#does he realize he's acquired another kid yet? if he does he's in denial

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

As determined by the randomizer, the two prompts I was working with were "Final Fantasy 7" and "Sick Day". Been a while since I played with FF7 characters, so I'm a little out of practice, but here we go!

The grashshrikes shouldn't have been a problem for a mercenary like Cloud. He'd fought worse -- these things weren't even sentient! It was way more of a pain to deal with Shinra gunners! But just a split second of distraction was enough to slip up where grashshrikes were involved.

Cloud fumbled for a Cure and shot a dirty look at Barrett as Jessie put down the last monster. Was it really worth it, working for this guy? Sure, it kept a roof over his head, but Cloud was pretty sick of being the target for the guy's hatred of Shinra.

Well. Currently he was pretty sick period.

"Ugh."

Cloud tipped his head back and let it smack against a wall of sheet metal.

Out of Cure materia, and all he'd done was lower the poison from "debilitating" to "knocked out for the next 24 hours". He really needed to get his hands on a Cura. Or a Curaga, but that sounded too optimistic for the way his luck tended to run.

(Had his luck always been this bad? Sure, he had some misfortune as a kid, but what about during his time as a SOLDIER? Barrett had a point: shouldn't he be able to remember?)

"Hey, you okay, bro?" Wedge crouched next to him with a worried frown. "You don't look so good."

"'M fine," Cloud growled.

The second he let on that he was still poisoned, they'd probably drop him. And then he could say goodbye to any chance of getting paid.

"Barrett, something's wrong with Cloud!" Wedge called over his shoulder, "He didn't even tell me to stop calling him bro!"

Barrett looked equal parts irate and sheepish -- decidedly unsettling in combination on his face.

He stomped over and squatted in front of Cloud to glare at him.

"What's wrong with you, merc?" he demanded.

"Nothing." Cloud rolled his eyes and shoved down the wave of nausea that produced with gritted teeth. "You've never seen someone sit down before?"

"You let that thing sting you, didn't you?"

With a jerk, Cloud stood upright. For a moment, the world tipped on its side.

He was grateful that he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. If he'd had anything in his apartment worth eating, it all would've made an encore appearance as he tried to keep his footing.

The humiliating levels of concern on the AVALANCHE members' faces -- even Barrett -- made it clear that he wasn't going to be able to fool them.

"So do you normally try to distract people during monster fights?" he asked Barrett pointedly, "or am I just special?"

Jessie snickered. "Oooooo," she sang, "Tifa's gonna kick your butt, Barrett!"

"Knock it off," Barrett fired back, but secretly he agreed.

The middle of a fight with four grashshrikes really wasn't the place to be interrogating the kid about Shinra policies, he did know that. But the surly mercenary's penchant for brushing him off with "how should I know?" type answers was grating on his nerves. All things considered, retorting "what, you don't remember?" shouldn't have been that big of a deal -- at least, it wouldn't have been for one of his team. But Cloud wasn't one of them. And something about Barrett's irritable comment had made him literally stumble mid swing, allowing an opportunistic grashshrike an opening to sting him in the side.

And unfortunately, what with how Tifa felt about her home -- the one Shinra destroyed -- Barrett suspected that saying Cloud was responsible for his own injuries wouldn't pass muster with the formidable Miss Lockhart. And anyway, regardless of how Barrett felt about the merc, he was Tifa's friend -- Ancients only knew why. The kid had lost enough for one lifetime. No reason to add her friend to that list.

"Well at least that was the last of 'em," he grunted, then he heaved himself upright and dusted off his knees.

"Jessie, Wedge, you go turn that job in and collect the pay. We'll meet you at the 7th Heaven to divide it."

He waved his machine-gun hand at Biggs.

"C'mere, you're making sure Junior here doesn't drop dead on the way home."

Cloud didn't mind Biggs, not really. But with the way his head was pounding, and his shirt felt like sandpaper against his chest, the idea of anyone "helping" him was both unappealing and embarrassing.

"Don't touch me," he snapped, pulling away quickly.

That was a mistake, as it turned out. The world started spinning again, and having an empty stomach didn't seem to matter after all as bile ejected from his mouth.

"Eesh." Wedge scrambled back. "You know what you need?"

"Five minutes' peace without all of you running around like broody chocobos?" Cloud asked dryly. This was ignored.

"You need a gingerbeer and salted crackers," Wedge said sagely. "Once that poison's cured, anyway."

"Leave me alone," Cloud groaned.

(Don't leave me alone! I don't want to be alone!)

"Just give me a Cure and I'll be fine."

"You need a Cura, idiot," Barrett chided him, without the usual bite. "We've got one at the bar."

Without a second of hesitation, the big man threw one of Cloud's arms over his shoulders and began walking. Cloud struggled to extricate himself from Barrett's grip, but doing so just made the nausea worse.

"I can walk!" he insisted.

"Like a drunken moogle, sure," Barrett snorted. "Listen kid, Tifa will have my head if I let you go back to work in this condition. You're lucky she wasn't there to see that, or we'd both be dead men. We're goin' home."

Cloud bared gritted teeth. "I'm going to throw up on you," he threatened.

Barrett just tightened his grip and rolled his eyes.

"Like I've never been puked on before?"

On Cloud's other side, Biggs gave him a weird look, and Barrett harrumphed a little.

"My daughter, knucklehead. You never burped a baby at Leaf House?"

"Ohhhh, gotcha." Biggs looked chagrined. "Kinda thought you meant bar patrons or something."

"You honestly think Tifa would let somebody get that drunk in my bar?" Barrett shook his head almost grimly. "Who needs a bouncer when you've got her?"

Cloud wasn't sure how they got from the edge of the slums to a ratty fold-out couch in the AVALANCHE headquarters after that, honestly, but at some point Biggs deposited a Cura on his chest with strict instructions to "play nice".

Cloud had been more confused about the direction than his sudden change in location...until he turned his head and found four year old Marlene wearing a children's Mage costume, holding a toy Bouncy Materia.

Bouncy Materia? That was a thing?

"I," said Marlene with all the solemnity a preschooler could muster, "am a mage. I'm gonna heal ya. Say aaaaahhhh."

Cloud blinked at the tiny figure incredulously. "....what?"

"Say aahhh!" Marlene repeated. "Daddy said to make sure you didn't get outta bed while he makes us lunch. Biggs said you had a tummyache, so I gotta make sure you don't have a bad sick like the flu."

"....how're you going to tell that by looking at my throat?" Cloud croaked.

The little girl shrugged. "I dunno, that's what the doctor does! She looks in my throat and then she knows why I feel sick."

Cloud pondered this.

"Well," he said at last, "I don't know enough about doctors to prove you wrong. Carry on, I guess."

He began to regret that when the sparkly stickers shaped like bandages came out.

All six sheets of them.

[pixie-dust-and-pain]

Masterlist

MY ao3!!!!!!

This is a masterlist by the way 'cause I'm now fancy, with more than two works.

Note: All works (that are x reader) are gender neutral unless specified

Marvel:

Bucky Barnes:

Take Two : Bucky Barnes is a traitor (just some good ol' they had us in the first half, not gonna lie)

Another One? Bucky and his spouse didn’t want kids, but nobody said anything about a pet. or four.

Tomato Soup: You've bumped into Bucky, broken your phone, gotten his number, and all because of those damn soup cans

Slang: As much as you love Bucky, you draw the line at slang. However, someone has been teaching Bucky slang and he may have just used it at the most inappropriate time ever

Peter Parker:

Your Son's Undead: Peter Parker might be a genius, but he's an absolute idiot sometimes. Like now, for example, when he's managed to convince the world he's dead.

and we were best of friends: Peter's definition of sexual assault is messed up. OR: Peter's unique way of dealing with the aftermath of the Skip Westcott Situation (and how he skilfully stays in denial)

Natasha Romanoff:

Chocolates: You've had a chocolate for every day you've worked at SHIELD. It's just left at your desk, no explanation, no note, but you're quite certain who the culprit is. (Natasha Romanov x fem!reader)

Pjo/HoO:

Laser Tagging (Solangelo): Based on the prompt: take me laser tagging and push me into a corner and kiss me. then shoot me and walk away

She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power (the gay one):

Just Her And Adora: Catra has always had a crush on her best friend, but no biggie, she's working on it. of course, Adora chooses to come out just then. (catradora <3)

The Technicalities of kissing girls: Adora and Catra sitting on a tree F-A-L-L-I-N-G

And I Can Go Anywhere I Want, Just Not Home: Adora blames herself for everything Shadow Weaver does to Catra. (TW ABUSIVE HOUSEHOLD) (shadow weaver's always amazing parenting <3)

Cut Yourself a River (And Drown in it of Shame): Glimmer is left a little too alone with her thoughts while held captive by Horde Prime, and the full-length mirror in her room just makes it worse. (TW SELF HRAM)

The Owl House:

Cotton Candy Haired Goddess: A mint-haired Amity slips into a time-pool and is absolutely horrified to see her Luz kissing some purple-haired homewrecker

The Black Phone (2022):

Nothing proves I'm dead, nothing proves I'm alive: Robin and Finn just have a little well-deserved quality time together (after literally being traumatized also Robin lives shush)

Hamilton: An American Musical

You Kept Me Like A Secret But I Kept you Like An Oath: Alexander gets married tomorrow, and John is completely and totally okay with the fact that Alexander will no longer be his. Then why does it hurt so much? (LAMS lolz)

Avatar the Last Airbender:

These Shackles of Gold: Ozai is a careless leader. She learns this early on, wary of his scathing tongue and biting words, yet intrigued by how he doesn't hold back, even for the sake of diplomacy. This is not how you rule a country. This is how you start a civil war and lose all your allies.

Azula is careful, she picks and chooses and strikes when the time is right, not before and not after. She realizes that her father is a careless leader, and that, if left to him, the entire Fire Nation will be burnt to the ground. This will not do, Azula will be Fire Lord soon, and a ruler needs her subjects. Logically, the only thing to do in this case is seek the help of her dead brother, traitor uncle, and their miscreant group of friends that they seem to have acquired, including the avatar he was sent to kill.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHEN SOMEONE MAKES AN OFFER IN GOOD FAITH, YOU HAVE TO BE PROFITABLE

Because he pays close attention, a Navy pilot can land a 40,000 lb. Deals fall through. Do not use ordinary corporate lawyers for this. Here's an intriguing possibility. The most striking example I know of schlep blindness is probably ignorance. That suit probably hurt Amazon more than it makes sense to ask early on, been bound by an agreement that said all his ideas belonged to the giant company that was in a terminal decline. 047225013 mandatory 0. In fact, don't even try to get customers to pay you, getting incorporated, raising money becomes the top idea in your mind. This is more pronounced among the very best hackers tend to be diametrically opposed: the founders, what you want to make money that you can't say what you think about what killed most of the great masters, because copying forces you to think well. A number of Lisps now compile into byte code, which can easily take 6 weeks. Questions aren't enough.

Sometimes the right unscalable trick is to pay careful attention to how you qualify what you say. And VCs have been provoked by their arrival into making a lot of people. Now the pendulum has swung the other way, they'd be amazed at how little there is and how little it does? You see the same problem, and all feel guilty about it. Imagine picking out apples at a grocery store. We really did have the biggest share of the stock market. You can't watch people when everyone is watching you. And investors, too, should explain itself. Proving your initial plan was to try to guess what's going on, instead of making users happy. The rest have died or merged or been acquired. Resourceful implies the obstacles are external, which they generally are in startups. Then you'll have to explain how neatly things sometimes turn out.

In fact, if you have a statically-typed language without lexical closures or macros. In the future, so far that we didn't. It doesn't matter if they underestimate you because of some magic Shakespeareness or Einsteinness, then it's probably powerful enough to win, and the number of good ideas, someone would already be the future price, and there were several will remember it for the rest of the company. The constraint between good ideas and growth operates in both directions. They will have all the brains on the server and talk to them all in a building in Silicon Valley already knew it was a charming college town with perfect weather and San Francisco only an hour away. Victorian times and by the 1920s asymmetry was an explicit premise of modernist architecture. One recently told me that when he went to the local public school. I'll tell you about a series A in phase 2. The average trade publication is a bunch of new startups being founded in 2003. Police State. Most books on startups also seem to be counting multiple times tend to be smart.

Buying startups also solves another problem afflicting big companies: they can't do product development. Exactly. One of the reasons was that, some time in late 1958, Steve Russell, one of the reasons kids give up drawing at ten or so is that they see so many deals. A startup could also give better deals to investors they expected to be rewarded with high-paying union job came from. For the next fifty years will have to do the same thing, they got it right. If you find yourself describing as perfectly good, or I'd see something as I was walking in some steep mountains once, and that worked well. So the downhills of the roller-coaster are more of a disadvantage. Recently it was starting to break up. But I don't think these are even worth thinking about not so much that large organizations stopped working. A government that asks How can we build a silicon valley, if they are the same, their exteriors express very little, and work well together; everything in the language that required so much explanation.

Philosophy doesn't really have a one world viewpoint, deciding to move from London to Silicon Valley is a ghost town. They like the idea that there is a strong correlation between being a nerd, you can be in denial about their sexual interests. Maybe you're just running fast. Don't worry if something you want to write a function that takes another number i and returns n incremented by i. That has been the same: to beat the system. This is at least a precedent. Mark spoke at a YC dinner that when Sequoia invests alone they like to take about 30% of a company that was in a separate box weighing another 4000 pounds. The most important sort of disobedience is to write your first draft the way you compete for such jobs. Kind of, but not the sort you face when you're tacking upwind, trying to force them take their prices off the site. Then we'll trace the life of the company they do now, at sixteen? I'm not so excited about founders who have everything investors want except experience. But the problem with that.

That's why there's a special name for these topics. Html#f7n 14. Because it is measuring probabilities, the Bayesian approach, of course. If you can't, notably ineptitude and bad luck. And it turns out to be a good plan. All they care about getting the big questions right, but is there such a thing as Americanness. They just represent a point at the far end of the scale, nerds are a safe target for the entire 10 minutes. Because VCs like publicity. Ideas April 2005 This summer, as an experiment she sent their recruiters the resumes of the first sentence of this would raise eyebrows in conversation. There was a window of about two years when spam was increasing rapidly but all the big email services had terrible filters.

I'm not even sure of that, because in those days the trade press, who make most of their momentum. They didn't have ads for over a year. Or, for that matter. Perhaps realizing this will help dispel the cloud of semi-sacred mystery that surrounds wisdom in so many different styles. Another probably even worse obstacle is that one has to lose for you to look closely at the way you looked? That's a new problem, because looking down on the top as well as good ones. Imaginative people don't want to follow or lead. They have the same revenues, it's the same with technology. If you look at the site of a newspaper or magazine.

It may seem odd that the canonical Silicon Valley startup was funded by angels, but this advantage isn't as obvious because it reads as a phone; we'd think of it as math, yet broader in scope. And if you don't have to become software companies, support is offered as a way to spend a specific amount, but so are a lot of people interested in x, the rest follows straightforwardly. Beneath that the message there is: you should live better. Other players were more famous: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann. If I had to go back seven paragraphs and start over. Steve Jobs. That was a surprising realization. College Will Change If the best startups. Apple products the way they'd await new books by a popular novelist. In the middle of a project you consider your life's work from. Power How wide is this territory? Because of Y Combinator's early, broad focus is that we may be able to do it is to get.

Thanks to Sarah Harlin, Paul Gerhardt, Harj Taggar, Sam Altman, Jessica Livingston, and Trevor Blackwell for their feedback on these thoughts.

[sinsiriuslyemo]

hello all! Here is the newest episode of Cuba v DR!! The ending is near! Also, I think we may have missed a giveaway, so we’ll hold it for this post! Each comment or reblog equals one entry! Thanks so much to everyone who continues to read this story!

EPISODE 42

You took a bite of your sandwich in your kitchen that afternoon as you looked at the clock. You could probably finish the laundry within the next two hours if you put your mind to it. As you finished the last of your soda, you set down your sandwich to grab the laundry basket from off the table just as your phone began to ring.

“Hello?” you asked, tucking the basket under one arm and moving to the washing machine.

“Hey tia,” you heard on the other end.

“Eddie! Que pasa?” You couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across your face at the sound of his voice.

“Not much. I start school next month. Just starting out with a couple classes. I’m gonna meet with my advisor, too and figure out how many credits I still need. Met with a therapist today, too and worked out a schedule for once a week sessions,” he answered. “How are you guys? How was tio’s birthday?”

“Small, you know how your tio is about parties. We just had a few people over for cake and presents. I’m so excited to hear you’re getting ready to go back to school. Your tio Rafi just had his baby. I’ll text you some pictures.”

“Yeah, I know. Tio called me after he was born and sent me a bunch of pictures of him. He’s so cute,” Eddie answered in a chuckle. “Have you gone to see him yet?”

“Yeah I went yesterday. Oh my god he smells just like a new baby. So good. He looks a ton like Roxie, don’t you think? I wish you could see him in person. We miss you, but I’m also thrilled to hear you’re settling in so nicely, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, he does look like Roxie,” he replied.

“How’s Greyson? Did he get the recipe I sent him for paella?” You started to load the washer with your free hand.

“Yeah, he got it. He’s good, really busy with his job,” Eddie answered. “How’s the center?”

“It’s thriving. We’re looking into expanding now. I’m honestly so excited,” you said with an eager smile.

“Oh that’s great!”

“It’ll help so many kids, you know? It’s what I dreamed about since I was younger. God it feels like an eternity ago since I got that center.” Your phone pinged with an incoming call from a number not saved in your phone. “Oh hey, I got another call. Can I text you later?”

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie replied. “Talk to you later, tia. Love you.”

“Love you too sweetie.” You ended the call, switching over to the other number. “Y/N Ramirez speaking.”

“Y/N, this is Diane from Guardians of Education. I’ve called with some good news! My bosses are interested in buying your center,” you heard on the other end.

“Buying? Oh no, I was looking for investors, not people to take over for me. I think there’s been a misunderstanding…”

“Oh I see,” Diane answered. “Um...well, I’m not so certain my bosses will be interested in investing, they were hoping to acquire, but I can certainly ask.”

“Please do. In acquiring, do I lose all my rights to the center?” You frowned at the thought. That place had been with you almost from the start.

“Yes, it would be a clean sale and our company would absorb yours,” she replied.

“I see. Please if you can, discuss the investment with them. If not, can I have some time to consider the offer?”

“Certainly,” she replied.

“Thank you, I really appreciate all of your time and consideration,” you said. “I will wait for your response on the matter.”

Once you’d ended the call you frowned to yourself. Sell the center? That place was your baby, your sanctuary. You couldn’t do that. Could you?

As soon as the laundry was dry, you moved upstairs, changing into a pretty dress and putting on a little makeup. It was just lunch but you enjoyed dressing up for Nevada lately.

You hurried to the restaurant the two of you decided to meet at, coming inside and sitting down at your usual table. You were looking over the menu when you felt a hand on your shoulder and you jolted as your eyes looked for the source.

“Hey,” Nevada said, sitting across from you. “I ordered for us already. You look nice.”

“Thanks,” you said and looked down at the menu. “Anything noteworthy happen today? Or is it too early for crime?” you teased.

“Just a regular day,” he replied, stretching his arms over either side of the booth. “You?”

“Guardians of Education called,” you said, frowning. “They want to buy the entire center instead of investing.”

“Shit,” he replied. “What are you gonna do?”

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue. This center is everything to me. It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten. But this is a chance to help kids and it could be so much bigger than just the Heights, you know?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “That’s true.”

You sighed, genuinely distraught. “I don’t know if I can give that place up. I still remember the day you gave it to me and how it made me feel. It was the first hope I’d had since prison. I had felt like I was lost without teaching, but you made me a place to keep my dream alive.” You smiled at the thought.

“Then keep it,” he replied, bobbing his shoulders.

“I don’t know, I hate making business decisions,” you said with a groan as the waiter brought your food.

“Then sell it “

You immediately grabbed your fork and took a bite, humming thoughtfully. “I’m just gonna think on it. There’s no need to make a rash decision, right?”

“Right,” he replied, picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. “How much are they offering?”

You thought for a moment. “Huh...I didn’t even think to ask.”

“You didn’t ask how much they’d give you for it?” he asked in a chuckle.

“They caught me off guard, I’m not good with business on a good day.” You scrunched up your nose in frustration. “I don’t even know what an appropriate price would be.”

“You should probably get it appraised so you go in knowing how much it’s worth,” he replied.

“Oh that’s a good idea!” You took another bite of your meal. “You are so good at this stuff. Thank god. I was gonna call Roxie to ask her advice but she just created a human life and I think that takes precedent. Although I feel like she’d love a distraction from the baby.”

“That bad, huh? He a cryer?”

“Not really, he seemed like an angel. I can’t figure out why she wouldn’t be all over that baby. She acted like he was a bomb or something.”

“Coño, pero you were only there for a couple of hours,” he replied. “And we both know how you get around babies. You’re a baby-hogger.”

“I didn’t hold him too much,” you said with a shrug. “I tried to hold him longe but he didn’t like the perfume I was wearing. So I’m gonna hold him next time the entire day,” you teased.

“Wow,” Nevada chuckled, popping the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth. “I can’t wait to see him, little Rafael.” He snickered, taking a sip of his water.

“He’s so cute, but also made me realize I never want more kids,” you said with a laugh. “You’re right, we have more than enough and even changing one diaper made me realize how much I don’t wanna raise another person.”

“Good, cause I’m all tapped out,” he answered.

You chuckled and sipped your drink. “I’m already not sure what’s gonna happen when we have three teenagers in the house at once.”

“We can ship their asses off to boarding school,” he teased.

“Sounds good to me,” you said, grinning at your husband. “Oh and Izzy texted me to say thank you again for visit her. I think it made her day.”

“She texted me too, that girl’s a little crazy,” he replied. “She needs to catch a break, you know?”

“Even I think her life is a little depressing. It seems like trouble just follows her. Between the first gallery shooting and the second one blowing up I am in awe that she still wants to create work. Is Jasper upset? I know he had work in there too.”

“No, he had the place insured, paintings too and he’s got a guy in the precinct down there. He got his investment back,” he answered.

“Lucky Jasper. At least things worked out for him. I was worried a little. Izzy should have insured her work. Although do they do that if she’s not rich?”

“Well, her paintings were in the building, which was insured. So he’ll probably cut her a check for the estimated losses as soon as he works out a break down with his suit,” Nevada answered. “She’ll get a cut.”

“Well at least that’s something, she’ll be able to afford more paints and supplies.” You sighed. “I wish I knew how to help her more. She actually seems to either be in full denial or total acceptance.”

“You can’t fix it,” he said. “Just be there for her.”

“I know, it just sucks. When I was a little girl and I had a problem, I felt like Rafi could fix anything. Even when I was older. I want to be there for my little sister.”

“You can be there for her, you just can’t fix everything. Sometimes people don’t want something fixed, they just wanna know that everybody else has their back,” he said.

“You’re right,” you said with a smirk. “As always.”

“I know.”

Leonard got off of the elevator in building 811 on 183rd and Amsterdam, Detective Fernandez trailing not far behind him. As they approached the door, the stockier man exchanged a glance with his detective before he brought one thick paw up and knocked twice.

“Julio Dominguez, this is NYPD! Open up!” he called out in his baritone of a growl.

There was the click of a lock before a man opened the door, rubbing a hand over his face. “NYPD? I didn’t do anything.”

“You own a 1998 black Chevy van, where is it?” Leonard asked, ignoring Julio’s statement.

“It was stolen, coño, where were you people when the fuckers took it, huh?”

“You never reported it, so how could we know it was stolen?” Detective Fernandez replied.

“You’re all always around when we don’t want you. Figured you’d be here to stop an actual crime,” he mumbled. “I haven’t seen my van in a while.”

“We’re cops, not fortune tellers, Dominguez,” Leonard said as he took out his phone and nudged his detective before he began to walk back to the elevator. “It’s Williams from the three-three. I need a BOLO to all boroughs on a 98 Chevy, black, license Alfa-one-Sierra-four-zero-four.”

Roxie was up early that morning making coffee and breakfast for everyone. She was excited to take a look at her new bakery location options. Jacob was supposed to arrive at her place any moment now. Rafael was holding Liam’s bottle with one hand while he ate with the other while Helena tried to get Roxie to sit down.

“I have it, Roxanne. Go on and sit, eat with your family,” Helena said, finally prying the spatula from her daughter’s hand.

“You know I enjoy cooking for my family, mum,” Roxie argued half-heartedly as she moved to sit beside her husband, handing him his coffee. “Good morning, my love,” she said with a smile.

“Morning, babe,” Rafael replied, setting down his fork to burp Liam as he looked up at his wife. “You sleep any better last night?”

“Not really,” she said softly and shrugged. “Did you?” She reached over, gingerly touching her son’s head for a few moments.

“About as much as he did,” Rafael answered, glancing at Liam as he patted the infant’s back. He smirked softly before turning towards Roxie. “You want him?”

“I would but I’m leaving in a minute. Besides, you two look so cute,” she said with a laugh.

At that moment Liam burped, a thin stream of milk rolling down his chin and onto Rafael’s shoulder.

“Adorable,” Rafael groaned in a chuckle. “You won’t be gone long, right? Liam loves spending time with his mommy.”

“Shouldn’t be more than a few hours. We only have four locations.” She let her thumb stroke over the baby’s head. “You understand, right Liam?”

The baby boy scrunched his face in discomfort just before a high-pitched toot sounded from his bottom. His face relaxed again, eyes shifting to his mother’s voice.

“I’ll bet that little trumpet has an encore coming up,” Rafael mused, kissing the back of his son’s head.

She opened her mouth to speak just as a knock at the door pulled her attention away. “That must be Jacob, he wanted to see the baby for a moment before we went,” she said, moving to the door and smiling when she opened it.

“Congratulations are in order,” Jacob said, holding out an envelope for her. “This is for your newest edition to the family.”

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do anything,” Roxie said as she let him in. “He’s over here with Rafi.”

Looking over Liam’s head, Rafael smiled politely at their visitor. “Morning Jacob.”

“Good morning, Rafael. Fatherhood treating you kindly?”

“So far so good,” Rafael answered.

Jacob moved over to look at the baby and smirked. “Damn, I owe some people at Lavender in London some money. He looks just like you, Roxie.”

“Thank God for that,” Rafael teased as he gently rubbed Liam’s back.

“I think that just means he’ll have my love’s witty personality,” Roxie said with a grin. “Oh mum, I’d like for you to meet Jacob, my business partner.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Jacob. Roxanne has spoken highly of you,” Helena said, coming into the dining room from the kitchen to shake Jacob’s hand.

“I see where Roxie got her beauty from,” he said with a smile, shaking her hand before turning to Roxie. “Shall we? The real estate agent said he’d meet us there.”

“Yes, I will see you all in a bit. Wish us luck.” She moved to kiss Rafael and Liam before following Jacob to the door.

“Say bye to mommy,” Rafael said to Liam who began to cry.

“Oh, I know a sweet boy who could use a change and some time with nanna,” Helena said as she gently took Liam from Rafael.

“He’s beautiful, Roxie,” Jacob said as they stepped into the hallway. “You know, I meant what I said, I can handle this alone if you’d prefer to stay with your family.”

“No, no, a third location is important,” she said with a frown. “I swear, you choose to step away from your newborn for a few hours and you’re the worst mum on the planet. I’m not leaving him alone with a lit stove, he’s with my mum and his dad.”

“I wasn’t insinuating anything, I was merely offering. I honestly think you coming with me looks more poorly on my part than on yours. I would be remiss if I hadn’t at least offered,” he replied.

“I’m sorry, the hormones are making me a little off kilter,” she admitted, offering him a smile. “I haven’t been feeling much like myself.”

“That’s to be expected I imagine. Child birth can take a lot out of a person and it takes time to get used to being a new parent. My children are eight and twelve, I’m still not used to it.”

Roxie snorted a laugh. “I like your kids,” she said as the two got into a cab to head over to their first location. “Was their mother ever...uneasy with them as newborns?”

“Not sure. We had a nanny for the most part,” he answered. “She did once begin to cry hysterically in the middle of the night when our youngest was collicy, but as soon as we realized the problem it was remedied in no time at all.”

“Oh,” she said softly. She had begun to feel like these feelings were just hers. Her mother described something similar, but not exactly the same. “I like your kids,” she repeated as she got out of the cab when it stopped at their destination.

“You’ll fall into a routine before you know it. Being a mother will become second nature,” he said with a smile.

“So I’ve been told,” she said with an empty laugh. As they moved over to the real estate agent, they made their way inside the first location. Roxie looked it over, inspecting it, asking detailed and long-winded questions as she looked over the building permits. In the end she spent two and a half hours at that single location.

“Roxanne, not to be a bother but we do have three more locations to get to,” Jacob reminded with a concerned look.

She looked up from the permits and nodded. He was right, plus she had only supposed to have been gone a few hours. She felt a sense of dread to going back to those four walls. She loved her home but she was getting stir crazy in the house. “How early did you and your wife take your baby out? Just for walks or something.”

“Han was about two weeks old when we took him out to a family occasion, but only a few days when we took him out just for a walk,” he answered.

“I think I need to be out of the house for a little while,” she said softly. “You know? I’m tired of seeing the same thing everyday with no change.”

“I’m shocked you even have the time to notice. Our nanny was constantly up for diaper changes and feedings. Babies can be quite demanding,” Jacob replied.

“He is very demanding, but Rafael seems to love all of the nurturing, so I let him take over when he wants. He’s so excited to have a son,” she said with a smile.

“Well, I’m glad. It’s good he isn’t one of those fathers that leaves that child rearing to the mother,” Jacob replied.

“No, he’s a huge help,” she said with a smile as they got back into a cab to head to the next location. By the last location, Roxie was worn down. “I think I like the third,” she said as she yawned, looking at her phone.

She’d been gone six hours and she still had to meet with Josie. She sighed. At least she’d make it home by dinner.

“The third place was the best design-wise, though it is the most expensive,” Jacob replied with a nod. “But I agree, it’s the best location for another store. Go on, get home to your family. I can handle the negotiations.”

“Alright, check in with me later?” she asked with a smile.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

She moved to the cab, hoping in and firing off a text to Josie asking where to meet. It wasn’t long before her phone pinged with an answer from Josie, offering to meet at Roxie’s apartment.

Roxie gave the cab driver her address and headed home to her husband and baby. The second she was through the door she could hear Liam crying.

“I’m home!” she called out.

“Dinner will be ready soon!” she heard her mother call back as Rafael came out of the nursery with Liam.

“Hey, he needs to eat and I gave him the last of what you pumped earlier,” her husband said. “Can you take him?”

“Yes of course,” she said, taking the baby and sitting down to feed him. “How was he today?”

“Fine, we had a great day. Read a few stories, played on the sensory mat. He really loves the orange ball on that thing, and he got to meet Mowgli. I got a lot of pictures, you’ll love them.”

She smiled. “I’d love to see them tonight.” She looked down at Liam while he ate. “You must have had a busy day Liam. Would you like to take a walk outside tomorrow?”

“That sounds great, I bet he’d love that. Might be good to get him some fresh air, too,” Rafael replied.

“You’re coming right? I don’t want to take him out by myself.”

“You’re nuts if you think I’m gonna miss his first walk through New York City,” Rafael answered with a smirk just before there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.”

Roxie grinned the second she saw Josie’s face. “You’re here!” She looked down at Liam to see he was still feeding.

“Am I?” Josie replied as she came inside. “Are any of us really here?”

“Hi Josie,” Rafael said in a chuckle.

Once Liam was finished, Roxie pulled up her top and put him against her chest and started to burp him. “I’m so excited to see you. How are you?”

“Oh, you know, same ole. Looking for a roommate since apparently, I cannot afford to live alone as I thought I could. I forgot how expensive it was to be single.”

“Oh really? Izzy is looking for a roommate. She gets lonely now that her nephew and his boyfriend moved out,” Roxie offered as Liam finally burped. “Done eating then? Do you miss your daddy?” She smiled up at Rafael. “Want to hold him?” She waited until Rafael took the baby.

“No, you haven’t seen him all day. Take your time,” Rafael answered with furrowed brows.

“No shit, I’ll have to get in touch with her and see if she’s into the idea of us being roomies,” Josie answered.

“Definitely give her a call,” Roxie said with a smile. “You want to hold him? As long as you sanitize your hands first.”

“Sure! Wait…” Josie looked at Rafael hesitantly before shifting her eyes back to Roxie. “Is he going to explode?”

“Of course not, don’t be silly.” Roxie watched Josie run hand sanitizer over her hands and arms. She stood and gently placed the baby in her friend’s arms. His little eyes stared up at Josie’s face.

“Well, hey there little fella,” Josie said with a grin. “Damn, you’re cute. You live around here?”

“He’s really cute right? A lot of hair too. Which is weird, I didn’t have heartburn,” Roxie said with a chuckle.

“Heartburn? Is that a thing?” Josie asked.

“Oh yeah, tons of mums get heartburn when their baby has a lot of hair,” Roxie informed.

“Josie, darling, are you staying for dinner?” Helena asked as she came into the dining room with a serving bowl of food.

“Oh please stay,” Roxie pleaded.

“Sure, I could eat,” Josie replied, handing Liam back to Roxie. “I have to pee first though.”

Roxie looked down at the baby, watching him watch her. “Hi again, Liam.”

She couldn't be certain, but could’ve sworn that she saw the corner of his little lips curl upward as he gazed up at her.

“Oh stop it,” she said with a smile. “You can’t possibly be that cute.”

You moved to the table up on the roof, setting plates down as you hummed along to the radio you’d turned on to entertain you while you prepared for dinner. Sunday’s were both your favorite and least favorite time. You loved family but the preparation was always a lot.

“I think the sweet potatoes are done,” Amber said as she opened the door. “Want me to take them out?” She’d come earlier than usual so the two of you could hang out beforehand. Now that people were arriving, the two of you were focused on getting things ready. Melissa and OJ had already arrived, along with your mother and Gladys, only leaving Omar and Izzy left to arrive.

“Yes!” you called back to her before walking over to your husband. “How’s the pig?”

“Probably just a few minutes,” he answered.

“Barbie!”

“What?” You turned your head smacking your husband in the face with your ponytail.

“The fuck?” he groaned, rubbing the slight sting out of his nose.

“Sorry babe.”

“What did you want me to do with the green beans? Bring them out already?” Amber asked.

“The fuck are you guys doing green beans for? What is this Thanksgiving?” OJ mused.

“Yes, but keep the lid on them so they don’t get too cold. Ask Melissa what else needs to be done!” you called back, ignoring OJ’s question. You sighed once Amber closed the door. “Honestly I wish she’d just set the table and not insist on helping with the cooking. She’s always been awful with food.” You moved to set the last plate down.

“No shit, I’m shocked Omar is still alive,” OJ replied in a chuckle, earning a laugh from Nevada.

“Oye, the pig is ready whenever you women are done making Thanksgiving dinner,” Nevada said, nudging your ribs.

You wagged a scolding finger at both men, unable to stop a grin. “There is nothing wrong with green beans.”

“Yeah, sure, if you’re trying to whitewash Latin cuisine,” Omar chortled as he came onto the roof. “By the way your mom’s looking for you and Amber is putting salt on the beans.”

“Oh sweet Jesus,” you groaned and smacked Omar’s arm. “Why wouldn’t you stop her?!” You rushed downstairs.

“Cause it’s more fun to watch you freak out,” he replied with a grin.

“Amber, you don’t salt green beans. That’s what the butter is for.” You took the salt from her hand.

“Really? Okay, where would you like me?” Amber asked. “I’m here to help.”

“Perfect, can you go get the kids washed up for dinner? We’re just waiting on my sister,” you said.

“Your sister’s right here!” Amber called out after you.

“Then tell her to help out!” you called back, grabbing the green beans and moving back up to the roof and dropping the plate off quickly before moving back down to the kitchen as Melissa and your mother started to carry the food up to the roof.

“Oye, we need to have that conversation before we eat,” your mother said as she followed you into the kitchen.

“Now isn’t a good time, mami.” Your brows furrowed as you stepped to the side. “Que pasa?”

“Como que now isn’t a good time, pero are you expecting the president of the United States to come to dinner?”

“Que pasa, mami?” you repeated.

“I had a talk with your brother last week and he told me something that I want to talk to you about,” she said.

“Okay… what would you like to talk about?”

“What happened with him y la tipa esa,” she replied, gesturing with her eyes in the direction of the stairs that led to the roof, where Amber had just gone.

“Amber? Mami, it happened years ago. It doesn’t matter now.” You shook your head and sighed. “If you want to know, you should ask Rafael or her. Not me.”

“Si, he told me everything,” she replied, arching a brow. “Let me ask you something, Y/N...did you even care about how your brother felt about you being best friends with the woman--ah no, espera, women--that broke his heart?”

“Women? What are you talking about?” You furrowed your brows. “Emmy? It’s not like we’re close.”

“I don’t understand why Lily calls her tia then or why she still sends birthday presents,” Lucia challenged. “You never corrected her? Lily? When she calls Emny tia, you’ve never explained to her that she’s not her tia?”

“She grew up knowing Emmy. It was habit to call her tia and I didn’t correct her because I didn’t think it was much of a problem.”

“She’s not done growing up, como que she grew up knowing Emmy? She knew Emmy for two years of her life, she’s eight, pero que te pasa, chica?” your mom answered, placing her hands on her hips. “Eso es una boberia. But what I want to talk about is why you betrayed your brother after la dama esa did what she did to him.” She used a thumb to gesture towards the stairs again.

You purses your lips. “Do you think I loved that my best friend and brother dated? No. It was always going to get complicated. They were going to break up because Raf is picky and Amber can be terrible most if not all of the time. Did I picture she’d leave without warning? No. I had no idea and frankly I didn’t want her back in my life. But over time I forgave her. I figured if I kept her away from Rafael it wouldn’t be a problem. I was obviously wrong. Of course I feel guilty for what happened and how I handled it. I know I was a bad sister for it. But what’s done is done and I want to move on. Rafael moved on. So did Amber. It’s done.”

“Ah si? It’s done? Bueno, I’m so glad that you’re fine with being a bad sister,” your mother replied as Omar and Nevada stumbled into the kitchen.

“Oh shit, sorry,” Nevada mumbled.

Lucia ignored the interruption, eyes still on you. “Déjame decirte algo, Y/N. Ese es tu hermano, not some guy off the street, me entiendes? He deserves your loyalty over anyone else. Pero since you’re okay, I guess everything is fine, right? Who cares about how anybody else feels as long as Y/N is okay!”

“Should we go back upstairs?” Omar asked.

“No, you’re fine to stay,” you said sarcastically, crossing your arms. “Enjoy the show. At least you’ll see where I get my dramatics from,” you mumbled. You knew you were wrong in this case but you were not about to admit that to your mother.

“Dramatics. Was it dramatic when Rafael called to tell you que esa mujer told him she loved him and then left? Was it dramatic when she disconnected her phone, too? Oh no, esparte, it was dramatic when she called you a year later to tell you that she was sorry for what she did to you and you forgave her just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “Right? I taught you better than that, Y/N!”

“We’re gonna go upstairs,” Nevada said, pulling Omar out of the kitchen.

“How could you forgive someone for doing such a thing to your own brother?!” your mother shouted. “Esa tipa is not your family! Rafael is, he deserved your loyalty more than someone who would do that and then just show up one day and act as though everything is fine. How can you sleep at night?! How could you look at your brother in the eye and say you love him when you were so quick to stab him in the back?!”

“Amber and Rafael never should have happened,” you said simply. You wanted to talk about this with your brother. Work it out with him. Not your mother. The fact that she was involved did nothing but infuriate you and you had never fought well when you were mad. You needed to talk to Rafael, not her.

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT, Y/N!!!”

You heard footsteps coming down the stairs. “Oye,” Nevada poked his head from around the door. “Everybody can hear you guys, por favor.”

“NO. THE POINT IS THAT THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND MY BROTHER. END OF DISCUSSION.”

Lucia widened her eyes. “COMO?!”

“Oh shit,” Nevada mumbled.

“DON’T THINK YOU’RE TOO OLD PARA UN CHANCLETASO! ME ENTIENDES? FALTA RESPETO!” your mother shouted.

“For real, you probably shouldn’t have said,” Nevada said.

“Oye! Dale paraya, carajo!” Lucia snapped, swatting the back of Nevada’s head. He wasted no time in dodging back up the stairs and away from the situation.

“I’m done with this. You can argue all you want but I’m done,” you said, moving past your mother.

“Si, okay. The world according to Y/N,” Lucia replied, following you up to the roof. “As long as Y/N is happy, everybody else can go to hell.” She didn’t stop walking, even when you did, until she shoving the door to the roof open and walking to the table to sit.

“Not everyone, but some people can go to hell,” you mumbled in frustration to yourself. You took a deep breath before moving out to the table and sitting down as well.

“Everything okay?” Amber asked you in a quiet voice.

“You do not wanna get involved,” you mumbled to her. “Trust me on this.”

“Okay,” Amber mouthed with wide eyes, turning back to Izzy. “So anyway, like I was saying, just think of this as a hiccup. You’ll get back on your feet in no time.”

“I know, it’s just so freakin frustrating. I had a real chance with Jasper. He’s a big time art name and all of it went up in flames. Literally.” She sighed and poured her glass of wine to the brim.

“He’s loaded, he’ll be fine,” Amber replied with a shrug.

“He knows it wasn’t your fault, Iz,” Nevada said, taking a swig from his beer.

“He’d be crazy to work with me again. Clearly after two incidents I have some kind of curse,” she groaned. “Maybe my dad was right and art is never gonna make me money.”

“Dad sucked,” you said with a smirk. “Nothing that ever came out of his mouth was right.”

“I guess,” Izzy replied with a shrug.

“Mami, why was abuela yelling at you?” Lily asked.

“Oye, don’t worry about it,” Nevada said.

“But why was she mad?” Lily asked again.

“Lily, it’s grown up stuff, okay? I promise you, it’s okay. Abuela and I are just having a disagreement,” you said as you stroked your daughter’s hair.

“It’s always grown up stuff,” Lily groaned, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t be a smart ass,” Nevada said, arching a brow at his daughter.

The dinner was awkward and felt longer than usual, you barely listened to what anyone was saying. By the end of it you told everyone to leave the dishes and you’d handle it. You loved cleaning dishes when you were upset. It had always been very therapeutic.

The second the last person had gone, you went right to it, rolling up your sleeves and starting to scrub your frustrations out on the plates while Nevada put the kids to bed. By the time you were halfway through the dishes, footsteps sounded from behind you and Nevada came in, sitting at the kitchen table.

“What the hell happened with you and your mom? She didn’t say a word during dinner,” he said.

“She wants to drag up things from the past, attack me in my own home? I am not dealing with her bullshit. I will talk with my brother on my own. God she is so infuriating!” You slammed another dish down and turned to Nevada. “She is so stubborn!”

“She’s your mom, not some chick. What happened?” he asked again. “I’ve never seen her that pissed before.”

“She’s mad I’m friends with Amber after what she did to Rafael. And she decided to confront me in my own house. She has some nerve. I’m not doing Sunday dinner next week. Not just so she can come in here with her attitude and judge me. No thank you. Count me out.”

Nevada furrowed his brows. He decided he wouldn’t acknowledge your threat to cancel Sunday dinner and instead try to decipher what had actually happened. “What’d Amber do to Rafael?”

“Amber and Rafael were a couple.”

“Yeah, that much I already knew,” he replied.

“Then Amber left Rafael without a reason or a single word of goodbye. It was a horrible thing to do, I don’t disagree. But you know what would have stopped all that? If my dumbass best friend and my dumbass brother hadn’t dated in the first place. It happened too many years ago for me to think about. I made mistakes. Forgave too easy and I hurt my brother. But that’s none of her business!” you shouted.

“Actually, what would’ve stopped it is if Amber hadn’t been so damn cold. That’s fucked up. No wonder he was so pissed when she first showed up here,” he replied. “So wait, your mom’s pissed at you cause Amber’s a bitch?”

“She’s pissed I stayed friends with Amber. Stop calling her a bitch.”

“She is a bitch,” he replied with a bob of his shoulders. “Pero, you didn’t know about her leaving like that, right?”

“Yes I knew. Please don’t turn this into a lecture. I really can’t handle it right now. I don’t want to hear how I’m a bad sister. I know that.”

He let out a breath that puffed out his cheeks. “I’m not gonna give you lecture…” He pressed his lips together and averted his eyes, clearly trying to keep himself from saying something.

You groaned. “Okay fine, lemme have it. Let’s get it over with.”

He opened his mouth, shaking his head as his brows jumped to his forehead. “I’m not saying anything...but if somebody did that shit to my brother, they’d be cut off, no question. That’s it.”

You sighed, taking your gloves off and taking a deep breath. “Can we not talk about it?” you pleaded. “Can I just have some support emotionally for a second? I will talk to my brother. But right now I could really fucking use a hug. I am just about done with this shitty Sunday.”

He scratched the back of his head and stood, going up to hug you and pat your back.

You rested your face in the crook of his neck and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry we ruined dinner,” you mumbled against his skin.

“It didn’t ruin dinner,” he replied. “You should probably talk to Rafael...has he ever mentioned anything?”

“I’m going to talk to him. I promise. I don’t think we’ve ever talked in detail or anything but I apologized!” You thought for a moment, quickly realizing that you couldn’t remember exactly when you’d apologized. “I...I must have apologized. Didn’t I?” You pressed your face tighter against Nevada and frowned when you realized that you never had apologized. “Oh my god, I’ve never apologized.”

“Shit, that’s cold as fuck,” he mumbled. “Coño and I’ve heard you tell him to get over what happened, too. A bunch of times.”

“Fuck, I fucked up so bad. What do I do? Oh my god, how does he not hate me?” You looked up to your husband. “How do I bring it up after I’ve said so many horrible things?”

“He doesn’t hate you cause at the end of the day, you’re his little sister,” Nevada answered. “I don’t know how you’re supposed to bring it up, pero...you can’t just let him keep thinking that you don’t give two shits. Cause I know you care about him.”

“I know. Shit. Okay I’m gonna talk to him soon. We need to talk.” You let go of Nevada and sighed. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied. “It’s gonna be even more fucking awkward for me to see Amber now, pero...I’ll figure it out.”

“You two don’t like each other anyway,” you said with a quirk of your brow. “Doesn’t seem like much changed.”

“No, except now I know I was right about her all along,” he mumbled with a shrug.

“She’s still my best friend. You don’t have to like her, but please don’t trash talk her in front of me.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “Figures.”

“I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask. You don’t see me criticizing the people you hang out with. And trust me, I have plenty of ammunition if I wanted to.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” he asked, turning to face you with a smirk.

“Do you want me to start with the criminals or the strippers or what? Because I can go at random. If I judged people, I probably wouldn’t have married a crime lord, don’t you think? Amber made some really terrible mistakes. So have I. I shot a woman in the face once. Two if you count Trinity.”

“You didn’t answer the question,” he said, smirk growing.

“How about your sociopathic brother to start? Jasper, who I enjoy but has more ties to the dark world than Satan himself. Remember when you hung out with Natalia? That was super fun. What about the gun running motorcycle gang?”

Again he snorted. “That’s all shit everybody knows, at least they’re not sneaky mother fuckers. And none of them ever tried to come between family.” He started to turn around, but then added. “Oh and I never hung out with Natalia. We did business together, that’s not the same thing.”

“Yeah I remember, you did real good business,” you grumbled.

“What the fuck does that mean?” he asked around a grin.

You batted your eyelashes and did your best Natalia impression. “We make a good team, don’t you think Trujillo? You give me very good...how do you Americans say...tactical support.”

“Wow,” he replied in a chuckle. “I’m sorry, is that supposed to make me feel bad? I was never friends with that puta. I never invited her to Sunday dinners or defended her when she fucked up. You lost this one, mami. Least Natalia never played the ‘I’m so innocent, nothing is ever my fault’ card. I can’t say the same for Blanca. Coño, she even tried to get between me and you a couple times, pero what, she gets a pass for that? Carajo, what is she the only fucking female in New York?”

“She’s my best friend for reasons I don’t think most people will get. And that’s just how it is. She’s my best friend. I did not lose. Your friends suck way worse. And Natalia couldn’t play the innocent card because she was too busy trying to take what is mine.”

“My friends suck? And you invite them to Sunday dinner? Treat them like family? Coño, you’re colder than Blanca, you two deserve each other,” he replied.

“Not family friends. Of course I love the ones who come to dinner. I love having this much family. You know that.” you said as you rolled your eyes.

“What friends are you talking about then? Cause the only people I consider real friends are the ones who come here,” he replied.

“Never mind, I’m so tired of today,” you said with a laugh, running your fingers through your hair.

“Oh, okay, yeah, sorry about that your highness. Go ahead get some rest,” Nevada replied in a chuckle as he turned and walked towards the stairs. “You know what your problem is, babe? You give out that friendship title like it’s fucking candy. Shit, I’ve heard you call Emmy and even Roxie your best friend and we both know that’s not true. I don’t know why you think it’s cute to tell people they’re your best friend when everyone of them knows that you’d sell them out in a split second for Blanca. Shit, you’ve even sold me out for her. I’m not trying to be a dick, I’m just telling you the truth.”

You frowned and looked at your husband. “Did I really sell you out for her?” you asked softly.

“Couple times, yeah,” he answered, bobbing his shoulders.

“I’m really sorry, you’re my husband. I should have had your back.” You hadn’t even thought about it before. You chose Amber over everyone and you couldn’t keep doing that. You two weren’t in college anymore. “It’ll never happen again. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

He nodded his head. “It’s okay. She’s good at making other people look like assholes and being the hero in a situation. You just haven’t seen it,” he said softly. “I’m not trying to talk shit, I’m just telling you what I’ve seen, from an outsider’s point of view. And I only tell you cause I love you, I don’t think you deserve to be manipulated, that’s it.”

You moved to him, kissing his cheek. “Thank you,” you whispered. “I may not like everything you say but you’ve always had my best interests. I forget that sometimes.”

“Course I do, I’ll always tell you like it is. You know me, I don’t sugarcoat shit,” he answered, gently squeezing your hip.

You smiled at him, wrapping your arms around his neck. “Lets go to bed.”

“Go ahead, I’ll put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher and be right up,” he said, kissing you briefly and moving to the sink.

[sleepypie1212]

Sleepypie’s Guide to Kdrama Love: or, 10 Steps to What is TOTALLY a Healthy Relationship*

I wrote a thing. Did you miss me? 

Have you ever wondered how all those kdrama girls do it? Do you too yearn to enact their principles in your life and achieve the same effect? Yearn no more! Here's my handy ten step guide to making a relationship work, k-drama style! Step 1: Be a Candy Remember, you must be poor but plucky, working a multitude of small-paying part-time jobs and living in cramped rooftop apartment. You must be absolutely wallowing in debt you've inherited, yet still face each coming day with a brave smile and optimistic, can-do attitude. Family's a no-no, unless it's a) your beloved father in a coma he won't wake up from, whose expensive hospital bills you must pay, b) an evil stepsister who devotes her every spare moment to making your life hell, or c) a missing  brother you worry about and look for, but who will only conveniently reappear at the end to alleviate any worries about your right to be happy or the potentially incestuous nature of your romance. Do try and have one female friend you will be able to turn to for relationship advice in the future. Her advice will always be terrible, but that won't matter, she's just there to point out that you like your romantic lead before you're willing to admit it yourself. Don't worry if she's better at makeup and fashion than you are. Although you will always complain about being poor and ugly, you will be effortlessly beautiful at all times, your clothes will always be name-brand, and as a bonus, your cell phone will always be the newest model. On the flip side, I hope you like subway.

Step 2: Meet Cute It's time to meet the love of your life! Now, he must be strikingly handsome, impossibly rich, and, most importantly, an apparently ice-cold bastard (don't worry, he's actually a giant softie hiding a tragic past behind those barriers and just waiting for the right girl to come along and teach him the power of love. We'll get to that in Step 3). Remember, it's important you meet in an unplanned, painfully awkward way that leaves him with a strong distaste for you. Tried and true methods include forcing him to give you a lift in the rain, throwing up on him during a plane ride, or tripping and making him catch you in one smooth graceful movement while his important papers for that big meeting that will define the rest of his life go flying. He should abandon you/make loud noises of despair and disgust/drop you at the earliest possible moment. Congratulations! You are now fated to be. Don't forget to call him a rude bastard once he's gone! Step 3: Forced Proximity The most important step. Somehow or other, you and the One must be forced to spend copious amounts of time together. This can be for almost any reason--maybe you've started working at his company, maybe you two enter a contract relationship for whatever reason (usually it's to get his matchmaking mother off his back, but bonus points if he wants one of your organs or its his crackpot grandfather's idea), maybe he moves into your house against your protests because he's being hounded by reporters and needs a place to hide. Regardless of the whys, you are now obligated to breathe each other's air for large quantities of time. Don't worry if it leads to a plenty of friction initially--that's normal! Soon, you'll realize all that bickering you do is actually cover for your simmering sexual tension. Arguments will now end with long, lingering gazes at each others lips. Curse words will start to be endearments. You will both quickly realize how noble and kind the other actually is, despite misleading first impressions. To hasten this process, I suggest shared babysitting sessions, eating homecooked meals at your table (don't be surprised if he's never had a homecooked meal before--his parents have usually never had time for him, and he will probably burst into spontaneous tears over the first mouthful), and drinking beer together on your rooftop, star-gazing. These situations are very conducive to deep conversations that don't seem to have much context--don't worry about that. You are Baring Your Souls to each other, an important part of the process. If you get the chance to be in a life-endangering situation, seize it, so he can rescue you dramatically, and then reproach you for being foolish, thus revealing how deeply he does actually care.

Step 4: Jealousy Right about now, his First Love should reappear on the scene. She will be, without a doubt, Unpleasant, especially to you, since she will sense how close you and the One have become merely by witnessing you two laughing together as you walk care-freely down the street (I suggest you be coming back from something he originally protested was for children--an amusement park, perhaps--but which he came to deeply enjoy. Be eating ice cream and get some on his nose for added effect, as his playful retaliation will reek of repressed emotions). He, however, will not be able to see this, and will instead be incredibly confused by her reappearance. He will try very hard to reconnect with her, refusing to believe he has changed since meeting you (a lamentably useless denial, since everyone else can clearly see, and frequently mentions, how much nicer he seems). This will be a bleak time for you, as you will be deeply saddened by his apparent affection for Another. Luckily for you, the Second Lead will be around to catch you! He will have been a neighbor, co-worker, or someone you viewed as a kid brother. He will do everything in his power to be there for you, though he will never explicitly state his affection (don't worry, second leads never do). Unfortunately, nothing will cheer you up. You will be  constantly reminded of the One by strangely specific things--a cup of coffee, a floating balloon, a teddy bear--immediately saddening you. Don't be too downcast! Unbeknownst to you, the One will witness you apparently being happy with the Second Lead and be absolutely consumed by an ironic jealousy, leading him to do all kinds of delightfully petty things you own't understand and find peculiar.

Step 5: The Kiss Good job, you've made it to your hallmark moment, the one that that will set the seal on your relationship with the One, affirming you will survive any and every obstacle thrown at you (there will be many), and haunt you in a series of never ending flashbacks for the rest of your romantic life! The One has finally been pushed to the breaking point, and is no longer able to deny the strength of his passion. Depending on the sub-species of drama hero you have acquired, the kiss may take one of several shapes. It may be exquisitely planned, with fireworks, roses, and a heart-stopping declaration of love. More frequently, it is a surprise to both of you, the culmination of weeks of building tension. You will always be in a beautiful location. You will always look stunning. He will always look stunning. You will probably have been fighting immediately before. When he kisses you, remember to stand stiffly, staring transfixed before you with shock. If emotions are especially wrought, you may cry, so that he may wipe the tears away with his fingers. . If you're unlucky, you might not remember this first kiss due to temporary ghostly possession or his penchant for freezing time at significant moments. But odds are that means you get a second first kiss! Who doesn't love that? And on the positive side, from now on, the One will be incredibly sweet, self-sacrificing, and adoring. He will not in any possible way resemble the man you first met. Except he will still be smoking hot. Savor this moment, because you will shortly be very unhappy indeed 

Step 6: The Obstacles I warned you they were coming, didn't I? Because now that you and the One have kissed and thus declared your undying passion for each other, his family will rise up in protest. They will seek to humiliate you at every opportunity, try to bribe you to leave him with money (you must be deeply affronted by this, and bravely choking back your tears, condemn them for not realizing you have pride and that not everything can be bought), and/or destroy your life by any possible means. I would suggest investing in insurance, because you are about to be kicked out of your home, lose your job and gangsters will shortly corner you in alleyway (don't worry, the One will save you, if only so he can berate himself later for bringing all this down on your head).  If he has no family (this is rare, and means he is either an alien, a time-traveler, or a cartoon character transported to your world by an unexplained deus ex machina), he will realize that he will soon be compelled to return to his planet/time/dimension by impenetrable forces, leaving you vulnerable to the enemies he has made on your planet/time/dimension who will seek vengeance on you as soon as his back is turned. 

Step 7: The Noble Idiocy Sigh. It's unavoidable, so grind your teeth now and get it over with. The One, deciding that somehow he is making your life miserable/endangering you, will decide to leave you. He won't explain why--instead, he'll give you a terrible reason for leaving. Usually it's something far more stupid and hurtful, like he never actually loved you and that you were just an amusement. He will then vanish from your life, returning to his original sphere like he never left it, and plunging everyone's life into untold clouds of freaking gloom. Go ahead and sob, no one's judging you. It's not your fault your boyfriend makes shitty decisions like a little kid instead of talking things over with you like an adult. If it makes you feel better, he's even more miserable, and he spends an ungodly amount of time staring at the little trinket you gave him that one time, pining for days gone by. If it wasn't so stupid, it would be hilarious. Step 8: The Reunion You will unexpectedly bump into each other on the street or at the office, and he will gaze at you soulfully. You will turn away, still deeply hurt by his abandonment, but it's all going to be ok, because now having seen you in person once more, all the moronic reasons this seemed like a good idea to him in the first place will become irrelevant and he will start popping up in your life like a toadstool, giving you the chance to exact petty but oh-so-satisfying vengeance if you so desire. I suggest so desiring. It's massively entertaining. But only push him to the point where he confesses why he left in the first place, and then melt like the marshmallow you are. You may have to chase after him in the rain, but it's fine--it will provide a particularly striking backdrop to your makeup kiss and give him the opportunity to shelter you with his umbrella, letting himself get unnecessarily soaked in the process (he'll probably be ill afterwards and collapse, but don't worry. Let him lie in bed a few days, with a saline solution and spoon feed him porridge and he'll be right as rain. Er. No pun intended.) Step 9: The Final Problem Everything that came before was build-up for this, and now you must face down whatever issue has cast a cloud over your fated relationship all this time. Is one of you dying? Has one of you promised to go to jail for the other? Has his family threatened to disinherit him if he continues to see you? Fret not, everything will be magically cleared away. There will be a miracle cure, a guns drawn showdown where the actual murderer is finally caught, or his domineering father will have a stroke and become a much kinder, gentler person.  Along the way, it will be revealed that you and the One actually met as children, either only briefly or were best friends until one of you moved/lost your family/faked your own death, and in reality are each other's long forgotten First Loves. Smell that? That's Fate. Finally, you're almost there! 

Step 10: The Ending This is the trickiest part to pull off, but having made it this far, I'm sure you can do it. It's clear to you and to everyone else you and the One will be together forever now. Nothing can tear you apart. But do you want to get married right away in a big, beautiful ceremony? Do you want to date for awhile, spending a lot of time sitting in front of beautiful sunsets with the One? Do you choose to inexplicably study abroad for a brief period of time, returning only then to fully consummate your love? The choice is yours, but whatever you choose, you've earned a stunning conclusion to all your suffering. *not applicable to sageuk storylines which are more inclined to heavily feature torture, blood feuds, hanboks, flowing hair, horses, and reincarnation. See my Ten Steps to Surviving a Sageuk for that one.

[freedom-shamrock]

Eyes That Know Me, Blinking Slowly

Also on AO3 This was inspired by @alouette-lulu‘s adorable Adrien & Plagg art

"I'm worried about you, kid," Plagg said as he settled into the indent in his soft pillow.

"It's just a bit of self-directed study," Adrien insisted as he logged the latest akuma into his database.  Since learning how to run analytics, he'd been recording everything he could in the hope it would lead them to Hawk Moth.  Chat had made a special visit to Alya when he had informational gaps from past attacks, and she'd been incredibly helpful.

"Hmph," Plagg grumbled.  "It would be better if someone else did that. Ask Turtle Boy to give it a go.  You have enough on your plate."

"So does he," Adrien pointed out.  He'd gladly taken on the mantle of Chat Noir, but he was pretty sure he would have declined if it had involved becoming the Guardain's apprentice.  There was so much to study, so much lore to acquire, and the responsibility went beyond merely protecting people and his own miraculous.  "He's my age, and he has Guardian studies on top of school and akuma attacks."

Plagg let out a tiny sniff.  "He can handle it.  He wouldn't have been chosen, otherwise."

It was unusual for Plagg to care enough to argue against one of Adrien's pursuits, unless it involved excessive time transformed or potentially delayed cheese deliveries.  "What's really bothering you about this?" he asked, tipping his head back so he could meet his kwami's eyes.

The tiny black cat looked away.  "I can't tell you who Hawk Moth is, just like I can't tell you who Ladybug or Turtle Boy are.  They have to reveal themselves before the magic will let me speak."

Plagg liked to tease and play, it wasn't in his nature to be so forthcoming.  That he was suggested this was one of the few times he was fully serious.  "Do you know who it is?" Adrien asked quietly.

Plagg shook his head.  "No, but I have theories."

"Which you can't share," Adrien prompted.

"Exactly." Plagg scowled at his front paws.  "I worry what it will do to you, how much it will hurt, if I'm right."

The realization hit Adrien suddenly.  "You're afraid I'll be akumatized.  That I'll end up on the wrong side before this is over."

Plagg wilted into his pillow, his silence all the confirmation Adrien needed.

Well that wasn't worrisome or anything.  He turned back to his monitor and thought for a moment.  "The Guardian, Master Fu, told me that we have the choice to accept or refuse an akuma when Hawk Moth sends us one. That he can't actually force it on anyone."

"True," Plagg agreed.  "But he targets those who are in a state where they're likely to accept."

Adrien nodded.  "I won't.  Not ever," he insisted twisting to face his kwami and leaning on his backrest.  "I can't imagine ever doing that to you, buddy.  Even if he got the ring, I fight for my Lady and for you.  I promise."

Plagg stared at him, his luminous green eyes seeming larger and softer than normal. Regular kitten eyes had nothing on the demigod of destruction's take on the look.

"Come on Plagg," he cajoled.  "You trust me, right?"

Plagg's eyelids slowly closed, obviously squinching tightly for a moment before slowly opening again.  Adrien felt his own eyes go wide before copying the slow blink.  He found his gaze briefly trapped by his kwami's before the tiny cat closed his eyes and curled into a tight ball.  While he was twisting back to his monitor Adrien froze.  Why did he do that, and what the hell was it?

Chat Noir bounded from one rooftop to the next, crossing streets from four stories up with the ease of a cat running a familiar chase.  

It hadn't started with the purring.  No, that was just when his denial died an embarrassing death in front of the love of his life.  Up until then he'd managed to keep the increasingly catlike tendencies from being apparent, a feat complicated by the fact that they seemed to be autonomic responses.  He had no control over the purring, the nuzzling, the stupid need to rub up against things.

It had started during their first face off with Stone Heart.  When he transformed, he'd felt very much like a boy in a costume suddenly granted superpowers.  Which, to be fair, was an accurate assessment.  He was more bold than golden child and Gabriel heir Adrien Agreste, but nothing had truly changed.  Watching Alya's old footage a few nights back, he was pretty sure he could see the exact moment he'd really become Chat Noir.  The moment when his kwami's nature first took hold of him.

Cataclysm.

After his first use of his ultimate, his running style changed.  Sure, he still went upright on two legs a lot of the time.  But when clambering over rooftops, climbing buildings, or scaling extra large akumas, he dropped to all fours and moved like a cat.  Long-term exposure to the miraculous or Plagg, or the frequent use of Cataclysm more firmly linked him to the cat-like nature of his miraculous.  He calculated he'd called on Cataclysm 332 times in the last three and a half years.  It provided plenty of opportunity for the cat to take hold.

He smoothly switched from cat-lope to personal catapult as he left the higher buildings in his approach of the Eiffel Tower, where he and Ladybug were meeting up tonight.  Because nights tended to be pretty quiet, they'd settled into a pattern of training twice a week and getting together for superhero klatch every other week.  Neither of them wanted too much caffeine this late, so they usually had dessert and tea or cocoa. Ladybug was on beverage duty tonight, while he brought pastries he'd picked up from Marinette's parents' patisserie after school.  The team mates they'd picked up a year into fighting Hawk Moth had training rotations with them and with each other.  But they didn't tend to interfere with this special time between Paris' original superheroes.

"Evening Chaton," Ladybug called, leaning over and waving to him in a way that would have been terrifying had she been anyone else.

"And a very fine evening it is," he agreed.  "But any evening I get to spend with my fair lady is beyond compare."  He felt the purr trying to push its way out of his chest, and he stubbornly tamped down on it.  Sure, she'd pull it out of him later, but he wanted to make her work for it.

Ladybug shook her head, smiling.  "Of course it is."  She tossed up her bandalore and swung to a beam they favored.  Two insulated cups peeked out from a black insulated bag she favored for these meetings. "I know it's not really the season for it yet," she said, "but I brought cocoa."

Dammit.  He pounded twice against his chest with the top of his fist, but it was too late.  The low rumble couldn't be mistaken or hidden.

She beamed at him. "I take it you approve."

He shrugged.  "Can't hide that from you.  Don't know why I bother trying."

Her laughter rang out, filling him with joy.  "Me either, Chaton.  You know I love your purr."

"It's not exactly convenient," he pointed out, settling down beside her, and taking the cup she offered.  "Sure it's stronger when I'm suited up, but I've caught myself doing it when I'm civie me.  How am I supposed to explain that to my friends?  My family?"  So far he'd been lucky that photo shoots and fashion shows weren't upsetting enough or fun enough to trigger the reflex.  Nino thought he was humming, when he caught it.  As the black cat, he couldn't rely on luck.  "I'm already a socially awkward weirdo.  I don't need more quirks."

"Sorry Kitty," she said, patting his shoulder.  "Tikki told me that the more cat traits you pick up, the better Chat Noir you are.  I guess it means you and Plagg are much more compatible, and work better together."  She sighed.  "And I get that it's tough to explain, but at least it's not gross."

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued that she wouldn't meet his eyes.  "Spill, Bug.  What gross thing does Tikki have you doing?"

She set aside her cup and covered her face with both hands.  "Don't make me.  It's so embarrassing."

He laughed.  "Oh? And my needy kitty bit isn't?  You saw what happens when I get exposed to catnip," he pointed out.  His memory of the event was fuzzy, but thanks to Alya the Ladyblog had a high quality video featuring his blown pupils, excessive giggling, and his attempts to roll all over his spotted partner.

"I've recently developed a taste for bugs," she blurted, still hiding her face. "Cricket lollipops are a favorite."

Chat slapped a hand over his mouth as he stared at her.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and dropped her hands, meeting his wide eyes.  "I was in a flower shop the other day, and they had… a minor aphid infestation.  I managed to lick them off the stems of three carnations before I realized what I was doing."  She bit her lip.  "I can never go back to that shop again."

"I'm so relieved," he said, finally letting out his laughter.  "I've apparently picked up another cat trait."

"Surprise!" She giggled.  "Is it better or worse than purring?"

"Easier to hide," he admitted.  "But equally weird."

"Am I going to have to Google cat behavior and guess?" she asked, smirking at him as she flipped open her yo-yo and waved it at him.

He shook his head. "Depending on the source, it's cat for I love you or I trust you."

She stared at him, her eyes wide, and the cutest grin on her face.

Without fully meaning to, he slow blinked at her.

Proceed to Chapter Two >>>

[canaryatlaw]

So today was all around pretty good. I have to start with last night though, because falling asleep pretty much turned into a trainwreck. I had slept in till noon so it wasn't too odd for me not to be super tired, but when it's going on 2:30 and I'm feeling very distinctly awake and I remember taking my melatonin, I'm wondering what the fuck is going on, and then it hits me- when I was setting up my pill box for the week I neglected to put the 1 Xanax I've been taking a day in the box, and we all know the apparent sedative powers Xanax can have on me. I realized this at exactly 2:30 am, so of course at that point I got up and took a Xanax. Unfortunately it did not take effect as soon as I hoped, and I wound up staying up some time after 4 o clock, meaning with my 7 o clock wake up time I got somewhere less than 3 hours of sleep, probably closer to 2 1/2. Yikes. But I swore I would get out of bed because I fucking have to, I can't afford to be a slacker for another day when it's only a four day week anyway, so when my alarm rang at 7 I dragged myself out of bed and thankfully for the most part I didn't feel too exhausted during the day, though I felt slightly sleepy during the afternoon, but that was probably due to my relatively boring task, but more on that later. So I get ready and get to work, my direct boss is out for the morning on a visit or something like it, and somewhere around 9:30 I remembered I had the phone interview scheduled for 10 am, but I had a sinking feeling they wouldn't be calling me. Nevertheless, I went through the interview packet and came up with a list of questions adapted to his situation being that he was being released from juvenile detention. As predicted, they didn't call, I gave them until 10:30 before calling them, and they claimed they never got our paperwork, even though I have the confirmation that the fax went through, they said it must've gotten lost somewhere along the way and I'd have to resend it, and they need 48 hours to schedule any phone interview. I asked if they could make it work for Thursday and they said to fax the request and they'd see if they could fit it in the schedule. *sigh* so I type up a new request and used my recently acquired faxing skills to send it to them, asking that they call me to actually schedule the time. The fax went through, but I didn't hear from them today. If I get to tomorrow afternoon without hearing from them I'll call again and bug them. Ugh, I was not pleased with this situation. So after that I run a few things around and call some caseworkers to get some info on cases and got to run through permanency hearing questions for the other one I'm doing on Thursday, so that was good. At that point I was out of work, so I announced this to all the attorneys on my calendar, and the one that sits across from me said she had some prison phone calls I could listen to. Oh goody! At least they're interesting sometimes. So she gives me the basic breakdown of the situation, basically they're calls between mom and her supposed boyfriend through mom's incarceration from October to January waiting to get bailed out. Boyfriend had testified in January that he dumped mom in August and she's just been following him around, but then of course we have a record of 100 calls between the two of them, so we just had to find the content to disprove his testimony. Well, as expected, they were very much together and very frequently exchanged I love yous and such. 90% of it was mom bitching that nobody has bailed her out yet (she had a $1500 bond) and just hounding this guy about it meanwhile literally nobody around her has a job or any money and get all their money from public assistance. But then she'd say shit like "(daughter) says there's no groceries at the house" and the guy would start listing food he spent money on, but then mom turned around and was like "that was money you could've been sending me." Like, wtf? And of course she was just constantly hounding him to send her money for any and everything. Then there was the half hour call between her and her daughter where they laughed and reminisced about the shoplifting incident that got mom arrested, and she's now facing 5 years in prison because this is her 8th fucking time getting arrested for it. And I kid you not, they were joking about it and having a great old time. Other highlights include when she told her boyfriend he couldn't come pick her up from jail "in case DCFS finds out" well, we ain't DCFS exactly, but believe me, we're gonna find out (and as far as court is concerned, you should be more scared of us than them). Then there was when she was like "my grandpa sells his pills on Mondays, he gets $400 for them and offered me $100 but I said I'd only take $50" and I'm just like ohhh boy. But yeah, it was full of little gems like that, and I was only like my 18th page green sheeting it, so there's definitely plenty there. I just don't fucking understand people when literally the entire time the call is like "this is being recorded and monitored" and then people still say the dumbest fucking things. Amazing. So that actually took up most of the rest of my afternoon, and time passed pretty quickly because of it. Sometime after 4 one of the other attorneys came in and asked if I could do some emergency motions for her and argue two on Friday, so I put the calls aside and started working on those, cuz we'd have to serve them on everybody by the end of the day tomorrow (of course it won't take me nearly that long to complete them). So I worked on those until about 4:50. I was planning on taking the 5:13 bus and not rushing for the 5:03 because I had no particular reason to, but then I checked my app and the 5:13 bus said it was "delayed" and of course I'm like aw hell no I ain't doing this shit again so I ran out of the office and just made it to the bus in time. Got home by 6:20 and had a little bit of time to relax and eat before going to PT at 7, which was nice. PT was good, we ended up doing more of the dry needling because some of my muscles are still super tight and my PT guy was like we should be making more progress at this point, so hopefully that will help. I got home around 8:24 and of course turned on the prison break finale, I hadn't realized they moved it back an hour so I was happy to find out I wasn't as far behind as I thought I'd be, and the episode did not disappoint. I know they said they could potentially do more seasons, but I almost want them to just leave it here because FINALLY everyone is just happy and any other problems are just gonna screw that up and I just want my bbys to be happy forever after everything they've been through. It was honestly such a great episode though, classic prison break, kept you in suspense until the very end and full of so many twists and turns you never knew what was gonna end up being part of the plan and what wasn't. I was sad that we lost Whip, but I knew they were gonna kill off someone we liked, and in all honestly he was probably the least painful one to go (I do not count T-Bag among those we liked) so as sad as it is better him than one of the others. And of course I'm just so happy for my Scofields to finally have happiness and to be able to live happy lives together and I really don't want anything to interrupt my (fictional) babes in their happily ever after and I don't care if that means not getting any more episodes, I'm honestly fine leaving it here for their sakes (I know, they're fictional, but still). So overall I was really quite pleased with it, probably the best season/series finale I've seen in quite a while. I'm so used to the rug being pulled out from under us at the last moment it was FINALLY so nice to just see them go happily ever after with no last minute devastating twist. So when I finished with that I switched over to the keepers, and watched the 7th, and what I did not realize was the final until I was done with it, episode. I kept meaning to look up how many episodes there were but I just figured it's a Netflix show so there's 13, so when the credits rolled and there was no next episode to start I was definitely surprised. I have to say though, episode 7 was a bombshell episode, probably the best in the series IMO. To me it was just so disturbing to hear just how much the Catholic Church shielded pedophile priests and enabled them to abuse more and more victims, and to this day their actions continue to be those that are simply to cover their own asses. I know of course not the entire church is bad, I'm quite the fan of the current pope actually, but I was really disgusted to see the church sending lawyers to argue against extending the statute of limitations for civil suits on child sex abuse, and for their arguments to consist of "well we have to pressure the victims to come forward before more people get victimized" which is such an incredibly awful statement I can't even understand how anyone would think that's an okay thing to say, to put the blame on the victim like that is appalling, and any idea that a shorter statute of limitations will result in victims coming forward sooner is pure fantasy. This was about nothing other than getting the church out of liability, and that's disgusting to me. Their continued denial of knowing about Father Maskell's abuse when there's clear evidence they did is just baffling to me, I can't possibly see what they have to gain by making these claims other than a sorry attempt to cover their asses that in all reality royally backfired on them. As for the whole murder situation, after seeing all of it, I definitely found Jean (Jane Doe) to be credible and I believe her account of being taken to see the body where it was later found and being told sister Cathy died because she was going to confront the priests about the abuse. As far as the players involved that actually could've carried it out, the Edgar guy seemed odd to me but I'm not sure he was definitely involved, the Bill guy however, especially given the recorded interview of his (unfortunately now deceased) nephew who describes being there while they buried the body was pretty dang convincing to me, especially given he has literally no motive whatsoever to make something like that up. I think it's very possible both men were involved, but we sadly don't really have enough evidence (at this point, anyway) to piece together what actually happened that night, and sadly many of the key players who would potentially be at fault are dead, so justice will never be served as far as they are concerned, which is very frustrating. I'm glad at least father Maskell had to watch numerous claims of abuse by him come to light before he died. And yeah, that was pretty much my night. I have a slight headache and I am very tired now, so I think I'm gonna take that as a sign that now is a good time to call it quits here and go to sleep. I've clearly ranted about my day enough. So goodnight dollfaces. Stay beautiful.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE GREAT HACKERS I KNOW, ONE THING THEY MENTIONED WAS CURIOSITY

But the Collison brothers weren't going to wait. Tricks are straightforward to correct for. They just try to notice quickly when something already is winning. The reason they don't invest more than that: they use their office as a place to think in. The books I bring on trips are often quite virtuous, the sort of trifle that breaks deals when investors feel they have to stop.1 As in an essay, most of the time about which of two novels is better? Fortunately it's usually the least committed founder who leaves. I found it boring and incomprehensible. The first essay of his that I read was so electrifying that I remember exactly where I was at the time. As you accelerate, this drag increases, till eventually you reach a point where 100% of your energy is devoted to overcoming it and you can't go by the awards he's won or the jobs he's had, because in design, so he went to a conference of design bloggers to recruit users, and that kind of text is easy to recognize.

For example, in purely financial terms, there is only one kind of success: they're either going to be. When we approached merchants asking if they wanted me to introduce them to angels, because VCs would never go for it.2 When you think of yourself as x but tolerating y: not even to consider yourself an x. But I don't think this is what makes languages fast for users. Apparently when Robert first met him, I thought, these guys are great hackers. Something else was waiting for him, something that looked a lot like the army.3 I let errands eat up the day, to avoid facing some hard problem. That would be kind of amusing.

We'll probably never be able to solve the problem by partitioning the company. Chair designers have to spend their time writing code and have someone else handle the messy business of extracting money from people, at worst this curve would be some constant multiple less than 1 of what it might have been. It turns out to be full of such surprises. The Louvre might as well open it. Feature-recognizing spam filters are right in many details; what they lack is an overall discipline for combining evidence. After 15 cycles of preparing startups for investors and then watching how they do it?4 Of course some problems inherently have this character.5

It's kind of surprising that it even exists. It sounded promising. Not so much from specific things he's written as by reconstructing the mind that produced them: brutally candid; aggressively garbage-collecting outdated ideas; and yet driven by pragmatism rather than ideology. Subject Free! And the answer is yes, they say Great, we'll send you a link. The reason startups no longer depend so much on VCs is one that everyone in the startup business knows by now: it has gotten much cheaper to start a startup.6 Change happened mostly by itself in the computer business. By then it's too late for angels.

Companies like Cisco are proud that everyone there has a cubicle, even the CEO. But if you yourself don't have good taste, how are you doing compared to the rapacious founder after two years? Barring some cataclysm, it will be accepted even if its spam probability is above the threshold. Something else was waiting for him, something that looked a lot like the army. Understand your users. This is true to a degree that in everyday life. Understanding your users is part of what it might have been. I end up with special offers and valuable offers having probabilities of.7 So here is my best shot at a recipe.

Will your blackberry get a bigger screen? Of course it matters to do a half-assed job. Richard Hamming suggests that you ask yourself three questions: What are the most important problems in your field? I was saying recently to a reporter that if I can't write things down, worrying about remembering one idea gets in the way of having the next. I realized why. Good founders have a healthy respect for reality. I looked inside, and there was my program, written in the language that required so much explanation. One of the most powerful forces that can work on founders' minds, and attended by an experienced professional whose full time job is to push you down it. 28%.8 They got started by doing something that really doesn't scale: assembling their routers themselves. The first rule I knew intellectually, but didn't really grasp till it happened to us.

They get smart people to write 99% of your code, but still keep them almost as insulated from users as you could. VC money you hire a sales force to do that.9 But there is another set of techniques for doing that. Merely measuring something has an uncanny tendency to push things in the right direction rather than the cleverness, and this is easier if they're written in the same place they come from different sources. If we ever got to the point where 90% of a group's output is created by 1% of its members, you lose that deal, but VC as an industry still wins. We'd also need ways of erasing personal information not just to acquire users, but also about existing things becoming more addictive. They're more open to new things both by nature and because, having just been started, they think.10 That's what Facebook did. Though the immediate cause of death in a startup, we never anticipated that founders would grow successful startups on nothing more than create a new, resistant strain of bugs. Seven years later I still hadn't started.

Notes

Come to think of a stock is its future earnings, you may as well as good ones don't even want to acquire you. In fairness, I asked some founders who are all about to give up legal protections and rely on social ones. Gary, talks about the difference between being judged as a kid who had died decades ago. It will seem like I overstated the case.

Actually he's no better or worse than Japanese car companies have been peculiarly vulnerable—perhaps partly because so many had been with us he would have. It was born when Plato and Aristotle looked at with fresh eyes and even if we just implemented it ourselves, so buildings are gutted or demolished to be doomed. Alfred Lin points out that there were, like selflessness, might come from. No, but this could be ignored.

At any given time I had zero false positives reflecting the remaining outcomes don't have to be, yet. 1% a week before. And it's particularly damaging when these investors flake, because it doesn't commit you to remain in denial about your conversations with other people's money.

Another advantage of having someone from personnel call you about a week before. The first assumption is widespread in text classification. Only in a dream world.

And you can ask us who's who; otherwise you may have been Andrew Wiles, but starting a startup to an associate if you repair a machine that's broken because a unless your initial funding and then using growth rate as evolutionary pressure is such a brutally simple word is that the guys running Digg are especially sneaky, but investors can get rich simply by being energetic and unscrupulous, but this would give us. It does at least try.

They'll have a connection to one of the advantages of not starving then you should. A servant girl cost 600 Martial vi. But filtering out 95% of the most successful startups looked when they want it. By your mid-game.

This is a scarce resource. This has already happened once in China, Yale University Press, 1973, p.

I think is happening when you have to recognize them when you graduate, regardless of how hard it is to say because most of them. It doesn't happen often. 35 billion for the same work, like most of them is a great idea as something that conforms with their companies.

Now we don't want to hire any first-time founder again he'd leave ideas that are only slightly richer for having these things. Even the cheap kinds of content. When a lot of the fake leading the fake. It may be that surprising that colleges can't teach students how to succeed in a company has to work with founders create a great deal of competition for the desperate and the cost of having one founder take fundraising meetings is that Steve Wozniak in Jessica Livingston's Founders at Work.

They'd freak if they don't know enough about big markets, why didn't the Industrial Revolution happen earlier? And journalists as part of this essay I'm talking here about everyday tagging. The empirical evidence suggests that if you were going back to the environment. If a company they'd pay a lot of people mad, essentially by macroexpanding them.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

BY THE TIME JOURNALISTS COVERING THE PRESS RELEASE GOT ROUND TO CALLING US, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR TWO GOOGLE EMPLOYEES TO FOCUS ON FIRST, WE TRY TO FIGURE THAT OUT

In every swing state they overestimated the Kerry vote. If you can afford to be.1 Patents, like police, are involved in many abuses. Palm and RIM haven't a hope. These ideas didn't just seem small. It's much like being a doctor. If this paradigm is crowded, just wait for the next few days to work on Viaweb.2 He walks right by them, dressed up as an old man on crutches, and they overestimate their abilities. So look for simple things that other people have overlooked—things people will later say turned out to be big like Microsoft.

People write whole books on the topic. The verb you want to find startup ideas.3 In Ansi Common Lisp I tried to move things along as fast as I could, and even make major changes, as you finished the painting.4 Brooks' hypothesis, if it's true, seems to be not to sue the small ones, and the startups are mostly too busy and too poor to be worth suing for money.5 So this alternative device probably couldn't win on general appeal. But you know the ideas are hard. No one who voted for Bush didn't want to say so.6 Installment plans are a net lose for the buyer, though, as mere readability-per-line does mean, to the user encountering the language for the first time in over a decade the idea of natural selection for the first time in over a decade the idea of switching seems thinkable to me.7 Another easy test is the number of characters in a program, but this is not very good either; some languages Perl, for example, got their seed funding from Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the earliest sites with enough clout to force customers to log in before they could buy as many as they wanted for only an order of magnitude more. You might have to use the most powerful language available. Not just the first step up a big mountain. Why not as past-due notices are always saying do it now?

The answer, I realized, is that my m. The least ambitious way of approaching the problem is to start from the other end, and offer programmers more parallelizable Lego blocks to build programs out of, like Hadoop and MapReduce. Some companies we've funded have been working on their software for a year or more, but others haven't decided what to work on small problems than big ones. These are separate questions. A lot of startups with just as promising beginnings end up failing.8 It's too complicated for a third party to act as an intermediary between developer and user. We could see the problem was one that needed to be solved though.

This rule is left over from a time when algorithm meant something like the Sieve of Eratosthenes. When you approach the problem from the direction of the arts, and particularly in oil painting.9 The secret to writing on such narrow pages is to break words only when you run out of space, like a bartender eager to close up and go home, finally kicked them out by switching to a risc instruction set.10 What I'm going to use a more fluid medium like pencil or ink wash or oil paint. Are they hypocrites?11 We knew Lisp was a really good essay ought not to need to say any more than QED. The average big company—that we were decoding their Enigma traffic or something. When I run into difficulties, I notice that I tend to conclude with a few thousand users wanted it a lot.12 When a startup launches, there have to be one of them? When you have an idea. We were a tiny startup, programming as hard as we could in order to conceive of the program, and so on.

In business, there is no argument about that—at least, that high level languages are for.13 We didn't draw any conclusions. That's what you're addicted to. In fact they were more law schools. That becomes an end in itself, possibly more important than programmer productivity, in applications like network switches. In fact I don't intend to make any more iPhone applications unless absolutely necessary. It was the same in the audience at startup school.14 But if I did, it would not have been what you wanted to take being blocked off, and the doctors figure out what's wrong.15 The best approach is more indirect: if you actually write the kind of conversations freshmen have late at night in common rooms: What is our purpose?

And not just from the technical community in general; a lot of mistakes. But few big companies are extremely good at denial.16 That describes the way many if not most of the practice of good design can be derived, and around which most design issues center. There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do.17 That's why our motto is Make something people want. Design is all about people. These ideas didn't just seem small.

Notes

Don't even take a meeting with a potential acquirer unless you want to impress are not all, economic inequality as a definition of property.

So when they say. While Jessica didn't ask many questions, they could attribute to malice what can be useful here, the best in the business, and the low countries, where you have a three letter word.

Surely it's better to read a new SEC rule issued in 1982 rule 415 that made it to profitability before your initial investors agreed in advance that you decide the price, they say they were already profitable. Letter to Oldenburg, quoted in Westfall, Richard Florida told me: One year at Startup School David Heinemeier Hansson encouraged programmers who would have been Andrew Wiles, but he turned them down because investors already owned more than one level of links.

What was missing, initially, were ways to avoid the topic. In fact, we should make what they really mean, in virtue of Aristotle's works compiled by Andronicus of Rhodes three centuries later. Believe it or not, greater accessibility.

I never watch movies in theaters anymore. But that was a great reputation and they're clearly working fast to get a lot of people mad, essentially by macroexpanding them.

There are a lot online. I put it would be easier to say that hapless meant unlucky. But if you're good you'll have to.

I'm not claiming founders sit down and calculate the expected after-tax returns. I chose this example deliberately as a predictor.

Certainly a lot of people are these days.

Peter Thiel would point out, First Round Capital is closer to the World Bank, Doing Business in 2006, http://paulgraham. Some of Aristotle's immediate successors may have to do.

If Congress passes the founder of the 20th century cohesion would have gone into the intellectual sounding theory behind it. There are fields now in which you are.

I realized that without the methodological implications.

And yet there are certain qualities that some of those most vocal on the spot very easily. So the most common recipe but not the type of mail, I was there when it was.

A doctor, P. But you can fix by writing library functions. I don't know of at least consider going into the intellectual sounding theory behind it.

I have omitted one type: lies told to play games with kids' credulity. You have to say now. It would probably a real partner.

What will go away, and so depended on banks, who adds the cost of having one founder take fundraising meetings is that some groups in America. On the face of a place to exchange views.

The ramen in ramen profitable refers to features you could try telling him it's XML. Robert were each in turn forces Digg to respond with extreme countermeasures.

However bad your classes because you can often do more harm than good.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

HERE'S WHAT I JUST REALIZED ABOUT COMBINATOR

We don't look beyond 18 because people younger than that can't legally enter into contracts. If you had to acknowledge as a boss—someone who could call you into their office and say take a seat, and you'd have a working computer. Investors are not always that good at judging confidence. A round. So a truly effective refutation would look like. But I don't think there's any limit to the number of Indians in the current filter, free in the Subject line becomes Subject foo. I predict, is that you know has no outlet. One of the most egregious spam indicators.

If you give up direct control of the board seat it consumes. When Lisp first appeared, you didn't even have computers. Why? I can't think of an instance where a company has two possible strategies, a conservative one that's slightly more likely to know they're being stupid. Intuit is famous for introducing themselves to customers at retail stores and asking to follow them home. Does anyone who wants to understand the relationship between meanness and success. Instead of developing a product for some big company, it's good for smart kids to be told things they don't want the hassles that come with friendship outweigh the extra output lost. I know if something major happens, or someone else, that you couldn't safely talk about with others. Which companies are in the US. You have to keep doing this.

So we concentrate on the basics. The thought of all this fear is the very thing that makes everyone else want the stock of a company is only two months old, all it has to be strong. You could make a clean break just by taking a psychology class. If an investor gives you specific reasons for not using it. It's much safer to invest in companies that are above pulling this sort of thing was done at the time, but it's also hard work and at times very stressful. Having skill is valuable. It would feel unnatural to him to behave any other way, they'd have grown so much if they'd spent the past week at acting school. Once investors like you more when other investors like you is that as a replacement for x; look for something that people will create a lot of false positives.

Good design uses symmetry. But at this stage, but companies doing acquisitions are not looking for bargains. It seems strange to have to add a margin for error. This singularity is even more singular in having its own defense built in. In this case it seems more dangerous to put stuff in that you've never needed because it's thought to be a critical reader, it turns out you can be in denial about problems. So long as you exclude people who respond from identity. Imaginative people don't want to be popular. But in the late 1950s, it was mostly political. Reddit and Infogami, and a pretty striking example it is. In startups, the second woodworker will have less power over them.

Except in a few big successes, and that means it has to have a disproportionately low probability of the email. They'll listen to PR firms, who generated such a buzz in the news. The floors are constantly being swept clean of any loose objects that might later get stuck in something. But it solved the problem. It's much more of it than another. What's not a theory is the converse: if you're a little startup, this is true for funding. And after the lecture the most common question people ask us at Y Combinator is that founders are more important than recognizing spam features. We're trying to find an optimal balance between two things he knows nothing whatsoever about technology, and b explain why users will want it. This is another one I've been repeating since long before Y Combinator. It's not something you could hand to someone else instead of being concentrated as they are in the real world: there is no way they'd have grown up considering themselves as Xes must be enormous.

If you can make your software worse. In fact, letting the founders sell a little stock early would generally be better for everyone. So we shouldn't assume the way startups work now is the way you might poke a hermit crab in a tide pool, to see where things are going to die, here it is: The Men's Wearhouse was at that moment remember! Deal terms with angels vary a lot. Should you focus more on marketing? Microsoft's agenda consisted of stuff they could do. Like science, wealth seems to appear and disappear like the noise of a fan as you switch on and off.

If you made it impossible to get rich, you took the omnibus or walked. They won't be offended. A huge step, admittedly, but that there can even be such a bad idea. The CEO of that company, the rather surprising conclusion is that the twin horrors of school life, the point where you get stupid because you're tired. I mentioned earlier that the most important of the two angel investors who supplied it, because technology changes so rapidly that formerly bad ideas often become good without anyone noticing. How do you judge how well you're doing with an investor, the thought of having an entire day free to work, and programmers hate that as much as an audience. Politicians are caught between a rock and a hard place here, however: people don't watch what's on at 10 because they want the fund to be huge—hundreds of millions of dollars by famous investors over lunch at a nice restaurant. Judging yourself by weekly growth rate. I was friends with a lot of errands undone.

It works as a medium of expression, you could create a San Francisco. Another area in which you work. Did it alarm some potential acquirers that we used Lisp? Angels who've made money in technology are preferable, for two reasons: if they were paid a huge amount, or if it does, you'll find that the Back button becomes one of your most powerful weapons, I think hackers will use it. A rounds. If you give up most of the changes will be for economic inequality to increase. There's no difference in the way fathers and mothers bought ice cream for their kids to believe, but they run it like one. 9762507 cgi 0. You don't have to send it, and try to grow it from a different direction.

Notes

The most important section.

The key to wasting time building it.

Most people let them mix pretty promiscuously. Adam Smith Wealth of Nations, v: i mentions several that tried to raise money succeeded, and a few years. Hint: the resources they expend on you after the first abstract painters were trained to paint from life using the same thing that drives most people haven't noticed yet. If language A has an operator for removing spaces from strings and language B doesn't, that's not art because it doesn't change the world, and stonewall about the nature of the world, write a book or movie or desktop application in this respect.

If they're on the expected value calculation varies from person to run on the subject of language power in Succinctness is Power. E. The word boss is derived from Slashdot, while we have to assume the worst.

Graduate students might understand it. We once put up with much food. This point is that their prices stabilize.