entirely different. Red and green everything, the overwhelmingly large tree much more visible then it had been the night before with people crowded around the living room. There were ornaments from every year of your life, some silly figurines from Hallmark and others handcrafted with school pictures in them.

“Guess how old I was in that picture?” You said, pointing to a baby picture of you that hung on the tree.

“I don’t know, two?”

“Five months...I just had a shit ton of hair. My mom said one time when she took my brother to Tennis the girl there asked if I wanted to join the seven-year-old class. I was three.” You replied.

“So you were always weird?” Rafe asked, grinning when you smacked his arm.

“How did you two meet? We didn’t get the story.” Your mom said, carrying a tray of food in and putting it on the coffee table. Your brother was with his husband’s family this year, but your sister was here with her husband and her three kids, one of whom was currently climbing onto Rafe’s lap the second he sat down.

“Sorry, Garrett still gets u-p-s-e-t when he doesn’t get enough a-t-t-e-n-t-i-o-n.” Your sister said, as Garrett tugged on the strings of Rafe’s hoodie. Your sister was holding one of her twins and her husband had the other in his arms.

“That’s fine, Garrett and I can chill, right?” Rafe said, tilting his head to look at your nephew.

“Yeah chill,” he repeated, smiling up at Rafe.

“So,” your mom said, drawing the conversation back, “how did you two meet?”

“Like how did we actually meet?” Rafe asked, smiling at you as you sat down on the couch beside him, Garrett repositioning himself so he was stretched out across both of you, laughing when you tickled him.

Your mom nodded.

“We uh, met at college but I was kinda still with Ian so nothing really happened and then Nina saw him on my Tinder and swipped and now we’re together.” You replied, “a modern love story.”

“Yeah, we,” he looked down at Garrett and then back to your mom, “h-o-o-k-e-d up and she broke my heart by not calling me back.” Rafe said.

“Rafe!” You laughed, nudging him.

“God, I hated Ian...what a d-o-u-c-h-e,”

“We actually just went to Ian’s wedding in November,” You replied, lifting Garrett so that you could grab some food off the table. Rafe put his arm around your nephew when he tried to rock back again.

“No!” Garrett laughed, squirming around. “I wanna do presents.”

“Okay, okay, we’ll do presents.” Your stepdad promised. Garrett slid off of Rafe’s lap, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the tree. Rafe followed, sitting down at the base of the tree so that Garrett could look for the presents with his name on them.

“How was the wedding?” Your sister asked, sitting on the floor by the couch with one of the twins. “I can’t believe he invited you.”

“Oh he didn’t,” Rafe piped up, “Ian married her grade partner.”

“Are you kidding?” She practically hissed, immediately going into older sister defensive mode.

You rolled your eyes, getting off the couch and sitting down beside Rafe and Garrett. “Not kidding, and it doesn’t matter anyway.”

Being at your parents for Christmas had the same feeling as being out of the city for the wedding. Maybe even more so this time around, spending time with your family, made it easier for Rafe to think about the possibility of moving out of Boston and settling down with you somewhere like this.

“I bought that bike unitard, by the way.” You mentioned, packing your suitcase to leave. Rafe was laying on the bed in your childhood room, Fivel spread out next to him.

“The what?” He asked, raising his head a little.

“The bike unitard, that I showed you, from that yoga website.” You replied, “its the shorts.”

He hummed, laying his head back down and brushing his hand through Fivel’s fur.

“What’s the ‘mmhmmm’ supposed to mean?” you asked, mimicking his humming.

“You don’t ride a bike. Also, it’s December.”

“I might start.” You argued. In reality the chances of you biking were slim to numb but the outfit had been cute and the site had a 20% off sale.

“No.” He replied, “Nina asked you to bike two weeks ago and you said it was, and I quote, the worst activity in the world.” He said, finally sitting up all the way when you stopped packing to sit on the bed with him.

“Well I could stationary bike?” You suggested, though that was unlikely too. “They have those ones with the desk. So you can work out and work.”

“You’ll never use that.”

“I might.”

“Why not just use that stupid peloton in my office.” It had been a gift from Rose and Ward two years prior and Rafe had used it a total of never. It just sat there, staring at him as he worked.

“Then I’d be at your apartment all the time!”

“More than you are now? I’m surprised I don’t get mail in your name already.” He replied, getting off the bed and going over to his weekend bag. You should’ve left by now to make it home before dark but neither of you were rushing to leave.

“Well, we’re always busy! If I was there and not busy-”

“Coincidentally,” Rafe started to say, only to have you cut him off.

“Coincidentally?”

“Yeah, here.” He turned back toward you and held a small wooden box out.

You took it somewhat skeptically, “what is this? This looks like the Leslie and Ben box.”

“That’s because you have the best fucking boyfriend in the world who watches endless reruns of Parks and Rec with you.” Rafe replied, “open the box.”

Sitting inside the wooden box was a keycard and a spare, silver key, both of which you recognized. “Are these to your apartment? Are you giving me keys to your apartment?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I’m also asking you to move in with me. I know your lease ends in January and my building is animal friendly...imagine my bookshelves with actual books on them.”

“You want us to move in together?”

“I want a lot more than that,” Rafe admitted, “but, it’s a good place to start.”

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the-silvr-speedster · 4 years ago

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About Starfish and Squares

Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Pairings: Daisy Johnson / Daniel Sousa

Basically just Daisy trying to figure out what to do about her feelings for Daniel and Daniel being... well, Daniel. All with a little teasing and heart eyes. Set after the end of S7 in a timeline that was changed a lot (just my pure speculation).

Hi guys! Uh, it's been a few years since I've actually published something (and didn't finish, oops). This is my first fic connected to a TV show, but since it is my favourite one and is already ending and they gave us Daniel freakin' Sousa as a new love interest for our girl Daisy I just couldn't sit on the sidelines but jump on the ship and now I am basically just a Dousy trash. Plus I got ideas and couldn't wait until the season ends hence this little fic I put down over the weekend. The timeline is pretty messed-up at this point and I have no idea what are they going to do about it so, this is just my pure speculation about what it would look like in the future after all those changes. Basically, I just wanted to write one small fluff and flirty scene but somehow this fic came alive and decided otherwise. But enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy reading this. Beware of mistakes, nobody else edited it but myself and I may be a little rusty in writing in English.

And just a little disclaimer: I don't own any characters, they are a property of Marvel and Marvel Television.

He could hear the sound of Daisy's fast typing before he walked into Zephyr’s dining area. She didn't see him enter the room, though. Sitting sideways at the table, she kept her eyes trained on the laptop screen, completely focused on her work. Daniel stopped in the doorway, leaned against the wall, and quietly watched over her like she could disappear into thin air at any moment.

He caught himself doing it ever since Nathaniel killed her mom and he found Daisy on the ground next to her body with tears welled up in her eyes. She let them fall the second he softly spoke her name. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and he stroked her hair and held her close as long as she needed it. God knows that if it was up to him, he would hold her like that forever. She clung to him for dear life.

“You are hurt,” he worriedly looked over the bump on her forehead, brushing her hair from her face.

She didn't respond. She moved her hands to his chest and kept looking at them, lost in thoughts. A look of fear and confusion crossed her face and she finally met his eyes.

“How am I still here?”

That sentence stayed on his mind for over a week now, like a constant reminder of how much Chronicoms screwed up the timeline - with the help of Malicks, mainly Nathaniel. Just a brief thought of him brought that rage against the man full force. He shouldn't dwell on that anymore, it was in the past after all, but still, he couldn't forget. The barn. What he did to Daisy. To her mom. Daniel shook his head. Nathaniel is long gone now; Daisy took care of that. In the end, it didn't matter that he had those powers longer than she did. She crushed him, just like she told him she will back in that godforsaken barn. Daniel was so proud of her.

They won. They destroyed Sybil permanently with the help of Fitz and returned to the future. Not like it was a return for him but he didn't mind being here... with her. It was so strange to him. Yes, he had fallen in love before but somehow this was different. Unexpected. It hit him like a bullet in the back, totally unprepared and he was too far gone before he even realized it. ‘Huh, no pun intended,’ he thought. Million times better than those two bullets in the back he was originally supposed to get. And yet, at the same time, it scared him. The thought of him making it to the future without her. He was scared that the messed-up timeline will catch up with them and take her away from him. Not that she would be his, she is her own person but... He closed his eyes and shook his head again. He is in head over heels.

Something has changed between them. Well, more precisely, something about Daisy has changed ever since she was stuck in the time loop. Whatever that was, whatever happened that she didn't tell him about, it gave him a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe she's falling for him too. A hope that this time it won't end up like with Peggy. However, another part of him kept screaming not to give his hopes up. After all, she is a superhero with impressive powers from the future and he - he is a square, she said it herself. But he finds it that he doesn't care. He just wants to be there for her in whatever way she lets him. People like her should have someone to pick them back up after they hit the figurative walls. In Daisy’s case even the literal ones.

“Enjoying the view?” Daisy calls with a smirk. She could feel Daniel's presence for some time now but wanted to finish her work. Setting up new identities and lives in this new timeline is a pain in the ass. She officially doesn't exist, Daniel is supposed to be dead, Coulson is actually still alive so she has to set something up for LMD version of him and Deke - well he was always out of time.

She turns to look at Daniel at the lack of his response. He is looking in her general direction but his eyes are unfocused. She keeps looking at him, almost getting lost in her own thoughts that she promised herself she'll sort through. Mainly those particular memories from the time loops.

“Earth to Sousa,” she calls again, tilting her head to the side. She can't help but smile as she sees his eyes focusing on hers.

“Hi! Sorry, got lost for a while,” he sheepishly smiles and pushes off of the wall.

“Anything interesting on your mind you'd like to share?” Daisy can't help herself but tease him with a glint in her eyes.

Daniel's breath catches for a moment, fearing she could read his mind somehow. But she can't, can she? She's just teasing him. She likes to do that. He throws up his arms and looks around. “Everything is on my mind.”

“Yeah. It's a lot to process, I guess. But you are a champ at that by now,” Daisy tells him, watching him with a soft smile as he walks over to the fridge.

“Don't know about that,” he throws over his shoulder as he takes out some eggs and veggies. “Hungry?” He looks at her questioningly as he sets the ingredients on the counter.

Daisy's stomach rumbles as an answer. She laughs. “Like a wolf.”

“I'll make us some omelet,” he proposes as he prepares to start cooking.

“OK. Thanks,” Daisy softly says and tries to concentrate on her work again. She fails at that miserably, her eyes wandering towards Daniel all the time. ‘How is he even real?’ She keeps asking herself ever since she first met him in his office in 1955. She has to smile at how crazy that sounds in her head. They basically know each other for seventy-five years. She doesn’t question everything he does for her anymore. She got the answer on that in the time loop. However, that doesn’t mean he stopped surprising her. It’s nice to have someone who takes care of her for once. Someone who is listening to her and is just…there for her. She doesn’t need to be his rock like she always used to think she needs to be for everyone else on the team.

Daisy looks at him again. His back is turned towards her as he is chopping the veggies. ‘What a sight to behold.’ She grins widely at that and bites her lip. Nope, she can’t get distracted. She still has work to do. She fixes her eyes on the screen of her laptop again. The more she’s trying not to think about him, the more she does. She thinks about their little conversation. About that kiss… ‘Nope. Definitely not going there. Not now.’

“Daisy?” The sound of her name tears her out of her thoughts. She likes how it sounds when he says it.

“Huh?” She looks at him and hopes her face doesn’t give away what she was thinking about. He is leaning against the counter fully turned towards her with an amused expression.

“I asked if you know where Coulson and Deke are,” he tells her. Of course, he doesn’t ask what was on her mind when she wasn’t answering before. He’s nice like that.

“Uh, I think Deke went to set some things up for himself with the new ID I made for him and he said something about staying over at Fitz-Simmons’s this night,” she shrugged. “And Coulson is charging back in the LMD lab,” she pointed with her hand towards it.

“So, it’s just the two of us then,” he stated the obvious, his deep brown eyes locking with hers.

“Uh-huh,” she hums, breath catching in her throat. She should have some funny retort to that, shouldn’t she? “Any ideas?” She teases with a smile and slaps herself mentally. ‘Why am I like this?’

He doesn’t break eye contact and Daisy can see the change in his eyes. He gives her a small amused smile like he can see right through her. She can feel the air becoming heavier.

She cleared her throat. “I mean, I got us new Netflix subscription, so… if you want, we can watch-“ She was interrupted by a beep of a pop-up window on her laptop. “Oh, come on!” She exclaimed frustrated.

“Something’s wrong?” Daniel asked concerned.

“Nothing I can’t fix,” she told him as she started to work on fixing the problem. “But it will take time,” she sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

“OK, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll finish dinner.” She gave him a grateful smile and he returned to preparing the meal.

Daisy told herself that this is why she can’t deal with her feelings right now. Why she can’t think about how nice that kiss was. She has work to do and she needs to finish it first then deal with whatever is going on with the two of them. The sooner she does that, the sooner they all can start living a new life somewhere that is not on the Zephyr. A quick thought goes through her head; she always finds an excuse so she doesn’t have to deal with her feelings. She always tells herself “later”. Maybe it’s easier to do that than admit to herself that she is scared. Maybe a part of her is grateful the time loop did reset and Daniel doesn’t remember what happened. Because the last thing she wants is for him to get hurt…or worse. That is what happens to people she cares about, who care about her. She still remembers that time when she was in the dark place after everything went down with Hive and Lincoln, after she chose to leave the team and become a vigilante. The pain, the guilt she felt. May has told her back then that she doesn’t get to choose who cares about her. And finally, she accepted it; she returned back to the team. And then Coulson died. And Fitz. They went to space to search for the other version of Fitz. Davis was killed. Then May almost died in her arms in that temple and next thing she knows they are on the Zephyr in 1931. When she thinks about it, she’s been bottling everything up. She labeled every feeling, every memory with the “later” tag.

She can feel tears forming in her eyes so she blinks a few times to get rid of them. How did her mind go down that dark rabbit hole with just a single thought? She doesn’t know. What she does know is, that she will have to deal with all of it one day and she can’t ignore the small part of her which hopes that Daniel will be there to pick her back up after that dam of bottled feelings and pain breaks down. One day, but not now.

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

Daniel woke up in his bunk. The light was still on and the book he was reading laid open on his chest. He looked at his wristwatch. 3:35 A.M. He ran his hand down his face with a sigh. He doesn’t even know when he fell asleep.

After he and Daisy ate the dinner, he retreated to his bunk to continue his research on everything he missed in seventy-five years. Daisy showed him some web pages on the tablet that could come in handy, like this Wikipedia thing. She said though, to take everything written there with a bit of skepticism since apparently the page is sometimes not the most reliable source of information. Coulson gave him some history books he picked up for the team in a bookstore in a nearby city since those they had from before were useless in the new timeline. Nobody seemed to be interested in reading them but him. After they found out that the real Coulson is alive as well as May’s ex-husband Andrew which is not an ex in this timeline and they have a daughter, and that the public doesn’t know anything about the existence of Inhumans, Daisy kind of didn’t want to know more about what changed. Mainly after Fitz mentioned something about Grant Ward being alive too.

Daniel sat up on his bed with a grunt and put the history book aside. His mouth was dry. He decided to go get some water. He quietly opened the door on his bunk and walked towards the dining area. As he walked past Daisy’s bunk, he saw that the doors are open and her bed is empty. He closed his eyes with a sigh. Leave it to her to rest and she won’t.

When he entered the dining area, he was greeted with a sight of Daisy sleeping with her head placed on her arms next to the laptop on the table. She looked peaceful but uncomfortable. He shook his head with a smile and walked towards the counter to pour himself a glass of water. After he drank it, he moved next to Daisy and lightly put his hand on her back.

“Daisy?” He whispered so he wouldn’t startle her. She didn’t move.

“Okay,” he murmured to himself. ‘Let’s try something else.’ He carefully moved her body in a proper sitting position while simultaneously going to one knee. Putting his one arm around her back and the other under her knees, he pulled her close and her head rolled onto his shoulder. A soft sigh escaped her lips but she didn’t wake up. He stood up with her in his arms and slightly adjusted her weight, although it was so much easier and painless than the first time he carried her. He can’t be more amazed by the new prosthetic. Daisy’s arms went around his neck and she hid her face in his shoulder with another (content?) sigh. He smiled and before he thought better of it, he kissed the top of her head.

When he got to her bunk, he carefully put her down on the bed and unlocked her arms from around his neck. She grunted unhappily at the loss of contact. Smiling, he moved towards her feet and started undoing her shoes. When he was finished, he pulled the blanket from under her and covered her with it. Satisfied with the result of Daisy sleeping comfortably in her own bed, he looked at her one more time, leaned over, and softly brushed some hair from her face.

“Good night, Daisy.” He whispered as he straightened up. When he turned to leave the room, her hand caught his wrist.

“Daniel?” Daisy murmured half asleep. “Stay.”

His heart leaped into his throat. He stepped closer to her bed, her hand still holding his wrist. Her eyes were opened, looking at him pleadingly in the low light coming from the corridor. She slowly moved further on her bed to make a space for him. He was, however, waging an internal war. After all, this is something that would be considered highly inappropriate in his times. Probably even now, in the 21st century.

“I shouldn’t,” he told her quietly.

“Please,” she whispered her eyes closing again.

He sighed heavily and mentally cursed himself. He would do anything she asked of him, wouldn’t he? How could he say no when all he wants is to hold her close? He wants to stay but he shouldn’t. Yet he already knows he’ll do as she wants.

“OK,” he murmured resignedly.

Daisy smiled, satisfied, and let go of his wrist. He closed the door and sat down on her bed. He took off his shoes before he crawled under the blanket with her. She immediately moved closer to him and put her head on top of his chest, resting her hand over his heart. His instant shock melted away quite quickly and he wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her even closer. She hummed contently. Daniel turned his head towards hers and planted one more kiss on top of her head, smiling. Any doubts he had before disappeared in the warmth of her body pressed into his side and the feeling of her heartbeat resonating with his own.

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

No nightmares this night. That was the first thing that went through Daisy’s head after she woke up. She sighed and pressed her head into the pillow happily. Only then she realized that it’s not her pillow she is pressing her face into but another human being’s chest. That was the moment she became acutely aware of a warm arm around her waist holding her close and the fact that her legs were tangled with the legs of that person. She was basically sprawled across half of him like a freakin’ starfish. She went rigid for a moment before she finally dared to open her eyes. She was in her bunk. How did she get here?

If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t really need to look up to figure out who she made a pillow from. She already knew, but still, she looked up to be met with a peaceful face of sleeping Daniel Sousa. Was his face really buried in her hair before she looked up or it just looked like it was? She felt her cheeks burn. Her heart hammered in her chest at high speed. ‘Please, don’t quake,’ she begged herself. God, she was so grateful that he was still asleep and didn’t see her blushing. Speaking of… Daniel sighed and his arm tightened around her waist. ‘Shit!’ Daisy moved her head down, the last thing she wanted was for him to wake up to her staring at him while profusely blushing. She could feel how his own heart was slowly picking up pace. She smiled. Somehow it made it less awkward that her own heart was racing like crazy. Now that she comes to think of it, this is an extremely comfortable position and she really likes her new pillow.

“Hmm, good morning,” Daniel murmured hoarsely.

“More like lunch, really,” she babbled, looking at the clock on her bedside table. “But good morning to you too,” she quickly added hiding her smile in his chest. “How did you know I was awake?”

“Apart from that heartbeat of yours? Hmm, let me think,” he chuckled. She liked how it resonated in his chest.

“Sorry,” she said as she slowly looked up at him, locking her eyes with his. “A little side effect of my powers. Be glad I didn’t quake you out of the bed,” she smirked.

He raised his eyebrows, an amused smile playing on his lips. She tried not to look at them for too long. “That happened before?”

“Nope. But once I quaked myself out of the bed,” she laughed and he joined in. It lighted up his eyes even more. She had to look down on his chest to gather her thoughts. It wasn’t helping very much. “Anyway,” she cleared her throat, “care to elaborate how am I actually here? Last I remember I was resting my eyes on the table in the dining area.”

“Well, it wasn’t much of resting your eyes as it was more of an uncomfortable sleeping,” he chuckled. “Tried to wake you up but you wouldn’t even budge. So, I carried you here,” he explained.

Daisy met his eyes again amused, trying not to imagine him carrying her in his arms. “You carried me here? Just like you carried me out of that barn?”

“Uh-huh,” he hummed looking down at her.

“You seem to like carrying me around a lot, agent Sousa,” she teased him while pushing up on one elbow so she could look at him better. He gave her a small smile and…did he just look at her lips? She gulped.

“You seem to like being unconscious a lot, agent Johnson,” he replied jokingly.

Daisy smiled widely. “Well then, in that case, you have to carry me while I’m still awake next time.”

“Maybe I will,” he teased her back with a glint in his eyes.

'Looks like someone is in a playful mood this morning,’ she thought to herself. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she hummed. The way he was looking at her, the way his arm was burning her waist through her t-shirt and the way her own hand just casually laid on his chest suddenly became unbearable and at the same time she wanted more. More of him. Her eyes flicked to his lips, then to his eyes and then anywhere else but him. One side of her just wanted to lean in and kiss him like she did in the time loop, another side was basically screaming at her to abort the mission. She inhaled deeply to calm herself down and pushed away from him completely, now lying next to him on her back.

“So,” she started again looking at the ceiling twisting her hands together nervously, “did I, uh, say something after you brought me here?”

“Uh-huh,” he said as he propped himself on one elbow, now looking down at her with that little smile of his clearly enjoying himself by teasing her. Oh, how the tables have turned.

“Did I…beg you to stay?” She asked him, eyeing him cautiously.

He just smiled even more.

“I did, didn’t I? Oh God,” she mumbled, covering her face with her hands as she heard him chuckle next to her. “Sorry. The last thing I wanted was to put you in an uncomfortable situation. I just…,” she looked at him, her hands now playing with the hem of her t-shirt. She took a deep breath. “When I am extremely tired, I kind of loose the filter and say whatever is on my mind. Like a drunk person.” She smiled innocently at him.

“So, you are extremely honest then?” He asked her with a smirk, some kind of plan already forming in his eyes.

Daisy laughed. “Don’t you dare to use it against me,” she warned him jokingly. “Anyway, did I say…anything else?” She knows that there is so much she could’ve possibly said to him, things that she can’t reveal while she is in a half-asleep state when she definitely won’t take a moment to explain herself.

“You called me by my first name,” he shrugged, still smiling.

“Hmm, did I?” She grinned. She was calling him Daniel in her head since…well, since the kiss probably. “It would be a shame to go back to calling you Sousa now, wouldn’t it?”

“It definitely would,” he agreed.

“So, Daniel it is, then,” she smiled softly at him. “But I mean it, I’m sorry for putting you in that position. I know that you’re-“

“A square?” he cut her off with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s not exactly what I was gonna say but since you’ve mentioned it - I kinda like squares,” she gave him a teasing smile and he had to look away for a moment before finding her eyes again. “I mean, I basically made a pillow out of you and wrapped you in a starfish hug - unconsciously - but still. Without an explanation or…something.” She looked at her hands sheepishly. “I just can understand that it could be too much for you and-” She kept rambling before he cut her off again.

“I kinda like starfish,” he told her with a shrug.

She looked up at him. His face was soft and honest and she thought she’s going to drown in his warm eyes.

“And I didn’t mind being your pillow at all,” he added.

Just one swift move of her hand to grab his shirt and pull him to her. That is the only thing that she needs to do to kiss him. Right there and then. Daisy already knows he would be more than a willing participant. She knows that is would be probably even better that their first kiss - which he doesn’t remember. That is probably what is keeping her from actually going for it. Maybe she should just tell him. Or kiss him first and tell him later? ‘No,’ she tells herself. ‘This is not the right time or place for that conversation.’ And yet she can’t help herself. She can’t break the eye contact, she can’t move. She’s frozen in place and maybe even space and time, because what are those? They are inconsequential at this moment. She is lost in that chocolate heart eyes of his. They are reflecting exactly the same emotion, exactly the same desire as hers. He wants to kiss her too, she realizes, but he won’t unless she gives him a go…or kisses him first. And just like that, she can see in all play out in her head. Maybe she should go for it even without that conversation. She should just go for the kiss and not label it with the “later” tag like everything else. Maybe, she will…

“Well, I guess that every starfish needs its own square to make a pillow from,” she said in a low voice, her hand rising up to softly cup his face.

“Hmm, it would seem so,” he hummed in agreement and started to move closer, her touch giving him the courage to do what he wanted for so long.

Or not…

They were suddenly interrupted by a loud crash and sound of something breaking. They both jumped up into a sitting position with a panic written all over their faces.

Deke’s voice echoed from somewhere in the corridor. “Uh, guys?! We don’t really need the main control panel on the bridge anymore, right? Because it kinda, uhm, broke.”

Daisy let out a frustrated sigh and facepalmed. Leave it to Deke to be the buzzkill. She looked over at Daniel. The initial annoyed look on their faces slowly transformed into a huge grin before they both burst out laughing. She hid her face in his shoulder and he put his arm around her waist, enjoying one last moment alone before they go off to deal with the new disaster. Daisy at least knows now that they really need to have that conversation soon. Because whatever this is, she wants it no matter what.

“Guys?!”

Ok, so this was supposed to be a one-shot but if anyone is interested I might write down at least one more chapter about "that conversation" and kiss. I didn't want to include it here since there are already so many fanfics about how Daisy breaks the news about their kiss to Daniel.

I hoped you enjoyed it and I guess we'll see each other in the Dousy trash can.

UPDATE: There is a sequel to this fic, called HOME. Just FYI, if you were interested in reading more Dousy content. Link is here.

56 notes · View notes

lifeinahole27 · 5 years ago

Text

CS ff:��“Walking the Tightrope” (Chapter 10/10) (au)

Summary: Killian’s daily routines are a matter of habit. When he wakes up late one morning, his routines all change for the better. Emma doesn’t care about routines, but she does care about Killian, no matter how reluctant she is to admit it to herself.

Rating: E (the content warnings matter this time!)

Content Warnings: Everything from the previous chapter applies as far as the Walsh business is concerned. Other than that, a very tame chapter.

A Special Thank You: My continued gratitude to my lovely friends, @captainstudmuffin and @phiralovesloki. And a heap of love to @captainswanbigbang for putting this together and helping me accomplish this.

A/N: So, this is the last main chapter. There is an epilogue which I will post on Sunday, and then this grand adventure will be wrapped up! Thanks for being with me on this ride and for any comments, reblogs, and likes. I’m thankful beyond words. <3

Find it on Ao3 & FFN!

-x-

Chapter 10: Snowshine

Walsh still looks exactly the same as the last time she was here. Emma tries her best to keep her stomach calm when all she wants to do is throw up on his face, projecting an outward cool that she doesn’t feel as he enters the room and looks up at her.

“What the - Emma? What the hell are you doing in my apartment?”

“Taking back what’s rightfully mine,” Emma says, gesturing to the box of pictures sitting on the bed beside her.

“Oh no, sweetheart. I would hardly call all of those yours.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart, asshole.”

Through all of this, James has been watching a progress bar load on the computer screen. With a noise of victory, he looks back to her.

“There you go, Emma. All done.”

“You brought David with you? Mr. Wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly?”

“Oh, buddy, believe me. You’re gonna wish I was David by the end of this. Good job hosting a whole website with a bunch of non-consensual photos on it. But shame on you for making it so easy to break into.”

“You have another brother?”

“Didn’t I ever tell you that David was an identical twin?”

At the little jingle that plays from the desk, he tries to push James out of the way. “What did you do to my computer?”

“Gave it a little tune up,” James tells him, crossing his arms with pride as a little unicorn marches into the center of the screen.

All three of them watch with rapt attention as the unicorn stands and waves, before squatting.

“Oh my god,” Emma says, bursting out in laughter as the unicorn defecates in the shape of an artfully written “fuck you” in rainbow colors.

After a couple seconds, the whole thing emits a screeching noise and shuts off with a loud pop.

“All your buddies that subscribed to your email list got something pretty similar. I mean, I don’t know if they’ll all open it but with the heading ‘Check out the brand new section!’ I’m willing to bet a lot of dudes are about to lose their computers.”

Walsh finally makes it around James, desperately trying to turn on his computer but nothing happens when he hits the button. “All of my business files were on there.”

“You kept all your shit on your personal computer? Wow. You’re even dumber than I thought.” James turns towards Emma on the tail of that thought. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Emma responds, picking up the box of photographs and handing it over to James. They manage to make it out of the bedroom before Walsh must come to his senses, and he’s after them immediately.

His hand closes around Emma’s arm, and she spins around. On instinct, Emma swings as she breaks the hold. And while James misses taking a snapshot of that hit, he doesn’t miss the one where Emma knees him in the nuts hard enough to bring him to his knees.

“I have the perfect new image for the welcome screen on his trash web page,” James says as Emma backs away. He holds the phone out for her to see and she just barely stops herself from cracking up. “Here, take this. I’ll be right behind you.” He hands over the box, gently ushering her towards the door.

She doesn’t go far, leaving the door cracked just enough to hear what James has to say to Walsh.

“Here’s the deal, you Wizard of Oz-looking monkey piece of shit. All of the accounts for that website are completely wiped out. All that money you made off of people like my sister? That money is so far offshore that you’ll never be able to trace it ever again. Got it?”

“I’ll call the cops,” Walsh says weakly.

“You won’t. You have no evidence. And if you try to do that, or ever try to do this again, I will screw up your whole life. We’re in a digital age now, Walsh Whitney Covington. I have everything of yours now. Personal records, social media, bank accounts, the password to your pretentious little LinkedIn page that lists you as a connoisseur of wood, which… come on, man.”

“That’s all illegal,” he whines back, and Emma is mostly just enjoying the snivelling tone in his voice.

“Yeah? And? I’m sure Emma signed a consent form for those pictures you had posted of her, right? You had her sign away her financial freedoms for the profits on it, too? Don’t ever fuck with our family ever again or you’ll regret it.”

After a couple more minutes of silence, James exits the apartment and gives her a bright smile.

“Now, that was a fun afternoon with my brother. See? We should bond like this more often,” Emma says as they make their way out of the building and back down to where he parked his car.

“Yeah yeah, don’t get used to it. Jack would kill me if she found out this is how I spent my day.”

“You’re still with Jack?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I did marry her, after all. She wanted to wait until she made partner to have a baby and so I switched gears and became a stay-at-home dad after she went back from maternity leave. It helps to have a super lawyer as your wife.”

“None of the words that just came out of your mouth are what I was expecting when I called you about all this.”

“Well, it’s not like I send out Christmas cards with updates on the family,” James says, a little resignation in his voice.

“Did you really take all the profits from the website?”

“And refunded the money you spent on that settee you bought there back before you started dating.”

Just as he says it, Emma’s phone dings with a notification. There’s a message from her bank saying there’s been a deposit into her account. Looking at the numbers, it’s way more than what she paid for the moderately priced item, but James shrugs.

“Maybe I got the numbers backwards in my head. Added an extra digit. Whatever. So you mentioned earlier that you have a boyfriend? You haven’t changed your status on Facebook.”

“You follow my social media?”

“Just because I don’t let any of you know about what’s going on in my life doesn’t mean I don’t check up on you.”

“Well, I’m supposed to be at a Christmas party for his company down in New York but someone insisted we do this today.”

He rolls his eyes as he opens his door and climbs into the driver’s seat. No sooner is she seat-belting in when another notification chimes on her phone.

“Did you seriously just buy me a plane ticket to New York City?”

“I’ll hand all of that over to David,” James says, indicating the box she placed in the backseat. “Besides, he and I are severely overdue for a brotherly chat.” Without another word, he starts a route for the airport.

“When was the last time you had one of those? When you were fifteen?”

“Something like that. Hey, text him and let him know what’s going on. I should be back there in about an hour but I don’t want him to worry.”

She shakes her head, doing as he asked and sending a message to David.

As they pull up outside the airport, Emma turns to James. “So, what do I still owe you?”

“Nothing. I got the cash he had stashed in his desk, all the money from his subscription side of the website, and free childcare for the evening after Jack gets home from the office today.”

“Did you tell David that yet?”

“No, but I will. And you know he will - he’s David. Go on,” he tells her when they arrive a short time later. “Enjoy the party.”

“Okay then. And hey, thanks for all your help. I couldn’t imagine doing that with anyone else.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, Emma?”

Her door is open and she’s just about to climb out when he says her name.

“It was nice seeing you,” he admits.

She leans in quickly and hugs him, noting how familiar yet utterly foreign it feels. “Come visit us sometime,” she tells him as she pulls away. She stands there until his car pulls away and he’s out of view before she walks through the doors.

Somehow, James managed to get her the perfect flight so she had enough time to get through security, although she looks suspicious as hell going in with nothing but her purse, if you ask her. It’s still considered early when she lands in the city, but with nothing else with her, she has to get party-ready with nothing but the money in her bank account. Thanks to James, there’s a little bit extra to play with in there.

Emma feels like she should be in some cheesy movie montage as she struggles to find everything she’ll need to get ready. Hair and makeup come first, and she’s thankful the salon isn’t far from a decent looking clothing shop or else her charges in cab fares alone would’ve gotten out of hand.

The dress she finds is perfect - a sleek, black number that doesn’t fit too tight but that doesn’t hide her shape. It’s similar enough to the dress she was planning on wearing to this, the one she borrowed from Ruby as a first-date possibility but put aside in favor of the soft pink she wore instead. She admires the whole look in the mirror as the shop attendant helps her clip tags after Emma pays. She buys two pairs of shoes - a cute pair of cutout ankle boots and a pair of flats - in anticipation of the point in the party where she’ll want to feel her toes again.

It’s only once she’s fully satisfied with the total picture that she heads out, making sure everything she wore down here is tucked securely into the weekender bag the attendant helped her pick out.

This time, she opens the rideshare app for a little more comfort, and then it’s off to the Manhattan Penthouse to finally get to where she wants to be.

-x-

Tucking away the knowledge that Robin just gave him, Killian settles into his seat with only a lone glance at the empty chair beside him. He has Henry on his other side, and the rest of the Mills-Hood family in the remaining seats. They’ve not even begun when he receives a sharp, bony elbow to the side.

“Hey,” Henry whispers as he leans close. “Isn’t that Emma?”

He turns his head, glancing in the direction Henry is pointing, and his breath catches. Sure enough, Emma is standing there in a black dress that surely should be illegal to look so good in. Her hair and makeup are all done, and she’s scanning the room. It takes another elbow to his ribs for Killian to finally stand up, waving over his girlfriend and attempting to wipe the surprise off his face while he does.

“Hi! Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re just in time, actually. I’m so… don’t get me wrong, Swan, but I never expected you’d be able to make it.” He leans forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek and taking a moment to soak up her closeness.

“Yeah, well, sometimes when you make a deal with the devil to take down satan, you get what you want faster than you expected,” she says, and while he doesn’t fully understand, he knows he’ll get the full story later.

He pulls out her chair for her, pushing it in as she sits. “I do believe we all know one another,” he says to the table at large. “I’d told them to cancel your meal, so excuse me while I get that turned around.”

“Emma! I’m so glad you’re here!” Henry who’d been sitting on his right, beams from ear to ear as he slides over to talk to her.

“Hi Henry. Everyone. Glad I could make it.”

Hearing her voice and the animated conversation that sparks up between her and Henry immediately calms his nerves for the evening, and he hastens to find one of the caterers so he can return to the table.

By the time their dinner is served, he’s noticed no less than four times Henry has pulled out his iPod to jot down something in his notes. He smiles as he watches it happen, watches the gears turn in the lad’s head and the magic take root. He manages to keep it in his pocket for the entirety of the meal, but he’s pretty sure that was due to a questioning look from Regina right as the salads were placed in front of them.

With the rest of the table occupied with their desserts, Killian takes a moment to lean over, keeping his voice low as he whispers in her ear. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” she says, a satisfied little smile on her face. There’s been a peace evident on her face since the moment she walked in, and he’s intrigued but enjoying it. She was never too tightly wound to begin with, apart from the times she got stuck in her own head. This, he assumes, is due to the business with her ex being all wrapped up.

After the dishes have been cleared, Killian rests in his seat for a bit. There’s still a lot more networking he’ll have to do, but for now he takes the time to relax as he and Robin discuss strategy for announcements. He’s in the middle of helping figure out the order when Emma’s hand creeps onto his thigh. His words falter for a moment, and he can see Emma’s smile get just a little wider.

When her hand travels a little higher, he reaches down, knowing full well that his ears and cheeks are both bright with flush, and takes a moment when Robin is asking Henry a question to fully turn to her.

“Have pity on me,” he whispers, pulling her hand to his lips to place a kiss on the back of it, and she laughs quietly, turning her palm to link her fingers with his.

“Just this one time,” she concedes, settling in with their hands clasped.

-x-

Walking into the venue, Emma is momentarily overwhelmed. She forgot that the Storybrooke office isn’t the whole team, and that a lot of the authors would be there, so there’s just a sea of people as far as she can see across the space. But then Killian stands up, her eyes finding his as he waves her over.

And it’s halfway between where she is and where he’s waiting that it hits her full in the gut: She is in love with Killian. She is so in love with that man that she can hardly stand it. He has never once looked at her differently or placed unrealistic expectations on her - he never set out to hurt her.

There, with the lights of the chandeliers glittering overhead, and the backdrop of the city getting dusted in snow, Emma realizes that she is looking at the man she wants to spend all of her time with if she can. Her heart squeezes, even as she smiles and accepts the kiss he places on her cheek as they settle in.

It’s the first time she’s ever been to a party like this, and she has to think it’s going pretty well. While Killian is occupied with his duties, Emma offers to watch Roland so Regina can go with Robin as he makes rounds to greet everyone. Emma follows him as he drags her from one end of the penthouse to the other, eager to show her anything and everything he can.

By the end of the night, her feet hurt and she’s all too happy to get her belongings from the coat check room so she can slip on the flats she bought. She’s leaning against the wall, innocently trying to pry her feet out of the booties when Killian comes up behind her, his hand warm through the material of her dress and his voice hot in her ear.

“Are you trying to kill me tonight?”

“I’m just trying to change my shoes. It’s not my fault your eyes automatically go to my ass when you approach me.”

He looks affronted when she turns to look at him, a smile hiding behind the expression.

“Besides,” she says, “I just can’t wait for you to get me out of this dress.”

“I’m ordering us a car right now.”

It’s amazing; she knows he prefers the quiet and solitude of their little town, but he performs so well in the city - like he was built to live here - and she loves that he chooses not to. They’re both on their best behavior in the car, but Killian purposely sat on her left so his hand can rest on her knee. Rather than spiking that part in her that’s always game for another round of sex, though, it reignites her thoughts from when she entered the party and she stares at him in the dark as the city lights pass them by.

When he notices, he turns to her with a peaceful look on his face, and they smile at each other. “What?” he asks, his fingers tightening once.

“Nothing,” she replies, taking the moment to rest her head on his shoulder for the rest of the journey. “Tonight was great.”

Back at the hotel, they at least manage to settle a bit before Killian follows through with her request, with both of them sighing as the dress slips from her shoulders and drops lightly to the floor. They take their time, slow and languid, savoring each moment with each other.

“I know I’ve said this plenty of times, but I am so happy you were able to make it,” Killian tells her as their skin is still cooling. She needs to go wash the makeup from her face but she’s not quite sure her legs will function in order to do so.

“Me too.” She stares at him, her eyes roaming his face and sinking into the wonder that has been the last three months of her life, thanks to this man.

“What is it?” he asks, his expression serious as he tries to figure out what she’s thinking.

“I… want to thank you for everything. You went into this without knowing and you still haven’t pushed me to talk about what happened or anything and so I just… wanted to say thanks.”

His smile falters, still there but just a touch disappointed that the words weren’t the ones he was expecting after she set it up to be something else, and she knows how it feels. Her thumb strokes along his cheek, pushing at his smile briefly as she leans in to kiss him.

Maybe next time, she thinks as she moves to the bathroom to clean up before climbing back into bed. Outside, the city keeps moving on as their world slows for sleep.

-x- December 21: Saturday

As usual, Killian is the one that wakes up first. He sets about ordering breakfast and jumps in the shower in the interim. Emma is awake and sitting up in bed when he comes back out, and he leans over the bed to kiss her good morning.

“David texted me that he’s on his way home. He has everything we took from Walsh and he’s going to drop it off at my place.”

“That’s certainly good news. Even better news is I have coffee and breakfast being delivered soon.”

She chuckles at that. “Perfect. I wish I had more clothes with me, but I suppose yesterday’s will be fine.”

“My luggage is yours, love. I always pack extra just in case, so help yourself.”

Which seemed like a good idea, until Emma walks out of the bathroom after her own shower in one of his button up shirts, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and her supple form filling out the garment better than he ever could.

They eat breakfast in bed, the curtains flung open wide to let in the weak, winter sunshine. As they graze their food, Emma books her ticket for their return to Storybrooke, crowing in victory when she scores a seat on Killian’s flight.

“I’ll text David and see if he can pick us up,” Emma tells him when they’re getting ready for their outside adventure, pulling her hat securely over her ears and wrapping her scarf around her neck.

They brave the cold to hit some of the popular winter activities in the city, taking in the Christmas markets and strolling Fifth Avenue. In the early evening, they meet up with Robin, Regina, and the two boys again to enjoy dinner together. With the pressure from the night before long gone, they talk instead of the upcoming holidays.

It’s clear that Henry is willing to keep the magic alive for Roland, asking the younger boy what he’s planning on asking for Christmas when they go to see Santa after the meal is over. When Killian catches Henry’s eye a short bit later, the lad smiles and gives him a thumbs up.

After dinner, they set out on their own again to see the Rockefeller tree in person. They stand there, watching the lights twinkle and the skaters on the rink until neither of them can feel their toes and their noses are bright red.

Sinking into their hotel bed that night, Killian makes sure to set his alarm, but Emma grabs for it before he can set it down.

“Just wanted to double check. Wouldn’t want to miss your alarm or anything,” she says, that smile hidden in the corner of her mouth.

“Cheeky woman,” he says quietly, making sure to kiss her hard and lovely before they each burrow under the covers.

There’s another message from David waiting for Emma when they wake up letting her know they’ll be there to pick them up. Thankfully, with no luggage, their disembarking process is much faster and they’re able to get out of the departure door right as David and Snow pull up.

While they go their separate ways when they get back to town, he and Emma have a standing appointment for later in the afternoon to take everything that was acquired from Walsh’s apartment to send it off properly, as she did with her uniform.

He sets to work on a mission, unpacking his bag and stripping off his dirty clothes to throw everything in his hamper. There’s still time before he meets with Emma, but since he’s been out of town since Friday, he’s behind on his weekend duties and he knows he’ll feel better if he takes the time to do it now rather than waiting. He throws his clothes in the wash, opting for warmer clothes for their task ahead. Instead of sitting around and waiting for the machine to be done, he takes the time instead to pack a picnic of sorts for the task ahead of them. Those items and a blanket all go into a tote bag he got from the last publishing conference he attended.

Shortly after his laundry is folded and put away, Emma breezes through the door with a large box in her arms.

“Ready?”

“Aye, just let me grab my keys.”

He locks the door behind them on their way out, and then they make their way to the beach closest to his flat. There’s a fire pit that was built ages ago, large stones surrounding it and a fresh pile of logs that Killian would place money on betting that David set it up for them.

As he sets to work lighting the fire, he hands Emma the tote to start unpacking their items. She hums happily as she finds the soup, and again when she opens the second thermos that has the hot chocolate. He’s just finishing with his task when he turns to see her pouring the drink into each mug he brought, and raises an eyebrow as she tips a generous amount of whiskey into each one.

She shrugs when she sees his look. “Believe me, I’m going to need it,” she says after a sip to taste-test.

They stay on the beach much longer than most people would in December, with fresh snow occasionally falling around them. But they make sure each individual picture makes it into the fire. As delicately as they can, they remove them from the box, and he hands a stack face-down to Emma for her to fold each picture so he can feed it into the fire.

She sets the thumb drive on the rocks around the pit, making sure to give it a solid stomp before throwing that in as an afterthought.

“I’m sure it’s terrible for the environment but I need that thing wiped from existence.”

When each item has met its demise, including the box it was all packed away in, Emma puts out the fire using every precaution he’s sure David taught her.

Back in the comforting warmth of his place, Killian pulls out every blanket he owns and waits for Emma to come out of his bedroom from getting changed into pajamas. He piles them on top of her, going to change his own clothes before joining her on the couch. He holds her while she processes the whole thing - some anger and tears, some relief, until she falls asleep on Killian’s shoulder and he has to shift around until they can both stretch out.

He doesn’t fall asleep until long after she does, whispering a quiet “I love you” against her hair before he finally falls asleep, as well.

-x- December 23: Monday

They’re still on the couch when Emma wakes up, if only just barely. She’s facing Killian, her back pressed against the couch, with Killian’s arm looped over her waist. She’s just opening her eyes when she hears his gasp and then he’s teetering off the edge. Now wide awake, she peers down to see Killian wincing on the floor.

“Are you okay?”

“Just peachy, love,” he grumbles, rubbing his head where it smacked on the floor. She’s stifling laughter when he leans up and kisses her softly. “Good morning to you, my sweet couch hog.”

“We could’ve moved at any time. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because I love you and wanted you to rest more than I cared about my own comfort,” he responds, only realizing as he finishes speaking that he may have said too much. His eyes, wider and brighter blue than she’s ever seen them, meet her steady gaze.

“I love you, too. But that’s a little dramatic of a reason for why you’re now on the floor.”

“I’d go to the ends of the earth for you. Or time. This time just happens to be on my remarkably uncomfortable area rug.” She can’t help the laugh that slips out this time and she runs her hands through his hair. Hangover be damned, she loves this man so much.

“Thanks again for last night. I was a bit of a mess,” she says, even though it feels like a vast understatement to what she actually was the day before. He waves his hand to dismiss her words.

“Sometimes, we just need to throw a mini-rager and burn a bunch of illegally obtained pornographic materials. You sure we’ll never need any of that as evidence in case there’s some kind of criminal investigation?”

“James was pretty clear with Walsh about what would happen to him if he tried to pursue legal action. Not only that, but every picture on the website has been removed and the only thing that pops up when the site is unlocked now is a picture of Walsh clutching his junk with an expression of pain on his face.”

“I wish I could’ve been there to see you make that hit,” Killian admits, pushing up off the cushion to stand. “Come, love, let’s sail away to the kitchen where I can recite dirty poetry to you and make you breakfast.”

She laughs as she takes his hand, because while he doesn’t recite dirty poetry, he does make her breakfast and convince her to play hooky with him for the day. And when he takes her to bed a short time later, he infuses her skin with the words of his love over and over again.

It’s the first time in years he doesn’t stick to any kind of routine at all, and they’re both perfectly okay with that.

-x-

Epilogue

#captain swan #cs ff au #captain swan ff #sarah writes ff #csrt

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pebblysand · 4 years ago

Text

[writing rant - on the monetisation of fanfiction]

a couple of months ago, when i updated my long fic, one of the people on the comments wrote to me the nicest possible review (one of the ones that you keep in your feel-good 'saved' emails - you know the ones), which, amongst other things also said: 'If I could pay you for this...believe me, I would.'

in the moment, i kind of smiled and laughed, and thanked the person for their kind words before moving on with my life. yet, since then, i have to admit that this sentence has kind of been living rent-free in my head. i think it is also because since diving back into fandom a few months ago, i've noticed something that kind of shocked me at first: more and more fanfiction writers seem to be monetising (or attempting to monetise) their craft.

now, back when i started writing fanfic, we wrote fanfic on ffnet and livejournal. it was accepted that thou shalt never (ever) charge money for your writing or else the author and their mean, angry lawyers will come after you for damages and you will die a slow and painful death. we wrote disclaimers at the start of all of our posts and thanked the gods every day when we did not get sued.

i have seen this change gradually over the years. first, in the mid 2010s, the disclaimers went. then, i noticed that people were getting 'tipped' for fanart, sometimes even charging commission. from what i understand (though, don't quote me on this, i'm not an ip lawyer and this post is not intended as legal advice), this is because the way the concept of fair use is framed under us law makes it easier to monetise fanart than it does fanfiction. maybe this is why visual artists came first on this trend. later still (and more recently) i've noticed fanfic writers, doing the same thing.

to be fully honest, the first thought i had when i saw this trend, considering the fear of god (and his lawyers) that was instilled in me in the past, was: how on earth is this even possible? (i'll come back to that in a bit). the second, though, was: fuck, i wish i had the guts to do that, lol.

because, yeah, i will admit, the idea of getting paid for writing what i love to write does appeal, to a certain extent. i won't lie. dear fanfiction writers who've tried to do that recently: i one hundred per cent get it.

looking back at the last fifteen years, i would say that for me, writing fanfiction has been (in terms of time commitment and energy consumed) the equivalent of having an on-and-off part time job. a job that i have held for one or two years at a time, then quit for a while, before coming back to it when i needed (wanted) it again. i obviously can't realistically give you a number re:the actual total of hours i have spent at this since i started out, but i can give you an idea. recently, i started clocking my hours out of interest and calculated that a chapter of my current long fic takes roughly between one hundred to two hundred hours to produce (and they're around 10,000 words). at that rate, i'm probably working 20 hours a week-ish? sometimes more, sometimes less? something as small as a three-sentence fic (like this for instance), takes roughly two/three hours. i'll be honest, i have cancelled plans to write fic. when i'm working on a long project, i do tend to organise my life to give myself the time to write, so i opt for socialising after work during the week rather than on weekends, as i've found this is when i write best. i won't lie: it is - for me (i know some people write quicker, bless them) - a huge time suck.

so, yeah, i understand, in the capitalist society we live in, wanting to make that time count. our world has unfortunately, repeatedly taught us that time is money and getting more does seem like a nice bonus (as long as you have an audience for your art that's willing to pay, obviously). after all, year after year, i've seen a lot of my friends try and monetise their passions as side hustles, with varying success. at first, glance, i look at the time i spend on writing fanfiction and think: man, i wish i could get a bit back from that too. i couldn't even draw a stick figure to save my life but i assume that the time commitment and energy put into that kind of work is roughly similar for visual fanartists as well. i thus very much understand the sentiment, both with fanart and fanfiction.

additionally, though i appreciate this is a bit tangential, the fact that fanfiction is free, i would argue, hinders its potential to be as representative as it could be. it's a bit sad because on the one hand, the fact that it is free makes it completely accessible to the masses but on the other, it makes fanfiction quite exclusive to rich, privileged people who can afford to spend the time and energy putting content out for free. if i spend this much time writing fanfiction, just because i like it and it makes me happy, it's because my full time job pays me enough to cover my bills. if it didn't, i probably would have to forgo writing and get a proper side gig. if you look at my periods of inactivity on ao3, those also kind of coincide with the times in my life when i had to have more things going on to put food on the table.

so, now, assuming that monetisation is a thing that, as a fic writer, one might want to look at, the next question is: how do you go about monetising it? obviously, the law hasn't changed since the days where we were all terrified of getting sued (although enforcement has been quite lax over the years) so it's more about finding workarounds around the law as it is, rather than actively seeking payment for fanart.

from what i've seen: two main solutions seem to exist.

first, there's the tipping/buy-me-coffee technique. as i understand it, this involves either setting up a page on one of the dedicated websites or just putting up your paypal account link on your tumblr posts. with these links, people can then send you however much money they want (however much money they can afford/think you deserve?) on a one-off basis. they're not actually paying for fanfic because there is no actual exchange of services, it's basically like them giving money to charity, except that charity is a fanfic writer/ fan artist whose work they enjoy.

there are two main issues i see with this: one, legally, i'm not sure how much ground this actually holds. assuming you're quite prolific/successful, if every time you're producing new content, you receive dozens of tips, although you're not actively charging for your fanart, making the argument that your content isn't what these people are actively paying for seems hard. imo, the fact that this method sort of holds is that realistically, you're going to make very little out of this. even if you're really good, you might make what? a couple hundred dollars. now, sure, that's a lot of money for a lot of people but in the grand scheme of things, no one sues anyone for such a low amount. as long as you're not making 'proper' money from it, it is highly unlikely that anyone would come after you.

this being said, the second issue, from my perspective, is that this is not in any way, shape or form, a reliable income. it also does not represent, at all, the cost of the time and investment actually put into said fanfiction (or fanart, i assume). for example: if you're going to tip someone who's worked on something for, say, fifty hours, ten dollars, that's very good of you, but that isn't going to be 'worth' their time. it is only worth their time if tipping is done at as scale, which imo is quite unlikely considering you're putting your content out for free anyway. there are kind souls who will tip you, but not that many, meaning that ultimately, you're not working for free anymore, but you're still working at a huge loss.

additionally, because this income is not even reliable on a monthly/weekly basis, it isn't something that anyone can actually rely on, even if only to fund their coffee habit. it's nice to have, don't get me wrong, but from my perspective, is the legal risk outlined above worth the trouble for the $20/30 tips i'd get every once in a while - not really. such low amounts also don't help diminish the class issue that i talked about earlier. again, if you're going to spend fifty hours on something, you might as well work a minimum wage job - even that will pay you more and will be dependable.

second, there's patreon (and patreon-like sites). here, the income is monthly, people pledge on a subscription basis, which does solve the last point above. it might not be much, but at least it's regular.

the main issue i see with patreon is that it is contingent on the author providing more services on top of what they already provide. in most cases, the author will keep putting their usual content out for free + provide their patreons (depending on tiers) with more content, specifically for them. this, to me, makes this scheme even less appealing than the previous one because a) if i can't provide fanfic to potential patreons (again, you can't sell fanfic), i'm not sure what on earth i could give them (original content? that's not really the same market) and b) that's even more work on my plate. honestly, considering the amount of time i already spend writing fanfic, i have neither the energy nor the willpower to provide extra content for an amount that, regardless, will probably pay me less than a part-time job would. again, you'd have to scale this (i.e. have enough patreons) to make it all worth your while, and even in very big fandoms, even for someone waaaaay more successful than me, i doubt it would be likely.

lastly, as a side note, both of these "methods" are solely accepted if they occur on tumblr/writer's own website, rather than on the writer's ao3 page/fic. there was a post going around explaining why that is (nutshell: it endangers ao3's status as a non-profit archive) but as with all things, i seem to have lost it. [if you do have the link to that post/know what i'm talking about, hit me up and i'll rectify this]. this, regardless, supposes driving traffic from wherever you post your fics towards tumblr/your own website which, again, decreases your chances of scaling this.

so, in the end, where does that leave us?

i think, at this point, we've kind of reached a crossroad. ultimately, i see two ways to look at this:

option one: if you believe that fanfiction writers should be paid for their art, you also probably agree that the methods outlined above, while they do offer some sort of solution, are less than ideal. the ideal solution (for this option) would obviously be to allow fanfiction authors to be properly paid for the publication of their work through 'normal' publishing/self-publishing deals, without the need for a licence from the author (bar - perhaps - the payment of royalties). that would create a proper 'market' for fanfiction, treating it as any other form of writing/art form. it would mean a complete overhaul of the laws currently in place, but why not? ultimately, in a democracy, laws are meant to be changeable.

this being said, though, while my personal knee jerk reaction would be to shout 'hurray!' at this solution, i do not actually think i want this. or, maybe, only part of me does. the part of me who has been writing fanfiction for free for fifteen years is like 'hey, yay, maybe i could get paid!'. but then, there is another part of me that would like, maybe, one day, to write more original fiction (i already do a bit, but not much). that part of me is feels frankly a bit icky about giving up her ip rights.

would i be comfortable with people writing fanfiction of my original work? hell yes. that would be the dream. imagine having your own ao3 fandom, omg. however, would i be comfortable with people profiting from writing fanfiction of my work? honestly, i'm not sure. to me, the answer to that is: it depends (how much time investment was put in? how original the concept is? etc.) which, in fact, kind of brings us back to the current concept of licensing. and yes, maybe the current frame imposed by copyright law has also shaped the way i view the concept of property, and maybe i should be more of a communist, free-for-all kind of person, but unfortunately, i'm not that revolutionary.

also, and slightly tangentially, i find it interesting how profiting from fanficition/fanart is seen as more acceptable i certain fandoms rather than in others. taking the hp fandom for instance, even prior to jkr expressing her views on transgender rights, i often read things like: 'ah, she's so rich anyway, she doesn't need the money.' now, that argument has not only gained traction but is also reinforced by: 'ah, she's the devil and i don't want to fund her. it'd rather give my money to fanfic authors/buy things on etsy.'

while i completely understand the sentiment and do not, in any way, shape or form, support jkr's views, i do find that argument quite problematic. if you set the precedent that because someone is too rich, or because they've expressed views you disagree with, you don't believe that they should be entitled to their own intellectual property rights, i do wonder: where does this stop? this being justified for jkr could lead to all sorts of small artists seeing other people stealing/profiting from their original work without authorisation. 'i don't pay you 'cause i disagree with you,' would then act as a justification, with i find highly unfair. the fact of the matter is: jkr created hp. knowing that, the choice of buying hp products, regardless of her opinions is completely and entirely yours, but buying the same stuff unlicensed, from people who are infringing on her copyrights seems, to me, very problematic as this could potentially be scaled to all artists. either we overhaul the entire copyright system or we don't, but making special cases is dangerous, in my humble opinion.

option two: we choose to preserve copyright law as it is, for the reasons outlined above. this means that most people will not get paid for the content they put out and that the few that do will operate on a very tight, legal rope, and work for tips that are a 'nice bonus' but not a proper pay. this sort of perpetuates the idea that fanfiction is 'less than' other art forms, because in our capitalist society, things that don't generate money (things often made by women, may i add) are not seen as being as valuable as things that do.

for me, personally, while getting paid to write fanfiction sounds lovely (and makes my bank account purr) in theory, i think i side to preserve the current system. as an artist, i think that intellectual property protects us and our concepts from being ripped off by others, including by big companies who might find it handy to steal a design, a quote, anything, without proper remuneration. this is even more important for smaller artists who wouldn't necessarily have the means to defend their craft otherwise.

this being said, i do appreciate that it depends on why you're writing fanfiction. i think that topic probably deserves a whole different post in its own right but ultimately, most people write fanfic because it's fun. we know it's for fun, and not for profit. and if that's the case, then we're okay to receive compliments, reblogs and sometimes, for some people a little bit of an awkward tip for our work. for me, fanfic has been a space to make friends, to get feedback, to learn and to experiment without the pressure of money being involved. that's why i don't particularly mind doing it for free, and wouldn't even bother setting up a patreon or tip-me jar. i love being able to do it just for the enjoyment of myself and my five followers (lol), without worrying about scaling it, or making it profitable. not every part of our lives, not every passion has to be profitable. as we say in ireland, you do it 'for the craic' and nothing else.

this, though, as i already said, also depends on your means and level of privilege. to me, writing for free is fantastic and a bloody relief - it means being able to do exactly what i want. original fiction writing is full of rules, and editors, and publishers. in fanfic, i can write whatever i feel like, and i'm willing to forgo a salary in exchange of that freedom. again, i have a full time job that covers my bills. this does mean, though, that i don't have as much time to dedicate to writing as i would like to.

and also, the thing is: i'm a small author. i happily write in my own little niche. bar that one comment, it is highly unlikely that anyone would actually want to pay me (or even tip me) for my content. but when you look at very successful people, like the author of all the young dudes, i could see how they'd want to get paid for their art, and why they'd feel differently.

bottom line for me is: the flaws of the current systems of remuneration combined with my strong belief in copyright law as a means to protect small, original creators, means that i don't really think it would be right for me to get paid for fanfic, even if i was the kind of person who had the market for it. whilst it would be nice, this very long rant has, hopefully, explained why.

#fanfiction #writing #archive of our own #monetisation of fanfiction #fanfiction theory #this post is waaaay too long and the author regrets everything #pebblysand rants

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lilysilver2722 · 4 years ago

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It’s a Small World

Master List

Pairing: Taehyung X Reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 811

Request: Scenario idea: So the guy sitting next to me has been watching Disney movies the whole flight, I guess we do have something in common.

“Your seat miss,” The attendant motioned to a rear window seat, the motion made you sigh visibly in relief.

“Nervous flyer, I take it,” He asked a small smile forming across his face.

You smiled back nervously, “Is it that obvious?”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. If you have headphones try those for takeoff, it’ll help you take your mind off the plane.” “Is that from experience or a hopeful suggestion?” Your eyes remained trained on his figure as his eyes scanned over top your head.

“May I help you find your seat, sir?” The attendant asked, folding his hands in front of himself politely.

Out of curiosity, you found yourself turning around to look at the young man standing a few paces back, brow furrowed on concentration at his ticket. What surprised you the most was the shade of his hair – vivid blue. Your eyes raked over the soft tussle of his growing hair, his eyes hidden behind large black sunglasses.

“Yes, actually, I think I have a back seat, but could you-” His words died out as he looked up catching sight of you standing between him and the attendant. “My apologies miss.”

“Oh, no, it’s no trouble.” You motioned behind yourself to the attendant. “I was just taking my own seat.”

His lips raised into a boxy smile, his bright smile catching you off guard a little. You turned to put your carryon bag in the above compartment while the attendant looked at the blue haired man’s ticket. Busying yourself with finding your headphones, you hoped you had enough charge to at least get you off the ground.

“Mind leaving that open?” The deep voice that came from the man earlier caused you to jump slightly as you’d lost yourself in your thoughts.

You turned once more, headphones clutched in one hand as you made direct eye contact with the stranger from before.

Chocolate.

You shook your head, to clear that last thought as you smiled politely at the young man. “Of course, no problem.”

Stepping into your designated area, you busied yourself with getting comfortable in your seat, handbag in your lap, iPod in hand and headphones in the other.

The breeze of a body sitting next to you caused your head to lift, the young man giving you that boxy smile again as he folded his sunglasses.

You smiled back, your cheeks flushing pink as you tried not to think about how attractive he was and the fact that you now had to sit next to him for your sixteen hour flight.

The beeping your headphones dying two hours in, signaled your impending boredom, you sighed. Putting the headphones back in their case to charge, I guess I could read.

Your thoughts wandered to the other passengers – specifically the young man slumped back in his seat, headphones on, eyes trained on the screen in front of him.

Curiosity got the better of you, so you adjusted yourself in your seat a little to catch a glimpse of the screen.

The vision of two young lions running through the tall grass brought a soft smile to your lips; he’s watching The Lion King.

Your eyes were glued to the screen – so much so that you didn’t even realize that the stranger next to you was grinning, that boxy grin of his, until he spoke up softly.

“You want to listen too?”

Your eyes trailed over the screen as they came to rest oh his, “Would you mind? My headphones died and I’m not really feeling up to reading right now.”

With a slight chuckle, he handed you one half of his headphones – wired, ironically, good for the long flight though, you thought.

“I’m Taehyung by the way,” He said, reaching his hand out for you to shake.

“Y/N,” You smiled back at him gladly accepting his kind gesture.

“Y/N, so what’ll it be in the queue after this?”

You thought about it for a moment, your head cocked to the side in contemplation. “Do you have, Aladdin?”

Taehyung feigned hurt, his hands clutching his heart dramatically, and eyes comically wide. “Do…did you just…” He scoffed. “Do I have Aladdin?”

Suddenly he grinned, eyeing you playfully, “This here, is my Disney Plus subscription I’ll have you know. I have almost everything.”

“Then Aladdin it is, good sir, I hope you don’t mind, but I have a habit of following the dialogue.”

“Thank god,” Taehyung placed his hand over his heart again.

“The last person I sat next to kept staring at me in disgust as I mouthed the lyrics to ‘Into the Unknown’ and acted out Olaf’s retelling of Frozen.

You giggled, clutching your side as you leaned closer, “I’ll sing Anna’s verses if you sing Hans?” You asked, holding his gaze long enough to see them light up in delight.

“You are perfect,” He breathed out softly.

#bts v #bts taehyung #taehyung scenarios #v scenarios #bts taehyung scenarios #taehyung fluff #bts fluff #bts imagines #taehyung imagine #taehyung fanfic #bts fanfic #lilysilver #masterlist

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thatfairyfangirl · 6 years ago

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Blind Date Chapter 9 (end)

“So you're sure you want to do this?” Foggy asked Matt as they wandered the streets. “I mean before you were just staying with (y/n) while you were healing… Don't get me wrong, fully endorse this plan. Just want to know if you're sure.”

“I'm sure Foggy.” Matt assured him as they entered a small jewelry store. “We've already started moving her things into my place.”

“Your place? What's wrong with hers? I mean, half your stuff is already there.” Foggy asked as he glanced over the merchandise.

“My rent is cheaper and my kitchen is bigger.” He answered matter of factly. “Now help me pick out a ring.”

“And what makes you think I'm qualified to for this? You're putting alot of pressure on me Murdock.” Foggy joked. “Doesn't this fall under Karen's job description?”

“Karen's job is to keep (y/n) busy and to help me find the right time.” Matt corrected.

“It's just that this is the third jewelry shop we've been to. Are you sure you want this?” Foggy asked scanning the rings.

“Haven't been more sure of anything. We just haven't found the right one yet.”

~ ~ ~ ~

You stood in the bitter winter air surrounded by strangers in the middle of time square hugging yourself for warmth. In the skyline of the city Avengers tower shone like a beacon of hope, bringing comfort to all who gazed upon it covered in snow as the world waited for the countdown to the new year to begin. But not you. Not after all you've been through, and not tonight. It was only yesterday Claire gave Matt the ok to go back out. Only just this morning he received a new armored suit from his friend. And only a few hours ago he promised you would be safe in the crowd while he went after the kingpin. But what about him?

As he left the apartment earlier that day still cluttered by your boxes from moving in he promised you would be safe and that he would meet you in the crowd for a midnight kiss… But as snow speckled your coat and knit cap your mind began to wander over the what ifs. What if he cant find you? What if he gets hurt? What if Fisk kills him?

“Don't worry he'll be here.” Karen said comfortingly as she watched the worry in your face grow. “I'm sure he's fine.” You nodded but you knew in your core somewhere out there he was up against a dangerous man who surrounded himself with the worst of the worst.

“God in Heaven I hope so.” You sighed. Karen pulled you into a comforting hug. Never before had she heard you reference specifically the Christian God...Matt's God...deep down she knew what exactly that meant. That you were so worried for him you were willing to turn to his God for help.

The ball lit up casting its glow on the streets below. While all crowd filled with joy marveling at the light your eyes wandered the rooftops, searching for your own symbol of hope to return.

“Oh god Karen what if he's hurt?” You sobbed as you turned to another rooftop.

“I'm sure he just got held up.” Karen assured you, watching your eyes dart around. “He's got his suit remember?”

“But what if it didn't work?” Your eyes darted from roof to roof with panic. “What if he's out there somewhere bleeding what if he's-”

A strong gloved hand wrapped around your wrist jerking you around as another dove into your hair under the hat pulling your gaze from the rooftops to the red horned helmet pulling your lips to his as all of Time Square shouted HAPPY NEW YEAR.

“You're late and you had me worried.” You scolded as you stroked the sides of the helmet looking into the covered eyes, thanking every deity you could think of that he was safe.

“Right time.” Karen whispered under her breath, low enough only Matt could hear.

“I'll make it up to you at home...but I have to go now if I want even a hope of getting Fisk.” He assured you before planting reassuring lips on your forehead.

“Go. Be a hero.” You said with a nod. As Matt ran off he could tell deep down you were terrified for him. He knew you would be up with worry as the city celebrated the beginning of a new year. But as he ran he could hear you whisper in the crowd “I couldn't be more proud of you. But if you don't come home alive I'm going to be so pissed.”

Once you were home you began unpacking your boxes. As you moved around the kitchen, your kitchen, finding spots for your pots and pans you turned to find a horned silhouette against the neon of the sign outside causing you to nearly jump out of your skin. “Oh god you scared the shit out of me!” You breathed as Matt listened to your heart race.

“I know. I'm sorry. I didn't get him.” As the lights in the sign moved painting the apartment in dancing color you realized he was holding something small, cradling it with both hands. “But I promise I will always come home to you. I don't care if I have to drag myself in with every broken bone in my body as long as it keeps you safe.” The light hit it just right to make a small stone glisten. “When we met I was in such a dark place. But you… you were an angel guiding me every step of the way. I thought I forgot what happiness was until you came along and I never want to let that go.” He paused holding the small simple elegant ring up. He smiled as he listened to you dropping the cake pan you had been holding as your heart skip several beats as the light fell on the ring. “I want to come home every night to a messy kitchen and an alter to gods whose names I can't pronounce in the corner or in the middle of the living room or wherever you want it to go. (Y/n),” he bent down on one knee, “will you marry me?”

He held his breath as you stood there catching yours before nodding softly, dashing to him as he stood to catch you in his arms in till your lips collided in a passionate rush. He lifted you in his strong arms carrying you to to bed, slipping the ring on your finger before removing the gloves. You watched as pieces of the suit fell to the floor, scars and muscles slowly revealing themselves as he shed the armor before finally reaching for the helmet. “Wait...leave it on?” You asked with a sultry grin.

He smirked under the half mask his covered eyes falling on you, smelling the scent of sweet vanilla Buttercream from your bakery mixing with your juices telling him everything about what you had in mind as he moved to the bed.

~ ~ ~ ~

The ceremony was a simple one. A small hand-fasting in the spring followed by a Catholic ceremony held by Father Lantom. Each filled with its own traditions, each beautiful in their own way.

~ ~ ~ ~

One year later Matt came home from a long night of hunting hunting down Fisk and Bullseye, removing the gloves and masks before moving into the bedroom gazing sightlessly on the two things in the city that kept him fighting. You sat on the bed rocking your small swaddled sleeping boy singing a soft lullaby. And as he took you both in a satisfied smile and a rush of bliss came over him. “Hey there Mrs. Murdock. How's little Jack doing?” He asked quietly already knowing the answer as he listened to his son sleeping.

Tag List:

@sillydecoy

Announcement from the writer:

With the new terms of use and the impending ban on adult content on this site I will be moving my writing. This fic will soon have a chapter that needs that adult content to have the same impact that I had originally intended for the scene and I will not falter on it.

I have decided to move my writing to Patreon so that I can keep as much of the community feel as possible. You can find me on Patreon HERE. I know, I know, it sounds like I am expecting you to pay for my writing but fear not! I will only be charging $1 a month, and even that is voluntary. The majority of my fics will be available for free. The $1 subscription will be for access to the really adult content stuff I have been sitting on such as what I have been calling “Blind Date’s Deleted Scene” and access to the discord I have created. As a bonus for you guys since you have been with me since the beginning of Blind Date I will grant you free access to the discord if you shoot me a message here on tumblr and ask.

I will still post fics on Tumblr up until they are no longer welcomed by the staff, but patrons will be able to view them early.

For those who have trouble with hyperlinks on their device or find it hard to click a small word vs an actual link here is the full link to my new Patreon https://www.patreon.com/fairyfangirl

#daredevil #daredevil x reader #matt murdock #matt murdock x reader

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soldierstark · 7 years ago

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The Art of Resistance | TOM HIDDLESTON X READER

Description: Tom has mastered the art of resistance. In other words, the story about the three time he wanted to kiss the reader but didn't and the time he finally did.

Author's Note: If anyone of ya'll know where the dialogue from the first scene came from I <3 you! This is my first attempt at a 3 + 1 fic and I enjoyed writing so let me know if you'd like more :) As always, let me know what you think.

Word Count: 2146

FANFICTION MASTERLIST

The first time Tom wanted to kiss (Y/N) was when they decided to rehearse lines together.

It was late enough that the sun was barely peaking over the horizon while they had had enough time to down a few glasses of wine. Not enough to get them drunk, but enough that it wouldn’t be a good idea to drive anywhere.

They were scheduled to film a scene the next day that would be the turning point in their characters relationship. Throughout the movie, (Y/N)’s character was put in charge of keeping a close eye on Loki, causing them to inevitably fall in love though neither would admit it.

Loki however, didn’t know that (Y/N)’s character had begun to spend time with him because she was told too. When he finds this out, he begins to question the whole foundation of their relationship leading to a huge fight.

Tom really wanted to nail the scene so when (Y/N) came up to him between takes and asked if he’d like to practice, he agreed.

And that’s how they ended up in a screaming match, though it was all fake, (Y/N)’s temporary neighbors didn’t know that.

“Because I love you, Loki,” (Y/N) burst out pleadingly, trying to get the god of mischief to stay.

Tom rolled his eyes and let out indignant scoff, stepping forward towards (Y/N) slightly. “Are kidding me? You’re actually bringing this up now?” he asked in frustration with disbelief. “After you told me that you just betrayed me?”

(Y/N) walked closer to Tom shaking her head desperately. “If you would just listen to me-“

“Listen to you?” Tom interrupted sarcastically, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Why should I listen to you? How am I even supposed to trust anything that you say right now?”

“Because of everything we’ve been through together!” (Y/N) said raising her voice, starting to get frustrated as well. “For 2 years I’ve been right here. 2 years Loki. Most of that time was spent just waiting for you to open your eyes and see that I’m more than just some mortal girl.”

(Y/N) took another look at Tom who didn’t say anything in return, as instructed in the script. She began to pace the living room carpet, going into to more of a rant. “Every morning I- I bring you a cup of coffee just so that I can see a smile on your face because I think you are the most remarkable-“

She stopped pacing and turned towards Tom with a look of very mixed emotion. “Maddening,” (Y/N) continued, taking another step forward. “Challenging.” Another step. “Frustrating person, well god, I have ever met,” she finished, stopping about 3 feet away from Tom.

“And I love you, Loki,” she repeated, looking up at Tom with slightly watery eyes. “And if that means anything to you, if you care about me at all, please just stay. Please believe me.”

They were so close that Tom could see every fleck of color that adorned (Y/N)’s (Y/E/C) eyes. Her full, rosy pink lips were parted slightly as (Y/N) took in breathes. A piece of her (Y/H/C) hair fell into her face and for some odd reason, Tom felt the urge to push it behind her ear.

How had he not noticed how beautiful she was before?

The second time Tom wanted to kiss (Y/N) was at an Avengers cast and crew Christmas party.

“Alright this gift is for…” Mark trailed off, reading the tag on the gift he pulled out from under the fake Christmas tree. “Reindeer Games from your Secret Santa.”

A laugh erupted around the room as Taika threw the box over to Tom who began to unwrap it immediately out of curiosity. “It’s a….. box of organic earl grey tea,” Tom announced, examining the gift for clues as to who gave it to him.

“Why thank you to whomever this came from,” Tom added, making sure to emphasize his British accent. This only led to more laughter.

After all the gifts had been handed out, the cast and crew members began to disperse, going their separate ways. Tom stood up out of his seat and walked through the doorway that lead into the kitchen until a hand grabbed his wrist, halting the movement.

He turned around only to see (Y/N) smiling up at him, leaning against the door frame casually. She was wearing a black sweater with snowflakes, jeans, and a headband that had lit up Christmas lights.

“How’d you like your gift,” she asked with a mischievous smile, wiggling her eyebrows slightly.

Tom let out a deep chuckle as the realization of who his Secret Santa was dawned on him. “It was perfect,” he replied honestly, looking down at the box in his hand. “Thank you.”

“Oh don’t thank me yet Hiddleston,” (Y/N) said, crossing her arms over her chest. “That box is part of a subscription service so from now on you’ll be sent some very fancy tea every 2 weeks.”

“You really didn’t have to do that (Y/N),” Tom stated, shaking his head back and forth gently. “Honestly.”

(Y/N) giggled and stood up straight off the wall, turning so that she and Tom were facing each other directly. “Oh but I did. If I had a dime for every time you complained about how bad the craft services table tea was, I’d be so rich I’d never need to act again. So yes this gift was needed for you and for me because I was getting close to duct taping your mouth shut.”

Suddenly, a high pitched wolf whistle echoed through the air causing everyone to turn their attention to Chris Evans who was pointing at Tom and (Y/N). “Look who’s standing under mistletoe,” he drawled out excitedly.

Tom’s gaze shifted upwards and sure enough, hanging from the doorway, a tuft of green sprouted from a piece of string.

He looked down at (Y/N) with a questioning glance just as she looked up at him. Her cheeks were tinged pink as she chewed her bottom lip nervously, drawing his attention directly towards it.

(Y/N) let out a slight laugh before nodded her head slowly. “Alright Hiddleston, lay it on me,” she said, taking a step closer to him.

Tom raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Really?” he asked, trying to calm his beating heart which was hammering against his ribcage like machine gun. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” she replied, rolling her eyes in a joking manner.

Now, Tom couldn’t explain why he was suddenly filled with excitement. And it only seemed to increase as (Y/N) put a hand on his shoulder and began to lean up towards him. Her eyes fluttering shut as her lips parted in anticipation.

Tom began lowering his head and put a hand on her waist. Their faces were so close that Tom could feel (Y/N)’s breath fan against his face.

And right at their lips were about to meet, a voice yelled from the kitchen, “You guys look! I found a beer bong,” causing them to spring apart quickly.

The third time Tom wanted to kiss (Y/N) was at 11:57 pm on December 31st.

It might’ve been all the alcohol he was consuming, or maybe the fact that she looked down right irresistible in the skin tight black dress she was wearing. But when everyone in the room started pairing up for their midnight kisses, Tom’s mind went straight to the (Y/H/C) hair (Y/E/C) eyed beauty.

She was over by the refreshments table talking to Jeremy about something she clearly cared about as she was using hand gestures vehemently. Tom strolled over to her trying to seem nonchalant but he was feeling anything but.

Jeremy let out a low whistle at the sight. “Dam Hiddleston, how much have you had to drink?”

(Y/N) turned around to face him and smiled brightly. She threw her head back with laughter, her hair bouncing with the movement.

Tom cleared his throat and let out a hiccup. “Like 3 I swear.”

Jeremy nodded his head slowly. “Uh huh,” he muttered sarcastically. “Sure dude,” he chortled before walking off.

Tom attempted to lean against the refreshment table casually before turning his attention back to (Y/N). “So, you have anyone to kiss at midnight yet?”

(Y/N) raised an eyebrow in amusement and took a sip from her punch. “No. Why?”

“No way me too!” he exclaimed, his words slurring together. “Hey! How about we kiss?”

“Wow,” (Y/N) giggled. “Drunk Tom is very bold.”

“So is that a yes?” he asked, ignoring her earlier statement.

(Y/N) put down her cup and patted him on the back. “Maybe when you’ve had less to drink Hiddleston. Then we’ll see.”

Tom finally kissed (Y/N) the day her stunt double stayed home sick and she almost died.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tom mumbled as he walked onto set.

His gaze fell upon (Y/N) who was standing on very high ledge that was supposed to be the top of the Avengers Tower. She was strapped into a harness and talking to a man he recognized as the stunt director.

“What the hell is she doing up there?” he asked walking up to Chris, not once taking his eyes off of her.

Chris looked over at Tom for a split second and followed his gaze. “Oh (Y/N)? Yea, her stunt double is out sick today so she decided to do the scene herself.”

“Well why doesn’t she just wait until she comes back?” Tom asked confused.

“We’ve rescheduled the shooting of this scene for weeks now and (Y/N) wanted to get it over with I guess,” Chris replied shrugging his shoulders. He took note of the worried expression that overtook Tom’s face as the director yelled action.

“Hey,” Chris whispered patting him on the back. “She’ll be fine. Stunts like this are done all the time.”

Tom couldn’t tear his gaze away from (Y/N) who was walking backwards towards the ledge. Backing away from a monster that would edited in later. “Still,” he muttered under his breath.

She backed up until one foot slid off like the script instructed and wobbled slightly before regaining her balance. Her (Y/H/C) hair blew behind her as a fan was directed towards her, making it seem as though it was very windy.

With one last look of fear at the invisible monster and the hard pavement that once edited would be hundreds of feet below her, (Y/N) stepped off the ledge and began to free fall three stories.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion.

It started off according to plan but after a split second of falling, a loud snap along with a screech from (Y/N) echoed throughout the sound stage.

Tom sucked in a breath as everyone around him let out a gasp at the sight. The harness was still on (Y/N) but the rope attached to it had snapped, making it useless.

For a moment, Tom swore his heart stopped as (Y/N) hit the mat with very loud thud. He along with a few other crew member, rushed over to her side as quickly as possible.

He slid down onto the floor by her side and looked over her frantically. “Oh my god (Y/N) are you okay?”

She sat up taking in a deep breath and rubbed her head, blinking widely. “Yea I think so,” she mumbled looking him in the eye. “I’m fine but this mat sucks ya’ll should really replace it.”

The cast and crew members gathered around her all let out a sigh of relief and laughed at the joke she cracked. “But don’t put this on the blooper reel please,” she continued. “My parents will flip shit if they saw this.”

Tom sighed in relief, the fear in his chest disappearing at the sight of her smiling. “Oh thank god,” he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. “For a second there I thought…”

(Y/N) put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine Tom, really. It’ll take a lot more than a 3 story fall to take me out.”

It might’ve been the adrenaline running through his veins or the fact that Tom finally realized he needed to act on his feelings before it was too late. But in that moment, he couldn’t resist (Y/N) any longer.

Tom reached a hand behind (Y/N)’s neck and pulled her lips down to his, trying to convey every emotion he was feeling into the kiss.

She tensed up slightly but responded almost immediately, wrapping an arm around his neck to pull Tom closer. He smiled into the kiss as the people surrounding them let out whistles and clapped.

The kiss was short and sweet, but it was amazing none the less. Though the circumstances were less than ideal, the person he shared it with was perfect.

Tom couldn’t imagine his first kiss with (Y/N) going any other way.

#tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston imagine #Loki Laufeyson #loki #Loki Laufeyson x Reader #loki x reader #loki laufeyson fic #thor #thor ragnarok #thor 3 #marvel #marvel imagines #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #off #fanfiction

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benito-cereno · 7 years ago

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The Haunting of Netflix House 5: The Netflix Dimension

What’s up Octobocops, it’s Halloweason. Let’s get spooked. Here are some movies of the horror and horror-adjacent genres that you might watch by yourself or with a party of friends or with the spirit of a long-deceased duke who lives in inhabits your house. This is part five; you know the goddamn drill by now.

Previously, on The Haunting of Netflix House:

2013: The Haunting of Netflix House

2014: The Haunting of Netflix House 2: Your Sister is a Netflix

2015: The Haunting of Netflix House 3: The Season of the Netflix

2016: The Haunting of Netflix House 4: The Netflix Master

A couple of notes for those who are new to the list:

This is being posted on October 2, 2017. For humans of the future who find this, the links may not all be up to date. Some might even expire by November 2017. Click at your own risk.

I try to offer both breadth and depth of options on this list, but it is by no means exhaustive. I’m sorry if a favorite of yours got left off. There’s a chance I just haven’t seen it yet. Feel free to reblog and add some of your favorites, but please make sure a movie is actually currently available on Netflix before jumping my shit about some nonsense I “forgot,” please and thank you.

This list is based upon movies that are available on Netflix in the US. I have no idea what is streaming on Canadian Netflix or British Netflix or Slovenian Netflix. How would I know this. Why would I know this. Please do not expect me to know this. Feel free to be the Canadian/British/Slovenian Benito and make your own list applicable to your own countryhumans.

Horror movies, by their nature, have horrific things in them. Most of these movies are violent; lots of them deal with torture, abuse, and mental illness. If some element of this jumps out to me while I’m writing these up, I’ll mention them, but if you are sensitive to or have issues with certain types of content, you might look an individual movie up on Common Sense Media first to check for content warnings.

While there are always good horror movies to be found on Netflix, if you really like scary movies, you should just get a Shudder subscription (or even just the free trial!). It has an unbeatable, well-curated selection.

All right let’s get to the goddamn movies what say

Classics (this section seems to get smaller every year):

Jaws (this is about a shark)

The Fly (the Vincent Price version, not the Jeff Goldblum one)

Gremlins (technically a Christmas movie, obviously, but maybe you’re a rebel)

The Sixth Sense (is this a classic? I mean probably your mom has heard of it, so)

Horror Comedies:

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (highly recommended)

Little Evil (new from the maker of Tucker and Dale; great cast; more than the Omen spoof it looks like; recommended)

Troll Hunter (not horror in the traditional sense; not a “Halloween” monster; found footage style; subtitled; awesome)

Young Frankenstein (maybe you’ve heard of this one)

The Host (subtitled; not a “Halloween” monster)

Ravenous (fucking rules)

Housebound (recommended)

Patchwork (in the vein of like Re-Animator and Frankenhooker)

Deathgasm (the best the best the best; watch immediately)

The Bar

Haunted House/Ghost shit:

The Awakening

The Pact (recommended)

The Babadook (highest possible recommendation; how have you not watched this yet)

Under the Shadow (recommended; basically the Iranian Babadook)

The Canal

We Are Still Here (Barbara Crampton is in this; her name will be mentioned a few more times on this list because she is apparently a major selling point for some people)

Last Shift (haunted police station; recommended)

The Legend of Hell House (love this one; love Roddy McDowall)

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (very slow paced but atmospheric)

Coraline (yeah, the scary stop-motion one)

Vampire shit:

Stake Land (non-traditional vampire rules; not really my jam but some people love it; no idea if the sequel is good)

Byzantium

Night Watch

Werewolf shit:

Late Phases (old blind guy vs werewolves; pretty good)

When Animals Dream (hit some similar thematic notes to Ginger Snaps, but completely different tonally; subtitled)

Zombie shit:

Train to Busan (this rules; subtitled)

Witch/Demon/Pagan shit:

At the Devil’s Door (from the maker of The Pact; not as good, still interesting)

The Void (Lovecraftian cult shit; very cool visuals and practical effects)

Baskin (subtitled; super gory; also, the protags are asshole cops who tell transphobic stories and say homophobic slurs and talk about bestiality at the beginning, so heads up; worth a watch if that doesn’t bother you)

The Devil’s Candy

Hellions (this is not *great,* but it looks good and is heavily Halloweeny)

The Wailing (fucking amazing; subtitled)

Found footage shit:

V/H/S (lots of sex, violence, and sexualized violence

V/H/S/2 (same)

V/H/S Viral (same but in a different way)

The Den (ChatRoulette the horror movie; highly highly highly recommended)

Creep (recommended)

They’re Watching (not super amazing, but it’s wild af and I kind of love it; what if House Hunters International renovated a witch house?)

Man Vs (pretty okay)

Slasher shit (needless to say, these are gory):

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

Curse of Chucky (way better than you think it is)

Clown (the haunted clown suit movie so good that Marvel said, “Yo, this guy should be in charge of Spider-Man”)

The Windmill (it’ll do fine if you’re just looking for a new slasher; tbf it is probably the best windmill-themed slasher ever made though)

Other shit:

Monsters (really good; not “Halloween” monsters)

It Follows (hey, what’s up, it’s the best horror movie of the past decade; highest possible rec)

Sleepy Hollow (what section do Headless Horsemen go in? Dunno; the movie not the show)

The House at the End of Time (highly recommended; subtitled)

Honeymoon

Starry Eyes

White God (DOG REVENGE)

They Look Like People (this is a slow burn, but super highly recommended)

Extraordinary Tales (animated anthology of Edgar Allan Poe stories narrated by famous people; a mixed bag, but cool)

Darling (okay, so: this is a really beautiful and atmospheric film that I, generally speaking, recommend; however, it is kind of “artsy,” there is not a lot of dialogue, it is in black and white, there are some light strobing effects, rape does not occur on screen but is implied to have happened in a character’s past)

The Hallow (scary fairies)

Tales of Halloween (an anthology, so a mixed bag; okay overall, but it’s definitely Halloween-y)

The Invitation (highest possible recommendation)

Beyond the Gates (I actually did not like this very much, but some people might find it interesting, especially if you like--wait for it--Barbara Crampton)

Turbo Kid (this is not really horror, but if you like horror, especially splatter stuff, you will probably like it; it is good as shit)

Gerald’s Game (new shit from Mike Flanagan and it’s really great. Deals with lots of hard issues like abuse and such so maybe take a look at content issues if you are sensitive to that kind of stuff. Also definitely not for the squeamish, so head’s up. That said, it’s really really good)

80s/90s shit:

Hellraiser (not my style, but maybe you like this stuff, iunno)

Children of the Corn

The Craft

Non-Supernatural Thriller/Violence shit (these are violent):

Hush (Mike Flanagan directs; home invasion with a deaf woman protagonist; fucking rules)

The Silenced (haven’t actually watched this yet, but it looks good; don’t *think* it’s supernatural?; presumably subtitled)

The Eyes of My Mother (black and white; super bleak; beautiful and highly recommended)

Kristy

Dig Two Graves

We Need to Talk About Kevin (very bleak)

The Bad Batch (from the director of A Girl Walks Home Etc; only kind of horror-adjacent; Jason Momoa and Keanu Reeves are in this)

Sun Choke (visually beautiful but super art-housey, also lots of mental illness and abuse stuff in this one; also *Barbara Crampton*)

Zodiac (biography of Ted Cruz)

I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore (so fucking good; very funny also)

Nightcrawler (basically a vampire movie, but with a camera instead of fangs)

Horror and Horror-Adjacent Documentaries (all the good horror docs got moved to Shudder):

The Nightmare (a doc on sleep paralysis and night terrors that is so-so as a documentary, but super effective as a horror film)

Witches: A Century of Murder (history of British witch trials, reenacted; two parts)

“But, Benito!” I hear you cry. “I don’t have Netflix for some reason! What about some other streaming services?” Yeah, all right. Here are some quick hits that are definitely not exhaustive. Just a couple of party jams you might enjoy if you’ve burned through the Netflix list.

What’s on Hulu though

10 Cloverfield Lane

Monster Squad

Fright Night (the original; a must watch if you haven’t seen it)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

From Dusk Til Dawn

An American Werewolf in London

Hatchet

Pumpkinhead (check this one out if you haven’t seen it)

The Blob

I Saw the Devil (amazing)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (either version)

Shaun of the Dead

The Loved Ones

Wolfcop

The Thing

Rigor Mortis

Borgman

The Descent

Bloodsucking Bastards

Willow Creek

Berberian Sound Studio

Plus a bunch of shit that’s also on Netflix

What about Amazon Prime you idiot

The Girl with All the Gifts

Them (not Them!)

The Witch

Hell House LLC

Neon Demon

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Nosferatu

Green Room

Little Shop of Horrors (the Corman one, not the musical)

The Blackcoat’s Daughter

The Bay

Society

The Last Man on Earth

The Last Exorcism

What We Do in the Shadows

Amazon Prime is hard to navigate so that’s all. If I left off a favorite, it’s not because I don’t like it. It’s because it didn’t pop up in the first 20 pages of search results.

Tell me some good Shudder ones

The Innkeepers

A Tale of Two Sisters

The Gorgon

Lake Bodom

Prevenge

All the Phantasms (maybe not Ravager)

Shrew’s Nest

Noroi: The Curse

The House of the Devil

Black Sunday

Let the Right One In

Murder Party (highly recommended, esp for Halloween)

WNUF Halloween Special

Ghostwatch (play this at your party if you want to fucking win Halloween)

This list could be a million more entries long. Shudder rules.

What about Crackle/Vudu/YouTube/etc

Please shut up

As usual, please do me a solid and only circulate the current version of the list, so people aren’t clicking on dead links and thinking I’m an idiot. Again, this list is not and could not be completely exhaustive, and if I left off your favorite movie, I swear I was not targeting you personally. And, again, some of these movies are more interesting than they are good AND horror is a highly subjective experience, so your mileage may vary on some of these.

If you enjoyed this list, perhaps consider checking out some of my other Halloween-related posts:

a primer for spooky stories

a primer for Lovecraft specifically

a list of “essential” horror movies

a list of “essential” silent horror movies

a list of “essential” horror comedies

a list of suggested horror double features

a primer for Hammer horror

a list of cool movies starring Christopher Lee and Vincent Price

this list of resources, including short films and even more scary movies

a suggested Halloween playlist

a primer for spooky classical music

the scariest 20 minutes in radio history

free to play spooky games

and my general Halloween tag, which includes short films, movie trailers, comics, stories, and more

Also maybe consider checking out my Letterboxd profile, where I rate and review movies of all types (but primarily horror) all year long and from all sorts of sources, in case you’re wondering what’s good on more than just Netflix. Also also, maybe take a look at some of my comics, several of which are appropriate for Halloween times.

Happy Halloween, nerds!

#halloween #long post #netflix #horror movies #horror #hulu #amazon prime #shudder #the haunting of netflix house

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entergamingxp · 5 years ago

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In the virtual world of Fallout 76, Gun Runners are making thousands in real-world cash • Eurogamer.net

For some reason I’m rapidly accruing a collection of dumb stories about my time in multiplayer games – and seeing as the Rust murder tale went down so well, I thought I’d recount another. This time it’s about my brief foray into the world of Fallout 76 virtual gunrunning, which has since escalated into a detailed look at the life of the traders making serious bank from selling Fallout 76 items. I don’t know how I ended up here.

Back in January, when the first wave of Fallout 76 backlash was at its peak, vast swathes of the Fallout subreddits were busy complaining about in-game glitches – and in particular, a cheating method called duping. It’s a process by which players exploit a bug to duplicate items, with potentially game-breaking consequences if uncontrolled numbers of top-tier items suddenly flood a community and upset the balance. It’s a phenomenon witnessed in other online games, but for Fallout 76 it was perceived as a serious problem by the community – with Bethesda constantly playing whac-a-mole trying to patch out new glitch methods as they appeared.

Over on eBay, some enterprising hustlers capitalised on the mess by creating their own cottage industry. Using the various duplication methods, the eBay accounts started selling dozens of Fallout 76’s most valuable items. Fallout 76, of course, doesn’t sell guns in its Atomic Shop on account of Bethesda’s pledge to avoid pay-to-win microtransactions (although some argue it’s already broken this pledge) – which means there’s a market for gameplay-affecting items such as weapons and armour (and the raw in-game money and materials to acquire these). Then the secret dev room was discovered and unreleased items started appearing – a problem that hasn’t quite gone away, judging by some recent listings.

Looks like a cat burglar’s been in the dev room at some point.

At the time, I’d already started investigating the item duping, as I was intrigued by how this worked. Who were these people? How did the gun delivery process work? And how had they avoided being caught? I then got a little sidetracked by the sight of those unreleased items and Wooby, so I never got around to talking about Fallout 76’s real-money trading market.

Except, I’d already purchased one of the guns.

It didn’t take long to find. A simple eBay search threw up a bunch of options for every platform – and faced with an abundance of choice, I searched for one that looked as overpowered as possible. “Two Shot Explosive Light Machine Gun (2star) (for Fallout 76, PC)” sounded like it would work. It set me back £7.75. The next step in this process was to contact the seller with my Discord name. I can happily report the anime-avatar eBay seller had excellent service: within hours, a Discord friend request popped up and they introduced themselves.

“hello

��im currently delivering an item to another customer, you’re the next in line so will be available right after im done with him

“sorry for the delay.”

Not only incredibly polite, the seller also seemed to have a full delivery schedule. It was a level of professionalism I wasn’t prepared for, and I hurried back from my lunch break to arrange an in-game meet-up.

After a small struggle to add each other as friends, I was instructed to join the game world and fast travel to the seller’s location. They’d chosen to set up shop at Charleston Station – a sensible choice, given it’s typically one of the earliest locations players find in the game. The stations are always fairly enemy-free, and heavily populated by players seeking to access the vendor, stash box and workbenches there.

This didn’t stop the transaction from feeling a bit shady.

As I approached the station, I could see the seller gesturing at me to come over. Entering cautiously, in the gloom I could see them squatting in a dingy corner, gesturing towards a rickety old end table, in which I found my gun. As the glorious weapon whirled around my monitor, the seller gave me a thumbs-up, and momentarily forgetting where the emote button was, I performed the universal gaming symbol to express gratitude: jumping. And there it was, my very own illicit gun.

If you want to see all of this play out in real time, you can, because I recorded it. (Apologies for the keyboard clacking away in the background – I left my mic on.)

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Feeling a little dirty after the transaction, this is where I left this story for several months – until recently, when I revisited Fallout 76 to check out the new Fallout 1st subscription. Then, I started wondering to myself: who are these people selling virtual guns on eBay? Is it actually a viable side-hustle?

So I went back to my messages and found my gunrunner. Having confirmed this previously, I knew my seller had used duping as a method to make a vast quantity of weapons, but I wanted to find out more – and they were happy to oblige.

“I just started selling them out of the blue due to frustration with the game not listening to players,” they told me over Discord, explaining it was a matter of making it “easier for others” while also making money for other games on the side. It was their first time selling virtual items, as in other games they played, the market was already oversaturated with “Chinese gold seller sites” (for games like World of Warcraft).

As the seller was mostly unemployed during this period, they had time to hop between deliveries – taking random customers from eBay and “making some notes on delivery times… in order to make buyers aware of some possible delays”.

But then for the million-dollar question: how much had they made from Fallout 76 gunrunning?

“I’ve made around $2k (£1.5k), have been able to customise my gaming PC and can now enjoy high end better current and future games thanks to Fallout 76,” the seller said. “So for at least that reason I’m happy with the game.

“There are people who made over $10k (£7.7k) or even more, due to them setting up personal sites listing those items, [with] an even broader customer base and no limitations or special costs imposed by eBay (some packs they were selling were even $100 or $300+).”

This Lithuanian company started out in Elder Scrolls Online gold farming, and now sells Fallout 76 guns for £20-30 a pop.

While it didn’t sound like a sustainable long-term earner, I was still surprised by the numbers. Yet it was a gravy train that eventually ended for the seller, thanks to measures taken by both Zenimax and Bethesda.

“The first ones who did something were Zenimax [Bethesda’s parent company] by sending a global notice to eBay to force people selling in-game items related to F76 to stop selling them and end the listings, or they would incur in suspension of the eBay account, at which point I retired from this practice,” the seller claimed. “After I stopped, some weeks later the mass ban happened and I was included in it.”

The seller later clarified they got caught up in the February banwave, which cleared out a significant portion of the dupers. Judging by those dates, the seller must have made the $2k in less than four months.

With a steer from my eBay seller, I spent some time trying to get in contact with traders on the sites where weapons bundles are still being sold for up to £1500, such as G2G, along with privately-owned sites U4N and U4GM where items and weapons are bought directly from suppliers to be re-sold. Generally speaking, the sites sell items and in-game currency for a wide variety of online games (such as WOW, Rocket League and even Pokémon Sword and Shield), and often charge more than sellers on eBay – although the “face-to-face” delivery methods are the same. eBay takes a 10 per cent cut for each item sold – and while G2G starts at 9.99 per cent, it lowers to 4.99 for experienced traders. U4GM takes a more direct approach by purchasing bulk items from players, and then selling them on the platform. On a smaller scale, some traders post adverts on forums and arrange trades over Discord, with payments made via PayPal or cryptocurrencies such as Skrill – thereby bypassing service fees entirely.

After several attempts, I did manage to talk to one of the traders on the website G2G, who had an extensive trading record with over 250 items sold on that site alone. They’re currently listing one of the super expensive packs my eBay seller had talked about – a triple-item pack for £779.32 (although my eBay gunrunner claimed this is far less egregious than some of the listings from earlier this year, before the banwaves).

It does seem that some of these extremely high-price packs are more for show (or perhaps out of hope) than a realistic listing. The G2G seller’s biggest deal to date, they told me, was actually a $250 (£189.96) strangler heart power armour set – which has now been reduced to $60 (£46.53) thanks to increased competition from other sellers. The seller also estimated they’d made $20k (£15.2k) from selling Fallout 76 items – which I found hard to believe, but not impossible, given their activity was split across several trading websites.

While my seller’s Fallout 76 eBay journey had ended, even checking the site now, it’s possible to spot plenty of people still selling Fallout 76 items in bulk. Some of the most expensive weapons still being sold are called “legacy weapons”: such as the powerful explosive energy weapons Bethesda removed from loot drops at the beginning of the year, but not from player inventories. The most expensive one I saw was a £249.99 “furious explosive gatling plasma” (now £199.99) with god roll stats (effectively the best stats you can get from a RNG drop).

I eventually managed to get in contact with another eBay seller, who provided me with an up-to-date perspective on the current state of Fallout 76 gunrunning on the site. This one told me they’d been involved with duping and in-game trading from the very start, before the practice eventually moved to real-money trading (RMT).

“I have used duping and greatly profited from it – I won’t deny it,” they said, adding they were only aware of one publicly-known throwables duping method at present. “It’s quiet now compared to [the] old days but you can still make some money. I have [a] few deliveries a day and I don’t really play the game itself due to lack of new content. My endgame is effective cap generation methods and trading.”

The seller was unable to tell me how much they’d made from selling on eBay, but it was interesting to learn that after a certain point, duping was no longer necessary to produce goods. Once you get rich in-game in terms of caps and assets, they explained, it’s relatively easy to keep up with the demand for items.

I thought my journey into the world of eBay Fallout 76 trading would end there – but little did I know, I was about to encounter one of the biggest sellers on the platform. Curious about the expensive legacy weapons, I shot a message to the gatling gun listing’s owner, who runs the store eBay store Fallout76Armoury. The seller, a college student who goes by the name Martin Tim in the Fallout community, boasts one of the biggest collections of Fallout 76 items on eBay – with over 140 items for PS4 currently listed for sale.

“I noticed a demand for items and a market I can invest my time in so I took advantage of it”, Martin told me, explaining it had taken a long time to reach the major leagues in Fallout 76 item trading. “The process of me getting where I am now was not easy. I invested a lot of time trading my way up in ranks to access information and items I’m in need of… I’ve had to build relationships and a reputation with people who have knowledge of an upcoming duplication glitches and top tier items I can use to trade and build an inventory that I can sell.”

For Martin, the first few months were time-consuming thanks to the need to build his reputation and promote his store – along with establishing a system to manage 12 different PlayStation accounts and document all his items on spreadsheets. Having built that trust, customers then started to approach him – and he now says there is “no overwhelming aspect” to the trading at all: merely meeting customers in-game to deliver items, and updating his spreadsheets to keep clients informed of new gear.

While Martin has noticed a gradual decrease in demand for items, he says it’s still an extremely profitable industry – claiming he’s sold weapons anywhere from £10-£500 each, making a total of $55k (£41.8k) in the 10 months since he started selling the items. “I consider myself the most successful ‘individual’ seller on the entirety of the platform and I say this as I have spoken to other competing sellers from all platforms,” Martin added.

Although he couldn’t provide records to back up that figure, I manually trawled through the publicly-viewable feedback on Martin’s eBay page, and the sum of these alone is impressive. The most expensive item sold on this list is a custom bundle for £165, and roughly totalling up the items gets you slightly over £11k. This number, of course, doesn’t include sales where best price was accepted (and therefore hidden) – nor does it give us Martin’s total sales, as many customers fail to leave reviews. Martin also claims to sell on platforms other than eBay – with about 60 per cent of his deals made in private DMs to avoid website service fees. Privately, Martin also showed me sales records of the highest-priced items he’d sold, including a gun which shipped for £250. With these factors in mind, the publicly-verifiable figure does make Martin’s claim seem plausible.

While real-money trading seems to be against Zenimax’s terms of service – and selling duped items definitely is – when asked if Bethesda had tried to crack down on their trading, one seller argued there was a difference between duping and RMT.

“They have not and they should not – traders are providing a service that people are happy to pay for… RMT is a just a side effect for any ‘serious’ MMO. They should (and have) cracked down on duping in-game – I had two accounts banned for 100k Ultracite ammo but that is just the cost of doing business.”

Martin, meanwhile, said he’s never been banned. He estimates 80 per cent of his stock is duped (something he says is due to a spate of mass duping crazes previously flooding the market – claiming he’s only been involved in later “more controlled duping”), and he’s managed to avoid hitting the weight cap by spreading his inventory over 12 PSN accounts and 70 different Fallout 76 characters.

“Bethesda has never interfered with any real life currency trading … simply because they couldn’t care less,” he added. “Bethesda is a multi-million company who I assume does not consider from my perspective sellers who are selling items and somewhat promoting their game.”

Of course, the Fallout 76 sellers were probably never going to argue against their own interests – but they did make a fair point about RMT. Given the, um, buzz around Fallout 76 has now calmed down, it wouldn’t make sense for Bethesda or Zenimax to really crack down – and from the sounds of it, the most public duping methods have been patched out, and the demand for items is slowly decreasing. So long as people aren’t using mass duping methods to produce the weapons – which upsets the game balance and has been blamed for destabilising servers – it at least seems relatively harmless.

Eurogamer contacted Bethesda and eBay to ask about the sale of Fallout 76 in-game items for real money, but both failed to comment by time of publication.

Given the amounts these sellers made from selling weapons, it does make you wonder how much Bethesda could have made if it had straight-up sold weapons in the Atomic Shop – a slightly scary thought. But above all else, this experimentation with duping methods and glitches to produce grey-market product – delivered via in-game meet-ups, arranged on Discord – feels very Fallout. “Gun Runner” is even the name of a perk in Fallout 76 – while in New Vegas, the Gun Runners are weapons merchants who supply both the NCR and the Courier. One source told me he estimates 90 per cent of Fallout 76’s wealth is held by less than one per cent of the player base: a small group of glitchers, dupers and traders who all know each other and share secrets. And aside from being strangely similar to our own world, that in-game wealth can clearly be converted into real-world bank through gunrunning. Now that’s post-nuclear entrepreneurial spirit to make Mr. House proud.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/in-the-virtual-world-of-fallout-76-gun-runners-are-making-thousands-in-real-world-cash-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-the-virtual-world-of-fallout-76-gun-runners-are-making-thousands-in-real-world-cash-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

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mlpsimta · 8 years ago

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The Switch Presentation

Yesterday Nintendo held it’s conference where they finally gave us much needed information about the new Nintendo Switch. So let’s get the price and release date out of the way first:

Release: March 3 Price: 299$ or ~299EURs

The Switch is just right around the corner and you can buy one just in two months! Well if you preordered it at least two years ago because Nintendo just can’t provide enough units for us. Now if it’s because they don’t wish to rush the production of the system avoiding malfunctions or just the usual bullshit it doesn’t matter because we have much to talk about!

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(In case you wish the see the whole thing for yourself)

The general conference was OK in my opinion, nothing that would take your breath wildly away. We saw a few games the JoyCons what can we kinda expect from the system overall OK. Now I heard people complaining about the price. Which is fair, who would want to pay less for something, but in my eyes the 299 is a pretty decent price point. I know that for that much money you could get a tablet that has much better hardware or an Nvidia Shield but the Switch build for gaming in mind. Again you can play on a tablet or on a Shield, but sometimes games can run horribly laggy on such devices and the lack of a physical input device has been always a huge issue (at least for me). So for the 299 you get 720p @60 FPS (60 from 1st party titles) gaming on the go or on the TV with games like Mario, Legend of Zelda, Please God a New Metroid would be nice etc etc... So if you are looking for a tablet that you are going to use explicitly for gaming than the Switch isn’t a bad choice at all.

Other than the price and release date we got introduced to the new gimmicky controllers the Joy Cons. They are pretty impressive and I can’t personally wait to try one out! Those little controllers have a new rumble technology inside them called 3D rumble, which as they described can imitate how 3 ice cubes behave in a glass of water (if you check the presentation that will make much more sense to you, trust me), has the usual gyroscopes for gesture recognition, some type or IR sensor for measuring distance and an NFC reader for Amiibos.

Technically phenomenal cosmic power in an itty bitty living space. I think they little overdo this part of the show. Nintendo really got into showing and wangling those things around. As mentioned before I really like the idea of those controllers. It would be really nice if developers could figure out how to use them properly. You could use them a light gun like the Move Controllers or the Wii Remote for rail shooter or for FPS games. With its new rumble tech you could imitate how something would feel in your hands. Hell maybe you could make a party game about boxes where you shake those boxes and trying to figure out what is inside those boxes or something else. There are a lot of potential in the new controller!

But I hope that developers are going to use those new features in a way that would make sense and won’t ruin the fun. I saw a lot of devs shoehorning in some gimmicky features into their games or twist the mechanics in a way that they can use it. I don’t want to waggle the controller to make an action that would be much easier and faster with a press of a button. Implement those features in a way that makes sense and please no glorified games that are just tech demos after a month after the Switch’s release. Please.

Now let’s move into something that was just faintly mentioned the online subscription fee. Nintendo moving to the Switch will ask you to pay 5 bucks a month for some kind of online subscription. What we know about it right now is that with this subscription you can play games online, have access for some kind of party system and you get a free game for a month.

It’s a real shame to see that even the Big N has given up their policy about free online games and I found it ridiculous that in 2017 we have to pay any cash just so that we can play online. I don’t mind paying for PS+ back in the PS3/Xbox360 era because it was a good deal, you bought the game you wanted you can play online with everyone in the World and if you wish to pay for this subscription we will give you some games every month. What a deal that was! But now I buy a game for 60 or hell even sometimes they charge more and I’ll get locked out of the online play sections because why?

Anyway back to the point. Charging for online play is bullshit and Nintendo hasn’t been a company that had a good and easy to use online system. I personally only have a 3DS and God the online interface is atrocious, not easy to use and key features are missing. As for the free game per month what we know right about it is that Nintendo will give you to play some game for a month and after the end of the month you have to purchase it if you wish to play them. And according rumours most games what we can get are old NES, SNES etc etc titles! Games that I could literally go to google search for Legend of Zelda NES rom and I’ll be able to play it for FREE! So when it comes to online functionalities I would trust Nintendo. Let’s hope that they’ll act like according to this century this time.

(mlpsimta.tumblr.com doesn’t encourages using illegally downloaded softwares, but what is bullshit is bullshit).

I nearly forgot about the games didn’t I? Let’s quickly talk about the launch titles and then move on to the others, shall we? On day one the Switch comes with:

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 1-2-Switch Skylanders Imaginators Just Dance 2017

I often criticises the PS Vita with having the many games on launch day but this is the complete opposite. Having too many games for launch and you will end up fuck all in the upcoming month not to mention people have limited budgets, but launch you system with a few titles and why should I pick up the system on day one (not that you will be able too, because you know artificial sacristy) and day one sales are really important for literally showing off. Nintendo has already failed to build up a user base on the WiiU hence lost its 3rd party support, but with good launch titles comes better sales and with better sales developers are more eager to make games for you platform.

Of course other games are coming to the Switch such as:

Has Been Heroes Arms Sonic Mania Splatoon 2 Super Mario Odyssey Skyrim Mario Kart 8 Deluxe etc...

It’s just a little disappointing to me to be honest with you. It would have been nice to pick up the system on day 1 and play something other the the BoTW. I’m really interested what games or going to be on the Switch. Are we going to get WiiU games, so that 90% of us who doesn’t own a WiiU can play those games? And how many inide games there are going to be?

I won’t really talk about the games in depth, because I think there’s no reason about it, but seeing Skyrim will coming to the system gives me hope that this time Nintendo will have a console with a strong game line up. (Yes I know that the game is 6 years old, but still it’s looks promising).

youtube

In conclusion I’m really interested about the Switch. It looks like a solid gaming device and because of its portability I can see a bright future for indie devs in it, more precisely I can’t wait for the party games. I don’t have to carry around a PC, Laptop or a PS4, just something that literally fits into a purse, pull it out, hook it up to the nearest TV boot up Overcooked, Switch Sports (or 1-2-Switch if that is the Switch’s equivalent for Wii Sports), Mario Kart or some other party game and you have the best console when people are coming over!

As again thank you very much for reading my nonsense and I hope you enjoyed it.

Shameless self advertisement starts: Don’t forget to like and share this article if you enjoyed it and press the follow button if you wish to read more like this Shameless self advertisement over Obligatory question so that you can comment under the post: What do you think about the presentation event and the Switch itself?

#nintendo #switch #joy con #console #consoles #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #conference #presentation #mlpsimta #release #date #gaming #video games #news #WiiU #N #simta

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biofunmy · 5 years ago

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The Work Diary of an Audio Erotica C.E.O.

Gina Gutierrez gets a lot of blank stares when explaining her start-up to people: It’s called Dipsea, and it sells subscriptions to immersive, short-form audio erotica. Venture capitalists, though, get it. They want to capitalize on dual booms in digital audio and sexual wellness, and some view Dipsea as the next Calm or Headspace. The start-up has raised $5.5 million in funding.

Ms. Gutierrez, 29, and her co-founder, Faye Keegan, created Dipsea when they realized that while there were plenty of companies offering tech-enabled vibrators, no one seemed to be addressing the mental aspect of female sexuality. In December 2018, Dipsea began publishing erotica podcasts, saying, “We think it’s downright powerful for people to discover the most turned-on versions of themselves.” The company charges subscribers $9 a month or $48 a year for access to a library of 10- to 15-minute stories in categories like “open relationship,” “hookup,” “crush” and “voyeurism.” Dipsea’s app also offers guides and exercises that can be done alone (“self love sesh”) or with a partner (“erotic meditation”).

Now the company, based in San Francisco, has 16 employees, 180 stories and 300,000 downloads. Ms. Gutierrez boomerangs between “I’ve never done this before” moments, she said, while juggling investor meetings, podcast appearances, script edits, Instagram caption-writing sessions and “Sacred Planning” meetings. She also has to deal with borderline puritanical rules from the big tech platforms while brainstorming about hunks, discerning what a hug sounds like, and puzzling over why people are so into stories about threesomes.

Monday

6:30 a.m. I hate the notion that the most successful people are up at 4:30. No thanks. I work on the couch for an hour before heading into the office.

9:35 a.m. My adrenaline surges when our social media and content manager, who started less than two weeks ago, Slacks me to say she has an urgent personal update. That’s never good.

She tells me she’s accepted another role. I’m shocked. We care so much about Dipsea being a great place to work, and have had zero attrition. So, 35 minutes into my workweek I’m dealing with my first “I’ve never done this before.”

The idea of kicking up the hiring process again so quickly after we’ve ended it makes my head spin. I spend the morning figuring out the transition plan. I really don’t want to go back to writing Instagram captions in the back of Lyfts between meetings.

2:30 p.m. I owe my editing team the final signoff on this week’s scripts before they pass them to the producers for recording. A section of dialogue on this one reminds me of a part from “A Star Is Born.” I send the movie scene to the team as an awesome example of realistic dialogue.

4 p.m. I hole up in a room with Faye and two other executives to brainstorm. We block 30 minutes per idea, throw out thoughts, sketch out designs, argue trade-offs. One idea we come up with is so good, I stand up to dance.

6:45 p.m. I debate bailing on plans to see “Hustlers” with some colleagues because I’m so behind. But I go. It’s an important piece of content for women right now, for God’s sake! I’m back at my computer on the couch by 9:45.

11 p.m. Quick Slack to Faye about a lead for the social media manager role before I shut my computer. I’m tired. When’s the last time I had a sip of water? Did I eat lunch today?

Tuesday

10 a.m. I talk with our audio production team about an article on aftercare, which is essentially affection and communication after sex. It’s the default in the BDSM community, but a good ideal to aspire to in all sexual encounters. We talk about not ending our stories too abruptly.

11 a.m. We have a monthly meeting called “Postpartum” where we discuss what we learned from our last month of stories and how people reacted. Most of our narratives are crafted so a female listener can identify with the woman, but one of our recent stories is about three men at a gay club, and we discuss whether listeners identify with one character, or if they’re more of a voyeur, excited to have eyes into the whole relational dynamic.

1:15 p.m. Over tacos I get book recommendations for my upcoming vacation — the first real one I’ve taken since starting Dipsea — from our content editor and writer. The whole team is voracious. Books lie in stacks around the office, especially Dipsea-relevant reads like “Conversations With Friends,” and “A Billion Wicked Thoughts.”

2:50 p.m. A construction company works in our building and I chat with one of the workers in the elevator. The contrast between their mostly male, neon-vest-wearing crew with our almost all-female team of erotic content creators is funny, but we’re strangely symbiotic.

Wednesday

9 a.m. I get coffee with an investor that we’ve been talking to since our seed round. Meetings like this are a mutual way to keep the relationship warm even when we’re not actively raising.

10 a.m. At the office, Mel Scott, our head of growth, tells me she’s spoken to a few podcast hosts who are going to run our ads. This is exciting. Facebook makes it very challenging for us to advertise as a sexual wellness business, and it’s frustrating. Sometimes our ads perform really well; other times we discover something was disconnected. Ads that were approved mysteriously get disapproved, and we’re left guessing why.

10:05 a.m. Faye and I have a weekly one-on-one meeting we call “Sacred Planning” to remind ourselves never to book another meeting over it.

11 a.m. The founders of an A.S.M.R. app visit our office to learn about how we create our content. I’m curious to learn about their work, too. One of them says the most polarizing A.S.M.R. sound is “mouth sounds.” I tell him mouth sounds can be tough for Dipsea listeners, too.

2 p.m. Our editorial team presents a plan for a new process of developing scripts. No one has ever made exactly what we’re making, so it’s a constant learning game with no instruction manual.

3 p.m. I sit in on a “Hooked on Sonics” meeting, where our storytelling lead and one of our producers talk to the rest of the team. This one covers what feelings sound like: A hug being akin to the sonic experience of going underwater, or anxiety as a high-pitched ring.

6:30 p.m. The entire company goes to a breath-work class at Chorus Meditation. You breathe in a fast, rhythmic way that oxygenates your brain, activating your parasympathetic nervous system and relaxing you. The crazy part is, it can also have effects like tingling, visual experiences or semi-lucid dreams.

I wake up in a jolt, even though I feel mentally present: An hour has passed and it felt like 20 minutes. My body feels amazing, slow and quiet. We all eye each other, while the instructor wraps up, mouthing, “Cool, right?”

10:25 p.m. Faye texts me asking to borrow a shirt. I wonder how many other co-founders sign off with a “Night love you.”

Thursday

10 a.m. All-hands meeting. As our analyst presents which story tags performed the best, the team debates the underlying reasons. We know stories tagged as “group” or “threesome” are highly rated, but we don’t necessarily know why. The novelty? The explicitness? What are the creative differences between “crush” and “hookup” stories? They seem to overlap a lot, so what makes one more successful than the other?

1:45 p.m. I take a call with an investor who’s been persistent. He describes Dipsea as part of the “N.S.F.W. space,” which tells me I have to take a step back and explain our perspective on sexuality: We’re not interested in creating an erotic utility, we’re interested in empowering women with content designed for their pleasure. To his credit, he understands the difference.

4 p.m. “Hunks Brainstorm” session. The editorial team discusses stereotypes about attractive men that still feel relevant, or that we can modernize. A college athlete isn’t necessarily interesting without some other underlying reason. (Ah! Maybe they’re fed up with the extortive system they’re a part of and lean on a female confidante. She sees his depth in a way that her peers don’t get to. Write that down!)

We talk about the way that passionate people are attractive, and especially so if they’re a bit unattainable because of their focus.

Every “Fireman!” is met with an, “O.K., but why?”

5 p.m. I join Faye and Mel to figure out how to meet our greater goals for the quarter. Five hundred Post-its and two hours later, we take a step back to admire our work.

Friday

12 p.m. I meet with Mel to review the past week: how we spent marketing dollars, where it’s working best, trends we’re not sure what to do with yet. There’s one international market that’s going gangbusters.

12:45 p.m. We always order in and eat Friday lunch together.

5 p.m. I find a quiet booth for an interview with Tristan Taormino, host of the podcast Sex Out Loud, which I just found out is airing live. The host, a sex educator who really knows her stuff, gives us advice on creating content for older listeners, shares her favorite story (“Virgo Season”), and asks how I deal with running a women-focused company while also navigating the world of venture capital. I say it took me some time to realize I was more than one thing in different contexts, and that that’s O.K.

6:50 p.m. I find myself alone at Bamboo Hut, a tiki bar, with a blue salt rim mai tai in front of me. I’m evaluating whether this bar will fit our loose holiday party theme of “dive bar fancy.” The bartender tells me that yes, the lamps over the bar are real taxidermied puffer fish.

7 p.m. A friend texts, “‘Blue Salt Rim’ should be the name of a Dipsea story!” It’s a joke I probably hear once or twice a week but still haven’t gotten tired of.

Interviews are conducted by email, text and phone, then condensed and edited.

Sahred From Source link Business

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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thedivinefish · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday and giving & receiving presents with grace and ease

TGIWednesday News

Holy guacamole, thrilled that mercury retrograde is behind us now. Regardless of your beliefs, starting today, let’s celebrate the energy and the feeling of the 12 days of Christmas with child like wonder and joy. Think of it as a happy, giving and receiving time of year. You know that I'm here as a way-shower to help/contribute to you in any way that I can. I'm here 24/7/365. Yes you read that right, because as I like to say, it’s not roofing or plumbing, I’ve helped with that and those are HARD! I'm co-creating and moving spirit around with you and for you, so that we can release the negative and download more positive with grace and ease and so it is. [email protected] (727) -678-0557.

TGIWednesday Download

~ GIVING & RECEIVING PRESENTS ~ It is safe and comfortable to give and receive presents. I believe, think, know and feel that I am worthy of giving and receiving presents. I know when, where, how and why to be deserving of giving and receiving presents. I am ready, willing and able to give and receive presents during this and all holidays and occasions. I see this now in all languages and throughout all time lines and so it is.

December BOGO on Clearing MP3s!

This month we have a BOGO (buy one, get one) offer and is the perfect time to treat yourself & give to another who truly needs it. This is something I do only one time a year and it's a great savings!

I want for us ALL to make progress every day and this is my contribution to you in prayer, "May the rest of your life, be the best of your life!" You can simply click the link below and put 2 audios into your cart and the discount will be taken automatically or you can type in BOGO2018.

Buy One Clearing Audio, Get One Free! (save $57)

For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more.

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Increasing Intuition Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

Fish Food

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

DECEMBER 12th - "Today I will realize that there are a lot of people a lot worse off than me. I will press on in this life with determination to create, to change, to enjoy, and ultimately, to just be and know myself. I will enjoy the season and my life here, now."

Live Shows and Replays

SOUL TALK RADIO I will be the guest on Soul Talk Live with host Patty Malek LIVE Tuesday December 18th at 5pm EST/2pm PST We'll be doing clearings and talking about "Healing Family Relationships & Relieving Holiday Stress" Click here to join us! JIMMY MACK HEALING SHOW Tuesdays at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT Call in LIVE (713) 955-0594

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Live In-Person Appearances

LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

Tampa Bay area locals can book a live session with me WEDNESDAYS & FRIDAYS Check the available dates below. Call Kodawari's front desk directly to schedule (813) 773-4017 and pay at the concierge desk... 15 minutes 33$ or 30 minutes 65$. UPCOMING SCHEDULE 10-2pm: Wednesday: Dec. 12th, 19th | Jan. 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th Friday: Dec. 28th | Jan 4th

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

From the Fish Box

"Jimmy is a gift! Expect miracles and quick results. After a phone call with him, you may not even feel the call did much but right away you will start to see the changes. I've worked with Jimmy for a few years, and he has brought my life into balance if I'm 'off', and does it quickly. I recently opened a salon and had major employee drama. I worked with Jimmy to release the drama, resistance and toxic people. Within a week of two, 15 minute calls, I had a quick turnover of toxic employees and went from being the babysitter/boss to getting a new group of employees that I can leave in charge. My situation went from all-consuming to freedom. Jimmy's energy is so powerful! Don't be fooled by his easy going and soothing friendliness. He works that powerful magic in a very subtle way. He's talking and joking with you while fishing the blocks out. You hang up the phone and feel relief, but then major change happens quickly. Spending even 15 minutes with Jimmy fishing the blocks and resistance out of your life, will be worth the time and money. He packs amazing value into each phone call. Jimmy is an angel and thank God I found him!" - Laura A. / Chicago

Receive 24/7 Daily Prayers From Jimmy

"I love your prayer service! I reached my financial goal in 2 weeks, my daughter is over the moon with her new official boyfriend and my son is loving college and successfully traveled home with no issues. My husband is a work in progress; your addiction audio will make a nice Christmas gift for him!" - C.T. / Florida I will dial into you daily in the wee hours and make certain that you are a CLEAR YES, UNCLEAR to NO and RUNNING FORWARD before you start your day. You will send me a list of the members of your immediate household, and yes even pets, and I will add them to my daily prayers. I will arise daily before you are even awake to start my prayers and also run my intelligent computer software 24/7 deleting the negative and increasing the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of outcomes for you and the family. Each comes with a one-time email analysis print out via the intelligent healing software that I use on your behalf. Most clients have had amazing results and outcomes and I get emails like this one each and every week!

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"I have found this to be a great modality. I have for the first time got my husband and kids fishing daily. I've learned Emotion Code, Body Code, dowsing, 3 levels of Yuen and some other bits and bobs I've played with. I like how easy this is to take on the road. I really appreciate your time and brilliance. Thank you." - D.T. / Kansas

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TGIFunny

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Jimmy Mack 727.678.0557 EST | Appointments Skype: Jimmy.Mack55 Clearwater Florida USA Book a 15 minute session Book a 30 minute session Book a 60 minute session Transformational Healing of Body, Mind & Spirit, People, Places, Pets & Situations! Download the My Liquid Fish® Starter Kit Audio MP3 Downloads and books to improve your life! Get Certified in My Liquid Fish® Change Made Simple® Watch Free Videos on YouTube Weekly Radio Show Archives Shop for Supplements http://www.jimmymackhealingshop.com www.jimmymackhealing.com Copyright ©1998-2018 All Rights Reserved

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divinefishingtips · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday and giving & receiving presents with grace and ease

TGIWednesday News

TGIWednesday Download

December BOGO on Clearing MP3s!

Buy One Clearing Audio, Get One Free! (save $57)

For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more.

Increasing Intuition Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

Fish Food

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

Live Shows and Replays

Browse the interview archives here.

Live In-Person Appearances

LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

From the Fish Box

Receive 24/7 Daily Prayers From Jimmy

Choose 7 days @$33 Choose 14 days @$66 Choose 30 days @$99

**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

My Liquid Fish® Mastery Certification

Level I is open for ANYONE TO JOIN at anytime!

LEARN MORE HERE

MyLiquidFish® Jewelry

Created by world renowned Energy Artist Julia Watkins Buy it here

TGIFunny

Forward

Stay connected!

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advancedthetapractitioner · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday and giving & receiving presents with grace and ease

TGIWednesday News

TGIWednesday Download

December BOGO on Clearing MP3s!

Buy One Clearing Audio, Get One Free! (save $57)

For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more.

Increasing Intuition Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

Fish Food

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

Live Shows and Replays

Browse the interview archives here.

Live In-Person Appearances

LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

From the Fish Box

Receive 24/7 Daily Prayers From Jimmy

Choose 7 days @$33 Choose 14 days @$66 Choose 30 days @$99

**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

My Liquid Fish® Mastery Certification

Level I is open for ANYONE TO JOIN at anytime!

LEARN MORE HERE

MyLiquidFish® Jewelry

Created by world renowned Energy Artist Julia Watkins Buy it here

TGIFunny

Forward

Stay connected!

Our mailing address is: Clearwater Florida 33756 USA unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences

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spookyenemyperson-blog · 6 years ago

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