#non-sequential chapter 4

[justiceiswater]

i mean...physical contact will do that to a person. it brings down walls! closes distance! just the act of spending the night sleeping beside eachother in constant contact was enough to convince steve to nut up and accept his fate as a man in love!

Non-Sequential [Ch. 4]

Pairing: Pre-Serum Steve Rogers/Steve Rogers x Reader

One night, Steve Rogers met a beautiful dame named Y/N. He hadn’t intended on letting her get away. But fate had other ideas. Y/N appeared and disappeared in his life so hauntingly that Steve started to wonder if she was an angel meant to watch over him.

Word Count: 2,800

A/N: Inspired by the film The Time Traveler’s Wife. But not one of those fics that just literally rips off the whole movie and plugs in characters where they please.

Chapter 3

Y/N watched with an amused shyness as Steve moved about his room, grabbing clothes for her to wear. She kept the blanket tightly around her body. Losing her clothes was one of the many downsides of time traveling. It was embarrassing and awful, and it only made figuring out where and when she was that much more challenging and awkward.

“Here,” Steve held out a pile of his clothes for her.

“Thank you,” she replied. But instead of going to the bathroom, she started changing right there.

Steve quickly turned around, ever the gentleman.

Keep reading

[sirwadewilsonfromimgur]

Deadpool & Wolverine: Amber Crimson and Noir

Authors note: this chapter contains story elements from "When two murderous Canadian mercenaries love each other very much..." aka the James chapter as well as the plot point from Amber Crimson and Noir so far. Enjoy the thrilling conclusion of the Noir ark. I hope you've read them

Content warning... Violence/Tourtre

[Pess play on opening music below]

Ark finale

Vanessa

Kansas city Missouri Earth-10005 2031

Vanessa had moved into one of the spare bedrooms of Logan and Wade's condos about two months ago, Dermot had set up a desk in the corner of the generously sized room that had a sweeping view of crown center. He was happily working from home but definitely out of his element. Even in a large home, Logan, Wade, and Althea were strange, loud, and .... unique room mates.

Vanessa had lived with Wade in the past, so she was used to Wade's quarks. However he'd developed some new ones. For instance,

The floor to ceiling windows present in almost every room had blackout curtains that had to be closed before the sun went down... Wade would run from room to room, closing the curtains. If he wasn't home and he walked in and someone else hadn't done this task he'd freak out, yelling " it's 6 o'clock and winter why are the fucking curtains still open! He'd then proceeded to sprint around the house, closing them.

It was compulsive but not without justification, due to an incident. During the day, everything is fine. All the windows had been coated with a reflective film. You couldn't see inside unless your face was pressed up against a window. But at night, the lights inside illuminate and defeat this privacy.

A sniper had put several holes through the window... and Wade... honeymoon phase of moving to a new city was over.

And now they needed new windows.

Years later, Logan had grown tierd this nightly curtain nonsense and had mechanical curtains installed that automatically shut at sundown... this didn't stop Wade's patrol, making sure the mechanism hadn't broken and looking in all the rooms to check the curtainshad indeed closed. It was just quicker now. Years later, this did lead to one embarrassing moment for James in his teen years

Sorry, kitten! By the way, that's perfectly normal. No need to feel shame about it.

FUCKING KNOCK NEXT TIME DAD!

The process of replacing the windows was the last straw of Wade playing nice with the HOA of the tower. Maranda (fucking bigoted bitch) had pulled her typical stall tactics and nonsense as a board member during the first remodel of the house.

Wade, to expedite the process had broken into the board president's unit and sat in his bedroom. Waiting for him to get home.

When he turned up and walked in his room, there was Wade on his bed, pointing a gun at him.

Hay Ed! Is this a memory foam mattress because it is comfortable as fuck... I usually avoid them because so often Logan gets too excited and stabs be when he's stabbing me if you know what I mean. *wink* and its just sucks all the blood up and never comes out. We've gone through 4 mattresses this year alone.

Mr. Wilson... please don't shoot.

Oh, Ed... I'm not here to shoot you. Im here to make a deal....

Wade hands him a shoe box labeled fuck me pumps.

Sorry about the box had to improvise. Logan got me those for our anniversary... it's all he wanted me to wear that night. Such a romantic... anyway, inside that box is three hundred thousand dollars in non sequential one hundred dollar bills. All for you, on the condition that whatever I want to do, I fucking get to do it without push back from You fuck's. If I want to put a giant inflatable godzilla on the roof with anatomically accurate genitalia for Halloween the only thing I want to hear is "what day is good for you to get that started"

He was installing level 10 bullet proof glass on the entire 19th floor, and whatever other security measures he saw fit in the common hallway, and they weren't gonna say shit about it. To add motivation to the bribe. A nine millimeter bullet with their name neatly written on it was given to them.

Here. Take this, hide it. Throw it away. Hell, put it on your mantel... I don't give a shit. Because if I really need to, I'll find that exact bullet again... and I'll give it to you again only the next time it will be moving really, really fucking fast. So don't make me give it to you again.

He did this with a majority of members of the HOA board and hadn't had any problems since...

Logan had been a less openly dramatic roommate. He had been consumed by his work. how Wade sweet talked his way into convenienceing him that now was a great time to have a baby, Vanessa would never know. Though she did know that mouth of his was more than just talented at yapping and quiping.

I wonder if Logan ever got the plastic vampire teeth on Halloween.

She was trying to avoid him when he was working. She didn't want to bother him while he was holed up in the office. Besides, he was smoking like a chimney on a poorly insulated house during a January blizzard. The smell of his cigars currently nauseated her, not to mention the second-hand smoke wasn't good for the baby evenin a well vintalated room like the office.

Logan had recently taken on a lot of investigative work. Detective shit. Murders, kidnappings, missing persons. He'd told vanessa that he really wanted to branch out from just being just killer. Not that she'd ever held that against him.

Some of her best friends were mercenaries, vigilantes, and contract killers. Hell, even the nerds at the Xmen put quite a few people in the ground, and she liked the one's she'd met.

From her understanding Logan had actually been doing well, he wasn't just a bloodhound, which he literally was. He told her that the egg had taken and she was pregnant before any tests were done. Lucky, first try. It was something they had all worried about.

Sometimes surrogacy takes a couple tries before one sticks... there was a 25% chance of failure and that's normal at least thats what the blue fuzzy doctor told them after the procedure.

I wonder what else he can smell on me and is too polite to mention.

Logan was also a decent investigator in his own right, followed clues, and noticed things the cops missed. He'd found quite a few missing persons, runaways mostly. He did his due diligence and made sure without question they weren't being abused, and that's why they ran away before returning them to their families. He'd even helped break up a sex trafficking ring.

Vanessa knew the trouble didn't really start until Logan took the case of his friend Maxine. She was murdered and dumped like so much garbage and not treated much better by the police handling the case. Vanessa had actually met her once at one of the boys' parties.

She remembered her and her partner Dal being warm and jovial with her. Though she'd heard that they were just as fiery as Logan and Wade at times, the only difference being their fights resulted in significantly fewer stabings as persons without a healing factor. Apparently, her case had been a brick wall Logan just couldn't claw through.

Vanessa herself had been fairing the last 2 months decently... the morning sickness was an annoyance. She'd felt like she'd been moving past that stage though.

It was a relief mostly because Wade had gone full mother hen

Vanessa, sweetheart, you ok in there?

I can hear you yacking and heaving like when Wolvy gets one of his hairballs.

I'm fine, Wade.

Ok... I just... Fuck! OW!

Ouch! Stop stabbing me, Lo! We'll take you to the vet and get some Laxatone. Fucking ow bad kitty!

One thing was certain tonight, Vanessa was board. She hadn't left the condo in about a week to do anything, Wade was out shopping, and Logan hadn't left the office since 9 am. it was now 9 pm... Dermot had an upset stomach. He made the mistake of trying the Satan sauce Wade kept for chimichanga nights, or lunch's in this case. He was warned by her and Wade. But he wanted to be one of the boys...

She texted all 3 of them and let them know she was going to Missy Bs, the drag bar that was just down the street. Dirty Dorothy was hosting shows their again, so Vanessa was double encouraged to go out and alleviate her bordum, she'd get a soda and watch the show. Perhaps be back in time to warm up her dinner and watch whatever Korean drama or old show on streaming that Wade was currently fixated on before going to bed. She did specifically tell Wade not to wait up for her since she knew he'd start cooking the second he got home.

She had stopped by an ATM and got about two hundred dollars in 5 dollar bills, it was customary to tip the drag queens, and being a former exotic dancer herself, Vanessa knew how important it was to be generous with the entertainment. Nothing worse than literally shaking your ass off only to find a G-string full of bills that added up to about 35 buck... and there was always at least one asshole who you had to call the bouncers on because he tried to slip a quarter in there.

Vanessa was actually well off, officially retired. She was serious when she said she'd offer her services as a surrogate as a friend, but not for free. In the midwest, the number of dollars currently in her NBKC account would last her the rest of her natural life and then some... she told Dermot he could retire too. But he liked work. Definitely the kind of guy that if he didn't have a 9 to 5 to go to, he'd disappear into an easy chair and an early grave... Vanessa also suspected he had a little of that toxic masculine pride, cant ask your sugar mama for money. It'd gotten him into trouble, you can't out marksman Wade at the range, You can't out drink Logan and live... and as he recently learned. You can't out hot sauce either of them.

Silly boys *she chuckles to herself*

The ride share had dropped her off at the door. She was a little early for the show. She walked in, got a ginger ale, and quietly thanked god that they didn't allow public smoking indoors in Kansas city.

The show, as expected, was a loud and flamboyant good time. A lot of the queens were aslo funny as fuck on top of being on point with thier costumes. Vanessa didn't leave the show with a single five dollar bill, and to her, it was money well spent.

She headed to the bar to get one last Ginger ale for the road when she was approached by a woman...

Hey pretty lady, can I buy you a cocktail...

Oh, sorry, I'm not drinking tonight. Just getting a Ginger ale...

Oh, cheap date then. She winked as she ordered the soda and a Martini for herself.

I appreciate the drink, but I don't want to lead you on. I'm in a pretty committed relationship...

That's ok. Vanessa... felt disarmed as she said this... it was odd, like for no reason, her defenses were down... and it was ok, sure she'll have the drink.

I'm just out trying to make friends, you know. It can be kinda lonely...

Again, she didn't quit understand, but Vanessa suddenly felt a little lonely and wanted the company.

Vanessa chatted with the lady for a while. She was about to tell her she needed to go home.

If you're hungry, there's this place called Town Topic. Fantastic burgers, been there since the depression or some shit. Open 24 hours... we should go.

Vanessa wanting to tell her that perhaps another time, that she really need to go... but instead she found herself hungry, and agreeing to go with this lady. It was weird... she felt compelled. Next thing she knew she found herself getting in to this lady's car.

Ya know, it's been a long night... why don't you take a little nap... I'll wake you up when we get there

No sooner than it was said.... Vanessa was out like a light, snoring lightly in the passenger seat.

Logan had stepped out of the office. It was getting close to 11pm, long day of brooding, and he worked up an appetite. Wade and Al had eaten already... when he opened the fridge, he noticed two tinfoil covered plates.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end...

Has Vanessa not come home yet.

No penut, she's at the drag show...

Logan looks at the clock... the show ended a while ago, darl'n, I'm gonna text her.

she hadn't been gone that long.... she's a big girl papa, she can stay out past curfew if she wants.

No, it's not like that Wade.... Ive got a bad feeling... something is off.

Logan put his plate back in the fridge and walked to the bedroom. He quickly changed into his black and yellow combat suit. He walked back into the living room.

Peanut, what are you all dressed up for.

I'm going out to find Vanessa... she hasn't responded, I don't like this.

And you couldn't do that in your normal clothes?

I told you. I got a bad feeling, besides blood and Versace don't exactly pair well.

Oh, wrong again, Penut. Blood and Versace is the best paring.

Stay here, call me if she comes back...

Wolverine started at the obvious place, Missy B's. He thanked providence or whatever for trusting his instincts. He'd not been too late this time, Vanessas scent was still fresh and heavy. He was able to lach on to it and follow it out to the parking lot... he'd made his way to an empty spot when the trail lightened slightly... they had obviously taken her in a car...

Unfortunately Logan could not be afforded such luxury. In order to stay on the trail he'd have to be on foot.

thankfully, the fates again had shown favor. It was a still night, not even a lightbreeze. The scent was still fresh if a little less intense. Following his nose without regard for his safety, Wolverine walked out into the middle of southwest traffic way. Was certain that she'd been taken due east, and he bolted down West 39th Street running on all fours, looking like a yellow and black werewolf.

Eventually he found himself in the hyde park neighborhood of Kansas city.

When vanessa came too, her head was throbing, and the fluorescent lighting was not helping. She tried to move but she was shackled to a wall. Standing up right arms open... Wade would call it a T pose.

What Vanessa didn't know is that Cynthia Bragg had been escalating the degree of suffering she caused in her kills, she'd been killing less because she knew Logan was creeping around every corner. So now she economized her victims. Less opportunity meant not letting the one you had go to waste.

Vanessa was gagged... she could breathe, she could scream, but the sound would be so deadened that no one could possibly hear her in this basement... she wasn't scared so much as she was sad at her predicament. She new what would happen when the boys figured out she wasn't coming home... This wasn't Wade fault... but Vanessa knew he'd blame himself... and be devastated... double loss, her and the life that could be that she had inside her.... this was the worst possible end for her short life.

Her captor turned around, almost sensing Vanessa's waking.

Hello again... she smiled like a demon. You and I are going to have some fun... pretty lady...

I'd tell you to not be afraid, but you should... you should be terrified...

This statement didn't net Cynthia the response she'd hoped Vanessa just stared at her defiantly. Vanessa clearly had her wits about her now... not an unexpected circumstance... her powers of suggestion worked better when she could charm someone first. Disarm them.

Cynthia wordlessly presented a box... in it were needles of various gages, conditions, and sharpness... she slowly jammed and jabbed Vanessa up and down her arm, leaving some in, pulling some out. Rivulets of blood formed dripped and flowed. The pain was exquisite, Vanessa groaned but did not scream as she endured the pain of the dull one's ripping through her skin, looking very much the sick caricature of a cartoon Voodoo doll.

Unsatisfied with the results, Cynthia left Vanessa for a second and came back with a ball pein hammer and a gruesome looking masonry cut tempered hardened steel nail. The point of which is not that pointy... the was absolutely going to hurt.

Slowly, methodically, Cynthia slammed the nail into Vanessa's palm, all the while humming Ave Maria. the crucifixion Imagery clearly not lost on her.

Vanessa did not! Would not scream. She wouldn't give this Depraved hearted bitch the satisfaction as her hand was pinned to the wall, crushing nerves, tearing flesh.

Oh, a tough gal i see... we'll just have to up the anti.

She holds up the hammer an Vanessa's eye level and drops hammer on her foot.

Oops... well, since this doesn't seem to be working, we will try something else

Vanessa figured this was the end. Sure that cunt was gonna come back with a Bowie knife and slowly disembowel her.

On the journey of her life, she had a lot of regrets. Also, at the moment, she was in incredible pain. She mourned for herself almost as much as she mourned the fetus inside her.

Wade would be devastated, he'd lose his best friend and his future baby all in one horrid act... these thoughts, the pain... the frustration of being unable to defend herself. She was so sick of being the fucking damsel in distress. She thought... only this time she was going to fucking die. She wasn't going to be saved. She didn't see how. The pain and despair began to consume her.

All of it came to a head, she was in the darkest spot, of the worst day of her life, and that was saying something...

Then suddenly... Her skin flashes blue for a second... she feels... different. Unknown to her until just now... Vanessa had been a mutant in her own right. The stress, worry, and pain of this moment brought it out of dormancy. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew she could transform, shape shift. And not just skin deep like Mystique, she could copy bilogy and abilities.

Well shit, this could have been handy with fucking Francis... she thought to herself... think quick Vanessa how do we use this to get out of here. She wasn't sure how to harness her abilities, but she had to be a quick study if she wanted to live.

What could she be that'd get her out of these shackles and get the nail out of her hand... that's it! That one guy Logan and Wade, always banged when they were in New York. Kevin... (Wade tells her fucking everything) but more importantly she met him once, what was is Xmen name.... fuck it was hard to think clearly with several inches of galvanized steel in your hand.... Morph, she said a small prayer to a god she doubted existed. Keep the baby safe while I do this. She struggles through the pain she concentrates and transforms into a grey skinned being sliding her hand up and off the nail and warping her arms through the shackles quietly.

Cynthia was looking at her toolbox of tourtre devices totally engrossed in her maniacal thoughts, looking for the perfect toy to satisfy her vile lust. She hadn't noticed Vanessa slip free.

Vanessa stealthy as she could carefully picked up the ball-pein hammer that was dropped.

What did Wade always tell her

When you have the opportunity, always go for the headshot.

Cynthia had settled on the end of a frog gig fork and was about to get back to her dark hobby when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head... and then nothing

Vanessa was spatterd in gore by the time she heard the loud bang from upstairs...

Wolverine had kicked in the door of the house, he'd made his way to the basement to a scene that shocked and immediately relieved him covered in blood holding a hammer dripping in a visceral liquid of brains, blood with a tangle of hair... Vanessa had not stopped when Cynthia hit the ground. The back of her head looked like a grenade went off in it. She turned to Wolverine. Dropped the hammer on the corpse and walked towards Logan...

Ooops *she Sneered*

Vanessa, I'm so sorry... I was late, I... I...

Vanessa grabbed the man dressed in yellow and black and hugged him tightly

It's ok, you're here, Im alive... also, you and Wade never have to worry about being late or saving me again... Vanessa Carlysle can save herself.

She took a step back and held up her arm... it transformed into a familiar looking muscular arm, and *Snikt* three bone claws popped out.

FUCK THAT HURTS! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DO THAT ALL THE TIME!

Logan chuckles, tell me about it, sister. Looks like you've discovered your gifts...

Why aren't mine metal?

That's a long story I'll tell you later... I'm gonna call Wade.

Not the police....

No.

Logan looked around the room, the blood and gore of the scene was bad... first, the defense for justifiable homicide in self-defense in Missouri requires that you stop after the assailant is stopped/disarmed/disabled. You can't shoot someone in the chest and then go for the headshot after they're already on the ground... you can't pummel a hole in the back of someones head after you've knocked them out. It ceases to be self-defense.

There's a chance Vanessa could be charged with manslaughter at a minimum if the prosecutor was feeling frisky... and Logan, who's had bad feelings all night, had a bad feeling about calling the cops.

Logan was able to pin the address address in his phone and send Wade the address. Craftsman style home in Hyde park much like the ones around it.

He'll be her as soon as a ride share pics him up...

Vanessa trying to not think about her trauma...

Why the fuck do you guys not have a car yet... you're gonna need one when the baby gets here, what if they get a fever and you gotta run to the ER, you gonna wait for a car?

Logan choked back a little emotion as he realized how close he came to losing his best friend, his baby, and probably Wade, who would have never recovered.

We need to... but that's Wade... Missouri counties treat cars as real estate. You have to pay taxes on them annually based on assessed value. He's weirdly libertarian about that one thing. Lord knows he jumps through hoops to keep the IRS paid and off our back.

That is fucking weird...

That's fucking Wade... and we both know what thats like

(Meanwhile, just beyond the vail)

Are they really discussing local tax policy over my corpse...

I've seen weirder scenes.

Who the fuck are you?

Some folks call me Azrael, Yama, Shinigam, La Calavera Catrina, Vanth, Ankou, Anubis, and Osiris... though I have one friend who calls me Lady Death. I'm partial to THE Green Witch lately... she says this as she produces a flower and hands it to Cynthia

Oh... ok, she looks at her closer. I liked your work in Parks and rec by the way

Aubrey Plaza looked like her. Not the other way around, Lady Death had this face for centuries, and it was one of her preferred aspects. She thought this as her charge spoke again.

So... am I going to Hell.

The afterlife is kinda what you make it... or so I've been told. I'm just here to keep you from haunting the place. I've only seen the door and shown people in... speaking of. It's Time Cynthia Bragg.

So God doesn't care?

Oh... I've never met the Architect, the being closest to what you'd call God... and I don't really know what they think about morality or other complex questions that I'm certain you want to ask. but unfortunately, i don't have a lot of the answers and even less time.

Ok, one more question... whay are you being so nice... I was a monster [she said this with suddenly gained post-life clarity]

It's not my job to punish, also as they say. You catch more flies with honey.

Or corpses... files are attracted to corpses.

Indeed, come now. It's really time to go now.

(We return to the full material plane)

Vanessa and Logan had taken the opportunity to go through the house, what they had discovered was shocking and created more problems.... Cynthia was a cop... Logan actually knew her. He hadn't recognized her for obvious reasons when he first walked in... Secondly, in her office, he'd discovered her second pet project beside murder. Him, and Wade... and MFM. She'd been doing her own legs work tying all of them to organized crime, contracts they had agreed to. Interpol reports and illicit weapons purchases...

It killed his soul... but Logan could not report any of this for sure now... this crime scene, this evidence. For their safety, it had to disappear. Wade had walked into the office when he came to this conclusion.

What's up in here, Penut?

We got big problems, Princess. Call Peter... we need the cleaner.

The cleaner was actually an employee of MFM at this point, an anti-forensic expert he could wipe a crime scene...

He was there within the hour, was briefed on the situation, and came up with a game plan... all four of them suited up in hazmat suits he'd brought and proceeded to clean.

Free advice to any would be assassins...

Clean all visible evidence of blood with high concentration peroxide, not bleach. This will destroy all genetic material and clean the area. Secondly, treat the area with sodium percarbonate... this chemical defeats luminol/BlueStar Forensic, the room may be suspicious to the well experienced investor... but investigators have to convenience jurys made up of common folks who expect "CSI" evidence to be presented, and when it's not, the argument fails. Investigators know this. it's how many cases get relegated to the cold case archives.

The body was wrapped and put in Cynthias' car. Both would disappear without a trace. The house was cleaned and wiped of any evidence of anyone ever being there. Logan had found all the evidence against him and Wade and loded it in the cleaner's car. He and Wade would take it to the safe house in Liberty while the cleaner delt with Cynthias car... He also found evidence of Cynthias' own crimes... her trophys... he packed these too.

By the time Cynthia was reported missing, they were all long gone... the house looked spotless, as if nothing was ever out of place yet lived in. Reports from neighbors stated that they had seen her the day prior. They didn't see her drive off that night to go to the bar, and perhaps Cynthia herself had something to do with that, not wantingher neighborsto see when she had "guests"...

To them, it looked like she'd got in her car that night some time after dark drove off and just never came home.

5 days later

Logan called Dal, he'd ask her to come to the house. She arrived an hour later... he met her at the door; escorted her to the office poured her a glass of the best scotch he had on hand, a Sherry Oak 25 Year old Macallan.

He set the glass in front of her...

If you don't like your scotch neat, I can go to the kitchen and get you some ice... though some would call that an insult to the alcohol. I won't judge.

This is fine Logan... she sips the scotch.

Why'd you have me over. You were very insistent...

I solved Maxine's murder... That's the good news..........

That pause is 8 months pregnant buddy. What's the bad news.

You're the only person that can know. The suspect met an end that would implicate someone that's important to me, and frankly, covering it up was the better option... professionally. Dal... Maxines killer was a Cop. She's dead... and will probably be assumed missing. My team will have made it look like she skipped town for unknown reasons...

Your... team... implications... cover ups.

Logan I thought you were a fucking detective.

Fuck... I'll level with you, Dal... I wasn't 100% honest with you when I told you what Wade and I did for a living... I am a licensed private investigator, and on paper, that's what I do... poorly... apparently, I'm a mercenary... a contract killer. That's our bread and butter. The P.I. shit is just a cover. But just once I wanted to do something, I wanted to help...

Dal reach over and opened the Humidor on Logans desk.

May I?

Sure.

She pulled out an Opus X, carefully cut the end off the same way she'd seen Logan do a hundred times, grabbed the small blowtorch like lighter and lit her cigar. Logan went over to the wall and flipped on the rooms air filter system.

Logan... sware on your unborn child's life! the person that killed Maxine is dead, and you're 100 percent sure that was her killer...

Logan walked over to a banker box against the wall and grabbed it.

I went through the house, I found the sick fuckers trophy collection. I found these... Logan pulled out a pair of underwear... genetic evidence suggests they belonged to Maxine (this was bullshit, no lab analysis was done on them, the truth is Logan could still smell Maxine's scent strongly on them. They'd been kept in a plastic zipper bag... but Logan didn't want Dal to think he had the impropriety of a "panty sniffer" today was weird enough she didn't need that.) Maxine's killer is dead and what's left of them is probably at the bottom of the Missouri river.

She took a big swig from he scotch and puffed her cigar.

If we're being honest Logan, for me... it was a job well done. Did maxines killer suffer?

I'm not sure. I couldn't have been pleasant.

Good! Fuck'um! Logan i'll be honest had you brought them in I would have smuggled a gun in to court and shot them myself... I don't know if I was ever interested in justice. Revenge; That I can handle... detective or hitman, though... I hope that pro bono offer still holds up...

Logan chuckles lightly You couldn't afford it if it weren't.

She kissed him on the cheek. Thank you Logan... I'll see you and Wade later... I've got things to do.

Bitter sweet for Logan... he was glad that the results worked for Dal...

But for him, this was one of his biggest failures. Having to cover up Cynthia's death meant a significant number of families would go without the closure that Dal now had.

Had he'd been a moment sooner, he could have saved Vanessa and taken Cynthia Bragg in. Damn the evidence she had on us.

We could have picked up and started somewhere else. Fuck we came here on a whim, why not.

Too late now. He packed all the cold case files, the evidence recovered, took them, and buried them in the deepest part of the storage room.

He was stacking boxing and holding in his emotions, trying not to feel the devastation and failure in his chest... Wade was standing in the door...

After all these years, Peanut... I think i can sense whenever you're not doing good. You want to talk to me about it?

I spent the better part of a year running in to a wall trying to solve this case. To do it the right way! To bring that fucker to justice.

But you did get her...

Vanessa "got" her Wade! I was late!

She's dead, though. She can't hurt anyone else. The city is freed from a killer who terrorizing the community. Not just the community, our friends.

At what cost...

We're soldiers, Wade. You know damn well that Pyrrhic victories don't count for shit!

Logan grabbed Wade, held him close... and did something that shocked Wade... he cried, guilt and failure for once didn't manifest as rage...

Oh... Penut. Im so sorry, I didn't realize it was like that.

I think I'm done solve'n crimes... I should stick to what I'm good at. Killing.

No, babe... don't say that. You've solved murders, found kidnapped children... you've done great things... this... this is just a setback.

It's a big one, Wade. I haven't felt quite like this... well, since I got to this world.

Wade knew what Logan was alluding to.

Tonight, it'd be Wade holding Logan together. Riding the storm of emotion out. He'd do it gladly, anything for the man whom held him together these last 7 years. His rock, his anchor being.

All the cold case files tied to Cynthia Bragg, knowing he couldn't bring peace to those families. He put them in a box and placed them as far back in the storage room as he could.

Epilogue:

Late July, Friday night, 18th and Vine... the jazz district of Kansas City... Logan and Wade dressed in suits of a color more muted than Wade normally would have worn black with pinstripe and slate grey, respectively. They walked into the Blue Room Jazz club, and following behind them was Dermot in a Tuxido, the only suit he had brought with him from New York and Vanessa who was in a black sequined dress tight but classy it had a plunging neck line accented with a necklace.

The platnum chain was set with white diamond, rubys, and citrine. The pendant was a large Tanzanite in brilliant cut about the size of a half dollar. It flashed blue or purple depending on how you looked at it. It was a gift from the boys to express gratitude for the greatest gift Vanessa had given them... a son. James was born on July first, a happy health baby boy.

They'd all been obsessed with the child and his care. Wade was a dutiful father unafraid of soiled diapers or the spit up that occasionally happened when he fed the boy... however, that morning at breakfast, Althea had enough.

Listen fuckers! It's time for a family meeting. You dumb bastards are going out tonight, and I don't wanna hear any guff. I'm a blind woman but I can cook and care for myself so I can handle a fucking baby for a few hours. None of yall have left this house in almost a month and I'm fucking sick of hearing you! So figure out where the fuck your going because come 8 o clock better not be a fucking one of you in this house!

Althea was salty but they agreed she was right. They settled in to there table ordered cocktails and waited for the show.

So Ness, since you've had an opportunity to flex your powers a little more, are you gonna go back to New York and join the X-men [cough] dorks [cough]

Logan elbowed Wade in the ribs. Are you calling me a dork bub?

Of course not sweetheart sides you ain't an Xman anymore.

Vanessa laughing. No, I don't think I'll be joining that club... besides, can you imagine me on a mission and Scott calling me by some goofy code name... like what Copycat? Because I can copy people?

I suppose all the good names are taken

Right!? No, I don't think I'll be doing that. Besides, we got a little announcement... Dermot and I aren't going back to New York. We've decided to stay here.

Oh, that's fantastic! Lo you here that? We're going to save so much money on jet fuel!

I'm happy to hear it.

We've actually already done some house hunting online. We're gonna go to some open houses in Liberty and Blue Springs next week. If we like what we see, we'll make an offer.

Well, I will say it's been great having you and Dermot as roommates. I'm thrilled you won't be far.

Let us know if you need help with anything.

And the night wore on. The friends discussed future plans, he drinks came. They tosted to new beginnings and the company of good friends.

The show started, and the music played, and the credits roll.

The End

[sequinsmile-x]

This is Our Place, We Make the Rules

A collection of mini-fics and one-shots of Hotchniss being domestic idiots in love.

Chapter 4 - Moving In

-x-

Hi friends!!

I am back from being away for a few days. Here is a little something I've pulled together for you. I drove for 8 hours today and my brain is very tired so I'm sorry it's short <3

Just a reminder that this series is non-sequential :)

I hope you enjoy this cute fluff on this Thursday evening!

-x-

Words: 1.1k

Warnings: None!

Read over on A03, or below the cut

“What if he doesn’t want to?”

Aaron turns to look at his girlfriend sitting next to him on the couch. A smile flicks across his face as he watches her lift her hand to her mouth, her teeth already poised to tear at her cuticles. He catches her hand halfway and links it through his, kissing her knuckles before their joint hands fall to his lap. 

“Sweetheart, it will be fine.”  

There were so many things Aaron loved about Emily. 

She was kind. Empathetic in a way he hadn’t known had existed before he knew her, the way she cared for the people she loved, as well as complete strangers, so strong he’d seen it be a detriment at times. 

She loved him so fiercely, with so much of herself, he often wondered how he’d ever lived without it. They’d been together for 12 months, their friendship after she returned from Paris turning into something he’s sure had always been there. Feelings that had lingered just under the surface, thrumming under their skin when the other was nearby, until they found the right time. 

Something they had both thought more than once had completely passed them by. 

The thing Aaron loved the most about her, the thing that made him fall even more in love with her as time went on, was how much she loved his son. 

Jack’s well-being had been her priority when they first got together. She’d pulled back from a kiss, a slightly dazed look in her eyes as she asked him about his son, about how he’d feel if they were together.

As if Jack hadn’t loved her longer than Aaron had himself. As if he didn’t seek her out every time he was sick or sad long before she’d become Aaron’s girlfriend, always begging his father to call her so she could come over and give him one of her ‘magic’ hugs. 

“You can’t just say that, honey,” she says, biting her lower lip as she shakes her head, “This is a big deal. It would mean him moving from his home.” 

They had recently started to discuss living together officially. For all intents and purposes, they’d actually been living together for as long as they’d been together. Aaron couldn’t remember the last time they’d spent a night apart. His closet was, more than, half full of her clothes, and her things, her favourite books and a photo of her, JJ and Penelope, had made its way over to the apartment he’d once only shared with his son. 

He knew, that if he valued his life, it was best not to mention that. Well aware that it was best to let her take this at her own pace, which is why he had simply agreed when she first mentioned the idea of them moving in together a couple of weeks ago. They’d decided they wanted to find somewhere new - a house, a home for them and Jack, and whoever else might come along in the future, to grow together. To finally have the happy ending, the soft epilogue, they all deserved. 

He just wished she’d believe that Jack wanted that too, that she’d relax and allow herself to enjoy the thought of their future as much as he was. 

He hears the familiar thunder of his son’s footsteps down the hallway and he feels Emily grip his hand even tighter. He leans in and kisses her temple, repeating his previous words against her skin.

“It will be fine,” he pulls away and looks over his shoulder at his son, “Jack, buddy, can we talk to you for a minute?” 

Jack nods and runs over, landing on the couch next to them, “Can we get pizza?”

Aaron chuckles and nods, “Yeah, we can get it later, but we need to talk to you first.” 

Jack’s eyes go slightly wide, “Am I in trouble?”

Emily smiles and shakes her head, and Aaron feels her hold his hand impossibly tighter, “No, sweetie. Of course, you aren’t,” she assures him. 

Aaron watches as Jack physically relaxes, Emily’s effect on him unmatched, and it warms him from the inside out, “You know Emily has been part of our family for a while now?” He asks, and Jack nods enthusiastically. Aaron feels Emily press her face into his shoulder, her shy smile something he can feel through his shirt, “Well we’ve been thinking it’s time for us to find somewhere bigger for us to live, and we wanted to know what you think.” 

Jack furrows his brows a little, “Like a house?” 

“Yeah, exactly like a house,” Emily says, smiling at him, “What do you think?”

Jack is silent for a moment as he contemplates it, “Will there be a backyard?” 

Emily and Aaron look at each other for a second and exchange a small smile before they look back at the little boy in front of them, “Yeah, of course.” 

“And I can have a swing set? One of those ones with a slide on it?” 

Aaron hears Emily chuckle next to him, and he can feel the tension seeping out of her. “Yeah, sweetie. You can have a swing set.” 

Jack shrugs nonchalantly as if it were truly that simple, “Okay. I’d like a house.” 

He can’t help but smile as Emily opens her arms up and Jack immediately gets closer, folding himself up into her embrace. Aaron pulls them in and wraps his arms around both of them, dropping a kiss to both of their heads as he relaxes into it, his future as clear as it had ever been. The three of them and the kids he and Emily had spoken about, the dream they hadn’t dared to have even a couple of years ago one step closer to being a reality. 

“You’re sure you’re okay with me living with you and Daddy all the time?” Emily asks, pulling back just enough to look at Jack, her fingers running through his messy hair. 

Jack frowns and tilts his head at her, his brows furrowing together again, confusion written all over his face as he looks back and forth between her and his father. 

“I thought you already did live with us.”

-x-

Tag List:

@ssa-sparks, @lukeclvez, @lyds102, @glockleveledatyourcrotch, @hotchnissenthusiast, @danadeservesadrink, @ssamorganhotchner, @emilyprentissisgod, @notagentprentiss, @freesiasandfics, @emilyshotchniss, @thecharmingart, @paulitalblond, @hancydrewfan, @camille093, @whitecrossgirl, @moonlight-2-6, @rawr-jess, @florenceremingtonthethird, @jareauswife, @ms-black-a, @beebeelank, @aubreyprc, @zipzapboingg, @psychopath-at-heart, @criminalmindsgonewrong, @fionaloover, @kinqslcys, @prentissinred, @ccmattis-22, @denvivale317, @thrindis, @hotchsguccitie, @cmfouatslota77, @alexblakegf, @aliensaurusrex, @prentissxhotch, @emobabeyy, @victoiregranger, @stormyweatherth, @wanderingdreamer009, @ssablackbird, @luhwithah, @lex13cm, @prentiss-theorem, @dont-emily-me, @mrs-ssa-hotch, @jocyycreation, @itsmytimetoodream, @hotchnissgroupie, @controversialpooh, @capsshinyshield, @canuck-eh

Join my tag list here!

[popcornrya]

Master post :D

I will try to keep this up to date but I may miss some things...

To see Only drawings i've posted search #RyaDraws on my profile <3

BadEndRemix Au-

Chapter 1 - Start, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Bonus.

Chapter 2 - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

BadEndRemix AU- Random art! -Draxum Era- Tiny-dine cuddle time Iodine's first interaction with a human... (Lou Jitsu) Don't ever talk to me or my daughter again: -sketch -Colored -Turtle Era- Iodine and Mikey Graffiti time! -Apocalypse Era-

Iodine x Donatello (Early-Mid apocalypse) She's gone (Draxum)

Remainder of Me (R.O.M.) AU- Comic <3

Prologue

Chapter 1 - Part 1

R.O.M. AU- Non Sequential Art!

We just need a favour…

R.O.M. AU- Writing snippets~

Program problems ROTTMNT Head cannons!

Overview/collection page

[mystery-salad]

Really enjoying the juicy lil bits of extra voice acting we're getting in the audio logs between the new chapters! For one it's nice to have non-instanced character development, the audio logs in EoD also rocked. And also it's nice to see that they're engaging with and paying the VAs extra for these little additions.

Non-titled expansions have always been released slowly, with 1-4 month breaks, which adds a nice amount of time to process what happened and build things slowly. It's also become increasingly clear that Anet is trying hard to not rush, and to ensure everything is released at the quality they intend. The audio logs are a really nice touch to make the waiting period a little more fun for the players, give us little extra bites of sequential lore in-between!

I just think it's neat, a handy way to get players to scavenger hunt while they wait. Looking forward to more radio records✨️

[writercole]

WIP Wednesday - April 2021

It’s the morning of the third Wednesday of the month and you know what that means -

Work in Progress Wednesday!

Two series have been completed between last month and this month - Saints and Sinners finished posting and Crimson & Clover started and finished as part of my twin’s challenge. 

Three new series have started posting: Love at First Break, Sounds of Someday, and Pick Your Punishment.

Eyes of Grace has been put on hiatus for the time being. I apologize to my male readers but there will be some gender neutral and mlm chapters in PYP.

Now for the fun part - new works in progress!

Let me just pull up my spreadsheet here. Alright, here goes. Please bear with me if these are repeats from the last month as they haven’t progressed any further for most of them.

One More Drinking Song - This is a 25 part angst series based on different country songs that make me need to drink. It’s a Dean x Reader, on again - off again, heartbreaking af series that I know several people are excited about. I’m nearly halfway through the first chapter at this time. No estimated posting date yet.

Frat AU - This is a Dean x Male!Reader story that was inspired by something @superfanficnatural said. Undecided if it will be a one-shot or a series but tags will go out. It’s been bumped up my list significantly and will hopefully be out by June 1.

Single Dad!Cas HS AU - Cas is Jack’s guardian/dad. Reader is Jack’s HS English teacher. Jack gets caught smoking and Cas is called in. Aiming for a fall release here.

Beard Porn/Soulmate AU - This came to me last night and details have been hashed out with @padalelli and @that-one-gay-girl who are THRILLED with the entire premise of this. Aiming for this to be out by the end of the month!

Max Banes x Sam Winchester - Looking at a release in mid May for this futuristic space AU one-shot. 

Seven Sins - This will be a Sam Winchester x Reader non-sequential series based off of the Seven Deadly Sins for samcreationsbingo. That’ll be a Summer release but each sin is planned out.

Next To You - Alex Calvert x short haired!Reader RPF fluff/smut series. The first bit is written and ready but I want to get some more work done before I post!

Works I definitely have mentioned but haven’t finished yet:

Super SamCro Natural - I have made some headway and am almost done with the first chapter of this biker AU. I’m hoping to have a fall/winter ‘21 release on it.

Couch Confessions, Red Herring, Take Me or Leave Me - No progress

Vampire Jensen - this is getting to the good part and the reveal. It’s a slow process but I’m getting there.

Chibs x Reader - I have two Chibs pieces in the works at the moment but neither are close to ready to post yet.

Bucky Barnes Bingo - I have a couple of squares planned out but no progress on these yet but I do hope to start posting some in late May/Early June

Timestamps - I posted one for Crimson & Clover already and have another planned; timestamp ideas for New Boundaries and Saints and Sinners are bouncing around in my head and will hopefully come to fruition during the summer.

Request status: requests through this blog are currently closed to the public. I have a few requests from some very close friends that are in the works but am not accepting more right now.

Other things I have going on:

- @that-one-gay-girl​ is coming to visit this weekend for the FOURTH time! 

- All of my bingo masterlists have been drafted and posted. 

- I’m 4 classes from finishing my BS Accounting degree.

- I’ve officially started transferring my two in-progress original novels to google docks. Thanks to NaNoWriMo for spurring me forward with it.

- I’m closing in on 400 followers pretty quickly and will be doing some kind of appreciation event for it. 

- I’m running 6 different bingos with @queen-of-deans-booty, @zombitch-cas, @padalelli, and @danneelsmain. All of them are any fandom, have no due dates, and are open for sign ups. @anyfandomkinksbingo, @anyfandomgoesbingo​, @anyfandomfluffbingo​, @anyfandomangstbingo​, @spnvillainsbingo​, and @badbitchesbingo​. 

- I’ve taken up betaing for several different works.

- Don’t forget to follow my reading blog @colereads​ to see what I’m reading.

Thanks to @ao3commentoftheday​ for the header and @firefly-graphics​ for the divider.

[imagineclaireandjamie]

A prompt: Claire having a hard time dealing with Jamie going to war again. (Ps: thanks for all the work you all do!)

Hi anon - this chapter from Flood My Mornings fits the bill!

Catch up on the whole story:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | AsThieves | Breakfast | Touch | OneBesides | Thereafter | Honeymoon | By the Seaside | Ridiculous Thing | Protocol | Album | Flu | Mama | Victories | Fernacre | Every Day and Everything | History and Proper Usage | [Non-sequential Christmas Drabble]| Helluva Beast | Not Yet | Aisles | Some Sunday Morning | Liberty and License | Plymouth Trace  Night Check  Stones  Twentieth of October | Samhain | The First Step | Eggs | Thanks | Service | Service Pt 2 | Sweet Souls | Flood my (Christmas) Mornings | Hogmanay | And tell me that you love me | All Fat | The Battle of the Gamete | Unimaginable | Round and Round | Vermont Part 1 Part 2 |  Climbing | Ian Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5  | Beeyin on Board | The Difference | Winky | Little things far beneath us |  When the child’s come | The Look | Wee hours | Fight |  Allegro con fuoco | Cozy |  A King on a Throne | The Bairn | Fluff | Hectic | Found | Of Small Kangaroos 

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Non-Sequential // Masterlist

Pairing: Pre-Serum Steve Rogers/Steve Rogers x Reader

One night, Steve Rogers met a beautiful dame named Y/N. He hadn’t intended on letting her get away. But fate had other ideas. Y/N appeared and disappeared in his life so hauntingly that Steve started to wonder if she was an angel meant to watch over him. 

A/N: Inspired by the film The Time Traveler’s Wife. But not one of those fics that just literally rips off the whole movie and plugs in characters where they please. 

Prologue // Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6 // Chapter 7 // Chapter 8 // Chapter 9 // Chapter 10 // Chapter 11 // Chapter 12 // Chapter 13 // Chapter 14 // Chapter 15 // Chapter 16 // Chapter 17 // Chapter 18 // Chapter 19 // Chapter 20 // Chapter 21 // Chapter 22 // Chapter 23 // Chapter 24 // Chapter 25 // Chapter 26 // Chapter 27 // Chapter 28 // Chapter 29 //

---

Non-Sequential Headcanons & Asks

I DO NOT DO TAGLISTS.

[ltworld]

Revelation, Coronavirus, and the Mark of the Beast: How Should Christians Read the Bible’s Most Fascinating Book? Part 1

Kevin DeYoung

Whenever there is a cataclysmic global crisis—be it war, rumors of war, or a novel coronavirus—we see a sharp uptick of interest in the book of Revelation. While paying attention to the Bible is always a good thing, Revelation is too often used (by Christians and non-Christians) in a way that does less to edify the body of Christ and more to stoke the fires of wild speculation and unfounded conspiracy theories.

It may be helpful, then, to understand what kind of book Revelation is and how to make sense of imagery like the mark of the beast. We’ll get to the mark of the beast in the third and final installment of this short series. But before we get there I want to take a couple posts to look at what Revelation is all about and how we should interpret this not-as-strange-as-it-seems book.

Big Picture

Probably no book of the Bible has been harder for Christians to understand and, as a result, produced more bizarre theology than the book of Revelation. Although it is called “revelation,” it has been anything but a revelation for many Christians. It is a closed book for many of us, not correcting, not teaching, not rebuking, not training in righteousness like all Scripture should.

I remember teaching through part of Revelation for a Sunday school class several years ago and telling my mom about it over the phone. She said something like, “Kevin, you’re not going act like you have everything figured out are you? John Calvin didn’t even write a commentary on Revelation. You don’t know more than John Calvin, do you?” It is true that Calvin did not write a commentary on Revelation (one of the few books he didn’t write on), and it’s true that I don’t have everything figured out. But most of Revelation can be understood and applied if we will take the time to study it.

In fact, the entire book of Revelation can be summed up in one word: nike. Nike is the Greek word for victory. It occurs one time in the New Testament—1 John 5:4 states, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” Another form of the word (nikos) appears four other times, three times in 1 Corinthians 15 (e.g., “Death has been swallowed up in victory;” “He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”). The verb form, nikao (meaning to conquer, to overcome, to triumph), occurs more frequently—28 times. Seventeen of those occurrences, more than in the rest of the New Testament combined, are in Revelation.

Revelation is the story of the Devil trying to conquer the church, but the church overcomes the Devil and the world because she belongs to the Lord who has won for us the victory (Rev. 5:5; 17:14). The book of Revelation gives instruction for the believer on how to conquer instead of being conquered, how to triumph instead of being trampled, and how to be an overcomer instead of a succumber. That’s why each of the seven letters to the seven churches concludes with “to the one who conquers . . .” If we cave and give in to persecution and give into worldliness and give into the Devil’s temptations, we will lose. But if we overcome through trial and suffering and seeming irrelevance, we will win (Rev. 21:6-7). That’s where history is heading, and that’s the big idea of Revelation.

(Possible) Map for the (Seeming) Madness

There is no one inspired way to understand the structure of Revelation. When studying this book in-depth several years ago, I found 11 different outlines, which suggests there probably isn’t one obvious structure we’re supposed to see.

One simple approach is to see Revelation as divided into two main sections. Chapters 1-11 introduce the story of God’s triumph, and chapters 12-22 explain the story in greater detail, this time unveiling in more depth the role of evil through the beast, the false prophet, and the whore of Babylon.

Another way of approaching the book is to divide it into four main sections, each marked off by the phrase “what must soon take place” or “what must take place after this.”

Rev. 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place.

Rev. 1:19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

Rev. 4:1 “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Rev. 22:6 “And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

The language in these four passages comes from Daniel 2 and indicates that Old Testament prophecy is already and not yet completed in Revelation.

There’s another way to outline the book into four main sections. This approach marks out the times John says he was caught up in the Spirit.

Rev. 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

Rev. 4:2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

Rev. 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness.

Rev. 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

By this reckoning, Revelation consists of four main visions that John saw while he was in the Spirit on four different occasions.

Yet one more way of approaching the book—and the approaches are not mutually exclusive—is to look for sets of sevens. Everyone recognizes that seven is a crucial number in Revelation, and that there are at least four sets of sevens: seven letters, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. This much everyone agrees on. But from here things get less clear. Since there are plainly at least four sets of sevens, many scholars have wondered if we are meant to see seven sets of sevens. I am convinced there are seven sets of sevens, but I certainly wouldn’t be dogmatic about it. My outline, which is similar to outlines I’ve seen from others, looks like this:

Prologue: 1:1-8 I. Seven letters: 1:9-3:22 II. Seven seals: 4:1-8:5 III. Seven trumpets: 8:6-11:19 IV. Seven visions: 12:1-15:4 V. Seven bowls: 15:5-16:21 VI. Seven judgments: 17:1-19:10 VII. Seven last things: 19:11-21:8 VIII. The beautiful bride: 21:9-22:21

You’ll notice there is an eighth section that is not a set of seven. An eighth section makes sense because eight is often the number of new creation in the Bible (Jesus rose on the eighth day/first day of a new week, eight people started the new humanity after the flood, sons were to be circumcised on the eighth day), and this eighth section is about the new heavens and new earth. But there is nothing inspired about the outline above. It’s just one way of making the book more manageable and putting together some possible patterns with some obvious ones.

Our Interpretive Lens

The last thing I want to do in this post is look at the various ways Christians have understood Revelation. There are four main schools of thought.

The first school of interpretation is called preterism. The preterist approach teaches that a large portion of the book of Revelation was fulfilled in the first century, specifically in the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Further, most of the prophecies in Revelation were fulfilled by the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century.

The strength of the preterist school is that it puts Revelation in its original context. Revelation was written to first-century Christians with first-century metaphors and imagery and referents. If we jump to the 21st century and ask, “What does this mean for me?,” we will almost surely get the wrong answer. We have to first ask, “What did this mean to them, to John’s original audience?”

Preterism is not without weaknesses. First, some preterists try to find a single, specific fulfillment to the prophecies of Revelation when it seems more likely that John’s visions often portray generalized spiritual battles and struggles that occur throughout the ages. Second, full-blown preterists argue that all of the end-time events, like the second coming and the last judgment, actually were fulfilled by AD 70. This does not seem in keeping with the cataclysmic language used at the end of each sequence.

The second school of interpretation is called historicism. The historicist reads Revelation as a straightforward, sequential roadmap of history. Revelation is seen as predicting any number of key historical figures and events from Napoleon to Hitler to the European Union to the United Nations.

The strength of historicism is that it makes Revelation relevant for all Christians. It focuses our attention not on the fall of the temple or on the Roman Empire but on the way of the church in the world.

But besides this strong point, historicism is the worst way to try to understand Revelation. It is full of weaknesses. Let me quickly mention just four.

First, historicism is often anachronistic and takes Revelation out of its original context. I am thinking of those who argued that the country out of the north (from Daniel, not Revelation) must be Russia, or that the locust swarm from Revelation 9 is foretelling a helicopter battalion. These sorts of interpretations completely ignore the imagery of ancient prophecy and the context of the first century.

Second, historicism, with its end-of-the-world predictions and identifications of the beast, has often been demonstrably wrong. During the cold war, people saw Russia in Revelation. A decade ago they saw Iraq. Now they see the coronavirus. In a few years, they will be on to something else. Historicists tend to see Revelation being fulfilled in whatever crisis is pertinent for the day. And then on another day, another group of historicists see that view was wrong and find something completely different.

Third, historicism limits the prophecies of Revelation to one exclusive location or personality instead of allowing that the imagery of Revelation may be well suited to an inclusive number of different figures and times. That is, I think historicists are right to see Revelation unfolding in history, but they are wrong to think that Revelation is uniquely unfolding in one historical moment.

Fourth, historicism is irreducibly subjective. There is simply no objective standard of interpretation. Who’s to say that Hitler was more the beast than Stalin? Or that 666 is a reference to Bill Clinton (as one website I found argues)? Or, as another article maintains, that Ronald Wilson Reagan (six letters in each of his names!) was the beast? It’s all hopelessly subjective. The text ends up saying anything we want it to.

The third school of interpretation is futurism. The futurist reads Revelation (chs. 4-22) as a prophecy solely concerned with the distant future. The events depicted refer to the time involving, or immediately preceding, the end of history. Dispensationalists are futurists (though not all futurists are dispensationalists).

The strength of futurism is that it emphasizes how Revelation speaks to the future, not just about the past. Futurism is right to see that some things in Revelation deal with the final consummation of human history. Futurists are also right to see that the future is moving somewhere, toward the triumph of the Lamb.

But futurism also has weaknesses.

First, if Revelation 4-22 is entirely and only about the distant future, then most of Revelation was barely relevant to its original readers. Sure, it would have helped them see the end of the world, but it really spoke little into their immediate context (when John says Revelation revealed “what must soon take place”).

Second, futurism often assumes a strict sequential chronology. And yet, we cannot assume that what is shown to us in chapter 12 comes in time after what we see in chapter 6. To the contrary, one of the keys to interpreting Revelation is to understand that its visions are recapitulated. So, Revelation gives us a sweep through history in the seven seals, and then does the sweep again in the seven bowls. Revelation comprises overlapping prophecies that go back and forth between the present and the future and are not strictly chronological.

Don’t think of the visions of Revelation as frames from a movie reel running through the light one after the other. Think of the visions as portraits in a gallery. You look at one portrait and get a glimpse of reality, and then you look at the next portrait, and then you walk over to the next room and look at the portraits over there. They are pictures telling the same story and pointing to the same reality, but they aren’t sequential clips from a movie.

The fourth school of interpretation is idealism. The idealist reads Revelation as a symbolic conflict between the forces of good and evil. Revelation, idealists argue, does not point to particular historical figures but depicts the timeless struggle between God and Satan. It interprets Revelation as a series of repeated symbolic pictures, focusing on the church’s triumphant struggle from the first century until the last judgment and the eternal state.

The strength of idealism is that is understands the symbolic nature of Revelation. It realizes that Revelation’s imagery is rooted first in Old Testament language and second in the known world of the first century. The other strength is that it sees behind the first-century context deeper spiritual realities that would outlive and transcend ancient Rome and remain relevant for believers throughout the ages.

The weakness of idealism is that it can at times under-emphasize the fact that all of history is moving somewhere. That is, idealism sometimes sounds vague, as if there were no end point in history as we know it, as if Revelation was just about the struggle between good and evil and not also about the ultimate triumph of Jesus Christ.

Interpret the Book

So what approach do I think helps us best understand Revelation? I think each approach offers something needed. This doesn’t mean that I think every approach is good or that one is not better than another (I’m basically an idealist with a partial preterist bent). But each school of interpretation does offer something important.

With the preterist, we must read Revelation in its immediate context.

With the idealist, we must look at Revelation as a symbolic portrayal of God’s work, most of which can be applied to any historical time.

With the futurist, we must read Revelation with end of history in mind, recognizing that the book depicts, in parts, the second coming, the final judgment, and the eternal state.

And with the historicist, we must understand that the prophecies of Revelation, though they are not limited to one particular occurrence, are fulfilled in time and space.

The best way to defend one’s interpretive grid is to actually interpret the book. But since this is a three-part blog series and not a 50-part sermon series, we will have to settle for just one more post on the subject. In the first three verses, John makes clear that this book is an apocalypse, a prophecy, and a letter. Once we know what each of the terms entail, we will be better equipped to understand the book as a whole and specific imagery like the mark of the beast.

Note: This post was first published through The Gospel Coalition website.

[sequinsmile-x]

This is Our Place, We Make the Rules Master List

A collection of non-sequential mini-fics and one-shots of Hotchniss and their life at home.

Read over on Ao3

-x-

Chapter 1 - Decorating, Chapter 2 - Baking, Chapter 3 - Paperwork, Chapter 4 - Moving In, Chapter 5 - Sick Day, Chapter 6 - Bad Day, Chapter 7 - Grocery Shopping, Chapter 8 - All Nighter, Chapter 9 - Cooking Dinner, Chapter 10 - Playtime, Chapter 11 - Exercise , Chapter 12 - Snow Day

[thegreatshono]

Get Your Free Comics.

Lately I've been increasingly disappointed with the state of Marvel and DC comics. Not so much the stories. I haven't been reading the stories. But disappointed with the price. (which is why i haven't been reading the stories.) In 1966 a Marvel comic was $0.12 in US dollars. If we adjust for inflation that's $0.95 in today's money. But do Marvel comics cost $1 today? No they cost $5 today. Minimum wage in 1966 was $1.25 and today it's $7.25. With one hour of minimum wage work in 1966 you could buy 10 comic books. One hour of work today will buy you 1 comic book.  That's bull shit. I find it very difficult to believe the price is significantly higher because creators are being paid significantly more than they once were. And because of that I can't support it. So I'm going to tell you where you can get comics for free, or nearly no money at all. Before I do, I do want to say a lot of these suggestions are going to be indie creators. If you like any indie comics I strongly recommend that you either 1. Become their patron and help fund the creation of more comics or 2. buy their merchandise even if it's a little on the expensive side. They don't have the resources to create cheep merch. Splurge a little and help fund the comics you love. And NEVER EVER EVER EVER pirate the comics. A lot of webcomics are pirated at places like Redit and other forums. Don't read those pirate posts, support the official release. If you have the need to pirate something, pirate from a billion dollar monopoly like Disney. Don't pirate from the tiny creator who's barely getting by as it is. okay here we go: 1. Webcomics. (duh)  This is the broadest category 'cause it's not just one website. They're all over the web. Webcomics have always been free but now there are lots of places to go and get them. There's networks like Hiveworks and hubs like Webtoons and Tapas.  There are others that don't belong to any group, they are just out there. I recommend exploring Top Webcomics to see if you can find a webcomic that's up your alley. Here are some webtoons by fellow small time creators: Shadows of Oblivion • Dalrak the Mighty • Mousecapades • The Rings of Tinuris • Kinetics • IMPACT! • How Not To Be A Hero! • Alexander Here are some other webcomics i like: Atomic Robo • Empowered • Spinnerette • Sequential Art 2. Graphite Comics.  "So Shono," I hear you say, "webcomics are fine, but I like more main stream comics. Publishers like Top Cow, IDW, Boom, Aspen, Dynamite, etc. I can't read those comics for free." Oh friends, you can indeed.  Now mind you these publishers don't have their entire catalog available on Graphite, but they sure do have a lot of them. You can even find my first published comic on the platform. It's... the art is really bad. Don't.... don't look at it. Like it's objectively bad. I'm not being modest, it's so bad. Read anything else on the platform. I personally I'm reading Walter Simonson's Star Slammers on there. (he's my all time favorite comic creator.) Graphite Comics also has a lot of webtoons and other indie comic publishers there. They have a ton of comics so go enjoy some good free comics! 3. Shonen Jump.  "I don't like American comics Shono, I read manga." Great! Shonen Jump lets your read the first 3 chapters, and the latest 3 chapters of all their manga for FREE! One Piece, Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, Death Note, everything! And it updates the chapters the same day they are released in Japan. So you're reading the latest chapter the same time the Japanese are. Now Even though that's free, if you have $2 extra each month, you'll have access to ALL the chapter. Read all 1000 chapters of One Piece, all of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super. EVERYTHING for just $2 a month. It's the best deal in mainstream comics. But even if you don't have the $2, you can still read what came out this week, and keep up to date without spending a dime! 4. Drive Thru Comics. This is the first online digital store for comics. They used to be called "Comics My Way" and they use to distribute paper copies of comics sorta like DCBS does today. But once that model wasn't viable anymore they switched to digital distribution of comics and stories. (they also have sister sites like DrivethruRPG that sells table top games and stuff.) They have a huge catalog of indie and mainstream comics. I recommend clicking on the "Free Comics" tab to see what they have available. *Spoilers, it's a ton.* 5. ComiXology. There are a lot of positives with ComiXology. I use the app a lot. My biggest problem with it though is most of the comics on the site is the same price as the paper copies. (unless there is a sale going on.)  Why am I paying full price for a digital copy of the comic? It's not like there are any materials thats contributing to the cost.  My other problem is they're owned by Amazon. And lately I'be been doing my best not to support monopolistic companies. I want to support small companies. Regardless despite those complaints they do have a section of free comics. Some of them very good. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Did I miss anything? What's your favorite webcomic? Where do you go to get your free, non-pirated comics? (seriously don't pirate comics We comic creators make so little money as it is. don't make it worse by pirating comics.) And Make Comics, Not Excuses.

[wwwps4]

Injustice 2

They say fighting games are a very conservative genre. They say that it is not easy to start playing them, it is even more difficult to understand, and even to reach a decent level at all by units. They also say that mere mortals have almost nothing to do there: they say that they play a little, and more and more in Japan, where arcade machines are not a luxury, but simulators for Champions. Nonsense! Injustice 2 consistently and mercilessly debunks myths, demonstrating what a bruiser should be able to please everyone. Myth 1: you can't just play fighting games New series of fighting games appear very rarely, and even less often are fixed in the minds and hearts of players for a long time. Agree, it is much easier to deal with the continuation of the familiar cycle than to learn something from scratch. Street Fighter, Tekken or Mortal Kombat are known to everyone — but who will remember Dive Kick, Skullgirls or some Under Night In-Birth? This is why it is considered that the entry threshold is very high, and most players stumble on it.

Injustice 2

Studio NetherRealm, the creators of Injustice and the much more famous Mortal Kombat, are struggling with this installation. Each of their games is a step from a hardcore combat system to an affordable option for those who are too lazy to learn tooth-crushing combos. In the end, the average gamer does not sit down for fighting games in order to break their own fingers in blood.

In strict accordance with this philosophy, three buttons in Injustice 2 are responsible for weak, medium and strong blows, and the fourth allows you to activate a special ability. If you want, you can grab items scattered around the arenas and also use them — again, with just one button. Finally, when the energy bar is filled to the maximum, the hands themselves reach out to activate the superstrike to enjoy an impressive scene, after which the enemy will not be counted for at least 40% of life. Injustice 2 is not even divided into rounds — each fighter enters the fight with a double health bar and is only interrupted for a second when he loses the first half.

Injustice 2

Entertainment, simplicity, and dynamics are the cornerstones of Injustice 2. While others are only looking for their way to the masses, NetherRealm is already there, among the people.

Myth 2: Fighting games quickly exhaust themselves and turn into merciless simulators So, we figured out that you don't need any special skills to enjoy Injustice 2, except for the ability to hold the gamepad. We will also understand why this should be done.

Injustice 2

The first tangible blow to the standards of The netherrealm genre was dealt back in 2011: it was then that Mortal Kombat had a somewhat rough, but impressive story mode. If, for example, the authors of Call of Duty and StarCraft can balance the single-user and network component, then why have not yet thought of this in fighting games? For 6 years, the concept of a monolithic narrative with a regular change of actors has passed the test of three games. Injustice 2 also takes it to a new level, which is largely facilitated by the comic theme.

Injustice 2 is dedicated to DC Comics characters-Superman and Batman, which we dreamed of dressing up for children's matinees. Or Wonder woman, which will soon be admired in cinemas. And almost three dozen no less bright and colorful personalities.

The first part was about how A man of steel went crazy on the grounds of the death of his beloved, and then arranged a tyranny on a sinful Earth. Batman also led the resistance forces and eventually put the kryptonian in a special Solarium that simulates the light of the red sun. It would seem that this is the happy ending. But no. There were sympathizers. There are still personal accounts to settle. Unrealized hopes and aspirations. And to top it off, a galactic-scale villain, Brainiac, burst onto the blue planet — the former enemies will have to join forces to defeat him... Or not.

The Injustice 2 story mode is a dozen chapters of a single story, modest, but still non-linear, two endings and a lot of clips with facial animation of the Uncharted 4 and Quantum Break level, no less. Reproach him is only in brevity — the passage requires at least four hours. At best, five, to achieve the coveted one hundred percent.

Injustice 2

After the superhero conflict is exhausted, your hands will reach for the "Multiverse"mode. This is a kind of evolution of the "tower" from Mortal Kombat-sequential tests, often with different (mocking) modifiers. There are also hourly, daily and weekly tasks, the passage of which promises pumping and rewards. And this variety distinguishes Injustice 2 from a number of similar action games.

Myth 3: Balance in fighting games does not tolerate changes in characters The story mode, three dozen fighters, and a bunch of modes in Injustice 2 are supported by the equipment and leveling system. Successes in arenas are rewarded with experience, and some also with special boxes. In them, you can find, for example, a new helmet for the Flash or a corset for the Catwoman. There are countless items, they differ in level and rarity, give various bonuses and are collected in sets.

Injustice 2

Someone will probably object and say that there is customization in a great variety of games. But in Injustice 2, all the items put on somehow change not only the appearance, but also the characteristics of the ward. A little effort, and now your Aquaman is twice as strong as the standard version, and the Cheetah has started to move a little faster. In other words, customizing the appearance affects not only the appearance, but also brings real benefits. Up to the appearance of additional techniques.

Only one of the creators of Injustice 2 did not depart from the traditions. For fun online, you can measure levels and found items, but in a competitive game, a special setting disables any modifiers. This is logical: if you want to claim Olympic gold, you will have to give up Meldonium and steroids.

At the dawn of justice Remember, we started with the conservatism of fighting games and the potential of Injustice 2? The brainchild of Netherrealm has everything to popularize the genre and become a role model. Outdated Street Fighter V, retrograde Tekken 7 and significantly inferior in popularity Guilty Gear Xrd is unlikely to make it a worthy competition.

Only one thing can prevent the success of Injustice 2 — the insane popularity of Mortal Kombat. Four years ago, it easily eclipsed all the achievements of the first battle of Superman and Batman. Let's hope that the second attempt of NetherRealm to pit famous DC characters will not be wasted.

[acatex]

Hey Snarklings!

  Are you surprised that I’m still alive? I know I am (lols am I even relevant anymore?) Before I get into my whole MCAT prep strategy, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for leaving you guys in the dust. I have been very stressed lately and I just felt like I was letting you guys down which was why I made a really hard (but spontaneous) decision on my academic career. Of course I cannot comment right now on what I did/planning to do, but an upcoming blog post would be up in the next couple of days to explain the whole grey area that I was stuck in. Okay, it’s time to put away the tissue boxes and dive into every pre-meds worse nightmare: The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)

Disclaimer: This is my method and it may or may not work for you, so please take it with a grain of salt because, the way that I learn may be different from you, but it is a good idea to see how others approach this scary test.

What is the MCAT?

In short, the MCAT is a standardized test taken on a computer program to measure a prospective medical student’s potential to succeed medical school. Think of it as foreshadow of one’s ability to do well on painstakingly long exams that are cut up into blocks: Since most of medical schools in the US and Canada require doctors in training to take many board exams that can be 8-9 hours long.

Another reason why the MCAT is administered is to see whether the applicant can use background knowledge of the subject (biochemistry, biology, chemistry, psychology/sociology, physics, critical reasoning skills, etc) and integrate with other sciences to synthesize and draw an objective answer to a novel/unknown situation. This makes the MCAT different from others standardized tests such as SAT or ACT since these tests are more on memory recall and regurgitation, while the MCAT is more on integration and application to unknown situations. Think of it like this, when a doctor walks into a patient’s room, they know some things (the knowledge they’ve been taught in med school) and there’s probably things that they don’t know about a patient’s health, but when a doctor integrates what he/she knows and connect it to the unknown they can solve problems.

  What is the MCAT tested on?

Since, one of the reasons why the MCAT is administered is to test your endurance on future medical school board exams such as: USMLE step 1, step 2 CK, step 2 CS, Step 3  if you are in the United States or the MCCEE, NAC, MCCQE part 1, MCCQE part 2 in (Canadian boards), and Comlex Level 1, Level 2CE, Level 2PE, Level 3 (Osteopathic med schools/DO). They do this by testing you on undergraduate courses and are broken down into 4 sections/blocks

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS)

Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems

Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behaviour

  Prior to Taking the MCAT

I highly recommend taking the required courses before taking the MCAT. The AAMC recommends to take the following pre-med classes:

Introductory (first year) Biology (2 semesters/1 year)

Introductory/General Chemistry (2 semesters/1 year)

Organic chemistry (2 semesters/1 year)

Biochemistry (1 semester)

Introductory Physics (2 semesters/1 year)

Psychology (1 semester)

Sociology (1 semester)

Now I never took a sociology class and I am planning on taking physics in my upcoming (and last) school year of uni. But that doesn’t really matter since you can just self study for it.

  Resources?

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So MCAT prep cannot be MCAT prep without a good set of MCAT books for you to review on. Now, there are many MCAT companies out there and a lot of people are confused on which one they would get to the point that everyone keeps on asking the same question: What books are YOU using? Hey, are those books good? Listen, your success on the MCAT does not depend on what company that you choose to get your books from. Why? Because it is you and how well you reviewed and practice those questions on a DAILY BASIS. I know people who got into med school by using Kaplan, I know people who got rejected who used Kaplan, and the same goes for other prep companies such as The Princeton Review, Examkrackers, The Berkely Review, etc. It doesn’t matter. Just pick one and stick with one. Do not. I repeat. DO NOT BUY TWO BOOKS OF THE SAME SUBJECT BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT ONE COMPANY DOES A BETTER “JOB.’ Again, It is you who will determine your own success, not a book.

Now, for me, I was about to buy the Kaplan MCAT series but, my mother surpised me on my 21st birthday with the NextStep MCAT Content Review and Practice Passages. At first, I was bummed out but as I went along, I realized that the books are doing its job: Helping me review what I learned in undergrad (wipes tears away; literally every time I turn a page I get flashbacks). And the best part is: It was free since it was my birthday gift so I did not have to spend a dime.

When I found something that I did not fully understand or the book did not give me a detailed answer I usually used Khan Academy videos (There’s a whole section just for the MCAT with practice problems). Other videos/channels worth mentioning:

AK Lectures for biochemistry and general chemistry (his explanations for thermodynamics is so straight to the point, they’re super clutch)

The Organic Chemistry Tutor: MCAT Test Prep General Chemistry Review Study Guide Part 1 and MCAT General Chemistry Lectures Review Prep Part 2 – Equations & Practice Questions

Leah4SciMCAT for doing MCAT Math Without a Calculator and Amino Acids for MCAT/Biochem students. I also looked at Fischer Projections for MCAT Orgo and Biochemistry which helped so much since she sues fun mnemonics and straight to the point concepts that just makes the learning fun and easy.

Bozeman science for their anatomy and physiology sections for every organ system mentioned in the biology MCAT book. I also looked at a video or two from the AP chemistry, AP biology, and AP physics (which I remembered fondly back in high school and so I’m familiar with them thus, I didn’t look at every video but just ones that I had trouble with, ex: transcription vs translation.)

  My method for studying: I tend to study in rotations or two chapters of the same subject a day until completion. The image below is how that looks like in my mini day planner:

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Since I do not have a job nor am I in school during the summer I was able to study for 8 hours a day and found myself going through rotations quicker than I expected. Before I go to bed I reviewed what I learned and anything that I do not finished I would have to finish in the morning before starting a new rotation.

  Active Learning

So when I start a new chapter I use my metacognitive abilities: What do I know vs what do I don’t know.

Let’s take the endocrine system as an example. I know that the endocrine is invovled in hormone secretion and regulation of the metabolic oathways that maintains homeostasis. I know an example of this would be aldosterone (a steroid hormone) and vasopressin (a peptide) hormone helps regulate homeostasis by repsonding to low fluid levels and by increasing fluid retention. But what I do not know is how exactly they achieve this: thus when I’m studying that’s my goal or my purpose. I am learning to apply and find answers to my questions.

Every time a paragraph says something about a hormone I would turn it into a question and write the answer in my own words. Here’s an example on tropic versus non tropic hormones:

In orange I wrote the section of the chapter: Regulation

I wrote a capital Q for question and A for answer.

And sometimes I write a little flow chart for easy summary of what I learned

The reason why I used this system was for 3 reasons: (1) By writing out the section in a different colour, it acts as a study guide (you know with all the topics/questions pertaining to one part of the chapter for a test). (2) Turning the info in a paragraph into a question and answers makes it interactive and makes you think about what you are learning; sort of like flashcards. I would cover the answer portion with another piece of paper and just talk/aggressively whisper out the answer (the answer doesn’t have to be word by word but just similar to what it is). (3) When it is time for revision: Your notes are in a Q/A format or like test which is better than writing a bunch of notes and just passively looking over.

Here’s another one on the hypothalamus-anterior pituitary-adrenal cortex axis (HPA)

As you can see I love flow charts for sequential pathways and showing the cause and effects of each step (what increases or decreases, which hormone is involved, etc)

I will write a more detailed post on what I put into my MCAT notebooks and what I look for when reading or extracting information from the review books. So just hold on and be patient.

  Practice, Practice, Practice

Knowledge is power but practice makes perfect. Remember that the MCAT will not really test your ability to recall facts straight from the book; this is not a trivia show. It is your ability to apply known information (your MCAT content review) and integrate them with other information in an unknown situation (the MCAT passages). That’s why I like that my MCAT books have practice passages at the end of each chapter. I also bought extra practice passages from NextStep because they really do help me understand the content and the timing. If you do not have practice passages right now, go to the Khan academy MCAT section and there’s loads of them (but they are really easy though).

Also, I really enjoyed watching videos on YouTube on how to approach passages and seeing what other people’s strategies and methods are. I tend to integrate what others do with my own method, but everyone is different so just take it with a grain of salt. Here are a couple of my favorite Youtubers, one of which is actually my best friend.

Amanda and Rich Show: MCAT Biology Passage Breakdown

CurveSetter: MCAT 2015 Biochemistry Tutorial 1 (Amino Acids) – CurveSetter Tutoring

CurveSetter: MCAT Biology/Biochemistry Passage Analysis (Acetylcholine) – CurveSetter MCAT Prep

CurveSetter: MCAT 2015 Chemistry Tutorial 3 (Titration Passage) – CurveSetter Tutoring

CurveSetter: MCAT 2015 Chemistry/Physics Selected MC 1 – CurveSetter Tutoring

CurveSetter: Electricity and Magnetism MCAT Physics Passage – CurveSetter MCAT Prep

CurveSetter: MCAT 2015 Biology Tutorial 1 (Neuron Passage) – CurveSetter Tutoring

CurveSetter: MCAT 2015 CARS Tutorial 1 (Passage) – CurveSetter Tutoring

CurveSetter: MCAT 2015 CARS Tutorial 1 (Questions) – CurveSetter Tutoring

SecondChance MCAT: MCAT Science Passage Breakdown #1

SecondChance MCAT: Full MCAT CARS Passage Breakdown (98% CARS Scorer)

Bless her Health: CARS WORKSHOP 08/24

Bless her Health: CARS WORKSHOP 08/28

  After going through a few passages or so, review your mistakes! Then again look up your Q/A notes and see where you went wrong. When you do this, you’re allocating your attention areas that need it. This really helped me retain information whilst, practicing applying concepts with other concepts. Another reason why, is that the questions on the MCAT are really different from your college classes. Again, you’re not regurgitating facts out, you’re applying what you know with what you don’t know by looking at superficial similarities and coming up with the best answer. Since this is a new skill, the only way to learn it is through practice.

I am planning on making a post about how I breakdown science and CARS passages as well so stay tuned.

Spaced Repetition Is Key

One of the keys to success for the MCAT is repetition for retention. If you do not review, you will forget it. That’s why I always made sure that after a section of a chapter I would look over what I had so far and really try to understand what I just learned and see how it relates to other chapters or to the other subjects in one way or another to get the BIG PICTURE. Then, before I go to sleep I will look over at the chapter again as a whole and annotate anything that I think needs more detail. Then the next day before starting a new chapter, I quickly look at all the previous chapters by talking aloud (or aggressively whispering if you’re around people, sorry to the girl at Starbucks who has to put up with my) and just make connections to it. Over time, I looked at all the previous chapters so much that I can recall many concepts.

Review while making your Q/A notes

review after making your Q/A notes

Look at your Q/A notes before you go to bed

Before starting a new chapter, look at all the previous Q/A notes to refresh your memory

1 day later look at your old Q/A notes then maybe 3 days later do it again

Congratulations, all the info you’ve mastered are now stored in your long term memory. It is permanent until you die (unless if you get amnesia).

  I hope this helps make up for my absence and don’t worry, I will post more on MCAT prep. So ciao for now, and stay flossy everyone.

  How I Prepare for the MCAT Part 1 Hey Snarklings! Are you surprised that I'm still alive? I know I am (lols am I even relevant anymore?) Before I get into my whole MCAT prep strategy, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for leaving you guys in the dust.

[ao3feed-robron]

by nothing_much

A collection of short stories which will have different contents, and are non sequential. Tags for the chapters are in the summaries

Words: 741, Chapters: 4/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Emmerdale, robron

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Robert Sugden, Aaron Dingle

Relationships: Robron - Relationship, Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden

Additional Tags: Drabble Collection, lots of different stories, Non sequential, Love at First Sight, First Kiss, First Meetings, Alternate Universe, Wordcount: 100-500, Tags in Summary

[trulymightypotato]

On the Comparative Value of Labor

A few people have told me recently that I should pick up x or y thing and make money with it on the side: knitting, cross-stitching, so on and so forth. “You can sell little embroidered key chains for five bucks some weekend and make some pocket change!” they say, completely unaware that that’s nowhere near the right amount of money to even break even with the cost of material and time that I put into it.

Especially considering that I’m slower at these tasks than most people.

This is, largely, because knitting and cross-stitch are tasks with extremely fine motor control--tasks I struggle with on a daily basis due to both the strain it puts on my joints and my general lack of fine motor control in the first place.

I’m familiar with the basics of both trades. I’ve knitted (though the most complicated thing I’ve ever managed is a scarf, because uneven yarn tension doesn’t matter so much there) and I’ve done a wide variety of embroidery (my current project is a set of throw pillows for a cousin’s wedding gift--a project, that despite the low surface area of the pillows that’s being covered, has taken me six months and I’m still not done).

One of my roommates can pick up crochet and make a scarf in a matter of days.

And yet the scarf that I spent four weeks knitting non-stop to get done in time for Christmas and the scarf my roommate made in a week would be valued the same--if not hers as a higher worth, because she’s able to control the yarn and make for a smoother finished project.

Despite the fact that a keychain-sized cross-stitch item would cost me materials and about four hours of time, it would be valued at five dollars.

My work, at a detail that causes me pain, is valued at $1.25 an hour.

You might be able to see the problem here.

This applies to more than the physical crafts.

It applies to "The market price is crap and also based on people who work faster than you do because they’re not in pain.”

I do digital art. I do it when I have the time and a subject in mind, which means it happens less often than I’d like. I’ve done commissions before, too, and contracted work.

The thing is, even though my commissions are “too expensive,” they’re honestly not costly enough. Not only is someone paying for a digital product, but they’re also paying for my time, for the experience I have in digital work, my style, and the physical effort it takes for me to actually complete a piece with intensive feedback. A total of three (3) people have ever commissioned me, and while I’m glad one of them has repeatedly come back for more, it’s disheartening to see the vast majority of people aren’t interested in paying a still-too-low wage.

As for that contract work I did--legally speaking, I’m not allowed to divulge details, but know that because “it’s a lot of work you’ll get paid plenty by the time it’s all over” I did intensive pieces and got paid under half of what I should have been. By the time I found out how much work there really was, and the changes the other party demanded months after getting a final piece sent to them, I was locked into a contract that didn’t give me any hope for improvement. (Also, they wouldn’t pay me for months at a time and got upset when I refused to hand over the final products until I got paid.)

By the time everything was said and done, I was getting paid about $3 an hour.

Somehow, because some people can draw faster than I can for the same product, that means I get paid less than a fair wage.

It’s one of the reasons commissions haven’t been open in a while. I can’t handle that again--both the mental strain and the physical damage caused by both working a regular job and drawing for another 4-6 hours a day to get stuff done.

It applies to “Other people have more time to do things than you do, and yet you’re held to the same standard.”

I record videos and put them on YouTube for fun. There was a period of time, about two years ago, when I was able to put out a video nearly every day. It was expected of me, so why wouldn’t I? And then, very suddenly, videos stopped for several months. Why?

Well, because I was taking 15 credits of college classes and working.

I would get all my homework done on my commute on public transport to and from college and in the breaks between classes. On particularly rough days I’d do a few more hours of it when I got home.

Then I’d have an irregularly-scheduled job where I’d work two 8 hour shifts back to back (either on sequential days or, on a few notable occasions, on the same day--you read that right, 16 hour days) and then a single 4 hour shift and then I wouldn’t be allowed to work more because then they’d have to start paying me benefits.

Because of this, money was so tight that some months I could barely pay rent, much less afford to eat.

I’d have chores I needed to do, ranging from the basic “clean room” and “dishes” and “laundry” (a task that takes several hours, assuming all the washers and dryers at the laundromat are working properly) to the more technically complicated “grocery shopping” (since I didn’t and still don’t have a car and had to rely on public transportation) and “scheduled appointments”.

I didn’t have time to put out videos, and yet I still felt I had to. My mental health was suffering to the point where my physical health was suffering (something I’m still dealing with the ramifications of to this day), and the only thing I could cut was videos.

So I did.

I stumbled through my last semesters of college (and I graduated with a GPA lower than I’d wanted but above a 3.0 so really that was nice) and got a new job--one that works me regular hours, even if those hours start at 4:30 in the morning.

And for several months into 2018, that was all I could do.

Sure, I managed to get out a few videos in that time, but I wasn’t really happy with them, and judging by the analytics on my channel, neither was anyone else.

It applies to “There’s a lot of invisible work that goes into this.”

I know I write fanfic for free. I’m planning on keeping it that way. It’s a good way for me to clear my mind and get creative, without the pressure of having a “final product” to show off at the end. I mean, I will have a final product, hypothetically, but I’m not really expected to show it to anyone in a professional context.

But then there are those comments--comments at the ends of chapters and in articles written by “professionals” and “experts.” The ones that say “Anyone can write. You’re just making things up for the fun of it, of course it’s not difficult” and “It’s been so long, when’s the next chapter going to be out?”

Except that it’s not so easy as that.

Yes, absolutely, I do it for fun. I do it for fun all the time. I do it for the satisfaction, and for the enjoyment of writing.

But the final product you see? Is not just something I tipped out onto the page.

In Royal Flush, for example, each and every chapter is started with a specific purpose in mind. A thing, a very specific thing, needs to happen. Maybe someone needs to learn information, or an aspect of 1920s culture needs to be showcased to better explain someone’s motives and actions.

All of this requires research. Research into clothing customs, and into social greetings and actions out in public and the customary ways to do such and such. Research into the vehicles of the time. Research into the medicine of the time (which is a particularly tricky one). Research into politics and public opinions and real-life historical figures.

The average chapter of Royal Flush takes me a week to a month to write.

This is a call to remember that just because a job looks easy, it’s probably not. If you think you can do it better, feel free. If you’re going to be That Person, then I don’t want to work for or with you. If you approach me on social media, I will block you.

Remember: for the vast majority of the “easy work for easy money” I perform, the work begins as soon as negotiations open--not as soon as I actually sit down and start working on the art, or the chapter, or the cross-stitch.

By engaging in someone’s work, you are agreeing to THEIR terms, to THEIR labor, to pay THEM a fair wage for the time and work THEY put into it--not your neighbor, not yourself, not a robot in a factory. 

You are hiring a person. Rates may vary.

[blogforallreader]

What does blockchain technology mean?

The concept of blockchain (Blockchain): it is an innovative application model of computer technologies such as distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanism, and encryption algorithm in the Internet era. Revolution has a very important meaning. This experience introduces the relevant knowledge of blockchain technology.

Blockchain source

(1) Bitcoin (Bitcoin),

Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency and because it does not rely on a central government agency, Bitcoins are "scarce assets" created through the process of "digital mining" (mining). Bitcoins can be collected and traded, and due to limited resources, in 2013 alone, its value rose hundreds of times on U.S. exchanges.

(2) The blockchain was created to enable Bitcoin. It is a point-to-point electronic cash system, based on cryptography rather than credit, so that any two parties who reach an agreement can pay directly, and bitcoin transactions do not require the participation of third-party intermediaries such as banks. If this technology is used for overseas transfers, a large amount of remittance fees can be saved.

The technical principle of blockchain

(1) Blockchain is a chained data structure that combines data blocks in a sequential manner in chronological order, and is a cryptographically guaranteed non-tamperable and unforgeable distributed ledger.

(2) The blockchain is a historical record of transactions, much like a database. A block in the chain is equivalent to a page in a book, each page in the book contains: text, story, each page has its own information: book title, chapter title, page number, etc.

(3) In a blockchain, each block has: a header containing data about that block: such as technical information, a reference to the previous block, and a digital fingerprint of the data contained in that block (aka "hash") and so on. This hash is important for ordering and block verification.

Features of blockchain

In order to realize the above transactions, the blockchain needs to meet the characteristics of decentralization and traceability

(1) Decentralization: users trade in a peer-to-peer (P2P) manner, the addresses are managed by the participants themselves, and the balance is managed by a globally shared distributed ledger. Security depends on all participants, and everyone judges a certain Whether the member is trustworthy.

(2) Transparency: records in the database are permanent, chronologically ordered, and accessible to all other nodes on the network. Every user can see the transaction status.

(3) Irreversibility of records: Since the records are related to each other, once a transaction is entered in the database and the account is updated, the records cannot be changed.

Blockchain Disadvantages:

(1) Irrevocable

In the blockchain, if you misuse or lose your password, the loss will be irreparable.

(2) Privacy

Since the blockchain is distributed, the transaction ledger must be open and transparent, and there is no privacy at all.

(3) storage space

Due to the need to master all historical records, performance is affected when the number of transactions is large.

(4) Delay

The distributed feature requires everyone to authenticate, so there is a transaction delay.

Blockchain application

In addition to Bitcoin, blockchain actually has many applications, mainly including:

(1) Smart contracts: digitized law; contract documents, automatic execution of commercial transactions and agreements

(2) Smart assets: trade finance, supply chain, workflow, rich data

(3) Clearing and settlement: higher transaction accuracy and shorter settlement process, winning real cost savings in the short term

(4) Payment: Reduce the disadvantages of the current framework, save time and cost, and speed up and simplify cross-border payments

(5) Digital identity: registering an identity; reusing that identity for other services,

(6) Applications in the Internet of Things: MoIP operation; machine-to-machine communication

Summarize

A blockchain is a distributed ledger that can contain financial and/or non-financial transactions, replicated (distributed) across multiple systems in near real-time via a peer-to-peer network, where each participant "owns" the same copy of the ledger, and Get updates when any transaction is added, each participant contributes to the inherent "immutability" of all existing records, using cryptography and digital signatures to prove identity, authenticity and enforce read/write access, there are mechanisms Making it difficult to change the history makes it easy to detect someone trying to change it.