#thank you neb *high five*

[boypussydilf]

sherlock. what is it's gender. what is their deal. speak your trutg

oh dear with the state of my blog its now hard to tell when people walk up to me and say sherlock if they mean dgs sherlock the og or any of the several others ive started talking about. we need to like. color code them. anyway im gonna talk about dgs sherlock bc hes the one im most likely to have proper thoughts on and then probably also do one for mostly just. like. the general concept actually thinking about it i do have many thoughts on Non-DGS Sherlock i dont know why i allowed myself to think i didnt . i just get caught up in the bimbo dad but i like the entire folder hes stored in

dgs first tho <333333

Sexuality Headcanon: gay. Just gay

Gender Headcanon: If i had to make 1 decision. genderfluid <3 Sherlock Holmes (DGS) can fit so much gender in her !!!!!!!!!

A ship I have with said character: *looks at my blog* *looks at my pinned post* um i think you guys know . already. the only one i have . do i need to say it

A BROTP I have with said character: i mean. Iris. they r best friends for real ! they r like the most important people to each other ! they r this guy and their 10 year old daughter who packs peanut butter jelly sandwiches for them !!!

A NOTP I have with said character: im gonna be petty and say vanlock. i blocked the tag bc i got tired of seeing it. actually even moreso i like physically recoil when i see ppl shipping him with ryuu, it fucking. completely baffles me. like. nothing wrong with that. people who ship them aren’t weird in That sense. but theyre weird as in I can’t understand what compels you to do this . i dont like vanlock but i can Understand why people do i just got extra sick of it bc its semi common. i cant understand why people ship sherlock and ryuu. like youve misread the vibe badly. this is not it. oh dear god this just got 5 times as long as all the other sections of this fucking ask meme. power of being slightly annoyed sorry

A random headcanon: UHHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD . I KNOW i have headcanons abou t this bitch he swarms around in my mind all the time. I am imagining Random Exploits of the DGS Cast on a daily basis where did the fucking Concepts and Ideas go. ill return to this once ive done everything else and see if i havent thought of anything fun by then. ive thought about it some more and my most recent thought on him has been like. she knows some russian and japanese right? actually a fucking lot of russian to be able to read entire newspaper articles but thats besides the point i just think that sherlock knowing several different languages is neat but, Like. its pure chance if she ever manages to learn enough to be able to …. use it. once every several months sherlock will get really really excited about a new foreign language and put in like 2 weeks of work before forgetting about it completely. he has the vocabulary of a very young toddler in half a dozen different languages and is remembering those vocabularies by sheer luck

General Opinion over said character: Im normal iam normal normal im normal and regular . im normal and im normal about him and i dont intend to put him under a microscope or anything. i am not putting him in a little plastic box and shaking him to find out what happens . *extends my hand ibuprofen style* who wants to speculate about dgs in hyperspecific ways with me. hello my like 3 dgs followers do you have thoughts on sherlock holmes. tell them to me. lets all be normal. Anyway uh hes funny

IVE GOTTEN THAT BITCH OUT OF THE WAY LETS TALK ABOUT …… im not even sure. The General Concept of Sherlock Holmes on a Wide Scale, which, like, ultimately probably just boils down to: acd holmes. time to get philosophical with it. thats not the right word.

Sexuality Headcanon: sherlock is either gay or aroace or some more specific combination of all previous terms. Hey does that… even count as headcanon? Ultimately my stance is “whatever as long as sherlock holmes is not interested in women” and it is stated very clearly explicitly and repeatedly in canon that sherlock holmes is not interested in women so . like.

Gender Headcanon: You know what’s funny is expressing disdain for women is an effective way to distance yourself from femininity in general, for instance, to assert masculinity as a trans man, or as a negative reaction to being a trans woman. So. Like.

A ship I have with said character: at first i was like “its just kind of an objective fact that sherlock and watson are gay but i dont have emotional investment in it” but that was a fucking lie

A BROTP I have with said character: SHERLOCK HOLMES DOES NOT HAVE FRIENDS. I DONT FUCKING KNOW, TOBY THE DOG?

A NOTP I have with said character: The next time an adaptation tries to make him and irene adler straight together im going to thr authors house and shooting them point blank. shut up shut up shut up shut up. they would NOT

A random headcanon: man i dont even fucking know. he probably eats food off the floor and i mean this genuinely

General Opinion over said character: Sherlock Holmes is the ultimate Little Freak. Like 80% of the joy of any sherlock holmes media is “Watch this Freak Behave Oddly”. Some people think he would be hard to get along with personally i think we would make very good friends and i would love to hang out with the Freak.

Man. I hope this post isn’t actually as long and hard to look at as it looks in the mobile post editor. Unfortunately it probably is

[raccoonfallsharder]

What if Rocket went back in time himself to help the other guardians?

thank you so much for sending this my way, you perfect golden pancake ♡ i've been rolling this around in my head for days now - what a jewel of a thought. there are so many possibilities.

because when all is said and done, i think it's foolish to imagine that rocket didn't figure out how to tame pym particles while he was on terra helping with the snap. by the time the universe was saved and he had his friends back, he'd have figured out where and how to harvest the little subatomic sparks. countless restless nights would have been spent reverse-engineering pymtech.

hell, way back when rocket had first seen the machine tony and bruce had patched together, he'd been intrigued for all of a whole five minutes before identifying at least thirty-six ways he could've improved efficacy. the machine looks all shiny and fancy, but rocket's no stranger to narcissists with big budgets. after all, he knows better than anyone that a rapid-evolution chamber will only make monsters if your glycosylated salts and beta-microseminoproteins ain't right, no matter how many resources you throw at it.

(to be honest, rocket is actually quite annoyed that the avengers - whom he has privately nicknamed the scavengers, after hearing red make a crack about him eating trash - had him and nebs running errands for danvers this whole time. he could've been figuring out better ways to make this whole time-travel situation work, with more precision and less risk of like... running out of pym particles. morons.)

so anyway, point is, once rocket has all most of his friends back (and that's the problem, isn't it), he starts tinkering with pymshit. the guardians eventually settle (more or less) on knowhere and amidst thirty other insomnia-driven projects that include both the bowie and a massive ocular cannon for the skull, rocket's also messing around with pymtech and wakandan nanomachines, and he's marrying them all together in some big, messy, rocket-original creation - complete with duct tape he smuggled off terra.

if anyone had asked - and nobody but nebula does, to be honest - rocket would've told them it was a good thing he'd never had alone-time with doctor strange. he'd heard the stories from pete - about what the time wizard had said. only one possible outcome where we win. well, that's all very well and good for the doctor and his friends. red and stark had chosen to sacrifice themselves.

but what about gamora? she'd never had the frickin' option.

this time-travel project is the first thing rocket's intentionally hidden from nebula in years - other than his origins on halfworld, anyway. but he can't risk her finding out and trying to talk him out of it because she thinks it's unsafe, and he can't risk getting her hopes up if he can't get gams back. plus, she might tell pete, and that would be a whole different nightmare.

so, late one night on only a thimbleful of sleep, he finishes. his plans get interrupted by the mess with the high evolutionary, and then he has to put off using it because he's the frickin' captain or whatever (talk about sleepless nights) and then finally - finally - there's a gap where he thinks he can go. he'll come back, and no-one will even know he was gone. it's a time machine, after all. he climbs in, and he settles against the vinyl seat and takes the controls in his hand.

she handles like a fuckin' dream.

he gives gams the heads-up. strategizes with her. checks back with the future where he lives and learns that at least in this universe, there are now two gamoras: the moral compass currently on terra meeting pete's grandpa, and the snarly time-travelling ravager who rocket has also started to develop a grudging affection toward. pete's happy. nebs is happy. both gamoras are happy. and knowhere starts to feel a little like home.

but sleep still doesn't come. the nightmares are still there. and rocket starts to think maybe he doesn't have to stop with gams. groot might've chosen to sacrifice himself, but rocket figures - maybe he didn't need to. maybe that can change.

but i can imagine how that conversation would go.

you gotta figure something else out, our rocket would tell groot the elder, and groot would say something like, i am groot?

and rocket would say, there's gotta be another option. you gotta live. i want you to meet your kid.

and groot would say, i am groot?

and rocket would say, uh, yeah, you got a kid, and then he'd try to explain, and groot would say, i am groot. i am groot. which basically means, it sounds like you are my child's father, and i won't risk taking that from either of you. this is the light i choose to follow.

i gotta save you, rocket would say, holding the words in his teeth, unable to give them up. i gotta save you, and lylla, and teefs, and floor -

and groot would stop him with a very gentle i am groot, which, to translate, is something like, and how will that change things? will i never find you, little mammal? will you never find our current family? how will they ever meet each other, or escape the kyln, or overcome all the things you tell me they are meant to overcome - without you? where will the galaxy be if the you I know isn't part of it?

i am groot, he adds, which kind of means, you underestimate how very important you are.

and so this new, second trip won't lead to anything tangibly changed in our rocket's universe - not in any way that an outsider would notice, or see. but those moments, to say good-bye, to say i miss you, to say i don't really think you're an idiot and i love you -

they change something inside rocket.

and when he returns to knowhere, he's finally able to sleep.

taglist ♡ @evolvingchaoswitch ♡ @glow-autumz ♡ @wren-phoenix ♡ @suicidalshitstick ♡ @pretty-chips

[afewmarvelousthoughts]

Falling Ch. 7

Master List: @afewmarvelousthoughtsadmin

Pairing: Bucky X Reader [and a few more to come]

Summary: For a moment you had something good, something wonderful. But moments pass. Now, left with nothing but the ashes of a life and a love you fought so hard for, you find yourself in a free fall. Who will you be once you hit the bottom? [Sequel to Only For A Moment but can be read independently.]

Warnings: Loss, grief, drug/alcohol abuse, violence 

A/N: Hello again! So this is another shorter chapter but there is a lot happening. I think you can expect shorter chapters for the most part as we roll forward with this story (along the lines of the majority of Only For A Moment) because that’s easier for me to maintain. 

There’s also some hints here about what we can expect from our reader in the future, lmk if you have thoughts! 

TAGS ARE OPEN

“Oh for fucks sake!” Rocket yelled as your comm cut out. It was just as likely that you were dead as it was that you turned it off. 

And if you weren’t dead he was tempted to fix that little problem. 

“Nebula, do you have eyes on Trouble,” he found that was a better name for you. 

“I’m a little busy!” She yells back. 

He massages his temples as he tries to keep himself from outright screaming. 

In moments like this, he actually misses the old you. At least when you spent your days in bed, drunk, silent, moving through the ship like some sad ghost he wasn’t worried you were going to get him killed. 

He really should have appreciated those weeks of peace more. Never should have taken you to Contraxia, never should have coaxed you out of bed. What he should have done was leave well enough alone and just make sure you didn’t drink yourself into a quiet death. 

But no. He just had to get involved. 

Now, he was going to have to get out of this pod and find you. That was not the plan. He was supposed to stay in the damn pod. He was the eye in the sky. 

But no. No, you had to go and make this complicated. 

“I got it!” You say, comms coming in clear, just as he’s about to head down. 

“What the fuck do you-”

“Did I stutter?” You huff, clearly running. “I got the payload and I’m heading to the drop point and-” Rocket can make out the sound of a large weapon behind you. “I’d really appreciate you being there right about now!”

“Neb-” He begins. 

“En route,” she cuts him off. 

He brings the pod down just as you and Nebula make it on the platform, behind you both a concerning amount of muscle in hot pursuit. 

“What happened to quiet in and out?!” He screams. 

“Just open the door rat!” Nebula yells. He notes that your arms were full of more than just the case you were all being paid to retrieve. 

Between you and Nebula, he was pretty sure he was headed toward a much earlier grave. Grumbling he lays down cover fire as he lowers enough for you both to board the pod. 

“Woo!” You exclaim as Rocket coaxes the pod as fast as it can go toward the Benetar. “Not too bad.” 

“You realize you’re bleeding profusely, yes?” Nebula asks. 

Rocket glances back. He’d assumed the blood on your face was from someone else. Now he can see a deep gash splitting the right side of your face from forehead to below your cheekbone. 

“Yeah,” you sigh. “Ca’al was aiming to take my head though, so I’d say I came out better than expected.” 

“Can’t imagine why he’d want your head,” Rocket rolls his eyes as he docks the pod. 

“It’s a mystery,” you say as the hatch opens.

“Wait…” Nebula says, hovering in the pod after the two of you have disembarked. 

“Ergons take honor pretty seriously,” Rocket says. “Which is why ‘not fucking the mark’s wife’ is high on the list of things not to do when you’re trying to keep a job low key.” 

“There was a list?” You quip, turning to face them, smiling despite the wound. 

“I’m beginning to think all Terrans are like this,” Nebula says low to him. 

“Possibly.” You drop the contents in your arms, kicking a case toward Rocket. “That’s what we came for. And I’ll split the rest if someone will help with this,” you gesture to your face.

“I’m tempted to let you bleed out,” Rocket says as he opens the case. Five tubes filled with glowing viscous liquid are nestled tightly inside. 

“Gonna have to wait for a bigger wound for that,” you say as you have a seat. 

“With your track record, Trouble, I don’t think I’ll have to wait long.”

You shrug, “I’m apparently like a cockroach.”

“What does that mean?” Nebula asks as she examines the cut.

“Very hard to get rid of,” you hiss the last word. 

“Are they formidable beasts?” 

“They’re Earth vermin,” Rocket says as he takes inventory of your haul. He hated to admit that it was impressive.  Whatever your shortcomings, you were an exceptional thief--he had to respect that at least. 

“Same thing,” you say standing. “I mean, look at you.”

“Very funny,” he smiles despite himself. 

“This is likely going to scar,” Nebula says. 

You shrug, “It’ll just enhance my roguish charm.”

“And piss off the Captain,” Rocket grumbles as he locks the case you’d all been paid to retrieve into one of the storage crates. 

“So you admit I’m charming?” He throws a sideways glance at you as Nebula forces your smirking face back to her. “Ow!”

“Who said you were charming?” Rocket asks. “I just don’t want any lectures about ethics and safety from Cap.”

“Which, Cap?” 

“Either.” He inspects a container of very high-grade ammo. “How’d you know where this shit was? No way it was just out in the open.”

You peek around an exasperated Nebula once more, “There are benefits to fucking the mark’s wife.”

“Stay still!” Nebula snaps. “You’re lucky you didn’t lose the eye.”

Rocket shakes his head. Lucky may be a better nickname than Trouble. 

The way you managed to walk a razor edge, never quite tipping one way or the other was impressive. And every job you’d been in on over the last eight months ended up in a payday at least twice what they’d bargained for. Still, there was an all too familiar air of self-destruction about everything you did. Like you wanted something to tip you, slide the scales just a bit past no return. 

When he looks back he notices the slightest tremor in your right hand. 

Back on earth, he’d seen it a few times, mainly when emotions were high. No one else seemed to notice it, how each time the air rippled just a bit as some of your hold on that insane telekinetic ability of yours slipped. 

These days, more often than not, it meant you needed a drink. 

“There,” Nebula declares. “That’s the best I can do.” 

When she stepped back he could see that Nebula’s best was actually pretty good. The gash had been reduced to a raised bright pink stripe bisecting your left brow, stopping in the middle of your cheek. 

“Thanks, Nebula,” you say sincerely. A whir comes from the main cabin as a bottle flies into your open right hand. 

“So, how much we got?” You ask as you open the bottle. 

“Can probably get 4,000 credits from the ammo alone,” he holds out his hand and you pass him the bottle. No reason he can’t benefit from your vices. 

“Hear that, Nebula? At least 2k each for the ammo.”

“Excuse me?” He passes the bottle back to you. 

“Did you help fix my face?” 

“My ship. I get a cut of everything, Trouble.” 

“I only helped because I was getting half,” Nebula manages something between a grimace and a smile. 

Rocket playfully rolls his eyes, “Then you can take her half.” 

“The disrespect,” you say on a sigh. “Bleed for your crew, then they cut you out.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Such a martyr,” he says over his shoulder as he heads toward the deck. “We’ll get the best deal on Paramatar. We’ll get paid for the case then head there.” 

-

Paramatar was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. 

The money was too good and the distractions too plentiful. Not Contraxia levels of plentiful, but what it lacked in variety it made up for in cost. Everything save for information and ammo was cheap. 

He should have kept an eye on you. Or at least asked Nebula to since she couldn’t help but stay sober. 

Yes, luck seemed to favor you more times than not. You were also heartier then most humans from what he could tell and you’d picked up on how things worked out here quickly. Still, there were substances and situations you didn’t know were better left alone. 

Or maybe you did know and chose to ignore sense. 

Who could say? Because when Nebula found you half dead after two days there wasn’t anyone around who knew what happened. 

“We should take her home,” Nebula said after the medic left with assurances that you weren’t about to die. “They can help.” 

He doubted that. Still, he knew it was the best call. Plus, he could use some peace. 

-

Warm morning sun filtered in through the window, making the few silvery strands in Bucky’s hair shine. 

He sat between your legs on the living room floor with his back against the couch. As your fingers combed through the silky mass of hair, his fingers massaged your right calf, still sore from Okoye’s brutal training the day before. 

This had become your ritual most mornings. 

Usually Bucky was the first out of bed, proving that he was far more a morning person than you’d ever manage to become. He’d start coffee, put on some music, and slip back into bed to wake you before your alarm went off. 

It was the best way to begin your day.

Once up you’d down a cup of coffee, talk about nothing, then by cup two he’d be sitting just as he was now--humming along to whatever song played while you methodically sectioned off his hair to braid it back. 

The first morning you’d done it on a whim. You frequently found your fingers tangled in those beautiful dark locks and had just happened to put it in a french braid. 

That evening he’d casually mentioned how good it was to not have his hair in the face while he worked. 

You knew he’d never actually ask. He was constantly concerned he would somehow inconvenience you or be a burden as it was. So since then you’d just begun doing it, without coaxing or preamble. 

When you finished he let out a long content sigh, leaning his cheek against your bare thigh. 

“Thank you,” he placed a kiss on your knee. 

“Of course,” you leaned over, kissing the tender flesh just behind his ear. He hummed with satisfaction, turning his head to look up at you. The morning light turned his eyes a beautiful icy grey-blue.

“I love you, doll,” he says, eyes crinkling as he smiles. 

“I love-” you hiss in a breath as pain tears through your skull. 

He doesn’t react, doesn’t move, just sits between your legs smiling… Before he turns to dust. 

You try to call his name, scream, anything but the all-consuming thrum of your power prevents you from doing anything but sit in frozen agony. 

Like an angry beast it thrashes inside your skull, zinging down your spine, until every nerve ending in your body burns with it. 

Stop, you don’t know to whom or what you’re begging but it’s all you can manage. 

The edges of your vision begin to blur, your warm Wakandan living room fading to an endless swirl of colors and shapes before shadow crept in. Those shadows swelled consuming everything leaving you in an endless, familiar, void. 

By now, this place--realm, or whatever it was that your mind saw when your perception went beyond what you were capable of comprehending--was starting to feel familiar. When you last found yourself here, after a night of too much excess, you’d thought of it as The Nothing.

This time a different thought pushes its way in from somewhere in the abyss. 

Oblivion, it whispers. 

Yes. That felt right. The perfect word for this void that seemed to exist between all things. 

Absently, you wonder if you should feel fear rather than this strange sense of peace. Even the hunger that never left you, the howling need for power the stones planted in the marrow of your bones seemed sated, as though there was power enough hidden in the darkness.

Yes, that same whisper from nowhere and everywhere replies. 

Now, the fear comes. You will yourself back, forcing your mind to grasp for existence like a drowning man reaches for the surface.  

You shoot upright, gasping for air, squinting in the bright afternoon sun. 

Sun shone bright on your face. 

This was not your dim room on the Benatar.  

And… 

“About time,” Steve says groggily from a chair in the corner. 

“How?” You croak. 

He stands, stretching, and crosses the room to fill a glass of water from the decanter by your bed. You take it gratefully, though you feel the ache for something stronger. 

“Rocket and Nebula brought you back yesterday.” 

Yesterday.

Futility, you try to piece together a series of events. 

The three of you had landed on Paramatar, offloaded the haul, split the credits, and… Things got hazy after that. 

“Apparently, you’ve been unconscious for over three days,” he sat on the edge of the bed, looking you over. “You look like shit by the way.”

“Thanks,” you say, voice still rough. “You don’t look dewey either.” His hair had grown longer, his beard thick, the circles under his eyes spoke to too many sleepless nights. 

“Shocked you remember what I look like,” he snips. 

The shot hits its mark and guilt blooms in your chest. 

It had been at least 5 months since you’d spoken to him. Once you’d managed to make it back to something closer to a human you simply couldn’t stand the reminder that speaking to him brought, that you had to come back here eventually. You’d wanted to leave everything. Forget about everything you could manage to and become someone else. 

“Sorry,” you say, unable to look at him. 

“It’s ok,” his voice sounds distant. When you look at him his gaze is in the middle distance, elbows resting on his knees. “Maybe we all need space.” 

He sighs, “Clint left. We don’t know where he is.” 

“Natasha?”

“She’s hanging on. Tried to find him but didn’t have any luck.” 

“He’ll come back around,” you said with more conviction than you felt.  

“Yeah,” he plucks a non-existent piece of lint from his sweatpants. 

“I gotta head out soon, some kind of situation brewing in Brazil. Don’t know how long it’ll be,” he runs a hand over his face. “But I assume Rocket and Nebula won’t be hanging around too much longer since you’re up.”

So they had stuck around. More guilt bubbles up. 

“And I assume you’ll be going with them.” 

It isn’t a question but you answer anyway, “Yeah.” He nods, looking down at his hands. 

The silence hangs for several pregnant minutes. 

Your palms itch to reach out to him, your heart screams at you to say something, anything. But you just sit. 

“Y/N…” his voice almost makes you jump. “On the beach when we…” He clears his throat, “You told me I could go… If I needed to.” 

Your stomach drops and with it some of your control. 

You had said that. Told Steve that if he was too tired to keep fighting in this life that he had your blessing to leave. Your only request-

“But that I couldn’t go without saying goodbye.”

“Steve,” your voice trembles. 

He looks at you then, blue eyes unfathomably sad. Without hesitation you reach out for his hand. Gratitude floods you when he doesn’t pull away. 

“The same goes for you,” beneath his words is a barely contained flood of emotions. 

“This wasn’t-” 

“Don’t,” he shakes his head. Gently he touches the new scar by your eye.

You nod. This was one thing you knew you couldn’t hide from him no matter how hard you tried. It was a game he’d played for longer than you’d been alive. Tempting fate, daring it to kill him.

“Not without goodbye,” he says in almost a whisper. 

“Not without goodbye,” you promise and, begrudgingly, you mean it. 

He gives your hand a squeeze before he stands, places a kiss on top of your head, and turns to leave. 

“Oh and, Y/N…”

“Yeah?”

“Take a shower,” he turns and winks. 

“Fuck you, Rogers,” you smile despite everything. 

“Don’t die,” he says as he walks out. 

“You too.” 

With effort you drag your aching body from the bed and make your way to the bathroom. Under the bright light you groan. 

Steve had not been wrong. You did look like shit. 

The scar Ca’al had graced you with was still bright pink and puffy. Far from roguish or charming. Your cheek bones jutted out in sharp angles, lips pale and cracked. And your hair had grown long enough that the ends had started to curl, making you look like a tired crusty mop. 

Only after a minute do you even notice your eyes. They’d become a normal feature, whites shot through with bloody lightning cracks, the tear ducts an angry shade of red. 

As you observe yourself the mirror begins to tremble. 

“Fuck,” you groan, doubling over to press your forehead to the cool bathroom counter. 

Once you feel your control tighten just enough you head straight for your bag, praying that- 

Your fingers curl around a small smooth rectangular bottle and you let out a grateful breath. Rocket must have slipped it in. The Ciegrimitian liquor was strong, a touch bitter, and reminded you of roses. It was a favorite. 

After two swallows you feel the power inside you settle. 

You stare at the slightly iridescent golden pink liquid in the bottle shifting it so it swirls and catches the light. 

Maybe it was possible that you could re-learn to control your abilities, after all, you had gotten far more proficient through training with Bucky and later in Wakanda. But that was before the stones. 

If Shuri had been right, and she usually had been, your subconscious built barriers around your ability to protect you. While you could push those barriers by honing your ability, strengthening it like any muscle through time and focus, those barriers would and should always remain. The human mind could only be expected to process so much. 

Now, if you were right, those barriers were gone. You had no idea how to begin rebuilding them. If you did you weren’t sure you had the energy to care.

Maybe in time… 

Time. Weeks. Months. Years. All without Bucky. 

You’d rather lose yourself to that Oblivion than think about the stretch of life laid out before you.

As you lift the bottle to take another drink your fist closes on nothing. A few remaining inches of the bottom of the bottle clatter to the floor, spilling the contents. 

This wasn’t new, sometimes you lost your grip and your power… unmade something. This time though- 

A cry lodges itself in your throat, threatening to choke you. 

Around the edges of the piece on the floor and swirling in your hand between the glittering specks of dust--all that remains of the top of the bottle--is a deep undulating blackness. Not shadow, not darkness, a pure absence of everything. 

Oblivion, a whisper from somewhere far away calls in your mind. 

You bolt for the bathroom, slamming the door behind you, pressing your fist to your mouth to keep from screaming. 

It feels like hours before your heart stops trying to beat through your chest and you’re able to draw a full breath. Only then do you realize that, just like in that void, you don’t feel the hunger. Only then do you realize how silent your power is. 

The woman in the mirror stares at you with eyes that are less painfully bloodshot than before, the bruise-like hollows beneath them lighter. Her cheeks seem fractionally fuller.

The changes do not feel like an improvement. They feel like abomination. 

Demon. Maybe your mother’s husband and M’Baku had been on to something there. 

In the shower you decide to bury this. It was a fluke, or maybe even a hallucination. Maybe you were still recovering from the overdose, your body reacting poorly to another substance being put into it. That was it. 

“And she lives to make trouble another day!” Rocket calls out from in front of the TV as you make your way to the kitchen in the common area. 

“Much to your chagrin,” you say, opening a cabinet. 

“Coffee is in the one on the left,” Natasha pipes up. She takes a seat at the island. “I’ll take some too,” her wan smile doesn’t reach her own tired eyes. 

You open the can of Bustelo and breathe in the rich smell. It reminds you of better times--of bodega breakfasts before you knew there was such a thing as Hydra, of slow music-filled afternoons with Bucky. Quickly you blink away the tears threatening to fall. 

It was just coffee. 

For several minutes the only sound was the burble of the coffee pot and the drone of the flatscreen. The lack of conversation didn’t feel awkward so much as tired, everyone worn down by the grief and turmoil of the last 11 months. 

When the coffee was done you poured Natasha a cup, grabbing the half and half from the fridge, remembering her preference from when you’d been on the run with the fractured Avengers. She nodded her thanks, silently fixing her cup. 

Your own black brew sent a shiver of pleasure down your spine, a hum of satisfaction slipping free. 

“I mean it’s good but I don’t know if it’s that good,” Natasha teases. 

“Haven’t had coffee since I left,” you say savoring another sip. Her brows raise at that. Honestly, the fact that you’d hardly missed it was more concerning than your increased drinking habit. 

“Maybe we should bring some,” Rocket sniffs the air. “Smells nice.” 

You meet his gaze, relief flooding you. A part of you had been afraid that you wouldn’t be welcome back on the Benatar. Honestly, you wouldn’t have blamed them if that was the case. Rocket called you Trouble for a reason after all. 

“I will try it,” Nebula announces as she takes a seat beside Natasha. 

“Alright. You?” Rocket nods. 

You pour a small amount for Nebula and use an espresso cup for Rocket. 

Nebula downs her’s in one go, face crinkling. You can’t help but laugh. 

“Bitter but palatable,” she says. 

“Just like you,” you quip. 

Nebula almost smiles, “Is there more?” 

The next few hours feel almost normal. No one talked about grief or loss. Natasha complained about the foods that were in short supply, Rocket bitched about prices on contraband being low. You told Natasha the weirder things about space, funny things, like hurling when the ship lost gravity for a few hours. Just friends catching up over coffee. 

Except it wasn’t. And, by the end, that fact had left a bitter taste in your mouth. 

By the time you got on the Benatar the next afternoon, that bitterness had fermented into rage that no amount of drink was going to cool. 

You needed to hit something. Hard.

TAGS

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[cinnashaun-roll]

Story I Wrote at 10 years old

(Warning: It’s quite shitty and cringe worthy)

Prologue

Year: 3016

   The humans had barely saved themselves. By building a dome that acted like the Sun and protected them from “The Explosion”, the humans had accomplished their greatest achievement yet.

The Dome was full of the most advanced technology programmed to act exactly like the atmosphere but with false projections showing the Sun, clouds, and stars. Though it did more than just that, The Dome also brought the world together in peace during a race against time. One wrong move could kill all of humankind.

But what was “The Explosion”? 

And what caused it?

Chapter 1: Big News 

Astra POV

Year: 3015

My name is Astra, Astra Cosma Stellar and I was just a normal 12-year-old, until today... 

“Astra wake up!” shouted Mom, “ Astra! For heaven’s sake just wake up!” 

 “But Mom, there’s no school!”, I shouted back.

 “And there’s a reason why, but we don’t know yet.”, she replied,” We’ll find out in the news, and it’s coming up in five minutes, so you better hurry up!”

Oh right, I forgot. “ Can I call Nebula so we can watch it together? She’s just next door!” 

“Sure Honey, but make it quick!”, Mom said.

Ugh. My long purple and sea green hair just had to be so messy right now.

Nebula Galaxia Nova was my best friend since we moved here, 777 Starlight Way in Comett, California (we were the only state that still had an Old Era name). 

As I was running to her house, she saw me through the window and decided to go outside to meet me. 

“Hey Astra!” said Nebula. 

“Hey!”I replied, ”Do you want to come to watch the news at my house?” 

“Sure!” she said,” but I wonder what the big news is, I’ve always wanted to be on an adventure.”

 “ But it’s not like Earth is about to explode and we’re all going to die!”, Nebula laughed, her short, silver hair flying as she chuckled. 

“Of course not, that would be taking things way too far,” I said.

Back at home, Neb and I waited for the news on my family’s Hologram TV (HoloTV for short). 

And then it finally happened, it felt like the TV screamed at us “BREAKING NEWS!!!” the reporter said.

”As you all know, WWIII just ended and there is only peace now, but what scientists didn’t predict was that their idea of harnessing the Sun’s energy for the war would use almost all of it.” 

“ This means that if we don’t think of a solution fast, it will explode in one year, killing all of humanity!” 

What!?

I felt a sense of foreboding.

 A sense that there was an adventure ahead of me.

Chapter 2: (Untitled?)

Nebula POV

Oh my goodness! We’re all about to die!!!

Astra and her Mom are panicking, I’m panicking, the WHOLE STREET is panicking!!! We all knew we were going to die, it was inevitable.

“Neb! Hey Neb, are you alright?”, Astra yelled. She was snapping her fingers in my face, and her blue eyes were full of concern.

“I’m fine”, I said.

The truth was, I was not fine. Why would anyone be? 

Wait a second…  I’m overreacting. No one was panicking, only I was.

Then it happened again, “BREAKING NEWS!!!” the reporter shouted,

“We have a solution.”

“Dr. Bliss, would you have the pleasure to explain to us this miraculous idea?”

“Yes, I would, Hello my name is Dr. Maple A. Bliss and I am a scientist at the WSC (World Science Corporation).”Dr. Bliss said,” The new solution the WSC has proposed is that we build a high-tech unbreakable glass dome hereinafter “Project Dome” with projections and simulators for the sky, and more that can also protect us from the explosion.”

“May I ask, how will we build it in time?” asked the reporter. 

“Well, because the whole world is at peace, many other countries have offered to help us build Project Dome by having their best engineers build their area of the dome, which will be assigned. Our area, of course, is Comett”, Dr. Bliss replied,” but even with this plan we are still skating on thin ice.”

Oh, shoot. I thought we were saved. Oh, I guess some things are too good to be true.

“Thank you Dr. Bliss.,” said the reporter, “ Coming up next! Deadly hovercar crash on highway A70…” Astra’s mom turned the TV off.

“Bye Astra! Bye Mrs. Stellar!`` I said. “Bye!”, Astra replied.

Back at home, I went straight to my parents. They didn’t watch the news, so when I told them… well, my mom sort of freaked out and got all overprotective.

While I was in bed, I heard my parents talking, so I decided to go downstairs and eavesdrop.

“That’s it!”, my mom said,” We’re moving! This town just keeps getting even more dangerous!” 

“Shh! Sky, I have to say, that is a great idea, but what about Nebula and Astra?” my dad replied quietly,” What about my job? It took me a long time to get a job as the mayor’s assistant.”

 That was it, we were leaving. No more Astra. No more ice cream. Just silence.

“But that’s exactly why!”, my mom finally said,” If we don’t leave soon, they’ll start dragging you into this mess.” 

“Don’t you see? Our whole family could be in danger.”

Chapter 3: Crystal Cream

Astra

Today was Saturday, and I was so excited about my ice cream day with Neb!

When I walked over to her house she was ready, but for some reason, something was off. It seemed like her happiness was fake and she was worried about something. I don’t think it was about the news.

“Hey Neb, is everything alright?”, I said.

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me! I’m fine!”, Nebula replied.

Uh oh, I knew something was wrong. 

Two years ago, in fifth grade, my teacher Miss. McGrayer gave us this advice: “Usually if anyone says they’re fine, they’re not.”

Let me add on to that: “Usually if anyone says they’re fine, they’re not. Especially when they insist they are.”

“Come on, stop daydreaming let’s go!”, Neb said in her “fake happy voice”.

“Neb, just tell me the truth or we’re not going for ice cream!”I ordered (maybe a bit too demanding because right then she started to cry).

“Neb, I’m so sorry! We don’t have to talk about it if you want.`` I said apologetically.

“And there’s nothing ice cream can’t fix!”I added, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Okay, let’s go”, Neb said between sniffles.

This time I heard a little bit of genuine happiness in her voice.

Going to the ice cream shop is always fun with Neb, and we go as much as we can. We’ve even memorized each other’s orders. Mine is a Milky Way Mousse Sundae with extra whipped cream, and Neb’s is a Simple Supernova Sundae. 

Today we did the usual, talk while eating our ice cream and stalling as much as possible.

   As we were walking back from our favorite ice cream shop in the whole galaxy (located in the Solar City Plaza), The Star Scoop, we heard very indistinct whispering and followed it to an alleyway.

“Are you sure we should eavesdrop? I don’t have a good feeling about this.”, Nebula whispered.

    “It’s fine (*cough*cough*)!”, I whispered back,” Anyways I thought you wanted to go on an adventure?”

“Yeah! But not a dangerous, risky one! “she said angrily.

“Shhh! They’ll hear us! That’s even more dangerous right?”, I whispered.

“Alright, alright, let’s start eavesdropping.’’, she said.

“Okay, let’s review the plan I came up with,” a girl’s voice whispered,” We’re going to hire, I mean, ask someone to help us who has connections to the city so that they can help us bomb this part of the Dome. And what I’ve concluded is that if one unfinished part of the Dome breaks, it will create a domino effect which will shatter the rest of the Dome.”

“Thank you, daughter, for explaining the plan you came up with,” whispered a man’s voice,” But my question is, how will we survive?”

“Easy!” she whispered back,” I called in a few favors and had a compact ship built just for us.”

“Oh no.”,Nebula said after leaving the alley,” Did we seriously just hear a plan to hijack the Dome? We have report this to the police!”

“No Nebbie, I think we’re going to have to do this ourselves.”

Nebula POV

I felt different after splitting up with Astra (to go to the store to buy a few groceries), like everyone’s life was in our hands. I knew that I should’ve stopped Astra, but once that stubbornly determined girl’s mind was on something, it was impossible to change it.

But I was so busy thinking about what happened, that I bumped into a girl about my age.

“I’m so sorry!” she said,” My name is Crystal Starr what’s yours”

Something about Crystal’s voice was familiar but wrong. I was suspicious.

“Um, Nebula…” I replied slowly.

“Hey, you sound kind of sad. Is it because I bumped into you?” Crystal asked.

“No”, I said.

“Whatever it is, you’ll be fine,” she replied,” Anyway, do you want to be my friend?!”

“Okay...”

“But first, can you do me a favor?” she said,” Do you know anyone important in the city? If you do, can you introduce me to them sometime?”

“Sure!”, I replied,’ My dad is one, so I’ll have to introduce you anyway!”

“Bye! I have to get home now!`` said Crystal,” Same time, same place tomorrow!”

Something about Crystal made me uneasy, so I decided that it would be good to tell Astra.

After getting back from the store, I dropped off the groceries and went to Astra’s house.

When Astra opened the door, she grimly said, “ Nebula! Guess what I just found out.”

[spacedoutwrites]

maybe it’s not over - Chapter 3

Everyone lost someone in the snap. Except Tony. Which is ironic because fate has never been kind to him. But it’s been even less kind to Peter.

OR

Everything’s the same in Endgame, but Peter survived the snap, so actually it’s not the same at all.

Read on AO3

Start from the beginning 

Chapter 3

Tony

Space- 6 days after the snap

When Tony drifted back into consciousness, everything felt wrong. Pain radiated from his side, all the way through the rest of his body, pulsating with the beat of his heart. He felt so hot, as though, at any moment, flames would break through the surface of his skin, burning him from the inside out. When he tried to open his eyes, all he saw were blurs of light and dark. He was so confused and disoriented, he had no clue where he was. His first thought was a flash of that infamous cave, the one where Iron Man was born, but that didn’t seem right.

He opened his eyes again, everything still out of focus. He needed to get up and figure out what was going on, so he slowly pushed himself up on his elbows, grunting in pain. His head pounded and his stomach churned, nausea threatening to knock him right back out again.

Suddenly, a shape was rushing toward him.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a voice said, but the pressure in Tony’s head made the voice sound like it was underwater.

Hands were easing him back down.

“It’s okay, you’re safe. You just need to rest now.”

As much as Tony wanted to resist, to find out exactly where he was, something about the voice was comforting. It seemed familiar, but his hazy brain couldn’t figure out why. All he knew was that it made him feel safe and comfortable, and before he knew it, he was unconscious again.

~~~

The next time Tony woke up, he was a little more aware.

Music was playing softly throughout the ship. It sounded like an old seventies tune, which he approved of.

Peter was nearby, studying some alien tech that Tony was unable to identify.

He squinted at the gray camo Peter was wearing, “Is that my jacket?”

Peter jumped, looking up at him. “You’re awake!”

“And you,” Tony propped himself up on his elbow, “didn’t answer my question.”

“Umm…” Peter hesitated.

“It looks good on you, kid,” Tony said before he could explain himself. The way Peter’s eyes lit up made him smile. “How long was I out?”

“It’s been five days since you first passed out,” Peter said.

Tony swore. “What happened?”

“Your wound got infected,” Peter explained. “I was really worried for a couple of days there.” He looked at the ground, “didn’t know if you’d pull through or not.”

Tony grimaced, “that bad, huh?”

Peter nodded. “Your temp was 105° at one point. I-” he couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Come here, kid,” Tony said, sitting up fully.

Peter sat on the edge of the bed and gently leaned into Tony, wrapping his arms lightly around him. Tony rested his head on top of Peter’s and they stayed there for a while.

When they pulled apart, Peter stood up. “Let me take a look at your stitches.”

Tony pulled his shirt up enough to see his side, red, but clearly healing. “Who stitched me up?” He asked.

“Neb did,” Peter said, “thank goodness, I’m the worst with stitches.”

Tony looked at Peter suspiciously. “How would you know that?”

Peter rubbed the back of his neck, “I’ve fixed myself up a time or two.”

Tony flopped back onto the bed, covering his face with his hand. “I don’t even want to know,” he groaned.

“No, you definitely don’t,” Peter said quickly.

Tony sighed, his eyelids were starting to feel heavy again.

“You should get some rest.”

Tony just nodded sleepily as he drifted off again.

~~~

When Tony woke up again, Nebula was there instead of Peter. He sat up and she immediately handed him a glass of water.

“I’ll go wake up Peter,” she said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Tony said before she could go. “Has he been sleeping much?”

She shook her head, “he’s barely left your side this whole week.”

“Let him sleep then,” Tony said.

Nebula looked like she was going to argue, but he stopped her.

“If he’s upset about it, I’ll take the fall, I just want him to rest.”

She nodded. “You’ve raised him well, Stark.”

Tony paused, “I- I what?”

“I asked him if you were his father,” she explained. “He said not exactly, but he doesn’t have one, so you act like one to him.”

Tony softened, “oh,” was all he could think to say.

“He cares about you a lot, more than any of my siblings ever cared for our father.”

Tony snorted. “Well, no offense, but your dad’s a bit of a homicidal maniac so I can’t imagine that’s very endearing.”

“No,” Nebula sighed, “It’s not.”

She gave him a little food and changed some of his bandages. She worked in silence, intensely focused on what she was doing.

Tony thought he might start drifting off again, when the ship began shuddering violently.

He heard a thump from the other room. “I got it!” came Peter’s voice, rough with sleep.

The boy streaked through the room and into the engine room, clearly shirtless and wearing only a pair of boxers.

Tony could only look to Nebula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

“We’ve been diverting power from systems that aren’t in use to prolong our reserve fuel,” Nebula explained. “At this rate we’ll have oxygen for another week, but we could get a few more days out of it if we adjust our usage correctly.”

The shuddering finally stopped and Peter appeared in the engine room doorway, hair sticking up in every direction. “I guess we can’t drop the power to stabilizers below thirty percent after all,” he said. “I think next we should try turning down-” he stopped in the middle of his sentence, staring at Tony. “Why didn’t you wake me up?!” he cried.

“I told her not to,” Tony said. “Don’t yell at her for it.”

Peter hurried over to his side. “How are you feeling? Are you in pain? Do you still feel feverish?”

“He’s doing much better Peter,” Nebula informed him.

Peter grinned, “That’s great!”

“I took him off of the sedatives and antibiotics,” she continued. “His wound is healing, he’s still weak, but he’s not in danger anymore.”

Tony wished he could bottle up Peter’s smile and keep it for a rainy day. It was so bright and lively and infectious, he never wanted it to go away.

Peter lifted up a hand and Nebula gave him a high five, something Tony never thought he would see.

Peter turned to Tony, “I’ve been teaching Neb about Earth,” he said. “By the time we get home, she’ll know all the slang.”

Tony laughed, it hurt his side, but it was worth it. “Good job, kid,” he said. “Why don’t you put some clothes on so we can talk?”

Peter looked down, only just realizing that he was still in his underwear. He blushed. “I’ll be right back,” he said, dashing back into the crew cabin.

Tony turned to Nebula, “you two have quite the little bond going on,” he said.

Nebula looked at him, she still seemed emotionless, but the tiniest hint of a smile crossed her face. “He is very talkative,” she said. “It would be impossible not to bond with him.”

Tony laughed again, “that’s Peter for you.”

[mischiefandspirits]

Iron Legion (8/?)

Never let it be said that Tony Stark ever does things by half. He might have grown up with little family, but he wasn’t about to keep it that way.

Tony Stark was seventeen when his first child was born, and that was just the beginning.

For Masterpost, AO3, and Fanfiction

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

Girl Fridays, Part 1

Tony Stark was thirty-six when his seventh child was born.

“I want one,” Tony said, watching the woman walk out.

“No,” Pepper said shortly.

“Definitely not.”

Tony pouted and turned to his daughter, who merely crossed her arms as she slipped into the room.

“Are you forgetting how quickly Aunt Pepper found out about us? You can’t have a new PA.”

“I had PA’s before Pepper and they never found out,” Tony pointed out.

“Because you never spent more than five minutes around them. The title was a joke back then. You’re too used to Aunt Pepper now, you can’t go without like you did back then.” Nebula’s face scrunched up as she glanced at the doorway. “Besides, you would want to be around that one.”

“Agreed,” Pepper said.

“I need a PA,” Tony huffed.

“I told you, I have a few picked out that -”

“Or I could do it.”

The two froze and even Happy turned to look at her.

Nebula tilted her head up and gave her father a serious expression. “I have completed my schooling -”

“You graduated high school.”

“I have a connection to the intranet so it will be easier for me to keep track of your calendar and rearrange appointments than any human,” she continued, ignoring her father. “The same applies to sending emails or texts or fielding calls. I am used to you so I could handle you better than some stranger could and there’s obviously no fear of me discovering myself or my siblings.”

“She’s got a point,” Happy added. “Plus, it’ll get her out of the house. And having a little extra muscle around couldn’t hurt with all the targets you’ve been slapping on your back.”

She smiled at her favorite uncle before turning back to her father. “I could protect you far better than that woman.”

Tony turned to Pepper, who looked a little nervous, but nodded.

“The point of keeping quiet about you kids is keeping you out of the limelight,” Tony said, exasperated. “This is doing the exact opposite!”

Nebula shook her head. “I’m not going to be your new Aunt Pepper. I’ll be an ordinary PA, not the girl dragging you around like a trophy husband.”

“Excuse me!?” Tony and Pepper said together.

“No one is going to be paying attention to me. If anything, this will give me a better cover. No one will question us being together or me being here at the house.”

“Fine, fine, you win!” he sighed, throwing his hands in the air. “You want the job, then take it. I guess my opinion doesn’t matter anymore now that I’m not the boss.”

“Nope.”

“I’m going to go find Teresa. She cares about what I have to say!”

“Trophy husband?” Pepper asked as he marched out.

Teresa’s door was open when he got there, the girl sitting in front of her mirror and fiddling with a lock of her short hair.

“What’s wrong, Gummy Bear?” he asked, spotting her scowl.

She jumped and looked at him in the mirror. “Daddy! I thought you were boxing with Uncle Happy!”

“Uncle Happy’s being mean right now,” he said, coming in to flop down on her bed. “So is Aunt Pepper and Nebula, so I figured I’d come hide in here with you.”

That made the girl smile and she came over to cuddle with him. “What happened? Aunt Pepper’s usually only mean when you do something fun.”

“They won’t let me make this really pretty girl my new PA.”

“But you like pretty girls. Why won’t they let her be your PA?”

“They’re worried she’ll find out about you guys.”

Teresa sat up and crossed her arms. “You’d never let that happen.”

“Thank you. Your faith in me is far greater than all the others’ combined,” he chuckled and poked her in the side to make her squeal.

She swatted at his hand before cuddling back up to him. “So who’s going to be your PA if not the pretty girl?”

Tony sighed and dropped one arm over his face, the other curling around her so he could card his fingers through her curls. “That’s the other thing I’m upset about. Nebula’s going to be my new PA.”

“Nebula’s going to work with you?” she gasped.

“Apparently.”

“But who’s going to stay with me then?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, Baby,” he said softly, bringing his other arm around her. “It will be okay. We’ll make sure someone’s here for you. It will be just like when Nebula was too small to watch you. If Aunt Pepper and I have to go somewhere together, then Uncle Rhodey will come to stay. Or Uncle Happy if he doesn’t come with us. And you’ve always got Jay and the twins. And if we are gone for too long, you can go stay with Harley for a little bit. You know I would never leave you alone.”

“But Nebs won’t be here.”

“No, she won’t,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to her head. “But Nebula’s getting older. She’s at an age when she needs to get out in the world. I’d prefer it if she was going to college or doing something she’s actually interested in instead of just deciding to tag along after me because she thinks I’m not capable of keeping our connection hidden, but she’s going to get out there either way. She deserves to.”

“Okay,” she sniffled.

“It will be okay, I promise. She’ll still be around. We all will.”

“I know. I just… I want to go with you.”

“I know, Resa,” he said, then something occurred to him. “Hey, you can’t come to Monaco, but how about when we get back we steal Nebula’s mask and the two of us can sneak over to New York to check out the Expo together, just the two of us.”

“Really?” she asked, looking up with teary eyes.

“Of course, promise. It will be fun.” And a chance to spend a little more time with his youngest daughter before…

“Thank you, Daddy!” she cheered, pressing a kiss to his cheek and hugging his neck.

“Anything for my sweetest baby girl.”

Teresa flinched back and he frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…” she started, staring at him with her mouth open for a moment before closing it. She swallowed and shook her head. “Nevermind. I’m just excited to spend time with you.”

He considered pushing it, but decided to let her come to him in her own time. “Alright, but you know you can tell me anything.”

She nodded and buried her face into his neck.

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

Natasha frowned as she brought up information on Nebula Celeste Parker on her computer.

She had been sure Stark had taken her bait when she’d left his house. He couldn’t keep her eyes off her. And yet this girl had been given the recently opened position of Stark’s personal assistant. It couldn’t be Potts doing, all evidence said Stark would just go behind her back.

She scanned through what S.H.I.E.L.D. had, but it turned up nothing. At eighteen, Miss Parker was the daughter of Mary Parker and an unlisted man. She’d recently graduated from the private online school the Tomorrow Academy with reasonably high marks, though nothing outstanding compared to the school’s typical clientele. She had a younger half-sister named Teresa by Mary Parker’s husband who was nine and also attended TA as a far more outstanding student. Both had grown up under the care of a caregiver whose name was classified. Understandable given Mary’s profession as a CIA agent, though frustrating as S.H.I.E.L.D. should still have easily obtained the information.

Altogether, Natasha couldn’t figure out what placed the girl above her. She was pretty enough, but beneath Stark’s usual standards and well beneath Natasha’s looks so it couldn’t be that. She was fresh out of high school while Natasha had plenty (fake) accomplishments to her name, so it couldn’t be that either. The only thing she really had going for her was age, but Stark had never shown a desire for younger women before.

Perhaps TA pulled some strings? Stark Industries was one of their benefactors. It didn’t seem like something Stark would put up with though.

With a sigh, Natasha closed the files and pulled out her phone. Fury was not going to be happy about this. Especially after his first try at communicating with Stark had led to him nearly getting his head blasted off by some blue and gold security robot.

“Sir,” she started as soon as the line connected.

“I already know. Keep your cover. We’re working on the next step.”

“Yessir.”

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

“Wait here.”

“But -” Nebula cut off with a look from Aunt Pepper.

“If you go, you’ll fight. If you fight, you’ll expose yourself. We’ve got enough problems with Iron Man right now; no one can learn about you.”

Nebula growled, but marched back inside to watch the action on tv.

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

“I don’t want to go home,” Tony announced. “At all. Let’s cancel my birthday party and-and, uh… We can pick up the kids and take them to Disney World. They’d like that, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yes.”

“It’s a great place to-to… be healthy.”

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

“Honey, I’m home,” Tony called out as he entered the lab, belatedly noticing all the lights were already on only when a small voice called out to him.

“Daddy?”

He turned to see Teresa sitting at his desk. “Resa, you should be packing. What are you doing down here? You know you’re not -”

“Nebs took the laptop so Jay let me down here as long as I stayed at the desk,” she sniffled and Tony was immediately on alert.

“Hey, what’s wrong? I’m not mad, just worried,” he said, coming over to her.

“Daddy,” she whimpered, looking up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. “Are you dying?”

He froze.

When he didn’t say anything, she sobbed and the tears started falling.

“H-hey, Baby, no, it’s… I… Why would you think that?” he stuttered, pulling her into his arms.

“I-I noticed th-that Jay was looking fo-or something new to put in your arc so I tried to look up palladium and… and…” she trailed off, burying her face into his chest and pointing at the screen of the computer she’d been sitting at.

The webpage listed The Dangers of Palladium.

“Oh, Gummy Bear.” He thought about lying, telling her he was fine, but he couldn’t find it in himself. Instead, he just held her closer, pressing his nose against the top of her head.

“I asked J-Jay, but he ju-ust told me he wasn’t al-lowed to say anything,” she sobbed and he wondered if J.A.R.V.I.S. was really just following orders and didn’t realize how she would take it or if this was his way of forcing Tony to tell someone.

Knowing him, it was probably the latter.

“Is this why Nebs is working with you?”

He sighed and pressed a kiss to her head before pulling back so they could see each other. “No, she doesn’t know. No one except you, Jay, and I know. That’s why Jay wouldn’t say anything. I told him not to tell anyone.”

She nodded and rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t want you to die.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “Neither do I. That’s why Jay’s been looking into other options. It’s… It’s not going well.”

She gave him a determined look and pulled away. “I’ll help.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

She crossed her arms and nodded. “Jay and I will fix your arc.”

“Jay’s got it. Come on, you should go get ready to leave for the Expo.”

Shaking her head, she turned back to the computers. “We can go after we fix your arc!”

He wanted to argue, to point out that J.A.R.V.I.S. had already tested every option, but there was no way he was killing her hope. “Alright, Kiddo, let's do this.”

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

“You know, there’s a party going on upstairs,” Nebs said, leaning against the doorway.

“We’re doing silence, Nebs,” Teresa said, waving his sister away.

“What she said,” his daddy agreed, looking over a hologram.

“I’d like to remind you that it’s your birthday party,” Nebs said, walking over to him and giving Teresa’s head a shove as she passed.

“Hey!”

“Then I’m sure everyone’s having a blast. I throw the best parties.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re the one throwing it considering you’re not even there.” Nebs crossed her arms and tried to look at Daddy's work, but he closed it before she could.

“Sounds about right to me,” he said, turning to face her. “They usually just slap my name on the invitation.”

“Father, you are the guest of honor. You need to appear.”

“I told Pepper we should have canceled. Teresa and I are busy. The party will just have to go on without me.”

“What are you two even doing down here?”

“Science,” the two said as one, to Teresa’s joy.

Nebula growled, then picked Daddy up. “Whatever it is can wait.”

“Woah, hey!”

“Thirty minutes. You can attend your own party for thirty minutes.”

“Guess we’re taking a break. Break time, Jay.”

Teresa yelped as his work disappeared. “Daddy!”

“Break time, Sugar Cookie. Play some games, plan a route through the Expo, whatever. Clear your mind. I’ll be back in ten,” he called as Nebula carried him out.

“Thirty.”

“Twenty!”

“Forty-five.”

“That’s not how you haggle!”

“Aunt Pepper said not to haggle with you.”

“Who said Pepper was allowed to give you lessons?”

Teresa giggled as they disappeared up the stairs.

Turning back to his work area, he considered what to do before having Jay bring up the files for the Expo. He scrolled through them, looking for the map, before he spotted a video he recognized from the opening night.

His eyes locked onto the model Grandpa referred to as the City of the Future.

“Jay, can you bring up a picture of that model?” He asked, pointing at the video.

“Of course, Master Resa.” The video opened and fast-forwarded through it. “No clear picture is given. Would you like me to compile one?”

“Yes, please!”

The video ran through again, this time taking snippets of the model until a complete picture was before him.

“Thank you, Jay!” he looked over the model and nodded. “Okay, Jay, can you run the picture through the Play Well Program now?”

“Right away, though I’d like to remind you that without an accurate three-dimensional model, the result won’t be perfectly to scale.”

“That’s okay, Jay. Just do your best!”

The picture duplicated before the copy twisted, becoming three dimensional.

Then the copy exploded into LEGO pieces.

Smiling, he set to work reconstructing the model, “grabbing” the LEGO pieces and stacking them together.

“I’m back!” Daddy called out sometime later. “Nebula got distracted dealing with some guys who kept jeering for the Iron Man suit to make an appearance, so I was able to sneak away.” He came up behind Teresa. “Whatcha working on?”

“I made a LEGO set from Grandpa’s model.”

His daddy got that weird look on his face he always got when grandpa got brought up. “Good job, Baby,” he said, looking over his work. “I don’t think that building is supposed to go there, though.”

“Really?” Teresa looked up the photo to see where it was in the picture. “Does it matter?”

“Your grandfather sure seemed to think so. Everything had to be just so when it came to the stupid thing. You make it however you want though, sweetie. Bet you could make it ten times better than the old man.”

“You think?” he asked. A part of him wanted to prove his daddy right, but the other needed to match the predetermined design. “I don’t know. Maybe after I finish it first.”

“Suit yourself. Okay, where does that building go?”

Suddenly remembering why they were in the workshop, Teresa pushed the hologram aside. “I can finish it later. Shouldn’t we get back to work?”

“Yeah,” Daddy said, but his voice sounded distracted.

Teresa looked up to see him staring at the picture. “What’s wrong?”

He tilted his head. “Nothing, I think I’ve just been staring at too many element diagrams,” he said, but he continued staring at the picture. He squinted his eyes and held his hand up in a circle. “Jay, is this an accurate depiction of the model?”

“Not a perfect one, no. I created it using the footage used in the Expo’s opening ceremony.”

“Where’s the actual model?”

“In Ms. Potts' office.”

His daddy hummed then shot Teresa a smirk. “Hey, how’d you like to help Daddy break into his old office?”

[multipleservicelisting]

Symone Sanders: What to know about Kamala Harris’ chief spokeswoman

Political strategist and social activist Symone Sanders has been named chief spokesperson and senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Sanders, a native of Omaha, Neb., attended and matriculated from Mercy High School and Creighton University.

Sanders worked for Girls Inc. of Omaha as their community campaign chair in 2013, according to her LinkedIn and the organization.

According to Politico, she became a columnist for the Omaha Star — Nebraska’s only Black-owned newspaper, where her mother was recently appointed publisher — before joining the gubernatorial campaign for Democrat Chuck Hassebrook as their communications assistant at age 23. Less than five months later, Sanders was the campaign’s deputy communications director.

BIDEN-HARRIS AGENDA SET TO CONFRONT THESE CHALLENGES

In 2014, Sanders moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as communications director for Virginia Delegate Michael Futrell. 

At that time, Sanders also did communications work for nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.

Global Trade Watch is a program that aims to ensure that a majority are able to “enjoy economic security, a clean environment, safe food, medicines and products, access to quality affordable services such as health care and the exercise of democratic decision-making about the matters that affect their lives.”

Less than a year later, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would hire her as the national press secretary for his 2016 presidential campaign. 

At the age of just 25, Sanders became the youngest presidential press secretary on record, according to her biography.

As the former chair of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice Emerging Leaders Committee and member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice, Sanders advocated for social and racial justice and highlighted economic equality 

“I [told Bernie], you know, economic equality is an issue. It’s something we need to address,” she told Buzzfeed in 2018. “But for some people it doesn’t matter how much money you make, it doesn’t matter where you went to school, it doesn’t matter what your parents do. It doesn’t matter that Sandra Bland had a job and was on her way to teach for her alma mater. It doesn’t matter. None of that matters.”

In June 2016, Sanders told Politico she was leaving the campaign. 

“I believe my time at the campaign has come to an end,” she said at the time. “I’m very proud of the work we have done and am now looking forward to helping elect down-ballot Democrats and do all I can to ensure a Democrat is the 45th president of the United States.”

Less than a month later, Buzzfeed reported that Sanders would join the Democratic National Convention Committee.

At the convention, Sanders made some media appearances before she was hired by CNN as a Democratic strategist and political commentator that fall.  

In 2017, Politico reported that Sanders had agreed to join Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action ahead of the 2018 elections, and in 2018 and 2019 she was a resident fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School and the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future, respectively.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Sanders is also the principal of the 360 Group, LLC, where she provides strategic communications guidance and helps clients find sound solutions to “tough political and social problems,” according to her bio.

During the 2020 election, Sanders served as a senior adviser to then-candidate Joe Biden.

Now 31, Sanders will serve in the White House — a goal she had discussed in her memoir “No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America.”

“One day I want to be White House press secretary,” she wrote. “There, I said it.”

For the first time, all of the White House’s top communications posts are held by women, according to reporting from The Washington Post.

Sanders acknowledged the “ALL LADY SQUAD” in a series of November tweets. 

“Ready to serve accurately describes how I feel,” she wrote. “Thank you Madam Vice President-elect @KamalaHarris for entrusting me with this charge. It has been the honor of my life to work for @JoeBiden & I am elated to have the opportunity to continue to that work in the PEOPLE’S HOUSE.”

  Multiple Service Listing for Business Owners | Tools to Grow Your Local Business

www.MultipleServiceListing.com 

from Multiple Service Listing https://ift.tt/39YnBuP

[gold3nberry]

1, 11 and 13!

1. Describe yourself how you would describe a character you’re introducing

StregataDalloStregatto was walking humming some pop song, her dark hair twisted in a complicated bundle of braids. Catching her reflection in a shop window she gave herself a mental high five. The new blouse was worth every cent - blue was really her color and the soft cloth embraced gently the softness of her body  - and feeling pretty was still something new for her. She was determined to enjoy the sensation, as much as the sun. She had a thing for sunny days. For colors. Maybe for this, springtime was truly her time of the year. She smiled, looking around. Yeah, often people told her life wasn’t all about unicorns and cupcakes, but you know what? It was her life and she was going to live it as best as she could.

 11. Weirdest thing you’ve ever written/thought about writing/etc.?

A-ehm… (cough)… well… I am actually a potato, so I don’t have written anything exactly weird (at least, not that I realized. If my followers think differently, you’re welcome to point it out, guys!). But I may or may not have thought about writing about a session of angry sex between Demetra and Cullen. I’m not really super sure about it. We’ll see. (I don’t even know if this can be considered weird).

13. Favorite fic from another author?Oooh boy, this one is difficult and I sincerly, honestly couldn’t pick JUST ONE. Just, I couldn’t. Five is the minimum!!! In no particular order:Sing With Me, written by @valammar. It’s a perfect Dragon Age Modern AU, where Cullen and Neb grow together, support each other and yes, have passionate, steamy sex when the time is right. But, even if I’m a naughty girl, I appreciated very much the wonderful plot. I think nobody describes Cullen as well as this author. And Neb is so amazing and real that sometimes I forget she’s a fictional character.

The Lowlander, by @razzmatash. For me, this is THE Avvar AU. Her Elora Trevelyan is not only lovely, witty and brave, but she’s portraied with insecurities and flaws that make her one of the best multifaceted OCs in this fandom. And don’t even make me start with Cullen, Thane of a hold full of troubles. He’s pretty, he’s brave, he’s gonna have sex with her! Plus, the plot is so full of surprises, cliffhangers, events that everytime I read  chapter I hold my breath!

How to Win Wars and Influence Nobles, by @kaoruyogi. A recent discover, a girl from our time arrives in Thedas. Of course, she meets the Inquisition’s people. Of course, she meets lots of troubles too. I deeply love when this type of adventure is well built, with strong characters. I simply can’t wait for the next chapters!

First Comes Marriage Then Comes Love, by @frank-a-lank. Other Dragon Age AU, where Tessa and Cullen are stuck together, and it’s all feelings, cuteness, deep dialogues, how it is living together and falling in love. Sincerly, I love how supportive they are with each other, how tender their relationship is!

Intimacy, by @kauriart. It’s a one shot, but oh, if it’s a good one! Plus Size Inquisitor, Cullen and sex. And doubts, reassurances, the elegant prose that is so typical of this amazing author (that also happens to be a marvellous artist!).

I also recommend you to check @princessvicky01 writing, you’ll find a couple of tasty assertive Cullen with his lovely Quizzie, and @slothquisitor A Class Act, an interesting Modern AU in which Cullen and the Quizzie are teachers trying to save a school!

And thank you too for these! I had a great time! Hugs!

[a-tired-birds-ramblings]

Iren Graves: A Caged Bird

(Part 2 of this character’s backstory! Read part 1 on my profile!)

My hands shook like they were freezing, but I was perfectly comfortable. That changed when a bone-chilling wind shot past me. Neb fluffed up, and I pulled my cloak close to me again. I saw a light again, and moved towards it.

But the woods around me were unfamiliar.

I’d never seen them before, and yet I hadn’t diverged from the path I’d already been on.

Out of panic, I shouted “Help!” Towards the light in front of me. It moved away. Confused, I started to follow, until the light suddenly veered right, off of the path. I stumbled over roots and undergrowth, desperately moving onward.

After what seemed like an hour of desperately following the light through the fog, it disappeared into an ancient-looking house. “Where are you?” I shouted, stepping towards the structure. “Hello?”

Just before I set foot inside, however, a huge raven flew through the door, startling me onto my back. It was still far too dark to see clearly without Neb, but there was enough moonlight for it to fly, evidently. It perched on a tree branch high above me.

I turned back to the entrance, and saw Neb completely fluffed up. Something was scaring him, and that didn’t make me any less afraid. But if this person was there to help, I needed it. I was in a strange, unfamiliar place, and I was desperate.

That desperation reached a peak in a moment.

The ground shook, and I stepped backwards just in time to see a hand burst from the ground where I’d just been standing. A group of five zombies were climbing from their graves, and their shambling bodies were more grotesque than any description I’d ever read in a book.

I couldn’t help it. I screamed.

They continued to shamble towards me, and I could just backpedal away. One of them lunged, and I had to cast Shield to stop them from hitting me. The knockback woke me from my fear, and I turned tail and ran.

Barely trying to follow my own path back, I got back to the road and immediately had to stop. Through Neb’s eyes, I saw a wolf, crouching in the bushes. I barely had time to think before it leapt out, easily tearing through my cloak and biting into my arm.

Crying out in pain, I pulled away, trying to run. I heard the wolf behind me, but didn’t dare to look back.

Then, another raven swooped low over my head, and I ducked so low I lost my balance and tumbled to the ground. Whirling around, I saw a person standing before the wolf, drawing a rapier. The wolf leapt, and was promptly sliced across its throat, in a stunning display of swordsmanship.

The figure turned around, holding a hand out. As they helped me up, the man removed the cowl that had covered his face.

“Ho, there, traveler.” He said in a serious tone. “You’re ill-equipped to wander these lands alone.”

“I... gathered that.” I said, looking at the wolf. “Th-thank you.“

“Of course,” the man said, holding out a hand. “My name is Urwin. What’s yours?”

“Iren.” I said, shaking his hand. “Do you... have a map? I lost my way and... well, I’m not sure what happened, or where I am.”

He seemed a bit sad for me as he said “We ought to get somewhere safe to say all that.” I nodded.

He looked to the sky, and I noticed movement behind him. Using Neb, I saw another wolf stalking along the path’s edge, eyes trained on Urwin. I realized what was going to happen just in time, and pushed Urwin out of the way as the wolf lunged for my throat.

I casted shield, but it wasn’t enough, and the attack hit home. I felt teeth lodge into my throat, the whistle of a rapier, and a call from Neb as he was pulled back to the Etherial Plane.

Then, everything went dark.

_ _ _

The world spun around me, I felt wind whip past my face, and smelled hay all around me.

As my eyes finally began to open, I blearily mumbled “Where... am I?”

“The Blue Water Inn.” A stern woman’s voice said from somewhere near me. “Or, more accurately, the stable.“

I opened my eyes, and I saw a woman with dark hair and a glare above me. “What... what happened?”

“My husband saved your life.” She said. “Now, I don’t know what you saw,” she added, leaning forwards, “but if you tell anyone what you saw-“

“Danika, don’t scare her!” A more familiar voice called. Urwin walked into the stable, and helped me up. “She’s been through enough.”

“Where am I?” I asked, after we went inside. The inn had a tavern inside, and I had been given a tankard of weak ale.

“This land is called Barovia. You’ve been brought here by the ruler, Strahd.” Urwin said. “He’s a tyrant and a vampire, and he often brings adventurers here to... toy with.”

“How do I get out?” I asked. They didn’t answer me, looking at each other. “Please, my mentor will be worried for me, hell, so will my dad, I-“

“There is no way out.” Danika said. I froze. “The fog that surrounds Barovia prevents all from leaving. I’m sorry, Iren.”

I looked down into my tankard, processing that. “So... there’s no way out?”

“Unless someone can kill Strahd, then you’re trapped here.” Urwin replied.

I thought for a moment. I was trapped here... forever, until Strahd was killed. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to. But Danika and Urwin’s expressions told me that it was the truth.

“Then... I have adventurers to find.” I said.

“What?” Urwin asked.

“I don’t think I was brought here alone. One wizard can’t be much fun,” I reasoned, “there is probably a group of them somewhere in Barovia, probably somewhere else here. I’m going to find them, and join forces with them to fight Strahd.”

The man looked at me with some pride, but he had to ask. “And what if you are alone? What if you are the only adventurer brought here?”

I took a deep breath, and felt the steel raven on my spellbook’s cover. “Then I’ll grow in strength on my own, and beat Strahd. At any cost.”

Danika and Urwin looked at each other, and then to me. “I think we could help.” Danika said.

“Danika and I are something known as Wereravens.” Urwin began. “We are part of a group that resists Strahd. If I passed on my Lycanthropy to you, you could pass unnoticed as a raven, you would gain strength from the curse, and using that, you could gain a head start against Strahd.”

I looked between them, and asked “What would I have to do?”

“Let one of us... well, peck you. And accept the curse.” Danika said. “Don’t worry, Wereravens are generally very... good, really. Now that I think about it... you would make a good Wereraven.”

“She will make a good Wereraven, Danika.”

She nodded.

Urwin turned into a raven, and I let him peck open my wrist. Ever since that day, I have been a Wereraven. I learned how to control my forms, and how to fly. I was told to never infect another with my curse, unless I was certain that they would be my ally and my student. I thought back to my mentor, and that memory spurred me onwards.

I found that I was correct: a group of adventurers had found their way into Barovia. I took flight, just another raven amongst many. I would find these adventurers near the accursed “Death House”, and I would wait and see if they were good people. If they were, I would help them. If they were not, I would move on and hone my own strength.

I would return home. Strahd would fall.

[doctorbethanysartblog]

NOTIFICATION CH. 9 - XEPHLEZ FIC

The beginning of 3 ish minecon chapters

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

Fox @ Minecon @OMGitsFirefox

So here we are, three hours before the whole things opens.

Sparkles @ Minecon @CptSparklez

@OMGitsFirefox They said we needed to be early

LW @ Minecon @inthelittlewood

@OMGitsFirefox @CptSparklez *wiggles eyebrows*

Nilesy @ Minecon @Nilesy

@OMGitsFirefox @CptSparklez @Inthelittlewood Guys get here quickly and be quiet we have a plan

---

Nebby-chan reblogged CaptainVoid

 [Video]

 IwasnotreadyforMinecon

The con doesn’t open for another three hours and we already have this gold from inthelittlewood, you are our saviour

-

RedXepplin

Well I guess that’s one way to meet someone.

-

Captainedvideos

*Video of a table with a large Yhawgs Poster above it, the camera shakes while someone is trying to stop giggling behind it; Sparkles comes into frame and we see there is a person behind the table.*

Xephos: Lalna have you found the Sipsco posters yet?

Lalna: *Off screen* Yes, along with Fluxbuddies

Xephos: Great can you give them here?

Lalna: Can’t you come over here?

*Stifled laughter*

Xephos: Friend, I have been trying to find Jaffa Factory for ten minutes so no.

Sparkles: *Leans over to be as close as possible* Boo!

Xephos: Ahh! *Turns and procides to whack Sparkles with a poster*

*Laughter, under the laughter you can hear “Hey, I’m a friend!” from Sparkles but Xephos keeps hitting him with more laughter; Sparkles is also laughing*

2344 Notes      #Amazing

---

Sparkles @ Minecon @CptSparklez

@BlueXephos Booooiiiiiii #MineconHypre

[Image]

Syndi @ Mincon @Syndi

@CptSparklez @BlueXephos You guys could have been help your groups but noooo

Syndi @ Mincon @Syndi

@CptSparklez @BlueXephos You took selfies in sun glasses

---

Nanosounds

 [image]

 2K Likes

Nanosounds  After a few hours, our lovely table is now finished! Thanks for Fox for taking the picture for us and being a wonder flux buddie herself. #Minecon

---

OMGitsfirefox

 [image]

 2k likes

OMGitsfirefox  Our table is done! Thanks Nano for the photot, tell to go have a look around and do some youtuber bingo a fan sent me. #Minecon

---

TomSka Minecon @TomSka

An hour and counting and everyone is restless

Sjin @ Minecon @Sjin

I just saw @amazingphil chasing after @markiplier with his phone?????

Gadgetgiget @Gadgetsgalore

I am helping out at one of the stands, its weird seeing youtubers just wondering around

That roomate from Boulder @Minecraft34

If there are any prope box steves I am high fiving them

Minecart Minecon @theDiamondminecart

@Minecraft34 I am doing a tally

---

Nebby-chan

 [Image]

 It’s begins. (With @Captainvoid)

 40 notes          #Void and Nebby at Minecon             #This is my minecon tag guys

---

T00tspoots

 [image]

 47 likes

T00tspoots LOOK AT THIS LIGHT SHOW GUYS #minecon

---

Zodie

 [Image]

7 likes

 Zoodie Look at all the minecraft merch guys, LOOK AT IT #minecon

Doodie Mate get me a diamond sword and you will be my best friend forever

Foodie Get me a picture of Mark saying I love bees and I will give you my first born

---

Will me up scotty @wildwill

[image]

There he go @amazingphil

Dan is at Minecont @danisnotonfire

@wildwill I think he is trying to find someone from @Roosterteeth

Michael at Con @AHMichael

@Wildwill @danisnotonfire we can come he got gavin,

Michael at Con @AHMichael

@Wildwill @danisnotonfire he’s trying to convince people he is a chicken

---

Nebby-chan reblogged Dame-space-a-lot

 [Image]

 Millionpoundsbut

I have no idea what @tomska is recording but it looks... interesting

3455 notes #we saw that too

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Nebby-chan reblogged Dame-space-a-lot

 [image] [image]

[image] [image]

[image] [image]

Pokemongoing

I just watched inthelittlewood make a paper aeroplane, fly it over to the Mianite table and for CaptainSparklez to catch it in the air, read it and send back his own one saying lunch would be great.

Because Appreantly LW has been a nerd for Sparklez videos since before he was part of the yhwags

5422 notes      #Awww

---

Lom @ Mincon @Lomadia

ONWARDS TO THE TALK

[image]

Nebby-chan @Nebula

People keep complimenting me on my hair

Minecart Minecon @theDiamondminecart

14!!

[Image]

Sethbling @ Mincon @Sethbling

How is it almost 3 o clock we only have two hours left of today

Sethbling @ Mincon @Sethbling

@sethbling saying that I need to run, I’m about to miss map makers anon

---

ForgetfulBird

 [Image]

34 likes

Forgetfulbird THERES MINECRAFT VR HERE OH MY GO #minecon

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Holocryptic

 [Image]

32 likes

Holocyptic @forgetfulbird DON’T FORGET TEH HOLOGRAM

Forgetfulbird MY GOD

---

Nebby-chan  reblogged dame-space-a-lot

 [image] [image]

 Unofficalminaitemeet

Look at this wonderful group of people

Unofficalminaitemeet

Just found out after posting this that the girl with the side pony tail is our resident info-chan @nebby-chan !!!!!

123 notes        #Thank you     #But I am in no way a celebrity

---

Void @ Con @CptVoid

So its nearing the end of the day

Void @ Con @CptVoid

Me and Neb are heading out and freaking @CptSparklez comes up to us

Void @ Con @CptVoid

He saw the photo so knew what we looked like

Void @ Con @CptVoid

We were planning to go to the table tomorrow but nope he just happen to spot us

Void @ Con @CptVoid

Nebby has turned into an excited wreck and got a picture

Nebby-chan @Nebula

I’m not crying I swear

[image]

---

Honeydew

 [image]

345 likes

Honeydew Food with the family

---

Sparkles @ Minecon @CptSparklez

With xephos riker and 25 others

[Image]

Found this lot in the hotel lounge and now we are chatting the night away

[marilynngmesalo]

Homes flood as Missouri River overtops, breaches levees

Homes flood as Missouri River overtops, breaches levees Homes flood as Missouri River overtops, breaches levees https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hundreds of homes flooded in several Midwestern states after rivers breached at least a dozen levees following heavy rain and snowmelt in the region, authorities said Monday while warning that the flooding was expected to linger.

About 200 miles of levees were compromised — either breached or overtopped — in four states, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. Even in places where the water level peaked in those states — Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas — the current was fast and the water so high that damage continued to pile up. The flooding was blamed for at least three deaths.

“The levees are busted and we aren’t even into the wet season when the rivers run high,” said Tom Bullock, the emergency management director for Missouri’s Holt County.

He said many homes in a mostly rural area of Holt County were inundated with 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 metres) of water from the swollen Missouri River. He noted that local farmers are only a month away from planting corn and soybeans.

“The water isn’t going to be gone, and the levees aren’t going to be fixed this year,” said Bullock, whose own home was now on an island surrounded by floodwater.

One couple was rescued by helicopter after water from three breached levees swept across 40,000 acres (16,188 hectares), he said. Another nine breaches were confirmed in Nebraska and Iowa counties south of the Platte River, the Corps said.

//<![CDATA[ ( function() { pnLoadVideo( "videos", "LQK6SSLqrKw", "pn_video_149561", "", "", {"controls":1,"autoplay":0,"is_mobile":""} ); } )(); //]]>

In Atchison County, Mo., about 130 people were urged to leave their homes as water levels rose and strained levees, three of which had already been overtopped by water. Missouri State Highway Patrol crews were on standby to rescue anyone who insisted on staying despite the danger.

“The next four to five days are going to be pretty rough,” said Rhonda Wiley, Atchison County’s emergency management and 911 director.

The Missouri River already crested upstream of Omaha, Neb., though hundreds of people remained out of their homes and water continued to pour through busted levees. Flooding was so bad around Fremont, Neb., that just one lane of U.S. 30 was uncovered outside the city of 26,000. State law enforcement limited traffic on that road to pre-approved trucks carrying gas, food, water and other essential supplies.

“There are no easy fixes to any of this,” said Fremont City Administrator Brian Newton. “We need Mother Nature to decrease the height of the river.”

In southwest Iowa, the Missouri River reached a level in Fremont County that was 2 feet (0.6 metre) above a record set in 2011. The county’s emergency management director, Mike Crecelius, said Monday that more water was flooding into low-lying parts of Hamburg, where a wall of sand-filled barriers was breached when one failed.

My team is staying in close contact with Governor Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) of Iowa and the local officials managing these floods. We support you and thank all of the first responders working long hours to help the great people of Iowa! https://t.co/mZ4grxQ1Sa

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Monday that he is staying in close contact with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem about the flooding. Trump asked Vice-President Mike Pence to go survey the flood damage in Nebraska Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in the tweet. She did not say where in Nebraska Pence would go.

At @POTUS request, @VP will travel to Nebraska tomorrow to survey the damage from the terrible flooding that’s impacted much of the Midwest. He’ll be joined by @GovRicketts & @IAGovernor. Thank you to First Responders and many volunteers helping those affected!

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) March 18, 2019

Reynolds, touring flood-ravaged areas of the state for the second straight day, warned that flooding will worsen along the Mississippi River as snow melts to the north.

The National Weather Service said the river was expected to crest Thursday in St. Joseph, Mo., at its third-highest level on record. Military C-130 planes were evacuated last week from nearby Rosecrans Air National Guard base.

In North Dakota, Fargo was preparing for potentially major flooding along the Red River — the same river that ravaged the city a decade ago. Mayor Tim Mahoney declared an emergency and asked residents to help fill 1 million sandbags in response to a weather service warning that snowmelt poses a big risk in Fargo. Sandbag-filling operations start March 26.

In Illinois, weather service readings showed major flooding along the Pecatonica River at Shirland and Freeport, and the Rock River in the Rockford area and Moline. Freeport City Manager Lowell Crow said officials there expected the Pecatonica River “to possibly rise to a record level or at least to a level we haven’t seen in 50 years.”

The flooding started after a massive late-winter storm hit the Midwest last week.

The high water was blamed in the deaths of three people from Nebraska. Betty Hamernik, 80, of rural Columbus, was trapped in her home by the fast-rising Loup River. Her body was recovered Saturday.

Aleido Rojas Galan of Norfolk was swept away Friday night in southwestern Iowa, when the vehicle he was in went around a barricade. On Thursday, Columbus farmer James Wilke, 50, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.

Two men in Nebraska have been missing since Thursday. One was last seen on top of his flooded car; the other was swept away after a dam collapsed.

The Missouri Department of Transportation reported about 100 flood-related road closures, including a stretch of Interstate 29.

Jud Kneuvean, emergency manager with the Army Corp of Engineers’ Kansas City district, blamed rainfall, snowmelt and higher temperatures “converging all at the same time.” No significant flooding was expected east of Kansas City, though Kneuvean said the Corps was monitoring closely.

“When you have a high river and have any forecast of rain on it, it can change the scenario very quickly,” Kneuvean said.

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OMAHA, Neb. — In this first College World Series since the death of Augie Garrido, his presence continues to loom as large as ever.

Garrido won five national championships here, tied for the second most all time, and made 15 visits — seven with Cal State Fullerton and eight with Texas. He was the first coach to win championships with two programs and the only to win multiple titles at more than one school.

Yes, college baseball lost an icon on March 15. Garrido, 79, died in Newport Beach, California, of complications following a stroke. Born 44 years to the day after Babe Ruth, Garrido, too, was a giant in the game.

Fullerton had no locker room at its home field in his early years. The school trucked in bleachers used in the Rose Parade, but Garrido’s team in its initial year of Division I play won at five-time reigning national champion USC en route to Omaha in 1975.

The coach provided blazers, shirts and pants for his players during that first CWS visit 43 years ago; he wanted the Titans to look like a Division I team.

And oh, did they ever — but not only for how they dressed.

ESPN Illustration

From there, anything was possible. Garrido won 1,975 games, the most of any college coach at the time of his 2016 retirement from Texas after 20 seasons. His Longhorns from 2002 to 2005 reached the pinnacle of the sport.

A friend to actor Kevin Costner and former President George W. Bush, Garrido connected with people everywhere he traveled — from humble beginnings in Vallejo, California, as the son of a shipyard worker, to college at Fresno State, summer-league coaching in Anchorage, Alaska, the bevy of resources in Austin, Texas, and five-star beach venues of Southern California.

Really, Garrido’s legacy is about people. He was labeled as an expert motivator, a Zen master with the perfect mix of passion and tranquility. But in 50 years of coaching, he made his most indelible mark through the relationships forged.

Players, coaches, administrators, fans and media alike hung on his every word.

“The world treats winners a lot different than it treats losers,” read his quote that hung in the Texas dugout during this College World Series.

Texas coach David Pierce, in his second season as Garrido’s replacement, wore this year in Omaha the No. 16 jersey of the former coach, an image that serves as a guiding light for all at this venue that he so often dominated.

“Since his passing,” Pierce said, “we basically have come to the conclusion that he’s a huge piece of our program. He’s a huge piece of this team.”

Allow the words of those whose lives he touched to relay Garrido’s impact on the sport he loved.

Texas infielder Kody Clemens says Augie Garrido “didn’t teach the game, he taught those little lessons about life.” Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos/Getty Images

Oregon coach George Horton, who played on the 1975 Fullerton team, coached under Garrido with the Titans from 1990 to ’96 and succeeded him when Garrido left for Texas: “He’s definitely one of a kind. And not just because of the wins, but for the manner with which he went about his work, what he was able to do at Fullerton with basically nothing but a good location. He broke the Power 5 barrier, and he did it with an unparalleled passion and style.”

Kody Clemens, Texas All-America infielder and the second of Roger Clemens’ sons to play for UT: “He was an unbelievable man. He knew so much about the game. He didn’t teach the game, he taught those little lessons about life. He taught everybody on our team how to be a man. That’s what everybody’s going to know him for. Every time I go out on the field, I just feel him. He’s there. He’s watching over us.”

Steve DiTolla, Fullerton’s associate AD who rehired Garrido at the school in 1990 after the coach spent three seasons at Illinois: “He set the stage for coaches to make a lot of money. Back in the day, coaches were coaches. Some of them still taught classes. There were a lot of them who had been coaching at a place for a long time and really didn’t have a reason to leave. It was [former Fullerton AD] Neale Stoner who brought Augie out to Illinois. Neale was truly a visionary. He was right. Look at it now. There are a lot of people who are spending a lot of money to compete for that baseball championship.”

LSU coach Paul Mainieri, whose team won two of three games against Garrido and Texas in the 2009 finals: “It was a great series, but Augie, he really took that loss hard. That team of his was so good and had really built up a head of steam at the end of the season. As a head coach, you know that those opportunities don’t come along very often, even when you’ve had a career like he’d had… So that loss really stung. Well, five days later, I get my mail in Baton Rouge and what do I have? The most gracious, handwritten note of congratulations from Augie Garrido. I was so blown away. I was so touched. I called him and thanked him profusely. That note is framed and hangs in my office.”

Doubt motivated college baseball’s all-time wins leader his entire life. After his death, those who know him will remember how he overcame doubt and taught them to overcome it as well.

Texas Longhorns coach David Pierce will wear Augie Garrido’s No. 16 throughout the College World Series.

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Cal State Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook, who played for Garrido on the 1984 title team and served as a longtime Titans assistant: “Every team was different. He recognized that and treated them like that. He always could identify what every team needed. It’s that ‘It’ factor, and there’s very few people who have had it.”

Roger Clemens, seven-time Cy Young Award winner and ex-Texas star under Garrido’s predecessor, Cliff Gustafson: “I knew Coach Garrido before I actually met him. I just knew him as a coach. [But] I didn’t know the depths that he went as far as his teaching ability. And then when he had my boys [Kacy and Kody], I got to meet him one day here. I walked in on a fall [practice], and he brought me right over like any other alumni. Sat me behind the screen during a fall game, and we went right into talking baseball and different things.”

Dennis Poppe, longtime top NCAA administrator of the CWS who retired in 2014 as vice president of championships and alliances: “He had such a charisma or Southern California swagger, but he was always approachable and enjoyed people. He certainly had an air of self confidence that translated to his players. And he always had something insightful or a little bit different to say. Sometimes, it would catch you off guard. It was like, ‘What’s he saying? What’s he really trying to say?’ He coached the game differently than most others did, and that allowed him to relate to his players. A lot of people called Augie not only a baseball coach but a life coach. I think that’s one of the highest compliments you can get from those you’ve coached.”

Horton: “Nobody could see the big picture or compare athletics to life like Augie could, in my opinion. He had that gift to make you feel invincible and powerful. He was a tremendous motivator. His passion was contagious. What brought Augie and Kevin [Costner] together was not just the sport of baseball. Kevin’s a mentality guy. He doesn’t just like baseball; he likes the mentality and teamwork and challenges of baseball — and comparing it to life.”

Poppe: “During my career, I didn’t just do baseball. I worked with football and a number of sports. I had an opportunity to meet outstanding coaches — from Lou Saban to Urban Meyer to Bill Marolt (who won seven NCAA ski titles as a coach at Colorado) to Dan Gable. All these coaches had a unique characteristic about them. They kind of marched to the beat of their own drum. “

Florida State coach Mike Martin, who broke Garrido’s all-time wins record in April: “The last time I saw him was really the perfect setting. Last June, we were out to dinner in Omaha, at a steakhouse of course, and I ran into him. We sat down and talked for 30 minutes. We both knew that if I was fortunate enough to have a good season in 2018 that I would break his all-time wins record, but that’s not what we talked about. Not directly. What we talked about wasn’t the record. It was about all the guys we’d been able to coach over the years. I think we both agreed that the wins are great, but we’d both trade them in right now if you told us we couldn’t keep the friendships and the gift of having some sort of impact on so many lives.”

Horton: “When he came back to Fullerton from Illinois, he was in a little bit of turmoil in his life. He was going through a divorce. He didn’t have a house. He didn’t have a car. But he was living in Newport Beach at the Balboa Bay Club, which was about as high class as you could get. He was driving a Mercedes-Benz. He was eating at the nicest restaurants. We called it elegantly homeless. Augie really had a taste for the finer things in life, whether he could afford it or not. He was always going to stay at the nicest hotels. He had a charm about him that was magnetic. Whether it was a baseball environment or a social environment, you knew you were going to have a lot of fun with Augie.”

Richard Linklater, filmmaker and friend to Garrido: “After they won the College World Series in ’05 we were out at dinner or something and he just starts into this really emotional lecture on how it is impossible to repeat as champions. The psychology of kids and egos and catching that perfect chemistry with a roster that only happens every now and then. I was really taken aback by that. Here’s a guy who had won, what, five national championships, and had just won two at Texas in a short period of time and yet, he’s just almost panicked about what it is going to take to win another one. OK, not panicked, not really, but desperate. That’s what makes him Augie, that desperation to be the best all the time and figure out what it takes to be the best.”

Former South Carolina coach Ray Tanner: “I was intrigued by what made Augie so successful. I wanted to know the secret. Yeah, he had good players, but there’s always another denominator to it. [Ex-Fullerton star Mark] Kotsay just talked to me about the way he ran his team, how he was a teacher, the confidence that he had in his players, the way he delivered things. Players believed in him. More than a baseball coach, he was a very dynamic person.”

Oregon (and former Fullerton) coach George Horton says “nobody could see the big picture or compare athletics to life like Augie could.” AP Photo

Part of Augie’s secret? He did it his way, no matter what you thought.

DiTolla: “I think he ran up a billion dollars worth of parking tickets on this campus. And the campus was relentless about trying to collect from him. But he didn’t care. He would just drive up and park wherever.”

Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, as a player, led Pepperdine to the 1992 national title. The Waves defeated Fullerton 3-2 in the championship game, denying Garrido the third title that he would win in 1995. Years later, Garrido re-introduced himself to Rodriguez at a coaching convention, reminding the younger coach of Fullerton’s heartbreak at his expense.

“He gave me so much credit for it,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the kind of person he was.”

There were many sides to Augie, though.

Vanderhook: “Just super intimidating — for about three or four years, even the first couple of years that I worked for him. Now I do a lot of the things that Augie did, but it took years to figure that out. And even then, I didn’t realize it until [DiTolla] told me that I had a lot of similarities to Augie when I talk to the team. I said, ‘No way, man, no way. Nobody can talk like that.'”

DiTolla: “There are certain guys who, when they walk in the room, you know they’re somebody. That was Augie. He was somebody very special. He was such a tremendous leader. There were times when he would just come out of the tunnel to talk to the team. Everybody would be chatting. And then … silence. The team would be riveted. They couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. He was our guy. He was the leader. He was the one who everyone looked to.”

Stanford coach David Esquer, who played for the Cardinal against Garrido, then coached as an assistant at Pepperdine and was hired 17 years ago in his first head-coaching job at Cal: “I found myself at 2001, going to play at Texas, and there was a moment of taking out that lineup card and thinking, ‘I’m shaking hands with Augie Garrido.’ That kind of hit me. I was struck by the level of respect he addressed me with. I didn’t even know if I deserved the amount of respect as a rookie coach that he was giving to me.”

Rodriguez: “My first year at Baylor [in 2016] was his last year. When we played at Texas in the regular season, he took me into his office. He showed me around and was telling me what I need to know, what I need to do. It was like he pretty much said, ‘Here’s everything that is going to make you successful in the Big 12.’ It was a little bizarre. I was like, ‘Is this really happening?’ But just because of my interactions with him before, I knew how genuine he was. You could see as he was talking to me that it brought him great joy to be able to do that — to be able to give of himself and his ideas.”

Pierce, the Texas coach who arrived from Tulane to take over for Garrido after the 2016 season: “I don’t know how he handled [the coaching transition] personally or behind closed doors, but I couldn’t have asked for anything more. He was gracious in his approach with me. We met for lunches. We spent a lot of time together. He gave me insight about how it is to coach at the University of Texas. Because it’s different; it’s a monster.”

“Since his passing, we basically have come to the conclusion that he’s a huge piece of our program. He’s a huge piece of this team,” says Texas coach David Pierce. Eric Gay/AP Photo

Stories that featured Garrido’s competitiveness and his personality emerged throughout his coaching career.

Tanner coached South Carolina to a spot in the CWS championship series in 2002. Waiting was Texas, which beat the Gamecocks 12-6 for Garrido’s fourth title. “After the game, I said, ‘Congratulations Augie, we were no match for you.’ He said, ‘Your day will come.’ When he said that, I believed it. Some coaches just make comments and you go, ‘OK, thank you a lot.’ But when Augie said that, I never forgot it — that your day will come.”

South Carolina returned to Omaha in 2002, 2003 and 2004, then won championships in 2009 and 2010.

Vanderhook: “In 1994, we were at Oklahoma State in the regional. It was the championship game. We had a guy on third base and our dugout was going crazy. I’m coaching third and trying to get somebody’s attention in the dugout. So I’m waving my arms and nobody sees me. Then finally, a little while later, Augie sees me, and he goes, ‘What do you want?’ By then, I was pissed, because it took so long. This is the winning run to go to Omaha. So I waved both hands, like ‘forget it.’ And he screams out at me, ‘You can be replaced!’ We ended up winning that game, thank God.”

Garrido, as in 2009 against LSU and 1992 against Pepperdine, took hard the loss to Horton and Cal State Fullerton in the 2004 finals. After the two-game sweep, Garrido left the field without shaking hands with his former team.

Horton: “I didn’t take it personal, because I knew Augie. In retrospect, the thing that bothered me the most was that he really created a David and Goliath mentality at Cal State Fullerton. We were David, and Texas and SC and Miami and Florida State, they were Goliath. He really created this monster that came back to haunt him. With all the frustration of not winning, recognizing that he had everything to do with us beating him, he would tell you today that he missed the mark on that. And Augie didn’t miss the mark very often.”

More often, Garrido directed others to hit the mark. Like in 1992, on the Friday before the championship game, when storms pushed Miami and Cal State Fullerton late into night.

Poppe: “We finally got the game in, but I was exasperated and worn out. I escaped into Fullerton’s dugout to get out of the rain at one point. Most of the players had gone back into the clubhouse, but Augie was just sitting down at the end, legs crossed, relaxed. He looked over, gave me a big smile and said, ‘Are you having any fun yet?’ We talked for a while. He just let me know that when I said it was time to play, they’d be ready. In almost every situation I was with him, he had that kind of calm demeanor, enjoying life. And he taught me a lesson that it was best to just do my job and everything would be OK.”

His words from that rain delay, more than a quarter-century ago, feel appropriate to serve as Garrido’s enduring message to the players and coaches at this CWS — and all others moving ahead, a little bit less colorful without him.

Senior writer Ryan McGee and staff writer Sam Khan Jr. contributed to this story.

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Controllers Offer Tips on How to Look Before You Leap from Public Accounting to Industry

Last week we published an article on what the transition from public accounting to industry was like for 14 corporate controllers. During my interviews with them, I asked what advice they’d give to a CPA at a public accounting firm who is looking to make the jump to an industry accounting role. And boy did they have a lot to say!

Instead of cramming their advice into the article about their transition stories, we decided to make it a stand-alone feature.

So, without further ado, here’s what these 14 controllers would tell a fellow CPA considering following in their footsteps:

Be patient

Once you decide it’s time to leave public accounting, take your time and wait for the right opportunity, said J.C. Gum, CPA, vice president and corporate controller at Omaha, Neb.-based Ag Processing Inc, who is a KPMG alum.

“Throughout my public accounting career, I had many bad days, and I also was presented with some good opportunities to leave, but thankfully they never occurred at the same time. Some would have been good excuses to leave after a bad week,” he said. “Looking back, I’m thankful for the discernment, patience, and perhaps the lucky timing that allowed me to pass on those early opportunities and wait for the best one.”

Will Majic, CPA, CA, controller, corporate finance at Calian Group in Ottawa, Ontario, agrees with Gum, adding that he’s seen several people jump at the first opportunity to leave public accounting.

“The first leap that you take when you leave a firm is an important one because you have so many doors open to you,” said Majic, who spent more than six years with Deloitte. “There are so many employers that love hiring from accounting firms directly, so there’s no need to leap at the first opportunity that comes up as it may not be the right fit for the individual.”

Never make a desperate move

Make sure you’re leaving because it’s the next strategic step in your desired career path, said Drew Hester, CPA, vice president, controllership and global business services at Chicago-based Beam Suntory, who started his career at PwC.

“Public accounting careers are full of moments that can feel a bit overwhelming and chase some people out of the profession, and I’ve encountered many who regret the timing of their departure,” he said. “You get just one jump out of public to industry, and it’s really important to land well.”

As a hiring manager, Lauren Johnson, CPA, senior controller at Portfolio Advisors LLC in Darien, Conn., said she strays away from candidates whose stay in public accounting was brief.

“Staying in public for the standard two years will not serve you well in private industry,” said Johnson, who worked at BDO for nine years. “You need experience managing staff, exposure to different clients, and time to truly see an audit from start to finish before your time in public will become an asset to you while working in private. Unless you work for a company that doesn’t receive an annual audit, you’ll need audit experience in order to know how to manage your external auditors as the client.”

Learn about the company and industry you’re interested in

Think of it like a college assignment, said Tony Combs, CPA, corporate controller at Urban Airship in Portland, Ore., who cut his accounting teeth at CBIZ MHM and PwC.

“Don’t just understand the accounting, but look into the unique issues within the industry, the underlying trends, and the jargon,” he said. “Investing this time will enable you to communicate more effectively and understand your co-workers more clearly.”

Julie Brand, CPA, corporate controller at San Francisco-based Pattern Energy Group, who started her accounting career at Deloitte, recommends learning as much as you can about all aspects of the company beforehand, such as reading financial reports and learning how the various inputs to accounting operate.

“Join a business in an industry that you’re interested in,” she said.

But don’t just focus on one industry

Johnson believes it’s a good idea for candidates to broaden their job search and be open to different industries.

“I think oftentimes when you work in public accounting, you can specialize in an industry—for me it was the real estate and hospitality industry—but when you look to make the jump, you may only focus on that same industry,” she said. “This can sometimes make it difficult to make the transition [from public to industry].”

Use your network

“It’s important to have mentors—both internal and external—who can weigh in and give perspective,” said Brian Harding, CPA, vice president, corporate controller, and principal accounting officer at Wilsonville, Ore.-based FLIR Systems, who started his accounting career at KPMG.

Harding added that your mentors might steer you toward making a career move when it’s less disruptive to the teams you work with.

“As someone who occasionally interviews candidates looking to exit public accounting, it doesn’t bother me—in fact, I appreciate the sentiment—if that candidate tells me their start date is dependent on when they’ll be able to wrap up their current responsibilities with the firm they work for,” Harding said.

In addition, don’t be afraid to have a conversation about outside opportunities with a partner at your firm, recommends Matt Nelson, CPA, vice president, corporate controller at Seattle-based Tableau Software, who worked at PwC for more than eight years.

“Most of the partners are well-networked and can help you figure out whether a role is a good fit,” he said.

People might think that talking about leaving public accounting is a career mistake, as it shows you’re not interested in your current job. But that’s not the case, Majic said.

“All you’re doing is evaluating options,” he added. “Most of the people who leave accounting firms are leaving their first real employer, and they don’t have the experience of what this can mean. People who left, or people who still work at the firm, have seen so many people leave that they can give a good perspective to those considering it.”

Have a long-term plan

Don’t expect to jump right into your dream job after you leave public accounting. Instead, seek opportunities that best qualify you for the position you’d like to have in the long-term, Harding said.

“If you know you want to be a CFO, schedule a meeting with a CFO and ask about their career progression. They probably held several lower-level positions before achieving the CFO title,” he added. “Network along the way, and be open to new opportunities that get you closer to that plan.”

Don’t be afraid to take risks

After spending 10 years at EY in Baltimore, Christopher Sullivan, CPA, left in 2015 to become controller of OpGen, a small biotechnology company. Like most startups, the business had many challenges, Sullivan said, but the growth opportunities and learning experiences he had there proved to be invaluable.

“By joining a smaller organization, I was able to report directly to the CFO, as well as have regular interactions with the CEO, vice presidents, and board of directors,” said Sullivan, who is now corporate controller at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Rockville, Md. “Those experiences enabled me to quickly learn aspects of industry accounting and finance and how all of the various pieces of the organization operated together.”

Know your value

Because the compensation and progression path in public accounting is fairly rigid, it’s easy to lose sight of what high-performing companies are paying, Hester said.

“Knowing what salary you can reasonably expect to pursue is critical to calibrating your personal departure timing and ensuring you don’t accept a suboptimal opportunity,” he added.

Assemble a team of recruiters

Build a network of eight to 10 recruiters, and then pare down the list to four or five you trust, said Fred Butterweck, CPA, corporate controller at New York-based Clickspring Design, who spent six years at PwC.

“This is not an easy exercise, but if you feel like you’re being sent on interviews with companies that don’t match your profile, you should cut that recruiter loose,” he said. “A good recruiter will invest the time to understand what you’re looking for and only try to connect you with opportunities that fit.”

Pay attention to the office atmosphere when you go on interviews

Does the vibe in the office seem alive, with people working collaboratively? Or is it dead silent?

“Just make sure the atmosphere matches your personality and work style,” said Butterweck, who also recommends paying attention to how the person interviewing you speaks to the person at the front desk or others he or she encounters during a tour of the office.

Gum said CPAs should definitely consider the culture of the company when investigating potential job opportunities.

“Job seekers need to realize there are times when a profitable company with opportunities for advancement isn’t always the wise choice, particularly if the culture of the organization doesn’t fit them,” he added.

Get an understanding of your work scope

Opportunities outside of public accounting are diverse, and the scope of work can vary significantly depending on the size and structure of the organization you join, said Lindsay Gorang, CPA, corporate controller at SightLife Surgical in Seattle, who served as a senior auditor at Deloitte & Touche.

“I’ve enjoyed taking on new areas, such as project financing and supporting contract negotiations as an accounting subject matter expert on M&A and key supplier contracts,” she said. “Meanwhile, I’ve learned that other areas, such as payroll and administration, aren’t a good fit for me.”

Leave your firm on good terms

Don’t hang your firm and your colleagues out to dry in the middle of busy season, which could ruin the relationships you built and the friendships you made, said Senad Mustafic, CPA, senior director – corporate controller at Bellevue, Wash.-based Smartsheet, who worked at Deloitte for nearly six years.

“In public accounting, you’re surrounded by people who can support you on a daily basis because they all know accounting. In industry, that network is smaller,” he said. “Being able to occasionally connect with an old friend and discuss an accounting challenge is extremely valuable.”

Be open to technical and operational accounting roles

Mustafic said a good controller should understand both the technical and the operational sides of accounting, and hire people who are strong in each.

“People who come out of public accounting tend to be technically strong, and public accounting prepared them for that, but lack operational experience, which can best be gained through various operational roles,” he said.

Mitra Rezvan, CPA, vice president and corporate controller at San Francisco-based PagerDuty, who started her career at KPMG, agrees with Mustafic, adding that it’s important that your manager at the company you decide to move to is willing to help mentor you in operational accounting, as well as provides you with support and training to learn the business, and gives you a chance to try new things.

Build new relationships, keep the old ones

Once you join a new organization, spend time getting to know people outside of the accounting and finance department, Combs said, and don’t be afraid to contribute in cross-functional teams.

“Make it a point to identify key people in different departments, introduce yourself, and ask questions,” he added.

In addition, Sullivan recommends maintaining your public accounting relationships after you leave. He said he attends EY’s annual alumni event, as well as other networking opportunities, such as happy hours, meeting former colleagues for lunch, and golf outings.

“My reputation with EY was important during the recruiting and hiring process as the controller of OpGen and Sucampo, and I believe that my EY network will be critical in identifying the next opportunity along my career path,” Sullivan said.

Change is good, so embrace it

You never know where new opportunities will lead you, said Paul Starrantino, CPA, corporate controller at Sparks, Nev.-based Sierra Nevada Corporation, who spent 14 years at PwC.

“You will face new challenges that will broaden your experience and make you more valuable professionally,” he added.

Image: iStock/savoia

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Foster's 18 leads No. 25 Creighton past Providence 83-64

OMAHA, Neb/December 31, 2017  (AP)(STL.News) — Creighton didn’t wallow in the disappointment of letting a win in its Big East opener slip away. There was no time for that.

The No. 25 Bluejays turned in a steady performance from start to finish against cold-shooting Providence on Sunday, getting 18 points from Marcus Foster and leading by double digits most of way in an 83-64 victory. Three days earlier, Creighton squandered a double-digit second-half lead in a loss at Seton Hall.

“To these guys’ credit, you could see the disappointment in their eyes and body language after that first practice, but they turned the page pretty quickly,” coach Greg McDermott said. “We watched film (Friday) morning, got our learning out of the way and went to work on Providence, and I thought we really executed our plan well.”

Toby Hegner matched his season high with 15 points for the Bluejays (11-3, 1-1 Big East), who beat the Friars for the first time in four tries in Omaha.

Creighton never trailed and went on a 13-4 run spanning the halves to take control. Hegner opened the second half with a 3-pointer and then took a charge from Nate Watson on the other end. Martin Krampelj dunked over Cartwright, got fouled and made the free throw for a 45-29 advantage. The Friars never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

Ronnie Harrell Jr. said a big part of bouncing back from the loss to Seton Hall was keeping teammates’ spirits up.

“We knew the mistakes we made, and from there it was a matter of going back and seeing what we did and correcting things,” Harrell said. “We couldn’t let anybody get down; we had to have each other’s back. That’s what we did.”

Providence (10-5, 1-1) came in off an impressive road win over St. John’s in which it made 16 3-pointers. But the Friars, who were shooting 41 percent from distance for the season, missed 9 of their first 10 against Creighton and finished 3 of 23.

Krampelj had four dunks and finished with 13 points, and Foster and Hegner combined for six of the Bluejays’ 10 3-pointers.

“Sometimes our game is as simple as who makes shots and who misses shots,” McDermott said. “They made 16 or 17 3s at St. John’s. Did we challenge them better than maybe the game at St. John’s? Probably. We got there and got a hand in the face. You make seven more 3s, that’s 21 points you outscore them by at the 3-point line, and that’s pretty significant.”

CARTWRIGHT HURT AGAIN

The Friars’ Kyron Cartwright, who beat the Bluejays in Omaha last year on a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left, aggravated a right ankle injury in the first half and had to get re-taped on the bench.

After having 21 points and 15 assists against St. John’s, he was held to two points and had four turnovers to go with his five assists. Cartwright moved gingerly when he was on the court, and he played only seven minutes in the second half.

“We’re not the same team unless Kyron is on the floor,” Friars coach Ed Cooley said.

BIG PICTURE

Providence: The Friars shot just 38.7 percent overall and were 1 for 11 on 3-pointers after halftime. Even though freshman Nate Watson had a season-high 20 points and Rodney Bullock had 15 points and 10 rebounds, the Friars need Cartwright healthy to be a factor in the Big East.

Creighton: It was an impressive bounce-back from the loss to Seton Hall. The Bluejays led much of the game against the Pirates, only to lose in the last four minutes. The Bluejays never gave Providence a chance to get back into this game once it was up big in the second half.

THAT HAD TO HURT

Creighton’s Davion Mintz landed hard on his back going in for a fast-break dunk in the second half. Providence’s Jalen Lindsey fouled Mintz on the way up, and Mintz needed a minute to collect himself before shooting his free throws. Mintz was no worse for the wear. A couple minutes he buried a 3-pointer to give their Bluejays their largest lead, 63-44.

“I came down and was numb. I started to get worried. I had to breathe a little bit. I thought my wrist had snapped back,” Mintz said. “Thank God I’m OK. Maybe next time I can put that one down.”

UP NEXT

Providence: Hosts Marquette on Wednesday night.

Creighton: Hosts St. John’s on Wednesday night.

By ERIC OLSON by Associated Press , published on STL.NEWS by St. Louis Media, LLC (US)