#anyway my grand aunt has something close to a heart attack in the middle of the first act

[hurryupmerlin]

"Hey Chicken, how's the house buying going?" you ask, friendly.

I immediately throw up on your shoes and collaps into a sobbing heap.

[kiatheinsomniac]

Unwoven Fate V

[MASTERLIST OF CHAPTERS]

The trip with the courtesans had been a long once and she was glad that she had arrived so early in the morning at Monteriggioni or else she would have missed them. It was nice to have company. She shared her story with the girls along the way; from the attack on her childhood home, being raised by her Aunt and Uncle and that life-changing eavesdrop to her travels across Tuscany.

The young woman did her best to keep her body moving on the horse, trying to stay warm after she had lent her cloak to Lucrezia, an hour into the journey, who had been shivering violently and cursing the bitter cold. The courtesans were good company: they kept good conversation and were an entirely new type of people to (Y/n).

Her Aunt had told her that they were vile women, taking the easy way in life, that (Y/n) should be proud to be unlike them. (Y/n) had acknowledged that this was her Aunt's opinion but had never formed one herself, never having met a courtesan until this day. They had been kind and they paid her respect too, it seemed. And it was a different kind of respect, one she had not experienced before: it was not the obligatory respect that came with her family money and her fancy outfits, it was a respect that she had earned herself by respecting these women in turn, by sharing her generosity with them regarding her cloak and letting some of them ride her horse when their feet grew tired.

The rented horse was stolen by now: she had known that she wouldn't be back in the promised time when she rented it but now a part of her felt bad for taking it away from its owner. Either way, she needed the creature - until she reached Rome, anyway.

Upon arriving, some more girls were waiting at the gates to help carry bags of belongings and lead the courtesans of Monteriggioni to their new workplace in Rome. (Y/n) trailed along behind them, looking around as she travelled. Those same guards were here: the red uniforms with the bull crest. Those bull flags flew from towers, Roman ruins, homes and shops too.

Bull. . . Bull! The papal Bull! She resisted the urge to smack herself in the head: how had it taken her so long to figure it out? Was the Pope on a quest to conquer Italy? To divide or to unite?

Either way, she followed the courtesans, the group of girls patiently waiting as she left her horse discreetly in a stable, not wanting to pay to have it watched. Her money was running thin as it is.

After a while of walking (hearing the calls and whistles of men for the girls all the way), they arrived at a grand building, covered in Roses and seemingly recently restored. Courtesans waited outside and Lucrezia stopped at the threshold to hand (Y/n)'s woollen black cloak back to her.

"Thank you for your kindness and company, we've all enjoyed you coming with us." The blonde smiled, leaning forwards to give her an amiable hug. (Y/n) froze for a moment before returning the gesture, wrapping her arms around the woman and squeezing for a moment before they both pulled back.

"It's not a problem at all - I'm thankful that you let me come with you. Now the Auditores. . . ?" She replied, looking around the brothel to see courtesans and men all around, the place smelling distinctly of sleepless nights and roses.

"Who are you looking for in particular?" She quizzed, "Ezio, I assume?" Lucrezia replied, gesturing her hand to the hidden blade on (Y/n)'s wrist. 

"Mario, actually. That was the name in the letter." The blonde woman's face dampened for a moment, her smile fading.

"He was killed in the attack." She replied sadly, "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you were looking for him or else I would have told you."

"He mentioned some other relatives in the letter: a sister-in-law, niece and nephew. Are they alive?" (Y/n) questioned, biting her inner cheek and starting to pray that she had not come to Rome for a fruitless journey.

"I should hope so." A matured voice spoke up from the staircase. There, stood a woman in her late-middle-ages. Her hair was dark and streaked with grey, crows feet at her dark eyes. Her hair was styled up and she wore the sort of dress that (Y/n) was so accustomed to wearing herself. "What business do you have with my family?" The young woman assumed that this was the in-law.

"It's a bit of a long story. . ." She began, approaching the woman and bowing her head with respect, "I've travelled from the countryside near Forlì. From there, I've been to the city itself, then Firenze, Monteriggioni and now Roma."

"Then your journey has been a long one." She turned around and started walking up the stairs, "Come, rest in the office and tell me your tale." (Y/n) followed behind, hearing the faint sounds of the women working behind heavily closed doors.

The office wasn't too small, with a desk in the light from the back window, a bookshelf and a long screen dividing the room, seeing the posters of a bed behind the screen.

A young-looking woman, but older than (Y/n), was sitting at the desk with a quill in hand, a letter in another. She looked up upon the arrival of the two new women.

"Mother, who is this?" She asked politely, giving (Y/n) a small smile before continuing with her work.

"She says she has business with our family." The older woman replied. So this was the niece, (Y/n) concluded. The in-law gestured for (Y/n) to take a seat before taking one herself.

"I'm going to have to give you a bit of my life’s story for all of this to make sense but I'll try to keep it as short as I can." She began, looking between the two Madames of the brothel. "When I was a young child, my family home was attacked. My mother put me into the maid's arms and told her to run but I saw the attackers kill my parents. My Aunt and Uncle took me in after that and raised me as their own. But, a few days ago, I was walking past the room where my Aunt, Uncle and their guests were and I heard her. . ."

She took in a shaky breath to compose herself, the words wounding her just as deeply as the moment she first heard them, "I heard my Aunt say that she'd had my parents killed. . . And that she thought it was the best thing she had ever done." She could see the shock on the women's faces after saying this. "Since then, I travelled back to my childhood home in Forlì where I found a secret compartment containing this-" she showed her hidden blade and pulled Mario's letter to her parents out of her pocket, placing it on the desk, "-and this. I don't know anyone else who knew my parents except my existing family and Mario. I'm sure you can see why confronting my family was out of the question." Claudia had read the letter by now.

"Your parents were Assassins too?" Claudia spoke up and (Y/n) nodded her head.

"I never even knew until I read this. . ." She bit her cheek to fight the tears that threatened her eyes, "And suddenly I feel like I don't know anything."

"I think it would be best if you speak to my son, Ezio." The in-law spoke up, catching (Y/n)'s teary eyes, "He is acting as the Assassin Brotherhood’s leader at the moment and if he isn't already informed of your parents then one of his contacts will be."

"Thank you. . ." (Y/n) trailed off, looking between the two strangers and realising that she did not know their names still.

"Maria."

"And Claudia - I am sure that you know our surname well." She smiled, giving (Y/n) back the letter from Mario. She could tell that she was sad to let something go that had been written by her passed uncle, "My brother can be a hard man to contact but I have a meeting with him in three days, I can take you with me and you can discuss things with him then."

"Thank you." (Y/n) replied gratefully, "Until then, do you know any places nearby where I could rent a room?"

"You can stay here until then." Maria offered, "We will close off a room for you. There's one downstairs that serves as more of a supply cupboard than a workplace, I'm sure you'd prefer that."

"I'll take whatever you'll give." She replied gratefully and heard her stomach rumble, inwardly cringing and hoping that the other two hadn't heard her. It was now becoming evening and she hadn't eaten since Florence yesterday.

"There is a baker's nearby though." The younger Auditore woman smiled amiably, getting up from her seat, "Come, I'll take you."

⚜⚜⚜

The past three days had been spent at the brothel: spending much time talking to Claudia and understanding her job in the Brotherhood as well as the courtesan teaching her a few Assassin tricks: blending in, pickpocketing (it had felt very dishonest to (Y/n) but the last of her money had been spent on food and she knew that she needed it to get by - she also found that she was also very good at it). She was small and went more unnoticed than others when she bumped into someone and her fingers were quick, nimble from her years of violin-playing.

"We're heading to Isola Tiberina." Claudia had told her that afternoon. Claudia was wearing a fine red and gold dress and (Y/n) decided that she didn't want to feel underdressed compared to her, slipping on the deep blue silk dress that she had kept in her bag, the one not given away to that bastard tailor in Forlì. She kept her hair in the two dutch braids which had now become much more comfortable for her as they were easy to do, held fast and kept her long tresses out of the way.

She followed Claudia through the streets of Rome, keeping close and trying to memorise each detail in order to learn her way around the city by heart. Some streets were narrow and there were staircases that looked like an alley but turned out to be a door, tunnels were scattered around too and there were some small gardens here and there. Eventually, they reached a  river and Claudia led the two of them over a bridge. (Y/n) looked up to a tall building that had a pigeon coop and stood in front of a small square of sorts.

Merchants and craftsmen called out to passers-by and the Auditore woman led (Y/n) down to a doorway, holding it open and motioning for (Y/n) to make her way down the stairs. Upon arriving, she could tell that the place was newly occupied: sparse furniture that looked as though it could fall apart at any moment, lots of repairs that needed to be done in the plaster and cobwebs in the rafters. But she could hear the crackle of a fireplace nearby as well, a sign that they were not too uncomfortable here.

"Claudia." The man gave Claudia a warm hug in greeting while (Y/n) stood by silently, waiting to be introduced. Though, someone else addressed her first.

"Emma?" The man was much older than (Y/n) and dressed mostly in browns and yellows. (Y/n) could feel her breath hitch in her throat. She hadn't heard that name in so long that it both killed her and brought her to life at once. Her mother's name. "No, you're far too young. . ." He glanced down at her wrist to see the dull metal of her hidden blade, "Who are you?" His eyes flickered between hers, brows narrowing. A tension seemed to fall over the room and suddenly everyone was suspicious.

"I'm her and Lorenzo's daughter. I. . ." She found herself stammering. This man had known her mother's face and clearly, (Y/n) had grown into it well. Her Aunt had never mentioned that. "I came here looking for answers." She cast a glance over her shoulder to Claudia, now accompanied by the man who had hugged her in greeting. All of the older people in the room seemed beyond astonished. The man spoke up once more, killing the silence that had now hung over the room for a long time.

"I think we would like some answers now too.” He answered solemnly as whispers broke out among the elders of the group. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean: you're supposed to be dead."

[strayen-fx]

Secrets, Stars, and Protein Bars

Han Jisung x Reader

You hated each other. Or at least, you told yourself that you hated each other. But everything changes when one night, you got stuck outside campus grounds with your one and only sworn enemy, leaving the two of you under the stars while sharing a secret and a protein bar.

Genre: Fluff, Slight angst, Fantasy

Wordcount: 2.8k

Warnings: mild violence

A/N: I actually enjoyed writing this… #selfpromotion hahaha. Anyways this is my first decent au in three months because college #sucks. Enjoy~~~ (gif not mine)

“What are you doing?”

Jisung walked up to you, a scowl evident on his face. The fact that he had to spend the whole midnight in the woods was already beyond disdainful for him – did he really have to be stuck in the wilderness with his sworn enemy? You could do basically anything to him – throw a snake at him, push him off the cliff, lead him to the pits of hell – and he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight you off. Not that he can’t, if he’d want to. But he knew he won’t. Jisung sighed internally. Why did it have to be you?

He was getting antsier and antsier as time went by. He was hungry, for one, and it didn’t help that it was practically freezing out. Why am I still feeling cold? he wondered. His gray sweatshirt didn’t offer much comfort, and he was suddenly envious of your hand-me-down jacket that was a few sizes too large for you.

Plus, he’s hungry.

You rolled your eyes, not even bothering to turn around and look at him. “I am basking under the moonlight, Han Jisung. What else do you think am I doing?”

You were feeling more and more frustrated. The castle lights were bright and enchanting from where you stood, and suddenly the idea of a late-night study group didn’t sound intolerable at all. The library was less than half a mile away – across the stupid moat that was busking with hungry water ghouls, across the stupidly ginormous lawn that stretched from the ramparts all the way to the ornate courtyard of your school. Some overly dramatic chancellor, you thought. Why did they have to enchant the school borders? They afraid of some stray dogs, or sum’n?

“I do appreciate the fact that you are enjoying your night with me,” Jisung replied, his voice equally dripping with sarcasm. “But, if you don’t mind, can you please make use of your precious brain and think of a way for us to get back in?”

You whipped your head towards Jisung’s direction, now failing to maintain your nonchalant demeanor. You were trying to think of a way to get back in – but having Jisung in close proximity wasn’t helping with your brain cells. At all. Your mind was stuck on RED ALERT, with the bright lights blaring on max, because Han freaking Jisung has entered your one-meter radius. The brunet, pale-skinned, sword-wielding prick who knew nothing but to torment your life on a daily basis. (You envy his sword. You’ve been trying to make a sword materialize by command, but you just couldn’t perfect it.)

Why the two of you were in bad terms, you don’t actually know for sure. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he was a pureblooded warlock of royal descent, and you were a lowly sorceress with muddied bloodline. Perhaps it didn’t help that he was a very powerful magician who could command a spell by pure instinct, and you were a lowly peasant who was barely getting by with your diligence to learn in class. Perhaps you were annoyed by how charismatic he was and how he could easily get people to kneel by his side. Or perhaps you were most deeply annoyed by the flirty remarks he was sending to your direction whenever he gets the chance.

Or perhaps it was the fact that you actually liked him, and you knew that never in a billion years would the Hans allow a half-blood taint, let alone touch, their royal bloodline.

In a faux-cheerful voice, you asked, “May you please remind me – who was the one who scampered off from guard duties because he thought he saw a werewolf? Who led us deep into the forest, made us lose our way, made us fail to catch the curfew and get us trapped outside the castle for the whole night?” You squinted your eyes at him. “Was it even a real werewolf that you saw?”

“Not like I tied a leash for you to follow me around, baby,” he remarked, completely ignoring your question. “I don’t take it against you, though – it is perfectly normal to get attracted to me and tag along wherever I go.” He winked, wearing his signature lopsided grin. “Just tell me everything, baby. You’re the happiest when you’re with me, right?”

You opened your mouth to utter a nasty response, but you decided against it. You actually followed him off campus because, well, you have never seen a werewolf face to face before. You were curious as to how they actually look like. You were a huge fan of dogs, and a part of you believed that werewolves were just a bigger, undomesticated breed of the house pets you endearingly snuggle with back home. Explaining all these to Jisung was not worth the energy, though, and would probably sound idiotic on your part. You brought your eyes back to the tower which homed your comfortable bed.

God, even the endless chitchat of your roommate would be heavenly as compared to this.

“Why do you always have to act like a menopausal aunt?” Jisung asked.

He didn’t mean for the two of you to start off with the wrong shoe back in your freshman year. But now that he knew how much your hatred has grown for him, he had no idea how to fix it all. He did what seemed to be the most fitting action he could: reciprocate your hatred. And, that was the tale of how the two of you have become sworn enemies. He hated it, though, if he had to be honest. He would have chosen a simple, non-dramatic relationship with his seatmate in his Potions class.

“Maybe because I’m tired of seeing your panda eyes all day. Seriously, do you even get sleep? You look like shit,” you told him with a blank face.

“You don’t look grand, either.”

“Of course, that’s ‘cause I’m stuck with you. Tell me something I don’t know.”

Jisung held his chest, feigning hurt. “Don’t be like that, baby. Our future children won’t be happy to hear that coming from you.”

You began saying something, but Jisung has already moved on to whispering another spell. It merely bounced off the invisible barrier. He tried kicking, pushing, slashing, punching – all of which was to no avail. (He looked cool with his sword, though. You had to give him that.) The both of you knew there was no way you could get around the castle defenses, at least not with your current levels as magicians. The only way was to have someone from the inside create a small passageway for the two of you to sneak in. But no matter how hard you tried racking your brain, you couldn’t think of a single plausible idea that could make way for that situation. And so you just stood there idly, watching Jisung, your hands in your jacket pockets as you fiddled with your last pack of protein bar. You weren’t starving just yet; you decided to save it for later in case you find yourself starving in the middle of the night. Was there a spell in your advanced classes that could enchant someone to sleepwalk and possibly lift the barrier for you?

Jisung finally gave up, deciding to save his energy for the long night ahead of him. He sat beside an acacia tree, sighing deeply. You were wary of the silver sword he had in his hand, but deep down you knew the young man wasn’t going to use it against you. At least not for the time being. Your little skirmishes were limited to harsh words that were meant to annoy the other party, and it was nothing more than that. You didn’t know why, but you knew you actually trusted Jisung. That didn’t mean you could handle close contact, though. You chose to sit on a tree several feet away from where he was.

Just as you were beginning to accept your predicament (you were actually trying to remember everything from your girl scout days), your ears picked up the sound of twigs snapping from a close distance. A total silence followed, and then the bushes shook violently it was practically busted in half.

A gray werewolf – a beta, you reckoned – stood with all its might and grace. Its eyes glowed gold in the moonlight, its fangs bared and dripping with saliva. It released a guttural growl that made your hair stand on end.

Blood was pumping in your ears, and while you do see the resemblance of the creature with a dog, you knew by the way it flexed its muscles that it was way, way more dangerous than your average household pup.

“I-It was real,” you whispered stupidly.

“Surprise, surprise,” Jisung groaned. “I told you I wasn’t making things up.”

“I didn’t say you made it up. I was just saying you don’t have a 20/20 vision.”

“Oh, shut up.”

The werewolf growled once more, exasperated by your little banter. It stepped closer, painfully slow, calculating its preys’ every movement. It had its eyes trained to Jisung and his silver blade, but that didn’t offer you any sort of consolation. Once it’s done with Jisung, it’s gonna take you.

Or maybe it’s the other way around.

The creature leapt, aiming for your chest. You stood there, dumbfounded, and you thought: so this is how I am going to die.

You thought: I haven’t beaten Jisung in Dark Arts yet.

What happened next took you by surprise. Jisung shoved you out of harm’s way, and his sword met the giant hound’s skin. The creature seethed in pain and scrambled backwards as blood trickled from its front limb. You sat there on the ground with your heart pounding on your throat while Jisung stood in front of you, shielding you as he took on a defensive stance.

Jisung didn’t wait for the werewolf to attack again. With his sword drawn close to his body, he charged and jabbed at the enemy. Despite its size, however, the werewolf’s speed was something of its own league. It easily parried Jisung’s attack, making the latter’s sword spin and vanish into the thickets. Jisung hadn’t expected this. You could practically see him calculating his next move, but the creature was faster. He jumped and pounded against Jisung’s back, causing the lad to fall on his knees in pain.

You had to do something. You knew you had to do something, but panic was swirling your thoughts. You knew a handful spells that could either disable the werewolf’s movement or cause it heavy injury, but you were worried that it could crush Jisung underneath it. Even worse, your aim could be off and you could harm Jisung instead. Heck, you weren’t even sure if your spells work for special creatures. You were never confident with your wizarding skills – what if it bounces back and hit Jisung?

Jisung and the werewolf continued wrestling against each other. They were rolling on the grass, fighting each other off, and you can see blood tricking from Jisung’s arm. Your desperation to save him was overpowering your fear. Just as you were about to steeple your hands and whisper an incantation, all movements stopped.

Jisung laid underneath the wolf. He wasn’t moving. A pool of red was beginning to form at his sweatshirt…

…blood.

A surge of newfound energy flowed into you. Fear, sadness, pain – everything combined into a ball of anguish that materialized into balls of flame at your fingertips. It smelled like sulfur and vaguely of cayenne. The scent gradually became overpowering, and just as you were about to throw a forbidden curse, a voice broke your stupor.

“Your aura smells nasty. Calm thyself, L/N.”

Just like that, your anger went down to drain. You fell on your knees, chest heaving, cheeks cold and wet.

Were you crying?

“I-is it dead?” you choked out. You wiped your cheeks harshly as you forced your legs to stand up. You managed to heave yourself to where Jisung was just as he was pushing the dead creature off of his body. He sat up, and suddenly you felt like your soul has again left your body.

Jisung’s plump cheeks were now tinged with color, unlike his usual paper-white complexion. The bags under his eyes seemed to have diminished. His lips looked fuller and redder…

…of course, because blood was dribbling down from it.

Jisung grinned, flashing his bloody fangs.

“I should probably clean up,” Jisung said casually, as if werewolf blood wasn’t dribbling down his chin. He pushed his deceased enemy farther away from him. Mere seconds later, it disappeared into a small pile of ashes.

Jisung tugged his shirt to wipe the traces of blood on his lips. He whispered a simple spell upon himself, and just like that, his clothes and skin were back to how they used to be – as if the whole assault was just a manic dream. Even the wounds on his arm has completely vanished. Jisung fell back down on his back, sighing deeply. “I’m still tired. A soft bed sounds about perfect.”

You blinked once. Twice.

Your heart has already gone back to a steady pace. It was still beating loudly, though, like a colossal drum stuck on your chest. Strangely enough, you were able to react to the revelation pretty calmly. Your knees felt like jelly, though, as you were still a bit shaken by the werewolf encounter. Reluctantly, you sat a small distance beside Jisung as you continued eyeing him carefully.

He’s a vampire, you thought to yourself. Your sworn enemy is a vampire. Finally – after all those years of trying to get an information that could be valuable for your clan, you finally found an incriminating secret that is so huge, it could probably boost your clan’s status beyond imagination. The Hans’ heir is a vampire, and you were the one who discovered it. You could be the one to lay this information in front of everyone. You could be rewarded for uncovering the most powerful clan’s unforgivable sin. No one would make fun of you anymore, especially not Jisung. You were supposed to be delighted. You were supposed to be celebrating.

But somehow, you felt different. Your chest was bursting with an explosion of emotions, and triumph wasn’t one of them.

You fell on your back, just a couple feet away from your vampire classmate. If you reached out your arm, you could probably hold his hand.

“You didn’t have to save me, you know,” you uttered, your voice barely above a whisper.

“I know.”

“I could tell the chancellor and the professors. And everyone. I could rat you out.”

Jisung actually laughed at that. “I know.”

“Is that the reason why you were always hotheaded these past days? Because you weren’t getting enough blood?”

Jisung laughed again, and it was the most beautiful sound you have ever heard. “Wow, I didn’t know you were paying that much attention.”

The night was just beginning; a part of you was worried that something – another magical creature, perhaps – was going to jump out of the shadows to feed on you. First a werewolf, then a vampire; could your night get any worse? You knew you should be up and alert for whatever may come to attack you, considering that you were out in the open and totally defenseless – considering that a vampire is literally lying next to you – but you thought, to hell with it, and you let yourself get enveloped by the comfortable silence.

The sky was dotted with innumerable stars, and it was the most number of constellations you have seen in your entire lifetime. You allowed yourself to take in the sight before your eyes.

You felt Jisung inch close. He moved until your shoulders were already touching. You rolled to your side, watching Jisung’s profile. His cheeks were flushed, and his lips were even fuller than you last remember. His skin glowed, you thought, or was that a trick of the moonlight?

You didn’t have time to think this through, though, as he moved his face and his eyes met yours. His eyes looked more black than brown, you noticed. They had a soft and warm look in them, and they looked different than when the two of you were bickering and annoying the hell out of each other. They shone like stars – no, they shone as if they held an entire galaxy. Maybe there lied the reason why you have hated him all these years: because you didn’t want the way his eyes made you feel. You felt like putty under his gaze, and you didn’t want to admit it.

Jisung grinned from ear to ear as if he could see the cogs working on your brain. (Could vampires do that? Read minds?)

“If you had been hungry this whole time, you could’ve just told me,” you whispered. “I still have a whole protein bar in my pocket.”

“Flavor?”

“Chocolate.”

“I bet that would be delicious,” Jisung whispered back. You watched as he licked his lips, his eyes darting from your eyes to your mouth.

“You are a vampire, Han Jisung,” you whispered, letting your face inch forward. You thought of everything that had passed over the boy’s lips – blood and bile and curses.

But Jisung’s mouth was soft now, and he tasted like apples.

[fortunatelycooltrash]

So people love to say that America doesn’t have free healthcare because the quality would sink and the waits would go up. Now, while those are valid worries despite being no excuse for the atrociously high prices of even minior procedures, I’d like to share some bullshit that I’ve experienced involving normal US hospitals and medical branches alike.

My root canal is going to cost 2500 dollars because it is not covered by most dental plans despite it being a completely necessary procedure that directly affects my health. Absorb that then absorb the fact this plan covers some of braces. The crown alone is costing over 1200.

I almost died in a hospital waiting room because my ‘stomach ache’ that was causing me so much pain I was sick with it wasn’t severe enough to qualify for immediate attention. Undiagnosed Appendicitis.

My nephew and sister almost met their end because an incompetent doctor misdiagnosed my sister with a URI. She had type A flu.

My cousins father had a doctor who refused to diagnose him despite him coming back constantly because of lethargy. Said he couldn’t find anything wrong. Her father was poor and had really bad insurance. Finally he went to another doctor and was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He could have lived if he had been diagnosed a year or two prior before it spead but by the time he got his diagnosis, it was too late. He died, I believe, a few months later but I was young so he might have made it a year or longer.

I suffered from chronic nosebleeds as a child to the point that blood didn’t even scare me anymore. The doctor told my mother that it was coming from wounds inside my nose and I was most likely picking at it and there was nothing medically wrong with me. My mother, knowing even as a child I knew not to waste her money, took me to another doctor. Severe Anemia. Still suffer from it too this day. Have to take those horrid tasting red pills🤢.

My aunt constantly butchering her budget because she needs her insulin and it’s cost keeps getting higher despite it remaining relatively the same. Luckily my state is looking to cap it at 100 though if that will actually go into effect isn’t determined yet.

My mom, bless her, repeatedly going in for her back aching only to be told pain was normal for someone of her weight and age. Nope, she is a nurse and turned people that were 300 pounds or more. She had completely blown her back and had a pinched nerve that was so severe she could barely stand without pain. The doctor that diagnosed her was surprised she could even walk.

My sister, having a grand mal seizure in the nurses office of a high school. They told her to stop faking. That bitch wasn’t even a real nurse so this one doesn’t count but I had to mention this because why the fuck wasn’t a registered nurse hired?

My (other) aunt having minor chest pain then suffering a heart attack in the waiting room because they had her wait so long since she didn’t seem serious. I’m sure that’s going to have lasting damage that could have been easily prevented.

My sister giving birth and getting a 28,000 dollar bill for a room and care for her and the baby. She was there for a day and a half. She didn’t even have a long or complicated delivery.

My mother being told she was completely fine to continue working despite having an off feeling about her third pregnancy(about 24 years ago) the doctor told her there were no complications and she could go on as normal. She miscarried her seven month along daughter three days later because her placenta was underneath the baby and tore. That doctor is still in practice.

The nurses in my mothers delivery room ignoring both her and the monitor. Which, if they had been looking at, clearly desplayed my older brother with his umbilical core wrapped tight around his neck. He lived because my moms main doctor walked in and had a conniption fit when he noticed the vitals dropping. He’s the doc my sis uses now. A good man.

(Same bro)My older brother turning blue everytime he cried being brushed off. Hole in his heart that has since closed.

When I was younger, I slipped in the shower and hit my head so hard against the metal lining of it(stall shower) that the skin split open and abscessed. My doc treated the abscess but did no further testing after a 4 hour wait. As we were leaving, I don’t remember much of this week my mom told me, I vomited and passed out in the parking lot. Had a concussion.

My brother being misdiagnosed with the flu, strep, and a few other things over the course of a few weeks before one doctor finally tested him for HIV. It was positive. Luckily he only had one partner. Unluckily, the partner was the one that gave it to him via cheating on him.

Me, almost dying of a violent case of strep throat because they said I had a sinus infection. My fever peaked at 104 then, blessedly, broke. I do not remember this as the memories of the days I was sick are incredibly fever burned but I remember wrapping blankets around me because I was so cold.

The strep attacked so quick and harshly that if I had lived alone it probably would have killed me since I wouldn’t have been able to get help and I would’ve kept trying to get ‘warmer’ and helped raise my temp over 106. You typically don’t come back from that one unharmed. If at all.

My older bro(cord baby) being told suffering from auditory hallucinations was a common thing(not wrong but they should have actually asked about his family history and idk, did more??) he had undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He is medicated and much happier now.

Me breaking my gotdamn pointer knuckle and the x-ray person getting blurry x-rays that she used despite the fact that they weren’t accurate. Thank you bitch, now my abnormally short pointer finger clicks because it began to set wrong.

Theres a few more but I’m currently giving my bro a hard time for texting me a text meant for his bf so imma bounce for now. May add more later. The whole point to this was to show people that don’t want free health care because the ‘quality would go down’ or the ‘wait would be too long’ that the wait is already long enough for you to die anyway and the quality already sucks ass if you’re poor because they will not diagnose you correctly.

Or They will misdiagnose you then blame YOU when you sue(happened to my mom in that miscarriage one but because he hadn’t wrote a release back to work she had no actual proof he’d told her she could.)

Or They will overcharge you for things that have a far cheaper value simply because they can and you can’t do anything about it because you need that procedure or medicine to keep your health good.

I can understand things like heart surgery or transplants, you know, the big major stuff not being free because yeah that shit takes a fuck ton of resources and care so I get it, I do. I can reasonably say “Yup that should cost thousands.” I mean, I’m don’t even avocate for fully FREE healthcare, I just want a limit on their overpricing bull shit to where it matches with economic standards.

You can’t expect someone with an average 7-4 job that pays 10/hr(oooh ya, y’all think I’d go higher? Guess what, young people starting out their careers also get sick!) to drop thousands upon thousands of dollars for whatever. The sad thing is I can say ‘whatever’ and you can actually think of multiple things that aren’t that major or that resource draining yet still cost thousands.

Even someone making 15/hour couldn’t do that and I’d be hard pressed to say even 20-25/hr could do that. They may have it better and be able to pay it off faster but they’d still be in debt for a while or have to work years after their planned retirement to make up for the lost savings if they were lucky enough to have them.

I’ve also heard people complaining about it raising taxes but you’ll spend way more getting something done at a hospital then you’d spend on those taxes in a year.

Besides, if you’re so pissed about taxes then to even it out protest the stupid taxes. Your house? Taxed. Your inheritance that you gain but also leave behind to care for your family? Taxed. Your property that you bought 100% full price paid? Taxed every year. Your car? Taxed.

How bout getting pissed about those instead of getting pissy about people getting their health fixed? There are plenty of ridiculous taxes so I don’t know why people are so against having one that actually helps people.

Sorry for this rant, I know it’s not centered around my profile theme but I am majorly pissed off that I’m about to have to let a tooth rot out of my head because my insurance decided that: covering something cosmetic like braces? Yeah! Covering a completely necessary surgery that can actually harm/kill the person via infection if left untreated? Nope, that costs us more!

I can’t drop two fucking grand on dental surgery. It’s just not happening. I don’t know anyone who can do that shit. Anyone who gets pissed off about me posting this: go slam a hammer against your tooth until it cracks down the middle, exposing your nerve to the harsh unforgiving world then let it develop a cavity around it.

Afterwards, try to eat literally anything: hot, cold, hard, soft, it doesn’t matter. You’ll cry, I promise. Now imagine being told the only way to fix that is to cough up over two grand and if you can’t well then oh fucking well? Kinda hurts ya a bit. Not nearly as much as the tooth but still.

Hell, I know dental probably wouldnt even get covered if they made healthcare reduced or free but this whole situation has reminded me just how fucked you are if you get anything remotely wrong with you in the U.S

[visionsofus]

Field Trips, Infinity Stones, and oh mY GOD IS THAT SPIDER-MAN? 

CH1  |  CH2

| CHAPTER 3 ~ clearance cards and close calls | 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter has a close call before the SI tour even begins! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Leeds." Mr. Harrington said making a note of Ned's attendance on the clipboard he was holding. "On you get. Parker…"

Peter waited patiently to get on the bus as Mr Harrington seemed to struggle to find his name on the list, despite the fact that there were only two dozen students actually coming on the trip.

"Present." Mr. Harrington said finally and waved Peter up onto the yellow school bus.

It was Friday. Which meant it was field trip day and… memorial day.

Peter adjusted his backpack on his shoulder as he made his way onto the bus and went to take a seat next to Ned.

"I'm so excited." Ned said, struggling to contain his enthusiasm. "I can't believe I get to see where you work."

"Worked." Peter corrected him and then shushed Ned before he could object as Flash made his way onto the bus.

"Boy am I looking forward to this! Can't wait to see what Parker has planned for our grand tour," Flash said loudly, settling into a seat two rows behind Ned and Peter. "Oi Penis Parker! Did you hear me?"

"Seriously?" Ned said under his breath and Peter shook his head. Flash seriously did not know where to stop.

"Really Flash? You used to call me that in middle school, surely you’ve gotten a bit more creative?" Peter said turning his head to address the bully.

"Still effective." Flash said shrugging and turned to look out the window as the bus’s engine started up. It wasn't quite a win for Peter but at least Flash had stopped… for the time being.

"Hey." MJ greeted taking the seat in front of Ned and Peter and opening her book back up, which she had momentarily closed to get on the bus.

"Alright!" Mr. Harrington called from the front of the bus. "Make sure everyone has a seat, yes that means squeezing up a bit. No funny business once we get to Stark Industries - let's make this field trip a memorable one alright?"

Peter had no doubt that the trip was going to be memorable, he just wasn't sure in what way…

"Hey Parker," Flash called about fifteen minutes into the drive, seemingly unable to contain himself any longer. "Rumours are there are these super powerful universe crystals being kept at Stark Industries? But I guess you wouldn't know anything about that."

Peter's head jerked up in surprise. He had been absorbed in reading one of the articles that Karen had sent him about panic attacks.

"They’re called infinity stones, and no they aren't being kept at Stark Industries… they're gone." He said quickly, without thinking. That wasn't something that an 'intern' would know, it was more Spider-Man knowledge. But Peter knew there was no way that anyone would suspect him for being an Avenger.

"Pfft…" Flash said rolling his eyes, "infinity stones sounds so much worse, is that something you made up?"

"Whatever Flash." Peter said shrugging, better that Flash think he was making it up then wonder how Peter had come to know so much. If only Peter could tell Flash all the things he knew about the Avengers, that would really give him something to talk about. Peter doubted Flash would believe half of it though, trying to explain time travel like it was actually possible (which it was) was impossible with someone like Flash.

"What you looking at Parker? Making up some documents to pretend like you actually do stuff at Stark Industries other than mopping the floors?"

"Seriously Flash, just shut up." MJ spoke up, it seemed even she was getting sick of Flash's voice.

"Yeah Eugene." Ned teased.

"My name is Flash." Flash snapped and proceeded to snatch Peter's phone out of his hand.

"Hey." Peter said jumping up from his seat and making to get the phone back.

"Parker sit your ass down before I turn this bus around, you too Mr. Thompson! " Mr. Harrington called and Peter sat down in dismay.

"Seriously, give me my phone back." Peter said angrily, he'd had enough of Flash and it was only 9am. Today was difficult enough without having to deal with Flash's shit.

"Hold up," Flash said putting a hand out to stop Peter from trying to grab it back. "Let me just have a look, this looks interesting, a medical file, is this your info?"

Peter hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "Flash come on… not cool."

"Huh panic attacks." Flash said squinting at the screen. "Something you wanna tell us Parker?"

"I said not cool." Peter said lashing out and grabbing the phone back.

"Sorry." Flash said putting his hands up in defence and turning away from Peter. Flash’s arrogance was hard enough to deal with on a regular basis but it was rare that he took it this far.

"Seriously." Peter said shaking his head and quitting the articles and his medical file before shoving his phone into his pocket.

"You get panic attacks?" MJ asked peering at Peter as she glanced briefly up from her book - Peter wondered how she wasn't getting car sick while reading it.

Peter didn't say anything but shrugged as an answer and turned to look out the window. He could feel the sympathy coming from Ned and though he suspected MJ's look wasn't quite as sympathetic, it still didn't make him feel good. He felt completely exposed to the judgement of his classmates.

The rest of the drive passed by uneventfully and before Peter knew it, Stark Industries had come into view. People moved over to the other side of the bus to look out the window and up at the towering New York headquarters of the famous company. Peter sighed and turned his gaze from the window. It seemed this was going to be a lot harder than he had expected. Instead of thinking about all the past times Peter had been to SI he focused on the email he had received from Pepper Potts and the promise of a surprise. It was enough for him to push all thoughts of Mr. Stark from his mind.

"Alright, everybody off!" Mr. Harrington called, opening the door to the bus, the students scrambled all trying to be the first off and into the building. "In an orderly fashion please." The request was half hearted and students almost tripped over one another anyway.

Peter waited until they had all cleared out before he, Ned and MJ made their way off and onto the sidewalk outside of Stark Industries.

"You good, Peter?" Ned asked, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Yeah." Peter said, trying to sound confident. "Totally…"

"Ok, good cause I am soexcited,” Ned said wistfully and then grew serious again, “but like if you need me to be the calm and supportive friend then I can so do that too."

"Seriously Ned, enjoy yourself." Peter said smiling, for once it felt like a real smile.

Peter realised that MJ was looking at them funny and Peter supposed their conversation would have seemed a little strange from an outsider’s perspective. Not that MJ didn't deal with this sort of stuff on a daily basis when it came to the pair. It seemed she had grown used to it because she cast her attention to the towering building in front of them.

"Alright everyone," Mr. Harrington said gesturing for the students to follow him, "let's go get signed in at reception."

Peter sent a silent prayer up to the sky, he wasn't sure who exactly he was praying too… Thor? Did prayers work with Asgardians? Regardless, he prayed that the trip would go smoothly, Flash would hopefully shut up and just focus on the tour and that for once there would be nothing blowing up.

Once all the students had made it through the revolving door and into the huge foyer of Stark Industries, they were approached by a woman in a pant suit, a clipboard tight in her grip. The ID card that was attached to her lapel read Abigail and Peter caught sight of the silver shimmer of the card. He titled his head, a silver conducting a tour for a bunch of high school kids? Not unheard of but unusual.

"Hello Midtown." She said once Mr. Harrington had managed to get the excited students under some sort of control. "Welcome to Stark Industries. My name is Abigail and I'll be leading your tour. As you know, today is an important day of remembrance for SI. One month ago, our owner and former CEO passed away. Therefore, we ask you to be extremely respectful throughout the tour and hope that you will value the opportunity that you have been granted today."

Peter kept his eyes focused on the top of Abigail's blonde head and tried not to think about what she was saying. Not thinking about things seemed to be the best way to keep himself in one piece until he inevitably fell apart at the memorial later that night that he would be attending with Aunt May.

Peter's attention eventually drifted back to what Abigail was saying, "-lanyards are being passed around now, please keep them around your neck at all times. We have a tight security system. That means no lanyard, no tour, no exceptions."

"How come they are blue?" Flash piped up as he took a lanyard first and slung it around his neck, despite the fact that the other students were politely passing them around before taking their own.

"There are several levels of clearance here at Stark Industries." Abigail said handing out the remaining lanyards. "Blue is for visitors, bronze is for elementary interns and other temporary staff, silver is for preliminary researchers," Abigail indicated her own badge, "gold has three levels based on what area of research and development you are working in, platinum is reserved for our highly regarded researchers who manage SI's main projects whilst Platinum X is reserved strictly for the CEO and those she sees fit to receive such clearance."

“Who exactly has Platinum X?” Flash asked, pushing for more information.

“It depends on who the CEO wants to have access to the highest level of clearance.” Abigail remained polite despite Flash’s obnoxious tone. “I believe there are select few avengers who have access to Platinum X clearance, though that may have changed.”

"Parker? Did you get a lanyard?" Mr. Harrington said, seeing that Peter didn't have a blue badge hanging around his neck like the other students.

"Mr. Parker does not require a blue clearance badge," Abigail said glancing at her clipboard for information. "He has his own clearance badge already."

Flash snorted and seemed to be about to question this but Abigail promptly moved on. Peter sighed in relief.

"What level of clearance do you have?" Ned asked out of the corner of his mouth so that none of the other students could hear as Abigail continued her introduction.

"Oh y'know." Peter said shrugging and feeling for the badge he'd put in his pocket that morning. "It's pretty average."

It wasn't 'average' at all. For Peter's last birthday (before the Snap, that is) he had received a thick envelope from Mr. Stark with a bundle of different forms and legal documents. On top of it all had been a shimmering black badge, marking Peter’s new Platinum X status, with his face and ID number stamped on it. On the back of the badge in the same sparkly, black finish was the arachnid logo of the Spider-Man suit. Next to it had been a folded note from Mr. Stark:

Thought it might be useful for you to actually get into the labs you're working in rather than me having to buzz you in every time! I know you're trustworthy with these projects, but Pepper insisted on the paper work - something about legal stuff? Anyway, have a look at everything and get it back to me when you can. I better see you here next month, got big things planned.

Happy birthday kid.

Tony

Peter still had the note somewhere in his room back home. He'd gleefully signed the documents with May's help and sent them back that same day. May had laughed that evening when Peter brought the ID card with him to the dinner table just so he could continue to admire it. Only Mr. Stark could turn work into a birthday present.

"In a moment we'll be leaving the lobby and moving onto the first area of the tour. I have to ask you to keep noise to a low level, many of the workers here are extremely busy working on post-Decimation restoration projects so if you have questions please raise your hands and I'll do my best to answer them given that we aren’t distracting anyone." Abigail said, leading the team of students towards the far end of the lobby. "For now, I'll ask you to go through this detector, it's not your average metal detector so no need to remove any of your phones or anything, this is just to make sure we don’t have any dangerous or unauthorised equipment entering the premises."

Slowly but surely the students started filing through the detector, each person was met with a green light and Peter honestly felt a little surprised that no one had tried to bring something stupid in. He clearly didn't have a lot of faith in his classmates.

Crap. He was the stupid one.

His suit.

He'd put it in his backpack that morning.

"Crap." Peter muttered to himself and glanced around frantically. There was no way of getting out of this situation. If he tried to avoid going through the detector he’d probably be searched and if he didgo through the detector, they’d catch him straight away.

"Everything all right Parker?" Mr. Harrington said seeing Peter's distress.

"Yes sir, completely fine!" Peter said, his voice breaking slightly.

Every other time he'd come to Stark Industries he'd just scanned his badge at the main entrance gates like the rest of the employees and gone straight through. He’d never had his bag searched which was lucky considering the array of tech Peter was usually carrying and, on more than on occasion, his spidey suit had been amongst it all.

Peter mentally kicked himself for bringing the suit. All he’d wanted was to return it to Pepper, perhaps Friday would know what to do with it. Peter didn’t deserve the suit anymore. He was beginning to doubt if he ever had.

Maybe the detector wouldn't pick up the iron spider suit as hostile? The chances seemed low, but he didn't see any way out of it. Peter was starting to panic, if he was stopped and searched the first thing they would find would be the suit. Was there any way for him to contact Ms Potts? Or was he just supposed to get caught? There was still time with another two people waiting to go through the detector, plus Flash had been pulled aside and searched. It seemed he had been trying to take a banana through, to Flash's dismay, the piece of fruit was promptly discarded.

Peter unzipped his bag and reached in feeling for the small earpiece case he knew he had put in there that morning, it rarely left his bag, force of habit. To an outsider it looked exactly like an air pods charger case, and they weren't that much different to be honest. Peter slipped one into his ear and struggled to keep his voice low.

"Karen?" Peter kept a hand over his mouth, hoping he didn't seem too suspicious as he zipped his bag back up.

"Yes Peter." Karen said through the earpiece.

"Ok… I've brought my suit to Stark Industries and they are trying to get me to go through the detector thingy and if I do it’s going to go off and they'll find my suit and they’ll know everything, and I don't know what to do." He blurted out as quietly and quickly as he could.

"Ok Peter calm down." Karen said and Peter started tapping his foot nervously. "You have Platinum X clearance, all you have to do is display your card and you'll be let through."

"Are you sure?" Peter said.

"Certain."

"Alright…" Peter said slowly looking up as MJ successfully cleared the detector.

"Come on through, Peter." Abigail said from the other side where the rest of Peter's class was gathered and waiting.

Peter swallowed nervously and after a slight nudge in the back from Ned he stepped under the metal frame of the detector. Two red lights flashed either side of the detector and a monotone voice of a bot sounded overhead.

"Hostile materials detected. You require a clearance level of gold 1 or higher to bring the identified materials into Stark Industries. Present the appropriate identification if you wish to proceed." The bot said promptly, and Peter sighed. The two security guards had closed in on either side of him, clearly neither of them expected Peter to be able to fulfil the request. Peter quickly fished his ID out of his pocket and turned it towards both guards.

The security guard to Peter's right indicated the swipe pad that he should use. Peter quickly waved the card past the panel before the rest of the class could see his unbelievable clearance level.

"Clearance status: accepted. Peter Parker, ID number: 180427, you are free to proceed." The bot informed him, and Peter's shoulders slumped in relief. Peter looked quickly to his class and heard the murmurs that broke out as everyone theorised of how Peter had managed to obtain clearance level of gold 1 or higher. He could have sworn he heard Flash say ‘seems fake’ and wouldn't put it past him to have said several things worse.

"My apologies Peter." Friday's voice was now speaking through the speaker. "I did not realise you would be using the guest entrance, we were expecting you to enter through the employee gates or the roof." Peter winced at the mention of the roof, Mr. Stark hadn’t been happy when Peter had started turning up stuck to the window of Tony’s lab, tapping on the glass to be let in.

"Hey Friday," Peter said brushing it off and smiling warmly at the sound of the computer’s familiar voice, "it's ok!"

"Welcome back, I will inform Ms Potts that you have arrived."

"Uh thank you." Peter said feeling the eyes of everyone trained intensely on him. "I'll talk to you later Friday."

"I have also logged your AI onto our network, if you need anything feel free to contact either of us if you need anything, enjoy the tour.” Friday said, informing Peter that Karen would now be accessible through any of the remote panels throughout SI. It was what normally happened when he had been to SI in the past because it meant he could work with Karen at his station without bothering the other lesser bots that helped run SI. Peter couldn’t imagine what was going through his classmates’ heads at all of this. For once even Flash didn’t know what to say.  

Peter tried to keep the relief from showing on his face as he moved on, returning his ID card to his pocket.

"See Peter, that was fine." Karen said and Peter wondered how machines could sound smug.