#i haven't done one of these posts in a while

[journeyman-tier-fibercraft]

Happy WIP Wednesday! It's been Quite a few months since I've had the energy to do any knitting, but today is a good day!

I've been slowly chipping away at Oak Leaves for thereabouts ten months, the rows are Very long now, and I still have 20 ish left. But it was time to put her on longer needles, and the cord I needed was on the back of my aggressively pink cardigan. Which prompted me to actually check how far that project got just to realize I had stopped knitting at 174 rows, out of 176.

I did knit those last two rows and remembered just how much fun this cardigan is to knit, and also how fucking hot it is to knit. I miss her but not in 90 degree weather. T-T

[angelkiko]

retired-poly!141 x dive-bar-singer!reader

warnings: none really! small mentions of self pleasing and cock : 3

CHAPTER ONE: stage

Johnny had gone out alone, only telling price who gave him a little nod and a "dont overdo it lad". He entered the usual shitty dive bar they frequented ever since retirement, it was the only one in town that didn't charge a fortune for beer. Post retirement, price moved them to a quant town, a very woodsy one at that where he managed to score them some old manor to live in. Johnny had no idea why it was that big, i mean 6 bedrooms? for what?

It had only been meer weeks after they retired, 6 weeks exactly. Yet, they still haven't gotten used to it, not used to the feeling of peace, not carrying the weight and dread of upcoming deployments, and not having to think about if all of them were going to come back form the next mission or not.

With a sigh he sat on a barstool, the bartender glancing at him to ask "the usual?" to which he nodded and was promptly slid a beer, which he slid a 5 dollar bill for.

He sighed, taking a swig of it to glance around. It was a lower end dive bar, the kind filled with bar fights and peeling leather booths. The barstools creaked, the lights were slightly dim, and the beer was cheap. Did anyone care? honestly not really.

However, there was a creaky wooden stage towards the back where bands usually preformed, bands comprised of college age kids trying to make some extra money while playing covers of weezer and green day. They weren't bad, but exactly what you'd expect from a place like this.

The stage was empty for a few moments, until he saw you. A pretty little thing, not older than early twenties step onto the stage. You stepped on with ease as if having done this a million times, which you have. Coming here once a week or so to collect tips, every night you had free from studying. However, johnny has never seen you until now, as they usually come on Thursdays.

You fixed the mic, greeting the bars crowd of middle aged men looking for a cheap place to drink. A soft smile let on your face, a smile too soft for this place, a smile that made johnny grip his beer tighter.

After a soft greeting, you began to sing over a backtrack. And johnny heard what he could only describe as the voice of an angel, he was enchanted instantly, like a moth to a flame. He sat there frozen, unable to look away and breathing slightly heavier than usual.

You sang for all of 30 minutes, and every now and again someone would come up to slip a 1 or a 5 into the jar by the stage. Something about the way you batted your eyelashes at the men who tipped made johnny shiver, he knew you were just doing it for a bigger tip but oh how it made his cock jump.

And almost too quick for his liking, you stepped off the stage and collected your tip money and disappeared. A slight ache of disappointment and longing entered his heart, price had always warned him he fell too quickly, but this? he had to have this one.

He would quickly walk up to the little sign up sheet by the stage, which is where he ended up finding out your name. It wasn't hard as there weren't a whole lot of names on there, mostly just band names. Y/n, a name that would haunt his dreams, nightmares, and the name he would moan as he imagined you. He noted that you were scheduled to preform tomorrow, and a grin slowly came on his face, he had to tell the team about what he just found

With quick steps he left the bar, throwing away the half full beer on the way out. he had to make sure he got the pretty little thing that had the audacity to waltz into his gaze. Because after all, what would someone like you be doing here? You were clearly too good for this place, and he wanted to just pick you up and wall you away all to himself, as he doesn't like sharing. He wanted you, and whatever johnny wants? his team makes sure he gets.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

A/N: srry if this is a tad short but i promise they'll interact in the next chapter i jst wanted to get the set up out of the way >_<

do lmk what yall think of my writing! i haven't written anything in a long time (ever since my fanfic writer era lol, so sorry if that shows), so do tell me if there's anything i can improve on.

small warning this series will be a little spicy and will probs have smut so if you like that keep reading ;)

you can imagine the song reader was singing but i like to pretend it was dealer by lana del rey ! (also apologies for any mistakes/grammar errors i wanted to get this out and was excited >_<)

with love, kiko. < 3

[writinginthesecrettrees]

Mad At Your Dad? Read On...

Jared's not entirely sure why he contacted the guy.

That's a lie; he knows exactly why.

He came out to his family earlier that summer and after the screaming was done, there were two months of complete silence from everyone. And then his mom had called and informed him that his presence was required at Thanksgiving. Seems Grandma had asked about him and then informed her daughter that "I thought I didn't raise a bigot," and then told the extended family about how his parents had abandoned him "for no good reason" and now Mom and Dad want him to show up and make nice so they stop getting shit from everyone.

Around the lump in his throat, Jared said "I already made other plans," and Mom told him to cancel because family comes first, and Jared said he would but "only if my boyfriend can come. It wouldn't be right to leave him alone just because you decided I'm not shunned anymore." A lie, of course, Jared has been tragically single ever since he figured out he couldn't like girls the way his friends do, but he wanted to see what Mom would say.

"Well, then. Bring him," is apparently what Mom would say, through gritted teeth, and now Jared's stuck. And Chad offered to play boyfriend, because Chad is awesome, but his family knows Chad and would never believe it. But then Chad found this weird post on Craigslist while he was scrolling through the personals and it seemed like a godsend, so Jared had emailed him a phone number and asked him to call if his post was serious.

It was serious, it turned out, and the 28 year old felon turned out to have a voice like smooth whiskey and his name was Jensen and when Jared stuttered out his problem, that smooth whiskey voice turned into a rumbling chuckle that tingled down Jared's spine. "Oh, I'm so in," Jensen said, "and please say we can 'accidentally' get caught sloppy kissin'."

"What if I'm hideous? You shouldn't offer to kiss people you haven't even met."

"Darlin', I'd make out with Dick Cheney to make a homophobe clutch their pearls. And I bet you're a better kisser than ol' Dick."

Jared didn't want to get into his (nonexistent) skills as a kisser so they moved on to logistics: things like last names and birthdays and a "how we met" story designed to twist the knife for Jared's parents. And sooner than Jared had expected, he's standing on the curb outside Chad's apartment, waiting for Jensen to pick him up for Thanksgiving.

The van is as old and dirty and airbrushed as Jensen had said, and it lets out a belch of exhaust as he pulls up. Jared's parents will hate it. Jared's grinning as he slides into the passenger seat.

---

Jensen's first look at the kid who's given him a place to go for Thanksgiving is like a punch to the gut. Tall, Jared hadn't mentioned being tall. Slacks and a button-down shirt don't normally do it for Jensen, so it's gotta be the body in those clothes that has his heart beating a bit faster. And then Jared looks up, sees Van Halen (and so what if Jensen named his van, it was a perfect name and practically begging to be used), and grins and it's like sunshine after a thunderstorm.

"What if I'm hideous, he said," Jensen mutters just before Jared opens the door, then grins back at the kid. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jensen, I'll be your long-term boyfriend for the day." That startles a laugh out of Jared. "Any last-minute things I need to know?"

Jared bites his lip. It's adorable. Jensen wants to bite it for him. "Well... I kinda told my grandma about this." He looks up at Jensen through his bangs.

"She's the one who doesn't like bigots, right?"

"Mmhm."

"She cool with it?"

"... she said she's gonna take a ton of pictures."

Jared's fidgeting and Jensen feels for the kid. Coming out's a bitch, even with supportive family, and Jared's family is a little late to the program on that.

"You thought about what you'll call me?"

"I... why wouldn't I just call you Jensen?" Jared asks, clearly bewildered.

Bet the kid's never even been on a real date with a dude. Jensen tries to feel sympathy rather than satisfaction at the thought. "Trust me. Pet names are like... a thousand times more torturous for disapproving parents to sit through. Babe."

Jared wrinkles his nose. "I liked 'darlin' better."

"So do I, baby, but which will your parents hate more?"

"Point." Jared sighs, then gets a look of pure mischief in his eyes. "If we're going by what my parents will hate most, I should call you 'Daddy.'"

"Now you're gettin' it."

---

Jared's almost vibrating with anxiety when they pull up to his parents' house. And thank God for Jensen; if he weren't here, Jared wouldn't even be able to walk to the door. But Jensen is here, pulling him out of the van and lacing their fingers together as they head to the front porch. And they stand there, staring at the door, for a good ten seconds, until Jensen says "Fuck it," and tugs on Jared's hand.

They'd talked about putting on a bit of a show, so Jared's not completely taken by surprise when Jensen's lips land on his. He's just not entirely sure what to do. With anything -- his hands, his lips, his height, and oh! his tongue, because somehow Jensen's managed to part his lips and now Jared has to figure out what to do with an extra tongue crowding into his mouth.

Jensen has a stud in his tongue, and that's a fun discovery that makes Jared's brain short-circuit and solves the problem of what to do with my lips and tongue because the answer is to play with the piercing. It's a good answer, because Jensen is groaning and pulling Jared closer by his belt loops so their bodies are crushed together. And that solves the what do I do with my hands problem because there's nowhere to put them except around Jensen's very broad shoulders. Jensen's arm wraps more securely around Jared's waist, and he pulls back from the kiss to murmur "that's right, baby, just hold on and let me drive" with a playful nip at Jared's ear.

Jared is more than pleased to follow Jensen's direction, whispers "okay, daddy," and smiles at how Jensen groans as he reclaims Jared's lips and lets one hand slide down to squeeze Jared's ass.

And the front door opens.

And the look on Jared's dad's face almost makes up for the fact that they have to stop kissing.

---

It's the best Thanksgiving Jensen has had in a long time, and not just because he was in prison for the last one. Jared is flushed, happy, and relaxed when his dad interrupts their kiss on the front porch. Jensen hadn't known that a human face could get that red, and somehow his face goes purple when Jared introduces Jensen as "Dad, this is dadd... um, I mean, this is Jensen. My boyfriend."

They don't shake hands.

Jared's sister asks them how they met over the turkey, and that lets them pull out the story they made up.

"You tell it, daddy. I barely remember," Jared says, and Jensen's pretty sure he didn't even notice the pet name but everyone else did.

"Sure thing, babe. So, I'm a line cook at this dive bar..." Jensen launches into the tale of clocking out and going to get a drink and having 6'4" of sloppy drunk fall all over him. And how Jared was loudly telling the whole bar about how his parents hated him because he wanted a dick in his ass. Jared's grandma cackled at that, so Jensen winks at the old broad and continues on: "and my baby boy's just about the prettiest boy in all Texas, so of course I took him out to my van."

Jared's brother just might throw a punch. "You didn't even take him home?"

"Well, I was kinda between places right now, but I got a nice air mattress in the back of Van Halen. Real cozy."

"Don't worry, Jeff," Jared breaks in, eyes so innocent Jensen would believe anything he said. "We moved in with Chad the next day." He turns to Jensen. "Or was it the day after?"

The shovel talk Jensen gets from Jared's siblings between dinner and pie is scarier than anything he faced in prison.

---

The silence in the van as Jensen drives Jared back to Chad's is sleepy and comfortable until Jensen suddenly says, "So you gotta talk to your brother about me."

"Hmmm?"

"I'm serious, Jay. I think he's planning my murder. And your sister's gonna be his alibi."

"Please. Jeff's a teddy bear."

"To his little brother, yeah. To his little brother's supposedly homeless felon boyfriend? Not so much. You gotta talk to him!"

Jared laughs. Jensen wants to hear that laugh every day forever.

"Okay, daddy. I'll call Jeff in the morning. Tell him it was all fake."

"Good. I'd like him to not hate me when I take you out for real."

[tawghasa]

I endorse all of this.

I had to change careers in my early 30s (grant-gunded research scientist + four years of no grants in my speciality = redundancy with no hiring opportunities). Here are a few things I learned from that journey:

Consider doing the same job for a different employer. I spent 5 years working for a lab that, in retrospect, had a really terrible workplace culture. I got a position in another lab in the same institute, and the experience was a LOT better.

(It was still rough at times, due to the bullshit I had internalised clashing with similar bullshit my lab supervisor had internalised. But I cried in the bathrooms WAY less.)

There can be a LOT of jobs that are tangentially related to your current job, that no one in your current job is really aware of. Or if they are aware, they overestimate the barriers to getting there.

(E.g., I moved from medical research into intellectual property. I assumed that you would need some kind of legal background for that... But nope!)

On a related note, be sceptical of any career advice you get from people at your hell-job. If they haven't gotten out themselves, they are sharing conjecture, not facts.

Most people have bad resumes and weak cover letters/responses to selection criteria. I highly recommend checking out Askamanager.org, in particular this masterpost of advice for resumes and cover letters. Alison also has a guide for preparing for job interviews that I've used with success (it's free when you sign-up to her mailing list. I think I've gotten maybe two e-mails in the six years since I signed up to get the free pdf).

Being older can be a benefit in the workplace. Some recent hires at my job are in their 50s, and were REALLY surprised they made the cut... But they both have so much experience under their belts, they're very familiar with the norms of a 9-to-5 job, etc. (They're also less likely to look for another job before they retire than younger hires.)

Also, you just know more stuff. You have more experience in having a job, talking to people, doing things. You have more years under your belt of troubleshooting, finding easier workflows, cleaning up messes.

E.g., I hated my time in retail but I know a LOT about how to talk to people: how to give someone bad news without them yelling at me, how to tell them they stuffed up without them yelling at me, how to tell them I stuffed up without them yelling at me...

I have an excellent phone manner and a "customer-centric commitment to issue resolution" which has been a huge asset in both of my post-retail careers - but neither of those jobs had any kind of intentional training/mentoring in those areas! Those are skills I developed in THE shittiest supermarket in South Australia while developing bone damage in my feet because I was standing for 10 hours a day.

A few other bits of advice:

It's hard to be productive outside of work when you work a terrible job that is corroding your soul. It's hard to write a good resume/apply to further education/whatever when you hate your job and you're exhausted and everything is pointless. Don't beat yourself up if it takes longer than you'd like to get anything done.

Make things easier for yourself by asking for/accepting help. Use the Ask A Manager resources, ask friends and family (ideally ones who have jobs they like) to help you with your job search and your application materials.

(Are we mutuals? Do you want some help with a resume? Send me a DM. I can also hop on a Discord call and chat with you about interview prep and technique.)

Try to start prepping now, BEFORE the dream opportunity crosses your path. It's easier to have an up-to-date master resume that you can tailor to the role, than to scramble to pull one together the night applications close.

Reddit can actually be really helpful. There are subreddits for a lot of careers/industries, with posts every few months asking how to either break in or get out. They can also be a good place to ask what the day-to-day is like in a career you're thinking of switching to, which can help you identify any skills you already have that would be an asset/consider whether you'd enjoy the reality of the job. Keep in mind that it's all subjective, and no two people's experiences will be the same.

If you've read this far, try to find time to update your resume this weekend. Even if you like your current job. (That's usually the best time to look at other jobs - you're not desperate, so you're in a strong position to negotiate any offers.) Because if you've read this far through a thread about changing jobs/careers, you're probably interested on some level in doing the thing.

I’m thinking of doing a complete career switch- or at the very least, making an attempt to start it- and the idea is frightening for so many reasons- money, feeling like I’m behind, insecurity, family- but then i think of just sticking to the path I’m on and it sends me into a crying fit so. I think I’m going to have to be brave

Be brave! I changed industries at age 41 and it was so good for both my career and mental health.

It sounds silly to have to outright say, but if the thought of going to your current job makes you cry every day, it is time to LEAVE. You are not the first person I have had to give this advice to this week. The longer you stay in a dead-end job, the more your skills will rust and the inertia will drag you down.

It feels frightening, but you can get through the imposter syndrome by becoming a thorough note taker (assuming you are white collar, but a lot of this also applies to blue):

Capture every conversation you have

Immediately distill meetings and emails into to-do lists

Review your to-dos daily

Most importantly: write down your accomplishments, no matter how small, at the end of every week

Notes by hand helped me so much, and my little treat to keep going was to begin a fresh mini-notebook every 2 weeks, which I could decorate with ink stamps and washing tape. I used a different color gel pen every day, too. My notebooks were fun and super helpful with keeping me organized.

You will catch up soon enough. It sucks to be an older person in a junior role, but you will be more mature and hopefully adept at handling work drama. I hit senior at age 47 after doing my time, and now I'm pretty indistinguishable from the folks who beat me here.

People aren't meant to do the same thing for all their lives, if it means sacrificing other opportunities. It's ok to say goodbye to a career or hobby or whatever else, to make room for something new. Don't feel guilty sampling from life. Specialization is for insects.

[littlemoriflower]

Since the tag has been a bit slow lately:

Tell me your favorite things about mori! ( •̯́ ᴗ •̯̀)♡

[micamone]

hewwo

[bragganhyl]

Anyway, I am once again seeing people picking up Pillars of Eternity for the first time and as such I am feeling obligated to let you all know that there are free to download short stories that you can grab from ✨ here ✨

[misc-obeyme]

MC finds a large sword in Solomon's room and picks it up.

MC: What’s this?

Solomon: That would be Excalibur.

MC: How did you get Excalibur?

Solomon: People are kind of impressionable. I just did a little magic and convinced them I was Merlin.

MC: Uh huh. Lemme guess, you’ve also got the holy grail stashed away somewhere.

Solomon: Er…

MC: Is this what you’ve been doing with your long life? Pilfering significant artifacts throughout human history?

Solomon: Of course not. I’m safekeeping magical objects so they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

MC: I think it’s too late for that.

Solomon: Ouch...

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[ifindus]

Valentines 💖 2025

[bitchboi-gogurt]

the chunterrrr 😭😭😭

bonus little things belowwww👇🐶💅✨

his voice is text to speech, made sure to use one that was not 🅰️👁️

[crowrrupt]

Decided to join the little trend of drawing this Zero design, it was meant to be a doodle but I got carried away lol

[podcastwizard]

if i put all my followers in a room* i would need a building at least the size of the mercedes-benz arena in berlin, germany, which is a pretty fun thing to think about.

*bots notwithstanding

[icantalk710]

💇🏽‍♂️🤔

[fauchart]

Can't believe I've been receiving Anon Hate over my OC that I ship with Snake... what is this, 2014? Hello? Haven't we all moved past the need to send anon hate overall?

[babyjapril]

[synoicus]

🦋

For Nephfei's Mending Day prompt!