#i do not intend on using this card for anything but emergencies

[piknim]

Wooo i get to ruin my credit score some more!

[littleredwolf]

Compromised

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Words: 1,438

Summary:  An undercover mission goes awry, but Bucky had good reason to blow his cover.

Warnings: Mentions of intended sexual assault, brief mention of using alcohol as a coping mechanism, blood. 

--

Your mind was a battlefield as you wrestled with your thoughts, contemplating your options and trying not to give into the panic that was creeping in. 

You'd been working undercover alongside Bucky for weeks, tracking an asset that could provide valuable intel on a new terrorist organisation that had recently cropped up. When your target had sent some of his cronies to request a meeting with the super soldier, you'd been less than enthused. 

"Don't worry, doll. I'll only be gone for an hour, tops."

Bucky's reassuring words rang in your ears as you paced the motel room, the ticking of the giant clock on the wall taunting you with every second that passed. He'd promised an hour, yet it had been almost three. 

Your worry gnawed at your insides. You couldn't risk compromising the mission, but you couldn't sit around waiting for the worst either. Digging out the burner phone you'd packed for an emergency, you dialled the only number you'd saved on the contact list. 

"Steve, I've lost Bucky," you blurted before he even had the chance to speak. 

There was a long pause before he replied.  

"Okay...how long has he been gone?"

"Almost three hours…"

"You didn't think to call sooner!?" 

You pinched the bridge of your nose as you felt a headache coming on. 

"I didn't know what to do! He was only supposed to meet the asset and touch base, it wasn't supposed to take this long!" 

"It's okay, Y/N, we'll find him," Steve reassured as he picked up on the increasing panic in your tone. 

"Is his tracker still on?" You asked after a moment's pause, listening intently to Steve asking FRIDAY to pull up Bucky's location history. 

"Hmm, it says here that he's been sitting in the bar across the street for the last hour…" he mused, sounding just as baffled as you felt. 

"You're seriously telling me I've been going crazy with worry and he's been sitting in a bar this whole time!? I'm actually going to kill him," you grumbled, grabbing your jacket from off your bed and slipping on your shoes.

"Try not to be too hard on him, Y/N…Bucky doesn't do things without reason," Steve offered, and you took a deep breath to steady yourself. 

"I can't promise anything, but I'll try. Thanks for your help, Steve." 

"No problem, just don't leave it so long before you get in touch next time, alright? And be careful."  

"I'm always careful, I'll let you know if we run into any trouble," you said your goodbyes and hung up, immediately removing the SIM card from the back of the phone and stomping on the device. There was no such thing as being too cautious when it came to undercover work. 

Satisfied with covering your tracks, you left your room and made your way across the street in search of Bucky. 

–

The bar was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night and it didn't take long to locate the super soldier sitting in a booth at the back. He was alone, which was a good sign, but one look at his brooding expression told you that all was not well. As you slid into the booth beside him the smell of whiskey filled your nose - Bucky drinking hard liquor was never a good sign. 

"A little early for the heavy stuff, don't you think?" You remarked, to which he simply shrugged and took a long, meaningful sip. He winced as he lowered his arm and you noticed he was favouring his left side. 

"You're hurt," you observed, leaning to get a better look and gasping at the dark patch on his shirt that he'd tried, and failed, to hide beneath his leather jacket. "You're hurt and you're bleeding! What the hell!?" 

Bucky shooed your hands away as you attempted to get a better look at his wound. "It's fine, I'm fine. It'll heal soon enough." 

"At least let me have a look, it might get infected!" You implored, to no avail. 

"Y/N, it'll be alright," he insisted, much firmer this time. You met his gaze and studied him for a moment. There was a vulnerability in his eyes that you rarely got to see, causing your worry to multiply tenfold. 

"What happened Buck?" You asked softly, placing a hand over his. 

"It doesn't matter," 

"Well it does to me…I've been going out of my mind with worry and all the while you've been here, covered in blood and drinking the one drink you turn to when things take a turn for the worse…you can't tell me it doesn't matter when clearly something has happened, so I need you to tell me." 

Bucky remained silent as he considered your words. There was no way you'd be letting this go anytime soon, so with a sigh of defeat he began to explain. 

"They took me to our target's safehouse and a load of his goons were sitting around a table playing poker…they were speaking russian but I guess they didn't realise I'm fluent because they weren't very careful about what they were saying…" 

He grimaced at the memory and you squeezed his hand for reassurance. 

"What were they saying, Buck? Was it valuable information?" 

He shook his head. 

"Then what?" 

Bucky took another swig of whiskey and studied his glass for a moment. It was clear from his set jaw and tense shoulders that he was uncomfortable with the subject matter, but you needed to know the truth. 

"They were talking about you…" 

"Why the hell were they talking about me?" 

"I'd really rather not repeat what was said," he admitted, fixing you with a pleading look. You pulled your hand away and straightened up. 

"Bucky Barnes, if they were talking about me then I have a right to know what was being said!" 

You hated how stern you sounded but you were growing frustrated in your impatience. With another grimace, he finally confessed.  

"They started arguing over a girl - going on about who would get 'first go' and who'd make her scream the loudest…" he paused, his jaw setting in a hard line. You were sure you could hear the glass cracking under the vice-like grip of his vibranium hand, and you placed your hand on his flesh arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

"I just assumed they were making vulgar jokes about their girlfriends at first…but then one of them said your name and I snapped…" 

You winced as the glass shattered in his hand, but he didn't even flinch. "They were planning on assaulting you, Y/N, as soon as I left with their boss they were gonna come here and-" 

"Shhh," you quickly soothed, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear and affectionately stroking his cheek. It was a forward gesture, but you'd been friends for long enough to know it was one that he was comfortable with. He leaned into your touch and sighed. 

"I messed up, Y/N, I've compromised the whole mission," 

"It's okay, Buck…"

"I should have just ignored them and sent you a message to get somewhere safe, but I couldn't help myself…" 

"Bucky…" 

"I should have controlled my temper - it's not the worst I've heard on a mission - but as soon as they said your name, I...I just lost it…" 

"James," the sound of his first name finally got his attention and he turned to fully face you.  

"I could never live with myself if anything happened to you on my watch, doll," he admitted, taking your hand from his cheek and holding it in both of his. "And I know I've fucked it all up, but I couldn't take that risk."

"It's okay, we'll figure something else out," you reassured with another squeeze of his hand. 

Truth be told, messing up the mission wasn't an easy pill to swallow, but when you considered what could have happened, it made the loss a little easier to accept.

"We'd better get out of here before he sends people after us," you stated, shuffling along the seat to exit the booth. You waited for Bucky to follow suit and linked your arm in his as he stood. 

"Thankyou for having my back, Buck, I appreciate it," you said, reaching up on your tiptoes and planting a tender kiss on his cheek. 

The red flush of his cheeks didn't go unnoticed. He threw his arm over your shoulder and pulled you close, kissing the top of your head as you left the bar.  

"I'll always have your back, doll," he promised with a smile. "'til the end of the line." 

[we-are-siege-engineer]

Titan: Don't Fuck With the Ocean

So this has been delayed, and everyone and their mother has already commented on this. We’re well past the virality mark on this topic. But whatever, I want to crack in and get this thing wrapped up anyways. For context, I study mechanical and manufacturing engineering. I’ve grown up around submarines with my dad being an engineer on US Navy subs, and I was able to ask him about this. I’ve also got a diving cert and enough experience living coastal to at least get me a knowledgeable respect for the ocean. Being 60 ft under should instill that, at least. 

I will not make any comments on any of the other four victims. However, I reserve the right to be fully derogatory to the CEO who died in the submersible, Stockton Rush, for his disgusting flippancy towards safety in such a dangerous environment as 4,000m below sea level, for disregarding multiple warnings against the project, and for subjecting other passengers to this. I intended to start with my favorite source on this, but it looks like I’m beginning with spite. I claim that in engineering, if safety disregards don’t immediately boil your blood, you have to turn in your card. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65998914 “Titan sub CEO dismissed safety warnings as 'baseless cries', emails show” Some people may have seen the quote “At some point, safety just is pure waste,” Stockton told journalist David Pogue in an interview last year. “I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything.” Stockton Rush has typed "We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often," he wrote. "I take this as a serious personal insult." *Frankly*, the response to this should very much not be personal insult, but a call to action. There is no reason to take this personally. “I have broken some rules to make this…The carbon fiber and titanium, there is a rule that you don’t do that. Well, I did.” 

“At some point safety just is pure waste…I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.”

“[The sub industry is] obscenely safe, because they have all these regulations…But it also hasn’t innovated or grown—because they have all these regulations.”

This is gruesomely hilarious when you remember the CEO isn’t the actual person running the stress tests, manufacturing it, checking materials charts and costs, calculating max tolerances, or anything else. He’s the little funny man with the money and the reputation who tells people do what he wants anyways. He has no right to play maverick when he is hardly doing any of the work, and especially when it involves other innocent people. While he has a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering, a very commendable thing to get, that’s not what he does hands on as the CEO, and aerospace does not directly translate to submersible understanding. You do not get to be flippant with other peoples’ lives. These comments would be bad enough for anything on the surface, or even in the sky. But again, the ocean is a completely different beast, where it is much more difficult for emergency services to reach people.

As well as this, I need to state the difference between submersible and submarine. If I don’t, I feel the entire US Navy breathe down my neck. It’s like boat vs ship. Submersible: needs to be supported by a vessel up top, not designed for long term deployments. Smol boy. Submarine: can be operated independently, can go on six month or so deployments. Big boy. Going forward, the primary difficulties of the ocean are first and foremost the atmospheres of pressure on the vehicle. The dangers of no breathing air in the ocean are of course, a major issue, but the pressure of the ocean will be what breaks this and makes that lack of air a huge issue. A submersible needs to be properly pressurized to withstand the changes and keep the passengers inside also safe. The ocean is also very difficult to reach communication through. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/wcmc/2019/6470359/, so the submersible losing connection isn’t entirely unsurprising. But other factors listed here lead to its delay.

[scarlettriot]

Hide & Seek • 73 Days

Pairing: Kirishima X f!Reader

Warnings: Minors & Ageless Blogs DNI, Trespassing, Vigilanteisum, Blood, Passing Out due to Injuries, A Very Corrupt Commission

Contains: Aged-up characters to late 20s. Reader is a vigilante, Kiri is still a Pro (for now). Reader makes changes to her appearance as a means of disguise. Reader also has a quirk. Kiri calls Reader Sweets as a nickname.

Summary: When a mission goes very wrong, you decide you can't be a part of the cover-up and therefore go off-grid. Kiri can't stop looking for you though.

Tag List: @meggsngrits • @weebaboobs • @katditca • @silverhairsimp • @bigmooncheeks

Word Count: 2,532

A/N: Brand new series! I hope you all enjoy it. If you saw my post regarding this fic a few hours ago and read the blurb, you can skip to below the cut. My editing on this is probably ass so sorry in advance. Happy reading ♥️

There was more than one type of villain in the world. They didn’t all wear dark clothes or hide in the shadows of back alleys.

Being a Pro Hero allowed Eijiro to see the very scum of the earth. People who got their rocks off by doing some of the vilest of things. But, what he was never able to wrap his brain around was the fact some of those people blended into the daily masses. They existed right in front of his nose, and there wasn’t a damn thing he, or any other Pro, could do about it.

They were untouchable. 

It was all pretty words and red tape that kept the heroes in line. Being led to believe they were doing everything for the right reasons so they could rest easy at night. But, Eijiro wasn’t resting easy anymore. Each time he signed a new NDA or was told to withhold information during an interview or conferences, it was like a part of his very soul was being ripped away. What little he had remaining was torn away as soon as he read your letter…

He’d known something had been wrong after the mission. You didn’t immediately turn over the NDA but instead took the 24-hour timeframe they allowed and left work for the day. You didn’t text him aside from letting him know you made it home okay. He hadn't heard from you all night long. And then he woke up in the morning to find that fucking note slid under his front door. 

You had to tell someone, it said, and he was the only person you trusted completely.

He thought he knew what it was going to say. After all, cover-ups were such a shitty thing to deal with, but this one, it was so fucking bad. It pushed you too far. He thought you turned in the NDA and were just going to take some time off. That you needed to clear your head. But it was so much more than that. 

I can't stand by and do nothing anymore. Someone has to end this.

The note didn’t say where you were going or what you intended to do precisely; you didn’t want to put him in the middle of anything since the commission would be after you now. But there were a few words at the very bottom of the page that captured all his attention. He read them over and over:

I really hope I get to see you again someday. I love you, Ei. 

You were one of his best friends, and now you were just gone?

No. No, that couldn’t be right. He couldn’t accept it!

He was supposed to be in the office today but going to work was the furthest thing from his mind. He drove right to your house, hoping there was some slim chance you might still be there. He used the spare key you’d given him for emergencies and found your home in its usual state… minus you. 

Your backpack was gone and your favorite sneakers weren’t by the front door. Those seemed to be the only things out of place. You’d left your purse behind with all the cards in your wallet. Cash was gone though. 

He found your cell phone, agency access card, and hero license on your nightstand right next to the picture of you and all your friends at graduation. Stuck to the corner of the frame was a yellow sticky note with four words: I really am sorry. 

Eijiro had held it together right up until that point. But with that yellow little square piece of paper in his hands, he sat on the edge of your bed and let grief and rage take over. It was like you knew he’d come looking. Like you knew he’d beat any commission agent here. 

He left everything exactly the way you left it except for that sticky note. That little piece of paper he kept with the letter, tucked away in the lining of his wallet where he knew it’d be safe. 

When the commission questioned him about your disappearance, he played the fool. Acted as if he had the same information everyone else did. Of course, he didn’t have to pretend to display hurt and anger. Those came naturally nowadays. 

They went through your office and locker. Talked to all your co-workers. Tore your home apart looking for any clue where you might’ve gone or what you planned to do. 

There was some twisted part of Eijiro that hoped you had the courage to do what none of them did and blow the lid off this whole damn thing. Expose them for who they really were. But, days passed, and then weeks, now months had slipped by, and nothing even remotely close to that happened. 

You were barely brought up outside your group of friends anymore. The commission kept a file open on you, and it was well known that if anyone had information on your whereabouts, it was to be brought to their attention immediately. Until then though, it was just business as usual. 

Patrols and missions, office work, and press conferences. The world went on, but your friends couldn’t. Certainly not Eijiro. 

It was tearing him up not knowing anything about where you were. If you were okay. If you were safe. He felt sick, couldn’t eat like normal, and lost so much sleep. 

Those quiet hours that should’ve brought his mind peace only filled it with worry. He’d pull your letter out, now fraying at the edges, and read it time and time again even though he had every word of it memorized. 

I love you.

The two of you tossed those words back and forth between each other for years now. Since you were students at UA. Eijiro couldn’t remember when the meaning of them changed. When the love he felt for you grew into something bigger. But, he could recall staying up until dawn with you trying to sort through it. 

A single night wasn’t enough to figure it out. Years weren’t enough time to figure it out. You both kept pushing it off because admitting love and being in relationships in your line of work was so fucking dangerous. 

So, you’d hold each other a little too long, let your lips linger on his cheek, let his fingers fill the spaces between yours, and sometimes, warm each other's beds when nights got a bit too lonely. It was enough. Or that’s what he told himself. 

But now, in these ungodly hours, he wanted nothing more than to hold you in his arms and never let you go again. He wanted to kiss you and pour out his heart. And he would. Gods, he was going to if it was the very last thing he did. He’d never give up on finding you. If he couldn’t bring you home, then he’d go wherever the hell you were because he was confident, now more than ever before, that wherever you were was where he was meant to be. 

For 72 days, his determination never once wavered. The search for you was completely off the radar, so the commission wouldn’t have a clue he and the rest of your friends were still on the hunt to find where you’d gone. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if they had found out. You were wanted after all, and they were under strict orders to bring you in if found. Not that any of them intended to do such a thing if they ever actually did find you. When they found you. 

The search was exhausting. In Eijiro’s free time, he visited your favorite places, hoping you might have a craving for your favorite drink from that little cafe you always went to. Or, on nice days, he’d head into the park and walk right by that tree you loved reading under. Even when he was on the clock, he’d use his patrol shifts to ask around, hoping someone matching your description might sound familiar to a shop owner. He stopped into the hospitals on many occasions or asked around hotels. Anything he could think of! 

For 72 days, there hadn’t been a single lead. But, the 73rd would bring a ray of hope in the form of an envelope tucked away in a file he’d just received. 

I can only buy you a day's head start before the commission sees this too…

Eijiro knew Kyoka’s quick slanted writing. She went on to explain that a woman had been spotted lurking around the warehouse district for the last three nights. There was no detailed description, not by a long shot! Just a feminine figure, in their twenties maybe, wearing dark clothes with a hood. There wasn’t a hint about if they had a quirk or not. The whole report would probably be laughed off by the commission, and maybe that was a good thing. They weren’t desperate for a lead like Eijiro was. Things they just blew off, he clung to like a lifeline. 

It nearly killed him waiting for night to fall. He made himself dinner and a drink to try and calm his nerves, but it didn’t do any good. He just ended up pacing around, nearly wearing trenches in the floorboards. 

By the time he left his house, he had his bright hair tied back and hidden under the hood of the dark jacket he put on. There wasn’t much he could do about being as tall as he was, but he hoped this late it wouldn’t really matter. Still, just to be safe, he avoided the patrol routes he knew by heart while still taking the most direct path to the district as he could, making only one stop along the way. 

It was a seedy little shop, but he needed a phone since he left his back at his house that way, it couldn't be tracked. If shit got real bad, he had a couple numbers memorized just in case. 

He hopped the fence to the rows and rows of warehouses when the camera’s turned away. Hardening his skin to easily make it over the wiring at the top and landed on the opposite side with ease. 

There was a lot of ground to cover. It would’ve been better if he had help, but he wasn’t willing to drag anyone else into this. At least, not until he had actual confirmation it was you running around here. 

The rooftops of the massive buildings seemed like the most logical place to begin scouting. He carefully made his way in between buildings, peaking in windows just in case something might stick out, and then headed up the six flights of stairs when he reached an access point. 

With the additional height, he was able to move around in the shadows more freely, keeping his eyes and ears open for anything that might seem out of place. The problem was, nothing did. 

Two hours had passed, and aside from a couple trucks that seemed to be making legitimate pickups and deliveries, there was nothing out of the ordinary. No suspicious vehicles or dark figures running about (besides himself). But, he’d stay out until daybreak if it meant having a chance of finding you. 

Another hour went by, and he’d been crouching low on one of the roofs he’d jumped over to. He had a decent vantage point of one of the few warehouses that had several lights still on and thought maybe something might happen if he watched it long enough. 

He’d spotted a figure walking into and out of one of the beams of light, but they were moving slowly, reading something. He didn’t think much of it. But he’d been too preoccupied watching this person that he didn’t hear someone else creeping up behind him. 

A pair of arms slipped around his neck before he knew what was happening, and he activated his quirk as second nature. The person held tight though, even as they hissed in pain. Eijiro stood, his arm reaching behind, trying to get a good hold to yank them off, but they just wrapped their legs around his torso. 

For a moment, he couldn’t think if he should actually fight back since he wasn’t on duty, and he sure as shit wasn’t supposed to be here. But, any official security wouldn’t have jumped him without identifying themselves first… 

They still pulled their arms together against the sharpened plates of his neck like they were determined to choke him out. He felt the warmth of their blood seep into the cracks of his skin, and enough was enough. 

His fingers cracked and sharpened to their claw-like points. Reaching behind him again, Eijiro ripped through the fabric of their top and pierced right through to their flesh. He threw them over his shoulder, and they landed hard with their back smacking down on the cold cement roof. 

He wasted no time. Eijiro yanked their hood off and watched hair spill out that he didn’t quite recognize. But, when their eyes cracked open, gods, he would’ve recognized those eyes anywhere. 

Fear pumped through his veins and brought him to his knees.“Y/N…” He’d finally found you only to throw you on your back and see blood trickling from the edge of your mouth.

“Ya got me good this time, Eiji.” 

He knew he did too. Your blood ran hot down his fingers and it made him feel ill. 

You coughed, and more came up with it. Not willing to waste a second more, he gathered you up in his arms and tried not to think about how hard you hit your head. 

“Eijiro, p–please don’t take m’in. Just ‘tend like ya never found me.” 

“I’m not takin’ you in!” He jumped down the flights of stairs back down to the ground. “I just gouged out a chunk of your back and whacked your head on fucking concrete! I’m gonna patch you up, and you’re not gonna complain ‘bout it!” 

Your weak laugh made his heart clench. “If– If I don’t complain, will you lemme walk away after?” 

He swallowed thickly, “If I can’t convince you to stay…” 

He didn’t care about property damages. He barely even waited for the cameras to turn away before he was sprinting back to the fence and sliced a hole clean through it to get the two of you to the other side. 

“I’ve almost found ‘em again, Ei.” Your head fell against his chest, eyes fluttering closed, and he ran faster than he ever had before down the sidewalk. 

“Hey! Sweets! Don’t do this! I’ve taken you down way harder than that before, " That was a lie, "Don’t you go passin’ out on me now!” 

“Gonna get ‘em. Go–gonna brin’ ‘em back…” 

“Sweets–!” He tried jostling you in his arms, “Y/N!” 

You were still breathing at least. He pulled the burner out of his pocket and called the only person he thought could help. “It’s Kirishima, I-- I didn't know who else to call. Can you meet me at my place? It's an emergency.”

[winterxgardener]

Hey! I wanted to let those who may not know that the first story in today's episode had quite a few more updates they didn't get to. It wasn't attached to the one reposted, so they might not have seen it. A LOT went down.

I sent @winterxgardener a rundown summary of what else happened, but if those of you are curious, they are u/Scared-Weakness-6250. There are about seven or eight more updates.

It's a bit of a read, but also very interesting if you felt like you wanted more to the story.

I wished they had seen it as it would have been cool to hear their thoughts and reactions. Maybe they could do an episode called "Updates We Missed" or something like that going through previous stories and the updates that came after the episodes were taped?

Anyway, I hope all of you are having a great morning, noon, or night!

Kudos to @thisisatakenusername for updating us regarding the first story for the Reddit story. Whoa! Be prepared; it's a lot of information to handle. ⬇️

Basically the OP installed a lot of security measures and put in cameras and signs. They ended up cutting through the massive lock with an angle grinder and broke in. The police and the property manager came and caught them and they thankfully didn't resist arrest or no charges could have been dropped.

The damages were $5000. He planned on suing them for damages and especially the money they made off renting it illegally. The parents pretty much want nothing to do with the place now and OP understands but is sad because it was originally intended for them.

He ended up getting a sincere apology from the two brothers in law and it really meant a lot to OP. One of the brothers had to pay for both their bail and they were able to pay for the damages but not OP's legal fees. He assumes this only happened once they realized how f*cked they were

They basically were going to do anything and everything to make sure it goes away because they could lose their jobs as one of them has security clearance. They made an agreement for no contact and a lot of other legal stuff and things ended up working out ok. The actual break in event was a mess for OP as he was away with his wife’s family and didn’t have their phones on them for a bit.

One of the two families ended up having their truck repossessed and had to pay to break their lease on their SUV. They were $125k in debt on high interest credit cards, no home equity and two personal loans that were probably under false pretenses to begin with

The dad refused to help but the mom eventually caved. The parents had no house payments and lived off social security and pensions with a small emergency fund. That sister finally got to them, they ended up needing to borrow a car from them that could barely hold them and their three kids and the parents were paying for their groceries and the car insurance

They also filed for Class 7 bankruptcy and technically have nothing at stake if they break the agreement, so he is hoping they don't end up reaching out

The other brother-in-law also lives separately from his wife and kids because he is done with that family dynamic which I honestly don't blame. That sister was the one pressuring him to do everything and never wanted any part in it.

He is finally able to go there worry-free and his parents have also enjoyed it. It seems it is all behind him now

I tried the best I could to sum it up and left out some other details like meetings with his lawyer and the DA's office up at the house, but that is essentially what happened.

Me after reading it:

[cienie-isengardu]

"The Hutt is dead? How?" "Hard to say for sure. Apparently it was very sudden. I had a word with one of the techs, who sometimes sits in on our card game, and the indication from him was poison." A tech emerged from the large cubicle with an anti-grav gurney, upon which was a large body sack, sealed shut and obviously filled to capacity. The lifter's gyros and condenser whined under the load as the tech guided it outside. "That would be the late, and fairly heavy, Filba, unless I miss my guess. I wonder who's on medical examiner duty today? Whoever it is has got quite a job ahead of him." Jos Vondar arrived just then, and the three of them watched the gurney head for the OT. "Bad luck," Jos said. He didn't look happy. "Filba was a friend of yours?" Barriss asked. He looked at her, obviously surprised at the question. "Filba was an obnoxious, officious, tightfisted fatherless squat who would make his own pouch mother sign a requisition for water if she was dying of thirst." "You've got to learn to be more open with your feelings," Zan said. "Why the grief, then?" Barriss asked. "Because I'm on ME duty," Jos said dolefully. "Lucky me, I get to do the autopsy. This war'll be over by the time I've cut him up. I'll dull just about all the vibroscalpels we have in stock. I'm saving the last one for my throat," he said to Zan in a mock-aside whisper. "Word is, he was poisoned," Zan said. "Won't help, and you know it. I still have to dice him and weigh each organ, even if he just had a simple cardiac arrest. I'll need a wrecker droid to help." "Oh, well, look on the bright side," Zan said. "Maybe we can recycle him into lube-it'd be enough to keep all our surgical droids working smoothly for, oh, the next couple hundred years." "It's good to see you two can maintain a sense of humor at the death of a fellow being," Barriss said, sounding slightly stiffer than she had intended. After all these weeks at Rimsoo Seven she was certainly not unfamiliar with the black humor; even so, it occasionally took her somewhat by surprise. Jos looked at her and shrugged. "Laugh, cry, get tanked, or go mad-those are the options around here. I'll leave you to your own choice-me, I have a mountain to carve." He headed toward the OT, following the gurney. After he was gone, Zan said, "It gets to you, after a while. You have to develop defenses. I have my music - Jos uses sarcasm. Whatever gets you through the hot nights." Barriss didn't say anything. She knew he was right, but still...

Medstar: Battle Surgeons by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

[girl4music]

Lexi. I totally understand how you feel. To me also the way they go about Tara’s death is all wrong. I really think that they should have gone about it in a different way. I actually would have much preferred it if Tara had died in ‘Tabula Rasa’ instead of ‘Seeing Red’. Yeah, she’d have a significantly shorter appearance in the show but least her arc into becoming autonomous wouldn’t have been undermined.

I feel like Tara dying while she had no idea who she was would have been quite poetic for her and I feel like this was the way Whedon originally wanted to kill her off in Season 6. I don’t think she was ever supposed to make it passed the break-up stage of her and Willow’s relationship. I don’t think Willow and Tara breaking up and then getting back together a few episodes later was ever really the plan for Tara’s character arc. Just for Willow’s arc.

The problem with creating this autonomous character arc for her and then killing her off in this way is that they’ve started something they never really intended to conclude. Giving us something substantial just to take it away. And this is much of the problem I have with Season 7 as well. Where they set up and build significant character theme and narrative structure only to just neglect it or even dump it in the end. Putting off addressing and dealing with it properly for as long as they can before deciding discarding it completely is what they should have done all along. Tara should have died when Whedon initially wanted her to die. He should have never listened to the fans because instead what has happened by doing so is he has insulted them by starting to build something with her character that he never really meant to finish off because her death was always what was going to happen in her arc anyway. And what little character development she had in the season was now just completely pointless because they don’t do anything substantial with it. All they did with it was show us that the character refuses to be mistreated any longer but when push comes to shove, their feelings of loneliness and emptiness are stronger and because the character is more about forgive and forget, they just let that happen without reason. They should have never written that storyline for her if all they were going to do with it was just undermine it. Make it feel as if it’s not as important as they originally made it out to be.

And people keep saying that that’s the point of her death happening when and where and why it did. The whole point is for her death to hit so harshly and so suddenly. But all it does for me is just lands hollow because the character themselves has nothing really to do with it. So it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to killing her character off like that in my opinion. The reason why Tara died should have been because of Willow abusing magic and her through it. That would have sent her on an even worse destructive spiral than she went on during those last 3 episodes, culminating in the finale hitting even harder. Much like with Season 4, the Big Bad came in too late and therefore there wasn’t much you could do with them. The only reason why it still works is because we already know who Willow is. We have known for the whole show. And they play that card. The “I can’t believe this is Willow. This is not the Willow I know.” When actually, yes, we have always known that Willow. We’ve just never had a proper exploration of that side of her character before. The Dark Willow arc is that exploration. But I say that the arc is not long enough for it to be really impactful and for Tara’s character to be more than a plot device in it. Yeah, her death is the catalyst for it to happen in the first place. But it always would be no matter when or where or why. So long as it was her that died, Dark Willow would have always emerged from the shadows. I believe that Whedon made the wrong call with it and should have just stuck to his plans from the get go. Should have killed Tara off earlier in the season so that the purpose of her death had to do with her arc too and so the Dark Willow arc could have lasted longer. Tara should have never died from a gun shot. One that she had no awareness was ever coming her way. Nor one that was accidental. I think the unfairness of it all would have hit just as well had her death been purposeful to Tara’s character as well as to Willows. They’ve already told the story of an unpredictable death before and it hit hard enough then and there. They did not need to repeat that same story with Tara. With a Scooby. Who meant more than a plot device. That’s what really grinds my gears about Tara’s death. It’s not that it’s her death. It’s that it is HER death.

It’s not her death that matters. She would have died anyway. It’s the character that does. Does that make any sense? It’s that her death doesn’t feel purposeful to HER as a character. Only Willow’s character. And the reason why it lands so hollow for me with it happening after the breaking up and making up is because they built the whole arc for her character to leave and then come back of her own volition. So her agency is made out to be all important and then it’s not. So they built all of that just to take it all away. It hurts. But it doesn’t hurt in the way it’s meant to. It’s a dull ache. It’s an empty ache. It’s an unsatisfied ache. You don’t feel upset about her death. You just feel angry. I know that’s the point of it. But the point is pointless if there’s no meaning to her death other than “Oops”. Because SHE deserves much much more than that. If all you can feel is anger about it, then there’s no catharsis. There’s no hurt that makes you cry. Makes you grieve. Makes you release. There’s only an ache. And the ache never goes away.

That might be necessary storytelling one time or two times because they did it with Jenny and Joyce. A third time with Tara isn’t and is just cruel. Especially because she IS a Scooby. So I feel you Lexi, in that all that you can feel is anger. I also understand other people’s perspective that the point is to only feel anger because we’re supposed to resonate and agree with Willow in wanting to track and hunt Warren down and make him pay for it all. And that is delicious pay off, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that Tara herself doesn’t have a purposeful or satisfying end to her own arc. So maybe it was better if they never built it at all and she always remained unautonmous instead in that other people always controlled her affairs and governed her life and death. ‘Cause having it be just an accident was just a massive fucking insult to the character herself. Never mind the whole bury your gays and recovery from addiction sides of it. That’s an insult too but not as much as it is for Tara.

[roseunspindle]

I have stress hives now...what fun

so at the hotel I work night shift at we have a few people that try to check in every now and then who, ten time out of nine, will not have the money to actually pay for the room they reserved, they will insist, “oh you lost my money” “no way you already charged me” “oh gosh all my money is gone” mysteriously this happens to them a lot.... After a few strikes we usually put blocks on most online booking for them, and turn them away if they try to show up as a walk in. 

One such woman has been here three times this week. Not only did I have to cancel her reservation the one night, I needed to run night audit and she was a no-show (again) she comes in at like 5, and is angry that I cancelled her room, as she should have until seven... and I had to tell her no, our audit runs at 4 so you have until 4 a.m. (well, like 3:50 as I give myself a grace period for running to do no-shows/money drops what have you. She is angry naturally because “that one girl told her seven.” (Also she was quite put out that when she demanded I give her my phone so she could go online to “get money” as her phone was dead, I flatly refused. (didn’t bother mentioning that I don’t actually have a cell phone but I digress...

Now, tonight with the whole nonsense, “that one girl” has been me, my manager, the person on the phone, or potentially the “app”. Sus to say the least.

First I had seen some people just around the big trashcan right outside and they just kept being there. So I finally went out to see who it was. Imagine my joy when I saw my current headache...

Anyway, she and the guy she’s with come in to complain about me “staring at them” and I replied that I was in fact doing my job and just checking on the random loiterers. Didn’t say anything to them at the time, had just braced myself...

And I was right to, they come in saying they want to check their “cash-apps” and “move some money around”

So I wait, and they mostly sit there, talking... inappropriately as well, for a public lobby no matter the time of night, and the half-hour mark, I ask if they are intending to actually rent a room or not. They get mad, trying to insist they were trying but it was my fault for cancelling their reservation the day before.  I pointed out that even if they had arrived on time for that one and checked in, they would have still needed to check out at 11:00, 12:00 if they asked for a late check-out. 

Then they were mad again, I guess I stole their money from the previous stay, even though that card declined and did not go through, so no charges could be made. The guy starts calling me “rude to customers” saying “it’s a free country” (?) and telling me I was going to be fired tomorrow. Joy.

He appears to leave and the woman is suddenly my bestie and “just let her finish figuring out her finances.” hour and half later I ask again, unimpressed with her staring off into space and not “finding and sorting her finances” so now someone has stolen her deposit from cash app and can I let her sit inside until she can get a ride? The guy she was with had left her blah blah, now she does use a cane and has a bad foot, so I said alright, then she makes some personal calls, none of which involve getting a ride, then she snuggles down and goes to sleep in the chair...I’m trying to ignore this, there is a homeless lady I let sleep in the chair sometimes when she passes through so fine...only I go to the bathroom and when I come out, there is the guy “who left her oh no!”, who was hiding in a camera blindspot, and he’s playing on his phone and I tell them, nope, all kindness has fled my soul now, I need you both to leave the premises. They get mad at me again, saying “they’ve been trying” ...the candycrush app open on his phone and her snoring says otherwise. 

They get out of the building at least, and both are screaming nasty things at the door (aimed at me) so I finally call the non-emergency police number (they were white locals so I figured they’d be safe enough) (any person of color would have to be like, threatening me with actual death before I would call any cops on them, once I did get a Hispanic guy to give me his mother’s phone number though, when he would not stop being a problem (very drunk and was kicking holes in the hallway walls)...good as gold after she ripped him a new one) because while I want people to behave and not be giant problems, I really, really don’t want anyone getting hurt or worse...)

Anywho, call them to ask them to come escort them from the premises, and I believe problem lady heard me as she was coming in as suddenly I was “ma’am” and “I hate to trouble you” and they suddenly were able to leave...

But yeah, stress hives now, and I seriously hope my manager blocks her from now on. 

[nickgerlich]

Wave Your Hand

“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16-17, NKJV.

I grew up in a religiously divided family, meaning Dad was Roman Catholic, and Mom was Church of God. Not the snake-handling kind from Tennessee, but the more Wesleyan-based group out of Indiana. I went to both churches. While I never quite understood the rituals of the Catholic Church, I can say I was equally perplexed by the biblical literalism of my mother’s church, and the behavioral restrictions they placed on parishioners. They used their Bible as a cudgel against non-believers and those believers who dared question.

Suffice it to say, they were the kind of people who would take that little snippet from Revelation quite seriously, never mind a little out of context. They truly felt a time was coming (yet, but no doubt imminent)  in which we would have to have a special mark to be able to transact anything, that there would be an emergent antichrist, and all that. I found it interesting that the closing book of the Bible, a treatise of hope, ended with a horror story.

But I digress. I truly doubt all of that end-of-the-age stuff was intended to be taken literally, and that we’ll never have to possess a special mark to go to the store. But then again, there is pause for thought when you consider that our increasingly cashless society requires a debit or credit card for many of our transactions.

And then there’s Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, something I have written about already more than once, but just learned a new wrinkle:

You don’t even need plastic. You can simply wave your palm over a scanner, and it will read your unique palm print, thereby tying it to a payment method. Assuming no one ever cuts off my hand and takes it shopping, this could be the greatest convenience ever. Or, the beginning of the end times. Your call on this one.

Just Walk Out is being used at airports and sports venues, where long lines are a hindrance, and people are often in a hurry, either to make their connection, or get back to the game. While it is one thing to open an app upon entering the store and allowing it to track and charge you, it is quite another to just wave your hand. Maybe the Revelator was on to something.

One company in particular that has found great success with this technology is Delaware North, a New York-based food, lodging, sports venue, and gambling services provider. A “sponsored” piece (that’s code for advertorial) in Retail Dive tells the story of how they have implemented it effectively and profitably.

There are variants of frictionless shopping, of course. One might argue that self-check is almost frictionless, other than the scanner and payment terminal with which we interact. But then there are mobile apps for scanning and paying directly from the shopping cart without having to go to a terminal.

In total, they are decreasing the need for humans to handle transactions. Naturally, there are naysayers, ranging from those concerned about data privacy, incorrect charges, and even shoplifting (not them, of course), to those who bask in the glow of concern for other peoples’ employment. I just hope those same people never use ATMs, self-serve gas, online banking, online bookings, online shopping, online this, online that, online whatever. What’s that saying about folks who live in glass houses?

Bottom line: This has the possibility of revolutionizing retail. Sure, there will always be need for clerks in certain situations. But whenever we are buying basic items, ones that do not need any human intervention, Amazon’s technology could be used. You know. Kind of like filling our tank with gas. Making a withdrawal. Or buying food.

Sure, jobs will be displaced, but new ones will rise from those ashes, as they always have in the industrial and post-industrial eras. We’ll get over it. Meanwhile, we just have to find our way through yet another paradigm shift.

Because the digital era keeps ‘em coming, one after another. As for that church my mother attended, it disbanded after the preacher died. I guess they just couldn’t handle all that change.

Dr “Roll With ‘Em“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

AU where deltarune and undertale are merged and all the darkners are monsters. i have a TON of lore thoughts about this au that didn’t make it into drawings so, more details under the cut

-i guess biggest thing first: card castle. which didn’t get a drawing because i don’t really have any design changes i wanna make to it? but it mostly stays the same - it’s a smaller sub-kingdom inside the underground, that’s ordinarily led by four rulers. spade king staged a coup and now he has designs on the throne of the entire underground, because he’s of the opinion that asgore’s too wishy-washy and not fit to rule.

-spade king wants the human SOULs to make himself strong enough to defeat asgore, because he knows right now he’s definitely not gonna beat him in a fair fight

-gaster built queen alongside the CORE. he intended for her to be sort of a backup emergency system, storing all the data on how to keep things running in case anything ever happened to him. he didn’t ever intend for her to be placed in charge of it full-time, but then, he never envisioned a whole city springing up around his creation either. or getting erased from spacetime. funny how life happens sometimes, isn’t it?

-queen actually couldn’t care less about breaking the barirer. as the personification of the CORE, she physically can’t leave the immediate area of cyber city anyway, so she has no real incentive to help asgore collect souls. however, she DOES care a lot about alphys, who has taken over helping her keep the CORE running, and has noticed that she’s been... quiet, lately. like something’s weighing on her she doesn’t want to talk about. queen wants to give her some new test subjects to help cheer her up! (this absolutely will not cheer her up)

-berdly is alphys’ intern, which really means he gets shoved off onto queen most of the time, because alphys is too nervous to handle instructing a whole person even when she’s not also covering up a massive science disaster in her basement. to her credit, queen handles the annoying little nerd pretty well.

-alphys building mettaton’s body and all still happens in this ‘verse. queen’s well aware mettaton’s a poser and not a real AI, but she’s not going to say anything about it yet

-mettaton has no real interest in the management side of stardom, and alphys is too anxious to handle the people stuff even if she did have the time, so he rolled over to the storefront side of cyber city and picked up an addison that wasn’t doing anything because they live for this kinda stuff, right?

-and somehow managed to pick up The Worst One.

-the brand really shouldn’t be doing as well as it is considering who’s in charge of it, but somehow things seem to be working out okay? things are selling, the ads are working, people are showing up to performances, so probably best to just... let spamton keep doing whatever it is he’s doing?

-also mettaton would never admit it but he’s kind of got a soft spot for the little dude. he knows exactly how it feels growing distant from your family once you finally get the fame you’ve been chasing, after all

-the holidays live in snowdin, of course! mrs. holiday isn’t the mayor, but she IS very involved in local organizing and hosts a lot of get-togethers. noelle helps out at the library.

-rudy... was handed over to the royal scientist for experimental treatment once it became clear the local hospital wasn’t enough, and they haven’t seen him since. noelle would really, really like to see her dad, but she knows that it’s probably important not to disturb doctor alphys or the other patients. she can wait! it’s fine!

-in the meantime, she’s been sneaking over to waterfall a lot. it’s quiet and peaceful there, and she used to come here with her dad a lot, whispering into echo flowers and making them “talk” to each other. it’s a nice place for her to get away when everything feels like too much

-also, waterfall has susie in it!

-susie is a swamp monster who lives in the swamp. this just felt right.

-after some initial confusion/fright (on noelle’s part) and hostility (on susie’s part), they slowly warmed up to each other. susie’s brash, reckless nature is kind of a balm for noelle’s soul, when she really wishes she could just get up on the roof and scream at the universe that nothing is FAIR. and susie REALLY likes it when she can get noelle to come out of her shell a little and do crazy things with her. who knew this adorable deer girl had such a loud side!

[a-bang-for-your-bucky]

TBOU:Chapter 9: Don't Take The Girl

Summary: It's time!

Warnings: angst, contractions, blood, medical emergency.

A/N: This is it. This is the last chapter. I do want to do an epilogue in the near future, but for now, this is it. Thanks for reading!

Your labor started early in the day. You were out with Sami, doing some much needed catching up. It started at minor cramps, which you thought nothing of. They started coming more consistently, and the pain grew worse with each spasm. Sami insisted on calling Santiago to meet you guys at the hospital, but you convinced her you still had time.

Contractions were no fun. If you knew how much they hurt when you agreed to this, you would have told Santi to piss off. When you couldn’t deny it anymore, you gave in, letting Sami call the father of your child. The normal calm and collected Santi was long gone when she told him you were in labor. You could hear him on the other end of the phone panicking about the hospital bag and insurance cards.

You got on the phone, doing your instructed breathing with Santi to get him to chill out. “The hospital bag is in the closet, top right shelf.” You told him, “Everything is in there. I have my insurance cards in my purse. All you have to do is meet us at the hospital.”

You could hear his breathing slowing down, returning to a peaceful pace. “Thank you, querida.” Another deep breath. “We’re gonna have a baby.” He said out loud, in disbelief.

“We’re gonna have a baby.”

Santiago watched as the nurses stuck an IV in your arm. You winced and turned away. He knew you hated needles. Another contraction hit you, making you squeeze the bed sheet. You cried out and Santi rubbed your back, talking you through the pain. He looked at the nurse, who was hanging the fluid bag. "Where is the anesthesiologist?" He asked for the third time. He knew other women were having babies, but you were his woman.

"He will be in here soon." The same answer he was given the first two times. He knew that there was a time frame on when you could get the medication. He read the stupid baby book from front to back, even taking notes. He went to the Lamaze classes with you, even though you were sure you didn't need them. You were so confident in your body's ability to do its job as nature intended.

He wasn't as confident. He watched the birthing videos, which you were sure was going to scare him away. But Santi being Santi, he just held your hand telling you he would be by your side no matter what. Seeing you in the hospital bed though, with wires, needles, catheters, and whatever else they stuck in or to you, he was scared shitless. "Look, I don't want to be rude, but the nurse told me that when we got here" he paused to look at his watch, "two hours ago. Please, she's gonna be too far dilated if we have to wait any longer." He begged the nurse for something, anything.

She smiled at him sweetly. "I've seen a lot of dads come through here. Not many care as much as you do. I'll see what I can do." She left the room and Santi turned his attention back to you.

"How are you doing, querida?" He asked, taking your hand in his. You squeezed tightly as another wave of pain hits. He accepted the pain, wanting to do whatever he can to help you get through this.

"Santi, it hurts. It hurts so much." You cried, shaking your head. You contract again, letting out a long, loud groan.

"The medicine is coming, baby. There's a lot of babies being born today." The words were not comforting you like he had hoped.

You turn to him, with tears in your eyes. "Santi, I can't do thi---." Your voice was broken, cut off by another contraction, longer, stronger. Santi looked down, there was blood. Blood was seeping through your hospital gown.

"Fuck. Help! Help!!" He yelled as his finger smashed the 'call nurse' button. "Somebody help me!"

You looked up at him, seeing double. "Santi, I don't--- I feel---" You couldn't get your sentence out. Santiago watched as your beautiful eyes rolled to the back of your head and you fell backwards, head landing with a ‘poof’ on the pillow. Nurses filed into the room, followed by a doctor.

They moved him out of the way as machines started going crazy. "The baby is in distress. We have to get it out now." The doctor told one of the nurses.

Santiago couldn't move. "Sir, we need to get her out of here. She has to go to surgery." He could register the voice speaking to him, but couldn't understand what it was saying. "She's bleeding out, she needs to be moved." He heard that. Bleeding out. You were dying. He moved instantly, as the bed was rushed out. He followed until he couldn't go anymore.

"Please, she's-- I love her." He told the nurse who was holding him back. "Save her." The woman led him to a waiting room and asked if she could call anyone for him. He knew Frankie and Brooke were out of town. Benny and Kayla were on their way. He shook his head and she left him alone. You were dying. His baby was in danger. He didn't know what to do.

Santiago found himself in the room alone. His face was tear-stained, red, and he probably looked like a crazy person. He looked up to the ceiling. "I'm not a good guy, but please. She is good, she-- she is good. Don't take her. I don't deserve it, but don't take her." He wept to whatever deity would listen to him.

He wasn’t sure how long he pleaded for a miracle. A few minutes? An hour? A doctor came into the room, a blank look on her face. "Mr. Garcia?" He stood quickly, nodding. "The baby is fine. A healthy little girl." She told him, "but mom isn't out of the woods yet. Dr. Coleman is trying to stop the bleeding."

A little girl. A mini you. A sob escaped his lips as the doctor walked away. He was lost and everything was out of his control. You were dying and it was his fault. Having a baby was his idea. He was killing you.

Benny came barging into the room, "where is she? Pope, where the fuck is she?" He yelled as Santi looked up into your best friend's eyes.

"A girl." He choked out, "It's a girl." Benny's eyes softened at his words. "But she's-- God. This is all my fault." He sucked in a sharp breath. "She's dying, Ben."

Ben shook his head. You can't die, he thought. "No." The blonde looked at his friend. "No, no, no. Damn it, no. She can't fucking die. She can't.-" Ben cried. He was angry. Angry at Santiago, at you, at God. If he lost you, he wouldn't know what to do.

Santiago was about to speak when a nurse walked in. The two men turn their attention to her immediately. "The baby is in the nursery. Which of you is dad?" Santiago raised his hand. "You can follow me. I'll take you back to her." She turned, but Santi didn't follow.

"What about her mother? Is she okay?" He knew he sounded gruff, but he needed to know that you were okay.

The nurse turned back to him, "Please, sir. Follow me." Santiago went this time when she started walking. He just knew she was leading him to your cold, dead body. They walked through double doors, down a small corridor, to a recovery room.

"Please, put these on and wash your hands with that soap there." The nurse instructed. He did as he was told, no questions asked. The green coveralls were in place and his hands were clean. The nurse opened the door and there you were. Still hooked up to a bunch of wired and catheters, but the heart monitor was beating and that meant you were alive. "The doctor will be in soon to speak with you." Before she could leave, Santi asked her to tell Ben you were okay. She nodded in agreement only after Santi claimed he was your brother, which wasn't a total lie.

He pulled the chair up to the bed, grasping your hand in his. It was soft and warm, just like he remembered. "I prayed. For the first time in twenty years, I prayed. I can't do this without you. Please don't leave me." He whispered to you, though he wasn't sure you could hear him.

The doctor entered, followed by a nurse pushing a little cot. Your little girl; His little girl. Our little girl, he thought. "Mr. Garcia," Dr. Coleman greeted him. "The placenta detached from her uterine wall, causing the bleeding. We did the emergency C-section, which was successful. I am confident that I cauterized all the bleeding vessels. She should make a full recovery. The anesthesia should wear off soon. When it does, she should wake up."

Santi thanked her as the nurse pushed on past her. A small bundle of pink was wiggling in the cot. He looked up at the doctor, who encouraged him to go on. He got closer to the baby, taking her carefully in his arms. She had your eyes. He hoped she'd have your eyes. "Hi, sweet girl. It's me, daddy." He cooed, as the infant wrapped a small hand around his large finger. The happy tears that fell from his eyes landed on the pink wrap.

He sat beside you on the bed, holding the little girl so she was facing you. With a smile on his face, he admired the precious life you had brought into the world.

“You truly are the best of us.”

tags: @mylifeisactuallyamess , @pedritomando , @leannawithacapitala , @440mxs-wife , @swordandstar, @thereadingsofahopelessromantic, @emmy626 , @prettylilhalforc , @dailyreverie @aria725 @diaryofkali @bodapenguin @lazyunknownwerewolf @phoenixofthevalley @xoxabs88xox

@shakespeareanwannabe @itspdameronthings @aynanasstuff @theewokingdead @acrossthesestars

[markrosewater]

Hi, Maro. I'd like to express concern with Neon Dynasty and Magic feel.

When the image of the DJ table was released, there's been a lot of discussion about what "feels like" and "doesn't feel like" Magic/fantasy. The (heavily paraphrased) argument that I see from you is that there are already sci-fi and humoristic elements in the game, and that extending those elements isn't doing anything necessarily new. I feel that that's a disingenuous take. Steampunk tropes on Kaladesh have a nuanced fantasy feeling that's premodern and/or modern-divergent. Urza-era "mech suits" emerge naturally from metallurgic constructs and fantastic artificing. The nuance between that and cyberpunk/scifi is frustrating to articulate, but I believe that the public response of "X elements already exist, why is Y different" erases that nuance and the displeasure that comes with it.

I personally feel that, instead of understanding that cyberpunk-DJ-techno elements may feel antithetical to the player base's connection to Magic's established fantasy, your responses have been dismissive and equating Neon Dynasty's aesthetic to parts of the game that have completely different origins and feelings.

The same can be said around Un-sets sometimes. Humor on Magic cards (Spire Barrage comes to mind) is common, yes, but Un-sets are by nature a parody. Equating Un-humor to premier-set Magic humor feels like playing a Weird Al song in place of the original and claiming that the listeners are wrong for pointing out the differences.

I hope that none of this comes off combative, but I do feel frustrated, and I know that there's no harm intended in how you present your work here on Tumblr.

Thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to write a nuanced reply, so it seems only appropriate that I do so in return. I understand that you have a line you draw of what "feels like Magic" to you. I believe each Magic player, whether they're able to verbalize it as well as you, also has a line. Here's the tricky part. That line is different for every player, and often, pretty radically different. There's no unified line that R&D can hold to.

This means our philosophy isn't about holding to a line (as it's essentially an impossible task), but rather leaning into what makes a trading card game so special - the ability to enable the consumer to customize their own experience. This means we want to offer up a wide variety of different options, so that every player can find what makes Magic special for them and enable them to make Magic the game they want it to be.

If a particular player doesn't like a certain type of effect or a certain type of creative or a certain type of humor, they have the ability to opt out of using those cards, either by their choice of format, of deck and/or of opponents.

My article next Monday tackles this topic in a bit more detail and is going to offer up my favorite new metaphor about what designing Magic is like.

[ohtobeleah]

Seth Meyers // Sebastian Stan

The Interviews Masterlist

Summary: But honestly, I wish you guys could know Sebastian—he’s the sweetest human being on the planet, he’s such a good guy and he’s just so positive.

You were over it, that was probably the nicest way you could put it. Your feet were honestly like balloons, your back felt like it was about to snap—but the way Sebastian looked at you like you hung all the stars in the sky just for him made it worth it. The way he’d do anything and everything you’d ever ask, from the most simple task to the 3am craving run to the corner store in his sweats. Random fans asking to stop and take a picture would always make the trip seem longer than intended. But it was a price you were most definitely willing to pay for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate fudge ice-cream.

“So unfortunately, your very pregnant partner, the lovely Y/n Y/l/n couldn’t make it tonight?” Seth Meyers presented as Sebastian nodded, the audience swooning over a photo of the two of you being shown on the monitor. “We have her on standby via video but—tell us about her—what’s being going on?” Sebastian coughed away a slight tickle in his throat.

“She’s just lazy—“ he shrugged, getting a laugh from the audience before correcting himself. “Nah I’m kidding, she’s uh—she’s doing well, her and the baby are both just, doing their best. But doctors orders, due dates getting closer and closer and there’s been a few close calls where we’ve taken trips to the emergency room because things don’t feel right or you know—she’s been struggling with hyperemesis so dehydration’s a huge thing we’ve been monitoring.” Sebastian smiled up at the photos Seth was showing the audience, a slide show of you and him—the history of you. “Foods another issue entirely, things just don’t wanna stay down, although a pint of ice-cream never seems to fail.” Seth chuckled at Sebastian explained.

“So it’s bed rest?”

“Strictly bed rest until either the baby’s had enough or the doctors can find a good enough reason to allow her to roam free I guess, it’s definitely hard to see the mother of your child go through so much, but I mean—Y/n is just one of the strongest people I know. My appreciation for that woman just grows so much every day.” Sebastian cooed as he listened to the audience beam—so utterly encapsulated by the way he spoke about you. Just so head over heels obsessed.

“Now, I feel like I’m way out of the loop here—so correct me if I’m wrong.” Seth spoke with kindness just oozing from his skin. Sebastian loved people who loved you. It made his heart so full. “You both met on the set of season two of the Marvel show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, tell me—what’s it like being told okay this is your co star, go create chemistry that’s believable, we need this to work. Because everyone knows, if you don’t have that chemistry on camera then is it really going to be good?” Sebastian thought for a second as he sighed, carding his fingers through his hair gently.

“It definitely builds nerves, it was never an issue with Anthony because we just instantly clicked on press tours and carpets and what not before we were ever given the opportunity to go off on our own and create this amazing show.” Sebastian told the audience. “So when it came to actually working so closely together it wasn’t an issue. With Y/n it was so different because she didn’t have that acting experience to fall back on, she’d never done anything like this and in reality Kevin Feige basically just plucked her from her life and said ‘just be your authentic self but times ten’—she was just generally so nervous to be on set and getting her to come out of that shell was a challenge but obviously you can tell—once she was out she was just phenomenal.”

“When did you realise you were seeing her in another light?” The audience cooed in response to Seths questions—Sebastians blushed crimson.

“Second day we were running fight sequences and stunt testing, she’s just an incredible person I’m blessed to have in my life.” He shrugged, laughing at himself. 

“It’s rumoured that’s Y/n’s been casts alongside Dominic Cooper in—in a new series that’s been leaked, however there’s no official confirmation yet? Can you speak on that or?” Sebastian teased a smirk from the corner of his mouth. Twiddling his thumbs. “Of course with the baby and all it’s just rumours?” Sebastian knew the truth—you’d already been working on script readings, filming wasn’t set to start until 8 months postpartum. It was premature news, leaked by a photographer who’d seen you and Dominic out at lunch with some big time marvel producers. Kevin Feige being just one. Sebastian thought he’d do his best to slide it under the rug.

“I think at the moment Kevin Feige is holding Y/n very close to his chest. She’s his golden girl, I think he takes a lot of risks and chances when it comes to Y/n because she’s down for it? After we wrapped Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the idea of Agent Avery still playing a huge role in the new age of the MCU was very much heavy in the air so he could have her do anything, however.” Sebastian sighed. “She’s got the guys face on the shirt she wears to bed Seth I’m kinda tossing up who’s got too stop on my hit list—Dominic Cooper or Tom Holland, just as problematic as each other” the audience laughed along with Meyers. Clapping as Seth showed a photo of the famed Dominic Cooper shirt.

“We have Y/n on standby, curtesy of zoom, still taking the internet by storm with her infectious smile please give a big round of applause for Y/n Y/l/n everyone!” Seth loudly presented as Sebastian and the audience cheered and clapped as you appeared on screen—still in bed very much pregnant but presentable. Your t-shirt of choice your absolute favourite. A gift from Haley Atwell herself. One of the famed Domestic Cooper shirts. Sebastian had one of his own somewhere deep in the depths of his draws. He hated that you loved it so much, deadset on the idea you were more in love with Dominic then you were with him. Yours was an extra extra extra extra large—acting more like a night dress then anything else. Sebastian caught the sight of it fast. Rolling his eyes. You never took the damn thing off.

“Hello, hi guys how are you?” Asking as if you hadn’t just seen Sebastian a few hours ago. He laughed. You looked beautiful.

“The beautiful Y/n ladies and gentlemen joining us from the comfort of her bedroom, how are you feeling?” You sighed.

“Large!” The audience cooed. “I’m feeling large Seth.”

“I have a question, Obviously you and Sebastian met on set, can you tell me what you generally thought when you first met Sebastian?” You laughed, leaning against the headboard of your bed, Sebastians side still a mess from when he got up.

“I was so intimidated.” You began explaining. “I was so in over my head, anyone who knows anything about any marvel production knows that feeling when you’re coming onto set for the first time and you’re one task is to just, get it right.”

“Do you have a specific moment where you remember being like huh okay maybe he’s kinda okay?” The audience laughed as you did, the colour of Sebastians cheeks were flushed a crimson red. you were flicking through a rolodex of memories. A hand softly tracing absent-minded circles over your forever growing bump.

“We we’re running through some fight sequences and I’d never been strung up to a rig before.” You we’re explaining as Sebastian broke out into a contagious laugh, knowing exactly what you were about to say. “and I was just kinda hanging there a couple of meters above this big blue crash mat we were supposed to fall down to and Sebastians like, being hoisted up by the crew and obviously I’m just frozen in fear and once he gets up to where I am he just looks at me with this stone cold seriousness and cracks the cheesiest one liner.” You covered your mouth as you laughed. “He goes, so—you just hanging around or—“ and I wet myself, I was in hysterics.” The audience laughed along with Seth as Sebastian shared his crimson colour. “But honestly, I wish you guys could know Sebastian—he’s the sweetest human being on the planet, he’s such a good guy and he’s just so positive. He’s just a really nice face to see on these sets you know, on these shows and these uh—big marvel productions things can get very tedious and uh—exhausting, but it’s always nice to look over and see a smiling face.” Seth beamed at Sebastian. Chuckling together as you watched on from the comfort of your bed.

“Are you excited to be a dad Sebastian?” Sebastian moved his hand over his heart as he threw his head back with a groan.

“Im over the moon, I can’t wait—I’m so excited!!” He smiled. The audience cheered with excitement. “It’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me, I’ve always wanted to be a dad.”

“Y/n? How about you are you as excited as Sebastian here?” Seth turned around to face where the monitor was.

“I’m so blessed—I really am, I have an amazing support system around me, so yeah I guess you could say I’m just as excited—I’m not overly excited about the whole giving birth process but I’m sure we’ll be okay.” You we’re trying to remain as optimistic as possible. Things hadn’t been the smoothest of sailings with yours little one. “I’m just excited to be a mum.”

“Now, Y/n, you recently signed a 6 picture contract with Marvel studios—do you have an idea of where your character arc will go or where she’ll pop up next in the marvel cinematic universe. And Sebastian, the story of Bucky Barnes is far from over, do you have a plan where you’d like to take your character?” You loved these questions—you could gush about your character in the MCU for hours. It was a family that had accepted you with open arms. You smiled via the monitor at Sebastian as he gestured for you to go first. His face just beaming with so much admiration for you. The love of his life.

“I think the story of Agent Avery is only just getting started, we all know how the season ended so I think Marvel did a really good job at leaving a tone of avenues open for her not only in terms of her relationships with Bucky and Sam but for her to jump over into other storyline’s.” You explained. “I think it would be interesting to see how she plays a roll in the idea of a multiverse—is there other versions of Agent Avery who weren’t so lucky, are they good or bad or seeking destruction, is she an agent does she have a family? I think it’s very open for her—But yes, definitely signed that 6 picture deal so we’ll just have to wait and see where they want me to take her.” The audience cheered as you pressed your lips together, reaching over for a glass of water as you listened to Sebastian. Seth so intrigued.

“Yeah what she said.” Sebastian laughed as he shook his head nervously. “Look, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been portraying this, this very complex and deeply loved character for over a decade now. But I really have a gut feeling that Bucky’s story is only just now about to start.”

“You’ve been confirmed as a co-star in Captain America alongside Anthony Mackie, Will we be seeing some of that story during that movie.” Sebastian teased a laugh, nodding in response.

“Of course—of course.” 

We’re gonna wrap up soon and go to break but Y/n I’d love to know—out of all Sebastians characters, who are you most compelled by?” You thought the question of for a moment, pretending to think like you didn’t already know who you wanted to say.

“I’m a big fan of Chris Beck but, Seth if gotta say the sense where Lance Tucker ask Twitchy to get him some water lives rent free in my mind.” The audience laughed hysterically. “Also, he’s not as flexible as he’s made out to be in that one scene.” Again the audience bellowed into hysterics, Sebastian wheezed as he gripped his chest. Beat red in the face as you laughed. Seth couldn’t catch his breath quick enough.

“Sebastian what about you?” Seth asked through broken laughter.

“What? She’s been in one thing!” You scoffed playfully. “No you know what? I really enjoy just watching the sense when Bucky’s gets one good punch in over and over again just stuck on replay.”

“So spiteful!” You smirked, teasing from the safety of your bed, knowing as soon as Sebastian got home later that night he’d be on your like a bad rash. “You’re just saying that because you’re embarrassed.” Seth laughed at the way the pair of you bantered—Sebastian smirked at you as the camera caught you sticking your tongue out. 

“We’ll be right back ladies and gentlemen, please give a big round of applause for Sebastian Stan and Y/n Y/l/n!” 



[hotch-stufff]

Love is Complicated

gifs by hqtchner & ncis-season-

Pairing: Hotch x reader, Gibbs x reader

Warnings!: angst, pining, kissing, fluff

Request: "well i was thinking about a criminal minds x ncis crossover, where the reader has a big crush on gibbs but then she meets hotch and she is really confused 😿" @wolviesbabes

--------

Your hand scribbled yet another word on the endless stack of paperwork that littered your desk. It really did never end. You set your pen down. You needed a break. You looked up and your eyes instantly found him. He was hunched over his desk, probably doing the same thing you were doing.

But God, did he look good doing it. Although in your opinion he looked good doing just about everything.

You noticed that about him over the past couple months on the NCIS team. You had been transfered from another similar unit in New Orleans on the recommendation of Dwayne Pride himself. Gibbs was quick to accept you to the unit, but he remained cold to you for the first couple of weeks. It wasn't until you saved him from a, for lack of better words, crazy gunman did he warm up to you.

After that, you two had gotten extremely close. So close that you developed a small crush on the man. Although, you hid it rather well. No one, atleast not to your knowledge, knew about your crush. And you intended on keeping it that way, but it was so hard when he was just sitting right in front of you, looking all handsome and just... him.

You wanted to tell him. You really did. But he was way out of your league, and you weren't even his type. But a girl could dream.

Vance suddenly came out of his office and called Gibbs up. He stood slowly and walked away. You prayed this wasn't a case. You really did not feel like dealing with a case right now.

He came back out a few moments later, a scowl on his face.

"What is it Gibbs?" You asked, he jerked his head towards Vance's office.

"He wants the team to attend an interagency gala on Saturday night." You scoffed. Of course he did. "FBI, CIA, and NCIS teams are all expected to attend. Including us." His scowled deepened at the thought of having to deal with other agencies.

"Great, just great." And you were so looking forward to a quiet weekened.

* * *

The night of the gala had arrived much quicker than expected. And of course Abby had insisted on going shopping for dresses. She herself had gotten a long black dress, with a slit. She said she would add a few things to make it more like her, and you couldn't wait to see it. You had gone with a more subtle dress. A long emerald green dress, with spaghetti straps and an open back. The front dipped slightly.

You had brought it with you to the office so you could get ready with Abby and as you were heading to the elevator to go to her floor, you heard Gibbs on the phone. Now you weren't one to eavesdrop, but you really couldn't stop yourself.

"I know, I know, it won't take long. I promise. Bye." Was he with someone else? You stood there frozen as he emerged from the room he was in.

"Hey y/n. Whatchtya doin?" He asked suspiciously.

"Oh, um nothing Gibbs, thought I heard you and wanted to say bye before we left, I didnt think you would actually go to the gala tonight, so I thought I could just stop in and-" he cut you off.

"Slow down, you're rambling. You okay?" You needed to get out of there.

"Yup, just been a long day. Alright well bye." You rushed off to Abby office. Once you got there, she instantly asked what was wrong. You explained everything. Your feelings, the conversation you heard, just everything.

"Awe, y/n/n. I'm so sorry. He's stupid if he doesn't see whats right in front of him." That made you smile.

"We should get ready." You stated standing up to grab your dress.

2 hours later, you and Abby walked up stairs looking amazing if you did say so yourself. Wolf whistles were heard coming from Tony as you two walked towards the group. You rolled your eyes, catching Gibbs smirk.

His eyes dragged up and down your body, which had confused you greatly. He had never showed any interest in you before, why now? Maybe he had and was just better at hiding it.

"Well, we should get going." You nodded, you all walked out to the SUVs ready for the night ahead of you.

* * *

The gala was interesting to say the least. Each agency decided to stay away from eachother, like elementary students. Each group taking up their own circle around the room.

You had spotted a rather handsome man who you had recognized as Aaron Hotchner sitting at the FBI tables and couldn't seem to take your eyes off of him. You new you had feelings for Gibbs,, but something about this man just drew you in. You had previously met him on a conjoined case with your old team, and you had developed the smallest of crushes on the man. You never expected anything to happen, and he was only in New Orleans for about a week.

Suddenly Gibbs popped back into your head, and you huffed slightly, turning to search for him. Finding him at a table nearby, talking with a woman. You scoffed and he looked over at you.

In a moment of impulse, you tunred away and walked across the empty dance floor straight to Agent Hotchner. He looked up from his conversation as you neared his table.

"Hi, NCIS Agent Y/l/n. We worked together on the Williams case about a year back." He nodded in recognition.

"Of course. Its great to see you again agent y/l/n." He paused looking you up and down in a way you welcomed. "Can I help you with something." He asked, not unkindly at all, but rather friendly.

"I was wondering if you would like to dance." He raised an eyebrow at you. "Someone's got to break the chill in this room." He nodded and stood up slowly, his team staring on in awe. You figured he didn't do this very often.

"I would love to." He took your hand bringing you to the dance floor as another song began. You two danced for about 10 minutes before more couples began to join you. You smiled in triumph and Hotchner laughed at your face.

"What? It worked didn't it?" He smiled shaking his head.

"I suppose it did." You two began talking and laughing and just getting to know each other. You soon found yourself at a table as you continued with your conversation.

"Okay but, im just saying if Strauss is anything like Vance, they would be perfect together." He laughed at this rather loudly, catching the eyes of a few people near by.

"That would never happen. If Vance is anything like Strauss they would drive each other crazy." You giggled softly. Soon it was time to leave, and Agent Hotchner, or Aaron as he had asked you to call him, offered to walk you to your SUV where the rest of your team was waiting. They all eyed you as this strange man walked you over, handing you a card and pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. You had blushed profusely and walked over, getting in the car.

"So y/n, whos the hottie?" Abby began interrogating you as soon as you shut your door.

"Thats Agent Hotchner. He's the Unit Chief of the FBI's BAU." You smiled to yourself.

"Must be an ass if he's from the FBI." Gibbs remarked, another scowl gracing his face.

"He was actually quite the gentlman." Was your only response before turning to look out the window. Gibbs was the one being an ass. You had just spent the night with a wonderful man and Gibbs just had to ruin it by spouting some snarky comment that only confused you more. The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

* * *

Once back at the office, Gibbs had called you to the elevator, not giving you a chance to respond. You had of course listened, and as soon as the doors shut, he had pulled the emergency button.

"What is it Gibbs?" You asked softly. He just walked closer to you, cupping your face. "What are you doing?" He leaned in slowly bringing his lips to yours.

And you had expected it to be perfect and explosive and passionate. But... it wasn't. He pulled away after only a moment.

"Hang on, let me try that again." And he leaned in once more, pressing his lips to yours. But once again, there was nothing. He pulled away.

"That was ... strange?" He asked, more to himslef than anything.

"I uh, that-that was-"

"Not what I was expecting." He finished for you.

"You know Gibbs, I've been pining over you for months, and I'm guessing you felt the same. But I think we both met someone else tonight that changed our minds." You recalled him spending the whole night side by side with the woman you had seen earlier. You smiled shyly at him. "Call that woman you were with tonight. Tell her you want to go out on a date." He smiled looking into your eyes.

"Only if you call Agent Hochie, or whatever his name was, and tell him the same." You laughed at not only his comment, but the absurdity of the situation. For the past 5 months you had been yearning for a man who ended up not being what you wanted at all. It made you think that maybe what you really wanted, what you both really wanted, was someone to love. So you latched on to the person who had become closest to you.

"I love ya y/n." He whispered as he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"I love you too Gibbs. Now go get her." He stepped out of the elevator, pulling out his phone. You did the same, pulling out Aaron's card. It rang once. Twice.

"Hotchner." You giggled at his formal greeting. Taking a deep breath before going for it.

"Hey Aaron, I was just wondering if you were up for dinner?" He smiled.

"Of course. You know, I'm really glad you called."

"Me too." And you walked out of your office that night, a date with a man you had never expected, and a smile on your face.

-------

Not sure how I feel about this one, but I loved the request. Let me know what you guys think!! Thanks for reading! Requests are still open, so ask away! If you would like an idea of what to request, here is my prompt list, and if you would like to read more of my work, here is my masterlist.

[spencers-renaissance]

Emergency Contact

Summary: When Spencer ends up in the hospital again, his emergency contact — who happens to be his boyfriend, Luke Alvez — is called. Too bad he hasn't told the team about him yet...

Tags: whump, h/c, hurt spencer, broken ribs, coming out, relationship reveal, protective derek, team as family, fluff, au: different first meeting

Pairing: Luke Alvez x Spencer Reid // (heavy on the Derek & Spencer friendship, too)

Word Count: 2.6k

Masterlist // Read on AO3 // Bad Things Happen Bingo

Okay, so Emily was not in S11, but for this fic she is, because I wanted supportive Penemily and that's what I gave myself. Other than that, this fills the square "broken ribs" for my Bad Things Happen bingo card. Enjoy the whump mixed with fluff!

Spencer doesn’t mean to get hurt again, but he also isn’t exactly surprised when it happens. If anything, Hotch really needs to stop sending him out to scope places and suspects out by himself. Surely Tobias Hankel proved he’s a trouble magnet in that regard years ago.

The summerhouse the suspect rents is a nice enough place to lay incapacitated while he waits for back-up, he supposes, but he’s not exactly able to lie and enjoy the sunshine when his ribs have been smashed in with a metal baseball bat and he knows the suspect is currently hightailing it down the beach. Not to mention the fact that it’s worryingly difficult to breathe.

Still, it’s better than a dilapidated cabin in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere Georgia, pumped full of heroin while his feet are whipped. Small mercies.

“Goddamnit, Spencer, again?” Derek asks amusedly when he finally arrives and crouches down by his side, but the undercurrent of worry in his voice doesn’t elude him.

“Sorry,” he wheezes, still winded and in immense pain from the ambush. “I didn’t see him coming.”

Derek raises a brow, chuckling slightly. “Yeah, pretty boy, I figured that.” His hand goes to Spencer’s hair as his expression furrows in concern again. “Did you see where he went? I’ll send the others after him while I go with you to the hospital.”

Spencer smiles a little, relieved that he won’t be alone. It’s become a strange sort of tradition to sit in one another’s hospital rooms after the job kicks their ass, and he’s glad Derek isn’t about to break it now.

“I saw him turn right out of the backdoor, but that’s all,” he says breathlessly, before cringing at the effort and folding in on himself even more.

“Okay, Spencer,” Derek says soothingly. “Just relax. The ambulance will be here any second.”

He obeys and closes his eyes as he listens to Derek call Hotch on the radio and send the team in the right direction before coming back to sit next to him on the floor.

“This might be one of the nicer places one of our unsubs has owned, huh?”

Spencer nods, mirroring Derek’s morbid amusement. “Crime pays better than investigating it,” he manages, smiling up at his friend.

He snorts. “You can say that again. With the way the market’s turned in the last couple years it’s more like this is my hobby and my properties are my day job, rather than the other way round.”

Spencer tries to reply, but he moves involuntarily in amusement, and a fresh wave of pain has him wincing again, trying to will the tears away.

“You’re alright, Spence,” Derek says gently, his hand returning to his hair. “Help will be here soon, okay?”

Thankfully, the medics do show up in a semi-timely fashion, and both of them are loaded into the back of the ambulance as the EMTs check him over, Derek’s hand not leaving his person unless it absolutely has to.

“How many times were you hit, Dr Reid?”

He cringes. “Four.” It’s almost embarrassing that the unsub got four hits in, and the only reason there weren’t more is because he was fleeing the scene, not because Spencer was able to fight back. He tries to remind himself that there isn’t much you can do when caught-off guard by a furious arsonist armed with a steel baseball bat, but his ego is still bruised. Albeit not as badly as his poor ribs.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Derek mutters under his breath, his grip tightening on Spencer’s shoulder minutely enough for him to know he isn’t doing it consciously.

Spencer smiles appreciatively, closing his eyes against the pain. The non-narcotic painkillers they’re feeding him through the IV really aren’t doing anything.

“I think you’ve managed to avoid internal bleeding,” the EMT says, all though he tacks on a pointed, “just. But I’m concerned about the possibility of a punctured lung. There’s a chance your trouble breathing is solely pain-induced, but I don’t like the way your chest sounds. The doctors will check everything out when we get to the hospital, and get you all patched up.”

“Hold in there,” Derek says urgently. “I really can’t have you dying on me, pretty boy.”

Spencer smiles as comfortingly as he can through the immense pain in his chest and his mangled breathing. “Trust me, I don’t intend on it.”

The x-ray reveals two broken ribs and confirms the paramedic’s suspicions of a punctured lung, although thankfully, minor enough to not require surgery. He’s set up with oxygen and regular nurse check-ups in a quiet room after the doctor is able to remove the excess air in his chest cavity.

“How are you doing, Spence?” Derek asks worriedly as he pulls up a chair next to Spencer’s bed as soon as he’s allowed to see him.

He pulls away his oxygen facemask to answer. “A bit better,” he says, but his voice is dry and raspy from the oxygen so he certainly doesn’t sound it. “The pain meds are actually working now.”

Derek’s tight, anxious expression relaxes slightly. “That’s at least something.”

Spencer nods tiredly, but before he can respond, a nurse is popping her head round the door. “Dr. Reid,” she says genially, “sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve managed to get a hold of your emergency contact, and they’re on their way.”

Spencer’s eyes widen. How could he have forgotten? Granted, he was a little preoccupied with the whole punctured lung, broken ribs thing, but how could he have let it slip his mind that this little accident would lead to the secret he’s been keeping under wraps getting out?

When he’d first met Luke at an FBI gala last year, he never could have foreseen the most intimate and special relationship of his life coming to fruition, but it had. They’d connected on so many different levels, and the chemistry between them felt like something out of one of the fantastical romance novels Penelope reads, and when he’d asked if it was okay for Spencer to put Luke down as his updated emergency contact, he’d been rewarded with a wide, beautiful grin and a firm, heartfelt kiss.

It was serious enough, sure, and they were coming up on having been together for a year, but besides Emily and Penelope — who’d met Luke and developed an amusing, playful rivalry with him — he hadn’t introduced him to anyone on the team.

“On their way?” Derek asks, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion. “Isn’t your contact Hotch? He already knows you’re in the hospital.”

Spencer just stares at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights, completely blanking on something to say. They’re working a local case, so it won’t be long before Luke is bursting into his hospital room armed with cuddles and comfort, and as much as he craves that, he’s too busy panicking about his team finding out to really look forward to it.

Eventually, after watching Derek’s face morph into even stronger, more suspicious confusion, he gives up. They’re going to find out anyway. “I’m dating someone.”

Derek’s face lights up. “Pretty boy!” he exclaims happily, playfully pushing his shoulder as gently as he can. “That’s amazing! Why didn’t you say something? What’s her name?”

Ah. That’s the primary reason he hadn’t told his team about Luke. He’s nowhere close to being ashamed about his sexuality, he accepted himself decades ago, but he’s still not worked up the courage to share that part of himself with his team. Excluding Penelope and Emily who have been together for years (he’s still baffled as to how the others haven’t caught on yet), everyone’s in the dark.

It had started as a basic survival tactic. He’d joined the FBI two years younger than the standard entry age in the early 2000s, and he was far too concerned with just getting by than living outwardly as a gay man. And then, as time went by and he knew his team was accepting and welcoming, he found it too awkward to try and correct people when they assumed he was straight. There just wasn’t ever the right time.

“I’m gay.”

Derek’s happy expression falls and for a split second, Spencer feels a flash of panic. Maybe Derek’s okay with gay people as long as they’re not his immediate friends, as long as he doesn’t playfully call them ‘pretty boy’ and play with their hair when they’re injured, maybe—

“Well, what’s his name, then?”

Spencer looks up from his panic, seeing Derek smiling again, eyes maybe even brighter than they were just seconds ago.

“Wait—”

“Spencer, if you think I’m gonna care that you’re gay — if you think any of us will care that you’re gay, then you have another thing coming,” Derek reassures him. “Wait, that isn’t why you didn’t tell us right?”

He suddenly looks distraught at the idea that Spencer might not have felt comfortable coming out to him, and Spencer rushes to correct him. “No! No, I know everyone would be fine with it, I just didn’t really know how to say it. Penelope and Emily know, but only by accident.”

Derek relaxes, chuckling a little. “I’m sure there’s quite a story there.”

Spencer blushes. “Maybe.”

“I’ll find out later,” he says confidently, winking at him, and something in Spencer loosens at the fact that Derek hasn’t changed his behaviour at all. “But I’m more interested in Mr. Sexy Emergency Contact Mystery Boyfriend Man right now.”

Spencer outright laughs at that, before wincing painfully as his ribs twinge, and he has to fit the oxygen mask around his face again and breathe deeply for a couple of breaths before the nasal cannula can suffice again.

“I met him around this time last year at an FBI gala actually,” Spencer manages. “Everyone on our team bailed except Penelope, Emily, and me. He’s called Luke and he works in the Fugitive Task Force. We just clicked as soon as we met, you know? We have this chemistry that I’ve never felt with anyone before, and we started dating pretty quickly. We actually moved in together last month when his lease was up, but we’re thinking of moving to a bigger, nicer place in Mount Pleasant. Luke’s actually had his eye on this one house that went up…”

He trails off when he notices Derek looking at him strangely, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “What?”

“Nothing,” Derek says gently. “You just look happy, pretty boy. When you started talking about Luke you got this happy, dopey smile on your face, and I’ve just never seen you like that. It’s nice.”

“Oh.” He blushes fiercely at the acknowledgement of just how soft he is for his boyfriend, but it’s not embarrassing, he’s just ridiculously happy and head over heels in love.

Still, feeling a little awkward at the attention, he raises the oxygen mask to his face just for something to do.

“Does he treat you well?” Derek asks seriously, suddenly looking like the FBI tough guy he really is.

Spencer grins and nods, pulling the mask away again. “So good. He’s one of those people that looks out for everyone before himself, you know? He listens to my rambles and tangents like he actually knows and cares about what I’m saying, and he insists on making me every meal we’re both home for. Every day off, he brings me breakfast in bed, and he’ll even suffer through my documentaries even though his favourite thing to watch is action movies. He’s the best boyfriend I could hope for.”

“Good,” Derek says fiercely, even though he’s smiling just a little at the thought of Spencer being taken care of. “But if anything ever changes, I won’t hesitate to—”

“Spencer?” Derek’s interrupted by the door flying over, and a very harried looking Luke Alvez rushing towards the bed, seemingly not noticing the man literally threatening his death right next to him. “Oh my God, Spencer, I was so worried, I thought—”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Spencer says, voice still a little weak. Can’t he at least sound convincing when he’s trying to tell these people that he’s fine? “I’m okay, I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

“Are you sure, baby? Do I need to get the doctor? Have they been looking after you, because I swear—”

“Luke,” he laughs, interrupting his worried tangent. “I’m fine, I promise.”

He watches amusedly as Luke sags with relief. “Oh thank God,” he breathes, and it’s then that he appears to notice Derek. “Oh, shit.”

He looks to Spencer with an alarmed look in his eyes, knowing full well that he isn’t out to his team yet, but before apologies can start dripping off his lips, he rushes to fill him in.

“It’s okay. I told him.”

Luke’s face brightens in an illuminating smile, his eyes wide and happy. “You did? I’m so proud of you, cariño.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Derek says, rising from his chair to shake Luke’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you in the last ten minutes.”

Luke grins. “All good things, I hope.”

Derek winks teasingly at Spencer. “Oh, better than good. Spencer here seems quite gone for you.”

He blushes again, but Luke just sits on the edge of his hospital bed and takes his face in his hand. “Well, I’m just as gone for him as he is for me. Probably even more so.”

“No way,” Spencer protests as vehemently as he can with an oxygen mask glued to his face again. “I definitely love you more.”

His words are half swallowed by the mask, and half muffled by the gaggle of FBI agents pouring into his room, all talking over one another loudly.

Luke jumps off the bed and stands to attention as they all quieten down, three of them in complete shock, one of them — Emily, recognising Luke — in anticipation of what’s about to happen.

“Uh,” Spencer starts unsurely, eyes flicking between his boyfriend and his team. “Meet my boyfriend?”

There’s a brief pause before everyone jumps into action again: Emily greeting him warmly, JJ introducing herself, and Hotch and Rossi giving him firm, threatening handshakes as a warning that no harm is to come to their pseudo-son.

Spencer knows they don’t have to worry about that, though, not with Luke, and they’re quickly shown that when he takes his rightful place sat on the edge of his hospital bed again, hands smoothing his hair gently.

“Thank you,” he says to Derek, voice soft and sincere as everyone’s sat leisurely around the room, doing their own thing now they’re calmed down after the initial meet and greet, “for taking care of him. I worry about him, you know, and it’s good to see that he has so many good people looking after him.”

“We all do,” Derek replies, looking over at Spencer fondly. “We’re all incredibly overprotective. Residual effects from him joining the team so young, probably.”

“I can see that,” Luke smiles, looking over at Hotch and Rossi, who still have their eyes trained on him, despite having warmed up to him quickly.

“Well between us all,” Emily interjects diplomatically, “I think we have Spencer covered. He has a lot of good people looking out for him.”

Spencer knows they all think he’s asleep, but he can’t help but say something. “I definitely do,” he slurs tiredly, causing Luke to quickly turn his attention to him, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead as he runs his fingers through his hair with the hand not intertwined with Spencer’s. “Love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” Luke murmurs. “And so does everybody in this room.”

Smiling softly and feeling safe as anything, Spencer finally gives into the heavy pull of tiredness, and lets himself drift off to sleep.

I'm such a sucker for coming out fics omg, I hope you didn't mind that element! But God, I've missed writing Ralvez fics. If anyone has any Ralvez prompts then please send them my way because I want to write them so badly but I really find it hard to find plot for them! <3

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @suburban--gothic @strippersenseii @takeyourleap-of-faith @makaylajadewrites @iamrenstark @hotchseyebrows @reidology @spencerspecifics @tobias-hankel @goobzoop @marsjareau @garcias-bitch @oliverbrnch @im-autistic @anxious-enby @kuolonsyoja @ropoto

[skellebonez]

Tumblr Messed Up Fill #5

Alright, I believe this is the FINAL accidentally posted fill! @winterpower98​ has such a great dynamic between Jin and Yin and the rest of the cast in the Cursed AU that I just love writing these two in any situation. I hope you enjoy this despite the wait!

When MK has been dragged out on an "emergency supply trip" with Jin and Yin he had almost expected he would need to step in to prevent them from doing anything illegal. They may technically be on their side now, but much like Macaque they weren't entirely removed from their villainous past.

What he had not expected was for the two of them announce that they not only intended to pay in cash, something most people didn't do not a days in favor of a single card or paying through their phone, but for them to attempt to give him a crash course in electronics every time he looked at a computer part with vague confusion.

On the bright side, he at least had didn't have to worry about them getting him banned from any of the local stores.

On the down side...

He looked at the massive pile of electronic bits the poor cashier was attempting to scan and bag for them in a timely manner. They had to, somehow, get all this stuff back to wherever they stored all of their equipment. MK was strong but the sheer amount of stuff would prove a problem simply by how much he would have to help carry. No wonder he'd been invited.

"Yin, toss me the wallet will ya?" Jin yelled once the cashier finally announced their total with a relieved sigh. A excessive amount that MK doubted could ever be paid for in cash alone.

Until Yin launched the wallet at Jin's head and it bounced off him and set a few bills flying in the process.

"OUCH, watch it! That's our profits you're throwing around!" Jin complained, grabbing a few bills that were still airborne with a sigh. "Just. I'll ask ya to hand it to me next time."

"Sorry..." Yin said, not really sounding all that sorry. The smirk and the fact he stuck out his tongue did not help.

Granted, Jin didn’t exactly seem genuinely upset at what happened either, judging by the smile on his face.

He probably wasn’t supposed to see it. That was probably why MK didn’t even know they had a wallet, they didn’t want anyone to see what they had in it.

But he was MK. The Monkie Kid. And his first instinct was to kneel down and pick up the wallet to give it back to Jin. The wallet that was sitting open with the inside facing up and bulging with bills and...

One of those folding picture things you would only see parents have of all their kids in comedy movies. It was folded up backwards, tucked into the wallet itself to keep it from unfolding and falling down, and only one picture was visible at the moment. One with a face he recognized very quickly. How could he not?

It was his face after all.

He recognized when it was taken too, pretty soon after the two had joined up with the group as Macaque’s... whatever they were to the reformed monkey demon. They’d been teasing him about if he had anyone he liked and Jin had just managed to make him laugh with some kind of joke.

He didn’t remember a picture being taken but one of them just have had a phone or camera to do so. He remembered their little conspiracy board from the first time they met, they were good at sneaking pictures of people... which, considering what he was holding in his hand right now, was kind of creepy when he thought about it for long enough.

He didn’t have the time to think about it for much longer though, as the wallet was yoinked out of his hand by an excited Jin, shouting a “thanks MK!” back at him when he pulled out the large bills to hand to the cashier.

He didn’t seem embarrassed or upset, in fact the only one who seemed to be out of the four of them was the cashier who had to check that they had enough chance before realizing they would only be getting a handful yuan back.

And then they were outside and making their way back to their workshop, presumably, MK with the bulk of the items but Jin and Yin taking their fair share of the electronic bits.

“Well that evened out nicer than expected,” Jin laughed, tucking their change into the wallet before snapping it closed with a victorious look on his face. “Just enough to grab us all one cheese tea each, if we all want some.”

“Could, uh... I ask you something first?” MK interrupted as they walked, the prospect of being treated to a drink for his work sounding pretty good actually.

“Yeah, go for it.”

“... why do you have a picture of me?” He asked wearily, just…still trying to take in the fact that apparently Jin and Yin shared a single wallet and they apparently just had pictures of everyone he knew in it.

Jin paused for a moment, looking at the wallet and then back to MK a few times before shrugging and shoving it back into his shirt, presumably the same kind of hidden pocket Yin had when he pulled it out. “I dunno? Guess I thought it was important or something, like if we needed to find you. Easy picture to show off if you go missing."

“Right…”

The trio didn’t even get to lapse into silence as they walked, the twins quickly finding some topic of conversation that completely flew over MK’s head regarding computing power and ram drives.

The cheese tea was good though.

~

Jin looked between his younger twin and the wallet. Though he hadn’t really thought about it all that much when MK had asked, something about his question was starting to bother the elder Gold Demon.

It was a simple thing. Small. Kinda bulky despite the size due to the sheer amount of unnecessary things inside it. Receipts for the tech they had actually bothered to pay for, they felt bad stealing from that store in the past when they learned that it was in danger of being shut down due to lost profits, coupons that would eventually be used at the last second… pictures.

So many pictures.

And yet none of them were of either twin. At least none of them alone. There's was a single picture of the two of them together, just one, after building their first successful Calabash prototype. They thought that would be picture enough whenever the off chance they were separated for a... while...

“Oh…”

"What, Jin?" Yin asked, looking up from his soldering work at the loud exclamation.

"I'm starting to think we might be a little dense," Jin replied, opening up the wallet and letting the folded pictures fall out in a line. “Remember how MK asked why we had a picture of him?”

One picture was of MK, the one the young man had seen since it was the one sitting in the only visible stop of the holder when it was folded at the moment. One of Mei working on her bike. One of Macaque they had snuck while he slept. A slightly blurry one of Sun Wukong alone they barely managed to snatch in secret.

Mei and Yin playing some sort of game together, Jin leaning on Red Son and teasing him while MK watched, a proper one of Macaque and MK and Mei together. MK and Wukong, Mei and Wukong, Mei and Macaque, a trio of training pictures. Red Son flaming up at the camera in anger.

A lone one of Tang and Pigsy in the noodle shop that Jin could not explain the reason for taking, as well as one of Sandy on his boat with his cat.

And a few more of Mei and MK and Red and Macaque with either if them in particular for good measure.

Yin looked up and down at the line of photos and then to his brother, brow raised in confusion before his eyes widened in shock and dismay as he came to the same conclusion.

“Oh bloody hell... we’ve started to CARE.”

The twins looked at each other in resignation.

Nothing they could do about it now.