#i am being bitter over not being able to own a 3d printer

[jolteonaulait]

Man trying to find any sort of tutorial for props or sth has gotten really hard cause at some point theres always a 3d printer involved, like thanks i can’t afford a printer.

[thepaperpanda]

Bringing the Christmas Spirit Back || Heartman x Reader

Summary: When the Christmas spirit is long gone for humanity, Heartman tries to restore it.

Warnings: none    

Words: 2711

Authors: Cass & Bear

Yawning loudly you walked out to the main room of Heartman's lab.

You didn't expect anything to be different because why would it be?

To your own surprise there was a big christmas tree in the middle of the room, it was made of plastic. "Uhm... What is that?," You asked, walking closer to inspect the colorful baubles and other decorations.

 “Well, now that you're awake, I have to tell you that we ran out of earl gray,” Heartman stepped into the room, almost jumping off four little stairs. “Hi, gorgeous,” he placed a brief kiss on your cheek and stood right next to the christma tree. “I’ve printed it with a 3D printer, what do you think?,” He asked, being obviously proud of himself. “I thought that we could have restored some of the old traditions. That we could have brought some of the Christmas spirit, to gain some kind of mood improvement.”

 "I forgot you don't sleep with me in bed. You have a lot of time to do these things," you said with a smile and rubbed your eyes, trying your best to wipe the sleep off them. "It's a good idea but I don't think it will ever be the same, and about the tea, I will check later what else we need, and then I will do a bigger order."

 “Sam won’t be happy,” Heartman let out a proper laugh. “It’s going to be our… Fourteenth order over the past two weeks,” He took his glasses off to wipe them using a kerchief he held in his back pocket.

 "The fifteenth order, sweetie. I checked the records last evening before the bed. I have no idea what you ordered behind my back but I know you did," you sighed, tapping his shoulder. "Let's hope they will send some other poor soul and not our Sam."

 “Well, actually, I wouldn’t mind them sending Sam, I have a few questions for him,” Heartman put his glasses back on. “Now, you look much better than the second before when your figure was blurry,” he sent you a grin and in the same moment his AED beeped a few times. “Ah, shit. We’ll continue our deep conversation in 3 minutes, okay? Meantime, be a good girl and make me a strong coffee, and don’t forget I like it bitter.”

 You giggled and nodded. "Okay, I will also make some breakfast while in the kitchen."

After kissing his cheek you went to the bedroom to quickly grab your glasses before heading to the kitchen. Then you started preparing the hot drinks.

 After exactly 3 minutes, Heartman’s AED brought him back to life with a strong, electric impulse. It took him a few seconds to gain his thoughts. “I hate this,” he muttered to himself and before he got up from the cot, he had written some things in his online journal, using his fingers to do so.

 At that point you were putting plates with breakfast onto the table. Toasts for both of you, coffee for him, and green tea for you.

Letting out a quiet sigh, you started looking through all the cabinets and shelves. "I think I have everything," you muttered to yourself.

 Heartman walked into the little dining room shortly after, he instantly took his seat. “Thanks,” he sent you a smile and started eating. “What are you looking for? Tell me, and I’ll tell you where you’ll be able to find it.”

 "No, no. It's okay, I already know what I need," you informed him and quickly took your seat right in front of him. "You really want to bring back a bit of the Christmas spirit to these dark days, huh?"

 "Yes, whenever possible," he replied and took a bite of his toast. He chewed and sipped on his coffee. "Yeah, that's what I needed."

 "Glad you liked it," you smiled at him, taking a sip of your tea.

After break Heartman returned to his work. Meantime, you checked and listed all the stuff you needed before placing an order with a little message for Sam.

After making sure your beloved man was busy with work, you quickly returned to the kitchen, locking the door. "Let's see if I still remember how to do this."

Maybe it was a silly idea but since Heartman wanted to bring back Christmas, it was worth a shot.

An hour and a half had passed and you finally left the kitchen. Of course he didn't notice you weren't around for the longer moment.

"Sweetie. I have something for you!"

 There was no response from Heartman.

He was dead, again.

The chiral matter in his hourglass almost filled the bottom part which meant he was about to get back within the blink of an eye.

 Sighing, you took a seat on the leather couch, waiting for him to return.

 Another electric impulse made its way through Heartman's body, and the man jerked in his place regaining consciousness. "Y/N, did you say something?"

 You nodded. "I called you but I was a bit too late to catch you. Glad to see you back, come here. I have a Christmas gift for you."

 "A Christmas gift? For me?," He blinked and didn't even try to hide his consternation as he got up. "I didn't expect anything like this but I won't lie, I can't wait to see what you got for me!"

 You laughed. "Be a good man and open your mouth, eyes closed," you hummed with a smile. It was a little revenge for some test you had to do for him in the past.

 At first he blinked hearing your command. Then, he laughed loudly. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but as much as I love you, I don't hold an ounce of confidence in your actions," he joked, referring to that one particular time when you asked him to obey your words only to prank him.

 You rolled your eyes. "Trust me this one time. You won't regret it, I swear on the bond between us," you said, placing your hand over your heart.

 "I'm Heartman and my heart is already skipping a beat out of fear of what you've planned," he smirked but closed his eyes and parted his lips slightly. "I just want to warn you that if you'll try to feed me with chiral matter cookies, you'll regret the day you were born."

 You sighed and put a regular chocolate chip cookie between his lips. "Here. I hope I didn't burn them... And that they are good. I can't remember when I baked these for the last time."

 He chewed and then issued an opinion. "I like the flavour, the cookie was not too sweet yet not too bitter, too. You've added a perfectly measured amount of cocoa, the cookie had a tempting smell, too," Heartman stated. "I only lack some tiny ounce of ginger and honey but I know that it's extremely hard to get those."

 You looked at him, listening to his every word. It wasn't exactly the opinion you expected. "But... Do you like it? Before this all happened I used to make them for Christmas."

 "Do I like it? I love it, Y/N," Heartman replied. "If not for the fact I'm on a forever diet to stay in shape, I'd eat a tone of these!"

 "Oh, in such a case the whole jar of cookies wasn't a great idea," you giggled, rubbing your hand awkwardly. "Sorry."

 He sent you a smile. "I knew you'll surprise me, honey. But before I'll die again today, let me take you somewhere. While you'd been sleeping, I prepared something small," he claimed and got up from the cot, offering you his shoulder.

 You blinked confused but nodded, taking his arm. "Shall I be worried?"

 Heartman didn't reply but took you out of his laboratory. "Put your coat on," he advised. “By my side you don’t have to be worried.”

 You nodded and put on your coat just like he advised you. Just to be safe you also slipped on your warm boots. "Okay. I am ready... I think."

 He put his long, black coat on as well and led you outside of his facility.

Heartman stopped with you on the threshold of his outpost, being still under awning. "There," he pointed on the left. "Do you see him?"

 You rubbed your eyes, trying to get used to the brightness of the snow. Frowning you looked in the direction he pointed. "Is it…? Wait! Is it a snowman?"

 "Yes, it is. I called it the Death Stranding Snowman. He looks like a regular one but, if you'll take a closer look, you can see he had the Odradek and backpack, just like porters do."

 You giggled and nodded. "I can see that and I love it. I bet that Sam will love it as soon as he sees it. I am glad we live in a place like this actually, the Death Stranding Snowman will be with us longer due to low temperature."

 "Correct. And, also," he pointed his index finger up, right above your heads.

A plastic mistletoe hung on a tiny string attached to awning. "Maybe we can just have a little sneaky kiss under this mistletoe? It’s a tradition, isn’t it though?"

 You looked up at the mistletoe and laughed shortly. "Oh, you really got prepared while I was sleeping, huh?," You asked with a cocky smile.

 "Less talking, more doing," he muffled your voice with his lips crushing on yours.

 You hummed and kissed him back, placing your hands against his chest.

After a moment you pulled away to catch your breath.

 "Mmmm, that was something, Y/N," Heartman let out a hum of appreciation as his left palm was placed to your cheek where he gently brushed his thumb over your skin. "Ah! Just look at that! Sam's faster than I expected!"

 In the distance you could spot a little cloud of snow rising into the air. Sam Porter Bridges was riding his bike right to your outpost.

 You blinked and looked at the cloud of snow, giggling. "Oh, yes, he is, I still wonder how he is riding this thing through all the snow," you tapped Heartman's chest. "I will go pack him some cookies for the road and you get inside before you run out of time."

 Heartman decided to wait for Sam to approach.

When the other man got off his motorcycle and took all the packages, Heartman waved at him, still standing at the threshold of his outpost. "Sam Bridges! It's good to see you!"

 Sam didn't reply, only nodded his head while climbing up the stairs. By his way he turned head aside and stopped, looking at the snowman. “Seriously?,” He questioned loudly enough for Heartman to hear. “Whose idea it was?”

 Soon you joined both men. "Hello Sam, it's good to see you," you said with a smile and looked at Heartman, frowning. "I think I told you to get inside, huh?"

 "Easy, Y/N, I put this little thing on mute," he patted his AED a few times. “Idea for the snowman was totally mine. I’m thinking about getting similar sculptures to other Bridges locations, not necessarily made of snow but rather printed in Chiral Printers. We should consider bringing Christmas spirit all over America.”

 Sam scoffed Heartman’s words. “It’s not feasible as not all cities are in the network.” Sam was glaring at him, then he moved his glance to you. "Another order, huh? Are you opening a canteen or something? How is it possible for two people to use all of the supplies in a week?"

 "You kidding me right? I am not going to drag you back inside," uou muttered, completely annoyed with Heartman’s weird habit of muting the AED, so you simply unmuted the device.

"And it stays like this, sweetie," you said and turned your attention back to Sam. "Trust me, Sam, I have no idea what he is doing when I am asleep but our supplies melts like snow in the sun. I am so sorry for the trouble."

 With cocked brows Sam observed you and your little outburst of anger towards Heartman. "Yeah," he summed the situation up. Next moment he simply gestured at you and Heartman to slide aside. "I need to deliver these," he pointed at packages on his back.

 "Oh! Yes, right! Go to the terminal and then bring stuff inside," you instructed him and looked at Heartman. "We will be there."

 Heartman got back inside and took his coat as soon as he crossed the threshold of his laboratory.

 Soon, Sam joined you. He cringed at the very beginning after stepping in, when he spotted stuffed BTs with Christmas hats on. "The fuck...," He grunted to himself.

 "Heartman wants to bring back the Christmas spirit. In some way at least," you said looking at Sam from the couch and pointed at the big christmas tree. "BT in christmas hats aren't the only decorations here."

 Sam stopped at the top of four little stairs. "Yeah. I thought that you're not this type of guy because just like you claimed, you’re being dead inside," he summed up and got downstairs, putting the packages aside.

 "Well, you can see how much one person can change," you summed up getting up from the couch to walk up to Sam. "Here, since it's Christmas time. I have a little gift for you, I hope you will like it," you smiled at him, giving him a little bag of cookies.

 At first he hesitated to accept the little bag with cookies but soon he took it. "Thank you, Y/N."

 Heartman was laying on his cot. "Was nice to see you again, Sam. Thank you for bringing us all of the necessary things so quickly. You're simply the best porter."

 Sam nodded and grunted something under his breath only to turn around and got up the little stairs. "If only all BTs would be that cute," he pointed at two stuffed creatures.

 You giggled and nodded. "If all BTs were like these ones, the  world wouldn't be that scary. Thank you so much for coming, Sam. Have a good trip."

Several minutes passed since the moment Sam left you. Heartman was getting ready for another cardiac arrest when his intercom bipped, so the man frowned a little. “Do we expect any guests, Y’N?”

 You looked at him with a frown and shook your head.

Of course you didn't expect any guests, it's not like the good, old times when people could just visit friends randomly. It was a bit more complicated these days. "No, I do not and even if I did, I would inform you. Did you invite anyone?"

 He shook his head for no and got up. Heartman left his lab and went to the glazed entrance where the terminal was located. “Y’N, it’s Sam, come over here!”

 You even didn't bother to pull on the coat and joined Heartman, wearing your regular clothes.

"Sam? Is everything okay?"

 "Yes!," Sam yelled from the distance. "I improved your snowman, Heartman!"

 Heartman looked at you, frowning. "What is he talking about?," He asked and opened the main door to step slightly outside. The timefall stopped so Heartman simply got out of the building. "Y/N, you need to see this!"

 You were completely confused about what was going on. You followed Heartman to look at the improved snowman.

 The snowman had now one hand made of some plastic garbage Heartman found in his laboratory when the other one was made of snow, with middle finger up in the air. Next to the snowman there was a line of text scrawled in the snow. Fuck Higgs and his terrorists!, the inscription stated. Heartman lifted his hand up and gave a thumb up to Sam. “100 likes for this piece of art, Sam!”

 You gave Sam a thumb down. "And minus 50 likes from me. I preferred the previous snowman," you said but giggled.

  “You have no idea about modern art, Y/N!,” Sam yelled back and got onto his vehicle to roll down the hill.

“What? I like this anti-Monaghan version,” Heartman shrugged and wrapped arm around your shoulders. “Let’s get back inside. There are some handmade cookies left.”

[promptlists]

Sense Of Adventure (Carlos De Vil X Reader)

A/N: I’m actually so happy somebody requested this, it was so much fun to write Requested: Yes! Words: 2725 Warnings: Swearing and Fluff

Prompt: A: What is, where am I, wait what? I don’t understand! B: Hey hey hey, calm down. Look your fine. Ssh, look your okay. You just needed time to come around, you took a hard hit. A: Am I… Is this your bed?

Even after all the horror stories Carlos had told you about the Isle, you were not at all prepared for the harsh bitterness of the prison, a million miles from the happiness that shrouded Auradon. It was clear that you were the daughter of Tarzan and Jane, as no matter how hard you tried you couldn’t pull yourself away from the chance of an adventure, eager to explore the unknown and answer the thousands of questions that buzzed around your brain. Somehow, your warped sense of optimism lead you to believe that perhaps the Isle wasn’t that bad, but your heart practically broke when you saw the conditions your friends had grown up in. You had been curious to find out just what the Isle was like and jumped at the chance to join the others in bringing Mal home after she ran away. You had become good friends with the daughter of Maleficent, as you had with the rest of the VK’s, and wanted more than anything for her to be safe, as the children of the villains seemed to share the same spirit and excitement as you did. But it was Carlos you were drawn the most to, the slight innocence and naivety that separated him from the other three only intrigued you more as you found his sweetness utterly endearing.

You were contemplating how any King could allow his people to live in such a horrific place, when you wandered absent-minded from the rest of the group like you often did in Auradon when you craved adventure. Ben was still talking to Mal as you drifted through the dingy alleyways that ran through out the Isle, completely oblivious to the distance you were putting between yourself and the VK’s. You bent down to talk to two young children who looked half starved and caked in a layer of filth, reaching into your bag and pulling out two apples. “Here, take these,” You said, presenting the fruit to the tallest child. They looked at you for a moment, questioning your kindness, before they snatched the apples from your hand and ran away before you could think about taking it back. You didn’t blame them for being sceptical, you would be growing up in a place this. Taking a deep breath, you stood up from where you were crouched, brushing down your dress as you noticed the stares you were receiving. It was extremely clear to anybody who passed you that you weren’t from the isle, which was in the end your downfall. You became suddenly aware of how far away you were from Carlos and the others. “Well, well, well…” A thick Scottish accent called out from behind you “This must be my lucky day.” You spun around instinctively gulped, the feeling of cool metal brushing the underside of your chin. There, holding a hook to your throat, was the infamous pirate Evie and Carlos had tried to warn you about. “Don’t look so scared darlin’. I won’t hurt ye if ye do what I say”. Speechless, you stood frozen as the boy tied, your hands together and pulled you away.

Carlos hadn’t been able to focus on anything, since he found out you had gone missing. He was completely freaking out, feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibly for your disappearance. “This is all my fault. God knows what they’re doing to her” babbled Carlos as the group sat around his 3D printer, waiting for the fairy godmother’s wand replica to finish printing. “Carlos, stop torturing yourself, we’re going to get her back” Jay said, patting him on the back in an attempt, to console him. Carlos continued to stress pet Dude, his eye unfocused and drifting around the room. “I didn’t even say anything to that asshole when he told us he’d taken her. I just stood there”. “Harry’s completely  out of his mind, the psycho barked at you Carlos! None of us had any idea how to react” Evie began, before being interrupted by the beeping of the printer, signalling that the wand was finished “Y/N is a fighter, she’ll be okay. Now let’s go get her!” The four of them jumped up, Carlos grabbing the wand and leading the charge back to the limo. He hoped more than anything that you were in fact okay, and prepared himself to rip the pirate who did this to you to shreds. He had no idea how to do it, but he vowed all the same. “Oh and Carlos,” Jay said, once you had all sat down “When we do get Y/N back, the first thing you’re going to do is ask her on a date. I can’t watch you pine after her any longer”

You had spent the time you were held captive planning. Sure, at first you started to panic but you soon realised that stressing out was pointless, and put your effort into figuring out an escape route. You knew your friends would be back for you bringing whatever ridiculous requests Uma and her crew demanded from them, but you didn’t trust the Pirates to hold up their side of the bargain and set you free. “Time to move it sweetheart” barked the first mate “They’re here!” His voice had a sing-song quality to it that sent shivers down your spine. Still you kept your composure, and stood up yourself, marching your own way on to the edge of the plank so that he wouldn’t escort you there. Your hands were still tied but you no longer had rope around your legs which sparked your thought process. Pretty much the whole ship was draped in ropes of some kind, attached to the sails and woven into huge nets which drooped over the sides. You smiled to yourself. To the daughter of Tarzan rope was incredibly similar to vines.

“Welcome!” The pirate with the hook bellowed, signalling the captain that her guests had arrived. “Finally!” Uma cackled, nodding to Harry to return to you and grinning like a lunatic at the group of VK’s that had gathered at the front of the ship, Mal and Carlos glaring angrily at the front. You glanced at the boy you loved as his eyes burned into the pirate travelling back from Uma to push you closer to the edge of the plank. Remaining calm, you shot Carlos a reassuring glance and risked a small smile, locking your eyes with his which were alight with concern and anger. He only looked away when Uma began her speech, her eyes fixated on the wand in Carlos’ hands.

“Let’s get this party started, I swear I’m cold hearted, There’s no negotiation I’m not here for debatin’”

Harry pushed you forward making you stumble slightly as you got increasingly closer to the waters edge. He sniggered when he saw Carlos’ jaw clench and pouted at him putting his arm around you.

“You need some motivation Just look at Y/N’s face Then ask yourself how long you think I’ll remain patient”

The VK’s watched as Harry prodded his hook into the small of your back, angering Carlos more and more with every second. Mal put her hand on his chest to stop him from charging forward.

“I’ll throw her overboard and let her swim with killer sharks, You either hand over the wand or she’ll be ripped apart”

It suddenly clicked in your brain. They were going to trade Fairy Godmother’s wand for you. Knowing the devastation that wand could cause in the wrong hands, you had one fleeting thought. This was bad. Very bad.

“Now, let’s all just be smart, although for you that must be hard” hissed Mal in response. “You’ll get your wand - no one has to come to any harm! Don’t try to intimidate your bark is much worse than your bite, Who’s the baddest of them all? I guess we’re finding out tonight”

Harry’s intimidation tactics had changed again to simply making you uncomfortable. He circled around you, pushing his face close to yours, lightly nipping at you earlobe when Mal mentioned biting. The pirate had the audacity to kiss your cheek. You saw what he was doing, trying to throw both you and Carlos off guard by flirting with you. Refusing to give him any satisfaction, you kept a poker-face, staring off into the ocean. You were tweaking you plan a little in your mind, working out the complications. If there was one thing that you knew it was that they could not get that wand.

“Let’s go! Bring it on! Better give us what we want! It’s the wand for the girl If you don’t it’s going down” chanted the pirate crew, grinning unnervingly as they waved their swords in the air. The VK’s took a step forward, banging their fists on the railings in response.

“Let’s go! Make your move! Peace or war, it’s up to you Give her up and do it now If you don’t it’s going down!”

Harry let go of you and went to join his captain as she continued to shout, leaving you alone on the plank. You smiled secretly to yourself. This was just the chance you needed.

“So that’s your big speech huh? An empty ultimatum?” Uma asked, an element of smugness ringing in her voice as she tapped Harry on the chin, sending him forwards. All eyes were on the pirate as he stalked towards Carlos and for a few seconds all the attention was averted away from you. Quickly, you got to work, discreetly untying the rope that bound your hands, like your father had taught you to untie grape vines in the jungle. The rope dropped to the floor so you subtly kicked it into the waves, still holding your hands behind your back

“All it takes is one swing and I’ll humiliate her!” Harry yelled in Mal’s face, pointing to you with his hook as you tried to act natural. “Matter of fact one wrong move, and I’ll debilitate her”

He invaded her personal space like he had done you moments ago, completely absorbed in the conversation. Still nobody was looking at you so you took your chance. Silently, just as your father had taught you, you took a run up to the end of the plank, throwing your body onto the rope that dangled a few meters away.

“And if she even starts to slip, I’ll eliminate her” Harry plucked the wand from Carlos’ hand and continued to gloat, refusing to break eye contact with them.

You caught the rope with both hands, scrambling up it as quickly as you could. You were completely exposed if someone would have caught you then, you would have been done for. You reached the top of the rope and dived for a cargo net, letting your body elegantly glide through the air and you landed beside a mast, directly above Uma, who had taken the wand from Harry.

“All it takes is one wrong look and I’ll -” Harry’s eyes darted back to the plank, your absence making him splutter. Uma did the same, her mouth dropping open. “WHERE’S THE GIRL?” He roared.

You acted instantaneously, gathering a long rope and rocking backwards. In one movement, you kicked back, pushing off of the mast and swung across the ship, holding the rope in one hand and grabbing the wand as you swept past Uma with the other.

There was a moment of complete silence as you let go of the rope, your body stretched out in a star shape as you flew through the air. You landed triumphantly at the top of the crows nest, waving the wand you stole in victory as the VK’s began to cheer. The moment quickly passed as swords were drawn and an all out battle commenced bellow you. Carlos unsurprisingly charged straight  for Harry and had him pinned against a wall, threatening to throw his hook into the ocean. You chuckled for a second, amused by how quickly the tables had turned. Then the realisation set in, you were the biggest target on the ship yet you stood in plain sight, without a weapon to defend yourself with. You came to this conclusion too late however as Uma had already jumped out in front of you, snatching the wand from your grasp, a wicked cackle escaping her lips. She gave you a quick glare and kicked you from the top of the crows nest before you could comprehend what had happened.

The last thing you could remember before you hit the deck was Carlos, screaming your name and running towards your flailing body as you fell from the dizzying height. He reached you a second too late, trying to scoop you up as the world around you faded to black.

Painfully slowly you prised your eyes open, one at a time, squinting at the un-expected brightness that greeted you. You couldn’t recall where you were, or anything that had happened. “What is, where am I, wait what? I don’t understand!” You stammered, trying to sit up but failing miserably and collapsing back down into a cocoon of ivory sheets and pillows. “Hey hey hey, calm down. Look your fine. Ssh, look your okay. You just needed time to come around, you took a hard hit”. As your eyes adjusted you saw Carlos jump up from the foot the bed and clamber closer to your side. He had been holding your hand and started to trace circles onto the back of it with his thumb when he saw a look of terror in your eyes “Am I… Is this your bed?” You were beginning to relax, looking up at the boy comforting you, when Dude jumped up beside and began licking your face. You smiled meekly. “Yeah… I mean we were going to leave you in your dorm but I …. I guess I wanted to look after you… Not that you can’t look after yourself… I just… I wanted to see you wake up” he stuttered unable to look you in the eye You smiled wider. “So you were watching me sleep huh?” “Yes, No! Well not the way that you just sai… Oh god what am I even saying?” You giggled “Thank you Carlos,” you said sweetly, kissing his cheek slightly, making him blush. Then you jerked away, quickly remembering something. “Wait! The wand! Uma! Harry! What happened? Did they get it?” “Relax, it was fake” he said ruffling your hair and motioning towards the 3D printer. You breathed a sigh of relief. “The real question Y/n, is how did you not tell us that you’re practically a ninja? Seriously, one minute my girlfriend is tied up being pushed off of a plank, the next she’s flying through stealing from a pirate!” Carlos laughed heartily, grinning at you with a mixture of pride and amazement. “Did you just call me your girlfriend?” You breathed, barely audible. Carlos’ face flooded immediately with embarrassment and could only be described as purely mortified. “Girl-friend” he said quickly trying to cover his tracks “As in a friend that’s a girl”. You straightened yourself up in the bed, propping yourself up against a pillow so your face was level with Carlos’. You shook your head “I meant girlfriend…” you leaned in towards him “As in me being completely and utterly in love with you”. Before your better judgement could stop you, you planted a gentle kiss on his lips, feeling his twist up into a smile underneath yours as he kissed you back.

You were swiftly interrupted by the sound of Jay falling out of a closet at the other side of the room, Evie, Ben and Mal stood behind him sheepishly. “Finally!” Evie announced, after you and Carlos groaned, giving each other a knowing look before erupting with laughter. “You owe me $20 Ben” Jay said, picking himself up from the floor and holding his hand out to the King. “Where you watching us?” questioned Carlos between belly laughs. “The whole time” Mal replied bluntly. “What a way to ruin the moment” You giggled, pulling Carlos back towards you as he wrapped you back into a hug. “I love you so much Y/N” he whispered into your ear so only you could hear him. “Trust me when I say the feeling has never been more mutual”

[movieinternship]

Day One Internship: The TEA

Today was a bit of a recap of who everyone was, where everything is, seeing what things have changed since my 2011/12 Work Study.

I spent some time talking with the Director about what she does regarding budgets and working with the Board of Trustees and the state (since this is a public library they have to work with state funding and reps). Just like any other job really there’s a tree shape to the job levels. 

My library uses Overdrive for purchasing their ebooks. I didn’t know that it works the same way as a physical book: however many ecopies the library has, is how many can be checked out. So, if someone rents the only ecopy of a book available you will have to wait until their rental is over to check it out; the rental literally deletes from your device. I had been under the impression that a library's ebooks were a “as many people who want to rent it out at once can” kind of thing; like Project Gutenberg. What I also am not very knowledgeable about is the cost of being able to sell ebooks with copyright. Which is why Gutenberg is as it is; because they only have un-copywritten books.

Which brought an unknown scandal to my eyes, that I had been dealing with the repercussions of but didn’t know why: Apple and Amazon had been price fixing ebooks. 

I have, and hold, a bitter resentment towards editors and publishers, but not to the authors. So while I am for pirated and free material (mostly because school books are expensive as fuck and I already eat a lot of ramen and water) I want the writers to get back something of what they put out. So while Apple and Amazon made a killing, the writers got boned, and the two companies were ordered to pay back a certain million to customers who overpaid for their ebooks (in credits... not “real money”).

This brings up another scandal where Macmillan Publishing decided that libraries buying new ebooks was hurting their profit margin and so they were allowing libraries to only buy one ebook of new books- then the library would have to wait six more months to buy another copy (insert Star Trek Ferengi Rules of Acquisition here). Now, this doesn’t sound too horrible, but it has lead to libraries across the nation boycotting the publishing company. In short, since libraries can only rent out an ebook to one person at a time, if it’s a popular book, the wait list for it could be months long for patrons. My personal view is this: some people like to read things before they buy it, some people don’t have money to buy expensive new books- libraries are those middle ground and this alienates the patrons who use libraries to gain access to the material they want to read because of funding or (in case of small towns) not a wide enough, or lucrative enough, local bookstore. 

As far as buying physical books for the library we use Baker & Taylor Books. The same company that the local bookshop uses. No tea on that end, but it’s cool to know what companies are available to find these products for bookstores and libraries. There is also Ingram for physical books, and surprisingly 3M Cloud Library for ebooks (sorry no link, they mostly go directly to libraries and is a small selection from what I understand). 

After tea time and basics of how the books are attained I was introduced to the Integrated Library System (ILS) which is how a library catalogs incoming items, late items, bills, and just about everything in-between. We use an Open Source version KONA (much like the customization of running LINUX for libraries, instead of cookie cutter systems that run more like Windows). I love it, the tech guy is mad good at what he does, I’ve always been impressed.

We also work with the company OCLC which I have not delved much into, but seems to be a source of ideas for improving the availability of library services and innovating ideas for them as well.

i spent quite a bit of time at the resources desk, learning that most of the questions are technical and computer (we ended up helping some kids to print an awesome geometric design for her skateboard), and finding novels for travel and escapism; also talking about the validity of problematic content-

ok one more Tea for you. Apparently there was a huge meltdown in the Romance Novel genre. Several POC Romance writers took to absolutely destroying the entire basis of the genre. What we’ve all known for, since most of us could read, that romance novels are sexist, racist, and abusive, came flying twitter first into the “oh shit” lives of the white controlling writers of the genre; and in the end a bunch of them resigned from areas of genre writing that I yet have little knowledge of. But damn YES. As I told the librarian I was with- most of these things now come with an asterisk dedicating the work as outdated and offensive, and a product of its time (as Disney+ has done with older films). And as long as a person is intelligent enough to see the wrongs, the form of escapism is a learning process and guilty pleasure. Not that people don’t still believe the stereotypes and act on them, but it’s a slow process to culturally unlearn things with humans. Change is scary. This also falls into the fandom of fanfiction- much the same kind of reader-base, with some similar problems. 

In the end, I am so excited to be back because despite what most seem to think: Libraries are not boring and are not dying. These several detailed stories are just some of what I often come across working there, and I love it. There is never a dull moment, and there is always work to do. I did learn that there is a whole class in the Master’s Degree dedicated to learning to catalog books- AND I WANT TO TAKE IT. SO BAD. Also that some schools make you choose your emphasis after one semester, and some don’t care what you do as long as everything is filled out in the end. 

Homework this week is to make a list on KONA of books either in a genre to help with content searches of similar topics, or a selfish impulse of my own loves; and to find something in Thingiverse to print in one of the three 3d printers we have (I guess it’s been kind of hard to learn and I have no reason not to, because it’s cool as SHIT, so there.).